Lost, and hopefully found

I don't like Mondays. Really I don't. But I don't really want to shoot it down. That takes too much effort. In middle of my trek from the carpark to the office I came across a family of wood ducks. The grounds are full of birdlife. This family was on the walkway, and making several pedestrians slow their pace. Mother, father and 5 very fluffy yellow and brown ducklings. Mum and dad jumped the path edging and up to the grass, followed by 4 of the little ones. One was a little smaller than the others and didn't make the jump. It ran further down the path as the rest followed it, calling encouragement. We'd stopped by then, Zman, myself and someone just outside my peripheral vision.

It tried again. And lo! Success. How cute! the voice behind me comments as she walks past. I could take a lesson from this about perseverance, or possibly being cute, but hey it's Monday and I don't like Mondays. They really were cute though.

I see a girl get on the bus the same time I do. She chooses the seat in front of me. The fringe of her dark hair is pulled back. She pulls the rest back into a high ponytail. Then she combs the tail. She pulls it out and puts it up again. She pulls it all out, combs it and puts it up again. She grubs around in her bag. A compact is found and she checks her face and repairs her makeup. She pulls her hair out and puts it up again. She pushes the contents of her bag again and this time lathers lotion on her arms and hands. For heaven's sake girlie, this is NOT your bathroom! Get yourself organised BEFORE you go out in public. Most of us don't like to watch you toilet yourself. Sheesh! She redoes her hair. Just before she gets off at her stop, she pulls it all out again.

It's only been a 10 minute bus ride....

Sometime during the week I get a call from the Elder. She and Subs are no longer together and she wants to come home. Things haven't been the best between them for some time and we've been gently hinting to her that a separation might be the best thing for her and she should come home. The black dog follows this one, and we hope that by moving home we might be able to help her start to keep the dog at bay. She's busy beginning to make arrangements.

A storm came through late afternoon on Thursday. I had to make a quick trip to the bathroom down the hall. What? The rain is splashing through the louvres. I get wet.

Saturday morning I realise that we've not got anything for any treat seeking missiles this weekend. We don't always get them but you can guarantee that if we don't, they'll arrive in droves. The budget is very small and when I get to the supermarket, most of the cheap stuff is gone. There are actually empty spaces on the shelves. Still plenty of the expensive stuff left! *read multipacks of freddos, milky bars etc*

None turned up Saturday night - I would have thought they would be out then being school following Sunday and all.

Just before bed I get a text from the Teen. Skywalker has accidentally knocked her iPhone out of her hand and the screen has 'shattered'. She doesn't know what to do. Frankly, neither do I but since she can still use it we'll look at it on Monday. How she asks? MOTH will look at it when he goes up to help the Elder.

It's been determined that MOTH will help with a hired ute. I'll be 'baching' for a couple of days. Haven't slept by myself or come home to an empty house for what feels like a couple of years. Shall be interesting. I'm thinking I'll be so bored I'll be scrubbing walls. If not climbing them.

Sunday lunch we popped out to Bestie's house. Things were a little tense for a bit as her disposal unit had kicked the bucket and hubby was out looking for spare parts. He tried to fix it when he got back but with little success I think. He left it be and things relaxed. The lunch was basic yet lovely. Marinated chicken, salad, steak and boston baked beans. Delicious. wound up when she left to take the little takkers out trick or treating before it got dark.Home now and relaxing before the onslaught of the missiles. I'm hoping they don't turn up and we get to eat the lollies ourselves...

Planes, trains and automobiles.

Have you ever lain awake at night listening to the hoons race up and down your street? First they roar one direction, then they roar the other. I often wish they'd run into a tree or a pole, but the unfortunate thing is that type of driver never seems to take out themselves. It's usually a mate or an innocent driver minding their own business.

I think every idiot on the road went past at some point last night.

It's been a slow quiet week this week.

Monday evening, Zman went to a Metallica concert at the entertainment centre. You'd better catch a bus into work tomorrow - I've no idea what time I'll be home says he. So I do. This morning I decide to walk up the hill to the other bus stop. I have two to choose from. I usually pick the closer one, being the lazy thing that I am. This morning I'm feeling a little more energetic, so I take the 15 minute walk up the hill.

I'm daydreaming and I hear a bicycle bell ring twice behind me. It gives me warning and without turning I move to the left. He goes past me without rushing - an older gentleman, not some fool who thinks he's a car. Wish they were all that polite.

Whoops. I had a travel information session for work today I was supposed to attend. I'd forgotten to put it in my calendar, and I'm reminded by Admin2. There is still plenty of time to attend as it hasn't started yet; I've used the system plenty of times so there is very little that I would be learning. And it's not the coffee session where they hand out some freebies. I don't end up going.

Zman decides to leave work a little early. We're dropping the car off at the service centre tonight as they'll want it early for service tomorrow. He's hoping they will give him a decent car for a loaner. He gives me the directions and says I can navigate. Oh lovely. He has no street directory and only something he's printed from the web which contains some limited directions and a couple of small sections of map that show only the corner where he needs to turn. Luckily, it turns out that Zman has some idea of where he needs to go already. I'm off the hook.

The loaner car turns out to be a ford Mondeo. It's very comfortable. Zman declares he hates it. It starts with a key! I think it's because it's not Zippy. Yes, he's named his car. I tell him that'l like calling a rottweiler Fluffy. He disagrees. And they've given it to him with the fuel light on. He has to put fuel in it to even get home.

The following morning he concedes that if he were looking for a nice family car, the Mondeo would do very well. But he still hates it.

That afternoon we leave early again to collect Zippy. All seems fine. But then Zman notices a white patch on the guard - THEY'VE SCRATCHED HIS CAR!! He's FURIOUS! They try to tell him that it was already there, but he's having none of it. I'm standing a short way off and I'm not sure of the outcome, if any. We get in the car and drive off, Zman cursing. Took it for a test drive. Yeah he says, A 30KM TEST DRIVE! He's a quiet furious though, so I spend a fair deal of my time quietly laughing to myself. I can tell he's so angry he can barely articulate it. Although he articulates well enough to flip the bird at a tailgaiter.

He's busily apologising.

Thursday morning he's still apologising. And still vowing he'll never take it back there again. If they don't cough up and fix the scratch - it means a full recoat of the special finish on the entire guard - he'll escalate to Ford Australia.

Friday morning and I decide not to go to work. I seem to be taking a lot of sick days lately. I'm feeling very run down, lacking motivation. Being dissatisfied with my job doesn't help with the motivation either. I'm stuck there because I think I want to move on, but I would like to stay with the University. They pay well, conditions are pretty good and the super is great. There is very little on the job board though to tempt me to apply. I want to finish the conference project I'll be working on till May 2011. So I stay where I am.

Friday night is fish in a garlic cream sauce. It's divine. The fish is perfect, light, white, flakey and just cooked. The sauce is the same one I used for the garlic prawns and again is rich, but not enough to overpower the fish. Which may be why MOTH isn't as impressed as I. It's fish, he says. Not his favourite dish but he eats it because he knows he should. Next time we have fish it will be in the form of fish fingers so he had better like those - they're crumbed....

Inspection is coming up next Tuesday so this weekend is spent tidying up the yard. Well, MOTH did that. I've been taking a duster to the cobwebs in the ceiling corners. Not an easy task, I'm short and the ceilings are 9 feet high. Thank heavens for extender handles! There is still one corner I can't reach above and behind MOTH's television, so I've left that for him.

More of the same today, but this time the fans. How dare they collect so much dust!

I'm confused. No wait ... maybe I'm not.

Just lately I seem to be busy. Not a good busy or a great busy, just ... busy.

After all the rain last week, it begins to ease off. The yard is soggy but at least there is a little sun. I've decided to cook some mustard cream chicken dish. Slightly modified of course as the original recipe is for pork. Two tablespoons of mustard hey. Well, the dijon should do for that ... ... wait a minute! I don't have any left. Ok, let's try the powder. I'm down to a mere sprinkle there too. And the seeded has a teaspoon left. What gives! I've usually got mustard everywhere. The only one left is ... hot english. Don't think I'll use two tablespoons of that.

I've downloaded a game patch this week. And wondering if it's the same one as last week. A friend assures me that perhaps it won't all download again, it will just pick out what I don't have from last time. It still takes a while though. I can't back out of it either. Whew. Wishing I hadn't done that. Gameplay is shocking. And it seems I'm not the only one with trouble either.

I'm riding the bus home on Thursday evening. It's not raining and I see a girl out riding. Her bicycle is the same shade of pink as her tshirt! What are the chances? Not far in front of her are two other riders. And flying frantically in front of them is a pale headed rosella. He finally dives off into the trees and I wonder what it looked like from the cyclists perspective.

It's sunny today on Friday. MOTH has finally been able to mow the lawn. I suddenly realise I've not yet mended the shirt that Judah dropped off for me some weeks ago. The job is so small, yet it's so difficult to start.

I'm chatting to someone and we're talking about cross stitch. I've not done any for years and have thought about getting back into it. I've told her I would look through my stuff - you know, that stuff that never seems to get unpacked after a move - and see if I can find it. It's nearly finished and I'd like to place that last thread.

Gameplay is improving. I've read through forums trying to find information. Don't you love it when you have to research before you can play a game?? It seems that you can access the game before all the updates are fully installed and perhaps that was the problem? It's still not perfect but better than previous.

