......

..

XXXXX

Well, ain't this just toooooo pretty *S*
Thought it was time for a DRAMATIC change...
had to 'class up' the act a little <GRIN> Hope you like it.

*******

TUESDAY 1ST JANUARY

We were sitting down to dinner after an exceedingly hot day when Jared began to tell us about some discovery he'd made at the beach, where he and his Dad had spent most of the day. He said something about he and Charlotte (Jason's ex(?) girlfriend's daughter) and I said "I don't want to hear any more!"
Did I give birth to a brainless twit??? It sure seems so! He didn't come home on New Year's Eve so I can only guess where he stayed.
What is it with some men?
This one is a glutton for punishment!I'm not! AND I'm not happy! He's not staying here, bludging off Mum and I and carrying on with this schitzophrenic female who caused him a great deal of grief last Thanksgiving Day and in the weeks leading to Christmas.

He might be a sucker BUT I'M NOT!!!!!



FRIDAY 4TH JANUARY 2002

Well, I've been off the air for 2 days!!! The heat's been stifling and then
THE STORMS!!
We had one yesterday afternoon where one clap of thunder shook the whole house. It was as if it exploded in an almighty crash about 10 feet above our house! We lost power, but only for about an hour AND we lost the phone line.
After THAT experience I can imagine what it's like in Afghanistan when the bombs drop..... terrifying!!

Mum, Jared and I spent a good part of the day in the pool.
It was the only place we could get relief. Thank God, for the cover over it (cuts out 90% of the suns rays).. the water was icy. I was like a prune when I finally got out. I could see the BLACK clouds heading towards us and there wasn't a breath of wind so I thought it would be a good idea to get the dogs inside... Dingo is terrified of thunder.
He had a mate yesterday.... ME! The rain belted down and the lightning flashes came every 30 to 45 seconds, followed by the thunder.Within 40 minuted it was over! Sun shining!!


My MODEM ZAPPED (I thought).We got the phone working but every time we plugged the Modem back in the line went dead @#$%$#It took us until today to work out it was the extension I use from the computer in my room to the phone outlet in the spare room (which Jason now uses). Anyway Jason had it fixed for me by this afternoon.
Of course I have a NEW modem now because I thought IT was the problem. Oh well, we have a spare incase something goes wrong *S*


SATURDAY 5TH JANUARY

I took some pics over the last couple of weeks...
a couple of me from a distance...fortunately....
but if you're interested you'll find them on
THESE PHOTO PAGES.
I put them on other pages so this one wouldn't take ages to upload.
ALSO... if photos bore you THEN you don't have to go look *S*
There's some of Christmas, some of THE STORM
and some of the fires in NSW taken from TV.,
some from the hottest day this summer,
and for Grandpa David and Grandma Dot there's some of Jared *S*



Saturday 12th January

OK 7 days have passed since I entered anything here and all I can remember from those 7 days is HEAT, HEAT and MORE HEAT. It's 4:00am and the only reason I'm up so early on this machine is because my home isn't airconditioned and I can't use it during the day because it would overheat.40C or 104F is forecast for today and tomorrow!!!!
I can tell you,
I'M NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!
I don't remember a Summer like this in the 20 years we've been in Queensland.

I went out this evening to get 20 litres of water (5 and a quarter gallons) to do us over the weekend. We can't drink the tap water...( it's vile), ice .... and ice cream for Jared. I also decided to get the dreaded K.F.C. or as we call it "Kentucky Chuck-Up" *S*
Because Jason had brought Jared home so late I couldn't be bothered making dinner. Went to the drive through, placed the order, there were a few cars ahead of me so I turned off my engine each time I had to wait for the cars ahead to collect their orders. NOW all I can say is....
WHY ME!!!!!!
Have I got a monkey on my shoulder????

I got to the window and the girl said there would be a minute wait for the burgers...
O.K. so I turned the car off while I was waiting....
Collected the order... went to start the car......
NOTHING!!!!
A couple of the guys came out to push me out of the way into one of the parking spaces in the car park. My car is an automatic... you have to use the handbrake to stop when the engine isn't running because the foot brake doesn't work too well. I thought I was going to crash into a tree, that's ALL I would have needed.They rang the RACQ for me (Auto Club) and of course with all the hassles I had over the last few years with George (husband) I'd forgotten to renew my membership.
You know.... one of those things you MEAN to do but somehow never get around to. So I told them to tell the RACQ that I'd rejoin and pay for the call out.

