Shad the hallowee'en smilies were appearing in the smilie box literally as I was first of all there was just the one, and now there are three! Mummy and daddy must have go it together whilst no-one was looking!!!!

Lovely to have you home, m'dear...enjoy!!

This was a mega quick peek in to see what everyone was doing but as its still very early morning here in England (04:15hrs: I shall go back to bed and come and write more specifically later when I have my trusty mug of coffee in my hand...night night all!

Oh yes, I see them now. Takes a while to get here doesn't it.

Hiya, me again.
Photos from Victoria.

Victoria in Spring

Hope you enjoy

HONEY I'M HOME!!! HELLO!!!!

What a week it was and now the surprise was that the painters work a 6 day week and were here bright and early this morning too!!!! YIKES. I haven't read anything so I will have to catch up later. Must be a lot of writing for the last 5 days! Hope you are all well and having a grand weekend. Jen had a reaction to the shot and got hives. She was the ONLY one thank God! I was treated like dirt and basically ignored by a lady boss from outside the bldg but I IGNORED her and she left depressed. She's into putting people down with condescending talk. The seniors noticed her attitude and treated me extra gently and behaved themselves for a change! So maybe this woman did me a favor!! I don't care as I will laugh all the way to the bank!
I'll try and read posts after I finish cooking for next week. I'm making a Mexican Meatball Soup. Very tasty. Maybe a bit too spicy I ate shamefully this week(portions wise), no water and no exercise. But I did take care of myself and slept!!! I still have my 4 lb gain! Probably more by Monday's weigh in!
Have a great weekend and take care. I missed all you
Worldly Chicks

Wanted to make sure I used them before they disappeared!! Love new smilies!!
HAPPY SATURDAY OR SUNDAY AS THE CASE MAY BE!!!
Meadow~ Loved the poem and the pics!! LOL Antonio forever! Thanks for the energy vibe I think it worked! I try to do the Psychology Today post all the time. Will try harder next week!

Teel~ Hope you get to change the meds gently and no addict symptoms!! fingers crossed ((((HUGS))))too! Had a good laugh at Holly and the Bin man treats! I promise to wave the pink sandals at the camera but it was pink feet and toenails and white sandals!!!

Linus~ Sorry there is no news on the new house. I will keep wishing for one anyway. You never know! I love dvds when I am feeling down. Especially cartoon ones and romance!

Nae~ I missed the moon!!! Was asleep before it came out. Everyone said it was great till the clouds came! LOL Hope the work and office were good stuff!! I can't seem to keep the harness off for any length of time!

Shad~ Laughed myself silly with your description of the flu shot day. It usually is like that but this time Happy was right.....I was almost stampeded!!! Welcome home and so good to see you here! Hope the days home are great! Have fun with the relatives! Hope the spiders don't mind the eviction notice you are giving them!

Hapy~ My poor moving and packing friend. Hope it goes smoothly and you find a nice place to stay. I am soooo excited for the both of you!!! I would love a brand new start!!! I know it is tough on you but I must admit I envy you! LOL Stay well while the move is on!

You guys were not as chatty as I thought you would be!!!
OK I must get back into the kitchen and get a move on. I hope the painters leave early as I would like nothing better than another shower, my flannel nightie and some DVd time!!! Adios my friends! Feels good to be back!

I think the powers that be should add this little guy to the smilies list I have circles under my eyes this morning as my kids didn't sleep well because of some lame asses setting off big bang fireworks all night. I went to bed at midnight, Emily(5yrs) came in for an hour before I took her back to her bed and laid with her till she was able to fall asleep again. So that was three o'clock, kept being awoken by the bangs outside (window was open, so it sounded louder too ) At 6am Sarah(6yrs) comes crawling into the bed and flipping herself between my husband and myself... adjusting her pillow, fussing with the blanket, harrassing the cat. Got up then I haven't been exercising, eating is alright, nothing dire going down the throat... although there are Tim Horton's doughnuts in the livingroom right now calling sugar coated siren type lures to my tastebuds, get behind me tempatation and shift focus

Mel-speaking of food, YUM! spicy meatball soup sounds right up my alley I am always putting harissa, hot paprika, chili flakes in things. Can't beat the burn of a fully flavoured dish. I'm glad you survived the flu detail you were on, why is there always some squishy faced "B" trying to put someone down? Being pleasant is so much easier and well I have found that the nicer you are to these types of negative entities, the more they tend to shrink away. I glad the residents who were getting there shots recognized you were being unfairly treated and stepped up and eased the situation for you. Onward and upward now!

Shad-no place like home? It must be so refreshing for you to be back amongst all that you hold dear. Only one more month of the disorganized fools you have to deal with, I'm sorry, but it isn't so very long. You are getting some lovely excursions out of this job, life enhancing for you, beautiful visuals. Thank you for sharing your pictures. It is so great to travel along with you.

