World Youth Day Virus and bloody Horseshoe Beach!

Well it seems that all of those lovely Christian pilgrims left some very nasty germs in Australia, and now many people are getting quite sick with various fluey, virusy, squirty types of nasty things as a result.
So,
that's what you get for letting all those lovely young people in the country...
where was border security????
mmmmmm????

went to art class yesterday and asked for forgiveness and for HELP....
as I could not bear to over paint another rock in my latest artistic creation.
So I chucked a hissy fit spack..
stomped my feet..
and Tony sent me to the "quiet room" to reflect and contemplate
where he sends all of his naughty students..
where I was given instruction on how to fix the error of my ways.

Things improved.
The painting has improved.
I will leave it now and finish it next class.

Another family member down - beware the dreaded whatever it is!!!!!!

Woke up this morning with a queezy tummy.
Maximus was also making noises - normally he is very quiet.
Then the man gets up and says he is feeling like shit and so I called work and said that he was not coming in today.
So back to bed he went.
Could have been the massive amount of popcorn we consumed last night?
Went to see "Tropic Thunder" with free tickets that I had won.
It's a very warped Ben Stiller movie - very black comedy, very funny!
If you watch this movie and see Tom Cruise's role in it,you will never look at him the same way again!!!!!
Baby girk still sick as well - still high temps.

A day in the vines!

We spent a great day at the Vineyards today - with the change in the weather making it a superb day.
Lots of wine tasting ( after a very slow start and a sleep in ) lunch and a coffee at Hunter Valley Gardens. I guess it's been at least six years since I have been there and lots has changed with many new estates and attractions.
Still, a lovely way to spend a lazy day.

Baby girk is not well having battled a temp all day and went straight to bed when we got home.
Looks like a day off school for her tomorrow.

Well, I don't have a dad anymore.....

It's fathers day this weekend...and I hear that Christmas decorations are already out at David Jones in town!
How rediculous!
It's September!!!!!!

We are hoping to go to the Vineyards for the day on Sunday - maybe it will stop raining by then.
Some wine and cheese tasting sounds pretty good to me!!!!
My dad is no longer with us -
Father's Day was not an exciting day in my household as a child.
I could never really get him anything anyway. He used to always say,"What did you get THAT for?" whenever he received a gift for fathers day, birthday or Christmas. It annoyed the shit out of me. He just could not receive anything graciously without comment.
In his later years I resorted to food gifts - biscuits, lollies etc...at least he would eat those and have a moment of pleasure.
Now I take a bunch of flowers and put hem on his grave.....
and I think I can still hear him say.....
"What the hell did you get me those for????"

It's wet...

Boy, it has rained over the last few days hasn't it? I dont think it's over either.
My neck has been giving me curry over the last two days and I spend most of my day with a hot water bottle as my best friend.
Went to have our tax done yesterday - phew, glad that it is over with.
Older girl still looking for a new place of residence - she has a few to consider and I am sill trying to steer her to share rather than rent on her own.
Man is at work and loving it (NOT)!!!!!
Puppy is on my knees, sleeping, as I type.
I am frustrated with my latest masterpiece ( too many rocks.....)
Baby girk waiting to go to Melbourne at the end of the month to see a good friend and go to another Anime festival.
All is well....

Grown up Daughter comes home for a while!!!!

A rare time in the household....our oldest girl is home for a while. She is looking for a new place to live as the current place is too much of a "party central" and all grown up girl is an efficient legal secretary who needs her sleep and some respectful space....not noisy music at 4 am in the morning!!!!
but.....the cost of flats is horrendous!
It's Newcastle for God's sake ....not Sydney!!
Can you really be paying $450 for a one bed room flat?????
She is looking at a flat today after work.....
I'm happy to have her home for a while.
The man is slogging away doing early shifts this week, which means 4.30 wake ups....he is REALLY happy about that,
and baby girk demanded a day at home "cause no one will be at school today cause of the teachers strike!!!"
I am off to art to get my painting critiqued...and start another.

Here is my newest painting

How do you like it?
I invite your comments.....

Very Excited!

I have finished my latest art work today.
I only drew it up in class last Tuesday - so it has been a whirlwind process.
This is the first one that I have painted using my own images and the first one that I have done without any input from my teacher.I did it all at home.
Indeed, I am very excited.
I just hope that he finds it acceptable and does not pick up on any tragic errors that I have done.
Anyway,
I can only get better.
I am very pleased with my progress - I have been going to classes for about six months and this is my seventh painting.
I will put up a picure of it tomorrow when the man returns from Sydney with out digital camera.
Hope you like it too...

The man goes to Sydney.......ON HIS OWN!!

How dare he!!!
On his own...going away...without me...
He is attending a course organised by the Cancer Council for volunteers who would like to become telephone consellors/advisors for people with prostate cancer.
He is leaving this afternoon and will spend two days attending a seminar ( he hates the thought of role play )- his accomodation is being paid for and I think most of his expenses as well.
I thought of maybe going with him - but its all too complicated with baby girk needing to still go to school and new puppy needing someone at home to look after him.Plus it gives him some time out from the mad Daniel women.
A change is as good as a holiday - don't they say?

Cold and miserable in Redfern!

Spent the day with baby girk at another Anime Convention in Sydney.
It was another massive journey for me - as I am so challanged by anything remotely "new" or different and this trip would mean that I would have to catch another train and be in an area of Sydney unfamiliar to me... ( yes I know, I am a sad, sad case )
We travelled down by train and then connected with anothr one to Redfern Station ( which was so dead easy I am embarrased to say that this made me anxious ) and then we walked to the Australian Technology Park which is right behind the station.
You should have seen the crowds....my goodness.
I am always blown away by the number of people that come to these conventions. It is seriously big stuff. And the costumes!!!!Most people get dressed up as their favourite characters from the books and stories.
It is a sight to behold....as they all get off buses and trains dressed as warriors,japanese cartoon characters, swordsmen, and such..
I let the girk go and meet her friends and I wandered around Redfern in the cold, wet and freezing wind.This entertained me for about 10 minutes, then I just froze and was miserable.
There were no neat shops to go and visit, no book stores, no interesting coffee shops that would beat the taste of hubby's coffee and only a few dodgy pubs that I crawled into to beat the cold at certain points.
But the baby had a great day and that was the most important thing.
I did go to bed at 9pm from sheer exhaustion!
She has now made plans to go the next Anime Convention with some friends that she has in Melbourne next month - we just happen to be there at the same time that the Convention hits town....can you imagine her excitement?????
AN Anime Convention in Melbourne and being able to stay with friends at the same time....sheer heaven for her..
and for us that means two days in Melbourne without baby in tow!!
The man is going to a barista course in the City and I will head straight to "Spellworks" and maybe get a reading done.Oh, yes....I will also be having copious amounts of coffee...
BLISS!!!!!!
No news from Wombat.....

It's been three years...

It's been three years since dad died...20th August 2005.
Since then, so many things have happenend in my life that it seems as though dad has been gone for much, much longer.
I know so little about him that I often wonder how similar I may be to him or how different?
He was a man who shared little and certainly was not around much when I was little - he worked afternoon shift. I knew him as an angry, solitary man who ruled with an iron fist.
All I have now is some memories, and a box of documents that tell me something about his life.
When I see my mother, she does not mention him.
It's all about her.
And I guess that's where she's at - it needs to be all about her, that is her survival tactic.
And it has worked for her.
I have had a massive headache for days now and I woke with it still firmly lodged in my head this morning.
I am hoping it goes away soon.

What are you really doing with your life???

I watched a program on t.v. last night on Compass ( ABC )about a 75 year old Aussie man who goes around Bali and does free cataract surgeries in remote villages for those suffering blindness.
It told about his efforts to overcome the fears of the people and their superstitions about their Gods and that they are suffering because of karma from another life.
There was a story of a family of two sisters who had 22 children between them, all who developed cataracts and were blind.This Aussie man tried for years to get the father to allow the kids to have an operation, and finally, two were allowed to go. Ofcourse, it was successful which then made the other 20 children want one!
Also, there was another story of a two year old, blinded by cataracts, and her first moments of seeing her mother's face for the first time after the operation ( which lasts only 12 minutes ).

