It's a Long Way There........

Good Evening Bloggers!

Did I take a vacation? It doesn't feel like it now.........

You'd better get yourself some refreshments......

We left home at a little after 7pm after SB's job interview at Big W. (there's no word on this yet. He was told they would let him know in 3 weeks, and it's now 2 weeks...). We had a bite to eat at Dubbo, and arrived in the "Ace Caravan Park" in West Wyalong a little after 1am. Into the sleeping bags we slid, and out of them we (regretfully) slid at 6am on the same day and set off towards South Australia. Breakfast of meat pies and sausage rolls (urrrghhh) whilst waiting for the service station to open up at Rankin Springs.

And then the Hay Plains....... Beloved drove through miles and miles of dry nothing...... saw some emus, though. And some more dry miles.......... As Paul Kelly sings;

"I press my face against the glass,
And watch the white lines rushing past".

We fuelled up at Balranald, then I drove across the New South Wales Border to Mildura (fish and chips for a late lunch; 2pm). I continued to drive through the north-west corner of Victoria, then into South Australia... I drove through 3 states!

And for the last 70k's I watched the fuel gauge drop.. and drop.... and drop as Beloved snored beside me. We should have made it quite comfortably to Renmark, but there was a fierce headwind, so I slowed down to conserve fuel. We were 15ks from Renmark, and the gauge told me I had 5ks left in the tank. I have never been so relieved to see a petrol station at the Victoria/South Australian border station. I did get a bit edgy at the length of time it took the border attendants to check the cars for fruit and veges.
Evidently I needn't have worried as there was almost 4ls of fuel left.... ahem...... in a 65l tank.....

We all became really very bored at this point; we were very close..... and yet so far. We gained 30mins in our travels across the country, arriving in Nooriootpa just before dark. And some delightful people cancelled their cabin, which became ours for the week! No tent needed!

Hot and sunny, Saturday and Sunday was the South Australian Mototrials Championships at Tungkillo, a pretty place about 45 minutes up in the hills. ScorpaBoy was the only entrant in the Youth Division, so we suggested that he compete against the B-Grade adult riders, as he had to ride the same lines through the sections as they did anyway. They said it wouldn't be fair for him to compete against the more experienced adults, so he would just ride in his own age group. So, of course, Jack Kavanagh became the South Australian Youth Mototrials Champion for 2007. But we laughed when we saw the pointscore; he would have won the B-grade ... by over 100 points! Yes, it wouldn't have been fair.......

Monday, we travelled down to Adelaide for a look-see. And it's lovely. A lovely, overgrown town, similar to Newcastle, but probably not as big. And cleaner. I had a hankering to see the ocean, so I drove us westward until we found a lovely little town called Semaphore, where it was too windy to actually walk along the beach...... And then all the way around following the water until I had to head back inland and northward back to Nooriootpa.

Tuesday was a practice day for those competing in the Masters Games, and those who were volunteering to score.... SB and Beloved, of course were amongst them, as volunteers. Vegeboy and I spent a quiet day in the van park washing, mending and chatting to people. We met some lovely people on this trip.

Wednesday was the Masters Games Competition, and the weather was cold and horribly windy! I made the executive decision to sneak away for a while and sample the local cuisine (ie coffee and cake).

Thursday, there was a ride school that was being taught by a young English fellow, Ben Hemingway. SB enjoyed this enormously, and gained some new skills to work on. VB and I travelled 45mins to Gawler and saw "Rattatouille" in the local cinema. There was a big barbeque organised by a few of us in the park for those that were involved in the mototrials, as more and more people had arrived throughout the week. Lots of food, drink and laughter enabled everyone to get together outside the competition arena and get to know each other before the serious competition of the Aussie Championships on Saturday and Sunday.
Friday was another quiet day in the park as bikes were maintained and "houses" set to rights...

Saturday saw the most incredibly tense group of motocyclists that you could ever meet on a cool, crisp and windy day! Everybody must have had an over-sized breakfast serve of Nervous Tension all round!

But what a venue... Menglers Hill, Tanunda! Scenery to die for......

Too many people scored too many points on this nervous day......... the less points, the better your score. SB was in 2nd place. His nemesis, Craig, was a lovely guy, much more experienced than Jack, and more able to handle the pressure. And he is almost 21, with tattoos and a hairy back. He is a man, who likes to drink, and smoke, and drill in the Western Australian mines..... And, bless him, he calls me "Mum"....... SB still rode well, though.

