My rara avis

This blog is me, it's mine, it's generally all about me.  But that's only a small facet of who I actually am. 

After an IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting with the school today about my middle boy, I realized how little I actually write about him.  I have scrapped the odd layout on him and his quirkiness in the past, but never in any great depth or detail.  Maybe I thought, if I didn't make a big deal about it, it wasn't really happening.....which is in sharp contrast to how I actually believe and how I do all I can to support, nuture and help him to become the best he possibly can.

I still thank the fact that my being so particular and observant actually noticed, acknowledged and took action on what I observed with Sammy.  It's because of that I had him 'labelled' in order to receive assistance at school.  I know many parents baulk at the idea that their child, is different, or 'not quite right'.  My biggest hurdle was articulating my fears to my husband, which is ridiculous as he's the most tolerant and understanding person I know, and has never been one to put on the 'macho crap' of 'not my boy!!'.  He's the man that was quite happy for my boys to have dolls to play with when they were young and Mummy was expecting or had a baby........no - defnitely not the man who would poo poo any of my thoughts about our children.

Sammy is my worry child. He's the one that makes my heart hurt. He's the one I hope and pray for- that people will accept him for what and who he is. Children can be unbelievably cruel, but thankfully, his wonderful nature has deflected that, and bullying or ridicule hasn't been a problem.  

Fortunately, academically he is going along very well. And the credit goes to the school, whose support I can find no fault with.  He is in a situation now, where the class has a full time aide, and Sammy benefits from this.  He now has someone, who will sit by and help him through the anxious moments of uncertainty, and has someone who will prompt him along when he becomes distracted.

There are days, and moments, where I look at him and think he's fine. There are days where he just travels along, happily,doing all he is supposed to do without reminder or dalliances.  Then other days it's like I am dragging him through sludge and mud so thick, that he can't hear, see or do anything other than maybe stare at the TV.  I wish so much that I could see inside his mind, that I could think how he thinks and see how he sees and perceives the world.  I know he is wired differently and I so desperately want to understand.  I want to know what makes him hurt, I want to know what makes him scared. He speaks so little......  How hard he makes my heart ache, is how much it makes it soar when he laughs.  He  loves humour, like I do, the ridiculous stuff, like Mr. Bean being extra ludicrous.  His face, so often devoid of emotion is just full of smiles and is lit up and accompanied by a laugh which is like music to my ears.  Even as I sit here, I can't help the emotion welling up inside of me.

From the first moment........from when I was told I would never ever have another baby. To the scary blood tests and detailed scans, to the cancelled amniocentisis, to his early entry into the world, to the helicopter trip to Brisbane, to the intubation and crucial days of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, to his first day of school, to now, he has always always tugged at my heart.  And he always will.

He received a birthday card from my brother - it's probably two birthdays ago now, but the words within I will never forget. The poignancy of the card was made even moreso because of the fact that my brother had never written in a card to my kids before, and then added to the message 'Dear Sam the man I am - you are destined for great things'.......  My dear brother, you will probably never ever know how much those words meant to me.  

I love all my three boys, with bottomless intensity.  I am fiercely protective and as strongly adamant that I will do my best so that they are beautiful adults - they are already beautiful children, often being complimented by others who come across them, which is always heartwarming, especially if I haven't been around when their observations were made.  But Sammy, Sammy you are the one I worry about, the one I cry over, the one I fear for.   

I am thankful for you. I am thankful that you show me the world through your eyes. I just want to make things a little easier for you. I will pursue speech therapy for a while, I want your expressive language analyzed, so that you can tell me (or anyone) what's on your mind.  I want to develop what's inside of you, so that it can come out.  I love it when you tell me something, that is so far left field - but so amazingly insightful.  You have an intuition rare in someone so young.  I want you to trust that intuitiveness and take comfort in it.  I want you to know how to react when things go wrong, or you feel overwhelmed. I want you to have the words to make others see the world the way you do.  

I am also, at some stage going to find out if you have any musical talent.  You have great pitch and can hold a tune.  I wonder if there is a talent there inside of you somewhere.  Maybe I will make you go - rather than giving you the choice.  You have talent, your memory is awesome, I think there's something there, maybe, just maybe - just waiting to burst through.  I still can't get over your talent for football - and how you amazed me with your first game. You are the tiniest on your side, and yet you have no fear, no hesitation to just drop your opponent.....and they, being caught completely unawares just drop to the ground.  All these things and more, will add to your confidence and help build your self esteem.....

You are an especially wonderful little boy. You light up my whole life.......

"Today you are You,

that is truer than true.

There is no one alive

who is

Yoer than You."

~Dr. Seuss~

My day thus far

I love Saturdays, they are my favourite day of the week,
even though I have
* brought a big load of washing in,
* hung out another smaller load
* folded and put washing away
* Emptied dishwasher
* Cleaned ceiling fans
* Dusted
* Walked
* Tidied kitchen

Now I can sit and relax for a couple of hours. Oh what lovely luxury knowing a few hours stretch ahead with no commitments or urgency. Billy-Joe has gone to a friend's house, the two younger ones are in on the computer, they will go outside later on. The weather is unseasonally cool again, just wonderful - I love it like this. It's been the best summer ever, very different with loads of rain, but not many days where it's been disgustingly hot. Autumn has arrived and summer hasn't even made am impact. It's been great weather for starting my walking regime, it doesn't matter when I walk, it's just pleasant.

My parents are coming for dinner. They offered to bring pizzas, but being on WW I don't want to waste my points on something like that. I don't mind pizza, don't get me wrong, but I now prefer my own homemade one. We will probably buy a couple for the kids to have a treat and we will have Eye Fillet, chargrilled vegies and a blue cheese sauce. I will make it on light evaporated milk, instead of cream, plus I have a few points up my sleeve for some wine too, so should be a lovely evening.

Looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend.

A lot to say, but very busy.

I have been rather busy since my last posting. Good busy!

My work 'drought' has finished (the money drought is still happening, because I haven't been paid yet) but things are heading in the right direction. The last two weeks I've had a day a week at Kenilworth, even had the cute little Preps on one day. What a lovely bunch of kids.......much nicer having a straight Prep rather than the PreSchool/Year 1-2 mix from last year. It's rare that I can focus on a single year level. On the other day, I worked with my old teaching partner, in a huge classroom. There are two teachers for 40 kids, and the kids move between the teaching spaces, depending on what's happening, so a very busy and well organized place. I just went where I was told lol.....

The pièce de résistance , however was that the local Special School rang me and asked me to work for a day. I was so excited - finally. I spent a day a term there two years ago, because, I wanted to show them that I was keen, even though I had no experience in that field. When I left that afternoon, I was asked to go to the office and was offered three more days (one of which I couldn't take because I was already booked). What a fantastic place to work. Mind you it bears little resemblance to a mainstream school, but it's so much better. The teachers there are just awesome, and I really enjoyed being and working with the kids. I think I like it because it really appeals to my nuturing side. My first choice of profession was always nursing, and I love teaching too. This job encompasses both disciplines. At first I would come away and thank the Lord that my kids were 'normal'. But even now after only a few days, I am finding joy in the things they can achieve. I guess it's like having a young child actually grasp something, we like to take some credit for the child having achieved something as we are sure it's because of us that they achieved this. I have been working with the 'transition' kids - 16 years old and above. Some are non verbal, some are confined to a wheel chair and non verbal. But many are quite physically able and are 'teachable'. I was in my element today as a teacher came from TAFE, for the Digital Photography course. Well, I know someone was watching from above - if anything is my forte, that definitely is. There are only 100 kids in the school but the school is huge, as there are only about 5-6 kids in each classroom. The rooms always have large common areas behind or between them with fully operational kitchens. I enjoy working with the older kids where the focus is on life skills rather than academic ones. I have another day booked next week and the week after, and I hope there are more to come. It would be fantastic, if I could work there regularly. The other bonus was, that I don't have to put the kids into care, as the work is local, and they only have to wait 15 minutes for me to come and get them........ I am saving on petrol and child care which would be about $18 per day (altogether).

