all the way round to the start

could have...
should have...
cannot....
must not.....
can't...
won't....
need to....
have to....
really, really have to.
don't make me...
I'm trying.
don't ask.

When is a post not really a post?

I am not going to write about what is really on my mind, I am sometimes tempted to, but it would serve no purpose at all....so I will just talk shit instead.
The weather has been nice hasn't it?
What about the price of eggs and cheese - shredded cheese is so expensive...
Have a nice day...

Blessings and Honour to our Anzac Heros!

Say hello to me beloved,
Give a kiss and a cheer
Have a beer at the pub mate
for I'm no longer here -

But I'll be standin beside ya,
Me old mate, me old chap,
That's me you'll be feelin
My hand on yer hat -

When you're in the parade mate
when you walk down the street,
When the dawn is a risin,
when the tears start to creep.
I'll be standin beside ya,
Me old mate, me old chap,
I'll be singing the old songs
We sang at the camp.

So say hello to the missus,
give her a kiss for me,
and go and play two up
and win a penny or three.

Meeting a Hooker!

Today I get to met a Hooker in Hamilton - and have a coffee with her too!
Good thing she is a friend of mine, or the tongues would be wagging eh!

The weather has been wet, wet, wet...so it is a great opportunity to stay on the computer for hours on end and just do bugger all.

I am trying to get a handle on my food intake so that I can at least make space for all the food I intend to eat in Oompah Loopah land - I need stretchy pants...will head to a shopping centre close to you soon......

In the mean time, I know I have something important to do....but cannot remember what the hell it is??????

Is this freaky or what?

Is this a picture of a fairy at the bottom of the garden?
Or did someone just fall asleep under the tree and then the tree reclaimed him/her?

Thoughts become mainfest!

Well, I opened my big fat mouth in yesterday's blog and said that I would not be getting to sleep till two...and guess what,
I didn't get to sleep till two.
and an early start this morning has left me feeling quite furry.
Baby girk is spending the day with her girk friend from school and I am tying more cut up bushes as the council is collecting them for free tomorrow and we have a forest in our backyard.
Am also clearing bamboo from my back passage ( ouch ).
This rain is making everything grow as if we were spraying the place with steroids.

Having strange dreams about standing in blood and guts....and asking for luck in a chinese temple - way too much coffee I think!!!

Baby girks and Harry Potter

Cheers to the ladies that picked up my spelling mistake last blog...I have now fixed it but I seem to have retained my baby girk for ever more.
Baby girks do not fall asleep till after midnight and do not get up till 11am.
They eat everything that contains chocolate or McDonalds and little else.
They read books or are attached to the computer all day long and the only time they watch t.v. is to watch another rerun of Harry Potter ( how many times can one watch it?).
Baby girks have two left hands incapable of even the most basic tasks and seem to have selective hearing - yet they can listen to incredibly nerve shattering music on their ipod thingys.
They speak in a foreign language that only other girks seem to understand.
Oh well....

I have had a very productive day - I beaded, painted, washed sheets,cut and tied branches, took mother shopping and for coffee, watched Harry Potter and blogged.

The man made me two very yummy cappuccinos and now I will be awake to 2am!

Not much to say...huh?

Well, I really dont have much to say.
Really.

It has been a quiet week, some activity at the Cottage and not much else.
These are my last weeks with the man at home - he returns to work in July, so I am enjoying the time that I have with him and I both at home.
Its been wet and fairly cool so we are limited to what baby girl wants to do during the school holidays - if she had her way she would be sleeping in till 11 every day and staying on the computer till she has to go to bed.

Quiet is good.
Three weeks to oompah loompah land!

Mental Illness or Spiritual Experience?

