Hello all,
Am feeling better today. The sensitivity in the tooth is almost gone. My jaw just feels like some one punched me out but I know that is part of the infection and will diminish. I am back to eating again. Had a cheeseburger for dinner. Not the best choice but it was sort of a celebration. I have lost some ground and for sure it's back to planning and sticking to routines tomorrow going forward. I made some pork stir fry for DH tonight. He said it was good - ate all of it. It's a shame I really don't like stir fry. Have tried about 10 variations of it and just don't like it at all. But I was trying to use up a left over roast so I fed it to DH :devil: - well he liked it so maybe I'm not quite the devil.

So Teel you are having a milestone birthday this year? Me too. I think you should do something quite special to celebrate and a trip to London sounds very festive. I take it that you must be a fair distance away not to have been back there for so long. It would also be quite the fun to plan the trip and hopefully you can convince a friend or two to accompany you. Adventures are better when shared. If you go, give my best to HRH :wave:

Oh Shad, I don't know about the temptations of teaching in a lovely showroom of things that are all screaming "buy me, buy me". Have you got most of the supplies for your bath now which may cut the temptation. Any other rooms you are thinking of remodeling or will the house be an ongoing project like ours? Please enjoy your heat for us. Most of North America - including Canada and 2/3s of the US are in a frigid cold snap. We're getting a pipeline of cold air straight from Santa land. It's going to be a long February. The body wants to go into hibernation mode, just like a bear. And the bones protest the cold too. The weather forecasters say we will be like this for quite some time to come too. I have been feeding the birds, I feel sorry for them. There are great flocks that gather during the day in the tree outside my window. Sometimes the branches are loaded with the puffy little things and I swear they are looking in the window and watching me work. The red cardinal is especially pretty, particularly against the white snow. He and his mate are the calmest of all the birds. I think they live in a tree across the street and like to hang out at our house. They are the only ones who sit in the tree when we come out and put seed out - the others fly off as if I were the big bad wolf, but the cardinals seem to know us big lumpy things make food appear. Late at night we have a few bunnies that stop by too. In fact there's one out on the porch right now.

Happy belated Australia Day Shad. Enjoyed your note - and I mostly even understood it!

Mel, what is it that you do now at your apartment complex? I thought you were giving back some of the overload - yet they would still not offer you a paying job? Or was that with someone else?

I told DH to wake me earlier tomorrow, want to get a bit of a head start on the day so I'd best get under the covers and pass out for a while. Cool pillows, nice warm blanket - life is good.

Finally got back from work. I have been so busy today that I haven't even had a chance to look at the mail or threads. Went to Maroochydore this morning. Had to get a few glitches sorted out there as well. Am asked to go back to the Environmental section next week, but can't go because I'm off to Cairns and was asked to go back to Perth in 4 weeks time but DS is on leave and will be going to NZ to help DS1 celebrate his 30th birthday. Lord that makes me feel old.

Anyway it seems that I am getting a reputation for being a perfect serial pest!!!! I think IT hates me because I don't take no for an answer. And 'We've always done it that way is guaranteed to bring a strong reaction (although not necessarily nice). Anyway they seem to fix my problems long before they will fix anyone elses. I don't mind at all. I've been called Dragon Lady before.

So tomorrow I am back in Banyo doing some more one on one training. I hope their aircon is working okay. The last couple of days have been aircon less and we have had THE hottest days and fiercesome thunderstorms. It's quite unpleasant at the moment.
Glad you liked the joke. If you understood it, then it's time you came over. You're ready, you can speak the language.

Teel lives not all that far from London by our standards however the English take a packed lunch and prepare to stay overnight to go 40 miles as do the Irish. Whoops I can see Teel and Mooz getting on my case here!!! Unless you have some business in London, it is really not a place you would visit frequently - bit like going into NY just for the **** of it!! Don't get me wrong, there are some wonderful places to visit there, but you can only have so much fun in museums, gardens and churches. Theatre is good over there tho' but too many people all yelling in different languages and too much traffic, grime and pollution.

Oh yes the tooth fairy. Well I did find a couple. Do you want the old one or the young one? Oh well I will give you the lot anyway. Just because I can!
Hope you feel better today.

