It's good news week.......

HERE'S A QUICK ROUND-UP OF THE BLOGMUGGLE WEEK

• SUNDAY; Beloved, Scorpaboy, Vegeboy and I travel to Newcastle, sns motobikes for a change, to help celebrate Uncle's 70th birthday lunch. The boys travel home after wards while I stay with GG to bring her car home for Beloved to fix this week. GG and I see not 1, but 2 movies at Glendale on Sunday night; "Razzle Dazzle" and "Music and Lyrics". We had a fun, chiccy night out.
• MONDAY; GG and I go to Uni. While She attends lectures, I enquire about re-enrolling for my Bachelor of Nursing later this year, then visit Boyfreind Tricky, who lives in a nice little unit (with 4 others) on campus. We drive back to Gateshead to pick up parts for her car, then head up to Charlestown Square to eat and peruse things we can't afford. We drop-in on the lovely Lisa, who is always gracious when we drop in, then GG headed back to lectures, and I headed up the highway, grocery shopped at Muswellbrook, then arrived home in time to cook tea at about 6.30pm.
• TUESDAY; Work as usual, then into the Brook for VB's footy training. The numbers have swelled to 17, so the guys are off and running...literally. "Oh, and by the way, mums and dads; bring all the boots and stuff to training on Thursday, as the representative selectors will be here. First game is against Scone at 5.15"....... These kids have never played together...and VB's boots are too small...by Thursday afternoon...puhleeeease.....
• WEDNESDAY; Start work early and work through lunch so I can leave work at 3 to pick up VB from school, drive to Maitland to buy some footy boots and meet GG who is being driven up by the Grandies after work. It was a good plan....until...... a massive storm hit halfway between Muswellbrook and Singleton. Cars were lined up all along the roadside until there was a break in the weather. I didn't get too much farther along until I had to pull over again. Waiting....Waiting..... It cleared again, so away we went..... until the car started to aquaplane a little too often for my comfort. So we stopped again. It was becoming obvious that we wouldn't make the shops at Maitland. VB suggested that we shop at Singleton instead. Clever boy. It took us about 50 minutes for what is usually a 30 minute drive. And I purchased a great pair of boots for $49.95! I had time, so I called in on a friend ( yes, I am a serial dropper-inner) at Louth Park that I hadn't seen in a while, and we chatted solid for the 40minutes that I had........ It was an unexpected bonus! I met with GG and the Grandies at Macca's East Maitland,and then headed off home, via Hungry Jacks for what was loosely described as dinner (YUK!!!), then into Muswellbrook so GG could catch up with her friend who was celebrating her 18th birthday. Salutations and gift were/was exchanged in a dark RSL carpark..... Home by about 9.30pm...bed by 11.30, I think.
• THURSDAY; The day started with a nice little drive to take Beloved to work. Plurgh on GG for going home in HER car today..... Work, (another no-luncher) then into town; bank, no mobile phone battery, buy drinks and cakes so that I had change to use a public phone (why else...), then met Beloved and we did the absentee vote thing for Saturday. Then it was off the watch the rep footy trials. Our boys were hammered in two games... absolutely.... They'll need to pull their socks up on the 31st..... VB's new boots lookes pretty schmick, though. Home just before 8pm... a stunning dinner of 2 minute noodles for all..... and then 4 laods of washing... There was a dang tissue..in the darks... of course....
• TODAY... FRIDAY; I started with a lovely drive into town at 5.45am.... read some blogs.. now I'm blogging. I have to hang more washing out, have a shower and then head off to work. This evening is the Upper Hunter Regional Show on Muswellbrook..I hate these boring events... They're a waste of my hard earned money. I'd rather buy 10l of "Blue Ridge" paint for the outside of the house.... But the boys want to go. Then it's home to pack, as we're heading off for a "family weekend" of motorbiking in the foothills of the Moonbi's, up the road from Tamworth tomorrrow. Beloved is determined that we will all spend time together; it just always seems to be that we do it with a couple of them on motorbikes while the others wander around the bush, occasionally seeing the ones on wheels...... There are some lovely people hosting this trip; Pete and Nyrie have been desperate for me to come up and see there spread... I'm just over the motorbike thing. I'll go, and will probably have a good time anyway. If the return to uni happens, then I won't be going anywhere too often.

Is all this why I'm as tired as everyone else?????

Anyway all, I've got to go. Have a good weekend. I'm GOING to....

Love, Muggle ;)

Proof of Life.......SKINJACK

He Did It!!!

Hey, it's not so bad........

But then again.......

Nah, it's all good mate!

He had a huge day. First, he played rep soccer for the school, in 30+degree heat. Note the fab t-shirt sunburn. He has a matching shorts-to-sock burn as well. He set up his team's 1st goal. At full-time, the score was 2-all. Golden goal in 10minutes of extra saw SOCCERJACK take a penalty kick, resulting in a goal and win for our boys! They were on the paddock for 2 hours!!!!

It was back to school as normal until ShaveTime! He was the second last one shaved, and unfortunately there was only 1 hairdresser to perform the cutting, so all the younger boys were cut first, then Laura, a female teacher and then blonde, afro-haired Scott. By this time, the bell had rung, and the 800 or so onlookers had gone, leaving Dougie, a teacher and Jack to be shaved without moral support. But what the hey, they continued on. You can see the result; voila...SKINJACK

It was a great afternoon's fundraising for the leukemia foundation. It's estimated that at least $6000 has been raised. Fabulous effort by all!!! And Laura shouldn't be too sad to see her hair gone; she had very safe, straight brown hair that never really did much for her. Her shaved head has revealed a lovely heart-shaped face with amazing, enormous blue eyes. She's a head-turner now; very striking! She has very conservative parents. I expect that as soon as it has grown long enough, it will be very stylishly cut, and will probably not be quite as interesting as it is now.

Then the poor boy went off to work stacking groceries at the IGA store; SHOPJACK

And then......

He and Vegeboy went to a band gig at the Muswellbrook PCYC and had a great time. His head was rubbed a lot, which probably accounts for its red appearance, and the boys danced and sang all night. They're friends with most of the band members, as the acts are all local kids. He laughed and told me that quite a few people didn't recognise....MOSHJACK.

Hot, red, tired, and blistered, after I'd photographed him, he went off to bed. He has to work in the morning and be ..THRIFTY-LINKJACK...

