From 10th February

Saturday We woke up this morning and it was still raining. Bruce went and got the boys from Paula’s at around 10.00. Jamieson had a birthday party to go to. Bruce dropped Jamieson off and came home. Paula took Conner to the Train Museum. Then, Bruce drove Jamieson in to have a look after the party was over. While this was all happening, I made lasagna for potluck dinner at Karen’s tonight. They got home in the afternoon and Paula was having a blah day so she and I went out to do a little bargain shopping at around 3.30. We stayed a little longer than we should have. We got home and had a quick shower, threw the hair up and we were out of the house at 6.30. It was a nice evening, about 5 families, we all had some dinner and drank and ate and talked. The kids all played really well, we hardly heard them, it was great. Everyone left around 11.00, but Paula and I stayed until 12.00, just chatting trying to figure out what the hell happened with the Dinner Dance. The reason that we were all there was because the dinner dance was cancelled was because of the lack of numbers. People here are just weird, they didn’t want to go out to dinner without their kids and have a nice dinner and dancing. See! Weird! Sunday Today was a nice quiet day at home. I spent the morning cleaning out the cupboards. Then I had the joy of spending 45 mins scrubbing (not kidding) the shower to try and get the calcium off. The water here is got lots of calcium in it, that’s why we drink water out of the bottle. The boys just hung out in their PJ’s playing. We had some lunch and Bruce took the boys over to Mark’s place for a couple of hours in the afternoon while I finished cleaning the rest of the house. Not a very exciting day, but I think the house actually felt clean for 10 mins or so. The boys got home and we had some dinner. Bruce and I watched a movie and went off to bed to get a good night sleep before the week starts. Monday, Tuesday Well, it’s been another usual start to the week. School, work, the typical, bet you’re all not jealous anymore. It’s just like home but everyone talks different. Monday the kids had off school for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, Bruce was home for the morning so I went to work until lunchtime. Bruce went off to a meeting in the afternoon and the boys and I just hung out at the house. Tuesday afternoon, the kids did their homework and Bruce did the usual driving the computer all day. We’ve had a couple of ordinary days with not a lot to report. Wednesday Happy Valentines Day Happy Birthday to Lisa Cheatley…. hope you had a great day. You have no idea about Valentines Day until you are in the US for Valentines Day. Everyone gives anyone something on Valentines Day. The boys even got a flyer sent home from school asking them to (if they wanted) bring in Valentines for everyone in the class. You can imagine Conner, NO WAY Mum, Bruce was sitting in the room saying, good boy. You can get little cards everywhere for this reason, Jamieson got Spiderman ones. I bought Conner Bart Simpson ones. He was having nothing of it. I had been told; apparently it’s all about the candy. So I just sent Conner to school with a bag on lollypops to give everyone one. It’s a huge day, I got a box of chocolates from Millie, and Jenny (doing some Billy Bounce work with us) gave Bruce and I a little box of chocolates. So we learnt a lot today. Bruce picked me up from work and gave me, as he put it. “For the first time in 15 years”, (check out the number, that’s just weird) I got a cool pink mug with a love heart on it and a new pink travel mug from Starbucks. The boys came home from school with literally a paper bag filled with lollies. Which thrilled us to no end, as you can imagine. We had a real romantic dinner; hamburgers and then Bruce went over to Paula’s for business coaching. I chatted to Rhys on messenger, got emails from Ross. They are both coming over in June. Yeay!!! That should be lots of fun. We are looking forward to that. So our Valentines Day was another GBA day, learning more about celebrating another holiday, they just don’t do anything low key over here. Thursday It’s another gorgeous sunny day today and I walked the kids to school and did parent helping for Conner’s class. I got to work at 10.00 and Bruce went home to meet the water guy. I worked for a few hours then went to pick the kids up from school. We got home and the kids just chilled out for the afternoon finishing off the week’s homework. Jeremy had his Presidents day concert at school and we met Paula and the kids at school at 6.00. The concert was really good, lots of songs and great costumes. Some of them were dressed up as Presidents and the rest had their flag necks scarves. After that they dropped in for a quick play before going home. I made some chicken and avocado pasta for dinner, which turned out really nice, my husband was happy. So I can add that to the menu. I watched another FABULOUS episode of Grey’s Anatomy; you guys are in for a great new season. We were in bed at around 10.30. Friday We woke up to such a gorgeous morning, the sun was out and it was still fresh but just gorgeous. Bruce left early for meetings. I let the boys walk to school this morning. We have been gradually backing off, Bruce had been walking them to the corner and watching them cross the road (really busy intersection, but most of the cars are fine because they are school parents.) I packed the bag and jumped on the bike and road to work. It was nice, even if the bag weighs about 20 pounds. That’s something we have to figure out considering my back isn’t in the best condition. It’s better for the back than walking and it takes less time so it’s a good option. Having the extra 15 mins in the morning makes a big difference: the beds get made. I worked until around 1.30 and jumped on the bike and rode home. Bruce called to check in, and was home not long after. His meetings went very well. There are a couple of opportunities for Billy B and Pocket Angels coming up, so that should be great. I picked the kids up from school and Conner proudly gave me his end of week assessment sheet, saying, ‘my lowest mark this week was a B- mum”. I think we have turned a corner, (touch wood) we are now working on his English to bring his grade up from a C average to a B, that’s our goal. Maybe not for this part of the year: but by the end of the year. We got home and the kids had their snacks and chatted with Bruce about their day. They chilled out for a while, and I went out to grab a couple of things, and time by myself. I got back in time for us to change and we made out way to Miss Paula’s for dinner. One thing I have learnt from Paula was no matter what when she makes a meal she has every food group covered. It’s actually very clever, if there are no veggies she will make sure there is a few pieces of fruit on the bench. We had, sausages, eggs, pancakes, hash browns, strawberries, bananas, it was so yummy and we were all full. I think that’s something we will start doing; the boys thought it was great. The kids settled in and Bruce put the projector on the wall and they watched Tom and Jerry (classics). They don’t make them like that anymore. We were home and the kids in bed by 10.00. It was a good week, the weather this week has been really beautiful, the sun has been out and we even his 73F on Wednesday. It’s due to rain again next week, so we are making the most of it till then. I hope everyone had a great week, have a great weekend.