July report

Today is the last day of July.  And what a month it has been for me. I will be glad to farewell July as it hasn't really been the favourite month of the year. After experiencing a rebellious teenager and my car had major problems, my life is slowly going back to normal. I missed alot of scrap meets as I needed to sort out other problems that arised first.

The first week of July was the second week of the school holidays which the girls were still away at Grandma's. They arrived home on the eve of semester two resuming. During the second week I managed to see two released movies at the cinema.

The girls have been back at school for three weeks now.  I changed high school enrollment in this time for my eldest child.  She's been at the new school for one week now and seems to settled in well.  She's studying the same subjects she done at the old high school and junior sport is held on the same afternoon of the week as well. Just she needs to get used to the new timetable system as each lesson times is slightly different each day.  She starts school 25 minutes earlier then her sister and generally she's home by the time I picked up her sibling from her primary school. On Mondays they finished high school half an hour later because of their whole school assembly in the mornings.

After season one of junior bowling the girls had their prize presentation when semester two resumed.  Both girls done well and it was mentioned what they got rewarded for in the sporting blog a couple of weeks ago.

Right now its the 30th summer olympics held in London for two weeks. It would be a great experience in my lifetime to watch a sporting olympic event or more but I guess it is just too far for this olympic to sit and watch live.  How about you? I guess the next two weeks I will be glued to the TV screen on most nights or laptop for reading the results.  Channel 9 has been fairly good and shown a variety of sports involving afew nations of the world.  Just it's impossible to stay up all night to watch! 

At present time Australia is ranked in 10th position as they only won four medals from swimming. Going by media reports I think most of our Aussie olympics feel disappointed for letting our country down.  NO paw-ese!  I don't think so!  They are already winners in my books by just going there to enter. How many people dream of entering the olympics but never get there to compete?? The olympics is a very strong competitive sport and involves all nations of the world. But I have noticed the competitors are getting younger to enter and they are the ones who intend to break either the world or olympic record.  I feel our olympians are doing the best to their ability.  Support from their family, coach, fans and their country should be their top priority before and after the event taken place.  I feel their trainers/coaches put too much pressure on their trainees and expects them to be coming home with the gold only. If my children were involved in an international event I would be proud of them for just representing their country, with or without any medals around their neck. 

Enjoy the last month of winter/summer in your hemisphere! 

Olympics started

Australia will be competing

Good morning everyone!  How was your weekend?  Basically I just hanged around at home to watch the Summer Olympics, live from London. On Saturday morning I was up early to watch the opening ceremony live.  Did you see it? What did you think of the ceremony?

 

The Olympic Logo

In Australia we see the daily day events start from 6:30pm and is shown all night on TV until 9am in the morning.  Twice during the day they show highlights of each day for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. Each night I plan on watching some events until I fall asleep around midnight.  Then I am up by 6-7am to watch more events until 9am on the weeekend.  During the school days I will watch some until it's time to drive Rachel to school.  Once I get back from her drop off (when I am at home)  I will watch the highlights for two hours in the morning.  I was told I will get square eyes from watching too much of the Olympics.

 

The Cauldron was lit at the opening ceremony

It's seems Australia isn't doing so well with their water events this time.  So far we only have one gold, one silver and one bronze from swimming.  At last count of the medal tally, China is in front with 12 medals and USA is second with the total of 11 medals.

 

Shame ten pin bowling isn't part of the Olympics games. Last night I was at bowling to bowl in my league.  We won all the points against one of the top five teams.  My team partner bowled a 201 game.

 

Better go as I need to get to the shops to buy a birthday present for my husband as it is his birthday today.   His mum's birthday was only two days ago and I don't know what her family got her for her birthday. In August we have two family members with their birthdates, only three days apart. I don't think there will be any huge celebrations on these days as they aren't hitting a new milestone era.

 

Have a nice weekend! 

July ending

Hi everyone!  How was your week?  Its now eight days since I last drove my little sedan.  A quote has been done and it seems to get the transmission fixed it will cost us around $3000. The first day of a new school week I drove the big 4WD ute but since then I changed and drive the large sedan more this week.  I am more comfortable and confident to drive in each time I get into the driver's seat.  At least the CD works well in this sedan. 

 

When you think about it...I have driven four different vehicles this year.  I drove one of my friend's 2011 hatchback earlier in the year for the sake of it.  Just to see how it feels to drive a new car 21st century these days. But since the last school holidays I have driven either the 4WD ute or the large sedan to schools and shops mostly. 

 

I had a busy week with normal commitments and attended to one scrap workshop on Wednesday night.. We had two themes:  TV shows and about your partner. This scrapbooking workshop was about remembering past TV shows by creating a TV page layout. What shows did you remembered watching when you were a child? I never really the type of child who would sit and watch children's shows. I was more into music.  I would sit and watch countdown and Young Talent Time until the shows end their viewing times.

 

This week I managed to watch two DVD movies that was borrowed from a friend.  I watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.  Does anyone know why the joker licks his lips all the time in the movie? Has anyone seen THE DARK KNIGHT RISES?  What was it like?  

