Happy Sunday ...

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick g'day from me to you.

It has been a fairly quiet weekend ... did some washing, some cooking, lots of reading, and lots of blog reading (please let me know if I have somehow missed out on visiting your blog ... please forgive me if I have.)

I just wanted to say, too, a big thank you to all of you for your great, thoughtful comments on my last couple of posts. You are all such amazing people, and I cherish all your friendships with all my heart. The blog-world is a wonderful place

Chicky is over at a friend's place, I need to leave in about 1/2 an hour to pick her up ... they are visiting a couple of boys ... OMG, my 13 year old little baby is interested in boys ... that is so not fair !! Now Hubby will have to buy a shotgun (just kidding) for when the boys come a-calling !! She is a pretty girl, with a great little personality, and a lot of friends (OK, I am biased ... but it's all true), so I don't imagine I will be worrying about her being a little wall-flower ... quite the opposite, I guess !! Should be an interesting (?!?!) few years coming up !!

I hope you have all been having a great weekend. It is Sunday late afternoon, 1/4 to 5, as I write this ... my weekend's just about gone ... back to work tomorrow, and then again Wednesday.

I leave you all with a great quote that I currently have on my computer desktop ...

Have a great week.

Take care,

The Sun Is Shining Again !!

Hello everyone, and a big thank you for your wonderful comments on my last post, whilst I was down in the doldrums. I have gotten through it, and my inner sun is shining again, and all is well in my world !!

It was a strange few days, though ... I can't remember when I last felt like that. I hate feeling so down, and lacking motivation, and just feeling awful ... no fun at all. At least it didn't last too long. It's funny, but writing down how I felt in that blog post seemed to help me snap out of it ... I guess, for me, blogging is a form of anti-depressant !! After I gave birth to Chicky, for about 3 or 4 months, I suffered from Post Natal Depression, but just thought it was the baby-blues (maybe it was) ... I was always (and still am) such an "in control" person, so feeling the way I was just wasn't right. It wasn't until I went and saw a doctor, who asked me heaps of questions, checked me over, then actually told me what I was suffering from, and offered to prescribe me anti-depressants ... that I snapped out of it !! Really, within a week or so, I was feeling "normal" again ... I guess actually admitting that I was feeling depressed, seems to reverse the feeling ... with me, at least !!

Anyway ...

I have been in a cleaning frenzy ... I love it (and loathe it, too) when I get like this, as I get so much done. I totally ripped apart my kitchen, cleaned every surface, wiped every item, tossed out anything that hadn't been looked at or touched for awhile .... and now my kitchen looks amazing again. Hubby reckons it looks like when we just moved in !! No clutter, and everything shiny and sparkling !! I am so proud of myself !! I also did all the other normal cleaning ... bathroom, loo, dusting, vacuuming, cleaned fishtanks, etc., etc., etc. I love a clean house ...

Today was fun .... Val came by at around 11.30, picked me up, and we went out for a few hours. We headed into Ferntree Gully, to the Swiss Bakery there, and bought a stack (each) of Laugen Bretzeln ... they are yummy pretzels, well known to Germans and the Swiss. There aren't too many places around the suburbs of Melbourne where you can buy them, so it is worth the trip when you find something yummy like this !! We had a light lunch in a little cafe near there ... a lovely little place, where they grind their own coffee blends ... the smell when you walk through the door is just glorious !! We then explored the shopping strip (not really a great shopping centre ... the attraction was the bakery !!), and visited the patchwork / craft shop. They have the most amazing fabrics there ... and the colours, wow ... if you love patchwork and quilting, you could go crazy in there. Afterwards, the cold wind was getting ridiculous, so we jumped back in the car and came back here, to my place, where we took photos of ourselves, to mark the occasion, eating our pretzels ...

Then I showed Val some photos, and stuff from a couple of trips we had done. We chatted for awhile, then it was time for Val to head home. All in all, it was a great afternoon, I had a wonderful time ... Thanks, Val, it is always a pleasure to catch up with you. Hope we can do it again soon.

I received a fun email today, which I just had to share .... thanks, Ange, for sending it to me ...

THE LAWS OF CAT PHYSICS ...

Law of Cat Inertia
A cat at rest will tend to remain at rest, unless acted upon by some outside force - such as the opening of cat food, or a nearby scurrying mouse.

Law of Cat Motion
A cat will move in a straight line, unless there is a really good reason to change direction.

