in which we are SAD

Mom called early this morning.

I answered the phone and she was delighted that I knew who she was as soon as she spoke. I'm glad of that, the other-to-last time she called I said, "oh! hai! smila!". Oops. Just like that time I thought Don's step-father was his father. Damn those American accents.

Mom's doctor told her yesterday that the very aggressive last ditch attempt at chemo hadn't been successful and the cancer has now spread to her brain.

There's not a good deal of time left.

I hope I said the right things, but of course I cried and cried.

Don cannot visit her Because Of Reasons¹, but I've said I'll go and represent if he needs/would like me to.

I do wish I had been more industrious with the Mom Blanket. As it is am going to spend all day tomorrow and at down-times next week trying to complete it and priority ship it - because Don says she will love it (and include family snaps, which we generally do not take, but which she loves to receive).


¹shout out to the wonderful ThirdCat
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rinse. repeat.

Tomorrow afternoon I meet the new Mental Health Professional.

If I said I was unconcerned I would be very much misrepresenting reality. The trouble with seeing a therapist, I have found, is the great amount of thinking that it requires. All the mental prep for the first visit has been quite harrowing.

I'm in the unfortunate situation where I know precisely what I need to do to to get our of this, but I just cannot seem to kick-start myself to get there.

But hey, if nothing else, at least I get to leave the SaltMinesLimited early to get to the appointment!

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leary

After a very long run of completely marvellous successes at the local St Vinnies recently pickings have been quite slender.

Aforesaid successes include: 5 years of Demons [Bessie's second fave AFL team] scarves with original price tags on, my $7 pure silk Diane von Furstenberg dress, utterly brilliant and wildly inexpensive board games, too many books to mention and many, many other wonderous items, &etc, &etc.

Despite the current dearth of goodness there are still some gems to be had if one looks hard enough (and is sans impatient, eye-rolling husband).



I managed to acquire this kitsch-tastic queen-sized chenille bedspread for $7.50. Originally I had planned to desecrate it by chopping it into bits and crafting a washable cover for the fainting couch. But it was in such good condition that once I threw it across the bed - despite (or because of) the ultra-dagginess - it was not going anywhere.

And then there were the four napkins - which filled my wee heart with extreme joy:



Because who wouldn't want to wipe their mouth on the American flag?

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primitve

On all-too-frequent trips to our local supermarket/shopping centre/mall we pass a rather Melbourne-esque (Melbourne seems to be much more about the confronting/challenging/ghastlty architecture than Sydney) building which is currently under construction.





The architect's muse is quite obvious:



Though perhaps the interpretation is a little too literal.

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inescapable

I'm really starting to develop an irrational hatred of social media.



Or perhaps it is not entirely irrational.

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covetous v.547

Last weekend we ventured out in the torrential rain to Bing Lee to replace some very unsatisfactory small appliances.

We now have a shiny new 2 slice toaster (replacing the terrible and terribly expensive 4 slice one), a sandwich press (to replace the jaffle maker which no bread seemed to fit), rice-cooker (despite vigilant use of plastic utensils, the non-stick coating was flaking off the existing one - which, though adding a splash of contrast to the rice, really can't be good for one) and an immersion blender (to replace nothing, but Don's been wanting one for years).

We also picked up a supplementary heater in preparation for the colder months, because our current oil-filled beast takes such an age to heat that the room finally becomes acceptably warm once it is time for bed.



We're now in possession of an old-skool utter fire hazard of a radiant heater - on wheels!. I desperately wanted one of those kitschy faux-fireplace numbers, but Don is unfathomably completely and vehemently opposed to them.

So it was with immense jealousy that I beheld (beholded?) Joan's latest purchase.



Don remains unconvinced.

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ye olde lady

Our beloved Joan celebrated her 23rd birthday yesterday.

She and I agonised for an age (she will claim I nagged her incessantly) regarding suitable giftage - back and forth between a nice piece of jewellery or an ebook reader (then between the sony [touch screen!] and the marvellously wonderful kindle), then back to jewellery. Rinse. Repeat. &etc.

Eventually, the kindle won out (truly, the evangelism is working) and was accompanied by a rather pretty case.



Other gifts included a stash of her favourite comfort food (chicken massaman curry) for her freezer (and some basmati rice - for her haus was riceless and we have an enormous bag) and a batch of Bessie's famous brownies.

