Aaaannnnnddd ..... it's Monday.....

Back to work. That's what Monday is. Time to come down from the euphoria of having a weekend. And crash on through to reality.

Well, ok, so maybe it's not that dire. Monday is actually a good chance to rewind and relax. At work.

Sunny was over. From Thursday I think. Sunny lives here, don'cha know? And we had another Friday night. Ummm. He doesn't have a name yet! Sonic. Sonic was over Friday night. And no, just for the record, he's not a blue hedgehog. He went home on Saturday.

Sunny stayed on till Sunday when we took him home after dinner. He lives about an hour away. And we dropped him off at his door. We got to meet his parents, although since it was 9pm at night, it was perhaps not the best time. I hope he didn't get into trouble when we left - his mother got up from her sick bed to be hospitable.

Saturday night the Elder and Sunny went over to a 'slumber' party at the girls. I don't have names for either of them yet. They might occasionally feature in this little missive, as they call me mum as well. They have only slept over twice so far. But more is on the cards.

But, I think I am digressing. While they were out, the Teen and I decided to watch a dvd. Alas, it seems the machine is not working. We opted out for the radio instead. Only to discover they were playing all sorts of older music we hadn't heard for a while. And we danced. And we sang. And we laughed.

And it was great.

I don't think I was in bed before midnight the whole weekend.

And now I'm back at work to wind down and prepare for the next one.

The agony and the agony...

I can't say it was completely unexpected. Things had been a little on the quiet side for a while.

The Elder is now single. Yes, you read that right. She's single. After four years, they have decided to go their separate ways. And althought it must have been traumatic, she's taking it rather better than I might have expected.

That is, she's keeping it well hidden. But she's sick. No, not mentally. Although, know the way we roll..... *wicked grin*

She's had a head cold for a while. The last day or so, she's developed pain. It's gotten worse. Stress? Or something more serious? I'm hoping for stress...

Working fun. Or giggles to start the morning.

On the way to work this morning. And, right in the middle of the traffic, is one of those scooter things I detest so much. The little ones. It was straddled by a chap of considerable size. Not sloppy, but not super slim got no meat on my bones either.

We were stopped at lights, a couple of cars back. I could see him well. Actually, a bit hard to miss. He had a matte black helmet, but a bright flouro outdoors shirt. He shifted on the bike - and I use that term loosely. He stretched his arms out behind him. He waved his arms about and looked like he was scratching the back of his helmet. Quite a display of gymnastics.

Traffic started moving, and when he launched himself, he leaned forward. And hooked his feet together behind the back wheel. I grinned. He righted himself in the saddle.

He flicked a gesture, almost a salute, at something. A house we were passing? The following driver? The big black 4WD behind him must have decided enough was enough. They changed lanes. Which left us with a clear view of flouro yellow shirt.

The Elder gained some ground. He flicked a glance over his left shoulder. He flicked a glance over his right. He bounced a little on the bike, and moved over to the left. As we flew past, I gave him a thumbs up and a grin. He grinned right on back. And that grin told me that Mischief might feature in his name somewhere.

Waiting at the traffic lights at another intersection, another chunk of time. But still this morning. There were a group of girls waiting to cross. The intersection is pretty busy; traffic from about 5 different directions.

They wait. Slim, medium, plump. The plump one is wearing red knee length tights. You can't miss her. And she stepped out on to the road at the light change. But she didn't have the walk signal. A car had the cheek to come around the corner, and she had to step back to the footpath. She was embarrassed. So embarrassed, she went to laugh and hug a blonde friend.

And they head clashed.

It was brilliant.....

I'm still giggling. Whew. *wipes eyes...*

Bored, bored, and how about a dash of bored?

It's Friday evening. All is quiet.

So quiet in fact, I'm expecting the Teen to come crashing out of her bedroom in an explosion of noise. Heading straight for the kitchen. As usual.

But no, she's out of the house. For the night. The Elder is out at a concert. With the assurance that she will try to make it home alive. Terribly reassuring that.

No visitors this weekend. None. Sunny isn't over. Nor are any of the others. So I feel at a bit of a loose end.

So I thought I would blog about something the Teen did the other day.

(retainer: a thing that retains. Keeps the piercing open when not wearing a proper stud)

The Elder's Shitbox car has been acting out. Not playing well with the driver, and stalling, and running rough. She decided to visit the friendly local neighbourhood type mechanic. For a bit of a checkup. For the car. Just thought I would clarify that.

But while the mechanic was busy talking to other people, I decided to remain seated - safely buckled too I might add - in the parked car. The Teen decided to escape.

She leant against my open window. She's looking at me play about with my ipod. I can see her out of the corner of my eye. But I'm not paying attention.

Untill she grimaced. And pulled this really strange face. And stepped away from the car. Grimacing continuing of course. She bit her lip. Coughed. Swallowed. Waved her hand in front of her face.

I looked. What's wrong?

She coughed again. What, I repeated.

She grinned sheepishly. And said, I just swallowed my retainer.....

More Movieworld

Here is the Tasty...

This is what happens in the Wild Wild West

And this is what you look like after. A duck.

A fitting finale to the stunt show.

Hogwarts Express goes nowhere; the steam does.

Pretending smoothness; but going nowhere fast.

Singing in the rain....

My my. Time is aflying away and I just can't keep up.

The celebration of the passing of time went well. Since the Elder and I almost share the same day, we decided to share the adventure. We spent the day at Movieworld.

And Sunny joined us.

They talked me into going on the Scooby Coaster. O.M.G. I think I spent a lot of time screaming. But apparently it still didn't drown out Sunny. And Elder laughed maniacally the whole way. She's done it before. Many times.

We lined up for the Police Academy Stunt Show. I love that show. It's brilliant. Sitting on the stands is boring. But the show is worth it. I managed to get some good photos. Quite by accident and surprised the heck out of myself.

They went on the Loony Tunes ride. I stayed outside and held all their stuff. And they had plenty of it by then. And looked like a pedo I'm sure. Sitting outside in the kiddie area, with a camera and no kiddies....

They went on the Wild West Adventure ride. I stayed outside and looked after their stuff. Just as well too. They got wet. And I didn't. Nhyer.

Sunny thought he found someone he once might have known. And the Elder found something she thought might have been tasty.

We ate ice cream and sat on the footpath to watch the street parade. At least, they sat. I was a bit worried that if I sat I would never be able to stand up again. Shrek came by to say hello to the crowd. He asked for a bite of Elder's ice cream. She refused. He showed his approval by picking his backside. And flicking it at her. We laughed.

We dived into the line up for Shrek 4D. Nattered on about inconsequential stuff. And sang songs about rain. When you go on the ride, you first must wait in the 'dungeon' before you gain entrance. We waited. I got bored, and poked Sunny in the back. He gets uptight and tense. So I poked him in the back. In one of his 'special' places. He went to water. And whimpered. Don't know what the woman standing in front of him thought, but she gave us a strange look. Made us laugh. A lot. I wussed and sat in the back row. For wusses and invalids. But I knew about the spiders. I had my backpack on the floor and my feet tucked up. And I jumped every time that darned Farquad breathed on the back of my neck.....

And I decided to sit out the last ride of the day. The Wild West Adventure again. This time I decided I would sit it out under the shelter of a covered table. Just as well. It rained. Hard. But, they were going for the wet ride, so I guess it didn't really matter.

So, end of day. My feet hurt. I managed to get sunburned. It's been so long since I've seen the sun, I forgot what it could do.

It must have been a fun day though. I was exhausted. Usually a good sign......

Big mouth or what??

Seems I may have spoken too soon. Also seems that Top Deck won't be over on the weekend.

They broke up this morning, while she was on the way to school. She is devastated. But I think time with her friends will be better than time alone.

She's not convinced.

Got that song stuck in my head now...

I happened to look back at a previous post. The title of that post is a line from a song. And now, it's stuck in my head. Hopefully not permanently.

Again, I am back at work to recover. Had a house full of people again. Thankfully, only a select few of those are a permanent fixture. One almost is, we haven't managed to scare him away yet. One was totally brand new.

Sunny and a friend of his came over Friday afternoon. We dropped them off this morning. The friend has known Sunny for a long time. He and the Elder have been chatting, introduced - as far as one can be online - by Sunny. So, this was the friend's first face to face meeting of the Elder. And he decided to do it all at once. And take on all of us. He's either very brave or very silly. Either way, it says a lot for Sunny's powers of persuasion.

Saturday afternoon, the Teen asked if Petunia could sleep over. MOTH and I have decided the grounding thing is more or less over. She has the hiptop back now, and can have friends over. We'll wait a while before I let her back unsupervised in the city though.

That's where we will be next weekend. Saturday afternoon at any rate. When we go to collect Top Deck. Ah, another fun filled weekend.

Time is racing t'ward us..

It certainly is! It's almost the weekend already; Teen has nearly finished her second week of school. I'm still not certain if she likes it though.

It's nearly time for a birthday or two. I have no idea what I'm getting for the Elder. I think I shall try treat myself to a trip to Movieworld. That's where she's going and I intend to tag along and make a nuisance of myself. If I can manage. I am getting old you know.

Have Sunny and one of his friends over tonight. Should be interesting. I haven't met this chappie. I'm told he makes Sunny look small. And Sunny towers over me. Well, heck, let's face it - most everybody does. But I think Sunny is at least a head taller than me. And the new chappie makes him look small? Yikes!

