In which I continue the enthralling tale of my life so far.

I'm just sitting here, wondering where to start and I turned to look at Smigg. He's lying on his side on the bottom of the bowl. Poor thing. It must get very tiring swimming around in circles. Goldfish, in my humble opinion, are the blondes of the fish world. Smigg is much smarter, and I am certain his attention span is longer than the reputed three seconds...

The conference in Melbourne turned out to be not as bad as I thought. Although standing at the booth all day was boring, I managed to sneak in some reading, catch up with some friends and make some new ones.

One of my new friends set me a mission - to watch Soylent Green. A movie from which the character Sol comes. I just have to see if I can find it.

The flight back was better than the flight down. The only problem was, I fell asleep. Just a short snooze. But I woke up with my mouth open. *sigh* How embarassing! THEN I discovered that I could have folded the sides of the headrest forward so I wouldn't be leaning over. D'oh!

Things are quiet at home. Sunny hasn't returned yet. I'm hoping it's soon. I'm missing my movie nights. I think I'm getting out of practice. I've been going to bed early. Like 10:30 early. Whoops!

The Teen is still working at her job. She's been taken to task a couple of times about her clothing choice for the day. It's not dressy enough.

My weekend was busy. On Saturday, MOTH had to go into the city to pick something up. The day beckoned, so off we trundled. The errand was accomplished quickly so we had time to waste. I showed him the salon where the Teen works. We dropped off the things we purchased for her to look after. I had thoughtfully neglected to take a shoulder bag with me, so there was nothing to put it in. The Teen was confused, wondering what we were doing in the city.

MOTH and I wandered around for a bit, and since were still there when she was due for a break, decided to meet. She bought herself some plugs for her ears - pink leopard print. They look really good. But on her way into the shop, she kicked her toe on the back of her shoe and broke her toenail. Oh no! A catasrophie. They will send me home! I must buy a pair of shoes to cover this! We had little time and raced about all over the place. She found the perfect pair for about $20, little yello canvas pumps, but no. They didn't have her size. Eventually she found a yukky white pair in Target. They would have to do.

It turned out that we were in the city for the rest of the afternoon, waiting for her to finish work.

Sunday, the Teen and I decided she needed new clothes for work. She does. Nothing she owns is good enough. So off we went. She's not easy to shop with though. If I venture an opinion, I get short snappy answers. If I don't go through the shelves like a teenager, I get roused on. But I'm learning!

She ended up with two pairs of sandals, two tops and a short skirt and spent $110. And very satisfied with her bargains too.

I spent Sunday afteroon napping and wondering what happened to my weekend.

MOTH is happy. His purchase for the weekend is a train ticket north. That he left in the Teen's custody. Guess what she left at work?

He is finally going on a holiday to visit friends. For three weeks. And I've realised that I will have to do my own washing, cook dinner every night, and even remember to put the bins out.... Oh. Oh dear.

Sunny, windy, rainy ... Melbourne

Well, I'm standing at the booth, stealing a little net time while I write this. My feet are killing me and boredom is looking over my shoulder.

I left Brisbane bright and early on Sunday morning. I had booked the taxi for 08:20. Just to allow a little extra time in case it turned up late. But guess what. It turned up early. I had to phone my travel partner and let her know. Cause, like, she wouldn't have been ready otherwise.

We made the flight in good time. As a member of the Qantas club, she is allowed a guest, so once checked in - priority of course - off we went to the club. I was disappointed to discover that they let children in there. And oh joy, weren't there plenty of them too. Annoying little buggers.

And hey presto. They swarmed our flight as well. Don't you love school holidays? And the baby cried. Of course. Is there any other outcome? Luckily for me, the flight only lasted about three hours.

So I've been here for two and a half days now. I haven't seen anything of Melbourne. Oh, apart from going out to dinner last night. A quick taxi ride up to Bridge Street, a short stroll along the block to pick a restaurant. We ended up at a little Nepalese one, and I had a curried prawn dish. It was an entree, and cost me less than $10. And it was delicious.

The conference dinner is tonight. It's scheduled for the venue. Which means we won't be travelling anywhere.

Oh, and the venue. It's one of those fading beauty ones. It looks quite grand, but when you look closely, you can see the faded patches, the discolourations, the chips in the wood finish....





We have my room, looking back toward the entrance; the view from my window - I was on the fifth floor; looking down on the lobby from the balcony on the fifth.

On another note, and I'm not sure if I mentioned it before. So I will tell it again. The Teen does have a full time job. She went back last week. Wednesday. She managed to contact the boss man, and he told her to come in Wednesday, and make sure she's wearing a smile.

So I guess she must have. She finished off the week. And it seems that on those days, she enjoyed herself. And maybe the people she will be working with won't be so bad after all....

The quiet. I has too much of it.

It's late afternoon on a Saturday; the regular crowd has all gone...

I'm home by myself. All are out. The Teen is with Wogboy for today and tomorrow. Sunny is away. MOTH is doing his neighbourhood watch thing. And the phone has just woken me from a nanna nap. And it wasn't even for me.

It's been a strange week all round. Work has been busy. I was supposed to be going on a training course next week. And the week after that work is finally sending me somewhere. I have to mind a stand at a conference. In Melbourne. So I am required to do all the prepping and packing for that as well as my normal tasks.

I withdrew from the training course. I couldn't see my way clear to finalise travel for one trip, do costs for another, finish typing minutes, organise everything for the booth at the conference, do a tape run, organise flights for the boss and me to Melbourne all in two days. I'm bloody good. But I'm not that good.

So I have been busy.

On Thursday, the Teen went into the salon to start work. The girl on the front desk told her that she was going to call her to ask her to come back on the Friday at the same time. The Teen was ok with that. She was given the paperwork and we left.

I had managed to sneak away from work for the morning.

We walked down to Roma Street to see Sunny off. He's gone north to visit for a couple of weeks. When he returns, he will have Judah with him.

So, he doesn't like travel much, and he'd apparently never done a trip by himself of that distance before. We saw him off. While waiting, the Teen started sneezing.

She does these little cat sneezes. Cute they are. But there are many. And she didn't feel well. Uh oh.

Sure enough, Friday dawned. And she had a sore throat to go with it. Still, she went to work. About lunch time, I got a call. They've sent me home sick. Can you take me home? Oh. The story came that they didn't want sick people working for them. Oh dear. And if she still wanted the job, she was to call next week.

That doesn't sound promising. At all. I don't know if she has a job to go back to. And she's now telling herself that they were all bitches; they didn't talk to her, they didn't show her anything and they all talked about her clothes and her hair behind her back. She was there, what, two hours? And she noticed all this?

I was so proud of her. Now I hope she doesn't talk herself out of it because it required a little effort. I think what I feel now is disappointment. She's screwed herself over.

And to top it off, MOTH got a phone call. His mother is in hospital. Fluid on the lungs. And heart problems. We are waiting to see what happens now. At this point, it could be a trip to hospital here to have an external pacemaker fitted.

Gosh, it's quiet here...

A great weekender

The weekend just gone was sort of strange.

I can't remember if it began on a strange note or finished on one. The Teen got into one of her moods. And when she's in those, anything goes. She can be positively hilarious. And of course, totally irreverant, crude and doesn't care a jot what others think.

I don't know what triggered it, but I found her talking to the Elder on msn. Hello Elder. *sighs* Misses that girl.

And next thing I know, she's wrapped her head, turban style, in a pillowcase. An old scarf covered the lower part of her face so only her eyes were visible. She had suddenly become O Hannah bin Montannah and it was all Bang Bang and the blowing up of things. Complete with accent and sharp gestures. I wished I had a photo to upload for your viewing pleasure.

As if that wasn't hilarious enough, a day or so later, she was in her pyjamas, rolling around the floor. She was a drunk aboriginal man. Complaining about his wife, using a goon sack for a pillow, and life in general. And how things were back in the Dreamtime. Complete with accent and swear words.

I think the couch narrowly escaped a wetting, and I thought I would have to call the ambulance for Sunny. Poor chap couldn't breathe.

-------------------------------------------------------

The Teen went out on Friday night. She and Wogboy were to attend a gig in an area where they hadn't been before. After careful route plotting, I emailed her the details. She printed them out. And left them on the desk when she left the house.

She told me on her return that the place turned out to be easy to find. And the gig was Osssum! On reflection though, that's probably more a term that the Elder would use. But it was good, none the less.

She was gone Friday to Sunday.

Sunny went out on Saturday. He had a movie date with his mum, and a sleepover at a friend's place. He sent me a beautiful text message which I received just as he walked into the railway station. He always does that for me, and I really love him for it. It's wonderful to be told often that you're loved and appreciated.

So, Saturday night it was just MOTH and I. And it felt strange. I can't remember what we did in the morning. Probably went to the local shopping centre. That's what old people do for excitement. We decided that we would get takeaway for dinner and later that evening rocked up to KFC. It's not my favourite, but there was no sense driving all around the place for food. And I managed to have a Summer Hummer for dessert - vodka, raspberry cordial and lemonade.

For some reason, Sunny flipped me the bird when I told him that....

And Sunday MOTH decided he needed his 'smiles'. He gets those from the girls in the bakery at the shopping centre when he buys his coke. And he treated me to a plain meat pie. And for a round pie in a foil tray, it wasn't too bad.

Sunday afternoon, he decided to break out in a big way. He took me to Maccas for a sundae. Now that, people, is a break out indeed.

So, that was the sum of my weekend. Very quiet and very boring in an old person sort of way.

I'm thinking that maybe that's what I'm going to find the scariest of all when eventually I am an empty nester. I will have no one to keep me young....

A rousing chorus of Money, Money, Money...

Just lately, the Teen has been putting in resumes. Fair enough, at places she's found on the web. But that's a start. The bargain was, that if she found herself a full time apprenticeship, we would let her leave school. No point her wasting her time, our time and the school's time.

So early this week she got a call. Come and see us on Wednesday at 2pm. She accepted. She got another call - talk about spoiled for choice. Come and see us they said. She turned that one down because she didn't think she could have another day off school to see them.

