The end to another year...

Can you believe that 2008 is just a few days away from being over?! How can this possibly be? I remember when I was young, always hearing the 'older' generation always talking about how quickly time passes and remember rolling my eyes in a mocking kind of way thinking, 'how ridiculous'! I guess I have reached that same category as part of the 'older' ones as time literally does just slip away far too quickly, each day, each week, each year. I can't believe it has been two years since we moved up here also! I had a brief vacant moment in the kitchen earlier on thinking that it could only have been one year for sure. I had to think really hard to work out that it is actually two!...anyway, sorry, just went into one a bit there...let me just adjust my crochet blanket over my knees, have a cup of tea and then I shall continue...

Anyway...I really hope that anyone reading this has had a wonderful Xmas. We had a lovely little one, just the four of us. The children woke us up very early Xmas morning and Ian and I were knackered as we had a late night Xmas Eve. We stayed up cooking and preparing! Everything from the turkey, a chocolate yule log, some rocky road, potato salad and the trifle. I had it in my head this year that I would do it all, I wouldn't do the 'easy' thing and get a ready made log etc...I saw the rocky road recipe and just 'had' to make it...it ended up costing me about 5 times the amount as if I'd just bought one...and I'm not even a huge fan of rocky road...Ian still shakes his head about it. Once I get an idea though in this maze inside my head, I have to do it to satisfy my curiosity and my desire to create. Well it all turned out O.K. The log was very time consuming and I'm sure I turned a few hairs greyer after getting the 'roll' right and dealing with chocolate ganache that was melting in the Queensland humidity and wouldn't spread properly...Ian certainly knows the right things to say though when the following day I was feeling a bit kind of 'down' about it not being perfect, and he told me that it was more than perfect because it was made with my love and goodwill and enthusiasm. How beautiful! Just what I needed to hear. Yaz was the 'gift person' this year and handed out all the pressies from under the tree. I remember when they were younger, we had huge mountain fulls under the tree, now the presents seem to be getting smaller...still costing as much, if not more, but it definitely decreased in floor space this year. Yaz got the phone she has so desperately desired for so long, plus some clothes, jewellery, a straightener, wii games etc...Bailey got a wii fit, games, a microscope, clothes, book etc...and as a joint gift they got a wii 'rock band', which I think our neighbours have now realised we have it! Yaz is the drummer, Bailey the guitarist and Ian or I on the vocals. I haven't even had the chance to try the drums ot the guitar yet...mind you I have been pre-occupied with my new singstar game and my Dawn French book...plus other treats. Ian also got a wii game...like the big kid he is...plus a blue tooth for work, cd, dvd's etc...so we were all utterly spoilt....again! As usual we ate WAY too much on the day. Why do we do it? Although I must admit, since Xmas, tonight was the first night that I had to cook as we've been spoilt with all of the left overs! The day itself was fun and relaxing and went very quickly. I spoke to my family twice during the day...I do miss them!...and we finally got hold of Ian's parents in the evening as their Xmas was just beginning. Next year we dearly hope to be over there with them celebrating Xmas. It's been way too long and we miss you all sooo much!

Boxing day we all got up a bit late and then gathered some food together and headed to Nicky and Seans for the day. Again we ate heaps, had a drink or two and played singstar and went for a walk. We didn't get home until around 9.30pm and we were just so full and so tired from two days of non-stop eating rich and junky food, too irrisistable to turn down!

I feel like I've piled it on over this past week so back to the healthy lifestyle I was into before-hand and back to the gym again. Xmas always seems to take it's toll in this way with me, but oh does it feel so good getting here!

