Invitations

I LOVE creating invitations on the computer!

You might recall my Ticketek invites to the Little Big Fella's 3rd birthday?

OMG!!!!  I just looked and discovered that I didn't post a picture of it!!!  Let's see if I can find a copy somewhere.

I was particularly proud of it because it looks so similar to a real Ticketek ticket, and it took me a bit of time to make it work properly.

This year, the Little Big Fella has decided that he wants a Superhero party (again!).  So I needed a good superhero invite.  Unfortunately I no longer have the program I used for the Ticketek invite, so I've had to fiddle around a bit to create this one:

For a quick, throw-together, I'm pretty happy with that!

Shopping Trolleys

I need to rant.

And given that this is my blog and I can write whatever I like, I'm going to do it here.

What is the deal with all the lazy people who won't put their trolley in the trolley bay???

I mean, how hard is it to walk up to 10 metres to put it away?

And then, once you're there, why wouldn't you push it into the other trolleys so that they don't run away or get all tangled up together?

Am I so strange that I think this is how it should be?

I've heard that some people say, "why should I do it?  I don't get paid for that!".

To which I say, "you lazy bum!".

Just because a store pays someone to come and collect them doesn't give you license to be lazy and leave your trolley in the middle of the car park, where other cars can run into it (if, for example, it's left between two parked cars and you don't see it), or where it can run away and crash into parked cars.

And what ever happened to being a part of the world community???  You don't get paid to put your rubbish in the bin, or keep your spit to yourself, or smile at others, or use your manners, or help someone out.

Bah!

Stop being so immature and pathetic and give 5 seconds of your time and a tiny bit of effort, and put your trolley in the bay!

Attack of the killer BluTack

I know I've mentioned it a few times before, but I've joined my local CWA branch.  Our hall has recently had some work done so it was pretty dusty and in need of a good clean.

So after our meeting the other day we got into it and cleaned the windows, some of the walls and the bathrooms.

It was then that we realised what a big job it is to clean a public hall.  We'd been going for about two hours and had only done that much!  There was SO much more to be done!!!

So, on the weekend I got a text inviting me to come and do another stint.  The Big Fella was at work so I got to take the Little Big Fella with me.  I packed a bag full of toys, and he decided to wear his Darth Vader costume.  We jumped on our bikes and went to the hall.

I got the joyous job of cleaning walls.  And I can tell you, I love cleaning walls about as much as I love cleaning windows!

I spent the next three hours cleaning one wall.

Yes.  You read that correctly.  Three hours, one wall.

As an experienced cleaner (ha!), why on earth would it take that long?????

BluTack, people!!!

OMG!!!  I swear some of that BluTack had been there since the hall was built!!!!  So it was solid and did not want to move to a new home!!!

My poor little fingers got cramps from pushing all that BluTack around to get it to come off.

And then there was the sticky stuff left behind by tape!  I ended up riding home to get my bottle of eucalyptus oil to get that stuff off!

If I never see sticky stuff and BluTack again in my life...

Well, after about two minutes of "helping" me clean the wall, the Little Big Fella discovered that sugar soapy water and a rag makes "slug tracks" on a wooden floor.

At least he was entertained for about an hour, racing around the "track" like Turbo (a Disney/Pixar snail).

Never mind that once it dried the floors didn't look as clean as they were when we arrived.  At least one wall was clean!

Not-so-quirky facts

I was going to write a random post with "quirky facts" about me, except that I don't think I'm particularly quirky, so it would have been misleading.  Instead, I'll give you a few "not-so-quirky facts".

1. I'm the oldest of four kids - two sisters and one brother.
   
2. My parents are still married and are about to celebrate their 37th wedding anniversary.
   
3. I have a fairly routine bedtime of 10pm, and wake up at 6am.  Okay, routine is probably an exaggeration.  It's my goal and I probably achieve it about 80% of the time.
   
4. I'm a mystery shopper - I go into stores and evaluate their products, cleanliness and service then report and make suggestions for improvement.  It's slightly ironic, because as a young worker I was mystery shopped many times!
   
5. If I don't eat breakfast, I turn into a cranky-pants monster by about 10:30am
   
6. I've only ever won a single ribbon in a sport.  I came 2nd in the 50m breaststroke in Year 8 at the school swimming carnival.
   
7. I used to have a pretty good memory, especially for people's names.  Then I had a child and my brain capacity went out the window!
   
8. Sometimes I want to cry for no good reason at all.
   
9. I didn't drink alcohol until I got married at 22 years old.
   
10. Ants drive me totally batty!!!  I'll literally chase them around my house and squish any that I see.
    
11. Half the time I'd prefer to watch a good kid's movie (Toy Story, Frozen, Turbo etc.) rather than one intended for adults.
    
12. I like almost all music, but my favourite is jazz.
    
13. I lived in the USA for a year, and when I came home to Australia it took me several months to sound like an Aussie again.
    
14. I get an absolute thrill out of watching my son learn :-)
    
15. I hardly ever talk to my family on the phone, even though I love them to pieces and miss them like crazy.  I always think I'll be interrupting their busy lives, which is stupid, because even if I only get to say "hi", it's better than nothing, right?
    
