LGR's story:
The story will come later. LGR is a bit tired right now.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Batman
LGR: Knock knock
Me: Who's there?
LGR: Justin
Me: Justin Who?
LGR: Justin the neighbourhood - thought I'd drop by!!
----
LGR's story for this evening:
One day there was a person called Batman and then he told a joke. He said "Knock knock" and then said "Just in the neighbourhood - thought I'd drop by!".
The person inside that costume is actually called LGR.
And then that's the end.
The end.
Me: Who's there?
LGR: Justin
Me: Justin Who?
LGR: Justin the neighbourhood - thought I'd drop by!!
----
LGR's story for this evening:
One day there was a person called Batman and then he told a joke. He said "Knock knock" and then said "Just in the neighbourhood - thought I'd drop by!".
The person inside that costume is actually called LGR.
And then that's the end.
The end.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Emotions
We only had one Anzac Day adventure (well - there were two outings but only of immediate significance) but it's worth telling.
At about 17:00 we departed our little house bound for an unknown (to the kids) destination. At about 17:15 we were next to Sydney Airport and LGR was excitedly remarking how much he'd like to visit. Next thing you know - that's where we are.
LGR was fascinated by the whole thing. He loved the check-in counter and the security booth's and in very short time declared it 'the best adventure' of his life. The food area overlooked a bunch of plane loading areas and both he and Hayzey were fascinated.
This theme of fascination continued until LGR realised that Mummy had brought along a big red bag for a reason - she was going away. He already knew she was going away but apparently it didn't occur to him that she might be catching a plane!!!
What followed was one of the sweetest conversations ever.
LGR: "Why does Mummy have to go Lemon?"
Daddy: "Lemon? Do you mean Orange?"
LGR: "Yeah. Orange - not Lemon!!"
Just retelling makes me get a big, goofy smile.
The departure was quite dramatic - with both kids chasing Mummy down to the departure gate and letting rip with a wall of tears. We watched Mummy get on the bus to the plane (only very small planes fly to Orange) and Hayzey quietly whispered "I love you Mummy".
It was very beautiful and more than a bit heart-breaking. I think LGR summed his feelings up very nicely when we got home (about 15 minutes back) - "It feels like we left Mummy behind."
We love our kids.
At about 17:00 we departed our little house bound for an unknown (to the kids) destination. At about 17:15 we were next to Sydney Airport and LGR was excitedly remarking how much he'd like to visit. Next thing you know - that's where we are.
LGR was fascinated by the whole thing. He loved the check-in counter and the security booth's and in very short time declared it 'the best adventure' of his life. The food area overlooked a bunch of plane loading areas and both he and Hayzey were fascinated.
This theme of fascination continued until LGR realised that Mummy had brought along a big red bag for a reason - she was going away. He already knew she was going away but apparently it didn't occur to him that she might be catching a plane!!!
What followed was one of the sweetest conversations ever.
LGR: "Why does Mummy have to go Lemon?"
Daddy: "Lemon? Do you mean Orange?"
LGR: "Yeah. Orange - not Lemon!!"
Just retelling makes me get a big, goofy smile.
The departure was quite dramatic - with both kids chasing Mummy down to the departure gate and letting rip with a wall of tears. We watched Mummy get on the bus to the plane (only very small planes fly to Orange) and Hayzey quietly whispered "I love you Mummy".
It was very beautiful and more than a bit heart-breaking. I think LGR summed his feelings up very nicely when we got home (about 15 minutes back) - "It feels like we left Mummy behind."
We love our kids.
Reading
There's been some fantastic material in the Sydney Morning Herald over the past two days. There always is - but this stuff is worth repeating and/or referencing.
---
The first (in order that I saw them) is the article here. It's a cut-down guide to growing food in your backyard - or on your balcony. It really captured my interest because of my recent dietary advice; but also because if it works out I could save a few $$ and also participate in a small fashion to the growing move towards 'planetary responsibility' and self sustainability.
---
The second is a quote. I'll give the quote first:
"Australia at its best would see every single individual, irrespective of their gender or race or ability or country of origin, achieving their full potential and using their greatest strengths in the service of something bigger than they are, that they believe in."
I really like the feel of this. You hear our leaders (and perspective leaders) talk of opportunity and aspirations and hope - but nobody has managed to put into a single, elegant phrase like this. Where did it come from? A lady by the name of Therese Rein. For those who further care it should be pointed out she is the wife of a chappy called Kevin Rudd.
---
The last thing that I feel is particularly worthy of mention is the following letter. No commentary will be needed:
"Just before dawn in the darkness of the trees on the hill behind the Australian War Memorial in Canberra is a treasured time and place for me. As the pinpoint lights of a thousand candles flicker in the War Memorial service down the hill, I stand among the shadows, the whispers all around me.
Shadows of my father, my uncles, my mother, who all served in World War II and Korea. All gone, but there beside me in the trees. All whispering to me of the Australia they helped to keep safe.
The murmurs of the candle bearers faintly waft on the morning chill and slowly hush to silence as the bugler sounds The Last Post. The notes float clearly up through the trees, and the kookaburras stir from their slumber in the softness of dawn's early light.
It is at that moment that I see, hear and feel the great legacy left to me and to all Australians by those who went before us. God bless all those wonderful men and women whose sacrifices allowed us to prosper."
---
The first (in order that I saw them) is the article here. It's a cut-down guide to growing food in your backyard - or on your balcony. It really captured my interest because of my recent dietary advice; but also because if it works out I could save a few $$ and also participate in a small fashion to the growing move towards 'planetary responsibility' and self sustainability.
---
The second is a quote. I'll give the quote first:
"Australia at its best would see every single individual, irrespective of their gender or race or ability or country of origin, achieving their full potential and using their greatest strengths in the service of something bigger than they are, that they believe in."
I really like the feel of this. You hear our leaders (and perspective leaders) talk of opportunity and aspirations and hope - but nobody has managed to put into a single, elegant phrase like this. Where did it come from? A lady by the name of Therese Rein. For those who further care it should be pointed out she is the wife of a chappy called Kevin Rudd.
---
The last thing that I feel is particularly worthy of mention is the following letter. No commentary will be needed:
"Just before dawn in the darkness of the trees on the hill behind the Australian War Memorial in Canberra is a treasured time and place for me. As the pinpoint lights of a thousand candles flicker in the War Memorial service down the hill, I stand among the shadows, the whispers all around me.
Shadows of my father, my uncles, my mother, who all served in World War II and Korea. All gone, but there beside me in the trees. All whispering to me of the Australia they helped to keep safe.
The murmurs of the candle bearers faintly waft on the morning chill and slowly hush to silence as the bugler sounds The Last Post. The notes float clearly up through the trees, and the kookaburras stir from their slumber in the softness of dawn's early light.
It is at that moment that I see, hear and feel the great legacy left to me and to all Australians by those who went before us. God bless all those wonderful men and women whose sacrifices allowed us to prosper."
Monday, April 23, 2007
A Good News Day
Today we were 'invited' to lodge an application for LGR to attend the school we have both decided we would like him to attend. The application was at great pains to stress that this was not a guarantee of acceptance - but they also went out of their way to explain how much we would owe and when it would be due ....
This is good news. We were giving very serious thought to moving to a new location to get the kids into a more reputable school than our local public school. We have been told by all and sundry (including teachers, social workers and even police) that our local school is not very good and has a deserved reputation. We were naturally concerned about this - more so when you think about how placid and shy LGR can be.
We couldn't even get an out of area enrollment - the other local schools get swamped because of the school we didn't want LGR to go to and so they don't accept any out of area enrollments that fall into the area we are in .... Bugger.
Now we don't have to move. Obviously we still can if we want to but at the moment we don't want to.
All we have to do now is get a bunch of information together, attend an interview and commit to pay some money.
---
I got some magnificent video of the kids dancing tonight. They love it - and also love putting on a show for the camera. The only downside was the dancing was about 15 minutes before bedtime and it took a lot of calming down.
Hayzey does some cute things in bed. The sweetest is the habit she has developed of laying one of her blankets across the pillow and then laying her head on the blanket to go to sleep. Once she does this it's a fair sign that she is well and truly on the way out.
This is good news. We were giving very serious thought to moving to a new location to get the kids into a more reputable school than our local public school. We have been told by all and sundry (including teachers, social workers and even police) that our local school is not very good and has a deserved reputation. We were naturally concerned about this - more so when you think about how placid and shy LGR can be.
We couldn't even get an out of area enrollment - the other local schools get swamped because of the school we didn't want LGR to go to and so they don't accept any out of area enrollments that fall into the area we are in .... Bugger.
Now we don't have to move. Obviously we still can if we want to but at the moment we don't want to.
All we have to do now is get a bunch of information together, attend an interview and commit to pay some money.
---
I got some magnificent video of the kids dancing tonight. They love it - and also love putting on a show for the camera. The only downside was the dancing was about 15 minutes before bedtime and it took a lot of calming down.
Hayzey does some cute things in bed. The sweetest is the habit she has developed of laying one of her blankets across the pillow and then laying her head on the blanket to go to sleep. Once she does this it's a fair sign that she is well and truly on the way out.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Weekend
It's been a busy couple of days. I've personally been crook but am on the mend - some cold and flu tablets, a fruit based diet and some sleep have taken care of that.
Where to start?
The kids are still doing swimming lessons - and are coming along nicely. This week Hayzey showed her first signs of truly swimming by moving about 5m through the water (with face in) while kicking and paddling. It was quite impressive. LGR is learning how to dive. Unfortunately he has discovered he is now tall enough to stand in the pool and is starting to take the easy way out.
My afternoon was spent out on the UA family farm helping to get ready for the boys night out prior to the wedding. We picked what I though was a lot of wood for a very large bonfire - only to find out we only have about 1/4 of what is actually needed .... The kids came with while Mrs G studied and they had a ball out there. They like the farm a lot and are very curious about why we don't have chickens, roosters, cows, horses etc.
Saturday night was spent at home with the kids. Mrs G was out and about on Aunt LJ's hen's night. Fortunately the kids were very, very tired because I was feeling very, very crook. Breathing was becoming an issue and getting upstairs felt like a marathon.
I woke on Sunday and felt a lot better - but not completely better. Breathing through my nose was once again possible. We were all very excited about our big day out in Wollongong. But not for long. It was canned due to a combination of other people having hangovers and some not so good looking weather. A quick ring around saw a second family drop out of the day's festivities so in the end Clan Jones and Clan McK boldly ventured over to Penrith Panther's for some fun.
The trip over was bizarre. We had all four kids in our car and 3 of them loved. LGR and Corky sat in the 3rd row of seats and nattered away merrily. Hayzey told me several times she was tired but never managed to go to sleep and AMcK assumed a buddhist meditative pose for the whole trip and didn't say boo.
Panther's was exactly what you'd expect - cheap and cheerful and a place where you don't have to worry too much about the kids getting into mischief. We had some lunch and the kids played in the playground and we hit some golf balls and that's about it.
---
So that's the weekend. In retelling it doesn't seem like much but in the doing it felt a whole heap busier.
---
I'm having some issues uploading pics for LGR's stories using Picassa's 'Blog This' function - it reports the upload has worked but when I view the page a day later the image is gone. I'm hoping I've fixed the issues now but if you something that doesn't look right let me know ....
Where to start?
The kids are still doing swimming lessons - and are coming along nicely. This week Hayzey showed her first signs of truly swimming by moving about 5m through the water (with face in) while kicking and paddling. It was quite impressive. LGR is learning how to dive. Unfortunately he has discovered he is now tall enough to stand in the pool and is starting to take the easy way out.
My afternoon was spent out on the UA family farm helping to get ready for the boys night out prior to the wedding. We picked what I though was a lot of wood for a very large bonfire - only to find out we only have about 1/4 of what is actually needed .... The kids came with while Mrs G studied and they had a ball out there. They like the farm a lot and are very curious about why we don't have chickens, roosters, cows, horses etc.
Saturday night was spent at home with the kids. Mrs G was out and about on Aunt LJ's hen's night. Fortunately the kids were very, very tired because I was feeling very, very crook. Breathing was becoming an issue and getting upstairs felt like a marathon.
I woke on Sunday and felt a lot better - but not completely better. Breathing through my nose was once again possible. We were all very excited about our big day out in Wollongong. But not for long. It was canned due to a combination of other people having hangovers and some not so good looking weather. A quick ring around saw a second family drop out of the day's festivities so in the end Clan Jones and Clan McK boldly ventured over to Penrith Panther's for some fun.
The trip over was bizarre. We had all four kids in our car and 3 of them loved. LGR and Corky sat in the 3rd row of seats and nattered away merrily. Hayzey told me several times she was tired but never managed to go to sleep and AMcK assumed a buddhist meditative pose for the whole trip and didn't say boo.
Panther's was exactly what you'd expect - cheap and cheerful and a place where you don't have to worry too much about the kids getting into mischief. We had some lunch and the kids played in the playground and we hit some golf balls and that's about it.
---
So that's the weekend. In retelling it doesn't seem like much but in the doing it felt a whole heap busier.