:sumo: :sumo: :lol: OI!!!!! We are not quite as bad as all that, are we??? It is just that we are more prepared for the chaos that always seems to ensue on our ill-prepared road system. They really were not made for the sheer volume of traffic we have nowadays. :p The capital is actually about 100 miles from me, and there is just about nowhere to park so normally people go by train (not much easier!) or drive to a station which links to the underground, leave the car and "let the train take the strain" as the saying goes! But as you say, the English are not quite up to your standards of popping up the road to have tea with "Aunt Mable"....one and a half miles away!! :devil: :lol:
The white stuff arrived! And it is -2 degrees here this morning. Very pretty but freezing. Even Holly is sitting on the stool by the heater. I put her wet weather coat on to go out in the snow yesterday. She was definately not amused. Mum said she probably thought all the neighbouring felines were laughing at her!! Hee hee. Saved her getting quite as wet as she could have done!!
Happy.... :cbg: I am glad you are feeling like eating again. In this cold weather you need some fuel in you to keep you strong. :strong: What is it about stir fry you don't like? I love them They take a lot of preperation with cutting all the veg. and meat up ready, but once you are ready to cook you just throw everything in the wok and it is ready in 5 minutes. Do you find them too bland? I always addd a few shakes of something like Worcester sauce or sweet chilli dipping sauce and crushed garlic and ginger. Ooooh it is far too early to be thinking of food. I had strawberries and vanilla yoghurt for breakfast. :T
Ah Mel. Like you I hate being retired so early. I rant and rave at myself about it and it doesn't do me any good in the long run. The DSS over here gives out (ha ha) benefit awards for 3 year terms or indefinate ones, by which they mean it is usually yours for between 7 and 10 years but you can be recalled to fight your corner at any time. Just recently they stopped all life time awards. As with your case, they somehow think that a miracle might occurr and my degenerating spine will suddenly stop degenerating and even perhaps regrow!! :^: If only! The sysem makes me sick. I really cannot see how benefit frauds get away with the millions they seem to. I have spent over a year trying to get what I think should be mine. :( oh I nearly forgot....who is Jerry Lewis???
Shad my dear, your manager seems to think he can cut you in several pieces and have a bit of you in every corner of Australia, almost. Honestly! You should not be such an IT guru!! ;) I must say though that you do seem to get to places with interesting place names....Maroochydore sounds great fun :dizzy:

Right, I am off to visit the world with Shad's photos.... back soon!! :spin: :wave:

Already I forgot what I wanted to say :(
 

Teel~ Jerry Lewis is an actor from the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis movies? Don't know if you ever saw them. He's really a comedian. ANYHOW~ he has a fund raiser on TV every Year for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. I forget we are not all sitting on the same chunk of land:lol: My dear grandmother used to take everything but the kitchen sink with us wherever we went. The regular proper British cold lunch was served. Including roast beef sandwiches with butterered bread served on a tablecloth even if it was on the ground! We used to think everyone was like this. Boy did I learn later on. Every veggie had to be creamed on the Holidays and Spotted Dick was my fathers choice for his Birthday every year! Yes I am from the old Yorkshire Pudding Family set! The other half is Welsh.:lol:

Happy~ I am sooo glad real food whatever it is is finally making it into your mouth. Also good to hear you feeling better. I bet you feel like someone punched you- I can truly feel it! The "new" job was something different and would have lasted 1-2 months but would have paid big. The job here was as a volunteer basically. Long and boring story. I needed to be needed and they were desperate for help. I'm tired after 16+ years and only get a teeny tiny paycheck each week so I gave up the "volunteering" stuff and am only supposed to answer emergency alarms at night and on weekends. Hope this makes sense.:lol: Problem is that the "Heads" of the depts don't want the work back! :lol: TOO BAD.

Shad~Your posts are like my days! :lol: only you get new faces! I have the same idiots every day! I not only stayed upstairs yesterday, I did not go down again today. Hope the weather breaks for you and their A/C works. Can't have a hot Shad ranting all over those poor blokes!! Poor sods won't know what hit them!! :dizzy: If ours is ok tomorrow I intend to go shopping and get out for awhile!

I must learn to type shorter answers!! Have a nice day everyone and take care.

