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This is my July gift for you my friends. I hope you like it.

So if anyone is reading this who hasn't contacted me in a while... please email me because I have lost my address book!!

The panic wasn't because I didn't have the computer... it was because I knew I'd be getting Birthday greetings sent and I couldn't reply. I didn't want anyone to think me ungrateful. Talking about my Birthday.....

It was quiet, I made the cake *S* . Mum had ordered me something for my computer but of course it didn't arrive on time. Hey, so what's new... this is Hervey Bay! Jared bought me a beautiful picture frame and Jason... my loving son forgot. Like... the day before American Independence Day is SO hard to remember. He did tell me not to make dinner the next night, I said OK and didn't question it. I told Jared not to mention my Birthday when he was with his Dad.. and he didn't.

So, the next morning he rang to see if Jared was ready to be collected and wished me a happy birthday! I took great delight in telling him he was a day late! BUT he did come armed with fish he'd caught on Monday, a bottle of wine and made dinner which was DEEEEEELICIOUS!! The sauce was out of this world.... he's definitely his mother's son in the cooking department. (He had a good teacher <grin>) So, I kinda got to celebrate twice, which wasn't so bad. He bought me a beautiful crystal and gold crab (Cancer) which was another surprise because I couldn't tell the last time he ever bought me anything for my Birthday.

My drawing tablet that Mum ordered arrived the next day too, but I haven't had the chance to try it out with all this other stuff I have to fix up on the computer first.

We went to an Arts & Crafts exhibition last Sunday before going to the movies to see Shrek again (Jared's choice). I thought it was going to be typically boring but was astounded with the talent and ideas that I'd never seen before because I've been tied to other things for the past few years.

I was taken with a thing called "The Woodcutter's Daughter", which are wooden shapes of ladies but you have to paint in the design yourself. Of course I was at the Craft Shop first thing on Monday to buy some blanks and the paints. I've done six... and have sent away for a catalogue of the blanks because the shop didn't have much to choose from. It's been so long since I spent the day doing something like this. No doubt before I upload this I'll have a pic to put here *S*.

I fluked getting my ICQ up and running again THOUGH it's the new version. Can anyone tell me how I send the same message to more than one person on this new version???? The old version had a button you could push.. I can't find any on this one :-( (Never mind... it appeared somehow)

I slept in until 10am yesterday... oh bliss! Thank God for school holidays! When I went through to get my morning coffee starter I heard power saws outside. The men had come to clear away some trees in the pool area so that I can have a garage built. I did tell you I was getting a garage... didn't I??

Shoot.... I better get a shower and get out of my nightdress (it's 10:15am) just incase some worker turns up at the door... back later!

************

OK, we had some lino left from the kitchen floor... Mum wanted it cut and laid in the toilet... today was the day I was in the mood for it...

NOW you can JUST imagine what it takes to cut around the bowl EVENLY and be EXACT at the doors and walls. I spent 2 hours making a pattern, then cutting it out. Was making minor adjustments when the kitchen guy (Mike) turned up to finish off his work, so I stopped to 'supervise' what he was doing. I wasn't happy that he'd left us 'hanging' for so long... since the 23rd of May to be exact. BUT it's really hard to be angry with someone who smiles all the time!

While he was finishing off the little bits and pieces Mum decided she had to relieve herself... came back and said "I don't like the toilet floor! I looks B awful. Not the workmanship... just the lino!"

AAArgh!! ... I remained calm... don't ask me how. My hands were sore from cutting the damned stuff (personally I didn't like it either but she'd wanted it and I wasn't about to argue with her). So I said "I suppose I should be glad you told me before I spent another couple of hours getting it right!"

Mike burst out laughing, I followed. <grin>. Well, that was a total waste of a day!

Friday 20th July .... I think *S*

10 days since I last wrote.... some friends are beginning to think Jamie has disappeared! Truth is.... I've been trying to sort out my computer since I got it back. CD Burner didn't work so that's gone off to be repaired or whatever, since it's still under warranty. THEN the CD Reader died so I couldn't install my new drawing tablet. So that had to be replaced... lost my address book and saved messages from OE well.... I haven't actually LOST them... they're sitting in a file and I can't access them. If I had the time to sit and do nothing else but work on recovering them it would be fine but Lord ... I get so many interruptions!

