Life in Middle Girth

Mood: Cheerful
Listening to: Dance with the Stars

Sunday, 9.55 pm

 

I have had a busy (for me) fortnight - one school meeting, two squash games, two scrapbooking classes, one art class, a Prenzel party and the Home Show.

 

An artist with brushes and canvas, I am not. I knew it; the class confirmed it. Three and three quarters of an hour for one canvas, awful. Five minutes, two canvasses, left over paint on the palatte - wonderful. Tsk tsk. I now have a greater affinity with abstracts.

 

On the other hand, the scrapbooking classes have got me all enthused, now I just need some unfilled hours to get stuck in! I really, really want to do our last year's Fiji trip, but not until I have time and space to dedicate to it. A weekend retreat would be marvellous. Yeah, as if.

 

The Home Show gave us lots of ideas to mull over, and we've got a sort of plan draughted up with the help of no. 2 son on the computer - he's really clever at this! Who knows what it could lead to! We both know we want a couple of things - wood fire, solar water heating, island in the kitchen - but there are so many things to consider that its really daunting.

I  have changed the wheelie bin from fortnightly collection to weekly, and am really trying hard to shed possessions. Got snapped by the kids last weekend as I tried to biff some pig ornaments - years ago I mothered some piglets after their mama died in pigbirth, and have collected piggy ornaments off and on ever since, but everybody in the whole world thinks anything porcine is a good gift for me come birthdays and Christmas, and the ranks have swelled ridiculously when there are really only a few self chosen ones that I actually want. Sigh, I tried.

 

I have got two areas upstairs upstairs designated for ordering chaos - one for keepers and movers and the other for garage sale stuff. Be impressed - I have chucked out our 1985 Christmas cards and Brent's 21st cards. Progress for a magpie. (Well ok I didn't throw them out, I sent them to school in response to a request from the Junior School Art Dept, along with a couple of bags of knitting wool that I know I will regret parting with some day.)

 

OMG Lorraine has four 10s.

On the positive side, Brent has finished the back staircase so now we can move the piano out as soon as the new piano caregiver can gather enough manpower to move it! He also has fixed the fire damper so that we can turn the fire down overnight and just kick it into life in the morning. Lovely. Even if it hasn't been going long enough to warm the air, the sight of it warms the soul.

 

And my goodness it has been cold this week. Yes, I know its nothing like what the southerners have had, and we haven't been without power for even five minutes let alone fifteen days - but cold it has been. Number one son has spent the weekend at Ohakune at a squash tournament and it wasn't until after lunch Friday that they knew whether or not they'd be able to get there. As it happened, the road north of Taihape opened around 2pm so they managed.

Oh I do want Beatrice to win. Lorraine is a poser.

 

Too cold at this end of the house, back to my fire.

Warm wishes,

Jaybee.

Mood: Chuckling
Listening to: More silence

Thursday, 11.11pm

 

OMG (oh my god) how could I have forgotten to mention the news of the century?

 

Thinks, now how shall I slip this in casually? Impossible. Just out with it.

 

Those readers who are Kiwi will probably have heard about the record breaking Lotto win a couple of weeks back. The biggest prize ever won in NZ it was, eighteen million dollars. Well........guess what? It wasn't me. But it was my cousin!!!!! Tickle me arse wiv a fevva I'm still getting over that one. Her mum and my mum were sisters. We had no idea until watching the news one night and heard the interview that Paul Holmes did with the winner - it sounded like cousin Helen. Then bugger me the name came across and it WAS cousin Helen! My dinner nearly fell to the floor, I was speechless, making wild arm movements to Brent who was a bit slow on the uptake. How exciting is that??  And, apart from the normal things (house, car, boat) that any big winner would buy, the biggest excitement for her is that her daughters-in-law and daughter will never ever have to put their kids in daycare and go out and work as she did (she was a single mum with 6 kids at one stage).

 

And her Prada shoes gave her blisters.

 

Wow. Amazing. Yep I know money isn't everything, but it is pretty impressive. She deserves to enjoy it - what goes round seems to have come round after all (lots of history which I ain't going to share) which is nice to know, and I know that she'll do lots and lots of good with it.

So there - I bask in reflected dazzle. Mind blowing stuff.

Jaybee

Mood: Under control
Listening to: Silent house

Thursday, 10.49pm

 

This is a bitsy piece, hence the title. My brain is in a hurry to offload bits and pieces.

1. The section appears to be going ahead, now we just have to wait on Council approval of the surveyors subdivision report. Fingers crossed - but bear in mind nothing is ever simple and it will always cost more than you reckoned on.

 

2. Duncs lost a tooth last Friday and has two others on the verge. He seems loathe to really give them a good twist and tug, they just dangle crookedly and drive me nuts.

 

3. Sewed name tags on somebody from school's entire uniform tonight, except the socks (because I'd run out of black cotton). How the hell do  you sew nametags on socks?? This is my latest voluntary thing - working on the theory that I'd rather do that myself than have kids losing their uniform bits.

 

4. There appears to be some money missing at work. Can't believe any of us would have lifted it, but there seems to be no other explanation. Except for the man who is supposed to collect it - its an agency thing. Its left a shadow over the place.

 

5. Am enjoying knitting little things again, makes a lovely change. The wee baby that I'm knitting for was brought in to visit me at work yesterday, he's just a perfect miniature speciman. Has just achieved his birth weight of five and a bit pounds - not bad considering he's not even supposed to have been born for another couple of weeks!

 

6. Went to a Prenzel party last night, run by the same boring bland soul-less creature that did the Joanna G party a couple of weeks ago. She'd increase her sales many times if she just zinged a bit instead of dead pan Lynne of Tawa nasals. Ordered a vinegarette dipping thing, a mini-multi pack of liqueurs and some smokey manuka salt flakes.  Daring, eh.

 

7. The stuff I bought from the Joanna G night arrived earlier in the week. I haven't opened it yet, much to everyone's amusement at work! Not "in the mood".  I hasten to add that nothing I purchased requires batteries, nor is it made of flimsy material. You can try to guess if you like but I will neither confirm nor deny anything!!

 

8. Cancelled Visa, started Mastercard. The low interest rate on balance transfers was the driving force. Now I hope to see some rapid downward progress with the outstanding balance which has hovered around $3000 for the last eighteen months - most payments swallowed up with interest and fees. Have only used the damned card once recently, for rugby tickets for Pip.

 

That's it for now folks, hopefully my electric blanket will be just about scorching the sheets by now, ready for me to slip in and sigh with bliss. Hopefully I will get a whole night's sleep unbroken with mad haemmoragaic (god is that a word??) dashes to the loo. I might be approaching the time of power surges (aka hot flushes or menopause) but everything is still in full working order, and then some. What a waste. No wonder the blood bank didn't want me, it's all going elsewhere.

 

Until the next session...

Jaybee