This weekend just gone was the scrapbooking retreat. I think it was the best one yet. The theme this time was 'Fairies' and my girlfriends wanted me to dress up..... Now I don't do dress ups. I don't want to do it unless I can look okay. Plus I pike out as I don't have the time or energy to get something organized. Fortunately I am a good follower and with guidance I can achieve anything. Barbi came around last Thursday afternoon, and I made my 'fairy' skirt. Barbi had bought the fabric for us and told me how to do it. We had a really nice afternoon - and I really enjoyed making it. I finished it on Friday afternoon. I will photography my layouts when the weather improves and when I am home (I photograph without a flash and need good daylight). My dear girlfriend Kerrie came and we had a ball. I haven't seen much of her lately as she nursed her Mum who died a few weeks ago. Kerrie needed that weekend. She needed it to re energize and to feel normal again. I can't wait for the next one, and I hope we can catch up m0re now that her time is freer. and she is always good fun. My other friend was also there, but she was rather quiet all weekend. Another friend just came for the nights, and she is always good fun, and it was great seeing her back to her old self. I was getting a bit worried about her, and was really happy to see her laughing and enjoying herself.

It was an awesome weekend.

Sleepy Sunday

I can't believe the weekend is nearly over again. It goes far too quickly. I had a couple of late nights, Friday night Scrapping and last night dh and I had a party for two, so another late one. I paid for it today. I got up early and went to church, and then came home, had brunch and then went and snoozed for a few hours. I feel much better now. I can't start the week exhausted, as I never seem to catch up during the week.

On Friday, I got a note back from Catholic Education, saying, sorry they no longer process paper applications and that I would need to lodge an online application. Man I was not impressed, they didn't even send me back all my documentation. I hadn't copied my referees information, or kept a copy of the graduation certificate or anything. Anyway, 2 and a half hours later, and I had it all done - not before fearing that I'd lost the lot, because it didn't seem to want to go onto the next 'stage'. I received verification straight away, that I could visit schools and let them know I was available, and that the online profile was available for schools to view. I rang and spoke to them at Cath Ed to find out about what steps I would need to take to be able to teach in a permanent position. Seems if you are not Catholic, it doesn't look kindly toward your prospects. Even though I have a strong faith, it's not enought. My husband (who is Catholic) said I should have said I was............I couldnt' do it. I would think that kind of discimination wouldn't hold up in a court of law, but there you go..some things never change. At least I can do supply work there, so I will drop in my resume and see the school in an 'offical' capacity, and let them know I am available. I know they have had another mother of students working there, so that shouldn't be an issue.

I had the strangest day yesterday. I had done most of my chores during the week so that my Saturday could be a little easier. Peter stayed home for a change which was nice. I got him to give the house a good vacuum and then I mopped the floors, so that was good to get done. We hunted around on taste.com.au for a delicious recipe and dh went out to buy the things we needed. I gave Billy-Joe another baking lesson, we made gingerbread men out of the packet. That was fun, and he really enjoyed it. Earlier in the day, the kids had watched Garfiled Movie in Billy-Joe's room complete with popcorn. They were so well behaved, I was most impressed. Like all good things, it was to come to a crashing holt, when, they got restless and Billy-Joe and Mickey bashed heads.Mickey came out bellowing and screaming, Billy-Joe being the elder with supposedly more sense hidden there somewhere was sent into time out while I tended to Mickey's sore eye with an ice pack. After the time out time was over, I checked Billy-Joe's eye and saw it was even worse than Mickey's, so his was ice packed too. One thought have thought that an injury like that resulting from shenanigans might have stemmed their enthusiasm for more. A couple of hours later, Mickey was doing forward flips on Daddy's bed, miscalculated and hit the corner of the same eye on the shelf. He came screaming up the stairs, blood streaming down his face, his father chasing him, but Mickey needed his Mummy. I quickly grabbed the closest cloth to staunch the blood and apply pressure. Dr. Mum knew it needed suturing...... The peace of my afternoon, and the relaxation which seemed promisingly ahead, was shattered. Two hours later I came home with a little boy and a glued eye.

I had a bath with him, he still needed me close, and I had a relaxing bath, with a glass of wine in hand. His eye is quite swollen this morning,but I haven't given him anymore pain relief. He's a tough little mite....... Peter fed the kids and started with our dinner, chopping and prepping. I had bought these two racks of lambs over two pay days as they were so hideously expensive. I thought eye fillet was expensive, that is until you pay $32/kg for rack of lamb. There wasn't a skerrick of fat on it. The dinner was to die for. The meat was marinaded in chilli sauce, fish sauce, garlic, mint, and left in the fridge for a few hours. The sauce was chopped fresh mint, palm sugar, rice venegar, lime juice, garlic and chilli. Then I made Sweet potato rosti. We had a party for two, and didn't eat until about 11pm. I had also made a Caramel tart for dessert which with whipped cream is the most decadent easiest dessert you can possibly make....... It was a fabulous evening, we had a great night. Awesome food, awesome company, awesome music.......and awesome other stuff, which will remain private......perfect night!! (I knew you'd be wondering why we didn't eat until 11pm!!!)

Much to the disbelief of everyone in my family, I was up bright and early and headed out to church. Billy-Joe came too, which was pretty good. Barbi led worship at the Church of Christ and the service was nice.......and I was soooooo tired. But would never have forgiven myself if I hadn'at gone, I have always wanted to go back and said I might go back one day, if Barbi leads worship again.....I came home, had brunch, and then dozed for a few hours. I have finished my novel I was reading too, and now have sat downt o write some emails and post here..........

I will update my food blog if you are interested in the recipe.....

Happy Valentines Day

It's always a special evening in our house. I bought Peter a yummy bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and a tin of chocolate covered brazil nuts which he will love and I have to promise not to eat on him........ He came home this morning to help me carry the groceries inside, and said he wanted me in a negligee when he got home........ I don't have any - which he knows. Goodness knows what he would buy if he actually went and got me some. It wouldn't fit for starters because the man has rose coloured glasses where I am concerned and wouldn't buy it big enough. I bought myself a bottle of sparkling shiraz, normally kept for Christmas, but I felt like something different and didn't feel like champagne perse........ and sparkling shiraz is delicious. Cold bubbly and with that beautiful dryness that you can only get from a shiraz mmmmm For dinner I went and bought these chicken things the butcher makes which are delicious and effortless. It's chicken with spinach and cheese and puff pastry. They've made it ina roll, and you buy it by the slice. It cooks in about half an hour and is delicious. Something premade that's actually really really good. I am just going to have some beans, broccoli, carrots and potato with it. Nice easy dinner, with maximum flavour, I like that.

I worked yesterday, so the drought has broken. They rang me today and booked me for more days in April and May, so at least I know that's coming up. They spread the days out over several weeks, and made it a contract, which means the money won't be as good as a normal TRS day (About $90 per day less), but I am not in a position to knock it back, so gratefully accepted it........ It felt so good knowing that it was starting up again. Now I just have to hope it continues so that I can meet all my obligations. Currently we are paying for food out of the 'extra' money that Peter earns, and that's not something we've ever done before. I tried so hard to keep the shopping down in price today, and managed to reduce it a little, but boy I was scungy and frugal...... My groceries are usually around $220 - $240 per week. That includes two bottles of wine, today I managed to do the whole lot for just under $200 and that included the wine (not the present wine) and the chicken from the butcher. We normally go and get extra stuff during the week too, maybe some milk, and some vegies if we are cooking something special on Saturday night, but the last few weeks, we have been making do with what we have home.

I have to go and pick up the kids shortly, they are at after school care, so gives me a little breather on a Thursay - don't have to race out at 2.30pm to pick them up. It's been raining on and off again today, so I need to be quick in between downpours.....

