WHO INVENTED WORKING FOR A LIVING...???

yesterday i worked - so much paperwork and filing to catch up on after the business being shut down for a week - i had to go back today to finish what i couldn't get done yesterday and will have to go back on monday for an hour or so to finish what i couldn't get done today.

like i said....

WHO INVENTED WORKING FOR A LIVING...???

i have thought about scrapping, i have read a few pages of the latest fk before i went to sleep last night, i have "tried" to tidy my scrapping room and organise supplies to take to sydney with me next week...
the only thing i haven't flippin' well done is actually scrap
*SIGH*
hopefully this weekend i will get a chance to scrap as i have a few things i need to get done.

today kait and i shopped for a school backpack for her.
came home with a new school hat, a new lunch box, two new pairs of school joggers/shoes, some tops for mummy
($35.00 reduced to $13.95 - BARGIN...!!!)
but NO BACK PACK...lol
back tomorrow for her to decide on the one she wants.

i called Donna, my best friend, tonight.
it is so good to have that person in your life who you can tell anything to
- and i mean anything -
and know that they will never laugh at you, or ridicule you or think you are silly.
we tell each other bad jokes (and laugh uproariously at each other), help each other out with problems we have, bitch about our hubbies and kids and then tell each other how much we love them in the very next breath.
as friends we have been through so many happy times together, i was the first person after shane to hold niki when she was born, we have cried together when we lost our parents, our children have played together and become friends, we have shared our love of crafts
well...
you get the idea.
i love you dearly my dear friend
just a pity you live so far away.

anyways...the night is rolling on and i am waiting for mark and jakey to get home.
jake went up to palm beach to trial for their premier youth soccer team tonight.

again we are tossing around the idea of moving to the gold coast.
jake would love to attend palm beach high as part of their elite specialist sports program.
the idea of moving away from our dysfunctional extended families holds more and more appeal as each drama unfolds
i guess we will have to wait and see what happens in the next few weeks

until tomorrow...

have fun
be brave
&
smile

~*~shazz~*~

UPDATE

hi-dee-ho one and all.

well i have been "m.i.a" for the past few days because of the hustle and bustle of school hols and having mark home on hols too - he gets so chatty when he is relaxed - and also the fact that mark and i had a few days on the gold coast.
it was sooooo relaxing and even though we missed the kids like crazy it was a well-needed pick-me-up for us as a couple.

we are desperately trying to reduce our tax at the moment and decided we would jump into the world of investment real estate - well actually mark jumped and i needed one almighty shove...!!!
the company we decided to go through shouted us a night at the raddison at carrara. we crunched some numbers with their accountant yesterday then spent the day driving around the coast looking at properties that we could afford.
had it not been so horrendously hot and humid, i am sure my brain would have taken in a lot more of the "facts and figures" stuff but by 4 p.m. yesterday i was so emotionally drained that mark could have bought a $16 million house and i don't think i would have batted an eyelid.
but we have decided not to buy just yet and explore a few more options available to us.

so after jumping in and out of air con all day, we said goodbye to the lovely chap from the real estate, booked into our room at the raddison (such a lovely resort and the rooms were so nice), then hit the robina town centre for a good look around (i haven't been there for ages)
mark bought himself some new shirts, we wandered in and out of stores looking at things we couldn't possibly afford but pretended we could anyways, had a VERY late lunch of crepes and iced chocolates (yummo) and i managed to find a scrapping store.
so i plonked mark on the seat outside with a magazine and went in for a browse. not that they had much "new" stock but i did manage to pick up some chipboard shapes, suede blossoms, and some kimberly hodges patches which are just adorable.
i was a bit taken aback when i enquired where all their heidi swapp stock was and the girl asked me if hs was a "new" scrap designer !!!!!

back to the resort for a nap before the whole resort suffered a series of power gliches and the entire air con system just stopped !!!
we decided to eat dinner at the resort's restaurant, only to be told they had no tables for us and power in the kitchen so only a cold buffet was available.

so we jumped in the car and headed over to broadbeach were we found a steakhouse and seafood restaurant - with air-con.
and the meal was just delicious.
mark had a rump steak with mushroom sauce and i had mortean bay bugs with chilli sauce - YUM YUM YUMMO
it was so nice sitting there together and even though we mainly talked about the kids we both agreed that our marriage was in desperate need of some "us time". we have decided to keep to our pact we made when we first got married of a monthly "date" to keep the spark there. not that i think the spark ever went away - just got snuffed out a bit over the years
(we have been married 19 years next week - jan 10 - but kait and i will be in sydney visiting my sister)

back to the raddison and still no air-con so we sat out on our little balcony watching the storm and just enjoying being in each other's company.

the rest of the night was very much "us time" so i won't go into any details
*WINK*

it was nice to have a sleep in this morning and then wander up for breakfast before we headed home.

and it's just so nice to be home feeling refreshed and renewed and having fresh eyes to look at things and make some decisions about where we are heading as a family and as a couple.

thanks for listening to the waffle.

