All's well that ends well

For the past few weeks, we've been praying for a heatwave. Specifically, a heatwave for today, the day of Jonah's first birthday party. We were lulled into a false sense of security by the unusual and short-lived spell of warm weather, and chose a theme of "BYO pool" party.

The fact that it had been raining for the past few days and that the temperature had struggled to even hit 20 degrees was only the beginning of our woes.

We then had to contend with THE dust storm. The one that turned Sydney into a martian-like landscape, the very same one that covered everything outside with a not so thin layer of red dust. Yes, everything including the outdoor setting cushion covers that I had painstakingly washed, the seats that I had carefully cleaned, the pavers that were lovingly scrubbed. AAARGGHHH!!! That is a lesson learnt that diligence is a waste of time. I should have kept to my usual procrastination.

And then, we got distracted by our bid to get on the Panama Canal cruise. Before we knew it, we had only 3 days left to finalise the details and prepare the house for Jonah's party. To make things worse, Jonah was due for his 12 month immunisations. We jabbed him (well, the nurse did) and hoped for the best. Luckily for us, he behaved like a good Albany child and did not get any fevers, rashes or unwanted changes in sleeping and eating patterns. Malcolm and I needed to celebrate this small but significant acheivement as well sustenance for our multipronged attack on our "to-do" list. So we arranged to have food from the 4 essential food groups in the one sitting. KFC, Hungry Jacks, Oporto's and Mc Donalds. Unfortunately, we were not able to fit in the 5th, pizza by any fastfood chain.

We managed to shop for all the food, organise the games, clean the house and kept the rain away! We had a fantastic time with family and friends and Jonah enjoyed opening all his presents and throwing them all over the room. We even remembered to take pictures and video footage. I now only have to remember where I put away the electronic equipment...