A Man and His Dog!

How can you not crack up? These are beautiful pics!

GM and his faithful pup. I love them both immensely.

They both seemed to have the same expression. I thought it was fantastic!

I took some more!

I Love this Pic!

My Sleeping Beauties

Several things in life truly put a smile on my face.

One of them, is seeing my boys sleeping. One has no shame, and the other reminds me of a little kid drifting off to dreamland. Can you pick which is which? lol

I love you both, thank you for bringing me joy & brightening my world.

Sadie Arlene Vaughn

Fantastic news, my brother and his wife have had a beautiful little girl. Her name is Sadie, and she is gorgeous!

Born 7 October 2008 @ 8:43pm.

Weight 6lbs 1oz

Length 18.8 inches long

I think I have a hole in my heart, just like I did when Tommy was born, because I wanted to be there. But I am glad all has turned out okay, and from what I hear, mom & baby are doing fine. I am so thankful!

Here are the pics so far!

I feel very blessed, and very happy to have this lovely little girl in our life!

20 kg that is over 44lbs :)

I know it is only 8am, but have already had a neat experience this morning, but must start by telling you a bit about yesterday. (Sometime I am long winded. . .lol) I got off work, walked down to catch a tram, walked to the train, once off the train, I walked to the gym. Got my gear on- realizing that a tank top I got while in Washington last year, was a bit bigger than it used to be on me. Got on the treadmill, and kept thinking about the weight I have lost, and the weight I have yet to lose. Same thing as I continued my workout. Then I met GM outside the gym, he had been taking Ralph on a walk, before they picked me up. When I got in the car, started talking about my thoughts, and decided I wanted to lift the amount of weight I have lost. You know, like on some of the 'reality' weight loss shows. So, GM being the man he is, racked his brain, and this morning when he went to start the car, he got the dog food out of the trunk. The dog food weighed just over 14 kg that is over 30 lbs ( I have lost 20kg that is over 44 lbs). He came in, and put it in my arms. OMG I could not believe I had been carrying around that much weight for who knows how long, it felt great to hand it back to him, but it still brought a tear to my eye. I love that I do not have that weight to carry around anymore! (long winded, but I liked it)
Clothes that fit snugly across my belly, now have plenty of room to move, and my football player shoulders do not seem as wide. Needing a belt, rather than just wearing a belt. It is all good! My watch flops around my wrist, and we are looking at getting a couple links out of my Australian Sunshine ID bracelet. I feel proud of myself today.
I go to see the podiatrist as a follow up on my feet tonight, then it is off to dinner @GM's M&D's house. That will be lovely I am sure, they are lovely people. I lucked out in the in-law department. Tomorrow I go to see a Nurse re: my weight loss, so hopefully that will be a good thing. I hope I have lost some since I went last. It is a slow process, but I am confident with it all. Oh, and still good news on the PCOS front- all clear for almost a week- Yyyiiipppeee!
Gotta run ~Melissa

Recipes & Birds :)

Work is over for another day. Yeah! Quite glad about that. Thought I'd tell you about a lovely recipe I made the other night, I changed it a little, but it was quite good. It is called Quick & Easy Chicken, Broccoli & Brown Rice The recipe is from The Campbell's website. Which is really cool, because the soup we have on stock, can help you make a meal some in 20 minutes. Worth checking out!
Thank you Lori for the great conversation earlier today, it put a smile on my face for the afternoon. I have also told GM about the dissecting frog setup, and he loved it.
On the train home tonight, I saw a flock of Galahs, it was absolutely beautiful, and all I could think is 'I would love to show someone from home this beauty'. So I was really happy for a minute, then really sad for a minute. There is so much here I would love to share with people from home, it is wild. Maybe someday. I can live in hope.
Okay, I am gonna go make spaghetti for dinner. And then I may do a little cross stitch, and go to sleep. Hope all is well in your part of the world. Take Care ~Melissa

Father's Day in Australia

Let's see, it is Monday, yesterday was Father's Day here in Australia. So, I called my dad this morning, which is his Sunday, and talked to him for a few minutes. It is really good, because Father's day is on a different day here, I have an excuse to get my dad to talk to me on the phone at least twice a year now. :)
Yesterday we went and saw GM's dad to wish him a Happy Father's Day. Visited for a short time, and then came home, and went next door for scones. . . . Yummy! I had more than one. And loved it. I will be eating less at the end of this week. My Choice.
Actually went to the mall on Saturday, only went to one or two stores, and couldn't find anything I wanted. However, went to Target today, to get GM a movie he wanted, and found a new book, I hear is really good. Don't know if you like the vampire books, but it is by Stephanie Meyer, called Twilight. I will let you know how it is. Oh, and currently I am reading Hannibal, with Clarice Starling. It is the book after Silence of The Lambs. It is really good so far.
Also working on a cross stitch, that may take me forever. But, it is beautiful. It is called Outback Gum. You can see it here. I hope to get it done in the next couple months or so. We will see.
Very happy to hear that Rainbow is an Auntie! I have been emailing back and forth, to find out, that baby Sadie has dropped a bit, and may not make it till October.
Lori had some sad news, it is very odd, the joy of life, and the sorrow of death happen in such close proximity so much, so often. Thank you God for reminding us we are human. And as we know, it is all part of the circle of life. We are lucky to experience it, every emotion from joy to sorrow. Love you Lori!
Okay, starting to get philosophical will jump off the box, and get some sleep.
PS- the feet still hurt a bit in the heel, and am hoping I can get some help with that on Thursday. Also going to dinner at G & R's which will be nice, and have the brother and sister in law over for dinner on Saturday. busy, busy, busy. . . Then Sunday we are going to Shepparton. GM will go to a HAM fest, and I will go to the cannery to stock up on stuff like soup, and diced tomatoes, etc. I cannot wait. Anyway, I will really go for now! See Ya ~Melissa