Three more sleeps

Can't wait till Sonia and I hit Melbourne for our big weekend. I am so jazzed about everything we have planned, but most of all that we will be together for the first time since goodness knows when. I thought of a really cool idea of something else we can do on one of the days there, and I know Sonia will be reading this and it will drive her crazy not knowing, but one must have some surprises up one's sleeve, mustn't one?!? ha.

Stay tuned! ;-)

Last lot of pages to show of the book for the boys.

The book needed a title page and I thought a letter from us would be perfect.

And a set of school photographs I do believe are a must. I think back to my own school photos and it's neat to see how I changed over the years.

And boys and girls alike always should have photographs of their very first day at school. How terrified does young Matt look in these photos.

Credits Designer Digitals.


I was parcelling, packaging, boxing up overseas Christmas presents tonight and ouch, I really once again haven't thought things through very well. One of the gifts was 2kg!!!!! OUCH! I am going to see if a postpac for that one brings it under the 2kg mark instead of the box. Each year I say I'll be more savvy and each year my thoughts go out the window in search of the perfect present. Perhaps online direct mail shopping next year!

Big day

Headed down to Geelong today to go to the Christening of a dear sweet little girl of friends of ours. It was a lovely big Christening, mainly due to the female side of the couple being an Italian family. I have decided I love canoles. I don't even know how to spell them. But these delicious pastry twisty round things filled one side with vanilla custard and the other side with a chocolate custard. To ... die ... for. A huge meal was had mind you, but it's all about the dessert really, isn't it?

Can't wait ... 5 more sleeps and then I'm meeting up with my best friend in the big smoke for our weekend away. She's flying in from Tassie and I'm training up from the south west. CANNOT WAIT! We've been planning this since July and it's nearly here. We were like giggling schoolgirls on the phone tonight.

Another couple of pages to show you from the book for the boys. I really like this first one, we've often commented on that last photo there that it's like dad is looking down on them smiling and loving the relationship they formed. It was a fun coincidence that young Matt and mum had the exact same birthday. So special for the two of them.

I needed to do a remake of this following page. I loved it so much but I had lost it when my computer went kaput in 2010, so I kind of recreated it, but using different but similar coloured items and papers. The photos however are just the most fun. Crazy kid he is.

Oh and yes Polly, if you are reading this, yes that's the shower cap you gave me in the middle picture. I'm pretty sure it was from you from memory. I still have it and I love it !

Credits for both pages from Designer Digitals.


Now, must go to bed. I'm still sniffing but not like it was. My lips are cracked and dry though, still feel like a duck! After sleeping most of the way home in the car this afternoon I hope I can actually get to sleep tonight.

Should I feel guilty?

Okay, give me your honest opinion. You know I've felt like crap this week, even sleeping through most of Wednesday. I'm still not feeling 100 percent, my nose is still so stuffed up, but at least I'm not sneezing any more. So Thursday night oh at about 10.30, just about to go to bed and Mike pipes up ... "oh by the way, the fellas are coming around here Friday night for a meeting" ("the fellas" being the committee who are putting on the town's Christmas parade and Carols by Candlelight).

Err tomorrow night?

You tell me at 10.30 in the evening?

Why did you not tell me at 6.30 tonight, so I had a chance to vaccuum and tidy up before Friday?

Oh, didn't think about it then.

So imagine if you will that the place here looked like a bomb had hit it, I've had no energy to do anything this week. And I was working all day Friday and would not be home from work until after 6pm, and the fellas were due to arrive around 7.30pm. So I simply said, "right, so you decide, do you want to vaccuum and dust or do you want to cook our dinner, either/or, because I can't do everything in an hour and a half when I get home from work."

So Mike decides to do the vaccuuming and the dusting, cleaned the bathroom too, and he did a magnificent job of it I might add, he's been hiding his light under a bushel, that's for sure. And I did dinner.