But right now he's..........SLEEPYJACK!!

See you all again,

Love from the mother of a lovely young man

Goodnight and good dreams ;-D

We love football, meatpies, kangaroos..........

G'Day Bloggers.

As I sit here and type, I'm feeling a little chilly. I'm wearing jeans, t-shirt, a three-quarter-sleeved cotton shirt, and shoes, and I'm not warm. I was cupping my hands around my cup of nice, hot tea until I started to type. I can't believe this odd feeling.. It's been such a l-o-n-g, hot summer. It's good. Autumnal, actually. I had a discussion with someone once about whether "autumnal" is actually a word. Maybe it's an adjective. Whatever. It describes exactly how the weather feels at the moment. Right at this moment anyway, because the weather gurus tell us it will be 30 degrees later today. Yuk.

I drove Beloved to work this morning. This happens a couple of mornings a week since GG took my car (well, she says it's hers) and drove off into the sunrise. I can't say sunset, as she travelled east...... Anyway, we drove through the dark.... and FOG......... It was the first time this season. It's ethereal, magic. Maybe it feels a bit like we're travelling to Brigadoon. Well, Muswellbrook anyway. Our drive takes through a bit of farm land, and it's quite green here at the moment due to the bit rain that we have enjoyed lately. A lot of this land is river-front alluvial flats that have recently been re-stocked with cattle, or sheep, or it might now be used for grapes or olives. There's something very .... I can't find the word... exciting, nice, .. I don't know... anyway, I like to see the farm animals shadowing in the foggy paddocks. There's horses, too. Until we get to the part where the open-cut coal mines start. But that's a post all of it's own. It takes about 50 minutes for a round trip. Luckily, the boys are reasonably self-sufficient these days, especially Vegeboy. Scorpaboy is more like a normal, sluggish, night-dwelling teen, but he's had more practice than Vegeboy.


Vegeboy is the reason I needed to have the car today. He has his first run at footie training this afternoon with Muswellbrook Rams. He's played his last two seasons with the Denman Devils, but this year, Denman weren't able to field a team. Out of the 13 kids that played in VB's team last year, only three wanted to sign up again this year. Even Muswellbrook is struggling for numbers; VB is only number 12, and they need 13 to run on the field. I guess we'll find out whether or not they'll be playing over the next few weeks. It may have something to do with the relationship between the cost of petrol and the travel to Newcastle to play ever other week. But even the younger age groups that only travel around the Upper Hunter area are struggling for numbers. It's so sad to see this lack of interest when footie has always been an integral part of the country kids walk through the world... It's a cultural necessity up here... We were going to change over to rugby union if the league option didn't come to fruition, but they're struggling to field a team as well, even though they're combining 13's and 14's. It was a bit sad to disappoint the eager faces as they welcomed and urged both the boys to join the Rams on Tuesday afternoon. There were very blokey claps on the back, and questions "What age group are you playing in, son?" . Scorpaboy, who's never had any interest in playing rugby league, felt very flattered and validated, yet apologetic at the same time. I don't think heard the slightly nervous, desperate tone in the voices........ Vegeboy's just pleased to be able to play, and will be sharing my $80 with the football club today, so he will officially be a Ram. I'm not sure why, but the president and vice president of the soccer club were there at training as well. Anyway, hopefully Vegeboy enjoys his first real day at training.

TOMORROW IS SHAVE DAY!!!!!!

Lovely Lisa has offerred to make a donation on behalf of the girls at RC, so you can pass on any donations to her. People seem to be reluctant to donate; coin is money too, and all the little bits add up. Do you think that peopole think that they might look a bit miserly if they can't donate a sizeable sum of money? The way I see it, it's no different to buying a raffle ticket, and if you'd only buy 1 ticket, then that 's just fine. I am seeing Lisa on Sunday, but final banking will be April 12, and I will bw travelling backwards and forwards to Newcastle in the next few weeks, so I will collect from Lisa during these trips. It gives me a good excuse to see her..... Anything that we can do to help meet these diseases head-on is a good thing. I know too many people fighting the good fight to let these fundraising things go... GG and I are participating in "Relay for Life" here in April. Beloved and the boys will probably do it too..

Anyhoo, it's off to work for me!

Have a good day,

Cyndy ;)

She's like the wind..........

Well, here she is.....before the nose job, as she looked in "Dirty Dancing".....and as she looks now...after two nose jobs, that is. Evidently, the first one was a bit of a failure, and didn't bring about the escalation of her career. It's a shame that the second one didn't either. She looks pretty, though, don't you agree?

Here are some 'Jen' Facts;

* She was born on March, 26, 1960. This meant that when she made "Dirty Dancing" in 1987, she was 27yrs of age, playing a 17 yr old

* Prior to DD, she played minor roles in a few movies, but her most memorable was as the nasty sister, Jeannie, in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"

*The only movie that she has performed in of any merit, according to just about everyone, was "Bounce" (2000), starring Gwenyth Paltrow and Ben Affleck. All other movies have been B-grade, made-for-TV movies. The most recent was a hack-fest , "The Ritual", in 2001.

*She appeared in a TV series in 1999; "It's like, You know"........

*She has been engaged to Matthew Broderick, Johnny Depp in 1990 (lucky girl!!!), but is married to Clark Gregg, who starred in the sit-com, "The New Adventures of Old Christine", with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, who played Elaine in "Seinfeld"

* She and Clark have one child, Stella, who was born in December 3, 2001

I wonder if Stella has her mama's nose?

That's your trivia for the day folks. From the Blogmuggle, anyway. You can always rely on sunflower bee to provide you with more. And angel without wings, too. It's funny isn't it, the things that can make up a blog, ...........

Cya, and enjoy your Sunday!

Another Saturday Night...

G'day Bloggers.

This is how my vision was this morning. Or it could have been. If I was awake, that is. I was aware of pain before I was really even awake at 6am. The light was peeping in through the window on my side of the bed. Beloved asked me why I was hiding under the covers. I explained how I felt, and as he knows that I like my drugs, could he get me a panadol ? No thanks, I need to go to the toilet anyway, says me. I returned to bed and hid until after 8, and Beloved asked in a hopeful tone; "had the panadol worked?" Ever the optimist, my Beloved. He took one look at my face, arose, and turned the fan on and removed the doona as I looked a bit hot to him. Then he left me alone. I didn't really sleep, but it was 10 to 11 when Beloved arrived with toast and tea, but was still a bit taken aback when I sat up in bed with my sunglasses on. I'm not sure why. This man has been my beau for 24 years this July. He thought I just had a headache.........

