Good morning to all of you. I spent the day yesterday with a little Christmas shopping, lunch with my son and a haircut. The lion's share of my shopping was done on Amazon so the UPS parcels are stacking up. Last night I wrapped gifts for a couple of hours. I stock up on clearance ribbons, paper and ornaments at the end of each season and this year I am using black and white and red and white snowflake wrap with felted ornaments...kind of non traditional but very pretty.

Haven't had a chance to ask my DD if she got it all done for me the other day. Too spoiled. Just found out eldest DD and hubby arrive from Germany on 23rd so that is 2 more presents and I never have any ideas for him. When she was single and came out I used to take her shopping after Christmas for the sales and buy her clothes - she NEVER has enough. Very high maintenance child.

Will only have 8 days to paint the bathroom and toilet and pull the house together after the carpet is laid, the lounge delivered and the bathroom finished and they arrive but she can stay with her sister. I get very short tempered with them, they speak in German the whole time. Too rude!!!

Tiling starts on bathroom tomorrow at 7AM so better get some shut eye.

Oooh, oooh, just see beside this someone wants a popular grey paint for bedroom and lighter shade for bathroom suite ........... Revere Pewter to the rescue??????????

You better hope grey goes out of fashion soon - heehee.

Catch you tomorrow.

Thanks, michi, you just reminded me I have a case of goodies coming from the States this weekend that I have to wrap. LA dd has 3 great friends - 1 pilot, 2 flight attendants who are regularly on the LA run and are happy to be our mules. Don't know what we would do without them.

The washer flooded the garage again this morning. And the plumber just left! I'm tired to death of plumbing problems.

Lucky there is a BIG ditch between us. Hoo roo!!!

Big ditch! Funny. Go to bed!!!

hello ladies.....
No, I have not done my shopping and I don't think there will be a lot of that going on this year. Boo Mappin is done, which is the most important. Trying to figure out what to get J....tough. everything he wants is too expensive for my piggy bank. dang! My father is another toughy..I do not believe in charging a bunch of stuff for christmas. If I can't afford it, then I don't usually buy it. We already have gas money to get up to jersey to figure into all of this. Plus we are driving another vehicle back down, so that's twice the gas. I am not looking forward to seeing the devastation up north, but maybe we can do some work up there for some people who may need an extra hand. One of the days, I am going to NYC to see the "christmas" however. Cannot wait! Been looking forward to that for a year now!

Mendi, did you get Boo Mappin the super sparkley pink castle? You know she wants it!

Where is everyone today?

MP, I know it sounds corny but I started a Twelve Days of Christmas tradition for my husband many years ago. Starting on December 14th I give him a gift each day until the 25th and yes, I sing. The gifts don't have to be large or expensive...for example on the 5th day he always gets "5 Gold Toe Socks"! Of course my guy is just like any kid and loves to receive twelve gifts and it is always a challenge to remember the full list in order to keep the song straight.

MM, that's so cool! 5 Gold Toe Socks, very clever!

Roo is up and at it. Came on early to catch up before too much chatter and .................. Must be all out shopping bobbi.

Did you get the plumber back? That is disgusting he should do a job and it backs up right afterwards. You aren't paying him I hope. Maybe there is another problem they are missing???

BH has just arrived home after doing the school run, tiler here and into it, he sounds very good, the maths he just rattled of in his head doing the layout left me floundering. Must go food shopping for the weekend and then see how far we get with things today. We are both getting so over the time everything is taking.

Mornin' roo! The plumber is due back at 2 PM, I asked them to bring a longer snake this time....hehehe....at least 75'. The 'fix' came with a 30 day warranty so no payment this time. Thanks for asking!

The school run? What is the school run? When do you anticipate everything being completed by? And, when it is done, what will you have to chat about?????

Bobbi....i just read something. You totally crack me up sometimes! "Do you live here now, or is this someone else's furniture? It all looks very miniature. Treat yourself to a larger refrigerator, and table and chairs"................... i am still laughing right now outloud and there's nobody else around me. ;)
You MAKE me look like a looney tune! HA!

I only bought Boo Mappin the sparkling pink castle ornament for her pink tree! And Cinderella hallmark ornament that she hasn't gotten yet. My sister has gotten her a cinderella princess gown/dress which I'm sure she will be wearing everyday.
She only wants a few things and has not changed her mind for the last 6 months; Minnie mouse bike; check....Minnie mouse cash register; check.....something else that I can't even remember. Some clothing. Oh yea, a ferbie thing. Not even sure of that's how you spell it. Maybe the other grandmother will buy her the castle. I want to buy her a scooter, but daughter says she won't ride it. She would if she was with me though. I know that child...she's a mini me. And of course I always get her art supplies!

