Thank you to those who commented on this week's blog about Miss 16. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about Miss 16. She is a beautiful kid but like all kids her age she is very self centred at the moment and it's all about her. She is not unique in that way and having talked to other mums of teens her age its not an unusual thing for teens to have pigsty rooms, bad attitudes and near violent tendencies. Like fellow blogger Froggy, mum has put her foot down over the room in that no-one id allowed over unless the room is spotless and she can't stay over anyone's place for the same reason. I think also she was right in saying the whole family needs to attend counselling together because there is a distinct lack of communication there. My family, although close in some ways, has always had an issue with communicating with each other. It's not all Miss 16's fault as mum can also be a bit in your face and would rather nag you to death than accept that you just need 5 more minutes to finish what you are doing and then you will help. Mum also uses Miss 16 as a mini slave and gets Miss 16 to fetch stuff for her all the time which can be frustrating. I know...I suffered through mum's nagging as a teen as well. So yes there is fault on both sides but at the same time Miss 16 needs to respect her elders. Mum has spoilt her from the time Miss 16 was born and we all foresaw the problems that would eventuate in having mum do everything for her. So really mum has made the rod for her own back. Anyway I will suggest the counselling thing for the both of them and see what eventuates. Miss 16 does love her grandmother dearly, so much so that her mother wanted her to move in with her and Miss 16 has refused saying she will never leave Grandma. She will stay for as long as my mum needs her.
Anyway enough of that.
I had my doctors appointment on Tuesday (yesterday) and got the results of my last blood test back. My cholesterol is still extremely high but the good news is it is mostly good cholesterol and a small amount of bad cholesterol so the chance of me suffering cardiac arrest or stroke is minimal. The bad cholesterol is still not good but I am told its because of my underactive thyroid and so I have to double my intake of Thyroxine every day to see if that makes a difference. Plus I am still on Questran which also helps with lowering cholesterol but now the doctor is not so concerned that I will drop dead some time soon! Good to know!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
And so another week goes by.....
It's getting harder and harder to find stuff to put in these blogs...life has its moments of joy and activity and then there are the times when absolutely happens and I write stuff and then back space and think nah who wants to hear about that! This week was one of those "bleah" weeks. So let me get a cuppa and a piece of my yummy sponge cake and I'll tell you about my week...
Okay...Monday morning I had to get another blood test done. My specialist wanted me to get it done a week before I see him so I went in to QML on Saturday morning to get them done. "Have you fasted" the QML lady asks..."Um no I had cereal before I got here". "Well this is a cholestorol test and you need to have fasted otherwise the result won't be accurate" Dang! I had specifically asked the doctor if I needed to fast as previous tests I hadn't had to and he had said no it's fine. So no blood test that day. Turns out there is a QML right near the train station at work so I went in there first thing Monday morning before work and voila! All done.
Tuesday work was flat out all the way through the rest of the week. I tell you I could not wait for the weekend. I was exhausted by the time it arrived. March is a deadly time for us as we have the auditors in and the kindergartens are almost at the end of their first term plus we have our Annual General Meeting so it means I have to prepare that and compile our Annual Report which is a massive undertaking. So lots of no lunch breaks all week and working back late. Plus I am minute taker for our Board Meetings and my boss and I were exhausted by the end of that meeting as the Board Directors seemed to keep to want to keep on taking the same topic around in circles so in the end no decisions were made. My minutes are going to look like crap because they change their minds a million times so I just know some things are going to be wrong! My boss and I just looked at each other and we were like did we get all that? She was taking notes as well so we could compare what happened. Board Meeting days are always so painful and always off topic *sigh*
The weekend just gone was deadly quiet. Saturday was a beautiful sunny day and I was itching to get out but MM had to work so we decided to arrange a picnic and a drive to Mt Glorious on Sunday then go on a walk to the falls near there. So I arrnaged for Miss 21 to come with us and she said she would love to.
Sunday arrives and guess what? It's raining and it's miserable. Saturday's beautiful day was gone. I had already made oodles of yummy sandwiches and Miss 21 was at our place so it was decided there was no point going out in this weather so we had a "lounge room" picnic which was nice too. Was nice having the family together and we will arrange another weekend...hopefully one that's not wet!
On the home front mum is having trouble with Miss 16 who appears to be going through an aggressive phase. Now this is so unlike her and I am tempted to take the lead of another blogger and suggest she get counselling to talk through some stuff. She is still hurting over dad and I really do think there are still some unresolved issues.
