Monday, March 21, 2005

Monday 21st March

Off work sick today. I've somehow picked up a really nasty cold. Had a sickie on Friday as well, but was hoping I'd be better by now. It seems to be getting worse!

Okay I've handed in my notice. Leaving on the 13th April. It was a bit sad as Margaret and I are very good friends and I felt like I was letting her down. She took it well!

Now I've got to get my a*se into gear and find myself a new job. I've found the recruitment agency that Glaxo use so I've sent my CV to them and have spoken to both of the consultants there. I actually got a phone call today to see if I was available to do some temp work there. Bummer hey!

It was a lovely sunny weekend. Me being sick and all really didn't make the most of it, although we did go over to Kerry's house so that we could get our hair cut and highlighted. Nick comes along with me now as Kerry cuts his hair too....and what a great job she does on it. Looks much better than when the Italian Barber cut it!
We ended up having a late lunch at The Kilsyth Club. I ordered a pie floater but was most disappointed as it wasn't floating in gravy. Not one drop on the plate. Don't think Aussies really understand the term "floater". Anway will know not to order that again!

Yesterday I got out of my sick bed so that I could go to an Undercover Wear party - sort of like Ann Summers but without all the "extra" bits if you know what I mean. Mainly underwear and some clothes too. Sat there sniffing and snorting through the whole thing. But at least I got champagne so it was worth going just for that!

I've been out in the garden today as it was another lovely sunny one. I decided to plant all of the plants that I've been saving for where the Agapanthas were but it looks like I'm not going to get that done for a while so I've made up a little fuscia garden and planted them all together, and have planted the boronias and the azaleas down the back where there was a big bare patch.

I haven't planted the rhododendrums yet as I'm not sure where to put them. I may even plant them in pots and keep them on the decking instead. At least I can bring them in for the winter then if it gets too cold.

I do think my thumbs are developing a tinge of green! As I've never really had the time to garden before I haven't really bothered, but today was the day to start. Might have to nip down to the garden centre this weekend and see if there's any other nice plants to buy!

There was only one little mishap. Where the fuscia are is just underneath the decking. I stood up a bit too quickly and bonked the top of my head on the decking and you could have heard me scream for at least a mile up the road. It bloody hurt like hell! I'm going to have a huge bump there now. I could see myself driving to hospital with blood pumping out the top of my head.....I get good at imagining these things sometimes!

Nick's parents arrive Tuesday next week. And the plasterer rang this morning as I'm trying to get Alana out the door for school to ask if he can start work on the walls this Wednesday. So at least we'll have the walls done before they arrive. Just hope they bring their paintbrushes with them!

And another thing to celebrate. The people next door with the barking dog moved out over the weekend. Now if ever there was a reason to celebrate then this is it. It was lovely last night, going to bed knowing that I wasn't going to have to listen to that damned dog. And it was even better this morning to look out the front window and there were no cars parked in front of our house. Just keeps getting better and better!

Alana's Quote of the Day: "Mummy that's ridiculous"

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Tuesday 15th March

Well I certainly can't complain about the weekend. Weather was just fantastic, almost too good to be true, and dare I say it, maybe a little bit too hot....yep you heard it out of Mrs Sunworshippers mouth!!

We went to Williamstown on Sunday and I was very impressed with the place. I said to Nick that if ever we decided to move anywhere, this is where I'd like to live. It reminds me very much of the South of France with all the sidewalk restaurants and lots of people just wandering through the shops, enjoying the sunshine.

Only down side is the cost of housing. Take a look here , taking into account the type of house that we have in Croydon North. You'll probably need to go to the last page to compare like for like.....how much money!!

Here's some photos of our day out.


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We found a great restaurant to have lunch in. There are tons of them right the way down the main street and they all look out over the bay. Alana wanted Fairy Bread (hundreds & thousands sprinkled on bread). She got it absolutely everywhere but totally enjoyed it.


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This is Williamstown port. Lots of fantastic boats are moored (sp?) here. There's also a fabulous pub right next to the water. While we were there, a wedding party were getting married. Very sweet! Just behind us you can see the red ferry. We went on a 30 minute cruise around the bay on this.


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Here's a piccy of the Melbourne outline. It was very hot so it's quite hazy from the heat.


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And here's Alana on the ferry. Took me ages to get the tangles out of her hair that night!

I also decided to try and give myself heatstroke by walking over to my parent's house yesterday for a bit of exercise. Didn't realise it was so hot until I got about 1/2 way there. Then of course I had to walk all the way home again. Took me just under 2 hours to go there and back. In 35 degree heat, I'm sure I sweated enough to fill a bath!
I know my shins hurt today. Didn't realise there were so many hills either! Probably won't do that again!

I've also managed to find some clothes for Alana to wear to school on Friday as a hippy. They have to dress in a fashion of the 50's, 60's, 70's or 80's. Originally we were going to dress her like an 80's Madonna, then we thought of going with the 50's look of cute cardigan, ra ra type skirt, bobby socks and a scarf tied around her neck, then we though Bay City Roller look, and finally we agreed.....hippy chick.


