Wet, Long Weekend Coming Up!

This weekend is the Australia Day long Weekend.  We usually have sunshine, BBQ's and lots of fun.  However the weather forecast is for rain and wind; and lots of it thanks to a tropical cyclone which has been battering Far North Queensland - up near Cookstown.
And seeing this is going to happen, it's got me thinking about what you all do on these weekends when your best laid plans have to either be postponed or cancelled because of the weather.  For me, it's a matter of staying home and getting into my housework and cleaning out.  Yes, thankfully, it'll be nice and cool enough for that; and so I'll be able to do everything I need to do inside... well most of the time.  So, washing the floors, laundry, vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom and dusting will be all on the list of tasks this weekend.

But there won't be just work around the house, I'll be also having a bit of fun around here.  I'm hoping to start sorting through the handbags I wish to sell and the ones I'm going to keep.  Then, I'll probably also get in an enjoy the garden again too as it's beginning to green up again.
Reading is another thing I'm hoping to indulge in too.  I've been struggling to keep myself interested in a book lately; and I think it's the weather.  However, I am working on doing what I can.  I'm also writing again; and working on my Fry Nelson books; so that is another reason why I sometimes stop reading and begin doing other things too.  

So, what are you getting up to this weekend?  I hear it's the Grand Final for the Superbowl Season this weekend too in the USA.  This makes this weekend a big one for everyone everywhere.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here. 
  

Easy Clean House

I've had an interesting morning.  But I'll begin with last night.  My niece, Riley, called me up and she asked me if it was okay if we had morning tea today.  I said of course!  So, this morning, it was all action stations!  I had a shower, cleaned the toilets, washed up, put out the rubbish, swept the floors and straightened up the lounge and by that time, it was 9:30am.  I hadn't gone to check the mail yet.  As I looked around, I realised that I used to spend days tidying up my living room; and now I spent had just spent 20 minutes tidying up.  This made me feel good; really good.
I didn't feel horrible that I might get visitors at any time to my place and that something might be out of place or it might be a little too untidy.  
And the best thing is that I can't wait until I get in and finish up the rest of my house so I can put away everything as easily as I did with my living room.  But my living room took a lot of time and I still have a few things that need to be done to it.  
However my next lot of jobs I have have a lot to do with my handbag collection.  I have to get it all out and look at it.  I have to figure out what I want, will I use it and which ones have to be sold off.  I'm not giving these away as they're in good condition and I have to be willing to give them up.  I'm also giving one to Riley as she loved it the last time I saw her and she spotted it.  
For the rest of this week, I'm hoping to begin looking through my clothes too and have some of them bagged up and ready to leave the house.  I might even take them down to Life Line to donate to them just to get some of the bags out of the house.  I do hope the people who get these clothes like them; as I no longer fit into them.  

This has got me wondering.  How many times a year do you clean out your wardrobe?  Or do you clean it out every few years?  I usually have a wardrobe clean out once a year, but I've been lazy lately... so this year is it.  Clean it out and tidy it up and make sure it's full of things I love to wear.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.    

Changes

I've got a lot of plans this year - as most of us do - and this does include a fair bit online.  My plans include changing this blog from what it is to something else.  I do love it that you all enjoy reading what I get up to; about my book-crazy life.  However, I'm wondering something... I'm wondering if there's something you'd like me to write about.  Are there topics I'm missing that you'd like me to get into? 

Now, I'd like to put it out there that I'm not a political person; so I'm not going to talk about that kind of thing.  But is there anything else you'd like to hear about?  