My scheduled class fell through today because the 2 guys decided that they knew everything anyway! Fine by me although Larry (one of the management) is 'slightly' upset about it! I think he has told them to go away and hide in a barrell or words to that effect. Therefore today is Mchappy day where no one knows quite what to do with me. I shall just get ready for Cairns next week. My schedule has been changed again and I will be away for much of the next two months. I will have to put Shad the dog and cat in to a kennel for two weeks early March. The vet has put me onto one which caters for geriatric animals and tho expensive sounds good. He will have a trampoline bed (which he wont use because it is difficult to climb for him) I'll probably take his bean bag along. As well he will have an air conditioned unit and a run so he can go in and out as he pleases. Sunday the Cat will also have similar.
My schedule now reads - 2 weeks in Cairns from Monday 2nd. One week in Brisbane, then one week in Cairns followed by two weeks in Western Australia. DS is on leave for those last two weeks and will be going to NZ to celebrate DS1 birthday which is why Shad the dog is to be put in a kennel.
Mel, there are times I need a secretary - so maybe you will have to come over and do the post and pay the bills and run the house!!!! Pay is even less than before, but there is a big wine rack and the weather is really good, particularly in winter. No snow ever!!!
I remember Jerry Lewis with and without Deano. He was a right clown. I haven't actually heard much of him in years - does he have a progressive disease too, or am I thinking of someone else?
Maroochydore - can't tell you what it means as I can't find a book or a website which will translate from aboriginal to english. But I have found a picture of the Maroochy River for you. You have to have a $1m house on the canals to see this view but hey we can dream!!!

Hi Ladies I am back :cheer: I had a lovely time off with the family, it was lovely and hot so we managed to get plenty of time in at the beach and went to an amusement park for the kids. Hello Mel nice to meet you :wave: having said that I won't be back till Monday to chat as I don't have the Internet at home ... what the??.. :faint: are you still there Mel??... yip it's true an Internet free zone at our place!! so have to wait for work on Monday... oh yeah and I will be first to face the new week. Kids used to think America was cool cause it was always the day before, thought you have the longest days until I explained the time thing.. :lol:

During the break the FIL got all depressed and went to docs and got some pills and we all had to rally round and keep him company, ended up going out on Sat and finding him a dog :lol: guess you can't beat those to keep you company!!! She is a lovely dog a staffy, I am not big fans of those dogs but this one is lovely, she is 2 and has a good nature and the kids love her so guess she will fit right in!!... She was found in a swimming pool about 18mths ago by her prev owners and she is very scared of water, the inlaws have a goldfish pond with a bridge over it and all the coaxing, food etc won't get her over that bridge!!! Maybe that is a bit like us on one side of the bridge and exercise and diet is in the middle and we can only get halfway and never make it to the other side???...

Well having said that I did have a bad food week but that stopped Tue just gone and I have been OP since then, lucky for us it is sweetcorn season and just 4mins in microwave and salt on.. luuuuvvverly. So I just need to add in a bit of exercise in there and will come right. It is raining here today and probably will for the w/end :censored:

So I am looking for a new job, have finally had enough of being here, this is my 6th year and really is time to find something a bit more interesting and motivating. I am taking a step sideways and starting to do Project stuff which is slightly more interesting, but still same old customers and cr*p, so think it is time to go. Not to much around for me at the mo tho mainly because I would like a big change, I don't mind staying in IT but not Helpdesk Team Leadering or anything like that, might try selling instead.. anyone done that???

Well guess I will go, I am leaving early as I have been oncall all week and am a bit tired, hate people waking me at 5:30am saying their password has expired, takes all my willpower not to say .. who :censored: cares!!.. ha ha bet you have had some fun times like that lately Shad!!! Well have a great w/end all and I will catchup on Monday.. or will that be you catching up??..

Hey Shaker, good to see you back again. :wave: Glad to hear you had a nice time on holiday tho sorry to hear about your FIL. Dogs are good companions, I'm sure the new one will be quite helpful to the Dad.

Had to laugh at your post - Help Desk Burnout. I KNOW the feeling. When I got my latest job it was the first time in about 20 years I did not have a pager or was on call. Oh Happy Day and I've never looked back. I didn't even mind being on call at my current place - getting called once a year is nothing. I had many snappy conversations in my head with the end users - was afraid I'd actually say them out loud one day and get myself fired - after all the manager should set an example, right? :devil: So I knew it was time to escape. Hope you find something interesting. I must admit, I have never tried selling. I am too shy for that though people who know me would be shocked as I am rather outgoing but some things just make me clam right up. Selling can be lucrative if you have the right personality. There are also pre and post sales support positions which are not outright selling but require someone technically good to actually make the software work (sound familiar Shad?) Good luck to you. And I can't BELIEVE you don't have Internet access at home - that's probably a good thing - like not having television.

