A Final Post Before Christmas (maybe !?!?!)

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick post (or so I say now !) to say Hello to everyone, and to let you know what I have been up to, and where I am at !!

It has been a busy few weeks, what with work and Christmas preparations, but I think I am under control now. I worked my last shift on Monday, and am now on holidays until my next shift on the 9th January. Aaaaah, how nice, knowing there is no work (although in this case, no work means no pay, also !!). I have been busy, in my spare moments, doing Christmas shopping, and am totally done (all except one small item, which I will get in the next day or two). My Christmas cards have been sent (excepting those overseas ones, which I was too late to send). My tree is up, and the house is decorated. Chicky and I will be doing some Christmas baking tomorrow (Friday), after I come back from food shopping. A bit of housework is waiting, but otherwise ... I AM DONE !!!

We will be spending Christmas Eve with my parents ... being from German parentage, it is the way we have always done things ... it's nice doing Christmas in the evening. Christmas morning is for Chicky, who usually has a few things waiting from Santa (although she no longer believes, it is fun to continue what we have always done.

After breakfast on Christmas Day, we sort out our bits and pieces, pack the car, and head off to our caravan at Bonnie Doon for around 2 weeks. Aaaahhhh, I cannot wait. I am looking forward to a change of scenery, and a lot of serenity. Just sitting and reading, scrapbooking, swimming, sunning ... what a life !!

Sooooo, what are your plans ??

I have spent the past few days visiting all your blogs (well, hopefully, all of them). Huge apologies if I happen to have missed yours ... let me know if I have, won't you.

I just want to take this opportunity, once more, to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year. If you don't celebrate Christmas, for whatever reason, I hope you enjoy the holiday season anyway.

I doubt very much that I will be posting again for a couple of weeks ... so, take care everyone, look after yourselves and your families ... and, most of all ... have fun !!

Till next year ....

Take care, hugs to you all,


PS. I forgot to mention ... I had lunch today with two blog buddies ... Gina and Miss Eagle ... at Miss Eagle's place. It was a lovely few hours, and we seemed to all talk non-stop. Miss Eagle has a lovely house, with all sorts of beautiful goodies ... she also has another little house in the backyard, fondly called the Dolls House, with lots and lots of pretty things inside. Drop by her blog, and I am sure you will see many of the things I saw today. A big thank you to Miss Eagle for hosting us today ... it was wonderful, and it was a pleasure to finally meet you.

Take care,

Hugs & Best Wishes To All ....

Wishing You All A Merry Christmas

Hi Everyone,

As has become the norm for me this year, I have continued to be a neglectful blogger. Not that I don't want to blog, I just cannot sit down here long enough to get around to visiting everyone.

Once again, I send out huge apologies to each and every one of you, and hope to get by and visit you all before Christmas.

Well, what have I been up to ....

• Work ... generally 3 days a week.
• Chicky's dance concert a couple of weeks ago ... it went wonderfully, and we pick up the photos next week. Prior to the concert, there were various rehearsals, which I needed to take her to.
• Scrapbooking ... I went to a full day workshop last weekend ... it was great fun, and I am really hooked ... oh, to have the time to actually spend on it would be nice !!
• Christmas shopping ... need I say more !!
• Preparing for Christmas ... the tree is up (finally ... did it just this Thursday), and the house is decorated ... just need to do some final cleaning.
• Christmas cards ... hmmm, they are printed (I always do my own), but I still need to prepare the envelopes and send them out. Seems I am probably too late for the Overseas ones ... looks like I have some emailing to do instead !!
• Ferrying Chicky around to various things ... sports, dancing, parties, school ... yep, I've become a taxi driver !!
• And generally just doing the normal stuff ... housework, washing, shopping, being a good wife (!?!?!), catching up with people (although that hasn't happened much, either!).

So, that's my life ... no time for the important stuff, like blogging. I do so miss you all, and I do, actually, peek into some of your blogs regularly via Google Reader, although, as I've said before, I don't often get a chance to comment.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to say hi ... sooo, HI !! ... and to extend my best wishes to each and everyone of you in the hope that you have a ...

and a safe, happy and healthy New Year.

