jen's blog

2012 and the Year of the Dragon

2012-01-22T12:45:00.003+11:00

Since I didn't pop in and say hello at the start of the calendar year like 'most everyone else, I thought I'd get a few words in today, at the end of the lunar new year. Tomorrow is Chinese New Year, the Dragon year.

We're busy today tidying up the homestead. I think it's actually a Japanese tradition but I got it into my head one year that I must have a clean house for the start of the new year. It's always too difficult to do it for the calendar year, what with Christmas only just being over and the house full of new toys and the body recovering from the over-indulgence. Chinese New Year (CNY) seems a better time to start. And when I was growing up my father always took the day off work on CNY, with the idea that you shouldn't do any work that day or you'll be working your butt off for the rest of the year... And what you do on CNY you'll be doing for the rest of the year. So no fighting or arguing or boring housework!

However this year I'm not as stressed out by it all, unlike other years. I think the main reason is that I've finally bitten the bullet and HIRED A CLEANER! And they're coming tomorrow! For years I've thought about it but could never justify the expense - paying for someone to do something I can do myself. But I've come to a point where I'm fed up with the mess. I am working full time and I don't want to spend the weekend cleaning. I don't want to be embarrassed and stressed if I'm having guests over. Of course there's still a fair amount of tidying involved with cleaners - more than I initially imagined...but I'm paying them to CLEAN, not pick up after the kids. They're certainly old enough to pack away after themselves.

Speaking of which, it's ridiculous how quickly those three munchkins have grown up. I'm way behind on posting photos (on flickr). You wouldn't recognize them. I'll see what I can do.

For the record... Dante is nearly 11 and about to start year 6! We are in full swing preparing for the Selective High Schools Entrance Exam... So frigging competitive these days. He's got the smarts, just needs the exam technique and to put in a bit more hard work. It's rough going, to say the least. It will be an interesting year for him - his closest friends in the last couple of years have always been in the year above him and that means this year they're moving on to High School. Hopefully they'll manage to keep in touch - it would be sad if they lost contact, although with the way they email each other I don't think there's too much danger in that! At least it's cheaper than the billion phone calls I used to make when I was a teenager!

Atticus will be 7 next week! He's such a different personality to his big brother. Much more easy going and has an in-built coolness about him. In a trendy way, not a standoffish way. Minecraft is his poison. Utterly addicted. Will play for hours if he's allowed, and then will happily watch his brother play for hours, if he's allowed. That computer game has caused much woe in this family, what with my efforts to and limit how much they play, through to fights over each others' constructions. But as Dan says, at least it's a constructive game. You don't go around shooting creatures or blowing up stuff. The basic premise of the game is to BUILD. Very much a plus in this Lego-obsessed family.

And the little miss is going to 5 in a few weeks. Starting Kindergarten in one week. Very quickly catching up to her next brother in height! Always singing, eager to help, especially my mother with the cooking. She's certainly very ready for school - and we have no doubts that she will be completely fine and settle in easily. Last year at pre-school was a huge plus. Nearly half of the 60 kids (3 classes) will be staying on at the school this year. And she is not lacking for friends!

And now I'll leave you with a photo of all the grand kids, taken last week at our pre-CNY Eve dinner (as one of my brothers won't be coming for dinner tonight). Look at these larrikins, aged 4½-nearly 18!

Something something

2011-11-02T09:42:00.002+11:00

Some miscellaneous ramblings. In point form because that's how my brain is working these days.

- There are only two months of the year left. How on earth did that happen?

- Today I start my new job. Got here nice and early and am waiting for my colleague/boss to arrive to show me the ropes. Too eager!

- It helped that there is a stop work meeting at school today. The kids don't start until 11am.

- Speaking of school, we had our biannual fete on Saturday. A great effort and wonderful but tiring day. Lots of money counting since I'm the treasurer of the P&C.

- I'm still going to TAFE one day a week. There are only about 4 or 5 weeks left and then I'll get my Certificate. Joy!

- Yesterday we learnt about impedance and the effect frequency has on it in RCL circuits.

- We still haven't done enough soldering though, in my opinion.

- During the last school holidays we went on a family trip to Hong Kong! It was awesome. Kids were great (mostly) and loved it.

- We did an awful amount of shopping there! Lego, soft toys, clothes. Had to buy a bag to bring it home again.

- In August I ran the City2Surf for the second time ever. I was pretty pleased with my result! 84 minutes, down from 103 last year. Or something like that.

- I've not done any real running or training since then though! So lazy.

- And I went down to Melbourne to Craft Camp at the end of that month. It was absolutely wonderful. Inspiring people and sewing.

- I was so inspired I bought an overlocker. My birthday present from two years ago. (I never got around to choosing one at the time).

- I miss writing on this blog. These days you can find me hanging around Twitter more than anywhere else.

- I miss having a computer to sit at that's all my own and easy to access. My iPhone has become a (limited) substitute.

- Hmm. Hungry now. That will be all for the time being. Maybe I'll see you again another day soon.

- I might even post some pictures :)

A fresh start

2011-05-16T11:38:00.006+10:00

Today is my first (week) day being unemployed. Yep. In the blink of an eye my 12 weeks' redeployment period has ended and my employment has ceased.

I have to admit that I was a bit of a mess last week. Especially my last day, Friday. I hadn't told many people that I was leaving - you'd think my boss would have kept track but he came to see me at 10am asking what was happening. Competence in action, huh? (A colleague told me that I should be careful not to "burn my bridges" but if I can't be frank on this here blog then where can I?) I was in a state of constantly being on the edge of tears - and all too often slipped off that edge, mostly at inopportune moments unfortunately. My closest colleagues brought in cake and we had a small afternoon tea. I went around and said 'bye to a few of the nicer people in the building and sent an email to the rest around 3pm.

I was exhausted by the end of the day - the stress of the last several months, weeks and days was draining. I got home and Dan mentioned an email that one of our best friends had sent to a mailing list of IT folk in the Uni. It was so incredibly sweet - I'd already cried when I read it that afternoon but just having it brought up again when I was trying so hard to be composed in front of the kids and my parents caused me to break down and I had to go to another room for a good hard sob.

After that, the weekend seemed to improve. Saturday I did NO housework. Just sat around crocheting. And the usual running around with the kids for their Saturday activities. Sunday was Dan's birthday. I bought him a new computer (27" iMac - yay for spending my redundancy money before it arrives) and we went out to yum cha with his mum and sister and her husband. The afternoon was spent chatting and eating cake with my brothers and co. who were at my parents' place for the usual fortnightly tennis day. It was all very pleasant. To top it off I dragged my mother-in-law (twisted her arm, I did) to Spotlight and bought a bunch of threads (floss) for this cross-stitch pattern which I am excited about starting.

And there it is... Excited. I realised after that craft supply top-up that I wasn't sad any more. Well, still a little sad but not crying and moaning and upset any more. I am starting to get excited. I'm making plans, to do lists, thinking about the future. Thinking about craft projects that I may actually complete in a timely fashion. Thinking about cleaning up the house, sorting and de-cluttering. Spending time with the kids. More time with the kids. Reading books. Writing! I feel like a weight has finally lifted.

Of course I will probably have to go back to work at some point in time, even if it's just to satisfy the lego habit, but for now I'm happy to be a stay-at-home-most-of-the-time (still going to TAFE one day a week) mum. Happy. It's a nice feeling.

Extreme knitting

2011-04-27T08:36:00.002+10:00

I spent a good chunk of the weekend knitting, trying to finish a cardigan for Elora. And then this morning I was sent the following... All I can say is "Wow!".

The end of Easter

2011-04-26T16:53:00.003+10:00

Our incredibly long Long Weekend has drawn to a close and it's back to work for me tomorrow - Dan and the kids still have another day off.

The holiday has been almost epic in its length, or apparent length! The kids have been on school holidays for nearly three weeks. And we've done so much. A trip to the Australian Museum, the Royal Easter Show, birthday parties, play dates... Jam packed, I tells ya!

I hope I'll get a chance to write more about it in the next short while. There are certainly a lot of photos to be processed and uploaded.

But today I think I'll just leave with a thought from a friend. A bit of a philosophy of life, and a good one I might add. Especially now that I'm a little bit out of my "job funk"... I actually finished my resume last week. At long last.

And thus I write:

Don't judge your success by what you haven't achieved.

I need to practise this quite a bit more!

Photo of the sunrise over our local park, earlier this month.

Growin'

2011-03-17T22:28:00.001+11:00

Tomorrow my first born turns ten. Double digits! I'm in shock.

Tonight at dinner I looked across at my three munchkins and was shocked by how big and grown up they have suddenly become.

Elora turned four last month. She started preschool this year and is loving it, with only a couple of clingy days in the first week. She has her little group of friends, loves to go to music and the library and has such an incredible understanding of everything that goes on. She is observant and a little bit bossy, a little "mother" at times. Nearly as tall as her next brother. Smart, funny and gorgeous as all hell. I know we will be fighting off the boys when she is older. Or maybe her brothers will do that. In any case, it has already begun. The other day when I dropped her off she was almost immediately surrounded by three little blonde boys and yesterday she informed us that Matthew is her boyfriend.

Atti turned six at the end of January and is now a big Year One kid, loving school (with a terrific teacher once more). He is reading everything in sight and asking for more challenging maths problems. Our boy with hidden talents is coming out of his shell, academically speaking.

And that ten year old I mentioned earlier. Dante. He's only half a head shorter than me. Working hard this year with the prospect of high school looming not too far off in the future. Struggling with his emotions, causing me to struggle with mine (especially my patience, wearing thin lately). He talks and thinks like a typical teenager, to a certain extent. Or perhaps he just talks back. At times he causes me unbearable pain, somewhat like he did all those years ago in that labour room with the wood panelling and the hospital bed. (Room number 8, I recall. Lucky in Chinese.) At times, in all honesty, I just want to send him away to boarding school.

And yet at other times, I am bursting with pride at how clever he can be. Mature, gentle and calm. Patient, caring and helpful. Not always at home around me, but at school and around others. I want the world for that boy. I want him to succeed and be happy and everything a parent wants for their child. I want it more than anything because of his potential. I don't want him to waste his talents. Am I projecting my own regrets into him? Of course. Because I have the benefit of hindsight. I just hope that he'll appreciate it one day.

Procrastinatin'

2011-03-07T19:56:00.001+11:00

I've always been a bit of a world champion when it comes to putting things off. Seriously. My entire life I've never been able to shake this undesirable trait.

But I feel like today, this week, this month, it's getting a bit ridiculous. I've been trying to write my resume for four weeks now. At least. I have a shell but no details. The clock is ticking. I have ten weeks to find a new job.

Normally when I have something that big and important I find other more interesting big and urgent things to do. Like sewing quilts or knitting booties for newly arrived babies. Or any other craft.

However I'm so deep into my procrastination rut that I'm even putting off the fun stuff. Instead this weekend I did laundry. Every single item of dirty clothing or bedding washed, hung out to dry, folded and put away in cupboards. All in two days. Unprecedented.

The kitchen is clean. Dishes done and put away. I have even done the dishes from tonight already.

I rearranged some furniture in Elora's room. I vacuumed. I ironed. The house would be spotless if it wasn't for the very busy, very chaotic, very efficient little munchkins who reside in the house. And their three cousins who visited yesterday (but they did all get along so marvellously while they created havoc).

At least it's productive procrastination, right? Maybe I'll get onto the resume tomorrow.

Learnin'

2011-02-14T21:09:00.003+11:00

This is my new home on Tuesdays for the rest of the year.

It is Building L at the TAFE Sydney Institute. The carving above the entrance says "Engineering".

I have enrolled in a Certificate II in Electronics!

Eight hours a week for one year. The "two" part of the title indicates how complex a course it is. This one has no prerequisites and few hours. It's not too involved!

Last week was our first day. Basic atomic structure and electrical properties in the morning and OH&S in the workshop in the afternoon. Pretty dry but a good easy introduction to get my brain in gear again. It's been nearly twenty years since I did any of that theory!

Gawd, I sound old. I feel it a bit. A couple of the kids in the class (and there's only six of us!) are fresh out of school. I'm nearly old enough to be their mother. They are certainly closer to my own kids' ages than mine! Eek. I think I'd better get off that train of thought. It can only lead to despair. Well, not despair, but something unhappy!

The hands on stuff in the workshop was good though, if a little scary. I would say that I have a "healthy respect" for electricity, especially after all the teacher's terrifying "anecdotes". It was great to finally get my hands on the equipment I've seen used every day in the mechanical workshop at my work!

So why electronics? I've been getting that question a lot.

Definitely fueled by work. Our electronics guy retired at the start of the year but before he left I started contemplating the possibility of taking on his role, or some of it. It turns out my work is looking for an "advanced" electronics person so I don't come close to fitting the bill (unfortunately) but the seed was planted.

My eldest brother always tinkered in electronics (how many boys do you know with oscilloscopes in their bedrooms) and eventually became an electrical engineer. I like to think (and hope) that some of that skill rubbed off onto me, and plus, it makes me think of him. I still miss him, after 12 years.

I was also inspired by another woman at Uni working in IT who did this course a few years ago. She told me about it with such relish that I never forgot it, and decided that if Jenny (that was also her name) could go do Electronics at TAFE then so could I. Perhaps I should email her to let her know how she inspired me. Perhaps I'll wait until I'm doing well enough to know that I won't flunk it!

Anyway, that's one of the many things that I've been up to of late. Getting my learnin' hat on. Gotta start somewhere!

