When the world gives you lemons.....

MAKE A FACE!!!!!

If you had a day worthy of pulling faces like this.... I hope tomorrow is better!!

xxxx

there is news and then there is NEWS!!!!

Okay... okay, So i have gotten the hint from all the emails that i have been sent, trying to worm my secret out of me... guessing everything from us moving to new south wales through to my being pregnant and almost everything imaginable in between... From all the emails I have received, i think its safe to say that you all wanna know what my secret is right?You do know though, that not one of you guessed even close... right!?

This is what the secret is NOT:
Twins (if i am, its a surprise to me too!)
a baby
a new puppy
a new job
a new pet
a new car (keep your ear to the ground... i believe that this may be news for a few months time! ;-) )
No, Im not on a design team
Um... Im ALREADY Married (hi.. meet MATT... errrrmmm... my husband!!??!)
no, im not getting divorced.. (i cant even imagine how this could be GOOD EXCITING NEWS)
moving to New South Wales
Moving over seas (oh what a wonderful surprise that would be!)
bringing out my own scrap range (noice, but no.. ~L~)


SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO................................
Here it is!!!

The big news...

My secret that I have almost busted to tell you all...


Today officially, we became the proud owners of one very obscene debt, will tomorrow sign on the dotted line to start building our very own home!

Del, darlin, you probably guessed the closest, though, not moving as far as you had hoped. Sorry doll.. we are not moving to NSW... though we are moving!

We have a block of land, which is only 1km from right where I am sitting writing this post...
The kids will not have to move schools and will even still be able to walk to get there..

Now the exciting stuff starts... the contracts... the colour selection... the slab... the framing... the building... the moving in!!!

While we have opted to do some of the things ourselves, like the flooring and landscaping, we have loads of deciding to do.... those of you who have built will know all about those choices... i am sure...
Matt and I visited the tile sales place today and my god... where do we start!? I was so overwhelemed i just wanted to cry! ~L~
Tomorrow we are going to go to Boral and choose our bricks.. then go play with paint samples and then hopefully the tiles and flooring will just fall right into place!

There you have it!!!
To all those that were excited to think they had one last chance at becoming surrogate aunties and uncles or neighbours, we are sorry to dissapoint!

All but done and dusted....

Well... I think it is safe to say that I am now all but done and dusted with Uni... I am at the tail end now... all there is left to do is one little assignment, a quick little paper and a three hour in workplace assessment with an assessor from the University...

It seems like forever since I started on this journey, many times along the way, unsure of the path and where the light at the end was actually situated... though I'm pleased to say that I found the light, and am teetering on the edge of the paths finish line and it could not be better. It is such a great feeling of accomplishment and purpose... and pride.

Accomplishment that I am close to qualified and have finished my first lot of study in 17 years.
Purpose because I can once again help with the bread winning...
and Pride for being as old as I am in a class room with students as young as 17, and for getting marked with what have been some of the highest scores that the School of health Sciences have ever seen in this specific course!!!
An average of 99.8% over the entire course so far!! Pretty damn good I reckon!

Now that I have come to the end of one path, there is another that we are standing at the start of... much excitement and stress is ahead of us... though it is the start of something HUGE!!


Have I got you wondering!?


Soon enough I will spill the beans... but for now, I am keeping it under wraps just a little longer!
Of course, my best friend knows.... how could I not share news like this with her!?

______________________________________________________
PS: Been scrapping. Will post later what I have been up to!

Has it really been that long!?

Man, this year is just flying by and I tend to find myself, clawing at the sides, just trying to hold on.
Is it just that I am getting older, that I am noticing that there really is not enough time in the day, that the year is buzzing by, that thinking how far the year has come so far makes me tired?

We wont go into the aches, the - once I'm on the floor, who is gonna help me up, the not making it much past 8pm before I start to concider bed.. Because, if I was to mention any of that, I'm sure there would be someone out there that would confirm my fears... That I AM getting old.

I really don't believe though that it has been 2 months since I made an entry here.. I just wont believe that I could have been so busy that I could not wish my Mum, Marilyn & Cath, as well as all the other mums out there ... a happy mothers day.

