Storms, Scrapping and a Sad Sully...

I have just this second walked in the door from going to this years Paperific Scrapboooking and Stamping show... (what a dissapointment)... and living through the little Cyclone that ripped through melbourne at 2.35pm today.

I was not feeling well so I decided that I would leave the show and head home... just as I left the building the thunder and lightening started... the clouds, OMG, i have NEVER seen anything so big black and ominous before in my life.. (and i have been in 3 cyclones before)... these ones were just SCAREY... anyway i got to my car as the rain started... which turned into hail the size of marbles and golfballs seconds after.. can you say SCARED!? I was bawling... It felt like there were people all around my car, rocking it around and pounding on the windows and jumping up and down on the roof... I could not see outside as it was just like someone had draped Sully in a whilte sheet...so i had no choice but to just sit there and endure it and talk to myself... convincing myself that i WAS going to be OK... about 20 mins later, the hail stopped... and slowly visability came back and i moved from where we were parked. (sully and I)... only to find the roads out were FLOODED.. (we had been on a bit of a hill before that)...
I sat watching cars driving through the flood waters, assessing what i was going to do and finally drove up the wrong side of the road (carefully and then on to the right side), as driving down that same side, in the right direction would have lead me to deeper water... and went up the little incline, only to find cars up to their windows in water. Uh oh.
To cut a long story short i took side streets, continually taking the higher option as the way i was going when i got the the end of each stret. I ended up in the City, some how bi-passing all the flooded areas and got onto the Citylink, which was littered with embankments of hail, that made it look like we had encountered snow drifts for hours before hand. It was amazing.
After all that, I got in, took the Chamie to the car to dry her off and assess... and omg... Imagine dropping a million golfballs from a height onto a car... that is what she looks like. Her bonnet and roof are ruined... they actually look like the skin on a golf ball..

It has ended up being the most expensive show of my life... hell, i could have gone to CHA for a little more than what it cost me today and what it will cost me in excess to get Sully fixed. GRRRRR


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POST NOTE: 9/3: A friend of ours has seen sully and sadly told us that he thinks that the insurance company will write her off... please god.. no!!!

slackness...

i again write as i have done so many times in the past... to say.. yes... i breath... i live... i am just a slack blogger.
Between working and working out... and sleeping... and... well.. just trying to keep up with life... i have not had a lot of time to blog... i have thought about it often though... i have even scrapped a few more pages. (I know... if i can scrap, then i can blog.. though you know what!? I chose scrapping.. as any sane person would. hahah) I am hoping that Matt will help me print a few photos out so that i can finish them.. (we have a new printer and it hates me - truely it does!)
I will even push for some help getting pics taken of everything ive been doing when im not sleeping, working or working out! ~L~...

Talking of working out.... its working!!!! (huge ass grin)... I have almost reached my new goal... 300 grams away from it... it is that close i can taste it!!
Im pretty chuffed... it is a small goal... and a small number in the big scheme.. though it is still a huge step.. stoked!

Zesty and Fresh and up for Grabs!

one of the many talents at Scrapboxx have started their own etsy store and is so generously offering this bundle of blog candy up to one lucky person... is it so fresh and funky? I LOVE the colour... (i know.. i know... something other than Green and im in love!)
Anyway.. you too can have a chance to win by becoming a follower of her blog and leaving post... im sure, like me, you will be crossing your fingers that youa re puled out in this draw!! Good luck!

VOTE 1 for Bailey.

Isnt he just the most gorgeous doggie? He is Bailey, my 6 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and I have just entered him in a competition at our local pet store... though he needs your help to win.. If you think he is deserving... please click here and look for his photo and give him your vote...
He has his eye on a new rope bone in the toy isle as well as a funky new lead. His prize money would sure help him get these items!
Thanks
Bailey and Me.

Happy Australia Day.

I just thought before I popped on a pair of runners and set out for todays challenge of 10km (in two 5km lots) and then go to a BBQ, I would stop by, say happy Australia day.
Hope that you all have a great one, remember the sunblock and if you are out on the roads.. stay safe !!

I am hoping to be back at a reasonable enough hour today to actually take some photos of my most recent layouts and pop them up here for a looksee.

Anyway.... must run.. (not litterally - yuk)
xxxx

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PS: thank you for your gorgeous comment Lyn... It means tonnes to me.. I think i fixed your posting issue... ;-)

I've become accountable...

Accountable for my life..

I plan on blogging the journey... so when I am at the end of it... I can see where I was... where ive been and what its like on the other side...

A journey is started with a single step...
This blog will follow that first step and all the others to follow...