Next weekend we have Top Deck over for the weekend. Saturday, at least. Not sure about Friday. He's welcome. Because it's Valentines Day. And I thought they make such a cute couple that I could stretch my tolerance to another night. They won't have seen each other for 2 weeks by that time.

April seems to be rushing head on. I was worried that I wouldn't have enough saved by then to be able to travel at all. But again, it's rentals to the rescue, and I have booked the flights. Booked the accommodation as well. Wow. Everything is on the ball. Just have to get the confirmation numbers. And since the room cost will be split 4 ways, I don't have to worry quite as much. I'm so happy about that.

So, sister of mine, watch out. We are all prepped, ready and waiting to wreak havoc on you and yours for a couple days. .... Excellent ....

Mondoze......

Yes. It's Monday. And I'm back at work for a rest.

Saturday. We three ladies - and I use that term loosely - ventured into the city. The Elder was hoping to meet up with a friend; the Teen to meet her boyfriend. Me, to collect a very important addition to my collection. Yes. A comic. I'm collecting the series. I'm up to issue #5 of 6.

Elder's friend didn't show up. Top Deck - ex Skunk, cause, you know, his hair really is brown and white - was working till 3pm. We had some time to waste. The weather was terrible. It was raining and muggy. While wasting time, Teen was approached by all and sundry. Whom she hasn't seen for a very long time. We found one or two of my 'children' and wasted a little time with them.

I picked up my comic. Elder and Teen decided we needed to waste more time watching the nerds play DDR at Tops in the Myer Centre. A computer game that involves dancing. On the arrows on the floor. You get the picture. So we did. An asian bloke was getting Perfect on every one. Typical.

We found another of Teen's friends. He's a very nice chap. He, Elder and some of his friends decided to play with some bouncy balls they had received for prizes. He dropped one over the railing; it landed next level down. A girl tried to throw it back. And missed woefully. It bounced into the foodcourt on the bottom level. The game continued. And it seems, after we had gone our separate ways, that Security wasn't too happy about that. Hopefully, he got away in time. *grins*

On Sunday we go to visit rellies. They now live within about a 2 hour drive. And MOTH's mother was visiting. So, left the house at 8am. Dropped TD off on the way. Actually a little bit out of our way, but the drive was scenic. He doesn't live close to us.

We spent the whole morning there, till past lunch. We dined on chicken and salad, at tables set outdoors under the trees. The sun shone for a bit, the sky was blue for a bit, the breeze blew and it was lovely. And I got sunburned. It's been so bloody raining and overcast for so long, I forgot to sunscreen. Teen got burned too.

Finished there and popped over to a friend's place. They now live in the same area as the rellies. Kill two birds with one stone. So to speak. And spent Sunday afternoon there. It was great to see them again. I got plied with so much coke! So did the girls. Oh, and biscuits. And chocolate.

What a weekend. Back to work now for a rest.

And it's first week over....

I think she's beginning to settle in. At school. She has mentioned, in the last day or so, that it's getting better. I had thought that she might have been turning into Piglet - scared of Everything. Piglet always gets a capital letter for the stuff he's worried about.

She's met a couple of people who she seems to like. I have seen them from a distance. Ok, so it was a very short distance. When I walked past them to let her know she was required to join MOTH and I on the other side of the food court.

The lad is joining us this weekend. It's the second time he has slept over. He's very quiet and shy. No, this is not Sunny, who is no longer shy and retiring. This is ... ummm ... actually, I haven't thought of a name for him yet. Maybe Skunk. And that has nothing to do with scent. Skunk lives up the coast a bit, so getting them together requires some thought. He has to catch a bus to the city, then the train to our place.

At any rate, he doesn't talk much. Smiles a lot though. Has the requisite piercings. Has brown and white hair - hence the name. Not a great complexion, but hey, can't all be like me. He's slightly younger than she. And, I've been told, has Aspergers and dyslexia. Unfortunate combination that. For him. The Teen thinks it great and rags him about it mercilessly. How do you spell this? How do you spell that? Shakes her head, giggling. Skunk, you're stupid. Kind of nasty (yes!) and kind of cute at the same time. In a weird way. I am also told that he prefers that no one knows just how special he is. So we don't know, right? I guess we are just supposed to think he's stupid? Teen tells us often enough he is.

But where was I? Oh, yes. He's sleeping over. Again. And then we get to drive him all the way back home. But that's ok - we are spending, I hope, the day at Bribie Island. Unfortunately, part of that visit will be with the Outlaws. But then, I can actually tolerate this bunch.

New beginnings. For some.

... You know, it's been about a week and a half since Chef left home. And how easy it's been to slip back into the old routine. The lounge room seems bigger. There is no one sitting at my desk. Constantly. We can mooch about the house in our pyjamas. There is still no food in the cupboard though.

... The Teen had her first day at school yesterday. Well, not first first, but first at her new school. I'm not certain she was impressed. She mumbled something in passing that it seemed ok, but it was all very scarey. I was busy at the time, so she didn't get much beyond "Well, it's new and different". Later she said she didn't want to talk about it.

I'm hoping she settles in all right. I understand it can be daunting. New school, new rules, new expectations, not to mention a whole lot of new people. And she doesn't do that type of stuff well. So she will surely need time to settle in. I'm hoping desperately that she will eventually drag herself out of that. And not spiral downward because she has convinced herself it's all too scarey and she cannot possibly cope.

Alas, she cannot be Piglet all her life... ... even if he is kinda cute ...

... Ground Hog Day ...

So for something different I decided to watch a dash of tv this morning. There is, after all, a tv in our bedroom. MOTH often retires to watch it after dinner. A bad habit, methinks, but then it does save some arguement about who watches what. Between he and I, that is.

But; I digress. We decided to flick on the tv before I went to finish getting ready for work. Oh, btw, I have no idea if this is what I was thinking about that was blogworthy. I suspect not.

There was some American morning show on. One of the ones that tries to follow the Australian format. And well they should. There is no way we would ever consider following theirs, right?

But the basic scenario was:

.. we watched it for a couple of minutes. Something about lapband surgery and how it's helped overweight people with diabetes.
.. cut to adds. About the new upcoming episodes of Bondi Rescue; something new with kids and hospitals and probably some other stuff. Which I forget for now.
.. back to the show. Something about lapband surgery and how it's helped overweight people with diabetes.
.. cut to adds. About the new upcoming episodes of Bondi Rescue; something new with kids and hospitals. If that much.
.. back to the show. What's Her Name Dreyfuss was on. That chick from Seinfeld. They talk for a couple of seconds.
.. cut to adds. About the new upcoming episodes of Bondi Rescue; something new with kids and hospitals.
.. back to the show. And about there, I think, dawned a whole new day.

Or something like that, anyway.

No, wait. I had to go to work. A repeat of yesterday...

Don't you hate it when.....

... you and MOTH are talking about something. It makes you giggle hysterically, and you find yourself thinking, Oo possible blogworthy!

But in the cold light of day, there's nothing there?

It's all in the name.

The Elder and I meet for lunch every week day. Usually, at least just lately, we dine at a cafe attached to a bookshop. Bolt down lunch then spend the rest of lunch hour browsing books.

Imagine my surprise then, while browsing through a book of sci fi baby names, to find.... Sol.

A liver-spotted old codger from somewhere or other. Oh yes, something called Soylent Green. Constantly waxing nostalgic. Everything was better in the old days. The world was better. Food was better. Actually, food is a big theme in that book / movie. Sol decides he would rather enter a sterile suicide chamber, than go without his lamb shanks.

Anyone see any pattern here?

Strangeness abounds....

Been a rather strange weekend, really.

... The Teen came home Friday. Hadn't been behaving. She managed to wrangle herself a severe tongue lashing. She's grounded. Until she's 18. Well, who knows. Priveleges back when she earns my trust again.

... Saturday we went out and purchased a couple of dresses for her to wear to school. With no uniforms, she needs something to wear. We also had to organise new ear jewelry. Something suitable for school. And a replacement, preferably a retainer, for her lip stud. We found a stretcher for her ear - slightly larger than what she currently wears, but the right size is scarce. Apparently! Retainers for lip piercings are as well. We ended up with a tiny plain black stud. I'm hoping they will find that passable.

... Saturday evening Teen and I were watching tele. Prince of Egypt. So, it's an old bible story, but heck, I love the animation. She was wriggling and I was beginning to find how just how bony her knees and shins are. After asking her to stop several times, I pinched the back of her leg. She reacted and kicked me in the nose. I know, it's a bit hard to miss. *Quiet, peanut gallery!*

Hurt like the blue blazes. And my eyes are streaming and my nose started to run. I asked for a tissue and she wouldn't get one. Nor, when she did, would she pass it over. She is busy chanting Your nose is bleeding while she dangled the box in front of me. I'm ashamed to say it, but I got angry and frustrated. I really showed her. Yep. I burst into tears. That's right. Ha. That'll learn her! It did give her a nasty shock though. She gave me the tissues. And she got an even bigger shock when she realised that my nose really was bleeding!

No black eye though.

... Sunday morning, bright and early, Chef left the building. We stayed at the airport long enough to make sure that we saw him cross the tarmac, and they pulled away the stairs. Then we left. His departure cost me a fortune, but I think MOTH thought it money well spent.