Shad, I am sorry to hear that you will have such a busy travel schedule - particularly that you have to board the pets, even though it sounds like you've found a nice temporary place for them. I'm sure Teel and Mel would come and house sit if you got them over your way. We're all longing for a bit of warmth right now. As I sit her it is 0 degrees farenheight. That's COLD and does not factor in the temperature with the wind blowing. I didn't have enough birdseed for the bunnies tonight so I mixed in a bit of DH's cereal (Shad you had better not snitch on me). There are 2 out there right now and they are chasing each other off fighting for a taste of DH's apple cinnamon oat flakes. :lol: Your picture of Maroochydore looks just heavenly. Might they need 2 enterprising people to walk the river and pick up the trash? Wait, are there crocks in that river? Never mind. I can't run fast. :yikes:

Mel, what is this with typing shorter answers? Does this mean I have to follow your lead and cannot run off at the mouth as I am prone to do? :lol: Yes, I can understand your situation at the office, why give up free help and heaven forbid they should do what THEY get paid for. But stick to your guns lady.

Teel, I cannot tell you what it is I don't like about stir fry except for the taste and like I said, I have tried many recipes. It's a good diet food for me because I never eat much of it when I do make it. Don't know why, I adore Chinese and stir fry is just that. There is one restaurant that has a Thai stir fry that I LOVE - but I don't get anywhere near to it anymore as it was by my former employer that is too far off just to go for a luncheon. Isn't that funny that Holly is "embarassed" by her coat. They are warning people out here not to leave their animals out for long in this cold. Plus all the salt in the streets and walks is terrible for their paws. Something they said too which I never gave thought to was to leash your animals. With all the snow on the ground if they run off they can't smell their way back home and can get easily lost. We have a couple of wild cats that roam the neighborhood. I haven't seen them around and wonder how they protect themselves and stay warm. Hope it's not by chasing my bunnies!

Shad and Shaker you be cool and the rest of us will huddle for warmth. The weekend is upon us!

Of course Mel is not allowed shorter answers. Crickey how would we all get our giggles first thing in the morning (well my morning anyway). Can just see Shaker selling - she oozes enthusiasm most of the time. Go for a career change. You've gone just about as far as you can go with the present set up.

See you have taken up the all time good slogan Happy. No I won't tell the DH about the bunnies and the cereal - got to look after our wee furry friends.

More storms again tonight. Much damage in Brisbane City this time. Roofs ripped off houses and power out in many suburbs. Some had only just got the power back after the storm on Wednesday. Larry at work tells me he had a conversation with his son over the dinner table last night. First one he has had in years!!

So the weekend is here. It will be a full on and busy one as I have so much to do in the house before I go away. I told Shad the dog about the kennels tonight. I get the impression that we are not amused!. Tough old buddy hey!

Well that is about my day. Nothing spectacular, but I have a stack of reading of updates and things which have changed in the system this month so my plane trip will be well taken care of. I also found some cheap paperback books at the bookshop today so will have something to read for Cairns evenings when the TV aint so good (most of the time)

Okey Dokey, time to buzz off and do the laundry and cleanup a few bits and pieces which will leave some more time tomorrow.

Nothing got done but it felt like a busy day!
 

I can't explain any better than that. Here it is almost 9:30 PM on Friday and I'm still not done getting ready for bed. The blasted phone and the answering machine. Most of them nuisance calls but you have to fob them off on sopmeone else and that takes time too. But I am beginning to really see light at the end of the tunnel. Yippee. It is just going to take time for the transfer of jobs/power. :crossed:
Shad~ I am more than ready for a secretarial position. Don't need pay. Just a bed, and electrical outlet to plug in the chairs and air-conditioning! Then I'm all yours and Shad the dog will want for nothing! :lol: Just remind me to renew my allergy pills before I get on the plane!:lol: You are a busy lady for sure but it beats staying home all the time!? Yes? :lol: Our lives are so parallel and yet so different but I always get a giggle when I read your posts. i keep holding my head and saying YES YES ! :lol: Hope the trips are fun too! The dog and cat sound like their vacation will be well taken care of!

Shaker~ So nice to finally be able to say hello. Shad felt sorry for me as I was an orphan without a home to call my own! :D You are right I almost did faint! A house without internet access? :lol: Unheard of and I thought only in apartment bldgs like this one where 100 senior citizens live....OH 98 cause my daughter jennifer and I both have apts here! Glad the time away was good and hope the dog brings smiles to the FIL too!

Happy~ I'm so pleased you sound like yourself and hope the tooth scenario is over or almost over. Have a painfree weekend. From my mouth to God's ear! :lol: About stirfries~ I like them in restaurants but not home-made. Or at least the recipes I and Jen have tried. They always seem to be missing something...YUCK. :lol: So I am with you!

