Where's our sunshine??

Good morning everyone!  I hope you all had a good week.  This week marks the first week of the school holidays coming to a close very fast.  Unfortunately the weather hasn't been nice for any holiday makers as we had a miserable week with rain and cold temperatures here.  But finally we might see some blue sky and sunshine here this morning. Guess I better get a move on and make a start to wash this week's clothing as my laundry basket is overloaded.

 

What a peaceful week I had without the kids around.  They are currently at their Grandma's who lives four hours drive away in Wide Bay area. I had two phone calls during the week from the kids and it seems they are having a great time up there.

 

While they are absent I thought I would make a start with some spring cleaning upstairs this week but I haven't got much done as I had other events on, outside the home...scrapbooking, shops and visiting friends.  

 

On Tuesday I had the usual casual scrap with friends at the craft store. But this time I spend an extra hour there as I didn't have to worry about after school routine. Supposely been a scrap workshop on Wednesday night but it was prosponed the last minute as most scrappers didn't want to travel in the wet.  Tonight's workshop is still currently got the go ahead and apparently this meet will have a challenge of a layout to try out.  Which reminds me I need to get my photos organised for tonight.

 

On Wednesday I decided to take a drive to Brisbane to visit a stamp club for a couple of hours to catch up with some members.  I used to attend to this club regularly until 2007.  By then changes to the club's policy was happening so it was a good time to depart.  But it wasn't the main reason why we left. Back then we started to managed a butcher shop as it was my husband's dream but unfortunately his dream was short lived after six months of being there. I hope he had learnt his lesson of not having family members involved in a business endeavour.

 

I might consider making a comeback to the stamp camp as more a casual member as a couple of ladies do miss my attendance. They are going to attend to a camp in August and I have been invite to attend. Just waiting to hear from the main committee member to see if there is any vacancies left to go.  It's been a while since I last done any stamping projects but I am sure I can get my mojo back quickly and work out to do stamping time with scrapbooking.  I was told there is two workshops over the weekend and one challenge to do.  Also there is swap challenge to do by creating 40 tags from any techniques you used.  If I attend to this camp, I will need to have alot of late nights doing this challenge.

 

Better go as I have some house chores to catch up with this morning before I go out later today.  Have a good weekend!

Winter School Holidays

Goodbye semester one!  It's hard to believe half of the school year is now over.  The kids are now on school holidays for two weeks.  This time I decided to send my kids to spend tme with their grandparents who live in Hervey Bay.  Frank drove them up early on Saturday morning, stayed overnight and came back home on Sunday night  During their absence, I am hoping to use this time wisely to get some things caught up on at home and places to visit over the next two weeks. 

Last Friday night I had a late night as we went to social night of bowling with other league players at Logan Lanes. It was after midnight by the time I got back home.  And I had a broken sleep pattern as the rest of this household was up 4am and getting organised to leave at 5:30am.

On Saturday night I caught up with another bowling friend who lives in Brisbane.  We went out for dinner at a league's club and afterwards to the cinema to see ROCK OF AGES.  I love the movie and managed to buy the soundtrack on CD yesterday.

Today I went to the craft shop to sit and causally scrapbook with friends.  Consider I didn't have to worry about after school pick ups, it was an advantage to have an extra hour at the shop. Tomorrow night and Friday night I will two scrap workshops to attend to so I need to get more photos and etc organised for both workshops.

Last week both schools had their sports day on over two days.  I was very disappointed to hear Monique didn't participle into any track or field events this year. But I am proud to say her sister did at her primary school for the final time.  Rachel came 2nd in the 800m and 4th in the 200m track events. As far as I know I think she does qualify to enter the 800m run at the districts event which I think this will be held after the school holidays.

Last week Rachel came home with her semester one report card. I wasn't surprised with her acheivement results with her subjects but I was more blown away to see top marks for her behaviour. Monique's report card will be posted after the school holidays.

