Next Wednesday my friend Alicia and her family arrive back in Australia! They will be here for a year, and I am so happy about it. We have written regularly for 4 years, and now she will be here in person. I am planning to go to the airport to meet them. I don't really have to, they are getting a van service down to Wollongong, and the plane does arrive at 6.25am, but whenever I am at work at the airport I always walk past all the people waiting at the arrivals gates, and I think to myself "that will be me in a few months." And now it is nearly here :)

Also next Wednesday is Simon's birthday, and he will be 8. We got him a new bike in the next size up, which I got at a really great price ($50!) at the Toys R Us sale. He is having a small party with a few of his friends, really they are just coming over to play and we will have a cake and some chips. This is good news for me, seeing as I can't afford anything more elaborate. What with everything becoming so much more expensive I am really struggling to make ends meet right now. Petrol is my main demon- believe me, I don't drive much, but $20 a week in petrol doesn't get you far at all now. And it's only going to get worse. So I budget and scrimp where I can and I feel like a lousey, boring person because behind every thought is "Can I afford this?" Not that we are on the poverty line or anything, I mean we are able to have the occasional treat and there is always food in the house and I can pay the bills. But that is it. I have friends who have plenty of money- certainly not rich, but they earn more then us- and I wonder what it would be like to just go and spend a couple of hundred dollars on clothes without saving up birthday and Christmas money. Last night I woke up at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep because I was mentally trying to work out how to make the $70 left in the account last until next Wednesday. Oh well, I am lucky in that I am at home with the children, and my child care costs are low compared to some. And one day this difficult time will be behind us, when I go back to work and we pay more off the mortgage, because (thank God) we didn't get a massive loan we couldn't afford.

Anyway, enough whinging! I get enough off that from Ruby, who seems to be stuck on the high pitched and annoying setting at the moment. Every request comes in the form of a whine or a scream and I have to remind her to ask nicely, which she is perfectly capable of doing. She and Josie are very alike, when they are being good they are both the most cuddlesome, delightful creatures, and when they are bad you want to lock them in the laundry. And unfortunately DOCS won't let me do that to one of them.

Dexie was very excited last week because his class was presenting the assembly, and he got to say "Great work children." at the microphone. Oh my god, he is so funny! They also did a few songs and he was trying so hard not to smile and be very serious for his item. He is such a school kid now.