Apart from being understandably stiff and sore, Brutus is doing really well. He had surgery today to fix his dislocated hip and they've said he should be able to come home either tomorrow or Friday.
We have a long road to recovery ahead of us but he will recover and will get back to the way he was before ... hopefully slightly less pyscho! I just have to try to keep him quiet and relatively still for the next 6-8 weeks to allow the pelvic fractures to heal ... no mean feat! At least he won't feel like jumping around all over the place for a while yet .. poor thing!
Thanks for all the good thoughts and wishes sent our way. I know to some people he's only a dog, but he's a member of our family and we're all overjoyed that he's still here with us.
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Monday, 28 December 2009
Update on Brutus...
Whatever you guys did, it seems to be working!!
Even though his dislocated hip wouldn't go back in today, everything else is improving.
He will have to have an operation to fix the hip back into place (does anyone have oodles of money to spare?) and will need to have 'cage confinement' treatment for 6 weeks or so to allow his pelvic fractures to heal but the internal bleeding is almost non-existent and the collapsed lung is slowly fixing itself.
Thanks for all the thoughts, prayers and/or crossed fingers but please keep them coming .. we still have to get through the operation (either tomorrow or Wednesday).
Even though his dislocated hip wouldn't go back in today, everything else is improving.
He will have to have an operation to fix the hip back into place (does anyone have oodles of money to spare?) and will need to have 'cage confinement' treatment for 6 weeks or so to allow his pelvic fractures to heal but the internal bleeding is almost non-existent and the collapsed lung is slowly fixing itself.
Thanks for all the thoughts, prayers and/or crossed fingers but please keep them coming .. we still have to get through the operation (either tomorrow or Wednesday).
Please send good thoughts and prayers our way...
Sorry to put a downer on people's festive celebrations, but our dog Brutus was hit by a car last night and it isn't looking too good for him at the moment.
He has multiple fractures of the pelvis, a dislocated hip and internal bleeding so any good thoughts, prayers or crossed fingers sent our way would be mightily appreciated right about now. Some thoughts and prayers for the poor couple that hit him would also be good as they are absolutely devastated.
I'll keep you updated.
He has multiple fractures of the pelvis, a dislocated hip and internal bleeding so any good thoughts, prayers or crossed fingers sent our way would be mightily appreciated right about now. Some thoughts and prayers for the poor couple that hit him would also be good as they are absolutely devastated.
I'll keep you updated.
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Saturday, 19 December 2009
What an interesting day ...
Peter had been hassling asking me nicely to take the boys up to meet him at the block so we could have our first overnight stay in the shed as a family. Once I figured out that it wouldn't be hotter than Hades out there, I agreed to pack Peter's other car, the Pajero 4WD, full of the necessary stuff, the children and the dog and make the 2.5 hour drive, hopefully arriving in time for a late lunch. (I wasn't sure how my new car would go with the car fridge drawing on the battery for the whole trip, so I decided to take the car that had already done the trip numerous times.)
He sent me a text message at dark o'clock (aka 5:30am!) and then rang me at please-leave-me-alone-to-sleep o'clock (aka 7:20am), to say that he had finished work early and would be at the block a lot earlier than originally expected so, once I woke up a bit more, I tried to hurry the packing along.
We managed to leave the house and be on the road to the block a full hour and a half ahead of the original schedule, which I thought was pretty good considering that I didn't even have to go back to the house for any last-minute bits and pieces. I had remembered to check the oil and water in the car, put petrol in it so we wouldn't get stranded on the side of the road with no fuel, pack almost everything asked for (except the camera .. some scrapbooker I am!) and still managed to be nice to the children and the dog.
We were about 1.25 hours into the trip (roughly 100kms from home) and having a lovely drive, singing long to the music on my iPod because the radio station had just started to drop out, when the car started making a funny rattling noise. I thought it was just struggling a bit to get up the hill in cruise control and was reaching to turn the cruise control off when the car decided to save me the trouble and turned itself off.
So there we were trying to use the momentum to keep going as far as we could so I could pull off at a safe point, when Alex asks from the back seat, "Did you check if the battery was connected this morning Mum?" After wrestling the car to the side of the road (no power steering without power!), Iturned and yelled smiled sweetly and explained that the blasted piece of crap car wouldn't have gotten us this far without the battery connected.
I popped the bonnet (hood for the Americans/Canadians) and had a quick look around the engine bay to see if anything obvious jumped out and screamed "Here I am!! I'm your problem right here!! Yoohoo!! Over here!!" and when nothing did, I rang Peter and said "Your car's broken. Come and fix it." After talking to him for a few minutes, I tried to start it and it worked so we limped along a bit further before the horrible rattling noise suddenly got drastically worse and the Pajero drove itself to the side of the road, threw up its metaphorical hands in defeat and cried "Rrrrr - rrrr - rrr - rr - r - ..... "(insert silence here), which I believe means, loosely translated of course, "Get out and walk 'cos I give up!"
I rang Peter again and he said he would come and pick us up but it would take approximately 1.5 hours for him to get to us. Biting down on the urge to scream at the world, I once again popped the bonnet and when, once again, nothing jumped out at me, I got the kids out of the car to stretch their legs by taking the dog for a little jaunt into the roadside vegetation for a potty stop. This little jaunt also afforded me the opportunity to curse, quite profusely, whatever gremlin had decided to pick this day and this particular long-range trip to befoul my best laid plans.
It was at this point that my subconscious piped up the reminder that I had recently rejoined the RAC roadside assistance service and also furnished me with the phone number. (All I can say is that as much as I curse our phone provider for so many of the mindless things they do, at least they provide coverage in the areas I need it.)
I managed to get through to a real person the third time I phoned and after explaining that I did indeed have a membership and have the $190 scar on my credit card to prove it, she finally accepted that a) I was a member, b) I was in fact a premium member and c) I was stuck on the side of the highway far from home with three kids and a dog. I then had to explain numerous times that I didn't know exactly where I was, apart from on the side of the main east-west highway across the state somewhere not too far past a turnoff to Irishtown (yes it's a real place). Then we got to the real doozy ... she asked what the problem was.
