Day 36 - Mum to the rescue..

M's tennis shoes should have been enough of an indication that price doesn't necessarily equal quality..or longevity in shoes. However having purchased Colorado's before, I really expected a LOT from her new school shoes. We tried on a heap of shoes before purchasing and these were the most comfortable. We hadn't heard the "lace up" black, polishable shoes mantra so as these were polishable black shoes I thought they'd be fine. One complete week after school started I got a call from M saying that her shoes were broken (see pic). Ugh! I rang the store and organised to swap them over at recess time. When we got there we made it clear that we'd be going for a different style "thankyou very much" and the tryons began again... We came home with Colorado's again (they really are a nice shoe) but this time they are lace up and quite honestly I think M is much happier with these as they are almost the same as everyone else's. AND her sandshoes should last longer too, with her not wearing them to school every day..you've gotta love a uniform!!

Day 35

4th February 2009.

M doesn't walk with me on Wednesdays as it's a very long day..... After a big day at school, including an afternoon of swimming, M has a hit with her favourite coach - Craig. A year or two ago M had group lessons with Craig and they used to clash..big time. I was even called into the office to discuss her behaviour and their personality clashes at one point. Then at the beginning of last year, when she no longer had Craig as her coach she was ready to give up tennis. Craig rescued her. Pulled her out of her slump and arranged his schedule to fit her in, so that she didn't throw in the towel. Now a year later he is mentoring her, and offering support where he can. He pushes her, because he knows she's capable. He is enjoying working with "elite juniors" and you can tell he has a soft spot for her. After a recent chat about where M is and where she'd like to be in six months time he agreed to match her effort 100% and if she slacks off..he will too. Thank you Craig!!! (This was a tough picture to take. I used my night setting and took a bunch of photos that kept focussing on the fence between us and Craig...thankfully this one is pretty good and Craig is the focus - not the fence!)

Day34

The Ice has Broken!
We got our black and white cat from the RSPCA after I told them I'd like a black and white cat, if one came in. She was already named Ice. I'm not sure why she was called Ice, but I think her name suits her.. she's always been a bit of an ice maiden... until she chose not to be :)
Since the unfortunate death of our Beautiful Louis, Ice (aka Ick-e) has become more of a presence in our home. Previously she spent most of her time sitting on the back of the lounge, up on top of the tv unit/scrapbooking cupboard or tucked away in the wardrobe - unless she felt the need to visit...usually when I was trying to scrapbook or type! She still does all these things but she spends a lot more time sitting on the lounge with us and sleeping with the kids. Now she "allows" us to pat her when she's sleeping, without feeling the need to run off and hide. She comes to us when she wants a pat and when she sleeps inside she doesn't wake us up with scratching and purring, she sits quietly outside our bedroom door until someone gets up.
I took this photo earlier in the year, but it's a nice one of her and it shows how she loves to sit on my stuff! When I woke to find her sitting outside our room this morning I thought it was the perfect picture for Day 34, 3/2/09.
I've always loved my big girl, Ice, but with her standoffish personality the kids preferred Louis. Now they love Ice, almost as much as I do, because she's lovable and loving us back!!

Day 33

The alarm went off at 5.30am and I promptly rolled over and asked A to turn it off. This morning's exercise would be on the treadmill rather than a "real" walk with the Running and Walking club. I had intended to run, but quickly returned to my more familiar and comfortable walking, with a few hills and a little jog. I thought I might have been disappointed in myself for not going out walking but It was the opposite. I was proud of myself for getting onto the treadmill at all! 20 minutes and 2.2kms - not much, but better than nothing and I sure worked up a sweat - at least I didn't have to worry about flies...

I passed the day reconciling statements, something I really like to do. At around 3.45 Lorraine pointed out that I hadn't even stopped for lunch, and shortly later Mum arrived for a visit. After a quick chat Mum and I decided to go to Gloria's for a cuppa, using my two for one voucher from the Masters Games. It was nice to get out of the office and to have some company at the same time :) We wandered back to my workplace via the Chemist and the Flight Centre, arriving at the office about 15 minutes before A was due to pick me up. I unlocked the office, cleared my desk and prepared to leave only to discover I'd locked myself IN...thankfully there was another door that I could open from the inside and I was able to meet the family only a few minutes later than planned. The next two hours were spent at the tennis centre, where M and T got back into their group lessons and I sat chatting before coming home to a lovely stir-fry tea.

