Where did that month go?!?

Hi family,

It feels like it's been ages since I wrote an update.. and after checking the last few posts, it's been more than a month! How did that happen?! And what have we done with ourselves since then?

The last couple of weekends have seen us in 'Spring Cleaning Mode' - we've taken a car-load to the tip and 5 bin-bags full of stuff to the op-shop. I've packed up half of my wardrobe (all of the things that don't fit me right now but that I want to keep) and Bruce emptied out at least half of the shelves in the store-room and moved around some of the furniture in the lounge. *phew* Clearly, this is all part of the 'get ready for baby' preparations and we know we've got lots still to do.

Speaking of preparations, for those of you who missed the photo on hangouts, here's the bumpdate. This was from last weekend when we were out looking at prams and cot-beds (note: it's still not warm enough for t-shirts yet.. not for longer than a few minutes anyway.) :-) This week I'm having a glucose test (fingers crossed for no gestational diabetes) and I think we're almost sorted for all of the 'big' purchases - car seat, pram & cot-bed. Now it's just all of the 'little' things we need to work out (and I don't even know what they all are!). And I realise that I need to get in-shape - I've got about three months to build up my strength and flexibility. Anyone got any good links/suggestions for programmes/stretches/etc?

Work has been keeping B & I busy, as always. We've both been travelling lately, with more to come over the next month.

Easter was a welcome break - we had a lovely quiet Easter at home and then headed up to Birmingham(ish) for Phil & Sarah's wedding. Phil and B have been mates for years, so B was a Best Man. Here's a pic taken by Gwen - I'm sure you'll agree that Bruce scrubs up pretty well. :-) The wedding was lovely - religious ceremony in a little church followed by reception at a hotel in the middle of nowhere. Good food, good company and we stayed at the hotel, so I didn't have to wait for B to be finished before I could go to bed. Yay!

After the wedding we headed even further north for a short-break with Vicki and Stephen. We stayed at a lovely little flat in Gatehouse of Fleet (Southern Scotland) and spent the time exploring castles and abbey ruins, spying on the local wildlife (we saw a seal in a field!), playing games whilst it rained, and enjoying wine, cheese and chocolate! I haven't looked through my "real" photos yet, so here are a few from my phone.

Caerlaverock Castle

Feeding the red kites

Sweetheart Abbey

The coming month is looking like it's as busy as the last - I've got two weekend conferences and at least two trips to North Wales! But we've also got two bank holidays in May (yay!) and I'm planning on taking some leave (not to go anywhere, but to sleep-in and relax a little). Next weekend is May Day and there's a local festival in Radyr and Morganstown - we might even see what that's all about.

What are the rest of you up to?

Just a Sec..

Hey everyone,
I've probably told you about my one second per day video project. Well, here's the first full year!
Enjoy!

*hugz*
-d-

So much rain...

I've been here for nearly a week and we've only had a few days without some kind of precipitation. Fortunately there have been none of the giant hailstones that battered Melbourne, but there's been almost 140mm rain in the last three days! And I thought that this was a country of drought!! Good thing I know how to swim. :-)

Speaking of swimming, tomorrow Mum and I plan to start our "get fit" regime with a trip to the indoor pool for aqua-robics (or something).. luckily I'd left my swimmers here from last trip - and goggles too - so I'll be able to do some laps. It'll be good to get started doing some kind of fitness stuff.. I really need to work out a routine or something (like synchronised swimming? ..that would be funny!)

I'm afraid all of my photos are on the other computer and my phone isn't roaming well, so this post will be text only for now.

Someone else's turn to write now! Time to get this going again.

*grin*
*hugz*

Movember Week 2

Movember week 2 is all about the scowling.

Happy Birthday Ma!

Happy Birthday Mum. Or, in crazier text,

Happy Birthday Mum

My work on theage.com.au

Hey all.. I found out this morning that the illustration I did of Cheryl was featured on the Age Blogs: Creativity Corner. Each week they set a topic, and you submit photos and the like. Then they choose one image and one poem to show on the page.
Here's the age page - http://blogs.theage.com.au/creativitycorner/

While I'm spamming you guys with links, make sure you have a look at my blog and my RedBubble page.. I've been doing a fair bit of work recently, and I'm seriously considering printing out some samples to send to childrens book publishers. I seem to be getting a good reaction from the work I have up, I even sold another framed print (not sure who to.. was it one of you guys again?) and quite a few cards. I would love to illustrate a kids book.. that would just be fantastic.