Last night at the dinner table, Trailer Boy was saying “I wish we could go for 101 sleeps”.  Isn’t that just like kids?  No matter how much you give them, they always want more.  Hang on, sometimes adults are like that too!  LOL.  Anyway, I said to him “well, we ARE having 101 sleeps in the caravan”.

Tonight, the plan is to eat and sleep in the caravan.

There are a couple of reasons for this.

The first is that I need to wash up all the bedding so it makes sense to do all the washing today and as of late this afternoon, everyone needs to start wearing what we’re taking.  That way, everything left behind is clean (it’s not something I usually have to worry about when we’re going away for a few weeks).

The second is that by doing this, hopefully it’ll be glaringly obvious if we’ve forgotten something.  And we’re still at home to grab it.  At least we can’t forget the pillows this way!!!!

The third is that it gives us the 101 nights Trailer Boy is asking for.  LOL.  He has very nicely thwarted Farmboy’s idea that we could come home a day early and still have been in the caravan for 100 nights though.  LOL.  Clever kid!!! 

So today is all about cleaning and washing.  My poor washing machine has been working rather hard.  There are a few bits and pieces to pack but other than that, we’re pretty much ready to go.

Hopefully by dinner time tonight, it’ll feel like our holiday has started.

YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our weekend was full of Goodbyes, as you would perhaps expect with only 2 days to go until we leave.  I have to admit that this is a part of going away that we never really thought about when we first planned the trip.

Back then, we were fairly newly married and didn’t really have any close friends.  We weren’t fully entrenched in a church family.  And winter sport?  Well, Farmboy pretty much gave up playing footy the first year we were married when he only managed to make it to a few games.  My dreams of playing netball had been shattered long ago.

Saturday was our last game of sport for this season (for us, not the rest of the team).  It was a lovely day.  The weather was good to us (we didn’t get wet) and I wasn’t rostered on to do any “duties” so I actually got to watch both my kids play (admittedly I had to watch Lleyton filling in for Senior Colts as his regular game is at the same time as Singstar Princess’s netball game).  I even got to watch half of Farmboy’s footy game because we were on the late game.

When it came my turn to play, I was pretty nervous because my parents were there to watch (they’d come over to collect our cats).  So nervous in fact that I thought I was going to throw up.  Our team captain made me honorary captain for the day which was a lovely gesture.

I won the toss!!!!  We were off to a good start!

The team we were playing anhialated us last time we played.  So a win wasn’t even really on my radar.  Even though we were all “right, we have to win for Jodi’s last game”.  I just wanted to play well and enjoy the game, no matter what the score.

In the end, we won by 1 goal!  It was a nail-biting game.  And plenty of pressure on me to keep running in that quarter.  I ended up in Centre because our regular Centre wasn’t feeling well.  Because it was so close, there was a lot of “quick, quick”, when it came to Centre passes.  Neither team wanted to run out of time before their score was up on the other team.

Fortunately for me, the other Centre had similar troubles to me.   We were both breathing pretty hard when we stopped at each goal end.

After the game, a few of us went for a “goodbye drink”.  That’s pretty unusual for our team.  We tend to be pretty fragmented and don’t necessarily “gel” off the court. Which is sad really.  Admittedly, you have a wide age gap between the “oldies” and the “young ones”.  It was lovely.  I just thought it was sad that we don’t do that sort of thing more often.

The same thing occured to me on Sunday.  Pretty much everyone in the church gave us a hug goodbye.  Which was wonderful.  And it left me wondering why we don’t hug each other more often????

All in all, I’d have to say I’m leaving feeling very blessed.  There is much in our lives that we will miss while we’re gone.  Yes, we’ll have a wonderful time and I don’t regret going for a minute.  But it’s nice to think that there are people and things that we WANT to come back for.  And it’s nice to think that we might actually be MISSED.  It wasn’t something I expected at all.

I have decided to take a break from Smiley Saturday while we are away.  I don’t want the pressure of having to post on any set day so it makes the most sense.  It won’t hurt to have a break and I’ll reassess when we get back whether or not I’ll restart it.

My BIGGEST smile at the moment is coming from the excitement that the trip is SO close.  Everything else seems to be paling in comparison right now.  In fact, it’s been difficult these past few days to get my head into other stuff that’s happening before we go.  All focus is on the trip and getting ready (head-space wise anyway).

