We were at a friends place at Point Piper to see in 2010, a wonderful view, a wonderful host and both my girls were awake at midnight - I thought that was pretty special - even if we did pay for it mid afternoon the next day. NYE is also Zoe's birthday and she thinks that fireworks on her birthday is the best thing EVER! A great celebraton for her 5th birthday.
Zoe started school in late January. Overall it was a success even though we had our moments of clinginess going into class in the mornings when she succumbed to overtiredness mid year. Zoe took part in her ballet exams and blitzed them with a score of 89%, she also lost the Irish gene when it came to swimming and is now like a little fish. A sensitive, quietly confident little girl, Zoe is a thoughtful and wonderful child (prone to uncontrollable emotion when overtired, but we deal with that as we need to). She is a delight and we are extremely proud of her!
Ciara turned 3 in May. Her daycare attendance was upped to 3 days in anticipation of the renovation that didn't actually start in 2010. She loved it so much though that we decided to keep her in there! She did ballet and playball at daycare and loved them both with absolute enthusiasm. She continues to be known by her parents on the quiet as "The Beast" for an assertiveness that is constantly mind blowing to us. She sure is a little girl who knows how to get what she wants using charm that is unparalleled within our family. She is also overly affectionate and loving and uber confident.
We are blessed with 2 little angels that equally delight and frustrate us but we love them with all our hearts and can't imagine how empty life would be without them!
Zeus took us to a whole other level of learning patience with his "issues". We had the excitement of Dr Harry and the Better Homes and Gardens crew coming to consult and film Zeus for a segment on the show...to deal with his tail chasing...and then the excitement of the airing of the segment which was "celebrated" with pizza and beer with friends and neighbours at our place (minus the husband who was enroute to the US). This was a bittersweet night for me as I had just that day had 2 hours on a call with a top behavioural vet and I had learned how deep the issues are that cause the tail chasing. Very sad for my boy who has an awesome temperament and is the most loyal and lovable companion for our family. Basically the German Shepherd breeders have a lot to answer for in my honest opinion. It appears that in the quest for physical perfection they have bread in a range of emotional issues. He is a dog I know, but he is a very important family member too! We continue to medicate and work with Zeus and on a scale of 1-10 we have brought the chasing down from 10/10 to approx 5/10 - we are aiming to 2-3/10. I am determined to get there with him so he can be as normal as possible!
The husband continued to travel for work, sporadically at times and full on at other times. I got the cleaner back in to help me out at these times and then there is always the trusty baby sitters that we have had for years so I could escape and restore my sanity to near normal levels. Dave continues to achieve great things within his organisation and he still loves his role. People ask me how I can stand all the travel. You see the thing is, I see the enjoyment he has from his job and I would much rather that than him being a miserable so and so working 9-5. When he is home he is a very hands on dad, husband and dog owner and he has a great deal of flexibility so is able to be at important days for kids, to be at meetings, or just be at home to have lunch with his wife on the odd occassion too! I adore him and I am so lucky to be so happy with him.
As for me, the usual story. A busy mum and wife who adores her family and wonders where the time goes to all the time. My days fly with chores, organising children, walking the dog, the occassional crafty outlet (not as much as I would like though), exercise, trying to spend quality time with my friends and family and all the other things that make my life as a mum, wife, dog owner and friend. I hope I continue to feel as loved and blessed in years to come!
I was totally spoiled rotten with trips and holidays in 2010.
In January the 4 of us headed up to Palm Cove in FNQ for a week. It was bliss.
In February I went to Hong Kong sans kids and husband to meet my sister for 5 days. We had a lovely time shopping, eating, sightseeing and wandering HK. We were there for Chinese New Year and had great seats to see the spectacular
Dave and I headed to Melbourne for 3 days mid March to meet some friends and head to a huge race day in Flemington. The day was picture perfect for a great day at the track. We were in a sideless marquee with about 20 others having a wonderful day. Not long after Race 5 the sky started to look a little gloomy and all of a sudden a MASSIVE storm rolled in - hail and rain the likes I have never seen. Turned out to be the worst storm in 40 years in Victoria with incrediblew flooding and damage throughout - and Dave massively bruised down his side from holding the marquee down so we had some kind of shelter. Certainly an afternoon that will never be forgotten!
