Finally …

Well, it’s been a very sad week for me and the thought of Christmas and my birthday without you being with us has meant my enthusiasm for putting up the tree has been essentially non existent.  But everyone else deserves a happy Christmas so today, up it went.

It looks beautiful! No presents underneath yet, but there will be soon.  The present I want more than anything is one that won’t come in a box or a bag. It can’t be wrapped in paper and tied with a ribbon.  The best gift I could hope for is having you happy and here with us.  Xxx

Getting ready for Hastings

Hello precious 🙂

We’ve had a busy weekend and most excitingly we have already begun packing our first load of gear to take down to Paul’s unit at Hastings Point.  We went up the coast yesterday and had dinner at Uncle Michael’s. We arrived late in the day but the weather wasn’t compatible with a summer’s afternoon dip. The sky was grey and the wind was howling.

Add your own sound effects …. imagine wild whistling wind as  you look at this photo taken from Michael’s balcony.

Dinner was delicious. Uncle Michael is an awesome cook. He made us a very fresh Asian beef salad for entree and then a super spicy chicken curry and rice for main. And there was even a box of Ferrera Rocher chocolates for desert!  I was good and only had two. You would have been proud of me.

Who’s the good cook? It’s not me!

We stayed at Nanny’s last night and this morning loaded the spare mattresses and your boogie board into the car before heading back to Uncle Michael’s again.  There, we got his stand up paddle board and tied it onto the roof of the car.  It’s going to be so much fun using that down at Hastings.  We are going to get Marley a doggie life jacket so she can stand at the front of the board when we go paddling.

Paddleboard fun here we come

Home now. It’s Sunday afternoon and we are looking forward to seeing you soon and enjoying the holidays.

Ha. I’ve just turned around to look at Marley sleeping beside me.  She thinks she’s human!

Sleepy dog

Flying in the rain

It’s raining – finally.  Every day this week has been threatening with thunder rumbling high above the clouds in the late afternoon but mercilessly, tears from the sky have failed to follow. Until today! It has been so disgustingly hot and sticky I’m glad for the forced drop in temperature that the falling cloud juice brings.  I don’t even care even some of it happens to come through our broken windows so glad am I to not be raining on myself with ever beading sweat sliding down my skin. IIcckky iicckky iicckky.

I doubt however that all the graduating year seven students having their ceremonies and parties tonight will be as happy about the rain as I am.  Grace and Erinny have their graduation ‘do’s on tonight, as does Paris.   I think it’s funny (as in weird coincidentally funny) that both of my friends’ daughters are wearing black dresses with tiny shoe string straps so that they can’t be classified as officially strapless. I wonder what Erinny is wearing.  Remember your graduation two years ago?  Was the theme starry, starry night or something like that?  I know you looked beautiful and happy even though you and your friends all cried at the end.

Sorry, went a little off topic there!

As the header of this entry suggests, Paul is flying home to Brisbane from Melbourne right at this very moment.  There is obviously some lightening around so I hope that his trip hasn’t had too much turbulence. He has been away since very early Monday morning and had four big work days down there. He will be glad to get home but tomorrow has to get up at 4:30 to do a 5:00 a.m. PT session, then drop his car off at Zupps MtGravatt and then get a bus into to the city to get to work! He will be wrecked by the end of the day that’s for sure – but then it’s the weekend! And YOU will be on holidays!

Hope you are looking forward to our rainbow.  Xxx

Running late with the Christmas Tree

Here it is.  Still cooped up in its box.  Waiting to bust out its branches and throw on some bling.

With the storm two weeks ago and all the chaos subsequently created, we haven’t had the time or space to liberate the tree from its cardboard confine yet.  Paul pulled it out from under the house on the weekend but it hasn’t moved since. We still have several broken windows covered with plastic and plywood. Boxes have had to be moved all about the house because the front verandah was a disaster zone.  Your room has become a bit of a dumping ground which you wouldn’t like at all but then again it doesn’t look too different from some of your messier “bad room days”.

Maybe we will get the Christmas tree up this weekend but we probably won’t have time. We have to go up to Nanny’s to pick up the mattress that is still there as well as pick up Uncle Michael’s stand up paddle board. We are going to take them down to Hastings Point for the holidays.  The tenants at Paul’s unit gave notice that they are moving out this weekend and the real estate agents haven’t found new tenants so we will be able to use it over the Christmas holidays.

Remember when you jumped off the bridge at Hastings and threw your snorkelling googles in first, thinking they’d float? You and Chloe spent two hours searching for them. And then there was your ‘catch a fish with a bucket’ escapade that you refused to give up on!   (It goes with out saying that you and a friend or two are welcome any time).

Guess who got sunburnt?!!!

Yesterday afternoon Brady and I drove to Caboolture to get the windscreen replaced in my car.  It was all cracked from the storm last week.  Afterwards we drove up to Nanny’s, who just got back from a pacific islands (Fiji, Vanuatu etc) cruise. The three of us went to Uncle Michael’s place for dinner and had a great time. He opened a beautiful bottle of champagne and he cooked a totally scrummy dinner.  We also listened to lots of music and Michael and I even re enacted some of our silly made up “act out the lyrics” dancing we used to do when we were kids. Not pretty to look at but we had fun.

You get the idea

We stayed the night at Nannie’s and this morning she helped me with some car insurance jobs while Brady drove himself to the beach.  Your boogie board was at Nannie’s so he borrowed it (“thanks Erin”) but said the waves weren’t any good.  Anyway, he was only there for an hour and low and behold – just for a change – he got sunburnt.

Ouch!!!

Seriously, no one can tell him. I just keep saying “it’s not going to be my fault when you get skin cancer!” (And I know you can hear me saying that can’t you?!)

Time for something new

Well, all of us thought, me especially, that you’d be back by now ….. but you’re not and we all, me especially, miss you!!!!

Mooza just relaxing while I write /type this

I thought I’d start this so you can visit any time you like and we can keep you posted on what is happening for everyone you love and who love you right back.  So Erin-ka-perin, even though you aren’t here, you will know from our daily message that no matter what we are keeping you close to our hearts.