Being a non-mechanically minded person, my description of the problem was limited to some very poor imitations of the rattly noise along with a very weak follow-up of "it just won't go". Her response was "So it's not a flat tyre or battery then?"
Deep breath ... "No. No it's not."
"We'll have someone out to you as soon as possible. It could be up to a 2 hour wait."
I thanked her as politely as I could, then settled back to play the game of waiting to see who would arrive first .. Peter or the RAC man.
It was during this time that I started to wonder about the state of the world today. So many people drove straight past a car with the bonnet up surrounded by 1 woman, 3 children and a dog. Most of them seemed to purposely look in the other direction to avoid getting involved. i suppose they figured that in this age of mobile phones that I had already called for help and given that I wasn't jumping up and down on the side of the road like a woman possessed, that I didn't need their help. Trying to give them the benefit of the doubt here, people!
Anyway the RAC man turned up first, asked a series of questions then got me to start the car. It would still start but wouldn't stay started unless I kept the revs really high. He made the universal symbol for 'kill it' (dragged his thumb across his throat) and then pointed out that there was hardly any water in the radiator. (At this point I would like to remind you that I remembered to check the oil and water in the car and I topped them both up to the correct levels. I had also been keeping an eye on the temperature gauge and it hadn't moved from the halfway point .. at all!) In the process of trying to explain possible causes for the overheating that had caused the water to boil off, he managed to burn himself on the very hot engine not once, but twice .. not a great confidence booster but he was nice enough and he had come to try and rescue me so I let it go.
He couldn't fix it so he arranged for a tow truck to come and get the car (and us) and take it back to Northam to the workshop. I had mentioned that Peter was on his way from the block so he made arrangements for us to wait at the workshop for as long as it took Peter to get there. Then he got into his van and drove away leaving us, once again, on the side of the road in the middle of almost nowhere waiting for the next knight in shining armour to arrive, which he did in his lovely air-conditioned tilt-tray tow-truck with plenty of room for the kids and the dog.
Once we got to the workshop, we settled in for rather a long wait and I would like to say I'm very proud of the boys for the way they just took everything in their stride. There was hardly any fighting or niggling each other, no complaints of 'I'm bored/hungry/tired' and they listened and did as they were told. Thank heavens for small mercies .. and a handbag full of treats and a cold drink machine at the shop across the road!
Peter turned up a while later and we packed as much from the Pajero into the ute as we could and then headed back home. Again, the boys did really well, especially considering we had gone from an airconditioned car with plenty of room to a non-air-conditioned ute with not much leg room, arm room or any other kind of room. Throw the dog into the mix and they all acquitted themselves quite well.
We arrived home at about 5pm so, when all was said and done, it took 6.5 hours for the boys, the dog and myself to travel roughly 200kms. An interesting day out but not one I want to repeat in a hurry!
He sent me a text message at dark o'clock (aka 5:30am!) and then rang me at please-leave-me-alone-to-sleep o'clock (aka 7:20am), to say that he had finished work early and would be at the block a lot earlier than originally expected so, once I woke up a bit more, I tried to hurry the packing along.
We managed to leave the house and be on the road to the block a full hour and a half ahead of the original schedule, which I thought was pretty good considering that I didn't even have to go back to the house for any last-minute bits and pieces. I had remembered to check the oil and water in the car, put petrol in it so we wouldn't get stranded on the side of the road with no fuel, pack almost everything asked for (except the camera .. some scrapbooker I am!) and still managed to be nice to the children and the dog.
We were about 1.25 hours into the trip (roughly 100kms from home) and having a lovely drive, singing long to the music on my iPod because the radio station had just started to drop out, when the car started making a funny rattling noise. I thought it was just struggling a bit to get up the hill in cruise control and was reaching to turn the cruise control off when the car decided to save me the trouble and turned itself off.
So there we were trying to use the momentum to keep going as far as we could so I could pull off at a safe point, when Alex asks from the back seat, "Did you check if the battery was connected this morning Mum?" After wrestling the car to the side of the road (no power steering without power!), I
I popped the bonnet (hood for the Americans/Canadians) and had a quick look around the engine bay to see if anything obvious jumped out and screamed "Here I am!! I'm your problem right here!! Yoohoo!! Over here!!" and when nothing did, I rang Peter and said "Your car's broken. Come and fix it." After talking to him for a few minutes, I tried to start it and it worked so we limped along a bit further before the horrible rattling noise suddenly got drastically worse and the Pajero drove itself to the side of the road, threw up its metaphorical hands in defeat and cried "Rrrrr - rrrr - rrr - rr - r - ..... "(insert silence here), which I believe means, loosely translated of course, "Get out and walk 'cos I give up!"
I rang Peter again and he said he would come and pick us up but it would take approximately 1.5 hours for him to get to us. Biting down on the urge to scream at the world, I once again popped the bonnet and when, once again, nothing jumped out at me, I got the kids out of the car to stretch their legs by taking the dog for a little jaunt into the roadside vegetation for a potty stop. This little jaunt also afforded me the opportunity to curse, quite profusely, whatever gremlin had decided to pick this day and this particular long-range trip to befoul my best laid plans.
It was at this point that my subconscious piped up the reminder that I had recently rejoined the RAC roadside assistance service and also furnished me with the phone number. (All I can say is that as much as I curse our phone provider for so many of the mindless things they do, at least they provide coverage in the areas I need it.)
I managed to get through to a real person the third time I phoned and after explaining that I did indeed have a membership and have the $190 scar on my credit card to prove it, she finally accepted that a) I was a member, b) I was in fact a premium member and c) I was stuck on the side of the highway far from home with three kids and a dog. I then had to explain numerous times that I didn't know exactly where I was, apart from on the side of the main east-west highway across the state somewhere not too far past a turnoff to Irishtown (yes it's a real place). Then we got to the real doozy ... she asked what the problem was.
