Day 139 in a Year of my Life

Tonight was 'shave for a cure' night at the pub.

Our neighbour (the one whose house landed on ours during the tornado) decided to participate and had his very long white/grey hair and beard shaved off.

We headed to the pub after our regular Friday night at the Bowls Club and this is what we witnessed ...

I'm not sure how much money was raised, but the cup was packed with notes and coins.  I'll find out tomorrow.

Today, I'm grateful for Community Spirit.  It's alive and well in our little town.

Nite all.

Day 138 in a Year of my Life

Adoring Husband has been interviewed by the local Channel 7 News, twice in the space of 4 weeks.

A split second of the footage from his story, is now a permanent fixture on the ad for our local news.  His fifteen minutes of fame has become epic!

Since the tornado, he has also joined the local SES, so he's had lots of paperwork to complete and is now doing something constructive and community based with some of his free time.

I feel proud of him for making that decision and taking the necessary steps to get to this point.  I think it's a good way for him to meet new people and to do something positive and fresh after such a horrible start to the year with his Parkinsons diagnosis and then the tornado.

Today, we awoke to a completely cloud free sky, for the first time since mid January.

It was a glorious day with blue sky and sunshine, a slight breeze (instead of the gale force winds we've experienced for the last 2 months) and the local wildlife were out in force.

Unfortunately, I wasn't quite on the ball and missed a fabulous opportunity this morning.

I was on the beach with my camera for about 20 minutes or more, trying to capture the sunlight dancing on the waves that were crashing on the shore (crashing waves is an unusual phenomenon for our area any time!), and when I was satisfied, I rode further along the path to the southern end.

I surveyed the area and looked back toward where I had just come from and saw, to my dismay, the huge White Breasted Sea Eagle, fighting with the Whistling Kite, above the water where a Shag was attempting to eat a shiny silvery fish.

All three birds wanted the fish and the Whistling Kite was bombing the White Breasted Eagle to keep him from getting it.

I jumped back on my trike and pedalled for all my worth back to other beach, but the White Eagle had left the area.

The Whistling Kite took a couple of unsuccessful swoops on the Shag while I was watching, but the photos aren't worth sharing.

Very disappointing.

I did find a Pale-headed Rosella in the park.

There were all types of ducks and birdlife on the lagoon early this morning, but I was too heavy footed and scared them all to the other end of the lagoon, so all I can offer, is a lily.

And that's the story of my day.

Today, I am grateful for blue skies and sunshine.  Everybody's spirits are lifted as we soak up the sun's rays and all that healthy vitamin D.

Nite all.    

 

Day 137 in a Year of my Life

If I can sit here for 90 minutes and not come up with anything of value to write, then I should probably give up and post a couple of photos.

So here goes.

Kookaburra relaxing

A Dollar Bird

Today I am grateful for the change of seasons and that time of year moving from Summer to Autumn, when the weather cools down so that you can actually sleep under a cover, soundly, and in comfort.

Have a lovely Thursday!

Nite all.

Day 136 in a Year of my Life

So, Adoring Husband has been very busy, and has been conscientiously emptying all of the cupboards that line the walls of the garage, and clearing the area in preparation for the repairs on the house.

You know what it's like when you go through cupboards and drawers that you haven't been near for a couple of years?  (I often question why we need to keep half of the things in the cupboard if we haven't used them for a couple of years!)

Well, Adoring Husband found these photos.  They were taken 9 years ago when we went on our first holiday together.  A road trip to Rockhampton to visit my mother for her birthday.  On the way home, we stopped at Australia Zoo and shouted ourselves a cuddle with some tiger cubs.

We've all changed so much in nine years!

Today, I am grateful for cupboards that haven't been opened in a couple of years.  The cupboards that hold treasures and that make you feel like it's Christmas when you find them.  The cupboards whose treasures bring back such fantastic memories and plant a smile on your dial.

We have quite a few of them!

Nite all.

Day 135 in a Year of my Life

I learnt how to play Gin Rummy tonight.

Adoring Husband and I were invited to dinner at a friend's home across town.

Adoring Husband helped them out with their computer last year and we were supposed to go to dinner back then as their gesture of thanks, but circumstances prevented it.

Then they went on holidays, then we went on holidays, then Christmas came and went and then the tornado hit and then they went on holidays again.

Which brings us to tonight!

Baked dinner and GF tofu cheesecake.

Gin Rummy.

I won twice!  My brain hurt!

Lovely couple.

