Shad, read your recent journals, my you are the busy little bee staying on track and doing good things. Yay for you!!! Hope your efforts pay off at Saturday weigh in. :bravo: How's the foot feeling?

The plumber came and filled in the hole outside, very poorly I might add. And they did an equally poor job cleaning up the mess they made in the basement. The good thing is that we discovered the tree outside the window has somewhat shallow roots, not a threat to the pipes so we will not have to go through more expense to remove the tree. And we will continue to enjoy it's beauty and all the little beggar birdies that sing for their supper that DH enjoys so thoroughly - or early morning brekkie as Shad can attest to.

I am trying to get myself more organized. Yesterday we had some errands to run after work and the night just flew by. Back to making my little lists so I make sure all gets done that needs doing.

And with that, I'm off to the grocery store...

:chef: :hun:

Oh I am so:stress: out at the moment I have slipped back to the old let me :comp: at an unearthly time of Englands morning, so watch out folks, you know what happens to my spelling:write: although I will try and be careful.For the last feew nightsI have gone to bed at 23:00, slept for 30 mins somewhere between then and woken up 10 minutes either side of midnight. Then dropped off till 00:55, then dozed till 01:50.Oh my fishfingers!!!is the only thing I can think to say that is not immediately deletable:rollpin: :sumo: It is a good clear night but quite over mild and I cannot stand being too hot.Duvet is flying all over the bed!!
My social worker rang this morning and let me know she had put in a complaint about Dr.e.m.p.I knew he had asked her if she had anything else to add about my case when he was on the doorstep, thinking I was out of earshot, but I had not heard her answer nor his final blast as he went down the path.Good job really as if I had heard him say"these people who have everything always want more" or the like, I would have let him know exactly what I felt of him. How DARE HE???:mad: So my asw is putting in a complaint:write: :rollpin: :sumo: Ooooh I just wish this whole stupid episode would get to the end.I still have to go through tribunal and this anxiety is not helping my mood one iota.....:stars:
I am very concerned about my friend and her husband, I think I have told you that Colin has metastatic ca of the tonsil and is now not able to swallow, so is being fed througyh straight into his stomach through a "peg"...(don't ask me!!) He is now using patched medication and loads of oral controlled drug liquid form and paracetamol every four hours but he has PUT ON WEIGHT!????Eh??The whole family is in such chaos at this time..DD is 38weeks plus 4 till baby is expecyed, dd and not so dsil and dd are trying to go through divorce, but he keeps doing the stupidest of things and pulling stunts like not bringing the middle boy back to his mum after weekend visitation rights, telephoning dd's very good solicitor and making a terrible fool of himself over the phone being very rude, arrogant and basically a :blah: :censored: :foot:
Careful,Happy, soon you will be telling us how long it is till Christmas....:lol: I hope things do quieten down a lot before Christmas arrives, I think we have all been through too much excitement just recently....remember too that some of us have had :queen: Joy for tea :lol: :p
Och weel, 02:00hrs, let me go and aquiant myslf with my bed again.......night night, good afternoon and have a good morning!!

Teel, I am outraged at the nasty, nasty NASTY doctor's remarks. A pox on his head. May he someday be in the situation where he needs help and someone 10 times colder than he controls the situation. OOOOHHHHHFFFF. Stomp, stomp. Makes me so angry. You just sum up the fight girl.

North America to Shaker, come in please??????? And grab Annie too, will you? :genie: :genie: :genie:

Teel, that bit of 4 x 2 is getting closer to the UK. I will even get a new goalie bag to stick it in. How dare he say anything like that. How dare he put everyone he meets into the same parcel and say that they can make ends meet. How DARE he. I sincerely hope your Social Worker can do something for you and the rest of the world about him. He is no doctor - he is Frankenstein and should be locked away in a laboratory and sent food parcels once a month. He should......ooooohhhhhhhh....... words are failing me. :rollpin: :rollpin: He should be at the same place as my idiot student, somewhere west of Mars.
I'm stomping along with happy. :sumo: :sumo:

:D :sumo: :sumo: :rollpin: :rollpin: :mad:

Thank you girls for your verbel outpourings of support!!!Apparently the complaint has been sent and we all await a result. Whatever that may be....I had an awful thought that if the medical services that hire him to do em.p. visits do agree that the report is biaised , I might have to do the whole :censored: :censored: :bomb: all over again.I don't really feel up to that.:headache: :no:
Have been shopping this afternoon for dog food and treats at the local (5 mile away) supermarket...the dog went to thecupboard and it was bare!!!!Hee hee heee and now she has got enough treats for all the occassions of bribery required, and I need to shop for me tomorrow with my support worker Boo.I wonder what 99% fat free milky flavoured mini bones actually taste like????Mmmmmmm.....shall I......er....perhaps another time!
Oh Shad I meant to ask, what are the two nails in the 4x2 for?Mum says are they to hang him up by the shoulders?:high:

Oh....botheration....oh...Oh..AAAAAARGH!!!Ans so yes here I am again, same time,same place, same middle of the English night and a mad pom wants to be asleep and is fed up because she is not!!!Ooooooooh....:mad: :yawn: :shrug: :hot: :headache: :censored: :bomb: This is at least night four that I have been asleep no NO I MEANT AWAKE!!!!!I WANT to be asleep!!!Everything suffers when I cannot sleep. Weight-loss plans, excersices, SPELLING!!!!!And all reasonability and rational thought processess.Oh:censored: :sumo: :sumo: :sumo:
I had a thought earlier that Shad and Happy had better stop:sumo: :sumo: because I think the weather man in Heaven is mistaking your dance of riotuous indignation for a rain/wind dance...Cousin ooops I mean hurrican Isabel seems to be heading your way at an unreasonable rate of knots.Just you lot calm her down over there....I don't want to meet her here just yet, thanks all the same!!!!:devil: :bubbles::p ;)

Poor old Teel, one hopes that by this time you are well and truly in the land of nod and that you are enjoying some peaceful rest. Can't offer any advice on getting to sleep, I have no problems. Head down, eyes closed snore off.
Happy, the world weather map this morning had some pretty nasty looking stuff coming your way. Hope you manage to avoid anything to do with Isabel, although if it gets that far inland, plenty of other people will be in terrible strife.
I'm back from Toowoomba. It really is pretty there at this time of the year, although it has been so dry that fairly extensive water restrictions are in place. Spring blooms everwhere and the Japanese garden full of Azaleas is a sight to behold.
Oh by the way, the 4 x 2 has nails in the end to help re-educate the receiver of the blow. I figure that 7 inch nails through a 4inch post wielded by a demented woman would have a reasonable impact on the imagination of a certain Doc. Arrogant scum!!!! He is very lucky that I did not hear him say what he did. He would be on a charge if I had, or maybe I would be (GBH at the least)
Okay, best get off. Have a multitude of things to do before I go to bed. I'll be back tomorrow.

We must all be busy, busy, busy. So I'll run along and play games with the barbeque.
Hope you are all okay and not blown away, swept away, slept away or other away types

:( I had a bit of trouble getting in this morning, but finally managed to get in through the back door. And, yee haaa!I had a good night's sleep except for Holly who heard the hedgehog pattering along the flag stones at 01:00 and immediately did her bolistic act...This is about the fourth heggie to visit in two weeks...I think this was mother, big, determined, despite a mad white whirling dirlish at the other side of the glass, whereas the other night it was a smaller one, who jumped out of her skin almost when Holly spotted her at the same time, and did this wonderful impression of lifting up her skirts and running for dear life.Last night however, Mrs. Tiggie just stood and looked at Holly for ages, then sauntered off to a cosy looking fern and the last I saw of her was her tail being whisked out of sight underneath the leaves. I think I shall put out a small saucer of water for tonights eposode and see what occurs!!!;)
:sunny: it is again a hot sunny blue sky day here, despite it is the middle of September.It is very quiet around, not even many trains.I am not attempting to go into town,'cos Ihave no spare money and really no enthusiasm either!! The dog and I seem to have dosed the morning away with a few interuptions to eat brekkie , feed Holly and hang the washing out on the line. Thats the best thing about gorgeous hot days, you haven't got the entire contents of your wardrobe hanging round the house for all see...:o
Goodness, I have only been up 2 hrs and I am tired already and want to go back to bed.Lucky old Holly doesn't have to go anywhere, she just collapses in a sleeping heap on the spot!!:tired: :yawn:

Hellos to everyone, hope Isabel is calming down now....theres nothing like a raging woman :lol:

"They seek them here....they seek them there....the elusive chicks of the world are hiding everywhere!" :lol:

Sorry about that sudden burst of what I might pass as prose!!!It's not even original, but based on a script for a film "The Scarlet Pimpernel", with a lot of artistic license chucked in from me!!!!

Love you lots, take good care, Shad, mind what you're doing with that 4x2!!And mind what Shad does with that 4x2, too!!!!!:p :D

At the moment dear Teel, the 4x2 has your emp Dr's name on it. I am also thinking of building a voodoo doll. :lol: and sticking pins into it. Think it will work?
I'm in sunny Townsville and in between work am catching up with old friends so it's going to be a busy 4 days for me.
Still keeping up with the exercise and will walk tonight again (when it cools down) then I am going out to dinner with a millionaire (pity he is gay hey?)
Where have the focussed chicks disappeared to? I hope Happy is okay. Not like her not to be here once a day or so. Maybe I will have to hassle her up with the broomstick or something?
Earth to Happy, Annie and Shaker - where are you????

Oh for goodnes sake....it is 01:00hrs or actually 01:20 and yes here I am:comp: wide awake..:sp: and so blinking bored with this present sleep "non-pattern":mad: :( :stress: that I think I will soon be reaching out for the :rollpin: :rollpin: :rollpin: I want my sleep!!!Where are you? Come back here RIGHT NOW!!:sumo: :sumo: :sumo:
To make things even more interesting, after a very healthy meal, a jab on the finger showed I was hypo, so I had 2 mini mars bars, and went to bed, when I was still tossing and turning like a pretend salad half an hour later I repeated the excercise and wow!!! The thing had gone up from 3.8 to 5.1, hardly worth a medal for achievement, so I have stuffed another mini bounty bar, followed by a low fat organic but not sugar free yoghurt and 1 and a half digestives (the dog had one half!):devil: No wonder I am not losing any weight at the moment...I was going to weigh tomorrow but I don't think I'm brave enough now and I am really cross!!:sumo: :sumo: :sumo:
Where is everyone?Hang on and I'll while away some time giving the old lamp a shine...:genie: :genie:

:(
:sumo: :rollpin: :sumo: :rollpin: :sumo: :rollpin: :sumo:

I got weighed today.I have put on those three pounds I lost. Now I am back to another 5 lb to go to reach 2 stone.:mad: :stress:
Mind you I suppose I should not be too surprised with all the emergency chocolate bars I have eaten recently because of going hypo.
Today I had a bowl of rice crispies for breakfast and a low fat beef and salad tortilla for lunch.
Why is this happening????
Oooops I want to join in with the :rain: and :cry::sorry:
Or eat everything in the house 'cos I can't be :strong: :drill: any more...:(

p.s.

I need a hug.......:yes: :yes:

Where have all our people gone. There is only teel and me!! I think we both need a hug {{{{{hug for teel}}}}} - theres yours, what about mine now.
Not much to chat about right now and I best be gone and get organised for today. Will be back tonight with updates of last nights dinner and today.
Hope you are now sleeping and not racing around looking for the chocolate bars.

Hi Shad, I see you are on board!!!!I hope you get this (((((ENORMOUS HUG))))) before you switch off for the night...

I have just trimmed Holly's hair round her eyes and top of her nose...it might not seem to make much difference to what she feels like, but I can at least see two enormous black eyes gazing at me over the coffee table now!!I did try and trim around her ears but she wasn't very co-operative to say the least.....poor girlie, the things her mother does to her!;)

Night night from my hemisphere......

Here's a hug to all of you. Sorry, thought I told you that DH & I were going away for the weekend. Have to finish up some work things and then go for groceries. Will be back to post later...

Hello Happy and welcome home, you probably did say that you and DH were escaping for the weekend but somehow the weekend seems an absolute age ago!!!!Hope you had a good time and are back home nice and full of r & r!!!!Looking forward to reading all about it ;)

I love your smilie huggles!!:spin:

Here is a hug for us all.....:grouphug: :grouphug: :high:

Ok, back again just like a bad penny...

Friday I was very busy and our friends invited us up to their cabin in Wisconsin for the weekend. We were originally planning on spending the entire week up there now but when we had to go out for FIL's funeral, that put a wrench in the works. So our friends decided to go up and begged us to come. It's a 6 hour drive each way which DH and I thought way too long for just a short weekend, but we didn't want to disappoint our friends. We did have a lovely time in the short while we were there. The leaves are just starting to color and they took us for a ride on the lakes in their boat. The area is populated with eagles and we got some very good pictures of pairs of eagles sitting high in the trees and then taking flight to go find their dinner. I was sitting on the pier one evening and saw one go from flight straight to a dive bomb into the water. Very cool. But it was a hurried drive home Sunday, unpack, put things away and then spend 6 hours doing homework. I tried to read in the car but was distracted by DH having to have music playing. Hard to comprehend the 7 layers of network protocol when DH is singing along with Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was a nice trip, wish we could have stayed longer. Our friends pointed out several properties that are for sale along the waterfront. It's a beautiful place but the winters are brutal.

I am trying to get myself back into some sort of organizational behavior again. Too many things going at once which frustrated me. So I took the flylady approach - a little bit at a time, 15 minutes a session. And things are getting better organized. The days are getting shorter and cooler - autumn is definitely here. I want warm foods again. Bought some chicken to bake tomorrow and I want to try some spagetti squash recipes. The squash is the size of a bowling ball so I surely will have enough for a few meals. DH won't touch the stuff.

I managed to get a bit ahead on the classwork so that's a good feeling. But it's only a small lead, lots yet to do. I also got myself back on the treadmill again tonight. I am in a fall exercise challenge and I'm about 2 hours behind in exercise time, so hop to it!

That brings me up to speed. Shad, congrats on your weight loss for the past week! :queen: :queen: 2 crowns for you (but no shillings I'm afraid - I spent them buying squash :lol: )

So Teel you are a dog barber now? I can't even imagine trying to trim the ears on a dog. I would be so nervous. I'm sure Holly is looking quite the princess though with her new hair (fur???) cut. Sorry to hear your sleep is so erratic again. Catch it where you can get it though, ok?

Shaker, Shaker where have you gone? Has Annie taken off with you? Please report back.

My "Internet" time is almost over so tah tah till tomorrow :wave:

Oh and as far as the hurricane goes, we are thousands of miles away from the coast and hurricanes. Most we will get sometimes is some heavier than usual rains if the hurricane hits a certain part of the country and is especially strong. But rarely do we get that. The east coast of the country has beautiful shorelines and beaches but they also get the wrath of the hurricanes. Even way up north where DH's family lives, they occasionally get them coming up that way. But we are far, far away from that. Our woes are in the spring when the tornado season is in full force. One of my coworkers lives near where Isabel hit land, said it wasn't too bad - a weekend without power and heavy rains but by the time it got near him it had weakened considerably. Guess you accept that as part of living in that area.

