It's a disaster!

"It's a disaster" is one of my mother's quotes!  It is said when something goes wrong that is not a disaster, but just seems so at the time.  I came onto my blog today and realised that when I add a 'label' to my older posts, the system acts as if they are new posts and consequently they are then out of order!  That's very annoying for someone like me who is slightly annal retentive.

Our other disaster today is that Ian and I were going to go to the movies.  But Rachel has a maths assignment due and she needs to be watched over, plus the girls wouldn't have gone to bed if we weren't here.  (I don't know why the second issue didn't occur to us before we decided to go!)  So I had totally psyched myself up for the movies and it was for nothing.  I came home quite late for work, used the machine that is changing my life straight after dinner, had a shower and got dressed in 'movie' clothes.  All for nothing!  Oh, and I didn't mention that the movie was going to be free, as the girls had two free tickets to be used before 1 March 2012.  So now they are useless!  See, this is all very annoying... it's a disaster!!

It isn't really.  Whilst the girls are terrible at getting to bed - and then terrible at getting up; whilst we've forfeited two movie tickets; and whilst I exercised at a time that wasn't ideal - I'm grateful that I have three healthy, energetic kids; I don't need to worry so much with finances that a $20 decision is going to hurt; and I am able to exercise regularly.  Life is pretty good - no disasters...

The cooling is making the house very cold, the TV is blaring, I haven't been able to access the "good" computer and I can hear raised voices.  Yep, Samantha and Ian are home now!   They had a great time away - the beach, weather and company were all good!

Samantha and I bought a bike this evening.  We got it second hand from a woman I know from work who is about to move to Adelaide and has only used it twice!  It's a purple Hawaii Cruiser.  We had actually looked at its new equivalent in the bike shop about a week ago, but this one is a nicer colour.  Samantha will look pretty trendy as she rides to school.  I got the feeling that Samantha was surprised that I was agreeing to buy it for her.  Two years ago she was extremely keen for us to buy her a road bike - and then didn't end up riding quite as much as she'd told us.  However, I remember how I felt about the road bike that I'd pestered my parents about getting and then felt self-conscious about riding to school on.  Plus, I know this sounds silly, we have three girls and I figure that between them we will get our money's worth.  Funnily enough, the road bike has been ridden quite a bit by Sam, Natasha and I.  But this Cruiser is a very, very cool bike.....

So today I am grateful for second hand goods.  I really like the idea that I can use something that another person doesn't want anymore - and vice versa!  On this occasion I did pay, but a lot less than if I'd purchased it new.  I've also been given quite a number of things that have been great - particularly clothes.  It's nice to share things around.

That being said, please don't rush over and give me all your junk!!!!

Timmmmmberrrrrrrr.........................

Late this afternoon one of the trees in the backyard fell over.  I should specify that it wasn't actually a live tree, but a stump that a creeper had grown over.  It was rather pretty at certain times of the year, with little purple flowers.  I don't necessarily think it's a great loss, but Ian was quite sad.  We might be able to buy a frame of some sort and get the creeper to grow on that instead.  Anyway, I'm very grateful that no damage was done to the house when it fell and that no one was in the backyard at the time.  We just have to deal with the mess (well, Ian does - I'll be at work!).

High School Mathematics

I am very grateful that I can still remember my high school maths.  It means that I can help the kids with their homework.  Today I was working on Year 11 algebraic equations with Samantha.  It's amazing how quickly it all comes back!  That being said, Sam has a very fancy calculator that actually can assist in some of these type of equations, and I have no idea how it works.  I guess I should read the guidebook, because I may have to know it in two years time (and then again in four years time).  Sigh....  Sometimes technology doesn't always make life better!

Perfect Day

The fact that I've missed two nights of Blog entries could mean: (a) my life has been so horrid that I can find absolutely nothing to be grateful about; (b) I've been very busy; or (c) I've been out of range.  The answer is somewhere between (b) and (c).  Nothing at all to do with (a).

A weekend at the beach was just the perfect antidote to working 14 days in a row.  We had a wonderful time - especially on Saturday when the temperature was high, there was not a cloud in the sky, only a very light wind and the water was calm and clear.  It's hard to think of anything more perfect!   The beach looked beautiful.  Of course, a picture speaks a thousand words, so I've inserted the view from the top of the hill toward the beach.  Just beautiful.

It's very easy to be grateful for our environment when you have such a beautiful view to marvel at.

