Here’s what 4 and half years of studying medicine will do to a man:
Hubba hubba! The Doctor is IN! Today is Hubs’ first day on the job. Well, actually he has a week of orientation first, but this time next week, he will be elbow deep in some kind of surgical rotation. This also means it is my first day of solo parenting in a very long time. I would have taken a photo of myself as well, but it’s just too scary! Okay okay, Here’s one from the other day: (Excuse the bathroom scene; up until a couple of days ago, it was the only mirror in the house!)
Woah nelly! Ha ha. Anyway, we have had a great day – we headed down to The Strand (fenced-off playground! WOO!!) and met up with one of my friends who lives up here. We haven’t seen each other in about 6 years, so it was so lovely to catch up. Then Chanbe went down for a sleep at 1, as did I, and while I only woke up 20 minutes ago, he’s still asleep! I can really get behind this sleeping til 4pm thing. It makes the afternoon very enjoyable indeed!
So here we are, back on line, still with boxes to empty, but getting there. It’s my birthday on Friday, and Hubs is taking me to some fancy-shmancy Interns dinner. Ah, such a romantic! We also have our dear friends popping in on their way home from Brisbane to Cairns, so I’ll have enough to keep me occupied. And Baloo seems like he/she is staying put for now. But what do I know! I hope to resume some type of regular blogging soon, but let’s just see how we go 🙂
I’m sitting in a shopping centre, using one of those internet stations. It reminds me of being overseas when I’d pay for a certain amount of time and have a certain number of things to do and the last few minutes would be a frantic rush to get those last few emails etc out.
We turned up to my 37 week antenatal appointment this morning, only to realise that it’s actually tomorrow morning. But we already asked my Mum’s cousin to baby sit Chance for the day so we could go shopping afterwards, so we thought we might as well take advantage of the child-free time. Well, the outside child-free time. The inside baby is kicking away nicely and sapping all of my energy, but we are all doing well.
We really do love the house. It’s exciting to imagine what it will be like once we’ve finished unpacking. The flat-pack fairies visited for a bit last week and only left 1 set of drawers for us to put together which was nice.
This isn’t a very exciting post, sorry. This is Hubs’ last week off before he starts full time work. And he won’t have holidays again until the end of July. That is a very long time! But I’m sure it will fly by. I have given Hubs his 10 day heads up of my approaching birthday. I actually had forgotten about it!
Well I have a couple of minutes to go and need to check a few other things so I’ll leave it there! Hubs is currently sorting out internet so I’m hoping my next post will be from home and will contain photos!
Who’da thunk it? All those people, upon hearing about our move to Townsville, who told us that it’s hot up here, were right on the money! Incredible! Although it has been over 30 degrees every day, and not much under each night, we’ve only cranked the aircon twice, to cool Chanbe’s room down – a fact that makes me feel just a little self-righteous!
So yes we are here. Chanbe and I flew in last Saturday morning, Hubs and Uncle Benny arrived late Sunday night, and we all rendezvoused at the house Monday morning. After a solid 4 days of working on the kombi, (actually, 2 kombis), the boys took off with the 2 cars on Saturday afternoon, but the kombi only made it to Gympie before it, for want of a better phrase, shat itself. It is a very long, drawn out story that I just can’t go in to at the moment, but the bottom line is, it will arrive on the back of a tow truck around the 16th of Jan. And after that? Well, who knows!?
On a brighter note, the house is great – nice and big, enough room for everything, a great cross breeze, good outdoor areas, and a nice kitchen. The only downsides are that it doesn’t have a bath or a dishwasher. But we have decided the dishwasher can live in the laundry which is just off the kitchen. (Hubs’ response to that: “honey, you don’t have to live in the laundry!” Har har.)
We are in flat-pack avoidance at the moment – there are 5 things to put together and we’re all just hoping the flat-pack fairy visits one night this week. As well as the unpack fairy. Oh, and the “better get ready to have a baby” fairy. And a meal preparation fairy would be welcomed too…
So in short, all is well. It’s hot, there is a lot of unpacking to do, and I’m not exactly full of energy, but somewhere deep down, somehow, I know it will all work out – it always does 🙂
Dear Blogger, I’ve missed you. I’ve been wanting to share so much with the blogging world, but due to lack of internet (other than on my mobile which is, let’s face it, super annoying for anything other than a quick post) I have been unable to share my world with you. This will be ongoing for probably a few more weeks, but knowing Hubs, internet connection will be amongst the top priorities once we move.
Dear Baloo, You remind me almost every minute (okay, at least every hour) of your presence with your kicks and tumbles in my tummy. I can’t tell you how excited I am about meeting you, but don’t be in a hurry to arrive, little one. We have a lovely home to prepare for you and our little family and we can’t wait to give you “outside cuddles”. You are already loved by so many people, and your big brother Chanbe promises to be gentle with you. There is so much I want to know about you, and I truly can’t wait to look into your eyes. I’ll see you soon.
