Train and boats and cars

and buses! Today I got to ride all the way to work on two different buses with NO ONE sitting next to me. Suh-weet!

Last week was a pretty ordinary one I think. As ordinary as mine get.

Mid week, my Bestie sent me an email to say that a mutual workplace were having a 75 year anniversary and a reunion bbq was part of the celebration. Would I be interested?

I thought about it. I checked to see if MOTH would be interested. Oh yes, he said. I would like to catch up with Bestie and her hubby. The fact that it appeared to be free had absolutely nothing to do with it, I'm sure. I went to register but alas! Registrations had closed. I went back to Bestie and asked if she could investigate for me?

Friday dawned a bright sparkling day. One of those days that brings on a natural high for me. I was up early. I was ready for work early. I caught the early bus and was in the city to catch my second bus a little earlier than usual.

As I crossed the road, I noticed that my eyes were going funny. There was a moment of panic as I realised that everything was reflecting green. An odd eerie glowing green. What the heck is THAT all about? It took a small moment to realise that the archetectural monstrosity towering above me had a green wall. The sun was hitting it at just the right angle to bathe everything opposite in its glorious green reflection....

I was obviously not the only one affected by Friday. I walked around the corner in the office and two of the GTs were madly giggling, wrapped in a game that involved stealing things from each other's desk. Kind of like a Capture the Flag but with clips. *shakes head*

At the same time, one of the other GTs was busy uploading some of his digital photos. He likes to do macro shots. I asked about some of them and he happily showed me his albums. Those photos are amazing! I truly don't know how he can bring himself to get that close to a spider! *shudders* Some of the photos of the wolf spiders are so clear you can see individual hairs on the thing's legs!

Bestie let me know that she had managed to contact someone and my name was now on the list. Bewdy! There was even a registration pack for me.

And don't you know, it never rains but it pours. So they say. I'm still waiting for the lotto win....

Sunny sent me a text to ask if I wanted to go with him on the Zombie Walk. When? Sunday he said. Bummer! I had been thinking of asking Sunny if he wanted to hang on Sunday, but since I hadn't actually taken it beyond the thinking stage, I accepted the invite from Bestie instead.

So, Zombie Walk. A charity walk for the Brain Foundation. You dress up like a Zombie and shuffle, groaning, along a predetermined path and celebrate like there's no tomorrow at the after party.

And I missed out.

Saturday I didn't do much of anything except think about what we might want to take with us on Sunday. There would be a sausage sizzle and some icecream, but we were encouraged to pack a picnic.

Saturday afternoon I went to water the strawberry plant and noticed the temperature seemed to have dropped a bit. It came over dark and cloudy quite quickly and sometime after dark a loud knocking could be heard on the roof. What? Rain? You're kidding? Yep, it was raining. Soon the lightening and thunder followed. But not for long.

Sunday I was up early, baking quiches for our lunch. And potato salad. When Jawsome left, he donated a picnic set he was given but never used. It was just for two and still had the plastic on the cutlery! It fit the quiches, salt and pepper, potato salad and an apple and banana just perfectly.

The drive down to the dam was pleasant; MOTH even put on the airconditioning. The day held the promise of some heat so we made sure we had hats and sunscreen. I was expecting the shaded areas to be gone so I packed an umbrella as well.

And it was hot.

Once we parked in the designated area, they provided a shuttle bus so we didn't have to dodge traffic trying to cross the motorway. First stop was the rego desk and a pack. It contained a name tag each, a tube of sunscreen each. A glossy book, an attendee list, and something that looked like two mouse mats.

We found Bestie, hubby and kids. Actually, hubby was a little hard to miss; he was wearing a fluro orange tee. It stood out. A lot. Shade was at a bit of a premium, most everything was taken. Australian native trees don't seem to provide an awful lot of shade, do they?

The organisers had provided a sausage sizzle, a coffee stop, a soft serve van. Which, I believe was very VERY popular. She didn't stop all day. A jumping castle and other entertainment for the kids. And a couple of bands to entertain the adults.

Oh, and a historic display of old trucks.

Bestie's little boy couldn't wait to look at the trucks. He dragged his father and MOTH off for his turn. Then he dragged Bestie and I. On the way round he stopped at the yellow grader. This one, he informs us, is a worm. A worm? Yes, a worm. Dad told me.

It did seem to be very hot that day, but I didn't really break a sweat. The day was due to finish at 3pm. We packed up around 2.30, ready to take on the crowds for the return shuttle. Until the kids had to make a final pit stop. We waited as two shuttles went by. Turns out they'd detoured via the ice cream van.

It was good to head home though, much cooler. And boy was I tired. Whew.

Updates. Too good to wait for!

The Teen has had her learners permit for a couple of months now. Alright, so we've been somewhat slack and the timing never seems quite right. MOTH is too chikkin to take her out, I don't get home till almost dark and we've only just got around to purchasing the mandatory L plates.

She has done some time already. Apparently. A few minutes here and there, in a paddock, in someone's back yard, in a deserted shopping centre car park.

Yesterday I was home before dark o'clock. Time to bite the bullet.

I grabbed her from her room, telling her to put on shoes. But! My shoes are loose she says. Alright, this time. But you'll have to get used to wearing them.

You can reverse it out the driveway! she announces. Well, ok, fair enough.

And I did. Out of the garage and to the point where the back wheels were just on the road. Your turn I tell her. She freaks. And at the same time, she's excited. I think.

She dropped into the driver's seat and she tries to adjust the seat. We're on a slope so of course it slides backward. I get in trouble. *grin* She has a couple of goes, but gets it to where she wants it. Adjust the mirros. She doesn't know how.

The mirrors are adjusted, the seatbelt is on and she's ready to go. I'm telling her to lift her foot off the brake slowly and the car should start to roll a little. It doesn't move. Pfft! The handbrake is still on.

Lesson 1, take 2. She can't release the handbrake so I have to do it for her. Very slowly and gingerly, she lifts her foot and we're on our way! Brake again and change to Drive. Very good. She's not sure she can do this. She's getting worried as the car very slowly starts to crawl forward. I tell her that we're headed for the roundabout. She looks at me. What? How do I manage that? And what about the other cars??? If there are other cars, we stop then take our turn. If you're on the roundabout you have right of way so you can take as long as you like. She shoots me a sideways look. At 5 km an hour??

Just so you know, we live at the top end of a cul de sac. The road is windy and narrow. Heh.

She running a bit close to the gutters but I don't mind. They've very considerately built the ones that are slanted so you don't need to build a driveway entrance. People can see me! she's shouting at me. I'm smiling like a loon. It's ok, you'll be alright. There's a man going somewhere! she yells. She's getting into panic mode now. What do I do?! I tell her to brake if she's not certain. She does; the man gets into his vehicle and reverses it up his driveway. See, I say, nothing to worry about.

She calms a little and slowly takes her foot off the brake. We're travelling so slowly I think a snail passed us. She's worried again. What if a car comes? she asks several times. We'll deal with that when it happens.

A car comes down the road. I see it and let her know; I think she's too busy looking at the road where she's trying to steer the car.

She screams.

She's almost in full panic mode. The car passes and all is quiet again. A little further down the road and about 100m away are two more cars. She panics again. I tell her to pull over into the layby area if she wants. She does. She wants to quit and go home.

I'm mean. I tell her no. And that she'll have to get the car out of the spot she's parked in. She's not impressed with me.

The cars go by; one down our road past us, the other continues around the corner.

We make it the rest of the way to the roundabout. It's only just up the street, but it's been a bit of work. Brake here and check the road. She does. A lot. Then we move out into the roundabout. I thought she wasn't going to turn the wheel in time. And I grabbed the wheel to guide it a little quicker than she was doing. Don't panic Mum! she says. I laughed. So did she.

We managed the drive back at a faster speed than the drive out. And she stopped at the driveway and jumped out. You can put it in the garage she tells me.

