The Two Little Caterpillars

There once lived two little caterpillars in a garden which was dry and sparse. There wasn’t many green leaves to munch on and it always rained so the ground was muddy. This was not a nice home for two little caterpillars, to make things worse they shared the only shrub in the garden with any leaves on it with a scary and very ugly spider. The spider wasn’t at all friendly, he used to take all the leaves of the shrub and keep them to himself, he used to chase the caterpillars and frighten them. He was the meanest spider in the whole garden. The caterpillars wanted to leave but were too scared to travel through the mud and they were even more scared that they might not find any leaves to eat. They tried to leave the shrub a few times during the winter time but always came back because it was too cold and they were scared. The scary spider continued his mean tirade on the poor little caterpillars until one day the bigger and stronger of the two caterpillars decided that it was the right day to escape the mean spider. It was a sunny day and it hadn’t rained for quite a while, the mud had dried up and so it was the perfect opportunity for them to escape. The big caterpillar took the lead and they travelled through the yucky dry garden until the reached a patch of beautiful green grass with leaves for miles to see. They made it, they escaped the mean spider and the ugly garden. The two little caterpillars went on to have many adventures and travel to many amazing gardens. They never had any trouble finding leaves and every time it rained they could find shelter. On one sunny day when the wind was hot they climbed a big tree together and rested, they rested for days as they were very tired from all of their adventures. They dreamed of all the new adventures they wanted to have until one day but only a few days after they went to sleep they both woke up. They woke to the sun shining on them and they realized they had beautiful orange wings, wings which could take them everywhere, to any garden they wanted. They went on to be very happy and have adventures beyond their wildest dreams. This is how the two little caterpillars became the two beautiful butterflies.There once lived two little caterpillars in a garden which was dry and sparse. There wasn’t many green leaves to munch on and it always rained so the ground was muddy. This was not a nice home for two little caterpillars, to make things worse they shared the only shrub in the garden with any leaves on it with a scary and very ugly spider. The spider wasn’t at all friendly, he used to take all the leaves of the shrub and keep them to himself, he used to chase the caterpillars and frighten them. He was the meanest spider in the whole garden. The caterpillars wanted to leave but were too scared to travel through the mud and they were even more scared that they might not find any leaves to eat. They tried to leave the shrub a few times during the winter time but always came back because it was too cold and they were scared. The scary spider continued his mean tirade on the poor little caterpillars until one day the bigger and stronger of the two caterpillars decided that it was the right day to escape the mean spider. It was a sunny day and it hadn’t rained for quite a while, the mud had dried up and so it was the perfect opportunity for them to escape. The big caterpillar took the lead and they travelled through the yucky dry garden until the reached a patch of beautiful green grass with leaves for miles to see. They made it, they escaped the mean spider and the ugly garden. The two little caterpillars went on to have many adventures and travel to many amazing gardens. They never had any trouble finding leaves and every time it rained they could find shelter. On one sunny day when the wind was hot they climbed a big tree together and rested, they rested for days as they were very tired from all of their adventures. They dreamed of all the new adventures they wanted to have until one day but only a few days after they went to sleep they both woke up. They woke to the sun shining on them and they realized they had beautiful orange wings, wings which could take them everywhere, to any garden they wanted. They went on to be very happy and have adventures beyond their wildest dreams. This is how the two little caterpillars became the two beautiful butterflies.

 

I wrote this for my mum. It is about my Mum being strong enough to walk away from my Dad to give us a better life. We are the two little caterpillars. 

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V -Day

Recently as you I’m sure you all know was the one day of the year when saying ‘I love you’ meant spending $50.00 or more.

I have never been one for the old Valentine’s Day, I don’t dislike it because it’s a commerical con but I dislike the pressure & disspaointment it inevitably brings to well just about everyone, single or attached. It puts this pressurre on everyone that they must do something romantic, they must buy a present, they must say ‘I love you’, they must feel loving and they must have mind blowing, passionate sex. All these ‘acts of love’ are undertaken out of force not want and that is not what love or relationships are about. Just because its Feb 14^th doesn’t mean I feel like gazing into your eyes while watching the sunset. I might have felt like doing that yesterday or the week before, infact on Feb 14^th I felt like eating take away and watching terrible television and hey that’s okay, im allowed to.

I have always really grown up around boys and worked in male dominated offices, however, this year I discovered the true meaning of Valentine’s Day and it wasn’t pretty. It all started on the way to work, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were alight with declarations of love and devotion. I arrived at my mainly female office at 9am and then it started, rose delivery after rose delivery after rose delivery which meant fake jelous comments after fake jelous comments ‘OMG! They are beautiful you are so lucky!’ followed quickly by ‘Oh me and my man are going on a romantic date later’ or my favourite ‘Oh wow! They are huge! He must really love you!’ Really did I just hear that from a 30 year old woman? For a second there I thought I was back at high school examining the size of my friends hickeys. Actually come to think of it that would have been better. This went on for most part of the day, there were exaggeratted tales about romantic dates to be had that night, about fancy dinners being cooked by partners and gifts they were hoping for later. Employers must see a big decline in productivity on Valentine’s Day. For one second there I think they even managed to get in my head, just for a second though. It was like a Valentine’s Day competition or the Love Olympics, who would take the prestigious title of ‘Most Loved Girl in the Office’

That night I went home rather exhausted from hearing a group of women trying to out do one another all day and jumped on Facebook as you do to only be inundated with images of fluffy bears, fancy dinners & roses. I couldn’t get away from the beast! Now, I know what you all must be thinking ‘what a synical, bitter, single cow’ right? Wrong! Infact, Im in a very loving relationship with plenty of romance and unscheduled mind blowing sex.

