I left on a jet plane

The plane was on time. The flight was uneventful. I got a free cup of tea. We landed in sunny, warm Sydney and taxied to the terminal, but the moving bridge wouldn't work so we all had to exit through the rear door and walk across the tarmac and up a gozillion flights of steps to get into the terminal.

There were a gozillion people at the airport all shuffling together and refusing to give way to anybody.

I was met by the smiling, but stressed Knight in Shining Armour, who rushed me through the airport to the baggage claim area and my bag arrived on the conveyor belt at the exact same time that we stepped off the escalator! Excellent timing!

We then walked to the car, which was on the 3rd level of the carpark and try as we might, even following the 'way out' signs, we struggled to find the way out!! It took us about 15 minutes to FINALLY find the exit!!

The worst part was the number of cars driving in the wrong direction and us trying to squeeze past them and then the one woman who decided to do a u-turn in her large 4wd and had to do a 23 point turn to do so. We sat for about 8 minutes watching her do that.

We easily found our way to the motel and I checked in. Knight in Shining Armour dropped me off at the Miranda RSL where I found BGWLBH, who had arrived about an hour before me.

Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour arrived a couple of hours later and we all had dinner together, which was delicious! A glass of wine with dinner and watching Cronulla beat Cowboys on the big screen in the distance. There's nothing better than being in 'The Shire' when the Sharks win a football game .. it happens so rarely these days!

We were back in our room by 7pm and are now sitting up watching telly and checking out youtube videos.

Despite the loud street noise and a few noisy patrons in the hallways, I think we will sleep well tonight.

It's almost 10pm and I'm going to sign off here. No photos yet. Shopping tomorrow.

Nite all.

Is it too late?

Do you think it's too late for me to have singing lessons?  I wonder?  I've always wished I could sing and I wonder if it's necessary to have natural ability, or if you can learn to be as wonderful as Barbra Streisand or Pink or Celine Dion.

Recently, I've been posting videos, on facebook, of little kids singing. A four year old singing "I Will Always Love You" and an 18 month old singing along to Elvis's "Hallelujah" and now this eight year old singing an Ed Sheeran song.

I wish I could sing. I'm going to consider lessons.



Tomorrow is the big day.

I'm leaving on a jet plane and heading south where it's bloody cold and grey and foggy. I'm leaving the beautiful mild Queensland Winter sunshine that I love, that I've been longing for over the long hot Summer and will be spending two weeks wrapped up in a coat with scarf and gloves!

I don't generally feel the cold, so I can't imagine that I will suffer too much.

I'm excited at the prospect of playing with my camera and my imagination is picturing all sorts of pretty Winter scenery.

I'm also excited about seeing BGWLBH again!

It will be great to catch up with Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour tomorrow.

I'm keen to do some shopping. Retail therapy is always fabulous.

The search for great food will be a worthy challenge.

It's going to be a fun holiday.

I'm up for it!

As usual, it's almost midnight, so I'm off to get some sleep. I didn't get everything done on my list today, so I have a couple of chores to do first thing in the morning before I leave.

See you tomorrow, from the big smoke!

Nite all.

Halfway There

I'm almost packed! Can you believe that? Totes organised!

Tomorrow, I need to spend a considerable amount of time in the kitchen.

Two weeks worth of dog food to be prepared, ANOTHER 50 energy balls because Adoring Husband is a guts and has eaten almost all of the ones that I made at the beginning of the week and a few batches of the butter chicken sauce so that AH only has to add the meat.

At AH's request, I am not going to prepare any other meals, because if he doesn't eat them, I get cranky and question him about what he has eaten while I've been away! So I've made his bone broth for the mornings and will make the energy balls for his snacks and he will be in charge of all other meals!

It was a beautiful day today, aside from the short, but very heavy downpour mid afternoon, the weather was sunny and mild for the rest of it. I spent some time with bare feet in the sand on the beach at low tide this morning.

I found myself a comfortable rock and sat with my coffee, soaking up the sunshine and watching the lazy world pass by.

I love this time of year here. Winters are so mild during the days and cool enough at nights to snuggle under the covers and sleep soundly.

Anyway, before I head off to bed .. this movie looks like a bit of fun and hopefully BGWLBH and I will get to see it during our holiday. If not, I'll drag somebody to see it when I get back.



I'm getting good at this ... it's 11.10pm ... way before midnight!!

Nite all.

One Down

I sat my Musculoskeletal exam today.

There was one question that I could not answer. I had absolutely no idea, not even enough of a clue to bluff my way through!!

There were about 4 questions that I could not complete .. they had four parts to them and I was only confident with three of the parts. Remember when I told you about the muscles having origins, insertions, actions etc? I struggled with the 'insertions' parts.

Aside from those few questions, the rest was much easier than I expected! So I'm feeling confident of a pass.

The challenge, for me, has kind of dulled now that they've changed the marking process. There are only two marks ... 'competent' or 'not yet competent' and then you get second chance to become competent. This disturbs me because in real life, when the life of a human being is in your hands, you don't get a second chance!