Before I go ... photo opportunity ... a touch of photoshop in this one.

Today I am grateful for friends with electricity, who can cook delicious meals for us without using their barbecue :)  (Don't get me wrong!  I am grateful for Adoring Husbands wonderful barbecue cooking!) but ... I miss a good oven baked meal lol.

Nite all.

Day 134 in a Year of my Life

Tomorrow, Adoring Husband and I will begin packing everything and moving it into a crate that will be delivered here some time during the day.

It'll be just like spring cleaning and will be a perfect opportunity to de-clutter and downsize.

Are you listening Adoring Husband?

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to spring clean and also write a short blog post tonight.

:D

Nite all.

Day 133 in a Year of my Life

Trivia night at the local club tonight.

We had eight at our table and there were eight other teams.

We came second!  By one point!

I think we had a good team and everybody contributed really well - although some a little loud at times.  I'm sure we gave a couple of answers away.

The person who made up the questions, interestingly enough, asked the same question twice - not just on one round, but on two rounds! She blamed storm damage for her errors lol.

The cost of the night was supposed to include a light supper, but that fell through, and we ended up with a couple of small bowls of chips and a bowl of nuts.

Luckily I took my own GF nuts and also a light salad, which I left in my bag when the light supper didn't eventuate.

As the night wore on and the drunkenness took over, it became very loud and disorderly!  Our table was one of the more subdued and orderly tables.

This afternoon, as the time drew closer to get ready for this evening, I began to regret organising it and I really didn't feel very motivated or keen to go.  But I'm so glad that we did because I ended up having a really nice time.  We had some good laughs and combined, we made a good trivia team.

Yay for us!

Today, I am grateful for delicious, lazy, uninterrupted afternoon naps that have no time limit and can be enjoyed at leisure.  Especially enjoyable after a gourmet lunch made by Adoring Husband.

Nite all

Day 132 in a Year of my Life

Had the Youi assessor here again today, going through our list of contents that need to be replaced.

Then we got a phone call from the builder to say that a 'container' will be dropped at our house on Monday for us to store our furniture and belongings in, while the house is repaired.

It's all happening!

In the mail this morning, was my new Photoshop CS6 (a photo editing program).

Without reading any instructions, I loaded it onto my computer and began to play with an old photo.

It's much more difficult than I thought and it's very different to Photoshop Elements, which I was using sometimes.

Here is my first, very amateurish, very poor attempt at creating something different with photoshop.

Now that I have that out of my system, I will wade through the Photoshop Guidebook tomorrow and learn how to use it properly.

The next time I post a photo here, I hope that it will be something more impressive, that makes you go 'Oooh  Aaah  Wow'.

Today, I am grateful for the 2013 NRL football season, which started this week.  We love our football!  Even though Adoring Husband's team is having some major problems right now, I'm sure things will calm down and it will all work out in the end.  Chin up darling.

Nite all.

Day 131 in a Year of my Life

Trevor said 'sorry' today.

Trevor is from Youi (the insurance company).

Trevor said that he had been monitoring facebook and Twitter for the last couple of days and that he had read all of the comments from our friends and families and watched as each of them shared our story.

Trevor said that he, and Youi felt very embarrassed.

Trevor acknowledged that the gift of an umbrella, though well intended, taking our circumstances into consideration, it was a poor choice and he offered his sincerest apologies for upsetting us.

Trevor promised to phone our builder to make sure he contacted us as quickly as possible and so that our repairs could commence as soon as possible.

Trevor did exactly that and about fifteen minutes later, we received a call from our builder.  Not long after that, our contract was was faxed to us, Adoring Husband read it, we added some variations, signed it and faxed it back.

They begin our repairs on 21st March (I wish it was sooner) and they will take 45 - 65 days to complete depending on weather delays.

So, for this point, it's a win for us, but I will not rest on my laurels - there is still a long way to go!

I found another sunflower and will take photos as it opens.

Also, this morning, I was pretty chuffed when one of my boys brought a medal to the temporary Seat of Knowledge.  A medal that he received for running the Olympic torch for one mile in Cairns back in 1956 in the lead up to the Melbourne Olympics.

What a great memory to have, and this man is not one to talk too much about himself.  He is quite a private man, so for him to share this, is pretty special.

Today, I am grateful for modern technology and the social media.  Used the in right way, positive outcomes can be much quicker than any other means available to us in the past, except maybe the television and those horrid current affairs shows if they thought there was a good story in it.

