The Clouds Are Breaking.......

This is our lovely Anglican Church. I took this photo about this time last year, just after dawn....

Things are much easier this evening. Thank you for all your kind thoughts. It is so wonderful to be surrounded by so much goodness.

Love, Cyndy xoxo

Schmick????

This is the lovely silky oak tree in our yard. It looks really good from this side; Energy Australia has bonsai-ed the other side in the name of safety. Bah-humbug I say. It is a very old and well-inhabited tree, always full of birds. I have tried to take close-ups of the very divine flowers, but they just don't seem to do it justice. It is an absolute arbor of gold, and glows more each day.

Today, I don't feel schmick (is that ok usage Laihnabeth?).

As Dave Hughes says, I am angry.

A torrent of raging hormones and sick of the inadequacies of others.

Inadequacies that I would normally suffer in indifference, but today, I just don't want to.

It probably started yesterday, and peaked this morning.

Yesterday; Sunday

Gorgeous Girl was extremely rude to me at a function in front of people, not once, but a number of times. I was not impressed at all; the things that I do are not always about her; but again, I realise now, the timing was not good.

Then after putting a load of groceries through the checkouts at Woolworths, I discovered that I had misplaced my card, and no other accounts had enough funds to pay for the purchase. So back went the food. I never carry much cash. The last time I used it was at the service station at East Maitland, after Beloved and I made an early morning journey to Amart at Glendale to buy an exercise bike that he had seen on the TV special. He's not happy with his verandah that has developed thanks to his sedentary job and lack of will power when it comes to Croft's pies and dislike of yummy fruit and vegetables. After parting with $174.50, I told him "Merry Christmas", but of course, there will be motorcycle accessories that will be needed before then....oh, and he says that it's "ours"....so I am without my card.....and no money in the other accounts.....I will have to ring the bank and cancel the card in case sombody spends the vast $100 that's available....plurgh........I'm so glad Anchell let's me borrow that word....As soon as I walked through the door with my very meagre 2 bags of groceries, noodle-munching-Vegeboy asked what was I going to cook him for tea......it was already almost 7.30 by this time......my blood started to boil......Easy tea underway.....soldier on....2min noodles, poached eggs, toast, Velish, toast....I am the Margaret Fulton of packet cooking........blue, blue, blue.....

The ARIA's were good though...lots of fab Aussie talent out there. I don't know why we need no-talent Americans like Jessie McCartney and Johnny Knoxville (no matter how hot he is perceived to be by hormonal teenstrange girls)

Today, Monday... BLACK

Poor Scorpa-Boy weathered the initial storm, telling me that I was yelling at him because he was the only one around. True, but also because he had the arrogance to be amazed that he had no school clothes to wear. He didn't put any out to be washed (ridiculous of me to expect this I know, when the dirty clothes baskets are located in the bathroom) and I had done an around-the-bedrooms check on Saturday afternoon, and washed, again and again, but did not take all the clothes off the line, most likely in an act of rebellion on my part, as I had spent most of my weekend in the car, when other residents were at home. They were still on the line, and damp this morning. School shirts were still in the washing machine, as no-one had bothered to hang them out either (how could I place them in this dilemma? Bad Mummy..). He wanted me to put one in the dryer (hello; no rain here, solar-powered drying only). Knowing full well that there was a clean shirt hanging on a clothing rail on the carport, I entreated him to look there for a shirt. He looked there, then went back into his room for another look there, relented and wore that one; when will they ever learn to have a MUM-LOOK!!! He had to be driven to the bus stop, as all this had taken sooo long after he spent the first half hour of is alloted 45mins of readying time rolled up in a sleeping bag on the lounge...All of this would not have been a problem, if only he had, as he has been asked almost every night since he was 5, to get his school things ready for the next day..to save rushing around and excesses of tension.......but maybeI would have found something else to yell about...little male always has to have the last word.. as do I, he informs me..more insights into my family....

Vege-Boy, who had been very quietly getting himself ready for school, shyly handed me a bundle of notes from school while I was hanging washing on the line; "Here, Mum. Here's some notes for you."... P & C minutes, something official looking in a envelope.... and an orange note.... For those of you who aren't privy to this sort of valuable information, it means that your child has committed an indescretion of an unsavoury nature..not as bad as a red note, but close. His crime; passing along an MSN chain message that was related to a sexual act, and how desirable one would be or not be if they didn't pass the message on, with a little verse attatched. This information was contained in a letter in the Official-Looking Envelope. So then I had to rationally discuss this matter with the boy about the appropriateness/inappropriateness of his actions, and send the accursed orange note back to school. He has been warned; delete such crap immediately, or no computer without an accompanying adult. You would all have been proud of how rational I was......I didn't get my usual cuddle before he left, though....

At last, they all have gone and left me alone. I have read blogs, commented, done more washing, will tackle yesterdays washing up...yes, it sits there to mock my abilities to run this family..no-one else ever does it unless they are bludgeoned into it...it's easier and cleaner to do it myself... no radio, no tv, no music, just the birds and my mind rattling...

11.15am and the Gorgeous Girl arises..and reads over my shoulder...for not very long after feeling the waves of negativity....."That's a long one..." "You can read it later" I say....so she gave up and left me alone.

