Due to a holiday on the Gold Coast for Show Day (something a bit like the Royal Show) we have the day off today which meant a short week and you can never say no to those - what a pity we don't get more of them !!!!
During the week I decided that today would be the day for me to do our tax returns - something which isn't (normally) that hard to do - it is just a pain and so I keep on putting it off. But, they need to be done before we leave for Spain so said I would do them this morning. Not so fast Linda, a few things have happened this year which have made them a little tricky so, while I have got most of them done, I haven't finished them as I will have to have some outside help - bugger !!!!! Never mind - at least they are mostly done.
Al has spent the day outside moving sand (see pics from Mid Renovations 2007) from the front garden to the back and then leveling the front garden. And he has also been helping the next door neighbour put in a GPS and depth finder on his boat. Kaitlin has been working on her assignments and doing her chores around the house. All in all a good day to get a jump start on what we want to do over the weekend. I think we need to revise our list of what still needs to be done - there are so many 'chain reaction' jobs I am starting to wonder where to start - we need to move the plants to sort out the garden - can't do that until I have sealed the pavers - can't do that until Al has finished moving the soil as the wheel barrow is making marks on the pavers which will have to be washed before I seal - and that is just one of the chain reactions on the go at the moment !!!!! I am trying to be patient with all of this - I know it will get done eventually - I really just want it all finished NOW so that we can sit back and enjoy it !!!!!
Last weekend the orientation day at Griffith was great - except for the rain !!!! I am so much happier about the decision to let her move now. The principal sounds very motivated and so passionate about what she does. Then I found out that she worked at a school up the road from us where the Dean of Students is the lady who trained Kaitlin for South Coast schools softball side so I spoke to her about the principal. Sharon could not speak highly enough of her - it was so good to hear that our perceptions of her from Saturday were right. She was sooooo excited that Kaitlin had been offered a position at QA. She said that about 720 kids wrote the exams and they are only going to be starting up with about 220 - 250 students so she has done extremely well to have been offered a position there. They are building the school across the road from Griffith University (for those who know - on the other side of Smith St where the hospital was going to go) - it is a $40million dollar facility with state of the art everything. The whole place will be wireless and the classes will be paperless classes - EVERYTHING will be done on a laptop / slate / tablet. All textbooks will be digitised and pre-loaded onto your device - I cannot imagine studying without having a book open in front of my but apparently that is the way the students of today are going. In the textbooks there are options to put sticky notes, underline, highlight and make notes in the margins !!!!! Give me a book or a piece of paper anytime - if I have to read more than a page on the PC I print it out and read it !!!!!
Tomorrow Kaitlin will be working as 'the muffin girl' at Muffin Break - we will be going for our (lapsed) customary Saturday morning muffin before hitting the shops doing some Father's Day shopping. Plus we need to look at getting new runners as Al and I have both been getting home from Coles and complaining that our feet are sore. AMart All Sports are having a sale at the moment so will try to get there to see if we can find anything suitable. I found a really good pair last week except they only had 1 shoe and couldn't find the other !!!!! I rang around to the other stores but nobody had the right size. Maybe I will try some others on tomorrow. We did manage to get Kaitlin a new pair of runners on sale so that was good.
Sunday is Father's Day over here so we are going to go to the lovely little place at the sailing school around the corner from us for breakfast and then in the evening my folks are coming over for dinner - not sure what we will have yet - will depend on whether Al wants to cook or not - if he does it will probably be a BBQ and if not, it will be something else !!! Will have to check what he would like for dessert - maybe something from the Cheesecake Shop ?????
Well it is time for me to go and see what I am going to organise for dinner tonight - will have to see what I can scrounge out of the freezer as I know that the fridge looks like Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard - bare as !!!!! We will probably have to fit in a visit to Coles tomorrow otherwise the state of the fridge will not change.
Take care everyone and have a fantastic weekend !
This is the link to the latest photos of the renovations
http://picasaweb.google.com/kal20m/MidRenovations2007
Friday, 31 August 2007
Friday, 24 August 2007
TGIF !
Thank goodness today is Friday and there isn't another working day in this week - I don't think I would have survived. It has been a hectic two weeks at work with things not looking to improve between now and when we leave for Spain. Roll on 16th Sept when I step onto that plane and can sit down and relax !!!