Coming to the end of another days training. Will finish here early, it is now nearly 3.pm so half an hour should see me through. I've cleaned the training room and it looks a lot tidier now and I have sorted out the material for tomorrows course and sent the data sheets to be printed, so I am more or less organised for training tomorrow.
Had a nice dinner last night. Not too heavy but as in most cases these days, light on the vegetables. I felt that this morning I can tell you. Mind you I did succumb and have some dessert as well.
Tonight I am out again with some other friends - both with ties to NZ. One is a Kiwi and one is an Aussie who lived for more than 20 years in NZ. We call her an honorary kiwi. One is retired and the other is a Screw at the local prison - she has an interesting job hey? Don't think I would like her job at all. She loves it though.
Tomorrow is a home cooked meal at yet another friends place. I worked with Jane at QNI when I was in Townsville and I think her husband is one of lifes great miracles. He loves to laugh and he laughs long, loud and hard and you simply have to laugh with him. Nobody stays mirthless while Kevs around. It's infectious. Beside which he is a miracle worker around the house. He and Jane have renovated their old Queenslander and it looked a million dollars when I left Townsville. Considering what it was when they bought it two years ago I'm looking forward to seeing the latest alterations and the new deck.
So, time to go update my journal. I'll be back tomorrow.
Good to see you back happy. Glad you had a good time away. Are we going to see some pictures? Huh? Huh?

Bunnies, Bunnies and it's not even Easter
 

Seems that even teel is having a good sleep today so I'm going to come into the site this morning and give you all a surprise.

Since I seem to be the Happy Bunny round the site - here's another one for you to laugh over

So Shad's a happy bunny huh? Up early too I see from your quick response to DH's email - thank you by the way for saving me hours of hunting on the Internet for flower names. Told DH to MARK THEM DOWN when he's taking pictures. But Noooooooooooo. He kept asking me what's this, what's this? Like I know. So I said to ask you since you were quite knowledgeable at the botanical gardens, quite amazing in fact.

Anyway, back to the bunny. Ummm we know what bunnies are famous for - the thing that makes little bunnies. :o :o :o Sorry, I couldn't resist but I do understand your enthusiam. In fact, I'm so inspired by your success that I'm going down on the treadmill for a bit while the chicken is baking in the oven (smells WONDERFUL too).

Good morning to the south.....it's 00:35 and a tad chilly in the study...hang on whilst I fetch a dressing gown...brrrrrrr..that might be better but it doesn't reach my feet:o
And so here I am again :comp: :comp: :sp: I have again had trouble connecting to my isp....perhaps it thinks it only has to work in the middle of the night heee hee!Next time it goes on strike during the day I shall give it a public flogging..:fr: :rollpin: and send my big brother in to sort it out....not that he is much more I.T. minded than me, but he IS my big brother...rather a long way to come from Rotorura:sumo: :sumo: :sumo:
So you may well ask, why is this English maiden up when she needs her beauty sleep...:tired: another hypo has snuck up and hit me over the head and I am sitting here having had some low fat but added cane sugar rhubarb yoghurt and 2 x penguin bars :devil: and I hope said blood sugar level will rise from 3.7. I am lost with this diabetes at the moment, having to counteract hypos in the early hours by eating is not helping my cause...:mad:
Anyway, what is all this about bunnies?Have I missed a big storyline here somewhere along the way?Or am I just being dumb...are you sure you don't need more time to think about it? You can change your answer you know......:lol:

Have a good day, hope to be back later....MUCH LATER!!!

love from Teel xx

Teel, you aint a dumb bunny by any means. I'm a happy bunny because I lost weight last week while I was away in Toowoomba. It's the first time I have done it while being away. I posted it in my journal (that I was a happy bunny) and now they (the ubiquitous they) seem to think the I am a bunny and not a chickie. So Mooz and happy among others are being funny about it - slinging off we call it down here!
Finished class early today, so will hightail it down to walk on the Strand tonight beside the beach. It's a lovely spot down there provided there are not too many people around.
So good night to you all and I'm chanting a mantra to bring back Shaker and Annie to our wee group. They must be busy.

Ooooh a quick chilly hello....no not the frosty :snooty: type more a Brrrrrrrrr. It has definately gone much colder here:( :sunny: but the sky is blue and I have a feeling that actually it is warmer out than in!!But I haven't got that far this morning...:o
I have been messing about on :comp: becoming more furious by the second 'cos ALL MORNING...well 2 hours, I kept logging in and kept being told CANNOT FIND SERVER!!!:sumo: :sumo: :rollpin: :rollpin: I keep telling it I DON'T WANT A COFFEE AT THE MOMENT, THANK YOU!:no: :no: and eventually it gave up and decided to be co-operative. I nearly fell off the chair!!:hyper: :faint:
Thanks for the explanation of the bunny/chickie saga....I have read your journal but that saga didn't fit in my brain....either that or it got lost! :?: Any way, Shad m'dear, you come here and stay and be a chick with me!!!!!!And thus my morning has gone by and I think it is time for lunch....hot soup sounds about right......:hun:

What! No-one in this evening?
Yes I know it is 00:21 but I had a rather long, late sleep earlier and I think if I go to bed too soon I will soon get stressed out 'cos I am not asleep and then I will turn into mrs. Grumpy and you know what that's like!!
I received a copy of the emp report today.Nothing special...could hardly read his writing at the beginning of the report and it was far worse at the end.....proves he is a proper doctor though,I think most of the medical fraternity go to "appalling writing" school!!!;):write: He got a few things the wrong way round...like my date of birth!!!!!He has made me 6 months older, born in the middle of January rather than June.....crumbs, I feel old before my time already, without him helping by putting it down on paper!!!:eek: :write:
I am not going to talk about eating today, suffice to say that I am starting again tomorrow...or today, as it now happens to be.....are you confused yet? :?:
I think you are all hiding because it has been SO quiet on this thread for a few days....Shad , Happy and I seem to have the place to ourselves. Please come and visit, all ye lurkers.....I haven't bitten anyone for quite a long time now :devil: (the medication must be working!!!)
Oh well, I ought to write my journal entry....or shall I leave that for tomorrow/today.....er....later :lol: :comp: :comp:
Oh well, that is all for now, I hope everyone is :drill:
love from Teel xx

Hellooooo. I am here, but am busy at work with the 64000 questions kids. These guys want to know it all, now!!!!!!
Still I would rather have it that way than the apathetic classes I have had previously.
Seems like your sleeping patterns are settling into a sort of pattern, maybe you are doomed to be afternoon person.

Hey Chickies,
Shad it's good to hear that you have an interested class, even if it keeps you hopping. Good thing you're in bunny mode right now. :D Sounds like you are a whirlwind of activity and are still getting in your exercise and watching your food. Yay for you!!!
Are you going to be travelling alot in the next few weeks? Isn't it about time to think about your spring garden at home or do you mostly have it already set and stocked with perennials? How is Simon doing on the house renovations?

Teel, Shad may be right about you switching to be an afternoon person. Especially if you tire during the day and cat nap - perhaps your sleeps will be stretched out during the day instead of one long period at night. Everyone is different and we all don't fit the norm. I think you wake yourself up more worrying about it. Just see what the body does naturally for a while. I know if left to my own desires, I would have a very strange wake up and sleep pattern, but I must fit into the working world which doesn't let me do what I please.

I am doing a bit better at things lately, although I can't spend much time here I'm afraid. I can't post during the day and the nights just seem to fly by. It's already almost 11:30pm. I did not get my walking in tonight, will have to squeeze it in during my lunch break tomorrow as Thursday night is the one evening I allow myself to watch the television. Friday night all the girl cousins are getting together for dinner at this Italian restaurant famous for good food and huge portions - though I think we will share with each other. We are a loony bunch and there will be lots of laughing and giggling. I am really looking forward to it. Since the nights are getting quite long now - it gets dark by 7pm, DH will have to be my chauffeur and take me to the restaurant and pick me up since it's a 40 minute drive and I don't drive at night anymore - too hard for me to see. But he says he doesn't mind and I appreciate that.

I made a pot of minnestone soup for supper tonight. Left it to simmer on the stove and went to work on the computer for a while. Came back to stir it in 30 minutes and I had put too much pasta in the soup which absorbed all the liquid and no more soup! DH wrinkled his nose at it so he got frozen lasagna. I ate it anyway with a small salad. Tasted ok to me! The temperatures are slowly dropping a few degrees each day and hearty warm soups are becoming quite appealing again. Just have to watch the salt.

Have a good Thursday all. Hope to hear from EVERYONE soon. It is getting quite quiet around here recently...

Happy, I think dh is just being a fuss-pot! Your soup/stew sounds srummy especially as the evenings are suddenly quite chilly. We are still having lovely sunny days though so can't complain!!!!:cp: :sunny: :lucky: I hope you have a super time on Friday evening with "the girls"..it can be great all getting together and sharing old memories over yummy Italian food..(and waiters) not to forget the wine...:hun: :cheers: :gossip: :gossip: :wizard: :grouphug: I look forward to reading all about those deserts....mmmmn!
:lol: Shad good to hear your students are keeping you in line and up to date on your teaching...anything has got to be an improvement on Mr. mind-the-lamp-post from previous experiences.

Well, the news we have all been awaiting... the date of my tribunal (provisionally) is......november 20th .:mad: :cry: The compaint from my social worker is being taken seriously but it hasn't delayed the date...that's the earliest it can be done.
Excuse me whilst I have a long paddy and cry my eyes out (again).:shrug: :censored: :sumo:I read the copy of the report today and noted a few mistakes....I was born six months later that they seem to think, and I am appealing for renewal of an entirely different benefit to what they have put on a letter to my s/w. Heaven help us. Heaven help us all if one day these guys have to make a really big, life decision. I think I will be first in the queue to get off the planet.:stars: :stars:

Tried to get onto the 'net with my computer when I got in last night however it let me in once and then for some reason it decided that my POP3 server was wrong and my mail box address was wrong etc etc etc. So I thought I would shift over to Simons computer and his said the same thing. I decided to do a defrag on my machine which took hours and then nothing wanted to work right so it looks like it's being a very cranky FRED and Simons is being an ALFRED. I'll get it sorted over the weekend - or drive myself batty in the attempt. Computers - gotta love em.