Enough. I have to put on my shoes, bra, and happy face and go down the street. I have letters for work to deliver, all local, so the walk will clear my head (hopefully)..The panadol certainly hasn't....and Beloved left me his card, so I need to buy some more food at some point too.....maybe I should try and ride off into the sunset on "our" new exercise bike......

So, thank you all. Another joyful day off. And as I said to lovely Laihnabeth last Thursday, the black days come, but thankfully, they go. I will work on a song of the week; there are so many to choose from. Today is not the day. I have other blog-plans floating around in my addled mind as well.

My best wishes to you all,
Yours in Blogging, Cyndy xoxox;)

PS; I'll be glad when we're over "schmick", because every time I write it, I have to go back and add the "H".....

Romy and Michelle's Calendar Club Reunion

That's it.

It's over.

The glow has gone.

The mystery ends.

Am I less than I was?

It's time to move on.

Onto a new phase, anyway.....

Last evening, I was searching. Searching for the fabled and elusive Female Hairy Arse Crack Calendar. All the clues let me to the wilds of Charlestown Square on a Thursday evening....A Very Scary Place.....all The Wild Ones were there... I felt so small..so ordinary.....and soooooo.....full of joy at the look on Michelle's face when I fronted up to Calendar Club and asked whether they stocked the aforementioned calendar. She was shocked, confused, gobsmacked, took two steps backwards (cue music from the "Twilight Zone" here), covered her face ( I have that effect on people) and amazed that someone would ask her that question. Renata looked confused and frustrated..she was weary and very over it! Then I introduced myself and Elly.......It was lovely to meet two of the Mary's; evidently I missed MaryJen.... ;( ... but look forward to a night at the cottage next month for Elly and I with the Marys..You are right Michelle; it is a shock to actually meet someone face to face, when they have been intimate on a different, less-real level...it's always confronting to make a fantasy world real.

It was a lovely afternoon/evening. Shopped and photographed the Formal Dress for Gorgeous Girl..SHE IS..... We shared some precious time and good coffee at Gloria Jeans with cousin Lisa..oh, and some fabulously exotic naan bread whilst strolling Beaumont Street; none of that in the wilds of the Upper Hunter...lots of chat. It is always so good to touch base. I feel that we will play an interesting role in the future of our family...........Gorgeous Girl was getting in Some Important Traffic/Big Town Driving experience prior to sitting her licence test in the next few weeks...She's ready..But is the rest of the World?....Look out; here she comes......

The best part of the entire excursion was the special time shared with my Gorgeous Girl..<3>

Til next time,

Love from MaryMuggle xoxoxo

A cautionary tale..

Yesterday, I finally went into BettaorWorsa to sort out the schamozzle with the GE Money Genie and the credit that was owing to us. Happy-Birthday-Boy-Troy was extremely apologetic, and prefaced with a warning; the office girls wouldn't be in until 11am, but he'd ring GE and see what he could find out. Bad news; the credit , dated 17/10/06 by BettaorWorsa, hadn't been received by the Important Credit Office, and would not be processed for 7 to 10 working days minimum after it had been received. Not good enough says I, explaining that we will miss out on a special price at Dick Smiths, if we aren't processed by Wednedsday. Never fear, says Happy-Birthday-Boy-Troy; he'll get the girls onto it as soon as they get in and let me know. OK.. true to his word, he called me at 1pm and said that all would be done in 20 minutes at the latest.
So I rang Beloved, and gave him the good news; Go ahead and thrust us deeper into debt whenever you're ready!!!! At 4.45 that afternoon, Beloved calls me, accompanied by a plume of steam, coming through the phone...We still only had $400 credit withthe GE Money Genie! So, I phoned BettaorWorsa, talking to the lovely Keira, this time, who took my details and assured me she would check it out, and phone me back. She did. Bad news. The GE Money Genie Girl said that no-one in their office would have given out that information, and thaere was no way that anything would be processed in under a week, and there was no record of the credit at this point either.........Beloved was even more annoyed. I suggested that he call GE Money Genie and raise the credit limit for a week or so until all went through, and he said not a chance; they can all get stuffed!!! I mentioned that it would save us $100 for the special price.....and left it up to him.
He did not say a word when he arrived home, just through himself into finishing off the aircon installation that he had started a few days before, and then proceeded to work on Scorpa-Boy's bent motorbike. He said nothing really through tea... Finally he said he didn't buy anything that day... and he was less than impressed with Dick Smiths as they failed to mention to us that the same laptop was coming on sale on Tuesday, and would save us another $100!!!!!! Bugger em, I said..
What is the go with these people? BettaorWorsa had a catalogue with lots of laptops advertised, then after a phone call to the warehouse, they couldn't supply, so we ordered a better, but more expensive one, telling us it would be in stock within 3 days...then nothing..no worries, we didn't need it right away..we just wanted it a good price. Then a phone call to tell us that they weren't even allowed to sell us one...but it took them 13 days to work this out! Then Dick Smiths give us a time limit to purchase so that they can make $100 more out of us!!!!
The end result of all this is that Beloved came home with a surprise for Gorgeous Girl this evening...He had looked at his card and noted that it ran out soon, and there isn't a new one in sight, so he called them and upped the limit (surprise, surprise, this can be done instantly), and bought the desired laptop at the even lower special price..now, instead of studying for her hospitality exam tomorrow, she's setting up her new computer..I didn't want her to have it until after the exams were over, but beloved rationalised it by saying that we would lose a couple of months warranty if it just sat in the box, so she may as well use it.......Male logic at it's finest!!!.......I wonder how hard it will be, and how long it will take te GE Money Genie to reduce our credit limit again....
Live and learn...

love, Cyndy xoxo

PS; Do you know that Shergar has "pulled the plug" (his words) on his blog? ..shame....he was intersting, and fun...;)

Some piccies that I promised

Here are some of the promised piccies. I will eventually work this beast that is blogger out..if only I had more time. They're never where I want them, and neither is the text.