We have had the most incredible weather here over the past 6 days - we haven't seen the sun once !!!! Now I know why I wouldn't be able to live in England or NZ - while I am not able to sunbake like I used to, I certainly like to see it in the morning when I get up and when I look out the window at work. It has been raining since Sunday !!! We have had winds gusting up to 90kph at times since Monday - it seems that it has been raining and windy forever !!! Normally we may have a windy morning or afternoon but never like this - for days on end. It hasn't been raining non-stop and certainly not enough to end the drought but at least our pool is full, all 4 water tanks are full and the garden has had the best soaking in what seems like forever.
Last Saturday saw us moving closer to getting things finished - Al was busy running the wires for the sound system he is putting in his pub and I continued on with sanding the outdoor furniture. The problem with the furniture is that while it was easy in some ways to sand while made up, there were places I couldn't get to with the sander so Al took the furniture apart but the pieces are too big to clamp in anywhere so I am using the belt sander on wood which isn't secured and, at times, tends to shoot off the table into the garden. All fun and games as usual - the main thing is that it is getting done.
I was looking at the garage door the other day and think it would look better with another coat of paint so - if the weather is fine on Sunday - when we get home from softball I think I will give the garage door another coat of paint and then try to finish at least one coat on the front wall. Well I can't finish the whole wall as Al still has a HUGE pile of stones which have to be moved into the front garden but he can't do that until he has moved the excess soil from there - bit a chain reaction thing happening around the garden at the moment and we aren't sure where to start !!!!!
Kaitlin is enjoying her time at Muffin Break - they offered her muffins to bring home last week - thank goodness the little darling declined to bring them home - quite possibly the thought of a warmed up muffin would have been too tempting for me and seeing as I am (once again) trying to lose some weight before we leave for Spain - it wouldn't be the best thing she could bring home !!!!! This coming week will see her working two shifts (9.5hrs) for the week so it will be interesting to see how she goes - especially as on Saturday she is 'the muffin girl' who gets to put all the delicious toppings on the muffins (hope she doesn't eat too much of it and run out of topping for the muffins !!!!).
Tomorrow we are off to Griffith University for the orientation and information day. This is where Kaitlin will be studying next year although I am starting to wonder if we are doing the right thing. I guess at the end of the day we can re-evaluate after the first semester and if it isn't what we thought it would be or she isn't getting out of it what she thought she would - we can always change back to private schooling without too much trouble. Well it will be a little difficult because they study a completely different syllabus but, given what a smart cookie she is, I am sure we would be able to sort something out for her.
This is a link to some photos of our 'little baby' - I was talking to someone today and mentioned that she is able to get her learners licence next year and thought - geez, I really am getting old - this time next year my little baby will be driving us to school and back every day !!!!
http://picasaweb.google.com/kal20m/KaitlinSSC2007
Take care everyone, have a fantastic weekend and look after yourselves !
We have had the most incredible weather here over the past 6 days - we haven't seen the sun once !!!! Now I know why I wouldn't be able to live in England or NZ - while I am not able to sunbake like I used to, I certainly like to see it in the morning when I get up and when I look out the window at work. It has been raining since Sunday !!! We have had winds gusting up to 90kph at times since Monday - it seems that it has been raining and windy forever !!! Normally we may have a windy morning or afternoon but never like this - for days on end. It hasn't been raining non-stop and certainly not enough to end the drought but at least our pool is full, all 4 water tanks are full and the garden has had the best soaking in what seems like forever.
Last Saturday saw us moving closer to getting things finished - Al was busy running the wires for the sound system he is putting in his pub and I continued on with sanding the outdoor furniture. The problem with the furniture is that while it was easy in some ways to sand while made up, there were places I couldn't get to with the sander so Al took the furniture apart but the pieces are too big to clamp in anywhere so I am using the belt sander on wood which isn't secured and, at times, tends to shoot off the table into the garden. All fun and games as usual - the main thing is that it is getting done.
I was looking at the garage door the other day and think it would look better with another coat of paint so - if the weather is fine on Sunday - when we get home from softball I think I will give the garage door another coat of paint and then try to finish at least one coat on the front wall. Well I can't finish the whole wall as Al still has a HUGE pile of stones which have to be moved into the front garden but he can't do that until he has moved the excess soil from there - bit a chain reaction thing happening around the garden at the moment and we aren't sure where to start !!!!!