We got to the airport and at check in, they told him he had excess baggage, and would have to pay. Guess what. 6 kilos over, and a cost of $28. WHAT?!! Bloody airlines! Pay it or unpack 6 kg worth of stuff. And where, I wonder, was I supposed to put anything he unpacked? So, I had no choice. I had also brought my other wallet with me, and luckily had put my atm card in it. Just in case. Lucky.

And then they charged $11 for parking.

Glad I'm made of money...

... Got home. House is silent. Wandered back to bed for a bit of a quick nap - we were up at 0330. When I woke up, the lounge carpet is vacuumed, the lounge pushed back to where it should be. Wow. There is that much space in here?

... A message on Sunday afternoon. Sunny. He has been 'house sitting' with a friend. Close by. But the house has been full of transient friends. And he needed some quiet. We gave him coffee. We gave him a place to nap. We gave him food. And we sent him back.

But the quiet. And I can get changed into my jammies when I have a shower. Oo, look at me. Wandering the house in my jammies.....

Daring.

All quiet here on the Eastern Front.....

Things have been a little quiet here. Everything seems to have settled into some sort of routine. MOTH snipes at the Teen, the Teen snipes at MOTH; the Elder snipes at everyone; MOTH, the Teen and the Elder all join forces to snipe about Chef. Chef snipes at the Teen - through MSN. As you can see, all is wonderful.

Decided to take the bull by the horns and make a financial investment in my peace of mind.

I bought and paid for Chef's one way flight to Mackay. He tells me he wants to spend time with his grandparents. All going well, he flies out of Brisbane at 0620 on Sunday. MOTH thought it money well spent. I'm not going to celebrate though until I am standing at the airport and the plane is taxi-ing out to the runway. Then I might breathe.

Till then, all is quiet on the Eastern Front.

Wild animal rescue....

It never rains but it pours at my house.

Night before last it was an owl they rescued. Last night it was a kitten. I'm inclined to believe it was feral. Or at least headed that way.

They heard it crying in the back yard. I was in the bedroom and got up to investigate. MOTH continued on watching the tv. Totally oblivious. But then, he is that a lot these days.

So, I looked to see what the noise was. And next thing, the Elder creeps around the side of the house. The first thing I noticed was that she was wearing my expensive thongs. Oi!

I went out a little later. After I noticed both Elder and the Teen creeping about the back yard and through the gardens, armed with a towel. They almost had it captured at that point. But I was very sharply admonished not to come any closer. Then directed toward the bushes at a particular spot. I wasn't happy with the catching of the thing. The RSPCA wouldn't have any interest in it. And frankly, neither did I.

Teen nearly had it. Then it had her. She had scratches and a bite to boot. Elder managed to get it wrapped in the blanket. But I deliberately made a none too subtle move and it wriggled out of her hands. Back into the bush she just pulled it from. Then it dived across the yard and tried to jump the fence. It succeeded the second time, when I made a move toward it. Up and over the fence and gone. I heaved a sigh of relief.

I always knew being big and scarey would come in handy some day.

Wonder what's going to show up next?

Now owl did that happen?

Sitting here, feasting on the leftovers from something Chef cooked for dinner night before last. He has now cooked dinner two nights running and I am wondering what he's sucking up for. He hasn't cooked for a little while now. He leaves it till late, Ken gives up waiting and starts something. Or leaves it for me to start. It was a seafood fettucini, with a cream based sauce. And chilli. I told him about medium, but I think it turned out medium/hot. The prawns in it were delicious though!

I did mention that we had given the Chef the date. Everyone seems to be on the countdown now. It will be good to have some privacy back. You know, the small things you take for granted when living with your family - like the quick dash to the bedroom from the bathroom while just wearing your underwear; roaming about the house dressed in your jammies. I seem to be the only household member these days who can tolerate him. And even I am looking forward to the end.

The dinner he cooked last night was home made chicken nuggets, chips and some vinegarette dressing thing with tomatoes and onion. I ate all I was given. The girls weren't keen to eat anything Chef might have cooked and were going to go out and get takeaway. I managed to talk them out of that and getting dessert instead.

Took them a while to come back with it though. But the Elder walked into the house holding something carefully wrapped in a towel. The Teen followed excitedly behind.

Turns out that while out wasting time and avoiding the house, they came across a bird that had been stunned by a car. It was an owl. A dainty little brown bundle of feathers it was. They thought it might have been a boobook, based on an acquaintance with one who lives on campus. After dinner - the Elder raved about the chicken, out of Chef's earshot of course - they rushed out to take the owl to a friend who is a wild life carer.

The owl turned out to be a barn owl. It was in excellent health although a little concussed and probably dehydrated. It will be released by the carer today.

They didn't get a photo. And, sorry to say, neither did I.

2008 Whatever next?

Well, it's been a mad rush. At least, it certainly seems like it. Then again, my life seems to be flying by like a hamsters treadmill. On speed. That is when it's not a mad, mad whirl like the fabled Eleanor Rigby's.

Christmas has been and gone. I eventually relented and let them put up the tree about a week before the main event. Did I mention that in a previous post? I think I did. Sunny was over at the time. The girls got into it, Chef stated unequivocally that he hated Christmas. It was a sentiment echoed by Sunny. I rolled my eyes and said nothing. But guess which one of them asked if they could join in the decorating?

The main event arrived. Along with some really great gifts. I felt on edge from the moment I woke up. Maybe I was expecting trouble. And it arrived. Chef started in on the 'hate Christmas' angle, complete with expletives. Untill I growled his name from the kitchen. He went quiet. He did cook us breakfast though; french toast and bacon. I almost forgave him. Almost. The gifts were doled out and lo; Chef had one. He told me later it was his first ever Christmas gift.

I finally managed to gather the courage in both hands, and gave Chef a 'move out' date. Australia Day weekend. That was tough. The Elder thinks we should be careful. She's of the opinion that some of our stuff could move out with him. How the heck did she get so cynical and bitchy? It's not like she has ever 'lived' enough to develop that. Her cynicism does indeed exceed my own. And I've worked at Centrelink.

New Year also came and went. Now how did that happen? But this year, I managed to stay up and see the year in. Do I amaze you? MOTH tells me it was about 0230 when I dragged myself off to bed. Mind, I was awake again just after 0500. I moved out of the room though after listening to enough musical breathing to drive myself crazy.

And didn't get to sleep again until about 2330 last night. Haven't had late nights like that for many years now. Phone me around 1500 today to wake me up, will you?

Social butterfly time...

So, Sunny went home today. The place is going to feel empty.

MOTH started cleaning up the house for the rental inspection last night. And was shocked to discover just how messy Chef is. He has been sleeping on the stretcher behind the couch. When MOTH went to tidy that area, he discovered clothes strewn about under the bed. Along with a veritable garbage dump. Which he was most upset about and claimed he was ready to ask Chef to move out. But when you think about it, it's hardly different to the state of the room being used - and abused - by the Elder.

Perhaps I'm making excuses, but it is nearly Christmas. I think that getting him thinking about moving on can wait till after, don't you?

On a lighter note, Sunny and I went to the movies last night. With the GTs. Apparently someone's gf groaned at the thought of Beowulf, so that made it highly recommended as viewing of choice. I really enjoyed it, and I think Sunny did too. He tells me he doesn't handle suspenseful movies well, but had calmed down a bit by the end of this one. At one point toward the beginning he jumped and grabbed my arm tight. I sat there grinning cause it was funny. Until I got a fright myself later on. Then it was his turn to laugh.

Y'know, I have just discovered that skittles and cold coffee don't really mix.......

But, back to the movie. It plays like a cut scene from a video game. And detailed enough to be able to recognise the actors behind the characters. F'rinstance, you couldn't miss Anthony Hopkins. In my most humble opinion - the only one that counts - this movie would have been stunning in 3D.....

Old age. Or trying to manage late nights....

As some of my devoted readers may know, I've had a houseful of guests lately. And more on the way. And being young and relatively untrained, they all need some level of supervision.

Very tiring, it is.

Especially when you do silly things. Like, stay up watching telly. And get asked, when they get home from work, to stay up with them and watch a movie. Which you end up doing. What the heck, you're only young once, right?

So, in the last couple of weeks, I don't think I have been to bed much before 11pm. And a couple of those have been 1 or 2am.

Last night was close to 12 midnight I think. We kicked off the evening with Labyrinth. Accompanied by a healthy - or not - side of nachos. And, as an aside, I found out how to make good sour cream. None of this add lemon juice nonsense. I had a tub of cream and a tub of natural yoghurt. Worked a treat. Because I forgot to get some when we raided the supermarket. And I forgot the avocado too. Can never win sometimes. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Followed by Nightmare Before Christmas. I found out that Sunny can do a pretty good version of Jack's Lament. And throw a couple of tim tam slammers in there as well. With the double coated tim tams.

Chef came home halfway through Nightmare, and moaned. Of course. He hates that movie. But he laughed along, made comments and watched right along with the rest of us! Then we watched Beetlejuice, and indulged with triple caramel Pauls light icecream. Or was it Peters? I can't remember, but it was darned good.

But the upshot is that I am dragging today. I've had two cups of coffee, but it's just not happening. Not even the chocolate has salvaged my get-up-n-go. And that is truly, truly sad....

Changing of the Guard. Or is that just changes?

Seems to be the month for changes.

Well, the Teen had an interview today to change schools. Finally, after bugging me for the last couple of years, I have relented. She had to check things on the website and see if she really wanted to go.

