Thank God, it's all done at last - our flight to Australia is finally booked for the evening of 3rd October (my birthday), together with the internal flights. So the itinerary will be as follows:
Arrive Melbourne early 5th Oct
Fly to Sydney 12th Oct
Fly to Townsville QLD 14th Oct
Fly to Darwin 21st Oct
Depart for home 25th Oct
It's only cost £5680 for four people. ONLY! John and I are taking my parents this time (we were previously there in 1994) but of course, it will be the holiday of a lifetime for them and for my Mum, extra special because she will get to see her beloved brother. It will be lovely to see family and John also has 'rellies' in Melbourne and Townsville. We have a rough idea of what we'll be doing but organising the car hire and accommodation still has to be done. Matt (my cousin) and his girlfriend Suzie intend to travel around with us but they now have the difficult task of trying to get the same internal flights as we've booked. Fingers crossed, otherwise it could get messy.
The other booking I've managed to secure at last is the venue for my 40th birthday party. It was looking desperate as everywhere I enquired was not free on either 20th or 27th September.
If I couldn't get anywhere a week or two before my birthday (as I'll be on the plane on the 3rd October) I was starting to think about having it in November which would have been a bit silly. However, the good news is that Westcliff Rugby Club was free on 27th September so I can relax a bit for now. The hard bit will be getting the room all decked out before the party as we can only get in there at 6pm. We still have all our old disco equipment so we'll use that; we just need someone to do it for us so that John is able to mingle, and we hope that our old mate Keith will do the honours (must contact him soon!) I plan to do the buffet myself - or at least rope a few people in to help. It'll be a nightmare storing everything in fridges beforehand and then getting it there but we'll think of something. I will be a wreck leading up to it but hopefully it will be a success - I'm especially looking forward to the fancy dress part of it!
Gosh - almost 40. I can't believe it, surely that's not right? I still think like a teenager and act like a 6 year old! lol
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
My week off
Only having booked this week off the previous Thursday, it was so nice to have a rest - it's been so manic at work lately. Not that a week off helps the situation because when I go back I will have a week to catch up on!
The first weekend, as planned, I had my nieces to stay and Ronnie was here until the evening (I don't think he's old enough yet to sleep in a different house). Saturday wasn't the best of days weather wise so I had an idea to bake a cake. It's always something kids like to get their hands dirty with. Actually John took over the role of chief baker as he's not a disaster like I am and anyway, someone had to keep Ronnie occupied. Not satisfied with one cake, three types were created: a standard chocolate sponge sandwich with chocolate goo on top, some brownies and rice crispy cakes. If you didn't like chocolate, you were in the wrong house at that moment! Mum and Dad came round a little later as well, and we organised some painting in between wii games, playing top trumps and various other stuff. After dinner Tina came to collect Ronnie and whilst Kasey was amusing herself, I helped Ebony create a better myspace page and showed how to put stuff on there. Both girls had a later night than usual but hey it was Saturday night and who wants to be the uncool auntie?!
Sunday was a much sunnier day and as such, John and I took Ebony and Kasey to Adventure Island on the seafront. Yeah so it was pretty expensive but it's worth it when you can see they're having fun. They are both adrenalin junkies. You can understand it from a 12 year old but Kasey is 6 (almost 7) and loves the rollercoasters. She's just not quite big enough for the blue wrist band which will mean she can go on everything, so at the moment she's a little limited and you can see her frustrations! We spent just over 3 hours down there but had to get back so John could go into work. After tea, I took them both home and I must say they were both very well behaved. I look forward to having them over again sometime.
On Monday John had to go into hospital for a carpal tunnel operation on his left hand. He only had local anaesthetic so was able to come home at midday. He's doing fine albeit bruised and the stitches will dissolve in about 14 days. He was advised by the surgeon to have 6 weeks off work. Most people would lap it up but not John! He said he can't do that and asked what was the minimum time he could take. The surgeon said 2 weeks. "So that's what I'll have" John said. Not being able to drive, there's not a damn thing his boss can do about it. Personally I would have taken the 6 weeks!
The next day (Tuesday) John and I and my Mum and Dad took Ronnie down the beach at Westcliff for a couple of hours in the afternoon. It was fairly warm when the sun was out and we found a patch where there's a good deal of sand for Ronnie to play in. The sea was out at the time but soon came in, but we were ordered not to throw stones until the water had arrived! Ronnie was happy to paddle despite it being pretty cold and also loved playing basketball with the fishing net. Grandad, of course, became the chief architect of several sandcastle creations and even Auntie Lisa was seen digging a moat. Ah! The simple pleasures in life!
Wednesday evening, John, Paul and I went to see 'We Will Rock You' in the West End. My fourth time, or is it my fifth? (I must be losing count). It's my favourite show and I love it every time I see it. On Saturday evening, just myself and John went to see another one - Mamma Mia. Only my second time for this one but John's seen it about half a dozen times already! It's a good show, especially the finale (I have to get myself one of those Abba costumes!) but I found the volume wasn't high enough, particularly during the dialogue.
In between all the above, I've just been pottering about, finished reading two books, playing word games on Facebook, and watching a couple of dvds. As it's Father's Day, we have my parents over this evening for a roast.
Oh...AND....I'm going to see George Michael at Earls Court on 24th August! YAY! Tickets sold out as usual but just secured a couple on eBay for £150 each. Daylight robbery really but the seats aren't bad and if the rumours are true that this may be his last live gig, I DO NOT want to miss out. I've loved him since his Wham days and have wanted to see him ever since. This falls on the same day as my Aunt and Uncle's Silver Wedding Anniversary party; however, as their 'do' starts at 4pm and they live in Benfleet, we can eat and just go from there.