We are off on Christmas Day to our caravan at Bonnie Doon, for a two week break. Perhaps this will be our last holiday there, as the van is on the market to sell, and it may just sell over the Christmas break. Then ..... we will be purchasing our longed-for TVan ... can't wait. Then we will be off as often as we can, to various places in this wonderful country of Australia ... but, that's another story !!

So, as I mentioned, I will try to visit you all before Christmas, but I very much doubt that I will post again until the new year (hopefully more regularly than I have been this year).

Huge hugs to you all, and thank you for being my blog buddies throughout the past 2 years (oh yeah, I missed out completely my 2nd blogaversay in late November ... I'll have to wait till next November to celebrate again ... darn it !!)

May your Christmas be wonderful and warm, and spent with loving friends and family.

Take care & catch you in 2008,

Hello ...

Hi Everyone,

I just want to say a big THANK YOU to all you wonderful people who left me Happy Birthday wishes for the 17th, and to those of you who mentioned my birthday on your own blogs. What a bunch of fantastic people you all are. I feel priviledged to have gotten to "know" you all through the blog world. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Ok, so what have I been up to, since I last posted .... hmmm, that would be about 10 days ago now ... OMG, how slack am I !?!?

Well, as you know, it was my birthday on Saturday ... that was a lovely day, with family coming over to help celebrate Saturday night. A quiet evening, but great fun none-the-less.

I have been busy working Monday / Wednesday / Friday these past few weeks. The remaining weekdays have been busy with houswork, shopping, catching up with friends (and, unfortunately, no blogging ... waaaahhhhh!!). Weekends have been busy with being Chicky's taxi driver, ferrying her to parties, dance rehearsals, netball, and whatever else. OMG, that child has a busier social life than I have !!

I am quickly posting this, before heading off to work, this Monday morning. We are starting later, as the company I work for has moved to a new building, and the computer system is not up and running yet, so we cannot begin work. They originally promised it would be working by Sunday ... and we were meant to start at 8am this morning ... ummmm, nope, that ain't happened !!! Apparently, all will be ready, and we start at 11am. Hmmm, I guess we just have to wait and see !!

As I say everytime I post lately, I hope to drop by all your blogs during the course of this week. Please don't hold me to it, but I will try. Believe it or not, I actually do visit your blogs, via my Google Reader, quite regularly, although usually don't have time to comment. I apologise for this, but that's the way my life is at the moment. I miss you all tremendously, and wish I had the time to visit properly. Thank you, once again, for continuing to perservere with me, and dropping by to see if I am still alive !!

Anyway, I had better make tracks. Hope you all have a fantastic week. We have a forecast of 37C (98.6F) ... that's pretty warm. The past few days have been in the 30s, and there is more of that to come ... and it's not even Summer yet ... darn it !! Hope the temperature isn't too extreme where you live, whether it be cold or hot.

Take care,

I'm Still Here ...

Hi Everyone,

It has been another busy few weeks, which has left me little time to blog, again !!

We went away last weekend ... Friday afternoon until Tuesday evening. It was lovely ... we just went to our caravan at Bonnie Doon ... plenty of people to catch up with, and things to do. It is always nice, just to get away ... no matter where !!

It actually rained alot over the weekend ... Saturday afternoon, through to Sunday late. It was great, and very much needed.

We had friends come by for a visit on Sunday, they travelled from Kyabram, over near Shepparton, to Bonnie Doon (where we were). Didn't think they would end up coming after all, due to the torrential rain. They have just returned from 7 months travelling around this beautiful country of Australia ... lucky ducks ... that's something we hope to do sometime. It was rather cold, with the wind and rain, so we spent the day inside, looking through their photos, watching some photo dvd's of ours, and talking and eating. A perfectly wonderful day.

We went to the Mansfield Races on Tuesday afternoon, for a few hours. It was my cousins silver wedding anniversary, and they had hired a private marquee for the day. It was great fun, and we caught up with some friends there. Didn't win on the horses, though ... unfortunately ... although we only managed to spend $20 ... big spenders, that we are LOL.

I've been working Monday, Wednesday and often Fridays as well. The remainder of the week is full of chores and catching up with people. You know, there are still things on this wonderful new computer I haven't had time to explore ... can you believe that !?!?!