I can't remember if I blogged that Miss 16 broke down a little while and sobbed her heart out for the first time since Dad passed. Turns out she had blamed herself for him collapsing that final time as they had a huge argument over her not helping around the house and dad had laid down the law. Miss 16 just left the house at that point and went to her friend across the road and stayed the night then the next morning dad ended up in hospital for the final time. He passed away before she got to say sorry and tell him she loved him. In hospital he knew she was there and she hugged him but they didn't speak and she thinks he died thinking she hated him. None of us knew this until recently and would explain why all last year she was doing so well then after dad died her school work went to hell and she joined a tough crowd. This year she is really trying hard again to make dad proud and she is loving doing her graphic art and photography and this is what she will do when she finishes up Year 12 this year. She is already looking at course to do etc.
Anyway she and mum are still at logger heads as her room is a complete pigsty and because mum has the house on the market she needs it to be spic and span. Miss 16's response is "well no-one has even been through yet so why bother". And it's true...no-one has even come through the house yet but some day they will. Mum has tried grounding her and saying no she can't get on the computer and no she can't go out. Mum has even hidden her laptop and mobile phone because she spends hours on that when she is not at school. But then Miss 16 has started getting a little rough with mum and at one point she lashed out at mum and pushed then grabbed her arm and twisted it demanding she give her stuff back. So yes we are worried. She always apologises profusely afterwards and mum and her both have a cry and hug but it's an everyday battle and at the moment mum is still fragile.
She is not a bad kid and generally she is very well behaved, quiet and very loving but it's like her hormones are running rampant and she gets a little out of control. This year she has moved away from her "bad example" friends and has gone back to sitting with her nicer friends. The trouble is her behaviour from last year is catching up with her.
Take the recent parent teacher meeting she had recently for example. She and mum went and nearly all her teachers raved about her saying how much she had improved and how much better her attitude was this year. Then they got to Miss 16's maths teacher and mum said it was funny as they sat opposite each other and glared at each other. Miss 16 had this teacher last year when she and a friend were being disruptive and wagging and spent most of last year in detention with this teacher. This year Miss 16 says she is trying really hard but this teacher won't get past the fact that Miss 16 was naughty last year. So Teacher is talking to mum and saying that Miss 16 is lazy and won't try and talks in class and won't ask questions if she gets stuck. Miss 16 pipes up with "That's because your class is boring". At this point mum glares at Miss 16 and says "That's your teacher you're talking to". Teacher: "So what can I do to make this class more interesting?" (in a sarcastic tone) Miss 16: "Drop dead?" (in an even more sarcastic tone). At this point mum is ready for the floor to swallow her up but the teacher is quite calm and cool and says to mum "See what I deal with?" Poor mum is horrified and can't wait to get out of there at which time she roundly gives Miss 16 an earful about respecting her teachers but as far as Miss 16 is concerned that teacher hates her and the feeling is mutual so it looks like she is failing maths this year! She loves all her other teachers and they love her so one teacher doens't seem to concern her at all. Mum did say though that the teacher was a bit of an old battle axe but at the same time couldn't condone Miss 16's behaviour either. Miss 16 did tell me that the teacher seems to keep "losing" her homework assignments and making her do them again. So maybe the teacher is getting pay back.
And so another week goes by....
Okay...Monday morning I had to get another blood test done. My specialist wanted me to get it done a week before I see him so I went in to QML on Saturday morning to get them done. "Have you fasted" the QML lady asks..."Um no I had cereal before I got here". "Well this is a cholestorol test and you need to have fasted otherwise the result won't be accurate" Dang! I had specifically asked the doctor if I needed to fast as previous tests I hadn't had to and he had said no it's fine. So no blood test that day. Turns out there is a QML right near the train station at work so I went in there first thing Monday morning before work and voila! All done.
Tuesday work was flat out all the way through the rest of the week. I tell you I could not wait for the weekend. I was exhausted by the time it arrived. March is a deadly time for us as we have the auditors in and the kindergartens are almost at the end of their first term plus we have our Annual General Meeting so it means I have to prepare that and compile our Annual Report which is a massive undertaking. So lots of no lunch breaks all week and working back late. Plus I am minute taker for our Board Meetings and my boss and I were exhausted by the end of that meeting as the Board Directors seemed to keep to want to keep on taking the same topic around in circles so in the end no decisions were made. My minutes are going to look like crap because they change their minds a million times so I just know some things are going to be wrong! My boss and I just looked at each other and we were like did we get all that? She was taking notes as well so we could compare what happened. Board Meeting days are always so painful and always off topic *sigh*
The weekend just gone was deadly quiet. Saturday was a beautiful sunny day and I was itching to get out but MM had to work so we decided to arrange a picnic and a drive to Mt Glorious on Sunday then go on a walk to the falls near there. So I arrnaged for Miss 21 to come with us and she said she would love to.
Sunday arrives and guess what? It's raining and it's miserable. Saturday's beautiful day was gone. I had already made oodles of yummy sandwiches and Miss 21 was at our place so it was decided there was no point going out in this weather so we had a "lounge room" picnic which was nice too. Was nice having the family together and we will arrange another weekend...hopefully one that's not wet!
