Natalie's Book

Some more layouts for Natalie's book

Some More QUOTES

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

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I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it. ~Jack Handey

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May you find serenity and tranquility in a world you may not always understand. May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism. Always know that there are those whose love and understanding will always be there, even when you feel most alone. May you discover enough goodness in others to believe in a world of peace. May a kind word, a reassuring touch, and a warm smile be yours every day of your life, and may you give these gifts as well as receive them. Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending.-- Unknown.

Some more layouts

This page is about my dream for kyle as he grows up. The journalling inside is about how he can be whatever he wants to be

Wasn't he a cutie! The tag says "Let your heart guide you....it whispers so listen carefully" It is a quote from Land Before time

Some of my latest

This one was for the cyber crop on Froggy Todd

Kyle and his Nana Luc when he was one day old
Will upload some more tomorrow. Heading off to bed now!

Another weekend gone!

Had a nice peaceful weekend this weekend. It was lovely

Firstly Tasha had a sleepover at her cousins Friday night so I got to spend a nice evening with no arguing between Kyle and Tasha. wonderful!

Then Saturday I got to spend about 5 hours with my gorgeous little great-nephew _(Gosh that makes me sound old lets rephrase that) I mean Tony's nieces little 4 month old fella. He really is a sweetie and it was lovely to spend some time with him. Saturday night Tasha decided she wanted to stay away again so it was another peaceful night and we splurged and bought pizza for dinner so no cooking either!

Sunday was a nice peaceful day. Went to church and got to catch up with some people I haven't seen in ages then picked Tasha up and went down and did the grocery shopping (okay so the whole wekeend wasn't THAT good) and then had some time at home with the kids. Had planned to spend some time scrapping but Tasha and I ended up having a silly afternoon - Lots of giggling, lots of fun, maybe a little bit of hysteria at times, and all in all a thouroughly enjoyable time

Had a very busy day at work today. Am now going through organising pages for this weekend scrap day. Looking forward to spending some time tomorrow with Jhorjie and Dominic.

Working week!

Wow so much for having time off to rest/relax/scrap etc.

This week is MAD!!! Mad, I tell you, Mad!!!! ~L~

Worked at Dr Ryan's mon, spent Tuesday scrubbing the horrid spot above all the cupboards in the kitchen (you know where all the grease and dust and dirt goes! ~ yuck!), got called in to work at Dr Ryan's all day today, have a day at school tomorrow with the kids for education week (don't you just love sitting on those low chairs with your knees up near your ears!) and then Fri I am now working at Dr Jones.

Phew - so glad I quit work to rest don't know how I would have fitted it all in!

I am sooo looking forward to scrap day in a week and a half. 10 hours of scrapping time will be wonderful (well probably 8 hours by the time you allow for setting up, going through the shop, afternoon tea, dinner etc etc)

Mothers Day

Had a great day yesterday for Mothers Day

First I was joined in bed for cuddles and snuggles and then Tasha disappeared and came back with brekkie in bed for me. How spoilt was I! Then more cuddles (of course) and then Kyle came struggling in with a big box that had....................................................................... an 8 drawer shelving unit thing on wheels with large clear boxes in it to store my paper and cardstock for scrapping!

We then met Mum and John at Seven Mile Beach for a picnic lunch. The day was slightly overcast but it was a lovely day - not too hot! There were heaps of people there too - we went there last year and we were about the only people there but there were hundred's there this year but it was still a lovely time.

Hope all you mothers out there had a lovely mothers day

He's home!

Well Kyle is back from camp and he had a ball! He ended up in the water at canoeing but still seems to have had a great time.

I had one of those days today - went into 2 scrapbooking shops and spotlight and didn't spend a cent! Came home without buying a single thing. SHOCK HORROR. Nothing jumped out at me. Was looking for something in particular, couldnt find it and wasn't interested in anything else.

We have a 10 hour scrap day in a couple of weeks so I guess I better start planning projects etc. Think I will just take some pics along and concentrate on doing pages not OTP's this time. It is the same weekend as Froggy Todd cyber crop so I will have time to get the challenges done!

Kyles off to camp!

Well I dropped Kyle off to school this monring ready to go to school camp for three days. I can't believe how hard I found it. It was really difficult to watch him get on the bus with his classmates knowing we wont see him for three days (Yeah I know I'm a big sook). Tasha in particular is finding it hard. She is worried that something will happen and we won't know (he is only going 25k away to Berry Sport and Rec Centre not the moon!) and in response Kyle is worried Tasha will not be able to cope on the bus to and from school without him! Don't know who is the bigger mother hen!

Havent had much scrapping mojo lately - well thats not really true - more a case of I have a long list of things I want to do and just can't find the time to do any of them. I tohught when you left work you had more time - it just doesn't seem to work that way!

Have a great idea in my head for some pics I took in Melbourne (yes using THOSE pics SJ - sorry!) and it looks great in my head I am really excited about trying it but just can't find the time. Normally I have a struggle coming up with ideas and tend to use sketches etc a lot but this has just jumped into my head and looks great. If I could just get it out of head onto paper that would be great - (not such an easy feat where I am concerned)

I am doing a class this weekend through Froggy Todd with the absolutely amazing and talented SJ so that is something to look forward to.

QUOTE FOR TODAY

"The only real limitation on your abilities is the level of your desires. If you want it badly enough, there are no limits on what you can achieve." `Brian Tracy

pics from Melbourne

Well here's some pics from Melbourne. (Approved pics only! ~L~)





This is the fog I hit - from the top of Cambewarra Mountain to the other side of Lake George! I was driving along the whole way thinking "If they dare tell me Canberra airport is fogged in there is going to be BIG trouble" but it cleared just as I was coming into Canberra PHEW!








SJ in the wonderful town of Mornington - the best fish and chips, gorgeous water views, cute beach huts AND an amazing scrapbooking shop! What a great place to visit!

Excuse the colour of the pink clouds in the background GRRRRRR to my camera!







Just a couple of mad people!













































TODAYS QUOTE:
You can't deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favourite chair and stays as long as it wants
~ Stephen King

A great time was had by all!

