a Beer, a Whine and The Spirit

We got the house (rental) in Wang that we (I) wanted!!!! SO EXCITED!! The only thing is, we don't have a date we can move in as yet. The current tenants' lease doesn't finish til the 13th of April, but we are hoping they'll want to move out earlier (this weekend would be ideal!). We have to move out by next Wednesday and it would obviously be best if we could move straight into the new place. But the real estate agents haven't gotten back to me about that, so it's not looking good. It took a week for the landlord to approve our application which was annoying, and they couldn't ask the current tenants if they would be prepared to move out early, until we were approved. Which is a shame because it would have worked out really nicely.

It could still happen though. Otherwise, we'll be looking for somewhere to stay for the week in between moving out and moving in. That wouldn't be much fun, but this house is totally worth the wait.

Can't wait to show it to you! But here's a sneak peek in the mean time...

(Disclaimer: it probably won't be furnished as nicely when we move in, unless Vinnies is particularly well-stocked at the moment :-) )

Posted by Renae at 1:11 PM Comments

Aaaaaaahhhhh.....

That was the relief I felt when my cast came off yesterday. I'm free! I can walk again! Or so I thought. Was it crazy for me to think that they would just fit me with a boot and I'd walk out of there unaided? (You know, except for the boot.) How wrong I was. I figured since the bones had healed nicely, I'd be right! A bit weak maybe, but I certainly didn't expect the level of pain I was about to experience. Especially when the kind orthopaedic surgeon pushed down on certain parts of my foot and asked "Does this hurt?"

Does it hurt? DOES IT HURT????? YES IT FREAKIN' HURTS!! DID YOU NOT SEE THE 3 BROKEN BONES THAT ARE STILL HEALING!!!!!?????

My foot is still bruised and a bit swollen, and I can't really move it much on my own. The best bruise is the one under my foot:

I just figured by this stage it would be a lot better than it is. I thought I'd wear the boot for a week or 2 and be good as gold, but I couldn't even walk on my foot yesterday at the hospital without the crutches, even in the boot. By the end of the day though, I was just walking around in the boot. Just a bit, to ease myself into it. When I woke up today I needed the crutches for the first couple of hours but am now walking around okay. I just have to be careful not to push it, and to pace myself so it doesn't take longer than necessary to get me back on both feet.

I have to wear the boot 24/7 (yes, even to bed), (but not in the shower - woo!) for 1-2 weeks, then just during the day for another 2-4 weeks after that. I guess the Doctor at my visit 4 weeks ago did say it was a 3 month injury.

Posted by Renae at 1:05 PM Comments

I pride myself on not being quick to judge, not believing everything I see and hear on TV/in the media/in movies, and not jumping on any bandwagons. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha..... I can't even keep a straight face when I typing that rot, let alone saying it out loud! In the words of Jo of Little Women (the remake) fame, "I'm hopelessly flawed" (to which Frederich responds "we are all hopelessly flawed." *sigh*)

I judge. I jump on bandwagons. And I most definitely change my mind about people when I read/hear about differing points of view. I'm a shocker and am completely embarrassed by how much, after reading only 30 pages of Vivian Cash's autobiography "I walked the line" I have changed my tune about June Carter and Johnny Cash's romance. Vivian was Johnny's great love. I don't doubt that June and Johnny were in love and were very happy together, but it was Viv (did I just refer to her as Viv? Yes I did) who stole Johnny's young heart and shaped him into the man he was.

Okay okay. I may be jumping the gun a bit here, but seriously, my heart is already aching for a love lost and a marriage that could have, nay should have, lasted a lifetime. It did for Vivian Cash, but was unrequited by her first and deepest love.

I'm going to admit right now that I've had a glass of sparkling red wine, am packing up our house, am missing Hubs (he's away for the night - yeah I know. It's one night), am counting down til I get my cast off (FRIDAY!!) and am feeling just a teensy bit sentimental and melodramatic. Still, I'm looking forward to reading more about Vivian and Johnny's romance. Stay tuned for more judgement!

Posted by Renae at 7:28 PM Comments

Hubs and I arrived home last night after 3 days and 2 nights away together, alone, in Melbourne. I had a wedding to officiate, so we decided to make a weekend of it. Chanbe stayed home with Mum and my aunty Mandy (Mum's sister), and it was a great weekend all round! Hubs and I got to relax, unwind and do not much at all, while Chanbe got to stay at home and get spoilt! (Thank you thank you thank you Mum and Mandy!!!!!)

And waiting for me at home, were these:

Yes, I've started packing. (Well, emptying out cupboards and stuffing the contents in bags. Packing, right?) Anyway, more about that later.

I still haven't decided which one to read first. I'm leaning towards Vivian's autobiography I think. I've had a lot of free time the last few weeks, and now that I actually have something specific to read (apart from random blogs) I don't have the time to read it! Oh well, things will settle down in a month or so (won't they???) and I'll hopefully get cracking on them then. Who knows? I might even remember to tell you about them once I'm done!

Back to the packing. I found a house on Thursday in Wang that was just GORGEOUS!! And in our budget and in a nice area. Tick tick tick! We had looked at a couple the day before, and although they were okay (read: liveable) they certainly didn't get us that excited. But the gorgeous one? It's just so US. Hubs hasn't actually seen it yet. Oh yeah. That's how much he trusts me. I know what he likes and I know what he wants (a shed) so I'm super confident he's going to like it as much as me. (It has a shed.) We put in the application at 4pm on Thursday and by 5pm, 3 out of 4 of our referees had already been contacted! How on the ball is that! Considering the debacle of finding a rental in Wang last time, I didn't hold high hopes of dealing with real estate agents, but so far so good. We haven't got the house yet, but I'm hoping to hear today. And hoping to be moving by this time next week.

