The many blessings I have

Yesterday was a horrid day. It was also an awesome day.

Marriages are hard work, fraught with their many ups and downs. Fortunately we have a complete devotion to one another and it's fraught with many more highs than lows. Yesterday however, was an extreme low. We, or rather initiated by me, addressed an issue that has been an issue for all the years we've been together - which is 19. The issue has been like a thorn in my side, and, had I not been married twice before, I wouldn't have stuck around long into our relationship. But, my previous relationships have taught me that nothing is perfect. No-one is perfect and if you believe in something you have to fight for it.

I think with me being rather stressed of late, and the onset of Christmas and all it entails, just brought things to a head. And I needed to address it as I couldn't go into next week with this hanging over me. I won't go into details here, as it's private but the horrid day became an awesome day, when we were able to sit down openly and discuss the issue. No denial. No argument. No accusations. Just honest feelings. And a knowing resignation that things do indeed need to change. Yesterday was a turning point for us, and the outcome of our talk, headed our relationship into a stronger and an even more devoted path. I love my husband dearly and he idolizes, me which is a pretty amazing thing to be the recipient of. My respect for my husband, which had hit rock bottom - went up many many notches yesterday.

A day of emotional crisis turned into a wonderful day filled with love. The love of my husband, my brother and my dearest girlfriends. It's amazing how things can turn out sometimes. God's timing - Barbi always says. I love that woman and her wisdom. Yesterday we exchanged gifts. Barbi listened to me and didn't give me one. After her letting me go to Heidi Swapp in her stead, I certainly needed nothing for Chrismas or my birthday coming up. Karen gave me another gorgeous Willow Tree figurine. It's the Angel of Prayer, which after the day I had yesterday made her gift even more poignant. I don't do ornaments. I find dust collectors. Don't get me wrong, I have them, but when you have a small house, I don't go out of my way to collect them, or buy them. These, however, are different. They are beautiful in their simplicity and made special because they are given to me by one of my closest friends. The fact that she loves them and thinks I'm special enough to be given one makes it an amazing gift. I now have three - The Angel of Friendship, which was a Christmas gift, The Angel of the Kitchen which she gave to me when our kitchen was finished, and now my new one. I wonder if three Willow Tree figurines constitutes a collection? I now have them all together and they are just beautiful. They remind me of her, and our friendship. She is one of those girls that you just love being with, and, last time I figured out exactly what it is. She is peaceful! It's weird, because she always talks about how stressed she is, and how busy she is, which she is with four young children, but to me, she's just peaceful. So, last night I was surrounded by wisdom and peace, I was in a pretty amazing place.

Yesterday when I needed someone to talk to, because I didn't know what to do, or whether the problem was all mine. I rang my Mum, first port of call -but she wasn't home. Then I rang my dear brother. We've always been there for each other, and I sent him a sms saying I needed to talk, and he rang me immediately. I just poured my heart out to him. He made me address the situation head on, and for that I am eternally grateful. I am blessed, great friends, great family - it doesn't get any better does it.

Last night, we had a great time. I made my gift tags for Christmas and had a ball stamping and using the new Fiskars Threading Water punch. They aren't elaborate, but they are pretty. I'd made a digital one, which took me five minutes, and then I changed my mind, and decided that I had all this wonderful scrapbooking stuff, which I really need to use. It's funny how I just find it easier making things on the computer, than IRL. We watched music DVDs. The Eagles Farewell Concert, which was great, the Concert for George, which I didn't listen to as closely, but was good also, then we watched the MIKA concert which I would have loved to seen all of. That guy has an amazing voice, with a huge range. We ate Thai from the local restaurant, which was nice but not as good as usual. The rice was quite bland I felt. Karen brought in these delightful mini cheesecakes, and I brought in some mince tarts, which weren't homemade, but still yummy. I came home at around 1.15am. Funnily enough with the day I'd had and my late night, I didn't hurry into bed. One of my close girlfriends is away, and I wanted to email her, plus I sat to see who'd updated their blogs while I was out. I had a great night's sleep - and woke up refreshed. Thankfully it cooled down in the night, so today is a pleasant 26 degrees (celcius) where as it was ten degrees more yesterday - not pleasant at all. The a/c was working overtime.

Today, I've just pottered around. I hung up some tinsel on our beam which retains the new part of our kitchen. The kids have been pestering me, and it does look nice. I have taken photos of all the walls as tomorow we are painting the living/dining room to make it all nice for Wednesday.

Tonight we are having visitors and I'm cooking a yummy but simple dinner. The menu is,
Tomato and olive tart with basil oil
Eye Fillet steak with anchovy butter
Greek Salad
Garlic Bread
Karen's left over mini cheesecakes for dessert.

I was going to post a link to the book, but I think it must be an older issue, mine was published in 2008. It's called 'Easy Summer Food: simple recipes for sunny days.' by Ryland, Peters and Small

It's getting closer

It's nearly 4.30pm, and apart from lunch and breakfast, it's the first time I've sat down. I can also see a light at the end of the tunnel. Remind me, next year, not to leave everything until the week before Christmas won't you? Please??

I baked my 'Linzer Augen' on Monday and today I baked my 'Vannilin Kipferln'. The latter were actually quite easy to do, I think I've mastered them well and truly, and having the mixture in the freezer definitely helps. I made the mixture in Oscar, who struggled a bit I think. One of those big mixers would come in handy for stuff like this. I did have one once, and I have no idea what happened to it. My hands with the arthritis in my fingers, just find mixing and kneading quite difficult, so a mix master would make light work of things. I wrote the inserts for my cards. I didn't want to do the newsletter thingie, but I didn't want to handwrite as I can type much faster than I can write. Some I added an extra message, and some I left fairly generic. Now I have to do the envelopes and they are done. I must say they were much more fun to make than actually write lol...... I can post them away tomorrow, and hopefully they'll actually arrive before the fact.

I rang and ordered the wine this morning from our wine club. That should arrive in time too. We ordered a box of bubbles and a box of mixed whites and reds. With mine and Sammy's birthday, and New Year's there's lots of celebrate, and it does work out cheaper for us than a trip to the bottle shop every time we want a tipple. We like this wine club, because unlike the ones we've looked at before, you choose what wines you want. I don't want a box of what they want to get rid of, from obscure wineries. Even their labelled stuff, (which I call home brand) is very very good. We use the Wine Society in case you're interested in looking them up.

I stayed in my jammies, until after lunch. I'd cleaned up from my biscuits, made lunches and then had a shower. Mickey and I went to Daisy's where I gave Suzy her birthday and Christmas presents. She was pretty excited, which is lovely to see when you give someone a gift, that you know they will love. Then Mickey and I went to the paint store, and bought the cream paint for our dining and living room. This way my walls will be painted BEFORE Christmas, because my photoshopping isn't good enough to fix the bits of the walls that aren't painted properly from our kitchen reno, which was only completed 18 months ago!!!!! The red feature wall will remain but will be re done to freshen it up.

I have cooked my dinner, the pasta bake is ready to be put into the oven, so I am officially finished now for the day, except for the post dinner cleanup, but all the washing up is done except for our dinner dishes of course.

I am going to finalize my grocery list for tomorrow, and work out what I will go and buy on Monday - all the last minute fresh things I need for Wednesday....