How joyous it was!!!

This particular fellow had been through a near death experience ( I guess Lisa would definately call him a walk in ) and after this man left hospital he moved to Bali to recover and now he is giving back to the country that gave such a new perspective on life.

It was also a story about the spiritual centre of the Balinese, how their whole world revolves around the graciousness of the Gods and what they give and what they take away.
They celebrate life and, equally, celebrate death.
We have a lot to learn from these gorgeous people and my heart longs to go back there.
It did make me think about what I am trying to achieve through my life -
that I have a real need to be a spiritual person - it makes me feel that I have a soul.That I would like to feel that I do something that makes a difference.
And that is not at Calendar Club, nor is it Wombat or Rockmans.

In Bali, the village medicine man or Baliyan is the most important person in the village. They go to him, or her, for all their problems, for healings and for advice as well as to reconnect to those who have passed on.
You can see the Baliyan become 'taken over' with the presence of the departed soul and you can see the people become possessed with spirits who are passing through and connect with them to cause havoc and illness. I really want to learn and know more. It is fascinating stuff.

The Volvo goes bye bye!!!

Well, another headache gone - we sold the Volvo this weekend.
Not for as much as we wanted, but with the way the market is now a days, we must feel very blessed at selling it at all and considering it was our first ad in the Herald. We had only advertised in the local trading post before that.
So "Precious" now belongs to a young Kashmiri family - dad works at the University as a researcher and mum is expecting her first baby ( and is terrified of dogs, as we found out when Maximus went to say hello ).
Good luck to them - I know "Precious" will be good to them.
I was a bit sorry to see the car go - I am sure that if I did not have to count the pennies I would still be very happy to continue driving it as long as I could.

Work? I'm over it!!!

Whose idea was this work thing anyway???
It's all a bit ho - hum and I cannot imagine standing in a ladies clothes shop serving all day long, every day, all day - I now admire all shop girls for their stamina and resiliance!!!
I did a shift out at Rockman's Wallsend yesterday cause they had just fired a lady in there and had no one to do the shift.
Tell you what - I sold more stuff there in the first 15 minutes than I have in the four shifts I have done at Wombat Greenhills.
They certainly want their pound of flesh....no standing around...no, no, no....tidy racks, vacumn floors, wipe benches, hang dresses....
I was exhausted..not good form for an old lady like me.
I go back for three hours today to Greenhills and then the rest of the weekend is MINE!!!
Father in laws birthday party today.
Small do at his place and hopefully I will be doing very little tomorrow.
Have a good weekend everyone - full moon will do crazy things to some people so be on your guard....the patients have escaped from the asylum and are among us!!!!!!!

I won a Ipod shuffle today!

Above are my two most recent works.
One is sort of out back themed with really rich colours that I have not attempted before and I am still working on it and the other is a pic of Newcastle Baths which is now completed.
I have been going mad entering lots of competitions lately and today I got an Ipod Shuffle in the mail.Apperently you can put msic on it and listen through headphones???
Yippee!!!!!!
I have also won a dvd called "The Tudors". I think it's a bit of a yawn....but it's a prize and I need to be grateful...
Maximus is lying on my lap while I type away and Sandy, my friend, called him a "time waster" today - indeed she is totally right.
He is a complete time waster..
I will blog my new art works later when the man gets home and can do it for me..
Things are fast paced at the moment with the contract for Calendar Club arriving in the mail for me to sign off on - that means commiting to another season...ooohhhhh
I have a headache already.
And by the way, I start on October 13th, one day after my birthday, which means that I have to set up the kiosk ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! and it will interfere terribly with our Scone Monestry thingy.....I may only be able to be there on Friday and some of Saturday...see already it is shitting me off and there are still two months before I start..

Maximus - the eating and pooing machine!

Boy can that little boy eat!
Maximus has a hankering for piklets, potato bake and the froth off my cappucinno - he only gets a little bit.....don't yell at me!!!
But I am sure that he has grown heaps in this last week.
He is far more confident and loves to have a wander in the back yard on his own exploring in the jungle where the grass is taller than he is.

Life goes on and I am getting to go to art class today - I missed out last week due to going "Wombating".
I had to step up and do some heavy painting over the past few days to look as though I have done something.
I am hoping to finish my latest creation today and will post it later.

I am sad that we have lost one of a YAAD girls she is on my mind and I hope that she stays safe and finds what she needs for herself at this point in time.Good luck Maggie ......stay in touch!

By the way,
The man's latest test results for Prostate Cancer came back as under .01%!!!!!!!!!
Which means he is in the clear and all is super wonderfulious!!!!!
I always sweat when he goes in for a blood test.....as you do...it is such a releif to get the results back.

We have had a great weekend with our newest member of the Daniel family.
We showed him off to several family members who had not seen him yet.
He, of course, won many hearts and is a real cutie!!He loves crawling up and sitting on our necks, snuggling in under our hair.

I have two sifts at "Wombat" this week.
Not much is it?
But I was listening to my cousin's boyfriend who told us that he is working in the kitchen of a local restaurant where they are paying him $13 an hour as a kitchen hand.
He has also been called in to do a one hour shift! That's rediculous!
That's working in todays environment thanks to work place aggreements and every one needing to take anything and everything that is available no matter what the conditions!

8.08.08

Today is the day the Chinese have been waiting for...the start of the Olympics!
I hope it works out well for them as they are putting many people, services and businesses on the line for this event.
I wonder how we would react in Australia if the government told us that we could only drive our cars on certain days if we have even numbered number plates?
Or that we have to shut down our factory, as it is making too much pollution, until the Olympics are over?
But, today is a very lucky day and there are a bzillion Chinese getting married today as they believe that it wil bring them prosperity for the rest of their lives.
They even arrange to have their wedding photos taken a week before the actual wedding day so that they are perfect.
Mmmmmm...blows the idea of you future husband not seeing you in you wedding dress before you walk down the isle doesn't it!

Fortuna is going crazy!

Heaven's, slow down world I want to get off!
I have a job....oh my God!
It's only casual at the moment and I have no idea how many hours I will be getting...
so I am taking it a day at a time.
It's a "Wombat" at GreenHills which is part of the Rockman's group of women's fashion stores.
My boss is James Packer!
He pays shit money...the retail award is shit and work place aggreements make it shittier.
but....at the moment it's a bit of money coming in.
And I am grateful...how it progresses I guess we will see.
There are other things in the pipeworks.
thank you Fortuna..
shit, you rock!!!

Maximus
is SO CUTE.

Life with Maximus!

How such a little bundle of fur and snoffles can bring so much joy into a household!
Maximus is being a darling as is just so adorable.
I took him into the Cottage twice for an introduction yesterday, so if you missed it, I am sorry. There will be plenty of more times ahead as he will become Cottage dog number two behind the mighty Trevor.
He is very very good at night wihout a peep coming from his box till morning - I remember our last pup howled for days til he settled, so I am very lucky indeed.

Other than that, many change have occurred, but things need to settle down a bit before I can say that any of it has been accepted.
I really have come to understand that I do not "do" change well at all and most new things in life are very threatening to me.
You would think I would have thought that shit out by now?
So I need to slide inot things slowly and then I can adjust.
YAAD two starts tonight - so another adjustment needs to be made to the weekly itinerary. It has been so many weeks - I will be happy to see my girls again.

What a weekend!!!