until next time

~*~ shazz ~*~

HAPPY NEW YEAR

couldn't let the first day of a new year roll by without a post in my blog.
i hope whatever you did last night, you had a great time, lots of laughs and that waking up this morning wasn't too hard for anyone.

we had such a great night. our friends kerrie and graeme didn't arrive until 10.30 as they had a 40th to go to. pete, our other mate, his daughter hollie, and kerrie and graeme's kids, taylor and logan arrived about 9.30. mark and pete went off to the pub to have a few drinks with another friend who has just seperated from his wife so they were there until about 10.15.
i just pottered about the place, getting dips and nibblies organised, vaccuumed the floor
(yes....i really did)
and kept an eye on the kids.
matt and jake had a few friends here too so it was a pretty full house.

after kerrie and graeme arrived we sat out in the courtyard and played cranium which is a totally hilarious game at the best of times but after a few champagnes
(pink of course, with strawberries in the glass)
it was just so funny. it was hard to get the questions out between the giggling.
at midnight we all whooped and hollered and lit sparklers.
all the kids danced around on the reserve with their sparklers - a really great photo op - pity i forgot to take any pics.
i called some friends on the sunshine coast who romptly turned around at 1 a.m. and called back to with us a happy QLD new years....lol.

all the guests left in a taxi about 3 a.m. and by the time mark and i did a quick clean up to try and prevent the daily ant invasion
(they came anyway)
it was almost 3.45 a.m. before we crawled into bed.
the alarm went off at 5.45 because i forgot to turn it off (ewww) but we all were still in bed asleep at 10 this morning.

spent the day in our jimmy jams just hanging around the house.
the boys played a strategy game on the computer, kait drew pics in her room and continued building her doll house with mark, and i veged out all day just pottering about the house and reading the latest scrapbooks etc mag
just love that mag. i also have the latest fk which i have yet to open.

anyways...that's enough of a waffle for today.
whatever you did last night i hope you had a blast.
and waking up this morning wasn't too much of a task for you.

may 2006 be a wonderful, fulfilling, creative, happy, blessed year for us all.

~*~ shazz ~*~

HOPE IT'S HAPPY...

i thought i would post a few pics to see out the new year.
(i'll be blowed if i can get these damn pics to post in the body of the blog *sigh*)

the photos of kait and my niece bianca, were taken on christmas eve after we set the little wading pool up for the girls in the garage. it was so hot and they had a great time playing in the pool - bianca was in fits of laughter at kait just pouring water from one container to the next.
don't you just love those big blue eyes of bianca's...???
and how grown up does my baby girl look...???
i can't believe that she will be 10 in just 5 months time.

the calendar is the gift i scrapped for my dad and step-mum
(they loved it by the way)
i scrapped calendars for my dad, my mum and mark's parents - all with different pics but all with the same quote. they all seemed to like them.
the calendars cost $3.00 each from the local book store and when the year is over they will make a nice wall hanging for the oldies to keep.

hoping that you all have a fan-tab-u-lous new years eve and that 2006 shapes up to be all that you desire.
looking forward to seeing all the crazy pics of tonight's antics that you post.
our nye will be fairly sudued this year i think. just a few friends coming around for a few drinks and playing of board games and listening to music...
but you just never know......*wink*

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S TO YOU ALL

~*~ shazz ~*~

A NEW LOOK

i have decided to change the look of my blog.
green is my favourite colour and i love the freshness and feel of this blog template (and i have admired nic howards for ages - hope you don't mind that i am using it too nic) and to be honest the other blog was starting to depress me a bit and my life lately has been depressing enough as it is thanks.
i will add all the "extra bits" on the side when i can remember how to do it
(or i can convince shari to help me out like last time)

i hope that you all had a wonderful christmas, got thoroughly spoilt and had a lot of fun with loved ones.

our christmas was "interesting" and i won't bore you with the details but needless to say mark and i both agree that christmas here on our own - just our own little family of five - is the way we will be going in the future.
too many rellies carrying around their own excess baggage and "issues" and mark and i both agree that christmas is for our kids and their happiness and sense of the season is what is important to us.

the kids got thoroughly spoilt for chrissy. and that's the way it should be too.
* matt
- an electric shaver which i was surprised to see him using AGAIN today.
- clothes of his own chosing (can't get the size, style or colour wrong there)
- dvds, books, games, calendar
- soccer balls

* jake
- metronome to help him keep rhythm on his drums, drumsticks
- clothes of his own chosing (can't get the size, style or colour wrong there)
- dvds, books, games, calendar
- soccer balls

* kait
- a sound system small enough for her room but big enough for matt not to "borrow"
- clothes, books, games, calendar, dvds
- lots of crafty things to make and do

they all were happy with their gifts.
we have had so much fun as a family playing all the games
("cranium" is shaping up as a firm pratten family favourite)
and with the weather being so atrociously hot it has been nice to vege out under the fans and watch dvds.

my sister and her husband and their daughter, bianca were here for christmas as were my dad and step-mum.
it was so cool sharing christmas with bianca as it was her first christmas. kait took great delight in reading bianca a christmas story every chance she got and it was amazing to see the two of them sitting on the lounge together, bianca listening intently as kait read the story using all the appropriate "voices" for the characters in the book she was reading.
and like all 11 month olds bianca was more intrigued by all the paper around the place and the boxes everything came in than the actual presents themselves.