Tomorrow I'm getting my hair done. Cut and Coloured. I have pictures of different hairstyles, but am unsure how I will go. My current hairdo is easy to look after an always looks neat, so part of my doens't want to change, because I might end up with something that's harder to look after. I blow wave my hair everyday, but it's done quickly and always looks sleek and shiny.

It's nearly wine o'clock. Off to write my shopping list.

A Day with Heidi

I thought that once I was on holidays, I could blog daily - but I've still got lots to do, so it will be spasmodic at best. It's not that there's nothing to write about, just sometimes the writing mo jo escape me and at other times, I just don't feel like writing heaps.

I was incredibly lucky last week.

Nearly twelve months ago, an announcement was made that Heidi Swapp was coming to Australia, to Brisbane and Melbourne and that she would hold an all day workshop. Create08 sounded like it was going to be awesome, but with a $240 price tag, was a little too hefty for me to contemplate in any level of seriousness.

Last Tuesday, during the second part of Suzy's album class, Suzy approached me and asked if I would go with her to the workshop in Barbi's stead, as it looked like Barbi wouldn't be able to get away from the shop. I was stunned!! My initial reaction was total surprise, and then with a jolt of reality I realized that Peter would probably be working and that I wouldn't be able to go. So you can imagine my delight when he said, he was really glad I'd given him an excuse not to work!! So on Saturday, Suzy, myself and about 145 other lucky ladies, spent the day with Heidi Swapp.

It was an exciting day. I woke up very excited and not only about the prospect of spending it learning new stuff, but because it was a day that Suzy and I could spend together. We had a ball. We worked out butts off too, the pace was very very fast, and the space we worked in was rather small. Barbi would have been proud of us lol......

We made a calendar, or rather we did two pages, with all the stuff to make the other ten. We also made a mirror album. I'll post some pics when I get my small camera back - probably when I've done something worthy of posting. We got loads of freebies, stamps, papers, the calendar, masks, rub ons, ink, a smudging tool. I still haven't gone through the bag properly. We were challenged, Suzy and I both, as we were doing a style which was unlike both of our styles. It was very grungy and lots of stamping and inking, but definitely something I will play with some more. Heidi Swapp is a gorgeous girl, inside and out and I feel really lucky that I got to meet her. She is a real sweetheart, and I take my hat off to her. She is a mum with five kids and I think she's amazing. She was sick on the day, apparently better than she had been, but she often had to stop to cough, and she kept her high level of professionalism throughout the entire day.

It's late, I need to head off to bed. I promise I'll update some more tomorrow or the next day.

I still have some baking to do. I still need to send my cards (plus write them lol)......

I went to the beach today which was just awesome. I actually got up early to go and it was just beautiful down there. Much nicer than when it's stinking hot.

Okay, now I'm really going to bed.

Here's some photos, they're straight out of the camera and unedited - so at least I had something to post.

Suzy and I

Me, Heidi and Suzy

Christmas lights

Due to one son missing a shoe, I actually missed the optimum picture taking time for Christmas lights, but I still got some lovely shots.

Productivity

I love being home and being productive - and not having to look at the clock once all day long - well maybe now, because it's getting close to when I am going to start cooking dinner. But, a sleep in, no rushing to school, no watching the clock to do the pick up - heavenly.

In the morning, I cleaned my oven, not just the top, but the actual oven. I took the glass panels out and cleaned them, plus the filter from inside. I removed the bottom plate, and cleaned it too. Because the oven is self cleaning, there was ash on the bottom which needed wiping up. I cleaned the racks, but they didn't come up 100% but are okay. I cleaned all the elements, I hate it when they get little discolourations around them. I put on a load of washing and hung it out. I was pretty hot and sweaty, but decided to just get into my jogging stuff and headed down to my treadmill. Not before I'd roused on Mickey though - who spent time in time out.

After my jog and weights I came upstairs, had a shower and then took Mickey down to Erbachers, a local fruit store which has much nicer stuff than the supermarket, but I often don't get down there because of the time factor. I called into Woolies on the way home and bought some fresh ham, and then made us yummy ham and salad wraps for lunch.

I cleaned out the Tupperware cupboard, and matched up all my containers with their respective lids. Wonder how long it will stay like that - I just need to be more careful. Looks wonderful now. I sorted out the other drawers too, and was disappointed that I couldn't ditch more stuff.

I finally have sorted the last of the kids' stuff that they have brought home from school - much of it filed in the wheelie bin.

I have also spent the last part of the afternoon finishing editing all my pictures for the 2007 Christmas Album, so I can have it on display for this Christmas. I will make sure it doesn't take me this long for next year's.

Tomorrow I will finish my 2008 album at Suzy's class, and then I'll come home and do my Christmas cards. I have an idea for making some more, so I may make some , even though I don't think I need them for this year. Ah well, they can always make a nice gift. I also want to make my gift cards for this year too, so must decide how I am going to do those.

Well, you'll have to believe me, it looks much better than before, I should have taken a 'Before' shot too.....

Christmas lights

I am enjoying playing with the brushes from 2peas. I was too lazy to get my tripod out for a shot of the tree, so just played with the camera on the table instead. I am going to try and shoot in RAW, I think, and then play with the white balance settings later.

This one's better, I've added a bevel and drop shadows.....

Busy but relaxed

School's out! Thank goodness. The entire house has breathed a collective sigh of relief as of yesterday lunch time. I've still been really busy, but I'm doing things I want to get done, not because I have to do it. I have cleared the top of the linen cupboard, my wardrobe and have finally gotten rid of clothes I've been kidding myself that I would fit back into. Actually it's gotten to the point that even if I did fit back into them, I wouldn't want to wear them anymore. I feel good that it's gone. It's not nice when the wardrobe is jam packed full of crap. I also got rid of the last of my unwanted scrapbooking stuff too. I really need to go through my teaching resources too. Tomorrow, I intend to go through the kids' toys - to make way for the new things. I gave away some of their trucks earlier in the year, the one's they don't tend to play with anymore, and the cheaper crappier ones went into the bin. DB and Billy-Joe went to watch the PGA and got home before the crowds headed home. It must have inspired them, because they are now off to play themselves.

It's holiday time........and I am very pleased about that. Now I can concentrate on getting my house in order, baking, playing with the kids, and enjoying my home and family. Next week we are going one evening to see the Christmas lights and on Wednesday night, we are going to the cinema to see a preview of Madagascar 2. The kids are so excited because the younger two never been to the cinema at night before.

Sammy, Mickey and Mickey's mate Kye on the last day after the mass.

Sammy holding the Christmas Star

Billy-Joe's turn to place the star atop the tree this year. I played with some brushes from 2peas after seeing some gorgeous images from my gf Suzy.

Looking forward to slowing down

I have always prided myself on being able to keep my obligations to a low and manageable level. I find I start to feel unwell, when there's just stuff going on all the time. I relish my quiet down times and it does my brain and body a world of good. I also thought that having the last few weeks of term off, would be great and stress free, but it's been incredibly hectic.

I have done everything in a piecemeal fashion and I hate that. I don't always do everything at once, but it's not normally scattered throughout my entire week as much as it is at the moment. I've had a few nights out too, which although very enjoyable take me a while to get the energy back from. Even though I prefer the night hours, I still need more sleep during the week than what I get when I go out.

