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 Holiday smiles

Ok, so we moved. Phew! Oh it was big... but as hubby kept saying, "it's only one day out of your life". He could see me 'wilting' at about midday and knew that we still had 6 or so hours to go. Did the double thing... a move into the apartment and then a move into storage. The apartment, even with very few things, was a challenge. We parked in a spare lot next door and had to weave our way through gardens and down corridors. At least we have a ground floor entrance. The piano came a few days later.. I have special guys to move that thing.. it has been moved about 7 times (and only tuned once I might add... needs a tune now!). I'm going through a 'simplify your life/anti-possession' stage I think. Seeing the removal truck full to the brim with all our stuff just disgusted me... and I am not a hoarder.... nor a shopper (I hate shopping)... and I seriously, seriously culled.... blog sale, Salvos 4 times, unpacked, culled, repacked, culled more at the apartment, another Salvos trip. To think 20 years ago, all I owned was what was in my backpack overseas (bar a few uni notes in a box stored somewhere back in Oz). Oh how a family accumulates!

The boys were great about everything... moving, simplifying, putting everything into storage. "If the house burned down today boys, what 5 things would you be most upset about losing? They're what you get to bring with you". Lizards, guitars, nerf guns, bionicles, nintendos. Easy. All they have done since we have settled in our apartment is play in the park anyway. There are wonderful scooter tracks everywhere and our daily soccer sessions are seriously exhausting (well for me anyway... but I have mastered the 'step over' and the 'roll move'... I might even finally budge those passionfruit cupcake kilos).

There were no moving tears. I went back to the empty house (once we had moved out and cleaned it to within an inch of it's life) to put out the terrace cushions and move the plants from the pool house out into the rain to get some water..... and to make sure all was perfect for the final inspection. It was very quiet and so beautiful... even when empty. I had a lump in my throat .....but it was a poignant (not sad) moment...and I thought to myself.... 'what a great journey'. I left a little bit of 'me' there, I can feel it missing already. I seriously loved that place. Hope they do too.

Right, so now we're camped out in the Snowy Mountains. It was such a relief to finally get here after the last few hectic months. Hubby and I cracked open the complimentary bottle of wine and downed it there and then... as soon as we had dropped our luggage....and seeing politics is rather topical at the moment, we cranked up the 'Environment Minister' (Midnight Oil) and gave our sons a lesson in how to dance Peter Garrett style. "He didn't really dance like that did he Mum?" Oh son, we have so much to teach you. The DVD and music collection in this little chalet takes up a whole wall.... the size of our old Great Room. The boys are currently watching 'Flying High' for the first time... I can hear chuckles coming from the other room.

I am going to make the most of the Broadband connection here at the snow (we're still on dial up back in the apartment - how hard is it to get a service connected these days!) so I will fill you in on all that we get up to and probably ponder as to what I am going to do next. I always get great ideas while on holiday. I can already see the 'I have a great business idea' glazed look in my hubby's eyes. Time to relax, refresh the mind and body. Ouch.. exercise... what a shock to the system. I have been skiing for 26 years and my boys are better than me....lucky little things. I tell them every day how lucky they are..... but so are we. Hubby looked at them, all joyous (and freezing!) in the snow today and then looked at me and said, "welcome to the best years of our lives".
Back soon!
A-M xx