happy days are here again.............

Yes I am back at uni again for another gruelling semester and I am looking forward to it. Looking forward to graduating too finally and getting a job! I have officially dropped the teaching component of my degree and in June I am going to change degrees again-it was too late to do it by the time I had finally figured out what I wanted to do! sigh!

This week just gone was Oweek and I worked again as info booth attendent/tour guide and it was sooo quiet-I only did one tour on my tour day and worked the booth instead. There were still quite a few coming for their free diary etc but none were particularly interested in a tour. Maybe they thought they knew it all already or something???? I enjoyed it though, was good to be earning some decent money for a change-cleaning doesn't pay much and it is much harder!

I worked Tues, Fri and a training day and it was lucky that I had those days as Conor got sick on Tuesday. I got a call saying that he was running a high temperature and I had to pick him up. Luckily it was almost the end of my shift when they rang. I got a call from Cody's school too saying that Cody had walked into a pole and had a big egg on his head and I had to pick him up also! Yikes! Cody still has a nice bruise on his head today but says it only hurts if he presses on it! Conor was boiling hot off and on until Thursday night and I had to cancel my cleaning job on Thursday but luckily he was on the mend for Friday! Yes!

Friday night though saw a rash start on Conor's face and eventually cover all of him...... I have no idea what it is, he has been immunised against measles and rubella and it is definitely not chicken pox. The doctor is closed today and tomorrow so if it is still there on Monday it will be yet another visit. He seems ok but very very very cranky!

Mika and Cody are healthy and happy and are, shock horror, not fighting with each other for once! They are playing the make a word game and even Conor is getting in on the act! We are going to my aunty's house tomorrow for a swim and they are looking forward to it, even if the water is stone cold they love it!

ahhhh back to school!

Yay, finally the kids are back at school after the long summer holidays! They are just too long I think, for both them and adults. Mika is now grade 4 and Coday 2 and they are both very excited about being back! I feel sorry for them having to wear uniforms and sit in class in this heat though-it is just awful! Not as bad as down south though-down in Adelaide they have been having around 40degrees and a lot of bushfires! It is still bloody hot here though!
Mika came home the first afternoon and informed me that she has swimming the first semester now that she is year 4 and she has a camp too! Goody goody, more money to have to come up with, swimming was $60 last year and goodness only knows how much camp will be! I will send her though as she is very excited about it all. Parent/teacher interviews for both are on next week.
I am rostered on for tuckshop next Thursday but I won't be able to do it as I have managed to get some cleaning work. I am not saying no to paid work to do volunteer work-sorry tuckshop! I HATE cleaning work but until I have my degree there is not much else that I can do or rather not much else that I am likely to get a go with!
I have been doing some much needed soul searching over the last couple of weeks and decided that I REALLY do not want to teach. Late last year I decided that I was not going to teach but then I decided to stick with my original degree but then this week I decided once and for all that teaching is really not for me. I thought it was ok in Japan but they were only very small classes, I don't want to do it for the rest of my life and teaching a class of high school kids would be a complete shock to the system! Soooo I have decided that I will continue with just the languages/linguistics part of my degree and hopefully I can get a decent job with that! I REALLY love linguistics and learning Japanese, even though my progress in spoken Japanese is rather slow lately! I have a lot of work to do.
We have been having some trouble in the family recently, my cousin is a deadbeat drunk (yahoo) and has been saying some really awful stuff about other family members. This stuff is not the kind that can be laughed off easily........ My cousin needs a good swift kick up the ass and a complete reality check, man I hate what alcohol does to people! She was a fairly decent person before she became an alco!
Last night we pissed off the old lady next door-yikes! Cody and Mika had a fight (yeah I know, what's new?!!) and Cody was screaming at the absolute top of his lungs, just screaming! His window was open, and you guessed it, directly opposite her living room windows which unfortunately were wide open. ERRRRR I quickly shut the boys' window as she was shutting hers with a foul look on her face, I said sorry but she just gave me a look that could kill and I gave up.........

I feel wooooonderful!!!!!!!!!!!

Why you may ask???? Because, I have FINALLY figured out how to ...........post piccies!!!! I feel so proud of myself! Took awhile but I did it! Yahoo! Watch out, there's no stopping me now!hehe I will post some piccies of the kids.....

I HAVE A NEW COMPUTER AT LAST!!!!

