Did I Just See My Holiday Whizzing By?

The week is over and I'm back to reality.

The concert was great! But I think I outlined that already on the last posting.

Wednesday rolled around and was spent doing washing and catching up for Sibling2 to go home.

I volunteered to monitor email from home while I was on holiday. It's something I usually avoid like the plague, but for a week and getting to conference crunch time, I didn't see the worth of showing someone else what was going on. Far easier just to do it myself. I spent some time doing that as well.

Wednesday afternoon, we headed out to the airport and decided we would also drop Raisin's belongings off at the freighters while we were out there. *now THERE is a saga I would much rather not have participated in!*

It was easier to 'push Sibling2 out of the car on the way past' then head off to the depot. I did, however, stay with her through check in while MOTH 'drove around the block'. She was worried about the weight of her bag but it turned out to be fine. It also worked out that there was no line and we walked straight up. If only it worked like that a bit more often!

Down to the Qantas depot where the lass we'd been emailing sent us. They didn't know what we wanted, and called her. Oh no, we should have gone to the agent. And the lady behind the desk gave us the building number and directions. We eventually found it, and headed into the office. Oh no, they should have sent you to the counter in the International terminal. But we're happy to handle it here for you. *big smiles all round* There was plenty of paperwork to fill out, amongst which was an estimate of how much the belongings were worth. We were told not to make it too high as taxes may have to be paid at the collection point. Fair enough. I estimated fairly low. *as it turns out, not low enough and there is complaint cause she has to pay heaps of tax* Unaccompanied baggage is so much cheaper! And the staff at the depot were really helpful.

But I'm somewhat disgruntled about the whole process and am determined not to be so helpful next time...

The rest of the week was spent just chillaxin and playing WoW. I've established an account and was determined to make the most of it before I had to go back to work.

The house is so empty now that MOTH spends his time in his study and I spend mine in the rumpus/family room. We can't see or hear each other. Occasionally I make and effort to wander his way, say hello and see if he wants anything. It's perfect. We don't live in each other's way, we both get to spend solitary time and yet we're there if the other person needs something.

And today, I get up early in the morning to go to work. *depressing* And it's still dark. I don't like winter much!

Seller beware!

MOTH was so proud of himself.

He came bouncing down to the rumpus room. I just got scammed!!

He is selling a car and got a response. I'm at sea, I want to buy for my brother in law. Can you please send your bank acc details so blah blah blah.

But no! MOTH didn't fall for that. Either because of that tabloid television stuff - maybe it's good for something after all - or my constant nagging to be suspicious he knew it for what it was.

He replied, advising that he didn't give out bank details and if the bloke could send an agent round with the money, he'd be happy to take it.

MOTH was so proud of himself!

Grabbing some culture!

Pop culture!

Sibling2 comes for a visit. We are going to a concert! Yay! It means I have an excuse to kick off the shackles and go out. Brilliant.

I get a text message from the Teen. Phone me, I want to chat! And in the course of that chat, I discover that she has changed address and now shares with a friend and her family. Oh, she says. I thought I told you? No, you didn't. When did this happen? Oh, about the 21st. *sigh*

But back to the concert.....

The show starts around 7pm but using public transport means we have to leave home around 3.20pm. That gives us time to get into the city, grab something to eat and make the transfer for the next leg of the journey. There is a downside; we need to be sure of what train we need to catch in order to make the return journey. On the odd occasion, the last train leaves before the show finishes.

We jump the bus from the stop just up the road. After a few stops, Sibling2 comments It's busy! Yes, I reply. Quite busy for a weekend. But wait. It's Tuesday. Off to a good start, aren't we.

We chatter the whole way, something we're good at. The youth in front of us shifts one seat up. Pfft! Obviously we were disturbing his iPod time.

We arrive at destination stop and decide to grab something for dinner. The golden arches wins out. I'm not satisfied with my burger. I've ordered a chicken bacon deluxe. I think. I discovered that it has the soft bun with the fancy flour dusted on the top. Urgh, it makes my mouth dry. Halfway through I decide the bacon is missing. When ordering dessert *loves those soft serve cones* I realise that the chicken burger was on the M menu and now I think about it, I was only charged for the chicken deluxe. But he didn't even offer me crispy or seared! I would have chosen seared, not the crispy I was given. *mental note to investigate the menu in more detail to avoid having to make hasty decisions!*

We arrive at the concert and there don't seem to be many people here. That changes as time wears on. The doors open and we are in!

We find our seats. Sibling2 is a little disappointed that at time of booking, she couldn't specify which location she wanted the seats. Once the section / ticket level (gold, silver etc) is chosen the seat allocations in those sections are automated. We didn't have too bad of a view though really.

At 7pm, Boom Crash Opera appeared and did a half hour acoustic set. It was great to hear his voice with no background interference. He sounded just like they did on the singles, so I'm guessing there wasn't much help electronically to sell the music. Not like today's sound at all.

The crowd reacted well.

By the end of the set, people were still streaming in to be seated. The stage cleared, houselights came up while they set up for the next act.

Cue the next act and the crowd is excited, jumping up and down, cheering and whistling. I was grateful then that we didn't have the seats on the main floor of the auditorium. There is no way I would have been able to see at all as seating down there is not tiered.
The best reaction from the audience comes when they play the songs everyone knows. There was no song in their set that I didn't like. They remarked that one of the songs - Floating Down the River - was never included in an album except a compilation called Greatest Hits. I think maybe I have that album and I will have to check when I get home.

The set is finished, the crowd goes wild and houselights come up for intermission.

People stream back in, house lights go down and the whistling and cheering begin again for the main act. Spandau Ballet we love you! This is the last performance of their Reformation tour.

They blast off with To Cut a Long Story Short and we're off and racing for an hour and a half of fun and good music. They sang their old favourites and one from their new album. It was a ballad and I think I like it. They are all a lot older, but they can still belt it out. Tony Hadley still has a strong and brilliant voice.

The set ends and the crowd claps and screams for more. I'm right along there with them. Eventually they return to the stage and do two more songs. The last one is ... Gold! It wasn't done in the main set, so they HAD to be saving it for encore, right?

Finally, the auditorium begins to empty and everyone is headed for cars and train. I'm a tad dismayed by the number of people headed for the train station. But to my surprise, most of them are crossing the overpass and very few are standing on the platform. I asked Sibling2 if she had enjoyed it. It was a bit of a dumb question really.

We are finally back at destination station and are steeling ourselves for the interminable wait in the cold for a taxi. But wait. There is one on the rank. A-maz-ing! We jump in. The driver has a thick accent. Great. Taxi's don't necessarily have a great reputation around here. The taxi is clean and tidy. Oh. Wait. This one has a GPS and he isn't afraid to use it. We key in the address and we're off. That's the last we hear from the driver until we pull up. He tells us the fare and laughs with Sibling2 because she tells him to keep the 10c change. Then he wishes us a good night. A surprisingly pleasant taxi ride.

We stumble indoors making all sorts of racket. Poor MOTH. I check the Tears for Fears album I have and am disappointed to discover it's not the compilation album.

I tumble into bed and wish MOTH goodnight. Or goodmorning as the case may be. He grunts and mumbles that we made a lot of noise. And it turns out he hadn't locked the door, only the screen so we wouldn't have to tear the place down to get inside.

Ah well. Maybe next time I will remember to check the handle first before flying at it with the key ... or maybe not.

On holiday and going nowhere

Sometime during the week a work colleague stopped me in front of the building. I LOVE your halo dye job! she gushed and proceeded to tell me all about someone suggesting she had one.

I'm standing there, gobsmacked. What the heck is a halo dye job? Eventually I think I worked out that it was a 'do that involved a different colour at the top of the hair than to the bottom. As opposed to the top layers being a different colour.

Ummmm Sharon? You know how my hair used to be purple? This is what's left. This red/gold is the colour that the purple has left. The top you call an ashy colour is ummm.... me. Brown and grey.

I thought she was going to collapse. Her turn for the gobsmacking-ness.

On Wednesday, I went for an echocardiogram (ECG). The most stunning thing was that it seems I do have a heart afterall. In spite of that, everything turned out to be normal.

Sibling2 is coming to visit. I had asked for a couple of days off. During the meeting on Thursday morning, my boss said that he would take the week off because it was between two long weekends. Oh, I said. I only asked for a couple of days. Take the whole week he says! That way you can have ten days. So I did.