Well I'm back home (how did that happen so quickly!). Had an amazing time in Melbourne with SJ, Matt, Keira, Jamie and Miranda.

I arrived in Melbourne all ready to do the zoom zoom song, arms ready to go, and no SJ! Turns out I was in terminal 3 baggage area 1 - she was in terminal 1 baggage area 3! ~L~ But we found each other after a couple of SMS messages and I was welcomed to beautiful sunny Melbourne (NOT!!). We went back to SJ and Matt's to find that not only did I have my own bedroom but also my own scrapping desk! How cool was that!

They made me feel so welcome and so at home. It was great spending time with them. We spent Sunday scrapping and actually got quite a fair bit achieved (yeah okay and maybe a little bit of talking!) Oh - and I was allowed to touch and play with Sandra's stash - not just look. How priviledged was I!

Monday we went for a short (hehe) drive to Mornington for some of the best fish and chips I have ever had and then on to an amazing scrapbooking shop. (Thanks Matt for giving up your day off to drive us, and for putting up with us too!) and I saw some of the huts on the beach at mornington - they looked so cute!

Tuesday was just mad! And it was all Matt's fault ~ long story just never ask this man to pack your lunch for you!~ well not really his fault, he actually made the silly mistake of leaving the two of us at home together, so we went shopping! The toy shop we went to was mind-blowing. Pressed as many buttons as I could and played with lots of toys! Bought home goodies for the kids which they just loved. Then we went to the LSS and I think we touched just about every item in the store. Got home in just enough time to wolf down some sandwiches before picking the kids up from school. These sandwiches happened to be: chicken, cheese, mustard and.........sour cream! Sounds weird but tasted great, Then after picking up the kids we came home and found left over strawberry icing in the fridge so we sat down with a packet of cinnamon crunch biscuits and ate them with the icing! Talk about sugar high! But then Keira took it one step further and added icing to her banana! After that everything sort of went a bit mad! I don't think I have laughed so much in ages. The really scary thing is that we have the same warped sense of humour! VERY SCARY. Poor Matt came home and thought he'd walked into the loony bin! Even scarier all this happened before we had a glass of wine!

All in all it was a great time. SJ and Matt were just wonderful and I loved the time I had with them. Got heaps of scrapbooking done we got through about 4L of wine, laughed till we couldn't laugh any more, shopped, chatted. What more could you ask for!

Will post some piccies later when I get a chance to go through them. I actually forgot to even get my camera out until about Monday, having too much fun!

What a great few days!

Well the last few days have been good ones. It started on Monday when I found out I had won 2 of the challenges at the FTC cybercrop on the weekend. I couldn't believe it I really didn't think I had a chance in any of the categories so I was blown away but the biggest news was that Tasha won in the kids section! She was sooooo excited, she was literally standing beside me bouncing up and down!

Also on Moday we went to the library to hear Bruce whatley talk about his latest book Danny DaVinci and the Great horse of Milan. It was fascinating to hear about how the book was written and the different things you need to do to get a book finished. He also read his book to us and then had the chance to ask questions about this book and some of his other books. He really was a great speaker and had the kids enthralled. Tasha even came home and wrote a story of her own!

Then yesterday the kids went to adventure day camp at Waterslea (Koloona) and had a ball. I was a bit worried about how they would go but they loved it! Tasha went canoeing (and didn't tip her canoe over) and Kyle went billy carting and abseiling! I thought he might balk but he didn't! He said ti was okay but he slipped at the end and has a great big graze on his elbow and wrist so thought maybe he wouldn't do it again!

They had so much fun they can't wait to go again. On Thursday Tasha is doing billy carting and rafting and Kyle gets to try archery!

Have been trying to sort out stuff to take to Melbourne - Been printing photos and working out pages etc. Only three days to go!

TODAYS QUOTE:
The quote today comes from one of my favourite authors Douglas Adams:

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be

What a day!

Tony, the kids and I went out to Vincentia today cause the kids wanted to go to the pool for a swim but the Bay and Basin Leisure Centre wasn't open! So we went to Moona Moona creek for a while and then we decided to go around the Blenheim Beach. It was lovely, the water was so calm and peaceful. It was a bit hazy but a nice day nonetheless.

There were quite a few families there and Tony popped into Vincentia to get drinks for us and just after he left I heard Tasha yell out (in her not so subtle voice) "Mum what's that - is it a shark?" Well you have never seen so many people move so quickly - I think everyone on the beach heard her and there were parents jumping up everywhere.

I looked out and just past the kids there was a fin moving through the water but before I could say anything another fin appeared and they suddenly started jumping and frolicing. It was a couple of dolphins. Then as they disappeared a pod of about 10 of them came past the beach and jumped and played for about 10 minutes. It was just beautiful.

I grabbed my camera to take some pics but didnt get many good ones. I kept missing them!

And I was too far away - you can just see the specks in the water

Kyle and Tasha are the two at the left of the group of people there

As I said the pics are'nt the best but then neither is my little camera that I just throw in my bag

Cyber Crop

Don't forget the Froggy Todd cybercrop is on this weekend!

I am loving the challenges this weekend. I have completed my B & W and two of the other challenges I have the photos ready to go as I had planned on scrapping these anyway!

This time in a week I will be on my way to Melbourne - boy that has come up quickly!


QUOTE OF THE DAY


"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow." Mary Anne Radmacher

Easter came late this year!

We went up to mum's yesterday for our easter lunch. We had decided not to join them for their party Easter Friday as we had spent Christmas with my family so we left it clear for tony's family but ended up just spending the time at home anyway- everyone was too busy! Oh well.

Had a ball yesterday - lots of prawns ,oysters and smoked salmon for lunch and a fun easter egg hunt afterwards!

Here is Tasha blowing the horn for the hunt!

And the kids all happy and full of chocolate

Out with a bang!

The kids got a great shock over the weekend. They were sitting down together playing the organ when there was a bang and smoke started pouring out of it! BUT instead of calling out or moving they both sat there frozen watching the smoke! Good thing I was nearby - called for Tony and ran and grabbed the fire extinguisher. Kids okay but the organ is no good! We burnt out the power box thingy (yes that is the proper term ~L~) so it is now goodbye to the old organ.