Linus-hugs for your pain. Flat on your back sounds like it must be terrible. Hope the house stuff sorts itself out. New digs would be nice wouldn't it?

Teel-sad that you gained, refocus, start again. We are all feeling a bit sluggish for some reason on our goals, but we will never give up! How the church gathering, was it as good as you expected?

Happy-packing! I can't imagine what a major job that is going to be. Yes, throw out all the stuff you haven't used for a year, chances are you will never need them again. I was looking around at my stuff the other day and thinking, why is all this dust collecting nic nacs here? Mostly gifts from people but they don't make me happy, they just clutter up the place, yet can't throw them away gah! I'm such a pack rat. Don't get lost in all the boxes

Be safe everyone!

evening chickies
sorry but this is going to be another mega quick post but i will come back later and explain all needless to say apart from being in total and utter agony my darling child has been up to his usual tricks again and i nopw feel lkie the worst mother in the world and very ready to pack the whole lot in as a very bad joke
back later kirsty

Good morning everyone from the sunshine capital. Looks like a glorious day coming up out there. The sun is shining, the grass is mown, the hedge is clipped, the roses are blooming, the cat from next door is pooping in my garden - hold on, the cat...... back in 10 seconds. That's fixed that...... and it is now 6.30am. I'm drinking my and thinking about things.

I didn't get a lot done yesterday. Small bursts in the morning was the most I could do. Today will be better, I have a small list of things to do and I will achieve them today.

Weigh in day today as well. I'd better go dig up the old facts and figures and see what life and effort has produced this month.

Kirsty, so sorry to hear that you are still not your old self. I guess we will find out soon what the kid has done this time. Hope it has nothing to do with park benches and drunks again. Get better soon

Meadow - bloody fireworks. Every so often some idiot will let some loose around here as well. Since it is illegal to purchase fireworks in Queensland, they must have a stack of them put away. It sure makes you jump when one of those big suckers goes off close by and you are not expecting it. The animals just hate it too, just like the kids. Get into the habit of the exercise, it sure does do the body good. Can't beat it if you want to eat reasonably.

Mel, good to see you back my friend. That Mexican soup sounds good, however don't overdo the peppers or the spices. You know what it does to you. Nice that the oldies were on your side for a change. Hope Madam ***** got run over by a stray wheelchair in the driveway!

Happy is no doubt up to the armpits in boxes. Such fun for you my friend. As Mel says, it is a new beginning. You will make out just fine in your usual style, lets face it, if the company didn't think you were capable they wouldn't have hired you. Shame about the continuing college education, but it can be fixed. Hope Mum is coming around okay - it is hard on them.

Teel, my little buddy, so good to talk to you yesterday. My phone rang several times yesterday - all overseas calls - isn't nice to know that someone, somewhere in this bright, beautiful world is thinking about you? I went round all the roses yesterday after we spoke and told them that they were now known by name in England. Therefore they have a lot to live up to - they had best perform or else.

Nae and Tig must be busy and living life. Tig are you competing in another fun run this weekend? or is that still to come? Nae, how goes the autumn and the wildlife critturs at your place?

Right well, the dishes call my name, the garden is waiting and so is the housework. Life is what happens when you are out there planning something else. See you all soon. It's just great to be able to get on the computer whenever I want. You will all get sick of my by Tuesday.

Okay, this is just to keep me honest. My sisters bought Tim Horton's doughnuts and doughnut holes, they are in the middle of the livingroom table, so I pass by them constantly. I caved and looked at the doughnuts and then I looked at the doughnut holes, I put one sugar coated doughnut hole into my mouth, chewed, savoured a bit then spit the entire thing into the garbage and got a small apple out of the fridge. I made a compromise but the carbohydrates didn't make me stuff and eat mindlessly. I made the choice to taste it and then I decided not to swallow. Is this progress? I talked to a friend of mine on Yahoo, she wants to lose 38 pounds and is going to the gym. She is on Atkins and has lost 9 pounds in two weeks. I am just trying to not eat white things or not swallow them anyway I know I need to exercise, I'm going to pencil it onto the calendar on Monday and make it part of the schedule... don't forget to brush your teeth and exercise!

Happy Halloween everyone!!!!
Hope the day is full of tricks instead of treats !! I gave my candy away!
I made Halloween cups for the lunchroom for Friday before I went shopping and the seniors were so happy yesterday. I kept running into them while the painters were here. Feels good to see so many smiles. Today is ALL for ME!! And I intend to make the best of it. First a ride and squirrel feeding snd then some cleaning and getting wash loads ready for tomorrow. Maybe a dvd too.
Mainly rest!!!

