1. Dreamed that I'm sitting at a table with various people including my mom, Jack, and my sister Melissa. My mom asks me a question about having an only child. I find it to be insulting and aggressive. I try to defend my parenting choices, but my mom won't let me get a word in. She keeps talking. I keep trying. Melissa commends me for my perseverance, pretty much in a joking way.
A little bit later, I tell Melissa that our mom really wasn't asking a question. And I tell her about the TV show Q and A—how Tony Jones will responds to these type of fake questions by saying,"I'll take that as a comment". I try to give Melissa other examples of people trying to disguise a comment as a question, but I can't think of any examples.
I also dreamed I was at a party. Val Kilmer came over and took pieces of a radish out of my ear. That was very random.
2. Started watching an episode of Neighbours.
3. Liked expat Nikki's post about packing up to go to a new country. I can relate to it, even though I've never moved to another country. And it's been awhile since we've moved interstate.
Nikki talks about how useless things from one house are moved to another. Her most bizarre example is used ant traps. She also had a bag of used batteries.
We have so much junk in our house. Sometimes we have actual trash in our cabinet and drawers, because we 're too lazy to throw things away.
I think if we packed ourselves up, we'd leave trash behind. But we'd probably get professional movers to pack for us, and I think they usually take everything. It's not their job to distinguish between trash and treasure. How would they know that plastic toilet paper packaging doesn't have special significance to us?
4. Wanted to say that I do make a point to go through drawers and cabinets periodically to get rid of trash. And last week I threw away a whole bag of wire hangers and dry-cleaning plastic.
5. Started watching an episode of Packed to the Rafters.
6. Saw that this episode is about the difficulties of finding a job when one has been out of the workforce for many years.
On Packed to the Rafters, it's a socialite woman who's recently divorced.
I read a book a few years ago, The Price of Motherhood by Ann Crittenden. It talks about how hard it can be for divorced women.
The socialite woman is lost and stressed, but, on the bright side, her daughter is grown and can take care of herself. Some divorced women also have to take care of their children. They might go from being stay-at-home moms in posh neighborhoods to working moms living in an apartment in a not-so-nice area.
7. Thought of other people who have to struggle with a gap on their resume. There' are people who have been ill. How about someone who has taken off a year or two of work to deal with cancer?
There are people who have been in prison. They probably have a very hard time finding decent work.
8. Wanted to add that I've learned from family experience, that one good way to deal with a gap in the resume is to have a friend or relative who can give you a job.
This is also what happens on Packed to the Rafters. Julie (Rebecca Gibney) gives her daughter-in-law's mother, Trish (Sarah Chadwick) a job. Well, she doesn't really give her the job, but she convinces her place of employment to hire Trish.
9. Started watching another episode of Packed to the Rafters.
10. Remembered something I learned yesterday. I was making a Chemistry Quizlet for Jack's curriculum and saw that the oceans have a lot of chlorine. I didn't make much of it, but then today I remembered reading and blogging about dolphins in chlorine pools. I had assumed chlorine water was not a natural setting for dolphin, but thought maybe it could still be okay for them. I never considered that there might be chlorine in the ocean.
11. Looked at this website that made me realize something.
Salt is in the ocean. What is salt? Sodium chloride!
12. Guessed that the people complaining about dolphins in chlorine pools know that there is chlorine in the ocean. Maybe the pools have much more chlorine than the ocean, and that's why it's seen as a problem?
Or maybe the chlorine issue is a small part of it; and it's mostly about dolphins not having enough space and freedom.
13. Thought the dog on Packed to the Rafters was very cute.
14. Wondered if I will ever capture a screenshot of an adorable TV show dog that looks cute rather than creepy.
15. Didn't like the news about Maggie Kirkpatrick being charged with child sex offenses.
It seems to me that these stories usually result in a guilty verdict.
Has there ever been a celebrity accused and then it turns out that they're innocent? Or at least, there's not enough to convict them?