Caught in the headlights

2011-02-11T09:23:00.004+11:00

We are well into the new year already! Both 2011 and the Chinese Year of the Rabbit. It's my year this year. Jen the bunny. Turning a multiple of 12.

I feel a bit like a rabbit, lately. Caught in the headlights. Frozen in fear, trepidation, anxiety, worry, stress. You've heard me go on about it before. My life is still in limbo. My father's illness. Work (or impending lack of work) stress. Raising three boisterous children. Every day I think about blog posts to write, things I want to share or get off my chest. And the words, they appear in my mind and then flutter away before I can do anything with them. It makes me sad - I love to write and create - but I just haven't been in the write headspace for it.

Things are gonna change, though. I've found a new iPhone app called "blogpress". Allows me to write and save drafts locally and online. I could just use the regular blogger interface but this one seems a lot more user friendly, plus the font size is much kinder to my deteriorating eyesight (which is not really that bad, thank you very much). The main advantage is that I can now write anywhere, anytime because I carry my iPhone with me everywhere. So if a thought occurs to me while I'm in a lift or on the loo (is that too gross?) I can write it down straight away. A big bonus, in my books.

So expect more posts from me in the near future. There's been a lot going on and I want to write about it!

December

2010-12-31T22:23:00.006+11:00

The month of December has gone in a flash, somewhat like the fireworks going off around my suburb and around my city as I write. Work and all that associated stress. Recovering from Dante's Schools Spectacular weekend of horror (which wasn't too bad in the end). Dan going overseas to Saudi Arabia and Jordan for two weeks. The end of the school year. Christmas and presents.

But really, for us, December this year has been all about this man. My father.

In November I went away for a weekend's respite. On the last day I found out my father had been admitted to hospital. Two days later we found out he had a large gastric ulcer that had been bleeding.

A week later we found out that it was actually a form of stomach cancer and my father was readmitted to hospital for an exploratory gastroscopy. Following that and a visit to an oncologist it was decided that he'd have surgery followed by chemo so a week later he was back in hospital for the big operation. Two thirds of his stomach was removed.

His recovery was good to begin with but slowed due to his age (he's 78) and a few complications. After two weeks we thought he'd be home but then another setback kept him in hospital for a few more days.

Finally, though, he is home. He came home on Christmas Eve afternoon after three weeks in hospital. Frail, weak but home and never happier to be here. A great Xmas present for us all!

I sent out calls for good thoughts (and prayers if that's your thing) via Facebook and twitter and all the good will was wonderful. Thank you, all, for your supportive words and hopeful wishes.

The new year will still present many challenges for us. My father still has to undertake a round or two of chemo. I've got to find myself a new job, unfortunately, probably. Elora will be starting preschool. Dante heading to the more serious end of primary school (Yr 5) with thoughts of high school looming. Atticus, well, he's doing pretty darn well. And hopefully everything is gonna turn out okay.

Here's hoping 2011 brings you much joy and prosperity. Thank you for sticking with me as I try to sort out this hectic thing called life and neglect my poor ol' blog here. Every year I say I'll try harder to write more but I think I know not to make such promises this year. I honestly don't know what lies ahead. Hopefully more good than bad! And hopefully I will take more time to share it with you and record the moments of my life for posterity like I originally intended.

We shall see.

Work - an update

2010-11-12T14:54:00.003+11:00

A few folks have asked me how things are going with the whole work situation. I just thought I'd update y'all.

At the beginning of October we had a big meeting and determined that we would have a month of "data collection" to see just how much work was out there for my colleague and myself. That ended last week. I thought it went quite well. We were quite busy during that time and I managed to enter a fair few number of jobs into the system. We hadn't heard anything about how things were going though.

Then today, just before lunch, the manager asked me if I can attend a meeting with him and the Head of School next Monday at 3pm. Just the three of us. No indication of why, but anyone with a bit of a brain (which surprisingly includes me!) can guess that it's about "The Restructure" and my Women's Intuition tells me it ain't gonna be good news.

So, yeah. I'm about to head off on a "girl's weekend" with some other mothers from the kids' school. 48 hours of child-free, husband-free leisure time in a freshly renovated historic house in the Southern Highlands. And instead of relaxing, now it will be a stress-filled teeth-clenching grey-hair-making two day wait to find out if I have a job or not. What timing.

Wool. Giant balls of wool.

2010-11-10T16:00:00.010+11:00

There was a sale. I couldn't resist. I bought a bucket load (or a very large bag, anyway) of 200g balls of wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills last month. Curse them and their discounts. (Still on sale until the end of November, by the way!)

It was wonderful seeing the package waiting for me on the door step after a treacherous drive home on a very stormy Sydney afternoon. I couldn't wait to rip it open.

"Ginormous balls of wool," Elora exclaimed when she saw them. Followed by "The pink ones are for me and the blue ones are for the boys."

Right she was. 5 colours for a blankie for Atti, 6 for her. "Luxury" 8ply 100% wool 200g balls
For the boy: Leaf, Ice, Ghost, Lake, Junior Navy
For the girl: Frost, Lavender, Purple Storm, Baby Pink, Ruby, Pink.

My intention is to make squares from my new book, 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans by Jan Eaton (bought from Better World Books - I highly recommend them) to make blankets for the two youngest kiddies. I feel a bit bad that I'm not making one for the biggest boy, but, he's nearing 10. He's not so keen on my hand made items anymore (except for Halloween costumes... more on that another day I hope).

Tragically, in my eagerness to open the packet, I got a bit overzealous with the scissors. Wah! I cut up my gigantic ball of wool! Well, a few strands.

But I think I can live with it.

Now to get to the crocheting!

Snail mail

2010-11-05T20:42:00.002+11:00

Back in June I took a photo of what our mail looks like when I hadn't checked it for a few days, or a week. Or two.

Pretty funny, I thought. Proper "snail mail".

But in recent weeks the problem started getting worse. Possibly because of Spring? I don't know. I took this photo inside the mailbox today. Those junk mail leaflets had only been in there for a day, two at most. It is mostly unreadable. Some other mail was barely holding together it had that many holes!

Now, I'm not a fan of snails. I absolutely detest slugs, and snails are pretty much slugs with shells, right? Eeyuck! Eeyou! I HATE them.

Something had to be done.

So I went into the pantry and found a 1kg bag of cooking salt. And poured it into the mailbox. Not all of it but probably about half. There was a good 5-7mm thick layer on the bottom. So pretty, like snow.

No more snail mail for this family.

First Tues in November

2010-11-02T15:52:00.003+11:00

There was some big horse race here today. I was feeling crook this afternoon, so I sat in the comfy chair in my office and played a highly addictive ipad game instead. Naughty, naughty, but why should I be working when everyone else in the entire country downs tools for five minutes or so at 3pm?*

* Just so you don't think the worst of me, and in case my boss reads this (ha!), I actually put in for a half day of sick leave today - around lunch time I realised I just couldn't take it any more, with my throbbing head and twisting insides. But I had to stick around at work since Dan wasn't able to pick up the kids after school (well, not without major inconvenience) and heck, I can catch up on some blog reading and writing while I'm here, as well as curling up in my comfy chair (which isn't really that comfy but good enough when you're feeling unwell)!

Busy times ahead

2010-11-01T23:06:00.002+11:00

November: second last month of the year.

Month of the NSW Schools Spectacular which Dante is dancing in for the second time. Lots of early starts culminating in three long days with two extremely late nights...

Which coincides with Dan going away to Saudi Arabia for a couple of weeks for work (hopefully with a chance for some sightseeing included - so close to Petra!)...

Which means he'll miss the annual Thanksgiving lunch which his family have celebrated for the last twenty three or so years...

But will be back in time for December - the craziest month of the year.

Fun times ahead for this gal and her brood.

Dinner from Hamburg

2010-10-20T20:47:00.003+11:00

Well, not really from Germany... We got home early from school/child care today (4:30pm instead of the usual 6:30pm) so I decided to cook hamburgers for dinner (mostly at Dante's request). I didn't have all the ingredients - Dan had to get hamburger buns on the way home - but I made do.

500g beef mince
1 carrot, grated
Handful of mushrooms, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices old bread, soaked in water until really soft then squeezed out
½ packet French onion soup mix
1 egg

Sauté onions and garlic until slightly browned.
Put everything into a big bowl and mix well.
Shape into patties and cook in a fry pan until done.

Serve on toasted buns with cheese and lettuce from the garden.
And tomatoes if your family will eat them. Mine don't so I had to go without.

Sorry, no pictures.

A hit with the boys. Elora "helped" and hence knew about the hidden veges and refused more than a mouthful of the meat. Ate lots of bread and cheese though!

Want!

2010-10-19T16:44:00.003+11:00

Saw this bike a few weeks ago at a bike store and have been seriously drooling over it. So nice! But perhaps a little bit big for me.

Then I found this one on their website and while it's not as graceful-looking as the first, comes in a smaller size and would be perfect for this not-so-confident-on-the-streets cyclist.

Sigh. Both well above the amount I'm willing to spend on a bicycle right now, alas.

Snowed under

2010-10-12T14:39:00.001+11:00

Ever get so busy and stressed that you can't get it together enough to actually get things done?

That's the way I'm feeling at the moment. At work (eep! Still struggling/fighting to keep my job!), at home (housework), at leisure (craft stuff)...

ARgh.

100 and counting!

2010-09-23T12:24:00.003+10:00

I've had several comments lately about how tall this girl is getting.

So I measured her this morning.

100cm and growing! She's grown 4cm in the three months since I last measured her. That's 1½" in the Imperial scale.

Wow!

Listening to. Reading.

2010-09-14T14:59:00.005+10:00

I'm so sick of seeing that complaining post - about time I update this here blog with something more interesting. (Things haven't gotten any worse here at work... maybe there is a bit of hope? I don't know. Trying not to think about it too much, spent a chunk of the week writing up a two page document, "Twenty reasons to keep employing Jen" or something to that affect, which I hadn't written earlier because I'd been trying not to think about the possibility of losing my job and almost made things worse. Ack. Talk about downward spirals. Anyway.)

So just quickly. Because now it's the weekend and I've got a zillion loads of washing to do and another zillion other household chores to get through.

This song has been stuck in my head recently. I just can't get enough of They Might Be Giants.

This book has been stuck in my hand constantly. When I'm not reading it I am thinking about it and when I will next get a chance to read it. Even so much that I read in the car the other day, and I am very prone to motion sickness (but was willing to risk it)! Will write a full review when I'm done. But let me just say, "Wow. In a confronting and thought provoking way."

That will be all.

...

2010-09-01T02:25:00.003+10:00

Home again. The holiday was wonderful! The journey back was nightmarish. I will write all about it soon.

But first I need to get something off my chest. It's three in the morning and I'm wide awake, unable to sleep. And I'm usually asleep by half past nine most nights and up in a couple of hours!

Today I suffered incredible disappointment, not wholly unpredicted as I got an inkling yesterday from certain mannerisms, and not life threateningly awful but upsetting nonetheless. Today the head at my workplace took me into a meeting with just the other manager and told me that in the new restructure my 0.6 FTE (full time equivalent) position was probably not needed. Lots of "It's not set in stone" type comments but one can tell by the sympathetic-not-quite-sympathetic looks and the repeated "We appreciate everything you've done for us" that the decision to get rid of me has been made. I'm not holding my hopes up, no matter what they say.

I managed to hold it together as much as I could in that meeting room. I'm quite surprised. Saved my bawling for back in the privacy of my office. What a way to come back from a wonderful family holiday.

My colleague, who will be directly affected by this considering his workload is already sky high and will have to take on all the extra work, is pretty devastated and shocked. I'm really touched by his reaction. They (the bosses) implied that they told him yesterday but not in so many words. He didn't realise just how far they were taking the restructure. He has thought of lots of things to say against the idea which he will take into his meeting with them tomorrow. He says we will fight this stupidity. I couldn't be more grateful.

But now I don't know what to do. Is it worth the fight? If a fight it will be? Do I want to stay in this place which doesn't want me? Is it time to think about a career change, something I've considered in the past? But it's a great place to work (despite the "You're fired!") and I've made the most wonderful friendships which I'm not willing to lose. The flexibility with hours has always been great... But I can't help think that my move to part-time work at the beginning of 2008 was the start of my downfall. I've never felt really discriminated against for wanting to work and raise a family before, but today I really did. I felt that being female and a mother was such a huge disadvantage to my situation and "career". I've never been overly ambitious. I thought I would be happy in the same position at work for years to come. There are other possibilities for my role at work, but when I suggested one I was met with surprise. I would be interested in looking into more training in Electronics? A girl? I don't know if I misread those raised eyebrows in my shocked and upset state, but that's the way it seems to me. They'd never even considered it but were happy to suggest it to my colleague. I'm disappointed to say the least.

So here I lie in bed tonight, thinking back to all the things I could have done differently to not be in this position now. Thinking about all the things I will need to do tomorrow to show Them that I'm not so dispensable. I've been in this place for 11 years. A third of my life! Nearly all of my working life! I've put in many more hours than necessary, than I've been paid for, but ruthlessness and The Budget prevail. It's all about the money in the end, isn't it? Not loyalty. "Thinking of the future," I was told. Whose future? I'd like to know. Certainly not mine, nor my colleagues. He'll get more money perhaps, but certainly more stress to go along with it.

So anyway, that's off my chest for now. I'm still not any sleepier though. Just "in limbo". Hoping they're wrong. But at the same time not holding any hope. Self confidence at rock bottom. Sucks to be me right now.

