Trying to stay ... OK!

Sunday, after doing the Schnitzel Challenge the night before, I was feeling a little so so (mentally, NOT sick or anything... just a bit flat), so I decided to go for a drive. I ended up heading up to the Nth Beaches and I found myself at Mona Vale. Not for any reason at all, it is just where I ended up stopping!

After sitting on the beach, pondering (not to mention getting wet as it was showering a little) I then headed for my other little spot and did a bit of 'spotting' at the airport. It is a well know little spot for spotting, but it is quite 'hidden' within the two parallel runways of Sydney Airport. I had been there for about 30-45mins, when this little black 4wd turned the corner, and OMG, it was friends of mine, D&A, with little B! They had been on a little adventure and low and behold, they found me!! This is not the first time this has happened either, when a few months ago, LH and her family had also driven there to pick-up another family member! Also, a couple of weeks back, D A were at at Hungry Jacks for a breakfast, and another mutual friend also happened to be there... WHAT ARE THE CHANCES???!!! lol

Anyway, Monday found us sorting through Lou's clothes and to try and find some missing bits of jewellery. It was a tough day, for both the MIL & FIL, and I tried so hard to keep it together. We went to the club for lunch and had the Buffet, which was really nice. It sort of picked us up a little. We went back past the townhouse where the Jacarandas were in full bloom, and even the White ones, before heading for home. We found almost all of the jewellery (Bolder Opal earring's yet to find) and I said farewell to M&J. Here is where it got tough, REAL tough. I ended up walking through the house, seeing all of her precious things out on display, and all of her work clothes, in piles (shirts, skirts, suits and dresses) and I fell into a blubbering mess. I was this way for about 30 mins, before pulling myself together as I had to meet up with a friend who had just had her first baby, a little girl, but my feelings of 'lost' and 'loneliness' came flooding back when I got back from the hospital... I went to see my GP today, and we have changed a few things, and set up some strategies to cope with it all. It is all a matter of all of the legal stuff, the sorting of stuff and her due day coming up, but I am trying (hard) to stay OK!

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Schnitzle House Challenge: - FAIL!

Last night, we went to the Austrian SchnitzleHaus, to have dinner... It was actually have the Schnitzel Challenge, and I was somewhat scared, VERY scared!

From their website:

Do you love schnitzel ?Are you able to beat the challenge and eat our Giant Schnitzel ?$ 55.00

• Fastest times set - 17 mins!
• 1 Kg Schnitzel with chips and sauce of your choice
• 1 Litre of Beer (Erdinger weissbier or Stiegl Beer)
• Essential ...Bookings only for the Challenge... !!!
• Select either Chicken or Pork
• We are unable to offer the challenge without Pre-Ordering

RULES

• The challenge is to be completed in 1 hour.
• All the food on the plate,except garnish is to be eaten
• NO sharing with anyone !!!!!!!
• If you throw up.... you're out of the contest .
• Finish the beer
• Finish it all and you'll get a FREE Dessert, a T -Shirt, a Schnapps and your Picture on our "Champions "Wall of fame"!
• No sharing or Take aways

Naturally we needed to ensure we had a 'dedicated driver' (thanks Sam) and as both Max & Will could not eat the Schnitzel, they (and mum) had the Meat Platter which looked amazing as well! Beers arrived and it was at this point I thought, What on EARTH have I done?

Bernie Alex Beer, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Soon after, 'Cow Bells' started to ring and a fan fair as our platters arrived... OMG!

OMG Schnitzle Challenge Begins, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

There was 4, YES 4, Schnitzel's on the plate. After about 15 mins in, and wonder how on earth did someone finish it all in 17 mins, I was beginning to feel very full... Looking at Alex, he had started to look a little, well, 'seedy' and a bit 'green'! Sam, on the other hand was laughing and snickering, but also being a 'little' compassionate!!!

OMG Schnitzle Challenge, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

OMG Schnitzle Challenge Alex, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

OMG Schnitzle Challenge Bernie William Alex, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

At the 40min mark, I had called it a day, as with Alex. He at least got up and went for a walk, and the interest from the fellow customers in the restaurant was huge (not to mention the shear SIZE of the meal!). Both Max & Will had a Chocolate Mousse for dessert, and we left feeling rather bloated, to go home and watch Iron Chef, oh dear!!!