I slept in the car, as our cabin had been previously booked, and I figured that this would be the quietest possible place. The boys slept in a cabin with SB's sponsor, Paul, and team-mate, Kristie. My sleep had been a little all-over the place during the week; I am finding that as I get older, noise ( of any kind) is not conducive to sleep.... the car was quiet, and peaceful. It's a good thing that I'm short.... the back seat was comfy.... zzzzzzzzz

Sunday, the weather decided to play nice. And everybody was much more relaxed. And consequently, improved their riding. The pointscores at the end of the day reflected this.

SB didn't win, but he came a very creditable 2nd to Craig. 3rd place was quite a lot of points behind. He's keen for next year, though. But there will be a few juniors that will come up and give him a run for his money.

And hey; being the Number 2 Youth Rider in Australia is something to be proud of!!

The presentation night was fun... but long......

The best part of this entire week of mototrials was the time SB spent with other young riders. They became pretty tight through the week, but the distance between Lewis, Alex, Rhyce & Craig from Western Australia, Scott from Victoria, Jake from New Zealand, Lachlan from Queensland, Brooke from Griffith, Sam from Canberra, Jason from Sydney, Krisitie from Oberon, Kyle from Newcastle and Jack from Denman will never seem as large again. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next 10 years will bring!

On Monday, we began the return journey. An over-night stay in a Motel in Hay( OMG; THOSE PLAINS!!!!! I think that there's about 4.4 thousand hectares), and dinner in a real restaurant! Talk about blowing the budget! We arrived home about 6.15 on Tuesday night. And back to the usual.........

I handed in my notice at work yesterday... but the manager is actually filling in at another hospital until next Thursday.....

I have to drive to Maitland tomorrow night to pick up the lovely Clover from GG... I can't wait to see her. Nanandpop have been spoiling her rotten. And she's been GG's bunk-mate......

Is your butt numb yet???? De-hydrated??? Low sugar levels????

Time to go..... and @*#* blogger won't let me post pictures.... sorry about all the text....

But before I leave.... just to let you Facebookers know, I'm continuing my hiatus from this very time-consuming bit of computer tom-foolery...... way to addictive for someone with no self-control like me.......

Have a good weekend all.

Stay safe, and happy!!!!

Love,

The epic-posting Blogmuggle xoxoxoxoxoxxo

Holiday.... Celebrate.....

Well Girls;

You all win Scrabble!

I have to resign.

Because I am going on holidays...... snicker, snort, giggle.....

Getting ready to go sucks... I did a quick trip and met GG at Max n Steve's house at Glendore last night. Nice pizza for tea and a haircut. Delivered to dog for her holiday.

Today I have 18 hours worth of things to do.... in 5......

Off to a funeral this morning.

Then back home to continue packing.

SB has his interview at 4. We should leave Denman by 7, with a view to landing in West Wyalong by midnight......

Did I mention that I am going on holiday????????

So enjoy your scrabble, blogging, facebook etc. I will see if I can find an internet cafe... or library. I won't be mototrials-watching everyday....... no way....

So until the 18th, as Jeff Fenech would say.......

"I luv youse all!!"

BYEEEEEEEEEE

PS. It's unofficial.. and very hush-hush... the worst kept secret in Muswellbrook... but I will be changing jobs and working in Muswellbrook in November... YAY!!!

Inexorably Yours ...... (again)....

You know what?


I posted some really interesting stuff on Sunday night.


And Blogger lost it.


Or ate it.


Or whatever...................................


Well...... it wasn't really that interesting......................


I didn't do much on Sunday; I had a bad neck and head. I need some Bowen Therapy, but haven't been able to get an appointment. I'd better get one soon; Pain relief doesn't kick in until I have swallowed 8 paracetamol, or 7 ibuprofen, or 7 or 8 paracetamol/codiene. Then I get wiped out, and my stomach ends up eating itself. I did manage to watch Bruce Willis shoot, drive and generally mongrel his way into beating the baddies with VB in his delightfully darkened room with my trusty hot water bottle for company.

• The big boys went bike riding at Moonbi; by all reports, the bike is going like a bought one, and SB is riding like the potential champion that he is.

• I won my first game of scrabbulous. It was a close and hard-fought tussle with Lisa; 243-247... It could have gone either way right down to last tile. Michelle reckons she's flat out painting...... She still has time to absolutely annihilate me..... she's over 200 points ahead in the current game........

• Clover had her first bath of the season.... and boy, did she need it. But she needs to be clean and fresh for her holiday at nanandpops. They spoil her rotten; she lives inside all the time with them. Calamity was averted this week with the decision to ask a couple of neighbourhood kids to look after the cats while we're away...... I was dreading the thought of lodging them in a cattery....... I've never done that before.....
  