It's been a very full weekend.
All has gone very well.
Baby girk LOVED her Anime Convention at the UNSW.
She took a friend with her and met a few there and they had a ball - I actually did not get lost and navigated the maze that is Sydney very well.
I was exhausted though.
Today we spent the whole day at a Prostate Cancer Seminar at the Town Hall.
There were some amazing people there with one very important gentleman named Dr Walsh from America, a leader in his field.This was his only speaking appearance in the whole of Australia for this year so we were greatly honoured.
Allan Pease was also there - the man who wrote so many books on body language.He did a small talk on his experiences with prostate cancer.
We learnt many new things today and the only unfortunate thing to happen was that a woman sitting next to me had a "turn" and an ambulance had to be called to take her to hospital.
There were 300 people there today and this woman happened to be sitting next to me - the man reckons I must have done something to her....

and


the biggest thing of all
is that we got a new member of the family today.
Yes...
we got our pug today.
it was a spur of the moment thing
it just happened.
we called up yesterday and this puppy was the only one of two left out of the litter.
So went round to the breeder after the seminar,
took one look.....
and were sold.
We are calling him "Maximus" - cause he's not...
he is tiny..
actually teeny weeny
and is currently in a big box in the lounge room.
What have we done????

It's been vewy, vewy qwiet!!!!!!

Very quiet week this week.
The weekend sees me heading down to Sydney tomorrow to an Anime Convention at the University of NSW - I have not been around that area of Sydney before so the thought of catching buses and such is just a little daunting....also I have baby girk and friend tagging along. She and friend will have a ball, I will be bored out of my brain!!!

Sunday, there is a huge Prostate Cancer Seminar being held at the Town Hall here in Newcastle, and as we are part of the local Prostate Cancer Support Group, we are going along to hear some guest speakers and mingle with the rest.
Should be a good day and am looking forward to it.

A friend of ours had a baby girl last night, must ask Gayle whether she attended....but they called the bub Jadah DAPHNE!!!!!!, Daphne????
It is Grandma's name apparently...may the Goddess bless baby, who from now on, will always be known as Daph by me!

Wet, Cold...well it is winter!

nothing to report.
All good.
"If you havent got all the things that you want, be grateful for all the things that you don't have that you don't want!"
Anonymous.

Psychic Fair this weekend!

Doing a Psychic Fair this Saturday at Telarah Bowling Club from 3pm to 9pm.
It is a fundraiser for a local footy club.

It has been a good week - I have done four readings with one already booked in for next week.
That is cool.
I also have a party booking for later on this year from a lady that called all the way from Melbourne. She is having a hen's night at Pokolbin.
I am up for it - cannot let a job slip by at this stage.
Even if I have to travel a bit to get there.

I am told we are under the influences of the Goddess Fortuna - well bring it on baby!!
May I be blessed with the magick stick many times over!!!!!!

What the?

Had a dream last night that baby girk wanted a rabbit's foot lucky charm.
I had to chase after it in all these shops until I finally got one - It cost only $4 from this dodgy old guy in a shop behind another shop and when we finally went in to buy it he wouldn't sell it to us without trying to sell us two.
The dream ended before I walked out with it.
mmmmmmmmm?????

Frikken Cold!

For Goodness sake - will someone turn a heater on?
Even my Wiggles shirt isn't keeping me warm.
But, the jasmine is blooming and so winter is coming to an end.
I guess we should enjoy the colder weather while we still can - soon we will be whinging that it is too hot.
To anyone who is interested in my progress in the exercise stakes..
well I am still going, but have not lost any weight.
Anyway, it must be doing me some good whether I lose anything or not.
I have also finally gotten some massage approved by those arseholes at Allianz ( can I suggest that you never, ever use Allianz for anything )and so I had a blissful session this morning.
Now this rain will cripple me again...but
Going for another session on Friday.

Pilgrims Pope-ulate Sydney!

Phew! Thank God that's over.
Now all those insanely happy Christians can go home and leave us to get on with our miserable lives.

I watched some of the Papal Mass at Randwick on tele today and was impressed with the whole set up. The beautiful Australian wildflowers on the stage where the Pope celebrated Mass and the southern cross on the priest's robes were great Aussie touches. The Pope's referral to the church as "she" seemed to mess with my brain - if the Church can be a "she" why can't there be more flesh and bone "she's" as "her" representatives? mmmmm?
When DID Jesus decide that all priests are to remain celibate their whole lives?
But, I digress,
we do live in the great southern land, and we can be proud of the fact, that, in most cases, we are one multicutural community that makes it work.

It's going to rain - my back feels like it has been sawn in two!

Garage Sale proves Pope-ular!!!!

Today's garage sale went off with a bang!
I sold heaps and was well pleased.
So did the dragon lady, crystal faerie and the honey Bee as well as Hissy fit sister of the Sister Mother Mary.
To be sure we will be having another one soon.
It amazes me what people will buy - not that our stuff was shit, but I really think that the regulars go around looking for bargains and then these same items appear at other sales a few weeks down the track.
I heard stories, from others who had held garage sales, of people climbing fences at 5.30 in the morning to see what was on offer...
man, I would be hitting them with a broom and telling them to get a life.
It was certainly fun, accept that it is such a long morning from 7am...I thought that I had been there for hours and realised that it was only 10am....so we sent the Dragon Lady for Gloria Jeans ( blessed be ) and that kept us going.

Now I head for an afternoon with my dear mother - that should top off my weekend and tomorrow I am sleeping in....shhhhhh...don't bother me.

Pope visits our Mary and the Health Nazi sends one of her henchmen!

Well Popi is visiting mary Mckillop's grave as I type...this is the third Popi to visit and she still is being ignored...
She needs another miracle,
she is short one..
tragic isn't it?
Surely one miracle is enough??
Not for Popi, obviously.
I hope our Mary ArtyFarty has a little word in his ear when she has her "private" meeting with him today.
MAKE MARY McKILLOP A SAINT FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!!!!!
In the mean time, here we were thinking that we would get a nice easy stroll today and who turned up?
Dragon Lady!!!!!
Obviously the health Nazi passed the torch to her late last night cause her arse was on fire too!!!
Dragon Lady left us for dead, wheezing and coughing metres behind as she tore up the track.
Totally shameful.

Sore Thighs - Losing my Will to Live!

Thinking about:
....Watching "the One" last night - seeing poor young Mitchell being booted out.
Ouch.....he really did well and was dignified about leaving.Good on him!I could not have been judged in such a way cause I'm a wuss!
....The Pope in Oz - could the Muslims have done something similar and have been treated equally? What about us wiccans or pagans? What if we held "World Pagan Day" and carried around pictures of the Goddess in all her forms and faces?
....Michelle, and knowing that feeling of missing out on all the fun at the Cottage. Feeling left out, so far away from friends.We do love ya 'chell.
....Feeling the dynamics change at home with the man going back to work and being the main breadwinner again.
....missing the man, and knowing how important my relationship with him still is to me.
....thinking about close ones dealing and dying of cancer and how horrid that is.
....getting baby girl to get serious about school work and cleaning up her room.
....Feeling that my identity is one that I have 'settled' on - that I really do not know what my identity is.
Understanding that I am never really "enough" for anybody - that they think that I should be different, better, less, more, happier, funnier, prettier, more available, understanding, psychic, loving,optimistic,modern, trendy,capable - maybe I'll stop there.
How do I do all of that?
Most of the time I am just fumbling through, trying to keep my head above the water line...
....contemplating YAAD and what I am teaching and what it is teaching me.
....needing to find some real work and having no desire whatsoever to do so..

The next Masterpiece is finished...

I have a very unique name for this one.
It's called "Fruit Bowl"... ( he he )
This one took about five lessons to complete and I must say, I thought it was going to be easy, but it wasn't.

The health Nazi pulls out the whip!

Last night the health nazi whipped us into a real lather of sweat ( accept that it was too cold to sweat ).
It was not a walk at all, it was a run accept that our feet remained on the ground.
I wore a hole in my pants from my thighs rubbing together at such a fast pace.
But I must say, I did weigh myself this morning and I have lost 2kgs so I am very impressed and will keep going with this torture for at least another week.
The car is out and I am manifesting a sale as soon as possible.

