Today is a gift.

This week I read the following quote ( or along the lines of the quote somewhere and would love to know who to attribute it to. ) My limited searching reveals it may be Eleanor Roosevelt but I would be thrilled if one of my learned blogging and linguistically tlented friends could confirm it for me. and if possible the context in which it was said.

Yesterday's history tomorrow's a Mystery today is a gift. That is why it called the "present."


Ho true! Make the most of each day. If you haven't checked in lately and want some inspiration log into Michaelforbes to see how he is progressing. I am in awe of him and his family. While I am typing this Ahubby is at Royal Talbot paying a visit.

Just a lazy weekend

Like most families our weekends are usually packed with activities and socialising and this weekend was no exception:



Friday night

bookclub dinner invitation - unable to attend as Ahubby arrived back from Sydney at 8.30pm and S was already snuggled up in bed sound asleep. Very upset about missing out catching up with all the girls and the special visitor M who is down from Sydney for the Melbourne Writers' Festival



Saturday- Ahbuuby's run around the Tan, Kingsley's swim lesson at 10.30 am ,Girl's lunch invitation to celebrate the birthdays of two friends Jomo and Grace. Unable to attend as exhausted. While S sleeps on loungeroom couch under a pink blanket Ahubby and Kingsley head to Luna Park to go ice skating. They will visit friends on the way home who need help changing a bicycle tyre, have four similarly aged boys to Kingsley in the family and a brand new dog Kingsley is dying to see. Expecting them home around 4pm if all goes to plan. Tonight there is the blogging dinner invite. Fairlie has arranged a dinner for some Melb based bloggers to catch up at and for M to meet in the flesh. If I get some rest I may make it for coffee.

Sunday is just as busy. Ahuby has been asked to help with the Melb Tri Club duathlon they are running at Docklands then we have to be a school in St KIlda Road from 12.30 to 4pm for a Japanese Speech competition Kingsley is representing her school at! She had to send an inability to a boy's birthday party at the same time. We also have the bonus birthday party/bbq for Michael Forbes at royal Talbot which we will miss due to the Japanese committment. To top it all off we have just heard that friends who are expecting a baby may be parents soon with contractions at 20 mins apart so w emay need to schedule a hospital visit in sometime as well.



By the end of the weekend I will need a week to recover and rest!

IP giveth and IP taketh away

Impossible Princess ( IP) is one of my favourite little people. Teamsak hosted Fairlie, Poolboy and IP for a casual dinner on Saturday night. IP arrived armed with a basket of beautiful origami she had made at local shopping centre that day. There were stars, boxes, balloons and a crane all carefully made in shiny coloured paper. They were all a gift from IP to me!

When I excused myself and headed upstairs to bed at 7.30pm the 2 dozen or so magnificent paper creations were sitting on the Tv cabinet. I intended to take some photos for this blog to show how talented IP is. The next morning everything was gone. My first thought was that we had been burgled but the plasma was still there. A quick call to Fairlie solved the dilemma. While IP had made them and given them to me she decided at the last minute to retain them and as creator of them felt she had rights to do so. Fairlie, Poolboy , Ahubby and Kingsley tried to convince her to leave them all or at least one star but IP stood firm in her convictions and took them all back.

What is that saying ? It is the thought that counts!

It's going to be Wicked

Wicked , it seems , is the in word for the youth. Wicked is also the name of the Broadway musical currently playing in our home town. Teamsak has managed to arrange 3 ( complimentary) tickets to the 8pm performance this Saturday. Let's hope I can stay awake long enough to see the whole show given it starts 30 mins after my bedtime!

If you have seen it what did you think? I read it is best for children over 8 so not sure if there are scary parts in it.

Social experiment- Smile and Hi!

Over the past few weeks I have been conducting a social experiment code named "Smile and Hi!". While the sample size surveyed wouldn't meet any good research standards a strong pattern is emerging. Smile and Hi as the name suggests is just that. Smile at the person coming toward me then offer some form of civil comment. Things like "good morning" "Great day isn't it?" "I like the colour of your coat" "How old is your dog?" "What a gorgeous puppy!" etc etc Nothing threatening - just social greetings and niceties.

The number of non responses or even acknowledgements could be that I am a physically threatening person. All 1.6m of me could , I concede, be misconstrued as the body of a mass murderer or career criminal. Maybe it is my poor command of English that makes me unintelligible to others. Both of those statement should be read with extreme sarcasm!!

To be fair the best response rate comes from mothers pushing prams and the more mature folks. Both sectors of the population who can make time for a chat and probably look forward to the interaction. I even struck up a conversation with one elderly gentlemen who told me was turning 89 the next day and goes for a walk everyday and no one ever speaks to him. I explained my social experiment and he was going to conduct his own so we could share results next time we passed each other while out walking.

DOS and MOS live in a seaside country town when street greetings are common and without fail are responded to . So what is it about my suburb? Is it my post (zip) code or me? I dare you all to try it out and see what type of response you get.

Of course there is the occasional downside. One of the people I say hello to in a coffee shop now detours to join me if he sees me at the table. I have been privy to the saga of the family feud for the last 12 months. It is better than a soap opera. On the other hand I have made 2 very good friends as a result of a casual hello and discussion about a newspaper in the same coffee shop.

Must finish up - time for the next sample in the research project!

Hats off to a 2 year old!

A little friend "Ruby*" turned 2 and celebrated on the weekend. We were lucky enough to score an invite to the "silly hat party". Teamsak wore original creations courtesy of Kingsley and Lottie which are pictured above.

At the party Kingsley was king of the kids as the only child in attendance older than 2! She took on the role of big sister with gusto and spend time helping with activities on the trampoline and assisting with pass the parcel. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon celebrating and catching up with friends.

*Not her real name

Winter walks

I don't know what it is but I find something aesthetically pleasing about the contrast of the bare branches against the blue winter sky. The photo/pocket digital camera doesn't do it justice


You just don't get the same impression when viewing a tree against the duller background. For the out- of- towners the river is always that colour - summer or winter




Took these photos on one of my daily winter walks. I now have them perfectly logistically timed so that which ever direction I go I "mysteriously" manage to be in the vicinity of a reputable coffee shop at the right time for a rest.

The Absence is Over

I was having a little blog break enjoying the brief respite in the treatment protocol but didn't realise just how " long" the little break had been until I checked my blog email! Thank you so much to everyone who had emailled concerned about my absence. It has been due to nothing more dramatic than laziness, the lure of the warm coffee shop I pass on my daily walks and the Olympic telecast !

Healthwise I have been up and down. The good news is that a recent MRI shows that while there is still tumour it has not grown since the last MRI and the dreaded IV chemo doesn't need to be started just yet. For those that doubt it , it also shows that I have a brain!

While I haven't been blogging I have been reading all yours! Watch out- the creativity is returning, the digital camera is charged, the wet weather is settling in this week so there will be opportunity to get back to the PC.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

There is always someone worse off

Was having a particularly flat and feel sorry for myself day last week when we heard the news about a Melbourne triathlon club friend who is a skilled and careful cyclist being seriously injured in a bicycle accident. He is now most likely quadriplegic after enjoying an active and competitive lifestyle. There is an update on his condition on a website friends have set up to help keep others updated and take some burden from family in answering questions. Mitch Anderson , well known successful triathlete and doctor also has some updates on his site with more medical details.

While it has certainly shocked us all - we can't even begin to imagine the impact on Michael and his family. Certainly puts a lot into perspective and makes you realise how precious and fragile good health is.

Our love, concern, best wishes are with Michael Forbes, his wife, young daughter, family and friends. Take care out there and treasure every moment!