Kaitlin is enjoying her time at Muffin Break - they offered her muffins to bring home last week - thank goodness the little darling declined to bring them home - quite possibly the thought of a warmed up muffin would have been too tempting for me and seeing as I am (once again) trying to lose some weight before we leave for Spain - it wouldn't be the best thing she could bring home !!!!! This coming week will see her working two shifts (9.5hrs) for the week so it will be interesting to see how she goes - especially as on Saturday she is 'the muffin girl' who gets to put all the delicious toppings on the muffins (hope she doesn't eat too much of it and run out of topping for the muffins !!!!).
Tomorrow we are off to Griffith University for the orientation and information day. This is where Kaitlin will be studying next year although I am starting to wonder if we are doing the right thing. I guess at the end of the day we can re-evaluate after the first semester and if it isn't what we thought it would be or she isn't getting out of it what she thought she would - we can always change back to private schooling without too much trouble. Well it will be a little difficult because they study a completely different syllabus but, given what a smart cookie she is, I am sure we would be able to sort something out for her.
This is a link to some photos of our 'little baby' - I was talking to someone today and mentioned that she is able to get her learners licence next year and thought - geez, I really am getting old - this time next year my little baby will be driving us to school and back every day !!!!
http://picasaweb.google.com/kal20m/KaitlinSSC2007
Take care everyone, have a fantastic weekend and look after yourselves !
Monday, 13 August 2007
Less than 4 weeks to go
Well, as the title says - less than 4 weeks to go until we leave for Spain. At this stage I am still a little disorganised - haven't booked the car hire or the 6 nights accommodation which we need before and after our time share weeks - at least they are booked which is the bulk of our accommodation.
Alan and Kaitlin haven't been feeling well the past couple of days - sore throats, stuffy noses. We took Al off to the dr on Saturday - just the viral thing going around which EVERYONE is getting. At this stage no need for anti-biotics but we need to keep an eye on his chest. He has been using the nebuliser which does seem to help.
Kaitlin has been for some training for a new job with Muffin Break - she seems quite keen on it. They sell muffins, cookies, wraps and make cappuccino's, lattes etc so that will be good for her to learn - maybe a great barista in the making !!!! She played softball yesterday and then was asked to play up in the Res A side - she had such a great game and spent most of the game with a grin from ear to ear. She did get a lovely roasty on her knee when she had to slide into home which isn't so good. Wednesday will see my folks collecting her from school to take her to her Inter-school Athletics carnival where she is representing Saint Stephen's in the 100m and 100m relay.
The renovations at home are coming along - too slowly for my liking. The trouble is that there are only so many workable hours each weekend and there never seems to be enough of those. This past weekend we had a skip (big waste bin) delivered and got rid of lots of things which have been horded in the shed and garage - I'm sure some of what we have got rid of we will need in a few months' time - but at least for now we have some space in both the shed and the garage which is great. Next weekend we will be busy getting the front garden sorted out and then the following weekend we are off to an orientation and information day at Griffith University where Kaitlin is going to be going to school next year. We are really looking forward to that.
Well, had better be on my way - need to shower and get ready to go to work. Monday nights are a pain as we only start work at 10pm and it is all I can do to stay awake until we have to go into work. Take care everyone and have a great week !
Alan and Kaitlin haven't been feeling well the past couple of days - sore throats, stuffy noses. We took Al off to the dr on Saturday - just the viral thing going around which EVERYONE is getting. At this stage no need for anti-biotics but we need to keep an eye on his chest. He has been using the nebuliser which does seem to help.
Kaitlin has been for some training for a new job with Muffin Break - she seems quite keen on it. They sell muffins, cookies, wraps and make cappuccino's, lattes etc so that will be good for her to learn - maybe a great barista in the making !!!! She played softball yesterday and then was asked to play up in the Res A side - she had such a great game and spent most of the game with a grin from ear to ear. She did get a lovely roasty on her knee when she had to slide into home which isn't so good. Wednesday will see my folks collecting her from school to take her to her Inter-school Athletics carnival where she is representing Saint Stephen's in the 100m and 100m relay.
The renovations at home are coming along - too slowly for my liking. The trouble is that there are only so many workable hours each weekend and there never seems to be enough of those. This past weekend we had a skip (big waste bin) delivered and got rid of lots of things which have been horded in the shed and garage - I'm sure some of what we have got rid of we will need in a few months' time - but at least for now we have some space in both the shed and the garage which is great. Next weekend we will be busy getting the front garden sorted out and then the following weekend we are off to an orientation and information day at Griffith University where Kaitlin is going to be going to school next year. We are really looking forward to that.
