Quote of the day

This weeks quote of the day belongs to Jacob! Don't know that it's terribly inspirational but I thought you might get a chuckle out of it.....

Jacob (aged 9) sitting at the dinner table eating chicken casserole pulls a drumstick out of his dinner and asks "Is this a dog bone?"

Hhhhhmmmm didn't think Tracy's cooking was that bad! ~L~

Grand Tour.......

Well it way overdue and I have been asked when it would happen........
Here it is - the grand tour of my new scrap/office space. When Tracy and Jacob moved in Jacob got my old craft room so we had a wall and door put in at the entrance of our old study and I have a new craft room! So hold on tight..... here we go
First thing as you come into the room is my bookcase (which is storage for work stuff) and my stand which I just adore. The poster on the wall is from my 29th birthday! A group of friends took me out for my last 20-something birthday and we went to see a duo who I also called close friends - Beez Neez! Whilst there we ripped this poster off the wall at Posties Tavern and I got everyone to sign it...
Also on the bookcase is a pile of frames which I need to find somewhere for. These contain photos of people who have been a major part of our lives - even dating back to special high school friends.
Another really special item here is located on the top shelf of my display unit. This is hard to see in the pic but is a "Scrappers Survival Kit" which was the first present I ever received from a gorgeous girl and amazing scrapper who I am so very priviledged to call a totally awesome friend. It holds pride of place and I always like to have it near my scrap space. I know I could never be as talented as this girl but I hope some of her scrap-genious may rub off one day.
Next along is my scrap desk... which used to be our dining table. When we upgraded the dining table I claimed the old one for scrapping. I do need the space cause when I scrap I tend to spread out and create a huge mess! There is room for this table to be pulled out away from the wall so I have plenty of room for scrapping with a friend (welcome anytime). The other thing I can't survive without is my ipod dock. This was a present from Tony and the kids last birthday. I love my music and just HAVE to have music playing when I scrap.

This was my big concession to space. My office space has shrunk a lot! I have gone from a big desk to this little computer table but it is up next to my craft desk so I can spread work out if I need to. Notice my poor old computer. A couple of keys missing, worn out mouse pad.... She really does need to retire but I cant see that happening soon so instead on the pull out drawer is an external keyboard and you can see the wireless mouse. Poor old girl.

The wall above this computer is bare at the moment but I have plans to put a number of photos up here by an amazing photographer @ www.disenchantedphotography.com. I know I could be slightly biased because I know this guy but the emotions and stories you get in his photos are just awe-inspiring. You can't really see it that well but the pic on my desktop is one of his. He is just so talented. Tony and I both have strong favourites from his portfolios that we want to make a feature of.

Okay moving around the room now. My wonderful big window which lets in heaps of light ( when its not overcast like today) and also allows a nice breeze through.... although I really could do without the neighbours dog which sits and barks at my window all day. GGGRRrrrr

Then on the next wall is all my storage. Tony got me cupboards with doors as I am not the neatest or tidiest perosn around and I have old chest of drawers with all my paperwork etc in them.

The doors of my cupboards are covered in cards and notes I have received from friends over the years. Any card I get from my friends goes up here. Then on those days when I feel so flat or so alone ( which do seem to be coming around a lot lately) I just sit and read and am so glad for the support that I get from my friends. I seriously do not think I could have got through the tough times without my friends and when I am having a bad day I really need that reassurance that there is someone who cares about me.

To Sandra, Cass and Jane - you girls are my angels. Love you. MWAH

Then finally - my storage unit which I saw and just had to have. I love all the different pigeon holes. This is the thing I want to work on the most. It does need a massive organisational overhaul but as the budget has nothing left for more baskets or storage boxes I guess it will have to wait.

Well thats it guys. Hope you enjoyed the grand tour. sorry it took me so long.

Mum's 70th Birthday

Saturday night we took Mum out to The Butterfactory for dinner.

When Mum was diagnosed with cancer she said that if she made it to 70 it would be a big celebration. So even though she didnt have a big party we wanted to do something special. so we went out for a lovely dinner. Tasha wanted to get Nana some balloons - after all it's not a party without balloons. Do you think she got enough? For Mum's birthday I made her up an album with photos from when she was baby, detailing all the major events in her life. I was quite happy with it and she loved it.

This is my favourite pic from the night. My kids and their Nana. Both of them adore Nana and they cherish the time they get to spend with her.

