Christmas past...again

We had a lovely Christmas, quiet but still nice. I did feel the absence of family though, maybe it was because we have been back to Uk or maybe because my half were in Bali, dunno but there was something missing. We are hoping to go back to Leicester for Christmas in a couple of years, weather permitting cos looking at the crazy weather patterns of the last couple of years, the planes will be grounded! Weather is hot hot hot, worked yesterday instead of today so we are hitting Yanchep Park and beach in the fixed up kombi, yes he is fixed and also up for sale! A beetle called Basil is waiting to take his place! Blessings and peace to all xx

Felt-a-licious

have joined up to do this workshop on ems blog http://www.embers.typepad.com/. I love felted things but have no idea where to start, so what the heck for $25 I'm going to give it a go. I do think I am turning into Becky Bloomwood and might need therapy! I will post some pictures of my creations!!

So yesterday I did food shopping and Chrimbo shopping and felt really exhausted after my 5 days on at work. I'm wondering if we are not getting enough iron in our diet now we are substituting quorn for meat most of the time.

here's one of my danglies that I created

Isn't facebook fab??

I never used to think so, I thought it was stupid, people posting tosh like what they had for tea that day of what grand thing they were up to. Now I have warmed to it...it's great for looking at peoples photos, people who's photos you would never normally see. Maye it's just because I am a nosey so and so. I have got in touch recently with some people I used to go to school with. I wouldn't call them school friends, more just casual acquaintances. One girl in particular has touched me, Annie Leighton. She was a beautiful mystery at school, wise and mature beyond her years. Anyway she is now living the life I dream of. 5 acres of nothing that they are slowly creating into their home. They are in northeast Scotland and have dubbed it Coldhome. Very apt. if we were every lucky enough to have such a project maybe we could call it hothouse, as that is surely what it would be. She is surrounded by an extended family of artists and musicians and they are in the midst of building a straw bale timber frame house. By the sounds of things she has had her fair share of heartache but I am looking forward to getting to know her better and learning more from her.

Home and is it all forgotton?

Home sweeet home, but not as sweet as I thought it would be. Our house seems huge, sparse and impersonal after the cosy and cluttered homes of England.....will have to work on making more mess and more clutter!

Trip back was fine apart from the descent into Perth where the pilot seemed to oversteer and then understeer to compensate, the plane did a few pretty full on tilts and then thankfully settled down, all good.....

Lee ended up with jetlag and a dodgy stomach having to take 2 days off work. 2 days in 8 years not bad I suppose. I was back to work Monday and Tuesday and it was all okay. Kids pretty shattered and sleeping patterns a bit all over the place but settling down. School will soon sort that one out.

We are in the wet UK

We have been here for 2 weeks now, such a huge mixture of emotions. I spent the first few days in tears - sheer exhaustion due to the 3 days it actually took to get here, the lack of living accomodation and the revisiting of rellies. Thankfully I have settled down a bit and am starting to relax and enjoy it. It's weird, it feels as though I have never left, driving around the city feels the same, not much ahs changed.

Today......I got my nose peirced.

Wasn't planning to. Well I have been planning to for the last 25 years but haven't quite plucked up the courage, then I was supposed to get it done for my birthday but chickened out. So today i went to Joondalup to order the foreign currency and just did it. I got a platinum one, or was it titanium, one or the other...with a little(ish) diamond thing. God it hurt, both my eyes watered like fountains. The girl who did the "procedure" was lovely, pregnant with 4 weeks to go and thought I was the most funniest thing. Don't suppose she gets many 43 year olds having this done.

William was horrified, Oscar was a bit scared, Lee dutifully said it suited me and I yet have to hear Elliot's reaction - trust me you will probably hear it too!

Let's hope it doesn't get infected like Liz's manky toe!!

Meeting with Wills teachers

Well, they were nice, they know William, they have received the Will Death Stare many times. They find my little chubba chops arrogant and cocky, oh dear methinks we have built him up a bit too much. We are trying to address it though and hopefully he realises he is being a complete twit and will snap out of it.

Liz had her ingrowing toe op so picked he up from the docs and ferried her back home, I picked up coffee and cake froma maccas so we demolished that and then I left her and her manky toe to suffer.

