Thank You GG & Beloved.......And everyone else....

Hello Everyone; It's lovely to be back!!!!!!

As lovely Laihnabeth reported, this week sees the Blogmuggle very challenged in various areas on the homefront. First of all, Christmas Eve saw the family wagon developing some internal flow issues. This hasn't been solved, but the car is going, and we will change the fuel filter, and see what happens. We couldn't make it to Newie for Boxing Day, so my brother and his family came up here to us......How lovely are they!!!!!

Next, the box that is the heart and soul of the computer decided that it no longer wished to share it's contents with us; not booting up at all, and the CD-drive won't open at all now, when previously we could coax it open. GG tried to install bigpond on her laptop yesterday, but had no luck. Beloved, who must have been feeling very internet deprived, actually had a go, then spent half an hour on the phone with the helpline...so that's how I'm here! What a clever Beloved!!!!!!! We will have to try Alex-Computer-Whiz to see if he can get the big one going again, and if he can't, then it's off the the fixit shop.........

Then our favourite telly decided that we could only watch it if we could imagine what was happening on the screen by watching the single flashing line in the centre of the black screen whilst the sound was completely normal...........I think it decided to go on holiday as a direct result of 2 new TV's finding their way to our house this Christmas. Lucky for us that we have a spare to watch...and it's even larger than 34cm.......My eyes are not so good these days..........I want to get my knee fixed before I get some glasses......and some dental work done........YE GODS!!!!............ I'M FALLING APART!!!!!!!

Anyway, other than this, we're all good. Christmas was good; we caught up with people we hadn't seen for while and the kids loved their presents. So I've put Bah Humbug back into the cupboard for another year. It actually saddens me to see how empty the house looks without all the Christmas decorations everywhere. We will test out the car on Saturday with a drive to Newcastle to visit the family, but we have to be home in time for the kids to party on Sunday night. GG has about 4 parties to attend, and has nominated herself as Designated Driver for the night. Which is good; very responsible of her.......and bad.......all those idiots on the road, out and about......It's a really hard thing, waving your baby off in a car...on her own...or with her friends......

Oh, and I'm not working again until Jan 2........happiness is........

But I'd best go. I had better not abuse GG's good graces..I want to keep on using her laptop......And I have to keep on re-making a dress for her to wear to her friend Bethany's 18th birthday party tomorrow night. It's a cocktail party, and we found a cute frock at the bargain bazaar for $1.50. So I'm re-working it to suit her..I spent $13.40 on ribbons today....go figure....it's still a cheap dress. She wants to get dressed up, and is adamant that she won't be one of the many vomitus party-goers as a direct result of the cocktails.....It won't look right if she did, she reckons.....

Thank you all for your wonderful wishes and good thoughts. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to reciprocate. I certainly missed my blogging. But for now I'm back.....as long as I'm nice to my daughter.........

Love to you all!!!!

Cyndy xoxoxox

Hello Y'All; Welcome to the Yule........

Good Evening!!

Tonight.................

Ray Martin hosted Christmas carols on the tv.

I wrapped and wrapped and wrapped.

There are lots of presents around and under my little tree.

There is a fridge full of festive fare.

I saw the excitement on GG's face when BestiePat brought around her gift.

And the look of frustration when he told her she couldn't open it until Christmas.

I revelled in the excitement of Vegeboy due to the act that it's Christmas ...TOMORROW

The Santa sacks are on the lounge and chairs.

I ate Christmas pud, icecream and custard.

I listened to Beloved snore quietly in the only available lounge chair whilst I plodded on with the usual Christmas stuff.

Christmas must be here.

It's quiet here and not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse.

Except for Clover, who is snoring contentedly on her rug on the floor.

1.38am.

I'm not going to Newcastle tomorrow. I won't be seeing my family on Boxing Day. The family car is off colour, and I'm feeling guilty as hell that I've decided not to go. Beloved and the kids don't mind at all. I'm tired. And driving for 2hrs tomorrow night after work, only to rush around like a mad idiot on Tuesday, then rush home so everyone can go to work on Wednesday has lost it's appeal. I'm seriously unhappy about telling Mum, Dad and my brother's family that we're not coming...........We can go down on Saturday afternoon, and may even spend New Year's Eve there..........


OH MY GOD!!!!!!!


THE SANTA SACKS!!!!!!!!


HE'S BEEN!!!!!!!!!


Merry Christmas Everybody!!!!!!!!!

Love & Best Wishes to All

<3>

Blue, with a touch of pink..........

*The UAI's are in, and GG isn't all that impressed.*

70.

Lower than she expected.

But my GG is a resilient girl. She's looking through the Uni book at other options to achieve her goal...which would be good if she really knew what it was. But her short term plans include an Arts degree at Uni, and she will get there...even if it means a slightly circuitous route, or a move further away from home.

Gods, she's wonderful.

I love my girl.

She's even looking at Anchell's Institute of Higher Learning choice for her daughter.........

I'm going to miss her............

But she needs to stretch her wings........

And fly.............


Damn those 14000 High Achievers and their 90 plus marks.......pushing down the UAI.............



<3>

Look Out World; Here She Comes!!!!!

GG's Had a great Day!!!!

Her HCS results are excellent!!

Community And Family Studies....... 86....Band 5

Hospitality....... 84.... Band 5

Science....... 82.... Band 5

Drama....... 76.... Band 4

Extension English....... 75.... Band 4


and then...................


SHE PASSED HER DRIVING TEST!!!!!!!!!!


So She's Happy, happy, happy!!!!!!



University Admission Index tomorrow..........then we wait for the Uni offers to roll in in January!!!!!!!


YEE HAH!!!!!!!!!!!

Want to feel good?

Check out the "Free Hugs" video on U-Tube; it really should help you feel a little warm and fuzzy.......We really are a physical lot...........There should be more of it.........And maybe less presents........So hug someone today.....or lots of someones........ A long, all-encompassing, wrap-around hug helps.........


Have a good day!!!!

Time flies when you're having fun........

.....or so they say.

G'day Bloggers.

I must have been having a wow of a time, because it's been a week since my last posting. It's 12.32am on Monday, and this is the first time that I've had enough time to sit and collect my thoughts. I've read and commented on blogs, but not actually posted myself.

Nothing of any real note has happened this week, things just seem to need to be constantly done. Beloved went to Pacific Park for a long weekend with Scorpa Boy, and they will be home on Tuesday night. The remaining kidlets have just come and gone all weekend, with the necessary chauffering provided by moi. I haven't cooked a meal since Wednesday....I think....We had a barbeque with the owners and residents of the caravan park across the road on Friday night, and much fun was had. The owners, Rod and Gaynor, have been friends of ours for years, and were a great help to us during the 10 months that we resided in the van park over the last year.

I made a couple of decisions this week.

The first was that I think that there is no way that we will get any of the major work done to the house that requires a builder until, most likely, the middle to the end of next year. I contacted 5 builders in October/November with a view to a quote for the additions, which will cost in the vicinity of $120 000, so it's nothing to be sneezed at. One said he would call me in 2 weeks (I haven't heard from him). Two haven't bothered to return my call. Another, who was leaving for holidays, and that I called upon his return, came out the day after I phoned him 3 weeks ago, but we haven't received his quote yet. The last was very helpful over the phone, but will charge $300-$400 to prepare a quote. I can understand this; a lot of work goes into the preparation of a quote, and time is money. At least he discussed what we wanted, and gave me a price per square metre, so that we would have an idea of what we were looking at cost wise. Thanks to Spunkle Marc the Builder, we had an idea of the ballpark figure, which was much the same as Mr Costly Quote. This is the busiest time of year for most builders, so it was probably unrealistic of me to expect anything else. The other things is that most of the builders around here are booked well into next year....... So, I decided that we needed to make our living space more user friendly. So to this end, I have re-arranged the shed living space yet again. Now, at least, all the kitchen stuff is in the one area, and everything's clean. Poor Beloved; when he comes home, he won't be able to find anything. But then again, he used to this; he quite often arrives home to find things were not how they were before. It's a good thing he's adaptable. So I finally posted some pictures of the way we live, and now I've changed it. You'll be pleased to know that the Christmas tree no longer resides on the microwave; it has pride of place on a table with some nattily wrapped presents and other Chrissie assortments around it. When we first started this reno job, we envisaged having it completed for GG's 18th birthday, which we thought was not unrealistic, and gave us 2 years to complete. Now I'll be happy if it's finished for Scorpa Boy's 18th in 2 years time, or even GG's 21st.........

