Guilt by association.

Or perhaps in this case, it should be 'guilt by associated reputation'.

Mitch brought home yet another orange card today. The teacher who issued it said she didn't believe Mitch's protestations that he wasn't the one who'd done the misdeed. He'd been seen in the playground near this kid and that was good enough for her given 'his reputation' *sigh*

While I am not saying that Mitch is a saint -- believe me, he's far from it -- this kind of stuff is pretty frustrating for a parent, you know?

At any rate, it's given him something to think about which is possibly a good thing. *tries to look for silver lining*

In junior baseball here they operate under the 'mercy' rule, which says if the batting side scores 7 players across the homeplate, they are then dismissed, regardless of whether their opposition has gained 3 outs or not. Due to their age and skill, this keeps the playing field as level as possible.


So how's this for a judgment call?

( Clickie click click )

Happy weekend, lovelies. *g*

Greetings from ol' Sydney town. Just enjoying a quiet moment after an absolute scorcher of a day, barometer nearing 40deg C (102F) -- pretty hot but not as bad as poor Adelaide in South Australia, which has suffered TEN STRAIGHT DAYS of 40+ degree weather. \O/ Bloody hell. That would be rough, even for me, and I LOVE the heat!

A predicted storm is due to break here any minute though -- if the gathering black in the sky is any indication -- so that will cool things down. It's well after 8pm and temp's still about 25C (77F)!


Had some awesome news from my brother recently - JT is set to become a Dad for the first time next year!!! He and his long-time girlfriend are having a baby, due at the end of May. *g* He's SO excited about it all - hearing your brother literally 'squee' with joy over the phone is VERY cool - and now every time I think about it, I can't help grinning either, lol. *dances* I'm already an aunty already, courtesy of Tony's sister, but this is my OWN family and somehow that makes it that extra bit special. :o)


Have been watching Dexter and Supernatural like the avid fangirl that I am, and my thoughts are below:

( Dexter - 4.07 'Slack Tide' )

( Supernatural 5.08 'Changing Channels' & 5.09 'The Real Ghostbusters' )

Came home to find my husband watching Resident Evil: Extinction on the telly and it reminded me that I seemed to remember someone saying our very own Went had been cast in the latest version being filmed right now. Naturally, I had to Google this to make sure and while I was doing that accidently discovered a few little goodies any WM fangirl worth her salt would love!


Apparently, Milla Jovovich (another star of this movie series) is a new fan to Twitter, and she has been twittering her little heart out about the movie, AND her fellow cast members. To whet your appetite here are a couple of choice tweets from teh M.Jo:

* "wow, ali larter's ass looks amazing in her costume!"

* "someone asked about Wenty's workout routine, lol! right now it consists of sleeping in the make up chair! lol! but he's a total babe!"

And here's my personal favourite: "of course Ali and I aren't wearing much and to make matters worse Wenty is driving the boat himself and crashing it repeatedly! lol!"

BWAH. She calls him 'Wenty'. *g* You can read all them yourself if you click right here. Interesting stuff!


Aaaaand.... there were also PICTURES!!! Not ultra clear but they give you a little peek at what Went looks like in the movie.


So enjoy! I'm off to bed now. We played baseball again tonight (we lost, but still had fun!) and I was catching ALL game. Legs are a little weary, it must be said, lol. *yawns*

I'd like to wish a very happy birthday to the caffeine-loving gal from Michigan, pamalax!


I hope you have a wonderful day, my dear, with the chance to do whatever your heart desires... and that there is chocolate, because all birthdays need to have chocolate SOMEWHERE along the line, lol.


I'll be thinking of ya! Have a good one!

Man, I love it when a plan comes together!


Shared space at a local market stall today with a girlfriend, selling a whole heap of stuff from home that I didn't need/want any more. Figured it might be faster/easier than eBay.


Finished the day with a very healthy $230.00 profit!! Me LIKEY! *g*


Oh, and on a shallow side note, check out my new header pic from SPN 5.06 of a delicious-looking Dean. (I wouldn't consider this spoilery at all)


PHWOAR.


Me also likey. A LOT.

Just a quick note to let you guys know -- I'm posting the topic today over at reflectology, so make sure you head on over for a read. It's a great place for discussions and there's always lots of that going on over there. We love having people pop in to say hello so come on over!

Enjoy your day, girls!

*races out*

*checks time*

Phew! I just made it! With ONE minute to spare! LOL.

I'm talking of course, about the one and only, fabulously talented and utterly gorgeous msgenevieve who is celebrating her birthday for one more minute today!

