It rained!

It finally rained... the past three nights it's been thundery etc, but the first two times it was basically all noise. Tonight, third time was the charm, it peed down rain!



It hailed too. And it lasted for, oh, a half hour or so. Our back yard became a back quagmire, and our front was flooded (not very deep, but definitely flooded!). Once it all passed, though, I went out the back and scraped up some dirt, the moisture had penetrated less than a centimetre. Pfffft. We will need a LOT more than that to make a real difference.

What's kind of scary is that it seems worthwhile taking photos of the rain. I only have two or three lots of photos for this whole year of rainstorms. The last time I remember Canberra having good solid rain was the first week Scott was at Alfred Deakin - that was five years ago now.

Well, this will be the last entry for 2006 - happy new year everyone!

Angelrat.

It worked!

Hooray for me!

Now, since it's nearly the new year, i guess I should resolve to get my blog as spiffy looking as everyone elses... with artwork and everything :)

bye again...
Angelrat.

I'm back!!!!!

I'm back... blogging again... I am soooo hopeless at this sort of thing! I have never been able to keep a diary for the same reason - I just sort of forget and before you know it, months have gone by.

Anyway, I notice this has gone "non-beta" so here I am, checking out the "new" Blogger.



Experimenting here... you dont really get Spheals in Antarctica, and even if you did I've never been there to photograph one. Wish I COULD go there but I cant see that ever happening somehow.

OK, I'm going to see how this all looks!

TTFN
Angelrat.

Guess what I've got!

I got a new vacuum! What a dopey thing to get excited about... but this one's pretty good, it sucks like mad, my carpets havent looked this good for a while! I got a FREE steam cleaning thingy with it, I guess I know why it was free now, it just doesnt seem all that much to write home about, oh well, what do you expect for nothing?!

The past couple of days, I have continued my Autumnal spring-clean. It's all helping... but it's such a slow process! And boring, I hate housework! At least I can reward myself with some scrapping... :)

Wow, my life is so exciting!

oo-roo for now

Angelrat.

A funny ol' day!

I had an unexpected windfall today... sort of....

My good buddies at Hertz (from whom I hired a car when we went away) took a bond and deposit when I set out, and when I returned the car, they said, the bond will be returned to me, but it'll take up to 10 days as "St George are the worst" at processing that sort of thing... Pooey, I said to myself.

Over the weekend I had time to mull over this, and figured, really it shouldnt take more than TWO business days, one for Hertz to notify St George's pooter, and another for St George to process it. So today I rang the bank, and they said, no, Hertz just had to fax them and they'd process it within an HOUR!!!! So then I rang Hertz and they said, OK, we'll do that (it was a different person to the one I spoke to Friday), and lo and behold, about an hour and a half later I had money in my account.

The very weird thing is they returned the bond AND deposit - they were meant to withhold the deposit to pay for the car hire. I was tempted to take the money and spend it all on scrapping supplies, but I have a strong feeling they'll realise QUITE SOON what they've done! Ah well, it's made round to GO round!

Apart from that bit of excitement, my day has been quite tranquil. I scrapped! It was nice. And my hands thanked me for not dunking them in and out of water all day!

Cheerio for now

Angelrat

Operation Clean-Up continues

Aaaaagh... I hate cleaning! Hate! Today I tidied Stephanie's room - it has a carpety floor! Then I washed cupboards and did the outside of the oven - more of a challenge than it might at first seem as it doesnt shut properly, so fumes (and heat!) get out and in time, it makes a big mess. Oh, and I washed the kitchen walls and the shelves that are largely decorative, and this really annoying light cover we have that's really big and round and hits Scott in the head if he doesnt look out. And most annoyingly, I know it all looks better but no-one else here even noticed - pffft.

I'm feeling mixed emotions regarding the slate floor - it's quite satisfactory to see the grubby wash off, but it is so labour intensive, you have to physically scrub, the uneven surface means a mop just isnt as effective.

Oh dear, I'm in a bit of a grumpy state! And Scott wants to use the pooter so I better go scrap.... tough job, but someone has to do it!

Cheerio

Angelrat (whose fingerprints have just about washed off!)

Tired Angelrat

I was not built to be houseproud, I dont think! I spent quite a bit of time this morning cleaning in the bathroom and toilet, I am soooo not fond of being on my hands and knees scrubbing.... but especially in the loo there is no other way. On the up-side though, they do look really good now! I want to know what sort of mind thinks white bathrooms and loos are a good idea, I'd be going for a nice sort of biscuit color I think... the grubby would never show then! (And I wouldnt have to waste valuable scrapping time on scrubbing!)

