This is the Week that Is

Now wouldn't you know it . . .BabySis, ThePlummer, MaddieMoo and NaughtyNeph have all gone up to Hawks Nest on the north Central Coast for a week's R & R. It all seemed so perfect, the kids could take turns house-sitting and feeding the dogs and horses, I could spend the whole week with myself (no washing, washing-up, tidying-up) and everyone could enjoy a few days of independence.

Not to be, DrummerBoy has broken his car . . and I mean broken it - the crank shaft has cranked and a new engine is required. All in the same week that we have to:

Take The Princess to the vet at 8.00am on Thursday for x-rays (or radiographs as they call them) then pick her up in the afternoon

Feed 2 horses, 2 dawgs every day and put the bins out at Babysis' place on Thursday too

Deal with Clare starting her first job and having to be in North Ryde by 8:30

Cope with one of the busiest week's at my work in a long time

Fit in with DrummerBoy's landscaping starts at 6:30 in the morning.

So far the car shuffle has worked OK with ClareBear dropping me off in the morning and DrummerBoy picking me up in the evening. Thankfully for the Big Day Out tomorrow I will have a car all day (whackadoo). The repair looks like it might take a couple of weeks . . . oh my poor little Honda . . .

Then, BabyBro and Stressany schlooped off to watch the Australian Open in Melbourne and have read the riot act to JimmyD - no gatherings, no friends, no nothing while they're away. There's a big celebration for their 25th Wedding Anniversary on the 3rd of Feb and the house has been duly refurbished, repainted, dry-cleaned and deodorised in preparation for the event. Cobblestones have been pressure hozed and eves slopped with reliable if not boring Mission Brown . . . even the pool room has had a ceiling paint and carpet clean - so even the sniff of a languishing hang-over or a bed-sharing tryst and he'll be toast. I've been nominated as the neighbour from Hell and asked to keep an eye on him until next Wednesday . . . just call me foo!

And to top it off, my lovely e-friend Arkenstone has a Saturday night free in Sydney on Feb 3 and I can't meet him . . . hopefully we'll find a window of opportunity to finally eyeball each other and celebrate 2 years of online friendship between an old fart and a young geek. I'm so looking forward to meeting him but at this stage and with my luck . . . who knows.