This is one of my favourite photos of Al and Kaitlin - the good thing is that now Al is frameless !!! (And he lost 4 kgs in one afternoon)
Sunday, 22 April 2007
Saturday, 21 April 2007
Kaitlin at the cross country
For those of you who only remember the little 7 year old that left SA in 2000 - she is turning 15 in a couple of weeks time - where has the time gone to and where is my baby ?????
Update April 07
I couldn't believe that the last update was in January - how quickly time goes !!!!
So much has happened since then I don't know where to begin but will try to take things one at a time.
Al finally has the frame off his leg - they took it off the week after Easter. In January the dr indicated that he thought it would be ready to come off at the end of February but when Al had those x-rays done, the dr said to leave it for another month and then have a look. So that is what we did and didn't expect it to come off when it did as the radiologist said that the fracture was still very evident. Well the specialist was happy with the leg and so took the frame off - they did not stitch the holes for the pin sites but just put Betadine plugs in and dressed them. The problem was that there was actually quite a lot of bleeding so 4 pressure bandages later they let him go home. We did that for a couple of days and he has now been dressing and bandageless for the past 4 or 5 days and it all seems good. I think he will probably put something on the holes (which are slowly closing) if he is working in the garden or when he goes into the roof to finish the downlights which we are having in the entertainment area.
We finally got the pavers delivered for our entertainment area - the only problem was that 1/2 of them were the incorrect pavers !!!! We are having the outside paved in sandstone and they had sent the wrong colour pavers so we have been waiting since about the middle of March for another delivery. They are supposed to be delivered tomorrow morning but it really will be a case of seeing is believing. The area which has been done looks really good and I'm sure that once it is all finished we will be very happy with the result - it is just the waiting which is a pain in the neck. Al has his pub built and we were looking at some wood for the bar counter on Saturday morning. We did buy some wood from someone moving to Townsville but the piece he wanted to use is quite badly warped and I don't think is going to be suitable to use for the counter top. We haven't decided how we are going to finish the front of the bar yet - tossing up between the sandstone pavers and some mini corrugated iron for the real rustic look. I have been sanding down our outdoor setting but it is taking me so long as the wax has penetrated so far into the wood - never again will I listen to the salesman who tells me we only need to wax the wood to keep it looking lovely !!!!!
We had a very quiet Easter - the weather was lovely and we spent most of the time relaxing at home and catching up with the family. As usual we ate too many Easter eggs and hot-x buns and sat around anticipating Al's frame coming off the next week !!! My folks are doing well - Dad is getting steady hours from Coles and that together with their Australia Post round, the delivery of the weekly Sun newspaper and their markets is keeping them out of trouble. Dad had to have a melanoma thing cut out of his face before Easter but the skin specialist who performed the operation said that he got the whole melanoma and to just keep an eye on it in the future and to go back to him if it starts to grow again (it is the same one that he had cut out before he left SA). They have applied for citizenship and are now waiting to hear which ceremony they can attend to receive their certificates, flags, native trees and morning / afternoon tea with lamingtons, meat pies and veggiemite sandwiches !!!!
In March Kaitlin went to Cairns to play in the U16 softball tournament for South Coast Region. Al and I went up for three days to watch her and they did a lot better than what any of us expected. They came 2nd in their pool and then 5th in the play-offs. She has now changed from playing for Gold Coast to playing at Redlands Bay as the competition is much stronger. The only problem is that it is about 1 hr 15mins from home and she has training on Wednesday and games on a Sunday morning. The good thing is that I now have some company at the games after all the years of sitting watching Al he now has a chance to sit and watch Kaitlin !!!! We went to watch China play Australia last weekend and it was lovely to sit and listen to the two of them talking about the game - long may it last !!!!!
Kaitlin is sitting two scholarship exams - one for the school that she is currently going to Saint Stephen's and then another for Queensland Academies which is a Qld Government innitiative for a new campus they are opening at Griffith University for students in year 11 and 12 who are interested in studying Health Sciences at university when they finish school. I don't know how much chance she has at either of them but am very proud that she was interested in applying in the first place. She has also been selected for a Peer Helper programme - this is a programme run by the school for nominated students to teach them how to help other students who may have problems but who feel they can't talk to an adult. During June / July Al and I are going to get a taste of what it is like to play Derby and Joan as K is going on the school sports tour to NSW and ACT and then is back for one night before leaving on another Outward Bound programme. This is when they take 12 students, 1 teacher and an instructor out into the bush and they students have to navigate their way around for 10 days - do their own cooking, organise their camps each night etc. She went last year and came back so appreciative of both Al and I and our home but, that did fade after a while so hopefully this will be a good reminder to her of just how good she has it at home !!!!! All in all she is a busy little bee - between school, work, sport and her extra curricular she doens't have too much time to get up to mischief although she sure can turn on the attitude sometimes !!!!!
