Wednesday was a very lucky day! Really it was. It was the type of day I didn't want to end; yet it did. And it started out like any other day: full of worries and nervousness.
But that changed from the moment I walked into the post office and handed over the collection card. I was handed a parcel from Triple M radio here in Brisbane. On opening, I found I had won two cds! One was Powderfinger's 'Golden Rule' and Bon Jovi's 'The Circle' ... very cool! I was planning on buying Bon Jovi's cd for myself for Christmas; and for this to come in the mail was something I just found was fate, pure and simple! I left the post office in time to catch the next bus to do my shopping. I scored a sweet leather backpack for $12 at Life Line (which I'll waterproof soon). Then, I paid off my last Christian Slater dvd just in time to get my Christmas shopping done next week! So, I don't have to have any laybys planned 
until next year! That was just great planning. Then, I dropped off my present for the K-Mart Wishing Tree... what a great charity that is. I gave a gift for a 5-year-old girl of an activity and puzzle book, notebook with pony on the front, colouring-in pencils and a 'Make Your Own Magnets' set. Very cool and will keep her busy on the Big Day.
After leaving K-Mart, I found that everything in each shop was either on sale or half-price. So, I came in well under budget; even with the cab fare. And speaking of which, I didn't have to wait for a cab; it was waiting for somebody to come out. The day continued to go on like this until I turned on the television that night and found thing was worthwhile watching. I forgot that a whole lot of shows were finishing up... so I decided it was time to clean up my kitchen before Christmas.
Yep, nothing like a good day to put you in good spirits! Now, next Friday is my Christmas Shopping Day... the day where I go out and buy up big for all my family members. It takes one day and then that's it! I don't shop again until the Big Day gets closer.
Wow! What a day I've had. Mum and I went on the Logan Art Gallery's Christmas Party for 2009. We had to be at the Logan Art Gallery by 8:45am today and in time for the bus to leave at 9am. After the bus arrived and we were ticked off on the clipboard, it was time to take off to the Redland 
Bay Markets.
It took around twenty minutes to get there and the traffic was pretty good as the bus was full of chatter and laughter from all of us talking. Soon enough, we were all at the Bay amongst the beautiful sea breezes and wonderful sunshine. The markets were full of people, arts and crafts, food and bargains. But before I even set foot in them, I found myself in a bookstore perusing its shelves; and I found a
wonderful copy of Stephen King's 'The Dark Half' in German for $2.50! What a great find! Then, I went off into the throng of the markets and found myself five beautiful little coin purses to add to my collection; all of them different from each other. I'm so proud to know there is such variety out there of these darling and beautiful things out there for me to collect and use!
We couldn't stick around the markets too long, though as we had to meet up at the Redland Bay Art Gallery for an opening. And while there, we heard a Double-Base player sooth us with somber music that hummed throughout the whole place, setting the mood for the whole exhibition. And after the announcements and opening, there was wine and sushi to eat. But I didn't have too much as we were going to have lunch soon.
Around 45 minutes later, we were back on the bus and heading out to Cleveland to the 'Grand View Hotel' for a wonderful lunch at the 'Emu Point Restaurant'. There were half-inch thick steaks and veggies for the meat-eaters and a delicate and mouth-watering pasta for the vegetarians! And I didn't leave a single drop of sauce on the plate! For 
dessert, we had a gluten-free almond marble cake with chopped strawberries and a drizzling of custard... what lunch!!! And to keep things bopping, there was a great three-piece band playing there too. We had a great time listening to them too.
Too soon, though, our pressies were handed out and it was time to be back on the bus to come back to the Gallery. We all agreed on one thing: we had a great time! Until next year's Christmas Party with the Logan Art Gallery, Merry Christmas to you all!
I love rain. Really, I do. There's something about how the sound of it pattering on the roof of my house is just so soothing and beautiful and wonderful; especially at night when we're all trying to sleep and it's hot. Then, it begins to rain and a cool breeze filters in through the window. After that, we're done. Our eyes close and we off to the land of nod.
Rain isn't just something that cleanses our planet. It feeds our plants and makes everything turn from brown to green. The birds fly and screech as it pours from the gray skies and gurgles along the gutters of our houses, down the pipes and into the storm water drains of our cities. A gray, dreary day makes us all feel very sleepy and tired, but then maybe, it's a good day to stay inside and watch a movie marathon of your favourite movie star or read a good book, catch up on letter writing or computing and the internet; or cleaning the house.
