Thursday, December 28, 2006

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

Monday, December 25, 2006

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>


Wednesday, December 20, 2006

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>

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

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!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, December 18, 2006

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, December 11, 2006

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!! ;)))))

Saturday, December 09, 2006

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 ;)))))

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

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

Monday, December 04, 2006

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

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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