I'd never heard of either salon. The first one can be found on the web www.heavenonadeliade.com.au

The second offered to teach their apprentice make up as well.

She found out afterward that she would have been allowed to have the day off school.

But she attended the 2pm session. It lasted about 5 minutes. And she was asked, if offered, would she work full time? She said yes....

So, she goes back at 10am next Thursday. We aren't sure yet if this is a proper start or to fill in paperwork or for, heck, a second interview. We shall see.

But she proposes to visit the salon on the weekend and confirm everything.

*sniff* my baby is all grown up and savin hair....

Wha? Was that time rushing by?

It seems to have been some small time since I last updated this. A couple of weeks in which so much seems to have happened. And yet, in reality, nothing.

Work has been so busy, I have barely had time to think. Again, it was into crisis mode to get some travel organised. I haven't even had time to read any of my regular bloggy reading. Does that give you an idea? Add to that a manager who was hassling me to complete a task which was about two weeks overdue. Gravfield suggested that I ask for a day to work at home. It was something I hadn't considered before - the GTs do it all the time, but we're just admin. Why should they let us do that? But I asked, and hey! They let me! So I worked from home on the Friday. All day. With just a couple of small breaks and about 3/4 hour for lunch. And it still took me all day to complete the task. I got the travel crisis completed last Thursday though.

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The Teen went to a cocktail party yesterday. I know, a cocktail party. There doesn't seem to be any way to avoid that kind of thing these days. It is a little disconcerting though, when she casually mentions that there were drugs there. I know, again, it's something that you can't avoid these days. You just have to close your eyes and cross your fingers and hope they have the maturity to choose to do the right thing.

She's still with Wogboy. And sitting in the lounge chair watching Juno. It's such a cute movie. If you haven't seen it, you might like to.

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Sunny doesn't have a job yet. But it hasn't been long. He's been looking and has some leads. He doesn't get out of the house much though, and is beginning to feel trapped and lonely. He has a no go on some extra cirricular activities which his friends indulge in, and that's making getting out and socialising a little difficult.

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The Elder seems to be settling in well. God's Waiting Room doesn't offer much opportunity by way of gainful employment, so she isn't working yet. Apparently they are waiting for the tourist season when work picks up. If she can grab a job during that time, it should keep her out of trouble until the new year. They are thinking of relocating to the big smoke then. Just considering at the moment. We will wait and see.

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And one of the GTs who has been there like, forever, has been given the chance to move on. And he's grabbed it with both hands. Pfft! That's right. Move on and take your free dvds and fudge with you. Damn Canada.

But he brought his children into the office for a public viewing last Friday. They are named Sophie and Ferris. Wriggly, furry, smelly, bitey things they are. And oh, so cute!!! I didn't hold them; to wriggly for me. But I did get to scratch and pat them. Nnnaaaawwwwww.

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Urgh. I hear slurpy noises on the couch behind me.... gross! Wonder who that could be?

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It's Father's day today. MOTH has been busy. He is supposed to be taking it easy, but I hadn't moved yet, so he's stripped the bed and done the washing. Tch. Naughty. The Elder sent him a tin of shortbread. The brand is Mac's. I don't know where the hell she got them from, but they would have to be about the best I've tasted. Sweet. Not soft. Hmmmmm.

The big kicker though is that I have to phone my father. I love him dearly, but oh! How I hate that phone. It's lunch time and I have yet to work up the gumption to actually dial. I don't know why I hate phones so much, but my heart pounds and my palms tingle. Why can't I just gridlink and send a message that way? Better just get it over and done with I suppose...

Here's to new friends!

Once again, it's Monday and I'm doing the blog update thing. *smiles*

Sometimes though I do wonder what it is about Monday that can make it go so terribly wrong. Why Monday? Why not Tuesday? Or any other day ending in Y. This morning, I left the Teen talking to her friend at the railway station. I just have to trust that she'll grab a train in time to actually get to school. She has a tendency to get distracted helping friends and forgetting her responsibilities to herself.

Anyway, I'm standing, sunning myself on the platform. The train is about 10 minutes late. Suddenly, I'm thinking that I'm in a call centre. *accented with stumbling over words* Passengers. The 0743 train has been cancelled. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Great.

Silence for a while. Some passengers shifted position, some yawned. Obviously seasoned public transport users. The loudspeaker announced that the next train would be the 0750 express. Not so bad.

The train eventually arrived. Packed. To the portals. But three of us managed to squeeze on. And it remained packed all the way to my destination station. And guess what. It was an all stops! Dang it!

But I missed my usual connecting bus and had to wait 15 minutes for the next one. I arrived at work at about 0930. I had left home at 0725. Not a bad effort for a Monday.

Generally speaking though, last week has been quiet. Except things got a little difficult in Sunny's work life. He works for a local clearance house. He has his own 'department' which he keeps stocked and tidy. They loved him. But it's nothing posh. He keep himself clean and tidy. But it's a clearance warehouse. Hair must be all the same colour? No streaks etc. It's a clearance warehouse! He gels his hair so it spikes in the shorter layers at the back. After he's done it a few times, they ask him not to do it any more. He's not happy, but he complies. They whisper in his ear about getting a hair cut. He ignores it. It's a clearance warehouse, after all. New owners, new management. A store chain name change. It's his first week on a full time basis. The Area Manager goes through the shop. He should cut his hair. His pants aren't black - she says they are navy. They've faded - he wears them every day. But most importantly, he must removed the lip stud. And no, he ISN'T allowed to wear a retainer either. BUT IT'S JUST A CLEARANCE WAREHOUSE, nothing posh!! His choice, remove the stud or don't set foot on the floor again.

He didn't like the environment enough to sacrifice the stud. He quit.

While out late night shopping last Thursday, he got a call. *wails* Sunny, I have no where to stay anymore! Can I stay at your place? You know me. Sure, why not I say.

She arrived Saturday afternoon. Love her. She's a big girl, happy, confident. And works in the Cheesecake shop.

Defs a friendship to cultivate.

Where I notice an empty space.

All week it's felt strange to come home. The driveway is empty. There is a huge blank space where Team Shitbox used to rest. Ok, so maybe not blank. There is cement, grass, oil stains, and other stuff. It's not like it's ... white.

But it feels odd nonetheless.

And the house feels a little empty as well. Sunny has moved in and staked his claim on her old room. But it still feels like something is missing.

I'll get used to it. Heck, I already am. But it's not quite the same as being able to yell down the hall to ask a question.

I think she's settling in. She sent me a text from a party she was attending. She was inebriated, though not greatly. Enough to tell me that the chap she was looking at looked like Gibbs of NCIS. I asked her to keep an eye out for Probie and DiNozzo.

She didn't find any.

I mentioned that Judah had been visiting for the week. It's been kind of hectic having the extra person about the house. Considering that we have all been at home. Except the Teen, who had to attend school on the odd day. Poor poppet. But now I think about it, she had a day off sick, a public holiday and a teacher free day.

Sunny and Judah really enjoyed their week together. And apart from a hiccup on the last night, it all seemed to go well. I guess a long distance relationship is always hard work.

A sibling of mine, Mouse, was visiting this same week. I had hoped that I could find a place for her. But she bought her entourage and I couldn't put everyone up. The weekend she was to visit, I had the Teen in her room with Wogboy; the Elder in her room with Jawsome; Sunny in the lounge room with Judah. And MOTH and I in the comfort of our room. It was great to see her though. She shouted everyone lunch. And anyone who buys me food is always welcome in my house.

The Teen has been quiet. She spends each weekend with Wogboy. Or tries to. At either our place, or his. She's been very quiet lately; I think she misses the Elder. She hasn't said anything. But this last week, while everyone has been home, there has only been the occasional very minor altercation with MOTH.

I took them to the movies last Friday. I've been saving up the Magnum wrappers for the gold class upgrade. I managed to wrangle six wrappers, so we all went. It seemed to be a marathon to decide on the movie though. There didn't seem to be a lot to choose from. Three action movies, one kids movie and one chick flick. MOTH and I were the only ones who had been to gold class before; I hoped we could have a good experience. I was a little nervous, since the whole outing was my idea. It didn't quite work out to my expectations. I misinterpreted the seating plan, and discovered that we were right up the front. In the first row. Yoiks. That's way to close to the screen for me. And the speakers. And I had asked the Teen's opinion about the movie; she'd seen it before. Is there any gore, I asked. Somewhat foolishly in hindsight maybe. No, she said. Plenty of shooting and stuff, but no gore. Judah comes from a Christian background, and isn't a fan of gore. So the movie starts; gore abounds. Some of it in slow motion. I quizzed her about it afterward. Well, I didn't think it was gorey she said. Compared with Rob Zombie movies. Rambo. And others. Ohhh, yes. I forgot her usual fare....

And all in all, it's been a great week.

Friends never say goodbye....

So day of departure finally dawned. And I use that term loosely. Actually, I woke to the sounds of cupboards opening and losing. It was three am.

The last week has been a bit of a shambles. Team Shitbox hadn't been running and the debate was to get the car back on the road, or fund a tow bar for our car, borrow a trailer and drive her there ourselves. She opted for the getting of Team Shitbox back on the road. Which turned out to be a lot more expensive, time and work than originally thought. In the long run, I think it would have been cheaper to get the tow bar. The upshot was that she has no spare funds, and didn't spend the time she needed to pack.

Well, it's not that she couldn't have started the packing when she knew she would be leaving. But she comes from a long line of hoarders and procrastinators. And if it wasn't for the eleventh hour, nothing would get done.

They left at about four am. And Team Shitbox was packed to capacity. Packed. Totally. The boot was full. And you couldn't see out the side windows. Or the back one. She had to leave a lot of stuff behind. And now I get to find places to put it.

And it does seem a little strange. She's not here. Jawsome is not here either. And in spite of what is left, her room seems empty.

Sunny will be moving in there when I get it sorted. And he will no longer have to sleep on a couch. Well, reconsidering, he'll be able to close the door. The bed in that room is a sofa bed. Which folds out from a couch.

