Not a good day at all

For some reason today was quite stressful. Getting up early is proving hard but Im determined to keep doing it. I find that Im much more organised in the morning if Im up before the girls. Not that Im doing much productive but its not such a rush. Driving Bec to school is definately getting 'old' She is going to have to agree to walk halfway or use the bus pass we applied for and got. She is the first one to ever have a bus pass!
My boss was making coffee and I asked her if I could have something stronger...she said perhaps 10.15am was a little early. We decided we'd make a list of those that were causing us to crave alcohol. Very therapeutic....and there wasn't even an ex spouse on the list!!
I was getting very frustrated with the Office of Fair Trading and with the head d*&$head at CLM. The case worker was on leave and the bimbo doing her job was doing her best impersonation of a banana. The head d*&$head at CLM was not returning calls. Im finding the whole thing soooooo stressful and I just want to cry. Finally reached d*&$head and he said oh yes we refunded you, I said I assumed the returned money was a result of my issueing a dispute with the bank and he said oh no that was me. Then I said 'are you taking my money next week' and he assures me they won't. I do not trust them at all. I will know by Wednesday if I am rid of them. He then had the nerve to say ' I hope we can do business again further down the track'

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Breathe

It was another stinker of a day and I wanted to take my annual first day of school photos which i did but this time indoors. The girls rolled their eyes but by now should know this is one of the few things that I will insist on.

Sarahs basketball started again tonight and I was just in no way feeling up to driving through the shopping traffic and back again so rang ex and asked if he'd kick off the season as we take it in turns. No probs there thank goodness....BUT THEN as if my day wasn't bad enough...we got a phone call just as we were leaving to take Sarah to her dad to say that the game time had been changed and it was now due to start in under half an hour. Who does stupid things like that???? ....and we live a half hour away from the stadium!! Anyway, there wouldn't have been enough time to take her to ex and then for him to drive to game so I dropped everything and we just left. Bec was asleep as obviously 2 days of Year 11 was too much for her lol so I had to leave Nic sort of in charge but Brett was due home soon. We actually passed him 2 streets away from home. Lucky the team one their game.
Managed to get Bec's presents wrapped for tomorrow.
The scheduled meal went out the window tonight as well. Supposed to be burgers but by the time we got back from Basket ball I wasn't going to start mixing...so Renee had a tuna sandwich, Nic and I had pancakes, Sarah had toast, Bec had fried eggs and Brett grilled himself a cheese sandwich I think.
Bedtime will be soon...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Tomorrow will be better, tomorrow will be better, tomorrow will be better!!

Day 1

School opened today for 3 of my 4. Woohoo! About time! Not that the holidays went to badly of course.

I was out of bed by 5. OMG.45am. Brett offered to give me a wake up call at 7am when he was at work but I thought it was easier just to get up and stare at the television firmly gripping my coffee as I slowly arrived at a new day.

The girls were up early, even Sarah who didn't start today. Bec now starts school at 8am most mornings and has varying finish times depending on the day of the week and if it is Week A or B. Apparently this week is just Induction and next week is Week B. She has 4 or so Photography classes in Week B so she is excited. Nic and Renee were ready to go to School by 8am which for Renee is an absolute miracle. She is still nervous about going up into Year 1 but we keep telling her she can't go back to Kindy again cause she knows it all. Nic told me that she, herself, can't believe she is in Year 5. *sniff* me neither

I went off to work as normal leaving Sarah with a list of chores. I phoned home around 11am and she said she was watching an Entertainment special on Snoop Dog. I asked her if she was bored and she said yes.

It was 'ugly' hot today and this afternoon was still bad. I offered the girls ice creams without Renee having to beg. I still need to take my annual back to school photo as Sarah didn't start today and then tomorrow Bec starts at 8am again and there is no way the other 3 can be ready by 7.30. Bec said it would be too hot to do it after school tomorrow so lets do it next week! I said 'do not interfere with my photo'. She just laughed and I said as it will be hot again tomorrow that I would happily make it an indoor photo. I think I won the argument. Renee was in a bad mood and was even fighting with Sarah which is unusual. I'm sure she was just both hot and tired. Thankfully its only a short week this week and the weekend is nearly here. I'm away at a work conference next Monday and Tuesday so Brett will be home to deal with any 'moods'! I will be on the beach (working hard of course!)