everyone that i scrapped gifts for were pleased with what they received - calendars are the way to go i think as they are the gift that lasts all year.
i was especially pleased with the diaries i scrapped - $1.70 from woolies - some cardstock, patterned paper, ribbons, embellishments and TAH-DAH.
and the only excuse i have for not having any pics to share is that the heat must have addled my brain - dad's calendar is still here so i will snap a pic tomorrow before they head off.

well that is enough of a waffle for tonight.

pics tomorrow of christmas frivolity and hopefully a calendar or two.

until then, stay safe and be happy

~*~ shazz ~*~

TAGGED !!!

i have been tagged by the gorgeous michelle grant - thanks michelle
(i actually like doing these things but never seem to get tagged, so thanks for my chance to waffle on a bit)

here's my spin on things...

Never in my life: do i want to go through the trauma of losing a child or my darling man, mark - i have witnessed first hand the grief that goes with losing a child and it is a very dark place to be and i pray i never have to go there.

When I was Five: i celebrated the last christmas with my dad for over 36 years (dad and mum seperated not long afterwards)
this christmas my dad will be at my house.
how exciting !!!

High School is: where i met mark and, corny as it sounds, the minute i laid eyes on him i knew i would marry him one day.
it is where i also excelled at being "miss goody two shoes" after a few wild years.

I once met: john paul young at a truck stop. we were on our way back to lismore after 4 years in canberra and i was pregnant with jake and as sick as a dog. i smiled at him, told him i loved him when i was younger then promptly ran out of the shop and threw up in a garbage bin. i made mark go back and explain that i was pregnant and he gave me an autographed napkin and a wave through the window
probably wanted to keep his distance

When I turn my head left I see: our new internet phone (we use it with a program called "skype") and i hate it cause i can never get the blasted thing to work

When I turn my head right I see: the "ab swing" with cobwebs on it - says a lot for my exercise regieme hey...???

A better name for me would be: mrs brad pitt - those of you who know me well will know the story - no laughing please girls !!!

I have a hard time understanding: my mother-in-law's intense dislike of me which has filtered down to my children - awful nasty piece of work THAT woman.
i have been with mark for 25 1/2 yrs and i am STILL not good enough for him or the precious family.

You know I like you if: keep in contact with you.
i have been very deeply hurt by certain people of the past few years and i tend to withdraw from their company, very quietly and then POOF !!!! - i'm outta there !!!
never to be seen from or heard of again !!!

Take my advice: read the "Desiderata" every day and try and live by what it says.

If you spent the night at my home: you will be surrounded by mayhem with my family coming and going to soccer practice, band practice, soccer games, physie classes, getting homework done, going to business meetings, call outs for our business clients, etc. etc but you will always find someone to talk to, somewhere comfy to sit, a yummy home cooked meal (by me), a cold drink (or a cuppa if you would prefer), someone willing to give up their bed for you, a dog to sit on your lap and check you out.
when can we expect you...???

I always make a point to: tell the people i love and care about that i love and care about them.

Not a day goes by that: i don't tell mark and the kids i love them and give them a cuddle (although the boys tell me they aren't "cuddle material" anymore - yeah right guys !!!)

I'd rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: spend any time with my in-laws.
we have to go there on boxing day and play happy families
someone pass me a cockroach would you...???

And by the way: not only am i having my dad and step-mum here for christmas but also my sister and her hubby and their baby.
YAY - we get to spend bianca's first christmas with her - how exciting is THAT ???

consider yourselves tagged - shari and ivy

thanks for the opportunity to spill my guts michelle.....LOL

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

a lo celebrating my relationship with mark's simply darling auntie joanie - one of the most amazing, generous, caring and inspirational women i know. her marbled papers are gorgeous and i love having so many of them in my stash

this pic was taken at kait's farewell preschool concert back in 2001. she played the angel and with the look she gave us as she walked past she "almost" looked like an angel.


these are two of the los i submitted for a dt position with bumble bee designs.
in my wildest imagination i KNEW i didn't stand a chance i did kinda think my entries were some of the best los i had done.

the "thanks but no thanks" email was not well received (poor matty and jakey thought someone had died again) and after the day i had it wasn't an email i should have opened today.
oh well...i gave it a go and although i know none of the girls who are on the team i am sure their work is amazing.

just want to thank to the simply gorgeous marie for her constant support, encouragement and friendship
thanks to shari for her support and encouragement too.

hope you all have a great day tomorrow

~*~ shazz ~*~

SORRY

i am sorry i haven't blogged for a few days
(so much happening to and around my family)

i am sorry if i don't blog for a while - i will when i can
(so much happening in the next few days that will need my full attention)

i am sorry i can't share my life with you at the moment
(i am scared of being "scolded" for being too negative)

* i hope that you all survive the lead up to the silly season
* let your hair down a bit & get caught up in the magic that is christmas
* enjoy time with your family & friends
* wave to the shopping centre santa - i guarantee he will wave back
* do something nice for a stranger - i handed over my last $5.00 to a sweet lady yesterday who couldn't decide whether to leave the sweets for her husband or the stockings for her grandchildren - she repaid me with a teary hug & i felt so good inside as i walked away

may you have rainbows and candy canes in your life tomorrow
hugs, cuddles and kisses from those you love

~*~ shazz ~*~

DISRESPECT~DISBELIEF~DISAPPOINTMENT

i have seen the footage over and over again and i still can't get my head around the images of australians beating up on each other, destroying the property of others and hunting down each other like animals.

WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON???

and the thing that makes my blood boil the most, is seeing the australian flag being burnt.

so many young australians - not much older than those young people who are burning the flag - sacrificed their lives, fighting under that flag so we could live in harmony and peace and with the level of freedom we have come to know.
and these "animals" show the ultimate disrespect to this sacrifice by burning our flag.
and in reality it is their flag too, so what does that say about what they think of australia - the country they call home.
if nothing else, that flag unites us all as australians.
to see it being burnt makes me so angry and so very very sad.

so many opinions have been put forward as to whose fault it is that these riots have taken place.
is it the media who only reports the sensational aspects of the story to get us to watch their reports and read their papers?
is it the police who have allegedly sat back according to locals, and let the tension simmer for months?
is it the religious leaders who, through their passionate sermons of what is right and wrong according to their religion, incite these people to do the wrong thing?
is it the judicial system, who gives these young people a mere slap on the wrist for major crimes - bcause they have smart lawyers who get them off on a technicality?
where are the parents of these young people - were they not taught them right from wrong, respect for others and tolerance?

i don't know the answers.
i don't know where it will all end.
i fear for our country and our way of life.

i pray for the police officers, ambos and community leaders who put their lives on the line to keep others safe.
how frightening to be in such a situation and how scared their families must be for them.
i also pray for the people who have been affected by the thoughtlessness of others and for those who have a very unbalanced view of what is right and wrong.

take care everyone.
until tomorrow

~*~ shazz ~*~

AS UNPRODUCTIVE AS IT GETS

OH POO
POO
POO
POO

what an unproductive day i had today. from the time kait rolled over me and turned off the alarm instead of hitting snooze i should have known the day would be "interesting".
dashed out of bed at 6.30 and posted the qotw on ASC for shari - mr steve, shari and the boys are having a well earned break this week and i offered to do the qotw for her.
then mark decided he wanted to discuss the racial riots in sydney yesterday and overnight - i hate verbal sparring with mark because he is so logical about things and i am so emotional and passionate (must be my spanish heritage i think)

the phone rings at 7.30 and it is my sister jo wanting to know could she come here for lunch and could i look after my nephew for a few hrs while she went to the ante-natal clinic. jarrod is one full-on, over-the-top little guy who wants to know the "who, what, why and when" of everything he encounters so i knew that scrapping would be out as i had planned for the afternoon.

after i burnt the toast, not once, but three times as mark tried to "discuss" more current affairs with me, i managed to throw down some breakfast myself, have a much-needed cuppa, make 3 lunches for the gang, hang a few loads of washing up, get dressed for the gym and jump in the car to take kait to school.
halfway to school the mobile rings just as i was entering the black technology hole that exists between here and kait's school.
all i heard was mark's voice saying "usb mouse, work, helirescue", so instead of heading to the gym once i dropped miss kait off, i headed out to work to see what was needed.......
GRRRR

we service the computers and maintain the network for the local helirescue service and as you can imagine, they pay well for our services so keeping them happy and more importantly, flying, is an important part of our business.
i collected the mouse, raced it into the base but by then it was too late to go to the gym. so i grabbed some f&v and headed home so matt could have the car for the day.
"great" i thought - i have a few hours before jo and jarrod arrive so i will start to scrap some chrissy gifts but "OH NO"...that just wasn't gonna happen.
matt had left his wallet, hence his license, in the commodore which mark had a work. so i had to drive him out to work (20 minute trip because of course we got stuck behind the slowest driver to ever grace australia's roads), then back home again and then he left.

then just as i was walking down the stairs to my scrapping room, i hear jarrod's little footsteps running up the drive. jo, bless her, decided to come up a bit earlier and leave jarrod with me while she went and got some lay-bys out.
"SIGH"

my afternoon was spent playing games with jarrod and reading to him. i did venture down to my scrapping room, closely followed by jarrod but after he up-ended a tin of buttons, then unravelled some of my fibres because he thought that it would make a good climbing rope for his action figures, i decided that auntie shazzie and jarrod should have some time in the garden pulling up some more weeds.

jo arrived to take jarrod home just before i had to take kait for her last swimming lesson for the year. i did remember to take a scrapping mag with me so at least i got to scrap some los in my head.

hoping to scrap tonight - please god of scrapping grant me some time today.

as miss scarlett said "after all....tomorrow is another day"
(sorry to steal your "end with a line from the movie" trick, shell)

and miss scarlett is right

tomorrow is another day

and

tomorrow i WILL scrap

take care one and all

~*~ shazz ~*~

BUSY TIME OF THE YEAR

So much going on at the moment.

