the big adventure

mikeys 22!

2011-02-20T17:41:00.003+08:00

Quick up date. Mikey is 22 and his gf threw him a surprise 'soccerfest'???? party, basically it was a fancy dress party but with a football theme. I went for the most chav team I could think of and added a few girly twists, me feet were killing me in those heels!! Mikey seemed to have a good time and I was a good girl and home and in bed all tucked up by midnight. I think this bout of poor health has slowed me down a bit!!

Christmas and New Year 2010/11

2011-01-12T21:42:00.002+08:00

Hi folks, HAPPY NEW YEAR, well what a whirlwind festive season we've had. Karen and Mike came over for the holidays and we met up with old friends as well. Gordon and Karen got married and to be honest it was a good thing that we had to go back to work as my liver was seriously thinking of leaving home!! It was alcohol every 2nd day (too old to cope with every day!) and its been stinking hot in Perth. As you can see we spent a good bit of Christmas day in the pool. A good time was had by all and I have posted a few pics for you all to see. I've had to get a new laptop as the old one finally gave up the ghost. xx

update

2010-12-17T20:32:00.002+08:00

Well can honestly say I am in a stinking mood!!! Some nice person gave my laptop a virus and I've lost nearly all 3 years of photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have managed to rescue the last couple that I posted on facebook. Me and Stevi at Karens hens day and Michaels new baby!! Am so angry that I'm off to bed before 9pm on a Friday night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! p.s. Merry Christmas to all of my friends and family that still look at this site (not many I'm sure!) xx

dressed up

2010-10-10T21:07:00.003+08:00

This week I have been stressing out about what to wear to the WA Nursing and Midwifery Awards Ball. I couldnt find anything that would fit me that I would want to wear, my boobs were too big, belly stuck out or some other pain in the ass! So I decided that I would have to wear something that I already have. I chose this dress because the last time I wore it was the SJOG 2009 ball that me, Michael, Sharmain and Paul got absolutely minging and I cant actually remember wearing it!! he he he. I was a bit p'd off at Stevi cos she said she would come and help me get ready but alas no, mother gets stood up again! I ended up getting ready in a hurry and was getting stressed and stressed that my hair wouldnt sit. I have to confess tho, I had a wonderful time and that if I didnt look right then tough!!

nothingness

2010-09-23T19:14:00.002+08:00

Hello peoples. i think i have finally gotten over the pneumonia, its taken ages and i've felt pretty crap but it seems better now. Not a lot going on at the moment, just waiting for friends to get in touch and waiting for friends to book flights for christmas!! Works busy busy busy, but loving it!! off to have some pizza. see ya xx

hello people

2010-08-26T23:50:00.002+08:00

Hi people I'm trying really hard to keep this up to date after being so slack over the past year or so. So whats happening in the hectic life of shaz?? Not a lot!! About 4 of weeks ago I had lunchtime/afternoon/early evening wine with my mate Nat in the city, I think we managed to drink 3 or was it 4 bottles of wine and had a wonderful girly afternoon. Unfortunately that same weekend I started to get sick, I thought it was just a cold but then it just got worse and worse. This week I finally relented and went to see the Doctor, low and behold I have pneumonia!!! Stupid Stupid me thought I just had a cold that was lasting a long time!! I've 3 days of forced bedrest and heaps of drugs and I have to admit that although I feel a little better I still feel pretty crap! Steroids are definately not good for me, tonight my tummy has started to swell, and I feel physically sick. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow or its a weekend of nothingness for me!!

sept 09 - present

2010-07-23T22:34:00.003+08:00

Stevis 18th Mikeys 21st

christmas 2009 my 40th

ok so what has been happening since sept?? well we had christmas, the usual morning on the beach and then in the pool in the afternoon. then we had mikeys 21st party. we all had a good time, some of us too much of a good time. (that would mean me and michael!!) then we had stevi 18th, again we had a good time! I behaved for a change cos someone had to be the responsible adult to make sure she didnt kill herself with alcohol poisoning!! I am sure that there was bits in between but those are the most important bits. all except for the birth of my best friends gorgeous little daughter, Bella. Shes a little cutie. I will aim to try and keep this up to date more often but I know what I'm like and will probably fail miserably! My excuse is that I am studying AGAIN!! doing a diploma in management this time! OMG and i forgot about the most important thing of all I TURNED 40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! see the fancy dress pic!

2010-07-21T07:42:00.001+08:00

SORRRY SORRY SORRY, I forgot about the blog. To those of you who read this and dont have access to facebook or dont have my email address here is my work email, that way if for whatever reason i mess up my hotmail account i still have your contact details................... you know who you are............................................... sharon.stephen@sjog.org.au
please get in touch i've lost the passwords to my hold hotmail accounts x

and the decorating starts!!

2009-09-18T22:25:00.003+08:00

oh well the dreaded decorating has started!! we did the front room and put a carpet in, its lovely and cosy! its a child/teenager free room!!! and next we have to tackle the rest. got i cant wait??? its all bloody open plan and has to be done in a oner! god help me!

naughty puppy

2009-09-05T22:56:00.002+08:00

do you think she knows shes in trouble????? i stupidly left my liquid shoe polish on the outdoor table yesterday morning. this is what i found when i came home!!!! i didnt know whether to laugh or cry. the little bugger had been chewing the bottle and then rolled in the liquid!! shes now all nice and white again thanks to jay. hamish however was sitting looking at me as if to say 'nothing to do with me, see i'm pristine and white'.

july - aug 2009

2009-08-14T23:15:00.002+08:00

sorry i havent posted anything in a while, i've been really busy. am now doing 3 different jobs!! two still with SJOG and one with silver chain. i am now officially a continence advisor!! end of july we had the SJOG annual winter ball. i didnt disappoint and got totally maggotted. this is what happens when you dont get out much!!! then a week later sharmain, brenda, sue and i jetted off to bali for a girls week away! posted some pics to let you see. please ignore the curly hair, it so humid it wouldnt straighten!!!!

slack tart update

2009-04-18T23:21:00.002+08:00

hey people again i have to apologise for the lack of posting. i am such a slack tart or then again i am maybe just too busy enjoying life!!!! well what has happened since jan??? well my dad and alison were over for a month and had a great time. any one wants to see the pics then they are on my bebo shazza122.bebo.com and facebook. stevi has started work and loves it??? i never thought she would like wiping shitty arses and feeding incapable adults????? murrae has let his hair grow long again and lives in a slipknot t shirt and has bought an electric guitar and amp. and mikey has got himself a girlfriend. her name is helen and she is a student nurse. michael and i are just plodding along working and relaxing when we can. we have been busy busy busy partying with sharmain and paul who have had an engagement party, a 30th birthday party and a wedding all in 4 months!!!! oh yes and just in case you didnt know MICHAEL WAS 40!!!!!!michaels parents are here at the moment and its been nice to see them but i think we are all visited out for this year. my puppy has had a uti and was incontinent for a few days, the poor thing was weeing when she was walking and looking at me as if to say i'm sorry mummy but i dont know whats happening!! michael and i went to the rockit festival and saw the fratellis, birds of tokyo and kings of leon among others, then i went to the v festival and saw madness, snowpatrol, kaiser chiefs and the killers, i am off to see pink next month and then i suppose i'd better calm down a bit!!! well summer has come and gone and autumn is nearly over, winter is round the corner booooooo hooooooo, but at least its still been 25-30 degrees! god i would just die if it got down to the dreaded -15 degrees aberdeen had in january. suppose i had better go to bed now. celtic and beating aberdeen and i cant believe we pay money to watch this shit live from the other side of the f*!king world!!!! have posted a few update pics for you guys to look at. take care peoples catch ya later xxx

updates

2009-01-07T21:37:00.005+08:00

well folks i know i am a slack tart for not updating this often but i've been busy living the life!!! its hot and sticky here at the moment and when i am not at work am spending the time in the pool and sunbathing. right heres the update. stevis got a fiance and a job!!! here she is pictured with jahden on christmas day. i know they are only 16 but if i say no she'll run off to scotland and get married!!! jay now lives with us, which again i know is not ideal but again if i say no then god knows where they would end up!! she starts work at the hospital i work at on the 19th of jan as a nurses aid, she will attend college as well and in 18 months have a formal qualification. if she wants to the hospital will pay for her to go to uni and do her nurse training. murrae continues to work like a trojan so he can get money to buy all his little gadgets. mikey is just a piss head who needs to move out!!!!!!!!!!!! michael and i are just working and enjoying life here. we have had a few social outings with our good friends sharmain and paul and look forward to helping them celebrate their engagment in a couple of weeks at almars winery/brewery. my dad and alison arrive in 12 days and cant wait for this to come round. then its a few weeks off work while we all enjoy the summer. got a few things planned some i can write about and some i cant just yet. hope everyone had a good chrimbo and new year and i will keep everyone posted. love yas all xxx

renovations

2008-10-07T11:05:00.004+08:00

hi there folks well we have been busy renovating for the summer which seems to be slowly arriving!!! we have taken out the dining room window and put in french doors so that we can sit out in the sunny area beside the pool. with the new pool shed and the nice new seating area its lovely. all we have to do to that area now is get a glass fence to comply with the safety regulations for the pool. we have also closed off the front room and computer room so that when we get visitors (yes you dad!!) there is somewhere for mikey to sleep. trust me i slept on the sofa bed when rho and rob were here and its not comfy!!!! i will post pics of that when its finished and i have decorated it! then all we have to do is paint, paint and more paint!!! wish i could afford to pay someone to do that for me!! but renovations cost money and as michael says rome wasnt built in a day!!! then we can start on the side garden, i want to rip it all up, push the walls back to the fence and then grass it all for the dogs. my colleague at work has built a little chalet type thing in her back garden and i want one too, then there will be plenty of room for visitors and mikey can move out there!!!!

stevis trip into fashion

2008-09-12T00:52:00.003+08:00

well i know that i moan about her constantly and she really is the bane of my miserable existance but i am really proud that stevi and her college class mates entered a carbon friendly wedding dress into the perth fashion show this week! here she is with the dress and her colleagues. both at college and at the show itself, and even on the runway!!! xx

new fings

2008-08-26T11:08:00.004+08:00

hi people just a quickie to show off my new hair cut and colour, stevis new piercing and my new car. this is stan the suzuki, now i know dad that cars are supposed to be female but mines are male!!! hes lovely, drives like a dream and its automatic so thats made my left foot

and arm lazy!!!! xxxx

home improvements

2008-07-27T09:54:00.003+08:00

hi folks, hear you've been having good weather congratulations!!!!! its winter here and its been raining on and off. its not as cold as winter in scotland (thank god!) As you can see michaels winter working wardrobe consists of fleece, hat and shorts???? we have just ripped down the old asbestos fencing at the side of the house and replaced it with nice new shiny colourbond, it now matches the rest of the fencing on the side of the house. michael has also made a new gate the old one had too big gaps in it and the dogs could get their paws through and it made me sad when i had to go to work and they'd be crying and trying to get through to me!! another job done and about 101 still to go!!!! will keep you folks updated. love yas xxx

puppy power!

