Shad~ tough decision. 5 month of good money is hopefully worth the annoying bits.
Linus~ supervising in underrated!!!! Hope all went well!!
Ceejay~ great to get that kind of stuff done! Drink that water.

Fresh start today?????
Much needed!!! I have been doing some emotional eating in the evening. At least I think it is emotional. Allergies are pretty bad and i feel tired and crappy so I eat. Eating is not gong to help. As always my choices aren’t bad ,it is the quantity.
I am feeling extremely fat which may be a good motivation.
Nice day of house cleaning and spending time with the kids.
We went through both kid’s dressers. DS just needs jeans and socks for back to school. He wears them out faster than fast.
DD needs LOTS. The little monkey has grown 2 inches since school got out in June.
I gave her a short and sassy haircut last night per her request. It is a little short for my taste but she is happy.
Kids go to vacaton bible school every morning this week for 9-11:30. Had to set my alarms cause we have been sleepiong in so much.
DS has traded for a hockey video game and has played non stop. Now that hockey will be back on I am voting for a second TV. Now there are 2(DH&DS) against 1. We need to buy a receiver. We have an old TV kicking around. I wonder if the hookups work. It would save a lot of grumbling on my part.

Have a glorious day!!!

Need to get us back on page 1! We were actually in danger of becoming page 3 girls.

Not much happening here. Just one day after agreeing to stay on, I am so bored, bored, bored. I have work to do, but each time I try to get it done, something gets in the way or becomes a problem. Wait, wait, wait. Patience is running out fast. Wait may very well become away.

Oooh Mel, just saw a couple of cops marching down the street. Mmmmm not too bad either, good shape, good height, reasonable look. Thought of you but refrained from wolf whistling out the window.

Holly sorry to read of the problems with DS again. Let's hope he will grow out of this one phase too. Kids have a habit of growing in leaps and bounds particularly in the summer. I well remember DS1 getting a new pair of sneakers and two weeks later complaining they were too small (and they were)

Dug out a new garden bed over the weekend. Well it is not new exactly but it was definitely overgrown and weedy and looked terrible now the new fence is up and looking good. I have transferred some poor neglected plants from the garden to this bed so now I have to water in the plants every night until I can see that they are settling in. This weekend I will need to mulch and feed so the poor things can see they are appreciated after all. I do wish it would rain just one day this week. Plants always look better after some of the good stuff.

Okay, lets go and fight once more with the powers that be so I can actually achieve something today. Even if it is going home early!!!!!!

Egads, page 3, we can't be having any of that.

Another weekend flown by and here we are into August ALREADY. Time is rushing by much too quickly. Each day I'm making choices between doing this or doing that and something always suffers.

Weekend was nice tho I was dealing with a rumbly tummy all day Saturday that kept me out of the pool. I popped some antacids and DH and I managed a late evening movie tho I felt it better to pass on dinner out. Saw a documentary - March of the Penquins about the Emperor Penquins in Antartica. Very interesting movie. Only about a dozen people in the theater and all but me and DH were talking At one point I finally said "PLEASE BE QUIET". Now I know why they blast the volume so loud. Was no excuse for the 2 elderly couples right behind us - the ladies weren't interested in the movie so LEAVE or give me my $12 back. 2 grannies brought their unruly grandkids and all 4 of them talked. And lastly a dad and his 4 year old who I could almost forgive given her age but after 10 minutes you knew it wasn't a cartoon movie so check the listings BEFORE you enter the theater. No wonder we only go to the movies about once a year. We did stop for a delicious ice cream cone afterwards. Just a plain vanilla cone, no fancy sundaes and we both enjoyed it immensely. I'm not sure where Sunday went, I think I was captured by aliens and taken to the mother ship for the day again.

Had to laugh at your post Shad, at least you have a few months of steady income ahead of you. Perhaps something interesting will turn up in the interim. I picked a few sad tomatoes from my garden today. Was thinking if I mulched and fertilized and tended to it like you, I'd get a better reward. I will know better for next year. Same with the rose beds.

Perhaps we can get pictures of Holly's new yard next spring too. And Linus' fit for a queen new castle.

Mel, I think you need to turn down that sizzling electric personality of yours and stop burning up the computer chips Hey a PC for a dollar, can't beat that, can you?

Well past my bedtime, I have to hit the sack before DH hogs all the bed again. Hellos to the other chickies of the world. Goodnight ladies, sweet dreams.