16. Found a website that lists falsely accused celebrities.
There's a guy named Tucker Carlson who was accused of raping a woman in Kentucky, but he had never been to Kentucky. He also passed a lie-detector test.
Keanu Reeves was accused of rape which resulted in a pregnancy. A DNA test helped him get the charges dropped.
And there are other stories.
So sometimes it's about false accusations. Maybe that's the case with Kirkpatrick. I guess we shall see.
Although sometimes it's impossible to ever know the truth.
I still don't know if Michael Jackson was a child molester or just a quirky guy who liked having sleepovers with children.
17. Started to watch another Neighbours backstage video. This one stars Scott Major, who played Lucas Fitzgerald.
I don't know who that is, but maybe I shall soon learn.
18. Thought that Scott Major reminds me of one of my in-laws. He has the same kind of attitude and other similarities.
19. Saw that the actors read their script on a tablet rather than pieces of paper. I guess that would make sense in the modern world! I don't know why I expected it to be otherwise.
20. Wondered if I have seen Lucas Fitzgerald before. I don't remember him, but I do remember the woman standing to his left. Is Lucas her partner? I think maybe they're the ones who recently had the baby—the ones who wanted Susan (Jackie Woodburne) and Karl (Alan Fletcher) to move to London to help them with the baby.
21. Looked at the Perfect Blend Website. Lucas and his woman Vanessa (Alin Sumarwata) were the one who returned for the Erinsborough Festival. They talked to Chris (James Mason) about his upcoming baby with Lucy (Melissa Bell).
Lucas and Vanessa moved to Daylesford; not London.
I had them confused with someone else.
22. Struggled to find out who wanted Susan and Karl to move to London.
I finally found it, thanks to Lord Wiki. It was Malcolm Kennedy (Benjamin McNair).
23. Learned that Malcolm once had an emergency tracheotomy. That's the third I've heard of/seen on Neighbours. Back in the 1980's, Lucy Robinson had one. A few months ago, Susan performed one on Lou (Tom Oliver). And now I hear about Malcolm.
Are there any more?
24. Learned that Catherine, the mother of Malcolm's upcoming London child, was played by Radha Mitchell.
I don't remember Radha Mitchell appearing as part of the couple that tries to convince Susan and Karl to move to London. Maybe they got a new actress? Or maybe she wasn't there. Maybe Malcolm came alone. I can't remember. It would make sense, though. If she was pregnant, it might have been hard for her to travel.
25. Found a Malcolm-returns video clip.
There's no Catherine.
My memory is really mixed up about all this. Or it was. I think I've gotten things straight now.
I'm not sure why I confused the Dalysford couple with Malcolm, or why I remembered Malcolm visiting with his wife.
26. Started watching another episode of Packed to the Rafters.
This one has another Whitley song in the beginning. I'm not what the name is. I'll try to find out.
27. Used Spotify to find the song. It's "The Life I Keep".
28. Realized the song reminds me of our 2013 Australia trip. I'm not sure why. I didn't use it in any of the montage videos. Nor is it on the Spotify Playlist I made especially for our trip.
29. Disgusted with Nathan's co-worker, Layla (Rita Vandervis) on Packed to the Rafters.
Nathan (Angus McLaren) is a tired married man who's ready to go home. Layla pressures him to stay with her. Oh...and then she offers him drugs.
I'm disgusted with Nathan too, because he bitches about his wife to Layla. Not that I'm against venting about loved ones to a co-worker. But he bitches about Sammy (Jessica McNamee) wanting to go to TAFE and pursue a journalism career.
What an asshole. So it's okay for Nathan to pursue his dream career, but it's not okay for Sammy?
I hope Sammy leaves Nathan.
30. Thought it was crazy that Nathan has a job that keeps him out until four in the morning, but he has a problem with his wife wanting to go to TAFE.
Really! What the hell?
