Sunday 30 August 2009

WHAT???!!! I Can't Hear You!


So, why do musicians think that turning the music up so loud that the guitars blend into one ear piercing screech which overtakes the singer makes a good rock concert?

We went to see Alice Cooper last night. Thought our tickets were pretty good too, and the people who had the seats in between our two sets were good enough to swap with Fluffy and I as well, so that was nice.

Oh, by the way, we took Dobby's friend Tiny with us, we had no other takers and she has expressed an interest earlier in the day, so why not? Their first rock concert...

Anyway, we were sitting there, watching the crowd come and go. About ten minutes to eight a heavy metal band called Electric Mary (A Melbourne band, if I am not mistaken) took to the stage. From that moment on I didn't hear a word he sang. It was all screaming guitars and noise to me.

Dobby actually liked their music, but I think she thought she was listening to Alice, not realising bands have a support group to open the show. But she liked it anyay.

Then, after a short break Alice came on. Well, everyone immediately stood up. And there went the show for us. I had Miss Tall and Beanie Boy in front of me and could not see a thing other than the elevated drummer.

Alice's music didn't seem to be as deafening as the other, perhaps they actually had his mike turned up so you could hear him. Dobby and Tiny were straining to see anything, and both sat at some time or another. I sat through the first half because i just could not see anything. So I sat and enjoyed the music.

When we got there, Tiny spent her $20 on a program come poster, which she was happy with. They spent some time both going over that looking at pictures and reading what the songs were.

Before Alice came on I took the girls to the concession stand and made it to the front of the line only to find I had to go get cash. So, I sent the girls back to stand in line and nipped off to the ATM. Cash in hand, I got back to find the girls almost at the front. I bought Dobby a tee-shirt and Tiny a key ring. I would have liked a shirt myself but didn't have enough money.

Anyway, back to the show. I decided to stand to see if I could catch a glimpse of anything. Occasionally I got to see what he was up to, and thoroughly enjoyed the show. I will try to find a DVD of this tour because although I couldn't see anything, I did enjoy the show.

We made our exit via the side door and some people behind the girls were commenting that they sat through it and how rude blah blah, the girls said it would be good if people sat down so they could SEE! They were miffed...

But, sore feet and ringing ears later, we got home about eleven and were all in bed by half past.

But man, my ears are still ringing this morning....

PS The room is STILL clean! That's one week today! AMAZING!!!!

Wednesday 26 August 2009

I am amazed..

So here we are, day 3, and ..... IT"S STILL CLEAN!!! Having said that, I thought I had better check, and apart from two wardrobe doors hanging open, there is not a thing out of place, even the towel has gone back into the bathroom.

See, to me, that epitomizes laziness. her room is about 4 steps from the bathroom, but she still leaves her towel on the bedroom floor. but, since her shower Sunday night, it has been hung on the door where it goes. Astounding!

Anyway, so this weekend we are off to see Alice Cooper, thanks to a very generous benefactor who thinks I am a good person (*smiles sweetly*).

I will definitely be updating you on that one! I got asked by one friend if we were going to dress up. The thought hadn't occurred to me, but can anyone who knows us imagine Fluffy dressing up? CACK! Not a chance!

Speaking of Fluffy, it's time to go wake him up and make his supper.

Night all! xxx

Monday 24 August 2009

I need a holiday

So what a weekend. It was busy. I mean, our weekends usually are, but this time, I need a holiday to recover.

Saturday we took Dobby to her netball game, then flew down to Marion so I could make MediBank Private before they closed at 11. I got there, got her payment schedule for braces sorted out.

Meanwhile, Fluffy and Dobby parked the car, and I kept looking for them to come back so I could get hime to go across the mall to the Medicare office. No sign of them. I have to phone him when I am done to find him. They had gone to Supacheap. Meanwhile the queue was out the door at Medicare. Guess where we didn't go.

Anyway, I had wanted to find myself a pair of 3/4 pants for work. I only have one good pair left. So we went to look in Big W. I tried lots on but only one fitted any good, and they were denim so not for work, but with a pricetag of $5 they were coming with me anyway! I also bought myself a pair of long leggings. Never thought I would, but I had bought a black dress that was just a bit too short so I thought they would look nice under it. They do!

Then we wandered up to the kitchen shop so Fluffy could look for a certain wine bottle cooler. We found one, and I bought it to put away for Father's day. We had something to eat as well, then did a huge grocery shop, and got home after 2.00. Usual cleaning and dagging about Saturday afternoon.

Then Sunday, we took Dobby down to register for a netball team. We have talked about it for a long time, and decided we would just do it. Probably a lot of others we could sign her up to, but this one looked okay. Only $60 registration, she gets a top and we buy her a red skirt. She is disappointed they don't have the traditional netball uniform, but has to wear those horrible skirts again. But the coordinator seemed nice. From the first week in September she will train Tuesday night and play Friday nights.