Saying of the week:"I have enough money to last me the rest of my life - unless I buy something!" - Jackie Mason

Coffee Machines and shattered dreams!

The man has busted two coffee machines in just a few short months ( over use methinks ) and finally returned the last piece of cheap shit that we bought to replace the other piece of cheap shit that started to leak water and has now brought a slightly more expensive piece of shit...

I have discovered Gloria Jean's coffee with a shot of vanilla............
yum...

Have started to walk with the health nazi and hippy witch.
All my muscles ache...my ample arse hurts too.
The health nazi walks like her pants are on fire and thinks us oldies can too...
she is wrong..

I guess she'll want me to watch what I eat next...

Are you "THE ONE"?

So did we all watch "the One" tonight?
Well, dear old Mitchell Coombes made an appearance - didn't he do well!!!
Now there's one smart guy who has worked out how to market himself that's for sure.
Were you impressed by the psychics?
Some were certainly very accurate.

I am sure glad it wasn't me doing all of that - I would have died of embarrassment ( I would not have anything to wear!!!!!)
I would have been doing the "walk of shame" in no time!
It will be interesing to see how it continues...


Meanwhile,
unfortunately our friend Martin is losing his battle with cancer - he has a very limited time left and I continue to ask for prayers for his family to cope with this awful time.
May His Goddess and/or God take him into their arms with calm and dignity and cradle him in comfort.

Prayers needed please!

Hubby has a friend from work who has been suffering with cancer for a while now and things are just about the worst that they can get..so now we need prayers and distance reiki.
His name is Martin.
He has two young kids and a wife.
He is now at home waiting for one more round of chemo, but cant have it cause he is malnourished and too weak to have it at the moment.
He is a really, really nice guy.

So we need to pray for him and please send reiki - spend a minute, even to think about him and it will help.

Makes all of us reconsider our priorities and stop sweating the small stuff...

Thank you.


by the way on a lighter note..
New program on Prime this Tuesday at 7.30 called "the One" Australia's gifted Psychics search for a lost child....should be mmmmmmm interesting.

Hey Hey Its Saturday!

Another week done and dusted.
It's been a big one.
The man back at work. A barbie mobile and a child with gold plated, diamond encrusted wires in her mouth.
At least they are all good things...I could have had truely bad news.
So, in the midst of all this change, all things are as they need to be.
Thngs are constantly changing, always...we don't even seem to get the time to get used to one thing and then poof...it is gone and we have to deal with something else.
School holidays...mmmmm
annoying bored children at home with "nothing to do".
Baby girk can rest at ease, she delivered an outstanding report card ( except for maths )so she can enjoy her computer these holidays without too much hassle from me.

Braces Day!

Poor baby girk gets her braces today.
It has been a long journey. I am hoping her teeth are in good condition.
She had to have them cleaned and checked and has had to brush and floss to keep gum disease at bay.
This is the start of a long association with Mr.F****g Expensive Dentist - but she will have a million dollar smile when it's all over.
The man is at home today - he has worked two full days.
It's his day off.
He is over it already.
I go see mother this afternoon.
All in all a very happy day!

My new car has arrived!!!

Isn't it beautiful????

Lunch Tomorrow

Open invitation to Lunch tomorrow - Tuesday.
I will be sitting at "Some other Place " which is down the alley way beside the Euro Bar right down the end.
It seems a nice place and worth a try - Head to EuroBar, down alley and past "Impact".
I will be there from 11am for anyone wanting to come a bit earlier and then we will head to the Kent for lunch just before 12 ( if we can still find the room after a few coffees - so try the coffee shop first to see whether we are still there!)
Hope to see you all...

Who wants to come to coffee/lunch on Tuesday?????

The man returns to work on Tuesday - his first day back in one and a half years!
To be honest I will miss having him around - it has been such a good excuse to not do housework or anything else actually....now I will have to clean up the house and keep myself occupied.
To celebrate ( he he ) this occasion I would like to meet my peeps for lunch on this Tuesday...who is coming?
I am thinking about 11.30, somewhere in Hamilton....
Throw me some ideas?
I would like to avoid the Euro Bar ( that has fallen out of favor with the Mary's and is "so yesterday!" )
You are invited...
and so are YOU!!!!

Happy Hanny Fursery!

Happy Hanny Fursery to the lovely "Cottage" at Waratah.
Four years old and growing stronger every day.
We have had our ups and downs, ins and outs but you just have to be there to know that it is a very special place.
Last night at the Cottage we had our traditional mural painting with everyone bogging in to contribute to the masterpiece.
We all had loads of fun - but the cakes and biscuits have to stop.
I am nudging into hippo status and am worrying that I will not be able to fit behind the wheel of my new silver shit box sardine can hobbit car even before I get it!!!

Also we have our very spekky YAAD graduation this Saturday night.
I will be red. You will be red and so will everybody else.
Suggestions for a good night include booking a hotel room at Noah's and trashing it after the ritual....heading down to Macca's in a car convoy and clogging up the drive through.
Going down to the local cop shop ( just two steets away ) and staging a sit in in the foyer ( way too cold to sit outside ).
Any other ideas?????

I got a Hobbit Car!!!

Well, we jumped off the deep end today and after weeks of researching and dealing with obnoxious arsehole car dealers who were " going to do me a big favour by selling me an overpriced car" we have settled on a brand new Hyundai Getz.
I am calling it the "Hobbit" car - it's small enough!
But it runs on the smell of an oily rag and I stand to save about $60 in petrol a week.( That $60 will now go to paying the car off )
It turned out to be a very good price - best price in town in fact and we went out to Rutherford Hyundai to order it.
We got 5 years warranty, full rego and insurance and dealer delivery.
We also got a "special numbered keyring" ( oohhh ahhhh ) and a box with "special" discount vouchers
( again...extended ooohhh ahhhh ).
The company also donated $100 from the sale to the charity of our choice, from a list of local charities that they support and we chose the RSPCA.

Unfortunately, I was originally going to get a red one cause that was the only one they said that they had left, then they called me to say that they sold that one yesterday and they now have to get one for me...but I get to keep the special super duper discount price ( gee thanks ).It will be a silver one ( it was that or yellow )
I have to wait till next week now before I can drive my new "Hobbit Mobile".....tomorrow we meet the bank manager!

Here it is!!!!!

Are you looking for this?
The light at the end of the tunnel?
Well here it is.....
but you can only take a look..
cause it's mine
ALL MINE!!!
Mwwahahahahah!!!!

DECISIONS, DECISIONS....

I guess I am having to face some home truths -
Baby Girk's Braces Account has come in - even before any work is started.
They will not proceed without a deposit of $3000.
Also we purchased a vanity and side cabinets for our "still to be finished upstairs bathroom" today - "Renovators Depot" was having a sale - and we have been putting off this purchase for some time now hoping a sale day would come along, and finally it did, saving us about $300 on the total cost.
We are back looking at alternative modes of transport for me - I am sick of the cost of petrol...
My car is 15 years old and in need of some repair work - it goes well and really we have had no problems with it since we got it two years ago, but IT IS 15 years old and it can only be a matter of time...
So we are exploring our options with extra small shitboxes that run on the smell of an oily rag and look like they are made from aluminium foil and blue tac...
We have already made an appointment with the bank mananger...
this undoubtedly means getting work..
and making it fit with the Cottage..

Headache of Massive Proportions

Yes - I am not worth knowing today.
Just leave me alone.....

This time last month...

This time last month I was on holidays...I was in Langkawi buying heaps of cheap shit and eating everything with chilli...
I am missing it.
I want to go back to Bali next year.
I really do - and I will be maifesting CHEAP CHEAP tickets ( at least it's hot over there and we can sleep on the beach ) in the near future.

other than that...

I finished my next painting, will blog it later.

Life is plodding along - the man goes back to work shortly and life will change for all of us.
I really need to look at my earning capacity and what I can do to improve it.
Must go buy a lottery ticket.

