April's Blog

Wedding Bells

2008-06-03T14:14:00.004+10:00

I can't believe it is over a month since my last blog posting - time flies .......! We recently went to Jasa's wedding. I have known Jasa since she was 3 years old, I can't believe she's grown up enough to get married. Her family have been my family almost since arriving in Darwin back in 1984. Her mum is one of my very dearest friends and her dad gave me away at my wedding nearly 9 years ago. Jas got married to Jason at Crab Claw Island Resort which is about an hour and a half down the track (this included 42klms of corrugated road - not very comfy in the Sirion!!).

It was a lovely wedding and great to catch up with people I haven't seen for years. The Bride was glowing and the groom looked pretty suave too!

Anzac Day 2008

2008-05-01T14:41:00.005+10:00

So back again! Another busy couple of weeks. Stu arrived home and has settled right back into the family schedule .... no easy task. He did come home with too many extra pounds around the middle however, after regular exercise and a red meat and beer free diet, he has dropped an amazing 5 kilos (and his pants!!).

Anzac Day in Darwin was beautiful. Stuart took Georgia to her first ever Dawn Service. Both Tiffanie and Stuart marched - Georgia, Oscar and I were very proud. Afterwards we met our friends, Kim and Boris for drinks and nibbles at the Mess on base for more drinks and nibbles. A lovely day was had by all.

The Dry Arrives

2008-04-14T12:38:00.002+10:00

I do so love the first few weeks of the dry season in Darwin! There is still a bit of humidity in the air, the evenings are cool and the mornings almost border on cold - cold being around 18degrees. The skys are a beautiful clear blue colour and the gardens are still green from the wet. Best of all are the dragonflys that appear out of nowhere. Yesterday this beautiful creature landed on our balcony and let me photograph him.

The family are well. Georgia and Oscar returned to school after a week mid-semester break. Tiffanie has started a weeks work experience with one of the local hairdressers. Stuart is a happy chappy as he will be returning home at some ungodly hour Friday night.

I've always stated that I work better under pressure and it has really come to the fore in the past month. Between volunteer work with Georgia and Oscar's school, school council committments, community house committments, candle party committments and also work and family stuff, my schedule has been full! In my spare time, I am working on completing 3 photo albums, cleaning out the store room and sorting through the kids clothes ready for the Salvo's - they've all had growth spurts of late. At some stage I would love to get out to Chrissy's place for a ride - I haven't been on a horse now for about 6 years. Maybe I can fit that in after Anzac Day.

.... 2 months have gone by!

2008-03-20T12:51:00.004+11:00

So, 2 months have gone by and I am only now getting a chance to update the blog - here goes!

We survived school holidays and the children have happily started back at school. Georgia loves her grade 2 teacher, Ms O'connell, as she has let the class have pet mice and fish. Oscar has settled well into transition although he spend the first month calling his teacher "that stinky lady". Not because she smelt but because she would not let him get away with being naughty!!

The 2 young ones have also started gymnastics this year. Tuesdays are great because they are exhausted after a full day of school and then an hour of gymnastics afterwards - I love it. If I could afford it, I would send the 5 days a week!

Tiff has once again settled into the school year. In addition, she has joined the RAF cadets. They had their recruit camp last weekend - she came home Sunday night absolutely knackered. I made her stay dressed for a quick photo - see below.

Stu has been away for about 6 weeks on course. He is now back for the Easter weekend and will return to course on Monday. He is always at a loss as to what to do with himself when he comes home for a short break, unlike me, I have a heap of things I could get him today however if I set him a list I am sure he would get mighty peeved!

I still keep myself busy. Mainly work , candle parties and playing taxi to the troops. Got back to Cairns for a week at the beginning of March. I love working back in a real office - it seems so much more productive. It was great to catch up with the girls and see the new babies on the scene.

I hope everyone enjoys Easter. Have a safe and happy one.