Friday night I light a candle for the lost babies. It burns for an hour, but I've only a tea light. I've used it to kindle the scented wax. I've not lost a baby, but I know some who have...

http://www.mamamia.com.au/weblog/2010/10/stillbirth.html

Saturday dawns and it's like the wind has blown the sun across the sky. I've wandered out to the kitchen; instead of shining with intense ferocity directly through the window the beams slant obliquely across the grass. The wind pushes the palms and the trees about, the clouds are light and white. The sky is blue, the air is clear. I hope it continues like this - it's going to be a beautiful day.

I pop out to the shops, including *gasp* Bunnings. But that's alright, I'm only visiting the gardening section. My purchases today amount to some coriander plants, parsley plants and lemon grass. Most importantly, Cadbury strawberries and cream. Mmmmm.

I shift the ladder to begin looking for the cross stitch. I'm standing there, looking up at the boxes most of which are about level with the top of the ladder. No, I don't think I'm wanting to finish that cross stitch after all.

For something different Sunday I shall do a roast for lunch. While it's cooking, I've washed the glass outdoor table and 4 chairs. I shall leave the other setting for another time. I've pulled some weeds. Vacuumed and mopped the tiled floor. Done the washing. It's coming to 11.30 am and the roast is ready. Maybe a little more ready than I would have liked. After carving it's still tender, but a little dry. I think it was probably ready at 11, but I wasn't sure how long it would take. I've cooked it for 3 and a half hours on 150 deg C. It's still good though.

I've talked MOTH into setting up a television in the dining area. It's the only place left that has a co-axial connection. And I want to tape Sherlock. The series looks good but it's up against Bones. I've watched the first two episodes of Bones already, but really it's a no brainer.

I watch Sherlock this morning and it seems it's three movie length episodes, different stories each night. Over three consecutive nights. That's my viewing for the next couple of days sorted then...

Elvis, babies and wasting time.

Work has been a bit of a rush this week. One of the managers has asked me to put all aside and concentrate on completing a stocktake of all our hardware. This is a huge job. She would like it done by the end of the week. Mmmm. It's the following Monday and no, it's not yet complete.

It's Wednesday morning. Zman remarks that the traffic is heavy and seemed to be a bit slower than usual. Not that we are usually V8 supercar drivers. We get further down the road and the traffic seems to be merging into the inside lane. Uh oh. Yes, there it is. An accident between a old model ford like a fairlane and a new model holden astra. We can't see what happened but somehow the front wheels on the fairlane are out of alignment; the rear passenger side wheel of the astra is completely torn off. A paramedic is comforting the driver of the fairlane; someone has pulled up a little further down the road and a man is jogging back to the cars.

The astra remains in the middle of the lane with the hazard lights flashing. Everything looks to be under control and we continue.

It's only later as we we gossip about what we have seen that we realise there wasn't an ambulance in sight. The paramedic must have been one of the accident victims, perhaps on her way to or from work.

My immediate manager decided that we might spend some time in the mornings doing a tour of the Great Court, a large grassed area surrounded by sandstone buildings and archways. We take about half an hour to do three circuits. I'm hot and sweaty by the end of it, but I think that's more the weather than any effort on my part!

Thursday they were mowing the courtyard. Even though it's full of people. This patch of uni is VERY popular! The mower dude is tearing up and down, and we notice the witches hats in the middle of the ground. There in the middle of the hats is a plover. Standing tall, wings outstretched and yelling for all it's worth! The hats must mark a nest! The bloke on the mower just ignored the whole show.

For those not in the know, witches hats are a colloquial term for orange traffic cones.

We've got an early Christmas present from Ma. She insisted we open it. I love to wait and often will tuck my presents away until later in the day. This annoys the Elder and Teen no end. Anyway, she insisted we open it. We weren't sure at first - the box contained assembly instructions but no indication of what it actually was. Mmmmm. We scratched the label that she'd scribbled over and lo! It's a planter box.

It's raining still on Saturday. We spend Saturday morning wandering around Bunnings - in the rain - looking for things to put in it. Lots of potting mix, some gravel to line the bottom and some herbs. It looks good. If the herbs survive, I'm putting more in. I need lots of coriander and parsley! Come Sunday and it's STILL raining. It's been raining all night. We've got some smoking planned for the barbeque, but if the rain continues like this it might not be going ahead. I've got a new recipe for smoked pork ribs I want to try. It's been raining for so long, MOTH hasn't been near the garden. The lawn is racing ahead in leaps and bounds and let's not look at the weeds, shall we? I've lost the garden and all I see is dandelions and cobblers pegs. Wretched things. I'm out in the rain - it's only sprinkling at present - pulling weeds. The ground is muddy and I'm wearing gardening gloves. Not real ones, these are the leather heavy duty ones. My finger tips hurt by the time I've cleared a couple of small stops. No, I might have to wait, the job is too big.

I'm indoors now, and inspection is coming up at the end of month. I've polished mirrors in both bathrooms, cleaned off the benches and scrubbed a wall. I think that's enough for the day.

MOTH checks the recipe but we don't have all the ingredients. We substitute the cajun seasoning with bush spices. We're set up and ready to go. But here's a word from the wise - if the recipe calls for 3kg of pork ribs and you're only working with 1kg, shorten the cooking time to suit, yes? The ribs were very over done; crispy and dry. But in one or two places they were not. And delicious there to boot.

Today is up early. MOTH has been scheduled for day surgery. No breakfast for him and because of the timing no breakfast for me either. We're on our way to the hospital and it's 05:45. It's still raining. Heavy with squalling gusts of wind. We find a park and fingers crossed, sit in the car waiting for it to die down. Fifteen minutes later and no such luck. The brolly is in the car boot of all places. Sigh. We grab it and made a damp dash for the entrance.

Among other patients is a heavily pregnant woman. A little eavesdropping establishes she's in for a cesarean. Her partner walks in. Whoo! It's ELVIS! Late 70s style, with long dark hair and full sideburns. Although dressed in shirt and jeans, not a sparkle to be seen.

Eventually MOTH is seen and we head off for the pre-op clinic rooms. We check in, find a seat and wait. And wait. And wait. Eventually, his name is called along with two others. We're sorry they say. Clinic has been cancelled and your appointment has been rescheduled. What?? Apparently there is quite a number of staff who couldn't make it in that day.

So now we wait another month. The only upside is that I get another day off work.....

Oh, and Elvis had a baby girl....

Flight plans. But not mine alas!

The weeks just fly by these days. I blink, they're gone and I'm left wondering what it was I actually managed to accomplish.

A lot of nothing methinks!

Monday. I'm home sick with a headcold. A bad one, and the medication takes a while to kick in. Like up to 48 hours. Sigh. I'm discovering that day time television doesn't offer much by way of viewing and my selected viewing is Magnum PI. Rockford Files. Knight Rider. Gosh, The Hoff was easy on the eye back then. The Teen has a friend over this afternoon. He is here quite often when she visits. She is happy because I've told her we will take her home on the weekend. One of the friends brings me in a drink. Apparently it has a name which I have forgotten, but involves vodka, raspberry and lemonade. It's making my head swim.

Tuesday I'm home sick as well. Arrrrgh! I spend a lot of time sleeping. Getting to the end of the day and things are calming down a little.

Wednesday is crunch day. Do I go to work or the doctor and get a medical certificate? Well, it's only a cold and they can't do much to help me. Except give me the certificate. I go in and snuffle and sneeze my way through the day. The sneezing has calmed a bit from yesterday and I'm dosing myself on the cold tablets pretty regularly. My workmates don't seem particularly impressed to see me for some reason. I'm getting a lift with Zman so make myself stay for the whole day.

Thursday I decide that no, I'm going to stay home again. I'm still sniffling and they don't like sick people in the office! I should have stayed home yesterday. I've let work know that I will be away for the rest of the week. I didn't even bother to get out of my jammies. The bed looks tempting and I sneak back under the covers for a couple of hours.

We decide that we would head up to take the Teen home a day early. She's excited and can't wait. We plan to leave at midnight and I think I'll have a shower before I go to bed rather than at midnight. MOTH announces that he'll go for a bit of a kip before we head out. And there goes my option for a shower... *he's a VERY light sleeper. if i wake him, he won't get back to sleep* Somehow or another the Teen and I talk, facebook, chatter some more, watch television and now it's midnight. Dang. I've not had any sleep. MOTH is up and now I can have my shower.

I get first driving shift so I get to go through the city. With Karen of course. Danged if I'm doing that unassisted!

The trip is kinda long and boring. By the time you add in rest stops and driver changes, it clocks out to about 8 hours on the road. Jerome isn't travelling as well as he did the first time. I don't know if it's because it's night time or not. He's restless and calling, although in his harness but not the carry container.

At some point I see something standing on the side of the road. Or is it moving? *my eyes are shot for long distance. middle distance is ok though* We get closer and it's a dingo! Wow. First time I've seen one outside a zoo. He's long and lean, very sleek with a red tinted coat. Beautiful in a predator like fashion.