So, first lesson all done and dusted. What a giggle. She laughs with me later when the euphoria kicks in.

Whew, I need a cigarette she smiles. And tomrrow, if I get home in time we'll do it again I tell her.

She wilts.

Bad hair days!

I think I'm having one. I washed it yesterday, using the routine which has been working quite well. It seemed to dry a little wavier than usual. Hmmmm. And wasn't quite as soft. Man! This morning I brushed it. Mistake! I decided that the straightener was in order. Even that didn't fully tame it. And it still feels crispy. Grrrr!

It's been an odd kind of week.

I've been tired. Very tired. While riding home on my not-usual bus, I looked out the window on my right. It had fogged up. Completely. It was white. The day had been somewhat overcast with the possibility of rain. But the window on my side wasn't foggy. What gives? Then I decided we must have pulled up near a wall. I couldn't think what wall it might have been though. But yes, I could see some of the metal reinforcing strip along the bottom. No problem. And then we started moving....

We had been stopped next to a truck.... *feels somewhat sheepish*

The week, apart from the truck incident, has gone relatively quickly and quietly. Except for a building evacuation at work on Friday. It didn't last very long and after about 10 minutes in the sunshine we were herded back into the building. A workmate from another department was chatting with me, so I told her that they have to have these things occasionally so they can get the geeks out to catch some vitamin D.

Friday when I arrived home from work, MOTH informed me that the Teen would be away for the weekend again.

When I had the house full of people I really enjoyed it. I love having people about and I wasn't looking forward to the enforced solitude that would result when I became an empty nester. That day came somewhat sooner than I would have liked... wait, actually, I still have one at home; the other four have gone. But since she's away most weekends and nearly all weekend at that, MOTH and I are almost there.

And I'm finding I'm liking it. MOTH is usually busy playing games on the laptop, so I have all day to myself. To do what I want. Ok, sometimes I get bored, but on the whole no. MOTH seems more relaxed. We play stupid games and laugh a lot more. And I find I'm not necessarily looking forward to having anyone else move in.

Friday night we settled down to watch the Jessica Alba movie, The Eye. It's a rather atmospheric thriller. MOTH settled on the floor and I took over the couch. During the early part of the movie, the tension started to build. I could tell something was going to happen. Considering she was in hospital, that corridor was horribly deserted....

And MOTH let one rip. I nearly screamed....

Saturday I finally started the housework. I did some washing. I vacuumed the floor. That's right. I actually pulled the cleaner out of the lounge room and used it. I did my ensuite, my bedroom, part of the timber blind in my room, the sills as well, the study and part of the blind, the tiles in the hallway and half the loungeroom. By then I was feeling a tad pooped and had managed to talk MOTH into emptying the vacuum when it filled. And it was empty when I started. Then I mopped the tiles. By the time I finished, my knuckles and forearms were a tad sore, so I've left the rest for next weekend.

Course, I flat refuse to acknowledge that using the mouse and the laptop most of the weekend has absolutely anything to do with the soreness either ....

Life is just a costume party, really

My mind had wandered away this morning while I was on the bus; highly unusual I know. But I can remember thinking about a low centre of gravity .... oh wait! I remember what it was.

Don't you hate when you are more or less last in line to get on the bus and everyone in front of you dawdles up the aisle? I've GOT A LOW CENTRE OF GRAVITY, but even that doesn't help. *ha! remembered!* I can't sit down the front - on the new buses I seem to get travel sick - so I head for the back. And I don't like to be standing when the bus begins to move. So look out older bloke who has no business taking that long to get up toward the back of the bus and choose a seat, I'm comin' through!

Last week I missed an opportunity to wax lyrical about something not really spectacular that happened during the week. It wasn't till I was going through my phone photos that I remembered it. They've been working on the facade of the building opposite, and I looked out the window. Nothing. I looked again. Wha?



And when I looked again about half hour later, nothing. Talk about ghosts in the machinery! I never heard a sound.

As you know, I spend a lot of time on buses. Not much to do on buses. So I invent things. Check out the scenery. Make up stories. Wednesday, with not much to do, I was staring out the window and noticed it was rather breezy! Especially on the bridge. And there was a random ball of dust, blowing around like a tumbleweed in the silence following a bad joke. It dodged people's feet, ducking about on the whims of the breeze. The end result made it look quite sentient. If I was in any way imaginative, it could have given me nightmares about what may be growing underneath my bed, waiting to take over the world.

And all that.

I couldn't wait for Friday to dawn; a big day socially! For once. One of the GTs has moved on to greener pastures and we were having a lunch to celebrate. Not that he was moving on, but to get together and give him his gift. We had thai at one of the restaurants within walking distance to work. The buffet is usually pretty good for $15. A couple of curries, rice, a noodle dish, spring rolls, prawn chips, bbq chicken. Usually they have dessert. It's one of my favourite parts. Black sticky rice. Guess what we had to ask them for? Yep *nods* to bring out the dessert buffet. And what did they bring out? Lychees! U.G.H. !! *for emphasis* I can't stand those things. So bummed. I missed out on dessert.

Friday night we were to head out for a 21st party. It was to start at 6.30pm, but we couldn't really leave home before then. I don't get home from work till nearly 6.00pm. And we were giving Sunny a lift.

The event was at the Gap Tavern. We knew where that was! Been there before, we're sure of it. So we tootled off. Got there, turned down the street where we thought it was and .... nothing. It wasn't there. No one had checked the map, and no one had thought to plug in Karen *the GPS* Clever lot, aren't we. After a couple of snarky comments, we plugged it in and crossed the fingers. Because none of us knew the street name either. *shakes head* Thank heavens for mobile phones with internet and stuff. Sunny found out the name of the street, we keyed it in and off we went.

Found the street. Saw lights, but couldn't find a driveway. Dammit! We went up the road, threw a U turn and came back down again. How about this one? Turned in and there is the sign, unlit and hiding among the trees. D'oh!

I conned MOTH into getting dessert for me. The chap sitting next to him had ordered BBQ ribs in the kilo size. He couldn't finish, so offered to share the rest with MOTH. Who quickly obliged. *he pronounced them very good afterward* I tried a beer I've never had before - beez neez. It's pale and doesn't have that strong taste that most of them do. I liked it.

We had a great time, and everyone packed up around 10.30 or so. On the way home, I gained my own personal bagman. Evidence provided once we got home....



Saturday I didn't do much. I know I had plans but it didn't seem to work out. I got to fertilise a small portion of the lawn; did some washing. Not a lot else. The Teen was heading out to a costume party and was going as Pikachu. A pokemon monster for those not in the know. I realised after she left that I didn't get a picture! She looked GREAT! Wish I had. We dropped her off up the road at the party so she didn't have to walk the streets dressed as Pikachu and settled home for a quiet night.

Around 1am, my mobile went off. Mum! I'm at Sunny's place! Can you come pick me up? *how do i sense that the phone is going to ring, or is that what wakes me up? i always feel like it doesn't ring long before i hear it...* I sent MOTH. I'm clever like that...

Sunday morning when I got up, MOTH informed me that she hadn't been to bed at 6.00am when he got up. Whew. She came by and announced rather loudly My body's buzzin but my brain is sooooo tired!

Ah, funny child....

Sunday was quiet, overcast, rainy. Bathurst was on and I did my best to avoid most of it.

This morning dawned grey and overcast as well. Then I looked properly. It was fog! And at 6.50am while I was on the bus *i SAID i spend a lot of time on buses* I tried to take a photo:



Ah, a world muffled in grey wool like the homeless lady I see in the mall sometimes...

Argh! Skewl's back!

And I could tell! The bus was full again of the noisy minah birds squawking and chattering. Well, that will come later. Today was rather sobering I guess as first day back. Not an awful lot of noise at all considering.

I think I am going to have to go back to taking notes to remember what exciting things I did during the week. Because every time I sit in front of this monitor, my brain power is sucked away and I can't remember a darned thing.

