Whassup?

Mmm, how boring is this blog lately? Even the DIY has paused so I can't write about that! Pregnancy this, baby that... I don't think a mommy-to-be can help her blog becoming a "Mommy Blog", but you'd think there was something else going on, right?

Lets see. The weekend before last we had IrishMILF, her hubby and 8-week old baby boy over for Sunday lunch - the first guests since doing up our kitchen! They were suitably impressed. I cooked a superb pork roast (a deboned leg that I rolled around crushed rosemary, garlic, sage and orange chutney) with roasted potatoes and sweet potato, accompanied by steamed carrots and brocolli and gravy. The crackling turned out perfect, as did everything else. I'm still learning my new oven - it's more efficient than I'm used to and I over-crisped a few things, but no-one minded.

Then IrishMILF and I stayed chatting at the dining table with tea and chocolate while the boys messed with the Xbox on the other side of the room. The baby was really good, although he doesn't like being put down and won't nap for more than 15 minutes at a time. Of course, being out at a friend's they weren't about to let him grizzle so I don't know if they're a little more relaxed at home... I hope so.

IrishMILF is a model mommy. She did a fully natural birth from which she has completely healed. Breastfeeding worked from the first moment, she hasn't had even a sore nipple and the baby is growing like mad. I think she got so fed up with other women's horror stories that she's making a point of not complaining about how hard it all is, but even so I'm full of admiration. I'll be chuffed if I cope half as well as she does.

Urk, there I go, mommy-blogging again. I don't think IrishMILF and I talked of anything else either... maybe we should implement a baby-talk-free hour whenever we get together. Anyone think that will work?

This past weekend was very quiet. Milord went out with the boys on Friday night and came rolling home completely blotto at 1am. At which time he insisted on watching some cricket on the telly... where I assume he fell asleep because at 2am there was a crash from the living room as the remote fell to the floor, and then he took himself off to sleep in the spare bed. He can't remember turning on the cricket by the way...

When he surfaced at 10am on Saturday he still reeked of alcohol and he was feeling rather under the weather. He hasn't been out for a night like that in a very long time - and probably won't again now for a very long time! I made him a couple of bacon and egg sandwiches and he spent the rest of the day on the Xbox while I read books nearby.

On Sunday he felt ok but lazy, so we slept late before going out for brunch. In the afternoon we put the pram together, tidied the baby's room and went on a nappy-buying trip. Then I set a chicken roasting and we watched movies. A lovely relaxed weekend - just my style at the moment!

It is my last week of work. I'm finding it more and more of a struggle, and luckily my team is being very sweet about me working short days. I got home at 5 last night, had a snack and a cup of tea, and when Milord got home at 6 I was in bed preparing for a nap! He pottered around while I snoozed for an hour, made himself a cold chicken salad while I nibbled on strawberries, and we were back in bed at 9pm.

Mom keeps telling me that she doesn't remember being particularly tired in pregnancy. Mom, I love you, but you were 20 the last time you carried a baby to full term! 20! And when you had me you were still only 25...

I'm 37.

It is my choice to be a "mature" mom, but damn pregnancy is exhausting. I shudder to think how I'm going to be with the next one when I am even closer to 40 and with a toddler to wrangle.

Tch, is that me blogging about pregnancy again? Just not much else happening in my brain, sorry!

Second Anniversary!

Today is the second anniversary of my arriving in Oz to stay, and of moving in with Milord. Funny to think that just two years ago I was on my way to Sydney with just what I could carry and a tummy full of butterflies!

I won't deny that my first couple of months were perfectly miserable as I came to terms with a new land, new town, new man and jobhunting. I suffered from insomnia caused by stress and his snoring so I was tired and cranky and lonely and it wouldn't stop raining so every day was a bad-hair-day! Milord was in the throes of a divorce and had a heap of emotional baggage to work through... And "Aussie English" is different enough to "Saffa English" to cause some major mis-communications over the most trivial things!

Even at our worst I always knew he was "The One" for me though, and I stuck with it because I knew that underneath the baggage was the bloke I'd crossed the world for. I found my feet, got used to the snoring, learned to translate Aussie, found a job, got my visa, and we began to pull in the same direction. Since then we've only improved, and I can honestly say that the past year has been brilliant relationship-wise (and Milord had his snoring fixed - whoohoo). We have big plans this year including buying a house and starting a family. We might wed, although Milord is still a bit gun-shy since his divorce so who knows!

