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

HE

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

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!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

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

1. you live or have lived in torry


2. you work in the fish


3. you frequent the hotel metro


4. you get your clothes fae the thrift shop


5. you still own a grifter bike


6. you have ginger hair


7. you live or have lived in cove


8. you have won the lottery


9. you holiday in the costa del sol

video

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

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

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

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

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!!!!

• 
  
  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

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

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!!!!