Friday night my friend Nadia, came around and we had a night in watching dvds. A few wines - ok...more than a few - and i was very giggly by the end of the night.
Nadia manages the Curves gym i go to but doesn't drink so that meant more for me. we watched the dvd, chatted and laughed - it was nice to unwind and get to know nadia a bit better. she is still "getting over" a breakup earlier this year and she is feeling very vunerable at the moment. she is so much younger than me but loads of fun. i made sure i drank a few glasses of water before i went to bed so my hangover wasn't so bad.

saturday, mark had to work on a project for one of our clients and was away all day so kait and i made the candy cane mice she is giving her classmates as a gift. they turned out so well, she had so much fun helping me make them and choosing the colours that would go together and she can't wait to give them to her friends. i think it is the first time i have picked my sewing scissors up to cut fabric in over 12 mths. had a good look through my fabrics again - it's been a while - i forgot what lovely fabrics i had in my fabric stash, now packed away.

last night after mark arrived home about 9ish (he was so tired after almost 12 hours straight looking at a computer screen, poor guy) and we threw on a dvd so he could chill out - we watched "Pirates of the Caribbean" with Johnny Depp in it - so funny in parts and the special effects were amazing.
matt had three friends over - with all their computers in tow - and they networked them all together and played "Age of Empires" a stratgey game. mark and i toddled off to bed about 11.30 and the boys were all still merrily playing. they think they went to bed about 3 a.m. !!
oh to be that young and energetic again.
and i fed them all this morning - pancakes galore.

today what started out with mark and i weeding one of the small garden beds out the front ended up with most of the front gardens being weeded, pruned, re-mulched and, despite my protests, mark digging up too of my favourite plants and relocating them because he hates the sight of them.
steve, our "across-the-road" neighbour jumped on the bandwagon and helped mark so for a while they were both in my bad books and i sat on the balcony ignoring them singing to me as a sign they wanted me to forgive them. i felt well and truly ganged up on I can tell you.....lol
i am glad we got most of the front garden spruced up though as we are having our annual street party next weekend and it's in our front yard. so there will be a lot less next week to get done in preparation.

after lunch mark took kait off to the local waterslides, the boys went to band practice and i wrote most of our family christmas newsletter, wrote in some chrissy cards, vacuumed, got the clothes in and folded and ironed and had another flick through the SM Masters mag - still blown away by everything in it.

so it has been a non-productive scrapping weekend but productive in lots of other ways. but i have printed up my pics ready for scrapping some calendars for family and friends.
so look out tomorrow - i will be ready and raring to go.

almost time for bed so i wish you all a wonderful tomorrow filled with love, happy times and rainbows.

~*~ shazz ~*~

GOALS

wanna set myself some goals and writing them down may make them more real than just "airy-fairy" thoughts in my head.
might make me more accountable to myself as well.

1. go to bed earlier - no more lounge lizard or computer "creature-of-the-night". i love reading and i should go to bed earlier and read.
2. spend more time doing things with mark and the kids - i get so worked up in having dinner cooked and on the table, the washing hung up and the house tidy (well as tidy as the Pratten house gets), etc, etc that i miss all the games they play and the fun they have.
3. take more photos with me in it (a wide-angle lens may be called needed for this little goal) - mark commented last night that i am in hardly any of the photos we have taken over the past few years
   
4. get more organised - the frantic pace at which i do things is because i don't get myself organised enough - the family feels frantic too and tempers get frayed and hurtful things are said
5. get my scrap space organised and get scrapping - i spend so much time looking at what others have done (and that can be both inspiring and frustrating) and i am sure that i can scrap the way i want if i just give myself some time
6. stop buying scrapping stuff until my stash gets to a more manageable level (might even be able to afford a Canon Rebel if i stop spending money on scrapping stuff)
   
7. start to get serious about losing weight - go to the gym on a regular basis, start back walking, eat the "right" foods and start feeling good about who i am
8. not to let the thoughtless actions and words of others upset me so much - i can't make people like me and i refuse to be someone i'm not, just to get people to like me - here I am....warts/hairy armpits/sad times and all....like it or lump it people - i may not be as trendy or talented or "with it" as some people but all in all i think i am a good and caring person - what a boring old world we would live in if we were all like the same
9. be more tolerant of people - only to a point though - the days of people taking advantage of my good nature and kindness are over - "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice - shame on me"
10. be thankful each and every day for the things i have in my life - the love of my beautiful family, a roof over my head, food on the table, nice and reliable cars to drive, good health and the love of a few close friends
11. and finally as a dear friend told me not so long ago - remember to breathe
    

these are my goals
*message to self*
come back and read these on a regular basis and strive to acheive them

happy times for one and all tomorrow

~*~ shazz ~*~

INCHES LOST !!!