I inherited ended up with my dads camera a while after he died (1990) He used to take fantastic photos with it which I know is due to both him and the camera. My brother gave it a go a few years ago without much success. Brett and I are going to see if we can get it sorted so Bec can use it now that she is studying photography. Its obviously not digital but I'm sure it would be something to use even just to fiddle with lenses and such. I'm going to get some film tomorrow, we think that the batteries I thought it needed are only for the flash so hopefully it will work once loaded, then of course it will need developing the old fashioned way (ie. waiting, waiting, waiting) If we can get it working we will give it to Bec but I won't mention anything to her yet just in case.

Speaking of Bec, I have done her Birthday shopping. She seemed disappointed that I had finished, I guess her reasoning is I still have tomorrow available to shop!

ITS A SCHOOL NIGHT!!!!!!!

.........need I say more!

Your Inner European?

Your Inner European is French!

Smart and sophisticated.You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.

Who's" Your Inner European?

Menu Plan Monday

I have decided that once a week I will try a new recipe, whether its something Vegetarian just for me or something for the whole family to try. This weeks newby is tonights Cajun Chicken.

Lunches

School goes back on Wednesday (woooooooooo!!!!) so I would like to try and make something other than Vegemite Sandwiches. This week Im going to prepare Chicken and Corn Wraps. Creamy pasta salad, hawaiian pizza scrolls and Tuna patty rolls and some variations of these depending on which child/adult its for. These four ideas are from the Feb 2008 issue of Super Food ideas which I think I bought in Woolies. Brett has already made the Wraps, Scrolls and pasta salad. The Scrolls were a hit with the kids.

Afternoon Tea - Birthday cake on Friday!!

Dinners

Monday (tonight) Cajun Chicken Pasta which I found here. I will probably follow exactly except Im not doing the pasta bit. Ill explain later (depending on whether I failed or not)

Tuesday - FEC Chicken (Basically home made schnitzel - they all love it) and salad

Wednesday - Mince parcels

Thursday - Burgers & Salad

Friday - Egg and Bacon or 2 minute noodles (Renee)

Saturday and Sunday aren't planned yet and as its just 3 of us, we could end up with beans on toast, quick and easy!!

Nip over to Laura's site for more menu ideas!

Before I forget

During my usual Blog surfing I came across this little Meme (which pretty much means imitate/copy, a game to copy)

Create your own Band and album cover. I found this @ Quack This, so thanks Noname.

1. The first article title on the page is the name of your band.
2. The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.
3. The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together

Post your result in a comment or email as I'd love to see!

If you put it on your own Blog please remember to link back to Flickr with your original cover art picture.




Band Name - Utgard-Loki
Album Title - The failure of years
Cover Art - http://www.flickr.com/photos/41873449@N00/2208410467

Just your average day.

Its hard to know what to put in the title each day. Not every day does something happen that stands out. A few for today could have been - 'Teen slams door' 'Too many Kahlua's' 'School shopping nearly done' 'The things I do for my teenagers....'

I put one of those map things to track visitors to my Blog. I even know who the 2 Aussie visitors are. But look ------> someone in America came to my Blog. Yes, its sad that Im excited. I mean, I know Im fascinating but I realise it will take a while for everyone else to know.

As I mentioned, the school shopping is nearly complete. Just need to get ungrateful teenager Bec a new school bag and other ungrateful teen Sarah 'can I have some more phone credit' some shoes. She didn't come to today's shopping adventure as she went to the movies with her peeps to see Juno. She said it was quite funny. Kmart was 35% off stuff which included the bag for Nic and shoes for Renee. I still need to buy something else for Bec as she will turn 16 on Friday.

Not much else happening, Ive got some auctions underway on eBay to entice the embellishment buyers and the rest of the store is discounted. The Embellishment Castle is in major need of stock updates which may have to wait until next weekend when I'm down to one child.

Which reminds me, aforementioned child Renee came excitedly to us this afternoon as she had created a boy and girl on Sims2 and she had proposed and they were getting married (mary'd in her accent) she was so excited. Her groom to be was called Kyle. I went up to check on her later and by that stage she was shopping for furniture as her and Kyle preferred separate bedrooms...maybe things had gone down hill since the wedding OR maybe, that is the key to a successful marriage!