31. Saw that after Nathan gets kissed by Layla, he returns home wanting to have sex with Sammy. I imagine, if Sammy agrees to it, he'll imagine she's Layla.
32. Liked the storyline about Jake (James Stewart) and his family. Rachel (Jessica Marais) meets Jake's brother Alex (Kristian Schmid) and his mother Grace (Mercia Deane-Johns).
Alex has Cerebral Palsy. He seems to have a good sense of humor and good outlook on life. Grace is uptight. She seems a bit controlling and negative.
They talk about Rachel's job in advertising. Alex mentions that he'd like to be a presenter on television. Rachel tries to be encouraging. Then Grace sternly tells her that, in their family, they try to be realistic about things. She goes on to demand that Rachel name disabled people who've had success in that industry.
I don't think I'm doing a good job of explaining what Grace is like. But I know I don't like her. She's the kind of person who presents herself as a martyr for having a disabled child, and also the type who works to squashes the dreams of that child.
She kind of reminds me of a watered down version of Carrie White's mother.
33. Gained a little respect for Nathan.
Layla calls him into work on a Saturday night. He tells her he's with his wife and not coming. Sammy than actually pushes him to go...which I think was a mistake.
When he gets to work, Nathan yells at Layla for calling him in and threatens to quit.
Oh, and the work emergency? Layla thinks her boyfriend is cheating on her.
34. Lost that little bit of respect I had for Nathan. He gives into Layla which means staying to hang out with her and taking her drugs.
35. Heard Sammy tell Nathan he's too nice—because he stayed for hours to comfort Layla.
I'd say another way to define it is putting other people as high priority and your partner as low priority.
Some people really are very nice. Other people like to play knight in shining armor, and they'll sacrifice time with their family to do so.
36. Learned that Grace doesn't want Rachel dating her son Jake, because she feels when she dies, Jake will be responsible for taking care of Alex. She doesn't think Rachel could handle this. Grace tells Rachel all this and also says she's not good at talking to Alex.
Yeah, Rachel was a little awkward; but I think many people would be in that situation. As far as I could tell, Alex didn't have a problem with Rachel. He seemed to like her.
I think Grace is one of those mothers who doesn't want any other women in her sons' lives.
A little bit later, I tell Melissa that our mom really wasn't asking a question. And I tell her about the TV show Q and A—how Tony Jones will responds to these type of fake questions by saying,"I'll take that as a comment". I try to give Melissa other examples of people trying to disguise a comment as a question, but I can't think of any examples.
I also dreamed I was at a party. Val Kilmer came over and took pieces of a radish out of my ear. That was very random.
2. Started watching an episode of Neighbours.
3. Liked expat Nikki's post about packing up to go to a new country. I can relate to it, even though I've never moved to another country. And it's been awhile since we've moved interstate.
Nikki talks about how useless things from one house are moved to another. Her most bizarre example is used ant traps. She also had a bag of used batteries.
We have so much junk in our house. Sometimes we have actual trash in our cabinet and drawers, because we 're too lazy to throw things away.
I think if we packed ourselves up, we'd leave trash behind. But we'd probably get professional movers to pack for us, and I think they usually take everything. It's not their job to distinguish between trash and treasure. How would they know that plastic toilet paper packaging doesn't have special significance to us?
4. Wanted to say that I do make a point to go through drawers and cabinets periodically to get rid of trash. And last week I threw away a whole bag of wire hangers and dry-cleaning plastic.
5. Started watching an episode of Packed to the Rafters.
6. Saw that this episode is about the difficulties of finding a job when one has been out of the workforce for many years.
On Packed to the Rafters, it's a socialite woman who's recently divorced.
I read a book a few years ago, The Price of Motherhood by Ann Crittenden. It talks about how hard it can be for divorced women.
The socialite woman is lost and stressed, but, on the bright side, her daughter is grown and can take care of herself. Some divorced women also have to take care of their children. They might go from being stay-at-home moms in posh neighborhoods to working moms living in an apartment in a not-so-nice area.