Made my first candle, it is for Nikki and have made an Opium smelling one, althought it doesn't smell much like my Opium. It was fun though and very easy, I used soy wax which is more friendly than the other wax (apparently).

Didn't go to yoga this week, looks like I'm going to miss this term out, it's too much of a rush on Wednesdays, papers to deliver still and ironing too, hey ho. I will have to do some at home. Got a couple of new books for Elliot and he cleaned his room and sorted out all his DVDs and books in order to get one!! The other has been put away for the next time he needs to blitz his room.

Watched Bran Nue Dae, the movie with Amanda Kombi in it, it was a lovely film and Elsie look AWESOME. I loved the interior decor on her. Paint job was not too shabby either.

Got a fantastic little luggage case thing from salvos for $6 and a pair of Sportsgirl jeans for $9. I have a pair that I paid $90 for so I am wellll happy. Hopefully I can pick up some more luggage and have enough for all of us for our trip which is getting closer and closer......

A few fun days

Had a lovely giggly girly couple of days now the kids are back to school (huge roar). Spent the day with Lynn and little Orlanda at a play place and caught up on the holiday goss and dramas, shared grey hair covering tips, face cream wisdom and general putting the world to rights.

Also had lunch with Liz another day and then headed for the garden centre to do our famous Buddha shopping. I thought this would be a good opportunity to get my new camera out so there we were in the shop posing and snapping away like a couple of maniacs with tears running down our faces. I hadn't laughed so much in ages. It was good, good, good.

another plot losing day

A last the rain has stopped!! Had a mental angry morning, not being able to snap out of the "almost back at work so I'm ferral routine", yelled at everyone, the kids, the man on the other end of the phone at the visa place! Well, why do they have to charge me interest on interest on interest....

Took Elliot to get his bottom set of retainers and Will to do some of his paper round. After that we headed off to squash (what a surprise) and got some petrol on the way - now the petrol gauge is play up. That's 3 things, no more OK!

Did the fruit and veggie shop then we all went to the beach and had come chippies, it was nice, they played and had fun, I was calm and happy.

Lee got a speeding ticket, not happy, we argued about how fast he was going, angry angry - went to get some paint for the gate to calm down. I did.

Lee doesn't like the paint HE chose, now he wants it black, I think it will be fine. Oscar played with Jake and had fun, Elliot went training with the Rugby boys, it's all coming good.

Lee and Elliot went off to Squash and I sat down and tried to make out a new budget.

Intended to dye my hair and put another dread it but have a headache so will just do this and settle down with "casualty". I am so easily pleased.

Read a bit of Boho girls http://bohophotography.blogspot.com/blog, she is such an inspiration and gorgeous

Movie time

Could I pass for Justin Beava?

William and I went to see Eclipse whilst Elliot looked after Oscar, we had subway instead of spending $$$ on cinema junk food. Movie was great, much better than the other 2, We also took Oscar to see Karate Kid, he has never been to the cinema before and although I really wanted to see Toy Story 3, he was adamant he didn't. So we all settled on Karate Kid and to be blunt Oscar was a total pain in the arse, literally - I think he might have worms. He was wriggling and fidgeting non stop, kept saying his pants were stuck in his bum. He kept saying he wanted to go home and didn't like the movie. The final fight scene came, the movie finished and he declared it "awesome"

The tooth fairies have been = Wahhhhhh

Something is missing

Oscar has lost his first tooth, thanks to a little bit of help from Williams elbow! I was quite tearful, another sign of my baby groing up. He was very excited when it finally came out and he could eat properly again. "Going to get Hungry Jacks" he proudly declared which made us all laugh. We bought a small "tooth box" when we were at Tree of Life recently so he was all prepared. Come bedtime the tooth in question was no longer under his pillow so stories of tooth fairies being good finders or maybe already having been to collect the tooth and come back later were put in place quickly. He was happy with that and quickly settled down to a fairy and gnome filled sleep, $5 richer the next morning. Don't you just love moments like this, they are truly to be cherished.

school holidays

Will be spent mostly taking the kids to squash. William is on a mission and wants to train every day. I am even considering have a go. Prices have gone up so suggested to Dean the guy who owns the club that we should get family discount. He pointed out that not ALL the family play. ha ha.