Sunday morning coming down...

How glad I am to be in my warm and snuggly home today - it is totally miserable and cold ouside. Winter has finally hit.
Even the dog is already on the couch, curled up and staring at me with his big brown thankful eyes.
Life is good.
I have had cake for breakfast ( as it should be )and any problems that my life contains are fixable.

I encountered "trolley rage" at Glendale Supercentre yesterday.
Woolies has got these HUGE green trollies that must be built for giants and you need all your muscles to manoever these monsters around the isles. They are SO f*****g big that women get really aggressive and now feel that they can assert their rights to space and product by just pushing harder, cutting in, side swiping....

THE SHOPPING TROLLEY HAS NOW BECOME A WEAPON OF MASS DISTRACTION...

I leave the supermarket dazed, bruised with torn muscles and needing a bex and a good lie down - especially after being scalped of a ridiculous amount of money at the checkout for a few paltry items.

Hang on to your hats .....another week begins!
As long as you dont need to eat or go anywhere...you will be fine - I promise you!

Friday the 13th? Yes it was......

Yep.....shit day alright.
So many bills to pay that the old money printing machine in the garage was on fill tilt all day long trying to keep up wih printing out all the bills!!! (ha...ha! )


My good luck money bracelet finally broke today - I have been wearing it since Christmas. When it finally breaks, it means that money will be coming to me, so I went out and purchased a $2 lottery ticket.

We live in hope.....

I did score a copy of "Bell, Book and Candle" today from K Mart.
I am so excited. This is a cool classic movie about a woman who uses witchcraft to score a guy. This movie stars Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon and James Stewart. Most of you are too young to have even heard of those stars - the movie was made in 1958 ( the year of my birth ).
I will be bringing it in on Tuesday night for my YAAD group - so cool. I can't wait to watch it.
I love those old movies.......

Hugh Jackman's in town and I didn't even get an invite to tea !

Apparently Hugh's in town filming for his "Wolverine" movie.
You would think that he could at least have given me a call and asked whether I was free for the evening....
I guess I could have squeezed him into my heavily booked itinerary between "doing nothing" and "doing more of nothing".
anyway,
enough of the self delusion....
its wet and I am making lasagne for tea tonight ( so Hugh, you don't know what you're missing out on ).

I need a car that runs on the smell of an oily rag!

What's the go with petrol for God's sake!!!
The choice seems to be, "Do we eat or shall we put petrol in the car?"
Messed around with the idea of buying a smaller shit box to get around in, but we have hit a bit of a brick wall, so we have to rethink this whole thing.
As much as I love my Volvo it is a gas guzzler.
So do I spend more money to save money?????
It would have been so much easier if I had won that $58 million.......
Meanwhile, the man made the brave move and notifed work that he was intending to return on July 1st - then he curled up into a ball in the corner of the bedroom.
Going back to work will be be a stress filled experience, it isn't a nice place to be, and after one and a half years off work....it's certainly hard to go back.
Round and round and round we go.......

My latest Masterpiece!

How do you like them apples?

Just finished this one today in art class...

This one's for Tony!!!!

Hailed as 'one of the few elite still life artists in the world today...' and as 'the most acclaimed and admired artist of the new millenium'( so says the fineartamerica website)
Indeed so..
(Are you embarrased yet Tony?)

I speak on none other than Tony Moffitt, artist,teacher, bohemian,supremo novel writer and general nice guy! ( He tells some crap jokes though )

I am very lucky to be currently attending art classes with "the master blaster" and showed him my impression of Mother Mary in a bad habit.

He was totally impressed and has promised to leave me a comment....
I AM WAITING....

If we are lucky, he will start his own blog ( come on )and we will be able to really get stuck into the commentary!
Be afraid Tony,
Be very afraid....

P.S. To get to Diana's blog try hippywitchz.blogspot.com

Another fun night with Gunther

Now, most of you have heard me speak about a creepy German, Gunther von Hagen, who has appeared on SBS with his show about anatomy - he has a very "special" way of teaching people about the body, by cutting up the bodies of dead people in front of a live audience and then taping it for TV. These shows have provided my family with weeks of entertainment in the past.

Well, he's back.

On Monday nights at 10.55pm on SBS, Gunther is hacking into more dead bodies to show us the effects of trauma caused by accidents.
Last Monday we saw the effects of swallowing a foreign object and the effects of injury to a main artery.

All went well.
Creepy as usual.

I could even take the naked man who appears on stage every so often to act as a "model" to show areas of the body, although I still can't seem to work out why he has to be totally naked to do this?

Baby girl's only comment was "why is his doodle crooked?"
Hilarious.

It was when they bought out a whole frozen human body wrapped in something like gladwrap and then proceeded to saw it in half with a massive table saw that I thought my eyes would pop out of my head.

Seeing the body slide through and then be pulled apart so that we could then see the two sections took the experience of watching TV to another level.
For those brave enough to watch...he will be on for another two weeks..
Must see TV.

It's a miracle!

Speaking of Mary's....

Miracle needed to make McKillop a saint.
May 20, 2008 - 3:06PM


Mother Mary MacKillop is unlikely to be named Australia's first saint named during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Sydney in July.

Vatican officials say there are no plans to elevate the Catholic nun to sainthood during World Youth Day (WYD08), despite the Pope's scheduled visit to her tomb in North Sydney during the event.

Born in Victoria in 1842, Mary MacKillop co-founded the Sisters Of Joseph religious order.

She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in January 1995, but remains one documented miracle away from becoming Australia's first saint.

Beatification means someone is blessed and has performed a miracle, but a candidate must perform two miracles in order to be canonised and become a fully-fledged saint.

Apostolic Nuncio to Australia, Archbishop Guiseppe Lazzarotto, said it was unlikely a second miracle would be recognised in time for Mother Mary to be canonised in July.

What a wank....( thant's my comment )
She deserves to be made a saint...I wonder if we would have to wait for a second miracle if she had been a man???????

Just some small challenges...

1.GETTING OUT OF BED IN THE MORNING AND STAYING UP.
2.TRYING TO PAINT "FOLDS" IN A WHITE TABLECLOTH IN MY NEXT MASTERPIECE.
3.DOING SOME EXERCISE.
4.READING ALL THE BOOKS I HAVE BORROWED FROM THE LIBRARY.

Had the most bizzarre dream about Armaggeddon and that I was living through it...hell, fire and brimstone, cluster lightning and thunder, smoldering boulders flying through the sky, buildings exploding and crashing - pieces landing near my house, heat, smoke, no where to hide,beyond war, beyond terror, horror.

Ok, so what am I getting myself into now?
I guess it is only a reflection of something that I either feel or am going to come up against...

What shits me this Thursday

1. Alan Bond back on the rich list.
2. The fact that he is making money on Diamonds - have you seen the conditions of those that work in the diamond mines?
3.The price of petrol and the thought that I may have to sell my beloved Volvo cause I can't afford to fill the tank.
4.The price of groceries and that we have to buy overseas shit when our farmers are going broke.
5. The state of our river systems and that people with the knowledge of how to fix it are not being allowed to do so.
6. The fact that they are still making such a big deal about stem cell research, when it can be doing so much good.
Why are people having to go to India to get this treatment?
7. That the man who developed microwave therapy to help cancer patients has been treated as a witch doctor by the establishment.
8.That the media is continually on a campain or terror and slander, as long as it can make them a buck.

A good week..

Sometimes doing readings can be very uplifting, cause you get some feedback - that can be a rare thing.
I did a reading for a lady on Sunday who showed me some fantastic pictures taken of her scattering her mother's ashes on the beach at Nobby's.There was a definate flare in the photo - not a photographic or camera anomoly for sure. She asked me some questions and we got on to other things. Later that evening she actually sent me an email thanking me for the reading.
On Monday I had a lady come to see me at the Cottage for a reading - I felt that most of the reading was hard going - I was telling her things she didn't want to hear, but I did it anyway. I really felt that she was not going to be happy with the reading in the end, but as she was leaving she actually grabbed me and gave me a hug and said "thankyou".
Today I had a guy come back to see me - he had come to see me about a year ago. Another really difficult reading. But he came back - that meant that in some way, he must have trusted me after that first time. That impressed me. How did the reading go?
It was still difficult...but I beleive that it made him think about things.