Things have still been dry after the dust storm. I can still feel dust on things and smell it in the air. Indoors and out. We still have the water restrictions but I'm into ignoring those at the moment. I am trying to encourage my tiny herb patch to continue to grow and keep some of the dust from the ex-lawn at bay, so I water for about 5 to 10 minutes in total every day. We are only allowed half hour hose time a couple days a week.

Thursday I arrived home from work to be told that the Teen would be out of the house until Sunday. And that was the day THE BILL arrived. A phone bill. It is HUGE! I really don't know how I'm going to pay that one off, but we shall have to see. My phone carrier is 'understanding' but only to a point. I don't know what I can afford to pay each pay period, but when you 'negotiate' with them, you MUST provide a figure you will pay each week/fortnight. Yoiks. It doesn't help that this pay period has another big bill, a lot of prom stuff and two social events that have turned up on the same day. I NEVER get social events, let alone two on the same day! Well, alright. Maybe not never, but it's usually a very long time between drinks.

*wha? just been eating a nut bar and decided to floss. how does dental tape get TOO WIDE for the gaps between my teeth? ok, they're close together but this is ridiculous!*

By the end of the week, I couldn't stand it any longer. I planned to actually do what I have been planning for the last couple of weeks. *don't rush me* I was going to continue from that room I finished, washing walls, vacuuming and mopping. Just to clear the dust. And on Saturday, my headache was back with a vengence. Any idea of washing walls and bending over the cleaner went right out the window! I didn't move much that day.

Saturday night or maybe Sunday morning - it was 3am afterall - the phone rang. *lies in bed till MOTH gets up* The Teen wasn't feeling well and would be coming home. Now. Oh. Okay... As soon as she got in, she asked MOTH to take her blood pressure. Pressure was fine but pulse rate was up. She and Wogboy went off to bed. MOTH returned and said Well, she's not dead. *smiles*

Sunday morning I did some dusting. I could see where something had been shifted on MOTH's reception desk and thought it was about time. I grabbed the duster that all others claim to be unable to locate, and got to it. Even MOTH got a dusting. He sat still too long.

The Fairy Wrens were playing outside the laundry door. I stopped to watch - I love those things. I tried to get a photo or a video, but they are just too small and too fast. They have a beautiful song and the males are so vibrant! There is one little man and his two ladies turn up around the same time every day MOTH tells me.

Here's an example; I've pilfered the photo from birdphotos.com.au...


Last night I had to do a run out to Wogboy's place to pick up the Teen's gear that was left behind. First drive out there by myself for a very long time. Just before we left home, the Teen seemed to be in a very bad mood. She even snapped very badly at Wogboy while on the phone. *sighs*

Eventually I got out of her that someone suggested she was probably sick all the time because she takes too much medication. So she cut back. Yes *nods* she dropped the antidepressants. Ouch! I can tell the difference in her behaviour after ONE DAY of missed meds.

Gods help me for the long term....

Sprummer ... let's try it out

The Teen has coined a new name for our current season. It's not summer yet, and waaay too hot for spring.

So I think I've mentioned that the Teen has been away for a couple of weeks. Well, yesterday the quiet came to an end. Her holiday didn't seem to be working out quite the way she planned so I arranged for her to return early.

It seems the last four hours of the train trip were uneventful; the first couple however were fun filled extravaganzas of cousinly delight.

The last week has been pretty uneventful. The never ending cycle of working. And watching telly. Not that there has been much on mind, but I'm getting so bored I'm even watching the news bulletins on all the channels. Well, most of them. Haven't quite gotten to watching World News Australia on SBS yet. But that's coming, I'm sure. I watch one of the commercial stations. Or at least, it's on in the background. Then there isn't much till 8.30 so to fill up the time, I switch to different news bulletins across all the stations. Heck, you'd think with all those HD channels, there would be SOMETHING I'd like. *dangit think i missed dr who*

Oh wait, there was something I wanted to watch one night. On Thursday, while unpacking the groceries, I had a faint stirring in the background of my teeny tiny mind that there was something I wanted to do. I brushed it off and continued with my boring life.

Turned out it was Glee. I wanted to watch that.... Obviously important!

Wednesday midmorning brought with it the dust. A dust storm blew in; nothing like Sydney's though. It was thick enough to reduce visibility and drive asthma suffers indoors. I had ventured out in it to run an errand. It wasn't too bad when I started, but worsened a little by the time I finished my errand. I had planned to attend a thai chi session during lunch, but wasn't keen to go out again.


I took the photo above from the bridge. The camera has an auto adjust so it was actually thicker than it appears here.


This one adjusted the light settings to darken the foreground as I pointed it directly at the sun. Just to give a little idea of the fact that the sun was a hazy disk through all the dust.

MOTH had closed up the house so it wasn't too bad but you could still feel it on the tiles.

The weather report brought news of another impending dusty day though not as severe as Wednesday. We didn't bother to clean up much.

Saturday morning, I convinced MOTH it was now or never. Time to use the magnum Gold Class upgrades. I had a small boost in my pay this week, so thought Yes! This will cover that nicely. We checked the screenings. Bugger, District 9 wasn't showing gold class. Well, that just left .... The Surrogates. But the shorts for that looked interesting anyway. So we caught the 10am screening of the Surrogates. It wasn't a bad movie. I think there may even have been a wee social message in the film as well. But that kind of thing is totally lost on me....

Saturday afternoon brought the rest of the dust. A lot still hadn't settled from Wednesday, and still it goes on. I am so tired of smelling dust!

Sunday before I went to meet the Teen at the station, I finally finished the room. The remaining wall was scrubbed. The remaining boxes of Elder junk were sealed and transferred out to the garage. The carpet was vacuumed. And one small part of the hallway had a wall washed, the tiles vacuumed and mopped. Of course, I'm still to finish that part of the hall. MOTH had been doing some patching on the walls so I will be needing to clean them before he paints, won't I?

The Teen greeted me with various bits of news; among them the fact that Elder would like to receive, via the post, a pair of sandshoes she left behind. Oh. Oh dear. Well good luck with that one. All boxes and stuff that Elder left on floors have been sealed and moved out to the garage. Actually, moved to the topmost shelf in the garage. I showed the Teen where they all were now. Oh. Well, she said, She ain't gettin those sandshoes...

*goes back to singing in Braithwaite voice* one sprummer .... nah don't think it will work....

Hmmmm cupcakes!

They're yummy. Even if slightly overcooked.

That week has just flown so quickly. MOTH and I have discovered that it's hard to feed only two when you're used to feeding so many more. Even though I've cut the vege serves back, there is still too much! The house is quiet. And there isn't enough laundry to do a load a day.

Apart from slogging along to work every day, I've managed to do a bit of housework. Yes, I hear you cheering. Not too much though; don't want to ruin the record.

Saturday I had decided that I would finish cleaning the room that Jawsome had emptied. When MOTH took down a couple of things that had been put on the wall, he also took some paint. Silly. So he had to patch those. Before he paints them he asked me to wash the walls. Because they were filthy. This is one of the rooms that didn't get washed when we moved in.

So, I started. Good intentions and all that. I didn't finish. There were a couple of boxes of stuff belonging to the Elder still on the floor. I got the walls in the entry way washed. Behind the door and the side of the builtin wardrobe. That was it. Quittin time! MOTH occupied himself shifting boxes around in the garage. All the stuff we could identify as belonging to the Elder has been moved to high shelves. One half of the double bunks will be tossed, and the other has been put into the now spare room.

For lunch I decided to cook some mini quiches. They are a favourite of Jawsome's and I had some left over pastry. But oh! No recipe. I hope that the Elder still has it tucked away somewhere. I had to remember the ingredients and quantities by heart. Luckily the recipe is simple; I think I got it right. MOTH thought they were pretty good anyway. He ate most of them.

