Need to have the house fugmigated

Another sick day here in the house of sick. Andrew came home yesterday with a sore throat. Claimed he couldn't go to skipping. So I let him skip. ha ha ha. Actually he didn't look too good.
I called Jim and told him to clear his calendar in the event Andrew needed a sick day from school since I had to go on an excursion with Emmalee at school that her teacher had pulled multiple strings with the administration with to get me to go (so I could be the official photographer for the school magazine because I am "soooooo good!").
Well, after a completely sleepless Thursday night with fevers and a sore throat, Andrew was definitely NOT going to school. Jim was staying home and taking him to the doctor. Assumed it was a virus, but wanted to make sure it wasn't strep with the fever and all.

Shopping with Timmy

After coffee today Letetia invited me to head over to Chatswood Mall with her and Timmy to pick up an umbrella stroller for him. I didn't have anything but laundry planned so I said sure!

We went to Target and didn't find one. I suggested Toys R Us, which surprised Letetia. We found one for $14.95 which was exactly what she was looking for. Tim was so excited he wanted to ride in it right away.

We stopped for sushi and fruit salad for lunch before heading home. Did all that before noon. Managed to sort laundry and am doing that all afternoon long now!

If it doesn't kill ya, it WILL make ya stronger

This is a snake pulling a kangaroo out of the water.
Talk about a man eater!
This picture is from Western Australia .

Take a careful look at this picture, and note the size of the snake
and the kangaroo being pulled out of the water!

And I thought I needed to be afraid of spiders... UGH! Definitely don't have to worry about this in the Great Midwest of the US!

Guess who looks like Brianna!!!

After the potions gone bad in the hair this weekend and all the long hair tangles each week it was decided -- mutually, I might add that it was time to cut Emmalee's hair. It has been growing and growing and growing for quite some time. In fact, I think the last time it was even trimmed very much was possibly in January or so. She has been quite particular about wanting it to be long and I have been quite particular about wanting to avoid confrontations when I can.
I am the one who has to 'do her hair' in the mornings before school. I am the one who has to look for nits/buggies every week and when the notes go out in class. I am the one who gets yelled at whenever there are tangles or when the hair bands get knotted in her hair. Yet I am not the one who has the hair. UGH!
So, tonight in her shower we conditioned her hair well. Then we combed through it. Didn't get through all the tangles so we had to brush and cry a bit. Sectioned it off. Agreed on a length and then cut about five inches off!

WHOA!!!

It's really cute. She can still put it in a pony tail, pig tails, a braid and wear it down. But hopefully it won't look as scraggly as before! Her big comment was, "Now I don't look like my American Girl Dolls!"

Wednesday Park Date

It was a beautiful day again, so we set off to Willoughby Park again to meet up with the Bartons, D'Souzas and some other families. We also decided to take Olivia Fleming with us to give her mom a rest with the new baby at home.

I made friands (similar to muffins) and brownies this afternoon so I packed up some fresh baked goodies and juice in a basket and headed to the park with the kids. They were a hit with all the mums. Makes me feel good to have people like my baking. Especially when I am trying out some of the Australian recipes like the friands.
The kids had a really good time. I get to visit with adults and the kids get to run and play. Plus I don't have to listen to Olivia's 'lively' personality locked up inside the house when she is over for a playdate. YIPEE!

Total Copper Eclipse of the Moon

Moon watchers across much of Australia have had box seats tonight to see a spectacular lunar show - a total eclipse.
That means we sat in the living room and on the deck for a few hours watching the moon go through the eclipse.
The eclipse began just before seven o'clock eastern time, and the moon was totally in the earth's shadow an hour after that.
It was really strange -- all through the eclipse Jim and I were saying, "Hmm... something is different about it besides the red." It was happening from the bottom rather than the top. That's what it was. We just didn't realize it until we got Sam's photos and saw how it eclipses from the top in the Northern Hemisphere.
What made it spectacular was the refraction of light - the moon appeared red.

The total eclipse lasted for an hour and a half as the full moon rose in the eastern sky.

Man Cold

Jim chucked a sickie today...