So my day has been a very quiet one, even though Vegeboy has had 2 friends sleeping over since yesterday after school. Their numbers swelled to 4 this morning, but it's back to 3 again as they're staying tonight too....There are benefits to a migraine; Beloved has done the washing up, and cooked the boys the pancakes that they had been asking about since last night. They've spent a fair bit of time down at the river today, which is scary for me, but it's a testament to my improved health this evening that I can look remotely interested and impressed with their tales of belly-flopping backflips and double-forwards off the swing. Scary. Very scary. We usually have quite a number of kids arrive in our casualty department over the summer after having come off second best in an engagement with the river and it's environs............

More drugs enabled me to watch "Dirty Dancing" late this afternoon. I was sniffling whilst Beloved was snorting at the dialogue on the other side of the curtain. I love this movie. I bought it for myself for my birthday when GG and I were at BigW one day after Christmas, for the princely sum of $5. I had put it into the sideboard for a surprise (not me, everyone else) as my birthday doesn't usually involve too many gifts, and then forgot about it. I had to take it out of the plastic wrapper to watch it. Beloved wanted to know how old Jennifer Grey was when the movie was made. I'm not sure. Any ideas? I'll google her later. I don't remember seeing her on screen too often after that. I watched the features afterwards, The narrator stated that the movie was set in 1963, and that the music in the movie was a blend of 60's and 80's music, and that the 80's were in fact a celebration of the 60's, with shows like "Grease", "Happy Days", and restaurants like copying the styles of the 60's. Maybe, maybe not. I just think that it's amazing that I was watching a movie that was made in 1987, 20yrs ago, about a time that was over 20 years prior to that. I was 1 year old in 1963, and the DVD was a 15th anniversary edition. So I guess that the DVD had been on the shelf a while. Hence the $5 price tag. I think we should be on the look-out for a 20th anniversary sometime soon. Anyway, as I told Beloved, Patrick Swayze has an amazing back.... even if he was a bad boy.....great back, bad, bad boy..... naughty boy....

Sorry......I was carried away for a bit there....

Beloved and Scorpaboy will be home soon. They've been out riding, and Beloved's bunged up his bad knee. He's bringing home a heap of chips from the local chippo for the younger boys, and I need to cook some tea for the rest of us. There's a few episodes of "The Family Guy" to watch since there is so much testosterone in this place..........

I'm going to go and swallow a few more pills; the little man in my head has taken off his tap shoes and has switched to his clogs. I need to prevent him from putting on his hob-nail boots and dancing a very insistent cha cha. I think I need to book in for some Bowen Therapy this week. I'll try for Friday. I'm not working, and will be going to see Jack and his friends participate in the "World's Greatest Shave" in the morning, then he's playing soccer representing the school afterwards. That'll be interesting. He hasn't run onto a soccer field since last year. His fundraising is going well. So far, he has raised around $370, and we estimate he will make over $4oo. His aim is to raise $500, so hopefully, he'll get there. Laura, the only girl who is shaving her hair, has already raised over $1800! Go Laura!!!

Oh, and by the way, kudos to me for finally managing to place a photo into my blog where I wanted it moved to, instead of all of them at the top with the writing underneath.... I hope I can do it again... I took me ages... and I thought I lost it all in the process.... not good when there's a little man doing a clog-dance in your head..... And I will try to make the font a bit bigger this time, too....I'm still having trouble with my spacing, though.....

Another blog about nothing..... If "Seinfeld" was still on, you might see this blog featured in a lap-top on Jerry's coffee table, next to the coffee table book on coffee tables, whilst the show about nothing was playing on the telly........

Maybe my next post will be more compelling.......


Love,
The Blogmuggle ;0)

There for the grace go I.........

It's a beautiful night up here in Walnut Grove. It's raining. It has been showering intermittently all day. It eased off this afternoon, but the showers started again tonight. It's wonderful.....

I've heard three rather un-nerving stories over the last few weeks, and I'm going to share them with you. All of them involve people that I know, so I'll change the names, and their 16year old children. All families are loving, stable families, so it's hard to comprehend why and what has gone on in each situation.

In the first one, Nicole and Peter have three children; 16yr old Tonia, 14yr old Shaun, and 12yr old Cameron. Last month, in the 1st week of Yr11, Tonia had a sudden fit of temper, and unexpectedly moved in with her 20yr old boyfriend, Tony, moving out with only the clothes on her back, and her schoolbag. Tony and Tonia have been going out for over a year. Nic and Pete allowed the relationship because there really wasn't an option. Unfortunately, as time moved on, it became apparent that Tony was very controlling of Tonia, and some issues arose between Tony and Nic. In a series of text messages, Tony even admitted to Nic that he didn't really love Tonia, but he wasn't going to let Nic and Peter win. Of course, Tonia didn't believe her parents, and sided with Tony. As we all know, parents are usually never chosen if push comes to shove. Her whole attitude towards her parents had become aggressive and hostile, even to the point of telling her mother that she had involved the police, who would call around to Nic and Pete's house to pick up Tonia's things. Nic contacted the police, who related that they were unable to help, as Tonia is 16, but that Tonia was lying in regard to their involvement. They did however, believe the messages that Nic said that Tony had sent her. So far, things are at a stalemate. Tonia has a part-time job as well as attending school. I have known Tonia since she was 6; this is very unlike her, and I have to wonder what other influences Tony has had on her. It is all particularly worrying as Tony has had a rather unstable family life; his father has been gaoled on a number of occassions for drug-related offences. Is is offensive to me that he uses the feelings of another individual to shore up his own ego and to maintain control. It is especially hard on Nic; she and Tonia have always been very close. Nic and Pete have decided that, in an attempt to keep the peace, they will just allow Tonia to make her own decisions, and hopefully , the consequences of her actions won't be too dire. Difficult times are ahead for them for sure.