It was another hot stinking humid BLAH day today and tonight is not much better.
mark and i have decided to bite the bullet and raid the bank account (such that it is) and buy the ceiling fans we decided on a few weeks back and have them installed. the kids all have floor fans but they have such a big footprint and in jakey's room especially with the entire drum kit in there, room is very minimal.

i went off to the gym today and decided to bite the bullet and get weighed and measured. i have avoided it for the past few mths because i just knew that it wouldn't be pretty. i have put on 1.9 kgs which was a bit depressing but the pleasent surprise came when i was measured. against all odds i have lost inches and since starting the program i have lost 30 inches!!!
to say i was shocked was an understatement but i am pleased.
without even trying too hard i have managed to drop those inches....
imagine how many i would lose if i really gave it a good shot !!!!
then tonight, del our darling neighbour popped over to "borrow" some tomatoes and as i turned around to get them out of the fridge she asked me if i had lost weight !!!
i was very chuffed to say the least.
nicole kidman i am not - and never will be - but i was so pleased to get that compliment from del. very pleased indeed.

no scrapping today as i got stuck in and started writing in my chrissy cards. no handmade ones this year as with every good intention i had, they just never got made.
oh well.
i have promised myself that one of my new year's resolutions will be to make a few cards every week or so and have all these gorgeous handmade cards to amaze people with christmas 2006.
joanie always keeps me supplied with her gorgeous papers so i will have plenty of paper to create my creations.
the latest pieces she has passed onto me are just amazing....almost too beautiful to cut up and use.

i am planning on scrapping up a storm tomorrow so hopefully the scrapping gods will be kind and make all my other chores disappear so i can scrap.

i like peeking in on the lives of other bloggers and always find a good chuckle on ngaire bartlam's blog - go and have a look and a good old chuckle (click on the links)
man....that woman must do a lot of net surfing to find all the cool things she does.
and she always has such "get-down-and-boogie" music playing in the background too.

well my gorgeous fella is finally home and we are gonna have some "us" time

wishing you a tomorrow filled with smiles, rainbows, flowers, laughter and love
til next time

~*~shazz~*~

p.s. marie - donna, my other "vertically challenged" friend is all of 4'11 and 1/2" tall.

*wink*

BIT OF A WHINGE

I really do hate summer.
I hate the humid, sticky sweaty days when you seem to stick to any surface you touch..
I hate getting in and out of air conditioned cars or going in and out of air conditioned stores.
I hate it being so hot it zaps all your energy and you feel like doing nothing - which i have done most of tonight.
I hate the violent storms that roar down on us with high winds, hail and torrential rain.
I hate it being so hot that you can't sleep.
yep........
I HATE SUMMER.

now that little whinge is out of the way i feel so much better.

the weekend was just so busy - see my previous post for saturday's mayhem.

saturday night was such a hoot.
what a gorgeous bunch of girls to party with. and i didn't even have to be tiddly to have a good time. just two glasses of red with di, kait's teacher, cause i had to drive.
we ended up at the new cocktail bar, singing loudly and badly along with the kareoke thing they had happening and just laughing so hard we were literally falling about the place.
got home about 1.30-ish and was fast asleep when mark arived home from brissy at 2.

sunday i put my "responsible mother" hat on and cleaned like a demon.
only thing i didn't do was the oven - avoiding that little quagmire like the plague i can tell you.
we put the chrissy lights up on the house and i finished off kait's good work with decorating and threw a few bits of chrissy cheer here and there throughout the house - looks quite festive i think and kait is just so wrapped up in the whole christmas thing. i hate to think that maybe next year will be her "find out that santa's not real" year. she has asked a few questions this year and mark is insisting that we tell her but i just want her to believe a little longer - i don't think 9 is too old to believe that some magic still exists in the world - hell i'm almost 42 and i still like to believe that magic exists out there.....somewhere.
my awful cousins told me when i was about 6 and i remember crying so hard for so long.
no wonder i don't talk to them anymore....lol

anyways, kait and i have a busy week this week making chrissy gifts for her classmates - a cute little felt mouse with a candy cane tail that I found on The Scrap Heap site.

sunday afternoon, nadia, who manages the gym i go to, rang and was feeling a little low so i invited her around for a chin wag and a coffee on the balcony.
it was such a lovely aftrenoon. we nattered away about anything and everything, laughed and just had a great time.

today i did a canteen roster at the school then came home with grand plans of scrapping, doing chrissy cards.....anything but veged out on the lounge til it was time to go back and get miss kait from school. i really hate it being so damned hot and sticky.

donna, my oldest, dearest and shortest (lol....sorry mate) friend called me tonight. after almost 2 mths of not hearing from her except for the occasional email, it was such a comforting feeling falling back into that friendship - a friendship based on almost 30 yrs of laughter, tears, happiness, love and respect. we finish each others sentences, we laugh at the same things.
i know i can say anything to her and not fear ridicule.
we accept each other warts and all and i do love her dearly.
she does my heart and soul much good.
i am so blessed to be able to call her my friend.

now it seems that dad and erica will be back up for a few weeks dealing with a family crisis -
dare i mention what it is......lol
2005 has certainly been a year of it for our family.
but we have been so much luckier and better off than many families in the world.

wishing you all a wonderful tomorrow.
may it be filled with happiness and love

~shazz~

SCATTERED TO THE FOUR WINDS

Our family has been scattered to the four winds today.