---
I'm having some issues uploading pics for LGR's stories using Picassa's 'Blog This' function - it reports the upload has worked but when I view the page a day later the image is gone. I'm hoping I've fixed the issues now but if you something that doesn't look right let me know ....
Friday, April 20, 2007
Fireworks
LGR's Story:
This one is called MOC. (Pause).
Once upon a time there were some people called Corky, LGR, Wim, Mummy, Daddy and AMcK and Hayzey. At the end of Australia Day there some fireworks. And then they all needed to go home. But they took a slice of cake and before that they had a little of a play outside. And then they needed to go home for a sleep. The end.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Smiley Face
This is the most recent LGR. Quite elegant in it's simplicity. This time the paper is sky blue and the crayon used is a vivid orange.
LGR's Story:
This one is called 'Timbuktu'. All right? Once there was a person who ate too many sweets. His name was LGR (Dad's edit there!!) and one tooth of his got wobbly. Just like the one right now. So he needed to go to the dentist and then he was going to go his best mates house and that's the end.
Tree In A Cave
This is the first LGR picture that I ever scanned. I'm particularly proud of this one. As always it's very literal and quite abstract. The original colouring was black pen on blue lined paper.
LGR's Story:
Ok. Let me tell you. Once there was a big tree in the forest and one person came and chopped it down so, and then, they popped it in a cave and then - guess what? Then they ate it and took the leaves off and some white parrots came and sat on the branch of it and then guess what happened? And then, actually, they flew the cave out and then a clever person, who made the tree, put it back to pieces.
Almost a Month
It's been a while. But I'm back. There's been plenty happen and I won't bother to try to cover it all. We've finally got our new car. It's nice. I found out my family history of heart disease may come home to roost if I don't sort out my diet. That's not nice. Easter was 4 days off and we did nothing apart from a quick trip up the mountains. That was very, very nice.
I'll put up some pictures for everyone to see. LGR drew them. I like them.
I'll put up some pictures for everyone to see. LGR drew them. I like them.
Monday, March 26, 2007
More of the same
Hi Folks. I'm back. Not much going in the world of Clan Jones.
Let me see ....
About 9 days ago I took the kiddies up the mountains to visit Nanna. When we got there Clan Cuc were already in place and shortly after Aunt LJ, UA and great Nanna all arrived. It was a good afternoon. Plenty of rain, plenty of noise and heaps of food. Best of all it let Mrs G do some study and the kids wore themselves out playing.
Not much happened during the week - I made some enquiries about the car and got nowhere. Still no date on when it's arriving.
On the 23rd Mrs G and I celebrated 6 years in our house - by going out for dinner. Seems slighly ironic but it was a nice evening and we used it formulate our plans for our next family holiday. We also got to eat some nice food and drink some very nice wine.
Saturday was quite laid back. We did not much in the morning - most of us lay around the house being lazy but others did more study. In the afternoon Mrs G and LGR went to the Chef's house - one for an undies party and the other to play in the pool. Hayzey stayed with me and also had a sleep so I had a few hours of doing not much time.
Aunt LJ and UA arrived at our place late in the afternoon and next thing I know I'm best man at their wedding. Quite an honour.
Dinner turned into a BBQ with the McK family. It was fun. The goods all played and many tantrums were had. It was all quite sweet and considering the lateness of the evening they were very well behaved.
Sunday was just another day. The morning was spent grocery shopping and in the afternoon Mrs G went out with Aunt LJ to look for wedding dresses. I used the time to figure out which settings were required for me to burn my video's to DVD via the PC - it only took about 2 hours and 4-5 discs to get it right ....
But I did get it right and I can see my next project taking shape nicely. Maybe I can put video editting on my CV?
Let me see ....
About 9 days ago I took the kiddies up the mountains to visit Nanna. When we got there Clan Cuc were already in place and shortly after Aunt LJ, UA and great Nanna all arrived. It was a good afternoon. Plenty of rain, plenty of noise and heaps of food. Best of all it let Mrs G do some study and the kids wore themselves out playing.
Not much happened during the week - I made some enquiries about the car and got nowhere. Still no date on when it's arriving.
On the 23rd Mrs G and I celebrated 6 years in our house - by going out for dinner. Seems slighly ironic but it was a nice evening and we used it formulate our plans for our next family holiday. We also got to eat some nice food and drink some very nice wine.
Saturday was quite laid back. We did not much in the morning - most of us lay around the house being lazy but others did more study. In the afternoon Mrs G and LGR went to the Chef's house - one for an undies party and the other to play in the pool. Hayzey stayed with me and also had a sleep so I had a few hours of doing not much time.
Aunt LJ and UA arrived at our place late in the afternoon and next thing I know I'm best man at their wedding. Quite an honour.
Dinner turned into a BBQ with the McK family. It was fun. The goods all played and many tantrums were had. It was all quite sweet and considering the lateness of the evening they were very well behaved.
Sunday was just another day. The morning was spent grocery shopping and in the afternoon Mrs G went out with Aunt LJ to look for wedding dresses. I used the time to figure out which settings were required for me to burn my video's to DVD via the PC - it only took about 2 hours and 4-5 discs to get it right ....
But I did get it right and I can see my next project taking shape nicely. Maybe I can put video editting on my CV?
Friday, March 16, 2007
Today is the day ....
We were supposed to get our new car today. But we're not. Why? The only explanation I have received from either the lease providers or the manufacturer is 'factory delays'. I can't help but wonder how it is related to the same manufacturer making 600 people redundant last week.
The other possibility is some sort of fault/recall situation but there's been nothing in the media. The truth is I don't know. I'm a touch upset about it - we've already been waiting 3.5 months and the best guesstimate I can get now is 4-6 weeks ....
---
The kids have been very, very sweet this week. Hayzey has learnt to say 'I love you' and repeats it every night when we put her to bed. She continues to take a particular delight in reading her books to her dolls when she goes to bed - last night I saw her sitting up with her dolls all around her gleefully pointing out the Mummy, Daddy, LGR and Hayzey characters in her book. It's a bit of a mystery how she decided who was who - the book was full of cartoon pictures of zoo animals.
LGR surprised me last night - we put on a Pete Murray CD (again) and he started singing along to the choruses while strumming his guitar. Very unexpected and very sweet. He was also pre-empting the words I was reading to him out of a book earlier this week. Apparently this book is read to the kids at kindy ...
I went for my first semi-run in 2 months earlier this week. It wasn't much - run a couple of hundred then walk a couple of hundred. I have to start somewhere and at some time. This time around I need to respect my limits and/or respect the inevitable interruptions to the training routine. My ankles only blew out this time because I missed a bunch of sessions but trained as though I wasn't missing them. Stupidity/impatience on my behalf really; and an oft repeated mistake.
The other possibility is some sort of fault/recall situation but there's been nothing in the media. The truth is I don't know. I'm a touch upset about it - we've already been waiting 3.5 months and the best guesstimate I can get now is 4-6 weeks ....
---
The kids have been very, very sweet this week. Hayzey has learnt to say 'I love you' and repeats it every night when we put her to bed. She continues to take a particular delight in reading her books to her dolls when she goes to bed - last night I saw her sitting up with her dolls all around her gleefully pointing out the Mummy, Daddy, LGR and Hayzey characters in her book. It's a bit of a mystery how she decided who was who - the book was full of cartoon pictures of zoo animals.
LGR surprised me last night - we put on a Pete Murray CD (again) and he started singing along to the choruses while strumming his guitar. Very unexpected and very sweet. He was also pre-empting the words I was reading to him out of a book earlier this week. Apparently this book is read to the kids at kindy ...
I went for my first semi-run in 2 months earlier this week. It wasn't much - run a couple of hundred then walk a couple of hundred. I have to start somewhere and at some time. This time around I need to respect my limits and/or respect the inevitable interruptions to the training routine. My ankles only blew out this time because I missed a bunch of sessions but trained as though I wasn't missing them. Stupidity/impatience on my behalf really; and an oft repeated mistake.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Races
Over the weekend Clan Jones headed off to Queanbeyan with a couple of other families for a bit of a weekend away and to attend some speedway races.
We all arrived at our motel at about midday - which is quite amusing because we all travelled down independently but arrived within 5 minutes of each other. We checked in, and got moved to another room after unpacking (grrr ....) and then went for a swim. The pool at the motel was quite a good size and everyone had a go. It was fun. The kids loved it.
After a short while, amidst much protesting from the kids, it was off for some lunch and some grocery shopping - mainly for brekky things and some stuff to take to the races. We also picked up a few beverages for a lazy afternoon by the pool.
A mid afternoon swim was had with a few less participants. Some parents were responsible enough to try to get their kids to go sleep but we didn't even try. We've been there before with Hayzey - as tired as she is she just won't sleep in an unfamiliar environment during the day.
At about 17:30 Grandpa, Aunt J, Aunt LJ and UA all rocked on up to join us for a walk over to dinner - at the Leagues Club. It was only 3 blocks but for some reason took us almost 30 minutes. Probably due to many kids with little legs :-) When we got there we met up with a good portion of the Hobson clan and we all proceeded inside.
Dinner ended up being quite a lot of fun - we ended up in a semi-private room which had 3 TV's, a bunch of very plush and comfortable arm-chairs and plenty of tables. Food and drinks were ordered and all parties settled in for a night of 'hair letting down'.
Quite possible the sweetest part of the evening came when LGR sat down with his 'girlfriend' at their own little table and they had a meal together. Nobody else was allowed to sit near them. LGR said it was fun but he wanted some candles!!!
We ended up getting back to the motel at about 23:00 and some adult members of the group very, very generously volunteered to look after kids while others in the group kicked on a bit. I managed to kick, as did Mrs G. The kick on was fun - and at times very, very amusing.
We all ended up going to bed at about 02:00 - and I was awake again at about 05:30. I don't know why - the kids weren't stirring and there was no noise outside. LGR joined us in bed at about 06:30 and sweet little Hayzey woke at about 07:45. She was filthy - she had dirty and food all over her and was in dire need of a wash. She looked very, very tiny in the shower by herself :-)
Breakfast was a BBQ - pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausages etc. Tasted great. Mostly everyone was quiet - from fatigue more than anything else.
Next stop was the races - theoretically the whole reason for being there. We rocked on up expecting something like Goulburn but it wasn't quite the same - the faster, more impressive vehicles (not withstanding the HQ's) hadn't turned up and the facilities were bare - even by country standards. The track was a really weird shape - or perhaps dimension? I've never seen a speedway track with a hill in it before .....
We watched some races. Hayzey in particular loved it - she clapped and cheered and strutted around the place as though she owned it. LGR paid some close attention for a while but drafted off eventually.
The races were a bit of an anti-climax but at least we got there. The highlight of the meet was when Uncle P gave LGR a racing helmet. LGR loves it. He hugged it all the way home (except for when he was asleep) and every now and then put it on in the car to tell us how cool he looked. When we got home he wore it while riding his trike around the house. The only other item he had on was his boxer shorts and it was a very surreal sight.
The kicker was when he went to bed - he took the helmet with him. The last time I saw him awake on Sunday evening he was quietly laying in bed with his helmet and blanket. The blanket was wrapped around LGR and his helmet and he was patting/stroking the helmet.
We all arrived at our motel at about midday - which is quite amusing because we all travelled down independently but arrived within 5 minutes of each other. We checked in, and got moved to another room after unpacking (grrr ....) and then went for a swim. The pool at the motel was quite a good size and everyone had a go. It was fun. The kids loved it.
After a short while, amidst much protesting from the kids, it was off for some lunch and some grocery shopping - mainly for brekky things and some stuff to take to the races. We also picked up a few beverages for a lazy afternoon by the pool.
A mid afternoon swim was had with a few less participants. Some parents were responsible enough to try to get their kids to go sleep but we didn't even try. We've been there before with Hayzey - as tired as she is she just won't sleep in an unfamiliar environment during the day.
At about 17:30 Grandpa, Aunt J, Aunt LJ and UA all rocked on up to join us for a walk over to dinner - at the Leagues Club. It was only 3 blocks but for some reason took us almost 30 minutes. Probably due to many kids with little legs :-) When we got there we met up with a good portion of the Hobson clan and we all proceeded inside.
Dinner ended up being quite a lot of fun - we ended up in a semi-private room which had 3 TV's, a bunch of very plush and comfortable arm-chairs and plenty of tables. Food and drinks were ordered and all parties settled in for a night of 'hair letting down'.
Quite possible the sweetest part of the evening came when LGR sat down with his 'girlfriend' at their own little table and they had a meal together. Nobody else was allowed to sit near them. LGR said it was fun but he wanted some candles!!!
We ended up getting back to the motel at about 23:00 and some adult members of the group very, very generously volunteered to look after kids while others in the group kicked on a bit. I managed to kick, as did Mrs G. The kick on was fun - and at times very, very amusing.
We all ended up going to bed at about 02:00 - and I was awake again at about 05:30. I don't know why - the kids weren't stirring and there was no noise outside. LGR joined us in bed at about 06:30 and sweet little Hayzey woke at about 07:45. She was filthy - she had dirty and food all over her and was in dire need of a wash. She looked very, very tiny in the shower by herself :-)
Breakfast was a BBQ - pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausages etc. Tasted great. Mostly everyone was quiet - from fatigue more than anything else.