On the home front mum is having trouble with Miss 16 who appears to be going through an aggressive phase. Now this is so unlike her and I am tempted to take the lead of another blogger and suggest she get counselling to talk through some stuff. She is still hurting over dad and I really do think there are still some unresolved issues.
I can't remember if I blogged that Miss 16 broke down a little while and sobbed her heart out for the first time since Dad passed. Turns out she had blamed herself for him collapsing that final time as they had a huge argument over her not helping around the house and dad had laid down the law. Miss 16 just left the house at that point and went to her friend across the road and stayed the night then the next morning dad ended up in hospital for the final time. He passed away before she got to say sorry and tell him she loved him. In hospital he knew she was there and she hugged him but they didn't speak and she thinks he died thinking she hated him. None of us knew this until recently and would explain why all last year she was doing so well then after dad died her school work went to hell and she joined a tough crowd. This year she is really trying hard again to make dad proud and she is loving doing her graphic art and photography and this is what she will do when she finishes up Year 12 this year. She is already looking at course to do etc.
Anyway she and mum are still at logger heads as her room is a complete pigsty and because mum has the house on the market she needs it to be spic and span. Miss 16's response is "well no-one has even been through yet so why bother". And it's true...no-one has even come through the house yet but some day they will. Mum has tried grounding her and saying no she can't get on the computer and no she can't go out. Mum has even hidden her laptop and mobile phone because she spends hours on that when she is not at school. But then Miss 16 has started getting a little rough with mum and at one point she lashed out at mum and pushed then grabbed her arm and twisted it demanding she give her stuff back. So yes we are worried. She always apologises profusely afterwards and mum and her both have a cry and hug but it's an everyday battle and at the moment mum is still fragile.
She is not a bad kid and generally she is very well behaved, quiet and very loving but it's like her hormones are running rampant and she gets a little out of control. This year she has moved away from her "bad example" friends and has gone back to sitting with her nicer friends. The trouble is her behaviour from last year is catching up with her.
Take the recent parent teacher meeting she had recently for example. She and mum went and nearly all her teachers raved about her saying how much she had improved and how much better her attitude was this year. Then they got to Miss 16's maths teacher and mum said it was funny as they sat opposite each other and glared at each other. Miss 16 had this teacher last year when she and a friend were being disruptive and wagging and spent most of last year in detention with this teacher. This year Miss 16 says she is trying really hard but this teacher won't get past the fact that Miss 16 was naughty last year. So Teacher is talking to mum and saying that Miss 16 is lazy and won't try and talks in class and won't ask questions if she gets stuck. Miss 16 pipes up with "That's because your class is boring". At this point mum glares at Miss 16 and says "That's your teacher you're talking to". Teacher: "So what can I do to make this class more interesting?" (in a sarcastic tone) Miss 16: "Drop dead?" (in an even more sarcastic tone). At this point mum is ready for the floor to swallow her up but the teacher is quite calm and cool and says to mum "See what I deal with?" Poor mum is horrified and can't wait to get out of there at which time she roundly gives Miss 16 an earful about respecting her teachers but as far as Miss 16 is concerned that teacher hates her and the feeling is mutual so it looks like she is failing maths this year! She loves all her other teachers and they love her so one teacher doens't seem to concern her at all. Mum did say though that the teacher was a bit of an old battle axe but at the same time couldn't condone Miss 16's behaviour either. Miss 16 did tell me that the teacher seems to keep "losing" her homework assignments and making her do them again. So maybe the teacher is getting pay back.
And so another week goes by....
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Pretty Coco
I spent one weekend taking photos of mum's girls...let's just say as photography subjects they are impossible to film as they don't sit still! Miss 16 had to dangle a bone above my head just to get their attention so I could shoot quickly!
Sasha in the Garden
Sasha was a little easier but again getting her to sit still for just a micro-second takes planning and a qucikness of the fingers lol...we found this spot in the garden and it seemed to suit her well lol...
I think it's time we ordered our Super Hero capes!!
It seems like this past week we have done a couple of good deeds so does this give us super hero status??
