Aw, that is a pity, Ing, but family must come first. Hopefully your mum recovers quickly, and perhaps we will see you at the next one.

Thanks oz, I hope so too!

Aw, I will miss out on speaking to you. Mum comes first, you just look after yourself too, elderly infirm parents can be such a worry to us.

I hope she heals quickly for you. They are a worry, aren't they? Good for you for being such a good daughter.
We were in the store yesterday and an elderly woman fell. It was surprising how many people rushed over to see if she was okay, and disappointing how many actually did anything. In fact my daughter and I were the only ones who helped her to her feet, saw her seated on a bench, and didn't leave her until someone from the store was there to look after her (it looked like she might have broken her wrist). Everyone else had dispersed long before that.

Thanks Sue, I'm sure you'll get to hear my dulcet tones one day! I do try to look after myself...and thanks too skunkee, yes the elderly relatives are indeed a worry. I got to take their similarly elderly dog to the vet this morning for his arthritis shot (!) and learned that he has an infected tooth and has to go under a general ASAP before the infection spreads into his blood stream...now, this is the dog who is epileptic and has pancreatitis too, so giving him a general is not a brilliant idea if not necessary. So when I got back and broke the news to mother (who is doing remarkably well, touch wood, must be all the FT wishes!) she promptly burst into tears and decided he was going to die. It doesn't help that when she called out to dad when she fell yesterday saying 'I've hit my head', he thought she was saying 'The dog's dead', so she sees it as an omen...and you people wonder why I spend so much time 'hiding' in here?!?

Your life right now reminds me of the quote from Mother Teresa. She said something to the effect of 'God never sends me more than I can handle...I just wish that he didn't have so much faith in me.' (please forgive the paraphrasing.)
Now I am not a very religious person (at least not where organized religion is concerned), but that quote has always struck a chord with me.

That's brilliant skunkee, I think I'll print it up on a t-shirt!

Absolutely Gats, anyone else?!?

Just to remind all guests of times, dates, etc.

The party is this Sunday (November 6), and starts at 2pm. The venue is Blacktown Workers Sports Club, Reservoir Rd, about 500 metres north of the Great Western Highway. The phone number there is 88222444.

As you will need to be signed in, please page me at the Reception Desk.

There is also accommodation at the adjacent Travelodge. Rooms are $119/night- let me know if you want me to book for you.

Looking forward to a good rollup!

Greg

Okay ing and gats, if you're seriously thinking about putting this on a shirt, I will bestir my lazy bottom and find the correct wording!
It is;
"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." - Mother Teresa

I had better order one too!

Yep Sue, you're already at the top of the list! Thanks skunkee...for finding the quote, and for filling my head with all sorts of bizzare images involving bestirred bottoms!

Today is the day! All those people around the world that gave me a phone number should be prepared to be woken at ungodly hours, by a lot of noisy Aussies.

Any Sydneysiders are free to just turn up this arvo...

We must be mad.

LOL, you're welcome ing...but if you could see the size of my bottom you wouldn't want those images of it bestirring!

*Grumbles and snorts*

I think I forgot to send my number across the ocean [it's on my 'to do' list and remains unscratched off]. Poop .

At any rate I hope you all are having (or had?) a blast over there !

Poor Gats - if you want to PM it to me I can SMS it to Ozzz...oh poop right back, I deleted his number. Um, I could call the club, I think I can remember his name well enough to get him to the phone...

And skunkee, your bottom can't be bigger than mine, bestirring or not!

Just realised what time it is there, sorry I didn't see your message sooner Gats, but if you are still up, I'll keep checking for another hour or so - it's nearly 6pm here, I can't imagine they'll be winding up anytime soon!

They are still going strong! I have just come off the phone, poor Ozzz is going to be out with his begging bowl when he gets his phone bill. Perhaps we had better pass the hat around.

Considerate lot, they decided to let me sleep in a bit later before phoning me, trouble is that you know what it is like when you have something to get up for, you wake good and early and cannot get back to sleep. So there I am, my last opportunity to sleep in late (until next weekend) and my body clock wakes me at 5am and they don't phone for another couple of hours!

It was good to speak to them all.

I was sitting here at my computer, all alone, thinking "Well, that Sydney gathering must be well under way by now". I felt decidedly left out, so I thought, what the heck, I'll phone them! Spoke to Nannanut, Ozzz2002, Blinkybill, Exit10 and Copago for quite some time. It was just wonderful (although it was on a mobile, so I have my fingers crossed my phone bill can stand the shock). Big disappointment - gtho wasn't there! I hope you all realise that I expect a similar get-together when Maynooth and I go to Sydney (probably the year after next).

Let's talk about "ironic bliss".
There I was, all in the dumps about being lost somewhere in the Ohio snore zone , all the while knowing all the cool fun stuff was happening in Australia. Then...*ring!*. 4 Aussie voices later I am a happy camper indeed! Just when I thought I wouldn't get to hear anything until a few days down the road! A truly wonderful way to start a day. Well, it was a start for this time zone anyway. Voices attached to screen names! Loverly concept, for sure ...

Gats, it was great to talk to you. Sorry for waking you up. Love your accent! It made me feel homesick for America (I lived there for five years). I know Maynooth has an American accent but I'm used to his!

It's been a wonderful day talking to you and the Aussie contingent on the other side of the continent!

It's a pity that Sydney club didn't have computer with access to SKYPE....then one phone call could have linked all those FT-ers worldwide to each other, for next to nothing! (1 cent a minute worldwide, with multi lines linked to the original caller, all able to hear each other)

Look into it for next time round, perhaps?

Glad you all had a great time - I'm feeling envious not to have been able to participate Maybe another time...