Now I just have to find ways to fill the days.

Sibling2 arrived on Saturday but didn't arrive at my house until Sunday. That evening she arrived with a couple of friends in tow. The lass was very funny. A sense of humour quite similar to mine.

Monday was the public holiday but some shopping centres were open. We travelled out to Indooroopilly shopping centre for a period of time. MOTH stayed until just after lunch then headed home, leaving Sibling2 and myself unchapperoned. We gave Sibling2's wallet a workout and a headache. Then caught the bus home. The timing was perfect as we only had to wait five minutes. Otherwise we'd have to wait another hour. Whew!

Home and collapse on the couch. Why does an outing for a few hours of shopping feel so exhausting when you get home? We sat and watched some terrible afternoon television while stuffing ourselves with sweets.

Mmm.........

It's Sunday

Around 8.30pm and I'm exhausted and ready to sleep. The only reason I'm not is that I'll be awake at some ungodly hour.

Bones is on and it's hard to write this and concentrate on the telly at the same time!

Sometime during the week I tried to chat to Sibling1. Somehow or another we couldn't coordinate our computer time and the very short conversation took a very long time. But I did find out that the keyboard works while I'm sitting on the couch. What a shame I couldn't read what appeared on the screen. It was too far away!

This week marked the Centenary of The University of Queensland. There was a cake cutting ceremony and speeches. Champagne, orange juice and sparkling water were offered for the toast. Small squares of cake were passed around and it was very difficult to get through the students seeking free stuff! I missed out on the champers, but managed to get a very small piece of cake. Someone took the piece I was looking at because I stopped to grab a serviette. *darn those manners of mine!*

Saturday was a lazy day. Well, for me. MOTH spent time in the garden digging up plants. And shrubs. And making a mess. I had a go at installing an expansion pack for my latest game. It surely takes some getting used to. This mac business is so different when you've been using Windows for years. Eventually I figured out what I was doing and all works well.

I thought about attending the Sunday Centenary celebrations at the University.

Sunday dawned and none too brightly. Forecast was for rain.

Sitting in the rumpus room, MOTH decided he would go up to the local shopping centre. Did I want to leave at the same time? Sure. He was ready to go now. I grabbed my bag, phone and papers. While sitting at the bus stop I suddenly realised that I would be going out in public with NO makeup. Not a scratch. *eeeeeeep!* And no food for lunch. And no money in my wallet to buy food either. *well planned, hey*

Arrived at the campus about 11.30am. What was I going to do first? MOTH didn't come with me; we'd be on our feet for most of the day and I didn't intend to leave before 6.30pm.

First stop was the art gallery.
There was a sign at the front advising cameras not allowed. I can see their point but it was disappointing not to be able to take photos. *for us sign abiding citizens! there were people taking photos in spite of that* Both my favourites were oils. One was the top of a lady's head as she lays on her side, head toward the viewer. She's clothed in black. She's blonde with highlights and lowlights in her hair. The second I thought was a photo, in shades of purple. A leather couch with an abstract painting hung above it. The couch is very much a man's couch. Strong, dark. It has dog's feet. It sits on a carpet with an old fashioned pattern. Then I discovered that it was an oil painting.....

Finished that and headed out to catch a tour through the state of the art teaching spaces. Oh, I missed it by about 5 minutes. I then had 20 minutes until the story telling session. I waited and eventually decided to wait outside the room where it was scheduled. It seems that I've managed to sit myself right where the story telling will be held. There were 4 stories. They were great! The first was Kookaburra and he saved grumpy Wombat from a bush fire. The first story teller was very animated and did lots of actions, making the kids join in. The second story was about a magic cupboard. Whatever you wished for you could have when you opened the cupboard but each time you took something out, you had to put something back. It was meant to make us think about each time we take and don't put back. The third was the story of a travelling man in China who slept at an inn where the landlady turned guests into donkeys. Goanna Jumps High was number 4, told again by the first story teller. It was about a goanna who won the high jump at interschool sports. I could almost hear the aboriginal kids yelling at each other - look out! He's comin! He'll run right up your leg and sit on your head!!

From there it was out to watch John Meyer play.

I like his music. After his set finished I had some time to waste. I visited the Anthropology Museum. I'd never been through there before. There wasn't much in it.

Back to the music to catch the last of Montpelier's set. Then the fill in music while they set up for the Riptides. Apparently these blokes used to be ..... Gangajang. Whoo! I sat through a couple of songs from the set and moved on. I found myself at the writer's hub while four authors talked about how they came to be published. They were very amusing.

Time for the finale of the evening. Oh no. It's starting to rain. Not heavily but raining none the less.

Eventually it starts and it was great! The event was a performance by Deep Blue. A youth orchestra with a different twist on their performances. They aren't seated in one place but move around the stage as they play. They are very good.

MOTH spent the day tidying up the mess he created in the garden on Saturday. Think I got the better deal.

It's Sunday. Around 9.30pm and I'm exhausted.

Friendly buses appear in Star Wars now!

And they are on a mission to the Ewok planet! Yes, the kid was on the bus again.

I spent a fair bit of last week trying to decide if I wanted to go to the movies. Then what I wanted to see. And coordinating that with what MOTH wanted to see. Tough job that.

I narrowed it down to two. Clash of the Titans, or How to Train Your Dragon. They were both in 3D. I'm not sure about 3D because my eyes don't like it. And I seem to suffer from something my then pilates instructor called 'positional vertigo'. Makes big screen movie viewing an experience.

So. Which movie. And then MOTH pipes with with an idea to watch the new Jackie Chan movie. Spy something or other. Wait! That wasn't in the mix! I ignored it.

Eventually I picked How to Train Your Dragon. 3D and all. Oh. And look. They have the parking deal back on again. If you can get a park in the cinema park *ha!* you have it for free if you see a movie. Otherwise, it's see a movie and pay $3. Sweet!

We decided to drive and park.

Saturday morning we did the usual and stopped at the local shopping centre. Saw one of MOTH's friends up there and chatted for a while. Then home to waste a bit of time before heading out to the cinema.

There was a huge line up for the cinema park, even with a flashing sign saying FULL. We chose another option.

The movie was great! I loved it. Quirky and fun. And the 3D didn't bother me at all. And we got to keep the glasses!

The surprise came when we went to validate the parking. Sorry, they said. We don't validate parking for that car park. Our car park is Secure Parking. It's over near the convention centre.

And that, people is NEARLY 3 BLOCKS AWAY. We had parked in the one across the road....

I know we weren't the only ones caught too. I know I only read the bold print for the pricing on the web page and ignored the map and the small print. I KNOW where the cinema is, why do I need to look at the map? I thought about leaving feed back to let them know they need to change the wording so it SAYS IN LARGE LETTERS THAT THE PARKING IS NOT THE PARKLANDS!!

It cost me an unexpected $15 for the outing and I didn't have enough cash. Fortunately they take credit cards now and I just had enough balance left on it....

Next time, I'm taking the bus.

Sunday I stayed at home all day. I vacuumed the kitchen area and did some washing. That was my Sunday.

I love days like that.

Back to normal

MOTH took great delight in reminding me yesterday that I had to head back to work today. It was a countdown ... in 12 hours you'll be at work, on your second cup of coffee ...

Saturday was a normal store trading day. Thank heavens! Do you have ANY idea how BORING it is sitting round in your jammies doing nothing??? MOTH wanted to go to the local shopping centre for smiles, coke and some groceries. So ... while we're out, how about we drop by the second hand place (different suburb) and I'll see if they'll take my old phone? We'll pick up the groceries from the other suburb after we've been to the second hand place. That way we won't have to come home first.

Fair enough. And that way we don't have to come back home. Alright, off we go. And when we were out, MOTH realised he'd forgotten to take his medication ... so we had to stop at home anyway.

We found the second hand place and they were happy to take the old phone. They don't pay much, but they didn't quibble about the price I asked. *wonder if i asked too little*

While there, I thought we'd drop by EB Games. *my FAVE store* They were having a sale so I managed to get the game I've been wanting for a while AND an expansion pack for $50. Whoo! I've also discovered that it's very hard to get games for the iMac. You'd think since this platform is becoming more popular, they'd do something about it!

The afternoon was spent working on tidying up more of the garden.

