It’s October time, it’s all a little weird sitting here trying to remember so far back. You should now I’m sitting here on a Sunday morning at the end(ish) of November in my flannel PJ’s with Twilight dvd on in the background (yes, I’m one of those that got sucked into the madness) It’s kind of fun going through the pictures again, hopefully I will get into the zone and get some of the November blog done and maybe even out on time. We can only hope.
OK, October started with a pretty much usual weekend, David came over for dinner with us to end the week, which is always fun and Conner misses not having him at school. School had the fun run pancake breakfast on Saturday morning so Paula and I went out for the walk and met all the boys at school for some breakfast. Jamieson officially won the kids fun run (yeay for Jamieson) Conner beat him but we told him you had to be in Elementary school so Jamieson won!We had some pancakes, went home and cleaned the house, chatted with mum on the phone and the boys did their usual back and forth from Karen’s house to our house all day. Bruce spent most of Sunday filming for the new Billy Bounce program and in the afternoon the boys and I went the Jeremy’s birthday party at the trampoline place. They spend all afternoon bouncing and playing which is always fun to watch.
The next week turned into a pretty normal one, the boys with their school, Bruce as always was busy with Angels and my week was taken up with the Billy Bounce programs, normal work, I did some birthday shopping for Bruce and Jamieson to take home on their trip, then we spent (Bruce and I) spring or fall cleaning the house and garage and yard. It was a productive day for me; you know being the neat freak that I am. (That’s another bonus of visitors coming; the house gets a really good clean)
The start of the week was quiet and prepping for the end, Conner had finals to study for the Pete and Fleur were arriving on the weekend yeay!!Work was work, Bruce was busy and getting Conner to study was like pulling teeth. Bruce is now a coach of the FranklinHigh school freshman team, so I guess we are now Wildcat fans!! And I’m a bit of a basketball widow for the next few months; it’ll be fun getting back into it again. Thursday night David came over and studied with Conner and before you knew it the weekend was here.
Saturday morning was a little more cleaning, some baking and the boys had a very late garage sale (which kept them out of the house so I was happy) We went to the airport and picked up Pete and Fleur who were happy to see us but really happy to be warm after coming in from New York. We spent the weekend, catching up with them, finding out what’s going on at home, we did some shopping on Saturday afternoon and then home for Pete’s homemade dinner I promised him.They crashed and burned pretty early and we were up and out of the house to the outlets the next morning. We got lots of bargains and it was a good day out. Jamieson got some new runners and Bruce got a new sweater. Outlet malls aren’t what they used to be. Pete and Fleur rented a car and left around lunchtime Monday morning for LA, they dropped into work on the way home to say goodbye and off they went.
Ian and Jan arrived on Wednesday afternoon, we had some dinner and a big catch up which was great. Usually when we catch up with Jan & Ian it’s for an hour if we can find the time on our quick trips back home, so to have this big block was fantastic. We did some shopping with them before they left the next day and girls got girl time (clothes shopping) and boys got boy time (best buy shopping) then they left to go and find the tree that you drive through on the Oregon coast. (I can’t think of it’s name right now, sorry) Millie and Kristie came over for a cuppa which was fun then Paula came over later and we got rid of her skunk mark. We finished out the month with an easy cruisy week, Halloween is coming and Paula’s birthday as well so that’s always a fun way to bring the month to an end. Early in the week we decided that Bruce and Jamieson’s trip would be postponed until later in November.
We went over to Paula’s for a birthday dinner on Friday night. She requested her new favorite for her cake. I make brownies into a kind of peppermint slice. Steve had arranged for their friend to make authentic Mexican for dinner. It was very yummy and we had a great meal, the Cendro’s and Riveras’ were there and she blew out her cake/ slice and went sent the kids outside to run off all the sugar.
Saturday/ Halloween we had to arrange costumes, Jamieson got help from Kevin (thank goodness) and Conner ended up wearing Bruce’s clothes and was Tom Hanks from the movie ‘Big’. I baked a Halloween cake for dessert and we headed over there around 5.00pm. The big boys were watching football and Karen and I started making chicken and dumplings for dinner. We sent the boys out to trick or treat (they really wanted to go by themselves please, please, please??)
They headed out and that’s when the wackiness started…Mike started the fire and then all of a sudden the whole chimney was on fire. We called the fire dept and all left the house after Mike pulled to burning logs into the trashcan. To their credit, the fire trucks, all five of them, turned up only two stayed, thank goodness. Once Karen got over the shock her and I sat across the road and laughed while the fire dept lit up the house with flood lights and started blowing all the smoke out of the house. Kevin was little upset so I sent the boys back out to trick or treat some more. We got back into the house and kept on going with dinner, Paula and clan arrived around 8.00pm and we sat down to dinner around 8.30pm. We all sat around chatting and the kids ran around the house hyped up on sugar, they came crashing down and we left them for a sleepover and headed home around 11.00pm.
So we ended up with the pretty eventful end of the month. It’s cooling down here and heating up at home, enjoy the sun. We had a long hot one, so we are kind of looking forward to the cooler weather, for a little while at least. We’ll see how long it is before I’m sick of being cold. I hope you enjoyed the blog and see you back here again for the next installment.
Pete - being very proud of his pumpkin caving skills
Everyone with their pumpkins
THe boys in thier costumes/
Ralph the dog in his too too ready for trick or treating
Never a dull moment at the Cendro's
Karen and I sitting across the road waiting to be allowed to go back into the house
So we just laughed and game out candy on the street
OK, it’s late again, but better late than never. (That’s what I’m telling myself to make me feel better anyway.)
