TV's, Tapes And Mother's Day

Today I’m going to cover both today and yesterday, because I ran out of time to write anything last night.

First of all, my sleep is going really badly. For me, that means I’m up nearly all night and then sleeping through the morning until lunchtime or early afternoon. When I saw a sleep specialist, she always said the same thing: chronotherapy — shifting your sleep by three hours each day. I’ve tried it so many times, but I’m thinking of giving it one last shot, maybe shifting it by just one hour a day instead. Anyway, that’s boring talk.

I got up yesterday at around midday, got ready, and waited for my friend to come and pick up some money from me. After that, he went to collect two absolutely awesome things.

I have two best friends, and they’re both men. The first is my best friend Maiki — “Megusta.” I can use his real name because he lives in another country, and I know he wouldn’t mind. My second best friend is a Muslim man, and I’m not going to use his real name, so for the purposes of this blog I’ll call him Hussein.

Hussein lives in Adelaide, and he helped me out yesterday by picking up two vintage televisions I bought from Facebook Marketplace. I insisted on paying him, even though he didn’t want to take the money, but I felt it was only fair since he was taking time away from his family on a Saturday.

The televisions are part of an idea I have: smashing out the insides, fitting a mirror on the base of the box, placing a glass panel where the screen is, and creating a piece of artwork inside the TV itself. I have so many ideas for what I want to put inside them that I don’t even know where to start.

They were both very heavy, and we stored them under the house.

After Hussein picked up the televisions, I asked if he wouldn’t mind driving to Gawler with me. On the way, we also collected 200 cassette tapes I’d bought on Facebook Marketplace. You can see them above. I already have a few ideas about what I can create with them.

My main reason for wanting to go to Gawler was to check the location of the mosaics class I’m starting on Monday night. I don’t like driving in the country, so I wanted to make sure I’d be comfortable finding it. Hussein didn’t know this was why I wanted to go, so he took us up a winding back road instead — but it was beautiful, all open spaces and farms. Too bad about the poor animals, but that’s another story.

Hussein is a senior IT professional at a large organisation, and as a side hustle he builds computers. He was telling me how he recently made a computer for a man — at a fair price — and the man came back saying it was faulty. When Hussein went to look, he found the man had been extremely rough with the USB port, which had caused a series of problems. Now the man is threatening to go to Consumer Affairs or even sue him.

Hussein asked what I thought he should do. I honestly wasn’t sure. He’s such an honest and decent person, and he told me he was considering giving the money back just to end the stress — even though it would leave him about $2,800 out of pocket. I said surely there must be another way, something fairer. But it’s causing him so much anxiety that he thinks refunding the money might be the easiest option.

I hate when things like this happen to good people.

When we got to Gawler I instantly fell in love with the place. I had never been there before, and I can’t believe there’s such a beautiful little country town right on our doorstep. I told Mum how beautiful I thought it was, and she started talking about towns down south and in the hills, but there is something special about Gawler. I think I’m really going to enjoy driving there.

Everything I do at the moment revolves around my sleep. The mosaics school offers classes on about three different days, but I can’t go because I’m usually asleep until lunchtime. As soon as I fix my sleep, I’m going to go three days a week as well as Monday nights. I absolutely love mosaics, and I have so many things I want to express through this medium. I like the idea of creating contemporary designs using the traditional art of mosaics, but I also love the more traditional styles.

Hussein and I drove home through Elizabeth, and I felt much more comfortable taking that route. That’s the way I’ll drive on Monday night.

Now to today. Today is Sunday, and it’s Mother’s Day. I love spoiling my Mum, and I bought her two tickets to see Joanna Lumley when she comes in October. I told her she can take anyone she likes, but I would love to go with her. I also sent her a big bunch of flowers, which you can see below, and I put some money into her bank account so she can buy herself something nice — something she almost never does anymore.

Lately I’ve been getting my flowers from the East End Flower Market, but the ones I sent Mum today were from Blooms. I chose them because Mum knows the florist there, and she loves their flowers. I was so happy with this arrangement that I think the next time I send flowers, I’ll be using Blooms again.

My brother and his family sent Mum a small bunch from Tynte Flowers. My brother and his wife are very tight with the dollar, so I wasn’t surprised to see such a small little bunch for Mother’s Day. I know it’s the thought that counts, but if you’re going to buy flowers, buy a giant bunch. There is nothing more effective at making a bold statement than a huge bouquet.

Being Mother’s Day, I celebrated my mum while a tiny thought crept into my mind, as it always does. I’m 42, and I’m not a mother myself. I thought about how much I once wanted to fall in love and have a family of my own, and how that didn’t happen for me. I remembered being in my late thirties and feeling desperate to meet someone — anyone — who might want to have a child. But like everything in life, it wasn’t something that could be forced, and it wasn’t something that should be forced.

I’ve genuinely made peace with the fact that I will never be a mother, and I’ve been putting all that energy — and all that love — into other parts of my life.