WICKED - it was great!!!!

Since the last blog, Kristy and I have been to Melbourne and back again. It was so lovely to see everyone, however the trip, as usual, was busy and packed in with all we had to do. There were many people that we didn’t get to spend time with (again!) but I have told Kristy that next time, we will have to make time to see those people who we care about and who care about us. Sometimes K and I find ourselves doing so many things that “should” do (e.g. doctors, tax, etc) rather than doing things that we want to do. A big thank you to all those people who did make the effort to come and see us when we were in melbourne, and who fitted in with our busy schedule, and who understood when we couldn’t see you a second time.

I loooooved spending time with Elle, my granddaughter. She is the most beautiful little girl, and growing up so fast. She is now talking a lot, but when we were visiting in early August, she didn’t like 2-syllable words, so she would shorten them. So, instead of calling me Grandma, she just called me Ma, and she called Kristy “Bay” (short for Baeffy). The table was “Tabe”, a biscuit is a “bik” and a butterfly is a “Butt”. Kristy really, really, REALLY wanted us to buy Elle her first bike, and Mel and Mick agreed that we could. Elle loved it. The bike came in a box and Kristy and Mick put it together, with Elle’s help of course (she was wielding a tool and hitting parts of the bike!). Elle wasn’t able to push the pedals yet (still working that bit out) but she loved to sit on the bike and be pushed around.

Mel and Mick are now living in Albury, NSW. Their house is quite nice, and they have an avocado tree out the back (yum!!). Unfortunately, the avocado tree hangs over the carport tin roof, so when an avocado falls and hits the tin roof, it sounds like an almighty explosion. We had to almost change our underwear a few times because of the fright we got!

Mel was laying in bed the other day in her new place. It was early in the morning and she was watching the sunrise through the palm tree that is outside her bedroom window. She was waking up to the day, and feeling all peaceful as she looked at the beautiful view, when... a big black bird SLAMMED into her bedroom window. Aside from the noise taking away her zen-type feeling, she also has a bird phobia, so poor Mel was very shaken (sometimes she thinks the birds taunt her – paranoia or reality?).

Getting to Melbourne was a bit of an experience. Kristy, doing the wise (and super organised) thing, booked our tickets for the trip well in advance. At the time she booked, Mel lived in Adelaide, so we were flying from Perth to Adelaide (via Jetstar), staying a few days in Adelaide, then flying Adelaide to Melbourne (via Tiger). We were coming home with Qantas. So, a month before were due to leave, two things happen – Mel moves to Albury and Tiger Airlines are shut down. Obviously, we had to change our flights. Tiger Airlines agreed to a refund, but we had to make other flight arrangements with another airline, which, by this time, there were no cheap fares! Jetstar were really accommodating and were open to changing our flight from Adelaide to Melbourne to leave earlier (because what were we gonna do in Adelaide for a few days if Mel wasn’t there??) and after waiting an hour on the phone to talk to a person, they said that they would happily change the date of the flight... for a small fee of $800.00. Hmmmm, let me think about that... ahhhh... NO! So, to cut a long (and boring) story short --- we flew from Perth to Adelaide, stayed one night (actually only a few hours) at the Adelaide Airport Motel and flew to Melbourne early (too early – I’m not a morning person) the next day. Our low-cost, arranged-a billion-years-in-advance flight from Perth to Melbourne, turned into a very expensive exercise indeed.

Coming back to Perth was interesting too. We arrived at Melbourne airport in plenty of time before the flight (thank you so much to my mumma for always picking us up and taking us to the airport) and then we are told it is being delayed for an hour, because they are waiting on a part to arrive from Sydney (was it missing a phalange? Sorry – but if you watched Friends then you would understand that joke). So after waiting close to two hours (and eating Krispy Cremes donuts, because you gotta do something while you’re bored hey), we finally get on the plane, weary and a little fatter. The plane is totally full. We are placed up the back. It is the first time that I have been seated in the last seats. We were waiting, waiting, waiting, but the plane wasn’t leaving. Then... the announcement comes over that the plane cannot depart because aircraft stairs (that we all use to get on and off the plane) cannot be detached from the plane! Seriously!!!! Are you kidding me!!?? The announcement continued to say that they were contacting the suppliers of the aircraft stairs to see if they can help! Astounding! I assume that they eventually detached the stairs, as we did take off about 45 minutes later (and I seriously doubt that the stairs were still hanging on the side of the plane). I thought, “Phew” and then... turbulence – the worse turbulence I have ever experienced. Even the air stewards were saying it was quite bad! I was so sick I went green (probably the donuts that were eaten earlier did not help). Kristy kept telling me I looked really sick, which thank you – very validating, however not very helpful!. I just hunched over and focused on not puking. Eventually we arrived back in Perth, were we got on a bus to take us home. It was lovely to be back in our little apartment, so clean, so neat, so peaceful.