In the meantime I was starving so I scoffed off my Zinger Burger.
I wrapped the other meals in the sun thing I stick across the window when I park, to keep the sun out of the car. hoping it would keep them warm.

15 minutes later the guy arrived.
DEAD BATTERY!!
I haven't been using the car much in the past few weeks (since we got back from Brisbane), with my right foot as sore as it's been it's been too painful to drive for any length of time. The odd thing I've needed from the supermarket... Jason has picked up for me on his way home after taking Jared out to the beach each day.

SO... the guy jump started my car and got it going, prior to him doing that I told him I didn't have my cheque book with me so he'd have to follow me home so I could pay him ( Hervey Bay ain't that big) BUT he said not to worry... he'd catch up with me tomorrow *S*
See... there are some nice people in this town*S*
Can't see them doing that in the BIG city.. can you??
He didn't even take my name, just my address and phone number and he remembered being at my place helping me out OVER 2 YEARS AGO!

He came Saturday afternoon and put a new battery in my car.
Apparently the other was OVER 4 years old.


Monday 14th January

It's official!!!!!
This is the hottest summer on record since 1903!!
And don't we know it! Mum, Jared and I spent the last 2 days in the "cool" pool.
40C or 104F... no matter how you say it... it's (pardon the language)
BLOODY HOT!
It was 40C on Saturday and 38C on Sunday
(big deal...2C cooler... like we REALLY noticed!)

You know, I'm so sick of eating SALADS, I'm beginning to feel like a rabbit, but it's just too hot to make anything else. Food preparation has been a real
pain anyway ever since Mum was told she's on the VERGE of Diabetes. Everything has to be LOW FAT and LOW SUGAR.
The only good thing to come out of this is NO MORE FRIED FISH!!
I loathe it but Mum loved it and she's such a picky eater at the best of times. NOW she's discovered that fish can be nice grilled or I even made a very lite curried fish one night and threw in a few BIG prawns for Jason and I. She loved that. So, I guess we'll get used to the NEW ways of preparing food and it'll be better for us ALL in the long run. She has to go back for a check up in March (I think).
She's also lost about 6 pounds... a bonus! (Bitch!!! LOL)

Monday 14th January much later in the day

Hey no Air-cooler or fans needed today!! YIPPEE!!
Only 32C... which meant that it was cool enough to WORK... BAH! DAMN!!

Funny how under NORMAL conditions we'd think 32C was a blazing hot day... not any more.
Cleaned out the pantry... blasted ants had infiltrated over the weekend.
Fortunately we have everything sealed so they didn't get into any foodstuffs AND it needed cleaning out and tidying up anyway. Also got Jared's school necessities, books labelled, pencils sharpened and sorted for going back to school on 30th January.
THAT'S a BORING, tedious job.I'm not looking forward to THAT....
(Jared's going back to school) gonna miss my sleep-ins. :-(

I happened to glance out of Jared's bedroom window this morning and what should I see but Mum 'trimming back' some plants. She was about to take a saw to a beautiful Exoria (SP?) from about 3 inches from ground level. It HAD had fantastic peach coloured blooms on it... they were GONE!

I SCREAMED... "WHAT ARE YOU DOING???!!!!"

"Cutting back so we can get some air through the window."

"CUTTING BACK!!! That's NOT cutting back THAT'S a BL..dy MASSACRE!!!!
You NEVER do anything by halves be it cooking meat or 'cutting back'... everything is OVERDO with YOU!!!"

A few more words were passed between us
then...She had a 'bitch' about it being OK for ME to cut back and she downed her tools. Thank God! *S*

THEN... I remembered Dad doing the same thing to one of my other plants out by the pool. Of course HE didn't 'trim' the plant an inch or 2 from the base BUT I took his clippers from him and told him to leave the plants alone. He couldn't see very well.
I've regretted it ever since.
The plant grew back OF COURSE.
I'd give ANYTHING to have him back 'trimming' my plants again.

I mentioned this to Mum tonight and she said she thought about it too
after I screamed at her like a "Harpy" (witch) <grin>Why isn't life ever
just plain simple?????
Well, that's all for this fortnight (2 weeks) folks,
Hope I haven't bored you to tears.

Thought this quote apropos considering my TIRADE today <grin>

"The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost"

G. K. Chesterton. 

TUESDAY 22ND JANUARY

Well, this should be interesting... 8 days have passed and I didn't make notes. Did I hear someone say "GOOD!"????? *S*

I'll have to work backwards and things might come back to me.... (bad luck !!!! *S*)

We spent the day at the Animal Park yesterday.