Sue and John have been living in their own private hell over the last year. Evan, their 16yr old son, has been running away, living wherever he can and has become involved in drug taking. They have been riding a roller coaster, as they never know when Evan will leave again, or where he will end up. Luckily John has a very understanding employer when John phones to say he's going out to find Evan, or has to leave work in a hurry. Another victim in this is Evan's 13 yr old sister, Erin. John and Sue now believe that Evan has developed mental illness due to his drug habits, or it may be the other way around. It is really difficult to cope with, as they saw Beloved's nephew behave in the same way, and our James died not long after his 18th birthday. James had been very erratic in his behaviour from about age 14, graduating to stealing cars and living in shelters in between stints in Mount Penang and drying out at home. I had suggested to the family that James may have been schizophrenic, drug taking or both. I was told not to be ridiculous; they had asked him whether he was taking drugs and he said "No, of course he wasn't".........We thought that he was finally sorting himself out, but was facing charges related to stealing, this time as an adult. James had disappeared ten days prior to his body being found, and it's never really been clear whether he committed suicide, died accidently, or was a victim of foul play. This is one of the futures that John and Sue can see for Evan, and are desperate to find another........ Evan is extremely resistant to intervention. John and Sue are good people, and this is taking a huge toll on their family. John was a bit of a teararse as a teenager, and everyone always jokingly wished him to have a son that was was just like him. Poor John sadly admits that they've got their wish and more. It's so hard to hold onto this tiger by the tail......

The last story I heard two weeks ago was the most incomprehensible. Eileen and David are parents to 2 extremely intelligent and very pleasant children, 18yr old Will and 16yr old Elisha. I don't really know these people on a personal level, but have been involved with them through school. Both the kids were involved in the school band, fund-raising activities, and generally well-known members of the school community. Eileen and David were supportive and indulgent parents, but it was fairly common knowledge that in their family, Elisha was regarded as the golden child. Will seemed to succeed regardless, receiving many awards, including a special government award last year. He left home to attend uni in February. Trouble seemed to have developed between Elisha and Eileen towards the end of last year, as Elisha decided to assert her independence, partying without her parent's knowledge, drinking and knocking about with an older group of teenagers, who probably weren't too good an influence on Elisha. Elisha had earlier had a few issues with other kids, who had labelled her a "try hard', but my kids had said that she was settling down, and was generally well liked. There was an incident in January when Elisha attended a party that she had told Eileen about, but the parent supervising the party, Julie, didn't realise that Elisha and 2 of her friends had arrived as they had entered through a side gate, and hadn't entered the house to say hello as was the custom. At midnight, when Eileen arrived to pick up the rather drunk Elisha, a screaming match ensued, which resulted in Eileen hurling abuse at Julie, saying that she would call the police and report Julie for supplying alcohol to minors. Gobsmacked, Julie just let her rant, and Eileen left in tears, Elisha stayed, and we began to realise that there were problems. Julie was extremely upset about this. Elisha had not been invited, and it was only a small gathering. We suspect that Elisha was drunk before she arrived. Nothing much else was heard of until a couple of weeks ago when Eileen confided to another friend, Gail, that Elisha had left home. OK, you say, it was probably on the cards. Hmm, but it's the circumstances that are really odd. Elisha had been keeping in contact with a boy who lives at Bega, over the Internet. One afternoon at the end of January, Eileen answered a knock at the door to find a boy and his parents at the door, who had driven up from Bega to take Elisha home with them to live....... Elisha went with them that afternoon. The only contact that Eileen and David have had with her that I know of was a text message that Elisha had sent to Eileen requesting "the recipe for that chocolate cake" followed by an impatient voice message left on the home phone by Elisha for "that recipe for the chocolate cake!", with no please, thank you, or "I'm ok Mum and Dad". Elisha had a part-time job, as well as attending school. Hopefully, she's been on contact with them or Will by now. Hopefully, she's well and happy, maybe working and/or attending school. But...Who are these people? Are they really a family? What gives them the right to take away someone else's daughter? We have to hope that their motives are good and honest, or else the alternatives are too awful to consider.......

So you see, even though my kids can be difficult and a pain sometimes, I am extremely grateful that they are settled and happy... for now, anyway. I haven't been able to stop hugging them over the last few weeks. Maybe it's because GG left as well. Luckily, both the boys are indulgent of my need. They have all been told about these kids; they know them too. They're not sure why Tonia, Evan and Elisha have made the choices that they have. Hopefully they are happy with their lot in life so far, and that they are secure in the fact that we love them, and will deal with problems when they arise, together, rather than making poor decisions that may change the rest of their lives.

Yes, definitely, there for the grace go I....... Please give the ones you care about a hug.

Love, The Blogmuggle xo

RubyLove; for Kristy-Lee, Kade and Ruby

This picture came into my head last night; well this is an approximation of it anyway <3

RubyLove

Who'll be my love?

You'll be my love

You'll be my sky above

Who'll be my light?

You'll be my light

You'll be my day and night

You'll be mine tonight.

Ruby my love

You'll be my love

You'll be my sky above

Ruby my light

You'll be my light

You'll be my day and night

You'll be mine tonight

Thanks to Cat Stevens

<3> Congratulations to Kade and Kristy-Lee <3>

Hello and Welcome Ruby Jane; it's a pleasure to meet you ;)

---------------------------------------------

Hair, hair, hair, long as God can grow it, my hair....

Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair.

Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen,

Give me down-to-there hair, shoulder length or longer,

Here baby, there momma, everywhere daddy daddy.

Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair!

Flow it! Show it! Long as God can grow it, my hair.............

Well, that's what I think Jack will be singing on the evening of March 16. You see, 16 year old Jack has decided to shave his head for the "WORLD'S GREATEST SHAVE" fundraising campaign this year. For any one that knows Jack, they will realise that this is quite a momentous decision for him to do this. He has been wearing his decidedly unkempt 'do' for sometime now, and has many a 'discussion' with his school principal in regards to his "suitability as a representative of his school". You see, Jack has been a student representative on the school council since year 7, and last year was elected as Year 11 Prefect, much to the disappointment of the school principal, who had actually tried to discourage Jack from running, going so far as to tell Jack that he would advise others not to support Jack as "he does not fit the mould of a leader"....

Bah Humbug I say to you Mr Principal!! This child has a good heart and you had better cough up some money as a result of you finally being granted your wish! Of course, maybe Jack will look even more like a rebel with a bald head. What do you think?? Maybe he will look even less like a leader then....... OR NOT!!!

