OUCHIES!!! + LAYOUTS + NEWS

this is our driveway.

it's steep.
it causes many of our family and friends great problems when they try and back down it (not sure why)
in the wet it can be very slippery - as i painfully found out yesterday.
on my way down to get the bins yesterday and check the mail, i slipped and fell.
landed on my butt (thankfully IT is well padded), my left hip, elbow, shoulder and hit my head on the rocks that line the driveway. i think i was momentarily knocked out and i had to sit in the driveway on my bum, for about 15 minutes before i even attempted to get up.
saw lots of pretty stars buzzing around in front of my eyes so i sat there until the stars went away.
good thing we live in a quiet cul-de-sac and none of the neighbours drove by.
i must have looked a sight sitting on my bum, covered in mud, in the wet and bawling my eyes out.
the scrapper in me thought it might have made an interesting pic for a layout.
HMMMMMMMMMMMM !!!!!
the rest of me was just hurt and bruised and embarrassed.
needless to say i am a little sore and tender in parts today.

here are a few layouts i did while i was on the Scrap Heap SWIG last month with the gorgeous ruthy and diana.

i love this pic of kait and i have scrapped it a few times. the heart is hand-stitched and the flower trim has been in my stash for a while now just waiting for the "right" LO to use it on.
i think this is it.


this is a pic that matt and jake took on our camera as a reminder of them before mark and i went away for a few days to a wedding over easter.
i love this pic of them cause i think it shows their personalities - crazy, goofy and oh-so-lovable.


this photo of my nana and old bean was given to me by my step-mum after she had it copied off the original. for some reason dad's sisters and all my cousins were given pics of the wedding after nana passed away but sadly i didn't receive any so dad has made copies of all the pics he has and given them to me.
thank you daddy.
i love this pic - nana and old bean look so beautiful on their special day.


the amount of laughing we did i am surprised that any of us got anything done.
thanks to ruthy and diana for their advice on these LOs.
i also purchased 2 more D ring albums last week for my LOs so they aren't all crowded into one. it is a pleasure to look through them now.

and my news.....i have resigned my DT position at the craft attic.
lots of reasons why - none that i am prepared to go into - but i will enjoy doing some scrapping "just for me" for a while.

i hope you are all having a great tuesday and are getting some of this lovely rain we are getting here on the far north coast.
take care.
time for me to limp out to the ironing board and get some more ironing done.

~*~ shazz ~*~
xox

TAKING THE GOOD WITH THE BAD.

my baby sister louise arrived on friday afternoon with her husband chris and their sweet baby girl. bianca.
i can't tell you how excited i was that louise was coming to stay. raised in seperate homes (she is the only daughter from dad's marriage to erica, my step-mum) we are so similar in the things we like and the things we don't; what makes us smile and what makes us cry; we both scrap; we both married men who are similar in appearance; she knows when i need a shoulder to cry on and often rings me when i am feeling low; we both have a very weird sense of humour and will often laugh at things that no-one else does.
it was just so good to have her near and to be able to sit and chat over a coffee; to be able to watch her with my kids and for me to be able to spoil bianca and teach her a few naughty things (hey that's what weird older aunts are for isn't it...???)
i missed her as soon as they drove away this morning and i admit....i shed more than a few tears after they backed down the drive.
a good thing though....her and chris have been looking at houses and job prospects up this way. how totally cool will it be if they move closer.
hells bells....i would settle for her being only a few hours drive away instead of a whole day.

it is the annual heli rescue collection day in our area today. as a family we have been collectors for years and it is our way of supporting a service that we believe is vital to our area.
thankfully we have never needed to use it, but we have come close a few times when the kids have been very ill and possibly needed transporting to brisbane.
our company also is the main computer support for the service and they are probably one of our biggest clients so we have ties to the service in that respect as well.
i worked the admin side today - booking in collectors and counting money on their return.
mark and the kids went out collecting and between the four of them collected over $600.00.
I am so proud of them.
knowing that service is there is very comforting to me and i just pray that we never need it's services.

