Whew....what a month!

I am soooo happy that August is over and almost half way through September! Some days I wish I could be footloose and fancy free and just do what I feel like instead of marching to the beat of everyone else’s drum! Only a few more months before the mortgage is off our hands and then look out world! Time for a sea change methinks.

August was pretty atrocious for me. I had 2 weeks off work as I was suffering intense kidney pain and had to go back and forth to the doctor those 2 weeks. I feel like I live there these days! Luckily I have a really nice doctor. She is Indian or Sri Lankan but very nice and although sometimes her accent is noticeable I have no problems understanding her. She is very thorough which is what I like about her and rather than fob you off she will try everything she can to find the cause of any ailments. And because she bulk bills it costs me very little except time. Anyway I had the usual urine test done to see if maybe it was kidney stones. The pain was excruciating and kept me awake every night as every time I moved it felt like I was being stabbed in the side. Anyway it turned out it wasn’t kidney stones so I was then sent off for chest xrays as she thought I may have pneumonia or pleuresy. Turns out the x-ray showed a bronchial thickening in my chest which was causing the pain. Apparently I had bronchitis at some point that wasn’t treated (don’t remember that as I don’t recall ever having bronchitis!) Anyway a course of antibiotics later and the pain is gone. Now though I have a bad head cold which is really driving me nuts!

The past month or so I have been organising our early childhood conference which was held last Saturday. So much work for just one day! But it was very successful and I received heaps of great feedback so I was really pleased it all went so well. So all over for another year and now planning starts for the Annual Staff Retreat in March which is a weekend away for all 50 of our Kindergarten/Child Care Directors.

End of August would have been my dad’s birthday so I have decided that each of his birthdays I am going to buy myself an orchid as that was his favourite flower and something we always bought him for his birthday. I know nothing about growing orchids but my father-in-law is also an expert on them so he is going to help with tips and advice. I now have 2 orchids – one that dad me years ago which is still growing nicely and the one I bought on his birthday. MM is going to build me an orchid house so I can’t wait!

Last Sunday for Father’s Day we went to breakfast for my father-in-law. It was really nice. It was at the North Aspley Leagues club and apparently they do a big buffet breakfast every Sunday. The food there is really good and MM has decided he loves it there and wants to go more often! This is a guy who really doesn’t like going out anywhere! So I was surprised to hear him rave about this place and how much he loves the breakfast. They have everything from cereal, pancakes, sausages, eggs done every which way, bacon, spaghetti, baked beans, toast with all kinds of spreads, danishes etc. Really good variety. So that was a really nice day.

On the way home we had to go to the inlaws as dad wanted me to help him get Skype working so he could talk to his family in New Zealand. They all now have Skype and so I set it up for him and showed him how to conference call. We then went home. Not long after we got home dad called to say he was going to conference with the NZ rellies and did we want to join in. So MM and I logged in and I initiated the conference call with all the NZ rellies and we sat around for an hour chatting. They all marvelled at technology and being able to chat over the computer instead of the phone. We even got to chat with MM’s grandmother who is a sprightly 96 year old and she was loving being able to chat to all the kids in Australia! Some of MM’s cousins live in Christchurch and as you will know they have had the big earthquake there so everyone was concerned but it turns out everyone is fine. MM was funny because he doesn’t even know most of his cousins and he was asking me who they all were! It seems I know more about his family than he does! Anyway the biggest drama to come out of the earthquake was that an antique grandfather clock belonging to cousin Kit was badly damaged in the quake so she was very upset. It was a wedding present to the great great great grandparents and is over a century old so everyone was tutting over the loss of the family heirloom. But thankfully no-one was hurt.

Yesterday (9 September) my baby girl turned 17! I can’t believe how fast time has flown by. I can remember being at the hospital the day she was born! In fact she still has the fluffy elephant I bought for her the day she was born. It is her favourite thing and she still treasures it to this day. I haven’t managed to see her yet to give her a gift as her social calendar is full! Last night her boyfriend took her to dinner then a movie…Saturday her friends are throwing her a BBQ on the beach, weather permitting so hopefully Sunday I can grab her for a bit of time! Last weekend I helped her submit her QTAC form for TAFE so now she has to work on a portfolio to submit along with a 250 word essay on why she wants to do photography and what she expects to get out of the course. Not to mention all the exams and assignments she needs to hand in for end of year. So she is feeling the pressure a little bit now.

