Once we were home from Walmart, Liz went with me to pick Jack up from Carter's house. Ken and Maytee came over for the afternoon and Stuart made chicken friend rice.
Monday was Labor Day and an early morning for me for some reason. We didn't do much of anything. Stuart left around 3 pm. Liz and I took Millie to gymnastics and then decided to have dinner at Fat Willies. We then did some shopping at Basha before picking her up at 8 PM. Jack didn't have anything going on because it was Labor Day.
Tuesday I ran all the errands possible before I met the girls for dinner to celebrate Elisa and Gina's birthdays. We had a good catch up. I then rushed to pick up Millie then stopped at McDonalds to get her food. Jack was at home, so I picked up McDonalds for him as well.
Wednesday I emailed all my friends to see if I could send them a fundraiser email from Millie so she could get some crappy gifts. When I messaged Sue she gave me a shoulder surgery update. I was so enthralled with what I was dealing with Jack about that it totally slipped my mind she was having surgery the previous day. I am a crap friend at times. Of course I apologized all over myself.
I thought I was supposed to drive to volleyball that evening, but it seems I jumped ahead of myself a week. Instead, I went home to work on editing lesson plans. Millie was at home so I made her dinner. I then drove to pick Jack up from Starbucks after volleyball. He had not had his phone due to misuse, so I had to rely on the carpool person to let me know when he would be back. It was a pain.
Thursday I picked up Jack from school and we took Millie to gymnastics. When we got home Jack took his reading test to get admitted into Chandler Gilbert Community College. We found out he was eligible for dual enrollment in his Honors Biology class. I didn't think he could do that until he was a junior. Who knew? He and I then decided to go eat at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was really nice. I was still irritated with him for his misuse of his phone, but we did nothing but talk. Since he didn't have use of electronics, he was more inclined to want to go out to eat and talk with me. That, I enjoyed.
Friday came very quickly and the day went quite fast. We followed a similar routine after school by collecting Jack and taking Millie to gymnastics. Jack needed a hair cut before our trip to Australia, so we did that as well. Then Jack and I went to dinner again. Him having no phone has been pleasant. The whole situation has been a lesson for all of us, a hard lesson. I don't like this part of parenting at all. Can I get an AMEN? There have been many aspects of this particular 'lesson' that neither of us expected. But I do think some heartache will be saved down the road. Stuart was still in Gallup as he was supposed to work on the Saturday. So Friday night we played trivia on the tv for over an hour. It was just Jack, Millie and myself, but it was fun. Losing his electronics may have forced him to have some fun family time.
Saturday morning Jack got up and I took him to a Casteel Men's Volleyball car wash.
He may have forgotten to put on sunscreen. Dummy! Once I picked his lobster body up, I spoke with Chris (Owen's mom) and Vicki (Gavin's mom) about the situation earlier in the week. They had spoken to their boys about the particular app I found. Their boys, according to Jack, lied to their parents. Jack was the only one with consequences. I told him the other boys were not my problem and their parents would deal with them as they liked. It seems that they gave him crap all week about it and called him a snitch. Both moms were enraged at their boys and said they would speak to them. This made me feel so much better. The rest of day we were at home waiting for Stuart to return.
Sunday we had the Hills over to swim, well, Mitch and the boys. Elise was at her brother's house. He has been on hospice for a while because his MS has progressed so badly. It is just a waiting game now, I suppose. It makes me so sad for her.
Monday we all got up and we're out of the house. Stuart had a couple of doctor appointments that were long overdue so he didn't go to Gallup until around midday. The day passed quickly, which seems to be the norm these days. Jack had gone home with Gavin so I dropped Millie at gymnastics and went home for a few hours alone. This will be my Monday evenings during the volleyball club season, which is kind of nice. I picked up Jack from Vicki's, then we sped to get Millie at gymnastics. I had mad nuggets and tater tots and put them in a foil baking dish to keep them hot. Both kids had eaten by the time we got home.
Tuesday I had my formal evaluation. It went well. After 32 years, I would hope it would be easy, and it was. I had some parent teacher conferences. I had to get them scheduled before the last week of the quarter as I would be in Australia. I had all but 5 of my parents sign up, but they were very spread out. Millie had gymnastics, but Jack had nothing. I was supposed to go to dinner with my friend Bethany but she wasn't feeling well. So I went home and waited until it was time to pick Millie up.
Wednesday was a half day at school and I had more conferences. They have all been amazing so it really hasn't been much of a bother to do them on my lunch time and before school. I picked Jack up from school at 3:30. Neither of the kids had anything going on and Melinda called and asked if I wanted to meet for dinner. I hadn't seen her all summer, so I jumped at the chance. We had a nice chat session and I bought chicken wings for Jack.
