THeRe'S An AnGeL On My ShOuLdEr...

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Burnt Offerings 

Last night we held another successful BBQ. Well, I had fun anyway & the others looked like they were having fun.

The usual crowd arrived, with a couple of exceptions...and Chad was once again brilliant with the tongs producing far more meat that we could eat in one sitting. Guess what we're eating for the next couple of days? mind you, there's nothing better than a cold snag don't you think?

Interesting conversation abounded regarding the merits of various musical styles, common 'clients' of several of us, sexy lingerie and whether size or shape has anything to do with being sexy....Mr T was the topic of some of the conversation, with each of us having a tale to tell about the shifty little sod.

And it was a learning experience. Before the next one I have to purchase more forks (where have they all gone?) and some Kid Friendly entertainment which we were woefully lacking (sorry kidlets!)

Never miss an opportunity to share time with friends for they are the people who keep us sane......

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I Forgot To Mention...... 

Last week I found out that I have a new job. Still catching crooks, of sorts, but with a lot less emotional stress and a little more money. Not to mention the fresh start and change of scenery I desperately need. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time though.

It will result in many changes with the position likely to be based in the city, somewhere I haven't worked for 8 years. I no doubt will be a lot fitter by doing more walking than I currently do, and that can only be a good thing.

However, I will miss the people I have worked closely with over the years. Those that have become my 'other family'. Those that have stood by me during difficult times and provided unconditional support without judgement. I will also miss the excitement and sense of achievement when we get a good result. i will probably still get that in my new job, but i suspect it may not be quite as rewarding. Though it may also not be anywhere near as frustrating. What i won't miss is the constant exposure to other people's pain. The sexual abuse, the suicides, the Domestic Violence etc..... After a while it can (and did) have serious consequences. Yes, that is something I'm sure i won't miss.

Onwards and Upwards as they say......

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Perceptions, Illusions and Rose Coloured Glasses 

It's no secret that I'm not overly happy with the way I look at the moment. I'm carrying too much weight, a side effect of medication, and it's making me feel, fat, ugly and old. I'm starting to eat better & less & doing more exercise. Fingers crossed.

What I've found really surprising though is that when I look in the mirror, I obviously don't wee what other people see. Or do I? Do other people see me as I see myself, or do they see the person staring back at me from recent photographs? I don't really know. Maybe it's as Warhol said, that blemishes should be removed from pictures, because that more how you're really seen anyway. People don't notice the faults. It would be nice to think that they don't, but I'm not convinced.

I know I can improve my body. I have the power and ability to do that. I can't make it perfect though & I have to be realistic, but that's OK.

I can't really improve my face though. And to that end, I'm considering saving up for cosmetic surgery. That may sound really shallow or totally vain, but I don't really care. My appearance is important to me. I've been looking at old photos of myself and for some reason my face has changed shape. It could be because of dental work in the past, weight gain, or many other factors, but one thing I know, weight loss is not actually going to change much.

I'm lucky in that those years of staying out of the sun, relying on a fake tan, not smoking, not binge drinking and not taking drugs have paid off and as a consequence I have less wrinkles than many girls 5 or so years younger than me. That's a blessing. But as for the rest of my face, I'm not overly happy, though my skin is quite good. That is something I suppose.

So it's time to do some research and save some money to transform myself into something that more closely resembles what I see in the mirror as opposed to what I see in the photographs.

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Idiot of the Week Award 

The Idiot of the week award this week goes to a crook.

He was being chased through back yards and decided he might be a bit too obvious in his red top. It's common for crooks to change clothes mid-chase, either by removing a top or adding one. Sensible really isn't it?

This crook however obviously wasn't thinking clearly for he changed into what the arresting officer described as a "Red Titty Top"!!!!

Obviously he was arrested and embarrassed by his stupidity at changing a red top for another red top and the fact that he had nothing to fill the cleavage.

Ahhh...these are the things I missed while I was doing another job for 3 months. :-)

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There's a Mouse in the House 

Well, there used to be a mouse in the house. In fact there were about 68 of them. No, not real ones, ornamental ones like this



You see, I used to collect them. It started in my childhood. My favourite soft toy wasn't a bear or rabbit, it was a mouse. She was grey with big ears, a red & white spotted dress, white apron and white bonnet. I loved her. I still have her somewhere, though she's a bit bedraggled now.

Then my Godmother gave me an ornamental mouse for my birthday. After that, I bought a set of 3 mice carved out of wood from a little shop in Maldon Victoria. My collection was born. They're all in storage, so I can't show you pics unfortunately. Over the years, various people bought me mice and i added to my collection myself. I generally stuck to the cute and tasteful variety. Gradually as I got older, I removed some from display and gave some to my Niece. I ended up displaying only a few special ones. The solid silver and solid pewter ones Mum and Dad brought back from Italy. The Swarovski Crystal one my Brother bought me. a couple of other pewter ones brough back from Singapore by friends. Generally those that were a little fancier than the rest, They fit in a little glass cabinet I had.

