Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful that I have a husband who understands how telephone lines and internet connections work.  I tried to move our home phone and internet online this morning but, sad to say, Optus advised that, due to network constraints they are unable to provide a service to that address.  My mind immediately said we would have to change to Telstra and all that would entail as far as a new family e-mail address etc etc etc.  And, because I don't pay attention when A talks about these things, I called him and told him the bad news and he didn't seem too phased by it and said we could do xyz to get around it and then we could do abc to get that done and then efg to do something else - so I very nicely said that, while I had been happy to move the service over, I felt that it was way beyond my understanding of what we needed and could I please put him in charge of getting the phone and internet moved and he said yes - woohooo thanks A !!!

Now tomorrow I just need to see if I can get onto Origin again as I managed to get myself locked out of the account today by trying, incorrectly, three times to access our account online.  I may have to resort to a telephone call to get this done EXCEPT that the bill is in A's name and I bet they will want to talk to him about it even thought he would have told them a gazillion times that I deal with anything accounts or paperwork related.

So, today I am thankful that (a) I have a telephone line and electricity that I can transfer and (b) that my husband is happy to handle the stuff that he knows is beyond my comprehension !!

Have the best Thursday e-v-e-r !!!

What are you thankful for today ?  

Have you joined in with Rhianna from A Parenting Life ?

TFTD : When we stop resisting what we don't want to feel and embrace the state that we are in, we move through the difficulty and confusion must faster and find out way back to truth and clarity.

Packing and packing and packing

Who would have thought it would take so long to pack up a kitchen ?  I know it's a big kitchen and the kitchen we are moving to is a lot smaller - but that's OK because I have come to realise that the more space you have, the more 'stuff' you have as well.  Lifeline, Red Cross and AWL or whoever else my parent's are dropping our stuff off with, will be smiling from ear to ear because I am being ruthless.  Most of the time.  Except for the vases I had flowers in when I was a child.  Those are staying.

I have to say that it is really cathartic getting rid of stuff - especially because I know that someone else needs it and will actually use it.  While I am excited about having a big pantry, at the rate I'm going, there will be nothing to put in there.

I have left out a couple of pots, the wok and a couple of casserole dishes because we do still need to eat.  What I haven't left out are any cooking utensils - oops !  I have left out the knife set but no spoons or spatulas or egg lifters - oops !  Maybe I should just pack up everything in the kitchen and we live on whatever we can buy in until we move !!!!!

K got home just after lunch on Saturday from baby sitting and helped me heaps - getting stuff from the low cupboards and the high shelves which was great because my back has decided that it doesn't really want to play along anymore.  She had another baby sitting gig at 6.30 and A and I went to the movies to see Last Vegas - what a great movie !  If you want a laugh - this is definitely the movie to see.

Sunday saw me lying with a wheat pack on my back popping panafen plus the whole day BUT I am pleased to report that A has made great in-roads into his shed.  He even threw some stuff away which I am MOST grateful for.  He still has a long way to go but I figure, getting started is definitely a step in the right direction.

After watching the Suns snatch the game from Essendon last Monday night, we decided to book a mini break to Melbourne over Easter to watch them play the Demons on 20th April and then go to the Cats v Hawks game on 21st - now if I could just buy tickets for the game, I would be really happy - as would my in-laws as they have changed their holiday in Melbourne to coincide with us being there and we will go to the games together.  Well my SIL is coming to the Suns game to experience the MCG but she won't be coming to the game the next day - she has no interest in AFL.

This break will be the thing that will get me through the next three weeks because this time, in three weeks, we will already have had 4 sleeps in our new home !!!

Have the best day !

TFTD : Today, surround yourself with people who lift you higher - those who see the great potential in you, even when you don't see it in yourself.

To Thermomix or Not

Clearly I live with my head nowhere near anyone else because up until last year sometime (I think it was then but I know for sure it wasn't many years ago) I had never heard of a thermomix.  I was invited to a demonstration and there I saw the lady make a whole heap of stuff that, for the most part, I wouldn't consider making for my family and so it was a no-brainer that I didn't buy one.  While I was impressed, there was no way I could justify spending that amount of money on another kitchen appliance which may (or may not I suppose) land up in the drawer where appliances that are no longer used live.

Now the real question is - is there anyone who reads this blog who has bought one and doesn't use it much ?  I am looking for something that will help me make healthy and nutritious meals for the 2 or 3 of us but won't expect me to spend hours putting it altogether.  I know a couple of people who have them - one uses it to make treats for her childrens' lunchboxes (definitely not required by me) and someone else says that she does use it but not nearly as much as she thought she would.  One friend said that you had to have lots of ingredients on hand because you make everything from scratch but that is is a case of 'buying yourself time' because once it's all together, you can leave it to cook by itself without having to do anything to it.

If you have a thermomix, do you use it ?

Have you found that it is value for money ?

