Life – Page 38 – Life is a Journey

Lounge shopping

Posted on March 28, 2011October 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Another sleep in till 7.30am and a bit of a slow morning playing on laptops, packing and having breakfast. Kevin did very well this morning and got pie face to make me the BEST EVER toasted cheese & tomato sandwich.

We checked out of the hotel and to went to get our car, only the find the battery was mucking up – we think when it was valet parked they might have left to car on. Luckily it didn’t hold us up too long and we were on our way.

We’ve been looking for a new lounge for a while now (Kevin’s recliner is totally busted) and I’d like to update. We figure our current lounge is around 10 yrs old so it’s had a pretty good run. Since we were in Sydney we thought we’d go to the Moore Park supa center and since they have so many stores. After checking them all out we went back to Nick Scali – which seemed to have the best selection for us. I had wanted to get a fabric lounge but nothing really grabbed me. When we spotted this leather one on the second visit to Nick Scali it was the first lounge that we had both liked. And amazingly enough it was on sale and today was the last day :-).

Once we ordered out new lounge (which will take 10-12 weeks to arrive) we had some lunch.

and couldn’t quite believe when it arrived in a plastic (with lid) container on a plastic plate – talk about wasteful.

Then we headed back home to wet Wollongong.

Nan, Pop and girls were out when we arrived home but we were welcomed by the dogs and got unpacked. Unfortunately when everyone did return we found out the girls had not been the best behaved (mainly towards each other) over the weekend :-(. They had been like this a few weeks ago but I thought we’d moved past it. So we have a family meeting planned for Monday night to set some household rules and consequences for not following them.

What will the day bring

Posted on March 21, 2011October 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

That was not what I was wondering this morning. To me it was going to be a very normal Monday – which means cleaning the house, maybe a bit of scrapbooking, cooking dinner, and tonight a P&C Meeting. Pretty mundane and a pretty good way to spend a very wet, rainy day. Around 11am I took a photo of the pool just to show how full it was.

Not long after the rain got even heavier and I could see mud starting to seep under the fence and into the pool.

I thought I’d best go check on the chooks…. so did not expect to find water lapping at the back door!

Or a waterfall into our new lake. Finally a lake view :-). The chickens were in their house and not very impressed.

I put in an emergency call to Kevin and headed out in the rain to unblock our drains – which were hard to find 20cm under mud water! By the time I got done, the pool looked like this….

Luckily the rain eased off and the water was able to drain away. Kevin got home and was able to do some work on the pool. There was apparently a LOT of flash flooding in the area. Unfortunately it looks like another BIG lot of rain is headed our way.

Around 2.30pm I saw a facebook message that Christy’s school was asking people to pick up there kids. When I got there the police had told them not to let kids leave but they don’t really know why so they weren’t enforcing it. The only reason we can think is to keep cars off the road. I thought it made more sense for less kids to have leave all at 3pm. I collected Christy and left – our road to and from the school was all clear. Amy also made it home (got a lift with friends Dad), albeit rather damp.

The P&C meeting for tonight is cancelled so I’m going to go check on the chooks again, get some dinner organised, and hope the next lot of rain isn’t nearly so exciting.

Just goes to show you never quite know what the day will bring.

The week that was

Posted on February 28, 2011October 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

There was a blood test and a visit to the doctor… results were all fine which was good to hear. Starting on anti-inflamatories to try and help the swelling & pain in my hands and feet.

There was time spent cleaning all the outdoor areas including the chook area and pool – my least favourite job! Looks lovely when it’s all done though.

There was lunch out by the pool…

There were dogs lying in the garden to keep cool

There were dogs lying around inside

and there were dogs being cute.

Above…

and below…

There was Christy trying to hide out in Kevin’s car so she could go to the USA with him.

There was our first taste of cheeseless pizza and it was yummy!

There was time spent pulling out all the dead plants from our Summer garden. Looks so sad and bare now.

There was heartache over the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. We’ve been there a couple of times so it was especially shocking to see the city in ruins. I actually saw a twitter update about it 2 hours after it happened so watched a lot of the live feed on my laptop. So sad.

And finally I wore my new Crocs every day in an effort to help my heel spurs. Good news – on Sunday I was pain free the WHOLE day!!!

Summer 10/11

Posted on February 28, 2011October 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

On the last weekend in Summer it’s time to do another seasonal review. It’s amazing to realize that Christmas and the December madness was only 2-3 months ago – seems like forever now. We’ve a great Summer – lots of fun family times and lots of lazy days at home.

I travelled to…

Canberra – with Kevin to celebrate our 18th Wedding Anniversary.

Salamander Bay for a weeks holiday with Nan & Pop & the girls.

the Southern Highlands to spend a day visiting various farms. The highlight was the dairy and meeting the baby cows.

I listened to…

Christmas music in December, kids playing LOUDLY in the pool, the girls singing along with Glee karaoke, sounds from World of Warcraft & Kinnect and lots of Glee songs (played and sang).

I read…

J.D.Robbs Naked in Death (finally, it came out in 1995) and really enjoyed it. This also means I don’t have to wait for the next 33 books to be written. I also read books 2 & 3, the new Susan Elizabeth Philips and a handful of other great romances. On the non-fiction front I read The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone.

I watched…

the whole of season 1 of Glee and some of the Winter X Games. We saw Megamind ,Gnomeo & Juliet and No Strings Attached at the movies. We also enjoyed the Prince of Persia and a handful of other movies at home. I also watched Christy race at the school swimming carnival and perform on stage in the mall, and Amy receive her Dux of the School award. We also watched Billy Connelly in concert and a number of games of basketball at the WEC (one game even in a courtside box).

I wore….

my new coloured glass necklace (that I bought for myself for Christmas) and the new Fossil handbag (that Mum bought me for Christmas). Of course, Crocs were on my feet almost every day. I also wore a new haircut at the end of Summer 🙂 and some sunburn on holidays:-(.

I scrapped…

my December Daily album and some layout for a Big Picture Class. Once the girls went back to school I started doing layouts on a more regular basis. My scrapbook room also got a major tidy up and resort.

I made….

plenty of Christmas goodies, a vegetarian Christmas lunch, vegan enchiladas and vegan cupcakes for Valentine’s Day.

I planned…

new back to school routines for the girls and I, a family holiday to Surfers Paradise and a revised budget (which I’m not doing very well at sticking to). I also helped Amy with the planning of her birthday party (to be held next Friday).

I celebrated…

our 18th Wedding Anniversary, Amy graduating High School, Nan’s 65th Birthday, Kevin’s 40th, Christmas and Australia Day and Valentine’s Day.

I dreamed….

of cooler days (on the stinking hot ones) and our trip to Alaska in June.

Odds and sodds….

I had 3 blogging buddy meet ups – Lisa, Kerrie & Paola.

I had a lovely 6 week break from the normal school routine

Amy started High School & is loving it and Christy started year 4

Our vegetable garden grew, was harvested and then put to rest (for a bit)

The girls attended a Sports Camp in Berry for 3 nights

Amy and I switched to a mainly vegan diet

We got a new budgie named Charlie

Kevin and Christy made homemade pasta for the first time

We started going roller skating on a more regular basis (again) and the girls started dance lessons (including Scottish Highland dance)

The girls had a fun day hanging out with their cousins at their Grandpa’s farm

Kevin headed to the USA for a brief 5 days for a training course