What a Show!

Last night I went to see Ninky perform in Southern Stars. The show was amazing. I have to admit that I thought that because it was a bunch of school children (well, a BIG bunch -2800 to be precise) it would be somewhat amateurish. I am thrilled to report that I was wrong. The theme, the costumes, the props, the sets and most of all the performances were really really professional. The babysitter was a bit late arriving, so I missed the opening act but I saw Ninky on stage twice. She looked great and she really did look like she was having a ball. When it was all over I had to go outside to meet her. That sounds like a simple thing to do but the reality was much different. Can you imagine the chaos of 2800 children departing an entertainment centre? Well add to that the chaos of at least one (conservatively) adult for each one of those children, departing patrons and players from the Rugby League finals at the stadium next door and the normal Saturday revellers out in a busy part of town! It was INSANE. I waited for nearly half and hour and eventually Ninky found me. She was cold, hungry, exhausted and had blisters on her feet but she was very very happy. We fought our way through the sea of people back to the apartment. We bid Emma the babysitter farewell (Roo was fast asleep) and then it was time to get Ninky sorted out. She had something to eat, told me EVERYTHING about the night, spent 10 minutes trying to scrape the stage make up off and then she got into bed. About 30 seconds after her head hit the pillow she was asleep. I wasn't far behind her.

It is 0750 now and Roo had been up for an hour playing with Lego - of course! He has been happily drinking milk "shots" (the little UHT milks) out of the fridge. Ninky got up to go to the toilet, gave me a weak smile and went back to bed. I suspect I will have to wake her up so that we can check out in time at 1000. There is an ALDI just up the street and I plan to call in there and get most of our groceries for the week. On the way home we will stop at the Terara veggie shed and get some of their lovely locally grown fruit and veg before heading home.

Here are some more pictures.

Hoo Roo

Well, spring has sprung as they say and the Seaside Daisy that lines the path to our front door has leaped to attention.

Beautiful.

Sore little Ninky feet - dancing has a painful side!

After the show.

Showing of her programme. It is scary how much older she looks with that stage make up on!

Below are some pretty flowers that are putting on a show in our garden around the patio at the moment. I love spring!

Life and pictures

It is not long now until Peter comes home!!! We are so excited. 33 more sleeps actually. Not long at all.

Right at this very minute Roo and I are sitting in a lovely serviced apartment in Wollongong. Roo is playing with his lego (what else would he be doing), I am dabbling on the computer and Ninky is performing a the Southern Stars Spectacular at WIN Stadium. She is doing the matinee performance right now. I dropped her off about an hour ago and there were just hundreds and hundreds of kids everywhere with parents and teachers. The place is crazy. I was fortunate enough to be able to book us into this apartment (which is really lovely) right beside Win Stadium. As I sit here I can hear the Junior Rugby League Grand Finals being played (of course I only know that because I looked online to find out what it is!). There is certainly a very enthusiastic crowd over there. I have to pick Ninky up at 5pm and bring her back here to have some dinner and then have her back over there by 6:15pm. I was going to take them out for dinner but apparently it is absolutely crazy around her in that hour or so between performances, so we just have some frozen dinners to heat up, which is going to be so much simpler. After I drop Ninky off I will come back here with Roo and wait for the Dial an Angel babysitter to arrive and then I will head over to watch the performance. Afterwards, I will meet Ninky and bring her back here and we will go to sleep and last. She is exhausted. I am sure she probably has dark rings around her eyes but I can't tell because she already had the thick stage makeup on when I picked her up this morning. Tomorrow we will have a sleep in before heading up. On the way home I will get some groceries. Then late afternoon we have to head up the hill to get Benny and Polly from the dog hotel they are staying at. Busy busy busy.

Well here are some pictures of things, creatures and people.

Ta-da

Well I am still here! I thought I had better make a post before the end of August otherwise this blog would look abandoned!

Life continues here. We are counting down the days until Daddy/Peter gets home. It was exactly 6 weeks yesterday until we see him. We are all VERY excited.

I don't have much to say at all really. Ninky and Roo are really well, the animals are well (although Black Chook 2 is not so well because she died earlier this month) and work sucks as usual.

I am now going to slap up some pictures for the benefit of my darling husband.

Hoo Roo

Roo the Lego Master and one of his creations.

Roo relaxing before his swimming lesson.

Oops! Didn't see that one coming!!

What do you want??