Hello chicks!!
At last I have managed to get a connection into my internet after days of not being able to!
Lovely to read everyone's news......

LINUS ...I am so pleased to see that the house is finally taking the shape you desire it to be! At last you can see lights at the end of the tunnel!!! I do hope its all finished before Bump arrives..

SHAD .....well done for making the decision about the workplace!! And you've already started the Christmas shopping!! The chest of drawers sounds great and I do hope it is fully appreciated when the time comes!! The additions to the rose garden sound very pretty ...I have to agreee with you that I don't think there is much point to a rose with no perfume!!

MEL...I am glad you are feeling better now and well enough to get out and about again...just do everything in small measures and don't tire yourself out so you regret going out the next day...(been there...done that!!!) Sorry your bird is not well...oh and by the way...did you get to the mall and exchange those brassieres??

HAPPY....hope you are quite better now after the tummy troubles....it must be a worldwide bug 'cos I had a 24hr tummy upset about a week ago!! I hope you got that hedge trimmed down successfully...sounds like it was getting a bit dangerous for you and the local animal population!!

Where has Meadow got to??Hope all is ok, what ever you are up to!!

CJ.....well done on your losses! Keep up with that water! This time of year I find it a lot easier to drink water but I am sure I don't get 2 litres in me!!

I heard a very interesting fact about the reason we are supposed to drink the clear stuff not long ago! Apparently our metabolic rate increases for I think it was 30 minutes after we have a drink so we are supposed to burn up more calories just by having a glass of water!!Hmmmn. I wonder!!

And so back to the holiday memoires!!!
MONDAY....Unfortunately today was the day the anarchists decided to march in the city center so it was another day to keep out of the way of thugs throwing park benches around in the Princes St. gardens! Kirsty and I decided to head out to the peace and tranquility of the Botanic gardens....they were absolutely gorgeous and SO peaceful and beautiful ...I got some photos and even hand-fed a few squirrels! They were so cute and relatively tame especially when you are holding a handful of monkey nuts for them to devour!!

TUESDAY...Was really a day of rest as I was exhausted after an eventful weekend of being a tourist!!

Ok thats it for now!! Be back when my ISP lets me have a connection!!
All take care! Hellos to those I havenot had a good "chat" with!!

Halfway down page two. Bump, bump, bump... (lifting us up)

One of those boring days at work - even if it is month end. Is it time to go home yet? Tonight is the annual neighborhood BBQ and block party. Only about 20% of the people attending - AND IT'S FREE!

Do most people just not care about anything anymore? I barely see my neighbors. We seem to be the only ones on the block who 1)work on their lawns and gardens and 2) don't pile tons of trash in front of the house right after garbage pick up and let it sit and rot in the sun for a week. And one day I am going to rent a video cam and sit on the corner and film all the people who run right through the stop sign and send the video to the police.

It's downright depressing... Give me some reason to have faith in mankind again.

WOW!!! WHERE TO START?!?!?! I THINK I'LL JUST SAY HELLO EVERYONE, READ YOUR POSTS, LOTS OF GOOD CHEER AND I AM TIRED! LOL NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER. I WENT TO THE MALL. EXCHANGED THE BRAS, GOT SOME BOOKS, SHAMPOO, AN OUTFIT FOR THE COOLER WEATHER AND SOME XMAS SHOPPING DONE AS WELL. I HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE CLINIC AS MY HIP/THIGH SEEMS TO BE WORSENING. PAIN ALL THE TIME NOW BUT IN DIFFERENT LEVELS DURING THE DAY AND NIGHT. NO ONE KNOWS YET WHAT'S GOING ON. SO THE APPT. IS FOR NEXT THURSDAY. PROBABLY XRAYS AGAIN. SORRY I SEEM TO ALWAYS HAVE SOME CRAPPY NEWS THIS YEAR. LOL EVEN THE BIRD DIED OVER THE WEEKEND! 2005 IS NOT MY YEAR! JEN WENT AWAY FOR A WEEK AND LEFT HER BIRD WITH ME I SAID.... are you sure you want to leave him here as I seem to be in the bird killing business!
I WENT FOOD SHOPPING AND WAS OUT FOR AWHILE. JUST AIRING OUT MY HEAD. TALK TO YOU TOMORROW. HAVE A GOOD NIGHT!

hi folks i am only just sticking my head in family problems have reared there ugly head {not hubby and bot sons}so hectic evening will be back tomorrow to keep us off page three {page three is an entirely different thing over here its where the pics of the topless models appear in the paper}
love to you all
kirsty+bump

I think that about sums up how I feel. And it's not work this time.

