This is happiness ...

Out of Office

Clan Jones are all on holidays.

Lochie had his last day of school on Thursday. He's grown a lot, but underneath the learned cynicism and world-weariness is the same gorgeous natured little kid. He was quite upset on Thursday night - not about school but because his teacher was going to a new school next year and he would never see her again.

In the end we sent her an email and Lochie called the school on Friday to speak to her :-)

Hayz finished up yesterday - with barely a whimper. When Loch was upset on Thursday night Hayz had a cry of her own - about the little kids at kindy that she wouldn't get to see any more. By Friday morning she no longer cared.

We have a graduation ceremony for her this afternoon and she plays Mrs Claus in a show and gets to make a little speech on behalf of the kids. I can't wait to see it.

Mrs J and myself are also on leave. It was not overly hard for either of us to leave work ...

There won't be any updates for a few days!!!

Almost There

Well - it seems as though the year is slowly ebbing away. I know there's still almost a month to go, but between some planned holidays and Christmas there really doesn't seem to be all that much left. Good riddance to this year ...

To be truthful it hasn't all been bad. I've managed to reconnect with some people who I thought were either gone from my life or drifting away. My kids have grown beautifully and, as with every year, I've learnt some life lessons that are best remembered.

But I've also spent way too much time in hospitals and a shitload of time in my car. I've had some very dark and sad moments - but these moments have also helped show me those who care.

There is a silver lining - but I'm looking forward to 2010 as well :-)

Tired

So, so tired. Very tired. Need to sleep. Early start tomorrow ...

Sleep. Please??

A Different Sort Of Day

I woke up this morning at my usual time of 04:45. I looked out the window and was satisified the cars were still there and also noted a pretty thick mist. No matter, I've run in worse. I got myself dressed in my running gear and was very shortly out the door.

The first thing that struck me as strange was the mist - it was very dry and not cold at all. In fact the weather was still somewhat balmy. I'd worn a long sleeve shirt and realised very quickly I would get quite warm.

Within a minute or two I also noticed by throat was very dry and my eyes were itchy. My hands felt a bit dirty. Bugger me!!! It's not mist - but some sort of sand/dirt thing in the air.

Suffice to say I kept moving and ended up staying outside for about an hour. By the time I got back home my clothes had changed colour to brown and I had little rivulets of mud running down my legs from the sweat and dirt combining. I smelt like dirt!!!

I spend the next 3-4 hours coughing. As I type I am still occasionally coughing but will probably clear out all the dirt in my lungs just in time to go outside again :-)

There was some interesting commentary about all this on the radio. A young girl (about 8 years old) suggested the colourings made Sydney look like an old fashioned photo - everything becoming sepia toned. A cheeky lad suggested today was National Ranga Day.

My favourite was a bloke who called in claiming to be God. Apparently the folks in heaven had decided to test if they could make the sky run red with the blood of sinners and they were quite impressed with the results :-)

Misty Morning

I took this picture while spending some time up in the mountains in early July. We woke up one morning and the scene was 'just there'. All I've done to the picture is added a sepia effect.

Summer is coming ...

I know it's really an Aussie thing to say but I don't like summer very much.

There are certainly plenty of good things about it - watermelon and rockmelon, ice-creams and gelato, swimming, cricket and lovely young ladies in mini-skirts, opening a very cold beer and hearing the fizz of the carbon, BBQ's (these can be had at any time really) and being able to drive to and from work in the sun.

But there's so much about it that isn't good. The heat for a start. I start to feel some distress at about 25 degrees. Which means I'll more or less spend the next 6-8 months feeling vaguely uncomfortable just because of the temperature.

Now that I think about it that's the only issue I have. The heat - and the fact that I never seem to cool down. Any maybe that I have to get up very, very early to see the sun come up.

Which brings back a memory for me.

I went out at 04:45 yesterday for a bike ride - which carried me nicely through sunrise. There was a point where I looked to my right and in the foreground was a field sparsely populated with trees and a slowly rising mist. In the midground was a pond and in the background the sun was just starting to peek through the mountains.

It was one of those moments where I felt lucky to be alive and in that moment. I'm going out again tomorrow morning (I ran today, and in a different suburb. Same time but the sunrise wasn't nearly so good) and maybe I'll be lucky and see something similar.

Intermission

It's been a funny old day for me - at points I have been very sad remembering those who have gone before me, and at others I have been delighted by the antics of those whom I have helped to produce.

Today was, essentially, a day of chores. We woke up and we were straight into it. It would be fair to say I did 'man jobs' and Mrs G did 'womans jobs' for the most part - but it wouldn't be entirely true.

I did have the pleasure of destroying a matic while trying to remove the stump of a long dead tree. And I got a hayfever type response from mowing the lawn/weeds/clover/green stuff in our backyard.

Somewhere in the midst of all of this I got several minutes of video of the kids performing magic tricks, and playing and being generally friendly towards each other. Hugs between them are not uncommon and on the whole they get along quite well.

