No. 44 - QUEENSLAND HEALTH

I know that I am incredibly late today, but it's still the 31st.

Yes, Queensland Health does sound like a weird thing to have on my list. But I am sincerely grateful for their help.

Not long after Brian was born we were contacted by Queensland Health (as are, to my knowledge, all Brisbane Mums) and were given a check up appointment for Brian. It was probably at that appointment that I found out about the New Parent Groups that the Community Health Centre ran. I signed up straight away.

In late September 2008, Brian and I headed on into a room full of about 11 other Mums and their tiny new additions. Somehow we were supposed to absorb the information being taught to us, all the while comforting our babies, trying to breastfeed them and making emergency trips to the bathroom for nappy changes!

Four weeks later at our last meeting we all agreed to continue to meet up. This was, I'm sure for all of us the best thing we have ever done. 16 months later we have lost a couple of Mums and gained a couple but 8 of us are regularly in contact with one another and most of us continue to meet weekly. By Friday we are ready to let the kids play while we (try) to down a coffee and catch up on the crazy work/Mum week. The advice and support of other Mums in your position is invaluable and that's why I'm grateful for Queensland Health.

No. 43 - RACHEL

Rachel and I are cousins. She is the daughter of my Dad's sister.

Rachel is the kind of person that makes me feel old. She doesn't do it by choice, it's just the sheer fact that I have known her all her life. I have memories of bathing her when she was a baby and memories of us playing in her cubby house. Distance means that I don't have many memories of her as an adult, and in fact none of her as a Mum.

The strongest memory I have of Rachel and I was when we were living in the same town. I was spending the day at Rachel's house and was always jealous of the gadgets in my aunt's kitchen. There was a milkshake maker, a soda stream and a dancing flower. On this particular day the milkshake maker caught my eye. I asked my aunt and uncle if we could have a milkshake and they said "of course". The next thing I knew Rachel and I were drinking a milkshake and my uncle was gobsmacked that I had managed to get Rachel to drink milk. Unbeknown to me it was something my aunt and uncle had been trying to do for months!

No. 42 - REBECCA

In writing my 365 list I felt it important to acknowledge all those that have shared part of my life, even if we have never met. Rebecca is one of those people. She is to date my only regular blog reader and commenter that I didn't know before starting this blogging adventure.

My main reason for starting a blog was not only to record my life, thoughts and feelings but to put them out there for others to read, learn and share. I am grateful that Rebecca has found a reason to keep coming back and I want her to know she will always hold a special place in my heart for being the first!

(P.S. I hope she doesn't mind me linking to her blog)

No. 41 - BARBARA

Barbara and her husband (I think his name may have been Alfons) were our neighbours when we lived in rural Victoria. I was 8.

I remember always feeling welcome in their home. During the family conversations that have arisen due to my 365 project, my brother and I reminisced recently about Barbara's garden. Or more to the point that the fact that her garden was 100% edible.

Barbara's husband, (I believe) Alfons, was quite elderly and frail. Most of my memories are of him sitting in his chair, occasionally talking and me rarely understanding due to his accent.

I learnt one of those life long lessons in Barbara and Alfons' home. The kind of lesson that sticks with you for life, the kind you always remember the time and place you learnt it and the kind that is always available for playback in your mind.

I was chewing on a lolly and was about to head to the bathroom. I remember someone (most likely my Mum) saying that that is not the place for eating. So I chewed as fast as I could and then politely excused myself. As gross as it may sound, the lesson I learned was that "we do not eat in the bathroom". One would hope that is the kind of lesson we do not need to learn, that we are just born with that knowledge, but apparently I wasn't.

No. 40 - KYLIE

Kylie and I worked together in the city. First she was my co-ordinator, then we both worked together at the same level.

I always admired the way Kylie would walk into a crazily busy stressed environment and work like a cool cactus until the work was done. I put my all into what I do and I stress much too often (Kevin will surely attest to this) so I will always be grateful to Kylie for teaching me to chill and go with the flow. I've been racking my brains trying to think exactly how Kylie taught me this lesson and it certainly wasn't something she told me. It was really just one of those times you could easily have stood back and watched the air change as she walked out on the floor. True magic.

I hope one day she lands her dream job of computer game tester = )

No. 39 - CAMERON

Cameron is my cousin, my Dad's brother's son.

