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The Family Bandwagon

Our family is spread out across the country and across the world, and what better way to keep in touch than a collaborative digital journal?

Sunday 31 December 2006

New version of Blogger

Hi all,

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've swapped this blog over to the NEW Blogger. What that means to you all is that you need to upgrade too! It's pretty simple, just say "upgrade to new blogger" or something.. and then if you don't have a gmail account, create one! Then you'll have a new email address (that you don't need to check if you don't want to), but you'll also be able to write new things to the Bandwagon.

Apparently there's more functionality and stuff, but I'm not sure.

I know it's a bit of a hassle.. but the old Blogger won't be around forever...

:)

p.s. happy new year everyone!

*hugz*

Saturday 30 December 2006

Happy New Year

Hope you all have a safe and fun New Years Eve tomorrow. Damien and Cheryl visited to say goodbye this morning on their way home. They've booked into Bordertown tonight. The motel has a pool they'll make use of.
Nana and Auntie Denise didn't get to Shep on Wednesday. Josie was sick. Since they were ready to go, they went shopping instead. They went to Shep on Thursday and had a nice day. Jodie took her (Chris's) car and then headed home to Melbourne.
Damien told me Lisa was sick today, so they didn't see her when they went to say bye. I rang to offer to have Carolynn and Jared but Adam said they were being great helpers. Hope no one else succumbs.
We had a quiet day here, laundry, floor washing and Dad put up the rest of our lights. The ants are busy again. Will it rain? It is in Canberra and Melbourne but not in Bendigo where it's needed.
I'm making sweet and sour pork stir fry for tea. That has used up the christmas leftovers before new year.
Lots of love to you all. We're thinking of you.
Love from Mum and Dad

Sunday 24 December 2006

Our Christmas tree

Thought I'd post to say "Happy Christmas"... and check out our Christmas tree (especially look at all our presents.. heheheh)! :)

O Christmas tree

I think we're just about ready for Christmas on Monday. Last weekend we made Baileys.. unfortunately I think we'll need to make some more THIS weekend. Hehehe. Here are two pictures from the evening and more can be found in my Christmas 2006 set on Flickr.

Toil and Trouble

Mixey mixey

Hope everyone is happy and healthy!

Wednesday 20 December 2006

Happy Birthday Lisa!

Happy Birthday! I hope you're having a good one.. we'll see you Friday night.

The Family Bandwagon

The Family Bandwagon

Stranger Danger

Stranger Alert, well nearly a stranger its been sooo long since my last posting... :( I have been keeping up to date though, Happy Birthday Carolynn!! Did you have a great day? I love seeing all the photo's, I especially dig the purple tree! :) oh and the puppy!! lots of puppies.... the more puppies the better. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. I had a great day, Glenn brought me some stunning bling from Paris, a necklace and matching earings!! ...of course I now have to go shopping to get some clothes to match! hehehe, oh and I have flying pigs! thanks Damien and Cheryl, I havent played it yet, Glenn wrapped them up as a chrissy present and put them under the tree, he's gone a little present crazy, I'm afraid when I get home tonight I wont be able to find the salt and pepper shakers... hmmm. Glenn is still sick! he's at home today, after not having much luck getting in to see the doctor's, the process is quite convoluted if you havent been before, then getting an appointment can take weeks! He is getting better just very slowly. We have been really enjoying having Dayna with us, I think we will be quite sad when she leaves, but it does mean weekends away to Manchester to catch up, which is always fun. I think the best thing at the moment is Christmas, our house is very festive, and the tree looks great, we will have to stick a picture online, we have decorated our own santa stockings and have pinned them to the fire place! hehe Dayna's idea, and it was a lot of fun! I'm really glad we did them. We also have a pack to make our own crackers as well, something for the weekend me thinks. Take Care everyone, big hugs to all. love deexoxox

Sunday 17 December 2006

Almost Christmas




Well, it is almost Chrissy and we still haven't finished our shopping - like mum and dad we have just been to busy with other stuff! But I am hoping to finish before Friday, unlike mum and dad LOL!
So, here is what we have been doing -
About 13 weeks ago (start of the school holidays) Manga got out of the yard to visit the dog over the back. We were hopeful, but it did end up being a male doberman and 3 weeks ago Manga had a healthy litter of 7. They are now getting really active and today they graduated from an inflatable swimming pool to chicken wire blocking them from the back door.
As previously posted, Carolynn is today a teenager! We gave her some cards and an iPod shuffle, and she got bathers and money from nanny and poppy, and money from nanna, and lip gloss from tamara, ray and adam. She has a break-up party at the pool tomorrow and that's it for school for her.
Jared finishes on Thursday, unless we decide he can have the last day off (Scott might be visiting that day) Before that Parent's Association still has the grade 6 graduation lunch and a BBQ for the end of year concert and awards evening (I am President for another year)
Trinity has been practising her walking between things, and has been walking further and further and not falling down quite as often. It is so cute to watch, she points at things like "I am going to walk over there" and off she goes :) Clever girl!
Oh, and Damien and Cheryl, we have booked a Chinese restaurant for Friday night, so if you are in town then you are invited, and if not I guess you miss out... :P We went there with some friends last month and it was pretty nice.
I think that is about everything, I will try to upload some photos now :)

A virtual card for you all

And especially for those of you overseas..

Happy birthday Carolynn

Hope you have a great birthday Carolynn. Finally a teenager. That's pretty scary! You certainly looked grownup yesterday in those high heels. We'll look forward to seeing you soon. Lots of Love from Nanny and Poppy

Saturday 16 December 2006

Getting in the Christmas spirit!

Hi all,

Today Dee and I went shopping for Christmas decorations. Poor Glenn is still not quite well (he got sick last week in Paris because he let his feet get wet). Shopping was busy - the taxi driver on the way home (yes, we got so much stuff we couldn't carry it) said that today was the busiest day before Christmas - apparently next Friday is too close. Regardless of how busy it was, we found a lot of festive decorations, including some great stockings - I'll post pictures below, and you can see more on my Flickr.

We had a lot of fun tonight, decorating until our little hearts were content. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

*hugz*

Creativity at work

Glenn's stocking

Dee's stocking - final

dayna's stocking

All ready to go

Wednesday 13 December 2006

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Dad was a wonderful Santa tonight. He has three more appearances booked early next week. We're hoping the weather is kind. Tonight wasn't bad, but he was very hot in his suit. Plenty of Ho!Ho!Ho's and he'll feature in several photos.
Our blue Christmas tree didn't win at the Connections Christmas craft show despite Carolynn adding lots of votes. It will be our tree for this year so I've put it in the front entrance area. Lisa's placemats were very popular with plenty of orders.
Tamara's wedding is the next thing on the agenda.(after two more days at work)
Lots of love to all. Looking forward to seeing those still in the country. Merry Christmas.

Monday 11 December 2006

Hi everyone

Hi everyone sorry I havent been posting I havent been able to find the site at school or on adams computer. Ifinish school on friday the 15th & I hope you dont forget my birthday.

Friday 8 December 2006

Happy Birthday for yesterday Dee!!

I DID remember yesterday.. i promise..
*smile*

I was even going to send you an sms.. then i realised it wouldn't work cos you're out of the country. :)

*big hugz* and i'll see you next week!

back on line

Hi all, using Dayna's computer that Dad has connected, I've got in to check emails and read the blog. It's not the same as ours was (whenever is it?) but I think it might be faster. Maybe because there's less junk on it. You all need to send me emails so the address goes into my address book. I hope Adam is able to save the family tree Maker information, my Luxor game, bejewelled delux with the crack, and I'll load back Print artist, Photoshop, and any other programs I find I'm missing.
Damien and Cheryl the Christmas tree is lovely. We have a blue and silver one to go in the display at the Church. I'll use it as our tree for this year then give the frame back to the craft group. I have the nativity scene in the fireplace and dad has made the star light up.
I haven't read the other entries from Glenn and D and Dayna. I'll look forward to that. It makes you seem much closer when I can write to you and read what you are up to.
Lots of love from Mum and Dad

P.S. Job..

I forgot to blog - I've decided to take the position in Manchester. So I'll be moving there at the start of January (probably in to temporary accommodation until I sort out a good place to live).

I've not had any formal notification of the position (I'll email them next week), but after speaking to the people who are effectively my supervisors, I've decided that the pssition will be challenging enough, but with enough flexibility to let me decide what I want to focus on - demos, workshops or just setting up a good system to make sure everyone can find everything. *grin*

So - I have work.. so I can enjoy my month's holiday (frugally.. the Aussie dollar doesn't go very far over here. *grin*)

yay!