Simon is carrying on in the bathroom. Boy have we learned heaps with this. Water has a wonderful habit of sneaking around and the leak is not necessarily coming from where it appears to be. Illusionists have nothing on water - or is that where they get their ideas from. However he has started on the floor and the first of the tiles are laid there. I have to organise a plumber to change the pipes around for the new vanity and I have a shopping list of things to get for him. It will get finished eventually and now he is thinking of the kitchen. I should be broke when he is finished!
Glad to hear you are having a girls night out Happy. Good for DH driving you to drink! Well sort of!
Teel the tribunal date will give you time to sort out your defences. A good lawyer would make mincemeat of the prosecutions case with all those errors in it. Pity you are not over here, we could go to the local Current Affairs program on channel 7 and get them to take up cudgels on your behalf and for free - all you would have to do is get emotional on the telly. I hope the S/W's case against the Dr helps. It should.

Okay, best go and find something to do with my day.

Weigh in day tomorrow. It won't be as good as last week, but a no loss/no gain would be a fair result I think.

:D Good day to everyone as I expect you are speeding down the final straight to your weekend, Shad whereas poor Happy has got several hours to go., but then we wwill have got to Monday morning and the USA will still be enjoying themselves, I hope!!:lol:
I am meeting my support worker at noon today, Boo.I want to do a bit of shopping in town and I might sneak over to the Boots plc scales to see what they are up to. So I had better shoot off now and you never know, I just may have some more interesting news for you later...before you all fall over bored stiff.....:p
I liked your idea, Shad of going live on t.v. with this daft lot called the dss. It wouldn't take me any encouragement to get over-emotional....I tend to do it all the time!! We do have similiar couple of programmes over here and I have thought about writing up to them, but something tells me I hag better not do that until I have been re-awarded my d.l.a. and every penny they owe me since May 2003.I still reckon I would have to keep anomynous on the programme 'cos I have several more years of dss vs Monk to come. Heaven help me. And Paul and Judy.

:angel: :strong: :cp: :dancer: :judge: :encore:
bye for now chicks, keep warm over this side, and no sunburn on the other!!

Managed to get back into my computer this morning. My email is still not up and running yet but I can get to the net and therefore to my mail by the back door method. Appears it wasn't my fault at all but the ISP had a breakdown in a server farm somewhere. Not sure what the story with the mail is, but rest assured I will find out.
I seem to have developed a bit of a cold in the nose! Drat it. Not going to develop into much I don't think, but it is playing **** with the sinus' and the back of the throat at the moment. I'll have to sweat it out during today I guess.
My work schedule is about to go out the window again. I was due to be back in Toowoomba this week, but that is cancelled and I am now in Brisbane for the week. Then I was due to be in Cairns for a fortnight and that got changed to a month. Now it doesn't appear to be happening at all. I suspect that they are about to delay the changeover in Queensland because of the mess they have in New South Wales. They went far too far far too fast, if you know what I mean. I think we will be going back into NSW for remedial training - oh no not Sydney again!!!! Well I could have (and actually did) tell them that it was not going to work properly because they did not lay the foundations. That was about the time that we were running out of budget for the year and too many corners were cut.
So lets just wait and see what comes out of it.
Okay, time to catch up on the journals, and get on with the many and varied jobs of the day.

Brrrrrr I declare it Autumn!

Well yesterday I wrote a long post and it disappeared into thin air and I can't remember what I wrote except for a few things..
Shad I'm sorry you have a "cod id da doze" but you are in good company as my parents have had it for a fortnight and a friend of mine for a week!!(I have banned the parents from visiting till they are fit again!!).:devil:
For once the excitement was not centred around my house yesterday...my neighbour thought she had one of these everlasting colds coming during the week, and unusually for her, she took a couple of days off sick..when I saw her on Thursday she had chest pain, abdominal pain, headache, loss of appetite and goodness knows what else. She phoned me yesterday evening and the conversation went something like this..."...went to the doctors....amazing they had one appointment left...was feeling a tad better but thought mmmmn better go, so I went. And
doctor did blood pressure...what was it?Oh about 180/130..:yikes: :fr: and pulse ...er....170 ish!!!WHAT!!!!! :bomb: :faint: So he sent me for an e.c.g. and after reading it, declared I was in atrial fibrilation...:hyper: :hyper: :stress: ". So my poor neighbour is off sick with a potentially fatal heart condition that she knew nothing about until yesterday, taking aspirin and a huge dose of Digoxin with orders to go and see dr. again next week.Oh my :censored: :censored: Looking back of course, she realises that she has been feeling "off" for a few months at different times but of course dismissed it as being overtired, overworked as a nurse and stressed out with life in general. I feel for her 'cos I remember only too well how I felt...ooh nearly two years ago now and indeed, my neighbours last comment as I went out the door was "I really do know you feel now!Completely and utterly wiped out."
I rather think some flowers ought to help her feel a bit of pleasure after the weekend....either that or a relaxation method tape.....how about a pot of bubbles?:bubbles: :bubbles:;)