Sunday I looked at the yard. It's dying and the bindii is taking over. It really needs mowing. With the current water restrictions, you aren't allowed to water an established lawn. But I protest my lawn is not established. It's very patchy, with the soil gone hard from lack of water, what little grass there is turning brown, and weeds and ants taking over the bare patches. Soon I won't be able to use the clothes line without running the gauntlet of the flesh munching insects.

I scrubbed some more walls. I vacuumed some of the carpet in that room. I scrubbed my shower walls. Except the glass ones. I dunno why I didn't do those. Got distracted washing my hair I suppose.

I baked cupcakes. Just because I felt like it. Plain ones with mocha icing. The recipe is one I've picked off the interwebs. I like it, it's basic and easy. But I overcooked them slightly by about 5 mins and you can tell the difference. *note to self ... 20 mins next time!*

And come the afternoon, MOTH and I washed the car. He has a high pressure water hose which hasn't seen much use. Except Sunday afternoon. By the time we finished that, it was our water restriction nominated time to water the garden. Not the lawn mind! Thank heaven I have a high fence. I watered some of the lawn near the clothes line. Gotta give those ants a good drowning every so often or they get too complacent!

Sunday afternoon and evening, after sitting on the couch for a while, I discovered muscles I had forgotten about. I didn't think I'd be moving too well on Monday. Monday dawned and it was like I hadn't been doing any work at all.

Dangit! There went my stay at home immobile in bed day..... Hello work, here I come.

Opportunities!

Argh! I hate opportunities!

The boss comes along and tells you, boy have I got an opportunity for you! And there it is. A big nasty job. That they want done quickly... *dies*

So, this will be a quick one. Cause you can guess where I am.

Most of last week was spent in prep mode to get the Teen underway and set up for her holiday to visit the Elder. And calming some ruffled feathers because of stress.

I had decided to be generous and lend her my suitcase to take with her. It's cool, covered in purple and white spots. Then she came to me, Mu-um, how do I get my shoes to fit in? Why I asked. You only need two pairs of shoes? She nearly died. Of course, what was I thinking? One pair of casuals, one pair of sandals, one pair of dress shoes, and a couple of spares. Oi! *rolls eyes*

Eventually I thought about including a small 'care' package. Just a couple of things. So what could I put them in? Here, Teen, take the honkin' big suitcase and I'll just tuck these into a corner. Sure, they'll fit. Won't they?

Friday afternoon, I thought I would pop by on the way home and get her shoes for the *ahem* Formal. They don't call it Prom here.... I put them on layby and apparently, as luck would have it, they were the last of that style/colour in her size. w00t! Sometimes you can win.

Friday night I arrived home and MOTH was standing on the front lawn. Uh oh. Ummm so why are you out here? Just looking he said. Did you get a lift, cause I thought I heard a car door closing. Nope, I said, someone just got picked up. Ah. Well he says. The car is broken. Broken. Yep, broken. Gave it a degrease, and a bit of a tidy up, and one of the bolts holding the distributor cap broke. Oh..... But he'd gone to Paulie and picked up some replacements. All he had to do now, was try and remove the broken bolt. It was inside the part somewhere. Great.

Ah well, I guess it doesn't matter because I use public transport more than the car.

Saturday morning was a little lazy. MOTH spent a bit of time working on putting the car back together. I tootled about the garden pulling bindii. A lot of the grass is dying - MOTH is terrible with yard work - and the bindii is moving in. I'm going to have to find out when our watering times are. Getting the grass back in order seems to be the only thing that will keep the bindii at bay.

*dammit, thinks there was something funny that MOTH did I was going to include but can't remember what it was*

Sunday we were up relatively early to get Teen underway. She's not usually up at this hour and staggered about for a while. She finished off the last of the packing and we drove to the station to catch the train in. The train left on time and I was sad to see her go.

Since we were now at a bit of a loose end, I thought I might be able to convince MOTH to spend a little time in the city while we were there. He agreed, and we wandered down to the mall. I had a little money, so asked what he wanted for a late father's day present. He didn't know, so Teen and I took him to lunch and bought him Darrell Lea licorice and rocky road.

Sunday afternoon was quiet, so I wandered out to check the telly viewing. Gods, I hate weekends. How can you have so many channels to choose from and all of them are showing sport of some description? It's pathetic! So I chose to watch a dvd - Romeo Must Die ... again.

And it's still quiet. I'll notice again tonight, when she's not there to make noise and ask How long till dinner's ready?

What the heck was that?!

I was staring out the bus window on the way to work this morning. And going the opposite direction was a scooter. One of those little communter scooters. It had TWO front wheels......

So, a wrap up for the last week. As you can see from my previous post, there was a little bit of activity. But not much!

The Teen had Tuesday and Wednesday off school. They were sitting the QCS tests, and she wasn't one of the 'lucky' ones required to sit them. Wednesday morning, MOTH took her to sit for her learners.

I wasn't feeling too great so asked MOTH to pick me up from work when they were finished.

Well, she didn't mention anything when I got to the car and I let it ride for a little. She and MOTH started discussing something which quickly degenerated into an arguement. Uh oh.

So ... you didn't get it then? No, she said. She had all the give way questions right, but got too many of the others wrong for a pass. Oh dear. She had to wait 24 hours before she could sit it again.

When we arrived home I went to lay down for a little while and awoke two hours later. MOTH was nowhere to be found. Alright then, he's left the house. He came back sometime later with .... boxes.

Okay. It turned out to be a desk. And a chair. We laid out the contents, I checked them off against the 'homework' sheet and lo! All the pieces were there. And all were numbered too. VERY handy. It took most of the afternoon to put together. Once the desk return was assembled, I thought it would be too big to keep in the bedroom where is current desk is. When placed against the wall there was only a small amount of room between the end of the return and the end of the bed. Well, that wasn't going to be any good.

Eventually we positioned it in the formal dining area. Then MOTH moved it again and now he sits at reception, facing the formal lounge area. Which is the waiting room. Perfect!

Thursday night we met a friend down visiting his Doctor for surgery followup. We haven't seen Rob since he was a young man. This weekend was his birthday and he would be turning 31!

Rob asked if we would join him for dinner at a place to close to where he was staying. None of us had been there; but he knew where it was! I met up with Rob when I finished work; we had an hour to waste before joining MOTH and heading to the restaurant. Rob likes to play the tables so he took me to the Casino. I've been living here for 6 years or so now, and this was the first time I've set foot in the place. Whoo! It's easy to get lost in there.

Dinner was up a very steep hill. I wasn't sure that MOTH was going to make it! I'm not fit either and I was somewhat overheated and gasping when we hit the crest. It turned out that the Mill is a small pub; open, airy, and modern. The meals range in price from $15 to $30. Two mains and a coke for MOTH cost $48. But the food was very good, and service was pretty fast.

Friday afternoon MOTH took the Teen for another try. A pass! Whoa! My baby can now get behind a wheel. I took one look at the log book her driving supervisors must complete. Hooley Dooley. That's no fun at all! It requires completing a log book, signatures, calculating minutes, taking odometer readings and making lesson plans. Not looking forward to this at all!

Friday night MOTH and I stayed home, as did the Teen. She was joining us for lunch on Saturday. I think she wanted to go out for a walk, but I had managed to get MOTH away from his desk to join me to watch Transporter 3.

Saturday morning was raining and I thought it would last all day. Which would have been typical! It had cleared by lunch time and the day turned out to be beautiful. A lovely breeze blew as we sat near the chosen venue and waited. Rob was also meeting a cousin he hadn't see for some time. He hoped he recognised him!

It seemed he was running late. And when he did finally step through the door, phwoar! He's a personal trainer. Buff!

Saturday night was quiet as the Teen headed off to Wogboy's place. She didn't take her wallet. Heaven forbid - Wogboy's mother might try to get her out in the car.

