Kwilter's Corner

15 things I learnt over the week of my birthday... 

• Kristian's cuddles get better every year
• Chocolate cheesecake is DEVINE
• Carole will always lock herself out of her suitcase or lose an earring
• Loud drumming seems to go hand-in-hand with semi-naked guys with rippling muscles
• It's unwise to start a diet when going on holiday or having a birthday
• 28 channels and there's still nothing worth watching
• Bath tubs make great places for a little late night reading
• I really need to get my glasses prescription made up
• Never go for a "walk" with Shaunagh unless you take a grappling hook
• When I buy a new phone it would be helpful to know how to use it
• "We just got married" is a good excuse for forgetting my birthday
• Bunnies with a foot fetish are not to be trifled with
• The Australian Bureau of Statistics is relentless
• No suitcase is ever the right size
• Family and friends are wonderful - wait, I knew that one already!

Went out to dinner at one of my favourite restaurants last night - the first in a series of celebrations for my birthday (the BIG ONE) next week.  We had a lovely time. Two of my old friends who I used to go night-clubbing with picked me up and we laughed and cracked jokes and "remember when"s the whole trip up to Tanunda.  Everyone arrived on time except for Judy who I phoned to be greeted with a little voice on the other end of the line saying "help, I'm lost".  We soon fixed that and it was soooo nice to have such a great little group of friends to celebrate with; the wine helped too!  They were very naughty though and even after my telling them not to when I invited them all they still brought presents.  And then I had to endure unending embarrassment when the restaurant turned out the lights and brought in a birthday cake for me, comlete with sparklers and lots of towering chocolate and sticky toffee decorations.  AND they all sang happy birthday.  *giggle*  Must admit it was nice but I kept looking at the sparks landing all around me and praying they didn't burn holes in my new outfit! (the wait-staff assured me they were well trained in emergency fire measures though).   I had a ball and despite Kerry's prediction - that I would be blotto by the end of the night - I remained relatively sober.  Which is a good thing because in that tiny weeny sportscar of hers I probably would have had a terrible time if drunk trying to contort myself into a pretzel just to get in. Hmm... pretzels...

Was in the city a couple of days ago and finally got around to getting myself a new mobile (phone).  Have been promising myself a replacement for my old brick for a few months now and I was quite happy with the whole thing till I got it home and couldn't figure out how to use it!!  Argh!!  I have unending patience with some stuff but electronic doohickeys are not my forte.  Now don't get me wrong, if I took the time to read through the instructions properly I'm sure I'd be able to work it out (it's a phone, after all, not rocket science) but I just get so frustrated - with gnashing of the teeth, growling, fist shaking and tossing of instructions against walls - really over the top, I know.  Honestly, I'm not a luddite!  I just prefer to let someone else figure it out and they can show me.  Hence, another trip into the city tomorrow so KJ can sort out this new monster for me - I'm not travelling an hour just for the phone though, I do have more shopping I could do plus getting my eyelashes tinted....
Wow, I sound really shallow, don't I?

Two things of interest...
Yesterday the DVD that I ordered arrived in my PO Box and I took it straight home and watched it -  "Ten Inch Hero" with adorable Jensen.  Was better than I thought it would be (much better actually, I really liked it).  It was a "feel good" movie and a bit trite in places but then I wasn't expecting Ben Hur.  Maybe if it hadn't had one of my favourite people in it I wouldn't have looked at it so kindly; certainly I might have walked right past it at the store.  I thought it had a nice ensemble cast, some snappy humour, pretty scenery and who can resist two people who won't see 40 again riding naked on horses!  Really!
Today I had to go into the city - very last minute - with the choir so they could attend their final Festival of Music rehearsal.  I don't generally do well with spur of the moment ... er ... moments - but I really enjoyed an nice day out, right by the river, with lots of music and singing and sunshine and black swans.  What's more, we didn't lose any kids (although we did gain one for a while)!

All in all, a very pleasant two days.  Makes a nice change from the horrible, very bad, no good week I had previously.  Only 10 more sleeps until I'm on holiday!  Yayy!!