Thursday was a lot of 'catch up' work for kids, as well as finishing things off. I have a lot of things going on at school that I need to wrap up before the 22nd when we leave for Australia. I had a few more conferences. I then took Millie to gymnastics. Jack had gone to Gavin's after school as volleyball practice had been changed from Wednesday to Thursday.
Friday I had my post conference for my evaluation. It was nothing. I feel like evaluations are useless at this stage. Stuart was home around 4 pm because he only had to work a half day. Elise came over for a while that evening. Her brother was continuing to go down hill. She just seemed so worn out by it all. Stuart went and picked up Millie from gymnastics so I could continue to talk with Elise.
Saturday was Jack's club team party at Jeremy and Christie's house. I was supposed to go with a former colleague to a comedy show, but canceled because of the party. I felt bad, but have decided I really don't want to spend time with people who are not vested in my life, and this colleague and I are just that, a colleague whom I work with.
Sunday we went back to Jeremy and Christie's to pick up our car and Jack. He ended up staying over. We decided to stay for a while. Stuart went home for an iPad delivery and then returned with Millie. He left around 2 pm to go to Gallup and we went home. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to sort out the rest of our packing and writing lists of all that had to be done before the end of the week. It was a bit overwhelming. Elise came over for a while. I had bought Cane's for the kids on the way home from the Holmes' house, so dinner was kind of on their own.
Monday I got to school and started writing my sub plans for the following week. What a daunting task this was! After school we had a meeting about the district override and bond coming up. The bond will likely not pass. It seems it never does. I really wish people in Arizona valued education more than they do. I hustled out of there after the meeting in order to stop at the house to let the dogs pee, get Millie to her orthodontist appointment and then to gymnastics, which she was late to. I then went to the Whining Pig to meet up with my friend Bethany for dinner. Jack had gotten a lift home from Owen and was going to volleyball practice. He didn't have his phone because he had been deceitful and bought a game on his virtual reality game system without my permission. In fact, I told him 'no' when he asked me, and he did it anyway. I suspect he bought it and then asked me. Dummy! In order to have these gaming systems, there has to be a credit card attached to the account. It seems Stuart needs to check that security feature on Jack's phone as well. I am so beyond sick of the technological world. He just doesn't learn.
Tuesday I got to school and finished up my lesson plans. I got everything copied and set it all on the shelf behind my desk. The good thing about the last week of the quarter is three of the days the kids only go to school until 1 pm, so there is less planning. Tuesday evening was gymnastics for Millie and nothing for Jack. We are in a bit of a rat race at the moment and I am ready for a break.
Wednesday was another day at school. I had parent teacher conferences after school I then went and picked Jack up and took him home to feed him. Of course, Wednesday night was the scoring clinic for the volleyball team, as well as a scrimmage, so the practice was three hours instead of two hours. This made me get home around 10 o'clock, which was too late for Millie to go with me. But when I got home, there were about 12 messes in the house. It's so infuriating to have your children think that you are actually the cleanup crew. So as much as it pained me, I allowed the mess to stay there and made her get up Thursday morning to clean it all up. She was also to have packed her bag for Australia, but she didn't. She wants all the independence but doesn't take responsibility for the little things.
Thursday Stuart got home from Gallup early and we went to eat dinner. Millie was at gymnastics and Jack was at home. We picked Millie up and got her McDonalds. Jack was at home and had emailed his teachers to remind them of his upcoming absences the following week. He would have some finals to take when he returned to school in the middle of October, but I wanted him to take on the responsibility of letting his teachers know he wouldn't be there for a week.
Friday Stuart had some doctor appointments and then cleaned the house and got all the things ready to go to Australia the next day. We had sorted out our transportation to and from the volleyball tournament. We initially planned to rent a car, pick it up at the airport on Friday evening and return it to the airport on Saturday afternoon, once we left Jack's volleyball tournament. But in the end, our volleyball crew took care of us. Vicki picked us up Saturday morning and Tom took us to the airport at 2 pm. Our quandary then was how to get our stinky 15 year old a shower.
They did really well at the tournament. Jack played well, and as a result, his team moved up a bracket. They beat teams that were a year and two years older than they were. It was a boost to their egos for sure. Once we were at the airport, we went to the Amex lounge and Jack was able to take a shower. Jack missed his last match of the day, which was the best game to miss anyway as they beat their opponent pretty easily.
Stuart had upgraded us to premium economy, which was way more comfortable for a 15 hour flight. Once we landed in LA, we got our bags and went to the international terminal. The kids sat at the gate while Stuart and I went into the American Airline lounge and had a bit to eat.
