Day 5 and I’ve already got it. Pretty pathetic. I even had something great I thought of when I was at the shop across the road tonight, but can I remember it now? Of course not.

Ah well.

Meant to post yesterday but it got to 11:30 or something and Caleb was still awake, and so yeah, it just didn’t happen.

Thought I’d give it another go this year. So here’s my first entry. Not much to say. See you again tomorrow!

Yes, seriously.

What am I using instead? Just water and baking soda. And my hair is still clean! I’m never buying shampoo again.

Just noticed on our bank’s website that they’re actually REDUCING and REMOVING fees. I swear this is the first time I’ve ever heard of this happening.

{mosimage}So it was a couple months ago when I started up my bread machine to make some pizza dough and it just…stopped. Right in the middle of the program. But then I’d had it for nearly five years, and it wasn’t new when I bought it either. So it was bound to happen eventually.

Then a few weeks ago, I was in the Salvation Army shop in Salisbury and I saw two bread makers, each $35. I didn’t buy one that day, but I filed it away for future reference. And then the other day I decided enough was enough, I wanted to make pizza again. So I went back, and these bread machines were now only $25. Even better. So I bought one. It didn’t have a manual with it, but it was a more well known brand than the other one, so that’s why I picked it.

And then I got it home, and was about to pull out the pan to wash it before I used it, and there’s a very essential bit missing – the kneading blade. So no, I wasn’t exactly happy.

Went to the Sunbeam website & asked them if I could get a replacement. They emailed back & said to check with my nearest service agent, so I looked back on the website to find the nearest one. Pooraka – only about 10 minutes away. So I emailed them, got a response back in a couple hours, and they had the part in stock, and it was only $16.50. So we had pizza for tea last night. Mmmmmm.

My old machine had five programs, all for bread or dough. The new one has eleven, including all the standard ones you’d expect, plus one for jam, pasta, cake, and even butter. I’m gonna have fun working it all out.
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{mosimage}Despite how easy it is to get overheated, and get swollen ankles & feet…at least last time I didn’t have to try to put on socks if I didn’t want to.
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{mosimage}So Darrin’s mostly finished up at SEHS. He’s done two Saturdays there and may do a little more as needed. He’s liking the new job – the only downside is leaving the house at 7:45 every morning and not getting home till just after 6 most nights. But it’s working out well for the most part.

I have a zillion sewing projects I want to get finished before this baby arrives, including some maternity clothes. Really should get those going, shouldn’t I? And my chiropractor has ordered five nappies from me, and she’s due 4 days before me. But two are already finished, so I really only need to do three more. I got some fabric to make Caleb another pair of pajamas, and I’m also doing a set of curtains/drapes for a friend (as soon as I have the measurements).

Caleb…just gets better every day. He just put one of his bears on the potty to do a poo. ;) And he’s very talkative. He’ll try any word except his name. It’s amazing how much he picks up without us even trying (i.e. he’s saying ‘no thanks’ and ‘thank you’ now of his own accord, even though we’ve never prompted him to do so – he’s just picked it up from us saying it to him).

Baby’s still in there. I was getting a little worried at one point that I hadn’t felt any movement for a while, but Lisa came over & checked with her doppler and worked out that baby just decided to hide behind the placenta for a bit. He/she has shifted again in the last week and I’m feeling a lot more kicks, hiccups, etc. again. Oh, and I’m at the point where I wouldn’t mind my very own live-in chiropractor and/or massage therapist. I’ve been visiting the chiro every two weeks, but I’m thinking I might have to increase it to every week soon. Now that my regular one has gone on maternity leave, I’m seeing one of her colleagues – who incidentally sounds like an American. Haven’t yet asked her where she’s from (I’ve only seen her once so far and it didn’t really seem like the right time).

Garden stuff now. I’ve got cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, and celery in the veggie patch. I also had two pea plants, but I didn’t water them when I transplanted them, so they died. This week (assuming my body cooperates, and the nursery gets them in) I’m planning to plant some seed potatoes. And last week, I bought a peach sapling and two small blueberry bushes and planted them. So I’m working on the orchard now as well. I have so many plans (including a chicken shed), but I don’t think most of them are going to happen till a few months after this baby comes. I was really hoping to get a lot of it done before, but it wasn’t to be.

And I actually turned the heater on this morning for the first time this year. It was a whopping 16C (62F) in the lounge when we woke up.

And now…away to the post office!
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{mosimage}Ooh, two posts in as many days. I’m really prolific this week.