2008-06-29T23:29:00.002+08:00

meet mirrin! she is 7 weeks old and a jack russell puppy. she was born on my mums birthday which is quite spooky cos hamish was born on snaps birthday!!! something going on me thinks!! shes a little cutie and is paper trained already, the only bad thing is she doesnt like to sleep alone, she cried all night! if i thought that hamish wouldnt eat her or whine to get to me then i would leave them together but shes just a bit little for that yet and hes a little too rough.

stevis 16th birthday

2008-06-15T00:39:00.001+08:00

here a few pics of stevis 16th birthday dinner. it was fookin lurvely!!

rain and horrible weather

2008-06-14T11:24:00.002+08:00

well today is stevis 16th birthday, we are off to get her belly button pierced and her nails done. then its off to the moon tonight for dinner. we have had pretty shite weather lately, lots of storms and rain, its made my limestone green!! we had to borrow the pressure washer from michaels work to clean it!! as you can see we had a bit of fun too. michael made some new gates for the side of the house. it means that we can stick the dog round the side if he is getting on peoples nerves, (he barks when we are in the pool!). look dad i even made him stand in front and get his picture taken!!!!!

my lemon tree and my car

2008-05-06T11:15:00.003+08:00

hey folks just a quickie, i got lemons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i grew them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and this is freddy the festiva my iccle car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

life goes on!!

2008-05-06T11:15:00.002+08:00

hi folks, for those of you who dont e

mail me then i have passed my driving test!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woooooooo hoooooooo!!!!! stevi has left school and started college and my dad has had his op and his home in his own little hoosy!!! thanks god, i love you dad!!! the pics are of me and my dad when he was over and of me and jazzy on our way to work!! the reasoning behind them are that i am happy my dad is better and now all i seem to do it work!!!!!!! sorry that the one of me and jazzy is the wrong way round but i dont know how to fix it!!!!!

i'm home!

2008-03-26T13:20:00.003+08:00

well folks i am back in perth, my weather has gone from this to this!!! i wonder how long it will be before i am ill?????? the news is that my dad still has no date for his operation, my gramma is still in her own little world and the roof didnt fall in while i was away!!!! it was great to catch up with those of you i managed to see, i apologise to those i didnt. xxxx i cant however get into any kind of sleep pattern, i fall asleep easily but wake up 3 -4 hours later!!!!!!!!! now this is not much of a problem but i am on nightshift over the weekend!!!! i wish i could win the lottery and not work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

catching up

2008-03-12T06:16:00.002+08:00

well i am in aberdeen, cant visit anyone cos most of my time is spent in the hospital but i am intending on going out on saturday. will aim to be in the bells around 8pm if anyone wants to catch up. my australian mobile number is not working so dont text!!!!!! am using my dads phone so i cant even post the contact number for me. anyone who wants to catch up i will see ya on saturday xxx

illness and all things shite

2008-03-08T08:59:00.003+08:00

well folks i am coming home. my dad hopefully will get his op next week and my gramma seems to have given up the will to live and is in woodend. this is not what i hoped for my first trip back to the deen but life is shite sometimes. i will be in glasgow airport on sunday lunchtime am not sure if i will come to the deen sunday night but may just have some quiet time with my aunt in forfar and travel up with her on monday morning. shes been brilliant as per usual!! sometimes i dont know where i would be without her. love you phyllis. i will try and see people when i am back but it will depend on how things go, it will be one day at a time. may have to just say i will be going for drinks at certain pub at a certain time and whoever can make it can come along and say hello!! will keeps folks posted. maybe see ya all soonxx

so far away

2008-03-02T15:46:00.002+08:00

well my computer is still a no go but this is an update. my dad is ill in hospital and needs a double bypass. there are loads of risks involved because of his pre - existing back and neck problems but he needs to go for it. with the result i am waiting confirmation of my bank loan and then i am booking my flight home. maybe have time to catch up with a few people but if i dont i'm sorry but its not a holiday! xx

blogs and all things computerised!

2008-02-06T08:58:00.000+08:00

hey folks sorry for the lack of posts but my computer is f**k*d. the kids left it connected to the internet and my virus protection had ran out and now its full of worms! so i have nicked mikeys laptop to post this! i will endeavour to get it fixed and get back online soon. in the mean time to let you all know that my friends jill and susan are here so we are lazing by the pool having a laugh. sorry if your in the mother land with all the snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-01-06T20:38:00.000+08:00

happy new year to everyone. we went to jasmins house and had a small party. unfortunately murrae seemed to be in charge of the camera and all we got were pictures of the dogs!!!!!!!! and then michael took one of me and hamish in bed, he was so tired from running around with his friends that he beat me to my pillow!!!!!!! so i have added in a few from jasmins birthday party last night!!!!! hope everyone has a good year and gets everything that they wish for! love yas xxx

christmas day in perth

2007-12-20T10:39:00.002+08:00

christmas day in perth passed in a blur of heat and alcohol! we started off opening our pressies and having a champagne breakfast. well bacon butties and champagne!! then we headed to the beach, as per usual on christmas day it was packed. we came back and cooked and showered before sitting down to a full traditional christmas dinner. mikey even had soup!!! it was 40 degrees so we hauled the outdoor setting inside and sat in the cool air of the air conditioned house!!!!!!!! after lunch we changed into our bathers and sat outside and slowly but surely got drunk!! we played the wii and sang on singstar as well as failing miserably at mikeys new guitar hero game. all in all a good time was had. bring on the new year!

more pics from christmas dayout 2007

2007-12-20T10:39:00.001+08:00

well here it is, how sad is this, stevi is at a party, mikey is at his mates and i am sitting here on a saturday night uploading pictures onto my blog!!!! jill and sooz get here in 44 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! these are just some more pics of me and my work mates on our chrimbo day out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

christmas works out at the brewery

2007-12-20T10:39:00.000+08:00

well this christmas we decided to go to a brewery for our christmas day out. where else would a bunch of hard working nurses go????? we sat in the shade and ate lovely food and drunk lovely cocktails. as the day progressed we wandered back and forth from the gorgeous sunshine drinking our drinks and then sharmain, jasmin and i remembered our hidden water bottles with vodka in them!!!! it was a slow decline from there i am afraid!! sharmain got the worst case of hiccups and tried to phone her boyfriend paul to pick us up, it was sooooo funny!!! no baby i am not drunk, just a little case of the hiccups!!!! jasmin as usual was very welll behaved and helped sharmain and i sneakily top up our sprites!!! paul came and picked us up and we all went back to sharmains for more drinkies!!! i got michael to pick me up and i went home for a swim in the dark. it was lovely, the water had been heated all day with the sun, the only problem was that it was bloody freezing when i got out!!! not surprising really as it was 11pm at night!!! there were a few sore heads and dicky bellies the next day at work as you could well imagine!!!!!!!! but all in all i think a good time was had by all!!!

mikeys decline

2007-11-28T09:57:00.001+08:00

well friday was st andrews day and although when we scots are at home dont give it a thought, when away its a big thing (well an excuse for a piss up!). we decided at the beginning of the week that we would partake in a drinkie or two to celebrate. mikey had decided that he was going to stay in on friday night til he found out that we were headed to the moon for some scottish entertainment!! it came to 6.40pm and he hadnt come home from work, 5 mins later he staggers in the door and asks what time the taxi is coming!! the fastest i have seen him move in a long time!! its also the worst shave i have seen in all my days, he had razor tracks in at least 4 places and was bleeding profusely!! but still some 7.30pm hes in the taxi headed to the pub!! he gave us the pleasure of his company long enough for us to feed him and buy him a drink then he buggered off to a night club!!! it was a good night all in all and when the pipe band marched through the pub there were many a lumpy throat and teary eyed punter!!! the pipes never fail to hit the spot in a scot away from home!!!

things to do in oz after a hard days work

2007-11-28T09:57:00.000+08:00

well the weather here has been great! have also heard that its been snowing in old aberdeen!

well sorry to make you all jealous but here are a couple of pictures of what we do after a hard days graft!!!!

the lucky shag and other adventures

2007-11-06T21:39:00.000+08:00

well the last week of my dads visit we took the ferry to rottnest island. we had a little wander around and visited the basin where my dad got good video footage of a bright red star fish. i took lots of sceanic photos too! it was hot and none of us had bothered to bring any liquid to drink so off we took to the pub!! we spent a couple of hours in the pub and boarded the ferry back to perth. upon our arrival we discovered that we had no change for the train so we hit the first pub we found!!! the lucky shag!!!!!! a couple of drinks later we wound our way up to the centre of the city where we found yet another pub! we phoned the kids and told them to feed themselves cos in alisons words we were getting rat arsed! these are the pics that i took of a slightly inebriated couple walking through the streets of perth!!!!!!!!!!

fings wot have did

2007-10-18T10:43:00.001+08:00

here are pics of just a few things that we have done since dads arrival in perth wa. we have been to perth city, harbour town desinger outlet, fremantle prison, fremantle markets, fremantle harbour, cottesloe beach, scarborough beach, mullaloo beach (see sunset!), the zoo, caversham wildlife park, hillarys boat harbour and the pinnacles, we still have to go to rottnest island and the art gallery!!!! speak about a whistle stop tour of perth!!!! i will need a holiday to recover!!!!! its been fab and i dont want my dad to go home! ............................................................................

well arrivals in perth!!!

