Let's Go FG

Off to New Zealand with FG. My team lost by one point. Sigh!

Passers-By

Today, while waiting for the wee-Welshman to finish up his second round of a white blood cell scan at the hospital, I was asked for an opinion. You can not imagine my surprise as few people really want the opinion of a Yank these days. Of course they didn't know I was a Yank until I opened my mouth.

A local reporter was doing the 'Passers-By' column. That is where you ask someone for their opinion about a current topic. Just needs to be a few lines. The great thought-provoking question was, 'How will you spend Grand Final Day?' American translation is 'Super Bowl Sunday.' Be still my brain. AFL fever abounds.

Before engaging my brain I blurted out this witty remark, 'Laughing at my son when his team goes down - the Swans are gonna win.' My first thought after that was dumb answer. The reporter loved it. Evidently, no one else had responded that they were going to rag on their immediate relatives. She replied, 'Good answer - Go the Swans.' I almost blurted out, 'Damn straight!' but stopped as I was afraid she would print that as well.

She snapped my photo for the quote. It ought to be beautiful as the wind was blowing my hair all over the place and I had not an ounce of makeup on. The Welshman rousted me too early and only gave me one cup of coffee - no way could I put mascara on and actually get it on my lashes. Hopefully, she found witty people with better responses to publish.

I told Tony about the little interview. Now I am in for it. Hopefully, the radiation they injected him with will act like Kryptonite and he will forget. He is currently in bed glowing in the dark. Perhaps no one we know will recognise me. Or even better - no one will buy the Sunday paper. At least I have the solace of knowing my son will never see the quote. He lives a full body of water and half a country away. And if my team doesn't come good - I am moving to New Zealand.

I Got Mad Today

Letter I wrote and sent to the newspaper on hubbies behalf, today.


After many years of enjoying the benefits of living in Australia I made the decision to apply for citizenship.I filled out the paperwork, attended the interviews, and passed the security checks. I received a letter telling me that Australia was pleased to accept as a citizen. The letter stated that our local council would notify me when the ceremony would be.

Wanting to be sure everything was in order I took the letter straight to the Huonville Council. They copied the letter and told me I would hear from them in about 6 to 8 weeks saying when the ceremony would be held. Weeks went by and no notification arrived.

This past weekend all over Australia people were sworn in as Australian citizens. I never received any news from our council.

Today I called the council. After flipping me around to four different people, I finally got to speak to the person in charge of setting up the ceremony.

I was told this person had been on vacation for the last two weeks and was swamped. I was the only person needing to be sworn in and besides the Mayor was too busy until November.

The decision to give up my British citizenship and become Australian was not made lightly by me nor should it be by anyone. We are constantly encouraged to become Australian citizens. This decision on the individual’s part should be treated by government employees, be they Mayors or clerks, with respect as well.

If the council could not be bothered holding a ceremony for one person they should have referred me to the next closest council or to the Hobart City Council. I am sure that more than one person was due to be sworn in there.

I am deeply disappointed in the failure of the council to see an individual tax paying resident as worthy of a follow-up effort. And on a higher level to see that person’s decision to become an Australian as so unimportant that they could not at least offer them the opportunity to be sworn without a ceremony or to be sworn in with other individuals by another council holding the ceremony.

T. Young
Cradoc

Near Disaster Averted

My husband's parents called last night. They were ten minutes away from a wall burning down when they caught the problem. Dad went to turn off a light switch and found that the switch was hot. He went and turned off the circuit breaker and called my husband's brother, who is an electrician. He came down and sure enough the wiring was bad. He fixed it but told them that ten more minutes would have set the whole wall on fire. What if they had not caught it or worse - had gone to bed? It shook me up and certainly shook hubbie up. He made a joke about it with his father but it sent us thinking. His parents are 84 and 86.

I am the daughter of an electrician and have a brother and two nephews who are electricians. I have a seriously healthy respect for electricity. I have heard a heap of horror stories in my time. All's well that end's well though. Thank God!

I had good news yesterday. My oldest nephew is coming to Australia in March of next year. First he is going to do the Overland Tour and see the Outback. Then he is off to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. He comes here for ten days on April 20th and then does four days in Melbourne. He will certainly take in a lot of the different sides of this beautiful land. My nephew is a world traveler. He works until he has enough money and then off he goes.

He just spent three months in Africia. Did heaps of wildlife viewing and saw Silverback Gorillas up close. How incredible! In November he is off to Istanbul and then here. What a lot of incredible stories he will have to tell. He is also the first relative who will be visiting us. I am very excited.

