Wow ... two days in a row!

Almost getting regular!  Must be the prunes!

Baby ducks!  On the golf course!

I really must tone down my use of exclamation marks!!!!!

I love my gherkin (even though Himself has been the main driver but his car should be ready on Tuesday).  It's quite a conspicuous colour (in case you hadn't noticed!) and there are days when I might see 3 or 4 on a trip and then many days will pass without seeing one at all.

So I had to take a shot of this in the carpark at work!

It looks as if I have work until the end of December.  7 days a fortnight.  This is good.

Tomorrow I am off to a tute at uni and then on the weekend we start moving boxes out into the self storage.

4 weeks and 1 day until I'm on leave (and no longer employed full time) and this time in 5 weeks we will not be here.

A gentle learning curve

I mentioned in a previous post that I was loving my new Macbook but I realised that I hadn't mentioned why.

If you look up "spoilt rotten" or "indulgent husband" in the dictionary you will see my photo.  Well you would probably see Himself under the latter.

Anyway.  I was whingeing (as is my wont) about the fact that my PC was as slow as a wet week, notwithstanding the fact that thanks to Three we were on dial up speed again.  One had been touting the features of Macs and Himself went out a couple of Saturdays ago and came home with this.

One 'showed' me how to do certain things (which involved him moving his fingers over the keyboard at high speed and saying "there you go") and so I was not very confident.  The delightful Two came over last night for dinner (with GGF) and because he and I are very similar ("now I know where I get my anal retentiveness from ... noone else I know would spend 5 minutes trying to decide what to name a bookmark folder"  and I love you too, son!) and we learn the same way and he is a teacher and he has infinite patience, he showed me how to do lots of things that I wasn't sure about.  I still need to try getting my photos from my PC over here and to see what my camera does when I connect it up and Himself downloaded (uploaded?? never sure what the difference is!) a whole lot of music but I still need to connect my iPods and see what happens then.  BUT ... Two showed me how to get the photos off my phone onto this.  (My PC didn't have bluetooth and I never got around to fiddling with cords and CDs and stuff).

And that, folks, is a very longwinded way of saying that the photo at the top (albeit small) is a panoramic view of the the lake and the road you know where.  Pretty, isn't it?

This will be the view from our very own window (without the scaffolding and cyclone wire fencing- duh!)

And this one was taken back in April and is the view from the other side of the river looking back across at us.

Every time we go down there I just feel at peace.  Which, the way things are going at the moment, is a very welcome feeling.

Tomorrow I should find out if I am going back after my 5 weeks off.  I put my hand up for 7 days a fortnight which is more than I really want to do but it will only be til December and then I can reassess.  Then again, they might say no.  And I wouldn't be devastated if they did.

I have shied away from exercise again and I think a lot has to do with the fear of injury.  My foot is still not right.  I realise that when I was working out with Fireman Sam last year I was working incredibly hard.  Whilst part of me misses that intensity there is a part that realises that I was probably doing it a bit too hard.   The good thing is that I am missing being active so I need to give the whole thing a lot of thought.

And as Miz S has said, I think the PT is the way to go.  So now I need to do some research and find one.  I'm sure I will meet a new neighbour who can recommend someone.

If any of my few readers haven't discovered Tammy go and have a look.  She doesn't update NEARLY enough but her writing is so thought provoking.  

5 weeks and 5 days to go

And then we will be homeless!  The new place is coming along really well so hopefully we will have to depend on friends for a very short time.  The cats have begun their vaccination course (haven't been done for years - BAD owner) and were NOT happy yesterday.  We had a look at a cattery today.  It is also a boarding kennel and there was a lot of barking dogs but the cats that were there didn't seem fazed.  I would prefer just a cattery but they are few and far between and I want somewhere close to both houses.  They will pick up and deliver, too, which will be great.

We have started to pack.  The place looks like a tip.  Himself has registered online for a self storage facility and if they have the size we want we will start to shift boxes and bits down next weekend.  Because the new owners are taking so much of our old furniture I want to get stuff out so I don't inadvertently leave something behind.

