Time to move on?

I've moved. Email me for the new address.

See you on the other side!

Anzac Day

April 25th.

Anzac Day, is like Rememberance Day. It's the day we stop, and remember the fallen Australian and New Zealand soldiers that died, or fought in the First World War, on the beaches of Gallipoli, Turkey, in 1915.

300,000 soldiers were enlisted, 60,000 soldiers died, 150,000 soldiers were wounded or taken prisoner.

A man, named Jack Simpson, rescued 300 wounded men, by placing them on the back of his donkey, and walked them down the cliffs of Gallipoli, to the safety of the trenches below. Jack was denied, any sort of bravery awards. An unsung hero, of Australian history. Read about his story, here.

RIP brave men and women.

Meet the Robinsons

Tracy asked me to report on the movie, if we saw it. Which we did today! So here it is...

Yes, adoption is a theme throughout the movie. The movie begins with a woman leaving a baby at an orphanage front door. Straight away, I thought of my future daughter's Mother. I don't feel the movie portrayed adoption badly at all. If anything, I feel it was a very honest portrayal of adoption, from a Mother's perspective, adoptee's perspective (not that I can really comment on that one!) and from the new family's perspective. I didn't find it offensive or in bad taste. I also am not, "up" with the "politically correct" ettiquette of adoption, so maybe I'm a little naive? I like to call a spade, a spade, and am not into pretending that things aren't a certain way, if they really are. Hope that makes sense!!! The story line, probably more the actual characters, rather than story line, reminded me of Chicken Little. Some really "moving" moments in the movie, some funny bits, some (mildly) scary bits, a bit of suspense, and a happy ending. It's not the best kids movie I've seen (favourites are still Mulan, Finding Nemo and Cars), but was entertaining. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

Of course... this is only MY opinion!

School Holidays

I was going to say, not much has been going on, but to tell you the truth - I've been flat out, with "everyday" stuff, while the School Holidays are on! The kids have been off for a week, and are off again this week.

Last week, I booked them into a School Holiday programme, run by our Church. It went for 3 days, and was only $10 a day! That's a bargain, compared to Vac-Care which usually costs me pretty close to $40 a day, each! The programme was held about an hour from home, from 830am-3pm each day. I was happy to drive them down there, every day. But when I asked whether my nephews would like to go, my sister-in-law offered to have my kids sleep over at her place (close to the event) and she'd pick up and drop them off everyday! It was really weird having no kids, for 2.5 days!!! It was sooo quiet!!! The first day, I relished in the quiet.... the second day - I missed them!!! The kids had an absolute blast, and came home with croaky voices - coz there was a lot of screaming and cheering (for their teams) going on!!! Apparently the Church got (approx) 350 kids go to the programme! They did crafts, sports, cooking, painting and all sorts of other activities - and they fed all the kids too! They'll be doing the programme every school holidays... so guess where my kids are going?!!!

On the two nights we were kidless, we went out for dinner! As you do, when your a parent!!! The first night, we caught up with our friends, Dani and Sam (who recently got married... see post in March... too lazy to find it, to link it!) and the second night, we went to a Steak House! AND I slept in, both mornings too!!! What a bonus!

I'm such an idiot! I went to a very good friend's baby shower on Sat, at 2pm.... well... I almost went! I rolled up, but all the doors were locked at the hall, where it was hosted. I texted the organiser... and she informed me it had been on at 10am!!! What an idiot!!! I felt like a right wanka!!! Luckily my friend was just at home, having a bite to eat before she was going to head out to go "stroller" shopping. So I called into her house and had a cuppa, and dropped off the pressie. Good lord, I'm a right moron sometimes!!!

Sat evening, I watched "Miss Potter" with the kids. I really liked it, but I'm such a sucker for the "Olde world, period pieces"!!! The kids really want to see "Mr Bean's Holiday" and "Meet the Robinsons" as well. They got movie ticket vouchers for Christmas, so hopefully it won't cost me anything!

Condonlences

RIP 33 students from Virgina Tech. May God's peace and comfort be with their families, friends, and all the students left behind at the School.

Such a tragedy.

Computer Gliches & Home Handy Woman...

GGGggrrrrrr.... for the last 2 weeks my computer has been slower than a snail! It's been driving me crazy. I got our IT guy at work to have a look the other day. He had it all day, did disk clean ups, de-frags blah blah blah... and it improved, by about 2 seconds! So the last 2 days I've been shopping around for a new, improved laptop. I've decided on my new companion...





And wouldn't you know it, I turn on my computer this morning, and it's as good as gold. No slowness. It types as I type etc etc. So I'll put my $2k back in my pocket, and persevere with this baby.





*sigh* So back at home, my bathroom is almost usable! The plumber came today. I now have a flushing toilet, and new basin, and taps in my shower! Yay! I think the electrician is coming this weekend, to put in new lights, fans and a new heatlamp! I decided to re-hang the bathroom door, now that the tiling is all done. Mr Tiler said I had to... (actually, he left a note: TODD, you need to shave 8mm off bottom of door)... sexist man, anyway... "I" got out the planer today, and shaved off the bottom of the door. While I was at it, I took down Mikayla's bedroom door, and shaved a bit off that too, coz it's always dragged on the carpet, and annoys the heck outta me! Re-hung both doors... lovely.





I noticed, Mr Chewy wasn't anywhere to be seen... this can only mean one thing... the little bugga has dug under the gate again, and is out on the main road, dodging traffic... again. I had erected a huge baracade so he couldn't go down that side of the house, but the sneaky little thing, has worked out how to get through it!!! Unbelievable! I'm sure this dog has a death wish. (if the traffic doesn't get him, I will!) So... hunting round the shed, and I found a big piece of cement sheeting. Hmmm... yep, should be a perfect fit, for the width of the side of the house. Break out the cordless drill, and screw that sheet to the side of the house, and jam it up hard against the fence. HA-HA! TAKE THAT, CHEWY DOG!!!! I swear, Chewy is "Dennis the Menace" - Doggy style.





Yes... he looks innocent enough... but inside that tiny head, is the brain of a mastermind!

Life goes on...

I was just thinking...

So many of my favourite bloggers, are very quiet. Some promising to post once a month, others post when major events happen. I'm down to about one or 2 a week. What's happened?

The excitement of receiving a referral is gone. That's what's happened. Most people have resigned themselves to the fact, that we can't predict when we'll be seeing our child's sweet face. It's not even worth calling it "the wait" anymore. Waiting is something you do, at a bus stop, or in a queue at the store. Life, has overtaken "the wait". Go to bed, get up, shower, get dressed, drink coffee, go to work, (or run around after kids all day), eat, go to bed. Repeat.

Don't get me wrong, my life isn't bad, I'm very busy, and I'm content. I do feel that something is missing, but I've learnt to squash it down, it's outta my control.

No more LID anniversarys. No more buying baby clothes, and trying to guess what season we'll be in China. No more predictions. No more nursery layouts. No more name discussions. No more thinking about packing lists. No more thinking about care packages.

Life goes on...