Next stop was the races - theoretically the whole reason for being there. We rocked on up expecting something like Goulburn but it wasn't quite the same - the faster, more impressive vehicles (not withstanding the HQ's) hadn't turned up and the facilities were bare - even by country standards. The track was a really weird shape - or perhaps dimension? I've never seen a speedway track with a hill in it before .....
We watched some races. Hayzey in particular loved it - she clapped and cheered and strutted around the place as though she owned it. LGR paid some close attention for a while but drafted off eventually.
The races were a bit of an anti-climax but at least we got there. The highlight of the meet was when Uncle P gave LGR a racing helmet. LGR loves it. He hugged it all the way home (except for when he was asleep) and every now and then put it on in the car to tell us how cool he looked. When we got home he wore it while riding his trike around the house. The only other item he had on was his boxer shorts and it was a very surreal sight.
The kicker was when he went to bed - he took the helmet with him. The last time I saw him awake on Sunday evening he was quietly laying in bed with his helmet and blanket. The blanket was wrapped around LGR and his helmet and he was patting/stroking the helmet.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
More Than I Thought
I mowed the grass on Tuesday afternoon. The section underneath the trampoline was long enough to reach the mat of the trampoline itself.
It took a while to get the job done :-)
It needs doing again :-(
---
We've had a mellow sort of week - nothing much happening (nothing that's out of the ordinary that is). I feel as though I've eaten a ton of paella, Mrs G probably feels like she's done 1000 hours of study and the kids feel like they get put into bed too early. We all have our little gripes ...
I've becoming increasingly, over the past couple of months, that I'm becoming increasingly more fascinated by the art of politics. Not necessarily the getting things done/processes of politics but the game playing and general silliness that is becoming increasingly more prevalent. Nothing seems to happen or get mentioned unless there is the chance of sticking it to someone else in the opposition. The language used is incredibly deliberate and, wherever possible, vague. It's very seldom that a question gets answered - and even when a question is answered the smalles, most trivial piece of it will be taken by the opposition/media/whoever and twisted around to suit a very specifc and pre-determined agenda.
I can't help but watch it - and admire the way in which 'they' seem to get away with it. I don't aspire to politics in any way, shape or form but the game itself is fascinating.
Maybe I should have studied sociology at Uni?
It took a while to get the job done :-)
It needs doing again :-(
---
We've had a mellow sort of week - nothing much happening (nothing that's out of the ordinary that is). I feel as though I've eaten a ton of paella, Mrs G probably feels like she's done 1000 hours of study and the kids feel like they get put into bed too early. We all have our little gripes ...
I've becoming increasingly, over the past couple of months, that I'm becoming increasingly more fascinated by the art of politics. Not necessarily the getting things done/processes of politics but the game playing and general silliness that is becoming increasingly more prevalent. Nothing seems to happen or get mentioned unless there is the chance of sticking it to someone else in the opposition. The language used is incredibly deliberate and, wherever possible, vague. It's very seldom that a question gets answered - and even when a question is answered the smalles, most trivial piece of it will be taken by the opposition/media/whoever and twisted around to suit a very specifc and pre-determined agenda.
I can't help but watch it - and admire the way in which 'they' seem to get away with it. I don't aspire to politics in any way, shape or form but the game itself is fascinating.
Maybe I should have studied sociology at Uni?
Monday, March 05, 2007
3 Foot Pigmy; 3 Foot Grass
We've got some long grass at our place. So long that the bottom of the swings on our swingset ar obscured by grass. So long that are solar powered nightlights no longer get enough sunlight to work at night. So long that Hayzey managed to disappear into the grass along the side of our house :-)
I cut the frontyard grass yesterday. This involved emptying the catcher 4 times - and that was using the highest cut possible. So much grass, and it came so suddenly. I'm hoping to get the backyard done 'soon' but there's storms forecast all week so we'll see what happens. At least the house looks like someone lives in it again.
---
We had a pretty big weekend. Swimming lessons first - and the kids are definitely improving all of a sudden. Then it was off to the optometrist. My eyes have barely changed over the past two years. It's nice to know that at least one part of my body is decaying ....
I spent a good chunk of the afternoon on the phone working. It was kind of amusing - the phone was on speaker and the kids kept walking over and talking to me and into the phone. It was even better when they started telling me it was time to go out :-)
Saturday night was a party. LGR has his first proper girlfriend. Sort of. He's smitten by a 7 year old. Apparently he has lots of girlfriends. Just ask him - he's quite candid about it. He doesn't know which one he wants to marry yet ....
At the end of the night LGR wanted to give his girl a kiss, and she wanted to give him a kiss but they were both to shy to do it. It was so innocent and beautifully sweet. Hayzey just wanted to eat lollies. They both passed out in the car on the way home ... which was a relief for us.
Everyone slept in on Sunday. I woke at about 07:00 and Mrs G woke at around 07:45. LGR stumbled downstairs at about 08:15 and Hayzey was woken at 08:45. After a quick bit of brekky and a wash (Hayzey had a complete meal plastered to her hair) we were off to the shops for some groceries and then off to visit Aunt LG and UA. Turned out Nanna was there too.
So we had lunch and some chats and generally sweltered. It was nice. We got home and I mowed - which wasn't nice. Then I showered and that was very, very nice. Both kids helped me cook dinner (paella) in their own special ways and then LGR pronounced he didn't like it. Again. He seems to look at food and then decided it's no good - without actually eating any of it.
And that was about it.
Until 21:30 - when the first flashes started appearing way off to the West. Mrs G and I sat on the deck watching it for a while (and while getting eaten by mozzies). The storm proper arrived at about 22:30, and it was fantastic. There was so much lightning it was like strobe lighting and the thunder sounded very crisp, very 'tearing' and very, very proximal. The house shook several times. It even rained.
LGR woke up and was a bit scared - he wasn't crying or anything but we could hear him calling out for us. I brought him into our bedroom and all three of us watched the storm (Hayzey slept through the whole thing) and then LGR lay down to sleep. I lay next to him and he hugged me as tightly as he could. I loved it. It made me feel very special.
Eventually he nodded off and the storm moved away. I picked up my sleeping boy took him into his bedroom and got told that he loved me. What else do you need in life?
I cut the frontyard grass yesterday. This involved emptying the catcher 4 times - and that was using the highest cut possible. So much grass, and it came so suddenly. I'm hoping to get the backyard done 'soon' but there's storms forecast all week so we'll see what happens. At least the house looks like someone lives in it again.
---
We had a pretty big weekend. Swimming lessons first - and the kids are definitely improving all of a sudden. Then it was off to the optometrist. My eyes have barely changed over the past two years. It's nice to know that at least one part of my body is decaying ....
I spent a good chunk of the afternoon on the phone working. It was kind of amusing - the phone was on speaker and the kids kept walking over and talking to me and into the phone. It was even better when they started telling me it was time to go out :-)
Saturday night was a party. LGR has his first proper girlfriend. Sort of. He's smitten by a 7 year old. Apparently he has lots of girlfriends. Just ask him - he's quite candid about it. He doesn't know which one he wants to marry yet ....
At the end of the night LGR wanted to give his girl a kiss, and she wanted to give him a kiss but they were both to shy to do it. It was so innocent and beautifully sweet. Hayzey just wanted to eat lollies. They both passed out in the car on the way home ... which was a relief for us.
Everyone slept in on Sunday. I woke at about 07:00 and Mrs G woke at around 07:45. LGR stumbled downstairs at about 08:15 and Hayzey was woken at 08:45. After a quick bit of brekky and a wash (Hayzey had a complete meal plastered to her hair) we were off to the shops for some groceries and then off to visit Aunt LG and UA. Turned out Nanna was there too.
So we had lunch and some chats and generally sweltered. It was nice. We got home and I mowed - which wasn't nice. Then I showered and that was very, very nice. Both kids helped me cook dinner (paella) in their own special ways and then LGR pronounced he didn't like it. Again. He seems to look at food and then decided it's no good - without actually eating any of it.
And that was about it.
Until 21:30 - when the first flashes started appearing way off to the West. Mrs G and I sat on the deck watching it for a while (and while getting eaten by mozzies). The storm proper arrived at about 22:30, and it was fantastic. There was so much lightning it was like strobe lighting and the thunder sounded very crisp, very 'tearing' and very, very proximal. The house shook several times. It even rained.
LGR woke up and was a bit scared - he wasn't crying or anything but we could hear him calling out for us. I brought him into our bedroom and all three of us watched the storm (Hayzey slept through the whole thing) and then LGR lay down to sleep. I lay next to him and he hugged me as tightly as he could. I loved it. It made me feel very special.
Eventually he nodded off and the storm moved away. I picked up my sleeping boy took him into his bedroom and got told that he loved me. What else do you need in life?
Friday, March 02, 2007
The Epic Continues
Our floor is finally, almost, fixed. Mrs G negotiated with the floor company to have all our skirting boards replaced - mainly because the knob who did the original work, and then started to pretend to fix it, snapped several of them and the rest are starting to consist of more wood putty than any other material ....
At least the floor is level now. And there's no gaps between them. Or air bubbles.
---
The other frustration in my life ..... Where's the new car? If all goes well it will be in our driveway in two weeks. Fingers crossed.
---
Something better? LGR went on his first, unassisted, play visit with a mate today. His mate and his mate's Mum rocked on up to our place for reasons that I don't know and LGR ended up leaving with them. By his account it was a terrific day. They watched half of Batman and went for a swim. Best of all - he's knackered and we might get a sleep in out of him.
At least the floor is level now. And there's no gaps between them. Or air bubbles.
---
The other frustration in my life ..... Where's the new car? If all goes well it will be in our driveway in two weeks. Fingers crossed.
---
Something better? LGR went on his first, unassisted, play visit with a mate today. His mate and his mate's Mum rocked on up to our place for reasons that I don't know and LGR ended up leaving with them. By his account it was a terrific day. They watched half of Batman and went for a swim. Best of all - he's knackered and we might get a sleep in out of him.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Retro
LGR has been taught some new dances at Kindy - YMCA and Agadoo. He's quite proud of them. Now all we have to is find those songs so he can show us how he does it :-)
It's been pretty mellow so far this week - not much happening at all. We got a bit of rain yesterday and it seemed as though the kids were well impressed by the accompanying lightning and thunder. LGR very seriously informed me that they weren't allowed outside when it was raining.
Hayzey has learnt a new phrase - 'Go away'. She uses when she is upset with people. I remember LGR using the same phrase at about the same age. It's no less distressing the second time around - but still somehow quite cute.
It's been pretty mellow so far this week - not much happening at all. We got a bit of rain yesterday and it seemed as though the kids were well impressed by the accompanying lightning and thunder. LGR very seriously informed me that they weren't allowed outside when it was raining.
Hayzey has learnt a new phrase - 'Go away'. She uses when she is upset with people. I remember LGR using the same phrase at about the same age. It's no less distressing the second time around - but still somehow quite cute.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Not Again
I have to work tonight. I'm helping to back out the changes made on Saturday night & Sunday morning. I left work at 05:45 thinking everything was blissful - and at that point it was. Turns out there were some .NET errors on some server and everything turned to crap and blah blah blah ....
Woe is me.
Sunday was pretty cool in spite of my lack of sleep. I got home in pretty quick fashion and went to sleep quite quickly. LGR woke me up at about 08:20 courtesy of a massive tantrum but I was back in bed and asleep by 09:00. I heard Mrs G and the kids leave at 09:36 (the front door closing woke me up) and then I went back to sleep. I got up at about 11:45 and showered. I was just settling down to watch some intelligent TV (I taped Difference of Opinion last week - they were discussing water) when everyone got home. LGR took charge of the TV and Nick Jr was on very shortly after.
The afternoon was spent doing not much. It was good. We cooked some food and played some games and watched some music videos. LGR got his first glimpse of Peter Garrett dancing and since then he has been impersonating him.
I guess it goes without saying that I was very glad when the kids went to bad, and even happier when I went to bed :-)
Woe is me.
Sunday was pretty cool in spite of my lack of sleep. I got home in pretty quick fashion and went to sleep quite quickly. LGR woke me up at about 08:20 courtesy of a massive tantrum but I was back in bed and asleep by 09:00. I heard Mrs G and the kids leave at 09:36 (the front door closing woke me up) and then I went back to sleep. I got up at about 11:45 and showered. I was just settling down to watch some intelligent TV (I taped Difference of Opinion last week - they were discussing water) when everyone got home. LGR took charge of the TV and Nick Jr was on very shortly after.
The afternoon was spent doing not much. It was good. We cooked some food and played some games and watched some music videos. LGR got his first glimpse of Peter Garrett dancing and since then he has been impersonating him.
I guess it goes without saying that I was very glad when the kids went to bad, and even happier when I went to bed :-)
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Stuff
This is a bit like a return to the bad old days of jobs long gone for me. It's Saturday night, 21:00 and I'm at work. Bugger. Such is the life of the IT guy - and in all fairness it's been a long, long time since I've had to work on the weekend (a bit over a year now and that was a Saturday morning ...)
