Dedicated to my mum's birthday this year...

Our Mum & Nonna

She's a great cook and with hardly any notice,
She'll have a feast ready and be a great hostess
If it's mince that she's got, she'll be ready to fry it
Not for her or her guests, but for Richie's rich diet.

She'll buy up a storm, a retailer’s delight
Harris Scarfe employees know her on sight
With technology she may not be up with advances
But she'll give it a shot and just take her chances!

Studious she is, and with that lap top she's right
Studying Peggle and Briscola, into the night!
She's a smart woman, I know and I've heard
That from time to time, she'll even make up a word

She loves a good swim, in the spa she'll relax
And enjoys the bubbles while with new friends she chats
You sure couldn’t call her a lazy girl
Even giving the climb to Mt Lofty a whirl!

If we chose our mothers it'd be her that we'd choose
With a mother like that, we know we can't lose
She’s caring and honest, God sent from above
To bring joy to our lives and fill our hearts with love.

Mr Idiot

Life in my job is rarely boring.

My very first call this morning was a very disgruntled customer.
So focused was he on telling me how disgruntled he was, that five minutes into the call, I still didn't know what the issue was!

I kept trying to identify the account so I could look at the previous notes to ascertain what he may be so angry about...

"May I have your name to access your account" I asked.

He didn't want to give it to me as he said he'd given it a million times before....
So what was he expecting from me????

I told him I couldn't help him unless I could see his account and my one wish was to help him work out whatever issue he had.

Finally after I asked for his name a third or fourth time he said "Mr Idiot"

Understandably this set me back a bit so I asked

"I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

Now the reason I asked him to clarify was because I SO wanted to call him Mr Idiot!!
He came back at me with smugness, thinking he was being so clever "Mr Idiot".

"Mr Idiot?" I questioned.

"Yes well I must be if I keep ringing you lot wanting to get my problem fixed"

I must admit, I thought that was funny but by that time we had been on the phone for almost 8 minutes and I still didn't know what he was actually calling about!

As I started to perhaps get a clue, he asked to speak to a supervisor so that was the end of that!
Mr Idiot... well I think he sure hit the nail on the head with that one!

Finally a result!

I'm someone who finds Politics absolutely boring.
Not because, as the media was was putting it, there wasn't much difference in the two party's. That there weren't any real issues... but just because I find all governments are corrupt as each other.
In the end, we had to vote for the party we least disliked... and that's what I did.

I don't presume to know anything about Politics... but this election sure caught my attention!


What angered me were the people who went around promoting a 'donkey' vote. That is, doing your duty and going to vote, but voting incorrectly, thereby making your vote void.
Look, I'm not completely for one party anyhow but by me not voting, I'm not contributing to anything!! It's not going to bring about any change... and look what happened!


We have waited 17 days since election day to get a result.

That result hinged on the vote of three independents, who had to give their support to either the Labour or Liberal party...

Every day we were told "a decision will come soon" but days turned into a week.. then another week.. then "tomorrow"... then it was the day after that...

Finally at 2.30pm today a press conference was called and after thirty minutes of mindless waffle they gave their decision.

These three nobodies have decided the fate of this country because the rest of the country couldn't be stuffed putting in an informed vote and these nobodies were treated as if they were superstars.
Every day we wondered if a decision was imminent but why were they the ones making it?

I couldn't help thinking this was like a reality show final where we're all huddling to see who the winner is....
It's probably a fair analogy anyhow because the whole thing, in my opinion, has been a popularity contest/joke.

Tony Abbott wearing those infamous budgie smugglers and Julie Gillard

Having said all that, I did vote for Labour and I tend to like Julia Gillard... but only because I've been unimpressed with the ridiculous things Tony Abbott says... and you know, I want to like the guy because he seems to be into fitness but I don't have any confidence in what he says and don't like the way he reacts when he's cornered. Julia seems to handle the cornering better....

All in all, I'm glad the whole bloody mess is over and hope that all you Australians will actually vote next time!!!
Even if you're only voting for the lesser of two evils....

A Husband and Wife team

On Sunday the 22nd of August, I had the privilege of hearing Gisele Blanchard and her husband Mario Bellanova sing

When Gisele and I were teenagers, we were part of the same church and at times, were in musical items together. I always loved to hear her sing and knew she had what it took to take her talent to a professional level.

Gisele has sung all over Europe and as far as I'm aware, currently lives in Italy but is currently visiting Adelaide and luckily for us, scheduled in a performance.

She and her husband were just fantastic! I was mesmerized the whole time. They not only sang the various aria's beautifully, but they actually "performed" them, acting what they were singing. It was magical!

From a couple point of view, it was interesting to see them interacting when they were off stage, no doubt encouraging each other and discussing little things from what they had sung, or were still to sing.

