Sons-in-law DO care

Posted on February 4, 2007
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My Mum is coming to visit for about a month in just a few days time.  Brian and I have been getting things ready for her impending arrival. I’ve bought new sheets and a nice doona cover for Chelsea’s bed (where she’ll be sleeping) and a sugar bowl because we don’t have one. Brian and I don’t take sugar in our coffee or tea but Mum does and will need it.

Yesterday, Brian painted Chelsea’s room a nice cream colour (over the god-awful purple, pink and blue sponge painting that was here when we moved in) which is a nice touch.  We’re still waiting for Chelsea to decide what colour she’d like the feature wall. Hopefully this will happen before Mum arrives.

One more thing that I think is pretty imperative is, the main bathroom has a sunken roman bath with no shower curtain or door! Now, the kids have gotten used to showering in such an open space but I think that my mother will not like it at all! LOL So, Brian is going to pick up a curtain rod today and then I’ll go find a nice curtain. I’m not really sure where to get the super long ones, (it’ll have to be a L shaped rod as the bath is in the corner.) but I imagine there has to be one somewhere.

Roll on Thursday!

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Do you smell smoke?

Posted on February 4, 2007
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Yesterday morning was Chelsea’s thirteenth birthday. I woke up and was sure that I smelled smoke! No one else seemed to notice the acrid odour and when I asked the question “Do you smell smoke?” everyone kind of shrugged “Not really.”

**Maybe it’s just me… **

After a visit from Grandad and opening all her presents including cash from her great- grandma, auntie Sandy and myself and Brian, Chelsea decided thast she’d like to go shopping in the city. As we got closer to the city, the smell of smoke got stronger and stronger and the haze over the city was phenominal. We could barely see the buildings. Here’s a bit of a news clip about it:

“Soaring temperatures and gusty winds could reignite a deliberately-lit bushfire that has razed more than 27,000 hectares of land in Perth’s Hills area.Firefighters fear the blaze could flare up again because of today’s intense weather conditions, said Fire and Emergency Services Authority spokesman Craig Waters.Already, Perth is choking from the worst pollution ever recorded in the city - caused by a smoke haze which has blanketed the metropolitan area since Wednesday.
The Hills fire is the worst in Perth in 45 years.
FESA said today it was keeping a full fire-fighting crew in the Hills.
“It is a big worry with the high temperatures and the gusty winds,” Mr Waters said.
“The possibility of the fire flaring up and restarting is very real.”
Perth is expected to top 40 degrees today.”

Scary huh? I had planned on taking my mother to Mundaring Weir as part of the whole ‘tourist-y’ thing but I think we can scratch that off the list as the fires up there will make it very unpleasant.

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Dating never made me feel so old

Posted on February 3, 2007
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Remember the feeling of waiting to be picked up? The nervous stomach? The sweaty palms? The excitement of the whole thing? It’s a great feeling isn’t it?

Not when it’s your 12 year old (turning 13 tomorrow) daughter!!

Chelsea had her first date today. I don’t think I can explain how typing that sentence makes me feel. Oh, wait, yes I can… OLD!
A boy in her class in primary school asked her out last year and she told him, “No, I don’t think we’re old enough and I don’t want to date in primary school. ” So he told her that he would wait and ask her out on the first day of High School…and he did! She, of course, accepted (after asking permission) and they decided that they would go see a matinee. I don’t know if “Epic Movie” was what I might have picked for a first date but I guess at 12, Chlesea and Scott thought it was great.

So, I dropped Chelsea off at the mall and waited with her until Scott arrived. I could see that she was going through all of the symptoms mentioned above and assured her that he would be nervous too. After a slightly awkward, can’t- stop-smiling,  greeting, off they went into the theatre.

Two hours later, after the movie had finished and he had bought her a cinnamon pretzel, I picked them up and dropped Scott at home.  Things had relaxed between them and it was much more natural.

Now, I am in recovery. I need a stiff drink and someone to remind me that I am not that old! What happened? When did she grow up?

My baby is dating.  *Sigh* 

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Interview with the devil… not so much.

Posted on February 2, 2007
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I overcame my dilemna of whether or not to go to the interview and decided that , you never know, maybe they will accomadate ME! So I go to this interview, right? I’m relaxed and completely calm because I know, if I DON’T get this job, no big deal.

The office is very nice. Clean, spacious and pleasant. I interview with *Kirk and everything goes really well. He’s only as few years older than I am and seemed to be a really nice guy. We clicked.

I’m fairly confidant that he will be passing my resume and his recommendation on to the “big boss” (oddly, also named Kirk) so that I’ll need to go in for a second interview. This is supposed to happen sometime next week. On a bright note, I told them that I didn’t want to start until after my mother goes back to Canada and he was happy with that. Should I get the position, I’ll start beginning of March.

Another plus is that this position comes with free car maintenance. Wooohooo! my very own mechanic! He seemed happy to do any repairs on my car that I might need though I warned him that I’m pretty sure it’s being held together by rubber bands and crazy glue! If I’m reaaaaly lucky, I’ll get a damn good deal on a new car. Did I mention this position is with a car company? (Who shall remain unnamed, at least for the moment.)

Now, I can focus on all the things I want to do before my mother gets here (another post entirely) and just wait and see if I get that second callback that is standard paractice in Oz.

*names have been changed to protect… me from getting into trouble.  :D

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Ticks, Ahoy!

Posted on February 1, 2007
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These are the oh, so, lovely beasties that we’ve been finding on Tomi and Rani (our two dogs) lately.tick
We never really had this problem at our old house and we moved here during the winter so, it’s only been the last couple of months that I’ve been noticing these little buggers in the dogs fur. They are harmless for the most part as the paralysis ticks are on the east coast but they are still a pain! Finding them and getting them out is annoying and it can’t be comfortable for the dogs. Also, we’ve been dog-sitting for my mother in law and her dog is getting most of them. I suppose that’s because he’s lowest to the ground and gets in the wee places behind the bushes where they live.

I’ll definately have to give Toby a bath and a thourough search before handing him over. It just wouldn’t do to give back a tick-riddled dog!

Here are the puppies of which I speak…..

Toby Toby - 14 Yrs (MIL’s Dog)Tomi Tomi - 6 MosRaniRani - 9 Yrs

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