Finally Friday!

Good Afternoon!- and what a lovely sunny afternoon it is! (hence the various colours of text - reminds me of the lovely day we are having). Beautiful! Lets hope that the sunny weather continues over the weekend because we really need to get into the garden and get rid of a bunch of winter weeds that are growing in our lawn and garden beds. I've let the gardens beds go over the past 4-6 weeks, mainly because I planted oodles and oodles of bulbs back in May and as I planted some new varities I wasn't sure whether it was weeds pushing through or the bulbs. Now I am able to tell which is what and so ... time to muck out, clean up and rake through the garden beds - and of course, tackle the 'crap' in the lawn.

And of course its ~*Fathers Day*~ on Sunday - so hope the weather stays sunny for all the dads! Wishing everyone a happy day with their dad! We have my mum/dad over for a late breakfast on Sunday- Fab is cooking up something special on the BBQ so that will be nice.

Luke plays his last game of football on the weekend - and Chad has a birthday party -plus Fab and Luke will go see the last home & away game for the Eagles! Can't believe the season is almost over! Wishing my beloved Eagles all the best for their final game and with any luck, they will chalk up another win! Go Chicky! (No 17 for the Eagles - Daniel Chick - my fave player).

Nothing particularly interesting to report, had a good week. Went out for breakfast with friends on Wednesday at a lovely cafe in Landsdale. Very casual and relaxed. There were 5 mums and 6 kids (3-4 year olds) and we were there for 3 hours. The kids were fantastic, they had a big plasma, lounge chairs, kids table & chairs and a bunch of games for them to play so they were well entertained. I ate a massive BIG BREAKFAST for just $12.50. Anyone looking for a great cafe - this is the one - Cafe '7 - in Landsdale. The food is well priced, big portions and the service is terrific. I know that this place will become our new 'hunting' ground for mum lunches, dinners, breakfasts, coffees etc.

Put in a good effort at work also this week - and managed to catch up with a bunch of other stuff at home. Have a pile of washing, folding for tonight - but hey, once its done means a housework free weekend - so for that I am thrilled! Will have enough to do with everthing else.

Kids are great - very busy practising for the Schools Sports Carnival which is in two weeks. Only hope that Luke can survive the allergies as the grass has been playing havoc on his eyes for about a month now. He has missed a few days of school and suffered other days in the classroom. Its the worst month for him. Chad has been lucky all year and we've not had any of the 'eye bulging' incidents we have had in past years. Poor kids - I hate seeing them with watery itchy red eyes that are so irritating/irritable for them. Luke sneezes alot also. Luckily so far Ryan is not showing any signs of allergies - but then again - it wasn't until Chad & Luke were in Pre Primary that they started to suffer.

Footy is now over for the kids (Luke's last game tomorrow as I said) so we now have Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays after school free! Plus we can sleep in on Saturday & Sunday mornings. Joy oh Joy! They haven't decided what summer sport they would like to play yet but I think they are tending towards Indoor Soccer on a Friday afternoon - which would suit me just fine - coz its just ONE afternoon. I'd like to get them into swimming a bit more so that will be good for the HOT summer days - for all of us!

Hope all those IDOL fans out there are enjoying the new season like I am. So far I am pretty impressed with 7 out of the 8 IDOL'ers that have been picked. Looking forward to the WILDCARD on Sunday night - but not too sure who I'd like to go through. Will have to wait until they've sung and then make a decision I think. My fave male is Jacob and female is the Jamaician pocket rocket (as the judges refer to her) - I can't remember her name (yet!).

Ok, think that's all the new that I have to share with you for today. Have a great weekend and enjoy Father's Day. Love Mik xox xox

"Keepers"

I received an email today - that has touched my heart - so I'd like to share it with you!

**Keepers!**

I grew up in the 40's/50's/60's with practical parents. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminium foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a Name for it...

A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return. So... While we have it... it's best we love it... And care for it.... And fix it when it's broken..... And heal it when it's sick.

This is true... For marriage.... And old cars.... And children with bad report cards..... Dogs and cats with bad hips.... And aging parents.... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special.... And so, we keep them close!

I received this from someone who thinks I am a 'keeper', so I've shared it with the people I think of in the same way...

Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.

Keep them close

(unknown author)

More babies for the PITTS!

Hello! I've just read that Angelina and Brad are expecting their second child together - bringing that to a total of five children. Wow, with their hectic lifestyles and movie commitments - it's nice to see they still have time to not only make babies - but have an active part in raising them. Angelina has always been a big favourite of mine. I love the Tomb Raider movies - watched one just recently at midnight - the same night that Nicky (our cat) decided to jump onto our new bar and knock over some 40 glasses that I had put on it that day - with the intention of packing in the cupboards. Alas, I never got around to doing it that day - and as a result then had only 1/2 of those glasses to put away. I was vacuuming glass at 1am. Poor hubby was not impressed especially as his pride & joy of 4 HARD ROCK CAFE shooter glasses were amongst the casualities. He had bought them on his trip to America earlier this year.

Anyway, today I have managed to knock off a pile of paperwork that was taller than me - or so it seemed. I am now digging into some Mango Chilli Philly before I head off to get the kids from school. Earlier I was looking at a beautiful flower that has shown in my fish pond area - I am not sure what it is called but have managed to download a picture (shock horror, I am getting good at this). I have 3 of these plants in that area but only the one open flower. There are about 15 buds so hopefully by the end of the week they are all flowering. Its almost like three flowers in one. The area is full of plants and bulbs are shooting up daily so in a few weeks when Spring is upon us it will look pretty special with lots of colour. Next step will be to clean up the pond and get some fish in there. Now that we have a BEN barrier around it I will be able to finish it the way I would like. Including new spotlights & other lighting that we once had before BEN decided they looked good enough to eat! He must have been a 'sparkie' in his previous life!

Well, belly is full - and its time to go! Have a good afternoon! ;o)

BY GOLLY - I THINK I DID IT

Ok, after spending the better part of the afternoon and evening trying to work out this whole 'blogging' thing - I think I've got it sussed! Lo and behold, I even got a photo loaded! That's ME with my littlest man and my puppy Ben (although at the time of photo he was only 5 months old - now 1 year).

After plenty of !#$%^&* the afternoon turned into evening and hungry children kept complaining about 'whens dinner', I finally managed to get some text written and my profile set up. True to my Scorpio nature - I never start a job I can't finish - so the poor little mites had to wait some more as I fumbled my way through it all. I think the bickie barrel might actually be empty now. Gasp! I'll pretend that the dog ate them otherwise hubby (who is not home tonight) might not be too happy. Anyway ....

I'm not 100% sure about what everyone writes on their blogs, but from reading my pal in Melbourne I figure its just general every day chat - about life - interests - news - opinions - and a way in which to express our passions, our joys, our goals - and most importantly to touch base with friends. Something I find that I dont have all that much time for lately - and for that I am sorry. So I hope to be able to update regularly and keep you posted on news from our end of the world and I'd love for you to write back - time permitting of course. I know when I first starting reading R's wonderful blogs that I had no idea how to reply, but its pretty easy if you read the prompts and hopefully you'll work it out. I hope that I will be able to add news things as I learn and go along that will keep you all interested.

For now, I have dinner dishes to wash, ironing uniforms for the morning ... and I'm sure there is a list of another 20 things that need attention before I rest this weary head (which is showing the signs of a headache after spending so much time looking at the computer screen). So time to bid farewell ... good night ... adious ... ciao! Stay tuned for a better update in the near future!

OK, I have no idea what I am doing ... but at least I think this is a start! I'm new to 'blogging' (just can't get used to that term) but hopefully with the help of my dear friend in Melbourne this site will be up and running soon! So for now - its HI to anyone reading this and hopefully soon there will be some interesting news and bits & pieces and maybe even photos! Cheerio!