2007-10-18T10:43:00.000+08:00

well my dad and Alison have finally arrived in Perth! after much messing about with tickets and travel money they got here in one piece. we watched the plane land from the observation lounge and were horrified to see the plane tilt dramatically to one side just as it touched down! there were many gasps of horror from the many spectators and then nervous smiles and laughs as we made our way down to the arrival lounge. the first day we just had a leisurely walk up to the shops and then sat by the pool and watched the kids splash around. yesterday we took the train in to Perth and shopped for postcards and souvenirs. here are just a couple of pics of my dad!

excitment and emotion

2007-09-29T23:49:00.000+08:00

well its only 15 days til my dad AND Alison arrives! am getting so emotional its not funny! am already stressing about how upset i am going to be when he leaves!!!!!!!!!!!!!! am sure this last two weeks will drag and drag and drag!! work is pretty full on just now, kids school holidays and no staff! AND a new ward to open. who said that promotion was good?/?? as the boss on most shifts i get to deal with all the crap! people who threaten to leave cos they cant get a private room, all sorts of crap......... i just get it all!!! well i called one patients bluff cos we dont have any private rooms (there are actually sick people in them!) and guess what............ she left!!!!!!!! roll on my annual leave! on a brighter note my baby Hamish went to puppy pre school and behaved impeccably. he sat and stayed when told and even defended a smaller puppy!!! i am soooooo proud of him!!! he is still a little bugger tho! the kitten is also as bad and swipes Hamish when he thinks no one is looking!!! and he hides down the pockets of the pool table sending everyone in to complete panic!!!!!!!!!!!!!! last Sunday we went to a winery for lunch, it was a beautiful day and with good food and lots of wine a good day was had by all!!! here are some pics of my work mates drinking wine on the lawn. 1st picture is of nikki, kylie, sharmain and anita, the second is of michelle, the boss kathy and jasmin.

newest addition

2007-09-16T23:09:00.000+08:00

well we have added to our ever growing family! we are the proud owners of a new ginger kitten named charlie. michael named him after bonnie prince charlie! we wanted something scottish and he was flicking thru the scottish history book. hamish loves him to DEATH! well sometimes!! seriously tho he is very good with him seeing he is only 4 and half months old himself! he just gets a little rough at times but charlie is fit for him and he has more than one bloody nose! was in the pet shop today and spotted a little jack russell/foxie cross, hes beautiful but michael said no!!!

he would have made a perfect playmate for hamish and charlie!!!!!!!!!

ME

2007-09-09T02:53:00.001+08:00

ME ME ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its ALL about ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHUMMY WHERE ARE YOU????

AND ANOTHER SAT NIGHT

2007-09-09T02:53:00.000+08:00

well this is my brilliant life in australia!!! if anyone thought that michael and the kids would change then you are sooooo wrong!!!! this pic shows mikey on the sofa, pissed and asleep! michael sober and asleep!!! and the bloody dog!!! all asleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! murrae is in bed and stevi is staying with a friend!! this is the scene that greets me!!! i have spent the evening watching uk tv, most haunted texting my brother!!! me not out on the piss on a sat!!??? i cant remember the last time i was pissed? think it was

about march>? its now bloody september?????? whats happening to me......................................................

out of practice

2007-09-02T01:25:00.000+08:00

well finally after much nagging michael actually took me out!!! what a disaster that was!! he went from this to this and this in less than 5 hours!! then asleep behind the ensuite door!!! such a light weight!!!! he drank as much as me and i am on antibiotics for chest, ear and throat infection and sinusitis!! AND i hadnt eaten all day!!!!!!!!!! oops pics are back to front!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! on a lighter note!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY DAD HAS BOOKED HIS FLIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOP WOOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

parties and accidents

2007-08-20T12:06:00.000+08:00

hi folks, well its been two weeks since my last post. not much has happened but we had a house warming party on the 11th august and a good time was had by all. there were approximately 23 people here most of them nurses!! (kenny you missed a golden opportunity!!) i will post pictures when my friend sends me copies!! my camera battery died an hour before people started arriving so i will have to rely on jasmin. however, this weekend my darling little puppy dog hamish decided to get over excited when i was playing with him and he headbutted me in the face. i now have a nice little purple area on my cheek bone! i have to go to school today for stevis subject selection interview and to see the principal about her being bullied and skiving off school last week!! how nice am i going to look!!! oh well shit happens!!!! 52 DAYS til my dad gets here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BIRTHDAYS

2007-08-05T22:25:00.000+08:00

i am an awful daughter!!! it was my dads birthday on fri and i didnt manage to get his cards sent on time!!!!!!!!!!!! PLUS it was my step moms birthday a few weeks before that and i still havent posted them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DONT KNOW WHERE THE POST OFFICE IS!!!!!!! no excuse i know but its the truth!!! typing this is very difficult as i trapped my index finger in the cupboard door and i think i've broke it!!!! it hurts like hell!! oh well pay back for being a bad daughter!!!! by the way, house warming on sat 11th aug. everyones invited!!!!

this week............

2007-07-29T23:21:00.000+08:00

well this week i havent been up to much, been back at work after having a week off to sort the house out. its been hectic at work as usual but there we go thats what we're there for!!! stevi took some new pics of me and her last night so i thought that since there arent that many of me around i would post some!!!!

the new house part 2

2007-07-20T17:21:00.001+08:00

took so many pics that i've had to put on a couple of posts!!

new house

2007-07-20T17:21:00.000+08:00

well folks we have moved into our new house!! its fantastic! we have never had so much space!! i love it!!! i cant believe how lucky we are, we are just glad that we made the move cos there is no way we could ever afforded this in our wildest dreams in aberdeen. mind you what good would a pool be in aberdeen!!?? thanks to everyone who has sent their best wishes and to everyone we miss you loads!!! life is ALMOST perfect!! wish time travel was real and you could just nip back and forth with the blink of an eye. love yas xx

2007-07-10T23:13:00.000+08:00

5 more sleeps til we move and hamish comes home for good!!! one more shift at work and one more study day til i am on holiday for a week!!! havent had any holidays since feb and god i really need it now!!! all the stress of the visa application, buying the house and getting my job is really taking its toll!!! i am sooooooooooooo tired!!!!!!! on a lighter note this is a pic of hamish on his weekend home!! the little bugger was swinging from my washing on saturday!!!!

HAMISH

2007-07-01T13:57:00.000+08:00

IS OURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my friends housemate said she will look after him til we move into our new place!!! he is gorgeous. his birthday is the 3rd of may the same as snaps!!!!! i think it was fate that made us get him!!! oh well into the realms of puppy training we go!!! wish us luck. xxx

new additions

2007-06-30T19:08:00.000+08:00

well today we went to the pet shop and met hamish! we want him sooooo badly!!!!! the only thing in our way is that the pet shop normally only hold puppies for a week. i even offered to pay them outright for him if only they can keep him til we get the keys to the new house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! alas no!!!!!!!!!!!! i have to phone the shop on monday and speak to the manager. i will plead my case!!! if only the we could have a pet in this rental place then we could just get him tomorrow!!!! people keep your fingers crossed that we can eventually take hamish home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh... my....god!!!!

2007-06-16T00:57:00.000+08:00

well today i learned that we have finance etc for the house we want!!!!!! i cant believe it!!! we finally have a house with 4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms, 2 family rooms and a pool!!!!!!! this is what my dreams were made of!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND i was promoted today!!!!!!!!!!!! life cant get much better than this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am so happy that i could pee myself!!!!!!!!!!! lol!!!!!!!!!! i cant descirbe how i am feeling! i can cry at the drop of a hat but for once for the right reasons!!!!!!!!!! people like me dont get things this easy!!! suddenly my life is almost perfect!!! i have the house of my dreams, i actually love my job!! love my kids (for a change) and my sleepy headed unsociable loveable lump of a husband!!! the only things missing are my family!!! cant help thinking that things are going to crash around my ears.......................................................................................things like this dont happen to people like me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

addit: 20/6/07 thought i would post more pics!!!! am soooooooooooooooooooo excited

houses

2007-06-06T10:37:00.000+08:00

well tomorrow we meet with the mortgage broker to find out if we can actually afford the house we have put an offer in on!!! from what we have worked out on the mortgage calculators online we can!!! for those of you who want a sneak preview of our potential new home here is the link that will take you to it. http://reiwa.com/lst/lst-ressale-details.cfm?prop_no=3&searchRef=Heathridge let me know what you guys think and i will keep you all up to date with the proceedings!!!

addit: the link isnt working so got to www.reiwa.com.au and search heathridge 4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms. the address is 9b martinup place on the website. there has been a printing error the acutal address is 9b martinup court!!! AND the bank has pre approved our mortgage!!! they have to do a valuation thing to make sure that we arent paying $432000 for a shack!!! thats £177000 in real money! xxx

my dads thumb

2007-05-31T10:28:00.001+08:00

this week i have been all over the place!!!! we finally have been

granted our permanent residency so that means we are NOT coming home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then i had an arguement with the estate agent about her doing a rent inspection without prior notice!!!!! and that the shower is obviously leaking and making the hall wall damp and plaster fall off!!!!!!!!!! my fault obviously!!!!!!!!!!!! THEN i find that my brother cut my dads thumb off with a circular saw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what a bloody week!!!!!!!! thankfully the docs at ARI managed to sew the thumb back on and pin it. we just have to wait and see that it all comes back together properly!!!!!!!!!!! well this weekend i am taking stevi to see pink on sunday and we will be looking at houses to buy!!! i have seen a nice one that needs a little tender loving care with 4 bedrooms and a pool!!!!!!!!!!! so people keep positive thinking cos I WANT THAT HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

just an addition!!! the house we were looking at had sold before we got a chance to view it, but we viewed one today and put an offer in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! positive thinking ++++++++ folks pleasssssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee oh and anyone got a spare couple of grand to help with our legal fees!!!!?????????????????