A quiet rainy one

I have lived here 18 years, and this is the wettest I have ever known it. I know we are supposed to have a 'wet season' every summer and that's normal, and it's something we don't normally have. I hate rain........don't mix me with water, unless it's self inflicted via a shower or a swim. I hate getting my hair wet. I spend time doing my hair every day, and even put on makeup, so I hate getting wet, probably what I hate more than getting my hair wet, is that I get cold. Nothing worse than getting into a car - wet- and having to put the a/c on because otherwise the windows would fog up, and I am sitting there in a singlet top nearly freezing my ninnies off....... On the upside there's nothing more conforting then having my kids and me all sitting here watching TV, playing the gameboy reading or whatever in our jammies at 4.15 in the afternoon, and the rain is pouring down and we are all home safe, comfortable and dry, and a yummy chile con carne is cooking on the stove top. Only downside is Bunny is still out working, although apparently this afternon he is under cover which is good for a change.

I woke up this morning with a sore throat and whopping headache, so, after I dropped the kids to school, had a couple of panadol and my breakfast, I headed off back into my nest. Spent an hour and a half just dozing and felt better for it when I got up. I spent the rest of the day dusting, tidying, and clearing out junk which I just collect. I also did my exercises that my physio has given me to do. I feel better in the legs this morning, although the hip flexor exercises hurt, I don't hobble everytime I get up from a sitting position.

I made pikelets again for afternoon tea, and they were better than yesterdays....... Bunny will be happy to know I made extra for him.

I had a Mac OS X update to do today.Thank goodness I had increased my broadband plan as it was 340MB worth of Leopard updates.......

Spoke to my parents today which was nice. They are housesitting, and horse and dog and bird and cat sitting for my brother and his wife while they are on holidays. I can't believe how much I am missing them. Not that I see them all the time, just knowing they are away is weird......

Planning and healing and hurting

I've had a good day today, I was productive too, which is always a good feeling. I didn't need to do any housework which is always nice for a change - well that's if you don't include the washing, cleaning out the linen cupboard, cooking dinner, making pikelets for afternoon tea, emptying the dishwasher and cooking dinner as housework lol.......

In the morning I put together some of the kids' story books and searched and printed off some activities that I could do if I was ever to get called into the special school. I had my name down with them two years ago, even did volunteer days, and never got called in, even though they were happy with me. I need to go back and remind them that I am still interested. I know there are teachers who are going on leave and who are pregnant, so I may have a chance.

At noon I had my physio appointment and I was so glad for it. I am still in quite a lot of pain, even though I know she is helping. I walk out of there feeling so much freer and the pain is gone.......it's now dinner time and I had to take some Panadol as I am feeling quite sore. She gave me more exercises which I have done, and she also did acupuncture while I was there. Every time I get up to walk, my legs feel really sore, and then it takes a few steps and they don't feel too bad. I hope she fixes me........

Monday afternoon homework is always quite an onerous task. Thankfully Billy-Joe does his with little help from me, but the other two needs loads of help. Mickey needs assistance with reading, Sammy is great there, his reading is fantastic. Actually he has no problem completing his homework at all, it's just like pulling hen's teeth, as his concentration levels are kaput........ We always get there in the end though....thank goodness. They are all very responsible and love to do all their homework in one afternoon instead of spreading it out over the whole week. This means we only read on the other afternoons, but I know it's all done.....

Dinner is really easy, Billy-Joe is at scouts and we are having Honey and Mustard Chicken Tonight, I can't help myself though I had to add more salt, garlic, more seeded mustard and I added some corn too. I hate plain food, in hindsight I should have made the green curry which was my other option for tonight. I just didn't want to be in the kitchen all afternoon. Bunny has take Billy-Joe to scouts and will be home shortly.

It's Valentines Day on Thursday, always a special day for us. Unfortunately my financial status deems that I can't buy anything......... I may just end up getting a nice bottle of wine I think.

Am finding peace.......

One of the wonderful things of this life, is that one can always improve oneself. I try so hard all the time, to try and be a better wife, better mother, better friend, even a better stranger. I do want to make a difference. I want to be gracious and kind....... I am caring and loving and fiercely loyal to those close to me, but I want to be better. I also want to lose or decrease the amount of stress in my life. These are my main foci, for this lifetime.

For my birthday Barbi gave me a beautiful book called "Peace for the Woman's Soul', it's a Christian based book, based in bible readings, but what I love about it are the inspirational insights written by 'normal' Godfearing people...... I get lost in the Bible, I can't make sense of all the way they write, and this book is easy to read, and very very soothing....... So, combined with that, and the wonderful power of prayer, I think I am starting to make inroads, and am becoming the person I knew I could always be.

As a foundation, I need to rely on what I have. I have a small family and a small circle of friends, all whom I love deeply. They have all brought something special into my life and enrich it daily. Who am I without them? So why don't I try to make myself better for them?

School's gone back, mayhem (or the level of mayhem that I allow) is back. But I am going about my daily chores/responsiblities with a grace and a quiet love which has been awesome for me, for my kids and last but not least for my blood pressure.

I love my family and I love for them to have things 'just right', and while I am not one of those mothers for whom the children (and husbands) thinks is a door mat, I am happy to make my family's life rich and full of all the 'motherly and wifely' influences that I can give them. Let's face it, that's what they will remember when they are all grown up. I want them to remember a Mum who loved them deeply, taught them, cooked for them, laughed with them, helped them, talked to them, protected them, nutured them..........that's what I want them to remember.

I am, and always will be a works in progress in more ways than one.

Back to School, but not for me yet.

My kidlets went back to school last week, and are having a great time. Billy-Joe has entered year 7 with a great attitude - I am so very proud of him. Sammy was reluctant but is very happy now, and Mickey is just permanently happy and seeks delight in all things.

I am about to head out to see a JP and get my copied university degree certified, so I can put in my application to do supply teaching with Catholic Education. I have put this off for quite a while, and have decided that working at the kids' school would be fantastic. I would love to work in an education system which is faith based, plus I love the ethos of a small school, and working in my kids' school in particular would solve some child care issues. I am also planning on driving out to Cooroy and introducing myself there. I want to drive down and see how long it takes, I always make a recognizance mission before I decide whether or not I want to work there. I have worked there before, but it's about 14 years ago, when I was the Vacantaion Care and After School Care Coordinator. The road is different now, but it's still a fair distance.

Dinner tonight is Roast Pork, with Crunchy (as the kids call it). Should be yummy. I have to go and get some sweet potatoe and some normal potatoes. I will roast some pumpkin, onions and carrots.......mmmmmmm.

You still hold your brothers' hands, this will be the last year that you do this. I always so proud, every single morning as I watch you all walk up to the school steps together. It makes my heart sing.

My three beautiful boys, all in Billy-Joe's classroom.

Been Hurting Too Long

It's hard to believe that one can actually become blasé about pain ...........so much so that it becomes such a natural part of your life that you actually have work arounds, or management strategies for almost everything you do. I haven't been to the gym for ages, nor have I been dancing for ages either. There are several contributing factors, the main one, no expendable income at the moment, not wanting to go out of an evening and disrupting the whole family evening meal thing for the sake of my enjoyment, and the bottom line is I hurt too much to do either gym or dancing. I have had problems with my arms, since my last child was a baby. For a long time, when dh was home more, he did the vacuuming. I would only do it on rare occasions. I have been doing it again now for a long time, and my arms are just not coping anymore. I have dh come home to help me carry the groceries inside. When I need milk, I never buy 3L anymore because I can't carry it, not because it's heavy, but because I am in so much pain by the time I get the milk home (because of the weight, if that statement makes sense), it's not worth it. Everything I do hurts, lifting the frypan, lifting the pan full of cooking rice, even my handbag is hard to pick up..........and all that stuff should be easy. I also needed to get my legs looked at. I have to do several hip flexor exercises, sometimes even before I can go to sleep because the pain is so great. I walk a little, and every step hurts...... So today I but the bullet and decided to make an appointment.