I wont believe that I neglected to share with you my baby girl's 8th birthday at Melbourne Zoo and pictures of the gorgeous cupcakes that I somehow managed to pull together the night before the party - and after an 11 hour shift, no less..

I wont believe that I forgot to send my mum a happy birthday message here, didn't share with you the photos of the many beautiful things that we have discovered with Matts new camera, that I didn't stop by to shout out a hello.. remember me!? message.

Because... if I do believe.. It will be true... and that proves that I am just hanging on & time really will never be available in 28 hour days..

Ho hum.. there is no harm in dreaming.. right!? Imagine what we could all do with an extra 4 hours! Lately though, I think I would have been wasteful with mine, squandering it away on sleeeeeeeeep.
Since 28 hours is really only ever going to be a dream, I should shout from the rooftop that its a good thing that my Last assignment is finished, that I only have one week of Uni and several exams (in that week) left and I AM DONE!

Yippeee.. Am I excited?
Hell YES!

I can't wait. I am hoping that in that all being put behind me, I shall not be on the constant quest to cram so much into the little time that I have found that I have these days.. And that I will finally be able to do more of what I have spent this morning - my day off, doing!!!

Lookie... I have been playing!! ;-)

happy Birthday

To the little BIG girl that has changed my whole existance... my perspective of life and filled the rest of my heart... Happy 8th birthday Angel.

Easter came Early...

For one little lucky duck.

B2 got a call this afternoon asking to speak with Mea. When she asked who it was, she was told that Mea had won first prize in the Local Shopping centre colouring competition. At first B2 thought it was a joke as we had seen some of the entries on the wall only yesterday and were sure that the ones that were obviously adult assisted would win.. that is normally the way, right?

Well this time, it appears that the theory was wrong.. as our little munchkins brightly coloured cadbury bunny and easter chick (in the photo) caught the attention of the judges and a prize of $120 worth of cadbury eggs and a stuffed cadbury easter bunny were all hers!!


She was as proud as punch as this picture easily depicts. She had centre management there when the customer service desk handed over her washing basket full of eggs... taking pictures that would be used in the shopping centre media and would also appear in the local newspaper.

I took George along (my little pocket rocket - camera), I know its not 30D though he does the job as far as I am concerned.. I handed him to Matt so that he could snap a few photos that we could scrap. The manager saw this photo that Matt took and asked weather they could use that instead of the shots they took of Mea, as part of their advertising. How cool was that!!!? Matts pic will also be the one they put in the paper.

It gets better... he has also been told that they will contact him closer to the opening of stage 2 of the shopping centre to be their official photographer!!!
Just think... that was all through a photo taken with George.. I wonder what opportunities could have risen if he had his "baby" back!? ~laughs~

Easter will be rather well sugar-coated here... sickly sweet with gooey caramel creme eggs (insert droolin' here), peppermint creme filled, caramello eggs and all the other wonders from cadbury, not to mention the eggs (very few) that the easter bunny will be delivering tonight. I had told the kids that this year, they would not be having much chocolate and instead, would be given gifts.. So much for that, huh!? ~laughs~ I guess they get the best of both this year!

I hope the easter bunny is good to y'all... Happy easter... Stay safe!

His flag flies half mast...

There is nothing that I can say, that Matt has not said on his blog this morning... so perhaps I will just copy and paste...

It is a sad day for my love... and I have to say, it makes me so sad to see him sooo sad.

“RIP 30D”
© Matt Allan

"I woke up this morning at around 5am and headed out with my trusty kit bag to take some photos of the sunrise. I’ve done this countless times before but this morning… well this morning has left me shattered.

I was in my own world merrily setting up by the waters edge, doing everything the way I had done on so many other occasions… just waiting for the light to give me my first shot of the beautiful morning colours when this punk walked up behind me with his fishing pole and tackle box in hand and scared the absolute shit out of me!

As a result, I turned… tripped on my tripod… fell on my ass and then much to my horror, watched as my tripod and camera tumbled ever so slowly and peacefully into the water lapping up onto the shore.

All the fisherman could do was chuckle as he continued his way along the beach, all I could do was weep with my old friend in my lap as I watched the lights go out forever.