I feel as though there should be more to say but in all honesty this entry sums up my day quite nicely - a bit of this and a bit of that with some extra thrown in.

Athletics

The kids started back at athletics last night. LGR is an U/7 and Hayz is still in the Tiny Tots (aka U/5) age group.

They love. All winter they've spoken about going back to athletics and, sure enough, when the time came they were keen as mustard.

We didn't take any pictures last night but it looks as though LGR is turning into a handy long jumper. I acted as the age manager for his group last night so didn't get to see Hayz (big sob!!) but by all accounts she had a great time.

Cuddles

Is This the New Normal?

I feel like my life is starting to become 'normal' again. Days are starting to slide by and the events of the day are, largely, fairly predictable. This is a good thing.

What's been going on my life?

The kids are growing up faster than they should. LGR had a rought trot over the past 6-8 weeks but seems to be coming out of it with added maturity and patience. He has regained his sense of empathy and compassion - but can be a fiery little chap. Hayz is ready for school. Very, very ready. Love is her big thing right now - she loves everyone :-)

The social life has picked up a little. There is something on each weekend - but we seem to be able to make plenty of 'family time' also.

My footy team can't play as well as they could last year. Still better than Mrs G's team though.

Work is more interesting than it used to be. I seem to be getting out of bed at 03:00 more and more often. This is good and bad. Good because I get a very nice trip into work (peak hour doesn't begin until 05:00) and I get to come home early. Bad because I end up working 12-14 hour days (I work from home in the afternoons) and sometimes I get a bit tired.

I still have dodgy knees; but ride my bike more often (esp since getting riding tights). It reminds of being 12 years old and riding everywhere because it hurt too much to walk.

I still love loud music. I am mostly listening to a fantastic Danish band called Volbeat. The singer sounds like Elvis. The music sounds like the devil is playing it!!!

The tomatoes are going beautifully in the backyard, as are all my herbs. The poor old Aloe Vera is a bit sunburnt and will need to be relocated.

My grass is 18 inches tall in some places. I should mow it, and probably will one day. Maybe.

My car, after complaining to the warranty holder for over 15 months, is suddenly driving nicely. Why? I replaced the tires. Makes me wonder how hard they actually looked for the problem I complained about. Also makes me wonder how they have been inspecting my brakes during servicing ....

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All in all I feel like my life is in a good place right now.

A Full Weekend

Clan Jones has just completed a very full weekend.

Grandma arrived, with dinner (yay) on Friday night and we ate, drank some wine and then watched 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'. It was a bit eery watching it - having just been through a similar situation with my own Mum.

Saturday began with an early morning bike ride - temperature was just above freezing and the wind was very cold. Especially when the bike gathered a bit of speed.

I popped off for a haircut at about 08:30 and Mrs J, Grandman and the kids walked over to the soccer fields. After I was made look presentable again I ventured over there and had the pleasure of watching both kids wind up the season. Will we play soccer again next year? I'm not sure but at least the kids had fun.

After soccer it was back home for a slap up lunch and then, after Grandma left for home, out to do some groceries and get some stuff to setup a home office. Why? Mrs J has a (very exciting) new job and is a 'mobile worker' so her office is more or less at home with trips off to here, there and everywhere in between.

We also got some groceries ....

Saturday finished with a party - for a 6 year old. Wasn't as bad as it sounds. We're friends with the family and there was very much an 'adults' section and a 'kids' section - although both worlds collided fairly frenetically on the jumping castle :-)

Sunday is a day of rest. Allegedly. We woke up gracefully enough and had a lovely breakfast of bacon, eggs, mushrooms and crumpets before pottering around the house doing a variety of jobs that need to be done eg vacuuming, changing sheets etc.

Mid morning it was off to the Chef's house for a working bee - but the only work any of us did was painting their pergola. Make that two pergolas. When we left neither was complete. So much timber, and so dry ....

We got home very tired, dirty and sore but the kids found enough energy to help me make enough marinade for some spatchcock chickens and we all had a fairly pleasant dinner.

So that was pretty much our weekend. Pretty much a normal weekend and we haven't had one of those for a long, long time!!!

Returned

Here I am. Back again. It's been a long, long time since I last wrote anything.

Things got a bit tough for a while. Very tough. There was laughter and tears. Humour and mirth.

Memories recalled and memories discovered. In the end there was sadness, emptiness, loss. Then hope emerged and a large garthering assembled to remember, to enjoy and to share.

Farewell my dear Mum. You will never be forgotten; you will always be missed. You are in our hearts forever.

Karate Kids

Little A's Presentation

Closer

I was uploading some pics from our Queensland trip in 2006 (so long ago but so fresh in my mind), and then looking at other pics from NZ in 2007 and I suddenly realised just how much I am looking forward to getting away from everything with just Mrs Jones and the kidlets.