The physio was great. My back was out, lower and upper and this was transferring pain to my arms and legs, and as the left side was worse than the right, that's why I had more pain in my left arm and my left leg. Pity the whole thing costs so much, but what cost is health? I will make sure I don't take so long to go next time.

I slept in the afternoon, the treatment took a bit out of me, and I thought I'd just lie down........and slept. And had a great night's sleep too.

Edited.....
I never did post this yesterday, so will just continue on today.

I woke up today, to yet another wet day. We have had a phenomenal amount of rain this summer, actually it's no summer at all, but I really don't mind. I hate it when it's stinking hot. It's a nice change and the garden just looks divine. I took a couple of panadol this morning as I felt a bit bruised, but my leg isn't twinging with every step I make, which is fantastic. I go back on Thursday, so will see how I progress. She said my arms will take a lot longer to heal, as it's kind of tricky resting two arms. She said one option was to put my worst arm in a sling, but I will just be a good girl and get Billy-Joe to help me out with heavy pans etc.

It's Shrove Tuesday today, and much to Mickey's delight, I went into school and helped cook pancakes. Can you believe it's only the second time I have ever gone to help at the school, and I actually enjoyed it. I do like being in the classroom, and it was nice being there as a Mum, although the Teacher did come out and got busy organizing and teaching as we went along, I can't help myself.

The highlight of my morning, though, was as I was leaving, Billy-Joe was in the office: he saw me and came running out and we chatted and walked together back to his classroom. You can imagine my absolute delight, when he leant forward and gave me a hug and a kiss goodbye...... He had a classmate with him, and yet, he was the same, loving and thoughtful boy - as always. I love you Billy-Joe.

Things I say

My friends have often commented on the fact that I have some unique ways of expressing myself.

One term I often use, but felt that it may be racist, so I try and stop myself from using it....... I would never be deliberately racist, but I thought I'd better check out the origon of what I was saying.

I often say, "I was running around like a navvy!" Meaning I have been extremely busy, I use this as an alternative for 'running around like a headless chook' but somehow the former phrase is my preferred one.

I looked it up and am happy that I can keep using it.....

Definitions of navvy on the Web:

a labourer who is obliged to do menial work. Originally, a laborer on canals for internal navigation; hence, a laborer on other public works, as in ...
www.artistwd.com/joyzine/australia/strine/n-2.php

drudge: a labourer who is obliged to do menial work
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Navvy is a shorter form of the word 'navigator' and is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navvy

Goodbye Falcon

I felt quite ill all day today. I like how I cope with stress, but I hate how I react physiologically to these kinds of things. My head copes well, the rest of my body, including my heart and my stomach, don't do so well. I lay in bed last night, it was nearing midnight and my heart was racing and I had that awful sense of anticipation and trepidation within me. I knew deep down inside that we had the right decision, but on the surface, I was questioning myself. I had a memory that the car was quite oldish looking, that it didn't even have carpet on the floors. I was sad that there weren't electric mirrors and that it felt 'big' to sit in.

All I can say, is that I wish I could have picked it up before 4pm today, I could have saved myself some anguish. I was sitting in the finance guy's office with my mouth so dry, I couldn't speak properly....... I had taken photos of my car in the morning, and felt I needed to do that, I needed something to remember it by. The kids were great, and humoured their scrapbooking Mama. I even got Billy-Joe to take a photo of me sitting in it.

After I had signed the paper work, I had to sit and wait - but coudn't relax, so I stood up and watched the traffic going by, and then with a start realized that my new car was just outside the window. I had already walked past her twice and hadn't even noticed her...... I just thought all the 'good, new' cars were out there, and that mine was hiding out back somewhere. I was so surprised, the car looked fabulous, all shiny and new, I suddenly lost the sick feeling and felt rather excited, which was probably all that I was feeling, before, but now I could let myself be excited and I didn't worry anymore.

I drove it up to show my Mum and Dad, and they liked it, and, like me were surprised at how big it was and laughed that I didn't think it had any carpet inside.....

I hopped in the car to go and pick up my kidlets from holiday care.......and couldn't start the thing. Nothing I could do made the motor even turn over. Dead! Dead as a Dodo bird!!! I shut the door, turned off the radio, turned off the a/c, made sure my seatbelt was on............but nothing!!! I went upstairs and rang Toyota, and was assured that the mechanic would ring me shortly, he was currently on another call. I went back downstairs and waited for the call. Dad was busy reading the manual and I sat back into the car and started pushing more buttons...... Lo and behold, it started! I had somehow managed to immobilize the car, by inadvertently triggering it's security system. Well, you can only imagine my happiness when it started.......it could only happen to me!!!

Not only is the car shiny and new, it has carpet, it also has electric side mirrors which I just love, and it has cup holders which the falcon didn't have. The middle seat belt in the back was a proper belt too, so I didn't need the harness belt for Billy-Joe. The boot is huge and it drives really nicely. I have my frangipani steering wheel cover on, and some of my bits and pieces, and it feels like my car.....

I look forward to driving her again, and I know I won't cringe the next time I go to the bowser.

My New Car

I actually am posting this out of order. Better late than never.

I don't regret many things in my life - thankfully even from the not so good things I have done I have always come out wiser and stronger.

I do regret a little that nearly five years ago we bought a new car and we bought a Falcon Station Wagon. I love that car. I still have a soft spot for them. Twenty years ago, I had one, I just loved it. It was my one and only new car. It was awesome. They are so easy to drive and so comfortable. I lost that one however, when my marriage at the time dissolved. I have always hoped for another.......

We bought the Falcon, with all the right motives. We wanted a car for our growing family, something comfortable and large enough, so that when we go away, we have enough room to pack all our stuff. We have only been camping a few times, it didn't turn out quite the holidays I had anticipated, so our holidays have become a week in a unit - that's a holiday for me.

I drive my car a lot. I spend most of it driving around town, and driving to work, which is a fair distance away, but hilly and windy - not really the kind of road one needs a six cylinder vehicle for.

This week the local Toyota Car Yard had a big sale on, and they stipulated on their brochure which was mailed to me, that they had cars from $6990. The salesman was very helpful but failed to show us anything under $10000.

Anyway, turns out the vehicle that was cheap, was their drawcard and that's the one we ended up buying. It's a Toyota Camry, perfect condition with one owner.

We pick it up on Tuesday.

I hope it's a good car, at least as good as the Falcon has been. The Falcon was needing some work done, it had couple of car park dings, and it needed four new tyres, it also needed some attention to small spots of rust coming through. The front end also needed some work. So we have a new old car and a new debt.

I am looking forward to cheaper fuel costs and also cheaper insurance and registration. What I save can go toward the payments. I will miss my big car, with all it's power, but this new one will be much more practical......

I will get some new frangipani stickers for the back window and will buy some new seat covers, black ones with pink frangipanis....... It will be a 'JennyCar' soon enough.....

Australia Day Weekend

I decided that this Australia Day would not go uncelebrated. I think that as a nation we are far to lax about praising the wonderful country where we live. Actually as a nation, generally the patriotism is only shown during a cricket match, or some other high profile sporting event. Rather pathetic I think. We do live in a wonderful place and I wanted to let this weekend go with something to remember.

So we did.

We celebrated with our bestest friends - my parents and we had a ball. Peter and I got into the spirit of things and decided to dress in bright unmatched outfits with hats, and even the kids made sure they wore hats, even indoors. My Dad, not to be outdone, got Mum's beach hat out of the car, and never mind that it was white with pink trim, he stoically wore it all afternoon, much to Mum's chagrin. We had fun, we laughed lots, drank some fabulous Australian wines and ate some fantastically tasty Australian food. I marinated some chicken tenderoins, and skewered them, we had lamb chops, and Mum made her infamous marinated pork spare ribs. Mum made her yummy coleslaw and I made a green tossed salad with kalamata olives and sundried tomatoes, and we had the Australian touch of beetroot, tinned corn, and some mexican bean mix for good measure. Peter bought me a bottle of Jim Barry's Riesling and it was absolutely delicious - I was quite sad to learn it wasn't a $10 bottle! Unfortunately it cost $16 so I won't be getting another in a hurry.