Scrapping

After some prompting from an amazing friend of mine who means so much to me - yes I agree "You're my person", here is some of my latest scrapping.

Nothing to fancy or even particularly remarkable - I think when I moved my craft room I packed up my inspiration and any scrap skill I had...... just need to find which box I put it in! Keep unpacking and moving things around hoping to find it tucked away somewhere but just don't know where it is - hope it didn't get sent to the tip with all the other stuff.............

Quote of the day!

A good friend will always be there to bail you out of jail.........

A true friend will be sitting right beside you saying "Wow, that was fun!"

Catchups and clean ups!

What an exhausting few days! Firstly on Saturday I got to spend some time with some amazing people. These girls always remind me to laugh, they inspire me, they push me to keep going and above all - they never let me give up on myself. They are always there in the tough times and have prayed with me through some of the major things in my life. This is a small portion of the SoF girls - we are all NSW girls and meet up occasionally for a scrap day and chat session!
Unfortunately Tracey wasn't well so we didn't get to spend a great deal of time with Tracey and Marion but it was lovely to see them for the short period of time we did. Then on Monday mum decided my garden needed an overhaul. So we turned my front garden from this

to this!

sustaining an injury or two along the way! you know how in the cartoons they step on a rake and it comes up and hits them? Well that was me - except it was a hoe and it hit me full pelt in the stomach - totally winding me and leaving a lovely welt and bruise. OUCH!

I had to add this pic....... not one I thought I would ever see. Tony and my mother working together in a garden!! ( I should note that we needed a boys muscles and after doing this job he did retreat back inside)

Girls Night!

What a night - got to say there are some major advantages to having another girl in the house!

Last night it was just Tracy and I at home. (Jacob was at his dad's and my kids have gone to Nana and Papa John's). We had a wonderful time.

We had Indian takeaway...(Yes Cass I did the trendy thing~L~) which we ate in front of the TV with a glass of red wine and some chick flicks. We sat and chatted, laughed and had a nice relaxing night. Oh and finished it off with Weis Mango Icecream. YUM YUM.

It was just exactly what I needed and something we will have to do each school holidays. Bring on the Christmas Holidays I say ~L~

mini plaits, mud pies and retail therapy

Well these school holidays have certainly been interesting. Tasha and I sat down one night and had a nice chat whilst I plaited her hair in lots of little plaits for her. Didnt work out too well as she went swimming the next day so that killed the curls!We had another busy house over the weekend as per usual. Apart from our regular 6 on Friday night Tasha had a friend (Tegan) to stay overnight then on saturday another friend came for a sleepover (another Tegan) so for a while we had three girls in the house. They had fun - watched little rascals on TV, played in the backyard, chatted to Haylee who happened to walk past (yes she is on the other side of the fence - really) and looked after themselves in the kitchen.Then things changed. So much for sedate, quite girls, They found a mud patch and the massive mudfight was on! they laughed, they squealed, they ran like mad and had an absolute ball. Mind you I did refuse to let them in the house until I hosed them all down!Then on Sunday Tasha, Tegan and I went up to Shellharbour to do some shopping. We had lunch, shopped and shopped as you can see by all Tasha's bags she spent her birthday money and finished the day with icecream! Then we went to the King's place where the girls sat and played mouse trap with Callum whilst Cass and I sat and had chat and coffee. It was lovely to sit and chat in her totally awesome new scrap room. So exciting and so wonderfully organised. I am so in awe of this girls organisational skills and came home full of inspiration to get my craft room sorted out - just got to find the time and the budget. Hhhhhmmmmm.

Okay so whats up this week? Work, work and more work. I do have tomorrow (Tues) morning off so the kids and I are heading off to the early bird screening at the movies. Then Saturday I am going up to Lou's for a craft day which I am really looking forward to. Have no idea when I will pack or even figure out what I am doing.

So what are your plans for this week?

Another one done

Wooo hooo it's Friday again! This one seemed to take an awful long time to get here. I guess partly because the kids are on holidays and I am aware of how little time I get to spend with them (infact my work hours jump dramatically in school holidays) but also because as just mentioned I have worked every day this week.... don't get me wrong - I love my job. It is always fun to go to and the girls I work with are great....... it would just be nice to be with the family too. But we can't have it both ways so I just long for my Fridays! (Although I will be working tomorrow so I guess it's not technically the end of my week!)

