Pics from the shave

The Day after the Night before!

Well, it is done.
I was so high on adrenalin last night that I found it hard to have a decent sleep.
What a wild day it was...how much energy was there at the Cottage when we started to shave!
It was a pretty special day.
I think it will stay a memorable event in Cottage history.

Thanks go to Lisa for continuing her Cottage dream - last night is a true example of what it is all about.

Thanks to Helen for inspiring me to go for the chop and for all of her hard work. It has been a few hard weeks fundraising.And we all must remember that you have baby Bear to organise too! What a champion!

To Heidi who just looked fantastic and got us all excited ( and scared ) by getting her hair cut a few days earlier.

And to all of those that turned up yesterday and donated their time, cakes, money, love and laughter.
You all made it very, very easy to do something that would otherwise may have been very intimidating.
I got another $130 this morning from one of the people that I asked to raise some money for me so I am up to $860, not including the big tin and all the other little tins that Helen has...we might just get to $1500!!!!!
How bloody brilliant is that.

I will post some photos soon, but if you want to see some today go to Helen's Blog, she has some on right now!

True, True

These are my shots from the "World's Greatest Shave"!
Believe it or not!

BEFORE.....

AFTER.....

FARRRRRKKKKKK!!!!!!!

When did today sneek up?
I wasnt watching......

Did not sleep well last night, kept waking up thinking...fark
fark...
Should not have seen Heidi last night (sorry heidi, but you have such a cute profile
and I dont)
Deb - you have to promise me a number 3!!!
Or, I will hunt you down and kill you!

Now that today is here, I can't wait -
The man took off a bit last night and I might get him to cut another chunk before I go in to the cottage - then I really, really cannot say no.

I have had a shaved head breafast this morning - bacon and eggs (sorry to the veges out there ).
I figure I need the protein.
Now I will wash my hair, while I still have it and then I will make a few batches of scones to sell this afternoon.
Should be a fun day!

This is the week!

Well, only two more days and it's all happening.
My sister in law has managed to raise $350 from her work - wow
I also scabbed $10 from my doctor this morning.

I think I should have about $500 so far - a bit less than the $1000 I was hoping for.
I know that this Wednesday will be successful and I am sure that between Helen and myself and the help of the Cottage regulars and guests we will make it to $1000.

It will be a very cathartic experience, humbling yet hopefully, empowering.
It's only hair right?

I have always had a love / hate relationship with my hair ( more hate that love ) and having gone grey very early, it was a constant battle to keep up the colouring.
I remember several horrible experiences where my hair went bright orange and I had to make a mad dash to the chemist in a beanie to buy another colour to cover my mistake...crazy stuff.

Having a gorgeous crowning glory is a beautiful thing and I am envious of anyone who has such a thing ( yes, you Anchell ) - also age plays a part. Certainly little or no hair is more appealing on a 20-30 something than a 40 something...but it's not all about me and how I feel is in the whole scheme of things quite irrelevant and very egotistical and narcissistic...so off it goes.
Yeh baby!!!!!!

Moving Anchell to the Backpassage and No milk for a simple cuppa!

A good night had by all for Maureen last night.I missed the meal as we were helping Anchell pack the truck to move to the arse end of town, but got there to enjoy dessert.....NOT.
The rotten place ran out of milk!

Maybe I had something to do with it, cause I opened my big mouth and said that "knowing our luck, the place would run out of something".

So, we went back to the Cottage and had dessert supplied by Deb.

Maybe Lisa can put a sign out the front....
"IN CASE YOU ARE IN NEED OF DESSERT - STOP HERE!"

Today we also helped the Anchell family relocate to the backpassage with the help of a hired truck and 65,000 family members who worked thier little tooshes off.
Nice place, backpassage.
Pity it's so far away.

Anchell's new place is cool accept for the steep driveway that will see us all needing knee replacements next week.
It's amazing how much stuff we collect over time. It's only when we need to move do we realise what we have accumulated.
This weekends experience has made me vow never to even think about moving...ever.
But it felt good to be able to help someone else do it.
Good luck Anchell!

Heavens to Mergatroid!!!!

Yesterday's fundraising effort at Wallsend Plaza raised about $100 - not too shabby!
We were there all day and felt rather burnt out by the end of it. Must say, it was quite an enjoyabe experience, we spoke to some really nice people.

There was one young lady who had obviously had chemo, her hair was thin and wispy and she laughed when we said that we were going to be shaving next week - she commented on the fact that she had been trying to grow her hair after chemo treatment. It had taken her five years to get her hair to the length that it currently was - that's when the reality of it all struck us both.

Other than that, baby girl visited the orthadontist for a very eye opening appointment about what awaits her in the world of braces - hmmmm...
Total cost before reimbursments - $5800.
Ouch!!!
But, poor lovely child needs to have a perfect smile, instead of a sticky outy tooth so we will be heading down that road shortly, when I recover from the shock of the cost.