on the bad side, it was my mum's birthday yesterday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM !!!
i tried several times to call her and all i got was an earful of abuse from the idiot that she lives with that she claims to love and who, she claims, loves her.
he told me yesterday, in no uncertain terms, what he thought of me and that he wasn't surprised seeing my mum was the same type of person.
i just can't comes to terms that this woman who raised me to be a proud and strong woman is involved with a man who is abusive to her in every respect.
i just hope he is worth it because i will no longer allow my children to see mum and she chooses not to come to my house to visit.
mark and i have both reached out to help her and each and every time she has returned to be with him.
the hardest part is that she chooses to stay with this man despite the fact that she has lost the respect of me, and mark but most of all my children. mum was once so close to my kids and we spent most weekends at her house or she was here with us. i can't tell you the last time she even visited our home or spoke to the kids.
i have never felt such a heavy burden weighing on my heart and i fear each time the phone rings that it will be someone telling me that he has finally killed her.
it is a bad situation and will only end badly i fear.
if it wasn't for the fact that it was my mum caught up in the whole unsavoury mess, i would just turn my back and walk away.
unfortunately i just don't know where to to from here or how i can help her.
like i said, the hardest part is knowing that she stays with him by choice because lord knows we have done everything we can to help her get out of the situation.
sorry if that all sounded a bit "rambly" - it was train-of-thought kinda thinking.

so that is the good with the bad for the past few days of my life.
i can only hope that the good keeps getting better and that the bad doesn't get any worse.

thank you to all of you who have emailed me or messaged me or left comments.
the support i get from my cyber friends is so important to me keeping my sanity some days.

i hope to get back to some scrapping in the next week.

i hope you all have a wonderful week.
i am going to REALLY try to look for the good in each day.

~*~ shazz ~*~
xox

p.s. good luck to rozzie who is goig in for a little op next tuesday.
i am pretty sure that she doesn't read my blog but i do hope that things go well for her and that she receives some good news with the results.

SORRY...!!!

i am sorry if i worried anyone.

thank you to everyone who left a comment or emailed me, especially my gorgeous, but faraway friend, marie.

have a lot going on at the moment - things i cannot change, things i just have to accept, dealing with people who i allow to bring me down with just one word.

but the line is drawn in the sand now - and i will not allow these things to cross that line and impact on my life anymore or the life of my family who deserve better.

again my thanks.....
onward and upward from here on in......
to a better day, a better life and a better me.

have a wonderful day

~*~ shazz ~*~
xox

p.s. and a HUGE thank you to my friend, who shall remain nameless, who has left such beautiful words of support on my mobile.
you know who you are, you know how i feel about you and you know what a powerful influence you are in my life.

THANK YOU
xo

BLAH !!!

i hate feeling like this.....lost and frightened and uninspired and angry at things i can't change.

i want to scrap....i need to scrap....but all i did today for a whole hour was sit at my desk, touching nothing and crying.

is it menopause starting like a friend suggested to me last week...???

or is it depression...???

whatever it is, i need it to go away and quickly.

living this close to the edge of insanity is NOT my idea of fun.

~*~ shazz ~*~
xox

FAMILY WEEKEND

mark, kait and i had a wonderful weekend in taree with my dad and step-mum helping them celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary and erica's 60th birthday.
we had a lovely river cruise up the manning river on saturday afternoon with dad and erica and some of their friends. it was a leisurely afternoon and my speech caused a few tears but it was lovely to verbalise to my dad and step-mum just how important they are to our family.
we had a family dinner back at dad's on saturday night - lots of laughs, stories of when we were young and just enjoying the company of our family.

it was also nice to get away from things that have been causing me so much grief in the past few weeks and to spend time with my darling husband and our sweet baby girl.
mark and i stayed in a motel (we had some VERY much needed "us" time) and kait stayed with nanny and grandad along with my baby sister, lousie, her hubby and their darling baby girl, bianca.
kait thoroughly enjoyed her time at nanny and grandad's and playing with bianca.
it will be lovely to have them visit us at the end of this week for a few days.

matt and jake stayed at home for their soccer committments. just so glad they are both such sensible boys and can be trusted at home. i left them oodles of cooking and they even got in and did a big clean up of the house before we arrived home yesterday
(although it was very clean when we left here on friday afternoon)

here are a few pics of the weekend

grandad & nanny

my beautiful baby girl

just look at those blue eyes - my niece, bianca

group shot - dad, louise, bianca, nanny, me & kait in the front
(where are those boys...???)

until next time
~*~ shazz ~*~
xox

I AM...

....happy because i can log on and see the smiling faces of my dear friends (well marie on the right, is actually the friend i am referring too...LOL) smiling back at me.

...happy that my elise book arrived yesterday and hopefully i will be inspired to scrap and produce something i can be proud of.

...honoured that my gorgeous friend marie, liked a LO i did so much that she scrap-lifted it. and what a stunning job she has done too. have a look.

...angry at myself because i left it too late to get the cartridges for the printer last week and i had to wait until today for them to come in and i have an album to finish to take away this weekend and so much other scrapping to do.

...happy that i have completed and album for my friend as a tribute to her faithful dog who died a few years ago. it was mailed off yesterday and i am sooooo nervous waiting for her reaction to it.