Last week, Billy-Joe had his orientation day at his new High School which he enjoyed, that evening I was out for the parent info evening. Not terribly enlightening, but it's important to get a feel for the place and connect with the new staff. On Wednesday morning I worked, which was hot and I was grateful that it was only for the morning. I was taking the young kids out of the classroom from two classes, while the teachers had their 2009 kids. It meant I was out in the yard, or library, neither of which were air conditioned and it was very warm. I had a doctor's appointment, picked up a few things from the supermarket, ran around doing piecemeal chores and then picked up my kids.

Thursday I did my groceries and then was busy with I can't remember what. No doubt I would have dealt with washing. I had a physio appointment in the afternoon and then I came home and did some more chores, and then picked up my kids. Mum and Dad looked after the kids for the evening, and we went out to an Indian dinner. It was a fun evening, the food was delicious, although probably a little over priced. It was a fairly early evening, but I ended up staying up too late, and so felt like crap on Friday. That day I was going to stay home alllllll day, and a close gf asked me for a visit - and because I always say no 'cause I'm busy doing stuff, I said yes, and I had a great day with her- just chatting and drinking coffee and girl stuff. I had to shop in the morning for a kids' birthday present, so I did that, hung out washing and then spent the day with Lisa. I came home, and it was swelteringly humid But I hit the treadmill.Lisa had made a carrot cake which was divine, but not terribly low fat - so I hope I burnt that off. That night Barbi had a 'Girls night in' at the shop. It was a great night. We had Mama Mia on the big screen and we scrapped the night away. Actually I didn't do that much, I was very tired and left much earlier than normal. Saturday I took Billy-Joe to a Christmas cardmaking class, which was a lovely together time, actually I was rapt that he is still wanting to do things like that with me. We stayed and had lunch with the girls.

Once home, I headed back to the treadmill and then caught up on more washing....... That evening, we didn't cook a dinner, we just had a platter of cheeses, salami, pate and sour dough bread - very yummy and no effort to get together. I started watching a movie, and am so glad I didn't watch it to the end. I slept in in the morning and then got up to a cooked breakfastby my darling. I caught up on more washing, and Peter mowed the yards from the ladies across the road. We then went up to the herb farm in our endeavour to have another attempt at growing basil. My husband has a green thumb, but when it comes to anything that is supposed to be edible we aren't very good. We had put the Greek basil into pots, and this should work better. Peter mowed our yard when we came home and weeded two garden beds. I went to bed for two hours!! And slept!

Yesterday, I knew I would have a busy day. I stripped the beds and had more washing to do - I wonder how many loads I do, I estimate 15 per week! It never ends! I went on the treadmill early yesterday and then was going to do my ironing afterwards. When I was upstairs the phone rang and the school was concerned that Sammy had trouble breathing. Straight away alarm bells went off! He'd complained of breathlessness early in the term, but I felt it was anxiety and I said to him I really need to see it and that a doctor would need to see it too. I made an appointment and got in immediately.


My middle boy has exercise induced asthma!

I know we will manage it, and I know it's good that we have it diagnosed and stuff, but I just feel so sad for him. I feel so sad that another one of my children has this. How horrible it must be, when you can't breathe! After a half hour on the nebulizer, he was much better. So we came home armed with ventolin and the realization that we need to be careful........ Considering this whole situation would have been very distressing for him, he handled it so well. He's just a darling patient, no drama at all - he was just happy I was there......

I sat down for lunch, and then did my week's ironing and then headed out for a transition meeting for Sammy with his year 4 teacher for next year.They will keep many of the current strategies in place, and I am happy with his placement. As much as I know that he can be frustrating - I am fiercely protective of him, and very aware of his strengths. He's just the most delightful kid, and I'm lucky that the school sees through his foibles and can see the qualities that I see.

Another thing that I can't wait to be over, is the amount of things I need a plate for! I have to remember plates for this and that, and there's something nearly every day this week. I also had to get Secret Santa gifts! The break can't come quickly enough, so I can concentrate on my own family and our Christmas. I was working tomorrow morning, but that was cancelled, so I will grocery shop then instead of Thursday. Mickey wants me to pop in for his Christmas party at school, I'll see how I go, he always likes me to drop in on special days.

We have Billy-Joe's graduation tomorrow night, and a mass too I think......(and another plate!!) At least if I shop tomorrow, I can go Christmas shopping with my parents and not be harried from having done my groceries beforehand. I just can feel myself getting all yucky in the stomach when I rush around too much. My days are rushed anyway at times, but this has just been ridiculous - it's been six weeks, of obligations and commitments and I am very ready for a rest. My kids are very tired too. No-one stirs in the morning when I get up -everyone's quiet and moves around slowly when they do get up. I never have to yell at them to get up, they are very good like that, but I can see they're flagging. Next Monday morning will be blissful when we can all sleep in. The kids are all very excited to just stop!

Next week's schedule is very light on - which is just perfect. I can start my baking and just enjoying my home and kids. On Tuesday I have the second part of Suzy's Christmas album class. I seriously questioned my wisdom about doing this class, but she does such a beautiful job of it, and puts in the most awesome effort into creating a stunningly unique album. I love my albums from previous years.

Hopefully this week, I can get my photos resized for last year's album. It's Barbi's birthday today, so we all brought in cake for that (another plate) and celebrated with her. Karen came to the class, so that was great to see her twice in one week - we were both very slow with our class and left early. It gives us a job on Friday night to catch up to the rest of the class. Plus I need to make more Christmas cards, so that's on my to do list for next week too.

The washing machine beckons - I must be off.

Idol, shopping, family and all things good

I'll update my blog by writing about the most current thing first and then filling in the bits from my last post, or at least attempt too, because so much happens that I couldn't possibly write about it all.

First of all Congratulations Wes Carr, for realizing your dream! You deserved to win the title of Australian Idol 2008. I had you pegged from the very first episode - I knew you were a winner. Your awesome talent shone through every song you sang. Absolutely amazing. There are many who can hold a tune, but you are a true entertainer. I would watch you week after week and think that surely, this genre would prove to be a stumbling block, but they never were. I look forward to buying your single 'You' which will be released in early December. Luke Dickens, runner up - I love your story, and think you did a lot of growth during the series. For someone who has never performed before, you did amazingly well. Mark Spano - you came third, but to me, are an outstanding performer. I have both the Kings of Leon 'Sex on Fire' on my itunes collection and yours and both Peter and I admit your version is better! Not often another version is better than its original. I have never watched this series in its entirety before, but think this was a great showcase of Australian talent. I am really pleased, also, that my taste in music grows as I age, and that I can still appreciate young, new talent. I will look forward to Australian Idol 2009, but wonder in all seriousness whether or not it will even come close to this series. Wes Carr and Mark Spano, if either of you come to the coast - I'm there!!!

I did some Christmas shopping this morning. I bought the kids a Wii! It's going to be loads of fun, I will enjoy playing it. While I was at Joyce Mayne the guy I talked to about camcorders, offered me a job!! He said he would line me up an interview and I could have a job and work whenever I wanted. Pretty cool. I guess girls who know and love technology are pretty light on. So I know that if I ever got sick of teaching, I could work at Camerhouse and Joyce Mayne!! Just think of the staff discounts!