So 7.30 comes and goes, no one turns up. 7.45 still no one. I told him to ring them. They had decided that they didn't need a meeting after all but didn't tell Mike. HA! Oh I bet he wishes they told him earlier in the afternoon. Now I don't have to do ANY cleaning at all this weekend!

So I ask you once again ... should I feel guilty? Because I don't.

It has however given me lee way today to wrap wrap wrap Christmas presents. I'm going gung ho at the moment, I'm knee deep in paper and sticky tape and ribbon, and in my element.

Catching you up on the final lot of pages in the book for the boys. I'm so excited to get this back, I'm always excited to get a book back in print. I've ordered a second copy for myself.

Credits for above all from Designer Digitals.


Okay, back to the wrapping I go.

Sniff, cough, sneeze, splutter

That is the sum total of me, yesterday and today. I initially thought I was getting a bout of hay fever earlier this week, but it has developed into a head cold and I can't stop sneezing. So to give you an insider tip, buy up some stocks of Kleenex because sales are going through the roof the way I'm using them!

I took the day off sick and have slept through most of it. At one stage I got up to make a pot of tea and imagine this if you will ... my hair looked like a birds nest, my nose is swollen and red raw, watery eyes, saggy daggy tracksuit on and Mike looked at me and I couldn't help it, I said "Mike honey ... do I look pretty?" ha he didn't know which way to look.

Must ... Get ... Better. Sick of myself at the moment.

I hit "order now" on the book for the boys so it is finished. Still a few pages you are yet to see so shall pop a couple here now. Honestly I could just have kept scrapping these boys, so many stories and words I want to say to them, but it had to end one day so I could actually get the book printed.

Really, the picture of innocence, isn't it?

Credit Designer Digitals.


Now ... back to my best friend, the bed I go.

Weekend is over

Here we are, Sunday night yet again, another week over and a new one beginning. Sunday nights, what to do now that Underbelly is finished, ha! Had a big weekend with a nice night out last night. We were at a Masons Installation and ended up on a really fun table for the banquet.

Had a cruisey Sunday, just on finished the book for my nephews and just about ready to hit the print button. I set it out and some double pages just didn't fit so have had to make a quick few pages to fit on opposing pages. I will be sad when the project is over.

Here's another page from the book showing the special relationship between Mike and Matthew. Matt absolutely idolised Mike and was his little shadow whenever he was here, and quite frankly I know the feeling was mutual.

Credits Designer Digitals.


And now here we are on the downward slide of November. I must get a grip on Christmas, I've shopped like there's no tomorrow, but haven't been updating my spreadsheet, I'm all over the place.

I've finished birthday shopping for His Nibs, now just waiting for the delivery. A fun (and quite ridiculous) 50th present for sure. Stay tuned.

Disaster

I had a disaster last night, or I should say this morning, in the very early hours of this morning in fact. I lost Molly. Oh God! I am thinking of what could have happened and it tears me up. Many many tears last night, from despair to happy tears. This is what happened.

Mike was over in Portland so was going to be home very late. I had gone to bed but just after midnight Molly started pacing. Back and forward. Coming up next to the bed and thumping her chin on it to wake me up. Pacing again. I figured she probably needed to go out for a wee and told her to hold on.

Pace pace pace even more.

So at 12.30am I groggily got out of bed, dressing gown on and took her outside. She went over to where she usually goes, but then decided to turn and walk into the front yard, so I followed. Then she saw the front gate was opened ready for Mike to drive in, and before I knew it she walked right out.

Black dog + black night = frantic Carol.

I started to race after her but she completely had disappeared into the night. Quickly inside, grabbed her leash and a torch but she was gone. Oh God, my poor dear sweet Molly, I was in tears when only a few minutes later Mike's car came round the corner, he was home. Wondering what I was doing out in my pyjamas. In tears I told him.