Only 10 days till I go to Melbourne - how do you pack clothes for 5 days and scrapping stuff for five days as well!?! I normally take three bags to go scrapping for a day AND because I'm flying there is a weight limit. Have to work on small projects! - If truth be told there will probably be more chatting, giggling and imbibing of wine done than scrapping.


TODAYS QUOTE
You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair. - chinese proverb

ooooops

Forgot to add my quote for today so lets see..............

life is uncertain...eat dessert first! ~L~

no let's try this one -


"happiness isn't doing what you like, it's liking what you do."



ps - 15 days!!

pics that I promised

Firstly here is pics of a tin I made for Michelle at work - (Yeah I know when I am leaving I'm not supposed to give the gifts) just to say thanks for her support.

I loved how this turned out and it wasnt easy to give away! I covered an old corinthians tin using BG papers (Yeah I know been hanging around Gail too long!) and then cut the M and the used chipboard flowers and tag covered in paper and DM'ed for embellishments.

The stamp on the tag is a Stampin up one the says "simply said from the heart - Thank you"

And here is the pics of kyles war wounds

I'm Free, I'm Free

Well what a couple of days of highs and lows!

Today is my first day of freedom (or my last day of working!) and it is a great feeling.

Was a bit flat today - no cake no flowers - no nothing! Got a "Hope you enjoy whatever it is you do now" on the way out by our manager. Felt real good. But my boss took me out for a drink at the pub on the way home so that was nice! Said lots of nice things - made me sad but I am also sooo very relieved to be going. feels like a weight is lifted!

Yesterday was a bit of a shocker - bit of advice if a guy ever tells you "I'm just going to stick this needle into your breast but it won't hurt!" don't believe him!!!!!! Also yesterday got a phone call from the school to say that Kyle was in time out for fighting - TWICE!!! Got some great pics of his black eye and a bite he has on his inner thigh. Will post them later


MY QUOTE FOR TODAY:
What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable. Joseph Addison

What makes us happy?

What do we need to be truly happy?

We think that life will be better once we get married or have a baby. But then we can't wait for the kids to grow up and maybe we'll be happy when they do. After that we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. Will we be happy when they are out of that stage?. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now.If not now ... when?
Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D Souza ..."For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin.But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."

This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.So, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time ... and remember that time waits for no one ...So stop waiting until you finish school ... until you go back to school ... until you lose ten pounds ... until you gain ten pounds ... until you have kids ... until your kids leave the house ... until you start work ... until you retire ... until you get married ... until you get divorced ... until Friday night ... until Sunday morning ... until you get a new car or home ... until your car or home is paid off ... until spring, until summer ... until fall ... until winter ... until you are off welfare ... until the first or fifteenth ... until your song comes on ... until you've had a drink ... until you've sobered up ... until you die ... until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy ...

I found this when I was surfing the web tonight and it is all so true. We need to stop looking at the litte things and be glad for the good things in our life.

Sometimes I tend to focus on the details and forget to step back and look at the big picture.

I once read that you can be as happy as you make up your mind to be and that is so true.

So stop and look at the good things in your life - make a list (even if it's just in your head) of the special things - I know sometimes the hubby or kids can drive you mad but they can also provide you with some of the happiest times as well - don't forget those special friends who are there for you even when you just need someone to be silly with!


My happy thought for today -
Only 20 days till I go to Melbourne!



QUOTE FOR TODAY:

Happiness is a journey ... not a destination!!

What a weekend

Well I had an absolute ball of a weekend. It was soooo exactly what I needed.

After making the decision to cut the things and the people from my life that stress me and drag me down and fill me with self-doubt and actually finding the courage to face these people (some positively and I will be glad to keep these in my life - some I walked away from with the resolution that these people were not good people to have in my life) it has been a hard couple of weeks but I'm getting there now.

Went to Canberra with Gail to meet Hannah and Jo for a weekend of scrapping and it was a blast - (although Hannah's best scrapping mojo seems to appear between the hours of 2 and 5 AM!!!!) Heaps of laughs and fun and a little bit of scrapping got done!

Here is the four of us at the end of our 2 night scrapping weekend

And one to prove that scrappers can be lady's!

COUNTDOWNS

4 working days left before I become a part-timer!

24 days until Melbourne

QUOTE FOR TODAY

Learning by experience often is painful- and the more it hurts, the more you learn. Ralph Banks

Life begins now!

Well after much soul searching and lots and lots of discussion with my friends and family (thanks for listening!) I finally resigned from my main job today. So I am no longer the secretary to one of the greatest orthopaedic surgeons in the country. I will miss my job terribly it was a great place and we worked so well together but there were other influences at work that made it impossible for me to stay.

I am still a part-time receptionist/typist for a cardiologist 1 day per week so I guess I'm not unemployed!

I feel so much better now. I have smiled and laughed more today than I have in a long time. I have one more week of work, finishing up on the 30th of March. Will be a happy day to be saying goodbye to some but also absolutely heartbreaking to say goodbye to others!

Anyway I am off for a wonderful weekend in Canberra with the amazing Hannah and Jo (and yes you too Gail!) for a weekend of scrapping and chatting. Just what I need!!!!

I am planning on having a few months off to be at home with Tony and the kids and then will look for part-time work later in the year - hopefully it won't be too hard have had two job offers already since people found out I was leaving but I'm not ready to jump straight back in yet.


QUOTE FOR TODAY: Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why


OOOHHH and don't forget - Jane's b'day in just 4 days and ................................................................................................................................................................... 30 days until Melbourne!

Its Happened!

Well tell you what - turn your back and all of a sudden your little boy has grown up!

Kyle turned 11 today and he is definately 11 going on 30. I am very proud of the gentleman he is turning into. He doesn't always make good choices and is as bad as his mother at coping with comflict (which doesn't bode well for peer pressure in the future!) but all in all he seems to have his head screwed on well.

He is growing up so much and so quickly ~ although luckily he still loves giving his mum big hugs.