 

Another school week has passed on by quickly but this time I changed enrollments for my eldest teen to start a new high school on Wednesday.  This school is closer to our home address which will be more convenient for her sibling next year when I plan on returning back into the workforce and study. They will be able to walk to and from school while I am at work or studying.

  

TIme to go as I need to have some rest before watching day one of the London 2012 games tonight.  I was up early to watch the opening ceremony this morning. Have a good weekend! 

Teenage's life

Hi everyone!  How was your week? This week was long and challenging since the issued problem started late last week.  The main cause of the problem has been sorted out but I think it will take a while before our life gets back to normal.  This will test the family: if it will break the relationship of the trust barrier or not??

 

To all the parents who have teenage children in their care, just keep an eye on them.  Today's teenagers seem to be in their own little world.  And what is more important to them is their new circle of friends and relationships.  The school nurse added her information in the latest school newsletter about the teenager's life this week. Unfortunately most teenagers seem to develop puberty earlier then we predict.  LIke a friend told me recently, a teenager is still only a child but they feel trapped inside an adult body.

 

I think the society should never introduced modern technology devices because they are a heartache for parents to deal with the use from their teenage child. In 9/10 cases this is where the problem starts.  It might be the right idea for these kids to use modern technology devices to keep them off the streets but it seems to develop other problems without the parents knowing what's gong on in their child's mind.  It's impossible to watch your child 24/7 and you don't want to be over powerng with discipline ruling at the same time.  Otherwise you might have a run away teen on your hands.

 

Besides dealing with teenagers lately, today was more the last straw for me. My car died this afternoon! It seems the automatic transmission is totally stuffed which I think it might be a huge expense to fix.  When the tow truck guy was removing my car from the tilt tray in my street, I spotted some liquid on the tilt tray.  By the way, guess where the car stopped....at a petrol station!!  Just a shame this service station doesn't have a workshop there.  Otherwise I would of just left the car there and caught a bus or taxi home with two teen kids.  But because we are RACQ members, I was lucky to have the car towed home for free.

 

Have a nice weekend everyone! Guess I won't be up to much because I don't really have a car to drive alot at present time.  Then again we do have four vehicles parked in our property but only two vehicles are in working order.  Guess I will be driving the 4WD dual cab for sometime now. Not really comfortable driving larger sized cars but I guess I don't have a choice right now.

The Vet Appointment

Because I have a rebellious teenager on my hands I had forgotten I mentioned I had taken one of my cats to our local vet surgery on Wednesday morning for his annual check up and yearly immunisation.  He was not impressed on being there!  He was in no hurry to get out of the travel box for the vet to perform her vet duties.  But as soon as the check up and immunisation was done, he was like a bolt of lightning to get back into the box. So, how are your pets when it is time to go to their local vet clinic?

 

On the holidays I had to pay for Gismo's annual animal registration. It went up $11 in one year.  It was introduced to have cats registered four years ago while I have no clue when dog registation started.  Does your country have animal registation for cats?

 

Shame we can't have some form of chip registration into teenagers. It least we would know where our child is at all times.

 

I wouldn't say I was the perfect teenager over twenty years ago but I know I didn't pull this form of stunt that my daughter is currently doing. If I done this at her current age I would copped a belting of a lifetime but today the law says the parent aren't allow to smack their kids.

 

Better go and sort out the clean laundry.  Have a good week!

New Term

Hi everyone!  How was your week?  After two weeks of school holidays the kids went back to school this week. It's hard to believe their first week back went out the door so quickly and half the weekend is over as well.

 

The start of the week was fine but towards the end, it changed unexpectedly.  I am sure I mentioned last weekend about how stressful this term is going to be.  How did I predicted that to be so true?  But the stress happened faster then I first thought. I won't go into full details what happened in the past three days but all I will say if you are parent to teenage daughters you will feel my pain on what I am currently going through with my eldest daughter.  She will drive me to an early grave at the rate she is acting at present time.  The plans I suppose had with the girls this weekend has more or less went out the window now. 

 

The junior bowling leagues had their prize presentation from season one this week.  Rachel had her presentation on yesterday evening and her sister had her prize presentation on after her league play today.  For further details, you need to read the updates on my sporting report blog. 

Goodbye School Holidays

This is it!  This time tomorrow the kids will be back home from their Grandma's.  The joys (but more likely stressful times dealing with teenagers these days) will be back to haunt me for one semester.

I do wonder where the last two weeks went as I feel these school holidays just went out the window.  Come back holidays!  I was just starting to enjoy my stressfree zone!!! Inspite the plans on my mind to start spring cleaning, I didn't get very far this time.  I managed to get abit of duties done upstairs. The girl's rooms were a total disaster!  I don't even know why I bothered with their rooms because by the end of their first week back home, it will be like a cyclone been here again.

Speaking of the weather we had quite a cold holiday season this year.  The first week was miserable with cold rainy periods.  At least this week was more sunny during the day but cold at nights and sunrise. I can't wait for spring to come and I really feel the blues when it's winter. If only I could be a bear, I would love to hiberate during the winter months then I don't have to deal with winter colds and flus.