There we both were eating our noodles from the box in our pyjamas, watching something pointless on television and I smiled, this is it, unpressured and unforced love and comfort and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Afternoon Zen Time….

Beer Garden Oasis at Home

Create your own little beer garden oasis at home to save money on expensive drink prices, food & taxis. The best thing is there are no cave men bouncers banning you based on your foot attire and you can fall asleep in the hammock

Mid Life Crisis? – Mid Twenties Crisis!

We are always hearing about THE mid life crisis, a 40 something year old balding man buying a red hot sports car or motorbike depending on the severity of his crisis, ditching his beloved and devoted wife to shack up with Barbie’s sister. What we don’t hear about is the ‘Mid Twenties Crisis’- a crisis which cannot be cured with money because we don’t have any, a crisis which cannot be satisfied with unattached sex because, well, sex is on tap anyway. It’s this strange stage in life where you seem to be endlessly thinking about the future yet going around and around in circles. Career? Travel? Single? Relationship? Rent? Buy? Working Holiday? Baby? Family? You constantly find yourself on a hamster wheel of ideas but never quite stopping for long enough for one to really take over. We are apart of a generation where patience isn’t a virtue, it’s an inconvenience. Why would I wait to get to the restaurant to view the menu? I’ll just jump on some hipster app and check it out, do I like it? do my friends like it? did some guy review it a few weeks ago?

Why would I wait patiently while my photos from my trip were printed to show my friends? I can upload them IRT (that’s ‘in real time’ – see we don’t even have the patience to write a full sentence).

Why would I go into a bank, buy movie tickets at the movies, wait to see what my blind date looks like, wait to buy that album, go to a shop and why on earth would I open a book when Google is at my fingertips? We want everything now which would be okay if we had the experience and cash to follow through.

I’m about to turn 25, in a stable and great relationship, rent a house in the city and have a great job. Is it enough? Oh no! It was for about 6 months until I found myself thinking I should really buy a house, get myself set up, get an asset and start planning for a family. I don’t have  enough for a deposit, in fact earning what I earn I couldn’t have enough for a deposit in 5 years. Next train of thought- Maybe I should go back and study again to get a job which pays more. No that wouldn’t work, how would I pay my rent? Then I think well maybe I should….tick tick tick tick…….sorry for the interruption that was just my biological clock ticking away, my body is suddenly screaming at me to have babies. Why do I think teeny tiny socks are amazing all of a sudden? Okay- back on track, where was I? Yes the career topic, okay so I need to stay put and hopefully, just hopefully I will climb the ladder and get a pay rise to pay rent and save for a house. Hang on a minute! I hadn’t even thought about a wedding…how would we pay for that too?! The career opportunities for my industry are mainly in the city so I’ll have to buy a house somewhere in the city or outer suburbs…haha yeah right! I’ll be 200 years old before I pay that house off so I’ll move, I’ll move to a cute coastal town, yeh somewhere lovely to raise my kids…. REALITY… where will you work to live out this little dream?!….. I know it’s impatience at it’s finest but us ‘Gen Y’ers’ don’t know the meaning of the word and to be honest it’s not our fault. Tick Tick Tick…..Shhhh!! Stuff it! Maybe I will throw it all in, buy a van and travel around Australia earning money in some bohemian like way. Buy a van? Have no plan?! Am I serious?! What about the house, career and family. See what I mean? It’s just a constant circle of thoughts, like the Penrose’s never ending stairs. It’s rather exhausting. I mean I even find myself thinking about retirement! Retirement!

There are three kinds of 25 year olds, the ones who are settling, starting families, paying mortgages and then theres the free spirited ones who travel, party hard, work part time, live with their parents and do not have any responsibility. Then there are the ones like me, we are the limbo twenties, neither here nor there and can’t lock in either. The restless ones. I look at the settling 25 year olds and I think, how? How are you paying off a mortgage, work part time, have kids, have your own business not to mention the Hilux & Kluger sitting in the driveway. Two answers come to mind rich parents or drug dealers. It must be, how else do you explain that? When you speak to all of these ‘types’ they normally want what the other have anyway.

Perhaps I over analyse things and maybe I am in too much of rush but I know I am not alone in the phenomenon. Is this a Mid Twenties Crisis or is this simply a case of the grass is always seems greener?