Love you mate, hope you have a great birthday

When will I learn?

When will I learn to stand up for myself?

After much soul searching and discussion between Tony and myself I had finally decided it was time to stand up for myself and had made a decision about my future.

However once I had started to tell people about this and hearing them say how disappointed they were etc I felt myself starting to doubt my decision.

Why am I always so worried about pleasing others and put myself and my own happiness so far down the list?

I am sure that this is the right way to go and the best thing for my family and for me I just need to dig down deep and find the strength to not cave into what other people want and this irrational need I have to keep the peace and not upset anyone! I know where my insecurities come from but that doesn't make them any easier to deal with!


Countdown status
0 Days till frog hop cybercrop ~ it's on now!!!!!!
3 days till Kyles bday
7 days to Canberra camp
10 days to Janes bday
36 Days to Melbourne


TODAYS QUOTE

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.-- Diane Ackerman

SHOPPING!

Went to Miranda Fair on Saturday and I drove all the way there! I am terrible at driving in Sydney I hate it but I drove all the way with no trouble (it really wasn't that difficult)

Tony Tasha and I went shopping for Kyles b'day present ~ he was at a friends place for the weekend ~ and after kicking my toe in the morning before we left and hobbling round the shops for half the day Tony told me to go and buy some sandles so I could take my joggers off and we went into Big W and got summer shoes on sale for $5!!!!! couldnt buy just one pair at that price!
Anyway - took my shoes off and there is one very black little toe - no wonder it hurt!

Am thinking of trying out for the design team for Frog Hop. I know I have no chance but thought I might give it a try anyway - could be an interesting experience!


Countdown status

3 Days till frog hop cybercrop
6 days till Kyles bday
10 days to Canberra camp
13 days to Janes bday
39 Days to Melbourne



QUOTE FOR TODAY:

Choices are like connecting highways. They all take you to the same place. Some just take longer to get there. (Dream for an insomniac)

COUNTDOWNS!

Well my poor calendar is getting a beating at the moment! Countdowns for sooo many exciting things!

Only 11 days until Kyle's birthday (my little boy is turning 11 years old ~ how did that happen?) and he is making sure we don't forget!


Only 14 days until the scrapbooking camp in Canberra - Can't wait to meet up with Bubbles and Jo! Don't know that much sleep will be had but I am sure lots of laughs and fun will be!


Only 17 days until my wonderful friend Jane's birthday. Still trying to think of something special to do for her birthday. She deserves to be spoilt rotten ~ any ideas?

and........

the most exciting one of all.............................

only 44 days to go until I go to Melbourne! YAY I may not have mentioned this before (hehe) but I am soooooooooooo looking forward to catching up with flutters and family.


So as you can see lots to look forward to! Certainly need it at the moment or I would seriously go insane (or maybe just hide away in bed and never surface again!)

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Here is another quote for you from my favourite movie of all time ~

Why is everyone always telling me to be nice? - Dream for an insomniac

All Clear

Well if I never see another doctor again I will be happy ~ (could be kind of difficult since I work for two of them! lol)

I finally seem to be coming right.

Saw the cardiologist about my heart problems and he said to just wait and see. If I have another attack I have to go straight to casualty and have an ECG to monitor what is happening. Would be nice if I could just stop going dizzy and passing out! Was witnessed by Michelle at work once but all the others were at home alone so that's a bit scary!

And the main thing~ breathe a huge sigh of relief ~ my breast scans came back all clear. With our great family history of breast cancer finding a lump in my breast made me hit the panic button but apparently it is nothing to worry about! PHEW!

Don't know why I spent all that time worrying about it now! hehe. But I must admit worrying is one of the few things I do well!

Pics

I promised pics from our latest class so here you go!

And heres some of my latest scrapping

All scrapped out!

Had a scrapping day today!

First this morning I went to a class with Gail at the LSS. It was an OTP class with julie Love where we did a TV! Yes sounds interesting! I am actually very very happy with my finished product AND ~ big moment ~ it was the first time I have scrapped photos of my dad. the pics I used were of the last day out we had with him.

Then this evening I did an exploding box class and LOVED IT! Can see this being something I will be doing more of!

VALENTINES DAY

Well you could knock me over with a feather today!

Tony has always been anti-Valentines day (You know commercialism etc) - Even to the extent he told the girl selling flowers on Valentines day just after our wedding (Yes we were still on our honeymoon in Queensland) that "I don't have to buy her flowers for Valentines day I'm married to her now!"

Today I come home from work and find another bunch of carnations and a gorgeous gold chain with a topaz (my fav stone)

I am one lucky girl.

MELBOURNE HERE I COME!!!!

I am so excited. I booked my flights this morning so I head off to Melbourne on Sat 21st April until Wed 25th.

I am soooo looking ofrward to it. Can't wait to catch up with flutters and her family.

Just over 2 months and I'll be in Melbourne!

YIIIPPPPEEEEEE

(Did you get the hint that I'm excited) ~ hehehe ~

I'm a lucky gal!

Well I had a pretty rough week last week and altohugh yesterday was our anniversary I didn't think much of it.

We aren't big on anniversaries etc. tony isn't exactly the most romantic!

But I walked in the door from a full on day at work to be greeted by: A gorgeous big teddy bear holding a bunch of long stemmed roses AND a bunch of carnations (my favs).

How sweet is he!

How lucky am I!

Have we done the right thing?

I am starting to wonder now if we did the right thing.

The kids are back at school and Kyle has his contract for the OC class which has some pretty difficult tasks but if he plans them out properly they wont be too bad. He just needs to get organised. But he is just saying, this is too hard, there's too much work and is almost gicing up already.

I spent time with him tonight breaking it down a bit into sections and he seems a bit happier but I wonder.

Are we pushing him too hard? He says he is happy to be there. I think it is just that he decided the workload would be super heavy before he even started and has talked himself into it

Busy Weekend!

Boy what a mad weekend.

Started with a very late finish at work on Friday (well late for a Friday anyway!) didn't get home until 6:30.