10 Things

My friend Midnite Scrapper posted a writing-prompt. A couple of days ago, I asked to play along and I received my letter: R
The rules of the game are simple. Once assigned a letter you are to post 10 things that you love which begin with that letter. It took me a couple of days to get my act together, but I did manage to find ten things that start with the letter "R".
(If you want to play, leave me a message saying you want to play in my comment area. I’ll assign a random letter and on and on it goes.)

1. Relaxing: I don't do this often enough. Relaxation to me is time with my thoughts or a good book..in the bath or on my bed... alone or with someone I love...away from the madness of my everyday life.

2. Reading: Something else I don't do as much as I'd like. I tend to read a book and then if I like it, try to find others by the same author. I also like to read Blogs, SS posts, Scrapbook Page Journalling and my emails. I nearly always read newspapers backwards - reading the Sports Pages and/or Obituaries.

3. Reacher: Jack Reacher, my new favourite book character. I'm slowly buying the Lee Child's books one by one off Ebay after discovering the first book, Killing Floor at the Darwin Airport. It's like watching a good movie - there's love, lust, action and of course the Hero that always saves the day!

4. Raquets: I spend soooo much time at the tennis courts with the kids, shopping for tennis equipment, managing Tennis Teams, paying for tennis lessons and playing tennis that I couldn't possibly leave this word of my list of 10... It's a shame the new racquet I bought myself is disappointing. A likes it though and I can always fall back on my old faithful - even though the kids at the court think it's rather odd looking :)

5. Roast Pork: One of my favourite roast meats and yet it's the one we eat least because A says he doesn't like pork. Funny story though.. last time I cooked roast pork I made him his own meal of Scotch Fillet Steak. After a few days I noticed his steaks were still in the fridge so I gave them to the dog. When I told A what I'd done he was very surprised ... you see he'd eaten the pork and thoroughly enjoyed it, thinking it was his steak!! I guess he doesn't dislike pork as much as he'd thought!

6. Rearranging Furniture: On occasion I will take it upon myself to vacuum etc. thoroughly after the family have done it "their way" for quite some time. When I move the furniture, to clean under it, I often rearrange the room.. A has many times come home to find his loungeroom looking very different to the one he left...

7. Real time with my DH: You know how it is, time without interrruptions. We don't get much quiet time together with three kids, so it's nice when it happens. Our favourite spots to escape are -the front window ledge - looking out at the mountain or up at the stars; the outside chairs - looking into our yard, and our bedroom - it's our little sanctuary..no kids allowed (well as much as you can keep kids out of anywhere lol). We are also lucky to have my sister Kat and friend Kirsten who will look after our children so that A and I can go on the occasional "date".

8. Reconciling Accounts: What a funny thing to love! But after Dental Nursing (something I wanted do as a kid and all through my teens), working in a Supermarket (checkout, deli and office), book keeping and administrating I realise that I love the challenge of reconciliation. It's a bit like a puzzle and feels really good when it's finished!! I love my job :)

9. Rain Storms: I love listening to the sound of Rain on a tin roof. I love the smell of new rain.
(petrichor (PET-ri-kuhr) nounThe pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell.[From petro- (rock), from Greek petros (stone) + ichor (the fluid that is supposed to flow in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology). Coined by researchers I.J. Bear and R.G. Thomas.]"Petrichor, the name for the smell of rain on dry ground, is from oils given off by vegetation, absorbed onto neighboring surfaces, and released into the air after a first rain." Matthew Bettelheim; Nature's Laboratory; Shasta Parent (Mt Shasta, California); Jan 2002) I love it when the power goes out and you get to spend time doing things they did in the old days...cooking popcorn on a gas stove, playing games around a lantern... spending time as a family, not distracted by the computers and tvs of modern life!