Sunday I thought I'd test out my hands free set up for the phone. I've never used one before. Heck, that would mean actually TALKING to someone. Why do that when I can text? And I've never really used any of them as MP3 players either, even though they've all had the capability. So. Turn on the bluetooth and away we go. I called the Elder. No point calling the Teen, it's 9am on a Sunday. She won't be conscious yet. Elder and I chatted for a while, the phone on the desk and me sitting at the outdoor table. It worked well. I phoned the Teen later in the day. I'm still not sure if the Teen is settling in well. It's been nearly 4 weeks now. It would be nice if she could earn a decent wage and support herself in her own place. THAT is what she would like too I think.

Spent some more time in the garden, chopping palm fronds so they would fit in the garden bin. I think someone is going to have to organise an extra run to clear it away!

Monday MOTH insisted I look at the laptop. It's running slow. Well, there's extra stuff on it now. I'm guessing the antirvirus would want to check some of those files as well as it loads? Yeah but it's SLOW! I NEED you to have a look at it. And there's a window that comes up at the top of the web page I look at. It didn't do that before! Alright, I'll look, but I don't know how I can fix anything. *i have degree. it's years out of date. and they don't teach you anything useful while they're at it, either. but hey! i know everything*

So Monday was spent cleaning off some applications that I don't think we use anymore, cleaning up disk space and trying to run a defrag. I've never done one of those in Vista before. There is no progress metre! How can you tell if it's even doing anything?? Hours later it still wasn't finished. MOTH complained. He doesn't like using the iMac - it's different. I suggested to MOTH that perhaps it stops running when the screen saver pops up or it goes into hibernation? So I sat with it for an hour or so just twitching the mouse occasionally so it didn't sleep.

MOTH gave up and turned it off at dinnertime. It had been running all afternoon anyway.

Good Friday

But hey, any Friday is good for me. Especially around 4pm.

*whoa. seems i need my glasses after all. this is MUCH better - i can actually see!*

Sunny came over last night. We decided that since it was Easter this weekend, we'd have our movie night early. Bring on the popcorn! He gave us our Easter gifts - a Lindt *yes, it DOES deserve a capital!* bunny for me and a pack of cream biscuits for MOTH. We had dinner and settled in to watch a movie. Hadn't picked which one yet, that takes time. We watched a bit of telly while he played with his DS then we chose.... The Mummy.

I love this movie. A rollicking good tale that requires suspension of disbelief and a willingness to just enjoy the tale.

Judah joined us part way through after he finished work. He gave MOTH and I our Easter gifts - a Lindt bunny for me *do my boys know me or what??* and a 2L bottle of coke for MOTH. He joined us for the rest of the movie. I remarked that segments of the movie reminded me of creeping through the corridors and passageways of AvP. Judah commented that it reminded him of a scene from a movie he watched which involved a big snake and treasure. He couldn't remember what it was and confessed that it would now bother him for some time, till he could remember. Sunny passed the odd comment during the movie and didn't even seem to notice that I was doing my usual thing and commenting *pointing out flaws* during the movie too!

Being Judah, as soon as the movie finished, he hopped online and began researching. By the time he gave up a couple of hours later, we decided it must have been one of the Anaconda movies. Still not certain though. He began researching possible holiday destinations for this weekend and Sunny fell asleep on my lap.

After they left I staggered off to bed. I think it was around half 1am. And the people across the road were beginning to get noisy. We ended up closing the bathroom window and door. There, that will learn 'em!

Today I was up again at 6am. The telly went on and I settled to watch some mind numbing viewing. MOTH wandered out to say good morning and wandered away again. I remember seeing the end of Zorro at around 7.30 and when I looked again, it was 9.15. Whoops, I must have dozed off.

I wandered off to our room and made the bed. And lay down. *couldn't help it, looked too inviting* and woke up again at lunch time. Hmmmm. Still in my jammies.

Made lunch. Watched some telly. Played on Facebook. Around 2pm, MOTH decided he wanted to work in the garden. Heck, I'm still in my jammies! I changed and went to help. We cleared some space and found a spot of garden we didn't know existed. It was hidden under the dropped palm fronds, wild ferns and monsterio plant.

Eventually the palm will be trimmed, the ferns will grow back and the monsterio will be removed completely.

After washing away the sweat and dirt, we decided to go for a drive. Just for something to do. Ipswich, here we come. Just for something to do. I've never been that way before.

Home again, and now I've prepped for dinner. Nothing exciting, just fried rice. When the time is right, I'll start cooking. I'm intending to catch the next instalment of Whitechapel on ABC tonight. And then, who knows. I might even go to bed early.....

C'mon bussey bussey

Odd day yesterday was.

A preschooler and his father got on the bus. One of these new age dads who get very involved in their children. They talk to each other and dad treats him like an intelligent almost adult. No baby talk or topics here! *and won't they have FUN with THAT when he reaches puberty!*

So, on the bus, race down to the back seat *where i am* and kid says to dad You're my best buddy! You're my PADAWAN! And from there they launch into swapping Star Wars stories, complete with Padawans, Jedi, and storm troopers, and TIE fighters, and blasters......

*repeat scenario this morning, only this time it's Star Wars from a book*

Why can't parents encourage their kids to diversify? Nothing worse than an obsessive!

The day dragged slowly, so slowly by.

And the afternoon rolls around. This time the bus driver greets everyone in the queue with a hearty HELLLOOO EVERYONE! WELCOME TO THE HAPPY BUS.

Off we go with Captain Happy and all is fine. A few minutes down the road he booms out HELLO EVERYONE. *no lower case for this bloke* THIS IS THE HAPPY BUS. IF YOU ARE ON HERE YOU HAVE TO BE HAPPY. SMILE IT'S ALL GOOD. BECAUSE YOU LOOK GREAT WHEN YOU SMILE. IF YOU HAVE HAD A BAD DAY AT UNI OR AT WORK, REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE LEFT IT BEHIND AT THE BUS STOP BEFORE YOU GOT ON THE BUS! AND EVERYONE HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE EASTER *cue cheer from passengers* THAT'S RIGHT BECAUSE YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL WHEN YOU SMILE.

We're silent for a while as we think about this. Then cue driver again, repeating that it's a happy bus and we should all smile and life is good etc.

By the third time and halfway to destination it was wearing a bit thin....

Then, a passenger of indeterminate origin leaned across and asked a question. Next thing I know, I can hear him telling her all about Jesus, the cross and Easter Sunday.

I managed to get my usual bus home. Although it was late. As usual. And for some reason, none of the drivers are ever the same, so you can't even blame it on the driver. Take off is jerky, braking is jerky. Next thing, he pulls into a stop that isn't on our run *we travel express* and switches everything off. He calls back to the passengers an explanation, but hey. I'm plugged into my iPod and I've got no idea.

Sit there for a few minutes in the dark. Then we're away! No more stops, but back to jerky every time we slow down. I'm chanting to myself C'mon bussey, you can do it, there's a good bussey.... The last thing we need is to break down on the motorway....

I get home and dinner is nearly prepared for me. MOTH is on the phone, tending the sausages at the same time. He's wincing occasionally; obviously his back is giving him a lot of trouble. He eventually tells me. He took a tumble while mowing the front footpath and landed heavily on the road *would have loved to see THAT* Today he's very sore and sorry for himself, but he'll manage. I won't be an excuse for a day off work he tells me ... grinning like a loon ....

This post has no title

The week has gone again, and I can't believe it. Where does Time go? Wish he'd go on holidays. I realised this morning that I'm on the way to 50! Ack!

I'm sure there have been amusing things that have happened during the week. But since I'm getting old *see above* I never remember what they are, only the previous two days. Don't ask me why, nothing exciting ever happens on the weekends.

It's been about three weeks now I think since the Teen moved out. We've settled into the quiet well. At least, I think we have. It's usually too quiet to tell.

Maybe the Teen isn't handling it so well. She stresses about not having any funds. She stresses about where she's living. She stresses about the job. Ah well my lovely. Welcome to the real world - independence is not such a great thing after all, yes?

The Elder toddles on, and if she stresses about much she keeps it to herself.

Sometime during the week, MOTH called out to me. Hon, can you come look at my computer? Somethings going wrong. Great *sigh* I have a degree, but no practical experience really. It's out of date. But because of those little letters, I know everything about everything. So I go to look. Uh oh, he's picked up a trojan. One of the nasty ones who close off your functioning virus protection, change your access and probably log all your codes and also sends out spam. Nothing for it but a complete reformat and hope it's not hiding deeper than the OS.

