So You Say You Can't Cook

Today I came home in a shitty mood, a bit annoyed about having to work full time and coming home to cook dinner and put away washing and so forth (For all of you who know I love to cook, I do, but when I come home tired from a full day at work, the last thing I want to do is cook). Well poor Dave copped it.........after all he is the one I love and don't they say that you are the worst to the ones you love............anyway poor Dave copped it (ie me yelling and carrying on and complaining) and he ended up cooking the carnivores' dinner, which was chicken, cauliflower, carrot and gravy (all mixed in together, something like a casserole but not) and served it with Deb mash, didn't look very appetizing but apparently good enough to eat as the carnivores ate it all. I however had to make my own meal, once again. At least I didn't have to cook two tonight. Dave must love me as any person who had copped it like he copped it tonight would have gone running in the opposite direction. So Dave......... I love you, even if you can't cook (or so you say)!

Steph

Really Nice Surprise

Yesterday I got a really nice surprise! My son Nick and his girlfriend Becca came to visit. When they arrived the first thing I saw was their very large dog at the back door, and I thought to myself oh my that looks like Nick's dog, what is that doing doing in our yard? And then I clicked.....of course it was Nick's dog and following behind was Nick and Becca. What a lovely and thoughtful surprise. Apparently Alex knew all about it but had to keep a secret. We spent last night together having some food and drink and today on the boat out on the lakes. Unfortunately they had to leave for home today as they are working tomorrow. Although a short visit, it was truly thoughtful of them to surprise me and I'm absolutely and positively grateful! Steph

Medical Technology

It's easy at the moment to be grateful for the progress of our house build as almost each day something else has been done, like yesterday all internal walls were covered in plaster. I suppose it doesn't really matter what I'm grateful,for as long as I'm grateful right? Today because I was sitting up in bed at 5.30am and couldn't get back to sleep, I thought I should blog and that it should be about something other than our house. Yesterday my mum went to the doctors to get some results from a scan she had and found out that the lumps she had felt in her stomach are nothing dangerous, however they found that she had fluid in her lungs and around her heart. The doctor told her that this may have something to do with her Hodgkins (which she has had four times) and the treatment she has had for it. He wasn't sure so he has referred her for an urgent review at Peter Mac Hospital. We are all now hoping that it's nothing to worry too much about and that it's something she can take medication for, and that it's not anything more serious. We will have to wait and see. So in saying all of this I have decided to be grateful for medical technology, because without it we wouldn't be able to diagnose any problems early enough to be able to fix them. And fixing my mum is what we are aiming for. Steph

Only One Without A Passport

By the way, Dave got his British passport in the mail today...it took just 15 days even though the application stated 4-6 weeks. Hopefully the Australian Government will be as fast with my certificate of citizenship. Otherwise I will be the only one without a passport. Boo Hoo! Steph

Day 58 And Getting Closer To Moving In

Day 58 of our Metung transformation....and the plaster is going on. Some rooms are now defined and we can see what size they are. We went upstairs today, the attic ladder is a little scary going down....will have to adjust this later. Soooooooooooo much more spacious then the house we are in at the moment.

Exciting stuff and can't wait to move in!

Our attic

Dave going down the attic ladder

Zoe in Alex's room

Zoe in the kitchen

Zoe in her room

Hallway

Dining room

Diligent Employees

Should I be grateful for the diligent employees who make sure that every little minute detail is correct on any application? I suppose I should, after all they are protecting all of us? Or are they?

A couple of weeks ago I applied for my Australian Passport online, I already have a passport but it expired just over two years ago, therefore I need to get a new one. I thought that because I had previously had a passport the process would be really simple and within 10 days I would have my new one. But things in our household don't always go exactly to plan. Because of my name change from maiden to first marriage to second marriage, I needed a registered copy of my marriage certificate because the certificate they give you on the day of your wedding isn't good enough, so I applied online and paid the fee of $26 or $28 and I received it a few days later, all good so far. Then I made an appointment at the Post Office to put in my application, when I got there I was told that I couldn't use my certificate of citizenship because I have de-faced it (years ago I crossed out my middle name on it, which isn't really my middle name legally and not on my birth certificate or any other document), therefore I have to get a new certificate. Okay then, I shall just get a new one. I headed over to the council (where I was directed to) and I now find out that they don't do it there and that I have to fill in form 119 or whatever it was and pay another $60 to get a new one, and send certified copies of a million and one documents and an endorsed photo of myself as proof that I am who I am. Mind you I used my identification to get Alex's and Zoe's passports and they have received theirs already, go figure! Apparently I am who I am if it is for someone else's passport. The world is truly f*****. Also to make things even worse, the application to get the certificate takes 4-8 weeks, YES you read it correctly 4-8 weeks. So if I don't get my certificate within the next 4 - 6 weeks I will have to pay another $103 for a Priority Processing Fee to enable them to process it within 2 business days of receiving it. My passport will surely be the most expensive one in history.

