Roses


Jason has been away for a number of days in the past two weeks. He went off to a Cad Managers course in Melbourne for 3 days last week, and is currently away for 4 days this week, in Perth, for an MX Conference.

Imagine my surprise when Rita bought this delivery around to my desk this morning. Card reads "Miss you. Love Jason". What a sweetie. Working in the same office ever since we started dating has meant that the potential for surprise flower delivery is very very small. This particular bunch was very well received, as I have had a horrible flu-ridden weekend, and even took yesterday off work.

Jason later told me that he and a guy from the conference were out in town, and Jason said that he needed to find a florist so he could send me some flowers. They guy suggested that wasn't such a good idea, as Jason would probably beat the flowers home and/or they would be dead by the time they reached Mackay. Jason then informed him of the magic of 'Interflora'.
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Introducing Charlie

Andrew & Emma are now the proud parents of

Charlie Hermoine Gordon.

Born 23 October 2007 at 4.01pm.
Charlie was 8lb 3oz and 50.5cm long.
She is such a sweetie, and is really good at sucking her thumb/fist, while making little froggie noises.
Congrats Em & Andrew.
You will make such good parents.

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Dilbert Speaks to Me

I especially love today's Dilbert. This one really speaks to me as the owner of dual-screens. On occasion now, I may just have to let out an evil laugh.....
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Grandad's National Defence Medal


Yesterday, Grandad was presented with his National Defence Medal, for his service to the Navy in the late 1940's. There are almost 1 million Australian's able to receive this medal, yet many know nothing about it. Twelve other men, and one woman were also presented with the medal at this ceremony.

The meaning behind the design of the medal : The red represents the rememberance poppy. The three red stripes represent the army, navy and airforce. The black edge stripes are for those who we have lost, and the two white stripes represent peace time, as well as war time deployments.
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When she sleeps....

Jessie has been barking a bit lately, and I think it has something to do with the warmer weather. So anytime she sleeps, she looks like an angel. I came home sick from work on Wednesday, and Jess was sleeping on Sam's chair. Rather than getting up to look at what I was doing in the kitchen, she flipped her head around, and ended up falling down between the cushion and the back of the chair. After a bit of squirming, she must have realised that it was quite comfortable, and proceeded to sleep like that for the next couple of hours.
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A Short Babysitting Service
Last night we had the pleasure (and no sarcastic tone intended), of looking after Toby and Ben for a little over half an hour. If it had of been any more than that, I'm not sure what Jason would have done. I had been at WW, but came early because of this dreaded flu, to find Jason dragging Ben around on the floor mat with Jessie's red rope. Who says you can't play dog games with small children.

Within the half hour they were there, we learnt the following:
  • Always have chippies & poppers on hand (these boys are always hungry or thirsty)
  • A yoga mat can double as a picnic blanket in the middle of the lounge
  • The Simpsons are hypnotic to tiny humans (Jason plans on taping as many eps as possible now just in case)
I was even left with a little bit of Toby's artwork : he used my magnetic message board on the fridge to draw what I believe is a person, but I'm not sure who.......
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50km (almost) Bike Ride
Early yesterday morning, 5 of us left the Botanical Gardens for an almost 50km bike ride through Dumbleton, Pleystowe, Walkerston and back to the Gardens. It was actually 46.7km to be exact, but I figure I can round up. I was expecting it to be hard, and believe me, at some times it was (especially the Dumbleton hills), but I quite enjoyed it. I have learned that a 'Floodway' sign is your friend, and a 'Crest' sign is your enemy, and that there is no way to protect your backside from the pain that ultimately occurs after a long ride like that.

The 5 of us all work at CW, and in the photo, from left to right : Me, Peter, Steve, Denise, and Andrew.

It has spurred us on to try something else next month. Tough decision between an all day hike up Mt Dalrymple, or a ping-pong tournament at Andrew's place. I think after waking up this morning I am leaning toward the latter.
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Grandma's Garden

Went to visit Grandma this afternoon, and she has this amazing array of flowers at the moment.
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My New Baby
I finally took the plunge and purchased my new baby : an Olympus SP-550 ultra zoom (18x) advanced digital camera. I was looking at going for an SLR, but didn't think I could warrant the extra funds required. This one seems to have everything I need and more, and came with a full size tripod. I intend to have more of a play on the weekend, and annoy the dogs (and Jason).
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Kristen & Brendan's Wedding
My cousin Kristen and her fiancee were married on the weekend. The ceremony was held at Dolphin Heads Resort, and it was a fantastic day for a wedding. Kristen was glowing, and the proceedings went off without a hitch. To take a look at some more photos, have a look here.

Jason and I sat at Uncle Ian's table, and I am pretty sure it is the most I have ever seen him drink, which probably led to the most I've ever seen him talk. He is now in love with Jason, as they seem to have one thing in common : an apparent dislike for people in general. It looks like we might even be invited to a Sunday family banquet in the future. Way to go Jason!

Theo also suprised me. Not having heard much from him ever, he stood up and gave a toast to his sister in the form of a poem which he had written that day. It was really good. Even Aunty Wendy's toast was beautiful. She sang a couple of lines from 'A little ray of sunshine', which had a good majority of the guests tearing up. Uncle Ian, and Kristen & Brendan gave really nice speeches too, both had some wonderful words for Grandma which I thought was fantastic.