What's been happening? Not a lot; but plenty. Cars first. We still don't have our new car. We've only been waiting for a tick under 3 months and this doesn't seem to be long enough. If we knew way back then what we know now the metaphorical coin toss between our selection and the alternate may have gone differently. I'm sure once we have it all will be forgotten but in the interim there's the frustration of knowing it's coming but not quite being able to see it.
Work. It's nuts for both of us. You already know that I'm at work right now (a bit of quiet time a possibly very long and busy night). You don't know that this work I've also had a 02:00 and 04:00 start and a couple of 12 hour shifts.
Thrown into the mix Mrs G's busy work schedule (she was at Coffs Harbour this week and in the couple of weeks is off to Cobar and Merimbula) and you can see what I mean by busy.
I think Mrs G is back at Uni in the very near future also. That should be very exciting. For all of us.
The kids are great. Champions. With a couple of minor foibles I don't think I could have asked for any better out of them. LGR seems to have tried to step up a notch in his aims to be helpful and considerate and still has the biggest heart in any person I know.
Hayzey is truly crazy. She knows very little fear and intrinsically trusts that I will get her out of whatever situation she puts herself in. Not to long ago I put her on the boot of the car. She stood up and jumped off it - straight into my arms!!
We still get out and about a bit. Two weeks ago we were up at The Entrance to celebrate UA's birthday. Nanna stayed with us and the kids loved it. Especially LGR. He was well chuffed that he was considered big enough to sleep in the same room as Nanna.
Last weekend it was off to Aunt BJ's birthday party. Interestingly she is the same age as UA. (Maybe that's only interesting to me ...). This one was at Bondi Bowls club and it was fantastic. The beer was quite cheap and lawn bowls is a game well worth getting acquainted with.
This weekend is a touch quieter. We did some garden type work today and actually managed to achieve a couple of aims. A nice feeling.
So that's it for now. I promise (again) to try to be more regular with this stuff. Really - I do.
Hooroo.
What's been happening? Not a lot; but plenty. Cars first. We still don't have our new car. We've only been waiting for a tick under 3 months and this doesn't seem to be long enough. If we knew way back then what we know now the metaphorical coin toss between our selection and the alternate may have gone differently. I'm sure once we have it all will be forgotten but in the interim there's the frustration of knowing it's coming but not quite being able to see it.
Work. It's nuts for both of us. You already know that I'm at work right now (a bit of quiet time a possibly very long and busy night). You don't know that this work I've also had a 02:00 and 04:00 start and a couple of 12 hour shifts.
Thrown into the mix Mrs G's busy work schedule (she was at Coffs Harbour this week and in the couple of weeks is off to Cobar and Merimbula) and you can see what I mean by busy.
I think Mrs G is back at Uni in the very near future also. That should be very exciting. For all of us.
The kids are great. Champions. With a couple of minor foibles I don't think I could have asked for any better out of them. LGR seems to have tried to step up a notch in his aims to be helpful and considerate and still has the biggest heart in any person I know.
Hayzey is truly crazy. She knows very little fear and intrinsically trusts that I will get her out of whatever situation she puts herself in. Not to long ago I put her on the boot of the car. She stood up and jumped off it - straight into my arms!!
We still get out and about a bit. Two weeks ago we were up at The Entrance to celebrate UA's birthday. Nanna stayed with us and the kids loved it. Especially LGR. He was well chuffed that he was considered big enough to sleep in the same room as Nanna.
Last weekend it was off to Aunt BJ's birthday party. Interestingly she is the same age as UA. (Maybe that's only interesting to me ...). This one was at Bondi Bowls club and it was fantastic. The beer was quite cheap and lawn bowls is a game well worth getting acquainted with.
This weekend is a touch quieter. We did some garden type work today and actually managed to achieve a couple of aims. A nice feeling.
So that's it for now. I promise (again) to try to be more regular with this stuff. Really - I do.
Hooroo.
"Sometimes I Let Them Brush My Hair"
Anybody who has been in our house when we have tried to brush Hayzey's hair knows how much she 'loves' it happening. Kindy have no issues at all, but Mum and Dad aren't allowed within 5 feet with a hairbrush or hair-ties. After much questioning we finally determined the only difference, apart from the family relationship, is that Kindy brush Hayzey's hair in front of a mirror.
So we tried it. And it works!! She will sit there and stare at herself for as long as it takes. Sometimes she gently pats her hair and calls herself "Beautiful."
This picture is the proof that it can work. On occasions.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Brown!!!
Happy birthday UA (or Brown, or even U Brown - whichever you prefer). Hope you have a great day.
A friend, not to long ago, asked if 30 is the new 20. Since you're a bloke I'm guessing you don't really care :-)
Best wishes from Clan Jones.
A friend, not to long ago, asked if 30 is the new 20. Since you're a bloke I'm guessing you don't really care :-)
Best wishes from Clan Jones.
Orange Skies
We had a bit of rain in Sydney last night. Not a lot, and certainly nothing worth getting excited about. There was something very interesting about it however. At about 20:00 the light outside turned orange. It was very surreal and very bizarre - almost the type of orange light seen when the sun shines through bushfire smoke. The biggest difference was the quality - this one seemed to be a more vivid, but not more bright, type of orange - almost as though it was wet :-)
Either way it was fantastic, and as best as I know I'm the only person who picked it up. LGR was still awake but didn't really care and Mrs G was trying to get a cab from the airport in order to come home ....
Mrs G did make it home at about 20:45 - just after the orange light had turned a distinct shade of night time. Not surprisingly she was very talkative and full of enthusiasm for her trip and her job in general. It's great to see so much passion and enthusiasm. Especially if it means I can play the role of toy boy in the years to come (even though I'm definitely no longer young - or even younger than Mrs G for that matter ...).
---
I saw the two extremes of dangerous drivers on the way to work this morning. The first was a red P-plater driving with one arm hanging out the window at a leisurely 40km/h in a 70km/h zone. His slow speed was blocking up a lane of traffic very nicely and causing those behind to take risks to move into another lane. It also caused the other lanes to begin to back up. It is possible to drive too carefully and too slowly - although I find it hard to call someone who is driving with one arm hanging out of the car 'careful'.
The second was a red P-plater. This guy was driving a very slick looking Monaro GTS and he was quite clearly enjoying - accelerating extremely hard, changing lanes randomly, revving the motor at lights. As with the guy who was driving very slow this chap was also causing traffic chaos - by making others vigorously brake when he suddenly veered in front of them. The irony is that he wasn't really getting anywhere. I could also point out how much petrol he would have wasted but I will make a presumption Mummy and Daddy are picking up the tab ....
---
I had a couple of politicians make some very interesting points during the week.
The first was Morris Iemma saying NSW had an impeccable record when it come to negotiating public/private contracts. I guess he's forgotten the Cross City Tunnel? Plenty of others won't.
The second was John Howard stating that the 'jury is still out' regarding the impact of human activity on climate change (this was in response to a question without notice during parliament). It seems he was reminded by his helpers that the current Liberal policy is one of pretending to care - because he returned to parliament a short time later stating that he had misunderstood the question. He did believe there was a significant chance human activity was influencing climate change.
Edit: I'll have to give benefit of the doubt here. While answering the original question on 6th February John Howard did make reference to a connection between drought and climate change. It's on Page 10 of Hansard.
Either way it was fantastic, and as best as I know I'm the only person who picked it up. LGR was still awake but didn't really care and Mrs G was trying to get a cab from the airport in order to come home ....
Mrs G did make it home at about 20:45 - just after the orange light had turned a distinct shade of night time. Not surprisingly she was very talkative and full of enthusiasm for her trip and her job in general. It's great to see so much passion and enthusiasm. Especially if it means I can play the role of toy boy in the years to come (even though I'm definitely no longer young - or even younger than Mrs G for that matter ...).
---
I saw the two extremes of dangerous drivers on the way to work this morning. The first was a red P-plater driving with one arm hanging out the window at a leisurely 40km/h in a 70km/h zone. His slow speed was blocking up a lane of traffic very nicely and causing those behind to take risks to move into another lane. It also caused the other lanes to begin to back up. It is possible to drive too carefully and too slowly - although I find it hard to call someone who is driving with one arm hanging out of the car 'careful'.
The second was a red P-plater. This guy was driving a very slick looking Monaro GTS and he was quite clearly enjoying - accelerating extremely hard, changing lanes randomly, revving the motor at lights. As with the guy who was driving very slow this chap was also causing traffic chaos - by making others vigorously brake when he suddenly veered in front of them. The irony is that he wasn't really getting anywhere. I could also point out how much petrol he would have wasted but I will make a presumption Mummy and Daddy are picking up the tab ....
---
I had a couple of politicians make some very interesting points during the week.
The first was Morris Iemma saying NSW had an impeccable record when it come to negotiating public/private contracts. I guess he's forgotten the Cross City Tunnel? Plenty of others won't.
The second was John Howard stating that the 'jury is still out' regarding the impact of human activity on climate change (this was in response to a question without notice during parliament). It seems he was reminded by his helpers that the current Liberal policy is one of pretending to care - because he returned to parliament a short time later stating that he had misunderstood the question. He did believe there was a significant chance human activity was influencing climate change.
Edit: I'll have to give benefit of the doubt here. While answering the original question on 6th February John Howard did make reference to a connection between drought and climate change. It's on Page 10 of Hansard.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Energy Crisis?
Over the weekend Hayzey put on a wonderful demonstration of how the world can be powered over the course of her lifetime - via methane. She had the most amazing period of 'trumpet' on Saturday evening. To make it even better each time she 'got one off' she let out a little chuckle and grinned from ear to ear.
I love my little girl :-)
---
Life is still busy. Possibly even more so. Last week I started at 02:00 on Tuesday morning and 04:00 on Friday morning. Today I started at 04:00 again, and Mrs G is off on another business trip today and tomorrow morning. This will be the pattern of our lives for the next while - for the next very long while.
So what's happened in the middle of it all?
Not much during the week apart from the mundane tasks of life. There are more than the odd moments of fun and excitement because of the kids but all in all we all have our little routines going and are well and truly into the new year.
The weekend just gone was cool - sort of. I was quite crook on Saturday and LGR managed a massive chuck also. But we also had a play in the pool and both kids managed a good sleep. I used close to a box of tissues and finished the day with a very red nose.
Sunday was better. Aunt LJ and UA came around for a BBQ lunch. The kiddies were very, very excited about this and made it quite apparent when they arrived. LGR was also impressed with the new car. So were we - but because it's big and it's red it's twice as good. Right LGR?
I'm going to blow my own trumpet for a bit now .... Lunch was great. I cooked up some smoky (sort of) Portugese chicken with a Moroccan carrot salad and a tomato/capsicum/olive salad. We were also drinking Rum and Cokes (Jamaican rum in case you are interested). It was all quite tasty. In my opinion.
After lunch Mrs G and Aunt LJ shot through for a bit of shopping and left the kids with myself and UA. Hayzey made it quite apparent she wanted to go with Mum. We ended up separating the kids - I took Hayz upstairs and LGR and UA stayed downstairs. And then the sweetest thing happened.
Hayzey curled up into a little ball on my chest (I was sitting in a recliner/rocking chair) and went from screaming to crying to sobbing to sleeping. I can't remember the last time she let me hug her to sleep - and I believe this may be the last time I get to do it. I enjoyed it so much I stayed in the seat for a touch too long and also had a snooze. This was good because, unbeknown to me, UA and LGR were doing the same thing downstairs.
The rest of the day was a combination of some drinks, some pool time and a pretty average dinner (cooked by me - lunch was much better). We all had fun and it must have been good because the kids were exhausted and went to sleep very easily.
I love my little girl :-)
---
Life is still busy. Possibly even more so. Last week I started at 02:00 on Tuesday morning and 04:00 on Friday morning. Today I started at 04:00 again, and Mrs G is off on another business trip today and tomorrow morning. This will be the pattern of our lives for the next while - for the next very long while.
So what's happened in the middle of it all?
Not much during the week apart from the mundane tasks of life. There are more than the odd moments of fun and excitement because of the kids but all in all we all have our little routines going and are well and truly into the new year.
The weekend just gone was cool - sort of. I was quite crook on Saturday and LGR managed a massive chuck also. But we also had a play in the pool and both kids managed a good sleep. I used close to a box of tissues and finished the day with a very red nose.
Sunday was better. Aunt LJ and UA came around for a BBQ lunch. The kiddies were very, very excited about this and made it quite apparent when they arrived. LGR was also impressed with the new car. So were we - but because it's big and it's red it's twice as good. Right LGR?
I'm going to blow my own trumpet for a bit now .... Lunch was great. I cooked up some smoky (sort of) Portugese chicken with a Moroccan carrot salad and a tomato/capsicum/olive salad. We were also drinking Rum and Cokes (Jamaican rum in case you are interested). It was all quite tasty. In my opinion.
