Last day of school today! Goodness. The kids are off on a recreational day at the Hunter Sports Centre today, and after that (in tones of Braveheart), 'Freedoooom!' Needless to say I've got a to-do list of unreasonable proportions but somehow can't get excited about it. I'm off to the beach for a swim.

Yesterday was very pleasant, as I had a friend from college come passing through on the way to a wedding up in Byron. So we went down to Merewether and had a drink by the beach – very nice to catch up. Soon after I had to pick up the Littles, so we went and got her (carrying a load of papers from her end of term) and then took her swimming shortly afterwards. She did very well at the swimming and was trying nicely, good improvement. Then we had the pleasant surprise of the Mr coming home early (just after 5, very decent). I had a suspicion it was something to do with the air conditioning at the labs (it had broken down the day before) and indeed, turns out it was broken. 28 degrees in the lab again. With the added bonus of the management sending out some guy to repair it, without bothering to tell him that the whole unit was being taken out and was out of order (for who knows how long) up on the roof, so nil points for communication there. Luckily it's nearly the holidays.

That's about it. Had a nice quiet evening. It's pretty hot here, and I'd better get down to the baths fast if I don't want to burn. I only stay out for about half an hour but you can see the effects if you don't put on sun cream.

Oh, the completion date for Welham Green is tentatively set for December 21^st. Wey hey! All we have to do now is 1) get that darn Visa, 2) pray for a miracle in the exchange rates and 3) find the ideal house. No problems.

Right, so long. (BTW I've added a few piccies to the last post)