Twistidd in Oz

More outrage

2012-02-13T21:13:00.003+11:00

Well I only seem compelled to write here when I have a gripe about something. Again, it's about corporate greed. Our reserve bank, in its wisdom decided to maintain interest rate levels this month, when all the pundits appeared to plump for a rate cut. Well the banks aren't happy with their record profit and seem to want "growth" in their business when healthy profits should suffice. So out comes the axe, in times when finding work is terribly hard, and 1000 ANZ staff are to find new employment. This is on top of 650 announced staff cuts at Westpac last week. On top of this, all four of the big banks here in Oz decide that no, we're not happy Mr Reserve Bank Governor. We wanted to get our profits when you cut the interest rate, by not passing on the full cut. So what we're going to do is PUT UP THE INTEREST RATES of our loans.
In a time when Greece is self-emoliating, when Italy is terribly dodgy, the USA is a basket case, not to mention the state of Ireland and Portugal.
So the lending business is softening, because NO ONE CAN AFFORD HOUSES and everyone is so unsure of the global economy. So you put up interest rates. Right. So where's the logic in that?
In other news the lovely Kate read a whopping 68 pages of Green Eggs and Ham before bed tonight. Year One is going to be a challenge, heaps of homework. Bless them all.

We are the 99%

2011-10-29T15:37:00.003+11:00

On what planet is it ok for the CEO of QANTAS to get a 71% payrise in THESE economic conditions?
I mean FUCK the corporate greed. How about these executives get the measly 2.5% that the rest of us are granted? What productivity improvements warrants this type of increase in salary?
I am a peace loving person who abhores violence, but when I saw the news about the shareholder meeting I actually felt like buying a gun and shooting the CEO of QANTAS. (Not that I personally mean the gentleman any harm, just so you know).
Corporate freaking greed. There should be a law that sets the salaries of these assholes. Either that or a revolution and get them all lined up against the wall. Instant distribution of wealth. This is the sort of irresponsible behaviour that got rid of Louis the 14th in France during the revolution. Executives as the new ruling class. Excess wealth and greed of corporations dictating government policy. Abject poverty for the masses.
All sounds like something from Bladerunner to me.

Summer's on its way

2011-10-21T21:50:00.002+11:00

So the smell of bushfire is permeating Sydney today. It's control burn time, and the temperature soared to 30 degrees, well it did when I was noticing.
Quite a chilled time today, I got the students to work on their assignments. Colour theory will require something special, methinks. At the moment it's all about evaluating design in an industry context.
Mark tells me there will be plenty of work around next year, so we'll see how that all goes.
Onwards and upwards. We might go swimming tomorrow. Yay!

Birthday Ironing

2011-09-04T18:17:00.004+10:00

So it's fathers day. And my birthday. We liked celebrating together. Had a few little pressies then went out for lunch. Chequers at the Mandarin centre got closed down, I suspect due to fines from the health department. So our favourite yum cha place was gone. We went instead to a new Japanese restaurant nearby. OMG. Devine! We really loved the food. Pig out time.
Came home and DJ did some study, I did some ironing and Kate played with a game on my phone (yes finally got an iapp voucher!). Now my life will be filled with gaming.
I must re-install wow and get back into that too.
Now my PhD is in I'm wondering what next?
The day was lovely today, and this afternoon while DJ was studying, I took Kate to the park for an extended play. Heaps of fun. She ran around so much that she fell asleep in the car on the way home. DJ went out to see Omar.
Six o'clock and she's still asleep. The ironing beckons.
Got "Sucker Punch" to watch tonight. Should be fun.

So what now?

2011-08-31T20:33:00.002+10:00

I think I am suffering from withdrawal. I don't know what to do. I have all this time on my hands.
I suppose I can submerge myself in TV, but that all seems so pointless. So at the moment I'm catching up on my marking and getting some actionscript done.
My lovely brother is coming up on the weekend. He's going to see his accountant and I suspect coming to see me for the birthday.
It's Laid, so DJ's gone off to see some friends to celebrate. I suggested he involve his family, but he said it's just old men sitting around, just to make it seem uninviting.
Kate had a temperature the other day. DJ took her to the Children's hospital yesterday for hemotology tests. We don't want what happened to Bretty happen to her, now do we? Better safe than sorry.
Anyways, Andy is still O.S. I must get my ethics report done.

Submission!

2011-08-29T11:46:00.003+10:00

Oh my goodness, these two weeks have been very stressful. We managed to print and bind the PhD last Friday, only to discover that an entire chapter was missing! Also some spelling mistakes and general rattiness. So we had to go back, re-edit and do it all over again.
The lovely Jen, who was helping me edit the thing was very very upset. No worries, if that's the worse that ever happens, life will be good. We had time to resubmit, so no problemo!!
We worked over the entire weekend getting it back into shape and we reprinted last night and today the lovely Jen resubmitted. Her blood is worth bottling. What a champion.
I know Andy's none too happy with the quality of the writing, but I'll have a chance to tweak after the assessors have had a chance to look at it. I noticed I lost focus when I re-read it so some further clarity is required. At the very least, it's in, it's done, and I can take some time out to do other things.
My gorgeous daughter Kate was so good hanging out at Uni over the weekend. We had lots of colouring in and stuff for her to do. What an amazing child. If it wasn't for DJ, I wouldn't have found all of the errors, as he told me to go back through it in detail. What a team we are.
I will ever be in their debt, the lovely Jen, DJ and Kate. And Andy too. This project would not have been achieved without them.

Ian Trout Passes

2011-08-04T20:10:00.003+10:00

Very sad, this week Ian passed away after some months battling with cancer. I saw him last week, and I will miss him very much.
A legend in Australian gaming, Ian Trout and his partner my dear friend Roger Keating have published over 50 gaming titles. From the classic "Reach for the Stars" through to the games I was involved in, Warlords Battlecry, Warlords II, III and Reach for the Stars 2. Once of his latest works was Carriers at War.
I consider myself part of the Trout extended family, although not related, he has been like a grandfather to my daughter and a great support to me.
I will miss his erascable wit, incisive clarity of thought and no-nonsense attitude.
Gregor Whiley, SSG's producer and Roger Keating have been at port at the safe harbour of TAFE for the past few months during Ian's illness, helping us out teach the next generation of game developers.
I am really looking forward to SSG firing up the engines again for the the next great battle in the world of strategy gaming.
God bless you Ian. I loved you like a father and will miss you terribly.

End of semester madness

2011-06-17T02:34:00.002+10:00

Well, it seems to me that the students this semester are just stressing out more than usual. I had one student scream at me today because I insisted that yes, he had to do his assignment.
I mean wtf? Like because you get an exemption because you're special?
Mmm. Not happy me.
In other news, it's half past two in the morning and I'm up to write some PhD.
The good news is I've had some sleep, so nice. Bad news is Andy isn't happy.
I can't wait for this to be over. I need my life back.

In extra special good news, a very dear friend of mine, Lucila, has just scored herself a nice job. Very happy about that. Extremely good news indeed. No, I'm not allowed to say what the job is, but I'm very very happy for her.

More PhD madness

2011-05-12T23:17:00.000+10:00

Still writing. Saw Mary yesterday and she seems happy with progress. She says that I should be able to get it finished. Peter Goodyear also said he'll take a look at it and I've got a lady called Jennifer Gamble to help me edit.

So writing, rewriting. More writing. Teaching, eating, sleeping, writing.

In other news, kidneys seem to have settled down thanks to Cranberry juice, and my fingers are not as swollen. Doctors are rubbish. Pain is gone, which is nice, and I think I'm looking less pale. So hopefully things are better on the health front.

I want to get this thesis over so I can get on with other things in my life. Way too long. Andy is a god for being so patient with me.

Onwards and upwards.

Been a while

2011-04-20T17:09:00.002+10:00

Well it's April, and I'm up to my 10th draft of my methodology chapter, my 6th draft of my evaluation chapter and I'm not even close yet. It will end in tears. I think I need to concentrate on getting my Qualitative evaluation done, and then refine, refine, refine.

I can see the light. I can also see the stress.
Kate is in Canberra to give me a breather. I am wasting time, but working well at night. So keep on keeping on.

Other news, DJ went for a job interview today. Hope he gets it. And my lovely sister got BOTH jobs she applied for in Canberra. Go girl! Stephen, however, lost his job. So it's swings and roundabouts on the job front.

Tony and Jen have a spanking new home, monsterous from all accounts.
So all good in the world. Keep on keeping on.

Well, still in Sydney

2011-02-27T00:05:00.002+11:00

Well I didn't get the job. Which means that I was not meant to get it.
Destiny seems to be keeping me in Sydney, at TAFE, doing PhD. Not sure what it all means but there's no use railing against it.
Work has started for another year, another batch of 70 or so students to inspire. Yay the creative arts!!
Back at the farm, Kate has learnt how to dive. Trying to get her to breathe properly when she swims. Trying to get her to do the arms. Diving, quite successful.
I'm getting there with the writing too, slowly slowly. A bit too slowly, methinks.
In other news DJ has been selected for Jury duty. No more information forthcoming. Don't know how long he will be there, don't know anything about the trial.
Which means all is as it should be.
Summer is slowly winding to an end. We're having lovely weather. Warm enough to swim, interspersed with cooler days.
And so life continues....

Job interview

2011-01-22T17:19:00.003+11:00

Just went to Canberra for a job interview at my old uni, no less.
Really went well, but I guess it depends who I'm up against. Really encouraging, however.
Actually had a really nice time with Mum and Dad too, so it was all a bonus.
Tan is looking a bit happier than I saw her last, which is fab. Saw Natalie's dad Norm, it was his 80th birthday.
So all in all, very exciting.