So as of tomorrow I head back to work until New Years Eve and do it all again, this time without as much junky food but more alcohol and a few days off work. We are heading to Charmayne and Mike's for New Years Eve so there's no doubt that there will be lots of drinking, singing and dancing. Bring it on!!! I keep saying to Ian that 2009 is going to be our year...I pray that my prediction will be spot-on! In fact I hope that 2009 is everyones year. There seems to be a lot of people that have had a terrible year this year for one reason or

another so I wish everyone only the very best for a happy, healthy and prosperous year and may everyones dreams come true! xxx

Xmas love to you all xxxx

I have yet again left out a week of updating this blog. Life has just been very hectic all round. We have had my brother and nephew up for just over a week. Unfortunately I still had to work so I wasn't around as much as what I had hoped but we still had a great catch-up, especially Yaz, Bailey and Julian. They all got along so great. We took them up to Bribie Island on the weekend and it was so beautiful up there. Shane and Julian loved it too. Unfortunately the airconditioner in my car has gone and we were stuck in stand-still traffic in the hottest part of the day on our way up and it was sooooo boiling hot! We just literally dumped our stuff on the sand and ran into the water. Shane borrowed the car when I had to work so he took Yaz and Bailey down to the lagoon a couple of times and out to lunch one day. Yazmin and Julian also had a day out on their own and went into the city on the train to do some Xmas shopping. On the Friday night Shane and i made some cocktails and enjoyed drinking those, sitting out the back feeling very relaxed indeed.

Just after I had come home from dropping Shane and Julian off at the airport, I got a phone call from Mum with some very sad news. My cousin in England, Robert, had died in his sleep. He was only 38 and had everything going for him in life. Obviously everybody is just devastated and I just can't get my head around it. He now leaves behind his son and soon-to-be fiancee, plus his parents, brother and 2 sisters. It's never a good time for something like this to happen but it's the week before Xmas and his birthday is 31st December too, the day he was going to propose to his girlfriend. It's all just so sad. Xmas will be very different from now on for all of them now. Our love and thoughts go out to my family and Roberts close friends etc...

We are now pretty much prepared for Xmas, just the food shopping to go. It will be a very quiet one this year and hopefully we will get to chat to all of our family either on the day or Xmas night. Xmas is the day that really hits home just how much you miss the people that you love. I coouldn't get Yaz into having a photo with Santa but little Bailey was more than happy to and had a good old chat with the man himself too, letting him know all that he wants for Xmas. He was a very cool Santa too, making him laugh and hi-fiving him etc...

Last night we had a wonderful night around at Mike and Charmaynes, where we had some lovely Indian and a few drinks. Mike's Dad is over from New Z ealand at the moment and he was such a laugh and loved getting up for a bit of a dance, so he kind of started us all off really and by the end of the night, Ian was doing a very convincing Tom Jones impersonation which left us nearly peeing ourselves in hysterics! If only I had a video camera handy! Speaking of cameras, our digital is packing it in for whatever reason and all of the photos I am taking are turning out blurry so I haven't been able to take many lately at all.

Anyway, I guess my head's not really with it at the moment as I have a total blank and have nothing else to say except that we wish all of you a very Merry Xmas. Please keep safe and tell everyone that you share your life with just how much you love them. That's the greatest gift of all...and it's free!

The End!

This week has seen the end to my college at long last. After two and a half years of studying, I am finally free. I had my last two exams this week which was a nightmare having both on but I managed to get through them and now never have to go to college ever again. My time now belongs to my family who have been neglected for such a long time due to me always with my head in the books and never quite 'there' mentally. They have also inspired me and encouraged me when I didn't think I would do well enough etc...so I thank them dearly for helping me achieve my dream! I must admit I never thought I would ever have my own business, let alone help people by working in the health care industry. We went out for a lovely meal last night to celebrate too as I have decided not to go to my graduation in a couple of weeks for a few reasons.

This week Bailey had a 'learning celebration' on at school where the Yr 3 students performed a few poems, songs and then some line dancing. We got to have a look at their work they have done in the last term also so it was great to see how Bailey has been doing. They were all very cute!

I took Yaz and Bailey into the city on Saturday to meet our favourite radio celebrities-Hamish and Andy. They have just brought out a cd for xmas, which we bought before hand for them to sign which Ian will be getting for xmas. We lined up for about 2 hours before we ended up meeting them and it was such a scorcher of a day. We were standing in the full on sun for that length of time in the hottest part of the day so felt very drained and hot afterwards. We did have suncream on but we still got a little burnt. Anyway, it was worth it as we got such a buzz out of meeting them and they personalised Ians cd too. The four of us just love these guys.

