Dec 2008 - Now we are six....

[MontserratCaballe]

Here you go. Happy new year!

[IAmAPaleontologist]

6.

Jeepers.

They will be 7 this year! Dd is reading "Daisy and the Trouble with Zoos" in which Daisy has her 7th birthday so dd naturally can't wait to be 7 and has already got me to mark her birthday on the 2015 wall planner.

Am shut in the loft organising uni notes so I can crack on witht he net essay. Have finished the beast that is due on the 5th. Huzzah!

[IAmDeids]

Thanks sybs!! Have just stuffed a buffet lunch down my throat at mums after spending all morning tidying away the Christmas stuff! I've eaten too much and feel a little queasy.

We are now snuggled up watching Avatar. Poor DH back at work, crap New Year for him. Still he foes have this weekend off.

Resolutions here to get back into the running, eat less & be a less shouty mum. Same old really .

[McKayz]

Thanks for the nice new thread. We must be one of the oldest threads now.

[JamInMyWellies]

Thanks for the thread Sybs.

Anyone else ready to divorce their husbands yet?

[IAmDeids]

My DH is currently suffering with man flu. As a woman I could never ever understand quite how close to death he is. He's so ill be has lost the ability to communicate like a normal person. Every time I ask if I can get him anything he can only reply "ugghh" or "aaggghhh". There is no known cure. Well except a pillow on his face! !!

[Vagolajahooli]

Right my new years resolution is to post on here more, use the Internet less...but come on here more.

We have had a crazy few months since leaving Den Haag. The actual leaving process was extremely stressful, all the sorting & packing, and saying goodbye. But then the boys & I were on our way and had a lovely time in the UK. We missed seeing the northern ladies due to DS1 having a horrid cold (which he had again recently which caused us to miss out on playing with dolphins). But I had a lovely time at the London meet up. My night was topped off with wandering around the towet of London and the lovely poppies at midnight.

Then after more sad farewells it was off to California. We had a great time there & enjoyed equal amounts of museums & wilderness. A highlight was the national parks & a kayak in Monterey bay. San Francisco was a little disappointing, but I think I had hyped myself up for it too much. Alcatraz & a ride across the golden gate bridge were amazing.

Now we are here in Australia, we managed to find a house to rent with a pool, and it is in a lovely leafy area so we wake up to birdsong. We have a car (to be picked up next week) which is nice as we haven't owned a car for ages. I've no idea when all our stuff arrives, I am really missing my bikes. We have started buying furniture but the house is so far only sparcely furnished. As you know from Facebook, DH was difficult to engage in that area. Though we did manage in the end and have a great tele and comfy beds.

We are settling into Aussie life and have been catching up with friends and family as well as chilling a bit. DH is doing well at work & I have a job as a teachers aide in a special school, I start when school goes back on the 27th.

[MontserratCaballe]

Hi Vag, so good to hear from you. Can you pm me your address please? When do your bikes arrive? Am so glad for this thread and being able to chat across the ether. How are the boys doing? And Steve? Sending you lots of love xx

[TheInvisibleHand]

very lovely to hear from you on here Vag. That is a huge amount going on for you and your family. sounds like you have done an amazing job to get everything settled quickly. I guess you will all slip into new lives soon enough, but it sounds like you have had plenty of fun along the way too.

Just coming to the end of our break here. its been lovely to have two weeks pottering at home feel slightly sick at the thought of work on Tuesday, though I can also see we are all descending into squabbles, and ready to throttle each other, so probably best for us all to get back to it....

[McKayz]

Vag, can I have your address too please?

[McKayz]

I want to get a bike soon. I'm now a bloody revolting 18stone. It's depressing, so I'm starting the 5:2 diet tomorrow. DD will be now doing 3 mornings at play school so I'll be going swimming or to the gym.

No more

[MontserratCaballe]

Hey, Kayz, that's my friend you are taking about . Sorry you are feeling down about your weight. Lots of work pals have done brilliantly on 5:2. Are you on a thread here? Remember that you are fantastic at whatever size. You look lovely on fb, so please be kind to yourself. Much love x x

[McKayz]

Thank you lovely. Made me cry.

[Relaxbaby]

Hi ladies, so I'm 6 years too late finding this thread. I didn't know there was such a thing then.

So I have daughter who turned 6 in December. I also have 8 month old twins.

I did ss for my twins which my 6yo helped open and today out f the blue she asked me who secret Santa was! Lol. I said I didn't know he was a secret so if this thread is still around next year I'd like to take part in ss so she gets a gift from her ss!

Is there a Facebook group I could join? I'm on there more then here.