...excited that mark, kait and i are heading to taree this weekend to celebrate dad and erica's 30th wedding anniversary and erica's 60th. it will be a weekend of surprises and tears and happiness.

...excited that i will get to see my baby sister this weekend and my adorable niece. kait is super-excited that she will be seeing bianca again.

...inspired to get my self and my scrapping space and my life organised. just like this amazing, uber-talented, all round nice gal.
Z, you are one of my all-time favourite scrappers.

...proud of myself because i am still walking every morning - with the excpetion of a few mornings. it is definitely my "me time" each day - i scrap LOs as i walk, have conversations with people...yes i know...i am a little odd but getting fitter each day.

...blessed because i have my gorgeous husband who loves me unconditionally despite the crap our extended families put us through.

...blessed because despite the misgivings i have about my skills as a mum, i have three gorgeous, well-adjusted, "normal" kids.

...sad because i have a very close friend going through some "stuff" with their spouse and there is nothing i can do to help but "be there" for them.

...getting off this computer now to clean up my kitchen and head down to my scrapping room.

have a wonderful day everyone - wherever your day takes you, whatever the universe gives to you and whoever you choose to spend it with.

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

and a huge thanks to all of you who offered such kind words after my last post.

IT'S CERTAINLY BEEN AN "INTERESTING" WEEK !!!

ever had one of those weeks....???
sometimes i think i seem to have more problems in my life than others and then again maybe it is because i always put all of myself "out there"....dunno.

in the ever-growing popular "point form" my week included
* my mother being assaulted by the man she claims loves her and a frantic phonecall from my brother, while we were on our way home from brisbane, saying she had run off and he couldn't find her. i told him to call the police and to have this "idiot" dealt with once and for all.
he did, they found her and then she refused to press charges *SIGH*
in my heart i just know it will be a matter of time before the phonecall from my brother will be telling me this man has murdered my mother and yet she STILL goes back to him.

* our friends broke the news to us this week that she has cervical cancer. it's aggressive and she is having a full hysterectomy in a few weeks. she is only 41, they have 4 small children.
the good news is that the doctor thinks that he will be able to get it all and that they have caught it early enough for her to make a full recovery. we are all staying positive but man...that was NOT the news i thought i would hear when they told us they wanted to talk to us.

* a close friend is having a particularly tough time at the moment after a marriage break up. you know who you are and you know that even though i can't "be there" for you in person that i am always here for you. stay strong, stand your ground.....you are a good person and deserve to be happy.
love ya babe xxoo

* GOOD NEWS - the ATO owes US money. after several years of monumental stuff-ups on our part, our accountants part and bad financial advice, they owe US money.
and without giving too much away - it ain't small change either.
*WINK*

* jake got the best school report.
glowing comments about his standard of work, his attitude in class, his caring attitude to others.

so proud of my boy - well done jakey.
love you baby.

* not much happening on the scrapping front. i am still waiting for my "elise" book to arrive - i hope it comes soon though. i hear it is great and maybe it will get me scrapping again on a regular basis.
i have to scrap an album of the grandkids this weekend for dad and erica's party next weekend.
and.....my darling baby sis - *hi louise* - has asked me to do "the speech" for the party. she tells me i am pretty good at it after i made a speech on dad's behalf at her wedding (dad was very ill and didn't feel he could speak) and made everybody cry.
talk about pressure.

so that is my "interesting" week.
a mixture of good and bad and that's life i guess.

hope to be able to share some scrapping with you over the weekend.
have a fantastic weekend everyone - whatever you do, wherever you go and whoever you choose to spend your time with.

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo

"WARNING...PROUD MUMMY ALERT"

yesterday mark and i took kait to a physical culture inter-club comp in brisbane.
for those of you who don't know, kait has been doing physical culture ("physie") for the past 2 years. she has competed at several inter-club comps as well as zone for a place at the nationals in sydney but never placed or even finalled.
and that's ok....it's all about her enjoyment of the "sport" and the fact that she loves competing and just getting in and "having a go".
so after a year of her just toddling off to classes and being more interested in the socialising before and after classes, this year she decided to really knuckle down and put in the extra effort of practising at home (we put a couple of full length mirrors on her cupboard doors which has helped with her getting her body positioning right, etc); paying attention in class and really really trying.
about a month ago i said to mark that it looked to me like the penny had finally dropped for her and she knew what she had to do to improve herself.

so she went off to sunnybank yesterday with a determination that she would do her best and a quiet hope that it would be good enough to get her a place.

