After two weeks of the worst flu I have ever had, today I almost felt normal....well as normal as you could expect from me! Next year I will have the flu vac, make sure you remind me...what a misery it is to have an earache, a nose full of snot and a bladder than loses it every time you cough...I developed the old hunch over and cross your legs routine, every time I felt another cough coming on and all that clenching made my ribs so sore I was prescribed strong pain killers to take off the edge...at least they brought on sleep, or should I say coma. Worse than the cough is the sneeze as it comes on unexpectantly and doesnt allow enough time to get into my hunch and clench stance...enough said!
Busy week these last few weeks, Jo flew home from the mines for his first flyout...he loves his new job working at the Osbourne Gold and Copper mine, where he has to travel 8 km underground to start work (too scary!!). They work one week day shift, one week night shift and then fly home for a week. In two weeks he worked 218 hours, boy thats a lot. He cant believe how good they feed him, his favourite meal is at dinner time, a choice of two mains...he has both...maybe a roast dinner and steak and chips, then there is a help yourself desert bar and home made cakes and slices...it was a rude shock when he rocked up here and we were all sick...tea time was a case of whatever you can spread on bread or open with a tin opener. Tonight he rang Haley to tell her after three weeks he has already been promoted to foreman...way to go! Unfortunately Haley has checked his roster and he wont be home for Fathers Day, the due date of the baby, Christmas Day, her birthday, his birthday or New Years Eve...however he will be home the weekend of SWIG...I feel a bit guilty about that lol.
Emily had a lovely day of dress ups the other day with her Aunty Jemma who is six months older than her...how weird is that...Jo's mum had a eighteen year break and then had 2 more little girls (Aunty Jordy is a year younger than Emily!)
Tonight she waltzed into the loungeroom with a piece of wrapping paper and some ribbon....I asked her what she had been doing and she replied..."wrapping the car cleaning set we bought for Pop for Fathers Day and the purse we bought for your birthday but dont tell anyone cos its a surprise"...lol
Ebony has been really sick with the flu too and had eight days off school...no faking it she was really crook and spent all dy sleeping...she came to us the other night (after the 8th day off) and announced a friend was coming to sleep over on Friday night and could we give them a lift to the Blue Light Disco...Um no, you have been sick! She launched into her "you must be kidding" routine, followed by the tears, then the yelling, " I hate you", followed up by the begging, pleading, offering to clean her room and then the finale of stomping up to the room and slamming her door...and you wonder why I am grey!
Tomorrow we plan to clean out our garage, what a task that will be...we have lived here 12 years and have never parked our car in there and slowly but surely it has filled to the brim with junk...all Ebonys old unwanted toys, assorted bikes without chains and flat tyres, sheets of tin for that fence Martin never got around to building, tins and tins of dried up house paint, Stanely screw driver boxes with no screw drivers in them and a whole assortment of other crap...we have attepted this task many times before so I know exactly whats going to happen....every time something is about to go in the rubbish pile, someone will pipe up and say, "I might use that one day" and it will go back into the garage so at the end of the day we will still have a pile of crap in there but it will just be stacked neater lol
Ok I am off to bed I didn't have my five hour granny nap today....
Could everyone please say a prayer for little Rani who is back in ICU. My thoughts are with you Mel and John

This weekend Haley amused herself by cleaning out Ebonys Room (I would rather walk across hot coals lol) Emily had a fantastic time going through Ebony's treasures and scored some long forgotten toys and books. These funny glasses were one of her finds, she cracks me up when she wears them...I remember my Uncle Bob used to wear the real version of these and when he came to visit, my Mum would give all us kids a stern warning about laughing when he flipped up his sunnies! I actually used to love it when Uncle Bob visited, he always had a big pocket full of change. I would sit there busting my guts waiting for the moment when he handed over the loot and then shoot of to the corner shop to buy sherbet straws, sunny boys and choo choo bars...weren't they a dead give away, left you with big black teeth. On the subject of lollies, how crap are they these days...I hate all those sour gummy things and all the old favourites are a third of the size they used to be and don't taste anywhere near as good...My kids laugh when I tell then that 20 cents used to buy a big white paper bag full of lollies....now you get two measley snakes!
The other joy that has been taken away is the deposit for returning empty soft drink bottles. My bother, sister and I used to make a killing on the weekends....until Mr Brodie the shop keeper realised we were pinching the bottles from behind his shop...I remember we got a good whooping from Mum over that little fiasco...and whoopings...they are a thing of the past, you would be put in jail for that these days. I had my fair share of those over the years let me tell you....the various stages of whoopings were...for a minor infringement you got an open handed slap...piece of cake!!! For giving cheek and back chat the slap got a whole lot harder....and then there was the biggie....the ironing cord...(don't know why it was called that as it was actually the cord from the electric frypan)...One mention of the ironing cord had you shaking in your boots and hoping like hell you would be able to outrun Mum, which just for the record never happened. The welts it left on your legs lasted for hours and you would swear that from this moment on you would be good ...which just for the record never happened either lol. I remember one day it was my brother who was on the receiving end and I was beside myself with joy, as he had just drawn all over my favourite doll....after his beating I smugly commented "serve yourself right" which in turn earned me a beating for being smart. With all this talk of beatings I don't want to give the impression my mother was evil, because she truly wasn't, I deserved all I got and more and back in those days it wasn't considered bad, it was how discipline was dished out...anyway once again I have gotten right off track, can't even remember what I had intended to say now, so I will leave it till next time...bye!