So this is the last image that will ever come from my beloved Canon 30D. She has been a faithful companion over the years and I will miss her.

As a result, I have reducing EVERYTHING in my online store by 10% as I am now trying to bridge the gap between insurance and a replacement companion… a small comfort but I am sure this is what my trusty 30D would want me to do."

So... there you have it... There are some ass-holes out there. I know, perhaps the guy did not mean it to cause damage, though the least that he could have done was stop to see if Matt was okay. This guys does not realize what he has done... honestly.. who does something like that, in the dark when people obviously are not expecting it? He does not realize how lucky he is, for if it was me, I would have hunted the bastard down and given him a piece of my mind.. if not a good smack in the mouth as well.

As Matt has said, there is a gap in what our insurance will cover... a gap that is substantial enough for a family of 5 not to be able to financially cover... I know i am bias, as i should be, though when i say that he is a remarkable photographer, i am being modest. He has an online store, which he has placed many of his works, in different formats, for sale. He has reduced the prices of everything there in a hope that he will be able to bridge some of the gap with the profit made (which really, is not marked up much at all as it was).


We are hoping that a friend of his will assist by loaning out a spare camera so that he can keep his booking schedule. If you are a Melbourne local, looking for an awesome photographer for wedding or family photos, or a portfolio that you will honestly love.. please, drop him an email. He would love to be able to give you a quote.

As they say, the best advertisement is that of word of mouth, pass the word .. hopefully he will not be in mourning long.

xxxxx

sunday surfing + inspiration = something to blog!

For the first time in I would hate to think, I had time, just to me today. I had music playing, cinnamon and apple (smells like warm wintery goodness - yum) candles burning and decided that while the house was relatively quiet and Matt was content to potter in the garden for a while, i would just surf the net, stumble upon some new unfamiliar blogs and just see where the day took me...

For a while I was feeling really disheartened... thinking; "for the love of god, when I don't have time, I tend to find these AMAZING blogs" and while I do bookmark them, never seem to get back to them, though on a day when new blogs were first and formost on my "want to do" list... do you think i could find them!? ~L~

Murphys law i guess, huh? Anyway... when I had all but given up, and decided that finding an inspirational blog was not going to happen and it seemed that I would settle for a date with Edward Cullen (aka Twilight hunk) (i know.. i know... i would have gone, kicking and screaming to watch the movie AGAIN - NOT).. i fell right into Holly Hanks Blog and landed ontop of inspiration!!

Thanks Holly for helping me back on my own bicycle after so long between "scraps" with the layout that you created about Hazels bike ride.

I loved the composition of this layout and simply had to do a little lift... (something i really don't like to do) ... and in doing so, have wet my feet and look forward slipping back into my scraproom and playing again, really soon!!

I am not sure, but I think that there is something missing from mine, though Im going to leave it on my desk so when I come in, I can look at it for a while... that normally works! The colours look way better-er in real life too.. but ya get that I guess... Kiera loves it, so I guess that is a good start. Oh, by the way.. that is who is in the photo.. Kiera and her Beau, Brendan.

Dinner is all but done now.. (and i didn't life a finger (got to love that!)... so I'm gonna go.. Hope you all have a great week!

xxx

Lifes update

Matt is recovering... His surgery went well... he is now tonsiless and has had his palate lifted... the difference that it has made is astounding.. no longer does he snore like a freight-train entering a sleepy town in the midst of night... His recovery is slow and with ample pain, which sadly, he is not coping well with.. which makes me sit by him, worrying and feeling more than useless...
This waiting and watching has allowed me to read the entire twilight series... save for about 20 pages of the last book... - inspiration for the change of music on my blog.. (Lyn, enjoy angel! ;) )
I read one of them at the hospital, waiting for his surgery to be done and him to recover... it was a very long day.

Mum is now continuing her recovery at home.. the one place that she has been wanting to go since she stepped foot in the hospital.. she will have a recovery ahead of her yet.. though atleast she is on her way. Her left hand is having circulatory issues, it is cold - all the time. Her left eye droops and tears run constantly - just a effect of her stroke.. and her left leg takes a little coersion to move when she wants it to... - she is using walking aids.
She has had a second stroke, the first, we are unsure of when it happened... we have been told that this could just be the start of bigger things... i can only pray - not!