The upcoming weekend is fairly busy again ... I think the "silly season" has come early here !! I hope to have time to blog sometime this century LOL.

I just want to wish everyone a great weekend ... hope you get to spend lots of time with loved ones ... there is nothing nicer.

Catch up again as soon as I am able.

Take care, and big hugs to you all,

Hello ...

Hi There ..... I've been a tad busy again this week, haven't had time to scratch, let alone blog !! Hope you have all had a great week, and that you had lots of fun yesterday for Halloween. Chicky went Trick Or Treating last night with a bunch of kids, roaming the neighbourhood, scoring heaps of lollies and chocolates. They dressed up, and had heaps of fun. We are off tomorrow (Friday) for 4 days at Bonnie Doon ... ahhhh, the serenity. Work will be flat out next week, due to Tuesday being a public holiday (and many others ... us included ... taking the Monday off as well). Hopefully I'll get a chance to play on the computer, and come and visit you all at some stage. So, I just want to wish you all a great weekend ... stay safe, and have fun. And for you fellow Melbournians, hope you win big on the Melbourne Cup !!

Take care,

Sunday, Windy Sundy !!

Hello Everyone,

It's been a week again, since I last blogged. Time flies, doesn't it. I have been pretty busy, as usual, and won't go into what I have been up to. Suffice to say, I haven't had a lot of time to blog ... darn it !!

It is a very windy Sunday here where I live. The sun is out, but I have had to put the outside awnings up, as the wind was buffetting them around, and I was fearful that they might be damaged.

It was a glorious, rather warm day yesterday. We had a 40th birthday party to go to during the day, which was outside, so it was lovely. Then in the evening, Chicky had a 13th birthday party to go to, which was at a roller-skating rink. She had heaps of fun, and came home exhausted. It is just after 10.30am, Sunday morning, as I write ... and she is still asleep !!

Daylight Savings time started at 2am this morning. I love Daylight Savings. I love that it is light for longer in the evenings ... it almost makes it feel like we have a longer day (although I know this isn't true). It allows for more time after school and work to do things outside. Lovely.

I have been busy scanning in all my wedding photos (we have been married almost 19 years). I thought it was time to put them on the computer, as I want to turn them into a Photostory DVD, like I did with our Cape York trip photos, and our Broken Hill trip photos, and also our recent trip to the Shepparton area. It makes looking at the photos more enjoyable, when you can watch them on the TV, and there are lovely transitions, zooms and music added to them ... it almost looks like you are watching a movie, rather than a bunch of still photos. It's been rather nostalgic, looking at all these photos ... 19 years is a very long time, and boy, have fashions changed !! And how we have all aged !!! It is also kind of sad, as quite a few of the older people who attended our wedding are no longer with us. The memories of it all are wonderful, though.

Ooooh, I got an award, check it out ....

Angela at The Life And Times of Gran awarded me with the Sweet Treat award. I am truly honoured to receive this award, and it is such a cute award, too. Thanks, Angela ... you are sweet !

Here's how it works:

1. Once you've been awarded the Sweet Treat Award, make a post and award it to bloggers who you deem "One Sweet Treat to Read" everyday.

2. Make sure you inform those who you awarded that they have won!

3. Grab the button and proudly display it in your sidebar for all your old/new readers to see!

You can read the history of this award at Trista's blog, The Pumkin Patch. I'm going to give this award to those that I feel it is a treat to go and visit, and read as often as I can. If you would like to pass this award on to those that you feel are also deserving, then please do!!

So, who to give the award to ....

Greeneyes

Connie

DayByDay

Clare

Raggedy

Pea

Gina

Kali

Melinda

Merle

Wow, I could go on ... I think 10 is enough ... there are so many of you out there who are worthy of this award ... gosh !!

Anyway, I had better get moving. I need to wake up Chicky, have some breakfast, and get her to a special dance rehearsal at 1pm this afternoon. I also need to do some washing, and some housework ... yuck !!

So, to all of you, enjoy the remainder of your weekend, and have a wonderful week.

