THIS pup of ours in a menace. A mischievous ball of non-stop growing woolly fluff with a personality to die for.
He is now a fully fledged Pugh and although the children still have to be reminded to feed him and put him out for his business, they love him through and through.
He's a constant scavenger for foodscraps which annoys me no end but I suppose when all you get at mealtimes is the same old dried food, anything with a waft of MSG or sausage fat is bound to get him all fired up and ready to nab.
It's got to the point that I know EXACTLY when he's upto no good purely by his footsteps. He's always coming into our walk-in robe to steal items from my side of the closet. Usually nice, elasticy, chewy items that are small enough to smuggle out from under my nose.
But his footsteps give him away every time. The slow ... slow.... slow mooching around then quick.... Quick.... QUICK ... get out of here QUICK sort of fast paced fancy footwork results in me legging it round the living room in a frenzied attempt of tackling him to the ground and getting back the stolen property intact. A number of our smalls have become casualties before now and we are running out fast.
Just tonight, he ate the signed contract for the new house and had a go at my chicken korma. He was more than welcome to the coconut dish as it tasted nothing like what I'm used to. If he hadn't ate the contract maybe I would have been tempted to swap my lack-lustre Indian dish for just that knowing that it probably had more flavour.
When I'm doing the housework, he's right there with me. I clean the bath, he's virtually in it. I wash down the floors, his molars are around the mophead. He remains firmly by my side when I'm on the laptop and growls at the screensaver as he doesn't know it's actually him.
I don't know how he'll fare when we move to the new house down the road, around the corner and over the way.
We collected the keys on Monday after a text from the conveyancer's office informed us that settlement had taken place as planned. I was at the hairdresser's at the time indulging in some coiffure treatments so on my way back home, collected the keys.
After waiting for husband to come home from work, we all piled into the car to see our new investment. The vendors were still in the manic throes of moving out so we couldn't really get to have the look around that we wanted to but our time will come soon enough.
And there follows some real work...
Monday, 26 October 2009
Monday, 19 October 2009
The customer is always right. Right???
CUSTOMERS to the shoe shop are funny creatures.
Some smile, some won't. Some try on, some don't. Some laugh and some moan, most are nice but some drone.... mostly about their bunions or their ingrown toenails or how our shoes MUST be sized wrongly as their feet don't fit into their size ... anymore.
Only last week, I learnt from my chiropractor that due to a fallen arch in my left foot, this is pretty much the reason why I, myself, don't fit into my usual size 40s anymore. I would never assume that the shoe companies have simply got it all wrong and be adamant in my thinking that I was right and they were wrong.
I did an extra shift this week at a shopping centre a good half hour drive from where the shop is. The scenario is a totally different one to the shop.
One customer came over and tried on a few styles but nothing was tickling her fancy so I recommended she made the trip to Mt Eliza where the shop carried a more extensive range.
She said she might but it was a fair distance so I had no intention of seeing this lady again. Until she re-visited me a few hours later than her initial visit. This time she came armed with a wedge of chocolate cake that she'd just put together and its corresponding recipe.
I was touched. What a kind act from a virtual stranger and someone I would more than likely never ever see again.
And last week, one lady came into the shop with a smile and a spring in her step. I asked her if she needed any help with anything and she said she'd been vacuuming at her house all morning and gave herself a right talking to. She'd been in the shop a few days earlier and had been eyeing up a pair or two. Not buying them when she saw them was preying on her mind so she unplugged the dust-sucker and got herself down to us for another try on.
This time, she went out armed with three new pairs of shoes and a handbag and what's more, a big smile on her face.
And that's exactly what it's all about.... I love serving the customers who love to be loved.
Some smile, some won't. Some try on, some don't. Some laugh and some moan, most are nice but some drone.... mostly about their bunions or their ingrown toenails or how our shoes MUST be sized wrongly as their feet don't fit into their size ... anymore.
Only last week, I learnt from my chiropractor that due to a fallen arch in my left foot, this is pretty much the reason why I, myself, don't fit into my usual size 40s anymore. I would never assume that the shoe companies have simply got it all wrong and be adamant in my thinking that I was right and they were wrong.
I did an extra shift this week at a shopping centre a good half hour drive from where the shop is. The scenario is a totally different one to the shop.
One customer came over and tried on a few styles but nothing was tickling her fancy so I recommended she made the trip to Mt Eliza where the shop carried a more extensive range.