Monday afternoon while I was out shopping (I ALWAYS miss the good stuff!!) there was a three car pile-up right outside our house. I was driving home up our street and all I could see were flashing lights, loads of people on both sides of the street and tow trucks galore! I’m like “What the?” As I pulled into our driveway I could see MM standing on our footpath talking to a policeman. He apparently saw it all as it happened as he was outside having a smoke and saw the whole thing. He is also a qualified first aider so was helping people as well. Our street in the past couple of years has become a main thoroughfare and since the start of the quarry nearby, heavy trucks now rat race through our street to get to the quarry which causes chaos during the day and the truckies fair hurtle down the street which is just a straight strip all the way down. Next door to our house is a small street and what had happened was a car was stopped to turn into the street and a truck flying down the road was going way too fast to stop so careered straight into the back of the little red car which in turn hit a little white car coming the other way before continuing on into the fence of the house on the corner and taking out their front garden and stopping just inches from the front door. It must have made the news on the radio as my brother and mother both rang later on to make sure it wasn’t any of us because all they heard was the name of our street. A couple of people needed ambulance assistance but nothing too major thank goodness! This is the second such accident in the past 6 months. Last time it was a car running over a guy on a motor bike and I ended up having to comfort the kids in the car who were all upset and in shock.
Tuesday night I get home from work and MM and Mr 20 are in the front yard with a pair of binoculars. “Hmmm” I think..they best not be checking out any nude bathers at the lake. *Lol* Turns out there is a very sick koala in the tree beside our house. We live beside a large expanse of bush and then further on is Lake Kurwongbah. The bush here is home to many koalas and this is not the first time we have noticed a sick koala. The last wildlife people we got out to help told us the signs to look out for and so we check the bush on a regular basis. We hear the koalas before we see them so we know when they are around. Anyway, MM spots the sick koala who he notices through the binoculars has what they call “Dirty Tail” where there is an accumulation of a dark smelly mass of fur at its bottom. This is usually a sign of cystitis which is apparently quite deadly for a koala. A husband and wife team came out to capture the koala and they were a lovely couple. I spoke to the lady for a bit and she explained to me more about the disease and how if the koala (it turns out to be a very young female) doesn’t respond to medication she may be euthanased as it is a very painful disease. She also had spots on her nose where there were old wounds and that can also become infected. Then she asked me to name the koala so she can be tagged and chipped. I thought that was cool lol. The only name I could come up with at short notice was Kirra and then she said “Well if that name is taken I will name her after you” so she took my name lol. Sorry Miss Koala =) Anyway the next door they rang to say Kirra (as she is now officially named and registered as ) is doing very well although severely dehydrated. She is now in the 60 to 90 day treatment program and will be placed back here when she is better. So that’s really awesome news!
The rest of the week was rather uneventful except for the huge rail drama on Friday. There was a freight train or something derailed up our way which meant train services for the day went completely haywire. This usually means trains are running late all day which means extra overcrowding on the trains as the trains struggle to ferry everybody to the city albeit several hours late for many people and people being crammed into every inch of space. Logic pretty much flys out the window at times like this. Even though the train is obviously extremely crowded there is always someone who will insist on pushing him/herself onto the train when there is already people crowded in the doorway and then yells at people to move down. “Where to??” is the usual sarcastic and impatient cry from the already frustrated and suffocated commuters who have already been standing through several stations. I’m lucky as all the trains start at my stop so I always get a seat but I tend to feel guilty as I watch others stand and even if I wanted to give my seat to someone more deserving it’s impossible to even move from the seat due to the crowding. So it’s pretty much a grin and bear it kind of trip. I figured by the time I went home that afternoon the trains would be back to normal but sadly no. Seems they were still trying to clean up the mess. Oh well next week is another day.
Well that is my week that was. For my Central Queensland friends I hope you all stay safe with the cyclone hovering around up there. Thinking of you all and here’s hoping nothing comes of it.
Monday afternoon while I was out shopping (I ALWAYS miss the good stuff!!) there was a three car pile-up right outside our house. I was driving home up our street and all I could see were flashing lights, loads of people on both sides of the street and tow trucks galore! I’m like “What the?” As I pulled into our driveway I could see MM standing on our footpath talking to a policeman. He apparently saw it all as it happened as he was outside having a smoke and saw the whole thing. He is also a qualified first aider so was helping people as well. Our street in the past couple of years has become a main thoroughfare and since the start of the quarry nearby, heavy trucks now rat race through our street to get to the quarry which causes chaos during the day and the truckies fair hurtle down the street which is just a straight strip all the way down. Next door to our house is a small street and what had happened was a car was stopped to turn into the street and a truck flying down the road was going way too fast to stop so careered straight into the back of the little red car which in turn hit a little white car coming the other way before continuing on into the fence of the house on the corner and taking out their front garden and stopping just inches from the front door. It must have made the news on the radio as my brother and mother both rang later on to make sure it wasn’t any of us because all they heard was the name of our street. A couple of people needed ambulance assistance but nothing too major thank goodness! This is the second such accident in the past 6 months. Last time it was a car running over a guy on a motor bike and I ended up having to comfort the kids in the car who were all upset and in shock.