As this year is a big year for me, I've already begun on clearing out my house in a major way.  The living room is looking wonderfully tidy.  And if I do need to clean it up after I've used it, it doesn't take very long; neither does vacuuming.  I threw out two bags of rubbish and am feeling great about it... but for the life of me, I can't find one of my duster handles!  Well, I do have a feeling I might have thrown it out by accident.  Oh well, another thing to put on the shopping list for next time.
I'm also going to be selling off a part of my handbag collection.  I'm going to set up a Gumtree account and start auctioning off the bags I don't want or use and giving them good homes one by one; and keeping the ones I love.
The next thing is going to be my clothes.  I have a lot of clothes; and I really need to go through them and find out what fits and what doesn't and give away the ones that don't.  Yeah, no selling for these, the charities will thank me in some way.
Seeing that this is going to be the ultimate Big Tidy-Up, I'll be making this one major - and last - one for the blog before moving onto new things in my life; namely getting another little feathered friend to live with me, but that will take time.

So, please don't hesitate to leave a comment and let me know what you'd like to see here.  I've added a few new links on the sidebar for this year - and sorted them alphabetically - for your convenience.  And I'm hoping to make this blog better and more fun for you all to enjoy.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.  
      

Fear

As you all know, my area hasn't been all that quiet and peaceful of late.  And this has caused my next door neighbours to move out very suddenly.  I caught up with one of them yesterday and she wasn't all that happy about staying here; no matter what I said to try to settle her nerves.
You see, she's 16 years old and when you're a teenager, everything affects you more.  About four months ago, a couple of units across the court were broken into.  These units were on the other side of the unit complex and we didn't know who the people were.  But she didn't like it.  She was terrified that her place was next.  I said to keep her doors locked and she'd be okay; but she kept the break-ins fresh in her head the whole time.
When the violence broke out at Douglas Street, she bolted to Runcorn - to her boyfriend's Mother's house.  She thought it was safe there; away from Woodridge and Logan City.  And yesterday, when I caught up with her, I asked her if she was okay; as I had been concerned about her leaving the unit suddenly abandoned like she did.  She announced that Luke and her were moving out.  I couldn't hide that I was disappointed; and could only guess why.  
But no matter what I said didn't help.  However, what really bothered me was that she had never been to Logan Central Plaza or even the Logan Art Gallery or the Logan Central Library.  And yet she judged the area because she said it was all violent; and because of the Douglas Street problems.  I said to her that she's been here a few months and hasn't given Logan City a chance.  She clammed up and ran inside leaving me feeling hurt; as I grew up around here.

I do remember when I moved in here, I was terrified of this place.  I didn't want to talk to anyone, I didn't want to socialise with anyone and didn't want to have anyone come near me.  And as for shopping?  Well, there were no buses to be able to go anywhere and my Mum had to take me shopping and bring me home.  It was stupid.  Now, there's buses everywhere, the area is far safer than it used to be and there's a lot more people catching buses everywhere.  I just wish my neighbour had caught a bus with me somewhere.
This was her problem.  She got people to pick her up and take her everywhere instead of catching a bus and getting to know the area she lives in.  Even if she asked me to take her, I would have said yes and given her a tour.  But she didn't.  I did ask if she was catching a bus somewhere but she insisted on being driven everywhere.  I just wish they hadn't moved so quickly.

What it comes down to is fear.  This emotion can do some really bad things to the nervous system in so many ways.  However, I have noticed that as you grow older, you deal with fear and anxiety (which funnily enough work hand in hand) in such a different way than you did when you were a teenager.  I've learned to ignore the sirens around my area and the loud noises outside the unit complex; however when I first moved in here, I was one of those people who thought that everything was going to come and get me... and I had the horrible nightmares to prove it too. 
My neighbour has done the same thing.  She's let her fears and nerves get to her.  However, instead of sticking it out, and working through her nerves, she's running.  And once you begin running away from this kind of thing, you don't learn to deal with the next fear that comes along.  I've seen this happen before and I'd hate to see this happen to somebody as nice as her.   
       