Australia Day....

......and how did we celebrate? Ummmm........! The last few years we have gone to Parramatta park at the buttcrack'oday to watch the balloons being blown up and watch them go up up and away with some loonatics balloonists sailing off into the sunrise. I did suggest it, silently hoping that it would not be greeted with too much enthusiasm. Needless to say, we didnt go. We are still pretty tired from our Holiday and then going straight back to work. Good excuse huh! So we did bits and pieces of housework, Brett made some great wraps for lunch which only 1 child would eat. All the more for us. Motherinlaw was here for dinner and we had a pasta dish made by Brett from same magazine as the wraps and I made crumbly burgers. They weren't supposed to crumble.

Tomorrow we have still more back to school shopping to do. 2 need shoes, 2 need bags, one still needs a pencil sharpner and 2 need to figure out how to pay for all this stuff that will need replacing by the end of Term 1 anyhow!

Look at my map - I have a friend in Melbourne!!! Woo...hoo...!
x

Words every mother loves to hear....

Well this one anyway! 'Mum, I love swimming' These words were uttered by Renee who has always sworn she was never going to swim. The older girls were born with fins and gills so it has been quite a shock to have a non swimmer. Renee tried swimming at Wet and Wild up on the Gold Coast after we bought her some floaties and it went quite well. Took her and Nic to the local pool today and while Nic did some laps and played with friends we found there, Renee took to the toddler pool where she could reach the bottom and started dog paddling, doing a bit of breast stroke and also floating on her back. Waaaay more than she has ever done. I didnt tell her what to do, just let her figure it out for herself and that seemed to work. No idea whether she will be as good or competitive as her big sisters but as long as she can eventually swim to the edge of a pool and climb out I will be confident she wont be a drowner!

Nic and Renee had Little A's tonight. Last night for the season as the local Council has given the ground $250K fo refurbishment and the clubs that use the oval weren't about to say no. Soccer sign ups start next weekend so that should take care of winter sport for the 2 youngest.

Johnny fix

Bec and her friends went to the opening day (evening) of the Sweeney Todd starring the heart thob of our house, Johnny Depp. Pretty much all she said was she probably won't be able to eat a meat pie ever again. She also had no idea it was gonna be a musical. So, shall I get the DVD for her for this Christmas???

Many Birthday Kisses

going down to Melbourne today. M and K, happily married, share many kids, many debts loads of sex AND have the same Birthday!!! Hope you guys had a wonderfuly Birthday today! Neither of you look a day over 40!!!

xxxx

Im a Flamingo!

You're a Flamingo!
Pink is your favorite color! Always looking to shock others, you
are absurdly thin and absurdly outlandish in your tastes. People come from all
over to see you, but as long as you've got a swimming pool, you're pretty
satisfied wherever you end up. And boy, do you love shrimp! When you really get
going, you can sound like Forrest Gump talking about shrimp...
Take the Animal Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.
(Quote) - You are absurdly thin - (end Quote)

Love it!!!!!

Where have all the pens gone?

I need to write a cheque for the long suffering Orange Juice man. I thought I was using a pen but it was a pencil disguised as a pen! I have found 4 lead pencils in the last 5 minutes, which of course never happens during the school term when someone is trying to do their homework and needs a pencil. Where have they gone? Maybe the Orange Juice man will have one on him in the morning.

Monday Menu Planning

Monday - Spaghetti Bolognaise (just finished eating as its Monday night already!)
Tuesday - FEC Chicken
Wednesday - Chicken & Tarragon Meatloaf & Salad
Thursday - Chicken parcels & Salad (This will again be made by Bec as she is being allowed to go to the Movies to see Sweeney Todd on the day of release even though money is tight! - I can pretty much get her to do anything when Johnny Depp is involved)
Friday - Homemade Pizzas.

Nip over to Laura @ The Organizing Junkie for more great weekly menu ideas.

January 13th - January 19th - GOLD COAST, QLD

Coming soon.....

I remember when I was a kid

and if we were going on a holiday, and we went on a few, that someone else would do the organising and packing. Now Im grown up and the mum, I am 'someone else'.