She already has a circus tent in her bedroom, a trampoline, a playhouse and picnic table and bench outside. She has WAY too much to begin with. It's ridiculous. I told her mommy not to go overboard while she was still this young, but she didn't listen to me, as usual.

MM, that is not corny at all. My guy would love it. He's the romantic and I'm just "mean" according to him. I'm not though....just not very sappy I guess for a girl. I'm very sweet however. He just doesn't appreciate and see all the things I do behind the scenes. Whatcha gonna do? He really would love an ipad....IF and only IF I can find one on ebay for a great price will I buy it. But the other thing that I thought about doing is getting him a new laptop or something...I think he may go back to school in january or february? soooooo who knows...

Roo, I cannot believe you are up....what time is it there anyway?

Good afternoon.
@olldbobbi, "The school run" is driving to take children to school, and picking them up afterward. The UK and Australia do not use school buses.

Michi, where Christmas is concerned, I don't think anything is corny. That is a lovely gesture on your part.

Bobbi, great when you have to tell the plumber what to do. How far are your pipes to the main? 75' sounds a long way. Don't know how things work over there, but here once any problems occur outside your property it becomes the problem of the Water Board.

School run - as in taking the kids to school. The after school run involves whatever is in season - swimming training, footy training, netball training, dancing, music - 4 kids all going in different directions at the same time.

As to completion date - given up. Everything was supposed to have been finished by today for the carpet to be laid but I've had to put that back a week because the bathroom is way off being finished luckily, with everything that has gone wrong. Still going to have to keep blitzing to be ready by next Friday though.

I think I might have solved the painting problems, the heat is definitely an issue, it was just drying too fast all the time. Mrsben once put up a comment on painting dark colours and said she waters the paint right down and does a final coat like a wash to even out any shadowing. Yesterday I had a spray bottle of water and sprayed both the roller and the wall as I went and it has really come up good. Couldn't quite finish what I was doing as my edger kept falling apart. Don't know what it is, I only get so much use out of it before it does that. BH had gone by then, he seems to get it together better than I do, so I had to give up. Like I said if it isn't one thing it is another, just nothing is going smoothly for us.

I'm sure there will be plenty to chat about, bobbi, hopefully less whinges and more chat!!! I think it will be at least 12 months though before the house is finished, this is only stage 1, stage 2 will be the other 3 bedrooms and hallway, which we will keep moving on with to finish getting the carpet laid, that will be more work on our part than expense fortunately as the carpet is all paid for, and stage 3 will be the kitchen, laundry, and new flooring for the entrance, front hallway, kitchen and family room. LA dd hopes to come over as soon as school breaks up in June so I want all the bedrooms finished by then. How soon stage 3 will happen depends on finances - kitchen won't be cheap, laundry, I haven't even started to think about. .

MP, re: iPad. I called 1-800-Apple and got a $200 discount by buying it that way. They said the items they sell are refurbished. When I called the help number, they asked for the serial number. Mine was actually brand new! If you buy an iPad by telephone, you know that the device is not corrupted, has not been dropped, etc. Good luck! :)

mp - it is 9am here Friday. Converting to LA time we add 5 hours and take off a day. I think that translates to 8 hours minus a day East Coast time. Builders had an early start so had to be up at 6am this morning. They are working tomorrow too so a 6am start doesn't sit too well with me on a Saturday, but at least it gives me a good start on the day.

I wish it was 9am here and friday...I'd be sippin some java and looking forward to friday night! Off tomorrow and sunday again...YAY! Think I'm getting Boo Mappin so she can see her gingerbread house. I think she's gonna love it. My little next door neighbor is 2 and he keeps walking over to see it. His dad said he loves it.

eztia thanks for the info...i'll call them and see if i can swing a dealio!
do you think the ipad would be good for school vs. a laptop?

oh no..J just called and said that he thinks these kittens we've been seeing are abandoned. They have been hanging out across the street, but loose! :( I'll have to do something with them if nobody owns them. I can't see animals like that in a bad situation. And it's getting cold at night now!

Mp at my grandkids school, they had laptops but when my granddaughter started this year they switched to iPads. I feel they are less bulky and seem to stand up to accidents better.

