I need another holiday

So we had this busy weekend, right. We had chosen some new bedroom wardrobes from Ikea but all the pieces weren't in until Friday so Fluffy toddled off to pick them up. They were so heavy he had to wait until Dobby came home from school to take them out of the ute.

Anyway, he got them out and into the carport ready for the big job on Saturday. Friday night we managed to move the existing furniture around to clear some space ready to assemble this huge 3 door wardrobe. We got up early Saturday and discovered we need to lay it down to put it together. So, we ended up balancing it across the bed. Tricky, but with a little help here and there from Dobby we managed to assemble it ourselves. We got it into position and chose where we would put rails, shelves and basket drawers.

We also discovered they had given us, for 2 3-door wardrobes, 4 glass doors and 2 wood-look, instead of only 2 mirrors! Shock! Their loss and our gain I guess, but ugh, who needs that many mirrors? Anyway, we had two glass and one wood door up and ready when Dobby and I had to leave to go to a fundraising afternoon. I hadn't had lunch so did pig out a bit on snacks but who cares?

When we got home I helped Fluffy do a few more little things, still in my little black dress, and found he had assembled the smaller 2-door space filling wardrobe we had bought as well. It was still in the kitchen and bits of other furniture was hanging messily about here and there too.

We cleaned out the remaining furniture ready for removal (clothes, junk, personal care, you know the stuff you manage to accumulate over the years...)

About this time our Hermoine and her nan arrived for her first sleepover. I chatted to Nan for about an hour, while Fluffy struggled to move the rest of the furniture outside mostly by himself!

We pretty much left the girls to get to know eachother, and all we heard (up till 11pm when I texted Dobby to ask for a bit of quiet) was giggle, giggle, giggle. Fair to say they hit it off!

After dinner of pizza, I helped Fluffy arrange the old furniture out in the car port safely so it won't get ruined by rain. Then we watched the Crows get beaten by Collingwood because of a penalty in the last minute! Stupid Pies!

Anyway, Sunday, we had the space to assemble wardrobe 2. It went okay and Fluffy gave me leave when we had the bulk done to take the girls out to buy a plastic drawer set to fit into the filler wardrobe to put all my make up and bits and pieces in. Quite effective it is too! But, it too has a mirror! Gads!

The girls had fun, and took this pic while on our way out to the shop. I also stopped at Stratco where they had cheap potplants and bought 12 little plants for $1.99 each! Excellent!


After we got home we pottered around a bit more and put some more stuff away while the girls played with the dog. Fluffy had put all his shelves and drawers in, and loaded up his clothes and stuff.

Anyway, I took the girls to see the movie Up after that, and when we got home we loaded up the ute with an old television we had no use for, and I got an unused DVD player and computer flat screen, chucked the girls in the back and drove across Adelaide to Salisbury to take Hermoine home.

We stayed there long enough for Fluffy to set up the tv, DVD player and screen for Nan. She was over the moon! She even baked us a batch of very scrummy oat and sultana cookies (I have had two while I typed this!).

We finally got home about 7.00 and I tried to fry up some salt and pepper squid and fish bites, but I don't know if the oil just didn't heat properly but it went soggy and horrid anyway... but, everyone ate it anyway, they are good like that! lol!

We pottered around filling cupboards and tidying up, and Fluffy set up the tv and set top box on a shelf in his wardrobe, so we have the telly back in the bedroom, behind closed doors too! Excellent!

It was after eleven when we got to bed last night too, and man, I am exhausted! But, I do have a lovely new room, if somewhat surrounded by bloody mirrors, but hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post some pics... after I finish putting away the leftover junk we didn't have a home for, and potting my new plants ready for next weekend.

Finally

Have you ever felt some things were just as they were meant to be? Ever clicked with someone and knew in an instant the relationship was going to work?

Well, that's what happened to me today. I rushed home from work a little early to meet our Time For Kids child, and even arriving home at 4.45 I didn't make it. They were early.