10. Recording Moments/Memories: This includes Scrapbooking, Writing a Journal, Taking Notes, Blogging, Emailing and/or simply cutting articles out of the newspaper. I am constantly amazed at the little things I wouldn't have remembered if I hadn't recorded the moment...

Day 32

I could have just used the Cartridge picture for my day 32 picture but it doesn't really say much about my day :) When the cartridge arrives that could be a whole other story! Today's photo is of the river flowing. We usually have dry river beds around our area. Considering it hasn't rained much here, this water must be coming from somewhere out bush. We were planning on walking across the river bed to the Telegraph Station but it was too wet. Most of the group meandered down to the edge of the water, to look at the river flowing, before we turned around and walked 3.2kms on a different track back to town. When we crossed the footbridge, twenty minutes later, the river bed in town was still dry and several groups of Indigenous people were sitting in the sand enjoying the morning sun. Apparently the water wasn't flowing as quickly as we thought it was!

Can you believe it's February already?

Now it's going to be harder to make sure I haven't missed any days in my 365 Project - at least in January I could just check the date (Jan 3rd - yes I have three photos). I'm still really excited about this project and I've finished my 12 on 12 layout for January. I need to do last week and this week's layouts in the next few days and I'll be feeling really good about my Scrapbooking. I've already done more this month than I did for most of last year! As well as my 12 on 12 I finished my 2007 Christmas pages. I'll print 2008 Christmas photos and weeks 3 and 4 of 2009 then I'll be up to date with these two projects, which I'm rapt about.
I've used my Cricut for each layout in the 365 Project Album and today was my favourite layout so far. I was so excited I just purchased Zooballoo from OhMyCrafts.com and even with international posting I've saved about $30 on buying it locally :) If it all works out ok, and the product arrives safely, and my currency calculations are correct, Mum and I'll be ordering more from OS.

Day 31

School holidays are officially over. All the activities are starting up again, including Tennis and Baseball and School Sport planning. Sometimes I feel as if I've never left my old job. I spent a good deal of the afternoon doing School Sport stuff. Planning, emails, flyers and forms...just as well I love the work and what the organisation stands for. I'm wondering if I'll enjoy it even more now that it's not expected and it's a volunteer role. All I know is I'm not ready to let it go. Our Cluster is going through a rough patch at the moment, with nobody doing the Admin job and nobody stepping up to Cluster Chair, so I'm going to give it what I've got, to help it prosper. We've really worked hard to get it running more smoothly over the past few years and it would be a shame if it fell in a heap now. 2009 will be a good opportunity for the volunteers to actually be more of the process, rather than expecting "someone else" to do what needs doing. The cluster is a group of people working to a common goal, not an entity that works all by itself - just as a church is "the people" not the building.. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in 2009. This year's motto is "It's time to shine in 09".. we will see.

Day 30

As most Californian's would say: It's a MOST unusual day :)
It's been very strange. I'm not sure what it wants to do? It's windy, and grey and looking like it wants to rain, but there's no rain on the Meteorology website until the weekend, and it's really hot...at least it makes for different scenery from my work window! It also leads to discussion about the weather. Today, tomorrow, the last storm...THE BIG STORM, which by the way happened when the wind was blowing in completely the other direction and ripped the Territory Flag from the pole.
Great weather for take away.
T had a party to go to so B and M had hot chips for tea and A and I had burgers. T has a habit of getting invited to little girl's parties. Apparently they all "love me" LOL! Tonight he had trouble deciding if he should write "love from" on the card or only "from" ..because she already "loves me" LOL Not sure what he decided, but he trotted happily into the party, played with all the kids on the indoor playground, had two serves of ice cream cake and came home with a balloon and two bags of lollies
It's also great weather for Movies. After collecting T from the party we sat down together to watch "Kicking and Screaming". Will Farrell is the current favourite in our house, but as usual I fell asleep and woke just as the credits were rolling.

Day 29-my baby's growing up...