Max Choc Mousse, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

William Choc Mousse, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

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Blooming technical issues!

Over the last week or so, I have been having more than a few 'technical' issues with my laptop. It has been (for a little while) not good with SKYPE, and over the last week, really slow to start up. In fact, on Monday night when I finally decided to get off all my data, and do a clean install (thinking of W7), it took nearly 5 hours to transfer nearly 80GB. OK, I hear what you're saying, that's a lot of data... But it had a very slow bit rate as the processor was running at 100% on other things!!

After it was all done, I restarted the laptop (made a coffee, and watched the David Letterman Show as it was 11.45pm) and it was finally ready to start the reload of Vista. Following the instructions to use the recovery DVD, I got a message in big red letters ERROR! Can not read image on disc... ASUS, here we come! It is now back in at the tech desk, they know of the problem, and I should have it back as early as today!

BUT, in other bits around the house, some of the 'Hippies' L had planted have come into flower, the Dranuculus is about to flower again, and just for good measure, here is a pic of the pets... Do you think they are trying to tell me something (Jas looks comfy and resting after our trip to the vet, whilst Macc is excited; do you think he wants to come in?):

Comfy Kitty, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Jumping Macc, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Garden Flowers..., originally uploaded by AussiePomm.1. Passion, 2. Hippie1, 3. Hippie2, 4. Hippie3

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Thought of the day...

Thought of the day..., originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

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A visit to the long lost aunt!

Today, I took mum up to visit my auntie Dell. This meant another drive north up the freeway to the Central Coast. Auntie Dell is not 'really' my aunt, but her late husband came out from England with my dad, and as such, are as good as family as family themselves. She is also my Godmother and we even have the same birthday (albeit 30 years different!)!

They came down for L's funeral, and I had not seen them for many a year prior to that, so I thought it would be great to catch up properly. And to make it an even better trip, Maureen had recently had her second baby, Tristan, a brother for little Trinity! The girls, and auntie Dell, put on a fantastic lunch of chicken and salads, and we certainly didn't go hungry! And to top it all off, we even had Profiteroles for desert with coffee!

Maureen, Aunty Dell & Colleen, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Maureen Tristan, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Colleen Tristan, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Mum Aunty Dell, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Mum Anuty Dell Me, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

As you can see, auntie Dell (and even both Maureen & Colleen AND even my mum) are not very tall, and I was very much the odd one out. Yes, that's me standing behind auntie Dell who is ALSO standing! I do not know where I get my height, as I am head and shoulders above mum, from memory dad as he died in 1992, and my brother and sister!

We were up there much longer than I had thought we were going to be, as I wanted to get home so as mum could drive herself home before the peak hour rush... This was not the case, and after the 90 minute drive down the freeway, I was home very tired, but relieved to be here all the same. What a great day!

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Picton Show 2009

Today, we went out to the Picton Show. I was invited to come along with A,S,M & W and L's mum & dad, J & M (are you with me still?) :). The forecast was a bit so so, but we headed out with a slightly overcast morning. A & S were on the look out for a couple more 'girls' to join Velma & Daphne in the chook yard as Daph as been a bit 'broody' since being confined to the chook run (she was enjoying being a free range bird in the back yard)!

So we got to the Showground and headed straight to the Chook Pavilion, where there were a couple of birds for sale, but not the breed they were after. There was also some very UGLY chooks there:

Ugly Chook only a mother could love, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

For Sale, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Are you looking at me, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

There was also a shearer who showed us how sheep are shawn! He was great in the demonstration, and really got the kids involved with handing around some of the wool. He also showed us how wool is graded, and traded, and how much they get paid per sheep!

Shearing Sheep, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Grading the Fleece, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Fleeced, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

The boys also had a couple of rides, dodgem cars together, whilst M went on the slide and W went on the train!

Max Slide, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Dodgem Cars, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Will Train, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

There was also a 'Snake Man' there who was doing a show, which was very informative, but one thing I didn't like was how he demonstrated how blind they really are! OK, he's an expert but with the worlds deadliest snake on the ground, did he have to show how close his foot can go to it? Here's W & M, with a Python, which is non poisonous...

Will Snake, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Max Snake, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

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Smelly flowers and a vege garden!

Today, was a day in and around the garden, off to do some shopping and finally to get my hair cut!