The first weekend, as planned, I had my nieces to stay and Ronnie was here until the evening (I don't think he's old enough yet to sleep in a different house). Saturday wasn't the best of days weather wise so I had an idea to bake a cake. It's always something kids like to get their hands dirty with. Actually John took over the role of chief baker as he's not a disaster like I am and anyway, someone had to keep Ronnie occupied. Not satisfied with one cake, three types were created: a standard chocolate sponge sandwich with chocolate goo on top, some brownies and rice crispy cakes. If you didn't like chocolate, you were in the wrong house at that moment! Mum and Dad came round a little later as well, and we organised some painting in between wii games, playing top trumps and various other stuff. After dinner Tina came to collect Ronnie and whilst Kasey was amusing herself, I helped Ebony create a better myspace page and showed how to put stuff on there. Both girls had a later night than usual but hey it was Saturday night and who wants to be the uncool auntie?!
Sunday was a much sunnier day and as such, John and I took Ebony and Kasey to Adventure Island on the seafront. Yeah so it was pretty expensive but it's worth it when you can see they're having fun. They are both adrenalin junkies. You can understand it from a 12 year old but Kasey is 6 (almost 7) and loves the rollercoasters. She's just not quite big enough for the blue wrist band which will mean she can go on everything, so at the moment she's a little limited and you can see her frustrations! We spent just over 3 hours down there but had to get back so John could go into work. After tea, I took them both home and I must say they were both very well behaved. I look forward to having them over again sometime.On Monday John had to go into hospital for a carpal tunnel operation on his left hand. He only had local anaesthetic so was able to come home at midday. He's doing fine albeit bruised and the stitches will dissolve in about 14 days. He was advised by the surgeon to have 6 weeks off work. Most people would lap it up but not John! He said he can't do that and asked what was the minimum time he could take. The surgeon said 2 weeks. "So that's what I'll have" John said. Not being able to drive, there's not a damn thing his boss can do about it. Personally I would have taken the 6 weeks!
The next day (Tuesday) John and I and my Mum and Dad took Ronnie down the beach at Westcliff for a couple of hours in the afternoon. It was fairly warm when the sun was out and we found a patch where there's a good deal of sand for Ronnie to play in. The sea was out at the time but soon came in, but we were ordered not to throw stones until the water had arrived! Ronnie was happy to paddle despite it being pretty cold and also loved playing basketball with the fishing net. Grandad, of course, became the chief architect of several sandcastle creations and even Auntie Lisa was seen digging a moat. Ah! The simple pleasures in life!Wednesday evening, John, Paul and I went to see 'We Will Rock You' in the West End. My fourth time, or is it my fifth? (I must be losing count). It's my favourite show and I love it every time I see it. On Saturday evening, just myself and John went to see another one - Mamma Mia. Only my second time for this one but John's seen it about half a dozen times already! It's a good show, especially the finale (I have to get myself one of those Abba costumes!) but I found the volume wasn't high enough, particularly during the dialogue.
In between all the above, I've just been pottering about, finished reading two books, playing word games on Facebook, and watching a couple of dvds. As it's Father's Day, we have my parents over this evening for a roast.
Oh...AND....I'm going to see George Michael at Earls Court on 24th August! YAY! Tickets sold out as usual but just secured a couple on eBay for £150 each. Daylight robbery really but the seats aren't bad and if the rumours are true that this may be his last live gig, I DO NOT want to miss out. I've loved him since his Wham days and have wanted to see him ever since. This falls on the same day as my Aunt and Uncle's Silver Wedding Anniversary party; however, as their 'do' starts at 4pm and they live in Benfleet, we can eat and just go from there.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
And the winner is.....
.....Us! Our team called 'The Premier Leaguers, all dressed up in our footie shirts, won a quiz last night. My Mum & Dad, my brother Dave, John, his brother Paul, and me. Hoorah! We achieved 12 points more than the second placed team. I haven't been to a quiz night for years and it was a lot of fun.
When we got home, we watched back the final of Britain's Got Talent and although I tipped Faryl Smith and John and Paul tipped Escala to win, surprisingly neither made the top three. When it came down to George Sampson and Signature, I felt sure the latter would get it as the hits on YouTube have exceeded 8 million. However, it was 14 year old George who won with some street dancing to a modern remix of 'Singing in the Rain'.
This afternoon, we all watched back the other TV final: I'd Do Anything to find the Nancy
required for Oliver in the West End. Unfortunately, I accidentally happened to be on the net and saw a photo of the winner but I didn't let on to John or Paul who it was (I'm not a man after all, I can restrain myself!) At the winner (Jody) was the one I wanted to win out of the final three. Tickets for the show are already hard to come by and it doesn't start until December. However, I hope to be able to go at some point as I've never seen Oliver on the stage, and it's one of my favourite musicals.
When we got home, we watched back the final of Britain's Got Talent and although I tipped Faryl Smith and John and Paul tipped Escala to win, surprisingly neither made the top three. When it came down to George Sampson and Signature, I felt sure the latter would get it as the hits on YouTube have exceeded 8 million. However, it was 14 year old George who won with some street dancing to a modern remix of 'Singing in the Rain'.This afternoon, we all watched back the other TV final: I'd Do Anything to find the Nancy
required for Oliver in the West End. Unfortunately, I accidentally happened to be on the net and saw a photo of the winner but I didn't let on to John or Paul who it was (I'm not a man after all, I can restrain myself!) At the winner (Jody) was the one I wanted to win out of the final three. Tickets for the show are already hard to come by and it doesn't start until December. However, I hope to be able to go at some point as I've never seen Oliver on the stage, and it's one of my favourite musicals.
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