EEK! I have been tagged by Tracey C!! But I know what do do this time lol
1. How old are you? 44 this year, however mother nature has not been kind to me and I look ten years older than that... spose I could just lie and say 58 and people would think I look good for my age!
How many kids do you have if any? Haley who is almost 25, Jody who is almost 23 and Ebony who is almost 13
3. Are you married, single, divorced, widow? Married at 18, divorced at 24, remarried at 28 and still married
4. What is your occupation? I am supposed to be my husbands secretary however my skills leave a lot to be desired...However I am the family cook , cleaner and general jack of all trades, master of none
5. What are your passions? Husband and kids (you have to say that don't you), scrapbooking, my grand daughter
6. Are you a dreamer or a dream seeker? I am just a dreamer, too lazy to actually work at making things happen
7. Are you happy with the way you life has turned out? Yes, I am doing everything I ever wanted to do
8. Are you a scrapper and if so how many hours a week do you scrap? I scrap for several hours a day (3,4,5).....which is why the lawn needs mowing, I don't know where my iron is and baked beans on toast is a delicacy
9. What do you want to do before you die? Write my life story...I have started a few times
10. What is your favorite food? Anything junky looking...chocolate, take away and my fave...biscuits!
11. What is the food you hate the most? that sushi stuff...eewwww!
12. What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you? Ha ha! We don't have all day! Read about it in my book lol
3. What is the happiest day of your life thus far? All the usual stuff, getting married, having kids.....but watching my grand daughter being born....that was the mostest!
14. Are you a neat freak? Or a dirty house cleaner? I am a neat freak but you wouldnt think so if you walked into my house as NO ONE cooperates! It seems that lolly wrappers and chip packets are meant to be tucked down the side of the lounge chair, dirty washing goes on the floor BESIDE the washing basket and no one is satisfied until they have dirtied every plate and glass in the house.....

I tag Christine M who needs to update her BLOG!

I had a bit of a chuckle when I saw the pictures Ebony upoaded onto my computer from her camera. She slept over at her friends house last weekend and I would say they had a bit of fun playing dress ups....either that or they need lessons in applying makeup lol.
Pretty dramatic at our house this week...As some of you know, Haleys partner Jo, went to Western Australia to get a job in the mines....he got one....and when they found out his family was in Queensland they transfered him back here lol. It's still in the middle of whoop whoop at the Osbourne copper and gold mine south of Mt Isa. He will will work for two weeks then be flown home for a week so they have to think about where they are going to base themselves....probably close to me I would say, because Haley needs the company and when the new baby is born she will need my interference...I mean help!
I am not getting as much time to scrap these days as Martins business is getting busier and I am his secretary...if anyone remebers Betty from Hey Dad, I give her a run for money as far as being dumb is concerned. I hate it when builders ring me up and ask me to fax them things.....I have had the fax for 3 years and still can't do it without causing paper jams, sending blank sheets because I have loaded the tray wrong. or worse still fax them disney colouring pages that have somehow got mixed in with the important stuff! My worst nightmare was realised the other day when the red light flashed indicating I needed to change the toner...My God what a drama, of course I cant find the instruction book, (that will be filed somewhere never to be found again). I couldn't even work out how to open the lid thingy (apparently it helps if you pull a lever whatsy) and after twenty minutes I was swearing like a wharfy in a real crazy woman rage. However once I did find the lever whatsy it was quite easy, but I hope this lot of toner lasts a very long time. Heaven help me if I ever have to find a real job, I am unskilled at everything and too clumsy for a lot of positions. My sister got me a job once working at the cafe where she worked...I made my first milkshake and tried to remove it before the spinning thing had stopped which shredded the paper cup and you know the rest...however that was not my fault as the automatic cut off was broken....it WAS my fault however when I over flowed the cappacino jug, set the hotplate on fire and sent five people off with neatly wrapped hamburgers....minus the meat patty. I also remember my first day working at Coles when I was told to "face up " the dairy fridge (pull everything forward to make it look neat). I was standing on an upside down milk crate to reach the high shelves when one of my legs went through the crate....the sharp plastic was digging into my leg and I couldn't remove it...I had to gingerly slide my way to the front desk for assistance which came in the form of a hack saw....how embarrassing!
Anyway I am rambling now, I must be off and do the dishes...have a good day everyone!