Anyway today I went back to the post office thinking that I could just put my application in as is (as I was told by the last person I dealt with at the previous interview) and hope for the best and in the mean time apply for my citizenship certificate and by the time if and when my passport got rejected I would have my certificate and then post it off, but noooooooooo, I got yet another diligent worker who said "NO I CAN NOT PROCESS THIS PASSPORT APPLICATION UNTIL YOU GET THE NEW CERTIFICATE". So I handed him the documents and the URGENT letter to Department of Immigration and Citizenship which I had prepared earlier just in case and asked him to post them Express Post which cost me another $6.65. I went over to fill in the address and then went to another Postal worker to hand it in, whom I asked how long it takes for Express Post, she then said very slowly "You have missed the 3.30pm deadline but it will go tonight but we can't guarantee it will get on the truck at Sale". So I then asked her "will it get there the next day?" she then repeated what she said earlier, even slower. I then asked "Do they have to sign for this to ensure they will receive it?" and she says "No, but it's the fastest way of mail". OMG........I have just paid an extra $6.05 for something to maybe go the next day even though it states on the front of the Express Post envelope that it is 'Guaranteed Next Day Delivery'.

If my certificate doesn't come within the next 4 - 6 weeks in order to allow another 2 weeks for the passport application, I will most probably be cancelling or deferring our New Zealand holiday. Let's just hope the highlighted 'URGENT' on the letter I sent with the application gets some attention from someone even more diligent, and they pass it and hopefully not want any other proof or documentation (because I don't have any) that I do not have middle name, print me out a new certificate and send it priority post/express post whatever it takes, so that we don't all miss out on a holiday to New Zealand.
Steph

Ice Cream Does It Every Time

What gets an eight year old out of the house? This is not a trick question. My eight year old Zoe loves being at home, we call her our Hermit Crab as she never wants to go anywhere unless of course it means loads of fun for her, she prefers to stay in pajamas all day and just stay home. Well, this weekend Dave was off fishing and Alex was with his mate, so I planned to spend some quality time with Zoe. We were to paint a picture of a sunset or silhouettes which she actually started, she got as far as the outline, maybe today she'll go on with it. I was getting a little frustrated with her as in the morning I wanted to go and have a look at the house to see how much they had done to it, and do you think she would get dressed and just walk out the door? No, of course not, what a performance! You would think I had asked her to come with me to get her legs cut off or something! We did finally go but she sat in the car and didn't come out of it until we were back at home. Later on, I just gave up, I decided she could just do her own thing and I was going to pack some boxes (as we are moving into our camper in six weeks time). In the afternoon after she'd had enough of drawing her outline and I'd had enough of packing I asked her if she wanted to go and get an icecream and then walk over to the beach at Lakes Entrance with the dogs. Her response, (very loudly and excitedly) YES! And that ladies and gentlemen is how you get an eight year old out of the house!
Steph

