Sydney Office hosts OSD Management

We all had a busy week preparing our home for a management meeting, with all the executives of OSD travelling to Sydney this time, instead of Mike travelling to them.

The new desk for the Study was only finished on Saturday, and a quick mercy dash to IKEA to purchase a new bookcase to store all Mike's filing:

The boss also decided after 3 years with the company, it was time for a new car, and relocate the Prado back to Queensland to replace the old Pajero up there. So we had to squeeze in time over the past few weekends for test drives and paperwork, and on Tuesday picked up a new black Kluger:

So with both 4WDs in Sydney, we had enough seats to ferry the management team between the airport, the hotel at Cronulla, and our place for the meeting. The management meeting kicked off as usual in formal style around the table:

Then when came time to discuss budgets, the flat panel TV was put to good use to display spreadsheets, and everyone made themselves comfortable on the lounge:

As the afternoon wore on, we moved out to the terrace:

And eventually the meeting table was abandoned, and everybody was quite comfortable sitting around the outdoor table:

Even Granny helped out by picking up the lunch from Sutherland. It was a big team effort with contribution by all the hobbits!

Designated Driver

Just so our daughter doesn't start thinking this blog site is all about her, we were very excited to have successfully completed 120 hours of instruction, and as we all expected, the RTA inspector was very impressed with her competence, and awarded her a provisional licence to drive a manual car on her first attempt.

The third car will also now come in very handy, as we will no longer have to get out of bed early on Friday Mornings to get her to dance class, or on Saturday morning to get her to work!

The inspector made special note of the entries in her log book of her "lessons" 12 months ago on Norfolk Island, so special thanks also go to Uncle John CB and Aunty TiTi for their brave efforts and contribution to this special learning process.

Now we can have a drink or two when we go out without worrying about having to be sober enough to supervise the drive home.

Congratulations Jessica.

Gods & Goddesses Party

Jess' 17th Birthday Party was at home, and many of her friends came in Fancy Dress as Greek or Roman Gods & Goddesses.

Jake and Jess got into the mood early in the afternoon, thanks to Granny & Poppa's assistance by providing the outfits:

Alyssa & Greg arrived shortly afterwards to help set the scene: The others enjoyed the afternoon on the terrace:

Chris & Mitch hammed it up with the Centurion capes:

Kate helped dress the other young men!

After cake, they adjourned to the Lounge Room for some serious Wii competition:

We all enjoyed ourselves with a good bunch of mates!

Ottoman

One last piece of furniture arrived today - the leather Ottoman - which completes the furniture for our informal Family Room, which has become affectionately referred to as "The Lobby Bar" Even more so now, this area seems to be the first place people head to when they come down the stairs into our living area.

We have Stairs!

Finally, after 3 months of having to enter our new house via the Garage, we got the front stairs constructed, so we can now get to the front door! Now we just have to stain them to match the front doors, and get the hand-rails and balustrades installed. It is so good to be able to get into the house easily, and perhaps we will now be able to put two cars in the garage, which will be a luxury.

Birthday Dinner

On the actual night of Jessica's 17th Birthday, we had a dinner at home, and we were joined by Granny & Poppa and the Leans: We all enjoyed Burritos followed by Ice Cream Cake!

Jess & Alyssa turn 17

Tonight we went to the Piper's for a combined birthday celebration; Alyssa turned 17 on Friday, and it will be Jess' turn tomorrow:

The girls each had their own cakes, and teased each other over whose birthday it was as usual. It was good to have everyone together to share the celebration.

Mike's Trip to Oman

This week, Mike headed to Oman (yes the one in the Middle East) for kick-off meetings for a Technical Integrity Audit with the Oman Gas Company. The Omani's are actually very friendly, jovial people, and Canadians and Aussies alike fit right in. You just have to overlook the fact that most of the men are wearing dresses! This was the view from my room at the Crowne Plaza, Muscat: The hotel was shaped like a large cruise ship, and looked over the Gulf of Oman. You could almost see all the way up the coast to Dubai (~200km). The road up the coast is dual carriageway and lit all the way. We were treated to a dinner at the Inter Continental by one of the Sheiks: On the other side at the harbour of Mutra, the Sultan's boat could clearly be seen docked: The coastline is rugged but beautiful (in an arid kind of way):

One of my favourite places was the Mutra Souk, one of the last remaining old Souks in the region. It was fun to barter for things like Frankincence, and GOLD! (Yes I did bring back a few small pressies for the girls, and Jake a Dish-Dasher - the traditional dress the men wear there)

On the Tuesday Night, we were invited back to the home of OGC's chief auditor. His grandson reminded me a lot of my nephew Teddy, he was even wearing Crocs; he took to me and chewed my ear off with the most amazing stories:

On the Wednesday evening, we made time for a quick sight-seeing tour. Here is the 7 star resort of Shangri-La, just south along the east coast from Muscat - it was certainly the playground of the rich and famous:

And finally I did meet a couple of girlfriends there, but their breath was horrible:

The flights on Emirates were all excellent and thoroughly recommended.

1st Official Party

We had the honour of hosting Roy and Sally's Golden Wedding celebrations at our new house:

Jess went to great lengths to find the same flowers that Granny had in her original bouquet, and recreated it at work at the florist shop that morning, and presented it as our gift to them.

Jess also modelled Granny's original dress for them, which had Mike feeling old!

And Poppa confused!

But Granny was tickled pink.

There were copious amount of champagne consumed to help them celebrate. And plenty of photos taken. When you mix the two, you can always count on Jenni and Kate to hijack the odd photo here and there...

And there were all smiles at the end of the day.

It was a fitting celebration.

Jacob's Mirror

We finally got around to hanging Jacob's Beetle Mirror in his bedroom:

We had originally bought this when we were in Kirrawee, and have lugged it to Queensland and back wrapped in bubble wrap!

It suits his new room just as much as ever...