Work last week, was hard. Probably moreso, because it was my fourth week of almost full time work. I was tired this week. Thursday I took a class to bowling. It was interesting. I had a child who I had to sit out from bowling as she was all over the place. Between yelling and not following instructions, she wasn't deserving of a game of bowling. I thought I'd probably have to tie her to her chair, to restrain her, but she sat beside me the entire time. It was hot there, I think the a/c was floundering with the humdity of the day. I had to do my groceries that evening, and then came home and got ready to go out shopping with Suzy. I wasn't happy because Peter didn't come home early for me. So I was ready to go and there was a storm threatening and he didn't come home until 5.30pm. I was very happy to meet up with Suzy and go and sit down and have dinner. We looked in shops and just strolled around. We bought a few things, but the focus was more on enjoying being there rather than making a great dent in the Christmas shopping.

Friday was the day of the week I was dreading. I knew it wasn't going to be an easy one. The teacher I was relieving remained in the classroom and we worked together at some point. She was making a class Christmas DVD, (the whole school is making a segment, so I have been involved in more than one during my travels). She had organized that we would prepare a luncheon and she would decorate the room while I worked with the children in the kitchen. All sounds very simple, and had we not had the violent, unpredictable, ADHD or whatever kid, it would have been a cruisy day. Kids like that don't like it when things aren't kept tight and structured. Mind you, on a good, easy day, he's hard work, so I dont know why I'm making excuses. At one point he wanted his morning tea, and I said it wasn't quite time. He grabbed a small sharp knife to cut his mangoe and I told him to put it down and take a safer knife. Then later, he wouldn't wait his turn, or actually I can't quite remember what set him off. He grabbed a knife off the table, I yelled at my assistant to grab the child, and then the child grabbed another knife. They weren't pointy, but they were both sharp and serrated and he was waving them around wildly. Thankfully my assistant was a male, and he was strong enough to restrain him. I grabbed the child along the shoulder muscles and pinched, he dropped both knives to the ground. Policy dictates that we should remove all kids from the room and have left him in there. But that was impossible. There were six other kids in the room, one in a wheelchair, and instinct just overtook. My assistant wasn't the fasted moving person in the world, but responds well to whatever I say which is awesme. We got the child out of the room and both of us were shaking.

We had our lunch, and I had to film that part for the Christmas DVD. The kids weren't happy! The whole day had been spoilt. I really felt for them.

I went scrapping that night, but was home by 10.30pm. I was exhausted.

The office wanted to see me before I left that afternoon, and I wondered whether they were going to tell me not to come back - seeing as I couldn't control this kid and all.

They offered me more work.

I must have done something right!

I have more to talk about the weekend and some photos - it's late and I need bed.

Sizzle, Sizzle, Sizzle......

I know there's probably nothing quite so woeful as a forty something drooling over a young man - but that Mark Spano on Australian Idol is hot!! And he can sing too! His rendition of Sex on Fire, a Kings of Leon song, was just awesome. Actually I don't think I'm the only one who bought the Kings of Leon album after they heard Mark's rendition. So - you can imagine my delight when they announced the idol top 10 album was released - and yes, you guessed it, the Sex on Fire song is on there.....

I have bought it, and it's excellent!

Now I know Wes Carr will win the competition and he totally deserves to. He is flawless week in week out, he is a performer and has an unbelievable voice across all genres......

...........but I would like Mark to be with him at the Opera House.

So I have voted.

Update

Another week is quickly coming to a close. I have been enjoying my work. Not sure if it's because I know that there is an end in sight and the holidays are looming, or that I just love what I do - I tend to think it's a combination of the two. Something comforting, when in the midst of being extremely to know that soon there will be a nice, long break. I have been doing really well as far as organization is concerned. My house stays tidy, the meals cooked, kids and husband are happy - and that means I'm happy. I manage my days almost to the minute, and there's not much time for anything other than work and sleep, but that's okay. The only things I miss when working so much, is my exercise time. That always goes FIRST. This annoys me, so this week, I have made an extra effort to include some exercise again. I jogged on Wednesday and was shocked, at how poorly I went. My fitness and stamina wasn't the problem, but my leg was. I struggled through two lots of ten minutes. Thankfully I had a physio appointment on Thursday that my work let me keep, so yesterday I managed 25 minutes jogging - non stop! Instead of looking forward to sitting down for half an hour when my dinners cooked of an evening, I will just have to make that exercise time - much more beneficial for me. I also like to do weights when I'm downstairs, and now with the summer weather here, I don't want flappy arm bits!!

My kidlets have had a great week. Their swimming carnival was held. The older kids swam on Thursday and Mickey and Sammy swam on Friday. They all came home with ribbons, which was pretty special. Billy-Joe came third in a freestyle event, and Sammy cleaned up in all his kickboarding events. Mickey got a second place and two fourth places in his kickboarding events. I was so excited for Sammy! It doesn't seem like all that long ago that this little boy was dragged out of the water, because he was floundering. I was crying as I helped him away from the pool's edge. I felt for him, it hurt! That was two years ago!!

It's been nice to spend a weekend at home. Yesterday I did my chores, spent some time on the treadmill, scrapped a little. Billy-Joe had friends over, and the little ones played with Caleb. My house was busy with 7 kids over at one stage. They all had fun! We had a nice dinner last night, of salmon with an avocado and mango salsa. The salsa was delish, the fish was okay. I don't know what has happened to my fish taste buds. They've upped and left. I actually would much have preferred a piece of eye fillet! It was nice though. I'm glad Peter cooked it on the bbq so I didn't have the fish smell in the house, even whilst it was cooking.....

I'm looking forward to a day off tomorrow. I have to get my hair trimmed and do my ironing. I'll have time to fill out some paperwork for Billy-Joe's school for next year, and I'll get to go on the treadmill too. It's our wedding anniversary tomorrow, so I may get something and cook a nice roast or something a bit special for dinner. The week promises to be a good one, with a couple of challenging days too. Friday won't be easy, but hey it's Friday, so manageable. On Saturday my dear brother is coming down. It's my niece's birthday and we are all going out with Mum and Dad, to Sizzlers. Should be a fun night, and my kids are very excited already - especially Billy-Joe. We don't often all get together very often, so it will be a special night.

The school term is winding down and I'm looking forward to the time off with my kidlets. I always go Christmas shopping with my Mum and Dad, and that's always a day I thoroughly enjoy - will need to do that very soon. I will need to talk to Mum, probably week after next would be good. Kids have lots of good stuff on their wish list, some ridiculous, others fair. I am so out of touch with prices, I may need to spend some time on ebay, just to get a feel for what things are worth.

My view for some of today

Love this pic, Billy-Joe is on the right, with one of his friends from school. He is still so much tinier than all his mates. I will wake up one morning and he will have grown a foot overnight.

Billy-Joe with Skat

My darling, sporting a moustache.

The path onto the beach.

Good food and wine show 2008

This years show didn't fail to please. We had another awesome weekend. We've talked of nothing else but! We are already talking about next year, and the ways we can maximize our visit.

