Why dont you watch where i'm going

GCMN - the road so far

2012-02-02T17:39:00.006+11:00

So Mr C started Prep today (well all the billy lids started school but I digress) I suggested talking to the teachers about his nevus, ops, scars, satelites and what not.

So I threw together a bit of DBPP and ended up with an interesting photo log of his journey so far.

Had to share

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T21:07:00.003+11:00

We took a chill out down at the river

Goals for this year a simple
1) Rock the new house out
2) Get fitter
3) Ride motorcycles more

More Pics

2011-12-14T21:26:00.002+11:00

All gathered round

Our complete little family

Zing

2011-12-12T14:37:00.006+11:00

We'd been playing the waiting game for a week or two. You know.... when you know someone is ready to pop, you have that "any day now feeling" our family had been there with MB for a few weeks leading up to last Friday.

I was woken to a loud moan from our en suite, I lept out of bed and found MB singing her way through a contraction. When it resided I asked if we were in business, she said we were.

It was GAME ON.

Between contractions MB gradually made herself a little nest beside our bed that I had moved aside allowing more room.

Miss H was soon awoken by the sounds of birth song coming from our bathroom, I raced downstairs and woke Mr B gave him a USB key full of movies and told home to sit in the lounge with Miss H.
MB asked me to call her mother to come over and watch the children, up until this date she wasn't sure who she wanted to have in her birth space apart from yours truly. The children have all been present at the past three home birth but for this our final MB had been feeling more like it would just be the two of us. I set her up with plenty of towls and a glass of ice for her to crunch on between contractions.

A few more contractions had passed and from outside the en-suite I heard her waters broke, I knew by her sounds deepening that it wasn't far away. There isn't a lot for me to do while MB births her giant babies. I speak only when spoken to I don't touch her I just wait, she becomes almost hypnotised and her eyes glaze over, totally in the zone focusing only on what she has to do.

As the pains got closer and her sounds deepened to open roars she moved to beside the bed and got on all fours. I say beside her having the occasional peak downstairs in search of any action.

What seemed like perhaps not even 3 of four contractions later I could see something crowning, it looked wrinkled and at first I panicked thinking it was the placenta but kept quite and watched in awe.

As the head began to crown I could see the squished face, black hair and quite a bit of vernix.

Once the head was out there was a pause that seemed to last ages, MB calmed herself regained composure and as I watched bubs turned for the final push I held my hand out carefully making sure I didn't touch MB or the baby.

Out plopped the messiest baby I had ever seen, vernix everywhere, both eyes were plugged solid with it, it was thick down my forearms. I glanced down to see the sex just as MB asked "Is it a boy or a girl" I began to cry and laugh at the same time and replied "Its a GIRL!!!!"

Within minutes I helped pass bubs through to MB so she could rest on the floor, we both stared in awe at this beautiful mess that had just came into the world.

Within minutes Mr B came in to tell us MB's mum had arrived so I told him to tell her she had another grand daughter and to wake his brothers and sisters. We announced Miss M to her siblings.

All the children gathered round in semi-shock at this strange looking thing that their parents were crying with joy over. MB passed the placenta so I handled it into a bowl and gave it & the ball of vernix to MB's mum so I could help MB onto the bed and get some rest.
Weighing the squishy bub
Back to mamma bare
My queen
Nanna cut the cord, not something most mums get to do, she was stoked to be part of this special day.

It was all too much for miss H who was the first child to rise and the first to crash, she doesn't have day time naps, on this day she had 2 2.5 hour snoozes, too much hard work I think.
I can't recall all the measurements but she was a 5 kilo bub, 11 pounds in the old speak. She was hands down the filthiest (in a good way) baby I have ever seen. within a few hours nskin to skin with mum all the vernix was soaked in to reveal beautiful olive skin.

While they all look the same to me at birth MB thinks she is very similar to Mr B our eldest in looks and feeding.

I have more pics of the whole fam having a hold, stay tuned for those

Buttons

2011-11-17T19:46:00.001+11:00

Catch-Up

2011-11-02T20:09:00.005+11:00

Its been a while since I last updated, there are a few reasons.........

The first is that I've been online less and less.