Got my new uniform at work which made be happy happy. Will be glad not to have to wear the dirty white shirts that never look clean.

Car wouldn't start, grrrrrr - got the RAC out and it's the fuel pump. The tow truck came to take it to Neils (again). So Klaus has stepped up to the daily driver. Shame about the weather - it has been peeing it down, thunder and lightening. Klaus doesn't like rain!!

Off to see Eclipse with William today, should be good. Elliot went in Gero with the rest of the squash mob.

Made some brownies which were a huge DISASTER! Why does everything I bake burn on the bottom. I blame the oven, of course.

Gero here we come

are we there yet? No! bleep bleeeeeep....

Well, the wagon decides to start overheating a few days before we are due to travel 400kms for the squash championships. Neil our trusty mechanic replaced the thermostat and radiator cap which seemed to so the trick although running warmer than it did before. Neil thinks it's ok so that's fine by me.

So off we go, Gero bound. Set out at 9am with the usual frantic stresses (mainly by me) but since I am the one that has to get everything ready then that it understandable. William came home from school poorly sick, headache, shivering etc - real bad man cold which is a disaster a day before the tournament. 10 mins up the road I realise I have forgotten heaps of things but never mind.... take multiple wrong turnings, why are the maps always the wrong way round?? lol. Stopped off at Dongra for a toilet stop and filling of bellies.

Arrive in Gero 5 hours later. Cabin is okay, small but everything we need except a toilet of course!! We decide to go and find the squash courts so we know where we are heading in the morning. I ask the lady at the camp site if she knows where it is and she gives me directions .......to a derelict squash courts!! Oh Crap. Drive around a bit and stop at the swimming pool to ask, turns out its around the corner. All the sports facilities are together, it's fantastic. Footy, basketball, netball, badminton, soccer, bowls, tennis, swimming, squash, hockey, skate park - could there be anything else to add??

Back to the cabin for tea, an early nights and to dose William up with drugs. Elliot stayed at Matts.

Geraldton is a lovely place, we were very impressed, small enough but big enough if you know what I mean, shame it's so far away from everything else. Oscar was quite happy playing on the park by the beach for ages. We went to the museum where he did a treasure trail game and we also went to Oakabella which is the most haunted place in WA.

Down to the nitty gritty of the results, William won the 11's singles and team 11's. Northern Nicks came second overall. Elliot won plate in the 17's which he was chuffed with. William came 4th in the 13's. We think if he had been in full health he may have done better, Damen whacked him on the head during their came with his Raquel which floored him and that didn't do much for his headache either. Sue Hiller gave Will a talking to about his attitude (bad) and then Mike Cornish took Lee to one side and reinforced this saying that if no-one liked Will then he wouldn't get into the team regardless of how good he is. I felt really really bad about this, we are crap parents. Vowed that things would change, and we are picking them up constantly on their attitude and lack of respect for adults.

Time to head home and it took 4 hours, nice to be back but it was nice being away too. All the animals are fine :)

This week

Has been okay, not great, not bad...A few small hiccups such as the flight to Brunei being cancelled altogether! Eek. Kerri popped round armed with her laptop and I knew something was up! We have options to fly 3 days earlier, which I can't as I'm still in Adelaide, fly later which we don't want to as we'll be cutting into precious holiday time or to fly out Sat night and stay overnight in Brunei (hopefully at the airlines expense) and catch the existing connecting flight. So that is what we are hoping to do....will keep you posted on that one!

The wagon is overheating, not losing fluid (I don't think) just bubbling away furiously. Rang Neil and he is booked solid for a couple of days so it's going in on Wednesday. Please let him be able to fix it easily and cheaply as we need it for Friday to head off to Geraldton in. Otherwise it will be 5 go to Gero in the kombi....can you imagine Elliot's reaction to that! Talking of the demon child, he got his report card. Sport A, History, B, Geography B, Maths C, English C and Human Bio a flipping D!!!! Not happy about that one. All comments were the same in that he is nice, polite etc but never finishes anything properly. I feel a bit to blame on this as I have never sat down with him and helped him to projects and things, maybe he doesn't know how to present things properly. :(. He also got his braces off and retainers put on. He has to learn to talk again which is really funny.