P.S. I was also pleased that I was able to run along the beach.  The only issue was that it was high tide at the time and running in soft sand is very difficult!  I guess it's just better exercise!!!

House husband

Ian has been cooking dinner!  He's even been reading recipe books and preparing something special.  Last night's dinner was a particular highlight.  He prepared a Jamie Oliver recipe using our outdoor wok burner (the one attached to the BBQ).  It was a sweet and sour stir-fry, served on a bed of rice and lettuce - and was absolutely fantastic.  The smell was fantastic as I entered the house - and it tasted better than it smelt!  It was so wonderful to come home from work and have dinner organised and served to me.

I've been so busy at work that I'm not sure I would be able to function if he wasn't at home.  I'm so grateful that he has taken long service leave over this period.  My life is so much easier because of it.  It's not just the cooking, but he has organised a number of tradesmen and has been working hard in the garden.   

All good things must end, and I think he goes back to work in four weeks.  So we'll just enjoy it while we can... 

Jane Austen

Whilst using the "machine that is changing my life" I like watching DVDs or something on the Apple TV. Over the past week or so I've been watching the latest version of Emma by Jane Austen.  I'm a bit of a Jane Austen fan.  After finishing this Emma, I realised that I had three other versions, plus 2 versions of each of Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Sense and Sensibility; 3 versions of Persuasion (my favourite Austen book); and one version of Northanger Abbey (my least favourite anyway!).  I've also got the Jane Austen Book Club, Lost in Austen and Becoming Jane.  Rachel asked me why people kept making different versions of the same story.  I tried to explain that each version interprets each of the stories in different ways and focusses on different things - and sometimes even tries to make the set look more "realistic" than previous versions.  I love it when a new version comes out of these fantastic stories.  And I'm not exactly sure why but it must be something about a slightly different take on a storyline that I love!

I've realised that whilst I don't particularly like Emma, she is the heroine I'm most like; and whilst I love Persuasion, Anne Elliot is the heroine I'm most different from.  And how weird am I that I even analyse that (there are sites on the internet that actually have assigned Myers Briggs personality types to all of the Jane Austen characters - I'm not that into Myers Briggs to get into it!)

Anyway, I didn't think I was going to enjoy the latest Emma, but I found it grew on me and I was very sad when it finished.  (For the record, it was 4 episodes of one hour each.)

So today I am grateful for the writings of Jane Austen.  I've certainly got a lot of enjoyment from her stories and I'm one of the millions who has.  I wonder if she ever realised how well-known she would end up...

Netball Season Starts - again...

Tonight was the first training session for netball (hockey doesn't start for a week or two).  This is the eighth consecutive year that Natasha has played netball and the sixth for Rachel.  Rachel wasn't there because of her school camp, but Natasha attended for three hours: to coach and to train for her Intermediates team followed by her Senior team.  I've volunteered to help at the Club this year.  It's quite fun to have more insight into what is going on.  I enjoy watching my children and their friends play.  I am so grateful that I don't have to force my three children to play sport.  They love playing their respective sports (hockey, netball and netball).  Besides keeping them healthy, they expand their friendship group and learn how to work as a team.   I'm also grateful to the people who volunteer to coach because it's not an easy job.  On that note, I'm very proud of Natasha who is coaching for a second year.  She is a natural teacher.

Of course, it still feels a bit like groundhog day...

Spa Bath

Tonight Rachel and I had a lovely relaxing spa bath together.   I am so grateful that she is happy to spend time with me (even 'though she's a high school kid now) and that she will talk to me openly.  I have a great relationship with my children and today I felt that I needed to spend a bit of time one-on-one with Rachel!  And the bath was great after working most of the day (sigh - the worst is nearly over).

The Australian Chamber Orchestra

I am grateful for the wonderful performances of the Australian Chamber Orchestra.  I have a subscription with my seat in the middle of the front row, my companion has had these seats for many years and was looking for another person to attend with her.  The ACO is very special and I always enjoy their performances. Tonight was entitled 'Chopin and Mendelssohn Octet' and features Polina Leschenko, a Russian pianist.   The first piece was so amazing - it was as if the sound was moving around the circle of performers.  It was written by Paganini and arranged by Richard Tognetti.  The next piece was quite modern and I thought was a sharp contract to the first piece.  The third piece was the Chopin Piano Concerto and was just amazing, as was the Piano Concerto by Gorecki.  Both very different pieces!  They finished with the Mendelssohn Octet - which just finished it off so beautifully.  It was as if the whole concert has done a complete circle.  Gosh, I enjoyed it so much.  The ACO site has a sample of the music if you are interested.   It's always hard to unwind after such a glorious evening!  (Maybe I'll go and exercise  on the machine that is changing my life!!!)

