Feeling a little overrun right now....

I'm the only Admin person here this week. Although I enjoy the quiet, I'd much rather that she was here doing her own work!

You know, I'm beginning to think that I should probably just do away with the rest of my week. Nothing much happens, just the usual sleep / work cycle.

The weekends are what it's all about!

Thursday I picked up the Teen's dress for the Formal. The ladies in the shop love it. When she tried it on, they commented that she looked like a superstar. The woman who served me commented again that she looked stunning.

Since I couldn't pick up until around 5pm, I got to take the long bus ride home. Luckily the shop gave me a hanger and a 'suit bag' of sorts that I could pack it in. Do you have ANY idea how DIFFICULT it is to hang on to a dress in a suit bag when you are trying not to fall asleep?? Oh, and it was a different bus home too. Since I was going to the supermarket in the next 'burb, not home.

Friday morning I was on the usual bus and touring around the back end of our burb, picking up randoms. Well, maybe not so random - they were standing at bus stops. At one of the roundabouts, an army personnel carrier goes past. And another. And another. There goes our good taxpayer dollars at work. They must have been going out to the range for exercises. I got tired just thinking about it.

Friday. The work Christmas lunch. We went to the same place as we did last year. The German Club. The meals are fairly resonably priced. I guess. Most are around the $15 to $20 range. But the serves are generous. I am usually quite picky about where I sit at the table *alright I'm rather an ogre* and I didn't get to sit where I wanted. I bit my tongue and stayed where I was. The choices weren't that great and I couldn't really swap seats without looking obvious. I had ordered crumbed fish and salad with chips. It was a little overdone, but still palatable. I didn't finish it all, and the GTs down my end of the table were a little surprised. Ok, so I LOOK like I eat a lot... After lunch and a weak, non existent speech from the GM, most of the staff went back to work. A few of the diehards did not. I was the only female staffer left. One of the GTs noticed. Hey! You're still here *I THINK he was happy about that* and someone chimed in Yeah, but Sol is more of a bloke than she is a woman! That was SUPPOSED to be a compliment. But he is forgiven. *grins*

When I arrived home from work I discovered that the Teen would be staying home. I'm a little worried about the status of the relationship. There seems to be a male friend of Wogboys who seems intent on driving a wedge between the two of them. Whether he's doing it on purpose or just selfish I don't know. But I've noticed that a long time friend or two no longer appear on the scene, and even another friend is slowly disappearing from view. In fact, as far as I can tell, they are never ALONE anymore. I really really REALLY do not like people like that.

But where was I? Oh yes. She got home. And found out that her English teacher had been bugging MOTH about a missing assignment. I don't like that much either. These kids are nearly adults. They are old enough to think for themselves. Why do the teachers still think it's a parent's responsibility when the kids know perfectly well what the consequences are?

At any rate, MOTH told him there was no point asking him about it; he should be talking to me. I think Teacher was a little taken aback. MOTH doesn't beat around the bush these days.

As soon as Teen discovered the assignment was STILL IN HER BAG and she hadn't handed it in at all, she dived back to the school. Too late! She was upset and verging on tears of frustration. I emailed Teacher on Saturday morning.

Somewhere in there, a GF turned up. Teen modelled the Formal dress for her. BUGGER! One of the alterations had not been done. Luckily it wasn't a big one, but still I had paid for it. I would have to take the dress back.

Not long after, I encouraged her and the attendant GF to walk up to the shops. She wasn't impressed. However, by the time we arrived there she was feeling at bit better. Then I had a text from Sunny. What are you doing? Ummm wandering around the supermarket looking for food? Oh. Can I come over and bring some Passion Pop with me? Sure! Between the Teen, Sunny, GF and I we polished off 3 bottles of the stuff in short order.

A little later that evening, GFs other half and a couple of his friends turned up. Dunno where they came from! They didn't stay all that long when they decided to walk up to the shops. Sunny invited me along so we could have a sundae at Maccas. Yep, I'm in! We walked up. Left GF, Teen and the others at the shops. Sundae time with Sunny and I.