One of the reasons that we're still living in the shed is because we haven't done the required renovations in the house. Nor have we completed the jobs that we have started. We're in one of those never-ending circles now. We need money to get more things done, but we can't get the money until a builder can provide the bank with a quote and plans, and we can't go to the bank to get the money until the jobs are done. Time and money, money and time...blah blah..We have been constantly too busy, so now we're paying for it. We spent way too much money on rent while we were waiting to "find the time" (we probably could have paid a builder to work for us instead), and as usual, the costs were more than we budgeted for. So this week I decided that the holiday was over, and I was committing to finishing off some stuff. So Vegeboy has been sleeping in his brother's room while he was away, and he's just going to have to sleep in the lounge room on a mattress on the floor until I finish off the painting. Then it's a little bit of painting in Scorpa Boy's room. Next, I'm not sure; I've a little time off between Christmas and New year, so I'll do another biggish job then. There's lots to be done.

The other decision was that my lovely nails, that I have been spending ridiculously large amounts of time painting, repainting and making beautiful, have had to go. There is an infection control policy as work that we are bound to that requires staff to have short, clean and unpolished nails, and that acrylic nails were not allowed due to the potential threat of cross infection. So tonight I filed and filed and filed and filed until my nails are now fingertip length, and natural coloured. I don't want to get them removed, as it will ruin my own nails as well as being a painful process, so I'm going to try and grow them out. Well, so what, you say....big deal... The deal is that I have loved having these beautiful, girly nails. I'm not a particularly feminine or glam-looking woman, and have never suffered from the pretty gene. I am extremely low maintainence...having pretty nails, for some reason or another, made me feel more girly and attractive. It also reminded me of my Nanna, who always had beautifully maincured and painted nails. And she wore red lipstick. Even in the last throes of her cancer, Nan had to draw on her eyebrows and make sure that she looked as good as she could. So, I'm not happy.

But I'm adaptable..... and a realist......Bah Humbug! Enough blogging for one night. At least you know where I've been. And where I will be later...

Just a couple of quotes to finish..........

"Joy is not in things, it is in us"
Richard Wagner

"Laughter is the shortest distance between two people"
Victor Borge

Well it's 1.30am, so I'm off to bed. Love to all, and goodnight. xoxox
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Monday, Monday, be good to me.........(As in 'The Mamas & the Papas')

You, Rylah, are indeed the Queen of Blogging!!!. I'm back to 'composing' my blogs. Obviously, I had changed it somewhere, somehow, sometime. I wondered where all the things (very technical term) had gone. Yep, I am a blogmuggle......

My weekend was a good one. Dad had a very quiet birthday celebration with just Mum, my brother, his family, my boys and me. After whining and complaining that he didn't want to go out, he had the temerity to ask my sister-in-law why we weren't going up to Jewellstown for tea!!!!!!

Poor Beloved worked most of the night, then drove town to the Twin Service stations on the freeway to meet me and take the boys to Pacific Park for a bike demo day. Scorpa-boy is staying there for a week a part of his Year 10 work experience programme, learning about leisure park management, the tourism industry, and environmental management. Well that's what the school was told. In actual fact, he's going to help maintain the park, do a bit in the canteen, and spend the rest of his week perfecting his riding skills and improving his fitness. Beloved will be going to pick him up next Saturday, but will be staying until next Tuesday evening as there are riding schools on that have been organised by the Park owner and Scorpa-boy's sponsor. By the way, if you ever stop at the servos fer a break, avail yourself of the toilets in "Olivers"; very clean, modern and surprisingly pleasant, unlike the ones in the Maccas/Coolibah complex, which are usually messy and have a line-up. I didn't get much of a chance to have a look, but "Olivers" professes to have a very healthy fresh food menu, so I think I'll give them a go next time I'm in the area.

I waved the boys off, and headed up the freeway to visit some friends at Nords Wharf. Or that's what I thought, and so did they. Instead, driving along, enjoying the peace, quiet and joy of my own company, I went to my happy place instead. I had forgotten how quickly the turn-off came up, completely missed the signs, and recognised the road winding up the hill on my far left with an ache in my heart. There was nowhere to turn around until I reached Morriset/Mandalong Road. Then the first exit off the freeway took me on a lovely tour through the enticingly named Lakehaven and Charmhaven. Lots of new, crowded, tiled roof, generic brick houses, and accompanying hardware and homeware retail outlets.........My 15 minute journey ended up taking over 30minutes.......BUT.... I did manage some good coffee and porridge, and fab company and gossip whilst sitting on their deck overlooking Lake Macquarie....just a divine way to spent a Sunday morning.

Next on the agenda was an exciting (or a bit excruciating) shopping trip with Mum so she could finish off her Christmas shopping. We decided that Glendale was a little more manageable than Charleytown, but, sadly, there is NO CALENDAR CLUB THERE...hint hint...Undies and placements from "Less then Best", and a porcelain doll from "Homeart". A nice slow walk apund past "Target" when Mum decided that she needed food and drink....... in the middle of nowhere.....we couldn't possibly have been further away from the food hall. "Starbucks" was around at the end of the mall area in the way we were walking, so we v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y wandered around.......2 frappas and a pice of gingerlaof and carrit cake each, we headed off into K-Mart. DVD's and then a trip tp the toilet was required. So off to the check-out we went, then off to find the loos. That job done, it was back into K-Mart, kids' toys this time, then "Strandbags" for an 18th gift for GG's friend, Jess. Enough for one day!!!! Just out of interest, I HATE SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I left Mum sitting in the shade outside "Starbucks", and found her in her very quiet "happy place" when I returned with the car. Mum's illness results in her blackingout when she is stressed physically or emotionally. It was a common occurrence a few years ago, but thanks to medication and her "I'm not going anywhere I love my chair in my loungeroom" lifestyle, she doesn't blackout too often these days. I'm glad that no-one else realised that she was actually unconscious, or her handbag may have disappeared.........