On the subject of marriage - this past Saturday friends of ours got married. They are Irish living in Sydney, so a mob of friends and family came out from Ireland for it and they also invited many new friends from here. They hired a farmstay property down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere as the venue, two and half hours drive from Sydney. It turned out pretty well, as the party carried on until nearly dawn but we didn't disturb anyone else.

Unfortunately the day was really wet, but we managed to get everything under cover and it didn't affect the spirit of the day - in fact it was a good thing as it kept the flies away during the vows (note to self, farm=flies)! It was a lovely ceremony, the bride was radiant, and we had a brilliant party afterwards. A lot of folk were camping including us, so that was interesting in the rain and mud!

I went to bed at 2am, and Milord followed at 4am. We slept surprisingly well but were woken by the chickens and roosters at 8am. We got up in the rain, rolled up the tent and were headed home by 9am. Once home we showered and went back to bed for a couple of hours, then had a lazy afternoon washing muddy clothes and bedding while sipping wine and reading books and newspapers.

A lovely weekend, but we're still a bit tired today. We will be going out for dinner somewhere near home tonight, but as we're tired and broke it won't be terribly flashy.

PS. I fitted back into a dress I hadn't worn in a over year for the wedding, and I got a lot of compliments! I cheated a little with control-top knickers, but that's allowed eh? Hopefully someone will have taken a decent photo that I can post soon ;-)

Happy New Year!

Here we are at the start of a new year. I have a very good feeling about this one!

It was a very busy and very social festive week-and-a-bit. We threw a barbeque for 25 people on Xmas eve, went over to a friend's the next day for a late Xmas dinner which carried on into the early hours, travelled up the coast for a night so that milord could play golf with his cousins, then went a couple of hours towards Canberra for two nights over New Year's to stay with friends where we lived on champagne and cold ham and I had more than my fill of small children.

I am utterly exhausted, broke, back at work, and looking forward to a couple of days detox before a good friend's wedding on Saturday. She's Irish, so has hired a property out in the bush so that the party can continue all night and into the next day. We're going to be camping, which is interesting... I have never pitched a tent in dress and heels before!

Here's a shot of my first ever Xmas tree... I have to get myself a decent tripod - I really don't suit being viewed from knee-height! Milord turned out ok though, maybe because he's squatting down. Isn't that the cutest tree ever? The presents totally dwarf it. Most of those are for me too har har...



Milord got me several excellent books for xmas, as well as quite a bit of very good sports gear. I got the giggles after the third jogging/gym item and asked if he was trying to tell me something! It's all stuff I had hinted madly about, and I'm very chuffed. Almost everything I got him was along a photograph theme... I got hold of some lovely old wedding photos of his parents and framed them, and framed some fun pictures of us diving, flying and looking generally good. I also managed to collect pictures of all the children of his friends and family around the world and made them into a calendar, because Rob loves children and adores those of his mates - he's godfather to several! He was very pleased.

We also scored spice pots and cookbooks from friends, which was nice. And some less nice wierd knicknacks and chunky jewelery... that I don't wear. These folk have seen me around for nearly two years and I never wear more than a delicate chain or tiny earrings, and they keep giving me huge beady stuff. Must be an Aussie thing. Ah well, better than the big lavender gift pack and Sydney harbour placemats I got last year and still can't get rid of! Some of the naffer stuff might find its way to the charity shop soon I reckon.

The weather over Xmas was cool and wet and over New Years it was lovely and hot at last... very pleasant.

And weight-wise? Well, I was trying to be good most of the time! I managed to get to the gym a couple of times over the holiday, and on non-party days we stuck to salads where possible. I hopped on the scale between Xmas and New Years and it said I hadn't gained so that was fantastic! I haven't braved the scale since my champagne and ham marathon though. What is it with Aussies and cold ham after Xmas? I don't even like the stuff that much but that's all there was for several days... I snuck out to the village for a salad lunch and a bag of apples on New Years Eve-day because I was sick of bread and ham and cheese. Bleah.

