Dad was all ready when I got to Amity and waited in the car while I brought all his gear out. One of the nurses loaded up a wheelchair and that made the job a bit easier. We had a final look around the main street in Tumut while I quickly ran in and cancelled his paper and Chemist account. Dad was quite taken with the drive; it's been many years since he's been that way and didn't think it would be likely he'd be seeing it again. Kind of sad to be resigned to having a look at something for the last time.

We got to the hostel around 12, just in time for lunch, and as it turned out, he knew 2 people that were at his table. That will certainly make settling in there a lot easier. His room is real cosy, on the end of a row not far from the gazebo that is the designated smoking area.

After I got Dad all settled, I picked up Carly and she did nearly an hour's driving on her Learner's Permit. Talk about a stressful hour. I've decided that next time she can go with a driving instructor and I'll pay for one lesson and she can pay for another one. I'm not a good driving teacher, far too short with her and too stressed out. I was gripping the seat in a death grip.

Last Friday we ran the Skate Comp for the April school holiday program and once again it rained and had to be called off. Prizes were given out for the scooters from the last washed out comp, and we managed to get through all the bikes this time, so they got prizes as well. This photo is of Alex on a borrowed BMX getting some air before he drops into the big bowl.

Alex and Jake at Alex's birthday lunch

Carly at Alex's birthday lunch

Jake at Alex's birthday lunch

Scarlett enjoying herself at Alex's birthday lunch

Early in the week I had the dreaded BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) that went away after a reboot. The first signs of a problem.

Last Sunday night when my backup started it returned an error saying it couldn't read the data folder... another sign of trouble looming. I discovered there was a bad sector on the partition I used to store all my personal data. That particular 320 GB disk was split up into 4 partitions: a Vista install, my Documents, my websites and technical stuff, and all the TV shows I'd downloaded.

I've got 2 × 1 TB external drives that I back up to, so I copied over all the TV shows, and already had backups of the other 3 partitions. I deleted the faulty partition and re-routed some of the links, copying all my data back to the original My Documents location and pointing the links to the new location. That helped with the speed of the computer and things looked like they were back to normal.

I could boot into Vista, but because it too was looking for the corrupted data drive, it hung and did nothing, and was totally useless.

Yesterday I removed the drive from the computer, then I couldn't boot into XP because of the boot loader that Vista uses. I put the drive back in the computer but it didn't fix the problem. I used a couple of utilities off the Hiren's Boot Disk and managed after 4 frustrating hours to finally boot into XP. From there I was able to delete the boot manager files (renamed them actually because they're impossible to delete) and now the computer boots up normally again.

Previously I had 3 hard drives in the computer. The added the 3rd hard drive and it hung on boot again and wouldn't do anything, so at the moment I have just the one hard drive in the box, and the 2 external drives. The 2nd hard drive has a backup of my xp install, and all the software I've downloaded for the last couple of years, something I don't want to lost, but something I can't access at the moment.

I haven't given up, there has to be a way to get everything working again, though the 320 gb disk is probably as Bob says. I can live without it.

For the last week the temperatures have hovered around the 40 degree Celcius mark, and hitting 43 degrees yesterday. Alex and I camped in the lounge-room for a couple of nights with the air-conditioner but last night, thankfully, it was a little cooler and I managed a good night's sleep in my own bed. That's probably the worst part - the tossing and turning through the night. I can even handle getting into a car that threatens to burn off your nose hairs and sear your throat, with a steering wheel that you have to keep taking your hands off or they'll burn. But those sleepless nights, they're hard to take.

I haven't seen Carly since Wednesday. Now that she's working she's staying over at Lauren's house a lot more, and Lauren has suggested her own room there. Carly still has her friends and sporting commitments here so I guess she'll continue to stay between both places. It's quiet here without her, no music blaring from her room, no scream tantrums with Alex.

I bought a 2nd-hand whipper snipper just before Christmas at the markets and managed to get the front of the house done for the big day, with the motor idling. The throttle wouldn't work. Then Alex was using it out the back and the head stopped spinning. Now because it's about 5 weeks since buying it, I couldn't very well take it back, so I asked Alex to have a look at it. He's a genius when it comes to motors - it's going better than ever. He fixed the throttle and the head, and even cleaned up around the tap where the grass was so lush from the leak there. His father was also good at fixing motors so it must be in the genes. I'm very proud of him.

This weekend is a little different because Monday is Australia Day and I don't have to go to work. Dad's still in hospital, so holiday or not, he's expecting me there every day to take him outside for an hour. I normally do it after work, so my days have been very long, getting home from work around 6.30pm, then if Carly's working, it's off to Wagga around 8 or 9.30 to pick her up. I don't mind the drive to Wagga, it's a half-hour run, and quite relaxing. Then another half-hour to get back home, but during that time I can catch up with Carly and comfortable even when we don't talk. She's been staying at Lauren's since Wednesday because she's had a 10am start each morning. It's been quiet with just Alex and I, and most nights he's slept at mates' houses.