September started out as usual busy, busy, busy what else is there. I spent a lot of the week reformatting the new Billy Bounce program booklets, we heard from Elise about her adventures in Miami and then Orlando (lots of fun to be had) The week ended with Conner going to his first Middle school dance, Bruce did security and they both had lots of fun. It was a good experience for both of them and most importantly Conner had a great time!! We had a quiet weekend, I worked through the booklets, we cleaned the house, garage and Bruce’s office, so a usual weekend I suppose.
We got a surprise call from Elise telling us that her and Ally were coming to stay for a few days (YEAY for us) they needed some “like home” time. Work and school was the same and Elise and Ally flew into San Fran then caught a train down to us the next day. It was nice having some girls in the house. They slept a lot; I think it was a combination of being away for 3 months and all the travelling. We chatted and there was lots of laughing and dancing around the house, Elise just being Elise is always so much fun. We did some shopping for them to take home, we spent a morning trying to cull Elise’s bags (which is never easy, but always funny – sorry sweetie). Every time I saw here she had another bag, but considering she left one with me that made three!! MMM, interesting dilemma for the plane ride home, which always was something to laugh about. I think my favorite was one of the last nights with us the three of us girls just hung out in my room on the bed, coloring in books, talking, laughing and more laughing….
Millie came by later in the week and we colored the skunk mark and at work we reorganized the office and feng shui’d Paula’s office. On the weekend, the boys had basketball, Kevin stayed for a sleepover, so the house was nearly full. We were supposed to go over to the Rivera’s for a catch up but Kristie was sick so it turned into a quiet night at home.
Jamieson went back to school the next Tuesday and both the boys are officially back at school since the end of June…so we did lunch to celebrate! Arhh!! Bruce dropped the girls off at the train station for the last leg of their adventure – LA!!! Tuesday night, the boys went over to dream extreme for an end of season basketball night and had a blast on the trampolines, came home sweaty and gross which means they had a BLAST!!! Bruce bought Trevor home with him and Kristie picked him up and we had a catch up which was nice, I hadn’t seen her for a while.
Thursday was a big day for us – (the first time we were leaving the boys to go on a trip since we’ve been here) Bruce and I were spending the weekend in LA doing the Emmy’s Gifting Suite. We left the house and Jen and the boys at around 5.00pm which was about on schedule. We didn’t have a deadline so we get there when we get there. The drive to LA seems pretty easy after you do it a few times; we put music on and hit the road. We made good time and arrived in Burbank around 10.30, the roads were clear coming through and Burbank is on the north side of the city so it’s not far once you get through the grape vine. We checked in and then found Lynn (one of the organizers and a really cool chick, who loves us) We sat and caught up with her for a while then around midnight fell into bed in prep for a big and tiring couple of days.
We were up and ready to go as per usual and things got started around 11.00am. It was a busy day, I thought most of the guests would come on Saturday, but Friday was the day, we probably saw a big percentage of them. It was a little hectic at times but we met some really nice people who happen to make TV and movies, some new, some old. Let me go through a few just to give you a taste. Williams Shatner, was just there for the free stuff, not really interested at all and didn’t really care AT ALL which was a little disappointing. Lots of soap opera people some I knew others I didn’t – most of them were nice and seemed interested, but they are actors so who knows. Bruce had a laugh with one of the soapy guys about how they don’t know how to smile and then they both did the ‘concerned look’ and cut, it was quite funny, they were both laughing.
Eric Estrada (From the old show CHIPS) was cool and his wife was great, they were really nice people and we really enjoyed talking to them. Ian Ziering (Steve Sanders 90210) was nice and I got a pic for old times sake, it was fun. We met Mary Anne from ‘Gilligans Island’ who was a blast, I think she’d had a little something cause her and her friend were having a great time. Carlton from ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air show’ was cool, he hung out a chatted with us for a while, really nice guy, he is in a new comedy with Sherry Shepard that is really funny, so look out for that! Tyler from ‘Everybody hates Chris- a chris rock show, he was a great kid and his family was really lovely. Scott Baio and his wife stayed and chatted for a while, he is looking at maybe moving to Australia so he had a lot of questions, he’s done a lot of homework and was very well researched into the politics, health system etc it was a really interesting conversation.
Saturday night we went out for dinner to a really nice Italian restaurant on Ventura Blvd, it was sooo yummy I had given up on Italian food over here unless I cooked it but this gave me hope again that some people here actually know how to cook it (the way we have it anyway) it was a really yummy meal and it was nice to have a adult meal and adult conversation with Bruce. We headed back to the hotel and I hung out with Lynn for a while (she was security for the tables while Steve went home to Orange County to grab some stuff).