My precious piece of swedish shit is back home ( the automobile ) and our pockets are $600 lighter.

Good thing we have that money printing press working overtime in the garage, cause we were running out of yellow backs...

Also we have now booked all of our overseas accomodation in "down the road" and "around the corner" establishments - never let it be said that I do not try to get the best deal available!
Great thing, that google earth web site.

You can actually go to your hotel destination and check out where it is.
This helped us change our accomodation on Langkawi. We had originally decided on a more upmarket and more expensive hotel, but when the man located it on google earth, we saw that it was at an isloated part of the island which meant that if we wished to go down the main street, we would have had to get a taxi.Anywhere outside of the hotel, meant a trip of at least 15 - 20 minutes. Good, if you want isolation, bad if you want cheap food and shopping.

So, we did some more research and saved ourselves $600 ( note...same amount that the shit box has just cost us! )and booked a smaller place just down from the restauarants and shopping centre of the island.Still a really nice looking place ( well it looks good on the internet web site ).
Thankyou google earth....

Hitting the Fundraising Pavement

Today, Helen and I will be at Wallsend Plaza from 10.30am fundraising for the World's Greatest Shave. We will be encouraging people to come over to our table and leave a donation - as we are not allowed to approach anyone, this may be a bit difficult so I have made up a few signs and we will be in our bright blue t shirts.....
I am very excited and just know it will go well.
Come and say hello!!!!!

Headache of Massive Proportions!

Ouch...I cannot see!!!!
My head is bursting.Am battling through tension headache this morning.
Have been a stress head over the last two days and so now I am paying the price.
My car has pooped itself and is costing big bikkies to repair ( hopeless piece of shit ).Why does one simple plasticky/ metally bit that does very little at all, cost so much friggin money???? Just because you have to take the engine out to get to said friggin piece of crap to replace it! Pish posh.....that's just un - Australian.

Still needing to buy tiles for the bathroom and bathtub,basin, shower and all the rest.....Now there is cheap and tacky and then there is horrendously expensive for something that doesn't look much different from cheap and tacky.
Why do all tiles look the same?
There is either old fashioned or glass tiles.
Why cant colours match?
Why does it appear that stock is available but when you ask it isnt?

Have I hit you up for a donation for World's Greatest Shave yet?
Beware then....cause I'm commin!!!!!!!

10 days to go!

10 days to no hair!!!
Please support us and send us some money now!
I will be doing some fundraising at Wallsend Plaza this Wednesday with Helen.

Other than that, spent the weekend chasing my tail....
On Sunday we tried to organise tiles for our upstairs bathroom and order a vanity and bathtub, neither of which we successfully accomplished.

The doctor from down the road has been getting rid of stuff again, and I have managed to score a cork message board and a mini hi fi system ( not sure if it works yet).
I told my husband that the doc should just save himself the trouble and bring the whole lot down to our place.....at least it encourages me to walk, every time I walk past there is something new out.

Lunch at Morpeth.

Originally I was going to go to Sydney today with some of the girls from the Cottage - but as most of us are financially cash strapped we cancelled the whole affair - quite a shame as it turned out to be such a perfect day.
So I decided to take my friend Sandy down to Morpeth for the day instead.
How glorious!
We spent the afternoon wandering through all the niky naky shops, each one more expensive than the next ( obviously catering to the lucrative Syndey market )...but some of the stuff was really cute.

We had a lovely lunch at one of the many coffee shops overlooking the Hunter River and poked around for another hour or two with a final cappuccino and banana bread before heading for home.

It was a lovely, easy, relaxing day.

A guy called Ian had a little psychic reading shop in one of the back alleys....it lookes really interesting and quaint. I could really see myself doing something similar.Such a cool little setup!

12 days to go before I get my head shaved.
With everyone's help I have already raised over $300.
I would love to make it to $1000.

What time is it?

ooops!
Slept in...heavy head.
Get baby girl up and get her to school.
Coffee.
Must have coffee.

Went to Charlestown Square yesterday to meet a friend and the place is a mess. Many of the shops are closing down and getting out before some of the internal work starts happening and there is an air of apprehension all around. I was told that even Harris Farm Fruito is going. It will be interesting to see how things progess there.
On the other hand, I just love the little shopping strips at Lambton and New Lambton. Some of the shops are so cool.The bakerys are to die for. You must try Jordon's for their array of cakes and sour dour breads.

It's all about the hair!!!

I am letting it go...since I wont have it soon...and it looks like shit.
My hair, that is.

I feel like doing something funky to it before it gets shorn, like taking to it with some sissors and just going crazy..maybe???

Went and had some testing done on my middle ear to see what has been causing my vertigo, and have found out that my right ear is stuffed. Apparently my right middle ear does not send messages to my brain to balance me out, or some such thing...so I am unbalanced...well we are knew that!!!!!!

TELL ME SOMETHING WE DON'T KNOW I HEAR YOU SAY!