Today I am on fruit only, and loving it. I have discovered sun-dried tomatoes as a snack too - they are kind of savoury so hit the spot. Obviously not the ones in oil though! So if tomatoes are point-free on Weightwatchers, are the dried ones free too? I can't seem to find non-oily dried tomatoes on the site to check... what do you think?

I don't like Mondays

*yawn*

I'm shattered today. I really hate it when I start the week tired, because then I never seem able to catch up on sleep and the week drags slower and slower.

It was a fairly excessive weekend. Friday was our 23rd montheversary (nearly 2 years woohoo!), and milord took me out to an excellent restaurant. They were a bit overwhelmed with huge tables indoors, but we were able to sit out on the terrace away from the noise and bustle. Service was patchy, but we were in no hurry and when the food finally did arrive it was worth the wait. I had the best braised duck ever, and milord's steak was superb... We shared a bottle of very good sauvignon blanc with our starters (marinaded anchovies for me, and tuna carpaccio for him), and a lovely cabernet sauvignon with the mains. We got home around midnight and sat up watching a bit a dvd with a nightcap until very late... that may have been a mistake!

On Saturday milord was off on a stag weekend, so I dropped him at our friend's house then wandered back home for a late breakfast. I cleaned and tidied the house and then Lucy and her kids arrived. Lucy and Peter and the kids were staying over that night as they were going to a party nearby. We shared a bottle of champagne, and then I headed into town to meet up with the other halves of the stag party for a girl's night out. I got home around 1am, a bit worse for wear, and shared my bed with a 5 year old girl... she was very quiet luckily!

Sunday was an early start, as kids don't respect hangovers! We blobbed around with coffee for a while, and then they all took me out to brunch before heading home. I had the house to myself from about midday, and this is how I spent the afternoon:



On the couch.

It was a hot muggy day, and a storm passed through at about 3pm. I read the newspapers and my book, I painted my nails, I did several loads of laundry, and I made a pot of vegetable soup to feed milord if and when he came home... It seems the stag party was doing a bit of a pub crawl nearby. Every so often I'd get a phone call and the quality thereof steadily deteriorated through the afternoon! Milord finally stumbled in after dark, as trollied as I've ever seen him, inhaled a bowl of soup and crashed off to bed. I watched a dvd, finished another bottle of wine, and put myself to bed in the spare room at about 10pm.

Sleeping in that room gives me wierd dreams - I don't know why. Perhaps it is because the windows face the road and all the noises are different. I woke up tired and blah. I definitely feel better than milord though! I took him coffee in bed and had a chat, and he was just about out of bed when I left for work - I hear several others from the stag party have called in sick!

I think an early night is called for tonight ;-)

Mid July

Well here we are at the middle of July, and I don’t think I have much news, but I’ll have a go anyway!

Milord’s mum is really ill. Her lung cancer is growing in spite of the chemotherapy now, and it has come to the point where the treatment would probably kill her sooner than the disease so they’ve stopped it. She’s been given a few months to live and Milord and his sister are taking turns in being with her 24 hours a day at her home in Brisbane. She wants to stay at home for as long as possible before going into a hospice, but someone has to be there all the time. Milord's sister has suspended her job to be there during the week, and m'Lord is flying up most weekends to take over and let his sister go home to her family. It is very hard on them all.

So I’ve had the house to myself rather a lot recently. At first it was rather nice to have some space, but I’m over it now and miss him terribly. That is, until he comes home and grumps around the place like a bear with a sore head. I know it’s my job to absorb it and be cheerful, but I’m kind of over that too! Some days I feel like moving in with a mate and letting him and his horrible cat grump at each other instead. Bad girlfriend.

The househunting has been pretty awful. We’ve decided that it is one stress we can do without at this time and are taking a break from it. I don’t know when we’ll start again, but hopefully at the end of the year. I really miss my little house in England sometimes, and I’ve been ever so homesick lately. Probably because I just don’t like the house we are in now, and being in it alone really brings home what I am missing.

Anyway, enough moaning.

As you know, my permanent visa came through the other day (yay yay yay!) and I have to go out of the country to get it. We have booked to go to New Zealand in September, for a few days of skiing in Queenstown and a hop to Auckland to get my visa and visit Heidi. I’m a bit nervous about skiing as it’s been about 5 years, and Milord and I have started exercising to build up our thighs. Hopefully it will all come back once I’m up the lift looking down the mountain!