Saturday was a quieter day, one of the other vendors moved to come next to us, her name was Sima and she was nothing less than hysterical – no political correctness there. It made for a fabulously fun day, because you know we love the people like that. Let’s see who did we meet – Bridgette (Girls next door –playboy show) who was just blah, not rude but not overly friendly either, definitely nothing like she is on TV which is always disappointing) I got my pic taken with Michael (new Melrose Place – he was really nice and down to earth guy who even seemed a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. We met Ernest Borgnine who was a character, a few of the kids from the teen choice that we’d met last time and did remember us which was great, they are using their angels and loving them. John Sally came again and had a big Thank You for Bruce. He gave an angel to someone and they loved it so he was very appreciative – which Bruce loved of course. Jennifer (Wizards of Waverley place) asked where Conner and Jamieson were, which was really cool) there were lots of others but I have no idea what there names are or the shows they are on – I suppose you have to watch a lot of TV to know everyone, oh well! I did leave the best till last – we met Danielle towards the end of the day on Saturday and she was hands down the coolest person we met the whole weekend. She spend at least 15 minutes just talking with us about Angels and her career, she clearly loves what she does and is really excited about what she’s doing. She has a movie coming out hopefully soon, and she was telling us about her auditions that she’s had and which ones she really wants, just an awesome chick all round (jeans and t’shirt girl) we were packing up the car and she was heading out to hers and gave as a huge wave as she was leaving. When I get her name and her work I will let you all know, she’s one actress we will support. Jamieson called to tell us about his game, he got a huge block at the end of the game which he LOVED telling us about…I think he thinks that’s his new thing. It’s so great to hear it in his voice when he tells you about it. Conner’s team did as per usual butt kicking, he seems fairly blaze about it now.
We packed up the car and sat around for a little while with Lynn and Nancy (Borgnine, the organizers) then hit the road about 7.30pm. We stopped for some dinner and had a good quick trip home arriving around 1.00am. We spend Sunday doing NOTHING!! The boys had a blast of a weekend, the spent Saturday night at the Cendro’s and all came bounding into the house late Sunday morning…didn’t miss a beat. We have great friends!!!
The next week was kind of quiet, well work is quiet anyway, Bruce spend the first half of the week preparing for his Phoenix trip and left on Thursday. Bruce has signed a West Coast distributor for the Angels based in PHX – they have their own mini trade show twice a year and fly accounts in – so Bruce went to work the booth and meet all the staff etc at the company. The boys and I headed over to school in the afternoon for the football game (Kevin made the team) Friday was pretty normal, the boys went off to school with their CATS tops on, Bruce was doing well in Phoenix. Kevin and David came over to watch a bit of the AFL Grand Final with us, it started so late here that they really didn’t get to watch much before they had to leave. We had it up on the big screen; Jamieson lasted until just after half time and put himself to bed, I was in and out of the room, couldn’t stand it! Conner was glued to the screen, screaming when they got a goal, so I knew what was going on from the other room.
We watched the last quarter (excruciating) but they pulled it out and Conner and I were jumping and the room, I have no idea what the neighbors thought we were doing at 12.30am in the morning. We watched the ceremony and lap of honor and then when the coverage moved over to ONE TV we were done. Not happy campers to be missing all that! Saturday was fairly quiet because we’d all had a late night, I organized Bruce’s birthday presents for the next week, we cleaned the house and his office and chilled out. Bruce spent Saturday night on the road driving the 14 hour trip home from Phoenix; he stopped for a rest and arrived home early on Sunday morning.
The last week of September as always was taken up by Bruce’s birthday; or prepping for it anyway. I think he had a nice birthday, I made him breakfast and we had lunch together as well. We didn’t do presents until the afternoon (his request) he loved them all especially the kettle (ha ha). I cooked lasagna and Paula and tribe came over for a birthday dinner and cake, Chocolate with Vanilla/peppermint frosting, his new favorite.
All in all it was a pretty busy month, although it seems to come in waves, we are either crazy or just chillin’ I suppose that’s a good mix to have. September was a great month overall, we got to spend time with Elise and Ally, met a few famous people, went on a weekend away, the boys kicked ass in basketball, they seem to be settling into school ok. My schedule is changing again which was to be expected with the down turn in the development area, it’s time to change it up. Angels are going fantastic…. And hopefully Billy Bounce will start spreading around the country once this new format programs are out.
I hope all is well at home – Happy Birthday’s to Al (a big one), Tracey and Rhys I know you guys had good ones, but just wanted to put it out there anyway.
WOW – I’m think you could say I officially dropped the ball so to make myself feel better I’m calling this the Summer blog.Let’s see how good the memory is?
Our June started and the craziness continued with sport and school and work, just the usual for everyone but this time of year is always the craziest for us with the boys played different sports.
Friday night we had the Ice Cream Social fundraiser for school – so the boys were running around, Bruce came for a little while then went home to get some work done in the quiet, and I was on popcorn duty for the duration, it’s fun, I get to see everyone who is there, people come to chat, the only bummer is that I don’t get to walk around and see what happens, but after you do a lap it’s all the same, so I don’t mind.
What a week in baseball - We played three games last week (they call it the TOC- Tournament of Champions) The Cardinals had a mixed season so going into the TOC we were hopeful. Tuesday's game was fantastic, they played really well and beat the Dodgers - it was a really tough fought game by both teams. Thursday we played the Nationals who we had gone 1-1 throughout the season so it was bound to be a good game, and it was! We ended having to go another inning (7th) which is the same as overtime. We were up 4-2 going into the end of the 6th and they got a big hit and made the two runs.... in the 7th inning we up and down 1-2-3 side out!!! As Jamieson was the last up and bat he started the 7th innings on second base (rules to help teams get a run) we has two out and a runner on first and second (Jamieson) Wesley came up and hit what would've been a triple if it had of mattered....Jamieson hit the plate and we were in the Championship game!!!!
Saturday morning rolls around - we got the field and all the parents were ???..ting themselves. Cardinals v Orioles (a team we hadn't beaten or come close to all season)
It was such a gorgeous day, we put our chairs behind the plate and got ready to go. (there was a little group of 4 mums - Me, team mom, Karen - scorekeeper, Karen coaches wife, Jessica players mum, who all sat behind the plate all season, so Karen could score, and we talked to the umpire and coaches during the game) and generally just had some fun, the new electronic scoreboards were working and we played ball....Our pitchers were on...they got a couple of runs in the second inning.. and in the third we evened up the score!!!