Is there something that I can do about it?
Probably not.
Just means that I may stay unbalanced for the rest of my life...ho hum.
Does this mean that I can only turn one way?
Being dizzy ( yes... DIZZY NOT DITZY )is not a pleasant sensation.
One good thing is that even though I have tinitus ( ringing in the ears )my hearing is excellent.
Yes, I CAN hear everything that the man says to me ( shhh..I'll keep pretending that I don't)

Sponsor me!

Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
The man has gone berserk!!!!
He has cut two gigantic holes in my laundry ceiling ( bastard ).

Now that the floors are finished upstairs, he is determined to do the upstairs bathroom. (Just one of our still unfinished rooms.)
We did have a bathtube sitting up there for the last 10 years ( not hooked up )and a dilemma of a badly constructed wall.
So he has decided to pull it out and move it so he can fix this wall.
Its a nightmare!!!!
I have not been able to pick tiles for the floor and walls - we did have tiles purchased for the bathroom, but we ended up using them for the downstairs laundry and they would definately not be very trendy now anyway....
The man believes that while he is still off work, that the bathroom needs to be done!!!
I need to stop him before he gets out of control.........

By the way,
I think that my "sponsor me" site is working...can someone try to sponsor me please and let me know if it works????
(HINT, HINT!!!)

Art class and painting rocks.

I have attended my second art class today and am in the process of painting rocks.If you have followed Hippy Witch's blog you will know that painting rocks nearly drove her insane.
I am trying to make a commitment to painting and even though I may only go twice a month, I will perservere, cause I need to.
My teacher, Tony Moffit, is a crack up and all the ladies that I have met really enjoy the classes and the company.
We all make mistakes, and all the mistakes can be fixed.
That's very, very good!
I just have to hang in there and not pike out.
By the way,
We had a great night out last night. We went to "Lotus" at the Junction to celebrate my hubby's birthday.
The meals were lovely as were desserts and coffee.

This little exercise just cost me $1000!

Oooopps...rego overdue.
Ring mechanic book in for pink slip.
"You need two new tyres"
"Fark"
Book in at Argy tyres for two new front tyres.
$319 later....
go back to mechanic to get car passed.
$30 later
Pay for green slip
$280 later
pay for rego before I get pulled over by the cops
$270 later...
I have a headache....

in the meantime I was trapped in a time warp - my wristwatch stopped. It said 10.53. When I checked my mobile it also showed 10.53.
I looked again and noticed that the hands on my watch were not moving.
I checked my moible again and rememebred that I had not changed my watch to day light saving time so it was actually 11.53.
I had lost an hour.
also...
when I noticed that my watch had stopped I was in front of the watch repair guy down at Glendale shopping centre.
How bizarre!!!

The Gentle art of Blogging

As I went through everyone's blogs today I thought of the fact that really, the only thing that we can all count on is change.

Circumstances, health, people, they all change.... continually.
And we have witnessed this time and time again on all of our blogs.
We have been witness to illnesses coming and going, death, relationship issues,personal emotional turmoil.
We have all gone through it, and I have read and written all about it in the very short span of about the last 18 months.

I am glad I have gone through my shit and am out the other side and if nothing else, when you are in the thick of your own mess then our blogging is a testament to the fact that your circumstances will eventually change yet again.So stay in there....don't give up.None of you!

There have been times when I have been jealous of others circumstances, felt sorry for others problems, been sad with others for their losses, supported others for their decisions and scolded others for theirs.

When we chose to live, we chose to go through the good and the bad.

When we chose to blog, we allow others into our lives and we creep into theirs.

It IS fun and it IS life.

Please keep blogging.

Coffee with the girls

Have been having "an issue" with shoulder pain over the past few days.
It tends to make things tedious and tiring, but I am hoping that shortly things will settle and all will be well.
Got an opportunity to have coffee and cake with Michelle, Larry, Jen and Lisa today.
Good coffees and good company!

We are all doing a little bit of inner soul searching lately either due to external circumstances or by choice, so all of us are in the middle of making life choices or accepting what the universe has dished out.

Not always easy.
Didn't someone say, "You dont always get what you want, but you always get what you need".

Sydney and an extreme boat ride!

We went to Sydney today. The man got an extreme boat ride on Sydney Harbour from the girls for Christmas and today he and my older girl took the plunge!
Unfortuantely, the whole bloody thing was delayed by 1 hour but in the end they both had a great time being taken through the heads on an inflatable and around the harbour for a thrill ride.
We also headed to Chinatown for lunch and the obligatory custard tarts.
A good day had by all and the weather stayed perfect.

One LAST word on Arses!!!!

Hold that thought...

I dont seem to be getting anywhere with the Worlds Greatest Shave Web site at the moment. Seems that their on line donation system is still not working.
Before you put that money back in your pocket, please put it aside and I will let you know when the website will be running properly.
Thanks to all of you who have been trying..
anyway..