Sometimes it seems to me that I am talking in riddles, that there is no connection. But, it is not up to me to feel good or bad about a reading - it has to say something to the person I am reading for, it doesn't have to fulfil my needs or satisfy me.It's not about me. So this week has been good and I am grateful for those people to have crossed my path.

I have a pile of new books to read and have been to the library and gotten "The Celestine Prophecy" on CD. I have found that I really enjoy listening to tapes in the car while driving, so I will get the man to make me a copy.

I need an extra brain. The one I have is not enough.

Survived YAAD

Last night was my first night of the new YAAD class and I am happy to say that all went well.
Unfortunately they all wanted to stay and have a chat afterwards and I was pushing them out the door after class as I wanted to get home...
Teaching is quite complicated - there is a lot of pressure on you to deliver a sensible dialogue and to keep it interesting. I can sometimes feel myself standing there going "what do I think I am doing?", but with a class full of newbies there will always be someone who asks a really good question and that will open up a whole new area of discussion.

I am still feeling tired in the mornings and my wish is to continue sleeping - it is very hard to get going.

Am meeting my older daughter daughter for lunch today - she just got herself a new job in town with a hot shot law firm and is very happy. Plus she is going to be earnng quite a very good wage ( always a bonus ).

Psychic Fair at Maitland

Spent the day at East Maitland Bowling Club at a Psychic Fair today. It turned out pretty good even though, to begin with, I was a bit worried about how the day would pan out.
I made some money, so it was all good.
There was one creepy guy who was doing a reading for a ten year old boy who was accompanied by his mother - he was with him for over an hour!I really think that it is wrong to do a reading for someone so young even if they have their mother with them. I have done some palmistry for a few teenagers but it is more about an explanation of character traits and strengths and weaknesses - I try to avoid any readings for under 18 year olds like the plague but sometimes you are placed in a difficult situation and it is hard to say no so palmistry comes in handy.
But to do a reading at a psychic fair and to fill a young lads head with whatever?
Not my cup of tea sorry...

Anyway, another big week ahead. I will be introduced to the new YAAD students tomorrow night - I will have a mersyndol and wine ready.

Changes

Well, I have been back on Oz for about two days now and am still finding it hard to adjust.
Because of the time difference, we were often still up at 3am ( our time )and so my body clock is still a bit out of whack - have a massive headache this morning that I cannot seem to shake.
I would like to go back to bed but need to take mother to the shops..
Some things have changed in the little time that I have been away and I need to get up to speed with the happpenings at the Cottage and back in the groove of YAAD.
I finished my second painting during my art class yesterday - will post it shortly for you all to see. Am rather chuffed with the results, but, as usual in my world, the moment I find something that I like the universe starts to make things difficult for me as is happening with art, as our teacher has told us that he is cutting classes.
Pooh - I just started going!!!!
I guess, we wil see what happens there as time progresses.I just so want to continue with my art, I have waited so long to do it.

EL(F)VIS HAS RE-ENTERED THE BUILDING!!!!!

Last night in K.L.

Have met up with a friend here and given her a reading......does this make me an "international reader" now?????

Maybe not?

Had a lovely evening out with a family we have gotten to know here - they are taking us to Chinatown tomorrow.
Lots of drama today - nearly got poisoned in the stpid hotel - they started painting the timber next door with laquered paint ...stupid idiots.
The smell was shocking, so I called the manager and demanded a change of rooms immediately...they had no where to put us except in the upgraded rich arse section of the hotel - so here we are.
We also went to the "wet and wild" style theme park attached to the hotel complex today. The beby needed some encouragement to get on the slides and by the time she wanted to try them it was almost too late as we had wasted half the day changing rooms and unpacking all over again...
what a bummer for our last day eh...

I am here in the hotel lobby as it is the only place we can get internet connection...see what I do to keep in contact.

Over in the blink of an eye!

The thing about holidays is that they are all an illusion - you think about them for a long time but when they are happening they feel surreal and then before you know it - you think you were just dreaming it all anyway.

So my dream will soon be over - I will be waking up tomorrow...

We went back into K.L. city last night.The taxi drivers give you a lot of info, if you talk to them.
- all is not as it seems here in Malaysia - the muslim malays are treated with high regard and are given benefits that are not extended to malays of other religious beliefs. Then you have the other ethnic peoples who are treated even more badly - the Chinese, the Indians...all find it difficult to own anything, to get work, to be afforded the same courtesy as the muslim malays.The goverment seems to play favourites.

We decided to go into the city and walk around for a while - the Sunway is a strange place. Very uninviting I would say. We tried to get into a cinema last night but the sessions were booked out in advance, so we went into Kinokuniya again and bought some more books - crazy I know.
How can you resist - some of the titles are so good I would buy them all - we took more photos of the Petronis towers at night.

Today is Wesak - a big Hindu celebration in K.L. There will be processions in Chinatown and in the temples.It is a public holiday whis is strange as the Muslim religion is the main one in Malaysia.

We also learnt that we are not in K.L. anymore - we are actually in another state - Selangor, even though we can see the city from our hotel window and it is only a 20 minutes drive away.

Just to give you some idea.....The average wage for a cafe worker in Langkawi is about 500 ringit - approx $150 a month. They survive on tips and in the off season, between May to August they hardly have enough money to buy food.
The taxi drivers get one day off a month, yet still have to pay the car rental every day - if they get sick they must get someone else to drive the taxi for them so that they can pay the rental on it. They cannot own their own taxi unless they are muslim malays.Petrol is about 80 cents per litre. Most taxis run on lpg gas.
Most food is a lot cheaper here - the shopping complex has a supermarket and it is easy to compare.

Still,we in Australia do not know how lucky we are - we still live in the best counrty in the world and travelling reminds me of this fact every single time.

Today we take baby girk to the theme park - the man and her have stopped coughing somewhat.I am not looking forward to exposing my fat arse to thousands of foreigners.How I wish I had a figure, other than 808 turned on its side.....

Get me outa here!!!!

I am in an all to human environment and my Phartian mentality has become strained....
shopping complexes and Phartians do not mix well - but we ventured out as it is little coughing baby's birthday today so we needed to have Macca's and find a birthday cake.
This we did - and we have sung happy birthday and eaten chocolate cake. We might go to the cinema and watch "Narnia - Prince Caspian" as this is baby girls wish.

The man is a shadow of himself - snoffing and coughing and burning chest and all.

We are holding up well.

Lots of Asians ( strange about that eh? ) and we are sometimes the only "white people" to be seen...
Many people from Singapore head into this hotel complex as it is direct from the airport - they can get off a plane, bypass K.L. central, book into a room and shop til they drop ( everything is apparently hugely cheaper here than in Singapore although for us it is as expensive as at home ). Not so many Arabs, but when one appears in a head to toe black outfit with only the eyes showing it is still somewhat spooky looking.

The Indians are pushy and rude and we only see Malays serving in the shops - this place is too expensive for them. It IS only a shopping mall and the main hotel lobby acts as a thoroughfair for the mall itself so there is a constant stream of people passing through.

I really want to go back to K.L. but I dont know whether the clan will be well enough to take the trip - we need to catch a taxi into town, about a 20 minute drive.

It is Sunday today - a day off for most Malays and we are told that it is their day to sleep in and then to go window shopping. Tomorrow they celebrate Wesak and it is another holiday for them so it will be busy everywhere.

I would prefer to be back on the beach at Langkawi - at least it would be quiet.
But the idea of travelling is to experience as much as possible - good, bad or indifferent.

