Exhausted!

What a weekend! Wow - I mentioned in a previous post how busy my life is during the week - well just try keeping up with my kids social lives on weekends! It is great to see them both making good friends - NICE friends - and being able to spend time with them.

Lets see... starting Thursday I had was has now been referred to as the "Psycho Flu" ...~L~... No seriously I think if I went to doctor they would tell me I was insane. I had all the symptoms of a sore throat - feeling hard to swallow, that yucky feeling etc but NO PAIN IN THE THROAT! I also had goosebumps and sweats but when i took my temperature it WAS FINE. Told you - psycho flu. The only problem was that I felt so run down with it too. Thursday wasn't too bad. I got through the day at work and kind of crashed when I got home. Friday I made it to lunch time and then came home, slept on the lounge and did very little else. So in a way it was good the kids were so busy and occupied this weekend.

Friday night Tasha had a slumber party for Tegan's birthday so I was down to 1 child Friday Night. She came home mid morning Saturday and had a quiet day at home by herself as Kyle had gone to Ulladulla with a friend and his family. Then Tash had ANOTHER slumber party Saturday night (this time for Kyla) and Kyle called in briefly on his way home from ulladulla to say he was staying overnight at his friends. So no kids Saturday night! Then Sunday Tasha has had Kyla here for a while then gone back to Kyla's and Kyle didn't come home until mid afternoon so nice and peaceful and quiet......well not really.

You see as of this week I am working from home and I needed somewhere quiet and away from everyone to work (very hard to listen to the dictaphone with noises around!) so I spent the weekend re-arranging my craft room and adding a new desk so I have "work" space and "play" space. Just for next time - this is not a good idea when you have been feeling as exhausted and washed out as I was! Crawled into bed Saturday night (after having a couple of naps during the day). Very glad that plans for Saturday night did not come to fruition as there is no way I could have lifted my head up. In fact Tony came in at one stage( I think it was about 7pm) to find me lying on the floor asleep! I had sat down after moving the desk - totally exhausted - and must have decided to have a nap. ~L~

So a busy weekend for all. I am feeling slightly more human (only slightly) and hope to be over the psycho-flu soon. Or at least not feeling so totally wrung out and exhausted.

SSSSSHHHHH

I have to say Happy Birthday to an amazing friend but she would never forgive me if I named her!!!

So let me just say to an amazing friend who has been there for me through the ups and the downs, supported me in the lowest times and partied with me in the best of times. My dance buddy, shopping pal, voice of reason. I miss our clubbing sooooo much. We made such great groupies together. She knows ME which is something I only let very few people do. In fact I would go as far to say that there are only 4 people that I am really close to and I count this lady as one of those. She is always there not just for me but for so many people. If you have a problem she will be there in a flash.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a great friend. Hope you have an awesome day and even though you don't feel comfortable with anything big you deserve the best.

Wet but happy!

Well wehave just got in the door from the first soccer game of the season! Now that Kyle has gone up a grade he plays midweek rather than on Saturday which means AAARRRGGGHHHH for me. Tony is disappointed he wont get to see Kyle play any more and it makes my week just that bit more insane.

Lets see - this is a rundown of my week now. Monday - work till 5 then rush home pick Kyle up for soccer training at 5.30. Tuesday - hopefully no work BUT pick Tasha up from school for not 1 but 2 dance lessons before racing home for dinner and then Girls Brigade. Wednesday - work then Kyle's soccer match (sometimes as far as Ulladulla). Thursday - work then at this moment a night at home but that wont last for long! Friday - work - then home for dinner before taking Kyle to youth group. YUCK YUCK YUCK . Is it any wonder I have been feeling so shocking lately?!? I feel like I have hit rock bottom so I guess the only way from here is back up. One step at a time. I will get there eventually - its just hard to see the way out from down here.

Anyway back to the topic.....soccer tonight in the rain FUN. Kyle's team won 4-0 and a very well deserved win they played soooo well. As for Kyle well have you ever seen the movie champions AKA the mighty ducks? Well he reminds me so much of that guy that has so much power but no control or direction of the ball. But he doesnt quite make it to be "bash brother" as he is too polite and doesn't like taking the ball off someone! But he was everywhere on the field running like mad and doing some great clearing kicks. Proud of you mate.

