All I've Got To Do

...is a garage/bake sale, Aliya's First Reconcilliation, girls sleepover at friends, attend show at Melbourne International Comedy Festival, two basketball games, and a birthday party.
   First things first. We started off bright and early with a streetwide garage sale on Saturday morning. Andy went rowing, leaving me to deal with the hordes who swarmed the second I opened the garage door. I hastily set up the tables in the driveway, and piled the boxes of stuff on top of the tables.
   When Andy got home, he immediately started re-arranging, putting the tables along the footpath (sidewalk!) I seriously think he missed his calling as a shop owner. He has a great sense of marketing and knows how to display merchandise for maximum effect. His engineering skills came in handy as well, as he fashioned a clothing rack from a ladder, the pipe from our vacuum cleaner, and some zip ties.

Alanna manned the bake sale for the first few hours. The Costco muffins, croissants, cookies, and sour candy strips were a huge hit. I don't think many Aussies had ever seen muffins that big before though. By the end of the day, the bake sale raised almost $100 for charity!

Aliya and her friend loved working the garage sale. Customers were quite impressed that we had a cash register. Of course, a few wanted to buy the cash register, and a few wanted to know if we accepted EFTPOS (electronic funds transfer at point of sale. Catchy name, isn't it? Think debit cards.) And it was a great opportunity for them to practice their math skills as they worked out the proper change. Shhh, don't tell them!

   By the end of the sale, we'd made almost $300. Not too shabby. Andy was more excited about the new space in the garage and getting rid of things we didn't need. We all really enjoyed the chance to meet a lot more neighbors, as 6 or 7 other houses participated in the street-wide sale. We also got incredibly lucky with the weather. It poured on Friday, and on also Sunday, but more about that later. It was a beautiful warm and sunny day, probably the last one we'll get as autumn (not fall) is in full swing now.
   We'd advertised at the school so a number of their classmates came by. One of Alanna's friends stopped for a brief visit before heading off to a choir rehearsal. She invited Alanna to join her. Alanna did, and loved it. She will be performing at this event, which sounds really cool.
   While Alanna was singing Pack Up Your Troubles, we were packing up the remains of the garage sale for donation to charity. Then it was time to get cleaned up and head for church for Aliya's First Reconciliation. She was quite nervous about her first confession, but she got through it with flying colours, er, colors. Her First Communion will be later this year.
   Then we dropped the girls off at a friends house for dinner and sleepover (aka, free babysitting!) Andy and I took the train into the city to celebrate our 14th anniversary. We got a quick bite to eat at a nearby Indian restaurant, then headed to a show as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Andy bought tickets to see Tom Gleeson, a very funny comic. It was interesting to hear Aussie comedy. Different topics, of course, such as the teenager who got busted for drugs in Bali "Back home, he'd be a young druggie. But in Bali, according to newspapers, he's always a 'Young Australian full of promise!' " Of course, some topics such as new parenthood, are universal. Near the end of the act, he read this article. Go ahead, read it, I'll wait. Have you read it yet? Okay. Next thing that happens is his mom comes on stage and does a bit of an act. Hilarious! Definitely have to see more shows next year.
   The next morning started off waayy too early, as Aliya's basketball game was at 8:15. First game of the new season, and Aliya scored the first basket of the game. Unfortunately, they faced their nemesis from the Grand Final and lost by one point. We had a 45 minute break between games, a good opportunity to snack on some leftover bake-sale muffins, and then it was Alanna's turn. Her first game ever, and she scored a basket! Their team, despite being inexperienced, won handily. 
   She shoots...

   ...she scores, just not on this shot. I was too excited watching her play to capture the first basket! You can see she is head-and-shoulders, literally, above the competition.

Later than afternoon, the heavens opened up and poured down on us. The girls couldn't resist:

Look mom, a puddle!

A double rainbow over our house, though you might not be able to see it in the picture.

The girls desperately wanted to find the end of the rainbow, but we distracted them (really, parenting is mostly marketing and distraction) with a warm bubble bath in the spa tub.
   A great, but exhausting, weekend. I think Alanna was actually asleep by 9:30, which is quite amazing for her. She's often up until 11, much to our dismay, although she's been listening to some Mozart at night to try to relax her.
   Happily it's a two-day week for them, and us. Wednesday is ANZAC day, and the girls have off school Thursday and Friday. I'm sure we'll find something fun to do--stay tuned!