7.02 am 23rd April 1984 Alicia Brenda Kath came into our world, Adrian called her his little ray of sunshine.  That has always been their song.  Yesterday she turned 26.  She spent the day at the hospital having her infusion.  This will enable her to give birth to a healthy baby in late July, early August.  The tragic events of last year are behind us, well as best they can be, I wonder if we will ever really move on.  Somehow a little piece of our hearts have been taken.  Those bits are with Lucas, they will always be with Lucas.  So Alicia had a birthday cake provided by the nurses in the infuson room.  We sang happy birthday and she ate cake.  Paul gave her another beautiful diamond ring.  Three more diamonds, she is a lucky girl.  She woke to Oriental Lillies her favourite flowers in the bathroom, she said the scent led her to them,  we love these lillies.  She had them as her wedding flowers.  He also gave her some things for her little laptop.  She was spoilt.  We gave her vouchers for a facial and nail and toe nail treatments and a baby massage.  They have this really neat pillow that you can lay in with your tummy not being squashed so she'll enjoy that.  Her friend Renae who had a baby last year round the same time as Lucas was born sent her the flowers.  She is having another baby again too, so finally they will have their babies together.

This time last year we left on our trip to Europe.  It seems like yesterday in so many ways and like a lifetime in others.  Next Saturday we fly out and head to Kuala Lumpur for 12 hours.  Then on to Charles De Gaulle in Paris.  So let the good times roll.  Alicia and Paul know the sex of the baby but aren't telling us this time, they want some element of surprise.  So I will be buying white clothing in Paris for this baby.  It is exciting.  Mum is here today and we had a wonderful barbecue breakfast on the deck overlooking the pool.  A duck flew in and had a swim, must have been cold he didn't stay long.

So have a lovely Saturday.

Happy Birthday To Me Woot Woot

Ok I am just getting it out there, I am 49 (gulp) today.  Oh my that's come round quickly.  It only seems yesterday that I was this fresh faced girl with the curly perm look and the blonde hair and the pre child skinny, stretch mark free body, waltzing down the aisle all excited about the future.  That was nearly 28 years ago, yes that means that on the 20th March this year Adrian and I will have been married for 28 years, some kind of record these days.  Would I do it again, knowing that we would drag ourselves through some years, laugh ourselves through others, cry through a few, ache and sigh and live and grow and rejoice through the others.  Knowing the worry, the happiness, the grief, the arguments, the moves and changes, the ups and downs, the love and the hate, (well maybe not hate but the really tough times) the growing together, never apart, would I do it again.  ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!

I told my eldest daughter Alicia, when she married 3 years ago that love is a choice and I believe that.  I can't say that every day of the last 30 years with Adrian I have felt like I loved him.  The arguments, the snoring, the decisions, the forgetting things, all this stuff can make a person feel like they don't love the other at the time.  But I chose to love Adrian on those days, as he chose to love me on the days I irked him.  Hey it happens doesn't it!  Of course it does.  And together the last 28 years of marriage and the 2 years of courting have been my life.  I wouldn't change them.  Maybe I would choose to be kinder, gentler, softer, to Adrian who has been the greatest person to ever love me, but I would never choose not to be with him.

Oh my we look so young, so innocent, so ready to take on the world.  We were and we are still.  We just know now that life can be great, but it can be hard too.  So now as I edge a year closer to 50 I live with the safe knowledge that no matter what, I have a man who loves me forever and I him.  I have a man who is a rock for me, well most of the time, last year has tested us both and we struggled through.  So I think that if we survived the grief and confusion of that we will survive all the other ups and downs still to come.

So how do I feel about being nearly 50, see how I age myself, i just hit 49 and I'm adding a year already.  Well I feel pretty good actually.  I would like to be a bit slimmer, join the queue I know and I would like to be a little more organised than I am at the moment, but I am pretty happy with my lot.  Actually more than a little happy, I have a great life.  Anything I am lacking is because I haven't gone out and got it.  I have the support of my family in everything I do so knowing that I am free to give everything a go.  It's only me that holds me back so come on girl get to it.  I have big plans for this year, I think it will be a great year, a happy year and exciting year.  I'm looking forward to it.

