I have become 'that' woman...

You know, 'that' woman that yells over the fence.... that scares children into submission with a mere glance in their direction...

You see, a boy who lives in our nice quiet culdesac street was walking up and down the middle of the road with his mates this afternoon, throwing fruit at each other and letting it splatter all over the road. Right. Outside. MY. House. Grrrrrrrrr. Needless to say I yelled out 'Oi, you can cut THAT out, and you'll be picking up ALL that fruit off the road before you go anywhere' C'mon, you can picture it now, can't you? See? I am 'that' woman.

I must be getting old. *Sigh*

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On a different note, I know I have been absent of late, and I had told you I was seriously behind in my study. I have talked things over with my hubbie, my tutors and the Practice Manager at work, and decided to defer my studies until next year. There was just no way that I was ever going to get through all of what I needed to get done before exams in early October. I had let it get too far out of control. I could have spent my lunchbreaks studying my butt off, which believe me, I have tried, and I totally become an emotional wreck. So that's just not achievable. And by the time I get home from work and get tea etc out of the way, my brain is starting to go to mush. Attempting to read about legal matters late at night doesn't work either - I end up falling asleep at my desk. Really, I do. It's been done. Studying in the evenings is FINE when you are only doing bits and pieces, but when you are trying to cover large amounts of material in a short amount of time, you really are pushing nasty stuff uphill. Deferring the study is disappointing, but I have decided to put my family and me first this time. It's important, just not THAT important.

And on top of all that, things have been a bit messy at ours lately. Hubbie nearly lost his job in a 'restructure' at his work. He's been there 15 years, so that thought was a bit scary. And now that the restructure has been done, the workplace is a bit empty, and those left behind have to work a lot harder for the same money they were earning before. That sucks. Therefore I have a pretty tired and slightly demoralised hubbie at the moment. After 15 years somewhere it is hard to have people start second-guessing your every move. Having to justify how you do your job and why is not a nice feeling. Not nice at all.

And MY work, well, don't even get me started on THAT. Those of you that know me well know what that's like. Fun, fun, fun. Sorta.

And me... well I have been trying to commit myself to working harder at the gym during my lunch breaks, which not only stops me from shopping and spending money, it also stops me buying food I don't need to be eating. Trouble is, it does tend to make me a bit weary.... However, needs must. I am not going to have a bod worthy of shorts this summer unless I do the work, am I now? And for me, my wellbeing has to take precedence over study. As much as I sometimes grump about going up to the gym, I do feel better once I have been there. Besides, it's got to be doing some good, right? At my last doctor's visit my blood pressure was spot on, and it's usually a little higher than it should be, so that's all good.

I have managed to make time for a nice break recently though - Winter Camp at Raincliff (run by my 'dealer' Rach at Embellishit). I love camp. It's always a blast. I have managed to become part of a slightly rowdy bunch of AW-SUM ladies (yes, that's for YOU, Jo!), and we always get up to a little bit of mischief. Of the harmless and slightly alcoholic variety of course. And I get some scrapping done, which is often an impossibility at home with all the other things going on in our daily life. I have some pictures here somewhere, so I'll update this post with them later on tonight.

After camp I had some sad news about a very good friend of mine. You see, she's from the UK, but she is married to a Kiwi guy and they have a couple of cute wee kiddlies. She's my closest friend here. She listens to my insanities on a regular basis, poor soul. Unfortunately she had to find out over the phone (and her poor mother had to tell her) that her sister had died, back in the UK. Just awful. She had to sort out an emergency passport for their littlest one, and get her butt back home at extremely short notice. I hope she's doing ok - she's not back here until the 5th. She's in my thoughts every day at the moment. We had her hubby and their 2 year old over for tea at the weekend. I know they've had at least one feed of vegies since she's been gone!

AND.... to change tack YET AGAIN, I have a couple of vids that I think you should watch, here and here. The first one is the first public enmasse tribute to MJ, in Stockholm, by swedish dance troupe BOUNCE. Quite amazing, and very well done. Very cool that a whole lot of complete strangers just joined in and made it a HUGE thing. Very cool. The second one is Montreal's take on the same thing. Also very cool. Spot the cop in the second vid, trying to take part too! I know you're probably all sick of hearing about MJ this, and MJ that, but they ARE worth a look. And to be honest, as much of a nutter/drug-addict type that he was, I am not surprised that his death has now been called a homicide. I mean, look at him here, just days before his death. Certainly doesn't look like he's on death's door there huh?

Right - things to do, dinner to cook, washing to fold, and lots lots more.

Asta la vista baby! B x