It feels like an eternity since we've had an 'adventuring' holiday and it will be a thrill to get and see new sights, do new activities and spend a bunch of time together with nothing much planned.

We should also be able to get some more pics of Mrs J and myself on this trip - both kids know how to use a camera now so we can share it around a bit. We got maybe 5 or 6 pics from NZ and none from Qld in '06 ....

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The kids were their Gi to karate last night and they seemed to so much better for now having a 'uniform'. LGR in particular looked to have some really good technique and is beginning to look the part. He has almost learnt his first kata and once this is done there'll be a bit of refinement and then possibly a grading in the near future.

Hayz is still quite happy to play karate and dips in and out of the lessons. Her technique is a little behind LGR but she's so cute when she practices :-)

11 Days

It's been 11 days since my last post - and 11 days until I go on holidays!!!!

As always our lives have been filled with a lot of nothing - weekends are busy for social reasons again and weeks are busy for work reasons again.

I'm possibly the only person left in Sydney who is still loving the rain. Everything seems so much cleaner, fresher and more vibrant when the rain is about. It's terrific to run in and so important for the world we live in.

A Sad Birthday

It's my Mum's birthday today - and she celebrated by spending her 30th consecutive day in hospital. 

I managed to get over to see her after work and was there at just the right time to run into Aunt LJ and her cute little family. After forever (maybe 15-20 minutes) we finally got in to see Mum (she was with some nurses) and celebrated by handing over a card, a kiss and having some ice cream cake!!!

I am very sure there will be a celebration when she finally gets out of hospital - probably sometime next week now.

Happy birthday Mum.

The Weekend is Over

The long weekend seemed to go for a very long time. We did a lot of things.

Saturday morning began well - soccer was cancelled due to all the rain. Ironically it was a beautiful day with bright blue skies and sun, but the grounds were water logged.

We started the day with some grocery shopping and then Mrs G and Hayz went to do some clothes shopping while LGR put the groceries away and then headed out for some lunch, a visit to Nanna (still in hospital) and some Aqua Golf. Ran into Grandpa at the hospital, broke the DS and saw the helicopter take off. Aqua Golf was fun - LGR hit the ball pretty well and had a good time.

We had dinner guests on Saturday night. The kids all got along famously and the adults had a good time. Dinner was some Chinese which tasted pretty good and was provided at a very good price. Somehow LGR and Hayz got away with sleepovers - LGR went out and Hayz's friend stayed with us.

This wasn't a huge problem - both girls went to sleep straight away and didn't stir until 08:45 on Sunday morning.

After a leisurely breakfast we dropped off Hayz's mate and then made a very good lasagna for our afternoon/evening engagement - a group affair where each family had to provide a dish. Another good evening spent chatting, dancing (not me of course - but plenty of others were doing it) and playing pool. LGR played a few games with me and was starting to get the hang of it by the end of the evening.

Monday was a bit slower. Hayz woke up at 10:00!!!! We breakfasted and showered and decided to head out to visit Nanna and do a bit of shopping while we were out and about. The kids behaved very well at the shops and picked up a few DVD's for their efforts. We were home by about 15:30 and straight into a period of doing nothing.

I worked on LGR's first school assignment with him and we finished our busy couple of days with a lovely meal and a terrific chat.

I'm Only Happy When It Rains

LGR's soccer training was called off last night - apparently the council shut down the grounds. It hasn't rained for two days ..... but it did rain last night and I ran in the rain this morning. I love running in the rain - it makes the run feel fresh and natural and almost like a battle of wills against nature.

Instead of soccer training we had a nice, leisurely meal of burritos followed by LGR performing a selection of songs - some on the guitar and some with him singing. LGR has joined the school choir and I love watching him sing at the top of his voice. He's a better singer than I ever was or will be.

I was outwitted by the kids last night. I put them in the bath and told them I had to go downstairs to do a few things, and that I'd be back to wash their hair. While I was downstairs they (predictably) got into a fight.

What I didn't expect was for them both to get out of the bath, pull the plug and then come downstairs to dob on each other and get dressed!!!

A week is a long time

I've been a bit slack but here's my summary of the last week:

Mum had some more surgery last Tuesday. She's recovering pretty well and is well and truly into the next phase of treatment. There is good reason to suspect she will be out of hospital later this week.

LGR and Hayz both played in losing sides on the weekend. Hayz's team got thumped - I think she is actually in an U6 comp and nobody in her team is old enough to go to school yet. The team they played on the weekend definitely had kids who were school age.

LGR's team lost by a goal. I didn't see the game but when I turned up a majority of the parents on LGR's team were yelling abuse at the referee and bemoaning that the boys were losing because the other team were cheating. What I saw of the game (about 3 minutes) looked ok but I won't comment on what came before it. I don't know what it is about soccer parents - in both teams I've been involved in it's all started out so positively and degenerated into vitriol.