She did and had the admission interview today. The prospective student must attend, accompanied by a care giver. MOTH and I both went.

In comparison, the current school is more aesthetically pleasing. The facilities are newer and the class structure is better. The new school is - in the words of the Guidance Officer - very 60s but well maintained. And true, it does remind me very much of the old primary schools I attended while growing up. Walkways under the buildings and the big stumps. Weatherboard walls. You know the style - the old Queenslanders have walls like that. We didn't get to see inside any of the classrooms, apart from a brief glance as we went past. Desks set up in rows. Nostalgic, really.

I hope she settles in well though. To the best of my knowledge, she doesn't know anyone who attends the new school. A couple of her friends from her current school were thinking of transferring over, but I have to say that at this late stage, it's not likely.

At the end of the intertview, the Guidance Officer told her: see you on 29 January. Looks like formal acceptance is a .......... formality. Sorry, couldn't help that.

Here's to new beginnings and I hope she settles in well. And achieves to her full potential. I'm hoping this school welcomes her penchant for debate. To put it nicely......

Times-a-flyin....

Holidays are nearly over. Already. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was just leaving work. Now it's time to go back. Fair enough, it's only been two weeks, but a lot can happen in that time.

As you know, we have been settling in with a boarder. Whom I have christened the Chef. Because he is. We are still all getting used to each other, but even MOTH is getting used to having him there. I thought about it, and would have to say ... you know when a bunch of relatives you barely know land on your door to stay for a while? The ones that sort of take over and seem to be everywhere at once? The Chef is like that. All rolled into one person.

Funniest sight I have seen for a while happened the other day. MOTH was standing at the top of the hall in the lounge. Chef charged up the hall, grabbing MOTH on the shoulder with a yell. Truly, MOTH's feet actually left the floor. It left him standing and gasping, while shaking his shorts. It left me rolling helpless on the couch. I haven't had that much fun since MOTH got caught outside when lightning and thunder flashed at once, and left him dancing in the air.

See who is living at my house? And no comments about Mrs Claus either. The Teen and the Elder got into the spirit of the evening, even managing to drag one of their friends into decorating himself with tinsel and joining them. The recipients of the dress up and lolly distribution were the local NHW for the Carols by Torchlight. Apparently it was a roaring success. Santa was escorted to the part in a highway patrol car complete with sirens.

No pic of my pseduo-son in his decorations though. He's very camera shy. He calls me mum, and I will hug him and squeeze him and call him George. Wait, that's already taken. I will call him Sunny. For the purposes of this blog.

Sunny slept over the second weekend of my holidays. And again the following Friday and Saturday night. And maybe this weekend too. I don't mind. He's welcome any time.

Saturday I had another ring in. The Teen has a friend she's not sure if she's crushing on. He slept over Saturday night as well. I don't know where I manage to keep all these people. This lad is ok for a 15yo Skinny White Dude. Hereafter referred to SWD.

SWD is pleasant and polite. And, unfortunately, didn't seem altogether phased by me. Now that was a bit of a disappointment I can tell you.......

Yay, I finally get a turn!

Time is flying. Year-wise that is. I can't believe that it's Christmas month. Where did the year go?

So I mentioned last time that the Chef has moved in. I'm beginning to feel like the Christmas turkey. All fattened up and ready to go.

But this doesn't come cheap - I need to keep topping up the fridge and the pantry. A lot of what he cooks I don't have the ingredients for. I'm thinking that in future, I'll keep what he gives for board as a slush fund for more food. Hope that works!

Possibly emotionally costly. I get he's broken. His way of dealing though, is to lose his temper and take it out on other things. Slamming doors. Throwing things. And yet, when he's feeling 'stable' - for want of a better word - he's easy to get along with and usually quite funny. Oh, and he also has a foul, foul mouth. And bulimia, he tells me - although I've not seen him binge, I've heard him purge.

And I deal with this by ignoring this behaviour. MOTH, on the other hand, doesn't like the language, and can't deal with the temper tantrums. He tells me that yesterday, an episode made him feel depressed.

You know I thought that heart attacks were supposed to make you take stock and slow down. Not this one. It's made him more uptight, less tolerant, and now everything depresses him, or annoys him.

I'm beginning to think I can't wait to get back to work. And that's bad.

New housemates. Or children. Whichever.

Last week the Teen asked, Mum! A friend of mine has been turfed out. Can he stay here till he finds somewhere else?

Well, ok. As long as he knows I don't have a room for him. The Elder graciously said he could use her stretcher bed.

So he moved in. The Teen did forget to tell him that I didn't have a room for him though! She told him on the morning he was supposed to arrive. Poor boy.

He's quiet. Not as young as I thought he was. He's 20. He's a chef. I'm getting my meals cooked for me. He doesn't have a good home life. He's fragile and broken. Hopefully not beyond repair.

He tells me that he's never had a family. He's insecure and has no self esteem. I'm hoping that might be changed a small bit by the time he leaves. We keep telling him that what he cooks is marvellous. And that's not an exaggeration - it's 'plain fare' but he made the sausages taste like they had been on the barbeque. And that's gotta be a plus.....

Let me start by......

Yes. Like it says. Let me start by apologising up front for anyone who doesn't have the stomach to read this. Perhaps you might like to get yourself a stiff cuppa tea before you come back......

The Teen wasn't well on Saturday night. One of those feeling kinda queasy, then suddenly it's a mad dash for the nearest place to be sick. She didn't quite make it. She started the clean up, and I finished it. And while doing this, I noted that though there were no solid bits, those noodles she'd eaten some hours ago sure didn't smell sweet the second time around. A kind of strong, acrid smell.

And no disinfectant either. So domestos in the bowl for the carpet, and dettol on the tiles and plenty, plenty airfreshener. Which didn't cover it.

I could still smell it the next morning. By god, whatever she ate she better not eat again! I'm thinking it's going to take a long time to clear the smell! I sprayed the carpet with some of the Preen foam. Which, as an aside, does a pretty good job of cleaning the carpet. Letting it dry for several hours, it was time to vacuum it off.

Now, I had been complaining during the cleanup that, by the amount of dust on the floor, that no one had waved a vacuum cleaner in the floor's general direction for a while.

I opened the broom cupboard door and the smell jumped out and grabbed me by the throat. While I was busy trying to fight that off, I espied black and white stuff on the floor under the vacuum. It was also along the floor to the other corner where I store the christmas tree.

Bloody hell! The carpet is soggy, stinks, and has set up a mould farm. On inspection, it also extends under the wall into the Teen's room. At first I thought that was the point of origin. She doesn't run a tidy ship. And there was an empty water bottle in the vicinity. On shifting the Christmas tree and discovering the full extent of the damage, I think we can conclude that there is a leak in behind the shower wall.

Emailed the real estate yesterday, and just have to wait for a response.

But heck it stinks. And now I think I can smell it everywhere. Even at work. It's in my skin! I scrub and it's turning black and furry..... And over the last week, I've been thinking that it's time to clean the bathroom drains again...

Sunday mornings. And late night visitors.

It's Sunday morning. *groan* and I'm exhausted. I feel like I haven't slept much. If at all. And I don't know why. I went to bed at a decent hour.

And the girls didn't wake me up. The Teen has a friend over. Who knows what they do after you throw caution to the winds and go to bed. Maybe it was MOTH who kept me awake.

It certainly wasn't the visitor we had last night. I think I mentioned late night. Actually, it wasn't late. It was night, but not late.

The cockatiels went crazy; the yellow one flapped herself off her perch. Crest up, she raced around the bottom of the cage. As best she could anyway.

MOTH went to investigate - maybe it was a cat? Then I'm asked to bring a slice of apple. No cat I know eats apple. Seems it wasn't a cat......

Or maybe, I'm tired because I have different hair now. Yes, that must be it. My hair is different and now, I can't sleep. Much like that Samson fella. Only he cut his hair. Or someone cut it for him.

Wow, I'm tired.

Shopping should be fun, right?

I have been pushing the Teen to start applying for holiday jobs. She's not keen. I guess I can't blame her, but I really think that now is the time. She's been employed before for about 4 weeks before she tossed in the towel. Perhaps that ruined her outlook. And although she wants this and that and new clothes, she is quite happy to make comments about her lack of these things, and make do with $20 a fortnight 'pocket money'. She is supposed to do things to get that, but doesn't do them. I pay her anyway. It's such a small amount.

But, going back to the shopping. How many Teens do you know who positively hate shopping? Would do almost anything to get out of it? She even complains if her friends want to drag her along while they go shopping. And it doesn't improve even if I'm the one footing the bill.

With the handing in of resumes, we decided that she needed a new outfit. The dressiest thing she owns is black skinny jeans. Which may be appropriate for some places, but not for all. So off we go to buy her new clothes. Great. She's in a high dudgeon already. I'm not trying anything on!!

A much edited version of the shopping trip below. Your imagination can supply the bits I've left out.

Off to the shopping centre. Where do you want to start.
I dunno. Supre?
Ok. Walk in. The dresses she liked were not there. Now what. How about that?
No, it's ugly. No, it's not what I want. No, it's ugly too.
Sigh.
What about that skirt?
Forget it. Ugly.
But 2 minutes later she came back to that. And that's what we bought.

