Give a little bit.................

Hi De Hi Everyone!

Life is.......... messy.

Last Saturday, VB's Mighty Rams won their major semi-final at football. So we have this weekend off! Which means that (theoretically) we will be in Newcastle for the weekend of Arty Farty's opening and Father's Day. Good.

Monday, Beloved went to Sydney with his family to farewell an ancient uncle. I was busy at work....

Tuesday, Beloved and I had our tax done. There will be money for the trip to South Oz in October for the Aussie Championships if we are careful. But not enough left to spend on the house. So, no water in the kitchen for me yet. Go figure who's the stupid one here.

And most exciting;- money for GG and I to attend the final show of "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"........ on Father's Day....... it's my Mother's Day present....


Wednesday.... no idea, but it's gone past in a hurry.... work is busy....


Thursday, Beloved and I went to the Breastscreen unit as I had a re-call from my trip to the boob-bus here in Denman. It's all good..... I officially have fat (but healthy) boobs that can fold, causing scanning issues......


And then we found out that the grand final for the football will be held in Muswellbrook. Which is good.... the kids don't have to travel and will have good home-town support. And it's VB's birthday....

And bad..... I had planned to travel to Newie on Friday night for the GRAND OPENING of Arty and Larry's fabbo art works, have a sleepover at Nanandpops, go to the footie on Saturday, then go to see Priscilla on Sunday while the boys amused themselves riding on Sunday. It will be Father's Day, after all.

But now........

I won't be able to get all arty at the party...... >_< And I'll have to drive to Newie by myself on Sunday.... and home again by myself in the wee small hours of Monday morning....... after GG and I train it to Sydney..... then get up for work on Monday.......


GG is home tonight. Because everyone but VB is travelling to Cowra for the NSW Mototrials Championships tomorrow. Home on Sunday night.... late...
So GG is working tomorrow with some friends in their coffee vans at a big horse day at Woodlands stud, then looking after VB for us on Sunday. He has a football BBQ and team day in the morning, then off to a friend's birthday sleepover. Hopefully GG will pick him up at the appointed time on Sunday. I hate asking other people to run my kids around, but there is no other option this time. And I haven't even been able to contact the birthday boy's parents to organise things with them..... I don't know what "the appointed time" is........

I guess it will all work out........

I must look and sound fed up. I am. Beloved asked me tonight if I would prefer to stay at home. I would. But that would mean that he would have to drive home without any rest on Sunday. And his stupid-arse managers have organised a 4.30 start for him on Monday morning.......

I'm over it all.......



I was handed one of life's rosy apples on Thursday, and I should be thankful, happy and content. But I'm not. At the moment. I am thankful. Absolutely. But I will get over it. Hormones suck..... The days around the end of my period can be very blue......

COME ON MENOPAUSE, I SAY!!!!!!!


And I'm going to see Priscilla next weekend. It's their last show ever.......

Did I mention that I'm going........???????


"O-oh.... I love the nightlife....... I've got to boogie....... On the Disco highway........"

Have a good weekend all.

Be Safe.

Be Happy.

Have Fun

XOXOXOOXOXXOOXOXOXOXXOXOOX

Everybody's working on the weekend......

Hahaha!!

Not ME!!!

I was asked to, though.

And I said; "No, thank you very much!!!"

We're about to leave to go to Raymond Terrace for VB's major semi-final versing Belmont North. The winner goes straight into the Grand Final on September 1. The loser (I hate that word) plays the winner of today's Singleton V Greta-Branxton match next weekend.

Go the Mighty Rams!!!

Then it's family time at Nanandpop's.

The boys are going to Sydney to ride tomorrow, and GG and I are going to walk down to the Legge, then we're taking Nan to Spotlight to spend our $50 vouchers .........

Sounds pretty peaceful to me.......

Ahhh..................

The serenity..............................

Have a good weekend everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:D



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Lazing on a Sunday afternoon......

Sunday....

The big boys have gone riding in a competition at Arcadia, and VB and I are having a quiet day at home.

Lots of washing, and gap filling so that I can finally finish painting VB's bedroom door. Done.

A trip into work to do some report writing and paperwork that I have had no time to complete due to my trips down to Newcastle to see Poppy Don, undertake a pointless interview and great dementia education day, and another one last Tuesday to attend a diversional therapy meeting.

