It will be busy, noisy, messy fun and I will love it

It's almost Xmas. Can you believe it?

The past few months have been a bit of a whirlwind for us, lots of big changes in the family, I guess it's to be expected as everyone follows their own destiny. I feel like I'm just an observer, the things going on around me affect me but aren't necessarily about me.  I seem to be the only one who's not undergoing any major changes... is that a good thing?  I don't know.

My baby boy turns 21 on Sunday. Now that's a milestone. I no longer have kids  I have adults.  I have 3 amazing adults really, I feel extremely blessed that we have managed to come through the difficult years of adolescence relatively unscathed and they still love to have their father and I involved in their lives. The three of them have so many wonderful qualities, I couldn't be more proud.

I get a little envious, the world is their oyster, they have so many choices in which direction their lives take. It's exciting times.

In January I will have them all living at home for a little while.

It will be busy, noisy, messy, fun and I will love it.

I will also have my sister and her two kids here over Xmas and into the new year as she makes the move from WA back to NSW where she belongs, another life change which affects me, though isn't about me.

It will be busy, noisy, messy fun and I will love it.

I'm happy I will be spending time with all the people I love the most in the world, their lives may be changing, mine is not.... I guess I am the constant amongst the chaos.

I am lucky.

One year ago today.....

This time last year, we were finalising the packing, unpacking the things that didn't fit.  Double checking the passport, visa, travel documents and then heading down the highway.  You can read more about this here A week is a long time

The year has flown.  My beautiful daughter has spent her first Christmas away from home, probably the hardest time for her, and also her 22nd birthday.  She's travelled to places I can only dream about, Spain, France, Scotland, Austria, Italy just to name a few.  She's also held down a full time job, rents a room in a London apartment and has loads of new friends.

It's not been all rosy, to use her words she lives in "Struggle Street". Wages are low and rents are high. How she manages to save and travel is a credit to her, this is a girl who would think nothing of blowing a weeks wage on an outfit for the weekend and would never have stepped inside a backpackers hostel.

She's grown into an independent and sensible young woman and although I miss her dreadfully, I am so proud.

My WTF award goes to......

I watched bits and pieces of the Golden Globes on foxtel last night, I mean seriously who watches it from start to finish... it goes forever.

Some of the stars looked fabulous, others a bit meh.  Here's a few who stood out for me

Halle Berry and Jennifer Love Hewitt are in a time warp, they seriously need to get a new look.

My WTF award goes to Tilda Swinton closely followed by Milla Jovovich (whose mermaid stance borders on ridiculous)

My absolute favourite for the night was Natalie Portman, she is glowing in her pregnancy and looked gorgeous.

I thought Angelina and Nicole looked lovely as always.




Who were your fave's and who'd make your WTF list?

This week I'm grateful for..... lots really

I've been a little (well a lot) tardy in my posts.  Since early December our house has had a revolving door, I seriously can't remember who stayed where, when or who said what and it's still revolving.


This week I'm grateful for not being affected by floods.
I've sat glued to the TV watching in disbelief as the floods devastated Queensland.  I can only imagine the shock of loosing loved ones as well as the family homes.  It's not the bricks and  mortar loss, it's the personal items that can never be replaced, family photo's and mementos. I couldn't imagine having to flee my home without my beloved pets, but sadly many people had no choice.

This week I'm grateful for living in Australia.
We will rebuild Queensland, thankfully we love in a country where we can afford to rebuild.  It makes me proud to see everyone rallying around, helping with the cleanup, opening their wallets. We really are a lucky country.

This week I'm grateful for.... my husband
We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this week.  Well celebrated is a bit of an understatement, we both worked, I cooked dinner and we flaked out exhausted like every other week night. 25 years is quite a feat. It hasn't been an easy road, in fact we've hit plenty of pot holes over the years, though we've managed to climb out of them and forge ahead.  I think what's helped us is that neither of us are sulkers, we have a row and then get over it fairly quickly, or maybe we're just plain lazy.... who knows?  Hopefully we'll see another 25 years out.

What are you grateful for?

This week I'm grateful for..... family

I've been looking for a bit of a theme for my blog, something to force me to write and give me a little inspiration.  I've read a few "This week I'm grateful for" posts and am blatantly stealing the idea. So here's my first "This week I'm grateful for" post:

This Week I'm Grateful for family

 As it gets nearer to Christmas, and I await the arrival of my daughter home from Uni and my sister and family from W.A. I can't help but be glad we are a somewhat functional family. Christmas is a time we all get together and just hang out.   Xmas day we have the arrival of my parents, aunties, cousins and their families, a total of about 25 people for lunch and the same again on Boxing and the conversations often start where they left off the year before.

There will be a little sadness for me this year as my daughter Lauren will spend her first Xmas in the UK, though I'm feeling very grateful for Skype.... we're going to have present opening with her.

All in all though, I'm very grateful to have such a wonderful family.

What are you grateful for?

Why, Why, Why Delilah?

 I remember when my children were young, they pestered me with why's.  These days, I rarely question what is, I probably should.  Why do we stop asking why?

Well I'm going to put a few why's to you.  Things that just don't make sense, they are because they are, who decided these things?  Why?


Why isn't phonetic spelled the way it sounds? 

Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?


Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist
but a person who drives a racecar is not called a racist? 

Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?



Food for thought,  do you have any why's that need asking?

Will you fly Qantas again?

 I've been reading with interest all the media coverage of the Qantas problems, here's the latest online

Another Qantas plane has been grounded with engine failure.

The flight was due to leave Sydney for London at 6.05pm (AEDT) yesterday, but passengers were pulled off the plane after a loud noise emanated from the engine while they were taxiing towards the runway, News Limited reports.

The flight was later cancelled.

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Earlier yesterday, passengers watched as Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce held a media conference to assure the public the company is now "100 percent confident" A380 planes are safe.

To prove the point, Mr Joyce flew the Singapore leg on the first A380 plane to return to service since the fleet was grounded three weeks ago when an engine exploded on a flight from Singapore.

But while passengers on the A380 flight to London got away on time, passengers on board flight QF1 to London via Bangkok were pulled off their flight because of an engine fault.

"The aircraft was taxiing to the runway and the pilot had an indication of an issue with one of the engines, and following procedures it returned to the bay," a Qantas spokesman told News Limited.

The passengers disembarked at about 7pm and were given meal vouchers while engineers examined the engine, but at 9pm they were told the flight was cancelled.

It is expected to leave at 9am today.

AAP

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/another-qantas-plane-has-engine-failure-20101128-18bq7.html

Are they problems? I remember a few years ago Garuda seemed to be in the news constantly with problem after problem. At the time I had a friend who was a travel agent and she told me I would be surprised at how many planes are delayed or turned around because of mechanical problems and at the time the media were just catapulting it to front page news.  I tend to think the same thing is happening now with Qantas.  It was reported a few weeks ago that a Qantas plane was turned around because it hit a flock of birds,  does that really warrant reporting? Another news report mentioned how a Qantas plane was struck by lightening, seriously?  A few years ago my MIL was on an Air NZ flight that was struck by lightening and had to make an emergency landing in Auckland, this event didn't seem newsworthy.

I'm a Qantas frequent flyer and I intend to keep flying Qantas, hell I'll even take a walk on the wild side and fly on the A380 again.  Would you?