TGIF?????

Well, it is Friday and I had a very busy week at work.  But it is not over yet.  I'll be working tomorrow!!

Today a mistake was discovered in our document that was entirely my fault.  It was not a massive mistake by any means but it took about two hours to fix and delayed my other work.  So I felt terrible.  My boss, who is not known for her patience, didn't say a word.  For which I was incredibly grateful.  In fact, none of my colleagues said anything either.  Except for one of them and it was more about getting her to check the revised input!  It's not nice to be in a stressful work environment because you have really tight timeframes, but it is nice to be in a workplace where you feel supported.  And today I felt supported!  Horrible day otherwise.....

Mint Pattie versus Jupiter Bar versus Caramel Buds

Yesterday I had to go to the newsagency to get a MyWay student card for Rachel.  I also felt like something sweet and started hankering for a Mint Pattie – which is a stock-standard confectionary at News-agencies. To my dismay there were none! The shop keeper told me that they aren’t able to get them any more – which she said was a shame because they used to sell lots of them.

I bought a Jupiter Bar instead and it worked as well.  In fact I probably would have hankered for a Jupiter Bar before a Mint Pattie, but Jupiter Bars are normally only available from the Chemist!  (And the preceding two sentences are sad incitements on my life, that I know where you are more likely to buy particular chocolate bars!  Knowledge obtained after years of dedicated chocolate buying and eating…) 

Anyway, I decided to search the internet to see why they aren’t being distributed any more.  My search didn’t reveal any outrage due to it being discontinued, in fact, it didn’t really seem that they have been discontinued at all, but there were quite a few general comments about Mint Patties which I found interesting.  The biggest gripe was that they “don’t taste the same as they used to”.  I couldn’t understand this, because they have always tasted like squashed processed mint covered by sub-standard chocolate.  It’s just that as a 12 year old one is more likely to enjoy the taste of squashed mint goo and thin chocolate!  These thoughts reminded me of my childhood weekly visits to the Shop-Rite at Warramanga, where Mum would do her “big” shop for the week – at least until the Woolworths at Weston opened.  Every now and then, if we were really lucky (or more likely if our Grandparents happened to be visiting), we’d get 20c to buy some of the loose lollies that were for sale at the counter.   I used to love those occasions – they were rare but special (and my favourite were the Caramel Buds).  So today I am grateful for my childhood.  I am very fortunate that I have such lovely memories of growing up with Mum, Dad, Lois, and later Ruth, plus assorted family friends and relatives.

As for the Mint Pattie, someone has posted a recipe so I can prepare them myself.  Gotta try that one!

Go Red for Women

Last year, I can't remember exactly when, I signed up to do the Go Red for Women challenge from the National Heart Foundation.  I don't have any family history of heart disease, but I think that everyone needs to be aware of their own health etc, etc.  My goal on the Go Red for Women was to eat healthy and lose some weight.  I did watch what I was eating, but it actually didn't end up working very well for me.  I'm not sure why - but I put on weight and I didn't enjoy it.  A few weeks after it ended, I finally said to myself that enough was enough and I needed to lose weight NOW!  I went on a calorie controlled diet for 3 months and then I was on my way.  Since 6 July 2011 I have lost 11kgs.  It sounds a lot but it isn't really!  I would love to lose another 3, but I'm planning on doing it very slowly...

The Heart Foundation is obviously gearing itself up for this year's challenge (I got an email), but I don't think I'll be signing on.  It's not that I don't think challenges are good, it's because their challenge didn't quite work for me!  But I'm grateful for the work that organisations like the Heart Foundation do.  These types of organisations have pushed for many changes like including nutritional information on all packaged, and I love that information.  They also have a great support network and many of their recipes are just wonderful. So "Go Red for Women" - it'll just be without me!!!

Love and Peace

Another busy day at work!  I'm getting used to them, but I'll enjoy not having them!  When I got home from work, having detoured to assist at Netball Registration on the way, I opened a mailout from Amnesty International - probably my favourite charity (even though I don't agree with all of their current statements!).  They had a card with one of my favourite quotes on it:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” 
― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

When we were in Washington we went to the Martin Luther King Jr memorial - the only memorial on the boulevard that isn't dedicated to a former president of the USA.  I though it was really well done.  Grand, but simple.  I've heard other people express their dislike of the rather large stone statue of MLK, but I liked it!  This quote was one of the ten that was featured at the memorial and it really appeals to me.  It appealed so much that I took a photo of me standing next to that panel!

