Farewell party

Sunday:

We had a very busy day. First it was Aiden's birthday party, a little early so that he could share it with his current friends. We went to the indoor powerkart raceway.

 (Aiden is on the floor in front of the podium.)

They had a great time.

Then after lunch and a quick house clean, we had our farewell party, just a gathering of friends here at our house. Very simple food (cheese and crackers, dip, chips etc) and sitting around chatting. It was really nice. I guess I will miss some of them after all! The kids also had some of their friends over, but we barely saw them except when they came raiding food. Mostly off doing their own thing.

After everyone was gone I was glad to sit quietly, alone with my iPhone games. Although nothing I did was particularly hectic, it was constant all day.

Three days to go!

Non-halloween

Saturday:

Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it. We don't, but a couple of times in the past we've had one group of kids turn up at our door and I've scrambled to find something to give them (luckily, ahem, I always have something in my private stash) so this year I thought I'd buy something Halloween-themed. Australian shops seem to advertise it these days. But at my local supermarket yesterday they had one cardboard spider hanging from the ceiling and some fun-size bags of chocolates on sale, that was all. Nevertheless, I had the Freddo frogs near the door tonight, ready to hand out just in case, but no one showed. Could be because we didn't have our outside light on! I'm not that keen to promote a foreign holiday based on sugar and horror anyway. And pumpkin, yuck.

Some more packing today. I wasn't feeling very well, I think it's just the hay fever. I did have a great afternoon nap. You know when you wake up after a complete natural sleep cycle so you feel good instead of all groggy and grumpy? Yeah, that.

Not much

Friday:

Change of pace today. I did the shopping and then some paperwork, with half an hour nap in front of the TV after lunch. I can't sleep during the day if I lie on my bed, but no problem when sitting up in my armchair with the TV on! Tim packed one box and did some other stuff, I didn't pack anything at all.

My best friend in Canberra came over with her kids after school. One of the last after-school chats I'll have with her. Actually she's the only thing I'll miss. And hopefully we'll keep in contact. I know we will for a while, then it will probably go back to just "liking" each other's Facebook posts. It's hard to stay really close friends when you rarely meet. I have other friends who have moved interstate (or I did) and you visit a few times and call or email often, then less often, then you are down to commenting how much their kids have grown when you see a photo.

Canberra is a pretty city and we had a nice 15 years here but I'm definitely ready to move on. Everything is progressing smoothly. Busy non-packing weekend is coming up, we are having Aiden's birthday party a couple of weeks early and a farewell party. The CDs I decided to leave out for the party (the rest are packed) are all our "Hits of Summer 2007" type ones. I figured it was a good representative sample of the sounds of our time here.

100 boxes

Thursday:

Well guess what we did today. No prizes sorry, you were right, more packing. We have hit the 100 box point. That was my total estimate after getting to about 50, but we still have plenty more to pack so I hardly dare make another guess. Another 25 at least but maybe a lot more. You get thrown off when a food processor with all its attachments takes up nearly a whole box by itself!

Doing all this packing is more physical activity than I am used to, but a lot less than Tim usually does so he takes the kids out when they get home from school. He wonders why I don't want to come for a walk, meanwhile I'm half asleep in my chair.

Some of my tiredness may have an additional cause, we've had the worst pollen counts for years - much worse than last year when I was obviously affected by hayfever - so it could be partly that. On Tuesday, when I was feeling particularly sleepy all day, they said afterwards that the pollen counts were through the roof that day. I might be better off inside for a few more days.

One week until moving day.

[Later: After the kids came home with their pollen-covered shirts, and I also had some windows open for a while, I got really headachy and sleepy and burning eyes - definitely hay fever! I'm just going to stay inside with a bag over my head until Spring is over.]

Aquaplan

Wednesday:

More packing. Up to box 90.

Short walk with Tim.

Last night I was looking at the local gym near our new place, getting exciting about all the group classes at a perfect time for me (9:30am, after I get the kids to school, is when I like to go), but then I started to get a bit worried about my ability to do group classes at the moment. My knee was sore for several hours yesterday after just getting up after kneeling on the floor. Can it take running and jumping and lunging?

I'm good at finding problems but I like to think I can also find solutions if it's actually something I'm motivated to do (not something I'm looking for excuses for). And I've decided if gym activities are too much for me at the moment I'll spend time in the local swimming pool instead. Everyone says exercise in water is very kind on joints. It will be summer here, so being in an (indoor, shady) pool is appealing. We actually want to get a pool at our new house but don't know yet how much that costs or how long it takes. And once I've strengthened the knee and my dodgy shoulders, then I can do more high-impact and weights.

Bare walls

Tuesday:

More packing today. I took the art off the walls and it looks very bare! Jasmine commented when she got home from school how strange it looks. And we went out and bought Tim a new suit for his new job. Charcoal grey. He's always worn a suit but we thought it was nice to have a brand new one. I felt very tired all day and had a nap in the afternoon.

Health issues are definitely creeping up on me. The last couple of years everything seems to be deteriorating with the sleep apnoea and the glucose intolerance and shoulder issues and knee issues. Pretty much everything is related to my weight, and therefore under my control (which is a good thing as it means I can change it). Except my current problem. I've had what I thought was a blister on one foot but it's been there for months. It didn't trouble me too much most of the time, sometimes painful. But now I have another one on the sole of my other foot and it hurts when I put weight on it - i.e. when I walk. At first I thought it was a splinter or maybe an insect bite, but it's been a few weeks now. So I think it's a plantar wart (euw). There isn't a lot you can do about it until your body fights off the virus, which typically takes several years! It isn't too bad when I have very padded supportive shoes on, like my sneakers, but barefoot or unpadded shoes mean it's quite painful to walk on. And we're nearly into summer! Oh, and they're contagious, so I don't want to be walking around barefoot anyway. Yuck. I'll get a doctor to look at it after we move, but according to the internet treatments are generally ineffective as the wart has deep roots and will just come back if you freeze it off. The rest of my family has all had warts in various places over the past ten years and they all took about three years to get rid of, with or without treatment. Mine are less visible (good) but more uncomfortable (bad). I need to walk around!

Value meal

Monday:

Tim was home today and we got lots of packing done. We've nearly finished the books (we have a LOT of books) and the board games (we also have a lot of board games!). I think we are up to box 79.

I did the grocery shopping and then picked up a rotisserie chicken and some chips for our lunch. The server drew my attention to the fact that if I chose a value meal I could get the exact same things plus a drink for less money. Now if she'd said it cost a bit more (but still a great saving!) I wouldn't have even considered it, but $1.50 less? They are paying me $1.50 to carry a drink out the door. So I did. The only choices were fizzy drinks, which I don't like and have maybe 3 or 4 times a year under particular circumstances. I asked for a Mountain Dew, which I haven't had for many years, and thought I'd have a few sips before I tossed it out.

And it was delicious. I was really surprised at myself. I actually had several mouthfuls before I made myself throw it away. It tasted very good. And I already have a little mouth ulcer, which I only get after big doses of sugar, so it is scary how much there was in those few mouthfuls. I just don't understand why I liked it though! Generally I've lost my tolerance for ultra-sweet things.

So I was fooled by the value-meal trap, where you think you are saving money but at what cost? Did I lose $1.50 worth of health today? Not worth it! Next time I'll just get exactly what we need. And stick to water with a squeeze of lemon.