On Thursday Island

2010-08-23T18:33:00.001+10:00

On Thursday Island

We are here. And have intermittent Internet access after all. I don't know why I'm so surprised - so many of my cousins are on Facebook!

Cairns was busy and tiring. Early mornings, long days, late nights. Trying to fit everything and everyone into two and a half days.

Now we are T.I. and it's much more relaxing... And that, to the children, to my city-bred computer-addicted children, means BORING. Ack! Hopefully they'll catch up on lost sleep soon and start being more pleasant to each other. There was an incident that ended up with a bleeding nose this afternoon. Not fun. Thankfully Atti recovered quickly and spent the afternoon trying to work out how to use the borrowed Xbox.

Despite all that, I'm happy as larry. It's gorgeously warm. A nice 30°C with an incredible and constant strong wind blowing in from the east. We're staying in my (late) Grandmother's old place - a world of memories brought forth. Even the walls are still the same colour!

It also helps that we have occasional 'net access so we're not completely cut off from the world. Best of both worlds, I say!

FNQ

2010-08-19T02:05:00.003+10:00

Sounds rude, but it's not. It's where we're headed for the next ten days. Sunny, tropical Far North Queensland. Specifically, Cairns and Thursday Island. The kids are ridiculously excited. I'm more trepidatious... I hope they are good flyers!

I've probably packed more knitting projects than I can possibly hope to complete but, hey, better to have too many than not enough. And the same with books, for that matter. At least I remembered to pack my reading glasses.

We will have limited internet access while we're away. Maybe none! I'll miss you all.

See you later!

P.S. Note the time on this post? Yep. Time to get some sleep... Taxi's coming in five hours.

The Scowl

2010-08-14T18:24:00.008+10:00

We found out a couple of weeks ago that the Director of the boys' After School Care Program is leaving, after 8 years there! Dante was quite upset about it all, especially after not getting off to a good start with the new Director (during his hand over week)...

I wracked my brains for present ideas. Something safe like a Dymocks book voucher, perhaps? But I really wanted to hand make something for her. Because that's what I do... Decide to hand make something and leave it to the last minute. I think I thrive on the stress of it.

Then a new yarn shop opened up last week, not five minutes from work. I've been waiting for it for ages it seems, eagerly watching for signs of activity as we drive by every day. Of course I had to drop by on opening day. And to bring a shop luck you've got to buy something on its first day. Looking at all those beautiful balls of wool and cotton brought an idea to my mind. I'd knit Sarah a cowl. She lives in the Blue Mountains, land of ice weather and chill winds. Something nice for her to wear to keep her warm would work. I've seen her wearing scarves so I knew she'd like it.

I searched Ravelry (a really great knitting and crocheting resource, if you haven't heard of it) and found a great pattern, which I'd actually added to my queue a couple of years ago and never started (or finished). The Spiral Cowl (affectionately known as the "scowl" for some reason) knitted up quickly and easily (except for a major misread of the pattern by me. Oops!) and I managed to finish it with an entire hour to spare!

Photo taken in a hurry on a friend's iPhone under horrible work fluorescent lights. The colour is much deeper in real life (see next picture).

What I loved most was the picot edging. Never done it before, always being too scared of it. But, you know what? Easy! Not that complicated!

Can't wait to make one for myself now!
More details here, on Ravelry.

City to Surf - a recap

2010-08-08T17:04:00.003+10:00

Last week I mentioned I was entering in the big race today. Well, it turns out that 80,000 people did the same thing and this morning we ran and jogged and walked 14km from the city to Bondi Beach.

I left the house this morning feeling completely unprepared, having slept fitfully and suffering a bit of sunstroke from spending a few hours in the park yesterday. My training was incomplete, my health not 100% and I was nervous as anything. I caught the train in and everywhere I looked, even at my local train station, there seemed to be people wearing sandshoes and sporting clothes. I calmed myself by knitting on the journey in. Yes, I carried a small knitting project with me. How could I not??

Got to Hyde Park in the city and there were even more crowds. The major theme for the day, obviously. Met with my brother and sister-in-law and we queued up in our starting group. The atmosphere was fun. People were excited, nervous and a little cold! Lots of cheering and clapping when the first group went off (funnily enough the winner would have crossed the finish line just as I was crossing the start. Heh).

The gun went off, the surge began and we were off. "Let's run!" my sister-in-law exclaimed and then zoom, she was off. My brother and I looked at each other and laughed and started at our own, slower pace. A steady jog.

And amazingly we kept it up the entire time. Jogged the whole way. Made it up "Heartbreak Hill" with nary a scratch. Upped the pace a little on the downward stretch around the 11km mark. No sign of Prisciilla although we kept in contact by phone a little along the way. I checked my timer as we rounded the corner to Bondi - 95 minutes. I tried to up the pace a little more (to try and beat the magic 100 minute mark) but my body wouldn't budge! Took us another ten minutes to reach the finish, but we did it. Sore but smiling! (And my incredible sister-in-law beat us in by a few minutes, even after stopping for a toilet break (and queueing for that!) half way through!)

I have to say that I am so very pleased with my effort today. I honestly did not expect to be able to do anything but walk. Having my big brother by my side was wonderful. He encouraged me and kept pace with me and made the whole experience so much more enjoyable. And knowing my sister-in-law was somewhere up in front inspired us to keep going in the (vain, it turns out) hope that we might catch up with her!

Thanks, guys! I'm really looking forward to doing it all again next year, but perhaps with a little more preparation this time!

P.S. We took some pictures with our mobile phones. I'll add them later when I get a chance.

Cinnamon+sugar+butter=yum

2010-08-06T16:54:00.004+10:00

I recently discovered the blog of Jo from bubala who is also a mother of three here in Sydney. Lately she has been making bread and the other day she wrote about making cinnamon scrolls. They sounded just too delicious and too simple and easy not to try making them myself!

So yesterday (my day at home with Elora) I made up a batch of dough and in the afternoon I made the scrolls. I probably used more butter than Jo and forgot the sultanas but it didn't matter.

They turned out wonderfully! Soft but not too soft, sweet and cinnamony and delish. We had them for dessert and the kids demolished them in no time. "Mmm. They're like doughnuts!" Atti said as he reached for his second.

They were so good I decided to make another batch this morning and took them to work. I remembered the sultanas this time and used a little less butter and a little more cinnamon. They weren't bad either. We demolished them too!

Thanks, Jo, for the inspiration!

Ice Cream Dress

2010-08-02T09:10:00.003+10:00

I did it. On Saturday I decided to get stuck into making an Ice Cream Dress (or rather, the blouse) as part of the Ice Cream Social. And by dinner time I had it completed!

I just used some cheap poly-cotton fabrics I had lying around, since it was sort of a rushed job and a first try. I made size 3T for my 3½ year old.

I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Fairly professional looking as long as you don't look too closely at the stitching... I can't sew perfectly straight yet, and there were a few places where things didn't turn out quite right. Will have to ask the expert about it if I see her one day.

I chose a blue button for the closure. There was a little too much pink going on for my liking.

It fits the girl, just. A little tight around the arms, but she did have two layers on underneath. Should be alright in a couple of weeks' time when we head to Far North Queensland to visit family (and for a break - the tickets were cheap! I'll write more about that soon).

She wasn't in a very good mood when I asked her to try it on... this was the best picture I could get.

What a great cranky face! Don't want to cross this one!

I can't wait to make the full dress (View A) with pockets. This time a size 4. I might even get Elora to help me choose the main fabric. She might be happier to wear it then.

One week to go

2010-08-01T07:23:00.003+10:00

I don't think I mentioned that I entered the City to Surf back in June. I was feeling optimistic. There was plenty of time, it was over two months away. Plus my brother was going in it, and my sister-in-law said that it was probably his last time. How could I not go with them?

Heh. The weeks flew by incredibly fast, as they always do. The past couple of weeks I've been fending off a head cold/respiratory virus thingy that the kids have happily brought home and spread around. Cough, splutter, sniff, sneeze. I've still managed to keep it mostly at bay, but it's also meant that I've been tired, unfit and generally lazy. AND NOT TRAINING. Eep.

Now there is one week to go and I think I am even more unfit than I was when I entered. So much for my running. At least I know that I'll be able to walk it with ease!

Today's plan

2010-07-31T06:43:00.005+10:00

Today we were hoping to get out to the Biennale since tomorrow's the last day. But looking at the weather radar this morning:

I think that plan is out the window (the blue/white/yellow bits are rain). I went during the school holidays with Atti and Elora. On an iffy sort of day, weather-wise. Iffy until we got there, that is. And the skies opened up and we were miserable and wet, no, soaked, and Atti said "I don't want to go to Cockatoo Island ever again" when we got home. Not doing that again!

So I've finally started to get cracking on the oliver+s Ice Cream Dress as part of Amy and Kate's Ice Cream Social.

I only decided to participate at the last minute. Of course by then patterns had sold out. I finally got mine yesterday so I'm starting one day after the finish. D'oh! But that's okay. I've had plenty of time to admire all the work of everyone else and boy are there some prolific sewers (sewists? people who sew?) out there!

I'm thinking of just making View C for now - less work involved (no pockets) meaning it will get done more quickly.

I'll keep you posted!

Ikea hacker

2010-07-13T21:50:00.002+10:00

Whee! I submitted a simple ikea hack and it was published. Go and see my iPad stand which cost a whole $10 for two stands. You beauty.

WIP Wednesday and a pattern of sorts

2010-07-07T15:58:00.004+10:00

It's school holidays this week and next week. I'm at work for a full day since the boys are at vacation care and I don't have to collect them until 5pm. (Well, actually I have to collect them before 5pm but I like to leave it as long as possible... I normally finish at 2:30pm on Wednesdays). They're at "art classes" as Atti calls it - vacation care at a Creative Arts centre. Atti went yesterday and made an incredible artwork. More on that another day when I can get a photo!

So since I've got a little bit of spare time I thought I'd participate in this thing out there in the craft blog world called WIP Wednesday (WIP = Work In Progress)... I'm not sure who/where the originator is, sorry.

Heh. My LIFE is a work in progress, but I guess you're more interested in something crafty*. Last post I mentioned a soft ripple blanket that I unsuccessfully started at a craft get-together. Finally I've managed to make some headway and even take some pictures.

It's very long, or wide, depending on how you look at it. I just measured it and it's roughly 5 feet long. Nearly as tall as me. I still haven't counted the number of stitches. I guess I could calculate it...

I also decided that it'll probably end up being used with the stripes running vertically instead of horizontally. Neat idea, huh? And if I'm ever so inclined I can always add to it. The beauty of crochet!

The basic pattern, if you wish to replicate:

1st row: Chain [multiple of 14] + 1

2nd row: 1 Double crochet in second chain from hook. 5DC in each of the next 5 chains. *[2DC in the following one chain (an increase - this is the "bump" in the ripple). 6DC in the each of the next 6 chains, skip one chain (a decrease - this is the "valley" in the ripple), 6 DC in each of the next 6 DCs]. Repeat from * until you get to the end of the row. 1DC in the remaining chain.

3rd row. Turn. Repeat the 2nd row, working into the FRONT of each DC only (only one piece of yarn on your hook, not two).

You'll find that your "bumps" will not line up vertically - they'll be offset by one stitch. I quite liked that idea. Makes it a softer curve - the peaks are not too sharp. You should be doing your double DC in the first, right-most of the doubles in the previous row. Does that make sense??

Have fun. Feel free to email me if you have any questions! Or find an error. I'm really just guessing at numbers... Eep!

* Not this sort of crafty, mind you. (A little bit unsafe for kids, this video. But hilarious and rude!)

Unproductive crafting

2010-06-28T08:29:00.003+10:00

Had a great day yesterday at the Craft Room Sunday gathering. Plenty of good company and food (and noise! Put 20-ish women together in one room and it sure does get loud) but not so much crafting from this sorry sod.

At first I was just happy to chat and meet new people, thinking that I had six hours of pure crafting time - there was no rush! But as you know, time flies when you're having fun (and eating delicious brownies and caramel slice and cupcakes and cookies and salad and sandwiches and quiche and muffins and drinking a bucket load of tea)... I didn't feel like working on WIPs (Works in Progress) so started a new project. 'Cause I do that.

Decided to start crocheting a soft ripple blanket for Elora's bed. No pattern. Just winging it. Made about a billion chains to begin with and started my rows. By this time it was well after lunch! I got three rows in before I realised that I'd made a mistake. Two zags when there should have been a zig and a zag. Ack! So I ripped it back to the starting row of chains and that was my day's work done. One row of chains. And lots of eating.

But still, I had fun. And the blankie bug is still biting. I continued it when I got home (continued? More like "started properly"!) and used up an entire ball of wool. This blanket's gonna be big. It will take me a long time. But I knew that when I started it.

Pics to come.

What she said

2010-06-25T17:36:00.002+10:00

Man, sooz can write. Everything she says rings so true, not just in her latest post either.

Eloquent and articulate, you are, sooz. Thanks!

Surrounded

2010-06-25T15:21:00.002+10:00

My brother wrote this to me today.

I can now say that I have a female:
Monarch

Governor General

Prime Minister

State Governor

Federal parliamentarian

State parliamentarian

Lord Mayor

CEO

Division Manager

Department Manager

State Manager

To add to that, the rest of the staff comprises 21 females in various roles, and of course 5 females at home!

And I was thinking of getting egg-laying hens!

