You gotta take the rough with the smooth!

At this point I am wondering what smooth may look like, as once again life is throwing some curve balls at me. I have had to make the decision that I will not be going back to NZ for Christmas which has been a hard decision to make. I was searching the net last week for airfares that wouldn't break the bank, when I got the bill for a new water heater in the house at home (NZ) which also involved something to do with taps or pipes which had to be done. I had thought around $1000 -$1500 but have been flattened by the $2550 bill which in effect has taken care of the air fare.

I was wondering whether I could still swing it but today got news that Phil is staying with family in Sydney and not coming back to WA. He has finally made the decision that he will need to wind up his lease on the house that I have been house sitting for him. Phil is ringing the landlord tomorrow to see what his situation with the lease is, whether I can take it over and how long for, whether there will be an increase in rental, and then I have to work out how to manage. At the current rent, I would have to get someone else in, if it goes up, it would be a stretch I think. He is also working with the removal people to get his household packed up to go before Christmas, so if I do stay on, would not have a skerrick in the house until I can get my stuff out of storage. I had thought of going home for a month which would be a month of outgoings with no income so just a step too far at the moment.

When I left Tardun I was under the impression my moving was taken care of by the school and because I had no job before I left, it was agreed that it could go into storage in town with the moving company until I knew where I was going to be. When I went to get it moved once I finally got the jobs at school and DCP so knew I was finally staying in Geraldton, I rang the movers only to be told it would cost $1500 to be delivered!!!!! When I managed to get hold of the money bloke concerned, I said if I had thought that there was going to be a charge to deliver to the final destination, I would have had them ship the whole lot back to NZ and be done with it which would have cost them a fortune - silly me for thinking I would be saving them money. I told the bloke it would be next Christmas before I could manage that on top of everything else, so at this stage it continues to sit in storage, which they are paying for until I can work out the next step. I can go pick it up myself for a release fee of $110 but there are challenges there too.

I had borrowed a trailer from Janette from out at the farm about four weeks ago as this particular Friday the WMH had a day off, I had a day off and the WM's boys were on school hols. I rang the movers to see if I could maybe pick some of the gear up but was told that they would need several days notice as there was no one there to drive the forklift to move anything.- Could I get it on the Saturday - they do not work Saturdays. They do not work after 4pm, and they do not move stuff after 3pm therefore I cannot go get it after school, nor can I get it on the weekends - so back to square one. At this stage, I am thinking I am going to have to take a day off work and see what I can do. Unfortunately when they packed up my stuff, they packed the whole house which involved a good amount of Tardun property so have no idea what I am to do about that. More sleepless nights as I try to work all this out.

Last week while working at the home, two of the boys decided to go off with some neighbouring boys technically absconding from the home, so the police had to be notified. They finally came back around 9pm very sheepish after having been missing for four hours. Have to say, only having the two younger boys to manage was a piece of cake. To even things out, we had a new boy start at school last week who got squirted with a water pistol on his first day. When he nudged the boy who squirted him, he ended up getting a torn teeshirt, scratched chest and he walked out after a mere two hours. Needless to say the boy who thought it was just a joke to begin with, cooled his heels at home for the rest of the day after getting the Lynn lecture before he went - and on his return, which is an eye glazing experience at best. He has been trying very hard to be on his best behaviour since. Meanwhile the new boy has returned.

Got to go out on the long boat again on Monday which was awesome. It was a very windy day in contrast to the almost calm outing of the week before. (I tried to upload photos but the hamsters are not working at full potential tonight so could not get the photos to attach). The swell was about a metre high and there were times the front of the boat was airborn and then would crash into the waves. The boys tacked up the harbour and we doing about 30 knots which is a fair speed indeed. Believe it or not, in the wind that we had, two boys climbed up the mast while we were zooming over the waves - have no idea what it would have looked like if they had fallen, and me thinking health and safety nearly had a conniption but apparently they had done it before and the guy who took us out seem unperturbed by the whole deal. Then what was also a little disconcerting was that one of the boys threw a water bottle over board as a man overboard practice, so the others had to tack and try to come around - the bottle completely disappeared and when finally spotted was some distance away and even though we did turn about, we were not able to "rescue it" - note to self - do not fall overboard with this lot sailing lol.

