Well, one week is down in my holidays. One more to go. What have I done? A lot of nothing. Some housework … only some, mind you. Major renovation in Tayla’s room – we pulled down her gorgeous castle loft bunk, and put her very pretty girly bed back in there. She’s over the castle bed, which makes me a bit sad, but we’ve certainly gotten our money’s worth out of it … so look out for a pre-loved castle loft bunk coming to an auction site near you! lol

I’ve done some bits and pieces of school work – still have a massive amount to do though. Sigh.

I’ve been to the movies a few times – we all took the girls to see Hannah Montana, which was REALLY good. We even went and brought the soundtrack for it the next day. Seriously, I enjoyed it heaps … so did Dennis. Oh yeah, the girls liked it too. lol I took Kieran to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince … yeah, I liked it. It was good. I laughed a lot. I was sad at the end. But part of my sadness wasn’t just for the death … it was for the parts of the book that I had been looking forward to seeing on screen, that didn’t make the final cut. Sigh …. I guess we’ll just have to wait until November 2010 and July 2011 to see how the final films resolve all that, given that there was some stuff in HBP that I thought was fairly important background info for what happens in Deathly Hallows. Yes, I know, I’m a book snob. So sue me. lol My sister and I, after much running around the countryside to make a session that wasn’t sold out, went to see My Life in Ruins, which was funny, light hearted, and just what we needed!!

Scrapping … yep, done a bit. Not a lot, mind you … but I’ve brought pretty new things, does that count?
This is my layout for the big band round of Chook Scraps Idol – the criteria was to scrap a double layout, with at least 8 pics, 3 pp and some metal. These are pics from my Nan and Pa’s home town, taken on the day we went and put Pa’s ashes in the memorial wall.

And this is my only-just-making-it-in-by-the-skin-of-my-teeth entry in the first challenge at Let’s Get Shabby. We had to be inspired by this picture:

And I was very inspired!! I’ve gone with a pink, cream and green colour scheme from the pic, and chosen a picture of a beautiful girl wearing a hat. I’ve also placed text at the top and the bottom, ala the picture, and used some paint, stitchy and ribbony elements to shabby it up. I’ve also concertinad some layers of the flowers to mimic the fans in the pic – but you can’t see that very well!

And the other thing that’s got me just a little sad at the moment … my boy has gone on a cadets camp. Yep, done that heaps before, and normally I’m cheering at a few days break from the testosterone-fueled drama that surrounds a 14year old. But this week, he becomes a 15year old. While he is at camp. And I won’t see him on his birthday. I know, it happens right? But this is the first time I won’t be seeing one of my kids on their birthday, and I’m a little sad about it. I’m sure we’ll both cope though, and before you know it he’ll be home and we’ll be fighting all over again. Nice!

K, that’s it for me – I’d better go and cook something for dinner. I’ve been all Masterchef inspired lately – last night was lamb shanks on a bed of mashed baby and sweet potatoes with steamed veges. Tonight, meatloaf. Dennis is loving not having to cook so much. I don’t know how long it will last, though, so he’d better make the most of it!! lol

It’s almost school holidays here in NSW. I can’t wait – catching up with some wonderful friends, scrapping, and sleeping in. Plus, some time with my kids. I know I’m going to have a heap of stuff for work, but at least I can do it at home … unless of course I end up spending time at FarmTown! Seriously, could that game be more addictive? lol

it’s time for an update. It’s going to be a quick one!

• P!nk concert … omg. omg. O M G. It was amazing. Awesome. Loved it loved it loved it!!
• Work. Busy …. total understatement!! Parent teacher interviews. Subject information session, which was awesome, but full on. Reports, which had to be completely redone … argggh. Oh yes, and I’ve been teaching sometimes too … what a novel idea!
• Sad news. We’re getting our heads around it, but those of you who know what’s going on will know the depth of my sorrow right now.
• Kids stuff … Kieran has cadets stuff left right and centre, Kelsey has Karate grading coming up soon, and Tayla has her state trial gymnastic competition in a couple of weeks, so has been having extra classes, and loving them to bits.
• Scrapping … I’ve been doing not a huge amount, but really enjoying the freedom of it! The journal-it challenges are great, and no pressure at all. I’ve been doing an Idol comp at Chook Scraps which is fun.

Is that better Mandy? In your honour, you lovable nag, here’s a layout … from the last round of Idol, and looking decidedly shabby. Speaking of which – check out my new pic in the sidebar over there, which you can click on to go straight to the new Let’s Get Shabby blog, which has it’s first fab challenge up!! (You can click on the pic, as always, if you want to read the journalling.)

K, I’m off to bed …. have fun people!!