YAHOO! I am just sooooooo excited and having lots of fun playing around and discovering all the things that I can do now that I have a computer that actually works! I was going to try and save money by using the computers at Uni but I figured that since you can't get near them when it gets near exam time and since I will probably have to do a good deal of my work at night I decided that it was a necessary purchase. So I finally bit the bullet and got one! I am one happy camper right now! I might be able to finally post some pictures! hehe

January is already half gone!!!!

Yikes, I just realised yesterday that January 2006 is already half gone! It seems that this year too will zoom by before we know it!
We are back from the Gold Coast now and we had a nice time there-was nice to be able to cool off in a pool for a few days. We went to Wetnwild, a theme park here and it is choccas full of water play; slides, pools, fake waves, whirlpools.......it was a lot of fun! There was a special section for the under 10s called Buckaneer Bay and it had all sorts of stuff for the littlest pirates to do. One thing that was there was this huge bucket which periodically filled up and emptied out all over everyone which usually resulted in a lot of screaming! Conor HATED the bucket and even if he could only hear it he started freaking out but a nice hug each time he noticed it put him at ease again! Conor totally loved the water there and was all over the place-every time I took my eyes off him for 2 seconds usually resulted in- "oh no, where is he now?"!! He is just soooo quick, gave me many heart flutters for sure!! Of course Mika and Cody had the time of their lives too and did not want to leave when it was the end of the day.........
Next week it is back to school time already for Mika and Cody-year 4 for Mika and 2 for Cody, they are looking forward to it. Conor is at a different day care now as the other one was getting too expensive and I wasn't happy with the quality of care there in the last couple of months of last year. Conor seems to have settled in well and loves it, and the director there knows my aunty which is reassuring to me! If only the potty training would only proceed as smoothly!! One step at a time I guess!!

Congratulations Andrea and Li!

Congratulations Andrea and Li on finally getting your visa, that must be a relief to say the least!!! I am so happy for you! I haven't been on the net much lately so haven't had a chance to leave any comments on your blog or even to read much of it but am looking forward to a long read real soon!! Now you have all the packing etc to look forward to...........

roasty toasty humans

Well as expected Christmas was hot, bloody hot but not quite as hot as it was forecasted to be thank goodness! We got told 40 degrees + but luckily it only got to about 34 before a thunderstorm cooled us down and knocked out the power! Luckily we had finished eating by then so we all just sat, talked and drank (not too much though hehe!) by candlelight until we were ready to go. We spent Christmas Dinner at my sisters and a nice time was had by all even with the blackout. Her power didn't come on until about 9.30 pm, yikes! The kids just loved it all- the presents, the eating junk till it almost made them sick, the special dinner, having a chance to play with their cousins etc etc etc!
We stayed at Mums the night before so we wouldn't have the long drive (only an hour but pretty hellish in the daytime heat) on Christmas Day and the two older ones went with her to a Christmas concert which they just adored! Then they went to see the lights and to eat icecream-yep they thought it was all just great! I went with Conor to my sister's house to watch Christmas carols on tv and have a drink and we saw the lights on the way home. Conor was just rapt-made his throat sore yelling "pretty!" so many times!!hehe
At the moment we are at the Gold Coast with the kid's dad and they are pretty rapt about that too. He has taken them for a walk to the beach so I can do this! Pity he can't curtail his excessive drinking...........
Got to go my time is nearly up!

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year! I will write all about the Tachibana Christmas in a few days time. The temperature is set to top 40 degrees so it will be a roasty toasty Christmas for sure!!

I'm Baaaaaaaaaack

Hi again! I know it's been quite a while but things have been so mind numbingly crazy here that I just cannot even begin to know whether I am coming or going!!
First my computer has decided to die on me so I have been having to use computers wherever I can which sometimes can be a trifle difficult now that uni has finished for the year! I am using my auntys' computer today and it is very fast and I love it!! hehe I am trying to find the problem on my computer myself before I get someone in but so far I think I am adding to the problem rather than rectifying it! I will try a little more than give up I think!
As I said Uni has finished for the year and I did ok- 1 distinction and 2 passes but I wanted to do a lot better than that but there is always next year. What really is annoying though is that for both subjects that I got passes in I was only about 2% away from a credit, just a shame that I couldn't have done just that LITTLE bit better............ Next year I do all teaching subjects and two blocks of prac which should be interesting.
We are quite settled at our new place now and quite happy there, we had an extremely busy month of packing, moving, unpacking and then getting the old place completely cleaned inside and out! I got all of my bond back so I was very happy and relieved. I don't want to move again for a long time to be sure!!
Then hot on the heels of moving was the end of the kids' school year which was also a busy time with swimming, parties, concerts and the like! I had tuckshop thrown in for good measure also!! I made 26 jelly cups for Mika's breakup party which was a lot of fun and the kids just loved them! I had to be creative in my method of getting them to the school- I made a tray from cardboard and put an ice pack and iced towels on top of them all to protect them from the heat! But it all worked out.
Now the kids are excitedly waiting for Christmas and it is coming very very quickly!! We went to a Christmas Festival last Saturday night and EVERYTHING was free!! We all went on rides, ate sausage sizzles, ice blocks and drank lots of softdrink, were entertained by singers, Christmas Carols and the like, and Cody got his face painted. It was a fantastic day out and we all had a ball. Conor was so tired when we got home that he could barely keep his eyes open, even to go in the bath!! Next week we are going to see Harry Potter which the kids are very excited about to be sure!
It is stinking hot here at the moment, yesterday it was about 37 degrees! It is just awful!
I have more to say but no time at the moment so will have to go! Chow!