The end of the 5th inning we were up 6-5 and the count was 2 out, full count and the umpire called Nate's pitch a ball... they made a run before we got that last out and we were going into the 7th inning!! I was nearly sick by this stage!!!!
7th Inning - Cardinals needed two runs to win! Anthony came up to the plate (BIG hitter when he hits??) smashed it and got to first (not a fast runner) Kevin came up and got walked to first..... Time for BIG Jamieson to take the field!!! His mother had to walk and pace at the back!! Hadn't had a hit so far that day!
He wound up and hit it (High- which made everyone nervous) the fielder got a glove to it but dropped it and he was on first.
Brendan came to the plate and wacked it for another single - Anthony was home - by this time there was about 3 of us mothers standing at the back pacing.
Sebby came up to the plate and struck out - 1 out! Out came Wesley - top of the order, here we go.....
he was having a great go and then there was a fumble by the catcher and Kevin stole home - CARDINALS WIN!!!!!!!
Parents were jumping and screaming as loud as the kids (especially our coach) Karen (Kevin's mum) was crying, we were all hugging and the boys were sooo happy.
I'm actually not sure who was more happy the parents or the boys!!! They just all wanted to make sure we were going to Pizza after.....
We went to pizza (DER - whatever the boys wanted) then a couple of families headed back to Cendro's (Kevin’s place), who live around the corner from us.
We chilled out in the sun and boys played and swam and we talked and drank and everyone else left around 7.00pm, we stayed and had a catch up with Karen and Mike and got home around 11.30 - Jamieson continued the celebration with a sleepover at Kevin’s with Jake too.
What a day - the house was a mess, my face was burnt to a crisp but boy were we all in a great mood! And that was our Saturday - you can't beat that!!!
Sunday was a little reality check we just spent the day cleaning and tidying the house, but the good vibes were still all around which was nice.
Bruce and I started off the week with some fun – Tuesday night the boys went over to Paula’s and we drove across town and had a dance lesson. It was fun doing something just the two of us, but we thought it was a class with other people and it was just us so that was a little weird, way too much attention. It was fun though; we went out for dinner before picking the boys up. It was a good night for us. We actually got to discuss things without kids asking questions – we must tell our kids too much, they think if we are having a conversation they should know too. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Conner had some deadlines this week for his Australian project, I helped him (just a little with suggestions) on his Australia pamphlet, which he got an A+ on and his teacher is using it next year as the example, yeay for Conner.
We had baseball breakup on Friday night so I was baking for that, Elise was on her way over and there was a little drama to deal with because Ross was stuck in Denver, so Bruce was on the phone with her and Tracey, but it all got sorted and we put a plan in place. Bruce spent Friday morning on and off the phone with Elise at LAX making sure she got to her next plane, but stupid Continental were nasty and she was tired so we organized for her to come here instead of getting her on her original New York flight (yeay we got Elise for the weekend) We went over to the coaches house and had BBQ, the kids swam, the parents chatted and it was lots of fun. Bruce took off to get Elise and when they got back we played the Cardinals season DVD and did coaches parents etc. The boys went back out to play and the usuals sat in the kitchen and chatted with Elise. It was funny, they were telling us just to keep talking, apparently the two of us talking together was fascinating to them, I forget that people still think that. Maybe it was more that her accent was thicker than mine but they just kept laughing as we caught up. It wasn’t an overly late night we all had to be back at the ballpark for presentations the next morning at 8.30am.
Saturday was tipped to be a little busy, it was more that all the stuff we had to do was at the same time. Presentations went well, the morning was nice and warm and there were cameras everywhere, the coaches called up each boy individually so they all got their little piece of attention. Jamieson just loved it, as you can imagine. Bruce had basketball tryouts to deal with in the middle of all of that stuff. We dropped him off at the stadium, we had some lunch, then Jamieson, Elise and I went back over to the ballpark to watch the All Star game, back to pick Bruce up and Elise and I went out and about and did a little bit of shopping. Sunday was kind of quiet one, there were a couple of things that Elise wanted to take to camp and then later in the afternoon we drove into Sacramento train station and put her on the train to Fresno. Bye Elise have fun!!
Yet another busy week was upon us, we had angels orders to get out, which even though the boys complain, once we get into it and they forget what they are doing we all have some fun. Tuesday was Conner’s birthday so we were up with the presents before school which he loved, anything Lakers is always safe. The boys went off to school and I had the morning to myself, I whipped up a cake for Conner and tidied up the house. Conner wanted Fish and Chips for dinner so off we went; it wasn’t the same as home but it’ll do when we have complete withdrawals. I think overall Conner had a nice birthday, turning 13 something to remember (with his No 13 basketball cake) Earlier in the day my new swish bang camera arrived so that was pretty exciting and intimidating! No more blurry basketball pictures. Wednesday at school Jamieson and his grade tie dyed t shirts which turned out really cool and he loves his. Friday came around and Conner had a field trip to the bowling alley, they had a great time and I had a lunch with Ed and Sharon (from their Eureka office, I talk to her on the phone all the time and she was in Sacramento visiting her daughter so we organized an actual meeting, face to voice and all that) We went to Lemongrass a really yummy Thai restaurant, who knew I’d love it, just make sure I stay away from the hot stuff, and the raw stuff BLAH!!!