Welcome to the 21st century

2010-06-24T12:20:00.001+10:00

This morning we got a new PM. Australia's first female Prime Minister. Thank goodness. At last. Too bad it didn't happen in an election though. I hope this change is enough to give the government the boost it needs to stay in power at the next election. I just can't bear to think what will happen if the Liberals get in again.

35 years + 6 days

2010-06-23T17:14:00.003+10:00

That's how old I am today. It was my birthday last week. On Thursday, my day off! I don't think I've ever had so many "Happy Birthday"s via Facebook and email and SMS. Thanks everyone.

But it is tinged with a little sadness, I have to say. Besides the usual "Oh gawd, I'm getting old" grumpiness that accompanies the passing years, of course. (I mean, wow! 35! I've had this blog for five and a half years! This morning on the train I saw a lady attempt to stand up for another lady who honestly didn't look that old... How long will it be before people are standing up for me? Except for those very chivalrous few.)

Today I am as old as my eldest brother ever was.

He got to 35 years + 6 days before he was killed in a car accident on his way home from work one Friday evening. "Accident" is used lightly - the driver of the semi-trailer was off his nut on methamphetamines and drove along on the wrong side of the road for a good couple of hundred metres before squashing two cars and killing their drivers instantly. In a way it was lucky that both cars only contained one person - there was ample opportunity for him to kill many more people, as I found out during the court case a couple of years later (they charged him for murder, eventually settling for manslaughter), listening to the testimonies of the 60+ witnesses.

I went through this blog and realised that even though I'd mentioned him a couple of times I'd never really talked about the tragedy which devastated our family while at the same time brought us closer together. There was only one grandchild then. Only two of us were married. I was 23.

Of course my parents still feel his loss keenly. I don't think it's something a parent would ever get over. The rest of us keep busy (there have been 9 children added to the brood since then!) but I think he is always there in the back of our minds.

I think of him when I hear/read T.S. Eliot, reminded of his patience helping me study for my final high school English exams. I thought of him the other day at work when there was talk about the "Hall effect" - some electronics/physics thing which I know he would have had no trouble explaining to me. He would be absolutely amazed at the incredible technological advances over the past twelve years. He would be horrified at my love of Apple computers and products (but possibly would have been swayed - he loved his gadgets). It's so hard to imagine what things would be like now if he was still around.

So anyway. That's the story of my eldest brother Arthur. Just thought I'd share.

Warm ankles at last

2010-06-22T17:04:00.003+10:00

For the last few years I have been on the hunt for boots. Knee-high black flat leather boots to wear with skirts to work. Madness, I tell you! I just have NOT liked anything that I've seen (within a reasonable price range, that is... LOVE my sister-in-law's Prada boots (although they have a heel) but CANNOT afford/justify spending that much on shoes!).

But behold! I finally found a pair that I liked! And they were half price too! (From Betts.)

Yay. I am a happy Jen. A happy Jen with warm ankles in Wintery cold and wet Sydney.

Apologies for the poor quality snapped-with-an-iphone picture.

Atti's school project

2010-06-22T16:55:00.003+10:00

The weekend before last was a long weekend for us - the Queen's birthday weekend. Atti amused me by asking if we could make her a cake. We settled for a birthday card (which he never made in the end - got distracted by the 'puter as usual).

Both boys had school projects due the following week so it was full steam ahead in the Burn household.

Dan helped Atti with his. The kindergarten kids had to choose a "weather" topic and do something about it. Anything. Draw a picture, make a model, create a powerpoint presentation. Dan and Atti decided to make a movie about tornados. And in fine geek-form we put it up on youtube.

And being the proud mother (and knowing everyone likes a good laugh) I'm sharing it with you. Enjoy!

Can't shake this feeling

2010-06-10T08:43:00.004+10:00

Thursdays I don't work. It's my day off with Elora. Our "just you and me" day. It's nice to have that day off work but having the extra time at home means that I have more time to look around and see the horrendous MESS that has accumulated during the week. Argh!

This morning it struck a nerve and I just lost it. The toys and paper and pencils and textas all over the dining room floor drove me nuts. I yelled at the boys to pick up and got out the broom to sweep up all the bits and mandarin seeds (Argh! I don't know why they just decided to put them onto the floor lately!) and now it looks a lot better.

I can almost sigh with relief, except I still have that anxious, panicky feeling and I can't shake it. Sitting down with the iPad/iPod doesn't help. Having a cup of tea hasn't helped. I'm thinking the only way I'll feel better is to make good use of this nervous energy and get to more cleaning. Even though what I WANT to do is something crafty. Perhaps I'm just feeling guilty because I just want to knit/crochet/sew when really I should be doing domestic chores.

Grr.

I think soozs put it best in her recent series of posts. Everything she wrote struck a chord with me. Working part time, trying to keep the house in order (although she cooks a lot more than me and doesn't have the incredible support that I get from my parents, and is an incredible seamstress and general crafter... But I digress), she got frustrated with her situation. Her eloquence and clarity of thoughts had me nodding my head as I read. She has come upon a solution and it seems to be working for her - more than I can say for myself.

BUT we must keep trying. One day we'll get there. Maybe?

Two becomes one

2010-06-09T14:27:00.002+10:00

A sad loss today at work. One of my fishies died. Now there is only one, from a start of five. (Read about my fishtank here).

When tired will complain

2010-06-08T09:04:00.002+10:00

Yesterday evening on the way home from school/work I tortured my eldest son by playing The Specials in the car.

"What is this song meant to be?"
"Do you call this music?"
"Who is this, again?"
"Why are we listening to this?"
"PLEASE turn it off. It's annoying me!"

Now I'm trying to think what else I can put on. Indigo Girls, Nick Cave, Ride, Billy Bragg. I'll edu-ma-cate those kids if it kills me.

Winter: Day x

2010-06-07T11:07:00.004+10:00

So I've lost count already with this winter days thing. Shrug.

I read somewhere that during the cold, dark days of Winter people tend to be less cheery and motivated and happy. I would have to agree with that - there's been a bit of talk of it on some of the blogs I read too.

The weekend proved to be a little bit drier than the few weeks preceeding it. I even managed to get some washing dry. Some, not all of the four loads I did!

Yesterday started out very promising, as Mel wrote, but turned a little by the afternoon. We spent it at the wonderful Sydney Park celebrating my niece's 3rd birthday (as Elora says, "My best friend Charlotte").

Plenty of food, good company and excellent music provided by the "Sunday Dub Club" (sorry, couldn't find a link)... Love me some ska. It stayed mostly dry, right up until the cake time, after which the skies opened up. As good as any signal that it was time to leave, I guess.

And just because, Dan made this silly comic using a new iPad app (called Strip Designer) which he bought yesterday.

Yes, that's me crocheting at a birthday party. Had to do something to keep my hands warm. Something that wasn't eating.

Winter: Day 3

2010-06-03T23:51:00.002+10:00

Lying in bed listening to the sound of the rain pummeling against the windows. It's been like this all day. Sunny, then dark, then bucketing down, then suddenly dry then sunny again. Instant downpour, like in the movies.

I can hardly believe that the week is almost over. As I get older the days go by in a blink and the weeks meld into one another. Highly frustrating at times and yet at other times I'm impatient to see what the future holds.

Just some random thoughts tonight. I hope this isn't turning into a weather journal!

Winter: Day 2

2010-06-02T23:56:00.000+10:00

It seemed a little milder today, or maybe I dressed warmer. I almost got a little sweaty at one stage (in my woollen long sleeve top with a cardigan and my thick woollen overcoat carrying three bags sitting in the tropical surrounds of the swimming pool...)

Anyway, tonight I went here.

To see this boy (and his friends).

In this crowd.

(Click on the picture go to the flickr page and see the note pointing out his position.)

It was the Festival of Instrumental Music organised by the Department of Education. Over 1,000 kids from State schools performing for us. Three quarters of them on recorder in the NSW Combined Schools Recorder Ensemble but also about 200 in the Combined Schools Wind Ensemble too. 200 kids crammed on stage playing violin, viola and cello at one stage! As well as a bunch of smaller groups and some soloists.

When the note first came home about this concert, we were warned that tickets sell out fast so be quick. I didn't buy a ticket though. I'm cynical... See it just as a money-grabbing exercise by the Department and wasn't willing to fork out $40 to see my kid play for five minutes. But as the day came closer Dante kept asking if I was coming to see him and, well, I figured I'd better do the right thing and at least try.

I met up with the kids while they were having dinner at Circular Quay and was told by the teachers that if I hurry I might have luck at the Opera House Box Office. So after giving Dante a big hug and smoochy kiss in front of his friends (which surprisingly he didn't repel!) I set off in search of a ticket. The nice lady behind the counter said they were sold out but pointed me to a queue and said I could wait there in case anything comes up. Apparently some people hand their tickets in at the last minute if they can't make it. I was fourth in line. What I affectionately called the Bad Parents Line.

I waited for about twenty minutes before deciding that was enough. I tried, but I wasn't going to waste half my night lining up for a ticket. I hadn't had dinner yet or anything. So I went outside and took pictures of the incredible beauty of the Opera House lit up at night with the spiffy new camera. I managed to see the kids coming back to go inside and walked with them for a bit, until I couldn't go any further.

Eventually, after most people were seated but before the concert began, I wandered down to the info counter and asked if there was anywhere I could sit to maybe listen? I must have looked pathetic or something because the lady reached under the counter and instead handed me a ticket. "You might as well just take this," she said. "One of our VIPs didn't show up. It's a good seat."

I couldn't believe it! In fact she had to tell me twice to take it. I hurried upstairs and had an incredible seat. First row of the dress circle. Awesome!

And despite all my cynicism about these concerts, I've come to realise that I do actually enjoy them. What a big dag, huh? There's just something about seeing all these incredibly talented kids that fills me with delight. Knowing how much work the kids and the teachers put into it. What an opportunity for them! I certainly never was given a chance like this when I grew up. Plus it was FREE! The Chinese in me was happy about that. Dante was so happy when I met up with him afterwards. Glad that I saw him in action, that I was there to support him.

It felt like a great parenting moment. We celebrated with ice creams before catching the train home, tired but happy.

Winter: Day 1

2010-06-01T23:14:00.002+10:00

The chilly season is upon us once more. Brrr. NOT my favorite time of year. Cold. Dry skin. Wet (at the moment). Short days, dark when leaving work. Bad laundry weather. How did it sneak up on us so fast? Half the year nearly gone already?

Even more disconcerting is hearing people from the Northern Hemisphere talk about Summer. Flowers blooming. Long balmy days. End of the school year. I want that!

At least I have my iPad to keep me company while I'm snuggled up under my doubled-over goose-down doona. Hmm. Cosy.

Henceforth it shall be called "iPad Day"

2010-05-28T22:54:00.003+10:00

Dan pre-ordered his new little toy back at the beginning of the month. We discussed the need for it. It would be useful for reading papers for his PhD. Plus, we just wanted one. I talked him into getting the 64Gb one - we can put movies on it for the kids to watch when we are travelling - and from then we just sat back and waited for today. May 28th.

So this morning I arrived at work, knowing that Dan's iPad was in the back of a courier truck making its way to his office. Then I found out that my friend at work actually went to the city and queued to get one, after not pre-ordering it (couldn't decide if he really wanted it)... Then I found out that our local Apple reseller just next to my building had them in stock! They weren't allowed to tell anyone that they had them prior to this morning.

Well, how could I resist? All that hype, all that excitement, no queues, very convenient location, buying from friends... So I grabbed my credit card and headed down there.

Five minutes later I had my very own iPad. Yay me!

Unfortunately Dan didn't get his first thing. So I had to wait until he got his before I could open mine. (Because I'm sweet... and boy was it frustrating! But I probably got more work done anyway!) His didn't come until 4pm. The weekend will be spent setting it up and playing. The kids are beside themselves. Not just one ginormous iPod, but TWO!

Wee! Technology!

Before you die...

2010-05-24T08:44:00.002+10:00

Why write a list of things to do before you die that in all likelihood will never get done? This guy has written a list of Amazingly Achievable Things to Do and it is hilarious.

I scored 43.

YACS (Yet Another Cake Stall)

2010-05-23T10:01:00.003+10:00

Yesterday the P&C at the boys' school held a cake stall at the local Farmers' Market. Success, of course! I was only partly involved, in that I was there from a quarter to eight in the morning until we closed up just before 1pm. And collected all the money (since I somehow got talked into taking on the Treasurer's position). And was up at 4:30am making scones.

Sounds like a lot but it wasn't really. All the other organising was done by a bunch of much more efficient and organised parents!

Something that always surprises me (although I'm starting to get used to it - but must not take it for granted) is the amount the parents at the school pitch in. Only a handful come to the actual meetings once a month but when we put out a call for help we are inundated with offers.

This time we were inundated with delicious home-made baked goods! Yum yum yum.

It was a cold and bleary day. Bucketed down with rain in the first hour or two. And yet the crowds came. And everything was sold.

A friend has called me "the queen of cake stalls". I seem to be involved in a lot of them! Well, who doesn't like cake, huh?

Happy Star Wars Day

2010-05-04T11:44:00.004+10:00

For those Lego fans - this is the Grand Carousel 10196. Not ours, unfortunately. A friend from work made this and allowed me to use it here!

Bespectacled

2010-04-16T14:15:00.003+10:00

I've been getting headaches for a couple of months, more so in the last few weeks. Someone suggested I go and get my eyes checked. So on Tuesday I did.

And on Wednesday I picked up my new specs for reading and computer work. I do a lot of reading at home and work and a lot of computer work... I'll be wearing these a lot.

