Our house

Rachel and the children made a video tour of our house to show Granny and Grampy. Here it is:

Back from the depths...

Hello all - I am so sorry I have disappeared...I really don't have an excuse...well maybe I do. I will quickly write a couple things so you at least know I am not dead and then write more later.

I am so happy to see you are all doing well. Brings tears to my eyes frequently because I miss all of you so much! Work is SO incredibly busy. I still love the job...not some of the people so much but it is going well. Still trying to make it all fit in the hours they say I am suppose to work but I always manage to stay too long...I will get it eventually.

I have hit my 5 month anniversay here -- can you beieve it! I am liking the city more and more. I have been dating someone... Andy. So, maybe that is why I have disappeared for a bit (smile, smirk). He is an interesting guy...there are some issues...but overall he keeps coming back and things are going well at this point...so I plan on sticking around as long as the drama stays to a minimum. I have some pictures I will post later.

I have been really sick for the pasts three weeks - which put my running to a complete halt - totally sucks! They thought I had pnemonia, thank god it isn't, but it has taken a toll on my lungs. I am in complete conflict as to wheather I should still try to run the marathon or not.

I have no time to write any more - sorry I disappeared - I am back - almost in full force but this illness has made me really tired. I will try to write more later today.

I miss all of you - love your pictures and updates. Wish we could all go on a run!!

BIRTHDAYS & BEACH

The kids turned 6 & 8 this weekend...I can't believe it!   We had a really fun, but small party with a few friends & Albert's family.  My friend Robert's contribution to the "A Day At The Beach" cake was brilliant!  See center of fins.  

We are milking summer to its fullest spending two weekends in a row at Long Beach.  The waves after the hurricane Gustav broke one of our boards as we were giddily battling the swells.  The kids were into sand surfing with boogie boards on the dunes which they enjoyed more than the water.

American Politics......Yikes!   I have been through such a range of emotions with these elections.  I was relatively hopeful before Palin came on the scene.  Then I was just plain shocked!  Come on ......I could dress a deer when I was 12, handle a 12 gage, wrangle dogs & cook up a mess of raccoon stew, but I'm not entertaining the thought of running for VP.  I felt as though I was watching a reality TV show.   Anyway, I am again hopeful because I do think that the possibility of having her as a VP is so frightening that it has spurred more donations and more energy into the Obama campaign.  Rohan, I know everyone here has seen the great SLN spoof, but I'm not sure if you saw it way over there!  http://www.nbc/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/  It is sooooooooooooooo goooooood!

my big fat belly

congrats on running!!!

Lily, where aaarrree you????

Kathy did your dad arrive?

all is same on home front here,
beautiful weather though, probblly the best
end of summer weather I've ever experienced
in nyc!

ox

I run

I went for a run. I ran around the streets of Essendon and found a couple of nice small parks to run through. All very picturesque, especially on a beautiful spring morning. As I was running home I was feeling rather pleased with myself. I thought this running was pretty easy really, and wondering whether I had run for 35 or 40 minutes. I was thinking that the 10k race in October would be a breeze. I stopped and checked my watch. I had run for 19 minutes. Damn. Next time I am going to take my iPod. If you girls could tape yourself chatting and send me the mp3, I could play them while running and feel like I was still in Prospect Park!

ciao!

a movie at the theatres? if you have a few days off, why dont you just make your own movie!
A few days off.....I have no visualization of that, cannot imagine it....you are so lucky!

well that make s2 of us not running since may.......i have the motivation, but there is something in my way....

we only have two months to go until she makes her presence known to the world,
unless of course, she wants to come out and meet everyone early, which im kindof
hoping she waits it out...im not ready yet!

cut my hair off, 7 inches, still long to the shoulders, but much shorter,
mateo is doing great in hisnew class, lorenzo is doing great in prek, still
having some separation issues, but he's coming along....

ive been busy working on some illustration projects for a friend who is in
marketing and that is what im supposed to be doing right now, not chatting on a blog!!!

so i must run,
oxox

A Confession

The children have started swimming lessons on Saturday mornings. Here they are last Saturday on our front doorstep, on their way to the swimming pool. School holidays start next week - two weeks off for the children. They are spending a few nights with their grandparents during the second week, so Rachel and I can have a couple of nights out on the town. Woohoo!! Can anyone recommend any good movies?

I have a confession to make. I still haven't been for a run. Not since May. Now you can all line up and kick my ass. It's just that there is no one to run with, no big park or obvious route to run, and I'm suffering from a lack of motivation. I see my running shoes and my red shirt and I have good intentions, but when it comes to the crunch.... I'm going to try and run around the streets for half an hour tomorrow morning. I will report back.

What's Up

Thanks for the photos Kathy. As usual they are classy, elegant, and inspire feelings of envy that you should have that much talent. As you may have noticed, I haven't taken a photo for weeks. The children both won awards at school recently so I will try and get a shot of them soon with their certificates.