Sat morning I had suggested to Tony we go up to the New housing display village at Haywards Bay and then he suddenly (in the middle of an online chat I was having with Flutters) stood there going "hurry up" (insert blackboard voice here) so we rushed off to check out the new houses. Not that we can afford to move but just for a stickybeak. Anyway I totally fell in love with an AV Jennings home called Jaala. It is lovely.

As we finished looking at the houses I learnt why we had been rushing this morning when Tony turns to me and says "You know seeing we are up here and its still early........ The races are on a Kembla Grange so what do you think?". I felt I had dragged him around houses all morning so we went off to the races - no hat - no sunscreen! So I now have a very red face.

Then when the races finished at 6pm we went off to Hogs Breath for dinner. I LOVE HB! I regularly ask Tony if we can go there for dinner but usually it is out of our budget or too far away but this time we had to go past it to get home!!!

Then today was grocery shopping and tidying up the house before trying to catch up on some of my swaps.

australia Day 2007

WE celebrated Australia Day this year with a traditional aussie bbq!

Had a great day. We had Jane & Simon; Tracy & Jacob; Gail, John & Haylee; Simone, Greg, Jhorjie & Dominic; and us!

The wine flowed, the food was plentiful and there was laughs and chats. All in all a wonderful time.

It was great to catch up with Tracy and spend some time with Jane that didnt involve tears and sadness (we seem to be meeting at funerals lately!). Hope to do it more often

I dont believe it!

I spent last weekend participating in the scrapyourselfsilly cybercrop and had such a great time.

The girls there are so friendly and welcoming and helpful and I had lots of laughs and really enjoyed pushing myself with the challenges. I actually finished all 4 challenges for this cybercrop including a bleaching class taught by the lovely Crissy. I had so much fun experimenting with this technique and trying it out on just about every colour card I had in my scraps box so I had heaps of flowers which I used in my layout.

I found out this week that I won the bleaching challenge. How exciting. I have now entered two cybercrops in my life and have won a prize at both of them. Wow

I will try and upload my LO's here



Challenge 1 - paisley



Challenge 2 - find a LO you like in the gallery, get the owners permission and scraplift a LO using techniques from that page




challenge 3 - christmas, ribbon, flourishes/doodling



challenge 4 - Lo using bleaching (my winning LO)

A morning of memories

Had a great time on the weekend. I met up with a group of friends from school (yes that long ago!) that I hadn't seen in a couple of years.

We met at Tina's Place and there was Tina, Louise (who was my bridesmaid and I hadn't seen for 4 years after a falling out (long story)), Tracey Dean, Tracy Hawkes, Josephine Bugg and myself.

We had a great time catching up with each others news and learning about jobs and families and discussing old times at school. I had such a fun time and hopefully we will get together more frequently. They are just the nicest people and spending time with them reminded me of why we got on so well at school.

The downpoint of the day was that we were talking so much I forgot to take pics. What sort of scrapper am I!

Here he is!

Introducing Dominic Pignataro

Dominic Jaymz is here

Simone, Greg and Jhorjie's new family member arrived safely this morning after a caeserean delivery.

Mone rang me from recovery to say things were going well and to tell me that it was okay - Greg didn't faint!

Apparently Jhorjie is smitten with her baby brother which is great.

He is tiny (6lb 8oz)ad has gorgeous black hair. A real cutie.

Went up and saw them this afternoon and mum and bub are both doing well

Exhausted

Boy am I tired!

Had a mad day at work today - first consulting day after three weeks of holidays.

Headed off to work at quarter to 8 this morning and walked back in the door at quarter to 7 tonight and it was just go, go, go all day. Total mad house!

I am sooo thankful for my great husband who had the kids fed and bathed when I got home so I could just collapse in a heap and veg for 1/2 an hour or so.

Mone and Greg's baby will be here by the weekend so can't wait to meet him.

Will update more later - too tired now

my holidays are nearly over

WEll time flies doesn't it!

Less than a week before I go back to work. These hols have been good - haven't acheived as much as I wanted but hey had some fun! I have cleaned out the craft room, cleaned up Tasha's room (much to her disgust!), done the kitchen cupboards and tidied up the bookshelves in the study but HAVEN'T gotten around to the gardens or the changes I wanted to do in our bedroom yet. And as for catching with my reading or my movies I want to watch. No chance!!!!

Yesterday the kids, Tony and I went and played putt putt golf. Took us so long because we laughed nearly the whole way round but we had a great time. It was lovely to do something all together!

This morning I met up with Gail to see if we could work out a way to cover these new tins we got with four (yes four - are we mad!) windows in the lid. I love how mine turned out. Had to leave before Gail finished hers so not sure how hers went.

Had to leave to go TO THE DENTIST YYYUUUKKK. After having my wisdom teeth out and the nerve damage sustained then my gums and tongue are soo sensitive so I wasn't loooking forward to it and I came home with my very first filling. Not something I will go back for again if I can avoid it!

Got lots to look forward to over the next few weeks. Got my wonderful Jane coming over Friday for some craft and dinner, in a couple of weeks I am meeting up with friends from school, some I havent seen for three or four years, and having friends over for a bbq on Australia day so will be nice and busy. Add to that a cyber crop in there somewhere, going back to work and getting the kids ready for school. AARRGH

For some reason Blogger wont let me upload pics so will try again tomorrow

Suicide is not the answer

After attending the funeral of one of my friends husband about 6 weeks ago on Tuesday we were back at the same place to say goodbye to her son who would have turned 14 years old the day before he was buried.

He committed suicide on the 23rd of December in the backyard of the family home.

I know sometimes life gets hard and I know where these thoughts come from and I can relate to the not knowing what to do but it affects so many people around you.

The funeral was heartbreaking - one of his sisters spoke at the service and finished off with "and now the two special men in my life are gone". there were so many school kids there and hopefully the message that suicide isn't the answer got through to them.

My big beef was that there was all these 13 and 14 year old kids totally distraught and not a parent in sight. I know they are old enough but at times like this (it was probably the first funeral for a lot of them) some support would have been nice.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Well we made it home safely. We had a great christmas in Brisbane with Mark, Mel and Declan.