So how about that packing?

Posted by Renae at 1:19 PM Comments

You know how sometimes you grab your camera or phone, take a photo of yourself and go "wow! That's awesome!" And sometimes it takes a few more goes (and adjusting some settings) before you're even remotely happy with the outcome? That happened to me the other day. I started out with a little of this:

Posted by Renae at 7:36 PM Comments

Le freak isn't C'est chic either.

A month or so ago I asked Hubs about the possibility of us moving back to Wangaratta earlier than July (when he was due back there) as he was having to spend so much time there anyway, and I have a lot of friends there that I really miss. There is much more to that story, but in the end he agreed that we could let the real estate agent know that the house would be available after Easter if anyone was interested in taking over the lease. We felt this was unlikely, but it was worth a go.

In the last few weeks, since my accident, I have stayed in MB the whole time, Chanbe has a great sleeping routine happening, and I've just been enjoying myself here. (Possibly because I haven't had to lift a finger, and I've had Mum's company.) Last week we had a potential tenant come through, but they decided on another house. Today we had someone else come through, and, you guessed it! They decided they wanted it on the spot and they want to move in over the Easter weekend.

I am so full of mixed emotions right now. I'm SO excited that we get to move back to Wangaratta; I'm terrified of the amount of packing we have to do and the fact that I'm not going to be able to help with it much; I'm curious as to what house we will find (we will have a look at a few next week and hopefully decide on one); I am sad about leaving the friends we have made here, but I'm also keen to come back on some weekends to visit; I'm excited that I'll be able to attend mothers group again, and get back into the gym once the cast comes off.

The happy thoughts definitely outweigh the freaking-out, and I'll feel even better once we find a place to move to in Wang. Now, where's that packing tape?

Posted by Renae at 12:51 PM Comments

Hubs' Dad and Nanna have been visiting here the last few days, so while the boys have gone gliding, Nanna and I have been making cards.

It has been SO long since I've sat down and let my creative juices flow - it's been so lovely! Here are a few of my creations:


I'm hoping to do some more crafting, and maybe even some sewing in the next few weeks while I'm still off my feet. Getting back to reality after this time may be more challenging than I realise! I might just forget about that for now, and enjoy this treat.

Posted by Renae at 1:47 PM Comments

I'm just getting the hand of uploading my photos and videos from my phone onto the web. I know. Join the 21st Century Wifey.

Posted by Renae at 10:09 AM Comments

No, I'm not talking about cold, hard cash. I'm talking about J.R. Cash. Ever since I saw the movie Walk the Line I have been fascinated both by his personal and his professional life. I have read a lot of things about him, and just today I purchased (online) his autobiography, as well as his first wife's story. I'm really looking forward to delving into the facts of his life, and not relying just on Hollywood and Wiki and related articles for his story.

I don't know what it is that has me so captivated - maybe it's the love story between Cash and June Carter. As tumultuous as their relationship began, and as hurtful as it must have been for Cash't first wife, theirs seem to be a deep, true, all-encompasing love that is generally saved for Hollywood. But I believe it was real. It was deep and it was raw. So much so that John and June died within 4 months of each other.

I can't decide which book to read first. Maybe I should read them side-by-side? But that might get confusing. I can't wait til they arrived!!!

Posted by Renae at 5:08 PM Comments

I'm hoping this will be the last post I do about my cast/s. I had to go back to the doctor today to get my cast looked at, as it was quite loose and I could move my foot around a lot. I figured it wasn't really serving its purpose and I was right. So I had to have that one taken off, and a new, fibreglass one put on. I've gotta say, I imagine the "saw" they use to remove casts would be quite scary for kids. I'm not afraid to admit that I was a little intimidated by it!

So this is my forth, and I'm hoping my last, cast. (well, there were 2 back slabs and 2 casts.) I wasn't offered any colours as they only had the clear fibreglass at the clinic :-( (Incidentally, I would have chosen purple.)

I'm hoping I'll have more to write about in the coming weeks as we have Hubs' Dad and Nanna coming to visit this weekend, my Aunty is coming down Sunday week, and Hubs and I are going away to Melbourne, just the 2 of us in a couple of weeks. You know, to sit on a different couch for a few days...

Posted by Renae at 3:55 PM Comments

I couldn't stop laughing while I was taping, and I can't stop laughing as I watch it for the 10th time...

Posted by Renae at 4:45 PM Comments

I spent 4 hours at the Wang fracture clinic on Friday, and the end result? A full cast.

I asked if I could have one of those boots instead and the ortho looked at me and said "I don't trust you. If I give you a boot, you'll walk on your foot and I don't want you walking on it for 4 weeks. Then you'll need to wear a boot for 2-3 weeks after that." I failed to mention to him that I had, In fact been walking on it that morning. I know I know. But you try just sitting around while your Mum waits on you and your Hubs does whatever you ask him to do and your toddler happily plays around you only stopping occasionally to give you a cuddle and show you his belly!

Um okay. That actually sounds pretty sweet.

Maybe I should stop complaining. Actually I realised last night that the reason I WAS complaining so much was so that Hubs and Mum both know that I'm not happy with the situation - as if my happiness somehow meant that I was enjoying the fact that they have to do everything and I get to laze around like a slacker doing nothing. When in actuality, I just came across as a whingey-bum. So as of today, no more complaining, even if, subconsciously, it was well-intended.
I actually had quite a productive day today; going to church, doing a bit of sewing, and working on the 2 weddings I have coming up in the next 3 weeks. I actually kidded myself into thinking I'd be right to walk for the one I have in Melbourne on the 24th of March. But look at the bright side! I get to buy a new long (very long) dress! Hello eBay!

This is my cast, covered by a Brisbane Broncos sock! Let's go!

Posted by Renae at 10:27 PM Comments