On verra. Let you know Monday when they let me know.

Now. Back to the thesis. Write write write.

Chapter three

2011-01-19T15:29:00.002+11:00

Thesis chapter three, starting to sort it out now. I seem to be repeating myself over and over and over.
Deleting heaps and rewriting.
Helps.
I hope.
Let's see what Andy thinks of it next week.
I think it's all a bit more clearer now. In other news...
There is no other news. Thesis is where it's at.

Write or wrong?

2011-01-18T19:56:00.002+11:00

Chapter 6 nearly done, just the comments to do.
Chapter 3, I'm up to my sixth revision. It's a mess.
Structure structure it's all about the structure. Maybe I need to work out the structure of each section before doing the mind dump.
In other news, been swimming a lot with Kate, but the weather has been mightily variable.
Bought her some new swimmers. DJ's been spending a lot of time with Joseph.
Got an interview on Friday. On verra.

Chapter finished!

2011-01-07T10:49:00.002+11:00

WEll in as much as I've done the revisions, now to wait for the revisions on the revisions, if you know what I mean.
Halfway through the next chapter, it's really starting to take shape. I was right to go through the expense of quantining my time. It does appear to be working.
So, stage 3&4 halfway through write up. Only half of stage 6 to go and conclusions.
Then the horrible revisions.

The best Xmas eve...

2010-12-24T21:26:00.004+11:00

So we go shopping today. Markets, Coles. Bought a ridiculous amount of food. Yesterday when I was at the shops I ran into Ron, neighbour. Had Kate's Santa present with me, and asked him to smuggle it home so I can smuggle it inside without detection.
Tonight we put cookies and milk out for Santa and Kate went to bed. Around half an hour later, another neighbour, Dennis, knocks on the door with a present for Kate. Kate's still awake and calls out, so I tell her to be quiet because I'm talking to Santa.
Oh what fun! So I put her present in the stocking and put Dennis's out too. What fun!
So Kate gets up a little bit later and finds her presents. I quickly get one of the cookies and put it in the bin and take a gulp of milk. She's so now convinced Santa came. I tell her she has to go back to bed or Santa will take them away again. She's asleep now.
I think I'm going to remember this one for years. So much fun!

Marking is over, the journey begins

2010-12-15T22:31:00.003+11:00

SO the interminable ordeal is over! Calooha callay! Now for PhD in all seriousness. I've got to get the bum down, the head down and get super serious over summer. I wonder how successful I shall be?
In other news, the lovely Martin Thomlinson had a research project in the inner city where he and Andrew had residents display their energy usage on blackboards in an attempt to reduce power usage. It worked. Well done guys!
Andy Dong has won a research fellowship and will be doing that for the next few years. And Rob Saunders is writing a paper on computational creativity. It's all good news on the University front.
Except Irene has lost her supervisors, which is not good news. She's a bit stuck in her project, and I don't think anyone there works harder.
Lucila graduated. Hooray for the Brazilian! But unfortunately her mum died and she didn't make the ceremony.
We had our screening night at TAFE last night. About 10 minutes into the first half the fire alarm goes off and we all had to evacuate! How funny! I'm very proud of Paul Beattie and Shaba Sanai for their animations. Wow. I feel either I am getting better as a teacher, or they are just two exceptional students. Well done on the animations, guys.

Gnnn

2010-12-09T21:26:00.002+11:00

I'd forgotten what hell marking is. Worked in a classroom with 2 other teachers today, which turned out rather well, as it appears that students do the work, then forget to hand in. Sheesh!
Saved the skins of around 4 people today due to other teachers having the assignments which were supposed to come to me.
In other news....gnnnn. There is no other news.
On the scale of 1-10 I'd put today as a 5. No end in sight - yet.

Ah that time of year

2010-11-24T20:14:00.003+11:00

So it's the time of year that students panic, I mark and the weather warms up.
It's Kate's brithday today. 5 years old. She is becoming more delightful by the day. I love her so much.
I was up till 10 last night making a birthday cake so she could celebrate at her preschool. I made a butterfly, inelegant in its execution but tasted fine. I've decided that canned cream is the pits. You know the type of cream that you've seen in countless movies where the young post-hormonal male opens his mouth and squirts a glob of it. He swallows with no apparent affliction to his hips. Great for squirting, no good for cakes. This is the second time it's flopped.
The problem with cream as I see it is that the squirty type (as above) is no good for cakes, but good for beside cakes. Thickened cream is no good for whipping, as they put something in it to thicken it up. It doesn't whip. Not even a little. And even if I could whip it (something that does seem to elude me, but probably has something to do with a lack of mixmaster) I would then need to get a piping bag to make it all pretty.
When it comes to cream, I lack commitment. Cream and I have a love/hate relationship. I'm actually quite bad with it. I can't eat the stuff. Which is good for the hips. I have recently enacted my difficulties with it by banning icecream from myself also. It always makes me sick. Why does one yearn that which is bad for you?
You may note dear reader that I lack a mixmaster. Yet I still bake. Well it takes courage and strong fingers for mixing butter, and arms for mixing. I actually managed a pizza base the other day. Success! The trick in yeast based cooking appears to be to simply give it a couple of hours to rise. It can't be rushed.
Anyways, I digress. We'll be off to Canberra on the weekend for a little soiree with my brother and his lovely wife. I haven't seen the family down there in nearly 2 years. This is a function of my mother blowing me off each time I want to come. Take M out of the equation for a better life...
In other news, the house in Victoria is finally ready. Two years of trauma and bad building. Hooray for new houses.
My animation students are cruising. I think we'll have some good ones from this semester. The average is nice and high. Hugs to all doing study at this stage. It's the stressy time of year.

School Days

2010-11-11T19:39:00.002+11:00

My little girl is growing up. She's off to school next week. This month they're having orientation mornings and we can't make it, due to work. It's very sad, but she's quite an outgoing little one, so I think she will be fine.
I'm coming up for a month till the end of semester, and I dunno, feeling a little blue. I can't decide if it's lack of sleep or whether I'm getting low. Or it could be that the honeymoon is over and I'm not liking my job too much.
I've been feeling blue for a couple of days now. I hope it shakes and doesn't get worse.
I really want to have a break, but I've still got masses of marking to get done and I can't see the end of it. I'm going to reduce the amount of assignments next year. This is killing me.

Another day another dollar

2010-11-02T20:26:00.003+11:00

More work on the PhD today. I think it might actually be coming together.
In other news 3 point perspective is now under the belt, done and dusted.
To Do: MARK friday's class.
Other than that behind in just about everything.
Even chose PhD writing over the Melbourne Cup. Wonder who won?

Another creative day

2010-10-29T20:26:00.002+11:00

Today I did a good job. I ran a creativity workshop with my CertIV guys. They seemed to like it. I ran through a whole bunch of stuff on creativity - did a bit of brainstorming and such like.
I think it helped them. I hope it did. They said they learnt a lot.
On other news, well I can see the end of semester just around the corner. Light at the end of the proverbial. I've been doing stuff for the PhD but it still needs loads of work.
I live in hope that I will make it.
Life is good. Seize the day!
If the weather is good we might go to Sculpture by the Sea tomorrow.

It seems it rains when I post

2010-10-24T13:34:00.003+11:00

Well it's raining again. It seems that I only post on rainy days.
Yesterday was glorious. The air was warm, the sky was clear with overtones of summer. DJ did a double and Kate and I went to the shops.
Actually Kate wrote the shopping list: Chocolate sauce and sprinkles.
You've got to laugh.
We came back and had lunch, rested for the obligatory hour and headed for the swimming pool. We went in, it was around 30 degrees Celsius. Mad storm hit. Thunder lightning. Children screaming everytime a thunderclap struck. Had a bolt land very close to us - as seen through the bank of windows at the pool.
The pool was super crowded. I told Kate the joke about not swimming in the rain because you might get wet. Not sure she got it.
So after a couple of hours, time to go home. Temperature had dropped around 10 degrees. Brrrr. Now it's winter again. Go figure.
On other news, I'm ridiculously behind in the marking but there's some very good assignments there. Except gaming. Super worried about the level 2 gamers.
Hmmm.

Rainy long weekend

2010-10-04T15:43:00.002+11:00

Wouldn't you know it. A long weekend drenched in rain. The spring has turned to winter again, and the warm weather has given way to drizzle and overcast skies.
It was wet yesterday. I decided to bake some bread, success after 20 years of trying. Hooray!
Took Kate for a drive in the rain and in a break in the weather, found a park in Hunters Hill by the water. Played on the rocks and watched the boats on Paramatta River sploosh the waves onto our rock. We then went to Woolwich Ferry terminal and watched a man fishing. He caught a fish and Kate touched it. It wiggled out of her fingers onto the decking. The man threw it back into the water - too small for anything.
This week I made Kate 3 dresses no less, and today, wouldn't you know it she insists on wearing one of my old tops. Go figure.
DJ worked all last night. He is lucky to be working in a football club the night they played the Grand Final. They lost. He is very exhausted.
I've been extremely tired. I have no idea why. I can't sleep at night and I'm too tired for anything during the day. I'm sure it will pass, like everything.

