Our holiday - warning long post!!!!!

Well after getting a little nudge I thought I'd better update my blog with the holiday details!

We drove down via the coast road stopping at Bega and Lakes Entrance. Lakes Entrance wasn't too bad - not too much water but still lots of sandbags everywhere! Apparently the place we were staying had the back rooms flooded earlier in the week but the water had all receeded.
This is taken on the footbridge at Lakes Entrance.
Driving through Barinsdale and Sale there was still lots of puddles in all the paddocks but all the roads were clear.

We then stayed at the Hambrecht's in Keilor (out near Tullamarine airport in Melbourne) and got to catch up with Debby and Dayna and Dayna's boyfriend Garry. Dayna is now Tasha's new best friend because she is a great musician and is currently practising High School Musical for her school performance. So she played the piano and sang all the songs with Tasha!!! Friend for life!!!!!! It was great to have some time with Debby too (Ken was away again - we seem to time our visits for when he's away - Is that a subtle hint? lol )

Tasha, Dayna and Kyle

Melbounre was great. We went to the Zoo, Kyle saw Cook's Cottage and caught a tram! Tasha was tour guide for us at Old Melbourne Gaol but the definite highlight of the trip was catching up with the wonderful SJ and family. I was heartbroken when we had to leave after such a short time but whilst I was there we made our plans to meet up again in October and received a wonderful invite for our family and the Allan's to do christmas together so will have to see what happens there. The kids all got on really well together so that was great.

The Mob!!!!

Then we went onto Ballarat. Talk about cold! Very, very cold. We went to Sovereign Hill which was one of the most expensive places and somewhere I don't think I would go to again. The kids had a ball with all the snow and the winter theme but they weren't really interested in the old town and there wasn't a great deal to see. It cost us $90 to get the family in and then you have to pay extra for each of the activities when you get in - very little is included in the entrance price. Pay extra to try the candle dipping, extra to try the old presses, extra to ride the Cobb and Co coach etc etc etc. But having said that the kids had a ball. Tasha loved the hourly snow fall in main street, they got ride down a snow hill on a ski tube and (of course) had a snowball fight or two.

The kids with Mr Joe King at Sovereign Hill.

Feeling a bit flat now we are home. Can't wait to go back to Melbourne to see SJ. Had a bit of a bad weekend emotion wise.

Just thought I'd make a quick post to say we made it to Melbourne - Tony made me drive through Melbourne up to Ken and Debby's place at Keiler (near Tullamarine Airport). Melbourne drivers have to be the maddest bunch of people ever! Mind you his navigating skills have a lot to be desired too!

Anyway we are having fun - went to the Zoo today - having a day in the city tomorrow to do the markets etc and then out to point cook for lunch with the Allan's on Wednesday before heading out to Ballarat.

Catch up with when we get home

MWAH

Cath

Here's my stash!

Here is a pic of Kay and I - I had to take a pic just to prove it was actually her!!!!! (note the braids - they were just on their way home from Bali when she got the call to come to the craft show)

Just thought I'd share pics of my stash from the craft show! Got almost everything on my list so it was a fairly successful shop!

What a weekend!

Well this weekend has been just amazing!

Jane and I got up nice and early Sat morning to go to the Crafy show at Darling Harbour. We wandered around picking stuff up, putting some back down, buying some etc etc. There was a lot of wool/knitting stalls and quilt and patchwork but there was only about 3 stamp stalls and about the same papercraft/scrapping stalls but Art Stamps were there so I still bought quite a bit!

The big surprise was when wondering around I looked up at one of the stall owners and thought "Gee that person reminds me of Kay". I thought about it a minute and was just about to say something when she looked up and saw me and shouted " Is that really you???" It was a good friend of ours Kay Cooper from Perth!!! She had been called in to do the show at the last minute. So we had a good chat and catch-up and then her daughter Tegan and husband Brian arrived. We haven't seen them for about 6 years so it was great to catch up. I sent Tony a message - he would have been so disappointed not to be there! Tony has been wanting to catch up with them for years.

Anyway with all the chatting and shopping we run out of time to look at the quilts.

We raced over to our hotel, had a quick shower and change and headed of to the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. A musical with Marina Prior, Lisa McCune and Magda Szubanski that was just hilarious. It was excellent. It was only a small cast of about 10 and they had a couple of roles but one of the best shows I have ever seen. Poor Magda - about 2/3 of the way through she missed her cue to come back on stage and then they stopped the show because apparently she was very ill and there was someone standing in the wings with a sign saying "Magda is unwell!" But in true professional fashion after about 15 minute she came back on and finished the show - what a trouper.

We did Paddy's Markets today and I got the hats I wanted for the kids so all-in-all a very successful weekend. Seeing Brian and Kay was a wonderful unexpected surprise to cap it off.

Here are my LO's for the cyber crop on the weekend

Life is busy!

It's been a while since I updated my blog so I thought I'd better do it now before I forget!

This weekend is a busy one - Froggy Todd have a cyber crop this weekend so will have some new stuff to post in a day or two. They have extended the deadline until Monday night which is do much better than trying to cram it all in on the weekend.

The next few weeks are pretty mad too. Worked 3 days this week! Not bad for someone who quit work to take it slowly!!!!! Next weekend is our girls weekend in Sydney. Can't wait. A day at the craft show, dinner out and then we are going to see the 23rd Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (I think thats the name of it) at the Sydney Theatre Company at Woollloomooloo. Should be heaps of fun. Then Paddy's Markets Sunday and home again!

A week after that we are off to Melbourne for a weeks hols. Tony had a week off and there are some friends we wanted to catch up with do we thought we'd take the kids down and do the Zoo etc.

Home for a week and then I'm off to Cedarvale for my 3 night package I got for christmas from work. Not sure how I'll cope being away for 4 days and not being able to even ring home but am looking forward to relaxing and being pampered!

Then home for a nother week and am off to the Scrapping With Soul weekend. Feeling really quite anxious about this. Hopefully it will be a good time.

Anyway I'm off to get some scrapping done for the CC. Will posts pics in a couple of days

Farewell Natalie

Tomorrow is Natalie's last day at Dr Ryan's. Her DH has a transfer up north to Mackay (lucky her!) We had a night out last Saturday with lots of fun and frivolity. Started off at North Nowra Tavern - food was lovely, they have done the bistro up and it looks cool! Then we went to Bomaderry Bowling Club for the variety club rock and roll night which was a bit of a fizzer so we caught the courtesy bus into town and went to the ex-servos. Another shock there! The place was half empty! But we had fun - gave the DJ a list of songs we wanted played and Natalie and I went home with hoarse voices from singing along!

Anyway tomorrow is her last day so I have spent this last week madly scrapping the pics from our night out last weekend. It is all I have done for the last few days but I finally finished. Here is a couple of the pages. I actually completed an 8 x 8 album. What a big job but I really enjoyed it and I can't wait to give it to her tomorrow.

Hope she likes it!

Natalie's Book

Some more layouts for Natalie's book

Some More QUOTES

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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