• Australian Idol... I have predicted that Matt will win. But I thought that Carl would be voted (or should that be not voted) off, and I was wrong... Mark was eliminated last night. I was surprised. Everyone is very, very good. Oh, save us from the 16 year olds with their mobile phones!
  

• I can't remember what else I rambled on about..... I've used the same title for this post. I have to shower and get ready for work....
  
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• 2 DAYS TO GO!!!!!!!!!!! It's only been 2 years since I had a holiday..................
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• See Y'All later on the blog............ ;0)
  
  
  
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This Song has No Title..............................

Friday.


The weekend.


And what's planned?


Nothing much.


HOORAY!!!!!!!!!


We have to get the camping gear out and give the tent a run, as neither has been used in a while while. I can't think of anything much worse than 1 week from now, arriving in Nooriootpa in the dead of night, and having to put the tent up in the dark, with no idea of what we're doing, finding that half of the posts are missing , and then the air beds deflating over night because they've perished from lack of use. Dome tents can be a bit of a mixed blessing....
It's a bit of a bugger, as we have to camp for two of the ten nights that we are there........ it's the busiest time of year in the Barossa Valley, evidently. For some reason, people desire to seal their everlasting love with nuptials in this picturesque area. And there is a large religious conference; evidently another group of people wanting to seal some everlasting life in the picturesque wine-growing area. Also, the Masters' Games are on too. Other people who want to make an everlasting deal with their orthopedic surgeon to keep him in fine wine.......

And then there's all the Mototrials contingent as well....... whatever deals they're making...... it's not with their wives to keep them in fine wine forever, that's for sure......

2 weekends of mototrials.... Nirvana for some. And demonstration schools through the week.

A few trips down to Adelaide for me I think. And I'm in need of a good book or two.

Any ideas????? I've read Harry Potter......


But I digress from my weekend plans.

I think I will go into work for a while, as I have some paperwork that I want to do. The hospital is due for accreditation in November, and I need to generate some type of assessment/evaluation tool for my clients. It's always too busy during the weekdays, and I can get more done on weekends. Of course, my boss knows nothing of this. Because I can only produce a slightly above average quantity of work, of a slightly above average quality.

And because I'm only going to become a good team member with guidance, she has asked me to consider swapping my days so that I can facilitate Pink Ribbon Day on October 22......... otherwise, she may have to do it herself. I told her that I would think about it and see what I could organise. Obviously, I'm learning...... how to play the game...... I hate these type of games..... I'm too old and too tired to be bothered.........

I think a couple of in-house movies might be in order as well, now that Dr Who has finished.

Some girlfriends in Newie had asked me to join them for a girls' night in on Saturday night, but I have decided not to go after my impromptu visit to nanandpops last Sunday night. Did I mention this?

I had some words with my daughter last Sunday...........all via a very frustrating sms conversation.....

I wanted her to meet me at Maitland so she could return the suit that I had loaned her, and I wanted to take her to the movies and dinner as well. She said that she was too busy, and that I should pick it up myself..... and that she would slip me some petrol money.......

So, I drove down to Newie, took Nan to the movies, and then drove home. GG apologised, and reviewed her offer, but I told her that I was already on my way.

Things, they are a changing..................


By the way, "Hairspray" is a very entertaining movie. Lots of fun for mummy and I.

Even as a very large (and not all that attractive) woman, John Travolta can certainly dance!!
I love this man. I don't care what his religious beliefs are, or that he's getting on a bit; I think that he is just sex on a stick. Sorry Lisa, but Bill Paxton just doesn't ring my bells. I think he's attractive, but something is missing for me. Maybe if he said "Off my case, toilet face!" or something similar...........

But I digress... again......

Anyway, I don't know what else is on for the weekend. I think the boys are going to take the newly schmick motorbike up to Tamworth to work out the kinks on Sunday/Monday.

Maybe I should just blog it after it happens. That's the way it usually works, anyway.

I know that EVERYONE is giving me a resounding hiding in "Scrabulous".

Obviously, I'm only slightly above average at that, too. I think that I need sacking.........

Watch out for the men in blue this weekend; double demerits are a very quick way of losing one's licence whilst topping up the governments coffers...............

And because I can; An Elton John/Bernie Taupin collaboration that I love......... Tune me in to the wild side of life I'm an innocent young child sharp as a knife Take me to the garretts where the artists have died Show me the courtrooms where the judges have lied Let me drink deeply from the water and the wine Light coloured candles in dark dreary mines Look in the mirror and stare at myself And wonder if that's really me on the shelf And each day I learn just a little bit more I don't know why but I do know what for If we're all going somewhere let's get there soon Oh this song's got no title just words and a tune Take me down alleys where the murders are done In a vast high powered rocket to the core of the sun Want to read books in the studies of men Born on the breeze and die on the wind If I was an artist who paints with his eyes I'd study my subject and silently cry Cry for the darkness to come down on me For confusion to carry on turning the wheel Have safe and happy weekend!