Okay, I'm going to sound like a complete and utter virgin here but I just bought something over the internet - first time ever.  It's just a DVD that's being released soon but I got all adventurous and decided rather than walking into the store to buy it I would do the online thing.  Phew, what a relief.  Another milestone achieved in my life!  I feel all grown-up now.  ; )

Your Mind is Green

Of all the mind types, yours has the most balance. You are able to see all sides to most problems and are a good problem solver. You need time to work out your thoughts, but you don't get stuck in bad thinking patterns. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about the future, philosophy, and relationships (both personal and intellectual).

Discrimination is alive and well and its name is CARL (Child Abuse Report Line).  I discovered this factoid Tuesday evening while updating my Mandatory Notification training.  Apparently if you hop on the phone to CARL to report suspected child abuse you are given a few options to dial, the first two being if you are reporting suspected abuse of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child please press '1' and if you are reporting suspected abuse of a child of any other heritage please press '2'.  I'm told that if you press '1' your call gets put through immediately but if you press '2' you may have up to an hour to hold the line.  Now, excuse me, but I think that is very, very wrong.  I don't like the implications and as far as I'm concerned it shouldn't matter what colour a child is, brown, white, pink, coffee, blue or polka-dotted, they're ALL still children and so should ALL be entitled to the same urgency.  I'm not saying that Aboriginal children are less or more likely to be abused or less or more demanding of attention, I just think this smells like discrimination to me and it's unfortunately aimed at innocent targets.  The long wait on line '2' is probably due to lack of staffing and the fact that there are a heck of a lot more "other heritage" children in this state than there are Aboriginals.  I just don't understand why there have to be two lines at all, I find that really distressing.  They're children - all of 'em!  End of argument. 
And people wonder why I don't read the newspapers...  Bah!!

I've been reading about the penis bone that many species (not humans naturally) have.  Primates have these bones so I find it curious that human-type people don't.  In reading about the "bone' I've learnt something about the bonobo, a type of chimpanzee.  They are the only non-human animal to have been observed engaging in face to face congenital sex, tongue kissing and oral sex.  Isn't that wonderful?.  But I was rather amazed that they also seem to have no objections to same-sex couplings as well as penis fighting (males using their penis to fence with).  I think I saw a movie like that once-- only the fencing males weren't chimps!  The animal kingdom is very weird sometimes.  Anyway, back to the "bone" - what I want to know is if this is where the slang term for an erection ("boner") comes from?  Any ideas...

Okay... I haven't posted an entry in weeks so what do I decide will mark my return to this journal...?

I have a friend who named her daughter Bambi. 

Bambi! 

Didn't anyone ever tell her that Bambi was a boy?!

Today I ran into an old friend who I haven't seen in years and I didn't have time to really catch up but it was so nice to see her again.  And isn't it nice that apparently I haven't changed, look very well and fit and healthy (or so Ros says).  Mind you, I had just come from a shopping & lunch out sort of day so I had no excuse for looking anything but happy.  It's been an overcast, rainy and puddle prone day but a happy one regardless.  Julie, Shaunagh and I had lunch at the Monkey Nut which is attached to one of the wineries in the Valley - I had chargrilled prawns with bacon and mushroom noodles and a garlic sauce - and a thoroughly decadent looking cake to go with my coffee, plus a nice semillon sauvignon blanc  to tickle the tastebuds.  Mmmmmmm.  From there we drove into Tanunda and went to a favourite shop to look at all the lovely things nobody really needs, that are overpriced and need dusting too much when you finally get them home.   But I did find some new mugs (that I I DO need).  I'm very fussy about my mugs - they have to be a decent shape, with a nice roomy handle but with a fine lip.  I see a lot of mugs I like but they're often quite thick - would feel like drinking out of a bucket!