*throws confetti*

My dear girl, you've had some tough times of late but I truly hope you managed to have an awesome day despite all that with some smiles and laughs, chocolate and good wine, spoiling and pampering, and lots of cuddles (and licks and snuggles from the canine contingent of your household as well!) You most certainly deserve this and more. *hugs*

And, as it is your special day, I have a little something for you, too:


( It's right under here... )

Don't think I've been a terribly good mother this Friday arvo, people. To be honest, I think I've yelled pretty much all day and now I'm mentally exhausted. School holidays take it out of me, they really do.


Why is it that when siblings are in those moods when all they want is to irritate the other, they want to be together in the same room?


And why do teachers give 11-12 year old kids massive projects which include building representative models of a particular subject (in this case, it's a model of a sustainable living-style house) along with a detailed report about said model... when everyone knows it will be the parents who end up doing most of the building. Like I don't have ENOUGH to do around here. *rolls eyes*


I'm sounding whiny, I know, which makes me even more cranky because that's SO not like me.


At least I have a baseball game on tonight, and there is new SPN downloading as we speak. I'm desperately looking for the bright side, guys. *g*

It's been one of *those* kinds of months for the Foxx household.


On top of a rough week for the Foxx Man and I as a parents to our 20-something child/man (I read somewhere that you have to hang on through all the crap with sons 'til they're about 25 as that's when they finally grow a brain... FFS, that's still a long way off!)... then my dishwasher went on the fritz again (meaning I'm currently stuck doing the dishes BY HAND *gasps in horror*) ... and then the Office PC decided to choose this moment to cark it, necessitating the purchase of a NEW machine... because, as it turned out, the old one was so old you couldn't get parts for it anymore. And it wasn't THAT old! *throws hands in the air* Man! Ever noticed that about computers? You have them for like, ten minutes, and they literally die in front of you. Sheesh.


So, anyway, I'm thinking that makes three things, so we ought to be good for a while around here!! Here's hoping, otherwise, crikey... I may need some stronger drugs. *g*


Term 3 school holidays are nearly over - my boys go back for the last term on Monday which will be great. I'll get my house back and more importantly, will finally have some PEACE and QUIET around here. Boys are just so loud. Doing anything. Heh. (God, I've just reread that and I sound like a grumpy old woman, lol. I'm not, really.)


Have been catching up on some movies via DVD this past week - watched Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino today... and wow. What an awesome movie. I've been a huge Clint fan for a long time, but I think I love him just that little bit more after seeing him in this - powerful stuff. I loved how Walt growled every time he got crotchety about something, the way he and his friend at the barber's had their little banter going on every time they saw one another, as well as the developing of his friendship with the Hmong family next door. Just an amazing story with an ending that was incredibly sad and bittersweet, yet funny and left you with a satisfied feeling that things would be okay. If you haven't seen it, do it. Do it NOW.


The other movie I saw this week was Revolutionary Road, with Kate and Leo sharing the screen together once again, set in the 50's. I wasn't sure about this to start with but after a while, I was totally loving the whole dynamic of this story, with all the issues it raised. It amused me greatly that the only person who really had a true handle on what was going on with the Wheeler's was the mentally unstable John, son of Kathy Bates' character, lol. Attitudes have changed a whole lot since the 50's, haven't they? Gosh. I'm not sure if I'd have survived being a woman back then.


And lastly, I finally got the official pictures back from the PINK Triathlon I did a few weeks ago, so thought ( I'd show any of you who haven't seen them on Facebook: )

It's halfway through the first week of school hols and the weather has been patchy, to say the least! We've had glorious heat, torrential rain and incredibly, even HAIL yesterday. LOL. Crazy stuff. And this isn't even Melbourne. *pokes tongue out at rosie_spleen* :o)


Our household has just acquired a new HD digital television with a fabulous 42" big screen. It's just gorgeous! Consequently, we are now able to get all the free-to-air digital channels that were otherwise unavailable on our old analogue sets. Very exciting! So many other channels to watch now, lol. *grins* As you would expect, my boys have been watching lots of the sports channel, and were tickled pink to find they screened American Major League Baseball. Because both Mitch and I both play, we've watched a lot of games together this week which has been great. Just this morning we've been watching an absolute nailbiter of a game between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins. \O/


In general though, I have to ask - what's the deal with all the spitting in baseball?? FFS. They ALL do it, players, coaches even the umpire! It's so noticeable, lol... every time there's a close up of someone you can bet your bottom dollar some bloke is going to hoick up a gob of spit. I mean, ploise. I really need THAT on my 42" screen. :o)


I must also give a big shout out to jengal20, who is celebrating a birthday today! Happy birthday, darling! I hope you have a wonderful one and that there is chocolate at some point during the day, lol. *throws confetti*

( Here's a little present for the birthday girl. *smooches* )

I am, of course, referring to Supernatural. Season 5 is only a handful of eps in and has already produced a couple of eps that are up there with my all-time faves. But this week... OMFG. This week the writers came up with sheer gold. I LOVE LOVE LOVED it.