Today is my last netball game which doesn’t really make me smile (oh, playing it does, leaving it doesn’t).  Not that I’d give up the big trip in order to play the rest of the season but I will still miss it.  Let’s hope my playing today makes me smile (and not frustrated).

Friday I had my first professional massage which was nice (although did hurt in many places).  I’d always thought of them as purely for pleasure but it would seem there are a lot of health benefits too.  I think I probably need a few more before all the kinks and knots are worked out enough to fully enjoy them.

And this weekend my parents are visiting.  The kids are very excited as they’ll have Nan & Pa watching them play sport.  :)  They’re here to pick up our cats to “cat-sit” while we’re gone.

I hope you’re having a Smiley Saturday!!!! 

With only a few days to go until we leave, I think it’s time to conclude my BHAG efforts.  I had meant to do an update earlier this month but time has gotten away from me.

Last Update I was up to: $4126.92

To Be Added:

Grocery Surplus $248.35

Interest (May) $72.01

Coles Gift Card $20.00

Caltex Gift Card $25.00

Cash Tin ($5 notes, $1 & $2 coins we’ve been saving) $275.00

New Total:

$4767.28!!!!!

I am STOKED with that!!!

When I first began this challenge, I deliberately chose a high figure to encourage myself to reach as high as I could.  NEVER did I expect to even come close (although I hoped I would).

This amount doesn’t include:

$300 insurance money I SHOULD be getting for the food that got spoilt in the heatwave (our agent is still chasing that up with the company who are notoriously slow payers in cases like this).

$100 Rewards Central money I could claim when we get back if I need to.

$36.00 Pureprofile Rewards Money I could also claim when we get back.

That would take my total to:

$5067.28

Ooh, guess that sorta means I actually MADE my goal if you count those amounts!!!!  AWESOME!!!!

And Now For the Fun Part

How am I going to use this “extra”  money?

This is over and above our planned budget - for the little things (or big things?) that don’t really fit into what we can “afford”.

$275 change jar is to get us started with the right coins for the washing machines, pocket money and so on.  That will just be an extra amount to get me started (those things are to come out of my $350 a week budget).

$20/week toward internet access = $280 (may also need another $150 if I decide to purchase a Telstra prepaid wireless dongle - still haven’t decided)

$50/week toward kids activities (like bike/go kart hire etc) = $700

$50/week toward take away/ ice creams etc = $700

$100 each spending money for souvenirs = $500

That leaves me a little over $2000 to add to our “Sight-Seeing” budget which could be a good thing because I keep finding other interesting things to do (such as this Cairns Night Zoo which sounds awesome but isn’t cheap for our whole family to do).

I am SO excited now!!!! 

I’ve been trying to work out what to do about catching up with online friends while we’re on our trip.  On the one hand, it’s a perfect opportunity to meet some of my fabulous friends face to face.  On the other, I could do a trip dedicated entirely to that (now there’s a thought….”Lightening on Tour” LOL).

So, here’s what I’m thinking of doing and I hope you’ll bear with me in this.  If you live somewhere along our planned route (see below) and are interested in a catch-up if it works out, could you please email me your location (ie town) and a phone number (preferably mobile if you have one as that way I can text you).

What I want to do is take all that information with me and the arrange meet-ups where I can.

My hesitation in doing this is that it’s not going to always work out.  There are so many factors I’ll need to consider such as time, what we’re doing, the family’s needs and the fact that we’re travelling with friends some of the time.  I don’t want anyone to feel that it’s personal if we can’t see them.

I feel torn between not wanting to upset anyone if they get missed and not wanting to miss the opportunity to meet at least some of you.

Plus, or course, there’s the fact that we don’t really have a set schedule so some meets would have to be arranged last minute and I don’t want to put anyone under pressure if they’re not available when we’re there.

In the end, I figured perhaps I’d put all this out there and do what I can with the hope that you’ll understand my position in all of this.

Here’s a copy of our route:

In case it’s not clear enough for you to tell, we’re basically going Broken Hill across to Dubbo.  From Dubbo we’ll head North up the Newell Hwy  then the Leichardt Hwy until we get to Rockhampton.  The rest of the trip will basically be the coast from Port Douglas all the way to Sydney (with a brief interlude inland to the Atherton Tablelands).  Not sure which route we’ll take from Sydney to Port Augusta yet on our way home.

