8th November 2010

Published November 8th, 2010

I got a call the other day from Kirrily (I only remember her name because she sent me an emal afterwards) from the National Australia Day Council.  I heard a couple of words before she said “award”, “finalist” and ‘proud’!  I am a little blase about awards and achievements and such, but i got off the phone stunned.

She told me that I was a finalist in the Australia Day Awards for 2011.  Gee Im only a mum – how on earth did THAT happen? Not being a mum but being a finalist in the AOTY awards.

Kirrily said that Lynn Mabey from Pregnancy Support had nominated me along with the Vice President of Pregnancy Help Australia Marie McGuire.  Also there were people who had refereed me - Professor Carol Bower from the Telethon Institute, Vicki Russell (no relation) from the Drug Education Network in Tasmania, Sue Miers from NOFASARD and Dr Jan Hammill from the University of Queensland.

The thing that always runs through my mind when faced with something like this (not that Ive ever had THIS particular experience) is “OMG i dont deserve this!” And very quickly on the heels of that is “eventually they’ll find I’m not what they think i am”.  But that didnt happen this time – my first thought was “Wow what a perfect opportunity to get the ‘FASD’ message out!”

Thanks so much Lynn and Marie I am grateful for this opportunity.  Ive nominated someone for an award before – not this big – but i do know the work that needs to go into a successful nomination.  I wanted you both to know that i know about that.

This morning the ABC interviewed me – it was i thought a great interview because it gave me time to rectify two mistakes i tend to make all the time.  The first is to paint a bleak picture of FASD depending on the sort of week ive had with Seth and the second is to advise that no alcohol is safest without remembering to say that for pregnant women who have consumed alcohol, the sooner they stop the better it is for their baby and that they need to consult their GP.  So with both mistakes rectified and a 20 minute interview, i thought it was an excellent start.  Fiona (the interviewer) was very easy to talk to so i got all my messages out.

There are two other finalists with me and we will all meet on the 18th in Brisbane when the winner is announced.

I think Ive mentioned my long suffering husband before – he is a ‘man’s man’ by which i mean a ‘blokey bloke’ a ‘man with a shed’ who wont put moisturiser on his hands until they are cracked and bleeding, who has restored three WW2 military vehicles and believes that a man should not have a pedicure or even a massage (although i think he has capitulated on that when he had a sore shoulder).  I have rarely seen him out of shorts and TShirts even though he has some really schmick clothes that i’ve bought him (he’s not allowed to buy his own).  Anyway what Im getting to is that he was so excited when he found out he rang his sister, his brother, his sons and then rang me.  By that time he had come to the realisation that there was likely to be an ‘event” associated with this that he might have to attend. He asked me to ask whether he needed to wear a tie (which he didnt), then said it was probably going to be ‘smart casual” (he wishes). 

It turns out it is ‘business attire’ which really means he can wear pants and a shirt without a tie which he is ok with him given that he had a close shave with having to wear a tie – anything other than that was a good deal for him.

Ive ordered pants for him and he has a shirt that will do – i think if he does as he’s told, he will look great.  I love him anyway but when he’s all dressed up he looks yummy. Even though he’s an old man – he’s my old man.

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