it is a real eye-opener for the uninitiated to go to a physie comp.
the competition can be fierce between certain clubs and certain competitors.
thankfully we approach it a little more light-heartedly than that. if kait performs and has fun doing it and is happy she has done her best then we are happy.
sure we like her to look good - i spent hours choosing her leotard colour and practising on her hair (and in the end all she wanted was a straight forward plait with some ribbon tied around to match her leotard) but in the end, just to see our baby girl out there competing and just having a good time was all we could have hoped for and what we saw.
even the judges commented on her smile and said that she looked like she was having fun.

because she has never placed or finalled at a comp before, kait was eligible to compete as a novice. these girls are jusdged seperately to the other competitors although they all perform at the same time.

and she performed so well in the first round. she remembered all her moves, her straight back, her body positioning and she just got out there and had a ball. both mark and i sat there with tears in our eyes watching her (ok, ok....i had tears streaming down my cheeks much to the amusement of my friend's husband)
in the second round she got a little bit lost but still performed well.
it was a LONG afternoon to wait and see if she placed.

so you can imagine the cheers and tears (from mummy) when they called out her name as the FIRST PLACE WINNER in the novice section for her age.
she bounded up onto the stage to receive her ribbon and trophy and then bounded back down the stairs into her daddy's arms.
all her friends from her club crowded around her and kissed her and congratulated her....it was soooo exciting.
i am sooooo proud of my baby girl.

she took her trophy to bed with her last night when we finally got home.
i imagine it will be her news story for school this week.
here a few photos from her big day.

on stage after receiving her trophy - sorry it is fuzzy.

with her friend courtney who came 5th overall - well done court!!!

we are so proud of you baby girl - love you heaps xxoo

have a great day.

~*~ shazz ~*~

THE "IMPORTANCE" OF SCRAPPING

i was watching sunrise this morning while i got the lunches ready and they had a story about a young mother of four from tassie who recently died of S.A.D.S.

it was a very emotional story about a gentleman who was so touched by the plight of the young dad and his for children that he started up a trust fund for the children that will see them receive money for their education, etc. well into adulthood.

i'm not ashamed to admit that i stood in the kitchen bawling my eyes out as i watched this young father try and cope with not only the loss of his young wife but the daily struggles of raising four young children.

just before the story ended the reporter said that each of the children wouldn't easily forget their mum because she had put together an album for each of them about their lives and how much she loved them.
they showed the children all sitting up looking through their albums.
but they weren't just any old photo album.

you see, this young mum was a scrapbooker so each child's life and their milestones and the funny things they said and her love for them was lovingly scrapped.
what a beautiful and precious thing for each of these children to have.

and THAT, my dear friends, is why we scrapbook.
because you never know when we won't be around to tell our families just what they mean to us.

have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to tell those you love how much you love them.
and if you can't, at least scrap a page so that they will know.

~*~ shazz ~*~
xox

TAG - 2

zina tagged me a few days ago so i thought i better get it done too.

What time is it? 10.34 a.m.

What's your full name? Sharon Janet Pratten (aka shazz, mum, mummy, birth-giver, darls)

What are you most afraid of? something happening to mark or one of my kids

What is the most recent movie that you have seen in a theatre? ummmm...it's been a while...i really can't remember - it would have been a kid's movie with kait.

Place of birth? murwillumbah, nsw

Favourite food? mexican, seafood, chocolate - i can't decide on just one

What's your natural hair colour? dark brown

Ever been toilet papering? yes AND got caught

Love someone so much it made you cry? yes, only just this morning as a matter of fact

Been in a car accident? yep...a few but none were my fault

Croutons or bacon bits? definitely croutons

Favourite day of the week? sunday - big time vege out day for our family after a hectic week and saturday

Favourite Restaurant? the mexican restaurant in lennox head *DROOL* + a restaurant mark and i went to at broadbeach to celebrate our anniversary this year

Favourite flower? natives

Favourite sport to watch? soccer - you HAVE to ask...??? especially when my talented boys are on the paddock

Favourite Drink? a good cappuccino; coffee in genral and of course, champagne (with a strawberry in the galss

Favourite ice cream? choc chip

Disney or Warner Brothers? either/or

Favourite fast food restaurant? subway after being initiated by my kids last year

What colour is your bedroom carpet? butt ugly beige

Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail? our isp notifying us of spam

What do you do most often when you are bored? only boring people get bored...and I'M NOT BORING !!!!