BBQs and springtime

2010-09-22T19:40:00.003+10:00

Spring is here at last. The wisteria are in full bloom over the archway outside of ours. The jasmine flowering in the bush nearby infuse the air with a glorious scent.
Dj has just got a new job at Easts over in Bondi, so he's ever so happy. His first pay arrived today.
My brother Steve has scored his first job in (wait for it) 8 years! So I can stop worrying on that score also.
I'm looking forward to swimming again. I need to cut out the carbs and get some fitness in.
My friend Mark and his wife Marlin are over from England and we had a lovely BBQ at his folk's place. So good to see him again. They look very happy.
Also need to concentrate on the PhD. Very exhausted. Kate is unwell. I'm not too good either, think I'm coming down with a cold.
Will probably get her gastro in a few days too.

Roll on vacation.

Too busy to scratch meself

2010-09-13T19:49:00.001+10:00

I've been given heaps of hours at work at the moment, and I'm sooo busy. Too busy to scratch myself.
I use my spare time in class just keeping up with the marking.
Run away!

Tales of mundane humanity

2010-09-01T19:27:00.003+10:00

I worry about the absolute shlock encompassed and propogated by our daily newspapers. I used to live and breathe news, but really. The banal humanity of our daily lives. The shocking acts of betrayal. The bare arsed rump of humanity exposed in all its ugliness.
Life is and remains a wonderful treasure. But the daily tabloids would sully, disfigure, dismember all that is beautiful and just and right about life. It's the daily uglies. The daily horror.
I'm getting so that I avoid the newspapers, the nightly TV news horror report. The tales of mundane humans filling their mundane lives with pond scum. Why do we raise the ugly above the wonderous beauty and love that is all that life is?
Much better to smell the wonderous scent of the garden that I have nurtured for the past few years. To enjoy the perfume of spring while carrying my slumbering child inside to bed. To treaasure, to enjoy, to cherish every living moment that I have on this earth.

On another note, a colleague did a talk today on his wonderful tool that his has developed to help the analysis and visualisation of content analysis. He has his tool on his website that you can download. Yep. The page is in Arabic. Ha ha ha!

End of Semester

2010-06-27T20:27:00.002+10:00

Typically at the end of Semester we have the usual dramas. Students failing themselves. Students submitting (but not checking) their assignments. Students not getting the work done. Typical typical. Not any surprises. But for some reason this semster has been a little more fraught than usual.
Students aren't aware that they actually grade themselves. How well they do is usually a function of 90% how much work they put in and 10% talent.
Those who work hard ususually do well.
This is something I must remind myself of while doing the PhD. Hmmmm.

:)

The World Game

2010-06-20T21:46:00.002+10:00

I have taken an interest in the soccer, for probably the first time seriously.
It has been fun watching Australia lose, Algeria draw against England.
I confess to two 4am starts and to staying up until 2am last night.

Other news. DJ becomes an Australian on Tuesday. I'm so happy for him.

PhD going okay. Getting it done, but need to stop phaffing around with graphs and get on with it. I've been quite rigorous, so Andy should be happy.

Work's okay, really loving teaching design. The Photoshop class has been great. Really enjoyed it and the class. Lovely people. The web class not so good, still nice folk but they're just not into it. Gamers as usual are fab. I feel quite excited about the future of a lot of them. Very talented bunch.

An then came Autumn

2010-05-12T11:37:00.003+10:00

I'm thinking of starting a design blog. There's lots of them out there. Or maybe a design teaching blog. Or something cutting edge with my musings on design trends.
I've been having an email argument with the editor of Computer Arts magazine about his recent edition of Photoshop Essentials. He mentioned a member of the female sex ONCE in his entire magazine. All contributors, interviews and roundtables were done by men.
He maintained that there are no photoshop designers who are world class and women out there! And that his magazine represents the breakdown of the industry as a whole. I find that very hard to believe. This sort of misogynistic attitude was ok back in the 1950s but this is 2010. His competitors appear to be able to find female artists to write for them...!
Advanced Photoshop magazine has the majority of contributors as women in their latest edition! So now I'm really confused, and have probably put a black mark against my reputation in the UK.
I suspect a systemic anti-female attitude on the part of the editors. They just don't take the female artists seriously, and hence devalue their work and don't include them.
My mum says she has a friend who has a daughter who is an artist. She refuses to have her photo take and makes her name ambiguous. She makes $20,000 per painting. If she revealed she was a woman, I wonder if she'd be making that much....

Study study where is the study?

2010-05-04T10:21:00.000+10:00

Getting there at last, doing actual data visualisations, which is utterly amazing.
So need to get back into it.
In other news, Kate is joining a soccer team. Should be fun.
Training tonight, hope she sleeps well. DJ is still in Algeria, should be home in a couple of weeks, volcano ash permitting.

Other than actually getting on with the PhD, not much to report. I'm loving my new design and web classes. They doing good.

A triumph!

2010-04-21T12:28:00.004+10:00

Content analysis - quantitative analysis. The bane of my existence. Or anything to do with numbers, really. But a triumph! 85% agreement between me and the lovely Lucila. Hooray! It really was doing my head in.
So now I'm doing the real thing with Subject G's long talk-aloud. I did have to do the longest first. Well I suspect Kaz will have a long one too.
Dr Andy Dong is stuck in Reading in the UK, unable to leave because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland.
DJ was stuck in Singapore for a while, but he's now in Algeria, happily ensconced with his family. It really is necessary for him to go home regularly. It becomes a reality check/brain fix for him. He misses his family. I don't know how he survived in Paris so long not seeing them.
So onwards and upwards, I'm going to keep at it and plug on. Roll on December!
I really must get this PhD finished.

March Already!

2010-03-25T18:13:00.003+11:00

Oh mi gosh, it's March already. The plants are gearing down, blooming their last show before winter. The weather in the past couple of weeks has been nothing short of delicious. Cool, with a hint of the fading summer. We are able to at last get a brilliant nights sleep as the cool winds allow a light blanket to snuggle under.
I'm still teaching and studying. I wonder which affords the more learning to be honest. I'm having heaps of fun researching the design courses and I hope that I'm coming into stride with that. I seem quite skilled at the software now, getting to guru status.
I spent last night working on a brilliant powerpoint on logo design for the games students. Even went into a touch of semiotics.
Must get back into the PhD. Did masses on it a couple of weeks ago, I suspect I shall have to do so again...

It's finally here - SUMMER!

2010-01-09T19:09:00.000+11:00

And about time too. We were wondering last week whether it would finally arrive. So the heatwave has hit, we're not going to the pool as Kate has a throat infection.
However she's okay, or appears to be I hope. I overreacted and we're on anti-biotics.
After her stint in hospital, I'm an overly sensitive mum now!
I'm enjoying the break but I have to get my ass into gear if I ever want to finish the PhD. Big timey. In the meantime, being a mum, which I'm loving and generally having a nice time with hubby.

Hospital, New Year and Hope

2010-01-05T16:05:00.002+11:00

Well it's been a while since I've posted and heaps has happened. Just after I posted last time, Kate was stricken with a golden staph infection and was in hospital for 6 days. I only went home for an hour in the whole six days.
DJ and I alternated between looking after Kate or being with her, whatever, and working. Very stressful, she was a sick little girl.
Then we got her out and it was a flurry of marking and Xmas. The marking nearly killed me this semester. Urgh.
Parents came here for Xmas and I surprised myself with rather good cooking. I even impressed myself!
Kate is ill again today, with a temperature. We hope it's not too nasty this time. Gosh I hope she is okay.

Summer time

2009-11-29T17:53:00.003+11:00

Well it's the end of semester and the students, for their sins, submit their work this week. There are a couple I am very concerned about but I can't do their work for them.
I've been giving this creativity course, which is actually very illuminating and quite confronting also.
Kate wants more grapes. Back in a tic.
It's all been quite illuminating and a little tragic around here lately. Christine's boyfriend dropped her earlier this month, or late last month and within a day was engaged to another girl. What a creep! Not that she wants to be mixed up with him, he was a loser and I hope she finds a nicer person next time. Anyone who visits someone and drinks the cabinet dry in 3 weeks is an alcoholic and needs help.
I feel sad for the new fiance when she realizes what a trial being married to a schizophrenic alcoholic unemployable sociophobe.
I'm quite pissed off with him, but then I never liked him and she's well shot of him.
It's Christine who I worry about, as she's actually become a rather nice person after all. I know we've had our differences in the past, but she's got talent and I hope it all works well for her.
She's moving to Melbourne. Good luck to her.
PhD doing OK, but not as well as before Andy yelled at me. Quite demotivating. Must push up the speed.
Happy at work. I really like it at TAFE. It seems like a happy place to work and I'm loving it. Works for me.

Technology and transcriptions

2009-10-28T12:34:00.000+11:00

I wonder why anyone would add a link to the title of their blog. More transcribing, did another interview yesterday. I've been hanging around like a bad smell waiting for Kaz to show up for his second talk aloud. He no show. I shall gently berate him later when I see him. Maybe he's sick. Andy was late today, but there's not much to report. Starting the second tranche of talk alouds. Need to find two more educators and two more experienced web designers.
Shall look up massive again and try the Lilian lady. Must also contact the lovely Mr. Goodyear and see if he can help. Hmm. Did a thing with one of the fellow post grads about to-do lists. Very interesting.
DJ's doing yet another course next week. Let's see what transpires of that. Hope it works for him. Fingers crossed.

