Also people have been asking how Heidi is getting along with the twins….Great! She sounds fabulous and I’ve checked she’s telling the truth, she assures me she is! She sent me some recent photos today and its offical, they are the cutest pair of bubs ever, but then so are Sophie and Joes twin girls!And then little Costas and Thomas, look we all know ALL babies are cute. Well lets tell the truth here, not all! I’ve seen some shockers on the street but ALL the babies I KNOW are cute without exception.
I had better go continue to pack and as well confirm the address of Jamie Oliver’s Cornwall restaurant, yum!

Oh and one more thing Jim has confirmed which job he’s excepted back in Melbourne but I should check with him if I can say here yet. I’d say he will pop on but if I’m bad at updating and sharing details then Jim is, well he isnt bad at it he just doesn’t do it at all!

Ok cant delay the packing anymore! xxxxx

Our plane tickets home arrived in the mail this week, I cant believe we will be back in Australia in less than 12weeks. Part of me is so excited and another part nervous, I know I will miss Europe, but we are grateful for the time we had and we made our choice……… AUSTRALIA!! In the meantime we are enjoying a gorgeous summer, have already had a crazy amount of trips and there are still many to come including Moscow.

a bientot

Sunday night was not so joyous, I was speechless when I saw Zidane head butt Materazzi and then I was struggling not to cry as he walked off with his head held low. Zidane is a hero to the children here in France and when I think of them it is of course impossible to condone his actions. However I have no doubt Materazzi was relentless and willing to go as low as required, and Zidane, like the rest of us, is only human and therefore fallible.

Zidane made my jumping on board the soccer bandwagon a more joyous ride. Yes he has a beautiful face, but it’s not just that, I challenge anyone who has not been a fan of soccer to watch his play and not be won over. That unfortunate incident is not the sum of Zidane!

But then Les Blues made it to the finals! The big screen went up, the flags flew and the fans gathered in the centre of town. When they beat Brazil and won it was fabulous, I had never been anywhere where absolutely every person was united in who they supported. It was a moment I’ll never forget. Zindane’s face filled the screen and thousands of fans cheered with the flags flying and the night air filled with red and blue flares. We didn’t go into the centre of town last night but I watched and was thrilled the French won. It was strangely comforting drifting off to sleep last night to the sounds of a very happy celebratory city.

Jim and I will not be in France for the Final, we head to Stuttgart to stay with friends and enjoy the final two games in the host Country. We will take our Aussie flag to wear at all times and as well wave the German and the French. It’s a small world after all .

So I will be brave and and watch the soccer, just lost coverage of the tennis, hence my being on the computer so I can keep up on BBC sport. Jim has gone to bed!!! He has been working so hard lately, he fell asleep in front of the Tv, so I sent him off and tucked him in.

So just back from checking on Hewitt, he lost!! That little Mia must be keeping him up. I read in 8/9 past grand slams Hewitt has only lost to the eventual winner. That will not happen this time, extra kilos are ok on us mere mortals and cricketers, but not tennis players!!

Jims on the phone with Joey now discussing all the ins and outs of the game. The phone rang just after we got back from the pub and I knew it would be an Italian. I did the right thing and congratulated him which was a relief, I dont want to turn into one of those ugly footy fans.

Jim and I are both hoarse today, along with the pubs owner, a few of his bar staff and a dozen or so Aussie backpackers. The French drinkers are fine, they didn’t utter a sound, they just stood there in stunned silence. They had never before witnessed impassioned Aussie supporters, let alone a femme. Jim has just left for work on his bike with the Aussie flag strapped to the back of his daypack, last night he walked back from the pub with it held high in the air the whole way home. Allez les Socceroos!!!

Well we are back from Greece and San Francisco, we’ve been back a week but STILL getting over the jet lag, it seems it’s always worse coming back, I slept to 11am today! Still I’ve stopped feeling like I have the worlds worse hangover so that’s a relief. We had a fantastic time in both countries, but boy completely different! Highlights of Greece were meeting Jims extended family, particularly his 96yr old grandfather and the beaches of Halkidiki. Highlights of San Francisco were the food (not that the food wasn’t superb in Greece), the incredibly friendly people, the beauty and the atmosphere. We also struck it lucky with the weather in San Francisco, summer can be a bit dicey as they have that weird weather pattern where out of nowhere the city just gets blanketed in fog, but we got clear skys everyday. We were up at the crack everyday, 5 or 6am, going for a jog and out for breakfast before Jim started work, despite having a lovely hotel there is no way you wanted to waste a second not being out and about in what I would say, and many agree, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I think this explains why EVERYONE was just soooo nice, why wouldn’t you be when you live in San Francisco. Well ok maybe if you were one of the many homeless people, but you’ll have to excuse me while I put my head back in the sand.