How many times you failed your driver's test? none

What time do you go to bed? try to be in bed by 11 but going to sleep is another matter

Who will respond to this e-mail the quickest? dunno

Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond? dunno

Who is the person that you are most curious to see their responses? *shrug*

Favourite TV shows? any of the CSI shows; All Saints; any of the Law and Order shows; Medium

What are you listening to right now? blissful silence

What are your favourite colours? green

How many tattoos do you have? none but i would love to get one one day

How many pets do you have? 2 dogs who think they are human + a fish i think is in love with me

Which came first the chicken or the egg? is it really THAT important to know this...???

What would you like to accomplish before you die? become financially free; see my kids grow up as happy with the lives they have chosen; become a grandmother but not for a few years yet thanks; open a scrapping store/retreat and have all my friends come over to play; confront the people who i have allowed to do wrong by me and have them admit it (sorry - that's a bit deep)

How many people are you tagging? whoever feels the need to waste some of their day

TAG - 1

the gorgeous miss marie tagged me ages ago so to keep in her good books i better do this
*wink*

Four Jobs I’ve Had :
1) cleaning a pub my aunt and uncle managed
2) bar maid
3) school teacher
4) part time clerk for our IT business

Four Movies I Can Watch Over And Over :
1) Gone With The Wind
2) Armageddon
3) ANYTHING with Brad Pitt in it
4) City of Angels

Four TV Shows I Love To Watch :
1) Any of the CSI series
2) Any of the Law and Order series
3) All Saints
4) Medium

Four Important things to me :
1) The love and friendship I have with Mark
2) The love I have for my children and their well being and happiness
3) The friendship I have with certain people in my life.
4) Being happy and being the best wife, mum and friend i can be.

Four Tunes That Play In My Head :
1) "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith
2) "Imagine" by MercyMe
3) An "Il Divo" song - and the name escapes me at this moment in time
4) Kait's Physie music that i have heard 50,000 bloody times in the past week as she prepares for her comp tomorrow...LOL

Favorite Food Dishes :
1) Seafood except oysters, mussells and octopus -BLAH !!!!
2) anything mexican
3) anything i can plonk curry in
4) a BBQ'd steak - medium rare of course

Four Websites I Visit Daily :
1) My Blog
2) Numerous other blogs
3) The Craft Attic
4) The Scrap Heap

Four Scrap company's I like :
1) Heidi Swapp
2) Daisy D
3) Tarisota (does that count)
4) K&Company

Four bloggers to tag:
whoever feels the need


And now you know it all *wink*

~*~ shazz ~*~

I DON'T DO "SICK" VERY WELL.

i have had mark at home quite ill the past three days.
now for this work-a-holic husband of mine to not even open his laptop, turn off his phone, stay in bed and take pain killers, he really must be ill.
i think it is just the flu (and so does the doctor) but he has been so sick with it.

and then the doctor insisted on doing an ECG on him this morning because he could hear an irregular heartbeat.
mark just shrugged and allowed himself to be monitored while i sat there and stressed out big time.

why is it that men make such a song and dance about being ill (you know what i mean - the none-too-subtle moans and groans as they turn in bed, the feeble requests for a cup of tea, etc) and then they just shrug off something like an ECG.
well everything was fine but that's not the point.

mark's pop died at an early age of a heart attack after having several previously at the ripe old age of forty (mark is 42 this year) and his dad had a triple by-pass a few years ago.
hello....????
does anyone else see a family pattern here....???
when the doctor asks you mark, if there is any family history of heart disease, maybe you should say YES...!!!

anyways, i have done the "good wife" bit today and let him watch the dvds he wanted to, and kept the fire stoked all day to keep the house warm, and made him chicken soup.
i'm not quite ready to collect that life insurance policy on him just yet.

i am hoping to get a lot of scrapping done this weekend - i seem to have sooooo many UFOs and things i really want to get done, while not forgetting the los i have to do - but for now i will share a lo with you all that was this week's inspiration at tca.

the theme was "minimalism"

hoping you all have a fantastic weekend, whatever you do, wherever you go and whoever you spend your time with.

~*~ shazz ~*~

FOR MARIE

ok, ok....i know i should have done an update on the weekend before now
(i have received many requests for an update from the gorgeous miss marie which culminated in a threat yesterday to "update or else"....LOL)
so here it is.

i left home after i dropped kait off to school on friday and wandered up the highway to robina. i love just wandering around the place and looking at things without the pressure of making sure the kids aren't bored or pleas of "can we go NOW". it was just lovely to just wander and look and i didn't buy anything except a coffee.
when i got to margate i drove past where the SWIG was being held and not recognising anyone's car there i went and parked at the beach and read a scrapping mag i had in the car and then went for a walk up the beach. actually it was more a case of being blown along the beach because it was mighty windy. the walk did me the world of good and i felt the weight of a few problems in my life being lifted off my shoulders.
headed back to the conference centre and met up with ruthy and diana - lots of squeals of delight and hugs all round. it was so good to see them both again.