Being a non-mechanically minded person, my description of the problem was limited to some very poor imitations of the rattly noise along with a very weak follow-up of "it just won't go". Her response was "So it's not a flat tyre or battery then?"
Deep breath ... "No. No it's not."
"We'll have someone out to you as soon as possible. It could be up to a 2 hour wait."
I thanked her as politely as I could, then settled back to play the game of waiting to see who would arrive first .. Peter or the RAC man.
It was during this time that I started to wonder about the state of the world today. So many people drove straight past a car with the bonnet up surrounded by 1 woman, 3 children and a dog. Most of them seemed to purposely look in the other direction to avoid getting involved. i suppose they figured that in this age of mobile phones that I had already called for help and given that I wasn't jumping up and down on the side of the road like a woman possessed, that I didn't need their help. Trying to give them the benefit of the doubt here, people!
Anyway the RAC man turned up first, asked a series of questions then got me to start the car. It would still start but wouldn't stay started unless I kept the revs really high. He made the universal symbol for 'kill it' (dragged his thumb across his throat) and then pointed out that there was hardly any water in the radiator. (At this point I would like to remind you that I remembered to check the oil and water in the car and I topped them both up to the correct levels. I had also been keeping an eye on the temperature gauge and it hadn't moved from the halfway point .. at all!) In the process of trying to explain possible causes for the overheating that had caused the water to boil off, he managed to burn himself on the very hot engine not once, but twice .. not a great confidence booster but he was nice enough and he had come to try and rescue me so I let it go.
He couldn't fix it so he arranged for a tow truck to come and get the car (and us) and take it back to Northam to the workshop. I had mentioned that Peter was on his way from the block so he made arrangements for us to wait at the workshop for as long as it took Peter to get there. Then he got into his van and drove away leaving us, once again, on the side of the road in the middle of almost nowhere waiting for the next knight in shining armour to arrive, which he did in his lovely air-conditioned tilt-tray tow-truck with plenty of room for the kids and the dog.
Once we got to the workshop, we settled in for rather a long wait and I would like to say I'm very proud of the boys for the way they just took everything in their stride. There was hardly any fighting or niggling each other, no complaints of 'I'm bored/hungry/tired' and they listened and did as they were told. Thank heavens for small mercies .. and a handbag full of treats and a cold drink machine at the shop across the road!
Peter turned up a while later and we packed as much from the Pajero into the ute as we could and then headed back home. Again, the boys did really well, especially considering we had gone from an airconditioned car with plenty of room to a non-air-conditioned ute with not much leg room, arm room or any other kind of room. Throw the dog into the mix and they all acquitted themselves quite well.
We arrived home at about 5pm so, when all was said and done, it took 6.5 hours for the boys, the dog and myself to travel roughly 200kms. An interesting day out but not one I want to repeat in a hurry!
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
A little advice
Having worked in retail over Christmas, I came up with some helpful tips for customers last year to enable them to get the best out of their shopping experience during Christmas in retail.
Now that I am back on the other side of the fence, so to speak, I have formulated some teensy-weensy pieces of advice for thebraindead morons couldn't-be-less-interested-in-helping-you-if-they-were-dead teenagers masquerading as shop 'assistants' this Christmas.
Now that I am back on the other side of the fence, so to speak, I have formulated some teensy-weensy pieces of advice for the
- Rolling your eyes at a customer who has just asked you to get something down from the top shelf, because you have a ladder and she doesn't carry one in her handbag, will get you filthy looks in return. If said customer is in a bad mood, it may even earn you a telling off, both from the customer and your boss!
- Answering the phone, telling the customer you will have a look out the back, putting them on hold for 10 minutes while you finish your conversation with your co-'worker' (used in the loosest sense of the word!) about who is 'hooking up' with who, then going back to your phone customer to tell them you don't have any and won't get any more before Christmas, all in full view of an entire counter full of customers, is probably going to get you in trouble with the management. Try not to act surprised when you are caught out!
- Comparing your customer's well-behaved child, who is restrained in a trolley with entertainment to keep them quiet, to 'devil spawn' and then asking, at full volume, 'why do people bring their bloody kids shopping at Christmas time?' will probably also get you into trouble with aforementioned management. Once again, try not to act surprised when you are caught out!
- On the same topic, muttering disparaging comments about said child's parentage loudly as you walk away is also going to get you reprimanded by the big guy (be that the manager, Santa or God, who knows!) Whilst I can understand the stress involved in dealing with the incessant screaming of some children (been there; done that!!), do not take your frustrations out on one of the few children who is actually behaving and being quiet.
- Telling a customer to have a proper look and they might find it all on their own, may earn you a slap upside the head! You are a customer service assistant; act like it!
- Jumping the queue at the checkout because you are on your break and must have that bag of M&M's now, is likely to incite a mob mentality and you may find yourself being bodily removed from said checkout line by a big bikie type who just happened to shopping with his grandma. Don't mess with a bikie's grandma .. ever!
Now that I have exhausted my current public service abilities, I am off to find some more blog material presents for the rest of my family and friends.
Seven people down ... fourteen to go!
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Facebook is ...
many, many things; some positive and some negative. Lately I have found myself there more and more often and have been formulating a list of pros and cons in my head that I have decided to share with you all in the hopes of weaning myself away it.
Pro: It is a useful social networking tool
Con: What exactly is a social networking tool and why do we all suddenly need one?
Pro: Somewhere to play games
Con: Games that quickly become addictive and require an intervention to stop playing
Pro: A place to find people from your past
Con: Isn't there a reason why they're in your past?
Pro: You can keep up with friends on the other side of the country or even the world
Con: Because it is just so important that you know that they have been food shopping this morning or have gone to work with a hangover to rival the seventh circle of Hell.