Brainstorming and storms

Went over to Emma Leach's house tonight to help her and Shelley brainstorm a bit with their business and go over their photos that I took on Monday. We were gonna drive, but I am pretty tired, so I called Shelley and said that I was going to drive. She took me up on that and was excited to ride in Jim's 'sweet ride' (BMW).
Had dinner and worked with them for a bit. Listened to the rain on and off since 8, thinking I was really glad I hadn't walked or we would have been really wet! Definitely would have been wet walking back too -- was raining then too! Hit the pumpkin hour at 10 and called it a night.
Think its supposed to rain all night!

Dinner at the Barretts

We had a really busy Saturday. After all the soccer, playdates, football drafting was done, we headed over to Jon and Liz Barrett's for dinner. We had been planning to do this for a while but never found a time that worked until now.
Liz grilled a great lamb for the adults and did sausages for the kids. I think Andrew ate 3 sausages! There were fresh baby veggies that Emmalee just gobbled up. For dessert she made a homemade Pavlova. Jim and I agreed it was the best one we had ever had. It was really good.

All through the adults' dinner the kids watched Mr. Bean's Holiday. They had never seen a Mr. Bean movie so we didn't know how they would go for it, but they just giggled through it all. Dumb humor crosses all age and continents I guess!

Andrew got pretty tired after we finished the adults dinner but before dessert and he ended falling asleep on me. Pretty strange for him, but he had a very long day. Emmalee kept playing with Dominica, Phoebe and Jackson. I think she could have done it all night long, but I was getting tired of holding him so we finally took off around nine. Had to get him to bed so we could get him up for church on Sunday anyway!

Bubble, Bubble Toil and Trouble

After much planning and organizing, Emmalee and Eleanor finally got their play date organized. They picked her up right after lunch and brought her over to their house.
When I went to pick her up I found her in new clothes. Nicola, Eleanor's mom explained that they were making potions. While they were making said potions they got a little messy. And by messy I mean, so messy that the clothes were not going into the house wearable AND their hair was unbelievable. Nicola would have washed the mess out of it, but she was afraid to wash Emmalee's hair. You see, the potion was made out of cornflour (cornstarch), flour, pink food coloring, sugar and water. Nice and sticky then it dries. UGH!!!! All clumpy in their hair. In CLUMPS!!!! But the main point of the story is that they had fun.
Brought her home and put her through the shower. No amount of shampoo cleaned it out. Rubbed tons of conditioner through and managed to comb out almost all of it. After this, I have definitely decided to cut her hair this week. It is just too long and unmanageable and she doesn't take care of it. I am tired of having to do it for her. Cross my fingers I can talk her into it!

It's Draft Time

We had a bunch of male bonding in the house this afternoon. After the soccer gala we rushed back to the house so that Jim could call for his E&Y Fantasy Football Draft. This is the third year he was going to participate in it and with us being 10,000 miles away he can't be there in person for it, so he has to call in. A little different, but do-able. Plus, he has his title to defend since he won last year!

This year he has his assistant coach to help him choose his players. With every pick he had extra assistance making a choice.

Soccer Gala Day

Today was Andrew's last official day of soccer. We had to be up in Lane Cove West at 8am. That was after all night of listening to rain pour on the roof of the house. We figured there would be no soccer. No such luck. We were off and out of the house by 7.20am. Luckily the directions took us right there.
Got to a nice and MUDDY field full of players. We were scheduled to play four games against teams from around the area, not just Northbridge players all in 12 minute games. I made little sugar cookies to give the kids after the games as a treat since they haven't really gotten anything like that yet.
Game one came and went. Got beat. Game two was a repeat. Wow -- game three and four were repeats. Good thing the kids have fun playing and aren't bothered by not winning -- they just like playing together!

We have next weekend to play other Northbridge teams and get our trophies. Then we are done!!!

Soccer Dinner

Tonight was the celebration dinner for the end of season for Emmalee's soccer team. We met up at Nicolleta's Pizzeria. 11 kids and their parents and families. LOUD.
We had the upstairs to ourselves but it was really loud all night long. Kids were running around. Parents hit the wine bottles right away. Well, not right away. And it wasn't really that bad. We had fun and got to chat more than we do at games. Gave the coach and manager their prezzies. Turned out really nice. Now all we have to do is get through trophy day next week since we don't have to do gala day tomorrow since there weren't enough able to play tomorrow and we had to have a full team to play. Gee darn... Emmalee was just so disappointed... Or not!

