ANOTHER FULL WEEKEND

FRIDAY:

Well Friday night I was supposed to be going out to two functions. The first one was to Deb Ross's for a stamp it up party. A big apology to Deb because I failed to turn up. Sadly I was asleep on the couch by 7pm and in bed by 8.30pm. I just couldn't keep my eyes open. So a big sorry to Deb and also to Rachel who lives in my street and had organized a girls night in for cancer research. I was supposed to be going there after Deb's. Good news is, they raised over $4000 at the Girls night In. Well done to Rachel for organizing it and for all the girls who went and obviously spent up big and donated generously.

SATURDAY:

First thing in the morning was Physio for Madeleine's ankle, which is a lot better. Now if she would just remember to do the exercises 3 times a day, I'm sure it will better a lot quicker.

Then it was off to Piano and back home again to get organized for Netball.

Saturday was pretty hot in Melbourne around 32c and windy. The girls certainly didn't play how they have been playing and were soundly beaten by the second side on the ladder. They are still on top, but will have to lift in the finals. Mind you it must be pretty hard to run around like that on a hot and windy day.

Later Saturday afternoon we went around to friends for a couple of drinks and to catch up. It was nice to kick back and relax and enjoy a couple cold drinks together.

Then Saturday night it was off to the Greek restaurant in Frankston called Seagulls with another couple of good friends. Every time we go to that place it seems to be a hot night and the owners have never modernized the place, and it still doesn't have air conditioning. Let me tell you its not a place to sit and linger over a hot coffee after a meal. So we headed off to where the cinemas are and had a coffee and a piece of cake outside in the beautiful, fresh and warm night.

SUNDAY:

Was Crop for a Cure organized by Scrappers Warehouse and held at Pin Oaks Reception Centre in Hallam. There was 11 of us from Paper Doll that went and what a great day we ended up having. I have to say it didn't start off that wonderfully at first, but after I got over being a little petulant and disappointed it was fine (lol). The tables only held 8 which was fine, but we were supposed to be all at least sitting near each other. However Lynne and I ended up on another table away from the other girls (no big deal) however then we discovered that all the make and take classes were full and we and quite a few others couldn't participate. Not "Happy Jan"

I must give the organizers due credit though and within about 1/2 hour they had arranged either extra classes or extra seats within the classes. So our first class was with Nicole Finlayson and we made a very cute little felt album incorporating a bit of blanket stitch. Then it was a very sweet felt xmas decoration designed and taught by Ngaire Bartlam and last but not least was a ribbon album by Suz Doyle.

There were silent auctions, raffles and lucky door prizes through out the day. The big big news was that the very lovely Kim C won the major prize which was a trolley bag filled to the brim with products from lots of suppliers. Kim's reaction was priceless she was so thrilled, excited and dumbfounded.

Deb R (not Ross) and Amy B were two of the finalists in the speed scrapping. They had 4.5 mins to create either a pair of knickers, a bra or both. Amy went for the bra and very stylish it was too. Deb made a very tasteful g string that she named "Debbie does Hallam"

Deb was picked as the winner along with another lady who's creation was called "Storm in an E cup". They all did amazingly well in such a short amount of time, there is no way I could have created in such a minimal amount of time.

I'll leave you now with a little collage of the day. The photos include shots of Lynne, Kim, Wendy, Willisa, Connie, Deb, Sharon, Amy, Mel, Joanne and Me of course. I'm sure you may see other incriminating photos on others blogs over the next couple of days. But don't believe everything you see (hehe).

Have a great week

cheers

Leeanne x

Camera's, Dog Sitting, Run Aways and DRAMAS

We are the proud new owners of this.................


Yes it's the new Canon 40d. Neil made the purchase on Monday and it was delivered to his work Tuesday morning. What a beastie it is after our Panasonic Lumix, I'll have to start doing weights to lift it (hehe) or at least have my weeties for breakfast.

So far we have taken at least 300 hundred photos with it, and so far none of them are very good. Just goes to show you can have an expensive camera but if you don't know how to use it, it takes pretty average photos. Lots of practice needed with this one. When you do get it right though the picture is so clear and sharp.

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Guess who came for a sleepover last night???? and tonight as well.

Yes its young Bowie Treseder, I call this shot "Why the long face" he is looking a little nervous in this one.

Wendy, Peter and Chelsea are in Ballarat for the calisthenics comps for a couple of nights so Bowie is bunking in with us. Now Bowie has never been to our house before, so he was a little out of sorts last night and I don't think he settled for longer than a few minutes at a time. Of course it doesn't help that our dog Holly is not particularly fond of dogs she doesn't know, so wasn't exactly welcoming.

He just wanted to play and she "DID NOT". I won't even go into what the cat thought.

