Thursday, July 27, 2006

Pictures

LGR drew me a picture at Kindy yesterday. He does this all the time but, for whatever reason, I found this one to be particularly sweet. Maybe it was because when I arrived he gave me a huge hug and the combination of the picture and the hug made me realise that he does miss us - even though he's having fun at Kindy.

I don't know what it's a picture of. I don't suppose it matters. I love it and it will be either hung up or archived like every other picture he's ever drawn for us.

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I'm finding it hard to believe that people are pointing at the price of bananas and saying this is a significant contributor to the latest inflation figures. Why? I don't know anyone who buys bananas any more (although our mate at the local yoghurt shop told us he uses about 2.5 kg of bananas per day).

I blame petrol. Not only is it more expensive than I've ever known it to be (I currently consider $1.30/L to be exceptionally good value) but it is required to move just about every product and service that people use - so by being an input into consumption (discretionary or not) it has an implicit inflationary impact of it's own.

Oh well .... Since there's no viable alternative to using it (public transport is not an option in our house - our jobs and child care and even access to public transport at most destinations is nowhere near compatible) I guess we'll just keep paying more and more.

Monday, July 24, 2006

A Haircut for a Tree

I'm not sure what I wrote about last time - nor when I wrote it. I could check but I'm just too lazy at this moment in time. My life seems to have descended into a permanent state of fatigue. I'm pretty sure this is largely attributable to a combination of stupidly early starts at work and my desire to finish the book I am reading - the last couple of nights have seen me up until midnight reading.

The weekend was fun. We didn't do a lot. In fact most of the weekend was spent at home getting ready for our grand (secret) adventures this coming Friday and Saturday. We did some cleaning and packing and played some games and did cutesy little family things. It was quite nice. There were no obvious highlights; just a weekend of pleasant moments interspersed with two active, curious little kids who drove us a bit nuts from time to time.

What I will reveal is that Hayzey is looking like being the jock of the family and LGR the artistic type. It becomes more and more apparent every time we go outside. It's all very sweet and they enjoy what they do.

Why is this called 'A Haircut for a Tree'? LGR helped me prune back a tree. And it was a considerable pruning. We provided our own sound effects and had a great time going the chop on this poor old thing. Time will tell whether it sinks or swims.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Afternoon Snooze

I got the chance to have an afternoon snooze today. So I took it. With pleasure. When I woke up I was very cold and didn't feel any less tired but the knowledge I had a sleep was good enough. This only came about because I started work at 03:00 this morning and almost fell asleep during our lunch break ...

Hayzey has been very talkative this evening. When Mrs G got home from work Hayzey rushed out to the kitchen (to find me) and proceeded to ramble endlessly about something. Then she finished it up with a small "Yeah?"

Very cute.

LGR's cuteness comes from his obsession with preparing us food using some toy cooking and food things he has. There's always a request to place an order and when the food is delivered a demand for some cash. Tonight I got a random assortment of veges and it cost me $12.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Rudimentary Effort

I don't really have a lot to say about today. My work day was frustrating. I may have had my current job for 8 or 9 months but sometimes I feel like I still don't have a clue about what's going on. Other days I feel as though I'm on top of it all. I guess that's they (whoever they are) mean about having a challenging day.

I left for work before LGR woke up this morning. Rumour has it he was quite upset that I got Hayzey out of bed but not him. I would have loved to been home with him but ....

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On a political note - I quite like the kerfuffle that's been generated about George W Bush saying the word 'shit' during what he thought was a private conversation. Regardless of whatever anyone thinks of him I sure we will all admit the guy is still human and quite capable of uttering the occasional profanity. String him up for a lot of things but not this one ... There are bigger issues.

And while I'm at it - how is it that 45% of Australians surveyed believe John Howard had a deal with Pete Costello about the Liberal party leadership, and then subsequently broke it, but about 70% of these same people believe JH is the best person to lead the Libs, and Australia. Very bizarre.

I suppose it doesn't matter however - both of these gentlemen would run rings around the current Labor leadership.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Last Day

This evening I was astounded to find out LGR doesn't eat Rice Bubbles. He only has Weet Bix for breakfast.

I did manage to get an explanation from him:

"Yesterday Tommy (his teddy bear) told me this is my last day of eating Rice Bubbles. Now I just eat Weet Bix. Until after Christmas."

I'm glad we got this sorted out. It should make breakfast time (if I'm ever around for breakfast again - I left for work at 03:00 this morning ...) much easier.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Dancing

We've had a busy couple of days.

Saturday was a trip up the Mountains to visit Grandma, and then Nanna.

We left home in some pretty good rain and on the way up found more rain, and fog, and even some dry patches. It was a reasonable drive and very nice to see that the catchment was a good, all over covering of water.

Not a lot happened at Grandma's. We had some lunch and played some games and had some arguments. I got a bit restless - it was a wet, misty day in the mountains after all.