I finally made up my mind, decided, resolved a question of doubt, figured it out, stopped delaying, came to a conclusion and actually did it!  No, not that, get your mind out of the gutter.  I posted off my application to adopt a greyhound through GAPSA.  The form was part questionnaire and, rather like a dating service, I had to fill in my preferences... what age bracket, what sex, where would they sleep, temperament (would I prefer sedate or lively, playful or protective...) etc.  Now if I could just place an order like that for another sort of living companion things would be ... mmm, yummy...

Just got back (crawled in the front door) from walking the dog.  Not such a weird thing, you say.  True, but I had to borrow a dog in order to do the walk!  It was the RSPCA Million Paws Walk held a Elder Park in the city and the huge amounts of people and assorted dogs was amazing, especially considering how damp and dreary the day was.  S and I managed to get rather wet and the dogs got soaked but we had a great time anyway.  Alas, we forgot to time ourselves but I would estimate around an hour to do the 5km distance we had opted to do, maybe a bit longer as we didn't hurry and made a couple of doggy pitstops on the way.
Cutest sights of the day - a dog in a handbag (carried by a guy), a small black and white dog wearing a pink coat hitching a ride under a pram, and a man taking his ferret for a walk on a lead.  There were various other entertaining sights - a great dane in a red cap, a daschund on a trolley, assorted ribboned top knots and bows (people and dogs both), little dogs in bootees, big dogs licking little children (testing for snackability maybe?)...
My feet are a bit sore but I'm pleased I made the long walk and considering where we had to park it was certainly plenty more than 5km all up.

There I was earlier in the week chortling in glee that my $900 from "Uncle Kevin" had arrived in my bank although I had already spent it.  Here I am today pulling my hair out wishing I had another such amount to go in my bank since my washing machine decided to die this morning.  It is over ten years old so I figure it did very well for itself (thoroughly recommend Hoover brand washing machines) but meanwhile, I'm left with a pile of wet jeans and what-not that I have to hand wash.  Not fond of hand washing.  Nup, no siree.  So I decided to pop out and see if I could find a new one - which I did (and it's getting delivered this Tuesday).  Happy, happy, joy, joy.  I'm renting it actually but hope to pay it off in a few months or sooner as I get a rebate from the government for purchasing it, plus it came with a 5kg. pack of washing powder and a steam iron.  I really wasn't planning on a new machine and had in fact been thinking of getting a dryer for the laundry.  Maybe I'll go for broke and get one anyway. 
With the talent I have for spending money I could so easily handle being rich.

What a day - here I am at lunch time watching the Dawn Service as it is televised from Turkey and the light is so dim it might as well have been dawn here too.  Such a wet and gloomy day but I'm not complaining; it's day three of almost non-stop rain and I'm loving it.  If I was a kid I'd be outside playing in the puddles and dancing about in my almost dead garden (can you hear the plants just slurping up the water...).  I didn't mind getting soaked yesterday when I dared to go grocery shopping in a heavy downpour although I'm sure I'll have mildew growing between my toes!  My rainwater tank is full and the drip in the ceiling in the toilet is still there (worse luck), drip - drip - drip.
I'll be baking Anzac biscuits later although I've no one to share them with.  Hmm, means I'll have to eat them all myself, I suppose.

Another day of furniture re-arranging.  Got the old bed in the middle bedroom dismantled despite it putting up a fierce battle and carted that outside.  Then took apart the bed in the third bedroom, a much easier task, and re-assembled it in the middle room.  Which left some handy space that I moved the old cupboard from my bedroom into.  Still have to move back all the contents from said cupboard and tidy up but the house is looking less like a bomb-site at least.  Will have to find somewhere better that under the kichten table to store all the books that used to live in my room too.  Progess.
Got an unexpected phone call this evening about the delivery of my new mattress tomorrow.  I had been told it might be a couple of weeks before I got it but apparently they had the thing in stock, so I'm ecstatic about that.  I'm looking forward to having a beautiful night's sleep tomorrow.  Of course, paying the bill would have been a lot easier if the government gave me my "stimulus" cash.
Thought I might call the Salvos and see if they want two beds and a bookcase plus some assorted clothes and books.  That way someone can come and collect them and I won't be stuck with getting rid of them.  Sounds like a plan...

