Almost Famous

Enormous excitement in the Pettifer household this week. George got the Nintendo job!

Now, of course, Andrew and I have always felt he was especially beautiful and talented, but it's nice to know someone else thinks so too!

Filming is at Fox Studios in Sydney on Monday and Tuesday, so he also gets a couple of days off school (which obviously George thinks is a huge bonus. He won't still be thinking that once I've produced the huge bundle of school work he will be doing to make sure that he keeps up...).

As a result of George telling all his mates at school, I think his cool quotient is on the up and up. It's been a good couple of days for him - he got the Nintendo job, he scored a distinction in a national computing studies exam (performed in the top 11% nationally) and a girl he likes phoned and asked him over. When you are 12, I don't think it gets much better than that.

We've just been to the studios for a wardrobe call. George's cool quotient started to decline when we found out that they were filming two adverts, and instead of being the nephew in ad 1, George was now the grandson in ad 2. The grandson in ad 2 is from the deep south of America, and before we knew it, George was dressed in denim dungarees and a checkered shirt. There goes any hope of being cool. But wait a minute! It's only being shown in the US. Saved! Or he would be if no one had ever invented the world wide web, and no one ever looked at You Tube...

Nevertheless, George did look very cute, and the directors and everyone else involved were very happy. For a child who is not particularly confident, the session today involved a number of moments where I know he felt very uncomfortable - a wardrobe room with two women and the door wide open (we are no longer permitted to see George in his underwear), and then once he was in his costume, about 7 people came in the room, gathered around him and just looked at him for a really long time. They were all American, and eventually he was pronounced to be 'working it' and they left. George and I giggled. Everyone was very friendly, the atmosphere was very relaxed, and I know it is going to be a very interesting experience for both George and me. There was lovely food too...

Whilst all this has been occupying our thoughts a bit this week, we mustn't forget that Anna has been on school camp to Bathurst - a former goldmining area. We haven't heard much about it just yet, as she is still dreadfully overtired and a bit stroppy. On Friday it was 38 degrees here, and only just about bearable, and it is usually far hotter the further inland you go, so I hate to think what the temperature was there. Everyone is telling us that they are expecting a very hot summer, especially after the rubbish one we had last year. I'm not sure whether to be pleased or not. I know we can cope with up to 38 degrees, but I'm not sure about over 40. Good job we've got good aircon in this house!