Anyway I guess that’s my month in a flash. See you all next time!

This Week continued...

Sorry...had to interrupt my train of thought with a 2 hour long meeting which really achieved nothing as is the usual case!

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Wednesday, Thursday and Friday was pretty the same old same old...sleep, eat, go to work, eat sleep...not necessarily in that order!



The weekend was damn slow and boring...I swear if I don't get out of the house soon I'm going to explode...Saturday was washing day then hubby asked me if I'd like to watch a series of documentaries he'd downloaded especially for me. In actual fact, no I didn't really feel like wasting a Saturday sitting on the coach watching TV. But I had mentioned in passing a month or 2 back how much I'd love to visit Canada and that we should go there after our cruise. So Darling hubby downloaded a 6 part series on Canada done by a guy called Ray Mears who spends the time trekking through the endless forests there and giving a history of Canada and showing his bush skills and how the native Indians survived using their bush skills etc. It was actually very interesting and I am glad we watched it and secretly I guess I'm proud of my hubby that he actually listens to me and tries to please me when he can!



Sunday I did my usual visit to Mum's and met Miss 16's boyfriend R who is starting to make a habit of sleeping over there on weekends...on the lounge of course. He is a very shy little muppet and honestly all I want is a pair of scissors so I can cut his hair! He has long blonde hair with the bulk of it hanging over his face which he occasionally flicks back so you can see his face! He seems nice but I tried to get a conversation out of him about Uni and what he is up to etc and really only got monosyllabic replies! Miss 16 says he is not normally that quiet but he is shy and will warm to me....eventually!

If Only....

...I could remember to write everything down that I do in a week even if it is in note form, I might just have something interesting to report here. I had meant to do a blog a few days ago while it was fresh in my mind but as usual my mind ventured down another avenue and as usual I sit here racking my brain trying to remember something interesting that might have happened rather than subjecting you all to a snooze fest!

Monday was the usual *get up groaning about the fact it is Monday and where the heck did the weekend go*. My Monday mornings are always slow and I spend more time wishing I could work from home as my darling hubby does and begrudging the fact that I have to travel so far to work and that I want to work somewhere where I can get there in 5 minutes by car. That way I could sleep in just a little bit longer. Mondays at work are a write-off anyway as we have our staff meetings every Monday morning where we co-ordinate diaries and discuss the previous week's issues and this can last right up until a late lunch after which point it is almost time to go home...bit of a bludge really as the meeting is basically a gossip session so nothing much gets done.

Monday night we got a phone call from a tearful Middle Daughter to say she and her Air Force guy have broken up after 4 years together. I knew this was on the cards for some time and had told my hubby this some time back although he didn't really believe me but woman's intuition told me that things weren't going well for them. Air Force guy has just got back from deployment overseas and I don't think Middle Daughter really likes the long separations that air force life brings. Plus she refuses to get a job and basically lives on his money which I think he resents as he has to work hard for it and she doesn't even try to contribute to the household. She does however love to spend it AND to make things worse she had been using his money to pay her mother's bills!

Her mother, my hubby's ex, is apparently dead broke even after receiving a small fortune from her father's estate. She blew all the money on her last husband who spent it all on fast motor bikes and fast cars and trips overseas then once the money ran out he left her. So it's all pretty messy really.

Anyway, I have a feeling this may be just a hiccough for them and they may get back together again...we'll wait and see.

Tuesday I had the day off as I had to go visit my specialist. I am still to have my liver biopsy but they are not so worried about that now as they are almost certain I have PBC (Primary Biliary Cirhossis) and I need to go back for more blood tests in December and visit him again then. My cholestoral number is extremely high however it is mostly good cholestorol so it puts me at a very low risk of heart attack or stroke which is good news. The thyroid tablets are working a treat as well so if all is still good in December they will put me on medication to help with the PBC. In the meantime I am on Questran twice a day which I hate as it is a powder you have to mix with water or juice and its rather gluggy and doesn't actually dissolve but it helps so I deal with it. I feel so much better, still a little run down but not so much and I am able to walk and exercise now without collapsing in a heap. At the train station I have been making myself take the stairs instead of the lift and that has been really good. Not puffed anymore when I get to the top.