Christmas Holidays With The Kids

2008-01-03T09:01:00.000+11:00

Well, we survived another Christmas and New Year! Fairly quiet one compared to some but entertaining none the less. I caught Georgia sneaking around at 11.30pm - looking for Santa and her stocking (which, of course, Santa had filled and moved because Santa was in desperate need of sleep). Stu had the duty phone Christmas Eve and had to return it Christmas morning which meant no pressies could be opened until he got home - all adds to the anticipation though, and they enjoyed their pressies once they were allowed to open them - all over in about 30 minutes however the lounge looked like a bomb had hit it!

It has been mainly grey and rainy since Christmas which is not great with 2 active children going stir crazy for the holidays. Just before Christmas we did get to venture over to Crocodyllus Park (see the photos). Tiff couldn't come as she was out earning an income. Since Christmas the kids have been to the movies, 10 pin bowling and to The Planet (indoor playground). These activities were undertaken so I could get some semblance of work done while they were out of the house. Tiff is presently enjoying 15 days sibling free down South.

Anyway, to all who drop by, I hope your Christmas was lovely and your New Year is full of promise.

Beginning to feel like Christmas

2007-12-11T15:14:00.000+11:00

Hi again, well it has been a while - life has been extremely busy. The children are finishing up at school. Georgia played one of the three wise men in there nativity play and Oscar had his pre-school graduation. I will try and post the photos, not sure how successful I'll be! I will also include Tiff, hard at work trying to get her assignments done on the computer and, Dad, one of the house.

Busy Couple of Weeks

2007-11-22T12:11:00.000+11:00

Well, try as I might, there was no way I was going to be able to post last week! It has been a busy couple of weeks for me.

Mum arrived to visit a couple of weeks ago. She tries to come up once or twice a year and this years visit co-incided with with my trip back to Cairns for work. Mum took over as chief baby sitter for the 5 days I was away, this took the stress off Stu as his crew were meeting to join their new boat last week.

I had a great time in Cairns. It was great to back at work in the office - it is so much easier to not to be working from home, and a lot more productive to boot. Long days, 7am to 5pm, but not difficult when you love the job. My afternoons and evenings were filled with catching up with good friends. Shann, Kim, Maree, Colleen and Jane (otherwise known to my friends and family as the Desperate Housewives group) were all there to welcome back, temporarily, to the fold. My gorgeous friend, Kim, told me her latest news ..... she's pregnant! Not bad for someone who had given up trying last year so they could buy a 4WD! Kim (and Grant, her husband) already have 3 very active boys, Zac, Jai and Braith. Kim turned 38 in October and, with all three of the boys now in school, was able to return to part-time work as a nurse. Now she is suffering from that horrendous morning sickness - wish I could be there to help her out. Hopefully, she will end up with a little girl - just to lower the testosterone in that household!

I arrived home late last Thursday night - tired from the long days but very relaxed. We had a busy weekend with candle parties and Christmas shopping. Monday, Oscar came down with a really bad ear infection. This one has really knocked him around - he slept for most of Tuesday and Wednesday, very unlike him. Hoping to get him back to school tomorrow so I can get back to work.

Will work on trying to post some updated photos on the weekend. Wish me luck!

In Reply

2007-11-04T21:01:00.000+11:00

Thank you my dear dad for setting this blog up for me. I have decided not to delete the first post you did on my behalf - just as a reminder to me of the promise I made!

For everyone else, welcome to my 'real' first posting! Not sure that I will be able to update each week as family and work committments dictate these days.

We - Stuart, me, Tiffanie, Georgia and Oscar returned to Darwin 6 weeks ago. For me, it feels like coming home although I sorely miss the good friends I made in the 5 years we lived in Cairns, it is great to catch up with my longtime friends from here. And I truly love the Darwin weather, lifestyle and living back in married quarters.

The Beginning

2007-11-04T19:41:00.000+11:00

This is my very first blog and I've promised my Dad that I will try and up date it on at least a weekly basis. I make this promise in front of the entire cyber space universe. Failure to do so will incur a large fine payable via telegraphic transfer.