Sunday, Sunny dropped by. We had a date to work on his tax. I had suspected it might take a while, depending on how much I had to read/research. It didn't take anywhere near as long! We got it finished and lodged; went to have lunch, and he napped. The Teen and I dragged ourselves along the way to the shops so she could buy hair dye for her extensions. They arrived earlier in the week. Her bribe? If you come with me I will buy you a chocolate!? Well, okay. I couldn't argue with that.

Sometime later, I went to sit in the rumpus room to read. Sunny was still napping in there as well, and the Teen was colouring her hair. Sunny awoke and I watched him for a while untill the Teen came in. She plonked herself down and spoke. Sunny twitched but didn't say anything. Then I replied, and he just about died. Heh. *evil grin* The Teen smiled. I was looking all over for you too she said, looking at me. Then proceeded to point out a blister she was developing, telling me it hurted and she wanted it popped. I wouldn't do it though, but did kiss a finger and put the kiss on her sore blisser...

MOTH decided to shift the remaining packaging from the desk. I had shifted a big one earlier that had fallen during the night and was blocking the front door. From the rumpus room, I heard him drop it; Sunny mumbled something. A pause, then Sunny spoke again; this time I got a clearer understanding of what he said. I went to the back door, and sure enough, MOTH had tripped going out the door and fallen. He was still laying on the ground and I was a little worried as he hadn't gotten up. He told me afterward that he had let himself go down as a preferred option against possibly breaking his ankle.

Pfft! No sense of adventure some people......

Please take a number from the reception desk!

Just lately, MOTH has been a little dissatisfied with his computer set up. Time for an upgrade says he!

Off he trundled to Sam's Warehouse - his fave shop for all things - and home he came with a flat pack. A desk no less. And a new chair. Since I was home sick that day, I decided to follow the assembly progress...



The stranges part was that ALL the holes were drilled in the right places. ANNND all the parts were there. Not bad for a cheap shop!









etc..... Now you have to walk past it to get to the back of the house. Please report to reception on arrival!

What was I SAYING?!

Did I rather foolishly mention something about summer? I take it back. Today is overcast and showers. Standing in the city waiting to cross the road, it truly felt like August. The wind was cutting; my face, ears and neck were freezing. I was wearing my one and only jumper with a jacket over the top. 3/4 sleeve knit top, lined skirt, stockings and sketchers.

Brrr!

The week has flown by. I've been devouring my books. And alas, I fear that may be detrimental. Like a drowning man, I've been grasping the books and of all that I have bought, most are finished. Well, perhaps I exaggerate slightly. I've finished two and three quarters; I have three left. Not to mention the one I borrowed from a workmate and finished on Saturday.

Ah. The joy of reading!

Most of the week has been prep for the return of the Mac. Well, no. The return of the Elder. Briefly. To collect belongings. Jawsome was also supposed to be returning but due to reasons to which I'm not privvy, had to delay.

The Teen lit out on Friday evening as is her usual. And returned Saturday morning to wait the arrival of the Elder. They were going to hang together. But Elder had been delayed by work matters. And alas, the Teen had to depart for a 21st birthday dinner before she arrived.

Saturday morning, I bit the bullet and decided that it was time to replace my favourite tote. It's a great size, I've had it for years, it always got comments but I can no longer use it without taking blood samples. Yes, the plastic on the outside is breaking and splitting. While that was happening on the bottom corners I could ignore it. Not now. The replacement is about the same size, has several zippers/pockets and is shiny red reptile print. I likes!

Late evening arrived, bringing with it the distinctive shound of Team Shitbox. Yes, it's still going!

We spent some time together then let her set herself up for the night. Around ten o'clock the doorbell went. The Teen had arrived back home after the dinner. She was very impressed with her meal....

Sunday morning, MOTH and I went out to Wogboy's new abode so Teen could collect her gear. I asked MOTH to come along so he could drive. He knows the way so much better than I you see. *beaming smile* We left Elder at home. She had stuff to pack you know!

Sunday afternoon, we three ladies lit out for the city. We had planned to see if we could book passage for the Teen to visit Elder on her turf during the school holidays. No such luck! The travel train office was closed. We thought it might be, but you never know. Turns out it only does business Monday to Friday.

Oh dear. Well, I shrugged. We'll just do it online when we get back home. Elder was starving so we decided to have foodage at Coffee Club. Where Elder's friend Ranga works. She's also one of my 'daughters'. I like her a lot. She's always cheerful and glad to see us.

Or so it appears....

Eventually after stuffing ourselves we managed to get up from the table to make a move home. But only made it as far as the dessert cabinet. Back to the table then! Elder had mudcake with cream and icecream. I think she got preferential treatment - she had more icecream than I did! I had key lime pie with cream and icecream. The Teen is watching her food intake, so she had a plain choc chip biscuit. Or maybe it was fig and pecan. I wasn't there when she chose it but she did mumble something about fig during our conversation. We spent a lot of time talking about strange things and laughing. I would love to know what snatches of our conversation were picked up by passing wait staff! Must have been good from some of the strange looks.

Time was getting on and it was time to head home. On the way back, we indulged ourselves kicking those hard seed pods that litter the ground this time of year. Someone went to kick one. The Teen or the Elder, I'm not sure which. And she missed. And staggered. I looked at one of the older ladies coming toward us. They were grinning. As was I.

Further down the street we approached the pub. There were three doormen lurking. And some random bloke walking toward us. He passed, and Teen turned behind him, making faces and waving her arms. When we finally stopped giggling, I looked up and one of the doormen had a smirk on his face. I leant toward the Teen. I think you were spotted. The Elder grinned. So it wasn't just me noticed that then, hey.

We arrived at the crossing; ready to push the button. I don't know what Teen had been smoking but she leaned forward to push it. With her head. Which apparently connected before she was ready. She heard the bang before she felt the hurt. I thought Elder was going to expire. She was laughing hard and gasping for breath at the same time. Luckily, there was no drool!

When we eventually calmed down we found our footsteps wandering past the Ed Hardy store. Teen noticed the OMG SALE sign and turned in. Just so we could look. The Elder had already dismissed a stop earlier in the afternoon; the opportunity had now arrived. There was some good looking stuff. And a totally great sale! Teen wanted to purchase. After some consideration of finances and spending money for the trip, she purchased a t-shirt. It was reduced to $50 - from $150. A good bargain.

On the way home she discovered she had drastically miscalculated and overspent. Oh dear! But what the heck! You, my dear, now own for the first time a proper brand label. And for cheaper than eBay. Well done!

Alas, that also meant she didn't have enough for the train tickets. *sighs* But hey! She has an Ed Hardy tee! We went online to book and pay for the tickets. It's travel during school holidays and you know how quickly those seats fill! We decided what dates she wanted to travel. We decided what times. I went to fill out the booking form. I added the leg for the return. Nope, it couldn't book one of the seats - mind it doesn't tell you which one, and you have to start over.

I started over. I changed the northbound date. I booked the northbound trip. I booked the southbound trip. Now it's telling me I have a student fare north, and an adult fare south. No! No, no, no! I have to start over. I do it again. Still! Student north, adult south. I have to start over. Bugger! This time I do one leg at a time. I book the northbound trip for the original date. Nope, not available. Dang. I start over. I book the northbound trip for the changed date. Yes! I decide I had better book the return. I book the southbound trip for the original date. Yes! Perfect. She has the journey booked. And I'm down $95. *kisses and soothes credit card* It just means I must find other monies for our dinner out on Thursday. *sigh*

Will have to let you know how that goes in my next update, won't I....

Hellooooo ... Summer!

How bad can it get I ask? Today's forecast is a top close the 30deg C. It's August! What will it be like when Summer truly arrives?

And now for something completely different....


This is the image of the engagement cake that I promised I would eventually post.

So. This last week. What can I say really? A week of indulgence. I do lead a simple life you know. It's all me Me ME!

Some time ago, I joined the book co-op on campus. And every so often, I'm obligated to actually purchase one of the things. Books. Not co-ops. I sighed. My wallet cried. And I pushed open the door.