Martin Luther King Jr was incredibly articulate - he had the rare ability to simply state very powerful messages - and the internet is full of his quotes.  I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to visit the memorial and that, having visited the memorial, I am reminded to approach my life with an attitude of love and peace.  Even if it's really difficult sometimes!!!

Drug addiction

I only got home from work at 9pm today, and I didn't leave the office all day.  So not much to be grateful for there.

The news of the day is the Whitney Houston died yesterday and whilst there is no official cause of death, it appears to be somehow related to drugs.  It seems a shame that a wonderful singer - and her range was amazing - would end up dependant on drugs.  It seems to happen to quite a lot of entertainers!

I used to think that I had an "addictive" personality, but I've never been addicted to anything (I just think that I'm quite determined which can make me feel "addicted").  I'm grateful that I've never experienced drug addiction, or that none of my immediate family has either, because it must be quite terrible to feel or to watch!

The Murrumbidgee corridor

Today was a lovely day.  We all went to Church and then Ian played golf.  The girls and I went to DFO to do a little bit of shopping and arrived home at 2pm (late lunch).  Sam and I went shopping for dinner (fish) and lunches for the week.  I decided that I'd go for a walk in my new walking shoes (to wear them in!).  I like exercising: I like to get my heart rate elevated as quickly as possible.  So, seeing that I was walking, I decided to go straight up the hill from our place - to start "hard".  Once I got to the top I had to stop and take a photo because it was so beautiful.  The view is below!  

I couldn't work out where the track went and so I made a (poor) decision to go cross country so I could walk along the main track.  The grass was very long and I was paranoid the entire way that I would step on the home of a brown snake!  I won't be going that way again!  But it's a beautiful walk along the track that runs parallel to the river.  Especially on a lovely day.  The kangaroos are so graceful as they bound over the paddocks that stretch out to the river and beyond.  The blue hills in the distance cap off the lovely view (I probably should have taken a photo of that view as well, but I'd be best to take that in the morning, because the sun would wash out the photo).

I'm so grateful that we live on the edge of the Murrumbidgee corridor.  It's beautiful!

Let's go to the movies...

I am very worried that lots of the things that I am grateful for are things that I have because I've purchased them or just been lucky.  I'm not sure if that's good enough!  And then someone (I won't say who) told me that I was being a bit corny.  And I'm not a corny person normally, so it feels unnatural.  I have to try and find some sort of middle ground.  Or else, keep going the way I have been and just be grateful for material things half the time and sound corny the other half.

What will it be today?

We went to the movies tonight.  We saw "A few best men" because I wanted to support the Australian Film Industry.  The movie made me laugh but was also ridiculous beyond belief!  I'm grateful that we can go out and leave the children at home without having to organise childcare.  I know it's just a timing issue (based on the girls age) but it is something that I would dream about being able to do a few years ago!

Say cheese!

I was reading today that Kodak will no longer be making digital cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frames.  They will instead be focussing on printing!

The full article is at: http://www.news.com.au/business/kodak-to-stop-making-cameras/story-e6frfm1i-1226267309632#ixzz1lw2V2bP5

It’s an amazing development for a company that has been providing cameras for over 100 years and whose name is synonymous with photography.   I was really interested to read of Kodak involvement in digital cameras.  In 1975, using a new type of electronic sensor invented six years earlier at Bell Labs, a Kodak engineer named Steven Sasson created the first digital camera. It was a toaster-size prototype capturing black-and-white images at a resolution of 0.1 megapixels.  This just blows my mind!  Firstly, contemplating the development that cameras have made over the last 35 years and secondly, that Kodak didn’t capitalise on this development.  I don’t feel too sorry for them because they do own the patents, so they get about half a billion per annum from them. 

The article reminded me how very grateful I am for my cameras.  I enjoy taking photographs - some might say it is an obsession – and I love mucking around with the end results (both on screen and in printed form). 

Oh, and don’t forget that a digital image is not a photograph until it is printed.  So everyone should make sure that favourite images are printed!

I'm going to bed...

The average, health, well-adjusted adults gets up at seven-thirty in the morning feeling just plain terrible – Jean Kerr

The above was my daily calendar quote today.  I can relate to it, because I really don't enjoy getting out of bed.   I much prefer going to bed late and sleeping in.  Unfortunately the sleeping in doesn't happen often enough.

