It's always good the next day too, because all that rushing around that leads up to Christmas is behind us. I don't go back to work until the Monday following New Year, so this year I'm going to get a few jobs done that I never seem to get around to. Like re-potting some plants, and hanging a few photos. Alex is going to spend 2 weeks with his father at Cowra and if I can get him to clean his room before he goes, that would be better than any Christmas present. I remember doing as I was asked when I was young. Alex is out the door as soon as he hears "Can you .....".

We hit the shops for the big sales on Boxing Day to spend the gift vouchers we all received and everyone came home excited about their purchases. It wasn't as crowded this year and I suppose the economy has much to do with that.

Tomorrow I'm going over to Wagga to visit two low-care nursing homes so we can get the ball rolling for Dad. He's allowed to stay in the residential ward at Junee Hospital until early March, but then he'll need somewhere else to go. I have forms for nursing homes all around the region and although I don't want him to end up at Tumut or Narrandera, if a bed comes up we'll have to take it. Dad's slowly getting about now. He uses a walking frame to go to the bathroom and twice a day the nurses take him for a walk up and down the corridors. He has to get some mobility back and he's doing his best to co-operate. His feet are bandaged because he has post-op sores on his heels that are taking forever to heal so it's making walking even more difficult.

I thought I'd share a photo I found, it shows how some people in India spent their Christmas.

A giant-sized Santa Claus carved by internationally acclaimed sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik in the town of Puri in India's eastern state of Orissa.

Last week I'd had a free mammogram, one of the benefits of turning 50. The letter I opened was the results. I was trying to read it without my glasses and my eyes flashed to the bold << visible evidence of breast cancer. As I'm seeing this, my mind is fixed on the << and I'm thinking, "Oh, they use fields and it hasn't inserted properly". Then I'm searching through my bag for my glasses, my mind thinking "I knew it, I knew it....". I found the glasses and then the lens popped out and fell on the floor of the car. I'm driving back to work by this stage with a million things going through my mind. "It will be okay, God, I have cancer, I just knew this would happen," and so on.

When I finally got back to work I sat in the car and fixed my glasses and read the letter again. The bold type read "there was no visible evidence of breast cancer." There was also no "<<" characters in the letter. I can't tell you how relieved I was. My mind was now saying over and over, "Oh thank God, thank God".

Breast screens are extrememly important for people of all ages, especially the over 50s group. So is wearing you glasses before reading something important.

I'm the parent of two teenagers, Carly 15 and Alex 13. I've also written lots of posts recently about teenagers out of control. I saw this photo and had an urge to put it all over town.

In one night's reading I came across the following headlines, and this is just in Australia:

13-year-old girl wields knife at Casuarina Square mall

Melbourne Xavier College muck-up boys scared neighbours

Youths charged over shooting

Youths charged over attack on media

Gold Coast schoolboy zaps mate with stun-gun

Vehicle slams head on into police car

I wrote a post two years ago about bad teen attitudes, wondering if things would improve or get steadily worse, and I've come to the conclusion that the latter is the case.

Just last night I had a run-in with my own 13-year-old son who had a stretcher in his ear. In case you're wondering what that is, it looked like a tapered nail. Stretcher piercings are a trendy way to be a little different to the normal person who just has normal pierced ears. Alex was quite adamant that it was cool. I've confiscated it, but there's no guarantee that he won't try doing it again.

I know there's plenty of teens out there that are doing the right thing, and having normal teenage fun. Both my teenagers are good kids. They like to argue to get their way and they want everything they see, but I take much of the blame for that on myself. They've been given nearly everything they want. I think this generation of teens has been over-indulged, and we as parents only have ourselves to blame.

Pagination splits up a page into smaller, more manageable sizes, and adds navigation to the bottom for the pages it creates. In this case, I've chosen to show 7 posts on each page, in keeping with the main index page.