Work is going well for me - I am busy with a huge government return at the moment and then it is the fringe benefits return which has to be completed and then it will settle back down to normal month to month stuff until the audit at the end of the year. Coles is still there and keeping us out of touble in the evenings - we have had a quiet few weeks what with taking time off for Al's leg and then Easter and on Wednesday it is ANZAC day so another holiday for us - what a pity they are all so close together at the beginning of the year and then we have to wait until August for Gold Coast show day and then the next holiday is Christmas !!!!!!
We haven't seen much of the World Cup Cricket due to the time that it is on over here - we started watching a little when we got home from work at 1am but found that we were getting caught up in the games and not getting to be before 2.30 or 3am and then it was too difficult to get up for work at 6.30 so we put a stop to that.
In September / October we are going to Spain on holiday for just under 4 weeks. We are all really looking forward to that with lots of planning and research happening. Kaitlin is learning Spanish at school and so we will be relying on her to make sure we will at least be able to eat some 'normal' food when we are there - I am sure if the worst comes to the worst there will be a McDonalds although would hate to think of the size we will come home if we spend 4 weeks eating that !!!!!! She can read it pretty well so I am sure that between a phrase book, what she can read and what she can say we will be fine - if nothing else it will certainly be an experience for all of us that we won't forget in a hurry !!!!!
Well that is about all the news from the Morris' in Australia. I hope that whoever is reading this is well. Go safely and take care !
With love from Australia
Me
So much has happened since then I don't know where to begin but will try to take things one at a time.
Al finally has the frame off his leg - they took it off the week after Easter. In January the dr indicated that he thought it would be ready to come off at the end of February but when Al had those x-rays done, the dr said to leave it for another month and then have a look. So that is what we did and didn't expect it to come off when it did as the radiologist said that the fracture was still very evident. Well the specialist was happy with the leg and so took the frame off - they did not stitch the holes for the pin sites but just put Betadine plugs in and dressed them. The problem was that there was actually quite a lot of bleeding so 4 pressure bandages later they let him go home. We did that for a couple of days and he has now been dressing and bandageless for the past 4 or 5 days and it all seems good. I think he will probably put something on the holes (which are slowly closing) if he is working in the garden or when he goes into the roof to finish the downlights which we are having in the entertainment area.
We finally got the pavers delivered for our entertainment area - the only problem was that 1/2 of them were the incorrect pavers !!!! We are having the outside paved in sandstone and they had sent the wrong colour pavers so we have been waiting since about the middle of March for another delivery. They are supposed to be delivered tomorrow morning but it really will be a case of seeing is believing. The area which has been done looks really good and I'm sure that once it is all finished we will be very happy with the result - it is just the waiting which is a pain in the neck. Al has his pub built and we were looking at some wood for the bar counter on Saturday morning. We did buy some wood from someone moving to Townsville but the piece he wanted to use is quite badly warped and I don't think is going to be suitable to use for the counter top. We haven't decided how we are going to finish the front of the bar yet - tossing up between the sandstone pavers and some mini corrugated iron for the real rustic look. I have been sanding down our outdoor setting but it is taking me so long as the wax has penetrated so far into the wood - never again will I listen to the salesman who tells me we only need to wax the wood to keep it looking lovely !!!!!
We had a very quiet Easter - the weather was lovely and we spent most of the time relaxing at home and catching up with the family. As usual we ate too many Easter eggs and hot-x buns and sat around anticipating Al's frame coming off the next week !!! My folks are doing well - Dad is getting steady hours from Coles and that together with their Australia Post round, the delivery of the weekly Sun newspaper and their markets is keeping them out of trouble. Dad had to have a melanoma thing cut out of his face before Easter but the skin specialist who performed the operation said that he got the whole melanoma and to just keep an eye on it in the future and to go back to him if it starts to grow again (it is the same one that he had cut out before he left SA). They have applied for citizenship and are now waiting to hear which ceremony they can attend to receive their certificates, flags, native trees and morning / afternoon tea with lamingtons, meat pies and veggiemite sandwiches !!!!
