Hmmmm chocolate

Which has nothing to do with anything really, but now that I've got your attention...

It seems to be a Monday and after last week's slip, we seem to be more or less back on track.

Did I mention it's been raining here? Quite a bit? Thursday last week was no exception. Oh, it started off alright. But Thursday afternoon....

My bus goes out on the motorway. It jumps the busway partway along, tootles along the motorway for a while, then jumps that to meander around the back of a couple of 'burbs. Reverse it of course for the trip to work. I really love going to work these days. Since you don't spend much time going through streets, a trip to work feels like a school excursion. It's like driving through the countryside. Although I did spot this from the bus window the other day while we were on the busway. And no, it's not warped by the camera... much ...



But I've wandered again.

Thursday. Afternoon. I'm sitting in the bus. An old clunker. Gotta love those. And the sky comes over a little greyer than it already is. It starts to sprinkle and soon thunder rumbles across the sky. It doesn't take long and the rain starts to come down properly. And still we keep going. I'm gazing about, thinking the bus was holding up well. And the rain buckets down. Soon, a passenger gets up and closes the front of the rear ceiling hatch. They must have been getting wet. I start to feel the occaisional splash. Next thing I know, it's bubbling through the window seals. Traffic has slowed a little by this time. But the rain keeps coming.

Eventually it slows and stops, after the thunder has had a good go. I didn't get too wet. Can't say the same about the two women in front of me. They were sitting directly behind the partition at the rear door. And it was pretty well splashed. *grins to self*

When it all calms back down, the air smells clean, I'm not too damp and the water gushes in great cascades from the broken hillside cuttings. Ah, the joys of clay soils.

And even better, when I get home, the creek that runs across the front of the estate is cascading over the rocks as well. I should have taken a photo.

And that was the excitement for the week. No wait, I fib. Friday I decided I was going out the next morning and catching a bus a couple of 'burbs over to the big shopping centre. Saturday dawned and I check the timetables to sort out which one I'd need. And then I noticed that the Teen had very carefully laid out the streaking cap. Which she'd collected from a friend the night before. Well, there goes my morning. But only if she's out of bed before a certain time. Dammit. She's up. And within my timeframe. So we settled in and I spent the next 2 hours pulling hair through little holes with a crochet hook. Oh my poor fingers!

The end result was worth it though.

The teen spent Saturday night out. And Sunny and Judah made some last minute arrangements to spend the evening together at Soundwave. If the band list they brought home afterward was anything to go by, it would have been awesome.

That night I got stuck playing Sims2 and downloading some custom content. MOTH went to bed and I continued on. The boys came in at 1am, and my last download finished at 2am. I trundled off to bed.

Aaannnndddd was up again at 6am. MOTH told me that when he popped one eye open to look at the clock when I thought I was sneaking out it read 5:58. I played some more with the Sims2 *yay. exciting life i lead* I popped out with MOTH in the morning to spend a little time with him doing those boring pensioner things he likes. You know, like hanging around in groups at the shopping centre, smiling at the shop assistants and talking to random strangers, security guards and cleaners.

At some point in the morning, I wandered out to the bin and when I was on my way back, I was almost bowled over by a smiling Judah who was late for work. So late in fact he dashed out still gripping his hair straightner tightly in one hand obviously intending to complete the job on the bus....

Sunny decided he would spend the day with me, so we spent a lot of time together on the couch as of the days of old. I've really missed that. He played his DS and watched me play the Sims2 and made fascinated comments about the gameplay and the stupidity of the characters.

That night the Teen got a turn at annoying me and we scruffed around for a while before she wimped out and went to bed. This tired puppy crawled into bed somewhere around 11pm. It was a tiring day. *smiles sleepily*

*pops awake again* Oh yes. Those of you who know me will remember I spent a great deal of time when living at home complaining about a certain type of shrub that had purple and white flowers with a strong perfume? That I hated?



Yes. I've found one. In my garden. Hiding quietly until it decided to burst into bloom.....

*grumps*

Photos. The ones I was supposed to include last time.

The bike....



The present wrappings....

In Passenger mode...

It's Thursday already and I think I was supposed to update this blog Monday or so. The one just gone. Which I can't believe has just gone.

So what has made the week and more than a week disappear so fast then? I dunno...

And I had made notes this time too. Mental ones, I admit, which doesn't always lead to the right outcome. Because these days my filing system is shot.

