To invite or not to invite?

A good friend and I were chatting about her upcoming nupitals over a glass of wine on Saturday.

Sally is getting married to her delightful fiance in Fiji early next year. She is extremely excited and has most of the elements organised including her dress, the venue and a photographer. Despite her great organisation, Sally confided in me that she's nervous to send out the invitations because she isn't sure whether or not to invite a former friend and her husband.

Memorable Mumma Moment

As a new Mum I'm always on the look out for E's milestones. Each day he discovers something new that makes my heart sing with joy such as holding my finger, smiling when you come into his eye sight, laughing at silly faces and so on. 

It seems Teach and I spend so much time helping E to learn and grow we forget we are developing as parents too. Yes, we have the usual first-time parent milestones chalked up e.g. sleepless nights, not showering for the day, running out of nappies at an inopportune time, etc... but I'm talking about those memorable moments as a parent when you just have to laugh at yourself or you'll cry.

Yesterday I had a Memorable Mumma Moment I wont forget in a hurry.

Ice Ice Baby

It's 11 degrees in Brisbane as I write this. I think someone 'upstairs' has flicked the switch to deep freeze because it never stays this cold past 9am in the Sunshine State - that I've had the misfortune of experiencing at least.

Most people love winter because of the opportunity to rug up in hats, scarves, glorious coats and drink red wine by the fire (read: heater)...not me! I'm a summer girl through and through. It might have something to do with my North Qld blood, but give me heat, cute togs, shorts, an ice cold jug of Sangria and I'm in heaven.

Mothers Groups: a 'dating service' for Mums.

We’ve all heard the nightmare stories that surround Mothers Groups. Perfectionist women in designer gym gear and pristine makeup, genius children developed well beyond their age group and competitive mothers comparing their amazing children with other not so gifted kids (ok, I don’t know if these are stereotypes or my own worst nightmares, but you get the drift).  Despite the potential disasters, I’ve been on the hunt for a local Mothers group for a few days now. I’m searching for a few nice, friendly ladies with children I can catch up with while my regular friends are at work. Easy! 

Do I have a beef with my meat?

I can’t bring myself to watch the Four Corners report on Live Exporting of Australian Cattle to Indonesia. I don’t know why it’s taking me this long to decide whether or not I want to see it, but something inside me just keeps saying ‘don’t watch it, it’ll give you nightmares.’ 

It may sound ridiculous and over dramatic to some, but I’m seriously terrified of what I’ll see. I fear the worst after seeing only a few seconds of footage included in a news story covering all the feedback the original report generated.

Despite not wanting to see the slaughter of these gorgeous animals, I feel like I need to watch it and wake up from this naivety I so happily live in everyday. 

Yes, I am a meat eater. I love nothing more than going to the pub for a delicious rare eye fillet with baked potato and lashings of mushroom gravy. The thought of it now even makes my mouth water. But where has my steak come from? What cruel and unusual punishment did Daisy go through just to feed me? Is she happy to feed me or was she dragged to her end kicking and bucking to run free? Even now the visuals I conjure up for myself are haunting.

I don’t pretend to know much about the Australian beef industry (this could be an old issue as far as I know), or the Australian Government's exporting agreement with Indonesia, but all this talk has made me think twice about the basics... Is the meet, poultry and fish I buy at my local supermarket killed humanely? Is it better to buy meat from an organic market? But, just because a product is organic doesn’t mean it’s killed ‘nicely', does it?

I guess this is where I need to ask myself what is my level of acceptability relating to the killing of animals? Perhaps what disgusts me doesn’t bother you...  Do I continue to shop ignorantly or do I start making changes?

I don’t know whether it’s because I recently became a mother and my new role has brought these feelings to the surface (i.e. protection, love, humility) or whether at 31 I’m starting to genuinely consider my impact on Mother Earth and her inhabitants, but either way, it seems the Four Corners story (and the surrounding attention) has brought me a new found awareness of my meat. Perhaps my days of ordering Australia’s best grain-fed, well... anything, are numbered.

If you'd like to see the Animals Australia story on live exporting, click here.