So that's on the waiting list....

Saturday morning I was up early. The sun was shining and I looked at the side yard. Yep, that could definitely do with a haircut. I must remind MOTH that it needs doing. Meantime I pulled a few fallen palm fronds from the garden, trimmed them a little and dumped them in the garden bin.

Around mid morning I talked MOTH into coming with me to the shopping precinct I was interested in. I have a few games I'd like to trade as well, and I noticed an EB store there last time.

We wandered around window shopping. There are some lovely homewares and furniture there. When we eventually arrived at EB I took in the games, only to be told that they don't trade PC games. Darn! I left the store and we decided to console ourselves with Baskin and Robbins.

I still have the games and I'm not sure what I will do with them yet. They're useless to me now - I have an iMac without any Windows installed.

I was supposed to go out to a 21st party on Saturday night with Sunny and Judah. They didn't end up going and neither did I. I didn't want to go by myself - I know the girl well but I don't know her friends.

Sunday I spent some time packing up some of Raisin's belongings. This is going to be an expensive exercise. I've got two large boxes already and I am certain I am going to need more. I have enough trouble getting myself motivated to pack MY stuff, let alone someone else's.

MOTH mowed the lawn.

I also looked at my old phone. I toyed with the idea of taking it to cash converters along with the games. I dunno though. I haven't done anything with it yet.

Sunday night I cooked roast chicken pieces and veg for dinner then settled down to watch Bones. Only to discover it was a repeat. But guess what! It was a repeat that I didn't get to watch much of when it screened. Icecream and fruit for dessert then time for Castle. It was a repeat too. *sigh*

And sometime during the week, I've an episode of V to catch up on.

I was awoken with a nasty start last night. There is a cat who has taken to chasing gekkos on our front screen door. I think the bloody thing jumps halfway up or climbs up the screen, and it doesn't care if you try to chase it away. I need to find a way to deter it.

This morning I peeped out the window and saw the bush turkey chick in the garden again. It's not much of a chick anymore but is getting bigger each time I see it. Hopefully it's not a male - the last thing my retaining wall needs is a male turkey building a nest in my front yard! So while it's still small, I'm happy to see the wildlife wandering around my place....

The week that was.

It was a quiet week really. Not speaking workwise of course. Just home.

There are only the two of us at home. As you know. I think I like the idea. Raisin is definitely not returning, having asked us to pack up her stuff and ship it back to her. I've only managed to fill one box so far. There is another to go. Shipping through Qantas is expensive. For a 30kg consignment, the cost is approximately $200. At least, that's what I calculated. I think just one box itself might come close to 20kg.

I spent some time during the week familiarising myself with the mac environment. It certainly is different. I'm not used to the speed, working with my hair blowing back as the wind from the processor runs tendrils through my hair. Well, so maybe I exaggerate slightly. The internet keeps dropping out so I'm not going anywhere nearly that fast!

Friday night I had arranged to have a movie night with Sunny. Friday morning, I had a call from Judah. I think I've mentioned before that Sunny has been diagnosed with depression. He hasn't been medicated for some time and seemed to be doing well. Just this last week, he seems to have hit a trough and things were getting to crisis point. I just cannot fathom why he doesn't come to talk before it gets that bad. He knows he can.

So I wasn't sure that Friday would still be on. I'd tried to confirm it, but hadn't had a return text.

He arrived around 6.30, we had dinner and settled in to watch the movie. Underworld 2. With popcorn. Hot, buttered popcorn. And coloured sweet popcorn. I was in popcorn heaven. And I like the movie too.

After the movie and we chatted for a while, I discovered that yes, Sunny was indeed bottoming out. We talked and he cried and we walked. Eventually he fell asleep on the couch. I left him there to sleep and let Judah know where he was.

Saturday morning I was up early to get a drink of water. I checked on him then, and he was still sleeping. I was up again at 6am. He had gone. I was desperately worried that he might have done something silly. But he hadn't and I've not heard anything since so I'm taking that as a good sign. Far better than the alternative.

Saturday MOTH and I went up to the shops to sit for a while and possibly pick up some grocery staples like bread and milk. When we returned home, I did a small amount of housework and nanna napped on the couch. While I was napping, MOTH got into the front garden and trimmed some trees.

Sunday we cut up the branches that had been trimmed the day before. Goodness but the trees look bare. If I'm not careful, I could end up with visibility in the front yard! I did some more housework and typed a letter. An annual update I was supposed to have done just before Christmas. Some people I know like to know what their friends have been doing during the year. Odd, yes I know. But I had no ink! The text came out green! I decided to head off to Hardly Normal to see if they had cartridges for the printer. Yes, they did. But not of the yellow. *sigh* We decided to head off to another branch in a different suburb.

We hadn't been there for some time and wow! There is a new shopping precinct with space for lease and new shops going in all over the place. I didn't know it existed! There are retail and food outlets. And everything! Since we were only headed for printer cartridges, we saved the full inspection for another time. This outlet had the cartridges I wanted. Each single cartridge was $16.95, except high yield black. That was $51. Ouch! Then a photo pack caught my eye. Four cartridges - magenta, yellow, cyan and photo black - and 150 sheets of photo paper for less than $40. Bargain! I bought that.

Home again, cartridges inserted and letter printed.

Whew. Napping on the couch for half hour, help MOTH prep dinner and settle in to watch Bones. Which reminds me, I now have two episodes of V ready for viewing.....

The photos I promised

The accommodation was City Centre Apartment Hotel. It's new I think. Everything is swipe card access. Even the car park after hours. Reception is not 24 hour, but if you know the room number, you can dial on a keypad by the front door and the guest you are visiting can buzz you in. Or use the swipe card to let yourself in.

We booked the 3 bedroom apartment. It was actually a 2 bedroom apartment with an interconnecting door between that and a queen room. Each of them were self contained. Each had a plasma. Or LCD. I can't tell the difference. The 2 bedder had a sleeping configuration of a double room and a room with 2 singles. The apartment had a balcony with a little bit of a view. Only the single bedroom didn't have a balcony. There was also an iPod dock in the main area of the apartment and Austar. Of course.

Each bathroom had their own dispensers, above the sink AND inside the shower!


The lounge and dining area. Behind me is a fully equipped kitchen.


The main balcony


The single bedroom


In the garage was a door. Not attached to much, but with strict instructions!


Forgive the quality of the photos. I'm still learning. Learning that it takes lousy indoor shots but outdoors is pretty darned good!

Roads don't lead to Rome!

I'm sitting in the car, and I mention to MOTH that it had been an interesting week on the buses. I hear a moan from the back seat. Oh god, she's blogging but only she's speaking....

One of the most stressful periods of my brief life so far is gradually drawing to a close. A very gradual close. I'm so proud of her for stepping so far out of her comfort zone. The Teen has moved out now. And I'm not sure how I feel.

When the Elder moved out the first time, it was a gradual process. A weekend here, a slightly longer time there until we reached the point where she had moved in with her then boy and was not at home. At least she was in the same city.

The Teen has moved out. It's happened all at once. She's not even in the same city. She's 8 hours drive away. She is sharing house with older people she doesn't know very well. Last night was her first night in her new room. She sent me a text. She'd been home for two hours, was in her room the entire time, and was too scared to go outside for a cigarette just in case one of the 'strangers' was in the lounge room. I smiled. It's something she will have to get used to. She hopes she will and quickly!

Friday was Departure Day. MOTH managed to get Teen's Entire Life stashed in the car. They were very pleased with themselves. Then she heard him going crook. What's the matter? I've forgotten mine and your mother's stuff!! Fortunately, it was only a weekend trip and we travel light.

It didn't rain this time, but previous rains have left the highway in an awful condition. Ruts, ridges, and pot holes. Some of them quite deep.

The place we stayed was very nice. I will post a couple of photos separately when I get them uploaded to the computer. Probably tonight. I hadn't heard of it before and while I was searching for accommodation, Sibling1 started her own search. She pointed them out and I was suitably impressed.