It's been raining on and off for the last week. I think we managed two sunny days. And hasn't it been fun struggling down to the bus stops with the wind and rain whipping about. I swear that umbrella has been made to deliberately channel the rain in underneath where an unsuspecting person hopes to keep dry. I can feel the spray on my face. And all that while hoping desperately the wind doesn't rip the thing out of your hands and send it tumbling through the trees, or even worse, reverse it.

The rain also means the buses are sometimes full of water. I've learned these days to check the seats, walls, windows, and airconditioning vents before I sit down. Wet dacks on the ride home aren't as much fun as the old folks have lead me to believe.

One particular afternoon, the driver announced to his somewhat bemused passengers that because the bus was running late, we would be diverted to the QSBS under the shopping centre. That set some of them abuzz. Probably because he was hard to hear. So off across the bridge we tootled, down the ramp and underground. I've been there before on other bus lines, but never this deep. Totally subterranean, and hey - there's an entrance to an hotel which obviously resides up above. I did wonder though, what was the point of that, because it faced out to the busway. Which pedestrians are not permitted to cross...... *shrugs* And on past that to a turnaround and more 'lanes' I didn't even know existed. Wow. A whole new perspective of the buses.

The Teen has been feeling off for a while now. I don't know if I've mentioned it before. Chronic lethargy etc. She insisted I trundle her off to the doc to see what was wrong. She donated some blood to the labs, but the tests all came back normal. Even her iron count was right. The only other option the doc can think of to look at is her sleeping patterns. That's right, she might have sleep disturbances and has a referral for a diagnostic sleep study. The only thing wrong with that? It's done through Mater Private. Which, I'm thinking, is going to cost my wages for a year!

But the upside is I can find out if I can legitimately point my finger, dance and sing You has been snoring! You sounds like a buzzsaw! And stuff.

Sunday just gone we had a houseful again. Or was that the one before? Judah brought home a couple of friends. A pair of really nice boys. They were polite and friendly. One of them likes to draw too apprently. He asked if we had some blank paper he could draw on. I didn't see any of the end results though. It would have been interesting. I like looking at other people's artwork. I did laugh at one point though. He was having some fun, psyching Sunny out. Not a difficult task, really. And he was staring across the void that is the dining area and into the rumpus room. Looking out from under his eyebrows. He slowly raised his hand to point, and I said Urgh Argh! To which he exclaimed Oh! A Buffy reference! So then we talked about the series for a while. *is happy* Geekdom r00lz!

The weekend just gone seems to have flown by, and nothing much happened. The boyos seemed to keep to themselves. Although I think the Teen was home. Oh yes, it was St Val's day. A nothing special day for me. MOTH and I stopped celebrating a long time ago. He mentioned something about the day, and I told him that yes, he did buy my a Valentines gift. Once. Hmph, he snorted. It must have been cheap.

The Teen was supposed to be out with her man, but they went to a party the night before. He was hung over, the day was raining, so she asked us to pick her up and she ditched him. On Valentines day. MOTH very much less than impressed and made her wait till after lunchish; but when we got there, he got a chance to check out Wogboy's father's new motorbike. It is beautiful. Harley Fatboy, with flames and flame themed on all the chrome. What a beauty!

The ol' birthday went pretty well. I wandered out to the kitchen in the morning to be greeted by two wrapped parcels on the kitchen bench. I loved the wrapping paper. Newspaper, with brightly coloured post it notes that created a message. The overall effect was great. I've kept the wrappers. *grins* They turned out to be rocher chocolates - yum! - and a lovely book on Wizardology. It matches my book on Dragonology. I've placed them together on the bookcase. And after handing around some of the chocolate, I plonked myself down that evening and ate the rest. MOTH cooked me a roast dinner too. And mother sent me a lovely donation. You know, save the destitute daughter fund. And I put that toward another worthy cause. Buy a bottle of rum day. *nods*

And while on the bus on the way home from work, I glanced out the window just in time to see a grey kangaroo hop slowly away from someone's fence and back into the long grass.

Very little has happened since. But I must remember to make notes... Lol.

Sol's view. Week in review.

And what a week it's been. At least it could have been. My memory only stretches as far back as the weekend just gone so I'm really going to have to think about what the last week has been about.

Of course, I'm trying to think of stuff while I'm at work. Which isn't really helping my cause.

I'm fairly certain the week passed uneventfully *memo to me: takes notes, stupid* and that nothing really happened during the entire week.