I love my Mummy dearly with all my heart!

Me with my four beautiful boys.

My middle boy - Sammy.

My Mum and Dad with his 'cute' hat.

Sammy and his Oma

All dressed up for Australia Day.

Friendship

I had this post floating around in my head yesterday, and I didn't get to it. I did scrapbook though, which was great fun, and I will put a photo of the layout on the bottom of this post.

I went scrapbooking on Friday night as per usual. I was excited because not only was Barbi going to be there, but my dear friend Karen, had promised that she would be there too, come hell or high water. You can imagine how perplexed I was when she smsed me during the day to tell me that Geoff had fallen, and had a suspected broken ankle. Neither of us were very sympathetic as we knew this would seriously thwart our plans. But she was strong, and, maintained, that if she were in that predicament, he would still go to work and leave her to contend with the four kids. So she did, left him with his crutches close by, Karen had put the baby to sleep and she could come out and 'play'. During the course of the day I had been in touch with my other dear friend, and asked her if she would come, seeing as she was still on holidays, and I knew the late night wouldn't be a hassle as she could sleep in the next day, rather than have to front up to work.

I just had the best night. I just felt so lucky, to have spent the night with my three best friends. I made myself leave at 2am!! I could easily have kept scrapbooking, even Suzy, who normally flags earlier, could have kept going. We just chatted and chatted and chatted. We talked about everything, laughed lots, and just enjoyed being together. We ate dinner together and drank cups of tea together, and even did a little scrapbooking together as well. Those nights are so precious to me. They don't happen often enough, where we are all together - so I will treasure that night for a long time. For those hours, I can relax - totally and utterly relax. I can be myself - 100% me, just normal me, not mummy me, not wifey me, not housekeeper me, just me - Jenny - complete and in my element. I don't stress about anything, I don't need to worry about anything, not my weight, not how much money I don't have, not about the work I don't have, not about the things that are falling apart at home (as in physical things, not emotional things), I don't have to please anyone, rouse on anyone, or clean up! Those seven hours just went by in a flash! Being around those amazing women, is like taking a tonic, only works much quicker and is more pleasant to take. They are inspiring and have such uplifting personalities. I woke up the next morning feeling like I'd had a mini holiday. Even though I had had such a late night, I felt good in the morning, it was like a lingering glow was on my heart from all their laughter. We talked about sadness too, as Karen has just lost her Dad, but it was all grounded in a comfortable companionship which just enabled it to be therapeutic for us all rather than distressing - a true sign of friends listening and being there for each other.

I am lucky, truly blessed. I have a family that loves me, parents that love me, a husband that loves and adores me, and the best girl friends a woman could ask for.

I am back with a face lift

I have finished with my .mac experiment. After I received another email yesterday that my link didn't work, after I had already fixed it twice, I decided that the service Apple were offering just wasn't good enough. Plus I tried to sub to myself using bloglines to see how the blog came up, and I letters were substituted for symbols making the (new) title of my blog unreadable as anything that's bears a resemblance to a word. I had photos attached to all these posts too, but they required more work than just 'copy and paste, so at this stage I haven't updated the pics.

I have another post I want to upload, from yesterday plus I have a new post floating around in my head.

Thanks for persevering with my moving around..........

The glass is always half full

I have used that thread name somewhere down the line before. But it’s something I remind myself of often, and generally I am pretty good at thinking that way.

Yesterday, I was becoming more and more frustrated about the fact I couldn’t develop a new workflow! How hard can it be? It’s a brand new, beautiful computer, you aren’t daft, you should be able to figure it all out.

Thank goodness for the internet, user groups and forums. They have given me a wealth of information. I learnt yesterday, that even if I create a document in Word for Mac, I need to add the .doc file ending to the file, so it can open in Barbi’s PC - opens fine in my PC and my Mac, but not hers........I wish these things were easy to explain.

So today, I decided to focus on the positives of this awesome machine rather than focussing on its shortcomings. I read lots of posts about the great things that Leopard can do, and I felt my feelings toward the computer changing again. In between my day’s jobs of washing, changing beds cleaning the bathroom, unloading the dishwasher, playing junior monopoly, keeping kids happy, I was able to develop a new workflow.

>view photos in finder, using quicklook to enlarge image. This is much better than using iphoto as I can’t open another application from iphoto, but I can from finder. The browsers for viewing images in all the programs I downloaded were so inadequate in this area, as the images were all too small, and when you take many many photos of the same thing, it’s really hard to select the one you want when you can’t see them properly. The answer was right within Leopard itself, so I was very pleased
>Pixelmator most probably
>Duplicate image (save as)
>adjust levels
>Save images in one folder, use filename to give size required for printing.
>Use EasyCrop to resize images, and enable cropping of distracting backgrounds

Voila..........sounds a little longwinded,but I think it will work quite well.

Dinner tonight was a delicious Green Curry. It was quite spicy, so the kids ate bread with their’s as well as I didn’t give them much sauce.

I had some Christmas pudding for dessert, (it came in the Chrisco) which I shouldn’t have eaten, because I am beginning to look like one.......

Game of Life

Today’s been a good day. A continuation of this wonderful relaxing time. Last night at scrapbooking was great fun. Barbi and I had KFC for dinner which was a change from our routine Thai dinner. I actually did a layout last night.

My darling man is getting better at handing over the money. I was most impressed, and pleasantly surprised - actually he’s been great the whole holidays. He knows my income is down to virtually nothing, so I have no expendable income.This time last year, he really struggled with me having to ask for money. He was such a tightarse that it was almost humiliating for me to ask for money. I like my own funds, my own bank account and I don’t want to rely on anyone for my financial independence. I was bitten once, very very badly, and that will never ever happen again. During the year he’s really worked hard to be more appreciative of what I do with ‘my’ money and therefore is generous when I ask him for money. It works both ways. He can’t just take for granted all the things my income buys and pays for without giving in return - and he knows I appreciate it very much. So anyway, I did digress there a little. He came home from a job he had to do this morning and I knew he’d gotten paid. I have money put away now for the kids stationery and books, and I said I wanted to look at some new board games for the kids, plus Billy-Joe needed some new shorts. I am very lucky with kids’ clothes as I get so many hand me downs, but sometimes it’s nice to have something new to wear.

I got the kids Junior Monopoly which they have already played. My kind of game.....nice and quick but still fun. Billy-Joe enjoyed it, and Sammy liked it too. I also picked up a Connect 4 type game that Mickey really likes. I wanted the new ‘Game of Life - Twists and Turns’ but Toyworld was sold out, but I got it at an online store. By the time I added in freight it cost the same as Toyworld, so I decided to get it now rather than wait until maybe the end of the month. If this wet weather is going to start again, it would be good to have new games.
I also bought a new image editing program. Finally I have found one that will certainly tide me over until I can get Photoshop Elements 6. It was $AUD71 which isn’t free, but does everything I need a program to do. Who knows I may not even need PSE6. I bought the program from here .

Love these rainy, lazy, quiet days

The photo above is from playing in Photo Booth, as you can see the kids love the little inbuilt camera in the mac, and I get to play with all the wonderful little effects. I played with GraphicConverter a little more today, and I love how it edits, but can’t find the crop tool where I have all the control. There’s another program called Phoenix Slides which I will download late tonight. I have used over 70% of my usage allowance and I am only about 50% through my account period. I barely ever go near my limit, but this is the second month now since I have gone too close. Optusnet, slows my speed down that it makes internet browsing near on impossible. I don’t get charged for the extra, but I can only really use it for emails. I hope I remember to download the program during my off peak times, which is from midnight to midday the next day.