new house

yahoo! We are now living in our new house-new to us that is! The house itself is quite old but in good condition. The kids just love it and we have a working antenna and 2 working phone lines so I am wrapped! It has 3 bedrooms and is in a much quieter street too which is great. The only not so great thing is that it is a little smaller in area than the last place but that is not such a big deal. We only just moved in yesterday so the place is a total mess still and I can't find anything! That will keep me busy for the next few days!
Andrea I didn't get a chance to leave a comment on your blog- wow JiXiang is walking now! I will watch the video for sure! I had to laugh at her antics when you are teaching, she is such a cutie!

who, where, what am I????

Yikes, finally a chance to sit and take a few deep breaths. Today I did my last two exams for the year, so now I am on holiday for about 3 months! YES! I think I did ok, hope so anyway! I will find out in a few weeks. The last couple of weeks again have been crazy-studying, looking for a house, keeping up with the housework etc etc! I am looking forward to doing some satisfying reading!
I have found a house for us and we will be moving in a couple of weeks. NOT looking forward to the moving process- packing, moving, cleaning..... yuck! It has to be done though. The real estate where I am renting through now told me that since the house isn't selling after all (helllllooo) I could stay on for awhile without a lease if I wanted, I was like no frigging way!, there is no way I would stay without a lease! As soon as they eventually sold the house I would have to get out and too bad if it was in the middle of the school year! I said to them that I was looking and I will be telling them soon that I have found a house and so will be leaving. They are pretty good there but a little clueless sometimes!
The house has 3 bedrooms this time (only 2 where we are now) so Mika will finally get her own room, I will lose my office though as the new place doesn't have a sleep out but that is no biggy! It is still pretty old but in reasonable condition so I think it's ok-I didn't want to go up in rent so I only COULD get an old house but that's ok. It is in a much quieter street which is great and still close to school.
Conor's daycare was closed on Wednesday due to a burst water pipe, luckily I was just studying at home so I could have him there with me. It made studying a little less productive though. I felt sorry for the mums and dads who needed to get to work though, one of them took her son to work with her! She was a little frazzled the next morning.
Cody has yet another party tomorrow............ hopefully this is the last one for the year! It is a pool party so he should have lots of fun, hopefully the kids will be watched carefully as Cody is not a strong swimmer yet. Speaking of swimming, the kids have a 10 day block of swimming classes at school coming up and it will cost $60 each! Whatever happened to free education?!! I am happy to pay it though as they are going to be taught at a swimming centre with a max of 5 kids per class which means they will get a lot more benefit from the classes. Mika is quite a good swimmer now, she loves it too!
I have decided that next year I am going to continue with my original degree after all! After taking a good look at what the courses entail for next year I think they will be a lot more interesting. We actually will be taught HOW to teach which I think should have been the first things we did! I also will be going on prac. My attitude to teaching is that I will give it a go and hopefully it all goes well, if not I will have my second degree to fall back on. At least with teaching I will have a good chance of getting a job which is what is important!

back again!

