Secret meetings at the river bend...

This morning there were several of us in the kitchenette at once. The door was closed to keep noise down a little. Another came through, commenting about secret meetings in the kitchen.

Now I have that song stuck in my head.

Been a busy week.

Monday last the Elder arrived for a visit with her new man. We've met him before as he's been known to the family for some considerable time. For the purposes of this blog, he shall be known as Subs. They arrived in time for dinner, a little earlier than they were expecting.

I didn't get time off, so didn't see a whole lot of them.

We looked at the menu. Yes, that's right. I keep a menu on the whiteboard so I know what I'm supposed to be preparing for dinner each night. This stops the whole what-the-hell-am-i-gonna-cook-tonight thing *always a bugger when you're tired* and makes grocery shopping a bit easier. I hadn't planned who was going to be there on which night. We made a couple of revamps to some of the meals.

Wednesday was my birthday. Whoo! But I still had to work. Mother and Sibling3 had managed to get me some dollars between them. What to spend it on? *decisions decisions!* Sunny and Judah dropped by to give me my gift. They had actually bought it last month, being a month ahead of themselves. *grins* A lovely statuette of a fairy and unicorn. In order, they said, to continue the fairy theme. I have one in the rumpus room, two in the formal tv room. MOTH cooked dinner that night, and someone else even did the dishes!

Thursday was Elder's birthday. We managed to scrape together some dollars for her so she could get her hair done. She had decided to change her colour and is now a dark red. Not sure if Subs likes it yet.

Dinner was lasagne and salad. I hadn't been well so stayed home from work that day; I didn't have to ask anyone to start cooking it for me before I got home. Lasagne always seems to take me forever to cook. After dinner, I stuck some candles in her birthday cake; MOTH used the bbq Flame Thrower to light them. We laughed as the icing softened and one of the candles fell over. She went to blow them out and didn't succeed! And there weren't even 24 candles. *grins*

The Teen arrived home from holidays Friday night. I was to meet her at the station; alas I forgot to remind MOTH before I left for work. I left work and thought I would spend my birthday money. I purchased a couple of small things, then a store caught my eye. I'd seen a pair of shoes that had potential. Alas, they don't layby. I'd have to come back later as I didn't have enough cash on me to make the purchase. *nope, don't even thing about the credit card!*

I got to the station around 5pm. Not a sign of her. I asked when the train had come in. Three pm I was told. What?! I phoned. Where are you? Oh, I'm home now. The train came in at 3pm and Dad didn't know you were supposed to meet me so we didn't call you.

Heh. Lovely. And the unnecessary train trip cost me an extra $5 because I swiped my travel card when I shouldn't have....

Saturday I was out with MOTH doing not much of anything when I got a phone call. Can you come into the city? Why? Ummmmm .... the Soundwave tickets are on the desk....

It was a rush job, but I made it. I thought I was going to beat them as they seemed to have taken a detour. I didn't though. Tickets delivered, $5 collected for my trouble. A fond and quick goodbye and Dymocks beckoned. I hadn't been into the new store yet. I got lost there for a short time. Sunny had given me the funds for the shoes. Early Mother's Day present he said. I could purchase the shoes. But I'm not allowed to wear them till Mother's Day. *come on MD! i wanna wear those shoes!!* I bought them.



Wait for the bus time. I'm half an hour early. Ah well. Waited. Waited. Waited. Waited. Darned bus was half an hour late.

Staggered home for a rest.

Sunday came around and I thought I would spend a lazy day. Sure, I was up and showered early. But then I relaxed back on the bed and played with the laptop. Out to the shops for a quick visit and then back home.

Today, I'm back at work and the Elder and Subs are on their way home. Have a safe trip people!

Valentine

Nothing to write about this week.

Valentine's .... *there's a bird bobbing about on the aircon unit just outside the window. must be looking for bugs* Day dawned fresh and healthy with the threat of storms later in the day.

MOTH, Raisin and I went out to the shops to restock on Sunday. We were missing vital ingredients - I wanted a milkshake. Frozen berries were just waaaay to expensive so I had to settle for plain vanilla. Banana was out because although I'm happy to eat the fruit, I don't like banana flavoured anything. Other than bananas....

Raisin bought MOTH and I a block of chocolate to share. I think I ate most of it.

Lunch was smoked fish and salad. The day was smooth and lazy. Sunny and Judah popped down to collect some stuff and stayed a short time for a visit.

The storms never eventuated.

Update!

While I was rambling last post, I forgot to mention that on the way home we stopped at Hungry Jacks in Gympie. We joined MOTH to sit outside and lo! Across the way was a couple I haven't seen since sometime in the 90s when we worked in the same office.

Brilliant!

It was great to catch up...

Untitled

It's been a loooong week.

Tuesday 2 Feburary, MIL passed. MOTH is doing okay.

Late last week we were notified the funeral would be Monday just gone. It was a rush to get time off work organised and get packed for the journey.

We decided to leave on Saturday night. That gave the Teen some time to spend with her new boy. And meant we didn't have to hurry.