I came home last night and collapsed in the chair, woke up some hours later and as per normal nothing got done. I really have to do something about this.

It's to do with gym late in the afternoon. I was trying to work out why, when at gym the other day, I got through a workout really easily on the Wednesday I had off last week, but couldn't manage the same one after work.
It is to do with this day fowl, night owl thing.
It to do with food and water.
It's to do with living life as I do.

So it is time to take stock and work out a new plan. New and different food too, since I am becoming bored with just about everything at the moment and really can't be bothered about food when I get home at night.

My plan at the moment is to not go back to the gym until next week. I think I will possibly go to the other gym for the cardio type stuff which is the stuff that gives me problems in the afternoon. This one opens at 5.30am and is closer to town which means I can work out and still get to work on time.
I may stay where I am for the weights which don't worry me so much in the afternoon and........
I will work out some menu plans which involve hot food for lunch. Salads are just not cutting right now. I think I will look at Happy's approach and venture into some hearty soups and maybe a frittata or too. Something I can warm up which will stop me from going downstairs to the cafe and buying things like fish cakes and roasted drumsticks (nice and all as they are).

Meantime, I will go home at night, snuggle with the cat and wait for warmer weather to arrive. It may be the lack of blubber on me right now, but this is the first winter ever I have felt the cold like this. This morning was so hard to get out of bed.

Anyway, that's my moan for the day.

Happy, why didn't you shift chairs so you didn't have to listen to the old biddies and kids whingeing and carrying on? I think I would have asked for my money back anyway. It's a very good reason not to go to the theatre.

Sorry to hear of the 'rumbly tummy' (actually there is a restaurant in one of the suburbs called that) hope all is fixed now. Definitely mulching and fertilising is the way to go with the tomatoes and the roses - indeed all of the garden (EXCEPT the bl**dy weeds - they do well enough without)

Linus - what!!! more family fun and entertainment. You guys sure know how to get the rest going. Are you ever going to have some quiet time before this baby arrives??

Mel - good to hear from you. I've got hip/ thigh pain as well, but not for the same reason as you - mine is just protesting about the exercise and the cold.

Teel - good to hear from you again too. Maybe I will have to come over there and deliver a stern lecture to your computer. (Should you now threaten it with the same??? - Behave or Shad will come in to beat you up!!!).


I have to get DS1 to give me some advice about mine too. I use Skype as a means of cheap telephone conversation with anyone who has broadband and has Skype downloaded. It is easy to use and doesn't cost me anything!!! Anyway it stated that it has an upgrade available which will give me better sound. Yeah right. The sound is not as good as it could be, however every time I go to download the upgrade it doesn't work. Just reinstalls the same version. I'm getting jack of all this. I will begin to get grumpy with the program soon and write to the outfit. Still it is good to call Chris in Japan - yak on for an hour or so and not cost me anything on the phone bill. And the DS 1 in Adelaide. Biggest problem is that as soon as I get yakking, the normal phone rings and then my mobile gets in on the act. It's all a conspiracy I tell you.

Right well, everyone elses two hour lunch break is nearly up, so I had better go do something here I guess. Catch you all later

Good afternoon to all...
Sorry everyone seems to be unhappy/stressed/ fed up at the moment...

Shad, are you sure you are not deficient in something or other and that is why you are so tired all the time? Are you aneamic or lacking in vitamins? I do hope you feel more like your normal self very soon....

LINUS I hope all has quitened down in your house today....hope to hear from you later to hear what the latest trouble was....

MEL sorry you are having trouble again with pain and immobilty. I hope the medics are able to fix you up with something that WORKS!!! Sorry to hear that the bird passed into a higher life over the weekend....I hope it didn't upset you or Jen too much... Good luck with the appointment next week.Let us know how you get on please!

Bob the builder is doing great things around the house! I now have lovely white internal doors with nice shiny new white handles! He has also made me a great ramp so I can keep the scooter in the garden shed and get it in and out without too much hassle and effort! All we need to do now is actually get enough room in the shed to get the scooter in to start with!! Next week he (weather permitting ) hopes to Cuprinol protect the fence and the shed and paint the garage...at last!! I bought the paint for the garage AGES ago!!But the weather has really been too wet for an outside painting job...