We collected the Teen on the way back, chattered for a while longer and then Sunny left. I crashed.

Saturday was a quiet recovery day. Till the evening. The Teen was going out. Again! Man, where do they get the energy? But with FatA this time. Next thing I know the GF turned up. Again. I don't really mind I guess, but boy this GF can sure talk about herself! The three of them went out. She told me Sunday afternoon that she had come home around 1am.

While she slept on, MOTH and I took off for an ex-GTs place for cake and coffee. There were a couple of other workmates there. The house - the small part of it I saw - is lovely. We wasted a couple of hours there, then decided to do the Walk. The walk along the mile, peering in windows, wishing and dreaming of all the things we can't have.

We did that for an hour. Until I could feel myself cooking and demanded it was time to give up. I think we'd covered half of it, both sides of the street.

I was tomato red *come on in dad, the water's boiling!* and in fact, still am. The lights here at work exaggerate it and I'm looking somewhat like a fire engine.

Sunday night, we talked, bullied, badgered Wogboy into coming over for a while. He wasn't going to; he had to do something for the PIA as mentioned earlier first. As always. He had dinner with us, stayed for a while then went home.

Today the dress is dropped off, and hopefully I remember to collect it Wednesday on my way home from work....

It's the final countdown!

Till the end of the year. Every year it seems to be going faster. And faster, as I spiral downward to the barely anticipated joys of old age.

Heh.

I've also just realised that the Teen has only about three weeks of school left. Forever. That's a huge step. Not that I'm going to wax philosophical, but wow. I feel so old!

Preparations a frantically underway for her Formal. I managed to purchase a dress for what I thought was a reasonable price; about $190 plus freight. Mind, it's going to cost $117 to have it altered! Each alteration on its own is quite reasonably priced; all together is a different story.

All in all, it's not a bad price for a Formal dress. She blithely informed MOTH and I while sitting at dinner the other day that one of her friend's parents have spent $800 on their daughter's Formal dress! *wonders what the really rich girl will be spending??*

I pick the dress up this Thursday. *fingers crossed the alterations turn out well*

The Teen and I are in discussions at the moment about monitoring the use of the phone plan. I think I mentioned that while she was away, she notched up a phone bill of astronomical proportions. Last month wasn't much better. It was better, but not much. We are now watching her fingers closely.....

We haven't had a chance to get out in the car much. My nerves still need calming. Timing is the problem. I can only manage when I get home from work. That borders on twilight and, she tells me, bad for her night vision. I think that option is still better than trying to get her up early. Teens are so not morning people!

The week was pretty cruisy; most weeks are. All the action happens on the weekend.

Friday it was Wogboy's turn to sleep over. He hasn't done that for a while because they usually go partying and go back to his place. Somehow or another he managed to bring Lion with him. *shrugs* Lion is quiet and polite, so I didn't mind.

Mum! Teen tells me. A friend from Gladdy is coming over. Oh, sure. No worries. I found out later he was bunking down as well. Huh. The noise in the yard increases. I look out. There are two extra girls and another boy out there. A friend of hers dropped by and brought two others with him. Before we knew it, it was an impromptu party.

She asked me to let her open the trick or treat lollies early. No! Why not? Because you had a party without permission. *grins* Pfft, Mum, it's a Gathering.... I thought about that. No, I said. A Gathering is a little food, conversation. Possibly some drinks. But no music. She laughed and took off outdoors.

For teens, they were remarkably good about noise. The Teen seems to rule her parties with an iron fist. The next morning, the Gladdy friend was up fairly early and finished off the tidy up that had been started the night before. He's welcome back!

Wogboy bought the Teen some new shoes. Plain canvas slip ons. She uses that boy and his wallet mercilessly. She decorated them ...