Hello from Bristol

I'm sittling here in Bristol Library using free internet.. I've got 16 mins left.. so I'll have to keep this short.

I arrived in Bristol last night and found my way to the Backpackers (not as nice as the one in Manchester.. but cheaper - so I guess it's fair enough). After a mostly restful night, I decided to go wandering today. Unfortunately, it's been raining on and off.. so it's not the best weather for wandering. It's funny - it's cold, but a mild kind of cold - i KNOW it's going to get much much more icy! :)

Tomorrow I think I'll go and check out Bristol's science centre (predictable..).. it's called At Bristol, and unfortunately they've got the Alice in Wonderland exhibit from the States that I saw when I visited Glasgow Science Centre back in June. O well.. I'm sure they'll have lots of other things for me to look at and play with (I hope!).

Saturday I'm going to catch up with Jono and Erin (I worked with Jono in 2003-4) - they're currently living and working here.. and then on Sunday I'm getting a lift to Bath. I'm planning on catching the train from there back to Edinburgh, so I should be home around the same time as Glenn and Dee (although I don't know what time they're getting home.. o well..)

Hope everyone is well.. and I also don't have any photos.. although maybe I can upload the Bristol Cathedral when I get home (I don't have the camera cable with me).

Carolynn and Jared - can you each write a blog to let us all know what you've both been up to?

*big hugz*

Wednesday 6 December 2006

Well we're here in Paris, enjoying our break. Today we watched the highlights of the Ashes in a Canadian bar, cheering away (it's amazing how patriotic you become when you're winning!) and drinking 'moosehead'. The city is rainy, but beautiful - no photos yet because I'm writing on the Nokia via the hôtel wifi.

Today we got the last of the Christmas presents, so it's off to l'office de la poste tomorrow to send. Dayna, we got you a little tree ornament as well, from Galleries Lafayette (ps. it's purple) where we walked around for ages yesterday (that place is huge!).

Dee's birthday on Thursday, jeudi, so tomorrow (mecredi) I'm hunting solo - help! She thinks I'm kidding when I say I don't know what to get her. Poor little chickpea; she'll learn the truth soon enough I guess.

Anyway, hope everyone is well!

Saturday 2 December 2006

Christmas Tree photos


Well here's a photo of our tree. Cheryl made those fantastic beaded decorations, and the rest of the stuff we had bought last year in the post Christmas sale. It's only a tiny tree, but it works for us :)

You can see some close up shots of the ornaments (i was playing with the settings on the camera) here, here, here and here

Tuesday 28 November 2006

Look what Glenn did...

I've finally got my computer set up here.. (thanks for the use of the monitor Glenn and Dee - I'll get one when I move).. and Glenn had a bit of fun with a program called Comic Life.. heheh..

Enjoy!

*hugz*

Compact, Portable and Noisy

Saturday 25 November 2006

Coastal day trip

Hi all,

Cheryl and I have just arrived home after a bit of a drive down the coast. We headed down to Normanville beach, which is about the same distance as Victor Harbour. We had some breakfast there, headed up the coast a bit to another beach, then back to Normanville for a picnic lunch (it was good food!) and then home again via Myponga beach. It was basically a joint "we need to test out the car" and "it's 33 degrees today" decision, although the hot weather didn't stop the ocean from being freezing.

Thursday 23 November 2006

Manchester

Just a quick one.. I've been here since Wednesday lunchtime.. and most of the time I've been here it's been raining! I have been willing the rain over to Mum and Dad.. heheh.. other than the rain, it seems like a good place. I've got a chat tomorrow with the people at the Uni, so keep your fingers crossed that it's all happy - cos then I'll have to find myself a flat here. :)

I'd best get going - I'm in a hostel and only have a short amount of time.

*big hugz*

Wednesday 22 November 2006

more Wallace

Been doing some family tree stuff. Glenn and Dayna, you are descended from the Wales clan who I think was also the Wallace clan. I'll try to get a summary of our Scottish ancestors in case you can do any research there more easily than here.
Today we had a phone call from Tamara. They'll be visiting on Saturday/Sunday. I have an Intimo (bras) demo here on Saturday so hopefully the men will make themselves scarce. Dad thinks he'll go to Talbot to the wreckers if he's not playing bowls. He opted out of the team last week because it was the Swap Meet. Also Auntie Denise's birthday so we may go out for tea.
Lisa has given me the Laser info so I'll get onto that tomorrow Dayna. Who was the compulsory third party insurance provider? Did you tell them you'd sold the car? Lisa has deregistered the Magna and put the Laser in her name.
Glenn and D, I suggested we photograph your furniture. You'll feel at home when you visit with a fridge and a set of shelves(now storing CD's/ DVD's, a food processor and a toolbox). Dad worked out a way to stack them that I'm happier with. I was trying to push the drawers in, but I think they were made to stick out a bit. Dad could fix that. We'll just need to put you in the back room and you can pretend it's your flat. Your metal shelves are in the store room and have made that much easier to access. If you want them back I'll have to buy you new ones.
Lots of love to all. Hope all is going well for you.

Monday 20 November 2006

Walking!!


Yes, something truly blog-worthy! Last night Trinity took her first steps ALONE! It was a proud moment, obviously, and we made sure to get photos. I will have to do some editing but here is a better one. I don't know if it was the idea of walking the cat that inspired her, but that is what she did. Carolynn put the cat harness on Trinity's toy kitty - Trinity says "ow, ow" and pats it, it's very cute. Now she can walk it (I have since cut the lead so it is Trinity sized)
Another cute Trinity story - my chair is close to a table, and Trinity was standing up on the chair, she leant backwards and hit her head on the table, so I rubbed her head and gave her a hug and a kiss. When she was happy I gave her her baby doll. She gave it a hug and rubbed it's head and I asked if she had bumped her head too. Well, Trinity held the doll by it's arm and whacked it's head on the table, then rubbed it's head and hugged it. I laughed and said "oh, poor baby, she hit her head. Are you going to give her a kiss too?" Trinity made kissy faces and offered the doll to me so I kissed it then she did too. It was just too cute!

In other news, Glenn, Dee, Dayna, there should be a parcel on it's way to you guys soon. Happy Birthday Glenn (late) Happy Birthday Dee (early, unless it takes a while to get there) and Merry Christmas all (again, early) I hope you all enjoy it. :) And I hope you are good at sharing. lol.

Friday 17 November 2006

39 hours and a space cadet

Hello hello..

Another blog from me to let everyone know that I made it safely to Glenn and Dee's place last night.

After getting to Melbourne airport around 5 or 6pm on Wednesday afternoon, I arrived in Edinburgh at about 8.30pm Thursday night. You may be thinking "that's only 28 hours.. where did 39 come from?".. and the answer, my friends, is Time Difference! Yes, the times above are local times.. so to get an accurate length of travel, simply add the 11 hours that Melbourne is ahead of Edinburgh. *phew*..

By the end of the trip, I was very much a space cadet... and I must say that I still feel like one today.. so this will just be a short post before I head in to town to sort out my phone and to get some fresh air (so very fresh - brrr).

During the trip I traveled in an assortment of ways - buses, trains, planes, the underground, a taxi and my own two feet. I had about 40 kgs of luggage to contend with - which was fine for the plane ride but not so fun for the tube/underground experience.. especially since the direct line from Paddington (where the Heathrow Express (train) dropped me) to Kings Cross (where I caught the train to Edinburgh) was not working.. that might not sound like much but it meant two underground trains, at least one extra set of stairs (with my 25kg backpack and a trolley with another 20kgs of so). *phew* I certainly got my exercise yesterday. :)

Anyway, I'd best get a move on - I think it's about lunch time over here and I'm going to get something whilst I'm out.

Take care and let's see if everyone can write a new blog entry (not just reply to other blogs). :)

*hugz*

Tuesday 7 November 2006

Trin's christening, packing up and a whole lot of things

Hi all,

I too have been quiet on the Bandwagon front. I meant to send something about Trin's Christening ages ago.. oops. Anyway, better late than never I always say. *grin* Do you like the picture? It's one of my favourites.

I really enjoyed the few days I had in Bendigo - it was great to see everyone again.

Jared, how did the production go? Did your hero pose go down well? How are you going with the AstroJax? There's even a website about it - maybe you could find some new tricks.