My weight has finally stabilised. At one stage the weight was just falling off me and I looked awful...all skin and bones...I have put on a small amount of weight but am still wearing Size 12 trousers and jeans which still astounds me as I have NEVER been that size. The smallest I have ever been my whole life is Size 14 - 16. Hopefully it will stay stable although I still have my fat clothes just in case.

Some of Miss 16's Photography...

Here's a couple of photos I snagged from Miss 16's Facebook page...a couple of these were taken by me but the rest are all hers and she takes them herself with the help of a tripod...I can't find the pic I really love but she did have it printed on canvas for me for Christmas although I have yet to frame it. I think she needs to have it in her portfolio as she needs to provide at least one self portrait...

Wow! What a week...thank god it's nearly over!

So.....this week has been a rather eventful one. It sure has moved on really quick which is great because it means the weekend is here again!!

Work wise it has been extremely busy and to be honest I am at a point where I just want to toss it all in...not enjoying any of it anymore which is generally an indication that it's time to move on...but more about that later.

Saturday started off well. I went to mum's for a bit and helped Miss 16 prepare for one of her best friend's parties. He (J) was having a 17th birthday party which we thought was a bit strange since we figured he should have waited for an 18th instead but as it turns out he probably won't get an 18th! They were having a Naughty & Nice themed party and Miss 16 and her other best friend C were dressing as french maids with the fish nets and teeny little skirts etc. They did look cute and not as trampy as I thought they would look. Then they waited for Miss 16's latest boyfriend R to pick them up.

Let me tell you about this new guy. I didn't really think much of R mainly because he is 18 and goes to Uni but after this night my estimation of him went up substantially which proved to me not to judge a book by its cover I guess. R's last girlfriend died 10 months ago of cancer and Miss 16 was the only person who would listen to him while he was upset and their relationship evolved from there. I originally used to see him on Facebook and to me, the comments he used to make to Miss 16 on Facebook bordered on stalker to me. But again I could be wrong! Anyway she really likes him and he treats her well and yeah like I said his actions on this Saturday night proved to me he can be trusted.

Anyway...Saturday night and they head to the party. The birthday boy, J, has booked himself a hall and a DJ and Miss 16 and C had a list of names to give to the bouncer so that as people arrived, if your name was on the list you got a wrist band and got signed in. Not on the list? No entry!

First half of party was great according to Miss 16 and C. C's boyfriend was also there until things stared to go sour. Firstly J didn't have money to get the pizza to feed everyone and tried to talk Miss 16 and C to pay for them since the party was supposed to be for C's birthday as well. Both girls refused as they hadn't wanted a party this big and had no part in the planning as J had pretty much invited everyone without their knowledge. Halfway through the night there was suddenly a whole lot more people and Miss 16 and C told J that people were coming in who weren't invited and in fact they didn't even know them...did he? J's response was that is was a party right? Just enjoy! At this C got very upset and decided to leave the party.

C left with Miss 16's boyfriend while C's boyfriend stayed with Miss 16 as Miss 16 wanted to start cleaning up. By now the party was getting very aggressive, there was alcohol coming from somewhere and fights were breaking out. About 20 of the kids took over an industrial bin and were riding it down the main street narrowly missing cars and somewhere the Police arrived. By now J's mother had arrived and she was less than impressed and demanding answers. J was now blaming Miss 16 and C saying they had invited too many people and people were gatecrashing. Miss 16 was furious with J as this wasn't the case at all so she called R to come back and pick her and C's boyfriend up as they were all going to be staying at R's house that night. So now poor Miss 16 was having to get a lecture from J's mum about being irresponsible and the mother ended up calling my mum next day to tell her what went on and saying Miss 16 and C were drunk (she wasn't) and had created a huge disturbance. J's mum then went on to say that all three of them were supposed to pay a third of the costs each (again not true and J had boasted about how he was going to have the party he wanted and booked the hall without his mother's knowledge. Now he decided he didn't want to pay for the whole mess!) J's mum said she noticed Miss 16 and C were drunk before they even entered the party (again not true...Miss 16 still had the flu pretty bad and her eyes and nose were sore and runny before she even went. Mum wanted her to stay home in fact. Also she was wearing extremely high stilettos which were killing her feet causing her to wobble a little). Turns out that J had stolen his mother's alcohol and had been giving it out to kids at the party.