We gave the Teen her own key. The hotel doesn't run a 24 hour reception, and she was told she would be able to use the key to let herself back in when she returned from an outing with her boy. It's gone 11pm. I'm asleep. The phone rings. I tried to answer; it didn't work. *hey, it's new. i haven't figured out how to answer it yet* I dropped it and had to dig it out from under the bedside table. Mu-um! The card won't let me in! Can you come save me? *sigh* I have to get dressed. I'm not wandering the hotel in my jammies! I run down in the left to the front door. No one there. I go out to the street and call. The night is dark, a cold wind blows and no one is there. I go to the driveway and look down. No one there. Where the heck is she? Dang. I've forgotten my phone. Back to my room. I get yelled at by the lift. MOTH is still abed. Why didn't you remind me to take the phone?? She's in, he mumbles sleepily. What? That didn't make sense. She's gotten in. I told her wait there for you. She wasn't there. I poke my head through the connecting door to see if she's in her room. An innocent blonde meets my glare. She'd called him FROM THE APARTMENT, not just the front door. *sigh*

We went to Dicey's for dinner on Saturday night, taking the opportunity to meet Teen's boy's parents. Turns out I knew his mother! Consy *the boyfriend* took her to a party after dinner.

I didn't get much sleep that night either. The Teen had a panic attack and it took several hours to get her calmed enough to settle to sleep.

Sunday was a rush to get ourselves coordinated. The plan was to get checked out, Teen dropped off at Consy's place and ourselves back to meet Elder at Hagrid's Hut. *that's where SHE lives* It's on the same house block as Teen's new address. Then off to meet with my folks before heading off to meet Elders Outlaw folks. I decided that Teen's room needed more work. I shifted boxes, swept and mopped and made the bed up. It looked MUCH MUCH better.

Just made it out to my folks place in time to meet and great with Sibling2 before she had to leave. Spent a small amount of time with my folks. *didn't get a photo Froggy, but pink and white for 1, and shades of blue for the other* Then headed out to the Outlaws property to say a quick hello and meet the animals. The four legged variety, not the family. *grins*

We made it back, tired and looking forward to finally pulling up in the garage. Wait! What's this? Bloody motorway upgrades seem to have removed the access point for our suburb! That's right, here IS NO LONGER ANY EXIT MARKED FOR OUR 'BURB! We might have been able to use one, but our suburb is not listed on it and it's a couple of suburbs too early. We had to go past and hope for the suburb after ours. Guess what! THERE WAS NO EXIT FOR THAT ONE EITHER! We had to travel some distance out, then set up the GPS to get us back home.

All roads certainly do NOT lead to Rome! *humpf*

That darned dog!

I was awake early this morning. I think a cat was trying to climb the screen door. The front one, just outside my bedroom. Stupid animal. MOTH told me the cat was black. That it just walked away with it's tail in the air when he tried to scare it away.

*shakes head* Cats are a law unto themselves really.

But that was around 3am. I dozed until about 5.30am and thought it was time to get up and start doing .... stuff.

I'm almost ready for work and I'm sitting in the rumpus room. It's now around 6, 6.30am. The dog next door starts. They must be away. It's crying and barking occasionally. *sigh* Just as well I'M not trying to sleep. If you were, it would certainly wake you up.

And usually, you can't tell there is even a dog there.

It's really annoying this morning though.

The week has gone so quickly. Again.

Tuesday, the Teen decided to hire some dvd's. I like this, because I like to kick back and relax this way. We ended up with GI Joe, The Orphan, District 9 and one other whose name escapes me now. We didn't watch them all in one night, but as it turned out, I didn't get to see the Orphan.

Wednesday, Raisin returned home to sort out some things. Not sure when she'll be back - a couple of weeks yet I think. We took a lovely drive out to the airport and were prepared to park for a couple of hours to wait with her. She insisted she would be fine and after some pushing, she made sure we left. Driving over the pass, I could have sworn I could smell pies. I'd eaten dinner, but it smelled so good I was ready to go another round!

The Teen is still packing, and discovering all these things she will need to buy for herself. She is very stressed, but at the same time, very excited. The plans to get a house with a friend are now on hold; she'll be staying with a friend of the Elder. She's very nervous about this too.

She was delirious with happiness Friday night. It was time, and she dragged me off to the video store again. This time we got out ..... This Is It.

Sorry people, but I actually enjoyed it! *sheepish grin*

Saturday I was up early and hanging to go to one of the big shopping malls on the outskirts. I know it sounds like I do a lot of shopping, but really I mall rat. I just like to window shop and spend time in the food courts. I was born a country girl, but I like to be on the edges of the crowds just watching them go by, watch the bustle and listen to the noise.

Sunday was a quiet day. I did a load of washing, but it's been raining for so long my dryer has stopped functioning to capacity. An hour just dries the clothes. If it doesn't stop soon, I think I'm going to be growing webbing (or mould) between my toes. I looked at the vacuum cleaner, but couldn't get myself motivated enough to do that either. I love Sundays.

Oh! The other movie was Gamer....!

Why are young people

so goshdarned inconsiderate these days? The Teen is desperately waiting on a response from a possible flatmate who was supposed to contact her while he's in town. So far from his direction ... ominous silence.

If he isn't prepared to put in the effort, why doesn't he just say so?

Her original plans changed when her prospective housemate suddenly told her she couldn't move in till after April - after moving in with someone else.

And now she waits....

*shakes head*

So, what happened this week? Mmmmm

It's been a quiet week. But not workwise. The usual last minute rush to get things done. Not me! Never me. But processes run slow and sometimes things slip through the cracks. And I get to handle the makeup time. Like, organising travel for someone who is supposed to fly out Sunday. But the travel isn't approved until late Thursday afternoon. So it's a mad rush to get flights ticketed, hotels booked and paid for. These things get tricky when you're dealing with someone in a different time zone.

Luckily, my skills at crisis recovery are improving exponentially!

Friday night the Teen had a friend over. He's somewhat of a regular, and I don't mind. Not long after, her best friend and the boyfriend turned up. I've no idea how long they stayed. I sat and talked with them for a while, then went to watch some television. It was SBS and before I knew it, I was doing a dad and dozing off on the couch. It was somewhere around midnight and they were still all there.

I went to bed.

Saturday I was up early, and so was the friend. Apparently, he never even went to bed. Of course, the Teen was thoroughly sound asleep. I wandered back to bed too. And slept in till 10am. *gasp* I never do that! I must have been tired. Off to the shops with MOTH for a dash of people watching. I don't think I saw anything that caught my attention!

Saturday night the Teen headed off to her best friend's place for a party. She was out staying the night so I got to have the laptop all to myself. A lazy day. Again. It was hot and raining, so I didn't really have the energy to do much. MOTH vacuumed the tiles, so I waved the mop about. Whew. That was enough! I went back to the laptop. I had to find SOME way to kill time until Bones.

Soon, I will have the laptop all to myself on a long term basis. I shall miss the competition...

Secret meetings at the river bend...

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

Now I have that song stuck in my head.

Been a busy week.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

Staggered home for a rest.

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

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

Valentine

Nothing to write about this week.

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

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

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

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

The storms never eventuated.

Update!

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

Brilliant!

It was great to catch up...

Untitled

It's been a loooong week.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The view is stunning and the vibe is extremely tranquil.

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

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

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

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

R.I.P.

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

xxx

All is quiet on the Western Front

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hunger roolz

And Sol droolz. I had better make sure I eat some lunch while I'm typing this. I'd share, but I want this ham and avocado sandwich to myself. Sorry...!

It's been a rather eventful week.

For the first time in around 18 years, I don't have to go through the horror of Back To School. I can't say how wonderful that is. No forking out for new uniforms or listening to the complaints that the old ones need repairing. No having to find money for text hire fees, P&C and yearbooks before the school year starts. No having to fork out for exercise books, pens, pencils and other assorted paraphernalia. Wheee! Kinda liberating really.

It also means the Teen is home a lot more. I can see there is going to be a fair bit of the Just Wait Till Your Mother Gets Home thing going. So I'm curious. Did I ever do that when she was growing up and I was at home and he was working? Heh.

We had been talking about getting a new boarder in to help with costs now that Teen is no longer at school. *means a change to government payments* A recent acquaintance was looking for a place to stay that wasn't too expensive; MOTH offered her the place. The Teen wasn't very impressed; she was on holidays and didn't get any say. I think she was looking for a younger person. A student perhaps. I had investigated Home Stay but the criteria were somewhat stringent. Blue card. Their own room. Take them where they need to go. Provide a bed and a desk, minimum.

Besides, Raisin *i shall christen her so for the purpose of this writing* pays almost as much as they do. And half the hassle.