The weekend was nice and quiet, no sport phew. Jamieson slept at Kevin’s then Kevin slept at our place. Sunday was Fathers day so Bruce had a nice day, he got some vouchers for Best Buy (which he asked for, no surprises here) and chilled for the day, we had a yummy Bruce’s favorite dinner and I think enjoyed the day. I left early and had to be at the ballpark at 8.30am for snack bar duty. Kristie was supposed to do it for Trevor’s team but they were in New York at the tournament so I helped them out. It was nice to do the first slot, it’s not that busy first thing in the morning.
We finished out the month with a more relaxing week, kind of. (Last week of school before the end of the school year) The hot weather continued, it was nice, just have to get used to it. We went over to Paula’s for dinner and spa, it was nice, the kids were in the pool and the adults were in the spa, although they eventually made their way in, it was fun even if there were 8 of us in the spa. I went to school and did an Australian talk for Jamieson’s class. Wednesday Jamieson had his Patriotic performance, which he had a speaking part (he volunteered to do one) and he did really great. There was the father of one of his class mates there (Army – we had done some donations (inc some angels) last year and sent them to him and his battalion) he presented the school with a flag and the great thing Bruce was talking to him at the end and he had his Angel that we had sent over still with him. He takes it everywhere and so do they all, that made Bruce’s night. Jamieson had a field trip to King skate – awful stinky place. The NBA draft was on, so we sat through the whole bloody thing and poor Patrick Mills didn’t get called up until the end – stupid NBA teams, I was pissed off! We finished out the week and the school year with Conner’s Graduation ceremony on Friday morning. OMG, we walked up to school (Paula came too) and laughed (quietly) some kids were in suits as well as parents, all dressed up like you would not believe. God Bless America….no one does anything by halves. The ceremony was nice, some of the kids played songs and sang, other made speeches and each one was introduced (much to Conner’s disgust) and received their certificate. It was nice that they made a big deal but it was still funny. The weather was really starting to heat up, Bruce and the boys went off to basketball practice on Saturday with their new teams, Jamieson slept over at Kevin’s and on Sunday it was 106F so we just stayed inside and tried not to melt; although I did get all my washing dried pretty quickly.
July
It was a quiet week with the boys at home; I worked my usual times, although my hours are reducing with the lack of work around. There was nothing overly exciting happening. On Friday it did my baking for 4of July party at Karen’s. On Saturday (4th July) Jamieson and I walked down the street to meet the fire truck (Karen organized one every year and they have a parade that does 2 blocks and the kids walk behind it) Jamieson went off with all the others and I took pictures, chatted with Karen and met some of her family that were here for the weekend. We headed over there later in the afternoon and Jessica Gunning (baseball) and her kids were there so we caught up with them before they headed out to their next stop for the day. It was a nice day, we met Mikes best friend and his girlfriend and hit it off with them. They came over on Sunday to talk some work opportunities too. Fireworks were fun as always, the boys got to have their piro time and it was all done and we walked home around 11.00pm. Another fun 4th July!
Tuesday we organized for Kristin (Charles – who used to live here) to bring her boys over and we all went to the pool, with Paula and her boys too. That was a fun afternoon all the boys have grown but you especially notice little Cooper who is not so little anymore, and talking… it freaks me out a little, he will always be the baby who was born the day before we landed here. I went to work the next morning and found an email from Andrea that Eric (her friend and then Bruce’s friend) had died (from his cancer) the day before. Bruce was out of whack for a little bit as you can imagine. It threw me too, poor Laura, his wife - they are so young.
The boys had friends over during the week for sleepovers, the boys had basketball practice again, so I took the opportunity to clean the house while it was empty and enjoy the quiet. Sunday morning Bruce and I decided to book our trip back home, not sure how that came about but the computer was out and the flights got booked, I think his guilt over the boys not being home for so long was really getting to him, me too.
Conner was over the moon so it makes it all worth while. We had Paula, Steve and the boys coming over for dinner so I had some cooking to do, in the end Jennifer White and her sister popped in for a visit and stayed which was great. We had a nice night the kids were outside playing and the adults were at the dining room table talking.
Here we are in the middle of another month, in the middle of another year already, literally where is the time going? The week started off on not a good note at work, Paula let Jonathan go on Monday, so I was glad I was out of the office for that. I organized to meet the Rivera’s at the pool on Wednesday which was fun. The kids all played and swam and we even got into the pool and caught up with Kristie, it had been a while since we’d seen each other, she’d been flying and with the kids on holidays she’s more busy than usual. I took “Twilight” to the pool, the girls at work were all reading and raving about them all, Karen had given me a copy weeks ago and it had gone to Paula and come back so I thought I’d see what the fuss was about. I got through a couple of chapters and loved it (which considering I’m not a reader is a good thing) I finished it in 2 sittings, which is actually the only way I can read otherwise it puts me to sleep. I have to love it or forget about it.
Anyway, it started as Bruce puts it; he became a Twilight widower for a couple of days. The boys had picture day on Saturday and then Conner’s team had a little get together after it for afternoon tea and for the boys to hang out. It was a quiet night, I wasn’t feeling so great, a little headache. Sunday was quiet in the morning and then we went to Paula’s for swimming and dinner in the afternoon, it was really hot 100f+ again, so the we all got in the pool, it was lots of fun swimming and catching up. Paula wanted to talk about the book and Bruce and Steve rolled their eyes and laughed.