Pro: You can stay in touch with family that you wouldn't otherwise get to see due to you all having such busy lives
Con: You have to monitor what you say and who you say it to for fear of family being offended or "disgusted at the young people of today"
Right at this very moment, however, I feel that Facebook was designed by people who have no life, to try and entice other suckers to sink to their level and lose whatever semblance of a normal life they did possess. And they have succeeded, in this house at least.
So as ofnow this afternoon tonight sometime this week month, I resolve to spend less time on Facebook and more time on my blog. That sounds fair doesn't it?
Oh wait ...
Swapping one addiction for another .. probably not such a good idea huh?
So now what? I know..
I'll read instead. That's got to be more of a mind-improving thing to do.
So whose blog should I start reading first?
Pro: It is a useful social networking tool
Con: What exactly is a social networking tool and why do we all suddenly need one?
Pro: Somewhere to play games
Con: Games that quickly become addictive and require an intervention to stop playing
Pro: A place to find people from your past
Con: Isn't there a reason why they're in your past?
Pro: You can keep up with friends on the other side of the country or even the world
Con: Because it is just so important that you know that they have been food shopping this morning or have gone to work with a hangover to rival the seventh circle of Hell.
Pro: You can stay in touch with family that you wouldn't otherwise get to see due to you all having such busy lives
Con: You have to monitor what you say and who you say it to for fear of family being offended or "disgusted at the young people of today"
Right at this very moment, however, I feel that Facebook was designed by people who have no life, to try and entice other suckers to sink to their level and lose whatever semblance of a normal life they did possess. And they have succeeded, in this house at least.
So as of
Oh wait ...
Swapping one addiction for another .. probably not such a good idea huh?
So now what? I know..
I'll read instead. That's got to be more of a mind-improving thing to do.
So whose blog should I start reading first?
Sunday, 6 December 2009
It's official!
Presenting Mr and Mrs Brazendale ...
(Sorry for the picture quality. The sun came out from behind a cloud and shone straight into their faces just as the celebrant announced them to be husband and wife.) 
I got a tear in my eye listening to them promise their lives to each other and watching the way they looked at each other made me feel all 'gooey' inside. To quote a fellow guest: "She looked at him like he was her favourite chocolate bar and she was just dying to eat him all up!"
The whole bridal party. There were four bridesmaids and two groomsmen .. each groomsman had two bridesmaids to escort everywhere .. shame for them that none of the bridesmaids are single!
The cake and the penguins (Clare's favourite creature) that Mum dressed up for her.
Cutting the cake.
It was a beautiful event, despite the 37 degree heat, and everything went off without a hitch on the day. The night before is a whole other story involving broken zippers on bridesmaids dresses at 10:30pm and then discovering stains on the same dress the next morning, but thanks to some good old-fashioned running-around-like-a-blue-arsed-fly by several people, all was fixed in time.
So even though I'm now feeling really old and decrepit due to my baby sister being married, I wish them nothing but the best for their future life together.
Oh, and here's hoping they hurry up and have some kids .. it's time for another baby around here and I'm certainly not having any!!
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Overheard this morning ...
Peter was outside tormenting playing with and chasing the dog.
Andrew: Dad, stop being mean to the dog.
Brad: Dad's not mean Drew. He's just not very good at being nice!
Very quick with the witty replies this morning, aren't you Brad? Cheeky boy!
Andrew: Dad, stop being mean to the dog.
Brad: Dad's not mean Drew. He's just not very good at being nice!
Very quick with the witty replies this morning, aren't you Brad? Cheeky boy!
Monday, 30 November 2009
Just when I started to feel motivated ...
... things go wrong!
I just got up from my scrap/craft table where I have been trying to make the menu for Clare's wedding reception look pretty, to go and do some laundry, the dishes in the kitchen and mop the floor, only to find out that I have no water. After ascertaining that I had paid the water bill, the water meter is intact and turned on and that there wasn't a flood somewhere in or around the house, I rang the Water Corp to find out what's going on.
Apparently there's a burst water main outside the house six houses up the road from me and, according to the lovely young lady on the phone, there's an emergency repair crew there fixing it at the moment and it should be back on in about three hours. Unfortunately, I think her magic computer is lying to her. There is no repair crew there and, surprisingly enough, there isn't copious amounts of water leaking everywhere, unless it's under the road, which given the amount of potholes that have been appearing lately, is quite likely.
I've decided that I'm going to interpret this as having been given permission by the Universe to ignore the housework and go to the scrapbook shop down the road to buy some more paper to prettify the menu and seating plan.
Or to ignore the housework and read a book.
Or to ignore the housework and have a nap.
Or to ignore the housework and have lunch.
Or to ignore the housework and put the Christmas tree up.
Or to ignore the housework and ...
just ignore the housework all together. Yeah that's the one...
I just got up from my scrap/craft table where I have been trying to make the menu for Clare's wedding reception look pretty, to go and do some laundry, the dishes in the kitchen and mop the floor, only to find out that I have no water. After ascertaining that I had paid the water bill, the water meter is intact and turned on and that there wasn't a flood somewhere in or around the house, I rang the Water Corp to find out what's going on.
Apparently there's a burst water main outside the house six houses up the road from me and, according to the lovely young lady on the phone, there's an emergency repair crew there fixing it at the moment and it should be back on in about three hours. Unfortunately, I think her magic computer is lying to her. There is no repair crew there and, surprisingly enough, there isn't copious amounts of water leaking everywhere, unless it's under the road, which given the amount of potholes that have been appearing lately, is quite likely.
I've decided that I'm going to interpret this as having been given permission by the Universe to ignore the housework and go to the scrapbook shop down the road to buy some more paper to prettify the menu and seating plan.
Or to ignore the housework and read a book.
Or to ignore the housework and have a nap.
Or to ignore the housework and have lunch.
Or to ignore the housework and put the Christmas tree up.
Or to ignore the housework and ...
just ignore the housework all together. Yeah that's the one...
