Happy Days

November 14, 2009 · Posted in family, friends, gratitude, home · 2 Comments 

My son came home for the weekend last night. He just gave me a hug and said “I love waking up here”. I can’t express how good that feels to me. I miss him so much that I can’t think about it anymore when he is away. When he is here it is a joy. He looks fabulously healthy and makes me laugh with the tales of his adventures.

I wasn’t expecting him until today. His friends piled into the house shortly after he entered last night.  We all talked about how much we love him and I feel incredibly proud of him and the fun he brings to others. I know that were he to live here all the time, we probably wouldn’t be so endeared to one another. Having the house full of music, laughter, gossip and exotic beverages is a pleasure only enjoyed in small doses for me. I feel blessed though with the amount of it I get. I didn’t stay up all night though like last time. I really need to take care of myself at this time of the year so I can get through the rest of the term.

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Home Again

October 22, 2009 · Posted in gratitude, home, travel, work · Comment 

It was beautiful weather at Tamboritha. The creeks were full and flowing with the melted snow. We walked to Thomastown on the first day. The water was freezing, not that I wet more than my feet. It was numbing.

I rode the horses morning and afternoon on Tuesday. We rode through the bush and along the creek on the plains in front of the hut. It was sunny and the air was crisp. They were perfect conditions. I was at the back of the line so I missed a lot of the little thrills experienced by the kids, they certainly shared them that night in the huts in front of the fire. I laughed till tears rolled down my face and my stomach hurt. It still brings a chuckle thinking of some of the reactions of the students to their first horse ride.

The night sky was clear and there was no moon on Monday night giving the stars the best opportunity to show themselves. I felt really lucky to enjoy such a view. The second night the small sliver of a moon and the lightest clouds gave a different view, no less enjoyable.

I am so glad to be back from camp. I’m tired.  I love being home and I missed Darin. It was probably the longest length of time we’ve been apart since we met! My parents are home from their Winter nomading and it was great to see their tanned faces again. Knowing it was possibly my last year 9 camp at Tamboritha, I appreciated the environment and the conditions have never been better.

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Class Clown

July 22, 2009 · Posted in travel, work · Comment 

One of the sights that really made me smile whilst I was away was a group of statues in the front yard of the Bayview Christian College in Portland. They created a wonderful vibe and I am curious to know what that school is like. It’s architecture really captured my imagination. The jester as shown in the photo below would represent a common archetype found in schools. One that ought to be celebrated, yet is often met with exasperation.

jester

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Use the Force

June 21, 2009 · Posted in film, random · Comment 

star-wars-confidence-motivational-han-solo-princess-liea.jpg

I love Star Wars. A while back one of my favourite astrologers Mystic Medusa alerted me to www.icanhasforce.com in this post about Retro Mercury. I enjoyed the picture and found one today to inspire me.

I continually have to work on my self-esteem, damn it all. Why can’t you just get it handled and have it stay handled! If anyone knows how to do that… feel free to give me your secret in the comments.  

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!

March 18, 2009 · Posted in random · Comment 

Just wondering what would happen if I post a blog with an exclamation mark as a title.

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Big Day Out

January 18, 2009 · Posted in blogging, friends, music · 3 Comments 

I was feeling particularly house bound today, and misery was setting in. Sitting in my backyard in the sun, I decided that a little swim in Rhonda’s pool would be no more stressful for me than a bath! So I went for a dip. I can’t say I swam really, but I floated around and felt more alive when I got home from having made the effort! It was good to catch up with her. I feel ripped off my holidays.

I wrote a post last year when Tom was going to BDO. It was a brief rushed thing: ‘What to Wear to Big Day Out’.  I can’t believe how much traffic I’ve had the last couple of weeks to that post. It seems lots of people want to know what to wear. I don’t think I gave it enough consideration! I didn’t realise people went online about such things. Now I know!

My brother Tim has suggested I should attend BDO this year. Neil Young will be there and he is older than me:-) I doubt I will now, unless I win tickets from Undercover, then I’ll force myself.

I’ve done a little rearranging and simplifying of Joh Blogs today, but I’m still not satisfied. Expect more changes.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Facial Hair

November 20, 2008 · Posted in family, random · Comment 

Who needs it? Well interestingly enough there are quite a few men out there who are stuggling with it this Movember. I finally caught up with my brother and was most amused at the lack of growth he was managing. Check out his Movember page if you want to see what I mean. It was a couple of weeks ago though so I’m sure it has improved.

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General Nuisance

November 12, 2008 · Posted in family, food · 1 Comment 

Anyone would think Mercury was retrograding, just in my life, at present.