And then a MSN conversation with GG, while eating cous cous for lunch. It was 3.30pm. A dvd hired to watch whilst I painted; "Notes of a Scandal", starring Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench.

Work rang. "Could I please come and work an evening shift as they had no one else to do it?" So into my work clothes and into work.

So........ Nothing finished today. The best laid plans and all that....

About 7pm; A phone call to work from VB asking whether he needed stitches in the leg that he lacerated this afternoon............ I know I'm good, but to examine and assess it over the phone is beyond even me......

And then, Beloved phones to tell me he is home... and where was I? He obviously hasn't talked to VB...

Home at 7.40. I clean up VB's leg, and take him back to our A & E for assessment. A small laceration, but it will heal much better with some glue to hold it together. VB's very disappointed. He was hoping for some stitches and time off school.

As if.

Home by 8.30 to cook the pancakes that I had promised to cook for VB for tea.

Finally.... some scrambled eggs for me, and I have put on the dvd. Everyone else is in bed. 9.25pm.... it looks interesting, though. Judi Dench's character is poisonous..... it will finish late, but whatever.......

A Scorpaboy update....

Rip-Off Rick is a very lucky man.

It appears that under the new workplace laws, as he employs less than 100 staff, he is not bound to uphold the same laws as bigger companies. After phoning the Workplace Authority and the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, Rip-Off Rick has Unfairly and Unlawfully Dismissed Scorpaboy on at least 3 counts...... but he gets off scot-free due the afore-mentioned loop-hole. This was designed to protect the small employer, but in our case, it leaves the vulnerable employee out in the cold. We could pursue the matter through the courts with a reasonably good chance of winning.... at our own cost.

The local retailers are not happy with Rip-0ff's "holier -than-thou" attitude. The owner of Double G's used to buy his bread via Rip-Off. He has had words with him, and has now cancelled his order, preferring to buy direct from the bakery. This will result in a loss of $76,000 iver the year to Rip-Off.......

A number of local business owners have promised Scorpaboy as position as soon as there is one available. All the businesses get busier leading up to Christmas. The manager of GoLo in Muswellbrook has told him to call in to see him this week with his resume, so things don't look too grim for Scorpaboy, really.

But I can't bear the thought that Rip-Off Rick will do this to some other poor child. And he will. He is an arrogant bully with a history of it.

I sent an email to "Sunrise" this morning, as an item for their soapbox.............

Let's see what happens............................

Yep, Judi Dench's character was positively toxic....... finished at 10.45, so it wasn't too late really; I'm still sitting here......

Have a great Monday everyone!

Love, Bloggie. ^_^


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Do you see what I see??????

Sometimes, I think I've got more going on in my head than I know.....................................

This morning, a thought popped into my head;

"The thanks-but-no thanks letter from Maroba in regard to the traineeship will arrive today"......

And guess what?

It did.

I knew it was there when I went to the letter box this evening.

It was very polite, but none-the-less, I was not successful.

I think I really knew the result a few days ago, but you always live in hope, don't you?

There is a reason this didn't happen for me.

I just don't know what it is yet.

I guess all will become clear later.

So for now, life goes on.

It's very, very busy anyway.

Thanks for all the encouragement, my friends.

I'll keep you posted in regard to the journey that we are about to embark upon with Scorpaboy.... The word has been spread around town (not by us), and people are aghast at the way Sboy has been treated by Rip-Off Rick, and are very supportive towards us. The quiet rumble of "sue, sue" has been audible........... He's not a very popular fellow around our town, I've discovered.

Cheers to all, and I hope you are all feeling positively pink or even golden!

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Teach your children well.....................

Life's interesting, isn't it?

Just when you think that all's as it should be, something happens to make you take a step back, and take a good hard look at people, and the reasons why they act the way they do and do the things that they do.

I often find it difficult to explain to my kids that it's okay to not achieve their goals, or make an error of judgement. This society in which we live is very goal/achievement driven. Not always justifiably, in my experience. But I find it hardest to explain to my kids that adults often make mistakes too, and that they need to be given respect and consideration regardless. Deferring to an adult's "better" judgement was the way I was taught to think, and this has been a value/behaviour that I have endeavoured to instill in my progeny.

But lately I have been given pause to think long and hard about this.