We, the little people, stand half a chance now :D

Nite all.  

Day 130 in a Year of my Life

The power of social media!

After I posted my photo of Youi's gift to us onto my facebook wall, as well as onto Youi's, the following happened;

Vegan Chickie posted the umbrella debacle onto her personal facebook page, and her business page and also onto her Twitter streams and created a domino effect as friends and family of friends and family continued to 'share', 'like' and 'comment' throughout the rest of the day and night.

Many of my friends and family shared the photo with their friends and family too.

She and many others voiced their disgust and disappointment at Youi's disregard and slow action on our insurance claim after the tornado damage almost 6 weeks ago.

She tweeted them approximately 30 times and often used their own slogan ('We Get You') to get their attention eg

Youi.  We get you - to pay your premiums and then we leave you in a broken house without power for 5 weeks.

Youi.  We get you - an umbrella, to make up for the giant hole in your house that we haven't approved repairs on.

Lots of other people tweeted too.

Today we have SUCCESS!

Youi phoned us late this afternoon to advise that they had approved (our preferred) builder to commence the repairs.

Now we wait for the contract to be delivered so that we can sign off and hopefully the repairs will commence SOON.

Today is a good day!

Thank you to Vegan Chickie for her persistence and for keeping the momentum going for as long (or as short) as it took.

Thank you to everybody who took the photo and shared it on their page and made appropriate (and sometimes inappropriate) comments that helped put the pressure on.

I believe that it was this pressure that made Youi put a priority on our claim.

Another win for me today ... was Adoring Husband's follow up to yesterday's delicious lunch!

I could get used to this!

Today, I am grateful for a day full of positives!  It was so nice to see a happy, genuine smile on Adoring Husband's face when he received the good news from Youi.  It was a nice feeling inside for me too.

Nite all.

Day 129 in a Year of my Life

Well, we are still no closer to a start on our house, however, Youi (the insurance company) are showing a bit more of an interest and we actually had two phone calls from them today.

They apologised for the umbrella debacle and have passed our concerns on to their marketing team.

Apparently, they are waiting on a couple of tenders - from people who haven't actually seen our house or the damage, but who have looked at the Scope of Works online.

They did say "things should be moving along soon".

We will see.

I have a pretty good team behind me now and Youi should be very vigilant about this case, because we are not going away!

Adoring Husband and I made a decision recently, that we would start having our main meal at lunch time, because it's too difficult to cook and clean up by lamp light at night.

This is the result of Adoring Husbands first attempt at a cooked lunch (remembering that we only have one gas hotplate and the barbecue) ...

Let me state that the Pea Puree was pure heaven!  The whole meal was delicious and I am now a bit excited about what will be on offer in the coming weeks :D

Lastly for today, The Nikonian posted this on my facebook wall a couple of days ago and I love it sooooo much.  I feel emotional every time I look at it.

I'd love it poster sized and framed on my wall in my work area, when it's rebuilt.  Sounds like a plan :)

Today I am grateful for cooked lunches as main meals lol ... especially when they are cooked and presented with love by Adoring Husband!

Nite all.

Day 128 in a Year of my Life

In summary ...

A Youi (our insurance company) approved builder came to inspect our house 4 days after the tornado hit us.  He also sent in a painter, a plasterer, an electrician, a roofer etc to calculate their costs.

He told us that he could commence work within a week if the insurance company approved the repairs.

Five weeks later, there is still no approval for him to commence work.  They have, apparently, asked for other quotes and they also sent the Structural Engineer in late, to do the scope of works, which the builders are supposed to work out their quote from.

Just to rub salt into the wound, today we received this in the mail from Youi ...

So I posted this photo, along with a brief history, firstly onto my facebook page, then onto Youi's facebook page.

My friends and family then began to share this photo with their friends and families on facebook. Then my family posted it onto Twitter and the plan is to make it go viral so that something gets done faster.

We still have no connected power - just two extension leads running from the power box outside which runs our fridge and freezer, the tv, a fan, a lamp and my computer.

We switch things around when we need to do washing, or vacuum the floor, or run the portable camp shower that provides warm water (our solar hot water system doesn't heat water after endless days of cloud and rain).

It's kind of like 5 star camping - but I'm so sick of food cooked on the barbecue.

As lucky as we are, that we can still live in our house, at minimum standards - the insurance company really should have moved things along by now.

I know that there are hundreds, if not thousands of people out there who require repairs after cyclones, tornadoes, floods etc., BUT our builder was available to start a month ago - why hasn't it been approved???