Sadness and Joy

2009-10-17T00:04:00.002+11:00

I've been watching "Love Actually" on TV. Made me very melancholic about Engerland. I miss it. Yet I don't. I feel a little like DJ in that things haven't gone particularly well here in Oz. But we're surviving. Our little one is getting bigger.
Watching the end of the film, where people hug their loved ones at the airport reminded me of when I came back from New Orleans that time. No hugs for me. Not even a kiss. Was that 2 years before we split up? He put me through torture, that one.
It makes me so sad when I think about those times. Not good times. Not then.
We went to Katoomba yesterday and I was a little sad there too. I loved it up there. And didn't.
I'm a bit weepy today. Shouldn't ponder the past. Le passe est le passe. Laise tombe.
I really miss London. I've been missing it more and more lately. I know that things change, people move on. Even if we went back, it wouldn't be the same. The past is another country. Rang the ABC to enquire about a job there today. Laise tombe. The man on the other end of the phone was horrible. Don't these people realize that they are ambassadors for their company when they speak dismissively to folk on the phone. Put me right off.
Anyways sad right now. But also very happy. DJ and Kate are lovely and are my joy. Absolute joy.
Spent today transcribing again. Not progressing as fast as I'd hoped, but it was the lovely Kaz, who is quite loquatious. God rest my aching fingers.

Argghh!

2009-10-10T19:58:00.002+11:00

So I ring her today. She picks a fight. I hang up.
Nuff said.

Sometimes I wonder if she'll ever get over having had post natal depression with me.
LIKE GET OVER IT!

The sound of one hand clapping

2009-10-02T20:43:00.002+10:00

I wonder if there's anyone out there? I write this blog from time to time. Is there anyone home? What is the sound of one hand clapping? If a tree falls in a forest and no-one hears it fall, did it ever fall? Indeed, did it ever actually exist?
I blog, perchance to dream.
I've been dreaming in 3D lately. I had something rather important to remember from my dream last night. But alas, as with all of these things, I forgot what it was.
Wrote a poem - or perhaps a children's book yesterday.
Mmm. The possibilities.
I wonder if anything will ever come of it all. Regardless, we survived the dust storms, the tsunamis and everything else nature seems to be throwing at us. They say the bushfire season will be bad this year. On verra.

Onwards!

2009-09-29T16:26:00.002+10:00

Really don't have much to write about. I have been transcribing interviews for my study and am doing another one tomorrow. .,;6yp;ojuollllllll..,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,ypli
Yikes! Just got hijacked by a 3.5year old. Refinanced my loan today, so that should trim some buckeroos off the repayments.
All is going well. Not much to report.

Algeria

2009-09-23T12:57:00.002+10:00

You might have noticed I haven't blogged about our time in Algeria in July. Well to put it bluntly, it was tough. If ever I doubted our relationship, it was this month. DJ did exactly what I expected he would do, and simply disappeared for most of the month, after giving us explicit instructions not to leave the house. He was nervous about our personal safety and very very scared of kidnapping.
We managed to leave the house after about a week for a walk, in 38 degree heat, not very successful. The car that his dad has bought in the end wasn't delivered until after we left, so no transport made DJ a very unhappy puppy.
Luckily Hakkim took a week off towards the end of our visit and drove the 12 hours to get to see us. He looks like he's a man with troubles on his mind. He is lovely and adores his family, but he's not letting on his problems. Theriva doesn't want to move to be near him, so he only gets to see his family once every two months.

Kate was a horror in Algeria. She didn't like it at all and misbehaved with me most particularly. It became a "I love daddy I hate mummy" thing which was more than I could bear. She disliked the heat, her grandparents and the food. She stopped eating, lost lots of weight. As did I.

Overall, next time I think we'll stay only a week or two, and treat ourselves to somewhere luxurious on the way home to make it worth while. Hard hard work.

2009-09-23T12:57:00.001+10:00

Running goalposts

2009-09-23T12:53:00.000+10:00

Well, yes I am slack, or to be more precise, just very very busy. I wish I could devote all my waking hours to this study, but unfortuately I have to earn money as well, and as PhD scholarships fall well below the poverty line, I need to supplement my income. I am after all the main breadwinner in this equation.
I have to get on it however. Each time I meet with Andy, it feels like the goalposts move. I go down one path and I have to do more and more and more just to satisfy what needs doing.
I think this is why I lose motivation. I'm doing what I think I want to do then I have energy and commitment, then it all gets shifted. I feel like I'm walking on sand.

Obama

2009-09-19T15:36:00.002+10:00

Had a conversation with my PhD supervisor who is a californian vietnamese of indeterminate sexuality. I commented that I never suspected that the Americans would ever elect Obama as president - that was until I head his oratory. The man is an absolute marvel. He's clearly super intelligent, competant, a brilliant speaker and cuts through the chaff like a scythe. I thought the demoncrats were balmy going for a black man and a woman. Given my impression of the US culture. (Not saying that we here are any better!) I have absolute respect for Mrs Clinton and was gutted when Obama flicked her out of contention. But really never thought the democrats had a chance.
My supervisor's comment, there are those in the US who still can't reconcile that he's president due to the hue of his skin. They can't see how he, from a middle class non-white background could rise to achieve the American dream. I said surely it's to do with the quality of the individual... my supervisor just looked at me and said that I don't quite get the racist thing.
Nope. Don't get racism. Never did really. Must be why I married an Algerian Muslim.

Baby steps

2009-06-14T15:53:00.002+10:00

Well, we have our first client! Hooray! Now we is in business.
We're just adapting a flash template for a photographer here, and will post up some of his photos.
Should be fun.

Sleepies

2009-05-30T19:28:00.003+10:00

K has a cold. She's been a bit of a terror recently, to be honest. But today, not too bad. She's just passed out on the sofa, so I'll pop her in bed soon.
Cold today. Getting chilly. Raining. Stuck inside. Monosyllabic.
Making K some new pyjamas, not that she needs them but she wanted funky monkey again, so I'm up for a third pair.
Dj's good. I'm good. Looking forward to our holiday. Works been fun.
All in all, plain sailing.

Coffee and clunks

2009-05-24T21:08:00.002+10:00

Today we went to Glebe to have coffee with Jo, AKA Angelo to discuss doing his website. It went well, I think combining the socialising with the business worked, but Kate was a disaster.
I made the mistake of giving her chocolate cake, and inevitably she went berko and ran all over the place. Stressy.
Came home and had lunch and of course she's passed out for 2 hours in the afternoon. Me too. DJ snuck off to work at sometime.
She managed to roll off the coffee table this evening backwards and clunked her head. It must have hurt like hell. She's a brave little thing tho and only cried for a bit.
Now I have to get my act together, get the spec done, let DJ do his thing and get the site made. Hope it goes well.

Brush Turkeys!

2009-05-17T18:52:00.002+10:00

Well today was mostly uneventful. We spent this morning in the garden with our neighbours, Natasha and little Olivia, demolishing a patch of weedy plants that have completely dominated the front yard for over a decade. Had a lovely time while DJ slept like a baby. He's getting run down, that one.
This afternoon, after a rather failed trip to DFO to buy shoes for Nessima, we saw not one, but two brush turkeys in our little bit of bush. Amazing! I've never seen the like in Lane Cove before. They kind of pottered around for a bit before moving on. Couldn't believe my eyes.
It seems our little bit of scrub is quite a healthy link in the local environment.
Yay to that.
About two years ago we were visited by a flock of around 8 black cockatoos, who hung around for the afternoon before moving on. Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice.
And here was I thinking that Scrub Turkeys didn't come this far south.

Smoke and Mirrors

2009-05-11T17:01:00.002+10:00

/*being gripe*/ I'm not one to complain, hardly! But this stimulus package thing is really pissing me off. We didn't get the stimulus payment for our little one last time around (no idea why). DJ's got his for this time around, but I won't be getting it, despite me being one of the lowest income earners I know. Two reasons, one is I got back all of my tax last year. Second reason: my PhD scholarship.
The irony is one of my students got paid twice. He earnt about the same as me, and got it again for being a student.
Hmmm. Oh well. No such thing as a free lunch. At least one of us got it. /*end gripe*/.

It's getting cooler, and Kate is on a growth spurt. She's just grown out of another pair of trousers, and she's getting short on warm PJ's so a shopping trip to La Maison de Target was in order. Mission Impossible. Took her leash/monkey and she was more than a little naughty at the shops.

Oh well. In other news, doing some serious modelling at the moment, improving the skillset yet again. Might apply for some "real" jobs as the business venture is a no show.

ANZAC day

2009-04-25T22:42:00.002+10:00

There's something about ANZAC day. I'm always a mess. When I was in the UK it was a little less emotional, but regardless I always manage to cry on ANZAC day.
I mean it's not as though I actually have a close relation or ancestor who died in war. They all managed to come home and expire of something quite different. I guess I grieve for those who didn't.
Anyways, to my Great Uncle Les Knight, who fought in WW1 in Egypt and was wounded during the last great cavalry charge in history. Got home safe, took tablets to combat the lead in his system until he was jack of it at the age of 84, refused to take more, arranged his own funeral, then gently dropped off the twig.
To Uncle Bruce Kerr, a veteran of the Kokoda Track. Returned home safely. Lived until two years ago, died peacefully at home.
To Grandfather David Bruce Kerr who served in WW1, came home and died of chronic nephritis at the age of 40 in 1933. Womaniser and rogue, I wish I had known you.
To Grandad Russell Davies, served in WW2. Never saw active service, never got to march. Bless you for serving in a foreign country you called home. Died of old age.
To all those who died in war, I grieve.
Bless you and rest in peace.

Don't spend money!