Carolynn, did you end up going to the park? Did you talk to your music teacher about learning the clarinet? I think it'd be really cool for you to learn it - I learnt flute and then clarinet when I was at school. *grin*

I'm glad that the Laser coped with all of the stuff that I packed into it too. For those of you who didn't see it, I had packed the poor little car almost to the rafters. The influence of Dad's packing ability along with three years of living at Halls and coming home (with all my stuff) for the holidays, followed by two years as a Smover having to carefully pack a station wagon every tour means that I am really good at packing things into as small a space as possible. The car didn't handle as well as it has in the past - but given that it was FAR heavier than it's been before, I'm not surprised.

I finished work last Tuesday, and have been packing and cleaning since then. I managed to sell most of my furniture (the bed, coffin shelves, bookshelves, tv and other stuff). Today the Salvos are coming to pick up the washing machine (some time between 7.30am and 3.30pm - so I've got to wait around all day.. blah!), removalists are coming Thursday morning and carpet cleaners on Friday. It's really strange to be packing up the house - but strange in a good way.

Anyway, this is already a long entry, so I'm going to stop here and let someone else have a say.

Ooh, and I DID get a Halloween Bandwagon header (mostly) done - I'll send it through once I finish it.. see - better late than never! *grin*

*big hugz* to all..

Birthday, Wallace, Specs

We've been a little quiet on the bandwagon, so I decided to put my day off to good use and write an update about Dee and my activities of late.  (Unfortunately, after writing about 500 words of classic prose, poignant reflections on the craziness of la vie moderne punctuate with amusing quips and quibbles, Firefox crashed and lost my bloggy efforts.  The following entry is thus an attempt to reconstruct based on the principle of "er, what did I write last time?")

First I have to say THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU to everyone for their well-wishes (and presents) for my birthday.  I had a great time -- a brilliant meal at a fancy-pants restaurant with my beloved, then getting stonkingly drunk on semi-expensive wine, then chasing it with a tall coffee with cream and those delicious little mints.  A brilliant night -- and well and truly worth the headache the next day.

00049.jpgI got some very nice gifts, too -- Egglings (eggs that you crack open and little plants grow from); Ambergris wash (made from whale sick, look it up!); green tea picked by specially trained monkeys (as opposed to monkeys who have a more general education such as the VCE, or A-levels). 

From Dee I got an awesome gift -- the Suunto T3 heart-rate monitor watch!  Stylish in black, the T3 records heart-rate, calories and "training effect" for each training session -- brilliant, since I'm trying to concentrate on my personal fitness goal of running the Edinburgh marathon (I've actually been running the equivalent of a couple of miles about three times a week at the gym -- which I can only do now that I got fitted for some new runners, as my old ones were horrible, plastic and hurt my feet).

00001.jpgWe took a weekend away to the foot of the highlands a little while ago, staying at the little cottage house shown here.  We travelled by bus to Stirling, home of the William Wallace monument, and spent an afternoon climbing circular stairways and learning about Braveheart.  We've not been anywhere since, but we're both working as much as we can at the moment to save up some dosh.  We've got all the tickets and everything for Paris in Decembre, and then we're planning on visiting Egypt early next year, and maybe a bit of an Eastern Europe tour sometime too.

Of course we're looking forward to seeing Dayna in a couple of weeks, and having her with us for Christmas.  Dee wants to make her "Haley's Comet" again this year -- the Christmas pudding with enough brandy to run a 1925 Silver Anniversary Buick for about 17 hours straight -- so I've got to get the local fire department on speed dial before then, you know, just in case.  She also wants to instigate a new family tradition -- making home-made Baileys.  (Actually, this is a borrowed tradition from some dear friends, and so much fun.)  We're going to get a "living tree" for Christmas, then put it out on the balcony (or in the hallway) until 2007, and try to keep it alive!

00002.jpgThe other news is, as you can see from the picture, that I've got some new glasses.  It's about time, really -- since I lost my "nice" ones in the ocean off Adelaide's coast I've been wearing contact lenses and the "spares", which I don't really like that much (they were two for one at Budget Specs back in Uni).  These new ones are, I think, pretty trendy.  I'm also trying out monthly contact lenses -- that is, lenses that you wear for 30 days (including overnight) and then throw away.  It's brilliant being able to wake up and see in the morning, and until my prescription settles I'm not going to get laser surgery (it needs to be stable for a couple of years, really).

Not much else, although I've uploaded the baptism photos to Flickr if anybody wants them.  (Such a cutey!)

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Thursday 2 November 2006

Lemony!

Here's our friend Lemony.

Tuesday 31 October 2006

Trinity

Well, you all know we had Trinity Baptised last weekend. We got lots of photos, and I have some of the photos Dayna took as well. Fiona got some but I have to catch up with her to see what she has.
I thought I would also let you all know that Trinity has been trying to stand up by herself. At Jared's school production she sat up the front with Carolynn on some mats. She pushed up onto her hands and feet, and balanced herself to stand up for a few seconds before letting herself down. She did this a couple of times, it was a bit sad that Adam wasn't there (he didn't feel well that night)
But she did it again at Carole's on Saturday night, it was so cute. She did it a few times, like, oh, that was fun, see if I can do it again! The other thing she has started this week is climbing up on the couch! Such a clever little girl! She will be walking by Christmas I'm sure :)
I'm having trouble uploading photos, so I will do that later.

Thursday 19 October 2006

Car shopping

Cheryl and I are in the market for a car. It's part of a longer term plan to buy a house, possibly next year. We've got three cars in mind which we've heard good things about - the Holden Barina, the Ford Laser and the Toyota Camry. Based on the amount of money we have, something in the range of 1995 and up for a year.
We're going to have a look at a 1997 laser this weekend, but based on last weekend I wont hold my breath. We'll let you know how we go with it all.. it's possible that if we come back for christmas we might even be driving :)
What have you guys been doing? And have you heard anything good or bad about the cars we're looking at?

Saturday 14 October 2006

And the birthday wishes continue..

Happy Birthday Glenn!

I hope you've had or are having a good day. What did you get up to to celebrate?

Wednesday 11 October 2006

the internet is not a series of tubes. it's a sack of presents!

Hi all,

Just a gift update. Mum and Dad, the book is still on order in the US, so the current approximate delivery is the end of November.. but it's going to depend on when they get the book, and then about three weeks after that for postage. It's being posted straight to your house though.

Glenn, happy birthday for Saturday! We've ordered you a gift from your wishlist online, so don't go buying anything off there. If it's not at your house already, it can't be far off.. and sorry if i've ruined the surprise ;)

Thank you Mr. Internets.

Sunday 8 October 2006

Happy Birthday Dad!

Just what the title says, Happy Birthday Dad. I hope you're having a relaxing day :)

Saturday 7 October 2006

How good in your hearing?

Apparently there's a sound which no "adult" can hear. Kids in the UK have been using it as a ringtone, so they can recieve calls in school and their teacher wont know.

It's based on the fact that your hearing degrades over time, although I can hear it and so can Cheryl (and technically we're too old) .. so i'm interested to see if you guys can too.

Click here to listen to a wav of the file. Then let us all know if you hear anything.

Sunday 1 October 2006

Happy Boys-day

Happy Birthday Damien!

I hope you're having/had (I can never remember the international time ... I think it's now the day after the day before, er, you know what I mean, or if you don't then, well maybe you're me) a brilliant day and enjoy all your gifts and (more importantly?) the attention *wink*. Did you enjoy (wait, that is definitely NOT the right word!) appreciate "An Inconvenient Truth"? We're going to look out for it in the local Indy (that's Indy-speak for "Independent", Mum and Dad *even cheekier wink*) cinema.

How old are you now, little brother? Twenty-six or something equally ridiculous, no? I can still remember all our childish misbehaviour -- He-man vs the Ninja Turtles, battling it out in either Castle Grayskull, the TMNT Sewers or that place where Hordak and his goons hung out, what was it called? I remember painting Superman black to make him an evil Superman (your Batman toy had so much more anghst, dang!), and how the Transformers could kick butt over regular Matchbox Cars every single time, despite Matchbox's superior numbers. Ah, good times.

And that was just last week on your podcast. (Hey, there's a topic for next week!)

Anyway, Cheryl said you got your pressie, and so did you from work the other day, so enjoy! Thinking of you tonight as I have 一献 of sake. Mmmm, sake. Tell me again when you heading to Japan? How many bottles of delicious rice-wine are you allowed to smuggle bring back completely legitemitely? (Yes, I just found the strikethough button in this editor. It's cool!)

In other news: today, whilst looking for some gym shoes, I got Dee a guitar.

It's nice, too -- a black acoustic Fender, sweet tones, came in a beginners pack which included a tuner, set of strings and DVD. I also got a stand for it, so it can sit out in our lounge-room and tempt us to play, or at least attempt to play.