Back to normal

Yeah I know you look at the photo above and you ask yourself, now didn't Kim just tell us she spent 10 days learning how to take brilliant photos and then tweak them in Photoshop?  And the answer is Yes I did do all of the above, but today life is back to normal, you know how it is, the honeymoon is over.  My house was beginning to look a little tired I must say, the floors were crying out for attention and the carpets of my goodness, we won't even go there!  My bathroom was a disaster, you see I am a 100% girl, actually make that a 200% girl.  Everything I do, I do full speed ahead.  So during the 10 days that I was off swanning around learning to become brilliantly talented, my poor old abode was totally neglected.  And then for the last 3 days I have been recovering.  I know what a drama queen I am, but I was exhausted.  I had to help a friend learn a bit more about the computer she is using, emailing etc and when I got home after lunch yesterday I literally crashed.  My 20 min power nap turned into a 2 hour snooze, uh ha I know crazy hey.  But it is really hot here at the moment and I am obviously built for cooler climes, so France in May will suit me to a T.  Anyhow life is back to normal pretty much and while I still have baskets of ironing to do (I HATE HATE ironing) and I am about to do my shower this evening when I hop in too, everything else is now sorted.  I think my tablets are kicking in and I don't feel as despondent as I was a few weeks ago, so things are looking up.  I have cleaned out a few more cubby holes round the place and the joy of emptying cupboards and tossing out stuff I have been hoarding is wonderful.

I'm 49 next Monday and there is a public holiday on Tuesday here for Australia Day, nice of them to give everyone a holiday so close to my birthday makes me feel special.  So another year is rolling along, that's the way it is hey!

Hey There Stranger

Well it's nice to be back, I must say I miss posting, but my eye has been giving me curry and finally there seems to be some settling of it in sight.  Turns out I have had an allergic reaction to who knows what and it has been very painful and hanging on like you would not believe.  I went back to the specialist yesterday as it flaired up again on Sunday and was as bad as it was in the beginning, aghh!! I just hate having anything wrong with me that slows down what I want to do. So the serious business, on the right are my girls on Friday afternoon on our balcony in Brisbane.  We had a cheese platter and some champers before we headed of to Southbank for dinner.  We found the nicest Italian Restaurant and I had the most amazing pasta with gorgonzola and white wine sauce so yum.  On Saturday we went to a Fashion Museum that was being held in the King George Square. Oh my goodness did we really dress like this at one time, unfortunately yes we did.

It was interesting to see how much fashion has changed in the last decade let alone the last 150 years.  The wedding dress above is only from last year and the gorgeous (tongue in cheek) blue number was actually worn by the first female Lord Mayor of Brisbane Sally Anne Atkinson in the 80's, what was she thinking!!!!!  Some of the really old dresses were interesting, how did women ever manage to get through a day here in the summer is beyond me.  Layers and buttons and girdles oh my.  Glad I'm a 1900's child is all I can say.  The view from our balcony at night over the Brisbane River and the new Brisbane Eye was pretty spectacular.  I even managed to scream and heavy breathe my way round several times on the Friday night.  Amazing what a few champagnes do for me.  I am so scared of heights and even though this thing isn't that high it was enough for me to start hyper ventilating.  Girls thought it was very funny and took video which I do not want to watch, and photos of me panting and tearing up so silly.  Today I am off to work, yep can you believe it.  I have only worked 12months, which was last year on contract for a lady who had gone off to start a school on an island off the top of Australia, since Ashleigh & Danielle were in year 3.  That's about 11 years ago, and was also for a year on contract. Before that I hadn't worked since Alicia was in Kindy, so like another 7 years.  I have been really fortunate that Adrian has earnt enough money for me to be home with the children.  There is good and bad in that.  Good taht I got to be with the kids whenever they were sick, on holidays, on special days at school, all that kind of thing, bad, that after about 18 years of not working what skills do I have to market myself with.  Yeah I know I am the doctor, accountant, time management expert, chef, taxi & bus driver all that stuff but on a resume, well home duties with the kids doesn't rate too high.  I got the job I am going to today because I volunteered at the centre first.  I loved the time I spent there and then went off on my trip to Europe, so was ready to leave.  I'm just doing a few hours for them today as someone is needed out of the office.  I will enjoy catching up with all the African ladies and the kids and the volunteers.  We have the most amazing bunch of volunteers anywhere.  They are so kind and generous, so I am looking forward to my big day out.

Sydney Town

So Hi everyone, sorry but I have been off and about the country side for the last 5 days.  Adrian and I left on Saturday morning to go to Sydney, capital of New South Wales.  Adrian turned 52 omg he is getting on, on Sunday and since we figure it has been at least 10 years since we have been to Sydney we really ought to go.  It's only and hour and a half max to fly and with airfares as they are, cheap as chips to go.  So for a change we played tourist in ou own country.  We loooooved it!!!  Stayed at the Swissotel in Market Street, fantastic location.  And as an appetite whetter the above pic is the Opera House on the Sydney Harbour.  We took a ferry over to Manly on Sunday morning, beautiful weather and a beautiful way to spend Ade's birthday morning.  

