It's never too early to be one of the ladies who lunch!

I'm going to change the name of my blog to "It's a hard life but someone has to do it". I feel like I'm saying that phrase on an hour by hour basis. I'm giving myself the major shits.

This was our Saturday morning: A half hour walk to Telstra Stadium (along the way we talked and watched lizards scuttle through the undergrowth); the kids played on the fantastic, post-modern playground near the Overflow; a walk back towards home which included going through the beautiful new Brickpit Walk and then through Wentworth Common (see pics below).

Here are some pics from our walk up the Bay Marker Hill in our first week:

It's a hard life...

Alarmingly I don't seem to be smarter than a 5th grader.

Oz Idol has started and I have a few early favourites.

Matt - he has the package - good looks (for a 16 year old boy) and a great voice. He reminds me of last year's Dean Geyer but so much better. I feel very old and maternal when I say he seems like a gorgeous boy.

Tarisai - she is the tiny girl with the huge voice from Zimbabwe. While I'm no big fan of the Whitney Houston school of singing there is no arguing about this girl's beautiful voice. She'll be in the top two. I'll almost put my house on it.

A few others look good - Daniel, Brianna (possibly annoying after a while), Lana, Ben and Jacob (though he reminds me eerily of my sister's ex - and that's someone I don't want to be reminded of).

Overall, the usual fun bit of nonsense to occupy us on Sunday nights for the next few months.

Gee, we survived APEC. What a surprise. Our human rights didn't cease because we couldn't access the Opera House or because we weren't "invited" to the fireworks display.

What will the eternal whingers find to moan about now?

All those wasted Stop Bush t-shirts. Possibly they can be recycled. Any suggestions? I have a few but this is a G rated program.

One of the extra benefits of our recent move is that we are now very cosy neighbours with the high security Silverwater Jail. I spend a lot of my time wondering what it is like in there. Do their wives really bring them cakes with files baked into them? Do they really not bother picking up the soap should they drop it in the shower? Is there really a cell in there occupied by a big bald guy called Bubba? These are the sorts of thoughts which keep me awake at night.

In addition almost every morning as I start-stop along my short but slow trip along Homebush Bay Drive I am joined in the traffic by one of those Correctional Services vans which is undoubtedly moving prisoners to court. I can't see in but I wonder if they can see out. Possibly I have seen Con Air too many times but I do spend a great deal of time scanning the surrounding cars. Is one or more of these innocent looking commuters potential accomplices, awaiting their moment to stop the traffic and orchestrate a daring peak hour break out? What heroic action on my part will save the day? What pithy quip with I produce for the news crews as I casually get back in the car to drive the kids to school?

I know what you're thinking... but really, the yellow pills do seem to be helping.

It's hard to know where to start. Of course the move has been the BIG THING during the past few weeks. It's hard to believe we've been in our new place for two weeks now.

The move itself was hard bloody work, no two ways about it. However having a big strong husband helps and Big J did a huge job. The week before last was exhausting but last week was great. We are a good team at getting things done and we went from disaster area to functional to homey within a few short days.

I find it difficult to express my feelings about our new home without gushing like an idiot. While I had some reservations and anxieties (no, really!) about the reality of apartment living I also had a lot of hope. Happily I can report that [so far] my hopes have been realised and my fears have not.

Apart from the apartment itself being gorgeous, spacious and very comfortable for us, we are surrounded by lifestyle choices which are almost too good to be true (see what I mean about the gushing).

As an example, yesterday after work we all walked across the road and through a gate which leads to a beautiful walking path, up and around a small hill (the Bay Marker) from the top of which you can see all of the surrounding area. Behind this hill they are building what can only be described as a kids' paradise playground. The walk itself was wonderful, peaceful and scenic, exactly what we need to get the blood pumping after a day behind the desk at the office. Then we crossed the road and had a look at the shipwrecks which line the shore just metres from our home. It was a lovely way to end the day and spend some connecting time with the kids (something which has been sadly lacking during the past few months of chaos and stress).

I could go on but I'm sure you have more important things to do. Suffice to say we are spoilt for choice when it comes to fun family activities. Jason has even bought a bike with a baby seat as there are around 45 kms of bike tracks around us. For further reference, you won't see me cycling any time soon... or ever. Refer to biking incident on Rottnest Island. I am content to walk, kick the ball with the kids or just swim in our pool. It's a hard life but someone has to do it.

Just a quickie to say "I'm still alive!" (just in case you were worried).

We've moved. All is well. Last few weeks have been beyond hectic. My shoulders and neck muscles feel like concrete, more so even than usual.

Will blog properly soon, with pics, updates and general ranting and raving.

Stay tuned.

Saturday night was a blast. Not only did the Swans win... a much needed win against St Kilda (home of the ugliest man in the world, one Fraser Gehrig)... but I had the pleasure and honour of participating in the Field of Women event prior to the game.

Basically it was a fundraising event for the Breast Cancer Network Australia which involved 13,000 women (and some men) forming the shape of the Pink Lady on the field at Telstra Stadium. We each paid a $50 donation and were given a pink poncho to wear. It was a really special moment standing there with all those people, hard to put into words, just an emotional, thoughtful moment.

Can you spot me?