Last night watched a wonderful movie called 'Japanese Story.' Toni Colette stars in it. It was so good it made me cry. I think she is one of the top actors in the world. Her range is unsurpassed. Anyway, I won't give the story away but if you haven't seen it - it is well worth watching.

I have been polishing all my brass and copper. Still have to have a go at my pewter. About three times a year I start my nesting phase and I just have to have a go at the polishing and window cleaning and cobweb removal. This will pass and hopefully soon. It is hard to keep things clean when your husband is banging around and putting down oak flooring. I'm getting really tired of being a work in porgress. lol!

Thanks Leolady and Foodkitty for the addresses. Let's all get to updating the blogs. I miss hearing news about what is happening with you all.

Agony Aunts, Creature Comforts and Wallabys

An incredible thing is happening with my hubbie. In the last year he is turning in to an Agony Aunt. Women are telling him their problems. Crying on his shoulder about broken hearts and lousy relationships.

I don't mean that it is incredible as if I am astounded that any woman would want to talk to him. Just that lately, it seems all the women want to talk to him about their broken hearts. Usually, Tony is the one to call when you want to laugh and have fun.

This new role began when he was visiting his mate that was dying. Then it extended to some old friends from his teenage years, then an old friend here. Now it is extending to women at work. Tonight he came home and once again stated how glad he was to be happily married and in particular - married to moi.

He explained that one of the women he works with had had a sad run with men and lately had found someone she was really happy with and they had even talked marriage. Today, at work, the woman got a text message saying it was all over and the guy never wanted to see her again. No explaining. Just the shaft. The poor woman did her best to hold it together but by the end of the work day she fell apart. She asked Tony if he wanted to go to the pub and have a drink but he declined. Told her jokingly that he wasn't allowed and besides he couldn't afford drinking at the pub. Bottom line - he then worried about her state of mind. He tried calling her best mate who also works with hubbie. We tried for 3 hours to reach the woman and couldn't get her. Hubbie thought she would go and check on the woman in distress if we could reach her. I was proud of him for having so much compassion.

My hubbie is a lovely man in my eyes. He can be a bit pragmatic and generally says exactly what he is thinking. I figure that is good because you always know where you stand with him but some people don't like it. This is a new gentler side of him. He is always that way with me but it is lovely to see him caring so much and becoming such a good listener that people are telling him their problems.

At the same time, it is lovely to be married to someone who tells me he is happy he has me and how lucky he feels. The feeling is of course mutual. He was saying last night that more and more he sees how good is to have a wife that cares about what he thinks, feels, wants, and watches his health. We don't want to take each other for granted. And that is so easy to do when you are caught up in the little or big dramas of everday life.

I try to stay aware that hubbie is also an attractive man and I am seeing that other woman find my guy as sympathetic and gentle as I see him. And you know, that is a good feeling.

Another little thing I wanted to talk about was a great little British treasure called 'Creature Comforts. We sat there tonight watching it and laughing our heads off. It is great and all my friends that get UK TV should have a look at it. I love the British sense of humor. It is done in the style of the Wallace and Grommit (?) characters. They interview real people about different subjects and then make these animals to suit what the conversations are about. They apply the voices to the characters. It's really funny. Birds talking about flying like they are jet pilots etc...

Finally, I spent quite a bit of time today watching my resident Wallabys. They were outside our bedroom and my studio windows. They are such gentle creatures. Fluffy and brownish - grey. Beautiful dark brown eyes. They were grazing on the new grass. They are welcome to every bit they want. I love to watch them and I love that they feel so comfortable so close to the house. Perfect peace descends on me while viewing their activities.

Mary Kaying

A friend of mine had never done a Mary Kay party. She felt she was sorely lacking in knowledge so I said we should do one. I hadn't done one in years and they could be fun. So we hooked up with someone and did the party.

Last week we did the facials and then this week we scheduled the make-up party. That is the one I really consider fun and as I told her - you get your colors done and then you at least know what you could look like in make-up. Neither of us wear much make-up anymore. I have long since adapted to country life and like the effects of a BIT of color from the sun. I no longer bake.

We had heaps of fun and now know what we should be wearing. There were only 5 people but it was just the right size party to keep it from being tedious. As I was applying a sheer foundation - I hate heavy make-up - I suddenly realised that my face had gotten very dry. Now, I have never had to do more than a quick wash with soap and a bit of moisturiser. Suddenly I saw patches of dry and the foundation didn't look smooth. I almost jumped up and ran screaming in to the yard. I felt OLD for the very first time.