Dressed up for the Book Week parade. Ninky is Aunt Josephine from Lemony Snickett and Roo is Artemis Fowl (from the book of the same name). Artemis is a child criminal who battles with underground fairies and farting dwarfs!!

Purr soaking up the sun.

Ninky - dressed up and excited to be going to see her very first live concert - Pink!

One VERY excited little girl!

Roo and his DS Lite

Barry and Tongue

Dory and Barry enjoy some grass.

Bubba Barry and Ninky

Purr catching some rays

A Very Long Time Between Posts

Gawd - I practically forgot I even had this blog. My grand plans for documenting change have pretty well been ditched. I simply underestimated how busy I would be caring for two kids, keep a big house, caring for a HUGE menagerie AND working full time. C'est la vie. This will just be a regular blog that gets updated when there is something to say. No biggie.

So, the weather here is lousy. It is wet (and has been for the last few days) and miserable. Thankfully it isn't too cold. I feel sorry for the poor old chooks and the duck though because their pen is a swamp (and sooo stinky too) and they don't look happy about it at all. In fact when I was outside a few minutes ago, I witnessed one of the disgruntled tenants of the House of Chook executing a high flying escape into the garden. Time for a wing clip I think. That should be fun without Peter. Ninky will be all girly and "ooohhhh yuck etc" and Roo really doesn't like chooks at all. I might have to wait until Mum and Jon come down the week after next and get them to help me.

Ninky and Roo are both well at them moment, although having said that Ninky does have a bit of a cold at the moment. They started school holidays yesterday for the next two weeks. They both got good first semester school reports. Ninky's was actually excellent, scoring top marks for effort in every single subject. Roo didn't do so well academically though but the teachers comments about his behaviour, personality, contributions and effort were amazing. I am proud of both of them.

Ninky is a really busy girl at the moment. She is just involved in so many different things. She is currently rehearsing for Southern Stars which is a dance and music spectacular for primary school students from this region. She is part of a school choir which will be participating in an eistedford (sp?) next term. She came in the top three out of 16 in the shot put selection at school and I think she will be representing in a local competition. She also did very very well in her swimming lessons this term. Ninky seems so happy these days. Moving here really has changed her life.

Roo is also doing well, although he is not involved in anything the way Ninky is. He loves his lego and loves playing with his mates. He is happy though.

Project "Clear The Crap Out Of The Garage" swings into action this week. I am not looking forward to it. I am hoping to be able to park at least one car in there before Peter gets home. Peter and I sorted out about half of it before he left. But I still haven't managed to get rid of the stuff we already I identified as no long required. Plus there are the kids two old mattresses and the other half of the garage to arrange. I am just going to suck it up and get it done. There are so many other projects that I want to get done outside but I need to get this done first. Wish me luck!

Ninky and Roo are off to a 5 days school holiday camp at Berry on Monday. They are both really looking forward to it. There is lots of packing to be done and it is going to take me ages to get their names on everything. I am really going to miss them. It is only four nights but it will really be the first time I have stayed here alone since we moved in. Although can you really ever be alone with six insane cats running around the house?

Well, it's going to be a busy weekend. I have to bath Benny the Elderly Maltese because he needs to be seen by the vet. The poor boy has pus leaking out of one of his ears and is walking lop sided. The house needs cleaning, washing needs to be done and shopping needs doing. Plus I have to cook some cup cakes because we are off for afternoon tea to our friend's house to say good bye to them. They are moving to Canberra and I am really going to miss them both.

That's it for now. I will slap up some photos and go and get some work done.

Hoo Roo

A Nice Sort of Day

Not much to report today. The weather was not too bad. A bit breezy but the sun was shining. It was definately cold though with a top of about 16 degrees.

Ninky was meant too have her friend P over to play today but she called to say that she was sick. So today I took the kids to the Nowra Wildlife Park. I am so glad we went. It is such a lovely place. Right on the banks of the Shoalhaven river. It has loads of beautiful trees, lush grass and tall cliffs. There are quite a mix of animals from goats and camels to wombats and crocodiles. I really loved the camels and the marmaset monekys. Those monkeys are cute and really really tiny. Only abou the size of a very small kitten. They have a fantastic slide there that is really really high and Ninky and Roo must have had about 20 turns on it.

When we got home I pretty much spent the afternoon cleaning all the dog hair and dry dirt off the patio area. It looks so much better now.

I had better call it quits here. I have a pile of photos to upload (and blogger is so slow for that) and then I have ironing to do and dinner to cook.