Jared's best friend at school, Nicholas, arrived yesterday morning to stay for 2 days. His Dad is supposed to collect him after surgery this evening (he's a doctor) but they've been so good I might phone and ask if he can stay an extra day.

If you are interested in more photos
click on the pic below.

Of course there's method in my madness <grin>, in getting Nicholas to stay another day
(He! He!) While he's here Jared leaves us alone *S

TUESDAY 22ND JANUARY
Later in the day...

Just came home from the Waterslide and Mini Golf and the kids had a great time... too many steps for ME!!
My plan to have Nick stay one more day fell flat :-( I guess his Dad misses him.. he's gotta go home tonight. Oh well... "the best laid plans etc...." Seems Nick hasn't "slept over" before... we missed Jared the first time too *S*... not any more <grin>

Now I have to try to remember if anything interesting (?) happened in the last few days... hmmmmm....

Took this photo of Jared when he got up one morning.. Ugh!!

..

So we thought we'd stick a guitar in the pic since he looks like a 60's Rocker

Actually.. looking at these photos reminds me of one night when we were short of milk,
I looked like a DRAGON and didn't want to be seen by ANYONE, Jason wasn't home... so, I asked Jared if he'd come with me to the garage (service station) to pick up some milk.. that was OK so we trundled into the car and up to the servo... Jared was just about to get out of the car when he discovered he'd only got underpants on under his shirt... he'd forgotten to put on his shorts.!!

I told him not to worry about it, the lady behind the counter probably wouldn't even notice, besides she'd think they were his togs (swimsuit). Do you think he'd be convinced... NO!

Then I said
"Do YOU REALLY want Nanny TO GO IN THERE looking like THIS????"

I guess he felt sorry for me and gave in. He kept the front of his shirt pulled right down <grin> and apparently he explained his predicament to the attendant inside because I saw her laughing.

Everything was OK until just before he went to pay for the milk and a chocolate treat he conned me into... a lady... a 7 or 8 year old girl and their dog turned up! Jared freaked!! The girl waited outside with the dog while her Mum went inside.

Jared made a dirty dive for the car, facing the girl because he didn't want her to see the back of him, fumbled with the door handle... the more he tried to get in quickly the longer it took. The attendant was laughing her head off and so was I. He's SO MODEST!! You know if he'd just waltzed in as if he had a swimsuit on under his shirt no-one would have been any the wiser.

I've been so tired lately, have had a lot of catching up to do on the computer now that the weather has cooled a little... 32C instead of 39C or 40C. Lord... I hope we never have another summer like this. My power bill rose by $100 for these last 3 months! We've had all the ceiling fans on, floor fans in 3 rooms and an air cooler going all day. My eyes feel like they're full of sand most of the time.

I spent 2 days transferring pages from one site to another for a group I belong to. Then I updated the pages as well. I sat up until 5:30am one morning for a meeting I couldn't get into! The server that has the chat room just wouldn't load for me. I was like a zombie for the next 2 days. That was last Saturday and Sunday. I feel a little better now that I've had some sleep.

I think I mentioned in one of my earlier Journals that my Bowen Therapist had given me a "Home Remedy" to reduce the swelling in my ankle but instead of it reducing it ended up 5 times worse. Well, I wasted no time at my last appointment telling him (nicely) that it DIDN'T WORK!!

He asked me to relate exactly what I did...then he nearly fell on the floor laughing!!

What I did WAS....
bought a kilo (2.2lb) container of Washing Soda..
put HALF of the container into a sock...
wrapped it round my ankle>>
finished it off with Glad Wrap!
It felt like a TON weight...
the next morning my foot and ankle were 5 TIMES BIGGER than they had EVER been!!!
I was really ticked off, it took 2 days for the swelling to subside!

NOW... What I SHOULD have done WAS...
put enough Washing Soda in the sock, so that when it was lying flat there was only about a centimetre in depth of washing soda.
That's this much <-.....->
NOT THIS MUCH
<-...........................................................->
He said "Neither wonder it felt like a TON weight hanging on your ankle!!!"
That was after he stopped laughing!
Hmph!!