I went out on Friday night, but without my scrapping stuff. I had dinner with Barbi, sat and chatted until after 10pm and then headed home. I pottered around home, packed a few things and then went to bed. I got up at about 6.45am and finished packing, showered, got ready, got kids organized, hung out two loads of washing, raced around tidying, sent kids off with Peter to chemist for Sammy's drops as his eyes were playing up again, and then waited for Peter to come back from dropping our kids off at my parents' house. Unfortunately the pharmacist was as slow as a wet week, and we left a half hour later than we'd planned.

We arrived in Brisbane, and checked into our hotel - which was an old boarding house. It was old, wooden, but spotlessly clean and cheap. We took a cab to the convention centre and luckily it was pretty easy picking up our tickets. I'd booked them late, so opted to pick them up at the venue, as it was too late for posting them. There were lots of people already there. I think there were many more than last year. We headed into the show, we'd missed Matt Moran's show, so we rebooked for a later one. We also lapped the centre, to find our free wine tasting glasses. We tasted a few wines, and ate some chocolates. We sussed out the Lindemans Early Harvest Restaurant and later one we went back and bought vouchers for our food. We visited the Grinders stand which is where we nearly bought the coffee machine last year. Andrew wasn't there, but he still works for the company. We bought a coffee from them and found little bits of food to nibble as Max was quite hungry. Vicki and I checked out the wine stalls, which was an interesting exercise as her taste in wine is far different from mine. She wanted the sweet wines, while I prefer a drier wine. By lunch time we were all quite hungry so we headed over the restaurant. That was a real hit. The food was amazing. Vicki and I had entrees, of potatoe, spinach and cheese terrine with prosciuotto and the boys shared an antipasto platter. The guys both had main meals, Max's was a Lamb with Chilli Jam, and fennel and Peter had a grilled chicken with capers and dill, and a yummy dressing. Vicki had dessert, coconut cake thingies which she let me taste, and they were divine. The food was cooked by the chefs which were the focus at the show. So each famous chef had an entree, main or dessert. All the food was accompanied by a matched glass of Lindemans lower calorie wine, which was surprisingly really nice. It was really nice to sit down and eat delicious, and good quality food. Last year we ate egg sandwiches, which tasted like army rations, and I'm so glad we did it different this year.

After lunch we headed around some more. Like last year, we were quite aimless and just stopped and backtracked, and circled and came back again, no doubt missing heaps again. We tried rums, cocktails, mouses, puddings, lots of yummy stuff. The boys were loving the red wine, and drank far too much!! We went to the Wyndham estate Truck again, and enjoyed the presentation - it was matching wine with chocolate, so that was a huge hit, the chocolate being Nestle Noir - yummo!

After that, it wasn't long before the show ended. Again I couldn't believe how quickly it had gone. There is just far too much to see in one day.

We left the convention centre to find that it was raining - and quite heavily. Nothing was under cover, so we zigged and zagged our way to find the eateries. We ended up at a chinese restaurant with Australian, overpriced chinese food, but it was fresh and tasted good. After dinner we caught a cab and headed back to the hotel. We sat in Max and Vicki's room for a while and then we headed back to our room, showered and went to bed. The room was small, but clean and comfortable. I didn't sleep particularly well, but I wasn't uncomfortable either. In the morning we headed into the valley and sat in a cafe to a delicious cooked breakfast. We looked at a few of the market stalls and then headed home. We picked up our kids who had a lovely time, but were nonetheless happy to see us. Sammy was probably his normal restless self, but I am hoping that one day he will learn to cope with this restlessness. Needless to say we've had a quiet afternoon. Peter snoozed on the couch for a bit. I did two loads of washing, and headed out to the supermarket to buy a few things. The kids played well all afternoon.

I have been on the net looking at frypans. I am very disapointed to acknowledge that I have killed my Scanpan. I have no idea how! I have never cooked it on high, and felt I did all the right things. It's not non stick anymore, and I don't like using it anymore. It was a $150 pan, and hasn't lasted any longer than a $50 one! I have been reading reviews and trying to figure out what to buy next. There was a Eurolux stall at the food and wine show, but the guy was so rude and arrogant, that it didn't matter how good he made his pans look - we wouldn't have bought one. Max is also in the market for a pan - so he potentially had two customers. The show was sponsored by Swiss Diamond, but we couldn't find a stall for them, which was quite odd.

Happy not anniversary

Some years go by, and I don't consider this date until it's well past. This year, however, it hit me like a tonne of bricks as I have dated the kids' communication books at school. Twenty six years ago today I was married for the first time. Sadly, on that day, I had reservations, but was naive enough to believe that love would conquer all. Even though things didn't turn out, I still have fond memories of my married time. I loved the times we spent with friends, going out, camping and all that kind of stuff. It was also during this time that my relationship with my parents matured and we became best of friends. I enjoyed the time I spent with my first mother in law and still speak fondly of how much she loved me. I worked close to home and came to her house everyday while I worked there, and she made me lunch. I lived next door, so it was a given that I went to her house to eat and not my own. To this day, there are things I make because of the way she did them. She was always kind and considerate toward me. She didn't understand lots of the things we did, like 'why do you want to do that?' if we wanted to go to the MCG to watch the cricket........I should have been home making babies lol....... Thank God that never came to pass.....

Happy not anniversary dh#1 where ever you may be, I wish you nothing but happiness.

I'm sorry I hurt him by leaving, but I don't regret anything. I don't regret marrying him, and I don't regret leaving. Life's too short!

A great week

My second week of my contract is drawing to a close - and, again I'm a little sad. On the flipside, though, I am looking forward to a few days off next week just to catch my breath. This week has been in sharp contrast to last week and hasn't been as emotionally or physically draining as last week was. I am finding that I am really enjoying working with the severely autistic children. They touch something in my heart and respond well to my style of teaching and behaviour management.

I finally got paid - first time in 6 weeks!! I am very pleased to now have most of my bills paid for the Christmas holiday period, in advance. I still will pay some other stuff too, and make sure I have enough money. It was too tight last year - well it was okay over Christmas, just not good into late January and early February. This year I want to have nearly all my bills prepaid!

I have been getting rather excited this week as the Food and Wine show is creeping up. Can't wait! We are going with some friends of ours. I can't remember going away somewhere with friends for ages - probably about 11 years ago, when Billy-Joe was still a baby. These days our social engagements are few and far between. The kids are staying with Oma and Opa and are very excited. Billy-Joe in particular is ecstatic to be staying with them. He has a little something for Opa, something he had to do something in order to get, so he is looking forward to giving that to him. It's lovely seeing the bond they have with their grandparents.

We have booked into the Matt Moran's first show, which should be good fun. It would be nice to actually win something. I am looking forward to the Wyndham Estate truck, as this years discussion is about wine and chocolate! We are staying overnight and we will go out somewhere for dinner too which will be fun. I would love to do yum cha for breakfast, but not knowing my way around, I'm hoping Max and Vicki know where we can go - I haven't run this past them yet.

The wind down toward the end of term begins in earnest now. My own kids only have four weeks left. In four weeks, I will no longer have three children in primary school. In four weeks, I won't have my big boy keeping a close eye on the other two. Sammy will become the big brother at school and I know he will do it well as I see how he is whenever Billy-Joe has been ill.