Mark and I didn't arrive home from our work Christmas Party unti about 1 this morning. We ran into Kait's school principal at the local watering hole where the party was held, and the three of us sat talking and laughing until long after all our staff had left. It was a VERY funny night - well the last part of it was.

Kait and I hit the stores this morning for candy canes for the gifts we are making the children in her class, new shoes for me (a new pair of Colorado sandles - black, practical and comfy for work) and Kait and I both got a sparkly pair of shoes for no other reason other than we both loved them. Kait's are blue and mine are gold - very sparkly and very festive.

Mark got an Optus callout to Mt Nardi at 10 this morning and after 5 hours of stuffing around because of wrong keys and codes sms'd up from Sydney he arrived home long enough to gobble down a sandwich and then get dressed and head off to Brisbane with some clients, for a business meeting tonight.

While Mark was at Mt Nardi, Kait and I headed down to Ballina to watch Eden, Mark's brother's daughter in her Christmas dance recital. Matt's girlfriend, Shannon and her sister dance with the same studio so it was good to catch up with Shannon's Mum for a chat.

Tonight Jake has gone to watch the local Under 21's football team play for a place in the final with Alex.

Matt has headed to Ballina to watch Shannon dance tonight.

Kait is heading off to Kerrie and Graeme's for a sleepover because I am heading out for the Curves Christmas party. There will be minimal alcohol for me tonight though because I have to now drive because Mark has gone to Brisbane.

I scrapped for a whole 15 minutes this morning - actually all i did was pull out stuff for a LO and make more mess on my mess.

The Christmas tree is sort of up thanks to my baby girl's wonderful decorating efforts last night.
Lights, tinsel, door decos, etc will come tomorrow after I clean up the mess around the Chrissy tree.

NOW.
TIME TO TAKE A DEEP BREATH.
IGNORE THE MESS.
GO OUT TONIGHT AND HAVE A GOOD TIME.
PRAY THAT MY SCATTERED FAMILY ENDS UP BACK HERE TONIGHT IN ONE PIECE.

Hope you all have a great Sunday.

~*~ shazz ~*~

PROMISES AND THANKS

I promise I will be back blogging soon.

Thankyou so much to all the people I now "know" are friends who have encouraged me and supported me to keep on posting.

A special thanks to my FAB-U-LOUS friend Marie who has been such a doll and such a support through what's been a difficult week for our family.

a happy tomorrow to you all

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

QUIET DAY

A quiet day at home reflecting on the past few days and I guess life in general.

We held Nanna's funeral yesterday - a celebration of her remarkable life and her amazing spirit and zest for life. Both Mark and I were just blown away by the depth of our emotions yesterday. It was just the most beautiful service and Nanna would have loved it.
Lots of singing - hymns Nanna loved; songs sung by Susie in a voice so angelic it brought many of us to tears; Lynny's beautiful piano playing; Jen's hilarious, memorable eulogy that had us doubled over with laughter until the tears again ran down our cheeks and the final gesture by the minister of Nanna's entire family holding hands while he prayed for us all - it was a beautiful uplifting moment of fellowship, friendship and love.
Just so beautiful - just so Nanna.
I will miss your presence on this Earth darling Nanna but the love you showed me and the lessons you taught me about love and family will be with me always.
Rest in peace dear one.

Thank you to everyone who has sent emails, SMS's, replied to posts on various online sites and to the girls from The Craft Attic who blew me away with a gorgeous bunch of flowers delivered today. Your thoughts and prayers at this sad but somehow joyous time for us will not be forgotten.

So today I had a quiet day at home. Locked myself away in my scrapping room, turned off my mobile, took the phone off the hook and scrapped a LO that has been sitting on my bench for a few weeks now. I am pleased to say it is done, I am happy with the outcome.

I have also been trying to decide if I will apply for the Bumblebee Crafts DT. I have some LOs that I have done in the past few days that I really love and a card that I think is ok and I will probably submit the canvases I did for Mark, if I decide to apply.
*SIGH*
It's just a decision I don't want to deal with right at this moment
(despite the deadline being only 2 days away)

Until my mood picks up a bit, I may give blogging a miss for a while.
Despite a few "choice words" via email by someone who thinks I am constantly the bearer of bad news, I believe this is my blog and you don't have to read it.
And to tell me that you feel so depressed after reading my blog and under the guise of friendship tell me that I am a very negative person well I am kinda at a loss for words.
You don't have to read it - it's your choice.

I do hope that you all have a happy tomorrow.
Till next time

~*~ shazz ~*~

GREAT SADNESS

It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that Mark's darling Nanna passed away tonight at 9.25, just 2 days short of her 100th birthday.

She went quickly and peacefully and the sisters at the nursing home said that maybe she felt that now we had all gathered in preperation for her birthday on Sunday that it was time she left us to join Grandpa Sid.