Book Week

This week it has been all about books at school. The kids have been preparing and getting ready the library to celebrate all things books. And today it culminated in a big dress up parade at school where they dressed up as characters in their favorite books.
Andrew went as Fireman Small...Emmalee as Junie B. Jones First Grader...All the kids had a great time. They paraded around class by class. The rains held out until after all the classes went past. There were quite a few Harry Potters, one Captain Underpants (by a year 6 boy who was very funny indeed!!!!), a set of Mary Kate and Ashleys, a few pirates including Jack Sparrows and lots of princesses in the kindy classes.
Andrew's friend, Fraser, went as a paper aeroplane pilot!But our favorite teacher was Mr. Court, who came as the villainous Professor Snape!!!

Here comes the rain again

Just spent the last 30 minutes out in Jim's car trying unsuccessfully to try to pair his new mobile phone via bluetooth with his car. The car won't accept the passcode for some reason. So now he is going on week 2 of talking on it without hands-free, which is totally illegal here.
As I was sitting out there it just started pouring. I mean the sky just opened up above me. Then it quit. When I gave up and came inside it was totally quiet in the sky. Now a mere 10 minutes later, the skies have opened up again and the rain is pouring down again. At least the drought is technically, supposedly over now.

Had a good chat

Spent almost 2 hours on the computer this afternoon with Shannon today. Haven't talked to her in forever. Just happened to catch each other on at the same time, so we sat and chatted. Don't know why one of us didn't pick up on the phone but we didn't...
It was sooooo nice to talk with her. It's always a pick me up. Makes me wish I was back home, but still its nice. Can't believe its the first day of school for her girls tomorrow. Whoa! It feels like just a few months ago we were out at the bus stop for the girls' first day of first grade last year. Boy does time fly. Hopefully it will keep flying and we can be back together soon. All of us...

Daddy's Home!!!

Jim got back from his mini trip to New Zealand this afternoon. In fact, he didn't even go back into the office after he arrived. He came straight home! Unbelievable. So he was able to go to the kids' swimming lessons with us.
Emmalee started her new lessons at 5 today in the deeper end with Maral. She was very excited. Andrew was moved up also with his lessons starting at 5.30. He was not so excited. In fact, he was so unexcited that I had to physically hand him off to the teacher. I think he was afraid that the new area was too deep for him to stand. Luckily after passing him off, he realized that it wasn't so bad and now he has exclaimed that he LOVES this group and wants to be in it forever!

Food We Love

I created a new blog that I will be updating -- maybe not daily, but hopefully often! Its the 'Food We Love" at foodwelove.blogspot.com

It's where I will be adding recipes for some of the new foods I try out on the family, as well as our tried and true favorites. Maybe some restaurant recipes or other interesting foodie tidbits I run into along the way... That way you can cook along with me!

We thought it was "Sun"day

Woke up this morning to rain. Walked to church in the rain. Watched the Emmalee run in from Sunday school soaking wet from the rain. Walked home in the rain.
Since it was rainy, Jim decided to take Andrew to see Dinosaurs 3-D, which he'd been wanting to see since we moved here and it finally arrived. Emmalee had Bella's birthday (Disco) party to attend from 11-1, so we thought that would be perfect timing.
Took Emmalee in the rain, through a front area of the party place with no sidewalks (footpaths) or anything so we squished along in the rain. UGH! But rain wasn't going to stop the girls from discoing!
Turns out that even though Dinosaurs was rated G, it was too intense for Andrew, so the boys left after 5 minutes and got a refund (Thankfully since it was $31! for an IMAX movie). They ended up playing arcade games and eating lunch at the golden arches.
Brought Emmalee home in the rain and watched it rain all afternoon. All the way through until bedtime.
And we thought Sundays are called that because they are supposed to be Sunny in Sydney!!!