Wouldn't it be nice if the 'viral' plan worked and we got a phone call tomorrow telling us to go ahead with the repairs?

Today I am grateful for friends and family who care enough to spread the word and who hope to make a difference.

In particular, I am grateful to Vegan Chickie who got the ball rolling along a number of different Social Media networks, and I'm also grateful that Number One Son and Bubbles were quick to add their comments on the Youi facebook page and also shared the photo on their own pages.

Fingers crossed that something comes of it!

Nite all.

Day 127 in a Year of my Life

Well, I have finally bitten the bullet and ordered Photoshop CS6 Software.

When I first took up photography, I was very ANTI Photoshop.  I was very opinionated and let everybody know how I felt about it.

I believed that photography was about taking great photos and that it was more important to know how to use your camera and take the perfect photo.  It was not about taking average photos and then fixing them with photoshop.

Then I learned that it's impossible to capture in camera, what you actually see.  The colour is rarely as vibrant, the exposure can rarely be perfect for everything that you want to fit in your photo, there needs to be a little sharpening, a little contrast.

You can use many different editing programs to do these things.

I have discovered that in the old days with film cameras, there were processes used in the dark room that could tweak the exposure, add or reduce contrast,  sharpen images, dodge and burn among many other things to manipulate photos.

With the new digital era, editing programs and software, do the same thing, just faster and easier.

So I've spent two years learning how to use my camera in manual mode, and learning how to take a compositionally sound photo, plus some basic editing skills (there is still SO much more to learn regarding everything that I've just mentioned).

I look at photographers who I know personally and the work that they produce using photoshop as an aid.  I also look at professional photographers and how creative and artistic they are with their photos, also using photoshop.

Then there are the more famous photographers like Annie Leibowitz, Simon Powell, Steve McCurry, Anne Geddes to name a few (that you may know), who use photoshop to create art.

So this brings me to my current situation.  To take my photography a step further and see what I can produce using a professional editing tool like Photoshop.  To see just how creative I can get and how artistic my work can become ... beyond a clean, sharp photo.

This is my new challenge and something that I hope will take me out of my current trauma induced funk and into a magical new world of inspiration and imagination.

Watch this space and hopefully, some time in the near future, when I've mastered a few photoshop skills, you can see a change and a difference in my work.

I feel a little bit excited about this new development.

Today, it stopped raining long enough for me to spend a bit of time out on my trike with camera in hand.

The lorikeets were out in full force.

Today, I am grateful for friends who encourage and nudge me onto new pathways, helping me see some light through the dimness.  I feel a new spark of energy, like a tiny ember, glowing within and it feels good.

Nite all.

Day 126 in a Year of my Life

"Beautiful one day, perfect the next."

I'm thinking that Queensland can no longer use that slogan for it's tourism campagne.  Currently experiencing the third major flood in four years and the seemingly endless days of rain this year alone, the title of 'Sunshine State' is rapidly changing to 'State of Disaster'!

I've spent most of the day looking at photos that I took while on holidays with Adoring Husband in November last year.

They've brought back some fond memories and allowed me to play and experiment a little with editing.  Nothing over the top and probably not even noticeable to the regular Joe.

This next photo is the only one not edited ... aside from minimal basic stuff.

Today, I am grateful for photography.

I'm sure that I have been grateful for photography already in the last 126 days, but it is something that I love. There is so much more to learn, and at the moment, it's one of the few things that really lifts my mood and brings me together with people that I care about, while I struggle through this stressful period of my life.

Healing is a slow process, but we're getting there.

Nite all.

Day 125 in a Year of my Life

Good grief!

I've been trying to write this post for more than two hours ... while watching 'Pretty Woman'.

I've seen this movie a good 30 times ... and that's a conservative estimate ... but it gets me in every time!

Today has been a pretty good day.

I got to talk a bit with people who I hadn't seen since the tornado and a couple of important people in my life acknowledged my sadness in last night's post.

You know who you are and I thank you.

Aside from 'Pretty Woman' playing on tv, (which also reminds me of my mother),  a very special thing happened tonight on our way home from the club.

Adoring Husband drove to the club, because he can't drink alcohol for a month while on this special medication.  As we drove home, there, standing in the middle of the road,  was a Tawny Frogmouth!

He stopped the car and I climbed out to chase the bird away from the road.

The last time I saw a Tawny Frogmouth, was the day after the tornado and there were two birds near the old Seat of Knowledge, but they had disappeared the next day.  I have searched in every tree that I ride past hoping to spot them, but there has been no sign of them.