School has been postponed... one less thing that i have to worry about right at this moment... i will talk more with them this week... perhaps the 20th of April will now see me sit my exams..

Work.. I return tomorrow... though im sure the whole while, my head will be elsewhere.

My nickname: Rightly so, my manager believes that after all the chinamen that appear to be falling in my path, i shall here on be called by her, her terracotta queen. (something to do with myths and chinamen dying.. and perhaps terracotta!? hahah)

Life- can only begin to return to normal from here on in.

Missing in Action

I know that I'm a very bad blogger though ive been juggling the wife, mum, nurse and student thing and its been rather interesting to say the elast.. and pretty damn impossible to find any time outside of that to blog... im sorry. :(

One thing... I finally finished my assignments... YAY!!! Witnessed my baby (in one of my few moments away from the computer in the last few weekends) have her daddy take the training wheels off her bike, determined to ride like a big girl. (she is 7)... and you know what?? SHE DID!!!!
Yesterday, she won 3rd prize in a colouring competition.. (a perk up since she has been sick for the last three weeks)... and today, both her and B2 came home with assembly awards...
That is my good news.. it ends there... (dramatic sigh)

Now on to the bad... It appears that the little old chinamen will not get the hint and are just content to stay on my path of.. what i can only describe as "destruction".. and i use the word loosely.

I'm just dropping by to say I will be MIA for a little while.

Last night my mother had a stroke that has left her with partial paralysis. (apparently it is her second) We are now waiting for my MIL to arrive as the cavallry so that I can just up and leave for sydney tomorrow night if i can convince my mum to let me come.. she is being rather naughty at the moment and insists that i have other things to worry about. She is not wrong...

My husband is heading into surgery tomorrrow to have his tonsils out, his nasal passage widened and his palate tightened so, not that any time is a good time for anyone to have a stroke, but now is just not a good time for me to be stressing and needing to be in more than one place at once. We do what we have to though, to get through, huh! So.. i am just going to trust someone else to be my "other" half so that these two places can be where im at.

To just top it all off... not like this cake needs any icing, right!?? Tomorrow im meant to be sitting my first big exam... and friday, another... school is the last place i need to be, so thankfully, thanks to a great manager knowing the co-ordinator of my course, i have been given a leave of absence from school this week...

(listening to screaming and yelling in the background as i try and think and write) Why is it, that at a time like this, when there is so much more that someone could be worrying about, a teenager has to be pety about sleeping arrangements!
Honestly, i dont give a crap where anyone sleeps at the moment.. as long as bodies are in beds and people get more sleep than ive had in the last 24 hours.

Ugh, its not like ive asked for all this!!

Grrrr

The said i wouldnt dare!!!

They dont know me too well... Because i did dare (to save the photo) and i have posted it here so that i can show you how goofy two of my three can be... especially when they dont think mum has the guts to do this!!
I hope it gives you the same laugh as it has given me today...

They are definately "special" huh!?

Hopefully it has given that poor chinaman a laugh too and he has forgiven me! *crosses fingers*
This week HAS to be better!

Ever wonder!?!?

Have you ever wondered what 8kg of cherry tomatoes looks like all together?
In the school holidays before christmas when Matts mum come to visit Miranda, Matt, His Mum and myself decided to dig a garden, plant flowers and a tomato vine that would ultimately be known as our "tomato tree". She had wanted to plant two, though we told her that we would start with one and see how we went...
It is no longer Vine material.. and since it is as tall as the guttering on our house, it has rightly earned the title of a tree... I'm telling you, this thing is a monster.

My father loved his tomato plants and my mother told me at christmas, that he would be so proud of our efforts, especially since this plant has only ever tasted fertiliser twice!

Sadly the scorching winds that we experienced due to the fires here in Melbourne last weekend, one side of the tree is completely brittle and dry after being wind burned.. though, is still producing rich red tomatoes every day!