Well, had better be on my way - need to shower and get ready to go to work. Monday nights are a pain as we only start work at 10pm and it is all I can do to stay awake until we have to go into work. Take care everyone and have a great week !
Friday, 3 August 2007
Access to more photos
I think I have found a way to load photos onto an album in gmail and then post a link here so I don't have to load the photos 5 at a time which takes forever and you don't get to see many photos. This way you can see heaps more (if it works) and it is so much quicker and easier.
Below please find links to the albums (would love to hear from anyone who tries them if they work or not - thanks !!!) If you hold your mouse over the photo you will get to see the whole caption.
http://picasaweb.google.com/kal20m/NoosaJanuary2007?authkey=rcxrfxuK1Qc - these are photos from our long weekend away in Noosa in January this year
http://picasaweb.google.com/kal20m/OutsideRenovations?authkey=xQijz09b-ZM - these are a lot of the photos taken during the outside renovations
http://picasaweb.google.com/kal20m/PoolRenoS2007?authkey=AiIsuPEWGIA - these are of the pavers on the driveway (haven't worked out how to add photos to albums already existing when uploading from the camera so there will be more renovation albums coming out in the future
http://picasaweb.google.com/kal20m/AlanSSpatialFrame?authkey=s5jdVZVbVDc - these are of the frame on Al's leg - definitely not for the feint hearted although when you see them (photos) or it (the frame on his leg) for long enough you do get used to it. My stomach turned I don't know how many somersaults when I first saw it and towards the end I was cleaning the pin sites and doing what needed to be done if Kaitlin wasn't around to do it !!!!!
Have a great weekend everyone and take care. Go safely and look after yourselves. Will post an update in the next couple of weeks.
Below please find links to the albums (would love to hear from anyone who tries them if they work or not - thanks !!!) If you hold your mouse over the photo you will get to see the whole caption.
http://picasaweb.google.com/kal20m/NoosaJanuary2007?authkey=rcxrfxuK1Qc - these are photos from our long weekend away in Noosa in January this year
http://picasaweb.google.com/kal20m/OutsideRenovations?authkey=xQijz09b-ZM - these are a lot of the photos taken during the outside renovations
http://picasaweb.google.com/kal20m/PoolRenoS2007?authkey=AiIsuPEWGIA - these are of the pavers on the driveway (haven't worked out how to add photos to albums already existing when uploading from the camera so there will be more renovation albums coming out in the future
http://picasaweb.google.com/kal20m/AlanSSpatialFrame?authkey=s5jdVZVbVDc - these are of the frame on Al's leg - definitely not for the feint hearted although when you see them (photos) or it (the frame on his leg) for long enough you do get used to it. My stomach turned I don't know how many somersaults when I first saw it and towards the end I was cleaning the pin sites and doing what needed to be done if Kaitlin wasn't around to do it !!!!!
Have a great weekend everyone and take care. Go safely and look after yourselves. Will post an update in the next couple of weeks.
Friday, 13 July 2007
Some in-between photos
The driveway finished. The garage door shows all the sample pots we used to try to find the right colour.
The small brown section on the very right hand side of the door shows where I have stripped the paint - that section took me about 4 hrs !!!!!
Another shot of the driveway
The front entrance now prepared for the pavers
The rectangle showing the pavers on the 45 degree pattern we have on the verandah, driveway, the entrance area (this picture) and on the front of the pub.
July 07 update
So much has happened since I last updated I hardly know where to start. Kaitlin went away on Sports Tour and had an absolute ball. They had decent weather most of the time and there was heaps of snow when they got to Snowy Mountains. She said she had a great time on tour and really enjoyed the skiing but was very happy to get back home. It is amazing how being away from home opens your eyes up to how fortunate you are - she said that she was really disgusted with how some of the children on tour ate as they had no table manners and didn't know how to eat properly !!!!!
The tour got in at about 8.30 on Friday night - we picked her up, got home and unpacked the dirty washing which needed to be washed, dried and packed again by 10am the following morning. The good thing about only being able to take 2 medium sized soft bags on tour is that you aren't able to take too much therefore there isn't that much to unpack and wash when you get home again.