Wake up Maggie, I think I've got something to say to you.....

Evening All.

I had my interview to work in The Community Aged Day Centre this morning. Bright and early, I was. And it went well. It certainly could have gone a lot worse. The only sticking point was when the panel could contact my manager for a reference if they needed to. They are aware that I had not informed her of this possible change of department (I'm a scaredy cat), but are aware that my boss is a bit of a hard nut. It was agreed that I would let her know by Friday, and that would be the day that they would phone her if it is necessary. I have no idea what her response will be. As I said before, she and I just haven't gelled over the last 20 months. I told her this afternoon, and her response was very controlled. And cool. But I am pretty sure that she was seething inside.

"If that's what you have to do...." was her response. And we went on to discuss other things.

She has the ability top make me feel terribly inadequate and less than successful at my job. Why do I want to work somewhere else, you ask..........

She gave me the (Unfortunately) necessary written work reference for the Enrolled Nursing Traineeship today, as she promised. Here is an abridged version of her responses to the questions;

• The quality and quantity of my work is.... AVERAGE +

• My major achievement/contributions are;

ORGANISATION OF FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES
ENCOURAGES SOCIAL INTERACTION BETWEEN RESIDENTS AND STAFF
ALWAYS WILLING TO ASSIST IF STAFFING ISSUES

• What areas require improvement?........... DISCUSSION OF PROGRAMMING WITH SUPERVISOR

• Attendance?........ GOOD

• Further comments?..... WITH GUIDANCE WILL BECOME GOOD "TEAM" MEMBER

Hmmmmm..........

I don't sound like much of a catch, do I??????????

I think she needs to read my job description. And actually hold the meetings that she keeps on saying that we must have; if she has specific ideas, then she only has to ask/suggest. I will gratefully accept and try to implement all ideas.
And realise that diversional therapy in a high care nursing home is not about the volume of craft works that can be produced....... It's often more about a friendly and timely ear, and hand to hold...... And to know that, more often than not, I am providing nursing care for my lovely residents, rather than playing games with them, as this is the more immediate need. I cover for the nursing staff for usually 3-4 hours of my 6 hour day.... and my breaks are dependent upon whether or not there will be a nurse on the floor.... And I actually spend more time with the families/carers of our residents than any other person at work. These people confide in me and information is passed onto the nursing team if it will improve the level of care and outcome for our residents.

No other Activity Co-Ordinator that I know does this.

And the "Team" member comment........ Phish!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I find this a little insulting....... Her comment in regard to staffing, which is actually quite positive, is in direct opposition to this statement.........


It won't do me any favours with the selection panel, will it????????????

But I have to lodge it. Unless I can get a new manager in the next week.

Oh well.........................................

All will become clear..........

Have a good one!



"Cos I'm movin' in on up; Time to break free"

It's only words....

It's bloody cold up here in Walnut Grove this evening.

I've been inhaling the very heady fumes of petrol all night, since Beloved has emptied out SB's petrol tank in the last couple of hours. He has the bike pulled down into what seems to be a million pieces polishing, buffing and cleaning it. He has part of the engine at a mates place at the moment, trying to re-weld the area that has cracked again. It's the same spot as before the trip to Cowra. Maybe this time it will work. Then it, the frame, and all the nuts and bolts will be re-painted. The Sponsor treated SB to a new sticker kit to make his bike look really schmick; and it certainly will the way that it's going. I would like to post a piccy when it's finished, but the camera is still on the fritz. The only one that can upload at the moment is GG onto her laptop, directly off the memory card. The man's been very busy because I reminded him on Thursday that it's 2 weeks before we leave for South Australia, not 3 weeks.......

And just to make life interesting (as usual), we won't be able to leave in the wee small hours of Thursday morning and have a leisurely 2 day drive over ..oh no......
I put in an on-line application to Big W on SB's behalf... and he has a 2hr interview at 4pm that Thursday...........................................