My mobile phone is away getting repaired and I have this miniature yellow replacement thing. Each time it rings obnoxiously I look around to see who is going to answer their phone and almost miss the call before I realise it’s me. The audio quality is very poor on the thing and I can barely decipher what the caller is trying to say to me. I don’t use my mobile very much and I’m surprised at how much irritation this thing is giving me. I have lost all my contacts and have to look up my laptop to find a number. Unfortunately it has been a long time since I backed it up so I have lost a few numbers altogether.

My laptop has been struggling along for a long time whilst I try to decide between Apple or PC. Now I have to decide because it is barely functioning at all. I have backed all my files up now and just in the nick of time I think. The keyboard has lost so many keys I’ve been forced to get a detachable keyboard to use it. Sometimes it just won’t start. I haven’t worked out the cause yet, but it’s very unreliable right now and tomorrow I’m going to have to seriously attend to this problem.

Last night, since for the first time in a long time, both my children were in town and free for dinner. We decided to meet at the new Thai place in town. When my daughter and I arrived, it was closed for a couple of weeks…. What new business does that? Just a minor irritation really, but what I would expect from a Mercury retrograde.

 We eventually decided on another place and texted Tom who was coming after work. He gave us his order so it would be there when he arrived. The food arrived really quickly and long before he did. We had eaten an entire dish and it had been removed before he arrived. We intended to deny it existed but as usual it was too funny not to tell him. We laughed all evening about what I don’t remember, but we laughed a lot. Probably at ourselves. It was good, I miss them already, but am very pleased with who they are.

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Son’s first VCE Exam

November 1, 2008 · Posted in family, learn, work · 5 Comments 

Tom had his VCE English exam today and we had an amusing (now) start to the day. Whilst the following may seem stressful I can assure you it was all undertaken in a calm, almost amused way.  He hadn’t recalled till this morning, that in a short-sighted move on the last day of school, he’d thrown his school shoes in the bin. It possibly seemed liberating at the time….yet this morning it seemed a little insane as he had to wear full school uniform for his exams.

The first solution was his dad’s and as we’d allowed plenty of time, a stopover there on the way was doable. He returned to the car asking ‘Who only wears brown shoes?’ followed by ‘Would Kmart be open at 8.00am?’ After arriving at Kmart we discovered the answer to that question was no.

My brother lived closest to Kmart and as I had noticed he was home, when we’d driven past on the way to the ex-husband’s house, it was the obvious next choice. When we arrived there, he’d already left. I know how to get into his house though, so we entered, found some black shoes in the lounge room and exchanged them for Tom’s sneakers. As I drove out the driveway I hoped he wouldn’t be needing them today.

After I dropped Tom at school, in good time with everything he needed, I phoned my brother to let him know. No problem. I love my family. When I collected Tom from school he noticed the shoes had plastic spikes on the soles. He’d worn my brothers golf shoes! I have just returned them to his house in case he has golf in the morning.

Let’s hope the next five are less eventful…

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The Week

October 19, 2008 · Posted in gratitude, health · 3 Comments 

I got my test results this week, I ended up having the chest x-ray as well (caved in to pressure from loved ones) and all is good. No diseases whatsoever and lungs are all good too, even with the punishing I have given them. It was a relief. I am really glad now I didn’t take all that medication because I must have just had a virus. I knew I was ok though, because I have felt so much better.

I found out a friend at work is pregnant this week, so that’s exciting. She’s going to be a great mum and has wanted this for a while. I am so delighted for her. It’s her first!

Although I’ve been really busy this week, I’ve read a fair bit. I seem to read the most when I am really busy. It’s weird. I think it’s my favourite way to escape and turn off, so I do it more when I am under pressure.

Yesterday was a great day. We went shopping and lunching in Sorrento and then swam at Flinders. I like Flinders beach because it is less populated. The water was freezing yet again, but I loved it. Wilma and I relived many old memories and thrashed out current issues as we do when we get together. As always, a lot of laughter occurred. Friday night was great to catch up with old friends. When I lived in that area I would spend a lot of time with that circle of friends and some of them I hadn’t seen for 5 years. Too long!

Tom’s car broke down on the way to the beach yesterday though, so we have to go retrieve it this afternoon. He was really lucky one of his friends mum’s rescued him. I love that we have friends like that. I was still in Melbourne and his dad was at work. He had to solve the problem himself.

I am off to Tamboritha this week for a couple of days. I will be horse riding, which I only seem to do once a year on camp. I like it. This year I expect to go on a couple of rides because we have restructured the activities on camp. It’s a beautiful place. I haven’t been there for 2 years due to the fires, floods and road damage. Last year we had to take our year 9s to Blairgowrie, which was easier, but not as good in many ways.

My daughter is going to be home for a few weeks. She’s got teaching rounds and has finished for the year at Uni. I think I need to work there! It’s great timing because I don’t want Tom to be alone while I am on camp and he is studying for his exams. I can’t believe it’s this time already.

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