Jamieson was back at school so that settled things down a little, we had back to school night on Tuesday, so I went and the boys all went to basketball practice. Work was slow again everyone was on holidays and Andrea went down to LA last minute to be with Laura so it was just me at the office, I went into the office for a couple of hours in the morning but not much was happening so it allowed me some time to get ready for our trip home and to get all the stuff I needed to take with us too. I also managed to read New Moon over another couple of days as well. We were gong to be gone for Jamieson’s birthday, which he was a little bummed about but he seemed ok, he got to go out to dinner with Dad and have a movie night (that was the plan anyway)
The weekend rolled around and I was all packed and ready to go, lots of clothes and putting them on to go the airport was weird. It’s been so hot here for so long, I can’t remember the last time the temperature was below 95F.We took Jamieson off to basketball for his game and watched the first quarter before we jumped into the car and headed to San FranciscoAirport.
OK, here is a run down on our trip home, considering I was where you were and everyone kind of knew I’m going to keep it kind of short, plus it’s all a bit of a blur. Conner and I got on the plane. I had waited all week but promised myself that I would wait for the two plane rides to read the last two twilight books. Considering I don’t really sleep on planes I had Eclipse finished by the time we left Auckland airport. Conner had slept fairly well on the plane, I took the window seat so we can lean up against to wall and hopefully get some sleep, which we both kind of did. I got a couple of hours, Conner got a few. We landed in Melbourne and went pretty much through customs, yeay and mum was waiting outside the doors for us and it was COLD!!!! Apparently Belinda and her tan looked like a freak too.
We went to Maureen’s for lunch and had a catch up with her and Ali which is always lots of fun. We drove down the highway and stopped off to see Trace at work, like we always do, then we went to Montpellier to surprise Alex, Max and Trudy after school. I grabbed mum’s car, they went with Trudy and I went to visit Liz before heading back down to Mum’s. Everyone was there by the time I got there and we had fish n chips for dinner YUM!!!
I was in bed at 7.30pm exhausted but then woke up at 4.30am (bugger). We had a quiet morning, we spoke to Jamieson for his birthday (the first one we weren’t all together for) Raels came and picked up Conner for the day and mum and I went into to Geelong, I picked up the hire car. I dropped into the Lolly shop, some shopping then off to Liz’s place for a cuppa and then later back to Raels for dinner and sleepover.
Bruce here – I’ve been told I need to interject some news about Jamieson’s birthday and what we did while these guys were away. (Ha! Belinda thinks I can actually remember this stuff!!! I’m flat out remembering last week!) So – in a nutshell – we just kinda hung out a bit – watched TV and rented a few movies – his Birthday was pretty cool – he wanted to go and pick out his own bike – so after school and homework – we cruised on over to Wally’s world (Wal Mart) and picked out his very cool new wheels! Then we went over to Macca’s for drive through because he wanted to get home and watch a DVD – so we did that – cuddled on the coach while the movie was playing – and then he went to bed – happy as Larry and very proud to now be a 10 year old.
He was a little bummed that his Mum and Brother weren’t here – but when we decided to do the Birthday cake when mum got back – he was happy! The week flew by and before I knew it – I was heading back to SF airport to pick them up!
We were up and out of the house when Raels took Oscar to school and headed up to Melbourne. We dropped into Kristy’s so Conner could see her and meet baby Hudson before dropping Conner in the city to meet Maureen for the Aquarium, Rialto and lunch then Pete picked him up for a boys afternoon of fun. I spent the day with Kristy and Hudson which was so great, I missed her and have not enjoyed the fact that I wasn’t there when he was born etc. We had dinner in Williamstown with Pete, Fleur, Guy, Lisa Ebony and Lara which is always a great time, then headed back down to Ocean Grove.
Thursday morning Conner and Mum went and played mini golf and I went to caught up with Kate and Rachel. I took him into Geelong and dropped him of at Ross’ office for another boys afternoon of fun. I went out shopping with Trudy in town then back to pick the kids up from school, I got Conner from Ross’ and we played at Trudy’s, over to Tracey’s and had a cuppa and saw Dylan as well, then off to drop Conner off to Livingston’s at Ashley’s basketball practice, had a quick catch up with Ros and Pete then off to the Bells for a sleepover.
I met Conner, Ashley and Ros at Belmont High for Conner’s day at school then back to the Bell’s to get ready for the day and off into town for some shopping, a cuppa with Liz at her work, quick catch up with Ros at the Laundromat and Shari too, which was really cool. I met Jill for a coffee at Waurn Ponds, drove by the house to check things out then over to the Griffins for a sleepover.
I was at Grovedale football oval at 10.00am to meet Conner, they happened to be playing Joey’s so Rhys and Cameron were playing so I got to see all the Lynch’s too which was cool. I spent time with Ros (which I love to do) and saw Hayley (gorgeous girl) then Conner and I dropped into the Lolly shop for bring home lollies and off to Trudy’s for Conner to head off to the football. I met Tracey at Newtown to watch Dylan play which was good, I miss local footy and netball its fun and you don’t get that family sport here. We met at Trudy’s after the football and got ready to go out to the basketball to watch the Supercats play. It was a good game although I was chatting a lot so I didn’t kind of see it. Nic and Griff and I watched from the bar for a while, then I caught up with Jill and her girls which was great, they all look so great, Nic and I sat in the crowd for a bit and watched the game talking about old times (wow that was a long time ago) then after the game I caught up with Mark, Trev, Bin and gorgeous baby (sooo cute guys) and the best was definitely last… Jamie Medved is always good for my ego, it was great catch up with him, to meet his wife and see him so happy. It was not a late night but I got back to mum’s around 11.30pm, by this time I was very tired!!!!
