Bike Ride

We went for our first family bike ride last Sunday. It was a bit of an effort - mainly because I had to figure out how to get 4 bikes on the bike rack; and then how to reach the 'middle' bikes on the rack to inflate their tyres. The setup took about an hour!!!

We made our way to Chipping Norton Lake - mainly because the paths around their are fairly flat but also because the Rebel 10km run was on at Homebush and we thought it would be a bit crowded.

The kids had fun. We all did. My knee was kind of ok with the ride; but even the very modest hills were enough to sort me out. LGR kept racing off in front of us and HJ kept dropping behind so it was all a bit disjointed; but still fun.

After the ride we had a lovely little picnic by the water and then spent the afternoon at home eating cheese & fruit and drinking some refreshing beverages (which were very well needed after mowing the lawns).

Update

I've missed a couple of days but it really doesn't matter - not much is going on.

I'm 5 days back into a structured (semi-structured really) exercise routine. I get up at 05:00 and go for a walk. I'm hoping to get permission to run soon but expect it to be another 2-3 weeks. The knee is coming along nicely but just not as fast as I would like. Having said that it's much faster than last time.

Our accountant came to visit us the other night. He managed to get us a refund again; but I suspect part of this is due to depreciation and negative gearing and so much his skill. Which is not to say he is no good - he is; and he has all sorts of interesting contacts.

What else? LGR played Futsal again on Tuesday; and the boys got spanked again. They are playing in what is essentially an U/10 competition and it shows. I don't think they are enjoying it to much right now but there is improvement to be seen each week.

The kids continue with swimming lessons. LGR is looking more and more like a swim with each week that passes. HJ is a bit slack; and perhaps a bit lazy. She won't let go of the teacher or wall and takes far to much comfort in being able to touch the bottom of the pool. But she has fun and is happy in the water - and most importantly she can swim when she is forced to.

Holiday is booked

We are going on two holidays next year (we think) - a short little getaway in January from 12th thru to 16th at Ettalong on the Central Coast. We are staying at the Mantra. I've just booked this. Will be very nice to get away for a bit and get thoroughly sunburnt.

The second trip is a little larger - 10 weeks in the UK and maybe touching on France and Italy. We plan to leave on the 26th or 27th August (26th is our 20 year anniversary) and will be going back to work on the 7th November (or thereabouts).

The definite plan is to go through England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales in a comprehensive manner; and maybe spend some time in France (Paris) and then possibly, somehow, get down to Pisa and Rome for the kiddies.

CJ and I have both put in for leave. CJ's leave is approved and my leave is very close to approved. Apparently my 1 day of accrued annual leave is a bit of an issue :-)

Taronga Zoo

We went to Taronga Zoo yesterday (ie Sunday) and had a great time. I'm pretty sure the kids got a lot out of it - there were lots of oohs and aahs and smiles. HJ loved the seal show (every kid in the crowd loved it) and LGR enjoyed the reptiles and snakes. I personally loved the meerkats, mountain goats and chimps.

It's also a pretty good day of exercise - lots of up and down hill walking to keep the legs moving.

Quiet Times

Today was a very quiet day. We've done very little, and most of it has been done together.

We all got a bit of a sleep in and had a fairly pleasant. Then HJ was off to dancing while the rest of us did a basic grocery shop. Back home to pack away; then LGR and Mrs J walked to the library while I picked up HJ. We all met up at the library, borrowed some books and then completed our more detailed, 'boutique' grocery shop before spending the afternoon at home.

We watched Bran Nue Dae today. I expected a lot better. The kids thought it was ok; and Mrs J liked it. I thought it sucked.

Dinner was a very nice pork stew with a potato topping - almost like a hotpot. Made from scratch and based on the works of Jamie Oliver. It was so good the kids ate their whole serving :-)

Curious

LGR woke up this morning and told me he had a curious dream. He couldn't remember much of it but knew it was very curious.

I love that he used the word curious. It's a terrific word and quite appropriate for dreams.

What else happened today? The kids had a dance at school today - after school. From 16:30 thru to 18:00. It was a fancy dress dance - come dressed as a character from a kids book. HJ was Sleeping Beauty (I think) and LGR was Voldemort of Harry Potter fame. They both had a great time.

I was also back to the physio. Less massage today and more time on the bike, stretching and being subjected to 'the machine' - which is some sort of electro stimulus thing that causes the muscles around my knee (and in particular the vastus medialis) to contract. Pretty happy with the progress being made.

I've just had a craving for the date slice my Mum used to make. She would cook it in a loaf tin; then cut it while still hot and put butter on it. The butter would melt and it was terrifically tasty and gratifying. Miss my Mum.

I Just Remembered I Have a Blog

Yep - I do. Maybe I should update it a bit. Try to do something each night perhaps?

No point going back into the past so for today's update .....

Nothing much happening. Mrs J is away for business - in Melbourne I think; but also pretty sure she was in Brisbane yesterday. Either way she is back home tonight and I am looking forward to this. So are the kids.

