Three Words to Describe my 2013

Pick three words to describe 2013.

I saw this question on someone’s blog and though I could use that as a blog post.

So what three words would you use to describe 2013?

Here are mine

Family:  Yeah I know that doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who knows me, family is everything to me and a bit more, this year saw my family increase by one with the birth of my granddaughter Summer in February.  Today the last day of the year sees me watching children again, right now I have Leo and Daemon but I did have Summer here as well while Sydney-May went to her swimming lesson.  How household increased with the arrival of Kelli & Daemon and it is nice having a little one around the house again and it is nice when they spend a night or two at Jessica’s place as well. That said when they went to Queensland for 3 weeks we missed them heaps. They are family and Kelli is like a daughter and that makes Daemon like another grandchild, sorry Sue……………

Holidays: Yep took a few holidays during the year, which was good since for many years we didn't go anywhere or did anything but the last couple of years that has been different this year we went back to New Zealand and also went to Dubbo with Jessica & Leo and Tim and I took a trip to Queensland just the two of us. So a few holidays this year and I loved each one of them and had the best time.

Happiness: Yes I have been happy a lot this year, and yes there are times when I am not happy but I try not to focus on those times. Being surrounded by my family makes me happy and being home alone makes me happy mostly being home alone after a day surrounded by the family makes me happy.  Happiness is something we have to choose to be yes it can come naturally but we have to choose to focus on the things that make us happy and not on the things that don't make us happy. 

Nothing Much but Naps

Good morning all, Tim will be home tonight around 9pm I will have to go and pick him up at Toronto. I am sitting here trying to think of something to write about and nothing is coming to mind and I mean nothing, now that sucks.

Ok I could tell you that this afternoon I will be watching Daemon & Blain while Kelli & Jono go out for a while on a date.

I could also tell you my sister Sue finally got her own place; she is now renting a small one bedroom flat at Charlestown it is nice and close to everything she can walk to the Square to do her shopping and she can walk to her Joblink appointments and Centrelink appointments. I hope she will be happy there, I think she will be happy in her own flat.

I could also tell you that I have been having a nap each afternoon for the last few days and I think I will try to make time for an afternoon nap, that way I get to stay up later it does get to be a pain in the bum when I get so tired that I have to go to bed early every night.

My nanna use to have a nap each afternoon around 3pm, so I am going to try and do the same thing now and that way I can stay up till a reasonable time.

What do you think about afternoon naps do you have them?

You know my mum doesn't have a nap she doesn't feel the need and she is nearly 74 and up around 6am pretty much every day and she watches young children pretty much every day as well and she doesn't go to bed so early either.

Well I have rambled on about nothing for long enough, tomorrow will be a proper post, I think, I hope, fingers crossed.

What is it with the saying fingers crossed?

More than one "soulmate" not for me I reckon

Ok this post may make some people annoyed or think that I have no idea what I am talking about but I am going to write it anyway.

I do not get how a person can be married to their “soulmate” the love of their lives for many years and when they lose that person to death, they find a new “soulmate” only months after losing the love of their life.

Now I do believe that a person can find love again after losing the love of their life but really do you find another love of your life only a few months later.

It seems to me that we hear about celebrities finding love again only months after their soulmate has passed away and remarrying within the first year. I wonder if they have really found another soulmate so soon or if what they have found is a companion, someone to be with so they don't feel so lonely.

A person needs to grieve and that grieving usually takes time not a few weeks, I know if I was to ever lose Tim there is no way I would find love again I really just can't see it happening but celebrities seem to be forever falling in love.

Also it seems to me that a lot of celebrities don't do a lot of dating before finding their new soulmate they just do and I would think a person would date a lot of losers before finding their new soulmate but I may be wrong.  What do I know I have only ever been in love once and I am still in love with him yes Tim is my soulmate.

So do you think a person can find another soulmate only a few short months after losing their soulmate? 