Tuesday night I get home from work and MM and Mr 20 are in the front yard with a pair of binoculars. “Hmmm” I think..they best not be checking out any nude bathers at the lake. *Lol* Turns out there is a very sick koala in the tree beside our house. We live beside a large expanse of bush and then further on is Lake Kurwongbah. The bush here is home to many koalas and this is not the first time we have noticed a sick koala. The last wildlife people we got out to help told us the signs to look out for and so we check the bush on a regular basis. We hear the koalas before we see them so we know when they are around. Anyway, MM spots the sick koala who he notices through the binoculars has what they call “Dirty Tail” where there is an accumulation of a dark smelly mass of fur at its bottom. This is usually a sign of cystitis which is apparently quite deadly for a koala. A husband and wife team came out to capture the koala and they were a lovely couple. I spoke to the lady for a bit and she explained to me more about the disease and how if the koala (it turns out to be a very young female) doesn’t respond to medication she may be euthanased as it is a very painful disease. She also had spots on her nose where there were old wounds and that can also become infected. Then she asked me to name the koala so she can be tagged and chipped. I thought that was cool lol. The only name I could come up with at short notice was Kirra and then she said “Well if that name is taken I will name her after you” so she took my name lol. Sorry Miss Koala =) Anyway the next door they rang to say Kirra (as she is now officially named and registered as ) is doing very well although severely dehydrated. She is now in the 60 to 90 day treatment program and will be placed back here when she is better. So that’s really awesome news!
The rest of the week was rather uneventful except for the huge rail drama on Friday. There was a freight train or something derailed up our way which meant train services for the day went completely haywire. This usually means trains are running late all day which means extra overcrowding on the trains as the trains struggle to ferry everybody to the city albeit several hours late for many people and people being crammed into every inch of space. Logic pretty much flys out the window at times like this. Even though the train is obviously extremely crowded there is always someone who will insist on pushing him/herself onto the train when there is already people crowded in the doorway and then yells at people to move down. “Where to??” is the usual sarcastic and impatient cry from the already frustrated and suffocated commuters who have already been standing through several stations. I’m lucky as all the trains start at my stop so I always get a seat but I tend to feel guilty as I watch others stand and even if I wanted to give my seat to someone more deserving it’s impossible to even move from the seat due to the crowding. So it’s pretty much a grin and bear it kind of trip. I figured by the time I went home that afternoon the trains would be back to normal but sadly no. Seems they were still trying to clean up the mess. Oh well next week is another day.
Well that is my week that was. For my Central Queensland friends I hope you all stay safe with the cyclone hovering around up there. Thinking of you all and here’s hoping nothing comes of it.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Ok girlfriends I'm back so quit nagging huh??? *grin*
I do love all my friends who have texted and emailed and poked me on Facebook begging me to blog again! I never really left...it's just that life was simple one day then suddenly *bammo* everything and everyone ran amuck and I just lost all my spare time.
So what have I been up to since Christmas?? Well the last week or so at work was deadly quiet which it always is since all our schools were closed and we could just do "catch up" work and not have to field calls from cranky parents and stressed kindy teachers and school principals! Christmas at work was amazing although the second last week was hard as one of my lovely work friends lost her mum to cancer so I attended her funeral with my boss. It was sooooo hard as they used the same funeral directors as we did for dad and so we had the same people there officiating. She had come to dad's funeral and really liked their service so decided on them. She was apologetic afterwards knowing it would be hard for me but like I told her it is about her loss and not mine and I really was fine about it. She also had the song Amazing Grace played which was also played at dad's funeral. It seems to be a favourite of people of that age so we both let go and howled all the way through! It was cathartic for both of us as we had been a huge support to each other during our respective parent's illnesses and it helps when someone else is going through the same things.
Anyway someone following my blog asked who won our Christmas decoration thingy at work? I got highly commended for my pretty purple display and our department won overall so we beat the IT guys! YEAH!! We had a great time with it and it's the first year we really did the big christmas thing. We also had a Christmas party where one of the guys dresses as Santa and one of the pretty young lasses dresses as Santa's helper and they give out our Secret Santa gifts. Then we got 10 days off over Christmas and had time to enjoy!
I decided to have a Christmas Eve party at my house for family this year which was nice. Mum wasn't much in the mood for Christmas this year being the first without dad but she got through it and did him proud I think. He'd have been happy to see her do the christmas thing for the kids' sake. Christmas Day Mark and I spent at home alone which was so nice for a change but we went to his sister's place for his family's Christmas do. It was lovely and cool and was a nice day.
We didn't do gifts this year. It was decided as a family to donate the money we would have spent on gifts we didn't really want or need to a charity so we did that and it was really nice. Now the kids are all grown no-one really needs anything in the way of gifts. Mark and I took Mum and the family shopping and we did lunch at Sizzler one day over christmas as a family thing since we didn't spend Christmas Day together and that was really nice. Miss 21 and her Air Force guy came too so that was great. Lots of chatter and laughter...we toasted dad and life goes on. We still miss you dad and we always will but we will help mum to get through all this.
