HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!

My little baby turned 8 yesterday! We took her shopping to spend her birthday money and came home with a bag full of stuff - CD's, a lip balm making kit, LEGO 4WD and horse float, and Chris' favourite...some streamers/pom poms for dancing to her CD's with!! We went to Hungry Jacks for lunch and had a cake after tea when we sang Happy Birthday. I think she had fun. She also got to talk to lots of family from home who rang to wish her well.


Boy, it's a busy time of year! Birthdays, christmas shopping, present wrapping and then there's WORK. I am getting lots of shifts at the hospital, mainly mornings so I can be home with the family for the arvo, unless of course they cancel me. Today they cancelled my morning shift but needed someone for the PM shift, so off to work I will be going at 1PM. Oh, my poor aching feet!! Never mind, I get 10 days off over chrissy and New Year so I'm really looking forward to that.
As you can see, Will and Laura are getting into the spirit of Christmas. We will be going to Katherine to stay with Caz's family and are all getting very excited...especially Mum!!!
Well better go see what's happening outside before I organise things for work. Love to you all and hope to catch up some time soon xxx

The Wet Season

Well it had to happen...we had a few good (?!!) weeks of lovely hot weather before the wet season finally caught up with us yesterday. There is a low pressure system moving slowly across the top of OZ and it is dumping a considerable amount of rain on Darwin and the surrounding districts. By considerable I mean 275mm yesterday, and 125mm today. Chris tells me that is about 11 inches and then another 5 inches. Boy oh boy, sure knocks the socks off the rainfall we get in Victoria!! Caz and I just happened to be driving into Darwin CBD yesterday to do a little chrissy shopping when the downpour really got underway...as you can see from the photo I took, the drains were having a little trouble coping! We are on a 3 lane highway and passed at least 8 cars broken down on the side of the road and 1 front bumper bar which looked like it had been ripped off!

Every day (up until yesterday) we have been racing home from work to jump in the pool and cool off. Now, since the rains have started in earnest it has been a little cool, even for us Victorians!

Here are Deb, Laura and Caz relaxing when the temperature was high after a hard day.
Down in Katherine we stayed at Caz's mum and dad's and spent lots of time cooling off in their pool...lovely!

Well I must say I am getting excited now that Chrissy is just around the corner. We have the little tree set up on the front of the dash and some tinsel and paper streamers strewn around the bus to make it look all festive. We are going to head down to Katherine to spend the Chrissy and New Year with Caz's family and I know it will be lots of fun. Most of the shopping is done and I am grabbing as many casual shifts at the hospital as I can to pay for it all! So far, in 6 shifts I have been on 5 different wards, so I still feel a little lost, but I guess it will only get better. Chris is flat out working on the BBQ area in Caz's backyard, cleaning bricks and taking loads of rubbish to the tip. Anyone who happens to look even slightly bored is roped into helping and is very sorry after the first hour or so! The kids have finished the 2 weeks at their new school and are now on school holidays. Made some friends and got a load of christmas cards (with lollies inside) and even a birthday invitation! They are loving life here at Caz's with the animals getting all the love and attention they could hope for (and a little more besides!!) Only another week or so and the kittens will be sent to new homes...not sure how they will cope then but we will see.

Well another early shift booked for tomorrow so I'd better get some shuteye, love to you all. Cheers, deb and co xxx