It was wierd taking a "first day of school photo" on two days, and with not all the kids together.
Today was M's first day of highschool. None of her close friends are going to the same school but she's got 8 other friends joining her at this new school. She's sharing her classroom with Courtney and the rest of the kids from her old school are boys, all paired up in the other three grade 7 classes.
I started work late so I could get her settled in and it was nerve wracking for her. . is my dress too long? no one else has the same shoes as me? my hair's all messy! lol. We started the day with assembly in the main hall, where all the kids sat in their class lines and then went to the home for the year, with their new teacher. The first hour was spent checking their stationery packs and reading the introduction to their diary before learning all the rules... I left her around 9.30am and headed off to work, more than a little worried about her and the fact that we'd separated her from her friends.
Just after 3pm I called her at home to see how she was and how her day had been. She could have knocked me over with a feather, she was SOOOO excited!! She said it was probably even better than her old school, and "my dress is fine"! They had chosen their electives for term one and she's chosen to do Tennis, surprise.. surprise!

Day 28 - I have CROCS!!

Well, I have a cheap pair of green shoes from Target that resemble CROCS. I've wanted some for the longest time but honestly wondered (and still do) if I am too old for them. I only got these because I was looking for sandals/thongs for showering and boating in NZ. I wore them to work today and thought they'd be perfect for today's photo. Green is my favourite colour and these are a really nice bright green...Quote of the day "you sure can see you coming with those shoes" LOL

Day 27

Work day today, and the last day of School Holidays for B and T. This photo is the view from my office window. I love it when the wind is blowing just right and you can see the flags flying like this. We see lots of weather changes from our office but we don't hear them. Like the day, late last year, when our town was battered by one of the fiercest storms ever seen in the town. We watched it come in, but were protected from it's violence. When we left the building to go home before the next front was supposed to hit it was almost surreal. The sky was a bizzare colour and the air was thick, with trees fallen all around. The town rallied together though and the clean up began almost immediately. One of our shade structures was torn off it's wire but we escaped pretty much unscathed! I wonder what the view will be like from our new offices?

Day 26 - Australia Day 2008

ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FAIR
Australians all let us rejoice
For we are young and free,
We've golden soil and wealth for toil
Our home is girt by sea.

Our land abounds in nature's gifts
Of beauty, rich and rare,
In History's page, let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.

In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross
We'll toil with hearts and hands,
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands.

For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share,
With courage let us all combine
to Advance Australia Fair

In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia Fair

We got to sleep in today - our walk didn't start until 7am :) I was pretty happy with my walking time; finishing my 3kms in just over 23 minutes in a race to the line with a lady who had walked most of the way with me...I'm not really sure who won, but I think she may have pipped me by the smallest of margins! B and T took off running at the start of the race and I didn't see them again until the finish line. B got one of the coveted Australia Day medals for coming first in the 12/U girls division and T got his photo in Tuesday's paper. M and Auntie came up the rear, although not last and Grandma tried but couldn't catch me, finishing some where in the middle of the pack :) After the walk we had a light breakfast of fruit and cereals and then wandered around to the Australia Day Ceremony where our friend Gail became an Australian Citizen. It was a hot day and unfortunately the planners didn't provide shade for new Australians or School Citizenship Award winners, who spent almost two hours in the very hot sun. I was however impressed by the fact we sang both verses of the National Anthem and then after the ceremony were entertained by a man who sang good Australian songs like "We are Australian" There was a birthday cake for people born on the 26th of Jan for us to share and a BBQ breakfast, including Bacon and Egg Sandwiches!
After the ceremony we went to play tennis. Auntie and I played against Grandma and M and the other kids took turns in playing on the next court and the practise wall. It was a fun hit, with Auntie not having hit a tennis ball in a number of years and Grandma trying hard to impress her Grand Daughter with her Pre 1980s Yonnex Aluminium Raquet that the kids are sure resembles a squash racquet!