I’m very grateful that I’ve never had problems sleeping.   I’m reading a book at the moment called ‘The lost art of sleep’ by Michael someone.   So far it’s a mix between his personal life story and the story of Thomas Elva Edison.  It’s a very easy read and quite enjoyable.   It's making me smile and making me think.  Sleep is a really important part of life - enough of it helps to reduce blood pressure and weight.  So I'm really trying to make sure that I get at least 7 hours a night.  And most nights I do.

However, I'm not about to go to bed - it's only just after 9pm - I'm going to use the machine that is changing my life (it also helps to reduce blood pressure and weight!)!

It always seems impossible until it’s done. Nelson Mandela

Some time ago I wrote about people who inspire me and Ruth asked me to give some examples.  I wasn’t going to add anything, but I saw a quote today from Nelson Mandela which changed my mind.  It's the title of the blog entry today!

I think that Nelson Mandela must be one of the most inspirational people alive in the world today.  This is a man who spent his early years as an activist working tirelessly to break down the system of apartheid.  He was then imprisoned for 27 years.  It’s just mind boggling.  How he came out of that with his sanity seemingly intact, a strong sense of justice (and humour) and then led the country as President is nothing short of amazing.  There have been many stories written about him – and for good reason.  The story of his life is interesting.  His personal life is a bit messy, but no more than many others.  

It always seems impossible until it’s done.

There is a massive challenge in that statement!  I tend to always take the easy road - it's easier!  But I am also quite competitive and I like challenges.  But I'm not sure that I would have been able to endure some of the things that happened to Nelson Mandela.  

The turnaround of South African politics, and the belief that something impossible, may indeed be possible, makes me think about the situation of the Burmese people.  The two weeks that I spent in Mai La, the largest refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border, were two of the most amazing weeks of my life.  Within the camp there was an on-going fear about what 'might' happen and what the future had in store for the inhabitants.  There was also a feeling that the situation could never be resolved.  I am so grateful that I don't live in a state of fear.  And I am also grateful for the tireless work of people who are working to achieve the impossible in Burma - a free country.   

Banana Cake for dessert

Most Tuesdays I make a big effort to cook a low fat healthy option for dinner followed by a low fat healthy option for dessert.  It's become a routine that has continued for over two years (I can't remember the exact date we started).  Anyway, it began because of a traumatic event, but has continued.  The routine goes like this: Alan comes over for dinner cooked by me, and he brings dessert prepared by him.  At the beginning we used to both be quite experimental about our "low fat" options, but now we tend to prepare the same things (rotate them).  I guess we both have favourites - or at least know what everyone's favourites are!  Tonight Ian cooked dinner - seeing he is on leave - and we had BBQ'ed salmon with salad.  Yummy.  We topped it off with Banana Cake with icing topped with lime zest.  Yummy.  Yummy.  Alan generally stays at our place for a little while - often fixing something (generally computer based!!).  I'm really grateful for our Tuesday routine, Alan's friendship and Banana Cake (or rice pudding, or strawberry and chocolate muffins, etc).

"Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears."

Helen Keller said: Blindness separates us from things but deafness separates us from people (and she would have known!).    

I've been reflecting on hearing.  There have been a couple of reasons.  Firstly, I believe that the loss of hearing has been a major factor in the ageing of my grandmother.   It has meant that she finds it much more difficult to engage with people.  She misses big parts of conversations and it takes a lot of energy to understand what everyone is saying.  Thinking back, it was a major issue for my mother-in-law as well.  Losing your hearing narrows your world.

The second thing is the terrible statistics about the hearing of young Indigenous children living in remote Australia.  Due to poor diet and overcrowding they are much more likely to develop hearing loss in childhood.  It has a tremendous impact on their lives, starting with behaviour at home (hard to listen to mum or dad telling you off if you can't hear them), ability to learn at school (especially if English is a second language) and interactions with people (there has been some research about the number of domestic violence incidences that were caused by one or both parties being unable to hear properly and it is frightening.  In addition, 90% of Indigenous inmates in Darwin have significant hearing loss).  

I am so grateful that I don't have any hearing issues at this stage of my life.  I won't take it for granted, and I will try to ensure that the children don't listen to their music too loud!