Too tired for words tonite and there will be no exercise. Too much sinus meds today. Could be why so little actually got accomplished?! Everything I did was in slow motion! :lol: But now that I think back I did get some junk done! Have a great weekend and good morning Miss Shad~ RISE AND SHINE!!!
i\I WILL BE POSTING MY WEIGHT AND MEASURES IN THE MORNING!!!

Bedtime at 9:30 which is actually 8:30 my time? :tired: whoa girl at that time of night I'm just about to get my second wind :hat: Actually I envy people who can do the early to bed, early to rise thing. I've tried it, I am just a vampire of the night.

We have been invited to my boss' house tomorrow night. Actually her husband is my good buddy from when we worked together before. When he told me she was getting laid off I recommended her to my company not knowing that they would make her a manager and I would report to her. But that's ok, she's a good person and I am a handful answering to no king or :queen: so she has it worse than me :lol: Along with them is another couple - the husband is a professional comedien and his wife's a riot too so we are looking forward to a fun evening. That is as long as it doesn't snow a lot on top of the already bitter cold we are dealing with. Brrrrrrrrrrr. I'm glad DH's car has heated seats. And I'm really glad we replaced the furnace and air conditioner in the house this summer. I would have had to live in the warm bathtub all night long in this drafty house. DH's back was bothering him and he asked me to put some linament on him. He jumped because the linament was cold but then really squeeked when I touched him with my ice pack hands. I just covered him quick with the warmed up blanket.

My hands dry and crack something fierce over the winter so last year for Christmas he bought me one of those hot wax paraffin dips. Oh that is SOOOOO nice. I use it about 3 times a week and go to bed with cotton gloves and rich hand lotion. It's really saved my hands. I tried to get one for my mom because she has the same problem but she would have no part of it. I even tried to tell her it's therapeudic for arthritic hands but... Mom doesn't deal with change well. Heck I'd do anything not to have such sore hands and the risk of infection too from the cuts. I also got her and me these warm bootie slippers from Canada which you put in the microwave and warm up. Think she's used hers? No. :rolleyes: but I keep trying.

Shad, hope you got things done before you had to pack and run off. Did you find the problem with DS's computer? I hope it's not dead. Just what you need before you leave.

Shaker have a warm sunny weekend. Miss Teel I hope that you and Holly stay close by the fire and snuggle up warmly. What have you got cooking the slow cooker this week? And Miss Mel, hope you unplugged the phone and got some rest. So you have sinus problems too? Aren't they a mess? Why do we have these body parts that give us so much grief?

Have a good weekend everyone...

Nope the DS computer is not dead, but the surge plug is!!!! Thank you to who ever invented the surger. Actually I was worried because the scanner and his modem was plugged into the same power board (with surge) which was plugged into the wall also with surge. My computer is plugged into a surge board and into the wall. Nothing happended to mine and the only socket which is dead is the one connected to DS computer - how don't know, don't care just darned grateful that the plug saved us. I can only presume it happened with the huge lightning strike and crash of thunder that rocked the neighbourhood the night before. I had also unplugged the washing machine only minutes before as well. That and the fridge in the laundry are also on surge plugs but it hasn't stopped the fridge from being upset by storms. Fortunately it is just an electrical hiccup in that you have to unplug the fridge to reset the electronic board which controls temperature in both fridge and freezer.
Went mad with the housework today and have managed to do most of what was on the list for today. I have the ironing left and packing and then there is still all of tomorrow to go. So I can plan on having some spare time tomorrow - haa haa haaa :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Been darned hot today. But not as bad as I had feared since they were predicting 37. It's probably only gotten to about 32 and is now falling as the sun sinks into the west and the shadows are drawing across the garden.

Shaker you will need internet access for the kids homework soon. It's fine not to have one or not to have one on all the time. But the kids begin to worry about not keeping up with the peers and also it is so easy to look things up for projects and such for them. However you do have to keep a check on their usage. I can remember having to monitor my two right up until they left school. After that they paid part of the rent so they could look at what they wanted!!! Beside which, we had an ISP which was pretty pathetic to say the least and you had to make 50 odd calls just to connect. The best time to connect was 0300 in the morning!!!! Much easier now.
Teel - hello!!! How are you and the hound?
Miz Melody, I will have to have a chat with you about that phone!!!!
Happy enjoy the dinner. Nothing nicer than a good dinner with good friends. Particularly if one is a funny man. And next time you do DH back make sure you warm up the bottle and hands in warm water.