VB related this incident a couple of weeks ago.
VB was in an unsupervised class at school, and a passing teacher, the head of the English department, instructed the class to be quiet. On passing again, she observed VB to be standing up in the room, talking. He is no angel, my son. She asked him what he was doing, to which he replied (honestly); "talking". He said she looked him up and town, and said to him ;
"You're a Kavanagh, aren't you?".... Before he could reply, he is certain that she made the comment ;
"Rotten family...".
Understandably, he was taken aback, and upset by this. He reported this to his year advisor, whom I telephoned the next day, and it was decided that a meeting would be organised between the teacher in question, the advisor, VB and me. I waited for the phone call advising me of the time. Two days later, I received a SMS from Scorpaboy, telling me that he was outside a classroom and he could hear raised voices. Voices of VB, the English teacher in question, and the teacher that was absent on the day of the event. No year advisor, no parent. I am very unhappy that a 12 year old boy can be bullied and manipulated by two adults in this manner, with no real recourse. The teacher was extremely affronted that VB would accuse her of such a thing, and why would he do that; he doesn't even know her........
She's right; he doesn't know her. He has no reason to make up such a claim. He has nothing to gain, and everything to lose. I am concerned that he will have to watch his back with this black widow for the next five years. She is known for her irrational behaviour. I don't give a fig if she is menopausal. If she can't behave in a professional manner, then it's time she retired. She is supposed to be the adult, in a position of trust. Which she has abused.
I am concerned that VB's belief that he can trust an older, more respected person has been shattered. He needs to have faith in the goodness of others. This woman has never taught any of my children. And she never will. My "Rotten" children have had fairly high profiles at the high school; Scorpaboy is Year 11 prefect this year after 4 years on the SRC, and GG was School Vice Captain last year. They must come from a "rotten family"...................
Even if she said it as a throw-away line or joke, she had no cause to treat VB the way she did.
I have to follow up on this one.....................


This afternoon was another surprise.
As part of his Retail Studies course for his HSC, Scorpaboy (SBoy) has to work in a retail store for 5 days. He has been working in the local IGA/Thriftylink hardware store for just over a year now. He thought it would be a good idea to go somewhere else to see things from a different aspect. There's not a lot of choice in our little town, so he chose to work in the local convenience store, "Double G's", which has the word "supermarket" in it's name. It's a lot smaller that the shop that SBoy works in 2 afternoons after school, and on Saturday mornings. The people at "Double G's" have even worked around his hours at the supermarket. But today, the boss at the supermarket phoned SBoy and told him to come in to see him at work. Which he did. Just the two of them in his office. SBoy had no idea what was going on. The manager told SBoy that "he (SBoy) had made an error of judgement, and that he was very disappointed at SBoy's total lack of loyalty to the company". Also, "he had no right going to work for the opposition, and that he (SBoy) had kicked him and his wife in the guts, and that he was going to have to let him go..." At this point, a very shocked Sboy, left the office with a muttered "Whatever...", in tears. And he SMS'd me. You can't expect a 16yr old to have the presence of mind to deal with this type of situation rationally. And he has been taught to respect his boss........
He came to see me at work, and we approached his (now ex) employers together. This time it was only his wife. Who repeated the thoughts of how disappointed they were in him; how he had hurt them. After all they had done for him. Taught him all about hardware, and worked around his desires for time off for his biking. And he knew that they were short of staff at the moment, so how dare he go and work somewhere else when they needed him. He could have worked at any other store in town, but he went to their rival.... They were concerned at how the town would view it that he chose to go somewhere else for his work placement. yada, yada, yada.........
As a courtesy, maybe he should have informed them of his plans, but it really had nothing to do with them and has not affected his performance at work for them. And if they're short of staff, why is it his responsibilty to work for them when they should have replaced the sick staff? He would have been at school under normal circumstances anyway. There is so much more that could be said. Finally, she said "it is a conflict of interests...... he has access to tills and pricing in both places...".
After this rather lame argument, we left...... I advised them to think whether all this fuss was really necessary. And that the discussion was going nowhere. I left it up to them to contact us. I was unfailingly polite.
SBoy is not allowed to accept any form of payment for his services.
There are only 5 days of work placement. Then life is back to normal, except Sboy needs to find a new part-time job, and IGA is now short of yet another staff member. In a small town such as ours, businesses need to work together, not stab each other in the back. And "Double G's" is so small, with very loyal staff, that they won't need Sboy's services. IGA, on the otherhand, has replaced it's entire staff over the past year. A few times. Actually, Sboy was the longest-serving member of staff until today. This says a lot, doesn't it?
And in regard to Sboy's requests for time off, we have made sure that rides are organised after work, which means that Beloved will often drive for 6hours after work on a Saturday. And he has had a couple of days off during the school holidays, based around staff availabilities....
Who's helping who out here?
The manager's handling of this was wrong, on so many levels. Again, there is the handling of a sensitive issue regarding a minor with no non-involved third party present. How is a 16yr old supposed to handle themself in a situation such as this? No experience, and no aggressive, self-protective attitude. And he's supposed to have loyalty towards people who would ask him to work for them, full-time for a week, for free, and more than likely cut his usual part-time hours because he had already completed the necessary day's work? To help them out?
I think that they should be more concerned about their reputation when the word gets out that they sacked a well-liked 16yr old for doing what his school curriculum compelled him to. And news such as this will spread like wildfire. Their reputation in town is already a little tarnished. They don't call him "Rip-Off Rick" for nothing.
I contacted the school this afternoon, but I have taken no action so far. A letter will be generated and relayed at my say-so. But SBoy doesn't want to go back there to work, and who can blame him? I am also going to contact the Workplace Affairs Office, or whoever. There must be illegalities in the way that this was done. Sboy was dismissed unfairly, and must have some recourse. The problem are those little words; "Casual Employee"