And I applied for a position in the Community Aged Day Care in Muswellbrook while I was at it, for myself. I have been filling in for them on Mondays for a few weeks now. I have an interview this Wednesday morning..... Beloved has convinced me to apply for the next to rounds of the Enrolled Nurse Traineeships as well. They close on October 12. The application is almost done, but I am waiting for a referree report from my Boss. We don't really gel, she and I, and I haven't told her yet about the Day Care interview, as I think that it may colour her referree report..... She has promised to have it for me by Wednesday or Thursday this week. The daycare manager(Charlie) and her manager (the head Occupational Therapist whom I have known and worked for for over 5yrs as a social support worker 1 day each fortnight) know about my difficulties with The Boss, and that I am applying for a traineeship, but have said that they are not too worried. The manager wants me to work with her, but there's more to the interview than just Charlie and me getting along like a house on fire.......

I have joined in the fun(?), and have devoted way too much time to facebook over the last couple of days. There is certainly a lot of things to do. I really suck at scrabble though; I might have to give this up as a bad joke....... it's really denting my self -confidence......
I am much better at TV trivia...... I guess that it just shows how I mis-spent my youth... still can't workout how to play 2 player games though. There just doesn't seem to be much of a challenge setting a word, then guessing it yourself......


I think that facebook has been good for the Marys this week. They can interact and enjoy each others company without having to talk..... And a lot of that has been done this week. Things have certainly slowed down on the blogging front. And if there's a take-home message from this week, it might be that when blogging we should;

• write our post or comment
• sit back and breathe
• re-read what we've written
• breathe
• and think.......
• and do it all again before we press "publish" or "post"
  
  
  So, enjoy what's left of your weekend all!
  
  
  
  
  
  • See you on the 'Book or the Blog!

Smile an everlasting smile, a smile can bring you
Near to me.
Don't ever let me find you down, cause that would
Bring a tear to me.
This world has lost its glory, lets start a brand
New story now, my love.
Right now, there'll be no other time and I can show
You how, my love.

Talk in everlasting words, and dedicate them all to
Me.
And I will give you all my life, I'm here if you
Should call to me.
You think that I don't even mean a single word i
Say.
Its only words, and words are all I have, to take
Your heart away

• 
  

I know it sounds absurd...........................

G'Day All!

After Sunday's pity-party of a post, I think that I need to clear a few things up.

Ahem.

We do have water in the shed. We have town water in the garden taps, and we use this to fill a 25litre drum camping drum with a tap in the bottom, which supplies our water each day for cooking and washing up. You don't drink the town water here in Wattle Grove: no-one does. It's treated bore water, and it tastes disgusting! It's lousy for washing clothes as well. It's a bit of a lottery when you wash white clothes; often it can be brown and turbid. You end up with "beige wash" in no time. And for those who are confused, "Wattle Grove" is the pseudonym concocted by the lovely Lisa. I like to use it because it's much more interesting sounding than "Denman"... and maybe a little more romantic, as well.

Anyway..... the kitchen.
One of the first things we had to do here was pull out the old kitchen, as this room was the one that was the most desired by the termites that were dining at our house.

Yep... that's right... we bought a timber house, complete with non-rent paying occupants.

We fixed them, though...muhwhaahahahaha (that's an evil laugh, in case you didn't notice).

I painted up the old kitchen, which consists of 2 bench cupboards and a sink cupboard, glued floor vinyl over the top of the old laminate top and we put them into the shed. The sink is plumbed into the drainage, so that even if I don't have running water, at least the grotty water drains away. This is preferable to having to empty a bucket from under the sink all time..... I know.

And yes, I do have a stove that a friend gave me, but no, it isn't wired in. I cook on the barbeque (it has a hood and a side burner, (thank heavens friends of ours won a BBQ in a raffle, and sold us their old one quite cheaply), in the microwave, electric frypan and wok. In a very rash move, a few weeks ago, I bought a $39 toaster oven from Golo. It is most cute, and is my favourite household appliance. Grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches were added to our menu again!

And muffins... scones....... mmmmmmmmmmm

We have lights that you can turn on with wall switches in the shed, too.

And 2 double power points to run things from. Ah, the luxury of it all.

Now.... The Bathroom.

We are fortunate that we can still use the old bathroom on the old back verandah of the house. Even if it doesn't have a door, just a curtain.

It has a toilet. You fill it manually with a pair of multigrip pliers, but it does flush. The handbasin has a single tap, but that's ok; it works. The old bath is in pretty good condition. In fact, I'm going to re-surface and re-use the bath in the new bathroom. It has a shower, and you can take a bath, too. Just not a deep one. You see, the hotwater service is very small, about 80litres, I think, and you turn it on at the power point to heat it up. The other thing about the water in this town is that it is very hard, and crusty. We've replaced the pressure release valve on the hot water service twice in the 2 years that we've been here, at $96 each time. I don't think the the hot water unit is worth that much.........