Judah is down for a visit this week. We hatched a plan and purchased his tickets on July 20. And I've not been allowed to tell Sunny. I've watched him come down, and I've watched as he's missed his man. And not been allowed to say a thing! That was a tough ask. Having to keep my mouth shut for that long.

And we thought we would keep the arrival a surprise as well, so we stashed Judah in the cupboard when Sunny got home. And normally, the routine is to change out of his uniform then throw himself on the couch to chillax. This time, he decided to change his lip ring first, and it takes a while to get it positioned properly. And everyone knew there was something going on, so they kept hanging around. Sunny twigged that something was happening, but didn't know what. And it didn't help his mood any.

Eventually, I took pity on the cupboard dweller, and told him to come out. Sunny was shocked speechless. I think. He was very quiet for a long time. I wasn't sure that I had done the right thing after all...

But I'm wishing the Elder all the luck in the world, followed by plenty of blog updates. But don't come visit too soon!

I'm all for usual...

Usual. Yes, I seem to usually update this blog on a Monday. After the weekend.

Time is getting along, and the Elder has actually begun packing up. Well, I do say begun. At the end of yesterday, she'd spent considerable time in the shed going through boxes. There are now 3 boxes in the loungeroom. I don't know what's in them but have my fingers crossed really, really tightly that what didn't make it to those boxes went into the bin.

Ah, I hope in vain methinks.

She finished up work last week. They gave her a lovely gift. Don't ask me what it was; I really couldn't tell you. She did tell, but alas, I have forgotten.

I shall really miss the ride to work....

Friday evening, the Elder had a friend sleep over. And the Teen went for a sleep over. The thing was, she had to find her way to Wogboy's place. And he's a country boy. She'd been there before, so MOTH said he would be right.

Off we went. And I should have known better. My usual practice is to check the route before departing. He said no, we'd check it in the car. When I finally made it to the car after the others, the Teen was talking street names. I thought they had it sorted. No...

We knew where we were for a small part of the way. Middle road she cries, we need to take the middle road as we came around the corner and the road split several directions. I think we go around there! What? Back to Brisbane? Small voice from the back. Maybe not.... And it was all downhill from there.

I looked up. The sign said Middle Road. Ohhhhh she says. So that's what he meant. And we journeyed off into the dark to points we'd never been before with a roadmap the navigator couldn't read. The print is too small and there was no light. Needless to say, we got lost. I picked a random street and thought I'd try it. When I eventually got the driver to park under a WHITE street light - those stupid ORANGE sodium lights aren't worth diddly squat - and got out of the car to read the directory, the street I wanted came off the random one. w00t! And it was even better because when we eventually found the street, we couldn't see the house numbers. There is no street lighting. The Teen lucked some reception right about then and got a call. Where are you? We're in your street, but can't read the house numbers. He stood outside so we could find it. Coming back wasn't much better - MOTH kept ignoring my navigation and getting himself lost. That's right. In. The. Dark.

As usual.

Saturday I went into the city with Sunny. He had arranged to meet up with a friend or two. I spent the afternoon with them, and had a blast. I have the photo to prove it.


Elder went in earlier to do some stuff then go meet Jawsome at the airport. A friend of hers, the Pirate Queen - was supposed to meet up in the city to party with her, but PQ's bus stuffed her around. By the time we got back home that afternoon, PQ had to turn around and leave.

Sunday was a kick back and relax day. Ahhhhh. Loves weekends.

Here's to loose ends.

These last few days have come and gone in a rush! And where are we at? Let me tell you....

Team Shitbox is still not moving. It could be the starter motor. It could be the alternator. Or it could be the fuel pump. Now we are back to being a one car family, and it's not working well. We might even have to use public transport. *gasp*

Now the Elder has to decide if she is going to see if she can get it repaired for the journey south. Or spend the money on a hire car to get her there. Or even - and this is the one MOTH likes the best - pay to have a tow bar fitted to our car, borrow a trailer and move her down. We thought that letting the rego lapse would probably be a good thing, but she insists that she wants to keep it current. And then she can transfer it when she goes south. That might work, but would be somewhat more beneficial if the car was actually going....

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As I think I have mentioned, MOTH and the Teen had been suffering from a tummy bug. They were over it and I thought we were in the clear. But perhaps I thought too soon. Sunny was to go up north to visit, but had been complaining of a bubbly tummy. No other symptoms, so he was prepared to go. Friday afternoon, he came down with it. I managed to talk him into going anyway. Yes, I know what my mother would have said! But he'd been looking forward to the trip, and going by the severity of the others, being sick would cease quickly, and it wouldn't last beyond a couple of days. So off he went.

The Teen was feeling a little low because she wouldn't be able to see her Wogboy for the weekend. He had other plans. So I gave her permission to ask him over. He arrived and they disappeared. As they do. Sometime after dinner - which I didn't feed him btw, as he had already eaten - the poor boy rushed outside to be sick. And last I heard, spent the rest of the night in the bathroom. Just sick though, nothing else.

The Elder had an arguement with one of her male friends earlier that evening. Apparently he asked her over to a party he was having. It's a little distance from our house and I wasn't keen on having to go back and pick her up. When she asked if she could crash there, he informed her that sure, she could. She could share a car with some bloke she didn't know. Cause his bed was reserved for single chicks. And the couch was taken and there would not be any spare space on the floor. And the party was a pick up for him and his friends. TYPICAL!! She was really upset. But asked if Jemma could come over. Sure I said. Sunny was the only sick one at that time, so no problem.

Luckily, Jemma didn't get sick.

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Saturday dawned. Wogboy was sleeping it off in the Teen's room. I found her asleep on the couch. And then ... and then ... and then ... oooo I feel faint.

Yes, I got it. And I spent a very uncomfortable Saturday. I couldn't even keep water down. I didn't start eating again until Sunday afternoon. Now my stomach is making up for lost time - I'm constantly hungry.

But I'm at work. Nothing like sharing the love...

Just waiting for the Elder now.

A quick update...

Last night, Team Shitbox came home. Yes. It did. The Elder had one of her revhead friends come by the car park and take a look at it.

It seems that the red electrical tape does not mark the red battery terminal after all. MOTH had connected the polarities wrong. Which, I guess, explains the melted jumper cables.

But they got it started. We are gamely or stupidly out in it this morning.

And the purchase of a heavy duty battery is somewhat imminent.

I don't know if she'll rejoin RACQ now. She leaves in three weeks to another state. There isn't much point really....

The continuing stoooory of a car that's gone to the dogs....

So, we decided that maybe all was forgiven and went to check on the car. MOTH decided to drive us down to the carpark. Because it is a fair hike. Especially in the RAIN.

It still wouldn't kick over. So, out came the jumper leads. Ha! Take that! Recalcitrant car! Pernicious vehicle!

The leads were connected and it still wouldn't start. Suddenly, there were sparks from the battery terminal. And smoke. That's right. Blew the jumper leads. Melted them in a couple of places even. These were MOTH's, purchased from a local cheap store.

Luckily, the Elder had a spare set in her emergency kit. Never been used before. Connect them up again. More sparks. And yes, these were hot too.

And the car still didn't start. In fact, it didn't even click when the key was turned.

And it only had to last just over another three weeks. It might be the battery; it might be something a whole lot more serious...

One of the biggest questions is, how do we get it out from the undercover car park?

I'm guessing the volvo had the last word after all.

Turf wars. And not a lego in sight.

It's been a strange couple of days.

The Elder's car gave up the ghost last night. She's been away, so it hasn't been started for something like four days. The whole time she's been gone in fact. That's right, no one loves her car like she does.

Yesterday morning, it started just fine. And off we tootled to work.

Yesterday afternoon, we clambered in. Yes, that's what I said. Clambered. I'm too darned short to do anything remotely ladylike when it comes to that car. And it wouldn't start. She tried to weave her usual magic but nothing worked. And then the battery started to die.

Fortunately, one of the GTs who lives our direction hadn't gone home yet. We abandoned the lost cause and headed home in something decent. And I got to listen to some Slipknot that I hadn't heard before.

The Team Shitbox Racing is still where we left it. I hope. We aren't talking to it, so haven't checked it.

__________

There has been a flock of magpies moved in recently. I don't suppose they would have hung around if the Teen hadn't decided to feed them. Usually we notice a family about for a while, but this time they've brought their cousins, aunts, uncles and other cousins twice removed with them.

Their song is pretty though, so I guess it's not too bad. As long as they annoy the neighbour.

They were making a fair bit of noise this morning. For an extended time. I didn't think anything of it, until the crows started calling. What the heck is going on?

I peeked out the window.

It was like a schoolyard! Two magpie protagonists were rolling around on the ground, pecking at each other. If one particular bird was on the ground, one or two of the watching crowd would dive in and take a peck at the one on the top.

The crows - not the big beautiful glossy ones with the ice blue eyes - were in the trees and on the lawn calling ... fight! fight! fight!

At least, that's what it sounded like...

Monday, bloggy Monday

So here it is. Monday. I've been at work for a while now, and surprised myself by realising that hey! I've actually been ... working! Yes, you heard it first here. I've been working. In fact, I've only briefly looked at mySpace and Facebook. I haven't even taken time out to read my blogs. The ones I have bookmarked for regular reading.

But it's also been a few days since I last wrote, so I suppose I should think about what I've been doing since I last bored you to tears.

Well, let's see...

Sunny crashed last week. It seems like so long since that last happened. I don't know what triggered this one. I thought it might have been something I had done. Or maybe he had words with Judah. But it's been so long, I had relaxed. And I wasn't paying attention. I was angry with myself for that, and not stopping it early. But that night, everyone seemed to want a piece of me, and I felt absoultely swamped.