Friday I'm weary from lack of sleep. We visit with mum for a short time then head in to town to drop the Teen off home. She's happy to be back and tells me her housemate is too. We catch up with the Elder on the way and she joins us for a trip back to mums. I elect to go with her and MOTH heads off to visit friends while he's in town. He'll come back later. We go a different way and boy, there's some work been going on in town. Back roads! Linking suburbs! And landscaped and supposedly scenic too. Amazing. *but i'm not moving back!*

Mouse comes out to visit. It's good to catch up. Day's end and I'm falling asleep on the couch. I'm off to bed, but in typical fashion when I tuck myself in I'm not sleepy anymore.

Saturday night and we're out to dinner at the local CBD restaurant. We're waiting for first course and there is the Teen's best friend! He's come in with his family for a party, but he's not staying.

MOTH has mushroom soup for starters, the rest of us wait for mains. Mum chooses a chicken dish, Dad has prime rib, MOTH has chosen sole and I have beef medallions. They come as two, layered with something that may have been a type of mushroom and swiss cheese. No veges! I was disappointed because it was supposed to come with prawns as well. Oh, wait, there they are. There are two of them, hiding on the top of the medallions. MOTH loved his fish.

Dessert was worth the wait. A trio of chocolate mousse. White. Orange. Dark. Melt in the moth divine. The orange tasted like jaffa! It's almost a struggle to get it all in, but I managed. Whoo!

Sunday we're homeward bound. We leave mum's around mid morning with a quick dash into town to say goodbye to the girls. We drive the Elder over to pick up her car - left for the night at Sub's brother's place - then head off to see the Teen. She has a house full of friends who've crashed there for the night. We're introduced all round. We meet Pukas, her new squeeze. He's little!

We're on our way and have decided to head back via the Burnett Highway. To see how it goes. We're told the way is narrow, but you miss a lot of the heavy traffic.

Karen is fine with this until we hit the turn off and leave the main Bruce Highway. Then she is terribly confused and keeps trying to send us back to the Bruce. MOTH is having none of that and ignores her pleas to perform a u-turn when possible.

She's getting on my wick. He mutes the sound and we continue on our way. We've not gone this way for some time and are a little unsure. But we manage. Turns out to take about the same amount of time. MOTH has saved it to the trip log so we are hoping that next time we head that way, Karen won't be quite as upset. One day he'll surprise me and actually follow her directions.

Slightly used and disgruntled GPS anyone?

It turns out that yes, you do miss a lot of the traffic. The way is much more scenic as you pass through several small towns, and see the occasional house on the hill. Wild flowers colour the side of the road. We're cruising and coming toward us is a little old car from the vintage era *well, maybe from the 50s or 60s* and towing a caravan from the same time period. And they colour match. We pass a hotrod parked outside a store. It's powder blue and the roof is black vinyl. Someone has a Ned Kelly mailbox complete in his classic pose with two guns raised. It's been raining lightly as we near the end of our journey and for a brief moment, we can see a triple rainbow. It's beautiful.

I think we might go this way next time we head north. Which isn't till Christmas time thank heaven!

Surely it's not Monday?

Wow. Something is getting eager. I accidentally published this post without any content. It could be that I am home from work, full of snot. Alright perhaps I exaggerate, half full. Today this cold is affecting one side of my face. Tommorrow it will take over the world. Well, the other side of my face anyway.

I think I mentioned previously about a large phone bill run up by the Teen. It was so much higher than previous that we thought there may have been some mistake with the bill. We've been meaning to get it changed to the Teen's name, but it is proving difficult to manage the timing. I had checked about the procedure and it seems that she needs 100 points of ID. Driver's license, atm card, etc. That works. Later I found out it couldn't be a learner's permit. That kind of puts a stop to things!

We can't get it changed to her name anyway while she is here because I have to sign paperwork and provide ID at the same time. We can't do it when she goes back home because the store where she opens her account needs to sight signatures and ID for both people. Sigh. I asked about termination fees as we are about 18 months into the contract. No, it would still cost somewhere in the region of $400 to do this. Sigh again. So, for the next 6 months or so, the phone stays in my name and when the contract expires she can get her own account and I won't renew.

We did upgrade the plan for no penalty. For an extra $10 a month, text is unlimited and that should stop the over the cap spend!

MOTH drove me to my lift on Wednesday. Zman doesn't pick me up from home; we drive to a service station on the way and I swap cars there. On the way, I looked out my window and there was a pee wee, racing along side. He kept up very well and scared the bejeezuz out of me when he dived toward the car! I thought we were destined to collide for sure! But no, he swerved at the last minute. Whew. I'm awake now.

Today I've noticed a sign down the hall that says Men At Work. Why? Do they not normally work? I'm aware there are offices down there, but it's sad to have to put a sign out to let people know you are contributing. *yes, i know, it's really for the tradies doing the new cabling*

I have a performance review this week, and my supervisor set up a meeting time on the calendar. Hers, not mine. She forgot to invite me! The review goes well as can be expected - she's only been supervising me for a couple of months so can't really say a lot about my previous year's work performance. I don't like these things, I don't think they are an accurate measurement of what I do. Actually, I don't like anything I do being measured. However, it's also supposedly a tool to let me plan my career path for the next year. Ummmm. Well. I don't know what I want to do for the next year. And I won't know till it comes up. What sort of planning can I do for that? I don't like to plan my career path - I might not be in the same job next year. I do have a couple of new tasks out of it though I suppose. No more time to be bored!

Thursday I'm on the bus, reading. We come to a halt. I'm leaning toward the window to see what's ahead. Roadworks? There is a lot of buses in a line! Turns out we've all just arrived at the traffic lights at the same time. How terribly boring! I was hoping for a bus breakdown. I love the big tow trucks they use to haul them off.

Thursday night is shopping night. We buy meat from the butcher, who has an open store front in the centre. Lovely people and good produce. We make our choices and MOTH goes to the counter. I'm standing at the store front, not in the actual store. The butcher greets MOTH with a cheery How are you. MOTH replies, Can't complain, she'll hear me. They laugh and the butcher raises his voice a little. Can you just leave for a moment? MOTH and the other butchers in earshot laugh and I call from the front I HEARD THAT! It sets them all off again. Very friendly staff there.

It's Friday and I'm on the bus settling in for the ride. Suddenly the driver slams on the brakes and I nearly do a face plant into the seat in front. AND nearly dropped the iPad. Close! Stupid skirt stuck to the seat but I didn't stick to the skirt!

It's Saturday and I've nothing exciting planned. I sleep in a little longer than usual and then I'm up to clean up after Jerome and grab some breakfast. The Teen and I had planned to make churros today. I have a recipe and I'm curious to see how it goes. It looks simple enough. But she's still asleep.

She doesn't wake till late then some friends call her to invite her out that night. A friend of hers has landed a job and he wants to celebrate. She's gone that afternoon and says she won't be home for dinner. She doesn't like what I have planned. Thai red curry chicken with rice.

Sometime around midnight a voice calls at the bedroom window. Mu-um, oi, can you unlock the door? I thought you had your keys? So did I but I don't. MOTH got up and let them in. She tells me the next day that they went back to the party and didn't get home again till 4am.

Sunday I'm wondering what to have for dinner. And it suddenly dawns on me that I have found a recipe yesterday for creamy garlic prawns. Now I have the opportunity to try it! The Teen likes prawns too. I wake her to ask if she wants some. Yep she says and goes back to sleep. I go and buy prawns. They are expensive, but they are garlic flavoured and have been completely shelled. I can live with that.

I wait for her to wake. I still want to cook the churros. She's still sleeping. I decide to start anyway. I've never cooked them before and I'm not sure how they should turn out. Uh oh. The recipe looks straight forward BUT! Do I take the boiled liquid off the heat before I add the flour? Do I add the flour all at once? Do I wait for the liquid to cool? I don't do any of these things and it turns out a little sticky. Did I say a little? I'm not sure if I should abandon the job. I decide to keep going anyway. I have to squeeze the mix through a piping bag and cut off the 'sausages'.

They were a little doughy but tasted fine. After I finish, I wake the Teen. Get up. We have churros! Yay she says and it's the fastest she's moved for a while.

Sunday night and I can't wait to start cooking. Garlic prawns is one of my favourite dishes. MOTH hates prawns so I have to find him something else. I've promised him mushrooms with bacon and onion. Bugger! The Teen also likes mushrooms and she's only left him a couple of small ones. I have to bulk it with bacon and onion!

I have both dishes going at the same time, with the rice cooking in the microwave. It's all going really well. I'm even standing at the stove stirring a pot with each hand. MOTH likes his mushrooms although he points out that the sauce is much creamier than he was expecting. He usually ends up with a lot of liquid in his concoctions. He says it was perfect. Alright, so I probably put him on the spot but I have to ask!

The garlic prawns are DIVINE! I MUST NOT LOSE THIS RECIPE!

Maybe I can do it again just for me. *drool*

Rain? When did that happen?

It's raining today as I make my way to the bus. And water seems to be dripping into my shoe. What's that all about then? From my umbrella too. Sometimes things just seem to be out to get you.

Jerome is turning out to be a cute handful. *pronounced jeremy* Yes, he's a VERY good jumper and loves the kitchen bench. I've now learned that I can no longer be a slacker and I have to make sure that I either wash the dishes or stack the dishwasher straight away. I can't leave them unattended anymore or that cute little bundle will be up there and sampling the leftovers.

