So much has happened

Gosh where to start...Well I had my knee surgery (22nd Aug) and they removed bits of bone, fluid and scraped the joint, its still a bit sore, I cannot kneel on it but at least I can walk without pain, even if it is a very slow walk. So all the weight I had lost I gained being very inactive.
Elisa then decided to move her flight forward so she could find a house before we all came over at the same time dh Dave was finding it harder and harder to go to work and be happy, so we discussed starting our own business and buying a street sweeper. I started the NEIS course which ran full time for 6 weeks and at the end of it I received a Certificate 4 in Business.
At the same time we had alreaady found a machine and had organised finace and had bought it, we called ourselves All-Hours Street Sweeping Services and Dave moved down to Lara and moved in with his brother until we found a house. So starting in the middle of September I started travelling backwards and forwards to Lara/Geelong looking for a house to rent. We were having so many problems due to the fact we have owned our own properties for the last 17 years and we have dogs...which I will not give up!
November 1st came around too quickly...up at 4am to set off to the airport. 1 small car, 3 kids one in a car seat, 1 cat in crate, 2 large suitcaes, 2 kids school backpacks and 2 stressed adults. We made it with 15 minutes to spare, time enough for a couple of photos and some tears, they were mine.
Decided to go and cheer myseld up by going to the movies in Bendigo I went and watched Kenny, if you want a laugh do yourself a favour...its very Australian. Came home to a very quiet house till dd Melissa came home.
Dh Dave came home for the weekend and started cleaning up the yard, porch, shed. Then his brother Daryl and stepson BIlly came and helped for 2 days, washing windows, lifting heavy items, man things...
The week flew by and I had left my medication in Lara, by Thursday I was a gibbering mess, crying, feeling sick in the stomach. So when Mel;issa finished work we went to Lara so she could say goodbye to Dave and I could get all my pills. We left there at 9.20pm and took the wrong exit and ended up in Footscray, we managed to navigate our way to the calder freeway and arrived home at 12.40 am. Melissa slept most of the way. waking as we pulled into the driveway.
The following week went just as quickly with another 4am start on the 11th Nov, this time it was 2 huge cases, 1 dog in crate & 2 humans, we got there with over 50 minutes to spare then the hiccup came. The plane Melissa was due to fly out on the heater in the baggage compartment wasnt working and the dog would freeze to death, so she would have to take a flight 2 hours later, costing $22. Melissa had already given the dog his sedation pill and was worried that in 2 hours it would have worn off and he would start howling, and thet they wouldnt let her on the plane. Everything must have gone smoothly as Melissa nd her dog Conner arrived in Perth safely.
I left the airport and drove to Lara just to have enough time for a coffee before getting ready for Daves friend Mick's wedding in Geelong. Mick has tumours growing in his head which has left him almost speechless and with no motor control. Anyway it was a beautiful wedding and reception all held in his Mothers backyard.
Dave, John, Denise and myself drove into Geelong abd had a roast meal then went to the movies to see Kenny, I laughed just as much.
We got back to Johns house where I left Dave and drove back to Dingee getting home aound 2.30 a,. So Sunday was spent in bed sleeping.
Monday I decided I had better get started on the packing so I pack a couple of boxes a day so as to not strain my back. Its been very theraputic cleaning out some of the junk. I have kept a couple of special items from the kids childhood.
I have been sorting items to sell and putting them in one room with items to keep in another, the end room has all of Elisa's stuff in it.
So here we are up to today...Ive caught up on all my emails, made my bed, updated my blog and have put off packing long enough.

Back to normal

Back to normal yeah right...Well it did quieten down after the funerals for awhile. I saw the Orthopaedic specialist and am booked in for a Arthrescope on the 22nd August, Im looking forward to being able to walk again without pain.
Ive also seen the Gynacologist as they are keeping up a review on a cyst in my left ovary, I asked the quuestion "When going through menopause does your bladder become weaker?" then an internal exam occured and I have a prolapsed bladder, so am being referred to a specialist for tests and treatment.
At the same time Im visiting my GP as he is taking blood to keep an eye on my cholesterol level as Im on medication for it as well as diet & exercise. Ive been doing weight watchers for 6 weeks and have lost a total of 4.8 kg and thats without exercise due to my knee.
I also have a part time job working for the Australian Buerau of Statistics as a Census Collector, I have been doing the delivery/collection in the township of Mitiamo. I used it as great exercise as I would park the car and walk the entire town.
As of the 7/7/2006 I became a non-smoker...did it cold turkey which was hard especially with the funerals but I feel so much better for it.
I have also stopped picking at my nails, they are healthy and long, they certainly look much better than the horrible stubs that used to be there.
dh Dave, dd Melissa and myself went to the football on Sunday 13th August to see Hawthorn play Carlton, it was part of Melissa's birthday present but unfortnatly she got car sick on the way down to Melbourne so was unable to enjoy herself. She couldnt even bring hrself to sing the Hawthorn song when they won. We stopped in at Highpoint for dinner, Dave & I had Nando's, whilst Melissa had nothing. So comming home I drove, Melissa was in the front and Dave slept in the back. Today has been spent tidying up/ washing/ floors, that sort of mundane thing.

Two funerals and a f disc...

I am so glad this week is over...We had Norm's funeral on Wednesday 19th July, it was held at Mulqueens in Bendigo. A catholic chaplain ran the service with a poem read by grand daughters Brooke, Stacey, Kate & Ashley. Flowers were put on Norm's coffin by Lauren. Dave gave a speech thanking everyone and highlighting some of Norm's life, which included a love of lawn bowls, darts, horse racing and travel with the occasional bet in between. The casket was carried out by sons Dave, Ron, Daryl and grandsons Matt & Jamie. Norm was buried at the Eaglehawk cemetery and a wake was held at the Botanical Hotel and was attended my a great many people.