Unfortunately I don't know many of my cousins well and most memories are over 20 years old! Recently however my Dad has re-established contact with Cameron. Cameron and his partner Lauren have a son, Max, who is just a few weeks younger than Brian.

We have a few other freaky similarities, both having boys that were due in July, Brian was born on Cameron's birthday and we have both been with our partners for the same number of years!

No. 38 - ROSALIE

I met Rosalie almost a year ago when we joined Playgroup. She is Mum to Jemma, who is 3.5 and later this year will add another bundle of joy to the family.

Rosalie is one of those wonderful women that exudes motherhood in every way possible. The kind of person that other mothers aspire to be. I am most thankful for all of the fantastic advice Rosalie has given me. In the first few weeks attending Playgroup I got a good insight of what it's like to be a Mum to older children and the ins and outs of birthday party planning etiquette. All those lessons that now I do not have to learn the hard way!

One of the coolest ideas Rosalie has shared with me is a photo book idea. When Jemma was younger, Rosalie went around the house taking photos of the everyday items in Jemma's life. She then put them in a small photo album and labelled each photo, "bath", "milk", "toilet", etc. This way Jemma could learn basic words and associate them with her own environment. It's a fabulous idea and a low cost one too!

No. 37 - MARMITES

The Marmites (Rod, Maryanne, Jessica and Adam) were neighbours of ours in Melbourne, Victoria. This isn't their real surname, but one that my Dad affectionately gave them.

I was too young to be able to remember many stories. One my parent's recounted recently was the afternoon that Maryanne and my Mum pulled a bottle of wine out of Dad's cellar and drank it. My Dad has a few gems in his cellar and Mum and Maryanne unknowingly drank one of them!

Not only were we neighbours back in the good old days when neighbours dined together regularly, we were neighbours back in the good old days when children's clothing rocked. I remember Jessica's clothes, they were beautiful. The nice dark burgandys and pinafore dresses.

No. 36 - BRODIE

Brodie and I were friends in early primary school. Those were the days when all we really needed was our imagination to play. Our favourite place was under the peppercorn trees, pulling up little weeds that had onion like bulbs on the end.

All I can recall of attending Brodie's birthday party was that her house was more rural than mine. And the front yard was muddy. There was some kind of pond, pool or water-feature there, that was as yet unfinished.

No. 35 - ASHLEY

Ashley and I went to uni together. He's one of those success stories your parent's don't want you to know about, the kind that started uni, stopped and gets a great job in the industry they were studying.

One of the films I worked on with Ashley was an advertorial piece on Gold Class cinemas. Ashley had a few contacts which was wonderful. We went behind the scenes, watching them make the snacks, etc. and they even put a movie on for us. Our uni schedule was so grueling that we left the cinema with it still playing and headed back to uni. = (

No. 34 - LYN

Lyn and I worked together in the city. She is one of the kindest, stylish, most caring and thoughtful people I know. Although initially I was Lyn's co-ordinator, when I knew she would be in the next day, I would spend the afternoon tidying up, because I felt I had to make it nice for her = )

Lyn is better than one of the best team members you could ever ask for. Our department was renowned for the most stress, tears and tantrums by both staff and customers alike. Lyn was wonderful at dealing with the worst of it, although as like all the team members in the department, was forced to take on stress that just shouldn't need to exist in a retail environment. We surely weren't being paid for it.

Later on, Lyn moved to a store closer to her home. I was heartbroken to be losing my best confidant but overjoyed as it now meant she would visit me on her days off. Lyn's style is second to none and fine dining, including high teas go along with that. Our favourite place to go was The Rose cafe, and the finger sandwiches were the must have!

I have let life get in the way of catching up with Lyn and I really must give her a call. She was kind enough to say she would visit after Brian's birth only when I was comfortable. I think 18 months is MUCH too long!

No. 33 - MATT

Oh no, here comes one of those embarrassing posts that I really don't want anyone to read. But as per an email with Laura, the list contains people who were important to you at some point.

Matt was one of our neighbours when we lived in northern NSW. He was the guitar playing, GNR loving, long haired, older boy, so I had to like him right? I think we'll blame him for my GNR, black t-shirt phase.