We've watched the first lesson on the DVD, and have been practising E5 and A5. I'm sure all the guitaristas out there are probably laughing, but it's a start for us -- I can't wait to get some tablature and have a good ol' jam some time in (probably) a couple of months. Maybe she'll even go for an open mic night somewhere? I'd be in for that, provided I could do vocals ... and got plenty of time to practise!

As I say, it's some time away. Not maybe places, even in Edinburgh, will let you play a gig when you only know two chords. Well, maybe Bannerman's Bar, but that's a student haunt I think (put enough beer in students, or "suits" for that matter, they will clap anything ... as any purveyor of open mic knows all too well).

I didn't find my gym shoes of course. It's always the same -- you go looking for a particular something, guaranteed you will find something else equally compelling.

Friday 29 September 2006

Parlez-vous Français? Nope, not yet.

Parlez-vous Français? Nope, not yet.Parlez-vous Français? Nope, not yet.Parlez-vous Français? Nope, not yet.We're just home from our first French lesson!

It was cool, and scary too.  It's at L'Institut Français d'Écosse, not too far from our place but about half an hour from my work (which gives me just enough time to make it after work).  2 hour lessons, once a week for fifteen weeks.  Of course, we'll be going to Paris one of those weeks, but I think a week of culture-immersion should make up for missing the lesson *wink*!!

They're small classes, but the teacher seems nice.  It's weird to listen to a French person with a Scottish accent when they speak English (she lived in Inverness for a couple of years I think).  She's also said that she won't be speaking much English from here on in -- we got a basic guide to, "watch, listen, repeat, sit, stand".  If all else fails, I'm just going to copy the rest of the class!

We're very excited to have Dayna with us!!  It's going to be very much fun --  we'll have Christmas together, maybe we can set up the video conferencing for Christmas dinner (I know, I've said that before, but how about this year?!).  Some yummy roast veggies ... actually, that reminds me, we've already got some in our 'fridge I really should cook up.  Mmmm, roasty.

Tuesday 26 September 2006

KI photos

We've put some photos from the trip up here.. Enjoy :)

I'm going to the UK!!!

Well, you all know already - but thought I'd put it in the blog!

Yesterday I got a new copy of my birth certificate (I think it was left somewhere unpleasant), so today I went out to the British High Consulate (near the airport) and applied for my UK Ancestry visa. It looks like it'll be ready to pick up next week! yay!

I've also got my ticket all good to go - I leave from Melbourne on the 15th November.. When I was talking to Mum and Dad last week, I said I might come to Bendigo just before I go.. but on further thinking, it will be better for me to come to Bendigo for Trin's christening (and take some time off work so I can spend time with everyone). I'll leave the car in Bendigo at that point, and head to Melbourne for meetings (for work) on the Monday. From there I'll head to WA for work, then back home in time to pack up my final things, get furniture sent away, and do my final clean and get my house sorted out..

I'm not sure whether I'll get to visit Damien and Cheryl before I go (sorry guys) but I'll work on it. :)

Anyway, hope you're all good!

*hugz*

Monday 25 September 2006

Kangaroo Island


Here's a photo of the four of us and our new friend at the Remarkable Rocks on Kangaroo Island.

Friday 22 September 2006

Trinity's Baptism

Just thought I would post this here, but we will be sending out invites to everyone in the next week or so. So, Trinity's Baptism, or Christening, whatever you prefer, is going to be - Sunday, October 22nd at St Peter's Eaglehawk at 10.15am (normal service time) And thank you mum and dad for letting us have a light lunch at their house afterward. Hopefully it will be a nice day and we can all enjoy the patio area!

Wednesday 20 September 2006

Contact Details

I thought i'd add a post which I can then bookmark for everyone to put in their contact details. So yeah, add a comment with your address and phone numbers in it.

Wednesday 13 September 2006

All Quiet on the Bandwagon Front

So, school holidays are nearly here, and I am looking forward to them! Today was the Battle for Australia ceremony at school, so I was there all day. We made sandwiches (10 loaves of bread!) and supplied cake, bikkies, tea, and coffee. We thought all was going well, then the big urn wasn't working so we swapped it for the small one, then it was leaking, and then we realised neither urn (ours or the hired one) were boiling, turned out the power point wasn't working so off I went to get extension cords... anyway, at the end of the day it was still successful, although we had planned on having 2 urns because last year it was hard with one, then because of the power we had to send everyone to use our little leaky one because it was the hottest :P

Trinity's Baptism... no date yet, Stephen is back tomorrow and will hopefully get back to us.

Jared went to the Jockey Club with the lion team for a performance. He got to be the clown/monk/teaser, which is what he preferred to being in the lion. I was told he'd never had a bigger smile on his face! I couldn't go this time, so a couple of the other parents kept an eye on him :) The "little" boys stuck together, I was told wherever one was they all were - 5 of them in total, 2 lions and the monk :) The next performance is "moon festival" which is the 8th of October, so I better check the time... might not have Trinity's Baptism that weekend.

Carolynn has a calisthenics comp this Friday night in Melbourne... will get her to post results on the weekend... if she is allowed on the computer. Technically she is banned until she cleans up her room!

Finally, Adam has been working on the BendigoGuide so go and have a look -http://www.bendigoguide.com.au/

Thursday 7 September 2006

a Libran thing?

Glenn I'm sorry to hear you were also sick. That virus is very contagious or maybe your stars said "you will be sick this weekend" and I caught Dad's. It was good to hear from you. I was wondering if you were OK.
The enlightened Doctor here gave us antibiotics and gave me a week off. She didn't know I only get paid when I work. I went back on Wednesday. We only have two weeks until the holidays. My workmate is off for the three weeks after an operation, so otherwise we're short staffed.We've continued with cold and flu tablets and I have Ventolin as well. We're both still coughing especially as the evening gets cooler. We're keeping up the fresh squeezed fruit juice and extra vitamin C. It's the most effective weight loss method I've found, but I suspect the result won't be long lasting.
Look forward to more updates.
Love from Mum and Dad

Monday 4 September 2006

busy busy

dayna's hand at the London Science Museum
hi there family,

it's been a little while since i've posted.. i'd like to say that it's because i've been doing lots of fun things, but really it's just because i've been busy with boring stuff like work!

i've started looking for jobs in the UK (which is where I took the photo of my hand on a heat-sensitive panel). i've decided that it's time to have some adventures (i'm really not enjoying work and the Director said "if you're not enjoying what you're doing, don't do it!"). i'm not absolutely sure of when i'll head off yet.. but it'll probably be round the end of the year, maybe before christmas, not sure yet.. it kinda depends on when i get work.. and kinda doesn't...

glenn and dee, any hints and tips ??? :) ooh, and can i say i'm going to come and live with you? (for the ancestry visa application..)

anyway.. i'm not planning on going away forever - but i certainly feel that it's time for me to go. it was always in my plan to head to the UK for 2007.. i've even got an email from early last year that says that! if i don't go now, when will i? it's not like i've got to wait for someone else now.

ooh, and while i'm thinking of people who shall remain nameless.. he should have put my power-drill in the post (registered mail) on the weekend. mum and dad, i asked him to send it to you - so please let me know if it turns up.

anyway, i've got some applications to write..

*grin*

Not Well

Hi all,
Dad and I are both not well. Whatever it was hit us both on Friday night, and we've spent most of the weekend resting. We've got into the doctor this afternoon, so I hope we get something more than "It's a virus so we can't give you anything". We both seem a little improved today and I think I'm actually hungry now. It's been a weekend of minimum food. The bathroom looks like a chemists, and we've used up the chesty cough syrup.
I had to ring Lisa to say don't bring the children although it was father's Day. I'd hate them to get this. I hope Adam enjoyed his second father's day.
We got the text message Dayna. Glad you had a lovely weekend.
Damien rang to let us know he's also been sick. He did call in a doctor and was told"its a virus etc"
Glenn what did your last posting mean? Do you have a new phone number?
I've taken two days off work at the moment. Really bad timing since I was doing extra hours while a workmate is off after an operation. I hope I'm right by Wednesday.

Saturday 2 September 2006

Threadless


Huuuge thanks to Dayna for our threadless t-shirts, which arrived in the mail yesterday. They're so cool! And Thanks to Dayna, Glenn and Danielle for Cheryl's bag too. Everybody rocks!

Saturday 26 August 2006

Hallett Cove Conservation Park

Hi all, today Cheryl and I decided to go out to Hallett Cove Conservation Park. There's a walking trail called "The Glacial Trail" which follows the edge of the cliff there for a couple of kilometres.. with information along the way about the rocks and how they relate to Australia's last ice age. We took some photos out there, which i've posted onto Flickr.. it's a great park, and only about half an hour from the city by train.