Saturday afternoon found MOTH in the garden again. I helped a while, trimming branches from the shrubs that guard the front of our house. They are a little patchy from the lack of moisture. The little mulcher he bought earlier in the year doesn't know if Armageddon has arrived or not.

Sunday morning I vacuumed and mopped the tiled area in the meals/kitchen. Whew. Sunday afternoon we were back in the garden. This time MOTH went at the shrubbery with ... a Herring! No, really he just used the hedge trimmers. The sun was bitingly hot and I was less than enthusiastic about helping. I stayed a while as I couldn't in all conscience leave Mr DNA man to his own devices with sharp things. He usually manages to leave his DNA all over them!

After playing in the garden it was time to help Teen rebleach her hair. It's two toned, so trying to grasp only the blonde bits and leave the dark bits behind requires quite a deal of concentration.

Sunday night Bones and Castle called to me *w00t for exceeding download limits and making the system slllllloooooowwwwww* and MOTH put the internet aside and joined me.

Train and boats and cars

and buses! Today I got to ride all the way to work on two different buses with NO ONE sitting next to me. Suh-weet!

Last week was a pretty ordinary one I think. As ordinary as mine get.

Mid week, my Bestie sent me an email to say that a mutual workplace were having a 75 year anniversary and a reunion bbq was part of the celebration. Would I be interested?

I thought about it. I checked to see if MOTH would be interested. Oh yes, he said. I would like to catch up with Bestie and her hubby. The fact that it appeared to be free had absolutely nothing to do with it, I'm sure. I went to register but alas! Registrations had closed. I went back to Bestie and asked if she could investigate for me?

Friday dawned a bright sparkling day. One of those days that brings on a natural high for me. I was up early. I was ready for work early. I caught the early bus and was in the city to catch my second bus a little earlier than usual.

As I crossed the road, I noticed that my eyes were going funny. There was a moment of panic as I realised that everything was reflecting green. An odd eerie glowing green. What the heck is THAT all about? It took a small moment to realise that the archetectural monstrosity towering above me had a green wall. The sun was hitting it at just the right angle to bathe everything opposite in its glorious green reflection....

I was obviously not the only one affected by Friday. I walked around the corner in the office and two of the GTs were madly giggling, wrapped in a game that involved stealing things from each other's desk. Kind of like a Capture the Flag but with clips. *shakes head*

At the same time, one of the other GTs was busy uploading some of his digital photos. He likes to do macro shots. I asked about some of them and he happily showed me his albums. Those photos are amazing! I truly don't know how he can bring himself to get that close to a spider! *shudders* Some of the photos of the wolf spiders are so clear you can see individual hairs on the thing's legs!

Bestie let me know that she had managed to contact someone and my name was now on the list. Bewdy! There was even a registration pack for me.

And don't you know, it never rains but it pours. So they say. I'm still waiting for the lotto win....

Sunny sent me a text to ask if I wanted to go with him on the Zombie Walk. When? Sunday he said. Bummer! I had been thinking of asking Sunny if he wanted to hang on Sunday, but since I hadn't actually taken it beyond the thinking stage, I accepted the invite from Bestie instead.

So, Zombie Walk. A charity walk for the Brain Foundation. You dress up like a Zombie and shuffle, groaning, along a predetermined path and celebrate like there's no tomorrow at the after party.

And I missed out.

Saturday I didn't do much of anything except think about what we might want to take with us on Sunday. There would be a sausage sizzle and some icecream, but we were encouraged to pack a picnic.

Saturday afternoon I went to water the strawberry plant and noticed the temperature seemed to have dropped a bit. It came over dark and cloudy quite quickly and sometime after dark a loud knocking could be heard on the roof. What? Rain? You're kidding? Yep, it was raining. Soon the lightening and thunder followed. But not for long.

Sunday I was up early, baking quiches for our lunch. And potato salad. When Jawsome left, he donated a picnic set he was given but never used. It was just for two and still had the plastic on the cutlery! It fit the quiches, salt and pepper, potato salad and an apple and banana just perfectly.

