Posted by Naomi on Jul 25, 2010 in
Family,
friends,
random sweet nothings... I have been struggling a bit with writing lately. The words are muffled in my head and not coming out right. So I trawled through my drafts and found this… I had forgotten to publish it. It’s from earlier this month when I was home In Tassie… It made me smile, it made me remember sometimes all you need is friends, family and time… so here it is.
Yesterday was one of those days you just can not plan. It was a cool, but sunny Tassie day and I headed with The Green Eyed Girl and The Blue Eyed Boy to BestPam’s home.
We decided to walk down to the beach for a bit of fresh air. About three blissful hours later we walked home, with four soggy, sandy kids. It was one of those days that just happen, no money was spent, no need to seek out some over priced, over hyped amusement, we had each other, the roar of the waves, and sunshine.
Sometimes I think we can forget about these simple pleasures as we chase the tarnished rainbow of adventure parks and new movies. Sometimes I think we forget all we need is our family… and by family I mean this and this and this.
Sometimes all we need is people who know us and love us, and a chance to chat, and laugh, and cry, and talk about what is really on our minds… or not. This particular week in July is one our family that was made all remember for a range of reasons. Reasons involving joy, and love, and loss and grief. It is a week filled with tears and laughter and remembering. It is a week filled with love. So, thank you my Family that was made.
Tags: Best Pam, freindship, wrapped in love
Posted by Naomi on Jun 11, 2010 in
Family,
friends,
random sweet nothings... 
So it’s Friday at last. I really did think it would never, ever get here this week. I have been absent from my blog most of the week for a few reasons, but mainly because this time last week I was just getting home to a full house. My BestPam was here with her own lovely children & GOB* and as I walked in the door wine was offered… and ahh…. well, fun ensued… *ahem*
I love having BestPam here. She is family. She just is. I believe that family is what you make it… and for me that means people that I am tied to by blood and those I am tied to by love. Yes L.O.V.E. love. I have written before about the family that was made… and on facebook my favourite quote is from Carrie in Sex and The City, because, really, truer words were never uttered…
The most important thing in life is your family. There are days you love them, and others you don’t. But, in the end, they’re the people you always come home to. Sometimes it’s the family you’re born into and sometimes it’s the one you make for yourself.
I am lucky. My family is made up of the one I was born into and the one I made for myself. But really, I didn’t make it for myself, I made it with other people… some, like BestPam have been a part of it for a long time. What I love about having this family is that we can, without fear, be ourselves. Just as we are. Not always in our best, well planned outfit… with a good hair day and our best manners… but in PJ’s and trackies, and bed hair, and too much wine… we can laugh till we cry and have to race to the loo for fear of weak bladders, we can see each other for who we are, not what we wear, or what our hair looks like, or where we live.
So, thanks BestPam for another great time together. I miss you already.
*GOB = Grumpy Old Bugger (who, despite grumpiness we all love anyway and who, truth be known isn’t that grumpy really.)
Image source
Tags: Best Pam, Friday I'm in love with you
So, here it is Wednesday again… and a whole week between posts. It’s been a busy week here and there have been reasons to smile. That is, after all, what this weekly post is all about! Looking for, searching out, reflecting on the happy. So, Happy Hump Day to you all… and here are my smile worthy moments.
My darling BestPam was here. In my house. In my kitchen. Drinking bubbly with me. It was great, as it always is. We laughed, we talked, we drank, we laughed some more… we did french manicures…. at about 2am… after a wee drop of wine… as you do…
Watching my Blue Eyed Boy soaking up the history, the injustice, the tragedy that was The Titanic and the exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. He has an amazing capacity for historic detail, and for seeing the injustice in social inequality.
Seeing Mia Freedman in real life! In the most gorgeous pink heels.
Watching my family, which includes BestPam, her GOB and her delightful kids, at the football… and our team winning! …. and just the fact that we are at a footy game, yelling out players names, yelling at the umpire… if you knew this family that was made at all… you’d be as mystified as we are at the fact we are there at all, let alone having the time of our lives!
So, Happy Hump Day to you all…. and, what made you smile this week?
Nay xxx
PS remember you can enter your own Hump Day Happiness link here!