As for me, the arthritis in the feet and the ankles particularly is very bad and painful right now. My GP gets back to work next week after 3 weeks holiday so I will get along to see him as soon as possible and see what good ideas he comes up with to help sort this out... I tried to order a repeat prescription for my anti-inflammatories last week as I am still allowed them occassionally but the dispensary told me the practice is no longer prescribing that one at all so I have had to wait...Ho hum...

Hello to everyone else ! I hope everyone is fine and well and enjoying the summer(if you live to the left of me) and coping with the winter if you are in the opposite direction!!!
Ta ta for now! Be good!
Love from Teel xx

Sorry to have taken us to a place where we are all sort of in the pits, can't have that!

Teel it sounds as if things are progressing quite lovely around the house. I'm sure that Shad and Mel can give you great tips for cleaning and decluttering around the shiny new house. Linus can give you decorating tips IF she ever sits down for a minute!

BBQ last night was nice. It was warm and muggy but not as buggy as I thought it would be. I did not overeat - hard to eat at all standing up and balancing a plate. Got to meet some more new neighbors - not everyone is over the age of 60. One gent moved all the way from Alaska to here to take a job he found out he's not keen on at all. Talk about culture shock particularly as he was about as far north as you can be without living in Russia!

Shad, yes I did consider moving seats at one point but I am also horribly stubborn. We were the first in the theater, we had good seats and to move away from everyone would have meant climbing the stairs and sitting ALL the way in the back of the theater, right by the projectionist, up high and far away which DH prefers and I hate anyway. Besides, then I'd look down and actual see the shadows of all the yakkers which would fume me more. Maybe I'm just in one of those "nothing satisfies me moods anyway".

I think you nailed it with the bored statement. I was thinking this morning that my feelings are within my control and I am just spinning my wheels in the dirt letting things plod along. Time to mix things up as you say. I've been really tired at night, sometimes DH shakes me gently to get me to stop snoring and it wakes me up just enough to disturb my sleep. So like the fairy tale the 3 bears, I've been going from spare bedroom to spare bedroom trying to find a bed that's comfy and will give me a good rest. I've been going to bed earlier which has really cut down on my 3FC time here but I need to get into a rythym and get up earlier and make myself get on that treadmill. I feel all this extra weight in my back and knees and it's only going to get worse when "winter" if you want to call it that here - approaches.

I've already gotten away from the bad eating habits and am trying hard to get the water in. The only missing part is the exercise. Apart from a good swim which I can't always get to each day, I'm just being a slug here. Crack the whip girl!

Shad you've made some lovely soups before, I suggest you get cooking. I completely agree with you about salads not cutting it when it's cooler out. It's like you're hunting for something nourishing.

Oops just noticed. Time to wake DH up and get my keester in gear here. It was just 6:08 five minutes ago. Better get rolling on the day.

Hellos to all, I'll be back later.

Teel~ I had antiinflammatories for my before bed snack! I use over the counter ones! The house sounds nice and just toss all the shed stuff out! Have fun!

Linus~ Hope all is well and please send me the NEW ADDRESS! Stay calm.....time is near

Shad~ It must be the Winter Blues so get out there and
You feeling the cold always reminds me of LindaT. I thought last winter was bad and dread this one! next time you see a cop just jump on him and say this one's for Mel!!!!! It will probably make us BOTH feel better

Happy~ I am thinking of setting an alarm and getting up earlier and going to bed earlier. It will also interfere with PC time but who cares! Good luck!!

I am having a "Mel" day and did 2 loads of wash and am cleaning and sorting again. It never gets done! LOL Jen's bird is cranky and might make a tasty morsel for tonite's dinner!
The weatherman gave out a warning this morning so I got up early, put in the wash and Scooted outside all before 8AM!!! Now it's MUCHO HOT and I am all ready for a bit of lunch and a movie. Have a great day and hello to all the other missing Chicks

Hello chicks!! Lots of reading to do. I am also taking a hard look at everything in my life and reassessing and somehow making room for what matters. Problem seems to be a lot does matter.
Kids and Hubby and homelife are #1.
We desperately need to up the income so babysitting is good, easy, reliable money and the Avon is going VERY well. Hubby tried all year to find something"better" with no luck but has a decent employer right now. If i up the Avon effort it means something will have to go and the rest of the crew here will HAVE to do more housework and tidying.I also love the home business thing,it is what I do best. I was called and told to be at the sales meeting Thurs eve for sure because I am receivng some kind of award.
In the fall I am looking at school council and sunday school starting. I already have meetings at the end of the month for both.
I would like to go OUT for a yoga class( again money).
I need to nutrure myself. I feel like I have a done quite a bit of soul searching, resolving and healing and now I need to move on.
I need to eat consciously and well.