Watched a show on ABC last night about Mental Illness and it occurred to me just how many similarities there are between symptoms of mental illness and deep spiritual experiences.
Such as, feeling "between the worlds", disassociated, feeling that the other world makes sence whereas this one does not, hearing voices, fatigue, bouts of extreme energy then feelings of exhaustion, a sence that many of your choices and actions are not yours, leaving your body etc...
Obviously, the major difference is that mental illness is all pervasive and does not leave you with a feeling of elation, you are required to contain your emotions by using drugs and rehabilitation to allow you to function whereas a spiritual experience is uplifting and profound and mostly transitory...

but yet, these experiences are in many ways very similar - I discussed this with the man and said to him that I felt that most of us have a "screw loose" and can relate to one or more of these feelings,and his comment was that I don't have any screws left to come loose anymore, they all fell out years ago!.
Hmmmmmm.....

Party Chick!

It's just party, party,party....
Friday lunch at the pub down at Lambton for my cousin's birthday.
Saturday morning breakfast at Chaddy's for same said cousin.
Then afternoon tea with family - more cake...
in between, much manoevering to make humungous caramel laden cake for miss Mary of the "Cottage" and more partying that evening and eating of said cake ( did I mention the mountain of cream that was in the cake as well? )

Ohhh! My stomach ..I have overindulged.

I have dust gathering in every corner of my house and have no motivation to clean it.
I have started a new painting and have stupily thought that I can do a bit without having my hand held...he,he....I think that was a mistake. I do not want to spend all of next lesson correcting what I have stuffed up.

Last night's birthday bash was fun. So much yummy food - there was even an idea that we should hire ourselves out to do wakes!

THe baby girl has been on school holidays for about a minute and is already bored out of her brain....oh, this is going to be a long school holidays - I am not into entertaining a 13 year old.

Helllloooooo out there!

not one to point a finger but........

the blog lines are "verwy kwiet" and I am sick and tired of clicking on everone's blogs and finding NO NEW POSTS!!!!

Come on!



We need some new posts bloggers....get into it.

Some interesting local history

Wallsend - from the coal district on Tyne ( end of old Roman occupational wall)

Newcastle - after the English city. The Port was first entered by boat in 1797 in pursuit of escaping convicts. Newcastle was first called "King's Town" and the Hunter river was known as "Coal River".
The native name for the site is Malubimba.

Boolaroo - aboriginal meaning "many flies" ( right Diana? )

Waratah - because of the prolific growth of the plant in that area.

Shortland - after John Shortalnd, master's mate on the "Sirius".

Muswellbrook - once known as Muscle Brook on account of the mussels in the creek.

Morpeth - after Morpeth in Wales. The native name is Illulong. Was first called Wallis Plains.

Maitland - after Jas. Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale. The original settlement was made up of " 11 well behaved convicts". The natives called west Maitland " Boyden" and east Maitland " cooloogoolooheit".

Kotara - a waddy in aboriginal.

Cardiff - after Cardiff Wales. Sir Edgeworth David, Aust. scientist was born there.

that's all I have found for now.
Just thought it would be of interest..

Another week begins....

School holidays begin soon...what to do with the kids at home?
We will all be screaming out for coffees and sanctuary within a few days I am sure...but before that we have this week to contend with.
What will it bring?
The man has a few doctor's appointments today....hope all is well - it must be!
We are going to Kuala Lumpur ( or as it is now known "oompah loopah land" ) in less than a month and I am getting very excited.

This is one of the spots we want to visit. It is called Batu Caves and is a holy Temple just outside the city of Kuala Lumpur.Note the millions of steps that need to be climbed to get inside the caves...I am swaeting already.

The Cottage has a Fairy Godmother/or father!

Indeed I have been informed that there have been a number of anonymous donations left at the Cottage in the last 24 hours.
To whoever left them - I also extend my sincere thanks.
I would love to know who it was - human curiosity - but anonymity is a beautiful thing. You have to be a pretty big person to give without expecting thanks.

Our Cottage is a beautiful place and now we have a fairy Godmother, or father too!

Meanwhile,
The man is out having some timeout with friends from work at a "smoko".
I have baked apple pie and am watching "Harry Potter" yet again - it's still so cool.

I also learnt how to apply gesso onto a canvas today ( whoopee do I hear you say ).
Yet an important part to the process of painting and I learnt it today. So I am stoked.