7. Thought of other people who have to struggle with a gap on their resume. There' are people who have been ill. How about someone who has taken off a year or two of work to deal with cancer?
There are people who have been in prison. They probably have a very hard time finding decent work.
8. Wanted to add that I've learned from family experience, that one good way to deal with a gap in the resume is to have a friend or relative who can give you a job.
This is also what happens on Packed to the Rafters. Julie (Rebecca Gibney) gives her daughter-in-law's mother, Trish (Sarah Chadwick) a job. Well, she doesn't really give her the job, but she convinces her place of employment to hire Trish.
9. Started watching another episode of Packed to the Rafters.
10. Remembered something I learned yesterday. I was making a Chemistry Quizlet for Jack's curriculum and saw that the oceans have a lot of chlorine. I didn't make much of it, but then today I remembered reading and blogging about dolphins in chlorine pools. I had assumed chlorine water was not a natural setting for dolphin, but thought maybe it could still be okay for them. I never considered that there might be chlorine in the ocean.
11. Looked at this website that made me realize something.
Salt is in the ocean. What is salt? Sodium chloride!
12. Guessed that the people complaining about dolphins in chlorine pools know that there is chlorine in the ocean. Maybe the pools have much more chlorine than the ocean, and that's why it's seen as a problem?
Or maybe the chlorine issue is a small part of it; and it's mostly about dolphins not having enough space and freedom.
13. Thought the dog on Packed to the Rafters was very cute.
14. Wondered if I will ever capture a screenshot of an adorable TV show dog that looks cute rather than creepy.
15. Didn't like the news about Maggie Kirkpatrick being charged with child sex offenses.
It seems to me that these stories usually result in a guilty verdict.
Has there ever been a celebrity accused and then it turns out that they're innocent? Or at least, there's not enough to convict them?
16. Found a website that lists falsely accused celebrities.
There's a guy named Tucker Carlson who was accused of raping a woman in Kentucky, but he had never been to Kentucky. He also passed a lie-detector test.
Keanu Reeves was accused of rape which resulted in a pregnancy. A DNA test helped him get the charges dropped.
And there are other stories.
So sometimes it's about false accusations. Maybe that's the case with Kirkpatrick. I guess we shall see.
Although sometimes it's impossible to ever know the truth.
I still don't know if Michael Jackson was a child molester or just a quirky guy who liked having sleepovers with children.
17. Started to watch another Neighbours backstage video. This one stars Scott Major, who played Lucas Fitzgerald.
I don't know who that is, but maybe I shall soon learn.
18. Thought that Scott Major reminds me of one of my in-laws. He has the same kind of attitude and other similarities.
19. Saw that the actors read their script on a tablet rather than pieces of paper. I guess that would make sense in the modern world! I don't know why I expected it to be otherwise.
20. Wondered if I have seen Lucas Fitzgerald before. I don't remember him, but I do remember the woman standing to his left. Is Lucas her partner? I think maybe they're the ones who recently had the baby—the ones who wanted Susan (Jackie Woodburne) and Karl (Alan Fletcher) to move to London to help them with the baby.
21. Looked at the Perfect Blend Website. Lucas and his woman Vanessa (Alin Sumarwata) were the one who returned for the Erinsborough Festival. They talked to Chris (James Mason) about his upcoming baby with Lucy (Melissa Bell).
Lucas and Vanessa moved to Daylesford; not London.
I had them confused with someone else.
22. Struggled to find out who wanted Susan and Karl to move to London.
I finally found it, thanks to Lord Wiki. It was Malcolm Kennedy (Benjamin McNair).
23. Learned that Malcolm once had an emergency tracheotomy. That's the third I've heard of/seen on Neighbours. Back in the 1980's, Lucy Robinson had one. A few months ago, Susan performed one on Lou (Tom Oliver). And now I hear about Malcolm.
Are there any more?