My flight is not until late tomorrow afternoon, but I have to remember to ring the apartments tomorrow to ensure I know where to access my key since they keep the late arrival keys in a safe in the foyer and reception closes at 7.00pm.

Okay time to go check on my melted onions. Ummm it's an Italian dish and I can't remember it's full name but it is slow cooked sliced onions until they take on the appearance of caramelisation and appear to have melted.

Bright and sunny Saturday
 

I'm off to a good start and may also have tomorrow "off" from housework. Or is that apartment work? You all sound chipper and busy today. i posted my monthly stats and i am 4 lbs lighter!! So proud of myself. Glad the PC is Ok Shad and it was only something minor. my tv took a hit and even with the surge on it, It has to have the channel set by hand when you first turn it on. HO HUM! Happy I read before about your hands and I'm glad you get some relief with the wax etc! Must be hard. I can't stand i crack let alone many!! OUCH!! My new creams for my face seem to be working but I am still going to Dermatology in March. The rosacea has a lot to answer for and I want to ask about the new cream that came out. The metro gel hjurts my eyes and I cannot use it. maybe this one is better. Also taking the article about rosacea and it's effects on the eyes! HELLO!! Do they take this into consideration or explain anything to me? NO But some of the blame belongs to me to be fair. i left without REALLY getting all my questions answered or understanding it all. Just been muddling through their crap. :lol:

Ok this effin whining is getting me absolutely no where! :D I am glad that we got committed all over again Shad.(poor choice of words):lol: Or I like to think this is our NEW YEAR NEW US Goal!! :cheer: Have a great weekend everyone and stay well, warm, cool, busy or relax. Pick whatever applies to you and your region! :rofl: Hello to Shaker and Teel too!!! :D

Well weight and measures are in for the month. I seem to have lost .5inch all around apart from the waist and top of the arms. No weight lost but I kind of expected that with the gym and all. So heres to another month of trying to get rid of some more flab. It's really nice to see that the biggest area of improvement is the flabby bits above the bra line under the arms. That was a shocker and I had noticed the improvement there.
Cairns doesn't have reciprocal gym with here, but there are some gyms around. I will try to get a 10 visit pass on Monday. Otherwise it will be swimming, walking and back to the in room aerobics/pilates/yoga than I was doing before. No way am I going to stop now.
Decided not to bug the critturs today - a: because DS did not rise until 11.00am and b: because it got to hot to be outside for the required 2 hours. So I've swept the doggy hair (constant shedding problem) and cleaned the kitchen and emptied the fridge again. Have a mango and a peach to take north with me for breakfast etc. Then I will have to rethink the menus for me. Sometimes eat out, sometimes eat in! bbq down at the pool. There is a great fish market just down the road from the apartment!
Okay best go get showered and ready for the cab which should arrive within the hour.
Happy I hope you had a good dinner tonight. I'll catch up with the doings tomorrow.

Boo Hoo Shad Is Leaving Again.....
 

Off she goes into the wild blue yonder.......:lol: Once again our southern friend is out and about. There seems no way to tie her down!! Reminds me of "HOW WE GONNA KEEP 'EM DOWN ON THE FARM? AFTER THEY'VE SEEN PAREE?" :lol: Well my flying friend have a good trip!

I must vacuum before the bird seed gets tracked all over with my tires. messy little fellas.(5 Finches) Jen's cockatiel is still "vacationing" with me. her apr is still kind of cool and he has been here in the tropics with me. Bad time to move him back. He is probably the reason my sinuses are having small fits from time to time :( But I love his company. Well most days except when he is cranky. Yes birds are moody too!!

I better get out of here and hope you all have a pleasant Sunday!!
Adios my friends:D

Good morning all, a quick post before I get into some work!!! Today you can hardly see out the window, it is black and absolutely pouring down, it has been this way since very early this morning, one of those days when you want to pull the covers up and have a few more hours sleep!!!

We had a nice w/end it was rainy in patches but very hmid and today is suppose to get up to 26 C so will be a bit hot and stcky. The kids went for a swim at the beach and on Sunday I took them to the park, I am glad they are old enough to play on their own and I just get to sit there and read the Sunday paper and look up every now and then to make sure they aren't being to roudy!!!

I applied for a couple of jobs on the w/end as well so that is a total of about 6 I have applied for, so will stop applying this week (unless something REALLY good comes up) and wait for replies on those ones. I found one that I would quite like and is in South Auckland so not to far form us as we are East so travelling would be OK, beats getting into the city every day!!!

