Turning 12 can be pretty intense when you head to school band practice at 7am, then do a full day of classes, then hop on a bus to skipping practice and jump for 90 minutes, then head home for a pizza dinner while your parents hover intently as you open your birthday gifts.

The youngest kinda hit the wall last night after all that …

There may have been tears.

I felt sorry for her dad, who’d dashed across the city to be there for the celebration, only to find himself sipping verdehlo with me while the youngest recovered in bed.

She wasn’t even up for the pepperoni pizza I’d ordered as her birthday treat – the whole thing was relegated to the fridge untouched, though the Crunchie ice-cream cake eventually got quite the workout.

She couldn’t have an early night either, because she has an assignment due today that’s not finished yet. I’m waking her up in a sec to finish it off. Poor petal.

I’m a bit hit-the-wall too after a HUGE week.

After I dropped the youngest to band yesterday, I scarpered home to allen key various pieces of Kmart crap, window decorate, clutter clear, write Happy Birthday on a light box and dress a bed before heading sweatily to the office.

Here are the final results … sorry the lighting is a bit crap …

It’s mostly sourced from Kmart with a bit of Typo, Adairs and Pillow Talk thrown in, together with an old TV from Nonna and Pop that I don’t know how to connect to the aerial so is basically just ornamental at this point.

The lights on the curtain give the room a lovely glow.

I wish I could say we’ll have some time to wind down and relax over the weekend, but nup.

Tonight I’m baking a birthday cake for Saturday’s 20-screaming-12-year-olds party. Then I’m heading north to help DD pack for his big move – he’s finally a homeowner again and moving into his new place on Monday.

Yikes.

I hope you have a good one, I’ll let you know how mine goes.

Song of the day: INXS “Bitter tears”