He seems to have settled in well in typical cat fashion and has begun slowly taking over the house. Being a kitten he still gets the 'rips' late in the evening, tearing around the house and often running into the wall near the windows. Last night he tried to fold himself in half in otter like fashion while trying to play with a very small toy. Entertaining.

It was brought to my attention last week that I had been rather remiss and failed to mention the Car. Yes. With a capital. The one that Zman bought. I love it! Brilliant! It's a pleasure to slide into every morning. It's black. With red racing stripes. The interior is colour coordinated leather, black and red. Sport seats. And smoooooth. Zman plants his foot and the car answers straight away. None of this hang on a tic I'll get there business!

Thursday MOTH informs me that Jerome can open the french doors. I don't know why this surprises me - cats can do those things. We decide to leave the doors open at night now.

Thursday is also a regular bus home night. Zman attends french class *ooo oui madame!* A lady catches my eye as she gets on. Wha? What's going on there? Let's start at her feet. Her little canvas mary janes are purple with white trim. Her over the knee socks are striped - purple, pink, white and possibly the odd black one. She has a long knitted cardigan. Quite a dainty looking thing. It's lilac. I can't see what she has underneath, it's hidden by the cardigan. Wrapped around her shoulders is ..... a purple shawl. At first I think she is hedging her bets by wearing two, but no. It's only one and it is two shades of .... purple. It has purple pom poms. Her hair is tied back with a curly pink and white tie. Nothing like a dash of colour coordination, is there.

Friday morning, I have a doctor appointment and I've let MOTH off lightly. I will take the bus to work and he can go home. I leave him in the shopping centre car park and when I return the car is gone. Well, alright, I've been gone for a while and the phone has been turned off. No message. He must have gone then. Oooh! Look! My bus is there waiting. I dive on. Then text. Turns out he'd nipped down to the service station for fuel while he was waiting. Ah well.

I'm on the bus and almost at the stop. I decided to go all the way into the city instead of doing a change at an earlier stop. For some reason, I don't like the change because the buses at the change stop on the side of campus WHERE THERE IS A HILL. The others don't. So, all the way in. We head down the tunnel *the stop is underground* and suddenly come to a halt. The bus in front is also just sitting there. A couple of minutes go by and I'm wondering what the holdup is. I can't see! Oh. Turns out it could possibly just be the fact that the bus in front was at the very end of the platform and we couldn't go past.... anticlimatic!

But it's Friday afternoon! I'm ready to leave. Zman has been off sick today so I'm catching the bus. A beeping sounds. A light flashes. Wait! What? It's 4pm and the fire alarm has gone off. I tell the fire warden - Admin2 - that if we get the evacuate alarm, I'm gone for the day. Sure enough off it goes and so do I. Whoo!

The Teen is out Friday night. All is quiet. Till Jerome thinks it's dinner time. We've taken to feeding him the same time we eat.

Saturday morning late I get a text. Mu-um! Can you come pick me up? Can't you get the train? No, the electronic ticket *go card* has no balance. You have no cash? No, nothing. MOTH is reluctant, but I like the idea of a drive to somewhere new. We plug in the navigator and off we go. MOTH blows raspberries in her general direction while she tries to send us through the city. I have no idea why she is trying to do that; it is northside, but you don't need to go through the city to get there.

Wait, is she confused? Is she not calibrated properly? MOTH has a general idea we need to get to the north-west. She's sending us city direction. Still. We're headed for Enoggera. We eventually get there. And then Karen becomes useful. Wonderful. We pick up the Teen and head back. We've disconnected Karen. Whoops! Missed the turn. We go around the block and head back. We know which corner we're looking for. Teen pipes up from the back. Can't we just go up Windsor Street? Whoa! It's the street we want and we've nearly gone past it again. Look at that. It's Windsor Street. Smart little cookie.

The rest of Saturday Teen and I spend watching a Harry Potter marathon.

It's finished Sunday. Then what? I play WoW for a little while. Teen sleeps on the couch. MOTH facebooks at the other end of the house.

Last night, after a little research while watching a Bones rerun, I download a chat program for the iPad. I know it's not going to be much use outside the house or off campus *i don't have 3G*, but at least I can sit on the couch and watch telly while I chat to MOTH at the other end of the house, right?

Right.

Sometimes I wonder....

... how I keep from goin' under. No, not really. It was a lead in to something else.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only person in existence who tries to keep in mind when I'm standing on the bus platform that other people are trying to see around me. I try and stand against the wall, or if I need to shift, that I'm not blocking someone else's view. Too much.

I nearly missed my bus home on Tuesday. Everyone was milling around like Brown's Cows. Don't ask me about the cows. Cause I just don't know. *my parents might, being country people and all* I couldn't see a darned thing. Even standing up. My bus was due in shortly but hadn't yet appeared on the arrivals/due board. Then the crowd parted and there was my bus, right at the end of the platform. Stupid inconsiderate people....

On Wednesday, I found a seat on the morning bus that I did't have to share! Yes! A rare occurrence. We got through the 'burb and down on the onramp on the motorway. The bus pulls over. The driver is out and looking at something. He's back on the bus and telling everyone that we seem to have picked up a bolt of some sort and he has to decide if he can continue or have us swap. Off we go again and we end up detouring to the nearby bus depot. He's out again, and busy conferring with someone. A third bloke turns up and discussion continues. He's back on the bus telling us he'll get the bus behind to take us on. Some get off the bus. They're shepherded back on to wait. The second bus pulls up. It's 3/4 full. They sandwich us in as much as possible, but 5 people miss out. We pull out and I'm like, darn! I should have volunteered to swap out. Would have added to the adventure. Ah well.

Made it to work, but late.

Thursday we're tootling along on the bus and I see a huge yellow duck at the ferry terminal. Some promotional thing. Sure wouldn't like to be that bloke. But I don't have enough time to find out what they are promoting.

I have finally sent in an application for a position outside the Uni. Today I have an interview with the recruiting agency. I'm not sure what to expect. Turns out to be just the recruiting agency interview to get me on the books, and to discuss the job I applied for. She'll send my application in anyway, but thinks there are other applicants with a lot more industry experience. If I get an interview, then it would be Friday, again on Monday and the offer made to the successful candidate on Tuesday. This is way to soon for me, and thankfully I don't make it to interview. The job would have been great, but I'm holding off the search until the new year.

Saturday morning, around 1am we leave to travel to the Teen's location to visit my folks and collect her. We intend to arrive early so we can spend as much time as possible on this rush visit with my family. MOTH doesn't worry too much about visiting his. Both parents are deceased and he has no interest in his siblings that live in that area. We arrive around 8am and I don't feel tired. It's great to see them and the kids are happy to see us. *well, they seem to be anyway*

We're introduced to the new puppies. Little tearaways they are!
The younger kid latches on and has to show me every new thing he has since I visited them last. This keeps me busy for some time.

Sibling Mouse arrives just after lunch. Haven't had a chance to catch up with her for a while and it's good to see her again. For some reason, Facebook and MSN just aren't the same as hugging.

I'm dreadfully tired but there is no rest for the wicked in that place.

It's off to bed fairly early as we are expecting to leave mum's at about 8.30am to meet Elder for coffee.

We are ready to leave on Sunday morning and suddenly I can't find my sunglasses. Oh no! I can't function without those. I can scrunch up my eyes but it's just not the same. After a chase all over the house we eventually find them. They've fallen back into my backpack with my clothing. Silly glasses. It delays us of course, and it turns out Elder has arrived before us and saved us a seat.

We chat and share food. It's a lovely day although the sun has a lot of bite, it's cool in the shade. We drop her back off and spend a bit of time looking for the boots that the Teen was chasing. No luck. This of course makes us late to collect the Teen.

We arrive at the Teen's current abode ready to collect her. She's packed up but there is a fair bit of stuff. We load it into the boot and at the same time, I check with her about the boots. Nope, we've been looking for the wrong ones. The Elder knows where the ones she's looking for are. We've arranged to swing by and pick them up on the way.

Last thing to collect is Jerome. The Teen's cat. We've not met before and he turns out to be a soft black kitten with no tail. We put him in the carrier and he starts to cry.

He cries for a couple of hours. Eventually when we pull over for a break, we decide to see if he'd like it better if the carrier door is open. He has a harness so Teen can keep him under control. He's quiet for the rest of the trip.

We get home at 7pm. It's going to be tough to remember to keep the doors closed and not leave things on the kitchen bench!

Little black ball of cuteness anyone?

Waiting till Wednesday

My car pooling buddy has a new car, but I won't get to see it till then. w00t!

The week has been a little topsy turvy. The Elder and Subs have still been visiting. I arrived home from work Monday to find that they had been summonsed to return to their place of origin. Apparently Sub's mother insisted that his brother had some work for him and they *him* were to return immediately. Of course this wasn't financially feasible since neither of them would be paid till the following Thursday/Friday. She was eventually convinced that they would be returning on Sunday.

This threw Elder off centre - she wasn't ready to go back.

On Wednesday while travelling on the bus I noticed that the smog seemed really thick. A little thicker than usual. Then I noticed it was white, not the usual dirty brown. Maybe it was smoke or something rather than smog? Or maybe it was still smog, just a bit cleaner than usual? It lasted a couple of days and I could even see it on campus. I didn't hear of any fires in the area. But that's not unusual since I've not been doing the old lady thing and following the news headlines this last week or so.