So he grabbed another torch and what a pair we made. Walking down our street, shining torches into people's yard, softly calling out "Molly" ... me in my pyjamas and Mike in a tuxedo! No sight nor sound. How far could she have gone. She's 12 years old, she gets muddled.

We drove around in the car after that, round the block, nothing. No moving shadows, no barking dogs, nothing. By this stage I was in despair. Came back home to check in case she was sitting by the back door, she wasn't. I pulled on clothes and Mike decided to head down to the highway which is a block away, the trucks hurtle down there of a night. I decided to head up our street up to the golf course which is one of her favourite walks.

By this stage it had gotten to about 1.15am. In tears we met back, well okay I was in tears, Mike was all business. What to do? My heart ached when Mike said we were looking for a needle in a haystack in the night, that we should leave the gate open, the back light on and hope against hope that she would curl up in someone's garden where it was nice and cool and we'd go out at first light and find she'd be laying in her bed at the back door. I knew I wouldn't sleep a wink.

We were both just looking at each other in the loungeroom when Mike thought of a crazy idea. Could Lucky track her? I thought he was stark raving mad and had watched way too many Lassie movies as a child, but anything was worth a try. I grabbed Lucky's lead and he thought all his Christmasses had come at once going out for a walk in the dark.

Running down the driveway he was pulling like he always does at the start of a walk, making his little sounds, leash was jingling and all of a sudden out of the dark Molly comes running in the driveway, I guess thinking she was missing out and almost pounced on him to play.

OH THANK YOU GOD!

I grabbed her, put her leash on and quite frankly forgot all about it being nearly 1.30am and started yelling out, "Mike, Mike, I've got her". Goodness knows what the neighbours must have heard, particularly as it was a very still night. I didn't care, I had my girl back.

I can't bear to think about the what ifs. What if she decided to head to the highway and was hit by a truck hoofing it through town? What if she made it to the golf course and got through the wire fence and got herself lost on the fairways? What if she just didn't know how to get back from wherever she went? Which now I think about it she was probably in a yard very near to where we were, but we just don't know.

What a night. After 5 and a half hours sleep I was up for work. I have been wrecked all day. A bit long winded? Sorry about that, but it was certainly a night for lots of emotions last night. This girl is one of the greatest loves of my life and it was all my fault and I would never have forgiven myself if anything had happened to her.

On the scrapping front...

One of the latest pages I have made for the book for my nephews. Err yes, that is my hat! Surely everyone has a hat like this? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Credits Designer Digitals.


And with that I'm off to bed.

Okay, it's official

I am completely OUT OF CONTROL. No ifs, buts, or maybes. I took stock just a moment before of what is on my plate right now:

* We are knee deep in politics at work and I'm the kind of girl that just wants to go to work, do my work, come home. I am not liking this.
* Plus the union has us doing work bans at the moment, which I don't agree with but when you are a union member what do you do?
* Finished scrapping a Christmas card this week so I could make the deadline for a huge vistaprint sale.
* Ended up spending waaaaay too much at vistaprint, even with their sale, made some customised t-shirts, etc.
* Now I'm seeing the 2 for 1 calendar offer at Snapfish and wondering .... NO, no time!
* Finishing up the cover for the book for my nephews, must get that off to print. I'll get it sent direct I think and take advantage of free USA shipping.
* Have a special birthday, no not me, next month and his Lordship does not want to do anything special for it. Arrrrgh. That is soooo not my style.
* Having said that I need to shop for a 50th gift, something special, even though, as you know ... it's just another day. If I hear that one more time .........
* Arranging a Kris Kringle gift exchange at work, always a bit stressful because you want to make sure everyone plays along nicely, no bad gag gifts, etc.
* Need to block the lacy scarf I have knitted.
* Was going to finish a book of layouts for number 1 stepson, but that doesn't look like it will get done.
* Trying to finish up overseas shopping so I get the gifts I need to send out on time.
* And just now trying to order a couple of books for gifts from Borders online to take advantage of their 30% and the voucher code won't redeem.
* And amongst all that trying to remember to breathe.

