Blinked did I.

Time seems to be racing away so quickly. Has it really been that long?

The Niece seems to have settled in well. Her teacher has advised that she has transitioned very well. She seems to enjoy the school.

I am on the iron supplement injections again. I have completed the first course but there wasn't enough improvement so I have to continue the injections for a second course. I'm nearly finished that but still feel very tired. I think my body can't decide what it wants to do. I have even quickly researched some foods that are high in iron to include. Hopefully these help. One of those is kale. I haven't sampled that one yet. I'm not big on boiled green leafy vegetables. I can eat spinach in a salad but not boiled. I've also read that kale can be bitter. Not quite game enough to try it. Another inclusion is kangaroo. Luckily I don't mind this, much better than beef. Odd to think isn't it that Australia is likely the only country that eats its national emblems!

The budget is very tight at this point. Unemployment benefit pays only $460 a fortnight. Combined with MOTH's pension is only enough to pay the rent. It is very hard but I'm lucky enough to live in a country that does have a welfare system.

I am thinking of applying to my superannuation fund under the hardship provisions but I don't meet the criteria yet. I'm not hopeful. And then I have to decide which of the bills have priority as the amount I can claim is capped. Fun and games!

One of my old friends is wrapped in The Walking Dead. I really must look at this series. I only managed to catch the first episode and it didn't grab me straight away. There has been so much talk about it that I really should look. Another series that had promise is Hannibal. Looks great but again, I've only managed one episode. If I think about it there is so much viewing I haven't seen that I would like to!

I've missed a call from the school. Uh oh. But the call isn't returned until the afternoon. Ok, so it's obviously not urgent! They want to know what we have decided about Niece's future. They have mentioned that she can continue for another year at the school. Her previous case manager contacted me to advise a transfer of funding and at the same time mentioned that Niece's previous school would like her to return there for another year to transition through their work placements. This limits her options drastically as job opportunities for special school students in that area are scarce. A limited retail or Endeavour Foundation. I want her to be as close to independent living as she can and working as well. I've discussed this with Ma and she is very happy to agree. We think it better that she continue here. Niece is very disappointed as she was looking forward to returning home at the end of the year. She came to me after her shower and said she'd decided to stay. I reminded her she would have to return to live with her brother whose behaviour has not changed. She is happy to stay here. Now.

Niece has fallen in love with Adventure Time, the cartoon. To the extent of taking the characters as "imaginary friends". She says they're imaginary, they aren't real, and continues to talk to them like they are. Her imagination is so vivid that you can listen to a one sided conversation, complete with inflection, responses, laughter, and jokes. It's a little ... worrying. I dismissed it until I found her making beds on the floor for them. Time to draw the line. I think she still talks to them but a little quieter so I don't notice as much.

The Teen texts me. To tell a tale of typical Teen-ness. She says she wanted to be gluten and lactose free to be good to herself. She orders a pizza gluten free. And then proceeds to order three different cheese toppings.

The Elder is moving house at the end of her lease. Till she can find a new abode, she will be moving in with her Outlaws. This means she can't have Sheldon and Penny with her. So, guess where they are going? Yep, back with us. For about two months. I hope that's all it is too. Oh wait, now if MOTH tells Wombat he will become a rooster and crow about it for days. I must remember to remind him not to mention it. Elder promises to make sure they have been flea treated before they arrive. We shall see what Jerome thinks of this.....

Supanova 2014

Gold Coast Supanova 2014

The last couple of weeks seem to have flown by. I don't have work to measure my week by anymore! How sad is it that I no longer necessarily remember what day it is? Very sad, that's how sad.

Niece had a day off from school. Sick. I don't like it when kids get sick for some reason. I know by the end of it with Teen, she was claiming sick so often I didn't know if she was genuine or not. I sent her to school most of the time. This is a ploy I think I will have to take with Niece. She woke up late for school and spent half an hour in the toilet. I think she was just sitting avoiding getting ready. She claimed sick. I said she could go to school. And she ended up staying home. With a strict warning that if she was sick the next day, she wasn't going to respite or school camp.

She went to respite for the weekend. It was a weekend stay with only the three girls. Usually the respite 'guests' are boys so this was a special weekend. I was curious how they would go together. When we picked her up on the Sunday we were told she had a good time with one of the girls and had spent a lot of time giggling and having fun. Excellent news, although not so great was the imaginary friend thing, her favourite cartoon characters. I must remember that she is very open to suggestion!

Senior school camp is this week. Niece will be away for four days. It means packing everything and making sure it is all labelled. The school has sent home a list of what sort of things to pack. I help Niece with this and we check to make sure all her belongings are marked. This is not quite so bad as a fair bit of it is already done from having previous stays in respite.