The Weekend is here and this post is not about the weekend

Good morning all in blogland hope everyone is fairing nicely after Christmas Day, yesterday I was bloody busy again and just didn't feel like doing much of anything. I however, go out shopping in the morning and before I could settle down for the rest of the day I had to take Leo’s DS charger down to him.

On Boxing Day afternoon Kelli and Daemon came back here, and she spent some time putting his first bike/trike together. He loves it she takes him out the front on it for a little bit each day and of course he doesn't want to come back inside after she gets tired from pushing him around.

Do you have Boxing Day sales where you are?

We don't have them here in Newie but some areas do and of course they have them in Sydney, even if we did I wouldn't bother to go to them. As far as I am concerned most of the discounted items will be around for a few days or even a week or so. Yes there are some that are “until sold out” but really I just can't be bothered with such crowds. I don’t do crowds well, yes I manage them better than many of my family members but to be honest I would rather go to the shops when they are less crowded.

I do buy a lot of my Christmas decorations and Christmas cards after Christmas when they are half priced and picked up some yesterday when I went out to the shops. Although it was bloody crowded yesterday I can tell you. I wasn't at the square that long, just had brekkie  with the family and then ventured down to the shops to get a few things and then home again. I did my food shopping at Warners Bay as usual and it was nowhere near as crowded.

Christmas Day was hot, Boxing Day was muggy, yesterday was hot again, this morning is ok here got the front door open and it doesn't feel that hot but it is only 7.30am so it may still heat up although it is only supposed to be around 26°C. 

It's Now Boxing Day, Christmas Day Was Awesome

Well today it’s Boxing Day here in Australia and you know what I was up and driving Tim to Morisset train station, not so he could catch a train but so he could meet up with another driver to go to Sydney where he is working for the next 5 days.  So I am home alone here today and it is nice to be here on my own for a change.

Yesterday was spent with my family at my parents place it was a great day, I got some great presents here are some photos of my presents.

The only daughter I didn't see was Kathy-Lee as she was having Christmas lunch at her place for Michael’s family.   Natasha came over here in the morning to see her dad and me, she gave me a couple of photo frames and they are pretty frames indeed. However she didn't bother to wrap them for me and she didn't give her dad anything at all.

Jessica gave me a typewriter and I love it, I was so excited to get it and when I came home yesterday afternoon I wrote a letter to an overseas penpal.  All in all I did pretty well for Christmas I know I am lucky to have so many people who love me around me.

Tim however said a number of times that we have to have a talk about how much I spend on presents each year, I thought about it a lot last night and you know what I thought to myself what the hell, I don’t complain about how much Tim spends on alcohol and tobacco each year so why does he have to complain about how much I spend on presents.

Everyone seemed to have a good day and liked their presents, well I hope they did.  

Tis the night before Christmas.............well for me it is.............maybe not for you............

Tis the night before Christmas, well it’s still daylight out so does that still count as night, anyway the house is pretty quiet since I am home alone for a little while anyway. Tim is still at work and Kelli and Daemon have gone to Jessica’s for the night along with Blain and Jono.

The floor is vacuumed and for the first time or maybe the second time in my life we don't have to leave a beer and biscuits out for Santa, as we will have no little children here tonight.

I managed to have an afternoon nap so will not need to go to bed early tonight thanks to Kelli telling me to go and have a sleep.

This morning after I took Little Leo home and dropped off Jessica’s treadmill which she bought for herself I came home and picked up Kelli and Daemon and we ventured out to the shops for last minute food supplies.

We went over to Lake Fair so I could pick up something for mum and Jessica and while we were there we went into Woolworths Supermarket but they didn't have the first 3 items I needed and the store was so bloody crowded that I got fed up and we left.  Instead we went to Coles at Warners Bay not as crowded and they had what we wanted.

By the time we got home we were exhausted it didn't help that both of us are coughing so much still. Tim came home for an hour then went back to work this time taking the car.

So as the day draws to a close for me I have to say I am so looking forward to tomorrow, I can barely wait to see the faces of my family as I give them gifts. 