Would you believe I have watched it twice already and I only finished downloading it last night, lol.

( A few of my thoughts under the cut... )

It's the long weekend here in Sydney and naturally, because of this fact, we have rain forecast for the entire three days, lol. It ALWAYS rains on long weekends so I don't know why people are so surprised! Besides, we need a bit of moisture around the place, if only to rinse off all the remaining red dust from the dust storm earlier in the week.

It's also Grand Final weekend for rugby league, too, so the blokes who live here are in Finals Mode... we've got liquid refreshments in the fridge, enough food to sink a ship, and the big screen telly is all set to go.

Enjoy your weekends, gals.

xx

A small dust storm was blowing through Sydney yesterday morning, but it mattered not to me and approximately 1400 other crazy women who still fronted up to Homebush at the ridiculously early hour of 5.30am. We were all there for the same event, the Pink Triathlon, but the reasons were as varied as the shape, age and size of all women present. For a newbie at the whole 'triathlon thing' like me, this was a very reassuring discovery. *g*


( Here's how the day panned out. )

Photo by Kate Geraghty


We awoke this morning in Sydney to a world that looked like something out of the Apocalypse... the skies were glowing red in the early morning dawn, the gale force winds that had been swirling around the night before were still present, bending trees sideways and rattling windows. A thick, red, dust cloud had been blown over Sydney and blanketed the entire city and beyond. Apparently, this dust has come from central Australia, and for us city dwellers, is a once in a lifetime occurence. At any rate, it is a most eerie sight, I have to tell you! I drove to the gym early this morning and by the time I got there, I could literally taste the dust in the back of my throat.

People are being told to stay inside if they can, not exercise outdoors (can you believe some people are STILL running in this? *facepalm*) and if you have respiratory problems, take extra care. Ferries have been cancelled, many flights in and out of Sydney have either been cancelled or diverted, and traffic is an absolute nightmare due to poor visibility. Harry has a cold so isn't going to school anyway but I'm still debating about whether or not to send Mitch.

Strange days, people. *g*

ETA: Kept Mitch home from school. Just felt like the wiser option. x

Is anyone else out there like this?


I get people telling me all the time that I always look so calm and collected; they can't imagine me getting flustered or stressed. "You always look so together, Sarah!" *cue surprised look from moi*


I'm obviously a MASTER at keeping it all buried, I tell ya, because sometimes I feel like a mass of seething, twisting emotions inside, like one of those volcanoes waiting to erupt!


While I've been washing and cleaning and cooking for the Blokes Wot Live Here (they're such MESSY boys!) there's been sports carnivals to take kids to, baseball training and games for Mitch (and now also ME, lol), parent/teacher interviews at school, lending a sympathetic ear at all hours to girlfriends in crisis (including one late night home visit), becoming an auntie again (which was a shock because we didn't know this little baby girl was even expected!), dealing with my MIL on the phone over how she misses seeing her son, yada yada yada (they've not spoken for nearly a year, a long story but not for today), trying to find time to train for this bloody triathlon I'm supposed to be doing this Saturday (WTF... I must be nuts) and yet wanting so badly to find time to sit and just get in the zone and WRITE, goddammit, I can taste the desperation frothing in my mouth!

*sigh*

Oh, and Mr Foxx is looking at buying a new truck for our business and selling our two old vans, which means we need to borrow money from the bank. *dun dun DUN!* This is a very big move on his part... Mr Foxx is a man who HATES owing money; up until this point we have financed everything for the business ourselves. But even he realises that this time we'll have to borrow the money, so there's everything involved in organising all that, too.

I'm not saying all this because I'm unhappy or anything - for the record, I'm not - but there are moments in my life when I wonder if the frenetic pace that seems to be the constant status quo around here will ever change. Is it that way because *I* make it that way? Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know. All I know is that right now I shouldn't even be sitting here typing this because there is bound to be something else 'more important' that needs doing, but yet I'm here anyway. *g*

Risk taker, that's me. *rolls eyes*

Okay, I'm done. As you were dear flist. *blows kisses*

Patrick Swayze passed away on Monday aged only 57. I loved his dancing, his sense of humour and the innate grace he always seemed to carry within. So sad. :(





( Here's more of how I'll remember him: )

I had to get a new phone recently as my old one died when I dropped it on our tiled kitchen floor. Anyway, new phone has a much improved camera function on it and I decided to take a few pics and test it out the other week whilst riding back from the gym. And now, I'll share them with you guys. *g*


( Half a dozen pics are under the cut and ploise, remember - I'm no professional photographer, lol! )

I'm going to take a few more this week, too - I'll try and show you a few things about my local neighbourhood that are special to me.