I was talking to some girls last night about the fact that I enjoy dreaming so much because it feels like it is almost another side of me that comes alive in them - someone who is much stronger, more self assured, more in touch with her ability to cope with anything and everything. In my dreams I can do it all.I love dreaming and I dream all night long.
Now I know that we dream in spits and spurts but I am woken from my dreaming state every morning,most times I don't even get to finish the dream.Like my whole night is filled with dreaming.
In any event, I often wake more tired than when I went to bed.
Last night I dreamt that I saw my own reflection in a mirror and the person that I saw was not how I look - I was different, very different. Different in a good way. It was surprising. Is there more than one of me?

Never ask for comments as it guarantees that you won't get any...

As someone who has a great deal of experience in blogging has told me....don't ask for comments as you will not get any...and I guess she is right...

If you have been trying to get to "My shave" page to leave me some money, there has been a problem with being able to do that.Some of my friends and family have tried to leave a donation and found that the system isn't working.
I have called the mob from WGS and they have told me that this problem will be fixed later on this afternoon, so I ask that you please try again tomorrow.
If you still cannot leave your donation, please contact me.
Thank you!!

Worlds Greatest Shave only a month away....

Ok folks....is time to put your money where your blog finger is and click onto my profile page and give some dosh!!
Also how about some comments????

The Great Undie Challenge!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen....
this is what I get around in every day...
cute eh?




Oh stop laughing...
so .....can't an old fart with pointy ears and cottage cheese thighs dream a little?

Clicky right to sponsor me!

Please click on "sponsor me" to give plenty of money.......
If I am going to be a almost bald pin headed big nosed pointy eared old dork it better be worth it.....

Oh shit!!

THE MAN JUST SPONSORED ME FOR $20....
fuck!!!!
What do I do now???

To cut or not to cut?

Will I or won't I?
Should I cut off all my hair for "World's Greatest Shave"?
One minute I am all for it and the next,
I can't even think about it, cause I will know that I will look like an absolute dork...on the other hand, how liberating!
Oh, this is painful....
What do you guys think?
I have registered.
But....

a bald pin head with a big nose and sticky outy ears...
very attractive indeed....
well, if Britney can do it????????

Two decisions!

I have made two decisions this morning...what time is it?
Only 9am!!!!!
I must be running a fever.....

Anyway,

I am lowering my prices for full readings to $50.
I will also be donating a percentage of money from each reading that I do this year to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.

I feel good about this - time to give back.

Steamy, wet and it's a jungle out there!

It's hot and steamy - wierd, just like living on a tropical island .....oh, that's right..we do!

Our backyard looks like a jungle. Good thing it's only small, but upstairs we have had a small miracle happen.
My sister in law purchased some timber flooring a few weeks ago and we went to her place to check it out - we were so impressed that we went out and purchased it for ourselves and yesterday the man completed our spare room (one of three that will be done over the next few weeks).

This IS a miracle as we have only had old pieces of carpet as floor coverings in those rooms since the house was built over 17 years ago.

We were waiting to get enough money to purchase proper new carpet for the upstairs bedrooms, but it was always something that was not a possibility due to price.
This timber flooring system turned out to be "on special" and so easy to lay that the man managed to do one whole room in one day.

No where near the price of carpet......yay.....real flooring.
It's so pretty....
Have you heard that we are doing a gig for "World's Greatest Shave"?
We thank Helen for putting up her hand ( or head ) and shaving on the day, the rest of us will be coloring. We are going to have a big afternoon at the Cottage and I encourage you all to mark it in your diaries and come along (March 12th).
We will continue to participate in fundraising activities this year as it is a way to give back into the community that supports us.
My thoughts are with Artyfarty and her mum this week and Faerie Mary and Razor. May the Goddess light your path...

It's February already!

So what happened to January?
Where did it go and what was I doing?

We are getting some blessed relief from the heat today ( thank goodness I did all the washing yesterday ) so I am bunkering in and cleaning house. We are into some small reno work upstairs, so the house is a mindfield of piles and piles of "stuff" in every corner.

Guess I have a great opportunity to get rid of assorted "stuff" before it goes back.

Tonsillitis!

Woke up yesterday feeling like I had been run over my a lawn mower..with a very sore throat.
It was painful to even get out of bed, and so I dragged myself around knowing that I must have caught something.
So I headed to the doc today and found out I have tonsillitis.
Got some antibiotics, which is all well and good, but there is a very high chance of getting thrush, so I need to get a bucket of yoghurt down my throat to balance myself out again.
My mouth feels like a small furry animal has died inside of it....euwwwww..
The man says my breath smells like a small dead animal has died in my mouth.....thanks heaps..will take note and swig mouth wash before I subject myself to anyone in a social way.
Baby girl goes back to school tomorrow.
Our neighbours fly out to Saudi Arabia for two years ( husband has a posting to help build the biggest aluminium smelter in the world there )they are very excited. Will be living in a compound with all facilities virtually, nearly free.And petrol is only 17c a litre!!!!!!