Knowing what you know now, would you buy it again ?

Do they have healthy nutritious dinners in a recipe book ?

Please, if you don't normally comment but have a thermomix, I would love to hear your thoughts on whether it is worth the money and the pros and cons of owning one.  And of course, if you do normally comment and have a thermomix, I would still love to hear from you too - LOL !!!

Have the best day !

TFTD : If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.

I'm Still Here

I cannot believe how quickly time is going.  I used to think that it was because I was getting older but even some younger people that I have spoken to have said how quickly time is passing.  I wonder if maybe 1 second is no longer taking 1 second to pass - maybe it's really only 1/2 second and so what we previously knew as 1 minute is actually only 1/2 minute ?  Oh, I may just bring my mind back from wherever it was going with this train of thought.

The paperwork is all signed.  Today the contract on our place goes unconditional.  And, three weeks on Friday we move - eeeeeeeek - that is just around the corner.  Having said that I am quite glad we have a reasonably quick settlement as it means we can get on with the adventure in our new home and all that building entails !!

If only I didn't have so many things on at the moment I could get heaps more packing done.  Monday night we went to the Suns v Essendon NAB challenge game.  While we were very scrappy in the first two quarters, they seemed to pull their fingers out in the second half and, in the dying seconds of the game kicked a behind to win by 1 point.  A real nail biter for the first game of the year but I think it would have done their confidence the world of good - being able to come back like that after the start that they had, shows their commitment to winning.  In some ways I feel a bit like that - we seem to have struggled for a while with the whole house thing and now we are so close to the end and being able to pull it all off - we just need to get through the next couple of weeks before things can settle down again.

I am trying to get around to read blogs but haven't been as successful as I would have liked.  Please don't think I have forgotten about you, I haven't, I'm just running short on time.  I am trying to get ahead of my work so that the time I take off when we move, isn't made more stressful by knowing that I left work undone in the office.  We had already planned on going away in April and we have canned that trip - it was just getting too hard trying to tie it in with the move and finances.  We are hoping to get down to Melbourne for a weekend while we are off in April but will wait and see if that happens or not.

Have the best day that you can !

Do you have any tips to share about moving ?

Especially if you have lived somewhere

over 13 years and are married to a hoarder.

TFTD : Always go with the choice that scares you the most, because that's the one that is going to help you grow.

Deep Breaths

While our contract for the house we are buying only goes unconditional on settlement of the sale of our home, the contract on our current home goes unconditional next Thursday.  As far as we can tell, it looks like it's all a go as there was nothing major in the building and pest inspection and it appears that they have finance sorted - the bank valuer was around yesterday and, as he was only there about 8 mins, I figure he is either going to pull the plug on the deal or it was a no brainer they would get it - I'm going with, it was a no brainer they are going to get it.

Poor A is so busy with work, I think there are times when he doesn't even know what my name is never mind where he lives - in fact, I don't think he gives a rat's butt where he lives - so long as wherever it is he has a comfy bed to come home to, he will be happy.

This may prove to be a little more than a little challenging for us over the next 4 weeks - settlement is 4 weeks from today which means that all his cr*p in the shed, in the garage, around the yard and down the side and back of the house - HAS TO BE MOVED.  This will be no small feat.  And, given he is working tomorrow, that is one Saturday that nothing will be done.  Factor in we received a pile of docs (probably about one trees worth of paper) in the mail yesterday that we have to read, understand, sign and send back to the solicitors asap - which means we probably won't get much done on Sunday which will be spent going through said pile of documents - which in turn means there are 3 weekends left before we move.

Oh yes, on top of this we have one truss in the roof which needs to be fixed and one shower which needs to be re-grouted / sealed / something done to - hopefully there is nothing else in the building report that entails us having to do anything other than pack !!

I am astounded about the truss in the roof - apparently it looks like it was cut by the guy putting the air-conditioning into the lounge room.  Wouldn't you think that if they needed to cut something like a truss to get the aircon installed, they would at least have said "Hey mate, we cut a truss to get this thing installed." so that we could get it fixed ?  Well clearly I think they should have but maybe I am wrong about this !!!

Anyone who has been reading my blog will know that A is a hoarder - in fact, he is a hoarder of note. During the week when I was packing up the sideboard, I put in a pile some old table cloths that we no longer use as well as a three candle holder - a wrought iron one that I think we may have brought from South Africa with us.  It is not a pretty candle holder.  It is not even a candle holder that we have used in forever.  This is the conversation that ensued :

A : What are you doing with this stuff ?
Me : Giving it to Lifeline.  No actually Mom said she would take it to somewhere else as if you drop it at Lifeline, people go through it before it gets collected and just pinch it so I told her I didn't care where it went so long as it went.
A : What about this runner ?
Me : That's on the pile - it's going too.
A : Why don't you use it on the side-board ?
Me : Because it doesn't make anything in the diningroom and we don't need a dust collector.
A : What about the candle holder ?
Me : That's also on the pile - it's going to.
A : Why ?
Me : Because we haven't  used it in forever and we don't need another candle holder that we don't use - IT'S JUST STUFF and we are getting rid of it.