Shad sounds like you have some lovely travels, I have only been as far north as the Whitsundays, quite a few years ago my mother and us all hired a boat and went out round the Islands for 7days, what a lovely trip that was!! Just went wherever we liked and plenty of snorkelling and stuff, it was 40C tho so that was a bit hard to take, only time we slept was when the boat was going from one place to another, beside the loud motor too, but at least there was a breeze then!! :lol:

Weight wise I have been OK this week, I am going to weigh-in tonight hopefully but DS wants to join Cubs (the step before Scouts) so that is the same time as my meeting, so I am hoping to take him early, get him enrolled and rush off and then back later to get him, otherwise if it doesn't work that way I will be a visitor at anothr meeting tomorrow night.

As for the computer, funny you should say that about getting one for school Shad, as yes I did think I would have to and DD already has a line in her room from the last people so will be easy to hook up. Last night DS came out and said if me and DD put our Xmas/Birthday money together can we get another computer.. ha ha.. had to laugh ours is a P1 and the screen only has a few colours left on it so it doesn't do much for their games.. so I said yeah OK maybe for next Xmas, they have got some good deals on now so will get something. Wont need the IE access yet tho!!

I have been talkign to DH about moving out of the city maybe to Hamilton, I would like to go somewhere that is a bit quieter but still has good lifestyle, DH is easy to bribe as said to him we would sell our place for a nice profit, buy a much cheaper place down there as house prices are shocking in Akl and then he can get a bigger bike.. good thinking aye Happy!!.. He said well that might just work,... BUT he enquired about transferring and they have said it is very hard to transfer OUT of Akl.. stink.. so will keep going and see how we go.

Well have a nice Monday/Sun night all, good luck with the travels Shad and hope to see the pictures. Teel there has been soe tstuff on the news about the awful weather you are having so I hope you and Holly are OK!!! Mel I went and had a look at some birds on the w/end was thinking of getting one, I really want a Golden Retriever but need to wait a bit, kids said no way Mum to the birds as they make to much noise.. ha ha.. and well done on the weight loss!!!

We're up to 20 pages on this thread - time to start a new one? What say you?

Shaker - does DH have a requirement that he must live in the town he polices in? Or is it just the hassle of having to go farther to work. I think that's the way it is here in the states. Good luck with the resumes. Hope that people take interest in you. Have you tried for some different things beyond support?

Mel, I have to vacumn up birdseed too. I seem to track it in from the outside. Actually DH vacumns. He hates our carpet and he is very precise spending way too much time going over it with the nozzle so that it is perfect. Then I walk by and get footprints all over and he yells. I just give him the old :dunno: and tell him again that it's a waste of effort to make it so perfect as I have not yet learned to float across the room. Just make sure it's clean is all I ask.

Shad, sorry to hear that once again you have not had a good start at your class. By now you would have thought they would have figured out some way to handle the administration instead of putting it into the hands of the people you are going to teach how to use the system in the first place. But you know us I.T. people, we are not the most logical. :bomb:

My tooth is acting up again and after 6 days on antibiotics this is a sign that it needs to come out. Period. End of sentence. I have a Thursday dentist appointment. If they yank it then it will mess up dinner plans for DH's birthday Friday. He says he doesn't care and I know he doesn't care but still I feel bad. All he really wants is to get his mitts on the new memory card for his camera (birthday present) and take another trip for more butterfly shots. Weather will not co-operate tho. There is a huge difference from 0 degrees Celcius vs 0 degrees Fahenheit. We have blessedly moved from 0F to 0C and it's almost feeling downright balmy. However we are to get socked with snow Tuesday and again on Thursday. Might be a good blizzard on Thursday but that is 4 days away and they are never right with the weather. We will probably get snow on Wednesday when I have to go to the office and Thursday for the dentist just to rain on my parade here.

Monday we are starting the South Beach diet. We had a nice time with friends last night - let's not talk about me hitting the snack table. DH is looking for a diet plan and our friends were happy with SBD. I have the book so a good part of today was spent reviewing the plan and making the grocery list. To make it easy on me we are just following the 2 week induction plan outlined in the book. I will eat everything on the plan - DH is the fuss budget but it's just a simple substitute as he does not like salmon or asparagus or mushrooms :nono: He almost freaked out when he saw the "magic mashed potatos" which is really mashed cauliflower. And he WILL know if I sneak it on his plate :devil: The house has been de-junked food wise so we'll be eating clean if not the most tantalizing meals.

I am waiting for the dumb (not so) Super Bowl footy game to end so they can get on with the new Survivor show which I also think will not be that interesting. However it is my eagerly awaited 1 hour of veg out time.