In March Kaitlin went to Cairns to play in the U16 softball tournament for South Coast Region. Al and I went up for three days to watch her and they did a lot better than what any of us expected. They came 2nd in their pool and then 5th in the play-offs. She has now changed from playing for Gold Coast to playing at Redlands Bay as the competition is much stronger. The only problem is that it is about 1 hr 15mins from home and she has training on Wednesday and games on a Sunday morning. The good thing is that I now have some company at the games after all the years of sitting watching Al he now has a chance to sit and watch Kaitlin !!!! We went to watch China play Australia last weekend and it was lovely to sit and listen to the two of them talking about the game - long may it last !!!!!
Kaitlin is sitting two scholarship exams - one for the school that she is currently going to Saint Stephen's and then another for Queensland Academies which is a Qld Government innitiative for a new campus they are opening at Griffith University for students in year 11 and 12 who are interested in studying Health Sciences at university when they finish school. I don't know how much chance she has at either of them but am very proud that she was interested in applying in the first place. She has also been selected for a Peer Helper programme - this is a programme run by the school for nominated students to teach them how to help other students who may have problems but who feel they can't talk to an adult. During June / July Al and I are going to get a taste of what it is like to play Derby and Joan as K is going on the school sports tour to NSW and ACT and then is back for one night before leaving on another Outward Bound programme. This is when they take 12 students, 1 teacher and an instructor out into the bush and they students have to navigate their way around for 10 days - do their own cooking, organise their camps each night etc. She went last year and came back so appreciative of both Al and I and our home but, that did fade after a while so hopefully this will be a good reminder to her of just how good she has it at home !!!!! All in all she is a busy little bee - between school, work, sport and her extra curricular she doens't have too much time to get up to mischief although she sure can turn on the attitude sometimes !!!!!
Work is going well for me - I am busy with a huge government return at the moment and then it is the fringe benefits return which has to be completed and then it will settle back down to normal month to month stuff until the audit at the end of the year. Coles is still there and keeping us out of touble in the evenings - we have had a quiet few weeks what with taking time off for Al's leg and then Easter and on Wednesday it is ANZAC day so another holiday for us - what a pity they are all so close together at the beginning of the year and then we have to wait until August for Gold Coast show day and then the next holiday is Christmas !!!!!!
We haven't seen much of the World Cup Cricket due to the time that it is on over here - we started watching a little when we got home from work at 1am but found that we were getting caught up in the games and not getting to be before 2.30 or 3am and then it was too difficult to get up for work at 6.30 so we put a stop to that.
In September / October we are going to Spain on holiday for just under 4 weeks. We are all really looking forward to that with lots of planning and research happening. Kaitlin is learning Spanish at school and so we will be relying on her to make sure we will at least be able to eat some 'normal' food when we are there - I am sure if the worst comes to the worst there will be a McDonalds although would hate to think of the size we will come home if we spend 4 weeks eating that !!!!!! She can read it pretty well so I am sure that between a phrase book, what she can read and what she can say we will be fine - if nothing else it will certainly be an experience for all of us that we won't forget in a hurry !!!!!
Well that is about all the news from the Morris' in Australia. I hope that whoever is reading this is well. Go safely and take care !
With love from Australia
Me
Tuesday, 23 January 2007
January 07 update
Well - we are well and truly into the 2007 and it feels like an absolute age ago that I had a few days off from work. That is until this week - I have taken the week off from Coles - just for a break. They had a stock count last night and Al went in for 4 hours - his leg was a little sore when he got home last night but he is looking at going back to packing next week when I go back on Wednesday night.
It is Australia Day on Friday 26th Jan and we have managed to get some time share in Noosa for the week so we will be going up there on Friday morning and coming home (straight to school and work) on Monday morning. It is only about 2 hours north of us so it shouldn't be too bad. But, given that we will be up early in the morning I didn't think I would be wanting to pack until 1am on Tuesday morning !!!!! Dad and Mom will be going up on Tuesday after their paper rounds and spending the rest of the week there so it will be good for them to be able to have a break as well.