Strewth, Teel. That's not the neighbour I met is it? The one who dried my washing for me. Goodness me. What is it with the neighbourhood - where you live?
Pot of bubbles? No, I think a bottle of bubbles is what you should be sinking old girl!
My computer is so slow today - well on this site anyway. I am typing away here and all of Teels smilies have not yet been returned to the page. Just a load of blank spots where they will eventually be. Hope the final result does not result in me losing this post!!!!!!
Dog is lying here beside me sulking. He is expecting his walk. However I am going to take him to the markets with me. He will get his walk on a lead and behave like a gentleman. He has developed a couple of funny little habits recently. He seems to think that his age should allow him some leeway - like I found him in the middle of my bed yesterday! He has been sneaking onto the futon on the lounge as well. (Leaves black fur all over the place thats how I know) because the cat is nicking his bean bag. He will not tangle with the cat. The other dog may have, but not this one. The other dog was a lot sillier as well. Cat always wins!
So off we go to market to learn how to behave on lead again.
Most of my cold seems to have disappeared again and I am left with the perennial sinus'. Tried taking them to Arizona. Didn't work!
Okay, I'm off and believe it or not Teels smilies have now all appeared and I have not lost the post. Computers are such fun, although I suspect this time it is not the computer it is my ISP.

Forgive me ladies, for this will be a glum post...
Got word of a sudden conference call at work yesterday - highly unusual. Well, business is down and they are implementing cost cutting measures. Among them is layoffs. Our team was spared at the last minute although originally they were going to have to cut 2 positions. And I can't help believe that one of them might have been mine. That has really got me worried all over again. It was so very hard the last time I got laid off trying to get a job again. I am 49. And while I have always got excellent performance reviews and high praise, I am old in the eyes of the people looking to hire additional staff. That is IF you can find companies hiring. It's been 5 long years that our economy has been horrible. I still know people out of work for over a year. I know I shouldn't worry about what MIGHT be, but I can't help it. DH too is worried about his job. It really makes us worry what is to become of the future. Financially we are in a bit of a better position than the last time I lost my job - we have paid off most of our bills and have a tiny bit set aside for a rainy day - but not much. Not enough to fund one of us being unemployed for a year or more. And then there is that fear of being old, overweight, useless in the eyes of people judging you without knowing anything about you as a person.

I had a very nice dinner with my cousins last night. My cousin gave me a ride to her home afterwards and DH picked me up from there. As I was visiting with my aunt, something felt itchy on my head. I brushed my hair and instantly felt a burning in my hand. I thought I had burnt myself with a ciggie when I realized the ciggie was in the other hand. Something fell to the floor and it was a giant bee that somehow in the dead of night had decided to rest on my head. It stung me as I brushed my head. My cousin promptly stomped it but the damage was done. I have antihistamines in my purse and took one right away. It hurt for about 30 minutes and then subsided.

The last few weeks have been just one downer after another. FIL's death, the tensions with the family over the estate, the expense of our trip for the funeral, our sewer pipe breaking and that expense, a bee sting and now the possibility that my job might be on the line. It has also been a challenge leading this rag tag bunch of team mates on my class project where I am doing most of the work and the thinking. I have tried to stay positive, after all some are worse off than me and you must accept that life is not a bowl of cherries and sunshine everyday, but I am getting a growing feeling of doom that the rest of this year is not going to be very good. I want to grab on to every spare penny we have - just in case. DH is talking about fixing up the house - replacing the worn carpeting, replacing the furniture, painting and redecorating upstairs and downstairs. My first instinct is to tell him (and I did) PLEASE, let's finish the existing projects you started. It's getting cold out at night, the windows in the guest room still have not been stripped and painted and they need to be put back in very soon. No work was done on the bathroom since you left Shad.

I am just getting into a very fretful mood... and that makes me worried and tired and crabby which means DH & I might be having some heated discussions. So I figured I would come here and vent my feelings so that I can get over it and decide on a positive action plan. Thanks for listening and sorry to be selfish today.

Shad, tis that time of year when my allegies act up and so do the sinus. As you found, Arizona did not clear up the nose as it should. I hear the people moving there from other states are bringing their plants and such and ruining the ecosystem that once provided the clean, allergen free air that once was there. Sounds like the dog is feeling his age and looking for soft places to rest those achy bones. Our cat was the same way the last few years of her life. She'd snuggle up on our bed and curl herself around my feather pillows - then I was supposed to sleep in a pillow full of cat hair - allergic as I was to cats. I also set her a very soft blanket by the heat register which she liked to curl up in, stay warm and snooze, except for the daily cat hair dump on my pillow!

Teel, that is horrid about your neighbor. Thank goodness they found the condition before it got too severe. A scary thing. Makes you realize too how we brush off warning signs, never thinking they mean anything much. I think you both could use a nice massage, pot of bubbles and a glass or two of the bubbly.

Well, like it or not, I have to get back to the schoolbooks again for a bit tonight - can't leave everything to tommorow. Enjoy your Sunday...