She flew in on Thursday. She seems very nice. But yow! Mizz Chatterbox. She is around my age, and likes to stir MOTH. We should get on very well. *big grin* She brought a gift with her. Kopiko, a hard coffee flavoured lolly. And was quite disappointed to discover you can buy them here.

Saturday we went out for supplies for Australia Day. Bestie and her family were coming for a barbeque. Saturday afternoon MOTH and Raisin went looking for Asian grocery stores that may stock hard to get hold of food ingredients. They didn't find what they were looking for.

Sunday morning we did the usual thing and went to the local mall. We picked up the perishables for the barbeque on Tuesday. The rest of the day was spent relaxing in the cool. It was hot outdoors. Has been for the last few days.

I had managed to wrangle Monday off. And sat around for a while. Discovered that the WoW account I had been playing with had been banned. I was somewhat disgruntled, but if I can't play I can't play and that is that. It gave me something to do. I don't use the laptop for much else. Again it was too hot to do much.

Found out later it was something to do with abusing the in-game chat. What the? That is one feature I DON'T use!

Australia Day rolled around. I had decided that we would run the dehumidifyer if nothing else to keep the back end of the house cool while we had guests. Everything was prepped in good time. Bestie and the family arrived.

She brought Boston Baked Beans! *yummm!*

Raisin made tofu and a thick soy sauce for drizzling. *yummmmm!*

Sunny and Judah arrived as well. And a friend of the Teen's. We knew they were coming so it wasn't a surprise. I peeked out the door and noticed Bestie's man with his hair lifted off the back of his neck. I decided we'd serve and eat indoors....

We squished around the table and chatted and ate. More food than I had at Christmas! Steak. Sausages. Chicken rissoles. Tofu and sauce. Boston beans. Garden salad. Coleslaw. Topped with a cold glass of Brown Brothers Crouchon & Reisling. MMMMmMMMM! Sunny pronounced the international dishes were the most successful - tofu (Indonesian), beans (USA). The Teen was thrilled to realise for Australia Day we had an Indonesian, an ex-pat American and an ex-pat Pom gathered around the table.

Dessert was vanilla icecream and lemon sorbet.

We ate till we were stuffed, chattered for ages and eventually joined the kids watching dvds. Shrek, Spirited Away and Shrek the Halls.

Thank heavens for the dishwasher.

And no wonder I went to bed at 09:30pm....

To the Random that makes the world go round...

Yesterday I dropped a book back to the library. After the deed, on passing the Subway outlet, I became aware that someone was apparently speaking to me. Why, I dunno. I turned. A youthy type lad was sitting at a table with a group of other similar types. He thrust a picture out to me. Do you think this baby is cute? I stared, slightly stunned. Silence while I considered the comment and tried to make out context and background that may have prompted the question. Was he trying to sell me something? Was my opinion canvassed to settle an argument? I didn't know. *and if you know me, this process can take a wee while* They waited. Then he said, It's more bout the nose really.... Oh, I said. Well I guess that's a standard baby nose... *face palm. now THAT was a snappy comeback!* One of the others spoke up. He's a bit off the wall today. *sure is!* It was random. *sure was!* Yes, I agreed. It was a bit random. Well, anyway, friend continues, Thanks for playing the game... I smiled and left them to it.

I could have said so much! I think....

The week that was. I guess it was pretty normal. The Teen returned home from holidays. In a better mood than I thought, considering she'd been on a 9 hour train ride with only a bottle of water. Elder told me they didn't have money for food and she didn't think to pack a sandwich! *duh* I took one with me when I went to pick her up. It had gone a bit stale. I told the Teen what was on it - peanut paste. Oh great, she says. I've been living off pb&j sandwiches for the last week! But she ate it.

She's still talking of wanting to move back up north to Hometown. I really don't know why. She tells me it's the people. I'm guessing it's the ones her age, because when we left, the whole influx of new faces drove a lot of the locals out and changed the whole feel of the place. I guess that's what happens when Industry comes to town; the itinerants follow and the companies ship in their own employees. An acquaintance commented that she once could walk down the street and see so many people she knew. Now she can go a whole day out and not see anyone she knows.

Nothing much else happened during the week. That I can think of. Work interrupted my WoW time. So did the Teen. Saturday I didn't touch it because I didn't get the laptop for long. We did a bit of tidying in the outdoor area. I trimmed some overgrown ferns and fronds surrounding the gazebo. Sat the chairs/table out on the grass and scrubbed them down. MOTH grabbed the blower and cleaned all the old cut grass, leaves etc from the patio. And we put everything back. In different places. It looks much tidier.

It stormed that night.

Sunday was hot and humid. The Teen had taken over the laptop again. It was too hot to do much. I think I put the airconditioner on and sat on the couch reading and doing sudoku puzzles. Briefly. Doing that stuff is almost guaranteed to put me to sleep....

PS I thought the baby was pretty darned ugly too.

Sight of the week.

Imagine. Three burly constructions workers. All dressed in construction bloke uniforms - navy pants, fluro yellow and navy long sleeved shirts. Red hard hat. At the edge of one site. Run across 3 busy lanes of traffic. Pause in the middle. Saunter across the rest of the way. That's the way to do it lads!

A small yacht sailing up the river into the city precinct.

I thought this week would be rather slow. Only the usual work routine. *dangit. tea cup is empty*

But we had some news that MOTH's mother isn't feeling 100% and needs to have surgery. We don't know yet when that will be but will keep you posted as we get any news.

Saturday I spent time roasting. Yes. Roasting. It's been hot again. Not as hot as Adelaide, but we have the humidity to deal with as well. I've been melting, but not enough to run the airconditioner. For some reason, I've been a bit stubborn about that. It might have something to do with the fact that I get a bit too cold if it's been running for a while? I dunno. *shrugs* I have been spending most of my free time at home playing WoW.

Sunday morning dawned bright. I tried to lay in bed for a while but didn't succeed very well. I did some washing and pegged it out. I caught up on the folding and did some ironing. I swept the tiled areas in the house. I pulled a few weeds. I made the bed. I tidied the bench tops a little. I had a shower. Then, with all my chores done, kicked back to relax a little.

Mid quest MOTH called to me. Hon! I need your help. *great. it's bloody hot. i'm dressed in minimum and now i shall have to get properly dressed so i can go outdoors and help you* Hon! I need your help. I get up. Alright! I'll be there in a tic. Honey! I'm bleeding everywhere! *dammit! why didn't you just SAY SO?* I go to him. He's not joking. It's running down his hand and dripping on to the carpet square outside the door. *wonders what to do about that. we have no first aid kit and i'm not sure what damage he's done. a towel? some cloths? i get a washer* By the time I've done that, he's given up, come inside and rinsed off under the tap. We wrap the washer round and try to stop the bleeding. There's so much I can't even see the injury. We get it a little under control and wrap said digits in insulation tape. Good stuff that!

Turns out he had been trying to remove a blown bulb from the back of Jawsome's car. The bulb shattered in his hand and sliced his thumb and his index finger.

He sat for a bit then decided he wanted to go to the hospital to have the wounds looked at. The one on my thumb has me a bit worried. I think it might need stitches.

I drove him to casualty and settled in for the long haul. He was finished about an hour and a half later. They cleaned him up, put two stitches in. The one on his thumb turned out to be about 10mm deep and 15mm long. It goes diagonally from the corner of the nail over the tip of his thumb. Ouch!

So poor MOTH is at home on his lonesome today. With no opposing grip in his right hand. I had to help him dress this morning - he couldn't dry himself properly after his shower, couldn't hold his trousers and button them up, couldn't thread the belt.

You don't realise just how much you use your hands till you find your range of movement limited!

I forgot to mention...

That one of our trips out was to check out a new butcher. Yes, I DO lead an EXCITING FULFILLED life.

We've been to wholesale butchers before. Our biggest stumbling block is lack of freezer space. And we've always thought it too expensive to do the whole buying in bulk thing. Well, initial outlay anyway. But prices in the supermarkets are climbing and if I wasn't menu planning, the meat bill would be around $100 or more a fortnight anyway.

Bestie and her MOTH recommended this butcher. Good stuff and sometimes you get good bargains. They ended up buying two whole fillets and somehow scored another three. Five fillets for the price of two. Or something like that.

We thought we'd give it a shot.