I thought I made myself pretty clear in the above conversation.  Clearly I didn't.  A little while later I see the candle holder and a few other things by his keys on the kitchen bench.  I didn't say anything because I thought he may be taking them to work to see if someone there wants them.  Why they would I don't know but hey, so long as we don't have it anymore I don't care.

Last night I went into the garage - and what do I find ?  The candle holder !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I don't know if maybe he is channeling his feminine side and going to put candles up in his shed when he is working there - or maybe the electricity isn't sorted yet and so he needs light - I don't know.  What I DO KNOW is that that bloody candle holder is not coming inside again !!

On that note I had better go and see how many decent packing boxes I can find.  Luckily I work close to a pool supplies wholesaler and they have some really good packing boxes they are happy to save for me - I just need to keep carting them down and trying to fit them into the car.

Have the best weekend !  And, if you live on the Gold Coast and have a free hour and want a laugh - pop in and watch me sorting through cr*p  and trying to decide whether A will remember we had a particular item before taking my life into my own hands and tossing it into the 'give it away' pile !

What are your plans for the weekend ?

Are they as much fun as mine ?

TFTD :   I have discovered the patience of miracles and how, when you wait for them, they will show up, often in disguise but there nonetheless.

Auslan Is Fun

I think I mentioned before that K and I had signed up for an Auslan course.  Well last week was our first lesson and, to say I drove home feeling more than a little over whelmed would be a total understatement !  I wondered how I would manage to remember anything she had signed.

That night we had an interpreter which was great - he was fantastic (I know, it's his job, he should be good at it) but it was amazing to watch the interaction between the two of them as they were signing and he was telling us what Diana was signing.  It was quite a technical night in terms of explaining how signing came about, Diana's story (she was born deaf, her parent's are both deaf and her siblings are all deaf but none of her grandparents were deaf), sentence structure (or lack of) and where we can go online for help during the week if we need it / get stuck.  And then he told us that he was only there for one night and there was a massive "What ?" from everyone.  "How are we going to manage ?" - and he just laughed and said we would be fine.

Well, last night was the second lesson, and the first lesson with no interpreter, and it was amazing.  It was so much fun and there was so much laughing - not at people because they got things wrong - but because of what the sign actually meant when they made the wrong sign !!!  We had been shown 'light' and then a little later she asked us what we thought 'photocopier' was - we all had some funny action with a camera and a light - but no, it was paper with the light underneath it.  Later on during the class we were going over all the words written on the white board and she got to 'photocopier' except, we couldn't quite remember it, and if you have the light the wrong way i.e. facing up instead of down, that's the sign for 'fart'.  There were huge shrieks of laughter as she told us what some of us had been signing.

On our way home I said to K that we are definitely going to have to put aside time every day to practise because, like any language, you can't expect to be proficient in it if you don't practise.

I am joining in with Rhianna over at The Parenting Life for Thankful Thursday because I am very thankful that I have this opportunity to learn another language which may open doors for a future career move for me (apparently interpreters are highly sought after and there is a very limited supply to meet the need).

Have the best Thursday !

What are you thankful for today ?

TFTD : When people undermine your dreams, predict your doom or criticise you, remember, they're telling you their story, not yours.

Woohooo !!

WE HAVE A CONTRACT ON OUR HOME  !!!!

While our home hasn't been on the market for months and months, or heaven forbid, years, it has been a rather stressful time for me since we put it on the market on Christmas Eve.  But, today, we finally agreed on a price with a prospective buyer and have a contract on it.  Now it's just for the bank to find value in it and the building and pest inspection. Then we are good to go !!!

Well - sort of - there have been a few hiccups with the place we are buying BUT, I had another win this morning when A agreed that even if the purchase of the place we want falls through, we will rent and be a cash buyer and just look for something else - win, win all around !

If you had told me years ago that I would be the one who was positive about a tree change and happy to let my home become someone else's home, I would have laughed at you.  I would have said that you 'were smoking your socks' (as we say in our family).  I can see just how much I have grown and changed my attitude about how I deal with issues that come up.  I have, finally, realised that there is no point in worrying about the things that I have no control over.  I have realised that worrying about the things that I cannot change is a waste of my energy.

Today I am thankful for the contract that we have on our home but more importantly, I am thankful for how I have grown and how my attitude has changed to allow me to enjoy life more fully instead of spending so much time worrying about the things I have no control over.

Have the best day !

Have you joined in with Rhianna from The Parenting Life for Thankful Thursday ?  

What are you thankful for today ?

TFTD :  It's better to look back on life and say "I can't believe I did that," than to look back and say "I wish I did that."