I went home in the early evening leaving Dave to catch up with his relatives and friends.
Arriving home Elisa informs me the computer has crashed again...So Thursday was spent trying to fix it, an Acer technician who was in the area came and had a look and the bad news was it was more than likely we would not be able to salvage any files or photos. He said he could take it and there was no guarantee he could repair it the other option was to f disc the computer and reload windows, so due to the financial situation I made the decision to f disc it, so I've lost all my email contacts and all my emails that I wanted to keep.

Then on Friday we traveled to Melbourne (Altona) for Doss's funeral. (Norm's elder sister who died 25 hours after Norm), a catholic service was held by an incompetent priest who rattled on more about a banquet rather than about Doss. Tea and refreshments were served in the room next to the chapel and afterwards we went to the Westside hotel for drinks. We stayed until 6pm and drove to Peg's(Dave's mum) for a cup of tea and arriving home around 10pm.

So today I'm having a quiet day babysitting the kids whilst Melissa & Elisa go food shopping...yay for DVD's...
Oh yeah this is day 15 as a NON smoker.

Back to reality...

I have finally returned to the land of the living and its been another bumpy road, in fact potholes as large as craters appeared.
Looking back now I can see when it all started going pear shaped...

• It started with the marriage breakup of some friends who live close by, both parties would tell all their problems to me, and I was trying to stay neutral. I was even getting phone calls from the Mother of one of them.
• Babysitting a child from the marriage break up (after school until 7.30pm)
• attended a funeral of Lenny Doherty, he died from cancer and was only 40 years. ( Really gave me a mortality check)
• Got a speeding fine on the way home from the funeral.
• My dog Dufus first had a spider bite then ingested toxic material both requiring trips to the vet and quite a big bill.

So on the morning of my Psych appointment I snapped...I tried cutting my wrist using a kitchen knife so spent time on the phone to the mental health triage. I managed to keep it together until dh came home and drove me to my Psych appointment, Dave went and visited his father who was still in hospital. The Psych put my name in for the next available bed at the ABC unit, we waited for Dave to return as the psych wanted to discuss a few things with him but Dave didn't get back until 5.45pm by this time I was having a coffee at MacDonalds. When I got home I gave all my pills to my sister so I couldn't hurt myself.

Thursday went by in a blur I don't remember it at all...by Friday I was on the edge. I began packing a bag for admittance to the Psych hospital, Matthew was in bed asleep and Elisa went down to the post office. Whilst she was gone I came across an old toiletry bag with some pills inside so I took them. By the time Elisa got back I was sitting on the edge of the bed crying...She immediately rang the mental health triage number who advised her to take me to hospital. So she got Matthew and drove to Bendigo a trip of around 40-45 minutes, I have no recollection of the trip. Staggering up the path to emergency was hard enough (would have been funny to witness). I was seen almost immediately, when asked what I had taken I rattled off a cocktail of drugs, Panadine Forte, Valium, Temazapam & Solium. Out came the charcoal drink and I was placed on a heart monitor, to which I was to stay attatched to for 24 hours, an IV line was put in with fluid going through. The tablets had affected my heart rate and my potassium levels were all over the place, so they had to keep an eye on it. The ED psychiatrist visited and asked if I would admit myself to the ABC unit to which I agreed (otherwise it was involuntary which is a stay of 6 weeks). I spent the next 4 days in the ED as there were no beds at the Psych hospital and no beds in the wards. They moved me on Monday to the ABC and finally put me back on my meds, at the same time increasing my anti-psychotic drug and introducing another one, so I was a zombie again. I stayed in hospital till the 1st June. Arriving home was a blur as I was on 2 anti-psychotic drugs, I had to wean myself off my old ones. I was unable to drive a car and all I did all day was sleep. I was under instructions to reduce my stress, as that is one of my triggers, so my friend Sami was told we could no longer look after her daughter.

Then life took over and threw another curve ball, within days the following happened

• Power kept on surging and going out, causing the DVD & VCR to blow up
• Lost the phone line for 6 days
• Ran out of water, so had to buy in a tanker worth at $ 180
• Ran out of gas, so a bottle ordered from the store $ 88
• Car rego came due $250
• My local GP called me wanting to see me after routine blood tests. He informed me that my cholesterol level is the highest he has seen, and I need to go medication immediately, stop smoking, loose weight & exercise.
• The computer broke down and was in the repair shop for 12 days, so no internet. $ 77

So on the Friday 7/7/06 I QUIT smoking...went cold turkey! Day 3 was the worst I had the full body shakes, vomiting..all that lovely stuff.

Thinking that nothing else could possibly go wrong I set out on Friday to do my Avon orders, upon arriving home my sister informs me that my dh rushed to Bendigo as his dad(Norm) had taken a turn for the worse, I thought nothing of it as this happens all the time. Then the phone rang at 3pm and dh informs me his father passed away at 2pm. So I got changed and headed down to Bendigo to be with the family, I called both my girls and let them know, Melissa was going to meet me at Nans house. When we arrived we found out that Norm's sister Doss was also in hospital not expected to see the night out. When dh arrived home last night he told me that Doss passed away at 3 pm today exactly 25 hours after her brother, apparently the standing joke was that Doss had always said she'd outlive Norm. So Norms funeral will be on Wednesday in Bendigo and Doss's on Friday in Melbourne.

So that's where we are up to....Welcome back to reality Jen, what stress I hear you say...There's no stress in my life...LOL

The rollercoaster ride of life....