I really should be up in the roof space chasing out the nesting sparrows (again)..and in town slugging it out with BettaorWorsa.............


Here are some people that we may know; this photo is about 12 yrs old...

this is Scorpa-boy and Vege-Boy a little while ago..........

this is the Vege-boy and Gorgeous Girl a little while ago, too...

..........................They're all still gorgeous!!!!!

<3 Me xo

Last night, I couldn't get to sleep at all, no, no-o-o.....

Morning All.............

After my late night/early morning blogfest, I fell into bed....and waited..and waited...and waited for sleep to come. The cat wriggled a bit, Beloved gently snored in my ear, and I could feel my bladder filling up (again). A bit longer, a bit longer, but sleep refused to be my friend. Then about 8 roosters decided to have a crow-off (bloody semi-rural life...). I finally gave in to my bladder, and rose to go to the toilet again. At this point , Beloved did the same. I was seriously considering throwing myself into "The Mists of Avalon", and said to so to Beloved; "that's no good", he mumbled as he drifted off......and so did I........It was after 2am......

Forward in time..Beloved gets up to go to the toilet and gets dressed...I get up and go as well.....it's 5am!!!!!! He goes for a walk; I go back to bed...and stay awake though....the sounds of triple jay herald his arrival home and preparations for work..I AM NOT GETTING UP.... Finally, at 7am, it's time to raise the troops; Scorpa-Boy is back to school after his enforced rest last week, and is off to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter base on a school SRC excursion, and Gorgeous girl will sit English Paper 2; comparisons of "Emma/Clueless" and "King Lear/Frontline"......

I am going to be one tired little bloggie today............

Have a good one!
Love, Cyndy ;) xoxo

Time to post...

It's after 11, so it's my turn on the computer, as usual. Situation normal, now that the family are all home.......

Friday

I finally bought a new keyboard and mouse on Friday; wireless now, so there is less clutter on the desk..$20 at BigW; bargain...and it's soooo quiet..but I can't understand why my typing hasn't improved........

Gorgeous Girl sat her English paper 1 on Friday. For the unititiated, it's titled "Imaginary Journeys". An opening statement is provided, and the writer builds on it from there.. For those able to, a practised story can be linked into this. In GG's group, some were able to link in, and some had to start from scratch. She was one of the lucky ones. She seemed reasonably happy with her effort. She de-stressed that night by spending most of the evening with Bestie Pat and friend Jason rolling around laughing about how difficult it is to "Come In' and admit you're straight.......amongst other things.....oh, and Jason delivered her ticket to AFI that he had purchased on her behalf...very excited about that...my wallet was lightened again.......

Saturday

Saturday morning saw her drive off into the haze with Troy the driving instructor. I decided that it was in my better interests to drink McCafe and eat toasted banana and cinnamon bread (toasted; mmmmm), as opposed to buying the groceries. It was a good idea...across from me was a woman that I worked with at the Uni for a while..we recognised the faces and off the conversation went. She is now a stay at home with a gorgeous 6 month old girl, Hannah. Helen had been extremely intent upon finishing her science degree when we last met, and all else was on hold...IVF was required to produce her lovely Hannah, and not surprisingly, Helen doesn't care if she never works again. I never cease to be amazed at the feelings that a baby can create. Her lesson completed, GG decided she needed replenishment..at..you guessed it..Macca's...I'm now on first name terms with the staff...I have been for a while, actually; it was a staff member who suggested that I toast the banana loaf (I love you Lyndon)...According to Troy, GG drives well, and has good, cautious judgement, which is not too common these days...ahem..I think I taught her that........Hill starts, and reverse parks, now no problem...it took all of 5 minutes for the reverse park to happen! Another lesson booked for Tuesday, after her Drama exam..Roundabouts!

Scorpa-Boy picked a lovely lime green suit and deep purple shirt to wear at his yr 10 formal, which send his partner into paroxysms of grief about how they will not match..I told him to tell her that it was his formal too...she said that if he cared about her at all, he would at least wear a black shirt...she said how could he be so selfish and spoil it for her.....he said that the shirt was almost black...she said that the colours were too close and they would clash...she said if that's how he felt, she would go alone..she said that she's over the whole thing and probably wouldn't go at all..he said she'll get over it...she said she had broken her toe....All this done SMS while we were still out shopping....and in the car on the way home...and later on at home on messenger....a bit highly strung, is our Hannah. She's not his girlfriend, but they're best mates. Oh, and by the way, her dress is .......Black!