What to do, what to do?

Everywhere I look, there is my shit scattered all over the house.
What do I do with all those bits of paper?
Am "de-calendarclubbing" the house.
Need to get a handle on it.

The man still has a few months before he goes back to work, so my intention is to make the most of this extra time together.
A few short trips away?
Hopefully.
Getting the house under control?
Surely.

I also need a makeover - is there a miracle worker out there?
Need to throw out my clothes,
Need to get a hair cut, colour, something....
Need to get rid of cottage cheese thighs...
Oh it's all too much...
Bugger it!

What a Rockin' Night!

Well, the "Police" concert...what can I say...40,000 people..
It rocked!!!!!
Three old grey haired guys brought the place down.
Boy, can they still play - two hours and two encore's.Non stop - all brilliant.
We were in heaven.
Telstra Stadium was a great venue, it was so well organised. We stayed at Ryde and caught a "special event" bus to the stadium.
Fergie was one of the warm up acts ( the first one being Sting's son, who has a group of his own ) and she was fabulous. Anyone that can do somersaults and still sing without missing a note gets a tick of approval from me thats for sure.
She is so fit and such a professional performer - I have a new respect for her!

Then the Police - oh Lordy....

All our favorite songs, the crowd went crazy with plenty of oldies bopping away to Roxanne, Every breath you take,Da do do do etc...

We also saw Nicole Kidman and her husband Keith Urban and Hugh Jackman and his wife, saunter through the crowd before the band started.
Nicole surprised me, she looks a lot different in "real life" than she does on TV or the movies, but Urban looks exactly the same. Hugh is smaller than we perceive him to be.If fact they all seem quite petite and small statured.

After the concert we walked out of the stadium and within two minutes we were back on a bus and heading home.

Today we spent the day at Darling Harbour having a late breakfast and a walk around and then we headed home only to be caught in the heavy holiday traffic heading out of the city.
Now we are back..

Have a Happy Australia day everyone!
We are having a big Australia Day breakfast with family.

The Police....

We are heading to Sydney to go the the Police Concert tonight..
YAY...
am very excited.
We will be staying overnight and then taking the baby's friend back to meet with her parents as they will be returning to Melbourne on Saturday.
Baby girl and friend have spent the last four days at the computer, with only small breaks to eat, sleep and go to the toilet.
I did try to do things that I thought would be of slight interest - like going to town and showing the girls some sites, but I was met with a silent indifference and I knew very quickly that it was just a waste of time.
I just thought that this young lady, it being her first time in Newcastle, might just want to have a small look around....but no, Graphic Action,Borders Bookshop and then back to the computer and Wii thank you very much...oh and dont bother us unless you call us for food..
Oh, I did manage to take them down to Warner's Bay to sample Dip n Dots Icecream. That seemed to put a momentary smile on their faces.....only momentary..
I have not had time to get my act together yet...feel very disjointed..maybe next week.

Stripping on a Sunday

Spent the morning stripping...
mmmm...
stripping calendars.
The process by which you remove the backs from all remaining stock so that you can get reimursed for them.This took several hours.They are now packed into boxes ready to be sent back to the company.
- now it is done and that is that.
There is no more.

Sleeping in today was brilliant!
Getting up and staying at home was even better.
It was quite a wierd experience really.
I felt that something was amiss?
Should I not be elsewhere?

At this point, I need to express my deep and sincere thankyou to all of you who have listened to me prattle on like a looney person over the past 14 weeks.
And special thanks to all that visited me and let me have a toilet break or at least entertained me for several minutes to break the monotony.
Even though, in the whole scheme of world progress, my small inconveniences have been actually just that, minor inconveniences, I have felt that the need to release hot air has been therapeutic and some of you have been kind enough to listen and to console, even though at most times, I know that I you probably did not give a rat's arse...
I am truly thankful.
Also to my ever suffering family - the man and the child and the grown up daughter for heaving when I asked to heave and for hoeing when I asked to hoe.
To the man for cooking, cleaning and sleeping next to little more than a corpse at night ( me )and to baby girl for seeing me so little that she nearly forgot who her mother was yet for still asking for hugs and kisses whenever she did see me passing by.

It is over for now, who knows what the new year will bring?

As much as it is a pain in the butt, it has paid many bills and secured our family finances for a few weeks to comes, so I must be truely thankful.

As I am to all of you for your support and lack of critical judgement..

Love youse guys...
MMMMMMMMWWWWWWWAAAAA!!!!!!!!

10,9,8,7,6...........................

Be still my beating heart!!!

Guess what!
I am closing one day early.
On Saturday.....
Ooooohhh I am so excited.
That means only two days left.

A beautiful brain...

Today I went to the specialist to get my head checked out.
I have been having vertigo and massive headaches for some time now -
but the good news is that all is clear...no tumor, no growths or silly things and yes...I do have a brain and it is beautiful!!!

I will persist and get some more tests on my inner ear, as it must all be a balance thing.