The rain seems to have stayed away today, but it’s still cool and overcast. Blissful, compared to what we are normally experiencing at this time of the year. Bunny has finished painting the verandah, and it looks fabulous - can’t wait for him to be able to start the front.

The kids are happy and are continuing to behave fantastically well. Today they even have their heads out of the gameboys/playstation/computer/nintendos.......and have spent nearly all day playing a WWE DVD board game. It’s quite heartwarming seeing Billy-Joe teach his younger brothers how to play the game. He will sleep well tonight, as he has been kept busy, organizing, paying out the money, counting out the money, reading all the questions and generally keeping the two younger ones under control. I take my hat off to him. Sometime he can be so mean, but today, he has done a fantastic job.

I have watched my first DVD of the Prison Break episodes. I was up late last night watching it. Love it, couldn’t believe that my little ipod would give such a crystal clear image for movie viewing. I never did get that people want to buy TV series on DVD, but I have never been so fascinated with a show before either. I have already filled in gaps, which make the whole thing make more sense. I still have so much to go. Can’t wait for season 3 to come out on DVD and for Season 4 to commence on TV.

Yesterday after many months of putting up with a sore neck and shoulders from my tired pillow, I went out and bought a beautiful latex contour pillow. My old pillow was a good one from a physiotherapist, but had become too flat, and needed replacing. I had been putting it off, because the new one’s I was eyeing off were around $100. I went into the store yesterday and didn’t actually like the $100 ones, so came away feeling quite smug because I’d found an $82 one which suited me just fine. The lady was very helpful and took it out of the packet, put a ‘bluey’ on it and then laid it onto the massage table so I could try it. I didn’t sleep too badly on it last night, but know it will take a few nights to become really comfortable. I know the last pillow took me nearly a week..........I don’t think this one will take as long.

Might head off and have a shower. Barbi is waiting for me, and is always anxious when the weather is crappy, because she knows I hate going out in the rain.

I wonder what we will have for tea. Not sure if I feel like Thai. I am trying to eat better.......at least all my baking is gone.

New Year's Resolution

I don’t make make resolutions generally at this time of the year, although I do think about things I’d like to concentrate on, which in some ways is the same thing I guess, but without the pressure from when things go awry.

I am going to be more organized. Now from a week to week I am very organized. My bestest friend, who is also the least organized domestic goddess I know, laughs at how organized I am. Normally at this stage I have all the kids’ school uniforms ironed - well before term starts, actually last year I had them all done before Christmas!! She laughs when I tell her that I have my meals worked out, working with my latest food magazine (A good Taste, or Good Food Ideas). I go to bed at night and get everything ready for the next day. Cereal bowls, spoons, cereal container out, lunch boxes out with biscuits and stuff already packed. The lunches are made up a week ahead and frozen and Billy-Joe gets them out in the morning. If I know I am working, I organize my lunch too, and get my plunger and travel mug ready, so I can drink decent coffee on the way to work. I try to do most of my housework during the week, so that I don’t have it all for the weekends. I try to do half of the ironing during the latter part of the week, so I don’t have to do it all on the weekend. I hate knowing I have to iron on a Sunday.

So, today, I bought a new ‘We are waiting for Santa’ sign, as our original one, rotted -and they were half price at the junk shop. I also got wrapping paper for next Christmas too. I also bought dh’s Valentine’s Day card already, as I try to make them but that doesn’t always happen, and then I end up picking one which is the best of a bad bunch. At least today I got a beautiful card with many many to choose from. I wanted to buy a new diary too. I got a lovely one for Christmas, but it’s not practical for me, as I like a week for view, and this is two days per view. (A page per day), and I need to be able to see the whole week. I wanted to have a look at the Women’s Weekly diary, but it was sold out before Christmas............who is that organized that they buy them before the year end??? I did see a couple that I liked, but I will wait. Thankfully they are not as dear as they once were either. I can remember paying around $30 for a diary in the early 90’s. The one’s I liked to day were around $7-$15 - pretty cheap.

The kidlets are at holiday care today, much against their chagrin. I disdecorated the Christmas tree this morning, so now my lounge is back to normal. Hopefully said kidlets won’t protest overly much. They weren’t putting the lights on anymore, and my cramped lounge was becoming annoyingly so, so I decided it was time to put it away.

I bought some chicken thigh fillets today, and have a Yellow Curry in the crock pot. It’s so cool here, (while my southern counterparts are stewing!!) so I have decided to cook a meal usually saved for a winter’s night. I have bought some pappadums too.

I have spent some time, working out how to get my delicious Prison Break DVDs onto my ipod. This whole mac thing changes everything, but that was something I’d never tried before, as I don’t own anything that I’d care to watch on my ipod. That is until now. I downloaded a program called ‘Handbrake’. Three hours later, and voila I had a version I could import into my itunes. After I deleted a few songs to make room for the DVD so it could fit lol....... I sat and watched a bit and was amazed at the clarity of video and sound - fantastic. I have already watched the first episode and its’ starting to fill in some gaps already.

As I am very sad that I don’t have access to Photoshop Elements on my new computer, I have decided to hunt around for something temporary. I downloaded Apple’s Aperture.........accckkkkkk, pity I didn’t check to see how much it would cost after the trial finished before I downloaded it and put strain on my already high usage for this month’s broadband!!! It looks like a program I could like to use, but at $450 it’s not that good. I will hang out for Elements. I did download a program called Acorn, which looks fantastic, so might help me out until I can get organized properly. I want to get started editing all my Christmas photos, otherwise they will pile up too quickly.

Happy New Year

We spent New Year’s Eve with just our family. I made a really yummy dinner. We had chicken schnitzel crumbed with a yummy seasoned crumb mix, I made a potato salad, a cucumber salad and we had tomato supreme as a sauce on the schnitzel. It was a very German meal, accompanied with a german (I think) champagne which is my absolute favourite.

We slept in this morning, gosh I love not having to be anywhere and just being able to clean, tidy, and then please myself. I am enjoying cooking for enjoyment and taste and not worrying about dieting, although I know that will have to change very soon.

I have just put on a pot of chilli, and I got Billy-Joe to help. I make the seasoning from scratch and he thought it was pretty cool seeing all the things that really went into making the delicious flavours. I will serve it with guacamole and corn chips - I don’t have any sour cream and don’t see my chances of getting any on New Year’s Day.

Bunny is outside painting under the verandah. The only place where the rain isn’t able to get to. It’s a pity we couldn’t have got the house finished, ah well there’s always another opportunity. Just I know my husband, and I have to strike while the iron’s hot so to speak. I have to get him while he is feeling motivated, so the rain isn’t a good thing at this stage. At least we have bought the paint, that’s a step in the right direction.

My .macexperiment, I am not sure how it’s travelling at this stage. So far it’s definitely easier, but I want to see blogs of others to see what else is possible. Mine is a very simple one thus far.

The people on my mac users group are a very friendly and helpful bunch, and so far all my queries have been assisted.

Will upload and publish and see what happens now.

Arrggghh, I can’t work out how to just put a photo in the midst of my text..........

A .macExperiment

I am trying out the new .mac facility. I want more flexibility with my blog and I want my photos and blog to be able to ‘speak’ to one another. So this is part of a test which I will run for about the next month to see whether or not I will switch my blogger blog over to this one.

I have much to learn though, as far as my mac goes and of course this new .mac stuff.

Yesterday afternoon I spent quite a bit of time playing around with photos, trying to create a collage so I can use it on my posts. I finally did it using a tool found on http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/

I am not sure of the colours on this blog as yet. I can’t even seem to find where to pick my font, and as you can see, it’s just changed from a serif to a sans serif font, and I haven’t even knowingly done anything. I love that about computers, never a dull moment lol......

Broken Link

Thanks Chris for letting me know that the link was broken to my other blog.

I will continue to 'play' over there, until I work out where I want to 'reside'. I can always copy and paste everything back here, if I decide to stay.