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So today I left Bowie and Holly outside when I went to work and as luck would have it I got stuck at work longer than normal. I was in a meeting and I could feel my mobile phone going off in my pocket again and again and again.

I knew it was Madeleine and that something wasn't right as she kept calling and calling. So as quickly as I could I excused myself and called her back.

Poor thing she was beside herself. She had arrived home from school to discover there was only ONE DOG in the backyard, and it wasn't BOWIE. I had to stay calm and talk her down from her near hysteria. I got her to go around the yard to see if she could see where he had dug his way out. No she couldn't see anything. I suggested she go next door to see if he had gone in there. No he wasn't there. I told her to stay calm and as soon as I got home we would go out looking for him.

Well you can imagine how I felt loosing Wendy's dog in less than 24 hours. Anyhoo I rang a friend of mine Sue who lives in Wendy's Street and asked her if she would go and have a look, at Wendy's to see if he'd gone home. She also offered to go and make sure Madeleine was O.K. after I'd told her how upset she was.

So she went to have a look at Wendy's; NO BOWIE..... Sue and Madeleine went down to the river and the beach to have a look around NO BOWIE........The young boy from next door Jakob also got on his bike and went looking still NO BOWIE.

On the way home I rang the local Vet to see if anyone had brought him in no, NO BOWIE. But they did say they would put a notice up for me. When I got home Madeleine and i went over to the footy oval and playground you guessed it NO BOWIE.

Then I suggested we go and have another look at Wendy's before heading further down the river etc... We got to Wendy's and called for him still no answer. I walked up to the garage and noticed there was a gap between the roller door and the side fence. Guess who was standing there looking at me. YES.... BOWIE. What a relief!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wendy's neighbour had also sent her boys out looking for him. So most of Carrum was on full alert for him. (lol)

I blame Holly obviously her less than warm welcome had hurt his feelings and he packed his kit bag and headed home. Poor thing, but how clever of him to find his way home. Not that its far between our homes but lets not forget he'd never been to our place before.

Anyway we've brought him home and have given him even more attention,than what he got last night (and that was alot), he has been soundly loved since his return. He certainly is more relaxed tonight and as I type this he is asleep on Holly's bed. He must be exhausted because he hardly slept last night. It's nice to see him relax a little. Here's and example from earlier tonight when he was asleep on the couch.

Tomorrow I'm definitely closing the front gates as well. Still not sure how he escaped, he is obviously related to Harry Houdini. He really is such a sweetie and very cute to boot.

Well that's it for me, just wanted to document a little of the drama that was today.

Cheers

Leeanne x

BIT OF A LONG ONE AHEAD... HAD TO CATCH UP

Ok lets go back aways. Carrum Primary school had their major fund raiser of the year, last Friday night. This year it was a Trivia night held at the Carrum bowling club. The Carrum bowling club is right on the beach with magnificent views of the Port Phillip Bay, and it's also a little bit famous. Alot of the scenes for the film Cracker Jack were filmed there.

It was a fun night, and it was hosted by someone who is also a little bit famous; Peter Treseder. Peter has been on lots of game shows and was a sale of the century champ. He is also famous because he is married to another famous person Wendy T from Paper doll (hehe). I have been to a few Trivia nights MC'd by Peter and I have to say he does an outstanding job, especially trying to keep an unruly crowd entertained and tuned in. Of course as the night wears on Peter's job gets even trickier as the crowd has more and more liquid refreshment

Anyhoo to cut an already long story short. Our table WON!!!! We were very excited. The winning table won a couple of bottles of wine each. It's not about the prizes though....it's the glory (lol).

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Saturday Madeleine and I went to watch her netball team play. She wasn't able to play because of her torn ligament. The team won again and are on top of the ladder by about 3 games. They are doing really well. They only have one more game left before the finals start on the 10th November.

After the game my sister and I went off to do a little retail therapy. I brought my first Christmas present, that's one down and quite a few more to go.

Saturday night we caught up with friends of ours Kate and James and Denise and John for a fantastic Indian meal in Parkdale. We went to Sithara and the food was fantastic. It was the first time this year we've been able to all get together for various reasons, so it was lovely to catch up.

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Sunday was another day of retail therapy for me. I went up to Southland and made quite a few purchases. Working in an office again has lead me to the realization that my clothes choices for work are very limited. So I brought 2 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of trousers and two tops. That should keep me going for a while I think.

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Fast forward Monday... nothing much to report.


Tuesday......Tonight ....an end of an era in the O'Connor household.
Tonight was the Carrum Primary School end of year concert and for Neil and I our last.
We think tonight's concert was the best one yet. Of course that could have been because as a Grade 6 student Madeleine was in it more. Heres a list of the items she was in:-

1. She busked in the foyer before the concert started. She played a few show stopping tunes on the keyboard and raised money for the school.