10.30am saw her leaving on the bus with about 15 other teenagers - none of whom she knew - for the start of their 12 day Outward Bound experience. They split into 2 groups - one for the year 12 students and the rest of the kids in the second group. Kaitlin wasn't impressed that a lot of her group couldn't navigate their way to anything and most days they took the scenic route between camp sites !!!! This meant that they arrived at their camp sites in the dark so had to set up and cook in the dark - not happy Jan !! But she said she enjoyed this trip as much as the last even though they were both different. On this trip they had to spend 24 hrs by themselves - contemplating questions given to them and thinking about their values and morals, aims and ambitions - she did catch one mouse running up her shoulder while she was sleeping and managed to shake him off but not before he left her a little parcel on her glove !!! The worst thing was she had to tie her bivvie (piece of plastic to shelter her head) up over a grassy area and that wasn't good (apparently) as when you are in your sleeping bag on the grass and you move, it makes a noise and you don't know what made the noise !!! A stick kept close at hand which she used to hit the bivvie everytime she heard a noise seemed to get her through the night unharmed and in one piece.
She came back dirty and smelly (just like last time) and very appreciative of her home comforts - flushing toilet, toilet paper, bed, electric blanket, something to drink other than water !!! She got back on Wednesday afternoon and so had had two days to recover. Alan has been off the past two days as he got an ulcer in his eye this week which didn't heal so eventually yesterday morning the doctor scraped his eye and that seemed to do the trick - it is now healing nicely and today he has had to put in drops every hour or so - tomorrow we go back for our daily visit to the dr and hopefully the hole will be closed and all will be well.
While Kaitlin was away on Sports Tour we bought a new car - a Kia Ria 1.4 5 door hatch back. The white Toyota had to be put down - she was going to start costing us a lot of money to keep running and it just wasn't worth it. Charlie (the new car) goes like an absolute bomb and is so lovely to drive - really zippy and very comfortable. Plus she is so much lighter on fuel than the X-trail. Kaitlin was very pleased when she saw the new car as the Toyota has been the source of much embarrassment for her - nothing like being thankful she doesn't have to walk anywhere more a case of "Can't we take the X'trail rather" when faced with the prospect of having to arrive somewhere and be seen getting out of or into the Toyota - now she doesnt' mind which car we go in except that the Kia does only have windy windy windows at the back and she is used to having electric windows !!!!! We didn't think she would want to contibute the $1 500 to upgrade to the next model.
The other good news we have had is that Kaitlin has been offered a scholarship to go to a new school being started by Queensland Government called Queensland Academies for Health Sciences at Griffith University. These scholarships are being offered to brighter students following the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme (www.ibo.org if you are interested to see what they do) - basically it is a programme which is recognised internationally should you wish to get into a university outside of Australia. They have offered 150 year 11 scholarships - I don't know how many children sat the exam in total - there must have been about 200 students at the venue where Kaitlin wrote the exam and they did testing at venues throughout Queensland so you can imagine how extremely proud we were when the letter arrived offering her a position. They offered Health Sciences, Computer Technology and an Art programme. I have to be honest and say that I didn't think she had much chance - then the Friday before she left on Sports Tour we received an e-mail asking her to go to an interview (set for the week she was away which had to be changed) and after she showed me the questions she had had to answer at the interview, I really didn't think she would go any further so you can imagine my delight when the letter arrived on Tuesday before she got home on Wednesday from Outward Bound. Given that the date it arrived was 10 days after they said we would be told, I had really expected to get a regret letter !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are going to make a 'pros and cons' list and then discuss what is going to be the best option for her. Will keep you posted on what decision we come to.
The tiler came today (finally) and all the grouting / paving / bull nosing is now all finished - YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY !!!!! I have to admit that there have been times over the past few weeks when I wondered if we were ever going to get it finished. The paving looks really good - will take some photos and post them once the grouting has all been washed and the pavers sealed. The entrance area is so much lighter now with the pavers rather than the slasto that used to be there and the pub looks really good. Al put the counter on last weekend (we think that is when he got the rubbish in his eye which caused the ulcer). Last weekend we managed to finally find the paint for the garage door and so I started to strip the garage door but, as per usual, it is turning out to be a bigger job than I originally anticipated. I am using paint stripper on it but it is still taking me a while. Will try to post some photos I took and you will see what I mean.