2009-04-21T16:51:00.002+10:00

I bought a beautiful jacket yesterday. It's super funky and it looks really good. So today I've been avoiding spending money at all. Run away!
Mmmm. I've been marking work over the past few days. Interesting to note: the class that gets the bad rap is doing as well as the "good" class. Of course I omit to mention what course this is in a vain attempt to obscurificate the issue, but I think people shouldn't confuse "boisterous" with "bad". But then I'm teaching a fun course.
I'm doing well with the blog after a long drought, don't you think?
There's another memorial service on for the Browns of Kingslake this week. I'm going to try to make the funeral proper, as I think my little heart will break having to sit through another service. I feel Santo (both the Santos really but I refer to the senior) will need support as I feel he is bottling it all up for the funeral. J & M are doing better and I'm actually not too worried about them, as the mourning is progressing normally - albeit stifled through the coroner not releasing the bodies. It really is all a bit shite.
Other news a little altercation about neighbourhood rubbish as N has returned back from Melbourne. Stayed inside and out of it. Upstairs left stuff for the council, who of course didn't pick it up. Usual frictions. Duck head. Hide. DJ says I did the right thing staying out of it.
Lara popped in for a cuppa this arvo. She's been over to the old work to pick up her stuff. I predict tough times for those lovelies. Hope they grow stronger through it. Tough time to be looking for work.

Play days

2009-04-19T16:32:00.002+10:00

It's getting cooler, no longer the balmy weather of the past few weeks, and swimming from now on will require effort and fortitude.
Poured rain this morning, so in an attempt to avert the inevitable TV watching I took ickle one to Playdays. Excellent! They're under new management, and the floor has been resurfaced. We got a free pass in the mail, so why not use it on a rainy day. Many ball pits, swings, wendy houses, cars and slides later it was time to go home. She was having such a good time, but my goodness, what a tantrum.
She literally screamed all the way home and then cried for about 20 minutes. I cooked a magnificent chicken dish with olives, tomato and mash and she ate heaps. Hungry and tired. She fell asleep in my arms around 1pm. Still sleeping at half four.
DJ slept in today while we were away, so he's happy happy. Me, I'm slugging through the marking. I should get it all done, but what a chore!

And I've still the lunch dishes to do. Wind's picked up. Going to be a blowy night methinks.

April and no fool in sight....

2009-04-14T17:26:00.002+10:00

Two days in a row! Well it must be the holidays. We went swimming at the pool again today. The weather is just gorgeous, just perfect. Not too hot so I get fried, not too cold.
I got Kate to swim 50 metres today, she's doing well. I also only blew her floaties up to half mast. Didn't even phase her. She still needs to get the arm action going, but overall she's making good progress. DJ says we need to get her floating without floaties, but she freaks out at that. We keep trying.
I feel quite the negligent mother at the moment. All the other kids seem to be going to preschool or having swimming lessons. We go swimming, but DJ says we should be able to teach her ourselves. THe preschools are all oversubscribed in this part of the woods. Very hard that. No-one told me you have to put their names down AT BIRTH! Maybe missed that due to being out of the country.
Taking ickle one horse riding tomorrow, hope she doesn't freak out. Should be fun anyways.

Easter chocolate frenzy!

2009-04-13T16:32:00.003+10:00

Well, not exactly. Although we did do a lovely Easter Egg hunt in the garden with the little ones.
The good news is I have a couple of weeks off work. Bad news, marking. Just when I think I have two seconds to rub together. Also housework. Why is it that the amount of housework you have to do expands to fit the time available? It's one of those universal laws. Something like the amount of money you expend always expands to fill the amount of money you have. Or why one sock always goes missing...?
Things are really good at the moment. Loving teaching, the new courses appear to be doing well. Having fun with Kate with less stress than before, now the pressure of phd is off for a bit.
My friend Larina kindly finished off the last study for part1 of phd this week, so now I need to get a few bits and bobs done and then we can get the thing evaluated. Hurrah!
Weather's getting cooler. We're off to Canberra on Wednesday, hopefully taking Kate on her first horse ride! She should love it, I hope.
Other than that, life is good. Loving it. We're off to Algeria at the end of June. Woot! Adventures! We'll get to see the new house and shops and where all our funds have gone over the past few years. I really think we've done the right thing getting the house built for the family, even though we'll never live in it. Something about the Karma of doing the right thing.
We've started a design business. Well, we've registered a business, got the paperwork done and the website up. Now if we ever get a client, I'll die of shock!
Mind you, it's the right thing to do. Nothing like starting a little business in a recession...

Bushfires

2009-02-14T19:13:00.002+11:00

It's been quite a horrible week here in Australia. Last weekend there was 48 degree heat and winds from hell in Victoria, and of course half the state went up in flames. The upshot is that firstly 108 and now 181 people are confirmed dead in the fires, the worst in our nation's history.
Today is valentine's day. Today I found out that one of my best friends, Mandy has lost not only her sister, but her husband and their three children in the fires. I didn't even know they were in Victoria, last I heard they were living elsewhere.
So now it's shock, being gutted and remembering that gorgeous little blonde headed moppet and the woman she became. Dead at 30. Her youngest child was the same age as Kate, 3 years old. I can't imagine what the family is going through.

Papers and animations

2008-12-15T17:22:00.002+11:00

Last week was mad. I mean really mad.
Really really busy marking all of my students animations and in between times preparing for my paper at the ICEL conference here in Sydney.
The conference was a mixed bag, more so than usual. A combination of touchy feely with a decent education bent. I never knew what type of session I would end up at.
My paper was good, Lucila said it was the best one I've given. I tried to make it simple and she said the lack of technical language made for a better paper.
I was up till all hours all last week getting it all done. That on top of a frenetic last week of work.
I found out Lucila is off to Brazil over Xmas for a month. I think we're both exhausted and a bit lost with Andy being away and all.
Oh well.

It's been a while between blogs...

2008-12-01T17:29:00.002+11:00

So, my computer at home finally gave up the ghost. It was about time I updated, the poor old thing was 8 years old. It creaked everytime I turned it on.
So I enlisted a geek to make me a shiney new quad core 4GB ram box. I kept my 1 year old monitor and reused a new dvd drive. Get me with the geeky open up old computer and install stuff grrl.
I amaze even myself sometimes.

It's getting toward the end of semester and my study is going well, albeit with massive amounts of dropouts, but people have their own lives and you can't hold it against them. I can't say it's been a success, but it's going, and I'll get into evaluation mode over January (I live in hope).

Kate turned 3 last week. She is gorgeous and DJ and I are still very very happy together. Smmooothly does it.

Xmas next, we're off for a week in Jervis, which will be resplendent with not very much but very pretty, methinks. Maybe a spot of fishing.

Mid winter blues

2008-08-26T20:24:00.003+10:00

It appears that I have not only been suffering from a nasty bout of the flu, but I have also had a massive infection which led to the lymph nodes in my neck expanding to walnut size.
Rather scarey as the doctors usually freak at such an occurrence and I've been in for all sorts of scans and the like.
It was funny, I felt ok, but I looked like death warmed when it happened and I couldn't stop sleeping.
The flu hit about a week later, so I've been quite ill. Coughing blood is quite scarey too. God I hate winter.
So it warmed up a bit and I spent a little time the in the garden with Kate, and she promptly gets bitten by a spider. Off to the doctor who thinks its ok.
People are saying that the bout of illnesses that have hit Sydney has been a result of the visit by the Pilgrims for the Pope's visit. I wouldn't be surprised.
The Olympics are over, thank goodness. It's all quite crazy, all those people jumping around doing things that are no good to anyone, except themselves. Good luck to them. I'm dying to see the Aussie guys gold medal 10m dive. Maybe on Youtube.

The rain in...

2008-07-21T18:46:00.004+10:00

Spain was cold. It rained for two days that I was there and got down to a chilly 13 degrees - the same temperature in Sydney. One day I was all dressed up for a hot day, stuck my head out of the hotel and went up to get into warmer clothes.
Santander was lovely, though. Good surf beach, very pretty.
Not that I saw much of it - I was inside the conference the whole time. I had one day for shopping before going back to the UK to get the plane back to Oz.
Typically England took all of my money - I scarpered to the airport as I was running out, and hung around just to avoid spending money.
My talk was a success, I think. Lots of questions by various academics - some things I have to follow up on.
In all quite a good trip, although it's taken me a week to get over it, and I'm still tired.

Four weeks to go!

2008-05-31T13:01:00.002+10:00

I'm actually starting to look forward to my Spanish Adventure, although it is the unknown.
DJ is getting itchy feet again, so it looks like we might move again next year. We'll try to get my PhD finished first, but he wants me to get a good job and maybe go back to the UK. I'll put my nose to the ground o/s and see how we go.
He's bored. We've no social network here, so it's quiet and it's hard with the little one cramping our style. My old friendships have turned to powder and my family is too far away to help out too much.
Mind you, our standard of living is much improved here, so it's a balancing act, isn't it?
It's the last day of autumn, sunny and just a lovely day. Cold, but not freezing.
Got some new clothes for Kate, she's growing so fast. She's out of all her old clothes now, and into a size 3 (almost).
Needed long tops to cover her tummy, too cold otherwise. She has a pair of wiggles trousers, so she's happy.