All of the trees that they usually nest in, have gone now and I was worried that they had left town, possibly never to return.  Tawnies are creatures of habit and like to nest in the same area, even the same tree if possible, every season.

Needless to say, I was extremely excited to see this Tawny tonight and thank goodness it was us who saw it, because people often expect these birds to fly off to safety as their car approaches, but that's how a lot of Tawnies die.

It's so nice to know that they are still about.  I think I will go exploring the trees in that area tomorrow.

I think that this will be a happy moment to write down and put in my 'happy' jar!

So that is what I am grateful for today - my beloved Tawnies are still about :D

Almost midnight - pumpkin time - bed time.

Nite all.

Day 124 in a Year of my Life

Well, I wrote a rather intense post tonight, and then when I re-read it, decided to delete it.

I'm really feeling de-railed and I'm trying so hard to get back on track, but I can't seem to find my way.

Everything has changed.

My house doesn't feel like my home right now (for obvious reasons).

My town doesn't look or feel like my town any more.

The event has shown me that some people who I thought were 'my' people, really aren't.

It showed me that other people care more than I thought.

Some people have already left town, never to return, and that leaves a hole in the heart of the town.

I really miss the life that was.

I miss the trees.  I miss switching lights on and off.  I miss my oven.  I miss music.  I miss the old Seat of Knowledge.  I miss the landscape.  I miss the relaxed, carefree attitude.  I miss all the 'stuff' that is now packed in boxes in the back room until we are repaired.  I miss 'normal'.

I'm sick of the tarp on the roof and the horrible noises it makes in the wind.  I'm sick of all the different coloured tarps on all the roofs in our street.  I'm sick of seeing all the holes in the houses.  I'm sick of missing all the things in the last paragraph.

So I have to move forward.  I have to figure out a way to do that.  I must stop dwelling on what 'was' and focus on ways to be happy again. I need to slowly build on my happy future, step by step.

One thing I know for sure ... I have to stop writing this late at night, because it's when I feel the most melancholy.  I should write in the day time and then go to bed at a reasonable hour so that sleep can heal my mind and heart.

A photo from today ...

I like the light and shade, as well as the textures in this one.

Tomorrow ... brighter and lighter!

Nite all.

Day 123 in a Year of my Life

Today was a good day.

No wind.

No rain.

I got washing done.

I took photos.

I did, however, have a cold shower this morning because the solar hot water system had not seen sun for a few days.

I don't mind cold showers ... that statement may change in Winter ... hopefully the house will be repaired by then!

Today I am grateful for no wind and no rain.  My heart remained steady and I could breathe.

Nite all.

Day 122 in a Year of my Life

I got to see some of my boys this morning.

Adoring Husband and I got coffee and then drove to the park where the temporary Seat of Knowledge is.  Only three of the boys were there but they were well.

Then I got to see my girls again.  I had returned home and forgot that it was Tuesday, our usual morning tea day at the 'local'.  So Adoring Husband drove me back for more coffee.

I got home just in time for the rain to start.  Again.

And then again.  And again.  *rolls eyes*

When will this weather end?????

Everywhere is flooded and the rain just keeps coming.

I would really like the weather to clear - just until our house is repaired.  After that, I will feel safe again, and the weather can do almost anything that it wants.  Note the word "almost".

Some more photos from the girlie weekend ...

It's almost the end of February.  That means that we are fast approaching the third month of 2013.  I swear,  the older I get, the faster time goes by.

Psychotic dogs are asking to go to bed.  Time for me to go too.

Nite all.

Day 121 in a Year of my Life

Our girlie weekend worked on a buddy system.

We had to make sure that our buddy was never left alone in a vulnerable position.  To be certain that they didn't get lost and to know that they got home safely from the restaurant/pub/club/casino/shopping etc etc.  It was just about looking out for each other.

The buddy system worked very well for the majority of us.  It almost didn't work for a couple of us.  It turned out to be a good idea.

The four days were filled with so much walking!  I should have taken my pedometer.  We must have walked at least 5 kms each day.  It was more than a kilometre to the Myer Centre and the Queen St shopping area from our rooms.  Then add the 4 or 5 hours of walking while we were shopping.

Obviously, we all did a LOT of shopping.