( Oh yeah, we have a (sort of) long weekend next weekend (for the Melbourne Cup), and we are going away for a few days ... Friday afternoon until Tuesday evening. Can't wait !! )

Take care,

What Flower Are You ?

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

Take the Test and Find Out

The Week That Was

Hello Everyone,

I hope you have all had a great week. Mine has been busy, hectic, weird ... as per usual !!

I worked Monday and Wednesday (which seems to have become my regular days). Tuesday I was meant to go on a picnic with some fellow bloggers (Val, Gina & Miss Eagle, and others), but some family stuff prevented me from going ... judging by their photos and blog commentary, it was great fun ... wish I could've been there.

Thursday was a day of shopping, housework and cooking ... I had my parents over for dinner, and we had a lovely dinner, and a lovely evening.

Friday was off to the vet with Bambi. Basically for her yearly vaccination, but also for a check-up, as she had been off colour since Monday night. She didn't eat all day Tuesday and Wednesday, and just slept all day, not even going outside, barely moving. I was horrified that something terrible was wrong, and I basically had her dead and buried (in my head) ... that's how freaked out I had become by Thursday. Anyway, turns out she had hurt herself, somewhere in the joint of one of her back legs, and, as cats are prone to do, she decided to sleep herself better. By Thursday morning, she had had a little to eat (some sliced turkey meat, which I hand fed her !!), and some water, and went outside briefly. Friday morning she was almost back to her usual cheeky self. The vet, on Friday, gave her a pain killer needle (as well as her vaccination), and said otherwise she seemed in excellent health. So, we came home, and the silly kitty felt sorry for herself, and slept some more (I think the vet may have hurt her sore leg, during the poking, pulling, and prodding, trying to find out where it hurt !!). Then later Friday evening, she was outside, being her normal curious self, and the little sh*t got herself into a cat fight !!! What's with that ?? Of course, then she came inside, felt sorry for herself, didn't want to eat again, and went to sleep. This morning (Saturday) she woke up sore again ... stupid animal !! Self inflicted this time. She seems ok this afternoon, off and running around outside. Still not hugely interested in food ... I guess that will come back soon !! Cats !!!

As you may (or may not !) know, I got a new computer, running Windows Vista, last week. I love it, and I think I have everything set up on it that I want. It is running beautifully, and so much quicker than the other one. I set up a wireless router, so Chicky and I can now be on the internet at the same time (she on my old computer), and she doesn't have to beg me for the computer, so she can do homework (or chat on MSN, or MySpace, or whatever !!). Anyway, I thought I'd show you what the new machine looks like ...

Ain't it purrty !!!

Anyway, that's enough for me for now ... I plan to spend the next few hours visiting some (if not all) of your blogs, checking up on what you have been up to all week.

In closing, I would like to leave you with the following little pic ...

Take care,

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick update ...

I am very happy, as I have pretty much sorted out my new computer, and installed most of the programs I want.

I had a few glitches, with not being able to install Itunes, or upload photos to Ebay, or even not being able to open many comment boxes on blogs ... now that is tragic !! Anyway, turns out it was to do with an AdWatch program I had running, part of my Norman Anti Virus Software Suite. So, I sorted it out, and all is working as it should.

I went out and bought a wireless router, so that I can run both laptops, wirelessly, off the same broadband connection. Simple process, and we were up and running in no time. It is such a liberating feeling, knowing I am no longer stuck at the desk when I want to be on the 'net !! And Chicky is pretty happy, too, as she doesn't have to compete with me for computer time !!

I was supposed to be attending a picnic lunch yesterday with some fellow bloggers, Val, Gina & Brigid, and a couple others, but some family things came up that I had to attend to. Shame, as I was really looking forward to going. The weather wasn't really brilliant, though, so I wonder how it all went ... must go and check out their blogs !!

Anyway, enough for me ... I need to take Chicky to school, then get myself sorted for work (I am starting at 10 this morning).

So, have a happy Wednesday, everyone, and a great remainder of the week.

Take care,

A New Computer

Hi There Everyone,

Hope you are all well, and enjoying the weekend.

I have been a bit distracted from almost everything these past few days ... I got a new computer !!

Yep, a beautiful new toy.