Sunday was here and it was 24 hours before leaving, I should’ve tried to meet up with Sophie, but my body just wasn’t co operating so she is on the top of the list for next time. We packed up the car and headed into the Bells for lunch and so Conner and Nick could spend some time together. We went to Tracey’s for a Lynch catch up which I always love (you guys are some of my favorite people) then later in the afternoon we went back to Trudy’s for a family dinner and sleepover.
Then before you know it, it was Monday morning and I was driving the car back and heading to the airport, we said our goodbyes and headed behind the doors….it was a long flight considering I was tired already, I read the last Twilight book which was done before the trip was finished but what a great book. It was nice when the sun came up and we were nearly home so our family was all together.
August
Ok, August ended up being a blur for me….I guess once you read it will become a little clearer. We arrived home on the Monday morning and Bruce was there to meet us with the big “I missed you” smile. YEAY, it’s was good to be home with all of us together. We got home and went over to Paula’s to get Jamieson (he went after school) had a quick catch up with Paula and headed home.I stayed awake for as long as I could and so did Conner. We were in bed at a reasonable time and 14 hours later I woke up. Bruce was impressed, I suppose not sleeping properly, two plane flights, busy schedule will do that to you…. At least I just slept sometimes when I eventually stop I get sick and my body just says no – although technically I hadn’t stopped just yet.
Conner and I both slept till lunchtime and chilled in the afternoon. I unpacked and started washing etc….. Bruce and I had a parent teacher conference with Jamieson’s teacher Mrs. McDougall which was good; she is a fun teacher that doesn’t put up with any crap so she is exactly what Jamieson needs. That night was a quiet one, the boys went off to basketball practice and I had some quiet time, another long night of sleep then into work for a couple of hours on Wednesday afternoon.
Thursday morning, we packed the car and headed South to LA for the ‘Teen Choice Awards’ gifting suite function. We were all excited and the ride down didn’t seem to take too long, the boys did really well and we made it to StudioCity in really great time. We checked in and met the organizers who were really cool people. (I made a new friend Lynn – one of the organizers she is lots of fun and we hit to off straight away) I also met Nancy Borgnine who Bruce had organized this through. We chilled out and went and had some dinner, came back and the boys went to the room and watched some TV and we hung out with Lynn and Steve (her husband).
Friday was a long day…. Bruce and I were up and getting ready early, the boys went for a swim before we checked out and went to the stand to get started. It was a long day but it was kind of fun, most of the guests were actors from the Disney Channel so the boys got to have photo’s with a lot of them which they loved, they are the future of this what looks like a real world of it’s own. There was also some movie actors (the new shaggy – who was really a cool guy and even did a shaggy for us. Most of the younger ones were there with their parents or at least mothers, most of them were really nice. The boys were in and out of the stand checking out what else was going on, we finished up around 6.00pm and packed up the stand, the boys went for a swim before we left. Bruce got to meet ex NBA champion - John Sally which was a highlight for him so that made him really happy. We said our goodbyes to Nancy and Lynn after some pictures and jumped into the car to head out of the city to get some dinner then onto the freeway home. It was a fun day and it gave us a look into what is definitely a different world (Tween Hollywood- interesting dynamics) We headed down the road and had some dinner then up I5 to home – tick that experience off the list even though we never had it on the list to begin with. Pretty cool!!! Managed to arrive home in one piece at about 2am – it was a looong day!
We woke up Saturday and had a quiet morning; the boys had basketball in the afternoon so we were out of the house and at the stadium from 5.00 till around 8.00pm which will be the case for the next 8 weeks. Jamieson’s team lost on the buzzer which was a bummer but when you have 5 of the 10 kids in the team that literally have NO IDEA what to do then it makes it hard to win games. Conner’s team was well, very impressive as expected. I bought the new camera and got some great action shots. We finished the week with a Sunday around the house, cleaning and unpacking and washing etc…
The second week of August was me trying to get back into a normal routine, which wasn’t easy do at all. Things at work had changed, the downturn had finally really hit us the work was put on hold, so my new hours were minimal, which made Bruce happy because he had lots of stuff that I could help him, at least it was keeping me busy. Billy Bounce is being upgraded so I will be putting the booklets together, layout etc (which Bruce hates to do, but I love) so it worked out well for that. Conner had another Orientation at Toby Johnson which he went to and enjoyed, we got some of his school stuff ready, usually basketball on Saturday, so most things were heading back into the usual pattern.
OK, yes it was my birthday on the Saturday. Blah!!! I woke up and opened my pressies….the boys made me fantastic cards with pop ups and telling me I’m the best mum ever!! So there!!! I got the Twilight DVD and Stephanie Meyers other book ‘The Host’ and I am getting an IPhone…Wooo Hooo!!!! I had a nice relaxing day, the boys went out to Kevin’s and Bruce and I went out for lunch which was really nice. Yummy food and good conversation with your husband, life is good. I went out and did a little shopping, Bruce made up the lasagna for dinner after basketball and later in the afternoon we headed out.
We got back from basketball and of course Bruce had invited over the party people without me knowing, Paula, Steve and the boys, Cendro’s and the Rivera’s arrived later after Kristie got home from her London trip. It was a fun night, the kids played outside, the adults sat in the lounge room, we had photo’s cake and what would a Hultgren gathering be without dancing in the lounge room. It was lots of fun and it was a great birthday; with the exception of actually feeling older for the first time in a long time. Not sure why but this year was the year I actually started feeling older.