The cheque is in my wallet

2008-05-25T12:31:00.002+10:00

All's good. The uni has come through with some of the funding for my trip, so I'm off to Spain - hooray!
It won't nearly cover all the costs, but it's enough to make me afford the trip. I've also picked up another 4 hours of work, so I'm feeling less financial stain at the moment. Hooray! All going well I might actually afford a new computer sometime soon.
So I'm working about 14 hours a week now, which isn't too much and I can study too.
Kate has been a noisy girl lately. She doesn't appear to know how to temper yelling with talking. But she's well and growing too fast.
DJ is well and currently puzzling over "The Cashflow Quadrant". Given his training course that he did recently, his vocabulary now encompasses some of the expressions in the book, so he's tackling it with confidence. I have really good feelings about his future. His and my financial education is coming along swimmingly. I wish I had've had someone to guide me in these things 15 years ago.
On a down note, my PhD supervisor seems to like venting at me, which isn't nice. I admit I've been slack but he's got to make the decision as to whether he's going to get me through or not. No amount of yelling will make me feel better about the process.

Post Easter Shenanigans

2008-04-02T14:33:00.002+11:00

Well we went to Canberra for Easter and had a lovely lovely time.
Unfortunately Kate's been a little ill, but she's slowly recovering, although it's taking it's own sweet time. Picked up a belly bug from my brother.
I've been madly doing my camera ready paper for the conference in Spain, and it's in and done, so rah! Now all I have to do is work out how we're going to get there...
Money is tight, but we'll manage. We're hoping to go to Algeria to see the family at the same time, so I think it's all going to be heaps of fun.
I'm beginning to wonder if we'll be able to go to the UK, is all. Mmmm. I'd love to catch up with everyone, but I guess we'll see how it goes.
Jon and Madhu popped in on their way back to the US the other night. Must admit that absolutely made my year. The kids were with them and they're just lovely! Happy dance.
They literally could only do half an hour, but I was really stoked that they could come. I would have been devastated if I couldn't have seen them. I really miss them.
Anyways onwards and upwards. Must rewrite my methodology. Am trying to gain access to online forums, need to chase some more up.

New Frocks

2008-03-16T17:46:00.002+11:00

I'm beginning to love bargain shopping. Just bagged myself a frock for $40 which is normally $189. Rah!
It's really nice and I'm going to wear it till it falls apart, as it is so me.
Of course, it's black so I can still feed the goth in me.
D is having second thoughts about going away for Easter. He's looking really tired.
Kate tried to wake him a few times this morning, and finally I took her out to give him some peace.
Maybe he needs more sleep, or more exercise, who knows.
Kate is alseep on the sofa at the moment, so gorgeous. I got a cable for the video camera yesterday. Had a bad morning with Kate, she was tired and grumpy and so was I.
Was so angry with everything my hands were shaking. Calmed down in the afternoon with a trip to the park. It worked. Thank goodness!

Happy Dance!

2008-03-10T20:50:00.002+11:00

Wow! One of my papers has been accepted! So the struggle was worth it. I have to rewrite it yet, but all going well, la famille Chatteur will be off to Spain in July. We'll certainly go to see the family while we're there. It's such good news I now have to knuckle down and do some serious work on things.
Anyway big rah for us! Hope they like the rewrite, as they want it even shorter...
Gulp.
You know there's no resting on laurels, is there?
I bought Finding Nemo for Kate the other day, and now I know the source of the saying "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."

Presentations

2008-02-23T16:10:00.001+11:00

Been a busy week. Teaching half day Weds and all day Thursdays.
Wednesday afternoon I did a presentation to the other academics for my PhD. It actually went really well. I was quite surprised. Although I asked for people to help with the pattern writing and no-one signed up.
(Surprise surprise).
Andy seems quite happy which is good. I am, quite frankly stunned, but I have been on it lately.
In other news, all's good. Kate's growing. D is lovely. No complaints.

Cool! Slideshow!

2008-02-11T16:52:00.000+11:00

Blogger now has a slideshow! How lovely!
Okay, so I'm skivving again, but I am in the middle of transcribing some videotapes, which is dull, dull dull. I've got to write some emails today or tonight and start writing my thesis in earnest. But I'm actually starting to see some progress at long last, so I'm optimistic.
Finances are a bit of a disaster right now, but I have to hold the courage, keep the bit between the teeth and don't let on how dire things are. If it gets worse, I'll have to quit studying and get a proper job. Oh well. (Of course I'm over reacting but I always do).
Lovely is sleeping, she had a temperature last night, but she appears ok this morning. She's got a bruise on the sole of her foot too, I suspect gravel in shoe. That's why she wants carrying everywhere at the moment. Ouch.
I start teaching again this week, the load is a lot lighter than last semester, and my health is better (thank goodness) so all's good. I love teaching animation. Fun and can't take it too seriously.
Anyways transcribing awaits, so I'm off to finish it.

I wonder if anyone actually reads these posts? I might put a poll up to find out.

Post Xmas Blues

2008-02-04T16:48:00.000+11:00

Well not the blues exactly, more a reassessment of my health status. I have realised with a shock that I am overweight. Well, that's to say I knew that already, but having gone from Imperial to Kilograms, I really had no idea what the numbers meant.
So, I've decided to lose some weight. It's been an incremental process over the past 10 years that weight goes on and doesn't come off again.
It got bad in the UK where the food is stodgy and vegetarianism meant eating too much bread etc.
That and having baby, where you're told not to diet. So you stop watching what you eat.
So I haven't been on a "diet" per say, I've just gone back to watching what I eat and cutting out the snacks between meals and the rubbish. I'm still eating my pasta dishes and my meat and veg, but in the past 2 weeks I've lost half a stone. Pat on back.
I've also gone back to feeling hungry in the afternoons and mid-morning. Which is something that I remember doing when I was slimmer. Feeling hungry is normal, so long as it isn't really acute hunger - you know the "oh my god I must eat now" type where your blood sugar is so low your hands shake. Drink water, eat apples.
Eat more salad. I remember now all the cool stuff I used to eat, and I'm doing it again.
Wish me luck.

My Celebrity look alikes

2008-01-25T19:42:00.000+11:00

New Pics online

2008-01-13T16:39:00.000+11:00

Got some new pictures of La Famille Chatteur on my Flickr account.
I've obviously been slack, I've had two friends ask within a week of each other.
Click on Twistidd Photos link on the right.
We've been having a lovely time - well I have been. Nice break from work. Hot today, followed by the obligatory afternoon thunderstorm - a pattern that seems to be recurring everytime we have a hot day here in Sydney.
Not that I mind, we'll all sleep well tonight. Especially K, who hasn't had her afternoon nap yet.
Hmmm...
Oh yes, if I were given a mark on potty training, to date it would be an F.
Sigh.

Xmas is finally over!

2007-12-30T22:56:00.001+11:00

Something goes a bit wrong at Xmas time. I once spoke to a policeman and asked it what it was like working on Xmas day. He said "Oh, usually quiet in the morning, couple of murders in the afternoon." I was astounded and he added "well, you get families together, you know."
Our Xmas was a riot of eating more than anything. The Xmas spirit a little lacking chez ma soeur, as she and hubby have lost their jobs due to the mill closing down. I'm sure it's all going to work out, they're just not used to the uncertain times.
My heart goes out to them, they look so stressed and unhappy.
Hubby somewhat underwhelmed by Xmas chez Kerr and vows not to do it again. He might have a point, at that.
New Year tomorrow, I wonder what that will bring?

Feeling better

2007-12-14T20:46:00.000+11:00

I'm actually starting to feel better. I've had a horrible cough for the past two months, and my Doctor thinks it might have been whooping cough (but I think that's bollocks) mostly to the fact that it hasn't cleared up. Had a chest x-ray last week just to make sure it wasn't something more serious.
What really helped was a super early night I had on Wednesday when I was supposed to be working on a paper (sorry Lucila). Woke up and the cough is still there but muchly reduced. I've taken a well deserved week off and spent some quality time with Djamel and Kate.
Kate has become a Daddy's girl and Mummy doesn't cut it anymore. :(
Djamel's quite liking it and I now feel how he was feeling at the beginning of things, so it's quite a good balance really.
Met with the Prof last week and he agreed to be an associate supervisor. Yay! Mary is hard to contact and is very busy so this is a good thing.
I took Kate and he was very sweet about the whole thing, if not a little bemused. Okay, Xmas is on its way, presents to be bought etc etc. My sister and her husband had celebrated the last day in their jobs today, due to the liquidation, so a new chapter in their lives too, methinks.
So change, ever change.

2007-12-08T19:46:00.000+11:00

It appears that I have a daemon. Which is curious because the old tiger has been my totem for years, seems he's back.

A Perfect Day

2007-12-03T16:05:00.000+11:00

D came home Saturday night and wanted to know if I would like to go on a boat on Sunday. So we bundled little missy up and went on the most fantastic Sydney Harbour cruise.
It transpires that his collegue has a rich daddy who owns a cruiser. So a private party with some of D's work friends turned into the most perfect of days.
We wandered around Roseville Chase, down past Balmoral and out into the Harbour proper. Then past the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and into Darling Harbour. Then out and around to the fish markets for a lovely fresh fish, lobster, prawn, octopus lunch. Wow.
You don't get many days like that, a complete tonic after the madness of the end of semester.

Yay for friends!

Academic schmacademic

2007-11-20T16:26:00.000+11:00

Been madly writing papers and book chapters for the past few weeks.
I've just submitted a book chapter for a peer-reviewed book in Design Patterns for E-Learning, which is cool, although I'm a bit nervous about how it will go.
My CHI paper looks like it won't make it though, oh well. Chalk that one up to experience and keep on going.
I also had a major holdup with my ethics application, but that is now through, thank goodness and I have to update it, by next week, so I'm going to be busy busy busy.
I suspect my supervisor is never going to be happy with me, so I'm just going to keep on keeping on and hope for the best.

