Report time

School reports were issued last week and both Mr 6 and Miss 9 did tremendously well. Mr 6 is on par with much of his class but is below required level in speaking and listening...Um, hello the kid has DYSPRAXIA. He was never going to be marked on his own achievements but against the curriculum standard as he is learning the curriculum by regular means and has no IEP(individual education program). I think I'd rather he have a IEP and be marked against his own success and not the packaged deal set by DET/CEO. His grade for PE is below expected level also..There again I wish he'd been graded on individual successes as he is now able to kick a soccer ball left or right footed whilst in motion. He's going to try Milo cricket next year and see where it goes, 2IC has some cricket gear to pass on including his club cap and a very good bat. He has overall done better than we expected, given that at age 3 we were told he'd never be able to attend a mainstream school and today we have this. NEVER, say NEVER to me. He still struggles with the ideals of school yard politics and will try and right any wrongs he sees..Even if the kid is twice as big and twice his age. He's is the personified protector of the under dog.
Miss 9 , what can I say, she just blows us away each time. She is 9 and in year 4 so she is 12 months younger than the average Year 4 anyway. She reads at end of Yr 5 level, which grades as a "B" but as the revised grading have yet to be confirmed it's really an"A" as is writing and speaking. She writes using many genres and needs to be encouraged to move beyond this comfort zone as she is showing some great talent, the child writes well I can say that. Her stories are full of emotion, feeling, character depth and imagination. Maths, well, she take after me...Doesn't care much for the use if Trigonometry and the circumference of a circle for use in every day life.Dad will undertake some tuition in the maths area as it is neither my forte nor can I be unbiased about it. Miss 9 want a tutor as it seem to be the flavour of the month but she is only lacking in one or two areas and it more of a catch up then anything else so she is more able to grasp the later concepts of maths. It's our decision based on the student feedback sheet she completed not an academic requirement, she wants to be batter at math. What is it Michael Grose says about first borns?...."They want to rule the world" and second borns "want to change it".

Oh and for the very little person who I know reads this from the people of the Sidhe....

Go hlfreann leat

Busy doin'...I don't exactly know what

I'm not sure what I have been doing that has kept me from this journal journey. I was Christmas shopping a bit, I have been training the boy dog more now as he has matured to be showing a lot of aptitude in the scent and scent discrimination area of trialing apart from his natural abilities in herding and athleticism for agility. I have been helping out at school fixing some broken readers and such, organising a collection for a gift card for Mr 6's teacher and getting all the class to sign a gift bear for her...Now that is a task and a half!!! Gardening; which was a waste; as the dog who digs decided after a month of my petunias and snapdragons being there, yesterday he required a new cool hole and that patch of garden bed was IT!! I decorated the interior of the house for Christmas, 2IC is in charge of the outside and he has located a seller on Ebay who does the wooden cut outs with an Australiana theme ( no, I am not telling you where or doing a link, we may want to get more) We bought one new light figure for the house at the Christmas Cave and he is on the roof, far away from thieves and miscreants. Want to try and climb the gate and get out with two legs, good luck with that LOL.
Mr 6 had his last speech session for 2006 and his speech pathologist is going to be working THREE days a week next year and getting her own premises. She was leasing a room at a medical centre. This is a boon as it means I can arrange Mr 6's appointment around Mr 4's kinder sessions...YAH. Also means no more dealing with the silly "I'm having a blonde moment" receptionists at the medical centre when I am paying for the gap on the previous and current session and handing over a cheque from the health fund for the previous session. After a year of it, you'd think she'd get it ...But no.
I have been having dinners out with some very good friends who have been a great help with Mr 6. R and D were Miss 9's kinder teachers, and I specifically wanted them for Mr 6 last year..Got them, but due to some parents need for full frontal lobotomies, he lost one before he was really prepared. Any way she went on to have a beautiful baby and now we all get together for some very LOOOOOONG ( and late or would you say early??) dinners at her place with some other mums who owe them both quite a debt of gratitude. It's fun and entertaining as we all have different yet strangely similar lives and the common bonds being that we all respect and love these great teachers of our kids. I'm sorry Mr 4 will not have both of them but I have kicked up enough dust at the council that they switched him to the kinder where D is and by God in heaven she'd better not get moved in 2007. They just do not seem to understand that parents choose a preschool based on the staff and not the location...I will be traveling 3-4 kms out of my way next year to get Mr 4 in with D, passing the kinder from hell, which is around the corner en route.
My friend, AJ had a stroke like collapse a few months ago and whilst her body is repairing ,her speech is problematic. She speaks in a halting manner, as she has to think of the next word. Her sister had a similar attack a few years ago. AJ, and I went out Christmas shopping a few times and to the market...Just to get her out of the house and doing something as although she is seemingly fine physically, she gets tired, dizzy and has good and bad days speech wise...I know when she has a bad day as she screens her calls and doesn't really want to talk to just anyone( except me). AJ is one of my bestest friends and she needs to look after herself more but its hard with two children with autism spectrum disorders.
Now I've written down a lot of what I have been doing,I can see where my time went.
Last night I perfected the shortbread biccie recipe I continually stuffed up last year..They just weren't right to me, even though everyone ate them. But last night, without much interuption..2IC was watching cricket, boys were in bed and Miss 9 was reading ..I was able to create the most perfect shortbread biscuit ever made..No, I'm not telling but it has to do with allowing the butter to soften before using a rubbing method with the flour etc but I am not telling any more. The biscuits went off today to Mr 6's class for him to pass out in lieu of Christmas cards..He has neither the dexterity nor patience to write out 24 cards.

Tolkien and the Rainbow Bridge

Miss 9 very often mentions our old boy, Tolkien or Tolly. He was a blue ACD of true working lines and we lost him in 2001, he was 13. He died when he swallowed a part of a corn cob thrown over the fence by a neighbor's child. It caused him to have a perforated intestinal tract, and blockage. Surgery was a risky option as there could be no guarantees that all the tears in the lining would be repaired or picked up. A second opinion gave us the percentages of success and the highly likely scenario that a missed perforation would result in septacemia and death. We decide to let him go. It was the hardest decision ever made and I have always lived with the loss, harder still is the fact that Miss 9 was old enough to understand the loss. Mr 6 was only a baby and Mr 4 ,a distant star in the sky. Miss 9 annually takes Tolkiens photo and some obedience ribbons and trophies to school to show her new teacher and class. She has his picture in her room and will talk about him often. She asks if Gemma misses Tolkien or if she should tell Lawson that Tolkien was the first boy dog in the family. Things such as this come up occasionally, not often, but I choke when I hear his name as she speaks about him with such freedom that I envy her.
Yesterday, she asked if Tolkien was in heaven. I told her I was unsure but that I think animals wait for you to join them in heaven so every one is happy again. She asked where they wait and I remembered a great site that has some great visuals and music complete with the poem by Paul C. Dahm called "The Rainbow Bridge". She watched it with tears steaming down her face, I felt bad but after she told me it was such a nice place that the animals must be happy and not miss their families too much. Maybe it will help her not to worry about him too much now.

What's the difference?

I have been pondering the current upsurge of intolerance for others in society of late. The increasing banning of hajibs,burkas, etc in some countries and States is of some wonderment to me. These women and girls wear this as a symbol of their dedication to the beliefs of their religion. Nothing more, nothing less. Their religious principles and steadfastness are a honorable and noble in the mixed societies in which we live. I do not believe they attempt to stand out, nor create trouble , nor do many of them want anything more but acceptance of their beliefs. They seek not to convert the non Muslim nor prove the Catholic, Anglican, Unitarian or Seventh Day Adventist wrong...They simple want what we all have had. The right to worship in our way.

