Racing Santa Claus through the blazing sun.......

Well....... Maybe not. It's a cold, windy and rainy Christmas morning and ..... Merry Christmas Bloggers! This was my favourite Christmas song when I was a child, and still is; Early on one Christmas Day, a Joey Kanga-roo, Was far from home and lost in a great big zoo. Mummy, where's my mummy, they've taken her a-way, We'll help you find your mummy son, hop on the sleigh. Chorus: Six white boomers, snow white boomers, Racing Santa Claus through the blazing sun. Six white boomers, snow white boomers, .. On his Aus-tra-lian run. Verse: Up beside the bag of toys, little Joey hopped , But they had'nt gone far when Santa stopped. Un-harnessed all the reindeer and Joey wondered why, Then he heard a far off booming in the sky. Chorus: Six white boomers ... Pretty soon old Santa began to feel the heat, Took his fur-lined boots off to cool his feet. Into one popped Joey, feeling quite OK, While those old man kangaroos kept pulling on the sleigh. Chorus: Six white boomers ... Joey said to Santa, Santa, what about the toys, Aren't you giving some to these girls and boys. They've all got their presents son, we were here last night, This trip is an extra trip, Joey's special flight. Chorus: Six white boomers ... Soon the sleigh was flashing past, right over Marble Bar, Slow down there, cried Santa, it can't be far. Come up on my lap son, and have a look around, There she is, that's mummy, bounding up and down. Chorus: Six white boomers ... Well that's the bestest Christmas treat that Joey ever had, Curled up in mother's pouch all snug and glad. The last they saw was Santa headed northward from the sun, The only year the boomers worked a double run. Chorus: Six white boomers ... You've gotta love Rolf Harris! Have a wonderful day everyone!

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Deck the bus with Christmas Decals... falalalala lalalalala

Morning has broken. And it's quiet ... except for the hum of the computer and a tractor mowing a field somewhere nearby. And the birds.

And it's cool.

Delightful.

The boys have trundled off to catch the bus. It's their second last day of school for the year, and luckily for me, they're quite happy to still be going. A lot of kids have already decided that they don't need to go anymore. But at least I can be reasonably sure that they're not off annoying harried and over-Xmas shopkeepers somewhere.

A quick review of my week;

The shopping trip to Westfield at Kotara netted GG some lovely pants, and the promise by mother to buy her the same blouse as the one that she liked, but in a more suitable size at Charlestown on Friday (stupid, stupid mother...) Then yummy dinner at Raj's on the Corner.... It was worth all the traveling just for that.

Saw the Rheumy-doc on Friday; a lovely bloke. We chatted quite a while so that he earned his $300 consult fee. Exercise, physio and Tony Ferguson would all be good. And a bone density scan, more blood and urine tests (are there ever enough of these???). I tell you, we're in the wrong business.. if we ran a pathology diagnostic company, then we'd be sitting pretty.....

And I think that the BMI, as a tool for assessing healthy weight , is the most & limiting thing ever invented....... according to this little chart, I'm on the verge of being obese, but I need only need to lose 10kilos.....

If only I was 6 inches taller.... *sigh*

Then I took Nan and unwell niece shopping at Waratah. It was a Xmas sortee..... and a successful one at that. Then home to Belmont for Nanandniece, and I braved Charlestown Hellmouth.... *hahahaha*... I drove straight into a carspace....... *maniacal hahahahahah*........

Bought the aforementioned blouse for GG (crisp & white, as requested). And a calendar from the Lucky (but tired & over it) Ho. And other things that I can't remember....... "so, this is Christmas....."

Then home, via "The Bakers Cottage" at East Maitland to buy some pies for tea, and yummy breadrolls.

Saturday and Sunday were nice and quiet at home. We had dinner at the local pub on Sunday night with friends who have lived in the caravan park across the road for the past year. They had originally called in for "a couple of days" on the first leg of their "Trekkin' Oz" adventure... such is the charm of our little town... Ahem.

Monday ; usual workday.

Tuesday; the client's Christmas lunch at the Day Centre. One of the top restaurant's in Muswellbrook, Phillipes's, caters for this event every year, free of charge, for the centre. And the food is always beautiful. And their cakes and gateaus are to die for.........

Tuesday night, the community health team went to Phillipe's Restaurant, as my manager, the head of Occupational Therapy, is leaving to move to Gosford, after 14 years with the team. She will be sorely missed...... lots of tears, fond memories, & smiles.