It made me wonder how they handle it when they're arguing? All couples argue right? All couple get annoyed with each other from time to time and singing is such a delicate act that I don't think you could fake it if you were pissed off with your partner! And it's not just a partner, or someone you see from time to time, but in this case, it's a spouse!

I didn't see a hint of this with Gisele and her husband but it made me realise that I wouldn't be cut out for it! :)

And while I was sitting there held captive by the beautiful voices, I glanced over and noticed one of their sons sitting in the front row. He was sitting head back, looking up to the ceiling and seemed, dare I say it, bored! How would it be to have two opera singing parents as a kid? To grow up with two people in your household with beautiful gifts. It would just be normal to you!
Can they appreciate what they have in their parents? Probably not until they're a lot older!

Gisele and Mario it was wonderful to hear you sing and I hope I get another chance very soon!

I Did It....

So, where do I start?

I guess at the finish. I completed the marathon in 4 hours and 18 minutes. At least, that's the time my Garmin gave me. Have to wait for official results but that's about it.

The weather was against us but by race day I was resigned to it and it didn't phase me before the race although I'm sure it affect my time along with everyone else.


It was tough to say the least...

And the westerly drove the water from the ocean up onto the path for that part of the course. It was brutal!


Sure was an experience for my first marathon and everyone says it will make my 2nd a piece of cake. I hope so because I can't tell you I didn't want to quit.
I had hip problems, cramps and a goddam stitch that wouldn't quit.
I hit the wall at 34kms and started walking... I ran again after about 500mtrs but walked a few more times after that. All in all, I don't think I walked more than a km but my time was so bad.
Based on my 30 and 32km run, I was hoping to get around 4 hours so I was really really disappointed with my time and disappointed that I stopped to walk.

My husband followed me on his bike the whole way and another friend joined him for the last 10kms or so. I'm not sure if that was a help or hindrance as I think I got a bit sooky when there were others to hear of my plight...

And I don't work well with encouragement!! the more they told me I was doing great, the more I wanted to put less effort in (well if I'm doing great, I've got room to slow down right?)

Anyhow, it was an experience.

I was so excited this morning. When the alarm went off I jumped out of bed and said "it's time" which kind of reminded me of a woman who feels the first stirs of labour during sleep and wakes her husband with the same words...

But with everything considered, I still can say I have run a marathon and regardless of how bad I thought I did, I have that achievement and I've left myself a lot of room for improvement for the next one!!!

Photos will be on facebook as I find it too hard to post them here...

It's Almost Over

It's almost over. In 60 hours or so I'll be running in my first (and perhaps only) marathon.

I can't believe how worked up I've gotten myself over this. It's just a run.

This morning as I was leaving for work I said to Miss 15 "Three more days!" and she replied "Yeeeaaah, I can't wait".

The reason she said that is that she, and the rest of the family, have been suffering as much as I have! They've had to endure hours and hours of marathon talk.

And besides that, it probably isn't nice to hear "thump thump thump" coming from upstairs as your mum goes thru her training. One hour and 18 minutes of thumping each day would be more than most people could bear yet my family stay silent knowing that this obsession too shall pass....

And in writing that, I really hope it doesn't pass. I mean I'd love to compete in the Gold Coast Marathon next year... that is, if I don't frazzle myself completely with this one...

There are so many things I'm worried about I won't go through them again here. Why good would voicing them do?

Instead I'll leave my next post to be a race report. (oh yes, the family are already dreading that!!! )

I already toyed with the notion of speaking into my mobile phone to record what I was feeling at each stage of the race but come race day, the only thing I'll want to do is finish I'm sure!

So... until my next words are read on this page, I'll lay my typing fingers to rest.... and add that I can't wait to read them myself!

So Much For The "Perfect" Water Belt

I have to take back everything I said about that damn water belt.

It was my own fault. I ran with it on Saturday and for some stupidly insane reason, tied it around my waist, directly on my skin. Tights below, sports bra on top, but nothing round my middle...

And sure, I felt a "scrape, scrape" as I ran so I tried to adjust it.

Now let me just explain, this belt is filled with Velcro straps. Velcro to do it up, and Velcro for the three water bottles it holds.
After a couple of kms, I couldn't really feel it anymore so I thought I'd adjusted it right.

When I got off and had a look, I was stunned. I was completely red raw. I had a shower, yelping every time the water hit my sore spots!!
A few days later I'm less traumatized by it but I still look like I have some strange kind of pox around my middle and I'm so glad I wasn't wearing any clothing as that belt would have completely ruined my good running clothes!!

So....
I won't be using a running belt for the marathon.

I've decided,
I'm resolute,
I will just hold my own water bottle in my hand for 4 hours... and if I need more, Deno will be around on his bike somewhere to help me out.

And I'm happy with that decision anyhow because I couldn't get used to the weight of the water around my middle....

And now... I just have to do it.