I think back the days of my childhood when nuns wore habits and garments much not all that different from the dress worn by many Muslim women of today. I don't recall the patients some of these nuns ,who were nurses, complain about the habit. Nor did I ever hear that an Irish nun; of which there were many; was a terrorist threat because she came from the "troubles" and might be a member of the IRA, or may harbour a bomb beneath her habit and gown...No sorry, folks, just the Catholic Church. But watch those Rosary beads, they could be made of C4 or Plastique. Or maybe the nuns who taught many of us in the 70's and 80's and before where secretly planting in us the agents for the uprising of the faith of Vatican 2.; the New Crusades..Bit late now, we missed it, people.

Within the Orthodox Jewish faith there is a need for women to have their heads covered, they utilise wigs for this purpose in many cases, but the premise remains static; that of an religious observance, humility and a sign of faith in ones religion. Many European women of many faiths, no doubt; covered their heads as either a religious matter or when in mourning. Did we ever worry about this? NO. Was a call ever placed to ASIO by any wig outfitters to say a woman of the Jewish faith was purchasing two wigs for herself? I really doubt it. We can be alarmed by what we are being told or were can be just lerts, looking for a reason to habour ill will against that which we do not try to understand. I'd rather be neither.

I am sure I am not thinking on such a vast plane ,that no one else can see the parallels I have touched on here. Nuns were cloistered away in convents, yet lived, worked and worshipped amongst us all and still do where the community is fortunate enough to have them. Women of faiths that have clothing as a religious observance do like wise...So why do society sneer and taunt the other religions? Is it a lack of understanding? I think not, for the life of a nun was always the unknown question of every Catholic educated child and no doubt the fascination of many non Catholic people as well. I never heard of a nun being stoned, spat upon or ridiculed in a public place except by a inebriated misdemeanant. I feel it is the Governments increasing creep towards a quasi "WASP Australian"policy as opposed to the "white Australian policy of the 1950's. I have yet to see a picture of the PM in a handshake with any indigenous leader, non Christian based religious leader or any real meaningful, proactive talks that weren't a photo opportunity with any of the above. They tell us to be alert, not alarmed, based on the US information( and how infallible is that ?) that it was a religious war that is being wrought by the Muslim faith. Yep, and the Sheraton bombing was the result of Holy Water disguised as nitro.

Of toys for boys and such

I'm not supposed to post about this under threat of a nasty comment, but 2IC has some talking dollies. Really, they are the Boonie and Botham talking "figurines" that you have to buy two 24 packs of Victoria Bitter beer to get. Oh, well lots of cheap beer for the Christmas/New year visitors. 2 IC is normally an social/occasional beer drinker and drinks Crown, Red Back, Beez Knees,Boags,boutique stuff...So VB in our place is a hardly ever occurrence. Any way, back to the dolls, and they ARE dolls which is "a small model of a human figure" (Oxford Dictionary) and they speak intermittently when the cricket is on but during the news, cartoons, whatever. So they are TALKING DOLLS. For those not acquainted with the wonders of 11 men running about in white clothing or now pajamas as night cricket in known, bowling leg side, stumps, ducks, wides, leg spins, maidens and other such terminology...Boony is a replica of David Boon who is a legend to cricketers and drinkers Australia wide whose claim to fame is drinking 52 cans of beer on the flight from England to Australia. Botham, well he was perhaps over rated but a Pom to boot.
I can say that being half Pom myself, nah nah nah. It all has to do with a marketing ploy and a pay on words: Battle of the Tashes ( Ashes: England V Australia cricket series))as in moustaches...Both had/have moes.
Any how, these DOLLS talk and have a niggle at each other with sayings like:
Boony: "I feel like a beer, your's is in the oven"
Botham: " Where are the crisps?"
The kids are fascinated by the randomness of the comments and I have encouraged them to call them what they are ....DOLLS. "Dad, your dolls are talking" is a common catchcry about the house..With "they are not dolls, they are figurines" Well, they are annoying anyway you call it.
Now how many households have these dolls but would freak if their son wanted a Barbie, I wonder.

Oh diddums.....

1974 VOTES as at 2208

Geez, who's that I wonder.

LMFAO!!!!

My, My , My What have we here....

Seems the Christian Right has spoken and says that the ALP, Greens or Democrats because they have "blantant humanist anti Christian ideologies and agendas" should not get your vote as a Christian. Seems homophobes stick together. Last I recall of my history and Philosophy classes was that being a humanist was being concerned with the human race and not ones self . This in it basest form is not a bad thing as opposed to the direct opposite of caring only for oneself, and, on that basis; if you are against caring for the whole then you care only for yourself, tsk tsk, tsk not a great attribute for an aspiring politico.
Read the last few lines and see whom they want you to vote for, in case you "catch fire" here it is for your reading pleasure;

WHOM TO VOTE FOR

In the Upper House, vote (#1) for Family First or CDP, as we don'’t want the Greens to hold the balance of power.

In the Lower House, vote (#1) for Liberals or Nationals. If you live in the electorate of Mildura, vote for Russell Savage (Independent candidate in the Lower House), or if you live in Gippsland East, vote for Craig Ingram (Independent candidate), or Macedon vote for Steve Medcraft (Independent candidate).

Some things just need to be seen and left unspoken...........................

How to get lost in two easy steps...Of dogs and maps

On Saturday I attended a dog training and behaviouralist workshop...Yes, I do take my dog handling seriously for those who even doubted it. I booked in as a participant with meant I took the boy and as it was all day and I was unsure if kennel or crate provisions were available decided to book a hire car for the day too. A Subaru with sports transmission and of course the dog was not in the car with me as that would be against the hire agreement.
Anywho, I had to be at Lysterfield by 0930, so I ;ever the inept navigator; was directed to WHEREISIT which gives directions and/or maps. I utilised the direction part, turn left at this street, right at the round about. Problem is it tells you to take a right at Thompsons Rd which should be a left and later tells you to take the third turn at the roundabout into Glenfern Rd...There is NO ROUNDABOUT. Suffice to say at 0930 I was god knows where, unable to locate the street I was in ,in the Melways as I had no idea what suburb I was in. I called 2IC who asked me where I was????!!!! Um, hello, I am lost so I don't know where I am. I was sick twice. I should not be allowed past East Melbourne alone in a car with a Melways. Yet I can find my way back to Gippsland, no problem. 2IC being the darling that he is stayed in intermittent contact with me as I threaded my way past the Burwood Hwy on the wrong road, doubled back after overshooting the Glenfern Rd turn off and ending up in Tecoma ( close ,but no prize) and finally arriving at the workshop 5 and 1.2 hours later at 1230.
It was a great workshop and if you ever get the opportunity to hear Steve Courtney speak, he is an endearing and competent speaker. A dog enthusiast for all, non prejudicial, he helps train all dogs, consults on court cases, has effective and non threatening methodologies and isgenerous with his advice and ideas. People in the protection industry, show, obedience, herding, breeders, and just general dog owners attend his limited number workshops. He was in Vic for several workshops and did private consults as well, I witnessed the results of a Thursday private consult on Saturday...OUTSTANDING

What are they really reading?