So, I didn't see it coming. When it did though, it did. Real good. Total withdrawl. And I couldn't get any response, except dodging my touch and moving away from me when I went to ask a question. That hurt. I eventually got him settled, and I put myself to bed. Luckily for me, MOTH was still awake so I could talk to him about how I felt. Judah phoned to find out what was wrong. I didn't know how much to tell him, so I only told him that Sunny had put himself to bed. That was when I discovered another sign I had missed, and I didn't feel great for having missed that either. *sigh*

Sunny my love, if you're reading this and you feel sensory overload on the horizon, speak up. I'll do my best *Calamity Jane voice* ah'll round 'em up and head 'em out fuh ya, li'l fella. So you can be alone with the quiet.

The rest of the week has been easier though. The Elder headed off to visit her man for the weekend. She left home at around 4am, and I slept right through her departure. Imagine that. She who is usually awake at the right time and even earlier. Soz!

I can't say the weekend has been all that quiet though. The Teen had Wogboy over for a visit. I like him. That boy is just a whoooole bundle of cute. So, they do make boys in her size.

I played Kingdom Hearts on the PS2. Had to buy a whole new memory card though. Mine has gone missing. Which means, basically, I have start all my games over again.

Oh, MOTH and I went shopping. He purchased a new pair of shoes. $250 worth. I nearly died. And so did he. Didn't stop him though. *grin*

And I watched a crazy movie called Black Sheep. That's a cack. A whole lot of bad acting, loads of fake blood and zombie sheep. You can't beat it.

*giggles manically*

Free movie knights rule!

You know I have mySpace. Because I'm cool like that. One of my 'friends' is Black Curtain. They screen movies with free admission. But only in some cities.

This time it was scheduled at a place I could actually attend. The setup was different this year in that you were required to receive the tickets by SMS. And they sent TWO tickets. It was just a question of who could go with me. The Elder won. Mostly due to a lack of interest from everyone else.

I wasn't sure how it would work, but I was game. We arrived at the cinema and there didn't appear to be many people. Until we got upstairs. Oh. Now that's a different story. There were plenty of people milling about up here. And there didn't seem to be any structure to the crowd. Just crowdiness. We had a little while to wait, so the Elder decided to grab some popcorn and a frozen coke.

While I was waiting for her to come back, I noticed a boy in the crowd who reminded me of someone else. For some reason, he kept drawing my eye. On one particular occasion, I glanced his direction in time to see him lift his shirt to show someone something. OMG. I couldn't tell if he was wearing a patterned shirt under his t-shirt. Or if he was exceptionally hairy! I'm hoping it was another t-shirt.

We eventually started moving, only to discover that they were only letting the crowd through in small numbers. Waiting seemed eternal, but we made it to the front of the queue. I would have managed to get through if that stupid pole wasn't in the way. The crowd kept pushing through, but the pole was firmly blocking my path.

Eventually we were let through. Only to be stopped further on. I had to get my phone ready so the SMS ticket number could be compared with their list. Then I was required to give up my phone. What?! Well, that couldn't be helped I suppose. It was, after all, a pre-screening.

We found our places to sit. And waited for the movie to begin. The audience cheered when the opening credits rolled up.

The movie was a thrill ride of nonstop action. It was dark, brooding, action packed, creepy with the occasional one liner thrown in for good measure. Everything a girl could want in a movie really. Or was that just me?

I wasn't certain about the fuss being made about nominating Heath Ledger for a posthumous Academy award. I thought only if he truly deserved it, not because he's gone. But I've since had to rethink my position. On screen, he BECAME the Joker. He made that character truly creepy and totally believable. His movements were different. His demeanour was different. His voice became different. Creepy, creepy, creepy.

The audience seemed to be totally absorbed; even gasping and groaning when one character broke his ankle.

I really enjoyed this movie, and if the future ones are going to feature the same actors, writers and director, I'm really looking forward to the next one...

This is the dawning of the age of .... solo?

We seem to be perched on the brink of a new era, and I'm not sure I like it.

I never thought I would say this, but this might be a big step toward the whole empty nest thing. And I'm not ready for it.

Perhaps I should clarify that. I'm not going to enjoy the quiet and solitude. I thought I might. But the more people there are in the house, the more I find I'm liking it. And the less I'm looking forward to there being only MOTH.

Right now, the Elder is counting the weeks until she finishes her traineeship. That's supposed to happen in early August. Then she has a week to say her fond farewells. And pack. The week after that, the plan is to move. To NSW. Yes, that's right. NSW. At least until December. That's the plan.

Sunny is missing Judah desperately. He can't wait to move in together. Judah lives away, but would love to move locally. Once Judah gathers the courage and the finances to do that, Sunny will move. And it looks like that could be happening this year as well.

The Teen has wanted to move out for a long time now. In fact, the only reason she hasn't done so is because she has no way of supporting herself.

I'm happy for the Elder, and I hope she's happy. I'm proud that she's grown in cofidence. It's great to see her smiling. I love her muchly and she will be missed. In a quiet way though I guess. She's still the quiet one she was as a child. And her presence in the house will be missed. Especially the ride to work. Which is about the only time we spend quality time interacting.

The Teen seems to like the amount of time I give her. Not a lot so she doesn't feel crowded. And I'm welcome to hug and kiss her occasionally. Just not too often. And of course, I must give hugs and kisses and time when she comes to me. She doesn't do talk, quiet and still well. Thankfully, she would much rather 'talk' to the compter than me.

I spend most of my time with Sunny. We watch movies. And we talk. Something I don't get from anyone else. We're open to others joining us on the couch for our quiet time. But no one takes up that offer. So we sit in the dark, watch movies and talk. He snuggles and tells me about his day and what some of his friends are doing and what the relationship status with his parents is, and how much he misses Judah. And I listen and provide support. While we watch movies. Cause we have mad skills and can multitask.

And although I wish him happy, for entirely selfish reasons I am going to miss that terribly when he moves.

I had asked MOTH about having someone else move in when the Elder moves on. Not immediately, but sometime later. He said no. Not at all. And that brings me back to the not looking forward to being an empty nester. MOTH would like me to spend more time with him, but when I do, I get to sit on the bed reading or doing puzzles. While he surfs or plays games on the computer. He doesn't say much. I haven't pointed out what I consider obvious - that if Judah moved in, Sunny wouldn't need me at all..... and we could spend time together ... doing boring things ... cause he won't stay up and watch movies ... go out for sundaes ... or just go out ...

Normalcy. Or we return you to your regularly scheduled program.

I can't remember when I last posted. There you go. I'ts been an interesting week. Oh, yes, it has. I think so. Let me tell you all about it....

Jawsome arrived the weekend prior to the one just gone. But I think I mentioned that. The Elder was only allowed to have the Monday off - and that only if she had completed a particular task - and the following Friday. Which meant, basically, that Jawsome and MOTH had a lot of time to decide if they liked each other. Or not. Jawsome did spend a fair bit of time watching dvds, but MOTH took him out grocery shopping on Thursday. Jawsome apparently had fun doing that. Go figure. And MOTH was happy because he got staff discount. At the dinner table Jawsome leaned over and murmured something in the Edler's ear. Which she proudly announced to all seated there - Jawsome wanted something, but didn't want to ask MOTH because he was scarey. There you go. They get along just fine.

Sunny arrived back home on Monday evening. To a house full of noise. As usual. I think the Teen had a friend over. Petunia is very much an off the wall kind of girl. She's loud, funny and when she and the Teen get in one of those moods, then look out! It's all out noise. And you don't know whether to laugh or cry.

And things were more or less back to normal.

On Friday, the Elder and Jawsome ventured off to Movieworld. I think Jawsome hadn't been there before. The weather was overcast and I was hoping it didn't rain. I needn't have worried - they went on the Wild Wild Wet ride and got thoroughly soaked anyway. That afternoon I actually had to catch a train home. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed doing that. Pfft! Ok, I lie.....

Saturday, Jawsome was leaving and Sunny was heading for a friend's place for an overnight stay. So they all ventured out to the airport together. I was invited along for the ride, but I had a social event to attend, and I wouldn't be back in time. Alas!

The Elder also found out that her ex had been involved in an accident and was in hospital. To the best of my knowledge, a car pulled out in front of him while he was on the motorcycle and he got pretty well banged up. A cracked fibula, massive bruising, gravel rash, broken teeth. She went to visit him after she saw Jawsome on his way, and was a little upset when she returned home. He was very groggy and doped to the eyeballs.

I sent a message to check when she would be home. Her message came back with 'we'. What? What we? Apparently Sunny decided to stay with her, so he didn't end up at his friend's place.

The Teen was quite happy to stay home. Her boyfriend was sleeping over. They have only been together for about a week. A little longer now, and he lives out a distance. They don't get to see each other much, but have known each other for a while now. I shake my head. He's everything she usually dislikes. He's short. He's a little older than she. He has a job. Well, apprenticeship. He has his learners. He DOESN'T have facial piercings. Only a couple of, relatively speaking, small stretchers in his ears. They're crazy about each other. At the moment. *grins*

But MOTH and I were supposed ... Oh! There are two birthdays in the office today which means CAKE! So, I've helped myself. One piece of traditional fruit cake that the GT's mother makes every year, and one piece of chocolate sponge. Hmmmmm.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, we had an invitation to a 50th birtday party. On Saturday night. It was to start at 5pm and I had to race out to the station and collect the Teen and Wogboy at 4pm. It was a quick get ready! I dived out the door to follow MOTH and thought, wait! I'd better get the invitation. Unlocked and grabbed it off the fridge door. Off we went in the rain to the thing. It was crowded upstairs - some rugby test was on - and the function was downstairs. We ventured down to find out where it was. Oh, we're a bit early, no one is here. But look! Shiny pokies. Let's amuse ourselves for a while. And it's quiet, there isn't anyone else in the room. We played for a while then decided to check again to see if anyone had turned up. Nope. Still no one yet. It's after 5pm. Where is everyone? I pulled out the invite again. OH ... it's a 7pm start.... *small voice* don't I feel like a bit of a ninny???

But the food was good and there was plenty of it. And, the cake was chocolate...