2. She was in the Choir

3. The grade 6 students and their Prep buddies sang a song together.

4. As the House Captain for Bass she and her fellow Captain James K. had to give a speech about what the Preps had been studying all year. Their speech was informative, entertaining, witty and funny. Neil and I were both really proud of them both.
I may be a little biased but their speech was clearly the best one. (hehe)

5. She was a mother penguin helping the Preps do their dance routine in the second act.

6. The grade 5/6 item this year was Thriller. They all did a fantastic job and it was really well choreographed and executed . A tremendous performance.

7. The whole school perform at the end of the concert and the grade 6 House Captains lead each of their teams in song.

It was a lovely night and my sister and Neil's sister came along to watch and support Madeleine, I haven't asked anyone to come along the concerts for about 4 years, so I thought as it was her last they might like to come along and be a part of her final primary school concert.

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In other news we the O'Connors made another major purchase yesterday. I haven't taken a photo yet, but once I do I will share the new purchase with you. It's very impressive and I was very excited to see it and have a play. Can you guess what it might be????????????


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Cheers for now

Leeanne x

"DEJA VU"

Have you seen these designs before?????????????????

Yes here is another version of Wendy's October No Srcaps class, these were the papers I had originally chosen (fancy pants aged floral) but I cut one of the patterned papers incorrectly so went with the Scenic Route instead. Hence the card is slightly different to how it should be.

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In the weekend wrap up, Friday I went to a mum from schools house for a crop. I didn't actually get to do anything as one of the girls who was there had never scrapped before, so I ended up showing her what to do, and how to use a trimmer etc... It was a lovely night and not that late I think I was home by 11pm.

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With school back of course its back to all the after school activities, which meant Saturday morning Piano lessons with Serena. We were met at the door by a very excited Serena who had become engaged over the holidays and was keen to show of her beautiful gold diamond ring. Of course she can't stopping looking at it. I remember the feeling distant memory though it is.

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Then in the afternoon Madeleine played netball and unfortunately went down at the start of the 3rd quarter and twisted her ankle. I rang the physio as soon as we got home but couldn't get an appointment until 8am this morning. So she spent the weekend resting, having her foot in a bucket of freezing iced water for 20 minutes every 2-3 hours, then having it strapped up and elevated. Her good friend TJ and Alex came over on Sunday afternoon to keep her company and just sat and watched movies with her.

The diagnosis from the physio is that she has partially torn the ligament in her ankle so there will be no sport for at least a week if not more. Back to the physio on Thursday to see how its going.

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Last night (Sunday) we caught up with our friends the Kennedy's and the Mickles for a casual dinner (fish and chips) to celebrate Georgia's 10th birthday. It was nice to all get together and Georgia seemed to love the goodies from Smiggle that she received.

Cheers

Have a fabulous week

Leeanne x

I *heart* Wednesdays

Yes that's right my new favourite day of the week. Wednesday of course is my day off. This week it was coffee first thing with some of the mums from school. Then it was off to Frankston for a bit of retail therapy. From there it was off to lunch with Wendy, I picked up some sushi for lunch and headed over to the shop. I have to get my fix of the shop when I can, I really miss being there.

Then in the afternoon another girlfriend turned up for a chat and then her, and her family ended up staying for dinner and a few drinks. So that took until about 10pm, so as you can see a very social day. Just the way I like them.

I also have a couple of layouts to share. I have been going to re photograph them but just haven't got around to it. They are the layouts from Wendy's No Scraps online class. I really love these layouts. What amazes me is how Wendy can plan these down to the last scrap of paper, I am so not a planner, so I find it a real spin out that she can plan so thoroughly. Anyway here they are forgive the colour in the double Lo I just couldn't photograph it properly.

Other than that the only other thing I've done is work of course. Looking forward to the weekend and I'm planning on a bit more scrapbooking (hopefully).

Have a great weekend everyone.

Cheers

Leeanne x

CONFRONTING....

is taking self portraits and seeing all those crows feet. I take my hat off to Wendy, Christie and Pip and all the other girls taking the 365 day challenge. Not sure I'm quite ready for what I see. A 47 year old women that is.




I took the photos Sunday morning just before I was heading off to breakfast with Deb, and out of about 15 there is probably 2 I would be willing to share. Anyhoo I had been speaking with Deb earlier in the week and she had suggested we get together for breakfast on Sunday at Fratelli's. They do a good breakie there and it was nice to sit and catch up with Deb.