Hoo Roo.

A Looooong Weekend

I am forever meaning to sit down and do a blog entry but something else always seems to distract me. No excuses now though. I am here and doing it!

It is the Queens Birthday Long Weekend here this weekend. Our little town of paradise by the sea has been over run with visitors towing flashy boats and driving cars with a family's worth of bikes on the bike rack on the back. The out of towners are easy to spot because whilst the locals are wearing warm jackets, jumpers and pants, the visitors are stoically ignoring the bit of the calendar that says WINTER (and the weather reports!) and trying to will it to be warm by wearing sarongs, singlets and board shorts. Seriously! The local supermarket was predictably crowded on Friday. I knew it would be but at the moment I decided that I need something I temporarily forgot that it was a long weekend and would be over run with Terry Tourists. I won't be making that mistake again in a hurry.

Yesterday was a quiet day. Ninky had a sleep over at her friend P's house on Friday night. So that meant that Roo slept in my bed with me. We had a lovely snuggle yesterday morning before getting up to potter around (me) and play Xbox (Roo). I had to pick Ninky up at 1000 and then we stopped in a the hardware shop to buy a puncture repair kit. Ninky somehow got a flat tyre on her bike. Well, more acurately, Roo got a puncture on Ninky's bike because they have taken to swapping bikes lately. I am not sure why. So sometime between now and Tuesday morning I am going to have to dig the memories of how to fix a flat tyre out of my brain (could do it with my eyes shut when I was 12 years old!) and fix that tyre. I am sure there will be a lot of swearing which will probably be followed by a lot of Googling and You Tubing as I search for idiot proof instructions.

Yesterday I finally got my Tumbleweed Compost Maker assembled. I have very very sore fingers tips today because that thing took no less than 16 screws and nuts to put together. Of course I could not work out how to use the nut-tightening-thingamabob joey whatsy that I found in Peter's tools, so I had to finger tighten all of them. Hopefully it will hold together until I either get Lovely Step Father Jon to look at it or Peter comes home - whichever comes first. The Tumbleweed was an absolute bargain at the local rural supply place. I have been researching them for a few months and they had them on sale for $180 which was about $40 cheaper than the cheapest I had been able to find them on line. Bargain!

Anyway, the whole reason that I HAD to put the Tumbleweed together was because I had decided that I HAD to clean out the chooks. The poor things were swimming in their own filth and it was positively disgusting. I don't have anywhere in this environmentally backward shire that I can dispose of used hay and chook poo so it seemed that the only option is to compost it. That really is going to be the best thing because our soil is very poor and sandy here so compost will improve it greatly. So I spent about two hours clean out the chook yard and chook house. I also had to dust the chooks and the duck with powder because they have some sort of mite or lice. Probably from all the wild birds that feed on the excess grain on the ground in their yard I would think. The end result of my hard work is that the chook yard now looks and smells a lot better and I like to think that the chooks are a bit happier too. At least I should be able to get some eggs that are not covered in poo now. Not that the girls are giving many eggs at the moment. There has been a marked decline in egg production now that the cold weather is here.

Yesterday I discovered that the @%$&^% cats (most definately Barry or Ginge) peed on Peter's couch. Specifically they peed on Peter's seat on Peter's couch. (Calm down My Love - it's taken care of). I screamed when I found it, I abused the cats, I threw things and I rang the vet to enquire about the cost of euthenasia - would I get a discount for multiple cats?? Then I knucked down a got cleaning. It certainly doesn't smell anymore. When it is dry I will spray it with a special spary to ensure that the smell is gone to discourage any other furry bastards from using it as a toilet. I am thoroughly fed up with all these cats. I am sick of the mess, the filth, the smell, the noise and the work it creates. I am going to pull my finger out and get that bloody our door cat area made. That is of course if I retain my self control and refrain from having the bastards put to sleep.

Poor little Roo has woken up this morning with a terrible cold. Streaming nose, red eyes and a sore throat. Poor little man is miserable. I was planning on taking them for a bush walk and to a park today but I will wait a little while to see how he is. I have plugged him full of cold medication so hopefully he will perk up a bit soon.

My mother came through her lumpectomy with flying colours. It is definately cancer but there is no evidence of it in her lymph nodes. Great news! So that means that she only (only? easy for me to say) has to have 6 weeks of 5 days a week radiation treatment. Then that should be the end of that. I am glad. Selfishly of course. I am just not ready to not have a mother yet - I am not finished with her!