Dinner in Leichhardt

Tonight Jim and I got Maddie Hall to babysit the kids so we could go out to dinner as grown-ups. We spent too much time this afternoon scouring the Entertainment Book for ideas for dinner. Found a restaurant that sounded good. Then set out to find something to do after. No luck with that -- all the shows in town were sold out. And the movies are just plain stinky. Nothing we wanted to see that was worth the money. Guess we'll just have to wait till 30 Aug for the Bourne Ultimatum!
Dinner was at a restaurant called, "Dante." Leichhardt is the Italian section of Sydney. Basically Little Italy. Jim had black linguine with Balmain Bugs (like mini lobsters) and I got a petite fillet on shittake mushrooms with truffle butter. We split an entree (appetizer) of salt and pepper prawns and calamari. Everything was really good. Ended with a cappuccino. With it being BYO and the E-book, we were out of there for barely over $62! Not bad we thought.
We had a nice leisurely dinner then set off for a little walk. Walking the street down the center, there were more Italian restaurants than we could count, ads for an Italian language school (for kids and then classes for adults!), bookstores and tons of cafes. Wandered into a bookstore that had new and used books and CDs. Bookstores are a place we often go to when we are out. Something about them... don't know what it is that draws us in, but we can spend alot of time in them. Bought a copy of Pride and Prejudice and two CDs -- the Best of the Coors and a double CD compilation of the Australian Legends (Midnight Oil, ACDC, Kylie Minogue, Crowded House, Silverchair, the BeeGees, etc.). Jim is sitting on the couch flipping through all the songs and enjoying himself! I will have to start reading P&P soon. I have just wanted to start adding some of the classics to my book collection, so thought why not start now?
Finished off the evening with dessert at a small Italian cafe. Jim had a lemon tart and I got a cannolli with the ricotta filling. We split another cappuccino -- have to have one with dessert, eh? YUMMY!!!

The Many Faces of Andrew

Andrew got a rare extra-long bath today WITH BUBBLES!!! So, while we were walking in and out I heard this voice singing, "Santa Claus is coming to town". I walked in there and to what did my wondering eyes appear??? This little cutey with a bubble white beard...

Then after he was thoroughly cleaned up, we combed his new haircut into shape and he announced he had "Opera House Hair" -- the top of his head resembles the sails on the Opera House here. Funny thing is -- he was right!!!

Sahara

Went to the library today and borrowed the movie Sahara. Jim and I never got around to watching it while we were in Grayslake and it was one of the few titles I recognized or wanted to consider watching. He has been saying that he needs to stay up later than 8pm (when he falls asleep on the couch) so I thought a movie would be a good thing. (Or bad if it was terrible and he fell asleep)
It wasn't terrible. It just was WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too hokey for words. And the worst thing is it had Matthew McConaughey in it. Jim even remarked, "I thought you didn't like him!" Which I don't. His body is something to look at, but the minute he speaks with those super white teeth and dumb Texas drawl, its all over. At least Steve Zahn was the comic relief of the show. And Jim had Penelope Cruz to watch.
Oh well, we did make it through a whole movie with neither of us falling asleep. So I guess that's something!

He's going to play Cricket

I turned in the paperwork to get Andrew signed up for the Milo "Have-a-Go" cricket for this 'spring'. Yeah, can't believe I have to say Spring in October! Its just weird -- it should be fall (or autumn) when my birthday is coming up, not having flowers just starting to bloom and stuff.
He won't be playing full fledged cricket, rather learning the important skills of hitting, running, catching, bowling (whatever that is!) and throwing. Don't expect to have a cricket player on our hands, but it will get him introduced. Plus this season is only Oct - Dec. T-ball runs Oct - April, and that is just too long. We want to be free on the weekends to go to the beach or exploring and not have to worry about games running through the day.

A Writing Sample

It's all over

I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was definitely as good as I expected. But I am terribly disappointed. I ordered the American version so I could have a matching set of 7 HP books. That I do have now. I received it quicker than I expected and before I had a chance to accidentally hear the ending before reading.
Then when I got the book in the mail I was excited...and then it sat there for over a week. I only read the 1st chapter and then stopped. I had this fear (ok, not fear but profound sadness) that I would get through the book... all 784 pages of it and then have nothing more from the series to look forward too. Knowing that the 7th book was coming was something to look forward too (I know its pathetic) So, instead of flying through it, I dragged the reading out. Postponed reading it for as long as I could before I had to let my curiosity win out and I started back into it.
I got a few chapters in and then could hardly put the book down. Wish I would have started it sooner. Never did end up hearing a spoiler, so the ending was a surprise (well, I kinda figured most of it out before the end, but I did it myself, not with spoilers!).
Now I am looking forward to going back and re-reading the whole series. I figured Andrew will be the next to read them. Can't wait to share the magic...

