Please forgive me lord, for I have Googled.
I didn’t mean to. I only meant to find out what happened in our series of the Apprentice (the one with Michelle Dewberry and the pregnancy) as I’d heard about the scandal on the radio and THERE IT WAS….. the winner and the runner up in the first line of text. Don’t you hate it when that happens? I was really hissed off! I’d been really enjoying Sir Alan (very similar to Paul’s ‘make the tea, or you’re fired’ demands :o) Never mind. I shall try and forget who wins. Anyhow, knowing how the programme schedulers work over here anyway, the series final will be moved to 5am on a Sunday morning. Nothing’s consistent. You just get into a series and they move the night it’s shown; or the time; or they take it off all together for a month and play two episodes a night (as they are doing with Two and a Half Men at the moment – all in a different order I might add, so in one episode the kid is teenage and in the next 30 seconds later, he looks about 8!) I understand that British TV gods, Ant and Dec are in Oz at the moment getting ready for the new I’m a Celebrity. No doubt we’ll get to see it in 2012, so please don’t spoil it for me. We watched the Christopher Biggins one in the Winter and it was hilarious! Can’t wait. Wonder who’s going to be in it? If the blog goes quiet for a while, I’ll have got the call and I’ll be off to eat bollocks (as opposed to talking them).
Anyhow…. Enough drivel about TV. What’s been happening in Oz? I hear the one old man at the back asking. Well, quite a bit (as usual!). We enjoyed the Red Bull Air Race again this year.
I didn’t mean to. I only meant to find out what happened in our series of the Apprentice (the one with Michelle Dewberry and the pregnancy) as I’d heard about the scandal on the radio and THERE IT WAS….. the winner and the runner up in the first line of text. Don’t you hate it when that happens? I was really hissed off! I’d been really enjoying Sir Alan (very similar to Paul’s ‘make the tea, or you’re fired’ demands :o) Never mind. I shall try and forget who wins. Anyhow, knowing how the programme schedulers work over here anyway, the series final will be moved to 5am on a Sunday morning. Nothing’s consistent. You just get into a series and they move the night it’s shown; or the time; or they take it off all together for a month and play two episodes a night (as they are doing with Two and a Half Men at the moment – all in a different order I might add, so in one episode the kid is teenage and in the next 30 seconds later, he looks about 8!) I understand that British TV gods, Ant and Dec are in Oz at the moment getting ready for the new I’m a Celebrity. No doubt we’ll get to see it in 2012, so please don’t spoil it for me. We watched the Christopher Biggins one in the Winter and it was hilarious! Can’t wait. Wonder who’s going to be in it? If the blog goes quiet for a while, I’ll have got the call and I’ll be off to eat bollocks (as opposed to talking them).
Anyhow…. Enough drivel about TV. What’s been happening in Oz? I hear the one old man at the back asking. Well, quite a bit (as usual!). We enjoyed the Red Bull Air Race again this year.
We were lucky again with the weather. We went down with Sue and Mick and Tony and Kim and assorted kids and had a good time! It did get quite warm in the afternoon and we were all looking a little red and rosy the next day, but it’s a good day out.
Adam had a friend over for the weekend in the guise of ‘Kindy Bear’.
Every school seems to have one; Sam had spikey the hedgehog. Kindy Bear had quite an exciting weekend; so much so, that he needed his own blog. Have a look at: http://kindybear.blogspot.com Adam’s teachers were thrilled with it and wanted to link it on the school newsletter. I said that I didn’t mind and logged on a few days later to be met with this picture:
Do you recognize the young chap on the school website? Mr Cheese is famous!! All that money on Darcie to become a model and Adam gets the web space. How funny!
We have been out and about on the boat. Paul is determined to catch a snapper. Last Sunday, Sam did have a bite and as the line went ‘WWHHHIIZZZZZZ’ through his reel, you could physically see the colour drain from his face as he shouted ‘DAD! What do I do???’ Unluckily, the fish bit the bait clean in half and then buggered off, so we didn’t manage to land one this time.
We have been out and about on the boat. Paul is determined to catch a snapper. Last Sunday, Sam did have a bite and as the line went ‘WWHHHIIZZZZZZ’ through his reel, you could physically see the colour drain from his face as he shouted ‘DAD! What do I do???’ Unluckily, the fish bit the bait clean in half and then buggered off, so we didn’t manage to land one this time.