Mum now has the house on the market and we have been with her to look at a couple of houses. She retired before Christmas and is a little worried about spendng all her long service leave and superanuuation. But she is doing ok...She is finally on a pernsion which has helped heaps. We are all helping her out and hopefully she will sell before too long and it will be better for her.
So that was December/January.
February was a busy month at work for me with all the schools/kindys back from break. So much to do at the beginning of the year! Also because I organise the Early Childhood Retreat in March my time is pretty much all taken up with that. MM turned 50 in February and I organised a 50th party for him which went really well. He HATES being the centre of attention but he allowed me to shine and get his party organised :) I had a cake made that had a photo of him when he was little done in rice paper on the top of the cake. That was so cool and such a cute photo. He was born in the 60's and it seems all little boys had their mothers pull their shorts up under their armpits lol. He had the cutest, cheekiest little grin and his mother and sister told the party gatherers about the mischief he got up to. I had also invited his old next door neighbour who has lived next to his parents for over 50 years and she too told stories of all the trouble he got into! He tried to blame his brothers but since he was the oldest of the boys I don't think anyone beleived him lol. Was a great night overall.
The rest of February and March has passed in a blur so I know I have missed stuff but I will blog it as I remember it I guess. Oh yeah I did have a trip to the dentist where I spent 45 minutes getting a tooth pulled. He had such a hard time and I had that many needles to numb it all that I felt absolutely nothing even when he had to slice the gum open to get it out...he ended up cutting the tooth into 4 fragments to get them out. I thought I would be in agony afterwards but I only used the pain killers for the first day and after that no pain at all. The gum healed up fine and all is now good. I have one more tooth to go so he told me to come back in 6 months when this gum is healed completely.
The weekend just gone I finally had my Retreat come to fruition. All the hard work paid off and a great time was had by all. We booked Tranquil Park at Maleny which really is a pretty spot. The view from the conference room and restaurant were spectacular. The accommodation was not exactly 5 star but comfortable I thought and the food! Wow so much food! They kept us fed the whole time and there was just too much food I think...very beautiful and plain food...just perfect and lots of deserts!
The weekend was about reflection and relaxation as we taught the early childhood staff how to take care of themselves. Teaching is a rather stressful profession these days and it was nice for them to slow down and take time out to network with each other, visit the local sights and just relax. We had invited the local pastor who did a session about spirituality...it was not as religious as I thought it would be but was amazing at the effect it had on people...we did a sort of quiet meditation and we were given really nice journals to write our thoughts on to. Many people had a sort of spiritual epiphany so there was lots of tears and hugging. It really was amazing.
We had a masquerade ball as well so when I get to work I'll post up a pic of me and a friend in masks! Was a great night! But now I am exhausted and the boss gave me Monday off so back to work tomorrow *sigh*.
I was telling fellow blogger Froggy today about a mutual friend from our old days who I ran into at Super Amart last Thursday night. Miss 21 and her guy wanted us to go with them to give advice on furniture they wanted for their new place and he served us! Was awesome to talk about old days and he hadn't changed much at all just the hair was much greyer! After keeping him for about an hour Miss 21 and Mr Air Force made their choices...they bought a dining room table, a queen sized bed (we managed to talk Galen into throwing in the pillows which he did!) and they also bought a TV entertainment unit. They did a good deal out of the whole thing. MM can talk anyone into giving away all sorts of stuff...he has NEVER paid full price for anything...I tend to slink away quietly as it embarasses me a little!
Speaking of Miss 21 and Mr Air Force, tonight is their last night together for 3 months as he is being deployed to Iraq. It will be his first stint and I think he is a little scared and I know Miss 21 is but here's hoping he stays safe and will be back home in no time.
So what have I been up to since Christmas?? Well the last week or so at work was deadly quiet which it always is since all our schools were closed and we could just do "catch up" work and not have to field calls from cranky parents and stressed kindy teachers and school principals! Christmas at work was amazing although the second last week was hard as one of my lovely work friends lost her mum to cancer so I attended her funeral with my boss. It was sooooo hard as they used the same funeral directors as we did for dad and so we had the same people there officiating. She had come to dad's funeral and really liked their service so decided on them. She was apologetic afterwards knowing it would be hard for me but like I told her it is about her loss and not mine and I really was fine about it. She also had the song Amazing Grace played which was also played at dad's funeral. It seems to be a favourite of people of that age so we both let go and howled all the way through! It was cathartic for both of us as we had been a huge support to each other during our respective parent's illnesses and it helps when someone else is going through the same things.
