What's everyone up to?

Libby: Yeah, we don't do Halloween much over here either. There was a radio poll on Monday morning asking if Halloween belonged in Australia and the hosts were shocked that 70% of voters said 'No'. I was just glad no kids came to our door this year. I hate turning them away, but I don't want to participate in the trick-or-treating either.

Wilda: I knew I had a lot of books, but I didn't really notice how many until I had to take them ALL off the shelf. Dad's been in my room this moring measuring the wall so we can go get some of the materials later today (He jumped the gun a bit...it's only Friday!) But it means I really have a deadline today, so I'll probably work faster

Aw Kim i hope you get your shelves and books sorted out! I begged and begged everyone i know for a book case ( have absolutely no where to put it ) but i have piles and piles of books in random places all over the house. I actually donated ALOT of books ( like 100, but they were mostly novels or series or school books I didnt have an interest in) to the library summer last summer( not the one that just passed the one before). My cousin Nick told me a few months ago he was going to be building me a book case but its been MONTHS and my dad went over there a few weeks ago and the wood and stuff is just lying around.

I'm sort of over the Halloween thing. I love decorating and movies part of it. But, i cant even stand taking my niece trick or treating. We take her to a couple of stores on the avenue ( like 10 blocks max) and then buy a bag of candy and dump it in her bag and she doesnt care. She just wants the candy. lol. This year i took Bianca and my dad took my niece in and out of the stores. BUt it was the first time Bianca was around SO many people and on the avenue and she was so scared. I had to carry her the whole time. When a train passed by Bianca had no idea what to do , she was terrified. So i cut the trick or treating even shorter than usual.

That's what happened to me too. We talked about getting the shelves months ago...but now we're finally doing something about it. It sucks having your books lying around everywhere. I've hated stacking them on top of each other for most of the year, I can't wait until they all look pretty in the shelves, spines out and standing next to each other...I'll probably go all OCD and put them in alphabetical order or something (probably not though, that might annoy me after a while...but all books by the same author will finally sit next to each other!)

Lol, I think that's the best way to do it. If you want lollies, just go to the store and buy them for yourself

The trick or treating annoys me too. I personalyl think trick or treating ir for the younger kids-under 14 but this year I saw SOOOO many teenagers that had to fo been at least 17/18 out trick or treating. It took all I could not to bite my tongue and tell them that they were too old and if they wanted candy to just go buy it. But I enjoy decorating and dressing up and the parties and all.

My books are currently all stacked in front of eachother and if I don't get a shelf soon, they are going to be on top of one another as well. I have them seperated into YA and Adult, then categorized by series. I get all OCD when I buy a book that belongs to a series and I'll rearrange everything so that book will fit with the others. It'll bug me until I do it.

Tasha, sorry Bianca was so scared when you took her out. I suggest taking her around small groups of people a little each week until she gets used to that and just work her up to the bigger crowds. My pup has the opposite problem. He wanted to run and jump on everyone and he got so excited he pulled so hard that he started wheezing cause he was so out of breath and I ended up having to carry him home.

I totally don't mind if people decide to dress up and have their own Halloween/costumme parties "for Halloween" here. Hey, if it's a private party then that's their business. It the going door-to-door thing I don't like.

I do the rearranging thing too Wilda. All books from the same series have to be together...which started to not work this year.

I managed to get 2 of my bookcases completely clear yesterday, and half of the third one done. I'll get the last one finished today and then Dad might start putting stuff up. We went to Bunnings (a HUGE hardware chain store here) and bought the brackets and stands for the shelves.

Today has officially been the worst birthday ever! I have the freakin flu (chills/hot flashes, headaches, body aches, dizzy, weak, nauseous, sore throat) and I ended up having to take my mom to the hospital due to chest pains. They finally got the pain under control but they are keeping her overnight to run more test and to make sure she isn't having a heart attack

On top fo that I have jury duty tomorrow which I now don't ahve a baby sitter for and how the hell am I suppose to go and sit up there all day like this? I damn near passed out from walking around walmart for 15 minutes. So I'm just going to call them in the morning and explain everything. Hopefully they will understand and won't fine me.

Hope everyone else is having a better week.

Oh no, Wilda! I hope you feel better and that your Mum is ok, that's pretty scary, I really hope everything's alright.

I can't imagine they'd want a really sick person on the jury, for starters you wouldn't be able to focus well enough to judge and you wouldn't want to risk infected the rest of the jury. *fingers crossed* everything goes ok for you. *hugs*

I called and called and called the jurors office this morning but never got an answer so I left a message. Thats all i could do.