Saturday 19 August 2006

hi agian

well what is everyone up to? you all know what i'm doing this week cali school stuff


Calisthenics comp

Hi just post because i haven't for a while. today i have a comp in echuca that goes for a long time very long.my items are march, clubs, freearm, rods, asthetics and our favourite medaly.

Sunday 13 August 2006

Trinity Update

Well, Trinity has had her one year visit. She weighs about 9.7kg, but I forget how long (tall) she is now. She has slowed in her growth, so now she is a little below average, where before she was above average. She got the crawling thing before she turned one as well, which is great, though now there is no stopping her! She is also trying to pull up on things, but only gets to her knees without help... she's had a couple of bumps/falls... last night she hit her mouth on the chair leg and got a bleeding mouth, poor darling. She still loves 'Oliver' (we have it on right now as a matter of fact) We watched 'Mary Poppins' last night, maybe we could get that as a change to 'Oliver'. She was bopping away to the Chinese drums last Monday at Lion training, it was very cute.
As for Jared, he had his last game of footy today. They have won one game this season! He is thinking he would like to try soccer next. Although he put a list of games into a hat and pulled out tennis for his next sport. We will have to see, I think he would like to play soccer with Jake.
Carolynn has her first comp for calisthenics next weekend in Echuca. She is going to get a lift there with a friend in the team. Then 2 weeks after that is CVI in Melbourne, then Shepparton will be the last one this year. I hope they go well, since they only had their first training together in June, and since then I think all the team have trained together about 3 times (there always seems to be one or two not there) And to top it off one girl has left just this week so there has been some changes to some of the routines because of that!
As for Adam and I, we are seeing Stephen again about Trinity's Christening. Will keep you posted to that. I seem to be spending heaps of time at Comet Hill, now that the Parent's Association is doing the weekly special lunches, Thursday is the only day I get to go home after dropping the kids off (Tuesday's I go to mum and dad's before Connections)
Anyway, Carolynn is still working on her header for the bandwagon, keep an eye open for it!

Monday 7 August 2006

Header from Lisa and Certificate from Japan

Hi all,

I've added Lisa and Jared's footy header.

Also, on Sunday we finally recieved our certificates from Japan. Here I am looking rather pleased to have it :) You probably can't see, but it has my name printed in english, and next to that what i assume is my name in katakana.

Saturday 5 August 2006

New New Header File

Hi guys..

I've made a photoshop PSD of the header, with each person on their own layer to make it easier to edit. You can grab a copy here. It's only 238 KB. I look forward to seeing some new headers from you all!

Wednesday 2 August 2006

New Header File

Hi guys,

There's a Flash MX version of the family bandwagon header available here.

Enjoy :)

Tuesday 1 August 2006

Happy Birthday Cheryl

I know you've all passed on birthday wishes in the previous birthday post, but i thought i'd do a new one anyway. Happy Birthday Cheryl!

Monday 31 July 2006

Happy BirthdayS

Well, we celebrated mum's birthday yesterday with the BIGGEST meal!! Of course we also celebrated Trinity's so I guess everyone had to eat twice as much heheh! Today is of course Trinity's FIRST BIRTHDAY! Tomorrow we are celebrating it at Connections with all of her "adopted" aunties and nanas :) We are having games and party food!
We did have a busy weekend - Jared's footy at 11am, Carolynn at calisthenics for her concert at 2.30pm (it started at 3.30pm and went until 6.30pm) Then Sunday Carolynn had production practice at 9am (it was so foggy too, that early) and then we picked her up to go to mum and dad's at 12.30pm. In the meantime Jared made mousse and Carolynn made nanny's birthday cake, and Adam 'made' Trinity's cake... and we bought meringues instead of making a plate for the concert Saturday! Now Tuesday till Thursday Carolynn has production and has to be there at 6pm, we are staying to watch on Wednesday with mum and nanna... now we have to get ready to meet Stephen about Trinity's Baptism!

Saturday 29 July 2006

Today Munchen -- tomorrow Venezia

Another 'on the road' report -- we#re in Munich and going to ship (well, train) out to Venice tomorrow morning. It is a 7 hour train journey ... which hopefully means we can catch up with the sleep we've been missing! So many brauhauses (?), so little time.

It has been very much fun so far, but I can't figure out how people stay so healthy with the 'traditional' diet of bier, bratwurst, bier, rindwurst, bier and bier. And we haven't even started with the desserts! Can anyone name a famous chocolate dessert from the heart of Bavaria? (Here's a clue ... it rhymes with Spocklate Hungarian.)

I think last night was the best one so far -- we stumbled upon a friendly local who got us talking, and eating radishes, and of course drinking. So much drinking. But hey, when in Rome ... (oh wait, that's not for a couple of days yet! This is so much fun.)

Chris has booked us a hotel in London now, using one of those last minute deal websites. It#s nothing too flash ... just a 5 star hotel in the middle of London city proper!! Booyah! For not much more than the rat infested, crumbling, smelly and down right lovely places we're also going too. (Actually accomodation has been really good so far. Even Amsterdam, although a bit dodgy, added to the atmosphere of the place. And the Meininger in Munich is brilliant! It#s onlz 2 euro for .5L of the local brew, which is very tasty indeed. Argh, this kezboard is reallz getting to me now!)

Today we visited a concentration-camp -- now a shrine of remembrance for all the POWs who were incarcerated (bad spelling? Blame the Deutsche keyboard, or the Deustche bier) there by the SS over 6 years. Interested, shocking and a very weird way to start the day!

Afterwards we walked around looking for some stuff in our guide book, and accidently found several places a lot more interesting than the one we were looking for! Doing a lot of walking actually -- it will be nice to just sit on the train tomorrow morning.

Hope everyone is well and happy. I haven' sent the postcards yet, but maybe in Italia (since Dee did Italian at school and therefore IN THEORY should be able to keep us out of trouble). Not sure when we#ll be online again (as always) but looking forward to reading what everyone is doing ... feels like I#ve alreadz been away for ages!

Okay, tschüs und gutnacht all.

Tuesday 25 July 2006

In Frankfurt

Gutentag! Happy birthday Dayna, we were in Brussels and celebrated for you with a bunch of backpackers at our hostel -- it was 1€ for Heinekens in the vending machine downstairs! Happy birthday to Mum also, since we might not be back online for a while, and happy birthday to Cheryl for the same reason! I hope everybody has (or had) an brilliant day with lots of fun and games and presents.

We´re currently in Frankfurt au Main ein Deutschland. It´s extremely hot here, as it was in both Bruxelles und Amsterdam -- and in Amsterdam we were in a tiny, decrepit little hostel room with three single beds ... which we ended up sleeping on top of, with the window open to the night air ... and the traffic, and the drunks and the stoners walking past. All part of the experience I suppose.

I´m going to try to get a postcard at each place we stay at and send a different one to everybody -- Damien and Cheryl will get the first, provided I can figure out how to send them!!

Okay, going to sign off now -- having issues with this Deutsch keyboard and trying to touch type!

PS. I love the new headers too! Nice work. Looking forward to the Halloween one, Dayna.

Monday 24 July 2006

Love the new headers - again!

Thankyou for my b'day wishes.. didn't get up to much. wanted to go away for the weekend (just somewhere close and relaxing) but didn't book it early enough. d'oh! o well.. i'll just plan something for in a month or so. *grin*

I like the updated header - with Big Trin. ;) could you please send me a copy of that one? (i want to start working on a Halloween header - so I bags that one, okay?!) heheh..

hmmm.. what else have i been up to? well.. working.. lots of working.. i keep "acting" in other (more senior) roles.. and for now i'm filling in for Fletch (he's got a position in the parent department for about six months) being the Team Leader for a while (until they run a 'process' for the temporary role).. ahhh.. joys.. ;)

otherwise, i'm trying to go through my stuff and get rid of things.. i've re-organised my kitchen (with some help *grin*) and am getting rid of the purple crockery and cutlery (but i'm keeping the black stuff!).. and going through the lounge may be next.. and then the junk room.. ;) and then i'll have to have a garage sale or something to get rid of everything.. heheh..

anyway.. i'd best go.. i've got another HUGE day tomorrow - got to get the van to work for 7am or thereabouts.. blah!

hope everyone is well (now)..

*hugz*

Sunday 23 July 2006

Happy Birthday Dayna!

Happy birthday for yesterday Dayna! Sorry I didn't post then, we had a busy Saturday.. as i assume you did too? What did you do for your birthday? Did you get the present we left at Mum and Dad's house? Anyway, we hope you had an excellent day!