Tags: Best Pam, blue eyed boy, freindship, hump day
Posted by Naomi on Apr 11, 2010 in
Family,
friends Well, we have returned from our holiday, unpacked the suitcases, washed the clothes, made the house all messy & lived in again… I feel relaxed, refreshed, and ready to take on the world again… and here are some of the reasons why…
A full moon at the family shack in the Tassie Central Highlands
Being here, and not seeing a single soul apart from Hubby & the kids.
...all is love...
The privilege of being in the World Heritage Pencil Pine Lagoon area and standing next to this...
and this...
...and this....
Eating out with Hubby on Hobart's waterfront
Time with BestPam, my sisters, kids, family... and enjoying a good Tassie Sparkling or two!
Tags: Best Pam, children, Drinking, freindship, wrapped in love
Posted by Naomi on Mar 13, 2010 in
Family,
friends,
random sweet nothings... 
Eighteen years ago on the 13th of March my life changed. Eighteen years ago it was Friday the thirteenth. Unlucky for some, but not for me. Eighteen years ago I rang BestPam in tears and she said to meet her at Franklin Square in Hobart. I did. I traipsed across Macquarie Street with my 70’s green swirled doona, a bag, and an engagement ring sitting heavily and uneasily on my finger.
Eighteen years ago, as I walked to the car BestPam was near I saw a blonde haired boy climbing the side of a building. He jumped down. I looked. I saw. I loved. Just like that.
BestPam introduced me. We all climbed in the car. Climbing guy sat in the back with me. He was wearing leather walking boots, thick explorer socks. A pair of outdoor Kathmandu shorts, a grey and blue striped t shirt. He had green eyes. He was the polar opposite to the one I was engaged to.
Over that weekend a lot happened. I went out and danced. I talked, I cried. I waited, and watched, and wondered if he felt like I did?
On the phone I did what I had to do. I told the other one that it was over. He called me names. He scared me, again. It was already over before I even saw the one.
In BestPam’s bed I cried. She sat with me. He brought me milo, and toast, with smiley faces painted on with water.
In a few weeks it was sorted. Uni students don’t exactly have assets to split.
In a few weeks I had a new life, a happy one, where I could say what I wanted, wear what I wanted, be who I wanted.
I had love. Take your breath away, make you smile like a fool, love… and I still do. Eighteen years later he still holds my hand. Still indulges my whims. Still knows what makes me tick. Still teases me, and baits me. Still looks out for me, cooks tea for me, puts me before himself. Cherishes me.
Thank you Hubby, and happy day-we-met anniversary.
Tags: Best Pam, wrapped in love
Posted by Naomi on Feb 28, 2010 in
friends 
I have in my wardrobe a well worn black velvet blazer. I have had it since I was 18 and still wear it every year, that’s 20 years of wearing it. It was second hand when it came to me. My best friend bought it for 50 cents in Vinnies. She gave it to me, as she is tall, and it didn’t fit her lovely long, lean limbs for long.
When we were in uni, I covered the silver buttons with velvet, this is the only change I’ve made. The pockets are just the right size for lipstick, and a small credit card plastic slip cover that also fits my license – I used to need it for ID, now I take it incase I’m in an accident.
The blazer is timeless, it still fits me like a glove. It has a well worn feel, and a softness to it. When I put it on I always feel great. It’s like coming home. That’s what it feels like when I see my friend. Home. It is home. She is home.
We have been friends since primary school. We have had the same, now very cringe worthy, boy crushes. We have roller skated in disco glory, sang with hair brushes to Wham! Worn gumboots and thrown fire crackers into puddles at just the right moment for them to explode in a flurry of mud and water and smoke… we have been wearing each others clothes for what seems like forever. Say the words ‘burger rings’ and we’ll both smile. We started our teaching careers at the same school. We have been through heartbreak, relationships, pregnancy, child birth.
I know how incredibly lucky I am to have her as a friend… have her as part of my life for so long. She knows me better than I know myself most likely. We are separated now by a state and a sea. We have facebook, and twitter and texts and the phone. We have planes, and the ability to slip into each others houses without the need to ask if it’s convenient.
And when we are not near, I miss her. But, I have a black velvet blazer with black satin lining, material full of memories and friendship and love. I wear it for style, and warmth. But mostly I wear it for the way her life and mine are woven into the weft and the warp of the cloth. 
Tags: Best Pam, Clothes, freindship, vintage, wrapped in love