Lovely to meet you all. x

[MontserratCaballe]

Hi Relax, how are you? I think all of our secret santa presents were for the mums, not the children. They get enough as it is!

Is your DD enjoying school? Mine go back tomorrow, which I must say is a huge shock to the system for me. This time tomorrow I will be halfway to work! Bet your twins keep you busy - are they boys or girls? Quite a few of us have 3 children, though I don't think we have any twins in our group.

Right, Tesco here between 8 and 9, so I'd better jump in the shower. Back later.

Good luck with day 1 Kayz. You can do it! We are all cheering you on (and I am dieting along with you, albeit on a different plan. I am low carb, so a day of eggs beckons!)

Love to you all X

[McKayz]

I have started with porridge. I'm aiming to slowly get down to 500 calories. I can't go without breakfast so I need to find low calorie breakfasts. That don't contain bananas or honey. Loads have one or the other in.

[MontserratCaballe]

Porridge good - but won't that use up a bit of your 500 cals? What about a slice of toast with a scraping of butter or some marmite and lots of cups of tea? Or eggs - an egg is only 70cals I think and they are v filling.

[JamInMyWellies]

Why don't you try oat bran with low fat yogurt. That's what I have every day. I have slowly gained 11lb over the last couple of months. Far too much fat coke and chocolate oh and cheese! So I need to lose 11lb. But will do it by reducing fizzy drinks and no chocolate. Oh and killing myself at the gym. I got a seat to put on my bike for C at the weekend so am going to start doing that too.

Nice to meet you relax.

Vag so nice to hear from you. I am always astonished at how relaxed you are by your moves. I would be a basket case.

So house news. We are back up for sale. Speaking to specialist mortgage providers for our self build. Fingers and toes crossed it goes smoothly!

[MontserratCaballe]

Ooooh, how exciting Jam. Where will build be - here or in North? X

[JamInMyWellies]

Oop North Sybs. I will find the link to it later.

[McKayz]

That's very exciting Jam.

Hi Relax

We are still struggling to find somewhere to go on holiday. My mum has said she will have the DC for about 10 days next year so we can have a joint 30th/very late honeymoon. At this rate we'll be going nowhere.

[MontserratCaballe]

Oh I love finding holidays for people. Tell me when and how much you want to spend and I will get looking

[McKayz]

Probably end of April 2016. Budget is about £3000. Slightly tempted by a cruise but I would like somewhere warm.

[Artichokes]

Ok here i am, trying to get back into posting. Happy new year one and all.

Jam, what is this about a self build??? Last time i looked you were linking to victorian farmhouses! I cannot beleive you are going to move, will your DH work in Scotland or commute? You are so brave, I am drawn to moving but to attached to my friends and to scared I would not make new ones.

Kayz, warmth in Paril is a challenge. The Egyptian Red Sea might be a good option in that price bracket. Ive just booked us a week in Crete this April but it will only be eighteen degrees or so.

We are going to renovate our kitchen, I am alreday bored of viewing kitchen brochures. And recommendations for nice kitchen ranges that aren't ridiculously pricey? I fell in love with a John Lewis of Hungerford range until they quoted £30k for units and appliances!!!!

Im off to the. Carribean with work next week. Very excited but I have an ear infection which I really need to go away before I fly. Im going to a tiny island with no airport and will have to get a by-plane from Antigua and land in a field. Small planes scare me rather a lot. This one is apparently flown by a friendly guy who takes off only when he feels the need, has no schedule and drinks rum cocktails while flying. Luckily he offers them round too so I may have to medictate my way over there.

[JumpJockey]

Hello ladies! Chances of me keeping up with you are minimal but may as well say hello at the start of the year :)

Exciting plans for so many of you - very envious of the travelling certainly! Not so sure about self build, that sounds pretty hardcore. Oir neighbours are putting on an extension starting in a week, really praying they get decent weather as otherwise it will be v grim for them...

Last day of hols here. One girl at a time is so much easier - y'day I left the two of them to get dressed together, went up twenty mins later and Dd2 had weed on the floor. Discovered at bed timethat dd1 had also done a huge wee on her pillow not my best parenting moment, dealing with that one. I find it hard to believe that if she'd been born in the summer, dd2 would be about to start school - turns 4 in a week. Zounds. She's still such a little baby in so many ways.

Vag - you are so made for this job, those kids are so lucky to have you. Sounds like you have settled straight back in to Oz life.

[JamInMyWellies]

Oh jump its so hard sometimes. I have already bellowed at teh big boys far too much today.

Arti the self build was one of the houses I linked to previously. Do you remember the Eco house on the outskirts of Edinburgh?