just to satisfy my gramma

2007-05-19T23:42:00.001+08:00

well given that i have posted pics of the kids and sent hard copies to my gramma, she has complained that she has no photos of me and michael!! well what can i say i am the one normally holding the camera!!!! i have decided to post the pic of me on the night of my works night out for christmas and one the kids took last sunday!! i have to say that i hate getting my photo taken and am open to mega criticism!!! i have to add that i have lost weight since the christmas pic but i can agree that the pic from last sunday doesnt look like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mum

2007-05-11T22:12:00.000+08:00

well tomorrow is my mums birthday, she would have been 58. as its also mothers day on sunday in australia i decided to do something special for her. i fed my addiction to tattoos and went and got a life long reminder of her tattooed on my wrist. its the chinese symbol for mum. in august i am going to get the other wrist tattooed with the chinese symbol for dad for his birthday too! aint i a wonderful daughter!! pressies for parents but really for me!!!!

miss you mum where ever you are and dad miss you too but see you soon xxx

murrae and stevi

2007-04-29T17:06:00.000+08:00

well this week nothing has happened apart from more mind numbing paperwork in our quest to become permanent residents of australia!!! its very stressful and the number of forms to fill in is brain scrambling!! we had our chest x rays done on friday and we have our medicals on wednesday. somehow we were misled into believing what we had done is scotland would still be valid here!!! NOT the case! so we have now spent ANOTHER $1500 getting new ones done!! i am getting very tired of all this red tape and just wish it was all sorted!! to top it all i have a stinker of a cold! have spent most of the weekend wrapped up in a fleecy blanket feeling sorry for myself!!! on a brighter note murrae got his school photo on friday and i have to say its very cute! he could have smiled a bit more tho!!! i have scanned his last primary school photo too so we can all see if he has changed any since august!!! and an addit:::: this is stevi one too, she hates it!! i think its very cute!!!

HOLY S**** HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-04-20T23:13:00.000+08:00

OH MY GOD!!!!! stevi went out tonight for a friends birthday. she went all out and bought a dress!!!! i was at work and didnt see her before she went out. i was thinking oh my god what kind of state will she be in!!! however, michael took photos of her before she went out!!! shit!!! we have now decided that she never leaves the house alone EVER again!!!!! how did we miss that our little shit who was accident prone and clumsy becoming a young lady!!!! i know that we are bias but we think shes gorgeous!!! the hairdressers in perth are going to make a fortune. my already greying hair is gonna go white over night!!!! michael said when she was a baby that she wasnt allowed to wear little dresses with frilly knickers and i laughed and said he was an old fart!!! shit how did i know she was going to look like this!!!! you look fab honey and we love you loads!!!! just dont grow up anymore!!! well not yet!!!!

stevi and her nonsense tale

2007-04-01T17:36:00.000+08:00

this week stevi had to make up a nonsense tale for her drama class. we had no bloody idea what a nonsense tale was so we just made up a LOT of nonsense!!!! AND as if that wasnt enough the teacher thought it would be a good idea to do it in scottish!!!!!!!!!!! the photo is of stevi and her best mate marie, sunday 1st april 2007! she wouldnt get her pic taken alone!! so here is what she came up with, a nonsense tale about molly!!!!!

There wiz a wifie fae Aiberdeen
She thought she looked like the Queen
She wiz really fae Torry
Her name wiz Molly
She worked in the fish
Bit thoucht she wiz swish
She wiz aye chawing chuddy
Alang wi her buddy
Ats smelly molly fae torry
She wint to the pub to find a man
she really looked like desperate dan
On a Saturday she wint into toon
To find herself a bonnie loon
She liked the hotel metro
And her claes were affa retro
Peer molly was a ginger and
Folk thoucht she wiz a minger

Mair aften then nae she got minging
And walked hame in the rain and was wringing
She got her claes fae the thrifter
she wint there on her al grifter
One wik she won the lottery
And Got rid o the dodgy pottery
She bought a semi in al cove and
The costa del sol she did rove.
Shes nae longer smelly molly fae torry!!!

we do apologise if any of the following apply

you live or have lived in torry

you work in the fish

you frequent the hotel metro

you get your clothes fae the thrift shop

you still own a grifter bike

you have ginger hair

you live or have lived in cove

you have won the lottery

you holiday in the costa del sol

video

2007-03-19T07:30:00.000+08:00

hi just a quickie to try and post a video of michael and murrae yesterday. am not sure if i have done it properly!!!

sorry dad

2007-03-11T21:08:00.000+08:00

well tonight is sunday and i talked to my daddy. i got told off for not updating this often enough! (well not really!! but he did comment there was nothing new!!) its been hot hot hot here!! this week the temperature has tipped the scales in the 42 degree mark. now anyone who has ever experienced this will know that its stifling!!! i walked to the end of the drive in the afternoon and the streets were deserted!! no sounds of laughter from the bowling club, no cars and no people!!! all you could hear were the birds and the steady hum of hundreds of air conditioning units!!!! monday was labour day and of course i was working!!!! after work michael picked me up and we went to gordon and barbs. the kids of course were straight in the pool and we kicked back with some champers. it was a lovely way to unwind from work!! the kids also made use of the very delightful spa with lots of bubbles!!! stevi has been heading to the beach after school and making the most of the laid back lifestyle here in beautiful sunny perth. murrae the poor boy unfortunately has been affected by the heat the most and we found him asleep on the couch one morning with the air con full blast! he comes in from school with sweat pouring down his little chubby very very red face!!! stevi when not heading for the beach, throws herself on the couch and cranks up the air con! the bliss of working in a fully airconditioned hospital is not lost on me, poor michael has no aircon where he is working!! yesterday we bought a new camera, its fab. 7.1 mega pixels and 10 x zoom AND its got a video and audio feature so watch out i may be posting videos in the future!!! i have been playing with it all day, taking pics of everything that moves and stuff that doesnt!!! the one of michael is of him outside his work and the lizard thingy was on the decking at dave and mechelles today!! mikey has applied to continue his apprenticeship and spent the day at a training centre doing the safety stuff. the freebies he came home with were fantastic, he got safety sunglasses for summer, clear ones for winter, a very fetching sun hat, sunscreen, gloves and earplugs, oh and a pen and a free lunch!!! i will try and post some of the pics i took with his gear on and his boxers!! and last night i went out with nat and joe! i didnt take any pics which is probably just as well!!! we did a couple of tequilla slammers and nat is well out of practice so one minute she was pleasantly tipsy then next totally shitfaced!!! well now i guess that means i actually told my dad a lie tonight when i said that i hadnt been doing anything!!!! SORRY DADDY!!!

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO LYNN AND ALEX ON THE BIRTH OF BABY BEN!!!!!!

A HUGE THANKS TO SUSAN AND HER MUMMY FOR PROVIDING ME WITH CHOCOLATE AND WALKERS CHEESE AND ONION CRISPS!!

such a slacker

2007-03-03T20:53:00.000+08:00

well i know that i have been a bit of a slacker when it comes to the blog but i havent been up to much lately, the weather is changing and i'm kind of used to living in the sun now. it just means that i dont rush to the beach or get desperate to get outside at the very hint of sunlight!!! well rhona and rob have gone on the rest of their travels. i think i have already told you guys about the wildlife park but we went to rottnest island also. now nat has taken the kids there already and murrae has been with friends but it was my first time. it is a lovely place, perfect for snorkelling apparently! not for me i think!!! my body couldnt get past the survial reaction of panic when my face was underwater. it was also a bit choppy that day and i not being the best of swimmers was getting pulled out to sea and when i tried to get back in found that i couldnt reach the bottom!!!! even more panic!!!!!!!!!! maybe will give it a try another time in a calm swimming pool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we also went to fremantle prison for the torchlight tour, it was really good and i really enjoyed their little surprises!!! until............. they took us up some stairs on to the 2nd or 3rd floor. now anyone who knows me knows that i am terrified of heights!!! its a very narrow walkway with just a few flimsy pieces of wire that held us back from plummeting to our deaths on the hall way below!!! now no fun in the daylight, never bloody mind in the dark with torches!! luckily michael remembered how scared i get and made sure there was enough room for me to slide flat along the wall whilst hanging on to him hyperventilating! stevi however, just gave me a look of pure and utter disgust!! the little bitch!!! just wait til we do something that she has a phobia about!!!!! all in all the tour was very good and very good value for money, we were in there for about 2 hours and it only cost us $49 (£20) for a family ticket. the next night we went to see snow patrol!!! it was a brilliant concert and they are coming back in september so i will be eagerly awaiting ticket sales!!! i tried with my crap camera to take some pics but alas crap camera = crap pics!!!!! natalie took some good ones and she also videoed some of it!!! she has promised me copies but she is a worse slacker than me so i wait with baited breath!!! she also managed to get shitfaced????? we couldnt understand why she was so wasted and we werent!!! then it transpires that when she was going to the bar she was having sneakies!!!!!!! so thats about all i have done apart from eat, work and try to sleep in thlast couple of weeks!!!!

SNAP may 1995 - feb 2007

2007-02-23T10:32:00.000+08:00

well i was busy with rhona and rob last week but i will post all about that later. today i went on bebo to find that snaps new owner has set up a site for him. sadly some not so very nice person ran my baby over on the 21/2/07. needless to say we are all devastated, we loved that cat and had him since he was six weeks old. we would have taken him to oz with us if we thought that he was strong enough for the flight and quarantine but being 12 years old we didnt think so. maybe in hind sight we should have just chanced it!!!! from what i have been told snap has had a very happy last 8 months, lost weight, been with other animals and even been outside. so why do i feel guilty???

sunday adventures with rhona and rob

2007-02-13T19:22:00.000+08:00

well this weekend we went exploring with rhona and rob who have come to perth on their way round a whistle stop tour of australia. we took them to whiteman park for a bbq lunch with barb, gordon and eden. then we went into caversham wildlife park which is in the park. it was fab. we got to touch and feed some of the animals and needless to say murrae got real up close and personal where he could!!!!!

last weekend, australia day, picnics and back to school!!!!