So don't spin me or I will slap you!!

7 Days to go!

My Main man Metatron!

Very strange dream last night...
I never, ever dream about angels.
Never.
But last night i dreamt about Metatron.
That was the name alright.
Very bizarre.

It felt very empowering.
I think my subconscious tries to make up for the fact that I am such
a weak drama queen in real life.

Dont know what the meaning behind this message was supposed to be.
I will be thinking about it all day.

Am very jealous of some of our witches who have been "tripping" to Nimbin and Melbourne.......jealous indeed...it's so much fun, isn't it!

Vertigo

Ouch...my head is at it again..
All it took was watching one of those video shows where some arsehole was taping a person caught in a hole in the ice while another person was trying to pull them out, but, the guy taping could not hold the camera still.
It only took about 10 seconds of watching and that did it...
Vertigo, straight away...
Bugger...
Woozy head, everything swirling ...all night long.
Not as bad as my super vertigo attack last year where I had to go to hospital, but enough to give me a massive headache and a feeling like I had just stepped off the Pacific Princess.

It's 7.30am and my morning walk has helped to clear my head, but I shall certainly take a tablet or two before I head out the door.

Speak little, listen much.

Yesterday was certainly not a diamond day - more like a bit of gravel.

Found out some irritating news ( work related ) and that seemed to put me in a strange frame of mind for the rest of the day.

Funny how just one thing can change your mood - although I am tired at the moment - have started to do some walking and it seems to be sapping me of any surplus energy.

So my foot is in my mouth on a continual basis, which is what happens when I am tired,I tend to say stupid things.

It is already January 8th!
Oh my goodness there are so many things that I want to do this year and already eight days are gone....I must hurry

Yay!!! 14 days to go...

Yes folks I can almost smell the freedom....only 14 days to go!

I am back at the Cottage tomorrow with my first reading of the year and then Tuesday for my first YAAD class.

I would like to say that I have done something interesting lately...but really, I haven't....

The man did make some amazing home made tomato soup today from our very own home grown tomatoes...it was yummy.

Oh well, you just never know what will happen tomorrow...

You just CAN'T stop the Music....

I am sitting here watching "You can't stop the music" with the Village People...
Oh
my
Goodness...
I remember watching it back in 1980 before I knew they were all gay.
Such an innocent.
Also check out this u tube video...
it's a total crack up

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=O-MucVWo-Pw


Now...
have a good one.
The man has just made a pavlova with the left over egg whites from all his cooking at Christmas.
Yum.
We had such a quiet New Years - watched the 9pm fireworks in town and then came home and watched the Sydney fireworks on TV.
What did you do?

Happy New Year

Mmmmmm, only two days to go and then we get to start all over again.
Another year, another go round the wheel.

Anyone making resolutions?

I have a few, but I am keeping them a secret.

We are going to have a very quiet New Years - rather boring really.
I am hanging out for a darn good party to go to but it does not seem to happen.
Year after year, it's just boring...
SOMEONE HAVE A PARTY!!!!!!
And invite me please!

I only have 21 days left to work at the toilet bowl.
It has now become moron central, with the same people who before Christmas were ranting about paying $24 for the calendar that they really wanted, now paying $30 for two half price calendars that they have to settle for cause their calendar is sold out.

What don't people understand about "everything" being 50% off?
"So is everything 50% off?'
Yes, everything" (pointing to the sign)
"So - is this one 50% off too?"
(seething quietly.................) "YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS"

Jesus have mercy!!!!

A Very Grumpy Christmas

Was so looking forward to a sleep in this morning - and couldn't, due to large head pounding that was brought on by caffeine withdrawals.
You see, I have been living on coffee these last few weeks and even though it is mostly decaffinated, I still feel that there is SOME caffeine, even in decaffinated coffee and so.....big pounding headache at 8am.

We did the family thing last night,being Polish, our big celebration is on Christmas Eve as opposed to Christmas day.
Then we came home and opened our "real" gifts.
We always keep the best for our place...we come home and open our gifts..it's great.
I did score well with a new camera, some money and beautiful earrings.

Today is to be very quiet....
food, and watching dvd's.
Sounds boring?
To me it is bliss...
Out of people's energy..out of the chaos...with my family.
Baby girl got a Nintendo Wii, we probably won't see her till February now!

Have a good one!

Did I say that I was tired?

I worked 16 hours yesterday.
16 hours at the toilet bowl of humanity and I was rudely abused by some dememted twat of a woman who swore that I was selling my calendars at half price in the morning, yet I was not offering her a discount when she came back to buy her calendar in the afternoon.
And when I called her "madam", she called me a bitch!

So there...
I love Christmas.

Anyway, 16 hours, used to be called "doubla" shifts when my dad was at work.
Men used to do doubla's all the time, especially at the BHP and the cotton mills where my dad worked.
How did they do that?
My God, I feel like I have been run over my a semi - and those guys did that week after week in some cases.