I really am out of control aren't I? I haven't even listed all that's on my plate at the moment there. And if I think back to the start of the year, remember my one word for the year was "simplify". I didn't really take that on board.

Still showing you pages for the book for the boys. I found some great sites online along the theme "rules for a good life" and so picked some of the great ones, the relevant ones, the ones I can imagine I would sit down with young David if he were here and as an Aunty would try to impart the wisdom of my ways, ha! I hope this page is a welcome addition to the book and he'll look back on it many times and take the words to heart.

Credits Designer Digitals.

Now, an early night, well it's 10.30 so not so early, but I do believe I need to sleep. With Molly laying at my feet which is her usual position when I'm on the computer, she's snoring and making me tired too.

Half way through November

Can you believe it, half way through November. I always say that November is the quickest month of the year. You're sitting there quite complacently, then all of a sudden December is on you and the silly season has begun.

I'm doing very well with my shopping, buying a lot online this year. Sooo convenient. I've ordered my Christmas cards from Vistaprint last night, a huge sale. Can't wait to get them, of course one of the menagerie feature, I was going to post it here, but I can't spoil the surprise for those I post cards to that read this!

Ordered some other unique items from Vistaprint as well, it was a bit of a treasure trove last night. I love that you can personalise things. This is becoming quite a non-post really isn't it? I can't even tell what that is in case Mike clicks on my blog and reads, because it just may be for him.

I'm doing the count down till the first weekend in December when I am going away for the weekend to Melbourne with my bestie. Just Sonia and me, it will be terrific. Staying in a boutique hotel in the city, we have plans for a few things, lots of laughs, good food, shopping, what more can two girls on the loose in the big city need!

Nothing much more to report here, except that it's a special day. Half way through November, means 15th and that means it would have been my dad's birthday today. Mike and I made a special dinner, a lovely porterhouse steak which was one of my dad's favourite meals. Okay so I burnt the steak, but it was still edible. Mike made a lovely toast to my dad, taken too soon, and then he said that one thing my dad did leave on this earth was a daughter with so many of his good qualities. Of course that made me burst into tears. Happy tears though.

Happy birthday dad. You would have been 72 today.

This is an old photo from a long long long time ago (I was a lot thinner!!!). And I might be making a goofy face with my silly smile like that, but I like this photo. Happy times.

Exhausted just watching them...

A couple of fellows from my workplace set themselves a 24 hour treadmill challenge, in an effort to raise money for some local charities. Yes you read right, 24 HOURS RUNNING ON A TREADMILL !!! They started 12noon on Friday and ran, walked, didn't stop moving until 12noon today (Saturday).

I popped down to the Green to see them after work on Friday, they were setting quite a pace and had already done 36 and 47 kilometres respectively in the first 5 hours. It was exhausting just to watch. Heck, I get winded running out to the clothes line when rain is threatening.

I had to go back into town today to get my hair cut so went earlier and spent some time down at the Green cheering them on. They were still going, both looking quite worse for wear, but still running. Unbelievable but true.

At the 21 hour 38 minute mark one of them had run 137 km and the other 153 km. That's a LONG WAY by anyone's standard. That's a trip for me to go back to my home town. I am so impressed and admire them, the money they have raised by way of sponsorship, raffles, community events this morning like the group aerobics session, the fun run, the extra treadmill that you could pay to run alongside them.

What spurs a person on to do something like this? Such goodness of heart, mind, body, spirit, that's what. Good on them, big round of applause.

On the scrapping front ...

Working on the last few pages for the album for the boys. I'm a bit behind in showing off the pages here so bear with me over the next few days to catch you up.

Credits Designer Digitals.


Thought I better get my mug into the book on a few pages, I'm usually behind the lens but every now and then I hand the camera over. I particularly like this set of photos, shows what a fun relationship we have with the boys.

Sunday

Just about over, time for bed ready to start the week again.