You can come and visit me over Here

An Apple Experiment

I just wanted to invite you to come over and have a look at my 'trial' blog. With the purchase of my new beautiful awesome imac, I got a trial for .mac which among many useless things, (to me) offers an easy blog and album publishing system.

I would like to invite you to come on over and have a look, leave a comment if you wish. At this stage I don't know if I will change over or not. I'm rather attached to this blog, but a change might be nice too.

Come on over and visit me here

I wish all my readers, commenters and lurkers alike, a very Happy New Year. I wish you a 2008 filled with love, joy and happiness.

My Photo Post

My creation, originally uploaded by Jazzmin.

Productive Days

In between making my cake, biscuits, chutney, stuffing, truffles, gift cards, Christmas card newsletters, wrapping gifts, and the normal day to day cleaning/washing/tidying/cooking, I have realized that I have achieved a lot this week.

I have also managed to go out a few times, had my hair done, spent hours with my bestest friend, chatting, eating dinner and chatting until well after midnight last night. Last night was fantastic, not only was it good because she'd been away, and I was happy to have her back - we were the only ones in the store!! One lady came to shop and a couple of other ladies, came chatted, shopped and then said they would let Barbi have an early night. So we got virtually the whole night to ourselves - bliss!!

I should log, on a daily basis what I actually achieve. It's not until someone emails me and says 'what have you been up to?' that I take a moment to recap and realize with amazement that I have done an awful lot. I am feeling very smug at the moment. It's also a strong reminder, that my medication is helping me do all this. The last few months have been a stark contrast to the previous several. I am so thankful that I took stock of where I was at, and that I did something about it!

Today I have also scrapbooked a layout. I even got my sewing machine out for this one.
The photo is Mickey in his safety gear after he got his scooter and gear for his birthday in July of this year, with Sammy hugging him from behind. I haven't actually journalled on this layout, because I have already journalled the fact that he got the scooter in another layout, but I loved the photo and didn't want it going unscrapped!

My Christmas Menu

High Tea
Served at Midday on Christmas Eve
Vanilla Kipferl
Linzer Augen
Rich Christmas Cake
Chocolate Fruit Mince Truffles
Chocolate Dipped Stars
Stollen



Dinner
Roast Rolled Turkey with Fig and Hazlenut Stuffing
Cranberry Chutney
Roast Potatoes
Roast Sweet Potatoes
Roast Pumpkin
Roast Onions
Balsamic Glazed Carrots
Peas with Mint and Garlic
Warm dinner rolls

It's beginning to feel like Christmas

It took me an hour and a half to wrap and label our gifts today. I am nearly finished, still have a couple to finish wrapping. I have them all safely stowed away. I have never had them done this early before.

Dancing is on tonight, and I haven't decided whether to go or not. I want to go, but I don't want to go. It's a Christmas supper afterwards too. I know I will be happy when I get there, it's just the thought that I don't like. Plus I hate going out when it's raining, and it's been threatening rain all day long.....so far there's nothing though. Last night we had quite heavy rain. The grass is growing like mad. Dh will have to cut it before the red suited one arrives, so the yard looks nice. I am getting my hair done tomorrow. I have to get the colour re done, might do something different as it looks too close to my natural colour (pre kids). Mickey is going shopping with my parents tomorrow. Billy-Joe will go to a friend's house, and I will get my hair done at my sister in law's place. Sammy will enjoy being on his own, playing with is cousin.

I might still do some baking. I have truffles on my list and I also might make some more biscuits, just a small batch though. I have enough sweet stuff in the house to sell. As it's Sammy's and my birthday on the 29th it certainly doesn't go astray.

I am still betwixt and between with my editing software. I can buy an academic version of Photoshop Elements 4 (Mac version) for about $100. The new one PSE6 (for which the release date hasn't been announced yet) will cost about double that........unless they have an academic version then it will be considerably cheaper. I am not sure how PSE4 will run on Leopard os x either.

I will go and get my kids soon, they are always really good when they have been out all day, as they are happy to be home, which is good.

Santa's elves, turn chaos into order!

Busy and happy

Gosh I am so happy that the school year is at an end. I am feeling busy, but relaxed and happy. A couple of times, though I have had the racing heart thing again - just like I did last year, but it's nowhere as bad. I have been making good use of ical and putting things down in the diary (I know Michelle, I hear ya!) and it's making me feel organized and not stressed. The Christmas cake is done, the Vanilla Kipferln are done, and today I made some shortbread stars half dipped into chocolate. My new kitchen is making everything a gazillion times easier. I can prepare the evening meal, and then just move over and roll out biscuits and have two trays out ready to take it - just heaven. I was thinking back to a few years ago, probably six years ago, our first in this house. I had the bright idea, (amongst others) that to make the Vanilla Kipferln really authentic I would make my own vanillin sugar, rather than buying it like I normally would. I had never done this before, so I got dh to buy the vanilla beans (poor boy nearly had a conniption when he saw how much they were), I cut them in half (I'd seen that on a cooking show) and then placed them into a Tupperware sieve (that had a base and a lid for storage) with icing sugar. This is where instructions would have been handy (or common sense) - as when I went to use the vanilla sugar, it was as hard as a rock!!!! I should have done it for maybe an hour or two, not a week lol......... So then I am trying to dust these hot biscuits with the Tupperware sieve when of course nothing came out. I bashed the container on the sink, because at this stage I had a crying baby on my hip........ Needless to say said container's lid and base fell off and I had icing sugar everywhere. At one stage I was dusting said biscuits with child on hip, vacuum cleaner on the floor and icing and crap everywhere..... I asked myself why am I doing this?? Back then, I did it mainly for my Dad, now I do it because I would not only have him to answer to, but it's become such a tradition, my whole family, especially my own kids just love them. So they remain a Christmas favourite. This year, however, after I have been making them for about the past 14 or so Christmases, they were quick and easy! No hassle at all, I finally have them wired, and my deluxe kitchen is just the best place for baking.

Like I have posted before, I am missing elements! I have found a widget though, that can resize my pics, so at least I can post them on my blog again. There is a facility within iphoto where you can upload photos to a blog or web page, I will investigate that further too. I am loving my imac, and learning much. I am also getting myself into stuff that I can't reverse, but I have always learnt best by my mistakes! I am so glad there are forums and groups out there where people are only too happy to help.

I have some photos. The boys at a girlfriend's house this morning. Just sitting down and being quite happy about having their photo taken. A scrapbooker's dream. I was complimented by a couple of the girls there how well mannered and lovely my boys were. I was very proud. They are such a handful and drive me around the bend nearly,but all the hard work and peristence on my part is well worth it when I get remarks like that. I thanked them for their great behaviour and said how nice it was to take them to someone's house. Billy-Joe noted that it was much better taking them to someone's house than a shopping centre - amen to that!! Tess had an above ground pool and the boys just had a ball. I didn't have to worry about them. There were other boys there, Tessie's two boys and yet they played with their own siblings.....strange.

My good friend Noeli from Springbrook was coming on Saturday, but he can't come now, hopefully he will come early in the New Year.







The yummy Vanilla Kipferln after they've just come out of the oven and are freshly dusted.

Pretty Trivia

Pretty toe nails

Pretty cards and candles


Sometimes it's nice to write about not much. Plus the fact that I now have a widget which resizes photos for me.

Visit to Santa

I am so lucky, that my three boys are still ardent believers of Santa.

I'll be back later with a photo. There's got to be a way of resizing the image for uploading.

Worked it out, thanks to a widget that does the resizing for me.

My beautiful boys with the lovely Santa at Myer. The photo isn't perfectly edited - am eager awaiting the release of Photoshop Elements 6 (for Mac) early next year before I can do much on them again. I can use the kids' computer, (my old one) if I get desperate.....

It's all apples

I haven't done much blogging, either writing or commenting in the last couple of days. I have been extremely busy.