Not Moved Into Camper Just Yet

I was looking back on a piece I had written about the pros and cons of moving into our camper (see Moving Out To Camping Out), and it made me laugh, which also made me start thinking about other things I could write about. It's funny how one small thing could activate your brain into thinking loads of other things, just enough to make your brain frazzled. For example I wrote in that piece about not having a big enough fridge which made me think about the many supermarket trips I will have to endure, and then it got me thinking about what sort of meals I would be producing from the small camper stove and barbecue, which then made me think that I would have to surely touch up on my culinary skills for barbecue cooking. I do have a limited amount of dishes that I have produced by using a barbecue which include sausages, burgers, steak, chops, kebabs, vegetables, onions, pineapple and sliced potatoes, oh and I forgot, I have also cooked bacon and eggs on the thing. Not exactly gourmet and not exactly evident of my usual and great culinary skills. What to do? Buy a barbecue cook book? Do a barbecue cooking class? (who would even do this?), practice on our barbecue? Or just get Dave to do the barbecue cooking and I'll stick to the stove? We may be limited to pasta from the camper stove and microwave or burnt sausages in bread cooked by Dave on the barbie (he only knows burnt when cooking on the barbie).  Hopefully the weather will be better when we do have to move into our camper in six weeks time, for when I have to cook outside and hopefully by then I will have practiced some barbecue culinary skills and produce great tasting and interesting feasts (which doesn't include burnt sausages). For now though, I am going to be grateful that I haven't moved out of a house and into a camper, just yet.  Steph

Post Its

Post Its ............... I used heaps of them today.
Steph

Mail Delivery Of The Pleasant Kind

We received a letter today from our sponsored World Vision child, Tendai. It was an annual progress report about her education, health and about her. It was great to receive it. Usually we take a while to write back but today I decided to do it straight away. I made up a page of different photos of our family and printed it out and then wrote her a letter. I find it hard to write to her because I feel like I shouldn't say too much about our lives even though World Vision encourage it, I feel guilty that our lives are so much more easier than hers and how we take for granted our everyday things. I did however tell her about our new house that we are building because I am just so excited about that, and I want to tell the whole world. I hope that Tendai gets my letter and that she really enjoys looking at the photos of us all, and I hope that maybe one day we can visit her or better still, she becomes so successful that she comes to visit us. How cool would that be. Zoe said she was a little worried that she wouldn't be able to understand Tendai's language. Amazing what Zoe gets worried about. I'm more concerned about how we are going to fund this visit in order for there to be any reason to worry about the language barrier! Today I am grateful for the mail delivery, because every once in a while we get some nice things in the mail instead of those dreaded bills. Steph

Your Head In A Spin Is Good

Apparently having your head in a spin like it was for me yesterday morning is good and that means I am thinking and I am learning. My mentor Diana told me today that she was proud of me and that I was doing so well. How nice is that and what a great confidence booster. I know I am doing a thousand or more times better than last year but I still have my doubts sometimes especially when my head is in a spin about what to teach, how to teach it, when to teach it, etc etc etc, but when Diana said that, I was reassured that all is ok and that it's normal and ok for me to think like this. Today was a good day with the kids, I felt confident and that matters and for that I am grateful. Oh by the way our school photos came back today and I look pretty good in them if I should say so myself, it's probably the best school photos I have had in a while so I just had to show you all.
Steph

Dad Content In Dream And Overall A Good Day

Day 50 and they are starting to put the weather-boards on our house and it's looking good.

Today was the first day back from school holidays, I woke up thinking about school this morning for the first time in two weeks, that must have meant it was time to get back into work mode. I was a little anxious this morning as I had two new students starting in my class and to me that means I have a little extra work load and assessments to find out where the kids are at. It will take me some time but I suppose I will get there. The day turned out positive and good over all. Zoe had a great time at school with her new teacher, and she also went to her drama/performing club called 'MYTH' (Metung Youth Theatre) tonight which started today, and she loved it. Alex said his day was boring at school, but that is nothing new for him as he dislikes school. Dave had an okay day I suppose except for his headache and feeling mediocre (he may be getting a cold), he even went to bed early for a change. Over all we all had a good day, so I am grateful for that. I also dreamt about my dad last night, it was a weird dream where dad was lying in a sort of bed covered up to his neck with blankets, and in my dream I knew that he had passed away but his face was twitching as if he was just fast asleep and dreaming about something. In the dream I was thinking to myself that he looked happy and at peace and was obviously dreaming about something nice because he looked comfortable and relaxed. So even though I was sad to think about my dad, I was still grateful that the dream showed him content in a weird sort of way.
Steph

Not Starving

This morning I blogged about how I wanted to make a tart yesterday and how we over indulged in food the last few days, now I'm telling you that we are going to starve for a few hours. We have registered to do the 40 Hour Famine in August. We will endeavour to do the full 40 hours without food. Zoe will do less hours as I don't think she will last the full amount, but on saying that how many poor kids the same age or younger are starving everyday without food. We really have no idea how lucky we really are and need to think hard when we say 'I'm starving', and think about those who do without food when we prepare our meal or raid the pantry or fridge for a snack whenever we feel slightly peckish or hungry. On the 40 Hour Famine we are allowed juice, water, tea and the occasional barley sugar if we need it, the starving children we are doing this for have no options or choices, they don't even have the Panadol which I will need, and they don't even get the end of famine feast like we'll be having.