Discoveries

Don't you love it when you discover new things?  Yep, same here.  I absolutely enjoy it.  It's that wonderful feeling you get when you find something you had hoped would happen, but you didn't think it would, but it did.  I got that feeling yesterday while I was out shopping.
I was at 'Woodys' at Logan Central Plaza looking through their vinyls to see what they had when I came upon a 'P!NK' vinyl of last year's cd.  I turned it over and saw it was a double vinyl for $35.00!  Now, that's at the same price as a single cd, but with two vinyls... very cool!  So, I looked for more of her but there weren't any.  Oh well, next time!  I put it on layby and will pay it off over the next month.  I'm totally stoked that I found this vinyl and it's a current vinyl by a current artist. 
Another thing I found yesterday was in the school section in K-Mart.  It's almost time for the kids to go back for a new school year!  So, parents are getting new things for schoolbags, lunchboxes and pencil cases.  However, what I look for in this section is how to cool down a lunch.  I searched through the 'Smash' cool blocks and found some new ones they just put out on the market to keep lunches and drinks cool.  You put them in the freezer and then put them under the lunch and drinks to keep them nice and cold until lunchtime; and they're small and slim too.  So, I bought a 3-pack of the pink ones for when I take off to the gallery and I want to keep a few things cool and don't want the bulk.  Not a bad idea.

Today, I was at the Big Apple when I found 'Griffin' Gingernut Biscuits sitting on a shelf below the nectarines.  I haven't seen these in around 20 years; since I moved out of home and lived at Runcorn.  I lived with my boyfriend at the time and a flatmate - who was from New Zealand - and he bought those from a shop he knew stocked them.  He often bought lots of packets and we'd scoff into them on the weekends.  After we all went out own ways, I never could find them again.
So, to find them on the shelf at the local fruit shop was a wonderful surprise!  I picked up a packet and added it to my trolley happy in knowing I'd be scoffing into a biscuit I haven't eaten in so long!  

So, what wonderful discoveries have you found lately that have really made your day?  Were they right under you nose and you didn't realise it?  Or did you stumble upon them in your travels and they were total surprises?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.    

Unrest In My Local Area

Living in Logan City can have its advantages; and its disadavantages.  One of the main advantages is that you live amongst a huge range of races and people you'd normally never meet in your life.  However the disadvantage is that sometimes the races don't get along; and that can be explosive.

In December, a young Aboriginal teenager was killed at the local train station. It was horrible accident and one which shocked everyone.  And until I saw a photo of him on the news, I didn't know he was Aboriginal; because he name wasn't traditional.  However, over the last three days - not far from where I'm currently living - a feud has been going on between Pacific Islanders and Aboriginals on Douglas Street; and the police have been trying to keep it from becoming something of a war.
This whole fight started on Saturday night when a car broke down in the street and the windows were smashed in.  From there, each side attacked each other, and now, it's not looking like they're going to find a solution on their own.  So Elders from both groups have stepped in - more than once - to try and alleviate this ongoing fight.

But this isn't the first time this has happened.  A few years ago, a man was attacked off Ewing Road in a park and was killed; and that sparked a feud between two races.  This caused a lot of tension and unrest around Logan City because it affected the residents and caused people to think the Logan is a very violent place to be.  

It's been three days and last night, the police brought in the riot squad (from what I heard on the news this morning).  But as I was in bed last night in the dark, I became very scared of how this was going to turn out.  Our Mayor of Logan City, Pam Parker, is becoming impatient with what's going on and would like a solution so the law-abiding citizens of this city can go back their lives.  And I'm sure she would like it very much if these people found a way to live together peacefully; as the rest of us have.  

I'm not trying to be cold-hearted about this situation, however it's something which needs work on.  I remember when I was young, I was always taught to get along with everyone around me - to keep the peace and to play nice.  So why doesn't it work when we're older?  Besides the world being a more complex place, I don't see the difference.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.

UPDATE:  Yesterday morning, the Aboriginal family were moved from Douglas Street to the Gold Coast.  Seeing there was not going to be any end in sight for the two warring families, and the Elders couldn't find a truce between them, this was the only solution.  The government relocated one of the families and early Wednesday morning, a removal truck arrived and packed up their belongings with the police standing guard; so no more fights broke out.

It's been quiet since.  However, the political attention this has attracted hasn't been good for our Mayor of Logan City.