The weather here is warming up. Today is the first of the really windy warm days. A north-westerly wind blows warm air over Melbourne and carries with it all the dust from the great dry interior of this country. My grandmother always used to say that it is the sort of day that would cause her a headache. When it gets into high summer, in January or February, we will have days similar to this one but it will be 110 degrees to go with it. With luck the wind won't last too long.

Election looks like it's going to be close. Obama needs to step up - he's being walked all over at the moment. As usual, Republicans are attacking their opponents' greatest strength. In 2004, it was Kerry's war record, this year it's Obama's theme of change. As usual, it seems to be working. Bastards. Maybe Obama is thinking he can win over the doubters in the debates. But Kerry won all three debates against Bush, and a fat lot of good that did.

Tonight Rachel and I are going to the theater to see Steven Birkoff give a one-man performance of Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" and his own "Dog." If it's any good, I'll let you know. Tomorrow night I'm off to the footy at the MCG. It's been great being able to use my club membership after all these years. I take in guests, we have dinner in the Long Room (very exclusive), sup a couple of beers, and then wander down to our alloted seats to watch the game in comfort. A very civilized way of watching sport.

BACK TO THE GRIND

A month in Va and my pace has slowed (can't keep up with the New Yorkers, heck, I can't keep up with the Park Slopers....you know I must be as "slow as molasses"), the kids (especially Louis) have "drawls", we all have healthy (if there is such thing) tans, I have been headache free...must be the usage of my step moms water pillow, certainly not the lifestyle,  we all have new chigger & mosquito scars, but managed to avoid any bees or spiders this visit, Albert did feed a crab his finger & Louis got spiked by a fin, I stubbed and re injured my "supposedly not broken toe" which refuses to heal...

I am sorry, I just have to interrupt this train of thought because Sara Palin has just been speaking at the Republican Convention...anyone who would name her boys Trig & Track..yikes... and she sounds like she just stepped out of "Fargo"...correction, she sounds like someone who just got fired from the set of "Fargo" for over acting...trying to look too tough...she is so right wing...very SCAAAARY!

I am really confused by the attire/styling at the conventions.   Why do the democrats look like "good old boys" (they are such slobs) and the republicans look so "bloody" stuffy and they are "good old boys"?

...anyway, sorry, back to Va.  My 94 year old grandmother was just featured in a local gallery as "Honorary Artist of the Month".  She and one of her paintings made the local paper.  She is "healthy as a horse", but she is loosing track of things a bit.  Several times she asked me to washed and set her hair only to have a "hairdresser friend" show up hours later saying that my grandmother phoned her also.  Hey...let's believe it was simply due to my inept "helmet hair styling"!

I'll tell you more about our visit later.....need to get some sleep.   Oh, one more thing.  Rohan, Louis & Grace were making their b-day  party invite list and wished that Hannah & Sam could come.  

I really, really, really miss you all and our runs.  I ran a few times this summer with Velouse(Kiara's mom) and a few times with Tifenn, but Tifenn just found out she is pregnant!  Leanne & I have spent the past 3 months negotiating our schedules.

Lastly, Grace has Stephanie Collins (FKA Knight).  Louis has Laura Pennington and is back with Alin, Chloe(Fanny's girl), Joseph(Britta's boy), Sam Craig, Casey, Jake, Zoe.....  Sorry, Lily, I know this is a total bore!

 

The Joys of the Delete Button

So I deleted my last post because it was just embarrassing. Isn't it great just to be able to delete things that you do wrong? If I could I would delete 1992. And my decision to do engineering at university. And getting beaten up on British Rail. And several of my ex-girlfriends. Maybe that film The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind got it right.

All well here. I went to several events at the Melbourne Writers Festival last week. Mostly Australian authors because I am immersing myself in Australian books in an effort to understand this country. And it is a very strange place. An Australian author was describing Australia's fascination with America and likened it to meeting your cousin. America looks a lot like Australia but as you get closer and get to know it you see there are little differences that seem odd. And it is the same coming back to Autsralia after being away so long - everything is familiar but just a little bit different.

I am having trouble getting used to the Australian "she'll be right, mate" attitude, which just looks like unprofessionalism to someone who has been in the northern hemisphere for so long. Australians seem to start every phrase with "Oh, look," shorten everything and use the definite article to describe parts of themselves. For example if you ask someone how they are, they might say, "Oh look, I'm alright, the leg is playin' up a bit, the arm is feeling a bit better, but I'm looking forward to my hollies. What are you doing for Chrissie. Bought any pressies yet?" And what is it with Abba? Everywhere I go they play Abba. In the subway stations - Abba. In cafes - Abba. In supermarkets - Abba. At Hannah and Sam's school the bell rings to tell them that it is time for classes to start or that lunchtime is over. And they give a two minute warning that the bell is about to go by playing...Abba. Every day. And the film Mamma Mia has just been released here. Enough!

On the other hand, I had forgotten how friendly everyone is. People on checkouts or behind counters in stores keep asking me how I am and what am I doing today or how has my day been. Rachel went to get her Australian driver's licence last week and was overwhelmed by how fast the process was and how friendly everyone behind the counter was. The contrast with the New York DMV was overwhelming. Rite Aid should send all their staff to Australia for lessons in how to deal with customers.