It is Christmas not Xmas for me at least how about you

“Xmas” is not a secular plan to “take the Christ out of Christmas”. X stands for the Greek letter Chi, the starting letter of Χριστός, or “Christ” in Greek. The use of the word “Xmas” can be traced to the year 1021 when “monks in Great Britain…used the X while transcribing classical manuscripts into Old English” in place of “Christ”. The Oxford English Dictionary’s “first recorded use of ‘Xmas’ for ‘Christmas’ date back to 1551.”

The above was taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas but have to say even though I understand this I still feel Christmas should be spelt Christmas not Xmas, maybe I am just a bit old fashion.

I would not like it if the spelling of Christmas was to change to Xmas and be the accepted spelling. How hard is it to spell the word right, in fact I could go on about spelling here but will not, I will save that for another post.

So how do you spell Christmas? Do you think it is ok to use the word Xmas instead of Christmas?

Maybe you think people like me are just fuddy duddy’s, old stick in the muds and should get with the times. You tell me. 

If you could here me coughing you would think I was trying to cough up a lung

Good morning everyone, how is everyone today? Me, I am stilling coughing but other than that I feel fine today.  Friday was one of those days when I was up early and on the go all day and when I got home I was really worn out, I was so tired that after mum rang me at 6.10pm I went to bed. Yeah I was in bed by 6.30pm and I slept solid till 8am Saturday morning. Yesterday I went out to finish my shopping and ended up being out till around 1pm again. We didn't have Leo last night Tim didn't want any kids here but we will have him Monday night now.

Yesterday Tim and I were supposed to pick up a treadmill for Jessica from a place near us, but with one thing and another I forgot till last night around 6pm when I got a text from the woman asking if I was still getting it. So now I will have to go and get it today by myself so I hope it is not too heavy at least Tim took the motorbike to work or I wouldn't have been able to get it at all.

I now only have 2 presents to buy and then I will be done, last night while I was watching TV, Tim came out with his phone and took a photo of the dining table. He said he was sending it to his cousin Christine. He says she was saying she was sorry she didn't send us a Christmas card and he told her that was fine as we don't expect one back we are just givers. He then told her that our dining table was full of presents and he wanted to show her what he meant. He said this with a lot of pride in his voice.

I said to him that I have always been a giver, and after 30 years he shouldn't be expecting me to change. He replied I know and I love you.

Friday was one of the hottest day we have had in the last few months it was 44°C and I felt like I was going to melt at times, I think that is part of the reason I was so tired by the end of the day, that and the fact that I was coughing so bloody much.

Yesterday I was also coughing a bloody lot and in fact once during the day I coughed that much I tasted a little bit of bloody in what I coughed up. It was only a little bit and only happened once but still I was coughing all day and all night. This morning the cough seems to have eased off and since getting up I have only coughed a couple of times.

Another thing yesterday when I get home the first thing I do when I walk into the house is check the phone for messages and yes there was messages which  is ok but Tim was  here, there was no reason for him to not answer the phone except that he is lazy and can't be bothered to do so.  He will say, it won't be for me so why should I bother to answer it, in fact that is what my dad will say “it’s not for me why should I answer it”. 

Wednesday's questions on Thursday unless you are a day behind me then it is still Wednesday.

Good morning all, hope your day will be a great one, or is it is afternoon or night then I hope your day was a great one and not good morning but good afternoon or good evening. I hope that covers everyone. 

Guess what I smell like vicks chest rub, why well I am coughing so much my chest hurts so I put on chest rub to see if that would help. 

Now l had planned to do this yesterday but again I just ran out of time it was one thing after another busy, busy, busy that's me. 

1. What is your favorite warm beverage?
Hot Chocolate
2. What is your favorite color? 
Pink or Purple
3. What is your favorite quality about yourself? 
That I don't judge people
4. What is your favorite thing about the holidays? 
I don't have a favourite thing I love everything and everything stress me out...................lol
5. What is the best book you've ever read? 
Trixie Beldon books I read as  child had all of them loved all of them 

This morning I am up before anyone else and have time to do this before Kathy-Lee and the girls arrive. My Thursday plans got changed because mum can't make it she has to do stuff for Dave and by the time she would get to the shops she wouldn't have long before she would have to leave to be home to make Dave's lunch and it would just be one big rush. So we are going to do it on Friday morning instead. Yeah like we don't already have enough to do Friday.