The second is that its been a fairly shite few months with little blog-worthy excitement to note

The third is that priorities have been elsewhere

In a series of kicks received lately the first was the loss of my licence. This (while entirely my fault) was a real pain in the proverbial. I had received a few speeding fines on my motorcycle and amassed 12 demerit points inside 3 years meaning I could either lose my license for 3 months or last a year with no demerit points and keep my license. Given all my indiscretions were on 2 wheels I was confident that I could last out 12 months restricting my motorcycle use and opting for the car more. I last 10 months and unfortunately as turned out ended up being done......in my car.......on the way to get my vasectomy. I was speeding, I was nervous, I explained to the cop where I was going but they didn't seem to phased so I copped a fine and about 2 months later had the pleasure of handing in my license. Its been ok, better than I thought I'm lucky that where we live is a short walk from a bus stop. Had I been living on our land I'd be screwed (it is 8km from the nearest bus stop). I don't mind catching a bus then a train into work, or a train home however the bus home is a little testing, there isn't a lot of leg room for people over 6'6 nor are some of the passengers the most civil. My commute has gone from 75-90 minutes to usually just over 2 hours, this sucks, it means I get home later, have to get up earlier and arrive home more tired than I normally would be.

The licence situ has also led me to deciding to sell my Ducati, while I find the hypermotard the most fun bike I've ever ridden I do need to settle down a little, I had decided to get a more cruiser oriented bike when I turned 40 but now i'm content to sell the hyper then get a harley of some form as more of a project, While I love riding bikes I also love wrenching on bikes just as much so a project will keep me occupied for a while.

On the home front this pregnancy has hit MB for 6. Her energy levels and health were very low for the early months of the pregnancy and as the months went by she didn't seem to improve, actually I started to see her go backwards, no energy, very snappy at first I think we both put it down to pregnancy hormones but certain key indicators raised alarms we suspected that she was suffering antenatal depression. She is now taking medication and speaking with a PANDA specialised psych and has been improving with every week. I've been trying my best to make sure that the house is in order with washing and folding and cleaning kept on top of. I don't want to go into any more detail and probably won't mention it any further but I thought it worthwhile to mention it as it doesn't receive the same recognition as postnatal depression. I do hope after bubs has arrived and we start regaining some normality around the house MB can too.

I've been without full use of my left hand for almost 2 months now. I was breaking up pine kindling for the fire a while back and went to snap a piece by hand, the wood didn't snap but it hurt my hand, I stopped breaking wood thought nothing of it. A day later my had started to get more sore the more I used it another day later I couldn't move my thumb and by the next day I couldn't even do up the buttons on my shirt. I knew something wasn't good so a trip to the ER and although nothing was broken I still required plaster to treat a torn thumb ligament. I was stuck in plaster for a few weeks then saw a surgeon who decided that it was only a partial tear of the thumb UCL and didn't require surgery, but would need to be braced for 4-6 weeks. I have my 4 week review next Friday so here is hoping its all good, its (my thumb) still numb in places and gives me a twinge if I overdo it but all in all has improved especially this last week.

On the NEVUS front....... (sorry I don't post about it enough I realise quite a bit of my traffic hits orginate from google searches regarding NEVUS). We had a bit of a scare last week, Mr C developed a strange lump on his ear, it was probably about 10mm X 3mm X 5mm and sort of resembled a blood blister but was blue in colour. It seemed to come from nowhere, neither MB nor myself had spotted it the previous day. C didn't recall hurting his ear or catching it in the garden or any other activity It really scared me, I spent hours googling images of melanoma finding things that looked identical or totally different and everything in between. MB snapped a few shots and emaild them to C's dermatologist who was very quick to call back and explained that the likelyhood of it being melanoma was very low given the speed in which it developed. Five days later and its now reduced in size and appears to be healing up. We are still taking regular photos and will continue to monitor it but it was certainly an unwanted extra stress. C is still on wait at teh RCH for his next nip/tuck job for his eyebrow, this has perhaps been the longest we have waited for any of his surgeries, which is fine but I can't help but worry it will happen right about the time bubs #7 arrives (just because we don't do anything by halves).

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Mr B, Mr T, Miss L & Mr C are all attending school next year. We have enroled them in a nice country school just down the road from where the new house will be. It's small, about 70 students in total. We met the principle about a month ago. Mr C has already done one prep orientation day as have the other children in their prospective classes. B will be going into grade 6, T will be going into Grade 4 and Miss L Grade 2. As with most small country schools all classes are composite and we really got a sense of closeness and community from the place, the boys know some other students through their basketball and the plan is for all the children to attend when C has his prep orientation days. I won't go into the events and thinking behind this move just yet, i'll save that for another day.

That is about all I have, til next time......

Quick Stint Down The Coast

2011-09-26T19:46:00.007+10:00

Some peeps we party with (him & her) from time to time have visited us twice in the last 18 months so it was high time we made the return journey.