Have you ever noticed how, when you tidy (excavate!) that if you have any children in the house it's pretty much a given that they will follow in your wake, finding things they havent seen for a while and reclaiming them - then leaving them lying around again just a few minutes later? I wonder why that is... it makes me NUTS!!!

I broke my vacuum cleaner today, too. It's an old Godfreys one, and instead of retracting the cord before changing rooms, I just unplugged it then dragged it off to the next room. When I felt a snag I gave it a bit of a tug... and dang if the machine didnt just break in half! I couldnt believe it, it looked like a broken rifle. Turned out the plug had snagged under the door. Pfft. And of course, the part that actually turns it on was on the broken bit so now it's inoperable. Bugger.

I think this evening will be dedicated to the gentle art of scrapping - I could use the therapy!

cheerio for now

Angelrat the Mozz.

I'm baaaaack!

Well it was lovely to go away, but it is so nice to be home :)

The kids went swimming almost every day, even though it was really windy and the water must have been freezing, they came back covered in goosebumps! Here's a pic, this was taken at Tomakin beach.



The main drawback to all this swimming was that I had to wash four swimsuits and four towels every day, so they'd be dry and ready to go for the next day...I seemed to spend most of my time back at the unit washing!

While we were away, too, we had the PS2, and Ratchet Gladiator, so it was a bit of a race to see who could get through first. It's amazing what will seem rivetting when your entertainment is limited!!!

Time to go see what's been happening online since I've been away!

Toodles from
Angelrat

It's on its way!

FINALLY! My trusty A-Z is on it's way to visit the For Keeps people! I took it to the Post Office this morning, and was pleasantly surprised at the postage... $7.80, which is less than some CJ's I've sent! So now I just get to wait... oh well, you gotta be in it to win it!

I finished my photo swap too, I was really pleased with how it came up. I just hope Robyn likes it! I might use the same color combo (various greens) to do a LO about Robert or Lachlan, Scott is more of a blue person.

Well, tomorrow is THE DAY! Vacation, here we come! The house is looking pretty good, I've made arrangements for the ratties, and Stephanie has packed her bags... well, it's a start! I dare say I'll get to pack for Robert and Lachlan as well as myself. At least my SCRAPPING stuff is already packed, I have MY priorities right!!! Scott is pleased with himself now he has speakers for his i-pod, they use batteries OR a power point, so he's wired for sound. He plans to play his music in the car on the way ... should be an experience!!!

Must go, things to get on with! Cheerio, see you when I get back!

Hugs
Holiday Angelrat.

<- -> THIS close to being finished!

I am sooooo close now, I can FEEL it! I want to get a transparency to print all the sponsors names on and stick in the front cover of my album, then it can be sent! Probably cost a small fortune to send, it's pretty heavy!

And look, here's the box!


I can just imagine them getting it and wrecking the top by ripping the tape off, but at least I have made an effort! And there is so much mod-podge on it, it's gotta be waterproof!

Do you know what's crazy? I'm starting to feel a bit at a loose end... this project has taken weeks, about six weeks of steady work, and now it's almost done, what do I do next?! *sigh*

Only THREE more days till we go away now! Excitement is building... it's going to be so fun! I'm going to miss my online friends, but still - vacation! YAY! Beach! Shells! Sun (I hope!!!)

Cheerio for now

Angelrat the Mildly Excited!

Monday

Woohoo - It's Monday but it's also a holiday! No Mondayitis around here!

The A-Z album is now waiting for one photograph and a few words, and that is IT! It will be done! The box it's travelling in looks pretty spiffy too, I got a bit paranoid after reading the FK article on "how to win competitions" - I decided in the end it WAS a hint like a boulder, so I covered the top of the box with logos. Sort of a compromise, really I cant see that the packaging should matter, but still...

NOT that I have ANY chance at all!

Only four more days until we go away to the coast! Yippee!!! I am tossing up about what to take with me, scrapping-wise, on the one hand, I cant imagine a week without scrapping, on the other, the car we will be taking is just not that big, I cant get tooo carried away with what I bring! I have started making a list of things to get before we go, the kids reckon they will want to swim (in April?!) so two of them will need new swimsuits. Lachlan reckons he needs GOGGLES! Pfft! Oh, and Robert asked for a new portable telly - say WHAT?!!!!!