It's located down the coast so the drive would be nice if nothing else. I had an address and an exit number. We decided to wing it without Karen. The GPS. Daring! *told you. exciting and fulfilled*

The drive was pleasant and the exit loomed before we knew it. Once off the exit, things got a little hazy. We knew the street name but no idea where it was. We picked an exit off the roundabout. Computer Road it said. Why not. Good a start as anywhere else. We laughed at some of the road names - the inner geek was happy. And there it was. The street we needed. We came to a T junction. Uh oh. No indication if the road we needed terminated here or continued around the corner. MOTH pulled over ready to do a U turn. He had to wait for a car. Oooh, let's follow that one. They look like they know where they are going.

So we did. And followed them right into the driveway of where we needed to be. *hi five*

The car park was full of inch deep water. And cars. It was busy, and most were family affairs. I managed to cross a puddle and only got one thong wet. *good going!* That's the part where you put your feet right. One foot stayed dry, the other did not.

Maybe I was distracted by a car driving over painted yellow lines. Only to discover they were painted yellow to alert to the fact that there was a drop of several inches on the other side!

On entering, you're directed down a narrow corridor by padded partitions. Just in front of the door at the end are large polar fleece jackets. I grabbed one. Cause I had forgotten the warning about needing a jumper. *kicks self* Through the plastic door and into the warehouse.

It was cold. Not positively freezing, but cold. The warehouse is huge. The meat stock is huge. Whole fillets. Whole rumps. Big hams. One I peeked at was around $100. It would have fed a family of 4 for a week. At a guess. Roast lamb legs for $24. Must have been on special. MOTH's fave pork spare ribs for cheap. Packs of 4 T bones for $23. The staff were all running around, greeting customers and looking like they were having a good time.

We bought a whole black angus grassfed rib fillet for around $70. We had it sliced for free at about 3/4 inch thick. It worked out around 5 or 6 meals of varying sizes. While wandering around, we managed to score a free 2 litre bottle of milk, and 1kg of bacon on special for $6.

I'm not sure how that compared to supermarket prices, but it was a fun way to spend the morning. We're considering doing it again for next shop.

Back to the grind!

Holiday week. It's flown by considering it's been spent on the couch in front of the telly. Now it's back to the grind of getting up early every day and off to the routine morning jaunt.

Today I left home at around 06:10 for the bus stop. I was in the city at 07:04. What happened there?! No traffic, that's what. And on campus at 07:30. Oh my good goodness. How will I cope?

Alas, while the Teen has been away, her phone has been out of action and now I have no way to contact her. Which is a little scary I admit. Makes me wonder how we coped before mobiles became a part of every day life. I keep wanting to know when she will be home, but that could be due to the fact that she's uncontactable.

The house is big and empty now. There are only MOTH and I at home.

So the week was spent on the couch and occasionally surfing the web. I gave in to my inner geek and dowloaded a trial version of World of Warcraft. A 10 day trial, and I've played it almost every day since. I haven't figured out many things about how to work it yet, like the chatting that everyone seems to get so involved in, the duelling and the NOT GETTING KILLED! Argh! I can see how people become addicted. Alas, work will now get in my way and I don't think I will continue once the trial concludes.

New Year was a quiet one. I decided I would rebel and watch McAliffe's Rave program instead of the insipid fireworks stuff. *at the same time i was playing wow. whoo! multiskilling!* Somewhere around 11.30 I gave up and followed MOTH to bed. Our street was quiet. Not a peep. Not even a random group of teens wandering past talking at the tops of their voices. I could hear a party going on some distance away. I don't know where they were, but I think they were in the Estate across the road. It wasn't loud enough to keep me awake though I did manage to stay awake chatting long enough to see 0:00.....

On Saturday I talked MOTH into going over to Chermside to windowshop in Westfield. It's been some considerable time since I was last there and even longer for him. We set out and drove where the car took us. So the aim was to miss the traffic, and that we did. But not with much clue as to where we actually were going I'm sure. Certainly not the most direct route! We arrived there eventually and wandered around until lunch time.

Then back home and a nap on the couch. Been doing a bit of that lately!

Sunday was spent again doing not much. The interweb has slowed to slower than snail pace as we've hit our limit. I have hardly even bothered to log on. I get so IMPATIENT! MOTH struggles on though. He's been a little stressed lately. Despite repeated warnings from those of us who are cynics *read the teen and i* he seems to have picked up a stalker. w00t! And now he has had to tell her to back off. I'm not certain she's aware of what she's doing, but she is a little too .... enthusiastic. And being the kind hearted soul he is, he didn't want to hurt her feelings. *heh. loves his sentimental side*

Then today is back to business as usual. Urgh *my get up and go got up and went*

Aquaman, be mine!

It's been raining off and on for so long, I think I'm growing webbed feet....

I had hoped the week before Christmas would be a bit cruisy. Nope. I had heaps to do. Except Christmas Eve. I did my best to have a little easier time workwise that day. There weren't very many people at work either.

I was up early. Well, not actually early. More like usual time. I thought I would make scones to take to work. They worked, and I took along jam and cream. They went down well.

I was excited for Christmas. I had bought Teen's present and MOTH had instructions to make sure he gave it to her last. He did. He left it to last. And handed it to her and took it back. And handed it to her and took it back. She was getting frustrated and wriggling on the spot waiting for it. When she finally had it and opened it, it contained another wrapped present. Sigh. And it's not even wrapped in crappy paper so I can't tear it! Oh! Oh! Oh! YOU GOT THE SHORTS!!! Oh!

She was very excited. And totally gobsmacked when she found out that I even managed to source them from the surf shop up the road!

We all got lots of great things. I even managed to get a sudoku board with all the numbers on little wooden tiles. Anyone would think I like sudoku hey. *grins* MOTH gave me a bottle of Appleton Estate Jamaican rum. *to die for!* Sunny and Judah gave me the Mummy trilogy and the complete series of American Gothic. A new quilt cover set from Froggy. I washed it straight away so I could put it on my bed. It looks great. A voucher from EB, the game store. A bath / lotion / perfume set. The scent is french vanilla and it is good.

MOTH had a voucher from Big W which he spent on the weekend. Wow. I even managed to get a bottle of ballantyne scorched almonds out of it. *swoon. faves!*

Boxing day saw us at Bestie's place for lunch. She had a baked ham, a turkey, and boston baked beans. I took a little roast pork and duck, salad. There was pumpikin pie with icecream for dessert. Someone bought a gingerbread house. Yummy! *which reminds me, the pieces are still in the car! retrieves from car and eats with icecream* We arrived around 1pm and left at 8pm! An excellent day.

Sunday the Teen left for up north for a holiday with a friend who was travelling that direction. She will be there for New Years, so I hope she stays safe. Her phone isn't working, so I can't check up on her. Heh. It's quiet. I miss her. And I miss Wogboy.

Which means, I guess, that we will be having a very quiet New Year. The Teen won't be around to keep me awake!

All in all.....

... it's been a really craptastic week. I'm tired and so ready for a break.

Wednesday, the Teen broke off with Wogboy. She's 17, nearly 18 but quite sure of what she wanted. And she wanted the whole deal, 100% committment. A home, a family. Wogboy is 18 and I don't think ready for a committment that deep. We hope they stay friends; he was a lovely boy.

Thursday I spent some time looking for a movie for one sibling for Christmas. Monsters v Aliens. A new release, so expensive. I thought I'd see if the local Blockbuster had an ex rental. Well, it hasn't even gone to weekly yet, so not really. I could put one aside for you but you would have to pay full price. Oh yes? Yes. $19.95. Done.

Friday was another wonderful day. While Admin2 is away, I'm also doing her work. One of those tasks is invoicing. I don't do this job regularly, so it takes me a little while. Add to that the system is closing down soon for the New Year. Bright and early Friday had two different sets of people wanting me to do invoices by lunch time. This is a lengthy process at the best of times. One of the managers wasn't particularly impressed to be told that the other invoice took precedence over hers.

As it turned out, the invoice that absolutely had to be done by lunch time took all day to complete anyway. I managed to slip in the other invoices so at least SOMETHING got done by lunchtime.

So glad for end of day to roll around Friday.

Saturday I kept myself busy looking for the last of the Christmas shopping. One dear sibling wanted a particular perfume. Which is old and no longer popular so is very hard to find. She gave me the name of a chain that stocked it, all I had to do was find an outlet.

Oh dear, I've left home without my notes regarding the outlet locations. We went to Mt Ommaney. Nope, not there. But there was a Smiggle store so that solved another dilemma.