I can't quite imagine what my lovely boy will look like with no hair, and I'm not clever enough to photoshop him to see.......

If anybody would like to donate some money to support Jack in his fundraising efforts, please let me know; any contribution would be gratefully received and forwarded to the Leukeamia Foundation. This is an unashamed request for sponsorship.......... Any amount will be receipted. And it's tax deductible.

You can let me know via this blog, or email me;

cka51325@bigpond.net.au

Thank you.

I'll post the "after" shots for your viewing

Cheers, Cyndy ;0)

Isn't She Lovely....

Isn't She Wonderful!!!!

This treasure was in amongst an email that was filled with pictures of fruit, vegetables and natural objects that resemble genitalia.........

I deleted everything else ... I kept this one......

<3>

Starry,Starry Night, Paint Your palette Blue and Grey.....

G'Day Bloggers.

Mother Nature has a way of making you stop in your tracks sometimes. She can make you awestruck. Humbled. Reminded of the tiny space within the universe that we take up.

On Friday, I had to rise a little earlier than normal to attend a course at the John Hunter Hospital on Dementia Care Nursing. 4.30am actually. I didn't realise just how dark it is at that time of day. I might wake up for a wee walk, but my eyes are usually only half-open, and I don't have to go outside (well, not anymore, anyway now that we have a bedroom in the house). So, I walked into the bathroom, turned on the hot water heater (because that's what we have to do for hot water for a shower here in Blogmuggle Nirvana), turned off the light and stepped oputside into the completely dark and quiet yard. Two steps later, I stopped dead in my tracks. I had looked up. The sky was full; literally bursting with beautiful, twinkling stars. The Milky Way at its absolutely breathtaking best. I just stood there and absorbed it for a while, wishing that I had time and a blanket, so that I could just lay on the ground watching the sky like I used to when I was a kid.

But I didn't have time. Blah. Plurgh...... A cup of tea and vegemite toast, a nice hot shower and it was time to leave. But it was a good morning, and my show didn't stop there. My drive takes me through some lovely rural areas, and as I rounded the top of a hill, there was the sunrise, in all it's breathtaking glory! Could I do it justice with a description? I don't think so. The colours were so divine; red to pink to orange to an incredible grey mauve, to blue. No I haven't done it justice. But wished that I had had a camera with me; I would have stopped and tried to capture this. As usual, i didn't, so onward I went and picked up my workmate and together we had a great day. We go back for day 2 next Friday. I'm looking forward to it.

I've made sure that I've stopped and had a look out at the sky each night, but I haven't managed to get the blanket out yet, with binoculars, but I might try it tonight. It was equally beautiful this morning; it's still delightfully dark at 5am. I've got to get ready for work; the water should be nice and hot for a shower (last night I was too slow, which resulted in a cool shower for me), and I need to get a shuffle on as I need to get to work by 6.30, and it's already 6am. Have good day, and remember to try to just stop for a while, and just be......

Love, The Blogmuggle xoxox

The times, they are a changing

Well, she's gone.

GG moved down to her Nan's on Sunday. Moving really sucks, doesn't it. She has taken the entire contents of her room with her, minus the stuff she wants sent to the opshop and stuff put in the bin. Lots of this. Guess who's job this will be??? She only left an empty wardrobe behind, and some PJ's, socks and undies. She even took the blu-tack off the wall. We've moved into her room, so for once, it's neat and tidy. It's lovely having a room again. We've been living in curtained off space in the living area since August 2005. Beloved is blissfully reclaiming one third of his shed as ...... shed space... Some amazed ooohhhhss and aaahhhhss here, please..... It's lovely to have the extra room, but if GG had to leave for that to happen, then the cost is too high. Although it didn't stop me remarking to Beloved that if they all left home, then we'd have oodles of space........ The ellyflat looks really good, and she's very excited about her new life.... Yep, the times they are a changing. My Mum is happy, too. And Dad. They both have had a dreadful time with the flu that we left them with. Mum was hospitalised last Monday night, and again on Thurdsay. They've got someone to fuss over again, and it just happens to be the favourite one at that. It must be something about being the first grandchild. Dad even drove her to uni today; insisted on it , in fact. I don't think he ever drove me anywhere... I had to catch a couple of buses when I worked at the uni... I had to leave at 6.45am to be at the uni for a 9am start......

I've spent the 1st full day I've had at home in weeks in the thrall of an extensive spring clean (I know I'm late, but then again, I always am. Or perhaps I'm early...). The overflow from GG's room had a domino effect on the rest of the house. I have washed and washed today; no real rain up here in walnut grove. Everyone has a crispy-fresh bed. I love clean sheets...... really. I think I've mentioned this before. Of course, I will have to spend more time at home now, so my house will be cleaner...... Because GG has a car and I don't..........Arggggghhh!!!!! .... I think I'll die!!!!!!! .... I can feel the cabin fever coming on..... Oh, hang on...I've got to go to work in the morning....... it's a nice walk.....

I had a major win yesterday. Last year, I bought Scorpaboy a timber double bed head, foot and rails from our local church's bargain bazaar for $15.. WOW! I thought. We have a few double bed mattresses at home, so no problem. Except that, when we assembled the bed a little while later, it's a queen-size........ SO anyway, on the message centre on the work intranet, I found a queen size mattress for sale for $80. Before we left GG at Nananpop's, I phoned about it, and it was still available, and at Marylands on the way home ( sorry Jen, we didn't have time to call in). The seller was selling up her entire household as she was travelling overseas for two months, and had to let her house go. I couldn't imagine selling up all my belongings and starting again after only two months. I've got some of the same stuff as I had when I was 16........ Anyway, the mattress is almost brand new, and Scorpaboy has the best bed in the house....... for $80... I don't have any linen that fits it though...... I think I'll have to manifest some......

As a result of the February spring clean, today I washed 62 socks...that is;

• 19 pairs of white
• 1 pair of yellow
• 14 odd white
• 8 coloured odds

Weird, hey? It isn't that I hadn't washed through the previous week. In fact, the clothes baskets were empty in the middle of the week. And that 62 didn't include football socks or work socks...... I think they finally wanted to be found, especially the ones from GG's den.........

