O WEEK

Well my twins have survived their first big test. “O” week has come and gone and 3 things have happened –

1. Both remain alive;

2. Neither is in jail; and

3. They are still at Uni.

I have not heard that much from them but Twin No 2 assured me via a Facebook conversation that she liked the first day of formal study. Not much I agree but at least it is something.

At the time of writing, I wait expectantly for any form of communication from Twin No 1 about her first day.

Although I have been deliberately starved of specific information, I have used the age old mother’s method of asking one sister for “the dirt” on the other sister to find out a little of their adventures during “O” week.

Although neither one will admit it, I got the impression that both of them were overwhelmed by the full on pace of “O” week. I think that it came as a bit of a shock to be living with a mob of over-active students intent on making life hard for the Freshers.

Twin No 1 in particular was not impressed with having to wear a “stupid” Fresher’s bandana (emblazoned with the Fresher’s new nickname), particularly when the penalty for being caught without it on was being made to wear the bandana plus a bib.

I managed to “lift” a picture from Facebook of Twin No 2 & friends wearing their bandanas

Twin No2 is second from the left and apparently she is now know as “Ben”

 

I am sorry that I only have a little bit of intelligence to report but I will let you know all that I have been able to obtain.

Twin No1 let slip that “the boys” had got into Twin No 2’s room and stripped her bed. I hope that was all they stripped!!

The “under age” Freshers were set a challenge to get into a licenced night club using “borrowed” ID from older students. Unfortunately both of my daughters succeeded in this challenge.

I also learnt that after being kept up all night until 3-30 am, the Freshers were woken a short time later at 4-30 am and hauled out of bed to go on a “morning” run. All I can say about the senior students who did this is that they are much braver than me. I am not game to wake them even after 8 hours of sleep lest I be subjected to a day of extreme grumpiness.

Twin No 1 admitted that she was so tired that one time she forgot her towel when she went for a shower and had to put on her clothes over a wet body. (I had to chuckle to myself – At home she would have just had to call out – “Mum get me a towel” and like a dutiful slave I would have obeyed.)

I am sorry that I have not got anymore to report. However, I am sure that there were plenty more shenanigans but it is probably good that a mother will never know about them.

I have one parting thought, however. When they lived at home they thought that staying up all night was one of the coolest, not to mention most defiant, things they could do. I am sure now that they have been cured of this for life.

MY GIRLS ARE GONE

My girls have are no longer living with us. They have “flown the nest” and now officially reside in Townsville at James Cook University (JCU).

The big day was last Saturday (and I mean BIG day).We had fully packed both their little car and the Prado the night before and when I say fully packed I mean fully. Everyone managed to be awake by 5am and we actually made the planned departure time of 6 am (sort of).

Empty Bedrooms

The trip to Townsville was un-eventful apart from me nearly running over a “Stop and Go” man at one of the numerous road works. I was thinking about my girls leaving home and did not see him. He got a bit angry and waived his stop sign at me but I stopped in time and that is all that matters. Anyhow, he should have known to be on the lookout for teary eyed mothers driving their daughters’ stuff to Townsville so it was his fault. (Yes my daughters made sure that they were safely away from me in their own car so the rest of us only had their stuff for company.).

Oh, and did I mention that I was strictly forbidden from bringing the video camera.

When we got to JCU it was all a bit of a blur. What I can say though is the Uni is well practiced with getting the new students settled and, more to the point, dealing with parents. Without even realising it, they managed to lure and corral the parents in a lecture theatre. The “lecture” was sold to the parents as being an essential talk about finances. But it was in fact mainly about getting parents out of the way and making it clear that we were to stay out of the way.

It was actually well done. They had us singing songs and taking part in various “audience participation” activities. One part that made us all laugh was a couple of slides showing how the parents see the students as opposed to how the Uni sees them. (The slide for the parents was a 5 year old off to school for the first time and the Uni slide was of adults).

When we realised what was going on it was too late but I thought that I would make up for it by staying with them all next day – Sunday. Well the Uni people were a wake up to that as well. The residential college had arranged a day off campus for the new and returning students well away from parents.

After lugging printers, clothes, mini fridges etc. up stairs all day and running into the nearest shopping centre to get last minute things we had not thought of, I was completely exhausted and in no condition to put up a fight.

And to rub salt into my wounds, whilst Twin No 1  may have been a little bit apprehensive, Twin No 2 took to it all like a duck to water and seemed oblivious to the fact that her mother was close to a breakdown.

Here they are in Twin No 2’s room whooping it up with new friends (and my little buddy)

In Twin No 1’s room – And you can see by the looks on faces who was upset and who was not.

I did manage to convince them to go out for one last meal at Sizzler on Saturday night and then it was goodbye.

At Sizzler for the “last supper”

A final hug and then they drove away into the night (Sob Sob).