Then when we got home I, with Fluffy's help later in the afternoon, cleaned Dobby's room.

Now, for most of you, that would be a case of "so what?" Well, those who know Dobby know what a HUGE task this is. I mean, I wish I had taken before and after shots. You literally could not get in the door the floor was full of books, clothes, broken stuff, toys, more clothes, papers. You name it and it was there. We had nagged her for weeks, screen banned her, took her phone off her. But nothing worked.

Now, we are a step closer to getting our Time for Kids child, and there was no way we were meeting anyone with the room looking like THAT!

So, it took all day, and I stripped the bookcase, (she now only has two shelves of books, the rest are sewing kit, craft kit, knick knacks), stripped every drawer (she now has a spare for her Time for Kids child to use), emptied the wardrobes (we threw out 12 bags of books, shoes, clothes to the second hand shop), and Him did under her bunk.

He also vacuumed her floor (took ten minutes while I dished up dinner) and put the keyboard into her room on her desk. It looks great! It was backbreaking work, and Fluffy had pulled a black muscle on Saturday bringing in the groceries. And my back and hamstring muscles have all seized up and I could barely walk this morning. Things we do...

Pity it will only last a few days....

Thursday 20 August 2009

Overhaul



So I have decided to give my family different monikers. Silly, I know. It's just the Him and Jr Her don't quite do it for me anymore. They sound, well, lame.

So, I thought I would, from now on, refer to them by our family nicknames. Therefore, Jr Her is now going to be referred to as Dobby. How did she get that nickname? Well, she would come home from school and complain all the kids called her Big Eyes. Her eyes are her best feature mind you. At that time the second Harry Potter movie had just come out, and who has big eyes, big ears and dirty clothes? Right. Dobby.

So, when her father started referring to her as Dobby, she retaliated by naming him - Fluffy. The big 3-headed dog from Philosopher's Stone. For years it was "Hi Dob." "Hi Fluff". And she still gets called Dobby mostly, although some times she gets called by the name her school friends gave her - Barney.

But, for all future references here they will now be called Dobby and Fluffy.

My nick name? I got stuck with.... Hagrid.

Saturday 15 August 2009

More new stuff

So yesterday was Him's day off. Never, ever, give him a day off! Jr her was sick, but went to school anyway (I got a text from them around two-thirty saying she wasn't there! Turns out it was the kid beneath her on the roll book!). Anyway, before I left work, Him phoned me to say that because Jr Her wasn't well, could we have take away for dinner.

Hey, I am always up for a non-cook night! Jr Her has the flu, by the way, and last night the poor lamb was shivering, temperature, flushed cheeks, sore throat, cough. I even let the netball coach know she wouldn't be playing today! But this morning, apart from a croaky voice, you wouldn't even know she was sick! She played netball too, but because only 4 girls turned up (you should have seen the coach, she was livid!) we had to forfeit, but played a scratch game with no scores using a couple of the other team's spares.

Anyway, when he phoned yesterday he says "I've been busy...." What a surprise I got when I got home! We had recently bought, as you know, the Plasma (not LCD as originally stated, my mistake), along with a freezer. So Him borrowed the other work ute and picked that up yesterday. And, when we were waiting for Jr Her to get her braces fitted on Tuesday we strolled about Bunnings, which is across the road from the dental surgery.

While there we saw a relatively cheap ($299) outdoor setting. Good price, nice setting, so we thought we might have to buy that. The old one had ripped chairs and only two were worth sitting on.

So, he had also gone down and picked that up. While there we noticed a folding banana lounge in the same fabric. We thought the price was $39, but Him asked an attendant anyway. Sure enough, that's the price! But, as they didn't have another out back, he gave us the display stock for $30. Neat! Matches the table and chairs perfectly!

He also spent a further $80 odd on a plastic outdoor pool lounge which is sitting beside the carport, so if I want to sit alone and sun bake I can! We are a bit reluctant to leave the other matching chair in the weather, see.

So, he had completely rearranged the back patio, cleaning up lots of stuff, and vacuuming the piece of carpet at the back door where the dog sits (and consequently coats in black hair). It looks great! What do you think? If you click on the pic and enlarge it, you can even see both the banana lounges (and Jr Her's odd socks!)

As we have had lovely weather, last night after a trip to McDonalds for take away, we all sat outside at the new table for dinner. Great! Then, today we all lounged outside again. My matching banana lounge is great, and I can still sit with the family.

Roger isn't usually allowed out unless we are, so we can watch where he goes. He mostly just sits around in the long grass beside the house, or playing in the niche beneath the gum tree.

Doesn't he look lovely? It's one of the rare times we were able to see his face!

Well, the other two have gone to take the ute back (second time today, last time they got to Glenelg and realised they didn't have the keys to the other ute!) and it's lovely and quiet for a bit. Time to go do some heavy duty reading! Catch ya!