Getting the style right caused me some problems, but with a little help from the plugin developer, I was able to get the look I wanted.

The play is advertised on the fringe festival internet site as being about "two men, one cave and the Foo Fighters".

Following outrage from the family and friends of the man killed in the disaster, the playwright later today changed the name of the play to Beaconsfield: The Musical.

I often drive to Wagga thinking how I love Spring. The fields are green and the Canola crops are thriving. Around here, not many farmers plant wheat. It's easy to forget how dry the ground is when it's lovely and green. The dams are only partially filled and every hot day draws more water from the ground. My heart goes out to these farmers who've had one bad year after another.

Water allocations getting cut last year has made the problem worse for many farmers, destroying not just crops but farmers' hopes .

Temperatures as high as 34 celsius at Swan Hill, in the state's north, and strong winds destroyed cropping areas across the Mallee, Wimmera and north-east, ending hopes that farmers could recover from the drought this year. A combination of high temperatures and close to no rainfall has meant that hundreds of farmers have now reached the point of no return.

"I'm happy," he said, as the local mayor presented him with flowers and a giant tea cup glazed with his name and date of birth. "I'm well. I eat a lot," he added.

Tomoji Tanabe, who was born Sept. 18, 1895, has nearly 100 direct descendants and walked unassisted in a kimono chosen for his birthday. He attributes his longevity to eating mostly vegetables and never drinks alcohol.

I guess that puts me out of the running. I turn 50 next weekend and I plan on having lots to drink. I didn't want to know about turning 40, but the family have insisted on a big party this year and I'm starting to look forward to it. Just to catch up with friends and family for a celebration will be a nice change.

In today's news a Moroccan blogger was jailed for 2 years for showing disrespect to the monarchy.

Mohammed Erraji, 29, was convicted after writing an article claiming King Mohammed VI's charitable habits were encouraging a culture of dependency. "This has made the Moroccans a people without dignity, who live by donations and gifts," he wrote.

I'm sure I've written worse, and I've seen much worse written about other people. A Facebook group and an internet site have been set up in support of Erraji, where you can sign a petition and leave a comment. If enough people sign it might create enough pressure to make a difference.

Human rights groups have criticised the verdict and demanded that Erraji be released. His family claim he did not receive a fair trial, and it was all over in less than 10 minutes.

Four-year-old male elephant Xiguang and his companions having their meals in a wild animal protection centre in China's southernmost Hainan Province.

Xiguang received methadone injections for a year at five times the human dosage. He was illegally captured by traders in 2005 in south-west China. When police arrested the traders and freed the elephant, it was found to be suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

The elephant's eyes kept streaming and he made continuous trumpeting noises, the Beijing News newspaper's website reported.

It is thought that the traders fed the elephant bananas laced with heroin to capture and control it. Xiguang was sent to a wild animal protection centre on Hainan island in south-west China for rehab.

Forget smoking or bullying - at Belgian Gardens State School, doing a cartwheel on the playground can get you suspended. The school has banned all forms of gymnastics during breaks, including handstands and somersaults - even the humble forward roll has been given the flick.

Mother Kylie Buschgens told The Townsville Bulletin she was dumbfounded when her daughter Cali, 10, was told she could no longer do cartwheels, even on the grass.

Later the same day, the Principal was asked to do a back-flip, and overturn the cartwheel ban.

]]> tag:www.bestoday.com.au,2008:/wind//8.2136 2008-08-17T00:46:24Z 2008-08-17T01:44:03Z

Terri deserved that money probably more so than anyone: the crap she put up with all those weeks. Good on you girl. $250,000 is nice compensation. It's a lot less than the original BB winners got though, I remember someone being a millionaire after winning Big Brother.

I won't go so far as to say I'm going to miss the show. And if it's the last season of BB I'm actually happy. I don't particularly like any of the reality shows (with the exception of Australia's Biggest Loser, I love to see the weight being shed), and I'll welcome something else to watch on TV.