Why is it, do you think that we are so afraid of change? Fear of the unknown, ease with familiarity, or simply liking the state of things, maybe. But we resist change even when change would improve our situation. But as humans, we are unfailingly adaptable. If we weren't, then we'd still be shacked up in caves. I think we're still being hit on the heads, but it's more metaphorical than physical these days, and mostly, we do it to ourselves. I thank those with the courage to initiate change and think outside the square, even though they often put their lives on the line on the way. As they said on "Sunrise" last week;

"Change is inevitable; you should always expect it, except from a vending machine"

Well this is a bit of a disjointed post, isn't it? Garbled thoughts, not much of a pattern or process, here. I have been enjoying reading lots of other bloggs; I'm not reading any books at the moment, unless you count the book detailing Hazel Hawke's journey with Alzheimers Disease that I started reading in August........ or the book by Slim Degrey that lives in the toilet filled with short, light-hearted stories from his time in Changi Prison. What a group of wags he talks about, and the antics that they got up to in Changi were so uniquely Aussie...

Enough for tonight. I will blog again later. No, really, I will..... My girl is gone.......... You'll all have to listen to me whine.... she may even turn up at Rose Cottage...

Love to you all,

The Blogmuggle :0)))))))

Hello Old friends, Hello....

Hi Bloggers.

Sorry about the Neil Diamond reference in the title, but it was appropriate. And what the hell, I'm old. It could've been worse... It could have been Lionel Ritchie.. "Hello....Is it me you're looking for?????"

But I digress...as always........

Life's a bit hectic as usual, but I thought I'd drop you a line to let you know that I'm still alive and kicking. Well, flailing as usual.

Last week's "Holiday" was probably exactly what I had envisaged. The reno on the ellyflat was virtually a rebuild, inside and out. I came home on Monday evening. My gorgeous Uncle was planing away madly to make the door fit, and promised to lay 6 tiles at the doorway for me on Wednesday so that it would be good to walk on on Friday so we can paint. This man has worked like a trojan over the last couple of weeks. I ever thankful that he loves his sister with the depth that he does. It is for her peace of mind that he does these things. He was supposed to supervise and watch, but he finds this positively excruciating, so we don't ask him to "help" anymore....he just can't help himself; he's in there boots and all running the show from the front, and close enough is never good enough. We are glad of his intervention this time though; without him, GG would have been squeezing into "temporary" space for quite a while.

A virus managed to lay both the boys flat out, then hit me too; no time to lay down though. Beloved came home on Sunday night sneezing and spluttering; a magically catchy virus, that one. He didn't work today, and most likely won't work tomorrow either. Th doctor actually gave him the rest of the week off, but he won't take it. Dad was sneezing and croaky when we left... poor mum..... GG had a toothache that saw me take 3 hours off work this morning to try to sort out her ailing tooth. On my first day back to work after holidays. She has to see the orthodontist as the affected tooth has a band around it (for her braces) that needs removing so that the tooth can be extracted...Friday, maybe, or I'll have to take more time off and drive her to Toukely to the head office...then back to the extraction specialist.... My plans for another 4 day weekend to finish the ellyflat are looking a little shaky....

Vegeboy started year 7 today.... and he enjoyed it! He had to see the doc this afternoon...who told him he needs to eat more!!!!!! He's growing too fast for his body to cope with...he's lost 7 kilos (I think I found them) and has grown about 5cm taller over the last 6weeks....and he has size 10 feet...and more skin issues than the average 12 yr old should have to put up with.....

Oh, and Scorpa Boy is 16 today!!!! A quiet day at home for this little chicken..... before going back to school as a Senior Prefect tomorrow.... And it was only seems like last week that my mother-in-law was stressing about his imminent delivery in her family room..... I kept on assuring her that if it happened, it would happen on her bathroom tiles....... "Are you going yet??????" ...I've never seen a more relieved woaman than when we set off in the car to the Mater.... He was born about 35 minutes later...plenty of time.......

Biggest surprise; finding a broody hen and five fluffy chicks in what passes for our garden; she still has about 5 eggs in a nest, but we think she has her hands full keeping her babies safe from the dog and cats... We're not sure what we will do with her. We want her and her babies to have the best possible chance of survival. We have no idea where she came from. She has been occassionally scratching around since Christmas.

Well, I'm off to bed. I'm still feeling the effects of the flu, and we have a resident celebrating her 100th birthday tomorrow, so I need to catch some zzzzzzzzz

G'night, and thanks for missing me; I know I missed you all ;)

Holiday....Celebrate.....

It's Saturday again, Bloggers.

I've nothing of any real interest to report. GG's life has been full of "Who's in and who's not" in regard to uni; about 20 of her classmates have been offered places; not all will accept them. There are also quite a few others from other schools that she knows that will be attending Newcastle Uni as well, so she definitely won't be alone or lonely.

Holy cow, it's hot, and I just turn into a big soggy mass in this type of weather. I know I'm not alone.

It will be even more quiet than usual on my blog front for the next week or so, as we will be on "Holidays" to work on the ellyflat. Feb 13, GG's starting, date, is disquietingly close, and there's only one more week until the boys return to school! These holidays have just flown!!!


Anyway Bloggers, I'll sign off now, and I'll catch up with all your postings when I come home. As big Sam advices, we should throw a lamb cutlet on the BBQ this Australia Day! Whatever celebration takes your fancy, enjoy yourselves!

Gyprock-dusted hugs and painty kisses
The Blogmuggle ;) oxo


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Take a Bow.......

Hooray, She's in !!!!

GG has found out this evening that she has been offerred a position at the Uni of Newcastle, studying for an integrated double degree in a Bachelor of Teaching and a Bachelor of Arts, which was her first preference. She is absolutely buzzing with excitement. Her boyfriend, Tricky (previously known as BestiePat), has been offererred a place in the Bachelor of Psychology course. So far, only two other friends have been offerred places at Newcastle. Uni Orientation week commences on the 13th of Feb, so we better get our act together and get things ready for her to move down to mumndads!

Prepare for take-off, GG!!!!!

Thank you for all your positive energies and affirmations,

Love, Cyndy <3

Walking Back to me.........

Today I am thankful for;

• GG's safe return home (even if she does resemble a lobster, somewhat)
• The feeling that I get deep down inside me when she puts her head on my shoulder when we are looking at something together
• Having a job where I can bring a smile to the face of another
• The fact that I have a life that is full of emotion and colour, even though it can be painful at times; at least I can feel
• Free will and the ability to make choices

Be safe and happy!