The drive down to the dam was pleasant; MOTH even put on the airconditioning. The day held the promise of some heat so we made sure we had hats and sunscreen. I was expecting the shaded areas to be gone so I packed an umbrella as well.

And it was hot.

Once we parked in the designated area, they provided a shuttle bus so we didn't have to dodge traffic trying to cross the motorway. First stop was the rego desk and a pack. It contained a name tag each, a tube of sunscreen each. A glossy book, an attendee list, and something that looked like two mouse mats.

We found Bestie, hubby and kids. Actually, hubby was a little hard to miss; he was wearing a fluro orange tee. It stood out. A lot. Shade was at a bit of a premium, most everything was taken. Australian native trees don't seem to provide an awful lot of shade, do they?

The organisers had provided a sausage sizzle, a coffee stop, a soft serve van. Which, I believe was very VERY popular. She didn't stop all day. A jumping castle and other entertainment for the kids. And a couple of bands to entertain the adults.

Oh, and a historic display of old trucks.

Bestie's little boy couldn't wait to look at the trucks. He dragged his father and MOTH off for his turn. Then he dragged Bestie and I. On the way round he stopped at the yellow grader. This one, he informs us, is a worm. A worm? Yes, a worm. Dad told me.

It did seem to be very hot that day, but I didn't really break a sweat. The day was due to finish at 3pm. We packed up around 2.30, ready to take on the crowds for the return shuttle. Until the kids had to make a final pit stop. We waited as two shuttles went by. Turns out they'd detoured via the ice cream van.

It was good to head home though, much cooler. And boy was I tired. Whew.

Updates. Too good to wait for!

The Teen has had her learners permit for a couple of months now. Alright, so we've been somewhat slack and the timing never seems quite right. MOTH is too chikkin to take her out, I don't get home till almost dark and we've only just got around to purchasing the mandatory L plates.

She has done some time already. Apparently. A few minutes here and there, in a paddock, in someone's back yard, in a deserted shopping centre car park.

Yesterday I was home before dark o'clock. Time to bite the bullet.

I grabbed her from her room, telling her to put on shoes. But! My shoes are loose she says. Alright, this time. But you'll have to get used to wearing them.

You can reverse it out the driveway! she announces. Well, ok, fair enough.

And I did. Out of the garage and to the point where the back wheels were just on the road. Your turn I tell her. She freaks. And at the same time, she's excited. I think.

She dropped into the driver's seat and she tries to adjust the seat. We're on a slope so of course it slides backward. I get in trouble. *grin* She has a couple of goes, but gets it to where she wants it. Adjust the mirros. She doesn't know how.

The mirrors are adjusted, the seatbelt is on and she's ready to go. I'm telling her to lift her foot off the brake slowly and the car should start to roll a little. It doesn't move. Pfft! The handbrake is still on.

Lesson 1, take 2. She can't release the handbrake so I have to do it for her. Very slowly and gingerly, she lifts her foot and we're on our way! Brake again and change to Drive. Very good. She's not sure she can do this. She's getting worried as the car very slowly starts to crawl forward. I tell her that we're headed for the roundabout. She looks at me. What? How do I manage that? And what about the other cars??? If there are other cars, we stop then take our turn. If you're on the roundabout you have right of way so you can take as long as you like. She shoots me a sideways look. At 5 km an hour??

Just so you know, we live at the top end of a cul de sac. The road is windy and narrow. Heh.

She running a bit close to the gutters but I don't mind. They've very considerately built the ones that are slanted so you don't need to build a driveway entrance. People can see me! she's shouting at me. I'm smiling like a loon. It's ok, you'll be alright. There's a man going somewhere! she yells. She's getting into panic mode now. What do I do?! I tell her to brake if she's not certain. She does; the man gets into his vehicle and reverses it up his driveway. See, I say, nothing to worry about.

She calms a little and slowly takes her foot off the brake. We're travelling so slowly I think a snail passed us. She's worried again. What if a car comes? she asks several times. We'll deal with that when it happens.

