This year we have had a real problem with ants in our house!  Normally, we would only very occasionally get them in the kitchen in the middle of summer if it was humid and even then, there'd only be a handful which would easily be controlled.  This year however, we have been getting them right throughout the year and they are appearing in every room in the house with some even ending up in the shower!  I am so sick of spraying and cleaning them up and cannot for the life of me figure out where they are coming in from as there are no tell-tale trails as there usually would be!  One theory I have is that they are coming in through our ducted heating vents but we haven't been able to check that out as yet.

Has anyone else in Melbourne had a problem with ants this year?  If you have ever had a problem with them, are there some safe ways to control them??

It's driving me crazy!!

Yesterday the family and I got back from Blairgowrie - about 1 1/2 hours drive down the coast from Melbourne.  And that was a real treat.  Nice and relaxing to get away from Melbourne.

We left Saturday morning and arrived just in time for lunch.  Packing is a bit stressful for us - trying to pack the least amount possible - but we always pack far far too much.  And trying to get it all in the car.... and our dog lucy as well.  That was a bit of a challenge, moving things around to ensure everything fits.

The holiday house at Blairgowrie is owned by my husband's friend and we're so lucky we can use it (we give him some $$ and use the property for about two long weekends a year).  The house is a very very very old holiday house with the bare minimal for facilities - it could do with a good renovation.  But that's the best - a very old small holiday house where we can just relax - absolutely wonderful.

Well, over the weekend I INDULGED.  Had some nice wine.  Watched some good tv.  Ate well (with only one blowout - fish 'n' chips for lunch on the Sunday).  Went to the beach to walk the dog.  And relaxed, and more relaxed.... and relaxed. 

Now back at home, and back to work today (sigh).

Need to now plan another weekend away.... oh that's right - I'm off to Queensland in three weeks time (by myself - now that will be FANTASTIC).

Sus 

Richard Branson has always been a forward thinker, but his leap into Space Tourism has certainly put him ahead of all other airlines and entrepreneurs.

In what seemed like just a businessman's dream, Branson is expecting tourists to be launched into space within 18 months.

'The first generation of space tourists, many of whom are with us today, will be paving the way as they marvel at the beauty of our planet and experience the freedom of weightlessness and the blackness of space,' Branson said.
 

'The rollout of WhiteKnightTwo takes the Virgin Galactic vision to the next level and continues to provide tangible evidence that this most ambitious of projects is not only for real but is making tremendous progress towards our goal of safe commercial operation.'

'It is quite clear from every astronaut that I've ever spoken to that seeing the planet from out there, surrounded by the incredibly thin protective layer of atmosphere, helps one to wake up to the fragility of the small portion of the planet's mass that we inhabit, and to the importance of protecting the Earth.'

More than 250 customers have paid 200,000 dollars (£100,000), or put down a deposit, for the chance to be one of Virgin Galactic's first space tourists.

It sounds very exciting and scary at the same time. I always wanted to be an astronaut when I was younger, but the thought of being launched into space is now quite daunting. I think it's the type of thing I would love to do when I am 80 years old and lived a lovely, long life and had no fear about missing out on the future.

But whether space tourism is for you or not, you still have to marvel at the thought of commercial flights to outer space. With video phones now standard in many homes around the world in the form of skype and mobile phones, the Jetsons future is finally becoming a reality.

Source
 

Today I had my specialist appointment at the Mater hospital. The appointment was to discuss my next surgery and book the date so was excited about it. I got to the appointment 15min beforehand so thought that i would be first on the list. I sat and watched everyone else in the room go in and come out, 1H45min passed before i went in!

Could not believe i sat there for that long, i actually started to think they forgot about me lol. Anyway, got in and discussed what has to be done. The day before i am not aloud anything but clear fluids and will be in hospital for 3-5 days if everything goes ok. The date will be 24th September, 5 days before my birthday so i hope i will be out of hospital (no one wants to be in hospital on their birthday).

I am excited about it! ok, so i know its not normal to be excited about surgery but these are exceptional curcumstaces- I really really really want my life back!!

So the 24th, thats about 2 weeks before i wanted to reach my goal. I dont think once i have the surgery i will be exercising much, but i wont be eating mich either so i might lose some weight but will attempt to lose as much as possible beforehand.

I am just so excited that i have a date, for the last 12 months i have been wondering when this will happen. I can not express how excited i am- I will feel like me again! I will work the way i am supposed to. Its been a long time, 12 months of this and 9 months being pregnant, whats it like to be normal? lol.

