One of those weekend days...

There was upholstery work this weekend. We have to finish nearly 200 pieces of backs and seats for office chairs before monday morning . On Saturday I had sprayed more than half of the work and David was about to tack them but...the compressor wasn't working as it should be. Air pressure was weak and it won't automatically shut the noise. At 6pm David gave up fixing it. Decision: just buy a new one tomorrow at Bunnings as we really have to finish the work. Although frustrated as things did not go as planned, we had a relaxing evening, waited for Ray to return from the high school band competition from Jindalee. Had some ironing done and clothes were sorted out.

Sunday, we had to forego morning Mass. After fixing Ray breakfast of fried eggs on toast, headed to Bunnings and bought a brand new compressor (Cost $95.00) and some ear plugs ($2.50). Ray went off for another high school musical competition at 10:15 am. The brand new compressor was good- I was able to finish spraying all the stuff by mid-day while David carried on tacking them. I spent most of the afternoon trimming and stacking them up, in between lunch, ironing, cooking and some sweeping and watering of plants. I finished my upholstery work by 7pm while David carried on till 8:30pm. We had a beef roast for tea with the usual roasted potatoes and pumpkin, with silverbeet from the garden and gravy. Ray's job was to load up the van with the work and he did it after tea. Good boy! We could have finished work at midday if the compressor didn't play up. Oh- well....one of those days.

By the way, Ray's high school big band won the Gold on Saturday night and the high school symphony orchestra won the Silver on Sunday morning. He played the trombone on both events. Well done girls and boys!

Transformations

Mi unica hija- Vivi- my eldest daughter, the surviving twin, who transformed from a baby to a young girl and now an adult lady who had found her niche in this world.

She had been living on her own now for a year or so, no financial support, no mommy support, apart from responding to her queries on food recipes, some lunches out and helping her arrange her travel arrangements, documents and amenities. She has come of age and if I compare her to my situation at her age (as mom's, we can't help but do this exercise), she had done better than I had ever been. They say that your children are extensions of yourselves- I see her as one of mine but she is more matured and found herself earlier than I did. I will say that she is a great improvement of myself (if you know what I mean)

Haines and Vivian- they do support each other and will travel together to spend time with the family in the Philippines. Haines and Vivi- we wish you well, enjoy yourselves and we will see you when you get back from Manila/Baguio/Cebu?/Boracay?/Hongkong. BON VOYAGE AND GOD SPEED- don't forget our bilins and your pasalubongs pls....

The Australian Outback Spectacular and Fiddler...

The weekend was the time to organise my files and lo and behold, i found some of the memorabilia stuff that I've been looking for- for quite sometime now. It was the things from our Australian Outback Spectacular Adventure.

Being from the Phils/New Zealand, we had wanted to understand as much as we can about Australian way of life and this dinner- show was a chance to peek into the Australian version of 'cowboy' lifestyle in short- Australian cowboys- I won't elaborate much as some of you may want to see it one day. I think that it should be a must for tourists into Queensland/Australia as it will introduce them to the Australian outback action, music, drama and food-which also included a bottomless supply of red/white wine, beer, water, coffee and tea!. It was David's idea to go watch it and he convinced Ray- actually these 2 made an agreement. Ray wanted to watch the Fiddler on the Roof and wanted David to come. David agreed on one candition- that Ray will watch the Australian Outback Spectacular. They agreed. Where did I fit in? My opinion did not count so I will go watch Dusty with 2 of my workmates but I still agreed to go along with them to watch Fiddler and Outback with the two... I don't want to be left out and I want to know what these shows have to offer. Although I am not a great 'cowboy ' fan, but i love being in a 'cowboy' get-up - jeans, patterned shirt, boots and cowboy hat- i actually enjoyed the australian cowboy show- we even got given free cowboy hats and treated to some country song/line dancing before we were let into the big show arena.

I did enjoy Fiddler on the Roof too- Topol the star was the same one in the old movie. I watched the movie very long time ago and Ray became a stage musical fan and came across Fiddler- he actually bought the DVD ($10)I was very happy as Fiddler is my all time favourite movie. I just love the wisdom of the Father here, his relationship with God and his Tradition. I also loved Topol's voice.

I will watch Dusty in Sept the 6th...can't wait!

My typical Saturday

I work for a living from Monday to Friday, so you can imagine that ITGIF and when Saturday is here, I am quite happy to be at home, doing the chores. See- hubby and I have divided the chores- I do the inside the house chores aside from dishwashing/cooking where we take turns while he does the outside (there are no maids in Australia like we have them in the Phils...we can get a housekeeper and pay $45 for a 3-hr housework but hey, housework is a way to keep fit and I can think of a hundred and one things to use 45 bucks!).