Anyway someone following my blog asked who won our Christmas decoration thingy at work? I got highly commended for my pretty purple display and our department won overall so we beat the IT guys! YEAH!! We had a great time with it and it's the first year we really did the big christmas thing. We also had a Christmas party where one of the guys dresses as Santa and one of the pretty young lasses dresses as Santa's helper and they give out our Secret Santa gifts. Then we got 10 days off over Christmas and had time to enjoy!
I decided to have a Christmas Eve party at my house for family this year which was nice. Mum wasn't much in the mood for Christmas this year being the first without dad but she got through it and did him proud I think. He'd have been happy to see her do the christmas thing for the kids' sake. Christmas Day Mark and I spent at home alone which was so nice for a change but we went to his sister's place for his family's Christmas do. It was lovely and cool and was a nice day.
We didn't do gifts this year. It was decided as a family to donate the money we would have spent on gifts we didn't really want or need to a charity so we did that and it was really nice. Now the kids are all grown no-one really needs anything in the way of gifts. Mark and I took Mum and the family shopping and we did lunch at Sizzler one day over christmas as a family thing since we didn't spend Christmas Day together and that was really nice. Miss 21 and her Air Force guy came too so that was great. Lots of chatter and laughter...we toasted dad and life goes on. We still miss you dad and we always will but we will help mum to get through all this.
Mum now has the house on the market and we have been with her to look at a couple of houses. She retired before Christmas and is a little worried about spendng all her long service leave and superanuuation. But she is doing ok...She is finally on a pernsion which has helped heaps. We are all helping her out and hopefully she will sell before too long and it will be better for her.
So that was December/January.
February was a busy month at work for me with all the schools/kindys back from break. So much to do at the beginning of the year! Also because I organise the Early Childhood Retreat in March my time is pretty much all taken up with that. MM turned 50 in February and I organised a 50th party for him which went really well. He HATES being the centre of attention but he allowed me to shine and get his party organised :) I had a cake made that had a photo of him when he was little done in rice paper on the top of the cake. That was so cool and such a cute photo. He was born in the 60's and it seems all little boys had their mothers pull their shorts up under their armpits lol. He had the cutest, cheekiest little grin and his mother and sister told the party gatherers about the mischief he got up to. I had also invited his old next door neighbour who has lived next to his parents for over 50 years and she too told stories of all the trouble he got into! He tried to blame his brothers but since he was the oldest of the boys I don't think anyone beleived him lol. Was a great night overall.
The rest of February and March has passed in a blur so I know I have missed stuff but I will blog it as I remember it I guess. Oh yeah I did have a trip to the dentist where I spent 45 minutes getting a tooth pulled. He had such a hard time and I had that many needles to numb it all that I felt absolutely nothing even when he had to slice the gum open to get it out...he ended up cutting the tooth into 4 fragments to get them out. I thought I would be in agony afterwards but I only used the pain killers for the first day and after that no pain at all. The gum healed up fine and all is now good. I have one more tooth to go so he told me to come back in 6 months when this gum is healed completely.
The weekend just gone I finally had my Retreat come to fruition. All the hard work paid off and a great time was had by all. We booked Tranquil Park at Maleny which really is a pretty spot. The view from the conference room and restaurant were spectacular. The accommodation was not exactly 5 star but comfortable I thought and the food! Wow so much food! They kept us fed the whole time and there was just too much food I think...very beautiful and plain food...just perfect and lots of deserts!
The weekend was about reflection and relaxation as we taught the early childhood staff how to take care of themselves. Teaching is a rather stressful profession these days and it was nice for them to slow down and take time out to network with each other, visit the local sights and just relax. We had invited the local pastor who did a session about spirituality...it was not as religious as I thought it would be but was amazing at the effect it had on people...we did a sort of quiet meditation and we were given really nice journals to write our thoughts on to. Many people had a sort of spiritual epiphany so there was lots of tears and hugging. It really was amazing.
We had a masquerade ball as well so when I get to work I'll post up a pic of me and a friend in masks! Was a great night! But now I am exhausted and the boss gave me Monday off so back to work tomorrow *sigh*.
I was telling fellow blogger Froggy today about a mutual friend from our old days who I ran into at Super Amart last Thursday night. Miss 21 and her guy wanted us to go with them to give advice on furniture they wanted for their new place and he served us! Was awesome to talk about old days and he hadn't changed much at all just the hair was much greyer! After keeping him for about an hour Miss 21 and Mr Air Force made their choices...they bought a dining room table, a queen sized bed (we managed to talk Galen into throwing in the pillows which he did!) and they also bought a TV entertainment unit. They did a good deal out of the whole thing. MM can talk anyone into giving away all sorts of stuff...he has NEVER paid full price for anything...I tend to slink away quietly as it embarasses me a little!