Sooo tardy

2007-11-10T21:23:00.000+11:00

So, my ethics application took 4 months to get. I have a book chapter due in this week.
I have been exhausted, sick with a cold and laryngitis.
My co-author has just gone overseas for a family funeral. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, but we'll get there.
In other news, baby Kate spent a Sunday afternoon at the hospital two weeks ago with a crack on her head. It was classed as quite unexceptional except for her bizarre reaction to it which is called "pallid breath holding" and means she went all quiet after she hit her head.
Work is going well with this crop of animators looking to be very good. Fingers crossed.
I've re-enrolled in the PhD so I'd better pull the finger out and get some things done. I've enlisted a couple of designers to help out, which is good.
I'm actually having quite a nice time of it lately, with the exception of a few health issues. D is as lovely as ever.

Bumps

2007-10-28T17:27:00.000+11:00

So we spent the morning in the hospital as baby took a tumble and got herself a bump on the head. Not serious except for the fact she went all quiet afterwards and groggy, so we raced her in and they had her for observation for a few hours. She's fine, but I have to keep an eye on her for the next 24 hours.

Went to Gabby and Brian's wedding yesterday. It was lovely.
Really happy to see Gabby sorted. Well I hope she is, anyways.
Great wedding. Kate had a good time. I did ok but was a bit overly protective of bubs. Even D had a good time. So I guess all's good.

Adorable

2007-10-06T19:50:00.000+10:00

Djamel is currently asleep on the couch with Kate. It's just so lovely to have him back from overseas. It's been ridiculously busy without him. He really does lighten the parenting load heaps. I didn't realise all the little things he does before, now I really appreciate them.
I just cooked a nice dinner for my little family.
I'm taking a week off. A proper one. I have to have a little exploratory procedure done in hospital next week and I really don't want to be stressing over everything else at the same time. Mind you - I haven't heard from the hospital, so I'm wondering what's up.
It's term break and I'm appreciating the time off. I got the poster and the paper all done and I WAS feeling rather pleased with myself until Andy reminded me I had another thing I should have done as well. Sigh. Lost sight of the big picture again. Typical.
Overall I think everything's good.

One thing then another

2007-10-02T21:56:00.000+10:00

I have been ridiculously busy. What with the PhD, doing a paper and a poster in the past few weeks..
And teaching.
And "spring cleaning" the house and bedding. Very very busy.
I'm teaching too, and loving every minute of it. So all in all. Busy busy busy.

Strange days indeed...

2007-09-16T23:55:00.000+10:00

Most peculiar brother.
Talking of which, my brother is coming to visit tomorrow. Which is probably just as well because I've been super busy.
I've been writing a paper for a conference. Eek! Madly. My co-authors are both overseas at the moment so it's been quite fraught and I've no idea if it's any good.
I'm meeting online with one tomorrow. It's due in Wednesday and just needs editing methinks.
Double eek.
Oh well we'll see how it goes. I could do with a trip to Italy.

Ridiculously bad day

2007-09-11T15:02:00.000+10:00

Today has been a nightmare. I had a new washer and dryer installed and the hose we too short. So I got in the car to take bubs to Gymbaroo and thence to the hardware store and crunch.
Scraped the side of the car. Door won't open, it'll take a week to fix.
Humph.
The drain outside the flat is overflowing with effluent and my mother has arrived.
Can things get worse?

So....

2007-08-24T22:29:00.000+10:00

Long time no writey. I've been slacking and panicing over my PhD candidature, which I now appear to have passed.
My supervisor has gone OS for a month, so we're going to Skype it, which will be fun. Or disasterous. Or both. I probably will forget to take the headphones and it will all stuff up as usual.
I'm feeling inadequate lately. Mostly because I'm losing every game of online scrabble I'm playing. Not that I've really played too much scrabble in my time, but I do profess to be good with words. But I'm beginning to realise it's all about tactics. Which is a bit of a reflection on life, really.
I feel like I'm standing on sand. It keeps slipping out from beneath my feet and I have to constantly work at standing upright. I feel I need a holiday, and I realised today that I haven't actually had one, a proper one, in about 3 years. We didn't go on a honey moon, and moving here could really be counted as a holiday. D is looking forward to his impending trip. I wish we were going with him.

Laps

2007-08-17T21:46:00.000+10:00

Went to the pool today with Natasha and her baby Olivia. Did laps while Kate stayed in the creche.
Djamel could have looked after her, but he was grumpy and sleeping so I left things as organised. He seemed surprised that I'd gotten so active, but it's all good. Did many laps. Feel good. Small muscles in back are stiff and are probably working well for the first time in ages.
We had lunch together, which probably undid all the good work. The first cafe we parked at completely ignored us, so we went to another. Ignorant peeps. Makes me cross, being ignored by waiting staff.
I'm *holds fingers together* this close to getting my PhD probation approved. I've sent emails to Mary and organised the paperwork to be signed by someone in Sydney, but I haven't heard from her.
I hope she doesn't disappear like she sometimes does, or I'll be in trouble. I know she's around.

Shoes

2007-08-14T20:47:00.000+10:00

Kate has officially grown out of about 5 pairs of shoes. Tried another pair on her today and nope, too small.
Luckily I bought her some sandals yesterday, two sizes too large. Hopefully they will last her over summer.
I'm re-reading experiential learning at the moment, hoping to make a checklist/evaluation tool for the PhD. That is, if I'm still at it after this week.
Note to self. Must take Andy's book back and computer in - in case I need to hand them back.
Pesimism you might think. Not really. Just a change in the flow.

Blink and it's gone

2007-08-03T22:06:00.000+10:00

God, where does the time go? I turn around and one second it's first thing in the morning and the next it's 10pm at night. Having a child really chews up the time.
Her ladyship is becoming tantrum queen, which is normal for a nearly two year old, but it's really beginning to put me off her. She bit me the other day too, and I'm still sporting the bruise. She's done that twice now, and both times it's been while I've been talking to my neighbour.
Popped into work today for a teaching validation meeting.
Did absolutely stuff all otherwise, but the day's gone, so I must have done something. It's alarming because I have a shedload to do on my PhD and I've only a few days to do it in. Looks like I'll be working on it all through the weekend.
Sigh.

Baby Gym

2007-07-24T13:50:00.001+10:00

Well I did it. I finally enrolled Kate in Gymbaroo. I took her today on a whim and she absolutely loved it, if not overexcited and puzzled by it at the same time.
I see it as a way of socialising her, because other than mother's group she hasn't seen many other children for a while and she's been getting clingy.
Wasn't at all at Gymbaroo, and was her usual overly sociable and outgoing self. Yay! Now I've got to get the notion of sharing and getting fewer tantrums and we'll all be ok.
It might mean missing mother's group, but that was becoming a bit of a drag anyways, so it's all good.
I have a very exhausted baby who is now sleeping. Success!

Cough cough

2007-07-23T14:46:00.000+10:00

*cough* been suffering asthma quite badly the last few days. I've got a pain in my lung which is worrying. I've been to the doctors and got some new medication, so hopefully I'll ACTUALLY USE IT FOR A CHANGE. I'm my own worst enemy sometimes.
Took small and wiggly one to the shops after the Dr's and let her run around like a mad thing. She managed to chuck the mother of all tantrums there, which in retrospect was partly my fault because it was past her meal time. Dragged her screaming to the car and got her home and fed, bottled and bed her and now she's sleeping like a baby.
Which she is, of course.
Got a phone call from Wanda and we're going over to theirs for dinner. I've missed them terribly.
Shirking on study, read *gasp* a NOVEL on the weekend. I wanted to read something that wasn't work. It was good. First time I've read a novel in months and certainly the first all in one go in years. D was a dream and did some housework on the weekend. Guess he was sick of the mess.
Oh well. He bought his ticket to Algeria on Friday, so I guess we're not going with him. Probably for the best at the moment.

Wednesday madness

2007-07-18T17:14:00.000+10:00

Teaching started again today and I'm back in my element. I really love teaching 3d, which makes my lack of connection with the Uni students even more tragic.
Still the TAFE students are ace, and I love teaching them.
Saw Andy for the first time for a while today. We went through the changes to my proposal and what I need to do for this paper that's due at the end of the month.
It's all going to be quite intense over the next few weeks, so expect "oh my god I'm so stressed out" me right up until I resubmit.
A colleague told me my problem was that I was too articulate, which meant everyone understood what I was doing and got to ask difficult questions. Well "shut my mouth". Never been accused of being too clear before. Best to obscurificate, methinks. Think it was lovely of him to say so and hilarious at the same time.
Kate was happy to see me today, and D is clearly relishing looking after his daughter. Yay!!

Cold!

2007-07-17T14:17:00.000+10:00

Brrr. Chilly. Got down to 3 degrees this morning. A touch parky.
And I was wondering why I felt that this was a cold winter, it's the coldest morning since 1983, according to the news.
I'm taking a breather before embarking on some study and obligitory stuff for TAFE.
Teaching starts again tomorrow. And the madness continues.

Went to mogro today, but the vibe is a bit weird there and I might stop going. Little Xavier gets his caste off his leg today. Linda had marks on her face, like grazes. I wonder at it all, really. Maybe I need to join a playgroup or try to find some like minded folk.