Today Bailey and I went to Moreton Island for my work's end of year party. We had such a great day, although have come home quite burnt even though we applied suncream at least 6 times during the whole day. The Queensland sun is just soooo strong and maybe we need to get a better suncream? It's a 30+ but obviously not the right one for our skin types! We just hung out at the island all day playing in the beach and going to the resort pools etc...It was the perfect day too. A long day but a fantastic day. Ian and Yaz could've come also but it was very hard to convince Yaz as she likes to go places where she knows people and there were no girls there her age anyway. If Yaz wasn't going then Ian wasn't so it was just the boy and I. We just love it over there. I am so thankful that we moved up here as we have all of this at our doorstep and it is just paradise!

So that's about it really. The week ended perfectly, my college has ended and we celebrated the end of the working year too. Hard to believe really! Now I can concentrate on doing some Xmas shopping, getting back into the gym...especially since all the good food is just around the corner!, and Shane and Julian are arriving this Wednesday for just over a week and we can't wait. My house will certainly be very full, but full of fun and happiness, the perfect thing just before Xmas!

Short and Sweet

This weeks entry is going to be done in a bit of a hurry as I have two exams this week that I am still studying for and seem to be getting nowhere with. I think my enthusiasm left a long time ago. Still at the end of this week it is all over and I will be free from any outside distractions and you will be free from hearing about my stressing over exams!
Not a lot has happened this week. Yaz got some very pleasing results back from some end of term exams with a couple of A's and a B or two. This Immersion class has been a great experience for her and she is obviously doing very well. I watch her sometimes doing her homework and I can't believe how quickly she is learning it all. We are very proud of her efforts and achievements this year. We are in the middle of trying to organise her to get back into swimming again, competing etc...
Bailey is still plodding along with his gym classes, ten pin bowling and cricket. He had his last game of cricket for the season on Saturday and was a bit off and lacked enthusiasm. You can always tell when it's the end of the year as everyone just gets so tired and uninterested in everything...Until you mention Christmas and then a new excitement comes shining through!
We are looking forward to spending Christmas at home again this year, letting the kiddies enjoy their day with their new presents. Of course it would be nice to spend it with some family but it's not to be this year...
We are trying to also organise going to N.S.W. in January for Mum's 70th. We will probably go down for a week at the most due to work commitments unfortunately! Maybe we'll bring her back with us?
Julian arrives in Sydney tonight so Shane is very excited to be spending some time with his son after a year. They both arrive here in the middle of next week for 10 days so we're all really looking forward to that. Unfortunately Ian and I will have to work the majority of the time but will have the weekends free and the kids will be on holidays to spend time with them.
Shane is also moving into a new place over the coming week so he is going to be very busy.
Ian seems to be getting some more back complaints at the moment which isn't good, hopefully it won't get as bad as it did before where he needed physio. I have given him a massage but if it's the degeneration of a disc problem, there's not a lot I can do. He also received a copy of the English paper, 'The Bath Chronicle' where there was an old photo of him and his old football team in it from 1989 when they won the league. They had a reunion and unfortunately Ian wasn't able to attend being sooooo far away.
After my final exam on Friday we will be putting the Christmas tree up again, it just doesn't seem like a year since it was up! I do always enjoy putting it up though. We put the Christmas cd's on and sing a long...well I do anyway...The kids are excited as the 'Advent' calendars start tomorrow...chocolate for breakfast!
Next Sunday Bailey and I are going across to Moreton Island for my work's Christmas Party. Yaz wasn't that keen on coming so her and Ian will do something else. I'm not exactly sure what we'll be doing on the island, but even if it's just hanging out and watching dolphin feeding and being at the beach is a good enough day for us, plus the boat ride there and back! I'll take my camera to capture our day.
I am now being beckoned off the computer as the family are wanting some fruit and cream and of course need me to do it all! To end off this entry and the title of 'short and sweet', Bailey finally gave in and had his mop hair cut off to a short and sweet style. Very cute and alot cooler for him too.