There's plenty to do inside the house while it's raining outside it. I am never bored when it comes to a good rainy day. Even when I have laundry to do, I get in and put on a load of it, pull out the clothes horse and then read part of book, do some painting, wash up, tidy up part of a room in the house and then, I'll put on some really up-beat music. A wet day is never wasted at my house; even if it looks like I am whiling away the hours doing nothing; I'm not. All I'm waiting for is the time when I can get back outside for the few hours to do the rest of the laundry, mow the lawn and clean up the garden. Then, I'll wipe down one of the seats and read part of a book in the shade of one of the Lilly-Pilly's and enjoy the beauty of my garden after the rain.
But it's when the rain turns into flooding that it can become dangerous. I've been in places where rivers have broken their banks and we had to evacuate a few days early. However that was the easy part. Getting home was the challenge. That was years ago and I was very young.
I remember some years back - when I drove a car - I had to drive through a flooded road. Now, I had been trained by my Dad how to do it in theory. In theory I could do it; I knew how to do it in my head, but I hadn't actually done it in my little Celica. Now, for those of you who don't know, I used to own a 1981 Toyota Celica Liftback. They are low to the ground and are known as sports cars; and are not good when it comes to driving through flooded roads. I remember the policeman asking if I could was able to do this. I said Dad had taught me but I hadn't actually done it before. He 
nodded and reminded me to dry out my brakes once I was through. I turned off my radio and concentrated on driving through it. The creepiest thing about it I remember very clearly was the sound of the water gurgling under the floor! It nearly spooked the hell out of me! But I kept the revs up and got through it! I was so proud! And I remembered to dry out my brakes too... pity the guy behind didn't. He caused an accident not far from my workplace because he hadn't dried his brakes out (but I digress). Since then, flooded roads haven't been my favourite things to cross - whether I'm driving them or a passenger - but I know how it feels to be behind the wheel and need to stay calm about the whole thing.
So, while rain can be a wonderful thing in one form; it can turn in to a menace if it doesn't stop when we wish (or hope) it to. Storms are just as dangerous; but that's for another post another time.
Well, this day started out shockingly... and I don't mean the horse that won the race! I mean when I came downstairs and pulled the cover off my little bird's cage, I found her all wet! Then, she threw up all over the place. And when a bird is sick, they flick it all around! YUK! I recovered her and called Mum, then the vet. We made an appointment and took Stevie in by 10am. The lovely lady there told me - after a few tests - that Stevie had a bacterial infection; however she wanted to keep my little blue bird overnight to treat her. So, I signed on the bottom line as Stevie sat on my shoulder, then said my goodbyes to her until I could pick her up; scratching her sticky head and letting her know I'd be back the next day. Yeah, I had a cry even because I had 
never been separated from my little bird for this long for this kind of reason.
Anyway, my day had to move on. On the way home, I picked up my mail of two parcels. One of them was massive and when I opened it there was a big bag of Reece's Peanut Butter Cups in it! There were also books, teabags and postcards and bookmarks too! Oh! It really made my day that one of my friends online had sent this to me; and it arrived on a day when I really did need cheering up. I also received a Ray Bradbury book from another friend in
the UK who was giving the book away.
But, I had volunteer work at the Logan Art Gallery and so I dressed up after making a bet at the TAB and then organising myself to get there early enough. I arrived and settled in. We all had a lovely lunch with plenty of laughs and watched the television with poor reception and then we watched the longest three minutes of our lives as the horses 
raced around the Flemmington Racetrack on Race 7. And what do you know? My horse won! It was Shocking... the horse's name that is, like I said. And I ended up with around $55. I always win on Melbourne Cup Day.
We cleaned up from lunch as the 
shifts changed at the Gallery and the afternoon moved on. I had won the monthly prize that the Logan Art Gallery puts on from August and so I sussed out my prize box and tried to read one of the books I received in the mail yesterday morning; but couldn't really get into it. Before long, it was time to leave and Mum took me home after collecting my winnings at the TAB at the Logan Tavern. Today, I can collect my little bird from the vet.