We didn't open the Day Centre on Wednesday. Instead, we had "Night Centre on the Bus". Starting at 6.30pm, we picked the clients up from their homes, and took them to McDonalds for dinner, then drove all over town looking at Christmas lights and singing Christmas songs. There was lots of laughter, to be sure. And a busload of somewhat subdued pensioners by 11pm.... The utterances of "Merry Christmas; Safe New Year" became quieter and quieter as each person exited the bus....I arrived home at 12.20am......... zzzzzzzzzz

So it will be a quiet day at work today, with no clients, and the awful job of packing up the Christmas decorations, as we will be closed from Friday until January 14. We've got to de-decorate, and Christmas hasn't even arrived yet!!!!! But there is light in the day in the shape of birthday cakes for my workmates, Sue and Megan.... from the aforementioned Phillipe's ... mmmmmmmmm

And then tomorrow, it's off to East Maitland Bowling Club with the Social Health Group for Christmas Lunch. Tomorrow night, I'll be dining with my workmates from Denman Hospital for Christmas. at one of the local hotel restaurants....

What was that about Tony Ferguson? ...... "Oh yeah.... Me and Mr Ferguson...We'll have a thing going on......"

I'm going to look like an oompaloompa by the time New Year rolls around.....

Oh, and GG's Apprenticeship interview went well. They said that they'd contact her soon... whatever that means. I'll let you know as soon as we know.

You know what?

I need to post more often than once a week........

But right now, it's shower and work for me.

There's a caramel gateau that's waiting for me.......

"Oh yeah......."

Love,
from the very Christmassed Blogmuggle xoxoxo

Some days are diamonds, some days are pearls......

It's Wednesday.

Hump Day. If there is such a thing. My days and weekends seem to be equally busy.

Last weekend passed in a blur, as usual. Pop's birthday tea was a good old baked dinner, cooked by Nan, which was quite a surprise. Nan really doesn't cook all that much these days, and when the family descends upon her and Pop, we usually eat takeaway, so it was with great delight that we tucked into roast lamb and baked veges. As is typical with Nan, she never cooks by halves. It's almost as if she is making up for the times that she doesn't cook; she will bake 6 different types of biscuits or three cakes instead of the normal number of 1 or 2. The table will be loaded with whatever she cooks. This time, it was roast lamb AND roast beef (which we were too full to even carve) and an enormous baking pan full of veges.

Yum.


Nan & I took GG shopping at Bunnings, then GG & I re-hashed her resume, and worked up a cover letter for an apprenticeship that she wanted to apply for. It took some time. These things always take longer than you think. Then Vegeboy & I headed for home at 6.30pm, around & through some of those wonderful storms on Sunday night. The cloud formations and colours were amazing.

GG posted her application, which is for a Jewellery Manufacturing & Repairing Apprenticeship, on Monday morning. At lunch-time on Tuesday, the employment company asked her to attend an Aptitude, Numeracy and Literacy test and Interview. This evening, a very excited GG telephoned to say that she has been asked to attend an interview with the shop manager next Wednesday morning. WOOT! Last week, after reading the "positions Vacant" ad, she took herself off to meet the manager at the shop to find out a bit about the job before she decided to apply. Maybe he won't be so scary at the interview now that she's already met him. We're laughing about it now, but she forgot to introduce herself to him..... Hopefully, she made a good enough impression, and he'll remember her in a favourable way.

All this in two days, and the applications for the job don't actually close until this Friday.

So tomorrow afternoon after work, I am to drive down to Newie so we can shop for some suitable clothes. I was already planning to go, but I hadn't decided whether I would go down on Thursday night or Friday morning, as I have the appointment with the rheumatologist on Friday morning anyway. So Thursday night it is, so I will probably see the Lucky Ho tearing out her hair at the Hell Mouth formerly known as Charlestown Square whilst on the quest for reasonably priced interview clothes (that will secret the dove tattoos on GG's chest, for the interview at least). Hopefully, he'll like the piercings (one on each side) of her nose. It's jewellery, right?

There's been no news on whether I have been successful on the traineeship front. I received a phone call at work almost 2 weeks ago requested a 3rd type of identification, so I provided the woman with my Hunter New England Health ID number, which was a bit cheeky of me since she was enquiring on behalf of Hunter New England Health....... The information package said that all referees would be contacted by December 14, and results would be posted out by December 21. So we're nearly there.


