no blogging today

Sunday, such a lazy day.

Lazy day in my house pretty much everyday. ....yaaaawwwn

Rest is not much fun without recreation, need both the R and the R.

Seems the less I do the less I want to do.

Once upon a time , I had 3 kids under 5, a job and hubby that only helped during the hours I was at work. I got everything done...except ironing, had a huge pile, but I gave the pretense of an ironing pile away when the youngest was 2 . I used to fit so much in a day and be up early for the next.

Rheumatoid Arthritis hit when the youngest (now 19) was around 2. Slowly but surely, I gave up work, hanging washing etc , doing what I could do through the pain and still get the kids where they needed to go for school and sport,hubby went back to work so keeping up with the kids was a full time job and somedays it fell to friends to get them here there and everywhere.

I've improved so much from those days, have my mobility back and I am mostly pain free, but I have a lingering cantbebtheredness. The kids have grown and 2 of them have left home and the 3rd soon to leave, so theres not a huge amount to be done anymore.

Its the busyness of it all I miss, people coming, going, doing things. I feel like this year I kind of fell into a timewarp, walking down the up escalator, not going anywhere. So this year I contemplate going back and redoing my nursing training, it's such a huge commitment, I'm not sure about it,it's 18 months hard work. I needed a bomb under me to get me to finish the Real Estate Course, it's no where near as interesting as nursing but can it compete with blogging and facebook???? The washing up, cooking, answering the phone, feeding the dog can't!!!!

28 yrs and counting

28 years ago today I was all aquiver in my bridal attire.

28 years, I'd be out now If I'd knocked him off ...

.
This first photo was taken the first time we went out on our own, we had been out a couple of times with friends. I was 18 in this pic.

Here I am in wedding gown just over a year later. Would you believe it was 42 deg Celsius that day..hottest day in 100yrs back in 1983...in this dress. The dress wasn't meant to be the replica of Princess Anne's dress. From the skirt and train it was, but it was supposed to be a mix of 2 different patterns and should have had short puff sleeve trimmed with the lace and a scoop neck....but the seamstress, my mums friend.......forgot! So I sweltered.But then the guys had suits and ties,so I can't complain too much.

The actual wedding was in a community centre we hired for the night. We had a smorgesboard instead of a formal do. stupidly... we had bombe alaska for dessert........fail. my friend had a gorgeous wedding, all the frills,almost gothic romantic setting, formal dining......but boring as watching paint dry,so we chose to have a party atmosphere and it was. Nobody wanted to go home except for the heat.It was so hot we ran out of beer and soft drink and so the hat went around.

Looking back at the photos today I remembered how much time and planning it took to get that one day organised, and now I hardly ever look at the photos. One thing struck me though is that many of the people there are not with us today, 2 uncles, 2 sisters in law, my mother, all 3 grandparents and several others.

Where has the time gone? work,kids,moving house 15 times and after the kids start school the days and weeks start to run into one another.

It hasn't all been plain sailing,we've had a few rough patches. I'm messy he's not.I'm outgoing ,he's not. We've had illness with RA for me and a 2 yr stint of blindness for him. We have had the kids with surgeries, the usual illnesses and tantrums, broken bones, car accidents and gender changes. We mostly get through it by yelling and then laughing, a cup of tea and good lie down as they say.
This is us in Bali Sept last year. Those orangutans are soooo cute. In 2013 it will be our 30th anniversary and my 50th, planning to go to Bali to celebrate.

If you've go this far down my memory lane, thanks, its nice to reminisce on special days.

Pick me! Pick me!

oooh oooh ooh I won something!

Not sure my family would agree with the Irresistibly Sweet..........oh wait ..it's the blog ,not me !

Thanks HEAPS to Lindylou@the gigglefest.Read Lindy's blog with a Scottish Accent, it's even funnier. Seriously Lindy has a lot on her plate but writes with humour... and a scottish accent:)

The award has a cost which is to tell you 5 guilty pleasures I enjoy and pass the award on to 3 more bloggers.......It would be easier the other way around!

5 guilty pleasures

1..all winter we were trying to use what little wood we had slowly and save electricity...so my guilty pleasure for winter was .....eating, reading,blogging,watching tv all from my bed with the electric blanket on 8.

2...reading a good book from cover to cover in one sitting,only stopping to pee. houswwork smoushwork~

3... I like to play the pokies,even if its only 2 dollars , if I see a poker machine I have to put a dollar in it.

4...writing,blogging and facebook.........i should be doing housework...ahh but housework smoushwork....

5...caramello chocolate.......every now and then I can eat a whole family block of cadburys caramello chocolate.....usually with guilty pleasure #2

I'm passing my award on to these 3. It was so hard to choose.

I. It's nepotism but I'm going to choose my Tdaughter Chloe's blog @tggalaxyguide. 1 because she is gorgeous and brave.2 because it's an interesting blog with things shes learned along the way about transition and it might help others in her situation and just bring awareness.

2. nari @ narislife because I love her sense of humour. Shes very funny .