Saturday night was fun and probably deserves a post of it's own, but now I've started, I'll keep going. GG's friend, Meg, was competing in "Power Idol", which as the name implies, is a singing competition, run by the local radio station. This was being held in the local RSL, so off we went to support Meg. Until 6 weels ago, I've never really her Meg sing. There was a performance night at school where the Yr 12 music students showcased there major productions. This shy kid (who you would think that, on the surface, is any thing but shy. Think the smallest skirts, shorts, tops etc, and eye-catching hairstyles and colours that scream "look at me!!!", and you've found her.), sang 2 songs with her eyes shut.....beautifully haunting Nora Jones "don't know why I didn't call" , and the hard, hard, hard, "somebody to love" by Queen..what a surprise!!!. Buoyed by the response to this, Meg entered the compettion. She was the 2nd last of 8 competitors, and held it together beautifully, after deciding (at my urging) to sing the same two songs..She was Fabulous!!! And soooo surprised when she was put through to the finals next Sunday! So, GG and I know what we're doing next Sunday afternoon......We came home with a copious number of packets of new, tropical mentos and a couple of single cd's due to me sharing my dazzling musical trivia knowledge...and the winner of "Play of the Day" of the day is......My Gorgeous Girl for standing in the middle of the dance floor at Denman RSL singing the national anthem to the tune of "Working Class Man" to win another cd and more mentos.....I sent her out there to win "wolfmother", but the silly host gave that to someone else....Oh well, I love my girl and her outrageous antics..so comfortable at stepping out of her skin..and no alcohol in sight...the audience loved her!

Sunday

A sleep-in, and then a lie-in with my favourite boy! How luxurious..we didn't get up until after 10!!!! The one of the many joys of having older kiddies....Toad-in-the-holes cooked on the Bbq by moi provided a sumptuous brekky....then after receiving a phone call, it was off to work for Beloved. We decided to go in together, but in separate cars, to go to Dick Smiths to order the laptop for GG for her 18th, Xmas, high school grad etc, as Beloved is the holder of the GE Money Genie interest-free card, and has to Talk with the Important GE Money People. Beloved was supposed to have rectified this years ago so that I can ring up and complain when they stuff up our account, but in his usual fashion, this has never happened, so his pennance is that he has to inconvenience himself on these occassions. This is the second time this month we have tried to perform this magic trick.. On the 5th, we went to Betta(Or Worsa)Electrical to buy one that was advertised in their catalogue. They weren't able to buy, buy could supply one that was a little more expensive, but betta. OK (grumble, grumble, say us, and hand over the magic card. A bit concerned that there were none to play with, but resigned, none the less. "Have one in in less than a week" they say; no worries says us. Wednesday this week, a phone call from BettaorWorsa..they are not able to supply as they are not registered to sell computers at their branch, and would put a credit through tho GE. Bugger, say us, but OK. So into the Dick's we go today as their catalogue finishes today......We pick out the Laptop of GG's dreams and the call is placed through to GE...now's the time for Beloved to strut his stuff............"Yes, That's me....thisis my address..Date of Birth..I think this is my password....waiting, waiting....ONLY $400.00 CREDIT....WHY?..." At this point I remind him of the BettaorWorsa impending credit that we now know hasn't been processed....Bugga.....He is furious..He's not wasting his money on the phone to GE Money Genie....BettaorWorsa will have to do it..this translates as me having to go in tommorrow and slug it out with them...the lovely Matt at Dick's said he would hold The Laptop at that price until Wednesday.......Gods, it was sooo embarrassing!!!! I have discussed the possibilility of increasing the credit for a couple of days and then reducing it after purchase; this will require effort on his part, and he's not too keen..BUT it will save us about $100.....he also thinks that we will spend more....not likely..I also laybyed electrical goods for the boys for the stolen pagan holiday.....I prefer laybye to credit any day......

GG and I soothed ourelves with some dress-trying on; nothing good here, I'm afraid; onto the slim shake diet we go for a couple of weeks, we've decided. She then practised her new-found hillstart skills, commencing with a Heart-Break hill that has foxed her before....well, today she learned that she must check that the car is in 1st gear the 1st time she tries it, not the 7th time! No comments from me......other than "What gear are you in?" after many attempts and bemused laughter. Her reverse parking is good..........

Home, and back into the washing as usual. I have given up on finding the bottom of the laundry baskets..and they looked so nice before the travellers came home......

Sunday night is "get your own tea" night at our house. GG and I had Prue's amazing baked beans ala cheese and corn chips..not as good as hers, though...The boys all ate cooked 2 minute noodles, and most of them made the bowls.......maybe that's because I made 2 of them......

I have been trying to find lots of time to read "The Mists of Avalon" and you'll pleased to know that I'm up to......Page 223!..There are only 1009 pages in the book...I think I'll need an extension.......

I'd better be off to bed. In between showering, making cup of tea and a couple of trips to the loo, it's now 12.53am....now you know why there are so many typos in my blogs....I'll need to break out the earplugs..Beloved is cutting some big timber tonight.......What a big post...and I wanted to put some photos in..next time.....I'll send you an email, Jen...Good luck to Jacqui tomorrow..oops, today......

Love and light to all, Cyndyxoxo ;) <3 <3 <3

They're home..........

Hello Marys and bloggers,

My boys arrived home at about 1am today. Naturally, being the earth mother and good wifey that I am, I waited up for them...Actually I am a worried insomniac who thought Id better clean up before they came home..things were a little relaxed here.......<3 ;) xoxoxo

Hooray!!