There are amazingly few Americans here - maybe as it is a Muslim country?
I don't know, but we have only hear one or two people with an American accent. On the island there were many Germans, Dutch and French.

Did I mention that I broke my glasses?
Both sides are scratched and busted but still hanging together - thank goodness or I would be quite blind.

Back in K.L.

We left Langkawi Island this afternoon and we are back in K.L.
We are staying 25 minutes outside the city centre in a resort hotel called the Sunway resort.
The resort is connected to a big shopping complex that would curl your toes - I am so over shopping complexes. I have seen enough over the past week to last me a lifetime.

Well,
I have now officially done my YAAD task by having completed the cable car ride yesterday - and I have pictures of my terrified super sized arse to prove it.
It was totally amazing though - well worth the paltry $8 entry fee to travel up the highest cable car in the world. You just have to do it - no words can express getting to the top and then seeing the view.

I WILL show you pics when I return.

It's baby's 14th birthday tomorrow and we were hoping to take her to the water park ( hence the decision to stay at the resort at this time )but we are all tired and baby girl is still coughing and now the man is sniffling and snorting too....
some horible bug they have both picked up.
I am sending them to the other side of the room.

The resort is huge compared to the tiny one we stayed in on the island - when we arrived there were probably 50 people waiting to check in - I dare say a bus load of Chinese had arrived.

We are on the 20th floor and have a great view of the city.

Well, only a few days left and I will be home before you know it...

It just gets better

Well and truely enjoying this special time. The food just gets better - have no room in my fat pants for my arse to fit, but who cares - I will not get these satays at home thats for sure.
We went to the highest point on the island today - it is 11,000 ft above sea level.The view was spectacular and we saw monkeys along the roadside. We forget that there is really a jungle around us.

The place was closed at the top as they were building a new hotel near the top, but the man got a security guard to let us up to see from an observation tower - we were above the clouds.
wow...
back to town for some more shopping and then the man and I went for a swim in the warm waters of the Andaman sea and watched the sunset.

We had a super meal tonight at a very quaint restaurant that would probably be shut down if it tried to serve food in Australia, but here it had "atmosphere". The food was to die for - traditional Malay. The man had a beef randang that made him sweat and baby girl had pancakes with icecream.
Alll is good - our last full day here tomorrow - cable car here we come.

I really like it here - now that I am accustomed to it.

Survivor Langkawi

Baby has a rotten cough and only wants to sit in front of the t.v. watching her anime dvd's - she is no fun.
The man and I dropped off our laundry up the road this morning and then I just had to find some cheese as I had a craving for it {crazy eh?}
We got into our little sports car and headed off to the cable car. Unfortunately it was shut and will be tomorrow as well - so we can only hope to do it on our last day. It looks spectacular and very scary - I MEAN VERY SCARY.If I do this consider it my YAAD task done and dusted as I can see myself soiling my underwear here.

It rained for the first time today, for about half an hour and we got to see some magnificent views of the storm clouds coming in over the mountains.

Last night we had a Malay feast - it was the most expensive meal we have had while on hols.
It cost us 69 ringit which is about $33 and that was for two people - so about $17 each for a banquet style meal with yellow rice, white rice, chicken curry, satay beef and chicken, barramundi, prawn, calamari, shredded beef, potatoes in a sweet curry, fruit strips in a chilli sauce and pineapple and zuchinni in a chilli sauce.

Yes....all of this for $17 per person and we struggled to get through. It could have fed 3 people easily.

Baby girl is finding it hard to eat something on the menu, often sticking to just boring steamed rice, but what can you do? She is just not willing to try anything as hard as we try to convince her.
She is making it up with duty free chocolate.
Hope all is well at home. Thinking of you all and knowing that too soon we will be at home again.

Langkawi – where do I start?

First impressions……What the hell have we done?
Being the only white people on board the plane should have been the clue……
We arrived at a very small local airport, similar to Williamtown and got a taxi to our “resort” – we will use that term loosely here.
This place was a great let down. We knew it was cheap – but certainly the pics on the internet were not indicative of what we found.
The place is owned by a Chinese guy, therefore all the rooms end in an “8” – our room being 98. Two mattresses were to be found on a raised platform ( these were our beds ).The bathroom had lukewarm running water, so no hot showers, the fridge managed to freeze everything.
We contemplated leaving in the morning.

But, let’s breathe…
We went out the back to see the ocean – it was indeed beautiful although not really a swimming beach. We were starving so we headed into the shopping area to buy some food. Some places were closed as it was “in between” lunch and dinner, but we found an arab place called…wait for it..”Al Jazeera” and had some traditional lamb masala and rice with breads.
This place looked like what Bali must have been like about 25 years ago.

We thought whether it was possible to stay here, or, maybe we should look for another place on the island. We were tired and headed back for an afternoon snooze. The evening was spent walking around, late dinner ( 12pm our time ). T.V. has three channels – all foreign language, so we have no idea what is happening in the world. We were slightly jaded, but willing to get into the spirit of things.

Breakfast was eggs, toast and dreadful coffee with a spectacular view of the sea. We found out later that the locals ordered malay food from the place next door at 1-2 ringits ( about 50c ) and theirs was freshly prepared spicy local vegetarian stuff.

We decided to go hire a car to drive around while on the island – maybe it would cheer us up to have some freedom to explore what else was on the island. People had said that this was a duty free place – there must be shops somewhere?

So we found a place just up the road and hired their smallest car for just $15 a day.
To fill the tank cost us $10 ( petrol is about 1/3 the price of Aus petrol ) and we hit the road.

If the man wanted to change gears I had to twist my shoulder to give him space and my knees touched the dashboard – but it was hilarious and it cheered us up immensely.

We headed for the biggest place on the map and found a small township with heaps of shops. We found a large store and headed in – the baby was happy as there was a McDonalds and plenty of duty free shopping for the man and me.

The baby picked up a pair of Converse’s for $30. The man has been checking out sun glasses and has been trying to get me to buy a new watch. We got some t-shirts and a few bits and pieces.
The grog here is so cheap it is ridiculous – so things like Cruiser style drinks are about $1.25. I am stocking up to get me through and the man is going to splurge on a good bottle of scotch to take back to Aus.

The car idea was great, we will flog it to death and see as much as we can – it IS only a small island, but there are a few back roads that we can get lost on. Being a Muslim island, we have breaks in the day to hear the prayers being blasted on the radio and in the town you can certainly hear it everywhere.

We might go up to the cable car ride tomorrow and maybe find a small beach and have a swim.

There is also a cinema here, so if we get stuck we can go to the movies – it only costs about $3.50 per person.

Down time in Lagkawi

Yippee!!!Free internet access at the airport!!
We are waiting to board our local flight to the island of Langkawi - the next four days are for rest and relaxation.
NO MORE SHOPPING.
Langkawi is duty free, but they tell us that unless we smoke and drink, there is not much to buy.
I guess it remains to be seen.
I am looking forward to reading my books - am into a very interesting one by Ramtha that I picked up at the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival about manipulating time and understanding our own internal programming systems - working beyond the neocortex and into the midbrain.

This is all about quantum mechanics.

Interesting shit - but thought provoking indeed and I need some quiet space to digest it.

I can count the white English looking people on one hand - mostly Arabs and Asians here today.

Aleks has had her fill of McDonalds as there isn't one on the island - they have a mega mac here which has four beef patties - arterial clogging to say the least.

This is the next part of the journey and I am slightly apprehensive - we have heard good and bad about the island.

Talk to you all soon.

Smells like Bali!