Love, Bloggie ;))))))

Like a bridge over troubled water......

Good evening Bloggers.

Thank you to my friends who certainly eased my mind.

As usual, this evening things don't seem quite as ......grey, sad or whatever they have been over the last couple of days. Nothing much has changed really, except that my very clever Beloved has fixed the DVD/CD stereo and the vacuum cleaner head that was broken..I hadn't mentioned that had I? Now I've got no excuse for the collection of dust bunnies and others that enjoy the freedom of my home......

I also contacted GG's orthodontist with a view to a complete account and letter of continuation of treatment so that I can hopefully receive the $500 that I was told by a Medibank Private consultant that I was entitled to in 2007. I hadn't mentioned to you that a different consultant told me last week that I wasn't entitled to anymore..unless I could provide some documentation, .....Maybe.... that little disclosure saw me having a quiet little cry in the ladies room at Charley Square last week..... We have only been rebated just over $1200 out of GG's $6200 orthodontic treatment. Every consultant has given me different advice........just another nail in the tyre of life.....

Thank you for your positive comments and thoughts. I needed to change my template; I just didn't feel "pink".....Picadilly can have it for herself now; I think it suits her better.....

Jacqui suggested that I take a positive approach;

Today I am thankful for;

• The fact that GG's minor bingle left no-one injured
• BoyfriendPat's (hereafter he will be referred to as "Tricky" because this boy is deep on so many levels, but he is good to my girl) honesty when I was talking to him about the same incident today
• My boys really are quite pleasant
• Everyone enjoyed their dinner tonight
• The cats and the dog are getting along better

I'm sure there will be more good things in store tomorrow.

Love to you all; you DID do something to make you happy today, didn't you???

The Blogmuggle :)))))

Only shades of grey...

Hi Bloggers.

Things seem to have been a little off lately, and it seems to be continuing. I don't tend to blog when things are like this for me, but it seems to be all around at the moment. Those that I care about seeem to be immersed in this grey, sad fog, me included. For myself, I'll blame it on hormones, I know it will pass. But other things add the the bleakness at present. Our run of bad luck is continuing. The DVD/CD stereo player has died. A lovely guy I know lost two of his grandparents last week. He was already struggling with the whole life/death/futility/bad-things-happens-to-good-people stuff as is was. Another lovely friend is dealing with the endstages of her father's journey with mesothelioma. And GG will be leaving me soon.............

The clean-up at mumndads for GG's room was completed over a very huge day, and unearthed fact that the re-furbishment is a lot more work and expense than we had anticipated. My father 's attitude towards this hasn't made the job any easier. He was so pleased that we were cleaning out "mum's junk" as he called it, and started cleaning out another shed, also originally Mum's, that he has taken over, but didn't touch a single thing of his own. My mother coped surprisingly well through all this, only blacking out a couple of times. 12 yrs ago, Beloved and I built a large garage at mumndads complete with bathroom and kitchen, insulation and painted gyprock, that we lived in for 2 years. Mum was very unwell, so we had sold our home in Tamworth, losing quite a bit of money in the process, rented for a year, then sunk the remainder of our money into the garage to live in while we found our feet, and Mum's health returned. As soon as we moved out, Dad moved his gear in, as expected. I have never regretted this time. This weekend I asked him if we could move his equipment into mum's shed for him to use as a workshop to save the time and expense of fixing out yet another shed in their yard. His answer was, of course, no. That would be too hard for him to manage, and one of his cars wouldn't be able to reside in the shed (1974 volkswagon passats, both of them). I am angry with him over this decision. It didn't help that he snickered that he might move in after GG moves out though. Beloved and I don't have endless cash, and the time, expense and effort to fix up the shed seems overwhelming at the moment, especially when there is already a space for GG, if Dad would let her use it. We only wanted the kitchen area and about 6 square metres in the back corner out of his 9 x 6 metre shed. If I'm acting selfishly or in a petty, spoiled way, then I know where I get it from.

GG has gone on her first road trip with a friend last night, and didn't call me to let me know she had arrived...I had to call her at nearly midnight. Not good enough!! The friend she went with had only had her licence for a week...They were travelling 3-4 hours away to visit Kim's Granny at Manning Point..She also had, in her own words, "a very minor bingle" yesterday. She had gone to a party at Scone on Saturday night, and was on her was home when she pulled out of the horse stud where the party had been held, without fully stopping, checking the gear she was in, or judging the speed of the on-coming vehicle corrrectly. This has been a habit of hers that I have not been able to break. Maybe it will be now......Consequently, BANG! Her car has minor damage that we won't even bother to repair. She says that there is very little damage to the other drivers' car, and he has her details (insert our details in here), and he was very nice...but she didn't get any details from him! He's going to contact us. Maybe we will get lucky here...I will go and see BestiePat, who was with her at the time of the accident, and see if he can shed any light on the subject. GG won't be home until Tuesday night; all this info was relayed to me over the mobile phone last evening. Oh...and by the way....BestiePat is now Boyfriend Pat...Anyone surprised here???????

What else.????.....Beloved and I had a big dummy spit on Saturday morning...over changing the toilet roll..guess who's hormonal, and who isn't used to arguing...A very frosty afternoon ensued....We've never argued much, and consequently aren't used to it, so I guess we've never had to put much conflict resolution into practice. Beloved's idea of conflict resolution is to go away or to bed until I/we get over whatever is bothering either of us..This leaves me floundering and smouldering...He relies upon my easy nature and inability to stay mad for long. As I said to him yesterday, things aren't going to get easier in the mood swings department, so we'd better find ways to deal with it...or I might just have to move out for the next 15 yrs or so...The problem with that is, I might just get used to it........We've never even partaken of make-up sex........Have we been ripped off, or what?????

Just to top things off, one of my dearest friends is at odds with her family. It concerns the care of her aging parents. To cut a long story short, she and her family have been the major care providers for her father in law, who lives in a granny flat with them, but is sort of independent. She is angry that his other children have stated that they don't want him to come and live with them. Her parents now need family to help them maintain their lifestyle in their own home, and because she lives 4 hours away, and they all live closer, the care is their responsibilty not hers. She is totally against the idea that she should be involved, and stated that 'If ----sister-in-law (whom she hates & will go out of her way to insult) will look after my father-in-law, then I'll travel to look after my parents"........She cannot see that she is missing out on what is looking to be the twilight with her parents, and that nothing is more important than this time. Her father has very rapidly developed dementia, and is increasingly frail..she thinks that he needs to go to hospital..... this will probably do him more harm than good...her mother has resisted any professional intervention for the fear that he would be placed into a nursing home..she can't bear the thought of being parted from him..... My friend has many unresolved issues and is not very good at reasoning....and bears a grudge for a long time......as a family, they are not nice to each other....

