Ah yes, the party was fab!! The orange shirt, which cost $4.32, looked absolutely disgusting and wasn't helped by the fact that it was a 3XL (they didn't have any smaller!!) and I had to tie a knot on my left hip (very 1979!) - the bandana also looked a bit dodgy but fortunately, Mark was not unduly fazed by my new look! (But then remember the sunglasses - and he does have a banana yellow pair the same!) Highlights of the party included each of the five teams singing Waltzing Matilda (!!) on a roundabout outside a very nice local restaurant, the loss of my very fetching, and very cheap jandals (still not retrieved 4 days later) and the strange disappearance of road signs, realtor boards and street furniture not nailed down! I think Malcolm was planning on putting them back them on Sunday, but I can't remember what we 'moved' from where, so I can't tell if they have been returned!
Anyway, moving on!! Mark scored a gazillion points last night when he turned up with a treadmill. This could be construed as a not very flattering and a not very subtle hint, except for the fact that ever since I have known Mark I have groaned about the fact that since John left, I've not been able to get out for walks. Thinking about it, I guess most of you lot, have not seen me when I am in fit mode! About 3 years ago I discovered walking and within not very long at all I was walking 5 - 6 times a week for about an hour. Clocking up about 40 - 45 km per week. A bit after that I discovered the gym and after losing about 3 stone was actually looking quite trim and even had abs!! If you doubt me, I do have photographic proof of this, but I intend to be buried with it! Strangely John left when I was actually looking the best I had looked in 15 years - read into that what you like!!! Anyway, since his departure, I have gradually inflated and without some serious effort I will soon be unable to leave the house for want of a wide enough door frame!
Anyway, tomorrow I will be up at 5 am and will make a very gentle start on my wobbly bits! Hopefully, Rangi will be kind and reward me with a spectacular sunrise!
Other news? Yes, course going ok. Harder work than I had anticipated but enjoying it immensely. We were given our essays back a couple of weeks ago - which I passed. There are 3 marks, pass, fail and resit - so I guess I will be pleased with my grade, but somehow, just 'pass' is strangely unsatisfying!! We have another assignment due on May 22nd - the Case of Joan. We have to figure out why she is where she is career wise and try to find a way forward - suffice it to say, Joan is a tad unconventional!
Today is ANZAC Day, which is a public holiday. The girls have been in the parade in their Brownie and Guiding gear. And yesterday I did my best to explain what it is that the war dead have bought us. I explained about poppies, and Gallipoli - and then I ventured into a metaphoric explanation revolving around Louisa deciding that she wanted to have Becca's room too - and Mummy deciding whether she was going to let Lou get away with it or not - because obviously, if I stood by and did nothing, then next thing I know, Lou is going to take over the living room too! Needless to say, the girls were bemused at my persistence and none the wiser at the end of it!! I shall try again next year! Personally, I have never forgotten the first time I saw the Festival of remembrance at the Albert Hall when the poppies fall from above and just keep falling and falling and falling.
Anyway! Anzac Day! Post parade, Louisa is trying to master her roller blades! We gave them to her for her 6th (maybe 7th?) birthday, (Fortunately we got the kind that grow!) and they have gathered dust at the bottom of her wardrobe for the last 3 / 4 years! Sadly, here is not the best place to try them out - we live at the top of a steep hill and have cobbles down our drive, so she has resorted to going round and round the garage. Still, if she takes to it, maybe she can have a new pair for Christmas and we'll have to look for a house in a flat street or with a flat drive!
Speaking houses... We actually did some 'Open Homes' on Sunday. Another curious Kiwi thing. The Real Estate man doesn't ring you up and say 'can I bring a bloke round at 3.00?', instead, on a Saturday and Sunday, you clean your house, gather up your children and head for the swimming pool / cafe while the realtor, sits in your house while hoards of people tramp through having a bit of a nosey. Not all are buyers - some are just getting ideas for their new sofa, others are just seeing how the other half live, but one or two may just be interested in buying your house!
So, we had a look at a couple of places - one was gorgeous, expensive, but no spare room and nowhere for the girls to play and the other one we could afford, but was in a horrid area and was just yuk! (All that money and an English degree and you still only get 'horrid' and 'yuk') - then we had a look at a couple of sections (land - another kiwism!) (oh and sheets and linen are 'Manchester'!) several very steep, (this is Auckland of course!) and one quite usable, but we seem to have missed that one!
Mark had his place valued this morning (scarey) and I'm starting to think that maybe 'it's' actually going to happen. Despite all the hassle that is going on with the settlement and the divorce, it suddenly feels like the girls and I are very nearly out of that forest. Apart from all the things Mark is and all the things he does for us, he just seems to fit. He seems to be part of us. John will always be Daddy - and the girls will have another happy little world with him and Sharron - but in my little part of the world, with Mark and Lou and Becca things are feeling very right and very normal. When John left it felt like the world would never be the same again. It felt like something was broken that could never be fixed - right now, I am just starting to acknowledge that maybe I was wrong and it feels bloody marvelous!
And with that, I am going to bugger off and play on my treadmill -
huge snogs from the land of the long white cloud. xxxx
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