Headspace........

Hello Marys and Bloggers,
A couple of things today.

Firstly, for some unknown reason the song; "(If loving you is wrong,) I don't wanna be right", the Rod Stewart version, floated into my head this morning, AND WILL NOT GET OUT! For those of you who are unfamiliar, these are the lyrics;

If loving you is wrong, I don't wanna be right
If being right means being without you,
I'd rather live a wrongdoing life.
Your Mama and Daddy say it's a shame;
It's a downright disgrace
Long as I got you by my side,
I don't care what your people say.

Your friends tell you there's no future
In loving a married man/woman
If I can't see you when I want to,
I'll see you when I can.
If loving you is wrong, I don't wanna be right
If loving you is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

Am I wrong to fall so deeply inlove with with you
Knowing I gotta wife/husband and two little children
Depending on me too.
And am I wrong to hunger
For the gentleness of your touch,
Knowing I got somebody else at home
Who needs me just as much.

And are you wrong to fall in love
With a married man/woman
And am I wrong tring to hold on
To the best thing I ever had.
If loving you is wrong, I don't wanna be right,
If loving you is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

I don't wanna be right
If it means sleeping alone at night
I don't wanna be right
If it means coming home at night.
I don't wanna, I don't wanna
I don't wanna never, never, never be right.

Ok, it's a bit unusual for me to be so perceptive and responsive to the emotions of others, but if this song has any relevance to anybody anywhere, PLEASE TAKE IT BACK! I want it out of my head. The only other possibility is that the song is a metaphor for my very destructive relationship with ....Food! ... I used to like this song.........

The other thing is, and I hate to admit this, but sometimes .......I stray........Yes, I'm sorry, but I read the blogs of other, non-Mary's. The other night I found a Blog of Note (yep, that's right, Capital Letters) called "Nurse Ratched's Place". This very clever lady is a nurse (yes, I know, no surprise there) living in the USA, who writes a rather ascerbic blog, covering various topics, but related to nursing. Today I went back through her archives, and found a blog entitled "Dying for Beauty". This was a lovely and sensitive piece about her involvement with a young lady who suffered from anorexia. Unfortunately, the young lady died. Ok, that's sad, you say. Well it certainly is. Tragic actually. But the thing that absolutely blew me away, and horrified me, was the insensitivity of the google ads at the bottom and on the sidebar. The 5 headings out of 7 were;

• Lose 9lbs every 11 days....
• Start losing weight today...
• Fast, Easy Weightloss...
• Lose 20kgs in 30 days....
• Lose Weight fast....

DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!!!

The other 2 ads were for nursing jobs.........


I guess that counts as a rant, hey!!

Thanks for reading.

'Til next time,
Love, Bloggie xoxoxo

North, South, East, West; Scorpa-Boy is thee 5th Best!!!!!

Good Morrow!

THE TRAVELLING MUGGLEBERRIES ARE ON THEIR WAY HOME!!

Beloved phoned me this morning, interrupting my dedication to hanging the washing on the line, to inform me that they were about to leave lovely Perth, with a view to staying the night at Norseman. Scorpa-Boy is sore and sorry, but ok, and has been supplied with antibiotics and analgesics for his big drive. Beloved was quoted with a flight price of just under $500 to Sydney, so he decided that the wounded one would be comfortable enough to participate in the road trip. He doesn't sound happy; he just sounds like he wants to be at home. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up home on Wednesday rather than Thursday if the wounded one can cope, as there is a second driver for the return journey....I'll just have to wait and see. I'll take a picture of my technicolour boy and share it if it's impressive enough!

Anyway, I'm off to cook some dinner for tonight's vege-feast; I have to do a four hour shift from 3.30pm, so I need to cook before I go....go.........

Hoo-roo from the somewhat relieved, if sleep-deprived Blogmuggle xoxox;)

PS.; I'm still only up to page 11 in the "Mists of Avalon", much to Vege-Boy's disgust!

12am, it's me again and don't you know...

20 points to anybody that can tell me the name of the artist, and the song name that I stole the heading from. A clue; I changed the time; in the real song, the time is 3am........

Well, I'm sitting here writing in my blog, while I'm waiting for a phone call from Beloved. Perth is 2hrs behind me here, so it's still quite early there. Scorpa-Boy is the Number 5 Junior MotoTrials rider in Australia! I am thrilled about that, but less than thrilled that Beloved called me from the hospital to tell me this!! My very dedicated boy had just one more round to ride, consisting of 8 sections I think, when on his way back to section 1, he ran into a rock in the grass, and sailed over the handlebars!! After he was dusted off, assessed for injuries, and his bike re-assembled, he decided to keep on going; this was the Australian Championships, and he wanted to finish in the top 5! He lost 1 point over the rest of the round, giving him a total of 10 points lost over 2 days of riding around 50 sections each day! He has an enormous heart, my boy! After he was finished, he zipped off the lower leg of his pants to have a look at his leg; it hurt a bit. Surprise, surprise, there was a filthy great gash that required stitches. Hence the phone call from hospital. He has a host of abrasions, complete with gravelly insertions, and a potential rainbow of bruises, but doesn't seem to have concussed himself; thank heavens for helmets. I'm yet to know whether he's been kept in for a good night's rest and rehab, or caravanning with the others. There was supposed to be a beaut presentation dinner, too........ I told Beloved to see who's flying home to Sydney tomorrow; I think that Jack will be less uncomfortable on a quick plane flight followed by a 3hr drive home, rather than a 3 to 4 day drive home with hs Dad and Peter, especially since the home trip was supposed to be camping on the side of the road in swags........So here I sit.........Work will be very unimpressed if I tell them I can't work tomorrow evening or the next couple days if I have to bring him home; I don't care though. I spoke to Jack very quickly; he seems ok, but a little shaken up, and I think he would like to have his Mummy with him (I know that's where his Mummy would like to be). He brightened up somewhat when I asked him if he would be ok to attend the 'Homebake' Concert in December.......He didn't know that I'd purchased the tickets last mnth....