Here we go again

This afternoon we went to Willoughby Park to play with Fraser, Jacqueline, Sachin, Kyle, Rachael and their little brothers and sisters. We also got to bring along Will Basil-Jones. First Andrew was going to go to Will's house, but after thinking about playing at the park, the boys decided they wanted to go there instead.
Did the park thing after getting home and Andrew deciding HE didn't want to go to the park -- just play at home. That didn't set too well with Emmalee and Will. So, we popped some popcorn, filled the water bottles and headed over. I knew we wouldn't be there too long since I had to get Will back by 5 to his house.
Playing went well. Everyone got along wonderfully. Emmalee even ran into Aimee, from her class at school. They played and played. The boys took turns riding bikes, chasing each other and playing with sticks. Total boy stuff.
After dropping Will off, we headed home for homework and dinner. I started to prepare dinner -- a gourmet meal of fish nuggets and pasta! Andrew went to his room and played. Emmalee was supposed to work on her homework sheet. But NO! she decided it was too much to do. That we care more about homework than about her and so on. To make a long, long, long story short, she balled up her homework sheet and threw it in the recycle bin. UGH! I quit dealing with her, saying only that she would be allowed to eat dinner after her homework is finished. She wasn't starving -- she had had tons of snacks at the park. She was just being obstinate.
Andrew finished his dinner and was in the shower by the time Jim got home. I handed Emmalee and her attitude off to Jim. He managed to convince her that she needed to do it before being allowed to eat a mere 65 minutes after it all started. Except that her homework was no longer balled up in the recycle bin. Jim had to look and found it in the trash can! We really need to figure out what to do to help her settle down quicker and to deal with everyday work like homework and chores...

Chucked a Sickie

Andrew was up alot last night coughing and generally sniffly. At 2.45am he decided to inform me that he wasn't feeling too well and wouldn't be able to go to school tomorrow. I said, "Sure, we'll see in the morning." Unfortunately he took that to heart. He stayed up until at least 3.45am (UGH!!!!) and then finally fell back asleep. I didn't get much sleep.
This morning he woke up and said he wasn't feeling too well, so he definitely wasn't going to school. I made him dress and go with to take Emmalee to school. Dropped her off and by the time we got back he was acting fine. Had to get someone to cover my scripture class and reading groups (Thanks Emma!)
We spent the day with me on the couch trying to take a nap and convincing him that he should too. He got some good computer time in, watched Jimmy Neutron (annoying movie!) and played a bunch with Magnetics (bad mom -- didn't take them away with the recall, but he doesn't tend to eat his toys)
By the time we picked up Emmalee I had informed him that he wasn't going to soccer practise, but he definitely had to go to swimming. Not happy, not happy at all. But since he was acting better he had to do his lessons.
Talked to Letitia and found out that Anthea was chucking a sickie, too. They both were up on Monday night with coughs/sniffles/throat issues but by the end of Tuesday they were running around the house just fine. So, this was Andrew's first official 'mental health day' or he chucked a sickie as the Aussies call it!

Double Date

This afternoon we brought Sachin home from school with us. Andrew is saying that he and Sachin are best friends, so we had to have him over for a play. I also scheduled one with the girl named Paris, that Emmalee met at the park last Monday.
I got Emme to sit down and start on her homework while we waited for Paris. 3.45 came and went, so I called her mom. She had forgotten and Paris didn't realize it was Monday. She brought her right over and Emmalee and she ran off to Emme's bedroom to play.
I made chocolate chip cookies, so everyone got two for an afternoon snack. They all wanted more but I said no. Have to save room for dinner.
The plays went well, everyone went home by 5.30 and I am sure we'll be doing it again soon.

Cremorne Point Walk

We dropped Emmalee off at Olivia's house for a play and decided to go on a walk in North Sydney. Just the three of us!
Liz Barrett had suggested today would be a good day for the Cremorne Point Walk. You can see Mosman Bay, the Sydney Harbour and all of these gorgeous old houses along the way. They have some amazing views.

