亲人 vs 朋友

发生了这么多事， 让我了解亲人的重要。
这几天让我知道亲人的关怀胜过于天。
谢谢大家的鼓励。

神阿，请你保佑妈妈早日康复，堂姐身体健康。
希望我们大家都能渡过这个难关。

真的好希望，受苦的是我们。
最悲伤的是，我们只能默默地看着他们受苦，哪怕帮你挨一针，十针，我们大家都愿意。

我想， 我们现在能做的事， 就是让自己坚强。
唯有这样，才会让受苦的亲人们少担心我们。

朋友。。。 再多， 也是这样。
最后还是会离开你。
多花一点时间和你的最爱的人在一起吧。
把握，时间。
不要等到出事了才来后悔。

Quote of the Day

Have a amazing day!

Xoxo,

Jaclyn

The Easter Bunny's Early Arrival

Even though the title of my most recent post included the words "Yay for shopping!", I don't really enjoy shopping. What I like is buying. Notice the subtle difference?

There's been quite a lot of buying going on at my place lately. We got a little cash injection via the bank to fund some orthodontic work for the kids and our planned holiday overseas next year. And while there's money to be spent, you can be sure that we can find things to spend it on.

We went shopping - the whole family - after Alana's ballet eisteddfod yesterday. We needed some stuff, like new shoes for the kids and new clothes for the husband. So we hit Erina Fair.

The husband likes shopping. He's a browser. We head into a shop with a specific item to get, and before we've taken three steps in the door he's become distracted by something hanging in his eyeline. Or we'll be striding down the mall, headed to a particular shop, and he'll veer off into a store just because something catches his eye! The people that design shopping centres in order to get you to part with as much of your money as possible have really got his number.

Anyway, while we were in KMart, supposedly looking for some new school shoes for Alana, the husband called me over to the home entertainment section. Uh oh. He showed me a Wii package and looked hopefully at me. He's been wanting a Wii for a long time, like since Christmas. He suggested that we ask the children if they'd like a Wii for Easter instead of chocolate.

What's a girl to do? A Wii definitely wasn't on the shopping list. We've got plenty of things to spend our money on that we really need. But the husband works hard and he deserves a treat. So I put on my serious face, found the kids, and put it to them: no chocolate for Easter, but instead a Wii. What do you think they said?

Now it's the first day of the school holidays and the Wii has been on since the crack of dawn. The husband is at work and I am wrangling the fights over turns. I wonder how the kids will feel on Easter morning when there's no chocolate? That's still two weeks away, enough time for them to forget that no chocolate was part of the deal.

Do you enjoy shopping with the family?

坚强。

回到家里空荡荡，看着 Mother 的床， 心里是多么的想念她。
我好希望 Mother 可以快点站起来。 第一件事就是抱着她说我爱你。
自从老爸从我七岁去世后， 快要二十年了，你为了我而坚强。
现在，我也要为了你而坚强。
就算有多么的辛苦，我也要撑下去。



神阿， 坏消息我想。。。 够了吧。
明天， 可以给我一点点好消息吧。
就请您把我的寿命扣除，补上 Mother 的吧



Mummy。我。爱。你。

New Scales! Yay for shopping!

Starting weight: 78 kg

Weight last week: 72 kg

Current weight: 70.5 kg

Weight loss this week: 1.5 kg

Guess what? I went shopping yesterday and bought myself a whiz-bang set of digital scales. You know the fancy-pants ones that calculate your body fat percentage, muscle mass, bone density and body water percentage? Yeah, those ones. You are so jealous right now, aren't you? The scales were on special at Myer for $55 down from $149.95. Bargain!

 

I've tried them out and guess what? My old scales weren't giving me a very accurate weight. Who'da thunk it? So, boo, I'm actually heavier than I thought :( It doesn't take away my weight loss, it just means that I was heavier than I thought at the beginning :( Unless I have a super weight loss week it probably means that I'll show a gain next week because I'll start using the correct measurements.