What else? I've been running heaps and it feels good. My legs are consistently sore/tired and today my shoulders are a bit heavy - but I'm enjoying it immensely. Including today I've done 10 days in a row .... 3 cheers for me!!! Diet is still a bit shocking so I doubt I'm losing weight.

Mrs G has been going on a few work trips recently. Two weeks back she was in Newcastle for a night, and last week in Canberra for a night. I think she's back up to Newcastle again today but only for a day trip. I expect she'll be tired when she gets home.

There's also been some talk about Mrs G moving into a new job in her present company. Some things have to occur first but it seems as though the question has moved from if it will happen to when it will happen.

Serene LGR

In early 2006 we packed up the car and took the kids for a couple of weeks in Noosa and Surfers Paradise. While in Noosa LGR made a habit of waking up early - so we would get dressed and go for a walk while the girls slept.

This photo sums up the mood of those walks - very serene, calm and beautiful. It was a gorgeous time - my little boy and me walking around with nothing much to do and nowhere much to be.

A Long Weekend

My Nan turned 80 this weekend. A very large part of the family was able to attend her party - which stretched from lunch at a restaurant thru to cake and afternoon tea at our house, and then into dinner and finally some post dinner drinks for most of the grandchildren.

A very notable ommission was my poor ol' Mum - who is still in hospital and still travelling the most unpredictable rollercoaster. Whenever we think she is starting to show signs of improvement something happens and we all feel as though we are back at the beginning.

Early last week it was 0 steps forward and 3 steps back, then it became 1 forward and 2 back. Right now I think it is 1 forward and 1 back but, as we are discovering, this can change very quickly.

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We took advantage of a relatively quiet afternoon today to watch a movie called 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua'. Lil' Ms Hayz cried in this movie too - the chihuahua got dognapped and Hayz was very convinced the dog missed her owner. I enjoyed it because Hayz snuggled into me very tightly :-)

ABCD

My phone uses 'Back in Black' by AC/DC as a tone for incoming SMS. It goes off quite a bit - thanks to work and friends ... Because it goes off fairly often LGR started humming the main riff while playing his computer the other day :-)

I asked him where he knew the song from and he explained that it was from my phone. I played him the full song and he loved it. He loved it so much that the asked me:

"Dad - you know that CD you're going to make me? The one with Powderfinger and Silverchair and Keith Urban? Can you put ABCD on it as well?"

I had a chuckle :-)

Dancing Girl

A video - too see if this works.

Playing

We were playing with a soccer ball in a park on Sunday and within 2 minutes I managed to wallop both of my kids in the head with it. Hayz was first. I managed to get her flush on the forehead and she fell over. It was almost funny.

LGR was second. I kicked the ball thru the air from about 25m and it curved into him at the last moment. He tried to duck but I got him on the side of the head.

Once again, almost funny :-)

LGR also did a couple of hot laps of the park on his bike. His confidence is growing and by the end of it I was having a bit of trouble keeping up (I was running next to him).

Younger Pt 2

Trivia You Shouldn't Miss Out On

On the 7th of August, this year, at 5 minutes and 6 seconds after 4am, the time and date will be: 04:05:06 07-08-09

This will not happen again until the year 3009.

Tooth

LGR's had a tooth come out yesterday. His first 'missing' tooth. So sweet. So cute. 

I got home and he gave me a massive, goofy, toothy grin with a hole in the middle of it. The tooth fairy has visited overnight and LGR has discovered there is a profit in having teeth come out :-)

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We watched a 'family movie' last night called Bridge to Terabithia. There was a very sad part towards the end of the movie and Hayz cried. Again. She's doing that a lot when watching movies. I'm glad she understands the context of the movie.

LGR, for his part, simply watched and then declared "That was awesome".

Younger

Sort of, kinda

I had a funny old day. Nothing happened that was bad, but I still feel a bit ho-hum about everything. Mrs G came back from her latest work trip and, since the sirloin didn't thaw completely, we had some very good pizza from the yellow shops.

I've just got home from visiting Mum (in hospital again) and was going to go for a run. But, now I'm not. I think I may just head upstairs, read for a bit and then snooze.

A big night in the Jones house :-)

A Virtual World

Today I have been inducted into the world of Facebook - or FB as I am seeing it frequently called.

I find it kind of bizarre that it's taken me this long to get involved in it - my job has been IT based for 9 years now but I've never really cared about the consumer side of it. I've always been about the technology challenge and what I could make it do - not what an end user could do with it. 

But now I'm the user and I'm pretty impressed. I see some of the things that are being offered and I think of how they could possibly be applied in my current work situation. Not much of it what would be easy to implement ....

It's also kind of exciting. I like being a 'noob' and experimenting with stuff. I am also surprised to find that that I take a particular delight in others contacting me and saying they want to be my friend. It doesn't mean much - to make such an offer is just a single mouse click - but at the same time it's kind of nice.

Maybe some events in my personal life are having an impact on my 'social' life.