Dear Chanbe, My sweet, superstar son. You are an angel and have been so well adjusted in these crazy few weeks. You want such simple things (walk on beach? Fruit?) and have slept through almost every night, even though your routine has been out of wack. There is so much more change to come, but I know you will handle it well. Your resilience makes me a better mama, and I can’t wait to see you and Baloo together.
Dear Brisbane, You have been preparing me for the heat in Townsville. It has been a tough month of heat and humidity, but I do love you and I wonder if we will live here again some time soon. Only time will tell.
Dear Townsville, Be kind to me when we arrive please. I will be big and you will be hot. Some summer storms will be much appreciated to cool things down and green things up. See what you can do?
Dear Me, You’re almost there, Wifey. You keep saying to yourself “once we are all together in Townsville, I can relax.” That will be a reality in a matter of days. This past year has tested you in so many ways, but you have gotten through it with the love and support of family and friends. The last month in particular has thrown some extra curvy balls, but you have hit them back and made a few home runs as a bonus. You rock. Be kind to yourself and your family in the weeks and months to come. There will be time for adjusting and settling in, and as always, you will make it out the other side, stronger than ever.
Dear Hubs, You are a saint. I love you.
Dear kombi, Start. For the love of all human kind, please start.
Usually at this time of year I’m excited about Christmas. Usually my Christmas cards, which I usually start making in October, are completed and sent out. Usually I love reading our Christmas letter repeatedly, reminiscing over another great year. Usually I have a list of gift ideas for family and friends, many of which have been bought by now. Usually I have planned “too many” social gatherings that leave me happily exhausted at the end of each day.
Usually I’m not 33 weeks pregnant. Usually I’m not in between houses. Usually I’m not running around after my adorable 2 year old. Usually I’m not feeling like it’s all too much.
I’m feeling stuck between wanting to put myself and Chanbe and Hubs first, and keeping up with family and friendship commitments. I’m sick of small talk. I want some deep conversations with friends who know me too well.
Do you know what 3 of the most stressful life events are? Moving house (check); starting a new job (check); and having a baby (check).
I don’t want sympathy – that doesn’t really help. Many people have said they can’t imagine doing what we’re doing. But we have choices and we made these choices. Somehow it doesn’t make it easier.
So here it is: I’m taking this Christmas off. I will be participating in Christmas day activities, and fulfilling commitments I have already made, but there will be no Christmas card mailout this year, which I’m sad about, but if I do it, it has to be done properly otherwise there’s no point. Plus, I wrote our Christmas letter and it kind of depressed me. It hasn’t been a great year for us in many ways, (and one of our best in other ways!) so I’m ready to move on to bigger and better things.
So instead, I will be doing an early year mailout with a birth announcement (weeeeee!) and news of the year to come. I am finding blogging very therapeutic at the moment, so I thank you for letting me indulge in my feelings here, so I can hopefully get some perspective and notice all the wonderful things around me.
I’m already starting to look forward to Christmas a little bit…
I’m currently toddler-free, at Chermside shopping centre, new pair of Italian leather shoes in one hand, mocha chiller in the other hand, on the way to get a pedicure.
When I last left you, we had conquered Sydney and were celebrating our victory in Gosford. We got an early start the next morning, hoping to clock up about 500km or so. We had a great run in the morning and decided to push through to our friends place in Kempsey. The cars were running beautifully and we were all in great spirits!
We bid our friends farewell around 3pm, and things went downhill from there. The falcon made it about 2km before it stopped. We tried again, but after the third time, and only a few km down the road, we reviewed our options and decided to ditch the falcon and trailer at our friends place and just keep on going. I jumped in the kombi with Hubs and Mum and Dad went ahead with Chanbe.
This man can drive a van.
We met up for Maccas and fuel in Grafton at around 7pm, and decided to just push on to Brisbane. Mum and Dad took Chanbe ahead and we followed behind.
So we covered 800km in the first 2 and a half days, and then 900km on the last day. It was a long one, and we arrived home at midnight Queensland time (1am “our time”) about an hour after Mum and Dad. Chanbe was not ready to go to sleep after such an exciting day and it took another hour or so to settle him, so by 1am Queensland time, everyone was in bed, mostly asleep. Saturday was spent preparing for Chanbe’s birthday party on Sunday, while Hubs had some much needed man-time with his man-friends, and I headed out for a hens party which turned out to be just what I needed!
Chanbe’s birthday party was a great success and it was lovely to be surrounded by family again. Here’s the robot cake I whipped up for him: (actually, I bought a slab of cake and just cut it out and decorated it 🙂 )
I haven’t downloaded any of my photos from my camera as yet, so you’ll have to make do with the phone photos for the time being. Monday was a lazy old day, and we caught up briefly with our nieces and nephew and Hubs’ sister. I came home feeling a little off colour, and within an hour, I had lost my lunch and was in bed. It came out of nowhere, but wasn’t going anywhere! After hourly “attacks” (for want of a better word), by midnight we thought it best I go to hospital, as I was a little worried about Baloo with me getting so dehydrated. So my mother in law took me to the local hospital and I was given some anti-nausea tablets and given 2L of fluid. They took some bloods and did a few other tests, but I was told it was “just” gastro and that I could go home at 4:30am.