Tomorrow we are off to Brisbane to see the specialist about Al's leg. It should be an interesting appointment as it will be the first since we stopped moving his leg around so it will give us a good indication of the bone growth which has taken place and how much longer he is likely to have the frame on. He is managing very well without his crutches now which is great because at one point it seemed like he was never going to get off of them.
We have been having unbearably hot weather here lately - thank goodness for air-conditioning - I don't know how we would have managed without it. I have even been in the pool a couple of times although sometimes the water is so warm it isn't even refreshing - it is just like getting into a warm bath !!!!
I hope that you are all OK and that things are going well in your world - take care and go safely !
It is Australia Day on Friday 26th Jan and we have managed to get some time share in Noosa for the week so we will be going up there on Friday morning and coming home (straight to school and work) on Monday morning. It is only about 2 hours north of us so it shouldn't be too bad. But, given that we will be up early in the morning I didn't think I would be wanting to pack until 1am on Tuesday morning !!!!! Dad and Mom will be going up on Tuesday after their paper rounds and spending the rest of the week there so it will be good for them to be able to have a break as well.
Tomorrow we are off to Brisbane to see the specialist about Al's leg. It should be an interesting appointment as it will be the first since we stopped moving his leg around so it will give us a good indication of the bone growth which has taken place and how much longer he is likely to have the frame on. He is managing very well without his crutches now which is great because at one point it seemed like he was never going to get off of them.
We have been having unbearably hot weather here lately - thank goodness for air-conditioning - I don't know how we would have managed without it. I have even been in the pool a couple of times although sometimes the water is so warm it isn't even refreshing - it is just like getting into a warm bath !!!!
I hope that you are all OK and that things are going well in your world - take care and go safely !
Tuesday, 9 January 2007
January 07
Things are still going well for all of us. Kaitlin is enjoying her holidays and is getting a fair few shifts at work. Alan has, once again, got an infection in his leg and so is, once again, on another course of anti-biotics. The good thing is that on the previous occasions these anti-biotics have worked - the battle with this type of infection seems to be making sure that you treat it with the right medicine and thankfully they have managed to find the right medicine the first time and not go through a range of medicines trying to find which one the infection responds to.
The first 20/20 game between Australia and England is on - it is becoming a little one-sided (nothing new with the way the cricket between these two countries has been going lately)
Alan went back to work this week and no doubt, by now, feels like he never had a holiday. I went to see a specialist rheumatoid guy today because of the aches that I have in my knees and elbows (and it turns out it is probably related to my back pain as well) and I have finally got the reason for the aches - not that he can actually help get rid of them but at least it is not all in my head (which is what I was starting to think as the blood tests and the x-rays have all been normal) - the long and the short of it is (and the way I understood what he said) that due to my dreadful sleeping patterns, I am lacking serotonin and this has caused my brain to amplify the feeling in my knees, elbows and back which now registers as an ache. IF I can improve my sleeping pattern and increase the serotonin levels, I shouldn't have the aches anymore. I just wish it was as easy to remedy as it sounds. I am now looking into sleep clinics in the Brisbane area and will see what they can offer.
We caught up with Marie Brown on the weekend who is out here visiting her daughter Vanessa. We manage a catch up meal whenever she is out here. All seems to be well with the Brown family.
Well - am off to watch the rest of the cricket - not that England have a hope in hell of coming anywhere close to our score. Take care everyone and go safely.
The first 20/20 game between Australia and England is on - it is becoming a little one-sided (nothing new with the way the cricket between these two countries has been going lately)
Alan went back to work this week and no doubt, by now, feels like he never had a holiday. I went to see a specialist rheumatoid guy today because of the aches that I have in my knees and elbows (and it turns out it is probably related to my back pain as well) and I have finally got the reason for the aches - not that he can actually help get rid of them but at least it is not all in my head (which is what I was starting to think as the blood tests and the x-rays have all been normal) - the long and the short of it is (and the way I understood what he said) that due to my dreadful sleeping patterns, I am lacking serotonin and this has caused my brain to amplify the feeling in my knees, elbows and back which now registers as an ache. IF I can improve my sleeping pattern and increase the serotonin levels, I shouldn't have the aches anymore. I just wish it was as easy to remedy as it sounds. I am now looking into sleep clinics in the Brisbane area and will see what they can offer.
We caught up with Marie Brown on the weekend who is out here visiting her daughter Vanessa. We manage a catch up meal whenever she is out here. All seems to be well with the Brown family.