In the July school holidays the girls and I jumped on a plane to Adelaide. Dave was overseas on business and one of my bestfriends lives in Adelaide so off we toddled for 5 days. We had a great time catching up, laughing and reminiscing. We headed up into the hills for a trip to Hahndorf which was lovely. It was a really lovely break. (See another perk of Dave's travel, frequent flyer points that allow for spontaneous and inexpensive trips away)
In the September holidays we flew across to Fiji for 5 days. You can read about that trip here. It was for a wedding, but the wedding was cancelled a month or so out. We all decided to still go (minus the groom) and support the bride and we had a really fun and relaxing time!
There was weekends away to visit friends in Ulladulla, weekends to Bathurst to visit my grandparents, another huge weekend in Melbourne for a hens weekend and as I sit and type this I am still in Ireland where we have been for 5 weeks for a family wedding, Christmas, Zoe's birthday and New Year. You can see a little of our Irish holiday here.
After 18 months of planning we finally submitted our plans into council for our house renovation. It is a fairly extensive renovation. I don't believe in knocking down old homes (ours is a 1919 Californian Bungalow) but in hindsight a rebuild would have been an easier and less expensive option. However we are absolutely delighted with what the designer and architect have come up with. So when we submitted the plans we knew we had pushed a few boundaries but totally expected it to be a simple and fairly painless exercise and we thought we would be on the way to building our dream home somewhere in around September. Then a neighbour lodged a fairly heavy and lengthy objection. Phwoar, we were not only unimpressed but totally taken aback with the detail and level of objection! We had had discussions with all our neighbours and knew there were a couple of things that this neighbour was unhappy about but certainly not to the level of the document he submmitted. After a lengthy process of lodging our response to council we only had to make one quite minor amendment and our plans were approved - so all it did was hold us up. We look forward to 2011 and our dream home coming to fruition. It will finally start in the next couple of weeks!!!
We had 3 births within our close circle of family and friends. We attended a couple of weddings. We weren't touched by death directly but were saddened to hear of the loss of loved ones from friends and neighbours. Serious illness was fortunately quite scarce too. My beloved Nanny suffered a serious stroke and is now in a nursing home which absolutely breaks my heart. It brings a tear everytime I picture her there. I make the 6 hours round trip to spend time with her as often as I can. I miss our daily phone calls terribly! I pray for her and hope that she will go to sleep one night and that will be it. Her zest for life is missed as she is shadow of her former self.
On the quilty front, not very busy I am afraid. Only a number of completed quilts to my name and I was very excited to finally finish a certain cross stitch. All quilts I made were very well received. I have a number of UFO's to work on in 2011.
Health and fitness was successful I think though I continue to battle the last 5 kilos that I really do need to lose. I think eating out and red wine is my down fall. Consistency and no longer running helped this out tool. I will start running again when we get back home. My next post will be about goals for 2011 and I am determined to kick the extra weight once and for all. I feel great though and finally got my bung knee sorted out spending some time with a physio who was very easy on the eye with magic hands (LOL!!). I also discovered an amazing chiro and look forward to going back to my fortnightly cracking with her!
For me, 2010 was a complete success. I continue to work towards bettering myself, dealing with demons of the past, and making myself a happier and more postitive person. I have finally learned that I can not control the thoughts, words and actions of others only my own and this has helped me move forward in leaps and bounds. I try and live by the mantras "Live and let live" and "Your health is your wealth". I feel content in my own skin and happy with my lot. What is not to look forward to in 2011!!!???
Happy New Year to you xxx