It would be good to organise an actual Sydney meet-up as I’m guessing by population that there are a few people in Sydney.  Is anyone interested in co-ordinating this?  I’m thinking possibly Friday 2nd October as a potential date, although it’s hard to be exactly sure at this time.

The best ways to get in contact with me are to email me at lightening at this domain name, use the contact form (tab in the header) or leave a comment and I’ll use the hidden email you leave your comment with to get in touch with you.

Now that we’re down to the final week, we’re starting to experience our “lasts”. We’ve already had a few but this week will see a lot more.

Today is my “last” piano lesson before we go.

Tomorrow will be our “last” training night at the club.

Saturday will be our “last” game.

Sunday will be our “last” worship service with our church family.

Monday night will be our “last” sleep in our own beds (yes, we’re leaving Wednesday but sleeping in the caravan Tuesday night so I can wash up all the bedding)

There’ll be “last” activities but there’ll also be a lot of “last” seeing people we love.

All of this comes with a certain bittersweetness.

Yes, we’re excited about our trip. There’s no doubt about that.

However, we love our life here and we don’t go without some understanding that it will be missed. People we love will be missed.

I feel very blessed to be feeling this way. To know that God* has blessed us with a wonderful place to live. A wonderful life. And wonderful friends whom we love very much.

Over the past decade, as our plans for this trip have unfolded, I’ve wondered what God has in store for us. Would we come back? Perhaps I’ve secretly hoped we wouldn’t.

How interesting that in the months leading up to this trip, I’ve had the most peace about living here that I’ve ever had.

I guess that even if God has something new in store for us, I can leave here with a sense of fulfillment that so much good has come from our time here, even our struggles.

I do think we’ll be back.  But I’m trying to remain open to whatever God has in store for us.

In the meantime, all these “lasts” are evidence that our trip is getting VERY close!!!!!!

*I don’t often talk about my Faith here on this blog. I made a decision early in the piece to write a separate blog with my deepest feelings about my Faith journey. Not out of a desire to hide my beliefs but out of an understanding that not everyone shares them. I wanted to feel free to say what was truly on my heart without concerns that people would interpret what I was saying as “bible bashing”. I wanted to give people the choice to share in my life, even if they didn’t feel comfortable sharing in my faith.  Still, it is a very real part of my life and I couldn’t write this post without mentioning it.  We do believe God has put it on our hearts to do this trip.  At this stage, we don’t know why or what he has in store.  I guess we’re about to find out.

I have just finished menu planning for the days leading up to our departure. It looks like my meat supplies are going to work out perfectly with a very small amount of our own lamb to take with us (which I’m happy about as I probably won’t buy lamb while we’re away). I’m also planning to buy a couple meals of sausages from our favourite butcher (given I have the opportunity to on Friday - I don’t always get near where he is) to take with us. They don’t take up much room in the freezer and make a quick and easy meal the whole family enjoys.

So, this is what our menu looks like:

Tuesday 23rd June - Take Away (we’re away all day so it just makes sense to bring something home with us)

Wednesday 24th - Blade Steak in the Crockpot with Mushroom Soup

Thursday 25th - Out at training so we’ll buy tea there as usual.

Friday 26th - Lamb Fillets

Saturday 27th - Ham & Cheese Quiche

Sunday 28th - Chicken Thigh Fillets (possibly with Southern Fried Chicken coating)

Monday 29th - Heart Smart Round Steak

Tuesday 30th - Corned Beef (giving us cold meat for the first couple of lunches away)

Wednesday 1st July - Our first night away. BBQ lamb fillets & snags

Thursday 2nd July - My birthday so we’ll go out for a meal.

Friday 3rd July - Our plan while we’re away is to make Friday night Take Away night. I wasn’t going to worry this first week as we’ll have been out for tea the night before but where we’re planning to stay apparently has a very popular pizza place so we might end up having pizza. We’ll see. Otherwise it’s likely to be tomato soup (have some already packed in the caravan) after a long days travel.

Saturday 4th July - Will be my first actual shop on the trip. The plan is to shop on a Saturday and take out leftover money in cash for the rest of the week. That money will need to buy incidentals like milk, cover spending money (we’re allocating $5 each which won’t go far) and any take away we buy. Friday night take away night’s will be dependent on whether there is any cash left in the “kitty”. That will also determine whether we’re having hot chips or something a little more expensive.