Sunday 16 July 2006

Quiet Bandwagon

Hey all, I just thought I'd post and ask what everyone's been up to.. it's been a bit quiet here on the old Bandwagon. For me, well I've been getting better, although I still have a cough, as do most people I know right now. I haven't had any more early morning stress though. I haven't been going to the gym, but Cheryl has been and I hope to go again next week.. although it's been really cold these last few days, and that makes my cough worse, so it'll depend on that. So basically I've been trying to stay warm and get healthy. What about you guys?

Tuesday 4 July 2006

Flights to Brussels and the fast train home

We've bought our flights to Bruxelles from Glasgow - £30 each, including taxes and check-in and all that jazz.  It's on Ryanair, who are "cheep uz chups "obviously (it could cost us more to get to London from here).  Sure, the aeroplane doesn't leave from the main Glagwegian airport, and sure, it lands about 45 kilometres south of Brussels proper ... but in each case there's a train that will get us where we need to go.

Eurostar isn't as cheap as I'd originally thought, unfortunately.  £150 for a one way ticket on a Saturday, from Paris to London.  On the other hand, I think it's only £90 for a return ticket ... go figure.  Chris should also get a discount because of his Eurail pass, so that looks like what we will do.  It's still extravagant, but how often do you get to go under the Channel in an underwater train?  Doing 180 mph no less -- that's 300 kilometer per hour.

Which is fairly fast.

Signed, sealed, delivered - train tickets!

Well Tracey the lovely travel agent came through for us alright -- £750 in total for both of us, first-class tickets all the way.  We're even getting a 90 minute stop in Florence!  (Yeah, 90 minutes isn't long, but well, it's long enough to enjoy a coffee, and we can always go back.  Yay!)

It doesn't include us getting from Edinburgh to Brussels at the start of the trip, nor from Paris back to Edinburgh at the end, but we figure we can fly from Glasgow to Brussels for cheapish (hopefully!).  I want to take Eurostar under the channel when we're coming back (it's only about £40 for second-class, and it means we don't have to face Charles de Gaulle again -- it was quite harrowing the last time we were there, what with giant French policemen with even bigger automatic rifles tellings us (I assume) to go back the way we'd came (we were just looking for a taxi!).

I'll be looking at that tonight.

Monday 3 July 2006

Exciting Morning

Well, Cheryl and I have had an exciting morning, but not in a good way. I woke up at about 6:30am with a weight and numbness in my chest, which radiated out to my arms and legs and left a weird battery taste in my mouth. I got up and was really dizzy, and then feverish. So we called an ambulance. The guys came out and checked my heart rate and blood sugar, both of which were normal, and the feeling seemed to be passing, so i decided not to go to the hospital.

However after they left it came back, and continued to wax and wane, so Cheryl booked an appointment for me at the Medical Centre for the morning. We went along and i got checked out, hooked on an ecg machine and had blood samples taken. Everything seems to be normal.. I was worried there was something wrong with my heart, since the sensation started there, but they checked everything and it's healthy. In fact apart from being sick, i'm pretty much healthy overall - the only thing wrong was that my good cholesterol levels were 0.1 under.. but my overall cholesterol levels were low anyway, so that's ok.

Unfortunately that does kind of leave the possible cause open, but the doctor thinks it's a result of the cold which i've had for the last week, so i've got some antibiotics to help with that and hopefully the two will pass together. All up it's not the nicest way to start the day.. hopefully tomorrow will start a little quieter and less stressfully.

Sunday 2 July 2006

Thanks, Tracey!

We may have figured out our travelling plans, thanks to Tracey from STA travel.

The problem, of course, was that we're in the UK and therefore don't qualify for the Eurail tickets -- Foxxy, on the other hand, can't get an Interail ticket since he's all the way over in Australia (and they cost more anyway).  And of course, whilst the Eurail tickets are first class, the Interail ones aren't.

So Tracey looked at our timings, listened to our predicament, and vowed, "As is my solemn duty, to protect and serve travellers and wayward children, I shall PRICE for you the individual first class tickets!"

Tracey clearly has a flair for the dramatic.  She's getting back to us tomorrow.  Yay!

Thursday 29 June 2006

Ticket Troubles

We're having some hassle organising our train tickets for the holiday in Europe.

Turns out that the tickets we wanted to buy -- £300 for 16 days 1st class travel through all the places we want to visit -- are only available for people who haven't lived in Europe or the United Kingdoms for 6 months.  The tickets that WE are allowed to buy are some £200 more expensive ... and cattle-class.  What, the British are so used to paying too much for trains that they're just going to take it?

Yeah, probably.

Anyway, it means we have to figure out what we're going to do, and figure it out soon.  We don't really want to travel separately, so we might look at buying each leg of the journey separately.  Dee's going into STA Travel to get their advice today.

Very annoying!

Wednesday 28 June 2006

Er, no.

Oops.  Looking at the broadband bill again I think I overpaid by £5.66.

Ahem.  Please disregard my rant.

Internet Providers? Meh.

Internet connectivity hasn't gotten any easier -- ISPs are, as a general rule, either a) expensive (by locking you into a contract) or b) incompetent.  It was true in the dial-up days and it's still true.  Take my current ADSL provider -- I won't name them, but they're the only ADSL2 provider in Scotland (and maybe the whole United Kingdom) who won't ask for a minimum 6 month contract.  And they rhyme with "spooltog".

When we moved, I rang up to get my account transferred to the new address.  Nope, can't do that -- I need to cancel the old one then reapply for the new one.  So I do that (or so I think).  It takes weeks to get the new connection, and then I finally logon to check my old account ... and I still owe £5.66 for the last four days of the month.  When I wasn't in the house.  How does that go again?

The customer call centre has been outsourced (can you guess to where?) and they don't have any connection to the finance department ... even to the point of transferring my call.  So I get a double-dose of the 15 minutes waiting on phone whilst inane pop music rings tinnilly in my ear.  I'm just glad I've got a headset, and can mute the microphone and actually continue working.

Why must it be this way??

Tuesday 27 June 2006

Bendigo Photos

Here are some photos, as promised. We put in the one of us with Trinity to demonstrate what happens whenever anybody else but Lisa Carolynn or Jared tries to hold her. Mum and Dad look like it's under control, but she was on the way out :)







And here's a photo of Jared making a silly face.. I told you i'd put it on the internet ;)





Finally this fine photo is William in the hat I made him :)




Monday 26 June 2006

Damien and Cheryl's visit


We 'celebrated' Trinity's birthday first, (by opening the pressie from Uncle Damien and Aunty Cheryl) Then it was Cheryl's turn (she got to open a pressie from us) Trinity got a big book of first words with great pictures (of trousers and pants heheh) We gave Cheryl a set of knitting looms. It was really cool, she and Damien got some wool from mum and had a go. Damien made a hat for William and Cheryl started a hat for Charlotte (Damien finished because he used the smallest loom) I'd bought a set for us as well, and Carolynn and Jared have been loom knitting too. I couldn't resist getting a photo :)

Friday 23 June 2006

Visitors

We collected Damien and Cheryl this afternoon. They had a very early start. (4am) Tonight we're going to the RSL club with them for Edith's 60th birthday. Just checking to see if you're home yet Dayna. I realise you may be jet lagged so I don't want to disturb you if you're resting. i'll ring tomorrow night. By then you should be back on Australian time. Hope you had a fabulous holiday. Love from Mum and Dad

Wednesday 21 June 2006

Back to Hay

Dad has been asked to return to Hay for a few weeks (up to ten?) The Director of Technical Services resigned and a suitable replacement hasn't been found, The CEO wants to go to Canada for July and his wife is going even if he cancels. Bob would like Dad to go up on Monday. I think they'll pay accommodation, fuel for return to Bendigo each weekend and a good wage. Dad says he won't stress out because he knows it's a limited tenure. Dayna I'm sorry but we won't get to Canberra in a week since they want Dad to start on Monday. I think we'll leave our visit until next school holidays (mid September) and we'll also go to Adelaide over that fortnight. I'll be staying in Eaglehawk with Foxie and going to my job each day. Talk to you all soon.
Lots of love from Mum and Dad

Monday 12 June 2006

World Cup header

Hi all,

Another day, another header. This one is to celebrate the World Cup (Australia v Japan tonight, 10pm on SBS, watch it!). For your own reference, here's the countries each of you are wearing:
Adam - Trinidad and Tobago (Trini-dad.. heh), Trinity - Ukraine, Lisa - Poland, Glenn - Mexico, Carolynn - Portugal, Danielle - England, Nana - Australia, Dad - Argentina, Mum - Netherlands, Jared - Switzerland, Dayna - USA, Cheryl - Italy, and I'm Germany.