Tuesday was back to the gym so our students could continue with their fitness training. I had a go on one of the bikes during Friday session and had hoped that seeing most of the students had their programs already organised, I might get one set up, but no such luck. On arrival, we were told that one of our boys who had only just come back after time out, had been banned from the place for abusing one of the staff after he and his mates had tried to nick some pool balls the previous week. I was delegated to take him home for the afternoon but as this was being discussed, he kicked off and said he didn't want to come to the poxy place anyway, and he would burn the place down (or words to that effect). To give him a wake up call, the gym called the Police, who turned up and made him realise what a foolish thing he had done. Ah, all in a days work, lol.

Just as I have been trying to work out the issue of Christmas, I have been inundated with mention of NZ on the telly. I was semi-dozing late the other night when the sound of a haka bought me to my senses - woohoo, it was a particularly vigorous one with the NZ team going up against the English team playing rugby league in Wellington. I actually ended up by watching the game the the poms being beaten, heh heh. On Sunday I was watching the V8 racing on the Gold Coast and there blazing home in second place, the commentators were raving about the NZ driver who nearly took out the winner in the last lap by some brilliant driving (even though he was driving a Ford). Then on Monday - up pops Grant Denier (not sure if that is how you spell his surname) who does the weather from some amazing places all over Australia for GWN morning tv program, popped up in Christchurch, and then at Lake Tekapo today ??? Yesterday afternoon while drifting through the channels avoiding hideous children's programs (lots of noise and colour) there was Paul Mecurio of "Ballroom Dancing" fame, (who now does cooking programs amongst other things), - you guessed it - he was in NZ, doing "New Zealand on Plate". He was teamed up with a Maori woman who does a cooking program of her own, showing him through Moana Fisheries in Auckland where they got fish for several different dishes, and she also featured *Rush Munro Ice Cream (which is to die for)as part of a dessert that she made. And last but not least, on the World News this afternoon (again avoiding children's programs) there was mention of a list of the least corrupt countries in the world - New Zealand was second after Denmark!!!!!! lol It has been a little like having salt rubbed into a wound and kind of surreal to see the haka, to hear a karanga and to see people hongi on an Australian tv channel but is also wonderful in its familiarity.

Last week was the Number one Grandson's 8th birthday - another tug at the heartstrings. I rang on the day but there was a small gathering of mates playing treasure hunts and army so said a brief hello and rang back on the weekend. He had some friends around after school and the treasure hunt ended with a chest with a skull in it (not a real one Nana just a pretend one) with Halloween type lollies such as lips, fingers,etc. I am waiting on photos to be emailed of the event. I had posted a Harry Potter card (owl post) and sent him two Ben 10 teeshirts and the next two Harry Potter movies that he did not have which he was very pleased with.

Since not being able to go home for Christmas, the next decision I have made,is that I will be home for Easter instead. Sister Kay and friend Viv (wave) are organising a school reunion for Kariaotahi School - the primary school I attended from 5yrs until the end of my 9th yr. Definitely something to look forwards to.

*Rush Munro Ice cream is 100% natural product - no additives or preservatives and has the best flavours. It is made in the Hawkes Bay but goodgle them for an outlet near you :). My particular favourites were licorice - which I see they no longer make, feijoa which is devine as is their rum and raisin. After checking out their current list, I want to try their Lemon gin, Lemon Honey, Manuka Honey and Mocaccino.

Had better go get some shut eye so night night all.

Life on the Ocean Wave

Just thought I would let you all know how hard life is at the moment lol. Once again have been busy, somewhere over 65hrs last week but things are slowing down somewhat over the next two weeks. After my last post, I actually had the luxury of several days off - unfortunately it was too late notice for me to have planned anything so was a little disappointed at first, but then, oh the joy, time to stand still and catch up with some of the little things in life such as finishing a book I had on the go for weeks, some shopping for summer clothes, and actually catching up on some long overdue emails to friends and family. I had several days work at the home during the second week of the holidays and then a meeting with the Principal of the school who made a lightening visit from Queensland.

The upshot of that visit, is I am now employed until 10 Dec for 30 hrs week and have changed from being a casual to part time. That means I am entitled to sick pay if I get sick etc. So, just a little bit more security woohoo. The job that I am currently doing which is a mixture of youth worker, teacher aid and social worker is to be advertised as a full time position for next year which I am able to apply for so watch this space.

