Just me and my cat ...

If he could get any closer, he would! (He trod on the button that puts the thing into sleep mode and then tried to curl up on the keyboard so I turfed him off but he still came back ... if you could see his face he is a tad pissed off!)

Himself is in Sydney, One is at LGF's, Two is at NGF's and Three is at work. He will be home about 10.00pm. So it's just me and the cats.

I have been waiting for over a week for my study materials to arrive from the uni. The educator emailed us all today to say that they should have been sent out last Wednesday after arriving from the printer but to be on the safe side they will express post them today so we will all have them by tomorrow at the latest. EXACTLY the same story I got last year when studying with the same uni. Hmmmmmm.

I went to my GP today. He took my blood pressure (high), weighed me (high), checked my pulse (high) and sent me for some blood tests (which will assuredly be high!). I told him I was struggling with the weight so telling me to eat sensibly and exercise more was NOT an option. I also told him how much I drank and how short of breath I've become lately. I can probably qualify for a 'careplan' because my weight issues are considered chronic which entitles me to 5 government funded visits to a dietitian (or whatever specialist is deemed necessary to address the chronic condition). I'm not sure what good a dietitian will do but I haven't tried one of them yet! I'm certain my blood tests will show my liver is under a bit of stress so that will be a good incentive to cut waaaaayyyy back on the wine and that will also help with the weight. I shall see if I can get my blood results faxed to work on Wednesday so I can see for myself. My doctor was great and I don't mind going back to see him to get all my health issues resolved. The nurse that took my blood was another story! I have veins like garden hoses but she seemed to need to have a dig around to find one. That is why I prefer to get my blood taken by my colleagues.

I didn't do anything much today. NGF stayed over last night and Two had to leave at sparrow's fart to get to work so she surfaced quite a bit later. I am finding her difficult at the moment. Everything is negative. I'm sure she blames us for all of Two's problems and I find her quite impolite at times. But we did some of my jigsaw puzzle and I dropped her off at the station.

I love jigsaw puzzles and the one I'm doing at the moment is quite challenging. It's called a Wasgij. Which, like the name suggests, is like a jigsaw backwards in that the picture on the box is not what you are assembling. Rather, there is someone or something in the background of the picture on the box and you assemble what they are seeing. Think about it! It's as if you are looking out of the jigsaw. Anyway, good fun and I've done a few from this series. The other ones I like are the whodunnit ones. You get a story to read about a crime and then have to assemble the puzzle (with no picture to follow) and guess the culprit from the clues in the picture.

Seeing as I'm home alone for dinner it will be see what's in the pantry. I prefer not to go to the supermarket when it's just me (unless I need cat food!) as it gives me the chance to use up stuff that's in the pantry or freezer. Tonight will be soup or steamed mini dimsims. I had a hankering for party pies but they were way past their use by date!! I think they were left over from One's 21st back in '05!

Tomorrow I will, hopefully, be able to start studying which will give me a bit of structure which is sadly missing in my life at the moment. It's funny, because we don't do anything really different when people are home but it's just the being alone that seems to make a difference. If anyone else was home I'd still be on my 'puter or watching telly as would the others but it's something about having another person in the house. I also have to buy Three a desk which I was going to do today but he chose to go to a friend's place really early and not come home til it was nearly time for him to go to work. And if I'm going to bloody Officeworks to buy him a desk and arrange delivery thereof, he can bloody well come with me!!

We went to a wedding at the weekend. The bride is an old friend and I was matron of honour at her first wedding many, many years ago. The bloke who was best man at that wedding was invited to MC this one.

Which might explain why he introduced the groom as the ORIGINAL one, not the one that was about to exchange vows with the beaming bride! Two filmed the wedding and we are hoping for a memorable blooper tape!!

It looks as if my parents have found a unit in a retirement village. It's actually one in the village she wanted from the beginning, sight unseen (Little Britain anyone? "I want that one!" ... and if you are a Little Britain convert then you would also understand my brother and I making jokes about being "the only insert whatever here in the village!!" .... well it helped keep US sane!)

The one that I was going to see with them this afternoon wasn't strata title according to my father. I'm pretty sure it was as I asked that question of another village run by the same company but I am not prepared to disagree with them at the moment and if either of them told me night was day I wouldn't argue. They saw this one at the weekend and put a small deposit down. After all the angst of trying to help them get their house sold ASAP so they could afford one of these places, we found out yesterday that they have enough money stashed away overseas (legally, folks! Dad worked for the British government in many places) that they can afford to buy a unit outright and sell the house at relative leisure. They will need the proceeds from the house to ensure a lifestyle and future needs (Dad doesn't qualify for an Australian pension and its associated benefits ... a bone of contention for me as he worked here and paid taxes but that's another story for another day).

Mum is looking at getting Dad one of those motorised scooter thingies so he can zip around the village. And they are only 5 minutes away from Dr. Teacher and his family. I asked Dr. T how he felt about this (as you are aware, my mother can be a tad difficult) and he offered to pick them up and bring them over here!

It will actually work out well. Firstly, Dr. T. is a bloke and mother relates better to her sons than she does with her daughter. It will also mean that we can go over there, pick the parents up and then go to Dr T's for lunch or whatever. On the other hand, they can pick the parents up and bring them here for lunch. Which will be great. Really. It will. I know I sound as if I can't stand my parents but that isn't always the case! At the moment they live nearly an hour away which means for them to come to us (or Dr.T for that matter) someone has to drive there to pick them up and drop them home (nearly 4 hours both ways) or they take a taxi which is horrendously expensive. By having them in this village we will all see a lot more of each other and things will probably become less strained.

And it's much closer for Other Brother when he comes to Melbourne.

So. Things are crusing along quite nicely. As I said to my GP today, at least my depression isn't an issue at the moment! Which, when you think about the past 3 months, is a bloody miracle. Mind you, I could just be self medicating!!!

Actually, I do feel really positive about life at the moment.