Well I haven’t left a blog on here for quite some time. What has happened since my last post?…. We’ve had Christmas & New Year for starters. ShadowKnight & I have bought a new car. ShadowKnight has had time off work for medical reasons, including surgery. I have had 2 weeks off work, including a minor procedure for medical reasons. Plus all the standard day-to-day things. So… here’s a little reading on a few of those topics.
Early December SK & I went to our local Holden dealership. Wilsons Holden Abion Park Rail. The people here are genuinely nice & are happy to chat about all sorts of things whilst selling you a car & making themselves a profit lol. We new what we wanted to buy when we walked into the place & I had also lined up over the phone with a salesman named Grahame to purchase a Sportwagon. We were lucky enough to be told that they in fact had one 60th anniversary edition of the Sportwagon left which is basically a standard Omega base model with Leather Seats, Leather Wrap Steering Wheel, 18inch Alloy Special Edition Wheels, Bluetooth Connectivity & of course 60th Anniv. Ed Badges. The base model Omega starts from $42990. We purchased ours for $34990 drive-away! However, we did add a few extra special things so we are actually paying a little more. We added metallic paint, window tint, leather protection, paint protection, tow bar & sports exhaust.
We got the car 2 weeks before Christmas & we are very very happy with it. We received it with under 20kms on the clock. We have today put the car in at Wilsons for it’s free 3000km service. With working in Sydney, it doesn’t take long to build up the km’s.
Then came Christmas. I worked this year right up until the evening of Christmas Eve. The first time for a few years that this has happened. My brother K & his wife D & Mum came up from Batemans Bay during the day so it was nice to travel home from Sydney to find them waiting for me. We had a wonderful Christmas Day starting with opening gifts during the morning then sitting down to a massive Festive Feast with all the trimmings for lunch.
Boxing Day saw a basic repeat of Christmas Day with my brother D & my two nieces H & L arriving from Sydney. We again spent the morning opening gifts followed by yet another Festive Feast. Some of it was Xmas Day leftovers however there was some freshly cooked meats & some seafood included. My family stayed with us for a few days where we spent time swimming in the Public pool at Warilla (which is totally free to the public), playing RockBand on Wii & singing to SingStar on PS2 amongst other things. Bro D, H & L went home the following Monday & I returned to work after a few nice days off.
Then came New Years. NYE was spent at home as Duff & I had to work during the day. SK, Mum T, Duff & myself enjoyed the company of Bro K, SIL D & Mum. We had a fire in the brassiere out the backyard near the patio with a nice cold one in our hands. We had music on the Plasma all night & watched local fireworks in the skies surrounding us all evening until the monstrous midnight fanfare which we watched in the skies as well as on the TV. It was a great way to bring in the New Year.
A couple of days into the New Year the crew went back home to Batemans Bay & things went back to normal life.
I won’t go into detail with SK’s medical issues. Too long a story & quite frankly some of it a bit personal. However SK is doing really well since his procedure, which came a month after the first medical emergency. Thankfully it wasn’t life threatening & he has been fixed. Things surely can only get better from here for him 
As for me, Ive just come out the other side of 2 weeks home with a torn right calf muscle & a severely infected cyst in the back of my neck. I’ve literally just gotten home from having it re-dressed after having it cut & drained yesterday. I’ve been on 2 lots of antibiotics over the past 2 weeks for it. Basically I had to get the infection to reduce before it could be drained. If you have ever had a cyst infected you will understand where i’m coming from when I say it’s a whole world of pain & discomfort! Also cos it was situated on the back of my neck, it caused the 2 glands near it to swell which become very tender. The muscles surrounding it become very irritated & sore as well & you get to the point where you can’t turn your head aroun. Therefore you can’t drive safely, have trouble sitting against chairs/lounges etc & sleeping is almost non-existant until you can find a comfortable position! My left side has become quite tired of being layed upon! So basically once the Dr drained it yesterday (not a fun experience), there was an immediate relief felt.Today I am sitting here thanking the fact that it is all over with & all that is needed is to heal naturally. The wound has not been sewn up at all & I am to keep it dressed until it has totally closed over. So each day I will have to rely on someone else in the house to take a look at it & keep an eye on it’s progress for me.
As for my calf muscle, the bruising has come out & each day the pain lessens & it is getting stronger again. I am almost walking perfectly on it again which is a great relief. At the one week after mark, I was still having a lot of trouble walking on it & basically got a scolding from the Dr to do literally NOTHING on it & to keep it elevated all day every day. Not an easy task hehe. Although he did say it would take some time to heal so perhaps my expectations were too high at first. As it happens I am now bored sh#*less & cannot wait to get back to work next week!
WOW! How exciting would it be to have one of your very own videos posted on a celebrities youtube page.. let alone MADONNA! I think I’d just die from the honour! I enjoyed watching this. This guy has some serious talent. What are your thoughts?
Our Sunday Doubles League came to the end of it’s season last week. So this past Sunday we had our Bowling Presentation Dinner. It wasn’t too formal & it was great to see some of the bowlers outside of the Lanes.
We had our gathering at High Sea’s Chinese Restaurant in Shellharbour. The food was flavoursome & it was the first time we had tried their meals. The restaurant itself hasn’t much of a chinese feel to it’s modern look, but did have a comfy casual atmosphere to it.
Our team, Chanel Surfers came in last hehe. However we didn’t expect any prize as we had not been on the league long enough to have played enough games to qualify for any prizes. However, we were rewarded with last place. It was a very nice surprise & greatly appreciated as we did attend every single week since joining the league except for the 1 week we were at Bathurst, which we still pre-bowled for.