Then Clover and I headed off to pick up GG from BestiePat's on the way home...or so I thought. I was driving GG's car, which she has named 'Coco'. I stopped at a rest stop at Rixs Creek to give Clover a walk and blow out the cobwebs, then back into the car and off we went again, and as we headed off up the hill, I heard a funny popping/crunching noise, and thought I had run over something. But I couldn't see anything. Then ALL the lights came on on the instrument panel and wouldn't go off.......Then the heat gauge was HOT...there is nothing around but coal mines on the roadside.....I decided to nurse the car a little further along the road to Ravensworth where there is a large Boral truck Depot, which is mannned 24hrs a day..it was already 6.45pm. A truckie stopped and advised me to see the mechanics in the truck depot if I couldn't sort it out. He must have been impressed with my can-do, professional manner of lifting the bonnet, topping up the coolant with a bottle of water, and NOT removing the radiator cap....Another guy, named Geoff, who was on his way home to Singleton turned around, stopped, surveyed the engine, which was now cooler and I had removed the radiator cap, walked over to the depot, filled up his water bottle which he proceeded to empty into the radiator, then left it with me ( he said I needed it more than he did), and I continued nursing my car home. It should have only been a 15 minute trip..... On the last hill before the power stations, I decided to stop again...there is no phone reception, or a safe place to stop for about another 10ks...so over onto a grassy triangle I stopped, and called the NRMA. They were quick..Michael would be 20 minutes, he said, and would tow me back to Singleton....then we could organise a towtruck back to Muswellbrook at our own cost....."No thank you" said I...."Can you give us a ride into Muswellbrook instead?"..So, Clover and I waited....A bloke with his kids on the way back from skiing on Lake Liddell, asked if I needed help.....A lovely young couple on their way back to Sydney turned around to help me out..they had been up to Inverell to look at a property to buy, but added that their parents didn't like the idea..my suggestion was to do what feels right, so who knows????? Micheal duly arrived just before it was totally dark, and we had a lovely ride to BestiePat's place..Michael asked if I could leave Clover behind, please..........I HAD LEFT POOR LITTLE COCO ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, IN THE DARK, IN NO-MAN'S LAND....
BestiePat's mum drove us home; a big thing for her; letting my dog into her brand new Hyundai Getz.... I had instructed GG to make sure that Clovers' occassionally dripping nether region (she's still in season; day13, only 6 more to go...) remained on her black-skirted lap at all times...... then when Beloved arrived home, I shared the good news.......9.30 by then....everybody was yawning.....

Monday dawned with me off to sort out boy's rooms with a view to finish off the trim painting this week, and 4 lovely loads of washing. We still have no milk, or anything for tea. The good news is that it looks like just the fan-belt broke on Coco, and he bought a new one for less than $20, which is really good, since I checked out the bank balance, and it's not so flash....

More later.......I have to go with Beloved to buy food!! ;)))))

2 for the price of 1...

On any given day, the 6m x 7m area in the shed that is our living space can look like this. Please note the very artfully pushed aside Christmas Decoration on the table. We are clean...just chaotic. My house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy...Our 'bedroom' is behind one half of the curtaining, but we don't need to go there...
This one's for you Jen......

This is the week that was....

Morning All.

It's Saturday morning again..how we got here, I'm not sure. I haven't blogged since Tuesday. I spent a lot of time reading other people's blogs..there are more and more, and it's sooo interesting.... Point form week;

*Work, work, work

* Thursday;
GG's last ever day at school for Big Presentation day; she sat on stage as an official guest, and saw her brother inducted as Yr 11 prefect for 2007. Morning tea afterwards; too much talking, not much munchies left.....
Noodle Box Lunch and shopping before getting Nailed. Mine are now a beautiful vivid deep purple, and GG's are....black, of course. She then went to work.
I have been asked to work Christmas Day... They only ever ask me as a last resort..but I am a good person...and very poor....I can rival a certain Queen Mary of laybyes..but I'm not sure how I can manifest cash required to extricate same laybyes..even working on SPF day doesn't alleviate as payment will occur after the event.. a mathematical/calendar error means that I expected to have 2 pays before SPF instead I only have one...and then there's Council rates, Phone Bill, Broadband bill, Electricity Bill...Anti-flea meds for the furkids..and others......

* Friday;
Year 10 presentation Day; GG attended so that she could shop for dual 18th b'day presents for Saturday night. This time we managed to attend morning tea on time; mucho marvelous munchies!!! NowYear11BoyPrefect and mates swam and flirted whilst turning himself into an inedible, skinny lobster. Stupid boy is white, white, white!!!! In fact, he's so white, he's blue! Except, now he's red..... GG drove and parked and drove and parked..She really should pass her test next time (if she doesn't stress out). She has been asked to work full time at Golo; she hates the shop, but needs the money before hopefully going to uni.....Decided I wasn't talking to my family after they all laughingly inferred that I was a lot like my father after making a "Kenny comment"......Washed, cleaned up, folded. Beloved attempted to regain brownie points by driving GG into party and then wiping up.....I was still cleaning when GG and BestiePat arrived home at 12.30am..but it doesn't look any different.....

Saturday; style="font-style:italic;">
Washing (again); Trying to blog, but bi#**%#-thing is playing up, as usual. I have left comments on various blogs, but there didn't seem to be any recognition, you know..the yellow "Your comment has been" ...so we'll see.
We're off to Newie, again, this afternoon. It's Dad's 70th birthday today, although he seems about 85.....He doesn't want to go out for tea, doesn't want a BBQ (good says Brother and me; his BBQ arrived with Noah)..blah, blah, blah... he doesn't even really have much to say; he just likes us around, but he will disappointed that favourite No 1 granddaughter isn't in attendance. I may get up to CharleySquare tomorrow..but only if I am driven by Dad; it seems that I can't drive his very special 1974 passat..Funny, I USED to manage....I'm going to try and post some piccies for you...oops, they're at the top...no captions, to protect the innocent.....actually, I don't know how to do them as blogger doesn't put on the actual photos, just the codings.......

Love to you all, Bloggie ;)))))

Where is Clover???

Here She Is!!!!


Here's some piccies of our lovely girl. She has had puppies sometime in the last 12 months, and I had been trying to contact her old owner to find out when she might be due to come into season, but the number on Clover's papers is incorrect, and I had misplaced the original piece of paper with her phone number. We picked her up on Sunday evening.....Bingo...Thursday, Clover commenced her oestrus cycle.....Friday, she aided in my emptying the contents of my wallet at the lovely vet's in an attempt to arrest her impending ovulation. We might like a litter of puppies at some point, but not yet...she had 10 last time...

She doesn't look happy, but believe me, she is ........







This beta blogger photo thing is soo confusing....but it seems to be working....

Love, Bloggie xoxox

Here's my contribution to the Great Christmas Bush display. Please note that my entry is in the Bonsai Section. It is currently residing on top of the microwave. It has lights, or not, as the mood decrees. We also have a large tree, but there is not enough room to erect it here in the shed...and I don't have enough Stolen Pagan Festival spirit to tidy the construction zone that is "The House" to erect it in there.







What is going on with Beta Blogger? If I try to remove the codings, it deletes the photos, which take an eon to load as it is. Is this a generalised problem, or does my computer have some funky virus? It has taken me 3 attempts over 2 days to get this far.....xoxoxo

Just a quickie..and a pickie...or two..

src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0sobuKliCVyJegzpfDx3e7VTfZpCc-uRQUsHl4knenBmFXoBK79Eq-Rg1mcc5SC45BxUuv6q7E0f3Mr6E3gRFtTA0PIsSXwU2b_wMLf1Hb1yzLSgV8Tqi-nLIBMFlHN_ZQSEOaw/s320/Jack's+Year+10+Formal+012.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5004422182325226994" />



Hi all,

There are ghosts in the machine this morning...I'm not having much luck with the piccies, and I don't have time to fiddle, so that's the only one so far....it's Jack and his lovely friend, Amy, a gorgeous girl who is extremely shy, and doesn't realise how beautiful she is....

I had a very busy weekend.

After the Big Formal on Friday night, we all headed to Newie to Mum's, arriving at 1.30am. Saturday Morning saw driving to Sydney, so that the Bigger Teenstrangers could attend "Homebake"; a 12hr celebration of Australian rock music. Aside from the rain, and lots of it, they had a fabulous time. This was Jack's first big concert, so he was rapt! Beloved, Vegeboy and I played tourist in the CBD all day; for the first time in my life, I walked around, and stood on the steps of the Opera House. This building is so very beautiful, and I find the harbour just divine. It was full of sailing boats, jet boats, ferries and small vessels; it was a constantly changing work of art. We took in a movie; the boys watched "Jackass 2" and I watched "A Scanner Darkly"...hmmmmmmm. We finished up at Darling Harbour in time to a free concert with Guy Sebastian, The Young Divas and Anthony Calleja, finished off with fireworks over the harbour..Beautiful!!!! Then it was back to the Domain the pick up the Big Kids at 11pm. Drowned rats, they were. Home to Mum's by 1.30am..again...