24. Learned that Catherine, the mother of Malcolm's upcoming London child, was played by Radha Mitchell.
I don't remember Radha Mitchell appearing as part of the couple that tries to convince Susan and Karl to move to London. Maybe they got a new actress? Or maybe she wasn't there. Maybe Malcolm came alone. I can't remember. It would make sense, though. If she was pregnant, it might have been hard for her to travel.
25. Found a Malcolm-returns video clip.
There's no Catherine.
My memory is really mixed up about all this. Or it was. I think I've gotten things straight now.
I'm not sure why I confused the Dalysford couple with Malcolm, or why I remembered Malcolm visiting with his wife.
26. Started watching another episode of Packed to the Rafters.
This one has another Whitley song in the beginning. I'm not what the name is. I'll try to find out.
27. Used Spotify to find the song. It's "The Life I Keep".
28. Realized the song reminds me of our 2013 Australia trip. I'm not sure why. I didn't use it in any of the montage videos. Nor is it on the Spotify Playlist I made especially for our trip.
29. Disgusted with Nathan's co-worker, Layla (Rita Vandervis) on Packed to the Rafters.
Nathan (Angus McLaren) is a tired married man who's ready to go home. Layla pressures him to stay with her. Oh...and then she offers him drugs.
I'm disgusted with Nathan too, because he bitches about his wife to Layla. Not that I'm against venting about loved ones to a co-worker. But he bitches about Sammy (Jessica McNamee) wanting to go to TAFE and pursue a journalism career.
What an asshole. So it's okay for Nathan to pursue his dream career, but it's not okay for Sammy?
I hope Sammy leaves Nathan.
30. Thought it was crazy that Nathan has a job that keeps him out until four in the morning, but he has a problem with his wife wanting to go to TAFE.
Really! What the hell?
31. Saw that after Nathan gets kissed by Layla, he returns home wanting to have sex with Sammy. I imagine, if Sammy agrees to it, he'll imagine she's Layla.
32. Liked the storyline about Jake (James Stewart) and his family. Rachel (Jessica Marais) meets Jake's brother Alex (Kristian Schmid) and his mother Grace (Mercia Deane-Johns).
Alex has Cerebral Palsy. He seems to have a good sense of humor and good outlook on life. Grace is uptight. She seems a bit controlling and negative.
They talk about Rachel's job in advertising. Alex mentions that he'd like to be a presenter on television. Rachel tries to be encouraging. Then Grace sternly tells her that, in their family, they try to be realistic about things. She goes on to demand that Rachel name disabled people who've had success in that industry.
I don't think I'm doing a good job of explaining what Grace is like. But I know I don't like her. She's the kind of person who presents herself as a martyr for having a disabled child, and also the type who works to squashes the dreams of that child.
She kind of reminds me of a watered down version of Carrie White's mother.
33. Gained a little respect for Nathan.
Layla calls him into work on a Saturday night. He tells her he's with his wife and not coming. Sammy than actually pushes him to go...which I think was a mistake.
When he gets to work, Nathan yells at Layla for calling him in and threatens to quit.
Oh, and the work emergency? Layla thinks her boyfriend is cheating on her.
34. Lost that little bit of respect I had for Nathan. He gives into Layla which means staying to hang out with her and taking her drugs.
35. Heard Sammy tell Nathan he's too nice—because he stayed for hours to comfort Layla.
I'd say another way to define it is putting other people as high priority and your partner as low priority.
Some people really are very nice. Other people like to play knight in shining armor, and they'll sacrifice time with their family to do so.
36. Learned that Grace doesn't want Rachel dating her son Jake, because she feels when she dies, Jake will be responsible for taking care of Alex. She doesn't think Rachel could handle this. Grace tells Rachel all this and also says she's not good at talking to Alex.
Yeah, Rachel was a little awkward; but I think many people would be in that situation. As far as I could tell, Alex didn't have a problem with Rachel. He seemed to like her.
I think Grace is one of those mothers who doesn't want any other women in her sons' lives.