What else happened this weekend?...
Rhys and I celebrated at a surprise 50th Birthday for a friend at Scone, then went to Newcastle in the evening to help babysit my very lovely nieces and nephew; my brother and his wife were attending the same party, but stayed for the evening nosh as well.
Gorgeous Girl and BestiePat trained it to Sydney for the "Taste of Chaos" gig. MommieDearestMe picked them up from Broadmeadow station at 4.30am, and took them to my Bro's at Elermore Vale to sleep, cos there were no beds at mum's and 3 spare at his place! After they arose at midday, with a bit of encouragement from MommieDearestMe, it was back to my mum's, then a visit to HMV at Garden City, lunch at Hungry Jack's (plurgh..), shopping at Bunnings, and window shopping at Everyday Living, and JB Hi Fi. After a good drive home up the valley ( I think the car could find it's own way), we dropped off BestiePat and were home just after 7pm. Rhys decended upon the computer, and Elly and I watched Idol over a bowl of tomato soup and toast (yum). Interesting tonight; I just love Bobby Flynn, but I doubt he will make "The Idol". I was distracted and on the phone, but I said to Elly that I think that Deane may just have stolen the title tonight. Then out came Damien, and blew me away! I love music!!! I think it's time we said goodbye to Ricky Muscat, and I think Ricky knows it too.
After I managed to throw Elly off the 'puter at 10.30 (she was on 'myspace' talking to BestiePat; can you believe it? They have been exclusively in each others company since Friday night!), I started to read through everybody's postings from over the weekend. I wonder; am I the only one that goes back and will re-read past postings and look for new comments, and even add one? I read Kathleen's posting from Friday, and I couldn't help but leave this comment about we Marys;

"We are the Mary Musketeers; All for One and One for All!! "
(with apologies to Alexander Dumar)

It sounds like us, doesn't it!

Well that'll do for now; I finally borrowed "The Mists of Avalon" from the library on Thursday, and so far, I haven't had time to turn over the cover. Just to give you an indication of how slowly I type , I started this at 12.06 am, and it's now 12.59!!

Love to all, Goodnight xoxox ;)

PS: He still hasn't called!!!

40 Reasons Why I like To Blog.....

Well, here I go, let's see if I can do it; I've never been much good with numbers. (it's also after midnight, but I'm awake...so far);

1. Lisa told me to
2. Anchell told me to
3. Anchell told me to, again
4. Elly told me I should
5. Beloved said "why would I do that?"; I confounded him a bit..it's good to keep him on his toes
   
6. Beloved smirked and said "Addict; I knew you wouln't be able to help yourself"; this makes him feel that he knows me a little better
7. Sets Beloved's mind at ease; he always knows where I am
   
8. It cuts into Scorpa-boy's computer time
9. It has set up a special communication link between Elly and me
10. It has set up a communication link between Elly and her extended family
11. And their extended family
12. It has renewed my link with the lovely Laihnabeth and her family (we keep on finding each other)
    
13. I am a stickybeek like not only Esme Watson, but Gladys Kravitz and Dorrie Evans (gee, I'm old)
14. I've had the priviledge of watching a starving Ballerina pole dance
15. I been able to share in Jacqui's amazing growth over the past weeks
16. I am validated in my commitment to motherhood
17. Or not
18. I can say what I think without fear of raising eyebrows
19. If I do, it doesn't matter
20. I am accepted by a group who know next to nothing about me, and do not place pressure upon me in regard to expectations
21. I am constantly amazed by the insight and integrity of these people
22. I am humbled by the ability of these people to share
23. I love the support that is given, unconditionally
24. I truly enjoy the quirky sense of humour that bloggers have
25. I have been given the name "Mary"; it's one of the nicest things I have ever been called
26. I like a bit of intrigue
27. I have learned that people all over the world share the same difficulties in life, whilst being nothing alike at all
28. It's good to be different
29. It improves my typing (maybe)
30. I have (sort of) learned how to post pictures
31. I have shared in Anchell's beautiful artwork
32. I know where Calendar Club will be so I can buy a Boxer Calendar for my Gorgeous Girl, and a Cat calendar for my Vegeboy, and maybe calendars for Christmas (Romy's gotta pay for those Chinese herbs somehow)
    
33. I have learned about symbols, channelling and Angels...
34. And Spirit Guides and things that witches do
    
35. It's fun
36. It's something I know my husband will NEVER read
37. I'm in contact with like souls
38. I've found other folk who love British comedy, like myself. For some reason, they're a bit thin on the ground
39. The funny sayings, the aching poetry (I'll know I'm a real blogger when I can do this)
40. There are people who accept me because I AM.............