One funny story is that my brother, Matt and I were at his place, I think playing the computer. Matt was eating an apple. He ate it just like anyone would, bite all around it, leaving the core. But when he was done he ate the core too, in two bites, just like it was normal! My brother and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. Matt had no idea what was so funny.

No. 32 - DAVID

I met David in 2002 when I worked on his film clip. I was contracted by a production company and although no one said it, everyone knew the client had to be treated like royalty. A lot act like royalty too, but David didn't...sometimes. Sure he had the crazily expensive clothes, drinking, late nights and girls all sorted like the best band members do, but I did admire how he remembered us little people.

David wasn't overly demanding, obviously he remembers he's human just like the rest of us. After we finished an indoor shoot, I think I was holding the door open for him and as he left he thanked me. I can't recall exactly what he said. I know he had no idea who I was but he obviously knew I'd been working hard for his clip and that thanking me would probably make my day that much more worth it. It seems crazy to hold the fact that someone thanked me so high but unfortunately it doesn't happen often enough in many industries.

No. 31 - GLENN

Glenn was one of my Managers at the city.

He is a genuinely nice guy and will do anything to help out his team members. Glenn is also a hard worker, one that often doesn't get recognised for his efforts. A couple of years ago Glenn made the decision to drop back from management and take a role closer to home.

I ran into him a month or so ago and everything seems to be working out for him which is great. True to form, I think the thing that made Glenn most happy about running into me was that he got to meet Brian and see that I'm going well too.

No. 30 - MELISSA

Melissa and I were friends when we both lived in rural Victoria.

One of the things with moving around a lot as a child is that friends come and go. If memory serves me correctly Melissa moved away before we did. She's one of those people on my "I wonder how she's going now" list.

I remember sitting on the floor in Melissa's living room eating icecream with her and her siblings. The one thing Melissa taught me that I will never forget is that Milo was MEANT to go on icecream. You sprinkle it on as your topping...yum! These days I use more Milo than icecream it's THAT good!

No. 29 - BENRY

Benry was my pet budgie. It's a little hard for me to write this post as I'm full of regret that I let my life get in the way of caring for my little pal. Benry was there through it all for me. I remember letting him nibble the corner of my high school exit grades before I opened the envelope. He also nibbled the corner of every correspondence envelope (for good luck of course) as I went on the path of the grueling uni application process.

I had never had a bird before Benry and truth be told when we first got him I was probably just as scared of him as he was of me. Mum was delegated the duty of "get him out of the box and put him in the cage".

Benry's name came about during a Japanese class. I wasn't paying full attention and remember hearing the teacher say "benri". Instantly I knew that would be his name. Later I found out it meant "convenient".

Love you little guy.

No. 28 - PEBS

Pebs, known to her Mum as Michelle, used to work for my parents at their milkbar in rural Victoria.

Pebs is a few years older than me and I'm sure to her at the time I was the most annoying "wannabe little sister" that a girl could never have wished for. I don't remember a lot of stories from back then but I do remember that someone, who it's hard to remain nameless on this particular post, may have sprinkled some chocolate on the cake of someone who, let's just say wasn't their friend, and this chocolate may infact have been a laxative!

There is a photo floating around somewhere, one that both my brother and I hope is VERY lost, of us posed forced by Pebs to pose, holding hands in her parent's living room. I'm wearing shorts with dominos on them and it's anything but classy!

No. 27 - JUDY

Judy created our wedding cake.

The hunt to find the perfect person to make our cake was, as with most weddings, a long process. At the time Judy made cakes out of her home for weddings and local cafes. Her chocolate cake was divine, her price was right, and she was happy to be inspired by the picture we gave her. But best of all I was more than comfortable to let her do what she does best. There is nothing like finding talent, trusting it and letting go of your control.

We also shared an uncanny six degrees of separation. Sitting in her house, I looked up and noticed a Cybergirl poster on her wall. Cybergirl was at the time an Australian children's television series. The previous year I had attended a film course taught by the Production Manager of Cybergirl and we used the script as our case study. It turns out that Judy's daughter was one of the actors on the series.

Today Judy has her own store in Ashgrove. It's wonderful to see where talent can take you.

No. 26 - MR TANAKA

Mr Tanaka is Hiromi's father. My family hosted Hiromi when I was in high school, and ever since, our families have shared a long time host bond.