I've been having a really lovely time this last week.  It started off with visiting the kids over Easter which is always nice and relaxing.  Since then though I've really only felt like lurking about the house doing housey things which has been great.  On Monday I phoned the shop I had bought my new bed through to tell them how unhappy I was with their after sales service "and just where were the slats to my bed and why hadn't they couriered them up to me".  Next thing I know my slats turn up - my bed is complete.  That was very satisfying!  I wonder how much longer they would have made me wait if I hadn't done the disgruntled customer thing.  I've rearranged most of the furniture in my bedroom and made a complete mess of the rest of the place but I like my mess.  My mess is interesting and creative!  Today I finally visited the new shopping centre just up the road from me and bought myself the most decadently comfortable mattress I could find at a ridiculous cost.  *smiles contentedly*

Because next weekend is Easter and Easter is always boring unless you attend church services or go camping, I decided on the spur of the moment to fill this weekend as I didn't have much more than a family visit organised for next weekend.  So went shopping in the city and spent some money (a book, a coat, music, DVDs) and ran into a friend in one of the bookshops.  We had coffee and went to another bookshop where I found the book I hadn't been looking for - nice surprise and something to read over Easter.  Got home in the early afternoon and got a phone call about an unexpected marriage proposal (not directed at me!) so that thrilled me to bits.  Another nice surprise.
Went for a drive today with SD and Bundy.  Kind of hopped in the car and headed off down the road with no clear destination in mind and found ourselves at Normanville, about 120km down the coast.  Cloudy day as it was we still had fun and enjoyed our walk on the beach despite the head-wind and light shower or two (more like a sprinkle really).  Stopped for lunch at this rather nice cafe just past Myponga and had a huge meal for not too much but couldn't fit in the honeycomb crunch cheesecake I had been eyeballing at the counter (perhaps another drive).
*Sighs happily*  And the nice thing about this week is that after these next four days at work I have two weeks holiday.  I had better stop spending my holiday savings before it even arrives...

About a week ago my new bed that I'd been waiting two months for was delivered and today I came home and found my security screens had been fitted on the windows.  Finally things are happening.  I was beginning to think I had died and was in some awful limbo where nothing ever happens, contractors constantly muck up and deliveries never arrive.  Mind you, my lovely new bed is kinda missing the slats so even if I had bought a new mattress I still couldn't sleep in it.  Hopefully (performs incantations and makes sacrifices to many limbed gods to ensure that this happens) the slats will arrive in a week or so and I'll be ready with the new mattress at the same time.  Perfect! (tosses magical herbs over shoulder and promises to make a donation to a worthy cause).

Is it  insane?  I wake at five in the morning, read for two hours then go outside to do some gardening.  The sun wasn't even up!  I then came back inside, read for another hour then crawl back under the sheet for a delicious nap.   Hmmm... nah, I just really like the early hours of the morning; at least on a non-working day (or I was really keen to use my new toy - the lopping shears).  I love how quiet it is, the lack of people, the bird song, the muted light; everything always seems soft in the morning.

Having said all that - I'm really looking forward to the end of daylight savings.

So there I was ambling down the corridor at work this morning and I bump into Bronwyn (she shares my office on Thursdays).  She gasps and says to me how glad she is to see me still looking as I do...  I gape and wonder what the heck she's talking about and she tells me she had a dream about me last night (nice to know I'm in someone's thoughts!!) where she had walked into my office to see me sitting at my desk but I had had my hair cut.  Apparently - in the dream - she had been stuck for words because the hair cut (short curls around the front, frosted on top, dark at the sides and a MULLET!! at the back) was unspeakably awful.  I cracked up laughing at the face she was pulling as she descibed the dream-version of me.  But no, she says, you've got to understand, Shellie, it was a DREADFUL 'do.  You'd have to know Bronnie to understand maybe but she has a dry sense of humour and it just seemed so funny.  She was so relieved that I didn't have ugly hair - "because I would just have to tell you how fugly it was", she explains earnestly. 
Laughing hysterically first thing in the morning was a nice way to start the day.