The sea was a little choppy and not comfortable when you were stationary, so we decided to try again another time. It was a good feeling though to think that we may eventually catch something bigger than most people actually put on their hook for bait! Darcie got excited when she thought we’d caught two fish at once, when we had to burst her bubble and let her know that was what we put on the hook for the big fish to eat!
Paul had his expo in Kalgoorlie – I think this helped with the ‘Crocodile Dundee’ attitude that he’s come back home with and his insistence to go out into the wilderness and kill animals (only joking – catch a fish!). The guy he travelled with is very knowledgeable about all sorts of stuff and Paul learnt a lot in the week that they had together, huddled in their caravan. The expo was hard work. Long hours and always difficult spending that amount of time in such close proximity with someone that you’ve only met for an hour, but I think they both enjoyed it. We’re going to visit Kalgoorlie one day with the kids. Take them to see the Super Pit and go prospecting for gold. There’s so much cool stuff to see here; just a shame that everything’s so blooming expensive. I was looking to book a week away after Xmas and the flight centre couldn’t find us anything less than $ 7,500!!! Even to hire a camper van for 10 days is $ 2,500! I think we may be staying put for the summer :o) We’ve got the pool now, so at least there’s some entertainment for the kids. They have been in the pool a bit over the last few weeks. The trouble is, it’s still Spring and when the weather has a ‘cool change’ for a few days, the pool temperature really plummets again. Even Sam refused to stay in it more than 20 minutes last weekend which is a rare occurrence.
STOP PRESS: I’ve booked a few nights at Monkey Mia for January. We’ll tag another couple of nights on to either end I guess as it’s too blooming far to drive in one day. At least it’ll be a break and a change of routine, which is what we all need. Then the following week, Margaret will be arriving :o) I booked flights for them this week as Paul is taking her to Sydney for a few days. I thought it might be nice for Paul’s Mum to see Sydney. After all, it is the ‘iconic’ Australia – not this WA bit :o) So they’re off for a few nights in February – between the birthdays.
Mr Cheese is getting better in the pool. He has a little floatie belt and now he knows that he can reach the bottom, he walks around, splashing and blowing bubbles. Just a shame he doesn’t extend this to his weekly swimming lessons, where he still stands in the water with the hump and refuses to even acknowledge the teacher for the majority of the time; let alone actually do what he’s asked!
We’ve had a few letters about the new school for next year. Sam’s got an orientation day to go to for all year 6 students, so I think he’s looking forward to that. He is a little miffed though as he’s spent the last three years battling to learn Indonesian (something that he doesn’t particularly enjoy) only to discover that the new school doesn’t teach this……. It’s Japanese instead!!! Good grief! Where would you start with that? Darcie is really good at Indonesian and can count to 20 and probably knows all the swear words already :o) The sign of an attentive student. I think the kids are nervously cautious about a change of school. I think we’re done with the current one; lots of side issues and teacher politics. It’ll be lovely to have them in all one place, rather than have to drop one off and drive like the clappers to get to the next one!
Not long to Christmas now then, is it? We’ve nearly been here three years. I can’t believe it’s been that long really, can you? I guess we are starting to feel more settled. The kids are pretty settled and happy. OK, they have their moments when they have rough days at school and fall out with their mates, but they never whinge that they want to go back to England. In fact, I think they’d find it pretty hard going back now. They get a LOT of freedom over here. Sam is allowed out on his bike, Darcie and Ads can scoot off to the play park with Sam. We do have the beach on our doorstep (not that we get to visit it that often!). There are different opportunities for them here. OK, maybe not more than they would have in the UK, but different and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Take for instance this week Darcie has had to give another ‘speaker’s corner’ presentation. She has to prepare, deliver and entertain her classmates for a four minute demonstration after which, they discuss where they think she could improve and what they liked about her segment. Darcie chose to show her classmates how to make jelly and we made 23 samples the night before so she could share them. She thoroughly enjoyed it and was marked very highly by her teacher and peers. Sam bought home the other week a certificate for his computer skills, in which is was awarded a ‘Gold’ level; the only one in his class to get this.