I have met Mr Tanaka twice, once in 1997 and again in 2004.

In 1997 Mrs Tanaka, Hiromi and I spent most of the day on the train to visit Mr Tanaka's school. He was the principal there and it was their sports carnival day. Never have I seen such a sporty looking principal. I've seen teacher's trying to look sporty but Mr Tanaka carried it off with an elegant style that is uniquely Japanese.

In 2004 Mr Tanaka took us on the best and busiest three day tour of our lives. We visited a historic Japanese town, watched cormorant fishing on the river and ate one of the most exclusive meals of our lives. Mr and Mrs Tanaka took Kevin and I out to a French/Japanese restaurant. It was poshly French using local Japanese produce. We have no idea what we ate because without Hiromi our communication was almost limited to hand gestures, the politest hand gestures of course. We did all find it funny that Kevin and I had the fish and Mr and Mrs Tanaka had the beef. This is all we chose, the remaining 7 or so petite sized courses were put in front of us, as we dined in our private room. One of my favourites, I believe, was a cold fruit soup, possibly nectarine or apricot.

Hiromi and I have each visited each other's home twice. We are certainly living miles apart but our families share a special bond and we know when we are in the other's country we will be treated like Royalty.

No. 25 - ANNE

Anne is Kevin's Aunt, his Mother's sister.

I really like Anne. She's the person I aspire to be sometime after my 365 to 30 days are over. I have always wanted to live a little out of town, be a wonderful gardner, grow my own vegies and cook them magnificently. Anne does all of this.

Three of my most favourite memories of Anne are:

1. Running into her and her family at the Christmas tree lot and wanting the same tree
2. Seeing her famous seafood chowder
3. Dinner at her place with all the cousins and that AMAZING dip

My other "must mention" Anne moment is that she bought Brian one of the coolest ever gifts. A red barn. Inside is a cow (or as Brian says "moo"), a duck (by far his favourite and is also called "moo"), a rooster and a pig (AKA Danger Pig - a separate post on my other blog about him one day soon). It was a hit when we opened it, my Dad even recording the rooster's cry on his phone. And it's still that much of a hit that when I saw "Santa's Workshop" in a similar style I HAD to get it. Apparently Anne has always wanted a real farm, it's a secret "one day" dream of mine too.

No. 24 - DARLENE

Darlene is my sister-in-law, Kevin's sister.

One of the hardest things about living in Australia is that we are so very far from Kevin's family. Mostly this means that I've only had the opportunity to meet Darlene on two occasions, it seems like more which is good, but really it's not nearly enough.

The thing I like most about Darlene is that she's fun. If you've ever played a game of Cranium you will know that Play-Doh is a an important game piece. On New Year's Eve 2006, we were playing a game and were a little disappointed to find the Play-Doh was no longer soft. Never fear, Darlene used her creativity to whip up a batch of dough from her kitchen supplies. I can't remember now if it worked as a substitute but the fun was in watching her make it amid a fit of laughter.

Some other fun moments with Darlene have been watching her pay for a truckload of underwear for her brother at Costco (every sister's worst nightmare), meeting up at coffee shops in town, playing glow in the dark mini golf, watching Borat, and getting to know the party girl on her Hen's night.

We have also had a few good food related experiences. I remember sitting at Darlene's kitchen table eating the best pizza ever. The base was wholemeal and the toppings were vegetarian, so it wasn't your normal "eat-like-a-man pizza", but it was soooo good. The most surprising bit is that it was from the freezer section at the grocery store. And I must admit that everytime I go shopping here I check the frozen pizza section in hope it's finally come to Australia!

We may not have spent a lot of time together but I'm pretty sure Darlene has me figured out to a T. This year's (2009) Christmas present was a heap of clear stamps, a book of stickers and a huge pad of patterned scrapbooking papers. Patterned papers can be a bit hit and miss but this pad was perfect! It's just the kind of thing I've been trying to find at my local craft store.

There are two main reasons why I would love for us to live closer. Darlene has a wonderful sense of style and always looks a million bucks. If we were to see each other more often I would be able to steal a few of those fashion tips = )

The second is that I have seen Darlene as fun, outgoing, a cook, a style guru and someone who has me figured out, but by far the reason I have wanted us to live closer, most recently, is to see how Darlene brings these characteristics to the role of Mom. I'm sure getting to watch her now would be the most fun we have shared.