Our Flag

When I sit at the computer, I can see out of the mezzanine window over the top of our garden.  If I stand the view is of the Lanyon Valley and is really quite attractive.  But I've inserted a photo as I see the view from the computer to demonstrate that the prominent feature of the view is our flagpole and flag.  We have lived in our house for over 18 months and until today we had never touched the flag.  

We have discussed what type of flag we would like to fly, but we couldn't reach a consensus.  Well, that's not entirely true because we all agreed that we'd be happy with an "Apple" flag, but I couldn't see any at www.apple.com or at any of the other flag sites.  At one stage I did look fairly extensively for a flag that would suit our household, but nothing jumped out.  I wanted something that was fun without being frivolous and I didn't want to make any major statement with my flag.  But I knew I didn't want the Australian flag.  I should explain that I love being Australian - and I truly believe we are a lucky country, even when statistics don't necessarily support that.  However, I really don't like the Australian flag.  I don't like having another countries flag embedded in our flag.   According to www.ausflag.com.au (a sight devoted to "creating a flag which tells 'our' story, not someone else's") the competition that was held to determine the flag design had suggestive rules that almost ensured that only a British Ensign with a badge representative of Australia was likely to be a winner.  It doesn't surprise me!

Unfortunately, there is no momentum for changing the flag - indeed, if Australia Day is anything to go by, there is a growing love of the current flag.  In my view, we could take out the Union Jack from our flag and leave it at that!  But it's just not going to happen.  So sad...

Anyway, we knew we needed a new flag because the current one was looking very tired.  On holidays we found a flag that we all liked and today I hoisted the new flag onto the flagpole.  It is a sun with vibrant colours around it.  I would love to know exactly what it means, but I can't find one similar on the web!  I will keep looking, but it appears that this is just a nicely coloured flag.

I am so grateful that I can fly a brightly coloured flag from my flagpole.    

A good night's sleep

Back home.  We really have had a lovely holiday.  The best thing about the end of a holiday is that you get to come home and sleep in your own bed.  I am so grateful that I have a wonderfully comfortable mattress and a lovely bedroom.   I am really looking forward to sleeping tonight!  The above photo was taken yesterday afternoon as the girls were looking at the surfers at Snapper Rocks.  We spent about 30 minutes watching the activity.   Surfer's Paradise is on the horizon - although this place is much more of a surfer's paradise than Surfer's Paradise is!!!

All good things must come to an end

Tonight is our last night in the Gold Coast. It has been a lovely break. Probably not long enough, but a good way to finish the school holidays. After dinner we decided that we needed a good walk before going back to the apartment. The five girls didn't make a fuss about that at all and chattered happily for the 45 minutes that we were walking (if we'd come back to the apartment they would all be attached to their electronic devices - me included!). We walked south along the path and then decided to walk back along the beach. The beach is very wide and so the light from the street doesn't reach the sand. So it was quite dark except for the moonlight peeking through the clouds. It was very quiet, even the waves were quiet, it's a very mild, still night and the sand was making that cute squeaky sound! At the edge of the waves there was a flock of seagulls. They looked absolutely beautiful sitting all together - I don't think they get interrupted very often in that spot. I'm so grateful for the pleasure of a walk along the beach at night.

A wasted day is a day without laughter

Today we had quite a few laughs. Maybe not more than yesterday or tomorrow, but when we started laughing at ian's laughing, I was reminded how wonderful it is to laugh. I'm very grateful for laughter. I love hearing children laugh - especially my own, and I love laughing so much that it hurts. I'm lucky that I have lots to laugh at and about. LOL

Which flavour of Gelato do you favour?

We have had another beautiful day at the Gold Coast. The weather has been absolutely wonderful. Much better than we expected based on the forecast. It seems to be raining at times that make no difference to our enjoyment of the beach. So it poured during the night, was sunny and hot during the day before raining again tonight when we were at dinner. But it stopped before we walked back to the apartment. Last night we realised that the Gelato place across the road has the best gelatos in the world. Well, we aren't absolutely sure about the best in the world, but they are really good. We always enjoy good gelatos. Since we are with the Beauman family we can discuss whether they are better than the ones we had in Italy - and we had some pretty good gelatos in Italy. I'm concerned that the reason we think they are great is because we haven't had good gelato for a while... Anyway, they are pretty tasty. Dessert tonight was the third time we'd been to this particular place. I only have one flavor at a time, so far I've had lemon, panna cotta and ruffaello (coconut).
So today I'm grateful for the art of gelato making. In another life I would have liked to have attended "Gelato University" in Italy as the owner of the gelato place had. I think I might have been a good Gelato maker!