Obi worked overtime the Thursday and Friday (thank god, because the financial stress was starting to get to me) so when he got home late Friday night he just wanted to have fun. So I humored him and we played video games til three in the morning. Of course, I didn't realise we were up so late, because I didn't take into account how late he got home... so I felt a bit like a shit parent when I realised it was bumping 3am and Isis still hadn't had her bath. She was just sitting in her rocker by my desk, dozing. So I bathed her, fed her, stuck her in the cot and was actually really surprised that five hours later I was able to get up and function like a regular adult.
(We always put her to bed when we go to bed, usually around 11-midnight. We tried having a bed time like other parents do, but I found she woke up more often and had energy waaay earlier than I'm prepared to deal with. She doesn't seem any worse for wear.)
Getting Obi out of bed to go pick up the hire-car was another matter, but eventually it happened. And then the sky opened up
He was gone a long time. A very long time. I started to do that thing, you know where you pick up your phone to call, and then you're like "no, I'm being stupid" and you put it back down, only to repeat the process a few minutes later. I was worried he'd had an accident. But, I didn't want to contact him in case he hadn't and me distracting him with his phone caused an accident. Yes, this is the shit that goes on in my head. Anyway I couldn't take it any longer and I sent a text saying "If you're alright, but you're not going to be home in the next couple of minutes, please pull over and let me know you're alright". He walked through the door about three minutes later. And I hugged the shit out of him. Not literally, that's gross.So it was midday by the time we got the car on the road. We then proceeded to take wrong turns, almost immediately. As navigator, it's my job to re-correct the route every time Obi takes a wrong turn. Which is easy to do, being the signs in Sydney are shit-house. Seriously. I'm sure the council thinks we don't need the street names posted because they assume people know where they are going or something, and then signs that tell you where an exit is, or the upcoming intersection goes here, are often in the stupidest place. So you're never sure if you're turning exactly where you should be. The signs in the rest of the state are just as bad - we got lost coming home because we turned where the sign said, then on the next block there was a roundabout - but there was no sign on the roundabout to take us back to Sydney so we went straight and ended up... I don't even know where.
We back-tracked to the same roundabout, took a different turn, and then a block after the roundabout there was finally a sign. Ugh.We need to get GPS. I have one on my phone, but for some reason always prefer to just use the map, old style. Except sometimes you have to make a snap decision - like turn here, or go left on the highway not right, and I don't trust myself enough to just pick one
and I don't have time to think. At the same time, it feels dumb to buy shit for a car that we don't have - like a GPS, a baby seat (borrowing on atm) or one of those mirrors so you can safely spy on your offspring without breaking your neck.Anyway, so we drove in a big freaking circle. And the traffic was insane, and of course it's pissing down which just makes it harder to figure shit out. I get mad travel sickness too, so but the time we got on the freeway I about wanted to die. But we managed. I remembered a lot from the last time we did this trip though, so it wasn't all bad
But it took us four hours to do a trip that should have been three at the absolute most, so by the time we got to the sleepy town of Morpeth everything was shutting for the day and owlet was pretty ticked off too. She had her nappy in a twist because she'd chosen to watch the world go by instead of sleeping in the car like a normal child. So we went and checked into our motel, and put her down for a nap - which effectively stranded us in the room. We had wanted to have a go at the table tennis in the lobby (apparently Obi shares my passion for pong) but we weren't about to run off while Isis was sleeping, nor were we stupid enough to wake the dragon.. er, I mean owl.