But, it didn't take very long to figure out this relationship was meant to be. Our child, lets call her Hermoine, is a lovely young lady. Charming, whitty, somewhat shy, intelligent, classy and all together very nice. And her nan is just the loveliest lady. She does a lot of volunteer work and also is a dog sitter.

They were here for over an hour and a half, and we all felt the whole "click" thing. Nan is someone who would fit in very well with my circle of friends. Friendly, kind, caring, funny and a great lady, I like her a lot! I think this set up will work for all parties in a lot of ways. And I don't think I am exaggerating when I say I think we have made friends for life.

I have always believed in God, and Nan is a very devout Christian, and Hermoine goes to a Christian college. I think we have all be placed in this situation for a reason, and it just feels very right.

I am quite optimistic about this set up, to the point where I suggested this weekend we were free if Hermoine felt comfortable visiting so soon. As Dobby and I have plans for Saturday afternoon I suggested either Hermoine could visit Saturday evening and stay or come over Sunday if she felt it was too soon. She opted to stay Saturday night. That's very encouraging!

As our friendship progresses I will keep you posted....

Just a quick one

So, I'm sitting here at work, minding my own business, when someone knocks on the door. He's holding a HUGE bunch of flowers, and it's actually for me!

Turns out, one of my customers (from Queensland, who always gives me a weather report) has sent me a thankyou boquet for getting him an emergency order, and thus saving him over $1000.

Aren't they lovely? And, being lillies, they are one of my favourite flowers (my workspace smells heavenly!)

*feeling rather special*

How embarrassment...

So most of you know Dobby plays netball for her school. She has played 3 out of the last 4 years, I think, or is it 4 out of 5. Anyway, she loves the game and fears they will lose without her playing. They're going to lose anyway, though, as they have never won a game yet. But, she is one of their best players.

Now, wouldn't it be nice of the school was actually behind their team? For a start, no one but a few parents seem to take the game seriously. We usually manage to just scrape together enough girls to make a team, and on two occasions have had to borrow from our opponents, with one team making us forfeit because not enough players bothered to turn up, and it was a home game!!! And, no one bothers to let the coach know when they are likely to be going to miss a game. Now, I don't know about you, but for us, we believe if you join a team then you commit to that team and all that goes with it - early rising, turning up for practice, wearing a presentable uniform, good reason for not playing etc. Dobby will play even when sick. The only game she missed was when she had surgery on her gum.

My gripe today is that the school does not support their team. Our uniforms are a maroon netball skirt supplied by the school and the kid's own white school polo shirt. Now, Dobby is a big girl. She wears a ladies size 12. The biggest skirt they could get for her is a kids size 16. It barely does up! And one girl wears a HUGE white tee, usually tied in a not, and her skirt is held together with a safety pin as it is way too small (she is short but quite round). So, when we play we look like a motley crew. They did buy them new bibs for this season so can't quite complain.

Our grounds are the worst we have ever played on. The court is old and cracked, and the lines are all but invisible. How the umpire is supposed to be able to see when the ball is out is beyond me.

Some schools have a coffee van on hand, others have a bbq or small stall running. Ours does not. Some schools have real uniforms and plenty of balls, ours do not. And some schools have their sports shed in one place where it can be found.

We all turned up for a game this morning and the sports shed is gone. No one seems to know where it was moved to, or what happened to the equipment stored inside. The school receptionist suggested we see if the equipment was moved into the gym, but lo, no one has a key! The vice principal who handles the sport cannot be contacted, and once again we are made to look like fools.

Today was the last game of the season, and how embarrassing was it to turn up and not even know where the equipment had gone? No one bothered to tell our coach, and no one bothered to make sure they showed up this morning to support the team on it's final game of the season.

The school simply does not support it's netball team. I seriously hope Dobby does not play next year because it's just too painfully humiliating to go through this every week.

Anyway, here are the girls and their mascot, who, I might add, was the toast of the day!

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!!!!

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

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....