I'm so excited and happy to be able to bring her home!
Well, I couldn't let this event go by without saying something about it. Yes, I celebrated Halloween yesterday; and last night, along with the rest of the world! What a great celebration of the dead. And who would know it, but this very night is the first of three days of celebrating the dead. The next day is All Saints Day and then November 2nd is All Soul's Day or better known as The Day of the Dead. It's all a big celebration of how the living and the dead are the closest to each other at this time of the year; beginning with All Hallow's 
Eve. And we don the masks and hand out the treats on Halloween night to scare away the evil spirits. The good ol' Jack'o'lantern even has a steeped history in himself; as does his colours. And there's a lot of things about Halloween that are linked with historical events; such as: it's the day that Harry Houdini died. 
I totally enjoy the fun and spookiness that is All Hallow's Eve. I dress up the house, make lolly-bags and get into 
costume myself. It's all fun and games after the sun goes down. I even pull out the vampire and horror flicks from my dvd collection if there's nothing of the likes on television (which this year, there was 'Psycho' on ABC2! What a brilliant Hitchcock film!) and set a place at my table for the dead. In my case, I call on anyone who would care to join me for dinner and light a candle so I'd know they're there. There were only four 
kids, but they all dressed up really well; and I only got a photo of two of them (as the other two were new ones on the rounds; with a nervous guardian in the shadows. I didn't think it would be proper to ask for a photograph at night of their kids). But in the bags, I put in super-bounce balls, mini-mazes, yo-yos, glo-sticks, bubble bottles and only a couple of lollies from the Natural Confectionery Company (as they have no artificial colours or flavours in them; ideal for me to eat as leftover sugar fixes the following week!).
And once the movie was finished and kids were gone, I waited until midnight was upon us. Then, I went out into my back garden and performed a Halloween Circle to call in the Pagan New Year. And only 20 minutes later, it began to rain! Now, I call that good timing!
If you'd like to know more about this fun-filled holiday, you can google it, or visit this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/30/the-history-of-halloween_n_321021.html
I love watching television at night; it's my form of relaxation. I don't turn on the computer as that's what I use all day and this is my way of connecting with the rest of the world, of seeing the news, finding out the weather for the next few days and being entertained. However, in the last few years, my familiar box in the corner has changed a lot. In fact, it's changed so much, I barely recognise it. I currently have a flatscreen television; however, it's still housed in a box, it's not a plasma screen. My reception has gotten really crappy, so I forked out around one hundred dollars for a HD box so that it would be improved - and it did. 
Little did I know I was going to obtain another five channels and upgrade my nightly viewing without having to pay anything else more. Pretty sweet if you ask me.
Then, the most interesting thing occurred. The television times I relied on so much (you know the one you get from the Sunday Mail each Sunday), became unreliable. It would have a show written down in there for a particular time, but when you switched over, another show you hated would be on. I've lost count of the times I've called one television station or another just to be told that they looked it up on the net and it was changed there! I've had explain calmly that I don't have my computer in 
my living room hooked up to the net twenty-four hours a day at my beck and call for when they decide to change the programming on a whim. I'd get an apology and a suggestion to call back during daytime hours.
Okay, I'll give you a good example. There's a new show that was supposed to be on air now on channel 10 called Three Rivers. The pilot went to air, then... nothing. They had the big advertising campaign with the very sexy Alex O'loughlin talking about Three Rivers and how it was 'coming soon'; they even put in a date and time slot (a Wednesday at 8:30pm). After the first Wednesday passed and I found the show pretty cool, I thought I'd give it a 
chance and watch the next show. The following week, it was in the TV times and I highlighted it remind me of it; but channel 10 put on a repeat of NCIS from last season without letting us know. Okay, they didn't advertise Three Rivers; that's a given; but what's with all the secrecy all of a sudden? What? We're too dumb to understand it might be given to another channel (the new channel 7?) or they just didn't think it would boost ratings? We're the public, not idiots.
So, now, when I look at the television times to check up on my programs, I really don't know what I'm going to watch... is it what's there? Or is it the luck of the draw? Honestly! We really have to make sure our favourite shows stay on the air and crap gets kicked off.
