Another Weekend Goes By

Monday 26th September, 2011

Another weekend is over and the countdown is on to the end of the year.  Only 3 more months to go.

This weekend we only had Katie overnight on Saturday.  Instead of picking her up on Friday night she was dropped off by Kerrie late on Saturday afternoon.  For her birthday Kerrie took Katie shopping at Colonades.  She had her nails painted at a nail salon and Kerrie bought her a butterfly necklace.

After dinner we decided to go to the drive-in.  They were showing The Smurfs, Zookeeper and The Abduction.  For $22 per carload you pay for however many movies you want to see.  If you want to stay for 1 movie it's $22, 2 movies is $44 and 3 movies is $66.  Katie didn't want to see The Smurfs but wanted to see Zookeeper.  That was scheduled to start at 9.00pm. 

We left home just after 8.00pm and already the line-up was long.  We got to the end of the queue and waited, and waited.  The first movie had finished and people slowly began leaving the drive-in.  It was well after 9.30pm before they allowed letting the cars in.

Zookeeper was OK, the story line was a bit pathetic, but the animals made up for it.  Katie enjoyed it and we got a few laughs out of it.  It didn't finish until 11.50pm. Unbeknown to us, Jodi had gone to see The Smurfs with Taylor.  She said the lineup for that movie was sooooo long as well and it took ages getting the cars in, so consequently it was late in starting which then put the other movies behind time.

On Sunday Katie wanted to go swimming down at Marion again.  Before we went we had to go and buy her some new bathers.  They didn't have the diving boards open this time but she and Tony had just as much fun diving off the edge of the deeper pools.  She still has to master the technique of pushing off with her legs.  She has accomplished so much with her swimming and we have every confidence in her swimming in deeper water.

From the Lens........

Window Shopping

Friday 23rd September, 2011


When Tony rang during the day he asked me to come in and meet him.  After we went and had our coffee we went off to do some window shopping.

Our first stop was Harvey Norman to have a look for some new speakers for the computer.  They didn't have a good selection.  While there I also looked at getting another cordless vacuum cleaner.  Electrolux have a new one out that I wanted to see.

We then headed off to David Jones to have a look there.  For a few years now they have had these soapbox religious preachers in the Mall.  Some time ago they were banned and as a result took their complaint to the courts and were given the right to preach again in the Mall.

Since they have been back they have caused more problems than what they are worth.  I don't know what religion they claim to be from, they sound like spruikers who just like to "stir the pot" throwing in God's name every now and then. 

Anyway as a result, there are always plenty of protesters and hecklers who like to "confront" these preachers, resulting in police presence.  They congregate around the preachers with their placards, disrupting people who want to shop or just stroll along the Mall.  I don't know which is worse.

I personally believe that religion should be kept out of the Mall.  If people want to know more about God, there's plenty of churches in and around the city they can go to and they can contact a local minister or priest and take it from there.  What do they say.......never discuss religion or politics, it usually ends up in an argument.

We went into David Jones but they didn't have what we were looking for so Tony suggested we go to Myers.  When we left DJ's, the preachers and protesters had gone, thank goodness.

Myers had what we wanted.  I wanted another Scanpan stewpot (40% off) and a new microwave.  We had been looking at the Panasonic flatbed microwave oven for a while now.  David Jones had sold out of them and back about a month ago told us that they had to order more in. They told us that they were expecting new stock around late September/October.  Myers had some in stock and so we decided to get one now.  Plus they were cheaper than what DJ's had them for.

So much for window shopping.  Still, you have to buy what you want when you see it and especially if they are offering it at good prices.

From the Lens..........

Have Made A Start On The Christmas Shopping

Wednesday 21st September, 2011

Today I am going out for lunch with Dianne.  We ended up going up to Tea Tree Plaza as she had to pay a lay-by.

We had lunch at 42nd Street Cafe, shared a large bowl of yummy wedges with sour cream and sweet chili.  We had a wander through some of the stores and she ended up buying Katie her birthday present.  Katie had asked for Gomu's, they are erasers.  She had seen them in Melbourne, but I think some of her friends at school have also got them.

She also got her another book by Andy Griffith.  While we were in Toys R Us we also bought Katie some of her Christmas presents.  Katie had also told me that she wanted Squinkies for Christmas.  Dianne offered to buy her some for Christmas, I will get her some later.  I got her a few more Gomu's, a tin to keep them in, plus a pencil case and some more erasers.

We had a very productive day.......I made a start on my Christmas shopping....yay!  I have also been wanting the Jimmy Choo perfume, so I decided to treat myself to it.  I am so lucky I have a wonderful husband who doesn't say anything about me spending $139 on a bottle of perfume.  Love you Tone!

Dianne told me that Troy and Jodi won't be selling their house and moving to the country after all, well, not in the immediate future.  Apparently the bank didn't approve the loan.  She said that Jodi still wants to go and live in the country at some stage though.