With love from The Blogmuggle xoxoxo <3 <3 <3

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live"
Lin Yutang, Chinese Writer, 1895-1976

Pick -Me-Ups.....

Courtesy of the Reader's Digest, these are just sooooooo bad;

• "Are you are a parking ticket? Because you've got fine written all over you"
• "Do you believe in the hereafter? Well, then I guess you know what I'm here after"
• "Do you have a Band-Aid? Because I just scraped my knee falling for you"
• "Have you got any raisins? No? How about a date?"

As Anchell would say; plurgh.........and again...plurgh.....

And also in the same edition;

• Among Aussies, 7 out of 10 women have faith in an angelic power, with around 4 in 10 men saying that they believe.
• 6 out of ten Aussies believe angels watch over them
• 43% of Aussies (half of the women surveyed, compared with one third of the men) sense they have an angel watching over them specifically, but more males believe that their guardian angel stepped in and helped them out.

And to end with a relevant commandment from the New Testament;

"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares"

Good night xoxox;)

Posting Pictures??????

Well, this sort of worked..........


I have never tried this before, and usually it takes me hours and several attempts to send an email with attatchments. You folks who do this regularly have my unswerving devotion and respect. I'm not even sure where the writing will go. I only know that nothing's where I want it, and I can't move it. I'm not going to bother GG as she has finally hit the books this evening...she didn't even watch "Thank God You're Here" as she said she has wasted enough time today. I will, however, have to disturb her so she and I can have dinner. Vege-Boy has 2 friends over and they've already been fed, Fanta'd and Paddlepopped. The blended family resulted in him having his birthday celebrations on 2 occassions as kids were in town, rather than will the absentee parent. ....Lucky him....wrestling, wrestling and more wrestling......

So, to the subjects of these photos.....
The very attractive canine is our lovely Tessa. Tessa was a beautiful gift that came into our family 9 years ago, and was very, very special to us. Sadly, Tess developed cancer, as boxers tend to do, and after a very short struggle, we decided that it was time to end her misery on December 23 last year. Our little family surrounded her with love, and she was wagging her tail and smiling as she left us. Anyone who has had a boxer has seen the smile that only a boxer can have. She is buried under the crepe myrtle tree at the side of our yard, and we plan to plant a shady garden area to sit with her. We miss her every day.

The kitties.....the tabby is Mosi, Elly's cat. She named him after spending hours trolling the net looking for something suitable. She told me it was the Egyptian word for "Cat". Most of the time, we just call him "Mo". He has just turned 2, but seems so much older. We think he used a fair number of his lives up last year. We went to Queensland for the Aussie Titles last October, and Mo went to his Uncle Glen's at Elermore Vale for a holiday. Instead of a one week sojourn in the wilds of Glen and Lisa's house (complete with three children under 7), Mo decided to take his chances with the Great Elermore Outdoors. He didn't return. We resigned ourselves to the fact that our very placid, unworldly boy was gone. One Friday about 4 weeks later, I was at Medibank Private at Charlestown Square, when Lisa rang in a state of shock; Mo had been meowing at the door, so she let him in and he was sleeping peacefully on her lounge, oblivious to the attentions of the 2yrold. Funny that I was in Newie when he returned....He hasn't left us again, even though we moved into the caravan park before we moved into the house.

The tortie kitten is our very exotic Maine Coon-Bombay cross, Lulu. I own the only Maine Bomb cat in the world!! She also comes with a story. A friend of mine breeds exotic cats for a living. In January this year, I rang her to see how she was going. The next day was the first anniversary of her partners' passing, so we decided to get together. Upon my arrival, she handed me a ball of fluff, and said "this one's got your name on it". Lulu was an accident; her Bombay mother (who was in season, but Rhonda didn't know) was put into the nearest pen, which was holding a handsome Maine Coon, very studly, male. Th rest is history...except for the fact that my Lulu was the first born of 6 kittens, and she blocked the way, resulting in the none of the others surviving. She cost Rhonda about $5000 !!! Needless to say, she was irrestistible, even though we weren't planning any more pets......More coincidences; the Bombay is commonly referred to as "the witch's cat", and, Lulu was born the day before Tessa died...She was meant to be mine!

Well, I'll try to post some other pictures another time.......Wish me Luck!

Cheers! Love, Blogmuggle;) xoxo (emphasis on Muggle)

I'm Baaaackkk.....