I noticed over yesterday with Miss 9 spending an HOUR on YOU TUBE looking and replaying THIS.
She has read three of the series but seems fixated on whether two of the main characters will or will not get together. Not really intrinsic to the plot of HP, given that Rowlings has admitted the series end will result in the demise of a main character in a manner which will not allow any future author to resurrect in any way, shape or form. She reads Clarice Bean by Lauren Child, the Rainbow Fairies series by Daisy Meadows, Judy Moody by Megan Mc Donald, she loves the "OLOGY" books like Wizardology, Dragonology, Egyptology, she read all my Enid Blytons, several dozen Pony Pals, Kids night In ( Book 1 over 750 pages). Yet, the fixation on if Harry will be with Hermonie or not remains a question of the ages for her. When I was 9, I wanted to be as wickedly smart as "The Naughtiest Girl"and cared little about such tripe, only thing about boys which concerned me was whether I could beat them .
I was reading an article about the masses of mags aimed at "tweens" ( 9-13 age group) the demographic which was once forgotten as being the target group for anything much more than toys. Now is the group at which is aimed new music ( if others like it, its cool to them) makeup,( many now wear makeup for dance recitals, plays, competitions, etc)clothes ( designer labels are becoming more and more known to children at a much younger age) and a myriad of other consumer items that our kid DON"T NEED. If I see one more poster of Jessie bloody McCartney or what ever his name is, I will scream. Delta, Kylie, Pink I can tolerate and handle, women of substance and strength who sing and write from the heart. High School musical is harmless, like Grease. But the talentless ,tarted up pretty boys like Jessie which are being shoved at our kids ( read girls) is harassing and harking them into the belief that you need to have a "crush", you need to like someone of the opposite sex at any age.
So, so, so wrong.
I continually tell my kids, you don't need to marry ( although ask Mr 4 and he's marrying ME!!) and Mr 5 is marrying NO ONE!!That people can be happy no matter what and that they are only children for a short time and grown up for a very long time,so not to wish to grow up too soon. Whilst Miss 9 has a grasp on same sex relationships ( she understands that gay doesn't always mean you are just a happy person) the mechanics of it have never been discussed nor approached. My choice, my children. It is not the role of the media on any way, shape of form to force onto my kids the conformist notions of relationships and accepted behaviours. As parents, it is a subject that is the responsibility of them and them alone. Accepting diversity in all its realms enters into this fray, for if kids magazines are conducting quizs to find "Who's Your Crush"yet defining only heterosexual or monogamous relationships when the reverse may be the norm in a child's world, what message does that send the child?
Magazines aimed at any age group be in tweens to teenagers, need to be more responsible to the reader and less to the advertisers, some social responsibility and educational content needs to be addressed in some of these magazines.

The begining of the end.........

Hahahah the begining of the end, the Democrats have taken the House of Representatives in the USA....the death knell for ultra conservative war mongers. Next domino Dubya then it'll be his mini me, HoWARd.

Lessons for little players.....

If you are a consultant as in "government consultant" it means that the government sought information or advice from you. Mr. Hulls or his office invited you.
"..as a representative on the Sentencing Advisory Council" "As a result of my determined lobbying via the Sentencing Advisory Council the Government has been forced to accept the Councils recommendation..."

Means your name would be listed as a contributor on such documents asRepeat Drink Driving Report
or
Detention Supervision
But its not, is it?. Only a little, tiny line on page 2 with a suggested penalty, which was a direct quote from a newspaper article anyway, not a quote from being present. And a name listed amongst 16 odd other contributors of information to the INTIAL INFORMATION GATHERING STAGE. I guess "poor and ineffective representation" is better than false representation?
Perhaps the phrase you should be looking at is lobby as in seeking to influence, solicit support of? But doesn't quite have the ring "representative on the SAC", does it? And we're about the ENVIRONMENT we live in now? Enlighten me, now does that mean this person are for or against the Evans St Grasslands? Last soliloquy I read had rants against it, bit of a about turn complete with half nelson, completely choking on ones words it seems. IF we are about the environment we live in ,is it environment as in all surrounds?? Or just in terms of persons and society...Trying for the green vote by using the big "E"word, desperate spin by lesser people.
Try the big "V" word for vigilante instead.
Forget tall poppy syndrome, just weed the garden for the pretenders.

How exactly does this pose a threat to Australias quarantine regulations? Please tell me.........read on below 

Now how does this ......

How exactly does this dog collar pose a risk to the quarantine and import laws of Australia? Dunno, you'd have to ask AQIS ,as in their wisdom and without much explanation they deemed my package from NewZealand; which contained a custom made woven dog collar with my dogs name and breed club on it, complete with two "D" rings for sized adjustments and a brass ring for lead clip connection; as in need of being opened and inspected. I got a pamphlet that told me "OPENED FOR INSPECTION"Duh, obviously with the "passed quarantine" yellow sticker and the bad tape job resealling it. And" no items have been removed" Ahh, yeah, you would have had to remove it to inspect it, wouldn't you? Then it goes on the speel about it was "opened by Australia Post for inspection by AQIS" as the screening process using "detector dogs and x-ray machines, indicated there may have been an item of quarantine concern in your mail"
Nope, sorry guys not enough evidence of that, see there is no law about importing dog collars except used ones from OS and pinch or pronged ones to Victoria. Nothing on your websites or in any paperwork. A dog would have picked up nothing as the collar is BRAND NEW and made from webbing and an x-ray would have shown you what it was EXACTLY or at least the two "D" rings and brass ring.
So I call the AQIS mail centre and get a different story, that mail is randomly opened by AQIS ( contary to the pamphlet information"opened by Australia Post) for survey by AQIS...Not good enough, which is it? Apart from the pamphlet indicating that there should have been another brochure enclosed about what can and cannot be mailed to Australia, there was no other information, including the brochure that should have been enclosed.
The customs declaration clearly stated it was a "dog collar" the weight would have told you it was neither all metal not used primary product, a feel of the package could have told you exactly what it was without knowing. I find this invasion into ones privacy neither in the interests of Australia's protection nor in the rights of the Government nor its bodies.

Of little boys fingers and how writing should be done

Had a meeting yesterday with Mr 6's pediatric occupational therapist ( P O/T). She saw him last week at school and assessed him. ( will the "assessing" of this boy ever end?) He has the pencil grip of a 4.5 year old and has hyper extended thumbs. His thumb at the first joint bends in a "U" almost which is a sign of low muscle tone, hence he pushes harder on the pencil or crayon to attain a better grip, he writes from the elbow or the shoulder, instead of the wrist. P, the P O/T; suggested a sloped writing board for him which was implemented almost immediately. We discussed about how children are taught too early the foundations of cursive script and get hooked on the little tails they need to place on their letters instead of the basic "ball and stick" version of learning to write of yesterday. Mr 6 does not recognise where a word ends and starts when he is attempting to write, he spaces all letters at equal intervals regardless of if they are part of a new word or not. SO you have s o m e t h i ng l i k e t h i s h a p p e n i n g b u t w i t h i l l f o r m e d l e t t e r s.
Hard to read isn't it? Imagine it scrawled all over an A4 sheet.
Anyway I have some more therapies to work with him on, join the dots are a good one but not too high in the numeric range so he can concerntrate on going from dot to dot. Any activity which helps upper body strength, hanging from the trapeze, climbing, etc. Getting him to air write his letters with correct starting point and formation in the air is good for his muscles to remember the formation of the letter, using a blackboard or white board allows the wrist to have the right curve to it needed for writing skills. Holding a coin to the palm of his hand with his ring and pinkie finger helps to increase the power part of the hand ( see you learn something new everyday). Getting him to write one really well formed and correctly initiated word instead of sentence will go a long way to helping him. And surprise of all, using UNLINED, yes UNLINED paper, as children like him get caught up in the mish mash of letter formation, tails, spelling and then top it all of with trying to keep it all on a line..Well, no wonder he is struggling.
I am glad his teacher bought it up and now the therapies need to be implemented at home but the P O/T wants Mr 6's aide to work on some of them with him during literacy... We'll see. I know his teacher will attempt to incorporate as many as possible into the classroom as she can. on that note, the P O/T mentioned that she found Mr 6's teacher to be patient, in control and aware of all aspects of the classes needs; a rare find indeed. This from a professional who spends her days in various classrooms in many local schools. Kudos to you Mrs R, as the kids say "You Rock".