This is beautiful Manly Harbour, what can I say just gorgeous, but then I am a sucker for the ocean, well mostly any water actually.  Nah take that back it has to be blue, not green and muddy and it has to smell like salt oh yeah I love the ocean.  So the day started off great.  We ate breakfast in the mall overlookng the ocean well nearly, and then we took the ferry back to the Rocks.  The oldest part of Sydney and Australia.  The Rocks is where the settlement of Australia took place, it is the oldest township we have in Australia.  So that isn't that old when I consider Roma, London etc. But hey we had to start somewhere.  And I am amazed at how English it is.  The whole of Sydney reminded me of London.  From the train stations, Museum, Green Park, Hyde Park, Oxford Street, on and on, I just wanted to high tail it back to the UK.  Anyway as I was saying, the day started out great, we roamed around the Rocks through the markets that literally went for miles and finally decided we needed to rest a bit and have something to drink.  So we chose a German themed restaurant come beer hall.  Now when we first sat down we weren't overly hungry, but after the first nice cold wine I started to get a bit peckish.  Ade had a big pint of full strength beer.  He usually drinks a lite beer, but hey when your on holidays loosen up.  So he has his drink and I get hungrier.  We order some garlic bread and a cheese platter.  We drink a little more wine and beer and I get hungrier.  Also my feet are the bane of my life.  I find it darn near impossible to find really good walking shoes, not sand shoes (sneakers) but shoes that look good and feel good.  Now I did get a pair that I traipsed all over Europe in earlier this year, but did I bring these with me on this trip......NO NO NO!!!! Why not you might ask, well right about this time in the afternoon as we were leaving the German Restaurant to find somewhere to eat, yep go figure we were at a restaurant and we left to go eat.    I don't get it either.  My feet were blistered and I was hungry.  Now the problem I have, well apart from my stupid feet, is that I see eating especially when we are away somewhere or out on a bit of a treat, I see eating as well an adventure.  You know not fuel for the body, even though I know that really that's what it is.  Well so they tell me at Weight Watchers and see that's my problem.  To me it is an event.  Eating I mean.  You know right from choosing what I want.  Reading every item on the menu, thinking about how it will look on the plate, how it will smell, how it will taste.  Oh my see I don't want fuel, I want an event.  Ade on the other hand, well he loves food, don't get me wrong, but hey if he is hungry Macdonalds will do.  Not me and not on holiday in Sydney with so many restaurants around it's almost impossible to choose.  So what happens next is,  I have sore feet, really sore feet, blisters actually, I am hungry, really hungry, I am tired and I have had 3 glasses of wine.  You can guess the rest.  I follow Adrian into Maccas yuk yuk yuk and I eat cold chicken nuggets, yuk yuk yuk.  We argue for a while and then we go back to our room to soak my feet.  Later that night we take the ferry to Darling Harbour and we eat fresh King Prawn Cocktails, so delish, sorry no pic, and Rib Eye Fillet with Sun dried tomato butter, so yum and some champers.  So the moral of the story is don't leave a restaurant to go find food, so silly, and take your darn walking shoes with you and spare band aids.

Monday we went to Taronga Park Zoo and well I don't know about you but seriously I am a sucker for baby animals.  I get so excited when I see these gorgeous little things playing round.  Look at this little guy, what a show off!!!.  He laid on his mums back for ages.  He rolled over and he jumped round, not a care in the world.  I'm sure he knew we were all clicking away and oohing and aahing, but hey he was so cute.

Then there was the baby elephant Luk Chai, which means son in Thai.  He was born to a female who was rescued from the streets in Thailand, what a romantic story.  He was only born a few months ago and he already is a show stopper.  He copies all the big elephants, of course he can't do what they do but he tries and he is sooooooo cute.

We also have a wonderful war memorial in the city and this picture is of the Reflection Pool.  Well I guess no war memorial is wonderful, you know what I mean, but it is good to reflect and think about the brave men and women who gave their lives for us.  Many of the young men who went to war from Australia were under age.  They lied so they could serve in the forces and without them and their bravery, sacrifice and determination to live in a free country, we would very possibly be living in a very different country today.  So we had a wonderful weekend away.  We ate, laughed, argued, walked, talked and just spent time together.  Thanks Adrian I love you and hopefully we have many more birthday, anniversaries and ordinary days to spend together.