Happy Birthday

Wow how fast have the last 13 years gone! On the 19th of March 1996 Kyle Michael Lucas was born at the ridiculous hour of 1.30am (Sorry Mone - your dinner went very very cold!) so much has happened in the last 13 years but all in all he has grown up into a boy I am very proud of. He is a great support to me and a wonderful big brother.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE

So you made it to 13 - have to admit had my concerns that we wouldn't make it here at times! You are now officially a teenager - that doesnt mean you can act like one!

For your special day I thought I would share 13 things I love about you:

* Your dimples! You are so proud of them and they are adorable

* Those special hugs you give me every morning and the times we sing our special song together

* The love you show for your little sister and how you protect her (on the occasions when you aren't the one picking on her!)

* Those amazing blue eyes

* Your thirst for knowledge and your analytical mind - always enquiring, always striving to learn

* The way you run to the door when I get home from work just to say hi. It really makes coming in that door so special

* Your caring nature and concern for others

* The fact that you are still happy to be silly with your mum and the fun times we have together (watch out for those aliens in the white cars!)

* The way your hand creeps into mine when you are feeling shy or uncomfortable

* Your willingness and happiness to share your things with others

* Your love of books and the special times we can share discussing books we have read

* The fact that you are willing to let others take the glory - you love just being part of a team

* The way you totally immerse yourself in the things you like and how you take notice of the small details.

* Your amazing smile it lights your whole face up and always makes me happy deep inside.

.

ooops I know that is 14 but I just had to add the last one because your smile is amazing!

Hope you have a great birthday my amazing young man. Love you to the moon and back. Love you to infinity.

"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always

As long as I'm living, my son you'll be"

She's away!

Tasha is all excited - her bags are packed (and re-packed when I realised what she had and hadn't packed - who needs a towel and a toothbrush?!? especially when you have 5 shirts!!!)

Year 5 is off to Berry Sport and Rec for three days. They go off on the 18th and back on the 20th which she thinks is so cool as her brothers birthday is the 19th! When Kyle enquired about presents ie would he get one before or after she replied that her being away the entire day WAS his present ~L~

So think of her over the next 3 days. They have a talent quest tomorrow night so she has been madly practising for that!

As for her mum - I haven't been stressing much about her going. no seriously. I guess there is so much going on. I am so wishing I could be in Melbourne right now. Sweetie you know I am thinking of you and your family right now and would be down there in a flash if I could. Love you all heaps!

Woo Hoo - exciting times!

Woo Hoo - I had a great offer this week.

Stting quietly at my desk at work when in walks ........(name withheld for now) - a doctor I had never met before and offers me a job, simply on the recommendation of other medical colleagues, that I have been saying for years would be cool but never thought would actually be do-able. Just sorting out the details and then I can provide more details.

WATCH THIS SPACE. How excitement!!!!

Camping, Canberra, Commuting and Catching up!

Wow what a totally insane but well worth it 24 hours.

Kyle has his first ever camp with youth group Pulse. They camped out in an old hall at Upper Kangaroo River just the other side of Kangaroo Valley. So we drove him up there and dropped him off at 7:30pm on Friday night. YAY quiet time at home! NO WAY. We then got back in the car and I drove to Canberra. Shocking trip driving over the mountain and through the highlands on dusk keeping a look out for roos and wombats (and luckily only seeing those that had already been "intimate" with other peoples cars). We arrived in Canberra about 10 o'clock. Oh and did I mention that the cigarette lighter that I needed for my ipod dock that had been FIXED before we went - well he didn't actually check that it worked! GGGRRRR I hate driving with no music.

Then we got up this morning and made our way to Calvary Hospital to see Aunty Joan. On a strict by-the-book basis Joan is Tony's Aunty in law as she married his mum's brother but realistically she is very dear to us. When ever there has been something major on down here she makes the trip from Canberra to be with us and support us. She is always interested in what we are doing and what is going on and cares so much for all of us. So when we heard she was in hospital after an emergency hip replacement we knew we had to go see her. 1) Just to say hi and check up on how she was going and 2) because we knew if the tables were turned she would be here in a flash. Oh and 3) did i mention just how lovely she is!

We had a great chat this morning. It was good to see her up and out of bed and we sat and chatted for about an hour and a half. It was so lovely to see her smiling and chatting and to catch up on everything. We got to see Lorinda too (Joan's daughter) which we were really happy about as we weren't sure if we would be able to catch up with her.