3.its a tie for 3rd. first is another funny one Ami @ami.mental and one I find inspiring as she has battled not only with a hoarding problem, 2 disabled kids and firbromyalgia but finds...wait....makes time to write an interesting blog confessionsofaclosethoarder

thanks again Lindylou xxx

Wishing You The Very Worst of Luck

May peace break into your home and may thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips! May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had,... forget your home address! PEACE, JOY AND HAPPINESS TO YOU

Out with the old

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I don't usually make new years resolutions as I have a habit of ignoring them by about quarter past midnight. But this year I'll try harder,I'm on the downhill run to 50 and I'd like to be healthier,so my new years resolutions are thus:

Lose weight, which means eating less and moving about more. I'll try for half an hour of solid proper exercise every day,I have no exercise equipment so I'll have to get my lard arse out on the street and ......walk...............sigh.

Eat less crap, no more lollies ,chips and choclolate..or.... dammit .....icecream......well, a treat now and then would be fine....wouldn't it?

My mother died at 61 and her mother before her at 60,I'm hoping for a few more years than that,so I need to get on top of the blood pressure and keep the rheumatoid arthritis from doing any more damage. Humira has stopped the deformities and given me back my mobility,so I have to treasure that and make use of it. I've been in the "sick role" far too long. It's actually hard to get out of than I thought ,not only have I put limitations on myself but other people have too.

2011 will be my year for doing something new.I don't know what just yet, it'll come to me I hope! I'm at that age where my kids don't need me so much and are leaving or left the nest and there aren't any grandkids to fuss over.

When I grew up in the late 60's and 70's girls 'careers" were really only until they married and had kids,and then you worked for extra income,not so much a career,that came in the mid 80's.I only worked part time when the kids were little and then stopped when the arthritis became too painful to continue and I never went back. Motherly,domestic stuff was enough,too much sometimes and even though it was my main focus ,I still forgot stuff through the haze painkillers,like telling my youngest about sex...........(he figured it out)

So this year I need to find something for me.

Suggestions will be pondered upon ...........

could be worse

My fridge blew up! Not with a bang, but a stinky smoking slow burn.

I smelled something plasticcy and hot,I thought the laptop was going to overheat and turned it off,but I could still smell it.

I sniffed my way around the house and pinpointed the laundry,not the dryer,the washing machine or the powerpoints. It seemed stronger around the fridge but I couldn't see anything.Called hubby and he got up and had a look at the top,took the box that was sitting on top off,and smoke billowed. It stank. I can still smell it a few hours later.

On the top of the fridge is an electronic box that overheated, by the look of the bubbling mess it was just about to burst into flame. So it could have been bad,very bad, we have a lot of "stuff" stored next to the fridge and our house is 100yr old wood.Doesn't bear thinking about what would have happened had it been at night while we were sleeping.

It's a huge behemoth of a fridge and we had to get it outside,with every heave and hoe, new wafts of smoke emerged.We finally got it outside where it stands sentinal in the middle of the yard.

it's 35 deg c today, what to do with all the food? I've got two esky's and we'll just have to keep buying ice until we can replace the fridge. Insurance informed me I have a $500 excess...What? it should be $300 (they won't leave me at 0 or 100 as I make claims). They are looking into it. Meanwhile I have to source a fridge and make a list of all the food we lost or will lose due to the heat. it's going to be 37 tomorrow and 40 on sat. The earliest we can get a fridge here is Wednesday...the joys of living in the country.

But it could have been worse we could be sitting in a smouldering pile.

all over bar the shouting

I ...can't ....move....

eaten...tooo ....much....trifle.....

Feels like we have been constantly eating or drinking since Christmas Eve!

Had a lovely day with the kids...........day might be stretching it.

We didn't get up till 10.30 when Gemma arrived, and then Danny wouldn't get up, he'd stayed up all night playing xbox or watching movies- whatever teens do all night. Eventually Gemma irritated him out of slumber and by the time everyone was organised ,showered and cuppatea'd it was midday. We put the food on and opened our pressies .Chloe and Jess arrived after their long ride down and so more swapping of pressies.It's our favourite part of christmas and everyone puts in a lot of thought into the pressies,even more so this year as there hasn't been as much money for everyone ,so everyone really thought hard about what to get each other with limited funds.We bought one big thing each from Bali when we were there,things we could not afford here, and in 2 out of 3,probably could not source here.Danny we gave motocross boots as he has his own bike.Gemma we had made a queen size bedquilt with a handpainting of Marylin Monroe.We had a large portrait of Chloe and Jess painted from a photo, amazing quality and they loved it. When I can get a photo of it,I'll post it here with details of the artist.

We ate, and we ate and we ate.

And drank, well I did, everyone else had to drive later in the day.

It was 31 degrees c ,which was a shock as we've had such mild weather,I put the air con on, but too late most of us were already asleep or sleepy,so wherever you could lay your head was napland.

Around 7 ,they all nicked off. Chloe and Jess had to ride back to the capital ,we weren't sure when it was going to rain. The people on the Hume heeded my request about cigarette butts, but on the Barton Hwy, she got hit by one, she had her visor up.Thank god she didn't flinch or jolt and send the bike into a ditch, she just calmly pulled over and let Jess have a look at it. It gave her a shock, no marks.How frightening, I can't even imagine hurtling through "space' at 100km hour and BANG, hit in the face with something hot. Bad enough bugs but burning embers..ouch!

Gemma pinched my beer and went home to spend some time with her housemates and Danny headed off to the next country town over to visit friends.

now to save for next christmas

Happy New Year :)