It is a Toshiba Notebook, with lots of goodies ... makes my old (well, only 3 1/2 years old) NEC Notebook look downright dinosaur-like. And the speed ... whoo-hoo, going from 256meg Ram to 2gig Ram is just amazing. I'm having so much fun. This new one runs Windows Vista, and I am having a few teething problems with some software I want to run ... but it is all gradually working out.

For some reason, though, I cannot install Itunes ... it just doesn't want to do it. Also, when I tried to upload some photos onto Ebay, to sell something, it wouldn't let me do that either. If there is anyone reading this who can fill me in on how to solve this, please do ... I would love to hear from you. Thank you.

(UPDATE: I now have Itunes working ... not sure why it didn't want to install initially, but I eventually got it ... yay !! Now I still need to figure out why Ebay wouldn't let me upload photos !!)

Anyway, I'd better go, still got lots of stuff to install on this lovely new toy (oh, and I spose I'd better do some housework, laundry, cooking, too !!).

Will be back soon.

Take care,

She's Back (for now !!!) ...

Well, hello there ...

It's been awhile (again) since I last posted, but I have a pretty big post for you all today.

As you may (or may not) know, my family and I spent the past 2 weeks on holidays, at 2 seperate locations. For the first week, we took along one of Chicky's best friends, Chooky. The 2 girls had an absolute ball, as did we.

Our first week was spent at Lakeside Country Club, in Numurkah, in North/Central Victoria. It is a gorgeous place, with heaps to do ... an indoor heated pool, spa, sauna, an outdoor pool, tennis courts, beach volley ball court, mini golf, BMX park, a huge lake for canoeing and paddle boat riding, and many, many other things.

Lakeside Country Club is essentially a resort for Timeshare patrons. We have had Timeshare for quite some years now, but don't use it as regularly as we wish we could. The format of our timeshare is that we don't have to go to our nominated resort ... we can go anywhere we like, within the group of eligible resorts.

Anyway, we arrived at Lakeside on Friday evening, settled into our unit (which was great ... 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, huge kitchen with eating area within, and a laundry - washing machine, dryer, trough - off the kitchen behind a bifold door). We then decided to have a bit of an explore throughout the resort, with the girls deciding to go for a swim !!

Next day, we decided to have a lazy day, staying around the resort. I took the opportunity to take numerous photos (this one, below, is of the extraordinary gardens around the resort ... cactii, how interesting !!)

Hubby had a bit of down-time, as he had hurt his foot on Friday evening ... not really sure how, but it was very painful ... we almost had to make a trip to hospital (he thought it might be broken). He struggled through, though ... he was brave, and didn't want to spoil the holiday for the girls !!

On Sunday, we made a trip into Echuca, which is a town on the Murray River (which borders Victoria and New South Wales). Echuca used to be a thriving port, in the days when paddle steamers did all the fetching and carrying ... before trains and semi-trailers. These days, it is a historical town, with many interesting things to look at.

We took a paddle steamer cruise along the Murray River, on board the PS Pevensey, which was built in 1911. The Pevensey is quite famous, it was used in the filming of "All The Rivers Run", a wonderful movie/mini series from a number of years ago, starring many famous Aussies.

It was a wonderful cruise, with many interesting sights along the river. The old paddle steamers are just fascinating, and are still operated in just the same manner as they were almost 100 years ago. The following photo is the 3 of us ... Hubby, Chicky and myself (I wasn't sure if Chooky's family wanted me to include a photo of her on this blog). We were sitting at the back of the boat, and the view down the Murray is just magical.

This next photo is of a portion of the Old Echuca Wharf, and a couple of old paddle steamers. The river is quite down, around a couple of metres lower than normal ... but still a beautiful place.

The next day (Monday) we had another lazy day at the resort ... more swimming and playing for the kids, more relaxing and reading for me, and hubby watched some TV and played Playstation ... resting his foot !!

Tuesday we took a trip up to Cobram, and checked out a lovely beach (again on the Murray), where we have camped. Once again, we were quite shocked at how low the water was. We then travelled closer to Yarrawonga, to another beach (Dead River Beach) where we spent many wonderful holidays in years past. We also stayed there back in 2005, prior to going to Cape York ... it was sort of a test weekend for all our camping equipment !!