The car was packed and we left at around 11pm. It was raining. It rained the whole trip up the coast. Almost non-stop for 7 hours. Sometimes it was heavy and we were travelling at 60km. Sometimes it was a light shower.

Traffic was minimal. We hardly saw any other headlights. Not even trucks.

The ride got a wee bit exciting at one point when we came around a bend in the highway and there was a wallaby sitting in the middle of the highway. Luckily it was one lane over and decided to stay in place until we were nearly past.

The only other wildlife was a bandicoot running across the road but we were by before he got across his first lane, and a wallaby in the grass further up the embankment.

We arrived at our destination at around 6am. Luckily they are early risers, but still in their jammies.

Sunday was spent catching up with them and trying to rest. I was expecting the Monday to be stressful. We caught up with the Elder and her fella, met the Teen's boy in person for the first time. Marvelled at how much the niece and nephew have grown. Caught up with sibling Mouse and met her new man.

Monday dawned beautifully. Soft breeze and no cloud. By the time of leaving for the funeral, it had become overcast and started to rain. The service was held in a new area behind the sport ground within newly landscaped parklands. The chapel had a rustic feel with a lot of natural timber and poured floors. It's set in green grounds among the gum trees and looks over the river. It is attached to the crematorium and also has a small area set aside for a lawn cemetery.

The view is stunning and the vibe is extremely tranquil.

The coffin was gloss white set with silver. The service was lovely; I stared out the glass wall and watched a butterfly clinging on the outside in the wind. The rain held off while we were indoors. Not so when we walked the short distance to the graveside. Everyone was drenched, despite umbrellas.

Light refreshments were served at SILs place where we stayed long enough to greet MOTH's other siblings. We were to give a lift home to a niece who needed to be home Monday night.

It rained all the way home. And after we dropped her off, MOTH managed to get us lost. As usual. It wouldn't be a trip if he didn't say Oh! I know where that is! And then proceed to find out that no, it wasn't where he thought it was. We should know by now, but we still get caught and we still laugh about it.

It's good to be home and back to some semblance of normality.

R.I.P.

At approximately 5pm last night, I received word that it had happened. Sleep well MIL.

xxx

All is quiet on the Western Front

The week just gone was the typical round of work, work, and work. I'm trying to think if anything exciting happened, but alas. No. Not a thing.

Admin2 returned to work so I was able to hand off the extra stuff and settle down to my proper job. I like that sooo much better.

We had been getting the Teen to register as a job seeker. Since December. Timing has been the issue and things haven't quite worked out. I did research. They said do it online. She tried. Can't do it. She went back. They said phone. She decided to wait until after her holidays. She came back. She phoned. They sent the paperwork. We completed and lodged it. Finally! But I think they've only told her half the story... We'll see what happens.

My Saturday was typically quiet. MOTH and I went out to collect some groceries that weren't done last Thursday. Both the Teen and Raisin were abed. Poor Raisin hasn't been getting to bed much before 3am as she stays up chatting to her friends. Who seem to forget that we are 3 hours ahead of them.

The weather was hot and steamy and I've had the airconditioners running for the last few days. Ouch! That is going to hurt the hip pocket!

Sunday was wet. And steamy as well. MOTH and I headed out to pick up some tailender stuff like bread and milk.

We thought we would go see Mother-in-law on Monday as she was due for admission yesterday afternoon. Surgery is scheduled for around 3pm Monday. It seems though that she wasn't well so was admitted early. Sister-in-law thought it advisable to come see her that afternoon.

All of us were going to see her, but at the last minute, Raisin decided to stay home. The logistics of getting to the hospital took a little while to work out. Eventually, MOTH decided to drive and park in a side street. None of us had been to the hospital before, so were a little uncertain as to where we could go.

We found a side street and MOTH decided to reverse park. Now, I don't know what he was thinking, but there was plenty of room and he used to be good at parking. Somehow he drove into the space, then decided he needed to do a reverse. He pulled out, shot back and ended up hitting the gutter with the back wheel. Pulled forward a little to try it again, and did the same thing. Forward again and back. This time, the rear wheel ended up ON the gutter. The Teen and I were half laughing. But it was our fault because no one would get out and guide him.

We did. And when I looked, he had the rear wheel on the gutter, and at LEAST half a car length between the back of our car and the front of the one behind us. And a couple of feet between our front and the back of the one in front. PLENTY of ROOM is what I'm sayin...

There was some sort of sport match in a nearby auditorium. They were cheering. The Teen and I decided it was because of parking that car.

Then around the front street and UP THAT DARNED HILL. Whew. It has a hand rail so you can hold on and pull yourself up. We stopped briefly to check out a scrub turkey chick that was pecking in the dirt at the bottom of the retaining wall.

There were a couple of other relatives in the room with MIL. She's looking a little frail, but still going strong. She doesn't give away much. We visited and laughed for a while then it was time for home.

Getting down the hill was a heck of a lot easier than getting up.