Time to go to make dinner, have a hot shower, settled into winter PJs ready to watch the new series of Winners and Losers beginning tonight.  And if I am still awake, watch abit of Wimbledon Tennis live on TV.  Hewitt is playing tonight!

Have a good week everyone!

Semester ending soon

How was your weekend?  Like I said in my sporting report there were two bowling tournaments today.  One was held in Lismore (northern NSW) and the other was at Caboolture which is north of Brisbane.  For further details you will have to read the latest entry from my sporting report blog.

On Friday night the primary school had their first movie night in their new hall.  I taken only Rachel along as Monique had other plans with her friends.  Rachel and I saw Alvin and the Chipmucks 3 while Monique was at the cinema to see MIB3. The kids seem to had a good night but I was more glad when I got to bed as I had a busy Friday.

What's on your agenda for this week?  This week is the final week of semester one and what a busy week I will have with catching up with two friends, sports day and one scrap workshop.

However your week is planned, have a good week! 

Queen's Birthday

This week will be a short week as we had a public holiday yesterday to celebrate the Jubilee years for the Queen of England. I wouldn't have a clue on how her celebrations went as I wasn't even home until 7pm last night. I had such a busy day. 

After the girls prebowled in the morning we drove to Brisbane to pick up my parents and then off to the city to see my cousins from Central QLD.  They are currently down due to a medical condition from my male cousin.  He had surgery two weeks ago and if the specialists gives him the all clear this Wednesday, they will be able to fly back home this weekend.

Inspite not being the right reason to see our extended family members, it was nice to have this opportunity while they were in town.  I have seen them since 2006.  It was very pleasant to catch and learn more about my Dad's past. It was close to 6:30pm by the time we left their one bedroom apartment and drop my parents back home which they only live ten minutes away from the city.  On my way home I dropped into KFC near my home address and buy chicken nuggets and chips for the kids and a burger meal for myself.  

Looking in my diary, looks like another busy week is going to happen with two appointments, three social events and two bowling tournaments this weekend. 

Normally I am not home on Tuesdays but today I decided on short notice to stay at home and catch up with the housework.  But really I need more ZZZZZZZZZ as I am so buggered from so many busy days away from home for the past couple of weeks.

Gotta go as I have heard my washing machine beeping. It means the load is now finished.  Have a good week!

A busy long weekend

Not surprise really to wake up to rain this morning at 7:30am.  Actually the rain started before I went to bed last night.  I am thankful all my laundry loads got dried yesterday.  Just I need to fold and put away all the loads that are in the lounge room at present time.  Where's the cleaning fairy when you need her the most? 

How's your weekend been going so far? The weekend isn't even over yet and what a busy time I had since Friday after school with bowling leagues, a fund raise event and started a digital scrapbooking project last night.  The rest of this long weekend includes prebowls from my kids this afternoon and tomorrow morning and going to visit a couple of relatives tomorrow afternoon.

Yesterday I attended to a big morning tea/lunch/afternoon tea event with my bowling friends to help raise funds for cancer council research.  Besides pigging out on freshly baked cakes, slices, desserts and hot finger food, we had three auctions and multiple raffle draws. I managed to win three prizes from the raffle draws and one of the auction items for $65 (RRP $75). Meaning I had a $10 saving on an overnight blue bag. The other three items I won were a casserole dish, a pair of thongs with fake grass for the feet to rest on while walking and a large tea towel with dressed up gingerbread cookies all over and someone crochet around the tea towel in similar colour of the cookies. At the time our little group left the raised funds came to around $2200.

All the best to enjoy the reminder time of this weekend with the people you love and care about in your lives. If you have any travel plans, make sure your destination spot is a safe travel one.

Full on week

Hi everyone!  How was your week?  I had a full on week with school days of barely not at home. Only today I am more at home so I can catch up with some housework as I will have another busy weekend planned.

This week I was out visiting a friend and a couple of relatives, attend to one scrap meet and had my social bowl.  I wouldn't say I bowled well on Wednesday as the lanes were too fast for my liking. Even the approach was too oily!  I was more scared I would slip over and sprain my arm. 