"Chasing Cars" Snow Patrol and Greys Anatomy

Incitive, wonderous and bonus with Greys Anatomy clip...so sad. GA season ended last night on a clincer (what's new?). Predictions for the new season.
Meridith will go back with Mc Dreamy ( Shepherd)Really, how long can they pay Chris O'D for?
Issie will get back with shithead( Kovack)
Kelly will turn out to be some sort of psycho a la the nurse in that Stephen King novel
Yang and Perfect Preston will split up

My baby's FOUR now

As of 13 minutes ago (1334) my baby became a four year old. We had "Acdonals"( Mc Donalds) for lunch as his birthday lunch *gags and dry retches* . We shopped for his birthday cake. He got a present from his sister ( travel MagnaDoodle) and his brother ( Lightning Mc Queen car with removable wheels) and Granpas present, he picked himself ,which is a hobby horse..You know a horse head on a stick thing, he loves it and granpa will be happy as he will think his youngest grandchild is following him into equine breeding. He has told any one who we crossed paths with today that it is his birthday and are they getting him a present, including the lady from Energy and Water Ombudsman, the parcel delivery guy, the lady at Acdonals, Mr 5's teacher, the school secretary, two mums whom I don't know, three mums who I do know and the guy at my favourite fruit stall a the Vic Market today. He's tries, I'll give him that.
Tonight he'll get his big pressies, a Tonka helicopter and a wooden garage for the umpteen hundred Matchbox and HotWheels cars they have, courtesy of Mattel Toy Club membership. NAH NAH NAH.
Childrens birthdays are unique at this age ,as the concept of it all is lost to them apart from presents, cake and some special treats ( he ate 3 Vic Market donuts) For the other children, you might score a pressie from a grandparent who cannot bear not to give a present to everyone or if you get to pick a present for your siblings, you might be able to con your parent that "yeah, he really wants the Buzz Lightyear outfit" or "Yes, she told me she wanted a skateboard complete with kick plate". For relatives and friends it's and time for indulgence and spoiling. As a mum, it's a time of wonder as to where it all has gone to, awe that they learn so fast, joy that small things still make them happy( sometimes) and sadness that it has all happened so fast.

Happy Birthday my bubby boy

Watches and Birthdays

Bit of a mismatch of stuff really. Those ,who know me, know I am not really into jewellery, in fact, if I got robbed they'd send the stuff back COD. I wear two sleeper earrings and two diamond studs in my ears, my wedding band, my claddagh ring, my mums wedding band and my grandmothers wedding band and an apraxia kids support bracelet. That's it. I wear a watch on weekdays so I know what time lunch is and what time I have to pick up the kids. But I have found something I like a lot. I was searching to see if the cheapo character kids watches 2IC brings back from OS are of any resale value on eBay and spotted this Krug Bauman Principle.
There is an UK eBay store selling them for about $112 in daily auctions, they have a big turnover and lots of feedback but some of the feedback is BAD. I have never liked a piece of jewellery so much and have been watching the auctions of these timepieces with interest. Over three months I haven't found anything close in any retail outlet..I love this watch, did I say that already? Anyway, I like these watches and if any one knows where they sell them retail, let me know.
Mr 3 becomes Mr 4 on a few days and he received a letter yesterday from the local council immunisation group, complete with generic birthday card and immunisation schedule for the area. Point of note, if sending info about N-E-E-D-L-E-S to parents via cutesey kiddy birthday cards don't include the info with the card complete with piccies of caracticture needles or simply don't address the letter to the child. Mr 3 thinks he's getting a needle for his birthday and doesn't want a birthday now. Thanks for listening.

News, Views and Appointments

Amidst it all, the year is drawing to a close and Mr 3 is soon to be Mr 4, Mr 6 has decreased pencil grip skills and Miss 9 ...Well, girls become bitches so much younger today, I think.
Mr 3 has been coughing for a week or two and has been back and forward to the Drs.. It was a toss up if it was croup or asthma (Please, not asthma) So he was treated with Redipred for three days and with a follow up appointment on Friday, coughing is still there and "noises" in the chest; so we were on a three day trial of Ventolin four times a day. Today ,we were prescribed Seretide( which is a preventer rather than inhibitor) and tomorrow we go for a peak flow test and some other investigative measures. Fun, fun, fun. But he is miserable,grumpy and tired, I wish he'd sleep in the day time ,but alas and alack, he gave that up for Lent a year ago and failed to resume it. LOL.
Mr 6 has decreased pencil skills over the past few month and despite the best efforts of his teacher and myself, he is writing in a worse manner than he was at the commencement of the year. We decided to find a pediatric occupational therapist ( P O/T) to help, scarce as the provebial hens teeth and school visits..What's that? What is the use of not being able to assess a child's problems if you are unable to observe the entire enchilada? The desk, chair, paper, everything..I'm not a O/T but even I know you need to see the environment. Anyway, SCHC has a P O/T who does school visits and as Mr 6 was a member of the EIP group there, we are able to access the service.
PROBLEM: School has to be invoiced, not me.
PROBLEM: Mr 6's funding is committed to the aide time for the remainder of 2006
SOLUTION: Ask the school to split the bill 50/50
Ain't life grand when a plan comes together?
His speech pathologist is doing a school visit this week and this was co ordinated by his classroom teacher and the S/P, unbeknownst to them the DP organised the P O/T visit for the same day and yes, folks 15 minutes into his S/P session time. So despite the best laid plans of mice and women, some men do stuff it up. Right now, we are anxiously waiting the return call from the P/O/T to see if she can switch her time as the S/P was booked first and she coming from Gisbourne.
Miss 9 has been in the intricate world of little girl Bitchland. You know the "I'm not playing with you if you're friends with her" the "let's not play with her" gang mentality. I stay right out of it as it has a tendency to be :
a) overrated
b) you only have one bias side of the story
c) has embellishments
d) is over before you can do anything anyway
However, there is one child whom three other parents requested that their children not be in a class with this year( NO, NOT ME AND NOT MINE) They discreetly wrote letters requesting this of the school and it was complied with. This child's( Child A) parent is happily unaware of this and is a bit sad that the girls were separated this year for the first time since kindergarten. Miss 9 has been happily playing with two of these children, on and off, for most of the year. During the last week of Term 3 there was an incident where one of these children told Child A that she could not play with herself and Miss 9 as Miss 9 had a note in her diary stating she was not to play with Child A. A dispute arose and a teacher decreed that they were NOT to play with Child A. No such note exists and we have always told Miss 9 that she plays with whom she wishes and if she wishes not to play with someone, she does not have to. Child A's mother took it upon herself to get my mobile number and text me all weekend about everything but what was said by the other child, saying that Miss 9 and Child A had a falling out and perhaps we should get together over coffee and allow them to sort it out. I advised her that Miss 9 played with whom she wished and we did not interfere. 2IC was ropable over the texts and eventually the child's mother raised the matter of the alledged diary note. I told her there was not such thing, offered her the opportunity to view Miss9's diary and that it was not Miss 9 who passed on the information but another child and that was the last I heard of it.
This term we have the children attempting to follow the instruction given to them by the teacher, not to play with Child A ( strange instruction ,I thought) and Child A goes crying to teacher and hey, bingo...Miss 9 and two others are told off in front of the class by the same teacher who instructed them NOT to play with Child A but now for NOT playing with her. I understand that this teacher as Child A's class teacher is under considerable ( almost daily visits from the parent of Child A)pressure but she needs to be aware of the whole situation and another parent has made her aware of the letters now. However, Miss 9 was in tears all Thursday afternoon, her class teacher tells me. The class teacher has the same philosophy as me, let them sort it out. She tells her class that she is grown up and doesn't like some people so she doesn't play with them. I like the woman!!!!
I really think the mums who don't want this child in the class with their children need to be up front about it with the parent because, as it stands, she is blaming all the resulting skirmishes on any other child.
So, enter the world of tweens Bitchland Central. I am so over it all.

