reason for overseain'

This is the main reason I'm planning to head overseas next year. Photo stolen from the fiance--excellent photographer at TulyFoto

Isn't she just gorgeous? Ha ha...love her! This is my delightful friend, SuhRa, who recently (finally) got officially engaged...to another friend of mine. Yaaaaayyy! So wonderful! Congratulations Mike and SuhRa! All the best for the time in between now and finally being married. And beyond of course! It's been a long time coming. She's been telling me to save so I can attend since before I left the USA (in March 2008).

So I'm saving my dollars to get to Germany where they're planning on marrying. But why travel to other side of the world and spend a hefty chunk of cash for just a week or two?? So my plan is to head to the UK in the first half of 2011 to hopefully live and work for up to two years. And when the joyous celebration occurs, I'll just duck over to Germany for the weekend or so. So if you see me wasting money, tell me off!

end of autumn

Work was good for a laugh today. I'm often amused by the way kids' minds work.

I was sitting outside with the boys this afternoon. Two was riding his new bike in circles. When he stopped right in front of me I filled him up with petrol and asked for some money. He thought that was a fun game and came back a few times for more. The last time he came back I filled him up asked for money just the same as the other times.
"I don't have any money," Two replied this time.
"No money? What are you going to do? You can't have petrol without paying," I said. He just repeated that he had no money.
"Hmm," I said thoughtfully, "Do you have a card we can put it on?" So he pulled out his 'card' and I swiped that and got him to enter his numbers.
Now I wonder what made him decide to say he didn't have money that time? He he.

Later I was jumping on the trampoline with them. That was a bit of fun coz it was almost completely covered with autumn leaves and we were throwing them around. I was singing a song...well, a familiar tune simply repeating the word 'jump' over and over. And jumping whilst I did of course. They were laughing; thoroughly enjoying being double-bounced and tumbling down. At the end I'm puffing but of course as soon as I stop they ask for more.
"You jump while I catch my breath," I suggested.
Four grasped at the air and then open his hands to me saying, "Here's your breath."
I laughed, 'took' the air and breathed it in deeply.

An active and amusing crisp autumn afternoon. A nice way to end the season. Tomorrow winter officially begins.

pre-winter wonderland

No wonder I had so much trouble trying sleep last night....shivering in my multi-layered bed!

Woke up this morning to see the ground like this. Must have been darn cold last night. A descent covering of frost all over the ground. Quite pretty really in the morning sunshine.

party planning

Next month I'm going to celebrate my completing 30 years of life with a 1920s party! Planning is underway and I'm very excited. I have a dress pattern and material to make my party dress, the hall is booked and loads of ideas are swimming in my head. I thought I'd share some fashion pics sketched by John Peacock in his fashion sourcebook "The 1920s" that I borrowed from the local library.

Click on a pic for a bigger squiz!

The 1920s was a decade of lighthearted entertainment and frivillous fun after the drudgery of World War I (until the Great Depression hit in 1929) so it should be a fun and boisterous party!

truck entertainment

I was entertained by trucks today. First, I arrived at work this morning to a trailer from a B-double truck lying down. Pretty sure they're not meant to do that .. ha ha. Found out shortly after it was a big load of plaster for us. D'oh. Kept hanging out by the window throughout the morning to see the latest progression of getting it back on its wheels. (No one hurt of course. The rest of the truck was fine too.)
Then some nanny work this arvo and the neighbours are building. The boys particularly were very excited. We watched with interest while I explained what was happening to the oldest. Cement poured from the cement truck into the other and then pumped along the long arm so the men can put it in the holes. Made work a bit easier for me with the trucks doing the entertaining.

battle of the easter eggs

You would think us all sweet and innocent at the Parish homegroup. Not if you know us though. Crazy suits us better. Ha ha ha. ^^ We enjoy a good feed and unstructured roudiness on the last night for the term and last Tuesday was no different. Except the battle that broke out...

It was all Danielle's fault. She started it.

And it turned into a full scale battle...stand off style. Winner fights on.

The rules:

You must balance a foil covered chocolate easter egg on your head.

No nesting.

(That is, no covering the egg with your hair to hold it in place better.)

No touching the egg or your opponents head.

The aim:

Make your opponents egg fall first.

Bad move Nathan. No hope now.

All sorts of tactics were tried. Some worked some didn't. Needless to say there was laughter all round as some fought for a bit of fun and others fought for glory. Crazy, I tell ya. But fun!

slumber party for one

This week I bought some new things. Appropriate I think since I'm planning on camping over Easter. I've always just borrowed Mum and Dad's so I thought it would actually be nice to have my own--especially since they were a great price. My own lilo and sleeping bag. I pulled them out the other night to see what they were like. Blew up the lilo (has a foot pump as a part of it) and rolled out the sleeping bag and checked them both out. I left the lilo blown up overnight to make sure it would stay up. Last night I was watching a movie on tv, the goods still un-put-away, when I had an idea that made me giggle cheekily.

Yep. A slumber party for one. I got in my pjs and cosied up inside my new sleeping bag to watch the rest of my movie before I slept the night away in the lounge room. He he.
I must say I'm quite happy with the lilo. It's nice not to have to pump it up with my lungs and it's quite thick which means when I lay on my side, as I often do, my hip doesn't touch the ground. It was quite comfy to sleep on. The sleeping bag I'm still not sure about. It was quite cosy and kept me warm...but it really wasn't a cold night. It claims to be -18 to 25 degrees and I've had serious doubts about that since before I bought it. If it keeps me warm on a cold camping night, then I'll certainly be happy with it. That's yet to be tested though. It has a little pocket on the outside which I think is a little strange for a sleeping bag. Perhaps a little torch could be a handy something to keep inside it? But I'm not sure about sleeping with something hard like that near my face. The zip doesn't go all the way down to the bottom but I do like how they've done that and then extra-padded the feet area. I do like my toes to stay warm in bed.

All up I'd say it was a good test night and I'm reasonably happy. Just gotta truly test how warm my sleeping bag will keep me out in the cold. But at $30 for both items, I'm happy enough.