I am still working at the home though am adjusting hours there and will probably do one afternoon shift and some weekend work as required. I got two twelve hour shifts last weekend and two afternoons which just pushed things a bit so was feeling less than my usual tranquill self (lol) by Monday afternoon when I got home from school, reached the couch and slept like a log for a couple of hours. Jude bless her heart was staying a couple of nights and I woke up to a roast chicken dinner on the go.

On Saturday (at the home) we went down to Dongara for the day and took the kids fishing. Well, I watched one who wanted to spend most of his time in the water, and my co-worker watched the three who wanted to fish, thus saving me from the icky bits of handling bait etc. One of the boys caught one small fish but threw it back into the sea before I could get photographic evidence and surprisingly, they kept at fishing and hunting for crabs for several hours.

We went to Port Dennison at Dongara and were at the harbour when the tide was going out so it was a very safe place for the boys to swim. There was even some sandcastle building with a castle wall and a moat with water so lots of fun for all. All this plus a playground beside the public barbeque area/toilets/showers. We had gone prepared, so after the two youngest had done with all their swimming we got them into the showers and into fresh clothes so skipped that job on our return to the home. We had taken a picnic lunch with us, snacks and drinks and got an ice cream as a treat later in the afternoon and apart from some arguing over who was going to sit where in the van before we left, we had a pretty good day out and some very tired boys on our return.

Keeping in theme with all things tidal, the next day at school, the afternoon activity was going out on the Batavia long boat replica around the harbour. The original Batavia longboat was used by Fransisco Pelsaert in 1629 to sail to Batavia (present day Jakarta) in order to get help after his ship (the Batavia) struck a reef at the Abrolhos Islands and sank on its maiden voyage. The Batavia longboat replica was launched in March 2003, the result of a shared vision between the WA Museum Geraldton and the central West College of TAFE.

This boat is used as a training boat to teach kids how to sail - Suffice to say - when I first saw it, I thought, they had to be joking that we would all fit on it, followed by, how the heck will I get in and out of it without disgracing myself, (does this longboat make my bum look big,) lol.



This is two views of the boat. To get into it, the chap who took us out pulled it up to the side of the wharf with one of the long ropes that attached it to the wharf. Then you had to crawl through the rail at the edge of the wharf and basically manage to get yourself from hands on the rails, feet on the wharf to dropping down into the front of the boat hands on a rope and feet feeling their way down a piece of wood that ran down the middle of the front of the boat before the boat pulled away from the wharf as water lapped around the boat. As I said I made it without incident. (On return, I had to pull the boat close to the wharf with a rope, get one of the students to hold that then haul myself up by another rope, feet walking up the side of the boat and then had to launch myself to grab the rails before sliding between them back onto the wharf!!!!!) Then where to sit - there were a few planks at strategic places on the boat that one could sit on, keeping an eye out for sails etc being moved about the place once we had got under way. It felt we were very close to the water, maybe only a foot or two once underway which was a little disconcerting when the swell was about the same. We motored out of the dock area into more open water before the sails went up - and what a buzz it was to be out on the water. Very like being on a bucking horse to start off with when there was more of a swell I must say but then it was like being on one of those rocking loungers - very relaxing I must say.

Splice the main brace, lol
As we sailed about the harbour, we had marvellous views of Geraldton and the port where several ships were docked. There was also a couple of pens fenced off in the middle of all this which is a fish farm run by the local polytech. It is quite bizarre to see it as it is in the main thoroughfare where all the ships come and go. Then not far along from the fish farm, is a pile of rocks known as seal rock where there were about nine different seals were basking in the sun. It was amazing to see them and at first I only noticed two because they blended so well with the rocks and then as we got closer, they became more noticable. I have to say, there was a particular odour about the place, so am not sure whether it was the seals who smelt rank or droppings from cormorants etc but on reflection I think it must have been the seals.
With a bit of luck, this will not be my last outing as the chap who runs the boat is keen to run a course for some of our students that will result in a certificate for them. Depending on how many go out next time, I may have a go at getting the sails up myself and who knows, maybe even a turn at the tiller. All good practice to be a pirate, heh, heh.

Each week our students attend a sporting complex that is run by the police. They have been doing a program of various things such as boxercise, stunt work, gym exercises, trapeze work and rock climbing. Last week there was nothing specific planned so while some of the kids shot hoops, I played several games of pool with some of the others .. again, life is tough, lol. What was very exciting was by sheer fluke I actually hit some balls into the pockets and again did not disgrace myself totally. Today they did rock climbing - I did not have a go at that and took photos instead. The thought of being trussed like a fowl in the harness they had to wear put me off to say nothing of the lack of strength in my arm that is still twinging with tendonitis.