I was crossing the road in the city, heading for my swapover bus. *i take 2 buses every day each way. just lately the second bus in the morning has been late, or simply not turning up at all and meaning i have to wait for another 15 mins or so for the next one* A good looking young man crossed the other way. He didn't really look comfortable in his suit. Cute! thinks I and then I notice his tie is a little too wide for his collar and there is a large thread poking out of the collar as well. It was all so *squeeeee* and a really hard job not to straighten it all for him!

The Elder was still upset by the summons home and still not ready to return. She's not a cuddly child and you don't get into her space when the darkness circles. Subs STILL has't worked this out and got grumpy when she kept pushing him away. He stormed off. So, the first time since they arrived that I get alone time with my daughter, and I have to spend it keeping the dog at bay. I just managed to get her lifted when she got a piece of bad news *she and subs now have to pay rent. the equivalent of a 3 bedroom house, and they live in a 1 room shed on the back of sub's parents house in town. his sister lives in the house* and I have to start all over again. The sooner she is shot of that lot the better I say.

Friday MOTH had his appointment with the surgeon to discuss an operation he had been referred for. The hospital which had been given his case was not one of the usual suspects and we hadn't heard of it before. We plugged in Karen, hoping she could guide us. Nope. Apparently the map is quite out of date because the hospital didn't even exist. I did manage to find it on Google maps on my phone, although it probably cost a fortune in downloads. I read and reread MOTH's appointment letter looking for a street address. Eventually I found one, but it wasn't obvious it was the actual hospital address. It just looked like a head office address. *rolls eyes* Totally helpful! We keyed the street name into Karen and bingo! Found the street at least. We'd just have to play it by ear from there.

We were a little worried that it would cost a fortune for parking, but when we got there, not a parking metre in sight. Brilliant. Not a free parking space either for that matter. We drove around a bit and eventually came upon a spot in the front row where someone was pulling out. Whoo!

The consulting rooms were in a new building just off the main entrance. It wasn't a long wait and we were shown through. The consulting surgeon went through some things with MOTH and discussed options and the risks associated with the surgery. MOTH's name is now on the waiting list for surgery and it is expected it could take around three months to be done. Not a worry, the surgery isn't major and will only be a day visit. Provided there are no unexpected complications.

Saturday I managed to drag Elder out of the house. We had determined that we would cook some of the mini quiche treats that she likes so much. We left the house, drove about 5 minutes up the road to the supermarket. We picked up the ingredients and some extras *violet crumbles! peppermint chocolate! toblerone!* and took the car over to fill it. We had been there a few minutes waiting in line when Elder got a text. What are you doing? How long will you be? Are you coming straight home? *sheesh already!* We got back and he insisted she take him to the bike park. No, she said. I don't want to take the car out again cause I don't want to use the fuel. If you need to go, ask Dad. Fine, I won't go then. I asked MOTH to take him - I wanted to spend some girl time! MOTH was wonderful.

We ... well, I ... made the first batch of treats, got things set up to watch a movie. Clutch Powers! The Lego movie. About ten minutes in, he came home. And promptly put himself as close as possible to Elder and didn't move.

So that pretty much sums up the total amount of time I got to spend with my eldest daughter for the whole time they were there. *sigh*

Sunday they left at three am and we were up to see them off. Father's Day and MOTH slept in until after eight am. I stripped and started to remake the bed in the guest room, but noticed that the cotton blanket really needed a wash. I put it on to soak. MOTH and I went out to the shops and picked up custard and golden syrup. Can't have lemon sago without custard says I. And MOTH agrees. I phoned my father to wish him happy Father's Day. My dad is a little unusual. Not for him the awkward silence and then I'll put your mother on. He chats. Although nowhere near as long as my mother. She answered the phone, we chatted for a while. She put dad on, we chattered for a while. Then she took the phone back and we chattered for another time. Time to hang up so I can start dinner.

Fried rice for dinner and sago for dessert. Gosh, I'm soooo full. So full in fact that I can't stay awake much beyond nine pm. No Bones tonight, I've let MOTH have my telly to watch CSI.

And I'm still trying to see if I can convince Elder that she should probably relocate back to here. Solo.

Ta Dah! The Bed.

After canvassing outside opinion, the vote seems to be a valance. :)

So here is the bed. As it is, in all it's glory. I'm thinking of two more pillows and a valance.

The question is ... what sort of valance would suit best?

Opinions anyone?

Back on the buses

Yep. Riding the buses again this week while Zman is away on business. And it started well this morning. The traffic on the road I had to cross all appeared at once. I KNEW I'd miss the bus. Well, I nearly did. I almost got there - I will NOT run for a bus/train/whatever. And the driver started to pull away. I stuck out my hand and he opened the door, I got on, swiped the card, it didn't read so I swiped it again and he took off as I did that. Inertia is a b*tch! I didn't fall but it's not fun trying to get up the aisle when the bus is moving....

Monday dawned this week all dull and grey. Well, that's the way I saw it in, headache and all. I stayed home from work. The fact that Elder was expected to arrive had nothing to do with it. Nothing I tell you. They arrived near lunch time as well as I can remember. The Elder, Subs and Freddy. During the course of the day, I ask How long are they staying? Anywhere from two weeks to a month. I console myself with a Frangelico and lemonade. *floats*

Tuesday is back to work. I discover there was a fire in one of the data centres on Sunday. Wow. Most services are down as everyone works frantically to bring them back up. There seems to be a lot of people disappointed with the fact that it didn't take the whole building.

It's Thursday and services are still out. I haven't been doing much of anything because there just hasn't been access to most of what I need. I do have email and there is internet. I've been reduced to trying to clean up my other (redundant) email box. Entertaining that.

Friday rolls around and finally our printing is back online. The unit Director is showing his appreciation of all the hard work staff have shown by putting on some nibblies and free wine/beer/softdrink. I pop upstairs briefly to show my support.

Then head across to the Staff Club to catch up with one of the blokes who has left work. We sit and chat for a while; Zman and a couple of the others as well. They are tasting a new beer, Stone and something. It's pale and golden and doesn't taste too bad. For beer.

Saturday the bed arrives! Whoo! But wait. I'm not sure that this is the bed we ordered.... Fair enough, I'm used to a bed with a frame and now we're moving to an ensemble. I'm certain the one in the shop, although a little higher than the frame I was used to, didn't make me feel like I needed a stepladder to get into it?

I measure the height. It's 700mm (approx 27.5 inches) from the floor to the top of the mattress. No wonder I can make this bed without bending. No wonder I cannot sit on the side of the bed and touch the floor. The floor to my hip joint is only 750mm! *yes, i know. shorty*

I usually don't care what sort of pattern/colour the linens are, as long as I can make the bed look comfy. I don't think I can do it with this one. I have a queen size bed that I'm covering with a king sized doona. It barely covers the mattress - if I didn't tuck the sheets in, they'd hang way below the bottom of the doona. So wholly exposed beneath the doona overhang sits ... the base. Luckily, it's not padded cream but a grey fabric finish. I thought about investing in one of those 80s bed accessories - a valance. But that would just look silly.

Ideas anyone??

it raining! Again

It raining again. The weekend weather was wonderful. And now it's raining again.

Not a hugely eventful week. Just the usual stuff I guess. And this week, I've not prepared a single dessert before work! *gasp*

Zman has been getting caught in traffic in the mornings so we've been getting work a bit later. Tuesday we missed the fire drill. He was not impressed. We arrived at the door just as everyone was coming back to the building. Dangit.

MOTH and I decided to dine out on Wednesday night. just because. And they had a buy one main meal get the second for half price deal going. Well, alright, it was an anniversary dinner about two weeks late. We settled in and ordered. The menu is rather extensive and we didn't know what we wanted! Except perhaps the cheesy fries. They haven't changed and were as delicious as I remember. MOTH ordered fillet mignon with baked sweet potato. I ordered fajitas. I didn't realise that usually means you make your own - so I've been told! So much food came out that I looked at it and lost my appetite. There was no way I could get through all of that. Four tortillas, little bowls of filling and heaps of meat. I managed to down two and the waitress who came later asked if we wanted a take away container. I said no, and she shook her head. There was an awful lot left she said! Well, there was.


MOTH's came with a little side salad with blue cheese dressing. I thought the colours were cute and had to take a photo of it.

Wednesday I took a trip to the dentist. What an expensive exercise that is! An exam and one filling set me back $230. Ouch!

Thursday and Friday were quiet. I was hoping to get home at a decent hour on Friday but it wasn't to be. I had to wait for Zman to finish something he was working on and that didn't happen until after 6pm.

Saturday MOTH discovered that he had finally received a small amount of money from his mother's inheritance. He gave it some thought about what he wanted to do with it. I didn't feel well and didn't really want to get out of bed on Saturday but it was a case of have to, alas. It was election day, and for those who are overseas, voting here is not an option. They say it's a right but if you don't vote you get fined. So go figure. At the booth, I spotted a young man wearing a grey t-shirt captioned "Let's just pretend I give a shit and leave it at that". I loved it and thought it pretty much summed up the day.