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
You know you live with a house full of boys when ...
- there are more items of clothing on the floor in their rooms than in their wardrobes.
- you are the only one who seems to think this a problem.
- you find yourself doing the 'sniff test' on clothing you find around the house.
- you use almost an entire container of spak-filla patching all the dents and dings in the walls of only one room!
- you buy clothing, manchester, furniture and paint based on whether the colour of said item will show food and/or bloodstains.
- despite spending over $300 on groceries, there's "nothing in the house to eat."
- they yell at you "where's my (insert item here)" and then yell "it's not there. I already looked" only to mumble a very sheepish "Thanks Mum" when you walk in and take said item off the shelf where you said it was, which happens to be right in front of their face, and then hand it to them.
- you turn the TV up to drown out the sounds of "Kill him!" coming from the other room.
- despite having an entire wardrobe full of clothes to choose from, they wear the same three items over and over again until said items come crawling down the hallway to find you, begging to be washed.
- you realise that you understand a foreign language ... 'grunt'.
- you're told someone is hurt and your response is "No bones or blood? Still breathing and conscious? Yes? Then I'm not interested!"
- you burp and say "better out than in" instead of "pardon me".
- food stains are considered part of the pattern on the shirt and not as something to be removed.
- you have to remind them that deodorant, soap and toothpaste are there for them to use more than once a week and aren't just decorations in the bathroom.
- despite having been in the shower for over ten minutes, they still come out with dirty hands, feet and hair.
- they start coming up with alternative uses for your kitchen utensils. Did you know that a pasta server makes a good back scratcher?
- topics you would be uncomfortable discussing with your doctor become standard dinner table conversation.
- you realise that dyslaundria and fridge blindness are real!
And yet, despite all of this, all they have to do is give me a hug and all is forgiven.
Well, almost all...
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Recent conversations ...
Me: Andrew, could you please get the plates out ready for me to serve up dinner?
Andrew: It's already done.
Me: Gee, you're organised today.
Andrew: Of course I'm organised. I'm a legend in the kitchen.
Me: What about me? Am I a legend in the kitchen too?
Andrew: Nope. Just me.
slight pause...
Andrew: You're a legend everywhere else ... as well as in the kitchen.
Me: Nice save son!
Andrew: I've had twelve years of practise so I'm finally getting the hang of it!!
Alex: Mum, I have an upset stomach so can I stay home from school today?
Me: Only if you think you're really unwell and not just faking it.
Alex: (goes into graphic detail of toilet habits and various other TMI-type things that I won't put here .. you're welcome!)
Me: (gagging) OK, you can stay home but I have things to do so you can help me in between toilet visits.
Alex: Thanks Mum. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.
Andrew: (giggling) That sounds like one of those announcements you hear at the shops .. you know .. "Attention please customers: your life will suck from now on .. sorry for any inconvenience".
Andrew: It's already done.
Me: Gee, you're organised today.
Andrew: Of course I'm organised. I'm a legend in the kitchen.
Me: What about me? Am I a legend in the kitchen too?
Andrew: Nope. Just me.
slight pause...
Andrew: You're a legend everywhere else ... as well as in the kitchen.
Me: Nice save son!
Andrew: I've had twelve years of practise so I'm finally getting the hang of it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex: Mum, I have an upset stomach so can I stay home from school today?
Me: Only if you think you're really unwell and not just faking it.
Alex: (goes into graphic detail of toilet habits and various other TMI-type things that I won't put here .. you're welcome!)
Me: (gagging) OK, you can stay home but I have things to do so you can help me in between toilet visits.
Alex: Thanks Mum. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.
Andrew: (giggling) That sounds like one of those announcements you hear at the shops .. you know .. "Attention please customers: your life will suck from now on .. sorry for any inconvenience".
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Busy little bees ...
... and I mean literally!
This is the 'really big black bug' that was in Brad's room buzzing at him when we came home from Bali. Mum had checked on the house two days prior and there was no sign of it then so they really were busy little bees to have created this in so short a time.
I let him sleep in my bed with me for the night on Thursday and tried to get an exterminator to come and deal with it on the Friday. After leaving a message with each of four different companies (that I still haven't heard back from over a week later .. 24 hour/7 day callout my backside!!), I let him sleep with me again on Friday night and, after another night of little sleep due to 'someone' hogging all the covers and most of the bed, resolved to ring a new lot of pest people on Saturday.
I managed to speak to a real person at Allpest Services on Saturday and was assured someone would be out sometime that day. Upon asking whether they could narrow the time frame just a little, for example to morning or afternoon, I was informed someone would ring me back within ten minutes to try to do so. Now I know you're probably expecting me to tell you how I'm still waiting for that call but I'm not because ...
... gasp ...
... they rang back in only five minutes! And they had narrowed the time frame to 2 hours!
I'll just wait for you to all pick yourselves up off the floor before I continue ...
Ready yet?
How about now? No?
Still waiting for the shock of a tradesperson actually calling back to wear off? Don't hold your breath because I'm still waiting for that to happen and it's been over a week!
Anyway, the young guy who turned up to do the job was on time, didn't smell or have a bad attitude, was very pleasant (both in personality and to look at!) and got straight to it. I took him down to Brad's room to show him the invaders and was assured that it would be no problem. His little remark on the end of that was "I don't normally do bee jobs but I was the closest so I said I'd pop past."
Of course, I had to enquire why he didn't usually do bee jobs; was he scared of them or something? His response was "Not so much scared. More that I'm allergic to them."
Thinking he was joking, I laughed and then seeing his perfectly serious face was compelled to ask why on earth he had a job as a pest exterminator if he was allergic to some of them? Apparently he likes the job and it pays well, so he just carries his Epi-pen everywhere with him and has wonderful fun killing them all.
After that little nugget of wisdom, I decided to keep a close eye on him, purely for safety's sake of course, and managed to get this picture of him in full work gear taking care of the little problem.