we set up and after dinner started scrapping. i surprised myself by completing my dt challenge for tca (we were all sent the same pic and had to scrap it)


as well as half of another lo by the time we wandered into bed about 1-ish. it was so good to be scrapping with friends as well as meeting up with the lovely owner of the scrap heap, christine and lots of the other ladies who are regulars over there.
everyone was so welcoming and friendly.
met the lovely chrissy and sue her friend. and so many other talented scrappers. i felt a little daunted by it all actually.
it was mighty chilly on friday night and i was ever-so-grateful i took my winter woollies and a hot water bottle.

saturday morning ruthy and i did a class with the amazingly talented and hilariously funny bev watt. she is an outstanding scrapper, a great teacher and kept us in stitches the whole time.
we spent most of the day scrapping and before we knew it, we we being told to head off and dress for the western night.
some of the girls went to so much trouble with their costumes and again it was the lovely bev who had us in raptures of laughter with her horse costume.


and let's not forget christine's attempt to get her "too-big-hat" through the "too-small-door".
just too funny.


i thought diana and ruthy and i scrubbed ok as scrapping sheriffs.


although ruthy would have done well to remember her hat - the beanie didn't QUITE work babe....ROTFL.
the flower was a nice touch though.


and the lovely miss diana looked the part of a country lady rather than a scrapping sheriff.
but we all had the best night.


and try to guess which one of us can't spell - RUTHY !!!!
(sorry about the blurry pic)


we watched the western classic "calamity jane" and sang along to all the corny songs. we scrapped and laughed and laughed some more.

sunday was another class with the lovely bev. we made a handbag album and it was so much fun and they look great.
(remind self to take a pic of it to share)
just before lunch the lovely chris millar paid us a visit. i knew it was her when she walked through the door. she has a smile that lights up a room when she walks in. it was such a thrill to meet her after talking online for so long.
after lunch it was sadly time to pack up and head home.

i had the best weekend though.
and it was good to get home to mark and the kids - i did miss them terribly.

i will post the los i completed tomorrow - just to give you something to look forward to....lol

i hope you all have a wonderful day (what's left of it)
mark is home ill today and i have been quietly tiptoe-ing around the house so as not to disturb him.

until tomorrow, take care

~*~ shazz ~*~

WEEKEND PLANS

i am all packed to head off to the SWIG with ruthy and diana.
have stocked up the fridge for mark and the kids, left the cards for the video shop, the list of phone numbers is on the pad beside the phone.
i am leaving after i drop kait off at school.
i hope to have lots of layouts and stories of the fun and frivolity to share....not to mention a pic or several.

hope you all have a great weekend whatever you plan on doing.
take care everyone

~*~ shazz ~*~

HOW SWEET...!!!

i went shopping for some comfy shoes this morning (oh the curse of having size 9 1/2 - 10 feet) - no luck - and met up with dad and nanny for a coffee and a chat. it is so cool having my dad and step-mum in town so we can do these things.
as i was getting in the car to leave a saw an elderly couple (probably in their 80's) crossing the road to get into their car. not only were they holding hands but when they got to the car, this lovely old gentleman opened the door for his wife and just before he closed it, after she got in, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
i was mesmerised by their obvious love for each other and was VERY embarrassed when the old fellow turned and looked my way.
with a lovely smile and a tip of his cap he got in the car and drove away.
how totally and wonderfully sweet to be so obviously in love at that age.
i hope mark wants to still hold my hand when we are that age.
it was a lovely private moment between two people obviously very much in love and i felt very voyeuristic witnessing it.

just a few los to share today.

this one i did as part of TCA's inspiration - using stamps for your title or as an embellishment.
i love this pic of kait taken on her 7th birthday (2003) - it shows what a little monkey she was at that age.

and this is a cj entry i did as part of TCA's DT. jayne, the owner chose the topic of "my favourite things".
lucky jayne should receive this in the next few days - i am still waiting for mine to come home.

thank you to those of you who left comments or emailed me about yesterday...it is a date that rolls around each year for our friends and for us as well.
i don't know that it gets any easier as the years pass.

mark's aunt ruthy has sent us some copies of some old family photos on a cd.
what an amazing wealth of gorgeous photoes and oh so scrappable...!!!
i have printed up a photo of nanna taken in 1926 when she was 21, to take to the SWIG with me and try to do it some justice.
these photos are all just so amazing - some dating back to 1893.

our family woke this morning to the smell of freshly baked bread
YUMMY YUM YUM YUM...!!!
i FINALLY got my bread maker out of the pantry and set the timer so there would be fresh bread waiting for us to eat first thing this morning.
not so good for the figure but such a deliciously delicious aroma to wake up to.

enjoy the rest of your day
and a happy tomorrow to you all

~*~ shazz ~*~
xoxo

SORROW

KRISTY LEE GRAHAM
September 18, 1982 ~ July 17, 2003

‘MOVING ON’

You can shed tears because she has gone
Or you can smile because she lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that she’ll come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left you.