Oscar had his first squash lesson with Sonny, bless him. Lee said he did well. Hopefully we have another champion in the making. He did well at is swimming lessons this week and he reckons the teacher says he will get a certificate next time, we'll see. The teaching assistant at school grabbed me this morning and told me what a wonderful child Oscar was (as if I didn't know LOL), how focused, eager to please an mature he is. It's always nice to have someone confirm you have a good souled child. Although I think he has been testing the patience of his Daddy this weekend.

Worked last night instead of tonight so that is me finished till a week on Thursday, oh the joy. Although I do really enjoy my job, I just don't seem to gel with many people there, there are so many chiefs and opinionated, back stabbing people there that I really don't want to get involved which probably makes me seem stand offish and unfriendly. I wish there was a job out there which I loved with people who were just nice people. It will happen, it's out there.

Put the chickies outside yesterday too, poor little cold babies. They had a great time free ranging all arvo though.

So today I am going to mop this darned floor if it's the last thing I do.....off I go!!

Moving on...

It had to happen one day (not today mind you) but we have ordered a new mattress. Should have been here yesterday but they never rang to say it had arrived, so I rang from work today and sure enough it has been there since yesterday, will have to wait till Monday to get it now as I'm stuck here till 6pm! Was soooo looking forward to a comfy sleep, last nights was horrendous!

Lee has had his usual Saturday routine of toing and froing to squash and back. We are going to start Oscar off having lessons with Sonny, he already has a good idea what to do, just hope he doesn't burst into tears when he loses. (like his big brother - who is actually not as bad for the John McEnroes as he used to be).

Met Lynn for a coffee at Dino Jims which was nice, crazy lady who ran the place wouldn't let us have any of the cheesecakes as they were still frozen!! WTF forzen cheezecake rocks! Saw Kerri there and she told me that Richard was off to Bali the next day on his own, it's on his bucket list apparantley :(

Got these cute slipper socks from Coles, they are so yummy, am going to stock up on a few pairs for our UK holiday.

Adelaide Bound

After forking out $420 for 2 front tyres, sob sob. Usual case of only need one really but the guy talks you into getting 2 because you are a woman, anyway then I pop off to the travel agent with Liz to pay for our Adelaide girly trip. Three nights in Sept and off to see Powder Finger, can't wait....

Popped into the health food shop because Elliot's stomach has gone pear shaped again, 2 weeks of study leave basically meant he was sat on his arse, eating rubbish and doing nothing. She said he was basically heading for bowel cancer which was not what I needed to hear, although i know in my heart it's on the cards if we can't sort it out. Came out with some psylium husk pro biotic powder which he has to have twice a day. Explained it all to him when he got home and he was quite compliant which amazed me, hopefully it will continue and we can nail this darned thing.

Skipping and hooping along

Oscar just starting his skipping career

William asked us to get him a skipping rope so he get get fitter and can kick ass at th e upcoming squash tournament (and hopefully shed a few kilos in the process). The whole family is now obsessed with skipping, Elliot is pretty bad, he claims he has never tried to skip before - yeah right - Oscar has taken to it like a pro and William of course has thrown his whole self into it and is trying to do fancy tricks. They can't walk past a skipping rope without having a little go. On another energetic note, I had been reading the live wildly walk lighty blog and became engrossed in Sara and her hooping! So I despatched Lee and Oscar to the shops to get one. For Oscar of course!!!! Anyway I am totally bad, I'm sure I used to be able to hoop when I was a kid - I blame the hoop, think I need an adult one. I will keep trying though.

William being an enthusiastic hooper!

Continung on an energetic note, I have been following this blog and was well impressed by the hooping and all it represented. So I despatched Lee and Oscar off to the shops to get one, for Oscar of course. BUT I totally suck :( I'm sure I used to be able to do this when I was a kid. I blame the hoop (of course), I reckon I need an adult one. Anyway I shall persevere! I hope this post works as I have been messing around for about 90 mins trying to post this entry and I'm over it!

Braces off!!

Good news - Elliot can have his braces removed in a week and a half. He has had braces now for 18 months at a cost of $5500. William and Oscar will also need them so I am prepared to shell out about another $10k, hope the tooth fairy is good to us!