The boys went off trials riding on Sunday, and I spent the day with family.....nice...but OMG...my dad is a very negative piece of work...No wonder Mum needs medication........


I will post again tonight...I'm off to work...... See You! Have a good day!!!

Love, Bloggie ;) xo

The Post With no Name..or purpose....really.....

Things are busy here, but nothing of any real interest to share. Clover is a the most lovely little doggy, and has settled in as if she has lived here all her life. We have even let her off for a run in the park....and she came back!!! With an enormous, Boxer-dog smile. I have never, ever seen a dog enjoy life as much, nor as enthusiastically, as a boxer. The camera has been living in Beloved's work bag, so I have no photos yet..snoff, says I..phew, says you!!!

Jack has his year 10 formal on Friday night, so tomorrow night I will get his fluoro green suit out of laybye and hem the legs and sleeves...a deep purple-coloured shirt, and natty striped tie, finished with white dunlop volleys will complete his ensemble. He and Bestie Hannah had a final falling out; he is partnering another friend, Amy, who is wearing a black frock, and is more than happy for Jack to do his own thing. And by the way; she asked him to go with her.......

So, here's a couple of jokes to share;

Bored with his job, a man decides to act insane so that his boss will give him a few day's sick leave. He hangs upside down from the ceiling, making funny buzzing noises, and tells a female colleague that he's a light bulb. She calls the boss, who sends the man home until he's feeling better. As the worker walks out the door, the female colleague follows.
"Where are you going?" the boss asks her.
"I'm off home, too," she says. "Surely you don't expect me to work in the dark?"

Boom Tish.........
And another.......

In the USA, the FDA has approved a Prozac-type of drug for depressed dogs. This is good, because it's hard for dogs to get therapy;- they're never allowed on the couch.

And one more for good luck......

With the winning post in sight, two racehorses were neck and neck. Suddenly, on eof the jockeys is struck by a picnic basket thrown from the crowd. He loses the race by half a length.
"Why didn't you win?!!!" rages the trainer.
"Sorry Boss," says the jockey, "I was hampered."


And that's probably enough frivolity for one night!

Take care of yourselves and loved ones
Love to all, Bloggie xoxox

I 'Ad a Good Weekend.......

Gone.

The Weekend's gone.

Leisure Time, wind-down time, gone.

Just like that........

It was a good weekend, though. Saturday Beloved, Scorpa-Boy amd I drove to Newie. GG stayed home, partying with her friends on Saturday night, and hanging out on Sunday, furthering her withdrawal from family activities. She says, that the highlight of her weekend, and her friend, Jason, also went to great pains to tell me this, was their visit to the very hallowed (evidently)......rear workings of the kebab shop. BestiePat works there, and they waited out the back for him to finish work on Sunday afternoon. Amazing what tickles someone's fancy.......

Vegeboy arrived home from his school excursion on Friday night very tired and cranky, and adamant that he was not travelling anymore, so he spent Saturday night at a fellow wrestlemanic's house, and visited another of his wrestlemanaic mates on Sunday. When we picked him up last night he was sniffling, snuffling and snorting and very keen on going to bed. I have kept him home from school this morning as he still seems a little worse for wear. He is happily reclined watching the first, and most likely, the second and third series of "Scrubs"

We called in on the in-laws, who have retired happily to Elermore Glen, and it was lovely to see them. They are lovely, gentle people, for whom the glass is always half full. We are now caught up with the family comings and goings. They are currently babysitting my sister-in-law's, gorgeous West Highland White Terrier, Bonnie. If you're after a fab fur-kid, and don't have cash issues, then a Westie could be the dog for you. She's not overly high maintainence, has a fun-loving temperate, and isn't too big either. She's so cute!!!

The biking boys headed off into the wilds of Stockrington for the day with a group of other biking nuts, and enjoyed themselves so much that any ideas of driving home from Sydney after Homebake next Saturday night, so that Beloved can go to work on Sunday, have been shelved. More biking next Sunday too!

I had a delightfully quiet day with my mummy,; I didn't even get dressed until lunchtime. I sorted throught the Christmas gifts that she has purchased so far; she has done well, and only has a few more to buy. Which is the total opposite of a certain Blogmuggle, who really hasn't given it all too much thought at the moment.

The absolute highlight of my weekend was the visit to Clarencetown last night on the way home. I had looked on the Hunter New England Health Website Message Board for the first time in weeks on Thursday, and there was a female boxer to GIVE AWAY!! There was a notation that said dog had a penchant for fresh chicken, though.....After discussing it with Beloved on Saturday afternoon, I phoned and enquired about her, and made arrangements to view her yesterday afternoon. We were only the second people to phone her owner. To cut a long story short, we have a beautiful new fur kid at our house and her name is "Clover". She is 2, small for a boxer, and an incredible sook. She fits right in with us. I really don't want to leave her at home... I know that there will be an adjustment phase, and probably behaviours that we don't like, but so far, everytime someone looks at her, she brings a smile to their face....She doesn't seem too concerned about the cats so far...but they don't have feathers or fly....She has the same colour markings as Tessa, was born the day after Jack's birthday in 2004, was microchipped the day before my brother's birthday, purchased by her previous owners on Elly's birthday, and was tended by vets at Scone. Rhys was upset that there was no link with him, but then I discovered that she had been vaccinated on his birthday.... We're not sure if we'll stick with "Clover"; already it has been shortened to "Clo", and then "Cloey", so I think she may end up being called "Chloe" by us. I don't think it will make a great deal of difference to her. They reckon that dog's hear "Blah, blah, blah, CLO. Blah, Blah, SIT. Blah, Blah, Blah, BED." This afternoon, I will transfer her registration into my name; there is no way that I want to give her back; I am totally besotted with this canine already. This morning, Beloved showed her where I was in bed, and in the shake of her tail, and in an older boxer, that's short, she was up on the bed giving me a morning cuddle and smile. Even Tess didn't get quite that friendly! I don't have the camera at home today, but as soon as I've taken some photos, I'll post them, and I promise I'll get over my new obsession very soon, and stop boring you.

Anyway, that's a wrap!! Have a good week.

Love to you and yours
The Blogmuggle. ;)

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Good morrow, Bloggers!

I know that this posting title has been used by another of our beautiful Marys before, but today it just seemed appropriate. Which leads me to The Good......

Mum has come out of her operation ok, She has had an epidural anaesthetic, which safer for her heart and lungs, but she will be a bit sore and sorry for a while. Hopefully, she will be discharged today. Unfortunately, she has had an allergic reaction to one of the pre-op antibiotics, resulting in a nasty rash. Poor mum, but if that's as bad as it gets, then it really is good. We usually spend a few days in intensive care after surgery.....

Next; The Bad...