Dept of Housing

Well another afternoon has rolled around, this morning I took Kelli to the Dept of Housing so she could get an application form to go onto the waiting list for public & social housing, after getting the form we went to Centrelink to get an income statement then to her building society to get an account statement then we went somewhere to sit and fill in the forms after all that was done we took the forms back and handed them in. How long she will have to wait no one knows but at least she is now on the waiting list.

When Tim and I went on the waiting list way back when we had to wait 4 years to get a place, this place we are in, my daughters all had to wait only a year or two after they went on the list, except Kathy she was on the list for a while but once she had Sydney-May she was offered a place pretty quick.

We can only hope that because Kelli is homeless with a 2yr old son she may get offered a place pretty quick, I guess it is one of those things only time will tell.

Speaking of Dept of Housing homes, my parents have been told that a woman from the Dept of Housing will go and visit them on the 10^th January and discuss mum and dad downsizing to a smaller house, they are in a 4 bedroom house and there is only mum and dad and Dawson there now. There really don’t want to more they have been in the house since 1980 and are settled there but as yet I have no idea what is going to happen, if they don't move they will be charged and extra $30 a week in rent so I don't know what they are going to do.

Yes I understand that they want to free up the 4 bedroom houses like my parents place and not always so a family can move into the 4 bedroom house but so they can knock it down and build townhouses on the block.

Oh yeah we got our rent statement today and guess what our rent has gone up again to $310 per week now that is another $10 increase, seem like that is all that happens lately the rent keeps going up and up.

Best Christmas Present

Good morning I am in a better mood this morning although it is after 11am as I write this and I have been up since 6.30am with Leo and have been out to the shops and now I am home again, hopefully I will not have to go out again and will in fact get things done this afternoon. I did manage to tidy up and vacuum out this morning I can tell you that a tidy house makes me feel better.

I will try and sort out more Christmas presents this afternoon, and of course I will have to sort out the weekly medications and I have some letters to write and some blogs to read and at some point I want to sit and just watch some telly.

Yesterday I was just feeling overwhelmed there seemed so much to do and I was in a mood where I wanted it all done instantly which of course is not the way things happen, everything takes time.

I was reading somewhere about  how Christmas and bikes go together and yeah there was Christmas when I got a bike and there was also Christmas’s when my girls got bikes as well. However as much as I liked my bike it wasn't my favourite Christmas present that was the little blue typewriter I got one year.

I remember my grandfather “poppy Jenkins” saying that it was a stupid gift to give a girl and I would never use it, just goes to show how little he knew me. I loved that typewriter and had it for years it in fact got a lot of use. It was the best present I ever got.

How about you, what was the best Christmas present you can remember getting?

Yes it did look like the one in the picture.

I am so tired and worn out

Good afternoon all, well it is now Saturday afternoon and I can tell you the last couple of days have been bloody busy here. Yesterday when I got home I was so tired that I didn’didn't feel up to doing anything and told Tim that I would like to order pizza for tea and have it delivered of course he had to complain about the cost of getting it delivered instead of picking it up.

Today has been another bloody busy day and when I got home I was in a mood, and I am not allowed to be in a mood according to my daughters.  

I am feeling run down and just worn out, it feels like there is often so much to do and so little time do stuff in, I know that it isn’t really like that but I can't help how I feel.

Also because I am not one to cancel at the last minute (yes I know I have done) but I try not to we have Leo here for the night well we have had him here since sometime this morning I don't know what time Jessica got here but she was here when I got home.  Part of me would like to have a nap and part of me can't be bothered because well I feel like I have things to do, such as writing this post.