I had arranged to take the Friday off work, the original plan was to leave for the coast Friday morning however in a last minute (well the monday before) I suggested to MB we make the journey from CBD to Geelong on Thursday afternoon then do the remaining drive on Friday getting us to sunny Warrnambool several hours earlier on Friday

MB picked me up from work at 3 and within 2 hours we were settled into our accom, we enjoyed pizzas for dinner (all the children moaned saying they preferred my home made pizzas). I was up early so I had all the tribe showered and dressed so we could make the 10am check out before doing a spot of shopping) and finally hit the road just before lunch time. We decided to step away from the usual style of accommodation in warny and opted for a house that we had let for the 3 days, it had everything we needed, slept 8 and was soooo much better than any onsite cabin alternative. Surprisingly we were there bang on 2pm for check in. We settled in, gave the beds a test run, watched some commercial TV (how I have not missed it whatsoever) and then headed out for the meet point.

After hooking up with our compadres at the local lake/play area we killed off several hours of flying foxes, monkey bars slides and roundabouts with the odd kick of the soccer ball to boot (did you see what I did there? with the Pun??).

Friday Dinner was at one of the local pub/clubs for a bit of a steak and pasta bar feast, of the many rounds completed was Mr T who went for 5 return servings from the ice-cream bar (can you tell we don't have ice cream at home) I watched J-man slowly progress from sober to typsy to stammering over the course of evening and we bid each others good evening and retired to our houses. I sat up with MB and enjoyed the other luxury, a big screen TV as we watched butterfly effect.

Saturday we had planned to spend the day out amongst the cows with a lunch/dinner play day with our friends so we headed off with supplies and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of laughs and children getting zapped on electric fences washed down with fish n chips.

Sunday was home day but as promised all the children had been asking to go swimming at the beach for 3 straight days so we opted for the scenic route via the great ocean rd with a stop at one of the many sandy coves for swimming. I don't understand children and how temperature doesn't deter them when it comes to swimming. The pics speak for themselves.

Foxy
Dodgy Bridge
Foxy Mr C
Foxy Miss P
Scaring Ducks
Big Foxy

You can hardly tell it was freakin cold
My foot print compared to Miss H
I was cold

Didn't seem to phase them
Ok Mr C looks a little chilled
Miss H and her first time at the beach
She loved it
They all did

Tuckered out

Until Next time - thanks to our hosts it was a blast.

Another Good Day

2011-09-07T22:00:00.004+10:00

I had an awesome fathers day, one of the best in years. I was up fairly early along with miss L & Mr B who presented me with my mass of home made cards filled with color and motorcycles and basketballs.

We had MB's parents meeting us for lunch so after I enjoyed my eggs on toast that were made for me we whipped the house into shape before our guests arrived.

We all loaded up to the bus and headed to our favorite local drinking spot for an outstanding lunch, I had my stalwart dish, the sweet chilli chicken parma. The rest of the fam had a mix or parmas, roasts seafood all sensationally good. Washed down with a few pints and many laughs 2 hours had passed by the time we left.

A quick stop at home to switch into shorts and grab a few supplies and we headed up to the aqua-duct trail, which is a 30km stretch of trail that runs along the side of the mountain range, it used to be a working aqua-duct that fed water to the hydro generator at the wheatbix factory, its an awesome walk. We did a few km with the children on their bikes until MB needed to take a break so we headed home. I like to do this walk regularly, we see evidence of many different types of wildlife, today we spotted a wedge tailed eagle, hands down my favorite animal which was a real treat for me.

I'll let the pics say the rest

Fallen Tree

Miss P is the pose striker
MB & her mother, fathers day is just as much about mothers.
The Dads
The Fam

Until next time...........

Thar She Blows!

2011-09-06T11:46:00.005+10:00

Tomorrow hopefully marks the closing of party in my pants known as "Vasectomy 2011"

As I said on my last vasectomy related post I had to have 20 ejacs racked up before I could do a sperm test. I reached the 20 mark back in mid July so I'm guessing I'm probably at double the requirement now.

Keeping tabs on my count down (or up depending how you look at it) was easily managed with a yellow highlighter and my desktop calendar at work. What I did find funny was the amount of times things happened after midnight "Do I put that down as yesterday....or today?"

MB also got in on the gag often double checking that I had scored the previous nights activities.

The doc did say that most gents blow zero (I'm sorry for the RBT reference but it fits well here) after the 20, in some cases they do not and have to go away and be tested after another 20.

Man I hope its worked and I don't have to get sliced again.