Well - am off to watch the rest of the cricket - not that England have a hope in hell of coming anywhere close to our score. Take care everyone and go safely.
Sunday, 31 December 2006
Last post for 2006 !
Well, who would have thought that we would be at the end of another year and nearly 7 years in Australia - where has the time gone to and how come I feel like it left me behind ??????
Yes, another year nearly gone and we are all still around and fighting fit. We had a lovely quiet Christmas period. It was great having Christmas and Boxing Day on Monday and Tuesday as it meant a little extra time to get things organised. We spent Friday night with some friends from work at their home in Wongawallan (about 10 mins away from school) - it was very strange as we were sitting there in jeans and jumpers and had a fire going - very strange weather for 22nd December !!!! While we were there I got to talking with one of the Mom's from school as well as one of the ladies who works at school with me and the lady from school has agreed to do a tri-athlon with me - she is going to run, there is another lady at school whom we think we can talk into doing the swim leg and I will do the cycling leg - should be great fun. As they both turned 50 this year, I will be the spring chicken in the team - hope I can hold my leg up OK !!!!
Anyway, after doing all my grocery shopping on Friday, I didn't have much to do on the weekend except the preparation of food for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Mom and Dad came over for dinner on Christmas Eve and then we phoned them when we woke up on Christmas Day and they came over and opened presents and had breakfast before going home. Kevin and Tanya popped on during the morning while we were busy cleaning the pool. We had a lovely Christmas lunch / dinner with Danny, Heather, the boys and David's girl-friend Lucy, Judith (H's Mom) and Fiona (H's sister) and her family - it was a great day although quiet. On Boxing Day Kaitlin had to work but then we had my folks over for dinner for Dad's birthday.
Since then we have been pottering around at home - watched some cricket (we thrashed the Poms AGAIN !!!) - went up to DFO (the factory outlet shops near the Brisbane airport) where we shopped until we dropped and then spent some more time pottering around the house. My Dad came over today to help patch a hole in the solar heating pipes on the roof (I'm too much of a wuss to get up on the roof) and I sanded and painted our swing chair - now that we have the bigger patio area, it can be under shelter all the time and it was looking decidedly worse for wear. I now need to get some new foam cut and ask my Mom if she will cover them for us. We recently bought some wood from a teacher who is moving to Townsville and doesn't want to take it with him and so now Al and my Dad are busy planning the pub they are going to build in the new patio - it will be good when it is finished - I just wish we were closer to finishing than what we actually are !!!!! The glare off the concrete when the sun shines is just awful - there were stages today when I was painting when I couldn't see a thing - am hoping that it isn't too bad when I look at it tomorrow before the sun gets too high and is all glarey again !!!!
Kaitlin has been getting quite a few extra shifts these holidays which is good because it keeps her out of mischief and keeps the money rolling in (for her anyway!!!!). I can't believe that she is going into Year Ten in a couple of weeks time - who would have thought that time would go by so quickly and our little baby would have grown into a lovely young lady ????
I am going to see if I can load a few pictures of the renovations (won't load any of Al's leg as I know that some people have weak stomachs and it really isn't all the nice to look at ! Having said that I have definitely got used to it and, while I won't clean it, I have no problem looking at it.) If you haven't seen any photos and would like to see some, drop me a line and I will mail them to you.
Mom and Dad came over for a braai (commonly known as a BBQ over here) tonight and then we went up to Paradise Point to see the fireworks - they have such a good display there and probably the best we have seen outside of Disney World.
Otherwise, I hope you all have a VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS 2007 !! Take care if you are travelling or out on the road and go safely.
PS - have spent ages trying to upload photos - no luck. Our new month for broadband starts tomorrow so hopefully I will be more successful then.
Yes, another year nearly gone and we are all still around and fighting fit. We had a lovely quiet Christmas period. It was great having Christmas and Boxing Day on Monday and Tuesday as it meant a little extra time to get things organised. We spent Friday night with some friends from work at their home in Wongawallan (about 10 mins away from school) - it was very strange as we were sitting there in jeans and jumpers and had a fire going - very strange weather for 22nd December !!!! While we were there I got to talking with one of the Mom's from school as well as one of the ladies who works at school with me and the lady from school has agreed to do a tri-athlon with me - she is going to run, there is another lady at school whom we think we can talk into doing the swim leg and I will do the cycling leg - should be great fun. As they both turned 50 this year, I will be the spring chicken in the team - hope I can hold my leg up OK !!!!