Once again it has been a busy week! I have been studying hard for the exams that I have over the next two weeks plus there's all the usual stuff that has to be done! Today I had the Japanese composition test-2.5-3 pages of Japanese in 50 minutes, luckily not the 3.5-4 pages that I originally thought it was! It went ok I think-I don't know if any of it was actually intelligible but I had a go anyway! hehe! Only 2 weeks to go-next week on Thursday is my oral test and the following Friday is the written exam then I am finished with Japanese classes! Yahoo! I am still going to study it myself but no more classes, I have had enough! There is so much pressure now that the levels are higher and I just don't want to be under that now. I am going to concentrate on the other areas of my degree now and as I am going to change my degree COMPLETELY, I still have 2 years to go same as I had originally which is a bit of a pain but it will give me more chances of getting a job which is the main reason that I am studying at all!!
I have an Aussie history test in 2 weeks also but that will be ok, I am enjoying that course-it is really interesting!
Cody got another party invite yesterday.......... for 2 Saturdays from tomorrow so I suppose that is acceptable! hehe! Cody is all excited because they are going to be swimming! This weekend we are putting on a lunch for mum as it is her birthday next Monday-we are all going to get together at her place and buy seafood, yum! The kids and I will probably catch the train to Mum's as petrol prices have absolutely gone through the roof here! Before we go though we are going to go and look at a house to rent that is available in mid November, it is an older house but it seems quite roomy which is what we want. I looked at a newer house last week (in my price range) and the rooms were rather tiny to say the least. I am not looking forward to moving at all. Conor has an extremely runny nose at the moment which is probably due to the fact that the weather has suddenly changed from hot and sunny to cool and rainy! Can't complain though-we need the rain and cooler is great!!

I am a happy camper!

The kanji test is over and it was ok! Not that scary at all. There were a couple that I just COULD NOT remember for the life of me but most of them I could. I am very happy right now! Next week I have to write a composition of 3 or 4 pages in an hour so that will be a definite challenge. Conor seemed a little funny this morning-clingy and crying at the drop of a hat so hopefully he is ok at daycare today. They will call me if he seems sick or anything though so I am not too worried. We are doing the potty training thing at the moment and so far so good-he is actually using it most times that I put him on. Hopefully it doesn't take too long, can't wait to say goodbye to nappies for good!

kannnnnnnnjjjjjjjiiiiiiiiiii

This week I have been studying hard for my kanji test tomorrow-it's only a short one but I want to do well in it! Kanji is just such a pain, you have to be studying them constantly to both remember them AND keep them in your head! I think (hope!) I am making good progress! I have Japanese tests each Friday for the next 4 Fridays, including tomorrow.
It is just sooooo hot here right now, awful! There was a storm yesterday afternoon which was nice, not so nice for those on the Gold Coast though where they golf ball sized hail. We are supposed to get another one this afternoon, let's hope that there is no damage to anywhere!

Yikes!

This year is just flying by! Before we all know it it'll be Christmas!! I only have 4 weeks to go until I am finished for the year then about 3 months off! Yahhoooo! Then only one year to go.......

We have to move, well I am not sure whether we really HAVE to or not but I have decided that we will. The owner is selling up and I don't know whether the new owners would want to renew the lease and with 3 kids I do not want to be left with no house to rent! And if the new owner did decide to renew the lease they probably will put the rent up and I do not want to pay any more (paying enough already!). If the house doesn't sell and my owner lets me renew the lease then he'll probably put the rent up as the real estate agents hinted at that when they informed me of the sale. All of this uncertainty makes me rather nervous and so I think just to move is best. I have till the end of November to find a place and move so plenty of time yet. The kids will still go to the same school as they love it and they are both doing really well and have lots of friends.

No parties this weekend thank goodness! Cody had one last Saturday at McDonalds and Mika was allowed to join in so I didn't have to buy her a happy meal! They both had lots of fun. Conor played in the playground and kept climbing up and then not being able to get back down! I don't know why as previously he climbed up and down no problem, maybe he suddenly realised that he could fall or something..... He has fallen off the climbing equipment at daycare a couple of times so that could be it. This weekend is a long weekend so we are going to go to the local school fete on Saturday, swim on Sunday and the Museum for Monday! We will actually get to the Museum this time, we keep getting sidetracked and going to other places!

It is now HOT! Really really hot! Yesterday about 35 degrees, today about the same and tomorrow they are predicting 37 or so! Yuck! I am enjoying the aircon here at uni at the moment! The kids are looking forward to lots of swimming now that it's hot again, Mika can swim well but Cody isn't that good yet.

quick stop

Yikes just realised how long its been since I last blogged! Can't write much now though as I have to rush off to class soon. I am back at Uni now so can use the much faster computers there rather than be frustrated trying to anything much on mine!
The holiday was great! I didn't really do that much just veged and caught up with a few people that I haven't seen in a while. It was great to recharge the batteries and get ready for the final few weeks of the year!
The owners of my house have decided to sell up so I have to move! GGGGGRRRRR!!!!! I have 2 months so still have quite a bit of time.
Gotta go, be back later! Chow!

What does your birthdate mean??