We flew up on the 23rd and Mark met us at the airport and then when we got to our apartment there were Mel and Declan waiting to see us! The place we stayed was lovely.

Chrsitasm Eve we stayed at Mark's so the kids could wake up together christmas monring and then we went to Mel's family for christmas lunch. One thing I learnt about Gatton - it is very hot!!!!




We did lots of fun stuff. Went to underwater world, did lots of shopping!!!!, went to southbank and did went up the river, and shopped some more! didn't get to dreamworld as it rained most of the time we were there but had some great times with Mark, Mel and Declan.

Mum and John joined us on the 28th for a family christmas celebration and then we flew home together new years eve.



All in all it was a great time

Silly season

Well the silly season is upon us and as noted earlier this month is just totally mad for me. Don't know if its the time of year but have been feeling really flat lately. I have almost finished all my chrissy shopping and in a mad panic trying to organise things for our time away.

Tony has been working extra long hours and is useless at the moment. Feel like hibernating until it is all over.

One good thing tomorrow is my last day of work for three weeks. YYYAAAYYYY

Weekend away

Had a great weekend. It actually started Friday when we had our work christmas party and played croquet on the lawn at Ian and Harriet's. I had no idea croquet was such a mean, bloodthirsty and challenging game. I thought it was just hitting balls through hoops but I soon learnt about the tactics and things involved. We had a ball lots of laughs and a good day. To top things off we got our christmas present from work which was a three day pass to Cedarvale Health Retreat, which is something I have always wanted to do so I can't wait.

Then Tony and I went to Canberra for the weekend. The kids stayed with Gail friday night and Mum saturday night. We had such a good time. We went to the National Gallery and saw the egyptian exhibit over from the louvre ( I figured my chances of getting to the louvre were non existent so better see it when I can!) which I really enjoyed. We went to cafe Injoy for lunch (yum yum) and had a nice afternoon doing some christmas shopping and ended up at hogs breath for dinner.

Had a great weekend. Trying to sort out now what we can and can't take to Queensland - we fly out in less than a week. Yikes. With weight limits etc don't know how we will get chrissy presents up there but we'll sort it out.

14th December - My Birthday

I had a great birthday this year. I was spoilt rotten by tony and the kids. I got some CD's I wanted (snow patrol, U2, robbie williams and Young Diva's) and a jewellery set with a necklace, bracelet and earrings that I had mentioned ages ago I liked - (and Tony remembered and got the right ones!)

At work today we had our annual lunch to thank the staff at the hospital for the great work they do looking after our patients and when the room was full to capacity Ian (my boss) made his annual speech which ended with "and today is Cath's 34th birthday so could we all sing Happy Birthday". Out comes this cake and everyone (about 100 people) sing. I think I went a slight shade of red. Learnt a good lesson - never trust your boss in a public place!

what came first?

The old expression what came first the chicken or the egg springs to mind today because I have been writing a book about my life and more particularly everything I went through in my teenage years. It's not a book that I ever think anyone would ever read but it was more for me - someone said it was a good coping exercise so I thought I'd give it a go. I don't know if the writing is helping or if I can write about it because I have come to terms with it more but I seem to be able to cope a lot better lately. So the chicken or the egg? Is it because I'm writing about it or can I write because I am dealing better?

Anyway apart from that life has been pretty busy. Had a scrap day on saturday and I got a big project done that I wanted to finish but I had a shocker of a headache all day and could easily have just come home instead but I was determined to finish it off and I am so happy with it. will post some pics later. Camera has flat batteries atm.

what a month

I sat down the other and worked out what I have on this month and WOW this is my schedule.

9th Dec Going to scrap sale in morning
then 10 hour scrapping day
11th Dec Going chrissy shopping with friends
12th Dec Scrapping night
13th Dec have to work an extra night work
14th Dec My b'day (Might be having dinner trying to organise )
Special lunch party for staff at hospital
15th Dec XMAS Breakfast 8 - 10 for Hospital
then My work christmas party for lunch
then driving to Canberra (DH taking me away for weekend - kid free!)
16th-17th Dec in Canberra
19th Dec scrapping night
21st Dec last day work main job before hols -
22nd Dec XMas party for my second job
23rd Dec Fly to Queensland
24th Dec To my brothers place for xmas eve dinner and drinks
25th Dec Xmas breakfast with brother and his family then christmas day luch with my sister in laws family
26th Dec to Australia Zoo
27th Dec to dreamworld with brother and family
28th Dec Pick mum and John up from airport
29th Dec do the whole family christmas thing
31st Dec Fly back home hope to stay in Syd for fireworks
1st Jan 0 Collapse in heap!


WOw I feel sooooo tired now

YYYAAAYYYY

I won, I won, I won.

I won my first ever scrapping competition. My mirror image page for the cybercrop was selected as the winner for my category. I was sooo excited. It is the first time I have ever submitted anything like this and I was so nervous when I saw the work of the other girls I almost didnt submit mine.

I was so excited when I found out. Even Tony congratulated me and said he was proud.

(insert happy dance here!)

my "Quiet" weekend

Well this weekend was supposed to be my quiet weekend but it ended being a busy one but also a great time.

I entered my first cybercrop! It was through scrapyourselfsilly and it was great fun. There were 4 challenges but I only submitted two - wasn't happy with my other ones. the girls there are sooo friendly and encouraging

My first one was for cards, they had to be blue/silver, with rounded corners and stars


The second one was a mirror image you either had to journal about what you saw when you looked in the mirror or do a mirror image layout so I incorporated the two.



Then in the middle of all this I have been trying to get organised for the 10 hour scrapping day next weekend and Tony finally relented and let us get a christmas tree. we didn't get a real one this year (broken a 10 year tradition!) but we got a fibre optic one. It looks cool!



And also during the cyber crop I won one of the games so I can't wait to see what my prize will be!