Law of Cat Magnetics
All blue blazers and black sweaters attract cat hair in direct proportion to the darkness of the fabric.

Law of Cat Stretching
A cat will stretch to a distance proportional to the length of the nap just taken.

Law of Cat Sleeping
All cats must sleep with people whenever possible, in a position as uncomfortable for the people involved as is possible for the cat.

Law of Cat Elongation
A cat can make her body long enough to reach just about any counter top that has anything remotely interesting on it.

Law of Cat Acceleration
A cat will accelerate at a constant rate, until he gets good and ready to stop.

Law of Obedience Resistance
A cat's resistance varies in proportion to a human's desire for her to do something.

First Law of Energy Conservation
Cats know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed and will, therefore, use as little energy as possible.

Second Law of Energy Conservation
Cats also know that energy can only be stored by a lot of napping.

Law of Refrigerator Observation
If a cat watches a refrigerator long enough, someone will come along and take out something good to eat.

Law of Electric Blanket Attraction
Turn on an electric blanket and a cat will jump into bed at the speed of light.

Law of Random Comfort Seeking
A cat will always seek, and usually take over, the most comfortable spot in any given room.

Law of Furniture Replacement
A cat's desire to scratch furniture is directly proportional to the cost of the furniture.

Law of Cat Landing
A cat will always land in the softest place possible.

Law of Pill Rejection
Any pill given to a cat has the potential energy to reach escape velocity.

Law of Cat Composition
A cat is composed of Matter + Anti-Matter + It Doesn't Matter

(Bambi, in a strange pose ... just finished washing herself)

OK, enough from me for now ... I have some blog visiting to do (and I WILL do it, this time !!). Enjoy the remainder of your week, have fun, smile heaps, and stay happy ... I know I will !!

Take care,

Winter .... sigh ..

Hello !!

I think Winter has taken hold of me, and got me in a head-lock !! I feel like crap, and don't know why. I have no motivation, I can't be bothered with the computer (how strange is that, for me!), I am tired, I'm on a bit of a downer .... all I feel like doing is sitting and reading ... sigh ....

At work yesterday, everything that could go wrong, did ... the darned computer program didn't like me one little bit ... it kept kicking me out, or freezing, or losing what I had just entered ... I came home with the worst headache ...

I have been reading a few of your blogs, here and there, via my Google Reader, but haven't felt much like commenting. I have even lost the motivation to write ... that's a bugger, as I am doing my Travel Writing course ... hmmm ...

I will snap out of it, soon I hope !! Until then, please bear with me. I love you all, and will be around soon ...

It is a lovely sunny day today ... perhaps I will go for a walk ... maybe the fresh air will give me the kick in the rear I so obviously need !!

Take care,


Update: Hello again ... you know what ... a bit of fresh air and some loud silly music does wonders !! I spent some time this afternoon outside, in the sun and wind, then came back in and did some re-organising of my pantry, with music blaring ... silly one-hit wonder 80s type music. I now feel much, much better. Thank you to those of you who have commented ... it's nice to know I'm not the only one who feels like this !! Winter can do bizarre things to people, can't it ?
I will be around visiting in the next few days ... I've gotta work tomorrow, and am having lunch with Val on Thursday, so will come visiting when I can. Enjoy your Tuesday & Wednesday.
Bye for now .... Connie / Meow xx

Creative Blogger Award ...

I am the lucky recipient of another award ... a Creative Blogger Award, from a wonderful blog friend ... Connie. Thank you so much, Connie ... I am honoured.

Now, apparently, I need to choose another five worthy recipients for this award. This might be hard, as it is doing the rounds, so I hope I don't end up giving this to someone who has already received it.

Here goes ...

Michelle
Clare
DayByDay
Diane
Greeneyes

These 5 people are very creative, either in the design of their blog, of in the wonderful words and pictures they share with us all.

Hope all week is going well. Mine is fairly busy, but going well. I have a bit of running around to do tomorrow, but nothing exciting.

Enjoy your Friday ....

Take care,

How Addicted To Blogging Are You ?

77%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

I got this from Barbara's blog ... thought it was pretty cool.

Take the test, if you dare, and share your answers in the comments ... or post it on your own blog, too.

Take care,

Tuesday ...

Hello Everyone,

I've spent much of the weekend, on and off, reading the new Harry Potter. I was getting extremely frustrated with not being able to read a big chunk of it, and get it finished, so I decided today was the day.

