Aussie, aussie, aussie, oi, oi, oi!

So - I have arrived. In fact, I arrived on Sept. 13th, right on time. After 3 flights, all of which were fairly pleasant, uneventful & I had great seatmates!

I arrived at around 7:30am and Spyros & his brother came to meet me. Went went back to the house to drop off my things & the brother and see the family. We headed out to the job site to see how it was going. I was pretty shocked to see it in person!

In the nick of time...

Time flies. It seemed like forever until I was going to be leaving for Australia, and now it seems it's coming too fast for all of the things I want to get done & all of the people I want to see before I leave! I know 2 years is a blip on the radar of life, and I know it will go quickly, but it also seems a long time when packing up to head off for it!

August is flying by!

Work work work, all day long!

I worked a lot again...probably up until Tuesday - that will be my last day. Then a few days for packing & visiting & then I will be headed for White Lake to visit with my family for a couple of weeks before I head to Australia!

This past week has been gorgeous, more lake weather than painting though!! The paint is drying on the brush & we are just dripping with sweat & red faced. Yep - sexy!

Overtired & overjoyed

Sooooooooo...following a wonderful weekend on Vancouver Island where I got very little sleep, I proceeded to have a very busy week with very little sleep because the guy I am working for was away & I was kinda organizing things for him while he was away. With painting this means figuring out who is where & what they will be doing, also going to & fro to his place to get specific tools, ladders, and cleaning dirty gear each night. I was so looking forward to a mellow weekend, maybe a night at the Drive-In, and I was going to paint my friend's bedroom for her while she was away as a bday gift.

Progress, Progress, Progress...and love.

Did I mention that there has been progress?

Our world was covered in snow, and now it is gone. Which I don't really mind, as driving in it sucks. In my perfect world we would get snow for 2-3 months, and it would land everywhere but the road. I don't mind shoveling a bit! I just wish the roads would always be clear. Spyros thinks Canadians ought to build heated roads, he figures the money we would spend would be saved on snow removal.

This was my world:

Visa: It is sent! I also received confirmation that it has arrived and has begun processing. So I had to get my Police Certificate & Medical check...Police Certificate is done. Appointment made for medical! Excited to be underway!


Knitting: Toque for brother done. But is messed up. Too wide, not long enough - in fact it seems the dimensions are opposite to how I wanted them, but the width of the thing didn't show on the circ until half way through. I was going to frog it & start again, but wanted to work on my dad's gift. So I am halfway through that. Might think about the toque again later, or maybe not, I found him some other things (purchased). He's 15 and very 'cool' I don't know that he would really appreciate a homemade something anyway! Might have to special buy yarn rather than stash busting for him! Still hoping to finish dad's and maybe find time for one last one!? I will work on mine & Spyros stockings after Christmas.

Christmas: I am done with the shopping. I am done with the wrapping (aside from any knitted gifts remaining). I am done with the shipping!! Our Aussie family won't be receiving in time for Christmas, but at least it's at least a couple of months early than we managed last year!! We set up for Christmas at my mum's a couple weekends ago - but have yet to do it in our own home. I don't bake as I will eat it all in one sitting, and so will just start pigging out when I arrive at my parents!


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A special thought for my friend. A great many people have been sending our thoughts & prayers her family's way this last couple weeks. Her father had been struggling for many months to get healthy, he came down with pneumonia, and a really bad case of it. They moved him to a larger centre, but discovered that he had a tumor in his lungs that was spreading to his heart. They lost him...I have known the family since I was 11 or 12. I spent a great deal of time in their home, eating their food, riding on their quads, telling secrets to this man's daughter. I won't be able to make it for the funeral, but my thoughts will be with my friend and her family and I know that even with the loss they are hurting from, they will be getting a lot of love and this years family time will be especially precious to all of us.

The calm before the storm..

Well, it's official. I have my ticket. I'm in White Lake until Monday, and then I'm off to the coast for a week & a bit. On April 15th I'm off to Manchester, England. To begin my journey. I'm starting off visiting some friends of a friend. And looking forward to it enormously. As well as being very thankful to have a place to crash for a bit. The trip has changed significantly since Alisha & I started planning it. As things never seem to work out the way you want them to & finding work is a pain in the butt!! So I decided to just head off on my own. Worried I might never get there if I did not leave asap! So I am starting in England, and hoping to see as much of Europe...until my money runs out!

I'll be writing here & updating my Facebook page whenever I get the chance. I know my close friends will be curious & my parents are already worried.

But I am excited!