Given that her birthday fell on the most boring public holiday of the year, it was proving quite difficult to find a restaurant which would be open for dinner, so we trekked down the hill from her haus to the Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel for a pub lunch. It was a glorious autumn day and utterly perfect for the occasion.



It is a little disconcerting to have a child of such advanced age and such an eminently sensible one. We're very proud of her.

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vindicated

A conversation, last weekend:

"Darling, look, I think the track for the blinds is falling out of the ceiling".

"No, I'm sure we just haven't noticed that it sits down that far".

"Are you sure? It looks strange to me".

"I'm sure it's fine, don't worry about it".

"Really?"

Arrived home today to find:



After we returned home from (the completely hellish) grocery shopping it had completely fallen out.

Because of the super-super long weekend (yay!) some bodgying was required until someone could come and re-affix it.

We channelled our inner bogans by duct-taping up a tablecloth ... and then the pièce de résistance - which fit the remaining gap to perfection:



The only consolation in the whole affair was that it was indeed falling out.

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packaging fail

The hot pink is gorgeous and all





but when it comes to scrabbling under the laundry sink for a product it is impossible to distinguish the stain remover from the carpet spray from the upholstery cleaner &etc.

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shiny

My iphone contract expired on 7 April and I was keen to move to a less expensive phone plan.

I took the opportunity to save $35 per month (!), get a new (free) handset and extricate myself from teh evil apple¹.

I was dead-keen on Donaldo's HTC Desire HD (also possessed by two of my favourite Imaginary Internet Friends) but unfortunately my current provider does not offer it - and there was no way I was moving to Vodafone.

Behold the HTC Aria - which I think is pretty rocking:



And tiny!

And takes lovely pictures:



Am still working out the intricacies of it, but am so glad to be no longer in thrall to itunes. Yay for organising my own music (though I need to remember exactly how to do that)!

¹straight into the hands of teh evil google.

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interrupted

Behold our pauvre, forlorn football snacks lying about all lonely on the table with nowhere to go.


Unfortunately I failed to inform Joe/Frank that these were football snacks and he ate half of the atomic tomato chips while we were out.

The snacks are fornlorn because of this:


The weather has been perfectly ghastly today - rain and rain and rain and then more rain. Biblical-style rain. The smh tells me this is the wettest April day since 2001.

So, though it is the first ducks game at the SCG this year, we'll be enjoying it snuggled under blankets on the couch.

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decorative

Neat giant paste-ups of vintagey photos on ye olde brewery site on Broadway.

post via phone

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antithesis of thrift

Reasons I should make more of an effort to bring my lunch.

Behold the $7.50 tiny salad.

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what random photo will this try to post now?

death throes of an iphone (collect new phone tomorrow)

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fiddling

Well the posting via email worked, but the posting via email via iphone via camerabag was a complete dud.

Tried to mail a photo from camerabag and it attached a completely random screenshot from a page I had open in safari. I've since deleted that one, but I rather like the crows (or as Bessie will insist, ravens) in the post below.

Experiment complete!

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test post via email

does this email address still work I wonder?
<edited to add> why yes! it does!


Will this gif post?
<edited to add> no! it won't!

What about if I attach a photo?
<edited to add> a very highly compressed version sits at the top of the post!

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pithlessness

I remember how difficult it was initially to cram what I wanted to say into 140 characters and then how effortless it all became.

Am now (still) on a twitter break and I really am enjoying it (though occasionally I do peek to see what my favourite Imaginary Internet Friends who are not blogging <dark looks> are up to).

But often I really do want to share a quick link or photo. I think twitter has spoiled me for short blog posts, but I am going to attempt to bust them out more.

In that vein ... I very much enjoyed this article about six months spent on the wagon. You should read it, I thought it very well written. Even the comments were shockingly thoughtful (well except for that one guy).
Now am enjoying the related posts at hello sunday morning though I have no plans to sign up for such an experiment.

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the long catch up

It wasn't until we were back amongst it that I remembered how perfectly ghastly Year 11 and 12 are for everyone involved.

We were called up for a meeting with the Principal the week before last - while Joe/Frank is above the average for the majority of his subjects, he has a very heavy subject load and they are worried about his ability to organise himself (aren't we all?) and concerned that his current approach to his work/study leaves a good deal to be desired (also, aren't we all?). They feel he may later become overwhelmed and not achieve optimal results unless we intervene now.

