textures5, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

july 20 – 26

thank goodness for robert. he often reminds me on a friday that i need to publish the following weeks theme for our 52weeks project. fridays seem to come around sooo quickly! so this week, thanks to robert, the theme is “textures” … lucky me! i love photographing textures!

trying hard to unpack and find a place for everything, but with work and it being school holidays, it’s been tough. i’ve been lucky though as the kids have been invited all sorts of lovely places with friends so i find myself having bits of time here & there to attempt some kind of house organisation. i am really really craving some kind of normalcy – how insane – just to be able to find the most basic of things when we NEED them (and not tomorrow when THAT box gets unpacked) would be lovely.

vintage1, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

july 13 – 19

i chose the theme this week – “vintage”… so was it fortuitous then that over this past week, i received phone calls from several long time friends to whom i rarely speak these days? what a lovely surprise it was to hear their familiar voices on the other end of the phone line. and how fabulous is it to be able to talk like you had only seen each other yesterday…

fruit3, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

july 6 – 12
we moved this week. it was something like my 16th move in 20 years – some interstate, some local. moving never gets any easier. it’s always hectic, messy & invariably dirty – dust seems to accumulate in all kinds of places you don’t regularly clean (or at least not where i clean anyway). the last few moves have opened old wounds for me; forcing me into this huge unwanted internal dialogue – questioning the choices i have made & the path i have chosen. i knew i was getting really emotional when i was watching the live feed from michael jackson’s memorial service, and i cried. in my defence i had been up ALL night trying to finish the last minute packing before the removalists arrived. ultimately everything ends up ok, and we always love where we live. it’s amazing how well you settle into a new house and it quickly becomes home. i guess it helps that we have only moved one suburb away so basically everything else stays the same.

and seriously…if you have to move, then you need a family like mine, and friends just like mine to help you out. mum, gina, louise, teggo, paul, robert & mike all did loads to help – shifting car and trailer loads over all week, re assembling beds, and taking loads to the dump. louise fed us sooo many times & made sure the kids got to where they had to be on time (as well as providing me with quality coffee and great company). mum flew up here 2 weekends in a row and did so much work it was unbelievable. all the kids were great – not just mine, but also catherine, anna, swiz, freya, egg & thea . cath made us a mega curry that fed us all for about 3 days! everyone pitched in and helped out.

and the 52weeks theme this week is “fruit” – suggested by lis. somewhere amidst all the chaos i managed to snap a few pics.

morning1, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

june 29-july 5
what a chaotic week. we are in the middle of packing up our house ready to move. such a revolting job, but always good for a clean out! lyn has set the theme this week – “morning” and while i have been up at 4am many mornings for work, i have NOT felt inclined to pull out my camera.

cards1, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

june 22-28
betty has set the theme “cards” for our challenge this week. i am a sucker for the lovely words written by dear friends and family inside cards. i love when someone really puts thought into what they write and make you laugh or cry through their words. there are times when it’s really nice to hang on to those words …

water2, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

june 15-21
the theme for our 3rd week is water, as suggested by carrin. i of course dragged the kids over to the park and managed to get some water shots without anyone getting too wet – bit cold for that at the moment.

we finished the week off with a very lovely 3 days at noosa, to celebrate “the festival of louise!”. more 40th celebrations. 14 adults, 21 kids, all of us in the same apartment complex on hastings street – dinner at sails, coffee at aroma’s, walks through the national park, and even swimming at the beach (pretty good considering its winter).

bustops2, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

june 8-14

week 2 theme is bus stops…thanks hilda for the great suggestion! we had fun anyway, but really what can you do to make a bus stop more exciting? here’s everyones  photos

my dear friend louise turned 40 this week and i made a lil yt vid for her. they initially yanked the music off it (which was very annoying as all the songs i used were her faves)…its back again now but who knows for how long. here is the link if you want to check it out.

i took some photos of georgia, thea & seamus over at the park this weekend. i guess i am kind of biased, but i think they look really cute, so i thought i would share!

action6, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

june 1-7

we kicked off our fifty2 weeks project on monday…it’s going to be lots of fun, and so many great people are joining in which makes it even better! our first theme is action, and there’s always PLENTY of that around here so i easily managed to snap lots of shots. karen suggested the theme, and here is everyones uploads if you want to check them out.

louise suggested a queens birthday public holiday sausage sizzle over at melrose, so paul, louise & i, and 9 of our combined brood had a fun afternoon in the park. being the only man present, paul of course had to be the tong master…

365/365, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

thurs jun 4
365/365

today is the last day of project365 for me. i can’t believe i have finally made it across the finish line. my enthusiasm has ebbed & flowed over the past year but amazingly i managed to muster up just enough each and every day to take at least one photo.

i sat at work this morning feeling like it was all a bit of an anti climax. i think i had this thought somewhere in the deep dark recess of my brain that the final photo would be something huge…perfect…momentous. but as i stared out the window and saw a gloomy wet day i felt a bit sad that my final photo would in fact be a bit bleak.

work was yuk. fog in sydney, rain in brisbane, low cloud in adelaide, windy in perth – even cobar was fogged in! flights delayed all over the place. and a system upgrade last night went awry so no one had any flight plan details. add to the mix the fact that i was tired and feeling anxious about all the work i need to do before my psych exam next tuesday. and yes… as teggo so kindly pointed out, i was stuck working with one of my favourite people. NOT!

anyway, i made it through the day at work and then picked the kids up from school. the rain was clearing and blue sky emerging. i felt at a loose end. i had itchy feet feeling like i wanted to do something but really lacked enthusiasm to actually undertake anything. the kids took off to play tennis in the park. i pondered following them over but ended up having a 5 minute snooze on the couch that was promptly interrupted by the sound of a new car horn beeping out the front! yay! it was mama lou lou and the tribe in their brand new car (something good came out of the accident). she handed me the keys and i took off with them all hooning around the local streets! very nice indeed. how good do new cars smell! suddenly i was feeling brighter.

we were out the front waving them goodbye when i got a text to say paul and the kids were on their way over! beer oclock & skateboarding in the park. what more could i ask for. over there til way after dark and we literally were getting carried away by the mozzies.

funny how things can turn around so quickly.

so with that, project365 is now officially OVER! time to move on to project52weeks. can you believe i have “blogged” something like 400 photos and over 42000 words this past year?

for those that come here to read, and catch up on all the goss – i will still put the 52weeks pics & words up here once a week or so. thanks for all your kind comments, words & emails – it is actually really nice to know people other than me get something out of this!

song “never let the end begin” pete murray

i love you mum, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

wed jun 3
364/365

the kids did a cartooning workshop at school during the week, and now our house is littered with lots of cartoon characters drawn on scraps of paper!

georgia drew this one for me tonight. and these are her words.

dear mum,
you’re the best mum ever. i love you so so so much. whenever i see you , you make me smile, laugh and love you lots. whenever you leave i find it very hard. i feel like i need to cry because i miss you so so much and i love you so so much. you’re the best mum i could ever have and i love you lots.
love from georgia

ps. you come up with some great ideas. ♥ u lots!
ps. you don’t look that weird (like the cartoon pic) and you don’t wear i ♥ NY shirts. sorry. ♥ u.

song “i’ll stand by you” the pretenders