Have you ever had one of those days that was incredibly sad but at the same time truly wonderful? Yesterday was one of those days for me. It was a year since Pa passed away. The reality of that hit me like a ton of bricks. ONE WHOLE YEAR. 12 months. 365 days. However many minutes they sing about in Rent. Lots and lots of time. So why does it seem like only yesterday? Mum’s taxi was in full swing yesterday, with Tay’s gymnastics class, and Kieran needing to be at Blacktown to march in the Festival parade, and both these events happening at the same time. So for the first half of the day, I didn’t have time to think much about it. But after lunch, I sat down, and contemplated the past year. It’s been full of good and bad. Lots of tears shed. Lots of breathless gasping nights where sleep only came through sheer exhaustion. But also, lots of moments of laughter through the tears…. moments where we reflected on a life well lived. Moments where we remembered joys shared over a bad joke, a silly trick, or a special hug. Lots of moments, good and bad.

What occured to me yesterday was that 12 months ago, I couldn’t imagine ever smiling again. I couldn’t imagine NOT thinking about how many pieces my heart was in. But there have been whole hours, sometimes even a full day, where I haven’t thought about Pa. That just seems a bit wrong, doesn’t it? People are supposed to say, at times like this, that “I’ve thought about you every day”, “you are forever in my heart”. I was feeling a bit guilty about that …. but I shouldn’t, right? This is what is supposed to happen. You are supposed to feel better. It doesn’t mean I miss him any less … in fact, if it’s possible, since Nan died I miss him more. So, I’m celebrating my dead people today, and am very grateful for their lasting impact on my life.

Hi all! Especially Mandy, who has been pestering me to update … are you happy hon? lol
So, what have I been up to? LOTS!! School holidays ended with a totally full-on, but totally awesome, weekend. Saturday, Anzac day, saw us in the city. We went Jet Boating on the harbour – very fast, very sharp sudden stops, very VERY wet, and most of all, lots of fun! Kelsey almost cut off the circulation in my hand, and went VERY white, but she couldn’t stop talking about it when we got off – total thrill seeker, that girl. Of course, well prepared mother that I am, had dry clothes for the kids, but for me? Nada. Thank goodness for the modicum of protection provided by the purple monk robes we wore, otherwise I may have been even more drenched than I was! We went in and back from the city on the Rivercat, which is well worth the trip, let me tell you! Lovely views, unhurried pace, a nice and relaxing way to get to Circular Quay. I’m going that way more often!
Sunday meant it was time for our house to be taken over by 9year old girls. Kelsey wanted a scrapping birthday party, and it was 4 hours of girly mayhem. Lots of fun though, both for the girls and for me. The made a wonderful little mini album each, painted a gift bag, played a few games, and made mini-pizzas for lunch. Kelsey has such lovely friends!!

After a very busy week back at work, during which I was acting head teacher (sheesh – full on!!!) I got to friday again. I had a yr12 excursion planned, to take my class to see a performance of Richard III by the Siren Theatre Company. OMG. I’ve never been so on the edge of my seat, holding my breath captivated by a performance of a Shakespeare play. Totally wonderful!! The only downside was that I had to lug my slightly under 23kilo suitcase there. The upside to that was, I WAS ON MY WAY TO CAIRNS!! ScrapTherapy retreat. Holiday Inn, overlooking the Esplanade. Water views from our room. The bestest room buddy a girl could ask for. Adjoining room with 2 wonderful chicks I hadn’t met in real life before, but who felt like long lost friends. Three days of scrapping. More wonderful friends – some I’ve known for years in real life, some I was meeting for the first time, but all of whom are just wonderful beautiful ladies!! Lots of laughter. Lots of scrapping. Lots of shopping, eating wonderful food, and just enjoying some me-time. I was in heaven … especially when I got to go and take some pics of the cute jellybean guys holding their privates!! lol

So, because Mandy told me to … here are some pics of the weekend, both people and scrapping.

Nat and I with the little perverted jelly-bean men … LOL
This layout has a story behind it – when I opened my suitcase at the hotel, I discovered my brads and buttons all through my clothes. It took me about 40 minutes to completely pick them out, and I was VERY careful putting my undies on for the rest of the weekend! The next morning, I got downstairs to the scrapping room to discover someone (cough*RACHAEL*cough) had spilt buttons all over the layout I was working on. They weren’t the right colour, but it inspired me, and two hours later this layout was finished – man, it took a long time to do all these buttons and brads! Yes, I know there is purple ink on the photo – I need to reprint it. That’s what happens when you try to recolour foam alphas … tip of the day, just use sharpies!!

How cool are these light-up skipping ropes? I’ve had this BG paper to use for ages, but it just didn’t do it for me, so I was soooo going to use it before I came home!!

Room mates – Lisa, Natalie, Me and Rachael. What a top group of girls!!