I can't cope with what passes for news these days. Whether it's tv, radio or newspapers, it's all absolute, total, unrelenting bullshit. Seriously I'm as cynical and bitter as the next person, probably more so, but how do these people live with themselves.

It's either blatant advertising, such as the so-called "Store Wars" whereby David Jones and Myer battle over the fashion stakes. Really people NO ONE CARES. There are no wars. There is just a lot of hot air aimed at getting suckers like yours truly into the department stores to buy poor quality, over priced "fashion essentials".

Or it's hysterical non-news like speculation on interest rate rises. Have you noticed how they love to beat up this story. They start at least a week before each month's Reserve Bank meeting, interviewing a whole range of know-nothing industry "experts" who basically have a 50-50 chance of getting it right. They predict the fall of modern civilisation at the merest suggestion of a rate rise and talk to all the poor over-mortgaged home owners (with their large screen tvs in the background) who may have to give up the odd Thai take away to make ends meet. The disappointment on the faces of the tv news presenters when there is no rate rise is heart-breaking.

Now we have to brace ourselves for around three months of election babble. The thought of it makes me break out in a cold sweat. If only all the politicians and the news editors could spontaneously combust - oh, the relief. To dream the impossible dream....

The other week, on Vega's Vinyl Thursday, the winning song was The Jam's That's Entertainment.

Fuck, that song took me back. So many emotions all rolled into one brilliant little song. Mainly I was taken back to my deep and all-encompassing feelings of love/lust for Mr Paul Weller. What a bloody amazing song-writer he was/is. Not to mention what a hot skinny little dude he was. Not really my type in theory... but still...

At the Style Council concert at the horrid Hordern Pavillion in 1984 (?) I stood on a milk crate in the front row and touched his sweaty t-shirt as he sang his heart out right there on the stage in front of me. A moment I will never, ever forget.

Why do certain times in your life, and the music which represents them, haunt you forever?

Not a lot to report on the house/moving stuff. We're living in a messy house filled with boxes and half-packed boxes. It is not the cosy home we have enjoyed for the past six years. It has become somewhere to sleep and eat and wait.

We picked up the keys on Monday so things start rolling at at the apartment. The painters start and the phone is connected. Friday the carpet is layed. The following Monday the new blinds are installed. Then the moving truck comes on Tuesday. Hopefully, by Wednesday 22/8, our actual settlement date, we will be officially living in 15/29 and coming to grips with the mountains of boxes we need to unpack.

A few tears shed last night as I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Can't think of what to say without giving away the ending so if you've read it please email me if you want to discuss it.

Goodbye dear friends.

A few recent pics...

Bring it ON, Swannies!

It's hard being this cute, but someone has to do it.

Old news now. Aleisha won BB. That's cool. A girl, a nice-ish girl, is much better than a brain-dead buffoon like last year's Jamie.

I did want dear Zach to win and I was glad it was close.

But to be honest I feel like I've been let out of jail. The daily BB addiction is gone and I feel free as a bird. Lucky Oz Idol is only a couple of times a week, otherwise I'd be replacing one reality tv addiction with another. At least we all like Oz Idol and Sunday nights are a fun family time (as opposed to my secretive BB watching in the bedroom).

Speaking of Oz Idol, I'm glad Dicko is back this year because Kyle is a moron who knows as much about music as I do about astro physics. His comments are pathetic to say the least. I know Dicko is mean but he often says it like it is and knows his music. Let's see what 2007 brings.

All the moving stuff is slowly falling into place. Most of the phone calls, and there have been many, have been made. People have come and measured and sent through quotes and we have overburdened our credit card with deposits for this, that and the other.

Our official moving date is 21 August and settlement is 22 August. We have asked for early access and all the painting, carpet and blind installation will happen in the week before. So only three weeks left in this house.

Now for the final packing stage.

Just over half way through the latest [and last] Harry Potter. Have shed tears this afternoon at the death of the character I was least expecting to die. Sort of came out of the blue. I guess there are more tears to come.

I am really enjoying the Deathly Hallows. It is by far the best. The last book could have had the first 300 pages deleted and not suffered for it.

There is a certain sense of dread and sadness. I will miss Harry, Hermione and Ron... all the Weasleys really... Fred and George and Ginny... dear Luna... and Neville... and Lupin and Tonks. Shit, better get the tissues.

I really need to clone myself just at the moment.

One Kathy to go about normal life: working, doing the household chores, chauffering the children about, etc, etc.

Another Kathy to do all the organising which our change of abodes entails. It wouldn't be so bad if each and every necessary phone call didn't mean a half hour session of on-hold.

I have also discovered the downside of being in the middle of an economic boom. Every service is full on busy - the carpet retailers, the blind manufacturers, even the removalists. Everyone is charging top shelf prices and availability is at a premium. I feel like I'm asking them all to do me a favour by selling us their goods and/or services and allowing us the honour of paying them our money. Strange times indeed.

The two Mr Blands were evicted from BB last night.

I'm sure both Zoran and Joel are very nice boys but they added as much interest to the show as the wallpaper. This obviously helped to get them through as far as they got but enough is enough and I am glad they have been shown the door.

ZACH TO WIN!

That god awful new Kan Tong ad brings out my violent tendancies.

What.
The.
Fuck.
Does.
It.
Mean?

Please explain!