3 Angels Goodness..

I could sit here and ramble though I am just going to keep this short and say, WOW. I recieved my HUGE order from 3 angels today... you know, the store that I wrote about below that had the huge rediculously cheap sale!?

Well... its only been 8 days from the time I put my order in until it arrived on my doorstep. ( a little soggy after the stupid postal delivery guy left it in the pouring rain - however the girls were on their game and ensured that everything was packaged and bagged up, i guess for those just in case instances... like today)
Jo and Rosy are just so friendly. I had a need to email them a few times (to combine shipping. oops) and they were so prompt with their replies.. and just so very professional but still approachable. I don't think I have reason to need to look too much further than there for anything in the future, except that odd bit of paper or Cardstock needed to complete a layout. (you know what its like when your on a roll.. just gotta have it so you can do it)... Anything else.. well I am happy to wait the few days to arrive. (my first ever order with them took 2-3 days) to arrive. Like i said.. great service!
I have spread everything out over my bed and it is better than i could imagine... while the images online are great, as in colour representation.. though OMG.. some of these papers I am wishing I had bought more than one sheet each of.
I just may have to pop another (little) order in before their sale finishes on Friday..

When I am a little more awake, I may just have to take a picture of this package and let you have a little peek see.

Anyway.. happy Mondays to you.. I hope you had a great day.. for those who are just starting yours.. have a great one!

love ya..
xxx

Blog Candy of the century...

There are a few blog candies floating around at the moment though this is one I just had to share... isn't it fabulous!? I think I could very well call in sick for a month if I were to be lucky enough to win this!!!

If you would like to be in the running, head on over, grab her link and this image and add it to your blog.. then, leave her some lovin' on her give away thread and wah-lah... you will be in the draw.. simple.. huh!?


thedailymarker.blogspot.com/

Speaking of blog candy... keep an eye out on my blog... I have something I would love to share with someone too!!! (A post with details will be added some time soon)

3 Angels, one girl and a pink Credit Card

Have you ever gone window shopping in a scrap store and left there with in excess of $400 worth of products including postage and paid a smidgen $120 for it!? Well...That is exactly what I have just done... Thanks to the beautiful angels that own the online store, so named, 3 angels scrapping I was able to get the best bargains that I think I have ever gotten... anywhere scrapwise...

If you are looking for something... and dont mind waiting a day or so for it to arrive.... (I have shopped with the Jo and Rosy before and can vouch for their incredible service and speed in which your shopping arrives at your door)... you would be nuts at the moment to shop anywhere else than with these girls... with 70% off tevery product though, I doubt the shelves will have things on them for long...

Conditions:No free postage during the sale - No coupons/other discounts apply - $25 minimum spend

Have fun... thanks to a gorgeously generous husband who told me to "knock myself out and get what ever I wanted/needed/wanted".... a pretty pink Credit card and 3 Angels... I know I did!!!!

(I have no affiliation with these girls.. even though it looks like I could have just written an advert for them... though credit is given where credit is due... these girls R.O.C.K!!! - and my credit card did not even require a band aid!)


I am a total fan.. that is all.

=D

better late than never..

okay... so I am a day late.. i know.. I know. hahah... firstly got home to a sick man and then crawled up onto the bed next too him for a "minute" and woke up this morning... 14 hours i was out! ~L~

anyway... here is the first installment.. a few more to come though they need final touches.. aka photos printed and added... (just a little touch, right!?)

Before anything else, I would love to say a huge thank you to the beautiful comments that I have recieved both publically here, as well as in my email in regard to my 82 candles layout... He was a man worthy of the pedistal that i put him on early in my life and the title, Hero.. There is not a day that goes by that I dont think of him, miss him or stop myself before I refer to him in first person as though he has just stepped out for a moment. I dont think there will be a day that will come when any of these changes. (wow.. I think I have just written some journalling for another layout... if only i had the layout to put it on -- I guess that will come).

Danielle... sweetheart.. I am sure you think so badly of me... the email that you sent me before christmas, I have just discovered in my spam filter. Grrr to silly Gmail.
I dont know what to say, though I wish there was a thing such as long distance hugs... I am going through the same dramas, sort of, to a degree at the moment.. perhaps when we are totally insane and sharing a room in an institution, we can swap stories.

Promise to write you soon and catch up. Hope that your christmas was better than you imagined it would be. xxx

Well... that is it from me for the night... I hope you all had a great day... mucho love..and stacks of hugs.

xx

The latest in a long line...

Well.. its not quite midnight ... actually a few hours away, though since I just competed this layout for a challenge on The Boxx which required a title with an "emotion- word" in it and atleast two paragraphs of journalling, I figured that I would upload it here too so that I could share it with you guys too... the rest of my layouts will be photographed and uploaded tomorrow, as promised.