Point one: Patty has arrived! Her flight was only an hour late leaving Melbourne and 40 minutes late arriving in Adelaide, but she’s here. None of us got to bed till midnight last night. Caleb’s having a ball showing off & being cute. He’s very good at it. :)

Point two: we have a new photo gallery here. Some of the photos aren’t cooperating with getting added, but we’re slowly getting there. All recent Caleb pictures are in though, so those of you who need a cute kid fix can get it. :)

Point three: Yesterday was Darrin’s official last day at SEHS. And there was much rejoicing (yay). Since he’s kinda made himself indispensable there over the last 11 years, he’ll still be going back occasionally to work on things that need attention, but for that we’ll be billing them through his consulting business.

Point four: still pregnant. Three-ish months to go, give or take. Have baby clothes already set up in a drawer ready to go. Second babies are a lot easier to prepare for – just grab all the stuff you used for the first one and you’re ready to go. The only thing we’re buying new is another car seat.

Point five: I’m trying to get my garden ready for winter with some winter veggies. But I doubt I’ll be getting much done with it for the next couple weeks. The only things left in there are two watermelon vines (pruned down to the bare minimum in the hopes that the biggest two melons actually ripen before it gets too cold) and my capsicum plant, which has ripened its one and only capsicum already, even though it’s only the size of a ping pong ball, if that. I’m wondering if it’s a mini variety, but I couldn’t find anything about it through Google. Also, I’ve got plans to buy some more fruit trees and plant them around. My list: 2 apple trees of different varieties (because all but MacIntosh need another tree nearby to pollinate), another orange tree that fruits in the summer (so we can have oranges year round, yay!), a new peach tree (because ours died), some blueberry bushes (because Caleb LOVES them), an avocado tree (I don’t use them THAT much, but I’d probably use them more if we had a tree, plus I know plenty of people who’d be in for some free avocados), and an almond tree. Maybe another apricot tree as well, since ours tends to have a branch die off every few months and I’m not entirely sure it’s going to be here next summer. I was also thinking about a banana tree, but what I’ve read of them, they take a LOT of maintenance. So not now. Maybe sometime in the future, once I’m comfortable with the rest of my orchard.
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{mosimage}So we sort of knew that this year would be Darrin’s last year at his current job, but we didn’t quite expect it to happen till the end of the year. At the start of this year, he dropped back to three days a week to free up the other two days for web work. But, sadly, whether it’s economy fears or something else, he & Josh haven’t had many jobs. In fact they just had their first job for the year about a week ago, and it was only a small update on something they’d done last year, so only two hours work for Darrin.

So then suddenly two weeks ago, Darrin got an email about a new job opening up at Bradford College in the city. The position sounds like it was made for him (well, all except the wearing a tie part, but the rest of it is good). And he’d be earning twice as much as he is now, so yeah, big step up.

He thought about it for a couple days, and then decided he’d apply for it. So the next week or so he was writing a resume, getting Josh to check it for phrasing & me to check it for grammar/punctuation, and he sent it off last Wednesday. Friday he got an email from them & he rang them back, and they set up an interview for Tuesday.

Now here comes my part in all this. He got home Friday and found his ‘nice’ shirt from our wedding, but it’s too heavy to wear at this time of year. And he couldn’t find his dress pants. So off to the op shops I went on Saturday morning. Found a shirt, found a pair of pants, found a tie, all together $12. But then I brought them home and the mayhem started. The shirt didn’t have a collar. I hadn’t even noticed. And the pants – the zipper was shot. I hadn’t even checked that. (Mental note – start checking zippers on pants in op shops.) So I went off again after lunch to get a new zipper from Spotlight and another shirt from the op shop. So he had a shirt, he had pants, he had a tie.

He went in on the train on Tuesday morning for an 11:00 interview. By 11:20 he’d sent me a text saying he thought it went pretty well. He was home by about noon, and within about half an hour he’d gotten a phone call offering him the job. Which he readily accepted. (I sat here watching him talk on the phone, say a lot of yeses, and give me a big thumbs up.)

So since he’s already working only three days a week at SEHS, Bradford is letting him start next week, just working Tuesdays & Thursdays for now. And he’s finishing up at SEHS in about four weeks, during the school holidays. As far as I know his boss hasn’t had a heart attack yet, but there’s still time….

Of course the female half of the staff at SEHS is upset because now I won’t be bringing Caleb (and the new bub) in to visit all the time.
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