I had a nice, lazy, type day planned. This morning I caught up with some TV that I missed last night whilst Chicky was at dancing ... thank goodnes for DVD Recorders !! Then I sat down and continued to try and catch up on all your blogs. About lunch time, I decided it was now or never ... I parked myself on the couch, with a can of Diet Pepsi, and read ... I only had about 150 pages left, and really wanted to finish it. And I did !!

What a great book, full of action and tremendous detail. Yes, there were some deaths (don't worry, I'm not going to spoil it and tell you who, in case you are still reading it), and violence, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story. A fitting ending to a good series (although the last few pages could have gone on for a bit longer, I think ... if you've read it, you'll know what I mean !!). It is such a let-down, though, when I finish a book ... I always wish it could go on forever. Oh well !!

So, after finishing Harry Potter, I returned to my trusty computer, and continued visiting blogs. I think I have got through everyone ... please let me know if I have accidentally missed you. My Google Reader may not have updated to let me know if you have put down a new post.

Now, I need to decide what to cook for dinner. Last night I made a Pasta Bake ... which is basically some spiral pasta, a can of sweet corn kernels, a few spring onions chopped (or some leek), a packet of bacon chopped, a jar of cheesey sauce added, all stirred together, topped with grated cheese, and shoved in the oven. One of those meals where you put it together, cook it, and can reheat it whenever. Mondays are one of those days where we are out from 5 until 7.30pm, so I need to have something like this, otherwise we are eating dinner at 9pm ... yuck !!

I also have another standby, if I discover someone is coming for dinner, and I haven't got anything ready ... good old faithful Spaghetti Bolognaise. Yep, some mince meat, onions, and a good old jar of Dolmio spaghetti sauce (tomato and spinach is the nicest), and of course the pasta. Yummy with some herb bread on the side, or some salad. Mmmmm.

What do you have, in your recipe collection, that you use as a standby, or a quick meal ?? I would love to hear about it.

Hope your week is going well.

Take care,

The Schmooze Awards

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a great weekend ... it was too short for me, but that's normal !!

I have been honoured by my dear blog-friend Merle, who has chosen me as one of 5, to be given the Schmooze Award.

So, what does this mean?

Forms: schmoozed or schmoosed also shmoozed, schmooz·ing or schmoos·ing, shmooz·ing, schmooz·es or schmoos·es, shmooz·es

Slang: To converse casually, especially in order to make a social connection.

A perfect definition of blogging!

See, I knew that, looks down at shoes.

So now I have to pick 5 bloggers to pass on the Award to, hmmm ...

There are so many I could award this to, and probably many have already received this, so here goes ...

Greeneyes ... a wonderful blog-friend, who always shares such inspiring posts ... she is always so happy. She also lives in the most amazing part of the world

Diane ... another wonderful blog-friend, who shares her family and food with us all ... a gorgeous family, and ultra-yummy food !!

Clare ... a sweet British girl, who is a fellow Neighbours lover, and who has shown me a new internet fun place ... Facebook.

Gattina ... a fellow cat lover, living in Belgium, who share her love of her family of cats, and humans, too, with us all. Always great fun to read.

Melinda ... a new Aussie blogger, and a personal friend of mine. She has the most amazing photos. If you haven't visited her yet, please do. She might need some encouragement !!

Michelle ... a great Aussie girl, who writes the most interesting posts, and shares wonderful photos. She works in the legal profession, and tells some amazing stories about her world.

(Ok, I know I can't count ... that's six ... too bad, too hard to choose !!)

So, that's done ... on with the post ...

Huge apologies for me not coming by to visit (hangs her head in shame) ... I have been so involved with reading the new Harry Potter book, that nothing else has been done (other than stuff which I absolutely had to do ... like being Chicky's taxi for most of Sunday, cooking, cleaning, washing ... you know ... reality !!). I haven't read nearly as much of it as I would have liked, due to having to do everything else, so I still have at least 1/3 of the book to go. It is great, though, and if I had of had the opportunity, I would've just sat and sat and sat and read it from cover to cover. Oh well !!

We have had glorious weather this weekend, and today too. There is almost a hint of Spring in the air.

I don't have a hugely busy week ahead of me (yet), but have a few things to do, so hopefully will have the chance today and tomorrow to come visiting.

Thanks again for your patience with my neglectful blog visiting.

Have a great week, everyone.


Take care,