The black dog has arrived!!
Another night of hardly any sleep has passed, in the past week I've been averaging 1-2 hours a night. So Im feeling absolutely exhausted. Due to the mood stabilizers that I take I didn't recognize that I was manic last week until it was too late (Friday I was feeling SO good, I spent heaps of money that I didn't have), after the high inevitably comes the crash., and boy have I crashed.
I had been feeling relatively good for the past couple of months, just the normal highs and lows that 'normal' people get.
However, Saturday arrived and I was really low...Almost as bad as last year when they admitted me to the Psych ward of the hospital where I stayed for 3 weeks.
All my triggers are present, the stomach upset, not sleeping, not hungry, the voices getting louder and more persistent in my head, the urge to cut myself and the suicidal thoughts. The feeling of absolute worthlessness, self loathing and frustration. I have been taking all of my medications so Im not sure what has caused this episode, the only thing that's keeping me going at the moment is that I have my sister and her little kids living here and I don't want them to see me when Im like this, so I put on my happy face even though inside Im being torn apart. I know its not a really healthy thing to do but they don't need to see or hear their Aunty rambling on about doing herself in or to see me sitting in a dark room crying constantly.
On Monday I called my councellor and he made an appointment with the Psychiatrist for Wednesday afternoon, dh Dave is taking the afternoon off work to drive me down there as they don't want me driving a car in my frame of mind. When I told dh he has the time off all he said was "What are you doing to me?" That upset me even further as its not something I wish to have happen, if I could change things I would.
He seems to think that as long as I take my meds things should be okay, normal like but their not!
So I've just got to keep it together until I see the Psych.

Football, piercings and other stuff....

Yet again another week has flown by with life being hectic as usual, things are never dull and boring around here. Dd Melissa decided to get her top ear pierced and got it done via a needle and ended up costing her $65, so I decided to get my left top ear re-pierced with the gun to show her that it doesn't hurt ($25). So then Melissa decided to got her other side done using the gun, so now she has 2 very red and swollen top ears as she has to wear ear muffs at work and is showering in bore water, we've managed to take out 2 studs and replace with sleepers to make it easier to get the antibiotic ointment to go through her ears. Mine only took 3 days to heal so I have sleepers in mine already.
The week went smoothly with nothing major happening, on Friday as soon as we dropped the girls at school Elisa, Matthew & I went to Bendigo and spent the day shopping. I bought myself a pair of black stretch jeans, cow pajamas, bedsocks, 3 bras and a red jacket...talk about a splurge I was feeling fantastic (MANIC) that day which should have been a warning to me, as after a good day comes a bad one and I crashed...
It was a real effort to get out of bed and get dressed on Saturday, (having the kids here helps me as I don't want them seeing me when Im really down, so I put on my happy mask) so I visited a girlfriend who has recently separated from her husband, I spent the afternoon chatting and having coffee. Still feeling really miserable I came home and decided a walk might make me feel better, so I grabbed Dufus and we walked for 40 minutes, we were both hobbling by the time we got home our arthritis was playing up, but Dufus really enjoyed the walk.
After dinner we decided to give the kids a treat by lighting the bonfire so they could cook some marshmallows, we gave them sparklers to play with while the bonfire died down enough so we could get close enough to toast them (the marshmallows not the kids...lol).
Sunday morning rolled around ( I was so tired as I've not been sleeping the past week even with taking valium & temazapan) dh Dave made me a cuppa and then dd Melissa got up and started making pancakes with the help of Talia & Eloise, so we had a huge feed of pancakes. Melissa gave me a beautiful Egyptian bath towel in a gorgeous blue colour.
Dave & I left home around 9.30 as we wanted to visit his mum who is now on crutches as her osteo-arthritis is playing up, she really liked her little gift that I got her from Avon. We stayed for a cup of tea which Dave made...
We arrived in Melbourne at the MCG around 1.15pm (Carlton/Essendon) and got a great carpark almost out the front of the gate, we had really good seats on the ground floor under cover as it rained most of the game so we were nice and dry. It was a great game to watch with it being fairly even and we finally got to sing the Blues song...yay
We drove to Wallan to visit my friend Sue, this time she was home and we ended up staying until 9pm having a real good catch-up. We would have stayed later but dh had to start work at 6am, so we drove home, it rained all the way up till Heathcote then not a cloud in the sky and it was very cold. We arrived home after 11pm. Dh went straight to sleep but I was till awake at 2.30am so I got up and took 2 valium hoping that they would help me, well they didn't so I gave up and have been sitting up in front of the fire.
I will be calling my councilor Kevin today as Im really worried that Im heading into another depressive cycle, as I have 3 out of my 4 triggers happening (and I don't really want to end back in the psych ward). It is just the worst feeling in the world when that black cloud descends on top of you.
So hopefully this week things will improve, will keep you all posted.
Happy Mothers Day to all the Mothers out there.......

An update on Dufus, our dog.