After lunch Mrs G and Aunt LJ shot through for a bit of shopping and left the kids with myself and UA. Hayzey made it quite apparent she wanted to go with Mum. We ended up separating the kids - I took Hayz upstairs and LGR and UA stayed downstairs. And then the sweetest thing happened.
Hayzey curled up into a little ball on my chest (I was sitting in a recliner/rocking chair) and went from screaming to crying to sobbing to sleeping. I can't remember the last time she let me hug her to sleep - and I believe this may be the last time I get to do it. I enjoyed it so much I stayed in the seat for a touch too long and also had a snooze. This was good because, unbeknown to me, UA and LGR were doing the same thing downstairs.
The rest of the day was a combination of some drinks, some pool time and a pretty average dinner (cooked by me - lunch was much better). We all had fun and it must have been good because the kids were exhausted and went to sleep very easily.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
LGR Gets a Haircut
It's often said imitation is a form of flattery. I hope so, because LGR has decicded he wants hear just like Daddy. So we obliged him :-)It wasn't all beer and skittles however. Halfway through he ran out of the bathroom crying - "I want my hair back on!!" It took us about 15 minutes to coax him back into the chair and that was only achieved via subterfuge and misleading statements. In the end we finished up the job with the #4 cutter and he was keen to go shorter. I grabbed the #2 and tidied up the edges. This satisfied the young man and he was well chuffed with the results.
Mrs G and I are also quite happy. I'm sure those of who are familiar with a young chap in Woy Woy will be well aware of the more than passing similarity.
----
We've had a pretty good (and tiring) weekend. Australia Day was spent at a BBQ at Clan McK's place. It seemed as though the whole world was there. It was also very hot. There's not really a lot of 'things' to report (apart from the jumping castle. I was king of the kids because I could do somersaults in the air!!) - it was more of a neverending stream of conversations, drinks and food with occasional appearances from the kids to remind us we were adults. The day kicked off at about 10:00am and I have no idea what time we got home. It was late.
The 27th was more mellow. We woke up late because of a late evening and the kids were dragged to swimming lessons while Mrs G tried to get the window on our soon be gone Ford fixed (Where's the new car? Still being built ....). We all reconvened at about 10:00 and did a bit of not much at all for a while before jumping in the car for a trip to Wollongong which was mostly to visit one of LGR's mates but had the dual purpose of an afternoon's play on the beach. Much to our surprise some very horrible cloud and wind came in while we were in transit - so we were stuck in Wollongong with our best summer gear on while we froze :-( It was a good visit however. A great chance to spend time with some folks we haven't seen for a while and LGR and his mate enjoyed the whole thing. So did Hayzey and her little pal. We ended up leaving at about 22:00 and it was just as well - I was almost asleep at the wheel when we got home.
Today was quieter. Much quieter. We did some groceries. I've cleaned out the garage (finally managed to get rid of some rubbish that's been in there for 15 months!!) and mowed the grass while Mrs G did other stuff. Then we all mellowed out nicely with some beverage of choice (Coopers Pale Ale for me, Sauvignon Blanc for Mrs G and an assortment of juices for the kids). LGR's hair got cut, and so did my own. Then we had a BBQ and ate out on the deck. We were delighted to discover our yard is developing shady spots.
So that's the weekend. It was good, and long, and is just about over. Bit of a hellacious week at work for me which only gets worse the week after so I'm glad I've had a good time.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Speedway
Over the weekend Clan Jones motored on down the Hume Highway to Goulburn to go to the speedway. I was very sceptical initially but it turned to be an awesome night and all 4 of us had a great time.
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Starting at lunch time Saturday ....
It was pretty warm and a very serious burst of concentration saw yours truly finally remember where we put the plugs for the wading pool. LGR claimed he knew where they were all along and was just tricking us. The jokes on him however because Mrs G couldn't find them on Friday and the kids missed out on an afternoon swim :-)
We had a swim. It was hot and nice. No breeze at all and lots of sun and games. Eventually we clued up about the time and started to get ready for our adventure. We had literally just finished putting our stuff together when Aunt LJ, UA and Nanna arrived at our place. We travelled in a small convoy passing several broken cars.
Soon enough we were also a broken down car!! For some reason the car started lurching really badly and was really struggling whenever I applied power. When it got to what seemed a suitably appalling state we pulled over in a relatively shaded and wide section of the road. We left the motor running but it kind of gasped itself to death less than 2 minutes after we got out ...
The NRMA arrived in pretty good time (specific mention of the 2 and 4 year old children were made when placing the call ...) but in the interrim we had gotten out the picnic mats and were lounging around somewhat comfortably in the shade.
Somewhat predictably the car started perfectly when the NRMA guy was arrived and drove like a dream all the way to the speedway!!! Grrr .....
The speedway itself is quite picturesque. It's on the side of a hill so forms a natural ampitheatre. Visibility is excellent and as you sit on the embankment you have great views of the hillside and paddocks behind the track. Very beautiful (in a dry sort of way) and quite serene.
Until the cars start.
LGR was very excited. He loved the noise and the speed and took many, many photoes. What it made more thrilling for him was that Uncle P was racing. LGR got to see Uncle P in his racing kit. Uncle S was also in his kit but LGR was not quite as awestruck by this ... It is quite apparent Uncle P is LGR's real life hero.
The evening turned out to be very pleasant. Once the sun had disappeared behind the mountain a lot of heat went out of the day and everyone felt just a little more relaxed about things.
The racing was cool; but even better was the small town feel to the whole thing. Everyone tried hard but it was quite obviously an amateur event. The drivers were out mixing with the crowd, folks were sitting in the back of their utes and wagons which they'd reversed up to the fence and there was plenty of space to do whatever. The commentary was quite laconic and the whole kind of placid in spite of the occasionally violent nature of what we were watching.
I love country sport. It's so much more sociable and family oriented than mainstream professional sport and 9 times out of 10 I'd choose to watch country sport live over professional sport.
We didn't manage to stay for the whole evening - by about 10:15 Hayzey was almost unconscious. She fell asleep within seconds of being put in the car. LGR was asleep before we'd driven the 500m back to the highway - in spite of assuring he would stay awake for the whole trip.
Last but not least I'm very pleased to inform my dear readers that there were no repeats of the car issue. The trip was very smooth, very quiet and and a very placid way to finish off a great evening.
---
Starting at lunch time Saturday ....
It was pretty warm and a very serious burst of concentration saw yours truly finally remember where we put the plugs for the wading pool. LGR claimed he knew where they were all along and was just tricking us. The jokes on him however because Mrs G couldn't find them on Friday and the kids missed out on an afternoon swim :-)
We had a swim. It was hot and nice. No breeze at all and lots of sun and games. Eventually we clued up about the time and started to get ready for our adventure. We had literally just finished putting our stuff together when Aunt LJ, UA and Nanna arrived at our place. We travelled in a small convoy passing several broken cars.
Soon enough we were also a broken down car!! For some reason the car started lurching really badly and was really struggling whenever I applied power. When it got to what seemed a suitably appalling state we pulled over in a relatively shaded and wide section of the road. We left the motor running but it kind of gasped itself to death less than 2 minutes after we got out ...
The NRMA arrived in pretty good time (specific mention of the 2 and 4 year old children were made when placing the call ...) but in the interrim we had gotten out the picnic mats and were lounging around somewhat comfortably in the shade.
Somewhat predictably the car started perfectly when the NRMA guy was arrived and drove like a dream all the way to the speedway!!! Grrr .....
The speedway itself is quite picturesque. It's on the side of a hill so forms a natural ampitheatre. Visibility is excellent and as you sit on the embankment you have great views of the hillside and paddocks behind the track. Very beautiful (in a dry sort of way) and quite serene.
Until the cars start.
LGR was very excited. He loved the noise and the speed and took many, many photoes. What it made more thrilling for him was that Uncle P was racing. LGR got to see Uncle P in his racing kit. Uncle S was also in his kit but LGR was not quite as awestruck by this ... It is quite apparent Uncle P is LGR's real life hero.
The evening turned out to be very pleasant. Once the sun had disappeared behind the mountain a lot of heat went out of the day and everyone felt just a little more relaxed about things.
The racing was cool; but even better was the small town feel to the whole thing. Everyone tried hard but it was quite obviously an amateur event. The drivers were out mixing with the crowd, folks were sitting in the back of their utes and wagons which they'd reversed up to the fence and there was plenty of space to do whatever. The commentary was quite laconic and the whole kind of placid in spite of the occasionally violent nature of what we were watching.
I love country sport. It's so much more sociable and family oriented than mainstream professional sport and 9 times out of 10 I'd choose to watch country sport live over professional sport.
We didn't manage to stay for the whole evening - by about 10:15 Hayzey was almost unconscious. She fell asleep within seconds of being put in the car. LGR was asleep before we'd driven the 500m back to the highway - in spite of assuring he would stay awake for the whole trip.
Last but not least I'm very pleased to inform my dear readers that there were no repeats of the car issue. The trip was very smooth, very quiet and and a very placid way to finish off a great evening.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Anniversary
Mrs G and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on the 17th. Sort of. She spent the night in Dubbo and I was at home with the kids. I reckon I probably had the better part of the deal ...
It was also my Dad's wedding anniversary this week so happy anniversary to him too.
It was also my Dad's wedding anniversary this week so happy anniversary to him too.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Photoes
I've setup an account at snapfish.com.au - it's an online photo album that (apparently) lets you store as many pics as you want. The only condition is you have to print at least one picture per year. This seems reasonable - the cost of prints is 19c each. I'm not sure about delivery charges. As an incentive they throw in 20 free prints after you set it up.
If anyone out there wants access to it let me know. It's not as simple as just posting a URL on the web - I need to do some work to allow the access.
I'll still post pics on here from time to time.
If anyone out there wants access to it let me know. It's not as simple as just posting a URL on the web - I need to do some work to allow the access.
I'll still post pics on here from time to time.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Another Week ...
I once heard somebody say that as you get older each year passes by faster than the preceding year. Not sure if that' s necessarily true but I do seem to having some problems getting time to update this page ...
We've had a bit of a sad week in the Jones house. Sox has disappeared and I'm becoming quite sure she won't be seen again. We heard a cat fight outside our house Sunday week back and Sox faithfully reappeared the next morning. On Monday night we heard another squawl but not quite as loud or aggressive sounding. The difference is that Sox has not been seen since ...
We were all quite sad about it. This surprised me. I only got 3 or 4 chances to sit down and 'play' with Sox and LGR barely touched her. By Thursday he looked like he was going to cry everytime we mentioned her and was insistent he had a picture of her in his room. Hayzey was inially quite confused - she would stand at the back door and yell out "Kitty cat" or "Puss puss" and then wondered why there was no response. By Wednesday evening she had given up - and turned to Mrs G and I and quite simply said "No cat. Gone." We haven't heard her ask for Sox since then.
I guess this means our cat adventure is over. It is sad. We all enjoyed having her around for one reason or another and we all miss her in our own little ways.
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During the weekend just gone Mrs G and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. It isn't actually until 17th January but we figured that babysitting would be harder to organise on a week night. We went into town and spent the night in a fairly nice establishment. We also went out for dinner and breakfast, did a spot of sightseeing, bought some clothes (I needed some shoes for dinner because I left my 'good' shoes at home ...) and generally had a great old time.
So, many thanks to Aunt LJ and UA for looking after the kidlets - who had a great time and gave a glowing endorsement.
We've had a bit of a sad week in the Jones house. Sox has disappeared and I'm becoming quite sure she won't be seen again. We heard a cat fight outside our house Sunday week back and Sox faithfully reappeared the next morning. On Monday night we heard another squawl but not quite as loud or aggressive sounding. The difference is that Sox has not been seen since ...
We were all quite sad about it. This surprised me. I only got 3 or 4 chances to sit down and 'play' with Sox and LGR barely touched her. By Thursday he looked like he was going to cry everytime we mentioned her and was insistent he had a picture of her in his room. Hayzey was inially quite confused - she would stand at the back door and yell out "Kitty cat" or "Puss puss" and then wondered why there was no response. By Wednesday evening she had given up - and turned to Mrs G and I and quite simply said "No cat. Gone." We haven't heard her ask for Sox since then.
I guess this means our cat adventure is over. It is sad. We all enjoyed having her around for one reason or another and we all miss her in our own little ways.
---
During the weekend just gone Mrs G and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. It isn't actually until 17th January but we figured that babysitting would be harder to organise on a week night. We went into town and spent the night in a fairly nice establishment. We also went out for dinner and breakfast, did a spot of sightseeing, bought some clothes (I needed some shoes for dinner because I left my 'good' shoes at home ...) and generally had a great old time.
So, many thanks to Aunt LJ and UA for looking after the kidlets - who had a great time and gave a glowing endorsement.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Sox - The Cat
We've got a cat. She's a sweet little tabby with browny/gold fur and some black lion like markings. She has a white spot on her nose and her rear paws are also white. We call her Sox.
We never planned on having a cat. I don't like them. But this one came to us. Around Christmas time LGR started freaking out because there was a cat in the backyard. Nobody else ever saw it; up until a few days after Christmas when Mrs G also saw it. We weren't sure what to do. After checking with neighbours it was apparent nobody local owned the cat so we decided to call the RSPCA to get them to come and catch it.