We were horrified at the number of trees exposed by the low water levels, and realising that this was where we always boated and water skiied ... gosh were we lucky that there were never any accidents.

Dead River Beach is a gorgeous place, and it got taste for camping going again ... we can't wait to pack our tent (or our new TVan - when we get it!!), and spend some quality time just sitting on the banks of this mighty river.

Afterward, we headed up the highway to Yarrawonga, briefly, to see how the town looked these days. We hadn't been there for quite some years, and were pleasantly surprised with how it had progressed ... it always was a beautiful town, and still is.

Wednesday was another lazy day at the resort.

Now, Thursday was a special day ....

We went into Shepparton, had a brief shop, and I wandered around the parks taking photos of the cows, which are part of the Shepparton Mooving Art display. Each cow was painted very differently, and were just amazing. I had seen them on Merle's blog some time ago, and knew I just had to see them for myself. The following two photos are my favorites ...

So, after my photographic expedition, Hubby and the girls dropped me off at Merle's house in Shepparton, where I was joining Merle, Gwen and Jeanette for lunch ... a sort of Bloggers convention. (Hubby and the girls headed back into Shepparton, where Hubby supervised the girls getting a bit of retail therapy) !! Jeanette's sister, Pauline, was also there. It was a lovely afternoon, spent with some amazing women ... thank you, ladies, for the great time. I had a ball. Thank you, also, Merle, for your hospitality. Merle put on a wonderful spread for lunch ... I didn't really need to have any dinner that evening ... I was still quite full !! The 5 of us had quite a few laughs, and despite the fact that we hadn't ever physically met, we got along like a house on fire. I hope we get the chance to get together again sometime. Thank you again

Here's a photo of the four of us (sorry, Pauline ... I didn't get one with all 5 of us). Gwen is on the right, Jeanette is beside her, then Merle, and moi !!

Friday morning, we packed up, and headed over to good old faithfull Bonnie Doon, for another week of R & R. Did much of the same old - same old whilst there, but had a lovely time. A few of our friends were there just for the weekend, and we headed off on the Sunday to the Strathbogie Ranges, for a bit of 4WDing ... had a wonderful time, despite it being a bit damp earlier in the day. Half the drive was just basic dirt roads, then we stopped for a picnic lunch, then on to the "real" 4WDing ... quite challenging in places. Didn't get a lot of good photos, due to the strange light from the overcast, bright sky. This photo is just looking down a hill at our "beast". Hubby is just rapt with the truck at the moment, he had spent some money on getting the suspension fixed and many other things underneath the car, as well as new tyres and rims. It's like being in a new car again (despite it's old body !!).

After a week at Bonnie Doon, we headed home. The weekend was spent doing washing, housework and all the same old stuff that needs to be done when returning home after an extended time away. I haven't spent much time on the computer, which is why it has taken me till now to post this. I worked on Monday, today is Tuesday (I spent the day at my parent's, then pricing new notebook computers ... hopefully by next week I'll have a new one ... yippee !!). Tomorrow I work again, then hopefully will have more time to visit.

I hope you have all been well, and look forward to catching up on what you all have been up to.

Till we catch up ... big hugs to you all.

Take care,

Holidays ...

Greetings from Lakeside Country Club in Numurkah, north central Victoria.

We have been having a wonderful time here, the weather has been great. The photo above is of the lake in the resort. It is a gorgeous place. Chicky and her best friend Chooky are having a ball ... I'll be surprised if they aren't waterlogged by the end of this stay, they are spending so much time in the pool.

Yesterday we went to Cobram and Yarrawonga (briefly), and explored the Murray River between those two towns. I loooooooove the Murray, and as a younger woman, spent many holidays camped on it's banks (gosh, that makes me sound old !!).

On Sunday we went to Echuca, also on theMurray, and took a fascinating paddlesteamer cruise on the Pevensey, which was used in the movie/mini-series All The Rivers Run, and was known therein as The Philadelphia. A great day.

We have also spent some time just relaxing here at the resort.

I will share more with you, along with some photos, when I return home at the end of next week.