No time to blog

You can always tell when I’m not blogging, that I am extremely busy. Blogging, as much as I enjoy doing it, it’s very low on my list of priorities. The fact I haven’t jogged yet this week, means that blogging rates a bit more higher on my list than exercise lol......

I wonder if women who work full time and exercise, manage to keep everything up to date. I wonder if the washing is done, the kids’ homework is supervised, their reading listened to, that the dishwashers are emptied, and not used as a secondary cupboard. I wonder if their clothes are ironed and put away. I wonder if they cook delicious and healthy meals without resorting to take away. I wonder if their house is clutter free, or if it looks like a whirlwind has struck. I wonder if they sit down at the end of a long day with a cold glass of wine, happy with all they’ve achieved.........and they’ve added in a half hour or more of exercise.

I wonder.

If they do, then I take my hat off to them. I can’t do it. I come home very tired. My days are quite physical and extremely taxing on patience as well as my strength. I have my wits about me all day long - especially depending on who I am working with. Today I rounded up a child who wasn’t where he was supposed to be - he was sitting down at the front of the school watching the world go by - a 19 year old with the mental ability of a 2 year old. I had another young adult, severely autistic and non verbal, try to get into an unlocked car. My elbows ached after two sessions with him. In the morning we were cooking, and because I was wearing gloves, the boy’s entire t’shirt was covered with my finger prints from the glove powder. It wasn’t until I saw that, that I realized just how physical my job is - and that was only an hour’s worth of prodding, gentle pushing, cajoling and steering. I enjoy my work, but find that department not an easy one to work in.

The next couple of weeks aren’t going to be any different. I am in a different classroom each day, and they will vary on levels of intensity, academic ability and stress levels. I have a few more challenging classes to contend with - but I know I’ll manage fine.

The Food and Wine Show is coming up after this weekend, and we are very excited to be able to go. It was such a highlight last year. We are going with friends of ours this year. I have booked our accommodation, and unfortunately couldn’t get the cheaper room, but we are staying in the same place as our friends, so that’s great. I am going to buy the tickets today, but need to check what session times our friends have, so I can get the same one. The ‘famous chefs’ sessions are already fully booked, so I unfortunately missed out on those. We will go and visit the Wyndham Estate truck again, they are doing a wine and chocolate tasting this year, so we will go and book a soon as we get there. This weekend is the scrapbooking retreat! Another weekend away. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know why my social engagements can’t be neatly spread throughout the year. I don’t know why my busy work schedule doesn’t work in more favourably with said social schedule. The house will be vacuumed over the weekend and my darling will think that constitutes ‘housework done’ and I will just have to not worry about it. I will promise to myself that it’s okay, to let slide a little. I will have to do my ironing on Sunday night when I come home. On the Monday I have a visitor, a girlfriend from Geelong. We met when I started my first job. She was 16 and I was 17 - and we have stayed in touch. Her kids are grown (she managed to stay married to her first husband, unlike moi). So that will be a nice day. I will endeavour to cook a meal for lunch and Peter can come home for lunch too, so that will cut down on cooking on that day. Hopefully I can fit in my ironing and some cleaning that day too - as I’m not going to get another chance....... I know I shouldn’t worry, but I get upset when I look at things, and they don’t look just the way i like them.....

The benefit of all this work, is that I’ll actually get paid. How about that???? EQ isn’t speedy in paying its workers, that’s for sure. I haven’t been paid since the school holidays!! They owe me heaps. I hope to pay ahead many weeks of utilities and bills for the Christmas break. I want to not worry about that, but still have some ‘fun money’ to spend over that time. I have a bit saved up for Christmas so that’s good. I haven’t finalized any Christmas lists, so am unsure what I will spend.

I have been keeping up to date on my CZ class. I haven’t been doing the RWC challenges, but I will do them on the weekend. I have also registered for Jessica Sprague’s free class of Stories in Hand, which will be good fun. It starts week after next, so I can hopefully put some time into it.

Feel better

I woke up really sore from my treatment yesterday with the physio, like really sore everywhere, my stomach muscles, my legs, my back and my legs. Every way I moved I hurt, deep inside....... I scrapped a little and then put it to one side. I had a late lunch and then laid down for an hour before I went to get the kidlets.  I got home, had a cuppa, supervised homework, listened to reading, made a meatloaf, baked a packet cake, jogged on the treadmill - get this for 30 mins straight!! I was so excited. I've not long come upstairs, showered and am having a well earned glass of wine.........  Now I feel so much better. My soreness has eased and my muscles all feel nice and warm.  I did some weights too....... I really need to listen to my body, instead of chastising myself because I didn't exercise this morning.........

I have been watching the Oprah specials which are all about ageing....... Scary stuff, what eating shit food and not exercising can do to you. When you have it all laid out, you realize how you really need to treat your body well. You have to look after your telomeres too.....

http://www.realage.com/StayingYoung/YOUToolsTips.aspx?tip=8

Dinner was delicious tonight and a favourite by everyone. I made a meatloaf, not normally my favourite dish, but I added a tin of brown lentils (couldn’t find red ones), grated carrot, oats, parsley, garlic and onion. I served it with a Caramelized red onion chutney, it was yummo and I will definitely make it again.

Back to Firefox

Sometimes it's too hard to think of a catchy title........

Lots to say - but not in any real order, so dot point format might be in order.
* I have been a Firefox user for about four years now. It's more stable than IE, more streamlined, loads faster, and with all the themes and extensions you can download for it, it's just all round a better internet browser. I was very happy when I bought my imac, that Firefox would still work on it. I had tried Safari, (Macs browser) and wasn't sold on it. I found pages looked smaller and I just didn't like the fact I couldn't customize it to my liking. However when Firefox 3 was launched a few months back, I went back to using Safari almost exclusively. One of my favourite add ons, 'My Portal' wasn't compatible with the new version. My Portal allowed my home page to be all my bookmarks, which I realize now is redundant because you can have your bookmarks as your home page. Another thing I liked about My Portal, is that it made the frequently visited sites in a larger font, so for example blogs were easily found as they stood out from the crowd. Now with bloglines, however, this is no longer needed either. Soooooo............I went back to Firefox this weekend, and it's even better than it used to be. I have even set Firefox as my default browser again, so Safari can go into semi retirement for the time being. I was using Opera for some things too, like the radio, which I'll probably still continue.

* I went to the physio yesterday and am feeling very sore today. Carlie, seems to find more and more places on my body that hurt - actually there's no where on my body that doesn't hurt. She massaged deep into my upper stomach and it hurts like I've been beaten lol.... My legs are extremely sore too. I want to jog today, but will see how I feel later in the day.

* Am currently enjoying listening to gospel music. It's lovely peaceful and uplifting.

* Was supposed to have a lunch date with my bestie today, but one of her Daisy Girls went home with a migraine - hope you're feeling better quickly Suzy. Hope resting today, will help it go away.