I bought a medium sized suitcase (because we only have a small and a large) and I filled the small suitcase and put it inside the medium suitcase, then filled all around the outside of the small one with my stuff.  I was able to fit everything in, except for the tripod that I had bought and a shoebox with some bits and pieces in it.  Those things went with one of the girls who had driven to Brisbane, but she won't be home til later in the week.

The Southbank market was my biggest success for shopping.  It was in the last day.

One thing I know for sure .. I'm not happy about the current fashions.  They don't suit my body type and the shops don't sell anything BUT that style!  I was searching for a certain style of clothing, which was obviously in fashion last season, but totally NOT any more.

The weekend, except for the first night, was a huge success as far as food is concerned.  There were two of us who require a gluten free diet and the restaurants provided delicious GF options.  The Marriot, where we had breakfast each morning, had one whole fridge full of GF breakfast options, plus GF bread and separate toaster to toast it.  Lots of fresh fruit and plenty of hot food like poached eggs, mushroom, tomato, bacon as well.

We were very happy with our meals.

There were lots of laughs to be had.  A few deep and meaningful conversations.  Story telling.  Advice offered.  Tornado experiences to share.  A few bottles of wine consumed.  Plenty of photos taken.  Bargains bought.

It was agreed that what happens on the girlie trip, stays on the girlie trip!!  (Do we think that Adoring Husband will read this and wonder what we might be hiding????)

The weekend helped me forget, for just a little while, the stresses associated with our disaster.  It was nice to relax and unwind and I think we all had a good time.

Some photos from the trip ...

There has been terrible weather in Brisbane since we left, and terrible weather here and also on the Sunny Coast.

Eight water spouts off Bundaberg yesterday, one of which hit land and took some tiles off the Surf Life Savers Clubhouse.  This adds to my already intense paranoia.  Our rain has been hitting us in short, sharp, heavy bursts.  So heavy that we can hear it coming and the noise is similar to the tornado as it approached.

It puts me on edge and I am ready to run every time.

They say that the effects of a disaster don't usually hit people until 6 weeks after the event.  We still have a week or so to go.  I can almost physically feel it building inside me.

It must be frustrating for people who haven't experienced this to listen to me constantly harping on about the weather and checking the Bureau of Meteorology radar and being so paranoid about every breath of wind.

I know that there has been a big shift in my empathy and sympathy for people who experience this kind of disaster.  My heart skips a beat every time they show the damage from the tornado that hit Kiama in NSW and I feel so deeply for all of those people.

Their homes weren't built for cyclonic conditions and so they were easily destroyed by the tornado.  How hellish that must have been for them!  Imagine feeling your house falling apart around you.  Imagine the feeling of being sucked up a stair well (as one woman experienced).  Their nightmares will be worse than any of mine.

Today, I am grateful that I live in an area that legally requires our homes to be built to withstand certain wind conditions.  It means that we were safer during our weather 'event' and the damage much less severe than others down south.

Now if only we can get it repaired quickly to that same high safety level!!

Nite all.  

Day 120 in a Year of my Life

I have arrived home safe n sound after a great weekend away.

I actually forgot what it was like to be worried about the weather.

I was brought back to reality quickly, when severe weather warnings were issued for our area and 'Woman of Many Talents' and I drove through some dodgy weather on the way home this afternoon ... though it could have been worse, but I think our timing worked out so that we followed our route between storms and dodged the worst of it.

I am absolutely exhausted, so once again, I am taking a rain check and will endeavour to bring everything up-to-date tomorrow, after I am rested and have time to sit and ponder my weekend entertainment.

One photo from the weekend ...

The front window of the restaurant where we ate last night.

I still have a lot of photos to go through.  A few hundred in fact.

Today I am grateful to be home  (I wish that all was right and calm in my world again, but Mother Nature doesn't appear to be finished yet.  I hope she's just teasing us to keep us on our toes.)  I'm grateful for our safe trip home, while being surrounded by crazy drivers and some crazy weather.

Thank you 'Woman of Many Talents'

Nite all.

Day 119 in a Year of my Life

I am absolutely exhausted.

It's been a great weekend.

I am alive, well, happy and exhausted.

So much happened today, and I hope I can remember everything tomorrow so that I can tell you all about it, but I am way too exhausted tonight.

So I am just checking in for now.

Have taken lots of photos, so hopefully they are good enough to share in the coming days.

Today, I am grateful for a weekend well spent with good food, good wine, good friends and creating great memories.

For now ...

Nite all.

Day 118 in a Year of my Life

Fitting sooooo much into every day!