So thanks to the allergic bug men of the world (or this part of it at least!), the 'big black buzzing bug' is gone and Bradley is back sleeping in his own bed again. Friday, 30 October 2009
Day 10
Thursday 29/10/09
After finally falling asleep at about 2am, I woke up hoping that the taxi company had found my camera but they hadn’t. Was still feeling pissed off at myself so I sent the boys down to have breakfast while I fumed (and packed) on my own. Came to the conclusion that it was meant to be .. all the talk of karma and the gods must have rubbed off on me .. and resigned myself to not seeing my camera again. The boys were really good about it saying that they have their memories and they don’t need the photos and then Alex piped up with “anyway, you’re so far behind in your scrapping, this will make it easier for you to catch up”. I know he was only trying to help but I couldn’t help laughing/crying.
Arrived with 3 suitcases (one with the laptop in it), 4 little backpacks and my CPAP machine. Left with 4 suitcases, 4 stuffed to the brim little backpacks, 1 large sports bag, 1 laptop bag and my CPAP machine.
Elle and the boys arrived to have a chat before saying goodbye. Left the boys to discuss Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon and went shopping for last minute stuff at the Hard Rock Megastore. Came back to find that our airport transfer bus had arrived so we said our goodbyes and headed out for the airport.
Got to the airport and paid the porters so that I wouldn’t have to try and juggle 3 kids and 11 items of luggage. We could do with some porters at Perth airport .. in fact all of the Australian airports could do with them! Had to hang around the airport for nearly two hours so the boys spent the last of their money on little knick knacks to pass the time. Had Macca’s (again!) for lunch then boarded the plane for the flight home.
I dozed most of the way home while the boys watched the free in-flight foxtel. After a mostly smooth flight, we landed at 6:20 and cleared Customs/Quarantine by 7:20pm. Word of advice: don’t buy woven placemats in Bali .. they’re full of little beasties and AQIS will either seize them or keep them for 2 weeks to fumigate them and charge you $30 (in advance) for the privilege of getting them back. Considering they cost me all of $4, I let AQIS seize them.
Mum met us at the airport and after that we went home, via the takeaway chicken place down the road, by 7:45pm. After dinner, we showed her some of our souvenirs and gave her the presents we’d bought for her. The boys headed for the shower and then Bradley came running down to the lounge room crying about ‘a huuuuge black bug in his room’. Sympathetic mother that I am, I told him to stop being such a sook because it was probably just a hairy spider but he kept insisting that it was buzzing at him. I went to check it out and found a colony of bees had set up a hive on the outside of his window. I told him he could sleep in with me until I got an exterminator to come deal with it. I’d already had him or Drew sleeping in my bed for the past 9 nights so what was a couple more?
Mum finally left at 10:30ish then it was straight to bed for me, complete with nightmares of all the washing to be done and wondering whether the dog would talk to me when I picked him up in the morning. It’s good to be home… I think!
After finally falling asleep at about 2am, I woke up hoping that the taxi company had found my camera but they hadn’t. Was still feeling pissed off at myself so I sent the boys down to have breakfast while I fumed (and packed) on my own. Came to the conclusion that it was meant to be .. all the talk of karma and the gods must have rubbed off on me .. and resigned myself to not seeing my camera again. The boys were really good about it saying that they have their memories and they don’t need the photos and then Alex piped up with “anyway, you’re so far behind in your scrapping, this will make it easier for you to catch up”. I know he was only trying to help but I couldn’t help laughing/crying.
Arrived with 3 suitcases (one with the laptop in it), 4 little backpacks and my CPAP machine. Left with 4 suitcases, 4 stuffed to the brim little backpacks, 1 large sports bag, 1 laptop bag and my CPAP machine.
Elle and the boys arrived to have a chat before saying goodbye. Left the boys to discuss Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon and went shopping for last minute stuff at the Hard Rock Megastore. Came back to find that our airport transfer bus had arrived so we said our goodbyes and headed out for the airport.
Got to the airport and paid the porters so that I wouldn’t have to try and juggle 3 kids and 11 items of luggage. We could do with some porters at Perth airport .. in fact all of the Australian airports could do with them! Had to hang around the airport for nearly two hours so the boys spent the last of their money on little knick knacks to pass the time. Had Macca’s (again!) for lunch then boarded the plane for the flight home.
I dozed most of the way home while the boys watched the free in-flight foxtel. After a mostly smooth flight, we landed at 6:20 and cleared Customs/Quarantine by 7:20pm. Word of advice: don’t buy woven placemats in Bali .. they’re full of little beasties and AQIS will either seize them or keep them for 2 weeks to fumigate them and charge you $30 (in advance) for the privilege of getting them back. Considering they cost me all of $4, I let AQIS seize them.
Mum met us at the airport and after that we went home, via the takeaway chicken place down the road, by 7:45pm. After dinner, we showed her some of our souvenirs and gave her the presents we’d bought for her. The boys headed for the shower and then Bradley came running down to the lounge room crying about ‘a huuuuge black bug in his room’. Sympathetic mother that I am, I told him to stop being such a sook because it was probably just a hairy spider but he kept insisting that it was buzzing at him. I went to check it out and found a colony of bees had set up a hive on the outside of his window. I told him he could sleep in with me until I got an exterminator to come deal with it. I’d already had him or Drew sleeping in my bed for the past 9 nights so what was a couple more?
Mum finally left at 10:30ish then it was straight to bed for me, complete with nightmares of all the washing to be done and wondering whether the dog would talk to me when I picked him up in the morning. It’s good to be home… I think!
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Day 9
Wednesday 28/10/09
Was woken up by a text from Elle saying that she wouldn’t be able to join us as her two dogs had been in a massive fight and needed to go the vet.
After some discussion with the boys, I decided to not go to the Bali Wildlife and Marine Park as originally planned and we planned to go shopping instead. At this point I realized that I had left the camera at Flapjacks the night before in all the kerfuffle over the spilt milk, got the front desk at the hotel to ring and check it was still there and then went down to pick it up.