Chris and his family came round for a bbq on Sunday which was nice although the kids were a bit wild. Oscar and Jacob braved the pool but it must have been freeezing.

Chirs is a policeman in Leicester and has been friends with Lee since they were at school. They are on holiday in Perth for 2 weeks.



Had lunch with Belinda from school, Leanne and another mum from Dannys class who has recently arrived from South Africa. She filled us in on the real horrors of living there, not a nice place to be, so sad that it is down to people making it that way. $10 pizzas and a bottle of red - was a lovely way to kill a couple of hours before school pick up time.



Just look at that little face and please note the war wound below the eye. Zane next door threw a car at him, it bounced off his cheekbone and then up to his existing scar on his forehead and made that bleed too. Needless to say, Zane is "not nice" at the moment.

Yoga was lovely today, I really do relish the sessions :)

New additions

A dodgy deal in the school carpark with my neice Kerri and this is what I come out with....2 week old baby chicks, now named Kath & Kim. The school had 10 eggs to hatch and ended up with 5 boys and 5 girls. The poor boys are to be sent back to the company who supplied the eggs due to the no rooster policy in the shire of Wanneroo.

Spent most of the day trying to sort out a heated broodery for them, get food etc. The are plonked in a box in a cage in the middle of the floor at the moment. They are quite chirpy and active. I need to keep them under light for 6 weeks more, seems like a long time and god knows what that will do to my ever mounting leccy bill.

Got Oscar from school, quick hug and a kiss before I have to head off. Work was okay, quite quiet although the hospital itself was chocca, one poor bloke was still in obs from the night before. Such a cool old gent, 81 years old, long grey hair in a pony tail, peirced ear and such a wealth of knowledge, he certainly didn't look in his 80's. Late 60's would easily pass.

Elliot is still suffering with his cold, blocked nose, sore throat, poor lamb. Too ill to even play squash, must be bad.

Credit fraud?? Moi???

Well the day started off in the usual manic hurry up Oscar way, forgot to put the bin out - why did they have to change the day? It was Friday for years and now it's a freaking Wednesday- what good is that to someone who forgets all the time??

Dropped Oscar at school and went off to my yoga class. Yes I have finally managed to start, this is my 4th week and I'm enjoying it very much. Marg, the lasy from Greenwood Yoga who runs the class is excellent, she is older and has such a great voice, very soothing. I wasn't very soothed when she told us to try salute to the sun on our own though, I kept losing my place :(.

After Yoga I went across to the market to stock up on pleny fruit and veg to try and keep my kids healthy and Willia slim. Shock horror my credit card was declined. This has never happened before and the lady said it had expired (06/10), I thought it expired at the end of the month but hey ho. Transpired after 18mins and 37 secs on the phone to NAB that the Fraud team had put a block on it as I did a transaction with UK (Wills squash shoes) which they thought might be dodgy, all good now though.

Went to the post office to get Oscar and Elliots passports sorted (second trip) so that is all done now - huge sigh of relief and nearly $750 later. Oscie had swimming lessons so I took the opportunity to look through a mince recipe book from the library = yum - heaps of great looking nosh with all kinds of mince.

Chris was "supposed" to be coming round so the kids could have a play but another one of Lees great organisational disasters - he didn't. Lee and Elliot headed off to squash, at least Elliot will get some excercise after slobbing around all day.

Am bidding on a candle making kit on ebay, fingers crossed. Have always fancied having a go at making them, I use so darned many so I may save some money and they will be good as pressies if I manage to do it properly.

• Lee at the City to Surf half marathon last year (just experimenting moving photos around)
  

Casualty night tonight, last day off, back to work tomorrow..

Long time no post and nits, nits, nits

Darned pesky horrible things, I could say I have been eradicating nits for the last 5 months and it would be almost true......another note home from school and another round of combing, conditioning and cutting. Will it ever end, will we be the only OAP's in the nursing home with nits? Well me probably as lee seems to be immune to them, probably all the chemicals his skin had absorbed over the years.

Well no point in trying to catch up with everything but the main things are Elliot is now at Mindarie Senior College and likes it although he hardly sees any of his old DC mates anymore which is sad. He is still mad on squash and yearns and longs for decent clobber to pose in. Gave in and got him new trainers yesterday, got Lee some too - both the same - 2prs for $100 so not bad, don't think they are impressed at the thought of having matching footwear LOL.