Sunday MOTH had decided what to do with his money. Let's go shopping! We bought a new bed. Our current one has seen it's best days. On thinking about it, the frame is something like 8 years old, a timber frame which sounds like it's going to collapse every time you roll over. That mattress. Ah yes, the mattress. We calculate it was bought before Teen was born. She's now 18. I think we deserve a new bed, yes? It will go nicely with the new sheets we bought last week. One set of sheets doesn't seem to last as long as it should! I mean, they shouldn't wear thin, should they?

Shame we have to wait till next week to take delivery.... MOTH can hardly wait.

Reposted from Butterfly Garden. Without permission, of course.

Serves 10

Base:

250g choclate biscuits
125g butter
Filling:

125ml (1/2 cup) boiling water
1 tablespoon gelatin
180g (6oz) sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
250g (8oz) cream cheese
300ml (1 1/2 cups) cream
180ml (3/4 cup) Frangelico
1 x 30g (1oz) flakey choclate bar
To make base:

Crush biscuits into very fine pieces. Melt butter and add to crushed biscuits, mix well and press into a springform cheesecake tin, packing mixture tightly to form a crust. Refrigerate to set.

To make filling:

Sprinkle the gelatin over the boiling water, stir until dissolved and leave to cool.

Place sugar and lemon juice in a blender and mix lightly. Add room temperature cream cheese and continue to blend. Add cooled gelatin mix, cream and Frangelico and blend until smooth and mixed well.

Crumble half the choclate bar into mixture and stir through lightly, pour over base. Crumble remaining choclate bar evenly over top of cheesecake. Refrigerate to set.

The week that was

A short week this week. Not short enough. Are work weeks EVER short enough? I don't think so.

Monday and Tuesday were quiet. Even work was a little slow. Tuesday night I discovered that ABC2 was screening my favourite western series, Deadwood. MOTH watched it with me. Geez it's rough, he says. Well, I like the way they don't pull the punches. the streets are muddy, full of horse and pig poo and rubbish; the lower classes look unwashed and most everyone has bad teeth. Realism I say.

I spent my time waiting for the public holiday to arrive on Wednesday. Slowly it rolled around, EKKA show holiday. Whoo!

Just lately we've been spending a lot of time at home, not going out. Today I thought, No! I'm getting out of the house. I talked MOTH into going over to Chermside shopping centre. I love that one. I love the drive over there. There is nothing special in the shops, but it's somewhere different. We spent the morning over there. The rest of the day was spent relaxing.

Thursday was back to work. C and I had a meeting with the conference organizers. I had expected The Manager to attend as well; C mentioned at the meeting that he wasn't coming, having told her that he would let her feel like she was in charge. *thank you for commiserations! this bloke has been with the company longer than i have, so no recent import. i think he's just inconsiderate and probably not used to a mere admin disagreeing with him. lol. dancing with the stars is on; it's a waltz. i'm typing in rhythm!*

Friday morning I made dessert to go with the sausages for dinner. Nothing fancy, but condensed milk tart is MOTH's second favorite. *sorry sparkling! I don't get picked up for work till after 8am and I get out of bed at 6.30am. plenty of time to make a simple dessert!*

It felt like I did a whole day's work before I even left home. I did some washing, transferred money around my accounts, paid some bills.

I love Friday evenings after work but not when Zman decides to finish work late. Today he sent a text around 7.30am to say he was sick and couldn't pick me up. I didn't think I would make the last morning bus. It turned out I would have, but MOTH offered to drive me.

Friday 13 rocked well and truly. We thought we'd stop for Maccas for breakfast. I'd been tonguing for hash browns *yum* for ages. Get them and find a seat. I'm trying to manage my handbag and put the food bag on the table. Get the food bag on the table and go to shift my handbag. Plop! Food bag and food on the floor. Sigh. Luckily they're still in the bag. We eat the food and I've got crumbs on myself and the table. I sweep them off ... right into my open handbag.

MOTH dropped me off at work, but down the other end of campus. Away from my office because they have the road there closed off. The wind is blowing a gale and it occurs to me, did I even brush my hair before I left home this morning? I guess in this weather no one is going to notice anyway. *sigh*

That afternoon, I left at around 4pm to catch the bus. I thought I would take the usual way into the city and then from there so I could relax a little. BAD decision! A half hour bus ride turned into an hour. Eventually I took out my book and started to read. I missed my usual ride home and had to take the long(er) bus home. I made it home around 7pm...

Waking The Dead was interesting, as usual and a great way to relax.

Saturday MOTH showed me the garden fork I had been bleating about. You know, the whole This would be so much easier if I had a fork.... so now we have one. I had to use it. I spent some time digging out some of the weeds that are trying to choke out the plants that I really want in the garden.

He thought he would do the rear brake pads of the car. It's a quick job he said, then it's over and done with. Several hours later, we determined that we couldn't get the piston back in and it would have to be reassembled with the old parts and wait for the mechanic. Brilliant way to waste 6 hours. Not!

Sunday I slept a little later. Yes, till about 7am. I swept the kitchen floor. Stripped and remade the bed. Scrubbed the toilet. Played WoW for a bit. *yes, i've reestablished my account, yay!* Cooked lunch. Made a cheesecake. I thought I'd have a go at the Frangelico cheesecake recipe that Butterfly provided earlier.



Dinner was roast lamb leg, done as part of a new recipe. It's coated with a mix of plain yoghurt, brown sugar, cumin, ground cloves and instant coffee. The whole thing is actually a totally new taste sensation. I didn't use as much of the mix as the recipe recommended. MOTH couldn't taste much, but I thought there was a very subtle taste sensation - the tang of the yoghurt, the sweetness of the sugar and a very faint coffee taste. I liked it, but I think MOTH wasn't necessarily impressed. I probably won't use it again.

I cracked the cheesecake for dessert. Results? It's set, but only just. The Frangelico taste was very strong. Next time I make it, less alcohol and more gelatin. Yes, that should work.

PS: I ate some of the cheesecake for breakfast today. No alcohol burn, so maybe the trick is to leave it overnight. Definitely needs more of the gelatin though. *drools thinking of the next time*

Backwards speaking shall I

I thought I'd written some notes for guidance. But you know what Thought thought. Seems I did not.

I'm still waiting for my tax notice. I lodged it three weeks ago now and still no word. Arrrrrgghhhhh! *deep breathes* Alright, I know I should be patient, but hey! I haven't got time for that. I had it done through an agent this year so goodness knows how long it will take.

_____________

Monday up bright and early. Made apple crumble before work. I catch a lift with Zman and although he doesn't pick me up till after 8am, I still get out of bed at 6.30am.

After making my decision to quit the committee on Friday, I thought I'd better let my new manager, C, know. She wasn't in today, but arrangements were made for a meeting tomorrow.

Yum! Apple crumble, custard - Paul's double thick French Vanilla - and cream for dessert. Wonderful!
______________

Tuesday I met with C. I've worked with her on previous committees and known her from outside my current office. She's tells me she is a fun loving person and everyone else in the office seems so serious! I'm hoping we can work well together. We went for coffee and I discussed my current job, what I do, and how I felt about being so doubted. I'm sure I was much too honest, but it felt good to talk to her. And a little easier than I thought it might have been. It was decided that I would still do the background work, but not attend the meetings. That suits me fine. We are still to work our way around the issue of the Manager on the other committee. I'm happy to work that one through when the time comes.

Mmmmm. More apple crumble for dessert!
_______________

Wednesday and I'm up and making lemon sago for dessert. Today is our 26th wedding anniversary. We aren't going out anywhere and haven't bought gifts, so my gift is his favourite dessert. *drool* I let him taste test it to see if it is lemony enough. Yep, it passes muster.

Off to work, and I'm feeling much better after yesterday. The day looks promising.

The Teen sends me a text. She is now single. Oh! Oh dear. She's holding up okay, much better than I thought she would.

Since we haven't anything planned, MOTH and I snuggle up in front of the telly to watch Lie to Me and Law & Order Criminal Intent, eating beef stir fry, followed by lemon sago with custard and cream. An excellent way to spend an evening.
_______________

Thursday is pretty normal. As normal as it gets around here. Last day for one of the GTs and I'm sorry that I can't go to his farewell dinner.

I'm out the door around 4pm which is my usual time when I have to catch the bus home. This time I'm trying out a different timing. It's the 'fast' way home, but an earlier run. I'm wanting to see how the new bus service works out. It worked quite well. Of course, it would be MUCH better if there were no students! The queue would be a heck of a lot shorter. Fer shur.
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My favourite day of the week. Sunny is over for dinner, bringing a friend with him. A new friend to introduce me to. We have garlic chicken, veg and salad for dinner. And since it's Friday, Waking the Dead is my priority. Sorry Sunny, we're watching that! He doesn't mind though because he thinks it a little spooky. *weird, i dunno* That's followed by the IT Crowd. Apparently the friend hasn't seen it before. I ask, Do you know anyone who works in IT? No, he doesn't. Ah well, I say, you probably won't get most of the jokes then..... *how could he not?! heavens, don't most of us know a geek or two??*
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It's kinda a slow weekend. I still haven't renewed my WoW subscription and Sims3 is boring. Even Facebook has slowed down for me. *sigh* What to do, what to do.... I snooze a bit. I do some sudoku puzzles. I pace around for a bit.

.... I plug the iron in and do some ironing. Hankies, teatowels, shorts. I stop myself before I start on the big stuff like shirts.