Exciting, isn't it...the blogmugglers' back!
The last few days away just flew by, and I arrived home about 2.30am this morning, full of the juice of 2 "Red Bulls" that were necessary to keep me awake for the drive home. So, thank heavens that everyone else had been blogging in my absence, and I had some quality reading. Bed beckoned about 3.30am, and a well-meaning friend sent a text message shortly before 6am enquiring as to whether we made it home safe and sound. I simply replied 'yes, thank you. Have a good day'. It was amazing that I managed that much; I am very slow at texting at the best of times, and I was very asleep when my phone made the 'beep beep-beep, beep-beep" sound.
I had to wait until tonight before commenting on your postings, so you may miss them anyway. So much has happened to the members of our little group, but there is an overwhelming feeling of love and support; it is palpable, which is amazing to me when you consider that we don't actually touch each other, but you can still feel it! I'm sure that it has nothing to do with the powers of cyberspace, and all about the beautiful people involved (and the power of words!).
The travelling motorboys completed the 1st half of their holiday, arriving safe and sound in Perth this afternoon. Scorpa Boy can cross off one item off his "To Do List" of his life; he has peed off the Great Australian Bight; he said when you gotta go, you gotta go! I'm just glad the wind was blowing the right way....those "Roaring Forties" can be evil...evidently......Beloved doesn't seem to be sick of driving yet, but he's glad for a few days off from the big drives. I still can't believe that they managed to travel so far, so quickly, with one driver. At least they will have another driver to share the driving on the trip home. The competition is on Saturday and Sunday, and there are rides planned for everyday. Fingers (and everything else) crossed that they don't break something on the bikes; the bank balance is very lean after the major rebuild on Beloved's bike before they left.
Gorgeous Girl, Vegeboy and I had a good weekend. I managed to catch up with family and friends, including having a very vegetarian meal, as cooked by Prue, with Lisa and her family on Sunday night. It was wonderful for the kids to spend time together..the two teenstrange boys made the silliest video and had a great time before posting it on the net...My Vegeboy's debut performance! Prue and Elly haven't really played together in years; I think they managed the teen-strange equivalent without too much effort. My favourite builder, Marc, perused my potential house renovation plans, provided some great ideas, and promoted a few more grey hairs for me with an estimate of cost. Like most renovators, Beloved and I have a budget for our renovation; we may not be far off with the estimation for our additions. Having said that, the renovations so far have probably cost about a third more than we had originally estimated, so.......Par for the course, I'd say......Of course, it goes without saying that Lisa and I had a little chat...it's probably my fault that she had a scratchy throat, and felt tired....
Oh well, it was back to work today, which was actually a good day. I was tired, but it doesn't seem to have mattered. It's just gone 11pm, and here I am as usual, in front of the computer. It's time to go.. Sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite,
Love, Bloggie;) xoxoxo

Sunday driving..on a Friday......

Hello All,
Well, tomorrow is the Big Day; Beloved and Scorpa-Boy head off across this wide brown land of ours to Perth for the Aussie Mototrials Championships. The car is packed, the trailer is full to bursting...and I'm not sure if they've packed enough changes of underwear! They've both hit the hay after a busy few days....Four solid 1000klm days of driving ahead for my Beloved.....
Scorpa-Boy has been training at his club on the Hawkesbury River since Sunday, and Beloved and I headed down this morning to bring him home. I wouldn't normally have gone, but I swapped a day at work to help Beloved with the 6 hour return drive as he's been on nightshift all week and is totally shagged. We haven't seen much of each other; I arrive home from work as he is going, and I leave for work in the morning as he is arriving home. This morning, he had a shower as soon as he arrived home, then we headed off. Much to my surprise (and relief; I don't know the way, and I we were towing an enclosed motorbike trailer) he drove down, but I drove most of the way home. I think that I must have looked a sight; a bit like that young female police cadet in the 1st "Police Academy" movie when she was trying to pass her driving assessment by driving along slowly in circles and figure 8's, singing to herself. That was me, Sunday driving, around the winding Putty Rd Bends, singing along to Cat Stevens whilst Beloved snored beside me and Scorpa-Boy was wired into his MP3 player.
I'm glad the roads weren't busy, and the weather was nice. There are so many crosses and memorials on that stretch of road, but for me, the most chilling is a scorched patch on the road on a rather tight bend..you just know that someone never made it home that day...
Gorgeous Girl is off to work in the morning, courtesy of the 7.30am motherbus, then she is staying at Besties' place so that they can catch the early morning train down to Newcastle on Sunday morning. They're going down so that Bestie can meet my parents before he stays at their house next weekend after they go to 'Taste of Chaos' in Sydney...I don't know what he'll do if he doesn't like them (or they him)....He is catching the Sunday evening train home, and GG is staying in Newie. On Monday night, she is taking two 12 year old girls to the "Living End" concert at the Entertainment Centre. My friend in Tamworth bought herself tickets, but didn't actually want to go to the concert, so she asked my concert-fanatic daughter to take the girls instead! Verrry intense HSC preparation for my Gorgeous Girl......
Vegeboy and I are driving down to Newie tomorrow (he's none to happy about it)...but the other two didn't want to travel with us! We're just going to catch up with family and friends, and then come home Monday night after the concert has finished.
That will do for me today; I've got be up at 4am to wave the travellers off! I doubt I'll blog again until next week; I won't be home! Until then, stay safe, and be happy,

Love Cyndy ;) xoxox

Have a Lovely Day

Hello My Friends,
I borrowed these words fom Bill Withers

When I wake up in the morning, love

And the sunlight hurts my eyes,
And something without warning, love
Bears heavy on my mind.
Then I loook at you
And the world's alright with me.
Just one look at you
And I know it's gonna be a lovely day
...Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day...

When the day that lies ahead of me
Seems impossible to face,
When someone else instead of me
Always seem to know the way.
Then I look at you,
And the world's alright with me.
Just one look at you
And I know it's gonna be
A lovely day, lovely day, lovely day...

So my friends, have a lovely day........................<3>