As with the others, Cheryl and I take turns drawing people :)

Dayna's Dangerous Dance-off

Another day, another Internet café.

I'm sitting once more in a little café in Stockbridge, drinking Irn-Bru (it's good for you!) and playing with the world-wide-web. Dayna is next to me, writing emails and looking at photos and stuff, and Dee's outside in the nearby park reading a magazine. We're all waiting for the next bus to Ocean Terminal, a shopping centre by the Firth of Forth.

It's been fun having Dayna over here -- we've gone out, gone shopping, gone crazy; drank ales in an old church and cherry-flavoured beer on the balcony; talked and laughed and spied on Edinburgh through the Camera Obscura. In short, we're having a blast.

If only we didn't have to go to work. Dayna's been catching up with her friends and doing touristy things (like getting sunburnt at the beach) while we've been stuck in our offices, chained to a computer terminal! Awww, no fair!

She's takes a bunch of random photos, so at least we can live vicariously.

Still waiting for an Internet connection at home; hence not updating this very much (it's hard to be inspired to write when the hum of fans drowns out the music on the radio, and the computers are all stuck on little desks with uncomfortable slide-out keyboard rests and equally uncomfortable (but not slide-out) "bum-rests" (AKA chairs).

Anyway, Dayna can write a full break-down of what she's been up to. I'll just say that we've met a couple of her friends, and she's scheduled for a dance-off with a Scot named Gregor sometime this evening. Heh heh heh.

I've got some photos, but not heaps. Try to take more and upload them to Flickr!

Saturday 10 June 2006

Is he strong?

Listen bud. He's got radioactive blood.



So how did you spend your Saturday?

skill recognition

Damien,
Auntie Denise would love a blog type picture of her family. Nana has a photo that would be a good start, but they want to include Nana (and she's not in the photo). We can give you the photo when you come in a couple of weeks.
Next weekend we're going to Talbot for the opening of a new community library. We're to have lunch with the Hazelman's. Chris is back in Australia and working at the Aquarium in Melbourne, but Michael is still in Vietnam.
Dad used the old wooden posts from our fernery to reinforce and stabilize Nana's fernery. Today we went back to tidy it up. Nana was out but noticed the difference as soon as she arrived home.
one more week until holidays.( and no pay- oh well the rest will be nice and we're looking forward to seeing Damien and Cheryl and Dayna over the break.
Val Loomes was to have surgery in Albury on Friday, Hoping all went well. I guess chemo is to follow.
Kerry and John are to call in over the holidays on their way to Adelaide and a trip on the Ghan. Both are still off work after the bike accident.
love to all

Tuesday 6 June 2006

Happy Birthday Nanna!

The title says it all really!

Sunday 4 June 2006

hellooooo from sunny Edinburgh

just a quick one to say that i arrived in edinburgh last night. i was met at the train station by glenn, and then we waited for dee (i was still in the coffee line when she came out of the station).. we dumped my bag at their lovely house, and then went to their 'local' for dinner and a couple of quiet bevvys. it was great.. we even ended up chatting to a few interesting people..

anyway.. best get a move on.. hope all is good, and i look forward to seeing everyone when i get back..

jared, hope footy is fun still (and you don't get tackled..)
carolynn, hope the flute practice is still going well - before my holiday i was playing my guitar every day, so i hope we still get to have a jam!
everyone else, be good and have fun.. ;)

*hugz*

Saturday 3 June 2006

weigh-in, music and footy

I thought I would wait until today so I could post a bit about everything. On Wednesday I actually remembered to take Trinity to the Health Centre. She now weighs 9.6kg, so my guess on Tuesday of "about 10 kilos" was pretty close. She's slowed down a bit on the growing so she still fits into some zeros (especially Target, their sizes are really big)
Last night was the Bendigo Instrumental Music Program concert (phew, that's a mouthful) Carolynn was going to 'music camp' from Tuesday to Friday this week, and the concert was to showcase all the kids had learnt. Mum, Dad and Nanna all came too, and it was good, if a really long night. Carolynn said she messed up one song, but I didn't notice so I'm sure no-one else watching did either.
And finally, Jared had a 9am footy game today, which they 'lost' (it's just for fun, remember) I think the other team got 13 3 to White Hills 1 point (on the bright side, Jared kicked the point) I hope they win a game this season, just one would be nice *grin* Although I did think in the future Jared could become a footy star, and his story would start "We lost every game the first season I played" That would be funny!!!

Tuesday 30 May 2006

Shodan-ho

I forgot to mention on Sunday we recieved our local certificates for the Iaido grading.. so now i'm officially Shodan-ho, which is provisional first dan. In another year I'll go for the full Sho-dan. We'll also be getting certificates from Japan (probably in a few months) so when we do i'll take a photo and post it here.
3 more years and i should get an art-name :)

Sunday 28 May 2006

Beaches, Bands and Boot Camp

Everybody loves alliteration.

Cheryl and I have had a busy couple of weeks. Last weekend we decided to check out Brighton Beach.. Cheryl had heard it was a bit quieter than Glenelg, and had some nice cafes. I've added a couple of photos at the end of this post. Then in the evening we headed to Melbourne St, one of Adelaide's restaurant streets. There was a restaurant recommended to us, Boca, which was good. Then we went to a cafe type place called The Elephant Walk.. it was a long room partitioned up on each side by wicker dividers. Each section had a small table and one or two two-person couches.. it was very dark (lit by red lamps) and cosy. And they had nice coffees and cakes. And hot chocolate. And wooden elephants. We got here just before it opened at 8pm, but 8:10 they were turning people away. Popular place :)

On sunday.. well, i'll come back to that.

Yesterday we went to see X-Men 3, which if you were a fan of the first two is well worth seeing. Then in the evening we went to a pub to see Augie March.. they were great. The pub's function area was packed, we were expecting seats for everyone, but there was just a few booth-like couches around the edges. We got one of those and stood on the couch to watch the band over everyone's head :)

Today, as with last Sunday, I started the day by going to Iaido. Then at 4:30 we went to the Unley Oval for what I like to call Henry Gooden's Boot Camp. Henry, my boss, invited us out there.. basically we run a few laps around the oval (about half a km each) and then do some hill and stair climbs, and shuttle runs. It's about 45 minutes all up, and for me that means after the first lap, 45 minutes of trying to catch my breath doing everything else. Still, it's good, Cheryl and I both enjoy it (well.. "enjoy" probably isn't the right word) and hopefully over time we'll be able to see improvement. Yes, this is in addition to going to the gym.. but yeah, it's good to keep active, and it only hurts for a few days ;)

Well, that's been our weekends.. I think the plan for next Saturday is to have no plan :)




Friday 26 May 2006

another tooth

Yes, Trinity has cut tooth number 5! She's been a grumpy little girl this week. She also sits on the floor with her hands up in the air and bangs her feet on the floor - very cute! And she has learned the great "drop stuff" trick...people pick stuff up for you :) You can throw pacifiers, toys, mum's keys...
Jared won another encouragement award at footy, this time he gets a free 125ml Coca Cola. I think awards should have been given to everyone once before someone got two, might have to mention that to the coach?? or someone...
And next week Carolynn has music camp at Flora Hill. She has a friend who is also going so we will work something out so both lots of parents don't have to do the trip twice a day.

3 weeks until school holidays! yay!