Your heart can be empty because you cannot see her
Or you can be full of the love and friendship that you shared

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live in yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday

You can remember her and only the fact that she has now gone
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind
Be empty and turn your back.

Or you can do what she would have wanted
Smile
Open your eyes
Live life and go on.

~~ Author Unknown ~~

SHIVER

how cold is it....?????
and i LOVE IT.

loved waking up to hear rain on the pavers this morning; loved re-stoking the fire to warm up the house; loved vege-ing out in front of the telly this morning with mark watching some of the telly shows we have taped in the past week; loved cooking toasted sandies for everyone for lunch (not real keen on the idea that i got stuck with the dishes though)
YEP!!!
i unashamedly, 100%, totally LOVE winter.

thank you to everyone who passed on their good wishes regarding my health. i am feeling much better and aside from my normal cycle of insomnia at the moment i am feeling better and i actually got out and walked every morning this week.
i will admit i do need to get a full check-up but i need to feel comfortable with the gp i choose to see and who i choose to care for our family.
thanks again girls....you truly are the best.

not much to report on the scrapping front - a lo i have to add some finishing touches to before i post it as the inspiration for this week at tca.
i am trying desperately to get organised for the scrap heaps's SWIG next weekend. i am so looking forward to hanging out with my gal pals, ruthy and diana and not to mention all of the other ladies that hang out at the heap.
i don't imagine we will have a balanced weekend of scrapping and chatting. i think the chatting will far outweigh the scrapping but hey....that's what it's all about.

mark and jake have headed up to carrara to watch our local all-stars football (soccer) team take on the qld all-stars. the game is the curtain raiser to the sydney fc vs qld roar game. i contemplated going but the call of the scrapping dungeon was too strong.

i sent flowers to our dear friends, kel and janelle yesterday in rememberance of their daughter, kristy lee.
kristy lee was taken from us in accident on july 17, 2003.
not a day goes by that i don't think of her, nor of janelle and kel and the effect that tragic night had their lives.
i remember with all-too-vivid detail the dark dark moments of those days after her accident and i wonder how we ever managed to survive such a tragic event.
but survive we did and as i said to janelle last night, some days it is just a case of putting one foot in front of the other without thinking about it and moving forward.
i can't even begin to imagine the pain and sorrow that janelle, as a mother must feel - she not only lost a daughter but a friend, a confidante and the light of her life. because i know what a lasting and profound impact kristy's death has had on myself, on mark and on our children.
kristy was by no means a saint....she was a typical rebellious teenager that caused her mother and father no end of grief but she had grown into a beautiful young woman, finally got her act together and life was finally good for her.
to be taken in such tragic circumstances was almost unbelieveable and even today i find it hard to believe that such a shining light has gone from our midst.
she will forever more be the gorgeous and beautiful young woman that she had grown into.
our darling angel girl.
R.I.P. KRISTY

~*~ shazz ~*~

MISERY GUTS

i am sick.
and i don't do "sick" well - whether it be me or mark or the kids.
i need to see a doctor but with our much loved gp retiring earlier this year i am very reluctant to let a stranger prod and poke the parts that are hurting at the moment.

i need to get better though cause i have so much i have to do in the next week or so before i go to the scrap heap's SWIG with ruthy and diana.

so no scrapping, no chores, lots of sleeping and lots of feeling BLAH and sorry for myself.
and to add insult to BLAH-ness, mark has gone to brisbane for a business meeting tonight - just when i needed him at home to play mummy to the kids.

i am off to put my head down again i think...
sorry about the downer post.

a happy tomorrow to you all

~*~ shazz ~*~

I.W.B.D.F.Q.**

with views like this off our front balcony last night.......




** I WOULDN'T BE DEAD FOR QUIDS

have a great tomorrow everyone
look for the "happy" in your day

~*~ shazz ~*~

BUSY WEEK = LONG POST

how can it have been a week since i last blogged....????