And some more sitting on the couch to recover from THAT close call.
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Sunday I'm still a little bored. I actually head out to the shops with MOTH. And get punished by being bombarded by complaints from another pensioner that MOTH is friends with. He's somewhat distracted - I didn't hear him say anything that wasn't a complaint this morning! I tuned out. Apparently he left, said goodbye twice and I was so tuned out I didn't notice. *um ahhhh*

I talk MOTH into buying a block of chocolate. A new Cadbury flavour. It's not too bad - berry and vanilla shortcake.

Still bored, I wander out to the garden and see what MOTH has been up to lately. He's been busy, pulling out all sorts of stuff. I water a bare patch on the grass.

I'm watching Bones, and my phone goes off. I take the call. The Elder has done something very silly - I won't go into detail here. I'm still a little gobsmacked and angry she's done it and now I'm somewhat at a loss as to where to go next. Perhaps I will just suggest she comes to visit for a while....

A week I don't care to repeat

A very brief weekly round up...

I think the Elder has decided to quit the 'journey'. She's not updated her blog since her notice she was required to keep one. She's been staying out at Sub's family property and not attended Uni for at least a week. Just when I thought she was getting herself on track.

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The Teen is living rough again. She had been sharing with the Elder but they have come to the conclusion that they cannot share together. Teen keeps asking MOTH and I to move back there. I don't seem to be able to convince her that it's just not logistically possible, as well as not being practical. It's her home town and she cannot be convinced to move back here. It's so stressful knowing that she can't afford housing, can't find anyone serious enough to share with and has to rely on the generosity of friends for a place to stay every few nights. She's 18 now, and for various reasons, cannot live at home. We can't support her. She gets Youth Allowance but last time I looked, she was only getting $377 a FORTNIGHT? How does a person get a house and pay rent/utilities/food on that? How is that any different from pensioners....

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The hassles with the kids is having a very negative effect on MOTH. The black dog lurks in the background and he's working hard to keep it at bay.

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The job I had hopes for at work is not .... working out the way I had hoped. The general vibe from the Manager, although not in so many words, was that he didn't think I could do it. So he awarded the task to my new immediate manager. We are to work closely together on this task. I was relatively happy because I would still have some input, although not the responsibility I had been working toward. I suppose I should say that the task is organising a conference. It goes for a week - 3 full days of program, 2 full days of tutorials. There are about 1000 delegates who attend. The new manager has been serving on the committee longer than I, but only been involved in part of it. I've been on the main committee for 5 years, the program committee 2. I know everything except the bit the new manager used to do (media liaison).

We had our first program committee meeting last Friday. There are new members, and 3 left of the old ones; a completely different dynamic. The Manager turned up and proceeded to take over the proceedings. I NEVER clash with anyone if I can help it - I can't deal with conflict. He and I clashed at least 3 times over the course of the hour and a half of the meeting. He tried to tell us how to run the committee. He tried to tell us that we needed a meeting next week to make a decision about some of the things we had discussed THIS meeting. Go figure. Usual procedure from previous meetings is chuck a couple of suggestions about then decide from those which are preferred. At the same sitting. But no, he decreed another meeting the next week. I disagreed, trying to pin them down to make a decision now. The decision has been made, he said. I just made it. I told him straight out it wasn't his decision to make; it belonged to the Chair. He also decided that main conference stuff should be discussed at the program committee meeting and when I objected because, frankly, it's a stupid idea, someone asked who was on the main conference committee. I said the new manager and I. He promptly declared he was on that committee as well. I simply cannot work with someone who makes it so plain that they don't trust my judgement. I have decided to withdraw from the program committee, and I dread having to work with him on the main committee.

When I returned to the office and announced that he was on the program committee, I was laughed at. With pity. When I mentioned to a different group that he was on the main committee, someone commented, Oh my god no!

I really do not want to be associated with the mess that man is going to create.... If it works he will bask in the glory, if it does not, the new manager and I will be at fault.

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But on a lighter note, we had a flat battery sometime during the week. Zman and I pulled into the service station where I swap cars. As soon as we hit the driveway, I asked Zman if he had jumper leads. Yep, MOTH left the car headlights on. It doesn't take long but it sure results in a flat battery. One phone call to RACQ later and I'm advised it could take an hour for them to turn up. Luckily it didn't but Zman decided to wait for a while with us.

Today MOTH and I went to the movies with Sunny. The movie was Inception. The special effects are mind numbingly good and there were some vertigo inducing moments! It is a movie I think I would be happy to see more than once. In fact, I think it might be necessary to see it more than once - there are probably bits in the first viewing I'm sure to have missed. It also ends on a rather suspenseful note!

A care package from Mother arrived during the week. It contained a bag my father had borrowed when he was down last, marshmallows, minties, a couple blocks of chocolate, a pack of Dove peppermint chocolate, and a bag of fantales. I love those things.

It arrived before Friday, but brightened my week to that point. Thanks Mum, you always manage to hit the spot. xxx

Sometimes I wonder....

... if it wasn't for the desire to have a good wage so I can maintain a semi civilised lifestyle, what I would be doing.

I don't like work. Well, I like the social aspect of work because sometimes, just sometimes, I have a need to talk to people. I just don't like the whole routine of having to get to work. Work surely gets in the way of my play time.

The Hermit has made an appearance this week. Every so often he drops by ...

Would I be one of those feral hippies, living on a squat somewhere out in the bush, growing my own food and finding a way to supply everything I need so that I don't need to interact and only go into town a few times a year to get essentials that I can't supply for myself?

I hear those who know me scoffing. Well, it could be possible! Alright, okay, I concede. I don't like dirt under my nails and I love indoor plumbing. I couldn't live that way.

If I let the Hermit have his way, I would be permanently at home, indoors. No social interaction, no leaving the house. Until the day I decide that I need to leave and I cannot make myself do it. I'd end up one of those people who lie undiscovered because no one knew they had passed. But just so you know, I wouldn't be buried under piles of my own garbage. I'm lazy, but not that bad! *see previous paragraph* Just sayin.

I guess I'm just leading into the fact that this has been a very quiet week. I've not been riding the bus this week. I had Wednesday off work sick.

Thursday evening MOTH and I attended a bbq at his great niece's place. She told him she had an announcement to make. We hadn't been there before and had to leave straight after work. We plugged in Karen and off we went. We made good time through peak hour traffic too.

Hermit was making me a little reluctant because GN is a bit of a roughie and we'd not met any of her friends before. She had no other family attending so I wasn't quite sure what we were heading into.

It turned out well though. There weren't many there and they seemed to be lovely people. We met her fiance for the first time as well. She has two children, a boy and a girl. The girl is about 10 months. The boy is about 4 and he's quite a cutie. He had an older playmate over. As soon as MOTH settled into the lounge chair, both boys dog piled him. And they wouldn't leave him alone. I sidled further up the chair, content to stay out of it.

The announcement was mostly for MOTH and I apparently, as the others already knew about it. They formally announced their engagement and that he would officially adopt the girl child. *i belive the boy's father would not be happy with the arrangement if he were to adopt the boy as well* The wedding would be small and not many people would be invited beyond who was already there.

On the way home, MOTH told me that he had tried to pass the kids off my way but I didn't pick up on it. Yes, I told him. I thought you were quite big enough to be able to call it off when you had had enough. *grins*

I had determined that this weekend there would be no plans and I was going to do nothing. MOTH went out to fetch some necessaries for dinner Monday night and I stayed home. I watched 4 episodes of American Gothic on Saturday and later found myself getting caught by a movie called The Rookie. Did a load of laundry. Cooked dinner.

Sunday I caught up on some viewing I taped some considerable time ago. Played Sims3. Cooked dinner. Watched the CSI: Event screening Sunday night. It went for three hours.

Mission accomplished I'd say.

...____________________________________________...

PS: For anyone wondering, The Hermit is the stranger who comes to visit occasionally. He makes me play by myself. He makes me not want to talk to people. He makes me not want to leave the house. At all. He makes me sit quietly and stare at the walls. He stays anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks...

The week that was

Mmmm. Smiths cheese and onion chips. The only ones worth buying.

And I need the totally unhealthy fat boost to get the mind going - here's a wrap up for a not very exciting week but a fun weekend.

Zman has been away and I'm required to catch the bus. I think you may have worked this out. It's cold when I get home. And dark. Not happy, but hey, it's winter. I get off the bus and you guess right - I'm cold. I need my jacket. I put my handbag on the bus stop seat while I take it out. What that noise? Oh no! I've pulled my jacket out and my sunglasses came with it! And now they've gone through the seat. It has slats on the seat, concrete sides and a solid back. How am I going to get them now? There's no street light either. I'm relying on the headlights going by to be able to find them in the dark. Luckily they have bling! It shines in the reflected light and soon I've got them. Thank goodness.

I've just crossed the road and I'm heading for my afternoon bus stop. Hey, that bloke looks familiar. Is it? No, it can't be... at least, I don't think so ..... Is it Keiren Perkins or not? The hair looks the same, the smile looks the same, his shoulders are broad and he's tending toward a llittle too heavy. He's very, very tall. *heck, from MY perspective, EVERYONE is very very tall* He looks very much like this

Maybe it is.....