As I said we’ve been back a week but have still managed a visit to another country, well it was just for the day and only 3hrs away. We went to Cologne, one of the stadium cities for the World Cup, to watch the Australia Brazil match. We had planned to go to Stuttgart for a long weekend to stay with friends but Jim is under the hammer at work so we had to cancel. It was still great to be able to watch the game in Germany and partake in the amazing atmosphere there, there is interest here in France but as Les bleus arent doing that well its all a bit subdued. Aussies were a bit thin on the ground in Cologne compared to Brazilians and their supporters, I had to drum up support from our parents the Poms, they were keen enough. I could not believe how many Brazilian supporters there were, Cologne must have Brazilian dance classes because we were surrounded by post menopausal hausfraus trying on their best Shakira impersonations. I wouldn’t mind Brazilians rubbing our noses in it when we won, but I felt like screaming at these women you arent even Brazilian, you couldn’t look less Brazilian, no matter how many feather earrings you wear and you just knew they were wearing thongs. But hey they were having a ball and all the dancing and drumming sure was fun. And those of us with our flag worn as a cape and kept proudly on received lots congratulations after the game, it was Brazil after all and our Boys did good! Jim cant believe his luck that I am so into The World Cup, especially as he knows I am less than keen on AFL. I cant promise I’ll maintain my interest after the Cup, but anytime there is our green and gold and the promise of a goal Im there. Jim also said I was a great little supporter and feels all I need to brush up on is the off side rule, Im a bit slow to identify that. I could also do with being a little less gutless, for both those Brazilian goals I hid under our Aussie flag and Jim had to force me to come out to watch the replay. So this Thursday night (your early Friday morning) we wont be in Germany but we’ll be at the local pub called The Australian Bar, where a couple of the bartenders are Aussies so we wont be lone supporters.

In other news Jims job hunt is still in progress, he got offered a job in Canada and also in Manchester and when it came to the crunch it made us realise how very much we want to settle back in Melbourne. Luckily at the conference a few possibilities presented themselves to Jim to make it seem possible that it is achievable. So though a position is not final yet we are making concrete plans to be back in Melbourne at the end of September. They are so concrete that we have taken a huge step in acquiring a PUPPY! She is presently 4weeks old and will be 4months when we arrive home. How she came to be our little girl is through Lyn, a friend of mums. Lyn is a close friend of mums and she knew what a loss Lola was to mum and when Lyns neighbours dog had a litter she thought it may just be a blessing to mum, which it is. Mum meet the puppies as well as the parents and feel instantly in love, you can tell a lot about a pup from its parents and mum said both parents were both just gorgeous. The puppies are poodle crosses which is exactly the kind of dog I thought would be perfect for us. Jim knew I very much wanted a dog and I knew we would have to choose very carefully considering Jim was unfamiliar with having a dog. Jim did not want a big dog nor was he keen on dog hair getting everywhere and we both wanted a good natured dog that was friendly, placid yet fun loving. Poodles and poodle crosses don’t malt hair and mum said both parents had lovely personalities. Despite Jim and I thinking the puppies sounded just perfect for us I thought it was a lot to ask mum to take home her puppy plus ours to raise until we got home. Then mum rang me and said all she could think about since she meet the pups was coming up with a good enough reason to take home both little girls and when I told her what we were thinking she readily agreed. Anyway we will be living with mum when we return until we can sort out a home of our own so it all fits in perfectly, Maggie(that’s her name) can slowly get used to us, but in familiar surroundings, while we take over her care. And as well she will always have mum in her life, the wonder woman who will toilet train her (that’s the part Jim is most impressed with) and her sibling Sadie. So our Maggie and mums Sadie are the two jet black ones in the front, we think!

Anyway I ‘ve shared none of Italy and already we are off again, this time to Greece and I know its going to be hot because Ive painted my toes! When we return we are back for just a quick pit stop before we head to SAN FRANCISCO!!!!

I’ll be in Greece but my heart will be at home with mum, Lola was very sick and she couldn’t stay. No more discomfort Lolly just an endless beach, thank you for the unconditional love and the endless joy, you were and are the best dog ever, sweet sweet girlxxxxxxxx