A wee video

Beth does exercises
Originally uploaded by Tom Goodfellow

This is Beth doing her exercises outside Barnaby's daycare, as inspired by Sporticus from the TV show "Lazy Town"

Same as it ever was

I am in another part of the world.
I am behind the wheel of of a large automobile.
I am in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife.
Well, how did I get here?

Developing good taste

M has a lovely post about how the kids are finding new ways to make us laugh.

One thing she didn't mention is B1's constant requests to listen to either "All Things Go" or "The Whistling Song". What an indie kid. Great tunes, but:

This is good, I suppose

Here's my week.

Monday - Late shift at work until 10pm
Tuesday - M is away, so I'm soloing on Bs duty
Wednesday - The Alchemist at Sydney Opera House with Lou
Thursday - Madness at Luna Park with Nick
Friday - The Beauty Queen of Leenane at the Seymour Centre with M, Andrew and Justine
Saturday - Otis Lee Crenshaw at Sydney Opera House with all of the above
Sunday - Apparently, M has booked us up for bruch with somebody or other. Even God needed a rest on the seventh day.

Dive mojo

I managed 2 dives on the weekend, both from a boat on Sunday. After a 5 year hiaitus my main concerns were to do with weight/bouyancy and generally remembering what the hell to do. I wasn't wrong.

On the first dive I managed to descend OK, but then it all went horribly pear-shaped. In a surgey spot I lost a fin (thankfully recovered by a fellow diver), but that got me in a bit of a lather. In a panic I lost orientation and started breathing hard, which sent my balance awry. I twisted so that my head was pointing downwards and feet up, meaning that the small amount of water in my mask completely covered my view. The upshot was that I , well, shot up and wound up on the surface. It was a miserable experience, scary and frustrating, and apparently I was the only person on the dive who failed to spot the dozens of friendly sharks in the vicinity.

I really didn't want to do the second dive. Luckily I forced myself and it worked out so much better. Having had the opportunity to sort my gear out everything went smoothly. I zipped along happily through the underwater gorges in a Luke-Skywalker-attacking-the-Death-Star fashion and we saw some lovely sealife including a couple of giant cuttlefish and several wobbegongs.

It was fantastic and I have officially recovered my scuba mojo.

Incidentally, props to my buddy M and Cameron the divemaster from Prodive Nelson Bay, who were both extremely helpful.

Breaking, or rather mending, news

Following our wetsuit triumph, this is turning out to be a great week for family-in-stretchy-outfit news.

M just called from the wonderful Westmead Children's Hospital to report that B2 no longer has to wear the accursed pressure suit that he has been stuck in since his accident in May. Think a t-shirt shaped wetsuit with a velcro-attached overpant. The poor fella has been lumbered with it for so long now that he'll probably feel cold and/or naked without it.

Huzzah!

Dip

Back in the mid-Jurassic era, M&I were keen scuba divers. We tended to arrange our holidays around dive locations and were lucky enough to take in some beautiful trips such as the Philippines, the Red Sea and a gravel loader south of Sydney. However, you can't dive if you might be pregnant so once we started trying for number one child it went out of the window and we haven't been underwater for 5 years.

With a trip to the Cook Islands in the offing, though, we were determined not to miss out on the opportunity to dive there, so we needed to get back in the saddle. This weekend we are heading north to Nelson Bay to do a couple of dives and check that our gear still functions etc. I can't wait to get among the fish after so long.

In fact, we did our first gear check last night. In the living room we were grateful to discover that after five long years we can both still fit into our wetsuits. I'll leave you to fill in the visual images of that scenario for yourselves.

The Boredom and the Self-Pity

Isn't she gorgeous?

So anyway, I have a theory that if you took everybody who attended All Tomorrow's Parties and everybody who attended Saturday's Sound Relief concert and turned them into a Venn diagram, then the overlapping segment would be (a) one person, and (b) Michelle-shaped. The Bad Seeds/Olivia Newton John fanbase overlap just can't be that big can it?

Anyway, that left me soloing in charge of the kids once again, and what with work on Sunday it made for a fairly dull weekend. I did catch another extra-long Holocaust doco, but my mood was soon lifted by a football match. Just how superficial could I possibly be?

Badhead

I recently read an interview with one of my all-time heroes, Bruce Springsteen, and he expounded a theory to the effect that we can see our lives as a car journey. If you know any Bruce lyrics at all this will not come as a surprise, but bear with me. He also suggested that each stage of our lives remain in the car as we progress, but it is the current "you" that has the controls.

This resounded with me, as follows:

1) My 3-year-old toddler self was delighted to be sitting with the Bs in the kitchen, throwing a balloon around in a triangle, to giggles all round.

2) My 14-year-old nerd self had a great Saturday, taking in the Watchmen movie and a game of geek classic Talisman with Dani and Todd.

3) My 20-year-old student self was happiest this morning in the car when iPod shuffle threw up Badhead by Blur at just the right moment to pick up my soul from the floor.

4) My 36-year-old current self is always happiest looking at the Bs asleep, just before going to bed myself.

Oh Bruce - do you know everything?

Here are a couple of photos, while we're all here(note the top quality parenting going on in the background):

NHSBT09, as I like to think of it

Northern Hemisphere Summer Big Trip 2009 is now booked! The clan will be arriving at Heathrow on 26th June and leaving on 25th July. Book us early to avoid disappointment!

Timing

Typical. Its the busiest week of my working year, and I am committed to teaching lots of classes (I am a professional - look). M is away every Tuesday and Wednesday for the semester while she completes a placement for her Masters. My mother-in-law, who is always very generous with her time, is overseas. And B2 gets sick (diarrhoea and vomiting, not serious) and therefore can't attend daycare. Bringing the boy to work tomorrow is beginning to look like a real possibility, Lord help us all.