Well it's not really bad. GG failed her driving test. I don't think anybody really expects to pass first time anyway. It's just a bonus if you do. Beloved, GG and I were still looking for the missing log book at 2.30 am, and got out of bed at 5.30 to start again. No luck. GG's driving lesson at 7.30 went well, and we then headed off to Maccas for some warm Bevvies and toasted Banana and Cinnamon loaf. If you haven't tried this, then, as Molly Meldrum says, do yourself a favour and try some. Don't forget the butter, warm and oozing with comforting, fatty goodness...mmmmmmmm......We were Back at the RTA when the doors opened at 9am, and explained The Mystery of the Missing Log Book. We were sold another book, instructed to go through our diary, and fill the book in, ready to be back at 11.15am for The Test. GG's had her book since Octber last year...it took me almost 2 hours to fill it in, together with all the competency checks and signatures...In her new book, she has almost 72hrs logged, in reality, she would have had somewhere between 80 and 90hrs. It's lucky that I even keep a diary, and that she usually drove home from work, and that those trips were a neat 30mins. Anyway, the first thing she had to do was check her lights and indicators, without the engine running, and as I walked up the hill, I knew that I hadn't taught her this, and neither had the driving instructor....20 minutes later, she was back...she had failed to fully stop at a stop sign, even though she had to give way at the intersection..we had successfuuly navigated that same intersection on many, many occassions, including a couple of hours earlier..the things that nervousness can do to you...She's booked in again for December 19...and the log book and booking details are safe and snug in the glove box of the car..so now you can all remind me of their whereabouts when I loose them again......

And The Ugly......
This doesn't directly affect me, or, hopefully, you, but this is ugly; My heart go out to the families and loved ones of the teenagers from Sydney that were involved in the car/truck accident on the way home from their formal celebrations. It's every parents worst nightmare; you stress out just about everytime your kids laugh and run out the door, but you have to let them go. So, kiss and hug your kids and tell them you love them ...often

That's enough for today. I'm off to be a domestic goddess before we head off to Newie this afternnon. Have a safe and happy weekend all!!

Love, Bloggie xoxo

The Woman Look....

Today, Bloggers, I am feeling better. In fact, I feel so much better, that I know how unwell I have been over the last few days.

I feel good! (Cue James Brown here) Nah-Nah, Nah-Nah, Nah-Nah, Nah;
I knew that I would Nah-Nah, Na-Nah, Nah-Nah, Nah...etc

I worked, came home, went out again to buy food for tea..I could buy a 4 pack of caramel drumsticks because Vegeboy is still in Canberra. Crumbed chicken, wedges and pasta for the boys, mixed salads, pumpkin couscous, curried rice salad, and locally produced camembert cheese for the girls. Nice this cheese, but I can't quite fathom why a cheese that was made 20minutes from here cost me almost $8, and the same style of cheese can be imported from Europe and sold to me for around $5.

Next I helped GG clean the inners and outers of her car in preparation for her licence test tomorrow!!!! She can't find her log book, so there's a problem...it's not unusual for things like this to happen...I painted my fingernails, so now instead of being a pale, mother-of-pearl colour, they are a frosty, rose pink...I really must buy some more polish in a more interesting colour..GG has mostly black, with the odd bottle of colour such as red or purple..So now, at 11pm at night GG is shredding the place, looking for her book...she can't do the test without it. We have to leave at 7am too..She has never, at any point, taken responsibility for this book..and I must have become tired of finding it for her, and haven't even filled it in over the last month; I am sick to death of it...it doesn't matter; she has more than enough hours logged... I don't know where it is either....The last time I saw it was a few weeks ago, when she drove my brother's car around Belmont....this is not good....

My poor Mummy has a day or two in the John Hunter from 9am tomorrow. It's not a big procedure, but mum's scared stiff that she won't survive the anaesthetic, she has a poor history in this regard, but as I tell her, if you're going to almost fall of the perch, then the hospital's the best place to do it, as they can put you back up there again. So, I'll be back in Newie this weekend, but I'll not have time to socialise; I'll just be with Mum and Dad. It will be.....interesting.....

I'll post tomorrow and let you know how my 2 favourite girls go...

Love as always, The Blogmuggle ;)))))

plurgh....

Hi all,

I am home from work, feeling very under the weather, with a sore throat, and one large and lumpy ache..everywhere. It started to creep up on me on Sunday, and after a day at work yesterday, I came home, fell into a chair and slept until dinner time, cooked tea, ordered the two remaining teenstrangers around, mumbled at Beloved, and fell back into the chair, Finally, I crawled into bed at 9.30, instructing GG not to be long on the computer. Very early for me. 3hrs later, the tap, tap, tap, and light woke me up. She's lucky I couldn't yell. I think the tone of voice still got her though.

I posted yesterday, but it disappeared before I pressed the "publish" button.. ...otherwise you would all know that Vegeboy has gone an a school excursion to Canberra until Friday... that I've been quaffing large amounts of honey, lemon and paracetamol for days... Bugger; it was a fine and entertaining post..or not..I can't remember..

Today, something major has happened to my computer overnight. The most recent wallpapers, documents, bookmarks, Firefox, pictures (all of them!!!) have gone, and hve been replaced with stuff that is about a year old. Scorpa Boy's is till in place, I don't know about GG's, but I am devastated. I will have to get Local Area Command Computer Whiz, Alex, to look at it for me. Luckily, I could find my way onto your blogs, and so find mine. I am a Super Mary Blogger!!

Anyway, I'm off for now..I am melting towards the chair... and I must press "publish" before this post gets stolen like the last one...

Love from the melting, achy lump that is the Blogmuggle xoxo ;))

And the rest........

Evenin' all (In my best English Bobby accent)

It certainly has been a busy week. Here's some things that I now know;

1. Waratah is very quiet on a Wednesday evening...except when it's "Larry Potter" night at Rose Cottage
2. Mary Raihn was definitely not in her vinegar tips mode on aforementioned evening..dancing, shaking, rattling, rolling....but I love her anyway even when she is...when would this be????...
   
3. Larry Potter is an exihibitionist.......pots, bowls....... loves to drum and share the energy in public places such as Rose Cottage
4. Arty Farty Mary has very, very beautiful hair....and I'm sure we've been friends before...somewhere...sometime....
5. Mary Rylah is very pretty, but she doesn't know it.... and she is now the proud owner of 'Mary Zippy'... and she lives in the same suburb that I grew up in.
   
6. Faerie Mary is just that; a divine diminutive faerie who exudes energy and enthusiasm, even with a migraine and sick fur kid at home... and GG was her 1st internet whimsigal buyer. This lovely and unique brooch attracted quite a bit of attention.
7. Mary Jen... this woman is as funny face to face as she is on her blog... a very generous soul....
8. Mary Boss certainly gets a gong for her wonderful sense of rhythm and timing.... unfortunately there was only one gong to give her...never mind, she can only operate one at a time...she's a dab hand at the bongos as well... and provides a soothing aura of calmness over a cup of tea.......
   
9. Mary Tesah is full of energy!.... and has her personal pole on order...but she better not let any beginners on it..we all know what happens on slippery poles......(yep Lisa..I went there)
10. There were more blogging Mary's there...they just don't know it yet.
11. We welcomed a new blogging Mary.. poor girl agonised over her blog name, found one that she thought was perfect, then we went and changed it on her... we love you Hairy Melon....that is... . Mary Jewel....
12. Blogland seems a little empty without Upduff Mary and Ruby... having fun in Queenland, they are......
13. Mary Raihn has become an ace wather forecaster... better than Grant Denyar.... miles in front of Tim Bailey... (why are the current weathermen, short, blonde, adrenaline junkies?).. she even rivals the great Des Hart... now there was a meteorologist for you! But Our Mary Raihn told me she had arranged for a cessation in the rain on Thursday evening so that GG and her friends could arrive and leave their formal in a dry and un-bedraggled state.....and so they did!!! The Professional photos were taken outside too...nice overcast sky to prevent glare and squinting...gentle breeze blowing..but no rain! Thank you Mary noRainforGG'sbignight!!!!!!!
14. Rose Cottage rocks!!!!
15. Dreadlocks CAN look good.....especially on a evil fairy woodnymph.
16. One should NEVER use one's husband's electric razor to shave one's underarms....regardless of the fact that it worked just fine on the legs....this is extremely painful and leads to a very uncomfortable shaving rash.......never good in the sweaty section of the body that arm pits are....sweating hurts, and hurting makes you sweat more, which hurts, which, in turn, makes you sweat more... if you get my drift......it is absolutely NOT SCHMICK!!!
17. Scorpa Boy had his long and unkempt hair cut off this week... very unsure about the whole thing, he was........until the hairdresser informed him that a boy came into the shop the next afternoon asking to have the same haircut!!....Very chuffed, he was.......
18. Most people don't understand when you tell them that you haven't been nailed for almost 20years.. all sorts of things go through their minds.... GG and I both had acrylic nails applied for the big night... as those in attendance at Rose Cottage would have seen...I love my new nails....they make me feel pretty, and make my stumpy little hands and fingers much more feminine, and, well... girly.... and I feel like my beautiful nanna, who always had fabulously manicured nails (which I didn't inherit). I must have Italian heritage somewhere along the way, and use my hands a lot when I talk.... people are really noticing them at the moment. I want to keep them. But like all things beautiful, they have their dark side;