Only 4 days till Christmas...
Yay!!!!

Only five days left

Today is even horrible to think about....
I am at the toilet bowel till midnight tonight.
I am tired already!!!!!

All the sicko bastards will be out today.
It's going to be a shit fight.

Yesterday, we attended a funeral.
There is only one good thing about a funeral -
It serves to remind you that YOU are still alive!

Oh well, must get to it!

I feel a day fuelled by Red Bull is coming up!!!!!!

R.I.P.

It is with great sadness that I need to tell you all that a member of our family passed away this morning at 10am.

She was a lovely lady named Aleksandra - my husband's cousin's mother.
Distant relative, yet very, very close and the family is in mourning.

She was integral in sponsoring my husband's family when they fled Poland over 20 years ago and came to Australia as refugees with only the clothes on their backs, needing a place to stay and a guarantee that they would be looked after.

Aleksandra and her daughter, Kazia, guided them through their first months and weeks in a totally new and strange country and the family has been very close ever since.

Not a family event has not passed without the presence of Aleksandra and her devoted daughters.

This lovely lady was over 80, a ripe old age and her health failed badly at the end.
She had diabetes for over 15 years and her skin had become paper thin. A fall some months back forced her to leave her family home and seek care in an aged facility. Dementia set in at an incredible pace and her last days were spent in great pain with many infections that just could not be halted.

And so she left this world....for the next.

But it leaves her family in great sadness, that just before Christmas we must now endure her loss.

The funeral will probably be on Wednesday.

In her loving memory, please kiss and hug your loved ones and tell them that they light up your day.

I send my hugs and kisses to you all.

How to run a three ringed circus when you only have one ring!

1.Replace all bodily fluids with caffiene by drinking copius amounts of coffee all day long.
2.Have Mersyndol on call at all times.
3.Have a husband at home who will run all errands AND srub shower recess when needed.
4.Live on take away food and an occassional lump of bbqed dead carcass when husband who has just finished scrubbing shower recess has time to throw the dead bison's leg on the bbq.
5.Hire amazing staff that will come in at the drop of a hat and work for third world wages ( and an occassional coffee).
6.Have an amazing group of friends who will support and visit when the times get tough.
7.Try to go to bed and get some sleep.
(This one rarely gets a look in)
8.Have an understanding family who learn to accept the ranting and raving lunatic who has inhabted their home during the Christmas period instead of their mother/wife.
9.Administer heavy protective "bubbles of white light" while at the toilet bowel of humanity.
10.Wear ear plugs to somewhat lower the tone of screaming infants and ranting semi crazed customers.

Part One complete.

Oh Lordy!

Yes, today every muscle does hurt and how do I keep awake?
I tried two coffees and a can of "MOTHER" and still had the yawns.
But then I was at the toilet bowl till 10pm.
The long haul starts....
Late nights all this week.
8pm Mon, Tues and Wed and MIDNIGHT on Thursday.
May the Goddess have mercy on my poor soul!

Lots of girls are passing by and saying Hi!
I really love that, please do not hesitate to come by and give me a hug...I will be needing it.

Otherwise, what else could be new?

The man actualy scrubbed out the shower recess today...
Oh my God, how slack am I and how wonderful is he?!!!
I love that man!

Is the world still turning?

I guess I must say that I am feeling rather left out of the social loop lately.
The blogs are quiet and I am getting no messages.
All my friends seem to have a life.
Strange about that!

As the last days before Christmas hit us, we are all busy in our own little worlds as we try to buy gifts, organise engagements and stay sane.

I just want to say that I miss you all!

Ghosts and a trip planned!

I think we have a ghost in the kitchen.
The man was planning to make buscuits and plugged in the mixer but then realised we had no butter so he left the mixer plugged in on the kitchen bench ready for tomorrow.
A few hours later, we are sitting minding our own business, and all of a sudden this terrible noise starts coming from the kitchen....
it's the bloody mixer...
it turned on all by itself!!!!!!!
spooky....


and...


this afternoon we booked our super duper cheap as all shit holiday for next year.
Jetstar had flights to Kuala Lumpur for only, wait for it, $34 each way....

Holy, moly what a bargain...
so, we ARE going..
Yay!!!!!

Kaboom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Friday last we had a lighting strike two doors away from our house, and so our internet went poof!

So no connection to the rest of the world since then...
am living on borrowed time..
will be back..as soon as I can.
P.S. Bush is up and sparkly
with lights aglowing.
VERY NOICE!!!!

I have a naked bush in my living room!

Well, my bush has gone up for another year.
But it is currently naked.
I needs some ornaments quick smart.
Maybe I will get to it this weekend?
Can't stand a naked bush....
just not right.

Did you know?

Did you know that for every officially registered witch in Romania there are 4000 who cast their spells tax free?
Being a witch is big business in Romania where many companies even consult them for spell casting and psychic readings.
The head White Witch in the country, Maria Campina, says that they are performing a public service and therefore should be tax exempt.
"Whenever there is an important Christian celebration we perform a ritual to protect the country from natural diasters...that has to be worth more than paying income tax".
Love her attitude........