Now I have the skirt, I need new shoes!
Where do you want to go?
I dunno! A shoe shop?! *sarcasm*
Sigh. What style do you want?
A plain black pair of ballet pumps.
Ok, for those we need somewhere like Payless or Williams. Or Jay Jays.
Nope, Jay Jay's stuff won't be dressy enough.
Do you know where Williams is?
Nope.
Find a directory and we'll know where to look.
Nope! I'm not doing that!
Well, we'll start going this way.
Mum! Come back here!
And by this time, you are just ready to punch her in the head.

Eventually I got her into a Williams and up the back where the flats were. A mammoth task in itself; two women with kids in trolley and pram were taking up an awful lot of room. She picked a pair and wasn't going to try them on. Luckily she did, cause they needed to be a bigger size.

Fortunately, the whole task took about half hour, and I was free to be shot of her while I went shopping with the Elder. An altogether much pleasanter notion. Glad I did. I scored a pair of expensive rubber thongs for my effort.

Heck, I thought shopping with your daughters was supposed to be fun?

Wha? Was that a weekend went rushing by?

Well, I think it was. It seems like only Friday a blink ago, and now here it is. Monday again. Sigh *wipes a tear* weekends grow up and move out so quickly.

A strange weekend just gone. Well, it felt a little stranger than normal. For me.

I managed to grab some ME time Saturday morning. And took over the bathroom. I coloured my hair, and it became...... violet. Ultra Violet, the box assures me. So, while waiting for the colour to process, I took a dash more ME time. Sitting, minding my own business, hair piled on top of head. Violet stuff everywhere. The Teen wandered out, rubbing sleep, mascara, and other stuff probably not healthy to think about from her eyes, when she saw me. It stopped her dead in her tracks. Before she laughed at me. You just can't take someone seriously when they are vulnerable like that. Really.

At the end of the process when I was all clean and shiny, I thought it was time to do the same for the bathroom. Clean and shiny. Well. I had to. There had been voilet done in that room. Traces of it everywhere. So, clean and shiny.

The Elder took the Teen out on Saturday morning. The Teen wasn't supposed to go anywhere on Saturday - she is still supposed to be doing penance for some perceived slight; can't remember what now - but I let her go to collect some dollars that one of her friends was to give her. And she wanted to meet a boy. Her dad doesn't like the boyfriend stuff, but what the heck. She is 15, she'll do it anyway.

The two of them spent the day there. And returned with 3 additions. Luckily, I did know about those. But then again, if they just rocked up, I wouldn't be unhappy. I really like this bunch of hangers-on.

Saturday night was noisy, and messy. I didn't realise how messy until Sunday morning. When they left for Dreamworld, and mum got a good look at what they left behind. It was like having a house full of kids again. Empty glasses left on tables and benches. Food wrappers followed the glasses around. Dirty dishes lined the sink. Blankets, sheets, and a mattress took up space on the loungeroom floor, and continued to drape themselves in a casual fashion on the couch itself.

The bathroom didn't escape either. They all showered so I had a plethora of wet towels hung in strange places. The basin sink and bench top were full of black hair. See comment re clean and shiny. And I dare not mention the hair dryer and straightener left lying about.

It was almost like the kids' bedrooms had exploded and spread debris over a wide area. MOTH was less than happy.

Love those kids though. Can't wait for the next one.

Kids. Schools. Whatever.

Whew. Summer temps are here. And now is the time they decide to refurbish the air conditioner. Our building is re-routed to another, smaller system. It keeps overloading. So we spend most of the time with no aircon in the building. And they can't give us an end date to our woes.

And for the icing on the cake - I had a phone call from the school yesterday. The Teen has been suspended. For 3 days. For writing on the wall. Yes, that's right. For writing one sentence "Only noobs write here" on the girls' toilet wall.

The Deputy Principal was impressed with her conduct; she owned up to doing it. She was polite, truthful, and willing to face the consequences of her actions. Seems I did manage to teach her something after all. She tells me that none of the others owned up to having done anything.

But apparently, suspension is the standard punishment for graffiti these days. I can remember doing my time for writing on desks. If the teacher were especially grumpy you got a week's detention. If not, punishment was much less severe.

3 day suspension. So, what do they do for something really severe?

*shakes head*

Scooters. Memories and other.

The Elder gave me a lift to work this morning. Well, I suppose that since she has to come to campus too, it can't really be called a lift. More like I strap in and hang on for dear life.

She has purchase a parking permit now though. Which means limited travel on public transport for a while. I am to go halves in the cost of the parking, and ride the train when she's not travelling my way from home. I'm hoping that won't be too often. Or she can pay for her parking herself. So there.

This morning, while burning rubber up the main drag, we noticed one of those commuter scooter things. It was a bit hard to miss; going hell for leather along the edge of the road. I'm sure his fingers were crossed. And a look of concentration on his face as he leaned over the handlebars trying desperately to get that last little gasp from the motor.

Heaven knows why these things are allowed to share the road. What good are they? They don't have enough power to travel in the mainstream traffic - they just aren't fast enough. Maybe they should ride the footpath with the pedestrians. Or those scooters for the mobility challenged. Now there would be a sight. A race. Between the scooters. Winner takes on the footsloggers. I'm talking, of course, about the scooters that you don't need a license for. The little ones. About 50cc or something.

I reckon they would travel almost as fast as a kid on one of the usual ones. The ones that were all the rage a couple years back. The silver ones with the slick wheels. The ones the parents made all the fuss about because of there being no proper brakes. You had to put your heel on the back wheel. Or something. But what's wrong with that? You can't truly have a childhood without the possibility of mangling yourself doing something fun. Like jumping on a bed when your older sister advised you not to.

We had a scooter. But it was nothing like the fancy ones. It was old and battered. And well loved. The plastic/rubbery handle grips were cracked. The paint was chipped. The frame was rusty. The wheels were white and solid rubber. Cracked too. And there was nothing we liked better than to get a good run up, jump on and fly down the yard, around the corner down the slope, and along the driveway. And see how far you could get without putting your foot to the ground. We wore a groove in the grass our dad wasn't necessarily impressed about. And I've lost count of the amount of times we stacked it.

Can you imagine doing that with any of the fancy pants things that pass for a scooter these days? And that statement includes the ones worthy only of a race against the pedestrians.

I've forgotten........

I thought, while the work computers aren't working, that I would sidestep and jot something down. I know darned well that this morning I had a topic I would talk about.

But now I'm at work, and I can't for the life of me remember what it might have been.

I was lying in the dark. In the lounge room, plotting MOTH's gorey demise. He suffers from sleep apnoea. And snoring to boot. I had ejected myself from the bedroom after giving up a losing battle with sleep.

And I KNOW I had something worthwhile to contribute. Then. But this is NOW, and it's all gone away.

Perhaps it will come back one day. Or maybe it's all gone; slipped away into the ether, never to be thought of again.....

How does that song go?

... it's raining again ... Yes. It is. And here I am, stuck at work. Without my umbrella. Now, how did that happen?

I don't usually take an umbrella with me. A strange thing, considering how I feel about getting wet. But somehow, the fact that it's rain makes it better. But there you have it - I have walked out the door without one.

On leaving home, it was grey. But not too badly so. And cool; almost jumper weather. In fact, the Elder commented that she thought she might need one. Till I talked her out of it. It had stormed briefly, very briefly, and was no longer raining.

But now, I'm sitting here at work, tucked away in my cozy little office. It's dark outside. And wet. The thunder is rolling around the sky and the trees are weighted with water. And here I am, no umbrella.

The forecast I heard this morning said mostly fine. A workmate tells me she heard storms. Woe is me. Well, we shall have to see who is right. Think I'll hedge my bets and say if the rain goes away, it will be fine.

Sister Wherefore Art Thou? Random stuff.

So after my last post, I thought I would contact said missing family member. Who told me that she's usually on MSN at a particular time. But noone else is. Funny that. If you don't tell me that you are on during those times, how am I going to know you are there? No, wait. I am the eldest, so I should be psychic enough to pick up on that.

So I thought I would give it a shot. I had to do some hard haggling with the Teen. It was her computer time after all. But lo, the only person on was Elder.

I chased my sibling, and where was she? In bed with a headache. Sometimes you just can't win.

I did have a win on another matter though. I got the tv most of Saturday; a huge achievement - Bathurst warmups were on. I managed to watch 2 season's worth of unseen - by me - eps of the IT Crowd. A BBC production of unbridled hilarity. Based, as you may have guessed, on an IT department in a large corporation. A cast of thousands - well, 3 regulars and 1 part timer - whose department is so well regarded, it exists in the basement.

Jen - Relationship manager. She's the 'people person'.
Roy - Geek 1. Irish. Pretty normal, considering.
Moss - Geek 2. Not Irish. Stereotypical geek.
Richmond - the Goth who lives behind the Red Door. My absolute fave character. But he isn't in every episode.

We don't know what's behind the Green Door yet.

I love it. A Saturday well spent. I hope they make another series.

The Case of the Mysterious Disappearance of the Sibling

I write this blog for me. And my siblings so we can keep up to date with the minutiae of our lives. But mostly for me. In the vain hope that it might mean something to me when I am old and demented and forgetful. It will give me something to remember myself by. And don't worry about computers and stuff. We'll all be wired into the mainframe by then.

But one of my three readers - if you include myself - has gone missing. All is quiet in backwoods bobbyville. They have only recently joined the technological era. Perhaps the computer has become sentient and swallowed them all. Sucked them all in so they have become lost. Lost in a surreal world of multi colours of red and blue, and a very nasty central computer with delusions of grandeur and world domination. No, wait. That's Tron. Actually, I did once read a story of people being sucked into computers by some black goo and a somewhat unhealthy dose of pixellation, but I can't for the life of me remember the name of it.