The new Sunday Night Doubles League will start again a new season as of this Sunday. Mum T & ShadowKnight will be joining up as a doubles team & I will join up with another bowler who also joined the last League late into the season & is looking for a reliable partner. I don’t know what our team will be called, but I’m sure together we can come up with a suitable name.
*The picture above is not a trophy won on the night however as we have prize money awarded instead oftrophies.. however I’dlove to earn my first trophy someday hehe.
YES!!!! It is time for the Supercheap Auto 1000 @ Mt Panorama once again! I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since sitting hillside witnessing the rivalry of Holden vs Ford.
Ahhhhhhh! What a week ahead we have! We have spent the past few days anxiously counting down the hours & packing the Trailer & cars. This year even though fuel prices are against us, we are taking 2 vehicles to ensure everyone is comfortable on the journey. This will also allow us plenty of room for the packed camp gear etc. It’s amazing how much stuff you take for a week’s worth of camping!
So off we head tomorrow to set up camp in The Chase as per last year. As of Thursday we will be able to sit back & relax with a few JD cans & the rumble of the V8s at our feet. Hoping to catch up with an old friend of mine from Berridale which we see only once a year at the mountain. I will be cheering on Team Red & generally just enjoying the best week of my year. Other than that, I am looking forward to doing SFA!
Last week we played the last games of our Tuesday Night Late League. Tonight we had a presentation for the last League. We came Third! Well out of Four remaining teams, I guess that’s a good thing??!! LOL We won $160 as a team for coming Third. I also won High Series with Handicap & ShadowKnight won High Series Scratch. Each of us pocketing $50 for our efforts. I was mightily happy with this as it was the first League I had ever bowled in.
So tonight our new League started, Tuesday Night Late League Singles. 15 people showed up & it was great to see some new faces to the League & also new faces to the alley. We played 2 bowlers per lane. And as luck had it, I bowled against ShadowKnight LOL
He won all 3 games as expected & wiped me clean off the lanes LOL! But that’s ok, it isn’t too hard to do & I am proud of him regardless.
It was a great night but I am mightily tired after a full day working today, leaving hme at around 5.30am & returning home just after 6pm. I’m off to bed to dream of my first pay packet since quite some time teeheehee!
I have had endless disapointment in trying to secure myself a job here in the Illawarra. I have even approached stores out of the area at around 45 minutes away with no luck. I have not tried every single store int he area, but I have tried every avenue where I am experienced in & yet had no luck.
The worst part of this journey has been the fact that only 1 store, in the whole 7 months of looking for work had even bothered to get back to me & tell me that they had passed my Resume on to HR for future reference. I even registered online with Select Education…. & heard nothing back! This is appalling!!!!
The emotional strain job hunting has on a person is already at high levels. The feeling of disapointment is never ending & the negativity that surrounds it all over several months of unsuccessful searching has put me in a place I never wanted to be.
However things have now changed for the best. My SIL Duff works at a Bunnings store in Sydney & travels back & forth every single day, taking her roughly 1.5 hrs in a one way trip. There happened to be a position become available for her to work 9-5 weekdays which is one of the best situations you can get in Retail! Also a position became available for the same hours & days in the Cafe in the same store. So I applied. I had 2 days notice of the position, then attended the Group Screening they offer. Followed by a 2 on 1 Interview. This happened all last Wednesday. Yesterday I got the phone call to say I was successful for the job & I start Induction training this weekend. Then start in the store next week. I will be doing 2 days of Stock Take which I did a few months ago with them.Then into my position in the Cafe.
I find it amazing that I have managed to get myself a job where I am not 100% familiar with the role, nor is it nearby to home. But at the moment I am fairly desperate. So am pleased to just get the work. The bad part is that I will be spending a good chunk (roughly about a third) of my wages on fuel! Paying half the cost of fuel will be better than the full amount, however it’ll still hurt the pocket. So i’ll be working about a day & a half just so I can travel to work. BLEH!
So now I’m back in the workforce. I will be earning my own money. We will be able to plan things on weekends again as a family. Oh how sweet it is!
Great News!!!! East Lynne Store has made it into the Top Ten for their Pies & this week the judges make their decision.
My friend Michelle told me earlier in the week that the final Top Ten will be telecast on tv Live. I was unsure what show it would be broadcast on, so I went hunting.
I have retrieved this info from the Terms & Conditions page: “The National prize will be judged by the panel on
Therefore I believe that the judging may take place on Channel 7′s The Morning Show, as this is shown live from Martin Place, also home of Mel & Kochie’s Sunrise.
I will be watching & hoping that East Lynne Store finish strong!
Thank you to anyone who did vote for my best friend Michelle & her partner Colin. It has been hard work for them to keep up such a good name & reputation, but one i’m sure they are extremely proud of. I know I am 
Added: 7th Sept, 2008.
Well a place from Victoria who has been open a mere 18 months won the competition. Congrats goes to Wickedly Delicious Patisserie. Monbulk. VIC! Job well done. Good competition against them and runners up were:
Elaines Gourmet Pies. Fyshwick. ACT
Sugar & Spice Patisserie. Joondalup. WA
Bremen Patisserie. Umina Beach. NSW
Beefys. Palmview. QLD
East Lynne Store. East Lynne. NSW
Ettalong Beachside Pie Shop. Ettalong Beach. NSW
Pie In The Sky. Olinda. VIC
Whiteys Pies On Sale. Orange. NSW
Tolga Bakery. Tolga. QLD.
Good try again this year Michelle & Colin. My vote will always go to you both. Love you & Miss you xxxx