Ooooh, I couldn't stand to think of the kitties out in the cold. How mean are some people!!!!!

well it's really odd. this cat just kind of showed up out of nowhere, but i thought i had seen it in a neighbor's window a while back. then found out they moved, (i guess in the middle of the night), because i didn't see this happening at all! Now I'm wondering if they got foreclosed on, or something. really weird. Just this recently and then all of a sudden, this cat starts hanging in the hood and getting into little bouts with my crazy cat. then 4 kittens appear, but not teeny weeny newborns, prob a month old or so. I see them walking around and hanging out at the house one up from the empty house. Hiding though. 2 of them would come up to me, but the other 2 are VERY shy. J walked over to the empty house today and said that there is a window cracked and i think those kittens were in there! He said it looked really creepy and he's taking me over tonight after i get off work. I will be bringing cat food just in case! and maybe bringing them to the carport/garage lol! with blankies!!!! and warm milk!
I'll have to take them to the shelter though. At least it's christmas...a good time for baby animals! A big red bow on their necks! I think so!

ok, ipad shopping will begin tomorrow i guess....aarrghhhh!

MP if creeser was in you neck of the woods, she would take them in.

I know she would! I will let them live in the screened in porch if they are not eaten alive with fleas or something. Gotta check them out. plus i don't know if they are diseased. I have my cat and my dog and that's all i can feed and take care of at the moment. I am really allergic to cats, but love them so much that i have always had one. And my cat Nala is a hoot! Trust me, it was hard seeing them last weekend. I walked over and sat on the driveway and played with the 2 that would come to me. They are precious, but J said they looked really skinny! waahhhhhhhhhh. I have a huge bleeding heart, especially when it comes to furry homeless people!

Mendi, I'm glad I made you laugh! But I wasn't trying to be a smart ass, I hope it didn't come across that way.

Ok, this is the coolest thing EVER. In front of our house we have a GIANT mulberry tree which is shedding its leaves like a mad dog. No surprise with all the rain we've had, right? So, this adorable little blonde kid came by riding his Razor and asked if he could help me sweep and rake the leaves! We're talking a truck load of leaves. Maybe two truckloads. I asked him how much he wanted, $5.00!!!! I said no, but if you help me for a while, I'll give you $20. His eyes lit up so big, and he raced home for permission and came back and did one hell of a job. We raked/swept everything into a bucket to put into the lawn bin for pickup tomorrow and he wouldn't let me lift the bucket!!! They just don't make kids like him anymore. Is that the coolest thing EVER???

roo, we have a California ranch style house which traditionally sits back away from the road, so I don't actually know how far it is, probably 100 ft or so. And the plumber is at it again right now and says we have a heck of a clog. Really?

okay, my bad...second pic top right is the "GrandDog" Lola....my daughter's new pup. She is giant already. Josie was a black lab mix and I NEVER thought I would EVER have a small dog. Fooey came into my life about 6 months ago and I am totally inlove. He is the sweetest thing in the universe. My daughter found him at the pound.

Eztia - we actually do have school buses, very nice a/c modern ones not the cute yellow ones like you have. To be eligible for a bus pass though you have to live over 1k from the school (not sure of exact distance now). Problem is the bus snakes it's way all over their suburb and it can take over 1/2 hour to do the 5 min direct run - valuable time when they have to be somewhere else. Handy though on the days my daughter works as it gives her extra time to get home.

Oooooh, I just love Fooey, how cute is he!!!! Lola looks a bundle of mischief looking for a place to happen. mp, you would have to worry about the strays and disease with your two. Goodness knows when the mother last had a shot - if ever.

Bobbi, isn't it lovely when some kids surprise you like that. There is hope for the universe yet. When BH did his big o/s trip 2 years ago I needed to get the lawns mowed, it wasn't so much the grass growing, it was the weeds that were taking over, we got this horrible weed that just spread all over the top of the lawn and even the gardens, it was very easy to pull out, just time consuming but a mow got rid of it just as effectively. I refused to learn to use a lawn mower, a vacuum cleaner was my limit so I asked the kid next door (one of 3 boys) if he would like to earn some pocket money and mow for me. Offered him $50 but nup, wasn't interested. He was on a good thing though, I ended up ringing a mowing guy who did it regularly for me till BH came home and only charged $45!!! Parents definitely have a lot to do with it, I watch every weekend while the father mows their lawns and the 3 boys sit on their back deck and watch him. Do people really think they are doing their kids a favour???