I have done most of the Christmas presents and they are now on the table although I do have a few more to do, ok let’s be honest here I will be getting presents right up till Christmas Eve……………lol 

Speaking of presents every time Tim looks at the table he says “there is a lot of money on that table” much to my annoyance.

Ok I would write more but I think my brain has gone to sleep 

Forgotten Victims

What a day it is another bloody hot day, at the moment I am watching Daemon while Jessica and Kelli have gone to do some Christmas shopping. I have all 3 air con’s going to keep the house cool, had them all going yesterday as well.

Today I want to write a little about the forgotten victims by that I mean people who witness terrible accidents or the drivers who are not at fault but who still end up killing someone.  Think about the poor train driver who hits someone on the train line because the person either chose to stand or lay on train tracks in order to die, or because they were so drunk they didn't know where they were and wonder onto train tracks and get hit by a train. The train driver has to live with the knowledge they killed someone, or even worse is the poor train guard who has to wonder back down the line to see what the train hit.

Yes it may be an occupational hazard for many like train guards, rescue people, police officers but they are still victims they have done no wrong and are exposed to horror.

For far too many years these people were overlooked, even though we all know about post traumatic syndrome now days it doesn't make things any better, just because something now has a name it doesn't stop it happening.

We all know that these people have done no wrong and in fact may be trying to do good, but still they have to experience such terrible things and witness such horrible events and often they will not talk about what they have witness.  Many men feel that it makes them weak to say they are having nightmares because of the horror they have witness, so they suck it up and push on saying nothing and suffering in silence.

Many people turn to alcohol to try and made the memories go away, and then they are ridiculed because they have a drinking problem.  Their loved ones try to help but because they don't really understand the horror they have going through their head they are unable to help.

Sometimes I think those who have died and their families are given far more support than the forgotten victims. We all need to remember when we see a horror crash on the road that there are more victims than just those who are hurt or killed. 

Sunday Morning, and a bit about boredom

Good morning blogland, how is everyone this lovely Sunday morning, I have been up  since 6.30am with Little Leo and I have told Jessica to pick him up around 10am, I want to get the Christmas presents wrapped and placed on the table today, also want to do a load of washing and get it pegged out.  Of course I have a house that looks a right mess at the moment but it will not take long to get it looking better. 

I also have a small pile of letters to answer and I want to finish my Christmas cards and get them into the mail tomorrow.

What does everyone else have planned for the rest of the weekend?

I was thinking yesterday afternoon as I waited for Tim and Leo to finish looking at the bus Tim drives for work, I had to drive Tim into work to pick up his charter sheet so he had the right time to be there. 

Anyway I was thinking while I was waiting about how it is rare for me to feel bored, yeah I generally don't get bored but sitting in a car waiting for someone without a book to read or something else to do then I can get bored.  

Boredom is something the youth of today seem to suffer from a lot, I have heard my daughters say often that they are bored and when I hear them say it I think how can you be bored you are not just sitting around waiting for someone you are at home, how can a person be bored when they are home, for me there are many things to do when I am home, like blogging or writing letters, or doing housework. 

I feel that many young people expect others to entertain them and also feel they must always be doing something exciting when in fact life is often run of the mill and we have to be able to think of things to do that will keep us amused or at least busy. 

Which would you rather do, a little Q & A

1. Would you rather eat at a fancy restaurant or eat a good home-cooked meal? 
Good home cooked meal, I am not one for fancy restaurants, I think they charge to much and give you too little.
2. Would you rather go on a road trip to a big city or go to the country? 
Country I think love the scenery of the country but also love the city but I will stick with country. 
3. Would you rather receive $100 a day or $100,000 right now?
Although $100,000 would be great to have I think I would prefer $100 a day that way I always have money to spend and can't waste it on something I really don't need. 
4. Would you rather it be summer all year round or winter?
Neither I prefer spring when it is neither too hot or to cold, but if I could only chose between summer and winter than I will pick summer I think.
5. Would you rather watch tv or listen to music?
When I was younger the answer would had been music now as a middle aged woman I will go with watch tv, funny how we change as we age. 