But the side effect of all this is that our water usage is very low; you can't use what you don't have access to, and you won't keep showering in a frosty shower, will you?

I have an automatic washing machine under a lean-to on the back of the house. It is this beast that uses the most water around here. It will be connected up in the carport of the shed when the water is connected. We're just waiting for the plumber. The dryer will be too.

We're waiting for the electrician to come back and finish here. That's why we've no ceiling lights in the house, only power points. Mates Rates. We waited 9 months for the electrician while we were living in the caravans. I complained to Beloved at the time, that we could have paid someone to do the job with the rent that we paid while we were waiting.

Anyway.

We are not uncomfortable here. Just not as luxuriously appointed as others are. And I guess that our kids are becoming resilient. But they've got their electronic games, computer, tv, music... bikes, motorbikes.... sport to play. Places to go. It will be interesting to see the choices that they make as adults.

So it all works. It's just a little more primitive than most people are used to.

And that's the trade-off. There's always a trade-off. Making priorities. Finding the balance is hard.

Granted, motorbikes are not my priority. But they are Beloved's. And he can share this with the boys. They have always been his passion. He has tunnel-vision where they are concerned. He always has. I knew this when I married him. And after 20years, I can't expect to change him.

If I really wanted to, I could have shelled out the money and done all the things that I have wanted to over the years. But I'm a basically(Wiggleword) lazy person, who doesn't like to stress and strain of conflict. I have found that it generally goes nowhere in our relationship.

That's not to say that there haven't been any been any "discussions" over the years... there have been. Numerous times. Not all of them pleasant, either. That was how we ended up in this house. I said that we would be more able to have money for the things that we loved....... so, Beloved picked out a near-new bike each for Vegeboy and himself... Scorpaboy already had his... I made him wait three months before I to signed the personal loan agreement to buy SB's bike though... He could have done this in his own name, but he didn't.... And the rest is history.

At least Beloved knows what his passions are. I don't. And that is his argument. It's a bit of a bully-boy argument, and I know that. But we all have our little self-destructive habits, don't we? And I think that deep-down inside, maybe I like to be a martyr, just a little bit.

There are lots of things that I love about this life, even is motorbikes aren't one of them. Some times I absolutely despise them ..... but I always try to think of things in perspective...... the Big Picture and all......

And I have poisoned my Gorgeous Girl's mind in regard to motorbikes.................... I will laugh at the karma of life if she falls in love with a passionate motorcycle man...... She would hate to re-live my life......

But..... It is odd.... I'm re-living many aspects of my mothers' life.......

Anyway.

I'm off to work.

Have a lovely day.<3>


Acceptable, respectable presentable, vegetable.................

Welcome to my Nightmare................................

Hello Bloggers.

It's a bit of an over-dramatic title, I think........................

Once again, it's been a while.

Life is constant...... a nagging, insistent constant. But at least we're still here, right???

Working, cooking, cleaning......... Well, I've done a bit of that lately. It is spring and all. It's a bit hard to get enthused when there's not really anything in the way of inner wall linings to keep the dust and dirt out. Except in the boys' bedrooms that is. They're finished. And the outer linings....well, let's just say that the ventilation and natural lighting is more than adequate. You know how pretty it is when you catch a glimpse of sparkling dust in a ray of light that peeks through...... there's lots of that here...... it can be blinding at times.
Well... it could be........ if the dust didn't reduce the glare significantly.

I've done a bit of gap-filling, painting, yard cleaning... nagging, whinging, whining.

The reno plans are in council. Beloved wants me to arrange the finance now. I'm not too sure that the bank will think that the house is worth enough. I just don't think that we have finished enough for the valuation to be what we need. Actually, nothing is finished. And we go to South Australia in just over 2 weeks...... I think we need to finish lining the hallway, and actually have some lighting in the bedrooms. I don't think the bank will go for the ambient bedside lamps whilst there is the wiring hanging down from the ceiling, just waiting for someone to connect the ceiling fan lights that I bought 2 years ago... with the wiring that is hanging out of the eventual wall switches. I can see that the money that I have so carefully guarded over the last few weeks will just be spent on the S.A. expedition....... and we'll come home, and things will be just the same. Except that Christmas will be looming.... Beloved just doesn't want to get it; we have to spend money on the house to get it done; he's talking with Scorpaboy about the new bike that they'll need to buy before the end of the year.. which is way too close for me....

This is the way it started; I could see it beckoning, luring me in, everytime I walked into the backyard of the "dream home"..."I"m cheap, I'm cheap" it would say..."and oh so cute..." ...yeah, right.......