So where has she gone? She once begged not to be included in our chatty emails - "They clog my inbox" - so we relented and refused to talk to her. She sent pictures of some cat with no tail. And I responded. Twice. To no avail. She has gone. Drifted off into cyberspace, dancing among the stars, shipwrecked and comatose, drinking fresh mango juice, goldfish shoals ....... Sorry. Gone all Red Dwarf on myself there.........

Life is good.

It's Monday. And you know what? I don't feel bad. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe I'm heading for a manic cycle. Or maybe I just had a good weekend.

The Teen and the Elder had their own agenda, so disappeared fairly early Saturday. With every intention of not reappearing until Sunday sometime. We were at a loose end, so to speak.

MOTH decided to do something on the spur of the moment. A HUGE accomplishment on its own. And we took a drive out to Cleveland. The sky was clear and blue. A full tank of fuel, airconditioning in the car was working a treat; traffic was moderate, the UBD on the floor at my feet, and a calm and relaxed midset with regard to the possibility of getting lost.

I can't describe how bouyed I felt. No rush, no need to be anywhere at any particular time. Just a day to do what we wanted. Of course, the lure of a shopping centre we hadn't been to before was too hard to ignore. We stopped at Capalaba Park or some such. It was quite larger than we expected, but had a Zarraffas, so we were set. MOTH had never had coffee from there before, but had to agree that yes, it was better than Gloria Jeans.

The shopping centre had a wildlife display going on. Perhaps it had just finished - a family were having their photo taken while nursing a freshwater croc across their knees. We wandered around and looked in the windows of the set up at some of the reptiles. One display held gouldian finches, the bright purple and green ones. I tried to take some shots with the phone, but heck, they move waaaay to fast for that. Once I snapped the camera on one of the birds on a branch, but when the photo displayed on the screen, there wasn't a bird in sight. Perhaps I might even put that Missing: Fast Bird poster here. When I get around to pulling the pics off the phone.

So we ended up somewhere out at Cleveland. Not Wellington Point way, but the other direction. And decided to stop somewhere for lunch. The name of the place escapes me now, but the food was good. MOTH ordered bangers and mash, while I had tagiatelle with bug. Delicious. The garden out the back had Emu in the name. We sat in the shady pergoda, against the railing while the sea breeze stirred the fronds of the palm tree where the rainbow lorikeets played and the cockatoos rested in the trees around the park.

Oh, and one old one with her mate and her brood of two obnoxious children sat at the table directly below us. She forghorned, and every time she told those kids to do something, they did what they pleased anyway. I spent a fair bit of my time mumbling under my breath, planning ways to destroy them. On one occasion, I wondered if there were some way I could coax the cockatoos over and have them beat the kids to death. MOTH sat grinning like a loon, commenting later that he didn't think that strip of I-don't-like-kids ran quite that wide. Bloody bogans annoying the croutons out of the general public.

But in spite of that, it was a brilliant day. Or maybe because of it. I know I had a lot of fun planning their destruction.

Yay! Space to move

I still can't get over the amount of space there is here. With the students gone and all. Most of them - there are still some international students hanging about. One thing I did notice about the break though. Market day goes downhill with some of the stall owners not turning up. Mediocre Market Day becomes Pissweak Market Day.

It seems that I opened my big mouth and mentioned to the Elder about my last post. No, not the one that makes the dogs howl. Which in turn reminds me of a play we looked at staging in high school. For the sheer joy of the play itself. Just us, not a whole of the school gig. Something entitled Custard's Last Stand. Or similar. The play was set in the wild, wild west. And it gelled with our warped sense of humour at the time. F'rinstance:

A: My daddy brought me out here in a covered wagon.
B: Yes. Looking at you I can see why he covered it.

I can't remember the plot but I think it had something to do with a shipment - if you can get a ship out in the west - of custard pies going missing. Did the indians do it? You'll never know because I can't remember.

But I digress. I must have told her that I wrote about our lovely day at the lake. Raining today though, so I doubt there will be a repeat. At any rate, I guess she decided to read it. And checked the archives as well. Apparently I made comment that she was dressed all in black and white, striped too, and reminded me of a beetle. Which reminded me that I needed to revisit Beetlejuice. I was in trouble. Fortunately briefly.

But guess which movie I know have on my shelf?

Summer and semester breaks

Whew. I think summer is coming. It's beginning to get somewhat overheated. And it doesn't help if you are wearing black.

I think semester break is here. Along with school holidays for most. I noticed this morning, on my usual commute with the Elder and hanging desperately onto the car door for support, that there was definitely a reduction in the amount of traffic.

And space on the bus. Without any fool having to stand in the aisle and hang on for dear life. Which is never me by the way. I always manage to get myself a seat. By fair means or foul.

No students loitering in the middle of the footpath. A group of which I encountered just last week. Who were quite well aware they were blocking the path. I nearly trampled them. At least, my brain was desperate for some action, but before I knew it my body had taken a detour and I was squeezing past on the outside of the throng. Darn. Opportunity rang the bell and ran away.

Back to the weather. The Elder and I decided to have lunch by the lake. And look at the wildlife. Today I think I encountered a bit more than I bargained for. Unfortunately the heat was rendering certain areas a tad too aromatic for my liking, but we persevered. We wandered the path, across the bridge, and chanced to espy a turtle sunning itself on a choice spot just out of the water. Further along, we looked up. Corellas. Lots of them. Crowding in the trees and watching. I felt that I was wearing a sign. A big one, with concentric red circles. I waited, I expected, and I braced but it didn't happen.

The patch of grass we found was spongy and welcoming. I was a little wary, expecting to find myself sitting in ducky doo doo. Settled in and around they came. A goose and lots of smaller birds. The goose got pushy and tried to pinch the Elder's pie crust. I guarded the best bit from the marauder - the cream donut.

After lunch, we thought we would have a bit of sport and get close to a big turtle sunning itself on a branch. No, not the earlier one. This one was bigger. As we approached, it waved its legs about trying to get a grip before propelling itself back into the relative safety of the water.

We watched turtles, birds and eels play in the shallows. Baited them with crumbs of donut. On the way back, after again running the gauntlet of the corellas, I pointed out the water dragon on a raised grate. And another in the water. Surrounded by birds. There sure are a lot of birds on the lake. We fed them. Donut of course. The wet dragon jumped out and on to the bank. To the disgust of the dry dragon who proceeded to chase it off. And the dry dragon reigned surpreme. And was rewarded with donut. Right up to my toes. I stood still. You don't want one of them thinking that a toe is a meal. I wear sandals you know.

Which encouraged a bunch of american students to stop and look. They didn't see the dragon on the path at first. The boys thought it was great, the Elder threw some donut at them. The students. And the dragon moved; the girl went girly and hid behind one of the boys. One took photos and they eventually moved on.

On the bridge on the way back, we watched one of the white heron-like birds hunt.

But then, it was back to work. To the airconditioning. A totally relaxing way to spend lunch hour. I don't really want to settle in to work now.

Random stuff....

... The magik attack hit again this morning. The gardener was cleaning up after a brush turkey had been about. Gack! It was a helpful attack, quite out of character.

... Just saw a student wearing patterned stockings. Fair Isle pattern. In shades of grey. What's with that???

... Been thinking of buying an iPod. It's taken days to even decide which one I want. Even longer to price them. So work sells them to students and staff. But as far as I can tell, at the RRP. When I contact them to place the order, the model I want is no longer available. It's been replaced by the new ones. And I'm quite welcome to spend another $100 and get one of those. But I don't want that one! I want THAT one! It's not fair! *insert wailing and gnashing of teeth here*

Magik

I'm sitting at my desk eating something healthy and nutritious for lunch. If you're a student. Only a student can live successfully on noodles. But I was wishing I had something better that I had someone else to prepare for me.

And as I drifted off into the half tracelike state between waking and sleeping, it made me think of one of my favourite day dreams as a child.

I wished I could do magic. Not wand magic like Harry Potter and his lot. That's for girlies. The real stuff. Change things with a thought or a gesture. And magic happens. As I feel at the time. Small and subtle, or large and dazzling. As a child though it was mostly small and subtle. I couldn't let just anyone know I could do magic. You never know what might happen.

Strangely enough, most of my magic daydreams involved helping other people. These days I think I centre more on revenge. Oo a cyclist in a pedestrian only area. Small nod and hey! Front wheel sticks and there they go - straight over the handle bars to do a very messy face plant on the cement. Not a problem. Twitch of the fingers and it's all cleaned up. But not the cyclist.

Don't want to go to work? Yay. Suddenly I have a clone. But it had better not be an evil twin. I know what happens there. But wait. Yes. Finger click and it's like I don't exist. They won't miss me because they never knew I was ever there. Of course, I can't give up work completely - that would totally ruin my social life.

And if I didn't like the way it turned out, I could put it all back exactly the way it was before.

I have no idea what happened in the years between generosity and selfishness. Maybe it was life??

Cement in a can.... Hairspray

Last night, I thought I would do something different. And catch a movie. What a movie.

Hairspray.

Now, I know the pundits would say it's a remake. And then draw all sorts of comparisons, usually unfavourable, between the new and the old. But I've never seen the old. And totally loved the new.