So what about Paul and I? Well, it’s certainly been an experience, this emigration lark! I don’t know if I would have the energy to repeat it and with hindsight… well, we wouldn’t do a lot of things with hindsight, would we? I think we are fairly happy here. The kids being settled helps a great deal. The business is going well. It’s never easy being in charge of your own destiny; never really having a day off without remembering something that needs doing or should have been emailed. I think we are still under a fair bit of pressure and probably always will be with the business; but to be fair, a lot of that is self inflicted. Paul’s a perfectionist and always wants the best for our customers. I am a perfectionist – but only on alternate Tuesdays.
I think we need to relax a little and enjoy what we have around us. Weekends are precious and we do enjoy the time as a family, but there’s still the shopping and the housework to do. Some things are the same no matter where in the world you call home. You never know, we may even contemplate camping. OK – forget I said that! A night camping on the boat is probably as adventurous as it gets for us (with the microwave, toilet and dvd player :o)
I wish we could treasure this time. As ever, all our lives are so busy, we rush from one task through to the next, not really enjoying the journey. I know we can’t enjoy every detail of the food shop or the school run, but I wish we could just stop the clock for a few hours every week and enjoy this time when the kids are young and there’s so much to look forward to. Perhaps I shall start instigating ‘time freeze’ hours every weekend.
Who knows what page we’ll be on this time next year? There’s lots to look forward to now the summer’s coming. I’ve got a night out to see Bjorn Again in Kings Park Friday week with the girls. Father Christmas will be arriving by helicopter again at Harvey Norman (I hope). Carols by candelight and the outdoor cinema emailed me their list of movies this week; a sure sign that summer’s on the way.
Last night we took the kids into Perth on the train to watch Santa switch on the Christmas lights in Perth. We don’t normally do this. I usually prefer to stagger in on 23rd December, get some Christmas spirit and travel back home again, but I thought we’d make an effort for the kids. Adam marveled at it and Sam complained (a lot!).
Paul had his expo in Kalgoorlie – I think this helped with the ‘Crocodile Dundee’ attitude that he’s come back home with and his insistence to go out into the wilderness and kill animals (only joking – catch a fish!). The guy he travelled with is very knowledgeable about all sorts of stuff and Paul learnt a lot in the week that they had together, huddled in their caravan. The expo was hard work. Long hours and always difficult spending that amount of time in such close proximity with someone that you’ve only met for an hour, but I think they both enjoyed it. We’re going to visit Kalgoorlie one day with the kids. Take them to see the Super Pit and go prospecting for gold. There’s so much cool stuff to see here; just a shame that everything’s so blooming expensive. I was looking to book a week away after Xmas and the flight centre couldn’t find us anything less than $ 7,500!!! Even to hire a camper van for 10 days is $ 2,500! I think we may be staying put for the summer :o) We’ve got the pool now, so at least there’s some entertainment for the kids. They have been in the pool a bit over the last few weeks. The trouble is, it’s still Spring and when the weather has a ‘cool change’ for a few days, the pool temperature really plummets again. Even Sam refused to stay in it more than 20 minutes last weekend which is a rare occurrence.
STOP PRESS: I’ve booked a few nights at Monkey Mia for January. We’ll tag another couple of nights on to either end I guess as it’s too blooming far to drive in one day. At least it’ll be a break and a change of routine, which is what we all need. Then the following week, Margaret will be arriving :o) I booked flights for them this week as Paul is taking her to Sydney for a few days. I thought it might be nice for Paul’s Mum to see Sydney. After all, it is the ‘iconic’ Australia – not this WA bit :o) So they’re off for a few nights in February – between the birthdays.
Mr Cheese is getting better in the pool. He has a little floatie belt and now he knows that he can reach the bottom, he walks around, splashing and blowing bubbles. Just a shame he doesn’t extend this to his weekly swimming lessons, where he still stands in the water with the hump and refuses to even acknowledge the teacher for the majority of the time; let alone actually do what he’s asked!
