It's only been 8 years.

I picked up my new glasses today. Squee! It's great to be able to see clearly again. My prescription is a bit weaker this time but tweaked more for the astigmatism. So technicimal.
For the first time ever I also have prescription sunnies. Fanciness I say!
I like both new frames a lot more than I though I would ( you know that uncertainty after you decide on something) and I really really love that they are shiny and clean.


The old, the new and the sunnies.

I seem to have a thing for rectangular frames.

Miiiiiiiisty morning

There is something very pleasant about walking to the train when it's a foggy morning. Streetlights become glowy patches of light and everything is softened and muted. Loves it I do.

Testing testing one two

Have holes in both arms from visiting the vampires today. Damn me and my sluggy veins. In other news am testing a blogger app on the iPhone while watching NCIS whilst lounging on the couch with the lovely husband who made dinner for me. It's a terrible life I lead I tells ya.

Location:Home

Am starting to slosh from the amount of water I'm drinking in preparation for visiting the vampires. Slosh slosh slosh

I'm feeling all virtuous and grownup now.

In the last week or so I have;

Organised bank/ savings accounts for Torbyboy
Found lost super and sent in the forms to get it transferred
Reinvested super into sustainable australian Investments
Signed us up for private healthcare
Changed our address at a few more places (Only been living there since october last year - wouldn't want to rush these things)
Reconfirmed with the school of choice that Torby is enrolled there for next year.
And the big one...

Lodged our tax returns (by phone) and discovered that I will probably get a very nice refund. Yay!

See, all growned up!
Or at least doing a passable imitation of one for a short amount of time.

The time has come the walrus said...
...to open a bank account for the munchkin.
Bankwest have some magical super savery one that I've read good things about so off I will trot tomorrow to finalise the process by showing lots of ID to them and answering a billionty questions.
This also then prompted me to rethink about pocket money etc...
The method I think we'll go with is start on his 5th birthday and he'll get $5- week (which at this point I imagine will go swiftly into his account)
Any extra pocket money can be earnt by doing chores around the house or completeing specific tasks (most likely introduced when he is older and understands a bit more)
I'll also be putting money into his account straight from my pay so he has something in there and can keep earning high interest.
We'll see how it goes and adjust as nescessary I guess.

I'm just hoping he grows up to be better with money than I am and doesn't have the compulsion to see a zero balance in his account as soon as possible. Hopefully these methods will assist in that.
Otherwise he's doooooomed.

We used to live next to a disused box factory. I loved the quiet and the privacy and the view up over the roof from our living room window.

Then the council sent us a letter saying they were going to knock it all down and build some townhouses and did we have any objections? We decided that we didn't want the bedroom windows of 3 of them to be able to see into our windows (especially Torby's room) so Nw made a submission with drawings and everything and presented it at the relevant meeting and it seemed that yes, that problem would be fixed.

A few months later and we start hearing thump and crashes etc from the factory site and rightly deduce that the demolition has begun.

Then we notice that the roof that we used to look out over is now gone.

Then I was home on Monday and dozing on the couch (I can haz lurgy)when I'm awoken by an all mighty noise and look out the window to see the arm of a digger (I'm sure it has a real name but anything that's not a forklift or a crane is a digger) pulling chunks off the roof and clearly they've ripped out the other wall etc.

I watch this in fascination until the digger rips down the wall that I can see (oh the loud screechinesss) and I get to wave to the nice man.
They swiftly sort everything into piles..bricks, other useful stuff, waste and stop for the day.
I boggle at just how different my view is now. I can see the backs of houses from the next street over and the trees in the park and and and.

Yesterday they came back and demolished the next section of the wall which was an old brick building that was overgrown with some green vine at the back corner of our property.
Nw and I were having a sleep-in when it all started but Torby was watching in fascination from the living room and having a chat/shouting through the window to the man whenever he could.

The swiftness of the change startles me and I'm oddly looking forward to the construction and seeing it all change again...if they could do it silently that would be awesome though.

Photos are over at Flickr

Oh and we got another letter from the council that seems to suggest they've left off the modifications that we requested for privacy so Nw has to go back in and visit them. Lucky lucky Nw.

Fark the environment, I want to be a pruney lobster!!

We have one of those new-fangled inswtant hot water heaters.
It's awesome because we can change the temperature to low enough for the munchkin not to burn himself in the bath.
It's awesome because after living in so many houses with teensy hot water heaters that barely last a shower, I can now luxuriate for hours on end under the water until I'm bright red and pruney.
Good thing we're not in a drought right?
right?

Oh, teh happy

Tonight is "catch-up with MissImpish and be invaded by some fellow warcrack nerds and feed them nachos" night. Yay.

I have lovely activities and adventures planned for the next few weekends. Yay. Some of which involved me having a cunning plan involving other people cooking us ninner. Yay for friends who like me and my presumptious ways.

Going to see Stephen Sondheim's 'A Little Night Music' at the Opera House next Thursday. Yay! For the last 2 years, Dad's christmas pressie to Meg and I tickets to the show of our choice. Is a pressie of much cunningness. Yay for cunningness. This year Mouse and Hunnnyydddd are joining us which will be luverly.

I think I've made a new friend at work (well, at work but in the area that I last worked in). There's tentative plans for ninner and everything. Yay for possible new chums.

I am still full of sneezy, snuffly snot and not at 100% yet but the trucks have stopped running me over. Even stayed awake until 9:30 last night and the constant low grade headache has dissapeared. Yay.

I've accomplished things at work this week. Yay.

I've been on a hunt for simple but cute flat slip-on shoes and yesterday I found some that were very on sale. Yay.

Next Tuesday I have my appointment to give more platelets. Yay? Ooo I know..Yay for having a workplace that allows me time off to go visit the vampires.

I am headcold girl, hear me wheeze and snuffle and sneeze and croak.

A lot of my week has involved welding my arse to the couch and drifting in and out of naps when I don't have to be at work. It would be great except that my head is one big exploding mass of mucous and keep falling in the path of trucks apparently.

Betcha you're jealous.

I rallied enough to have a pleasant if snotty weekend - mainly because the couch really was getting a DV shaped dent in it and I was starting to get twitchy from lack of socialness.
There was dumplings and creating a noodley dish with duck and pork that was deemed edible, there was eating own bodyweight in lambshanks and playing Settlers of Catan, there was markets and a child-free afternoon and the pub for dinner. Oh and naps, lets not forget the naps.
I even got tea and toast in bed on Sunday...I think it was the pathetic shuffling about in my bathrobe that got me sent back to bed and brekkie delivered..hmm must try that again.

This week we have the excitement of starting 4 days a week at preschool and 1 day at A's. He's looking forward to the extra time there and I'm looking forward to it being easier/quicker to collect him in the afternoons; preschool is 5mins down the road and A's is 4 suburbs away.

We also have a visit from the lovely MissImpish and Doombaby. Yay for interstate visitors! Hmm must get the backhoe into Torby's room so they aren't forced to sleep on a pile of play-dough, dirty socks and lego. I like to spoil my guests that way, crazy I know.