Friday, April 29, 2005

Friday 29th April

It's Friday...yippee!!

Well the new job is fine. Still finding my feet so I do sit here and twiddle the thumbs from time to time, but overall I think that it's going to be a great job to get stuck into. My boss is lovely. He is a very gentle man, with a very gentle personality, but has a great sense of humour too, so I think we'll get on just dandy!!
Today we have a dress down day, with drinks in the boardroom at about 5.00, so I'm seriously looking forward to that!
My hours are 9 - 5.30, which is a bit of a shock after working 9.30 - 5pm for the last year. But as it's so close to home, I don't get that awful, god I've got to drive all the way home feeling. It only takes me 5 minutes to go and pick Alana up from After School Care, and then it's only 5 minutes to drive home, so we're home at exactly the same time. And we leave for school at the same time as well, so there's no change to the routine at home.

We had the hottest April day recorded yesterday. It was 28 degrees!! And it's going to be fine and mild for the next few days as well. I know that when Autumn and Winter finally arrive, they are definitely going to arrive with a big bang!

Seriously need to do some housework this weekend. I'm getting the hair highlighted tomorrow morning and then am going to get stuck into cleaning, mowing...all that stuff.
Also got to get the results of Alana's wee in the bottle. I've got an appointment tomorrow morning, before I take her swimming. Going to be a bit busy tomorrow me thinks!

Nick and I have become addicted to Jamie Olivers Dinner Ladies program. We make sure that everything is done beforehand, so that we can sit down at 7.30 without any interruptions and watch the show. Same goes with Super Nanny. Don't really watch much other TV apart from the footy on a Friday or Saturday night, but only if Essendon are playing.

Well I hope you all enjoy your long weekend (if you're in the UK) and that the weather is good for you.

Alana's Quote of the day:
Mummmy: "So what did you do at school today?"
Alana: "Mummy, for the last time, I can't remember!"

Monday, April 25, 2005

Monday 25th April

It's Anzac Day today so we get a holiday today (yey!). I'm going to sit down this afternoon with my bottle of champers and watch the Essendon V Collingwood footy game. It's one of the real rivalry games, so it should be good viewing!! (Go the bombers!!)

We took Nick's parents to the airport last night. Can't believe a month has just flown by. Nick's Mum was a bit teary, which was to be expected, but at least we know that they had a great time and got to see tons of stuff while they were here.

I've enjoyed the last few days off, but am now getting nervous as I start my new job tomorrow. So many things going through the head.....what to wear, where to park, etc etc.

So what's been happening over the last week? Well I've enjoyed a couple of days just doing my own thing. I finally planted the last of the fuscias, so now have 2 really lovely little gardens just full of them.


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There's now 7 fuscias in the garden bed (below). Three of them are just little cuttings that my Mum bought for me, so I hope they take before the cold weather arrives!!


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We had a lovely BBQ at home on Friday and then took Nick's parents to Williamstown on Saturday Had lunch here. Then yesterday I went and did a fun run in the morning, and we went for lunch at the Warrandyte Hotel, followed by a little rummaging around the local shops.

Our new lounge suite also arrived on Friday. They put some protective foam rubber around the edges but when we took the plastic off, all the foam had rubbed and it took us ages to get all the bits off the suede. Blurry nightmare it was!
Of course now that we've got the lounge in we're going to have to finish off the room, so the paintbrush is coming out and we're going to paint the walls white. We also want to buy a projector for the room. Then all we need to do is put the flooring down and buy the vertical blinds and it'll be finished....just that room of course, there's still the rest of the house to do!!



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As we were driving home from the fun run yesterday we saw this! How cool!



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I'll keep you informed about the new job. Will probably update at the end of the week. Have a great week everyone!

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Tuesday 19th April

Some excellent news. I got the job!!

I'm now a PA to an MD. Start next Tuesday (day after Anzac Day). Just need to go on a major shopping spree now so that I can look the part! Who'd have thought hey - me a PA!

Anyway we've been out doing things again.

Here's some more photos of the last couple of days.

We went to lunch at the Healesville Country Club. My dad is a member there and it's all a bit posh! But it was a lovely day and the food was lovely (if you like seafood that is!!). Luckily for me there was a separate buffet for us lot that don't eat it!

Here's the obligatory photo of me and Alana with my parents. We also had some taken with Nick's parents.


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And I love this one of Nick and Alana. She had tons of room to run around and kept my dad very busy trying to keep up with her.


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This is the view from the back of the Country Club. Beautiful isn't it!


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Yesterday we went for a drive down the Great Ocean Road. We didn't have Alana as it was her first day back at school.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't great down there, which was a real shame, but it wasn't too cold.


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This is where we stopped for lunch. A cute little place right on the beach. Everyone else had some kind of fishy meal, and said how fantastic it was, so I'll take their word for it. They get the fish straight from the boat when it comes in each morning. And YES that's my glass of champgane sitting there.


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This was me after my 3 glasses of champagne at lunch. Thought I'd try a Helsy shot!!


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And check out this house. It sits on a huge concrete pylon. How mad is that!