My birthday was on the 19th August. Yay! Although I usually have a bit of a hard time on my birthday, (not sure why, but there is often tears) this year was a lot better (the tears came a week later!).

So many people went to so much effort this birthday for me, that it was actually really lovely. Mum, Mel, Elle, Logan and Anita and Mark gave me lovely gifts when I was in Melbourne, and wonderful friends and family sent cards and gifts to Perth, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your thoughtfulness.

Mel, thank you for ensuring you sent me the “Happy Birthday” message in as many ways as you could. Mel said Happy Birthday to me when she rang me, and then she sent a “Happy Birthday” text from her personal mobile phone, and from her work mobile phone, and on Facebook, and with some flowers that she had delivered, and by transferring money to my account, she put in the subject line, “Happy Birthday”. She also sent “Happy Birthday to Kristy’s phone to show me!!! Mel – you are funny!!

Kristy made sure I had the best day EVER! A lovely breakfast, then prawns for lunch (they were massive, think they had been bred near a nuclear power plant) and Thai for dinner. She spoilt me with gifts! This is what she gave me: New sunnies (they are dark and mysterious and I look like a gangster), face-cream (Elemis), three seasons of Highway to Heaven (I requested this because there is nothing like those old Seventies shows), Bonds undies (because Kristy is addicted to buying Bonds undies), and a couple of books. Oh yes, see what I mean... spoilt!!! AND she paid for me to have a massage and a psychic reading (Kristy calls it a psycho reading). I am LUCKY LUCKY LUCKY to have the bestest girlfriend in the world.

Also, in terms of my birthday, it is worth sharing this facebook message from my friend Agnieszka:

On the 16th August, Agnieszka from Yulara sent me the following message:

“... I don’t know how this happened, and I apologise... For some reason I had stuck in my head that your birthday was on the 29th... What a mistake!! I only realised this 5 seconds ago! I’m sorry... I hope you had a lovely birthday and I wish you beautiful and happy future – safe roads and plenty of stories to write in your blog. And I’ll see you one day.”

Three hours later, Agnieszka sent this:

“Ok... this is going to be a bit confusing... I think I am living in a time capsule... Your birthday hasn’t happened yet! It’s only the 16th – I thought it was long after that... Please delete both messages and I’ll write again in a few days.”

Oh, Agnieszka – you make me laugh, especially as my birthday was the 19th of August, not the 16th or the 29th! But the sentiment and your wishes for me were lovely, even if you had the date totally wrong (and thankyou for the card too)

Darren came to visit us! We love it when people make the effort to come and see us, though we do understand that it is a long way to come. We went to see the musical Wicked with him – LOVED IT! K and I don’t usually spend money on things like that, but I am so glad that we did – the show was amazing! Darren has seen it 10 times! And in three different states! We also went on the Freemantle Prison Ghost Tour with Darren, and that was really good too (they had people jump out and scared the group - kristy got scared EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!! I mean, after the first time, you kind of expect it!). Visitors are great because they encourage K and I to get touristy again. Hugs Darren – will call you soon, and PS hope you are loving the iPhone. xx

Speaking of things to do, K.D. Lang is coming to W.A. and is performing at an outdoor winery! She is a living legend – we just purchased tickets to see her ont he 5th November! I have always wanted to see her, and now it is happening – tooooo exciting!!!!!

Poor Kristy had a cooking disaster the other day. She was boiling corn (underneath the steamed vegies), but unfortunately she forgot to put water in the pot, and next thing we knew, we heard a sound like popcorn popping (which was exactly what was happening!). The bottom of the pot was black, and much of the corn was popped. Kristy grabbed the pot and put in on the wooden breadboard, but of course it was boiling hot and the wooden breadboard started smoking with the makings of a fire (it survived, however it has left a very big burnt black circle on that breadboard). Anyway, we ate the dinner (sans corn), with (smoked) vegetables, and a roast lamb. I thought the roast lamb tasted kind of funny, but I didn’t want to say anything because Kristy was still annoyed with herself about the corn and the pot. After we had eaten the meal, I started to cut up the left over lamb, to put in the fridge, and that’s when I realised we had been eating roast turkey! No wonder I thought it tasted strange for lamb!

Kristy is now on a diet. She has just purchased Lite & Easy, which is silly because she is quite skinny now anyway! However, I am supportive because it is what she wants to do. I suppose it’s better than what she was doing last week – when she ate so many carrots every day (1/2 a bag at least each day) that her face started to have an orange tinge – I kid you not! I always know when she eats too many carrots because her face goes the colour of a bad fake tan. The night before she went on Lite & Easy, K had a binge which consisted of the following after dinner snacks--- 1. big bowl of strawberries with vanilla dusting, 2. a mint patty, 3. a chocolate pudding, 4. Ice-cream, chocolate topping and nuts. Then she felt sick. I wonder why.