Shad~ Madam ***** never called to say thank you! Nice HUH?
Well it's over now anyway. Your weekend sounds good and I am glad you had some "do nothing" time. You could use some I'm sure! Look how much you've already done???? Do they celebrate Halloween In Aussie Land?? Maybe you should have waited to evict the spiders till after the Holiday then! I will never get sick of you! Not even by Tuesday! Have a great time "off"!

Meadow~ I love when men take orders and just DO IT!!! Think we could get AB to listen up??? Loved the donut story. No swallowing? Is this a new diet and did you get it patented???
Hope your friend has continued success. Were you thinking of doing that plan too? Love the cartoon! The pumpkin headed banana was adorable! LOL

Kirsty~ I am so sorry to hear of the woes of Scotland!!! Tell him Aunt Fanny is coming over to smack him in the head! I also hope you are feeling better soon and am thinking of you. Take good care of yourself.

Where are the others??? Must get the dang prod back from Linda!!
Have a great day and be well.

evening girls glad you are all still here and chatting im coming out of my funk ever so slightly
yes craig has been at it again !!!! he came home at 9.10pm on friday night so drunk he couldnt stand why is it that this kid is determined to send me to the loony bin and him straight to the hospital!!!!!!! he was so bad he couldnt walk and kept calling conner joe
i give up i dont seem to be able to get through to him at all is there some magic serum that you can give them ? what age do they grow out of this ??? will i live that long ???????? these are all questions that i need answering but dont seem to be getting
why is it that i cant get him to understand that hes only hurting himself ? and breaking my heart and the worse is that hes such a good kid normally kind,caring,helpful and so damn clever its scary
so being the strong determined woman that i dont seem to be able to be anymore im letting dh deal with it now
so its been one of those bloody weeks no news about the house {which means ive probably not got it} and then dh came home from the pub and told us that three of the houses have already been broken into so do i really want to move there anyway ? my plate which the dentist fixed on friday are broken again so im eating lots of soup the toilet is leaking again {after me blaming the leaks on non aiming by the menfolk}so a phonecall to the plumber tomorrow and hope that he doesnt need to demolish the boxing in that it took me two years to persuade dh that it really needed doing{yes he is a fully qualified joiner} we have fireworks going off at the moment one every two minutes the neighbours across the road decieded that tonight was going to be there bonfire night and not the 5th
cleo loves the fireworks but benjy is getting a wee bit frantic but we still have some of the tranqualisers we got off the vet last year so i might have to resort to them again cause i absolutly hate seeing him get upset as hes normally so laid back and to top it all off the pain is beyond beleif its got so bad that ive started to lose the feeling in my fingers again at the moment it feels like im wearing very thick rubber gloves that stop me from feeling heat and cold and the sensation of touching things properly BUT apart from all that things are fine
SHAD soak up these few days at home they will keep you going till the end od the job from **** and the accompanying idiots and youll soon be home with your total pc access and sunday
MEL people that are so sour have serious inferiority complex and think that being a ***** makes other people think they are important one day shell realise that we just think they are *****es full stop but then again anything which ,makes the elderly behave cant be to bad a thing can it???
TEEL how wa your night out? was he any good? did he pick on you ?or did you manage to hide WAY WAY WAY at the back? ill give you a phone tomorrow and you can tell me all the details
HAPPY when do you actually move?? im completely lost with dates now and i dont know if they do it over there but here if you move most colleges and universitys have open learning or transfer courses it might be worthwhile looking into
ROSE isnt it about time you checked in again ?? well all start to think a yeti has got you or that the woodpecker has learned to shoot and has you held hostage in the house
MEADOW it takes nuclear bombs to get them out of bed the older they get and on the pain of death do you mention the fact that they used to be afraid of ANYTHING
TIG where have you ran off to{sorry couldnt help myself}
right ladies i have to go back and admit that i have kids and a husband and dogs so ill speak to you all later and any answer or help would be gratefully accepted
kirsty{i think}

Poor Linus. Not at all sure I can be of help. DS1 used to go out and get a bit merry aged about 17 - we simply banged all the pots and pans next morning and gave him a hard time and all the mates who were sleeping on the floor etc. DS2 never touched alcohol until he was around 18 or 19 and even now doesn't have much. How does the kid afford the drink and where is he getting it from? Surely he is underage to buy the stuff? Maybe you can get it cut off at the source. It's got to be coming from somewhere. Also I would be worrying that he may be the addictive kind and see if I could get help through AA or your doctor. Since both you and DH have a drink or two from time to time, I guess you have it in the house, so I would not expect that he is unused to the joys of alcohol and is allowed to have it at home. That's the bit that worries me about addiction. It is definitely all alcohol and not mixed with anything one would hope??? Sorry I am not being much help here, just thoughts running through my head. And you feeling so bad right now. It must be a worry for you.