Dufus started vomiting mid Sunday morning while Dave & I were at the football, on Monday I let her out to go to the toilet and she disappeared, at first I wasn't too concerned but after a few hours had passed I become increasingly worried. The thought going through my mind was she had gone away to die. Elisa & I went looking for her but couldn't find her, Dave came home after work around 4.30pm and we searched for her, he finally found her hiding under the caravan behind the hay shed. Whilst looking for her I came across a pile of stuff she had brought up along with grass and dog biscuits was a tampon, (obviously Dufus had gotten into my dd's rubbish). She looked terrible, her eyes were all bloodshot, her nose dry and she was constantly licking her lips as she was very dehydrated. I called the vet and made an appointment for first thing Tuesday morning. Dufus tried to drink water but as soon as she did she would vomit.
So after dropping the girls off at school Elisa, Matthew , Dufus & I went to Rochester, normally Dufus is really excited about going in the car but she just laid down the whole trip. When arriving at the vet Dufus got weighed in and she had lost almost 1kg since her last visit which was only 3 weeks prior due to an infected spider bite on her nose. The hardest part of the visit was explaining to Keith the vet what I had found in her vomit and that I thought she maybe had another stuck in her stomach. He checked her stomach and it was very tender to the touch, he took her temperature which was normal, and did a rectal exam and she was badly constipated. So Keith decided that Dufus should stay and be put on IV fluids as she was dehydrated, give her an injection to stop the vomiting and they would take an x-ray then do a barium meal to check for any obstructions. If there was an obstruction then surgery would be required. I rang the vet around 4pm to check on her condition and she had just had her last x-ray after the barium meal, the good news was there was no obstruction but she was to stay overnight to get her fluid level back up and to ensure the vomiting had stopped. I was to call around 10am the next day to find out when I could take her home. I was so relieved.
So 10am came and I called the vet they were just giving Dufus a small feed to see how her stomach was and they said to call then back at 1pm as she was to have another small feed around lunch time and if all was fine I could get her. So I sat and knitted waiting for 1pm...finally I called the vet and she was ready so I went and picked her up arriving home around 3.15pm. The kids were really excited to see her when they arrived home from school as were the other dogs. So she is on antibiotics and some other medication for 10 days just to help her body fight whatever infection she caught, the vet has put it down to Gastroenteritis, I was worried about toxic shock from what she had swallowed.
So good news all around, now I just get to wait for the bill.......

The past week.

Another week has flown by with life being chaotic...Monday is food shopping day so the whole day was taken up with doing that wonderfully banal chore. Tuesday was a quiet day spent at home catching up with the housework. Wednedsay we drove to Elmore as Elisa was to have her stitches removed but as they hadn't healed they're to stay in for another week, we arrived home to a message on the answering machine from the bush nurse, she had seen Talia at school and the sore on her face that we thought was a bite turned out to be a school sore so a trip to the doctor was in order, the only appointment available for the next week was that day at 2.30pm, so Elisa raced to the school and collected Talia and was back here in time to collect the other 2 girls from school. I drove down to Bendigo to put Dave's wage in the bank and get some jeans for Dave, I managed to get myself a pair as well. Friday Elisa and I went to town looking for shoes for Dave and picking up some prescriptions. Friday night was spent watching the football. Saturday came around and when Melissa came home from work we went to Bendigo to buy some Egyptian Flannellette king size sheets as I was starting to freeze at night, we also bought some potted daisies white and yellow, a frilly cyclamen, slippers for me, so a good retail therapy session.
Saturday afternoon ws spent knitting as Dave had gone to town to visit his dad and have tea with his mum, he visited Cliff and then dropped into the Allies for a catch-up, leaving there and getting home around 1.30am, he had a sleep in on the Sunday as it was his first day off since we went to Portland. He got up and cut some wood before we left for Melbourne to see the Carlton/Collingwood game at the MCG. We arrived at the ground around 1.30pm and the sky was clear, although the forecast was for hail/rain. The game started off really well and was enjoyable to watch, then half time came as did the rain and wind. Third quarter started as the rain cleared, and dh Dave said we are going to lose by around 85 points. Well he wasn't far wrong, Carlton went down by 72 points and appeared to not even bother playing in the last half. Very disappointed we left just before the siren as to beat all the crowds, we drove to Wallan calling in on a girlfriend who was expecting me but she wasn't home. So I drove onto Bendigo got some Red Rooster for tea and drove home arriving around 8pm.
On arriving home my sister informs me my dog Dufus has been vomiting all day, so I spent the evening keeping an eye on her, she disappeared on Monday which really worried me, she spent the day hiding in the hay shed behind the caravan only comming out when Dave came home late that evening, so an appointment for the vet has been made for today as she is not eating and as soon as she drinks she vomits. So hopefully it will be nothing too serious. Will keep you all posted.

Another month gone....

The weeks are just flying by, April has come and gone. We celebrated dh's 51st birthday on April Fools Day with a quiet dinner at home. Melissa & Elisa had gone to Melbourne as Talia & Eloise were to fly out that day to Perth for a month long holiday, they were heading up to Kunnunurra for their Aunties wedding. So all was quiet around the house...
On the Saturday before Easter dh and I went to the Telstra Dome to watch Carlton play the Sydney Swans, it was such a dismal game to watch with the Swans constantly kicking backwards or really short kicks, the crowd became very vocal by booing and hissing, even though our team lost it was good to get out and see a footy game.
Easter came as did the Easter Bunny, leaving Matthew some lovely eggs. I also scored really well with 2 Lindt bunny's and a box of Forrero Roche chockies...mmm my favourite.
On Easter Monday Elisa & I decided to do food shopping, we set off in her car only getting a couple of kilometres down the road before her car made an awful bang and stopped. The car had blown a radiator hose and the water pump belt had come off, so Elisa walked back to the house and picked up my car so we could go shopping. However, we totally forgot that the roads all around Bendigo were closed due to the parade. So not much shopping was purchased. It was one of those days that we should have stayed home.
Elisa was getting more and more excited as the end of the month drew near as her girls were flying home on the 28th. But Murphy had other plans by sending a cyclone towards Darwin flooding all the roads up there, so the girls had to be driven from Timber Creek in the NT to Kunnunurra then a short plane trip to Broome with a night stop over then from Broome to Melbourne on the Saturday. We got up at 3am and left by 3.30am. Their plane was supposed to arrive at 6.20 am, but it was early so we ran through the terminal so Elisa could be there when the girls got off the plane. They were so excited to see her. We stayed and had coffee with Sue (the girls Nana), then headed to Highpoint for some retail therapy. Whilst at Highpoint I had a lovely head and neck massage and Elisa got her ears pierced (the top part of the ear). We were absolutely exhausted so decided to go home, stopping off in Bendigo to have dinner at La Porchetta. We arrived home around 6.30pm with the kids going straight to bed.
Life got back to normal with the girls starting at their new school on Monday, so Elisa & I made the most of the time and went food shopping.
So life has been busy as usual...I wonder what's in store for this month.