With Jim being stiff from squash on Friday and Andrew being a little sore from the biking accidents yesterday, it was a nice slow walk. Almost cool in the shade, but beautiful. We took a few stops along the way to see some of the sights off the normal path -- I even climbed a few stone steps up and down to see what was closer to the water's edge.
The walk took about 1 1/2 hours (when you count stopping for the bathroom, playing on the play equipment and just checking out the views.)

The plants are just starting to leaf out and some are starting to blossom/bloom. I would like to do it again in the spring when everything is in full bloom. There were tons of birds out, including this parrot. It was calling to its buddy and Andrew asked that I take a photo and include it on the blog.

Biking Again

Jim took the kids biking again this afternoon. They were going to ride at the leisure centre again, but there were netball games so all the courts were taken. Had to go down to the parklands to ride on the paths there.
I dropped them off and ran to the grocery store. As I was walking out, I got a call from Jim to pick them up. Evidently Andrew had two crashes. First one into his sister during a turn and the other had him scraping up his elbow and landing on his bike with Daddy crashed on top of him (thanks to rollerblades!). He scraped up his elbow pretty good, but wasn't crying when I picked them up so that was good.
Glad they like trying on their bikes, we just need to get Andrew a bigger bike. Jim said he definitely looked like a circus clown on a bike today!

Sleepovers

We split up the kids tonight. Emmalee went home after school with Jacqueline for her 1st Australian sleep-over. She has had people spend the night, but never slept over anywhere yet. We got to bring home Fraser. Not sure who got the fairer trade, but I was happy to have the boys.
They played outside in the back until Andrew got sand blown into his eyes. It took a good 10 minutes to get it all clear -- it was stuck in the base of his eyelashes and didn't want to come out. That was all he wanted to do with the great outdoors, so then they watched some TV, ate a bunch of popcorn and then played boy things -- cars, puzzle and stuff.
After dinner we had them jammie up and then they were off to Andrew's room again to play some more before movie time. They both really like the Hot Wheels cars, so I found them playing cars when I peeked in.

After cars were played I put in the Cars movie. They both got comfy and sat to watch. Andrew was in his Wiggle sleeping bag and Fraser set himself up in the yellow chairs. Andrew only lasted about 30 minutes before passing out. Fraser would have made it through the whole movie, but we made him stop a little after 9.
Carried Andrew to the lower bunk and set Fraser up on the top one. They were quite excited to be able to do that! They even slept in until 7.45 on Saturday!!!

He's been squashed

Jim decided to join a group of friends from work and play squash. He'd never played before but figured it was like racquetball.
He got home around 6.30 and was still moving, so that was a good thing. Said it was similar to racquetball, but they used a much smaller ball. Had a good time, but I think he was feeling old compared to some of the people he played with. But since there were no injuries, I would say he's not too old!!

and I quote...

Nikki,

YOU ARE A STAR!!!! I knew we needed you on board! Keep up the good work

Many thanks

Shelley

...for those days when I think no one needs me. Then I just need to think about the school and all the things I have gotten myself volunteered for... like the Year 1 World Cup Challenge now.
All it takes to draw me in is a little bit of flattery -- "we need someone with your organizational skills" -- and I think sure, so I am there. Hard to not share my 'expert' advice (since no one in the family seems to listen to me!) Then that's when I get in over my head...

We are moving in with the Bartons!

Well, only for the APEC weekend. And is not here in the Sydney area. All 'Sydneysiders' have been told to get the heck out of dodge and they even made Sept 7th a public holiday to facilitate that!
We had all been talking about renting a holiday house for a long weekend and having the families hang out. So, I took that to heart, kept bugging Sophie and we decided on 6th Sept - 9th. There is the APEC holiday, so Jim will only have to take Thursday off.
Since we waited till the last minute (or so it seems) there weren't alot of places available for 8 people. Should have been 12, but the Ford's couldn't go since Teesh has to work on that Friday at the hospital. Hopefully we can talk them into coming out for a day trip or something!
Anyway, we found a great cottage in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains and have it for Th/Fr/Sat nights. Should be great fun. Exploring the area, hanging out with friends and just hopefully relaxing. Not a beach vacation, but since its still technically winter, this will definitely be do-able.