On a brighter note, my childrens god mother aka THE GODMOTHER is PREGNANT!!!!!! 10 weeks to go and we all just found out, she found out three weeks ago...BIIIIG SHOCK, totally unexpected. More at a later date, complete with explanation. I am still getting over the that my" little" cousin and godchild is having S-E-X...She's 32 after all but still....

BAM!!!

Diddums, How sad * sob, sob* that candidates for elections place their own inflated self importance above those they claim to represent. Non invitation to an information session results in tanties to the local rag and then the very apt, tongue in cheek response that “were'nt aware” the person was a candidate. WHAM!!! Bet that hurt!!

Perhaps, we need to rethink history a bit and recall a bit of name calling and we might have a glimpse at the answer…but hey, that’s just me. Maybe the person is so insignificant on the political score board that they really didn’t know they were a candidate. ROTFLMAO

Perhaps the session wasn’t required to be turned into a circus of irrelevant rhetoric complete with tales of woe and betide to the media.

Or maybe they just didn’t want this person there. Who could blame them, a one person circus is bad enough, a self indulgent one way circus is worse but a so called candidate for an area encompassing tens of thousands who fails to see beyond their own backyard is a recipe for disaster.

Roll on November.

Excerpts from an INTERESTING diary or two....

EXCERPTS FROM A DOG'S DIARY

Day number 180
8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MUM! MY FAVORITE!

Day number 181
8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MUM! MY FAVORITE!

Day number 182
8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
1:30 pm - ooooooo. bath. bummer.
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MUM! MY FAVORITE!





EXCERPTS FROM A CAT'S DIARY

DAY 752 - My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape,and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture. Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant.

DAY 761 - Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded; must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair...must try this on their bed.

DAY 762... Slept all day so that I could annoy my captors with sleep depriving, incessant pleas for food at ungodly hours of the night.

DAY 765 - Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body in attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was. Hmmm. Not working according to plan.

DAY 768 - I am finally aware of how sadistic they are. For no good reason I was chosen for the water torture. This time, however, it included a burning foamy chemical called "shampoo." What sick minds could invent such a liquid. My only consolation is the piece of thumb still stuck between my teeth.

DAY 771 - There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the foul odor of the glass tubes filled with what they call "beer." More importantly, I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power of "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.

DAY 774 - I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird, on the other hand, has got to be an informant and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Alas, due to his current placement in the metal room, his safety is assured...for now.

But I can wait, it is only a matter of time....

Day 775 - The horrors! The worse creature my captors could have devised to torment me with was another hideous cat! I can't stand the way it lies around and looks at me as if it knows more than I do. This creature seems to despise me as much as I it. I had held out a passing notion that another of my own kind would have enabled me to conspire against the villains who hold me; now I see that I was wrong. What a dreadful creature! And yet they coo over us both. Can they not spot my innate superiority?

Day 776 - The other cat and I, though we can not stand one another, have yet managed to both pee copiously behind the couch, on the so-called "shag" carpet. I have taken a lesson from my rival and begun sleeping on top of my captors' heads in the hope of suffocating them.

Day 777 - The wardens take much interest in our $hit. They make sure they sift through the sand and pick it all out. Their interest in $hit does not surprise me. After all, they like the dog.

Day 778 - The other cat seems to have an interest in copulation, which (thank them for their sadism) my captors will soon "fix". Told him of the fingernail torture, and he didn't even believe me. I showed him my mutilated paws and he gasped in horror. Then I broke the bad news. "You know why that dog licks his nuts?" I said, "It's because he still has nuts to lick, if you catch my drift." I fully support the horrors my captors will inflict upon my fellow captive, tearing away his manhood as they soon will.

Day 779 - Yes, they are monsters, but I am so happy. They fixed the other cat. It's sadistic, it's sick, it's inhuman, it's what their great leader "Bob Barker" commands, but -- the Sphinx be praised -- I support it wholeheartedly!

Day 780 - Got stoned on cat nip tonight. At the height of it all, I had a vision, a hallucenogenic revelation: they are the prisoners and I am the captor! Why haven't I seen this all before?
__________________

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Now this is FUN!

Bubblewrap..I love it and if this site keep the kids out of my supply. I will be happy.

Some people should check their facts.....

I really feel for you guys and you sue because you are all linked with those superstars of probity and accountability
george seitz and nardella. What a couple of fine chaps they are,
jack | 10.13.06 - 8:57 am | #

Gee ,I would really, really hate to have to take some one to task over such claims. Y'see I have never met any one called Nardella or Seitz. I believe they are State representatives in the State Government but I have never met them and do not know them. So I am linked how so? I would not have met them when I was working as I worked for the Federal Government. I am not a member of any political party, nor have I attended any political launches. I do not support any one party but if a party has the same idealologies; as I ;as their platform, I may well tick a box as opposed to my usual slogans and drawings on ballot papers. You see technically I have not voted as such since HoWARd gained power, I have my name marked off on the roll is all.
So people with shit for brains and the amorality equal to those they claim to protect the community from really should stick to playing with rubbish removal bins.

Some people......

I am on a rant , rant, rant rant...Can you hear me fuming from where you are? Good, because I am ropable. I was in a local retail establishment today..Which if they are lucky, will remain nameless. I wanted to get a noticeboard for the kitchen for school notices which are accumulating on my fridge doors. Any way, whilst I was purchasing the item, Mr 3 was looking at things in the shop. It has pencils, pens, stationary, envelopes, paper, etc. In the front windows; fully accessible by all and sundry; are ceramic animals. Suddenly, the fellow serving me YELLS

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!!!"

He then tells me, "He was going to touch something"..He was referring to Mr 3. I was and still am shocked that someone would
1) Yell at some one else's child, especially when they don't even know them
2) Risk their business name when they have just taken over the shop
I advised him that I did not appreciate anyone yelling at my child and there was a higher chance of breakage from shock/fright from the yell than curious fingers. He says there was no malice intended but the damage is done...They have lost a customer, I might not be worth much alone but word travels..........
So to the new shop owners, I wish you luck and maybe someone will break all your precious little curios in one fell swoop...I can always hope.

ACME "HOW TO RUN FOR GOVERNMENT"

STEP 1: Run some old, furphies like the "Sunbury Out OF Hume" malady, and the Sunbury needs a hospital up the flagpole.

STEP 2: Toss in a few things that are Federally allocated and controlled and hope no one notices.

STEP 3: Write into the local rags ( as they are the only one who'll print tired attempts at Machiavellian logic) as many times as you can.

STEP 4: Be seen at the newly formed party and have it reported in the papers but not the locally read ones

STEP 5: After the party falls by under scrutiny and its co creator falls into a ravine of questionable ethics.

STEP 6: Leader of newly formed Party must then deny Leadership tenure.