And "Rip-Off Rick" must be made accountable for his actions. As will the Black Widow.

My children's respect and trust in "grown-ups" is reliant upon this.
And it is my job as their mother to make sure that everything possible is done to restore it.
How can we expect children to be accountable for their actions if adults are not?
And respect, like trust, has to be earned.

Growing up is hard...........


And some people go out of their way to make it so.....................

Thank you for listening.

The Blogmuggle ;0(

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Even in the quietest moments.................

Hi Bloggers,


In answer to Anchell's question, the interview went well.

But.

I don't feel the bells ringing people. I haven't heard the phone either.

So I guess I'll be working here for a while longer. It's not that I don't like what I do. I just want to walk a path that is a little different to this one. And I have to earn money, so full-time study is not an option.

Life is very busy.......... Minutae will be shared at another time.

I love this song......


Supertramp - Even In The Quietest Moments

Even in the quietest moments
I wish I knew
What I had to do
And even though the sun is shining
Well I feel the rain
Here it comes again, dear

And even when you showed me
My heart was out of tune
For there's a shadow of doubt
That's not letting me find you too soon

The music that you gave me
The language of my soul
Oh Lord, I want to be with you
Won't you let me come in from the cold?

Don't you let the sun fade away
Don't you let the sun fade away
Don't you let the sun be leaving
Won't you come to me soon

And even though the stars are listening
And the ocean's deep
I just go to sleep
And then I create the silent movie
You become the star
Is that what you are, dear?

Your whisper tells a secret
Your laughter brings me joy
And a wonder of feeling
I'm Nature's own little boy
But still the tears keep falling
They're raining from the sky
Well there's a lot of me got to go under
Before I get high

Don't you let the sun disappear
Don't you let the sun disappear
Don't you let the sun be leaving
No, you can't be leaving my life
Say that you won't be leaving my life
Say that you won't be leaving my life
Say won't you please, stay won't you please
Say won't you please, stay won't you please
Lord, won't you come and get into my life
Lord, won't you come and get into my life
Say won't you please, stay won't you please
Say won't you please, stay won't you please
Oh Lord, don't go

And even when the song is over
Where have I been
Was it just a dream?
And though your door is always open
Where do I begin
May I please come in, dear?



Stay happy ;0)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

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Life's Unfinished...............................

Hey there Bloggers!!!!

Thank you, thank you. thank you!


All is well with Poppy Don!!!

The tough old bugger had surgery yesterday, and it went well. He was much more settled within himself, and we spent the day with him yesterday until he went to theatre. He was tired, and a little groggy last night, but cheerful.

His problem hasn't been ultimately fixed, but life will be more comfortable for the time being.

So thank you all again for your thoughts and wishes. I'm sure that it helped.

I'll blog more later.

Cheers,

Bloggie xoxoxoxo

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