16. I've never named my vehicles.
    
17. I don't really have a favourite colour.  Sometimes it's yellow, sometimes red, sometimes blue, occasionally purple.  I don't really like orange or brown.
    
18. When we were growing up my brother would often say to me, "you're not the Mum".  Guess I was a little bossy :-)
    
19. One of my strongest love languages is touch, but I'm really hesitant to instigate it with others.
    
20. Before I go to sleep I usually lay on my back, then my side, then my tummy, then my other side, before finally choosing a side to sleep on.
    

So there you go!  All the stuff you never knew you wanted to know about me!  Enjoy!

Ah! The serenity!

I was really lucky to have my best friend here last week.  Unfortunately life is busy at the moment, so for the first part of the week she got to follow me around and experience the chaos of it.

But Thursday we got to sit around and chat, and Friday we took off on a spontaneous adventure.

After school drop-off, we gathered some morning tea and water and jumped in the car.  I drove us up to the tablelands nearby.  There's a lookout up there where you can see the plains below, and the craggy sandstone cliffs of the tablelands around you.

It's the first time I've been there and not had other groups there at the same time.  And it was SO quiet!

We decided to go back to the car and get our morning tea.

As we sat there enjoying the view, an eagle soared by, in front of the lookout - probably only 10 meters away from us.  We watched it flying around in the thermals, rising higher and higher, before it headed off in another direction.

This was taken when the eagle had moved further away.  When we initially saw it, it was only a couple of metres from the railing.

It was so lovely and peaceful, and felt incredibly special.

Instead of heading straight home, we decided to go and have a look at the river (the Fellas and I went there another time).  Apparently we've had a bit of rain recently, because there was the definite smell of rotting vegetation, somewhat similar to seaweed on the beach, and we got a bit muddy walking up the tracks next to the river.

But despite the smell and mess, it was great to hang about for a while watching the water go by, looking at those amazing trees, and chasing butterflies like a lunatic.

We headed back home and had lunch before school pickup.

The day was such a lovely contrast to the busy-ness of the first half of the week, and it reminded me that, even when I don't have friends staying, I need to make the time to have spontaneous adventures, and find places of serenity in my home, my town and the surrounding area.

Friends and nature are just, plain good for the soul :-D

Getting a head-start

As I wrote the other day, after pretty much a lifetime of working it out, I've decided to do a degree in Physiotherapy.  And while I'm super eager to get started, I'm also a little nervous.  The amount of stuff I need to learn, especially the scientific stuff seems overwhelming at this point in time.

But in the meantime, the Big Fella has bought me a massage table!

Of course, he had to be the first one to try it out.

And I have to say, it was much easier to massage him at the right height than on the floor, couch or bed.

So now all I need to do is get myself some anatomy and physiology books and get myself a head-start so that I can ace my classes and become the most awesome Physiotherapist ever!  Lol!

Thanks for the love

My blog just passed 10,000 page views!!!!  SO blown away!!!!!

How is it that what essentially began as an online diary, and a way of allowing my family and friends from far away to keep up with what's happening in my life, has grown like this???

Thank you to everyone who reads this blog thereby making me feel extra special.  I'm glad you've found something entertaining or interesting or DIY-able here.

Thank you to all of those people that I don't even know personally that continue to read my random thoughts and projects.

And thank you to my family and friends, who continually encourage me, not only in writing, but in life.

Thanks for the love, readers!

And then there was one.

Not long after we moved here the Big Fella decided that we needed a dog.  He saw that someone local had puppies they were selling and went to look at them.  We ended up with two.

Here's the link to the post about them, with photos.

The female, Choccie, let the Little Big Fella do just about anything to her.  He could pick her up and pat her and make her dance and chase her around.  And she'd placidly (although not always happily) let him.

Recently the dogs have been running up and down the front fence "chasing" cars (especially utes), motorbikes and people.

Unfortunately today Choccie got out the gate when it was briefly opened, chased a truck and managed to get run over, dying instantly.  Thankfully(?), the Little Big Fella and I were at a party so the Big Fella took her and buried her.

Obviously there's sadness in our household tonight.  Frankie (our male dog) keeps sitting watching out the front.  I'm pretty sure he's wondering where she is.

The Little Big Fella had a big cry and we talked about how sad it was and what we loved about her and that we'll have to make sure we play a lot with Frankie now because he'll be lonely.

The Little Big Fella constantly amazes me in how well he "gets over" things.  After his big cry and our talk he went on with doing whatever he was doing, and playing and talking.  I have no doubt that there will be intermittent tears over the next few days, and recollections for a long time to come, but he's accepted what happened and is moving on.

So we're down to one dog and no chooks.  I'm beginning to wonder if we're meant to have animals at all!!!

Choccie was a bundle of energy and excitement.  The character "Scrat" from the Ice Age movies could easily have been based on her!  Although her barking wasn't my favourite thing, she was a stereotypical loving and devoted dog.  All she ever wanted was food and love, and we were happy to give her both.

We'll miss you Choccie.