The problem was the Christmas and New Year timeframe - meaning nobody could come out until after New Year. So we decided to catch the cat ourselves. This was kind of hard work and after a day or two we came up with a cunning plan to lure the cat out with food.
This worked. Far too well. Once we got a clear look at her we thought it might be nice to give here a pat. And a challenge - because initially she would run away and hide whenever she saw us. In time she would sit and watch us; and then she took food we left out and gradually came closer and closer. Just after New Years day she was coming to within a foot of us but any attempts to touch her resulted in a hasty departure.
Suffice to say she finally relented and let Mrs G pat her. The following day she let Mrs G pick her up and we all got our first good look.
Over the past weekend we took her to the vet and had her checked out. Everything was fine and she was very healthy. We estimate her to be about 6 weeks old. She is now vaccinated, wormed, flea'd and chipped and living with us. Hayzey loves her to bits - and Sox is more than happy to let Hayz pick her up and walk with her.
Sox is still a bit cautious around people but she's quite happy to come to us. Everytime she becomes a little more kitten like and a little less wary.
I'm surprised because I think she's a beautiful little kitty. And I've even spent time with her. LGR is the only who's a bit cool towards her but even he gets a buzz out of patting her.
Overall it's been a very satisfying and rewarding experience. We now have 1 cat and 2 fish :-)
We never planned on having a cat. I don't like them. But this one came to us. Around Christmas time LGR started freaking out because there was a cat in the backyard. Nobody else ever saw it; up until a few days after Christmas when Mrs G also saw it. We weren't sure what to do. After checking with neighbours it was apparent nobody local owned the cat so we decided to call the RSPCA to get them to come and catch it.
The problem was the Christmas and New Year timeframe - meaning nobody could come out until after New Year. So we decided to catch the cat ourselves. This was kind of hard work and after a day or two we came up with a cunning plan to lure the cat out with food.
This worked. Far too well. Once we got a clear look at her we thought it might be nice to give here a pat. And a challenge - because initially she would run away and hide whenever she saw us. In time she would sit and watch us; and then she took food we left out and gradually came closer and closer. Just after New Years day she was coming to within a foot of us but any attempts to touch her resulted in a hasty departure.
Suffice to say she finally relented and let Mrs G pat her. The following day she let Mrs G pick her up and we all got our first good look.
Over the past weekend we took her to the vet and had her checked out. Everything was fine and she was very healthy. We estimate her to be about 6 weeks old. She is now vaccinated, wormed, flea'd and chipped and living with us. Hayzey loves her to bits - and Sox is more than happy to let Hayz pick her up and walk with her.
Sox is still a bit cautious around people but she's quite happy to come to us. Everytime she becomes a little more kitten like and a little less wary.
I'm surprised because I think she's a beautiful little kitty. And I've even spent time with her. LGR is the only who's a bit cool towards her but even he gets a buzz out of patting her.
Overall it's been a very satisfying and rewarding experience. We now have 1 cat and 2 fish :-)
Friday, January 05, 2007
Interim Part 2
This note goes all the way back to last year. Initially.
Aunt BJ came to stay with us on the 30th - and we duly provided entertainment by going 10 pin bowling. Hayzey won the game overall - although this was aided by a bowling frame, gutter rails and an outstanding final frame bowled by me which included a strike and a spare. It's a pity I couldn't do this for my own game ...
It was plenty of fun. Everyone picked up at least one strike and everyone had at least one clanger of a bowl. LGR had a few goes without the bowling frame and it was like watching the kid in Uncle Buck bowl - you know what I mean? "If they had a contest for resting the ball against the pins you would be the world champion!"
New Years Eve came and went in a pretty mellow fashion. LGR, myself and Aunt BJ hit some golf balls on NYE morning and in the evening Clan Jones saw in the new year with a BBQ, some dancing and the obligatory fireworks.
New Years Day was a BBQ at the house of Aunt LJ/UA. It rained. A lot. It poured at our place at about 09:00 (but in reality it rained for about 8 hours) so I called Aunt LJ to query the weather. "Beautiful. Couldn't be better. Bring your swimmers".
By midday it was pouring and all parties at the BBQ were scurrying for cover :-) It didn't change anything however and food was cooked and eaten.
Tuesday was our designated road trip day. We had a strong urge to get some rather exotic photo albums from a shop in Kangaroo Valley so we set out. It was pouring again. It poured the entire trip to Bowral, and half the trip from Bowral to Kangaroo Valley. Upon arrival at Kangaroo Valley it was sprinkling. We stayed in long enough to find a toilet and the desired albums before head towards Nowra for lunch.
The weather looked as though it was improving so we decided to head up the coast. We pulled in at Gerringong for some quick play on the beach time but moving rain clouds convinced us to pull up stumps. Within 5 minutes of leaving town it was pouring again. Decision well made!!!
The rain had cleared by the time we got to Wollongong so we visited the lighthouse at City Beach and then had a family meeting. It was decided to head home and have a proper beach visit another day.
Wednesday saw the boys and girls go in separate directions. LGR and I went into town for the purposes of:
We achieved each of these things. We were happy. LGR was very impressed to discover you don't have to wear seatbelts on buses, and that there are ambulance motorbikes in the city.
Thursday was quite mellow. We bought some new trees for the backyard, put away the Christmas decorations and then went for a swim at the local pool in the afternoon. The kids had a great time at the pool - even if LGR wanted to continually go in the coldest pool in the complex.
Then there's today. The day started with a visit to some shops to do a range of things; including pick up some jewellery that had been repaired, buy a photo album and get some more photoes printed. This all ended up taking about 3 hours.
In the afternoon we bundled ourselves into the car and travelled down south with most of Clan McK to go to the beach. We ended up at Austinmere. The water was cold but the kids didn't notice. We played in the water, in the tidal pools, on the beach and just about everywhere else. It was fun. Once the kids started turning blue (literally blue around their lips and nose) we got them dressed and meandered the approx 75m to the park for some dinner.
So that's the week (or so) in summary. There is one important element missing but most of you already know about 'the cat'. I'll put up some information (and probably pictures) soonish. I hope.
Aunt BJ came to stay with us on the 30th - and we duly provided entertainment by going 10 pin bowling. Hayzey won the game overall - although this was aided by a bowling frame, gutter rails and an outstanding final frame bowled by me which included a strike and a spare. It's a pity I couldn't do this for my own game ...
It was plenty of fun. Everyone picked up at least one strike and everyone had at least one clanger of a bowl. LGR had a few goes without the bowling frame and it was like watching the kid in Uncle Buck bowl - you know what I mean? "If they had a contest for resting the ball against the pins you would be the world champion!"
New Years Eve came and went in a pretty mellow fashion. LGR, myself and Aunt BJ hit some golf balls on NYE morning and in the evening Clan Jones saw in the new year with a BBQ, some dancing and the obligatory fireworks.
New Years Day was a BBQ at the house of Aunt LJ/UA. It rained. A lot. It poured at our place at about 09:00 (but in reality it rained for about 8 hours) so I called Aunt LJ to query the weather. "Beautiful. Couldn't be better. Bring your swimmers".
By midday it was pouring and all parties at the BBQ were scurrying for cover :-) It didn't change anything however and food was cooked and eaten.
Tuesday was our designated road trip day. We had a strong urge to get some rather exotic photo albums from a shop in Kangaroo Valley so we set out. It was pouring again. It poured the entire trip to Bowral, and half the trip from Bowral to Kangaroo Valley. Upon arrival at Kangaroo Valley it was sprinkling. We stayed in long enough to find a toilet and the desired albums before head towards Nowra for lunch.
The weather looked as though it was improving so we decided to head up the coast. We pulled in at Gerringong for some quick play on the beach time but moving rain clouds convinced us to pull up stumps. Within 5 minutes of leaving town it was pouring again. Decision well made!!!
The rain had cleared by the time we got to Wollongong so we visited the lighthouse at City Beach and then had a family meeting. It was decided to head home and have a proper beach visit another day.
Wednesday saw the boys and girls go in separate directions. LGR and I went into town for the purposes of:
- Catching a train
- Catching a bus
- Looking at boats
- Buying LGR some shoes
- Having an ice cream
We achieved each of these things. We were happy. LGR was very impressed to discover you don't have to wear seatbelts on buses, and that there are ambulance motorbikes in the city.
Thursday was quite mellow. We bought some new trees for the backyard, put away the Christmas decorations and then went for a swim at the local pool in the afternoon. The kids had a great time at the pool - even if LGR wanted to continually go in the coldest pool in the complex.
Then there's today. The day started with a visit to some shops to do a range of things; including pick up some jewellery that had been repaired, buy a photo album and get some more photoes printed. This all ended up taking about 3 hours.
In the afternoon we bundled ourselves into the car and travelled down south with most of Clan McK to go to the beach. We ended up at Austinmere. The water was cold but the kids didn't notice. We played in the water, in the tidal pools, on the beach and just about everywhere else. It was fun. Once the kids started turning blue (literally blue around their lips and nose) we got them dressed and meandered the approx 75m to the park for some dinner.
So that's the week (or so) in summary. There is one important element missing but most of you already know about 'the cat'. I'll put up some information (and probably pictures) soonish. I hope.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Interim
What's happened between Boxing Day and NYE?
We went for a drive up the mountains on the 27th. It was a very slow and pleasant day. The kids took an eternity to go to sleep on the way up, and Hayzey didn't sleep at all on the way back. While up their we all went for a small bushwalk around the Leura Cascades. Both kids were fascinated by the rive and waterfalls. Neither wanted to walk back up the hills or steps ...
The days of the 28th and 29th were days of not much at all. We did a pretty good cleanup on the 28th and had some nice games on the 29th. We've even managed to get out the pools a couple of times.
We went for a drive up the mountains on the 27th. It was a very slow and pleasant day. The kids took an eternity to go to sleep on the way up, and Hayzey didn't sleep at all on the way back. While up their we all went for a small bushwalk around the Leura Cascades. Both kids were fascinated by the rive and waterfalls. Neither wanted to walk back up the hills or steps ...
The days of the 28th and 29th were days of not much at all. We did a pretty good cleanup on the 28th and had some nice games on the 29th. We've even managed to get out the pools a couple of times.
Boxing Day
We woke up tired on Boxing Day - and knowing that it was virtually Christmas Day part 2. The only difference was slightly less gifts.
We had a fairly slow paced brekky and shortly after Grandma went back to Katoomba. Nanna stayed around to help with some food prep and the kids were highly aggravated by excitement and fatigue. We'd had enough of this by 09:30 so I took them out for a drive which, as hoped, turned into a sleep. I made sure it was a good long drive because it was far too easy to see them waking when we got home. As it turns out LGR did wake but Hayzey had a very good snooze.
Our guest started arriving a little later today. I think most of them felt the same as we did ... We'd lost Grandma but gained a Grandpa and Jan. Other than this it was all the same people.
We'd decided to BBQ today. This was a good decision - even though the BBQ ran out of gas about 3 minutes before I was finished :-) No matter. Lunch was taken in a more ad hoc fashion today with a number of folks choosing to eat outside. It made everything a touch disjointed but there was plenty of space as a result.
After lunch we opened some more presents. By this stage our garage was filling up very quickly with discarded boxes and wrapping paper - one of the hidden downfalls of having Christmas at your place.
The afternoon slowly wound down. Soon enough everyone had left except for Grandpa and Jan - meaing the kids slowed down a bit. They were in bed by 19:30. And without an argument!! After this it was very, very nice to sit back and relax for a bit.
We had a fairly slow paced brekky and shortly after Grandma went back to Katoomba. Nanna stayed around to help with some food prep and the kids were highly aggravated by excitement and fatigue. We'd had enough of this by 09:30 so I took them out for a drive which, as hoped, turned into a sleep. I made sure it was a good long drive because it was far too easy to see them waking when we got home. As it turns out LGR did wake but Hayzey had a very good snooze.
Our guest started arriving a little later today. I think most of them felt the same as we did ... We'd lost Grandma but gained a Grandpa and Jan. Other than this it was all the same people.
We'd decided to BBQ today. This was a good decision - even though the BBQ ran out of gas about 3 minutes before I was finished :-) No matter. Lunch was taken in a more ad hoc fashion today with a number of folks choosing to eat outside. It made everything a touch disjointed but there was plenty of space as a result.
After lunch we opened some more presents. By this stage our garage was filling up very quickly with discarded boxes and wrapping paper - one of the hidden downfalls of having Christmas at your place.
The afternoon slowly wound down. Soon enough everyone had left except for Grandpa and Jan - meaing the kids slowed down a bit. They were in bed by 19:30. And without an argument!! After this it was very, very nice to sit back and relax for a bit.
Christmas
Christmas has been and gone. Seemed to go on for a while too. It's New Years Eve and we still haven't disbursed all of our gifts. I'm sure we will soon enough.
We had a good Christmas. Very tiring but a lot of fun. Not really sure where to start. Maybe Christmas morning? Good enough ...