* I have been scrapbooking at home - can you believe it. I am enjoying Cathy Zielske's Design your Life class. It's helping me create layouts which don't need too much thought and I'm using photos I wasn't inspired to use, and products which I've had for ages. I am hoping that by the retreat, my stash will be run down enough that I can justify buying new stuff. Actually in the last twelve months I've bought less than in any other year, since I've started scrapbooking - except maybe in the Pre Daisy Chain Scrapbooks days, when I was using Creative Memories.
* Had a quiet weekend, battling a stupid head cold. Still using the nasal spray today, so I can breathe and the sore throat is gone. Eyes still feel scratchy, and I'm still headachey but that could be from the treatment yesterday too.
* Cooked a delicious Moroccan Chicken last night, was delightful, with sultanas, pine nuts, cumin, cinammon, garlic and lemon and lime juice. It was very fragrant and delicous - everyone enjoyed it.

Here are some layouts I've finished in the last two weeks. The colours and straightness are off because I took lousy photos........and didn't want to rephotograph them.

Using up old Sassafras lass paper and embellies, Sammy's and my birthday last year, thought I'd better do it before our birthdays this year.

This one is from Cathy Zielske Design your Life Week 2

This one is also from Cathy's class, PP Basic Grey, embellies - sweetwater, heidi swapp letters, and something else I have no idea......I'm sure there's a knack to keeping credits, but I don't know what it is.......

Time to Chill

I live by lists, and plans and diaries and organization! It keeps me sane, helps me prioritize and keeps me on task. They are the perfect accessory for the Type A personality, the strong anchor for the control freak and the soother for the stressed. I love them, I need them, they help me.

Today was time to chill out! No appointments, no plans, no lists! Bliss.

A little time out is just what I needed. I came home from getting the kidlets to school and hung out a load of washing and then went back to bed! I snoozed and zoned out for about two hours. I just needed to totally relax, not think about anything and just refuel and re energize. I took the phone off the hook too. No pesky tele marketers wanted today. I snoozed and even dreamt and then got up. I felt a bit groggy for a while, and just pottered on the computer. I had left over bacon, pumpkin and pesto pasta for lunch while I watched Dr. Phil and some of Oprah. Then by this stage I was feeling ready to re-enter the land of the living!! I went downstairs and did my workout on my treadmill and weights and then went and picked up the kids from school. I’ve just sat down now with a drink. An Italian Shepherds Pie is in the oven and a salad in the fridge. I supervised the kids’ homework and reading whilst cooking.

Now I can travel along for another few weeks, until the next time that I need to just stop and chill.

Christmas is approaching ........... FAST!

I can't believe how quickly Christmas is coming. The stores are full of decorations and it's a reminder everytime we venture into the shopping centre. I am going to make my tree, black and silver, so I have already bought some new decorations. I couldn't help myself, and I figure that I normally wait and my selection is through everyone else's dregs.....so this year I decided to get in early, and now I don't feel so ridiculous anymore. Ahh, but I digress......we have many family days which we all really look forward too, but Christmas is our favourite. It's a time we all get together, and we imbibe in great food and wine, and the best company.  This year we are going to be all together again, as far as the Schimak side goes. The girls will be here as well as Aunty Ricky and Aunty Dee.  I already have notes on my computer (Stickies widget) with food reminders - and the rough beginning of a menu.  I am going to make Stuffed Chickens - well Peter is going to debone them and I will fill them with a mixture of mince, ham, garlic, seasoning and pistachios.  I will make two of them because one will not be enough and it will go quickly. This Christmas I will have a cold selection - so that after lots of wine has been consumed, I don't have to worry about cooking anything. I love the cooking beforehand, so this will work in perfectly. I am also looking for a terrine or something of that nature - maybe I'll just have a ham, not sure yet. I am going to ask my Mum to make her delicious belly pork dish, which is just divine, and something I haven't eaten in years. I haven't decided on the salads yet either. So - even though it sounds like I still have lots to plan, it's certainly high on my list of organizational priorities at the moment.  The baking list hasn't been confirmed, but I will of course make my Vanilla Kipferln and Linzer Augen.  There would be a revolt, if I didn't make them.......

Dinner is prepped. I have roasted pumpkin for a dish I found on www.taste.com.au  It's a bacon, pumpkin and pesto and pasta dinner - should be yummy.

Kids are all inside and hopefully looking forward to dinner. Their faces are always a little uncertain when I cook something new. 

I stayed up late last night. The return of Californication. It's been ages since something half decent was on TV, apart from Idol anyway. Actually I have never watched and entire season of idol before, I normally watch the first auditions, because it's the best comedy. And then I usually watch the final episode.  This year however, I find the talent line up to be just awesome.  So I am happily watching each episode. Wes Carr and Mark Spano are my stand out favourites. I also believe they are the stand out artists, with Wes Carr being far and away the best on the show.  When he comes to the coast, I will definitely  go to watch him perform. Ah, and Californication, I know it's tripe and trash but I enjoy it. I like watching David Duchovny and it's unlike anything else on the TV, so it's unpedictable......it can be crass, funny and touching all in a matter of a few minutes.....

Okay husband, I am organized, you can come home now.......

Pinktober

I did something today that I have wanted to do all year. I walked in a Breast Cancer Awareness 5km walk. I went with Suzy, and my other friends Trishie and Noela, plus a couple of Trish's friends. We had a great time. It was a perfect Sunshine Coast Day! We left home early 8am!! I was up at 7am, normally something I never do on a weekend.  It was a hot day, but quite breezy which made it bearable. Afterwards we had coffee and then Suzy and I had lunch. We got home at 12.30pm and felt like we'd had the most fabulous day.  

The walk was a celebration of life and friendship. A walk of gratefulness. A walk of health and happiness.

I am heading off for a kip now......

First layout

The Cathy Zielske class has begun. This layout is a pre-assignment. It's virtually a copy of her example, but I love it, and I love how quicky it came together.

Today's Layout

This is from the last assignment on my Type+Writer class.

Holiday Fun

I can't believe it's halfway through the second week of the kids' school holidays.  I am still totally enthralled with the fact that having my kids home now is such a huge pleasure in comparison to when Sammy and Mickey were both tiny. They were such a handful, that having home every single day was quite draining, and a far cry from a holiday. Now they sleep in until 8am, and they get up and quietly watch TV or play.  During the day they are playing heaps, with Legos and their computer games.  Sammy and Mickey playing with the Legos has been great to see, especially as I told them that Santa loves to see kids play, and who knows what they may get for Christmas, if he sees how well they are playing.  Yesterday the TV wasn't on at all and today it was only on for a few hours in the morning.