Day 25

Sunday January 25th 2008. This was the day Brayden and Auntie came walking with us and we walked 6.8kms at a much slower than usual pace. It didn't start well, Auntie's alarm didn't go off and M had to wake her up.Whilst they were getting ready I drove around to get "Grandma" who I nearly left behind as she got locked in by the "baby proof door"! When we arrived at the start point we passed the rest of the group and I never caught up to them - although M and G did :)
Auntie and I spent a good bit of the time trying to convince Brayden to hurry up, Maccas was closing, we were nearly there etc. etc. and finally made it to Mcdonalds for breakfast just as most of the others were ready to leave! He was very excited to see a Kangaroo cross the path behind us, but was VERY upset with me for trying to get him eye height to an Orb Spider!! After we climbed a hill to take this photo he wanted to climb all the hills we came across, but his legs were "too tired" to walk..... Considering his age and height Brayden did very well, but he was quick to say he didnt' want to come again LOL. Having said all that Auntie agreed to join us on the Australia day fun run on Monday :)

After going home for a shower etc. Auntie came to visit. The kids swam and Auntie and I "practise packed" my backpack for NZ. It was fun. It's all seeming more real now :) According to my desktop countdown it's getting closer by the second!!

365 Layouts Wk1 and Wk2

I started this project, simply to get me working on my albums. This album was going to be very simple, no wallpapering and hopefully sustainable..
Well, we are into week 4 and I've completed two of three layouts and taken photos for 12 on 12, which I will also include in this years album.
I've noticed my photos are becoming more mainstream and not so creative so I'll have to work on that! It gets hard to think of new things when you are at work most of the day :)
WEEK 1: Started out extremely basic. Printed journaling, photos, two strips of PMP, title, sentiment and lots of white space. After I went back and looked at it I decided it couldn't be THAT basic! I chalked the journaling with SU! chalks and added the "circle" in the corner and then another day added the pumpkin/leaves. It's still very basic, but not plain...and it's in my album!
WEEK 2: Fitting 7 photos on is a LOT harder than fitting 4 :) I played around with sizes for the photos plus tried a HEAP of different layouts, finally settling on a variation of a BH sketch VOL2. Again I have used chalk on the journaling boxes and also around the LHS page. Both pages have a bit of pen work. I think next week I'll pick a layout and take photos to fit....

Day 24 - A day I did nothing I planned to!

Well almost! M and I organised to have a hit of tennis and as we were leaving we rang Ross to see if he'd like to come and hit with T. The boys played doubles on one court and M and I hit for a long time then played a set, which I lost 3-6. Whilst we continued to play our match the boys practised their serves.. T and I teamed up against M and Ross for what was a fun mixed doubles match. T and I lost 6-5. Both boys learned some of the finer points of tennis and T's serves improved lots!
We visited Auntie on the way home and Brayden came to visit with us as did Ross. The kids spent a big day playing Sims2, watching tennis, swimming and chatting. Mum came to visit and to check out my green crocs (finally got some!!) which I'll be using for showering and boating in NZ. As she was leaving there was a spot rainstorm and thunder over by Mt Gillen. We got about 26 drops of rain, a few claps of thunder and the lovely petrichor (smell of rain) We finally dropped Ross home around 6.30pm and B returned shortly thereafter from her sleepover.
I had planned to do some more in my 365 project album, practise pack my backpack, clean up my clothes and prepare my itinerary pages with addresses for NZ.. thankfully it's a long weekend and I'll get another chance :)

Day 23

After a big day at work it was really nice to come home to a beautiful tea of Curried Prawns, Spicy Dip, Tzatziki and Pita breads - lovingly prepared for us by A :)
With a full tummy I adjourned to the lounge room for another night of the Australian Open whilst M played with her Sims2 family on the PC and "the boys" watched Underworld. Seeing as how the tennis has played such a big part of our viewing the past couple of weeks and the Aussies are doing so well I thought it would be the perfect thing to photograph for today's photo....
It took quite a few shots to get a good one but I particularly like the way this one has two pictures of Jelena Dokic right before she won the match to get into the 4th round :) She's certainly doing very well. I'm so glad the Australian public is behind her and welcoming her "home".