Met the girls for a huge breakfast at the Marriott this morning followed by a pedicure at 'Shine' in the Myer Centre, then 3 hours of shopping, a movie (Safe Haven) and more shopping.  Rushed home at almost 5pm, had a shower and got dressed for dinner, taxi picked us up at 6pm and took us to Jo-Jo's Restaurant and Bar.

We were home by 8.30pm, then we all met in the other apartment for a glasse of wine or two and a really good giggle while a couple of the girls, in their drunken stupor, told us some hilarious stories.

Returned to our own apartment at about 10 pm, but sat up talking until 11.30pm and finally I am sitting in bed updating this blog.

Absolutely exhausted!

Tomorrow we start with another big breakfast and then plan on catching a ferry to Southbank City Markets for some more shopping.

There will be lots of walking around the city, this time with camera in hand, to get what I hope will be some interesting city/urban shots.

Tomorrow night is dinner at the Jazz Club and there will be fireworks for the postponed Australia Day Celebrations.

Fireworks are on my photography 'to-do' list, but I didn't know that they were happening and I didn't bring my tripod with me for the event.  I'm seriously thinking about buying a cheap tripod so that I can try for some good shots.  I'll see how the day pans out.

Today I am grateful for some really good belly laughs with friends - still not excited about the shopping, but markets are always good value, so tomorrow is looking good!  I felt the body release a few endorphins this evening :D

Nite all.  

Day 117 in a Year of my Life

The two hour trip from the Sunny Coast into Brisbane this morning seemed to go on forever!

We were soooooo happy to finally arrive in Brisbane for our weekend!

We ran into the other girls at Roma Street Station and all piled into two taxis to search for our resort.  The taxis dropped us off at exactly the spot we asked for, but unfortunately, our building was nowhere to be seen.

After much searching and twice asking for help, we finally found our building on a completely different street, but luckily, not too far away.

The apartments are clean and nicely furnished, but the rooms are quite small.  

Our group are now separated on completely different floors, which, with the security key system, makes it difficult to visit each other.

Many things have already annoyed me, but I think I am still very on edge and stressed about 'tornado stuff', so I need to chill out and let my hair down and just enjoy myself.  After all, that's what this weekend is all about!

We spent the afternoon shopping - not as successfully as I'd hoped, but there are still three days left, so no doubt I will have some success somewhere along the way.  I think I'm just out of practise!

We had a nice dinner at a restaurant across the road and then came back to the apartment for a few drinks and a few laughs.

All in bed by 9.30pm.  Need to get some sleep ready to start a brand new day of shopping, a pedicure, a movie and then a big night out for dinner.

Today, I am grateful that my bedroom in the apartment has it's own air conditioning system, so that I can turn it to the temperature of my liking.  My bed is comfortable and I even have a room mate who snores just like Adoring Husband!  I feel right at home :)

Nite all.

Day 116 in a Year of my Life

I left home this morning at 7am and even though it was difficult leaving Adoring Husband behind when he is feeling so stressed, it was also a relief to get out of town so that I don't have to look at everything that's broken for a few days.

We arrived at the Sunny Coast to be greeted by beautiful sunshiny weather.  No wind :D

I got to spend about 4 hours with little Chicklet and a bit less time with Vegan Chickie and the Bare-chested Chef.  Chicklet was such a little joy, so happy and smiley ... well she almost always is like that anyway - a little ray of sunshine.

Then the Nikonian picked me up after she finished work and we got to spend the afternoon together.  She showed me some photoshop magic and we had some good laughs.  She makes me feel so relaxed and provides such warm and friendly hospitality.

So now I'm turning out the light and getting an early night in preparation for some heavy duty shopping tomorrow with the girls.

I have to be at the train station at 7.30am.

Today I am grateful for my friend The Nikonian, who goes out of her way for me on many occasion, always has a smile and a shoulder for me, provides the warmest, friendliest hospitality and always knows how to make me laugh.  Such a good egg with a heart of gold.  Hugs to you lovely lady.

Nite all.

Day 115 in a Year of my Life

Post Traumatic Stress UGH!

This afternoon, we could see it coming - it was the biggest blackest ugliest sky and it took it's time getting here, but the wind hit really suddenly and we could see the tarps on other houses billowing like sails on a yacht and we could hear tin rattling like a roof or a fence or another shed was about to blow.