Over the past three days, this is our pickings.. minus the tomatoes i ate while picking.. one has to keep their strength up afterall.. right? (minus about that rectangle container - 1 kilo, that we would have already eaten).. We now have more tomatoes than we know what to do with, our neighbours run and hide when they see us because they can no longer look at a tomato without wanting to puke.. All i can say is thank goodness we only got one!

Considering we would have already picked 30kg off (no shit, honestly) in the last few months, and we have about 7kg still on the tree i think our $2 tomato plant was a good investment, huh!?

Have you seen the price of cherry tomatoes lately!? I could have fixed my washer, just with the takings from these lil suckers if i had the mind to sell them to the local grocers! ~L~

After the Aftermath

You know when you hear of people that no matter where they turn, they hit another wave of bad luck? That this week gone is me my friends..

When i thought things could not get worse, it just got better! (insert 100% sarcasm here)



So.. this weekend i have been laying low in my bunker and hoping that the storm will pass and leave me the hell alone.
It all started friday a week ago.. i had the day off... (i know.. should have been awesome)... but i had to spend the day working on my assignments... to my sheer pleasure, by noon i was looking like i could quite possibly be sharing my sunday with the kids and Matt with the books completely closed... by 2pm I resembled an air-raid siren going off as my computer froze (in the hugest way it could possibly ever freeze) and took my assignment (approx 10000 words with it)... ARRRGH... I think that is where i actually left you all.. right!?

And then comes the week ahead... I was totally over the weekend and praying that the week would be better than the weekend was... perhaps that is where i went wrong... im not really one to pray... i know i wont be doing that again in a hurry.. *insert manic, mindless laughter*

11am Monday... Working away in the surgery, listening to the TV broadcasting re-hash of the weekends Victorian Vire disasters.. i was thinking how very lucky i was to be safe and well while so many grieved the loss of life and loved ones that were missing and presumed dead.. I had a few minutes free while we were taking some moulds of the patiends teeth so i decided that i would start to clean up the used/no longer required instruments (something i dont normally have time to do through a proceedure).. i think this was my first mistake.. i should have just continued to listen (and perhaps watch a little tv)..
Dismantelling a used syringe like i have done hundreds of times before my hand slipped and the cap from the needle slipped off the needle and the needle went straight into my thumb.
OMG.. One of my worset nightmares was becoming a reality.. i had been stuck with a dirty needle.
Aaaaanyway... after back and forth visits to the doctors that day i had the proper tests.. to which i have to wait up to 12 months for the complete clear for.. GReeeeeat!!!!

Tuesday - Because i spent half the night being sick because of the stress of the day Matt decided that he would drive me to work since it was his day off... I had a 7.30am start.
What normally takes 30 mins max in traffic of a morning took me 1 hour 20 just to get 3/4 of the way... two accidents, road closures and 30 mins late, I turn up at work... ofcourse, the nurse i was working with, as well as our AM dentist were waiting out the front for me to arrive, neither of them considerate of my issues.. The day can only get better.. right? WRONG!!! Second nurse does not come in, i run around like a headless hag all day.. *insert dramatic eye roll*

Wednesday: By now i am starting to think that i have run over a chinaman or something equally as karma-bad. Matt meets me at work in the afternoon with the most grim face.. first i think something has happened to ne of my babies... then... MUM!!!!... Quickly a breath of relief falls from my lips as he says that he was talking to my mum this afternoon.. "thank god, she is okay!!".. only to hear him continue..

She had called him to ask him to come and pick me up from work.. and to tell me some bad news. Because of the week that i had been having (from the friay, and the stress she knew i was under), she had decided not to burden me with the news that my aunty Isabelle, one of her younger sisters had been caught up with the fires at Peats Ridge in New South Wales on the weekend (the other serious fires that Aust has been dealing with)... as a result, she had suffered a massive heart attack. They were able to revive her on the way to the hospital, only to have her have another, not long after. Sadly, she was in a critical condition after suffering yet another, her third attack and they had suspected a stroke as well. Matt was to inform me that her family had asked that if she were to have another, that she would not be revived.. it is what my Aunt would have wanted. It takes 20 mins of an afternoon (going against traffic) to get home... By the time i got in the door i had a message from the children to call my mum. On the trip home, my aunty had passed away.