I am planning to take heaps of BEACH pics, being in Canberra one rarely gets to a beach so I am going to make the most of it. I'm debating whether to get another memory card for the camera, the one I have in it now "only" takes about 162 pictures. Scott says I will use that on the first day!

Time for coffee... I have a nasty nasty chocolate headache, maybe a hot drink will be soothing...! Why cant something like, oh.... brussels sprouts... give me a headache, I would have NO trouble at all avoiding those! Avoiding chocolate at easter is like avoiding ice in Antarctica!

byebye from
Angelrat :)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

The bunny came to our house.... look!


The kids are all happy with their chocky stashes, and even Angel and the Undertaker scored a bit of chocolate to nibble - not too much though, as rats cant vomit so you have to be careful not to stuff them with too much food! (Like children, they love chocolate and will keep eating it!)

I am about to have some REAL food, somehow chocolate early in the AM is just a bit much for my system to cope with... a sure sign that I'm getting older I guess *grin*

Bye for now

Angelrat the Chocolate Coated...!

Still Saturday

I've been procrastinating! I am up to X in my A-Z album, only THREE pages to finish, and I am finding it so HARD!Goodness knows why! I have been doing some TSH challenges, here's one for your viewing pleasure...!


I am collecting random comments that my kids make... for some reason they are mildly obsessed by hippies. Robert is the family expert on hippies, for an 11 year old he seems to know an awful lot about them! Anyway, one "hippy" fact they all agree on is that boy hippies have long hair. And so would Supreme Executive Chairman Drek, if he let it out of its ponytail!

I still cant go and finish my album cos the kids are playing footy in the lounge room, and it just isnt safe. "Footy in the loungeroom? Are you NUTS?" Well, probably, but they use a small foam footy, and there is no furniture in the lounge room. Too bad it is only separated from my scrapping area by an arch in the wall, flying footies are a real nuisance! So when they play, I use the pooter :)

Nearly time to think seriously about cooking dinner, so TTFN!

Angelrat the Lazy!

Saturday - the calm before the storm...

Howdy Y'all!

Yesterday was Hot Cross Bun day... yummo, love them with butter! My funny kids dont like the fruit ones so I got some plain and some fruity, we had a lovely brekky!

And of course, its Easter Day tomorrow... my kids will be mental by morning tea time I expect, all that chocky! I have to make clues for Scott's hunt today. We have a tradition at our place, I make a hunt for Scott, he makes one for Robert, Robert makes one for Stephanie and Stephanie makes one for Lachlan. The whole process takes quite a while, as you cant set all the hunts up at once, in case someone finds someone else's eggs *sigh*

Scott always gets the kilogram egg at the end of his, which he gets to break. Robert is starting to feel a bit ripped by that... still, being the oldest has to have SOME privileges! And they do all share the big egg once it's broken!

Today will be a good day to get some washing done, I hope. We actually had RAIN last night!!!!!!!! But today it's windy... well, breezy... so I hope that I can get the washing all done. You can tell you're an adult when you look at the weather and think of your washing before you think of anything else! If i dont do it, though, there will be some not-happy people as knickers and sox run out... and that is one thing NO-ONE likes to recycle.... ewwwwww!!!!!!

Should get some scrapping done too. I cant believe, my A-Z is so close to finished but I am actually getting fed up with it, and I keep doing other things instead. I only have to finish off the pages from O-Z (and I do mean finishing off, I have done the bulk of the work on them!) *sigh*

I finally saw the potty-mouth ad for Ingham chicken thingies, I guess I'm getting a bit old and past it or something but I didnt think it was at all funny, just stupid. Call me a wowser but I really dont think swearing adds anything to the ad... and it's just plain irritating when you spend your time telling your kids to mind their language (my kids at home and students at school!) and they see ads like this ... oh dear, better get off my soapbox!

Cheerio for now!
Angelrat The Busy!

Thursday - breakup day!

YAY! no school for two weeks!

Today was fun! My Year 8s did mostly random activities, but the really good bit was checking out what Year 7 and 10 did. There was yummy nosh from the Year 7s - and some of my cheeky Year 8 girls got LOTS of free samples! Top of the totally gross was this heart...


The idea was that you could see what the heart of a smoker might look like compared to the heart of a non-smoker, what they did was to paint a sheep heart with black paint! GROSS! I wouldnt touch it even with gloves but Claire and Suha were happy to.... yukko!

It was really cool to see so many (normally scruffy!!!) Year 10s dolled up in their posh clothes, some of them looked really grown up.