Our holiday in Portland

My dh Dave and myself spent 3 nights and 4 days holidaying in Portland. We were given the holiday for free as part of the Take a Break Holiday program provided by the Uniting Church and the Wimmera Drought Relief Fund, its aim was to give farming families a holiday which they normally could not afford.
We left home on Monday 20th March and visited Dave's friend Cliff (his brother Lenny is in a hospice, as his cancer is advanced) we then visited his parents before setting off for Ballarat. We stopped for coffee and cake at La Porcetta in Ballarat then head off for Portland via Hamilton.
We reached Portland by 4.30 that afternoon, we headed straight for the tourist information centre for maps and info on what do to in the area. We got to the Portland Bay Lodge around 5.30pm. Dave sat in the car whilst I got shown to our room. (Dave was so looking forward to a romantic holiday as it was our first without children) Graeme our host showed me to our room...a single bed and a set of single bunks, with just enough room to get around, there were communal showers and dining area. The meal was delicious, there was soup, then roast beef and dessert. We went back to our room as there was no TV or radio so we spent the evening playing cribbage. The next morning after a feed of bacon and eggs we went sight-seeing. We went to Cape Bridgewater and viewed the petrified forrest, the blowholes and the lighthouse. We then drove to Nelson which is 5km from the SA border and had lunch overlooking a tidal creek. We then drove back to Portland and toured the Motor Museum and drove around the city centre. We called into a fishing shop and bought some bait and spent the next 2 hours sitting on the breakwater fishing. We headed back to the Lodge for dinner, then after a short nap we went fishing off the boat ramp which was about 50 metres from the Lodge.
The next morning we went straight down to the breakwater and fished there until we got sick of tired of losing all of our sinkers and hooks. We set off for Narrawong as it sits on a tidal creek, we stayed there for about 1 hour, we got a few bites but nothing on the end of the line. We headed back to Portland to the boat ramp as there was a bit of beach to fish from. We stayed there for 4 hours, I caught a little bait fish and saw 4 sting rays swim about 1 metre from where I was standing. Dave spent most of the time sitting on a deck chair reading a magazine and drinking a beer. We went back to the lodge for dinner then spent the remainder of the night sitting outside with a few other couples having a drink.
Thursday morning arrived and we set off for Apollo Bay as we were planing on spending the night. We stopped off at Warnabool so I could see the whale nursery (wrong time for whales though) we then had lunch at Port Campbell. The next couple of hours were spent driving along the Great Ocean Road admiring the fantastic scenery. We arrived in Apollo Bay and booked into a Budget Motel overlooking the beach. We walked up to the shops and bought a waffle ice-cream to eat whilst walking along the beach front. There was kilometers of beach and only 1 man fishing, so back to the car we got our rods and tackle box/bait and back to the beach we went. I caught 4 sand crabs and 2 baby whiting (I threw them back as they were undersize), Dave caught 2 large whiting but we were unable to keep them so back to the water they went. We spent around 3 hours fishing, it was lovely standing in the water with a rod.
We went back to the Motel, got cleaned up and went down the street to a local cafe for dinner.
We were up early the next morning and set off for Geelong as Dave has friends there he wanted to catch up with. Just out of Lorne dave was feeling car sick so I had to slow down, I was having fun driving around all the sharp bends it was just like rally driving...lol
We spent the morning in Geelong then off to Wallan where my girlfriend Sue lives, we had a cuppa and a chat before heading for home, arriving home to some very excited dogs around 5.30pm. It was an exhausting but very enjoyable holiday.

Tagged

Ivé been tagged by Elisa.

What scrapbook lines/products etc do you dislike? I would have to say patterned paper that has ducks and such things like it.

What is the hardest thing you ever had to scrap? It was my wedding photos from my first wedding, I thought I had better do them for my kids sake.

What techniques do you use more than anything else? Paper tearing and layering.

What is the smallest scrap of paper you save? Anything bigger than 4x4.

Have you ever had any scrappring related injuries? Just the occasional paper cut.

Finish this sentance...If I wasn't a scrapbooker/stamper I would spend my money on... DVD's, CD's, books

Give your best ever storage or organizational idea. I was piffed 2 fantastic paper keepers from Scrap Stash.

You just won a week long scrapbooking cruise for 5. Who is going with you?
I would take my dh Dave, and 3 friends from FoRW.

When you received your first publication notification, who did you tell? I have never entered any of my LO's for publication. The only thing I have entered is the monthly challenges from FoRW.

Some happy news

Iv'e had a very productive week, Iv'e sorted through my scrapping stash again and have found a heap more stuff to list on ebay. Completed a community album double LO for a member of FoRW, it's the only scrapping Iv'e done in a long time, I seem to have lost my mojo, it does'nt help that there's so many good tv shows on. Read the latest Stephen King novel Cell, thoroughly enjoyed it...
Elisa and te kids came over on Friday afternoon and stayed the night, Melissa cooked a great big pot of spaghetti which was yummy...I spent the evening working on my CA LO and Elisa worked out everyone's biorythyms.
The next morning we were up early and headed off to Murrabit to the large market there. We spent a good 3 hours walking around looking at all the stalls, we had a bacon & egg sandwhich for breakfast and the kids had hot dogs, we also ate a hot jam donut whilst the girls played on the jumping castle. The only major item I bought was a fly veil for my hat as the flies were incredible, you were constantly swatting at your face. We drove to Kerang and spent some time in the local park so the kids could have a play. On the trip home Elisa & I talked about her decision about leaving in April or June. I convinced her to stay until the begining of December and to move in here, that way she can save more money for the move and trip across the Nullabor(we have decided to go via the Great Ocean Road), that way there is 2 cars (as Melissa will be travelling at the same time) and 3 drivers. Eloise also gets to complete a full year of Prep, I get company so we are all winners. The hardest part was asking dh what he thought of the idea. He agreed so Elisa is giving notice to her landlord and will be moving in over the holidays.
So Saturday afternoon was spent planning the trip and working out a household budget. The girls were playing out the front on the big tree, they had saddles and reins and were pretending to go riding.
I spent the evening watching the football and reading my book, today has been a very quiet day (apart from the daily chores), all Iv'e done is read my book.
But I am a happy camper as I will get to spend more time with my sister before she heads west.