I've always been a bit of a collector. From mice I moved on to White jugs, which are now perched on the top of the kitchen cupboards, and small, old/antique jewellery and trinket boxes.

I also started collecting white china with pink & green patterns for a plate rack I intended to make, but i moved & changed style so that collection was abandoned (although i still have it)

I'm trying to now decide what to collect next. Perhaps Pop-up Childrens books? I love good childrens books and have always been taken by the pop-ups. I loved my Alladin pop-up book as a kid.

What do you collect?

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Monday, February 12, 2007

Knit One, Purl One - More Jet Tales 

Jet just LOVED Knitting. Other people that is. My Sister in Law is an avid knitter and once owned a wool shop supplying Adelaide with imported wools. She was often knitting items for her shop & used to bring her knitting whenever she visited.

She always had to bring a spare needle otherwise she couldn't get any knitting done as Jet would be all over her like ants at a picnic trying to flog the needles. To give Trish a bit of a break from Jet we decided to throw the metal knitting needle down the other end of the room so he'd chase after it and leave her alone. He did. What we didn't expect was his next move. He picked up the needle in his mouth & brought it back, just like a dog with a stick. We considered re-naming him Fido. You've not seen anything until you've seen a Cat carrying a knitting needle in it's mouth (except perhaps a tennis ball in the mouth of a kitten - Merlin's old trick).

The knitting needle game continued for years, but when we moved from our flat with brick walls to our house with plasterboard walls, we had to change to plastic needles as the metal ones kept spearing holes in the walls. The plastic ones weren't as much fun though, but Jet continued this game for years....until he got too old, fat and lazy to be bothered.

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Saturday, February 10, 2007

Jet Tales 

A few posts ago I told you a bit about the cats I've lived with. Jet was something quite special. One of those 'One in a Million' cats. He lived until he was almost 18, hence there's alot of stories to tell.


As you can see, he was black (I know, the flash makes him look brown). What you may not be able to tell from the pic is that he was also HUGE. Not in a big, fat cat way (though me met that criteria at one stage too), but he was long, and tall. He was so long, he almost needed another set of legs halfway down his body. He had a fair smattering of Burmese in him, but was certainly nowhere near purebred.

We trooped off to the animal welfare league with the intention of coming home with a black male shorthaired kitten, which was to be called 'Jet'. Were were lucky in that they had a few that met the criteria, but Jet was the only one who showed us any interest. He was about 6 weeks old & adorable. Why did we want a black cat? apart from the fact that black cats are gorgeous, it was more for practical considerations. We had black furniture and I wore a lot of black. Having had light coloured cats previously, I wanted to avoid the look of cat fur on everything. It was only a problem when I wore white. unfortunately i don't have any pics of him as a kitten. :-(

Jet as a kitten was typical. Into everything, trying out his needle sharp teeth on everything and everyone and generally getting into mischief. I'm not sure how we trained him, but never in his life did he claw at screen doors. He used to lay across the back of your neck like a fur stole while you were sitting at the table eating breakfast...which led to one of his odd habits. He LOVED drinking the left over milk out of the cereal bowls. It was the sweetness of the sugar probably. He particularly liked Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and Nutrigrain. He did this until his passing.

As he grew he'd get more mischevious. We were only in a small 1 bedroom unit which had awful carpet & scrim curtains - the old 70's style with the big holes in the pattern. Jet had been playing in the windowsill one day and accidentally snagged his claw on the curtain, ripping it slightly. However it was only small & easy to mend. A blind man would have been glad to see the repair. That's if I got around to repairing it BEFORE jet shoved his head & leg through the hole before proceeding to fall off the windowsill onto the floor. Yep, he tore the whole bottom section off the curtain, which was now beyond repair.

He was also very playful. The unit was long, with the bedroom at the end of the lounge room. But the light switch for the lounge was at the opposite end of the lounge. So when retiring to bed, You'd have to walk through the lounge in the dark to get to the bedroom. Every night, Jet chose this time to hide behind furniture & jump out and ambush you! He'd take a flyinging leap at you from out of the darkness & would invariably scare the crap out of you. You see, he's always vary his vantage point, so you'd never really know where he was going to come from. After that, he'd hop on the bed with you & cuddle, for ages. he was very affectionate.


Once I'd dropped off to sleep though, he would climb up onto my pillow and lay down in one of two ways. Wither he would drape his front & back legs either side of my head - so I was wearing him like a hat, or he would get his back legs on top of my head, and gently push my head off the pillow until it was clean off onto the bed. This was fairly easy too as I used satin pillowcases (better for your hair). many a morning I woke up with a crook neck.

He was intelligent too. In fact we trained him. He was very spoilt, in that he used to have a veritable smorgasboard of dishes. One for dry food, one for wet, one for treats (usually chicken that he could smell at 100 paces, or cheese - grated of course), one for water and one for milk. We would always put his dishes down in the same order, so he was then able to tell us what he felt like to eat or drink. Easy.

Well, that's enough for one session....more later......

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