No. 23 - PEDICURE

I know, what a strange thing to add to your list. The pedicure in question is, to date my first and only one. I have a voucher for another, and today my parent's might learn just how much of a perfect gift it was.

"The Pedicure" was one of the treats I had at the Marriott Resort in Surfers Paradise, just before Brian was born. Kevin was there for a conference and I tagged along too. I wonder how I get him in on that type of conference again?

Anyway, this pedicure was great. Relaxing and peaceful. But the reason it's on my list is because it made such a difference when I was in labour with Brian and the yucky days following. There is nothing better than looking down at cute pedicured pretty toes and finding peace. It's a pre-birth must do!

No. 22 - GILL

Gill is my Mum's oldest brother, my Grandparent's first born. He is a horticulturist by trade and to him it's most certainly not a job, but his lifelong love. Dad always tells the story that Gill, would only knock on the door of our home in Melbourne after he'd first pruned the entire front yard!

I remember back when I was in primary school we visited Captain Cook's Cottage in the Fitroy Gardens. I was both surprised and proud to run into my uncle who was working there.

Another of my earlier memories of Gill is walking in the back door to my Grandparent's home and seeing the fish on the wall in Gill's room, which was the sunroom by the backdoor. Clearly the fishing gene didn't pass down to me as I don't know the type of fish but I do know there must be a good story to go with it.

Gill is a man of many hidden talents, most of which I'm sure I don't know about. I do know he can grow anything, he can draw, he likes music, he has a good sense of humour and that he loves to fish. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I also suspect he's a good cook. Instinct tells me he's cooking talents lie with the more traditional dishes.

No. 21 - MUM

How appropriate that Number 21, Mum's birthday, be her day.

Mum and I have a great relationship and it's only now that I'm starting to realise just how much alike we are. My Nan and uncle are visiting from Melbourne and we recently made the trip north to my aunt's place to visit them. I wanted to take up a snack to share, so I spent hours in the supermarket finding just the right thing. A balance of diabetes friendly and healthy Vs luxurious, as I know my Nan doesn't treat herself nearly enough. I even said to Kevin "this is something my Mum would do". Sure enough she didn't take a treat with her but she did this past weekend, spend hours in the supermarket pouring over the yoghurt to pick out just the right one for her grandson. She was beside herself with excitement at spoiling him with a "Brian-a-misu". Yoghurt with an Italian sponge finger biscuit and fresh blueberries. Of course Brian didn't mind one little bit!

One thing I love about Mum is that she knew "I" was coming before she met me. A while back Dad played us a recording of the singing telegram he ordered for her, on her last day of work before leaving to have me. I was blown away by how awesome it was to hear that my Mum "wanted a girl because her husband already had a son" and that "her name would be Brooke". She knew me before we met.

On the many occasions I've asked Mum to accompany me to some craft event of one type or another she usually responds with "but I'm not crafty". I'm not quite sure why she says it sometimes because I know that she would jump at the chance just to go out with me. And Mum, you are crafty, but your spare time these days is spent bringing home the bacon, listening to music ironing and trying to stay awake past 8:28pm. My Mum can knit, crochet, sew and recognise a card that has been made using a Cricut machine from a mile away.

One of my Mum's best creative talents however is her ideas. We are a pretty fussy bunch when it comes to Christmas gifts and rather than waste money on something we wont like, this year Mum and Dad decided to give us some cash. But putting it inside a card wasn't good enough. Mum spent hours after work running to all the stores we like grabbing about 6 brochures from each, even making a special trip to one of my fave scrapbook stores to pick up their brochure. Unfortunately she discovered that most scrapbookers shop online and that scrapbook stores don't have catalogues, heck most of them don't even price their papers!

On Christmas morning we were presented with a bon bon style gift, fit for a giant and inside was a wad of brochures. I was happy as we haven't been receiving them for months now. I was then told to look a little further and found my envelope of cash. The idea was to look at the brochures and choose what you want. Wasn't Kevin happy to receive a lingerie brochure!!

I love how kind and thoughtful my Mum is. She is the only one to have kept a record of Kevin's citizenship. The anniversary of the day Kevin became an Aussie as well as the relevant year are on my Mum's calendar and she makes sure Kevin knows it, even when he has no idea it's coming up.