Looking forward to tomorrow ... lunch with Merle, Jeanette & Gwen in Shepparton.

Hugs to you all.

Take care,

Hello ...

Well, as you probably noticed, I once again haven't gotten around to visiting everyone (despite my best intentions !). Huge apologies, once again.

I am quickly just dropping by here to say catch y'all later, as we are heading off tomorrow (Friday) for 2 weeks of R&R ... one in Numurkah (near Shepparton, in North Central Victoria), and the second at old faithful Bonnie Doon.

I hope to hop on the 'net here and there, and may even post. I will try, anyway LOL.

Oh, yeah ... whilst I am at Numurkah, I will be popping down to Shepparton, and catching up with a few of my favorite bloggers ... Merle will be hosting us for lunch, and Jeanette and Gwen are coming along too. Should be a lovely afternoon. I can't wait.

I promise, promise, promise to catch up on all your blogs when we get back, though.

Huge huggly hugs to you all.

Take care,

An Update ...

Hello, everyone ... well, it's been awhile. I am still in the land of the living ... gosh, have I been living ... too much to do, too little time !! I actually wish I was bored, just so I could have time to sit and do nothing ... but ... being bored is really no fun either, is it !!

That being said, I have been getting in some reading (whilst having breakfast, in the few minutes before falling asleep, and the odd other brief moment !!). I have sort of finished my course (the official bits of it ... the tests and stuff ... now I just need to get into some writing, to practice what I've learnt). I have sort of finished my parent's DVD of their photos from their German trip (we have spent ages putting music to it ... mum has gone through her whole collection, picking out the "just right" german songs to go with all the sections of the DVD) ... I just need to burn them to disc, check how they turned out, make the covers, and do the finishing touches. Work is keeping me busy ... usually 3 days a week, most of them ending around 5.30/6pm ... starting at 9am. Weekends always have something on ... even if it is only being Chicky's taxi !! Laundry and housework are always needing to be done. You know the deal ... I imagine most of you are just as busy as me ... only you all seem to still find the time to blog ! I guess I need to get myself more organised !

I bought myself a webcam this week ... only I don't like it ... I don't like how I look in it ... eeewwww ... I don't think I want to share myself like that LOL. Much better to remain anonymous, I guess !!

My Bambi kitty is doing well ... getting more affectionate day by day. She is so cute.

Chicky is happy in high school ... 3rd term is almost over ... her interim report was pretty good, we are pleased. She is showing genuine interest in boys, these days. She already has had a few boyfriends (although, they really only just call themselves boyfriend and girlfriend ... they don't actually get into the kissing and stuff yet ... thank goodness !!).

Hubby is busy working, and getting his 4WD ready for the anticipated "big trip" (getting all the suspension up to scratch, the airconditioning regassed, new tyres and wheels). Yep, we plan on another big trip sometime in the future (I don't know if you remember, but we did a 7 week trip to Far North Queensland back in 2005). Unfortunately, it won't be such a big trip ... 4 weeks max, I reckon, due to Chicky being in high school ... I really don't want her missing too much school. We can space it out over the school holidays (2 weeks), with one week of each term on either side. At this stage, we probably will head to the Centre of Australia. Hopefully sometime next year ... fingers crossed.

Only another week, then it is the end of Term 3 for the Victorian school year. We will be heading off next Friday afternoon, for a week at a resort in Numurkah (near Shepparton, in north/central Victoria), then another week at our caravan in Bonnie Doon (our caravan is up for sale, so hopefully this won't be our last visit there ... although, if it does sell, we will buy an off-road camper, and can still go to the caravan park to holiday, as casuals rather than permanents, only it will be somewhat different ... back to using the public conveniences ... darn it !!).

Hmmm, what else can I tell you ??? My plan (whether it happens or not, is another story) is to visit each and every one of you during the course of this week, as we will be away for 2 weeks after that, and probably won't blog during that time. After that, my plan (also, who knows whether it will happen) is to get back to regular blogging ... weekly at least.

Huge apologies, once again, for being a neglectful blogger. And thank you, all you amazing people, for your emails, voicing your concern about me ... I AM OK ... just really, really busy !!

Big hugs to you all.

Take care,