• I'm not supposed to have them for work due to OH&S considerations (but I LOVE them..and I would never deliberately shred the skin off somebody)

• It's really hard to open ring pulls (so you have to buy bottle of drink instead, or use a can opener....or get someone else to do it for you..fat chance of this at our house...)

• Zippers, buttons, ribbons and laces can be tricky

• Craft glue should never be used when wearing nailpolish as it's 60% acetone..difficult in my line of work.....

• But I love them.....

• Using a mobile phone requires the development of some very natty (and seductive; ok, so I made that bit up) finger/button-pressing techniques....
  

• There are potential hazards in the removal of belly button fluff from another individual.....

• They can get in the way when chopping vegetables...not sure about this task yet...I might have to retire from the heady world of vegetable slicing...

• Not sure about them in regard to personal hygiene tasks either, at this point..short and scrubbed might be easier......

• But I LOVE them.

• They are flammable..but I haven't been an arsonist for a while

• They have no real practical use, and I am such a practical and grounded person (Capricorn..), that spending money on their up keep just doesn't make sense, and seems to be a waste of my very precious time....and they seeem to have grown already...
  

• On the other hand, the girls at the salon are so much fun.......
  

• But the biggest difficulty I have endured so far with my beautiful fingernails is ...........typing. For someone like me, who is already extremely challenged in this department, missing letters and double-stroked keys are a nightmare. I seem to spend more time than ever correcting my appalling typing...plurgh to the max...

• And there is an annoying clicking sound when I type, too..... it might even wake Beloved up... or not....

• So, I guess they'll have to go. But not totally. I think I'll compromise by having them cut shorter, so that way they might be a bit more manageble....I'm very good at the art of compromising.....

Sorry, that's ended up being quite long winded. I should have instructed you to provide yourself with some refreshments before you started reading, or inserted an intermission somewhere....But then again, I could have edited that in at any time.... oh, I am such a bad, mean-spirited Mary........time to say goodnight...it's after midnight, as usual.......

Anyway, Love to you all, as always,
Blogmuggle <3>

Phew!!!!!!!!!!!!

GG and Amy

GG and cohorts (some of them)

????????

GG and BestiePat

Sorry there aren't better piccies, but they looked good on the camera, but when loaded onto the computer, they were blurry......shame..there were about 70 taken, and only about 15 were really any good ...can't wait to see the professional shots, though........

The past few days have been so busy. Newcastle for 2 days, home in a mad rush for GG's formal, and then just general running around. Slowing down would be good.....I'm home this morning, Vegeboy has been sent to his room to tidy, Scorpa Boy and Beloved are at work, and GG has gone to Sydney with friends to see AFI, and won't be home until tomorrow. The washing machine is doing it's thing, and I'm ignoring the chaos around me....

GG had the best time at her formal......she was the most beautiful woodnymph/evil fairy......

Will post more more later....Vege Boy has an assignment to do that was given to him 2 weeks ago, and was due in yesterday, so I have to get off the computer.....again....plurgh........

Love, Bloggmuggle xoxox <3 ;)))))))

The little Blogmuggler who could..........

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...........

Today I have changed.........
to Beta.Blogger.

I have added links to my sidebar.....
As I said I would.

I have even performed a miraculous rescue......
I have saved Quackers from an eternal life in the limbo that is cyberspace.

And I did it .........
on my own.

It is true......
GG showed me how to link one person.

And then she ran back out the door....
To spend the night with her friends (again).

Off they drove to Maitland for tea.......
At Hungry Jacks..Plurgh.

It is so scary............
Letting them go off like this.

It is amazing that I was able to manage this blog thing.....
By myself.

And tonight I was able to re-home Quackers........
By myself.

Next thing you know.........
I'll be uploading images other than my own photos.

Maybe I'll even steal them..........
From you.

But the most amazing thing of all is that I did this........
With an evil and bad head.

One that was resistant to drugs......
And is only easing off after 14hrs.

But because I'm a trooper, not a pooper........
I still managed to blog.

Hey, that's almost a poem, right?!!!!!!!

Love and light to all,
The not-so-Blogmuggle xoxox ;)

Thank you all for the compliments in regard to my new template. I like this one because it's....pink. I love this colour..... to me, it's soothing, relaxing and happy. I am also extremely fond of green. These are the colours that I like to have around me, as you will see if you ever come to my place. Laihnabeth, you may remember that the cottage that Marc re-built for us was pink, inside and out.

But I have a confession to make; I didn't change to beta-blogger.... and if I did, it was by accident. I only meant to change the template, and the time. I thought that I was very clever managing to do this. I started out trying to adopt a pet for my sidebar (not that I had one...yet). I decided upon a very cute little duck, that I coloured in purple (yes, I know; I'm so predictable), and named him "Quackers"...Good idea, you say...Cyndy is Quackers. So then it was up to me to pick where to send him, and that's the about the time that I came unstuck...I had no idea...at all......and...I lost him....I was so sad...Quackers was lost to cyberspace....alone.... somewhere out there in the ethernet......what had I done?.... so, to cheer myself up, I decided it was time for a change. Hence the new template. It took quite a few attempts to get it right, and even then, it wasn't until the next morning, that the new template showed itself. I was convinced that I had stuffed up yet again...Me and computers...plurgh...I hope that the powers that be never decide that this is a swear word....

So, here I am, you're requesting that I add you to my links, and I've not got the foggiest idea of how to do this. See Mary Jen, you really do have desirable talents. As clever as my children are, they're not Stickboy, nor are they at home much. So, I guess that when the computer is free, I'll have a serious look at how to set this thing up. This may mean that I incur the wrath of my family as I impede their computer time for a month or so, and I may never read or comments on your lovely blogs for the next year or so, but I'm a trooper not a pooper, so, imbued with the Aussie spirit, I'll have a go.........


Love, Bloggie ;))))))

Thought for the day......

If you have to choose between two evils, choose the one that you haven't tried before.......



Have a Good Day!!!!

Love, Bloggie ;)

This was the best day of her life.......

G'day.

Well, she's done it...... the Gorgeous girls has finished her Higher School Certificate exams...that is the end of her school days, or should I say, daze, which was more like how she felt yesterday afternoon when I picked her up from school..... It is very unreal to consider that ther will be no more parent teacher interviews, requests for money and help at school functions on her behalf, and other such past-times. She was quiet (unusual for her), but planned to meet friends for tea, at a local Thai restaurant. She is easing us into life without her; she has attended few "family do's" over the past year, and has very rarely spent time with us on weekends. She's so considerate, that she spent her first night as a non-schoolie at her friends house!!!!! She's going straight to work today, but will be home tonight (maybe; she's a free-agent now). So it was just Beloved, the Boys, and me at home; the shape of things to come.....Wierd....I am going to miss this child of my heart more than I can imagine. Mothers who are able to keep their kids at home don't realise how lucky they are. Having said that, there is no way that I would want my GG to live out her life here; there are too many roads to travel, and too much to experience in life to live it from here.