I like it in there. It's almost impossible to find anything. Oh, it's all laid out neatly in its categories. But I never know what I want. I spent some time wandering around the shelves looking for a particular book which failed to advertise itself. It didn't. But lo! On the shelf was a paperback copy of Harry Potter's second volume *changes sentence from HP's number 2* which I no longer had. The Teen donated it to an aquaintance at school who never returned it.

While I was there, I thought I would grab John Connolly's The Lovers.

There. Obligation fulfilled.

And Friday afternoon, I was walking through the city on my way to the bus. Suddenly, my feet spun me off my course and detoured me down a side street. I blame my feet. What else could it possibly have been?

Right into Dymocks.

I wandered around the shelves in their new super small temporary store. And hey! Right there on the shelf is the book I couldn't find in the co-op book store. I checked the price and grabbed it. Hey. *shrugs* Books are my passion, but the wallet still rules. I went to step around the end of the shelf and did a double take. Whoa. One of the few authors I collect has a new book out. The start of a new trilogy. Ignoring the sound of my credit card frantically screaming, I took that one too.

So now I have three books to read. I knew I rearranged my bookshelf for a reason!

Saturday morning, I went out to the local shops with MOTH. Now there is something entertaining! *drips sarcasm* MOTH likes to amuse himself sitting and watching the world go by. I can handle it, but only for a short time. We'd already heard an ambulance racing up the street with siren blaring that morning. While on the road, we were keyed to another siren. Looking in the mirror, it turned out to be another ambulance! We moved over slightly and as we approached the traffic lights, ANOTHER ambulance moved through the red so the siren sounding one could pass. There, says MOTH, even other ambulances get out of the way.

Later that day, another went past the house. Lights flashing, but no siren....

Busy day somewhere!

The rest of Saturday was spent lazing about, playing the Sims. For the first time in ages. The Teen was not home to steal my laptop. Sunday was more of the same, with a bit of washing, sweeping and mopping thrown in.

*man! someone has a hot lunch and boy does it smell good!*

Sunday afternoon I was a tad restless. I wanted out of the house but where could I go? It's not like I could jump in the car and head off for the beach. *note to self: find close places to drive to that might be nice this time of year!* Not long after, the Teen called me. Do you want to come pick me up? I'm at Wogboy's new place.

w00t! Something to do on an otherwise altogether lazy weekend.....

Wish it were a nightcap!

What a week it's been.

I think I blogged most of the journey midway through the week. And it was good to see people I haven't seen for ages.

The amount of time that had passed between visits was staggering. You don't think of it until you step back and take stock. The last time we had seen most people was Uncle D's 60th birthday. Approximately 10 years ago.

One of the cousins that the Elder had played with at that time now seems to have kids of his own. *they breed 'em young out there* Kids who were teenagers then now have multiple kids of their own. I don't know who is who anymore. And this time, I felt like I was an outsider; all of them know each other and all the young ones keep in touch.

I had also made sure I spent money on getting mobile internet for my laptop. There were three of us going to be using it so I thought Yes. I would finally do it. It was $149 upfront, including $10 worth of credit. I recharged for an extra $60 for 750MB. That lasts 30 days and I thought it might do for all of us while we were away. Especially the Teen. You know how they get when they can't be in constant contact with the world. I had checked and our carrier did not do anything except telephony out there.

And you know, we didn't even use up the $10 credit. MOTH was on for a couple minutes before bedtime, and so was the Teen. I used it the most. And even then, not much.

Friday was spent catching up on the housework that didn't get done earlier in the week. Washing. Mountains of it. Dusting. The usual. And as I stood looking at the floor I thought, This is it. I am definitely going to buy myself a new mop.

Saturday morning I did it. Yes. I dragged MOTH to Bunnings. Anyone who knows me knows that this is a HUGE deal. I do NOT do hardware stores. Ever. Well ... usually. But they were bound to have a better range than the supermarket.

And I found something. A sabco broom that doubles as a mop. It has static furry stuff for the sweeping and microfibre for the mopping. Damp mopping and wet mopping. I haven't tried that side yet. Saturday I tried the dry sweeping. It picks up most stuff - dirt and hair - but solid heavy stuff still needs the dustpan. But I think that's ok.

While I was there we wandered around the gardening section. I stopped to buy a couple of herbs. I have a spot picked out in the garden, cleared it of weeds but not bought herbs to put in there. So this time, I did. Italian parsley and basil. And a new plant for the front garden. Something spikey with coloured foilage. I can't remember what it is, but it is shaped like one of those old fashioned Happy Plants, but doesn't grow tall like that. It has silver and green 'stripes' on the leaves.

Saturday night was the engagement party of an old neighbour. He is wheelchair bound and has finally met the girl for him. She is also on wheels. She seems very capable. Pretty, feminine but definitely with a sharp edge! The cake was lovely. A mud cake with fondant icing. It was shaped like a ring box, with a blue satin cusion and a large ring on top. The satin was also icing.

It was good to catch up with his parents. Since we've moved, we don't get to see them very often. Also attending were some old neighbours from further up the street and the Spanish couple who really held our end of the street together socially. They are a whole pot of fun. *yes, that is pot, not lot. or should i say wine bottle?*

Sunday I was up early and checking out the things I had planted. Wha?? Looks like SOMETHING had a party on my parsley! There weren't very many leaves left of the poor little things. Plenty of stalks though. The basil, on the other hand, looked just fine.

Off to Bunnings again for more plants. Oh, and a sausage inna slice of bread. This time I came home with a couple of strawberry plants, two azaleas, some lavender, chives and an african daisy. My gardens don't get a lot of sun so it's hard to choose something that will work. The herbs are in the second sunniest spot. I think. The lavender and the daisy are in the very front garden. It gets the afternoon sun, and I think it's the patch exposed to the sun the longest. The strawberries and the azaleas are around the back. The Teen wanted something pretty to look at out her back window. That area gets limited sun; mostly late morning.

Fingers crossed everybody. Cause heaven knows, I don't got green thumbs and they're going to need all the help they can get....

Part ... Duex

We had arrived a little earlier than anticipated. After much consideration on my part, midday sounded like a good plan. Here it was, 10.30am and we were ready to check in.

We took a drive down the main street to see what had changed. Or more likely, what hadn't. Mellors was still there! *a clothing store that had been there since Adam was a boy* Ooo look. A bronze statue I don't recall from last time proundly pronounced the Gayndah Jockey Club. It was, ironically enough, a jockey on a horse. I thought to myself that I would have to come back and photograph that. And hey! That's a gorgeous stained glass looking design in front of one of the buildings. I think it was promoting Gayndah. I would have to come back and photo that too. I wasn't driving, so we didn't actually stop to look at anything. What happened to that old tradition of parking and walking down the street, I ask you!

Needless to say, we didn't get back to take photos!

We checked in at the motel, and they were happy to have us. Even if we were early. And the rooms were a very pleasant surprise. I was expecting someting very old and shabby. But although they were very basic, they were quite well appointed. And you know, even the pool looked tempting!


The only other person to have checked in at that point had the room at the end of our block. The woman on reception asked if we were related. I had no clue - the name wasn't familiar. I found out afterward that she was Renae, Darryl's daughter.

After we had loaded our gear into the room an eaten our complimentary mandarines, hammed it up for the camera and taken stock of our surroundings, I decided to look at the local attraction The Big Orange. Right next door to the motel.



There is the orange itself, attached to a small tea and souvenir shop. You can walk inside the orange and look at some of the history painted on the walls. Of course you are welome to sign the guest book. I didn't, but as I glanced, I noticed it had been signed by Sophie, from France. She had been fruit picking and seemed to have enjoyed herself.


In truth, there wasn't much to see. I wandered back to the motel. Ma and Pop eventually arrived along with Uncle C and his better half, and Uncle G and his other half as well.