Anyway, after doing all my grocery shopping on Friday, I didn't have much to do on the weekend except the preparation of food for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Mom and Dad came over for dinner on Christmas Eve and then we phoned them when we woke up on Christmas Day and they came over and opened presents and had breakfast before going home. Kevin and Tanya popped on during the morning while we were busy cleaning the pool. We had a lovely Christmas lunch / dinner with Danny, Heather, the boys and David's girl-friend Lucy, Judith (H's Mom) and Fiona (H's sister) and her family - it was a great day although quiet. On Boxing Day Kaitlin had to work but then we had my folks over for dinner for Dad's birthday.
Since then we have been pottering around at home - watched some cricket (we thrashed the Poms AGAIN !!!) - went up to DFO (the factory outlet shops near the Brisbane airport) where we shopped until we dropped and then spent some more time pottering around the house. My Dad came over today to help patch a hole in the solar heating pipes on the roof (I'm too much of a wuss to get up on the roof) and I sanded and painted our swing chair - now that we have the bigger patio area, it can be under shelter all the time and it was looking decidedly worse for wear. I now need to get some new foam cut and ask my Mom if she will cover them for us. We recently bought some wood from a teacher who is moving to Townsville and doesn't want to take it with him and so now Al and my Dad are busy planning the pub they are going to build in the new patio - it will be good when it is finished - I just wish we were closer to finishing than what we actually are !!!!! The glare off the concrete when the sun shines is just awful - there were stages today when I was painting when I couldn't see a thing - am hoping that it isn't too bad when I look at it tomorrow before the sun gets too high and is all glarey again !!!!
Kaitlin has been getting quite a few extra shifts these holidays which is good because it keeps her out of mischief and keeps the money rolling in (for her anyway!!!!). I can't believe that she is going into Year Ten in a couple of weeks time - who would have thought that time would go by so quickly and our little baby would have grown into a lovely young lady ????
I am going to see if I can load a few pictures of the renovations (won't load any of Al's leg as I know that some people have weak stomachs and it really isn't all the nice to look at ! Having said that I have definitely got used to it and, while I won't clean it, I have no problem looking at it.) If you haven't seen any photos and would like to see some, drop me a line and I will mail them to you.
Mom and Dad came over for a braai (commonly known as a BBQ over here) tonight and then we went up to Paradise Point to see the fireworks - they have such a good display there and probably the best we have seen outside of Disney World.
Otherwise, I hope you all have a VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS 2007 !! Take care if you are travelling or out on the road and go safely.
PS - have spent ages trying to upload photos - no luck. Our new month for broadband starts tomorrow so hopefully I will be more successful then.
Friday, 15 December 2006
Update before Christmas
Well, thought I would hop on the computer quickly before getting ready to go out to dinner.
Things are going well with all of us - Al was a TV star this week. Last week when we went to see his surgeon on Brisbane, the surgoen asked Al if he would come in this week as he is busy with a research paper on the vibrating plate which Al stands on for 20 mins per day (this is supposed to speed up the bone regrowth process). Al said yes OK. Then he got a call the day before to ask if he was all ready for tomorrow - Al said - yes why ? Oh, because the local TV station and newspapers are going to be there !!!!! Well he wasn't keen on that idea but it was too late for him to pull out - we went up and they took heaps of photos and did an interview both with him and the surgeon and he was on TV later that night. Now I can see how they can cut what people say to suit themselves - he spoke for ages and they probably showed about 5 sentences ! The rest of the time you saw him on his crutches and the dr examining his leg and making (fake) adjustments to the frame. Anyway, it is all over now but we did land up at the dr's this afternoon as it is now looking infected again so he is back on the anti-biotics to make sure that the infection doesn't get into the bone.
I am happy to say that my Christmas shopping is all done - just a couple of groceries to get closer to the time and that is that.