I've discovered another distraction too, like I need one, and it's taking up way too much of my time. Yes, Facebook. I've been a Facebook user for ages now, but never really got into it until I discovered Hatchlings, one of the many applications that has me hooked. I went from about 10 to 130 friends in a couple of weeks just so I could search their nests (unless you play you probably don't know what I'm talking about). It's amazing, but I've actually met some very nice people from all over the world, who love to chat and actually get to know you. Facebook has built-in chat that makes it easy to talk in real time, and I've found that I'm logging in morning, lunch and night to see who is online. It's crazy, I feel like I've been hijacked.

School goes back next week and today Alex and I went to Wagga and bought everything he needs to start off the new school year. Everyone else must have had the same idea, because it was a nightmare trying to get a park, then jostling the crowds in the school supplies aisles. We survived, and it didn't hurt the budget too much either which was a nice surprise.

I picked Carly up from work around 9.30pm last night after I picked up Zeke and Riley from Lauren's. She and Daniel had plans for a night out and Daniel's mum got sick at the last minute. I don't mind them sleeping over, they're no trouble at all, and both Alex and Carly are excellent with them. Zeke slept with Alex, and we set up the travel cot for Riley in Carly's bedroom.

Today Emily and Kai came over with meet for a BBQ so we had a bit of a family get-together, which is always nice.

It's been another busy week in the Hambilton household. Last Sunday Carly and I did what I thought was the last of the Christmas shopping, and we came home minus one of the shopping bags. I practically ripped the car apart looking for it, and couldn't believe I would be so stupid to walk off without picking it up, but it seems that's exactly what I did. Thursday night Alex and I went across to Wagga again and I retraced my steps, asking about the bag in all the shops I'd been to. Carly and I had a coffee at Gloria Jeans and the bag was there. My thanks to their honest staff. I was grateful that I didn't have to re-buy everything in it too.

Wednesday night we had a family get-together with about 22 of us turning up. It was a great night and everyone enjoyed their meals. Friday night was the Council Christmas Party and we got the bus out to Illabo Hotel. It was a good night too, but cold. The band was from Griffith and they were pretty good. It's a nice pub and I was surprised at the crowd that was there. I managed to wake up feeling okay, and spent an hour cleaning up the back yard. That got rid of the slight headache and I felt good afterwards. I've been washing and cleaning all morning. After such a busy week things got out of hand pretty quickly around here.

Alex with Jake

Lauren and Emily

Our family gathering

Riley

I'm nearly there with the presents. Perhaps I have one or two more to buy, and maybe a few bits and pieces. I gave Dad an early Christmas present today. A new pair of flannelette pyjamas and a jacket. The weather is so cold that he's feeling it more than the rest of us. We've been going outside most days so he can have a couple of quick cigarettes, and he was disappointed that we couldn't go today. He has little else to look forward to. I was there twice today, and he's looking a bit better, but still not getting around much.

I'm doing Christmas lunch for the family this year and I think I'll invite Mum and Reg. It's not often that they get to spend time with the great-grand children. Reg is giving me a ham, so hot and cold for lunch sounds good. There's nothing like thick slices of ham off the bone at Christmas. My mouth is watering already, so the more people to eat it the better too, because I know that after a few days of eating the ham, you get pretty sick of it. In previous years the family has always come over later in the day, and no-body is up to eating much after a big Christmas lunch and there's been such a terrible waste of food.

We're having a family get-together next Wednesday night at La Porchetta Italian Restaurant in Wagga (where Carly works). We chose Wednesday night because both Amy and Carly work Thursday night, and Carly works Friday and Saturday nights. What with work Christmas parties as well, we thought a mid-week get-together would work better. We've got a big family and so there'll be lots coming. I'm looking forward to it. We're all so busy that we don't see each other as often as we should. Friday night I'm going to our work Christmas Party. They've organised a bus to take us to the Illabo pub and bring us home again.

Last night we had a practice run, with a farewell for one of the guys at work. It was a great night and I had lots of laughs that I was badly in need of. I drank light beers and could have driven home, but I was a good girl and got a lift with a non-drinking friend. I'd organised for Alex to stay at a friend's house, but as with the best-laid plans, they don't always work out. He rang me around 9.30pm to see where I was. The mother of the boy had gone off, so Alex came home. Another mate ended up staying (and again tonight), so he wasn't home alone while I was out.

Carly put the tree up earlier in the week and now it looks great surrounded by gifts. Alex will be excited, and when he comes home (he's off at the skate park, as usual) he'll look for the ones with his name on them.

Friday I brought Dad over here to the Junee hospital where he has a lovely room with a shower and toilet. He's not getting around very well, so the shorter distance is bonus. I took him outside today so he could have a smoke. He's been very good considering he's had none for a couple of weeks. I think tomorrow the physiotherapist is going to start some serious work with him to get him mobile again. I've gold him he has to start walking again or he'll end up the youngest person in an old people's home with drooling 90-year-olds. If that won't spur him along, I don't know what will. He certainly won't be going anywhere in a hurry if he can't walk.

The hospital here in Junee only opened in April, so everything is lovely and new. The nurses are lovely too, so I hope he likes it there. It's going to save me an hour of travelling each night after work and we might be able to eat normal meals again. I'll spend my lunch break with Dad each day and perhaps pop in there after work. I just hope it works out. He can stay there for up to 12 weeks, and if he's not walking by then I'm not sure what the next step will be. For now it's one day at a time.