I am just home from the nursing home after spending a few hours up there with Mark's darling aunt Ruthie, Aunt Helen and 2 of Mark's cousins and Ruthie's husband. It was a few hours filled with many tears and much laughter, reminising, and final goodbyes.

Mark was out at a business dinner and had more than a few drinks when his father rang him with the news so he came home but didn't think it appropriate to go up to the nursing home to say goodbye.

We will still have our celebration of Sunday as almost all of Nanna's family is now here but it will be a celebration of her life and thanksgiving for the beautiful and amazing lady that she was.

Rest in peace darling Nanna - free now from pain.
Safe at last in the loving arms of God and her darling Sid.

~*~ shazz ~*~

SOOOO TIRED

After a lonnnnnnnnnng day at work (and next to no sleep last nite) the last thing I needed when i got home was hassles.
Makes me wonder if my feeling totally and utterly BLAH and drained of any "positivity" this afternoon, attracts negative things into my life.

The soccer federation rang this afternoon to say that Jake had missed his clothing fitting for next year's rep team.
*SIGH*
I DID call last week and told them that he had decided not to play next year - and it was HIS decision - but apparently the message didn't get through to those who needed to know.
So after a 2 minute tirade from the silly woman who thinks she runs the show over there, and her repeatedly asking me why he wasn't playing I told her that she could expect a call from Mark tomorrow with a list of our grievances with their organisation.
If I had started telling her the reasons Jake had decided not to play next year I may have STILL been on the phone to them.

Then the phonecall from Mum, after her few afternoon drinkies, bemoaning her situation and somehow the conversation turned to that if I had been a better daughter to her she wouldn't be in her situation.
She zaps my energy and she is an emotional black hole that seems to swallow me up.
Why do I put up with it - with the abuse and the emotional, heartwrenching accusations of HER life situation somehow being MY fault...???
I'm not sure.
All I can say is, she is my Mum and I guess no matter how much I like to think the heartstrings and emotional ties have been severed
(geez, we haven't set foot in her house since Boxing Day last year)
she is, and always will be, my Mum.
I ended up hanging up on her and haven't answered the several attempts she has made to call back
(gotta LOVE caller ID)

I am sure if I wasn't so tired and weighed down by things I HAVE to get done, like, YESTERDAY, things might not seem so bad.

Sorry about the downer post.
Think I might go cuddle my baby girl until she begs me to stop. Gotta love the cuddles you get from your kids - so full on, so healing and without any holding back.
Yep....look out Kait....Mummy's coming for a cuddle.....LOL
Life seems so much better when I look at all the good things around me and push the bad aside.

May your day be filled with happiness, smiles, rainbows and a million little joys to brighten and lighten your heart.
Gonna make sure mine is.

~*~ shazz ~*~

TAGGED !!!

I have been tagged by the wonderful Miss Trish - thanks Trish.
I mean it - THANKS !!!!
Another bout of insomnia has seen me up at 3 a.m. AGAIN and now i have something to do.

~*~ shazz ~*~


2 NAMES I GO BY
Shazz
Mum

2 PARTS OF MY HERITAGE
Irish/Scottish mix
Spanish

2 THINGS THAT SCARE ME
Frogs jumping on me
Late night phone calls

2 OF MY EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS
As many "I love yous", kisses and cuddles from Mark and the kids as I can get
My anti-inflammatory tablet


2 THINGS I AM WEARING RIGHT NOW
a blue floral nightie (VERY ATTRACTIVE)
and my blue fluffy slippers

2 OF MY FAVE BANDS/MUSICAL ARTISTS
Il Divo
Tommy Emmanuelle

2 FAVE SONGS AT THE MOMENT
Don't Wanna Miss A Thing - Aerosmith
It's My Life - Bon Jovi
(just LOVE singing that one loud and proud in the car with the windows up)


2 THINGS I WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP (other than real love)
friendship
faith/Trust

2 TRUTHS
i have a rare bone disease (Kienbocks disease) in my right wrist that will eventually see me lose all mobility in that hand - i am currently at stage 4
i am currently under the care of a therapist

2 PHYSICAL THINGS THAT APPEAL TO ME (in the opposite sex)
eyes
a good sense of humour

2 OF MY FAVE HOBBIES
scrapping
reading

2 THINGS I WANT REALLY BADLY
matt (ds1) to get a job and be happy
Canon EOS 350D digital SLR (Santa are you listening??)


2 PLACES I WANT TO GO TO ON VACATION
gallipoli
canada

2 THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE
scrap ALL my photos
see my children happy and hopefully have some grandbabies

2 WAYS THAT I AM STEREOTYPICALLY A CHICK
i moisturise everyday without exception
i can NEVER find anything in my handbag, despite cleaning it out every few days

2 THINGS I AM THINKING ABOUT RIGHT NOW
mark's Nanna's 100th birthday celebrations (this sunday)
mark driving carefully to the conference in brisbane today

2 STORES I SHOP AT
stamp crazy (my LSS)
the temple door (local store with the scrummiest casual clothes)


2 PEOPLE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE TAKE THIS QUIZ
shari
zina wright (do you even have a blog miss zina??)

Have a great day folks