Settling to a Routine

The week has gone past so quick and it's the weekends again. We have settled to a routine now and it's been rather busy for me during school week. There are many stay at home moms in school and I can see that they are highly involved in their kids' education and activities in school. This is not a bad thing and I'm glad that the school allows parents to get involved at this early age of academic development.

I didn't cook anything spectacular this week but I was glad that my Tefal Clipso Easy pressure cooker came in time before my good friend and her two girls visit us on Monday. Cooking casseroles and stews would be easier and faster and it would be our first guests down under.

Two weeks ago, I was researching on some supplement reviews and came to know about some new supplements for women. Reviews are useful as it helps us to learn more about the products before buying them. I'm putting my online shopping to a stop for now as the postman is knocking on my door too often!

Since it's Saturday and the kitchen at home is closed, we are heading for some good 'mui choy kau yok' tonight at Shangpaign Kitchen - yum!

Private Healthcare Insurance Settled

Finally, we got our private healthcare insurance settled after five and half months. It's hard to make a decision as there are so many private healthcare insurance providers here. We settled for HCF and the extras allowed us to make claims for chiropractic treatment, physiotherapy, dental and other natural therapies. I was even happier when they told me that I could claim for Clayton's swim classes!

The healthcare system here in Australia is supposedly quite good though the government encourages the citizens to take up private healthcare. The people can get 'free' treatment when they are ill in bulk bill clinics. So whether you are seeking for thrush treatment or other common ailments, Medicare covers the most part but you would need to pay for your own medication. And medication isn't cheap here.

We have yet to find a family doctor and maybe it's time to ask around and put one down in our family healthcare list. This is part and parcel of settling down in a new country.

Baking and Working at Home

The oven has been working hard last week and I was in the baking mood again! The nice thing about working from home is that you can still bake some yummy cookies when you wanna take a break and it's a nice feeling.

I have been experimenting with a few chocolate chip cookies recipes and it's interesting to note that each recipe churned out a different cookie taste. Now, I have a few chocolate chip recipes, from soft to slightly crunchy, chewy to think and crisp ones. I'm glad every cookie tray hasn't disappoint so far.

I ordered some Callebaut chocolate chips last week after a long research in the web. My husband couldn't believe that I ordered baking choc chips online and I told him they were cheaper than those in the supermarket chains. Plus, the quality is more superior. The belgium choc chips didn't disappoint and the last batch of choc chip macadamia nut cookies were fabulous! Well, I'm not about to go into a bakery business but it's nice to savor good homemade cookies.

It was good that I got much thing settled last week including our private healthcare insurance. I was reading about Texas Semi Accidents on the internet and came to know the importance of private healthcare for the family.

This is going to be another week packed with daily routines before my good friend arrives for a visit next week. It's time to sit down for some itinerary planning and I bet it's going to be a busy one.

A Busy Hectic Week Has Gone By

The week has gone past so quick. I'm so glad to recover from that awful pain on my upper arm after pulling that muscle on Monday.I had never felt such cramp on my arm and realized that I needed some treatment.

As expected, the treatment was painful but I did feel the improvement after that. I have to be careful not to get into a bad angle whenever I'm holding something next time! It is a busy week at school and somehow, I'm pretty exhausted after all that running around.

We went to check out a new development today and I did like the location of the land. We have decided that we would find a place in Carindale when we are ready to buy and so, I do hope the price is right for this land. The homes in the area are quite nice and some have had cool custom plantation shutters used.

It will probably be a few more months before we consider buying so I do hope the delay is longer on the developer's side! It's another back to back Sunday tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to a good afternoon nap when Clayton goes to Chinese class!

MOving with Times

Since the start of term 2 in the school, I have been volunteering more and it's nice to be a help in small ways like these. Though it isn't significant, I find pleasure in helping out in Clayton's class and it's also good for me to get to know the school teaching system.

Education today is so different compared to my time and kids are learning so differently. Yesterday afternoon, I was in the class to help with the scrapbooks and the kids were watching a youtube video on big screen. They were learning about natural disasters and it became a teaching point for the teacher. That was a new way to learn.

Even when it comes to playing, kids learn differently too. They are more familiar with new psp games than we adults are and can tell you alot more things! We are still delaying our purchase of the Wii and are waiting for the opportune time to buy it.

I can't imagine how learning will be like in ten years' time.... it's mind boggling for me and all I know is that, we have to move with the times or we become obsolete!

A Lovely Mother's Day Celebration

I was looking forward to the Mother's day celebration in the school last friday and it turned out to be a lovely one.

Many moms attended the afternoon tea function and the set up was simple and warm. The kids had a great time with their moms and all the activities had brought many smiles on the mommies too. I volunteered to take photos for all the moms and their kids and the photo booth station turned to be a very popular one. We had an enjoyable celebration.

We have been here for five months and I'm glad that we are discovering more good restaurants. Last Sunday, we had a lovely Mother's day dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Sunnybank hills and the Spider salad was fabulous! We ordered tat a bit too much and had to pack some home. It was a very busy restaurant but we managed to get a table at 6.15pm!

The weather is getting cold and I'm piling on layers of clothing to keep myself warm. This is another week and in two days' time, the weekends is here again. How fast!

Work at Home and Online Shopping

Call me crazy or what... since we work at home, it's getting very convenient to do most of our shopping online. As a matter of fact, I have gotten lots of good deals in private shopping clubs and to date, I had bought from Clayton's clothing, to sportswear to homeware to hotel deals!

Alex and myself enjoy online shopping and we are eyeing at this cool stay at Banyan Tree bangkok for only $399 for 3 nights! Plus you get some champagne breakfast buffet and a premier room at 55th floor and up! We are luring our friends to come along and it will be fun!

Back to more online shopping, we even ordered our business cards online. There are so many business cards printing websites out there and recently, I have been ordering my photos online. I just ordered a photobook and mother's day photo card for my mom in Singapore and I certainly she likes the gift.

I don't know what life would be like with the internet or online shopping.... that's part of the pleasure of working at home. And yes, I get to bake and cook when I need a break! I'm off to baking some savouries for the Mother's day party this afternoon!

School and Activities

It's the second week of school and I'm back to my work at home mom duties with lots more to do!

I get busy on a weekly basis when Clayton has his show and tell and I find myself doing more work than him. I mean, how do I expect a six year old to create a powerpoint... it would be too much for him. But he is learning to do more things himself and I'm glad the school is providing the opportunity for the kid to explore.

I haven't been sleeping too well lately and soon, I would need to find a remedy or get the best eye cream for dark circles! I find it hard to sleep early since Clayton tends to go to sleep only at half past nine. There are some busy days where I need to get some work done and sleeping early is just a luxury!

Today is Mother's day celebration for the year one and there are going to have some fun activities going on. I had volunteered to help at the photo booth and it will be fun snapping photos of the kids and their moms! I'm looking forward to it!