Speaking of which ....

Apparently nothing much happened at school today. There is a dance tomorrow which they are both looking forward to but today was all a bit ho-hum to hear them tell it.

Lunch Box

I opened Hayz's lunch box and there was a half eaten sandwich in there. Wrapped in glad-wrap.

I don't know why but it seemed so sweet to me that there was half a sandwich - and that it was wrapped up. I guess a bit of it is relief that she is eating, and a bit of it is knowing that she is growing up and knows enough to re-wrap her food.

Being a parent becomes harder as your kids get older - but for all the right reasons.

LGR went back to school too ....

It wouldn't be fair of me to forget about LGR. He went back yesterday and has become an old hand at it. He seems more or less happy with his teacher ("She's very strict Dad") and is probably most excited about resuming guitar lessons.

He made us very, very proud today. LGR is Miss Hayz's bus buddy - meaning he has to look after in bus lines ie make sure gets on the right bus and help her out. Today Miss Hayz's drink bottle fell out of her bag - and LGR comforted her, found the bottle and then looked after while she stopped crying. I was so proud.

Best of all - I saw it all happen from a secret hiding spot. I reckon he's a pretty good big brother.

Hayz's First Day

Little Miss Hayz started school today. She was so brave and so gorgeous. This pic captures it nicely for me - a bit excited, a bit worried, a bit scared but so completely ready for the challenge.

In the end there was some trepidation but no tears. And that includes myself and Mrs Jones ;-)

In Jail

With The Kids

I Like This Car

Haircuts

The kiddies got their school haircuts tonight. It was an experience.

Hayz sat in the chair like the regal princess she knows she is. She was pleased as punch with the attention she was getting and sucked up every minute of it. In all she had maybe 1.5 inches of length removed but the ends were a bit frazzled from the accumulated sun, sand and suncream of the last 6 weeks. She looks much better.

LGR was a funny one. Initially he was going to shave his head but in the end decided to go for a short back and sides with a bit of length on top. Halfway through the cut the dresser brushed the hair on top of his head to the side. I have never seen a radiant, glowing and thoroughly golden head of hair in my life. The dresser told LGR that women paid a lot of money for hair that thick and with that colour. "So?" was his unimpressed reply.

It's shorter now - and he looks 2-3 years older.

Amazed

It's been almost 3 years since we got our 'big black beast' - which means the lease is nearly up. We've done a bit of research on the replacement vehicle and have come up with a shortlist of 3.5 vehicles - Toyota Kluger, Mazda CX-9 and Ford Territory. The half is a Holden Sportswagon - just in case none of the others measure up. After yesterday it's more like a 3/4 option ....

We drove the Kluger first. When I booked my test I requested an AWD Grande. It's about as close as you can get to a 4WD without being one. Turned up and they didn't have one - despite assuring me during the week they did. Great start ....

Not a bad drive. Quite nice in fact. Responsive motor, good handling dynamics, quiet and quite light feeling. A few bad things about - namely I can't get the options I want in the combination I want. As an example I like the Grande but hate the faux wood finishings and don't want SatNav. If I drop down a level I can't get the sunroof, keyless entry and power tailgate (which is very heavy). Not sure what to do here but quite a nice ride.

Next driven was a Territory Ghia. Soft and comfortable ride - slighly more corner roll than the Kluger and much harder to get moving. Not great but not horrible. We checked a bit closer. The 3rd row of seats are a joke - the floor is literally 2 inches lower than the seat meaning LGR had his knees around his ears. To layout the floor flat is a lot of work. I can't see us getting one of these.

While in the dealership the kids spotted a beautiful black FPV Falcon. I saw it too - but Mrs J has made any notions of getting that one disappear. So much for our democratic voting system (which, if you are interested gives one car vote to each kid and two votes to the adults. Clearly someone was outvoted but it turns out there's some unwritten veto right built into the system).

But the surprise of the day was the Mazda CX-9. You all know where I live so I won't say which dealer it was but during the week I spoke to them and made a booking. Turned up yesterday and was told there was no booking, and they wouldn't have made a booking because they were having a sale. I asked if I could test one anyway and they said no test drive unless I was going to buy on the spot. They were too busy to take people for tests. I looked around and there were at least 3 staff lounging around doing nothing .... I told them that was cool and I'd find another dealer. So we left. They chased us out the door with a bit of 'Come back. We'll see what we can do." - while still denying we'd made previous arrangements.

So, a salesman came over, said he'd be with us in a few minutes and then went to speak to someone else. After 10 minutes we got sick of the whole thing and left. An hour later this dude called and asked if I'd like to arrange a drive.

Not with you guys. Not a chance.

I'm stunned that a car dealership wouldn't find time for me to drive one of their cars - particularly when they are making a push to bring people into the dealership to sell cars.

That's enough about that.

We wandered up the road and had a speccy look at the Sportswagon. Mrs J was impressed - to the extent where we are prolly going back on Tuesday for a drive of an SV6 and an SS .... Always wanted an SS :-)

Still no luck on the HSV though :-(

I Win!!!