It's a very quiet four days.

It's the weekend of the Supanova and MOTH and I decide we will head down a little earlier than previously planned. This way we'll miss most of the traffic. We find the motel and MOTH delivers me to Reception and heads out again. I go to check in.

I have the pre paid booking but the credit card is declined. Uh oh. Well, I thought that would happen. But the debit card declines as well. Panic sets in as MOTH has left, they won't honour the booking unless I can come up with the $200 bond. No exceptions. They won't take a normal ATM card. I don't even know how much is in that account. But there goes all my spending money for the weekend. Why does that always happen?! Luckily the hotel is near a shopping centre and I can locate an ATM. There isn't enough in that account but I can manage to scrape enough together with that, cash in my wallet, and drawing against my overdraft. Which I DEFINITELY did not want to do!

At least I have a place to stay. But I don't get to go out to dinner on Sunday night with the rest of the volunteers. Bummer.

The apartment looks ok on the surface. The kitchen looks lovely. Yes, it has a full kitchen. I check the draws and cupboards to find where everything is. Ummmm I see pots, a pan, toaster, jug, crockery, utensils .... where is the cutlery? Oh. Found it. Kitchen has an island bench. With cupboards. I get to the bedroom. Oh. Disappointing. I can see that the bed is not up to the usual hotel standard. Something about the bedspread is offputting and I'm reluctant to touch. But I do. When I'm ready for bed I turn it back and .... stains! The underside of the 'spread has had staining. URGH! I am REALLY fussy about my bedding! And the sheets are thick but soft. And occasionally the springs in the mattress creak when I move. Yes, the bed is that old. Think I should leave them some feedback. On the up, I have a main bathroom and an ensuite. Spoilt for choice.

I'm on line control again. This time for Emmanuelle Vaugier. She has done some roles with Smallville, Two and a Half Men, Lost Girl. The line is busy, but not terribly so. My only regret is that I have only one life... Ha! Actually what I regret the most is that as I'm working, I don't get to photograph a lot of the costumes and there are plenty of good ones. Steam Punk is big this year. Oh, and Adventure Time as the voice artists are on the guest panel.

I will post what pictures I did get separately.

By end day one, my feet are killing me.

Rock up today and oh! Nicole taps me on the shoulder and tells me, Lovey, I need you to go to photo booth today. Fair enough. I'm directed to photobooth and given a quick induction. I'm to stand at the exit and direct the traffic. No problem. I do this for a while, then am sent to another point to be the barricade so people don't go beyond a certain point. Oh again.

I don't have any freedom of movement here and OH LORDY MY FEET HURT. I think they're going numb. Well, maybe not quite. But it turns out I'm forming part of the barrier at the edge of guest access so I get to see them all as they go past to take their breaks. WHOO! One of the voice actors strides down the walkway back to his post, his PA not in sight. He's quite tall, his paces long. Soon after she comes running by. She's short....

Another guest swanns by. Again. His PA is not too far behind him. She looks at me and grins. He's a free spirit she says as she rushes by.

I chat to the patrons as I stand minding the walkway. One of them is dressed from the Pokemon labs. We start chatting pokemon and she mentions she was going to bring her Fennekin plushie but it didn't fit in her lab coat pocket. I asked her what that pokemon looked like. She then proceeds to pull her Nintendo DS from her pocket and checked her Pokedex to show me!

This day is pack up. I stay behind a little, don a high vis vest and pitch in to help dismantle some of the exhibition. After a time I go to help bring in the metal barricades. Despite a call for help over loud speaker only two of us end up working this job. After about 45 minutes of helping on the floor I've had enough and quit to go 'home'. If I thought my feet were sore earlier it's nothing compared to now. I can barely put one foot in front of the other and I still have to walk back to my hotel.

After a day like that I thought I deserved a spa. It's one of those that's built into the bathtub. I hate those. They're never wide enough to accommodate my Rubenesque figure. I made sure the water level was above the jets, adjusted them to suit and pressed the button. GLUB GLUB GLUB! Press the button! Quick! Yoiks! These jets are VERY POWERFUL! And ummmmm pointing upward. I aim them down, and it's still not right. Water on the walls this time. I've pushed them down as far as they will go, but the jets are still very powerful and shoot across the top of the water. The only way I can prevent the spray is sitting upright and pushing my thighs to the bottom of the tub. That's too much bother after a short time and I turn off the spa. There's water all over the floor, and the bath mat is soaking. Ooops. But I'm giggling too much to worry.

Check out time and I get my bond back. Just as well.

Think I'll nap when I get home...