Well, here it is, another quiet day – we seem to be in a bit of a “lull” at the moment – nothing terribly interesting or exciting happening – it’s probably the nice, peaceful “lull” before the Great Christmas Storm! I’m trying terribly hard not to think about it! Christmas Cards to buy and write in, Christmas Presents to get – “What do you want for Christmas this year sweetheart?” – “Oh, I don’t know… I’ll think about it and let you know later, OK?” – we’ve both been saying that to eachother and to friends and family , on and off, for a couple of months now (every year, without fail, we vow to get the Christmas shopping over and done with early – but we procrastinate, find excuses, get too busy… and never do!) I have absolutely no idea what to get anyone – least of all Julian! I’ve sent out hopeful and helpful “hints” to the kids, but what I’ve “hinted” at needs to be ordered early so that it/they’ll get here before next Easter – because alas, they’re not available in Australia – I’ve given Julian two very broad “hints”, and or suggestions, and although one of them is unbelievably exceptional value for money (so much so that it’s almost criminal not to buy it!) if it’s not got within the next couple of days (if that!) they’ll all be gone – but Julian detests shopping at the best of times – even online shopping – which is the only way that you can get this particular item! I have no idea what to get my two favourite daughters – or their husbands – I keep asking them and all they ever say is “I’ll let you know!” – if they’re not careful, they’ll get ruddy Amazon Gift Vouchers! Julian’s the hard one to buy for though – because as everyone’s aware, he’s a nerd. He likes “nerdy” things, scientific-y things, computer-y things… but he’s already got just about everything he wants or is interested in! He’s just been given a wireless weather station what’s-it, he has tablets and computer notebook-y things, a kindle, a decent electric toothbrush, a pretty good electric shaver, and a subscription to American Scientist magazine – I suppose I could be boring and just get him a shirt, a pair of socks, or a six-pack of underwear, but I’d be cheating myself more than him, if I stooped so low! Lee and Kate are almost as hard as Julian to buy for – I never know what to get them – with Lee, it was usually something computer-ish, or something to do with computer games – she liked gaming Tee-shirts, too, and music and or soundtracks (as long as she told us what music and which soundtracks!) Kate was usually interested in receiving makeup, perfume (she takes after her mother, I guess! 😉 ) clothes, or rather, clothes vouchers so she could buy what she wanted, books, and of course, the ubiquitous (but always very well-received by everyone in this family!) Amazon vouchers!  As for me, I’m the easy one to buy for! 🙂 Once upon a time, I used to tell everyone “Oh, just get me books or chocolate! 🙂 ” then when I grew up, I’d tell people “Oh, just get me books, my favourite perfume, or a nice bottle of wine! 🙂 ” And now that I’m really old and decrepit, I tell people (in a quavery voice) “Oh, just get me Amazon vouchers to buy books with, my favourite perfume, or a Kindle Fire! 🙂 ” Truly! 🙂 I’ll very happily accept any amount of Amazon vouchers, or bottles of my favourite perfume (Cinnabar by Estée Lauder, although I wouldn’t mind a bottle of YSL’s new fragrance, Black Opium – it’s really nice!) as people want to give me!

And so what does everyone one else out there want for Christmas, hmm? 🙂

This morning I finally got around to calling the shoe making person wot the Podiatrist told me about – his name is Brian (sorry, but that name always makes me think of Monty Python! 🙂 ) From what he was telling me this morning, I won’t get my new shoes until well after Christmas, but I’ve waited this long for them, a few more months isn’t going to make much difference… I just hope my old shoes can hold out that long! We’re going to see him on Wednesday morning, in Ringwood – my feet with be measured, I think a cast will probably be taken of them, and the process will begin – involving an awful lot of fittings as a lot of adjustments will need to be made throughout the making of these shoes. Still, a start has been made! If they’re successful, and I can walk in them, we’ll get him to make several pairs… Now I’m nervous…

Paul didn’t arrive this morning until about half past eleven, but a lot of work has been done – he’s no slacker, that’s fer sure! 🙂 That great enormous hole I told you about, that was under the bath? He’s filled that in, and the concrete is already ready to walk on. He’s removed the extra set of unnecessary pipes – which I also told you about a week or so ago – and he’s capped them off properly so that they won’t start leaking under the concrete that will be poured all over them (probably tomorrow) He also got me to sit on my bathroom stool so that he could measure the height I want the built-in shower bench to be, and the height for the little toiletries (shampoo, soap, whatever!) alcove in the shower, and because I’m having a slightly wider than normal wall-cavity sliding door put in, there should be heaps of room to swing the proverbial tadpole in! 🙂