That's it from me for today. Nothing terribly exciting happens in this part of the world. Actually, I have to say that I like it like that.

Over and out.

Time Flies

Wow. Can you believe that tomorrow is the last day of May? I can't. Gosh the time is flying. I know that everybody says that sort of thing all the time but seriously at the rate that I feel time is passing at the moment I think I will celebrate my 79th birthday next week!

Well this week has been a massive week here in my world. Just so much has happened. Some stuff good and some really bad. I will start off with the worst part and hopefully finish this post on a high note.

My Darling Mother was this week diagnosed with breast cancer. That really sucks. However, she is being really positive about it and just sees it and something to deal with and move on. Next Tuesday she is going in for a lumpectomy to remove the lump and then find out what the state of the cancer is. Whether it has spread to lymph nodes etc. This information will determine what course of treatment she will have. At the moment, at the very least she will be having radiation treatment 5 days per week for six weeks. That is something she is not thrilled about. If it has spread to lymph nodes then she will probably need chemotherapy. Anyway, fingers crossed next Tuesday will go really well and radiation will be all she needs. I am not too worried about it for the simple fact that she isn't. If she becomes worried then I fully expect that I will have a meltdown! Mum gave up smoking at the age of 60 (she is 66 now) after having smoked since she was 14. She said to me the other day on the phone when she was telling me about the cancer that she "could really go a smoke right now". I said to her "Once you are diagnosed as having a terminal condition you can have a smoke and NOT before then". She laughed her head off! She told me later that she put that quote in an email that she sent to some friends. She's a character my Mum.

Work has been absolutely flat out this week. I think I attended more meetings this week than I have ever attended in any other week in my working life. I hate meetings so much. Especially the meetings that I have to attend not because I will get something out of it (or think I can contribute something) but because someone else thinks I should be there. It is always those meetings that seem to go longest and there is always somebody that seems to always want to talk talk talk when you can sense that everyone in the room just wants to get out of there! I had to deal with someone this week whom I find very very intimidating. I had to tell this person that they had to do something that they did not want to do. As predicted they did not take it well but thankfully I had the person's boss there to keep them in line. If he wasn't there then it might have been very ugly. Generally speaking I love my job but there are some people that I have to deal with that give it a sometimes unpleasant dimension.

Ninky and Roo are doing well. They seem really happy at the moment. They seem to be coping well with their beloved Daddy's absence. They had their first private swimming lesson with Scott this week. That man is with out a doubt the best swimming teacher I have ever come across. He dishes out praise left right and centre and shows infinite patience with the children. I watched him not just with Ninky and Roo but also with the class of kids before my children's lesson. Anyway, I was so proud of Ninky and Roo. They really listened to Scott and gave a big effort. The lesson is only half and hour and the improvement from the start of the lesson to the end was staggering. They came away from that lesson all pumped up and full of confidence. In the car on the way home they kept talking about how they want to be Olympic swimmers. I told them if they want to get into swimming seriously then I will support them 100%. I am glad they are enjoying it. They need an interest. I don't think either of them are particularly interested in team sports. So it looks like swimming will be "their thing".

All the animals are well. Driving me nuts - but other than that they are OK. Barry and Ginge (Mumma's two little boy kittens) went of to be neutered, microchipped and vaccinated this week. Ginge whinged all the way to the vet and climbed around the cage but Barry just sat there looking pretty. When we arrived at the vet Ginge cotinued whinging and climbing but Barry was shaking like a leaf. I felt so sad looking at him! Poor little boy. Anyway, they both went well with their little operation and although they were a bit drowsy in the car on the way home, once they were home they raced around like nothing was wrong with them. Mumma and Tink are going off in about two weeks to be desexed but I think it is a bigger operation for females so I don't think that they will come home racing around.

My indoor cat fence finally arrived yesterday. It is a simple set up with nodes that I put where I don't want the cats to go and the cats that I want to keep out wear a collar. When they go near a node they get a mild tingle from the collar to deter them. I am only putting it on Mumma and the kittens so that I can keep them out of the bedrooms. They have a nasty habit of peeing on the carpet and I am sick of it. Purr, Dory and Tinker don't do it so they are fine to go in to the bedrooms. Also, it will enable those three to get away from the kittens. They aren't too keen on the kittens at the moment. I don't blame them. Barry and Ginge can be very annoying!

