Feelin Hot Hot Hot

You know it's summer when:

• It gets "down" to 38 degrees overnight
• It's so hot your shampoo seems to be melted
• The butter is soft the moment you take it from the fridge
• The water from the cold tap is hotter than the water from the hot tap

Yep, summer is here. Yesterday the powers that be declared it our 3rd hottest day in history, peaking at 45.7 about 3:30 yesterday afternoon. But folks, let me tell you, a couple of the temperature displays around town said 48 as late as 6:30pm, and my own car reading was 50.

So, it's officially hot. Bloody hot. The airconditioning is struggling to bring the temperature down any, and I can almost guarantee if I had a thermometer inside, it would still be reading high 30s.

And it's not going to stop until next week. And it's so dry, that your body can't sweat. Oh, you sweat overnight, but the fan doesn't even seem to touch that enough to cool you. But you don't sweat outside, it's too dry.

So, people, stay cool, drink plenty, and dream of that long, cold Adelaide winter we used to have....

Port Broughton? Not in the near future...

So we took the caravan away for the long weekend. Normally we would have left Friday night, but because we took Jr Her's friend M (as I have forgotten what I have previously called her, M will do for now) with us, we only went for 2 nights. By 9.15 Saturday morning we were underway.

It was a good drive over, the girls were happy, and we stopped for a short break (as one always does) at Port Wakefield. When we arrived at the Port Broughton Caravan Park, I asked the girl what our neighbours would be, as we always end up beside screaming babies. She laughed, and said there was no one on one side until after we left, and the other, well, she couldn't tell.

Anyway, we found our site, and thought they must be small as there appeared to be someone both sides, so if there was a vacant site beside us, we were in trouble... But, no, we did in fact have neighbours.

Now, remember my previous blog, with Him's modifications to our van? Well, they attracted a lot of interest from the people beside us (who apparently weren't there at all according to the office) and their two neighbours. We made friends with them as they were very interested in what Him had done.

And guess what was on the other? You guessed it. Jackpot this time because there were in fact 2 screaming babies. Wonderful. Well toddlers they were, and their parents seemed to have no control over them.

Anyway, we got ourselves set up, got the girls into their tent, then off they went for a swim. God Bless swimming pools. They spent much of the weekend in the pool or wandering around. However, M is not a physical person and wanted to spend a lot of time sitting watching dvds so that caused a few problems as Jr Her is not one to sit still.

On Saturday night, Him decided to visit the neighbours and didn't come in until 11:15pm. I was so tired, and I was texting SOL complaining that the park was still sooo loud! At that time of night there were parties, music, kids on bikes. There was so much noise, and it didn't stop until after 2:00am. I was wide awake at this time, and remained so until after 3:30. When I finally got to sleep, the kids next door woke me before six.

Needless to say I was not pleasant company the next day. I did try though. We went into the township, had a snack, went for a walk on the jetty, checked out the fishing and swimming spots, and bought some clothes and stuff from a couple of little shops.

Both Jr Her and M were listless by mid afternoon Sunday. There really isn't much to do there, so after a Nana nap we went fishing. Jr Her even had a nap, something she hasn't done since she was 1! Anyway, we went into town to the jetty, and M chickened out of swimming. I think it had something to do with the movie Jaws they had watched a couple of weekends ago. Didn't bother Jr Her though.

M was the only one who caught anything (I admit, I was quite miffed) as it was too windy and choppy, and the sea kept stealing our bait.

We went home for dinner, and everyone was in bed fairly early. But sleep was going to be elusive again, as the people across and down from us partied until after 2:00 am again, despite calls of "Shut the F**K up!". Some people just don't get it, do they?

Anyway, we dragged ourselves out of bed the next day, packed up our gear, said goodbye to our new friends and toddled off home. One of the most disappointing things about the trip was that the park was huge. There were over 250 sites, and half of those were filled. But they were all in one end of the park! When Him and I went for a walk Sunday morning, we were quite shocked to see that most of the back half of the park was empty. Here we were, all jammed in like sardines with caravans and tents together, all competing for a shower stall or toilet cubicle, and down the back was open country. I mean, what sort of stupid people are these park owners? Why not put campers down one end, and caravans the other? There was an amenities block down that way, the pool was mostly in the centre, and easily accessible by the others, so why do what they did? it really was disappointing to say the least.

So, guess where we won't be going again?

Yawn

Well, I don't really have anything to say. Not really. It's been a very quiet week (always is when you're broke) so nothing really has happened.

Him has been busy this weekend though. We had to put our van in to be fixed as the awning tore recently, and there was wind damage to the framework. So we got a new awning. That meant we didn't actually have the van at home for a week. I didn't realise we could drive the car right into the back yard... or how much forgotten squid left in the freezer stinks...

Anyway, Him had a box made up. Well, a draw really. It fits under the van, and pulls out the left side. The draw is a shallow white tray designed to carry the ground matting we put down, and the shade cloth, well, shade, we put up as well. Very clever design it is (but his measuring did prove he needs to wear his glasses more often...). It took him all weekend to get it sorted but he was very triumphant Sunday afternoon when he bolted it to the chassis of the van and Voila! it works a treat.

Then, he managed to secure the replaced awning, took it yesterday to get channel and eyelets sewn into it, and after spending several hours on Sunday measuring and cutting to make several poles, we now have a double awning, with poles running through the channel for stability and three poles for support. That is, the old awning slides into the extra sail rail on the new awning roller, and extends out another 2 metres to provide extra shade. The girls will be happy this weekend because we are going to put their tent under the extended shade. That means if it rains they will be protected.....rain....think I remember something about that stuff...