2007-01-31T09:04:00.000+08:00

well last weekend was australia day weekend, we decided that we werent brave enough to do the city thing all day so off we went to city beach, it was bloody hot, i think it topped at 43 degrees!!!!!! after a day of splashing around and laying in the sun we came home showered and braved the train in to the city to see the skyworks show. we were very surprised at how easy it was to get a good spot to relax and watch the fireworks. they were fantastic, the best firework display that we have ever been to. it was a very emotional atmosphere and i was surprised to start to feel emotions normally kept for new year!!! i didnt cry this new year and it didnt really feel like new year. here on australia day, everyone was singing waltzing matilda, the national anthem and of course the obligitory aussie aussie aussie oi oi oi! it was very odd knowing that we were the outsiders.

then on saturday we met up with nat, dave, tina, steve and joe. it was the day before tina and steves sad departure home. we went to point walter on the swan river (the site of our first aussie bbq). it was evening time, still very hot but not sunny. we just sat around chatting and looking at the cockateels and then steve and dave too the kids to the spit to fish. the kids had fun, joe got drunk and nat and i pissed ourselves laughing at her. we finished it off by sitting in the dark watching the spectacular lightening show. it was still bloody hot!!!!!!

then today it was the big one for murrae. first day at the big school!!!!!!!! he didnt sleep well last night and he looked decidedly pensive as he headed out the door with stevi to get the school bus!!! i hope he manages to settle down and begin to enjoy the experience. although i can sympathise with him i remember the dreaded first day too!!!!!

skool holidays

2007-01-25T23:11:00.000+08:00

well this week i have been back at work again and nat, tina and steve have kindly entertained my kids!! off they went to rottnest island AND nat was even on time to pick them up!!!! in fact she was 2 mins EARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! now i know that some of you would be thinking rubbish nats never early for anything but credit where credit is due!!!! i was soooooo jealous, i had to work and they are off on the ferry to the beautiful island to snorkle and shop!! steve even bought the kids fishing rods, stevi of course getting the pink one!!!!!!! much to my surprise they loved fishing even stevi!!!! she of course didnt do the holding the fish thing tho, but as you can see murrae did. he has now decided that he doesnt want to be a vet he wants to be a professional fisherman! tomorrow is australia day, its a public holiday and everyone and their dog heads to the perth foreshore of the river swan to watch the skyworks fireworks show. now i have heard that the display is beautiful and the atmosphere brilliant but nearly everyone i have talked to has either been beaten up or mugged personally or knows of someone who has. so we have decided to do the decent thing and hit the beach to soak up the expected 40 deg temp and then hopefully, if i am not too late to book, off on the fast ferry from hillarys around the coast line and perfect views of the fireworks! wish me luck!!!!

lazy sundays

2007-01-14T18:53:00.000+08:00

well this week its been back to semi normality, i say semi cos the kids are still on bloody holiday!!! 31st jan before they go back!!! michael and i however have been back at work. i did 3 dayshifts and two nightshifts. i finished this morning at 7.30am. this is my only day off and i am back on nights mon thru to thurs. michael decided that we were going to have a lazy day and just lounge around on the beach. stevi decided that she didnt want to come and mikey is still not going ANYWHERE with me in case i get drunk!!!! just wait til hes 18 and rolling in pissed!!! so murrae grabbed his boogie board and off we went. as you can see from the pics hes really getting the hang of it. we had a whale of the time messing around in the ocean and topping up our already fabulous tans. this is the life!!!! so hurry up peoples and get flights booked, we only have room for two at a time tho!!!!

new years

2007-01-08T20:48:00.000+08:00

well for the 1st time in about 18 years (apart from when i have been pregnant) that we have been kid free!!! what did we do???? nothing!!! thats what!!!! we ended up waiting all afternoon for stevi to decide what she was doing? we ended up in sizzlers for a meal and then dropping her off at her friends. i wanted to go and watch the sunset on the beach but michael decided that the car needed washing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we spent our new year on the beach at scarborough wandering along the prom speaking to my aunt and uncle from scotland trying to explain that it was only 9pm!!! then we went along to city beach and was met by heaps of families that had been there all afternoon waiting for the new year! as we were without alcohol and food we headed home. i was pleased to find that my dad was on msn!!! i was talking cyber talk with my daddy when the clock changed to 1st of jan 2007!! i had to wake michael up to celebrate the new year and then we were in bed by 12.30am. the next day we visited our friends barb and gordon where i proceeded to get shit faced and my children have decided that they dont want to come out with me again#!!!! oh well nothing changes!!!!!!!!!!!! my advice to them is get a life!! i only get drunk once in a while cos in this circumstance quality is better than quantity!!! on a more sober note this festive season has brung some sad shite! michaels gran died before christmas and then one of my friends in aberdeen died from breast cancer. heather was an inspiration to many. she kept me going when things got rough even tho she was having mega crap in her life. she was distraught when i left and i realise now that she knew that i would never see her again. in my mind she was a fighter and although i knew her prognosis was not good i trusted in her faith and thought that she would beat it finally! how sadly i was mistaken! she was a wonderful person who meant alot to me. its soooooo not right, she didnt smoke, drink, a vegetarian and a true christian! what does anyone have to do to escape the disease!! my only consolation is that there is something better and bigger than this life and that she was too important to waste here!! my heart goes out to her family at this really crap time! on a lighter note nats mum and partner have arrived in perth!!! wooooo hoooooo!!! some link with the uk!!!!!!! we have endevoured to provide them with entertainment since their arrival!!!! i went on a wine cruise on friday and much to my kids disgust didnt get shitfaced!!! so much easier to be little shits when they think their mothers a drunk!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was a lovely day, cruising along the river at a lesuirely pace drinking (slowly) luverrrrlllly wine!!! sat we met for dinner and a few drinks and then today we headed to hillarys marina for the aquarium! except we didnt make the aquarium!!! lunch was late and we just ended up strolling along the coast. so when i am back to work tomorrow nat, sparkle and steve will be entertaining my youngest two!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

christmas day

2006-12-26T09:04:00.000+08:00

well its past! christmas day is over! i have posted some pics of our first aussie christmas. the kids woke us at 7am!!! i had thought that since they are a little bit older that i'd get a lie in????? once all the presents were open and they had all sung their little hearts out on singstar, we headed to the beach. it was packed, there were people everywhere! some were just having a short visit but there were some that were obviously there for the day. little beach tents, gazebos, and of course the other aussie must have the esky!! thats a cool box to you and me! the kids were straight in the water, except mikey cos he had done his hair!!!! i decided that since we 'STOLE' phyllis and stuarts children!!!, we would build a sand man!!! no snow anywhere around so we used sand!! afterwards we headed home for showers and off to dave and mechelles for lunch. the kids had burgers and steak!!! we had cray fish, oysters, chilli mussells and prawns! i am still a little surprised at myself cos i tasted and ate all of it!!!! the kids spent the day in the pool and after we had eaten the kids were replaced by the adults, there was much throwing each other around and up on shoulders. the kids ended up in the garage singing on singstar helped by a few of the adults!!!!! by the end of the night, the kids were tired, adults boozy and it was off to bed. unfortunately i am working this afternoon so i dont get to do the whole sales shopping but i am sure stevi will shop hard enough for both of us!!!

new friends

2006-12-15T19:51:00.000+08:00

not much has happened this week. the kids are on holiday for 8 weeks and its hot hot hot!!!! last sunday we went to our friends barb and gordons. michael has been helping renovate their house and on sunday we all went up for a bbq and a few drinks. the kids were in and out of the pool and the spa. i even went into the pool for a little while!!! i have posted a couple of pics. gordon and baby eden in the spa, murrae and torry!! (the dog) in the pool and of course the gorgeous baby eden herself!!! she is the sweetest baby and i could just eat her!!!

i have a confession to make. its just over a week til christmas and i havent done a stick of shopping!!! its just not like its christmas!!! i cant get my head around it!! theres no rain, no snow and no dark nights!!! so i am very sorry to everyone who will receive their christmas presents and cards around february!!!!

murraes graduation

2006-12-10T08:34:00.000+08:00

well this week has seen us reach another milestone with our children. murrae has now finished primary school and is off to the 'big' school after the holidays. they have graduation ceremonies here. off we went on wednesday to the school hall for a graduation dinner. we thought it would be food, presentation of the graduation certificates and then off. no, we were there for 3 and half hours. the meal was good tho considering we were in the school hall and the year 7's of last year served us at our tables. the head boy and girl did most of the compering and some of the kids took us through the history of this years year 7's school life. after dessert murrae was called upon to do a little speech, or so we thought!!!! here is what he had to say.