2007-07-10T21:10:00.000+10:00

Oh well. Did my presentation to the academics yesterday, and it was really tough. They asked incredibly hard questions and I guess I struggled through it. I realised halfway through that I was in trouble from the lack of smiles and grim expressions all round.
They didn't fail me, but it wasn't exactly a pass either. I get a month to sort it out. Oh well.
For some reason I can no longer do titles to these posts, you'll have to bear with me.
I joined facebook yesterday, so I've been poddling about there. It's quite addictive, but I suspect the novelty will wear off. I now have "31 friends" and most of em are in London. Which just about reflects my life. I'm feeling the cabin fever at the moment, a bit isolated.
I'm loving living in Sydney, but I never had heaps of friends here, so it's a bit isolating. That said, I'm making new friends, so I shouldn't complain.
Natasha came over today, we're on a mission to replace our common area carpet. Never underestimate two women, each armed with babies.

2007-07-07T23:53:00.000+10:00

I've been dreadfully busy with my PhD presentation and all.
We also had Yassin over for dinner on Thursday, it was nice to finally meet him. He seems nice.
Kate's vocabulary is growing daily - which is quite astonishing to watch. I swear she knows at least 10 more words than last week and is intent on using them all.
She's beginning to know her colours too. She certainly knows yellow and purple. She does keep on forgetting the difference between mummy and daddy, or more exactly, calls me Daddy all the time (either that or she's screaming for her father).
She is becoming tantrum queen. Which is a shame, because she's a lovely girl.

Typical

2007-06-19T20:57:00.000+10:00

So I've just got over 5 days of food poisoning hell and now I've got a cold.
Blurgh.

In other news:

We're expecting 120km/h winds, 10 metres waves and the Pasha Bulker to break up during the night.

I've got to do some study cause I've been really sick and I'm behind. Blurgh.
Today took baby K to Playday due to the rain and she ran around like a mad thing again. Happy happy baby. Other than that chatted to Natasha this morning with baby O dressed up in Myra's handknits, looking gorgeous.

D is well, all is good with the world. Tired of being sick.

Food Poisoning

2007-06-16T21:09:00.000+10:00

Is someone out to get me? I've been sick for 4 days with little sign of it letting up. I have no recollection of eating anything remotely dodgy but the doctor reckons it's food poisoning. Certainly Kate is well and happy and shows no sign of whatever I have, and D is as strong as an ox.
It's been nasty nasty nasty.
Blurgh.
Anyways I'm hoping that it lets up soon because to be honest, I'm sick of being sick.
On brighter news, dragged D out of bed today and went to playdays, because it's pouring with rain again here in Sydney. She ran about like a mad thing again and it was totally fun. D said he had a great time and I always love it. Ran into Jon's friends Rita and Alan there and their little girl Alex.
It's great at Playdays, they have soft mats everywhere, balls, cars, swings, slides, bouncing castles, you name it. It's only for under fives, so the little ones are safe from big bullies and there's a cafe too.
Kate has found her apetite at last and has been eating all day. She even ate a sandwich at Playdays, D and I nearly fell off our chairs. Wonders will never cease.

Blurgh

2007-06-14T17:46:00.000+10:00

Got a dose of the dreaded lurgy. Out of stomach etc experience. Yeek.
Not really getting any better, despite not going to uni and sleeping all yesterday afternoon.
I suspect it will run its course. I'm losing weight, it's amazing how many liquids can come out of a human body.
D and K seem to be fine, although K is sleeping now, which is her second sleep for today, most unusual.
Other news, all of the students are panicking about their assignments, but some are coming along nicely. We'll see the usual range of good versus bad students.
I'm hoping to go in to Uni tomorrow to catch up with Andy. Otherwise I'm just going to have to keep on keeping on.
I wish I was getting better. :-(

Glamourous Night Attire

2007-06-10T15:48:00.000+10:00

So, it's getting colder. Djamel suggested the other day that I should buy some pyjamas for bed, so I went off for the second trip, after my aborted one the other day, to commit to the crime.

Kate also needed to get out of the house, after two days of being cooped up due to the torrential rain. (They found the bodies of that family yesterday. Very very sad).
So off to Myer to try on some jarmies. The realisation after trying on the third pair was that the reason I always buy glamourous nighties is because I absolutely suck in pyjamas. I look less than dreadful. Or more dreadful than dreadful.
Or alternatively it was a reaction to those changeroom mirrors that highlight all the bumps in the wrong places. Someone has to tell that shop that investing in decent lighting will increase sales. Sheesh.
So I ran howling out of Myers. Well I didn't, but I feel I should have. What they had on sale there was old fashioned and frumpy - or not designed for the "more mature figure" - whatever it didn't work for me.
Then saved! A keen sales assistant at Bras and Things sorted me out with two very slinky numbers. I went in there and said "I want something for bed that doesn't look disgusting," and she went straight for the numbers that worked. Good on her.
So I came home and showed D. He liked em but said I didn't need to be fussy for bed.
(Oh yes I do).

Then of course I tried on my old glamourous nighties, to discover that they do fit, after all. There's something about how a woman feels after giving birth. I feel like an elephant at the moment, but really I'm not too different in shape than before. What with being poked and prodded and having every conceivable oriface violated, then afterwards with breastfeeding, sometimes you feel that your body belongs to everyone else. You're just the tiny little soul that rests within this fleshy cage - there's no "personal" or "private" or "modesty" any more.

Wild weather

2007-06-08T21:52:00.000+10:00

Today in Sydney there was a bit of wild weather, and it's due to continue for the next day or so. Trees uprooted, ships run aground. Where we are there's only been a little wind and some pelting rain. But at work today two whole glass doors to a building were being replaced when I arrived.
There's something like 11 people missing due to their vehicles being worse for the wear with torrents of water. Unfortunately some of the missing are a family of five, which is worse than tragic.
Kate has been wearing her new coat and hat, which are extremely gorgeous. I've taken some pics which I must upload to my flickr account.
Anyways, news. Worked this morning, my usual Friday bludge. Kate was sleeping when he picked me up from work and we dropped him off. I put her in her bed straight from the car and when she woke up, no D, just me. She was not amused and wanted to know where her daddy was. By screaming. So I suggested we go shopping. So we piled into the car to go out - I wanted to buy some stuff but it was mostly to distract bubby.
D had to work today and rang me around 3 to get the car. I'd just pulled into Chatswood, so he saved me from a fate worse than wasting money.
We had a lovely swordfish dinner, and D went back to work. He's preferring to cook at home rather than eat pasta or pizza at his work. He says he's sick of the food there, never any meat, only flour based stuff.
I'm trying to work out what I'll be teaching next semester. It's all a bit of a mystery at the moment.

Study

2007-06-04T21:47:00.000+10:00

Spent today at Uni, doing the study thing. The alarming thing is that I only really got a page edited, but to do that it required about 4 papers read. Tsk.
I must get more done, it's ridiculous.
I actually really enjoyed being there, considering I've had trouble getting in lately.
I'm also trying to lose weight cause I'm ballooning at the moment, probably due to cutting back on breastfeeding. I reckon we'll be a bottle-fed bubby in about a week.
She's 18 months old now, certainly old enough to cope on the bottle.
(Most mothers would have weaned by now, but I'm an old softie.)
Not much more to report really, just keeping on keeping on.

Parks

2007-05-26T20:49:00.000+10:00

Today K and I went to for a walk and a play in the park. We were gone for an hour and a half. It was hilarious because D was out when we left, and by the time we finally got home he was asleep on the sofa.
It was a glorious day and K loved the swings.
Not much else to report. The weather is getting colder, the days shorter. It's still quite glorious every day with that lovely warm sunshine. It's quite a delight in Autumn, Sydney is.

Trouble with the law

2007-05-17T21:48:00.000+10:00

Well it's a dramatic title, but really it's to do with my ethics application at uni. Looks like they're going to fail it, not because it's bad ethically, mostly because the lawyer who needs to pass it doesn't know diddly squat about constructivism and experiential learning theories. So he's going to do some research, ask some questions and get back to me.
Coincidentally my horoscope today said I would have contact with the law. One of those serindipodous occasions that happen once every seven years or so.
I'm listening to explosions in the distance, which usually means there's fireworks on the harbour. Either that or world war three has started. One time it happened a gas depot about 5 miles away blew up. The photos in the paper the next day were spectacular.
Today, I'm told there was fog around Sydney. I did see it through the trees, but it's hard to get a judgement of the extent of things from our flat because you can't see the fog for the trees. (ha ha ha)
Other than that It was a glorious spring day - for autumn. Worked in the afternoon - Screen titling. That class seems to think I have nothing to teach them. I beg to differ. They're doing a titling class and didn't know the difference between a serif and sans serif font. Humph.
D has gone out to see a Berber friend tonight so I'm on my own again. Quite nice actually.
K can get quite stressful when she's in her hyper mode. I asked D today if she's like that with him and he says yes. Crazy baby.

Mother's Day

2007-05-13T21:49:00.000+10:00

Ah! Mothers day. The day when mums all over Australia are pampered and loved. I got the best present yet - an extra 3 hours sleep. D got up early and I took the opportunity to go back to bed - a luxury unheard of in the past 17 months. I got up (wait for it) at the fabulous hour of 10.15am. BLISS!! Actually feel rested and human.
I also got a beautiful bunch of flowers. And a home cooked lunch.
I'm in the process of finishing a cardigan for K, so I've been knitting lately, something that has to give way for study.
Talking of study, my poor students are getting a test this week, so I have to come up with something inventive. I've been dropping hints about what I might include, so I suppose I'd better include at least some of them in the test.
(Insert maniacal evil laughter hand wringing)
D took K shopping this morning which accounted for the sleep in. I think he wanted to buy a video camera but he can't spend more than a certain amount on his bank card. We'll get it soon, me thinks.
I'll be looking forward to it.