Have Dock, Will Visit

You know its gonna be a cool playdate when your friend comes for a play in their boat and zooms up to YOUR DOCK...
Back up five minutes...
Jim, Emmalee and Andrew were all down on the jetty fishing. Ok, hanging old lunch meat in the water hoping to get something to bite -- but with NO LUCK. When all of a sudden, Andrew's friend Seb and his dad come motoring up in their fishing boat from about 10 docks down the way...
You see, Seb's mom had called to see if Andrew wanted to come for a play. I invited Seb to come fishing instead. Seb's mom changed that to see if I thought Andrew and Jim would like to have Seb & his dad pop by with the boat... and I said that would pretty much make Jim and Andrew's day. So I kept it a secret and hopped down the steps with the camera like on candid camera to wait. You should have seen their faces!

Do we look 10 years older?

May 23rd 2008. Well, technically May24th, but who's counting??? Jim is -- that's who... He said we needed to celebrate on the 24th so we would be celebrating on the technical 'U.S.' holiday of our anniversary. Bunch of crap I say. Oh wait. We are supposed to be in love and I am supposed to say, "Yes dear, whatever you say dear" Blah Blah Blah Blah.
Well this tripping over the time zone back and forth so many times makes me think I am not quite sure exactly when our 'true' anniversary time should be celebrated. But May 23rd is the date for me.
So, now that the complaining is done, the celebrating begins....

Dropped the kids off at the Fords (while I finished my pouting). Dressed up and headed out for drinks at Icebergs in Bondi. One of the top 10 restaurants in Sydney. As Jim said -- only the best for his wife on her anniversary!!! He ordered up a sunny afternoon. We got a glass windowbox and sat down to watch the waves crash below us.
He got a Coopers Best Extra Stout beer and I got a Passionfruit Martini/Cosmo sort of a drink.
Quite nummy. A mix of gin, passionfruit and dry champagne. Yum yum. We also got a side of polenta chips and sour cream. Now that is a nice way to start the afternoon off.
Jim also brought out anniversary gift #1 for me. He managed to totally surprise me -- even shopped -- at the mall -- no less -- (no tin for the 10th, which was fine for me) He presented me with a BEAUTIFUL Raymond Weill watch that totally matches our wedding bands. How romantically perfect.
After our snack and drinks we headed off to the wharf for an early dinner. He booked reservations at OTTO, which had been recommended to him and again was one of the top 10 places to eat. We were a bit early so we stopped for a drink at one of the hotels (aka a bar). Then we wandered over to the wharf and found the BLUE hotel (actually a hotel) with a bar that was really cool. Had crystals hanging from the ceiling, heaters all over since it was inside/outside and we settled down for another drink.
Again did the beer/passionfruit cocktail route. Very nice. Wish we went here instead of the first hotel joint. Oh well.
Then we wandered the 20 steps or so to OTTO. Had our outside table reserved and a really nice French waiter for the Italian meal. Quite funny. Was really nice. I had an amazing entree of wagyu beef carpaccio with truffle oil and capers. YUM! Then for dinner Jim had a pasta dish with just the right amount of chile and prawns, while I opted for more beef, going for this 3" high fillet that just about melted when you sliced it with your fork. WHOA! It came with this bone with marrow, that I can say I was not impressed with... texture issues...
Then came dessert.... passionfruit souffle. They even wrote Happy Anniversary on the plate for us. How sweet!

Going Vintage

Been busy working on the year 2 fundraiser. What is new. Luckily Mary-Anne, Jarryd's mom is helping out with ideas for our class donation.

We are trying to find something to stay with the French 'Rendezvous a Paris' theme, so we kicked around the idea of French restaurant vouchers, Cirque du Soliel tickets, Le Crouset cooking hamper, French Champagne. In the end, Mary-Anne ended up getting a great deal on 2 magnums of Dom Perignon 1999. One less thing for me to worry about. Hopefully someone will pay a pretty dollar for it!

Vintage... French... Champagne...

Saying Farewell

This morning I had to say good-bye to Sophie, Fraser and Jacqueline as they left for Brisbane.

When we moved here I expected that we would be the ones that would be making friends (if we were lucky) and then having to say good-bye as we are moving away. Not the other way around. Hardly a year and a half into our stay here we all are having to say good-bye to Andrew's very best friend here in Australia and one of my really good friends.

Its really hard for me to sit and think about how its tearing Andrew up knowing that he isn't going to be seeing Fraser whenever he wants -- those impromptu playdates and sleepovers. They are closer than two peas in a pod. Almost like brothers, just brothers that don't fight. Rather amazing. And the whole concept of the move is seeming to be foreign to both of them -- likes it is more of a holiday than a permanent situation. We have plans to visit during the term 3 holidays in September, but not until then. These boys haven't been separated for more than a couple of weeks --ever!

All this just brings me back the memories of moving here and all that Andrew went thru missing home. I hope he can cope a bit better having other friends in school and a regular routine to continue with -- where Fraser and Jacqueline will be less fortunate -- they are starting new in Brisbane the way we did here Dec '06. I don't envy that at all.

We had Sophie & the kids for dinner Sunday night so we ALL could say good-bye and after they left we put the kids to bed. I put Andrew to bed and it was all I could do to keep the tears at bay. At one point he asked me why, when we were snuggling in his bed, his pillow was wet. Had to be from my tears since I was sad that my friends were leaving as we wouldn't see them for a while and I would miss them alot. By the next morning, Andrew was feeling the same way. He woke up and was saying he missed Fraser already. So, we made a card for him and Jacq so they will have it soon.