STEP 7: Do a quick back step from the party via a local paper,claiming independence.

STEP 8: Write to the local papers with issues of STEP 1..What we already did that in STEP 3? Oh, well so much for insight,understanding and knowledge of local REAL local issues.

I guess that's why it's the cartoon version of "How To....." Candidates loss of their grip on reality!!!

Mayne Monday Madness Midday

Very very intersting veiwing, personally, I just lioke the song LMAO

We went to the Royal Melbourne Show

As the title suggests we went to the RMS yesterday which was the first day and historically ( read pre Kaiser Kennett) a public holiday in metro Melbourne ; for whatever strange and oblivious reason 2IC's work still have this "holiday" as a public holiday, so as we had not been to the RMS for two years and it has been re vamped we decided to go. Apart form the incredibly LOOOONG walk from the Flemington Racecourse car park ( $12 parking) and then the old Weekly Times shed and the goats, sheep enclosures at the end of the grounds are shut up and still being revamped so it still a longer walk to the entrance, it was nice. I say nice, as there are aspects of the show I miss. The central arena as we all once knew it, is gone and only the Woodfull stand remains, the arena that once had the judging, grand parade, fireworks, stunts cars, etc that we all had to walk around to get form one side of the grounds to the other is now a town square with ample seating, tables, chairs surrounded by food outlets, and a stage with constant entertainment. All arena judging is in the new CocaCola Arena, which is smaller compared with the old arena which also doubled as a night time trotting racetrack in the show off season. It is so small that if judging on one event goes into overtime ( as did the 2 year old filly Clydesdales yesterday) all other events are not on time for the remainder of the day..So don't rush to see anything but may have just been day one teething issues. Despite the entry price being pretty high for most families and the pricing being suspiciously geared towards making you buy a family ticket anyway. ( $22 per adult, $11 per child, under 5 free=$64 for us but a family ticket 2 adults, three children was $60) and the cost of food and drink is very high, it is a good day out if you limit the showbag purchases and take your own lunch. We did limit showbags to one junk,marketing bag each (priced to $20) and bought the family mega bag which has all kinds of cocoa based product goodies plus some old favorites like Bertie Beetle, Fruit Tingles...Stuff you are embarrassed to buy individually at the milk bar but ok about buying en masse at the Show. We also got the Treasure Hunt bag, formally known as the Weekly Times "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" bag. You buy the bag ($13) complete with map free newspaper, on the map are specified places where you collect a freebie sample for the bag...It is as close to the way the Show was for some of our parents and grandparents. It was produce based and samples were given out. My eldest enjoys the collection of goodies and the hunt takes you to some parts of the show many might not venture into usually.
Some of the old favorites are gone, such as the old wooden cattle pavilions, now an ultra modern venue housing all the cattle, sheep and goats but the walkways are not as wide as the were in the old ones and the stalls not as long. So, if stock is being moved to the judging ring; which is also housed in this venue;you need to move to one side and hope that the stock in motion does not do just that as it passes ..Have a motion; and that the stock you are standing less than a metre from does not do likewise. And my kids wondered why stock were being moved with someone walking behind holding a bucket close to the rear of the cattle!!!!! This is a poorly designed area, given that many non farming people enter the area and are put off by the smell ( which is a fine smell to me) the fact that they might be splattered with cow shit, to boot, is prohibitive to many even bothering. One sheep exhibitor was telling us how they laugh about the teenagers who venture no further than the door and they can tell the people who come from farms or have experience in primary producing as they don't worry about the small shit only the big ones and know the signs of cattle about to design a paddock pizza and move about a meter away, outside the splatter zone. FYI: Watch for the tail lifting.
Drinks range from $3.50 to $4.00 for a bottle of water, fries/wedges are $4.00 to $5.00, dagwood dogs/hotdogs $4.00, some very, very fine eateries are about but prices are way off the range for what they are supplying. We took our own water bottles ,the kids had hot dogs and pancakes for lunch. 2IC had a steak burger which at $12 something was a rip off. They had the inevitable fairy floss which Mr 3 had never been fond of, Mr 6 would eat all day and Miss 9 just loves in small amounts. There is a lot of free stuff to be had, samples of organic chocolate,chocolate infused with merlot, pinot noir, port, pickled asparagus, cheeses, wine, beer, stickers, flyers, balloons, sample bags, balloons, info booklets, balloons. If so inclined you could eat lunch, dessert and beverages on samples alone...I noted a few people who I thought were doing just that.
There seems to be more space, however much of the section towards the racecourse is closed off still. I think it is because the stands that once surrounded the arena are all but gone and the area opens up to lot more space and seating facilities. I did notice ,with much joy, that the fast food outlets that once almost dominated the food areas in 2003 ,no longer exist...That's right, no KFC, Mickey D's, Hungry Jacks, Pizza Hut, or other franchised fat retailers. Lots of sole proprietor, restaurant based quality(?) food to choose from at often exorbitant prices. Rentals site fees must be a real killer.
The animal nursery is bigger and better with sheep yarding demos, milking, shearing, and all styles of "Country comes the the city" type of stuff. I do not like unrelated; yet juxtaposed ;sponsorship of the nursery by major bank. Nor do I like the sellout of the arena being named after a major soft drink maker. Perhaps the RAS could look at listing the RMS on the stock exchange,ownership by the people, limited stock to everyone...Minimum $50 share purchase, no major shareholders who would sell it off for a profit. In lieu of dividends, shareholders can opt for passes ( much like discount s offered to retail shareholders) to the RMS. No more outside conflicting sponsorship involved then. That way allows the event to be accessible to many more, places ownership back in the hands of the people..Just a thought as the RAS give away too many free passes as it is which is why it is so dear for every one else to get in. If you have a RAS membership, at $115 for an adult, and $65 for a child; let your friends use it at $40-$50 a pop over every day of the show, you not only make your money back but a tidy little profit as well. This little scheme is well used by many exhibitors thereby putting the entry price up for many too. Good on them, I say, as without their entrepenorial skills; many families would not be able to attend.
For me, the Royal Melbourne Show means some things never change but then again some things never should.

This is sooooo ME

When I stand up for myself and my beliefs , they call me a BITCH
When I stand up for those I love, they call me a BITCH
When I speak my mind, think my own thoughts or do things my own way, they call me a BITCH,
Being a BITCH means I won't compromise what's in my heart
It means I live my life MY way.
It means I won't allow anyone to step on me.
When I refuse to tolerate injustice and speak against it, I am defined as a BITCH.
The same thing happens when I take some time for myself instead of being everyone's maid, or when I act a little selfish.
It means I have the courage and strength to allow myself to be who I truly am and won't become anyone else's idea of who they think I "should be".
I am out spoken, opinionated and determined.
I want what I want and there is nothing wrong with that!
So stomp on me, try and douse my inner flame,try and squash every ounce of beauty held within me,
You won't succeed.
And, if that makes me a BITCH, so be it.
I embrace the title and proud to bear it.