My Dad likes to joke that when they sell the house they can advertise that the oven is brand new as my Mum doesn't cook. He knows very well however, that she makes the best hedgehog known to man. The recipe is super-secret and well on it's way to becoming a family heirloom.

I've decided not to add photos to this blog but if I was to choose one for today it would be Mum, sitting in the backyard in Melbourne, sporting her favourite haircut of all time, and with her face freshly painted by her young children. Afternoons in the backyard at Melbourne still seem magical. We would picnic out there and just spend a lot of time outside. The smell of fresh cut grass, the warmth of the sun and family fun.

You know I love you Mum.

No. 20 - FREEBIE

How very Aussie that my parent's should name our cat "Freebie". It might make a little more sense after I tell you how she came to be ours.

As I understand it my parent's responded to an advertisement in the paper for a "free" cat. When my parent's and I showed up to the owner's house there was another couple there. The couple had arrived first but couldn't not let us have her. Maybe it was my good looks or that they belived every child should have a pet = ) I'm sure Dad will correct me here.

I can still remember waking up one night and feeling a heavy weight on my legs. Freebie liked to snuggle up and we liked it too.

No. 19 - PETER

Peter was another of my Japanese tutors. I believe that my parent's may have hired him to compliment the lessons I was having with Sensei (H)'s sucessor.

At the time Peter was a university student studying Japanese so his methods were more traditional. In my end of year message Peter wrote "I hope that you will continue to have an interest in Japanese in the future and that this extends to more than just the language". Did he know me, or did he know me?

No. 18 - MINISTER'S AWARD

Oowh my first "thing".

When I was in High School, film was probably my favourite subject. I liked most of my subjects but this was the one thing that I would spend most time on. I got good marks and knew that the teachers liked my work but it wasn't until I won the Education Minister's Award for Excellence in Art that I really begun to appreciate that others value my work too.

The prize for this award was spending a week with fellow winners attending art classes run by some of Brisbane's best.

No. 17 - CEDRICK

Cedrick was one of my Managers at the city store. You know when you first meet a new Manager it takes a little time to love them? Here's the story of how Cedrick become one of my favourite Managers:

I was having issues with a particular customer, the kind where you are both getting angry and frustrated. I was following policy and getting nowhere so I called a Manager and Cedrick responded. He came over and supported me 100%. He stood the ground I had been holding and wouldn't budge.

Today I still love that he did this. Most Managers would come over and do an about turn for the customer, making everything I had been saying a total waste of time. But Cedrick knew I was following policy and wasn't afraid to stand up and stick to it. I can't tell you how nice it was to have someone support you like that.

No. 16 - KIRSTEN

Kirsten is one of the Mums I met through Queensland Health after having Brian. She is one of the nicest, kindest, most thoughtful people I know. Kirsten is also extremely creative, although I'm not sure she realises her talent. She quilts, crochets, sews, scrapbooks and is a digital genius! And to top it off she is a fantastic cook. Kirsten has made non-alcoholic drinks to die for, cakes that make you wish you were all alone so you could eat it ALL, and quiches and lasagne that make you wish you could nudge her son Ethan over so she can feed you too!

Kirsten is a true friend in every sense of the word.

No. 15 - ALICIA

Alicia and I worked together in the city. When I started she was a co-ordinator, so from the get go she was someone I looked up to. I admired her go-getting attitude, not one of my strong points, and was happy for her when she got a desk job with the company. Obviously desk job Vs retail sales, desk job is WAY up there!

I love how her go-getting nature carried over to her personal life and recall the days when she was pouring over the real estate section of the newspaper, looking to purchase her first home. She also had this uncanny knack of knowing I was originally from Melbourne because of the way I pronounced "stationery".

N0. 14 - MISS M

Miss M was one of my high school Legal Studies teachers. The criteria for Legal Studies teacher must be that you are nice, because most of them were, but Miss M topped the list. You could really tell that she enjoyed her job and she really cared for her students. She was a fun teacher that also talked about her own life, I guess showing us that human side, sadly something a lot of other teachers lacked.

We often joked about what her new teaching job up north would involve, and I admire how she handled those "difficult" kids. She was even game enough to give us details of the location and time of her wedding.