Wednesday 24 May 2006

sights, museums and coat of arms

hello again from London,

yesterday i played tourist for a while.. got a ticket for a hop-on hop-off bus and travelled around with an Aussie i met on the plane trip over here.. it was kinda fun, and i've a got a few photos that i'll upload when i get to G&D's place.
highlights for me include:
  • the tour guide on one of the buses - he just picked on EVERYONE! first it was me and Canberra (he lived there for a little while and said that the best part of Canberra is the airport!), then it was Aussies in general (his joke [apparently told by a New Zealander]: At Customs, on the way in to Australia, the Kiwi was asked "do you have any criminal convictions?", to which the Kiwi answered "I didn't know that it was still a requirement!".)
  • passing Trafalgar Square MANY MANY MANY times...(the bus must just have looped that place or something.. hehe)
  • the initial walk from Kings Cross station to Victoria station. i had to meet JD and Erin at Victoria at 10.30am, so i left the hostel (near Kings Cross Stn) at about 8.30am.. and wandered roughly south west until i got there.. it took me about the two hours.. and because i didn't stretch properly afterwards, my legs are REALLY SORE today.. d'oh! o well.. ;)

anyway, to finish this post i was going to post a picture of the coat of arms I made at the Victoria & Albert museum today.. but i can't seem to do it (ahh, internet in the hostel) - so i'm going to send the pic to Damien and see if he can put it in this post.. *grin* i also spent a few hours at the Science Museum today - it's SO DIFFERENT to Questacon! but i guess that's to be expected. ;)

hmm.. what else..

i'll try to send some of the rain to Bendigo - there's certainly plenty of it over here! it's funny to think that it's actually spring here.. but i guess in a 'normal' year (read 'non-drought') we'd have a lot of rain around september too.. hmm..

i look forward to trin's "belated" birthday for me in august.. *grin*

hope everyone is happy and healthy.. i'd best keep moving (time limit and all that...)
*hugz*

Damien's Edit: Here's the Coat of Arms

Monday 22 May 2006

London is RAINY

it kinda reminds me of last time i was in london alone - back in 2001.. in fact, i was in a similar internet cafe too.. grey outside, sitting inside to dry off a little bit.. heheh.. ahh, joys of it all.

so.. i survived the LONG travel day[s].. after leaving for Sydney on the bus at 9am Saturday, i touched down at 8.15am on Sunday and got through Customs by 9.30am [yes, customs took ages.. and remember that the UK is 9hrs behind AEST].. so.. LONG.. i napped a bit on the 12hr leg between Singapore and London.. but not really the first leg.. so i'm not feeling too bad. it's 4.15pm now.. i've arranged my bed for the next 4 nights [*phew*] and i've been wandering around for a while.. just checking out what's going on around Covent Gardens.

unfortunately, the weather means that the track pants that i've got [that i was going to wear to bed] are wet and dirty.. so i may have to find some alternate clothes.. actually.. considering it's quarter to five.. maybe i should go and sort that out before everything shuts.. it IS a sunday afterall..

anyway.. hope all are well..

*big hugz* across the globe.. and *big hugz* across the country for Glenn and Dee.. i'll see you guys soon.
yay.

Friday 19 May 2006

on my way... almost

hi all..

it's late on friday night and i catch a bus tomorrow at 9am.. ..i've not finished packing yet, so this one will just be a quick one..

i've "shared" my calendar with everyone, so you can see where i'm going to be when.. and just in case you can't see it.. the general plan is:
  • london for a few days
  • head to doncaster to visit paul and tess (first weekend)
  • head to bath and bristol to see what's going on there
  • head up to glenn and dee (second weekend) and hang out with them for a while.. maybe have some day trips..
  • then spend the third weekend visiting steve (not sure where yet)..
  • and head back to london, possibly via warwick to visit claudia and ralf
  • and then fly to germany on the 15th june to visit bjoern and check out munich
hopefully i'll update this or livejournal every now and then.. but i'm not going to guarantee it (just in case i'm too busy doing stuff and exploring and all of that).
i'll take lots of photos, so i'll come and show you all when i get back..
..except for glenn and dee - i'll have to show you in the next few weeks!
looking forward to seeing you guys!

yay!

i fly tomorrow!!!!!! (no, it's not quite sunk in yet..)
*grin*

Thursday 18 May 2006



Thought I would post a photo of Jared in his footy gear. The top photo is him and Jamie after their first game, the second is before the game when the team was warming up.

Wednesday 17 May 2006

77% in SOSE !!!!!!

I was doing an ancient egypt assingment that had to be handed in on tusday 16th. today i found out that i got 77% which is a B .good is in it .

Tuesday 16 May 2006

GOAL!!

First of all, thanks for the well wishes...and I did have a good mother's day. Jared had a footy game at midday, and we watched him kick 5 points and A GOAL!! Yay Jared! He took a mark too :) Rhonda asked if his dad played footy...don't think so lol...or his uncles...no? I said dad played for the Borough (along with his brothers...right??) It seems our Jared has some natural footy talent lol :) The teams were more evenly matched this time, and White Hills only lost by 3 points.

Sunday 14 May 2006

One for the Mums..

Happy Mother's Day Mum! And also Lisa, and Nana, and any other mothers who happen to be reading this site. Except Shaft. He's one bad mother (shut your mouth!)

Saturday 13 May 2006

Monday 8 May 2006

footy season

yes, it's footy season, but with a difference this year...Jared has joined a footy team! yes, last Wednesday his friend Jamie came over and asked if Jared could go to practice with him - Jamie had only been to one practice with White Hills, and they needed more players in the 'under 10's'. The first game was on Sunday, so I had 2 days to register Jared with the league so he could play. Most of the kids had never played before, they were up against St Monica's, some of their players looked like they should have been in 'under 12's', and I think they had played before because they played really well as a team. White Hills lost the game, though I don't know what the final score was. Jared said his coach has told them they all played really well, and that that game was the toughest they would have to play (possibly because it was their first?) Any way, he really enjoyed himself, the day was pretty cold but the rain didn't last long. A game for under 10's is four 10 minute quarters with short breaks so all up it was a little over an hour.

In other news, Trinity has cut another 2 teeth, her top ones, so now she has 4 teeth...wow!!
And Carolynn has one of her costumes for the production "Cinderella", she is in the chorus. Mum heamed the dress up for us with the overlocker...thanks Nanny!

Wednesday 3 May 2006

My Turn

i want a turn at a header
ideas anyone
animals ???

Tuesday 2 May 2006

Hi from Jared

This is Jared Posting
:P hi i've got 2 loose teeth that i think 1 might fall out tonight
i'm having fun not having lion training for another 2 weeks

The Family Bandwagon

hi all just wanting to see what you're all up to
jared hasn't got on yet to post anything yet

Sunday 30 April 2006

Movie stars

Damien & I worked on a new header today. We're all (apart from one) characters of movies. A prize* to the person who can correctly name each character and the movie that they are from first.


*Actual prize may not exist

babies and birthdays

We had some sad news by email. Andrea had a stillborn baby on Thursday. She was 9lb 11oz , 53 cm long and they named her Nina. Tamara, Ray and Ray's son are flying out for the funeral next week. They'll be here next weekend and will have an interview with Stephen May re their wedding while here. I don't think we'll go to the funeral (in Melbourne) but I'll send a card from all of us.
Happier news is that Kimberley (nee Roche) had a baby boy on Tuesday. Mother and baby doing well. Warwick sent photos. Cheryl is in Brisbane playing grandma.
Today for lunch we are going to Nicole (nee Mason) for Uncle Ron's 70th birthday. We enjoyed Peter Loomes 60th last weekend.
Decided against the Bigpond broadband at this stage. I'm going to look in to other options and try to find out what sort of limit would be minimum for us. in the meantime we know where we stand with dial up, even if it is slow.
Dad's progressing well with the fernery. Rain over the weekend has given him some time off.
I've worked extra hours this week because a workmate was off sick. this week has just flown, but I did manage yesterday to swap my winter wardrobe and summer one, so i now have warmer clothes available.
Hope all of you are well.
Lots of love
Mum and Dad

Friday 28 April 2006

Cutting

Ok, this is the last cutting photo, I promise. This was from the dojo cutting session we had last Sunday. One of the other students took it.

Tuesday 25 April 2006

Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens

For our anniversary Cheryl and I went to a Chinese Restaurant for dinner. The food was great, Cheryl had an entree of crab claw stuffed with prawns and fried, and i had minced prawns on toast.. then we had duck. It was sooo tasty :) We also bought a digital camera as our gift to each other. Then today we headed to the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens.. It's a fantastic area, parts look more like a rain forest, and there's little walking trails everywhere. The only down side is it's on the side of a mountain, so you spend a lot of happy time walking down hill, then realise you have to walk back up hill to catch the bus :)

Here are some photos we took. I'll put more up at Flickr at some point.


 

Looking towards our holiday in July-August

We've been looking this weekend at where we can go in the last week of July. I've put the places and train times on a map on glennji.com now.

Any recommendations about things we must see?

Saturday 22 April 2006

Our weekends




Thought I would post some photos from Easter and this weekend. Over Easter Jared was involved in Spring Festival, the lion team did a couple of performances at the Chinese Gardens, I managed to get a good photo of him there. He was also in the Awakening and the Parade. This weekend we took the kids the the art gallery, because there is an exhibition called Larger that Life and there has been a spider on the front of the gallery that we all wanted a closer look at.

Friday 21 April 2006

The Family Bandwagon

Hi I'm so glad you add me so now I can post stuff .It's cool

Photos from the Lakes District

Just a quick one: I've uploaded the photos I took over Easter! Here's proof that we actually did stuff, including golf and rowing out onto the lake. Brilliant!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/glennji/tags/lakesdistrict/

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