Picture taken with my computer at work - sorry for the blurriness. Or perhaps that's just my eyes??

How do I feel about this?

I'm in two minds about it. When I was a kid I always wished I had glasses. They looked cool. I liked the "smart librarian" sort of image. I had a pair of my brother's old frames (with no lenses) which I put on sometimes, just to see how it looked. (It looked extremely daggy - they were not a very nice pair of specs.)

But on the other hand, I was glad that I didn't need them. Two brothers with glasses and two parents with glasses... I was the one with perfect 20/20 vision. There was none of the inconvenience of glasses or the painful fiddling with contact lenses.

So now, I don't mind "the look"... there've been a few compliments. That's been nice. But they are a concrete sign that I'm not getting any younger, as they say. That age is catching up with me. Or maybe it's just the bad lighting in my office and too much time in front of the computer screen. I was told that eyes don't dramatically change until one is 40 and I've still got 5-ish years before then!

Oh well. I can't complain. At least the headaches have gone!

A colourful wedding

2010-04-15T07:57:00.005+10:00

Our dear friends Red Bec (as opposed to "Auntie Bec") and Joel got married on the Easter long weekend. A much more informal affair than my sister-in-law's the week before but no less enjoyable and happy!

Things I loved about this wedding:

It was a late afternoon event, not too late for the kids (and boy there were a lot of young kids)!

The bride wore a bright green dress and no shoes, and the groom had an equally bright red shirt. Love the colours.

At the ring-exchanging part of the ceremony the celebrant asked, "Does the best man have the pen?"... The couple drew a bow around each others' fingers instead!

There was not just one wedding cake. Instead the couple had asked some friends and family to bring a cake so there were many to choose from for dessert.

The kids were well thought of. A "Kids' play area" was set up with a drawing station and playdough and and other toys.

Thanks so much, Bec and Joel! It was a wonderful afternoon/evening. More pics in my flickr set.

School holidays again... already!

2010-04-15T07:48:00.002+10:00

It seems like the kids had only just started school when holidays suddenly came upon us again. For the last two weeks-ish the boys have been home except for a couple of days at vacation care activities.

Thankfully Dan has been looking after them most of the time. He's got more leave than this part-timer.

We've managed to fit quite a few excursions and events in during the time, though. Hopefully I'll write more about them soon... but in summary, a wedding, a birthday party, a picnic, a movie, a visit, a grand Adventure (really, just a trip into the city and on a ferry), a trip to the Powerhouse Museum and numerous trips to the shops.

Tiring, no?

New life starting

2010-04-05T06:26:00.002+10:00

Here be the window sill of my "hand washing room". (As Captain Feathersword would say. And the kids.)

On the right is my African Violet plant.

I've had one there since we moved into this house. My mother-in-law bought the first. It died last year. Then we bought a bunch of plants as gifts for the carers at child care. A couple of big leaves broke off one of them and it didn't look gift-worthy any more, so we kept it.

So pretty.

Here's one of the broken-off leaves. My mother told me to stick it in a pot and water it to keep it alive.

And three months later, more than three months later, something has finally started to happen. The start of a shoot appeared just at the base of the leaf. Can you see it?

I don't know if I'm more amazed at this growth from virtually nothing, or the fact that I was able to keep the leaf alive long enough for it to sprout. I'm very proud, in any case.

March success

2010-03-31T23:43:00.002+11:00

Well that was a busy month. I missed a couple of days but otherwise managed to write something every day. And it didn't become a chore either! I think I might have my blogging mojo back. I hope so!

Times in the Burn household are only going to become busier as the year goes on, I suspect. The boys will get more and more into their schooling and school work. We'll start getting term-long projects (argh! Curse them!) and more homework (perhaps). Elora will progress through her "troublesome threes" (as opposed to the so-called "terrible twos" which never happened)... It has already begun.

The biggest change around here will be in the second half of the year when Dan begins his PhD. He has finally started the ball rolling, happy to at last be fulfilling a lifelong ambition (to become Dr Dan) but nervous about the stress and workload, understandably. I don't know many people who embark on a four-five year higher degree with a full time job (even if it's related somewhat) and three young kids at home. We will all have to pull our socks up.

See you in April!

Kicking on

2010-03-30T12:43:00.002+11:00

It's been three days since the wedding and we are still suffering the after-effects from the late night and busy days (in the lead up).

But we kick on. My head is aching; the bug I've been fighting is trying to get a foot-hold. Hurry up, Easter. We need a break.

Wedding goodness

2010-03-29T09:09:00.005+11:00

It was the most wonderful of days. Everyone was happy and excited and of course the bride looked incredible. We had a fantastic time. The kids were great - over excited (and then way over tired), boisterous but above all else, happy and friendly.

Some pictures, mostly taken by a family friend with a much nicer camera (a couple taken by me). Click on the photo for an enlargement. More of my photos can be seen in my flickr set.

Gorgeous boy in his suit and green tie (self-chosen).

Atticus and I. Gosh I love my boys in suits and ties.

Shy flower girl. She eventually got there, grabbing onto her grandmother's hand as she walked the bride down the aisle. So sweet! (That's me hiding behind the tree.)

Looking older than his years (in my opinion). Photo taken by me, links to Flickr.

Happy couple at the "altar" with bridesmaids and flowergirl looking on.

My beautiful little girl!

Mr and Mrs M.

Proud brother of the bride. Photo taken by me, links to Flickr.

Later in the evening... boys gettin' rowdy on the dance floor. There was much running and wrestling (here). Atti on the left, Ollie, the ring bearer and groom's nephew, on the right. They got on so very well!

The little miss had to copy. This is more like what she looked like for most of the evening (not lying down, but dishevelled and shoeless).

Two suits, one flowergirl dress

2010-03-27T11:40:00.002+11:00

Today's the day. Dan's sister is getting married this afternoon!! Stressed much? I can't imagine how she must be feeling right now. Well, actually I guess I can, having gone through it 6½ years ago!

It's going to be a late night for us. More pics tomorrow.

Now that's a better fish tank

2010-03-26T14:49:00.003+11:00

There's a bit of "fish tank" culture here at my work. i.e. There are lots of offices and labs in the building that have tanks. It's wonderful to see! And I guess it's easier to look after them in a building of scientific research since there are taps and sinks and ph measuring tools and lots of very smart and dedicated people.

I got my first fish tank a long time ago. Let's see, I've been here ten years, so I probably got my tank 9½ years ago! It held guppies then. Caught from a tank upstairs. Probably very inbred.

When I went on maternity leave to have Elora I put the tank away. Sent the fish to another happy home upstairs and packed the tank in a box. I came back to work to find out that my office was being taken over by an instrument (a multi-million dollar very large magnet, to be exact) so I didn't set up my tank again, deciding to wait until I was properly set up in my new space.

So I moved office in Sept '08. And finally, at the start of this year, I got around to setting up my tank. We visited our friend's fish farm in late January and I came away with 5 goldfish. Only once I'd caught them (how cool to fish for your own gold fish!) did we work out where the tropical fish were kept but I was happy to keep my guys.

Over three weeks I lost three of the 5 fish. Can you believe it? They had lice! I've had enough of lice with my kids, and then to see them on my fish was extremely icky.

But now the population (of two) has stabilised and the goldfish are fat and happy.

Today I installed the final touch. Some bits of Lego, of course. Needed some trickery to keep them down (did you know Lego floats? I didn't!) but in the end I think it looks great!

Post Script

2010-03-25T22:27:00.002+11:00

I forgot to add.

See that last post? The one with all the pictures of the boys in their orange shirts?

See that shirt that Dante is wearing? It used to be mine. It still fits me, although a little tight (but it was meant to be).

It fits Dante perfectly.

I never thought he'd fit into my clothes aged nine! How long before he's taller than me??

On second thoughts, don't answer that last question. I don't want to think about it!!

Still on the hair theme...

2010-03-25T22:14:00.002+11:00

Today was Harmony Day at school. Also known as "Mad Hair Day". Wear orange and go crazy with the hair gel and coloured hair spray. It has always been tricky getting Dante's hair to stay "up" and crazy. It's just too straight and thick. Like mine. Atti's curls make life a lot easier. We need to get more orange hair spray.

Sorry for the repetitive pictures but this photo series cracks me up!

Chop, chop, chop

2010-03-24T21:35:00.000+11:00

I recently talked about my hair and my impending haircut. Finally today was the day!

The lovely Nathan and I chatted like it had NOT been two years since we last saw each other. I think it's amazing that he can remember so much about me since really we've only met a handful of times. I started seeing him in 2004.

We didn't do much. Everyone instructed me to leave it long. I was fine with that. I like it long. Easy to style in the morning (i.e. comb my fingers through it or tie it up in a pony tail!!), makes a good scarf on cold mornings!

When I returned to work afterwards hardly anyone noticed any difference (until I pointed it out). But that's okay, I guess. Can't be too radical these days, eh?

And now the pictures. Before (taken by my colleague's iphone):

And after (taken just before putting the kids to bed - sorry for the bad lighting):

Dream, dream, dream

2010-03-23T11:34:00.003+11:00

I don't know why I do it to myself, but every Tuesday I cannot resist looking through the inner-west property guide that comes with the herald. It's huge! With lots of pictures of unaffordable houses in the suburbs I want to live.

Today there were TWO houses I would buy instantly if I won the lottery. The mega-massive-once-in-a-lifetime-ridiculous lottery (which will NEVER happen - I know this for a fact because I never buy lottery tickets!)

The first is just down the street from Dante's best friend. How happy would he be if we moved there?? It's still a drive in to school and work, but less than half the time it currently take us. Its 6 bedrooms just might fit us and all our stuff, too.

The second is in my dream location. The area I have always loved and wished I could afford. Not as big a property as the first but in a much better location! Next to a park, with the possibility of a rooftop terrace! How cool would that be??

So, anyway, I've thrown that paper away now. There's not a chance that I'll ever have a house like these. But it's nice to dream, right?

Red in the morning, red in the evening

2010-03-21T22:19:00.002+11:00

It was nearly 35°C today. Nearly a third of the way through Autumn! Too hot to do much of anything, unfortunately. Although I did have 9 children (6 of whom were 5 and under) in my care for a short while. It was, amazingly, stress- and chaos- free. The wonders of heat exhaustion and computers to keep kids quiet.

And just because it was so amazing, I have to share today's sunrise and sunset. The morning glow was a deep crimson-scarlet red that I have never seen in the sky before which rapidly turned orangey-red as the sun crept above the horizon.

At the other end of the day the clouds were sparkling, glowing as the sun went to bed. Simply spectacular. If only I'd been at a better angle to capture it. And had a better camera!

Productivity... tomorrow

2010-03-20T23:47:00.004+11:00

For the second night in a row I have fallen asleep on the floor of Elora's room whilst putting her to bed.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but for three years she cried, screamed and yelled when I put her to bed at night. There were probably a handful of occasions when she didn't. And I was SICK of listening to her crying, even if it was only for a couple of minutes. It was the persistence that bugged me and I would be annoyed for the rest of the evening.

So upon her third birthday I changed tactic. Now I sit in with her, leaning against her bed or lying on the floor until she falls asleep. Makes for interesting Monday nights when I am alone with the kids. But it has worked. No more screaming girl every night. She even says to me now, "I want you to sit with me tonight. I will cry if you go."

But the downside of it all is that if I am the slightest bit tired, which I have been lately, fighting a bug that's trying to take hold, and if Elora takes a little while to be still then as soon as I stop and relax, even uncomfortable on the floor, I fall asleep. Tonight I may possibly have fallen asleep before the girl did. And didn't wake up until after 11pm, way past my bed time, with a sore neck and aching hips. I got up, went downstairs and said goodnight to Dan and crawled back into bed. And now I'm blogging about it.

--

So because of all my sleeping I missed a day of my one-post-per-month thing. Oh well, one day out of 18 ain't bad and I certainly have no intention of stopping now.

In one week's time we will have a full house - ten heads under this roof as Dan's cousin and her family are coming to stay. The house needs a good scrub before they get here! Dan's sister will be Mrs M this time next week. Tomorrow is going to be my day of cleaning. Actually, it was meant to be my weekend of cleaning but I made brownies instead this afternoon, and napped and shopped (for Dante's suit - it ended up being cheaper to buy than hire!)

Hence "productivity tomorrow". Watch me!

One less than ten, one more than eight

2010-03-18T22:34:00.000+11:00

At this time nine years ago I was lying in a hospital bed in a ward (four beds, two occupied) with this squirmy wrinkled three-week-early boy child completely in my care. It was a shared room so Dan couldn't stay. I remember vividly the feeling when he left at the conclusion of visiting hours. "Well, I am on my own. I've had the baby. WHAT ON EARTH DO I DO NOW?"

Thank goodness for the wonderful midwives. I rang the buzzer and whimpered at them. "I have no idea what to do! What do I do if he cries?" And they helpfully advised, "Well, he'll probably either be hungry or dirty. Don't forget to burp him."

Nine years later and he's still usually hungry, dirty and definitely burps a lot. The dirt is not nappy-related at least! Just school boy-related. But I still have that utterly helpless feeling at times. "What do I do if he cries?"

--

Times lately have been challenging. Dante has anger management issues. So do I, to tell the truth. Things I say to him come straight out of his mouth later. This afternoon Dan and I had a meeting (with the boy) and the after school care co-ordinator and one of the carers. There was an incident at school last week (during aftercare) and I quote the co-ordinator: "I've never had a child injure a staff member before".