*hugs*

Big day, sportswise. Mitch had his first competition baseball game today, winning 17-4... then a few hours later *I* had training with the ladies baseball team... two hours in the spring heat, throwing my body all over the park. Let me just say that the distance between baseball bases is a helluva lot further than it is for softball!! Crikey.

So now I am Consuela of the Couch, Diva of the Den, reclining on the lounge whilst resting my elderly, aching limbs and as such, have already enjoyed a glass (or two, truth be told, lol) of a particularly yummy shiraz. Mr Foxx even cooked dinner! Consequently, I was able to catch up on my TV viewing... and WHOA, baby. *gasps*

( I'll put this under a cut for those who haven't watched Dexter 4.01 & Supernatural 5.01... spoilers here, obv. )

I'm up to S3 of The Tudors... absolutely loving this to bits, too. Am downloading 3.03 as we 'speak' -- good God, life was stressful for some back then!! LOL. I'd want to be as far away from Court as possible, I think!

We've got another 30 deg C day tomorrow here which will be lovely. Winter is finally behind us, I think! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, my darlings.

*blows kisses and relaxes back onto couch*

This last week has been so freaking busy. I'm still kinda brain dead so even writing about it sounds like too big a task. In a nutshell, Mitch was in a state rugby sports carnival for three days... at a ground an hours drive away from here. Two hours driving every day, plus early starts, cooking, washing, gym sessions and office work poked in and around all that, and I am totally shattered, physically speaking. I don't mind taking Mitch to these things, it's just exhausting when you have to get up so early! The night owl living within me isn't coping terribly well. Bwah.


Got up at 6am this morning to take Mum to the airport -- her flight left at 9.50am -- so she was there in plenty of time to check in at the required two hours beforehand. I didn't stay, just did the kiss and drop at departures. Goodbyes at airports always suck and so Mum and I do all that before we leave home. Regardless, I always end up teary anyway. *sigh*


Consequently, I'm feeling a little flat today. And tired. *yawns*


However on another note, TV related - have just finished watching S1 of The Tudors. Holy crap, people. What an awesome, awesome show. I LOVE it. God, they were a load of sex-mad, corrupt old plotters, weren't they? Crikey. And remembering that bathing wasn't something they did a lot of back then (maybe twice a year, if they were lucky! Bathing was thought to be bad for your health, apparently) having the flesh of some unwashed person pressed up close to you must have been um, quite something. LOL. My delicate sensibilities are cringing at the thought. Hee. I saw S2 in the shop over the past week and couldn't help myself - I had to buy it. If only for the deliciousness of Henry Cavill if nothing else. That man is GORGEOUS. *phwoar*


Oh and randomly? Had the most X-rated dream with myself and a certain J Ackles last night. *blinks* It was very unexpected! (but not unwelcome, I have to say, lol.) I know this sounds funny but I can't go to bed and think 'Right. Tonight I'm dreaming about hot sex with ....' It's always something that just happens. I have no control over what the subject matter is. But Oh. My. God. Last night's dream was over too damn quick. Heh.


On that totally inappropriate note, I'll go. Hope you're all enjoying your weekends, darlings. *hugs*

I was quite surprised when I looked at the calendar on this journal and saw that it has been 11 days since I posted anything. Not like me to be that quiet! I'd been commenting around the place but hadn't managed to find time to post myself!


My mother has a week and a half left of her visit with us and I cannot tell you how fast the prior two and a half weeks have gone already! It's been just lovely - you forget how fabulous it is to stop, have a nice cuppa and a chat during the day at any given moment. *g* I've really missed that.


We've had quite a hectic time socially - birthday parties (x2) to go to and Harry's one to host (x1), girly lunches (x2 so far), rugby games to watch (x3 with more to come!) and school assemblies to attend for award presentations (x2). It is fortunate that I am used to being busy, lol. (OMG. LOLOLOL. I just typed 'busty' instead of busy. Oh, if only, girls!!)


Mum has kept up with our social 'schedule' very well, but has felt the need for a small Nana nap on a few occasions, God love her. She's doing extremely well for a woman of her vintage. *g*


In other news, I have insanely signed myself up for another physical challenge! After deciding NOT to run the City to Surf this year due to my niggly right knee I had to find another 'less joint jarring' event to aim for. Thanks to my trainer, I didn't have to wait long. Here it is - The Pink Triathlon -- this is an all-woman event and supporting my favourite cause, Breast Cancer Research. It's being held at the end of September, which is only a very short 5 weeks away!! \o/ I'm going to do the Long Course: a 300m swim, 9km bike ride and a 3km run. The run and bike ride shouldn't be too difficult; it's the swim that will be the big test for the Foxxy Woman, methinks. It's been a loooong while since I've swum that far. I'm squeezing in a few practise dips in the pool before the event but even so, pray that I don't drown, okay? LOL.