Sunday was quiet. I got up at the usual time. And the Elder was up early as well. She was headed out to Willowbank with a friend of hers. He was racing apparently. Sunny went out to his friend's place, and the Teen and Wogboy stayed in her room most of the day.

Sunday afternoon, Sunny sent a message to ask if another friend who is visiting our fair city could come for a visit. That's fine. But he had family stuff to attend first, then he would come over. About 9pm or so, Sunny had a call from Carton to say he'd changed his mind. A little after that, he called again to say he was on his way. I didn't really mind, I'm still up and about. Sometime after that, he called again. The train had broken down and he had to wait 20 minutes for another one. So, it was sometime after 10pm when we finally got the call to pick him up from the station. But I didn't mind; we had talked to Carton before, just never met him in person. He slept over, and we sent him home this morning.

I know I complain, but I really enjoy having extras in the house. It's a 5 day week of weekdays. There are no sleepovers on weekdays.

So we now return you to our regularly scheduled program...

PS. Sunday evening, the Elder went back to visit with the ex. He's feeling a little better and moving a little more freely. Still black and blue though! From waist to mid-thigh. All things.... *feels as close to sympathetic as she can get*

It doesn't pay to piss em off....

The kids were jumping all over me. Well, one in particular. I wanna go out. Don't know where, I just want to go out. The Teen put up her hand. I wanna come too.

After some thought, I decided that I have a new card for a new account I hadn't tested yet. Today is cheap video day, let's go get one.

The Teen, Sunny and I headed out for the local shops. Along the way, I noticed a vehicle travelling close to me; boy those headlights are bright! So bright, I shifted the postition of my side mirror. And, hey, if the light reflects back on them, what of it. I can't see if it's reflecting on mine.

I glanced in the mirror a couple of times. They had backed off a little, but not much. The kids were discussing something to do with the radio, and I glanced to see what they were doing. And when I glanced back, I'd gone a little too close to the middle of the road. I pulled the car back in line.

I glanced again. Darn, that vehicle was still up my tail. But wait! Can I see, vaguely beyond the reflection of the headlights, something written across the bonnet?

A little further on and bugger! I'm being followed by a police car. There is a roundabout that is so small and off set it's actually a nuisance. If there is no other traffic, I drive straight through, across both lanes. THIS time, I took it slow and did it properly. And just after that, yep. Red and blue flashing lights. Shoot!

I pulled over. Worried, because I was sure that I had been speeding on the speed limit changeover. But no! Licence check and RBT.

w00t! I don't think I've done one of those before. At least, I've been pulled over but he said I didn't have to blow into the bag, and possibly one other time.

But hey! It made the trip to the shops interesting.

Oh, and we also aren't sure if the Teen, sitting in the back of the car while wearing a paper hat, necessarily helped either.

Or maybe I shouldn't have moved the mirror.....

Welcome ... Jawsome

He arrived on Saturday. He walked in the door on Saturday afternoon, followed by the Elder. It felt strange. I have chatted to this boy on line; I have seen him on web cam. And lo, there he is in person. Looking just like he did on cam. Strange, almost deja vu.

The Teen says she wasn't phased by that. Most of the people she meets are from msn or mySpace anyway. She's used to it.

Wow, you're not a four foot midget with a monobrow after all I remarked. He laughed and ducked his head. In reality, he's 188cm tall. That's about 6ft 1inch in the old scale. I think that's about the same height as Sunny, but we aren't sure. He's a full head taller than the Elder.

He's still a little quiet, but has the potential to be a very funny lad. The Elder took him out to the local bottle-o Saturday night. And he went out in normal clothes, but included in his ensemble a knitted orange hat thing. That pulled down over his ears and included the dangling strings that tie under the chin. Hillarious. The Elder just shook her head. And smiled at the same time.

Yesterday he went out in public wearing a bright pink tee with the words I'M GREAT! on it. In large black block letters. Game, I'll give him that.

He's willing to laugh at himself. And that's not a bad thing. Like telling us that he fell out of the shower - at his home - and skinned his heel. And showed us the wound. We don't know how he fell, and I'm not quite game enough to ask.

They get along just fine though. There doesn't seem to be any awkwardness between them. So. I guess we will just have to see where this leads...

Donations accepted for the Save the Desititute Daughter fund

The Elder drives a car. A piece of shit car that she is strangely proud of. The fact that it is an old volvo has nothing to do with it. Really. It's a little dinged around the edges, but it adds character.

She likes it because she can do crazy things and park in strange places. She tells me that people will just look at the car, note that it's a bloody volvo driver and shrug.

But just lately, the romance hasn't been going so well. The car has been breaking down; becoming tempermental and throwing the occasional temper tantrum.

Last night, he refused to start. Again. The last time this happened, it was a weekend and she was stuck in the car park. Luckily, she's got RACQ. You know, never be without it. And when her knight in reflective yellow turned up, he got the car going. Without two fuses. Which freaked him a little. Because that just shouldn't happen.

This time, the thing she should never be without, she's without. And no RACQ to the rescue. Luckily, a knight in shining Ford Focus came along. He lives out our direction so offered us a lift home. The Elder wasn't sure about taking it. She didn't want to leave her baby alone. But I talked her into it and the knight dropped us home. After dinner, we went out to see if we could fetch the volvo. I drove our car and MOTH came with us.

He twiddled some cables. No go. He put in more oil. No go. He played with a switch. And hey presto! It started. Apparently a switch for the headlights wasn't fully off and it was shorting. Fortunately, it seemed to like the adjustment. And it was time to bring the baby home.

MOTH insisted he was coming home with me though. He wasn't going to ride in that piece of shit car!

10 9 8 7 .... countdown!

And no, it's not that 80s music program either. But those were fun times. On the odd occasion that I was allowed to watch it. ABC always had such appalling programming timing. It - and Dr Who - were up against the news on channel 9. And we all know which programs had preference!

But we are on the countdown. At least, the Elder is. And she makes sure that everyone else is too. Jawsome arrives on the weekend. On Saturday. And we are counting down the days. Hey that would be a good line for a song. There are, apparently, only 4 sleeps to go.

Sunny is away this week. Last night was his second night away. It's quiet. And I have had two early nights so far. By early I mean I'm in bed before midnight. A little closer to 11pm. Television isn't really entertaining; the Elder and the Teen are usually on the computer. So I trundle off to bed and sit staring over MOTH's shoulder at that television. Or read. And get bored, so I snuggle under the blankies and settle for sleep.

The Teen has lost her phone. By lost it, I mean it's broken properly now and won't turn on. We have a very old panasonic that I thought to loan her. It won't turn on. Sunny has an old nokia and an old LG. She went for the nokia. It won't turn on. So that leaves the LG. Wonder if it will turn on?

Going nowhere ... fast

I decided to vote myself a day off. And I told my boss that too. I told him I was going to take Monday off. If the travel I was working on was finished. Guess what. It wasn't. Still isn't. How difficult can it be to get a hotel in Canada booked? Pretty difficult apparently. And they need it by Friday. Wish me luck e'body!

Needless to say, I didn't get to have Monday off. Though for all the progress I made, I may as well have. I thought I might take this Friday off. So I can have a long weekend like. No dice. The other office girl has that day off. Hmmm. Maybe I can have the following Monday off. Although my stress levels will have dropped by then. But hey! My calendar tells me that there is a report due that day. Will I ever get this day off?

Next week is going to be a quiet one. Sunny is off this weekend to go visit Judah. He leaves Sunday and is gone for the week. It's going to be so quiet. And I will desperately miss the dvd nights. Sunny and I were talking about why we like that time so much. It's the recharge. We sit in the dark, don't talk to each other, stare dumbly at the screen. Although he plays on the hiptop until he falls asleep. And the noise level is down and it's a brilliant way to destress. I get a bit narky when someone else is in the area because they are usually on the computer. And the screen generates light, and the keyboard clicks. And I get stroppy because of the distraction. But then, I'm a stroppy old bag really.

Judah. What can I say about Judah. He comes from a country church background. A couple of years older than Sunny. He's pleasant, thoughtful, fun. He's capable of giggling and squealing like a school girl. When he's tickled! I really like him. I like him a lot. He's my favourite of all the friends Sunny has introduced me to. And he seems to like me too. Which is a bonus! He makes Sunny deliriously happy. And that counts for a lot in my book. I hope he's around for a long, long time.

Jawsome. This is the Elder's new beau. *sings* You must walk feminine, talk feminine, smile and beguile, feminine ... that's what every girl should know, if she wants to catch a beau. It's a song from Disney or something.

But I digress. Jawsome. It's hard to describe someone you haven't met. We have chatted on msn and facebook. He's a bit of a ratbag. With a wicked sense of humour. Like most young blokes he's been known to do stupid things. Like injuring himself jumping off a couch while playing guitar hero. I've seen him sitting in front of the webcam while wearing a promo cardboard headband for the movie Kung Fu Panda. As an aside, I really want to see that movie. Yes. Yes I do. Sunny is fully expecting to be greeted by a 4 foot midget with a monobrow when he arrives. He is popping up to meet the Elder in person for the first time. He arrives a couple days before Sunny returns. He's staying for a week. So it's going to feel a little crowded for a while.

But we should be used to that by now. And speaking of which, I have another in the house for about three nights.....

Ah me...

I'm a travelling (wo)man

These days, most of my day at work seems to be organising travel to places I'll never go. This last nightmare involved Europe, Canada and the USA. Lately, they seem to be a little better organised, but this trip ran true to form.

I seem to have spent the last week almost constantly working on getting this trip booked and paid for. The flight itinerary had been organised but not ticketed. Qantas usually hold the itinerary for a couple of days before they cancel the booking. This time they didn't. When I was finally allowed to go ahead, the booking was still there. Sometimes something has to work!