We stayed the night at Dolphin Heads, and enjoyed a hot buffett breakfast the next morning, before going home to the very excited fur-babies who had been left alone all night. Fortunately they survived.
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Introducing Rogue...
Well this is Rogue, Ben's new puppy, who we got to know over a couple of days. Ben was keen to show us his new bull mastiff cross puppy, and decided to come down and stay with us for a few days. Needless to say, Sam was very put out, and so was Jessie suprisingly. Emotions were high (on the part of our neurotic fur-babies), but everyone seemed to tolerate each other.

I'm definitely not a big-dog person, but Rogue is gorgeous, and at only 11 weeks, is twice as big as Sam. She is so gangly and very uncoordinated. If you want to see more photos, take a look here.

Ben couldn't stay for Kristen's wedding on the weekend, because the army called him back off leave early. I dare say he can't wait to get out of the army, even if it's just so he can enjoy his holidays in peace.
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Dogs Shouldn't Eat Chickos
OK, so last night we found out that it's probably not such a wise idea to treat your dog to a chicko baby. I didn't give Sam a whole one, only a head. Well it got stuck behind his front teeth, and while it was a crackup to see him trying to lick it off, it did end up with Jason holding his mouth open, while I used my finger to pry the left overs out. So that's my piece of advice for today.
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The Bourne Ultimatum
As a final hoorah to Karen finishing up as manager of BCC, Jason and I got to go see the premiere of the Bourne Ultimatum last night. What a fantastic movie. I thought it was definitely better than the second one, but maybe on a par with the first. The fight scenes are pretty cool. There is this one scene where Bourne is trying to protect this journallist in a crowded rail station, and even though I know the whole thing is choreographed, it was amazing. Matt Damon is just such a cool actor.
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Get Scrapped Getaway 2007
Our Get Scrapped Getaway is over again for another year. Caitie, her mum, two of her aunties and I, all had a great time scrapping for a full weekend. We completed 5 layouts and 4 cards. I think this one of our Dunk Island honeymoon is my favourite, closely followed by one I did of Imelda and her sisters. I have to say that this is one of my favourites, purely due to the amount of time it took to hand cut the flower shape. If you want to see my other layouts, check them out here. Or you can check out some of Caities here.
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A Clean Desk.....

With the move to our new office fast approaching, we have all been instructed to clean our desks (and surrounding areas). To aid the removal of all the rubbish, CW have hired a skip. They have hired one before and we filled it in less than a day. This second one is also filling up fast. The main reason for the speed with which it is being filled: Jason has cleaned up his desk! Two wheelie bins, and two rubbish bins worth, in fact. And this photo is the result. Now off to make sure the rubbish under my desk makes it to the skip too....
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Dad's Live Recording

Last night we drove out to Eton with Jason's parents, to participate in Dad's live gig recording. When planning to go, never did I imagine we might take such a big role in the actual recording itself. When we got there, we just so happened to have sat at a table right adjacent to the main crowd microphone. Dad recorded 'Copperhead Road' and 'The Gambler'. Well, my foray into music recording, was with the later. During one section where I knew the crowd was supposed to pipe up, I did, but hardly anyone else did (this was the problem). Needless to say my lack of vocal skills has now been recorded for all eternity. Sad, very sad indeed.
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Barefoot Bowls

This morning we played barefoot lawn bowls with some others from work. We played at Suburban Bowls Club on Wardrop Street, and it was a great morning. For a very small green fee, we were treated to a tutorial, and a fantastic bbq lunch. After Jason had a couple of brilliant practice ends, he fell away miserably. Losing to Duncan (and myself). Jason's nickname is now Crackerjack.
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A Little Hope
From my post earlier this morning regarding the bad news we received about my cousin Gavin, we now have a little (maybe a lot) of hope. Gavin has gone to the specialist today who compared his latest scan with that of 14 months ago. The tumor seems to be on the first scan as well, and it's the same size, which could suggest it is in actual fact, a benign tumor. All our prayers seem to be having an effect. We wait to hear further news, and hope that the first misdiagnosis is in fact a misdiagnosis.
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A Little Ray of Sunshine

Inspired by Ali Edwards' new daily creative idea, I've decided to give the same thing ago. Maybe not every day, but as often as I can. This gladioli was given to me by grandma from her garden today, when I visited her and mum for morning tea. Gladdies are the only flower I can grow, but I haven't tried since we moved into Garraway St. Grandma has kept them up, and each year they seem to be better than the last. I particularly love this yellow colour. And it seems fitting with all the cancer news of late, and daffodil day coming up.
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Even Sadder News
To continue on from my last post, we were told last night that my 17 year old cousin Gavin, has terminal cancer. When Gavin was about 3 years old he survived cancer and lived cancer free until a year or so ago, when they found a tumor in his stomach. After a lengthy operation, in which they removed his stomach and made him a new one from part of his intestines, it seems to have now spread to his liver. Doctors have told him there is nothing they can do, but are going to carry out some further tests, to possibly determine the extent and agression of the cancer. As you can imagine the whole family is distraught. He is so young, and yet to experience a lot of what life can offer. His brother has suggested that they go overseas for a trip together, but Gavin's response was 'what to see a whole heap of mouldy buildings?'. His real wish is to finish school and get a job. What he is craving is some normalcy, and I hope with all hope that he is able to accomplish that.
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