What a wonderful weekend

Well this last weekend would have to be one of my best weekends in ages. I had the best time

Gail and I drove to Canberra, checked into our motel in Queanbeyan and then drove to meet up with Sandra, Matt, Keira, Jamie and Miranda Allan (Flutters and her family) to catch up IRL one last time before they move to Melbourne (boo hoo). We had the best time. Did lots of chatting and laughing, had a lovely BBQ dinner with them and then the scrapping stuff came out! I had absolutely no scrapping mojo at all but I came home with so much inspiration from Sandra's stuff - she is soooo talented.

It was just a lovely relaxed happy time. She is such a sweetie and her family is great. they made us feel so welcome.

Gail and I left about midnight - ish and went back to the motel but then we found out Gail left something behind (I think it was on purpose!!!!) so we had to go back Sunday morning.

Then we went to the stamping sale at EPIC and meet up with Hannah (Bubblefrog) and had heaps of fun picking out stamps - we all ended up buying a heap but they were only 1 or 2 dollars each. Had heaps of fun, especially when we found a pocket watch stamp (long story - another time maybe) and then we went into Federation Square to Cafe Injoy for lunch. All I can say is YUM YUM.

We said goodbye to Hannah and headed home past a big roadside sign warning us to drive carefully - bushfire across Federal Highway!! Didn't know whether to turn back but we kept going and eventually got home without seeing any fire (turns out the fire was Friday and they hadn't taken the sgins away - Doh)

All in all it was just a great weekend with wonderful people

Sad day

Today I went to Wayne's funeral (the husband of a lovely lady I worked with). He was only 45 and they found out about 2 months ago he was dying and he asked Suellen to have the following verse read out at his funeral.

IF I HAD MY LIFE OVER AGAIN

I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I'm one of those people who live sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had it to do over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.




Maybe we all need to listen to this and think about enjoying life. Not getting caught up in the everyday but enjoying every single day we have.

another fun scrapping day

Had a great day yesterday. We were supposed to go to Mone's for a scrapping day but she hasn't been well and wasn't feeling up to it so instead of cancelling it completely as we had all been looking forward to it and packed for it (well I had anyway!) we moved it to Gail's at the last minute (Thankyou John for letting us invade your house for so long at such short notice and for being so tolerant of all the laughter and singing).

Had a great time. There was only four of us (Gail, Haylee, Amanda and myself) but we still talked, laughed, scrapped, ate and played singing games until about 10pm. Had a great time. Got lots done too. Will take some piccies and upload them during the week.

Proud mum pt 2

After the news the other week that Kyle had made the chess team for school (BTW he won 4 games, drew 2 and lost 1 at the district comp but his other team mates didnt do as well so they arent going on to the next round) we got notification yesterday that Kyle has been accepted into the Opportunity class for year 5 and 6. This is an accelerated learning class for gifted students (I hate that term gifted students it sounds so pretentious and feels like you are putting to high an expectation)

It is a great chance for Kyle who loves learning. They do a lot more in depth stuff and work slightly differently to the other classes in that the curriculum is not so strict and they can investigate things further and study topics that interest them as well as learning all the basics.

A fun time was had!

Well I drove to Penrith!!! Yay me, I HATE driving in Sydney. (Well it wasn't exactly city traffic but I was still stressing for about a week before!) Gail and I went to the paper and craft show at Penrith Panthers and did a Zina Wright stitchadoodle class with Crazymumm (Lucy) and Webbgod (Pam) from SM forum. I really enjoyed it and I can see that hand stitching will be a part of my pages now!

We did a little bit of shopping , met up with Jeneen, and then Gail and I decided we needed lunch so we were walking over the Panthers when I heard "MISSCATH!!!" being yelled out and there were Scrapwitch (Lisa), chellejamo (Michelle), Scrapgoddess (Leanne) and Crazymumm and Webbgod all heading off to lunch so we all went for pizza together and Ran into Cazfun on the way!

Then back for more shopping and we all met up for dinner at Panthers. (Scrapwitch, Scrapgoddess, Webbgod, Crazymumm, Gail, Chellejamo, Jenni, JPlatt and her daughter Dominique (hope I spelt that right) and myself) Had a great night - lots of laughs, chatting, giggles, and lots and lots of flashes (cameras of course!) Over the day we also met up with Scrappinowl, Little scrap, LisaP, and HelenJ

Time to update

We had a nice quiet weekend this weekend. Didn't do much at all just hung around home , did the house work (YUK!!) and veged out on the puter. I am really looking forward to getting away this Friday to the Paper Crafts Festival with Gail. Be good to catch up with some of the girls I met at the lighthouse and meet some new faces as well.

I really need to get started on my christmas shopping. I have done my list up of what I want to get does that count? I just don't know when I will have time to actually go and buy.

I'm a proud mum

Today I was met at the door when I got home from work by a very happy beaming boy! Kyle decided to try out for the school chess team (with no prompting from us we didnt even realise he was trying) and he has been chosen to represent his school at the St Georges Basin country club next week. I am so proud of him. He is not very confident and I hope this will give him a bit of a boost. Tasha tends to be the boss around the house so it is good for him to know he can try things and he loves playing chess.

I have been in a bit of a black mood lately. Life is so not what I planned but I guess what can someone like me expect. I should lower my expectations and accept that I should be grateful for what I have. I do get tired sometimes of pretending that everything is fine and just smiling.

But Kyle put a smile on my face today and made me very proud.

What an afternoon

What a shocker. It is now about 8pm on Sunday evening and this afternoon has been an absolute horror! First I kicked my toe on the exercise bike and split my toe open - gee they bleed a lot! and then the boys (Kyle had his cousin Paul over) come in to say Tasha has fallen out of the boat.

She did fall out of the boat, which was fine but she fell onto the old rusty shovel and cut the top of her foot really deeply and couldn't weightbear and screamed when you touched her foot so we spent the last 3 1/2 hours in casualty getting it looked at. No broken bones which was good (that was my main concern) and they didn't end up stitching it - just cleaned it up, dressed it and eventually we could come home. With a dressing that has to be taken down in two days time and instructions not to get it wet - yeah right.

