The packing begins

We've started packing. Its an absolutely huge job that I really am not looking forward to. We are moving our home of twelve years and our business. Thats a lot of stuff.

We've moved a few times before but this time I am determined we will not be taking clutter with us. Everything is being sorted before it gets packed - is it junk? do we really need it? where will it fit in the new place? The new house is less than half the size of the old so a lot of stuff needs to go. We've been giving stuff away for weeks.We seem to accumulate so much stuff over the years.

Two truck loads have already been packed and gone to the new house but there is still plenty left here. We haven't really even started on packing the business.

I hope to get to the new house on Friday and start the unpacking. Then I'll bring the boxes back and repack them for the next load.There is lots to do.

Better get back to it, there are lots of bugs to vacuum up that have made their home under bookcases and things.

Lynda

Rain, a most welcome sight

Its bee raining which is wonderful. Our water tank was down to about a quarter of a tank, largely because we had a leak in a pipe a few weeks ago, and now is nicely filling. The past few days have been wet and we have heard the welcome sound of the bottom water tank overflowing. This has been pumped up to the main tank. It feels so much better knowing we won't run out of water for awhile.

Other good news is that our house is sold. We move at the end of April. I'm glad we can have mess again instead of having to keep the house spotless for inspections. We spent a few hours yesterday cleaning up the mess in the garden, getting ready to move. We have piles of stuff everywhere, pavers, bricks, sleepers, fire wood and roof tiles. Its a reasonably large property so we have tended to make piles all over the place. Now we have to clean them up!

We have had some storm damage to clean up as well, a few branches have come down. Its more free firewood which is great but we don't really have the time to be cleaning up branches at the moment. I'm sure it will all come together.

I'm settling into my new job. I'm slowly getting to know everyone and feel I am making a positive contribution instead of getting in everyone's way. It will be much better when we make our move as the travel is very tiring at the moment. We are traveling 80mins one way each day.

Today is an at home day for me so I had better get myself organized and do some of the jobs which have been piling up.The plan is to clean up my desk today. I have a feeling there are a lot of unpaid bills floating in the mess. Not a good thing.

Enjoy your day,
Lynda

A new job

Well I survived my first few days of work. Its a part time job so I work 2 days one week and 3 the next. Hopefully that will give me a good mixture of work and time at home. So, how did it go? Well, I've discovered I have lots to learn about the organization I'm working for and the local area. Just finding my way to meetings at the moment is challenging as I don't know where anything is. I also have to get used to all the acronyms that are used and there are a lot. I have to keep asking "could you explain that to me". I'm sure I am a nuisance but everyone has been great and supportive.

I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks time when I will have 'got the hang of it' and be more productive.

Today is a home day and there is lots of cleaning up to be done. Its not very exciting but its necessary so I guess I had better get to it. We had rain last night, it smells wonderful outside with the fresh smell of wet earth. Summer rain is most welcome around here.

Have a great day,
Lynda

Happy Birthday

Today my eldest child turns 20! Wow, no longer a teenager. We celebrated last night with a simple BBQ meal and birthday cake. Today we are scattered far and wide with work and school commitments so we celebrated yesterday when we were all together. So happy birthday son, have a great day.

I've got lots of jobs to do today to get ready for the coming week. Tomorrow I start my new job. Its both exciting and a bit nerve wracking. Its been a long time since I worked away from home. I'm looking forward to it. Its with a small community group working in the local community. It will be great to meet some new people and hopefully help a few people out in a positive way. The extra income will be most welcome as well.

For the first time in a very long time I received a credit card bill I wasn't expecting to be so high and haven't paid it in full. That means I'll be paying interest this month and probably the next few months as well. I hate paying credit card interest, it seems like such a waste of money. There was the usual Christmas spending, a large bill for the service of my car which included new tyres and a pretty big medical bill which all combined blew my budget. Once this is paid off the other car needs new tyres so that will be another large expense. It never stops does it!?

I guess I had better start on the huge list of things 'to do' today. Something tells me it won't all get done.

Have a great day,
Lynda

New beginings

We are off bright and early today to enroll my daughter at university. Wow, how did she grow up so very quickly. Both kids will be at uni this year and both living away from home. It certainly will be quieter at home. I'm not sure if that is good or bad. I guess we will all get used to it.

So a year of new beginnings for us all. A new job for me, a new home for us all, a new school for my daughter and a new life away from home. I wonder how it will all turn out? Time will tell.

I had better go and get ready, we have a long day ahead of us. Its about a two hour drive to the university, you can see why she will be living away from home!

Have a great day,
Lynda

Sometimes you have days like these

Sometimes things don't go well, it can be a little overwhelming. Ok, it can be down right discouraging but you can usually work through it. It helps to have a little help though.

On Monday, around lunch time, my mother rang and innocently asked how things were going. Not good was my reply, we had a water leak and had lost over 20 000 litres of water. We didn't know where the leak was so while we dug around and investigated we had shut the water off. No showers for us, it wasn't pleasant. Our water was ending up in the neighbour's driveway. While chatting with them we discovered that our tree had lost a branch over night and flattened their brand new clothes line. Oh dear. And the dogs took advantage of our distracted state and had run off into the bush land behind the house AND the wheel fell off the wheel barrow. It wasn't looking good.

Happily the dogs came back, wet and dirty and very pleased with themselves, the neighbours took pity on us and cleaned up the fallen branch, after a lot of digging we found the leak and it only took 10 minutes to fix the wheel barrow.

Things are looking up.

Lynda

"Australia" the movie

Last night we settled down as a family to watch the movie "Australia". It wasn't quite what we expected. If people from overseas watched that and thought that was what Australia was like (yes, I know it was set in the 1940s) they will be sadly mistaken.

Why did they make the movie like that!!! It was almost a comedy in places. The characters were so over the top they were laughable. Words fail me. They took a very serious subject - the stolen generation, and made it seem fanciful.

I can't even say the scenery was beautiful because so much of it was obviously fake, computer generated or something. It was also long, nearly three hours, and really didn't need to be. Four of us started watching it and only two made it to the end. I was disappointed, maybe I'm missing something. Maybe it was a great work of art that I'm too uneducated to appreciate. Its a mystery to me.

Lynda