ciao!

hi im so sorry for not writing!!! things are so crazy with 3 kids!! chloe is just growing up like crazy, already 6 months old, and lorenzo has turned into a full on boy, while mateo is growing into his own and becoming such a great kid! (not that he wasnt great before) chloe is whinging at the moment so i only have a sec....

things are good, im running again, slowly but surely, and starting to do some photography, did a little shoot last weekend and have one next week....also working on some illustrations, and when I get a set completed of both, i will post it because of course i want your comments, good or bad.

lily im so excited for you and i cant wait to meet the love of your life!!! when will you both come?

things with joao are getting better; hes been on the meds for a month and they are really kicking in and he is just so much better, calm, happier, trying really hard to connect with everyone. better late than never but it IS too bad he didnt go on them 3 yeats ago when I asked him to. we could have avoided allt his. But this has been GREAT for em, i feel really good and really focusing on making my life fuller.

ok ok chloe has ahd ENOUGH!!!!

have to go,,
miss you guys so much.....
love,

love, life and little things

So life has been busy - crazy - up - down and round and round. Work has been a bit difficult - they cut several of our programs and our staff in half - luckily I am still on board. It has not exactly been a smooth transition but we are doing the best we can (the two of us that is). There are a ton more demands and less time -- we also all have to take one week furlough -- that is gonna hurt the paycheck. BUT ultimately in this current economic climate I am happy to have a job -- and one I actually like.

Things with Aaron are wonderful. Still like him (love him) just as much as the first day. He is so good to me. He came up a few weeks ago and met my folks and I met his -- all went seamlessly! We get along so well -- he even got to meet my brother, his wife and my niece Brinnon.

Now comes the big news -- so this Thursday I fly down to Chicago to help him drive a moving van up to Minneapolis. yep, with his stuff! He is relocating up here. He is going to store stuff in his grandmothers garage -- stay with his parents some of the time and we will ease into the "living together" situation -- then in September(ish) we will get a place TOGETHER! I know, I know it is quick -- but it is great, seriously. All of you would love him and there is no reason to wait - we are both on the same page about everything! Can you believe a man is actually relocating for little 'ole ME! There are somedays when I get a little nervous about it -- but overall I am just plain excited and can't wait to have him near me. He is a ton of fun, a good friend and a great person. I finally feel like I have gotten lucky. I can't wait for everyone to meet him. Unfortunately Roh - the girls in NYC will most likely meet him first -- BUT -- he does know of my 2010 promise so we are trying to save and work on making that happen (he might come with me - hope that is ok). The only thing that might hold me back is finances BUT I am working on it - really hard.

That is really all the exciting news - sorry I haven't written in so long. I think it was a combination of writers block and time. BUT now that I finally am paying for internet service (I know it took me a year) it makes it so much easier to spend time on line! I promise I wont fall off the face of the earth again.

So - where is Kathy and Kristen?? Ladies???

I will try to get some good pictures in Chicago this weekend to post. Can you believe Aaron and I have NO pictures of us together -- I think I was superstitious that if we took a picture together it wouldn't work -- I know I am a ding dong...

Ok - gotta run to work -- Miss ALL of YOU so much!!!!!

WOW....

1 month since I have written?! My god time goes by so quickly. Things have been crazy busy and every time I had something to write I couldn't get on line at home BUT now I have no excuse because I just got real Internet last weekend -- I am actually paying for it.

Ok - so I can't write everything now because it is 8am and I am trying to wake my ass up with a large cup of coffee and get my butt off to work BUT I promise I will will catch you all up tonight.

I think of all og you ALL the time! By the way...I am still in love and Aaron is moving here this weekend --- YIKES!!

Wooohooo

Went to the football, there were 90,000 others there...and my team won. Yeehaaa. It was absolutely fantastic - they came back when all hope seemed lost and kicked three goals in the last three minutes. The noise was stupendous. I got to know the guy sitting next to me really well - at the end of the game we were hugging and jumping up and down together and high-fiving. It was like being a kid all over again. Doncha just love sports??

HEY!!! WHAT'S GOING ON?????

More than a month since anyone other than me contributed to this blog. And that's against the rules!!! What the &^%^* is going on?

Stuff

Some photos of Dean and Lisa's wedding below. I have just finished a rather intense round of assignments and I am now teaching my "block" - three weeks at school teaching every day. It's pretty intense but today's Grade 7 math class was a lot of fun whereas today Grade 11 was a little more challenging. There were complaints about the heater, the lighting, I had to impose discipline for the first time ("This is your last warning, Susan" in my sternest voice), by the end of an hour I was exhausted. Tomorrow is Anzac Day, Australia's closest equivalent to the 4th of July. Barbecues all round the country and I'm off to the football with 90,000 others to see my team crash and burn embarrassingly. Oh well, the beer is good.

Any news from America? Anyone?

Dean and Lisa's wedding

The bride and groom looking solemn during the ceremony.

The bride and groom looking a little more relaxed during the bridal "waltz."

The flower girl and her brother.

A random shot I added to show that they don't usually dress that way.

The flower girl, her brother, and the page (Lisa's nephew).

First quarter finished

I have finished the first term of my Master of Teaching at Melbourne Uni. This has included teaching eleven math lessons at my secondary school, mostly to Grade 10 and 11 kids.So far it has gone pretty well. My main mistakes so far are that I go too fast and I don't write big enough on the whiteboard. Other than that my supervisor says I am a "natural" and that all I lack is experience. The course is accelerated-we do two years in one, so it has been very busy with assignments and other assessment tasks. In a couple of weeks my little group of four has to do a presentation to the rest of the students on Aboriginal policies in secondary schools. I need to get through a fair bit of reading to make sure I don't look foolish for that task.

Other news is that the kids are doing well and growing fast. They are doing well at piano lessons and swimming lessons. Tomorrow they start a football class. Sam is making lots of friends amongst our neighbors. Hannah is having a little more trouble - her school friends live so much further away and there also seems to be some bitchiness going on amongst them all. Plans for her birthday party are on hold until she can work out just who her friends are. She was pretty pleased to be the only 3rd grade student at the school to be voted on to the School Junior Council. I don't know what they do but she enjoys going to the meetings - she's going to be just like her Mom.

Rachel is very busy and regularly flies off to Brisbane or Adelaide or Sydney for her own meetings. We have friends coming out from the UK to stay with us next week, which will be a good test run before Lily's anticipated arrival in 2010.

Hope everyone is well and that the weather is starting to warm up.