My mum has just had surgery so she is not overly well herself and now she is in another state and mourning the loss of her sister, whom she was unable to see before she died. I cant get to mum because one of the nurses is away and we dont have another to cover my shifts.

Thursday: by now i am cowering and waiting for the schrapnel.. it doesnt come.. phew..

Friday: yesterday it appears that i was just being given a breather... Bills that i have forgotten with all the drama of getting the kids back to school arrive in my mail box, - AS OVERDUE IMMEDIATELY bills. Great if you have not just had to get three kids back to school i guess... better than other things that could have gone wrong i guess.

Saturday: Worked this morning... the day, over all was uneventful... the nurse on duty obviously got my body language and the look in my eye as she walked in late and understood that i was silently saying "keep the $#%@ away from me today !^!&$"... ~LOL~

I get home, have a shower, and just sit down to do a little more of my assignment as i hear this unfamilary beeping tune in the laundry. (dont you love how all the modern appliances all sing tunes to you!? I have a house full of different tunes).. Matt asks what the washing machine is trying to tell me... ofcourse, it appears that it has learned a new tune.. one that i have not heard before... it is stuck on the rince and spin cycles.. the water will NOT go from the machine.. It appears that the pump has gone..

So, that brings us to Sunday.. today... the day that i have not tempted fate and walked out side.. who knows... they sky may just fall on my head!!!

I hope that the chinaman is okay and soon forgives me and allows me to go back to the normal , generally unrattling chaos of my existance.

and again... it comes to an end..

Why is it that this year seems to be going so fast? Is anyone else feeling it, or is it just me?
Again the weekend is over before I got the chance to enjoy it.. I know that I was studying all weekend so that doesn't help, though bah.. i still would have liked a little weekend for me to spend with Matt and the kids.
yesterday was a total suck of a day... studied for as long as i could before the heat of the day took its toll... Marilyn... can you believe that we had 37.9 celc here!? Total scorcher.. and the 60km searing winds did not help..
my poor tomatos and daliahs are feeling worse for wear... all burned and droopy.. :-(

Anyway... Thought i would just say... Have a great week...

Marilyn... for you, ive added a little more of my fav music... Its a band called SecondHand Serenade.. Totally {heart} them at the moment. Enjoy...

My CJ buddies, i have not done anymore this weekend, though i have done three pages total.. just have to add pages...

All my Boxx friends... stay safe in the heat ... and those effected by the fires.. my thoughts with you..

$%#@ Technology

what more can i say?
$#%@ $%#@ @%#$.

I have been sitting here all day doing an assignment for Uni and have gotten 3/4 of the way through it (9 pages) and looked at the clock and figured "oh, i best save now (no... i didnt save before now) matt will be home in a sec and I have to get to work" (yes, on my day off)... and....

$%@#

My computer froze up for a second and in a mad panic to save, I hit the save button a million times because it didnt work the same time and my screen closed, then the other, that had a heap of things i had copied to read over from websites i had done my reseach from. Some how, the computer has saved over my paper and when i open the document now, all there is are these notes i copied and pasted from the websites.

!%#$ #$@^ !!!!!!!!

Just BRILLIANT!!!!!

That is several hours i will NEVER get back.... and for those who did not hear me the first time...

F**************************************************CK!

way worth the wait..

OMG OMG OMG..CATHY thank you thank you thank you!!!!!
I just recieved my birthday present from and OMG!!!!! EMILY FALCONBRIDGE!!!!!!! OMG.. Thank you so so so much.. They are going to be framed and hung on the wall near the laundry .. you know the one? They will look awesome there. Matt suggested it... He is as we speak hanging my windchime...
Thank you... you were right... it was so well worth the wait!!
oh.. and your card made me cry..