After I dropped Dianne back home I went and met Tony at the Village and we did some grocery shopping.  We went and had coffee when we finished and then got some chicken for dinner.

It was great to come home and sit down and relax.  I was wanting to watch the Tuesday night episode of X Factor but unfortunately the recorder didn't tape it.  Tony was sure he programmed it correctly.  Hmmmm I wonder lol.  Thank god for the internet.....at least I could check and see who got voted off.

From the Lens..............Gomu

Katie's Special Day

Tuesday 20th September, 2011


Today is a special day for our special little girl......Happy 10th Birthday Katie!!  Wow the years are flying by, it wasn't that long ago that you were born and here you are already turning 10.   Nanna and Poppa hope you have a very special day.

We ended up going to the Tonsley Hotel tonight with Kahra, Darrin and Katie for her birthday.  It was a very nice meal.  We had some coupons, Split the Bill, and so we thought we would use them. 

I bought Katie a birthday cake, some balloons and she was happy.  She was even more excited when she saw my old phone that I had given her.  She LOVED all of her presents.

Well it's been a week since my last post.  Life has gone on as normal.  The weekend weather turned out to be rather nice.  Saturday we didn't do much, it was warm but very windy until a cooler change came in later during the afternoon.  In the evening we went for a drive to get a pizza.  On Sunday, the day was nice and so I thought I would finally get out and clean up the back yard.  Tony washed the car.

I vacuumed out the back and then washed the outdoor furniture.  It looked pretty good when I was finished.
Imagine my horror when I woke up on Monday morning to a hurricane wind blowing.  All my good work from the day before was undone.  There were leaves, dirt and twigs blowing everywhere.  I was not happy!!!

From the Lens............

Phone Calls.....Tinged With Sadness and Full Of Excitement

Tuesday 13th September, 2011

Katie, Kahra and Darrin left to drive to Melbourne early this morning.  They have gone to look after Jessa as Zoe and her partner, Michael are going to Fiji for a few days.  Have a great time guys!

Dianne rang me to let me know that Luke's father had passed away on Friday night.  I thought it was rather strange as Tony had seen Luke yesterday and he made no mention of it.  I even said to Tony, next time you see Luke ask him how his dad is doing.  His dad had cancer but was admitted to hospital with pnuemonia.

Our deepest condolences go to Luke and Megan, just letting you know that our thoughts and prayers are with you at this very sad time.  Our thoughts are also with Lukes'  family and his mum, Joan.

While I was talking to Dianne we made arrangements to go out for lunch next Wednesday.  Katie rang tonight.  They arrived in Melbourne mid afternoon.  She sounded excited to be over there.  She didn't know what they were going to do or where they were going to go while over there.  All she hoped for was new handlebars for her scooter for her birthday.

From the Lens..........  our lanterns we got from the Moon Festival

Moon Lantern Festival

Monday 12th September, 2011


This evening, Adelaide is holding the Moon Lantern Festival, as part of OzAsia, down on the banks of the Torrens.  Let's hope the weather will clear up for it, at the moment it is overcast and looks like it might rain.

Well the weather held out for the Festival even though it was cool down by the river.  I went into town and met Tony and then we wandered off down to Elder Park.  We found a place to set up our chairs ....... I can no longer sit on the ground.  There were already quite a few people there.

On the main stage they had several acts mainly coming from the various Asian organisations here in Adelaide. The highlight of the evening was the performance given by the dancers and acrobats from Xiandong Province.  They were amazing.  It sure whet the appetite to go and see more of this group.

The parade of the lanterns was amazing.  This year they had a lot more school children involved and they made some beautiful lanterns, fish, grapes, wattle, flowers, triangles, and traditional Asian lights.  There were also some new designs from the corporate world as well.  Even the moon made an appearance from behind the clouds.

They estimated the crowd to be around 20,000, each year more and more people are getting involved.  This was the 5th year holding the Festival.   I think Tony and I have been to the last four.  After the parade of the lanterns, were the fireworks and by 8.30pm it was all over.  It started at 3.30pm with various cooking demonstrations, origami making, drumming, and lots of other activities to see and do.

From the Lens...........

10 Years On.....

Sunday 11th September, 2011

Today is the 10th anniversary of that atrocious terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York, The Pentagon in Washington and an airplane that crashed in Pennsylvania.

Times of impact: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m.
Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes.
Time they took to fall: 12 seconds.
2819 dead from 115 different nations.
343 Fireman/paramedics, 23 NYPD, 37 Port Authority officers and 1 Search and Rescue Dog named Sirius 

May we never ever forget that terrible day.  It was a day that has changed the World.  Maybe not for the better as there is still terrorist attacks in various parts of the world today.

Due to these attacks army personnel from around the world were sent to Iraq to fight and also to Afghanistan.  Many of these soldiers have now lost their lives fighting for the freedom for their respective countries.

Australia, too, has had their share of lives lost.  Let's hope that history will show, that these lives have not been lost in vain.

From the Lens.............Twin Towers