Anzac Day

On the eve of Anzac Day, I remember proudly my father who served in World War II, from 26 Feb 1942 to 9 Jan 1946. He served in Australia for 755 days and in Port Morseby and Moratai for 612 days. He was a Sapper in the Dockers and Engineers section.
He suffered from a bout of mumps and was hospitilised with malaria while on duty.

I remember those who did not return home, including my father's younger brother, whose life was taken in serving his country.

I remember the wives who were left at home to raise young children, living with the fear of whether they would ever see their loved ones again.

So tomorrow we will all remember our loved ones who lived and died for our great country and I will see my Dad proudly marching down the street in his suit and hat ( which is firmly embedded in my memory).

Lest we Forget.

Driving Miss Mazzy Part 4

Every night when I see the terrible traffic hold-ups for workers on their way home from a busy day at work, I wonder how they can stay sane. Many hours tacked onto your normal work day, in travel, decreases time spent with your family, relaxation etc., and surely must be very tiring and stressful.
Then if there is a hold up caused by an accident, which seems to be quite often, more time is spent held up in traffic.

If you are able to travel by bus or train, at least you can read, study etc., that is if you can obtain a seat!

My biggest worry for my 10 minute drive to work is getting behind a car travelling at 60 kph or less in a 80 kph zone, and that is on a quiet country road, not in bumper to bumper traffic.

Some people opt to live in a nice area and are prepared to drive 1/2 hour or an hour to their job.
Some have no choice as their job placement dictates where they live or how far they have to travel.

What is your mode of transport to work and how stressful is it?













 

If I only had TIME

'TIME' is such a simple word but can have so many meanings. Time as in the 'time of day' is the most obvious one but 'time' seems to govern our every waking moment as without time what could we do? How many 'times' have we said and to quote the song 'if I only had time', I haven't got time, I have run out of time and so on, often used as an excuse when a job has remained unfinished.

One of my favourite songs by Gene Pitney has the following lyrics:  So much to do if I only had time,
Time like the wind goes a-hurrying by and the hours just fly. This somehow sums up our daily lives.

Another favourite by Cher is "If I could turn back Time," I guess these words become more prevalent as we get older and reminisce about the things we should have done or could undo the things we should not have done or maybe go back to a certain age in your life where you hold the fondest memories.

And who could forget (I've had) The Time of my life from the movie Dirty Dancing. If asked the question "what has been the best time of  your life?, what would you answer?   For me it would be the day I met my husband as without him "what would life be" (more lyrics pop into my head).

As you get older I guess Time becomes more precious and the urgency to accomplish unfinished dreams, and pursue your bucket list becomes dependent on having Time.

As I near my 2nd year of Blogging, I think this topic is very appropriate as Time is a big factor in Blogging, time to think about the content, time to write it down and time to publish it. As it has been over 2 months since my last blog, I guess the Time of the year plays a big role in not having enough time as the lead up to Christmas for most of us becomes very Time poor!

I would love to hear from you about the Times of your life!!

Concerts

We all have different tastes in music and associated artists.

I grew up in the world of pop music, top ten charts etc. When I met my husband he introduced me to country music, which I soon became hooked on, listening to Tammy Wynette on cassette in the car, singing " My D I V O R C E became final today" will forever be embedded in my memory.

On the pop side - John Farnham has been one of my long time favourites and I have attended three of his concerts, The Entertainment centre in Brisbane, The Tent in Lismore, where I plucked up enough courage to walk up to the stage and shake his hand!, and the last one was back in Brisbane at the Qpac centre. My one regret was I missed his show at Twin Towns, which was booked out before I even knew about it.

Ronan Keating was another good show, which I attended in Brisbane.

On the country side, there have been many great shows at Twin Towns, Lee Kernaghan, Adam Brand, Tanya Kernaghan, The McClymonts, Beccy Cole just to name a few Australian artists and then there was American stars Don Williams and Charlie Pride.

The most recent show at Twin Towns and one of the best I have ever attended was Adam Harvey/Troy Cassar-Daley. Every song was a winner and the performance by these two guys was unbelievable. Troy's guitar playing was outstanding and Adam's quick wit and funny jokes was a bonus. The love of music and the admiration they showed to one another just lit up the stage and I am sure not one person in the packed auditorium didn't come away from the show with a sense of admiration for these two great Aussie artists.

Tell me about the most enjoyable show you have attended.






 

The Garage Sale

Organising and executing a garage sale can be quite a daunting task.

Last weekend I took part in the Shirewide Garage sale, as I needed to clean out some overloaded cupboards and my daughter also had alot of craft items and goods stored underneath my spare bed.

My first day was sorting drawers and racks of clothing, which was a chore I had long been postponing, so that in itself was an accomplishment.

Day two was preparing the garage, cobwebbing, sweeping, mopping and then setting up the tables to display our wares.
 

Day three was a quick trip to town, to get change and visit work for some free 'Sale' balloons.