Andrea did hers so I thought what the heck I'll do mine too!!!!

Your Birthdate: June 17
Your birth on the 17th day of the month suggests that you are very lucky financially, because this date indicates a solid business sense. Although you are probably very honest and ethical, this birthday enables you to be shrewd and successful in the world of business and commercial enterprise. You have excellent organizational, managerial, and administrative capabilities enabling you to handle large projects and significant amounts of money with relative ease. You are ambitious and highly goal-oriented, although you may be better at starting projects than you are at finishing them. A sensitivity in your nature, often repressed below the surface of awareness, makes it hard to give or receive affection

If this is so then why am I not rich????!!!!!!!!

You Are 23 Years Old
Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

YAHOO!!!! I love it!

Conor is demon child incorporated!

Yes it is official-Conor is demon child incorporated this week!! He has been throwing lots of tantrums, says 'no' ALL the time, and has been clingy as well! He is really pushing the boundaries lately-the terrible twos so they say!! Yikes!
He really is a little person now with a mind of his own, not a baby in any way at all! He is independent one moment and wanting mum the next as fits his age group! He loves daycare but lately he cries everyday when I leave which makes me feel absolutely awful about leaving him but he is always happily playing when I go to pick him up!
I am finally getting rid of all the baby stuff-high chair and change table and young baby toys are gone and the cot is going soon, it really drives home the fact that my youngest is growing up! I am NOT having any more babies though, I am not that sentimental!!!! Hehe! Conor has never really liked baby toys, he always liked his brother's toys more-it was a battle when he was tiny to keep him away from them! Now that he's older he can play with most of them and he loves it! He is car mad like his dad, every car he sees is a 'Toyota'!
Mika and Cody are looking forward to school going back next week, I am looking forward to my week off! YES! I will still have to study though but it will be nice to relax a little bit at least!

Whhhhhhere has this week gone?????

I'd like to know who took my week!! The time has just flown! It is Wednesday again already getting on time for another weekend!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway I have been rather busy this week part of it is because I am still trying to catch up from the weekend- I didn't get to do too much because I felt totally like shit! I had shocking killer sinus and could barely do anything-totally sucked! The poor kids didn't get to go anywhere but they were really great about it and behaved nicely for me all weekend! Even Conor seemed to understand that he had to be reasonably quiet.
The kids are still on holiday this week (Mika and Cody) so yesterday I took them to the movies-they decided that they'd rather see a movie (yesterday) than go to the museum even though there are dinosaurs and stuff!! We went and saw Shark boy and Lava girl and they just loved it! They were glued to the screen for the entire 93 minutes and raved about it all day! It was a 3D movie so the glasses were a real hit too. I thought it was a pretty good movie too for a kid's movie, very entertaining! The kids were pretending to be shark boy and lava girl all the rest of the day. I thought they'd like it but I was surprised (and pleased!) that they'd like it so much!
After the movie we went to another shopping centre to get the kids some more school shoes and found a Salvos shop that I'd never been in before. They had some great used books-fill a bag for $2 so Mika and I had a great time choosing books for a while! Cody just ran around being Shark boy!!!! Yikes!
This weekend I want to take the kids to the museum to see the dinosaur exhibit but not sure if it is open or not so will have to check. I have my exam on Saturday morning so will have to do that first though. I will take them to South Bank if the museum is closed-there are parks, artificial pool, pretend forest and other stuff so I think that should keep them amused! At least there are no parties again this weekend! There is one the first Saturday back after the holidays that Cody is going to.
I left Conor at daycare this morning throwing a hell tantrum-he was screaming and rolling around the floor and making a real spectical of himself. He was upset because he thought he'd dropped one of his toy cars in the car but I kept telling him that he had them all-which he did! Not even seeing his best friend at daycare or the mention of his much-liked playground equipment could stop the screaming he was doing! Guess they would have had to just wait it out, I feel bad for leaving them to do it though! I had no choice I was already running late for class!

yahooooooo!!!!!!!

Yahoooo!!!! I passed my ethics exam-got another one next week though-yuck! I do not enjoy it at all! After next week though no more teaching subjects! I am one very happppppppy camper or rather I will be after next week! I am doing a talk this afternoon in Australian History but I am pretty well prepared so I am not too worried!
At the moment I have sinus really bad and my head just seems to be constantly blocked up and aching, just feel like going back to bed! Thank goodness tomorrow is Saturday. There are no parties this weekend so we'll be able to do what we want! I am going to take the kids to the museum this weekend, they have some special dinosaur exhibits for the holidays and I think the kids will love it!