Can't believe another weekend is only around the corner.  Of course another extra day is added as we have a public holiday on Monday. It's known as Jubilee Queen's Birthday.  It's to celebrate the Queen of England of been our queen for the past 60 years.  My parents would of been in primary school when this changeover happened back then. 

What's on your agenda for this weekend?  It seems I am more married to the bowling alley on most weekends as we have leagues or tournaments played but this weekend my kids need to prebowl as they will be away on the upcoming school holidays.

On Saturday I will be off to a big morning tea event for Cancer Council Research with afew bowlers from Wednesday's social league. This is my second year of attending and it is alot of fun to be involved.  After all the hardwork beforehand, it's worth the cause in the end.  Last year this group made over $2000 in fund raising. This group has lot of different foods to eat, party games and multiple raffle draws going. It will be mid afternoon by the time this event will be finished. There is other groups do the same thing throughout May and June annually.  From this group with who I am attending to, there is a mother and daughter (around my age group) who survived breast cancer. How many females do you know who either survived or lost their battle with this horrible disease?  I just hope there will be a cure for all cancers in the future as I had my share of experiences of witnessing family members or friends with some form of cancer.

Whatever plans you might have for this weekend, I hope it will be a safe travel weekend!

What a busy weekend!

Hi everyone!  How was your weekend?  Consider I had a busy one I need another weekend to just recover from this one.  I had two late nights staying up until 2:30am over the weekend but thank goodness I slept in until 10:30am today.

 

Friday night was a wet one but it didn't stop me to going to our scrapbooking workshop to learn a new layout idea. In the beginning I was abit slow to get the creative gear into action but within the last hour of the workshop I was on a roll. No wonder why I had trouble falling to sleep once I got home at 1am.

 

Didn't have much time to scratch myself on Saturday as it was more being not home much throughout the day.  In the morning it was junior league at bowling and then afterwards I went to a tupperwave party.  I haven't been to one in about a decade but it was nice to catch up with an old friend and met her baby girl (for the first time).  The baby was so contented to be hold by me.  It been donkey years since I last hold a baby and I definiately didn't loose my touch.  Before you ask, no..I wasn't clucky!!

 

In the evening I taken Monique to her friend's house as she was going to have a sleepover there.  It was 4pm today by the time I picked her up and going by her frame of mind, I don't think she had much sleep.  She was off to a farewell party on Saturday night and today a small group of girls went to the cinema to see The Dark Shadows.  I was told it was a good movie but I am not sure if I will see this one or not.  Last night I saw MIB 3 with my best friend.  This movie is great but the ending isn't what you expected it to be.

 

Today I was busy catching up with some housework at home as I won't be home much this week.  Tonight I had bowling and managed to bowl okay.  It was my team mate who let us down by bowling crappy games.

 

Time is moving on and I should think about going to bed as I will have a busy day tomorrow.  Have a good week everyone!

May report

Goodbye autumn!  Hello winter!  Today is the official start of our winter season in Australia but I think the SE states of the country already had their winter season started earlier.  Even for Queensland it started to cool down at nightime quite quickly. We had a couple of minimum temperatures reached in the early single digits already.  But I think today would be the first to have the coolest day with the maximum temperature of only 18 degrees as it is quite an overcast and wet.  I knew today was quite cold as my cats are staying indoors and my air conditioner is turning on more regularly then normal. I hate to know what the next electricity bill will be like as the air conditioner has been used daily at nightime and the dryer was accidently left on overnighter once as the timer died on us.

It seems the month of May just went out the door.  I had a busy month with normal commitments involving my family and friends, bowling and scrapbooking. I only managed to see one recent movie at the cinema.  I saw THE AVENGERS with my best friend.  I love the movie with lots of action about our past fictional character heroes. This weekend I am hoping to see MIB 3.  I was told this movie is quite enjoyable to view.