The Future

The future the big unknown, do you worry about it?

I don't, I live in the here and now and honestly don’t give the future much thought at all, for a number of reasons but mostly because what happens, happens and I have little to no control over it so what is the point in worrying about it.

So if you had a crystal ball and could look into the future would you?

I kind of would like to look into the crystal ball but at the same time I don't know if I would want to know what the future holds.

Life is adventure and the thrill of an adventure is not knowing what is around the bend, well that is what I am told since I am not one for adventures for many reasons but the big one is that I am a chicken………………lol

However, it would be kind of cool to look at what my life would be like in say 5 or 10 years’ time, although I think if I could see what my life would be like then I would also like to be able to decide if I could retain or delete the memory.

Happiness

Happiness is not determined by what’s happening around you, but rather what’s happening inside you.  Most people depend on others to gain happiness, but the truth is, it always comes from within.

Are you happy?

How do you know you're happy?

I am happy, I am happy with my life and I feel not only happy but loved and content.

However there is these adds on telly that has people asking each other “happy” and when he sees it Tim has said how do they know they are happy, so I asked him if he was happy with his life and his reply was I don't know, I guess I am more or less. He then went on to complain about a heap of things he is not happy with, like not getting a permanent position at work or Leo getting into his stuff.

So I said yeah there are things that we are unhappy with but for myself I am happy with my life, I am happy being married to him and having a loving family around me.

I think at times people like Tim focus on the little things that make them unhappy instead of the big picture overall is your life good, do you have people around you who love and care for you, do you have a content feeling.

Happiness for me is an overall feeling, it is not centered on one thing and as such it takes more than one thing to make me feel unhappy with my life. Like my weight it isn’isn't what I want it to be but I don’t let it upset me, it is what it is and I am the only one who can change it.

Little Ones do they stress you out or are you laid back

Good morning all, well it is a lovely day here in Newie the sun is shining and so far it’s not too hot, I hope it stays that way.

Well the weekend is over and what a weekend it was, I was pretty busy this weekend. On Saturday morning Tim and I took the dogs into the RSPCA and surrender them although I have to go back with Kathy-Lee today because DC was in her name and she had to sign the paperwork to surrender him.

Then yesterday I was babysitting, I had Leo and Daemon from the time we all woke up and Sydney-May and Summer from around 11.30am to 3.30pm while Kathy and Michael went Christmas shopping. So for a couple of hours I had a house of little ones, Sydney was so excited when she say Leo here and all the kids had fun running around and playing together. Leo even told Summer to follow them outside and I had to explain she is too little to go outside to play.

So that brings me to today’s question when you are watching a few little ones do you stress about what they are doing or what they are getting into and over what they will or won't eat.

Me I am pretty laid back I don’t care if they go out the back to play or if they are running up and down the hallway. I put the tv onto a kids channel and if they drag out a heap of toys that is ok too, I even don’t care if they jump on my bed, in fact yesterday Tim took Syd into the bedroom so she could have some fun jumping on our bed.

For lunch I made some chicken nuggets and chips and just sat it on the little table in the lounge room and told them to eat and they did most of what I made was eaten.

Now as much as I love having the little ones here, it did feel good when they all left, Jessica took Leo and Daemon back to her house and after Michael picked up the girls the house was quiet and I was about to sort out our weekly medications.

Kelli and Daemon arrived back here around 7.30pm a bit earlier than planned, she and Jono went to a concert in Sydney and she got hurt so they were home earlier than expected, they are also sleeping in since it is now 8.33am and they are still not up.

Yesterday I managed to do all the laundry and the ironing and vacuum out 3 times and put the Christmas tree up so I have very little to do today.

 I do have to drive my sister Sue to Jessica’s place around 9ish as she is going to clean Jessica’s house for her. Jessica is one of those people who hate housework, there is nothing wrong with that many women hate it, me included and I don't mind paying Sue to give it a good clean and Sue could do with the money.