Well, Swine Flu panic has well and truly set in this week in this quiet little part of the world. I drove past the health centre at work yesterday and the scene was just surreal. They have set up a flu triage area in the garage at the end of the centre. I could see the medics in white sperm suits (head to toes white paper suits) and masks, gloves and goggles tending to the line of people. Honestly, it sent a shiver down my spine. It looked like a scene out of one of those doomsday movies like "Ebola" or "Out Break". Poor Ninky and Roo came home from school the other day scared to death that they are going to die of Swine Flu. Between the "good hygiene" talk they were given at assembly and all the playground whispers, they had come to the conclusion that they would contract Swine Flu any tick of the clock and die. It took me nearly an hour to explain to them what the real story is. They seem to have got a handle on it now. It is scary though. I have been to a number of different health authority websites and the disease appears to be spreading fairly quickly despite the Governments attempts at containment. I told my staff yesterday that if they feel that they have flu like symptoms they are to go straight to the triage centre and not come to work. That is the thing that will help this disease spread most quickly. All the "martyrs" who will "drag" themselves into work and infect others.

Well, it is dark and rainy day here today. It rained most of yesterday and bucketed down overnight too. We are going to have a very quiet day at home today. Ninky and Roo have put in some very specific request for some lunch box treats for next week (choc cupcakes, choc chip biscuits and coconut biscuits) so I will probably make those today. I also need to spend some time standing over Roo to get him to do something about the state of his room. I know that I said that I am not worrying about them anymore but I can't get in there to even put clothes away now because the floor is absolutely hidden under a pile of stuff!

Hoo Roo

Happy Birthday My Love

Happy Birthday to my darling husband Peter. I hope that you get to see some of the beautiful country that you are visiting today, so that you will always remember this birthday as something special. We are thinking of you here and hope that you have a lovely day.

I took Ninky and Roo to see Night At The Museum II this morning. It was absolutely fabulous! The three of us cackled out way through the movie. The Roxy Theatre (the cinema we went to in Nowra) has to be seen to be believed. It is so old world with statues, noisey floors and rich red velvet drapes on the walls. I guarantee we will be seeing many movies there in future.

This afternoon I took Ninky and Roo to the Bay and Basin Leisure Centre for a swim. The big tube slide was open and they each had 10 rides on it. They had a blast.

Well, this isn't much but it will have to do as an entry today. It is Sunday night and there is organising and ironing to be done.

Bring on the week. I am ready (almost) for it.

Hoo Roo

Blustery Weather

Friday night is Lazy Dinner night. Here we see Ninky and Roo dining on self chosen frozen pizza subs. They loved them!

It is horrible, cold, wet and blustery weather here today. I have piles of washing to do and according to the weather man I am not likely to get it dry on the line this weekend. Oh well, it could have been worse if I hadn't done any washing all week. Thankfully I did get some done so things aren't as bad as they could hav been.

This morning was another crap installment of work. I am very grateful that it was half day Friday today, so the pain only lasted a few hours rather than all day. I got quite a bit done but not as much as I could have if things were different. Soooo very frustrating. I came home at lunch time and got a bit of bill paying and housework done. Then I picked the children up half and hour early and we went and got the groceries. Apart from quite a few "pantry staples" the cupboards here were pretty bare, so I bought quite a lot. It will probably last me about three weeks though. Gawd I hate shopping. Once upon a time I used to love dawdling around the supermarket but now I can't wait to get out. The children were a big help though thanks to a bit of bribery with some treats!

We got home and I spent the next couple of hours putting away groceries, feeding dogs and cats, cleaning out kitty litter trays and feeding children. During that time I was delighted to get a phone call from My Love. He was calling me on a VOIP phone from the ship from XXXXXXX - I can't really say where I suppose for security reasons but I will come back later and put in the name of the place. They were underway though - not in port. I still find it amazing that he can call me from sea. I remember the days when I was first at sea years ago and we had only just got word processing computers onboard. We didn't even have mobile phones then! Technology is a wonderful thing. I miss Peter terribly but nowhere near as much as I would have were it not for these suprise phone calls every now and then.

Tomorrow I am taking the children swimming at the centre where they have their swimming lessons. They are pretty excited about that. In the afternoon I may also take them to the movies depending what is on.

Yesterday I booked Barry and Ginge (the kittens) in to be desexed. They will be four months old in three weeks time and according to all the websites I have looked at that is old enough for them to be able to get their mother Mumma or their sister Tinker pregnant. Gawd, the last thing I want around here is any more cats. I can't believe how expensive it is. $98 each boy just for the desexing. Vaccinations and microchipping will be extra. What's worse is that Mumma and Tink will be $150 each for desexing. Gosh it costs a lot to be a responsible pet owner!