UPDATED 16/08/09

So today, it's blowing a gale! Last night it rained and the new furniture got wet, as did the dog house and the cupboard at the end of the patio, so all 3 of us struggled with some sheets of fencing tin and Him closed in one half of the end of the patio, just enough to keep the rain off the junk cupboard and hopefully protect things that end a bit.

He also bought some sail rail and put the extra awning from the caravan from the roof where the new outdoor setting is, so it keeps the rain and sun off that part of the patio.

And, we juggled the old freezer out, scrubbed the floor (it was thick with grease and old cat hair) and moved the fridge over, putting the new freezer beside the stove. Looks great! Jr Her got the job of filling all the drawers with stuff out of the old freezer.

Dinner tonight is a roast lamb with rosmemary sauce done in the hot pot. Smells good, hope it tastes as good!

Wednesday 12 August 2009

The girl with the rainbow smile

Well, that's what it was supposed to be, but the colours aren't quite bright enough to pull it off.

Yesterday was "B" Day. Yep, my kid now has braces. She has known for a long time she was getting them, and now they are here.

She has always been brave, never feeling embarassed or worried about it. In fact, she has been looking forward to them. She also knew they were going to hurt, but figured it didn't matter.

What we didn't count on was that she can't eat. She is not allowed to bite anything with her front teeth, instead putting a small amount into her mouth and chewing with her back teeth. So, the problem? Her back teeth don't touch each other now. Because the braces prevent an overbite, the back teeth don't meet and therefore the food doesn't have the opportunity to find itself between mashing teeth.

And, last night, although I chopped her food into bite sized portions, she found it unbearably painful to bite down on said back teeth. So, she only had some mashed fruit and cheesecake with icecream. Today for lunch she has chopped fruit with a bit of custard, and a sandwich with the crust cut off she can tear up.

One of the coloured pieces came unstuck yesterday too. I phoned the dentist and they said it would be okay until next Friday when she goes back for a check up. She has to be careful of course so it doesn't break the wire, but it shouldn't cause a problem.

Anyway, today she is more positive, and is quite happy with the colours - red, yellow, pastel green and pale blue. Looks good. See below...

Friday 7 August 2009

Dudley Schafer


Dad, Colin and Dudley

So I just wanted to talk a little about my uncle. Dad's brother. Uncle Dud has been sick for a long time now. I can always remember him having something wrong - gall stones that went wrong, other ailments, but he has been fighting cancer for a few years now.

Despite that, he did manage to come across to Gladstone for Dad's 70th birthday last December. I know it meant a lot to Dad. The family also got together recently with their sister Gloria coming across from New Zealand.

Dud used to be married to Ruby, who died from cancer many years ago. For the last few years he has been friends with Judy.

Uncle Dud finally succumbed this week, dying Tuesday night about midnight. His son Gary phoned Pop and Pop had to phone everyone else. Another brother Colin was not able to be contacted until Wednesday morning.

The funeral is set of Wednesday 12th. Sadly we won't be going. I have been speaking with mum and SOL extensively about their plans, and it sounds like there is going to be a lot of people around.

When Aunty Ruby died the town stopped. Everyone lined the streets of Gayndah as the funeral procession passed. I imagine it will be the same for Dud. SOL said that every hotel she contacted knew all about the funeral (Gayndah is a tiny country town of about 200 on a good day?). MOTH even said one hotel was completely booked out by the family of one of Dud's children (Actually, Ruby's from a prior marriage).

I really wish I were going because we always have a great time at these gatherings. There are always oodles of family to hang with, catch up with, and I would really love to catch up with Dud's daughter Janell. She is my fave cousin.

But, we can only mourn from afar. Let the party roll on without us.

RIP Uncle Dud, I know you are finally at peace.

xxx

Monday 3 August 2009

new toys

So on the weekend, Him decided to rearrange the lounge for me.

As mentioned a few posts ago, he bought himself a new roll top desk, which was in one corner of the room.

The following weekend he bought me a lovely rocker (which apparently I am off quite frequently). Anyway, he used to sit with his back to the TV, and in my corner, I couldn't see the TV, so he swapped them around. I now have a great view of the TV, and he doesn't watch TV while using his computer anyway.

Oh, and he just phoned me to tell me he found a perfectly working red shaded bankers lamp outside on someone's sidewalk this morning, something he has been searching for since he installed the desk!

Here are a couple of photos of the lounge now...
My little corner of the world...


Him's little corner of the world...

And lastly, our new toy we were supposed to buy for Christmas, but somehow found ourselves with on the weekend.

42" LCD full HD Panasonic, comes with a bonus WII console (via redemption).

We also bought a new upright freezer, as our current one is well over 20 years old. The new freezer, a Westinghouse, has a very good energy rating, and was cheap so we figured now or never!

That's it! Broke now. Have to get a second job I think! lol!