Day 22: The beginning of a new era....

After the events of yesterday it was nice to be able to focus on something else...something new and something exciting.
I met M,A and B for an early lunch and took M for her uniform fitting, ready for high school next week. It was mad! There were bodies everywhere crowding into the two little store rooms, three change rooms and two service counters. Combined with the fact that it was hot and we didn't really know what we needed to buy it was quite an experience! Thankfully the stationery packages are now being handed out on the first day of school instead of at another crazy handout :) Today's picture is one of M in the changeroom, ready to make her way to Janice at the credit machine near the front door! It will take some time to get used to M in a school uniform that isn't turquoise...Just as it will take some time to get used to coming home and not being met in the driveway by Louis, "the best cat in the world"..

After waiting patiently in the shade for almost half an hour because they couldn't fit inside the uniform shop A and B were more than ready for lunch at McDonald's by the time we came out!!

Day 21 - a sad day for our family :*(

Today we lost a valued member of our family. Louis the cat. He came to join us when we moved back here from Canberra. He was 7 months old at the time and although he was a family cat, M considered him "hers".
A stayed home from work to look after the girls today and I got a phone call mid morning from M in tears, to say that Louis needed to be put down after A accidentally ran over Louis.
Here's M's post copied and pasted from her Blog:
xxxx to have a hit (at first I didn't want to go but after we got there I was having fun!!!)
After our hit we went to the post office and bought mum her Giraffe and to send Bxxxs parcel.
When we finished there dad took us to McDonald's to get a Mcflurry and it was so yummmm!!!
When we were pulling up in the drive I heard this "meow" and I looked at the front of the car and there was Lewis the #1 cat in the world under the tyre.
I just screamed and told dad to reverse, so he did.
Loui ran into the next door neighbours house so we went back into the house and grabbed a big container and a towel and went back to get him.
he ran under their car and he was panting so hard, I was shaking and crying, I went to the car
and tried to get him but he moved to the other side.
thank-fully our neighbour pulled up and asked what was wrong so we told him and he offered to move the car so we could get him, but as soon as the car moved he moved so we got him and took him to the vet.
when the lady looked at him and did everything, she said that Louis had a broken spine and that the bottom half of his body was paralysed and his lung was damaged.
she asked us if we wanted to ring mum so we could decide what we wanted to do, but we didn't so we put him down and we were all so devastated we rang mum and told her what happened and she was upset as well.
when we got back home dad rang mum and asked her if she wanted us to pick her up and she said yes.
On the way home we didn't really talk much because we were all still sad.
when we got home we chose where we were gonna bury him, then I gave mum her Giraffe teddy, then went out the front to talk to dad about the garden because I think he was only doing the weeding because he was sad and also felt bad.
Now bxxx is going to bake some biscuits with dad for Kitty.

I wonder how Txxx is going to feel, because he cries over someone killing a grasshopper, or getting rid of a car!lol lol

It's gonna feel so weird without Louis.
I'm going to miss him coming down to the bottom of the drive way to greet us every time we come home :(
xxxxxxxoooooooxxxxxxxoooooooxxxxxoxxxoxooox
Rest In Peace Louis
Love you soooooooooooooo much, my #1 cat in the world:) >>
I've xxxd out the names etc.. The top picture is the last picture I took of Louis (12/1) and the bottom one was taken just before we said our goodbyes.

Day 20

Today was my second day without my lifesaver Kirsti. After taking yesterday off I had to work today and so did A. I came home at lunch time to check on the girls and Turner decided to join us inside. He's not allowed on the lounge but somehow his cuddle turned into an on the lounge hug. I don't think he realises he's not a little puppy any more :) Bonnie took a heap of photos and this is one of many with the light behind me not very condusive to photography.... After lunch I dropped the girls at the movies to see "Bride Wars" and then they walked over to meet me after work. I can't believe they are so grown up...where have the years gone?