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Alana's Quote of the Day: "Well recording to my book" (she mean't "according")

Friday, March 11, 2005

Friday 11th March

Hasn't Friday rolled around quickly!

And I'm happy to report that the sun is shining and we have beautiful blue skies. The people at the weather place have also promised us 30 degrees for the whole weekend and also Monday which is a public holiday here (Labour Day). The beach is going to be busy I think!

As usual we haven't made any definite plans to do anything. I'd love to take Nick over to Phillip Island, so maybe that'll be a day out for us on Saturday. Nick also wants to take me to Williamstown, a place he passed through the other day and loved the look of it. I've never been there, which is weird as I've been to most places in Melbourne. It's got lots of little cafes and is right on the water. There's even a beach!

I've made a big decision. The job that I am currently employed doing is boring the hell out of me. Now don't get me wrong, I love surfing the internet, making lots of private phone calls and generally bludging and doing nothing, but after a while it just gets too much. My brain has turned to mush and I'm putting on weight as I have nothing else to occupy me so eating has become very habitual at my desk!
Anyway I'm going to look for a new job....I hear you all gasp. I know that I'm on a fairly good wage here, and I know that I've got great hours that fit in with Alana too, BUT, and there's always a but, I just want to do something that at least taxes me a little bit.

So I'll keep you all updated. Maybe I'll go back to temping. I'd love to find something a little bit closer to home, maybe within 15 minutes drive, rather than the 35 minutes I'm currently doing. I'm a bit nervous as we do rely on the money, so I feel like I'm taking a bit of a risk, but I need to be busy and I need to be happy too. Ask Nick how grumpy I've been lately!

The plasterer has been in and given us a quote to get all the walls fixed up now that we've hacked them all down. He's going to start on the 4th April. He's also going to plaster over the feature brick wall around the fireplace that we've got in the lounge room. Then we're going to paint everything white! I love white. So easy to co-ordinate everything with.
Still have to wait another 4 weeks for our new lounge suite to arrive. Then we need to look at flooring for the back living area. Then it's on to the kitchen!

I have a dejavu feeling as I'm sure that I had a list like this when we were living in Bisley!!

Alana's quote of the day: "Mummy why are you so bossy?"

Monday, March 07, 2005

Monday 7th March

Autumn has arrived already. It was just way too cold on the weekend. It rained on and off with some sunshine inbetween on Saturday, and was just horribly overcast yesterday.

We even got out the hot water bottles on Saturday night!! So it must be cold! And we put the heating on yesterday as it didn't go above 18 degrees and we were all shivering!

Did everyone watch the Grand Prix....yes I know you english lot would have had to be sitting up at 3am to watch it!! I'm so glad that Michael Schumacher didn't even finish - it just gives everyone else a fighting chance.

Not long now until our next lot of visitors arrive. Nick's parents will be here on the 29th March and Alana is really looking forward to seeing them. She keeps asking me how many days until they get here.

I bought her an Essendon Footy Jumper on Saturday and I couldn't get it off her all weekend. She even wore it to bed! She really wants to go to another footy game, which is great as I love going too, so it's a good excuse for a girly day out (unless Nick wants to come too of course!).


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We've got a long weekend coming up this weekend (Labour Day) and it's also Moomba weekend. If you remember, we went and watched the Moomba parade last year. Probably won't bother this year, but if the weather's nice we may drive up to town on Saturday night and watch the fireworks. I'll have to buy Alana some earplugs as she hates the loud noises, but loves the fireworks themselves!

Alana has taken an abnormal interest in the human body. We went to the library on Thursday and she picked up a couple of books about the human body and this whole weekend we've been looking at all the pictures and I've had to explain what all the bits are and what they do. She told Nick last night that her favourite body part is the heart!! Maybe she's going to be a Doctor when she grows up?

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Thursday 3rd March

It's Grand Prix weekend in Melbourne. There's been a lot of hype, lots of media, and lots of people are going to be attending. It's a family day there today and it's free to get in as Melbourne is celebrating it's 10th anniversary of hosting it. Can you imagine that happening in the UK?? I think not!

I'm doing a "How to Design" course tomorrow and guess what.....it's directly opposite where the Grand Prix is being held. I was going to drive into town, but knowing where it is now I've decided to take the train and jump on a tram which will drop me off right in front of the place. It'll be manic on the roads.

I'd love to go to the Grand Prix again, but this time I'd buy tickets for the grandstand. It was so busy last year and you could'nt get anywhere near the track, but the noise and the atmosphere there are just fantastic. It's going to rain on the weekend so that'll make for an interesting race anyway. We're going to watch it from the comfort of the lounge room this year!

I had the parent/teacher interview last night with Alana's teacher. Don't really get a good vibe from this woman. She seems very lazy in her teaching. I don't think Alana is doing too well in her class at the moment. She's still not too good with her writing (probably some of that is our fault as we've been a bit slack with getting her to practise at home) and even though we thought her reading was quite good, she's only average in the class, so more work there too I think is needed.

This bloody parent lark keeps you busy I tell you!

Alana's quote of the day: "Mummy when am I going to die!"