Took a taxi into Denpasar to try to find some computer stuff Peter wanted, to no avail, then headed back to Discovery Mall to get some stuff for the boys that we hadn’t been able to find anywhere else (stuffed turtle for Brad, turtle figurines for Alex and Brad and some postcards for me).
Had lunch upstairs in the food court overlooking the beach. Boys had chicken nuggets and chips; I had nasi goreng ayam (chicken fried rice). Andrew ended up giving the rest of his food to Alex and sharing the rice with me.
Went downstairs for some more shopping and got some more money out of the ATM… only 3,000,000 this time! Headed back to the hotel for a rest (too hot!), boys went for a swim and then we headed out to Legian where the boys managed to get themselves wet in the ocean and I managed to get some photos of the sunset over Legian Beach. Went up to the Legian Pesar (Art/craft market) where I managed to buy some more souvenirs (but no sarongs!) then jumped in a taxi to go to Elle’s.
Stopped at McDonald’s to buy dinner for all 5 boys then hung around Elle's place chatting for a while before getting another taxi back to the hotel. Realized once we were back in the room that the camera was missing again. Got the front desk to call the taxi company and McDonald’s but it was gone for good this time. It must have fallen out of my bag in the taxi and been picked up by the next passenger or the driver. According to Elle, it would sell for the equivalent of 5 or 6 months wages so the temptation must have been too great for the person who did pick it up. I was really upset at myself and took it out on the boys a bit. I apologized to them later but kept beating myself up because I hadn’t downloaded the photos of Tanah Lot, Ubud, the monkey forest and Legian sunset. At least I had some of the photos from earlier in the trip but I really wanted all the others as they were more about the traditional side of Bali instead of the touristy things like Waterbom Park.
Was woken up by a text from Elle saying that she wouldn’t be able to join us as her two dogs had been in a massive fight and needed to go the vet.
After some discussion with the boys, I decided to not go to the Bali Wildlife and Marine Park as originally planned and we planned to go shopping instead. At this point I realized that I had left the camera at Flapjacks the night before in all the kerfuffle over the spilt milk, got the front desk at the hotel to ring and check it was still there and then went down to pick it up.
Took a taxi into Denpasar to try to find some computer stuff Peter wanted, to no avail, then headed back to Discovery Mall to get some stuff for the boys that we hadn’t been able to find anywhere else (stuffed turtle for Brad, turtle figurines for Alex and Brad and some postcards for me).
Had lunch upstairs in the food court overlooking the beach. Boys had chicken nuggets and chips; I had nasi goreng ayam (chicken fried rice). Andrew ended up giving the rest of his food to Alex and sharing the rice with me.
Went downstairs for some more shopping and got some more money out of the ATM… only 3,000,000 this time! Headed back to the hotel for a rest (too hot!), boys went for a swim and then we headed out to Legian where the boys managed to get themselves wet in the ocean and I managed to get some photos of the sunset over Legian Beach. Went up to the Legian Pesar (Art/craft market) where I managed to buy some more souvenirs (but no sarongs!) then jumped in a taxi to go to Elle’s.
Stopped at McDonald’s to buy dinner for all 5 boys then hung around Elle's place chatting for a while before getting another taxi back to the hotel. Realized once we were back in the room that the camera was missing again. Got the front desk to call the taxi company and McDonald’s but it was gone for good this time. It must have fallen out of my bag in the taxi and been picked up by the next passenger or the driver. According to Elle, it would sell for the equivalent of 5 or 6 months wages so the temptation must have been too great for the person who did pick it up. I was really upset at myself and took it out on the boys a bit. I apologized to them later but kept beating myself up because I hadn’t downloaded the photos of Tanah Lot, Ubud, the monkey forest and Legian sunset. At least I had some of the photos from earlier in the trip but I really wanted all the others as they were more about the traditional side of Bali instead of the touristy things like Waterbom Park.
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Day 8
Tuesday 27/10/09
Elle and her boys came and picked us up for the 1.5 hour drive to Ubud and the Monkey forest. Mitchell was sitting down minding his own business when a monkey came running down out of a tree and climbed up on to his head. Alex had to bribe the monkey with some watermelon to get it off! Another monkey was investigating Ryan’s sling and trying to take it off him. We worked out that Ryan and Mitchell had used shampoo with banana extract which was attracting the monkeys! Brad and I went into Temple wearing sarong/sashes. Watched monkeys throwing themselves off trees into pond … funny! Baby monkeys very cute but older ones ... not so much!
Had lunch at Deli Cat (322,000rp for 7 people’s lunch & drinks) then walked up to see Royal Palace. All open air pavilions with no walls. Centre one was/is used for teeth filing ceremonies… teeth filed even at age of 17 so that canine teeth are even with the rest of them. (dogs and therefore canine teeth are considered evil/bad) Pavilions have decorated carvings which are coated with real 24 carat gold!
Checked out a few of the shops on the way back to the car and bought a carved limestone tealight holder for Mum.
Went up to a Japanese restaurant where we had a drink overlooking rice paddies where the workers were harvesting the rice. Boys had ice cream and soft drink then we headed back down to Kuta. Stopped at hand-blown glass factory where Elle bought a beautiful bowl and some plates and I bought some frangipani glass plates.
Got dropped off at Flapjacks restaurant where the boys wanted another ice cream and a milkshake each so I indulged them to the tune of 334,000rp! When we were leaving Brad knocked his milkshake glass over which shattered on the table spilling glass and chocolate milkshake everywhere. Apologised profusely and left the staff to clean up the mess… love being on holidays!
Checked out a few more games shops for the boys, bought Andrew some Crocs then staggered back to the hotel for some cool air, a shower and bed.