Anyway - FB is going to be a part of my life for a while and we'll see what comes of it.

A General Update

It feels as though I have been superbusy, but when I sit here getting ready to type it out there doesn't seem to be much. I think that might be because a lot of our busy revolves around family things - training, schooling, health care and whatever else.

Everyone in Clan Jones has had a cold of some description. My own version of it lasted just 3 days; whereas Hayz is getting into her 2nd week (after very nearly clearing up over the weekend). LGR sniffled for a few days and Mrs G seems to be getting crook and will probably have a decent cold by the end of the week.

I also managed to hurt my back. Again. Nothing major. I was lifting a 6 year old boy (not my own) over a fence by leaning over the fence and grabbing his hands (I was well and truly on the high side of the fence). As I raised my hands above my head to get his waist above the fence my back gave me a bit of 'cop this' and that was all that was needed for the next two weeks. I've just started exercising again ...

Mrs G is more or less fully recovered from her hospital experience. She is exercising and telling me there is no more pain. Work seems to think she has recovered also - she's back on the road again tomorrow for the first of what I think will be many trips.

The kids are still kids and still intermittently frustrating and beautiful.

Chef

Last Friday (I think) LGR had a dressup dance at school. The theme was 'M'. LGR's first idea was to dress up as Mario Batali of Iron Chef fame (well ..... that's how LGR knows him). After a while we decided to change it to MasterChef (another TV show about cooking) because not everybody would understand Mario Batali; and it was kind of hard to get a blue chef outfit.

The results are pretty impressive :-)

I Dont' Think So

Hayz has been telling Mrs G that there is a little girl at kindy who keeps telling her she is ugly ... Understandably poor 'lil Hayz gets a bit upset about this. Apparently the same girl also pinches her.

I don't think Hayz is ugly ....

Regardless ....

I don't really have a lot news. I've booked a trip for Mum and myself up to Queensland in mid May. I promised Mum a holiday for her Christmas present, but chemo had to stop first. Chemo has stopped and she is in between treatments so we are going to jump on a plane, get off at Coolangatta and spend a few days on the Gold Coast. Apart from knowing that Mum wants to catch up with a friend I'm not too sure of what we will do.

I've had a bit of a crook back this week. I hurt it lifting a kid over a fence on Saturday night (have I already written about that??). It gets a little better each day but I haven't been able to exercise since last Friday and I'm getting a bit restless. I might be able to go out and do something on Saturday. Maybe.

Crying

We were watching a movie called 'Nim's Island' tonight (ie all of Clan Jones) and miss Hayz started crying. There was a part where Nim was 'caught' by a boy from a visiting cruise ship and they had a conversation while a volcano was erupting.

The boy ends up running back to his Mum & Dad after asking Nim to come with him. Nim says no because it is her island and her home.

Hayz started crying because Nim was all alone and couldn't find her Dad (who, at this point of the movie, was lost at sea).

We've always known LGR has a massive heart and is full of empathy. Now I've seen it in Hayz as well :-)

Birthdays Everywhere

There's been a million birthdays in my family this week (sort of) - and all within a few days of each other. As is my usual form I missed them all :-(

So, happy birthday to the girls just down the road and happy birthday to the bloke just over the hill.

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LGR went into town with Grandma yesterday to see the Star Wars exhibition at the Powerhouse. He enjoyed it, which wasn't much of a surprise. What was a surprise, for me, was seeing him get off the train that they caught into town. I managed to leave work in time to get them both from the station and was amazed by how grown up LGR looked when he dressed up a little. He's still my baby boy but each day he does new things which surprise me and make me proud.

LGR Computer Art (Age 5)

Return of the Son

LGR came home today. He's spent the last couple of days up in the mountains with Grandma. I'm not entirely clear on what they've been up to apart from:

• Watching craploads of Iron Chef on the Lifestyle Channel (unlike when LGRis at home ....)
  
• Visiting Jenolan Caves and taking a leisurely stroll through the Orient Cave
  

Each time we spoke to LGR he sounded quite excited. He also appeared to be quite excited to be home again today. Hayz certainly missed him and they gave each other an enormous hug at the front door.

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Mrs G went back to work today. Physically back, that is. She worked from home yesterday and today did what she euphemistically called a 'half day' - which means damned near a full day but leaving 1-2 hours early .... She survived the day and that's the main thing.

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Hayz had her interview for school next year yesterday. I missed it due to work (I've taken a fair bit of time off work recently and couldn't really justify any more without a good reason). Mrs G informed me that Hayz was very well behaved and performed, and Hayz informed me that she had a great time. The short version of events is that we will be getting an invite for Hayz to attend next year. 

It will be a thrill to not have to pay for kindy any more, and to only have one drop off and pick up each day. I suspect the kids will enjoy knowing each other is at the same school and will check on each other a few times each day.