To be honest, I feel a lot less pressure with this marking system, but less pressure stops me from pushing myself and it's the 'pressure' and the 'pushing' that I thrive on.

Anyway, I'm glad it's done and dusted. Now I can relax and look forward to my road trip before the next exam is due .. two weeks after I get back!

I wrote out my packing 'to do' list this afternoon. We had a lazy Roz's dinner of chicken broth with diced chicken thigh, shallots and sweet potato noodles added. Strawberries and cream for dessert. Yum.

I know you will love this little video of a four year old boy singing a Whitney Houston song. He is pretty amazing!

Now I'm heading off to bed before I have to say "It's already after midnight" because it's only 11.15pm, so it's an early night for me!

Nite all.

The Fleeting Visit

Chicklet's itinerary:

1. Arrive at Poppy Barry's and Bozzy Wozzy's house.
2. Use the toilet (fast!)
3. Meet SEB the cockatiel.
4. Meet the chickens.
5. Collect the eggs - three of them.
6. Give Bozzy Wozzy a belated hello hug.
7. Gather together and count all the frog garden ornaments.
8. Have lunch.
9. Greet Poppy Barry who arrives home late for lunch.
10. Play tag with Bozzy Wozzy in the back yard (while Bozzy Wozzy is surprised at how well Bozzy Wozzy can run!)
11. Open the bag of goodies from Bozzy Wozzy.
12. Meet psychotic dog Ruby.
13. Drive to the beach with Poppy Barry, Bozzy Wozzy and Mamma.
14. Explore the beach and collect shells with Poppy Barry.
15. Have a bath with Bozzy Wozzy's supervision.
16. Watch TV while Bozzy Wozzy cooks dinner.
17. Eat dinner.
18. Read 5 books with Bozzy Wozzy.
19. Have a mini meltdown.
20. Sleep.
21. Wake up and say good morning to everyone.
22. Sort Bozzy Wozzy's jewellery, by moving it from the dressing table to the bed, in it's tangled mess.
23. Hide in Bozzy Wozzy's wardrobe while she gets dressed.
24. Collect the eggs with Dadoo - two of them.
25. Go to morning tea with Bozzy Wozzy and meet her friends.
26. Play with Archie the dog, whose Aunty was at morning tea.
27. Collect Bozzy Wozzy's mail from the post office box.
28. Collect Lady Lynn's mail from the post office box.
29. Go to the park and play on the swings with Poppy Barry and Bozzy Wozzy.
30. Run up and slide down the skate ramps with Poppy Barry.
31. Say goodbye to Poppy Barry.
32. Have long cuddles with Bozzy Wozzy.
33. Climb in the car and drive home to Sunny Coast.

So, as you can tell, the visit was short, but we fit plenty into the time we had.

We will work our way up to longer visits until eventually, Chicklet will come home on the train with me and spend time here without Mamma and Dadoo.

After the fam left, I rode to the butcher and picked up my order of chicken frames and thighs and then came home to put on a big batch of chicken broth so that Adoring Husband has enough while I'm away next week.

I got some study in, but then when nothing was staying in my head, I decided to finish the job that Chicklet started, and sorted through my jewellery.

Vegan Chickie, quite rightly, described the giant mess as 'obscene'. She was referring more to the amount of jewellery that I had acquired, than the actual mess itself.

So today, I decided that it was time to do a brutal cull.

After at least two hours of back breaking sorting and culling, I tossed a full plastic shopping bag full of junk and dress jewellery and STILL what is left doesn't fit in my two large jewellery boxes on the dressing table. I STILL have MANY MANY necklaces hanging off both corners of the dressing table mirror!!

Anyway, I feel good because I've been wanting to clear that mess for months, but kept putting it off .. it took Chicklet's visit and her attempt to look at everything in the tangled mess, to motivate me.

By the time I'd finished sorting, my back was complaining, so I took the easy way out and prepared leftovers for dinner. Luckily, my back only needed resting because it's fine again now.

Now, it's time for an early night in preparation for my exam tomorrow so ...

Nite all.

Busy Chicklet Day

It's after midnight and I have to sleep, but just wanted to pop in and post a couple of pics.

I'll tell you all about our day in tomorrow's post.

Nite all.

Ready Mr Music

Ready and excited for the family to arrive tomorrow!

We've left eggs in the chook pen so that Chicklet can collect them. We have a bag of goodies for her .. clothes, toys, books and 3 rubber duckies to play with in the bath. The dogs are bathed - especially Ruby, because she's the only one happy to play with kids. Hopefully, we will get to collect shells on the beach and of course we'll have to go to the park!

We only have a short time together, so we'll pack as much in as we can.

I tried for another sunset this afternoon, but it was a fizzer.

I got some good study in and made some choc energy balls, groomed and bathed the psychotic dogs, watched my Broncos beat Melbourne Storm and cooked dinner.

Now I have to mop the floors before I head to bed. Short but sweet tonight and hopefully I'll have some Chicklet photos tomorrow :)

Nite all.