That's it for now. I am going to go and snuggle under a blanket in the lounge room with the children and read a book for a while until bedtime.

Hoo Roo

Dedicated to the Love of My Life

Well, it has been a while since I updated this blog - two weeks actually. Time flies.

I don't think there are many people who read this blog but on the off chance that anyone checks in, this post is dedicated to my darling husband Peter. It is mostly going to be for him although others may find it remotely interesting.

Work is going alright. Pretty much like you My Love, I am waking up with less and less desire to go to work each day. My job is very full on, with lots of responsibility and a lot of people have high expectations of me. I know I am doing the job well but my heart isn't in it. This Navy is not the Navy I know. It is strange and constantly changing and not always (or often) for the better either. I don't even feel like there is a place for me in it anymore. You aren't alone My Love, I am in that place too. I am hoping that it will change because there is so much to love about the Navy but the old girl (the Navy) ain't what she used to be.

On Thursday and Friday it blew a gale here. I have experienced some pretty terrible winds in my time but nothing like this. I was woken up at 2am Saturday by a phone call from work ( usual drunken dramas) and I thought the roof was going to blow off. I could hear next door neighbours shade sail flapping loose in the wind and banging their windows and the hardie plank. They are away for a few day and I was worried that the clip on the sail would smash the window. In the morning the children and I went to get out hair cuts done and when we walked back into the house I could here the sail banging in the wind and decided to go next door and do something about it. No sooner had I made my mind up and headed for the front door than "SMASH" the sound of breaking glass. I raced out just in time to hear more smashing as the clip finished off the job on the window. I wasn't sure what to do so I got Al from two doors up and together we cleaned up all the glass. Al did a great job of taking down the sail and taping up the window to keep the weather out. I have tried to call the neighbours but their mobile phone is switched off. I suppose they will get a bit of a shock when they get home. Poor buggers.

I pruned back the hedge out the front of the house today. Mum thinks it is a great hedge and will come back well after a good prune, water and feed. I am not convinced but I am humouring her. She will probably turn out to be right - she usually is. I want roses but once again she is right in suggesting that we really don't have time to look after them at the moment. Perhaps in the future...the hedge will do for now. I swept (and hosed) off the front verandah and tidied up the shoes and all the pots. Lots of the pot plants are going to get repotted soon. Oooooh - I also discovered today that the kittens had been using the madonna lilly in the big green pot beside your side of the bed My Love, as a toilet. Dirty little sods.

David the Handy Man came and did the lawn on Friday. We agreed that it has stopped growing for now and he is going to change from two weekly to three weekly mows. I have finally got the dog poo bin set up and make an effort to pick up the land mines on a regular basis. The lawn looks better for it. The pool is starting to look a little bit sad. I back washed it today and cleaned out the filter. There is a ring of reddish colour scum around the edge and one day when I get time I will try and scrub it off.

Anyway, it is getting late and I have a pile of photos that I want to post here so I will finish up now. Hang in there My Love. I am sure that you will see and experience things that will make the shit times worth while. We all love you and miss you heaps. We are doing fine. I am not losing my temper. The house is spotless except for the children's rooms and the garage. I will get the garage sorted out but I have realised that it is not worth stressing about the kids rooms. I put clothes away and change sheets once a week but apart from that I leave it up to them. If they can live like that then more power to them.

Fair winds and following seas My Love xxx

Bugger - the photos went in at the top - I don't know how to fix it either. If you double click on the photos you can look at big versions.

xxxx

Sunny Saturday

What a beautiful day it is here today. It is very cool but the sun is shining and there is no wind. Roo is up and playing with lego whilst watching cartoons and I am just waiting for Ninky to wake up. We had a very late night last night (11:30pm to bed) so she will probably sleep in very late.

The kittens are racing around madly. The tablecloth is lying on the kitchen floor because I have put it back on 4 times already this morning but the kittens keep pulling it off.

Once Ninky is awake and they have both had breakfast, we are going to head down to the beach and have a walk and build some sand castles. Then it is off to the pet barn to get some more cat and dog food, kitty litter, guinea pig bedding and a covered poo box for the kittens. We will stop at Oporto on the way home and get Ninky and Roo something for lunch - they looooove Oporto.