This Months Spend So Far:

So far, I’ve spent around $260 on groceries this month. Whatever is left from my $600 budget is the cash we’ll set out on the trip with (my first budgetted trip amount isn’t due to come out until the first Saturday). It won’t have to cover my birthday meal as that comes from a separate budget but it will have to cover any purchases made from Wednesday to the first Saturday (including Friday night’s tea if we have take away).

Here is the recipe I used to use up our extra rice bubbles.

Honey Bubble Crunch Bars

75g butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp honey
4 cups rice bubbles

Melt butter, sugar and honey together in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Allow to slow boil for a minute or 2.

Mix into rice bubbles and set in a greased slice tray (18×28cm).

Top with choc chips, sprinkles or a chocolate/butter mixture.

It’s pretty similar to honey crackles only with rice bubbles and is VERY popular - especially topped with chocolate!!!!

Last weekend, Singstar Princess had her first dance performance as part of our annual community talent concert.

She was SO excited.

I was SO nervous.

Instructions came home and what to wear and what make up.

Eek!!!!

This was the part of dance I was concerned about (and why I held off letting her dance for a while).  Fortunately, her teacher is wonderful when it comes to costumes and we all pay a set fee per year and she handles all the costumes.

So, it was really only her regular dance clothes, get her hair into a neat bun (no mean feat when it’s layered) and put on red lipstick and blue eyeshadow.  The make up had me a bit nervous.  How much?  Do I put foundation etc on as well?  Etc.  Etc.  Anyway, I asked around and in the end realised I had nothing to worry about as they all wore it slightly differently.  LOL.

Here she is all ready to go:

She looked SO beautiful!!!!

When we got there, most of the other dancers were actually wearing CLOTHES over their outfits - not just a jacket.  I felt like a bad mother for not dressing her more warmly.  LOL.  I shouldn’t have worried because after her performance, she was running around WITHOUT the jacket on.

It wasn’t easy to capture a picture of her while dancing - she kept moving on me!!!!  I nearly missed the whole dance trying to get some nice photographs.  Thankfully Farmboy recorded it.

She did SUCH a good job and didn’t look like someone who had just started dance.  Even more importantly, she looked like she was having SO much fun!!!! 

But the biggest smiley moment came after the performance, watching my little dancer have a cuddle on her daddy’s lap while watching the rest of the concert.  :)  I kept missing the concert because I wanted to keep staring at the two of them.

I hope you’ve all got something to smile about this Smiley Saturday.

I’m giving up on Mr Linky.  If you have a smiley saturday post, please feel free to link to it in the comments section.

After a massive baking session yesterday, I think I might be all “cooked out”.

I started the day with the jelly cups, knowing that they would take all day by the time each colour set, ready to add the next colour.  I made 31 in total.  30 to take to the kidz klub sleepover we’re helping with tonight and 1 for Trailer Boy who is too young to go to the sleepover.

I couldn’t believe that I ended up using 11 packets of jelly!  So 5.5Litres of jelly!!!!  Sounds like a LOT of jelly to me!  And the cups aren’t even full (which is fine because they’re yet to have a chocolate frog and a scoop of ice cream added to them).

Here’s the final product:

I made 2 batches of soy & linseed knots rolls in an effort to use up my breadmix before we go.  I think I have enough left for 1 more batch which I’ll try and make next week.  I make the dough for these in the breadmaker (takes 2.5 hours) then shape into the rolls.

Generally I only have time to do 1 batch in a day but I got started in reasonable time so just scraped 2 lots in before having to head off to training.

I’ve been researching different recipes of late in an attempt to use up some things that aren’t getting touched.  Rice Bubbles was one such thing.  So, I found this Honey Bubble Crunch recipe and have been playing around with it.

The first batch I made (Wednesday), I topped with melted chocolate/butter.  Yummo!!!

Then, I had used up my chocolate, so when I made another batch yesterday, I put sprinkles on top instead.

I also made a batch of cupcakes for supper tonight:

Then realised that I’d done nearly all my baking for other stuff and should make *something* for us.  So, I made these white choc and macadamia biscuits:

I think I’m finally getting there with using up ingredients in the cupboard.  Not that I don’t still have quite a bit there but the bits and pieces and opened packets are now mostly used up.

I did spend a bit of time yesterday while I was in the kitchen just sorting the cupboard out and putting a few things into airtight containers that are normally just sitting in open packets.

I guess it’ll be my last “baking day” before we head off.  I may bake a few bits and pieces next week but not a big day like this one was.