Scorpaboy's sponsor rang HIM the other night to tell him that he wanted to organise an exchange with a couple of Mototrials riders from New Zealand next year. He has a unit that he and SB could stay in, but there's a couple of sticking points;

• He hasn't talked to Beloved and I about it, just SBoy.
• Sboy sits his Higher School Certificate next year, and believe it or not, this IS important.
• We're broke.
• We've going to continue to be broke (more broke than usual, anyway) for at least the next four months, even without taking the addition into consideration......
  

And anyway, money has to be spent on the house next year, not trips around the world for just 1 member of our family. It's not fair that Sboy should have these things just because the has talent on a motorbike. GG would like to travel overseas, and declined an exchange programme as we couldn't afford it. And we can't afford this either. I'm sure that there is something that Vegeboy's heart desires, also. Same for Beloved, same for me. But we are allowed to have un-realised dreams. As a society, we seem to be blindly accepting of the demands of our children, their peers and others, and are commonly made to feel guilty for saying "no" for whatever reason. The kids just expect us to provide, provide, provide........ and we do. If Sboy wants to go to New Zealand, then he's going to have to get himself a job, and save some money for it. He's had a lovely, leisurely life since his "retirement" from IGA/Thriftylink. So now he has become used to me providing him with money for phone credit, gym workouts, food, entertainment etc. I have bought 3 pairs of shoes and new socks for the boys in the last 6 weeks. And they had a new pair each, and socks (6 pairs each.....) before we went to South Australia in October (that's not very long ago....)

I suppose this makes me selfish, but it's not fair on the other kids that Scorpaboy gets so much..... Even if it is a wonderful opportunity.

That's enough grumbling.

Send some good thoughts GG's way next Wednesday morning, please.

Bedtime. I've grumbled my way into exhaustion.

Goodnight.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Motorcycle Mama

There was much excitement in the land of the Blogmuggle yesterday.

It began with a text message; "CODE RED, CODE RED. THE EAGLE HAS LANDED".

This let me know that Scorpaboy's new motorbike had finally arrived. In a large, brown cardboard box. Strapped into the back of the little beige ute.


When it was finally unstrapped, unloaded, undone, and de-bubbled-wrapped, it looked liked this;

TA DA!!!!!

And after all the excitement had died down, we discussed what we were going to do with the cardboard.

***** A light bulb moment on my part; "Let's put it up on the wall behind the bathroom!"******

So. Up on the wall it went, and Beloved put 2 screws in to hold it until I located the drill in the morning to finish fixing it to the wall. Then we decided that the fridge and freezer were too close, and a potential fire risk.

So today, as Beloved and Sboy drove off into the sunrise with the bikes in the trailer for a weekend of mototrials in the Blue Mountains, I re-configured the Muggly-shed to facilitate a safer environment. Which means it got a good cleaning. I've just finished; I started at 6.30am. Multiple loads of washing were done too, then I have to shower and then take Vegeboy and Clover-dog to Nanandpops to celebrate Pop's 71st Birthday!

It looks good anyway.

And last weekend, I decided to put the big Christmas tree up, so there was a minor re-configuration last weekend as well. My lovely big bush has pride of place in between the lounge and sideboard, and there are decorations suspended from the roof. At least there's some bonuses to having no linings...... With only 2 double power points, there's no lights, though. Here's the piccy that Sboys put on his MySpace. Evidently, "tree-shots" are the thing....



Anyway, time to go. Newie awaits!

Have a good one, Everyone!



Cheers, Blogggie ;0)

One Perfect Day............................................

Good Morning Bloggers!

I was just checking my bank accounts, and the Power Credit Union has posted the date;

Monday January 14, 2008.

Did I miss something?????

Am I Rumpelstiltskin???????? Or maybe Sleeping Beauty????

Nah..... (that's a scrabulous word, you know)

The boys have decided that they must have been in a coma, & have just woken up.

VB asked if he could have his Christmas presents, if this was the case. I told that Christmas has already been & gone. SB said he received a new motorbike for Christmas. Poor VB.... nothing for him.

I just said that I was glad that it was all over and done with.

But.....

I know it is all a dream. "Sunrise" are still talking about the up-coming Christmas festivities.

Oh well, one can only dream.

But what's going on with the Credit Union dates, eh....... doesn't inspire confidence, does it??????

On with the day. Have a good one!