Then to appease the youngest member of the family we made a slight detour via Fyshwick on the way home to hit the DFO (namely Smiggle) and probably spent more in petrol than the cost of the couple of pens she got but hey now we can say we have been to the new DFO Fyshwick and whilst it doesn't quite match up to Essendon (got to come down again for another shopping trip) it was still great. Tasha is soooo happy she can now say she has been to Smiggle rather than looking on line and Tony got new shoes for work which he needed.

Then drove home - Tony did the trip from Canberra to Marulan before I took over - and this is where I think he had some inside knowledge because it rained the whole way down the mountain and infact just as we hit the valley to go and pick Kyle up the wind hit so hard there were branches coming down all around us.

Picked Kyle up in the pouring rain. He had a great time. They went in the river, played all sorts of games and generally just had fun. Then did the second mountain - yes I drove in the rain again.

Hope wherever you are you had a great weekend and that you are not feeling as exhausted as I am right now. Totally worn out but so glad we went.

Dance - a - thon

Tasha is still loving her dancing - even more so this year as she is doing hip hop AND jazz. Last saturday night her dance studio (Le Pointe) had a fund raiser to support the dance studios who were burnt down in the bushfires. They started off with a movie and popcorn session followed by a 2 hour dance-a-thon. Tash had never done an "a-thon" before and wasn't sure what to expect.

She had a great time! She did take Miss Meryl slightly too literally when she said they were not to stop dancing so she kept dancing - even on the toilet she said her feet and hands kept dancing! ~L~

What a small world

I was blown away today. You know how the world seems a small place and you always seem to run into someone you know or someone who grew up where you did etc etc. Well today I had this bought back to me in a massive way.

I had lunch with my mother today....yes I know we lived in the same house - thats not the coincidence I'm talking about here..... Anyway we were discussing my weekend away and I was explaining the property to her and "scary driveway" and where it was and the view etc when she stopped and said to me "Was that place called Melross?" When I confirmed it was she was amazed. It turns out that years ago when they first came out from England and settled on the Highlands her dad was offered a job as farm manager of that property!! They lived there briefly before Nana decided she really wasn't happy with scary bridge and the creek all the way around the property as she was panicking about being trapped there when the causeway went under in the big rains.

How freaky is that. I was explaining this beautiful place to my mother and it turns out it has family history. We have both spent time there!!!! Oh and then to top it off I ran in to someone I haven't seen for about 15 years and we have plans for a cuppa and catch up tomorrow. They have kids in the same year as Tasha at Illaroo

Well I promised pics from the weekend and had so many that I had to cull them right down. This weekend has been great not just for the totally relaxing atmosphere but also the amazing sharing attitude of these girls. I came away with not only new scrapping techniques and a love of glimmer mist (hhmmm Kim don't know if I should thank you for getting me addicted or not ~L~) but also some great tips for photography and for photoshop. Anyway on to the pics

****ggrrrr blogger is so not playing nicely tonight. It wont set things out the way I want it to. Hope you can still figure it out ****


This first group is just some pics from around the house - including "scary driveway" as it became known.
























group 2 and 3 are some pics of the girls - the obligatory photo shoot. Although 2 of the girls had gone home by then.

Some proof that we did get some scrapping done. I acheived 4 1/2 pages and a mini album so I was pretty happy with that. Love my mini album. Got to thank SJ for introducing me to Teresa Collins papers. Love ya sweetie

Some more pics from around the property- the one through the window is........wait for it........a loo with a view! Yes that is the view from the toilet!

And then I got home to this. Isn't it just gorgeous

WOW

Wooooooo Hooooooo.
What a great weekend. I am majorly tired right now and can't wait to have a nice warm bath and an empty night.

Just had to pop on and say - I am home. I will post pics in a day or two once they are downloaded from camera.

I had an absolute ball. It was a great weekend. Beautiful place, gorgeous views (including the view from the toilet across the paddocks etc), pool, 10 lovely scrapbooking ladies, wine, nice food. It was just a nice, pleasant peaceful weekend with no dramas or upheavals just a lot of laughs (did I mention wine) and chatting and scrapping. Lots of sharing of techniques and stashes! Can you guess I had a good time. Can't wait to do it all again. Thanks girls for letting me join you and for being so welcoming and friendly.