The time to head off arrived and I had had to text a sibling to find out the address of the church! *shakes head* The day has turned out to be warm and somewhat sticky. Not cold at all. I signed us in while they searched for seating. Where had they seated themselves? I couldn't see them in the crowds. Eventually I found them. Right at the back and tucked into a corner. We sat there for a short time. I suggested we move to the Reserved for Family area. There were so many people, they had to open the annex to allow access to the rest of the seating. We moved.

I wasn't game enough to go to the casket. And no one else had either. Not even anyone else from the family. It was golden oak with silver handles. A huge arrangment of flowers, purple, yellow, and some Australian natives sat in the centre, with Dud's favourite hat and his stockwhip. A slideshow of photographs played in the background along with Slim Dusty. A photograph of Dud stood next to his hat.

I thought I would be okay. Then Walt led Jeff to the seat in front of me and I knew I wouldn't make it. Luckily I had waterproof mascara! Jeff broke down sobbing and Walt led him outside. I was alright after that.

The service was led by Pastor David Jack.

Billy - Dud's son - spoke of Dud growing up; Richard - Judy's son - spoke of Dud joining them. Billy hesitated on a couple of words; Richard became shaky. He made reference to the church youth groups Dud had led, and read a note from one of the backpackers Dud had befriended. Her name was Sophie. She was French.

A guest Pastor who knew Dud and Ruby very well also spoke and read a poem that Ruby had written many years ago about Dud and his friends growing up. They were typical larrikins!

After the service, the Pastor asked on behalf of the family that we move quickly to the cemetary and that greetings be saved for the hall where light refreshment would be served. We trickled out following the casket and indeed the service did move quickly up the hill to the graveside. Pastor David committed the casket to the ground while people filed past. And it was over. He disappeared shortly after that and gradually people moved off to the Gayndah Bowls club where refreshement was to be served.

So many people! It was a veritable crush; standing room only. We drifted a little, somewhat at a loss. I don't know most of these people! Even the relatives. I couldn't identify most of them.

I discovered later that I had missed most of the photo oppotunities because most of the family had moved out the back to the bowling green and were talking out there. One of the big disadvantages in not constantly keeping in touch is that you feel like an outsider when everyone meets. All the others know who everyone else is.

Christine came to fetch me. *nearly called her christine m till i realised there were 2 christine ms!* Apparently they were doing a cousins photo. I'm thinking that if she hadn't fetched me for this, I wouldn't really have been missed.

It took a long time to find individual family members I knew and chat quickly to them!

But because I had been called to the cousins photo, I actually managed to be in the right place for a family photo!

Tomorrow today

So where was I up to?

Ah yes. We decided to take the Burnett Highway rather than the Bruce. Google told me it was at least half an hour quicker that way.

'Karen' - MOTH's pet GPS - was all programmed up and we were ready to be off. It was 6am. I think Karen might have still been a little sleepy; she told us to take the Brisbane Valley Highway about 5 metres before the turn. I happened to be looking that direction and saw the sign. Whoops! We had to do a Uturn and go back.


Car fun. Now why doesn't this camera have an image stabliser? Even my darned phone has one of those!

We passed through Wivenhoe and Esk


And wound through the ranges. And I think that was where I left off yesterday. We passed an accident around Blackbutt in the ranges there. A truck had gone over the side. I had heard about it on the radio but had forgotten about it. It had happened, apparently, at around 1am. They were doing forensics at 8am when we went through. I didn't have my camera ready. Luckily, the driver had been rushed to Esk hospital *Esk has a hospital??* so I took that as a good sign, rather than off to Brisbane.

We made good time. Much better than MOTH was thinking we would. While MOTH took a wee break at Goomeri, I staggered out of the car and sat on a bench at the service station.


And we arrived....

Mobile. At last...

I'm sitting in the car as I type this. Somewhere out back of beyond it seems. Somewhere out past Esk. After a rather spectacular sunrise



the temperature dropped quite considerably and I am FREEZING.

Mind, by the time this uploads it might very well be midday!

We've been through Wivenhoe, and a little spot named Esk. Argh. My signal has dropped out again. I'll update later today, or maybe perhaps tomorrow. When I'm not having to rely on an intermittent signal.

Dessert. The most important meal of all.

Not that I'm sayin' that MOTH is dessert, but the dessert pic looked a bit lonely by itself....

Remine ... remenes ..... remembering old things....

This morning I was excited and happy. My spirits soared at the thought of a new adventure. The bus missed it's turn off and as we headed up the busway and it missed another possible point for turn around I thought w00t! A cross country trip.

But it turned out that the new busway is open...

I must have missed the fanfare somewhere. Ok, so I don't follow the news much, but I thought there would have been SOME announcement. The new trip did take us a little way cross country into almost virgin territory. Well, some bus would have been there before us, but hey, it was new to me. And maybe even, if I hadn't had my nose stuck in my Harry Potter novel, I might have even looked up and seen a bus on the new way as I had passed beneath it earlier.

But I digest. I'm supposed to be providing an entertaining wrap up of the week just gone. Or something.

This was the week of the test for the Teen. We fronted up to the surgery on Wednesday for the test; the Teen has been suffering from a chest infection which is lingering. I had to postpone the orginal test as the medication would have played with the results of the test. So, off to the surgery and boy. What a mood. I put it down to the fact she was nervous. After a short while, our turn came and she was called up for a weigh in and height check. She was so very less than impressed with the weigh in. She informed me it was close to Wogboy's. *shrugs* I'm sure the weight she was expecting is like, child level, and she IS no longer a child.

So the Holter device was attached, and they ran a test to have something to measure it against. Typical, the reading came back in the range of normal. For those not in the know, a Holter test is a mobile ECG. You have the dots/leads attached and you wear a small over the shoulder harness which holds the monitor. She had to wear it for 24 hours. MOTH had one many years ago, just after his heart attack. Mind the size of the monitor has changed. A LOT! Oh, they also gave her a small form where she was to note anything strange, an event, so they could check it afterward.

Wednesday afternoon, she mentioned she had lost the diary. D'oh!

Thursday we headed back to have it removed. No worries. The young chap who removed it asked if there had been any events. She said there was, but we'll wait and see about results.

$200 later and all is finished and detached. Except adhesive residue and complaints about itching. And then I found the diary.

Friday night Wogboy was going to be staying. When I arrived home, MOTH informed me that Teen had gone out, but he didn't know if she would be back. *shakes head* Sometimes I wonder that he can find his own way down the hall. I went to find out what was going on, and there was a text message to tell me that she would be gone for the weekend.

Which suited me fine. I actually had somewhere to be on Saturday.

Saturday we had been invited to a work bbq, held for a colleague who has been in the office on a short term contract. He's been there just over two weeks now, and will be returning to the Netherlands at the end of next week. It's been a very fast 4 weeks! We rocked up at lunch time; as usual, the first ones to arrive. Except the bloke who bought the protein. And we even arrived after the start time.

There was a pretty decent turn out, and most of them were people I have a lot of fun with. MOTH likes them too - he tells me they always make him feel welcome. There was plenty of food. And for something to do, I even took a photo of the desserts. Perhaps I will upload it. It's on the home computer though.

Sunday I didn't do much. MOTH went out for the usual bread and paper stuff. I stayed home. I did the washing and got it all pegged out. I looked at the floor and decided it needed some work. But couldn't quite bring myself to plug in the vacuum cleaner.

This morning while suspended in that twilight just between sleeping and waking, I came to the conclusion that I know why everyone is having so much trouble with chest complaints this year. Even I'm coughing a lot. And I don't think it necessarily has much to do with the fact it's a rough flu season. While I was attempting to tidy a little, I actually used the dustpan and brush. I had to clean up the 'potato dirt' that had accumulated on the floor in front of the pantry where the potatoes live. And as I swept it into the pan, the angle of the sun showed me how much DUST was actually circulating with each sweep of the brush! An amazing amount. COPIOUS amounts. And each sweep set it swirling into the air. I have noticed the house is terrible to keep clean. One morning, I swept the same area three times and still kept finding bits that seemed to have missed the broom, and by the time I finished, it didn't look like I had done anything at all.

