Day 47 - Out with the Old

My purse has been on the way out for sometime. I purchased the black one in Darwin last year when I was there, because the zip on the brown one kept splitting. I like the layout of my brown purse (which doubles as a bag) and so was delighted to find another with the same layout! The black one doesn't have bag clips and it will take me some time to get used to looking for a black purse in a black bag...
I managed to prolong the life of my brown purse for quite some time and believed it would continue to work ok, as long as I didn't stuff it full of register receipts... It finally bit the dust on the 16th of February 2009. Thankfully I had the black one on standby and was able to clear out my old purse and swap my bits and pieces to my new purse right away.

Day 46 - Pyjama Day

We had plans to go for a drive, and to spend the day as a family out of the house. . . Somewhere during the week M made plans to visit Courtney, right in the middle of the day - throwing our plans somewhat off course, not that she would have minded us going without her!
As it turned out it was a very relaxing day. I stayed in my PJ's for the entire day and no one else seemed to have much energy either...although T was very keen to go for a drive..
Maybe when the weather cools and the flies aren't so bad, we'll go for that drive.
Overall, it was a lovely day at home with the family :)

Day 45 - 14th February

Valentine's day. The day I came back from Darwin.
The day I got the most beautiful sentiments in a card from my darling A. He said the words I needed to hear :) It was the best present I could have received on a day that we don't usually celebrate!

However, being away from home I spent the morning walking down Smith Street mall in Darwin and found a little shop full of chocolate, tucked away in a little side street. I bought a lot of Fudge for A and and little heart shaped box with a heart shaped chocolate for each of the kids :)
The kids went all out for Valentine's too; making me cards and a heart shaped cake, filled with Nutella.

After the airport we went straight to the Club to celebrate the birth of A's workmate's (Murph) baby. We had a nice afternoon, chatting, "sharing a few quiet ones" and dabbling in Keno (We won $2! lol) before deciding to stay for tea, the perfect end to an almost perfect day :)

Day 44 - February 13th

Black Friday. Friday the 13th, unlucky for some..but we had a great day!
M's school had a casual day and "Meet the teacher BBQ", which I couldn't attend as I was out of town. M couldn't go to the BBQ either as she was busily cooking a fundraiser BBQ and playing tennis. The Tennis centre organised a Friday the 13th night fundraiser for M's squad to assist with their "Girls Only" tennis tour which is in planning for sometime in the future - they raised $160 and plan to do more soon.
B and T got right into the spirit of things, dressing up and inviting their friends...and eventually winning the dressup prizes!
Our Interstated PD was also based around the Friday 13th theme with decorations including, cobwebs, black cats, skulls, pieces of skeletons, couldrons, worms, glow in the dark frisbies and bats and a little dressing up. We had a fun day and Peter and I managed to finish most of our planning. He's offered to learn to Blog so that we can set up a blog for the team to use to communicate with each other. Apparently he'd like to learn, so I'll let him, seeing as how (obviously) I already know how to do it...

Friendship Award

I received this lovely little Friendship Award from my friend Sherry :)
What a great surprise it was too!!
Here's what the award says:

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

Now my job (pleasure) is to pass it to 8 more people deserving of the award :) I can't really give it back to Sherry...But I certainly would..she's very deserving...


1. Mary ...seriously hoping she'll come out and start blogging again..
2. Lita ...hoping she can afford to get the net back on again soon..
3. Michelle ...a wonderful new-ish Mum..
4. Leanne ...very giving person, who's had a lot of heartache this past year..
5. Susan ... for inspiring us to complete our challenges..
6. Rhonda ... Su! Demonstrator with a HUGE heart...
7. Cori ...I first "met" Cori through Sister Swaps...love her down to earth Blog...
8. Meg ..Somone I've wanted to get to know better since I found SS ... Her honesty and strength is truly inspiring.

Day 43

I planned to finish work around 2.45pm today so that I could pick up the kids and get some fuel before collecting A on the way to the Airport. We made good time, even though I did get out a few minutes late. I rearranged my schedule, got fuel, picked up M and then went to get B and T from the bus stop, where they were waiting patiently all by themselves!
At the airport we checked in then sat down to a big bowl of chips and gravy, before boarding.
I sat with Budgie on the plane, with Mandy and Bil behind us, and we chatted most of the way, which passed the time nicely. I unnecessarily ate the dinner (stew, rice, roll and chocolate) on the plane and then ate again when we got to Darwin!! This is a photo of my lovely Laksa Soup from the Noodle House...absolutely fantastic!
We spent the night at a new Hotel, the Mantra Panadanas and I shared with Rowan from Gove.
This was also 12 on 12 for February so I had an interesting look at the day through the lens of my camera..making for some different photos for this month's 12 on 12....I'll post my layout when I get it done :)

Day 42- "Love Potion Lushy"

As all good Territorians, and probably Aussies know, if you play sport you have to have a nickname... Today's nicknames were based on our numbers e.g. Legs (11). When I put my shirt on Lushy was discarded and I was known as "Love Potion (number 9)" for the day!
Today I played Cricket. Imparja Cup is in town, and until a few days ago I thought I wouldn't be participating this year. BUSH POTATOES asked me to play for them as they were to be short a few players. I usually play for Catz, so this was something new, and a whole lot of fun! When I play in the regular comp I am wicket keeper and I don't bowl. As today's team made up of players from all teams in the regular competition, we had more than enough (3) wickies to choose from. I fielded instead, which meant I needed to bowl - something I try NOT to do if I can help it. To my surprise (and probably everyone else's!) I bowled two overs today, and didn't do too badly... the trick is to not try too hard...
This is the only game I'll play this time round as tomorrow I'm off to Darwin...