The rest of the day was getting everything displayed and priced.
 

Having a storm everyday and having to shuffle 3 cars that had now become homeless wasn't very timely.

Sat arrived and I was up early erecting signage and balloons and doing the final check. By 7:30 we were open for business, having already sold two items to a neighbour who popped in the back door.

It was a day of many experiences:   a lady who fitted on a 50c belt and asked for a mirror to check out the look,! Two ladies who purchased a near new electric wok for $15 but before closing the sale, turned the wok upside down on the floor and unscrewed the bottom plate and then could not put it back together! 
A man arrived with a typed story in a plastic sleeve and explained he had appeared on the 'Today Show' and had given all his worldly possessions away and to cut a long story short, was from Brisbane and was asking for a donation of  books or soft toys, luckily I was able to oblige him with the toys to which he was very grateful.

To sum up:  was it worthwhile? - yes, I did get rid of a lot of excess stock. Would I do it again? probably not. Lesson learnt: do not buy anything that you do not really want or need!

I am still cleaning up the leftover stock and this morning made my first delivery to the local op shop.
After all, it is time for Spring Cleaning and having a Garage Sale is a sure way of kick starting the operation!


 

HATRED

The meaning of the word 'hatred' - intense dislike, prejudiced hostility or animosity, a vehement aversion entertained by one person for another.

Over the weekend, the election results were finalised and Tony Abbott is about to be sworn in as our new Prime Minister. For those who voted for another party, most have accepted the majority vote and are happy to see what the future holds. However, I was amazed by the deep emotion and extreme dislike that was directed against Tony Abbott on Facebook.

The hatred directed against him was extreme and alot of people have been taken back by these unjustified and cruel comments, especially when based on untruths.

I enjoy 'Facebook' and love a light hearted comment now and again but to use it as a tool of       Hatred is totally incomprehensible.

Hatred rears it's ugly head in all walks of life but the world would be such a nicer place if we could only choose our words more carefully and remember the old saying 'if you don't have something nice to say, then don't say anything.'

 

New Baby

Today, seeing Kate and William leaving the hospital with their newborn son in arms brought back many memories for me and I am sure alot of mothers out there.

Alot of emotions run through your body, excitement, anticipation, fear, but the joy of holding your baby for the first time is something that stays with you forever.

Just over 34 years ago I left hospital holding my beautiful 8lb 7oz baby girl, after a traumatic birth and a week in hospital. I was lucky to have a healthy baby but as a new wife and mother, there was alot to learn.
I remember continually checking her sleeping in her bassinet to make sure she was breathing.

Times have changed alot since that day but I am sure everybody who experiences the birth of their first born child, will agree that the feeling of becoming a Mother will never change!

Please let us know your story.

Return to Sender

I am sure we all have a tale or two to tell about the time taken for a letter to reach it's destination.

I once sent very important voting papers to a bodcorp for the AGM. A few weeks later I received the minutes of the meeting, without any mention of my voting paper. When I phoned, I was told the papers had only turned up that day. Well I wondered whether that was just an excuse for office mismanagement or in fact the letter took three weeks instead of three days to reach it's destination.

Today I was shocked to receive a 'Return to Sender' which was post marked 11 Dec 2012, and indeed it was a Christmas card clearly addressed with postcode. If only that letter could talk, we could hear of a travel story that took over seven months to return home!
The envelope is in good condition but appears to have been wet as the card is quite wavy.

I had to phone my friend to whom I had sent the card, firstly to make sure she hadn't moved  (she hadn't) and secondly to explain why she had not received my usual Christmas greeting. As I hadn't spoken to my friend for awhile maybe it was a blessing in disguise
as I picked up the phone and we had a lovely catch up!

What stories do you have to tell about your mail service?

Bare Feet

I recently went to my local doctor and a mother came in with bare feet, followed by a second mother who was dressed in some form of health uniform, who was also bare footed. I am amazed that somebody would attend a doctor's surgery shoeless, particularly where hygiene is so important. I am sure it wouldn't be too hard to throw on at least a pair of thongs!

I personally could not cope with bare feet, how could you probably feel clean when you are picking up dirt and grime and goodness knows what else.

The one exception when bare feet is essential is walking along the beach, feeling the soft sand between your toes and dipping your feet into the water.

If you enjoy going shoeless, I think there are times when popping on some form of footwear is essential when visiting your doctor as a mark of respect.

Removing Sticky Labels

Having recently had a bathroom renovation completed, the final clean-up left me very frustrated and time poor. What started off as a simple removal of advertising/instruction stickers which were mainly on the two toilets, became a real chore. Some of the stickers peeled off very easily, but the others were very stubborn and with alot of help from eucalyptus oil and lots of elbow grease, the job was complete.

This leads to the question as to why labels attached to goods have to be so sticky and difficult to remove? It sort of takes the joy out of enjoying a new product when you have to go through torture to remove unsightly stickers.

I am sure there are lots of stories out there on this topic, all with a happy ending I hope!