My very first completed painting - Woo Hoo!!!!!

A1 Ghostbusters

Seeing the sun rise!

I was at the beach to see the sun rise this morning and I must admit that it was spectacular!
Had to take baby girl into school at sparrow's fart to catch a bus to the Royal Easter Show in Sydney (school excursion).
So was brave and thought, since I am up anyway....shall head into town and go for a walk along the beach.
There is a fabulous coffee shop up near the old hospital - it overlooks Newcastle beach and having a morning cappucinno there is superb.
I thoroughly recommend it!
Shall we make a date girls?

Tonight, doing a cemetary walk with my psychic development group...what a day!

Coffee and Catch up

So enjoyed our coffee today with Michelle and Jen, Faerie and Mother Superior.
We went into a variety of subjects, as usual going deeper and deeper as the coffees flowed.
Some truths were told and heaven help anyone asking us to be blunt and truthful cause that is what you will get!!!!
We all hold fears about what we can and cant do - we all feel less than perfect most of the time. We all hold friendships dear. They are integral in our lives.
All of us cope, sometimes more, sometimes less but we all keep trying as best as we can.
Another week begins......
down the rabbit hole we go.....

What was I thinking?

* convinced myself I could do with a cappucinno machine.
* the man suggested to follow "Choice" magazine recommendations and get a certain brand.
* Went to Good Guys and made purchase.
* Went to supermarket, brought assorted ground coffees with great anticipation.
* Got home, turned on machine.
* Became seriously hostile as machine refused to froth milk.
* Watched the "you are such a dumb arse we have to show you how to make a coffee" instructional dvd.
* Made more coffees that were pathetically horrible.
* Thought, it must be the milk.
* Drove to supermarket and brought assorted milks to try.
* After trying for another half hour decided that this was another piece of shit and packed it all back in its box.
* Drove back to Good Guys, had an arguement with salesguy who even went and got his own milk to prove how good this piece of shit could froth the milk and then stood there trying to convince us that what he had created was perfectly frothed milk and what were we on about?
* Spent more of our precious time telling sales guy that he wouldnt know a good cappucinno if he fell into one.
* Got our money back after much heaving and sighing from salesguy.
* Went to Euro Bar for a decent cappucinno and come to the realisation that unless you are willing to spend a motza on a professional machine to use at home - the only way to get a good cappucinno with frothy thick and creamy milk on top is to buy one from a really good coffee shop with smiling baristas who love to make good coffee.
* Lesson learnt.

I need a cappuccino machine....now!!!

I have been getting up at about 6.30am over the past two weeks to complete darkness. I peer out of the kitchen window and put the jug on for the first cup of the day and it is just so peaceful and quiet.
When day light saving stops this weekend, I guess it will be a lot lighter, so I have only a few mornings left of watching the sun come up.
Yes, I know I could get up earlier...but, duh

I went down to Glendale to buy toilet paper as baby girl had just used the last sheet before striding off the catch the bus and I used that as an excuse to stop at Brumby's to buy a cappuccino ( Brumby's make good coffee ).

I have decided that I am quite addicted to cappuccino's and will save thousands of dollars if I just go and buy myself a decent machine to have at home.I also now know that I can buy ground decaffinated beans at the local Gloria Jeans.And it's good stuff.
Will work on that.

Also we had a bad pizza experience on the weekend - must warn you local people,
so...
Warning, warning!!!!!!

Small Americana pizza from Don Peppino's at Merewether $12.

Look on my face when I opened the pizza box AND LOOKED AT THE PATHETIC PIECE OF SHIT INSIDE - PRICELESS!!!!!!!!

Never, ever, ever buy your pizza from Don Peppino's.
In fact, don't even drive past.
You will experience more joy and flavour if you put that $10 note in between two slices of whole meal bread ( with no butter ) and ate it with a glass of tap water.

Stay away.

They have a hand written sign inside the restaurant saying that the magificent traditional food is made by some traditional old italian ladies who have been making the pizza and pasta there for the last 28 years.