' in july 2006 i arrived in australia from aberdeen. i enrolled at doubleview primary and joined the year 7 class. i was so nervous i felt sick, but all i had to do was talk and everyone thought my accent was cool, so i was reassured and felt welcome.

when i first entered the class i say one table and about ten others around it and i was sitting the middle with james allan, a fellow brit. he was the first boy i met and he has the same likes as i do. the other classmates were equally great. when i met the teacher she was really nice to me. this school is so different from what i'd know, for example, this school has computers that work, my old one doesnt. this school has two huge ovals and my old school only had one. we have had some awesome excursions and incursions here.

coming to australia has been the greatest decision i made. back home i would be in torment going to high school but not here and without these special friends i'd be nowhere. i want to say a special thanks to my parents for giving me this chance. i want to thank you all for your wonderful listening and i hope you have a great night.'

there wasnt a dry eye in the house!!! and there was lots of cheering and clapping as he left the podium. my little boy is really popular and not with just the kids!!! the previous principle of the school was there too and he and murrae have never met but he came over and shook murraes hand and told him that he gave a great speech and well done! i dont think i have ever felt so proud of him as i did then!!

on friday afternoon while they were all supposed to be in school!! they were actually at one of the girls houses having a pool party, the teacher was even there!! when i went to pick him up i was met by 5 girls wailing please dont take murrae away!!! the kids were all really upset that this was the end of an era!! most of them had been together for 7 years and the newer ones had been accepted into their class well. i eventually managed to drag him away at 6pm!!! it was supposed to finish at 3pm!!

i have been questioning whether we'd done the right thing by the kids dragging them half way across the world but this answered my questions. we got his report card the same night and just after he started they had to do some state wide testing, i was really surprised. murrae is well above average, he exceeds the benchmark for the state and is up there with the kids who are going to high schools as part of the 'gifted and talented' scholarships!!! he has really benefited from the extra time at primary school. hope you enjoy the pics of him in his kilt, we hired it from a place in perth and it only cost $50, thats about £20!! and we got it from wednesday to saturday!!

rumours and nites out

2006-12-05T21:44:00.000+08:00

well this week has been good and bad. i had my works night out on Saturday and had a ball. the pic is of me with my new dress on before i went out. we went for a meal but the restaurant double booked us with the pharmacy dept who had also booked for the same night!! we eventually got shared starters and pizza but by then we had demolished all our bring your own wine and were past eating!!! a good time was had by all anyway i think. that was the good! now the bad is that apparently there is a rumour going round cornhill that mikey hates his new life here and is coming home!!! according to him this is all crap but it must have started somewhere!! to anyone who is reading this and started this rumour, THANKS for starting a riot in our house. mikey assures me that he is happy here and intends staying.

murraes post

2006-11-25T21:42:00.000+08:00

Hi folks its Murrae,

this story starts with mum waking me up at 05:00 Monday and dad driving us to the east perth station. i was on the train for 6 hours listening to music and watching movies, kind of boring but ok. when we arrived at kalgoorlie it was boiling. at camp i had to make up my bed and then i played games.the two boys you see are james and harry my friends. for supper i had beef which was really hard to chew. i had to do a chore as a wash wiper. on tuesday i had breakfast and walked down hannan street, now patty hannan was the first australian to ever record finding gold. then we (meaning my school and i) went to kal museum. the pic of the huge rig thing was moved to the museum for show and i was up there. in the museum i saw all kinds of things like a old bank. for lunch we went to hannan park and i talked to cockatoo it can say scratch scratch and hello .after lunch we saw kcgm its the mining company and the super pit. We came back to camp, had Aboriginal studies and then had supper we had macaroni, then went wall climbing, i hate it. bed time. wednesday we had breaky and we played miner gambling as you can see we got fake money i lost it all. then we walked up mt charlotte and saw the super pit close up. we saw the goatcher curtain(painting) and down a mine shaft from a hotel. you see the miners stole gold using these tunnels on weekends. we had lunch at the mining hall of fame and guess what i got? gold! I had supper and quiz night. thursday,breakfast,prospecting got more gold,bbq.we had tour of coolgardie near kal. when we got back to camp we had supper and went swimming, had our skits(small play)then, lights out. friday had breakfast at 5.30 am and got the train back here. dad took me to pick up mum from work. i hope you enjoy my report for the blog. see ya.

the red bull air race

2006-11-21T09:44:00.000+08:00

hey folks, not been up to much but on sunday we went to see the red bull air race. it would have been great except we thought it would be a good idea to go to kings park to see it!!! yes us and 150,000 other people!!! we had a good view of the river and of the city but the planes were dust specks in the distance. we did think of moving down to the south perth shore but we could see the freeway from the park and it was nose to tail all the way down!! so we did what we should have done in the first place....... went home and watched it on the telly!!!!!!! well i did!! michael and stevi promptly fell asleep!!! murrae went to camp yesterday, off to kalgoorlie prospecting for gold!! it was an early start, up at 5 to get him to the station for 6.30. now had we known that it would take us only 10 minutes to get there we would have gotten up a little later!!! we arrived at the station at 5.55 and the train didnt actually leave til 7.15!! he was all smiles til it was time to leave us!! there were tears in his eyes as he gave us a last hug, once on the train he was ok as long as he didnt look out the window at us!!!! what can i say i have a real mummys boy there!!! will up date and post some of his pics when he comes home on friday!!!!

birthdays and new pets!!

2006-11-05T22:06:00.000+08:00

this week i havent done much, we have been trying to recover our energy from the busy weekend away we had. i did however go out on friday night with girls from work and ended up getting bitten to buggery!!! and no surprise but i am allergic to mossie bites, i have 10 in total. 3 on the soles of my feet and couldnt walk yesterday!!! i have one on my upper arm thats the size of a tennis ball!! its not good. they are itchy and sore!! i can walk today so thats a weight off my mind, i was shitting myself that i wouldnt be able to work on monday!!! today they are more itchy than sore so

its a start to recovery!!! the pics are of my birthday pressies sent from home and my bag from nat and joe and my pink i-pod from michael and the kids! i waited for ages for my parcel from home and was disappointed when day after day it wasnt here!!! i even got excited when we got a ticket from the post office telling us to pick up a parcel. alas no it wasnt for me. murrae won a competition and it was his parcel of prizes!!! i have never been so gutted!!!!! it did arrive in time for my weekend away however and the cocket hat t shirt and my card from morgan made my day!!!!! the other pic is of a new pet we found on the back wall this morning!!! its so much better than finding the crappy horrible creepy crawlies of aberdeen!!!!

waroona dam

2006-10-30T09:49:00.000+08:00

this weekend we had the time of our lives. we went to waroona dam, its man made and the lake is lake navarino. its beautiful. we took nearly 3 hours to drive there and have to admit that i didnt think we were ever going to get there!!! there were storms forecast for the weekend and i did wonder what kind of weekend it was going to be. storms?? what storms?? apparently there were in perth but since we were 3hours inland to the south west of perth it seemed to miss us. the weather was beautiful all weekend. mikey was water ski-ing, murrae rowed the dingys, stevi spotted on the boats for the skiers and michael and i went biscuiting! i have never been so scared in all of my life!! inflatable rings being pulled behind a speed boat with me on it??!!!! i never thought i would ever do anything like that but considering that everyone else was either ski-ing, wake boarding or on the biscuits i felt a bit of an idiot just standing there. the buscuits seemed the easiest option!!??? maybe next time i will try water ski-ing??!!! on friday we arrived, unpacked and got into some serious drinking. there were around 20 odd couples plus respective children. we had a real camp fire and a guitar! what else could you ask for? the stars were out and the kids were toasting marshmallows on the fire. saturday it was up, breakfast and away to the lake. murrae shared his breakfast with the friendly parrots that came to visit. saturday night was back from the lake, bbq and more booze! one of the guys that was with us decided at 1am that it would be a good idea to climb the tree next to the campfire. after falling off a couple of times he finally managed it but the tree didnt like it and snapped, throwing jeff to the ground! it was so funny but scary at the same time. he just got up and walked away laughing. however, no one was laughing in the morning when jeff appeared all bandaged up and hobbling off to get his foot xrayed! looks like he broke his foot as well as the tree!!! i couldnt have hoped for any better way to spend our 18th wedding anniversay, if we hadnt gone away michael would have been working and i would have been out on the piss with my friends, at midnight on friday, everyone toasted our anniversary and wished me a happy belated birthday. i will take pics of all my cards and pressies later this week. thanks folks for everything that was sent, its much appreciated!!! love you all lots. xxxxxx

new car

2006-10-17T17:37:00.000+08:00

well today i had a friend, yes!! a friend!!!over, her name is barbara and she is lovely. shes michaels friends wife. they have a gorgeous baby called eden. we had coffee and talked babies!! then michael and i went and bought a new car. we have purchased a second hand mitsubishi delica spacegear. its a 4 x 4 8 seater. its luverly!!! michael is also pleased as he kind of lost faith in the hyundai when the clutch went for the second time!!! we paid $16000 for it and got $3000 as a trade in for the hyundai. thats about £6700 to pay and £1250 for a trade in. AND we are going to waroona dam for the weekend at the end of the month. a weekend by the lake lots of bbq and booze once again!! cant wait cos thats my birthday weekend and our 18th wedding anniversary. guess this means its coming to summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! trying to get money out of the bank is a nightmare here. they couldnt give us cash and we ended up having to get a bankers cheque and we had to give them notice! and its our bloody money!!!! nat was right WA does stand for wait a while!!!!

weekend off

2006-10-14T19:55:00.000+08:00

well this is my weekend off and guess what? i have no one to do anything with!!! spoke to my chummy on the phone today and shes in the same boat! bugger!!! if only she would move over here too then we'd be made!!!! seriously tho, we went our usual food shopping today, it gets more expensive every bloody week! this week it was $250! god knows why it keeps going up!!! we then went shopping for undies! i needed to get white vests to wear under my uniform cos i have lost a little weight in the 12 weeks that i have been waiting for them to be delivered!!! mikey is off to a bbq with his work mates so god knows what time and what state he will be in when he gets home! we decided to have our own bbq so for only the 2nd time since we bought it we had bbq for supper whilst it was still light outside!! the only other time we have managed that was last weekend!! i have posted a couple of photos from last week. murrae went to rottnest island on tuesday with his friend, the cycled for miles!! his poor little bum and leggies were in agony the next day!! his friends dad took a photo of him with a quoka so hopefully he will email it on to me and i can post it on here. we are still waiting for our crate to be delivered!!! what are they doing with it!!! its been in perth for nearly a month and we are still waiting!! customs and quarantine still have it!!!! as you can see from the pics stevi has dyed her hair again!!!!! she was moaning about her roots being brown and her hair blonde so i streaked it brown, put a little more than i bargained for in tho!! never mind it stopped her moaning for all of 5 mins!!! last sunday much to her disgust we trailed them into the city to go to the museum! michael, murrae and i found it interesting but as per usual her face was on! its a huge museum there are loads of different things in it. from stuffed animals to old toys and shoes, part of it is in the old perth gaol but there wasnt much stuff from that. i was hoping to see old hanging places etc!!! it was still interesting tho! not sure what we are up to tomorrow but as per usual the weather forecast is brilliant!!!!! i DO NOT miss the cold wet dreich stuff of home!!!!

