House stories

Our little unit in the city received a mention in the Sunday paper a couple of months ago to demonstrate how the first homeowner's grant was making the inner city housing market crazy. Our unit was on the market on a Monday. Agent said she would take a couple of people to see it on Wednesday night. 7 groups of people turned up, and by 9pm on Wednesday, we had 5 offers, 2 willing to pay over the advertised price. We exchanged contract on the Friday, all these happened before the first open-for-inspection. That was crazy! We felt quite sad to say good-bye. It was a long time ago, but the fond memory of walking leisurely to QVB to have afternoon tea from the unit on sunny weekends was still fresh in our minds. I guess if we have decided to sell, then it's better to have it sold quickly. This was the best result we could expect.

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Another house story Simon heard from his colleague A.

A's neighbours were getting a divorce and they couldn't decide on the settlement so they decided to sell the family home (this was early 2000, maybe 2002). The wife bought the house back at auction for $1.3M and did a minor renovation (nothing structural- just paint, new bathroom/kitchen that sort of thing). She sold it recently for nearly $2.5M! I wondered what the ex-husband think if he hears about this?

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Our home is very cold. It feels colder inside than outside, especially when the sun is out. I don't know if this is a contributing factor but despite still having 10 months lease left to go, we made an offer on a house three weeks ago. The house itself is basic and in 'original' condition but we think it has great potential. We waited patiently and for a while we thought we would be moving again. The real estate agent finally got back to us after over a week. The vendor wanted more than what we were willing to pay so... the hunt continues...

Something blue

I made some blue playdough last week as requested. I let Lara watch while I made it. She found it fasinating that it felt hot to touch when we rolled it on the table.

Her obsession with the colour "blue" continues. She wants to drink milk from her blue bottle all the time (we only have one blue bottle), not her pink or purple or green bottles. If I stand my ground and have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude (usually when time is not an issue), Lara would eventually drink from any colour bottles. To save time in the morning though, I make sure we use the blue bottle.

For nappies she wants pink(Huggies), not blue ones(Mammia from Aldi). I guess she doesn't care the blue nappies are more absorbent, she has less leaky accidents in them and cheaper. For breakfast, it's weetbix (or fruit'bix) with colourful loops. Yes you guessed it, blue loops are her favorite.

Everyone from the kindergym instructor to Lara's daycare teachers all know Lara's favorite colour. Brook from daycare told me a girl from her last year's class (2-3s) also obsessed with the colour blue. She exclaimed 'it's always girls and blue'! Funny, isn't it?

When you are a two-year-old, the colour of things is very very important. Luckily , there is a big bottle of blue colouring in the cupboard to keep this particular two-year-old happy.

Kindergym

The first time Lara visited Kindergym, she didn't want to go (even though she didn't know what it was). But once she got there and had lots of fun, she didn't want to leave when the class was finished. It took me almost 10 minutes to "convince" her we would come back but she still cried and cried when I dragged her out.


I call this "foam pool". Lara is never tired of jumping in again and againa and that was pretty much what she did on the first day.

The seond time we went, Lara couldn't wait to get in and play. I dragged her out as soon as the class was finished -she still cried and was the only one in class who cried. By the thrid visit, she must have realised that there was no use crying and that Mummy did keep her word about coming back, she left happily and willingly when it was time to go.




Lara was more adventurous and tried the trampoline and beam on subsequent visits.

We love kindergym on Fridays very very much!

[2 years 4 months] Mummy's little friend

(Hat ware is a must even before going to bed)

Frequently-used words: "wait", "not yet", "do it like this", "great idea".
Lara critics my driving, saying "not very good" if I had to go forward and backward a couple of times to back the car into driveway. When we are on the road, Lara tells me to 'be careful' or 'watch for cars mommy'.

Lara has a very good memory. If I say she could have yoghurt pop when we get home, Lara always remember to remind me. She also reminds me to take keys before we leave home. She knows the difference between "me" and "you" and uses more "I" and "me". We were running in the backyard the other day. I shouted "Wait for me Zeb". Lara also said "Wait for me Zeb", but added afterwards "Wait for Lara me!" Lara is my little friend and a great company!


(Loves to look at photos in camera)

Lara does a lot of pretend-play. She likes her 'Wiggly Safari' dvd, an Easter present and she loves Steve Irwin. She looks very cute doing the dingo dance. Lara saw her old baby rocker and said "Lara not baby, Lara big girl". She tells me "good girl" when I do things 'right' by her. And she knows the difference between boys and girls most of the time - "Lara not boy, Lara (is a) girl", "Da-da boy".

Lara likes to do things by herself in her own time. She's most unhappy when I intervene or interrupt her. Getting out of the door in a reasonable time was a challenge in some mornings. I try to forewarn or prompt her about what we are going to do next to speed things up.





Lara started playing golf (hitting one object with another object in the golf pose) after a 'Pokoyo' episode. Now she plays with a club. Even though Lara has an indoor toy golf club, she prefers the real thing on the grass. Grand-dad had an old left-handed golf club's handle cut and made it Lara's size - Lara is most definitely left-handed. We hope Lara likes golf - she has already shown the traits of famous golfers - getting frustrated and throwing clubs when the ball rolls off or doesn't go where she wants it to go.

Books Jan-Apr 2009

Persuasion by Jane Austen
I like "The Jane Austen book club" movie and after watching it decided to read all the Jane Austen novels again. I enjoyed this book a lot - I couldn't put it down when I got to my stop in the morning. The plot was swimming in my head during the day and I couldn't wait to read it again on the way home.

Digging to America by Anne Tyler

The Magician's Way by William Whitecloud
Subtitle: "A story about what it really takes to find your treasure". The book is a little "out there" compared to other 'self-development' books. The main thing I got from this book is to focus on the end results, not what you have to do to get there. And sometimes, be relaxed about things and not trying too hard actually achieves more.

Morality for Beautiful Girls
The Full Cupboard of Life
Tears of the Giraffe
by Alexander McCall Smith
I read "The no1 ladies detective agency" and "the Kalahari typing school for men" a couple of years ago, but they did not make as a great impreesion on me as now. I don't believe you have to read the books in the proper order to enjoy these simple warming stories. The descriptions of the vast land and cattles in Bostwana, the leisurly pace and traditional values all had a very calming effect on me. It reminded me of what is really important in life. I am reading the 6th book in the series "In the company of cheerful ladies".

Brunch in Surry Hills

Branch at Fifi Foveaux's with PY & husband.
The great company made the yummy cooked breakfast and coffee even more enjoyable.
Why don't we have a cafe like this closer?