A downer.

Well after the excitment of the past week waiting for the weekend to come, it all went to sh*t. Spent a quiet day on Saturday watching the Winter Olympics then the football, during half time the announcers said the Carlton Family Fun Day had been cancelled due to the weather apparently Melbourne had copped a real downpour, we had 2 small storms go through our area but there was more lightning & thunder than rain, we lost power for around 2 1/2 hours (at least it wasnt as hot as the previous night) just after cooking dinner.
The power came back on in time for me to watch my team (Carlton) get beaten by 28 points by Geelong, I stayed up and starteded watching the movie "Jaws" ( I first saw it when I was 10, it had just been released...) but sleep got the better of me.
Got up this morning to a cooked breakfast provided by my dh, of scrambled eggs, bacon & toast. We worked on repairing the chicken coop for the next 2 1/2 hours, dh then mowed the front/back lawns before heading down to Bendigo to visit his parents. Not wanting a cooked meal he decided on Hungry Jacks, he even brought me home a burger.
So I spent the night watching that really inane movie about the category 7 storm, what a waste of 3 1/2 hours on my behalf.
I should have spent the time working on my scrapbooking challenge, "What it means to me to be an Australian" either that or sorting out my new patterned papers.
So I suppose all is not lost of this weekend, at least the chickens won't blow away in the next big storm...and I wont get lost in the grass hanging out the washing.

A bit of excitement.

Gosh, it's been over a week...and I'm only just getting time to do another entry. Iv'e only got my telephone line up and working again, Iv'e been without the internet for 3 days and it felt like my arm had been cut off. It started with some static in the line which I could live with, but then the line crashed and all I was getting was 4.1 kps (yes...dial-up and its oh so slow). I called Telstra and they had someone in the area so they repaired it...it was good for an hour then it crashed again. I rang Telstra again the next day and the same technician returned, this time replacing over 1 km of cable, he blamed the cows/sheep for the broken line...(funny how the line runs on the outside of the property). Touch wood its been good since then, the line runs at anywhere from 28.9 kps to a whopping 33.2kps on a good day.
On Saturday morning I arrived home from collecting my Avon orders (Yes, Im a ding dong lady) my dh Dave had pulled all his car seats out of the EA and was pressure washing them (saying they would be dry in 24 hours), so not to be outdone I decided to wash my car, it was in bad need of de-bugging, so I spent a good hour on the job. after all the scrubbing I decided a lie down was in order. Whilst lying down my dh polished & waxed my car.
That night dh decided to ring his friend in Geelong to see if he wanted to go to the Ford Open day, ( I opted for a quiet day at home) so the alarm was set for 4am. Dh set off in the EA with a towel on his seat.
I spent a lovely quiet day at home reading my book and playing spider solitaire (which Im addicted to), dh arrived home around 10pm with 94 photos...thank goodness for digital cameras. Dh's 1948 F100 doesn't look as good as the one in the photo (he's been working on it for 7 years now).
Monday rolled around with the house empty again...did the obligatory housework and played on the computer until it had cooled off outside. Spent 3 hours pruning the Rosemary, Lavender & Curry bushes...they had grown out of control...
After dinner I was lying down watching the Biggest Loser and the phone rang...couldn't be bothered to get up to answer it as I knew dh was in the lounge (right next to the phone). Dh comes in and says "Guess who was on the phone?" So going through a list of people..and not getting any I gave up. He said "Anthony Koutafides". "Yeah right" I said...along with a few other words, to which dh replied "we've been invited to the Carlton Family Fun Day on Sunday".
Still not believing him, all I could do was laugh and say "As if, the captain of Carlton is going to ring you up..."
But he was serious...and we are off to Melbourne on Sunday, dd Melissa hasn't decided if she's going to come or not. You get to meet the players, so hope to get loads of photos so I can scrap some.
woohoo the footy starts again...I know its only the nab cup but at least its something to watch on a Friday/Saturday. Go the Blues....

Our Weekend

We had a good weekend, Elisa and the children came over in the afternoon as we were all (including Dave & Melissa)going to the Dingee Family Festival. We got there around 7pm as we had to wait for Dave to come home. there was a jumping castle for the kids as well as bags of different coloured fairy floss, we shared a purple bag. Dinner was an all you could eat affair with spit roast pork, lamb, beef, cold chicken, salads, hamburgers and sausages...there was heaps of food. The entertainment was a Highland Pipe Band as well as a couple who sang popular songs from the 60's & 70's. After dinner everyone was treated to an ice cream, we arrived home around 10.45 pm with 3 very tired children .
Sunday arrived with the children up early...
Dave had his first sleep in, he hadnt had one for over 2 years, so he really enjoyed his lounge in bed. The girls had a picnic lunch consisting of fairy bread, grapes, apples & bisciuts on the front lawn whilst Elisa & I sat inside had coffee and chatted. I have asked her to consider staying an extra couple of weeks so that we can celebrate Matthew & Eloise's birthdays before they leave for Perth.
Here's hoping.....