Tomorrow we have a couple of things on the go - and top of the list is the Mudgeeraba farmers markets for the bestest do-nuts in the whole wide world - for anyone coming to visit - make sure your time here includes either the 2nd or 4th Saturday of the month so that you can try them for yourself. I am not a do-nut person but honestly, you will not taste anything nicer. They are so lovely and fresh. All I can say is that thank goodness we don't go every 2nd and 4th Saturday otherwise my weight problem would be even worse than it already is !!!! Special occasions only - tomorrow's special occasion is that we haven't been for months and months !!!
Kaitlin will be back to softball on Sunday and I think that maybe I will send Al up with her (if his eye is OK and he can drive) and I will stay at home and carry on with the garage door otherwise it will turn into a never never project and I can't wait to get it all finished. Al wanted to have a combined birthday for me and outside area wetting but as we aren't really anywhere near finished, I said to leave it rather until the outside area was actually ready to be wet !!!!! Kaitlin is off baby-sitting for a friend of mine tonight and then tomorrow she is baby-sitting for our next door neighbours so the money is continuing to flow in for her.
On that note I am going to be off to see if I can load the last couple of photos that I took and then into the lounge room to watch some Friday night footy. The temps here have dropped quite a bit - now getting down to 3 and 4 degrees in the mornings - the weather forecast gives those temps for the Gold Coast but I don't think that is what we have at home - most mornings it is still about 12-14 inside the house. Thank goodness for our electric blankets - they have certainly been put to good use since we got them and I am sure, had we paid for them, we would have had our monies worth by now - instead we have had my folks monies worth !!!!!!
Take care everyone and drop us a line to let us know how you are getting on when you get a chance. Also, if you don't want to be included in the e-mail advising when I have up-dated our blog, please let me know and I will take your name off the 'mailing list'. Have a great weekend, go safely and (as a very good friend of mine says) try to do one lovely thing for yourself over the next two days.
The tour got in at about 8.30 on Friday night - we picked her up, got home and unpacked the dirty washing which needed to be washed, dried and packed again by 10am the following morning. The good thing about only being able to take 2 medium sized soft bags on tour is that you aren't able to take too much therefore there isn't that much to unpack and wash when you get home again.
10.30am saw her leaving on the bus with about 15 other teenagers - none of whom she knew - for the start of their 12 day Outward Bound experience. They split into 2 groups - one for the year 12 students and the rest of the kids in the second group. Kaitlin wasn't impressed that a lot of her group couldn't navigate their way to anything and most days they took the scenic route between camp sites !!!! This meant that they arrived at their camp sites in the dark so had to set up and cook in the dark - not happy Jan !! But she said she enjoyed this trip as much as the last even though they were both different. On this trip they had to spend 24 hrs by themselves - contemplating questions given to them and thinking about their values and morals, aims and ambitions - she did catch one mouse running up her shoulder while she was sleeping and managed to shake him off but not before he left her a little parcel on her glove !!! The worst thing was she had to tie her bivvie (piece of plastic to shelter her head) up over a grassy area and that wasn't good (apparently) as when you are in your sleeping bag on the grass and you move, it makes a noise and you don't know what made the noise !!! A stick kept close at hand which she used to hit the bivvie everytime she heard a noise seemed to get her through the night unharmed and in one piece.
She came back dirty and smelly (just like last time) and very appreciative of her home comforts - flushing toilet, toilet paper, bed, electric blanket, something to drink other than water !!! She got back on Wednesday afternoon and so had had two days to recover. Alan has been off the past two days as he got an ulcer in his eye this week which didn't heal so eventually yesterday morning the doctor scraped his eye and that seemed to do the trick - it is now healing nicely and today he has had to put in drops every hour or so - tomorrow we go back for our daily visit to the dr and hopefully the hole will be closed and all will be well.
While Kaitlin was away on Sports Tour we bought a new car - a Kia Ria 1.4 5 door hatch back. The white Toyota had to be put down - she was going to start costing us a lot of money to keep running and it just wasn't worth it. Charlie (the new car) goes like an absolute bomb and is so lovely to drive - really zippy and very comfortable. Plus she is so much lighter on fuel than the X-trail. Kaitlin was very pleased when she saw the new car as the Toyota has been the source of much embarrassment for her - nothing like being thankful she doesn't have to walk anywhere more a case of "Can't we take the X'trail rather" when faced with the prospect of having to arrive somewhere and be seen getting out of or into the Toyota - now she doesnt' mind which car we go in except that the Kia does only have windy windy windows at the back and she is used to having electric windows !!!!! We didn't think she would want to contibute the $1 500 to upgrade to the next model.