The smells are interestingly familiar, very much like Bali - the humidity makes everything smell somewhat sweet and then you layer with spices from all the corners of the earth and you have K.L. Central.
We took a Hop-on Hop-off tourist bus to take a tour around the city - it was supposed to last 45 mins, so we were told.I had a cup of coffee before getting on - 3 hours later we were still on that bus, stuck in grid lock traffic with that cup of coffee just dying to come out. As usual the man was making the best of efforts to make me laugh - and my bladder hung teniously on tenterhooks.....
We finally made it off that bus and I literally was doubled over with a totally full bladder. We ran into the nearest Mall and searched for a toilet - finally with salvation in sight, I entered the first cubicle to find....no toilet paper, the next, no paper....NO PAPER ANYWHERE......I walked out again and was killing myself with laughter..how could this be happening? It was the Gods having a mighty good laugh...so we headed for the nearest chemist to buy some tissues I could use ( yes...I can hear you...I could have gone without the loo paper...but, no, I cant ).
To add insult to injury, the only tissues they had were being sold in six box lots....again, here I am screaming with laughter in the corner of this shop with all and sundry giving me the evil eye....we finally found some small tissue pakets up in the front counter and having purchased those......I ran.

Phew.....

Later we were met by a friend of mine's bother and sister in law and taken to a very swanky restaurant for dinner. She took us sight seeing the next day, one of the highlights being Batu caves which is a holy place about 30kms out of the city centre. You have to walk up a very steep 272 steps to get into the caves but once there it is a totally amazing place. Yes, it IS only a cave, but it has so far been the best of all places here. We spent time just sitting and watching people pray and be blessed by the priests ( It is Hindu ).
We then went to see the biggest undercover bird park in the world, still in the city and then we went to the Petronis towers to eat - it has THE BEST food hall I have ever seen!!!!!Wow, laksa, thai,indian, islamic, Morrocan,noodles, everything and all fresh and tasty.
We went to Kinokonia - a huge bookshop in the towers, most books are about half or three quaters the price of home. Thier new age section would have made you all cry!Needless to say Baby girl wanted everything she saw...we got a few books each.

We crashed but managed to get out again later on and have a Morrocan feast in one of the small restaurants near us.

Today is Mother's Day and we are taking it easy.
Some shopping this morning and venturing to Chinatown for the street stalls this afternoon.
We leave for Langkawi tomorrow.
Hope they have an internet cafe there.....
We are all well, no tummy bugs....just tired feet and aching limbs from walking and shopping.

Blow me down, I am in K.L.

Where the f***k am I?
Why is everybody so well dressed?
Yesterday we took most of the day to get to K.L.Flight was trouble free and we landed at 8pm our time after having left Newcastle at 6.30 in the morning.
K.L. Airport is so big that you need a shuttle bus from where the plane lands to take you to the terminal building! I have never seen anything so clean and huge in my life!And everyone is so quiet - Lisa you would love it here!
We took a taxi from the terminal to our hotel - another one hour trip ( almost ) on a BRAND NEW SUPER HIGHWAY......remember, we were on this road for about one hour!!!!
It nhad just been opened about three months before our arrival.

We got to our very spiffy hotel at about 10pm our time.
Our room is super and I must say the Petronis Towers at night are something else to behold - they are simply stunning. You can see them from all points of the city and they look surreal as nothing else like it lights iup the skyline.

We rested and then left to look for our first meal.
We went to Chinatown bypassing all the "big name" stores that are just over the road from where we are staying. Dolce Gabana, Lois Viton, Fendi, oh Lordy, my daugter Monika would have a cardiac arrest!
We are next to all the posh hotels ( ours sneeks in at the back ) such as the Marriott and others that are too expensive to mention.

In Chinatown we found a decent looking stall going past the fried frogs and freshly cooked turtles, still swimming in the tank ( thought that I would add that in ) and had a most sensational meal of sizzling beef, ginger chicken and fried rice all for about $12. The tastes and smells were all enveloping - I wass on overload. Did I mention that it was about 1am in the morning by now????

Aleks was falling asleep at the table and we could not feel our feet... so when we finished, we hobbled back to the hotel and went to bed about 2am.

Today we got up for a lovely brekkie with a huge amount of French pastries and toast, eggs, fruit, on and on......

We then hit the street and got into our first big Mall - the expensive places are beautiful but empty - the Malls that everyone goes to are the cheaper ones that have about seven levels with small stalls that have EVERYTHING x 10.

Aleks has sent us broke with Anime stuff - we have stopped in to have lunch.... again a culinary delight and now I am catching up with you guys as I have no free connection on my lap top from the Hotel ( I am using the internet cafe which costs $1 per hour).

We are going on a small sight seeing tour this afternoon on one of those tourist buses that take you around the city - you can get on and off as many times as you like.

Our friend from Jakarta is sending her sister to meet us this evening ( she is a local ) to take us out to dinner.
Oh well, its tough but someone has to do it!!
Am heading back to go to the Pool for an hour as it is meltingly hot at the momnet and I may have to down a cocktail or two....tough...
Love to you all...
Will blog again soon..

Ok..here's a blog to get rid of fatty boombah!!

Following a huge demand to get rid of the last iconic piccy on my blog I have been forced to give you more informaion about Phart.

We all start as single cell amoebas on Phart - and frankly most of us end up staying that way.
We only have one orifice, and that is usually busy either eating liquified food or in excreting vile gaseous substances.



Very typically, we believe that we are the centre of the universe and that the sun shines out of our arse.
Any Phartian that believes that there could be other more intelligent creatures inhabiting lesser evolved solar systems, such as earth, are punished for their beliefs and are sent there to live amongst the creatures that they so love to defend.



After studying the extensive photographic literature available on earthling life, such as this fabulous example above, we Phartians are quite partial to you lot - we hope that you can except us for who we truely are.



Above, is a very rare photo of a Phartian when not wearing an earthling costume - are we not beautiful?


More info later.....

Oh.....my......God....

What does one do with the dilemma of trying on the only pair of swimmers that one owns and discovering, to their absolute shock and horror, that this item of clothing no longer has a hope in hell of fitting over ONE'S FAT ARSE!!!!!!!!!

I swear the last time I put them on , they slid on effortlessly.
But, that was 18 months ago.

In 18 months I have turned into...
A MONSTER.


At least it solves the problem of what to pack - I only have a few things left that fit.

I will definately have to get a grip on this - but not till after I return from Oompah Loompah - am not giving up those stir frys and cakes...no way.

Brain meltdown

I had a party booking this afternoon to do readings for a lady who was having a doe show - always a dodgy event, but she was "older" - this was her second time around, and seemed quite well to do - so I thought that I would go for it as I could do with extra dosh before hitting oompah loompah land next week.

I was promised around ten women would have a reading, which would have made the afternoon a worthwhile event, each reading about 5-10 minutes.
When I arrived there were 30 women there - wine, canapes, balloons etc...all very "noice".

Now, it could have gone one of two ways - either, the first few ladies would have a reading and tell the others that I was total shit in which case I would be leaving shortly thereafter....or I would get my ten ladies, as promised.
I was hoping for the second outcome.

I started at 2.30pm.

At 6pm, I was still doing readings with women fighting for a place as I had said that I would be having to leave shortly as I was brain dead...

I had done 18 readings.

I think they liked me.

(Thankyou to whoever was watching over me this afternoon and gently keeping my foot out of my mouth and my brain functioning).

Life on Phart!

Well my admission of life on Phart has been a relevation to all.
You are all a scream and it has lightened my load to admit to you all that I am really an alien being ( yes, I know that you ALL knew that and were discussing it behind my back anyway ).

Phart is a very gaseous planet at the edge of a very unknown and dark solar system known as Alpha Romeo.

Phartians do not really have a language as they communicate via psychic connections and so learning the earth language has been challenging.Especially when I heard earthlings using the word "fart" so openly. I really thought that you knew more about us then I was aware of until I noticed the different spelling.

I feel that I have fitted into your colony well but I have kept this a secret for too long.
I have no parents as such, we are all created in a big trough in the Phartian colonisation factory. Many mistakes are made and these are all sent to Earth - so there are many more of us here than you think!
Your best friend may be a Phartian and you don't know it.
Anyway......more details, to come, if you so wish..
Pharts to you all!