Speaking of Miss 21 and Mr Air Force, tonight is their last night together for 3 months as he is being deployed to Iraq. It will be his first stint and I think he is a little scared and I know Miss 21 is but here's hoping he stays safe and will be back home in no time.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
My week thus far....
The weekend gone was quite an eventful one and I must say the most enjoyable one I have had for quite some time! My Miss 21 and her Airforce man have finally moved in together and so they invited MM and I to come visit their new humble abode and have afternoon tea on Saturday. We'd love to say we and with Mr 20 assuring us he knew the way we set off on our journey to Silkstone, an outer suburb of Ipswich about an hours drive from our house. I had been to Ipswich many times as it is dad's hometown and his sister still lives there and over the years we had many visits although these stopped a few years ago as said sister became very ill and wasn't much up for visits. So I figured we should be able to get there easily without getting lost. Well...we didn't figure on all the new underpasses/overpasses and new highway to Ipswich. So we say to Mr 20 "okay which way". He ums and ahs a few times then says "Try that way" only seconds from the exit. "Are you sure?" yells MM as he veers off onto the exit. "Yeah pretty sure" says Mr 20. By now we are on the Centenary Highway and the sign that we pass a bit further on says we are heading to Logan/ Gold Coast and then Sydney. MM is now getting a little uptight and thinking this is not the right way. We head past Forest Lake and Springfield and lots of signs that say we are heading to Warwick but none that say Ipswich. Turns out Mr 20 has only been to his sister's once and she was driving and it was at night so he really had no clue where he was going only that some things "looked familiar". By now MM is yelling at Mr 20 saying "looking familiar" is not going to help us find Silkstone. I ask Mr 20 to pull out the UBD and I start looking. Hmmm we are actually miles from we are supposed to be and should not have taken the exit we took. If we'd stayed on the same path we'd be there by now. It seemed we were going to Ipswich via Cairns! Eventually we get as far as Amberley RAAF base before turning around and heading back the way we came. By now we are an hour late, MM has steam coming from out of his ears and Mr 20 is sulking in the back seat! As for me, I'm just happy to be out of the house and going for a drive! I'm like the puppy that loves getting in the car and sticking his head out of the window and tongue flapping in the breeze! Anyway, after following the UBD which incidentally is from 2004 and has none of the new roads/highways/housing estates in it, we arrive about an hour and a half late! But we got the grand tour of the house and we had a lovely afternoon with daughter and future son in law. The owner of the house is a young lady who is renovating so there is a lot of work to be done but she has all kinds of kitchen gadgets which were pretty awesome! Miss 21 is really proud of herself and she and I spent an afternoon swapping recipes and she asking me for laundry tips and what products are best etc so it was a really nice mother/daughter thing with MM and MM Jnr talking man stuff and Mr 20 sitting watching a DVD on their nice big TV! MM Jr is really good for Miss 21. She really was a wild child out of control at one stage and was living a nomadic existence drifting from one friends house to another with nowhere to call home. He is really pulling her in to line. They argue a bit as she wants to spend money and he keeps telling her to get a job then they can afford to spend money. MM and I silently cheer as we have been at her for years to get a job! But they really are in love and he takes good care of her and she has finally become domesticated! Yay!!
Sunday we had a Christmas breakfast at a park near the beach at Scarborough (Redcliffe) with Mum's family...her brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews. We had a lovely time! We basically only see each other once a year at Christmas and at weddings or funerals. Mum's siblings are a riot and its so odd to see all my cousins who were only babies when I was in my 20's are now all grown up some with kids and families of their own now! One of the aunts is putting all the previous Christmas parites we have had and we filmed on video onto to DVD and we will all get copies. We all laughed at the way some of us looked in the 80's *ugh* and all the cousins how cute they were as little ones. It's so funny. There's ones with Dad in them as well as some with my cousin who died of leaukemia at the age of 21 so it is so nice to look back over the years.
All in all the weekend was wonderful and it really put us in the mood for Christmas again.
Sunday we had a Christmas breakfast at a park near the beach at Scarborough (Redcliffe) with Mum's family...her brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews. We had a lovely time! We basically only see each other once a year at Christmas and at weddings or funerals. Mum's siblings are a riot and its so odd to see all my cousins who were only babies when I was in my 20's are now all grown up some with kids and families of their own now! One of the aunts is putting all the previous Christmas parites we have had and we filmed on video onto to DVD and we will all get copies. We all laughed at the way some of us looked in the 80's *ugh* and all the cousins how cute they were as little ones. It's so funny. There's ones with Dad in them as well as some with my cousin who died of leaukemia at the age of 21 so it is so nice to look back over the years.
All in all the weekend was wonderful and it really put us in the mood for Christmas again.
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