Well, I think those ladies must be about 136 years old, have dementia and have forgotten the recipe.

The man has been telling me how he used to go to Don Peppino's when he first came to Australia nd remembered how great the pizzas were - so I thought well, lets go and test out how they are now as compared with how they were back then.

You know how you get that gut feeling that you just may be making a mistake?

We both had a tinge of it....
but no, we were determined to see it through.
So we placed an order, waited 20 minutes and collected the pizzas.
Back in the car, I dared to open the box and took one look inside and well...
What a joke...that was supposed to be a pizza?....
McCains from the supermarket looks a million dollars compared to what we got.
Black and Gold pizza has more ingredients than what we got.
It was so bad, we were tempted to take it straight back, but the man said that maybe there was a hidden flavour experience just lurking on that miserable looking imposter of a pizza.
So we took the pizza home, poured a glass of wine...
and were bitterly dissapointed when there was no flavour to be found anywhere.
The pizza box would have had more flavour.
The whole thing was so bad that the man rang up Don Peppino's and abused them.

Corn flakes and old guys

News flash.....
SOme girl in America put a corn flake up on ebay and got bids to the value of $200,000 cause it looked like one of the states of America....
DuH?????
Ebay pulled it...but it went back on and sold for $1350.00.
I am off to the shops right now...
Also the last and oldest French World War One veteran has just been buried having been given a state funeral.
He was 110.
Now that's amazing..

Today is a new day.
I am a scary mother who is cracking the whip.
I am buying paints to start my collection - I AM going to keep painting even if it frustrates me.
Tonight is YAAD.
I am very lazy and need to get motivated - does anyone know how to do that?
It is so easy to fall into bad patterns.
So many bright ideas, but they are just ideas...someone give me a kick up the bum please!
ok..
ok...
get in line and stop pushing..
you will all get your turn.

Is it over yet?

The Shroud of Turin is in the news again...more testing to be done this year to check it's authenticity. Didn't they already acknowledge the fact that it was actually created in the 12th century?
mmmm, obviously they will retest and retest until someone works it back to when J.C. died. I guess it goes to show us how strong beliefs can be, whether it is right or wrong and even in the face of evidence that disproves it.

We all know that the church was great at selling 'the thigh bone of St. Jude" and "the left nostril of St.Benedict" for centuries, why not create the ultimate of relics?

Maybe the Pope was short of a few gold coins to throw into the local pokies at the Vatican Vegas and commissioned some guy to whip up a relic or two for a quick buck?

Meanwhile,
Last night's turn out for Yaad 2008 was great - I am looking forward to a muchly interesting group of vocal and challenging students.
Feaster is nearly over for another year - for those of you who might be thinking that I am a heartless bitch for not giving the baby girl her chocs yesterday, she got heaps at her grandmas and we gave her ours this morning.So there...

My intention for today is to do as little as possible!

It's Feaster - happy ho hum to all!

Easter Quiz
Question: What does one do with an 84 year old mother who chucks a temper tanty in the middle of 'Strandbags" cause her good for nothing daughter willl not allow her to buy the bag that SHE REALLY WANTS, but cannot open properly?

Answer: Let her buy it anyway and come home and have a glass of wine.

Question: What do you do with a child that will not eat vegetables ( only five solitary measly beans on her plate )?

Answer:Tell her there will be no easter eggs tomorrow and go and have another glass of wine.

Question: What do you do when you know that you should not be eating meat until tomorrow cause that is the freaking "tradition" in your family?

Answer: Have not one but two pieces of bbq steak for tea and follow it up with a third glass of wine!

Question: What do you do when all feaster it is raining?

Answer: Sleep in and watch movies - that one was easy.

Question: What do you do when you have to go to a boring family breakfast for Feaster Sunday and you would rather just sleep in and have dry toast and water in preference?