Oooh... whoa... okay... better back the truck up for everyone who isnt cathy, huh!?
I just recieved my present for my birthday... (obviously you got the excitement with that bit, huh!?) But errr.no... I didnt get Emily Falconbridge in the post!!! Though, i did get the next best thing... i got emily art... anyone that knows me.. knows that i have one hell of a (totally straight) crush on this gal... Love her to bits.. love her work... just... love every about her... who wouldnt.. right? Ofcourse... shes an aussie... that just makes it all the more better...
Aaaaaaanyway... Here is a piccy (borrowed from Ems Etsy store... CHECK IT OUT!!).. .
of the prints that i got... which, as you may have guessed... are going on the wall closest to the laundry... riiiiiiiight... you got that... huh!? ~L~

And... i also got the most gorgeous card, which made me cry... and a beautiful windchime about friends..

Cath.. you picked good.. and you were right... It was worth the wait.... WAY WORTH IT!!!

Love ya darlin'
xxxx

Quote of the Year!!!

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "woohoo - What a Ride!"

Mavis Leyrer

The sky is NOT the limit

Matt was right.... I do want more!

and best still.... I DIDN'T SPEW! ~LMAO~

I woke up nice and early this morning so that we could get down to Torquay where the airstrip was that I was taking off from... It was very "how excitement" all the way down...
Ofcourse.. we hit every red light and were running late so I had to give the pilot a call and just let him know that I was running late, not chickening out..

Man.... all i can say is OMFG!!! WOW. The flight was amazing... Matt was right... the sky is not the limit!!!
I did loops, (upside down miss jane!), barrel rolls and lots of dips and dives BUT... even though I wanted to do the stall and spins, the plane that did all that was not ready so I couldnt do them... so... I guess there will be a next time!

I came back dwon to earth with EXTREMELY windblow pig tails (they would not stay tucked in my jacket - and took for ever to brush the knots out of) and a huge ass grin...

I spent the rest of the morning and a little of the afternoon lounging around in beautifully warm water of the ocean at Torquay, right one of the flight paths... (coincidentally).. It was great to actually see from the ground what I was seeing from up in the air.. (if that makes sence)...

Matt didn't get too much of me up in the air as he said i just looked like a tiny dot in the sky... the kids saw their brave (and as Matt would say - Totally $%#&ing crazy mum) which is the main part... Matt however... missed a little of the acrobats as he needed a loo break. Men... I tell ya... can't take them anywhere.. Next time.. Im gonna make sure that everyone goes "potty" before we leave home! ~LMAO~

I just want to say.... thank you so much Matt... Love you with all my heart.
Zoom Zoom and I didnt Spew!!!
xxx

35 is gonna be my year!!!

When you were younger did you ever really give thought to age? I know that i didn't. I have been thinking a lot about that over the last little while...
When i was a teen... I don't think i ever really thought past the age of about 20.. I honestly can't say that it entered the thought process that 30 came next... and then 40... Not that i was stupid... without being full of it, i can say honestly that i was far from it... but it just was not one of the things that I thought about. Sure.. i wanted to study Law or be a teacher.. and i knew that teachers and lawyers were older... we have all seen that... perhaps, it was not so much that i didn't think about it and more that i didn't put an AGE to them.
I am sure that in the back of my mind i knew... though i never thought upon the obvious, ... that I WOULD one day be aging... my face wrinkling with time.. the colour vanishing from my hair as it tends to do as you get older. Those wonderful boobs, sagging and not at all like the pert things that they were before the children came along... and stretchmarks.. my goodness... i know i NEVER considered those!!

Anyway... with those thoughts came the realization that i am now 1/2 way to 70!!
Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeeee!!!! :)

Those pert boobs are a fading memory... the stretchmarks a reminder that youth, while it is no longer mine, is what has been born from my body... youth of my own. The wrinkles that i have, while i don't love them... i am content to leave, as they tell a story... show that i have lived... and most... that i have smiled some... and all i can say about the hair... is thank goodness for the miracle that is hair colourants!

Today, has to be by far one of the best birthdays that i have ever had... and one that i will remember so fondly as more wrinkles form... more hairs fade and my years pile on...
I was woken up super early this morning (just before 6am) to smothering kisses from Mea and presents being shoved in my face by everyone and told that i HAD to GET UP NOW!!!!

"but!!??? Its my birthday!!"... "I don't wanna!!!" i thought.