Accommodation on the other hand... None of the places I wanted to book were available on the dates I needed. And the agent couldn't get them booked through their wholesaler. I had to book through an online service, or direct with the hotel. This usually works because I now have access to a corporate credit card. It was truly a horrific experience before then! But I had 4 hotels to find and book. I managed to get 2 of them before the card maxed out. That's right, the card maxed out. The credit limit is pretty generous. And it doesn't 'refresh' again until early next month. I had to get someone else to book one of the hotels. I have 3 of them booked but no way to pay for the 4th! I still don't know how I'm going to do it. They are due to arrive at wherever I have booked for them on 21 June. And they depart Australia tomorrow.

I hate organising travel. Especially last minute multistop jaunts.

___________

In my last post (the dogs have stopped howling now) I mentioned a friend of Sunny's. He shall be called Judah. No, he hasn't sold anyone out for thirty pieces of silver. He has his own business judaharmourindustries.com.au. If I'm honest, I wasn't certain at first. The Elder wasn't happy and things were a little awkward. But after the first night things smoothed themselves out and all was hunky dory. He's wonderful. I like him a lot. He was shy and quiet but was coming out of his shell by the time he was ready to leave.

I'm still not sure about the PDAs; I don't like too much mush. But I guess I could get used to them. *grin* It's just great to see Sunny so happy.

In a couple of weeks time I get to meet the Elder's new squeeze. Although I don't suppose I can call him a squeeze yet. They haven't met yet to squeeze. He's coming for a visit. We have chatted before via web cam and msn. He's Jawsome, and seems to be lots of fun. Not sure yet if MOTH will be happy though. Jawsome seems to be predisposed to fun.

I lurve long weekends

This week has been a write off. Things have been off kilter since the conference. I think I need a holiday to recover!

Sunny has had a friend stay over. Originally it was to be Wednesday night. Until we realised that Sunny needed to work a late shift that day and start an early shift the next morning. Thursday sounded a better proposition. So, Thursday was go!

Thursday came. And some time after dark, Sunny brought him home. He was tall! Taller than Sunny. And he's from up north. I had never heard the name of the place before. But I know the general area.

So, it's Saturday and he's still here. How did that happen? I've watched them interact, and Sunny seems quite smitten. In fact, it's downright sickening. PDAs! Get a room ferfksake! Gah! I've never even seen the Elder or the Teen snuggle as much with their partners. *grins and shudders at the same time* Actually, now I think about it, they couldn't get a room. At least, not here. There isn't one...

But I hope he's going home soon. I want the house back. And there is another one apparently wants to stay next weekend as well. MOTH doesn't mind, so I guess it's ok.

Oh, and Teen has a new piercing. MOTH is SERIOUSLY less than pleased. I confess that although I expressed disapproval, I didn't specifically say NO so she went ahead and did it anyway. Now MOTH flat refuses to acknowledge her. Those two are so alike it's not funny.

So, on the whole, I'm really glad that I'm not at work for a few days. It's Queen's birthday long weekend. Being an Aussie, I'd be terribly upset if becoming a republic meant we lost a public holiday! We don't get enough of them as it is.

In which I moan about my job...

Just for something different. I am organising a trip from Australia, through Europe then on to Canada and the USA. And home. They are supposed to depart in about a week. But the way things go here, I'll likely have the go ahead the day before they depart. It's really quite stressful.

I thought about applying for a job in Sydney once. Same sort of thing I'm doing now, but for a much better employer. And, hopefully, not as much of the bureaucratic nonsense. Working here is like opening a gift every day. There is just so much red tape. But ... MOTH nearly had apoplexy. Poor dear. I really shouldn't do that.

So there goes that idea.

The Teen celebrated her birthday the other day. I had hopes that it might have been good for her, but they were soon dashed. Silly me. Getting all optimistic there. She is going through a really tough time right now. She is being bullied. Badly enough for her to seriously consider taking a complaint to the police. She's terrified, but resolute as well. I absolutely admire her strength. I'm so proud of her. So strong, so firm. I don't think that at her age, I could have handled it myself. We'll stand by her, whatever she decides to do.

Just lately, I'm standing back and watching Elder and Sunny, wishing things were back on an even footing. I love them both dearly, but I can see things are sliding and I don't know how to help fix it. Not that I'm a fixer-upper by any means. They just need to talk. But something happened between them and both are a little unsure of where they stand. Elder withdraws from everyone - not just Sunny - and he's left bewildered and wondering what's going on. He tells MOTH that he's tried to talk, but I don't think that's the kind of talk they need. Right now, they just need to be silly with each other. Just to talk about the silly stuff, nothing of substance. I'm sure that's how they started out being friends. Just a hug in passing, some silly talk and things will right themselves. *optimism strikes again*

Late nights. Or boredom!

Wow. It's 11pm and I'm sitting here, wishing it wasn't Sunday night. Tomorrow is Monday. Ok, bad case of stating the obvious here. I'm not looking forward to Monday. Hardly ever do actually. I really love the idea of getting paid, but don't like the idea of going to work.

Sunny has adjusted his medication. But in order to do that, he had to come completely off his current meds. It hasn't been pretty. Although it's not great right now, crisis has been averted by having one of his friends sleep over.

So, it's Sunday evening. I've been watching the Rob Zombie Halloween remake. I like what I saw of it much better than the 1980whatever version! But two of the audience complained about it, and there was nothing from the other so I stopped it and put Zoolander on instead.

We did manage to get through Hitman though. And I really like that one. So did the friend.

I think this post is a little disjointed. Sunny has a 7.30am start tomorrow. I'm thinking about going to bed. I usually do alarm clock duty and if I do it for tomorrow, I need to get him out of bed about 4am. He needs time to shower, wash his hair, let it dry and straighten it. I don't know, males these days!

Crisis hour!

Well, maybe not quite. But it may as well be. Remember I moaned about having to do that 6 hour meeting last time? Guess what, I've got to do it again. This coming Monday. Oh, it's so good to be me!

I'm hoping that now it's Thursday, things will get back to a more normal keel. Monday was not good.

Rocked into work after the conference, and straight into the meeting that I had to organise while away. And guess what. Seems I wasn't popular because I didn't organise tea/coffee for people when they arrived. Morning tea wasn't long after, so I didn't bother. BUT! I also forgot the data projector..... And we're off to a good start.

Then, I get a phone call. One of the GTs I had to organise travel for, while away, didn't get registered for his conference. It was panic stations because he couldn't attend without being registered. The corporate card I would have used to pay the registration was maxed out and totally useless. What to do, what to do.... I eventually found a solution, but meantime the GT wanted to register. He used his own. Now I am trying to organise a refund to put it against a different account. *sigh* When I break things, I really break things.

There were a couple more things that went badly wrong that day as well. I was nearly ready to pack up and go home.

It's evened out a little now. Hopefully the rest of the week won't be bad.

We have a visitor on the weekend. Just for something different. I haven't met this one and I am hoping we'll get on well. We've chatted online and not often. He's a friend of Sunny's. He seems nice. And his visit could be good for Sunny. Sunny is in transition from one medication to another, and he isn't having a good time of it. Hopefully this visit will help distract him.

The Elder is looking to have some people over this weekend for the Teen's birthday. Nothing major, but we were looking not to have any of them sleepover. The thought was that maybe the Teen could sleep over at one of their places after the bbq. We will have to see how that one pans out.

All I can say is, roll on weekend. Next week, don't come! I don't wanna do that meeting....

Conference. Part 3. For the slow readers

WEDNESDAY: Back at the booth again this morning. I'm supposed to be off. She's late. And then I'm told that the one thing I want to see, I might not be able to see after all? WTF? No way. I'm going. We would be doing 'bump out' which is an optimistic way of saying Pack-up-the-stand-we're-outta-here.

MOTH went home this morning...

Back up to the boys room to work on the catering for a meeting next Monday. Sometimes, it just never seems to end. What? No free icecream? The fridge is empty?! I hate Wednesdays when the conference winds down.....

Back on the booth for the afternoon. We started the pack up. I let her take the lead - there's less trouble I can get into that way. I was just thinking I had managed to get through the conference without being taken to task, when presto! Things back on an even keel.

Did get to see the panel. About a dozen speakers, with 3 speaking for the side. Not the same 3 each time mind. Questions were posed, and each of the 3 chosen speakers had 1 minute to put their point across, either for or against, depending on their stance. Some of the panelists were very acerbic and funny at the same time. It was hosted by Adam Spencer. A geek from ABC shows.

Wednesday night was state of origin. They usually put on a bit of a beer and pizza night and set up the big screen. The food was good - pizza, chips, salads, quiche, pies. And beer, wine and softdrink. After packing up, I went back to the room. Kinda empty and lonely without MOTH. I ran the spa, added bubbles and light cubes. Grabbed the vodka cruiser Sunny gave me before I left home, and a couple squares chocolate. Oh, and don't forget the sudoku puzzle book. Soaked in the tub, tv on loudly in the next room, playing some stuff on the Foxtel Music Maxx channel.

When I was dressed, I flopped out backward on the bed and played a while with the iPod. Next thing I know, I awoke and it's 7.20pm. The function started at 7pm. I wandered down, and feeling kinda mellow, grabbed a slice of pizza and sat crosslegged on a chair against the wall. By myself. In my own space bubble. I sat for a little while, and was joined by Mz & Mr M. They amused me for a while then we were joined by Uncle. He was feeling mellow too. He told me. We chatted for a while, he showed me photos of his godsons, his wife and his puppy. He left after a time, and I decided that I would leave too. I wandered outside and discovered that Uncle hadn't left yet at all. He offered to escort me to the lifts. He left on his floor with a goodbye kiss on the cheek and a pat on the knee. Naaawwwwwwwww.

THURSDAY: Tutorials today. Got through the first one. A tute about digital forensic evidence in court. Presenting expert reports.

Had to have a go at chairing for the second one. I've never done that before. It's scarey. I have to get up in front of everyone, introduce myself, give the housekeeping notices, introduce the speakers and at the end, thank them and present them with their gifts. This tute was a week workshop squeezed into one afternoon. Rushed!

Tonight, we are off to see Indianna Jones and the Crystal Skull. The movie was very formula IJ and I really enjoyed it. Best part was, I flashed the discount card I use at a different cinema, and they accepted it!

