12 Already

So Jr Her was 12 this weekend. She has been looking forward to this for a whole year. Always trying to figure out what to do for her birthday, how to spend the day (and our money), make a big thing of it.

But when push came to shove this year, she decided on a sleepover with two friends. I think it had something to do with the fact another classmate had his party the same weekend (she didn't get invited to that one for some reason). Not that she was worried anyway. So, a sleepover with two friends I will happily accommodate, being the mega bitch from hell and all.

Him had accumulated a heap of movie passes from an incentive scheme at work, so we decided to take her and her friends to the movies. She chose which movie she wanted to see, one which Him and I did NOT want to see, but I sent him off to buy tickets all the same.

Friday he wandered down to Marion to book the tickets in case the movie was booked out Saturday. He phoned me to tell me what he had done. He had enough vouchers to purchase 3 kids movies to see 17 Again, and two adult tickets to see Watchmen GOLD CLASS!!! plus, by adding $10 he was able to get the girls popcorn and a drink each. I bought us a seafood platter for $40 in Gold Class.

So, the day of the party arrives. Jr Her finds out she is going with me to the doctor early. I had to get the last of my test results (they weren't in yet, but basically I am either peri-menopausal or just stressed) and Jr Her was got her first cervical cancer shot. She actually had herself quite worried about the needle, being like her father and having a healthy respect for them.

When the doctor gave her the jab, she was quite worried, eyes screwed shut, teeth gritted... he jabbed it in and she exclaimed "is that it?" my little brave child.

Anyway, because we had been waiting for an hour to get into the doctor, we then had to rush down to the shopping centre for party food. I hadn't had time to get any earlier in the week. It's now almost 12 and the guests were due at 1.00. While we were driving to the shop we heard our good friend Tess on the radio. Go Tess!

So, we grabbed a few party things and raced home. Got the stuff put away and the friends arrived on time. As we didn't want to arrive right on time we headed off early, about 1.30, to the movies. Turns out the other party was going to see the same movie. We briefly caught up with a friend we hadn't seen since the wedding reception a year ago. On the way in I had seen a sign advertising "Nothing over $10!" As the girls all had money for the arcade (their movie finished half an hour before ours) I asked if they wanted to waste it on games or go to this shop for a look. They opted for the shop.

So, while Him bought the popcorn and chatted to the aforementioned parents, I took the girls back to the shop. One bought a pair of shorts that ended up being way too big, Jr Her scored two pairs of shorts, a lovely cream suit type vest, and a red and black checked dress that was too small, so her little cousin will inherit that for her birthday later in the year! The other little lass didn't have any money so I bought her a lovely red and black tartan top that fitted perfectly and she loved it. Yay for $10 sales! Mind you, the fine print did read "sale items only" which was just a few racks at the front...

Anyway, we all trudged back to the theatre and we took them to their cinema, right next to gold class, and we went to ours. The movie was fantastic, the food, while being expensive, was worth it, and all in all, it was great to spend the afternoon alone with my man.

After the movies we gathered up the girls and took them home. We let them play and make noise for awhile then gave them the party food. When they were almost stuffed we brought out the cake. Jr Her loved it because she had asked for a Mango ice cream cake, and being the mega bitch from hell, I gave her just that. She was very happy.

They all settled into the beds we had made up in the lounge, and watched TV for awhile. Well, actually they all played their DS's. At about half ten I couldn't stay awake anymore and asked them to down toys and go to sleep. Three times. But after the last apparently they did. The dog started barking then so I put him on the chain.

Next morning the had to wake up early because one was being picked up before nine. I had her up and dressed, and as always, had them clean up their mess before breakfast. They did. The early leaver said she wasn't hungry so I cooked up scrambled eggs, bacon, fried Fritz, and toast, and the non hungry child ate 3 pieces of toast... leaving the littlest with none... but, just as she buttered her 3rd mum arrived so she took it with her. The kids didn't want the bacon so Him and I made short work of that. My favourite breakfast treat. Bacon. Mmmm.

After the other lass had left we decided to go for a walk to take the videos back. It's quite a walk, although doesn't sound it when I say it was about a 4km round trip. We decided to push it a little further and go to the news agent further up so Him could buy himself a magazine to read. The dog enjoyed the walk too I think.

The rest of the day was spent lazing around and just relaxing. Very nice to do that now and then. Apart from the washing and cleaning up, I didn't do any other housework.

Oh, and the reason Him needed a magazine? He ran out of smokes on Jr Her's birthday and decided not to buy anymore. He hasn't had a smoke since. I am very, very proud of him. How he progresses, well, I'll keep you posted...