Guess Who's Been Up on Stage

Yup, I got pulled onto stage today by a man wearing cut-off overalls and asked to dance. All while Jim was sitting next to me!
But the beginning of the story is... Jim decided to take the afternoon off (Finally!!!!) and we met for lunch downtown at Star City. We ate lunch at Pyrmont's, just steps from the Lyric Theater. We had 1pm tickets for the Priscilla Queen of the Desert matinee. I wanted him to see it before it leaves Sydney on Sept 7th.
Had end of the row seats for the show. Tapped our feet along to all the songs... I Will Survive, Shake Your Groove Thing, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, etc. Went outside and enjoyed the 70 degree sunshine during intermission. Then went back in for the 2nd half. We just slid into our seats when the show started. Great timing!!!
One song into the 2nd act, the actors dance off stage and grab people on end of the row to go up and dance. Last time I was able to push it off on Cindy. This time, not so lucky! So I got to go up and dance. Not such a great thing. Luckily only had to go around the stage two times -- and then I got to stand in a line and bow! Didn't even notice the audience. And the stage was so big... But I did it.
I am doing alot of things here in Sydney that I don't think I would necessarily do back in the States. Don't know if I am any different, but it just seems easier to do it here.
P.S. Jim loved the show too. Definitely Emmalee would have loved the music and the costumes, but the topics were too dark and mature for her. Too bad since it was just so easy to get into!

8.45 am and no one is there

Church was scheduled for 8.45am this morning because there was a 2K fun run here in Northbridge at 9.45am. That way you theoretically could attend church and still make the run since it started right outside the church.
We got there on time and there were barely 40 people there. Hmmmmm..... wonder where everyone was! Even past 9am extras didn't filter in, so I am guessing that they just decided it was a good time not to go to church.
After church we watched the start of the race and then walked home behind them. The race wound its way past our house, so we still saw some stragglers as we got home. After talking to G&G Rhomberg, Jim packed the kids in the car and headed over to the fair that was happening at the church after the run.
They grabbed lunch, Nicole M. picked up Andrew for Daisy, Allie & Naomi's combined birthday party. And then Jim and Emmalee rode a few rides before coming home to play together.
I ran to the grocery store then went and picked Andrew and Grace up. She stayed for a short play, but ended up taking her home a little after 4 because she wasn't feeling well. Poor thing!

Had to Happen

Tonight we went out to dinner with the Youngs (MN) and the Pullmans to Had to Happen in North Sydney. Julie suggested a Mexican dinner for the Americans to regroup and chat about our trips back to the States and to catch up since we hadn't seen each other in quite some time.
Didn't know if we were going to make it tonight since we had some major kids' room cleaning to do today, but Emmalee put on some Hannah Montana music and actually surprised us and got to work in her room. Let's hope it stays a little cleaner for a while now.
Dinner wasn't too bad. Jim had fajitas, while I had a burrito and the kids split a taco and Mexican rice. It wasn't exactly authentic. The rice was quite yellow instead of orange or red. And the salsa was more on the lines of pizza sauce -- but the company was good. So I guess that counts for more points, right? I can cook it better so that is what we are going to have to have this week some night when Jim is home for dinner...

It's Kinda Fixed

After 8 long hours in the service shop, my car was returned to me. It had the six month tune-up. It was confirmed that the air conditioning didn't work. Fortunately we brought it in in the nick of time for the 6 month tune-up so that it was covered under warranty. I got a new compressor and all I had to pay for was new 'gas' which I would call the freon. I got an oil change. They confirmed that the piece of crap CD Player which never worked when we bought the car has a fault in it and doesn't work -- won't work unless I order a new one.
And -- the biggest reason we took it in -- it keeps dying and has to be jumped -- they can't find any reason that there is a problem with the battery. The computer says it is perfectly fine. Go figure!

Here's to Good Friends

I had to call Sophie after dropping the car off today and ask that she pick the kids up from school since I had NO IDEA when I would be able to pick the car up from the shop and I couldn't count on Jim to be back from work in time. She said no problem.
So, she got them after school, and brought them back to her house. When it was getting close to 5ish I let her know that I was going to still be later than 6 and Jim was supposed to be leaving work soon (which he in reality didn't!). She said she had spaghetti bolognese already made and would be happy to feed them. How wonderful.
By the time Jim got there around 7.30 and I ended up rumbling in around 7.45 after the hour drive I had and she offered to feed us the same. So we got a home cooked meal, too!
It was great to be able to sit down and decompress and relax and just chat while the kids kept playing with friends. John was off at a work function so she was just alone with Fraser and Jacqueline. The four kids just going along really well tonight. We are really thankful and lucky that we have such wonderful friends we can trust and count on. And enjoy even more so!!