Tried Jindalee at the DFO. Nope, nothing there either. But there was a 1st choice so that solved another dilemma and we no longer had to go to Brown's Plains.

Back home and this time took the effort to check the locations. Annerley. Excellent. Yay for Google maps cause then you can use street view to find out what the building looks like.

It was a lovely drive and we found what we were looking for.

Later I purchased online the tickets for the movie Sunny and I were going to watch on Sunday evening.

Sunday morning was up and baking bikkies for another siblings present. Ok, so her birthday was in August.... I thought I would include the present with the Christmas gift. I finished them and had a go at icing as well. The day was hot and humid though so the icing didn't fully set. I did the runny icing because it sets quickly and a little harder so it wouldn't matter they were all packed in a box. And no fancy bits to fall off either.

I found out that Judah would be joining us at the cinema so purchased another ticket.

Sunday lunch time I cooked dinner ready for Sunday night. I was going out. The others can figure out how to reheat it later.

Off to the movie and when we got there, the session was sold out! SO glad we bought tix online! We found seats; Sunny went out to find Judah when he arrived. Just as the movie started.

At the end, my first comment was ... WOW! It's 3 hours of total involvement, nonstop action and effects combined with a social message.

Amazing. Definitely going to my DVD collection when it's available...

PS. The movie was Avatar.

Today I asked....

... the Gods for a pretty Vietnamese boy to sit next to me on the bus (population density too high for much else really). He wasn't my idea of pretty, but he sure smelled nice. *cheerful*

The week passed by in a blur, trying to get my head around the stuff that Admin2 has left me while she is away. I only ever manage to leave her 1 job while she always leaves me at least one A4 page. I've deduced it's because I only go on leave a week at a time whereas she goes for 6. *memo to me ... get in early for Christmas next year* Two weeks worth. Yeah. That'll show her! *is such a rebel*

Thursday night the Teen slept over at Wogboy's. Friday night he slept over ours. And he was up early the next morning to go to work. I was stalking the halls when he tried to sneak out at 05:30. Ha! Caught!

A chance remark on Friday night saw Saturday morning busy; revamping, rearranging and otherwise getting hot and sweaty. Standing in my snug little study, I lamented the fact that I didn't seem to use it much. It's hot. My laptop always ends up down the other end of the house. Everytime I bring it back, it disappears down there again. I'm a sometimes culprit - I like to watch telly while surfing.

So, Reception is no more. My desk is in the rumpus room *aaahhhhhhh television! airconditioning!* the second couch has moved out to the ex-reception, MOTH's taken over the study. He's very happy with it - reception never even had a ceiling fan. *strange layout in my house. the front half of the house has no aircon, the formal areas don't even have ceiling fans. thankfully the study and my bedroom have one!*

That deserved a break and I worked hard on progressing through Tomb Raider Underworld on my DS.

Sunday morning I pulled out the overlocker. Last time I tried to use it, the lower loop thread kept breaking. I thought it might be needle changing time. But how should the needle need changing if the looper thread is the one breaking? I decided it might be the tension. But I'm not very good at judging which threads are the problem *on my sewing machine too* for adjusting the tension. I had a bit of a go, but I can't tell if it did any good.

I put it away and dragged out the sewing machine. I finally started on putting together the tote bag for the Teen. The instructions aren't the clearest I've read - I couldn't judge how it was supposed to assemble. After a false start which I spent many joyful hours UNPICKING - interspersed with stress relief in the form of the DS - I managed to work it out. Annnnnd the bobbin thread ran out halfway through a seam. *grumble. this happened the LAST time i tried to sew something* But at least this time I knew how to wind the bobbin. Started sewing again and guess what! Looks like the tension on the bobbin is frak'd. It's looping on the bottom of my sewing.

To heck with it! I don't have the cotton to waste on winding another..... this sewing gig is turning out to be more trouble than it's worth!

But Teen is sooo looking forward to having her Beatles patterned tote.....

The Christmas is coming!

And I've finally managed to get my shopping started. I always plan to start at the beginning of the year but there are always more important things to pay for instead. So it never happens and I'm left with a limited budget and little time. Long gone are the days when I could spend $50 per person and not even think about it.

Last week is a bit of a blur. Workwise, it was one of those weeks where you have a good sized list with many a good intention to complete stuff, but it never happens.

Commuting-wise it's been an exciting week!

A pedestrian dived across the road between cars and scared the heck out of the bus driver. At the next stop - a couple of metres up the road - the pedestrian jumped on, spoke to the driver and jumped off again. *shrugs*

Friday afternoon I was desperate to get home. Even more so than usual. Been a tiring week. Tootling along on the motorway and the driver MISSES the exit. Wonderful. Actually to confess, I didn't even notice. I was reading. I sensed the agitation of the passenger beside me so looked up. Unfamiliar territory. Sweet. I went back to my book. We had to detour out of our way by at least 15 minutes; thank heaven I had my book.

Saturday I talked MOTH into checking out the Sara Lee outlet. The Teen was sleeping over at a friend's place. I sent her a text to let her know we would be out. And therefore not able to pick her up.

Jumped in the car. It wouldn't start. Uh oh. Not a good sign! The battery needed charging. Luckily we have Jawsome's car! It's much sportier but I can't say I like it - no aircon! ANND the doors auto lock when you get a bit of speed on. The first time I found that out, I didn't hear the lock and then couldn't get out of the darned car. Must have looked real bright! Oh, and you can feel every bumped. Darned sport suspension....

Anyway, we checked the directory, jumped in the nonstarting car and went precisely nowhere. Jumped in the other car and we were off. I couldn't wind the window down fast enough.

We got over to Daisy Hill but by then, had forgotten where the shopping centre was supposed to be. Uh oh. Brilliant. No directory. No GPS. MOTH thought the map showed it back toward the suburb we had just driven through. Buggerit. We kept on, topped the crest and lo! There it was. It was airconditioned and lovely inside with plenty of things to tempt. Not necessarily a lot cheaper than the supermarkets markup. Certainly need to consider if it's worth the fuel to get there.

While there, a butcher from around the corner stopped by with samples. We detoured via the butcher on the way home for chilli beef and honey, garlic and herb sausages.

Back home to put the goodies in the freezer. Hurry hurry traffic! It's darned hot and I can feel myself cooking in this oven on wheels. I figure that at least dinner and dessert will be ready if we get stuck.

A call from the Teen. Help! I'm terribly hung over and it's too hot to walk home. Can you pick me up? The MOTH decided we would do that and go and finish the shopping we were supposed to do that morning....

The Teen has purchased herself a pair of Ed Hardy bikinis. They were supposed to be a size small, but they were not! I always thought the Americans underestimated their sizing by 100% or similar??

The sides of the bottom are held together with 3 metal medallions about the size of 10c pieces. We thought removing one of the medallions might help? The links holding them together broke during removal. Dang. We needed to find replacements. I needed to stop off at one of the local shops for a Christmas present for one neice.

We hunted high and low for a replacement link. Imagine a wide metal staple that's been through the stapler with no paper and you have an idea.

Eventually, after spending money on something else we may have been able to adapt, MOTH managed to charm a possible replacement out of ..... someone .... for nothing. He used three of those loops to fasten them together. Here's hoping they work! Although I think it could be alright - Ed Hardy swimmers, like most these days, are to be seen in not for getting wet!

They manage, but the material is still cut too wide.....

Sunday I wrapped presents, did washing, did baking. Apart from that, I didn't move from the relative cool of the rumpus room.

Whew. Back to work Monday for a bit of a break!

I remembered, I remembered!

Yes. It popped into one of the vacant spaces inside my head with no prior warning. Just *pop* and there it was....

I was walking to the bus. Grumbling. Which is purely a totally unexpected thing. *grins* I was grumbling about the woman in front of me towing one of those backpack/suitcases on wheels. They are so NOT appropriate in a crowd! You see the person and you can judge their position so you don't walk into them, but the case is below your range of vision and you KEEP getting your feet tangled in the thing!

HATE THEM!

Or is that just me???

Anyway, I was trying not to trip over the woman with the case when I became aware of another woman who had pulled over to lean against the wall. On the other side of me was a tall man fishing around in his pocket.

As we came level with the woman leaning on the wall, he pulled out a phone. Hello? he says. The woman turned - she was on the phone. Tom! she called, he looked at her and they fell about laughing.

Couldn't have planned that better if they had tried, could they.