Just so everyone knows, I have a man crush on Paige Elliot Phoenix, from the X-Factor. And I know I am not alone. How good is his voice!!!!!?????? I just melt when he sings. Big sigh.

Hard rubbish is happening again on our side of town. We went out looking for treasure amongst the trash. Kristy drives and I get out and look over the piles of stuff on the sidewalk (why does she get the easy jobs?). Well, I forgot my gloves, so wore socks on my hands (I’m not touching that stuff with my bare hands, yet I take some of it home, I know – ironic). We didn’t really find anything of value, except some pots for plants. And we have now used those pots for our new babies. Yes, we have babies! Three tomatoes plants, a capsicum plant, spinach and parsley. They are living on our balcony, under the protection of our three closest trees - Milo, Josephine and Berry (Kristy named ‘Berry’).

We have also visited the (apparently) best burger place in Perth – Alfred’s Kitchen, and I must say, its reputation was correct, as those burgers were YUM. Kristy got the Cram Burger, which is so big that you cannot put your mouth around it. I chose the chilli Burger, which was quickly followed by a burning ring of fire as it exited my body four hours later. Alfred’s Kitchen is an outdoor burger place, and as it was on dusk when we got there, the mozzies were coming out. Well, for Kristy’s reaction, you would have thought that these mosquitoes had razor sharp teeth and machine guns. She was TERRIFIED of them coming near her! And as we were outside, waiting for our burger to be made, with a 100 other people (Alfred’s Kitchen is very popular), it was quite funny to see K jumping up and down, jiggling, pacing, dropping her phone and slapping herself.

Recently, I have had a touch of the “Kristys”, and said a few things that made other people look at me quite strangely. Like, I was sitting with a group of colleagues in the lunchroom at work, and we were all talking about where we were brought up. Our receptionist, Hannah (from the muffin story) said that she was from Denmark. Now Hannah looks as Aussie as Aussie, and she has no accent at all (other than an Aussie accent), so I said to her, “Gee, you don’t look like you come from Denmark at all!” and she said, “What is a person from Denmark suppose to look like?” I told her that I thought that she would at least have a Danish accent or something. That’s when someone pointed out that Hannah was referring to Denmark in W.A., not Denmark the country. Honestly... they were all laughing, but as I am not from W.A. how was I to know there is a Denmark here?

Oh yes, and when we were in Melbourne, my Mumma got a few things “mixed up” – so she had a touch of the Kristy’s too! Two things that Mumma said - “That is nothing to cheese at” and “There’s no bones on you” Hmmm, I really do hope that I have bones because I need something to hold my skin up!

On a sad note, quite devastating actually, three good women have recently died. My Mum’s neighbour Lois died. She was so lovely, and it hit us hard because we had just been sitting in her house chatting with her two days before she died. Then Dori died. Dori and I were in the circus together and she was a wonderful woman. It is always so sad to lose one of the circus clan, because we all worked quite closely together. And Mandy’s sister, Leanne died. And that was awful awful awful, because she was too young and too good to die, and it was so wrong, and she did so many great and wonderful things for people. The world has lost a saint. Rest In Peace.

I have also been unwell, but hopefully it will be sorted out in the near future as the hospital are now making an appointment for me to see a gyno. I won’t go into it here, but am happy enough to chat about it if you want to call to find out more.

Also, sending many well wishes to Kristy’s Nan. She is 91 and is recovering from a recent operation – she is an amazing and beautiful woman – we love her.

Okay, just the QuickBits, because this blogg is already too long.....

Sharon – thank god for the guilty verdict, hang in there darling. Jake – hope the runny nose eases up. Meg, I think you need to throw the leg. Mel – the birds are not following you. Logan – loved the photo’s. Peter & Trisse – good luck with the packing, (Peter, I know you luv it haha). Vik, take care with the hip. Dustey – remember the innocence. Karen – ahhh, drunken phone calls with my sista from another mother. Fee & Caroline - honeymooners! Andy – thinking of you. Sarah Allen - so sorry to hear about your cousin, take care sweetie. Darren – are you missing the Perth Sauna’s? Rahni & Alisa – thank you for the Get Well card. Agnieszka – I looked it all up on the internet and you were right!!!! Lisa & Casey – the cute talk drives me crazy! Rondellicious – hurray you are now on Words With Friends! Suz & Theo – have you booked to come over yet? Gen – big Happy Birthday! Tony and Holly – hugs sent to you across many oceans. Laura Amos – just to say hi cos you won’t be expecting it, LOL. AND... I (Kristy wants me to write "we")have won 2 more prizes on my competitions, $200 cash and a family ticket to see the Smurf movie.

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live” – Dumbledor from Harry Potter.