I never should have thought of buying this house. It's the silliest thing I've ever done. Stupid to the max. I totally over-estimated Beloved's initial commitment to the task. And his on-going one. Silly me; fancy thinking that Beloved wouldn't be over-committed to having a life with his sons. And, accordingly, I've lost the plot, too.
Initially, I did it for all the right reasons. We had built the dream home and had a reasonable mortgage. Next thing I know, we needed another car, so I agreed to an extension on the mortgage for a nice car, and maybe a pool. We ended up with a brand new 4WD...... And a bigger mortgage than I wanted to manage, even thought the bank said we could afford it (of course...). Because I knew how important that "Having A Life" is, after a few friends fell off the perch at a relatively young age.

This was the dream home; (a bit of a nightmare...it never felt "right")
33 squares; 4 bedrooms, gourmet kitchen, 3 living areas, triple garage, 2 bathrooms & a powder room. And huge to clean......

So, I went into my "let's sell and buy something cheaper" phase. (I'm really big on survival techniques. I think "cut and run" is one of my favourites.......) Which we did. But 2 motorbikes came in to a rented house. And they had to be ridden; there's nowhere around here to do that..... I had a 3 month blitz planned on the house to make it liveable. The builder managed to only work 13 hours in that three months as well as life being stupidly busy with football, soccer, motorbikes, netball.. you know; living. So then, into the caravans we went. More rent. Containers to rent to hold the 33squares of household furniture........ Plan C ..... short term, we decided to build the shed and live in it for a couple of months........ it would have a kitchen and bathroom, it wouldn't be all bad. The concrete slab had to go down twice due a bad mix...... another 4 months gone...... more rent... the renovation nest egg just dwindled..........

Finally, we moved into our glorious shed. Two winters later, we're still here. And another another summer to go....................................

Yup; this is it....... you've seen pictures of the inside in an earlier post..... It doesn't have a bathroom that's finished yet, the stove is in place, but not wired in, and there's no water either..... but it has a nice fire inside, and an air con in the window now........

And here's the biggest rub of all, folks.............

When we finally get done, if the bank agrees to lend us some money, our mortgage will be the same huge mortgage that we sold the dream home for..................................................................

I find that I am wanting to sell up and run again..... and it's not even done yet.......................

This is sort of where we're up to now. The verandah posts have been painted, and our letter box was pulled out by a passing drunk one evening...... This pic was taken about November 2005...... before we actually moved in.... it shows how much we've done... Ahem......

But I have nothing to sell for another year. Because that's how long it will take to get this house done. The builder (a different one) told Beloved that it will only take 2 months or so to finish the house. He says he's pencilled us in first thing in the new year ie 2008. I first spoke to him in January this year......

Bulldust, I say! No way.... If it's finished by Easter, I will be absolutely amazed. But then there will be so much more to do to finish it. Beloved keeps saying; "We just get the builder to do it; he's quicker"... yep, and add another thousand each time, sweetie.

About that life that you want.............

Anyway, enough belly aching.... You make your bed, you've got to lie in it...... If you lie with dogs, you've got to expect to catch fleas.... etc, etc.........

By the way, it was my 1st anniversary since I began blogging on September 13.........

Thanks for reading..... it's not always fun...... but mildly interesting for you at times, I hope....

See you all later,


Love, The Blogmuggle... ;0)


Welcome to My Nightmare...... I hope I didn't scare you.......... It's just the way we are when we come down here.......

Every time you cry......

Hi Bloggers.

Did anybody else watch tonight's special episode of "Enough Rope"?


It was titled "Can I Write the Ending?"

What a special it was!

Andrew Denton showed why he is the premier in his field. Tonight he shared the stories of Annie, Nadeen and Jasmyn, all mums living with cancer. Unfortunately for all, Jasmyn passed away 2 weeks after the interview.

What incredible, strength, resilience and beauty these women possess!!


Tears by the bucket load (and that was just from me...). But so inspirational.


And these women think that they are "Ordinary...."


Amazing......... beautiful, I say.


To Andrew, these incredible women and their wonderful families and friends, I say thank you for sharing .


And "Can I Write the Ending?"......


Well, I'd like to think so...........


Goodnight all. xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

My name is jack

jack is my favourite son

PS this was written by Jack when he butted in.......

Confide in me....................

Hi Bloggers!!!

;0)

It's Monday again!



It's been busy as usual.

I won't bore you with the details, but I'll share some highlights (& lowlights) with you.
Maybe you should grab a drink....... You know what I'm like once I get started........


Hmm.... Where to start??????


How about last Friday night?

