international nut of pastry - I think this lines mostly filler.

Nan was found yesterday morning in her shower/bathtub. Her head was resting on the edge of the bathtub, facing the wall. The shower had not even been turned on yet. She did not fall as there was no bruising or blood.

I was too young, dumb and ugly to remember when Pop passed awhile back in 1999. So I wasn't expecting to be hugging and shedding tears with relatives I had not seen in many years - then the next moment laughing over stories of and things Nan would be saying over the fuss we were making.

Walking through Nans house was... Strange. When I walked in the door I expected to see her in the kitchen making some sort of fuss over whatever she was cooking.

Yeah, I haven't had a long list of complaints in awhile. And since I'm having a really shitty day, time to bust out the bullet points...

I remember when mum was working cleaning houses, and dad was sleeping most of the day due to working night shift. I was basically home alone during school holidays, and it was fun. This was when I was a youngin'. I'm fairly sure that anyone who is young, and home alone, found it rather fun. Some nights, mum go would out and dad would be off to work, and I really would be home alone for a few hours. But as this went on for years, being home alone wasn't as exciting or fun as it used to be.

Now, I sit here in this empty house, this new years weekend. A mate also had nothing to do over New Years and dropped around for much drinking, but the rest of my friends have gone to do their own family thing. Here I sit, glad that it's a warm day today as that means there's more of a chance of my sister's family dropping around for a swim, and having someone other people here for a few hours.

11 long nails.
5 washers.
5 nuts.
4 small bolts.
3 small screws.
1 large bolt.

That was the running total of things that the bitch next door has thrown into my pool. Until today. Now add:

1 smashed glass jar.

Birthday speech, eh? Yeah, I didn't have much to say then. So here it comes now.

I'm always just happy if people remembered that I lived another year, so to have a gathering of friends and family - let alone a surprise party - is just bloody amazing, fun and unexpected.

I never asked for any presents this year, and normally just hope that people spell my name right on a card if they give me one. But thanks to everyone that did give me a gift, I am very grateful; and there's nothing that I plan on returning. : )

So, thank you to everyone.

The ad music has started playing, so I'll have to get off stage now.

Today being the 25th of May - despite what this site might tell you - it is the first birthday of my little niece Shayna. You'll probably notice that there aren't any pictures of her in the photo galleries here, that probably won't change. But as something a little fancy, here's a small two minute slide show of some pictures of her I've gathered over the years.

I've also burnt this slideshow to CD as a VCD to be played in DVD players as a fancier way of sharing some photos of her amongst family.