Everything is packed and ready to go. Snacks for the trip up ready, drinks in the the freezer to whip out in the morning and put in the car. It will be quite hot in Sydney tomorrow, typical we are going North where it has been raining for over a month. We looked at the Foxtel long term forcast. Rain, Rain, Thunderstorm and more rain. I can't quite remember the old saying from an advert for Queensland. Something like - Queensland, Sunny one day, Beautiful the next (you get my drift!)

Oh well, off we go!

What day is it?

On an off during the day I could have sworn it was Saturday, both of us home plus the kids, very confusing.

Went to Medicare and claimed some money back. The lady said if the receipts are too old, they just send them to head office, so you still get your refund just takes a little longer.

I rang the caretaker of the unit we are staying in next week. Arranged for him to leave the key out cause we won't arrive on the Gold Coast until around 10pm. The plan is to leave home around 9am, get to Taree to have lunch. Next stop Coffs harbour and then one more stop for dinner when we are all hungry. The kids have been sorting out the Ipods, organising what to take, as there is a great chance the weather will still be bad, we will take Boardgames, books and DVD's as well but Im hoping they won't get used too much. The girls have worked out the sleeping arrangements themselves and as usual have gone with one older girl and one younger. They seem to know the right combinations.

Tomorrow Im going to have to pack the ebay orders that haven't been paid for cause no doubt they wouldnt be happy to wait an extra week for their stuff even if its taken THEM 2 weeks to pay. We will find an internet cafe nearby hopefully so we can check bank accounts plus do some bill paying. Sadly life goes on even if you are on holidays.

I broke my Meal plan tonight, we had take a way tonight of Chinese. Renee won't eat it so she had Weetabix and then later Vegemite toast. Baaaaaaad mummy!. Ill make sure I cook tomorrow night as we can't really afford the takeaway.

Senior moment

I tried to send a fax yesterday at work. I dialled the number, pressed send - nothing happened. Probably would have helped if Id placed my document in the feeder huh!

Decided I won't work Friday after all. I need to go to Medicare and put some claims in, hopefully I can still get some money back from a GP appointment back in September 06. Worth a try.

The girls need swimmers and such for the Queensland trip but Ive convinced them to wait till we get up there. A workmate has given me some addresses of discount/warehouse type places which we will visit next Monday. Brett and I decided tonight we will got to Movie World and Wet 'n' Wild Water World with our Escape passes. Brett really wanted to go to Dream world as the have that new Wayne Gardner Motor Bike ride! Sadly (not!) it wasn't included in the Escape Pass!

Getting back to working

is really hard after the holiday period! Id like to think its not my age...Im sure its not. Anyway, 4 more days and then Im off for a week! Woooo!

A bit crafty..

I bought a couple of Kaiser Clocks last November at the Penrith craft fair thingy (I think it was November anyhow) Finished this at the end of November. I was going to give it away for a Christmas gift but the recipient has been very receptive on previous craft things so I decided to keep it for myself! I love it. The dragonfly is a Kaiser Flourish and the flowers are MM Blossoms and the featured children are my own!

Unfortunately, the clock doesn't actually work! The 'workings' on neither clock work. Yes, we tried different batteries as well. So at the moment it is just a decorated square piece of wood.

Menu Plannning Monday

I used to do this a fortnight at a time and found it saved loads of money and time to know in advance what we were eating each night. Thought I would give it another crack!

Whilst surfing the internets world of blogs I came accross Im an organizing Junkie and saw she does the planning and is encourageing others. I also thought this way I would at least remember to post something once a week!

Monday Menu planning

Monday - Shepherd pie with peas and baked beans

Tuesday - FEC Chicken Schnitzel with salad (FEC - Flour/Egg/Breadcrumbs)

Wednesday - Sausages, chops and potato bake

Thursday - Chicken parcels (One of my teenagers will do this)

Friday - Homemade Pizza

Saturday - Chicken rissoles and salad

Sunday - Hopefully takeaway of some sort.

We leave for Queensland early on Monday (14th) morning which will be around a 10 hour drive so that is why Sunday night will be takeaway, one less thing to worry about.

Otherwise, spent a pretty lazy Sunday at home. Didn't really find out how hot it got until I went out at 5 to the supermarket and it was still in the mid 30's Im sure. Renee spent most of the day on Sims2 which will no doubt end tomorrow as I had a text message from Bec and she wants to come home from her dads a day early!!