Its happened again

Yes Ivé been tagged again, this time by Jenni.

What were you doing 10 years ago? I was living in Newman, WA and working 13 hour rotating shifts in the Mobile Equipment Workshop as a Maintenance Scheduling Clerk for BHP. My dh Dave was also working on site in a different workshop. My dd Melissa was in her last year of primary school and dd Rebecca was in grade 4.

What were you doing 1 year ago? Living on a farm in Dingee, Victoria with dh Dave & dd Melissa along wiht numerous animals. I was milking every afternoon a herd of around 380 cows, with the odd morning milking thrown in. Dh was away all week working in Echuca so I was left to look after the place.

5 snacks that you enjoy:

• bacon & onion dip with celery/carrot sticks
• camerbert cheese with cracked pepper crackers
• pissastio nuts
• cabana with water crackers
• nachos

5 songs to which you know all the lyrics:

• Bat out of hell - Meatloaf
• American Pie - Don McLean
• Cat's in the cradle - Cat Stevens
• Most people I know think that Im crazy - Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
• Don't walk away - Toni Childs

5 things you would do if you were a millionare:

• Buy a decent sized modern house on some acreage in the mountains where it rains.
• Give my children a deposit for a block of land or house.
• Update my car.
• Buy more scrapping supplies especially sizzex alphabets dies.
• Buy a new lounge suite and king size bed.

5 bad habits:

• I am a martyr.
• I am too self critical.
• I pick at my nails.
• I smoke...yes I know Im trying to quit.
• I suffer from foot in mouth syndrome.

5 things you like doing:

• Scrapbooking
• Reading
• Having coffee and a chat with my sister/s.
• Observing the moon/stars through my telescope.
• Having my neices and nephews around me

5 things you would never wear, buy or get again:

• boob tube
• DIY electrolosis kit
• grease pants
• home brand coffee
• bunderburg rum

5 favourite toys:

• computer/internet
• digital camera
• telescope
• scrabble
• yahtzee

5 people I am tagging:

• Jacquie
• Pam

Tagged again

This time Ive been tagged by Elisa, so here goes:

1. First time you got kissed was in Derby 1972 his name was Robert Young, I was 7 years old , he was 9. His brother's Jack & Ivan along with myself and my sister Jacqui would hang out everyday in the bush, playing up in the boab trees or playing on the mudflats, we would all go to the outdoor pictures every Friday night and it was there that Robert kissed me.
2. First time you drove a car was sitting on my Grandads lap driving his Holden FJ out to a sheep station (somewher in the mallee) where my Nan was the cook, but the actual driving of a car was when I was 15 yrs & 9 mths I had just got my permit and Mum took me out for a drive in her Toyota Corolla in a new building estate so there was no traffic.
3. First time you scrapbooked, well I used to make scrapbooks as a kid but as a serious hobby not until my dear sister Elisa introduced me to it when she moved over here 3 years ago, I went to a couple of CM classes but didn't enjoy them as I found them too limiting.
4. First time you went on a date was in Broome 1977 with Andrew Fisher we went to the outdoor movies to see a Bruce Lee film and he bought me a carved pearl shell/leather necklace.
5. First time you fell in love was in 1980, I had the hugest crush on this guy who was in year 12, he didn't even know I existed, I had a photo of him which I carried everywhere, his name was over all my books and his initials were always written on my arm, funnily enough his name was Andrew as well.
6. First time you cooked for someone, does cooking for my sisters count? We were living in Wyndham I was 9 years old and our Mother was playing golf and Dad was next door having a beer, so I cooked sausages, mashed potato and peas for tea, I burnt my hand in the frying pan by leaning over the stove reaching for the oil, I slipped and put my hand in the hot pan. A hard lesson learnt.
7. First time you got on a plane was in 1972 we flew from Melbourne to Perth on a TAA 727 then from Perth to Derby on a Foker Friendship plane, I remember the hostesses spraying us all with an aerosol can before letting us off the plane, as to this day I have no idea to what it was.
8. First time you shaved your legs was in 1979, I had moved from Derby to Perth and was starting at a city high school so I used my dads electric razor, got in huge trouble as I didn't clean it.
9. First time you put on make up was when I was around 4 living on the farm in Swan Hill, my sister Jacqui and I would dress up in mums clothes and wear her jewellry and make up, we thought we were Princesses.
10. First time you moved out of your home, technically my parents moved out in 1982 and left me living there. I actually moved into my own place in Midland, Perth in 1983.