Oh well, I've still got the boys....2yrs of schooling left for Scorpa Boy, and the Vegeboy starts yr 7 next year, so there's a lot of mothering ahead me yet!!

Have a good One!!!!

Love , Bloggie xoxox ;)

ummmmm..sorry....

Forgive me bloggers, for I have erred.

It has been 5 days since my last blog entry...I'm not dead (that smell is just a vicious rumour) ...and I'm not drowned...our computer is slow, but working much the same as usual...ummmmmm...sorry. What's been happening in the world of the Blogmuggle? Lets start with Friday...

Hmmmm...it was raining and I worked all day.
Vegeboy had a mini-fete at school, so I supplied 11 large bottles of fizzy drink to make spiders with, and blankets to make a maze around the desks for the small people to crawl through. And gave Vegeboy $10 of my hard-earned cash to spend at the fete. I don't know what he did with it....Dinner on Friday night was family barbeque at Beloved's nephew's house in Muswellbrook. His sister and her husband had arrived from their debut motorcycle-trek from Canberra that afternoon, after being very unceremoniously rained on over the past few days, and breaking down twice.....His brother and partner were there too, as well as his brother's mother-in-law, who is on holidays from Lismore. I had bought a bottle of Pink champagne to christen Dan and Twistie's (Yep, I've got one too; she's also a cracker!) house, but never even had the chance to open it as the kids were at a band gig at the PCYC, and had to be picked up by moi at 10pm. It was freezing, and the lovely size 8 Twistie found me a jacket to wrap around my very voluptous and ample shoulders...

Saturday....still wet...mmmmm

Both the big kids were hard at work, and I decided to clean up the feral hole we call home. Washed and utilised the non-solar drying apparatus so that there was enough clothes to wear to work/school on Monday, as we were off to Newcastle to see...DAVE HUGHES perform at the Civic Theatre...a very funny man!! His 7.30 performance was a sell-out; we had seats in the middle, in the second row; a very safe place to be, as we were in the middle of the action, but out of the firing line. He was finished by 9.30, so we had a quick visit with some old friends at Jesmond before heading back to my brother's house to crash for the night.

Sunday..a moderate amount of precipitation....

The boys headed down to the Hawkesbury for some motorbiking fun. My sister in law headed off to church, taking my 3yr old Rogue nephew with her, so gorgeous Girl and I headed off to Garden city with the 8 and 6yr old nieces in tow, for some serious girl time. And we had fun. I went to see my lovely friend, Maxine, at 'Just Cuts', and she gave a me the best haircut that I've had in ages, for the grand sum of $22. Amazingly, in the 17 or so years that we've been friends, this is the first time that Max has cut my hair. And now, I'll just have to go back for a trim.....again, and again... We had icecreams from the 'Cold Rock Icecreamery'; 2 kid's cones and two ordinary cones for almost $19..hmm...that's almost next month's haircut...
I bought Beloved a lovely shirt from 'Colorado', to wear to Gorgeous Girl's Yr 12 dinner; it's his 1st 'good' shirt in 6 years...No suit's and ties for us....I'd given up on the search for a tent to contain the circus that has become my body, and decided that Black pants, that I found in Kmart, and a nice black (?) top might be the best outfit fot me to wear...at least I could wear it again.
I met sister in law and Rogue at my mum's, and after lunch, decided to go to 'Millers' at Belmont to see if I could buy a top on sale. Well, 'Millers' was closed, but GoLo wasn't...it is much better than the one in Muswellbrook. I'm sorry; sometimes, bigger is better. Eventually, we went back to mum's. My uncle (and the lovely Laihnabeth's) arrived, and much discussion ensued about where gorgeous girl can reside when she moves to Newie next year. It has been decided that we will renovate a shed for her to live in, but, the renovation will be a doddle compared with the clean up before hand. This will be blog-worthy on it's own. Domino's Pizza for tea, then back to Elermore Vale to meet Beloved and the boys and then back home to Denman. Rather late, actually.....

Monday...light showers, resulting in the cancellation of the Horse racing in Muswellbrook (absolutly tragic for some).....
Into the Brook to buy groceries (bah humbug), check out the cosmetics warehouse sale, and book GG's driving test with RTA. She's ready to go on Nov 24 at 11am; I had to pay up front; they don't miss you, do they?
Then the important part of the day; Black Top Shopping. Nothing in 'Millers', so into "Seven Sins" I go..very sort of hip in a hippy sort of way, and a bit unusual for me..GG loves it in there. Bingo!.. a simple black number that GG will probably steal after I've worn it once. You may be now wondering why a mature woman such as myself would wear something that her almost 18yr old would wear....and the answer is ...because I liked it!! It has a camisole style with a net over lay that has a little skirt sort of arrangement that falls over the hips..It sounds a little disgusting, and confused, but believe me, this folds and hides in all the right places....
Home to unpack the groceries, cook tea, then off for an evening shift at work.....only time to read blogs when I got home... Jen and Jacqui's moon was beautiful though, wasn't she?......


Tuesday..no rain..but the Muswellbrook Cup Carnival was cancelled..Ha ha, hoho, says me....
Off to work as usual. It's my unfortunate job to organise Melbourne Cup Day festivities for our residents, which is really hard for me..because I really don't care about horse racing in the slightest. Nevermind; hats (made in previous years), decorations, streamers, and afternoon tea before the race sufficed....We are a small hospital, with 11 permanent residents, 1 wardsman and about 20 nursing staff andabout 8 hotel staff; there were 7 sweeps ran today!!!!! Obviously, others are more passionate about racing than me.....

Anyway, Marys and bloggers, I'm off to bed; thank you for missing me; you sure know how to make a girl feel loved!!

Love to you all,

Bloggie xoxo ;) <3 <3 <3

Rain, Rain, Don't go away.....

Good evening Bloggers,

I have nothing exciting to share with you all............. except that

IT'S RAINING!!!!!!!!!

Ho Hum, you may say, but up here in the country, there hasn't been any decent rain in ages. February, I think. We don't have to mow the grass; there isn't any. Even the bindiis and burrs have died. Everytime I go to Newcastle, it rains. But it always seems to stop at Maitland or Singleton. I have friends that are dependent upon rainwater filling their tanks, but they've never had more than a drop of the stuff out of the sky, and continually buy their water by the tanker. I just had to stand outside and watch it. It was so loud that we had to turn the sound up really loud on the tv, because it was raining so hard on the roof, and there is nothing in between us and the roof.

Two songs popped into my head;

Madonna's "RAIN"
Rain, feel it on my fingertips
Hear it on my windowpane
Your love's coming down like
Rain.......
Wash away my sorrow
Take away my pain
Your love's coming down like
Rain......

and then there's

"I Love a Rainy Night", by Eddie Rabbit;

Well, I love a rainy night
I love a rainy night,
I love to hear the thunder
Watch the lightening
When it lights up the sky
You know it makes me feel good.

Well, I love a rainy night
It's such a beautiful sight;
I love to feel the rain
On my face
Taste the rain on my lips
In the moonlight shadow.

Showers washed
All my cares away
I wake up to a sunny day.
"Cos I love a rainy night
Yeah, I love a rainy night.
Well, I love a rainy night;
Well I love a rainy night

Puts a song
In this heart of mine
Puts a smile on my face everytime.

'Cos I love a rainy night


Yep, I surely do......

G'nite all ;) xoxoxo

Educational TV..

Last night, I learned a new word, courtesy of "Tripping Over", the new programme on the ten network;

Epoophany; this the moment of realisation for a man that he is gay

Beloved and I cacked ourselves when we heard this word.