Hhhhmmm I wonder if you went back over my posts just how many mention happiness related to Fridays. (probably more than I want to know ~L~)

On top of work this week has been a stressful one generally - not for any one reason but just lots of little ones iykwim. I guess my biggest thing I have been thinking of this week is just how grateful I am for my friends and the fact that I have three amazing people who I know are there for me always and any time. Love you guys so much MWAH

RIP

*SIGH* Its time to say goodbye........

My poor laptop has been hanging on by a very thin thread to life. For those of you who have met her she is an old thing. Very big and heavy and showing her age quite strongly. For some time she has been missing her ' or " key and recently she lost her f key as well. (which for typing my letters that involve a lot of left femoral bones or rotator cuff tears can be annoying)

I think it is time for her to retire and be replaced by a younger, newer model.

Farewell faithful machine (not easy to type with a dodgy f key) you have done well. Thankyou for all your assistance over the last quite a number of years and for your company on family holidays etc.

RIP

Hmmmm now got to go find a decent laptop, with a large memory at an amazing price - then copy everything across!!!!! May the adventures begin...................

Big day out!

No not THE big day out but OUR big day out.......

and wow was it a big one! After catching a glimpse of the egypt exhibition at the Australian museum with school Kyle was eager to see the whole exhibit. So we got up nice and early saturday morning and drove to Sydney.

First Tony and Kyle dropped Tasha and I off at Canterbury to go to the papercrafts festival where we had a lovely girls time and the boys headed off to the city to go to the museum. Tasha and I looked and shopped and played in the kids workshop!!! We had a lovely time just walking around chatting. a real girls day ..... well half day.

Early afternoon we hopped on a train and headed into the city to catch up with the boys. Then we all wandered through Pitt St Mall together bought gelato YUM YUM and then headed home stopping via Wollongong for dinner.

MMMM dinner - what a perfect place for us. We went to the new buffet place at Master Builders Club. Lets see.... octopus for Kyle, duck for both boys, lots of seafood, banana fritters for me, strawberries and heaps of fruit for Tasha. AND it all tasted nice and fresh which isnt always the case with a buffet.

All in all a lovely...albeit tiring.... day.

blog diet lifted

After being asked if my blog was on a diet I thought maybe I should sit down and update properly *oooops* Break out the tim tams cause here we go!

Hhhhhmmm where do I start.


Okay firstly we have had builders and plasterers in to build a couple of walls for us and we now have Tracy and Jacob Thompson living here with us. We built a wall across the entrance of the rumpus room and now Tracy has that room as her bedroom. We built a wall across the entrance of our office and that has become my office/craft room and Jacob has my old craft room. We have now had them with us for two weeks and things are settling in well.
In the middle of all the renovations, painting, moving etc Tasha decided to do some work of her own and built a little place for herself outside. No roughing it for our Tash - not only is it filled with cushions and pillows but she set up a TV as well!
Next in our busy schedule was Kyle's soccer presentation. This year has been a different one for us with Kyle going up to youth league and playing mid week instead of weekends but he has loved it. He has had a tremendously encouraging coach and has really enjoyed playing.

After presentation we headed out to Huskisson for a picnic lunch and yes the kids went swimming even though it was freezing cold (and even rained at one stage). It was a fun afternoon and the kids had a ball - riding down sand dunes on boggie boards and having sand fights!Then this past weekend Tony and I flew down to Melbourne for a wonderfully social weekend. We drove up to Sydney on Friday night and stayed at Formula 1 motel before getting up at 5am (yuck) to be at the airport to fly down to Avalon. Saw some familiar sights looking out the plane window on the way down!
Thne we picked up our hire car and drove into Point Cook to catch up with the wonderful Allan family who once again just totally absorbed us into their house. It is always a wonderful place to go as it is seriously my home away from home - a place where I just feel I belong! The worst thing was the fact that we only had about 4 hours before we had to head off. Oh once again I forgot to pull out the camera so there fore had to make my own family pic for you! Hehe

Then we headed up to our motel so Tony could have a nap before going out (Sssshhh don't tell anyone but we were in Melbourne for the grand final and Tony slept through it!) I sat and watched it by myself - it is such a confusing game - are there any rules????

Anyway then we went on to the reason we were down there. We recevied an invite from Dayna for a surprise party for Ken and Debby as they were both celebrating their 50th birthdays this year. Tony and Ken have been friends for years - they actually shared a flat together back when they were teenagers and were really close for a long time. We haven't seen as much of Ken as we used to as he doesn't come up to Nowra regularly like he once did.It was lovely to catch up with them (and to actually see Ken as we had missed him the last few times we had been down) and they were thrilled we had travelled down for their party. They got a big surprise and I must say Dayna had done an amazing job of organising this and keeping it a secret. There were about 30 - 40 people there and it was a really nice evening.