Anyway, i am off to relax :) Have a good night everyone

Last night i started to develop a sore throat and was really hoping it was nothing. This morning I could hardly swallow and thought i had tonsillitus, so i thought it was best to go see my doctor just in case i needed antibiotic. She had a look at my throat, listened to my chest, took my temp and told me its not tonsillitus, its a virus!

This virus is similar to the flu but worse! Its been going around for the last few weeks and makes people very sick, vomiting, diarrhea, high temps, the usual bad stuff and lasts for about 3 weeks- JOY JOY JOY!! At least i wont have to worry about the diarrhea (for once i am thankful for the illiostomy lol).

She did state however that if i have had the virus for less than 24 hours i might be able to kill it. She suggested some tablets that cost $50- if i had the money i would get it but i dont, alternativly, she said i could take enough vitamin C to change my PH levels, so about 20 tablets today! Thats alot of vitamin C

So i have a container beside me with 20 chewable tablets in it. Have had 4 so far and they are makin me feel sick! i hate taking tablets.

So far Eric is ok (at least i think he is), but to be sure i brought some orage juice with added vitamin C for him to drink. He is in day care at the moment so i hope he does not have the virus.

Now i am stuc with a delemer, if i have not caught it in time i could be sick for 3 weeks so really need to clean the house and catch up on washing BUT I should really rest so that i can give myself a chance to kill the virus. To clean or not to clean- that is the question! If only there was only a bit of cleaning that needed to bedone, i put off doing a big clean for today seeing as Eric is not home, i guess there is a lesson- dont put things off!!

Well i think i should go and just potter around slowly while i have the energy, and attempt more tablets (yuck).

Have a good day all

Last week my daughter brought home a brochure from school offering a service where they come in and replace all your non-energy efficient light globes with energy efficient ones.

**** FOR FREE *****

I had heard about this service before as my cousin had taken up the offer.

So I rang and booked in to have mine changed. 

So this afternoon, Live Green came over and changed 24 light globes for FREE.

They couldn't change ones attached to dimmers, downlights or fluro globes however at about $10 an energy saving light bulb, that saved us $240, plus the ongoing saving from electricity costs.

FANTASTIC.

They put in a box my old ones and it only took 20 minutes.

The service is available in Victoria, but it may be available in other states as well.

Here is the link: www.livegreen.com.au

Sus :-)

Chris (Hi Chris) wrote a comment asking when I was coming to Queensland.

Well it's just going to be a fleeting visit - up from Melbourne on Friday 29th August, returning on Sunday 31st August for my friend's 40th.  I am disappointed that it is not coinciding with the Brisbane catch up because I think most BL community members are in Qld and it would have been FANTASTIC for me to meet you all.

What I am excited about is that it will be just ME - no husband and NO KIDS.

I AM SO EXCITED.  Got the formal invitation in the mail last night, but I booked my cheap flight (only $200 return) way back in February.

Ok, so I"m catching up with my friend and her family in Caloundra which will be ACE.  But I'm also looking forward to the flight - with the drinks trolley and the inflight movie (I can drink and watch whatever I like) - by myself, and with NO husband, and NO kids

...... now that will be ACE!!

Can't wait.

Sus

Hi everyone some of you probally know by now that my hubby loves his fishing so I thought I would upload some for you all to have a look .There is some photos of the scenery as well.

Hopefully we are just around the corner from a life where we can all have home help, for a fraction of the price of a full-time housekeeper!

This new generation of household robots, the “Care-O-bot® 3”, is set to revolutionise our lives. It is able to pick up things easily, thanks to it's flexible arm. So it will have no problems grabbing the milk out of the fridge, serving drinks to guests, or clearing the table when you have finished dinner.

Its funny, when you are stressed after a hard day, you think having someone to clean up after you would be the greatest. But then I would also fear becoming so lazy that I lost my ability to look after myself. And isn't it a good life lesson for your children to learn some responsibility and do chores around the house? 

But I'm sure I could work around those issues. Because lets face it - it would be wonderful, wouldn't it!


 

Yes, the world's first solar powered Deck Chair has been designed by PC World. You are guaranteed to be eco-friendly and tech savy as you laze by the beach on your next summer holiday. Not only will you have access to GPS (handy in case you have forgotten which beach you ended up at and no-one around you speaks English) but you can take your holiday snaps and load them straight on to Facebook.

If you get sick of listening to the waves goes flish flash on the shoreline, you can listen to the Top 40 hits on your MP3 player, or if you get really bored of the scenery, pop on a movie. And finally, if the boss thinks you are actually working, you can jump on to your laptop and email through your reports.

And we wonder why we are stressed, overworked and burnt out. Bring back life without technology so we can all have a well deserved rest!