So today, the tomato's got a tidy up and tied up, the corn is 'kicking-on' and the lawns were all tidied up. Even Jasmine gave a helping 'paw'!

Jasmine Vege Patch, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Vege Patch 2009, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Also in the garden, the 'Dracunculus vulgaris' we got at a Garage Sale about 4 years ago now, and although it flowered last year, we missed it coming up! This year though, I spotted it last week, and it is now staked and almost ready to open up. It is standing at almost 1m tall!

Dracunculus vulgaris, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Dracunculus vulgaris, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Dracunculus vulgaris, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

And finally, at the end of the day, I think a spa will be in order to rest my tired old bones... What do you think?

Spa House, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

And then there's Macc, I think he is keen to go inside, don't you?

Macc wants IN, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

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Wet, bogged in the sand, but a great weekend!

This last weekend, was in fact a long weekend and a great chance to go camping, right? Well so we thought...

I got up to the camp site late Friday afternoon. Showers/rain had been forecast, but I would be ok, I have a Camper Trailer right? A,S & W arrived a couple of hours later, whilst M & I got it all set up. So all we had to do was get dinner ready, sausages, boiled potato's & salad. During the cooking, there was the odd drop of rain hitting the hotplate BBQ'ing the 'snags', but all was good and the kids were having fun.

Once they were in bed, we enjoyed a couple of 'refreshments' and having a chat through a brief thunderstorm.

Sat morning, we woke to a cold, overcast day, but not raining (yet). We had breakfast of eggs on fresh bread (YUMM) thanks to A cooking, and headed off on an adventure into Tea Gardens. Along the way back, we past an entrance to the beach, a 4wd entrance (remembering I have a 4wd...) and headed in. Looking left, there was a Nissan Pathfinder bogged, so I decided to go right, make a steady long turn and head back out. WRONG, I ended up bogged and the car was sitting on the chassis rails, and the tide was coming in! I remembered that the local garage had a service if in this situation, so I called them. BUT, just after I hung up, a passer by offered assistance, and winched me out, and then, using a 'snatch strap' (4wd recovery equipment) towed me to a safer location for me to go. It was here, that the recovery team arrived, and although I had already paid by credit card, $150, I did not care as I was out. Another 30 mins and it would have been having the incoming surf against it!

We had decided to pack up after both kids (and dad) were coughing and the rain was not abating. Within 60 mins or so, we were done and on the road heading home to dry out... What a weekend!

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Jamie's Baptism

Today, we had little Jamie's Baptism... A lovely day was forecast, but true to form (for C&P anyway), it ended up quite gusty and the coldest day in 7 weeks!

On another matter, you might remember a few weeks/months ago, I was after input for a colour change to my house... I have got some colours and have painted the outside of the kitchen window... I have photos of the before, one option and another option below... I am after some comments!

Kitchen Window Schemes, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

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Back home, but sick as thanks to the Dust Storm...

On my final day/evening in Doha, when walking around, I was amazed at the amount of people sitting around, in parks, buildings trying to find some shade in the very late part of the daylight... But, I had NO idea what it was all about until I realised I was walking down the street that had all of the banks, and the people were waiting (even on a Friday) for them to open and withdraw their wages! It wasn't until around 6pm that people started moving, joining lines and scuffles were on!!!

Doha Waiting for Banks to open, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Doha Bank Waiting, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

I also got this shot of the two swords, I will have to do some research to learn exactly what they are about though!

Doha Al Samad, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

As well as being back, Sydney yesterday had a major dust storm... The only problem I had with it all was that the night before, we had a good old thunderstorm pass through, and I opened up my windows to enjoy the fresh air! 5.15am when I woke up, the morning sky was as red as anything I had ever seen... Then I realised, I had bedroom windows open, and after a couple of hours when getting ready for work, I started to wheeze pretty bad, and I new I would not be getting to work and hunted down an old Ventolin... By lunch, I was at the doctors surgery, on a nebuliser and being closely monitored, or off to emergency! I ended up AOK, and a quick trip to the chemist ($145 poorer) back home and sealed up the house!

And, here are the pets, I haven't posted about them in such a long while... Macc is his usual self sleepy head on his bed, whilst Jasmine, still with a little red tinge about her, taking comfort in the leather lounge!

Sleeping Macc, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Sleeping Jasmine, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

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