Wednesday 15th December 2010

Can't believe it has been a week since I last updated!  Ooops!
Where the heck has the time gone - that is what I wanna know dammit!?  hehe

8 more sleeps!!!
Yep - I know everyone is getting sick of my countdown - BUT I DON'T CARE!!  hehehehehe....
Work is just absolutely crazy mental busy at the moment, and I will be glad to walk out of here next Wednesday, knowing that I don't have to come back for THREE WHOLE WEEKS!!!
BLISS!

Last Friday was my work Xmas party, and it was at a gorgeous place called Pencarrow Lodge.
An isolated spot right out on the Southern tip of the North Island, with views to die for!
Just lovely!
The food was great, the company was great and a very enjoyable day was had by all!
Once I got home from that, I picked up Jeremy and we headed out to meet up with some friends for drinks at a local bar, but we were both pretty knackered and ended up being at home in bed by 10.30pm!
Saturday was a busy day, and my kitchen is now FINALLY 100% completed!!!  (except a tiny spot I need to touch up with the paint brush).
Jeremy's dad came around and FINALLY finished the little bits that he had to do - YAY!!!
Saturday evening Rhian had her Swim School pool party, and it was utter chaos!
Kids everywhere, lots of noise and tonnes of laughter.
By the time that finished and we got dinner and got home it was after 9pm!
So i had one very tired wee 6 year old on my hands, but she didn't complain at all - bless her!

Sunday rolled around and turned on some great weather for the Kids Christmas Party held by the business that Jeremy works for.
Rhian has an absolute blast, and since Jeremy was "Santa" she even got to be one of his helpers, so she was thrilled to bits by that as you can imagine!
Just remembered I have photos on my camera of them all, but haven't got around to downloading them yet - Oooops!
Must get around to that huh?
When we came home fro the party, we brought one of her friends with us, so they ran around on the lawn under the sprinkler for about an hour, screeching and laughing like lunatics!
I absolutely LOVE the sound of kids laughing.... innocent laughing, from just having fun - it has got to be one of the best sounds in the world I reckon :)

So all in all we have had a pretty busy weekend, which has been followed by a busy start to the week as well...
Monday was supposed to be Christmas Carols at school, but it was cancelled due to the weather.
Last night I had an appointment with my midwife, followed by another Pool Party fro Rhian - this time it was held by the After School program that she attends daily.
Another great time was had by all, and another late night as well!
This morning neither her, nor I wanted to get out of bed at all!
Tonight I have Jeremy's sister coming around so that I can help her with some sewing, so I wont get an early night tonight either.
I'm just plain worn out at the moment, and looking forward to a break.....
5 more working days and I can RELAX!!

Rhian is going with her Dad on Friday, and they are going to have an early Christmas with his family this weekend since I am taking her away to Sydney for 3 weeks!
She is really looking forward to it and can't stop talking about the fact that she is getting TWO Christmases this year :)
Lucky wee thing she is!

What else???
Oh yeah - We have finally met with the housesitter, and she is even lovelier in person than what she was on the phone!
Of course she comes highly recommended by some friends of ours, who we trust implicitly, so we knew she was gonna be great!
It's such a weight off the mind though - just knowing that the animals and the house is going to be in good hands while we are away.
And of course in preparation for her to come and stay, I have had to start organising things already....
Bella has been to the groomers again, and now has a lovely short coat, so she wont need nearly as much maintenance as what she usually does.
The cats and dog have all got new ID tags for their collars, with their names and our phone number on them - JUST IN CASE :)
I've ordered a new SKY remote, so she doesn't have to keep on taking the back off the current one and bashing it to get it to work!!  hehehe...
A spare key has been cut, and the cupboards will be filled up this weekend.
All the beds will also be changed this weekend, and the major cleaning will need to be done as well.
Lawns and gardens will have to be tended to this weekend, and I will start getting everything together in one place, so that I have all the important stuff (like passports & presents) all ready to be packed.
I am also in the middle of making a list for the house sitter, so she knows everything about everything....
It's funny the little things that we probably take for granted, like how to use our oven, that she will probably have NO IDEA how to even turn on, so it is just little things like that, that I need to write down for her.

Of course in the middle of all of this, we have been going through the motions of getting a final loan through the bank to get the outside of the house finally finished, and I am thrilled to say that I have just had the phonecall to say that everything has been approved, and once we have signed on the dotted line this afternoon, we can go ahead and get the builders and painters in!
YAY!!!
Such a relief I tell ya!
But...... things never run smoothly, and the builder who originally quoted us for the outside work, is now really busy and can't fit us in at all as he is working on Jeremy's Dad's new house and that is a full time project.
When we originally got the quote (for a few thousand dollars) we didn't have the money, so had to put him off.... now we have the money, he can't do it, so we are back to square one of having to find a builder and get quotes again.
And, this also means that nothing will be started until after we get back from holiday, as the painters can't start until the builder has been in!
GRRRRRRR!!!!!
Ah well, at least we know that the money is there, and we can actually get the place sorted out - even if it does mean waiting until January to do so!
I just can't wait for the outside to finally be painted, and the base boards and weatherboards are replaced!
I have lived for far too long in a house that looks like it is falling down around our ears, and I am SOOOOOOO looking forward to driving up the drive and being proud of the way it looks!
It looks great on the inside, but absolutely TERRIBLE on the outside!!!
We were going to tackle the outside ourselves this summer, but of course with me getting pregnant, I put my foot down very VERY firmly, and said that there was NO WAY IN HELL that I was going to spend my weekends, fat and swollen and sanding and painting a damn house!
It worked!!!
The money that we have will also include the cost of replacing the windows that need it, and finishing Baby Bob's room (structurally), so that it can be painted - YAY!

Righto - so there ya have it...... that is where I am at!
Baby Bob is growing well, and I am measuring 26 weeks (I'm actually 25 weeks) but my gorgeous midwife isn't at all concerned about it.
My blood pressure is really low (55/90) but again, she isn't overly concerned with that either, as I just told her that I was worn out and totally flat yesterday.
My belly is expanding, but I am pleased to say that my butt isn't anymore!
I got on top of my eating (and grazing) last week, and was pleasantly surprised to see the numbers on the scales come DOWN a wee bit!
Last Monday I was sitting on 99.3kgs, and this Monday just gone, I was sitting at 97.1 kgs!
I haven't gone stupid, I haven't cut out meals, I haven't done anything other than cut out the grazing on high sugar things, and also cut down on my carbs!
instead of having a sandwich for lunch, I will now have some cruskits instead.  They still fill me up and satisfy me, but they don't weigh me down at all, which is fantastic!
So.... I just have to keep it all up, cos I really really REALLY don't want to put on much more weight at all.

Righto - time to go sign our lives away at the bank :)
It all feels so very "grown up"!!  
hehehehe.....