However, it came out well in the end. Dante was extremely apologetic and regretful. In fact when questioned he couldn't even recall exactly what went on. Either that or he has become a very accomplished liar. I don't think so. The carers were incredibly wonderful. And Dante was so composed and responsive in our little meeting. It all went really well, was such a positive experience. I was quite concerned and worried. The relief poured out of me in tears afterwards. Bah! What a sook!

But it was more than relief. Guilt, I guess. We always take the blame for our children's behaviour. I mean, who else are they going to learn from? I've got to try harder.

Even after nine years there is so much to learn. It's exhausting.

Why eat when you can sculpt?

2010-03-17T22:04:00.001+11:00

Elora's dessert-cucumber* didn't get finished... I had to show you. I love it! And then I ate it.

* Doesn't everyone give their kids cucumbers after dinner??
Only kidding. This was her dessert but we don't do this every night. Sometimes there is jelly or ice cream (or both!)

Into the wild?

2010-03-16T22:08:00.000+11:00

When we got home this evening all three kids were fast asleep in the car. We woke them one by one and brought them inside for dinner.

On his way inside Dante stopped off at the garden for a whiz. I was half-horrified, half-amused. When Dan queried him about his actions, his response was this

I'm practising my survival skills.

Ha!

Doolittle goodness

2010-03-15T07:27:00.006+11:00

Me, the Pixies stage (before they came on)...
Look closely and you can see the trademark "P" on the drum kit.
Last night Dan and I went to see the Pixies at the Hordern Pavilion. We bought the tickets last September or thereabouts and I have been looking forward to it all this time. Booked my mother in for baby-sitting way back then and had to keep reminding her, even up to yesterday afternoon! (That's the thing when you see them every day...)

The concert was, in a nutshell, awesome. I wasn't HUGELY into the Pixies when they first started but they are such an incredible band, still together (back together) after all these years, an influence on so many bands ever since, that I couldn't not go. Plus, this was the Doolittle tour. Their greatest album, played through from beginning to end (with a few b-sides added in before and after).

Even though the band members are all getting on a little (I mean, that's life, right?) they put on an amazing show. Some bands can be disappointing when you've listened to their album over and over and see them live years later (I'm looking at you, Violent Femmes) but the Pixies rocked. Their playing was flawless, Frank Black and Kim Deal's singing spot on.

And I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or if it's the crowd at a concert like this, but it seemed to me a much more pleasant and polite audience. Of course there were a few over-the-top folk who just wanted to jump and bash into people but most of the crowd was better than that. Enthusiastic, happy, and excited. And polite! A tall guy briefly stood in front of me early on and I said "I hope you're not going to stay there all night - there's a bevy of short people around you" and he was very nice about it. Another guy moved in later on but I noticed he did try to duck down and made sure I could get a view. And then another chick pushed her way in next to me near the end. But I didn't mind. There was room! She saw me look at her (actually, I was looking past her to our friends) and started apologising... "Kim Deal is my hero!" she exclaimed and also kept making sure that I had room and a view. All the time happy as punch. I loved looking around at all the people around me and seeing the joy on their faces and in their dancing.

It's such a different experience to the days when you'd go and be surrounded by 6'+ tall guys who couldn't care less and who'd squeeze you out or squash you if you tried to hold your ground. It would often nearly ruin my night. Last night was so much more pleasant, it amazes me. Also I have to say that the smoking ban in venues made things MUCH nicer. Gawd, I am turning into an old fogey aren't I?

I do wish I'd brought my camera (the above photo was taken with my friend's iphone) - heaps of people were taking photos, some of which looked pretty good from what I could see. But this morning I found this slide show - if you're interested!

I'm so glad I went. A night out, kid-free (although we did see a family group! Parents and their two teenage kids, obviously underage, sitting in the stands. How great! What cool parents!) It was well worth the wait and the money (tickets aren't cheap for big international acts, unfortunately). Yay!

Go away, daylight savings

2010-03-14T07:32:00.002+11:00

Daylight savings. Putting your clocks forward or backwards an hour depending on the season. Dan loves it. He says "Daylight savings should be on all year 'round". And I don't mind it in summer, when the sun goes down at 8:30pm and comes up at 5am.

But now, now that the days are getting shorter and the mornings are getting cooler, now I cannot stand it and cannot wait for it to end. As I've written before, I like to get out in the morning for a run or a walk (when I'm feeling particularly tired or lazy). But the last couple of days, it's still dark when I'm ready to go and I have to sit around waiting for more light to filter through before I leave. I mean, I could go out while it's still dark but worry about the safety issues a little bit.

Some of you might say "Just go out later" but the problem is that if I leave it too late, the children are all awake and ransacking the kitchen when I get home.

Like this morning. When I walked up to the (glass) back door Elora was standing in the back room and immediately scooted off when she saw me. I came in to find Atti rifling through the fridge and Elora hiding out in the lounge room with a grape and a lolly (don't know where she found that!)

Well, in three weeks we'll get that hour back. It will be good. Except that the days will be even shorter than now! Oh well, can't win them all.

Gourmet cooking? Not tonight.

2010-03-13T21:22:00.002+11:00

After all the recent baking, I really am a bit tired of cooking. And cleaning! So tonight when Atti suggested we have tinned spaghetti for dinner I was happy to oblige. Tinned spaghetti and baked beans, just to add to the variety. And toast with butter.

Well, the kids ate it, that's the main thing.

Tomorrow I'm thinking of trying this.

The wedding clothes dilemma

2010-03-12T23:12:00.003+11:00

Dan's sister is getting married in two weeks' time. It's all very exciting. We're heading off to the venue for the rehearsal tomorrow morning. Elora is going to be a very cute flower girl.

Our problem, then, is our boys! What do I dress them in? Dan suggested just putting nice shirts on them, but with jeans? You can't wear jeans to a wedding! And shoes? You can't wear sneakers/dunlop volleys.

So I'm thinking about hiring suits for them. There's not really any point actually buying outfits, is there? This is about the only time they'll wear them before they outgrow them. Suits AND shoes. I have no idea about the cost... but then again, this is our last major wedding in the family so it's worth the effort, right?

Argh.

Ten days, so far so good

2010-03-11T22:50:00.002+11:00

You may have noticed that I've been making a bit more of an effort to write this month. Every day so far, to be precise. And here I am today, day eleven, and I'm reduced to writing about my writing. Ack! Can I have really run out of ideas so quickly?

In truth I have not. I have simply run out of time this evening.

I will be back on track tomorrow!

A terrific success

2010-03-10T23:50:00.002+11:00

Wow. The cake stall this morning was amazing. In all the years i've been doing this I have never seen it be so successful. I didn't really do much with this year's stall. It seemed that it was all organised well and I was glad to take a step back. I simply baked and ate and sold a few. The stall made nearly $900 in 3½ hours!

Afterwards I had a fairly pleasant day at work followed by a wonderful night meeting up with some crafty peeps. Does pulling apart some knitting that I'm unhappy with count as starting a new project??

Bakin' time again

2010-03-09T22:36:00.002+11:00

Last year I got busy making cup cakes for the annual child care cake stall. Tomorrow it's on again! I've been busy all night making banana cup cakes with cream cheese frosting and a new recipe - Chocolate Mud Cupcakes from this book.

As an aside, have you heard of BetterWorldBooks? A great place to buy books online - new or used. Good prices, excellent shipping fee and to top it all off, part of the takings (maybe all of them?) go towards funding world literacy.

Sorry, no pictures tonight. I'm so tired I can barely stand up. Icing these guys will have to wait for the morning.

Following the hair trail

2010-03-08T21:36:00.005+11:00

I've got an appointment to see my hairdresser in a couple of weeks. He's a very popular guy - bookings three weeks in advance! Not exactly cheap, but I'm willing to pay the price since it's been TWO YEARS since I've paid him a visit. People have been commenting a lot lately about the length of my hair. It easily reaches to my bottom and I can wrap it around my neck like a scarf!

A bit hard to find recent photos that fully display its length. Here's one from Christmas.

Me and my Ma, Xmas 2009
So then I got curious. Trying to remember my different hair lengths over the years. Started going through old photos, pre-children...

So now I present to you some embarrassing pictures of Jen through the late '90s. Most of the pictures were taken at parties. Lots of (too much) alcohol was consumed at this time. Not many pictures to choose from (our first digital camera was a 1.2 megapixel beast which cost >$1,000! and our biggest memory card was a whopping 16Mb!) and I was pretty good at hiding from the camera. I apologise in advance.

1995 - Third year at Uni. Working at the computer lab at Uni - obviously working, if you look at the computer screen. Hair mid-long length, played with a bit of bleach. A year or two before, that bleached bit was dark blue.

1995-ish

1997-98 - or thereabouts. This was taken at a friend's 21st. Dan and I were together by then. My hair was long, long, long. Nearly as long as now. Again with the bleach and the blue.

1997-98

June 1999 - Turned 24. Got rid of the blonde bits (dyed my hair black - ha!) but still hadn't lost the bleach bug. I bleached a nice straight line across the bottom of my hair and dyed it red. Started working at my current job not long after this. They still talk about my hair sometimes! Finally found a picture.

June, 1999

Nov, 1999 - For some insane reason I decided to get my hair cut short. I guess I needed a change. I did sell it to a wig maker for $20/ounce. I got $140 for it. More than paid for the haircut. Here's the bleach again. I just couldn't let up, could I? I'd forgotten how much I coloured my hair. It wasn't that often but bleach is permanent! This pic is me at a '70s party. Hence the dress.

Nov, 1999

May, 2000 - The last big cut. Dan and I were about to head off to Egypt so I cut my hair short. Boy-short! It was nice enough on the first day, possibly the first week but afterwards, so terrible! I'll never do that again! Especially at a cheap hairdresser! This was our combined birthday/going away party. My hair is blue, but it was hairspray. It was a costume party. Monsters.

May, 2000

That concludes our trip down memory lane. Thanks for laughing as I cringed my way through that! I don't think I'll be doing anything too drastic in a fortnight's time. Winter's coming (apparently... didn't feel like it today) so I might want to keep my hair-scarf!

Those creepy eyes

2010-03-07T22:38:00.004+11:00

The other day, perhaps it was last weekend - I couldn't be sure - Atticus grabbed an empty toilet roll, drew a face and requested arms and hair. I happily obliged. I love it when he gets creative and crafty. Elora, of course, quickly followed suit. And repeated it a few days later. (Hey, we have four toilets and five people in this house - we get a lot of empty toilet rolls!)

Their creations are great! Nifty! Neat!

But those eyes. The eyes Elora has drawn give me the creeps... Almost as much as this creation last month. The white clay face was made by Dante at school or aftercare. She added the weirdo baby dolls.

Again with the creepy big eyes...

Shudder.

The tiniest snail

2010-03-06T16:50:00.003+11:00

My mother found this in the garden this afternoon. Must have just hatched. So new that its shell was transparent and its body/foot was white! The shell length would have been about 3mm.

Elora was fascinated, of course. Her first instinct was to run and grab a leaf for it to eat. Atti just wanted it on his hand.

Here it is on my mother's thumb. Take note, ladies and gents. That thumb may look pink but it is in fact the brightest shade of green. Plants grow like crazy at my mother's touch. You name it, she can grow it. You almost kill it, she'll revive it. My brothers and I are constantly bringing sorry looking specimens to "plant hospital". She is a wonder, my mum.

Tonight's gem

2010-03-05T20:28:00.002+11:00

Travelling home in the car tonight Elora came up with this, out of the blue.

"If I eat lots of cucumbers, because I like eating lots and lots of cucumbers, then I will shoot lazies out of my eyes and shoot them at everybody."

The newest school boy

2010-03-04T18:09:00.000+11:00

Atticus started school on Jan 28th, the same day he turned 5! What a momentous occasion - and only now do I find a chance to write about it.

To be honest, I was worried. I mentioned it before. Last year at pre-school was interesting. Troublesome. Terrible. Well, not that terrible - could have been a lot worse. But, after seeing the paediatrician we got him off the medication which is known to cause behaviour problems, over a period of three months. He was completely meds-free a week before he turned 5 and started school (and got a hair cut).

The first day of school was a little fretful (for me, not him - he took it all in his stride, with only the slightest amount of worry glimpsed) and even though it wasn't a really huge step for us (since we've already got a kid in school and Atti has been attending the place for a year, albeit in a separately fenced area) I still found that I got a little emotional that day. No tears but definitely a bit of a lump in my throat. His wonderful godmother came with us that morning, too. How delightfully sweet! Thank you, Anna. It meant a lot to us that you did that! (Just to be fair, though, Dante's godfather did the same on his first day.)

It struck me that up until that morning, Atti did not seem to me to be a small child - he was a big boy, half a head taller than his sister. But seeing him in that red uniform, surrounded by lots of other kids in that same red uniform, he suddenly shrunk! He looked so little! The wonders of perspective, hey?

Now, it's been over a month since he began kindergarten and I have to say, the change is INCREDIBLE. Yes, I'm capitalising that word because I cannot emphasise it enough.

He has just grown up so much! He listens (most of the time) to us. He writes his name beautifully, he colours in inside the lines, draws terrific pictures. He gets himself ready for school in the morning. He doesn't whinge and cry when we tell him "It's a school day." Lately he has started getting really excited about letters and words. "Munching Mike!" he'll exclaim when he sees the letter "m" and "Munching Mike's mum!" when he sees a "M". Also, "Slippery Sam" and "Annie Apple" and I don't know who else. The other night I noticed him looking at the alphabet chart in his room with renewed interest.

