Category: Diary

This is more for historical interest but we’ve just had a little earthquake here. According to the USGS it was magnitude 5.2. I was sitting at my desk when my chair started moving from side to side and my desk, that I was leaning on, started to wobble. It lasted about 10 seconds and as I was too confused (who on earth is doing that to my desk?) to really comprehend what it was. Interesting thing is that Bella had been going crazy this evening, wanting to go in and out every couple of minutes. Listening to the radio it seems we weren’t as badly hit as some suburbs, will be interesting to read the paper tomorrow.

Here’s Bert with his pride and joy – his first book. Entitled ‘I Can’ it’s an engrossing tale of all things he can do. Complete with blurb and hand drawn illustrations it’s a must read. He’s already planning his next book, which will be available once dad gets more toner for the printer.

Well done Bert!

(Yes, I’m working on the Kindle edition.)

Guess whose mum just got back from Canada.

If you look at any of my books from when I was kid it would be odds on that it is in mint condition. I recently picked up a bunch of magazines I bought back in the mid 80s and they look like they’ve just come off the printing press. You could say I like keeping things in the condition in which they came.

Which is just another reason I married the right woman ‘cause Rae is all about the change.

We moved in to our home three and a half years ago now and the inside is still pretty much as it was then, save for a couple of extra power points. I guess 20 or so years of renting has conditioned me to not making any changes, which given my nature is fine by me. Lately Rae has been making noises about some renovating and this weekend she’s started.

What was once a blank wall is now a feature wall. Carefully matched to extend the colour of our kitchen tiles the kids lounge room (itself undergoing some changes) now has a feature wall, beautifully pained in ‘coffee break’. She’s not going to stop there though, oh no. My office and the boys’ room are next on her hit list. Indeed, I’m being kicked out on weekend soon so the office can get its make over.

She’s done an amazing job, the wall looks fantastic. I guess there’ll be many more changes over the years to come so I’d better get use to it. I think I’ll go and read one of those 80s mags in the lounge now, before putting it carefully back in its folder.

When I joined the gym a little while ago (oh wow, it was the last week of March, time flies)  I just wanted to get fit. A little scare of having a heart attack that really wasn’t does that to you. After a couple of sessions I decided I needed an aim so I set a couple; initially to get my weight down under 90kg (it was around the 97 mark) and stay there and then to proceed to around 82.

This week I hit my first goal, I’m now at 89kg. I can’t believe that I’ve made it this quickly. I’ve also managed to get my waist measurement under 100cm which I’m lead to believe is a good thing. A couple of weeks ago I bought new jeans and already they are feeling a little loose.

So I’m soldiering on now to hit the low 80s and then to start building up a little muscle. This feeling fit and healthy thing is addictive.

Listening to ABC DIg with everyone dotted around the place and Pulp’s Common People comes on.

:”Dadda, this is your favourite song!” pipes up Moo (who just now is singing it all over again).

I was just about to correct her and say ‘no, I like it, but…’ when I realised she’s right. I’ve always loved the song, I think it’s a classic, but ever since seeing them live in concert last year the song has just gone higher and higher in my estimation. I can’t help but smile every time I hear the opening chords and I channel what little inner-Jarvis I have as I sing and shoulder dance along.

We only have one teenager in the house now but the little ones eat fruit like they are teenagers. This is the fruit basket freshly stocked this morning, my guess is it will be empty in three days time. Good help us when there are three actual teenagers prowling the kitchen.

It was the Australian Animal Show this morning, brought to you direct from Kennedy’s closet. Here’s Mr Henry and companion singing ‘Our House’.

I turned 42 today, at last I am the answer to life, the universe and everything. I had a great day. I got to go to the gym wearing my new Polar heart monitor, I played with my wind up Dalek, decided where to put my wireless weather station, wore my new Tiger socks, studied my AT AT diagram t-shirt and pumped my Spinal Tap Bluray up to 11.

As you can tell, I had a great day.

But the best was saved for last. Rae made her world famous (well, it should be!) chicken parma. Dear god, I’m in a post parm stupor, lying on the couch counting my birthday blessings. Thanks every one for the birthday wishes via sms, email, phone and Facebook. I couldn’t be happier.

We had a great little mini holiday this weekend. We went to stay at mum and Peter’s place for a couple of days, just to get away. It’s the only weekend we have (pretty much) free between now and September so we made the most of it.

We drove up on Friday night to make the most of our time. The kids were most excited we stopped at a pizerria for dinner, they’ve been saying the word with Italian accents all weekend. I ended up watching the Tigers win a thriller while everyone else was fast asleep. I may have kissed their television when Jack kicked the goal that put us back in front.

Saturday we spent just ‘doin stuff’. A bit of shopping, some relaxing, a visit to Aunty Katey for a quick trip back in time, some lunch and then afternoon tea with three out of my four sisters – such a rare event. Saturday night we watched When Harry Met Sally. Well, half watch and Rae half recited. As we’d been a little bit lazy I made Rae do some lunges and push ups. Rae had never done lunges before. She may forgive eventually, but we felt a lot better afterwards.

This morning we woke to a beautiful sunrise, mist covered fields, chirping birds and insane giggles from boisterous boys. It was the kids treat this morning, breakfast at Maccas. I’ve heard that if you ‘accidentally’ leave your kids behind at Maccas then McDonalds will raise them until the age of 18. It was so tempting to see if this was true today, sorry fellow patrons, especially if you were nursing a hang over. Shopping, a quick trip to rescue a lost dinosaur from Aunty Helly’s, a lot more relaxing and then it was time to hit the road back home.

It was only really a day and a half but it feels like we had a week away. Just being away from home, and the usual routine, has recharged the batteries a little so now it’s full steam ahead for the second half of the year.