William has discovered scooting and of course it is costing a small country but at least he is out and about with his mates which is good and normal. School work is an unknown entity and I must make the effort to catch up with his teacher and find out how (badly) he is doing. He is still playing squash and doing really well for his age and had 2 wins, a runner up and a plate award in the tournaments he has been in so far this year. We might be going to Geraldton in July for the state junior championships.

Lees mate Chris (Chris Hayton) is here from Uk for a couple of weeks holiday with his family so Lee is enjoying catching up with him. Weather has been mixed for them but what can you expect for winter.

Oscar is still a gem, started swimming lessons and has moved up to the second class after a couple of weeks so very proud. Speech is coming on, did really well at his recent sessions with natalie and seemed to have master the S thing. I still can't imagine him ever talking normally - his sentences are probably that of a 3 year old. He got a merit certificate at school last Friday for remembering to take pictures of transport in for the scrapbook. Why is it my kids get certificates for lame things like being good at cricket - why can't they get one for just being a genius - am I being a bit greedy here LOL.

And me, well same old same old., still wondering what I can be when I grow up! oohh some exciting news though, me and liz are going to Adelaide in Sept, yes just before we go to UK, bad planning and would only happen to me but we are off to see Powderfinger. Should be a laffff, spending our time wandering around all the hippy places going ooooohhh, ahhhhh I like that. We have such similar tastes in accessories and stuff it's worrying!!!

And a sad note to end on, Lees grandpa passed away at the end of April. He had been ill but it was still really unexpected and shook us all. :(

Training and colds

Have just spent the last 3 days training on the new meditech system. Whilst it was okay, I ended up being shown nothing on the ED system - what good is that. I am going to need another stint of training for that and I am working on the day that it goes live which is a monday and more to boot, a public holiday, 2 of the worst thing in ED = day from hell!!

Came home each day and had to do the leaflet rounds and of course make tea. Short straw somes to mind. Did pop to spotlight to buy some bits and pieces for upcoming birthdays though.

Thursday saw Pam from the junk mail co come round to do some training at home, all seems pretty straightforward as long as there are not heaps of problems. She seemed to love the house and the chooks etc, saying that she wanted to set her own veggie garden up, Go girl. She is American and seems really quite nice.

The kids all have colds, poor oscar has a nose like a tap and resembles rudolph. William is getting a bit better and Elliot hasnt been out of the house all week so its no wonder he is ill. He had a ruby match in the evening though, they won but he didn't score a try so he must have been ill.

Cleared out the tomatoes in the pool area, it looks bare but much tidier.

Lee came up with the idea to section off the karma corner with a trellis and I think it will look really cosy. He has made a trellis for the shed so hopefully that will keep the passionfruit happy and we may see some fruit!

Had a couple too many glasses of wine in the evening and oh forgot the big one - I knitted a dishcloth, WOWWWWW, I posted it on facebook and I people seem to think I have gone mad. LOL. i really enjoyed it and then started on a knitted beermat for liz but I ran out of wool, boo hoo!!

Where has the time gone

I am totally crap, where has the time gone, why can't I do anything that I plan to and stick to it!!!!!

Well let me see, it's a new year and my great plans had been to make all my own presents, do yoga more seriously and carry on with all my great garden plans, hmmmmm. The yoga mat has had about 3 workouts, my veggies are wilting under the blostering aussie sun and have managed to make a couple of plastercast mould ornaments, not great is it!! I have another birthday coming up in a week or so - got great plans in my head but can't seem to get them any further.
Hey ho

I have just taken on another job to add to my collection so that makes 3, am I a mug or what, but considering we earn less than we did 7 years ago, I don't think I have much option. It is an area rep/supervisor for the junk mail company (wow). Basically I have to recruit new walkers and ckeck that they have made their deliveries by going round all the areas (all 8 million of them) and checking houses per area with a fancy gps type tool (very hi-tec). I start in a couple of weeks and have training this week and next.

Talking of training, we have 3 days of training for the new hospital computer system so I had better go and get ready.

I will be more positive, proactive and just get on with it instead of whinging - that will be me this year - watch this space...........LOL