It's all new

Spring is here finally after what has been a very long cold season. It was pretty cold before Halloween last year, say mid-October, and it's really only getting into short sleeve weather in the last week. I think that makes it about six months of pretty chilly conditions. Our temps are finally starting to cross over with Melbourne where I'm seeing max'es around 20 or so, now we're getting highs in the low 20's ourselves, woot!

IBM appears to want to keep us here for a while longer, all the standard caveats apply of course. We now have work permits for the next year and we might stay here for one more year after that. It all depends on the work of course, ever unpredictable. No matter what happens we will be home for at least a visit before the end of the year.

Our last lease was up as of 31st March and there was no way we were going to extend again, our previous landlord 'The Donald' was/is a complete tool/dick/arsehat. Luckily this time around there were a couple of rentals available in our school district and we've settled nicely into Pen St, a little closer to the kids school, albeit on the other side of the neighborhood. The kids don't bus as it's too close and the warmer weather means that they can walk or ride with their friends so that's working out.The house is a little smaller but that suits us anyway, River Glen was always a little too big and we didn't have the furniture and/or clutter to fill it up. Having said that our moving in was a long drawn out affair. Seriously, we arrived with suitcases 2 and a half years ago, where did all this stuff come from? It wouldn't be so bad except that we now have two house-loads of stuff, one in each hemisphere! The old place came partially furnished so when we moved there were a few things we needed to pick up. Jo hit the web and CraigsList and found heaps of stuff for next to nothing. She picked up two dinning tables, one formal and one casual, a new 3-piece leather lounge, buffet-hutch, coffee table, rugs, dresser, microwave, study-desk and a huge TV and stand for the kids. All of this for change out of a couple of gorillas, sweet! The house has much more natural light, nice neutral color scheme (rather than the fricken 'Cool Fruits' mix'n'match we had at River Glen) and is in a street chock-full of kids! Our bunch are always out in the street and the door-bell is constantly on the go as a steady stream of youngsters files in and out.It's also a much quieter street. River Glen was really a main drag with a lot of traffic. And while it had the tennis and basketball courts and the baseball diamond it was pretty kid-free, at least in terms of regulars. Pen St is a side road so the kids can get the hockey net out in the roadway and play with only the occasional call of 'Car!'. Our neighbors all seem like nice folks and we're feeling very at home. Summers on the way, we have a cottage booked for a week in July and the kids are all confirmed on their soccer teams (I'm coaching Cam's team). Now where's that Corona?

Andy, out.

PS: Animoto is a cool site that will let you upload photos and music and creates a very slick video for you. It kicks the llama's ass. You can link photos from online sites like Flickr and even use their music. There's not much control but it's a no-brainer to use and 30 second clips are free to make. Check this out, my 40th in brief -

While You Were Sleeping.

Ok so it's been a long time between posts, and this is partly to do with me wanting to give my clearer view of what has been going on. Erh maybe I should state that Andy celebrated his 10th birthday for the fourth time on the 2nd of March, now you may understand why I say I might have a better memory:)

I don't know why but Andy's birthday always seems to sneak up on me, and as I have been often reminded over the years I owe Andy a big 40th. First up was it to be a summer kind of do (ie Australian) or a winter theme, or other words would we still be in Canada. As the date loomed it seemed to be a winter affair.

March meant a few deadlines for us, our immigration papers expired and our lease was up nothing like a double whammie. Luckily we found a house that is way nicer and cheaper and still in the school's district; with that all set up we could relax somewhat. We still are waiting on the appeal of our immigration status, thus we cannot leave Canada, say to go to the US for a visit, and expect to get back in.

My nephew Scott who has been living and working in Scotland for the last couple of years made his way over to see us before heading back to Aus. This visit landed right on the weekend of Andy's big day, so it was wonderful to have some more family be part of the fun. It also meant we had an extremely busy time showing Toronto off, but more later.A girlfriend offered to make Andy's cake and pretty much set the ball rolling for party planning. A couple of phone calls here and there, and the numbers were starting to look good. I spoke to my cousin Bobbi and suggested they come earlier for dinner to throw Andy off the scent. Now Andy is not silly and thought something may have been going on, but he didn't ask and I didn't say anything, nor did I let the kids in on it either.

When Bobbi and her family arrived it pretty much was a rocking affair with Andy and the kids getting into RockBand. This worked out really well as it kept Andy in the lounge room. With the kids fed I then went on to dish out the adults meals which caused Andy's brow to raise. I think a little bit of doubt crept in and then in true trooper style he settled to accepting that maybe it was to be just a family affair. As Andy was occupied drumming, friends started arriving and arriving. Whilst there was no "surprise" shouted he certainly became so as even work mates turned up.
All in all there was around 28 adults and 17 kids.It didn't take long for Andy's work friends to start onto the "shots" and from there things started to get a little hazy for the birthday boy. With the cake and speech over or so I thought, I left the room only to be called back as Andy's face had been smeared with cake. This is where I can only go by hearsay as Andy left the party to go upstairs , shower off and put himself to bed. Mind you it was still pretty early and a few of the boys went upstairs to retrieve the party boy. After a big thump my next report was that Andy had tripped down the stairs, but by the time I got there he was up again so no biggie and back I went to dancing in the kitchen. After a little while I was summoned as Andy was hurling in the lounge room, at least there was no carpet! After cleaning up I promptly sent Andy to bed, three strikes and your out. The party coasted along and eventually we all made our way to bed at a respectable time for such an event.I cannot lie, the next day it was pretty hard to get up. We had promised to take Scott and Kristy tubing but that didn't quite seem so possible before lunchtime, so I sent Cam and Jas with them for a winter walk through the snowy 16 Mile Creek. I had a date with Abs to get her writing project done, and Andy was recovering in a fetal position on the couch. By late afternoon the girls, Scott, Kristy and I went tubing which ended up being lots of fun.

Thank goodness Andy will only turn 40 once, I don't think he'll be up to another one for about 10 years :).

Jo, out.