Affected by the Weather!

I bet you're all thinking that this weeks entry is going to be rivoting with the 'weather' being in the title?! NOT! It's just that alot of what has happened this week has been determined by what the weather has thrown at us. It is 'storm season' here in Queensland and let's just say it has lived up to it's reputation! We have had such wild devastating storms come through over a few days which has caused millions of dollars worth of damage all around. Luckily the area where we are only really copped some extreme rain and wind with some homes losing electricity. Other areas very close by had roofs torn off their houses, trees being up-rooted and blown metres from where they once were and flooding also just to name a few! It all started last Sunday afternoon where Ian, Bailey and I were down at the lagoon. The sky was coming over really black and the wind was picking up and there was an announcement over the speakers saying that a bad storm was just about to hit. We left straight away and not long after we were home it hit. It wasn't until the following day that I saw just how devastating it had been on the news and in the paper. There were mini tornadoes sweeping through some areas and leaving nothing but rubble in it's path afterwards. It hit again on the Tuesday and again on Thursday! There were messages on the radio to ask people to stay off the roads so that the emergency vehicles could get to the areas a.s.a.p. and with Ian driving around all different areas every day he saw some very scary sights and had to put up with lights out here and there and the congested traffic. It made his week difficult to get around. It affected me with lots of cancellations as people either didn't want to venture out or were waiting for things to get fixed, caught in manic traffic or had no electricity! At the beginning of the week I only had 1 or 2 spare appointments all week, practically fully booked... but by the end I couldn't believe how many I missed out on doing! On the Thursday night I was in the middle of a massage and the rain was deafening outside and the lights were flashing on and off and made it a really eerie experience for the client and me! Being a sufferer of headaches too, I had a non-stop headache all week because of the unsettled energy in the air and so did the majority of my clients too. I think some people thought I was slightly strange when I said that maybe their headaches were weather related but I know for me they can be!

I got a message from my brother Shane last night who is in the Blue Mountains and he said it was snowing and like winter!!!!! In November!!!! It's just very bizarre. Strange things are happening!...

Anyway enough about weather...sorry!...



We spent today at the beach up at the Sunshine Coast today. It was beautiful and warm but ever so windy! We were getting whipped by the sand flying around furiously and things were getting blown everywhere. Our blow up boat took off in the wind and Ian had to do his best ironman beach run to capture it before it went out into the ocean! Quite hilarious actually with a few people along the way trying to stop it too! We stayed for a few hours as the water was beautiful and we were having fun. We went up with Nicky, Sean and Victoria and met the Hankins family up there with some of their extended family. We also spent last night with Nicky, Sean and Victoria coming over for dinner and drinks as it was Nicky's birthday during the week so I made her a Coq-au-vin and her favourite dessert-tiramisu. We sat around listening to music from our past and reminiscing about what the songs meant to us and having a laugh along the way also. Bailey had little Alfie over for a sleep over also and they didn't end up getting in to bed until quite late...up early this morning though and then they both snoozed this afternoon coming home from the beach today.



I can't really remember what else happened this week, just work, study...normal stuff. The focus was on the weather and the fierce storms with everyone on edge and not knowing what to expect. Here's hoping for a non-eventful calm week!

To friends reunited and precious memories!

Monday morning Yaz was all packed and ready for her school camping trip to the Sunshine Coast. I dropped her off and probably embarrased her immensely as I hugged her goodbye in front of her entire year but there was no way she was escaping without one and she knew that too! Whilst doing that in the morning, Bailey who was with me also waiting to go to school came down feeling very unwell again after his bout of tonsilitis that he was getting over, so I had to take him home where he spent the day with me and at my work as I had clients that were too late to cancel. He just needed that extra day off I think as he had been ill since the beginning of the previous week. All is fine with him now, he has finished his antibiotics and is back to his normal, jolly, non-stop chattery self!