At the end of the day, the Year 8s gathered in one room for the presentation of their projects they'd worked on. There was some really good work done - and I was ever so proud of my girls who did some fab painting... pity the BOYS didnt lend a hand... Ah well, it was a fun week :)

Now I am quite tired... more than ready for a day off tomorrow, noshing on hot cross buns!

Toodles for now
Angelrat.

It's WEDNESDAY!

Actually, Wednesday usually bites at our place, cos payday is Thursday, and so I am totally broke by Wednesday and we have all sorts of weird and wild dinners because I am soooooo not organised, but today I got paid early cos of the public holiday so we will be having enchiladas tonight. Yay!

I worked again today, and will be tomorrow too, so I am happy. I wanted so much to see the Year 7 food festival and the Year 10 display, and now I will get to! I'm taking easter eggs in with me tomorrow so all the kids in my tutor group will have a visit from the easter bunny... wonder if Lachlan will let me borrow his bunny ears?!

Last night I had a break from the A-Z... I made a nifty Photo Keeper, following the great and wonderful Bev Watt's instructions, and it came up really cute. I'll upload it later, when I photograph it. It was really fun!

That's about it for now... stay tuned to find out all the juicy goss on Break Up Day At Calwell High!!!!!

cheery bye from

Angelrat.

Blog groupie

Wowee - blogging is a popular pursuit! If anyone comes to visit, look out for my "groupie" links which will start appearing soon!

Now I just wish interesting things would happen that I can write about! Everyone else seems to have much more exciting lives than I do. *sigh*

I'm still going mental with my A-Z album... i am going to HAVE to call it finished soon as I will miss the deadline otherwise, but I keep finding spaces and thinking, gotta fill that... It's weird the things I'm stuffing in, bits of ribbon and buttons and brads and stars and I FINALLY got a Heidi Swapp foam stamp set so now i'm stamping hearts in there too! You should see the list of sponsors products I've used... it's REALLY LONG.

Well, the glue should be dry on my Collections photo keeper thingy (ScrapHeap POM being assembled here!), so I can go cover it with cute paper.

ooroo for now from
Angelrat :)

Monday-itis!

Nah, not really! I worked today, in fact I could have worked at THREE different schools today! I went to Calwell cos that was where I was originally booked. This activity week thingy is kind of weird, one of the year 8s said that they should be allowed to stay home instead of having all these guest speakers and activities... I could see her point, as many students dont seem to really enjoy the stuff... but on the other hand, they just might pick up something useful. Who knows?!

Well, I think I should learn how to make my pics small, the one I put on yesterday makes my blog page sit all wrong! Pfft.

Oooh, speaking of size, you should see the new Heidi flowers... they are ENORMOUS!

Well, I had to go and do something else, and now guess what... it's TUESDAY now! Ah well, I shall just continue from before :)

The Heidi flowers... they are FAB! Once I get a pic of the page I used one on I'll put it on here. They look great!

Had a great day at work today, it's hard to believe the Education Dept will pay me for it! We saw a movie (Ice Age 2, it was really funny and very cute), then had lunch then went bowling. Well, I was a groupie rather than a player, but I would have been TOO embarrassed if I'd played, and did bad! I saw the game Scott won his ipod shuffle on, but couldnt work out what you were supposed to do, and I didnt see anyone else play it so I still dont know. Looked a bit like Tetris.

I'm working again tomorrow, I am really really hoping I'll get a guernsey on Thursday as that is the day that the Year 7s and Year 10s have their displays, apparently it's really excellent. Fingers crossed!

Well, cheery bye for now, gotta get a bit done before the terrorists arrive home.

Angelrat.

Sunday ponderings

Oh poo, I think I lost my ponderings....

Hmmm.. .trying to add my B page....



OK, now ONE of these should work, I think that the blue one will be a link, hopefully one of the other two will show MY B PAGE!

This album has taken SO much longer than I anticipated... but it's nearly finished now. I need a few more pics, and I want to decorate a bit more to get rid of some "white space" but I really think it will be ready in time for the deadline! Yay for me. I just hope they actually LOOK at each entry!!!!!

Well, nearly time for dinner so I better see if this works :)

Cheerio from The Rat!

Proud Mummy!

Today I am a very proud mummy! Scott got TWO trophies at his presentation today... best bowler for his team, and one for his hat trick. He was also "considered" for best bowler in the u13-u18s, but some other kid got that one. Oh, and he got a medallion for coming second in the u16 grand final, and for coming second in the u18 six-a-side comp.