We’ve had a few letters about the new school for next year. Sam’s got an orientation day to go to for all year 6 students, so I think he’s looking forward to that. He is a little miffed though as he’s spent the last three years battling to learn Indonesian (something that he doesn’t particularly enjoy) only to discover that the new school doesn’t teach this……. It’s Japanese instead!!! Good grief! Where would you start with that? Darcie is really good at Indonesian and can count to 20 and probably knows all the swear words already :o) The sign of an attentive student. I think the kids are nervously cautious about a change of school. I think we’re done with the current one; lots of side issues and teacher politics. It’ll be lovely to have them in all one place, rather than have to drop one off and drive like the clappers to get to the next one!
Not long to Christmas now then, is it? We’ve nearly been here three years. I can’t believe it’s been that long really, can you? I guess we are starting to feel more settled. The kids are pretty settled and happy. OK, they have their moments when they have rough days at school and fall out with their mates, but they never whinge that they want to go back to England. In fact, I think they’d find it pretty hard going back now. They get a LOT of freedom over here. Sam is allowed out on his bike, Darcie and Ads can scoot off to the play park with Sam. We do have the beach on our doorstep (not that we get to visit it that often!). There are different opportunities for them here. OK, maybe not more than they would have in the UK, but different and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Take for instance this week Darcie has had to give another ‘speaker’s corner’ presentation. She has to prepare, deliver and entertain her classmates for a four minute demonstration after which, they discuss where they think she could improve and what they liked about her segment. Darcie chose to show her classmates how to make jelly and we made 23 samples the night before so she could share them. She thoroughly enjoyed it and was marked very highly by her teacher and peers. Sam bought home the other week a certificate for his computer skills, in which is was awarded a ‘Gold’ level; the only one in his class to get this.
So what about Paul and I? Well, it’s certainly been an experience, this emigration lark! I don’t know if I would have the energy to repeat it and with hindsight… well, we wouldn’t do a lot of things with hindsight, would we? I think we are fairly happy here. The kids being settled helps a great deal. The business is going well. It’s never easy being in charge of your own destiny; never really having a day off without remembering something that needs doing or should have been emailed. I think we are still under a fair bit of pressure and probably always will be with the business; but to be fair, a lot of that is self inflicted. Paul’s a perfectionist and always wants the best for our customers. I am a perfectionist – but only on alternate Tuesdays.
I think we need to relax a little and enjoy what we have around us. Weekends are precious and we do enjoy the time as a family, but there’s still the shopping and the housework to do. Some things are the same no matter where in the world you call home. You never know, we may even contemplate camping. OK – forget I said that! A night camping on the boat is probably as adventurous as it gets for us (with the microwave, toilet and dvd player :o)
I wish we could treasure this time. As ever, all our lives are so busy, we rush from one task through to the next, not really enjoying the journey. I know we can’t enjoy every detail of the food shop or the school run, but I wish we could just stop the clock for a few hours every week and enjoy this time when the kids are young and there’s so much to look forward to. Perhaps I shall start instigating ‘time freeze’ hours every weekend.
Who knows what page we’ll be on this time next year? There’s lots to look forward to now the summer’s coming. I’ve got a night out to see Bjorn Again in Kings Park Friday week with the girls. Father Christmas will be arriving by helicopter again at Harvey Norman (I hope). Carols by candelight and the outdoor cinema emailed me their list of movies this week; a sure sign that summer’s on the way.
Last night we took the kids into Perth on the train to watch Santa switch on the Christmas lights in Perth. We don’t normally do this. I usually prefer to stagger in on 23rd December, get some Christmas spirit and travel back home again, but I thought we’d make an effort for the kids. Adam marveled at it and Sam complained (a lot!).
After we’d seen Santa do the business, we went into Myer and the kids had a ride on the Santa express train.
One of our suppliers ran a promotion in July and were giving away vouchers for Myers. We received them this week (after a LOT of phone calls :o) and now have over $ 800 to go towards our Christmas shopping. Paul fancies a blu-ray player. Sam wants a PS3. Darcie wants an iPod and Adam would like a DS lite. Well looks like we’re into negative figures already – and that’s before I’ve added anything I’d like to the list :o)
We bought some new furniture for the garden last week. We’ve been looking for ages and the shop up the road had a sale, so we blew the budget. What do you think? Can I interest anyone in a cocktail by the pool?