The week at home was terribly quiet. No phones went and there were no arguments over whose trun it was on the computer etc...so in some ways blissfull but we all missed Yaz heaps. I got out some old photo albums that were still packed up from our interstate move and was looking back on when Yaz was little and when Bailey came along and how close and cuddly they used to be and I found myself getting rather teary, in a happy, reminiscing way. Photos are just irreplacable aren't they?! We have all had a good look at them now and a giggle here and there. Some of you may have seen a few I have put on facebook...oh there are SO many more. It is too time consuming scanning them, downloading them and fighting with internet coverage to do too many anyway. Just a glimpse back to the past is good enough for facebook. After putting up some old school photos, I have now found out from another old friend that one of our best school friends has recently died, quite tragically too, leaving behind four young children. I couldn't believe it! I guess because of the move up here and losing touch with old friends, I wasn't associated with anyone that would have known about it. I phoned my Mum straight away and she hadn't heard either so it has come as a great sad shock to all of us.

I had a weekend away with two friends that I used to work with at the record store 15 years ago. Michelle, who became one of my closest friends and still is, (although distance divides us!), came down from Townsville, and Kylie came up from Sydney, both arriving at the same time at the airport on Friday. It was sooo good to see them. We stayed in an apartment in Brisbane down a trendy pub/restaurant street and had an absolute ball...accompanied by a few drinks too! The first night we strolled around, ate in a funky restaurant and then pub crawled it back to our apartment with many laughs along the way. Saturday we headed via the River Cat ferry into Brisbane where we had a big brekky and checked out Southbank markets and then went into the CBD. We ferried it back to the apartment, got a spot of lunch with a drink to wash it down of course, did face masks, giggled constantly, then headed out again for a pub dinner and more pub crawling, tasting a few cocktails along the way. I haven't laughed soooo much for such a long time. I had to keep reminding myself that I was 36 years old because I felt like I did when we used to do all of that stuff together 15 years ago. It wasn't until the end of each night as we were leaving the pubs that all of the gorgeous, young crowd were coming out for the night...that's where I felt my age...This morning I dropped them off at the airport and there is talk about it all happening again this time next year. I was very pleased to get home though as I really missed my family and thought about them all weekend, texting Ian after a few also!...This was the first real girls weekend that I have had. The only other one was when I was about 16 when a few of us went away camping but that's it so it was nice to do and long over due!

The only downfall about the whole weekend was that I wasn't there to pick Yaz up on Friday afternoon when she returned from her trip away so I didn't get to see her until today so I felt very guilty about that and obviously missed my little mate too. I spoke to her though as soon as she got back to ask her all about it. She had a good time although the food was terrible apparently. They got to do loads of different activities that were mainly beach involved so I think they would have had a great time.

Today we headed down to the lagoon for a cool down as it was so hot and steamy here. A storm has now since come through, hence the weather earlier and has cooled things down a bit thank goodness. Our second Summer season is upon us so it will be interesting to see of we've aclimatized or not...if today was anything to go by then I can honestly say that I haven't and will find the heat very draining. Fingers crossed though! I just feel so sorry for poor Ramses who tries to find somewhere cool to sleep during the day and because the nights are lovely, this is when he wants to go out but we don't let him out at night due to the wildlife factor so he can't win during Summer!

Anyway that was this week....saying goodbay to Yaz, (for a few days), my family, (for my weekend awway), and to a dear school friend. The photos of us I will cherish forever. xxx

Yes, I know...

I know I skipped last week's entry. Sorry. I was in battle with Yaz for the internet line on the Sunday evening when I normally write it. She was on the phone for 50 hours and our internet cuts out when someone's using the phone...very frustrating!!!...so she won and I said I'd do it the following day...which obviously it never happened. I had a full on day at work from 9-3pm, 4.15-5.15pm and then 6.30-9pm. In between all that I had to come home and cook dinner and pick the kids up from school and take Bailey to his gym class!