Enough about that, Sunday we had a busy afternoon planned, Conner had open day at school and we had to go and pick Elise up, but they were kind of at the same time. We headed to school early and got Conner’s schedule and met his teachers and the saw his classrooms which was nice for all three of us, it was warm and there were people everywhere, 800 kids for year 7 alone this year (1500 if you include year 8 as well).
We dropped Conner off at home and headed to pick up Elise. The bonus was that she’s called and was getting dropped off in Elk Grove – SCORE!!! There she was waiting for us as we rounded the street and TWO bags; she’d accumulated another large bag while she was at camp. We got her home and she had a shower and started feeling human again. It was a quiet night of catching up and Elise was in bed at a reasonable hour.
Conner started Middle school with not a lot of fuss at all, Bruce dropped him off at school in all the traffic (OMG) the middle school and high school start at the same time and there is traffic everywhere. (the High School has about 4,000 kids – from years 9-12 only – so you are looking at over 5500 kids – the 1500 kids at Middle School are connected on the next campus - entering and leaving – everyday at the same time – on roads that simply weren’t meant for this kind of traffic – so we had to find shortcuts and fast! It took us 2 days and we’ve now got this down to a fine art – woo hoo!) I went to work in the morning then took Elise out for some shopping in the afternoon, Tuesday we went down to the Galt Market with Kristie which was fun and a little frustrating, we took Jamieson who wanted to buy everything, Mum can I have, Mum can I have??? Grrrrr!!!! We did Elise’s hair while the boys were at basketball practice, Wednesday night Paula came over and we did her hair, Thursday we went shopping with Millie in Sacramento and out to lunch at an Irish Pub which was nice and finished off the week with Hot Summer nights concert in the park which was fun and a nice casual night out with friends. Saturday we cleaned the house and went over to the Cendro’s for a catch up and swim, then off to basketball, Sunday was a quiet day watching movies and chillin out, getting Elise ready for her trip to the East coast and helping her pack.
Bruce dropped Elise off at the airport on Tuesday and Bruce headed out to see some clients while Jamieson and I stayed at home for the day, I got lots of the Billy Bounce booklets done which was great, then on Wednesday Jamieson came to the office while Bruce had some meetings, nothing else exciting to take up the end of the week, worked a little at the office and then on booklets for Bruce. Conner is really enjoying school which makes life easier for us.They have a great tool called school loop here, it’s communication between home and school, you can login and see all your kids homework as well as their grades, what’s due when etc, it’s fantastic and the kids know that the parents are keeping track so it keeps them honest as well, fantastic tool and it should be copied everywhere.
Friday hit and along with it came a throat thing for me, I spent the next few days fighting it which is my own fault, I would lay down and rest and then when I though I was feeling better I would get up and start doing stuff, so of course then an hour or so later I would be in a pile on the bed again, typical, you would think I would learn, NOT!!!!
And here we are its September already, where has this year gone, really someone please tell me?? I hope all is well and with the Footy finals on that the CATS WIN!!!! Ha ha.
I should be saying that it’s cooling down here so if you call going from 100F+ to the 90F’s then it’s cooling down here, it’s actually nice and I get out into the back yard with a book or my IPod more now that it’s not so HOT!!!
Fall/ Autumn is nearly upon us, the leaves are starting to fall from some of the trees and I wonder what the change in seasons will bring. Lots of challenges ahead for everyone, what would life be without them…. BORING I suppose!
I gave Conner some advice a couple of weeks ago (when he was going through some homesickness, new school, new friends, teenager thing etc), and I think it holds true for everyone. BE BRAVE with your life, (like Dad – we know dad is a different kind of brave, but give it a go) have a big life not a normal one, that is part of the reason we bought you’re here, to show you have so many options. I think that was a good mother/ son moment for us. I also think it applies to everyone, (as someone who has packed up her old life and moved it to somewhere new, for life experience and family experience) our kids can literally do anything and do it anywhere in the world, what a great and scary proposition for them! We/I got a little of that growing up, but now that’s what we should all tell our kids…. Find your vehicle and take it wherever you want it to go!
The great thing is that we also showed him a great example, look at Elise, she got on a plane by herself and had an amazing life experience, how brave she was to do that and look what she got out of it, she is not the same person that left Australia in June - Bruce and I have noticed that just in the short time we had her here.
Listen to me being all philosophical it must be time to say goodbye….. Check back in soon. It was great to see all those gorgeous faces when we came home….you all need to start saving and come and visit, we won’t be here forever.
Happy Birthday Alex and Paul….xxxxx
Hey everyone – Bruce again – Jamieson and I were meant to be down there for this past week and actually getting back onto the plane tomorrow (our time) – but circumstances had us stay here and the upside for Jamieson is that he will now get to miss a week of school – probably late October or early November is the plan.
I was lucky enough to be down there in April (I think it was April! Maybe May?) so this trip for me will be somewhat of an attempt at a vacation. Yeah right – I know – but I’m going to try!!!
There will be some coffee shops with my name all over them – just watching the world go by, I will be a taxi for JR and will be arranging some catch ups – OK – so it sounds exactly like Belinda and Conner – but I’m going to TRY and rest in among all the JR things to be accomplished!
I also have to squeeze a one day trip up to Sydney for some business reasons – but again – that’s just a day.
Well – that’s about it – looking forward to seeing you all again in just over a month!
For us here that means the NFL will be in full swing (starts tomorrow – woo hoo!) the College Football will be well and truly underway – college basketball will be upon us and then the NBA starts – and to think – I used to really dislike October, November and the following months because there was NOTHING on TV!
I guess this period makes up for all the time I don’t watch it throughout the year!