FRIDAY: Today is an all day tute. I'm not sure if I can manage it, it looks a bit techie. But I'll give it a shot. Maybe I can shoulder surf with one of the GTs.

Come morning tea time, I had to check out. I looked to put my stuff in the boys room with theirs. I had a laugh though. My suitcase looked really tiny compared to theirs. I thought boys travelled light, and girls did not.

Survived the tute. And had a great time too. I really did enjoy this one. And I got to see some techie software tools I would never have normally seen.

Travelling home this evening. With one of the GTs and an IRT driver. In a fairly small car.

And I got home, and ran into a very, very enthusiastic greeting from Sunny. And slightly more subdued from MOTH and the Teen.

It's good to be home....

Conference Part 2. There could be a few parts to this!

MONDAY: Awake bright and early. After an early night. True. I was in bed by about 12.30am or so. Breakfast comes supplied with the room, so I sent MOTH down to claim it.

Down to the stand to finalise the set up. I think I have this morning off. Off the stand that is, I still have plenty to do. Travel! I can't even escape it this week. I've got to email the travel agent, check to see if the tickets have been sent. Book accommodation and get the itinerary finalised. And no computer to do it with. Looks like I will have to rely on the generousity of the GTs. Up to the boy's room. Grab a free icecream on the way. Settle in and oh no! I can't log on! It takes the GTs about 20 minutes to get it sorted out.

MOTH had been out for the day doing his committee stuff. Got back to the hotel though in time to come down and pop his head in. They did give him a delegate day pass though for some reason, so it ended up that he had a conference bag and everything. He had a great time, going round the stalls looking and begging for free stuff.

The function tonight is the Sponsor Cocktails. The theme this year was a birthday party. My employer has been in operation for 15 years. The boys were given pointed party hats; girls had tiaras. Kiddies ones I might add.... One of the speakers is a bit of a character, and ended up placing his party hat on his groin.

Had to quit early though! I developed a very severe headache. It was getting to the point of making me feel sick and I had to leave. It was 7.30pm! Grrr. And on the way back to our room, while talking to MOTH I remembered that I was still wearing the tiara. I took it off, and presto! The pain started to ease off. Well, don't I feel stupid??? Still crashed when I got back to the room though.

TUESDAY: Working the morning 'shift' on the stand today. MOTH went down for breakfast; I had noodles. In the room. He was back from breakfast before I went down to the exhibition. Wow, that was quick!

I spent the afternoon in the boys room. Grabbed an icecream on the way. Again. Boy, will have to stop this or I won't be able to fit in the car when I leave. Took the iPod headphones with me so I could type stuff for the Project Manager. I need to type meeting minutes for her. Apparently I did such a good job of the last lot, I get to do them again. *sigh* Just shows that doing your job well is often rewarded with more work. I didn't get as much done as I had hoped; I have to keep rewinding the recording so I can pick up what is being said.

Gala (galah) dinner tonight. They are having it at the hotel. I would have preferred the original option, which was stuff at Dreamworld/White Water World, but one of the Managers on the organising committee spat the dummy big time. He didn't like the idea of water or rides. But on the night, it did turn out to be a little cold by the hotel pool. I managed to snaffle a free ticket for MOTH. Meals were served 'alternate drop'. For the uninitiated, that means there are two options on the menu and you get one or the other, depending on what the person next to you was given. So, MOTH had lamb, I got salmon. Dessert was a really rich mudcake square. I couldn't finish it..... Waitress was serving at our table. Some of the young boys at the table were flirting terribly. They thought she was hot.



The entertainment for the evening was Tripod. Headed up to the Hydrate bar after the dinner. MOTH headed for our room.

Oh, did I mention glo-sticks? Yes, glo-sticks. We had them.

GCee was there, resplendant in skirt, soft fuzzy top, sandals, painted toenails. I would have stopped to chat, but she and another female were leading some chap about, 'chained' up with linked glo-sticks. I was wary of the gimp. Mr M swore later that she tried to pick him up at the bar. Uncle and I weren't too sure if he'd misread the situation or not. We felt it was too soon after the coming out for her to start doing that to people she knew from her previous life.

A long, long post about conferencing...

SATURDAY: I didn't keep a journal to start. So I decided to write this while I was in the middle of tutorials. The following Friday.

We arrived at the hotel about 2.30pm and checked in. I think we had the same room we did last year - high floor away from the lift. It's the corner spa suite and the room is fantastic. Ooohhhh look, that's a big telly! The bed is huge!



Had a meeting with the boys to do a brewery tour. Headed down to the lobby to meet with them. Talked MOTH into driving us out. Found the Burleigh Brewery. Set in the middle of an industrial estate. Right across the road from the headquarters of a local bikie gang. Tried a sampler of three different types of beer - mid strength, european style and pale ale. Loved the pale. Look out for it people; Duke's pale ale, coming soon to a bar near you.

It stormed just before we left to go back to the hotel. It was just MOTH and I for the return trip, aaaannnnnddd ... we got lost on the way back. *sigh* And we couldn't find an undercover park either. We ended up parking near though and made a quick dash through the sprinkles. Up to the room and room service for the evening. I had fish and chips from the kids menu, MOTH had a beef burger. Oh, and I had dessert - chocolate tart with chocolate icecream.

SUNDAY: I had to work. And since registration was to open at 8am, I thought I had better get myself down and get set up. At 7.30am. Down I went with my bundle of stuff, and hey! The path is blocked off! I evenutally had to go down a level, along the corridor past security, and up a level. Spent the day outside the room. Missed almost every presentation bar one, and it wasn't very interesting. Uncle was back from Great Britain. He's older, a gentleman. I was asked later if I had seen his presentation. Nope. I was busy playing firewall, steering folks away from that end of the conference exhibition, and down a level to the registration desk.

Met a lovely young lady who was waitressing. She shall be called ... Waitress. There. Score one for originality. She loved my hair and we got to chatting.

Sunday after the workshop, I went to help finish setting up the booth. Yay, it was complete. And I didn't have to lift a finger.

Sunday evening is the Welcome reception. This is the function put on to welcome the delegates. Free food, free beer, free wine. What more can you ask for? I spent most of my time with the Divine Mz M and her partner who is a member of the GTs. Love those two; we get along so very well. There was plenty of food circulating. Oh, look, something shiny. Nope ... just a cute waiter.

Up to the hotel restaurant for more drinks and snacky food. I was introduced to one of the speakers whom I shall call Frodo. Then down to the Hydrate bar for even more fun and alcohol.

GCee arrived at the bar. We'd only just found out about the whole gender issue. I think that coming out at a function like this takes a whole lot of courage. There are about 1000 people who attend over the three days. At the end of the evening when everyone dispersed, she gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I confess surprise; I didn't think we had known each other that well in her previous life. Not repulsed, just surprised....

... course I only read it for the articles ...

So long and thanks for all the fish!

*yawns*

It's Monday. And the start of a very hectic week. Maybe Mother's Day should be timed a little better. Like, when I'm awake.

This is the lead into conference week. And everyone seems to want everything done yesterday. And the list of things I have yet to do seems to grow even longer. Lets see ... organise travel for mid week; organise a roster today; proof a document against a paper copy today.

I'm hoping that I don't forget anything.

I shall be out of range for a week. Since I don't have a laptop and all. No mySpace, no msn, no blog.... Definitely the black hole from hell!

My Mother's Day weekend was surely fine and dandy though, thanks for asking! And if you didn't ask, I'm telling anyway.

Friday night was a little disappointing. The Teen had been copping some attitude and I had decided that a couple of days at her friend's houses might be good for both of us. We dropped her off there, but I still did feel a little bad that it had come to that.

Saturday was much better! I seem to recall some calm and peaceful. Of course, that could just be wishful thinking, and it was just uneventful. But the kid's were taking me clubbing so I was wound up all day.

We were ready a little early, which in itself is quite surprising! Sunny was eager to be out and about, so we left home. I'd never been to the Beat before. Neither had Sunny. In fact, it was his first time clubbing. We arrived, flashed our id. Yes, me too. And entered. Only to discover that they weren't stamping or giving pass outs before 12.30. Sunny was soooo disappointed. He desperately wanted that stamp.

But, once in, we were stuck. And it was way too early for any peeps to have arrived. I thought Sunny was going to be withdrawn and somewhat cranky, but I managed to distract him long enough to go exploring. The place is quite large, and up the stairs and bridge, I found a bar. I leaned over the railing and told the Elder. Drinks? Sure, I'm there and she almost flew up the stairs. So we sat at one of the tables. Closest to the bar. And waited for everyone to arrive.

Eventually, someone decided to come over and chat. Because he liked the leggings that Elder was wearing. Black with skulls and crossbones. And we made new friends. And passed the time while we waited for the crowds and other friends who were meeting us there.

They eventually arrived, along with a couple of others we hadn't met before. And the boy was adorable! Sparkling. And he said he's seen me round campus. I'm guessing the purple hair might be a little hard to miss..... Not much taller than me, good conversationalist, good looking, and dances really well. Defs alternative!

And I could have danced all night. Elder doesn't dance, but did make some small effort. Actually, for her, a huge effort. And Sunny loves the dance floor.

He was pilfered by someone he knew. Quite rudely. A Someone who was determined to have him all to himself. By this time, Sunny was well under and Elder and I weren't completely sure that he wasn't in a condition to be taken advantage of. He swears later that he knew what was going on *grin* but it was his first time clubbing after all. And Someone knew how to take advantage I suspect.

However, by the wee small hours, like 2am, Elder had had enough and wanted to go home. We had yet to find Sunny - Someone had led him off somewhere. We hunted high and low and finally found them in a dance area we hadn't been to before. And guess what, the music in that one was a little better than where we had been. Darn. Wish I had found it earlier! I'm not altogether sure that Sunny was ready to come home, and Someone definitely wasn't ready to let him go.

But that's one of my rules. You come out with me, and you go home the same time I do, or I go home the same time you do. I don't let you find your own way home. Never. If you want to find your own way home in your own time, then I'll meet you out.