So this morning, I swiped the pledge duster around the floor. Perhaps I need to consider getting one of those things that pick up the dust instead of pushing it about. *sigh* I hate housework.

And on the way up to the office this morning, I watched a girl walking along the path in front of me. The way her converse lowtops scuffed across the ground as she walked. And it brought back memories of the way we scuffed through the schoolgrounds in our gymboots and sandshoes. And playing 'lastics in our lunchhours for weeks on end...

Strange weather we've been having here. The mornings are freezing - I can see my breath when I haul arse to the bus stop. If I choose to look on the bright side, it's good to have that affirmation that I'm actually alive early in the mornings.

But I'd much rather be in bed.

The days turn out balmy, then the afternoons cool again. Until, by the time I'm ready to leave the office, it's cold again when I'm off to the bus stop.

I'm rather reptilian in my weather habits *quiet you!* I love the sun. But only if it's not too hot. I hate the cold. My blood freezes and I can't get warm. Often, during winter, you'll find me standing in a patch of sun in front of the window. As the ice in my veins thaws a little. Summer time, I'd rather stand in cold water; even wallowing in the mud sounds preferable to putting up with the heat...

*ouch! swallowed too much of the soup i'm lunching on*

So how to cover what, all in all, has been a quiet week?

Now that all have vacated, I offered the Teen the chance to swap bedrooms. Only if she wanted to. And she didn't think she would. MOTH had been doing some patchwork on the walls. When Sunny and Judah moved on, they took their artwork with them. Along with some of the paint. Stupid double sided tape.

So he'd been patching. It wasn't quite finished, but Teen decided good enough! She shifted all her furniture. I shrugged. Fair enough. MOTH shook his head. And I moved all the ironing stuff clogging up the small room that is supposed to be a study into the vacated bedroom. Now all I have to do is remember that I no longer have to walk the length of the house with the laundry basket. Nearly done it a couple of times too!

I had mentioned that when it was clear, I would transform the study into a study. That left MOTH free to move things. *he loves doing that* When I returned from work on Friday, it was all done. The desk had migrated with, he informed me, Judah's help. Judah has been borrowing the phone to try get an internet connection for them sorted. I discovered that the only place to put the desk was back to the door. Uh oh. No where else without losing precious space that is! But I did a wee bit of research, and apparently it's not so bad if you aren't directly in line with the door. Luckily for me, the door is not in the middle of the wall so I moved the desk. Sweet. And then I have to fill it with things I love. So, I have a white bookcase *not loved* with some books *loved* some junky bits that my travellers bring back from overseas *loved* some old toys *loved* a single couch from the suite *not loved* with a sheet and an old red cushion *not loved!* And now my study is complete. I like being in there, and I guess that's the whole purpose, right?

I'm disappearing out my own existence!

I liked that Yellow Submarine movie. I wouldn't mind seeing it again. Just for something different.

Quite a bit has been on the agenda this week.

I stayed home a couple of days early in the week. Monitoring the Elder. Apart from one minor brain explosion, she went really well. *is proud*

Sometime on the Sunday I believe, she was working on her jobsearch stuffs, and just for something to do, applied for a position in a different town. Nothing would come of this one but what the heck.

Monday we went shopping because there was something burning a hole in her wallet and there is nothing like a dash of retail therapy the help one along. Her phone rings in the middle of Sanity and she ducks out to answer it. The music in that shop is a little loud, but hey, it's Michael Jackson so who cares.

She came back and said, You know that job? They've just offered me an interview. Ulp! So, the logistical nightmare - how do we deliver her on time to get to the interview? We abandoned the therapy and dashed home. And I mentioned to MOTH, why don't you drive her and you can visit your mother while you are there.

He didn't bat an eyelid. Some quick calls were made and they were frantically packing. The Elder was explaining the phone call. The caller found out where she lived, and weren't keen on giving her an interview time after all. Because she lived so far away, and it was an awful long way to come just for an interview. *helloo! in this economic climate, any interview slot is a good one! duh!* They gave her a time though, and asked her to call if she couldn't make it. Hence the fuss and rush to get there.

So Tuesday morning, somewhere about mid morning they left. Return due for Thursday.

The days they were away were deathly quiet. Only the Teen and I existed in our own little universe. And like Gods, we got to spend our time our way, and eat what we wanted when we wanted. The Teen had been off sick for the first couple of days back to school, so I had to return to work on Wednesday and leave her at home. She wasn't phased. I didn't for one second think she would be. *smiles* But we did manage to finish off the prawns that were taking up space in the freezer. She and I are the only ones who eat them. They were an impulse buy at $6 a kilo at the end of the shopping night in the supermarket.

On Wednesday night, I got a call. Guess what! What? I've got the job! Really? No wai! Yes wai. And guess what? What? I start on Tuesday! Holy hell! She had the interview Wednesday morning. Wednesday afternoon they asked her to come back and meet the store manager. That night they told her she had a start. So much for not wanting to offer her an interview time.

So what now? That gave her two days to organise accommodation. Her bestie friend has a family and no room. Her grandparents are overcrowded so we didn't even go there. Her aunty has no room either. Mouse and Grandma thought it darned silly to come up for a job without accommodation.

But why would you organise accommodation just to attend a job interview? When there is no guarantee you'll get the job, and the Government will penalise you most severely if you move from your current location to a place that offers less job opportunites. Who expected she would get a job from somewhere she applied for just as a spur of the moment thing to add a name to her list?

But congratulations Elder! I'm hoping you will really enjoy your work.

So it was back home Thursday and try to organise things for a Sunday departure. Luckily a male friend who lives by himself was willing to put her up for a while. That was a relief. And a person I never even thought of asking.

Friday I was at work, and she bummed about a bit. I don't remember what she did, but there was a LITTLE bit of packing in there.

Saturday I had plans to catch a movie. I had asked the Elder to go with me. No point asking the Teen. She's never home. So we caught the bus to the cinema. It's not the closest, but it is the cheapest. And it's IMAX so we timed our session to catch the movie on the 25 metre screen. We found seats - up the back of course - and watched people stream in. We had thought that the 09:30 screening on a Saturday wouldn't be that busy. We were wrong. While we waited for the movie, the Elder noticed someone who looked familiar. It was my best friend and her family! I haven't seen them for some months. We just don't seem to be able to coordinate ourself. She spotted us and we waved at each other.

The movie was Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I knew the plot. I knew it was coming. And still I cried. I hate to see a grown man cry and I started to lose it a bit then. I lost it properly when he died. And I knew it was coming....

After the movie, my friend waited for me and we all decided to go for coffee. As we came down the stairs to exit the cinema, they announced that all the Harry Potter screenings for the remainder of that day were sold out! Soooo glad we chose the early session!

I hadn't been to this coffee house before. It was expensive, but it was really nice. The coffee cups are huge. You get the cup, a jug of coffee and a jug of hot water. I guess a jug of milk too, but the woman had ordered a long black. And you mix it the way you want. I had a spider, so I got a tall glass of icecream and the softdrink in a jug. We also had a plate of tiny gourmet cookies with a creamy chocolate dipping sauce. I think I'd go there again.

And a quick trip into the city to the movies turned into a full scale almost all day outing.

Home again and the Elder started doing some serious packing. Not serious enough though because she was still packing late into the night. I did give her some help, but not that much. I wasn't sure what she was going to be taking. Sunday morning, at 03:00 she and MOTH were up. MOTH never went to bed. She was still packing last minute stuff, and MOTH was loading the car. She managed to get away at 04:00.

So we are back to three in the house. It's so very, very quiet.

I think I'm disappearing out my own existence...