The girls are now gone and I am still grieving – But every cloud has a silver lining and there are some upsides:

• I can use the shower and bathroom any time I want;
• My food bills have plummeted;
• I no longer have to nag and nag for one of them to shift their car so I can back out of the drive;
• AND (This is the big one) with Twin No 2 gone, the whole big family economy packet of Streets Drum Stick Ice Creams did not disappear 15 minutes after getting  home from the supermarket. And there I was starting to believe Twin No 2 that neighbour kids must be sneaking in downstairs and getting into the freezer and eating them.

One final thing – It is now 48 hours since I last saw them and the only contact they have made with me so far is to (you guessed it) ask for money. No – “Are you feeling all right mum” or “we miss you mum” or anything like that. Just – “We need X amount of dollars for books”.

GOOD NEWS – QTAC RESULTS

 

Explanations:

• · QTAC – QUEENSLAND TERTIARY ADMISSIONS CENTRE
• · JCU – James Cook University, Townsville Qld
• · UQ – University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane Qld

This is just a brief post to let everyone know that both twins got their first preferences for their chosen University courses.

They have been accepted at JCU as follows:-

• · Twin No 1 – Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery
• · Twin No 2 – Bachelor of Physiotherapy

Also their OP scores have given them fall back options at both JCU and UQ for other health related courses like Optometry.

And this time not only did Twin No 2 manage not to lock herself out of the QTAC site, but she also found out well before her sister. Twin No 1 was able to get a job picking limes on a property at Kuranda (west of Cairns Qld) and could not log on until after work.

I think that Twin No 2 also got the better of the summer jobs. She is teaching children to swim at the local pool while poor Twin No 1 slaves away in the hot tropical sun picking fruit. I spoke to her on Skype last night and she is covered in scratches from the lime trees.

Yeah !!! Peter, Z (My Little Buddy) and me could not be more proud of them.

No -  I tell a small lie. I think that their brother (My Little Buddy) is more concerned about getting additional figures for his X Box game “Skylanders” than anything his sisters might be up to. LOL – Joke – He will miss them when they actually go.

While I am on the subject it seems that the Video game Skylanders is this year’s fad (much like BeyBlades were last year.) You have to keep getting (buying!!) little figurines to play it and the makers were very smart by allowing the same figurines to be used on the Wii, Xbox and PS3. As a result you can’t buy the figurines anywhere and as soon as any come into the shops they sell out in minutes.

But back to more important things – Well Done Twins!!!!!

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,200 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 20 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

NEVER A DULL MOMENT

At long last my twins have received their final year 12 results or “OP” scores as they are called in Queensland.

Before I go on I have to say that both girls did exceptionally well – better than expected. As a result they now have a wide range of University courses open to them. Their hard work has been rewarded and I am so proud of them.

French Champagne to toast my (adult) Twins for their excellent results.

Anyhow, I am not going to boast about their OP scores (Apparently I have done enough boasting or so I am told — But —I can’t help myself – –Twin No 1 shared the highest OP for the school along with the 2011 Dux of the school)

However I cannot pass up the opportunity to let everyone know the “drama” that the family had to go through concerning the “finding out” of the OP scores.

The girls are non-identical twins and, as they have grown, each one has developed a distinctly different personality. Twin No 1 is more outspoken and academically inclined. Twin No 2 is a little more reserved but more “hands on” and practical. Their OP scores reflect their academic differences but I have to say that Twin No 2′s OP score was not that far behind her “brainy” sister’s score.

The OP scores are released in mid-December and students can either wait for the results to be sent via “snail mail” or register with The Queensland Education Department’s web site so that they can log on to find out immediately.

Naturally the overwhelming majority of students choose the “on line” option and it hardly needs to be said that my Twins registered on the web site. Saturday 17^th December was the BIG DAY.

I don’t know if my family is jinxed or something but why can’t something like this just take place without some great drama. But no, there had to be a drama.

I had expected that Twin No 1 would be the one to get all excited but rather uncharacteristically she calmly went to bed on Friday night and arose at the normal time on Saturday morning. (I am too embarrassed to tell everyone what time my “little princess” arises in the mornings now that she has finished school). She then took her own sweet time about logging on with, I might also add, little regard for her anxious parents and sundry relatives and friends who were dying to find out what her score was.

It was plain sailing without a hitch- But that was Twin No 1.

Twin No 2, the sensible practical one, was another kettle of fish. She, along with some other year 12 girls from various schools, decided to stay up all night at a friend’s house so that they would be among the first in the State to log on and find out their results.

It was, I think, about 2.30 am when I got the first frantic phone call from Twin No 2. It wasn’t something “simple” like say the friend’s house getting burnt down. No, it was the disaster of the century. Twin No 2 had somehow managed to get herself locked out of her account. What it was that I was supposed to do about it I still don’t know. But being woken at some outrageous hour of the morning was just the start of it all.