Yeah linus is right. Where is Rose and Tig.
Meadow, loved the doughnut cartoon.
Teel, are you out on a hot date?? What is zis? Come on tell all the Aunties - we reserve the right to vet the candidates you know!!!!
Happy, hop out of the box and say hello. I know you are busy, I know you are stress. Here is your stress level leveller speaking. You need a bit of time off to rest, recuperate and recover. What's on at the Butterfly house this weekend??

Okay, have to get off here and go do something. It looks like another glorious day out there. But time to do something in here today I think. Yesterday at 10.00am I popped around to Chris' place to give her a two hour lesson on how to use features in Word and got home at 4.00pm have given her aging computer a defrag, and sorted out there email which was clogged with photos from Germany sent home during her sons wonderful school trip over there. 2 glasses of wine and a whole stack of nibblies later I got home with some photos to scan for her and send back. Such is life. Not a lot got done round here. I have found that the fridge is not working. The freezer part is fine but the fridge is not, so I have to try to find a fixit man this morning who will arrive either today or tomorrow morning. I have a haircut scheduled for 12.00noon. Can't wait to get rid of the shaggy look. Then there are a ton of other things to do before I go back to Melbourne tomorrow night. Busy, busy, busy.

I put on my Halloween sweater and black scarf and headed out. Every time I came near my block I turned around and rode aaround some more. The smell of Autumn was heavy in the air like a Fall perfume. The piles of leaves were everywhere and I drove through as many as I could find and some of them twice when no one was looking. All the children were out in their Halloween finery and how adorable they were. I fed the squirrels but they weren't there. The Canadian Geese were all out by the reservoir and were sunbathing. God it was a beautiful ride and I had a grand time of it. Hated to come home but fluffy white clouds were starting to hide the sun on and off and the air was getting a tad chilly. So back I came. The day is supposed to be another good one tomorrow so I will skip the Mall and go riding I think. I'll decide in the morning.

Linus~ Sometimes boys need to find their footing and it takes awhile. Hope the DH can do something with him. Peer pressure today is so enormous that I don't know what to say to you for comfort. Sending you and Craig more hugs and all my best thoughts. sorry the pain is still so bad and no news on the house. Been a lot of stress for you and wish you could get a break somehow. Hope this week is a far better one. Stay well friend and take care.

Shad~ I just found we posted around the same time. Hope you enjoy your day and find the DB. Had a good laugh at your post! You have been one busy Chick while you were home. glad you had some socializing too. always good for the soul. Especially when it includes VINO!! I can hardly wait for the phone bill to come in!! maybe I'll procrastinate in paying it! Have a great Monday!!!

I'll catch you up with me and then I'll go back and catch up on you. Sound like a plan?

Dearest Hubster left early Wednesday morning to go to DD's. Her surgery was Friday morning. The doc removed a one inch mass and surrounding tissue from her abdomen and wouldn't commit to what he thought it was - sent it off to pathology. She's a student nurse, second year - just as bad as a med student - she's worried that she won't be able to have any more children. She's in pain and crabby. Won't rest and is insisting in pushing herself to keep active. Where DOES that child get that attitude?

The Creaky Bones 5K race was Saturday morning. I ran/walked/ran/walked/ran. I ran more than walked so I think I had my best time. Times should be posted on the internet later. I came in 4th in my age group. And there were more than four running in my age group; okay, there were five, including me. I sprinted the last tenth of a mile. I had been kind of running with this guy and just as I got to the finish line I put on the steam and slipped past him and ended up ahead of him. I was #202 to finish the race and Mr. Graham was #203. Was that mean? The Creaky Bones tshirts are cool. After Dearest Hubster returns we'll have to take pix of the pumpkin and bones shirts.

I've spent this weekend cleaning like a maniac since DH was not here. I cleaned his desk, the computer room, kitchen, and under the kitchen sink. I did tell you that he does all the cooking, right? Thank goodness for cookbooks. I was very good at chemistry lab and all that measuring, heating, mixing, and concocting is the same. I've planned all my meals and shopping lists and have a copy on the fridge, so all I have to do is follow my plan.

Managing computer projects is what I do for a living, but managing the schedule for feeding the dogs, grocery shopping, cooking, work, brushing teeth, talking to DH, talking to DD, sleeping, eating... whew! I have even more respect than ever for single parents. And for Dearest Hubster! How DOES he manage all of us??

I'm going to register us for a 5K on November 21 - another evening race. Then on November 28 we're going to 'work' a marathon. We'll be working the finish line. I'm really looking forward to it. I've never been to a marathon - most likely won't ever be a participant, but I'm looking forward to it. Our DDIL is running a marathon at Christmas. DS is thinking about one in the spring. Genetic?