Nice to see you!

Three major events occurred for me last year (2010), all in the space of about 2 weeks. I turned 50. The following day I got married. Two weeks later, my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild.

Most middle-aged people will tell you that in their minds, they still feel 20 something. It's the same for me.

Wasn't it only yesterday that I was planning a night out with guys from the surf club? That gorgeous new perm. Flaired, cuffed denims and the red t-shirt with the off-the-shoulder frill. Corked platform wedgies. **sigh**

Suddenly I'm looking in the mirror and wondering how 30 years can flash by so damned quickly!

So here I am in cyberspace, sharing my genuine shock and horror with anyone who'll listen and maybe I'll even meet some other over 50s who find themselves in the same predicament!

Welcome to my dilemna!!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Day 112 in a Year of my Life

You may think that this is silly, but it occurred to me today, that it's been seven years (almost 8) since my Mother died.

Seven years (almost 8) before that, along with other life traumas, my father died.

Seven years before that was another life trauma (which I won't go into here).

This year, the life trauma has been the tornado and Adoring Husband's diagnosis of Parkinsons.

So, by rights, this means that everything improves from here and I should have a huge stack of good luck and positive experiences coming my way.

Adoring Husband's life traumas are usually on a different time-line, but it seems that ours have aligned this year.

So, by rights, this means that everything improves for both of us and WE should have a huge stack of good luck and positive experiences coming OUR way.

Onward.  Upward.  Forward.




Today I am grateful for this blog.  I'm grateful to you who read it - friends and family and a couple of strangers from all over, who pop in to see what I have to say each day, who share my good times, my bad times, re-live memories with me, ride my highs and lows with me and follow my photography journey/therapy.

I love the occasional comments that you leave me, or the emails that you send and knowing that you're out there caring about me, means a lot.

So thanks :D

Nite all.

Day 111 in a Year of my Life


There is a possible cyclone forming East of Brisbane (which is a long way south for a cyclone to form) and they say it will head further south and affect NSW.  They say it is forming the same way that Oswald formed, which scares the 'you know what' out of me.

I know that I'm not alone in this community with this terrible fear, but every time the wind springs up or the rain gets heavy or I hear a loud noise or thunder, or see a weather map showing bad weather anywhere near us, or when I wake up in the middle of the night ... this wave of fear sweeps over me and my heart skips a beat, just like it did 'that' night, because there is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

The worst part is not having any power.

Just the power to make an educated and informed decision about whether it's safe to be here - would help.

We didn't have that power on 26th January.

You hear the stories where towns are warned of some natural disaster about to befall them ... like flooding rains or bush fires or a tsunami or whatever, so everybody evacuates ... then it turns out to not be as bad as the warning and people complain about it.

Well, we didn't get any warnings.  All we knew, was that ex-tropical cyclone Oswald was heading this way.  We weren't concerned because we have had many ex-cyclones pass this way and they've never provided anything but heavy rain and gusty winds.

I'm the only one that I know in town, who knew that tornados were possible that night, because I had joined the Sunshine Coast Weather page on facebook and they were putting warnings on facebook every 20 minutes from about 10pm, stating that there was a possibility of tornados moving south from Bundaberg.

Aside from that, the winds from the supposed 'ex'-cyclone were blowing at 125 kms an hour during the night.  Those are already damaging winds, and we weren't warned about them at all.

That's why almost everybody was awake at 3.30am when the tornado hit.

The wind and the rain kept everybody awake, whether they were lying awake in bed or sitting in their lounge rooms or making coffee in their kitchen.

If we had been warned of the seriousness of these dangerous weather conditions, Adoring Husband and I, more than likely, would have headed out of town.  We'd have packed our campervan and loaded ourselves and the dogs into the car and headed out of town until conditions improved.

Adoring Husband and I are not brave when it comes to the wrath of Mother Nature, and after this experience we are even less brave.

The fear grows, and not just for us.  I've seen it in people's eyes, heard it in their voice and relived it in their stories.

I know that this is to be expected.  But it doesn't make it any easier.  I wonder how long it will take to NOT feel afraid of the weather.

Today I am grateful for the fear ... it means I'm alive ... and the story could have been very different except for a few feet.  I am also grateful for your patience while I work my emotional way through the disaster path.

Thank you for listening.

Nite all.    

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Day 110 in a Year of my Life

Adoring Husband does a good Valentines Day!

He was waiting for me at the train station when I arrived home today.  It's a 20 minute drive home from where the train stops.

Waiting for me on the kitchen bench, were a dozen long stemmed red roses.  Absolutely beautiful.  This photo was taken with my mobile phone.


While I relaxed on the couch, Adoring Husband loaded up the car and then we headed off to the river.

After I chose which picnic table we would sit at, he sent me off for a walk for ten minutes while he prepared everything.

I returned to find this ...


We ate a delicious fresh seafood platter that Adoring Husband prepared himself, loaded with sand crab, mud crab and king prawns, along with a home made seafood sauce.