Steph

Love For All That Tastes Great

For some reason I woke up yesterday morning wanting to make a leek and cheese tart....not sure why exactly but I did. During the day Zoe and I went to check out the house and I met friends of ours there who I later invited over for dinner, this was my excuse to cook the tart. I made a bit of a smorgasbord of food, I made Thai pumpkin and sweet potato curry, Thai style fried rice, pizza scrolls, caramelized leek and red onion with blue cheese tarts and salami, tomato and red onion tarts. All were delicious and scrumptious. Zoe made us all another marble cake for dessert which tasted even better than Friday's one. Well done Zoe, I think she is on her way to becoming a great baker or pastry chef....she has a sweet tooth. Today however I think we will attempt to eat lighter as we probably have overindulged just a little this last few days...doesn't mean to say without taste though. It will still be tasty. Steph

Fun With Food And Zoe

Zoe and I stayed home today and we had a cooking and baking day. First I made two lasagnes, one meat one and another vegetarian and then made Lentils with Cumin to freeze. Zoe made a chocolate marble cake all by herself, I made her read the recipe and measure out all the ingredients, the only thing I did was place it in the oven, she also iced and decorated it. I think she was on a mission to cook as many things in her recipe book as about an hour before we left to go to friends place, she decided she wanted to make pizza scrolls and she did and they look delicious. We are taking the lasagnes, the scrolls and the cake to our friends. Originally we had invited our friends over ours for dinner but because they have lots of kids and it was going to be too hard it was decided that I would take the food over to their place. Hmmmmm, somehow I manage to get myself invited to other people's places but I end up doing the cooking. I suppose I was going to do it anyway, but now I have to pack it in the car and take it all with us. It would be nice for people to actually cook for me sometime you know! Anyway, Zoe and I had fun making the food.
Steph

To Me We Are Equal And That Matters To Me

'Remember the Titans' is the movie we watched tonight and I loved it. I love any movie that brings together blacks and whites, or any race for that matter. I hate the fact that years ago the blacks had to endure such racism and hatred....and I suppose they still do by some. I'm grateful that I have never ever been racist and I will never ever be. I consider man as equal, no matter what religion, race or socioeconomic status....we are one. Steph

House Progress Getting Me Excited

Day 45 of our Metung transformation and the roof sheets are on and it's looking great. Unfortunately we have had some bad news, the house we are renting has sold for the second time, the first time fell through. We thought we were safe to stay until the house was ready but alas not. Again we have to prepare ourselves to move, in what seems a very short time of 8 weeks and then our home is the camper on our block with builders, cabinet makers, plasterers and all sorts sharing. Not happy but will have to suck it up and enjoy or be miserable. I choose enjoy! At least 1 1/2 weeks of it will be in New Zealand....just have to workout what to do with the cats! I am grateful however that the house is finally happening as that is really what is getting me excited at the moment.
Steph

Early Morning Walks

This morning I woke up a bit earlier than usual and took the dogs fo a walk. I felt a lot better for it......it seemed to start the day off on a positive note and the dogs loved it. Steph

Opportunities To See Beautiful Places

We've done the rainforests, waterfalls, fishing and eating out, we have really enjoyed ourselves and we are heading back home today.  We have all had fun on our little holiday. There are so many beautiful places to see, it's great that we have the opportunity to see them and for that I am grateful.
Steph