A car comes down the road. I see it and let her know; I think she's too busy looking at the road where she's trying to steer the car.

She screams.

She's almost in full panic mode. The car passes and all is quiet again. A little further down the road and about 100m away are two more cars. She panics again. I tell her to pull over into the layby area if she wants. She does. She wants to quit and go home.

I'm mean. I tell her no. And that she'll have to get the car out of the spot she's parked in. She's not impressed with me.

The cars go by; one down our road past us, the other continues around the corner.

We make it the rest of the way to the roundabout. It's only just up the street, but it's been a bit of work. Brake here and check the road. She does. A lot. Then we move out into the roundabout. I thought she wasn't going to turn the wheel in time. And I grabbed the wheel to guide it a little quicker than she was doing. Don't panic Mum! she says. I laughed. So did she.

We managed the drive back at a faster speed than the drive out. And she stopped at the driveway and jumped out. You can put it in the garage she tells me.

So, first lesson all done and dusted. What a giggle. She laughs with me later when the euphoria kicks in.

Whew, I need a cigarette she smiles. And tomrrow, if I get home in time we'll do it again I tell her.

She wilts.

Bad hair days!

I think I'm having one. I washed it yesterday, using the routine which has been working quite well. It seemed to dry a little wavier than usual. Hmmmm. And wasn't quite as soft. Man! This morning I brushed it. Mistake! I decided that the straightener was in order. Even that didn't fully tame it. And it still feels crispy. Grrrr!

It's been an odd kind of week.

I've been tired. Very tired. While riding home on my not-usual bus, I looked out the window on my right. It had fogged up. Completely. It was white. The day had been somewhat overcast with the possibility of rain. But the window on my side wasn't foggy. What gives? Then I decided we must have pulled up near a wall. I couldn't think what wall it might have been though. But yes, I could see some of the metal reinforcing strip along the bottom. No problem. And then we started moving....

We had been stopped next to a truck.... *feels somewhat sheepish*

The week, apart from the truck incident, has gone relatively quickly and quietly. Except for a building evacuation at work on Friday. It didn't last very long and after about 10 minutes in the sunshine we were herded back into the building. A workmate from another department was chatting with me, so I told her that they have to have these things occasionally so they can get the geeks out to catch some vitamin D.

Friday when I arrived home from work, MOTH informed me that the Teen would be away for the weekend again.

When I had the house full of people I really enjoyed it. I love having people about and I wasn't looking forward to the enforced solitude that would result when I became an empty nester. That day came somewhat sooner than I would have liked... wait, actually, I still have one at home; the other four have gone. But since she's away most weekends and nearly all weekend at that, MOTH and I are almost there.

And I'm finding I'm liking it. MOTH is usually busy playing games on the laptop, so I have all day to myself. To do what I want. Ok, sometimes I get bored, but on the whole no. MOTH seems more relaxed. We play stupid games and laugh a lot more. And I find I'm not necessarily looking forward to having anyone else move in.

Friday night we settled down to watch the Jessica Alba movie, The Eye. It's a rather atmospheric thriller. MOTH settled on the floor and I took over the couch. During the early part of the movie, the tension started to build. I could tell something was going to happen. Considering she was in hospital, that corridor was horribly deserted....

And MOTH let one rip. I nearly screamed....

Saturday I finally started the housework. I did some washing. I vacuumed the floor. That's right. I actually pulled the cleaner out of the lounge room and used it. I did my ensuite, my bedroom, part of the timber blind in my room, the sills as well, the study and part of the blind, the tiles in the hallway and half the loungeroom. By then I was feeling a tad pooped and had managed to talk MOTH into emptying the vacuum when it filled. And it was empty when I started. Then I mopped the tiles. By the time I finished, my knuckles and forearms were a tad sore, so I've left the rest for next weekend.

Course, I flat refuse to acknowledge that using the mouse and the laptop most of the weekend has absolutely anything to do with the soreness either ....