I won’t go into a blow by blow account of Twin No 2′s “performance” but at this late stage of their child hood I now have to officially strip Twin No 1 of her title of “Drama Queen” and award it to Twin No 2.

Should I embarrass her? – Yes I will. There were tears, not speaking to anyone and refusing to come out of her bedroom. And things got worse when we went shopping and it seemed that everyone on the planet (apart from Twin No 2) had found out their OP.

Needless to say I have not been game to ask why the “locking out” might have occurred.  I dare not even entertain the thought that perhaps it might have been due to an over-excited and tired (from staying up all night) Twin No 2 inputting an incorrect password more than 3 times (or whatever the lockout limit is). It is easier to blame the Dept. of Education web site.

However all’s well that ends well. Twin No 2 phoned the Department first thing on Monday Morning to get it fixed and was so pleasantly surprised by her results that the traumatic events of the prior weekend seem to have been flushed from her consciousness.

As can be seen Twin No1 did not pass up the opportunity to add fuel to the fire.

But it was all smiles at the end.

I am not needed anymore!!

Well after worrying about my girls at “Schoolies” all week, they have returned home all in one piece and unharmed.

Not only are they completely unscathed but it appears that while I was biting my nails and imagining all sorts of perils, they have been having a whale of a time.

For a start the Christian churches arranged plenty of safe entertainment that kept them occupied (and apparently “UP LATE” every night until all hours of the morning).

Then when that was all over they phoned to say they were not coming home just yet. The parents of one of their friends have a catamaran and they were invited for a few days cruising out on the Great Barrier Reef (which is not very far “out” in this part of the world).

Geez – what are the poor people doing?

By the looks of this photo Twin No 1 was not being forced to “swab the decks”

They also went diving on the reef – Well – I suppose that you have to do something if you are not being keel-hauled or flogged with a cat o’ nine tails by the captain.

Those dark patches are fish swimming up to the girls.

A large Maori Wrasse pokes his head up out of the water.

The penny has finally dropped. They are all grown up and I have to face the fact that they don’t need me anymore.

But hold on. I have just remembered. They are off to University next year and I can bet that mum and dad will continue to be very much needed when it comes time to pay the bills.

A Proud Mother

 

With the high school education of my twins now in its final stages, our whole family attended the School’s “Celebration Night”. I was looking forward to this night not only because I was expecting my twins to receive some awards, but also as it is one of the rare occasions that I can persuade my family to get dressed up for a family outing.

Twin No 2  & proud mum & again with Twin No 1   and with my 2 “Boys”

However my expectations were blown away by the number of prizes they ended up winning.

Yes, this blog post will be a mother boasting but I don’t care what some people might say, I am proud of my twins and I intend to boast. Also this will, no doubt, make the twins cringe even more after the fuss my husband and I made over them on the night with the videotaping and hugging etc. (I have to say that sometimes even I am confounded that our video camera, the main instrument used by parents to embarrass their children, has not, in some mysterious way ,“gone missing”.).

But I consider this a mother’s privilege and I am not going to hide their light under a bushel.

First up a fair number of the presentations were carried out by Twin No 2 in her capacity as School Vice-Captain and she has become very confident at public speaking ( a skill her mother did not possess at that age). There was also some cause for amusement in the audience when Twin No 2 found herself awarding prizes to herself and her twin sister.

Well, here we go:-

Highest Achiever in a Subject

Clear Thinking  -                Twin No 2

Physical Education -         Twin No 2

Biology -                              Twin No 1 and Twin No 2 (Shared)

Academic Excellence Awards

Twin No 1 and Twin No 2 (Shared)

Excellence in Senior Sciences Award

Twin No 1

Vocational Education Award

Twin No 2

Christian Integrity Awards

Twin No1 and Twin No 2

Long Tan Award and $500 Bursary

Twin No 1

Senior School Special Service Awards

Twin No1 and Twin No 2

They received trophies for the awards and we will have to build a new shelf to display them all. I will expect all visitors to my house to be suitably impressed when I force them to inspect each trophy as I bore them with my bragging about my “brilliant” twins.

Twin No 1  and Twin No 2 weighed down with their trophies and certificates

OK I have probably pushed this a bit too far. But parents with teenagers will understand that you have to make the most of opportunities like this to offset the all too frequent times when you regret having them in the first place. (Including times when you seriously consider what story you would pitch to the jury at your trial for the murder of said teenager/s.)

Besides, they have both gone away to Airlie Beach on “Schoolies” (the end of High School tradition of a week-long holiday with schoolmates before they head their separate ways). I will be walking on eggshells hoping that they survive this nonsense so you would have to be pretty mean to resent my taking advantage of an opportunity to brag.