So, what do you do in a hotel room with no entertainment (ignoring the TV because we're not into that)? I bet you can think of something fun
So we headed for the shower. Which promptly freaked me out - because it hadn't been cleaned properly. I try not to look too close in hotel rooms, despite my training, but these people hadn't even tried to make it look like they cleaned it. There were really long hairs and grass in the shower. You couldn't miss it. Anyway, I don't know why but the water also smelled awful. But, I put it out of my mind and we went off to have some play time, that we didn't finish because eventually the baby woke up, and our dinner reservation was drawing closer. But whatever, we had fun.And I was pretty excited for dinner. What Obi didn't mention to the guy on the phone was that we'd have a baby with us. I think if he had, the place would have been like "Oh we don't cater to that". The place was fancy! It was upstairs from the bakery in a really old building (everything in Morpeth is super old, that's why it's cool) so I was grateful we chose the capsule not the stroller! It was also very "intimate" which is the word I'm choosing for "the tables were very close together" so if the baby started to wail we would make a lot of people uncomfortable.
Anyway, so we get seated, but I sense something's not right with Obi. He's worried that Isis is going to chuck a spack as unhappy hour was nearing. My logic said that because we got up late, she probably didn't know it was unhappy hour, and I thought we'd be alright. But, she was making faces, and babies are just a drama waiting to happen, so I didn't want to force the issue. We looked at the menu, but Obi keeps bringing up that he's worried. I'm like "we can go if you want to" and he's like "no..." but you could tell if we didn't the anxiety would ruin the whole evening for him. So we explained to the waiter and left. I was way disappointed though.
Partly because I don't handle things as well when I'm hungry, and partly because I always promised myself that I'd never let having a baby stop me doing the things I wanted to do.... and then I just had. Obi's like "We can come back some time" and I'm like, "Oh, when? In twenty years time when the kids are grown up and we're back in Australia?"
Anyway so we head to the only other dinner place in town. After seeing the menu with the fresh oysters and fancy lamb etc, wood fired pizza just didn't compare, but I know better than to harp. What was done, was done. There was no good making us miserable. So over we go. Except when we get there, it's shut. It was about 8pm at this point. I guess business was slow so they went home. Well shit, now what?!
So we troll for a place to eat, and find a pub. Obi runs in to see if the kitchen is still open, and comes back to tell me it is. So imagine my surprise, when as we are sitting down some guy is like "Are you here to eat? The kitchen is closing, you better order right away!" Turns out Obi had gone in, seen a waitress clearing tables and assumed food was being cooked. So we order.
I asked for this crab dish in chilli sauce on rice, he ordered a slab of cow. We'd put the capsule on a chair and gently rocked Isis, she was happy. She slept mostly, but when she was awake she was all smiles. The whole time. Not a peep. I think that pissed us both off.
The least she could have done was justify our giving up the fancy date.Anywhoo, the kitchen guy brings out lemon water and a thing to break the crab shell (don't know the name of the tool) and I'm like
I'm sure I ordered something in chilli sauce. There was sauce right? They wouldn't cover the outside of the crab shell with sauce, right? Wrong!So I have to dig into the thick red sauce (that tasted like arse, btw. I swear it was canned tomatoes and chopped chilli, with nothing else.) pull out the crab, then break into it for the meat which on the bright side, had no sauce on it
It was really nice! I was covered in the sause though, and wearing a white top, which I began to fear for. Really, it was the stupidest thing I've seen in a while, but that aside, my hands are still having issues (they had an infection, the skin's healing but still cracked and sensitive) so they were stinging like nothing else. I had my hopes pinned on the rice, but it was so overcooked it wasn't even funny. It was obvious it wasn't freshly made either. I couldn't force myself to eat it.I left hungry. The saving grace however was Obi chased down an alcopop for me (A cruiser) and because I'd eaten so little it made me happy in no time at all. Then we hit Maccas for desert (which we had to drive out of town to find). Things were starting to look up. I figured we'd go back to the hotel, have some greatly anticipated sex and the day wouldn't have been a complete waste.
Yeah, that didn't happen. Our room had two singles, no double, as the double rooms were booked. That was fine, I like sleeping in a single with Obi. I'd get one for home if I could convince him. And it gave us a place to leave Isis. Pretty sure if she did learn to roll over at the worst moment, she couldn't do it while swaddled. So she had one single and we took the other. But before we put her down she was laying on our bed, and Obi was sitting beside her, playing with her. As I walked over something caught my eye....