Anyways, turns out the blood test they did on ym mom showed some enzymes that show up in heart attacks. It was a low score so she didn't have one, but was on the verge of it. They are going to do a cath tomorrow morning b/c something was too narrow or idk. I'm such a dummy when it comes to anything medical. But yeah hopefully they'll be able to do a stint to fix the problem and she'll be able to come home. if not, it looks like she'll have to have surgery again. August was 10 yrs since her bypass surgery. It finally hit me after I took a shower. I was sitting on the bed talking to my mom when the hubby came in and as soon as I got off the phone with her I lost it. He wrapped me in his arms and just held me. He's been truely amazing through everything and has been a huge help. I'm so lucky to have him in my life. Well, I'm off to go back to the hospital and take my mom some things she wanted and spend some time with her.

I'm so sorry they have to run tests still. I hope everything is ok. Stay strong and we're all here for you if you need us *hugs*

Im so sorry to hear that Wilda. I hope the tests are over with quickly and your mother gets well soon. If it helps, after spending so much time in cardiac wards with my dad, I've met many many people who've had multiple surgeries and they recovery quickly. And it's also true, the technology and advances we have today just aren't the same of what was available ten years ago. The doctors even told us the ten year time table is when your supposed to look out for symptoms of your condition again. But i hope all that is unnecessary. I'm glad( and had no doubt ) your hubby was there for you. If you need anything just let me know. HUGS.

Just sent in an application for a part-time Publishing Assistant position. I think I changed my cover letter about 12 times, I wanted it to be perfect, but I'm not sure I made it that way. I'm all nervous again applying to places, and it's a little unforunate that it's not an editing position, but publishing is still in the book industry and I think it'll be equally as challenging and exciting as editing. The only issue I had with the job post was that they're only going to contact successful applicants, so I may never hear from them in the future. I guess if no-one contacts me within the next month I'll assume I haven't got the position.

Goodluck with the applications Kim! Try not to let no contact get you down. That just means there is a better job out there for you.

Mom update: They didn't do a stent cause that hospital doesnt do stents but that doctor sent over the cath results to her cardiologist and he says she does NOT need surgery. Theres another test this dr wants to do tomorrow although her cardiologist doesn't think its neccessary and we wont know what will be done until later when he makes his rounds. She will definitely be staying another night though but we're hoping she'll come home tomorrow. From what my sister told me, the pain is coming from all that gas build up crap she had before. Theres still 1 more test she has to get done for that and we're working on coming up with the money to get it done (its pretty pricey). She does has a 30-40% blockage where two of the bypasses connect but its nothing to worry with right now. Right now the main concern is finding out exactly what is causing all the gas build up around her heart and fixing it. I can't explain the relief I felt when my sister told me she doesn't need surgery. I bout started crying right there but somehow I held it together. After these past few days, I'm just exhausted both mentally and emotionally. I'll be glad to get my mom home and finally get a good nights sleep.

Thanks for being here ladies! It means the world to me! HUGS!

I'm so glad your mum doesn't need surgery. I hope this other test figures out what is wrong with her, with the gas stuff.

How are you feeling, other than drained from all the hospital stress, are you getting better?

Yeah, I'm just about over all that sickness. Although with all the stress it doesn't feel like it. My hubby cooked me a really good late birthdya steak dinner last night. We've been eating out all week cause I haven't had time to cook so that was nice. If I never see another fast food restraunt again I'll be just fine.

How is everyone?

Hey ladies.

Kim, best of luck on the job pursuit!

Wilda, I'm SO happy your mom wont need surgery and I hope everything with the tests and her doctors go smoothly and quickly and she is released soon. I hope your feeling better too. I know the hospital thing is stressful, emotional, and physically tolling and i can only imagine how much more it is on with your kiddies. I hope they are doing okay with the hectic way things probably are. And I'm so happy your hubby is awesome and is there for you and taking care of you. wishing you and your family well.

Wilda: I'm happy you didn't have to eat more fast food last night.

Last day of supervising today. I'm going to be really happy to not to go up and down all those stairs any more.

They released my mom this afternoon She'll follow up with her doctor sometime next week. Blah, I am SO ready for the weekend. Think I am just going to kick back, relax, and read. Oh and watch both parts of Deathly Hallows together (part 2 comes out tomorrow on dvd).

I'm so glad she's been released. You definitely deserve to relax this weekend. Stress less.

Sorry you had cruddy week Wilda. Hope you and your mum are doing better now.
Happy Belated birthday.

Kim - good luck with the job application.

So today was my last exam. It was whatever. Really wanted to finish with an A+ but its not going to happen. Finished my undergrad degree hopefully.
Other people still have exams so the parties don't start til nxt week.
Had a nice after. Went to my friends graduation exhibition cause she does design.
Lunch and then browsing around shops.

So happy your mother was released Wilda. Hope you get a nice stress free and peaceful weekend!

Libby- ohhh congrats on finishing school. Hope all your exams turn out well. Have fun at the parties next week if you go!