She said she might but it was a fair distance so I had no intention of seeing this lady again. Until she re-visited me a few hours later than her initial visit. This time she came armed with a wedge of chocolate cake that she'd just put together and its corresponding recipe.
I was touched. What a kind act from a virtual stranger and someone I would more than likely never ever see again.
And last week, one lady came into the shop with a smile and a spring in her step. I asked her if she needed any help with anything and she said she'd been vacuuming at her house all morning and gave herself a right talking to. She'd been in the shop a few days earlier and had been eyeing up a pair or two. Not buying them when she saw them was preying on her mind so she unplugged the dust-sucker and got herself down to us for another try on.
This time, she went out armed with three new pairs of shoes and a handbag and what's more, a big smile on her face.
And that's exactly what it's all about.... I love serving the customers who love to be loved.
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Goodbye my friends
IT WAS always going to happen, but I've just had to say t'ra to our first UK visitors.
Bro-in-law and his chum have spent the final leg of their Aussie adventure with us, having arrived earlier than expected.
We had details of them dropping down on us at lunchtime on Monday but another night in their - how can I say - 'compact' camper van, they made the decision to put their foot down and get the 200km drive under their belt and get us out of bed to answer their door knocking.
I was so excited to see them, there wasn't much sleep in me that night and we've spent the last four days showing them around and giving them a peep into our lives.
To be honest, our lives haven't changed all that much over the past few months. It's more of an adjustment, certain things of which continue to require tweeking.
I'd spent a fair amount of time hoofing it round the peninsula picking up promotional literature of things to do and places to visit and compiled a sort of tourist guide for any visitors we were likely to get. It's been knocking around the house for a few months now but as soon as guests arrive, can I locate it? I've become terribly disorganised on the home front, I think the Aussie laid-back attitude is more than rubbing off on me.
So on their first day with us, I showed them round the town, the school where the boys go, the place where I get my nails done and where we buy our shopping. When school was out, we got the kayak on the roof of the car and headed to the beach. An Aussie barby followed, but not before I'd delegated the task of prawn shelling to my unsuspecting rellie.
The next day, they hit the golf course and before they left we had time for a lunchtime date at a Red Hill winery in the sun and overlooking the rolling hills of vines.
And after this, we had a final get together of a handful of friends to say hello and goodbye in one single soiree.
So as our loved ones leave these loved ones and return to their loved ones, this disjointed family life of ours continues.
Having our guests has left me feeling fulfilled ... we've ate lots, chatted lots, reminisced lots and laughed lots. Seeing husband re-united with his little bro again has struck a chord with me and it's surely harder for him to say his goodbyes than it is me.
I said goodbye to him this morning before I set off for work and drove all the way with glassy eyes. My only saving grace was that I travel on a freeway so the four windows down and the breeze of the Melbourne air dried them nicely before I got behind the counter and started to greet the day's customers.
Bro-in-law and his chum have spent the final leg of their Aussie adventure with us, having arrived earlier than expected.
We had details of them dropping down on us at lunchtime on Monday but another night in their - how can I say - 'compact' camper van, they made the decision to put their foot down and get the 200km drive under their belt and get us out of bed to answer their door knocking.
I was so excited to see them, there wasn't much sleep in me that night and we've spent the last four days showing them around and giving them a peep into our lives.
To be honest, our lives haven't changed all that much over the past few months. It's more of an adjustment, certain things of which continue to require tweeking.
I'd spent a fair amount of time hoofing it round the peninsula picking up promotional literature of things to do and places to visit and compiled a sort of tourist guide for any visitors we were likely to get. It's been knocking around the house for a few months now but as soon as guests arrive, can I locate it? I've become terribly disorganised on the home front, I think the Aussie laid-back attitude is more than rubbing off on me.
So on their first day with us, I showed them round the town, the school where the boys go, the place where I get my nails done and where we buy our shopping. When school was out, we got the kayak on the roof of the car and headed to the beach. An Aussie barby followed, but not before I'd delegated the task of prawn shelling to my unsuspecting rellie.
The next day, they hit the golf course and before they left we had time for a lunchtime date at a Red Hill winery in the sun and overlooking the rolling hills of vines.
And after this, we had a final get together of a handful of friends to say hello and goodbye in one single soiree.
So as our loved ones leave these loved ones and return to their loved ones, this disjointed family life of ours continues.
Having our guests has left me feeling fulfilled ... we've ate lots, chatted lots, reminisced lots and laughed lots. Seeing husband re-united with his little bro again has struck a chord with me and it's surely harder for him to say his goodbyes than it is me.
I said goodbye to him this morning before I set off for work and drove all the way with glassy eyes. My only saving grace was that I travel on a freeway so the four windows down and the breeze of the Melbourne air dried them nicely before I got behind the counter and started to greet the day's customers.
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Birthday bash
I WAS a little apprehensive about the arrival of my first Aussie birthday but I need not have worried.
The day was better than I'd hoped, having spent the lunchtime of it at a local watering hole with a hefty handful of girlfriends while our husbands were in work earning the money we were spending.
They showered me with cards and gifts and I was humbled to be at the centre of all this newfound attention. Just a matter of months ago, I didn't even know these girls. Now, they form a staple part of my integration into this new life of ours. At one point, I found myself holding back the tears as I read one card that said I had brought a ray of sunshine into their lives. Blub.
Even though we're just seven months into it, I don't even feel I've lived away from here. People are amazed at our progression in such a short space of time but really, we just took it all in our stride and played with the cards we were dealt.
We arrived in the country with no mobile, address, car or bank cards. So we went out and got ourselves a mobile, address, car and bank cards. From getting a fixed abode, we then registered the ankle biters in the school most local and from there, they've taken up soccer and basketball sessions.
These sports links in themselves have cast us into mixing in other social circles and we are now in the comfortable position of choosing who we want to spend our social time with and not who we have to.
Our friends who welcomed us into their family when we first arrived continue to play a major part in our lives and I for one am thankful that our paths crossed. They have been there for us every step of the way...checking in on our progress and offering help wherever and whenever it was needed. And indeed when it continues to be needed. They are priceless.
But my birthday celebrations were a little jaded as my mind couldn't stop itself from wandering 10,000 miles north and to how much my UK chums play such an important part in my life. I had gifts and cards from overseas to stand among my local gifts and part of me felt torn.
Although the lighter side showed itself this week when, more than two weeks after the date of my birthday, a gift arrived in the post from a friend and former colleague. It had spent 10 days in quarantine before it was delivered by the AusPost man yesterday morning. Only she could send an item that had the whole of Australian Immigration reeling. Items of wood, shell or anything perishable are considered no-go areas to be received at the final leg of the 10,000 mile journey here but this one of hers got through after a full scale investigation by officers!
It brought back many a menacing memory. She's a case, that one!
The day was better than I'd hoped, having spent the lunchtime of it at a local watering hole with a hefty handful of girlfriends while our husbands were in work earning the money we were spending.
They showered me with cards and gifts and I was humbled to be at the centre of all this newfound attention. Just a matter of months ago, I didn't even know these girls. Now, they form a staple part of my integration into this new life of ours. At one point, I found myself holding back the tears as I read one card that said I had brought a ray of sunshine into their lives. Blub.
Even though we're just seven months into it, I don't even feel I've lived away from here. People are amazed at our progression in such a short space of time but really, we just took it all in our stride and played with the cards we were dealt.
We arrived in the country with no mobile, address, car or bank cards. So we went out and got ourselves a mobile, address, car and bank cards. From getting a fixed abode, we then registered the ankle biters in the school most local and from there, they've taken up soccer and basketball sessions.
These sports links in themselves have cast us into mixing in other social circles and we are now in the comfortable position of choosing who we want to spend our social time with and not who we have to.
Our friends who welcomed us into their family when we first arrived continue to play a major part in our lives and I for one am thankful that our paths crossed. They have been there for us every step of the way...checking in on our progress and offering help wherever and whenever it was needed. And indeed when it continues to be needed. They are priceless.
But my birthday celebrations were a little jaded as my mind couldn't stop itself from wandering 10,000 miles north and to how much my UK chums play such an important part in my life. I had gifts and cards from overseas to stand among my local gifts and part of me felt torn.
Although the lighter side showed itself this week when, more than two weeks after the date of my birthday, a gift arrived in the post from a friend and former colleague. It had spent 10 days in quarantine before it was delivered by the AusPost man yesterday morning. Only she could send an item that had the whole of Australian Immigration reeling. Items of wood, shell or anything perishable are considered no-go areas to be received at the final leg of the 10,000 mile journey here but this one of hers got through after a full scale investigation by officers!
It brought back many a menacing memory. She's a case, that one!
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