But suddenly, at about 15:00, it got very noisy. The Clan McK and the Zoo Cows all arrived, simultaneously, for a vist. 6 kids in a small, weatherboard cottage on a wet day ... Very loud.

The kids had a bunch of fun and the adults had some adult type conversations. It was nice but, as usual, I ate too much .

We ended up whipping over to Nanna's place at about 17:00 and had some dinner. We had to leave about 19:30 because of tired kids and had a very interesting trip home. There was rain, fog, dry road, accidents, detours .... everything. We also had the immense of listening to the Wobbly Wallabies belt the crap out of the South Africans. And the Eagles managing to beat South Sydney.

Sunday was pretty low key. We did very little apart from some groceries. Aunt BJ came over for dinner and we had some very fancy, but not very tasty, canneloni. I keep telling myself it was the effort that counted. As always it was nice to be with friends; but this time it was somewhat sombre because Aunt BJ is moving interstate in about two weeks.

Then it was Monday. The highlight of my day was coming home from work and having a little disco with the kids. We played some Lynryd Skynyrd (sp?), The Knack, MC Hammer, U2, Jet, Jamiroquai and Outkast. All sorts of things. They danced to all of it and thought it was fantastic. So did I - the kidlets were beautifully cute and they had a ball.

Friday, July 14, 2006

What Happened?

I'm not sure what happened with the kids today - I barely saw them.

I got up at about 05:15 and showered and took off to play some golf. This lasted until about 09:00 and then I rocked on up to work. Busy day. Much achieved. Whatever .....

Ended up getting home at about 18:45 feeling very tired and a bit overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the kids. They were loud; but I don't know what they did today.

What I do know is we've got a pretty big weekend planned and I'm looking forward to it. You guys out there will have to wait to find out what happens :-)

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Steel Trap

LGR asked about his Wiggles cup yesterday. The one with the flip lid and the string to put around your neck.

This is interesting because he hasn't asked about it for five months. When quizzed about when he last used it he told Mrs G he used it at Wiggles World. This is correct. We also lost the cup at Wiggles World .... It amazes that he can tell us, correctly, when he last used it.

A mind like a steel trap :-)

Hayzey has an ear infection; and has been given a crapload of medicine to see if we can get it to go away. This is the 3rd or 4th infection this year and the doctor mentioned a surgical remediation. I felt kind of queasy hearing this. It's the same operation I had as a kid. Difference is that I was a bit older. We've agreed to regular visits to get the ear checked over winter and spring and some diligent monitoring. There is a chance that she will get through this. I hope.

The doctor also mentioned, that statistically speaking, Hayz will have cold symptoms until approximately September ...

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

To Sleep

Please - let us get some. Sleep that is.

Poor Hayzey is not a happy camper. We're visiting the doctor this afternoon but I'm pretty sure she has some sort of ear/nose/throat issue that is causing her large amounts of distress - particularly at night time.

As a consequence she is waking quite regularly and sometimes not going back to sleep as fast as we would like. Sometimes she stays in a crying/sleeping/distressed state for 2-3 hours. Which keeps Mummy and Daddy awake.

Hayzey still has her daytime sleep but that luxury is not extended to Mummy or Daddy.

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It's not all bad though. LGR is much better. Mrs G is sort of better. I'm getting worse but am not as crook as Mrs G yet.

It will be nice when we are all healthy again :-)

Monday, July 10, 2006

Shunned; With a Story

This morning Hayzey decided she didn't like me. Mrs G and I combined to put her eyedrops in, but for some reason I bore the brunt of her anger. When I left for work I asked her for a cuddle.

"No."

Maybe a kiss?

"No."

Will you blow me a kiss?

"No."

Wave goodbye?

"No."

Hmmm ....

When I got home it looked like it was a continuation. Luckily, for me, this was shortlived and I received a huge hug after changing Hayzey into her night time nappy.

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A story from LGR (as spoken to me):

Once, there were 2 kiddies sleeping on their bed and then they started jumping up and down on the bed because it was a very exciting day. Their Mum said "Why are you jumping up and down on the bed?" and they said "Because, because we're going to Dreamworld to visit Wiggles World."

And then they had their breakfast and then they changed into their clothes and then they hopped in the car and buckled up and then drove, drove, drove for a long time to Dreamworld.

And then they were there. They walked a long way and Mummy saw the Wiggles World sign and they jumped up and down again. They went inside and then Mummy said "What should we do first?".

"Go on the Big Red Car Ride" said the little boy.

And then .... and then ....

and then they went on the pirate boat and next was Wags who said "Woof woof" and they shaked hands with Wags and walked off. Then they saw Dorothy and then Henry and they shaked his hand too.

Captain Feathersword was sick.

Then they just walked home. In their car.

That's the end of the first story.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

A Tantrum

Hayzey threw the biggest tantrum I have seen either of my kids throw earlier today. In Bunnings.