As I said earlier I had a stressfree time for two weeks as my kids were away at Grandma's. Going by their regular phone calls I assume they enjoyed their break away at the beach.  I don't think there was too much swimming going on because it would of been abit too cold up there too.  The kid's father went up there today to pick them up but he stayed overnight at his parent's house.  I think the next trip planned is plan for Spring vacation as there is talk about going whale watching in Hervey Bay. You won't see me on a boat because I suffer sea sickness quite badly.

So this weekend is my home alone time!! It was a wonderful feeling to have the music volume pumped up on the stereo for a while today.  But I don't think my cats were impressed with that as they were trying to sleep indoors.  It was such a funny sight to see one of my cats hiding under my blankets on my bed.

Other times for the past two weeks, I was spending time with afew friends, three scrap meets and seeing three new released movies at the cinema.  I happened to see ROCK OF AGES, ICE AGE 4 and SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN. Really enjoyed the first two listings but the snow white movie wasn't as good as I thought it would be.  The making of this movie was good but I didn't really like the story plot. My 14 yo thought the movie was boring but I don't think so.  Alot of action involving high level of violence! This movie isn't suitable for young children, that's for sure and totally different from the fairy tale story told when you were a young child. 

On Monday I am hoping to see an old time movie at the cinema in Brisbane.  I have read the book over twenty years ago but never seen the movie.  Next weekend I will have to organise a movie time with my kids to see ICE AGE 4 (in 3D this time) and Brave as the following weekend they will be at bowling leagues and tournaments.

All the best to kids for a great semester two.  I should expect to see my 14 yo report card on the first week back at school.

June report

It's already five days into the seventh month of 2012 and just realised I haven't made a June report. 

June was the beginning of our winter season in Australia and what a cold winter it has been for this part of the state.  I have heard every 2-3 years the state will experience a cold season but I wasn't predicting a wet season for this year.  I am guessing more rain is on its way as I had a sore ankle for afew days now and the ants have been hanging about indoors.

Inspite the cold season it didn't stop me dealing with normal commitments with the family, catching up with friends and a couple of relatives who happened to be in town for three weeks. I managed time to see two new released movies at the cinema.  I saw MIB 3 and Rock of Ages with a friend.  I loved both movies!

The next day after seeing Rock of Ages movie I went to the shops to purchase the soundtrack as I loved the music they used in this musical based movie about a fictional rock artist character.  This character was played by Tom Cruise.  Consider he is getting on abit with age, I was amazed he's still got a good young looking body figure. I first noticed Tom Cruise in the 80's when he played a character in THE OUTSIDERS.

I attended to a tupperwave party for the first time in a decade.  I was quite surprised to see only a couple of new products released.  I purchased a new steamer for the microwave and a mini hand controlled bender that chops as well.

Also I managed to attend to the annual big morning tea auction to help fund raise for Cancer.  I came home with only two prizes this year and won an auction of an overnight sized bag I bidded on. I only used this bag twice already when I had events on.

Semester one of schooling past quite quickly. On the last week of term both schools had their annual sports day events.  My 12 yo did well in coming 2nd in the 800m track event.  I think she qualifies for the districts in term 3.

The first week of school holidays happened in the last week of June. I had a peaceful and stressfree break from parenting as my kids were away on holidays with their Grandparents who live in Hervey Bay.  Reality will set in when the kids return home this weekend.

I planned on getting some spring cleaning done during their absence but I didn't get much of it done in the first week as I had other plans.  Besides being on the phone or laptop for hours on end, I had a couple of days being out to attend two scrap meets and caught up with friends for two hours at a stamp club in Brisbane.

Speaking of spring clean I better go and make a start with some chores to be done. It's hard to get the motivation into gear when it's cold in the mornings and evenings. I only got four days to complete some cleaning of rooms and downstairs. If I don't start now, it never will be done. 

Wherever you are, enjoy this month of July!  And a happy 4th July to our American readers!

Semester one report

Goodbye June!  Hello July!  Can't believe half of 2012 is already over.  How's your half year been going?  I had a busy semester with normal commitments with kids,  things to do at home and places to go. I am sure semester two will be just as busy as semester one. In six months time, my 12 yo daughter will be graduating primary school. I will have to get her enrollment for high school organised in term four.

So how many people do you know who's name is the same as the calendar months? Do they have their birthdate held in the same month as their name? There is a guy at bowling gives a female bowler a hard time about her name.  For most weeks of each season, at time of departure he will say hi to July for me as her name is June. I wouldn't be surprise if he says it this weekend as it is the beginning of a new month already. There is a neighbour who lives in my street name April.  I have spoken to her afew times for the past ten years.

No hoiiday trips happened for me so far but my kids have spend time at their Grandma's in Hervey Bay over the summer holidays and the current school holidays.  The kids are due back home this weekend. Believe me I have been enjoying my peace and stressfree time from parenting.  Reality will set back in fast on Sunday night!

Better go as I only have another hour at home before I meet up with a friend to see a movie at the cinema this afternoon.  Have a great semester!

PS GO THE MIGHTY MAROONS!  I hope you will win State of Origin for 2012!