I drove down to Newcastle to pick up GG after work and take her along to Arty Farty Mary and Darlin's Fabulous Opening. But she was not well... Hayfever, she said. So she stayed at home (in front of the computer, I suppose) whilst I went to the Fabulous Opening on my own. I have only one thing to say...

IMYGODITWASWONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!

I had seen some of our Arty Farty's work on the blog, but up close and personal, there is so much more to see... she is an amazing artist, that is for sure. And her work is very reasonably priced ( underpriced, really)...... She shouldn't be an "unknown" for long.
And Darlin's glazing on his works is incredibly special.
I sincerely hope that they both sell these divine works, and find it within themselves to create more........

And I couldn't afford to buy one as I had to share $1000 with the Shire Council in the morning so that we can finally get the building approval for our additions...... nice of them wasn't it?????

NOT!!!!!!

Saturday.........

Vegeboy's Mighty Muswellbrook Rams Rugby League team versed Belmont North Sharks in the Under 13's division 2 Grand Final. It was a hard fought game, with tries and goals scored one for one. The Sharks were the better team on the day, with a try by our boys dis-allowed with 15 seconds to the hooter....... It would have equalled the scoreline, and made us joint premiers. But the Sharks called the final pass "forward". The touch judge agreed with them, so the ref called "No try".

Belmont North are the Premiers. As they were leaving the field, the Sharks coach told our coach that his boys convinced the touch judge that the pass was forward, when they all knew that it wasn't. And the ref was heard to mumble that he should have allowed the try.......

Oh well........

It was a great experience for our boys anyway. To have played so well as a team in their first year was a triumph in itself. They are a consolidation of 4 previously rival teams, but all have a passion for football & have become quite a tight unit.

GG came to the game with enthusiasm, but then fell into a sleeping heap in the car afterwards. She didn't have her planned evening out with her friends, either. But we did. A night out at the Buck's is always great fun. But we had an early night as both Beloved and I had to drive to Sydney on Sunday morning.

Sunday......................

For his Fathers' Day, Beloved and his boys went to Pacific Park for a ride day. Great for him! And GG and I went to Star City to see "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"!!!!!!!
one word again........

OHMYGODITWASAWESOME&GGANDIWANTTOGOTOMELBOURNETOSEEIT
AGAIN!!!

Okay..... breathe now......... especially after I paid the parking fee of ...$39.00......... it was $17 for 6 hours...... we were 6 hours, 3 minutes....... because we wandered around Star City while the crowds waiting to get into the carpark thinned out......

Actually, the blog post title is a line from a Kylie song that the character, Felicia Goodfellow, sang in the show.......

A drive back to Nanandpops for the night, and it was weekend over. I went to Spotlight at Rutherford for a looksee on the way home today. It's big. I also had a squizzy at the bamboo flooring at Horimber timber. It looks interesting. Does anybody have any info on bamboo flooring??????

And a little drool at the lovely furniture in "Everyday Living". Noice, very noice.

And home again..........

And for a complete change of subject........

VB has had a science project to complete involving some research and a model of a cell. He chose to do a sperm cell (OK; I chose it, as I thought it would be pretty simple to do).

So while he was researching and typing up his info on Friday night, I set about creating a spermatozoa out of pastry dough. I must have something in common with Jacqui, I think......
It was going really well.
I had fashioned the head and body, with the inclusions of a bright blue nucleus surrounded by plain dough for the cell membrane, lentils to re-create nuclear vacuoles, a sultana as a centriole, green-coloured rice for mitochondria in the body, and a fabulously waved, cooked 2 minute noodle for the flagella. In to the oven it went, and voila: a spermatozoa.
It looked really good, until I looked for it on Sunday morning........

It was supposed to be next to the computer..... a safe place away from the busy places where it could get knocked over.....
And the body, tail and quite a few of the lentil/vacuoles were gone...
Poof! Disappeared!

And this morning, I had to telephone his science teacher and tell him that a mouse (or some other potentially larger rodent) had stolen and theoretically eaten VB's science project.......... He cacked himself laughing...but not without the obligatory jokes about "the dog eating my homework", of course........

Another model has been made, glued to the cardboard, labelled and stored in tupperware, ready for transportation to the science rooms tomorrow.....And the tail is a plastic twist tie this time, as I wasn't about to cook a whole packet of noodles for the sake of one single flagella.... it really stunk when I was baking the thing.... mmm... burning plastic........ VB did more of this one.....

Anyway, as the farmer in "Babe: Pig in the City" says:
(In my best Yorkshire accent)
"That'll do....."

Love to all,

xoxoxox ^_^ xoxoxo

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



_____________________________

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. ^_^


________________________________________________________________________

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!

____________________________________________

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(

_________________________________________________________

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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