 

Now click on the button below and go visit Brandy. I'm posting this even though she hasn't put her Fat Ass Friday post up yet because I know I'm going to be busy tomorrow.

Graduation Roadtrip

Last week Chris and I took a mini road trip to Wagga for my graduation. Here are some maps to show you where we went. I'm starting with a map of the whole of Australia, then zooming in progressively so you can see our actual route.

It was about five and a quarter hours driving each way, and we only had one night's accomodation, so we didn't really leave time for much in the way of sight-seeing. I think that was a real mistake, as I'd never been to Wagga before. What we should have done was make a week's holiday of it and take the kids with us, but that just didn't seem like a viable option when we were planning. I'd definitely like to go back again.

The countryside that we drove through was what seems to me to be typical Australian farmland. I've enjoyed a fair few family holidays driving through New South Wales, and though I've seen it all before, it never fails to lift my spirits to see it again.

The above photos were taken near Gundagai. We stopped at "The Dog on the Tucker Box" on the way home because I'd never seen it before. Let me tell you a little bit about Gundagai and the dog...

First listen to this popular old bush song, sung by Australian country music legend Slim Dusty.

Now here comes a confession to my lack of Australian historical knowledge.

I knew the song, I knew it well, I'd sung it many times. But I did not know what on earth the dog on the tuckerbox was all about. I'd heard of it, of course. I know that "tucker" is Aussie slang for food, so I know that a tuckerbox is something you keep your food in. I knew that it was a story from Australia's pioneering days. I had some notion in the back of my head that it was a monument to a wonderful, loyal dog who had guarded a drover's food. But I didn't really know.

 We got to the dog.

And there I read this poem:

I'm used to punchin' bullock teams across the hills and plains.

I've teamed outback for forty years through bleedin' hail and rain.

I've lived a lot of troubles down, without a bloomin' lie,

But I can't forget what happened just five miles from Gundagai.

'Twas getting dark, the team got bored, the axle snapped in two.

I lost me matches and me pipe, so what was I to do?

The rain it was coming on, and hungry too was I,

And me dog shat in me tucker-box five miles from Gundagai.

Some blokes I know have stacks of luck, no matter where they fall,

But there was I, Lord love a duck, no bloody luck at all.

I couldn't heat a pot of tea or keep me trousers dry,

And me dog shat in me tucker-box five miles from Gundagai.

Now, I can forgive the bleedin' team, I can forgive the rain.

I can forgive the damp and cold and go through it again.

I can forgive the rotten luck, but 'ang me till I die,

I can't forgive that bloody dog, five miles from Gundagai.

Um, what?!?

That's the dog we build a monument to?

Anyway, as to the graduation itself, you can read all about it at my "other" blog here.

Presents

I'm way overdue in showing you the rest of the contents of the package that Dillypoo sent me. I'm sure she's going to be embarrassed if I make too much of a fuss, but I really wanted to show you all what fabulous stuff she sent me. Waaaaay better than the stuff I sent her!

I looooove this all natural Lavender soap. It smells divine!

Something to put on my toast when I don't feel like Vegemite!

Cute! I'm guessing that the Armadillo is the state animal of Texas :)

Hahaha, I didn't mean to look so serious in this photo!

Lots of books! I've got enough recipes to cook something new every day, I'm practising my Texan twang, and I know just what to see and do when my family visits Texas.

I haven't used this cookie-cutter-in-the-shape-of-Texas yet. It's quite big, so I'd have to make quite a bit of dough to use it!

I have all four of the personalised tags Dillypoo got us on my keys. It makes me smile to see them there!

Last but not least, Dillypoo included a set of cards with pictures of "The Professor"'s artwork. Go here if you're curious and want to find out more!

Many, many thanks to the ever-delightful Dillypoo for all the gifts that she sent. She'll know better next time that international postage is a lot more than domestic!