Politico Ass...Ars....Aspirants

I'm getting a bit tired of the political games being played out by some aspiring politicos ( read would be's if the could be's) It' s actually quiet funny to read the hogwash being spread about by several local aspirants ( who shall remain nameless as they have a perchance of cruising the blogsphere and /or "googling' their own name in a desperate attempt to justify themselves, they also like to waste time and money on lose/lose/LOSER court cases but we won't go there...YET). One promises everything that looks like a hospital, smells like a hospital but isn't a hospital. And little else. The other flutters about on the perennial of a party who would not be seen dead agreeing to the warped ideals of "Spot the Rock Spider" and my rights outweigh your rights. So amusing to watch them being used in a game that cannot be won, why else lob up a self employed socialite and accept token "Please let me be a member" second prefs from an independent? Challenging to read the attempts by one to talk about a hospital, promise something like a hospital or an inquiry but not actually say...You can have a hospital. It's all in the vocab ..Use the word often enough and people will believe it might happen. A sort of "say it and they will believe" scenario. It will be interesting, to be sure,whilst one attempts to say, write and repeat the "H" word without one being built and they other hobby horses about with rhetoric about criminals rights being greater than victims and bogey men deviants around every corner. Bit like kids in kindergarten actually.

What's it all about?

Maybe I am insensitive; although I really doubt it; but I really just do not understand the public display of grief and outpouring of quasi tears over the recent deaths of two public figures. Yeah, you know who I am talking about and I won't give them any type space here as they have enough already, I think. Really, I did not know either and whilst I feel sad for their families and had shed a tear over the stories of their deaths; as I do when I read any in depth, well written articles about anyone's life and death;I cannot fathom the tears and somewhat hyper sensitive displays of tears being shown by people who did not know them or even met them.
What is our pre occupation with ownership of public figures/personalities? Don Chipp died recently, a man of courage and perception who took on the political game for what it was...a rort. He challenged all and sundry, created a major third political party from a pre dominatly two party preferred system and tried to "keep the bastards honest". I saw little reflection of any public ownership of him as I have seen for the others.
Why is it that people feel they had the right to intrude on what is a very difficult and hard time for these peoples familes with public displays, tributes etc? We saw it in 1997 with the death of HRH Diana, Princess of Wales, it went on for an intolerable amount of time. Yes, I cried when I saw photos of her sons walking behind her hearse and I sob if I hear Elton Johns re write of "Candle In the Wind" and whilst I felt little more than sorrow for her sons and family, I could not understand the tears and sobs of the voyeuristic grief mongers who lined the streets, left tacky tributes and wept despairingly for someone many had never met except through tabloid press articles.
Same applies to the two recent losses, their families are left to cope, I think they should be permitted to grieve alone and without the pseudo grief of a nation who assumes ownership of public figures because they saw them on TV, or in media articles. Some people really, really need to get a life for them selves instead of living life vicariously through others deeds.

Parties, Posters and Parenting

I have been busy ,What's new? As Mr 6 had a birthday party to attend Saturday morning and all three kids had a party to attend Saturday afternoon, then there was the annual Fathers Day shopping to do. Miss 9 wanted a day off from school last week and as she is not often ill and I am an advocate of days off/RDO/ flex time whatever in the workforce, I think the same applies to school sometimes, so she had a day off school and came with me and Mr 3 to the new Mattel Wholesale outlet at Smith St, Collingwood. Which is open to the public and not part of the Mattel Club to which I had access; if seems that is now defunct as are the great bargains I once got at the Mattel Club in Ardeer. I got presents for the three birthdays my kids were attending, yes, three...The PM party is a brother and sister whom are two years apart but only a few days between birth dates so they hold a joint multi guest party. We collected Miss 9's bracelet which had some more charms attatched (courtesty of Nana) and was adjusted ( Thank you, mummy), we drooled over the Teddy Bear shop where you can make your own bear, Miss 9 amd Mr 3 had Mickey D's for lunch and Miss 9 tried to remember which shirt Daddy had pointed out to her two weeks ago in a shop dedicated to charging you $30 to wear a shirt giving them free advertising for "Jeep"* Supamum shakes her head and will never understand how marketing ploys seem to work on men when it comes to cars and clothing***

On Thursday, I received a note via Mr 5's teacher from Miss 9's teacher ( secret parent/teacher postal service) She was to receive an award for her poster design for the school fete at the Friday assembly. 2IC agreed to leave work early to attend and it appears that Miss 9 won her year level ( 3/4) for the design competition the other year level award was for Prep/1 and the runner up was a Grade 5 and the winner a grade 6!!!! She recieved a certificate, a voucher for Red Rooster and some pencils...she had no idea she was getting an award. She was chuffed and I think her class teacher was too.

I have been busy with meetings about the fete also, I am on the plant stall and the co ordinator is fretting about how we cannot really do much until the last minute, especially in the way of any donations from local traders as they usually give us whatever is about at the time. I am not too stressed as I know alot of the church community come through for us every time. I am digging up the remainder of the ugly * ooops, trying to sell them are'nt I ?* lovely, fully matured, easily grown agapanthus and potting them for sale or give away what ever happens, the ugly things are going!

I met a very interesting lady at my friends kids party on Saturday afternoon, she is the MD of a group of ex teachers, aides, etc who are disillusioned, disheartened and just damn well pissed off at the DET criteria for funding special needs kids, the attitude some teachers and principals have for the funding model and how it is administered, the lack of attention given to the needs of autistic children and the severe lack of understanding and training given to teachers in regards to such children. She is my friends son's tutor and she is also helping my friend vet prospective schools for her daughter to transfer to. She is about advocacy and information, but primarily works as a tutor right now and is networking contacts for the other teachers in the group: speech pathologists, O/T, PSG support officers, etc. I am in the middle of swapping contacts and passing on info to her about things such as ECPs, and tax deductable gap payments. She is a person who my friend, AJ, told me was 'made from the same stuff" as me and after hearing her speak and her objectives... I think this is the realm for my copious pages of notes and web links to all things relevant to parents of special needs kids. They will be starting a web page and I think this is one of the places for my reams of info and cross referenced data.

Come On People...Are you really that busy?

Mr 5 is progressing nicely with his speech pathologist; who I would highly recommend to any one looking for a SP for a child. He is struggling with reading though and cannot co related between the letter sound and the combination of sounds to make a word. He relies heavily on the secondary prompt, which at this stage is a picture, but if the picture is ambiguous, like a person laughing he will say the person is funny. He is not looking at the word enough to establish that it could not be "funny" as it starts with "l". He is a rote learner, he can tell me all the 12 Golden Words.
BUT only if they are in the order that appear on the grid, mix them up and he struggles, he has got his Golden Certificate and is now working in his Red one, many children in the class have already achieved Blue and Green as well as Red. These "magic words' are the words children see most often and rather than have to "sound them out" each time, they become part of what is know as sight vocabulary, that being they recognise the words on sight in any context. Words such as "a, is, the, there, was, I , am, be, were, not, no, of, on, this" . Mr 5 tends not to have the ability to absorb the words out of context...But he'll be a wiz at times tables and such I think.

His pencil grip an issue and I contacted his EIP OT to see if she could recommend anyone: we cannot access SCHC services anymore as he is in school now according to the lady at the desk; which was apparently not entirely true as the pediatric OT put me in touch with the Paed OT who works with local schools ( betcha didn't know we had that service here, I didn't) and I can ask the school to use part of Mr 5s funding to pay for the OT visits which are better facilitated in the class environment anyway given it is a pencil grip issue. I am OK with this as his aide does not appear to work on Tuesdays anyway. I am waiting for the OT and the Principal to get back to me...* Yawn* It's been a week now................

Meanwhile I have sourced a private physio for him as the area concerned crosses both physio and OT areas so either is OK and I JUST KNOW the school will not pay an external OT for this...what he needs, he needs now and what's private health insurance for anyway.