Summer is finally on its way with temps some days around 37o. It means that during the heat of the day, I am now down to one layer, though evenings and mornings I still keep a jumper handy. Have switched to summer night attire and down to one duvet and had one night last week with just a sheet but again, there are still some cool temps at night so keep the second duvet handy. Jude got the hose out and watered the lawn on Sunday night and last night I worked out the tap and hose system so we were able to just switch it on rather than hand hold the hose. I need to find out the days we are allowed to water and what all the gen is around watering as on the news tonight, people are going to be fined if they water when they should not be doing so.

Got very caught up in watching the Commonwealth Games while they were on. Of course Australia won a trillion medals it seemed, - there was not much coverage on anything else that did not have an Aussi competing. How good was it though that NZ got the gold for the rugby 7's and for the netball. Both nailbiting efforts I have to say. Nearly had to turn the telly off at one stage and had to google to see how we did so I could keep watching the rugby. When the Silver Ferns won the netball, it was such a buzz. It was nice to be able to rub those two efforts in lol.

Have just seen on the late news that another Hollywood identity has passed away - Tom Bosely who I remember best as Mr C in Happy Days which was a must see in the seventies with the Fonz and Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham.

Have just noticed the time and it is way past the witching hour. I am working from 8.30 till 11pm today so had better go get some sleep. Catch you later

Days of My Life.

I should be heading to bed but just as I was about to go, after watching a detective programme, before I got to move, up came the next programme - which is a documentary about Pink Floyd - how good is the universe to serve that up completely unexpected - woohoo. It is one I have not seen before, so even better. If I sound a bit random through this its because I am writing and watching at the same time. The other challenge I am coping with as I type this is that the letter "n" has bounced off the keyboard of my laptop and I am having to press a soft plastic thingie instead.

So, since I last wrote - the house inspection has been and gone and for 10 days gardening and tidying up outside, plus a zoom through inside, all I got was a note on real estate paper left on the kitchen table saying "inspection completed"!!!! That and the satisfaction that the place looked mint, if I say so myself. I didn't use the kitchen for another two days just to have it remain spotless lol. It was the last two days of school and I had work at the home so had all of my meals taken care of which worked out well.

I am happy to report, my lurgy seems to have pretty much disappeared. I still get a sore throat early morning and in the evening plus the odd cough here and there so hope I have not ended up with the 100 day cough or whatever it is called.

We finished school last Friday with a day at the local swimming pool and a barbque lunch which everyone seemed to enjoy. I have a meeting this Wednesday morning with the Principal of the school who is coming from Queensland to talk about next term. I then worked on the Saturday at the home which ended up being from 7.45am until 9pm. One of the staff had resigned on the Thursday and there were three off sick imcluding the person I was meant to be working with that day. I ended up having three different people from the main office come and help me during instead, ending up with the boss , his wife and adult daughter late afternoon and evening. The day was interrupted by the big clash in AFL between Collingwood and St Kilda - two Melbourne teams fighting for the Premiership which is the eqivalent of the Bledisloe Cup in Rugby if not bigger. I watched the last quarter and got totally caught up in it when buggar me, the score at the final whistle was 68/68. The woman who was helping me seemed gobsmacked and I said, its alright, there will be a kick off and one will win and one will lose. No, that is not how it works in footie over here. There had to be a rematch. It was the weirdest thing to watch. The players lay on the ground, utterly spent, the crowd was in shock and unusually quiet and the disbelief on their faces was like witnessing a death occurring. People had arranged weddings, holidays etc around the final so this threw the country into a turmoil immediately. To really complicate things, Virgin Blue - the airline that hundreds had been booked on to and from Melbourne had rolled out a new computer system which crashed on the day the game was played that ended up taking over two days to sort. Happening the first weekend of the school holidays, it compounded the chaos. So, after the final footie shows for the year the previous week, programs were rescheduled and there was another round of final programmes for the year again which lead up to the rematch. I can report that today Collingwood absolutely vanquished St Kilda by over 50 points and it was a great game to watch, although I still have difficulty accepting forward passes, lol. I had Jude here at the beginning of the game before she went to work and we were discussing the differences between AFL and rugby - great armchair critics that we were, lol.