Have a lovely day xoxoxo <3>

The Clouds Are Breaking.......

This is our lovely Anglican Church. I took this photo about this time last year, just after dawn....

Things are much easier this evening. Thank you for all your kind thoughts. It is so wonderful to be surrounded by so much goodness.

Love, Cyndy xoxo

Schmick????

This is the lovely silky oak tree in our yard. It looks really good from this side; Energy Australia has bonsai-ed the other side in the name of safety. Bah-humbug I say. It is a very old and well-inhabited tree, always full of birds. I have tried to take close-ups of the very divine flowers, but they just don't seem to do it justice. It is an absolute arbor of gold, and glows more each day.

Today, I don't feel schmick (is that ok usage Laihnabeth?).

As Dave Hughes says, I am angry.

A torrent of raging hormones and sick of the inadequacies of others.

Inadequacies that I would normally suffer in indifference, but today, I just don't want to.

It probably started yesterday, and peaked this morning.

Yesterday; Sunday

Gorgeous Girl was extremely rude to me at a function in front of people, not once, but a number of times. I was not impressed at all; the things that I do are not always about her; but again, I realise now, the timing was not good.

Then after putting a load of groceries through the checkouts at Woolworths, I discovered that I had misplaced my card, and no other accounts had enough funds to pay for the purchase. So back went the food. I never carry much cash. The last time I used it was at the service station at East Maitland, after Beloved and I made an early morning journey to Amart at Glendale to buy an exercise bike that he had seen on the TV special. He's not happy with his verandah that has developed thanks to his sedentary job and lack of will power when it comes to Croft's pies and dislike of yummy fruit and vegetables. After parting with $174.50, I told him "Merry Christmas", but of course, there will be motorcycle accessories that will be needed before then....oh, and he says that it's "ours"....so I am without my card.....and no money in the other accounts.....I will have to ring the bank and cancel the card in case sombody spends the vast $100 that's available....plurgh........I'm so glad Anchell let's me borrow that word....As soon as I walked through the door with my very meagre 2 bags of groceries, noodle-munching-Vegeboy asked what was I going to cook him for tea......it was already almost 7.30 by this time......my blood started to boil......Easy tea underway.....soldier on....2min noodles, poached eggs, toast, Velish, toast....I am the Margaret Fulton of packet cooking........blue, blue, blue.....

The ARIA's were good though...lots of fab Aussie talent out there. I don't know why we need no-talent Americans like Jessie McCartney and Johnny Knoxville (no matter how hot he is perceived to be by hormonal teenstrange girls)

Today, Monday... BLACK

Poor Scorpa-Boy weathered the initial storm, telling me that I was yelling at him because he was the only one around. True, but also because he had the arrogance to be amazed that he had no school clothes to wear. He didn't put any out to be washed (ridiculous of me to expect this I know, when the dirty clothes baskets are located in the bathroom) and I had done an around-the-bedrooms check on Saturday afternoon, and washed, again and again, but did not take all the clothes off the line, most likely in an act of rebellion on my part, as I had spent most of my weekend in the car, when other residents were at home. They were still on the line, and damp this morning. School shirts were still in the washing machine, as no-one had bothered to hang them out either (how could I place them in this dilemma? Bad Mummy..). He wanted me to put one in the dryer (hello; no rain here, solar-powered drying only). Knowing full well that there was a clean shirt hanging on a clothing rail on the carport, I entreated him to look there for a shirt. He looked there, then went back into his room for another look there, relented and wore that one; when will they ever learn to have a MUM-LOOK!!! He had to be driven to the bus stop, as all this had taken sooo long after he spent the first half hour of is alloted 45mins of readying time rolled up in a sleeping bag on the lounge...All of this would not have been a problem, if only he had, as he has been asked almost every night since he was 5, to get his school things ready for the next day..to save rushing around and excesses of tension.......but maybeI would have found something else to yell about...little male always has to have the last word.. as do I, he informs me..more insights into my family....

Vege-Boy, who had been very quietly getting himself ready for school, shyly handed me a bundle of notes from school while I was hanging washing on the line; "Here, Mum. Here's some notes for you."... P & C minutes, something official looking in a envelope.... and an orange note.... For those of you who aren't privy to this sort of valuable information, it means that your child has committed an indescretion of an unsavoury nature..not as bad as a red note, but close. His crime; passing along an MSN chain message that was related to a sexual act, and how desirable one would be or not be if they didn't pass the message on, with a little verse attatched. This information was contained in a letter in the Official-Looking Envelope. So then I had to rationally discuss this matter with the boy about the appropriateness/inappropriateness of his actions, and send the accursed orange note back to school. He has been warned; delete such crap immediately, or no computer without an accompanying adult. You would all have been proud of how rational I was......I didn't get my usual cuddle before he left, though....

At last, they all have gone and left me alone. I have read blogs, commented, done more washing, will tackle yesterdays washing up...yes, it sits there to mock my abilities to run this family..no-one else ever does it unless they are bludgeoned into it...it's easier and cleaner to do it myself... no radio, no tv, no music, just the birds and my mind rattling...

11.15am and the Gorgeous Girl arises..and reads over my shoulder...for not very long after feeling the waves of negativity....."That's a long one..." "You can read it later" I say....so she gave up and left me alone.

Enough. I have to put on my shoes, bra, and happy face and go down the street. I have letters for work to deliver, all local, so the walk will clear my head (hopefully)..The panadol certainly hasn't....and Beloved left me his card, so I need to buy some more food at some point too.....maybe I should try and ride off into the sunset on "our" new exercise bike......

So, thank you all. Another joyful day off. And as I said to lovely Laihnabeth last Thursday, the black days come, but thankfully, they go. I will work on a song of the week; there are so many to choose from. Today is not the day. I have other blog-plans floating around in my addled mind as well.

My best wishes to you all,
Yours in Blogging, Cyndy xoxox;)

PS; I'll be glad when we're over "schmick", because every time I write it, I have to go back and add the "H".....

Romy and Michelle's Calendar Club Reunion

That's it.

It's over.

The glow has gone.

The mystery ends.

Am I less than I was?

It's time to move on.

Onto a new phase, anyway.....

Last evening, I was searching. Searching for the fabled and elusive Female Hairy Arse Crack Calendar. All the clues let me to the wilds of Charlestown Square on a Thursday evening....A Very Scary Place.....all The Wild Ones were there... I felt so small..so ordinary.....and soooooo.....full of joy at the look on Michelle's face when I fronted up to Calendar Club and asked whether they stocked the aforementioned calendar. She was shocked, confused, gobsmacked, took two steps backwards (cue music from the "Twilight Zone" here), covered her face ( I have that effect on people) and amazed that someone would ask her that question. Renata looked confused and frustrated..she was weary and very over it! Then I introduced myself and Elly.......It was lovely to meet two of the Mary's; evidently I missed MaryJen.... ;( ... but look forward to a night at the cottage next month for Elly and I with the Marys..You are right Michelle; it is a shock to actually meet someone face to face, when they have been intimate on a different, less-real level...it's always confronting to make a fantasy world real.

It was a lovely afternoon/evening. Shopped and photographed the Formal Dress for Gorgeous Girl..SHE IS..... We shared some precious time and good coffee at Gloria Jeans with cousin Lisa..oh, and some fabulously exotic naan bread whilst strolling Beaumont Street; none of that in the wilds of the Upper Hunter...lots of chat. It is always so good to touch base. I feel that we will play an interesting role in the future of our family...........Gorgeous Girl was getting in Some Important Traffic/Big Town Driving experience prior to sitting her licence test in the next few weeks...She's ready..But is the rest of the World?....Look out; here she comes......

The best part of the entire excursion was the special time shared with my Gorgeous Girl..<3>

Til next time,

Love from MaryMuggle xoxoxo