I Can't Believe I am Saying This

I don't think I actually want to step foot into a mall again for many many many months. UGH! I just spent from 10.15 until 5pm today walking around Westfield Parramatta. I took the car into the dealership after dropping the kids off at school in the rain. Another lovely story. Emmalee was an absolute bear, so we were late...
Figured since I had all day at the mall I would start my day with a movie. The first thing playing was a movie called "Knocked Up". It had been getting good reviews and was supposed to be a pretty good comedy, so I thought -- sure, a good laugh would be nice. Not so good. Quite a crude movie. Very disappointing. Or I am getting old. Not sure which one it is.
Two hours later I still had alot of time to kill. Ate lunch. Wandered in and out of shops. Sat and got a cappuccino, and read my book. Was really really bored.
You would think that I would be happy to spend all day in a mall with nothing to do but shop -- but NO! All I wanted to do was leave. Something must be wrong with me!!!

Looking on the bright side, though...

It was a beautiful day. I think it hit about 72degrees and was truly sunny. Absolutely gorgeous! So, in celebration of not having to spend the day inside a car dealer or wandering around aimlessly through Parramatta, I fixed myself some lunch, made a drink mix drink (one of the 1,000 mixes I now have in the pantry!) and settled down with a book outside on the deck. Peaceful. Quiet. Forgot about all my problems for a while.
You know, if we would have had a hammock, I probably could have fallen asleep out there.

I think my luck has run out

This morning Jim left for work at the bright and early hour of 5.30am. Being the kind and considerate husband he is, he left without saying anything or leaving a note. THAT WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER...
Got the kids up and ready for school so I could drop them off by 8.30 and rush back to get the car started (after trickle charging all night -- and knowing it did work) and drive to Parramatta to get the car worked on. Got Andrew to Math Monkeys by 8.30 - Check. Got Emmalee dropped off right after -- Check. Walked briskly home -- Check. Put key in the lock and it didn't work. Realized that it was not the house key. It was a friend's house key -- MY HOUSE KEY WAS GONE!!! Jim had broken his in the door on Wednesday night and thought on his way out this morning that it would be OK to take MY HOUSE KEY off my chain and not mention it.
So, I was locked out of the house. No keys. Cell phone, car keys and purse are on the island waiting for me to grab them and go to the car dealer. I hurry around the house trying to see if by chance we left a window unlocked before vacation or after. No such luck.
I had to walk back to school and ask them to let me use their phone. Couldn't remember Jim's mobile number -- its too many numbers and programmed into my phones. Tried him at work and the phone wasn't connecting. So I walked down to KJ and ran into Letetia. Decided to walk up to coffee after all, since I was too late now to be able to take the car in. Besides the coffee shop was across from the rental agents.
Walked up there, went to the agents and pleaded my case. They of course asked for ID, to which I replied they could happily take me to the house, open it up and go and look in my purse on the island to confirm its me. They chose the lazy way out -- seeing if I knew any of the lease details. I was able to leave there with a copy of the key and a slight bit less amount of steam rolling out of my ears.
After coffee with the girls and the walk back, I let myself in, added a NEW copy to my regular key chain and then called Jim. Had his admin break into a meeting to let him know what happened to me. UGH!!! So now I have to go to the car dealer tomorrow. What fun, what fun!

We have an appointment

I got after Jim to get in touch with Hunter Holden who sold us the car. I now have an appointment first thing in the morning on Thursday. I now have to take the kids to school for Math Monkeys at 8.30am and then hurry back to get to Parramatta before 9.30 otherwise they can't guarantee (if they will even bother guaranteeing anything anyway) that it will be done before the end of the day. I have Nicole on standby to pick the kids up from school and take the to skipping so I don't have to worry about rushing too much. That's a relief. Now I just need to hope the car comes out without too much trouble...