After I’d rung Brian, I went and leveled up my new Primalist, Blyce. I was hoping to get him up to level 14, which I did. You know, I really have been playing the game for too long – I know all the routes, short-cuts and most efficient ways to get a character from the starting area, to level 15, in the shortest possible time. This morning I was so efficient, in fact, that I’m afraid I’m going to have to dump most of the early quests and jump straight into the more advanced ones. I took Blyce over to Freemarch, the Defiant area, because that’s where all the best “pickings” are, for leveling up Skills (Foraging, Mining, and Butchering) the best chance of finding Artifacts, the best place to earn early planarite by closing easy, “baby” Rifts – the best… everything, really! Honestly, I don’t know why anyone would want to play a Guardian! They have nothing over in Silverwood, nothing! 😉 Anyway, so Blyce is now level 14, the same as Blackrose, and he’s managed to get the same much coveted “Merchant of Death” title that Blackrose has. I think that pair will go far! (well, I hope they will, anyway!)

Weigh-in this morning. Was very disheartening! Again, I stayed the same! Why?! This usually doesn’t happen until it’s almost the end of the month, and I’m very low in the kg zone – down to the “.4” or “.3″s – though, I suppose “.5” could almost pass for “.4” at a pinch? Anyway, I’m disappointed and disheartened that I’m still sitting at 67.5kg, for the third day in a row! …I think I’ll go off and sulk, now! (aarrgggh! I wish there was such a thing as a “pout” smilie for Word Press!) *pout*

I’m not sure what’s happening tomorrow – Paul says he’ll be here bright and early (which means that I’ll have to hurry! 😦 I hate having to hurry!) the scoria and special soil will hopefully be delivered and can then be ferried through to the veggie beds (Yay!!) As far as I know, apart from ferrying soil and scoria, Julian will still be working in the office (and there was silly me, thinking that there wouldn’t be quite so much office work for him to do, now that he’s no longer doing all that Body Corporate work!) and I’ll probably be puddling along, trying to get Blackrose and Blyce up a few more levels. Oh, regarding my time on the treadmill that I spoke about last night – firstly, the figures aren’t to be taken as too “gospel” – I have the speed set to 3.4kmph – this doesn’t change, and the “slope’, or hill that I have to climb, is now set to 9 of 10. But! Despite being set at 3.4kmph, each time I get on the treadmill it seems to go at a different speed, because I have to adjust my pace and the length of my stride – it never seems to be the same twice. This morning I felt as though I was plodding – at lunchtime I felt I was on the verge of having to run (which I never do because I don’t trust my ankles to hold me up!) I also made a mistake – I could always say that it was a “deliberate mistake”, to see if anyone spotted it – “well done, Lee! You spotted my deliberate mistake!” – but I didn’t, and it wasn’t. However, when I wrote that I walked approximately 1.7km per session, it wasn’t 1.7km, it was actually 1.07km. And this morning it was 1.07km, and at lunchtime it was 1.05km – so you work it out – maths never was, and never will be, my strong subject! (I dropped Arithmetic at the end of my Intermediate (Year 10?) after an exam mark of 62%, which by class standards was a definite “Fail”!*) Anyway, that’s about it from me again for another night – do call back again tomorrow night for all the latest around chez nous – will my weight have budged, or am I to be stuck on 67.5kg for the rest of my life? (actually, I wouldn’t mind if I was, providing that I could eat properly again!) What other work will have been done in the bathroom, I wonder! Did the soil and scoria arrive, and has any of it made its way into the veggie beds yet? All that and more will be answered here tomorrow night, so don’t miss out! 🙂 Until then, do try very hard to bee good (Christmas, etc! 😉 ) don’t forget that even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there, and remember to look after yourselves, to keep warm – or cool – depending on the weather, and to drive carefully – but most importantly, remember to stay safe! 🙂 ciao, all! 🙂

*However, I did get in the high 80’s and mid 90’s for the other six subjects! 😛