Yesterday I moaned about my occasionally negative and self defeating behaviours.

Today I can report I have overcome them - if only for 24 hours :-) Gotta start somewhere.

I'm not sure what the difference is - I'm probably more tired than yesterday thanks to another early start (which caused me to make a mistake at work which could have been quite bad but, luckily, was not). I was in the same mental and physical situation as yesterday but today it seemed easy to make the better decision. Maybe I was prepared better for the decision making process?

Either way I'm celebrating with a lovely pot of Mexican Spiced Chai Tea from my new best mates - The Kenyan Tea Company. My Dad alerted me to them just after Christmas with some of the best tea I have ever had - and now I have my own little stash and am enjoying them. Last night it was some straight Chai and it was delicious.

It may have caused me to have some weird dreams though. I dreamt that I had a pet penguin and he was wearing pyjamas.

Why?

There are certain behaviours I repeat which are not good for me, and I wish I could control myself. Maybe the shame I am currently feeling at my atrocious lunch (which is sitting very heavily in my belly) is a sign that I am becoming more aware and am moving towards a point where my self policing and self talk becomes more effective.

Enough of that though. Early start this morning - but I forgot to set my alarm. I woke up 25 minutes later than I planned and said "Oh gosh darn it." I jumped out of bed, dressed and was only 10 minutes late to work (not that it matters much at 04:00).

The funny part is forgetting my alarm was set for my normal wake up time and not turning it off. Poor Mrs Jones :-(

12 Years

Today was the 12 anniversary of my marriage to Mrs Jones. Seems like a long time, but while looking through the wedding pics (didn't have enough $$ for a video) it seemed so recent. The kids loved it - Hayley picked out the most bizarre and inappropriate things to comment (people's shoes, bulges and ties flying sideways in the wind) and Loch thought it was pretty good of the Opera House to be blue for us!!

It wasn't a bad day. We got a bit of a sleep-in (about 07:15) and got up to go for a run. I decided to check movie times before I left to get a plan for the day - only to discover the only session of 'Fantastic Fox' was on at 09:30. A bit of a hurry but we made into the cinema just as the movie started. Not a bad flick but Lochie has some issues with the representation of the rat and the liberties taken with the plot by the movie guys ....

After the movie we meandered for a bit and had lunch at Panarotti's. Again. It never gets old and I'll keep going back. After lunch it was home for some chores (the grass finally got mown) and a minor Chinese feast - all cooked from scratch - including the sauces. The Mongolian Beef was very impressive.

And then there was dessert. We ate the last bits of our wedding cake with the kids, and flicked through the pics.

Not a bad day at all. Apart from the chores :-)

This is happiness ...

Out of Office

Clan Jones are all on holidays.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Almost There

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

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

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

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

Tired

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

Sleep. Please??

A Different Sort Of Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Misty Morning

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

Summer is coming ...

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

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

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

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

Which brings back a memory for me.

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

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

Intermission

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

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

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

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

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

Athletics

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

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

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

Cuddles

Is This the New Normal?

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

What's been going on my life?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

A Full Weekend

Clan Jones has just completed a very full weekend.

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

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

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

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

We also got some groceries ....

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

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

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

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

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

Returned

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

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

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

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

Karate Kids

Little A's Presentation

Closer

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

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

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

---

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

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

11 Days

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

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

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

A Sad Birthday

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

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

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

Happy birthday Mum.

The Weekend is Over

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'm Only Happy When It Rains

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

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

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

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

A week is a long time

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Serene LGR

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

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

A Long Weekend

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

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

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

---

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

ABCD

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

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

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

I had a chuckle :-)

Dancing Girl

A video - too see if this works.

Playing

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

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

Once again, almost funny :-)

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

Younger Pt 2

Trivia You Shouldn't Miss Out On

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

This will not happen again until the year 3009.

Tooth

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

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

---

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

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

Younger

Sort of, kinda

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

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

A big night in the Jones house :-)

A Virtual World

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

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

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

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

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

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

A General Update

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

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

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

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

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

Chef

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

The results are pretty impressive :-)

I Dont' Think So

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

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

Regardless ....

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

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

Crying

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

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

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

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

Birthdays Everywhere

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

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

----

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

LGR Computer Art (Age 5)

Return of the Son

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

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

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

---

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

---

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

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

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

Flower

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

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

Holidays Part II

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

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

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

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

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

Jumper leads are a very good thing!!!

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

Soccer Girl

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

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

Holidays - Part I

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

So what have I been up to?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Home

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

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

Beautiful Brown Eyes

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

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

I suspect modesty is not one of her character attributes.

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

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

Remembering

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

How Can The Same Thing Happen To The Same Person Twice

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

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

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

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

Smells good.

Another Day, More News

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

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

---

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

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

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

WHOOSSSHHHH!!! 

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

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

What Day Is It?

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

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

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

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

Which brings me to the kids.

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

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

Sweet kids.