So now I have to try and remember what on Earth has happened over the last fortnight...and you all know that memory is not my strong point!...

I said my sad goodbyes to my brother Dale and his lovely wife Cass on the 1st Tuesday. It was so great having them up here. They are now hoping to come up around April time, yay!

Bailey went on a school excursion to a Ginger Factory which he thoroughly enjoyed. I knew one of the parents that went on the excursion too and she had never seen Bailey before and she said that as soon as she set eyes on this little boy who was always smiling, she could see that he was my son. She thinks he is the spitting image of me. I am still yet to see that.

We attended two Halloween parties over that 1st weekend. They were both lots of fun and it was a laugh dressing up and seeing everyone elses's costumes too. I must warn you, the
photos that you are about to see,(of Ian), may be disturbing...hilarious, but disturbing!

Doesn't ian look pretty!

You were warned! Somehow I can't see me ever wearing my white summer dress anymore! It's gone in the dressing up box already. The first party was on the actual Halloween night held at the Bapty residence. Among the gouls there we mingled with the Baptys, of course, and the Hankins plus many more. There were witches, dracs, grim reaper, zombies, mummies, skeletons, a black cat plus loads more. Everything that you would expect to see at a hallowwen party obviously! The second party which was half Halloween and half bad-taste,(hence Ian wearing a dress!), was at the O'Callaghan residence where Nicky and Sean went all out in decorating their house with graves, webs, skeletons...you name it! They had the spooky music playing also...and that was after the Halloween cd! Sean put on some tragic music, which made the party fun though and Ian and another guy were in a battle of a 'Name that tune and the Artist'! It was quite funny because they were both so competitive. We stayed there the night and were fed a lovely fry-up the following morning. Then Nicky, Victoria( her daughter and Yaz's great friend), Yaz and I headed down to DFO (discount shopping outlet), where we picked up clothes and bags etc...for the girls who are off tomorrow on a weeks camping trip with the school! They are going up to the Sunshine Coast and will be learning how to surf, do fencing etc...they are going to have a ball! So that's what I am doing today, helping Yaz, who I think may already be packed, make sure she has everything, tick it off the list and spend the day just hanging together. I also have to fit in study time and assignment time plus the rest of the household duties that are in order to be done. Ian is out playing golf as I type. It's been a while since he's played actually! We were all supposed to meet up with a group after and have lunch at the golf club but with everything I have on today I had to decline. Once college is finished...Dec 3rd...then I am free to do whatever, whenever! Can't wait! The graduation is on Dec 20th but I have decided not to go as it is such a rip off. Ian thinks I should go as we get to wear the gowns/hats etc... but I just can't justify what they're asking and it's right before xmas too so there'll be so much else that I'll be doing. Maybe I'll just have a small celebration with the family and some close friends...maybe?...

Bailey has been off ill for the last couple of days. I took him to the Dr. yesterday and he has a very bad case of tonsilitis! He has had a fever and feeling generally unwell but then yesterday as he was trying to eat his breakfast he said that his throat was too painful so I had a look in and 'oh my gosh' was it red and inflamed poor little thing! I phoned the Dr.s straight away and luckily got in. His tonsils are so big that his throat is nearly closed in and they are bright red covered in white spots. He is now on antibiotics which seem to be working very quickly! Poor little mite!

Yaz had a day off last week too with a fever, body aches and headaches but I think hers was due to the fact that she had a HepB and a cervical cancer immunisation the previous day and just had a slight side effect from it. She always has had side effects from immunisations, even as a baby, they had to change it for her as she always got ill then. She was fine by the afternoon though and has been fine since! She's been staying well clear from Bailey though not wanting to catch anything incase she's ill for this school trip!

Well I think I have covered everything that was of importance anyway?! ....hmmmm .....something else is coming to mind.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUMMY L. for 6th November! (don't worry I didn't forget, was saving this 'till last!). Hope you got the cards and by what Tracy has told me you got utterly spoilt and had a great day! GOOD! You deserve it. Our love and thoughts were with you and ofcourse always are.xxxxx