The exercise took a bit of a back seat this week.  I went for a run on Tuesday morning and got caught in a massive downpour about half way down the street so I sloshed back and jumped back into bed.  A few late nights and wet mornings haven't helped things.  I have been doing a lot of research online looking for different programs to follow once we have moved.  Not sure yet whether to train by myself, join a gym or get a personal trainer.  I wouldn't mind having a go at a Body for Life style 12 week challenge and think I would need a trainer for good form and motivation.  Just need to find a good one.  I like the sound of Kek and think she would be an awesome trainer but she lives half way to Sydney and doesn't come down my side of town.  

Still not sure what is happening with work.  I could extend my contract for 3 months but I don't want full time work and I don't know if they will let me extend on a part time basis.  Not fussed, though.  Have so much to do down at the new place.

We went to a function at the golf club on Friday and met more new neighbours.  They are such a friendly bunch and there is a good mix of golfers and beginners so I am really looking forward to getting out there and learning properly.  

The boys are well.  One is around at the moment working on the website for the Mermaid's business.  Three is on leave and is going away for a few days with the new girlfriend.

I am loving my Macbook.  Much more user friendly than my old PC notebook.

And on that note I think I shall toddle off to bed.  4 days this week cos I am at a uni tute on Friday.

Photos will be forthcoming when One shows me how to get them off the PC and onto here.  I am still learning!

Still here

Six weeks until I go on 5 weeks annual leave. 7 weeks and we don't live here any more!

The new place is coming along really well. Himself was down there today and they have started plastering the inside.

Work is good. Still no decision as to whether there will be a role for me when my contract expires but I'm not too concerned. I decided not to pursue the other hospital and withdrew my application. I felt no regret so it was the right decision.

I have exercised this week and have the lovely sore muscles (and I'm not being sarcastic). The eating has been good as well.

This weekend I need to spend some time on the immunisation course I'm doing (again!), take Three out to see the new furniture, visit the new place (twice) and start to pack.

If the weather is good I might try for a bike ride but I'm not holding my breath.

*ahem*

It appears that rather a large amount of time has disappeared since I decided to lay low.

It's not that I didn't mean to update. I just couldn't get my act or brain together.

In fact, I nearly deleted the whole thing with the intention of walking away from blogging for ever.

But I didn't.

So here I am.

The photo is taken on the beach which is at the end of the path which runs behind the new house. Pretty awesome for a city beach, no?

The house continues to be built and if all goes to plan we should be able to move in by the end of August. Which means only a couple of weeks of being homeless. And catless. They are NOT going to be happy. Firstly they will have to go into a cattery. Which will mean a visit to a vet for shots and stuff. Yes, I am a slack owner. Then when they get to move in they will have to learn about stairs (I am looking forward to watching THAT) and learn that they can no longer wander about the neighbourhood. They will be contained with an electric fence (designed for cats - I'm not cruel). This is imperative as I don't want them killing the birdlife (ducks, pelicans and the like ... although I'd like to see them try to bring a pelican home) but there are also snakes around and a cat recently dug its way out of its new backyard and headed for its old home. It was found several weeks later in the vicinity of the old home, emaciated and near to death. It was taken to the RSPCA and was found to have been bitten twice by snakes and had to be put down.

So the cats will be contained.

Work is good. I am taking 5 weeks of annual leave at the end of my contract which is only 7.5 weeks away. This coincides with when we have to move out of this place so I really should get packing.

Unfortunately I have discovered ebay and bought rather a lot of glass bits and pieces. Too much really but I tell Himself that I have got Christmas presents sorted!! I had plans to sell a lot of stuff but haven't worked out how to manage the posting side of things. Working full time makes getting to the post office well nigh impossible.

Still not sure what will happen once my contract is up but I have definitely decided NOT to return to my old position and have told that boss. No dramas there ... I think it was expected. If I decide to return to that area I will look for work closer to home. My current manager has tried really hard to create extra hours but even though the powers that be agree that more man power is needed there isn't the money for it. So it looks as if I might be able to work a day a week for a while. That would be bloody marvelous!! I was asked if I would be interested in working for a private health care facility in a similar role and have submitted my resume. I will go for interview if I'm asked but it's still pretty much full time and the travel would be huge. So I'll probably say thanks but no thanks and bide my time working very part time where I am. Then I can review the situation next year. This all has to be approved so I'm still in limbo a bit but I'm not too stressed about it all.