So the good news is, we have family and friends around to help out in this tricky time, and hopefully this bad run is over. Hubs has gone down to Kempsey with his BFF today to pick up the car and trailer and I’m expecting him home in the next few hours. Chanbe is having a little grizzle to himself in bed, but will nod off soon, and I’m trying to decide what I actually want to eat, now that I’m feeling a bit better.
Yest it’s been a rough week, but whatever doesn’t kill you… well, you know the rest 🙂
We did it! We moved out of our house in Wang, had the cleaning etc done, and got outta there in time. We had our last Bead Shop coffee in the morning, and handed over our clown bike to the dear owners.
We’ll miss you guys!!
We then handed in our keys and had a farewell lunch at Espresso on Ovens – one of the first places we ever had coffee in Wang. We farewelled Juan and he wished us well in our next adventure.
The last thing we had to do was pick the kombi up from the mechanic, who basically said “good bye and good luck!!” We knew it was going to be a rough ride, but we hoped it would get to Brisbane okay, so we left Wang the same way we arrived 2.5 years ago – Hubs at the wheel of the kombi, me by his side and up the duff, and running late. It was bitter sweet.
We headed up the Hume Highway, and after a quick rendezvous north of Albury, we decided to take the coast road (for various reasons.) The Falcon was struggling a bit under the weight of the BIG TRAILER…
though, we can’t imagine why! So the next morning, after a night in Gundagai while Chance was with the babysitter…
… the boys did a re-pack and evened things out somewhat. Things were looking up! And then we hit the road. And the Falcon stopped. And it just got worse from there. We were going to try and make it to Mittagong for lunch, then north of Sydney for the night. Instead, we made it to Mittagong for lunch okay, but didn’t leave that night. The Falcon went to the autoelectrician, and we went to a motel.
But the fun didn’t stop there. The kombi started playing up as well, so that went to a different mechanic. So this morning there was a lot of hanging around and praying. And playing!
By 3pm, both cars were back on the road, but only slightly fixed – enough to get us to Brisbane (please please please!!!). So there we were. 80km south of Sydney, peak hour approaching, and the desire to get a 3-car-convoy through to the other side, without a) breaking down; b) getting lost or c) going crazy.
So Mum, Chanbe (who fell asleep immediately) and I led the way for the 150km journey. It was a little terrifying, and just after we got off the toll roads (remind me – I need to pay some tolls!!) we lost Hubs. I got a text, assuring me he would be okay, so we just ploughed on. We all met up in Gosford just after 6pm and I have never been so proud and relieved to get through traffic in my LIFE! We did it!!
So after 2 and a half days, we have traveled less than 800km, but all in all, we’re really only a day behind our very loose schedule. If all goes to plan (which nothing has so far!) we will make it to Grafton tomorrow for the night, then arrive in Brisbane on Saturday afternoon. If nothing goes to plan, (which seems much more likely!) at least we’ll have more travel stories to laugh about in times to come 🙂
I’m serious. If I write the words “we’re moving” again, slap me across the face, kick me in the shin and put chilli in my eyes. Then tell me that moving is so much worse than that. I’m in a special kind of hell right now. The kind reserved for the real baddies. My back and feet are aching, my sciatica is killing me, the pain in my stomach is back, and my eyes are stinging from staring at this damn phone screen for to long.
My only saving graces are my beloved Hubsband, my little champion Chanbe, and my dear sweet parents. We could not have done this without them.
I just keep thinking “this time tomorrow it will all be over”. I know I’m sounding a tad dramatic, but that’s because I’m way past exhausted, I’m incredibly hormonal, I’m very very sad that we are leaving lovely Wangaratta, and I’m sitting on a mattress, surrounded by stuff to do, and wondering how we’re going to get it all out before the cleaners arrive at 9am. The bottom line is, it has to be done, so it will be done.
I’m not sure how it came about, but when we moved in to this place in April, for some reason I thought we had a whole bush of rosemary growing in our front yard. It didn’t look like the rosemary I’m used to, but when I picked some off and smelt it, it smelled familiar and I was convinced it was rosemary. So I started cooking my lamb it in. In the last 6 months, I have perfected a recipe for lamb shanks in my Chasseur and have had people rave about how good they are.
Last week, I was going to make my famous lamb shanks for Mum and Dad and told Dad that there was some rosemary growing in the front yard. He couldn’t find any so I went and showed him.
Rosemary it was not. I had, in fact, been cooking with lavender. I couldn’t believe it! Dad got some rosemary and I had a smell of the two, side by side, and I swear I could barely tell the difference! What can I say? I make a mean lavender lamb 🙂