Elle and her boys came and picked us up for the 1.5 hour drive to Ubud and the Monkey forest. Mitchell was sitting down minding his own business when a monkey came running down out of a tree and climbed up on to his head. Alex had to bribe the monkey with some watermelon to get it off! Another monkey was investigating Ryan’s sling and trying to take it off him. We worked out that Ryan and Mitchell had used shampoo with banana extract which was attracting the monkeys! Brad and I went into Temple wearing sarong/sashes. Watched monkeys throwing themselves off trees into pond … funny! Baby monkeys very cute but older ones ... not so much!
Had lunch at Deli Cat (322,000rp for 7 people’s lunch & drinks) then walked up to see Royal Palace. All open air pavilions with no walls. Centre one was/is used for teeth filing ceremonies… teeth filed even at age of 17 so that canine teeth are even with the rest of them. (dogs and therefore canine teeth are considered evil/bad) Pavilions have decorated carvings which are coated with real 24 carat gold!
Checked out a few of the shops on the way back to the car and bought a carved limestone tealight holder for Mum.
Went up to a Japanese restaurant where we had a drink overlooking rice paddies where the workers were harvesting the rice. Boys had ice cream and soft drink then we headed back down to Kuta. Stopped at hand-blown glass factory where Elle bought a beautiful bowl and some plates and I bought some frangipani glass plates.
Got dropped off at Flapjacks restaurant where the boys wanted another ice cream and a milkshake each so I indulged them to the tune of 334,000rp! When we were leaving Brad knocked his milkshake glass over which shattered on the table spilling glass and chocolate milkshake everywhere. Apologised profusely and left the staff to clean up the mess… love being on holidays!
Checked out a few more games shops for the boys, bought Andrew some Crocs then staggered back to the hotel for some cool air, a shower and bed.
Monday, 26 October 2009
Day 7
Another short and sweet update...
Monday 26/10/09
Went to Matahari shopping centre to check it out. Bought personalized keyrings for almost everyone.
Left boys in hotel and went shopping with Elle to Toko Dianne and then to pick up her boys from school. She calls it Hogwarts as it is complete with turrets and towers.
Picked up boys and went out to Tanah Lot Temple for sunset .. bit of a failure … but bought more sarongs with the reasoning that they make great presents. Boys had Hindu blessing done while Elle and I checked out the ‘holy snakes’ .. sea snakes hiding out in a cave at the bottom of the cliff. Little man told me to touch and make a wish.
Went up to top of cliff to have a drink and watch the sunset. I had a young coconut to drink and tried to get the boys to have a taste .. only Andrew was game enough! Bought Alex some Crocs at the official outlet at the markets.
Then back to Elle’s for dinner .. McDonald’s delivered to the door just like a pizza.
Monday 26/10/09
Went to Matahari shopping centre to check it out. Bought personalized keyrings for almost everyone.
Left boys in hotel and went shopping with Elle to Toko Dianne and then to pick up her boys from school. She calls it Hogwarts as it is complete with turrets and towers.
Picked up boys and went out to Tanah Lot Temple for sunset .. bit of a failure … but bought more sarongs with the reasoning that they make great presents. Boys had Hindu blessing done while Elle and I checked out the ‘holy snakes’ .. sea snakes hiding out in a cave at the bottom of the cliff. Little man told me to touch and make a wish.
Went up to top of cliff to have a drink and watch the sunset. I had a young coconut to drink and tried to get the boys to have a taste .. only Andrew was game enough! Bought Alex some Crocs at the official outlet at the markets.
Then back to Elle’s for dinner .. McDonald’s delivered to the door just like a pizza.
Day 6
Short and sweet for today...
Sunday 25/10/09
Had breakfast with Brad after Alex & Drew had breakfast together.
Went down to Poppies Lane II for shopping. Getting the hang of this bartering thing. Only one bad experience .. woman wouldn’t let me leave her shop .. kept jumping in front of me, grabbing hold of me and yelling at me .. escaped while she was dealing with someone else…poor suckers!
Went to Discovery Mall and bought more stuff then had Haagen Dasz ice cream for lunch because the KFC here is weird! No nuggets, popcorn chicken, wraps or potato & gravy and if you want chips instead of rice, they charge you extra.
Went to Carrefour (another big supermarket like Makro but cleaner) for more shopping. Price checks done by guys on roller blades. Shop is huge .. about as big as Bunnings warehouse including the garden centre and the yard outside.
Brad and Drew bought themselves a watch each at a little shop on the way out. We’ll see if they last.
Came back to hotel with many many bags. Tried to sort it out but gave up and read a book instead while boys went for a swim. Ended up ordering room service for dinner which Alex threw up in the middle of the night. Nothing to do with the room service food.. more likely to be the many, many packets of Mentos lollies he scoffed with filthy dirty hands while out shopping during the day. Mentos lollies have now been banned and I made him clean up the mess!
Sunday 25/10/09
Had breakfast with Brad after Alex & Drew had breakfast together.
Went down to Poppies Lane II for shopping. Getting the hang of this bartering thing. Only one bad experience .. woman wouldn’t let me leave her shop .. kept jumping in front of me, grabbing hold of me and yelling at me .. escaped while she was dealing with someone else…poor suckers!
Went to Discovery Mall and bought more stuff then had Haagen Dasz ice cream for lunch because the KFC here is weird! No nuggets, popcorn chicken, wraps or potato & gravy and if you want chips instead of rice, they charge you extra.
Went to Carrefour (another big supermarket like Makro but cleaner) for more shopping. Price checks done by guys on roller blades. Shop is huge .. about as big as Bunnings warehouse including the garden centre and the yard outside.
Brad and Drew bought themselves a watch each at a little shop on the way out. We’ll see if they last.
Came back to hotel with many many bags. Tried to sort it out but gave up and read a book instead while boys went for a swim. Ended up ordering room service for dinner which Alex threw up in the middle of the night. Nothing to do with the room service food.. more likely to be the many, many packets of Mentos lollies he scoffed with filthy dirty hands while out shopping during the day. Mentos lollies have now been banned and I made him clean up the mess!
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