After a good deal of discussion, we all agreed on a system for him to take / store / organise his notes and these holidays he is trying to transcribe everything from Term 1.

We're also trying to get a handle on everything that is due next term - hopefully this will result in a reduction of the mad-panic of assignment writing the night before the task is due.

The most challenging thing of all of this is the sheer amount of micro-management required. This is not at all my forte. I feel as though I should have DishyBoss (who, you will recall, has micro-management as a super-power) to come over and nag and boss him about.

So far things are going well. There have been dozens of schedules and check-lists drawn up:



There have also been rewards and motivations put it place. One of which includes me sitting with him to keep him company and updating the food blog (he is forever nagging me to update it) while he works on his notes. That little project should easily keep us going for the rest of the year. If nothing else, a rather nice lesson in what happens when you put things off.

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gnarls-y

Really, it was naive at best to think that an intensive programme of muffin baking was going to solve my mental health issues.

There have been a good many muffins, and things were a good deal better for a while (though through lack of vigilance I found myself drifting into the old, bad habits). Unfortunately the underlying crazy was just waiting for a chance to bust out.

Far, far, far too much wine was consumed last evening, a stupid, stupid (stupid) argument where very loud harsh words were exchanged ensued, followed by yet another breakdown by yours truly. Once again, it was bad.

This morning (after we first apologised to the sprogs for them having to hear it all) I picked up the telephone and made an appointment to see SuperHappyFunGP on Tuesday afternoon.

I need a new referral to the shrink - stat - to sort this out.

While I can identify what the triggers are - hormones and too much alcohol being the two biggest - being able to identify what causes this and preventing my reactions are very different things indeed. I need some tools to help me manage. In the interim I'm hoping to introduce things I know will help, first of which is avoiding the over-consumption of wine.

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spaceless

Yesterday was completely and utterly hellishly vile, so I was very pleased that I had previously organised to have today off.

I do enjoy these random mid-week days where I am free from SaltMinesLimited enslavement. I had a facial¹ organised for the afternoon, and a good deal of sloth planned for the morning - that was until last evening when Don was dragged off to the ballet(!) and I worked very late and Joe/Frank had yet another assignment left to the last minute and so grocery shopping fell by the wayside.

I shopped today and along with all the extreme bargain weekendly clothing items (yay $19 jeans!) I acquired for myself, there were the groceries and more groceries.

I'm not entirely certain how I am going to fit these plastic bags full of meat (currently stored in the refrigerator)



into this rather small freezer?



I foresee a good deal of cunning (or salmonella) in our future.

¹DishyBoss et al had gifted me with a voucher for a beauty treatment after my surgery in September and shamefully I still hadn't redeemed it by March and time was running out. I had not been for a facial in, like, forever, so decided to chose that. Am now a convert to regular visits. And am so soft and glowy!

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immobile forehead

Everyone I've cast through the wringer in the past few days, vis my decision to take on the new role and who is aware of the ghastliness and micromanagemently-ness which is working for DishyBoss has asked why the goodness I am even dithering about it.

The most excellent Joan pointed out: slackerdness and a new focus on crafting muffins isn't really a viable career choice. Adored Heather commented: everyone needs Finance. Beloved ex-cube-neighbour noted: working for DishyBoss is simply and utterly beyond terrible.

Just why am I dithering? I know not (save for sloth and me comfort zone).

It is at times like these I desperately need a mentor / life coach. Verily, I'd be willing to throw lots of cash at the problem.

Does anyone have a mentor?

How has it worked out for you?

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hobbesian

Yesterday I was waylaid by the CFO who apparently is very keen for me to take a job he has recently invented.

This would mean more money, infinitely less micromanagement - though infinitely, infinitely more crazy.

I have the weekend to consider ... though when I read the above I wonder why am I even taking the time to pause to think?

I want Dishy Boss's job more than anything, but it will be ridiculously expensive for SaltMinesLimited to get rid of him (though depending on who one speaks to, it is on the cards ... at some point ... in some future) and I don't know how much longer I am willing to stand in the queue.

Maybe I just need to settle for the challenging Finance role and get the hell out.

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