That is a great frontage you have, my dd house is much closer to the street. We only have a 30ft frontage here, that was the minimum back then but they have now relaxed the rules and we could have less. Our block is only 135ft deep. Hope the pumber gets it right this time, maybe all the past efforts have just pushed it up into one mass. Once it is cleared it should be fine forever, with no further fur going down.

@MP, In my city there is one giant school district that has 90,000 students. All teachers have to teach the students to use the iPad.

@roo, thank you for educating me. I did not know students had access to school bus service in Australia. We have a similar rule here about students being eligible to ride the bus only if they live a certain distance away from the school.

My pleasure eztia.

Unlike the US where schools are run by Cities our schools are run by the State. When I look at a map of LA for example, there are names of Cities everywhere. Here such a map of Sydney would have place names but they are called suburbs. We do have a couple of places that have reached 'City" status but it is only more on size and the City Council does no more than a Municipal or Shire Council - basically look after certain infastructure and development and building, etc. Generally here kids go to the local State Primary School - K-6, and there is pretty much one in each suburb, although there are two where my dd is and then to a separate High School - 7-12 which serve more than one suburb. Then there are Catholic schools which are considered Private Schools in the lower price range. They also have separate Primary and High Schools. In our particular part of Sydney we also have other religious schools that generally go K-12 and the toffy Private Schools which also go K-12. Then there are alternative schools like Rudolph Steiner and Montessori as well as even more way out ones that basically let the kids rule. There are also 3 large International schools - Japanese, Armenian and German International. We are in a particularly good area for schools.

When the kids go to High School, if the parents elect to send them to State Schools, they can apply for entry to a Selective High School, choose the nearest local school or apply for a specialist school if it is outside their immediate area. Our local school for example focuses on languages and other academic subjects but others nearby specialise in drama and music or sport. We also have Agricultural High schools but they are well outside our area.

We have a State bus service that covers most of Sydney but many areas, like ours, are mostly serviced by Private Bus Companies. The Private Bus Companies are the ones who do the school service - generally they run their peak hour service then the buses back up to do special school runs before then returning to a normal public run. In the afternoon they do the school runs again and then move into the peak hour service. Many small schools don't have a specific bus service, the kids can just catch the general buses and our drivers especially are really good at looking after them - the littlies especially- and kids who travel any distance also use general buses.

I will tell you how good our drivers are - one time when I was working the driver brought the bus into the city and at the first stop happened to check his bus and give it a sweep out. He had done a run from the Japanese School and found a little Japanese girl sound asleep at the back of the bus. Her friends had just got off the bus and left her. He immediately radioed the depot with her details and they managed to contact her mother who was frantic by this time and they organised a stop for the mother to be at and the time our bus would be there to reunite mother and child. When we got to the stop the mother wasn't there, she didn't speak much English, we don't quite know what happened, but after more radio chat another driver just happened to locate the mother at the stop he was at which just happened to be the stop I got out at. As I knew the driver well, and the other driver knew me also, we organised for the mother to stay where she was and we continued the trip till we got to my stop. All the drivers were on their two-way keeping up with our progress and when they got to the stop the mother was at they would tell her where we were. We had to cross two major roads but I took the little girl across and met up with the mother. It was absolutely amazing the number of drivers involved, they all went out of their way to calm the mother and reassure her. Someone rang the press and they ran an article on it the next day.

Good morning ladies!
Mp... love the fur babies!

@roo. Do you have to pay tuition fees at a State school?

We have some fine people driving school buses here, too. Same kind of extra care given when a child falls asleep on the bus, or a child gets off the bus and goes to a friend's house without telling mother. Mother is frantic and calls the school. School calls the bus company, and the driver knows where the child got off the bus and with whom, or reports that the child fell asleep and driver is now en route to the usual bus stop for that child. All children must be accounted for before the driver is off duty.

@olldbob, speaking as a retired educator, just because Feeny's classes are over does not mean she has "time off." She will be spending 10 to 12 hours a day grading papers to get the final grades in on time. She may need to take a continuing education class to keep her certification up to date during her vacation days. She will go back to work a day early just to get all of her lessons ready and deal with the mail/e-mail that has piled up.

@feeny, respect and high regard to you for your dedication to teaching!

olldroo, you've described Oz so well, I feel like I've been there!