So without my address book I can't let my friends know I'm still around. I've heard from a few, but not all. I'm not giving up though! NOW my mouse isn't working so I'm using the pen from the drawing tablet to navigate my way around... it's a pain, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow when Jason can come fix it.

Saturday 4th August !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well.... WHERE DID LAST MONTH GO?????????????

How Lucky can you get <grin>? Because I can't remember all that happened since the 20th of July you've all been saved the boredom <BIG grin>.

All I can remember is damned computer problems, one after the other. However I have a new CD Burner (because the other was under warranty), obviously they don't fix them any more. Everything is "throw away and replace" today... neither wonder we have pollution problems. I had to buy a new CD Reader.. mine died. I still haven't had time to try out my birthday present (the drawing tablet).

I tried burning a disk... the software wouldn't work... kept telling me all my brand new, unused blank CD's were faulty! So, I had to wait until Jason brought me his software for burning CD's. You all know by now that when waiting for Jason to help it's not a good idea to hold one's breath *S*.

Eventually he installed it and everything works fine. Now at last I can back up my files (when I find time).

The garage is still NOT erected! The slab was laid last Monday... no sign of any building! Hey, this is Australia... attitude = "she'll be right mate!" It's a month since I signed the contract and it will be over a month when and if it's ever completed.

The garage people wanted to charge me $180 extra to grind a small stump which would have hindered the laying of the slab. I flipped!! So the manager told me if I could get it done cheaper... go ahead. Well, I did!!!!!!!!! I got 2 HUGE stumps from the trees we had cut down in front of the house (last year) plus the small one they wanted out of the way... ALL for $200. I am sick of people thinking I'm stupid! The 2 big ones took the guy almost all morning and the small one took him about 10 minutes.

Then, this lady thought she was going to die last Sunday!! I never get sick... I'm NOT allowed!! That's everyone else's priviledge! It had been coming on all week.. felt like I had sleeping sickness, my neck hurt and so did my back. Of course there's no point in telling anyone... no sympathy in this house!

I went for the papers on Sunday morning and when I returned I just lay on my bed, every part of me hurt. My head was BOILING but I was freezing. Did anyone come through to see where Jamie was? NO! The pain built up all day and for some reason Mum decided to come through, mid afternoon when the pain was about at it's worst. Discovered that there was something wrong with me..... suggested I sit with the massager on my back to see if it would help. It just got worse! She gave me some herbal rubbish to take and I felt like I was going to throw up! The pains were gripping me around the kidney area and I was crying and moaning with the pain. They were like contractions in childbirth except I'm 30 odd years older and couldn't handle it.

I thought I was going to end up in the hospital but having Jason, Mum, Dad, George, and Jared all ex patients at the Hervey Bay Hospital, it was the last thing I wanted... I'd rather die! The thought of hospital food... nurses standing around laughing and joking when patients needed attention... hospital food... being poked and prodded... hospital food.... was enough to put me off! I got 3 soluble asprin, let them melt, then downed them. In about half an hour the agony began to subside and within the hour my temperature had dropped to normal.

I felt like I'd been punched and kicked and left for dead. BUT at least the pain had stopped. Two days later the local rag had a front page story about a virus that had hit heaps of people in the Bay... that's what I'd had! I can tell you, I never want it again..

Obviously I survived (*S*) to live and bitch another day *S*.

So, I haven't had the energy, nor the inclination for very much to do with the computer. I did get my site (which did a disappearing act early this year) back up and running. I dumped most of the stuff that had been on it and put up some new pages instead. A few (very few) of the old pages are still on it. So if you have the time you might like to check it out ....huh??

Jemima's Greetings

Hey, see... you only had to read one page this month.. instead of 2... !! Am I not kind to y'all??

I hope every one had a better month than I (that wouldn't be hard). So until mid August.... toodle!!

Be kind to each other!

"Life is a sum of all your choices"

With special thanks to THE TUBES site for the DIDDL Graphics

Updated 01 September 2001