But, I digress. Anyway, it will mean our set up takes up the entire width of the site, but it will be the Mercedes of caravan set ups! Trial run this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes!

This whole weight merry-go-round

So I was all prepared to do this right thing this time. Yep, after my last doctor visit, I was going to surprise him with yet another loss.

And for awhile it looked like it was actually going to happen. I had lost a kilo and actually gotten to under 90kg! Man, was I excited!

But, true to form, I have been going through the typical holiday routine of eating more than I should, and eating more rubbish than I should.

It is actually hard to diet when you have a lap band, simply because you need to eat, and a lot of the traditional diet things I can't eat. So, I have to eat small regular meals, and often snack on the wrong stuff.

I had been good since being back at work, and only eating breakfast, trying to hold out till lunch and eating a small lunch, then eating dinner at night. But man, that's REALLY hard. So I didn't do it for long. This week has been lots of naughty stuff, like chocolate. Not much chocolate, but chocolate all the same.

Yesterday I was very disappointed in myself. I had my usual half a container of leftovers. This time sausage casserole and mashed potatoes. But I also had morning tea of 3 rice cakes with a thin smear of butter. But got the munchies after lunch and ended up with a Picnic bar and a packet of twisties. Very unusual for me.

Now, it's only half past ten and the munchies have set in. I bought some nut mix last night, but had to buy the ones with the chocolate coated peanuts. I figured I can be good....

Almost. I am having my first small nibble now A few pieces of yoghurt coated nuts, Vienna peanuts, and sultanas. Not much, just a small gathering... see how long it lasts...

Sigh, well, I still have a couple of weeks till my visit. Maybe, if I try, I can still lose that kilo and get under 90kg....

Why do we torment ourselves with technology?

I mean, it's not as if we have "always done it that way". Remember the days when phones were a luxury? I do. I was actually a teen before we got a house phone. Dial one it was, high up on the wall, one had to sit on the pouf beneath it and chat to one's friends.

And as for mobile phones, well, I moved in with Him (14 years ago) before I got my first mobile. Flip phone it was with a huge chunky battery. Great stuff!

We even bought our first computer when Jr Her was a baby.

But now, it seems we are so reliant on technology we panic if we leave our mobile phone at home. As with my counterpart SOL, I have just had trouble with Telstra. We were with Optus, cruising along nicely, until Telstra offered us the chance to save a few dollars.

So, somewhat stupidly, I agreed to swap. Well, first we were railroaded into getting cable. After second thoughts it was decided we should go for ADSL2, because we were worried about the physical aspects of getting cable installed and repercussions from the landlord and because we had just bought a new wireless router because it was unsuitable for the cable installation of a work colleague

So, I cancelled that order, and got us a new one for ADSL. Well, on no less than 3 occasions, I had follow up calls from Telstra advising our cable service was on track. Each time I was forced to phone up Telstra and check it was going to be ADSL. Oh dear, said one, let me get back to you. Yes, it was all okay now for cable, and it wouldn't change the user name and password we had chosen.

As recently as Tuesday last week, I was reassured our ADSL was cruising along to plan and a modem was on it's way out. Then, Friday I got a call from a lady named Cathy, who was at my house to install my cable....????

Turns out we already had it installed at the house, and she was just there to set up our modem. There you go. She also said cable was a far better service. Anyway, I phoned Telstra back, and found out that our cable service request had been cancelled, and a new ADSL service was requested, with a new (but similar email address), but it had only been requested on 6 January and would take 5-10 working days! WHAT!

So, we had been without home Internet since 5 Jan, and were looking at another few days yet. Oh, well. I had already logged onto the wireless router website, changed all the settings to our new email and password. Now I found out that I had the wrong info. Still, plenty of time yet to worry about it.

On Saturday I noticed that the Internet light was showing on the router. So on Sunday I stopped into the office to retrieve the email and password I had jotted on my blotter during my latest conversation with Telstra (and forgotten to take home), and rushed back to put it into the router.

False alarm. We figured that everything was all set up but the account wasn't yet active. About an hour later I walked past my computer and noticed the weather widget I have on my desktop was showing weather. Lo and behold, we had service. On a Sunday no less! So, we are now trying to decide if we are happy with Telstra's speedy service, or confused by their total lack of interdepartmental communication.....

*Yawn* Is it home time yet?

I am so not used to this working stuff. Seriously. It's lucky I have plenty to do, or I would go spare. Of course, now Him gets up at the crack of dawn, depriving me of an extra hour sleep. But once I stumble into work, I know that this week anyway, I have plenty to make the day go faster.

I really enjoyed my holidays. I really did. I long for more now. I think the Australia Day long weekend we are planning a getaway to Port Broughton for two nights. That will be, um, interesting, as we are taking Jr Her's friend along for the ride. Two nights of moody tweenies. Oh the joy... Hopefully they will enjoy picking up a fishing rod or swimming. They will have to... Or I will go nuts!

I did have some fun last week, though. I had been given a $50 David Jones voucher for my birthday, and some other cash along the way. I had saved up about $200 plus the voucher so off I toddled.

You know, the amazing this is that Him was so helpful. He was finding things for me to try on, holding my purchases, suggesting colours and styles. It really was a fun day. I spent $264, but the full price of my purchases was $518, so I think I did pretty well.

I ended up with:

1 x red and white crumpled skirt
1 x white linen blouse
1 x white 60's style knitted top
1 x slinky black 3/4 sleeve tee (very soft, very light, and very sexy)
1 x white, orange, navy sheer top over a black Cami
1 x orange, white and black cotton blouse with orange collar and cuffs.

I think I did pretty well myself, and really, what a fun day out!

Now, I had better get back to these bank reconciliations...