So here is my standard Saturday schedule:

• get up at 6.30 am(an hour later than weekday mornings)- have breakfast with hubby- usually fruit toast, yoghurt and coffee
• load the washing machine or if I programmed it the night before, hang the washing out. I normally do 3-4 loads (we never do washing on weekdays)
• sweep/dust/mop kitchen area (mopping is once in 2 weeks), change all the mats, handtowels, teatowels, in the bathroom, toilet and kitchen
• wake up Ray for his piano lessons/teaching
• take him to the academy (10 min driving from home) and while he is there for nearly 2 hours i do grocery shopping in nearby Woolworths- sometimes hubby joins me if he does not have upholstery work or not busy doing outside work.
• back at home, hang the washing out (though we have a dryer I prefer drying clothes out naturally), sort our groceries etc.
• cook lunch
• more housekeeping- bedroom, foyer, etc- in between blogging hehehe! if hubby is not looking...he does not read my blog in detail- only if i feature him- he loves to read about himself! don't get me wrong i love picking on him...lagot ako kapag nabasa niya ito!
• sometimes ray and i go to the public library and end up with lots of books, magazines and cd/dvd- i can borrow 20 pcs and he too can do that. hubby is also a member so we have the potential to hoard 30 materials from the library- mind you we did this once and we can't keep track of what we borrowed so we decided to become more realistic and just borrow 5 max.
• usually hubby cooks on a saturday- pizza or sausage casserole his masterpieces
• i water(with a bucket as there is water restrictions here - not allowed to use the hose or sprinkler)the plants and weed my garden/ transplant etc
• ray or hubby brings in the clothes and they sort it out into 'needs ironing' or 'does not need ironing' and i iron while watching TV
• hubby and i wind down sometimes with a red wine or a beer (if his fave rugby is on) and compete singing using the MagicMic (i just beat hubby -83 and me 89 singing bridge over troubled water)- we are trying to provoke the rain you see...this song 'i will survive' is challenging me... i wish i could sing it properly...will just settle for kokomo- i love the beat. this is our way of keeping those insects at bay especially roachers.
• i put up with ray's piano/violin practices, read the saturday paper- watch tv and hope to finish all the ironing so clothes are all clean and crisp...

Gee i can't believe that my Saturday goes so fast...my schedule is as flexible as can be due to calls from Baguio or VA as it takes 2 hrs to talk to family but this could be once in a blue moon since blog started, there is a sudden schedule for Ray to go somewhere (can't wait till he gets his driving license), a visit from a friend or hubby's relatives, etc. and thank God that hubby is not so fussy as to the quality of my housework (i tell you it's poor...huhuhu)- like I told him time and again that I was not born to do housework. hehehe...kung gusto niya siya nalang ang gumawa- 'di ba?

Even with all the chores I prefer being at home than at work. Hope you all had a relaxing weekend.

A bombshell

At work, we have become very comfortable with our comfort zones, belonging to the same teams for years now, having the same boss, some changes in workstations due to upsizing or downsizing. No one had ever thought that someday, our boat will be rocked and it's not just being rocked but our department with 80 or so people will be uprooted from our comfort zones to be transferred to another location. It's unthinkable to think that our work base is being transferred from this beautiful CBD site by the Riverside Centre, on the picturesque site of the 34th to some suburb, 30 minute from the city, level 3 or even level 2 on a 4-level boring building! Que horrores!

We have welcomed changes in programs, work allocations, systems, went through the necessary trainings, became adept with the current software but this news of us moving to the suburb made some of us indignant, disgusted and upset. Just imagine the impact it will have on a worker that lives in the far-southside or even the Gold Coast! An additional time to travelling and this means that there will be lesser time spent with the family - whether hubby/wifey/kids.

This will be our new office address when we finally move here on the 16th of October. S0, it's been a week since the announcement, the people have calmed down a bit. Meetings with the union had been held, proposals had been forwarded, possible transport routes had been discussed. In effect after so much angst, it seems that we have now accepted the business proposal to consolidate related departments and work closer together (what? when everything is done by the computer network, we can work anywhere in Australia - even at home)

Quietly, I am very happy with the change as I live closer to the new office. It will be a bus then train then bus ride still, actually I will have to do one extra bus ride but the time will be lesser by at least 45 min. It is in one of the older suburbs but look, just next door is the biggest Westfield shopping centre in Qld....so- it's really OK by me. Besides for a while I've been mulling on a transfer to this suburb as I liked the surroundings, the office set up (plants abound in the hallway) and just for the change. So I am actually welcoming it. Yehey!!!! The Lord is just good to me. I will volunteer to be one of the advance parties to check the site out. Will keep you posted.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!