Speaking of exercising, I have signed up for a Sydney fun run called the City to Surf, which is a 14km run from the centre of the city to Bondi beach. The main reason I signed up was to have an incentive to get running to hopefully shake off some weight. Sadly I’m doing something wrong, because although I am fitter and faster I am actually gaining weight! Running isn’t supposed to build muscle, is it? I have also started using a personal trainer once a week, and she’s killing me. Lunges, squats, press-ups, all the things I really don’t like! Hmmm, maybe that’s where the “muscle” is coming from… On the positive side I have beaten my personal best around the Bay, at last! Tomorrow I intend to try to run the Bay twice, as that is pretty much the same distance as the City to Surf. I imagine I’ll be walking most of the second circuit!

That’s about it, not very interesting… We’re trying to pay off our credit cards so aren’t getting out much, it’s quite cold and surprisingly wet.

Mid May

Hm, another month gone by, that wasn't very exciting...

Not sure what we've been up to, certainly not much worth writing home about! Our finances have finally recovered from the SA holiday, so we're starting to socialise again (lots of birthdays this month) and are dreaming of the next trip. Not sure where, but probably within Oz - skiing or sailing or something - it's such a big place you can actually choose between snow or 30 deg at the same time!

Of course, that's if we don't buy a house in the meantime, which looks unlikely. Househunting in Sydney SUCKS! I HATE it. Anything we like is totally out of our price range, and I'm fed up with spending all Saturday driving around looking at houses. Milord is still resisting looking in the cheap suburbs, so nasty little shoeboxes are all we see, and we STILL can't afford them... There is a place up for auction this weekend that we both mostly like, but I just know it's going to go for $50k more than we can consider spending. I don't even want to watch the bidding this time.

Aaargh.

So the good news is that we're not doing much househunting this month ;-). Last weekend we visited friends of Milord's (Lucy, Peter and their little kids Charlotte and William) who live about 2 hours away south west. They have a huge property in the middle of nowhere, and the guest quarters are in a converted barn. It was glorious and private, and after a very late Friday night chatting with too much wine Milord and I didn't join the family in the main house until midday! Lucy is the best friend of m'Lord's ex-wife so I was on eggshells, but they were fine. I spent most of the time playing with the kiddies and kittens anyway. It was a good break, and lovely to get out of town.

This Saturday Milord is playing golf so we can't househunt, and next weekend he's away on a boy's drinking golf weekend. Fab, not only no househunting, but a girlie weekend ;-). I have decided to definitely break out the pencils and paper and attempt a sketch while he is away, I have no excuses now!

We have a girlfriend of mine, Angela, staying with us at the moment. She broke up with her bloke and needs a place to crash for a while. Looks like they're getting back together, but she'll be with us for the rest of the month probably while she sets the terms of the makeup. Long involved drama... makes me appreciate my nice steady normal fella (and hopefully him me)! She's a good houseguest though, washes up, feeds the cat when we're away, and hasn't complained about my cooking yet.

Work's pretty dull. I'm not sure I'll be renewing my contract at the end of June, I need a new challenge. That, or more money - we'll see what they say when the time comes!

My perm visa application continues. I finally passed the medicals after shelling out a fortune on specialists and tests. I have a benign kidney condition that causes thin membranes and sometimes blood in my urine. Genetic apparently, can't be fixed and has no symptoms or detrimental effects. I now just need my police clearances from the UK and SA and I'm sorted.

Um, what else? I'm gymming like crazy because the weight I lost before SA has insidiously crept back on. Firm fat, yay.

Hey, I don't think I ever told you how Milord's nose and throat apnoea (and snoring) operation turned out! Well, it's a great success. He hardly snores now, only on his back or when we've been boozing, and even then not too loud. When we keep off the grog for a few days he's as quiet as a mouse ;-). We've also recently changed the mattress for one with no bounce and I can't feel him turn over (used to nearly bounce me out of bed sometimes!), so my sleeping is the best it's been in over a year. I am a different person, and so is he - cheerful and full of energy. Fabulous.

That's it. How I write so much about so little I don't know ;-)