Elder was defs not impressed with Someone, and was thinking that he was going to lead Sunny astray. And he asked her if Sunny could stay. She said no. Of course she would.

I had SUCH a great time though. I would go again. If they asked me.

The taxi home cost $55 - ouch! - and it was about 3am. Sunny cooked ravioli. We crashed on the couch and watched a movie. Sunny firmly stated that he was going to pull an all nighter because he wasn't sleepy at all. And promptly fell asleep. I watched for a while then escaped to bed at nearly 5am. I was up again at around 7-7.30ish.

The presents for Mother's Day were beautiful. Sunny gave me his first - a tall ceramic cat, painted a dull gold with a long neck. I hung some of the beads from the night before around it. I have name it Kat, which is short for Salem..... And never mind the other one he gave me before Mother's Day. A beautiful silver cross with lots of bling. I wear it most every day. Cause it just goes with everything.

Elder and Teen gave me 'combined' presents. Elder gave me a ring. Wow! It's a delicate band with a small teardrop red stone. There are diamond chips around the pointed end of the stone. Oohhh and it's a tiny bit too large. I'm not sure to get it resized, or find some small plastic to wrap around the band to make it snug. And Teen gave me the matching earrings.

I am soooooo happy.

Don't know if I've mentioned this before, but...

I might have mentioned it before. I think I have. But I can't be arsed checking through the backlog of entries to find out.

I has a mySpace. Yes, I'm sure you knew that. I check it regularly. Maybe a little too regularly. Mostly at work. But shush, don't tell anyone. That's just between you and me. And the geeks who check the access logs.

Once upon a time, checking this mySpace, I chanced across a notification of a blog. Done by mySpace Australia. Mums on mySpace. They say curiosity killed the cat. And satisfaction brought it back. I went for a look.

I left a comment. Nothing much, just a line to say I have one to keep up with the kids. And that I thought the Teen didn't mind too much.

Suddenly, from out of the blue, I'm contacted by the Aussie Hub mySpacer letting me know that they were contacting some of the mum's who had left comments. Would I be interested in providing comments and possibly sound bites for media? Ummm *aprehensively* sure, why not? The chances of that happening were kind of slim to none.

I've been contacted a couple of times since by the mySpace Australia PR people to check that I'm still with it and that they have all my contact details. And if they could pass them on to any media that might be interested in doing a story about mums who use mySpace. As a kind of Mother's Day thing. Sure. Not a worry. Like, that's not going to happen, right?

Wrong. So very wrong. I had a phone call today from a reporter from the Sattelite. A small paper with local circulation. Let's do an interview. Oh, and I want a picture. W.T.F. ? Oh, and can we do it tonight? *panics* Ok, sure.

So we did. He turned up, chatted to Sunny and I. He didn't know what he was supposed to be doing - he'd been given the assignment, but no brief! *shakes head at incompetent bosses* So we talked for a while, and he was quite impressed that quite a few of the younger kids I have as friends call me Mum. And that others who aren't mySpace friends call me Mum.

And even more impressed that the kids are taking me clubbing for Mother's Day.

Just as an aside, I think the date was coincidental.....

However, the article, if it makes the grade, is supposed to be in next Wednesday's issue.

*gulp*

I love long weekends. Don't you?

Well, I think I've managed to put a full weekend in. Monday is Labour Day. A public holiday. And while I'm thankful, it's a pain not having any shops open! That means I have to find some way to keep myself amused. Hmmmm.....

And what a weekend it's been so far. Here's a brief update. Ok, I know. Since when have I ever been brief?

Friday night showed promise. I think I may have stated before that Sunny and Blondie have not been on the best of terms. Things deteriorated even further. And I didn't think that was possible.

Something set Blondie off. Down the hallway he stalked, straight into the room Sunny shares with the Elder. And started. By the time the Elder's new friend turned up, he was in full swing. *groan* He backed off, and was quiet for a time.

So, we met Elder's friend. He's certainly different from her usual choice! His skin is olive. His hair is black. His eyes are an amazing blue with long black lashes. He wears eyeliner. He paints his nails black. He has skin ink, loves bundy and jack. And he shall hereafter be referred to as Jack. And plays lead guitar in a partially formed band. There are only 2 remaining at the moment. Wonder what that says about their music!

He smokes like a chimney. He's polite. Goes outside to smoke. Respects her wish for him not to smoke in the car. Hates drugs. Swears a lot. But not loudly spoken. She was so nervous - Sunny had made it quite clear that if he didn't approve and she chose to continue the friendship, then it would put a great strain on her relationship with him. He explained that it would mean to him that he wouldn't feel comfortable spending time with the two of them etc... I still thought it a touch selfish and controlling, but I guess I can see his point.

After meeting with Jack, Sunny and I decided he needed to get out of the house and took a walk to the park. We weren't gone long. At least, I didn't think so. When we got to the driveway, I went to walk inside. Sunny suddenly stopped and asked where had the Elder gone? Gone? I dunno. Why did he think she was gone? He'd gone to step around the end of the volvo, and noticed it wasn't there. I'd gone straight past the invisible car, and hadn't even noticed it was missing!

On our return, we decided to share around a bottle. I haven't been that drunk for a loooong time. But I sure as heck had a good time. For a while. In the brief period of time between imbibing and the nausea kicking in! 

Jack ended up sleeping over. I don't know what he thought, because at around half 2 am, Blondie decided to tackle Sunny again. And they had this huge discussion with complete disregard to who may have been about. It was the last straw for me. 

Saturday dawned and Blondie and Sunny had decided to ignore each other for now. The day passed quietly - Blondie slept until late. We popped out on some errands leaving Blondie at home. When we came back, he was playing music. A little loud, but Sunny bit as soon as he walked in the door. He came across as quite abrupt. I don't know if it was intentional, but it didn't sound good. Blondie bit back. Of course he would. And when Sunny's phone went off a bit later, yelled that it was too loud. Too much for me - I tapped him on the shoulder and shook my head.

Some little while later, I was in our room. Blondie started bluntly asking me what that was all about. I remarked that I didn't want the argument to continue, but he shook his head and let me know he was asking about Sunny's behaviour. How can you tell someone that the person who asked him to stay can't tolerate him anymore?

I was just sitting him on the couch to have a chat, when Sunny put on his shoes and stalked out the door. I didn't comment, but gently told Blondie that it obviously wasn't safe for him here - he'd been threatening suicide ... again - and that he needed to remove himself from the situation as soon as possible. He was upset. I didn't like to do that, but I really had no choice.

Sunny decided to text me. He wasn't coming home until Blondie had gone. And he was prepared to roam the streets if he had to. I was sooo angry! How dare he do that!!! I don't do emotional blackmail..... 

I told him there was no way I could put Blondie out on the street like that and to come home. MOTH went out to fetch him, fed him some icecream and brought him back home. Stupid, stupid behaviour. 

And I sent MOTH to tell Blondie that Sunday was the day he had to go. MOTH wasn't happy about getting that job. But I found out this morning that old timer's had kicked in and he didn't know that I had already told Blondie he had to leave. All MOTH was doing was letting him know that Sunday was the day. How the heck he could have forgotten that is really quite beyond me! 

Blondie had paid us board for the week, which we had been holding on to. We gave it back so he wasn't completely destitute. When we went out for the paper this morning, he packed up and left.

For the record, the only ill effects for me on Saturday was a slight nausea. Which cured itself midmorning. *happy*

I'm hoping things will get back on an even keel. As even as they will ever be around here...... 

PS The Elder informed me this morning that she and Jack are officially an item.

Weekend. Or Gee I Love Friday!

It's the weekend. And party time at our house!

And I do think we need it. Things have been getting a little tense for a while now. As you know, we had Blondie move in. Temporary of course. I said one week. But then, at the end of the week, he didn't have anywhere to go, so it got extended. I nearly fell off my chair when I realised yesterday that this is the end of the third week!

He's been advised by MOTH that due to the fact we are renting, he will have to be gone by the time of the next inspection. Now, that isn't till June. Somewhere around the middle. But I don't know if MOTH told him that it had to be a week before. To give MOTH time to do a thorough clean up.

Things have been a bit hairy though. He is a friend of Sunny's. At least, he was. The first week was wonderful - he actually contributed to the day to day running. MOTH really appreciated this, although he did have some reservations. The boy is an almost incessant chatterbox. With a limited selection of topics. Most of which have to do with weight, junk food, hair, skin.... You get the idea.

He and Sunny used to get on. We did have some trouble a few days after he moved in. He brought with him a stash of diet pills. Which he took. And encouraged Sunny to take. Now, I'm not sure if you've seen any pics, but if you have, you know that's the last thing Sunny needs. And then the Teen asked if she could try them. I hit the roof. The Elder was tempted, and stepped in and removed them to her room so she couldn't see them. And of course, those heavy handed tactics kind of make situations like this a bit tricky. Things were rough for a few days - Blondie was unhappy because she removed them, Sunny was unhappy with her because she removed them, she was unhappy with them both for taking them. And so on the circle continued. It eventually quieted, but things were a little uneasy while they found their footing. The pills eventually made their way down the loo. And good riddance.

There have been many episodes since. Now, Sunny has stopped talking to Blondie. Blondie is kind of confused. And Sunny can't understand what happened to make the difference between the first week and now. It could be that Blondie declared himself depressed, and now doesn't make an effort? Blondie does have a crush on Sunny and can't leave him alone? Sunny does like his space! But even I am growing annoyed with the constant tension between the two of them. Which brings the others down as well.

I think I am going to have to ask him to find alternative accomodation. But I know he has nowhere else. The very tiny humanitarian voice in my head tells me that turning him out on the street is not an option. I really must do something about that voice......

But on a different note completely, the Elder has been on the up. She found renewed friendship and possible romance with an old flame from high school. Although they have now decided that it won't work. She doesn't seem to be crushed by this development. But is busy cultivating a new friendship.

And hopefully, if he doesn't chicken out, I get to find out what he's like tonight.....