TODAY is Michaels's 40th birthday and he celebrates it in Baguio with his beautiful wife, Cynthia and their children, RR and Micah. Mike is the 3rd of my 4 brothers.
He always has a ready smile for everyone. He is always there to give us company whenever we visit.

His lovely children are always there with their warm smiles, ready to share those moments of their lives , past present and future- and it just tickles me pink when I hear them call me 'auntie vicky'.

To Mike, we wish you happy birthday ...good luck, good health and God bless you always.

From your loved ones in Australia.

Happy Birthday to my Beloved Hubby, DAVID!

3 August 2006 is the 52nd birthday of my beloved other half, David.

For the past 13 years, we have celebrated it together without fail, sometimes with a party, sometimes just a dinner, another time we watched a movie, one occasion we were in the Philippines (I will not forget this as it was the time of the foot and mouth issue in Baguio and his favourite food was steak!. No one took responsibility to cook- so we bought him a nice steak at Sizzling Plate- which he enjoyed with fried rice and thank God, nothing happened to him- if there was, we shall blame it on Sizzling Plate)- sometimes with all the kids, or with some, or just the two of us--- anyway, he is just happy if we are together. He might not be a millionaire but his heart has a million and one kindness and love. He might be growing old but he is always young at heart.... I asked him, "what can I give you for your birthday?" and he replied, "Nothing dear, just your unconditional love." How sweet is that? Of course he has my unconditional love and care and I decided to give him a card with a potential to win $200,000--scratch card and he won $6.00!


Today though, with just the 3 of us here, we will spend the day at home as we have upholstery work tonight....will cook him his favourite pork soup cooked in tomato (sinigang style) with pork chops, rice and a green salad...We will probably have a red wine and on Saturday, we will have his favourite beer- Victoria Bitter (that's not me because I am Sweet....hehehe LOL but it's an Australian brand of beer) and he can get drunk and watch his favourite rugby game.

Cheers to you, my sweetheart!

Happy Birthday to my Beloved Hubby, DAVID!

3 August 2006 is the 52nd birthday of my beloved other half, David. For the past 13 years, we have celebrated it together without fail, sometimes with a party, sometimes just a dinner, another time we watched a movie, one occasion we were in the Philippines (I will not forget this as it was the time of the foot and mouth issue in Baguio and his favourite food was steak!. No one took responsibility to cook- so we bought him a nice steak at Sizzling Plate- which he enjoyed with fried rice and thank God, nothing happened to him- if there was we shall blame it on Sizzling Plate)- sometimes with all the kids, or with some, or just the two of us--- anyway, anyplace he is just happy if we are together. He might not be a millionaire but his heart has a million and one kindness and love. He might be growing old but he is always young at heart.... I asked him, "what can I give you for your birthday?" and he replied, "Nothing dear, just your unconditional love." How sweet is that? Of course he has my unconditional love and care and I decided to give him a card with a potential to win $200,000--scratch card and he won $6.00!

Today though, with just the 3 of us here, we will spend the day at home as we have upholstery work tonight....will cook him his favourite pork soup cooked in tomato (sinigang style) with pork chops, rice and a green salad...We will probably have a red wine and on Saturday, we will have his favourite beer- Victoria Bitter (that's not me because I am Sweet....hehehe LOL but it's an Australian brand of beer) and he can get drunk and watch his favourite rugby game.

Stunning Pictures of Sydney, Australia July 2006

Just recently, Ray had downloaded a lot of pictures from a CD compilation of his Sydney Musical Travel Tour group. The group had taken stunning pictures of themselves (of course!), a lot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, Blue Mountains, animals they saw in the Taronga Zoo - their favourite model was King Kong (gorilla), Luna Park and the great Sydney Harbour.

Giraffes and Zebras co-exist in Taronga Zoo.
Luna Park was where they enjoyed a lot of exciting rides.
Their favourite subject- the Gorilla!
This is what they saw at the Jenolan Caves.
One of Sydney's favourite photo shoot- the Sydney Opera House at Sydney Harbour.
The group was also in another ferry like this while this picture was taken. A ferry ride is a must at the Sydney Harbour and you board them in a place called Circular Quay.
Can't wait to take a picture of that famour Harbour Bridge- might as well take one from the tour bus....
This is a nice shot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in all its glory. It is a massive bridge and it's really awesome to see it in all its actuality.

More pictures are featured in Plants and People.

Images were from the collection of Ray's Sydney musical tour group July 2006.