Easter Baby

Jax had just had his shower with his dad on Easter Morning up in Swan Hill. He was looking very cute and was chatty, so I grabbed a quick clip of him.

Easter Baby

Visitors from Near and Far

The last four months have flown by and we have been graced by many visitors and grateful for an extra room in the house.

Thanks to Meg for taking her holiday all the way down to Melbourne just to spend a couple days with us! Loved having you.

Thanks to Cha Cha and Haley for the quick lunch and meet up in Federation Square.

Got to see Mom and Dad for the first time in 2 years, and despite Dad’s intermittent business trip to the Philippines, we got a bit of sightseeing in, as well as some much needed quality time.

Katie has popped down a few times despite a very busy school and family regime, and I’ve been lucky enough to see her almost every time :).

Bex made us part of her Australasia adventure, and spent a few days here with us in Melbourne.

Grant and Gumby made it out from England, and I got some great quality time with Grant over several days.

Yoga Adventures in August

Beginner's Yoga 6-week course starting:
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Port Melbourne--715pm-845pm

www.healthangels.net.au for more information

Come yoga with me!

Wrote an article for Health Angel's Newsletter this month:

http://www.healthangels.net.au/Blog/Entries/2010/8/2_Do_you_need_a_kick_up_the_butt.html

Thompsoni's Italian Restaurant

The Thompson clan decided to give us the wedding reception we never had through a surprise dinner last Saturday night at JT's brother's home in Bendigo.

My sister-in-laws Fiona and Tash kitted out Jamie and Tash's backyard in candles and rosemary to create the most incredible and thoughtful surprise. All we knew was that there was going to be a dinner saying, 'Congrats on gettin hitched in Vegas, glad you're back in Aus, welcome home!' We had no idea that there would be a set up that looked professionally done. An italian spread fit for royalty, complete with a menu and place cards.

Of course I was in tears from the moment they ushered us into the backyard with the amazing extent they had gone to with this dinner. I even loved my Snow Queen cloak Fiona made to have me in something white and warm.

My words could never justify what a beautiful evening, and what a beautiful job everyone did to make this special evening for us. And my words could never express the gratitude I have to the Thompson clan for accepting me into their family as one of their own.

Cletus

Introducing Cletus the Foetus!
(Ultrasound from about 7 weeks...early April)



Looks like we'll have a little delivery for Xmas this year. We found out just after Easter that there will be a new Thompson added to the clan. I have been blessed with 7 straight weeks of nausea, a stomach bug that lasted 2 days and now a beautiful head cold. To add to my incessant exhaustion, breaking out like I'm a teenager, I'm still waiting for the f*&^ing glow that should be approaching.

WHERE'S MY GLOW GODDAMMIT! :-)

And I can't cook anything!?! It makes me totally nauseous. My poor husband hasn't had me cook dinner save 2x in the last month, and one of the those was an already roasted chicken from the super...that counts, right?

Hopefully now that we're in the 2nd trimester things will start to settle down a bit. Looks like we'll have to postpone our Thanksgiving trip to California as my due date is scheduled just afterwards, but we'll try to give advance notice on the reschedule.

Enjoying my yoga and dance teaching in the meanwhile, and JT is busy with an insolvancy firm he used to work with a few years before moving to London. We'll keep you posted when we find out gender.

Port Melbourne -- A New Home

The closest I'll get to a puppy for a while.


After nomadic life since February, we are finally out of suitcases (mostly). We found a sweet, little three bedroom brick house in Port Melbourne. We're a short walk from the tram that facilitates a ten minute trip straight into the CBD. The plus side is that we're also a hop, skip and jump from Bay Street. Bay Street is the heart of Port Melbourne complete with 2 supermarkets (one of them a little organic shop), multiple hairdressers, restaurants, pubs, bakeries, and other little handy places. And the best part.......we're an 8 minute walk to the beach!

Home is sparsely decorated as we're starting over from scratch, but with the welcome addition of Azz moving in with us (JT's brother), we have a few more comforts about. Also a big thanks to Amber for lending us her couches and bean bag in the interim.

It's a work in progress, but it is slowly starting to feel like home. And we even have a special room for visitors...hint, hint!

Leaving London, Moving to Melbourne

What an adventure! When I spent the summer in London in 2006 I knew I was meant to be here. Aided by multiple friends of friends and their couches that summer, little did I know I'd get life-long friends out of the deal. I officially moved to London in January 2007 and thought it could be for as short as 6 months, but here I sit on our last day in London (flight to Bangkok leaves tonight), and I am over 3 years into a London life, married to the best person in the world for me, and 10 hours shy from embarking toward our new life together in Australia.

Reminiscing with nostalgia would include memories of jobs gone right, wrong and weird (Tequila girl, sandwich delivery by bike, crazy Spa company, teaching for ASL and for English State schools, yoga for surfers in France/Spain);

memories of meeting JT (the Loop Bar...thanks Phil for giving him the thumbs up that night and pushing me in that direction, Cambridge, Menzies Ball, Barcelona and Tomatina, first trip to Aus, bringing you to CA to hear my mom say, "I didn't know you'd be so tall!", visa complications on both ends, a summer away in France with your constant visits and texts, teaching agh!, Moyne Palace, Garrick Close, and our new direction as we move to Aus);

the crazy places we've visited in the last 3+ years, mostly as a couple, teaching us how to truly communicate (nothing like a huge snowy weekend in Berlin too far from the U bahn and starving to teach patience);

and the friends I must thank as I am so very grateful, although I know I'll forget a few so please don't be hurt if that is the case: Simon and Nat, Deb and Rich, Liesl and Tom, Don my dear dance partner in crime, Katy (who lent me so many of her friends and family to continue my adventures and came to visit), Kendall (who visited 2x, helped us through the move and gave us Liesl), Gerardo (for your couch and wisdom), Lee-anne and Simon (Greenford hood represent!), Loz (the queen of Moyne Palace), Katie and Sewells for your continued push to get us out there, Nghi and Tim (thanks for all the Westfield trips during a stressful 6 weeks and for EuroDisney too! Bring on the Gaga in March!), Paulie and Dugdale (missed you guys over the last year, disappointed we didn't get more time together), Julika/Gigs (a dear friend and fellow student of the world, love you loads and say hi to the green Santa please, come visit us!!), Lesley, Amy, Hayley, Bex, Luda and Daniel, Liz, Kaska, the Unlisted crew: Andrei, Priam, Sam and David (so glad such a crazy job could bring such good friends), and my lovely Reillys I'll miss you guys. I'm also grateful for the support of loved ones back in the States, my friends and family who helped me to get there (Ann and Andy for taking me into their family too many times to count), Dad for dropping me at the airport everytime, and all family and friends who have sent their love, emailed, skyped, texted, facebooked and still try to stay in touch despite distance. Thanks to all who were able to make the leaving parties or caught up in the last week. And a huge thanks to Pickle and Nat who've put up with us in their home for the last 2 weeks so we could close things down more easily.

Okay, this isn't a eulogy, I'm just trying to close things properly in order to start off on the new adventure that will be Australia. I guess I'm sad to leave, but really looking forward to summer in Aus, getting to know my non-blood family down under, getting back near the beach (could only be a city girl for so long), watching the toilet water go down the bowl the opposite direction, and starting a new chapter. We'll be couch surfing with Giulia and then Troy and Fiona until mid-April, so unless you're Ann, hold all visits till then please :-). I'll continue to update the blog, although the pictures may be from non-European locations, my horrible sense of humor and fondness for toilet talk will not change.

Thanks all!