Philip’s ice skating party

Crisis avertedIce skating Melbourne!

Yesterday was my seven year old son Philip’s birthday and to tell the truth it did not look at all like it was going to go well. It was one of those classic broken home scenarios, where, having told Philip’s father almost six months ago that organising his birthday was his responsibility, since I take care of basically everything else. About a week out, I got a call from the police station telling me that Philip’s father was currently in jail and that he’d told them to contact me. This was not the shock it may have been, since Philip’s father had been in jail twice before, but it meant that there was no way anything birthday related was going to be organised by him. Once again, everything was down to me and the pressure was well and truly on.

Having paid almost no attention to what Philip’s father was working on (and secretly hoping whatever it was would fail, showing Philip once and for all how worthless his father is) I had no idea where to even begin. When I explained the situation to Philip, I decided the best course of action would be to ask him candidly what he wanted to do. To my surprise, he responded he wanted to do ice skating lessons with his friends. This was rather unexpected, and as a follow up question I asked Philip why and he explained that a friend of his, Mark, had had an ice skating party and he’d really enjoyed it.

This response made sense (although I didn’t remember him talking about that particular party) and so I began to look at ice skating rinks that also acted as kids party venues. Melbourne doesn’t have that many ice skating rinks and finding one that would be happy to host fifteen seven year olds wasn’t as difficult as I’d thought. In fact, my first choice of venue happened to be free on the very day I was after. So even though Philip’s father let me down once again, and once again all the responsibility was placed squarely on my shoulders, everything turned out fine in the end.

Crumbling old windows unsafe

aluminium windows MelbourneIt’s come to my attention that the windows in our house are very old. The timber window sills almost crumble when you touch them now. I feel like it’s a welcome sign for burglars to come and try their luck. I had been asking my husband for a while to get them fixed but we kept putting it off as something always came up that was more important. My husband kept telling me not to worry about it, breaking in was not common in our area. Besides, he would scare them off before they were able to take anything. That wasn’t the point, I didn’t feel safe in my own home.

After more loving requests about fixing the old window frames my husband caved in and told me that he had organised the windows replacements. Melbourne has had a few high profile breaks ins according to the local paper and my husband was finally motivated. I was excited by the thought of new windows. I went online and had a look at the different types and styles of windows that we could have. I wanted something that would be safe but also look great. I looked at sash window and decided to get some aluminium windows instead put in the kitchen.

I wanted the windows in the lounge room to be aluminium double-hung. The local Melbourne aluminium window installers seemed to know what they were doing. Judging by their website I gave them a call to get some more information. When I spoke with the guy from the window repair place he was very helpful. He told me a few things I didn’t know about the differences between aluminium and timber windows which helped me with choosing the right windows for our home.
After explaining to him what I was looking for we locking in Aluminium windows as a replacement for the old ones. I had arranged to have someone come out and measure up the following day. My husband would be happy with the results, I bet we both kick ourselves that we didn’t get it done sooner.

Making peace at the funeral

funeral PerthI really do hate to be left on my own. I think that it is the worst feeling that anyone can have in this world. To feel truly alone is worse than torture for some people. I can’t say that I will do well in this life if I am alone all of the time. I still  have to organise a few things for the funeral, and I can’t ask anyone to help. I’m not sure how long it will take the funeral home to get back to me, but I have to think that it will take a while. I will be talking to the best funeral director Perth has to offer. I will be discussing the remains of Jerry and what we’re to do with them. It was my impression that I was to have the ashes after the cremation. I guess that’s not really what Jerry wanted because his will was very clear to all.
In the will he wanted to say that he forgives me and that I should forgive him. I do to some extent, it’s hard to stay mad at a dead person. I will have to make sure that I get him to where he wanted to go. He wants his ashes to be left in his family in his hometown. He told me a long time ago that he hated to be alone, he knew it just as well and I do. I never really want to leave him alone with just the dust and the ocean scattered to the wind. The lovely people at the funerals home in Perth will be keeping him company until all the arrangements can be made. I mean no offense, they really seem like good people but he needs to be home with his family as soon as we are able. I’m certain that they are really good at their job, taking care of those recently passed. I’m sure that the Perth funeral home is great at comforting family and making all the plans. I’ll be needing a lot of help in the coming days.

The art of conveyancing

conveyancing MelbourneI do love art galleries. So many paintings, transporting you to other places and making you think majestic thoughts. They’re so simple, really. Just you and the pictures. But do you know what I like even more? When you finally get to the end of a long, drawn-out process and claim your prize. I’m talking chopping onions to make soup, or walking to the top of a mountain for the view, or finally getting through all that tedious paperwork. Man, that paperwork. I’m not a fan of the whole concept, honestly. I bought a house five years ago and I actually had to seek out a conveyancer in Melbourne because I was so confused by the whole thing.

What I’d prefer is a seminar. So you get the conveyancers in, the person selling the house, the person buying the house and whoever else. The estate agent, maybe. Someone would head the proceedings, preferably someone with actual knowledge on property transfers. Refreshments would be provided for all, naturally. There may even be music, or the bubbling of a mermaid-shaped fountain. Then the dominant authority would have to take charge and tell everyone exactly what they’re in for. No papers, unless people really want to take notes, and no complicated emails requiring untold amounts of back and forth. We’d proceed through the proceedings, every single tiny detail, only going onwards if everyone in the room understands everything that’s going on. All the property details, everything that would be contained within the paperwork but is now in verbal form.

So that would be the seminar. It would finish in a couple of hours, everyone would be provided with tea, coffee and possibly cake, and finally we’d all leave with the full knowledge of what we’re getting into. I need to get these conveyancing lawyers in Melbourne on this, because it’s clearly the superior method.