On Labour Day weekend, Brisbane RNA show grounds had their Model Train show for people of all ages who love trains (in smaller scale). I prefer trams more but they stopped running in Brisbane before I was born. I have been on suburban trains in Brisbane many times and made a train trip to Gympie once, long before I had my license to drive a car.

I taken Rachel along to see the model train show on Sunday morning and she quite enjoyed it.  Some people were quite friendly and happy to chat with us. Even one guy let Rachel hold a big model scaled train. It was more an educational purpose for Rachel to learn the history about trains and such. I taken the kids there once before when they were younger but I don't think we stayed as long as we did this time. At the model train show they displayed some photos of past trains and buses which was great for me to use for BOM scrap album. I did capture alot of photos of the model train show but they are still in my camera.  I don't intend to download my photos after each time I take photos. They will be in my camera for ages before I decided to download them and use for scrap projects.

All schools throughout Australia had their NAPLAN testing on 15th-17th May.  The parents won't know th resutls until at least the end of term 3.  I am not expecting the best outcome from my kids but I am more proud of them for just taking part and doing their best to their knowledge.  The tests are only for the school's benefit for teachers to know if they are doing their job right. It seems afew schools are bitching to each other about how good their schools are. If the school community acted more appropriately for respect and responsibility to their fellow community members, there shouldn't be any negative reports about any schools. All schools should be treated equal!! Of course we see how students misbehave outside of school hours in public.  If they are wearing their school uniform still, it would give an outsider a first impression of a negative report. I always keep telling my kids to behave well in public.  Because you never know who you would run into after hours.

Besides being my Dad's birthday on 18th May, it was National Volunteer week and I received a certificate of appreciation from the primary school to say thanks for my contribution towards the school community. All I really done this year is attended to afew P and C meeting and made my contributions there. I was met to attend to a morning tea session at the school but I was still recovering from the flu that week.

On 20th May, Monique and I went to the Gold Coast border as there was a junior intercentre tourament on at Coolangatta. Of course I got lost as I don't own a GPS (now I wished I borrowed one from a friend) and I don't know New South Wales roads that well.  And it doesn't help when the state doesn't have enough signs on where to go either. I was only going by my goggle map on how to get there.  After 45 minutes of driving I found a local at a car sale yard and he was happy to help.  I wasn't too far by then! Once we got there (just on time for check in) the kids bowled against other centres from the Gold Coat and Northern NSW. Monique didn't win any individual medals but her centre is still in front by only two points after two rounds. The next competiton will be held at Lismore (which is in Northern NSW). It's held on the same day as TQI tournament and that tournament will be hosted north of Brisbane. I prefer to drive more locally as I am not keen on driving in NSW that day.

On 25th May, Monqiue attend to her first junior pageant for a footy club.  It was only a 90 minute event for the pageants to be interviewed in different aged classifications with a variety of questions.  Monique never done one of these before and I don't think she will even do this again as I wasn't keen on answering alot of questions.  And going by some answers, I don't think she even knows what she wants to do in the future.  To me that doesn't look good!  When they asked her, why she applied.......her answer, I was dragged into it!!  Everyone laughed! The problem with Monique she seems to take up on things, only because her friends do it.

On 27th May, the girls went to the Pumpkin Festival in Goomeri with their father.  I think it's a 45 minute drive, west from Gympie.  I never been there but I have heard of it as they went there last year with the girl's grandparents. After a couple of dramas with the ute, they got to the festival at lunchtime. They seemed to like it but they never runned into their grandparents as it was quite crowded that day.

On 28th May, I was invited to go to the high school to witness over 300 students from years 8 to 12 being awarded for outstanding effort and behaviour during this semester.  This award is based from the information given in their report cards after term one. Monique received a silver certificate (as she received more Bs then As)!  Last year she received two gold awards but her grades have slightly slipped abit this year. I don't know if it is the workload abit too hard for her to handle without assistance or is it the peer pressure from school?  After the award ceremony all parents were invited to have morning tea in the school's restaurant.

Guess that is all to report about my life during the last month of autumn.  All the best to stay healthy over winter.