Nothing is going to plan tonight. I decided I would upgrade the ipad to that IOS 5 that I'm meant to do, had to upgrade itunes first. With that out of the way tried to do the ipad and it keeps erroring. I can't be bothered now, will try again later or ring up the apple care or whatever it's called.

Then my virus checker/internet securitywhich has been counting down, so it's been letting me know, but I've had my head in the sand and all of a sudden "one day to go". Ack! So have just purchased same over the net but there's a 24 hour delay in sending whatever they send to me. Double ack!

Watched the last episode of Underbelly tonight. We both have thoroughly enjoyed this particular series. I did watch the first series, semi-watched the second, was there a third series? can't remember, if there was I didn't watch it, but we both watched every episode of this series with the razor gangs of Sydney. Wow, what a time in our history, so glad we didn't live it.

On the scrapping front, just scrapping the last few photos of the boys for their album, I want to get it done and dusted and to the printers. I like to journal on my pages. Visually the photograph can be key to the page, but I love to tell the story, probably as much as I like to talk. And sometimes even the story behind the story. In years to come that will evoke as much memory as a photograph, even more so.

Credits Designer Digitals.


So this photograph was taken on the day we said goodbye to the boys and despite the photo being pretty ordinary, I really wanted to include the memory of my mum taking this particular photograph. So must take this on board more often, the photographs do not have to be perfect, the fact I am getting down a memory is perfect enough.

Over and out.

This week

It's been a tough one. Allister. A beautiful man from our little town who passed away earlier this week and his funeral was yesterday. An amazing man, a gentleman and a GENTLE MAN. He lived 85 years on this earth and jam packed every bit of living he could in those 85 years. I was astounded at the stories they told at his service.

Mike did the Masonic part of the service at the gravesite and I was so proud of him, he never lets on but he was nervous, we could see his hands shaking, but not a waver in his voice. He paid such due respect to this lovely lovely man.

Moments with Allister stick in my mind. He was a little man and always with a cheeky smile and a giggle and always with a yarn to tell. The first time I met him I had been here in this town perhaps a few years and I wanted to take some photos of cows, and Mike suggested we head down to see the highland cattle. HUH? We had highland cattle in our town? Why did I not know this? So we head down this little dirt road on the outskirts of town and Mike says "Oh Allister's car is there". HUH? You actually *KNOW* the man who owns the highland cattle? Why did I not know this either?

Well Allister was more than pleased to take me around his prize cattle, walking amongst these amazing beasts, curiously following us, a bit unnerving with their huge horns not far behind us, but I felt so safe with this little man who did carry a stick to ward off any horns that may come a bit close and move them on in another direction.

I spent more than an hour with him on that particular day, learning the history of his prized cattle, he proudly showed them off to me, including the babies who were milking from their mothers. He made sure he placed me in such a way with them that I could get the photographs that I wanted to take. Such an AMAZING experience and one I will never forget.

And I'll never forget Allister either. Rest in Peace dear man.

First past the post

Well despite my little rant about the race that stops the nation, I entered the Melbourne Cup Sweep at work and won! ha. Thank you Dunaden. For an outlay of $2 I walked away with $32.50! Nice work.

After my post of yesterday, the news of the fire at one of my favourite fabric stores in Ballarat has hit the net now. Gail's Patchwork Emporium, such a beautiful beautiful place, to visit, to meander through marvelling at the array of fabrics, the gorgeous quilts on display, the nick nacks. I feel so sick for the owners, they must be devastated. I'll link up the story and photographs fom the Ballarat Courier.

On the scrapping front...

Still a few more pages of the boys, absolutely loved this photograph I took of them last year at our house, posed in front of our little tree. Their smiles just really are the best tonic.

Credits Designer Digitals.


So I think an early, well early for me, night is in order after my very early start today to get into town for the Melbourne Cup breakfast at the TAFE. Delicious by the way.