I slept really good. Maybe because I took the genetic brand of Nyquil. Nite Time. Thats how it's spelled and all. I was out like a light all night. Bianca was pretty tired from yesterday( we took her out to a friends house yesterday and she was just excited and running around all day) so she slept in a bit. She actually didnt want to go for her quick morning walk (just so she can go to the bathroom) , my dad had to carry her down the block and she walked backed stopping to do her business then running back inside. She ran alll the way upstairs and sat by my room door and then barked at me to hurry up. Lol. I'm an over bearing parent to her though so today is going to be a high tension day for me. She is going to the vet for her booster shots and last time she had the shots she was sad and sleepy and acting funny all day and barely ate. Our appointment is right around her first feeding time(( i feed her 3 times a day, 11, 3 and 7 but the 12 and 3 one she just nibbles then at night time she devours everything. But she begs for food at 11 and 3 so i dont want her to starve so i just let her do her nibble eating) , so i hope i can feed her once before we go so i dont have to worry about her not eating for the day. I worry enough about the hubby not eating as is.

Tomorrow is my sister's birthday. Well Yesterday was my Aunt's birthday. Today is my cousin's birthday. And tomorrow is my sister's. I didn't get anyone a present this year :-) ....it kind of just sneaked up on us and money is tight. But that's okay they didnt get me anything for my bday either

Libby: Congrats on finishing! How was your friend's exhibition?

Tasha: I hope Bianca's vet appointment went alright. My dog used to do the nibble-eating thing too. She was so fussy with food and never guzzled anything unless it was treats. When we went on holidays and had family friends staying with us, we used to hand feed her because if we left food in her bowl for her to eat at her own pace the friend's dog would eat everything before my dog had a chance to decide if she was hungry or not. I've never personally met another dog that eats as delicately as ours did.

I'm babysitting the 3 boys again tonight. I hope they're as well behaved as they were last time. I'm not starting until 7pm so I hope they'll be fed/in their pjs and we'll just watch tv for an hour and then I'll put them in bed. *fingers crossed* everything goes to plan

Kim , hope babysitting went well!

Bianca's appointment went well. She was terrified though. Inside the vet office she was shivering and shivering, all her fur was shaking. But we literally was in and out within 5 mins. They just took her and gave her her booster shots and brought her back out. The visit was already paid for so no paperwork either. She was MAD at me afterwards. In the car i went to pet her and she shook me off and ignored me and my dad. She sat with her butt towards me and laid down staring at the floor lol. When we got home though she was happy again.

But, we took her in the car yesterday , had to go out, my brother was stuck in Manhattan his car key bent and we needed to bring him the spare key. So today she doesnt want to walk at ALL. She stops by each and every car and sits down. It's getting pretty frustrating.

And Yesterday she didnt want to eat cause she was all excited and worked up cause my sister and her boyfriend and my niece was over. So there was extra people and she just didnt want to sit down n eat. But finally at night time she ate. Today i attempted to feed her but gave up she is being fussy. And my mother gave her a piece of bacon so she is going to fight me eating the dog food all day. She is such a fussy eater.

I"m finally full blown sick. It sucks But im medicated pretty early on so hopefully it isnt too dreadful.

How is everyone doing?

Babysitting went pretty well in terms of the kids. They were well behaved again, followed all my instructions straight away (except the youngest who wanted his mum when it was bedtime, so I ended up rocking him to sleep). The only issue was their mum didn't get hom until an hour later than she said she would, she had some drama during the evening and called me at 11:15pm to say she was going to be late.

I think all animals get scared at the vet...it's something about the smell. My dog was always excited about getting in the car, because she's go on holiday trips with us, but she usually had her own spot in the car for that...if she got in the front seat with mum she'd start to panic and knew she was heading to the vet.

I'm so sorry you're sick Tasha, I hope you get better soon

I've never met an animal who liked going to the vet. There is something about the smell and they just know immediately where they are at. but at least they got you in and out quickly. As for the picky eating, I wouldn't fuss too much. She'll eat when she's hungry Sorry you are sick Tasha. I hope you feel better soon!

Glad babysitting went well Kim. I feel for the little one though. Theres just something about bedtime that doesn't feel right unless tucked in by your mom. But it sounds like you did a wonderful job. If you didn't like all the way across the world from me, i'd hire you to babysit my little monsters

I know, I felt bad for him too. No-one beats someone's mum, I just wasn't good enough. I tried to do this thing my mum used to make my sister's and I do when we were upset. She'd make us take a deep breath and try and blow her fringe. Obviously it was a way to get you to calm down, but she turned it into a game and it used to work...didn't work with this kid, he's too smart for that apparently Aw, thanks Wilda. Yeah, living on the otherside of the world sucks sometimes, haha.

Ugh, it was 32 degrees today (approx. 90 F), which isn't too bad I guess, but it's a little uncomfortable. At least tomorrow is going to be 26 degrees, so a bit more reasonable.