Sunny and Judah are over for dinner. We have spaghetti bolognese. From a jar because I am lazy and lack imagination. And I've finally done it. We've lived in this house for eighteen months or more. And I've finally joined the very long queue of those who have turned the dishwasher on with their backside. By leaning on it. Sunny and MOTH were happy.

It's shopping night. I use a different bus route home to meet MOTH at the shopping centre as arranged. I'm on the bus and send him a text to say I'm on the way. He phones back. Ummm why are you going to that shopping centre? We arranged to meet at THIS shopping centre. Whoops! Just as well I put the name of the shopping centre I was headed to in the text! Can you imagine the fun trying to find each other?

By the way, I have NO recollection of arranging to meet at his nominated shopping centre at all ...

I hate pigeons. Just thought I'd put that out there. Horrible, messy lice ridden things. While looking for something else, I've come across lyrics to a song. The line goes Butter my a*se with a pigeon tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow we'll butter a cow. I've pointed it out to MOTH who just shakes his head. It's the following day and we're headed out somewhere in the car. Well, butter my a*se with a pigeon! I say. MOTH's quick comeback was tomorrow we'll butter a cow. Consider me IMPRESSED!

It's Saturday morning and I've an appointment to have my income tax done by an agent. I've not done this before - I've always done it myself. This year, I have a question about an allowance I was paid and I'm curious as to how they will deal with it. Turns out it's so simple I probably could have done it myself anyway. But now I've paid $135 for someone else to do it. I hope it works out well and doesn't take too long.

There isn't much else happening for the rest of the day. I've got a library book due back on Tuesday and I've barely started it. I had better get in some serious reading. The book is called Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde. I like his work.

Sunday MOTH and I are headed for an outing I've been planning for a while. There is an exhibition of Ron Mueck's work at the Gallery of Modern Art. I've seen illustrations of his work, but it will be really good to see it in actuality. We've found our way to the gallery but boy! The ticket line is long! We've joined the queue and got the tickets. This artist's work is very, very realistic and I've been looking forward to this ever since I saw the ad - on the side of a bus.

Head up to the third level and the work is AMAZING! It varies in size from a new born baby several metres long,
to these lovely ladies who are about eighteen inches tall ...
By the time we left about three quarters of an hour later, the line for tickets to this exhibition was out the door and into the plaza. Glad we got there when we did.

Across the bridge to Eagle Street for lunch at Coffee Club. Oh darn, my friend isn't working yet, if at all today. Ah well, maybe next time.

It's home and a cup of milo. I'll have to start thinking about dinner soon - apparently I'm cooking. Pork chops and veggies I think. Then yay! It's Bones and Castle night. Whoo!

Quietly now...

It was a nice ride to work this morning. The bus is quiet, the sun shining through the fog. Yep, fog. Wisps of it across the hills and through the trees; the sun beaming between the wisps. It floated around the upper stories of the buildings in the city, lending everything gilded edges.

So here's a brief wrap of my week, in no particular order.

Whoa! There are rowers on the river this morning! It must be FREEZING down there. What kind of person willingly puts themselves through that in the name of their sport? Ugh! *shiver*

Hey. Some bloke on the bus is wearing a BURBERRY jacket. How come he's riding the bus then? Chauffeur on holidays? *grin*

How can she do that? We're in the middle of peak pedestrian hour at the end of the day in one of the busiest streets and she's sitting there busily picking her nose?? *shakes head*

Someone is riding a bicycle down the street. On the footpath. That's not usual in itself. Most of them use the street and take their chances with the traffic. She's well prepared though. She has a reflective vest - with lights! There are lights on the front of the helmet and lights along the crossbar of the front forks of the bike. There are lights on the back of the bike too. Can't miss her really as she slowly weaves her way through the throng. Didn't look like a copper though....

Still playing Sims3. Haven't upgraded my WoW subscription yet. Gosh I miss that! Sims3 is sucky, but it's the only computer game I have.

It's time for the farewell lunch for the GTs who are leaving. We're checking out the Brewhouse. The food is reasonable - I paid $6 for a big bowl of beer battered chips and gravy. Oh no! They've put salt on them. Who does that these days? Someone gives me a free glass of beer and I'm set. Lunch winds up about half two and we head to the bus station. Most of the others have left a little earlier and they drove back. The PA system announces the 109 will stop at stop 1. It doesn't and there is a ten minute wait for the next bus. And that means that by the time we catch it and get back to campus then up to the office, I will only be at work for forty-five minutes before I have to leave to catch my bus home. Tough call, the the other GTs convince me to go home. Great. Now I have guilt. *well, not really, but i can try to convince myself*

Sunny's over to watch a movie. He's picked Pirates of the Caribbean. I love that movie so if he wants to talk, he'll have to wait. We're watching the movie and he's suddenly waving his arms about. I've copped an elbow on the point of my shoulder! Ouch! Talk about bony! I've chosen garlic chicken and salad for dinner. Easy recipe and I think I might have overdone the garlic. Ah well.

I'm thinking I might stay in my jammies today. Yay! It's Sunday after all. But I change my mind. A couple loads of washing and more Sims3. I'm scrolling through the telly channels and I discover that the John Travolta movie, Michael, is on later. Sweeeeet! I LOVE that movie. But I have to get through Charlies Angels and the Partridge Family first. I make it through Charlie, and the first bit of Partridge Family. Nap time I think.

I'm awake in time for the movie. No gaming while I settle in to watch the movie. A box of tissues later, and it's almost time to start dinner. I think this is only the second or third time I've seen the movie and I'd forgotten how it makes me cry. Silly stuff. I want to get it but last time I looked I couldn't find it available outside eBay.

Dinner tonight is lamb shanks. Not cooked these for a while and I'm having trouble fitting them in the pot! I brown what I can and set them to simmer. The recipe calls for tomato soup and sour cream at the end but I've chosen french onion soup instead. Works a treat! The sauce is creamy and flavoursome, the meat is falling off the bones. MOTH isn't keen on sour cream, but this recipe I shall definitely try again.

*yawn* I've made it through a rerun of Bones, and Castle is mostly finished. It's a rerun too, so I think I'm off to bed.

It's been a lazy kind of week, but it was a nice ride to work this morning.

Why are melting moments so crumbly??

Monday dawns and Elder and Subs are due to go home. I decide to call in sick because I'm not 100% and it's too cold to get out of bed.

They're up early, packing the car, rounding up Freddy. He knows something is going on and is dancing all around and getting underfoot. Around mid morning when it's time to go, he rushes down to the car and stands at the car door, tail wagging. Gee thanks dog. Good to know you are so eager to get away.

They drive away and all is quiet again.

Only because the Teen and her boy are still asleep.

When they get up, they want to go shopping. Take us to Indro! We love the shops. The boy is pliant, he'll go where she wants. We end up taking them to a closer shopping centre that has recently expanded. She is impressed by the expansion, but still insists they don't have any of the shops she likes. However, since she's on a limited budget, she will go home now rather than continue on.

Tuesday arrives and I'm back at work. I'm riding the bus again because the Zman is on holidays. He gives me a lift to work and I am getting spoiled. The alarm goes off at 6am. I lie in the warmth till at least 6.30am. Up and ready by 8am and wait till he lets me know he's leaving home. I like the late starts, but the late finishes bug me!

The Teen has instructions to clean the room she's been sleeping in. They are migrating to one of the other bedrooms and need to put this one back in order. Dad arrives on the train on Tuesday afternoon. It's been four months since I last saw him and surely I don't recall that his hair was this white? Where is Time going?

He has an appointment with the hospital mid Wednesday morning. I'm not keen on taking the bus and am looking forward to a bit of a sleep in. Where can you drop me off that's on the way? I manage to catch the bus to work at a suburb much closer than home! Wednesday night I find out that they won't be operating. Things are stable at the moment and I guess they don't want to play about. Mum is disappointed when he tells her.

Thursday Dad travels home on the train. MOTH sees him off and they find an old acquaintance on the platform. Home from work and I do the run through with the grocery shopping. Gotta love that. Teen and the boy *sure i had a name for him but can't remember what it was!* decide to head to Pizza Hut for dinner while MOTH and I do the shopping. I'm just about to text them to say where we are when they appear in my line of vision. Hah. No need for texting when you can just summon, right?

Friday they leave mid morning. I wish them well. It was great to see them and her boy is a nice chap. Very quiet. I have no idea what he thinks of Teen's family. Quiet we are not!

Saturday is errand day to pick up scripts and other such sundries. There is housework to do and I look at it ... but I just can't summon the energy to do much about it.

Sunday I designated Stay In My Jammies day. I'm cold again. I've got my polar fleece dressing gown, my flanny jammies, the reverse cycle airconditioner set on 25 and I'm still cold. Maybe it's the house. Maybe it's me. It's sunny outside; watery but sunny. And indoors the kitchen temp tells me it's around 17 deg C. I do three loads of washing and peg them out in the sun. It's lovely when the breeze isn't blowing, but doesn't help when I come indoors!

My WoW subscription has expired and I can't yet renew. The only other computer game I have is Sims 3. I install it and see how it goes. I'm bored! Wow, there are so many options on here I never knew existed. Alright .... let's see how it goes...

Sunday night? Where did that day go? Time to cook dinner - spaghetti and meatballs - and back to the game while I watch a little tv. Reruns of Bones and Castle then off to bed.

Good night!