I love that alphabet chart by Jan Pienkowski. I loved his drawings when I was a kid. I couldn't resist buying that chart a long time ago. It's a little torn now but still makes me happy and even more now that Atti has taken to it. Not too long ago he asked me to remove it from his room!

His teacher, Sandy, has amazed me, too. She is efficient and friendly but also won't put up with any of Atti's antics. A surprise because she used to be the dance teacher at school and took his class last year at preschool. And he never used to participate. I guess having her every day is very different to having her for one hour once a week.

And he loves being a big boy now. The other day I found something he'd broken at some point and asked him about it. "Oh, yeah. I did that when I was four. I was naughty then but I'm five now."

Dante is a little embarrassed because Atti likes to play with him and his friends at lunch time, but I've also noticed that the boys do play together at home a lot more these days. A couple of weekends ago Atti had a nap and Dante wandered around the house looking a little lost and asking when Atti would get up. It's lovely to see, at long last!

So that's it, in a nutshell. The change has been mind boggling. Exciting and amazing and I am completely floored by it. And so very happy. I feel like a huge weight has lifted from me. I know he'll start to get tired towards the end of the term but I hope things will only get better from here in.

Atti, my little big boy.

Big brother always knows

2010-03-03T06:04:00.003+11:00

Have you got a big brother? Or two or three or four, like me? And do you have that unwavering, persistent innate feeling that your big brother(s) is/are omniscient? All knowing? Like me? (A lot of the time, anyway!!)

Yesterday I was talking about classical music with a friend and it brought to mind a memory of my second oldest brother playing his favourites whilst sitting on the floor of the lounge room reading the broadsheet (and having to constantly shoo the cat away - they always like sitting on newspaper, don't they?? Amazing how they know exactly what section you are reading, too). A particular piece came to mind but I had no idea WHO it was by or WHAT it was called.

So I sent off an email to my brothers.

"What's the name of that 'bom' piece? The one that goes dah-da-da-dah... bom."

And sure enough, big brother knew exactly what I was talking about. I knew he would!

Happy birthday, older and wiser big brother Chris!

Rachmaninoff Opus 32 no. 10 (Largo) in B minor

Nice sunrise, beautiful morning

2010-03-02T17:24:00.003+11:00

Saturday morning's sunrise. It was a gorgeous morning to be out and I couldn't resist taking this picture with my poor old mobile phone. Still, the natural beauty of the clouds reflected in the (dirty, polluted) river is not entirely lost.

Just thought I'd share.

The tyrant mother

2010-03-01T22:28:00.004+11:00

Hello there world. It's me again.

I know it's been a while. I'm sorry. I've missed you, blog. I've been meaning to write, honest.

The post title? Well, it's how I feel sometimes. How I felt after bedtime tonight. I feel like I'm constantly yelling at the kids. Especially that eldest boy who's big enough to argue back. Which causes me to get mad. And yell more. It's a rapidly descending spiral to the depths of... something dark and deep.

I had a great big long whingeing, whining post written in my head earlier. That's where most of my posts get written and unfortunately stay, these days. In my head. Luckily for you I'm not going to go there. I know the solution.

But I thought I'd drop in and say "Hi" anyway.

Lots happened in February. And late January. Boy, it's really been quite some time, hasn't it?

Atticus turned 5. And started school. And came off his anti-convulsant meds. All within a week. Actually, the first two on the same day. He has grown up so much that I am completely floored when I think about it. One day I'll write that post.

Elora turned 3! We had a biggish party at home. She was delightful. Now her latest "thing" is writing. She can write her name. I'll write her birthday post too, I hope.

Also, I actually got some crafting done. I made a quilt for the most beautiful Miss Holly who turned 1 on the same day that Elora turned 3. God sisters.

And the rest? Life moves on. Keeps us busy and tired.

Now for some inspiration.

Here's a blog I found today. A beautiful mother of four beautiful Eurasian kids (I'm a sucker for Eurasian kids - can you blame me?). She's happy, talented, quirky and fun. She takes such lovely photographs. And she's so young! It was one of those blogs I just wanted to immediately take in from the start. She's possibly a bit too Christian, but it doesn't come across in her blog. Hey, nobody's perfect. And her faith makes her happy, so who am I to judge? Have a look, anyway, even if it's just to see those gorgeous kiddies.

On constant rotation

2010-02-02T12:27:00.003+11:00

I've been listening to The Postal Service's album almost constantly lately. It's got a good beat for running. And one of my favourite songs.

Just thought I'd share.

Running, running

2010-01-18T11:09:00.004+11:00

Looking back at my archives, I don't think I've really written much about my new early morning thing... Getting up and out for a morning walk/run most weekends and every day (almost) during the christmas break.

I can't remember when exactly I started doing it but I remember that when we went away to Hawks Nest in January last year I was able to get out a few mornings and run up to the beach.

Some people (especially my night-owl-definitely-NOT-a-morning-person husband) might call me mad but I really do enjoy the solitude, peace and freshness of the early morning. The birds are busy, especially the water birds in the river which I travel alongside.

If I'm early enough (a bit harder in summer!) I can catch the sun popping up over the trees, and in winter I can glimpse frost on the grass on the particularly cool days. Not that exciting compared to those living under bucketloads of snow right now but it's not that common here in Sydney!

But now the time has come where I feel that I want to step up a bit. Today I bought an iphone application (for my ipod touch - wish I had an iphone!) to get me started. Couch to 5k is an application that helps people get moving and training (in half an hour runs, three times a week) to be able to achieve running a full 5km, over a period of 9 weeks. Actually, I bought the "Couch to 10k" app first (which seems to have only been released two days ago!) but with one hour workouts in that plan I've decided to start with the 5k and work my way up.

I'm hoping to start tomorrow morning, nice and early before there is any stirring in the house. So nice and early to bed for me tonight! I'll keep you posted.

New kid in town

2010-01-15T22:33:00.002+11:00

A week and a half ago we lost our dear pet, Flopsy. We'd only had him for 5 or 6 months and had just gotten to know him and love him.

We weren't sure if we could face another rabbit, but the kids were keen and we had the food and the set up already. But we were still thinking. Then a friend got in contact - her brother had found a bunny lost in the bushland near his house (but still in suburban Sydney) and he was looking for a good home for him.

How could we resist? THIS is the way to gain pets. They come to us - we don't buy them from shops. Here was an animal in need of good home, not a baby (which are much easier to sell), but fully grown.

So we went and got him.

He's still quite timid, still getting to know us. He's very different to Flopsy, who was also a found rabbit but younger, I think. Definitely ate a lot more and got to know his way around (bossing us and the cats around) quite quickly. But slowly this new guy is getting there.

And his name is Barney... (sounds like "bunny" - get it??).
Some videos are on my flickr account. More pics to follow.

The world is my craft room...

2010-01-14T17:58:00.002+11:00

Found this mug online today. It's awesome!

Routines begin once more

2010-01-13T15:10:00.003+11:00

While it's still technically school holidays here, Dan and I have both been back at work for a week and a half, Elora recommenced child care last Friday and today the boys went back to "school". Vacation care on the school premises, to be precise.

And that's it for our summer holiday. Short and quick. Things are still fairly relaxed - there's no HUGE need to get to school by 9am and the traffic is still not too busy, even in peak hour. But I think it's great that we're getting back into our daily routine so that once school does go back we'll be settled!

The only difference this year is that we'll be getting TWO lunch boxes ready in the morning instead of just one like the last four years! Atticus is so excited and happy with his brand new lunch box identical to his big brother's except that it's green. (And now Dante wants a green one too. Blargh!)

Two more weeks until "big" school begins!

Zombie rabbits

2010-01-11T08:34:00.002+11:00

There's been too much of this (Plants vs. Zombies) going on in our house lately.

The other morning Elora asked me if we can go and get Flopsy out of his hole.
"I'm sorry, Elora," I replied. "He's dead. We can't."
"But Atti said that he can come back from the dead."

Good on you Atti and your over-active imagination!

Those three munchkins: no. 3

2010-01-09T21:23:00.000+11:00

Elora: 2 years, nearly 11 months
Little big girl

There is so much to say about this delightful little creature that I don't know where to start. In fact, I started writing this post nearly 3 months ago... I got as far as "2 years, 8½ months" and then stopped. Now she's nearly 3 years old, but I swear she could pass for older.

She is so completely different to the boys, and yet a lot like her eldest brother at the same age. Ridiculously inquisitive. Constantly asking questions. Sometimes you can see her looking around at her surroundings to find something to ask a question about. It's adorable and funny but sometimes very frustrating. And when she's not asking questions she's just talking. All the time talking. But mostly asking. Her favourite colours are "pink and white", by the way.

She loves to do what I do, and what my mother does, and what Atti does. She loves to pull a chair up to the kitchen bench to see what's going on, or to be involved in whatever's being cooked. Hasn't quite mastered the art of breaking eggs yet... more like smooshing them into bits, but hey, her nearly-9 year old brother isn't much better. She's very empathetic - picks up on what's going on around her. There's no sneaking things past this little girl.

She LOVES her brothers. Adores them. She and Atti get on superbly. Of course they have their tiffs but most of the time that is when they are both tired and/or hungry. She engages in role play with her brothers and her toy animals. Puts on silly voices. Uses the raised inflection at the end of sentences that kids use when they're playing "Let's Pretend"... "Let's pretend I'm the mum? And you're the dad? Okay? And we're going to the shops? And this is the money? Yeah?" It amazes me to hear her do this - I keep having to remind myself that she is not even 3 yet. I didn't hear Dante talk like this until he was at school, or just before!

Of course, she loves her soft toys. The spare bed in her room is covered with toys. I guess it doesn't help that her mother also has a predilection for them. Especially the nifty unusual ones from Ikea. Her all time favourite toys are her Beaver and, more recently, her Rabbit (seen above in the first photo dressed up in an "Ilan" dress from Thursday Island). (I know, I know, we're not very inventive with names around here).

And she loves our real animals too. She's incredibly gentle with them all and adored Flopsy (and he loved her). But fairly tough, too. I guess you'd have to be if you played with Atticus so much! Today they were wrestling and giggling away. Music to my ears.

She's toilet trained - for the last few months now (started in Sept/Oct). Day time at least. She is interested in drawing and writing and looking at letters. She can count pretty well (quite keen on "two-tee two" (22) on the Advent calendar last year) and we are showing her the basics of addition (using fingers)... She gets the concepts so quickly! And physically she grows. She eats a tonne (more than Atti sometimes). Her hair is so long it's half way down her back. Beautiful glossy straight brown hair. She is very patient when it comes to combing it and doing it up! Tonight we took the side off her cot so that she is officially a BIG GIRL. Wow. I can't believe that I will be putting her name down for pre-school on the first day of term in a few weeks. Pre-school 2011, that is. You've got to get in early in the inner-west.

I have to say that I feel that I am the luckiest person around to be the mother of this charming, sociable, cute little girl. She's everything I could have asked for - a little bit girly, a little bit tom-boyish. Friendly, helpful, mostly obedient... although she's starting to get a little more cheeky of late. Never could I have hoped for such an amazing creature when I looked at that ultrasound and found out she was a girl. The tears I shed then were well worth it. I am completely smitten by Elora. I would hug and hold her all day every day if I could. She is simply delightful!

A life short lived

2010-01-07T17:46:00.002+11:00

At the beginning of August we welcomed a new family member, a gorgeous pet rabbit whom we called Flopsy.

He was such a delightful creature! Happy, sociable (especially with the cats - when he wasn't grazing my mother's plants he was chasing the poor harassed kitties!), cheeky and loved by everyone, especially my father.

Sadly, we lost him on Monday. On Sunday morning he managed to get out of the yard. Despite the "rabbit-proof fence" my father built.

We searched all afternoon for him and Dan searched for an hour and a half on Sunday night around the neighbourhood. I wish now that I'd searched more thoroughly but I was taken out virtually all day by a nasty bout of food poisoning which I do not wish to remember.

He made his way home on Monday - for all we know he could have been hiding out nearby or travelled the entire suburb. I don't know enough about bunnies to know if they do that. But my folks found him in their driveway, looking very tired and worn out. They brought him inside into his cage - he gave no resistance. And he just lay there, not wanting to eat, just flopped out and resting, but with his heart beating very hard and fast.

About four hours later my mother went to check on him and he had passed away. Unfortunately I was at work but Dante called us, very distraught and upset, and we rushed home. Thankfully the other two kids weren't quite as affected as the big boy, but Elora was full of questions.

We dug a hole in the backyard and buried him that afternoon. All the kids had a turn digging and shovelling and we gave him his favourite elephant toy and some hay and pellets, as is the Chinese custom (usually paper money though, I believe).

The cats seemed to know that something was up. They hung around when usually they'd flee from the children (home due to school holidays). Blackie even said her goodbye.

The plan now is to build a big raised garden bed in that corner of the yard (well, I've been wanting to do that for at least a year!) which we'll call "Flopsy's Garden". We'll plant his favourite foods (that we can grow): carrots, parsley, buk choy. And maybe we'll put up a little plaque or engraved stone there.

We're still considering whether or not to get another rabbit. Dante is very keen. He wants to call it "Cottontail". But we're still thinking about that. My parents are already missing him, since he used to keep them company when they were out in the garden and my father used to love feeding him weeds or veges every morning. I know that another rabbit won't replace him - he was such a character! - but boy I loved having that bunny around.