Day 41

Tuna. I love it with Couscous and Tinned tomatoes with herbs. I love it in a tossed salad.
I love it as a mornay. I love it with onion on a sandwich.
I love it with pasta.
Today for lunch I ate a flavoured tin of tuna with my Ryvitas.
Such a little tin, from such a big fish!!

Day 40

Monday and the weekend is well and truly over. The mornings are filled with haste (ours but not the kids!) trying to get everyone out the door on time. Now that we have two schools to go to it adds another 10 minutes into our already tight schedule.
The afternoons are just as busy with pick-ups, drop-offs, sport, homework, dinner and trying to spend a little quality time together. But as far as I can tell, we wouldn't have it any other way...

Spare a thought for the families of all those who have lost loved ones in the Victorian and New South Wales Bushfires who will never have the chance to rush anywhere, ever again. Over 150 people have died and the death toll is expected to rise as the authorities search the ruins of the hundreds of homes and cars that were lost to the fires. There are many charities and organisations running appeals for the victims of the fires including Telstra, Cricket Australia, AFL, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac, AMP, Coles, Woolies, Red Cross, 8HA Radio and thousands of Aussies are digging deep to show their support.
The true Australian Spirit is shining through when you hear stories of Queenslanders, who have been flooded in the past few weeks, giving their Government Relief money to the Bushfire Victims. Remarkable.
Today's photo shows our town giving respect to the families, by flying the flags at half mast.

Day 39

The alarm went off at 5.30 as arranged but I was quite happy to keep sleeping, after a restless night spent checking the girls and the dog. A short time later T woke M to let her know it was time for her walk, Mel convinced me to go walking with her and then we were off. This morning there was a group or 14 men and women and we walked via the golf course, a route I hadn't done. It was an interesting walk with unsealed roads, sealed roads, hills, flats, built up areas, greens and fairways, new houses and old, nice houses and some very strange, including one with a former rugby player as their letter box...it was bigger than me! I thought this picture of the green nestled in amongst the rocky outcrops was a good representation of this morning's walk.
After our walk and brekky at Macca's, M and I went for a short game of tennis before heading home to the girls, A and T. A was busy making pancakes for everyone and when the time came the pancakes were served with Icecream and/or maple syrup..mmmm...but I resisted as I'd already had Banana Bread and a Mango Frappe at McDonald's.
BTA and I had an afternoon nap, whilst M went to her friend's for a swim and ripstick riding. Late in the afternoon MT and I went to play tennis with M's friend Georgia whilst A cooked us a BBQ tea. It was a great way to spend a lazy hot Summer Sunday :)

Day 38

The trial run. I'm not really sure what the trial run was actually for? Maybe B's birthday party, seeing as how she'll be turning 10 this year..
Anyway, she convinced her dad to let a group of girls sleep out the back in a tent. About 15 minutes before the girls were due to arrive we learned that the tent was broken and not an option. Instead the girls arranged to sleep in swags under the back verandah, and Turner the dog was to be given a chance to behave. The girls had a great time swimming, watching movies, dressing up in Halloween Costumes (why? I don't know either, although we did stop them from Trick or Treating as they were headed to the neighbour's....), putting make up on B's little brother and nail polish on the dog. (See corresponding pics)
Around 1am I gave them the final "GOOD NIGHT" and I finally fell asleep. The girls are convinced it was around 3am when they finally hit the sack! In all it was a good night and the trial was a success...

Day 37

Love is in the air!! Chris, from work, met her man on the 'net. Today they met for in real life and she took him up the hill, so that we could see them from our office (yes the hill that has appeared on my daily photo pages twice already). Obviously we couldn't see much..she just wanted us to be able to "see" him without actually meeting him stirring the with good natured jibes. I'm hoping to print this picture to give to them as a reminder of the day they finally met.
They are off on a holiday to see the beautiful tourist spots famous in our area.
We got a "mini holiday"/long weekend after our fire alarm went off. Something electrical set the alarm off and the power went out so we were sent home. It's amazing what a difference a three o'clock finish makes to your Friday afternoon! I met the kids after school, dropped T at tennis, took the girls home for a snack/swim and then spent the evening at tennis with Julie and Liz and even enjoyed a couple of coldies before arriving home around 8.30pm.

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!!