Miss 16 and C had only invited 20 kids whereas J had invited the whole of the Year 12 class, even those he didn't know. In Miss 16's and C's opinion this was to make himself "popular" at school because as a 17 year old gay boy who makes no secret of it, he is not exactly popular at school and only has a small circle of friends (Miss 16's circle.) I had always thought a lot of J as he was always a nice kid and it turns out I went to school in Gladstone with his dad! Miss 16 and J have known each other since kindy and have been besties ever since. That may change! J's cousin is Kate Miller Heidke, the singer that's around at the moment. Anyway needless to say when mum told Miss 16 what she had been told she is now furious with J and when mum spoke to C and asked for her side of the story she told mum roughly the same thing so it appears J may be covering his own butt! J's mum is pushing for Miss 16 to pay for damages to the hall as well but she is refusing saying if J had kept to the list there would not have been trouble as the party was peaceful up to that point. What I liked about Miss 16's guy R is that he gave Miss 16, C and her boyfriend a lecture about how stupid they were and how he knew the party would get out of control and in future they needed to be more careful about the kinds of parties they went to! Yes dad lol! He was very concerned about how things all panned out. It certainly changed my opinion in a small way.

Anyway Sunday then passed fairly uneventfully. I had a quiet day with mum and played with the puppies for a while. I was beginning to feel the effects of the flu as well and Monday I awoke feeling pretty crappy so called in sick. I slept till about lunch time and got out of bed feeling better. As MM was making me tea and toast (love that man!), Mr 20 yells out "Bye! I'm off to work!" Next thing I hear a loud bang! I looked out the window and there was Mr 20's car in pieces on the road! I yelled to MM "That's Mr 20!" MM heard as well and went tearing out the front. Mr 20 had gone to pull out of the driveway and seeing nothing coming reversed out then was collected by a ute coming up the hill which hit the tail end of Mr 20's car. He claimed he didn't see Mr 20 and Mr 20 is adamant he could see nothing coming. That part of the road is notorious anyway as there have been several accidents there over the years we have lived there. Poor Mr 20 was so upset. He has spent so much money on that car and it is a lovely car...it's his pride and joy and looks like it will be written off now as the whole rear end has been torn off. He does have compulsory third party insurance which will cover the other driver but nothing for himself as being under 25 insurance is just too expensive. But at least no-one was hurt.

Wednesday night I met up with Miss 16 and mum after work at Roma Street station to take her to Southbank. This night there was an Open Night at the Southbank Institute of Technology which is where she wants to go next year to study photography and graphic art. Southbank is apparently the best place if she is not going into university. It's a very impressive place and seeing it all has motivated her even more. She now has to complete her QTAC application and submit a folio of her work which she pretty much has already organised. It's a 2 year diploma with an option of doing further study at university level. Her school is organising her work experience in photography for this term until the end of the year which will also look good on the QTAC application.

Now it's Friday and I am about to finish up at work and head home at last! Let's hope this weekend is nice and ordinary!

This shoe ring holder and the little purple butterfly box is from my niece...the little box actually contains a sachet of lavender which is currently sitting on my computer desk and making hubby sneeze!

This is from Toni...Love the shoe!

The box from my MP3 player which my hubby mysteriously installed without my knoweldge!

This cute little ring holder and earring necklace tree was from my niece (you can't see the tree thing in this pic) but you can in the below pic





Flowers from my boss which look so much prettier than this photo shows

The gorgeous purple dragonfly mobile which is currently hanging from my computer monitor. A lovely gift from Shaz. Purple is my favourite colour!

Oooh...it has been a while!

Hard to believe I haven't blogged since May! Well actually I did have a post in June...well I had it typed up at least and before I could submit, our computers at work decided to choose that precise moment to fall off the internet and I lost my post and I just could not be bothered re-typing it all as it is never the same!

Anyway I am here and thought I would blog my birthday as it was quite a special one and I had a really nice birthday this year. Photos are attached of all the lovely gifts I received. I am blessed with wonderful family and friends. Special mention to my hometown friends Toni and Sharlene who both sent me lovely gifts. Toni's came at a time when I was feeling really low and had had a bad week so to receive her gift just made my day! I love you guys and I really do appreciate your thoughtfulness! Another fellow blogger, Froggy and I reminisced about past birthdays and all the fun we all had in our day. Going to try and make reunion plans for maybe next birthday...I think Adelaide was touted as the venue lol...I so want it to happen so will be working on that one! A week with the girls just like old times sounds awesome!

