this week

well folks this week i seem to have gotten over my homesickness. i havent been anywhere or done anything so i dont have much to write. this is my 5 day week at work so there is not much else going on. however, this weekend is my 4 day off thingy!! its also a public holiday on monday something to do with the queens birthday????? the perth royal show is on all week next week cos its the kids school holidays. i have no idea what its all about but apparently everyone has to go! think there are animals etc, lots of competitions do to with the animals etc. there are also rides so i think its a mix of something like the highland games. the weather here is getting better, its really sunny but not too hot although the weather forecast is for it to be 29 degrees on friday and guess what i am working!!!!!!!! hope it lasts over the weekend, michael is also off on monday so we can at least spend some time together as a family. if the weather holds up then we might manage to take murrae to the beach to try out his new boogie board. i will try and take some new pics for you to see. our crate has arrived in perth and is through quarantine so we just have to wait for it to clear customs then we will have the rest of our stuff!!!! yay!!! will be able to get my printer and scanner set up. murrae got his school photos and they are really good. we will scan them on to the computer so you can all see him. it was taken on his 12th birthday which worked out quite well. well folks time to shower and make lunch before i head off to work. love yas. xxxx

BLOODY FOOL, HOW UNPROFESSIONAL!!!!

Well it finally hit me fair and square right in the face!!! i am definitely homesick. i woke up yesterday morning all prepared for my usual late shift ritual, tea and fag, shower, TV and then off to travel. Yeah but stupidly i put on the TV just in time to see steve urwins daughter bindy reading her eulogy(is that how you spell it?) suddenly the heavens opened and i was crying like a baby!!! i turned the tv off jumped into the shower but it just wouldnt bloody stop!!! i bubbled like an idiot all the way to work. i managed to compose myself to get started but then a patients wife said 'are you ok? you look a little down today' well it bloody started again!!!!! HOW UNPROFESSIONAL! luckily the woman is from england and has only been here for a few years so she totally understood. she took me in her arms and gave me a much needed cuddle. now the man is very ill and i am supposed to be supporting them but here i am crying like a baby in a strangers arms!!!!! not a good look for work, all foundation and mascara streaked with red swollen eyes!!!! now its not that i dont love our new lives over here, its beautiful, work is great and we love it but we sooooooooooooooooooooo miss our family! you know the saying you never know what you've got til its gone???? well there is no more just jumping in the car and five minutes later we are in dads drinking tea. its a 19 hour flight at best now!!! and a lot bloody more expensive than the petrol from cornhill to sheddocksley. no more do we get texts from kenny saying kettle on? no more would the kids like to come for the weekend? from phyllis and stuart. no seeing mark, jackie and the kids on a sunday, no mega text messages from my chummy saying you fancy lunch at murdos or fancy the bells! in fact the kids seem to have settled better than me! i thought i had it all sussed, managed to keep the tears to a minimum when leaving, just didnt let myself think of the distance. well we've all got mobiles and internet wi web cams havent we??????!!!!!! thank god for mobiles! i text dad cos i needed some contact and he sent me a lovely reply, telling me how proud he is of me and michael, that he misses us too and that he will see us next year. i have never loved a text message more as i did then. sitting in the smoking pergola at work sobbing like a fool!!! well i suppose the pretence is finally up, i do have a heart, sorry to disappoint those who were betting it was a swinging brick!!!!