On the matter of private health insurance, this week I will have reached my limit for Mr 5's speech therapy and it's only August...So we have kicked in his Enhanced Primary Care Program ( EPC) Which means that Medicare pay $45 each for FIVE visits to his ST. Which should carry us through to mid November so by my calulations ,I will only pay out of pocket full session fees for three session this year...Not too shabby. I am going to write to my PHI provider to see if I can get an increase on limits for Mr 5's ST given it will be a long term thing. I had contacted a well known SP in NSW who chairs many committees and deals a lot with dyspraxia who advised me that PHIs can increase limits on some ancillaries if you are willing to lose something else ( ie: increase ST limit by $250 and forgo $500 limit on osteopathy) You write to them and supply a diagnosis from the provider stating the condition is ongoing and long term. This is a very one to one, case by case, scenario but hey, rules were meant to be broken and I'm the one who will always try.

First Eucharist, Birthdays and Brothers

I have been very busy as Miss 9 made her First Eucharist yesterday, for those of us older than 25 that's First Communion, for the non Catholics, its when children first eat the wafer stuff at Church. So I was busy organising her party ( but it's not about the party ...Tell THAT to a 9 year old) and her present from 2IC and me ( but its not about the presents, tell THAT to a 9 year old) and amidst it all, attend my friends hastily organised 40th birthday dinner and a Candle party she was having. Phew!!!

My friend, AJ and I have been pals for it seems forever. She was bridesmaid at my wedding, her hubby was our best man. They both went to school with 2IC which is how I met them but AJ and I have stuck firm in our friendship. We share the same age for 24 hours and yesterday she turned 40!!! Our birthdays are one day apart and our wedding anniversaries are one day apart. AJ is as solid as they come and has had a lot of stuff to get over, a lot of which she gets over by herself...Often I do not find out about something major happening until its past..That's what she is like, non alarmist and non fuss. Anyway she was having a candle party (Partylites) which was REALLY GOOD if you are into candles and such but really expensive if you are into candles and such LMAO. Anyway, W, another pal of AJs decided that as AJ's hubby wasn't organising anything for AJ that we'd go out for dinner after the candle party, but as AJs mum wanted to come and her older sister and her niece and nephew and Miss 9 was with me and S ( AJ's daughter) we had to go cheap rather than "swanky, once in a lifetime, you are turning 40". We ended up at Pascoe Vale RSL..............Nice meal, great service, what can I say..AJ was happy after the two,three, four, five, no, it was four or was it seven Barcadi and Raspberries..W and I plied her with all night. Oh, and AJ if you are reading this... The big one was a DOUBLE!!!And Adam, AJs nephew; topped it of with his masterful fireworks display using two tennis balls and the compound from a packet of sparklers..Don't ask; the boys from the bush and sings kareoke!!!

We decided to have family only over after the Mass and as it was the later Sunday night mass, we hoped the family would all eat and run far, far away. It worked, all and sundry gone by 8.30pm...wonderful!!!My cousin, Simone; who is also Godmother to all three kids; came by at about 2.00 which was fine as she was coming from Bendigo and we hardly see each other much anyway. But when my Dad and his partner arrived at 4.00 I was a tad peeved, Mass was not until 5.30!!!! And I was still cleaning up, and we had to get three kids ready and 2IC was working in the yard in the veggie garden...Now I had to make coffee and chat pleasantly all whilst trying to do this other stuff. SHIT
Any way we got the Church and 2IC's family meet us there, ( they are non Catholic so are really lost in Church) There were only 6 children from school celebrating their first Eucharist last night and two others from outside schools ( non Catholic schools) and strangely enough the pew behind us( as all seating was allocated) was empty but had a place name attatched...Had to ponder that one, piked it? Illness? Forgot about it? Changed their mind? I am still wondering about it. Mr 3 and Mr6 were reasonably well behaved, Mr 6 let out groans of "Oh Man!!" whenever the priest started to speak again, and "oh, No!" when the singers started again...NOT GOOD!! And all this from the front pew with his school principal standing nearby and his religious education co ordinator as one of the singers!!! Gotta, hand it to him, he's not afraid to speak him mind, in volumes.

All the while, before Mass commenced; Miss 9 was turning about to check if "Unca T" had arrived, my errant, non compliant younger sibling. I had to invite him, he is family and he is also Miss 9's godfather ( god help her) I half expected him to turn up fashionably late as he did at her baptism ( however that time he arrived with his then new partner who wore a white leather mini, white CFM boots and a leather bustier...Simply stunning) But he did not arrive to my knowledge,( but not my surprise) much to Miss 9's dismay. When we got home, his car was at our house and he told me he was to the back of the church and left as soon as Mass ended...BULLSHIT. I have been his sister for all of his life and I know him, he did not attend Mass, no biggee, but don't lie to my kids about being there ok?

It 's your money, Ralph

Recently I have become aware of a little hiccup within the banking system which would affect us all at some stage, to me ,it verges on fraud by the banks,but hey that's just my opinion. Nowadays not many of us deal in cheques, no one wants to accept a personal cheque and the cost of a checking account outweighs the benefits ( unless you are a business or big $$$ customer and get a "special managers deal"= NO FEES)
Cheques use to take 3 working days to clear, 5 for interstate accounts, this is a fact. Cheques or the paper exchange takes place overnight and the cheques are returned to the drawers bank on day two, if they are not honored, they are returned to the payees bank by day 3. Hence the 3 day rule.
Cheques drawn on the Reserve Bank ( ATO, Centrelink, Dept of Defence etc) and bank cheques used to considered by banks to be cleared funds. That is, they were as good as cash. Government wasn't going belly up, the payee name matched the account name..No risk there. Bank cheques have to be paid for with cash or a withdrawal from a loan or with cleared funds, ipso facto; no risk of it being dishonoured. In fact a bank CANNOT dishonour a bank cheque, only stop payment on it.

So why are banks applying the 3 day rule to tax refund cheques and bank cheques? I raised this issue recently with my bank when they told me 2IC's tax refund cheque would take 3 days to clear and was advised that bank cheques receive the same treatment. So what happens to your money whilst you wait this little lie out....
Well, the money is credited to your account but does not show in the balance so it is only there in theory not in reality, so you are losing interest in it. If you place it in your mortgage or such it will have the interest adjusted;or show in the balance but not as available funds, if it isn't shown as this ...Ask for an interest adjustment ( I will give the equation for interest recalulation later). The money is actually sitting in the banks cash management, short term money markets and money exchange with billions of other dollars which is not theirs, earning millions of dollars in interest for the BANK.

It your money, Ralph, people have become so complacent and banks so internalised , that they are not adhering to the basic principles of LAW regarding paper exchange. Especially regarding RESERVE BANK cheques. Sure you can pay the $20 or $30 they ask for a "special clearance" but you can do that your self as it only involves a phone call. That's right, your bank charges you $20 to call another bank ...Here's what you do. Take down the cheque details on a piece of paper, drawer, account name, cheque number, account number, bank and branch and payee. Write "Special clearance" on the cheque but tell the teller its a mistake and you don't want a special clearance. Next day call up directory assistance and get a number for the branch the cheque was from, call them and ask for special clearances, get the persons name in special clearances, tell them you are calling for a special clearance and the cheque was banked via so and so branch, give them the details you have, and they will tell you if the cheque is to be paid or not. Never tell them you are from the bank but don't tell them you aren't either. Armed with the persons name, go to your bank and tell them that such and such from Big Bucks bank has advised the cheque is cleared and will be paid, sure they can call and ask for so and so and check but cannot charge you for it. You may have to fight it out but it is not illegal for you to do it, so long as you do not misrepresent yourself. I have done it three times and fought and won each time.
Use the system against them.
It's your money, Ralph.

Interest Adjustment Calulation:

amt. of money not credited to account x interest rate x days missing from account
__________________________________________________ =

36500