Thankful Thursday

As I write this I am sitting with an ever growing shopping list next to me.  This Saturday some family arrive from Perth.  This Saturday some family arrive from Rocky.  This Saturday some family arrive from Adelaide.

Thankfully they aren't all staying with us - just the 4 from Perth.

This Sunday we are having an open house - but not the open house that we have had over the past 3 weekends - an open house for all the family who have arrived on the coast from around the country.  We will all be together on Saturday night for a nephew's engagement but on Sunday it will be a lot more casual.

Thankfully we have a pool that the children (and adults) can swim in should the weather require it.

It isn't very often that we manage to get this many of our family together in one place so I imagine that there will be lots of talking, lots of laughing and even more drinking of alcoholic beverages.

Thankfully we have aircon that can be switched on, so if it gets too hot outside we can all move inside to the cool.

There will be lots of food and drinks.  I am sure that there will be lots of 'remember whens' as well.  At this stage I'm not really sure of exactly how many people will be there but that doesn't really matter - whoever pitches up, will be there.  Whoever doesn't make it will probably miss out on giving their tummy muscles a good workout.

Thankfully we are financially able to do this for our family.

There will be tennis and cricket on the TV.  Unfortunately we only have one TV so it will be a case of majority rules as to what we watch.  I don't think the children will get much of a look in to watch any movies on Sunday - unless it's in the afternoon when everyone has eaten and drunk too much and crashed on the couches and mattresses for an afternoon nap !

Thankfully I am not the stress head that I used to be and can do casual, open house without worrying to much about it.  At the end of it all, the house will probably need a really good clean but that is OK - so long as it's done once the visitors have left on Wednesday night - it will all be good.

For any South African's reading this - on the menu (so far) are boerewors rolls and milk tart - I am thinking of making at least six milk tarts because no matter how many I make, there never seem to be any left overs. I get that those are probably both rather un-Australian but, given how multi-cultural Australia is, we should be good.

Because it's Thursday, I'm joining in with Rhianna for Thankful Thursday over at A Parenting Life - why not join in as well because we all have 'stuff' to be thankful for.

What are your plans for

Australia Day ?

Do you have any traditions for

the day ?

TFTD :  Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars : you have to let go at some point in order to move forward. 

Proud To Be Australian !

While I wasn't made or born in Australia - I am no less proud to be Australian than anyone who was made or born here !  I chose to move to this country because it was no longer safe to stay in the country where I was born and I have thoroughly enjoyed the move and the lift style that we have here.  It is very similar to where we are from - the main difference is that it is safer.  I can go for a walk, by myself, when it is dark without fear of whether I will make it home or not.  I could leave my daughter at home by herself without fear of what might happen to her.  I can let my daughter drive around at night, knowing that she is relatively safe compared to what she would have been had we not made the move.

Since arriving here, We have embraced most things Australian - we follow league, we are members of the Gold Coast Suns AFL side, we eat lamingtons, we obey the rules of the road and we vote when the elections arre called.  I haven't managed to get into the habit of calling people mate and I cannot bring myself to eat veggiemite - I have tried but I just can't.

I have never been back to the country we left - I have no desire to go there - I am too scared that I will not make it home.  I have to laugh when people ask "Have you been home ?" and then look at me funny when I say "Yes, I was there this morning."  To me this is home - it may not be where I was born - but it is home.  I love living here - I love the freedom to do what I want when I want without being dictated to by the time of the day.

I get upset when I hear people talking about 'how good it was in another country' - if it was that good why did you leave - why do you stay here - why not go back there if it is that good ? But I think people forget about why they left in the first place.  Before we came over we put together a file of horrific things that happened, so that when we got here and we wondered if we had made the right decision, we could look at that file and remember how bad things were and why we left in the first place.  About 5 years ago we threw that file out - it had been in a cupboard for over 7 years and we had never looked at it !!

While I don't have an Australian accent, I AM PROUD TO BE AN AUSSIE !!!

Have a great Australia Day wherever you are and whoever you are with.

TFTD : People forget how fast you did a job, but they remember how well you did it - Howard Newton