She and LGR had been playing on the instore play equipment and Mrs G decided it was time to go (I was off doing man things). Hayzey just about screamed the place down. I heard them about 30s before they arrived where I was. To top it all off LGR was walking next to Mrs G (who was holding a screaming Hayzey) yelling, at the top of his lungs, "Daddy! We're ready Daddy!".

Poor Hayz is quite crook. She woke up with both eyes more or less closed over because of conjunctivitis and her was plastered to her face because of dried snot. One bath later and she was clean.

On a lighter note LGR has begun counting down the days until the next Wiggles show. It's probably about 150 days but he doesn't care. We've got pretty good seats this time around - 2nd row of the floor section of the Entertainment Centre. Last time I was on the Ent Cent floor I was about 16 or 17 and I definitely wasn't watching the Wiggles ...

I went for another run today - this time staying out for 15 minutes but doing the same walk/run thing. My running intervals varied from 30 to 60 seconds, and in all I probably ran for a grand total of 5-6 minutes?? More importantly my knee felt ok today and there was some fluency to my stride. There was also a marked increase in the perception of strength levels.

Before I finish I must mention tonight's dinner. We made pizza. This is done completely from scratch - we make our own bases, prepare all the ingredients and then build them to our personal tastes. For LGR this always means ham, pineapple and nothing else. No exceptions.

I usually try to make the biggest, chunkiest pizza I can but tonight did the less is more thing. And it was fantastic. I used a capsicum salsa as the sauce and made three small pizzas - one with tomato and basil, one with ham and mushroom and one with tuna, chilli and onion. All were topped with a mixture of mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan cheese. All were gorgeous. And to top it off we opened a very nice Hungerford Hill Shiraz Viognier which went very well with the pizza.

If I'd paid for the meal I would have been quite satisfied. Knowing I made it myself made it that much better :-)

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Eyes and Ears and Mouth and Nose

The kidlets seem to have gotten over conjunctivitis pretty quickly; but have replaced it (in Hayzey's case) with a ripper of a snotty nose. LGR's pretty good. Swimming lessons in the morning are a good thing - half an hour in the pool makes the dried on boogers much easier to remove :-(

Mrs G is also quite crook - almost complete loss of voice, sore throat and chest. Not good.

We had an interesting day today. Went to a 1st birthday for the Junior Zoo Cow. Many, many kids at this gathering and some very nice food too. Probably ate a little too much.

We also finalised a decision about some changes we want to make to the house. We saw something in a brochure while getting a measure and quote during the week and questioned it today. We were offered some alternatives, came home with some samples and were very glad we questioned our original decision. All very cryptic I know; but I want to keep this one sort of hidden until it happens. Which might be soon.

I was reading to Hayzey tonight and she started pointing to a picture of a monkey and saying "Mummy" over and over. A bit weird. I would have thought she might have associated monkey with Daddy but who knows what's going on in there ...

Final note - the Eagles have broken a 3 match losing streak tonight, and the Wallabies have broken a 3 match winning streak. I love Rugby Union but have more involvement in the Rugby League - primarly because I am currently 3 points in front in the work tipping comp and stand to win a tidy sum if I maintain some form. 2 from 2 so far this weekend :-)

Friday, July 07, 2006

Eyes

Both kidlets have conjunctivitis (sp?). We have to give them eye drops, and they don't like it. Neither do we. It's very disconcerting to hear your kids crying in fear and pain and to know that you are causing it.

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I want a chair like this one.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Back Again

What's the single best way of ensuring no-one returns to your page? Don't update it ....

Shame on me.

No need to worry though - back online with plenty to say. Right? We've done heaps but as is usual it can't be recalled in hindsight.

Not all of it anyway.

Clan Jones travelled down the highway a few weeks back to visit Pampar. Aunt LJ and UAl also made the trip and a pretty good time was had by all. We went to a park and fed some ducks, visited some markets, looked at some display homes, had some food and generally had a nice time. We don't get down there enough.

What else? We've spent some time up in the mountains but not for any particular reason. There was the Winter Magic Festival which was as exciting as always. A few other trips (maybe just one??) but I feel like been there heaps of late.

The kidlets are becoming quite the handful. Hayzey is into everything and is far more bold than LJ was at the same age (and is now, and probably ever will be). If she can grab something she will, if it's climbable she'll figure it out and if it can be lifted it can be thrown. It's all fun though.

LGR is becoming, if possible, even more diligent and well mannered. He tries to be so mature and responsible and pulls it off a very large portion of the time. He's truly gorgeous and we're both so proud of the efforts he makes.

For those that care I was given permission to jog (not run) so I went out yesterday and for a period of 10 minutes I walked 90 seconds and then jogged 30 seconds. My knee felt very weak, but not sore. The end is now truly in sight.

I'll keep it short tonight - and will do my best to put in some more frequent updates. Once every 3 weeks is not really good enough!!