Day 19

M cooked tea for us and we had Spagbog. I was cleaning the pool - vacuuming seems so pointless! You go around and around and then all of a sudden the pool is greenish, with all the sediment settling back onto the bottom of the pool as soon as you finish...grrrr. I got some stuff from the pool shop, so I hope it helps. Other than the stuff on the bottom, the pool looks GREAT!
I'm so glad M is able to help out now as it was very late when I finished cleaning and it was the second night in a row that I'd spent cleaning the pool.

Day 18

All the best laid plans....and all that... After going home early in preparation for this morning's walk, I slept through the alarm. I woke at 5.06am and then went back to sleep to wait for the 5.30 alarm, only to wake at 6.00. Aaarrrgh!! I was really disappointed, but when M got up we decided we'd still go. Around 7.30 we arrived at the start point, just as our usual walking group were preparing to go for coffee. We walked the same walk as we did on my birthday so we wouldn't get lost but were still off road. It was a great day to walk, overcast with the occasional spots of rain. I remembered to bring a camera today and we took quite a few pics along the way. This is my favourite, and as I'm scared of spiders I'm very proud I even got close enough to use the Macro setting! I was planning on photographing a different spider but as I went to walk around to the other side of the web I almost walked into this one. It moved and had it's back to me so I got a better photo than I'd planned!!
After our walk we went to Macca's and the walking group was still there, which was nice. M and I went to Mad Harry's for a spot of shopping before going home to the family. T was the only one awake, playing his new "Lego Batman" PS2 game.

Day 17

As promised, after M and T returned from their sleepover, T and I went to the movies. After much discussion and trying to fit in around A's schedule we decided on Bolt at 12.15. We went in armed with a mixed bag of M&Ms and our drinks and we were so early we even beat the advertisements! During the ads we decided we'd like to see Monsters vs Aliens, Pink Panther2 and Ice Age 3, so we'll need to keep an eye out for them in the July holidays. We still have a week of these holidays left so we'll probably go and see Bedtime Stories and/or TWILIGHT! That should keep my SS friends happy LOL! M is hanging to see Twilight...
Bolt was quite good, I even shed a tear. T was a bit disappointed when the initial Super Hero stuff stopped but then once he saw there was a storyline he sat riveted, trying to figure out what was "movie" and what was "real life" even pointing out that it was "a bit sad". Good choice overall, as I wouldn't have seen it if we'd been able to go to Bedtime Stories.
Around 4pm we went to Nicko's house to celebrate his birthday with a bunch of people from work. We had a good night, with M and I leaving around 10.30 so we could get a good sleep before our Sunday walk, and AB&T got home around 2.30am!! Turns out Nicko's birthday is actually on the same day as mine.

Day 16

I had a full on day at work today, trying to tidy up some loose ends and was pleased with the dent I made in my "waiting for....." pile. I determined that I would NOT be going home to fall asleep on the lounge today, as it was becoming a bit of a regular occurrence and I didn't want it to become a habit. The kids were inside helping make "toast pizzas" and I seized the moment to grab my chair and float around the pool whilst there was piece and quiet. Dinner was over all too quickly and I was soon joined by three active (read splashy) children. It took a lot of convincing for T to stay out long enough for B to take this picture but we managed to get it done, finally! A came in for a short while and joined me on my "throne" with lots of laughter as we were no longer floating, rather being held up by my little legs! After tea I went over to K's for her house warming party and a fun night of Pictionary with K and Mum. The kids and A went to the club for a few hours and M and T ended up sleeping over at their friend's house. B came home with her dad and found me fast asleep on the lounge - I must be getting old!!