Tomorrow we are going to go for a bike ride. I am very uncomfortable on the bike but it has been a very long time since I really rode one. I imagine that I will get better with time. Either that or I am going to have lots of scabs, bruises and broken bones!!!!

Hoo Roo

Just a quickie

Just a quickie to say;

1. I am feeling a lot lot better. I have a voice again, a croaky voice but a voice nonetheless; and

2. I got to speak to Peter last night because he was in Darwin. Talking to Peter makes me happy.

Everything is rolling along smoothly here. I have lots to say but I will save it for an entry tonight. I have to go and do Ninky's hair and get us all out the door for work and school.

Hoo Roo

I'm Sick - Send Sympathy Now...

I am sick - still. I came down with a cold the day before Peter sailed and it has been all down hill from that point. As of yesterday I have NO voice whatsoever. The official diagnosis by the wonderful Navy doctor is sinusitis/laryngitis and I am pretty sure than she threw in a complimentary pharyngitis diagnosis as well.

Today I was supposed to chair a meeting at work regarding traffic and car parking management on the base. There was so much I wanted to say but it was so hard whispering to a large group of people that I basically handed it over to my boss. Of course my boss did a sterling job and in hindsight it was probably best that he did run it. There was bad news to be given and nobody would dare boo him for delivering it. Me on the other hand - they would have booed me to the other side of the country! It all worked out pretty well but I was glad when it was over. I could feel people thinking "oh, that whispering is SOOOOO put on - there's nothing wrong with her - she's just big attention seeker". By the time I left work today (with a day's sick leave tomorrow) I was completely sick of the sound of my whispering. It was funny though, because whenever I whispered to someone halfway through the conversation they would start whispering too!!

My project is not going at all! I am in hang in there mode at the moment. The children go to the lady next door for school holiday care. Tomorrow I am going to let them sleep in and send them over between 10am and 2pm. That way I will be able to at least follow doctors orders for 4 hours and rest my voice completely.

I got to speak to Peter today. Well not really. He couldn't understand me on the phone so he really just spoke to the kids. It was lovely to hear his voice though.

That's an entry for today I suppose. Not much to say and no inclination to say much more anyway.

Until next time.

Finances

It is now Friday of the first week of my enforced single motherhood. All in all it hasn't been a bad week. I have been a bit ill but apart from an annoying croaky throat, I am feeling quite well. The children are fine. Work has been a giant pain in the rear end - endless frustrations. I can cope with that though, because the only way is onwards and upwards.

Now as for my project, I must admit to have really started nothing at all :-( This week has really been just about surviving. I am going to use this weekend to get organised a kick off with a bang next week. I need to do some cleaning, some washing, some ironing, some menu planning and have some time with the children. So much to do.

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I need to address the finance aspect of this big project of mine. It is simple really. I need to create a budget and stick to it. I need to work out goals to set. I need to menu plan and do shopping lists.

Sounds very easy on paper (well the screen anyway).

Must put it into practice.

Brief entry today. It is 6:18am and I have children to wake up and I need to get ready.

Today is the funeral of my husband's dear friend Vince. I know that Peter is sad not to be there to say goodbye. I can't get there either.

You are in our thoughts Vince. We will always remember your big smile and your big personality. RIP Vince.

This is a newspaper article written about Vince.

House and Home

I am now a single parent - albeit only for six months but I am doing the job on my own nonetheless. *sigh* My darling's ship sailed one hour and 24 minutes ago.

On Saturday we went out and go some groceries and came home and had a lovely lunch together. I rang my very nice boss and he was more than happy for me to take today off. On Saturday Peter and I took Ninky and Roo to the beach. We also took Benny the Maltese and Polly the Labrador. It was such a lovely sunny day but the wind was quite fierce. Peter and I did not go into the water but the children had fun. They swam and ran and had a (not too successful) run on their boogie boards.



Poor Polly is irrationally frightened of water. So frightened of water that she really only has a bath every couple of years when I take her to the vet and have her sedated so the can bath her. She vomits and shakes and in the past groomers were sure that she was about to have a heart attack! On Saturday she surprised us by allowing Peter to lead her into the water that was a couple of inches deep. She seemed alright with it. Peter however, took it a bit to far and saw her tolerance as an opportunity to rinse a bit of the Lab "stink" off her. He picked her up and carried her out into water that was about chest height on her. To say she was not impressed would be an understatement! She flailed about and dragged Peter out of the water (she was on her lead) at 100 mph! She was then so distressed, that she had a bad attack of diarrhea and vomited repeatedly on the beach. I was concerned that she was going to die. She did not die, though when she got home she flopped on her bed and only moved once to eat dinner later that night. She was exhausted. Poor thing. I will make sure she doesn't have to endure that ever again. I have to say that she does smell a lot better though!