working week

2006-10-08T23:35:00.000+08:00

well this week we havent done much cos we've all been working. stevi has been babysitting for murrae as its the school holidays. he had a sleep over at his friends house so she was given a break for a morning. on the public holiday we went to the perth royal show. its a bit like the highland games but without the games!!! the actual event was centred around agricultural stuff. it originated from when the farmers used to bring their prize bulls etc into town for showing so there were lots of animals to see. there was a dog show, chicken washing??? and horses etc. the main arena had lots of events, the only one we saw was cars jumping ramps. we spent most of the day dodging the crowds, swearing under our breaths at people who stopped in the middle of the walk way to talk to friends thus blocking it completely!!! there were lots of amusements but by the time we found our way to them i'd had enough and wanted home!! the kids bought show bags, really like huge lucky bags with lots of tat in them. we got a coca cola one which contained lots of sweets, coke of course and a black cord beanbag with coca cola blazoned along the side. stevi didnt come with us as she had a prior arrangement to hit the beach with her friends. now i even stopped off a the chemist to buy her sun screen but the silly girl forgot that her back was also exposed!!! she badly burnt it and couldnt wear a bra for 3 days!!! its all peeling off now and looks disgusting, the new skin underneath is even burnt!!!! i have added a couple of photos of her and murrae at the beach last monday, murrae on his new boogie board and stevi wrapped in her towel! i have also added a couple of photos of the city, we visited it a couple of weeks ago and there is a little alleyway with quaint old fashioned shop fronts. its called london court and looks really out of place amongst the skyscrapers but its cute all the same!!!!! michael and i are on our only day off this week so we are off to explore some of the culture that perth has to offer!!!!

mikeys new t shirt and other things

2006-10-01T09:27:00.000+08:00

well this weekend we have been busy little socialites. friday was 29 degrees and everyone and their dog were at the beach, me, michael and mikey were however at work! dave and mechelle decided they were having a poolside bbq and kindly invited us round. i scurried home from work, jumped into the shower and readied myself for a nice relaxing evening. off we travelled round the corner
and up the hill. the kids were stripped off and in the pool before my first drink was in my eager little hands. here we see murrae and stevi having fun in the pool. murrae was in there til gone 9pm and must have been freezing. he is however beginning to swim like a little fishy. stevi paddled around and finally managed to swim across the pool under water. hopefully this means that shes nearly there for the real deal!!! mikey didnt stay as he had a prior engagement with his work mates and another bbq. he did as you can see have time for a quick beer. do you like his new t shirt??? his neck and arms are almost black but alas the chest and back are still aberdeen white. we ate, we drank and we were merry, well i was. that will be the very early morning, the fact that i dont get out much, oh and the bottle of smirnoff i managed to get over my throat!!!! dont remember much about getting home but apparently i was giggling like a school kid but no one knew what at!!! receipe for hangover yesterday! no!! up bright and early putting washing on tidying up etc!!! bbq no 2!!!! off we go to clint and chris mansion! what a house! its gorgeous. 3 storey high, all balconies and mezzanines!!! in the theatre room we all settled down to watch the GRAND FINAL! its an aussie rules league final thing and is the highlight of this time of year! loads of hype etc. the WA team won by one point. enter lots of screaming and running round the garden! and that was just the neighbours. it was like party central in perth last night. every street had parties going on! we ate some more and then the men settled down to some serious poker playing! now mikey and michael have never played before, mikey is a natural!!! he loves it!! and the little bugger wins!!!!! 8 hours later they are all still playing and chris and mechelle have joined the game!!! i didnt,, me being thick like still doesnt understand the rules!!!!! will have to get mikey to teach me!! think murrae probably has the jist of it too!!! apart from mikey there were 7 kids there also and i would bet that they could all play a mean hand of poker!!!!! guess what the story of the holidays will be about???? 'my dad and his friends taught me how to play poker whilst drinking vast amounts of alcohol!!!!'. now today i am not sure what we are up to but its the queens birthday on monday so its a holiday so maybe we will just relax and recharge after our couple of days on the booze and bbq cruise. then its off to the perth royal show on monday!!!! will update as it happens folks!!!!

this week

2006-09-28T10:47:00.000+08:00

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!!!!

2006-09-21T15:25:00.000+08:00

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

2006-09-11T21:45:00.000+08:00

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

2006-09-08T20:59:00.000+08:00

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

2006-09-03T10:02:00.000+08:00

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!!!!

winter my a..e!

2006-08-25T08:01:00.000+08:00

apparently its winter in australia?! this is the sky yesterday, i spent the morning sitting in the garden topping up my tan. because there is no ozone layer it gets bloody hot bloody quick. needless to say today is pissing down rain!!! its still not cold but i was hoping for both of my days off to have good weather. last night we went to the theatre, we saw a musical type play about the eurovision song contest. it was fab very interactive. there were 12 acts from various european countries, each act had a little something from previous years contests. iceland was like bjork, britain was like gemini (apparently they were pissed when they competed), and greece was a nana miskouri type. at the end we had to vote to who we thought should win. last night russia won, their act was a boy band type act. with the music a bit backstreet boys. each section of the audience is allocated a country to support, we were estonia. their act unfortunately was a gay cowboy act but very funny. it was good fun and well worth the $55 each to see it. it was all in aid of nats 30th birthday and she got the actors after the show to sign her estonian flag!!! she is such a groupie!!!!! it was performed by australian actors so sorry it wont be touring the uk. but if by any chance that it does we would highly recommend it.

We have sofas!!!!!!

2006-08-19T22:01:00.000+08:00

well at long last we have sofas!! Was getting fed up of sitting on the cheap ikea chairs. Its nice to have real seats to sit on! Finally i can sit on the sofa and fall asleep in michaels lap! the big one is a sofa bed so there is somewhere for our mega!!???? amounts of visitors we are going to have!! mmm. will wait and see just how many people actually get here! notice that we have ended up buying yet another hyundai!!! we almost bought one exactly the same colour as our old one!!!! Surprisingly enough the colour of this one on the documents is 'pink'!!!! i find it quite amusing at the thought of Michael driving around in a pink car!!!!! he states that its cherry red!!!???? Yes ok but i know what the documents say!!!

just a well the sofas came to day i have the hangover from hell. Went to works fundraiser cheese and wine night, it was good and the wine was lovely but you know me, its just never enough!!! Ended up in town with Nat and got blootered. she was talking to some aboriginal in the park and i got fed up waiting so just wandered off!!! Ended up walking around bubbling cos i didnt know where i was. i lost my phone so i couldnt even phone michael, not that i would have been able to remember the phone number!!! finally got a taxi and got home around 4.30am. feel like a complete arsehole the day like!! its not big and not clever to get bladdered in a strange city!!!! so ended up having to go and buy yet another new phone today! when will i learn??? at least no one knows me and the girls at work didnt come into town so they dont know what an arse i made of myself!!!! but i am sure there will be plenty time for me to do that again!!!!!

the new bikes

2006-08-11T18:24:00.000+08:00

we got our new bikes today! now bearing in mind that i havent ridden a bike for about 20 years let me tell you it was rather entertaining!!! it was good fun tho. i will have to slowly build up my stamina tho was knackered just riding it back from the shop and its only a 15 min WALK away!!! murrae almost got himself killed, the kid has no road sense! guess thats what comes of living at the edge of the school playing field where there is little or no traffic. we will have to watch him like a hawk. stevi and i were pulling out of a junction so he just followed mikey who was sailing a bit close to the wind! he didnt realise that the car was coming up behind him! kids under 12 can cycle on the pavement but thats it. AND it is a legal requirement that we have to wear helmets! bonnie!!!!!!. wont be cycling anywhere that i have to worry about the state of my hair!!!
michael has gone crazy, speeding around the courtyard and up and down the drive like a maniac, these pictures of him are titled 'bam on a bike' 1, 2 etc!! hopefully the rain will stay off at the weekend and we can cycle down along the beach as there are cycle paths, its all very busy here, people are out speed walking when i am on my way to work at 6 in the morning!!!! are these people mad!!!! sorry its taken so long between posts but whoever has the unsecured wireless connection rumbled us and cut us off so i have had to resort to dial up until our broadband is set up but that takes 10-14 days. notice the absence of single photos of me on my bike!!! dont think i will get away with that so will post single photos of the rest of us soon!!!!

glitz and glamour

2006-08-05T22:07:00.000+08:00

well before you all get confused about my new life down under let me tell you that its not all GLITZ and GLAMOUR. its saturday night and i am on the computer. had to get michael to drive me to the bottle shop for a bottle of plonk to keep me sane. my one and only friend in oz couldnt make it out tonight so i am destined to sit regularly checking to see if there is anyone on msn!!! not that its a great chav cos i am knackered. michael was on the piss last night wetting the head of baby eden. he staggered home around 2.30am, pronounced he was fxxxed and fell into bed, wailing 'help me' when unfastening the buttons on his jeans proved just too much! he then fell totally unconscious. that was friday night! i was on the msn giving power of my lifeline (laptop) to my sister in law so that she could fix my webcam which had decided that it didnt want to work in oz! it got to 3 am and the snoring could be heard down the street and i was getting a little tired so it was off to bed for me. today was a total write off cos the hungover person just dozed on and off in one of the only two chairs in the house, much to the annoyance of the kids who wanted to be driven to A, B or C! i however, procured my place on my deck chair in the garden and worshipped the sun god, finished harry potter and the half blood prince (nat you never said it was dumbledore that died!!!") and every available magazine in the house. eventually michael and the kids emerged from the house and had a rather laughable game of piggy in the middle aussie rules of course. as per usual it ended in tears, murrae cos he couldnt win and stevi cos mikey threw the ball and it hit the tip of her fingers. time to shop for tea me thinks!!!!!!

the 'backie'

2006-08-01T14:05:00.000+08:00

this is the view of the back of our house and our garden, its not very big but its fine for us. the path extends round the back of the house and into the garage. dad i will be depending on you to help me sort it out when you come over. i havent a clue about plants and flowers. i want to grow lemon, lime and orange trees and we did look at them at the weekend but michael hasnt got a clue either so he wasnt keen!!! there are some flowers in pots but i am buggered if i know what they are or how to look after them! the itinery of the house lists the plants as healthy and viable but i havent got a clue they could all be bloody weeds for all i know!!!!

the ootside of oor hoose

2006-08-01T13:23:00.000+08:00

this is the outside of our house. the first one is the view of the house from the edge of the courtyard at the top of the drive. the 2nd is reverse, the courtyard from the house and finally the drive with the bowling green in the distance, the white fence down the side is our garden.

and the princess!!