Answer: Suck it up and just do it. Avoid anything that looks like garlic and pork sausage in the shape of dismembered penises that have been boiled in water or "finger food" that consists of sausage rolls and chicken nuggets that do not contain anything that could be called "meat". Also avoid the same old cakes that got pulled out at Christmas and were not eaten because we have been eating the same cakes for the last 20 years now and are over them and especially avoid the rellies that have not seen your shaven head yet and who will spend many a merry moment pointing fingers and speaking in hushed voices so that I can just notice.
Also avoid father in law who will try to ply you will either cheap wine or port before you have had your first decent coffee for the day.....burp.
I feel heartburn coming on already!

What a day!

Spent all day with my homies - the sista's from the block.
Am starting to get hooked on art class - my tutor has been chosen to exhibit in China as one of the 35 most influential artists in Australia. How cool!

I am more that half way through my first painting..maybe two more lessons and I will be done. ( maybe three )
And then I will do another one, very much the same so that I can work out how to remember how to do things.It is much harder than it looks.It can be so frustrating when you know what you want something to look like but when you touch the canvas with paint it comes out like crap.

Anyway,
this weekend sees me chillin'.
Tomorrow big daughter picks up new car.
Baby girl will sleep all day.She is very tired and needs a rest.
The man has worked up a sweat mowing lawns and wipper snipping all day - so he will be taking it easy
after all it is good Friday and

da...da..da....doom......
the shops are closed for one whole day and the world is in turmoil with a frenzied attack on all supermarkets..
Obviously people are worried that they are going to starve - cause they are buying like there is no tomorrow.
insane!

May the force be with you.

Worlds Greatest Shave Update

The cash has been counted...and the amount is...
drum roll please.....
drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
$2362.95!!!!!

What an excellent result.
Thank you to everyone - such a solid effort was put in by everybody
and all of those last minute donations were all added in too!

It's going to rain soon...I can feel it.

Going broke at Borders

The man found some 40% off vouchers for Borders on the net so we have been there two days in a row buying up....couldn't there be one member of the family who is not a book hog?

I did get a great book that I have had my eye on for a year now. Nice when that happens!

Our Steph is locked in a room upstairs with the baby girl doing maths tuition....
But I am hearing laughter and not screams...must be something wrong. Must tell Steph to be more punishing, after all it is maths.

Must go and walk...need to get rid of 5kg of unsightly fat before I go on hols....so I can gain 5kgs of unsightly fat!

May the force be with you!

Eye test, tile fest, book quest

Just come back from the optometrist - had an eye checkup and am getting some new specs to go with my new do.Eyes are fine.
Having an issue with the scabby tiles we got this weekend and we will probably pack the load of shit in the car and return them at some stage today.They are all scratched.

Also heading into "Boarders" - the man has downloaded some discount vouchers and we mean to use them!

Baby girl did finish her assignment yesterday - thank the Goddess.
It took her all day.
Must kick her arse.

Me, I am fine.
It's Monday and Easter is at the end of this week whic means spending time with various parentals ( Raihn word ).Ho hum.

My grown up girl is getting her new second hand car this week.
She is very excited. Even though it is still a 10 year old car, it is in pretty good nick, and has far less rust than what she is driving around in now! Plus it is red - so it goes faster.

Bald head Sunday

I am getting used to looking at my new self in the mirror.
The grey hair is ok.
The shortness is still a bit too short.
I get a lot of looks ( sideways ) at the supermarket if I dont have a cap on.
The best thing is that I get up in the morning and "what do I do with my hair?" is no longer a question I need to ask myself, at least for the next few weeks.
Will be getting together with Helen on Wednesday to total off our donations and we will have an amount for you all by Thursday.
One thing, it is far more than we both thought it would be.
I am very unconstructive at the moment.
It's just too hot - can't get over the weather.
I think it is summer now - not autumn at all.
The back yard is a crisis and we went out to buy tiles for our bathroom makeover yesterday and they are all scratched - not impressed.
I am making baby girl do an overdue assignment today ( until her fingers bleed!!!!!!)
and the man is heavily into Formula 1.

So it's a slow and comfortable day - food and wine festival in at Hamilton today, might go for a look, but might not.
Easter next week - when did that sneak up?

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...