The Big Blind Blog Bash

You may have noticed the little badge in the not-so-discreet position at the top right corner of my blog recently. My little blog here is in the Top 25 Personal & Parenting Blogs in the Kidspot Voices of 2013 Awards. Trust me, no one was more surprised than me! I do hope there is a stronger emphasis on Personal rather than Parenting though. I'm the last one to be offering parenting advice. I'm just putting one foot in front of the other, occasionally sending a child to bed with a broken limb or losing a couple of them in Ikea :-)

So, some weeks ago I received an e-mail saying my Blog had been nominated for the awards, something I knew absolutely nothing about. The first e-mail actually went straight to my spam folder so I missed it completely. To whoever nominated me, thank you very very much. I would love to know who you are so I can thank you personally and buy you a drink or a coffee or whatever tickles your fancy. I really love my little Blog and blogging has brought a lot of joy and friendships to my life but to think that someone else likes it enough to nominate me is really something. 

A few weeks later I received another e-mail saying amongst 600 nominations the judges had picked my blog to be one of the 25 Blogs chosen in my category. There are 3 other categories to make up the Top 100 Bloggers and I am really really chuffed to be included amongst a lovely bunch of women.

There is going to be a bit of a shindig in Sydney this Saturday to celebrate the Top 100 Bloggers. There will be a workshop and then a launch party in the evening. So tomorrow morning I'll be heading to the airport bound for Sydney. There will be my Little Black Dress in a tiny carry-on bag full of nothing much else but nappies in one hand and Baby Flynn carried in the other. On my back will be a whizz-bang stroller that I borrowed from a friend which converts to a tiny backpack in the most impressive display of stroller origami I have ever seen. It's designed to go on-board which is importunity when you fly Jetstar and don't have a ticket with baggage allowance. It will be quite a spectacle when I have to go through security and hand Flynn to the formidable x-ray machine person while I take off boots and belts as well as assemble the stroller contraption and then crumple the octopus of a thing back into it's backpack formation.

This is my first blogging event and I'm really looking forward to meeting some fellow Bloggers, both those that I already "know" through their blogs as well as new bloggers. Have you been to a blog-related event before? I imagine it's a bit like a blind date and I'm starting to feel like a timid 12 year old on her first day of High School. I have never met or spoken to anyone attending so I'm feeling a little sheepish about the whole thing. Is this normal? Will any of you be there this weekend? I will be the slightly frazzled Mum who has just left the baby with her cousin and hoping there is no baby vomit left on my shoulder. 

I'm also looking forward to seeing my 96 year old Grandfather and showing off baby Flynn to all the relatives in Sydney.

Meanwhile, I've left the Pianoman in a bit of a pickle on the home front. Firstly, in an act of total brain fade, I forgot the little boys didn't have school on the Friday and booked my flight for Friday morning. He managed to cancel his meetings to work from home with the boys. Sadly, the one School Assembly I will miss is the one where the two older Kids will be receiving their Cross Country Awards and Charles is also playing a lead in a little class performance. But luckily, the Pianoman will be able to attend and the Kids have been excited about that all week. You would think absolutely nothing would prevent him from spending an hour at the School Assembly. But then this happened:

So, neither of us will be at the School Assembly. The Kids were disappointed but when they found out it was because the Boss of Australia is flying into town they understood. And just when I thought my weekend away at my own Cocktail Party was going to be upstaged by the Pianoman's dealings with the Prime Minister, the regular Head Lice notice from school came home this afternoon and for the very first time, I believe we have an offender amongst the ranks. Oh, how I'd love to help The Pianoman with all the linen washing, drying, shampooing and fine tooth-combing but unfortunately I'll be on a plane to Sydney.