That's the hard thing about making friends. You open your heart -- and then when they go you send a piece of it with them to keep them safe. It might make you sad in the beginning, but it keeps them a bit happier knowing they have some of 'home' with them.

Favourite Afterschool Spot

This is where the kids go everyday after school.














Just to hang out.

In case you've been wondering

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. It is still in fact round. I have just been busy. Very very busy.
Nothing like saying I was going to be less involved with school this year and then being made to eat those very words by the beginning of Term 2.
You see, Year 2 is in charge of the major fundraiser of the year. That is Emmalee's class. Hardly anyone has stepped up to help out. I volunteered to do the invitations and said I would be on the outskirts to help on the day. Good luck with that... No one was doing much of anything. I got promoted to 'Communications Coordinator', which is a glamorous title for being in charge of EVERY little thing that is involved with going out about the event in print and on the web. Oh and the majority of the ideas bouncing around in meetings it seems. I am the left hand woman in the meetings for the Co-ordinator herself. UGH!!!
So, I have now designed a logo, invitation, envelopes, certificates, letters, auction sheets, soon an auction catalogue, 8 page+ website, PDFs, and I don't even know what else. Seems to be taking up more of my waking hours than I care to think about and just as much of my semi-sleeping hours.
It has also made me painfully aware of the fact that I am out of practise with my graphic design skills. Slow, I am (Yoda speak -- too much Star wars in the house) Have to get myself to slow down to work with my skill set. Not used to not remembering all the commands for my programs. It kinda sucks.
But, I have brought this upon myself. I can't say no. I should, but I can't. NPS has been really good for the kids. I like being involved. Not necessarily this much, but I like having the kids faces light up when they see me there. I like that the teachers know who I am. I like that the principal knows me by name. Its a good thing. And I hope I am doing a good thing for them, too.

Jim took me Mother's Day shopping...

and look what we came home with... Funny thing is. This is Andrew's belated birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa Rhomberg and Aunt Leslie, Uncle Bill, Alex, Joe and Abby. Was one thing to buy it at the store and get it home. Was a whole 'nother thing to assemble it at 5pm in the twilight hours (as an accountant) and get it put together properly.

See below what happens when you build an American made basketball hoop in the Southern Hemisphere. You twist the pole and backboard in place and it ends up on the base BACKWARDS!!!! Of course you don't notice it until all the bolts are in and the hoop is 7.5 feet in the sky in the dark and your son tries to shoot hoops and the ball keeps thudding at his feet on the black base. Guess it will have to be redone at another time.

Party at Wizzy World

Andrew & Fraser shared their birthday party today at Wizzy World. Since their birthdays are just a day apart (not counting a whole year, too) and they are such good friends, they wanted to have a party together. Andrew had been begging for Wizzy World and Fraser was fine with that, so we said OK.
Easiest party I ever planned. All I had to do was give them my credit card and send out invites. They did the rest. That is it. Oh and bake three batches of cake (one set of cupcakes for Friday at school, one cake for Andrew's real birthday Saturday and then one batch of cupcakes for the party today!) But that was it!
So, here was the fun that was had today...

Andrew's Birthday Dinner

Andrew got to choose what he wanted to do for dinner. He chose to go out for pizza. There is this really good local pizza place that has wood-fired pizza here is Northbridge. He is really fond of their Margharita pizzas. In fact, last weekend he ate almost the entire pizza himself. So, it wasn't surprising he chose that for his birthday dinner.
We got there and took the last of his presents. Boy was he surprised when he opened the DS from Grammy Sandi and Grampy LeRoy. Another video game (Jim rolls his eyes and groans very very loudly -- you can probably hear him in the states right now). But Andrew was over the moon. Just what I wanted. And BLUE! COOL! The girl working there (daughter of the owner) who is 10 said she had never seen that color, so it was proclaimed even cooler!
Pizza was eaten and the waiter offered to take the cake and bring it back with a sparkler surprise. You should have seen Andrew's face. Very cute. But we had to redo with real candles so he could make his real wish and blow out the candles.

Now, as you can see nothing trumps the DS -- not even birthday cake. And I would have to say he is so tired he is trying to hold his head up to play. That is sheer concentration on the boy's part I tell you!

Andrew's Sparkling Birthday

Wii and Coke

When asked what he would like to do for his birthday, without hesitation Andrew replied...
I want to play Wii and drink Coke.
So, he got his request. He got to play Wii with his best friend Fraser from noon until 5.15 only stopping for a quick bite to eat at 2 (1/2 pbnj for Fraser and a full one for Andrew with a can of Coke shared between the two of them) and then a speedy toilet break at 4pm. Other than that, it was LEGO Star Wars Wii non-stop.
As Fraser's mom put it, their eyes were turning square by the time she picked Fraser up!

Morning Meditation

Jim and Andrew Ford met to play a bit of tennis this morning, so Letetia and I took the kids to Maggios for a coffee. And breakfast ice cream for the birthday boy.
After the breakfast was finished the kids usually run off and play. While Letetia and I were sitting there, the men finished up their tennis game and met us for their coffees. One time we looked over and there were the kids... practicing to be yogis... Peaceful and calm... (unless you count Emmalee who was bribing Anthea to stay that way longer by offering star stickers for every 30 seconds she stayed in her poses!)

Birthday Brekkie

This is what you get for breakfast on your birthday in Australia. Isn't it a great country???