My darling man gave me his gift a week early. I think he was worried he would forget so he made sure I got it early! But there is a story behind his gift. I park my car at the train station every day and last Friday I was running late for the train and he said he would drive me to the train station and I said no it was fine I'd be able to make it. He nonchalantly asks me if where I park my car will still have spaces available. So I say yes I park it on the paper mill side as always as there is usually still spots left as most people are too lazy to make the walk over the bridge to the train and it doesn't bother me. I thought no more of it.

The rest of the day for me was horrible. For some reason I was feeling really down, hating work, and thinking I needed to change my life as I hated my job, was tired of having to run around after everyone and also feeling really sad as Dad had been on my mind for the first time in 6 months and I had no idea why. I get to the car without even thinking, get in and immediately think "this is not my car". It looked different inside somehow. I get out, look my car over and think "This IS my car". I get back in and turn the key and sitting on the dash where my old car stereo was is a brand new MP3 player with all pretty blue lights etc. That's what was different about my car but because I wasn't thinking straight it didn't register straight away. So I turn on the ignition and there playing loudly on the stereo is my hubby and 2 of my kids singing happy birthday! Well I just burst into tears wondering how on earth they had managed this one and thinking how my day suddenly got better. Until I realised they had the happy birthdays on a loop and I had no idea how to turn it off or down or anything lol. At this point I am almost certain they are lurking in the bushes somewhere waiting for me but after a while of waiting I head off home with happy birthday still playing over and over...and over...By the time I was almost home I had started singing along with them lol. Apparently hubby wanted to have a recording saying "Don't move, I have a gun. Start the car and drive off slowly!" Lucky for me (or maybe him!) middle daughter told him that was mean and told him he couldn't do that. This was around the same time a car jacker was in the area and she was worried I might think it was him!

The Friday before my birthday was okay. My boss bought me flowers and we had a morning tea in my honour which was nice. One of my work colleagues took me to lunch and on Monday another colleague is taking me for drinks after work...our Cocktail Hour lol...we like to try new and exciting cocktails once a month and this month it is for my birthday.

Mum and my brother bought me a TomTom GPS system for my car as well which is awesome! Ken is my sexy voice who guides my way although I would prefer George Clooney but Ken is very good at giving directions! We went through the website and found voices to download at a price and hubby was ecstatic when we found some Star Wars voices and there a Yoda voice. Yoda is hubby's idol lol! Although following Yoda's directions would totally confuse me so I'm sticking to Ken for now.

Anyway I am about to post the pics of my prezzies and thank everyone for the birthday wishes. Doesn't seem like that long ago since our 21st and like I mentioned to Toni on my Facebook page I was watching my 21st video (now on DVD) with the kids and it really doesn't seem that long ago although the fashions and the hair were all very 80's!

They were the best of times and I really miss them!

Just remembered a couple more things that happened on Friday! Friday morning I usually nip into my favourite pattiesserie for either a hot choclate or a cappuchino. They make the BEST coffee and hot cho and the chef there makes all his own danishes and pastries so I usually get one of those as well...DIVINE! Anyway I get to work and notice a guy has got in the elevator before me and has left without waiting. So I wait for the next one as I'm in no real hurry to get to work...it gets back to the ground floor and the guy is still there in the lift still looking a tad confused and he asks if I am going up. "Yes" I say and up we go but I notice he has pressed the Floor 3 button which doesn't actually go anywhere it stops at Level 2 before going back down to ground again. I look closer and it turns out is is "Lord Mayor Jim" lol...former Mayor of Brisbane Jim Soorley. He is looking flustered and tells me he has been in the elevator for 5 minutes trying to get to floor 3. Trying hard not to laugh I explain to him that to get to Floor 3 you have to use the second elevator. Even though THIS lift has a Level 3 button it only goes as far as Level 2. Don't ask me why. It just does. So he very grumpily gets out of the lift and heads to the one beside it to go up to Level 3. I had to laugh when he got out. I shouldn't because it happens to lots of people and it is really stupid having a separate lift for Level 3 but the people who own that part of the building didn't want us plebs soiling their plush carpet.