He also prepared a nibble platter of cheeses, stuffed peppers, pickled artichoke hearts, crackers and dip.

He cooked up some crumbed calamari, crumbed whiting and prawn cutlets, all made with gluten free bread crumbs.

A quirky new wine glass with his personal message written on the front topped off the amazing presentation.

We ate til our bellies were full and then sat on the seat at the end of the park to watch the sun set.


Such a lovely relaxing Valentines Day.  Everything that I'd hoped for.

Today I am grateful for the effort that Adoring Husband went to for this Valentines Day.  I know that he has been feeling stressed and pressured after the tornado disaster, so I know how much extra effort it took to put this together.

Thank you my darling.  I love you xxx

Nite all.  

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Day 109 in a Year of my Life

Happy Birthday No 2 little Miss Chicklet!

I was sure it would be an early start to the day, so I jumped out of bed just after 5am, had a shower and made myself presentable for the day.

Then I waited.

I waited some more.

Finally!  At 7.15am little Chicklet decided it was time to rise and shine!

I heard her voice so I left the room with my camera and waited at the bottom of the stairs, ready to get a photo of her face when she saw the balloons.


She couldn't stop talking ... Hullo Bozzy Wozzy!  Oh balloons!  Pop Pop Pop It's a party.  Happy birthday to you.  More balloons!  Oh a little birthday friend!  Pop Pop  Birthday party!  Look at the balloons!  Pop Pop  More birthday friends!  Balloons!  Pop Pop  Happy birthday!  Look Mama!  Look Dadoo!  It's a party!

She was beside herself with excitement and I think by the time she was composed enough to come all the way down the stairs, we all had a tear in our eye.  We were overwhelmed by her contagious excitement.





We took it slowly, so as not to overwhelm her too much.  She opened the presents in her own good time and spent most of the first half an hour discovering all the birthday paraphernalia in the room.

The balloons under the stairs.  The balloons and streamers hanging from the fan and the ceiling rafter.  Her toys on the couch all wearing party hats to celebrate her birthday.  The birthday presents on the coffee table.

The brightly coloured little fluffy balls with eyes that we placed strategically around the room for her to find.  She squealed with delight and called them her "Special birthday friends".

Then we had a special rainbow breakfast ...



The popcorn was her favourite part of that breakfast.

The rest of the day was happy and fun and all about Chicklet.  I think she had a fabulous day.








I'm so pleased that I made the trip down ... not that I ever had any intention of missing it, but that tornado sure came close to putting a spanner in the works!

She is as precious as can be and I love her to pieces.

I am absolutely exhausted after blowing up over 100 balloons and blowing thousands of bubbles today.

Vegan Chickie and the Bare-chested Chef are also exhausted after all the cooking and decorating and creating the perfect birthday for their precious daughter.  I think she felt pretty special!

So now I'm off to bed.  I'll only have a few hours with my little Chicklet before I leave for home tomorrow.

As long as the weather holds out, Adoring Husband and I will be savouring a fresh seafood platter by the water and watching the sun set for Valentines Day tomorrow evening.

Nite all.

Day 108 in a Year of my Life

This is what Chicklet will see when she wakes up tomorrow morning.







It's after midnight and I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be awake very early in the morning, so I'd best get some sleep.

Nite all.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Day 107 in a Year of my Life

I'm too tired to write.

I'm here (Sunshine Coast) and I have my Chicklet, electricity, air conditioning and a stove for real cooking instead of just the barbecue.  (Actually, Adoring Husband and I could get more adventurous with our cooking on the barby, if we really wanted to.)

No photos today because I was too busy making friends with Chicklet's toys and having fun with her.

I'll get the camera out tomorrow.

Today, I am grateful for a quick and safe trip on the bus and then for the happy greeting from my loving family when I arrived.  Their 'Island of Calm' will nurture me and prepare me for the onslaught of house repairs when I return.

Soooo looking forward to the next few days.

But right now, I need to sleep.

Nite all.

Day 106 in a Year of my Life

I'm excited to be heading south to visit my little Chicklet tomorrow.  She turns two in a couple of days!  Can you believe that!?

Two years ago I was in New Zealand awaiting the birth of my first grandchild, and now, here we all are, back in Oz, about to celebrate the fabulous twos.

I can't wait to see her!  It's been two whole months since we were there for our holidays and two months is a long time in the life of a two year old.

So this also means that I have been writing this blog for two years as well!

6th Feb 2011 was my first post http://agechallengedrqqzy.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/i-think-im-now-blogger.html

I began writing it exactly a week before my little Chicklet was born.

Tonight, the sunset looked pretty special, so I grabbed the camera and ran across the road to the lagoon.

Unfortunately, the colour was all but gone by the time I reached 'the spot'.

In the opposite direction, I spotted this ...


... and that was enough to make me happy.

Mother Nature is healing my wounds.

Today, I am grateful for the chance to spend birthday time with my Chicklet.  Be prepared for lots of photos in the coming days.

Nite all.