So the last thing I did last night was to upset my friend by suggesting that her parents should be the most important thing at the moment...we have discussed before that she may need counselling where the family is concerned...she hung up on me...... Beloved said I was a bit hard on her. If anything, I was probably just realistic; this is a trait (or fault in some cases) of mine...he didn't hear the diatribe and vitriol on the other end of the phone......... I am a chicken..I sent her a text later on.....

I can't get our houseplans drawn up until we find out the extent of GG's little bingle and the re-furbishment of her room.....there's not enough money..... so here in the shed we stay.....

So here endeth the weekend.

And the blog.....Whew!!!

And that's probably why I don't blog when I'm blue. I'm not even sure if I feel any better. It doesn't matter. I'll get over it. I am the Blogmuggle. See you all later. Do something that makes you happy...please....

Yay!

G'day, Bloggers.....

I've got my computer back!!!!!

AlexComputerWhiz is exactly that!!

And in the next few weeks, he's going to do an up-grade on it too!

But I can't get near it for the kids so I can blog.....

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

If at first you don't suceed........

Try, try again!

Good Morning All Bloggers!!!! This is the new, improved last-night post.......actually, it's the same day, just 8hrs later......... I'm a bit more awake...really......

Here's GG in her "new" cocktail dress that she wore to Beth's 18th birthday on 29th....not bad for a re-modelled deb/wedding dress, hey!!! She was a lone white dove in a sea of of ravens........


First of all, thank you to the lovely Marys for sharing your time with us for breakky on Sunday morning. It was lovely to see you all. Isn't UpDuff looking Fab!!!! I have to say though, I must be a bit spoiled up here in Walnut Grove. Usually everyone at the table in a restaurant is served at once, and I have never, ever have I had to wait so long for a cup of coffee...and I think they must have been waiting for the fruit to grow and the yogurt to culture itself for my fruit salad......Most tables become quiet when the food arrives...not so at the Mary table.........

The bad luck continues for us! GG had two parties up here on NYE, so she had left her car parked at the railway station so she could catch the train home on Sunday evening. She arrived back to find that a rock had been thrown through the rear passenger's side window, and the car rifled through, looking for something of value. Apparently, the only thing of value was a canvas swag that I had given to Beloved a few birthdays ago. GG had left it in the car so that she had somewhere to sleep after seeing in the New Year. Now, I REALLY don't want to know where she slept....she probably didn't bother. We were lucky though; we were able to buy a second hand window from the wreckers, which Beloved was able to masterfully fit on Tuesday night. He then spent the next two nights fitting the car stereo that GG had bought for herself. It's a really natty little thing; the front unit can be removed and put into a little case, which she can then put into her handbag. Let's hope that the robbers don't get that desperate and close......

What else did I talk about?????? Oh..my birthday......
I worked as usual. Due to the time of year, my birthday is usually fairly low key. I usually buy a cake and put in in the staff room, but this year I didn't bother.
In the evening, Beloved took the celebrations in hand. He made the children get the washing of the line, ordered and collected takeaway for dinner, shopped for a mudcake and bought me a gift and card.....himself. This is important, as for the last few years, he has been sending GG to buy gifts for me. I think he must have overheard me whinging to my mother the other night. He even suggested that we have a holiday.....without the bikes next Christmas...or not. I'll believe that when I see it.......His gift was a lovely little pewter dragon trinket box. "Sly" has the most gorgeous ruby eyes...maybe he reminds Beloved of me!!!!!! I received assorted phonecalls and text messages from family and friends..lovely! I had really wanted to attend tonight's Newcastle Jets Soccer Game, but time and money are just not adequate.....We are down in Newie on Sunday/Monday to start the BIG CLEAN on GG's shed at mumndad's..........help...........

NEWS FLASH!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, we had a builder come and look at our little reno/addition...and he's actually keen. He contacted the draughtsman on Wednesday, who came out the same afternoon, and informed me that he will draw up the plans asap as soon as he receives $500 deposit. Then he told us about the engineers fees, the BASIX expert that we need (I don't think we need this one; I have been extremely diligent with my adherance to BASIX principles as I think they are a great idea)..and the balance of his fee; $500. He doesn't like some of my ideas...he'll have to work hard to change my mind..it's our home, not his. And I'm unfailingly practical (Capricorn), so everything in our plans are there for a reason...........Consequently, I have spent the last two days re-working and shrinking our plans in an attempt make them more affordable without compromising too much, or losing the vision that we have for our home.
I am very good at compromise.........

I saw something interesting the other day...........ScorpaBoy came home from work at the hardware shop looking like the Incredible Hulk after a whole can of green paint tint emptied itself..........Maybe he resembled Kermit the Frog more?...... "It's Not easy Being Green....."

Oh, and I finished reading "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince". Now I want Ms Rowling to hurry up and write the final book! It was odd this year, not having a "Lord of the Rings", or "Harry Potter" movie to catch between Christmas and New Year........

What else did I talk about????? Can't have been much.....Never mind; I'll have to get on with my day. Gaynor, my across the road neighbour and I, are going out for lunch today, and I've got another load of washing to hang out, a bathroom to clean etc........and I've got to finish the plans so I can photocopy them and share them with the draughtsman..and my $500..before I go to lunch.......Can' I just stay here????????...Nah.....I'm looking forward to lunch..........


OK then.....Everybody, this is an order; Have a Good Day!!!!!!!!

Lot's of love,

The Blogmuggle xoxoxoxo ;)

Oh Crap........

I just spent ages on a lovely informative post for you all to ooh and ahh over, viewed it...and then pressed the wrong button....Its 1.10am..I'm doughy.....poof!!!! It's gone...plurghhh...I'll try again in the morning...bugger....it was interesting too........

Oh and by the way.....it was my birthday yesterday..but I'll tell you about that later........


I'm still alive...Love the Blogmuggle xoxoxoxoxo