Kaitlin has been working some extra shifts at work now that she is on holiday - she has also spent some time with my folks and lots of time putting up the Christmas decorations and the tree (and then changing them around again, and again, and again !!!) Last night she stayed with my folks as we went to Al's Christmas drinks at a night club in Surfers - it was amazing to watch the people out and about - how they were dressed, how they behaved and boy was that music loud !!!! We were very pleased when a respectable amount of time had passed and we could come home - geez we are getting old !!! It was funny because we landed up sitting with another (older ?) couple and we were laughing at exactly the same things and thinking pretty much along the same lines as each other. They are a lovely couple although we only ever catch up with them at the Christmas parties each year - we battle to find time to stay in touch with our close friends and much as I would like to stay in contact during the year, we just never seem to find the time. I guess we would make the time if we really wanted to - maybe we can invite them to our "Entertainment Area Warming" when we eventually get that all finished.
The concreter was here last week - he has done a fantastic job with the concreting. The tiler was really impressed and said he wished that all the jobs he had to do on concrete were as good as this is - that is good as it means we will get a great finish when he is done. He thinks he should be able to do the pavers around about Feb / Mar which will be good as Al should be a lot more mobile by then and we can really get stuck into the garden then. I can't tell you how many times I wished we could go somewhere to get a piccanin to come and help with the manual labour in the yard !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The third Ashes test is on now - think we are going to win them (the Ashes) back from the Poms this series (well I would be very disappointed in the boys if we lost it from the position that we are in at the moment !) as we are 2-0 up already.
Other than that - not much else in the way of news. It has been really quite muggy here the last couple of days (well muggy for here - not anything like Durban used to be) - we had a huge electrical storm last night and some rain which was great as it has been so dry here over the past few months.
I hope that you all have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and wish you everything you wish for yourselves in 2007 !!!
Take care and go safely if you are travelling over the holiday period.
Things are going well with all of us - Al was a TV star this week. Last week when we went to see his surgeon on Brisbane, the surgoen asked Al if he would come in this week as he is busy with a research paper on the vibrating plate which Al stands on for 20 mins per day (this is supposed to speed up the bone regrowth process). Al said yes OK. Then he got a call the day before to ask if he was all ready for tomorrow - Al said - yes why ? Oh, because the local TV station and newspapers are going to be there !!!!! Well he wasn't keen on that idea but it was too late for him to pull out - we went up and they took heaps of photos and did an interview both with him and the surgeon and he was on TV later that night. Now I can see how they can cut what people say to suit themselves - he spoke for ages and they probably showed about 5 sentences ! The rest of the time you saw him on his crutches and the dr examining his leg and making (fake) adjustments to the frame. Anyway, it is all over now but we did land up at the dr's this afternoon as it is now looking infected again so he is back on the anti-biotics to make sure that the infection doesn't get into the bone.
I am happy to say that my Christmas shopping is all done - just a couple of groceries to get closer to the time and that is that.
Kaitlin has been working some extra shifts at work now that she is on holiday - she has also spent some time with my folks and lots of time putting up the Christmas decorations and the tree (and then changing them around again, and again, and again !!!) Last night she stayed with my folks as we went to Al's Christmas drinks at a night club in Surfers - it was amazing to watch the people out and about - how they were dressed, how they behaved and boy was that music loud !!!! We were very pleased when a respectable amount of time had passed and we could come home - geez we are getting old !!! It was funny because we landed up sitting with another (older ?) couple and we were laughing at exactly the same things and thinking pretty much along the same lines as each other. They are a lovely couple although we only ever catch up with them at the Christmas parties each year - we battle to find time to stay in touch with our close friends and much as I would like to stay in contact during the year, we just never seem to find the time. I guess we would make the time if we really wanted to - maybe we can invite them to our "Entertainment Area Warming" when we eventually get that all finished.
The concreter was here last week - he has done a fantastic job with the concreting. The tiler was really impressed and said he wished that all the jobs he had to do on concrete were as good as this is - that is good as it means we will get a great finish when he is done. He thinks he should be able to do the pavers around about Feb / Mar which will be good as Al should be a lot more mobile by then and we can really get stuck into the garden then. I can't tell you how many times I wished we could go somewhere to get a piccanin to come and help with the manual labour in the yard !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The third Ashes test is on now - think we are going to win them (the Ashes) back from the Poms this series (well I would be very disappointed in the boys if we lost it from the position that we are in at the moment !) as we are 2-0 up already.
Other than that - not much else in the way of news. It has been really quite muggy here the last couple of days (well muggy for here - not anything like Durban used to be) - we had a huge electrical storm last night and some rain which was great as it has been so dry here over the past few months.
I hope that you all have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and wish you everything you wish for yourselves in 2007 !!!
Take care and go safely if you are travelling over the holiday period.
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