Its not blog candy in a cheery way... its a rather sad layout, though it is a milestone... a turning point for me. It is the first layout that I have been able to create for my dad who was stolen from me 16 years ago. I am hoping that now the proverbial flood gate has been lifted so to speak, that you will be seeing more layouts dedicated to the man that was always my hero..

Anyway... I have a uniform to iron... a shower to be had... a little girl that needs tucking and a man that needs hugging... so best I go, leave you be and get on with it.
~hugs~

from lightning fast....

to snail pace slow...

That is my internet connection at the moment and it is driving me I.N.S.A.N.E...

"Someone" went over our usage limit this month and it seems that the rest of us have to suffer the consequences. Arrrgh.

I know that I had promised to post some blog candy... though with my internet at dial up speeds it is prroving a little more difficult than I would have imagined. As of Midnight tonight though, it will be running at the zippee-fast speed that I have grown accustom to and am so sadly missing right now.. yippppeeee....

So... bare with me... my holidays are over and I head back to work tomorrow, although when I get home, I will do some sharing with you... (since I really dont think I will be still awake at midnight... sorry.)

Hope you are having a fantastic day...
xxxx

Green & Blue...

I have just been laying out some of the pages that I have created over the last little while to take pictures to share and just realised, that all but one layout has either green or blue in the layout somewhere...how weird is that!?

Totally weird...
keep an eye out... these photos will be uploaded shortly.

A carpet picnic, clowns and too many candles

Why is it that with every birthday we gain a year? Don't you think that it is a little bit rude?

One minute you are celebrating your sweet sixteen... then you are excitedly announcing to the world that you are 21... ofcourse, for no other reason than to let the bouncers know that you are NOW old enough to gain entry to the night club(leagally)and then, next minute, your recounting on your fingers, sure that some how there has been a mistake... 36? Surely not.. wasn't it my 30th just last... whoa.. wait a minute... holy crap... 36!? Are you sure!? (count count count - huge sigh and slow nod of acknowledgement)

Well peeps... I came to that realisation last night as the clock struck 12 and fireworks began to explode all around us... some how, 36 didn't knock... it just barged right on in!

While 36 is a pretty round figure (much like the bearer) it is not really that bad i guess... its not like i can take it back and exchange it or anything... so I am just going to hold onto it for a while... see how we get along and see how it fits over the next year... what else can i do really? (well.. other than start to perpetually lie... but how long do you think i can keep up the "Ive just turned 30".. or.. i could go the complete opposite way and tell people that I am much older... atleast then I can be told how good i look.. oh.. shit.. but what if... oh.... what if (whispers) they tell me that I look every bit of that age!?) hmmm... yes... okay then... that settles it...

~screaming from the roof tops~ I have just turned 36 and I am proud of every wrinkle that it bears!

Happy Birthday MEEEEEEEEE!

I have had the best day... due to wet weather, the picnic that the children and Matt had planned for me got relocated to the living room floor, although after we had a yummy lunch we headed off to Geelong, just planning a walk on the Esplanade, though when we we got there, realised that the Geelong Council and the local radio station had done a huge event in the park.. so we headed off to explore the many things that they had to offer... jumping castles, teacup ride ( which we missed out on because we took justa little too long at the reptile petting area)laughing clowns (in which i won a teddy bear and a fluffy while halo), danced ourway through the variety of market stallas and had a right royal time... finishing off on the pier, taking some fabbo photos... of which i have yet to upload onto a computer... now... we are just getting ready to make our famous home made pizzas, have chocolate mud cake (yes, the same one we had for Matts birthday Cath. Yummo) and then we are going to watch the Blue Collar Comedy DVD set we have... I SO LOVE THOSE GUYS!

= )

(will post pics tomorrow i hope and add a lot of other eye candy too!)

welcome twenty10.

Happy new year guys... as I write, i hear fireworks that I can't see... lightning that is brightening the sky EVERYWHERE and from being super hot earlier, Im now almost shivering from the cold wind and from standing in the rain trying to nab a picture of the illegal fireworks that seem to be going off everywhere.

We attempted this earlier, at the 9pm fireworks... though from the block of land, the fireworks were tiny... though we did get an awesome photo of natures very own light show... a streak of lightening that flashed before us right when we were ready to click the button on the camera.
I am now cool enough to sleep... totally sober (i know.. i know... who would have thunk it)... and going to call it a night I think...
stay safe and enjoy the party... and again,... happy twenty10

It came ... I saw.....

and we had a grand ol' time.