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Came home via the Queenscliff-Sorrento Ferry.

Alana now has her new reading glasses. She loves wearing them, which is a huge relief. Hopefully her reading and writing will improve dramatically now.



Alana's Quote of the day: "Mummy could you please be quiet, I've got a headache!"

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Sunday 17th April

It's piccy time.

Thought I'd chuck some on here so you can see what's been happening over the last couple of weeks.

I'll start from the latest activities. We were at St Kilda yesterday for lunch, followed by a visit to the casino (yeah!).


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Nick and his parents went bowling on Friday and Alana won...her score was 170!!


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They also went to Healesville Sanctuary and had a great day out, getting to see all the Australian Wildlife up close and personal!


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They also visited Cardinia Dam, which is one of the local water catchments, followed by a drive up to the top of Mt Dandenong to see the sun set over the city.


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My parents took Nick's parents to the Melbourne Flower Show. They all seemed to have a good time, especially Alana when she found these letterboxes in the shape of animals.


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Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Tuesday 12th April

Well hello everyone.

Some good news....I think I've got myself a new job. I'm going to be a PA to a Managing Director for a local company. Went for an interview on Friday with the current PA, who's still going to work there, but is going to be moving into a different area. I will take on some of her responsibilities, but will also take on some new ones as well.
I've got a second interview on Monday to meet the MD as he's been away in China this week.
The company is literally less than 5 minutes drive from home, which is fantastic. Hours are 9.00 - 5.30 which is longer than I've been working, but still closer to picking Alana up.

I've now got to go and buy some new clothes (good excuse hey!) and I've got to start dressing like a PA, so it's going to be suits and high heels again!
The good thing is that I can still get to the gym in the morning before work, be able to take Alana to school and then carry on to work. It's a good life isn't it!! (can you tell I'm happy).

My replacement at my current job started yesterday, so I'll be training her up for the rest of this week. Then I'm going to have a week off before I start my new job. As Nick's parents are here at the moment, it'll be nice to take some time off to spend with them.

Had a great weekend. Took Nick's parents to a large shopping centre on Saturday and spent a fortune on "stuff". Not really sure what I spent it all on, but I came home with lots of bags.
Then on Sunday I did a 5km fun run. see weight blog for more info on this, and then in the afternoon me, Alana and Nick's mum went to the football to see Essendon beat Hawthorn at the MCG.

All in all a very nice weekend. Good weather apart from a huge downpour at the start of the footy. Just as well our seats were undercover!

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

The Photos that I Promised

So here are the photos that I promised


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Alana was given the 3D version of Shrek, so NannyAnne & Grandad had to watch it too!


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Stevensons Falls


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Walking to the top of the Falls


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Alana at the top of the Falls


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Nick at the bottom of the Falls


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Me at the bottom of the Falls.

Monday, April 04, 2005

Monday 4th April

Once again I've been really slack with keeping everyone up todate on what's been happening over in the world's most liveable city.

Nick's parent's have been here for nearly a week now and we have had some great weather to go with it.....sorry Helsy! More expected this week too.

Have eaten out quite a few times over the last week. Not great for the waistline but much better than slaving away in a hot kitchen!

We went up to Marysville on Saturday to see Stevenson's Falls. It was a hot day in Melbourne, but up there it was much cooler as it's up the mountain a bit. Took about an hour to get there. I'll put up a couple of photos tonight when I get home.
Then yesterday we went to Queen Vic Market. I love going there as there's tons of stalls to just browse and there's some really great fruit and veg there too (god listen to me going on about fruit & Veg!). Enjoyed a great lunch at one of the restaurants in Lygon Street.

Alana started school holidays today. She's at Vacation Care today and tomorrow and then Nick's parents are looking after her for the rest of the week. Nick has got the next couple of Fridays and Mondays off to hang out with his parents and do the sightseeing thing.

I finish work next Wednesday.....scary. If I haven't found any work by then I'll continue to work here and just play it by ear.
Here's a laugh for you....I have applied for a job at Cadburys!! Just think how huge I might become if I did work there! But then maybe it might just put me off chocolate for life!

J1& J2, I've sent you a little package!

The plastering is now done. I tell you what, the bloke who did it was such a messy begger. I came home to find plaster all over the floor and the carpet. Was not very impressed. Took me about an hour to vacuum the house and get most of the mess up, but had to scrub the carpet to get the blobs of stuff out. Not very impressed. Saying that, he did do a great job on the walls. Just need to paint them now. I hate painting so looks like Nick's going to be busy (sorry Honey).

Alana is not happy. Seems that Grandad snores and wakes her up most nights. At first she came into our room to complain, but we've since encouraged her to wake Grandad up and complain to him! Last night she slept in our bed and Nick slept in her bed! I think Grandad has been to the chemist to find out if there is anything he can take to stop the noise!

We've met the owner of the house next door. He's moving in once he's finished painting. He's a Clergyman, so at least there won't be any loud music coming from that side!! Hope he doesn't complain about our music. We both like it quite loud when we're home on our own. Even Alana likes her music loud!

Alana's Quote of the Day: "Mummy you've got really fit legs"