Yesterday, being a Sunday, I normally clean the house or read the paper for a good part of the day and stuff around with a few books. But not yesterday. No, I went out into the city yesterday and met up with two other Bookcrossers who had travelled for some hours to meet me here in Brisbane. All I had to do was catch two buses and that was it; they had driven for three or four hours.
We met up outside the Treasury Casino; and they recognised me very easily as I wore a Bookcrossing t-shirt; and I said that my long red hair would be a dead giveaway! Anyway, after hugs and introductions -and exchanges of our RL names - we escorted the husband of one of the ladies into the Casino where he could while away his time playing Keno and the Pokies.
Meanwhile, I took the ladies out to the Pancake Manor on Charlotte Street for something to eat and coffee. They loved the place! Being from Tasmania, they love their old buildings; and thought the place gorgeous, the food was brilliant and we had plenty of laughs. Being Bookcrossers, we swapped books with each other; and I ended up coming home with more books than I went there with! Then, being readers and collectors and lovers of books, I thought a bookstore would be a good place to visit. And what other bookstore but 'Archives' right next door? Well, they had never been in such a big bookstore! Both 
of them agreed that they must come back and visit this one again for a proper look as it was just too big to have a good look and purchase. They were thrilled to know there was such a prominent store like this one in the center of Brisbane; which hadn't moved anywhere and was so well-stocked! I said it was one of my usual haunts when I came into the city.
Well, time marched on too quickly and we all had to go. I had two buses to catch to get home before the buses at Garden City stopped at 5pm. And Glenys and June had to beat the traffic on the freeway to Noosa before the same time. So, we said out goodbyes outside the Treasury - where we had met up - and we parted ways.
I'm a volunteer; and have been for some ten years now at the Logan Art Gallery. Even when I lost the use of a car, I found my way to and from the place to cover my shifts; and have been relied upon to fill in for people when they've called in sick or unable to make their shifts for one reason or another. I'm a very reliable person.
However, I've noticed a very disturbing trend of late in the volunteering arena; and it's not a good one. People will come in, sign up, do the training, then when they're on the roster, they'll either not show or they'll call in and say they can't make it. This causes big holes in the roster. Just yesterday, I was looking at the roster and counted up to ten names 
crossed out; and they were all new people! I saw the odd regular (but it's rare when that happens). Now, I'm disappointed that people out there take advantage of such a great place like the art gallery I work in and think it's okay to just not show or drop out all because of transport problems. I have transport 
problems but I have worked around them. There are buses, taxis and - if you're lucky like I am - family and friends who will help you if you ask.
Once you become a regular at the gallery, and you get in to a routine of busing it there or figuring out the trains, you can find other things to do before arriving. There's plenty of places around the the Logan Art Gallery you can hang out at in air-conditioned comfort before walking there; 
like McDonald's for example (it's just down the road). Now, it's not just this place I've seen that has had problems with its roster; it's everywhere. And it's the same problem. People signing up, then dropping out thinking that volunteer organisations will survive without them. I'm afraid to tell you, but the more volunteers we have on our books, the better the volunteer organisations run and more places can be around to help the less fortunate or raise more money.
So, when you sign up to be a volunteer, make sure you really can spare your time. No, you don't get paid in cash. But yes, you will be paid in the grace. You will see how much you can help people through giving your time for the good of the community.
But that changed from the moment I walked into the post office and handed over the collection card. I was handed a parcel from Triple M radio here in Brisbane. On opening, I found I had won two cds! One was Powderfinger's 'Golden Rule' and Bon Jovi's 'The Circle' ... very cool! I was planning on buying Bon Jovi's cd for myself for Christmas; and for this to come in the mail was something I just found was fate, pure and simple! I left the post office in time to catch the next bus to do my shopping. I scored a sweet leather backpack for $12 at Life Line (which I'll waterproof soon). Then, I paid off my last Christian Slater dvd just in time to get my Christmas shopping done next week! So, I don't have to have any laybys planned 
until next year! That was just great planning. Then, I dropped off my present for the K-Mart Wishing Tree... what a great charity that is. I gave a gift for a 5-year-old girl of an activity and puzzle book, notebook with pony on the front, colouring-in pencils and a 'Make Your Own Magnets' set. Very cool and will keep her busy on the Big Day.