Any brilliant solutions from you worldly, wise women?

Weeeeellllllllll,
What a lot of us are feeling the full effects of the summer/ winter silliness. Mel is probably right - I have the winter blues. It's an interesting phenomenom over here. The nights are cold - we have got down as far as 4C (about 38F) but the days are reasonably warm - at least they are if you can get out of the August winds and generally it is clear sky and sunshine all the way with no humidity (and few flies). So the days are fine. It's the nights that cause problems for me (apart from being tired that is) and the fact that it is dark by around 1800 and doesn't get light until 0600. So daylight fades and so does this day fowl. Add to that the fact that the house doesn't have much in the way of flooring and fabrics so it gets cool quickly. I really will have to get cracking on fixing the place up and getting the new furnishings in to make life better.

Sorted through a stack of recipe books last night for soups and stuff that I can bring to work and re heat. LindaT has some good recipes for lunches too. She wants me to try her pumpkin chilli!!! I'll go check it out shortly. A great many of the recipes I have will need playing around with to get the calorie and fat content down. Some of these grannies made great soups in vast quantities but eggs, cream and salt seem to have featured in a great many of them. I can remember my own grandmothers soup pot on the back of the stove. Anything and everything went into it. It was hot, instantaneous and nourishing. I can remember times when I was in bed sick and my mother would bring me some soup into which she had dropped an egg. The egg gently coddled away with the heat from the soup and the whites set but the yolk was runny. Yummmy. Sometimes I'd like to go backwards through my life. I would give a lot for some of either Mum's or Nana's soup right now.

Teel, I thought about vitamins and things. I really do loathe taking tablets, but it may be worth a trip to the chemist to look for some multivitamin tablets for the short term (sure as hades, I'll forget them after a short time). Sounds like the house is coming along. Can I come and inspect the improvements next year???

Mel, I'll see if I can nail down an interesting policeman for you. DB2 went to a mates 50th birthday a couple of Saturdays ago. The mate is the 'Fuzz' - maybe I should have tagged along to check out the talent for us!

For those up in the Northern summer - it is a good idea to get up earlier. The heat of the day puts exercise in the too hard basket.

Holly - it seems you are at the stage where life is just becoming too full on and there is no time for you and your own interests and self. It's a very hard road, the kids are still dependent on you, the DH is starting to feel that he is not going anywhere with his life and career, money is usually at it's lowest point and everywhere you turn sacrifices seem to need to be made and it's you that seems to have to make them. I'll put thought into what comes next while I am drumming up the soup tonight and maybe tomorrow I will come up with the gem that will set you on your way. My accountant came up with a gem a couple of years back - the ex was moaning his fate about finding other work (other than taxis that is) and the accountant said that if his job ever went under, he would also find it difficult to get good work. It would be far easier for his wife (less educated but bright) to find good paying work than it would be for him. Likewise he said it would be for me. Thats when I went out and got work and left the house to the DH and kids. It all depends on what you want versus what you need out of life.

Gotta go. Some work has to be done around here today.

Shad~ It must be the Winter Blues so get out there and
Quote from Mel, so I have found the answer - in picture form of course.



It's titled - 'Tired of the Winter Blues, they got up on the roof and danced'

Keep smilin'

Shad~ you quite right on most, maybe all ,counts.
The domestic stuff, like canning,freezing,gardening, although work ,are mostly for me and because I LOVE to do it. Likewise with the choice to be home with and for my kids and family. Coming here to 3fc is definitely a break from reality and nurtures my soul in a big way. So is journalling.
I had a really good talk with my little family over supper about how i am feeling and what needs to change. For a small start the kids will pick up all the toys every night. Dh will clear the table and sweep the kitchen floor. We will all benefit from my Avon sales.Once again, although work, I an a entrepeneur and this fits. I am great at direct marketing. It is good to connect with business women again and the women in my community. Part of me is a little shocked at how fast it has taken off. I need to reorganize my life a little with help from the rest of my family.
Mostly I need to have a good sleep.