2006-07-28T18:03:00.000+08:00

and here she is!! she doesnt mind the uniform or the actual school but hates the bus home. its really rowdy and there are not enough seats. there is nothing we can do about it she has to get the school bus theres not a public service from the school to our house. she could walk it in about 30mins but theres not a hope in hell of that happening!!! we have also offered her a bike but thats a no too!!! i was a good girl today walked to the shopping centre in the next suburb. its like the trinity centre but with supermarkets too. it took me 20mins to walk it and i was intending taking the bus back but i chickened out and walked back too. i took a different route as the way there was all up and down hill. i walked along scarborough beach road looking at all the pretty houses. it took a little longer but i was dawdling and it basically flat!!!! if i can do that a couple of times a week then thats my exercise!!!!

oor hoose 2

2006-07-27T10:35:00.000+08:00

well this is the rest of our house. stevis room, our room and the utility room. i will take photos outside of the front and back when its stopped raining and the wind has stopped blowing!!!!!!

oor hoose

2006-07-27T10:24:00.000+08:00

these are some pictures of our house. notice the absence of tvs in the kids rooms and the suite in the living room. the kids are getting their tvs at the weekend and our suite is on order and will be here in about 4 weeks. this is our livingroom, dining room and kitchen area. its all in one big room on an open plan basis.

murraes 1st day

2006-07-26T22:04:00.000+08:00

well murrae has had his first day at his new school. the school system is a bit different here, we have to pay contributions to the school (£25 a year!) and we provide their tissues, soap and hand towels. their bags are on pegs outside, guess their not going to get snowed on etc! and we also have to provide all folders, jotters, pens, pencils (they stipulate which type and where to get them from) scissors, glue and even a hole punch. just as well its really cheap here!!! he seemed to have a good day and made a few friends. the kid he is sitting next to was born in england, father is scottish, mother irish but has been here on and off for a few years, he sounds aussie. murrae is totally confused!!! we had a meeting tonight about the end of year camp. its a fantastic camp. they are going inland to kalgoorlie for 4 days. they will have the opportunity to pan for gold, visit the mines and museums and loads of other stuff. its only $300 thats about £140 and some of the parents were questioning the cost! we couldnt believe it!! mikey went to france at the cost of £325 wonder what they would say about that ($750) and stevi went to dalguise in perth scotland and that was £275!!! michael and i just sat there biting our tongues!! these people dont like spending money! the cost of living is so much cheaper here and the wages either better of just the same! i REALLY think we are going to like it!!!

ahhhh cute

2006-07-25T19:58:00.000+08:00

i was trying to post some photos of murrae in his new school uniform but the computer keeps freezing. he looks really sweet. it was so funny when we went to the school the head boy of the school is the same age as murrae but was bigger than michael. murrae looks so small compared to the rest of the kids. he is looking forward to starting tomorrow and we will take him down at 8.50. he saw his teacher today but didnt actually meet her. she looks nice tho. it seems like a nice school so hopefully he will settle well.
stevi has also been enrolled for school, she doesnt start til thurs cos her and murrae both start at the same time and we cant be with both of them at the same time. that and we couldnt get her uniform today cos the uniform shop wasnt open. she is not a happy bunny, michael cant pick her up on thursday so she will have to get the school bus, not that its that difficult. it drops her off at the bottom of the drive!!!
well aberdeen royal infirmary gave me a nice leaving present!!! i had to be swabbed prior to starting my new job and it turns out that i am MRSA +ve in my throat! the infection control nurse said that its very rare to have it in the throat without it being anywhere else!!! i was so embarrassed, i had to be taken by the infection contol nurse down to the pharmacy dept to get body wash, bactroban nasal cream and mouthwash!!! i just wanted to cry!!! i was totally mortified! i dont think she believed me when i said that surgical patients or staff arent routinely swabbed! i think she thinks that i am dirty scrubber! and before you kenny say a bloody word remember who you will need to stay with in australia!!!!

home sweet home

2006-07-22T21:45:00.000+08:00

we have now moved in to our house. its bloody cold!!! houses here arent insulated or heated. so we have invested in some oil filled radiators for the bedrooms and an electric 3 bar radiator/fire thingy for the livingroom. it all looks rather bare and impersonal at the moment but am sure once the crate arrives in september it will be more like home. everything here is spread out and am beginning to stress about commuting to work. ari was hop skip and jump from our flat in aberdeen so it will all be a new experience. am hoping that michael starts work after me and can take me in getting home wont be such a problem. when on a late shift i can leave home early and michael will be around to pick me up at 9.30pm. the plan for tomorrow is to explore the route to work from two directions and then see what the public transport system is like. my provisional is not transferrable from the uk so i have to apply for a learners permit and sit a theory test to drive a scooter. same for mikey!!! i am going to need to learn to drive!!!! i cant get over how friendly people are here. in shops they go out of their way to help even if you are just looking. some shops even give you money off for paying cash!!! and you dont have to pay everything up front as long as its paid in full before its delivery date! its a bit like the 1970's in the uk before everyone got up their own arses!!! nothing is done in a hurry which in one way is refreshing after the rat race but is infuriating cos your used to getting things immediately!! think we are going to like it here.

so far away from home!

2006-07-19T12:47:00.000+08:00

hey peoples!!! sorry its been so long since the last update but murrae managed to bugger nats internet connection so we have all been internet cold turkey! we have a house. its not big cos the area we went for is a bit posh and very very expensive!!!!! its nice tho. no pool i'm afraid just a very small garden. theres a bowling club right across the road and its 5 mins walk from scarborough beach. the area is called doubleview, think its cos at one time there were views of both the ocean and the city. dont worry we have bought a sofa bed for when visitors come over!!! its supposed to be winter but during the day its like a normal summers day in aberdeen. it bloody cold at night tho, last night it went down to 1 degrees!!!!!! now i know thats not as cold as we have experienced before but when none of the houses have heating in them its bloody bloody cold!!!! almost heart attack when you first climb into bed!!!!! michael has found some work, little jobbies just to start him off!! we have met some people from aberdeen, michaels friend grahams wifes sister! (sorry long winded!) and her family and another guy from torry!!! we all met up on sunday at kings park for a picnic, it was nice to meet and talk to other people who have made the move. we were so obviously the british people, kids had on shorts and t shirts and me with the strappy top and skirt! all the locals were going around with jumpers and scarfs on!!!!!!!!!! oh and the fact that murrae and stevi are completely milk bottle white!!!!! well better go folkies, off to find a car today. michael wants an 7/8 seater van type thing so that when you come over dad he can drive us all around!!!!! knew that he was a keeper!!!!! speak soon, love and miss you all.

we're here

2006-07-08T18:50:00.000+08:00

we have arrived and spent our first day in oz! the flight wasnt that bad, so much better than we expected and that was with murrae vomiting on our last leg of the journey and a 6 hour delay in brunei!! today we went to see one house, it was ok, the garden was a bit on the small size but considering we have just left a flat 3 floors up, not bad at all! however, stevi hated it!!! and of course we have to do what the little princess wants!!! have another couple in mind so we will have to phone on monday to try and view. 1st impressions of perth? fantastic and its supposed to be winter!!!!!!! yes it is bloody cold at night but it was definately shorts and t-shirt material during the day! nat thinks its freezing but then we have just left deepest darkest aberdeen!!!!! will update when we have more news! everyone we miss you already!!!

this is it, this time i know its the real thing.............

2006-07-05T01:09:00.000+08:00

well this is definately it! we fly to london tomorrow, spend the night in a hotel in heathrow and then we tackle the mammoth journey to perth WA. the nice gp that i have has given me 4 sedatives for the flight and a whole months supply of nicotine patches. surely this and the copius amounts of vodka will get me through it!!! enough of the jest tho, its extremely sad leaving friends and loved ones although exciting and scary at the same time. you guys know who you are! we're sorry that we're leaving you all behind and we love you all bucket loads. part of our hearts will always be in aberdeen but we are out to make a new life in oz. hopefully one day we will be able to feel like its truly a home from home. we will try and update this as often as possible but suspect that nat has plenty of plans for us!!!!!

AAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH

2006-06-27T17:00:00.000+08:00

stress what stress?????? i am now officially stressed. we move out in 2 days and the only person that seems to care is me!!!!!!!!! there is enough washing to be done to keep a chinese laundry in business for a month, the shipping company are coming today and the pile for them just keeps growing!!!!!!! i cant eat i cant sleep and my smoking has increased ten fold! michael keeps finding homers to do, the kids social lives have taken on new meaning while i just sit smouldering away!!! oh anyone want a lilac fronted chest of drawers and matching entertainment unit oh and of course a 6 month old light beech tv and video cabinet??? free to good home as long as it can be removed within two days!!!!!! i have just realised that we have only two hours between each flight, shit now i am totally frantic, what if any of them are delayed???? we could be stranded in a foreign country!!!!! now i know that i MUST visit the doctor to get something before i explode! natalie help me please!!!!!!!

clock

2006-06-23T22:11:00.000+08:00

hooray, natalie has posted a count down clock for me!!!! way hey!! now everytime anyone logs on they can see how long i have left in this country!!! its really stressful trying to get round everyone that you want to see before you leave. so little time so much to do!!