Bright. Colourful. Fun. My feet were tapping and my head was nodding. And I left the theatre bouyed by an overflow of good spirits.

On one occasion I laughed myself into an attack of the snorts. Hopefully it got lost among the general laughter. And there was plenty to laugh at.

John Travolta was amazing as Edna. Knowing full well it who was in the suit under the makeup didn't detract from the viewing pleasure. For me, it probably enhanced it. I couldn't help thinking 'how cute!' through some of the scenes. And he was soooo girly!! And how much practice to be able to dance in a pair of heels? Ok, so not the stilettos Michelle Pfeiffer's character was wearing, but heels nontheless.

The chemistry between Edna and Christopher Walken as Wilbur was sweet. The scene I call the 'seduction scene' was sweet. Walken couldn't stop smiling and looked like he was going to burst into giggles.

And the new girl! What a voice!

I loved it. I can't wait for the dvd. And I think I'll overdose on the soundtrack for a while. Wow.

And by the end of the movie, all I could say was "Big is Beautiful!!" Long live the big.

Father's Day. Or How to Give the Man a Heart attack

Yes. Yesterday was Father's Day. And the girls gave MOTH some small gifts. And MOTH nagged me to call my own father.

A difficult task. Not that Pop Too and I don't get along. Quite the contrary. But he lives in another city, which means that I must actually pick up a phone and speak.

I don't have any trouble speaking. Anyone who knows me knows that quite well. I'm armed with opinions and like to share them around. But physically picking up a phone and calling. Well that's another thing entirely.

I hate them. Telephones. Says she who carts a mobile around with her. But that's the beauty of mobiles. You can SMS. Which means a conversation. Without speaking to someone.

But I did it. I phoned my father. Course, I had to fortify myself with a shopping trip first. Can't do these things cold turkey you know.

And I think he was pleasantly surprised. At least, I hope it was worth the effort. I save the phone calls for special occasions. Father's Day. Mother's Day. Christmas. ...... yep, that's about all.

But I do think of them often.

MOTH was pleased with his gifts. A voucher to use at Kmart. And dvd's. One featuring Jessica Alba. His favourite. And cards to go with them. Which, for some reason, both featured bodily functions. Of the same type. Which made him comment on their similarity. Accompanied by a sheepish smile and a bag full of denial. Wholly accurate, we vote. It's obviously a man thing.......

Mother Dearest........

Yes Mother, it seems I owe you a letter. And now for something completely different...... oops. Sorry for the Pythonesque moment there. I thought I would write one. This way. And it starts off like so ...

... Mother Dearest

Yes, thanks, as I told Pop Too, the blankets did arrive in good order. None the worse for wear after the enforced diet and rough travel. They have even had the occasion to present their best side / underside / inside when they were called upon to provide some form of motley cover for some of the Elder's friends. On sleepover duty.

Oh. Small aside - sugar. Must remember to bring sugar.

So, what has been happening the the wacky world of the Backwoods Bobbies? Your correspondence was a little cryptic. Perhaps the local birds where whistling and you couldn't think. XD Either that, or I need glasses to stop the words from running into each other. Strange the way I need glasses, not the words.

I hope that Pop Too isn't taking too much time out from the List. If the photo is anything to go by. Mind, it is a wonderful way to sell the lounge suite. If indeed that is what you were doing.

And I see that Moose has dragged you somewhat ahead in the tech stakes, having now facilitated the ease of email. That's a wonderful thing. Now all you have to do is get yourself up to speed on that other wonderful little piece of tech that Froggy sent. It's called a mobile phone......

Speaking of Moose, how is Scorpion? She must be almost singing along now, right? I know the trick was to get the paperwork finished on some anniversary or another, but have forgotten if that was this century or next.

And how is Mz T? And the anklebiters? I'm thinking that when summer sets in proper you can kiss the chesty stuff goodbye and get some sleep. Long live sleep.

All are well here. I have just last night managed to make it through the discussion and signing of a SET agreement for the Teen. They never had to worry about any of that nonsense when we were at school. For the uninitiated - you - that's a career and study plan which must be agreed on by the parents and the student.

The Elder is taking me out partying next weekend. That should be interesting - it's been so long that I can't remember the last time I was out past pumpkin hour and having a good time. I wonder if I shall still have the endurance, stamina and other stuff.

MOTH is still at home. Doing homey things. Not yo homie dudes! but domestic engineer type stuff. The weather is doing him cruel and he hasn't been well lately. I have my fingers crossed, but the old codger is still hanging on.... XD

But, I must sign off, and flee to attempt to accomplish other things. Much love sent your general direction. You better make sure you dive to catch it...........

Sigh. It's still raining......

I mustn't complain too much I suppose. It is rain we needed......

But I'm tired and cold. It's at the point where you leave a window open briefly and everything feels damp. I'm sure that I'm going mouldy. Gosh, and now, Axel is pouring his heart out in the November Rain. Wonder if that's a sign?

I had been talking to Mother recently who mentioned a refurbishment. Not knowing what the heck she was talking about produced the following. Which I thought was cute enough to include...

The joys of retirement. Obviously.







It's funny though the way small things you overhear trigger funny little memories. Ok, they might only be funny to you. And I've just realised I've used funny 4 times now in 3 sentences.....

I was on the train the other night, when a group of other passengers began passing around photos. Old fashioned ones even. You know, tucked inside the processing company's envelope.

One of the group mentioned she thought they may have been photos of work. No, he said. You think I would be taking pictures of the inside of bins? Or words to that effect. Which reminded me of a fad I went through. Taking photos of bins.

Which all started with a new phone. Yes. I wanted to test the camera. So I took a pic from the back window of the bus. And sent it on. To which the response was rather humorous, and prompted a spate of bin pics flying through cyberspace.

So, I've started again. And here it is. Please pay attention to the signage. Mind, when we returned later that day, someone had swapped the hard goods for ....... an old sponge mop.

What's that stuff in the sky?

Woot! It's been raining. And all night too. Well, one assumes it has. It was raining when I went to bed, and it was raining when I woke up. But then, that could be a clever trick to make me think it's been busy.......

Ah. Back at work on a rainy Monday. What was it Karen Carpenter said? Rainy days and Mondays always get me down. Don't have much hope then on a rainy Monday.

Listening to a bit of music while I am all by my little self in my lonely corner of the room. I love it.....

Had some of the Elders friends over for a pyjama party on Saturday night. I thought uh oh, here's a go. But I should have known better. They were very quiet. The 15yo were noisier. And they slept on the lounge floor. Which meant that I had to sleep in. Tragedy that......

Friday. And stuff......

Well, I guess it's been a little while since I last blogged. Not because I have been so fantastically busy, but basically because ..... well, I don't have much to say.

Now, be quiet you lot in the back row. As anyone who knows me can attest, this is an extremely rare occurrence.

..... So, have I mentioned lately how much I hate travel? Not necessarily mine. I don't get to do much of it. In fact, if you don't count my daily commute to work, I can't say I have done any. Travel. For pleasure. But I sure get to organise plenty for other people. And they all seem to want to be places at once. Sometimes, I think it's the only thing I do here. And if it weren't for a little part timer that someone legroped into doing some admin stuff, I would be doing it for others outside my office as well. I was looking at the positions vacant for Flight Centre the other day. I'm sure I could give them a run for their money. If only it wasn't sales driven. Yes, that's right. A Travel Consultant - for Flight Centre at any rate - is required to sell the travel, and bonuses etc depend on it.

..... Just finished some spot of training today. I don't know if this training will help me. Some would say that I am beyond help. But it is to do with Advanced Reading Techniques. I had hoped that it might give me some tips to read faster and better recall what I have read. Now as a general rule, I don't have a problem with novels etc. But put me in front of a text, and oh boy. I may as well have a brick wall inside my head - quiet peanut gallery! - as to absorb some of that stuff. So, I have my fingers crossed that I can achieve something. From the course. If nothing else, it's time away from travel.

..... The Elder is hoping to invite some friends over for a 'pyjama party' next weekend. I think I am looking forward to it. Not that I'm invited per se, but since it's at my house and I have nowhere else to be, I will be there by proxy. I have met a couple of them, and confess I am really looking forward to meeting others. If they come. And, I'm told - in as little detail as possible, as mothers are - that they will be sleeping on the loungeroom floor. Brilliant. I am an early riser. Which means I will have to force myself to stay in bed and read a book or something. Tough, hey.

Work environment needs ....... well, work

I have been planning this for a while now. My desk is boring. It needed a dash of ...... pizzaz. Or something.

I bought a pen holder. Woot! Original you say. Well, maybe so. My office bought pen caddy was boring. So out with the old and in with the new. It's a black, 3 legged cup. No other way to describe it really. Courtesy of Smiggle. [insert hyperlink here - the page wouldn't load, so you will have to use your imagination]

That lasted a couple of weeks till my brain cried Not Enough!

And I bought a fish. He sits on my desk. His name, should he choose to accept it, is Smiggle. Gotta keep with the theme .... *nods*

Argh! Semester is back!

I noticed it properly today. Yoiks!

For a start, it's all so much noisier.

I've never been able to figure out why the student species must congregate in the walkways, on the stairs and cluster in groups where the heaviest foot traffic is likely to be.

Today, as I ventured off to pilates class - late I might add - I had to negotiate a group of international students. Who had decided to take up residence right in the middle of the footpath. No, I stand corrected. Right across the entire width of the footpath. To the extent that, to get past, I was required to negotiate the woodchip that borders the path under the trees. And this isn't a narrow path either. But, it is a major thoroughfare, so I guess it was to be expected.