Honestly, my heart was in my mouth and I held my breath and I tried to keep busy (I was in the middle of packing at the time and was choosing my jewellery), but when I walked out to the lounge room and Adoring Husband was sitting frozen on the couch staring out the window with this glazed look in his eyes and his whole body was trembling (the symptoms of Parkinsons are exacerbated by stress), I knew I had to do something.

So I closed the blinds on the windows so that we couldn't see outside and the TV volume was already loud enough to drown out the sound of the wind and rain, so that we could barely hear what was happening outside.

All three psychotic dogs were inside with us.  One was on Adoring Husband's lap and the other two were with me.

We sat on the couch together and I swear every one of my senses was peaking.  It took every ounce of my strength and will to NOT cry.  A couple of times, my eyes welled up, but I forced the tears back down and we sat in silence praying for it to end without incident.

We were especially fearful because the Structural Engineer found a weak spot in our garage yesterday and he said that a strong wind could lift that whole corner of the house.  We had arranged for the 'make safe' guy to come out and make it safe, but he hadn't been able to get to us before this storm.

We sat there pleading with all of the Gods and Powers to let the house survive this storm.

It was the longest twenty minutes of my life.

I thought of everybody else in town and wondered how many of them were also cowering in their lounge rooms praying for the wind to stop.

The feeling of relief when the wind finally died was overwhelming.  Even though the wind had stopped, the rain was still quite heavy for a while afterwards, but I didn't care about the rain ... the wind is the killer for me.

When it was over, we got the phone call from the 'make safe' guy and he was out within the hour.

That corner of the house is now as safe as it can be, in it's current state of disrepair.  Thank goodness.

Soon the rain stopped, the cloud dispersed and there was blue sky and sunshine for the first time in days.  We could still hear thunder in the distance and there was very black cloud out to the West, but it was moving away from us, not coming toward us.

I'm thinking that this is going to be a long, slow healing process and I can't see there being much fun or enjoyment in it.

So today, I am grateful to have survived our first post-tornado storm.  A little shaken up, but still in one piece.  All I ask is that these storms are few and far between.

Nite all.

Day 114 in a Year of my Life

I'm looking forward to a girly weekend in Brisvegas.

I'm a bit concerned about the weather though.  There is nasty weather heading in that direction right now and I hope that it has passed by the time we get there.

This trip has been planned for about 4 months and we are all looking forward to it.

I'm taking my camera and a couple of us are going to wear comfortable shoes and really look around at what the city has to offer, by foot.  I'm a bit excited about that.

There are twelve of us and I think that we all have a different idea of how we want to spend the time.

It should be a little therapeutic for us all - to get away and debrief a bit over our mutual trauma.

Anyway, lots more rain today and threats of gale force winds which haven't eventuated as yet.  Fingers crossed that the winds steer clear of us.

I played with a couple of old photos ...

Not brilliant but a bit of fun.

Today I'm grateful for the opportunity to get away for a few days,  do some girly stuff and forget about the problems in my world for just a little while.

Big day tomorrow, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Day 113 in a Year of my Life

So it has now been three weeks since the big event.

Still, no work has begun on our damaged home.

Still, the builders, engineers blah blah blah come to make up their quotes for the insurance companies.

From comments that I hear, it seems that everybody is ripping everybody else off.

The insurance companies charge us a veritable fortune for our cover, they make billions of dollars worth of profit each year, then the tradesmen charge the insurance companies a veritable fortune for their work, so that next year, the cost of our cover increases again and the insurance companies make an even bigger profit.

It's nice to know that somebody out there is making good money out of our misfortune, and taking their time over it as well.

The Queensland weather forecast is not looking good for the coming week.

The tropical low heading south from Rockhampton/Gladstone could cause heavy, slow moving rain with damaging winds and it's unknown where it will cross over the coast.  At this point they have mentioned Brisbane and NSW and even as far south as Newcastle, however, these things are difficult to predict, so who knows what will happen?

I'm contemplating heading towards Ayers Rock.  Far far away from here.

It's been raining all day, so I've been playing with some photos that I took yesterday.

It's possible my girlie weekend in Brisbane, scheduled for this weekend, could be cancelled or postponed, due to cyclonic conditions.

Better to be safe than sorry, I say, but we will wait and see what happens in the next couple of days.

Today, I am grateful for the cooler weather.  Our power still consists of a couple of extension cords leading from our power box, and the air conditioning system was damaged in the tornado, so we rely on a free standing fan to keep cool.   It's much easier to keep cool in this milder weather.

Who'da thunk I would say anything positive about our weather!?  lol

Nite all.

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.    

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.