Last Monday was a public holiday - I think it was Aussie's Queen's birthday but worked so was oblivious to anything but that. It also happened to be the Sunshine Festival in Geraldton and there was a parade that we took the boys to see. I tell you, the Waiuku Christmas Parade would have put this one into the shade but the boys enjoyed all the hoopla of the trucks, floats and people walking about dressed up - especially the ones handing out lolly pops, lol. The 7 yr old wanted to know if the parade was a party, and made a comment on the army music when the Scottish Pipe band marched past playing some uplifting skirrling type song. I was fascinated in how he put the pipe band and the army together. There was a firefighting koala on the back of a fire engine - that is when I realised it was not another NZ parade lol, and there was a float with a kangaroo, to say nothing of the decorated Holden cars being driven in the line up.

Since then, I have been on holiday - unfortunately, I did not find out until Wednesday I was going to have so much time off so was ill prepared to make plans for anything grand. Probably just as well, as I feel I have recouped some energy and it has been nice poodling about the house, doing a few errands and shopping in town, watching tv etc. I did go to Jude's son's farm on the Tuesday for a run. It is about 10 mins before Dongara. Jude was babysitting her grandchildren so it was kind of a busman's holiday for me, lol. This is the family that were at the camp draft last year so I had met the children before though I think only the two older girls remembered me. They were halfway through watching High School Musical on DVD so Jude and I had a cuppa then after that we went for a walk outside to view the chooks, ducks, rabbit, lamb, and the horses. The shetland pony was caught and the eldest girl brushed him and cleaned out his hooves before letting him go again. She is 11 years old and it took me back to when I was the same age riding, the preparation before you could ride and the lack of fear you have at that age dealing with animals that potentially could do you serious damage if they chose. Their farm runs right to the sea as it is on the coast line so we decided to go down for a look. The kids ran up and down the beach exploring and jumped in and out of the water before we headed into Dongara for an ice cream to round of the afternoon.

I have been utilising my DIY skills over the last week. I have been up a ladder rescrewing the downlight into the ceiling that I had tried to change the light bulb in some weeks ago. I had left it hanging in the ceiling as at that time my arm was aching post working at Maccas and I could not hold the thing in place. The inspection and I guess gaining some strength back in my arm sorted that out, lol. Also had the step ladder out changing the outside light bulb again. Not impressed that the two year guarantee barely lasted two months. The other hiccup was the shower rose dropped onto the shower base and split last week. This meant that as one tried to shower there was this whole other spray of water shooting over the top of the shower box hitting the wall beyond while dripping on ones head at the same time. I found some tape and tried that first but not luck so off to Bunnings I went armed with rose and hose I managed to unscrew from the fixture after finding a pair of pliers in the kitchen cupboards. It was a bit like trying on Cinderella's glass slipper trying to find the right one. This one was too small, that one was too big, that one was too expensive, until after much consideration I made my choice. I asked at the desk if the fittings were the same as the one I took in and was told they were pretty much stock standard and I could return it if it didn't fit. So, armed with pliers and thread tape I attached the new rose and hose to the fixture in the shower and hey presto, it all works and no drips - woohoo. So, I now add plumber to my list of things I can do, heh heh.

Pink Floyd has now finished and am watching something called "rage" which is also brilliant - it is a music programme with heaps of clips of band includind the Travelling Wilberries, the Kinks, John Lennon, David Bowie, Kate Bush, Doors, Dylan (woohoo )to name a few which has been a bonus indeed.

Had the compliment of the centuary paid to me two weeks ago (this when still under the weather and not at my best). We were discussing ages in general when one of my co-workers said she thought I was only in my forties - (and no Kay, she was neither p......d nor was it a dark night, lol). She has become one of my new favourite people, heh heh.

Midst all the sport, I see that Eddie Fisher erstwhile husband of Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, and Tony Curtis who was married to his sixth wife, have both passed away this week. Not much was said about Eddie Fisher but there were tributes all day re Tony Curtis with clips of "Some Like it Hot" with Marilyn Monroe featured as the movie that was his most famous one. .... Am watching Jim Morrison and the Doors as I write this - what a waste his death was. I got to go to the cemetary in Paris where he is buried, which was something I had set my mind on seeing while I was there.

Speaking of work, I really had better go get some sleep. I think I can leave James Brown wearing a orange jumpsuit and jacket, lol. Catch you all later.