Now, I didn't say anything. I'm a pussycat that way. But I did mumble some curses as I strode past. And they slowly meander off to goodness knows wherever it is students go.

And they are everywhere. It is necessary for me to force my way through them all to get where I need to go.

My senses are completely assaulted by the sheer numbers. Noisy, obnoxious and way, way too many of them.

I'm sure this university would get along better without them........

Friday Funnies.

Ok, it's not funny. Unless you suffer from Old Timers......

I thought I had something I was going to contribute here. But I have forgotten. Oh well. It's Friday. And I just might convince myself it's nearly time to go home.

Ciao.

Dr's make me ill. Or I hate getting old.

Well, it seems to be the merry-go-round on the health system lately. I've managed to wrangle 2 whole days off this week. Thank you Queensland Health. I'm not complaining mind. I don't mind sitting around in waiting rooms. Waiting.

Monday was blood test and x-ray day. When I arrived, bright and early at the pathology lab, I should have been warned by the sign. Which read closed. Even though they were actually open. So I present myself to the front desk. Only to be told that one of the tests I am scheduled for must be booked in. Darn. Didn't know that. But they decided to let me do the test anyway. Lucky me. It was a glucose tolerance test. And being 12 months since I did the last one - which I don't remember having to book in for - I had forgotten just how nauseated that green drink makes me.

3 hours and about 7 vials of blood later, I stagger off to x-ray at the hospital. I had just managed to settle down with my book, and hey I get called in. How inconsiderate.

The upshot was that I was in and out of there in less than half an hour. And I had arranged the whole day off. You beauty.

Wednesday was back to the hospital for the Dr. My appointment was 0915. But it's interesting to try find your way through outpatients when you have only ever seen Emergency. Or the ceilings of the corridors. But I found my way with plenty of time and settled in. The clinic nurse, an older woman who called herself Steph, proved to be comic relief. She couldn't find a referral on my file.

"Do you have a referral letter with you?" she asked. I denied all knowledge. But I did give her the name of the Dr I had seen as an inpatient. A moments pause, a puzzled frown and her face cleared. Oh, I know Su, that's very naughty of her.

We waited. She popped back to apologise and offer cups of tea and coffee all round. The Dr was delayed, having to see patients in the ward. About 20 of them. And he didn't have a helper. More waiting. I'm supposed to be going off to work after this appointment. This time she mentioned the Dr has a couple of broken ribs. No indication whatsoever about how that happened. Which was probably the best part of the story. "So he's a bit precious" says she. A quiet chuckle and we went back to doing what we do best. Waiting. Most of us read, and listened to one patient snore.

I didn't get in till after 12noon. What? The x-ray is inconclusive? You need a CT? Groan. Make follow up appointments. Done. With still another 40 mintues to finally arrive at work, I phoned the acting Boss. We decided that it just wasn't worth going in. Yippee.

Today, I get to see my GP. Who will no doubt tell me my blood pressure is way too high. Medication will need to be adjusted. Which will make me sick for a few days. And my blood sugar is too high. I will need to diet. I keep telling myself that if I get sick, I get sick. If I need to change my diet, that could be exactly the kick I am looking for. And I just need to chill. And the more I think about it, the more nervous I get, and the higher my blood pressure goes. See comment regarding merry-go-round.

On another note, today I have finally extracted digit, and preordered the final instalment of the Harry Potter books. I am most happy and looking forward to that.

A Post about nothing...

Getting sort of Seinfeld with that post title......

So, I am back at work, still working on staff travel. Just lately it seems to be that nothing I plan is working out right. Up till I was off sick, I was flat strap trying to resolve a problem that should never have existed in the first place. But I listened to my travellers' request, and hey presto, problemo. Big one. That didn't get solved until after 5pm Friday afternoon. And they were to travel on the Sunday. Or even the Saturday. I can't remember. The whole thing was so traumatic I have blocked it.

Now I have travel to the USA to organise. But I can't get the flights I want. It seems they are all booked out. The agent tells me it's due to school holidays. What I want to know is how can people afford to travel overseas and take the kids with them???

And I have just completed organising domestic travel. But guess what - someone else was booking the accommodation, and I found out around 4.45pm that they booked the wrong night. So I had to try fix that one as well.

Never ends, does it.

But last weekend I got to ride on the coattails of MOTH's birthday and went to Gold Class. For the first time. And I really enjoyed the experience. Ok, so we were almost the only ones in the cinema, but I think that's what made it so enjoyable. We deliberately chose a matinee screening of Fantastic 4 Silver Surfer. And the only other person came in about half hour after it started. But I loved the film, and I loved Gold Class. Definitely going to do that again.

Oh, and the other bit of nothing..........

Bf asked the question. The Elder said yes. Apparently. No date set, but a couple years in the future. No ring yet, but saving up for it. I have warned her. I have a Grand-cat. I don't want Grand-kids......

Being sick. Not for the faint hearted

After a couple of days of blood tests, cannulas, flushing and injections it sure is nice to be free.

I made it out of a 3 day sentence in hospital. Not actually that long, but it sure felt longer. It's no fun being in pain and made to pay for that by masquerading as a pin cushion. Ok, so ED nurses can inject morphine IV, ward nurses must do it subcut. A bit more unpleasant. For those who wish to know, IV is intra-venous as in through the cannula or through the IV line. Subcut means sub-cutaneous which is into the skin.

It seems that, after about 15 years absence, an old acquaintance of mine has decided to reappear. I have a kidney stone. But it took ED, several consults and several hours to determine that.

And not to mention several doses of morphine. Which, I discovered when I broke my ankle, also makes me sick. So go the sick bags! Which reminds me, I wonder if I can get any of those from the chemist or some such. They are sooo much better to keep in the cupboard in case the loo is occupied when emergency strikes.

The room they sent me to was coloured like I have never seen a hospital room. It was egg yolk yellow walls, dark teal/blue doors with no glass panels, and a single bed. Yep, the only bed they had for me was a private room. And I always go public system. But at least this time I managed to get some sleep. Because I didn't have to share with a very noisy dementia patient.

But it seems the stone has moved on through to the bladder, so I am hoping that for the duration, I will be pain free. Follow up with the clinic in about 2 weeks. If things haven't improved by then, I don't know what, if any, further treatment lies in wait.

And I am off work till mid next week. Early next week I am supposed to be minding a booth at an exhibition which I didn't want to do. Now, I'm off sick for that time. How sus does that look?

Surpise, surprise, surprise

On a side note, and completely unrelated matter to the subject heading. It wasn't a brilliant beginning to my arrival home after work last night. Pulled into the driveway, and tried to climb out of the Elder's car. Fair enough, it's an old bomb. A volvo to be precise. Somewhat high riding. And I am only little. But I did a Cinderella and left my shoe in the car. Unintentionally. Once I retrieved that, I stepped on something soft. Heavens! I'd dropped my jumper and hadn't known. So I stepped off it, and bent to retrieve it. I straightened with it in my hand, but it wouldn't lift properly. I was standing on the sleeve......

But surprises reigned today. My boss sidled up to my desk, carrying a brown paper bag. Luckily I was actually on a work page, not something like this. And he presented me with a bottle of wine in appreciation for effort I put into organising a meeting. As part of the conference.

And I have been assured that this one tastes really good if you let it breathe. Yes, it's a red. Shiraz Cabernet. And I can put it on my shelf with the bottle I was given for serving on the conference committee. A sparkling white. Alas, I cannot share them with my neighbour. She is no longer my neighbour. But I know she would have appreciated them......

The second surprise today was a bit more of a shock. No, wait...... a boss who rewards you with a bottle of wine rates pretty big ....... I was checking my personal details on the payroll system. So they would be up to date for the sending of group certificates. And lo, there were several payslips I hadn't checked. We receive ours electronically. Through the HRIS (human resources information system). And the latest one was totally whack. Completely full of rubbish. Adjustment this, adjustment that. I freaked. But, I asked, have we had a pay rise? One of the GT didn't think so, but made darned sure his most recent read the same as the previous. After a bit more than a mild dose of panic, I contacted our HR liaison. Nope, I had been underpaid. For about 2 years. The auto update that the HRIS was supposed to do. Never occurred. So now I have a beaut bonus, and so does the tax man........

Teenagers scare the living S* outta me.....

I'm not really a bad mother. At least, I'm sure I'm not. Never mind that the Teen is one of those Emos everyone warns you about. Well, not quite. She's not straight edge, she styles herself as scene.

And I admit, sometimes she has issues with depression. How many teens these days don't? And with a family history, what chance has she got?

But now, MOTH and I have to have an interview with a concerned teacher. In a way I suppose I am glad that the teacher has taken an interest. But I am not sure what to expect from the interview. Or meeting. He apparently has some issues with her mind set, although nothing drastic. He would just like to have a talk to get things sorted before it becomes an issue in the future. Now what does that mean?

And to make things worse, this child is changeable. The face she shows to others is not the same face she shows to her father. I see a different one again. Having this discussion will be like discussing 3 different Teens. I am really not certain how this meeting will turn out.

For those who are interested, a definition for scene can be found here - specifically point number 2, which, to all intents and purposes, sounds a lot more intelligent than point 1.

Seems that urban dictionary is as gospel as Wikepedia........