Sunday week ago, we headed down to Caloundra for our annual family holiday. We had a really nice time. We had a couple of days that were pretty yucky, but we made the most of them. We visited Peter's parents one morning, which was lovely - it's been a while since we'd seen them and she made some yummy morning tea which we all enjoyed. The boys still went collecting yabbies and attempted to fish, which only had the kibosh put on it when they headed to the jetty and the winds were borderline cyclonic.  We spent the week fishing, collecting yabbies, lying by the pool (me) jumping in the pool (kidlets). The hardest decision of the day was what we were going to have for dinner. Sensible eating went out the window for the week, and Bunny and I enjoyed a new Indian restaurant we discovered, plus a couple of fish and chip meals.  I cooked pizzas one night which were delicious, with salami, bacon, capsicum, cheese and onion and pineapple - simple but delicious and much nicer than Eagle Boys.  Even though the toppings were less exotic than I'd normally use they were delicious pizzas and the kids enjoyed them too. Like I said, one highlight was spending a morning with Peter's parents and the main highlight of the week was our last full day.  Because Geelong was in the Grand Final last year, (and we won), it was a little sad that we didn't get to spend the day with my parents, as they were in Phuket.  So, this year, they stayed the night in a motel, and we spent the entire day and evening together. We had a fabulous time. We had lunch and then headed in front of the TV and watched Geelong lose to the Hawks!  But, Mum and I drank a bottle of bubbles each and had a blast.  Then we took them out for dinner at the new Indian restaurant we'd discovered. That was a fun night. One of my favourite times growing up was when my parents would take us out for dinner, and I want the same with my children, although it doesn't happen often due to the fact it's so damn expensive, but I guess the rarity of the occasion makes it all teh more special. After having such fussy eaters, it's really rewarding to see the hard work of cooking different foods for my kids paying off as they will try different foods now elsewhere!  It was a fitting end to a great week.  

As an aside, we will go somewhere else next year though. We decided that $1000 for a week in a modest unit in Caloundra was overpriced.  We are looking at renting a house somewhere next year, and going out of peak season too. We can get a house with a pool for longer and pay less!  Our family's holiday needs are simple, we need to be able to fish, sleep, swim and eat. That's it. We aren't interested in gallivanting around. We aren't interested in theme park type expensive stuff. We just want to chill and enjoying being together. So we will choose something like Tin Can Bay, or Rainbow Beach. It's exciting - we will do a recognizance mission or two to figure out exactly where we will go. 

We got home on Sunday, and I spent the day washing and getting organized and back to normal. Monday and Tuesday of this week, had appointments and also a few errands. I had to take Billy-Joe to the Respiratory Clinic for a lung function test and yesterday I had a physio appointment.  I bought new taps for the bathroom, and some new picture frames, because some of the old ones I'd painted blue were looking rather daggy.  

Today I have spent getting up to date with my online class I started before the holidays. I did two layouts today. One isn't finished yet, because I need photos of when I was a kid, and I forgot to ask my parents for them yesterday so I could scan then and print them out today. So the layouts done, but no pics.  In the middle of all that I had to fix printer problems. My printer wasn't printing, because the computer didn't recognize the refilled ink cartridge, so a trip back to Cartridge World and that was all sorted.  The Epson printer had also run out of ink , so I ordered inks online yesterday and they arrived this morning at 7.30am!!  I love online shopping.  

I have signed up for Cathy Zielske's online class 'Design your life' through www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com 

I have some pre assignment work to finish before it starts tomorrow! I am rather excited about this one. Whereas the Jessica Sprague class was a digital one, this is a hybrid one where I download some elements, but the majority of it is paper scrapbooking, concentrating on learning about design elements. If I had been able to draw, I would have been a graphic artist - for sure. Graphics was one of my favourite subjects during high school, but without the use of computers, I was never going to go far with it all those years ago. Now, however, with the use of image editing programs, I could actually know what I am doing. 

Did you miss me? I am back, I just left for an hour to finish off and eat dinner with my family. We had spaghetti bolognese,which is one of their firm favourites.  

Kids are heading off to bed but have been given a few extra minutes to finish off their games. They are behaving so beautifully - they need rewards.

I will post images soon.

Finished another layout from my class

I did this one based on what Mickey told me yesterday. I love how it turned out, and for the first time I have been able to include one of my many journal entries into a layout. 

Kids' Musical

On Thursday, we headed to the Civic Centre to watch the annual production that the school puts on. As a teacher and a parent, I can totally understand and appreciate the amount of work that goes into these plays. John the producer of each musical has an incredible talent for putting it together. He not only writes the musicals, but produces and directs the production, choosing music and rewriting their lyrics to be pertinent to the show! Sometimes the musicals have the entire school in them - about 400 kids!! This year, it was only the 6s, 7s and 1s. We took the little ones and had a family night out. It was great to all go together and see BillyJoe’s part in his final primary school musical. He didn’t have a major part, but was a dancer as part of a group. I encouraged him to audition for a part, but he was too shy. I’ve seen him dance, when he thinks no one is looking and I think he could do well. Not all parts were singing parts, so he could have auditioned for it. Because he is a ‘good’ kid, I know he would have been in contention anyway..... It was a nice family night. We got home late, the kids got to bed at about 10.30pm, Peter and I still had something to eat and then headed off to bed an hour later. I kept the kids home the next day. It was the last day of term,no need for them to go really......

Mickey's realization

Mickey came up to me yesterday and asked about the other “Uncle Ricky’ - not the one that has Julia and Kiana, but the other one.... I said, you mean Onkel Vikki, ?
”Yeah Mum that’s the one. Where is he?“

”Honey he died, remember. He’s in heaven“

HIs lip dropped and I could see him thinking and I could almost feel the questions which were in his heart.
”Come here Sweetheart. Sit on my lap and tell me what you’re thinking“.

He just buried his little head into my neck and started to cry. It was at that moment, that he realized the finality of death. That incredible split second, where he realized the finality and irreversible nature of death.

I explained to him, that we all die. That people get old and die. I told him that was much better than being sick and young and dying, and how important it was to make the most of all the people we love while they are with us. I told him Onkel Vikki was in heaven and that we would all be together one day.

”Can we breathe in heaven Mummy?“

” I’m not sure we need to Honey.“

By this stage, I was getting a little teary. My grief not that far below the surface for Onkel Vikki’s loss either. I went out and brought in some washing, Mickey headed off with some sense of urgency. He came back to me with a lanyard. On the lanyard was hanging a picture which he’d labelled

‘I love Mum and Dad and Onkel Vikki”

His last actions affected me most of all. He stood in front of the photo of  Onkel Vikki and myself and put little crosses on our hearts and our heads.

Everyday you grow up a little more little man. I love you - and I love the ‘bigger boy’ that you are fast becoming.

I love the softness in my kids and the fact that family is paramount to us all.

I still have the email my Dad sent, telling me of Onkel Vikki’s death. I rarely if ever print out emails, I couldn’t bring myself to delete that email, so I had to print it out. I can’t delete his address in my address book, nor my Oma’s for that matter and she died 14 years ago. Some things can’t be erased.

I never remember the exact date of your passing, dear Onkel Vikki, but tonight, I light a candle for you.

All set up

Handheld iso 1600 shutter 1/25 aperture 3.5

Thank goodness we have the foresight to hire someone to do this job for us. Lenny spent two and a half hours setting up the TV, DVD, VCR, Austar box and put everything including my computer, printer, modem, and speakers through a fandangled gadget which protects everything from fusion and surges of power. He even had to drill a bit out the back of the cabinet because the DVD player didn't quite fit with all the fittings on the back of it........ Stress free and worth every single penny of $125. So my darling Bunny could come home and just see the awesome picture, no swearing, no angst, no anger.........

I got my new camera out, which is calling very loudly to me. I want to study the manual and the controls some more. I am really liking how easy it is to change things like the ISO, much easier than the 300D. Because the reviews said it did a great job at a higher iso, I was keen to try it out. I never had much luck with the 300D, the noise was always quite strong and that was at 800!

Handheld - no flash 

Shutter 1/15, Aperture 3.5, ISO 1600