Then sunday we were in Melbourne so what did we do? Of course we went shopping. First we went into the Markets and then I took Tony out to the DFO at Essendon. Had lots of fun - did lots of window shopping and did come home with a handbag and a new shirt!

Then sunday night we went back out to Keilor for dinner with Ken and Debby. It was great to sit and chat as we didnt have much chance at the party to catch up. so we spent about 4 -5 hours chatting and had a lovely dinner with them. Oh I must mention Ken's pride and joy - his massive watertank. We had a guided tour! (well not literally - we couldnt climb down into it because it was full!)

Then Monday we flew home - flight delayed due to wind in Sydney and then rain on the trip home made it a long trip home but we made it. Have to say thanks to the Combers for having the kids for the weekend.

.

So thats about it - I think we're up to date now - oh no wait. forgot the big news. I have to say a massive congrats to my big bro who has a new job and is moving out to Tamworth with his family to oversee approx 60 offices. Wonderful news - hope things go well with the house search etc.

Hehe - see people shouldn't complain about blog diets - it only leads to gorging and over-indulging!

We're home

Well it was a long busy weekend followed by a long trip home today.

Had a great time catching up with friends and spending time with special people. Oh and shopping!

Quick update

I know I should sit and update properly but to be quite honest I don't think I have enough brain power to do so - instead her is a quick overview:

TODAY

Outside my window ... Dark (night time). If I could see it would be a fence - My new office/craft room looks straight onto our side fence! HHHHmmmmm need someone to come paint a mural or a smilie face - any takers?

I am thinking .... not much really!

I am thankful for .... my friends who are always there to support me

From the kitchen ... well it was a few hours ago but we had a chicken and pasta cooked in yummy spinach ricotta sauce (thanks SJ for introducing me to this) and cooked by Kyle

I am wearing .. . Jeans, shirt, bare feet hehehe seesm like uniform - (see Miss Jane I have more than 1 uniform)

I am creating ... yeah right! Funny funny.

I am going ... Woo hoo to Melbourne in 5 sleeps. YYYYAAAAYYYY

I am reading ... Just finished a Lee Child book. Think I am going to pick up Piercing the Darkness next

I am hoping ... that my health will settle down. that my head will stop spinning. Stop the world I want to get off!!!!!!!!

I am hearing ... the TV is on in the lounge room - think its the emmy's but not really taking any notice

Around the house ... there are still a few piles of things and boxes to sort. but I'm getting there

One of my favourite things ... mmmmmmm coffee

A few plans for the rest of the week ... work, work and more work! Oh and unpacking and culling and then head down to Melbourne!

Photo of the day... Nope sorry.


I have so much to update. Lets see if I can do it in quick point form

* Had an amazingly excellent weekend with Cass - introduced her to DFAI, had yummy Indian dinner, chatted, scrapped. Felt refreshed
* Tracy and Jacob have moved in and seem to be settling in okay
* In case I haven't mentioned it (he he) Tony and I are heading to Melbourne this weekend. 5 sleeps sweetie!
* I have been feeling really slack in keeping up with everyone .
and most importantly
* I am sooooooo very grateful for my special friends. To Jane and Cass you guys have no idea how much your messages mean to me and I am so glad you are both part of my life. Thanks for your support and friendship.

I know I said this before but will do this properly at some stage - but for a quick update I think I did pretty good!

Phew

I know, I know I have been slack with my updating (thanks for the nudge)

Have heaps to update but am feeling so totally exhausted at the moment - been working long hours and then up till midnight moving furniture and packing boxes - then waking up at 5am to start again. Then with a mixture of the paint smell and tiredness and funny weather I got slammed with a migraine on Tuesday evening. Kind of scary driving to pick Tash up when all I could see in front of me was dots - came home found some Ergodryl and a dark spot!

Anyway the house is getting there now - hope to have 1 day off work next week so try and feel human again. will update when I can think!!! Brain officially switched off and feels like totally overloaded and ready for meltdown.

Pressies

Woohoo the postman came in this morning (Got to love my postie - he brings the mail in and leaves it on my kitchen bench for me!) and there was an exciting little box with my name on it.