Great Meals

Tonight we decided to get all dressed up and go out for dinner. We caught a taxi into town expecting to have a couple of drinks and a great meal. We started off at the pub and was greatly dissapointed at the menu which lacked vegetarian options and so headed to the Fisherman's club. Here they also lacked vegetarian options but we opted to stay and I chose a prawn and scallop mornay (I'm a Pescatarian mainly for this reason). It turned out to be as bland as bland could be and I of course was very dissatisfied. Do they teach chefs to actually cook vegetarian meals or is it plain and simply meat and only meat they learn about. In this day and age where there are more vegetarians and health conscious individuals who don't necessarily want battered fish just because there wasn't any other options, other than steak or chicken Parma. I'm grateful that I can cook and that if from now on we decided that we are not going to eat out, then we still have the option of enjoying a great tasting meal created by moi.
Steph

Ensuite Powered Site

We are at Eden camping and on checking in decided on an ensuite powered site. How good is this, we don't have to share with anyone and it's close. It's going to be hard to not get one next time. I'm glad Dave suggested it.
Steph

Scruff

It's Thursday already and time is flying by. Today we had to make an extremely hard decision, one which we have pondered over for quite some time but couldn't bring ourselves to do. We had to say goodbye to our gorgeous dog Scruff. Scruff had suffered a stroke a few months back and we think he had suffered a second one not long ago. He went from not too bad to worse. He couldn't walk straight, banging into things and holding himself up against furniture, walls, your leg and anything that would do the job. His head was turned sideways and in the last few days had become tired, sleeping a lot in the day and he couldn't get himself up quick enough to go to the toilet. The decision was so hard to make as he was the happiest dog I have ever known. He wagged his tail when you spoke to him or paid him attention of any kind. He was just so happy and he didn't seem in any pain, other than when he banged into things of course. We buried him on our block where we will be living soon, under a gum tree so that in Summer he can be shaded from the harsh sun and in Winter from the pouring rain. He can look up and see the leaves glisten either from the sunlight or from the rain drops. I am grateful to have owned such a happy, gorgeous and so full of life dog, who would give anything for a little attention, he loved it. Goodbye Scruff, we will miss you dearly, thank you for the eleven years of friendship, I'm sure there won't be another like you.
Steph

Info Online

Day 38 of our Metung transformation.......and the roof frame is up. Looking good and I can see where the attic/art studio will be.

Tonight we were getting our passport forms organised when we realised that I may need a registered copy of my marriage certificate so I had to go online and pay another $28.00 for it and I also have to send off certified copies of documents which I will have to do tomorrow. Zoe and I had our passport photos taken today and I thought that from here on it would be straight forward but of course nothing is in this household. Frustrating, I can't stand filling in forms especially when you have to attach other documents to them. Hopefully Dave's, Zoe's and Alex's will be all done by next Tuesday when they have their interviews at Australia Post. I will have to wait for my registered marriage certificate to come first. And hopefully Dave's will pass through quickly as he has to renew his British passport which takes 4-6 weeks. I did keep telling him to get on to it, but as usual he wasn't listening.

Not sure what to be grateful for today as it has been a rather ordinary day.....not much excitement really, rather more frustrating if anything. I suppose I should be grateful for information via Internet, otherwise I may have had to go back and forth to the Post office, as it would be highly likely we'd forget or misread something or other.
Steph

My attic/art studio

Roof frame is up

Quality Time Spent With My Dear Friend

Last night I was having way too much of a good time to stop and blog as I was with my very dear friend Megan. Russell, her hubby was kind enough to drive us to a favourite Thai restaurant where we sat and ate great Thai food, drank great wine and talked about just about everything. Unfortunately we don't see each other often enough and therefore when we do see each other we have far too much to talk about which leaves me a little frustrated and with an unfinished business type of feeling. I did jokingly suggest we each make a list so that we can mark off the things we have completely finished saying, it might not be such a bad idea. It's amazing how we skip from one topic to the other and it's only when we are apart that I realise I hadn't finished telling her something. Quality time is what we do have especially when we don't have kids or hubbies around, this lets us talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk...........without distractions other than ourselves. Can't wait for our next session.
Steph

Shopaholic I Am Not

Today we went to Sth Melbourne Market and then to Westfield Shopping Centre in Airport West. We did lots of walking and shopping. But, I am really glad and I think Zoe and Dave are glad as well, that I am not a shopaholic, therefore I rarely do the full day shopping thing like we did today. It was good to get some new things though. Steph