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK!
Heck is where people go who dont believe in gosh.

Funny dreams and Mad Cow at Hog's Breath

Believe it or not, I actually dreamt that I was driving along this road about a month ago.
Then, the man shows me this picture of this crazy road that was sent to him from a friend.
I nearly dropped on the floor when I saw it - this was the exact road that I had dreamt about!
I had never seen this road before this picture was shown to me, and in my dream.
How could anyone ever believe that such a road even exists!!!!!But it does.
This road is in Norway.
Go figure?
I really must have done a quick trip while I slept.......


We went out tonight to Hog's Breath to celebrate my darling "survivor's" one year anniversary since his prostate cancer operation.

I can't believe it - so many times I go out and there is a problem that occurs with my food order...no one else's but mine.
and so..
it happened again tonight.

I ordered a steak, medium rare, and got one almost raw on one side.
Upon getting it taken back, I sat and waited about ten minutes for the chef to spit on my plate, throw my steak on the floor and kill it by cooking it to death.
While the man and baby girl finished their meals, I was then presented with a plate full of shit, upon which I called the manager and told her to stuff it up her arse.....so we walked out...me without eating and the man having finished a half cold meal, having waited for mine to arrive.

We ended up going to the EuroBar and having coffees and cheese cake.
What a shit.....what a dissapointment.
Thanks Hog's Breath...Last time we go there.

Chai Latte with Gloria and a VERY SLOW Saturday

Well, life at the toilet bowl of humanilty has come to almost a grinding halt.
What a change from last year...today it was dead.
Not only am I suffering, but all the traders at the Square are finding the competition from the new, you beaut, Westfield Plaza is taking away lots and lots of customers.Guess it's their turn this year.

Even poor old Arty Farty super staff member was bored shitless today.
Thank goodness Gloria turned up....and introduced me to Chai Lattes.
Thanks Gloria.

Went for a walk along the beach tonight with baby girl and the man.It was delightful to get out together.We got icecreams of course.....

Where am I ?

Where am I?
The beating of the drums.....boom,boom,boom...from the crack of dawn to dusk.
The piercing screams of children as if their limbs are being torn limb from limb.
Men wandering around aimlessly with glazed looks, pupils transfixed, as if their manhood has been stripped from them.
Women huddled together in pairs, groups - yellings, screaming, stopping dead in their tracks when another one of their kind passes by.....searching for what they have and where they got it...yearning for more...more....more!!!!!!
Everyone in chaos,grabbing morsals of food as if it was the last supper, in tastless clothes, dishevelled, heaving,pulling out their hair....
Oh my God...
Where AM I??????


I am Charlestown Square, of course!
He...He...

Still Feral

Ruby Red is not the only feral in the chicken coop.
I am very feral suffering with dogs disease. not noise!Could do with an upper respiratory tract transplant at the moment.
Thanks Fairy Mary for your visit yesterday and letting me go "pay a penny".
Am reading a new book at the moment called "the gift of Fear" about being able to recognise a violent situation before it occurs andstrategies to save yourself from violence. I believe this book should be read by every woman on the planet.
Did you know that every murder is premeditated? None are random.
Also 100% of all serial killers have been either abused or humiliated by their parents whilst children.
Also more people have died through violence in the USA than have died in the Iraq war.
I think we may need to do an ARC on this topic when I am finished.I would love to share this information.

One long winded day.....

The days roll into one,
all the same, all long winded full of trivia and bits and pieces of unimportance.
Yet every morning I wake to find the earth has turned and given me another chance to look forward.
Every day is about making another dollar, paying another bill, selling a new year to another stranger to whom I have no connection, and do not want one.
My yearning is for home and those that I love - every hour spent away from sanctuary is a monotonous one.
But this is where I am and this will pass me by soon enough.
For now, I must see each new day through and find some enjoyment and fulfilment within it.
There is no rest for the wicked, so I must therefore be......

Crabby Bitch Syndrome

Yes...a bit crabby bitch today.
Very sore throat, hot and cold....yuckky.
Nothing that a few dozen panadols wont bash into submission.

It is nearly the end of week 4.
The season is slow, sales are down - the toilet bowl of humanity is quiet.
Got a gorgeous calendar today - called healing mandalas...simply beautiful.
You must come and see!

Thankyou my dear friends!

Yes.....I am working on my people skills....and its not helping!

But thanks to all the kind friends that have passed by and spent a minute to wake me from my comatose state of boredom while at the toilet bowl of humanity ( the Square ).

Helen, Sandy, Gayle, Jen, Jane, Leanne, Gloria and Michelle.
You are always welcome.
If I am not awake, please prod me until you see my pupils and check for signs of life.

I am thinking of a new look...what do you say?

If you have a problem remembering where you leave your keys.........

Beltaine photos.