And finally, the DT group, minus Julie who couldn’t join us. Mandy, who is just too sweet for words (even when she IS harrassing me to blog!!), me, Narelle, and Leeanne, our Therapy mum.

Ok … The sad news. (Hidden at the bottom of a post about things that made me happy for very good reason!! Lol) I have made the decision to step down from the Scrap Therapy Design Team, as have the other girls. It’s been a wonderful experience, and I really thank Natalie and Leeanne for the opportunity. It’s been wonderful working with such a wonderful group of girls, and this is not a decision I took lightly. It was announced on the forums this morning, and I thought I’d be ok with that … I’ve been at peace with the decision for a while now. But to see it in print, and to make it public … well, it just seems so real, and I’ve spent a few moments today in tears. I’m really looking forward to being able to scrap with the girls more, and to scrap without commitments to anyone else but me, and that’s a really liberating feeling. I had wanted to be on a DT for a while before this opportunity came up, and I’m so thankful that this came along when it did – I can’t imagine a better place to be a Design Team Member for, and a more wonderful group of women, both DT and forum members, to have shared this experience with. I know that after the end of this month, when my status officially changes, and I’m no longer able to do all that extra stuff that I do as an administrator, I’ll probably have a few more tears, but mostly I’m very excited about seeing who the next lot of inspiring Design Therapists will be, and enjoying my role as Therapy Locum.
Leeanne has chosen a Guest DT for June, from some wonderful girls who were at the retreat, and will be looking for another group for July, before the new DT takes over. I can’t wait to see what everyone does, it’s going to be great!

So, off for some icecream, and some celebratory scrapping. I’ll share some more layouts from the retreat soon – there are heaps!!

Today be’eth a day of immense significance. Hirrah to Sir William Shakespeare, who would be aged 445 years today, if his life had not been arrested by the ravages of death. It has been proclaimed throughout the land that thou shalt speaketh like this noble gentleman today, and I entreat you to’t!

http://www.talklikeshakespeare.org/

For some Othello goodness, checketh this out. It maketh me happy in my heart. So, methinks thou canker-blossoms should’st speak out, loud and proud. Ellocute thyselves in a manner befitting a man who scribed more about sex and incest than any playwright of modern times would dare do. Methinks there is a double meaning in that!! (laugh-out-loudeth).

Man, I love school holidays. Love them!! We have just been chilling. My MIL came to stay with us over easter, and was here for 5 days. Love her to bits, but it’s nice to be able to drink the last little bit of coffee in my cup without being jumped on for my mug, because she wants to wash up! lol She’s awesome, and the kids loved having her here. I think it made Easter a little bit easier for everyone, because we could spend time with Grandma, and weren’t so focused on the fact that it was our first Easter without both Nan and Pa. Tuesday after Easter was Kelsey’s birthday … she is seriously getting WAY too old, and too tall, and too amazing for words.

The best thing about the day was that Dennis and I had our whole family there. Dennis’ daughter and her kids came over, and his son Garry and his girlfriend are down for the holidays. It was so good to see them all together in one place – it made Dennis really happy in his heart, I think, and it was the best gift Kelsey could have for her birthday – to have all her brothers and sisters in the one place for the first time in years. It was a truly awesome day. Aren’t we a gorgeous looking bunch?

The kids and I went to Nurragingy the other day, and took some pics … I’m so in love with that place, I can’t even tell you. It’s so beautiful. And when you have a beautiful place, a wonderful day, some stunningly gorgeous kids, and a great camera, you can’t go wrong! I took hundreds of photos, and apart from the debacle of trying to get a pic of the kids laying on the grass with their heads touching from above, without cutting anyone off at the neck, they are all completely scrapable. In fact, I’ve already done some of them!!

It’s been a week of letting go for me. Of realising that my kids are getting so much bigger than I’m ready for, and so much more independent. Kelsey has gone away with friends for a week, and she wasn’t at all upset about saying goodbye to me. That’s a good thing, I guess, especially as she used to be so painfully shy, but it just made me a little sad. Then, I said yes. I sat for most of an afternoon with my heart in my throat. I let my baby buy get on a train and go and meet some friends, all by himself. Yes, he’s almost 15, and I could be accused of being overprotective, but it’s better than the alternative, right? Sigh … growing up way too fast.

Speaking of way too fast … it’s been over a month already since Nan joined Pa. So long, but so

quickly …. and while life is still going on, there are moments when I stop, and realise that it just doesn’t seem the same. I don’t know what it is – the colour of the sky isn’t right. The birds are slightly off tune. The earth is slightly off-kilter. But then it passes, and I’m ok again. I remember how lucky we are. Totally blessed. Loving my life, ups and downs, and I wouldn’t be anywhere else.

K, that’s it from me at the moment … take care everyone, hugs to you and yours!!