Rewind just a little to Friday night and believe it or not I actually scrapbooked. It has been way to long. Not that I actually came up with the ideas. I booked into Kim Archers new Rip it and Stitch it instant workshop last week. It is such good value for $10 you get 2 great layouts, and I just love how the layouts turned out. Kim always has some quirky little new technique to share. There is always something new to learn and be inspired by. The photos of the layouts aren't that great, they colour looks much better IRL.















Saturday I headed down to Mornington to catch up with another girlfriend Sue B. Had a coffee in downtown Mornington and I don't think we stopped talking for a good couple hours all up. It never ceases to amaze me how much we can talk. ( I know some who know me, won't be that surprised by that revelation).

Saturday night Madeleine had a hankering for Thai so the 3 of us headed off to Patterson Lakes to Kun Yao for dinner. Even though I'd only been there last Wednesday night I never tire of the food there, and hey if don't have to cook !!!!!!

Sunday afternoon I spent scrapbooking again, this time on Wendy's October No Scraps class. I think the two layouts this month would have to be my favourites. I love Wendy's designs she is so innovative and clever, and what value for money - $10 get you a double page LO, a single LO and a card. Gotta love that and of course No Scraps. I'll share those LO's next time after I've finished the single (just needs the photos stuck down) and I haven't done the card yet.

Ok that's it for me for now, must go and see who will be getting the boot from Australian Idol.
I'm with Dicko I'm hoping Marty goes this week. Not because I don't like him ,he just needs to go.

Cheers

Leeanne x

Flying Solo.........sort of

at work that is. Yes the poor unsuspecting customers now have me to deal with. Still such a long way to go knowledge wise, but I suppose I have to do it sometime. The other staff are really helpful and don't seem to mind me constantly asking questions. The other news is touch wood I believe I'm going to get a full week of work in. Gotta love that. Tomorrow is casual dress day at work, so I suppose that means you can wear jeans etc.. no trackies though. It's a gold coin donation to a charity, just not sure which one.


This is also the second week of school holidays in Melbourne, so Neil has had this week off to look after Madeleine. Monday they went over to Knox shopping Centre to check it out and do a bit of retail therapy, and Neil whipped up a batch of his famous spaghetti sauce. Madeleine had her girlfriend Laura over to hang out with.



Tuesday they headed off to Point Nepean. One side of Point Nepean is Port Phillip bay and the other is Bass Strait. It has some pretty amazing scenery and rugged coast line. It was also once a military fortress so you can explore a maze of tunnels, lookouts and fortifications as well as enjoy coastal scenery and panoramic views of the Bass Strait, the Rip and Port Phillip Bay.



There is also warning signs like this down there.... Yikes!!!













That night Neil headed off with his mate Allan to see the Waifs perform at the Forum theatre in the city, and Madeleine had her friend Laura's little sister Emma over for the night.

Wednesday was my day off, so I got to make a quick visit to see Wendy, and Angela was there so it was nice to sit down with a cuppa and catch up. Then Wendy's sister Margie turned up as she hadn't seen Wendy for a while. It was nice to see her it must be 12 months since I've seen her an had a chat.

When I got home an old and trusted friend was just leaving. Our old corolla was leaving for the scrap heap. Sad really, Neil brought that car brand new in Dec 1986 after we got back from Europe. We have travelled around the country in that non air conditioned, manual transmission car, and it never let us down. From Melbourne to Cairns and back, Melbourne to WA and back and lots of places all over. It has been pretty much a garden ornament for the last few years so it was definitely time for the old girl to take her leave. Lots and Lots of good memories and adventures were had in that car.


Then we all headed off to Karingal to see the movie Stardust. I really enjoyed it and so did the girls, Neil however thought it was a crock and total waste of money. Ahhh well i suppose not everyone was going to like it.

I also got to go out to my favourite Thai restaurant in Patterson Lakes that night with Andi and Karen. The food was sensational as usual and the conversation never stopped. It was nice to see them with everyone working now it's hard to find time to see each other.

I was supposed to have done Wendy's no scraps class last night, but got home to late so I've printed out all the photos and picked the paper, I just have to find the time to sit down and complete the projects.

Today my crazy husband got up at 5am so he could drive down to Phillip Island (1 1/2 Hours) and do the 1hour each way walk around Cape Woolamai, which runs along' the tops of the cliffs. Here's one of the shots he took. Rugged isn't it? You can almost feel the sea spray on your face.

Tonight I got to do one of my all time fav things to do. Go to the hairdresser that is. I've said it before and I'll say it again I love love having my hair done. Thursday night seems to be the night to go as well. Aside from the usual neck and shoulder massage before they start, there was also chesse and biscuits along with a rather large glass of sav blanc. NICE

Ok that's it for now

Cheers

Leeanne x