What a day.... It started with a lovely little text chat with my darlin girl... while I was still i bed and she was preparing for the cyclone that were here children (only minutes later)... and I was waiting for my own storm to build. I actually got to stay in bed until 7.30am. AMAZING!!

The kids enjoyed unwrapping the gifts that I finally finished wrapping only 5 or so hours before hand... totally sober and still in search of that stiff drink. Who would have been so stupid as to forget the second most ingredient!? Coke!?
(I know.. I could have just gone straight.. though I did'nt think that was a wise idea incase I tried to find our chimney!!)
After having my little text convo with my darlin' girl.. we turned it into a real one around 9am when all members of both our families got all our gifts from each other and did a mass ripping and squeeling as we did a long distance gift exchanging extravaganza... There was way too much food... (note to self, when I next say "simple, fuss free dinner" I MEAN IT!)And we broke in every single one of the kids games... I have never before laughed so hard as I did when I decided that I needed to show the children exactly how one plays Highschool Musical 3 DANCE (a dance mat game)... Not one for the 'tarded.

I hope that you all had a wonderful day... laughed as much as we did here... and got a little spoiled along the way!

The eve of the man in red...

I don't think that there has ever been a christmas before this where I was so bloody unorganised. The woman that has all her shopping done and at home by the beginning of november and wrapped a few days later has just now returned home from the store for the 3rd time today. 1st time, to get last minute gifts, the 2nd, to do the grocery shopping for tomorrow... and the last... because I realised that I had run short on wrapping paper... and ofcourse, I need that to wrap all the presents that are strewn through my wardrobe, still waiting to be wrapped!

Arrrgghh... Totally the picture of disorganisation!!! (and no.. i'm NOT going to share a photo of the chaos that is me today! haha. Though I am sure cath would get a laugh... my hair is disheveled, my cheeks flushed and am right about now in desperate need of a good strong drink! Who on earth leaves everything until christmas eve!? There were people everywhere and honestly, I would have gotten a better park if I left my car at home and walked!)


Well... I best go.. I have gingrbread men, cinnamon stars and choc-mint candy cane cookies a calling and I still have to cut veges, prepare the meats, get ready for a christmas eve party at a friends house, have that good stiff drink... and oh... how could I forget... wrap those presents!

I am sure when I get through my list, not a creature will be stirring... hmmm.. maybe... that will have something to do with the... mmmmmm.... stiff drink!

ho ho HO...

Its so Ho Ho Hot here....

The clock says 11pm and the thermometer on the wall reads 31 degrees celcius while I'm sitting here at the moment battling the urge to jump on the first flight to the states and share the holiday season with Lyn... Honey, you got a spare bed.. sofa or piece of floor for a tired, hot and uncomfortable Aussie?

Thankfully tomorrow the weather should only be 27 and 25 for the 25th. Oh how a girl can only hope.

Christmas is hard to get into the swing of when its too hot to move, though we are doing pretty good at keeping festive (now I finally got the bug)... yesterday we baked gingerbread ladies, (who says that they have to be men!? Though i did have a chuckle and wonder if I should be burning my bra at the same time!)spiced christmas cookies, though due to an extremely heavy hand and or the fact that I opened the wrong end of the spice dispenser, these tasted very cinnamon-y... and topped off the cooking with chocolate cookies that had little bits of "candy cans" in them.. (aka candy canes)and extra sprinkled over the top for good measure.

Today... the postman knocked at my door rather early and handed me a package from an angel to open and pop the contents of beneath the tree... now its really looking like christmas... and feeling a lot like it too.

While I am rambling, I have just had a thought.... y'all have read about my advent countdown, right? The gift every day!? Well... since it is 50 minutes until tomorrow, does that mean that I could possibly open my 24th!? Honestly, this little package has boggled me ever since I saw it... even though the first time, it was through tears as I read the beautiful dard that was attached to it.. Seriously... the excitement of opening this last present is almost making me explode... could i possibly ever sleep though til morning!?
~L~

Okay... so.. im sticking to the chair here.. which is a great indication that i have to go have another quick cold shower..

Have a great day/night... Lyn, save some snow for me!
xxx

thought of the day....

You know that things really suck when even your imaginary friend can't stand to be around you...

or:

You know that you truely suck when even your imaginary friend picks on you.

(this thought popped into Kiera's and my head whilst watching re-runs of LOST.)

thought I had to share! ~L~

Happy Birthday Angel.

Just wanted to send out a special birthday wish to a special birthday angel, my bestie... Cath...

Happy birthday gorgeous girl. Hope you have the most fantastic day.... you deserve lots of lovin' pamperin' and spoilin'.
Bring it on!!!

Love you to the stars and back..
xxxxx