Somehow Mrs G and I woke before the kids. This meant that when they finally woke we were able to respond in a coherent fashion rather than sleepily stumbling around. Soon enough they did wake - and then Nanna and Grandma were also woken. Downstairs for presents and then some breakfast.
Soon after brekky we started food prep (again) and our guests started rocking in about 10:30. By 11:30 we were opening more presents with LGR's cousins, and Aunt LJ and UA. For some reason Nanna seemed to get a lot of gifts this year ...
Due to reduced numbers we were able to have a sit down lunch. It was quite nice - and much more sociable than having everyone wander around aimlessly. The food was reasonably good (I thought) and everyone got along swimmingly.
In mid afternoon the cousins and Aunt LJ/UA all left for their next destination. This gave us a grace period to have a bit of a cleanup and a bit of a rest. It was over all too quickly and soon after Uncle G was down and more present opening followed. Dinner ended up being a bit of a nothing event - as usual we had eaten far too much food.
We had a good Christmas. Very tiring but a lot of fun. Not really sure where to start. Maybe Christmas morning? Good enough ...
Somehow Mrs G and I woke before the kids. This meant that when they finally woke we were able to respond in a coherent fashion rather than sleepily stumbling around. Soon enough they did wake - and then Nanna and Grandma were also woken. Downstairs for presents and then some breakfast.
Soon after brekky we started food prep (again) and our guests started rocking in about 10:30. By 11:30 we were opening more presents with LGR's cousins, and Aunt LJ and UA. For some reason Nanna seemed to get a lot of gifts this year ...
Due to reduced numbers we were able to have a sit down lunch. It was quite nice - and much more sociable than having everyone wander around aimlessly. The food was reasonably good (I thought) and everyone got along swimmingly.
In mid afternoon the cousins and Aunt LJ/UA all left for their next destination. This gave us a grace period to have a bit of a cleanup and a bit of a rest. It was over all too quickly and soon after Uncle G was down and more present opening followed. Dinner ended up being a bit of a nothing event - as usual we had eaten far too much food.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Christmas Eve
We're all ready for Christmas. And in a surprisingly good state - apart from the constant fatigue.
The weekend has been quite busy but it won't sound that way when I write about it. We did the final swimming lessons for the year yesterday and then headed off to get some drinks with Aunt BJ. While at the shops we picked up our ham and turkey and got some medication for Hayzey. She had picked up a nasty bit of conjunctivitis overnight and a bit of a fever too.
From here it was home for some easy time and a bit of lunch. Aunt BJ shot through to pick up her Nanna from the airport and we went to do some grocery shopping for Christmas. Ended up getting a bit more than we needed but at least we'll have enough ....
The afternoon was spent cleaning up and getting ready to go out to Clan McK's place for dinner. It was a nice night. I got to drink some beer out of a can (not all that good) and we had a BBQ and let the kids run around. Hayzey passed out at about 19:30 but couldn't quite get comfortable.
Once home we finished wrapping presents and even had a surprise visit - we'd left Tommy the Teddy behind and Mrs McK kindly brought it around for Lochie's pleasure.
Sunday ...
Hayzey woke up at 05:30 and by 06:00 we were out running. In the rain as it turned out. I felt a bit because she was getting wet but by the time it started raining we were about 15 minutes from home and there wasn't a lot I could do about it.
In spite of this Hayzey was in a great mood when we got back - but still crook so the medication continued. I showered and dressed and then went out to get the fruit and veg for Christmas along with some bread and bargain priced meat. Back home and into the cooking - turkey and potato salad for me and Mrs G finished off some things she started on Friday.
Nanna and Grandma both arrived just before lunch and the kids were quite happy to see them. After lunch I had a quick snooze and was woken up by the sound of Aunt LJ unloading a heap of presents from her car. For the next couple of hours we all did nothing much but kept generally busy. I carved (and then hacked) up the turkey while others did .... other things. Eventually we all settled down to a nice antipasto platter and some chatting.
Eventually Aunt LJ and UA had to leave so dinner was cooked while the kids bathed. We ate, then played and then watched some Christmas TV. As I type the kids have just gone to bed and Nanna, Grandma and Mrs G are all sitting down watching some Christmas Carols.
It's almost Christmas day :-)
The weekend has been quite busy but it won't sound that way when I write about it. We did the final swimming lessons for the year yesterday and then headed off to get some drinks with Aunt BJ. While at the shops we picked up our ham and turkey and got some medication for Hayzey. She had picked up a nasty bit of conjunctivitis overnight and a bit of a fever too.
From here it was home for some easy time and a bit of lunch. Aunt BJ shot through to pick up her Nanna from the airport and we went to do some grocery shopping for Christmas. Ended up getting a bit more than we needed but at least we'll have enough ....
The afternoon was spent cleaning up and getting ready to go out to Clan McK's place for dinner. It was a nice night. I got to drink some beer out of a can (not all that good) and we had a BBQ and let the kids run around. Hayzey passed out at about 19:30 but couldn't quite get comfortable.
Once home we finished wrapping presents and even had a surprise visit - we'd left Tommy the Teddy behind and Mrs McK kindly brought it around for Lochie's pleasure.
Sunday ...
Hayzey woke up at 05:30 and by 06:00 we were out running. In the rain as it turned out. I felt a bit because she was getting wet but by the time it started raining we were about 15 minutes from home and there wasn't a lot I could do about it.
In spite of this Hayzey was in a great mood when we got back - but still crook so the medication continued. I showered and dressed and then went out to get the fruit and veg for Christmas along with some bread and bargain priced meat. Back home and into the cooking - turkey and potato salad for me and Mrs G finished off some things she started on Friday.
Nanna and Grandma both arrived just before lunch and the kids were quite happy to see them. After lunch I had a quick snooze and was woken up by the sound of Aunt LJ unloading a heap of presents from her car. For the next couple of hours we all did nothing much but kept generally busy. I carved (and then hacked) up the turkey while others did .... other things. Eventually we all settled down to a nice antipasto platter and some chatting.
Eventually Aunt LJ and UA had to leave so dinner was cooked while the kids bathed. We ate, then played and then watched some Christmas TV. As I type the kids have just gone to bed and Nanna, Grandma and Mrs G are all sitting down watching some Christmas Carols.
It's almost Christmas day :-)
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
Holidays
I'm now on holidays. I suppose technically my Annual Leave doesn't start until next Wednesday but in my brain I am already on holidays.
Somewhat predictably we all finished up a wee bit early at work today. I came home to discover LGR had slept for 3.5 hours and then asked for 3 sandwiches for lunch. Once he had eaten, and Hayzey woken up from her own little sleep, we went outside to do some work in the garden. We started by putting some pebble mulch in some plants and doing a spot of watering, and then moved on to watering each other. Initially this went down like a lead balloon but before too long it was all fun ...
Next was some work in the front yard - planting a bunch of succulents generously donated by Aunt LJ and UA. While we were out there Santa rode up on an Australia Post and gave us some mail!! The kids were keen to help out and brought their little shovels and rakes to help dig holes. They even chose the location of the plants.
And that was about it.
---
There was a very eloquent letter in the SMH today - written by a chap called Les McDonald. I'm not sure that I agree with the whole thing but the way it is put together is fantastic. Here 'tis:
Somewhat predictably we all finished up a wee bit early at work today. I came home to discover LGR had slept for 3.5 hours and then asked for 3 sandwiches for lunch. Once he had eaten, and Hayzey woken up from her own little sleep, we went outside to do some work in the garden. We started by putting some pebble mulch in some plants and doing a spot of watering, and then moved on to watering each other. Initially this went down like a lead balloon but before too long it was all fun ...
Next was some work in the front yard - planting a bunch of succulents generously donated by Aunt LJ and UA. While we were out there Santa rode up on an Australia Post and gave us some mail!! The kids were keen to help out and brought their little shovels and rakes to help dig holes. They even chose the location of the plants.
And that was about it.
---
There was a very eloquent letter in the SMH today - written by a chap called Les McDonald. I'm not sure that I agree with the whole thing but the way it is put together is fantastic. Here 'tis:
Detachment, ethics and consistency are not notable features of the Australian character, despite the comforting myths to the contrary. It would be difficult to get a better instance of that than the juxtaposition of three seemingly unrelated articles on the front page of the Herald (December 21).
Steven Chaytor is the subject of the first ("Premier dumps MP over assault"). He, like Milton Orkopoulos before him, has had criminal charges levelled against him. Also like Orkopoulos, he has not been accorded the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. It is hard to blame Morris Iemma for this as the media, contrary to their constant bleating about just being the messenger, have shaped and driven the law-and-order hysteria in NSW ever since the triumph of the Rupert Murdoch school of yellow journalism.
The second was a fawning set of items on the retirement of Shane Warne ("Warne calls stumps, McGrath to follow"). One of these even sought to identify Warne, an admitted serial harasser of women, as "this county's second-greatest sportsman" after Don Bradman. Exactly where this leaves Ian Thorpe, who has beaten the best in the world in his chosen sport and established multiple world records, is not entirely clear, but you get the point. Warne's adoring media fans do not condemn him for his actions towards women but dismiss his multiple offences with an affectionate reference to being a "wayward larrikin". The forgiveness, and indeed approbation, given willingly to Warne, almost because of his many instances of offensive behaviour, is withheld from Chaytor, with the singular difference being that Chaytor isn't an Australian sporting hero.
The third article demonstrates an incapacity by officials to recognise that ethics play any part in public life ("Kickbacks tax-deductible"). The law was incompetent in finding the huge bribes paid to Saddam Hussein's regime were not criminal offences on the technicality that the money was paid to a regime instead of an individual. From an ethical point of view, that is somewhat beside the point. That the bulk of Australians, who obligingly pay their taxes and do not claim the costs of their participation in criminal activity as tax deductions, should now be required to subsidise the criminal activity of others says more about our capacity for ethical insights than all the pious pronouncements in the world by our leaders.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Really ...
This morning we had reason to move on to a new container of shower wash/gel type stuff. The new one is 'creme brulee' essence. What does that mean? I'm sure it made me smell pretty.
Time is currently in slow motion - at least as far as work goes. Every day drags on and on and on and on ... I can't actually implement anything because of the pending Christmas holidays. Why? Everyone goes on leave and there's so many public holidays nobody is allowed to actually do anything more detailed than work planning for fear of breaking something or introducing some weird bug or anomaly into 'the network'. It's understandable but also quite frustrating.
---
You may have noticed a bit of press recently about what to do about the allegedly high number of P-plate drivers crashing and dying on the roads. There's been a number of silly ideas out there which, if the information I am seeing is correct, won't do all that much to make a difference.
Where is this leading? I've been paying attention to the way I drive in the last couple of weeks and the way in which others drive and I can say that I am a touch distressed at the level of aggression and risk taking prevalent in a large number of drivers - young and old, male and female. I've been tailgated on a freeway by a grandma who was so close I couldn't see her headlights. I've seen plenty of lunatics shoot along the breakdown lanes of freeways even when the freeway is moving at a good speed. I've seen countless people move into a turning lane at a set of lights and then race the folks who are in the 'straight ahead' lane to gain a few car places. Everyone will cut you off. Virtually nobody drives at the speed limit. Left and right hand turns from non-adjacent lanes are plentiful.
Why do P-platers do stupid things? Because they spend their lives watching others drive do the same stupid things and it becomes ingrained that this is the way you drive.
FWIW - I've slowed down plenty since observing and leave more space in front of me. Some cars may use this to their apparent advantage but I can't say my travel times are obviously longer - and I'm much more relaxed about getting to places. Mostly.
Time is currently in slow motion - at least as far as work goes. Every day drags on and on and on and on ... I can't actually implement anything because of the pending Christmas holidays. Why? Everyone goes on leave and there's so many public holidays nobody is allowed to actually do anything more detailed than work planning for fear of breaking something or introducing some weird bug or anomaly into 'the network'. It's understandable but also quite frustrating.
---
You may have noticed a bit of press recently about what to do about the allegedly high number of P-plate drivers crashing and dying on the roads. There's been a number of silly ideas out there which, if the information I am seeing is correct, won't do all that much to make a difference.
Where is this leading? I've been paying attention to the way I drive in the last couple of weeks and the way in which others drive and I can say that I am a touch distressed at the level of aggression and risk taking prevalent in a large number of drivers - young and old, male and female. I've been tailgated on a freeway by a grandma who was so close I couldn't see her headlights. I've seen plenty of lunatics shoot along the breakdown lanes of freeways even when the freeway is moving at a good speed. I've seen countless people move into a turning lane at a set of lights and then race the folks who are in the 'straight ahead' lane to gain a few car places. Everyone will cut you off. Virtually nobody drives at the speed limit. Left and right hand turns from non-adjacent lanes are plentiful.
Why do P-platers do stupid things? Because they spend their lives watching others drive do the same stupid things and it becomes ingrained that this is the way you drive.
FWIW - I've slowed down plenty since observing and leave more space in front of me. Some cars may use this to their apparent advantage but I can't say my travel times are obviously longer - and I'm much more relaxed about getting to places. Mostly.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
New Blog??