When I saw who it was from I must admit I was intrigued! Woo hoo lets get the party started! In preparation for this weekend Cass sent us down some choccies! MMmmmmm choccy snakes and clinkers. Just what is needed for a weekend with two crazies oops I meant totally sane girls!

Hehe - thanks Cass

Girls Weekend in sydney

Wow what a great weekend. Came home feeling totally exhausted and I think my feet may take a week to recover but it was worth it.

We left Nowra about 7:15 and drove to Sydney - it was amazing but as we arrvied at the motel to check in and there were the girls who had arrived from the Central Coast - we had turned up at the check in desk at the same time! How cool was that.

We checked in and wow - talk about service. The place is full of nice boys! One gets your bags out of the car, another takes your car. We get up to our room after being walked to the elevator and our bags are carried in and coats hung up for us. What a beautiful room. Definately going to be impossible to go back to the Ibis again!

We walked through the Botanical Gardens - at one point there were 1000's of bats - wherever you looked up in the trees they were covered by them. It was so awesome (although I must say that male tourists are real wuzz's - talk about acting like a big baby!) The gardens were lovely and we strolled through and around and just chatted as we walked.Then we got to the Art Gallery of NSW where we got our culture for the weekend! Well not really. I don't think Jane will let us go there again *insert blushing face here* Its just that there were so many kids books and they had lots of fun things to do. So we did laugh a little, okay maybe a lot *ooops*Then we wandered through Hyde Park and, of course, Jane and Kath had to stop in front of the buskers for a quick dance, oh and Kath tried to prove she could keep a man in the palm of her hand!!Then we shopped and shopped - we checked out the lovely flowers outside the QVB and had icecream! Mmmmmmm gelato!

We walked through Martin Place and checked out the studio that Mel and Kochie sit in for Sunrise. But as for being starstruck - No - all Kath was worried about was the fact that the floor was so messy. Did they not have cleaners??

Then back to our motel rooms. These pics are taken from the gorgeous Juliet balcony's in our rooms. If you get the chance you must definately pay a visit to The Sir Stamford at Circular Quay. It really is gorgeous.Jane and I went for a wander, walked down the steepest, really uneven steps we could find! And so within a couple of hundred metres of our motel was this gorgeous view. I think you could probably see this from certain rooms in the motel.Then back to our rooms to shower, change and get ready for going out. We had some more laughs, chats and some bubbly - what else do you need for a girls weekend?For dinner we headed around to the Rocks and went to the Lowenbrau. My first meal at a german restaurant! I had a gorgeous seafood platter which was so lovely whilst Kath went for the traditional Sauerkraut, german sausage and mash. We had home baked pretzels. Oh and I think it all began when they bought out the Schnapps on a stick!!!!

We then went onto the Orient Hotel for a night of singing and dancing. All in all it was a great fun weekend with great company, lots of laughs and heaps of fun.

Monday madness

Just a short post - I survived the girls weekend (just) - had an amazing time - will sort out pics in the next day or two.

In other news Tracy and Jacob are definately moving in with us ASAP. Urgently need to find someone to come and build two walls - sounds simple - NOT!

Will post with more details later.

September is friendship month

Well I feel like I have been run over by a truck. Over the last week I have culled, thrown out and packed more boxes than I ever want to see again. Feeling totally exhausted now.
Hope I can drench up some energy because this weekend is the beginning of my mega friend month!

Yay this weekend I head off to catch up with these very special ladies for some serious gal time!
Beware Sydney - here we come!
Then the weekend after is my special girls retreat with this special gal. This weekend will just be a quiet one some serious girl time. Just to sit, chat, laugh and catch up and rejuvenate. Cant wait to have some proper chat time!And then we found out yesterday we may be heading down to Melbourne at the end of the month. So I may get to meet up with this special gal - probably just a lunch date or even a cuppa but I am sooooo excited about that prospect!

So that is my plan for September. Woo hoo bring it on. Just got to dig up that energy - oh and keep sorting and packing. HHHHmmm not looking forward to that bit. Need a builder too - anyone know a chippy who is looking for a small job and is available now! ~L~ Dont like our chances.

Happy Birthday Tash!

Wow my baby turns 11 today. How did that happen!?!

She has suddenly grown up too. Not only is she looking older but her behaviour and attitude is maturing as well. I love the person I can see that she is turning into. I'm not saying that life is all sweetness and happiness (she does act like she is already a teenager) but she is growing up into a lovely young lady.

We have had a great weekend - will update later - but I just wanted to say

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS TASH