Glad that you ranted here and not at DH happy. This is not the time for deep and meaningful discussions at a fast pace.
I'm sorry that you are having such a hard time of it, but try to look at it another way. They were going to cut 2 positions from your team. How many in the team. What odds are you facing? It may not be as bad as perceived. When one is so close to the problem it is not always as easy to see around it. It may well be that because you can work from home, you will be left alone. It is cheaper for the company to have people working from home than from rented premises etc.
Yes you are 49. Nothing can be done to change that, but you can use it to advantage - you have experience that is worth promoting in your cv - resume. Many times I have found that employers have used my experience rather than my educational qualifications. I'm older than you and I haven't had too much trouble finding work and I'm not that qualified believe me. You may have to change direction from time to time, but I'm sure that you will find work - you could become the nutty trainer just like me. :encore: :encore: :cb: :cb:
Ditto for Eric. :comp: :comp:
Oh and by the way, I never quote my age or DOB on my cv. It is illegal to require it over here! :write:
As far as the house goes, try to plan things that will only take you or DH a couple of days to a week at the most to complete. Break all rooms down to components and stick to the plan. Believe me it is the only way I can get anything done. This weekend, I have been concentrating on one wall in the bedroom. That is apart from the cleaning and tidying which needed to be done. I'm on my own with help from Simon for the heavy stuff, however he is a great one for hopping from one thing to another - right now he is thinking about kitchens when I want to concentrate on bathrooms. We come to some interesting 'discussions' from time to time, but I find if I insist on him completing a certain job and not starting another even if there is time in the day, he does better and stays reasonably keen. A nice 'stolly' for him and a wine for me wins me brownie points when the job is done. :cheers:
Yes I can understand the need for saving every penny and hoarding what you now have. It's never a bad idea to work on a new budget and there are a number of ways to cut the costs. Pain really, because when you get to our age you consider that you have worked long enough and hard enough to be able to have the 'nice' things of life.
Please whatever you do, do not get depressed and distance yourself from us. We need to know you are okay - and DH and that you haven't hit him with the rolling pin or whatever. :rollpin: Stay away from here for long and I will be getting the long distance telephone directory out and not finding out the time differences. Thats a promise not a threat OK. :callme:

Time to go clean up the room and make it habitable for tonight for dog and me, shower off the sanding dust and debate what could possibily be for tea tonight. Guess Simon will be home soon as he has to go to work tonight. There is another person with a work grievance right now, though I wont go into it. He must make his own decisions.

Catch up tomorrow.

Thank you Shad for the giggles and the pick me up words. As far as my job goes, I have always known from a practical standpoint, that while I contribute as much as the rest of the team, my job is not business critical. It facilitates the business. So if the difficult decision is to be made between me, the web developer and someone who writes computer programs that keep our business running, well... They said they had 2 names selected should they have to lay off people. I'd like to think it was 2 others, but I have to be honest and say it's possible one could have been me. This will just make me work harder on my studies and I will continue as I always have to take anything they ask me to do, whether I am fit for it or not. It's just the very idea of being out of work again that scares the death of me. And yes, I could follow your footsteps and teach again. My only issue with that is travelling. I can't drive at night and I have no sense of direction. But if push came to shove, I would do whatever I had to.

Mum called tonight. She is upset that someone walked right into the back yard in the middle of the night and stole her BBQ grill. There is a business right across from her house and it is well lighted so her yard is lit like the sun at night and her house is right off the street so it is in full view which means someone was quite bold in their theft. It just means that her area is getting more unsafe and that is another worry on my mind. Mom does not want to move in with either my sister or I which is understandable and she can't afford to move on her own to someplace else. But it is becoming more apparent that we really have to decide on a course of action.

So lots of things on my mind right now. Don't worry, I won't pull away - you folks mean too much to me to just up and dissapear.

And I really like your new tag line at the bottom of your posts Shad. Thanks again for the shoulder to cry on...

Oh Happy darling, don't you EVER apologise for ranting and raving on the post! After all, if you can't do it there, where on earth would you be able to do it:p
I am SO sorry to read of all your new troubles at work, but as Shad has said, one of those names might not have been yours so please try not panic....and if it was then just perhaps it will be the opening opportunity you need to go up a different path for the next few years. After all it is not you who will have chosen to leave, and I am sure a good reference and c.v. will be a good starting point. Sock it to 'em girl!!!Show them what they will be missing if it ain't you on the pay roll....:strong: :grouphug: :encore:
Poor old mum having a shock like that! I hope the thief burns all his major bits off...his fingers, of course! what did you think I was meaning :devil: :D :o
And as for anything else helpful to add, I think Shad has eloquently said it all and I would not dare or know how even to begin to speak!!:blah: :blah:
It is the neighbour the other side of me that has developed a heart problem. They were on holiday when Shad was visiting. I popped round to see her she was yesterday and she said she felt completely exhausted. She has not told her grown-up family yet as middle daughter is due back from a week in Lanzarote today and she wants to tell them all together.DH knows of course but she has kept the severity of it rather subdued I feel. He already has high blood pressure and has had a couple of nasty turns so I suppose panicking him will do more harm than good helpful support.:(
Gosh, it was a sort of nice sunny day when I got up...er....not too long ago :o and we are suddenly in the middle of a downpour.I am so glad Holly was inside at that point :lol: :rain:

Ta ta for now, let see who can mellow out the fastest this week!
;) :cool: :yes:

Who was it that sang "I will survive"? Anyway, we will, with all of our problems and worries, we will survive. Maybe not as well as we would like, but there you go. Sometimes, as teel said, when one door is slammed in your face, another window of opportunity arises. Certainly that is what happened to me after redundancy - never looked back. But times were different and life was different.
Keep smiling girls.

Originally Posted by :
Originally posted by Shad
Who was it that sang "I will survive"?

Wasn't it our very own famous Annie????? :encore: :encore: :encore: