good news at last

well i'll be.  i think i told you that i requested a major change to my existing hours with the restructure going on at work recently.  we all had a one on one today with our boss and guess what?  YES YES YES.  they gave me everything i asked for.  i can't believe it.  yippee.  wednesday, thursday and friday and every other saturday.  i don't know the fine details atm but will hear soon enough.  they are expecting the new hours to start in may. i'm on annual leave for the whole of may so when i get back hopefully it will be in place. this is due to the new eb that states that all full time staff are not allowed to work weekends anymore. we are getting a new library system very soon and training will start while i'm away.  no problem.  i'll catch up.  it's a fairly user friendly system by all reports.    all that and my new phone is waiting for me at the post office.  it arrived today but as i was at work the courier took it to the post office.  all in all i'm pretty chuffed.  i think i'd rather win lotto and retire but hey one thing at a time.  :)   the kitty is pleased too

my big day out

Lan, my friend from work, came over yesterday.  she was going to cook me noodles for lunch.  she rang last week but i was felling a bit sicky poo so we put it off until yesterday.  we were both free for the day so decided to go to the market.  first up we had a delicious lunch, chicken, veggies and flat rice noodles.  with soy, red vinegar and chilli on the side.  a huge plate arrived at the table and i couldn't believe that we'd eat it all but we did.  so, our tummies satisfied we did some veggie shopping.  bargains everywhere.  i'm going to attempt to make zucchini fritters this arvo so got the ingredients for them.  if they turn out half as nice as the ones at my local cafe i'll be pleased.  then, it was time to look for my coffee.  my son and i went in to the market last week and two supermarkets didn't have it so i wasn't hopeful. Lan was though and took me to the shop she usually goes to but alas in the tea/coffee aisle there was no kapal api kopi for me.  but ....  she said don't worry and dragged me (literally) through a thousand (not literally) aisles to the back of the shop and voila!  there it was.  i stocked up and bought ten bags.  i'll keep it in the fridge.  should be ok.  i was getting a little bit desperardo coz i'm on my last bag.  i thought i'd have to go back to italian coffee.  oh, poor me.  so we came home and the kids visited for a little while.  cookie has her party on today at their local park.  not a bad day for it weather wise.  Lan and i had rung the clairvoyant earlier and we said we'd see him at 4.30 pm.  he'd just gotten home when we got there.  no biggie.  soon we were drinking tea and eating the grapes, cheese, nuts and crackers we brought for him.  he's chilean.  he said he got his gifts from his grandmother and he doesn't charge.  this time as well as reading our tarot he read my tea leaves.  he didn't say a great deal.  he mentioned gambling a few times and a loss (money).  as i don't gamble a great deal anyway i wasn't too worried. and i haven't got much money to lose.  so, this morning i've had some lovely little grape tomatoes for brekky with my toast and of course my coffee.  i haven't planned anything for today (except the fritters) so hope to have a fairly relaxing day. i hope you enjoy your sunday wherever you are.

i just took this photo coz it looked nice on the table 

i recently planted an avocado seed and was surprised to find this in the garden.  something is eating it though. 

little tomatoes for brekky

this little guy looked on while the tomatoes cooked

ahhh  relief.  i have coffee again

a birthday and a panda

birthday girl

i didn't get home until 8 tonight coz i went up to see cookie as it's her 12th birthday today.  harmony day too.  she had a lovely day and we went out for dinner.  i gave her a name necklace for want of a better name.  she has a very unusual name, she's the only one i've ever heard of, so i got one made by a jeweller in melbourne.  silver with swarovski crystals. she loved it.  her parents gave her clothes which she loved too.  she's having a party on sunday at the local park.  she's excited.  it should be a lovely day.  now i'm pooped.

so on to the panda.  well!  i was at the end of my busy desk shift and doing three things at once as usual.  i looked up and there in front of me was a 7 foot panda.  well, a person in a panda suit to be precise.  i said hello, as you do, and he waved at me. he could have been there to rob us for all i knew.  he was carrying a gift basket.  i asked him a question and he shook his head no.  i asked if he wanted to give out the lollies around the library.  he shook his head.  then i noticed that he was tapping on his gift basket and written on the box was the name Sarah.  drrr  i finally got it.  he was there for sarah.  so after getting a very embarrassed sarah out to the desk the basket was presented to her.  by now a large crowd had gathered.  camera flashes went off.  it turned into something of an event.  it seems that the person inside the suit has a bit of a crush on sarah.  he's older than her and she doesn't really reciprocate his feelings.  he stayed around for ages, i thought he was waiting for a tip or maybe he was going to strip. a stripping pandagram.  he finally left and things settled down when all of a sudden a young woman came in to the library with a gift basket for sarah.  the two are not connected at all but you have to admit it was a doozy of a coincidence.

it's hard to understand panda sign language

bug run 2

bug run march 2012

we went on another bug run today.  up into the hills, down to the beach and cafe primo for lunch.  we are all pooped.  my son made a short video. the backing music is by his band khatrun.  i have to put it in as a link above.  apologies.  we had a lovely day.  the club members are all very friendly people and a good time was had by all.  i'm off tomorrow and then back to work on tuesday.  ewwwww  :)

a pic from the last bug run. i forgot my camera today :(

the weather today was perfect.

yesterday i went up to see my daughter and g/kids.  their dog had nine puppies.  the pups are too cute and have their eyes open now.  we had a nice day.  a little lunch and a little shopping.  we went to about four garage sales too and had a great day.   i hope you enjoyed your weekend 

honey honey

i went shopping yesterday with my son and got veggies and stuff.  we had brekky.  salad and zuchinni fritters for brekky are the bomb.  so delish.  then, we went to the honey 'factory'.  this place is ancient.  it's a few  suburbs away and looks like a time warp.  the building is from the 40s i'd say.  he sells every kind of honey and honey products like pollen and beeswax etc.  i got some beeswax to make some solid perfume for gifts.  i hope it works.  i got some manuka honey which is supposed to be great.  usually i only like indonesian honey.  it's so mild and delicate in flavour.  apparently honey is one of the few food items that doesn't go off.  if it chrysalises just put it over hot water and stir until it gets back to normal.  i have it with green tea and a quarter teaspoon of organic cinnamon.  delish.  here is a pic of the honey factory -

you may have to click on it it enlarge it.  the bloke who runs it is a character.  he offered to pose in the yard working the pulley thingy.  he had a 'grumpy old man' tshirt on but wasn't really that grumpy.  pity that we didn't get a pic of him. 

we had a full on thunderstorm in adelaide yesterday.  lots of rain and amazing thunder and lightening.  bit scary really.  quite a bit of damage done around the city but we escaped any damage/power cuts so thats good.  enjoy your day wherever you are.  :)

you have to laugh don't you?

there's a philosophy going around that says laughter is the best medicine.  they have groups in the park and just laugh.  don't laugh, it's true.  here's a pic that made me laugh this morning.

they found unusual cells near the kidney tube in the bladder.  not good. biopsied them and burnt off the one already there.  no chemo this time.  i will wait and see what the report says.  at least my gp speaks in terms that i can understand and takes the time to go through it with me.  the registrar at the hospital told me i may lose a kidney down the track.  i tried to take this info in and wondered if i'd cope with working and the discomfort.  taking time off work.  retiring.  all this stuff going through my head and then ....  and then .... (sounds like a song from long ago)  he came back and said he'd misread the notes from the surgeon and it was not in fact in my kidney but near the kidney tube (i'm sure that's the correct medical term).  relief?  sort of.  still in dark though.  i'm going to buy some honey and cinnamon today.  apparently it's the latest cure all.  allegies, dandruft and cancer.  hahahahaha.  my son is here (bless his little cotton socks). we are going to breakfast and the health food shop.  :)  enjoy your day wherever you are  

home from hospital

i had the procedure on saturday and came home today (public holiday).  all well at this stage.  no results of course, i'll go to my gp in a week or two.  should be ok for bali.  will write more later.  all good

fire

we had a fire at work today.  it was just outside the garage in the bark garden.  it was about the size of a dinner plate.  we don't know how it started.  there didn't seem to be a cigarette butt involved but who knows?   of course most of us went outside to have a sticky beak.  the smell went right through the library so of course we were concerned (at first).  our mobile librarian just kept unpacking the van and didn't seem terribly concerned as he'd already checked it out.  rightly so, it was a very small fire.  lots of smoke of course.  it was flaring up a little but wasn't spreading very quickly.  nothing to be concerned about really.  i'd just come off the desk and was a bit brain dead (it was late afternoon).  we have a fire warden of course but she was busy at the council desk.  everyone went in to get some water and i monitored the fire.  lol.  first M arrived with a bucket of water and proceeded to pour it over the fire.  success.  fire was out.   then S arrived with a jug of water and threw that on the ground where the fire used to be.  then, believe it or not, T arrived with a bottle of water and put that on the ground too.  she was concerned that it was caused by the electrical thingy in the ground a few inches away.  so, the fire was successfully extinguished.  mobile librarian P was having a wonderful time by all of this activity and posed the question 'how many librarians does it take to put out a fire?  and made other witty observations about the situation.  you can imagine the fun he was having.  well, the excitement over we all made our way inside.  by this time i was nearly due to go home so packed up my desk and got ready to leave.  it was then that i noticed that i was holding my bottle of water the whole time.  talk about lmfao and lol. how embarrassing. (no-one else noticed either)  i did mention, didn't i, that i was a bit brain dead from the very busy desk?

i told them to ring the fire brigade.  firemen are usually quite cute

that's a lot of firemen

what a hero

a very unwanted visitor. send help please

help.  i just saw a mouse on the inside of my back door (it has opaque glass panels) and the screen door.  it was up quite high, probably trying to find a way out.  i'm a terrified of mice.  really, really scared.  i hate them.  i know it's the weather that's brought them around.  there's a smallish hole down the bottom of the screen door.  it's gotten in there.  omg.  it put me off my dinner which is very unusual as nothing much makes me lose my appetite.  oh i can't stand it.  there are herbs that deter mice, does anyone have any suggestions?  i must get that hole fixed asap.  the other day i walked outside and around the back i saw 'something' blackish and fast disappear under the fence into the cemetery yard.  i just glimpsed it so can't say what it was.  i can't go out there to see if it's still there coz if it's there i'll be even more stressed and i can't open the door inside coz if it's still between the doors it will come in and then i'll be a real mess.  there's no-one to call either coz my son is out tonight and my sil (the pest exterminator, don't laugh) is too far away.  shit, i really wish i had a cat.

ouch

i've taken up walking again.  i have to lose weight and i'm so unfit.  i'd love to jog but for the life of me i can't run or jog.  i tried tonight.  walk briskly for a minute or so and then jog for a short period. (very short) i managed about five metres.  that's really sad isn't it?  and my shins hurt, but that will get better.  i must say it made a difference because although i walked the same distance i felt like i'd gotten a better 'workout'.  i got up a sweat in fact.  i could never jog or run, even in school.  i am quite flexible and can do a bit of yoga but i've never been 'bouncy'.  by that i mean running and jumping and getting off the ground in fact. does that make sense?  probably not.  i'm also making a concerted effort to eat smaller portions and def. not go back for seconds.  i borrowed the gabriel method from work and quite frankly it doesn't make sense yet.  having said that i haven't even finished the first chapter but i'll give it a go.  it came with a cd including a meditation session which i'm def. going to try.

 http://www.thegabrielmethod.com/

zen

http://pinterest.com/ystefani/zen/

pinterest page of Buddhas.

another tree bites the dust

ok, i admit that it may have been a problem for the owners (neighbours) but i object to it's removal.  the tree removal people arrived at 7.30 am and they have just stopped. it's nearly 11.30 am.   the noise was ( i hope they're finished) incredible. kill me now.   the tree was one of my favourites.  a pink peppercorn. it hung over the corner of the car park and was beautiful. it provided much needed shade.  yes, it did make a bit of mess but not too much and it didn't leave a sticky residue on the car roof as some trees do.  the trunks of these trees are amazing.  i always want to draw them.  such gorgeous textures. we have three outside the library and if i look up i can see one of them through the skylight window when sitting at my desk.  i might go out today and hug a tree, although, the last time i did that, i got bitten by an ant.  :)

how gorgeous is that?