Day 15

Today was just another day at the office, but I was greeted with this bright birthday card from my boss. It calls me a "banana" for trying to keep it quiet LOL and I discovered that my sister K who works for the same organisation had spilled the beans on my birthday.
The Magno-men are an attempt to brighten up my work space, but I found that I don't have a very magnetic work area. They belong to the children, but they've not missed them as far as I can tell :)

Day 14

Happy Birthday to Me!!
M and T came walking with me this morning as B was at a sleepover and A wasn't home from his night shift. We walked for just over an hour and both kids did really well. T and I came up the rear for a bit, just chatting and walking, before we decided we didn't like being last... We ran and passed a few people at a time, with M and T ending up racing to the carpark for "first place". They both enjoyed themselves and were looking forward to the next walk. Unfortunately for T it won't be every time as I like to walk at a faster pace than his little legs can keep up with!
Mum greeted me with a candle and Gift Voucher for my birthday. I started work late as M and T were very keen to give me my present and I wanted to wait till their dad was home...it was worth the wait, they gave me a CrazyPopper popcorn maker to replace the one B had burned out a few years ago....Kirsten and I met up for lunch and then after work she came over to drop of a very chocolate cake she'd baked especially for me, then she left her kids here for a swim whilst she went out for a walk. After her walk we chatted for a bit before I took MTB over to my sister's new house for a lovely prawn birthday tea :)

Day 13

I was going to post the 12 pictures I took on the 12th for the 12 of 12 challenge on SS but my PSP7 doesn't want to load .. I think I need to put this computer to sleep and restart it tomorrow. Anyway, at least, after a year, I finally remember to take the 12 photos! Hopefully I will also be able to scrap them, as part of my Year in photos (365 project) album for 2009.
Today's photo is from my Vision Training and Webinar. We had around 10 laptops plugged into power boards in the conference room and spent the day zooming around in Vision, creating excel reports from Sun Finance..it was very interesting but extremely tiring. I was exhausted! I had a sleep on the lounge somewhere before 7pm and wasn't much more mobile after that..I only got up off the lounge to pick the kids up from "Marly and Me" at the movies. T and I will go on Saturday as I may feel more awake then! I fell asleep last time I went to a night movie so didn't want to risk it today :)

DAY 12

Andrew met me at work and we snuck out for a drink at the Sports Bar before heading home. We had to spend $15 to use the cc so we got a take-away Vanilla Slice to share later....we had double dessert tonight LOL
This dessert (pictured) was lovingly and very secretively prepared by B9 and T7 :) Cooking chocolate, strawberries, nectarines, peanuts, banana, strawberry doughnut using the tealight fondue set T won in a pre-school raffle a few years ago.
B and T love to surprise us with little things like this - Breakfast is another meal they love to prepare...

Day 11

M came home from Auntie's just as we were settling in to do some budget planning for our NZ trip.
She "undressed" our Christmas tree, ready for me to take it apart and put it away for another year. It's time to start thinking about school supplies, not Christmas, even though CMPhoto is sharing her countdown with us on a regular basis on SS!

I went for another walk this morning but this time we went bush. It was a good chance to stretch out some of the muscles that were a bit sore from yesterday's race and an opportunity to do some bushwalking prior to our big mountain walk in New Zealand. After an hour and a half at the hiking shop yesterday I got my new hiking boots as well as some good socks, sock liners, zip off 3/4 pants and a neck roll to keep out the cold. I've also ordered a pair of 3/4 thermal underpants. I'm looking forward to wearing all my new gear, especially trying my hiking boots around here before we go. I thought about wearing the boots today, but I think I'll wear them around home a bit for a few days first...

Day 10

In preparation for New Zealand and also to increase M's overall fitness I decided we should go walking with Grandma and the Running and Walking club. This was my first such walk in quite a while and as it turned out it was a tough first walk. It was the final in a three series 5km competition. I walked hard the first 2.5kms, ahead of mum who walks regularly but is after all sixty years old!! After the turn/water stop I slowed right down and was passed by my three pacing partners. I began to stroll as I really couldn't keep up the same pace for another 2kms...then I got bored, so I jogged a bit, giving up my walking status (race numbers 300 and above are for walkers and I was number 345) and walked and ran until I crossed the finish line in the official time of 40.12minutes. Mum aka Grandma crossed not too far behind me and ended up taking out the silver medal after taking part in all three races in this series. Mel is all organised to come out with us on Wednesday...I wonder if she will...
PS to an earlier posting - my Australian Open cup was still on my desk and nobody has light-fingered it :)