Jingle bells and New Year stress

2009-12-31T18:31:00.000+11:00

Christmas snuck up on us this year. There we were in October with plenty of time on our hands. The shopping centres reminded us that the festive season (high retail season) was coming soon by putting up their decorations way too soon and I think that was partly the cause of my confusion - there were still many many weeks to go!

Then November whizzed past in the blink of an eye. Dante was involved in the NSW Dept of Education Schools Spectacular where practices and early morning drop offs ruled our lives for a few weeks. Before we knew it, the month was over and it was December. End of year work stuff (projects and parties!) combined with end of school (and pre-school) activities kept us rushing around. Finally school ended and work ended (two weeks' mandatory leave) and I thought "Great! I have plenty of time to get things ready for Xmas!". How wrong I was! More parties, present shopping, house cleaning. The time dissolved and it was Christmas.

We had our usual Dan's family shin dig on Xmas eve at our place. Presents out the wazoo. I think the girl scored best, and funnily enough I'd say the hit present of the day was the toy ironing board and iron which Grandma picked up cheap at a garage sale! Dan got an espresso machine (now that he drinks coffee) amongst other things, but surprisingly (my fault!) not a lot of Lego. Everyone else got lots of fun things as well as some practical items (underwear!!). It was a good afternoon/early evening.

Xmas day was spent at my brother's newly renovated place in Glebe. Thankfully it turned out to be a cool rainy day so the kids were happy to be kept occupied by the Wii and the rest of us ate until food was leaking out of our ears. Or so it felt!

Now a week has yet again flown by. I had a couple of projects I wanted to do, not even started. And now it's New Year's Eve! Less than 6 hours left of the year! Wow. I'm a little stressed by that fact. My mind is abuzz thinking of all the things I want to do and my heart is beating a little faster with the thought that I won't get to do them.

But, after an afternoon of stressing out and being unproductive, a sudden urge hit me. Lists. I work well with lists. There's something very satisfying about crossing things off a list. Lists and deadlines are what get me going. It's a stressful way to work, but eh, at least it works... sort of. That and a "oh, bugger it! That's good enough!" attitude!

So this is my plan for the new year. No silly resolutions like last year which are pretty much a guarantee that things won't get done.

Just this. I'm writing a list of things I'd like to do. Not big things. It's all cut down into bite-size pieces. And I'm going to try to tackle one every fortnight. Every week would be great but I know not to set my goals too high because then I just get disappointed in myself.

Now after making this decision, coming to this realisation, I feel like a weight has been lifted. Every time I start to feel stressed about something I need to do, I can just add it to my list and I know that some day it will get done and won't be forgotten about! I can feel myself calming even as I write this. And I feel a bit more motivated to get on with the house cleaning - I try to have the house tidy-ish if not perfectly clean (ha!) by New Year's Eve so that we can start the new year afresh. That's the plan. That's always the plan.

Hopefully next year it will be fulfilled.

I hope you all have a great night tonight and a happy and less stressful year in 2010!

Flood

2009-12-09T14:41:00.003+11:00

One of my all time favourite music albums is Flood by They Might Be Giants. Brilliant album. Know it from start to finish.

The opening sequence (see it here on YouTube) has the lyrics "It's the brand new album for 1990" in it. And I realised that this year and next year's first year Uni students are YOUNGER than this album.

Boy does it make me feel old!

By the way, Dan noticed that they talked about Global Warming even then: "Why are the ocean levels rising up?" Nearly 20 years later and they are STILL discussing reducing carbon emissions. Grr.

Those three munchkins: no. 2

2009-11-09T07:39:00.007+11:00

Atticus: 4 years, 9 months

Middle child and boy does he show it! Everything I read about middle children fits Atticus perfectly.

From http://www.allsands.com/kids/birthorderpers_rgw_gn.htm:

Middle children are the most enigmatic. The direction they take is most strongly influenced by their next older sibling. They realize quickly, however, that they are not able to do most things as well as their older sibling, because they are littler and less adept. They most often try to differentiate themselves from their older sibling, for example by being athletic if their older sibling is not, or academic if he is. They may resort to bad behavior in order to get more of their parents' attention, under the rationale that even negative attention is better than no attention. Or, they may realize self-importance within their social sphere, and become less dependent on the family for attention. Either way, what most middle children need most is more attention.

Atti is independent when he wants to be. He is incredibly observant and resourceful (he'll notice where the yummy snacks are kept and happily help himself, even if it involves climbing and trickery to get it). He looks up to his big brother immensely but plays more with his little sister. He is wonderful with Elora (most of the time).

But when I recently asked his preschool teacher to describe his behaviour, in one word it was "terrible!" (She wasn't cross or annoyed about it - just a matter of fact). It's not entirely his fault. He is still on his anti-convulsant medication which has very a well known side effect of adversely affecting behaviour. He has terrible outbursts of anger and won't co-operate unless he's interested (and often has to be coerced into joining in... bad when it's a fire drill at school). But other days he is perfect. We had a very thorough appointment with the paediatrician last week and are gradually starting to take him off his meds - over a period of three months! Hopefully he will improve, in time for starting "big school" next year.

Otherwise, he is a very funny kid. He has a great sense of humour and an intrinsic coolness about him. The way he moves, the way he just doesn't care (which can also be extremely frustrating at times). He still loves his toy dog but his interests have started to expand - cars are his thing now. "Hot Wheels" cars are awesome. And he will happily sit down and draw for ages. He has a good ear for music - I've often heard him singing songs after only one hearing (that I'm aware of). He can write his name at last (something he can do earlier than his brother due to preschool, I guess) but he prefers to write just "Atti"... because "he doesn't like the 'Kiss' bit" (as his teacher told us).

I love this recent artwork.

He can almost ride a two-wheeler bike - the training wheels are still there but often go unused. Loves his scooter. And he's tough. Big bumps are dealt with by a shake of the head or a quick rub of the affected area - no tears (unless he's super tired). He loves carrot sticks and french onion dip and would eat it all day every day if we let him. Otherwise he can be a bit fussy with food. Still needs a daytime nap most days. Still wears pull-ups at night-time but seems to be almost ready to stop using them (fingers crossed!).

I find it hard to believe that next year he'll be starting Kindergarten but at the same time I am excited about what improvements the new year will bring. The recent months have been filled with constant worry but at last I am full of hope for him.

Those three munchkins: no. 1

2009-11-06T14:44:00.007+11:00

It's been a while since I've done an update on what the kids are up to these days. This pic was from our zoo trip during the school holidays, a few weeks ago now.

Dante: 8 years, 7 months

Eight years going on fifteen. A boy full of attitude, but still very sensitive and prone to tears every once in a while. Topped his class (or so he tells me) in the standard testing earlier this year - our school did not do quite as well as other inner-west Sydney schools, actually below the national average - but the boy did well, way above school and national average. But you all knew he was pretty bright. Loves reading. Fantasy novels mainly, at the moment. Fast, too!

He's still learning piano, now with a second lesson every Tuesday with a different teacher (at school!) who is helping him along with the exam stuff that he learns with his regular teacher. Tennis lessons on Wednesday afternoons. Gymnastics on Mondays. Last term he also attended his Extension Classes but we decided to give them a miss this term - too busy in the lead up to christmas!

He's in Yr 3 at school, but a composite 3/4 class. A brilliant teacher this year: tall, assertive, energetic, friendly, enthusiastic (good looking... am I allowed to say that?) Tall is good - he has a looming presence over the kids (and me!) - but he never yells at them, is always calm and collected. His routines and schedules have worked wonders with the boy. Dante has also calmed down incredibly this year. He has made a new best friend, Will, who is in Yr 4 and surprisingly never been in a class with D before. Another great calming influence!

He has an interesting time with his siblings. There is definitely a rivalry with Atticus there. I can't see why it's there. Boys? The age difference? Sometimes they will get on famously but more often it seems like he spends his energy teasing or taunting his brother. He is quite good with Elora - doesn't tend to stir her up too much. I wonder if it will increase or decrease as she gets older and more assertive. At the moment she is a very willing participant in anything her two big brothers are doing. I hope as Atti matures that Dante will become a more protective and caring brother.

And Dante has grown, physically. Now up to my shoulders - won't be long before he's up to my chin, my eyes, my head! Look at this comparison - the last time we went to the zoo in 2006.

I can't deny that it hasn't been an easy year, or five. It has been hard work. At times he just makes me want to scream! I joke about boarding school... half joking sometimes. He is too much like me - I am too much like my father. He and I still have our arguments (and shouting matches) but they seem to be lessening lately. I hope. I guess we are both growing up.

--

Well, that's taken me all day to write. I will continue with the other two tomorrow.

October in point form

2009-11-03T09:26:00.003+11:00

For some out there in the blog world, October was a month of every-day posting. They called it Blogtoberfest.

I would have gotten involved, except that October was quite a busy month for us.

Oct 1: Our dear friends Jaime and Shannon arrived from Holly and we met their dear daughter Holly for the first time (Elora's godparents, Elora's birthday-sharer, two years younger).

Oct 2: Our friends Dave and Kate came over for dinner (incidentally, Elora's other god parents). Miss cranky pants was not in the mood for photos with them, unfortunately.

Oct 3: Party at our place so everyone else could meet Holly!

Oct 5: Public holiday

Oct 6: School holidays began!

Oct 10: Day of parties: 5 yr old at lunch, friends' going away party early evening, then a brief stop over at another house cooling party on the way home. Phew! What a day! We DID buy Guitar Hero World Tour though. Lots of drumming fun.

Oct 11: Another party at a friend's place in SW Sydney, about 45min drive away. A nice relaxed day with too much food and the Bathurst car race on the big TV.

Oct 15: Trip to the zoo with J&S. Fun, fun, fun! But mega crowded due to school holidays and the World Masters Games.

Oct 19: Back to school!

Oct 20: Jaime and Shannon went home :(

Oct 25: Awesome storm! The rain fell out of the sky in bucket loads. Very large buckets.

Oct 28-30: Dante's first school camp! He was so excited :)

Oct 31: Our school fete. Big day. Long day. Lots of fun. Face painting. Spendy spendy. But we did very well. Lots of money made (I'm the new treasurer of the P&C so I had the pleasure of counting the money afterwards... $12k in 50c coins (not quite, but almost!)

As you can see, things have been busy. There's been plenty to write about, just no time to do it.

And now it's November. Things coming up: School Spectacular (some dancing thing that Dante's involved in). Thanksgiving. Getting ready for Christmas. Blargh!!

Made by hand

2009-10-06T18:01:00.006+11:00

P.S. Happy birthday bro!

Gamer? Am I?

2009-09-29T14:24:00.003+10:00

I wouldn't call myself a gamer. Not really. I mean, I ran a role playing convention once*. It had a pretty good turnout. I met my husband and, incidentally, most of my closest friends through the Sci-fi and Roleplaying society at Uni. I have my own (pink) Nintendo DS. And a PS2. And spend so many hours playing Zuma on the kitchen mac and Bejeweled2 on my iPod touch.

But I wouldn't call myself a gamer.

Except that I've recently started watching Good Game on Monday nights on ABC2. I think the hosts have a great rapport, they're funny and they have a hot asian chick reporter. I can't remember her name - haven't seen her on there very often.

The thing(s) I like most, however, are their little "community service announcements". 30 second clips interspersed throughout the half an hour show.

I particularly liked last night's one: If art were games.... Mondrian tetris!

* Not on my own. I couldn't have done it with my co-convenor Anna :)

Red, red, red

2009-09-23T06:40:00.003+10:00

For the third morning in a row I awoke at 5am, this time without my alarm clock! Still dark and quiet with the exception of the rattling of the fence by the wind. Not even the birds were up.

I pottered around, not sure what to do with myself for a while. Made a cup of tea. Played a game of Zuma's Revenge. Then I looked out the window towards next door. A deep red light was filtering through. What on earth? I thought it was my neighbour's light. But upon another look it was the sky!

I raced outside with the camera (of course). The colours in the photos have NOT been altered in any way. Check out the flourescent light in my kitchen above. And here's the view from my bedroom window.

And just for reference, here's the view from my bedroom window on a normal day.

Wow!

Edited to add (7:10am):
Now the sun is up and the sky is a little less red. More orangey-yellow. The boys both woke up astonished at the sight. Atti said to me, "I went outside [to go next door] and the sky was all orange!" The downside to all this amazing light is that now EVERYTHING is covered in a fine layer of red dust. Ah, a little bit of Central Australia come to our door.

Morning busy-ness

2009-09-22T11:46:00.003+10:00

Today was the second day in a row I was up at 5am. Not just awake, but up and about. I'm starting to feel a little tired.

I am amazed at how much I did before work, though.

In point form:

Showered.
Drove my parents to the airport.
Got some dough out to rest before baking it.
Baked a small loaf of bread (I'll post about that soon).
Fed and dressed three children.
Cleaned out the bunny's cage.
Got ready for work.
Dropped the kids off at school/childcare.

Hmm. Looking at the list, it doesn't seem like a huge amount but really, it was a busy and productive morning! Dan helped get the kids dressed but he had to leave early for a presentation on the north shore.

And the worst part was that I was still late for work (although to their credit the boys were ready before 8am).

Now that's some driving...

2009-09-15T10:59:00.002+10:00

Last night (Monday night = single parent night) I managed to get the children into bed by 8pm! Incredible! Half an hour to an hour earlier than normal!

So early that I was able to watch half of Top Gear. And I saw this. It was incredible. The rest of the show was quite funny, too. I never really thought of myself as a "car" person, but this show makes it highly entertaining.

I hope the video doesn't get taken down due to copyright issues!