It's been awhile

I just checked the date on my last post and was horrified to find it's been almost a month since I last posted, so I thought I'd better do a catch up.
I have managed to do a few layouts over the holidays, this is my favourite so far, its a picture of my neice Ashley holding her brother Nathaniel the title says Precious Memories which I thought was so apt as their surname is Precious.
The last 2 weeks have been spent going to the doctors in Echuca for Q fever testing, the first test is a scratch and a blood test to see if you are already immune, then a week later the immunisation, anyway i had my test done and within minutes a huge lump appeared on my arm then 2 days later a rash covered my torso, I also had constant pins and needles in my fingers. my dd Melissa who had the same test had no reaction like mine. I went back last week to find out that during my lifetime I have somehow contracted Q fever so now Im immune and NO injection required. so now I'm covered to work in any livestock industry.
Last Tuesday was a really busy day, Elisa rang me as her car battery had dies and the kids needed to get to school, so I left home and drove to Rochester to pick up the girls for school in Elmore, they were about 40 minutes late. Back to Rochester to try and fix Elisa's car, which I was unsuccessful at. Off to Echuca to see the doctor and Elisa bought me lunch at a great cafe called the Green Olive, I had an iced coffee & a chicken, bacon,cheese and tomato foccacia. We then wandered around Big W then checked out the LSS where I was very controlled and only bought 3 papers. Then visited my dd Rebecca before heading back to Elmore to pick up the girls, they had had a great day.
Back to Rochester where Elisa cooked an early dinner of chicken kebabs and salad before heading off to watch the girls at their karate practice. It was facinating watching them go through all the moves and the reasoning behind them. Eloise was allowed to join in and it was so funny watching her little legs trying to kick up at the kick pad.
All of last week was taken up with ebay as I have opened a shop called
Jenni's Needful Things and was busy loading the store as well as auction items, I have cleaned out my scrapping room and decided to get rid of what I don't need or use. I also cleaned out my bookcase, I have already sold over 50 books and there's still that many to go.
My dd Melissa was to start a new job at the Pyramid Hill Abertoir on Thursday however a friend from the old piggery where she worked called over on Saturday and offered her a job at Bears Lagoon Piggery, he is now the manager there. She thought about it and rang him on Monday to say yes to the job...she started yesterday and is in the nursery part of the piggery so she is rapt.
So yesterday was the first day Ive had at home on my own in over a year and would you believe I had to spend it in bed as my back had spasmed, it took 4 panadine forte and 2 valium before I was able to walk, so I lazed around and watched the cricket, at least there's something to watch on tv now as all the good shows have returned. Yes Im a TV junkie...my favourite shows are:
CSI - all of them, Desperate Housewives, Supernatural, Without a Trace, All Saints, McLeods Daughters, ER, Lost, Prison Break.
Do you think I need a life?

Ivé been tagged.

Ive been tagged by Sue

A is for age: 40
B is for booze of choice: Bourbon
C is for career: Have applied for a meat packer job
D is for your dad's name: Gerald
E is for essential items to bring to a party: Dip & biscuits
F is for favorite song at the moment: Advertising space - Robbie Williams
G is for favorite game: Scrabble
H is for hometown: Born in Swan Hill but have moved too many times.
I is for instruments you play: None
J is for jam or jelly you like: Plum jam
K is for kids: Melissa (21), Rebecca ( 19)
L is for living arrangements: Dh Dave & dd Melissa & numerous animals
M is for mum's name: Mary
N is for name of your crush: Keanu Reeves & Brad Pitt
O is for overnight hospital stays: Too many to list
P is for phobias: Spiders EEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Q is for quotes you like: Life is like a box of chocolates
R is for relationship that lasted the longest: My DH we are up for 16 years this year
S is for sexual preference: My Dh oh and Brad Pitt & Keanu Reeves
T is for tattoos: I have 8 of them, planning my next one.
U is for underwear: yes I do wear them occasionally
V is for vegetable you love: all of them especailly brocolli
W is for weekend plans: scrapping hopefully with Elisa
X is for X-rays: Had heaps
Y is for yummy food you make: chicken fetticini
Z is for zodiac sign: Gemini

What a week

Gosh where did the last week go? Life has been busy again...Melissa & I were getting bored so we decided to have Eloise come and stay to give Elisa a break, Eloise helped to cook chicken fetticini & a sultana cake, I took her swimming at the reservior which she enjoyed heaps... she stayed one night before missing mummy too much, so back over to Rochester to take her home. Talia then wanted to stay so we brought her back on Thursday evening. We did the same activities as Eloise.
On Friday night my dh Dave took me out to dinner, we had a lovely chinese meal at the House of Kong in Bendigo then visited some friends before geting home around 11.30pm.
Elisa, Eloise & Matthew came to stay on Saturday night...we took all the kids swimming at the reservoir, Matthew had a great time, Talia made a mud house and Eloise kept on dunking me in the water. We took all the dogs for a swim which they enjoyed immensly.
Elisa & I spent the next few hours scrapping and chatting up a storm, then watched a movie before hitting the sack around 12.30am.
Sunday was spent scrapbooking all day, have managed to do 15 LO's so far this year.
I'm sure Ive gained weight as Ive eaten Lasagna & chocolate cake, oh well back to reality this week...I was looking at photos of myself when I was 72kg...I should pin one to the fridge as motivation. Well thats been my week....

Ivé made a decision

Its been 10 days since I wrote in my blog...a lot has happened in those few days. My daughter Melissa and I went over to my sister Elisa's house for NYE...It was so hot the aircon couldn't keep up. I managed to have one midori splice before becomming ill, not sure from the drink or the heat so ended up going home and was in bed by 9.30 pm. I woke up at 12.03am to see the fireworks on the tv, I wished myself a happy new year and went back to sleep.
During the week I have been thinking about Elisa and Melissa leaving to go to Perth and what I'm going to do when they leave as they are my support group. Even though I have cyber friends it just isnt quite the same as family. They know when my depression is bad and when Im heading into an episode.
So with all this going through my head Ive not slept much, during the wee hours I decided to ask Dave my dh to move over to Perth as there are more job opportunities for the both of us, a better lifestyle and his ds Daniel lives there as well.
So I plucked up the courage and asked Dave if he would consider moving...his answer was NO! He said "He was too old to start again, there was nothing there for him" So it looked like I was moving by myself as I was not going to stay in Dingee for another year. I am sick of the isolation, the 110km round trip to get food, the nothingness that is here. After another night of very little sleep I asked Dave if he would consider moving to Bendigo, to this he agreed. He understood my reasons for wanting to move into a town, I could go swimming to help my back/knee & weight loss, I could do courses to help me get a job.
None of the finer details have been discussed as yet Im just glad a decision has been made.
On a lighter topic I weighed myself this morning to find I have lost 5.2 kg, its just the incentive I needed to continue with the food choices Im making. I was hoping to give up cigarettes but with the stress Ive had during the week I gave in and bought another packet. I will try again soon.