I've migrated this blog from the 'old' format to the 'new' format and hopefully it will all be transparent to whoever decides to read this. I'm sure I'll get caught out with a few things ...
What's been happening? Not a great deal. Mrs G has been in Newcastle for a bit so I got to spend some time with the kids. This does have a downside however - a combination of having to drop the kids off at kindy (meaning a drive to work thru 'peak hour') combined with some good overnight rain meant the approx 35km trip to work took almost two hours this morning.
On the positive side the kids behave much better when it's just one adult around and they were mostly angels last night, and very much angels this morning.
Hayzey and I had a cute little argument - I put a bib on her for breakfast and she ripped it off, walked to the bib draw and started muttering "Christmas bib, Christmas bib" while searching through it. Eventually she found a bib with Santa on it - and this was considered good enough to wear for breakfast!!
LGR is mostly better - still a bit tired but eating again and he's stopped chucking up everywhere. Tuesday morning sounded interesting. It is alleged LGR had a chuck in a bowl and then managed to drop the bowl ... Very glad I wasn't cleaning it up.
We're slowly gearing up for Christmas. Tomorrow is the kids last day of kindy, and Mrs G's last day too. I finish up on Friday and then we all go back on about the 8th/9th January. It should be great.
What's been happening? Not a great deal. Mrs G has been in Newcastle for a bit so I got to spend some time with the kids. This does have a downside however - a combination of having to drop the kids off at kindy (meaning a drive to work thru 'peak hour') combined with some good overnight rain meant the approx 35km trip to work took almost two hours this morning.
On the positive side the kids behave much better when it's just one adult around and they were mostly angels last night, and very much angels this morning.
Hayzey and I had a cute little argument - I put a bib on her for breakfast and she ripped it off, walked to the bib draw and started muttering "Christmas bib, Christmas bib" while searching through it. Eventually she found a bib with Santa on it - and this was considered good enough to wear for breakfast!!
LGR is mostly better - still a bit tired but eating again and he's stopped chucking up everywhere. Tuesday morning sounded interesting. It is alleged LGR had a chuck in a bowl and then managed to drop the bowl ... Very glad I wasn't cleaning it up.
We're slowly gearing up for Christmas. Tomorrow is the kids last day of kindy, and Mrs G's last day too. I finish up on Friday and then we all go back on about the 8th/9th January. It should be great.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
How can it happen again?
For about 6 months LGR has been very keenly anticipating seeing The Wiggles at the Ent Cent. We had great tickets - 2nd row on the floor. We knew our lyrics and dance routines and even had the clothing sorted out.
Guess who got crook, threw up everywhere shortly before the show and spent most of the show barely awake on Mrs G's lap? Yep. You guessed it. Last year it was Hayzey who was crook - and spent most of the show asleep in my arms ...
In spite of this LGR still proclaims to have had a good time. Hayzey definitely had fun. She was dancing everywhere - on my legs, Mrs G's legs, the chairs and wherever else we gave her access to.
We did a few other things this weekend. Aunt LG and UA took the kids out to the farm on Saturday evening - which gave Mrs G and I the chance to finish off some Christmas things and sort out some details about the forthcoming festive season. Then the babysitting continued and Mrs G and I went out for dinner. Nice meal and nice conversation - many fanciful plans were hatched :-) We also had the pleasure of watching Mr Adam Gilchrist score 100 off 57 deliveries ... Not a bad effort.
Sunday was quite mellow. Our dilligent babysitters crashed at our place but I still managed to be awake since 04:00 due to a little girl who had sleep issues. I took the chance to go out for a mellow sort of run and see in the day at my own pace.
The day itself was kind of a nothing sort of day - we did some grocery shopping, had a BBQ for lunch and spent the afternoon cleaning out various aspects of the house. LGR was still intermittenly crook and this added an element of intrigue to the evening.
What's next? Mrs G is off on a business trip for the next couple of days so I have the fun of looking after the kids in a solo fashion. This isn't too bad - they usually behave better for either one of us then they do for both of us. Even if they don't it's only for a couple of days ...
Guess who got crook, threw up everywhere shortly before the show and spent most of the show barely awake on Mrs G's lap? Yep. You guessed it. Last year it was Hayzey who was crook - and spent most of the show asleep in my arms ...
In spite of this LGR still proclaims to have had a good time. Hayzey definitely had fun. She was dancing everywhere - on my legs, Mrs G's legs, the chairs and wherever else we gave her access to.
We did a few other things this weekend. Aunt LG and UA took the kids out to the farm on Saturday evening - which gave Mrs G and I the chance to finish off some Christmas things and sort out some details about the forthcoming festive season. Then the babysitting continued and Mrs G and I went out for dinner. Nice meal and nice conversation - many fanciful plans were hatched :-) We also had the pleasure of watching Mr Adam Gilchrist score 100 off 57 deliveries ... Not a bad effort.
Sunday was quite mellow. Our dilligent babysitters crashed at our place but I still managed to be awake since 04:00 due to a little girl who had sleep issues. I took the chance to go out for a mellow sort of run and see in the day at my own pace.
The day itself was kind of a nothing sort of day - we did some grocery shopping, had a BBQ for lunch and spent the afternoon cleaning out various aspects of the house. LGR was still intermittenly crook and this added an element of intrigue to the evening.
What's next? Mrs G is off on a business trip for the next couple of days so I have the fun of looking after the kids in a solo fashion. This isn't too bad - they usually behave better for either one of us then they do for both of us. Even if they don't it's only for a couple of days ...
Friday, December 15, 2006
Happy Birthday Grandpa
It's my Dad's birthday today - or Grandpa as he is more commonly becoming known in my household. So here's a happy birthday to Grandpa.
LGR bought home his art portfolio from kindy yesterday. It's full of art work and teacher's observations from this year. There was also a CD with some pictures of LGR and a few videos of him at kindy. It was all terrifically sweet. Hayzey has one also but because she was less insistent about it her's has not yet had the same level of scrutiny.
LGR bought home his art portfolio from kindy yesterday. It's full of art work and teacher's observations from this year. There was also a CD with some pictures of LGR and a few videos of him at kindy. It was all terrifically sweet. Hayzey has one also but because she was less insistent about it her's has not yet had the same level of scrutiny.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Happy Birthday Mrs G
It was Mrs G's birthday yesterday. And it was quite a frantic day. We both worked (after only a few hours sleep - Mrs G was out last night for a work thing and I stayed up until she got home) and then after work it was straight to the kindy Christmas party. It was quite a sweet little event which featured a visit from Santa and gifts for all the kids, and then a dancing show by the kiddies.
It was interesting to watch LGR do the dances to music, and then compare it to the way in which he dances at home. He seemed a lot more subdued in public - his movements were more controlled and with much less amplitude. When he dances at home the whole thing seems much more energetic and he sings the songs with a great deal more gusto than is used on the music they danced to last night.
We tried to have a little present giving ceremony when we got home but Hayzey was really tired and it didn't really work out. In the end we gave Mrs G her pressies and then took Hayzey to bed. LGR helped to put the candles in the cake and get out everything we needed - and then LGR and I build Mrs G's favourite dessert (the ingredients were very generously prepared and donated the previous evening by Uncle G).
At the appropriate time LGR decreed the lights should be turned off and we sang 'Happy Birthday'. Cake was eaten and then LGR was off to bed.
And that was about it. Mrs G and I stayed up for a bit longer watching a movie and eating the recently compiled dessert and then called it an evening.
It was interesting to watch LGR do the dances to music, and then compare it to the way in which he dances at home. He seemed a lot more subdued in public - his movements were more controlled and with much less amplitude. When he dances at home the whole thing seems much more energetic and he sings the songs with a great deal more gusto than is used on the music they danced to last night.
We tried to have a little present giving ceremony when we got home but Hayzey was really tired and it didn't really work out. In the end we gave Mrs G her pressies and then took Hayzey to bed. LGR helped to put the candles in the cake and get out everything we needed - and then LGR and I build Mrs G's favourite dessert (the ingredients were very generously prepared and donated the previous evening by Uncle G).
At the appropriate time LGR decreed the lights should be turned off and we sang 'Happy Birthday'. Cake was eaten and then LGR was off to bed.
And that was about it. Mrs G and I stayed up for a bit longer watching a movie and eating the recently compiled dessert and then called it an evening.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
'Smee Again
It's been a while since I last posted - and heaps has happened. A lot of my regular readers know much of it but just in case here's a summarised version.
On the 30th November and 1st December we were in Wagga Wagga. Unfortunately it was for a very unhappy reason and I can safely say that nobody who was there wanted to be there. There was a silver lining to the very dark cloud - the kids got to hang out a bit with Nanna, Aunt LJ and UA and even great Nanna. Both kiddies were very well behaved in the seemingly endless trip there and back and very few tantrums were had.
Hayzey had her 2nd birthday while we were in Wagga. It was very low key but she didn't care. We all gathered around a muffin at breakfast time; placed 2 candles in it and sang happy birthday. It was a very sad day to remember such a wonderful event and the extremes of emotions seen on this day were massive.
I've been to Melbourne and back in a single day. I suffer from vertigo and am mildly claustrophobic so the flights didn't impress me a lot. Especially when the plane rocked from side to side just before landing in Sydney. Or when we hit turbulence will being (seemingly) about 20m above the ground at Melbourne.
All in all the day seemed to be a bit of a waste of time - although I got to meet some colleagues and see the Melbourne operations. I also had some nice sushi rolls for lunch so it's not all bad ...
The other obviously worthy thing that's happened was a trip down to Canberra to see Pampar and Jan. It was pretty mellow - and I suspect Pampar wasn't too thrilled to be dragged into Civic just so we could try to get thru some Christmas shopping.
For me the trip is noteworthy because of my introduction to Crackenback beer. It's brewed by the folks at Bluetongue and is an entirely drinkable and satisfactory beverage. I shall have more. I was also able to sample some Bluetongue Ginger Beer. This was nice - not the same as the Lager but still good. Both were very pleasant surprises.
Sunday morning was quite nice - the kids both slept in (I had the pleasant of slumbering next to Hayzey in one bed and Mrs G shared the other bed with LGR), I went for a rambling sort of run and we all popped in to a nearby pool for a swim. It's fun to play with the kids in the water. The lessons may have made some difference but neither of them are close to swimming yet. All in good time.
The trip home was kind of funny. As we left Canberra it looked as though a massive fire was erupting in some bushland somewhere but I don't believe it turned into much. Apparently there was another one at Marulen but we didn't see that. What we did see was a pretty good storm between around Exeter. We even had to slow the car down. By the time we got back to balmy old Sydney the sun was out and it was hot ... but not our house. We'd left the air-con running all weekend. Oops.
So that's my summary. From now on I'll try to keep it a touch more regular.
On the 30th November and 1st December we were in Wagga Wagga. Unfortunately it was for a very unhappy reason and I can safely say that nobody who was there wanted to be there. There was a silver lining to the very dark cloud - the kids got to hang out a bit with Nanna, Aunt LJ and UA and even great Nanna. Both kiddies were very well behaved in the seemingly endless trip there and back and very few tantrums were had.
Hayzey had her 2nd birthday while we were in Wagga. It was very low key but she didn't care. We all gathered around a muffin at breakfast time; placed 2 candles in it and sang happy birthday. It was a very sad day to remember such a wonderful event and the extremes of emotions seen on this day were massive.
I've been to Melbourne and back in a single day. I suffer from vertigo and am mildly claustrophobic so the flights didn't impress me a lot. Especially when the plane rocked from side to side just before landing in Sydney. Or when we hit turbulence will being (seemingly) about 20m above the ground at Melbourne.
All in all the day seemed to be a bit of a waste of time - although I got to meet some colleagues and see the Melbourne operations. I also had some nice sushi rolls for lunch so it's not all bad ...
The other obviously worthy thing that's happened was a trip down to Canberra to see Pampar and Jan. It was pretty mellow - and I suspect Pampar wasn't too thrilled to be dragged into Civic just so we could try to get thru some Christmas shopping.
For me the trip is noteworthy because of my introduction to Crackenback beer. It's brewed by the folks at Bluetongue and is an entirely drinkable and satisfactory beverage. I shall have more. I was also able to sample some Bluetongue Ginger Beer. This was nice - not the same as the Lager but still good. Both were very pleasant surprises.
Sunday morning was quite nice - the kids both slept in (I had the pleasant of slumbering next to Hayzey in one bed and Mrs G shared the other bed with LGR), I went for a rambling sort of run and we all popped in to a nearby pool for a swim. It's fun to play with the kids in the water. The lessons may have made some difference but neither of them are close to swimming yet. All in good time.
The trip home was kind of funny. As we left Canberra it looked as though a massive fire was erupting in some bushland somewhere but I don't believe it turned into much. Apparently there was another one at Marulen but we didn't see that. What we did see was a pretty good storm between around Exeter. We even had to slow the car down. By the time we got back to balmy old Sydney the sun was out and it was hot ... but not our house. We'd left the air-con running all weekend. Oops.
So that's my summary. From now on I'll try to keep it a touch more regular.
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