Category: Diary

I wrote recently about how much I love baking. Well, my lovely wife must have been reading because she bought me an amazing present from the book club at work. Of course she hasn’t been in to work since it arrived so many thanks to Leah for delivering my new pride and joy.

Now I really have to start saving for a proper mixer.

A letter from Lego would have been my dream as a kid.

I can complete my TIE Fighter now.

I was out on my jog this morning, just near the end of the second kilometre when a car cruised by. The guy in the passenger seat pointed his arm out he window and yelled “you’re a fool mate, a fool!”. Okay, it was just after six on a Sunday morning so he may have had a point but, really? What on earth would make a person feel they should yell that out the windows at someone. Maybe he meant to say “well done on getting up so early a Sunday morning to make something better of yourself” but it got muddled up on the way out,

A little later I rounded a corner to see some Young People clogging the footpath as they walked in front of me. I jogged out on the road to pass them and as I drew near one turned around and said “geez, I wonder who had started running”. I smiled and said “just this idiot”. They all laughed and one kindly offered me a can of scotch and coke to help me on my way.

Crutches have made their way back in to our house and for once they’re not for me.

Poor Rae has been struggling with walking and jogging since our visit to Shepp just after Christmas. We initially thought it was a muscle strain, then possibly a tear but after a few weeks it just wasn’t getting better.  I was doing some work with a rheumatologist client of mine and happened to mention it to him. He was instantly intrigued; a young, fit woman shouldn’t have had the symptoms I described. He advised Rae to get an MRI immediately, as in go and get one now.

Thankfully I had that conversation as the MRI revealed Rae has a ‘considerable bone marrow oedema along the undersurface of the neck of the femur’. Basically she’s one bad stumble away from snapping the neck of her femur as the marrow is significantly weakened. She has to see an ortho, hopefully we can get an appointment early in the week. but my rheumo mate thinks we have got it in time.

For now she is using crutches to get around – there can be not weight at all put on her left foot. It’s frustrating for Rae as her exercise was going great guns and she was enjoying the changes it was bringing. It looks like she’ll be spending a lot of time on the couch over the next few weeks and we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other than we are accustomed to, if only it was under better circumstances.

Walked out to the lounge room to find this going on.

Drama in the street this morning. I was working away when I heard the squeal of wheels and then THUMP, BANG, THMUMP WHUMP and a car horn blaring.

Oddly enough it took a couple of seconds to register what was going on. When I went outside our neighbour’s car was sitting in the middle of the road. It appears her accelerator stuck as she was pulling in to her drive. She knocked over the letter box as she swung around, just missed slamming in to a tree but smashed a car on the street, then another one which slammed in to the side of another. Three cars written off, one damaged. Thankfully no one was hurt and the street was quiet.

More neighbours came out to check all was okay, I was asked to call the police as cars were littering the road. It was as we were waiting the neighbour told me they had no insurance on the car.

Rae has taken the kids down to the beach for a couple of days so I had a free night to do whatever I wanted. Movies? Television? Read? Nah, I decided to do something completely different – I went to the baseball.

I’ve driven past the baseball park in Laverton many, many times and generally commented on how it was in the middle of nowhere for sport and wondered how baseball could survive in Aus so it was even more surprising that I’d give it a go. I looked up the site for Melbourne Aces and bought my ticket online – I figured if I had the ticket I’d have to go.

The park is only 15 minutes drive away and I arrived in plenty of time. I got to watch batting practice and the preparations for the game. The crowd built slowly and by the time for the national anthem, an American tradition that has found its way to local ice hockey and baseball games, the stands were looking good.

Now I know nothing about baseball. About 20 years ago a catcher (?) from the Australian Olympic baseball team explained what a pinch hitter was but I was (possibly) a little tipsy at the time and the details of that conversation were lost by the next morning. I know about strikes, and bases and, um, foul balls but that was it. Surprisingly enough that’s all I needed. It was a great game to watch. I could follow the ebbs and flows, the score board made sense after a couple of innings. I got to see what I now know is a rare win for the Aces, including a spectacular triple home run. I even got to see a couple of bats explode.

While the game was engrossing it was the atmosphere that really sold me. There was a group of diehard fans to my left who had chants for most of the Ace batters (my favourite was :”Biddle it, just a little bit:” to the tune of Wiggle It (Just A Little Bit)) and they were great to listen to. Lots of family fun with entertainment  on the field between innings. My only disappointment was the Taco Bill tent had run of burritos by the time I got there. Everyone at the game seemed to be having a great time.

I’ll definitely be going back, I’m not sure the kids would be interested enough to sit still for the few hours but if I could drag Rae along on a perfect summer night like last night I’m sure she’d enjoy it too.

 

Recently I’ve discovered I love baking. Not sure how this came about but there’s nothing more satisfying than serving up some home made treats. Mel and Susannah have no need to fear though, I’m strictly a beginner and will stay that way.

Last night Beth posted an image of lemon sugar cookies and as soon as I saw them I had to make them. I made some today on my lunch break and they turned out perfectly. Problem is I’m the only one home and I’m not eating more than one (curse you stupid will power). So there are 40 freshly baked lemon sugar cookies sitting there waiting for someone to turn up and eat them.

 

I bought these for Bert this morning. They cover everything from How To Annoy Your Brother And Sister to How To Send A Message By Semaphore. I think he’ll get a kick out of them.

If only I had have realised just how geeky you can get getting fit I would have started so much earlier.

I’ve recently moved from jogging on a treadmill at the gym to jogging outside. First thing I did was have my stride analysed and bought some great new Asics running shoes based on the recommendations. They feel like running on air.

I have also bought an arm band to hold my phone. I can now track my runs using Endomondo so I can record all sorts of stats and maps thanks to the wonders of GPS. At the same time I can play Zomnbies Run to keep me motivated. Or if I don’t want to escape the zombie hordes I can use my wireless Bluetooth headphones to listen to music or 6 Music over the net.

I’m sure there’s even more tech I can call on as I progress, any suggestions?