No, wait. As you know, MOTH has been serving on a committee for the University. This week he was finally notified that he is no longer able to serve. The rules of membership changed last year and there was doubt that he could continue while I worked at the Uni. This week, he was notified that they couldn't change the governing body's mind *hmmmm. images* but that they would be happy to have him on a different committee attached to a different institution. MOTH elected to drop it completely. *great. now how am i going to get him out of the house occasionally? don't these people CARE??*

Apparently not.

Thursday night, we went out to do a grocery shop. We are still trying to figure out how the budget will work, since the boyos pay the board every week. I think we've decided that we would trial paying the rent and most of the bills each fortnight, but shop each week. MOTH isn't sure how that will work, and has already complained that there is no food in the house at the end of the week and he gets nothing that is bought. This is, in reality, nothing new. EVERYBODY knows that teens in the house means no food. But maybe I'm wrong with that assumption. He told me that it never happened when it was just the girls. But I beg to differ. But I think I like it this way. I only have to wait for a week before I can restock some stuff, instead of having to wait the fortnight. And of course in a house full of people you NEVER wait, find out that someone has been there before you and leave the last bit for someone else. And THAT, my friends, is why he always misses out. *hmmmm he's gettin food from somewhere!*

Friday night, the Teen had Wogboy sleep over. Sunny and Judah also had a friend sleep over, so the house was kind of full. You'd never know it though. The Teen retreated to her own room, and the boyos went out for the evening. I had a text later in the evening to ask if they could possibly get a lift home. It seemed the buses were no longer running. MOTH was less than impressed. He's a lot of that lately. A little while later, there was another text to say that they found a bus line that was still running, and they would be home on that one. MOTH then spent some time expressing an opinion about being expected to run around after them. Which I have to note is a far cry from how he felt about the Elder. She was to call anytime, it didn't matter when.

Saturday the boyos went out again, and this time the Teen and Wogboy left as well. So for the second weekend running, we were left to our own devices. As usual, we did nothing special.

Sunday MOTH went to the shops to do the usual bread, milk, and paper run. I lazed about most of the day. *yay for the lazing aboutedness* Sounds like a pretty typical weekend....

It's raining. Again.

And it is. Every day for the last few weeks has been overcast and humid. And minimum 'showers' 5 days out of 7. If it wasn't for the 2 day break through the week, I'd be going mouldy.

At least it hasn't actually gotten to the point where everything feels damp and mould has started growing.

But it means that the Teen's hayfever has been playing up something chronic, and weeks of headaches and lethargy for me. But overall, the Teen hasn't been feeling her usual bouncy self for some time now. She's always tired. And of course, irritable. But last Thursday she came home from late night, and she was so exhausted she was almost crying. She went straight to bed and was almost asleep without changing or switching her light out. The doc has prescribed some blood tests, and if that shows up nothing, it's a sleep study. Interesting....

Thursday afternoon I noticed that my phone wouldn't send a message. *shrugs* I tried sending to another person, but it still wouldn't work. I tried calling, but to no avail. Thursday night, we noticed that MOTH was in the same boat.

Bugga.

So Friday I phoned the carrier. Seems that I had forgotten to change my address and as a result had missed a bill. They put a bar on the outgoing services. And when I phoned up and found out that I had missed a payment, they demanded immediate payment of $154.

So there went the stash I had put aside to pay you back WCFC, sorry.

Well, I paid it, and now I'm waiting to see if they will lift the bar. I don't think they will, because there is still some amount outstanding. *shakes fist at carriers*

Friday night we decided to have a quiet drink out in the gazebo. Great place that. There is no light, but we have a table and chairs so we put the tealights out. And I have lowered myself to consume ... passion pop. Yes. I finally did it. Sunny and I shared the bottle. And probably a lot of secrets too. Then I adjourned to watch a Carl Baron dvd with the Teen. I don't think it was the passion pop, but that man is positively HILARIOUS!

Saturday all the children left the house for greener pastures, and MOTH and I were left to rattle around in the house. We cooked dinner then settled down to watch a movie. Something classy called Zombie Strippers. I laughed a lot. MOTH shook his head. It is a typical B grade zombie movie, but this time the setting is a strip club.

And for something completely different, Sunday I watched Sweeney Todd. And then Romeo and Juliette. Anyone see a pattern here people?

And so, it's back to work again today. I think I'll try and take it easy to recover from my weekend.