It will be quite sad to know we have no more kids who are young enough to still attend kindy :-(

Flower

Mrs G had a few bunches of flowers delivered to her (or home) while she was in hospital. 

Poor Mrs G was in hospital for so long the flowers delivered to home started to die before she got back. I decided to take some pics to make sure she at least got to see them. Some of them worked out pretty well. I like the semi abstracted pics best ...

Holidays Part II

The second part of our 'holidays' was a trip to Bents Basin for some camping. We arrived just before 09:00 on Good Friday and somehow managed to get setup within about 2 hours. Putting up the tent was fun - it had never been out of it's packaging before but, in the end, was a pretty straightforward process.

What do we when we are camping? Not much on this one. We ate plenty of meat and bread (and not so much fruit and veg), went swimming and set some yabby traps. Yabbying was fun, but highly unsuccessful. We caught nothing but did end up with a few injuries out of the trip through the bush to the river. The kids played a lot of chess and we all played some soccer and cricket.

Easter Sunday was quite good. Hayz woke the tent up by loudly whispering (if you know what I mean) "LGR - there's choccy next to my bed" For his part LGR looked up, confirmed there was choccy and then went back to sleep :-)

Mid morning we setup an Easter Egg hunt for the kids and they spent a very pleasant 30 minutes searching for chocs, and then consuming the fruits of their efforts.

Home time was kind of amusing. 2 out of 3 cars going home wouldn't start - including ours. The batteries had run low due to a combination of air compressor use, radios and just leaving doors open for too long ....

Jumper leads are a very good thing!!!

As much as we all had fun it was very nice to come home. When we got back we all washed thoroughly, popped on a movie for the kids, had an easy dinner and were asleep by 19:30.

Soccer Girl

Hayz got her soccer uniform over the weekend. It will probably still fit her when she turns 10. The shirt and pants are both size 8 (she currently wears size 3 or 4 for most things). The socks come up to her hips when she puts them on. The drawstring on her shorts can go around her waist ....

I haven't seen LGR in his gear yet but in a beautiful little twist of fate both kids are number 5 in their team, and have both size 8 shirts!!!

Holidays - Part I

I've sort of been on holidays for a bit now - I took the Wednesday and Thursday prior to Easter off and then had the Easter weekend. It was nice to have a break; and nice to be able to look after Mrs G a little bit (she's stubbornly independent at times and doesn't always respond positively to expressions of concern).

So what have I been up to?

Last Wednesday started with a bit of a sleep in and then dropping the kids at school. After this Mrs G and I went out for some shopping - some DVD's, BBQ coals and some camping stuff .... In the afternoon we kicked back a little and watched 'Australia' - the movie directed by Baz and starring our Nichole and our Hugh.

I was captivated by Nulla - the half-caste aboriginal kid. I couldn't help but see Hayz in him; particularly in the clear brown eyes, hair colour and strong, open gaze. For me it personalised the movie in a way that the leads could not.

The afternoon saw us at soccer training for Hayz. I'm not sure how or why but she suddenly figured out soccer and ran rings around everyone. She potted at least 8 goals in their training game and was close to unstoppable. Mummy and Daddy were both very proud :-)

Dinner was provided for us courtesy of LGR's school. They had heard we were going through some interesting times and decided to help out by providing a meal. Nice sentiment but I don't think we really needed it.

Thursday was the day of the end of term assembly for LGR. It was nice for both myself and Mrs G to be able to attend - made even more thrilling by LGR getting an award. He has made massive improvements at school this term and we loved seeing it be acknowledged.

The afternoon was a lot of camping prep activities. As always we packed a billion things .... One day we will get better at packing for trips and not take everything we own.

We had some dinner guests on Thursday night - Aunt BJ and her new (old) male associate. It was quite a pleasant evening which has highlighted by LGR serenading us on his guitar while we ate dinner :-)

Home

Mrs G came home from hospital last night. In the end she was in hospital for 10 days to get her gall bladder removed ... Not a bad effort.

Apparently walking out the hospital door was what you would imagine it would feel like to walk out of jail - and being in a car again was like a ride in a fun park!!!

Beautiful Brown Eyes

The kids and I went to visit Mrs G at the hospital (again) and LGR started telling us about a song he learnt at guitar lessons called 'Beatiful Brown Eyes'.

Miss Hayz piped up with "I have beautiful brown eyes. And a beautiful face."

I suspect modesty is not one of her character attributes.

Mrs G is travelling well today - there's been a substantial improvement in the last 24 hours and even her doctor finally said she was improving. They still need the final op on Monday but there's real hope she might be home on Tuesday.

As an extra special treat she has been given permission to go to the park opposite the hospital tomorrow and have a picnic lunch with us :-)

Remembering

This pic was taken just over 4 years ago ... They've changed a bit since then.

How Can The Same Thing Happen To The Same Person Twice

Forget the title - it should be 'Three Times'.