Saturday night Peter cooked us a lovely dinner and we watched some TV together until fairly late.

Yesterday we got up pretty early, got Peter pack and fed all the animals. Then we jumped in the car to head to Sydney. We stopped in at Kiama and had a look at a childrens clothing shop that sells lovely clothes at huge discounts. Ninky got some lovely clothes and Roo got a camouflage shirt and a nifty hat.
We went into a cafe to get some lunch. Peter had taken the children there a few weeks ago and I recalled that they had raved about the food, the great service and the price. However, yesterday was a different story. The place was full of flies and we waited ages to b served. Then finally the waitress came out and served a table full of teenagers who had just walked in and weren't even ready to order. We were not impressed so we voted with our feet and went up the street (getting soaked in the process because it was bucketing down) to a lovely little seafood cafe. There we had excellent service and a wonderful meal.

Next it was back into the car and on to the flat in Sydney. Soon after we arrived there Peter had to go down to the ship to do some work in preparation for today's sailing. He took the children with him so that they could see the ship. I chose not to go because I have spent more than enough time on Navy ships THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! I took the opportunity to have a sleep. That was a mistake though because I woke up feeling terrible. Sore throat, stuffy nose and a head ache. Ninky had woken up the same way earlier that day.

When Peter and the children arrived back at the flat we headed up to Kings Cross (which is about a 1 minute walk away) to get some dinner. I had forgotten just how seedy and disgusting that place is! Uugh! I used to spend so much time up there shopping, night clubbing and dining when I was a young, single sailor. I knew it had some unsavoury characteristics back then but there is nothing like having young children with you and looking at something through "Mummy eyes" to make you see the ugliness of a place. Drunks, druggos, prositutes. Not nice. It's a shame because there are a lot of decent people and great businesses there as well. Anyway, we purchased dinner (and some cold and flu medicine) and headed home in the drizzle. I felt worse as the evening wore on and ended up going to bed quite early.

This morning we were up at 6am and I felt even worse. Ninky was feeling terrible as well. We tidied up the flat and made the beds quickly. Then we were all ready by 6:30am. We jumped in the car and headed down to Woolloomooloo so that we could drop Peter off. He had made me promise that I wouldn't cry because then he would cry. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) I was feeling so ill that I couldn't muster up at tear. The kids were fantastic and remained dry eyed (but sad faced) and we gave Peter cuddles and kisses and bade Peter farewell with a wish for fair winds and following seas.

Then I burst into tears as we drove away.

I would like to say that our trip home was uneventful but I can't. Poor Ninky vomited all over the front of the car, necessitating a stop in Kiama to purchase wipes, rubber gloves and plastic bags. Before I could stop Roo had "gone out in sympathy" and vomited out the back window of the car. Once that incident was dealt with we were back on the road and arrived home without further incident. Gosh I hate dealing with vomit!

So now we are home and the menagerie was pleased to see us. I feel better but Ninky is tucked up on the couch watching TV and making intermitent requests for water/soup/lemsip/cuddles.

It is cold and raining. A lovely day to be tucked up inside.

I have a lot of housework to do. I also need to get my uniforms ready for tomorrow. Today is the change to winter uniform. I like winter uniform so much better than summer. It is so much easier to take care of and looks so much smarter than the summer uniform.

I can't wait until we get issued with the new cams in September. They are going to be really easy to take care of!


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Now, regarding the house and home component of the project. I have quite a lot that I want to achieve in the time that Peter is away. In a later post I will detail all of the individual projects that I want to do around the house. They include things such as painting a wall in one of the living areas, creating an outdoor cat enclosure, redoing the whole front garden, planting a privacy screen along the pool fence. That list is nowhere near exhaustive but it gives you an idea.

More than anything though, I really want to get organised. I waste so much of my time procrastinating and half doing things. I want to develop routines and for this I will be availing myself of the advice of the Great Fly Lady. I have long been a fan but have never got around to actually implementing any of her strategies. Now is the time!!
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That's it for me for now.

This blogging business is quite time consuming! I started over an hour ago. I am quite a fast typist - so most of the time has been working out photo uploading I think. I will get faster as time goes by I imagine.


Hoo Roo.