I haven't yet tried it with the right quantities
but I suppose I better before my next appointment, in a month. *S*

*******

WEDNESDAY January 23rd

Jason was gone all night again... no prizes for guessing where he stayed (even though he denies it). I mean... 'her'(the ex) daughter rang yesterday looking for him, she's (the ex) a hairdresser and he turns up this morning sporting a haircut...
GIMME A BREAK!
I'm not even going to elaborate further *S*

Jared's back to bugging me again... no Nicholas to keep him occupied. I thought they had to go back to school next Monday
WRONG!!!

Monday is a holiday (Australia Day)!
The next (Tuesday) is a Pupil Free Day
(Do they ever work... teachers?)
So he goes back Wednesday... hardly worthwhile *S*
Lucky I spoke to Nick's Dad about it because I'm sure I would have trundled Jared off to school on Monday and we'd have been the ONLY ones there <grin>
Sometimes I think I'm losing my "Marbles"!!

*****

.

*****

Monday 28th January

Did very little this weekend. Today is a holiday. Australia Day was Saturday SO we get Monday off as well... go figure!

Mum was doing her crosswords (competitions) as usual and only had a couple of clues she needed help on. So she calls out to me...
"What's the name of that 'Biblical city of sin'? ... Is it 'SOD OFF' or something ????"
I cracked up! So did she when I told her it was SODOM not SODOFF! <GRIN>
(You had to be here *S*)

On Saturday I decided the front lawn needed weeding so I got sick of bending and sat down on the grass to do it. About an hour into it Jason drove off for an errand. He was gone about half an hour and I was praying that he'd come back soon (did I say that???)... I couldn't get up! This damned foot of mine.... I can't put any pressure on it, not even to do the simplest of things. It's so damned frustrating.
I tried the "Home Remedy" the Bowen Therapist gave me, with the right quantities this time. Yes, it drew fluid from my ankle BUT it didn't make the least bit of difference to the swelling. He told me I should WALK MORE! That would be great... if I COULD walk any distance. I just don't believe it's arthritis.... It's got to be something else. The reason I think this is because the arthritis medication works for my hands BUT NOT MY ANKLE!
SO it HAS TO BE something else.

********

Jason didn't come home Friday night OR Saturday night. So that's 3 days this week. Yes we know where he was... he apparently doesn't because he keeps trying to tell me he was somewhere else!
He's close to being booted out of here. He must think I'm completely stupid. You'd think after 32 years he'd know better. What is it with SOME men... are they brain dead??? This schizophrenic weiro caused him a great deal of pain, money and embarassment and he's too weak to get on with his life. Makes me wonder what he has instead of 'grey matter'!!

**********

Well.... there we are... one month down and 11 to go until 2003!

Believe it or not....
I took down my Christmas tree between yesterday and today!!!
I hear you all.... "What the hell has she been doing...
Christmas tree still up at the end of January?????"

All I can say is.... you have to live here in Queensland!!
Then you'd know why. *S*

It took me all day and half the night to get it up and half of yesterday and half of today to strip it and pack everything away. You have to remember that it's damned hot and humid here at this time of the year so what I did was just closed the door to the living room anytime anyone came by (so they wouldn't see how slack I was *S*.) I contemplated throwing a sheet over it... figuring THEN I wouldn't have to spend he time re-erecting it in 10 months <grin>. BUT I thought better of that idea :-)

********

Got off to a good start yesterday.... NOT!!

Got Jared ready for school and we went up in 2 cars (JARED RODE WITH ME *s*) so that Jason could take Jared to his new class and so I could go to the office and organise a refund for music lessons (which we paid in advance) BECAUSE....
ARE YOU READY FOR THIS....?????
Jared and his Nanny are both going to get private piano tuition!


BUT
that's not the reason for the 2 cars...
Mine had to go for a service and Jason was to follow me so he could drive me home.
So we turned up at the mechanics and I go in to hand over my keys..
the lady looked really puzzled...said
"Are we going to work on your clutch today?"
I said...
"You can if you want but I won't be paying you for it *S*
It's here for a tune up and to get the back brakes done"
She said...
"That's strange... Peter has you down for Thursday..."
Jamie said...
"THURSDAY! Isn't THIS THURSDAY?? SHOOT it's bl...y WEDNESDAY!!!!"

I was so embarassed, all I wanted to do was crawl through a crack in the floor.

*********

Jared's first and second days at school with his new teacher were "EXCELLENT" according to him. So, hopefully things will look up this year... I live in hope,

**********

I'm sure I've forgotten something... but it'll keep until the next Journal entry. If I don't get back before Valentine's day....

this is a graphic I made for Webdreamers.

Women are made to be loved, not understood.
~Oscar Wilde~