Mrs G is going to have her 3rd lot of surgery in about 10 days .... at this stage she will get shifted to a new hospital on Monday and have something done to fix something. I don't know much more than that and neither does she really. I guess the shock of finding out you are still crook when you feel like you are improving is a nasty one.

Mrs G may get to come home next Tuesday or Wednesday. Maybe.

On top of that poor 'lil Hayz is crook - she's thrown up 3 times this afternoon. The last time was just as we pulled into the driveway after coming back from hospital. All over the car ...

Smells good.

Another Day, More News

Today was day 5 or 6 that Mrs G has been in hospital .... Starting to feel like a long time. She was given the bad news that she is unlikely to go home any time before Saturday. This didn't make her happy.

Having said that the mood was noticeably brighter when the kidlets and I visited this evening. Mrs G was far more talkative and the kids were much better behaved than on previous occasions.

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I gave the kids a bath and dinner before we went to see Mrs G. We had some very special 'Iron Chef' moments.

The first was the kids playing 'Iron Chef' in the bath. LGR was Bobby Flay and Hayz was Cat Cora. Hayz was making a coconut and fresh air sausage :-)

The second was from me. I was cooking up some seafood (salt and pepper squid and some octopus) and wanted the wok as hot as possible. I put in some peanut oil and let it heat up. It started smoking so in went the occy, then a quick wrist flick to get it moving in the oil.

WHOOSSSHHHH!!! 

The oil caught fire and it looked fantastic. There was  beautiful sear on the occy and both kids thought the fire (which was probably close to 2 feet tall) was terrific. It only lasted 3-4 seconds but the house was filled with smoke and we turned on every fan we could find, opened all the windows and blasted the air con thru the downstairs ....

Much fun :-) And the food was pretty tasty too.

What Day Is It?

I feel like I don't know what day of the week it is or where I am going .... The last couple of days have been ridiculously hard from an emotional perspective.

Mrs G had a very bad turn of events on Monday and ended up back in surgery on Monday evening. There's no clear reason for what transpired - although a brochure her surgeon provided at the initial consult indicated that what happened was a potential (but rare) side effect of the original surgery.

Having said that - it was bloody hard to watch and, I'm quite sure, far harder for her to live through. I'm glad it's over. Not as much as someone else is.

At this stage it looks like being at least another two days until Mrs G comes home ....

Which brings me to the kids.

They have been pretty good about the whole thing. At different times they both drag me aside and we have a chat about what is going on with Mummy and how much we miss her. I'm not entirely sure Hayz understands but she is very aware - when I picked her up from kindy today she was getting her hair done in anticipation of going to see 'Mummy at the hospital'.

LGR is quite aware and is very sweet with his concern. On several occasions he has wandered up to me and stated "I just love Mummy so much and miss her so much". He's made a couple of cards for her (which are the most beautiful cards you could imagine - full of the beautiful phrasing of a pure minded golden child) and even gone so far as to state "I only care about my family. Nothing else. Only my family counts."

Sweet kids.

Surgery

I guess a few readers already knew that Mrs G was a bit crook - she's been feeling unwell for maybe 2 months and getting really bad in the last couple of weeks. She was diagnosed with a fairly common issue that, unfortunately, required a surgical remedy.

The surgery was completed yesterday and the last day and a half of my life has felt like it has been never ending. Hospitals are terrible places and I couldn't imagine trying to deal with grief in such a weird place. Everyone in there is really nice and genuinely trying really hard but the whole experience of being in the place is somehow impersonal and just odd.

But I am travelling down the wrong path. 

Mrs G has come through surgery in tact and more or less healthy - but isn't coming home as soon as was hoped. As with any surgery there are potential side effects and she has one of them. Pretty severely too. It won't cause a long term issue but, unfortunately, can't be treated in the short term either. She just has to take very strong drugs and wait it out.

The op was yesterday - and only 3 hours late. The op and recovery took 1 hour longer than expected,  and then security tried to boot me out of the hospital within minutes of her coming out of recovery. Not happening dude ...

The kids have had 3 visits today - one before soccer, one after soccer and one after lunch. I think Mrs G is quite happy to see them, but also quite happy for the quiet periods in between the visits. 

Hayz kicked her first goal in soccer today. It was an own goal but she was pleased as punch. And it was deliberate. LGR plays tomorrow - his first Sunday game.

We took advantage of a very nice park opposite the hospital to have some scooter and bike time. LGR rode for about 30 minutes and still doesn't believe he can ride without me. I spent the whole time running next to him with one hand resting very lightly on his back. He may have started to believe at the end because he was getting faster and faster. 

He wants to ride again tomorrow :-)

Special Pictures

Honesty

LGR managed to snatch a few minutes of TV tonight and made the following observation about a female on the show:

"She looks a bit funny. When she's close. She looks better from far, far away."

I Can Fly High Like An ....