I have crossed over to the dark side! I have left the PC camp and am now a proud iMac owner. I have been researching specs for a new computer for the last few months. My old PC was still fine, but the kids desperately needed one that had more grunt than the one my old PC Tech kindly built for me out of spare parts. It was so tediously slow. The kids would open Sims and then could just about have had a shower whilst waiting for it to open. Whilst my old PC isn't a gaming computer, the 1GB of RAM is enough to keep them out of mischief. I had planned to buy the new PC in the New Year, via Credit Card and cash payment - and paying it off very quickly.

I read various blogs and have always been interested in reading ones where the writer has loved the Macs. I know that people who have them, won't use anything else.I also know they are expensive, so I spent hours doing research on working out how it was better, and whether it would suit me. I am very lucky that my dh, although not at all tech savvy appreciates what I tell him and takes it all on board. He respects me and my judgement, so discussing the pros of a Mac with him was a positive experience. When I came home from scrapbooking late on Friday night, I still hadn't decided 100%. I had posted on Two Peas in a Bucket and knew that the Peas would have answered my post whilst I was out. They didn't let me down, and the replies were positive and encouraging. I had rung Myer during the day and the lady in IT told me that Myercard had an interest free offer going. I needed to do some more Christmas shopping, so went out Saturday afternoon. I'd talked briefly to dh that I may just come home with a computer if I liked what I saw, because at this stage I still hadn't seen an iMac in the flesh!!

I organized my Myercard and bought the iMac. I was served by a young guy who knew what he was talking about. I couldn't get the Academic discount, but he threw in a Canon printer and $30 discount off the Apple Care extended warranty.

Mum and Dad came and bought pizza for us and we all had a fun dinner with garlic bread and wine of course. Peter was absolutely exhausted - he works so hard everyday. He had worked that morning, and had had a late night the night before too. We all had fun, and the kids went to bed later than normal and Mum and Dad left not long after 8,30pm.

I started with the new iMac around 9pm and by just after midnight I had my new iMac going. I would have done it all much quicker, but I spent (wasted) time burning stuff onto Cds. Stupid thing spent nearly an hour doing something and then it told me it didn't work!!! The new iMac needed to install around 660MB of updates, so I left it doing that when I went to bed. At least that way it used my off peak allowance, so that was good.

The next day Bunny went to the PGA that I'd bought the tickets for. It was timely as I could spend the entire day guilt free......setting up the new computer. It's time consuming anyway setting up a new machine. My brother built me a computer about two PCs ago, and he was stunned when he saw it a day after he'd handed it over to me. He said he'd never seen a computer changed so much in such a short space of time. I like it all set up in a particular way.

I spent from 9am to midday just sorting out iTunes! I had to set up the old computer close to the new one, so I could share the ethernet cable. I hadn't deauthorized the old computer, which meant I couldn't authorize the new one with my iTunes account, and the iMac wouldn't recognize my ipod because of it. The kids were a bit of a handful during this time, as I had to take their 'new' computer back so I could do this. I would upload a photo showing the set up - I have worked out how to get my photos on to the iMac, but I don't know how to resize them for upload. I am waiting a few months for when Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac comes out and then I will be back in action as far as all my image editing goes. So for now I just have iPhoto.

By 5.30pm, I had managed to instal my saved bookmarks, installed my address book, and the music was playing out of the speakers too....... I went to bed around 9.30pm and I was quite weary. In the course of the day I'd also taught myself a lot about using a Mac. Even today I went onto the kids' computer and I was looking for things in the Mac spots.....so it won't take long at all.

I am pleased that I made the change, and I look forward to a long association with my iMac.

• 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 1GB memory
• 320GB hard drive¹
• 8x double-layer SuperDrive
• ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory

I also added Office for Mac, iWork and the Apple extended warranty.

Some Christmas Cheer

We put up the tree yesterday.......... It was fun, (kinda sorta) but boy it's hard work.
"now I have this pile here, please don't touch'
" no we aren't doing those yet, let's do these first'
' didn't I just say, to leave those things alone'
' no, I am putting those up'.

DIDN'T I JUST SAY I WAS GOING TO PUT THEM UP, LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!!!!

My husband kindly reminded me that in other countries they have egg nog, and that's what it's for - to drink while children are helping with decorating the tree.

Next year I will make some!

I always try a photo shoot in the middle of all this.............remember that phrase, 'Never work with animals or children' (They had my children in mind when that phrase was coined lol............

The good, the bad and the ugly.

I will start on the negative aspects of this post, as in the timeline of events, plus I like to finish on a positive note.

My teaching contract is up at the end of the year. I have enjoyed the security of knowing that I am to work two days per fortnight, with a set income I can count on, and when I do relief days it's the cream on top. I also knew that may not be renewed next year, but I was hopeful. If a contract is renewed, we get paid for holidays, which is fantastic. Alas, the contract was not renewed, so my income will cease over the holidays. That in itself is a concern, as I have averaged around $700 per fortnight, and that will go down to zero. Thank goodness for Centrelink. I have already paid ahead my utilities and some other payments, so that things are diabolical over the Christmas break. I hate not having any money - and I enjoy being independent and never having to ask dh for any money. Our incomes are kept separate with each our own responsibilities and spending money. This suits me very well. I was bitten badly with money in marriage #2 and really appreciate the ability to manage my own income....... This is all well and good for most of the year, just at Christmas time, it becomes a real issue. And, as no teachers are sick early in the term, it tends to continue till nearly Easter.................

So, as I said, I wasn't too shattered when I found this out, but what I was really pissed off about, was the fact that I wasn't told to my face. I actually read the finer points of the classes appointments for next year, (of which I would have been the choice) in the school newsletter and in a letter handed out to parents which I quickly perused before giving out to the kids!!! I came home on Friday night feeling quite low, and very much taken for granted. That emotion compounded with my feeling on Saturday morning that I was a single mother with three boys..........only exacerbated my feelings of being taken for granted. Dh came home and I said and chatted to him, and, as always felt much better. I am not taken for granted at home, but I just don't think anyone really knows what goes into making the home clean and comfortable. I seem to spend hours, and there's not much pay off at the end. Billy-Joe helps which is fantastic, and he knows that things aren't easy to do, so there's a healthy respect there now for what I actually do. The little ones are still in training, but they keep their rooms fairly respectable at all times, so no complaints there......

I know the nature of my job is thus
* haven't done country service so don't expect a permanent position on the coast EVER!
* if I put my name down at several schools I would have more work than I could do
* I don't cope with going to a new school at the drop of the hat. The ferals give me the irrits and I hate not knowing where everything is, and being on duty when you don't know exactly where to go, and the kids don't listen to you anyway
* It's just the nature of my job and I should just accept it.
* I get great money for being on call
* I get a little job satisfaction
* For relief days, I have no assessment or reporting, or planning

Okay, onto the positive aspects of my post.

I sold my stove!!!! Thanks to Michelle (private blog) who helped me give my listing a bit more pizazz and she also sat through the watching and waiting till the very end. I went out this morning to drop the kids at school and do a quick errand, when I came home and checked, I nearly fell off my chair............ They had gone beserk!! I got $420 for it, which Michelle pointed out, is what I initially wanted, plus it covers the useless ads in the paper and trading post. I am really pleased. Peter is giving it the once over tomorrow so it's spotless for the pick up. The inside looks great, the outside just needs another good wipe over........... Michelle and her advice and this great sale, has given me the confidence to put the kids' cot onto Ebay as well. I won't ever use the paper again. I have a heap of scrapbooking stuff I want to sell. That's very time consuming though, as it's all bits and pieces.

Chrisco arrived today, and I am happy with what I ordered. Having said that it was a bit like Christmas because I forgot what I ordered. There's enough frozen fish, and kids' quick meals to see us well and truly over Christmas and beyond. A lot of the stuff I don't buy during the year, so it's truly a treat. The tricky part was finding room for all the stuff. I reduced the amount of my order this year, thank goodness I did, as my freezers and pantry is full!!!