* we sent matt off to work sunday night at 9.30 as our 17 year old son.....he arrived home monday (july 3) morning at 6.15 as our 18 year old young man.
happy birthday sweetheart!!!!
where have the years gone and where oh where has my little baby gone...???
my first born, my dear sweet matty who i always thought would be an only child because i could never imagine being able to love another child as much as i loved him.
now he would rather spend time with his friends (he used to cry so much whenever we left him); he sleeps long into the morning (he used to wake up early every day and we never used to mind); he loves the band "story of the year" (he used to sing along to the wiggles); he loves looking at fast cars and one day wants to own a monaro (he used to push his matchbox cars around the back yard).......
i know it's all part of growing up but part of me will always see my little boy when i look at him.
you have probably seen these before but i will share them again.

this was taken the day he turned one. mark and i had shown him how to point to one finger and this is what he was doing in this pic. i would so love to be able to travel back in time to give that chubby little man a great big cuddle and hear his giggles.

this pic was taken earlier this year.....he is such a gorgeous young man
(i guess that explains all the giggling phonecalls we get at home)

he didn't have a party as such....mark took him to the pub (right of passage they tell me) and then 20 of his friends arrived about 10 p.m. and partied on until about 3 a.m.
mark stayed up and kept an eye on things (but they are all good kids so there wasn't much to supervise), made them popcorn and put the empties in the recycle bin.
matt had a great night.

* mark, kait and i went to brisbane last saturday to attend our friend, graham's 40th.
graham and his wife, ruth are matt's godparents and matt was disappointed that he couldn't attend because of his soccer commitments.
on the way up we had a tyre blow out on the motorway at 115 kph - thankfully mark was driving and managed to pull the car up quickly because it had the potential to get VERY ugly, VERY quickly.
a quick tyre change and we were on our way again. we hit something on the road that slashed the tyre open the tyre guy said when i took it in on monday. he said we were very lucky it didn't explode the tyre because whatever we hit gashed the tyre wide open.
scary stuff.

* kait was a little off colour before we left home and got progressively worse as the day went on. by the time we got home about midnite on saturday she had a raging temp of well over 39 which lasted well into sunday.
she was vomitting, lethargic and just so ill. all that weight (well the whole 400 gms she had put on) ended up in a bucket. it's a case of one step forward, two steps back with her and her weight at the moment.
even her physie teacher noted how much thinner she was this week compared to last week.
she is a lot better today and is sitting hoe-ing into her breakfast at the moment.
she has a little friend coming over to stay tonight and they are off to do a beading course at the new local bead shop (what a treasure trove of gorgeous beads it has too)

* i called in to check out debra's shop while we were in brisbane. i was like a kid in a lolly store running from stand to stand drooling over all the lovely products debra has in.
as a result, my "no shopping again til i have done 20 los" rule just flew rapidly out the window.
i have set myself a new limit of 25 los now.
"MY NAME IS SHAZZ. I AM A SCRAPPING SHOP-A-HOLIC"
isn't recognition of one's addiction the first step...lol

* jakey played his first game back with his old club, italo stars, last weekend - a full game with premier reserves and he benched for premiers and got 15 minutes on the paddock.
if you know nothing about football (soccer), prem reserves and prems teams are made up of grown men so here is my 15 year old baby going one-on-one with the best adult players in this area - and doing a good bloody job of it too.
he was never happy at workers (he just seemed to clash constantly with the coach) and he took the initiative himself and approached the coach at italo stars to see if they had a place for him in the team, went to his coach at workers and explained why he was leaving then organised all the transfer papers, etc.
he is a very mature 15 year old and i am so proud of him and the fact that he isn't afraid to tackle the tougher challenges that life can throw at him.
and he is just so dang cute too....lol

* my gorgeous friend wren, and her husband brian welcomed there fourth child into the world on sunday.
congrats to you all.
wren gave birth to a precious baby girl last sunday morning and despite her sorrow at needing a caesar, she now has a beautiful little girl, with the thickest blackest hair i have ever seen on a baby. i visited them on monday and got in my fair share of cuddles.
now all she needs is a name wren....lol

* i am sending out my thoughts and prayers to my beautiful friend marie who has had an awful week with the passing of her father-in-law, one of her good friends and another friend suffering a miscarriage.
sometimes we don't know why we have such sorrow given to us but i believe that everything happens for a reason....it's just sometimes we don't know what that reason is and we may never know.
take care my dear friend.
love to you, kelvin and the boys.

well that is the end of this mammoth post
*NUDGE NUDGE* are you still awake...???
i hope you all have a great day, filled with laughter, rainbows and time to do the things that make your heart happy.

til next time

~*~ shazz ~*~

p.s. notice i made NO mention of the score in the final state-of-origin game nor where the title will be going for the next 12 months.