Believe it or not this is a photo of LGR at soccer taining. There is no training uniform so we let him choose his own clothes. The Eagles may not have won (m)any games this year but they're still loved in our house. By at least 3 of us :-)

The Return of the Mummy

LGR, Hayz and myself (and several other carloads of friends) went for a drive yesterday. It was a lovely drive. At the end of the drive we found a series of very cute cottages nestled amongst some lovely gardens. In one of the cottages was a lady we all recognised:

Mummy!!!

It turns out that Mrs G had a pretty good time down there in Kangaroo Valley - as did her travelling companions. She was happy to see us, but there was also a certain amount of sadness to be leaving her place of serenity.

The kids didn't mind that she was coming home.

We drove down via Bowral - which was packed even at 09:45am. A few of the families that ventured down with us (or with Mrs G - whichever way you want to look at it) decided to head back up via the coast with us. We bravely decided to take Kangaroo Valley Rd to get to Berry and then head to Gerringong for lunch. 

Kangaroo Valley Rd is everything I love about country driving - narrow winding roads up and down hills with switchbacks, obscenely good views and always the chance of either a head on crash or sliding down the side of a mountain. Some of the houses along this road are superb and I can easily envisage a life for myself an area like this.

We lunched, as planned, in Gerringong. Fish and chips in the park. The 'chippie' we found was very much in the old style - food served in grease proof paper and all sorts of once cooked but no semi-dried meats in the display - kranskys, crumbed lamb cutlets, patties, battered savs, pineapple fritters, crumbed and battered fish (looking like it was still frozen), fish cocktails, dim sims and chicken nuggets. There was even a rudimentary selection of salads.

While the place evoked some very old memories it must be said the taste of the food was underwhelming ....

The trip back home was very mellow. Both kids (and Mrs G) had a snooze and wihin a short while we were all safe and sound in our little part of the world.

Soccer

Both kids are playing soccer this year - and we've just come back from this weeks games.

Hayz is playing in a level called nursery. The field they use is about 30-40m long and about 20m wide. There are no goalies and only 4 on the field at a time. The refereeing is done by the coaches. I'm not sure but I think she enjoys the game - she claims to and has a smile on her face when she runs around. Getting her started is sometimes a bit hard but ....

LGR has moved up to U/7. He is playing more or less under the same rules as last year - but he personally is a much better player than when yours truly was his coach. He started the year better so I don't blame the coaching but credit his personal growth. Today he spent a half as goalie and made a couple of terrific saves. More importantly he didn't let any goals through (they probably missed 3 or 4 shots and LGR probably saved about the same amount) and showed no fear. It was kind of like the kid who started in goals last year but turned a bit shy when he realised that goalies get hurt ....

Mrs G is away for a couple of days - finally getting a chance to cash in her Christmas present. She left at about midday yesterday with the rest of the ladies in the group. They were all extremely surprised to see a limo pull up and then more so when they finally believed it was for them :-)

Pet Kangaroo

At some point in the last couple of days Hayz has decided she is parentally responsible for a trio of toy kangaroos she owns. The Mum and Dad kangaroos are, allegedly, quite good at looking after themselves but the baby kangaroo seems to need some help going to sleep. Each night Hayz wraps the baby kanga tightly in a little blanket and hugs him/her to sleep in her bed.

When Hayz woke up this morning there was some concern - baby kanga had disappeared!!! After a search he/she was located hiding down the side of the bed. Baby kanga was cold so Hayz and baby kanga curled up under a quilt and warmed each other up. A short time later baby kanga got lonely and the parent kanga's were found and the family reunited.

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LGR had his second soccer training of the season last night. He's going pretty well - certainly better than last year. He's far more enthusiastic and keener to get involved. He needs some speed and a little more 'mongrel' to actually go after the ball rather than hovering and hoping but on the whole I'm quite chuffed with him.

While playing a game last night another kid gave the ball a monstrous heave and poor LGR blocked it - with his nether regions. Tears flowed rather rapidly and a couple of minutes were spent crouched over on his knees. After a rest, a short walk and a drink he was back on - but obviously more wary.

A Reflection

I've had a couple of very fine moments in the last couple of days. I shall recount them in chronological order ....

A few nights back Clan Jones was driving home from dinner with some friends. LGR had gone to sleep as soon as we reached the car and Hayzey was right on the edge but still awake enough to talk. She gave us her version of what would happen during the week to come:

"Me and Mummy will spend some time together. Some girly time. And we'll go shopping. We will get a bone. For Casper. I'm thoughting this will happen on Wednesday."

Interjected through this were little yawns and pauses. And she invented a new word :-)

The other very fine moment was at Bents Basin. It occurred while cooking lunch. There was a very lovely moment in time where I mentally stood back and had a look at what was going on. We were outdoors in a beautiful, placid and relaxing place with friends. Mrs G was sitting at a camp table chatting, Hayz was pottering around the place being herself, LGR was next to me and were cooking a natural BBQ amidst the wonders of nature. It was one of those moments that was as close to perfect as you can get.