Happy Monday all...

Quick note to say hi to all. My day went up the spout, but I think I have organised the rest of the branches for the coming two weeks. Should work out okay. I will ring the Innisfail branch tomorrow morning to see if it will be worthwhile going down there. Otherwise I will be staying in town and helping out where I can.
Hot and sticky. Threatened with thunderstorms tonight. Ah well, I went for the usual Cairns 2kg shuffle along the foreshore this morning. It was just lovely watching the sunrise and racing along the sand with the birdies! Also did some exercises. Will find out where the nearest gym is when I go back to the apartment and I also need to pick up some vegs from the fruit stall down the road. Fresh tomatoes etc. Did some shopping for groceries and washing stuff today when I got back to town. So should/might be good for a week or so.

Okay, I'm off to the fish market to pick up something for dinner tonight.

Shaker~ Good luck with the resumes!! The DH is a policeman? It would be nice to get out of ANY city!! I too would love it but it's not practical now for me. Hopemyopu get a resume nibble soon!

Happy~ I'm so sorry bout the tooth! It's a crying shame to have to go through this and now to have it pulled. Hope the weather holds out and you recover quickly. Read your journal and good luck!! My friends father is on it and he's looking much better! 16lbs in the beginning. He was retaining water. He's the reason I bought the book and the carb companion too. I incorporated a lot of things into my meal plan as you can see. I also have Atkins recipes. Someday I will try some of them! LOL but for now I am collecting them!! :rofl:

Shad~ Hope the weeks go smoother and your morning sounded delightful!!
Can't wait to see the pics! :rofl: Only kidding!! Have a good dinner and hope you liked the fish!! :hungry: (sniff sniff- I think I can smell it!)

Well girls i have been the epitome(sp) of lazy with a capital L. It's 12:23 and I have not done a damn thing including eating! Watched cabletv movies and got carried away! LOL My arms and shoulders hurt from the weights I used yesterday. I thought I took it slow but maybe not slow enough. It could be my weight days are over. They did say it was a strong possibility. We'll see. I'll do some more on Wednesday. Have a great days or night and take care!!

Ho hum. I got weighed today. I lost.........1lb. 1 measley little pound. Thought I would have lost 2lb so now feel thoroughly miserable and dejected and fed up. Do I HAVE to do this? What good's it going to do me? Feel REALLY exhausted now and really need to go and sleep for as long as Holly decides I can.
Good to read all your posts...
Bye bye for....
coo, no smileys....I must feel depressed.....

Hey hang on, isn't it better to have the pound off than on. Come on Teel, it could be a bit of fluid, it could be a lack of exercise due to the weather, could be because you had a different bra on. Strewth if it was my scale it may have been because I was frowning or smiling heaven forbid. Just accept the pound and keep on keeping on. Another pound next week and the week after will make you feel better and better and winter has to go away sometime and you will all feel better.
Happy, sounds like you are planning a campaign there. The SBD sounds good actually. It is just difficult to keep on keeping on while one is away so much otherwise I might be tempted to do it myself.
Last night when David's plane finally landed we decided to go downtown and get something quick to eat. So the fish and the salad will now be tonights dinner.
Work still toddles along from crisis to crisis and I am taking it one day at a time. I get conflicting reports from time to time but decided some time back to just stick to my written schedule and let the powers that be sort it out. If they need to change anything, eventually they will let me know. Such is life on the road. An old friend from Townsville days rung me to ask me what I was doing in 2006!!! as they are implementing a new version of SAP at that time. I said to let me know when - and asked for winter and not summer.
Another hot and sticky Cairns day. Rain, thunder, lightning - Mother Nature is chucking it all at us here today. Guess she is feeling a tad PMS or something!!!!!
Went for a swim after work last night. It was the nicest thing that happened all day. The water was just so nice and I peeled off about 20 lengths without even trying hard. Made the effort to get out after an hour or so. Should have taken my book and a glass of wine down there with me and sat in the spa to read and drink. Such bliss - heat, humidity can be beaten by the swimming pool anytime. Found the nearest gym last night as well so will be having a blast in there tonight too. This gym does not reciprocate with mine so I have to pay for my time. Ah well it means I will probably only go 3 times a week instead of 5. Have to compensate with walking and swimming the rest of the time.
Okay kiddies - time go search out a victim for training. Let the battle commence!!!

Okay, as per Happy's dictum of the other inst! I have created a new thread. Click http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...088#post511088 to go to the new thread