We boarded the plan just before 11 pm. The flight was relatively uneventful. We skipped a day and arrived in Sydney Monday morning. What a shit show the airport was. It took us over an hour to get through customs. We finally arrived at the hotel in downtown Sydney around 9 am. We spent the day walking around the city with a few pub visits. At 4 pm we boarded a boat for a Harbour cruise. James had hired the boat for all of us. It was so beautiful and a great deal of fun. There was a guitarist on board who was quite incredible.
The cousins together again. Pictured left to right: Josh (Matt's son), Billy (James' son), Jack, Millie, Zoe (James' daughter), and Harper ((Matt's new step-daughter)
The Telford boys and their wives!
Stuart, his brothers, step-brothers and 2 of their boys, Billy and Jack.
Beautiful Sydney!
Tuesday morning we were up and off to the airport at 7 am. Hamilton Island was our destination. The flight was easy. I finally got the email to pay for Jack's dual enrollment class. So I sorted that out as soon as I could. I was told if you don't pay it immediately, they will drop the class. Once we were on the island, we were given an itinerary from Nicole, Matt's wife-to-be. They had thought of all the details. We got into the villa and unpacked our things. We would be on the island for nearly a week, so we decided to get comfy!
This was our view from the back porch. It was definitely paradise. Tuesday evening we had dinner up the hill at Coca Chu. Dinner was amazing but there was too much. We then met up with the crew of friends who had also come for the wedding. These are the same people we went to Bali with last summer. They are a good group of friends to Matt, James and their families. I feel they have become friends to us as well.
Wednesday I was up at 4:40 am. Jet lag was officially in the house. Stuart and I went for a walk.
Look who I spied on my walk! They are all over the island. Good morning, Mr. Wallaby!
Matt took us to the site of the wedding. Our villa was about a 5 minute walk from this stunning view.
The boys went golfing on another part of the island and we met them for lunch. The food was spectacular. I had butternut squash gnocchi, which had fried kale on top. Yummy! We got back to the main island around 3:30 and met some new arrivals at the bar. We decided to play the pokies (Aussie's term for slot machines) and ended up winning some money.
Both families had sunset drinks on One Tree Hill, at the very top of the island. Nicole's family is Italian and are as energetic as you would guess. And there are a lot of them. After the sun had set, we went back to the villa for more fun.
Thursday morning we were up and on a catamaran at 9 am.
We took a ride out to Whitehaven Beach, which has the purest white sand in the world. The kids love jumping off the side of the catamaran. The water was a bit cold, but refreshing. This day we all got a bit burned, unfortunately. Because the ozone layer is depleted above Australia, the sun is much more intense and you burn a lot faster.
We played on the beach for a good hour. When we got back on the catamaran, we were served lunch and then were given an opportunity to get back on the beach. The kids went, but most of the adults chose to stay on board. I, did, however, decide to jump off the boat into the water. I convinced two others to do the same.
Once back on shore, we showered. Stuart, his brothers and the kids stayed and went to the bar to eat dinner, while Louise, her mom, Karen (Stuart's mom) and I went back to Coca Chu with some of the Sydney friends. We then met up with the boys after that.
Friday was the big day and the island was all a buzz with the 50 plus guests who were there to celebrate with Matt and Nicole. It was also the hottest day thus far in the trip. It was on a secluded beach, with few people around, excluding invited guests. The entire day was so beautiful. The ceremony was sweet and touching. Louise and I cried throughout most of the ceremony.
In our beach chic attire.
The cousins were all dressed up for the occasion.
Matt was nearly in tears during his vows.
These five brothers have not all been together in one place for 19 years.
The entire group who celebrated this big day.
After the ceremony we went to the bar to get the kids something to eat. We then just chilled at the villa until just after 4 when we headed to the Yacht Club for the reception. There were drinks, dinner and dancing. My nephew, Joshua, gave a speech which was so touching. He has grown to be a delightful young man. His life circumstances have not always been easy, but he has come through on the other side. It was a wonderful night. It was so good that I woke up at 4 am still in my wedding attire. Oops!
Karen and Barry with the kids
Lyn and Andrew with the kids
Harper and Zoe were the cutest little flower girls.
The beautiful bride and myself.
Karen and Barry with the kids
Lyn and Andrew with the kids
Harper and Zoe were the cutest little flower girls.
The beautiful bride and myself.
Saturday, Stuart and I headed to the supermarket to get some snacks for a chill out afternoon. We provided the spread for the entire guest list, but were not sure of how many would show up. It turned out that nearly everyone who attended the wedding came by. The food was consumed and we needed to order pizza around 7 pm.
After the guests had left, I convinced these fools below to go up to the bar for a little more evening fun. It was so much fun!
Our first 6 days in Australia were magical, to say the least.
No comments:
Post a Comment