The exercise went waaaaaay out the window and I have regained quite a bit of weight. Fireman Sam is studying for promotion and dealing with other issues so I have lost that incentive.

I guess with everything that has happened in the past 6 months it's not too surprising but I am slowly getting back into things. I am very unhappy with myself but that is something I need to learn to deal with. Along with being an all or nothing person. But more on this another day.

Himself has pretty well quit drinking which is amazing. He is looking much better for it but is still struggling with painful joints so can't exercise as much as he would like. I think he might need a knee replacement. He has had some ups and downs with work which meant he felt very unwanted but as of yesterday he is back on a project which he enjoys. It will mean a little bit of travel but not the stupid stuff he was doing last year.

One has moved out with Fireman Sam. They found a quirky apartment not far from here and although I have heard on the grapevine (Three) that One was a bit lonely at first he seems to be happy. He comes around to use our internet, washing machine and dryer and to eat our food but that's cool. When we move he will get said washing machine and dryer. And our fridge. (We bought all new everything. The new owners are taking nearly all the furniture and I have homes for what they're not taking.)

Two and GGF are happy. He is currently working on a documentary and a feature film. Both independent (read "poorly paid"!) but every bit of experience helps. He was meant to have his jaw surgery in May but it was postponed the day before he was booked in because noone thought to tell the fucking ANAESTHETIST that he has sarcoidosis in his epligottis which just MIGHT pose an anaesthetic risk. And by noone I mean not the surgeon, the ENT specialist, the dentist, the rheumatologist .... even though they all knew and communicated with each other. Sheesh. As you can imagine Two was really pissed off. The reason it was postponed was because the anaesthetist wanted him in a hospital with an intensive care facility and the hospital he was booked into didn't have one. And the surgeon doesn't have admitting rights to a hospital with an ICU so we had to find another surgeon (well the surgeon found us another surgeon). And now Two is booked into have his jaw broken on July 28th. I am so proud of that kid. He has really struggled with the side effects of the medications he's been on but has quit smoking and taken up running in an effort to deal with them.

Three is still working a long way from home and an even longer away from where we will be living but he is addressing this. He is also looking forward to moving. He has a new female in his life. We shall call her Andy because that is not her name! She is refreshingly normal. Through her he has discovered Wu Shu and just loves it. (He used to learn karate). His fitness levels are just amazing and the transformation in his physique is just as amazing. And above all he is happy and soooo grown up.

The mermaid is struggling a bit. Brothers are good. Mrs Other had a bit of a heart scare recently but they are currently in Italy on holiday (never had kids!!) and all seems well. Parents are well and happy. Really happy, actually, which is just fantastic.

I'm sure there is lots more to tell you but I think I've covered enough for now.


And this is the mouth of the river just next to the awesome beach. *sigh* Can't wait.

Lying low

I'm feeling a bit fragile at the moment. Can't think why!!

I have had very stiff and snore neck and shoulder muscles and felt quiet achy all over on Wednesday. So much so that I left work early and took yesterday off. Today is ANZAC day and a holiday.

I have tried to relax and it seems to be working. Himself and I went for a lovely long walk around the river path this morning and did some shopping this afternoon. The tension is still in my neck and shoulders and I think I'll get a massage over the next couple of days.

We are over the moon with the price we got for the house and are looking forward to the move but I think I need to be a bit careful that I don't let myself get overwhelmed and therefore susceptible to depression.

On that note I will toddle off and watch some telly. I will be back very soon.

Meet the gherkin.

A great result

A very stressful day but the auction went really well and we were delighted with the price. Settlement terms were fantastic as well and with any luck we will be able to move out of here and into the new place with little, if any, need to stay with friends. And even if we do it will only be for a couple of weeks.


The best bit? We will have virtually no mortgage. THAT fact is still slowly sinking in!

Now to get some normality back in our lives and start to really enjoy our new lifestyle.

I'll be back here a bit more often, too.