My girlfriend and the rep noticed my sudden look of a trapped deer in the headlights.
The rep stepped in right away and started telling me what I needed to do to restore the delicate balance. I will get right on that. But it was such a shock. I have always taken my good skin for granted. My mom has beautiful skin and so do my sisters. Of course they have a regular beauty routine. My mother is the Oil of Olay Chairman of the Board. I used to laugh and say I was fine. Now the years of my mom saying moisturise are coming back to haunt me. I felt like bursting in to tears.

I am finally going to have to stop buying the cheapest stuff I can get away with and start shopping in the more expensive range. I still want to run screaming in to the night and I still want to burst in to tears. It better pass in a hurry.

We scheduled another facial party for two weeks away. Dry skin - get thee behind me! Rise Mary Kay and walk again!

Contentment?

I mentioned that Tony had been away for five days. He went back to the mainland to visit his parents and be sure they were okay. He also went to a rugby reunion. Many of his teenage friends were going to be there. These are people that Tony has remained in contact with most of his life. I really wanted him to go and enjoy himself. These opportunities don’t come along very often. After having gone over to visit his friend that was dying twice, I wanted him to have a happy reason for getting together with old friends.

Off he went. His father had been invited to the reunion as he was a past recording secretary and finance secretary of the club. Tony went with his dad and his friends and they had a really good time. Tony ended up dancing up a storm with the wives whose husbands were too busy drinking to dance. He said that one guy was so drunk he ended up dancing with a chair. Whatever floats your boat.

I guess I was a wee bit jealous that other women got to dance with my husband when the only dancing I get to do is a slow dance around the sunroom. My right foot just won’t co-operate with anything faster. But I do have a husband who believes in spontaneous dancing with his wife when he hears a song he loves and thinks is romantic. So I can’t really complain.

Tony called every day and sometimes twice a day. I knew where he was all the time and what he was planning on doing. And he always told me he loves me and misses me. Plus, he is interested in what I am doing. Doesn’t just give me lip-service.

I admit that I was gratified when he came through the door, grabbed me in a big hug and declared he was NEVER travelling again without me. He noticed everything I had done in the house while he was away, checked out my drawings, and the number of circles I had crocheted and listened to my worries about family and friends without falling asleep. And I know he was exhausted. Lol!

As I listened to him talk about his friends lives I started to worry that maybe he regretted his current life. I asked him. He said no. He wouldn’t want their lives. Nor their relationships with their partners. He told me he must be pretty stupid because it turned out that friends he thought had great relationships were screwing around on their partners or turning their backs on them. Some no longer communicated with each other. One had a wife that had breast cancer and double mastectomy and was screwing around on her.
He couldn’t fathom it. And again, I was grateful. Grateful to have a husband who lives with someone with a chronic problem that curtails his life on a regular basis but loves me just the way I am. I am a very lucky woman – I think. My husband heard every word of his marriage vows and he lives by them. Not grudgingly. Just considers them matter of fact.

I’m glad to have him home. A few days once in a while apart makes you appreciate each other all the more, in my experience. I am content with my choice for a partner and so is Tony.

I'M Back - I Hope!

I have been off the site for a while. First of all I changed my Internet contract in an attempt to be economic. Of course, I shot myself in the foot. Halfway through the month of August I had used up my quota and I finished up at 125% of my usage. Ouch! And of course, it would happen when Tony was away for five days on the mainland and I had all this free time to surf the net and write. I ended up working around the house instead.

So I have sorted out my usage and gone back to unlimited downloads and now I can get back to writing and surfing. In-between doing all the other things I need to do.

Spring is here and the yard is filling up with daffs, jonquils, hyacinth, and daisies. The fruit trees are either budding up or in blossom. It is really lovely. The wattle trees are loaded with flowers in all shades of yellow and my ‘Happy Wanderer’ vines are massed with purple flowers. The contrasting colors are a visual delight.

I have also been crocheting circles. I have 120 at the moment. I am going to make a very colourful bedspread when I am done making circles. I just have to figure out the best way to connect them.

I’ve also been working on some greeting card designs. I had several family members who needed to receive a card last month so they all got homemade ones. I was pleased with the results. I will continue making them.

I was of two minds about renewing my membership with WC but I talked with Tony and Mary and decided to renew it. I just haven’t been getting any writing done and felt it was a waste. The solution is to get down to business and make time every day for some writing. Besides, I would miss some people if I wasn’t
reading their journals or blogs.

Well this entry isn’t meant to be anything but an update on where I have been. I will write something better - I hope – in my next entry.