I unwrapped as they were passed to me... smelly bath stuff, a change purse (i have wanted one for ages for all the loose change that ends up swimming in my hand bag), seasons 1-8 of Will and Grace.. and then, as I was handed my second last present I was again told...

"You know.. You really do NEED to get up!!!"

As i started to open that present i was told again...

"you cant use this... or that" pointing to the other present that Matt was holding "in bed!!!".

"but!!??? Its my birthday!!"... "I don't wanna!!!" i thought again.

A gorilla grip tripod!? What the!??! Weeks ago, i was looking at cameras small enough that i could take anywhere with me since i hate my fuji-film with a passion, only to be told that all those little cameras were crap with a capital C. Without a second thought i wandered away, not even suspecting that I was being tricked.
So.. what did i want one of these for? Didnt they remember... I HATE MY FUJI FILM..

(perhaps it was the early wake up that is to blame for the blondeness ... as im sure i can hear you all saying "DUH... how stupid is this girl!!" but honestly, It didnt even click...)and before i could really think to much, the last present was being flung at me with the words... "It has a really good review in the photography mags... and... apparently, this is great too... ".... I dont recall taking the paper off him.. though in my hands was a Canon box and my newest love, George!

George is a metalic chocolate Canon lxuss 80is, 8.0pix, 12x opti zoom compact digital camera.
"im gonna love him and stroke him and .... call him George!!"...

Ofcourse... as soon as they started chortling "GET UP.. GET UP!!" with excitement I gave up any chance of a birthday sleep in and proceeded to the bathroom to have a shower, as I was informed that we were leaving in precisely 20 mins!!

We had to leave home for my last part of my present... "hmmmmmmmmm!?"....

Turning towards the city I was asked, "the zoo is around here somewhere, right!?"... ofcourse it was... we had been there before.. and before i could say anything, we came across the sign to the car park..

This was quickly told to me to be the last part of my present.. no.. not just a trip to the zoo but a FRIENDS OF THE ZOO yearly ticket!!!!

Where else can i spend hours with george, learning all that he can do!!?
What i didnt know up to this point was, that George has a built in macro function... which would be perfect for me to use in the BUTTERFLY HOUSE!!! (my favourite place, asside from the tangs at the zoo)..

Speaking of the tangs... i got to spend my birthday watching Gabby, one of the resident orangatangs at Melbourne Zoo celebrating her 19th Birthday. How awesome that we were born on the same day, huh!? And no... that was not the reason that we went to the zoo.. Matt said he had no idea that it was her birthday that day.

She was on the channel nine news tonight though they called her clarise.. stupid reporters!!! (on the glass in big letters was written, happy 19th birthday GABBY!!"

anyway... there are still a few hours left of my day.. im going to go now.. revel in the wonderful day that i have and share the rest of the night with the people that make me smile the most in this world... my family...

If today, the first day of the year is anything to go by... this year is going to be a wonderful year!

(will get some piccies edited and posted later)

Do the Wild thing...

Well.. i have finally done it... I have booked my Tiger Moth flight...
Part of the gift was to choose any extras that I wanted to do... (I dont think that Matt was too sure of how "out-there" i would go... ).. Man... have i shown him!!!

Im going totally WILD.
This is my package...

"A tiger Moth Flight to Pt Lonsdale and either on my way there.. or on the way back the aerobatics start... these consist of...
The "barnstormer" is basically a wild ride which gets you up to 2G forces in steep turns and wing-overs just like a roller coaster. Because you are not actually going upside down, this also means that we can keep the flight at our standard low level for spectacular views.
"WILD AEROBATICS"
Includes the Barnstormer plus loops & rolls - now you're inverted up to 3 G forces"

This is all going to happen on Sunday the 4th January. Sucks that i didnt think of booking earlier... as i could have quiet possibly been going up tomorrow!! How awesome would that have been for a birthday!?

Only I saw what the extreme areobatics included I was just going to go all in and choose that.. though they do stall turns and spins... I dont know if i have that sort of constitution... though... i have until sunday to chose what aerobatics i want to do....

What do you think!?
Pretty wild.. huh?

Hope that you all have a great last day of the year.. and where ever you are.. and what ever you get up to... that you have a safe one!
xxx