Scott's a legend!!!!! I am definitely ultra-proud of him!

Stephanie got her first sporting injury yesterday at netball. They were playing on GRASS courts, the grass was damp and Stephanie skidded and hurt her knee. Not severely, I dont think, but it kept her sidelined for half the match. She seems to be using it OK now, fortunately.

I've been scrapping like mad... so far this weekend I have done three CJ entries (and I have one other waiting, but it's not due to be sent just yet so that's OK!), and I've been working on my A-Z album. I think its coming together really well, but it's a big project and I'm starting to feel a bit swamped by it! I dont imagine for an instant that I'll win but I will have the personal satisfaction of having done the thing :)

Well, time to start dinner soon. Daylight saving went back this morning and now I get hungry at the "old" time.. hate the transition period to and from daylight saving!

Cheerio for now
Fancy Angelrat.

Wow! Two out of Two!

Hmmm... I'm back again already!

Been a quiet day today, Lachlan is home. He's got bronchitis, probably, complete with seal-barking cough. He should be back at the salt mine tomorrow though, he's reasonably energetic at least.

I've been tidying a bit, and turfing rats. Not as many today, hopefully they're almost under control! There is a family of them that are really really black. One boy had no white on him at all, not even on his paws. Amazing! Makes the Undertaker look really scrubby in comparison, her fur has a fair bit of grey through the black. She's still my cutie though :)

My A-Z album took another leap forward today, some of my "sponsors products" arrived in the mail today so I had fun rubbing on random words (Junkitz rubons!), slotting in Li'l Davis letters, and sticking in Heidi Swapp snowflakes. I have SCADS of buttons too now, and some Heidi Swapp brads that I can put on once all the writing is there. I am getting fairly weary of double matting my photos, and I am positively dreading doing the journalling. I have decided to write with my own fair hand... but I'm so nervous of making a mistake, or that it will look lame...

Well, the kidlets are home, gotta go get some chippies before they run out!

TTFN!
Angelrat.

The Irregular Blogger strikes again...

I'm back!

I'm still as hopeless at keeping a diary as I ever was! Ah well, never mind, dont suppose there's anyone out there dying to read what I write anyway!

Hmmm. Between last time and now, not a lot has happened. I have had work at Calwell High, and a day at Tharwa. Stephanie has taken up netball. Scott's team came second in the grand final. We had a rat population explosion which, touch wood, is FINALLY coming under control. Please, Lord, let it be so! Still scrapping like mad.

Oh, my A-Z album is coming on a treat! No way on this earth I'll win, but at least I will have the satisfaction of knowing I gave it a go! Lachlan calls it the book of posh words, as I have used the Latin names (posh names!) for many of the plants and animals in the book.

Well, tomorrow is the start of another week... lots to get done. Terry is supposed to be coming on Thursday, so I need to get the place in better shape. I have work on Tuesday and Wednesday so I really need to get off my butt tomorrow!

Cheerio for now
Angelrat

Weird Friday the Thirteenth!

I am not really a person who worries about Friday the 13th - but today the three youngest kids were SILLY AS CHOOKS!!!!! They have been in each others faces all day. It hasnt helped that Robert got little to no sleep last night, and so was tired. But it's been all niggle niggle, fuss fuss. I could cheerfully mail them to their dads!

Well, today I experimented with mod podge. Weird stuff that, it's about the consistency of aquadhere glue, although I think it is meant to be a bit thinner than that. Anyway, it sticks things like mad, which is nice, but you have to be soooo careful how you place things cos you dont get a second chance! Then, with the top coat over the paper, it gives it a rather nice texture, even though mine is matt it is still shinier than regular paper. Fun! I made these spiffy "quilt" pages. Not sure if I will do it again but it is nice to have that option!

Well, ttfn, time to get a nice coffee :)

Angelrat.

It's me again... did you miss me?

I'm back! My pooter is working again. It really sucked having BOTH computers not working. Oddly, I thought this one would be exxy but in the end it cost $44 to have it reformatted and that was all it needed! The black one, though, is having major surgery, it will hopefully be home next week.

I am sooooooo over this hot weather! Heat sux in my opinion, I really really hate sweating. Yuk! I feel like a moving puddle most of the time lately. Today I FINALLY got a FAN! It's nice, but you feel hotter than ever when you move away. I guess sitting right in front of it is not the best plan.

Well, I am surrounded by young folk who (presumably!) want to use the pooter so I'll do more later.

Cheerio from
Angelrat!