The other good news we have had is that Kaitlin has been offered a scholarship to go to a new school being started by Queensland Government called Queensland Academies for Health Sciences at Griffith University. These scholarships are being offered to brighter students following the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme (www.ibo.org if you are interested to see what they do) - basically it is a programme which is recognised internationally should you wish to get into a university outside of Australia. They have offered 150 year 11 scholarships - I don't know how many children sat the exam in total - there must have been about 200 students at the venue where Kaitlin wrote the exam and they did testing at venues throughout Queensland so you can imagine how extremely proud we were when the letter arrived offering her a position. They offered Health Sciences, Computer Technology and an Art programme. I have to be honest and say that I didn't think she had much chance - then the Friday before she left on Sports Tour we received an e-mail asking her to go to an interview (set for the week she was away which had to be changed) and after she showed me the questions she had had to answer at the interview, I really didn't think she would go any further so you can imagine my delight when the letter arrived on Tuesday before she got home on Wednesday from Outward Bound. Given that the date it arrived was 10 days after they said we would be told, I had really expected to get a regret letter !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are going to make a 'pros and cons' list and then discuss what is going to be the best option for her. Will keep you posted on what decision we come to.
The tiler came today (finally) and all the grouting / paving / bull nosing is now all finished - YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY !!!!! I have to admit that there have been times over the past few weeks when I wondered if we were ever going to get it finished. The paving looks really good - will take some photos and post them once the grouting has all been washed and the pavers sealed. The entrance area is so much lighter now with the pavers rather than the slasto that used to be there and the pub looks really good. Al put the counter on last weekend (we think that is when he got the rubbish in his eye which caused the ulcer). Last weekend we managed to finally find the paint for the garage door and so I started to strip the garage door but, as per usual, it is turning out to be a bigger job than I originally anticipated. I am using paint stripper on it but it is still taking me a while. Will try to post some photos I took and you will see what I mean.
Tomorrow we have a couple of things on the go - and top of the list is the Mudgeeraba farmers markets for the bestest do-nuts in the whole wide world - for anyone coming to visit - make sure your time here includes either the 2nd or 4th Saturday of the month so that you can try them for yourself. I am not a do-nut person but honestly, you will not taste anything nicer. They are so lovely and fresh. All I can say is that thank goodness we don't go every 2nd and 4th Saturday otherwise my weight problem would be even worse than it already is !!!! Special occasions only - tomorrow's special occasion is that we haven't been for months and months !!!
Kaitlin will be back to softball on Sunday and I think that maybe I will send Al up with her (if his eye is OK and he can drive) and I will stay at home and carry on with the garage door otherwise it will turn into a never never project and I can't wait to get it all finished. Al wanted to have a combined birthday for me and outside area wetting but as we aren't really anywhere near finished, I said to leave it rather until the outside area was actually ready to be wet !!!!! Kaitlin is off baby-sitting for a friend of mine tonight and then tomorrow she is baby-sitting for our next door neighbours so the money is continuing to flow in for her.
On that note I am going to be off to see if I can load the last couple of photos that I took and then into the lounge room to watch some Friday night footy. The temps here have dropped quite a bit - now getting down to 3 and 4 degrees in the mornings - the weather forecast gives those temps for the Gold Coast but I don't think that is what we have at home - most mornings it is still about 12-14 inside the house. Thank goodness for our electric blankets - they have certainly been put to good use since we got them and I am sure, had we paid for them, we would have had our monies worth by now - instead we have had my folks monies worth !!!!!!
Take care everyone and drop us a line to let us know how you are getting on when you get a chance. Also, if you don't want to be included in the e-mail advising when I have up-dated our blog, please let me know and I will take your name off the 'mailing list'. Have a great weekend, go safely and (as a very good friend of mine says) try to do one lovely thing for yourself over the next two days.
Tuesday, 3 July 2007
Some before photos
The area in front of our old verandah - new verandah now covers most of this area
Old verandah
Original pavers and blue garage door - still busy choosing new colour for door to go with sandstone pavers
Our back yard
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