Lunch at Berry

It was Mum's brithday on Friday so yesterday we took her out for lunch in Berry. It was a lovely lunch we went to the secret kitchen and the meals were great - Tasha thought hers was great as she got 2 mini pizzas which were put at the top of her plate like eyes and then there was a big tomato sauce mouth drawn on her plate. she giggled and giggled all lunch.

The meals were reasonably priced and very large.

We gave mum a big bunch of flowers and a clock which I had altered and she seemed very happy with her gifts.

all in all it was a lovely day - and we finished of at the ice creamery for dessert!!

Amanda's birthday

Tonight we had a lovely dinner for Amanda (starlight)'s birthday. It was actually yesterday but tonight instead of scrapping we had a bbq at Gails place because Amanda loves bbq's. We got to meet Steve (her bf) and had a lovely time. It was a nice relaxed casual fun evening.

update time

Well nothing much has happened lately but it has been 2 weeks since I last updated my blog so I thought I'd better do something about it.

The scrap day at Gails was great. A nice relaxed day with scrapping, chatting and good food - what more could you ask for? I got to catch up with my good friend Tracy and loved the opportunity to sit and chat.

Nothing else seems to change much - work is still the same. The kids go back to school tomorrow. These school holidays have been particularly tough because Tony has been working ridiculous hours and there is no way we would have got through these holidays without the help of his family. I wish I could have spent more time with them but I am looking forward to having three weeks off at christmas time and spending a week in Brissy with them.

Today we went to Georgia

Today was a lovely day -we went and had lunch with mum and John at Georgia. After lunch Tony tried to fix their DVD player which a friend of theirs had fiddled with and then we installed their broadband internet for them. They are still learning how to use a computer so the internet should be a bit of a challenge for them!

Anyway whilst Tony was busy with John and Mum in the study with the computer the kids and I had fun outside playing. We found a family of skinks resting in the sun and the skin that had been shed from a snake.

Looking forward to tomorrow - a whole day scrapping at Gail's place. Should be great!

Here are some photos I took in Mum and Johns garden. It is lovely, there are so many beautiful flowers and colours.

Seacliff Bridge

WE went for a drive up to Austinmer and Thirroul today and went for a drive and a walk along the Seacliff Bridge. I loved it. I have been wanting to do it for sooo long and it was just gorgeous. Today wasnt the best day for it, it was windy and cold but we had fun anyway, Tasha and I ran and skipped and basically acted like fools but we laughed a lot and had a ball! Tony dropped Tasha and I at one end and then drove and parked at the other end and Kyle and Tony walked in and met us in the middle

Life goes on the same

Well, we didnt win the lotto so it was back to work this week! Have to remember to buy that ticket one day!

Have been back four days and it already feels like I havent had a holiday.

Had a good day today - we went to the Illaroo school fete and then out to Davinas for lunch. It was a gorgeous day and so we ended up down at the beach where the kids went to "just get their feet wet". Yeah right. By the time they came back Tasha was a little bit wet but Kyle was soaked! Anyway they had a good time so all in all not too bad.

We were hoping to get back for the local school production of Aladdin as we heard it was great but we didn't make it in time :(

All dressed up!

Here is a photo of my kids all dressed up for David's wedding


They are growing up way too quickly

Busy weekend

Well what a busy couple of days! On Friday we drove to Cowra via Gunning and Dalton and lots of dirt roads! Got to see the rural areas we normally miss by taking the highway. The kids saw dogs rounding up sheep and it was fascinating.

Saturday was David and Amandas wedding and it was beautiful. cowra was very cold and we were worried it might rain but the service was just lovely. It was very family oriented and very sweet. It was great to catch up with family members, its sad that we only see each other for weddings or funerals.

Sunday we all met up for a picnic lunch and then we drove on to Dubbo and on Monday we hired an electric cart and drove around Western Plains Zoo. Another lovely family day

and then today Tuesday we spent all day in the car driving home apart from a short stop at the telescope at Parkes to check it out.

Very tired now, cant wait to sleep in my own bed. Will update with photos soon.

Had a busy week

I have had a great week so far. Spent Tuesday afternoon with Simone scrapping for the christmas ABC book swap then Tuesday night was our usual scrapping night (2 hours just isn't long enough for scrapping!) and then Wednesday I spent all day with Gail scrapping.

Still have stacks to do and I'm going to be away this weekend for David's wedding in Cowra but next weekend we have a scrap day for 10 hours so should get everything finished then.

I am actually feeling quite relaxed and wish I didn't have to go back to work. But the bills keep coming so I guess I better!

My baby is growing up

Well firstly I have to say YAY the SM forum is back up. It is so sad how much it affected us. But those girls really are my friends now and not being able to contact them was so stressful.

Anyway thursday my baby girl turned 8. We went out to dinner for her birthday but today (sat) she had a party with all her friends from school at the local gymnastics club. It was great! They play games with them and get them running around and then they show them the equipment and let them do all the gym things like balance beam , trampoline, rolls, uneven bars, rings etc.

Kyle did well. He is very non confident but once he starts and gives it a go he did really well.

Will post some piccies during the week.

Oh oh and the really exciting news. I am now on holidays! It is the first time in about two years I have been on holidays from both jobs at the same time.

major problems

today has been a shocker. The SM forum is having problems and I can't log in. I can see what is going on but cant join in. It is sooo frustrating like sitting behind a window watching all your friends play. It is sad to think how addicted we are, some people can log on but others cant. There was a page up earlier today saying someone had hacked in. I wish they could get a life!

MY tash

I just had to add this piccy of my little girl. I just adore this photo. She is such a poser and when the camera comes out so does all her model poses and looks but I managed to capture this one naturally and I just love it.

What a bad blogger am I!

Weill I havent updated my blog for such a long time. Life has actually been busy. I have had some good weekends lately. About three weeks ago Gail and I went to Canberra for the craft and quilt show and had a wonderful weekend. We got to meet Flutters and Bubblefrog from the SM forum and we shopped till we dropped!

We then took ourselves out to dinner at a posh restaurant for a seafood buffet and wine buffet!

Tomorrow is my baby's 8 year old birthday. So scary. We are having a party for her on saturday at the local gymnastics club. She is getting soooo excited