my crazy???!!!!! weekend

well people whilst all my friends at home were out on the piss i was having a quiet weekend. saturday we went and registered for medicare, its the oz equivilant to the nhs, it still costs to see the doctor (which i found out last week!) $40-$50 and then $22 on top for my antibiotics but you can claim some of it back. then we did our weekly shop, no running to asda on a sunday night when its quiet for us now, everything is shut on a sunday apart from bunnings (B&Q) and the markets. the markets sell mostly fruit and veg, chinese people here are like pakistanis in the UK!!! they are bloody everywhere!!!! i bought a new top and came home to get ready for my night out, however, at 7pm nat phoned from her sick bed, she had been throwing up all day and had only just woke up! so off to the bottle shop we went!!! two bottles of red wine and a couple of tequilla shots later!!!! on sunday we did a trial run from home to my work to michaels work. we did it so we could see if there was any reason why michael couldnt drop me off in the morning to save me a train ride and a 15 min walk to work. alas no, it takes 13 minutes from here to work in the car and 15 minutes from here to michaels but when put together it doesnt work. it takes 25 minutes from my work to michaels. in order for him to drop me off i would have to be at work 25 minutes early. now i know i said i like my job but not that much. so its a lift to the station and then the train and the dreaded 15 min up hill walk. now when on a late shift starting at 1pm its not a problem but at 6.40am its a killer. my leg muscles burn like buggery, this morning i almost thought f*** it i'm gonna be late cos my legs wouldnt go any faster. i made it just!!!!
we then hit bunnings with a passion, we bought plants, flowers and a lime and a orange tree!!! we spent the rest of the day potting and planting. we reseeded the grass as there are a couple of baldy patches and put down plenty of snail, slug and lawn beetle killer!!!!! i will rid my garden of these slimy creatures!!!!! i am very proud of my new garden, lets just hope that the flowers and trees grow!!!!! its my first attempt so i am not pinning my hopes on it!!!! i will take pics of the flowers and trees when it stops raining!!!!
so there you go folks that was my weekend would you believe it!!??? if it hadnt happened to me then i wouldnt!!!!! i still feel like i have missed out on something tho!! have had at least three messages from friends at home about their weekend and i am sooooooooooooooooo jealous!!!!! and to top it all celtic beat the dons!!!!! 1-0!!!! and we would have gone top!!!!!!

and so to bbqs

this was our first bbq in australia. it was nats birthday weekend. those of you who dont look at nats blog will have missed the pics. this is one of the free bbqs in australia. they are not like the real ones we have back home where you have to light coals and scorch all food black beyond recognition, they are basically gas hotplates. notice the glass of wine (what you dont see is michaels beer!) the other one is of me joe and nat by the river, we were having a cig. if you think smokers are blacklisted in the uk then its nothing compared to here. we are treated like lepers!! we decided that since there were lots of children around that the safest place was right by the water whilst having a paddle. the final photo which is not great cos of my incompetence in photography is of stevi and murrae by the indian ocean at city beach at sunset. the weekend weather here for this weekend is storms and rain so no bbqs this weekend. our new bbq is sitting rather lonely looking in the back garden. took some photos last sunday as we had our first home bbq in the dark. i even made the kids sit outside with jackets on so that they felt like home!!!!
look it even looks cold and wintery!!!!!!

new things

well this week mikey went water skiing, jet skiing and wake boarding. he was invited on monday night but by tuesday morning he had begun to have some doubts, he woke and put his head around the patio doors saying 'i'm not sure i want to go now'! i told him to suck it up and get organised, he could just go and do it this time and if he didnt like it then he didnt have to go again. he arrived home around 8pm hardly able to walk, every muscle in his puny little body hurt like hell!! he enjoyed it and now wants a jet ski for christmas!!! (yeah son, just the one?!)

murrae is now 12 and had his first aussie birthday sleep over. except they didnt bloody sleep!!! they woke stevi at 2am and 5am, and mikey at 4.30am. now i would say that that is living dangerously since mikey was getting picked up for work at 6.30am!!!!! however, the kids had a great time eating junk food and playing the ps2. yesterday was like murrae had a hangover, his eyes were blood shot and he didnt say a word for hours. we went food shopping (we have to cos nothing is open on a sunday and shuts at 5pm weekdays) and came home and put him to bed for a nap!

its fathers day here today, happy fathers day dad (again). for the first time ever michael has been given school made card and present. he is chuffed, in scotland they dont do it cos not all the kids have fathers around, never realised how politically correct the british are til we got away!!!

not sure what we are going to do today cos last weekends bbq was something that will be difficult to top, its sunny today but not the 27 degrees it was last weekend. murrae did want to go to city beach for another but alas there is a chill in the wind. it is still taking a bit of getting used to i am still wanting to go mad and not miss the sun but have to keep reminding myself that it will be there the next day and the next and the next...........!! it was the 1st day of spring on friday so roll on summer time!!! any of you thinking of visiting and are looking for the best weather best do it between september and may. july and august are the coldest wettest months. christmas of course is the height of summer, now thats going to be novel for more than one reason. the ward that i work in will be closing for christmas so for the 1st time in 4 years i will be at home with my family!!! cant wait!!!!