Ahhh the 12th of June was a great day

Acer Tablet - 1 month on

2011-08-31T13:05:00.002+10:00

Its been at least a month now since I bit the bullet on my Android tablet - the acer iconia tab. I thought I'd post a bit of a review to share my thoughts.

Design:
The design is slightly more bulky than the ipad2 and with the case i'm currently using I'd place it somewhere near the original ipad in terms of thickness and weight. This doesn't detract from its use at all, as a rule I only use it sitting down and find it a pleasure in either the landscape or portrait position. I wouldn't risk standing with one handed operation on a moving train though (as some ipad users do). I have large hands and prefer a little heft which translates to a firmer grip. The screen is more than bright enough, I would guess the majority of my use with screen set to auto brightness keeps it in the lowest 1/4 of the scroll bar meaning at its dimmest it's plenty bright. The touch accurateness is also excellent, at certain angles in the sunlight you can see the sensors of the touch screen but this is rare and only prior to turning on. Sound is as good as you'd hope for from such little speakers,but I can happily watch youtube vids or hear my mail chime.

Storage:
For the moment 32gb onboard has been ample, I used a 32gb micro sd from my phone for the first few weeks bringing total storage up to 64gb but prefer my phone for music/radio use so I switched it back. I'll get another microsd 32gb is around $70 at the moment so perhaps maybe in a month or two when larger ones will be more readily available for around the same money. I do want to keep a copy of all my images on the tablet so 100GB + will be a must.

Mobile & WIFI Use:
On my daily commute with Telstra sim i've found the reception to be excellent, no complaints at all. Likewise at home wireless use has been excellent, youtube streams well (when I don't have another PC running p2p)

Android Honeycomb:
This is by far one of the best interfaces i've used, I love the layout, how customisable everything is, active wallpapers, widgets etc etc. I especially liked that I was able to link my accounts and access all images uploaded to my various blogs from within the gallery. I wont go into the apps I use in details but I will say that I do have the following covered happily:
- Remote access and control of my home pc
- File management
- GPS navigation
- Ample Games
- eBook reading (text & PDF)
- IM/Video chat

Battery:
I've on average charged the Acer every 2-3 days depending on use

Peripherals:
By far the best addition for a tablet is the full USB port support.... well whatever but for me the keyboard option is awesome. Its so handy to be able to wack in a keyboard and bang out a few paragraphs. A perfect example was yesterday at work when my PC wouldn't connect to the network, I was able to run up my lotus notes via citrix on the tab plug in my keyboard and use it at almost PC speed. I have a blue tooth mouse at home somewhere that I must also try.

Negatives:
There is only one to be honest & that's not the tablet, its the cheap and crappy charger that came with it, not only did it need some assistance to work out of the box (pin was out of alignment) the cord is way to short. A cost cutting exercise that really reflects poorly on the whole, but hey as I'm only charging it once every few days its not much of a worry to me. I intend to get the dock/charger so I can have one in my bag at all times and easily dock to charge the device at home.

All in all I'd give it 9 out of 10 (detracting 1 point for such a poor quality power supply)

Not my bag baby

2011-08-30T08:58:00.001+10:00

I've really struggled to find a bag that meets my needs, I liked my little crumpler but it was a touch too small (read tiny) and didn't fit my tablet. I then upgraded to the maxpedition sitka gear slinger which is a fraction more tactical or tacticool than the crumpler.

Its a quality sling bag (One strap worn like a backpack) that features the sort of organisational design I like combined with a nice compartment that my tablet fits in (albeit for CCW). Unfortunately I don't like the sling style carrier for work travel, wearing it with business shirts and riding on crowded trains I quickly new I should have opted for a shoulder bag. The Sitka will be awesome on a motorcycle or mountain bike bag because its design allows you to access all compartments without removing your helmet so I will keep it and still get plenty of use.

Why am I so fussy about bags? Its in part about being organised but also its about preparedness, I live a LONG way away from my work in the city and am dependent on services and systems outside my control to get to and from the CBD.

My bag needs to meet my every day needs as well as serve as a "get home bag" if need be. There are any one of a number of reasons for someone to need to get home on foot be it widespread power outage stopping the trains, a gas leak closing the highway or even a zombie apocalypse (2 of the 3 have happened in the last 6 months, I'll let you guess which ones).

From work to my home is just under 80km door to door, not a stroll in the park by any means and while my commute is split in half between rail and road I like to feel confident that if I needed to bail I could get home on foot.

Daily Items:
- Headphones
- Tablet
- USB Drive & Cables
- Sunglasses
- Reading Glasses
- Lense Cleaning kit
- Lunch/Snacks (occasionally)
- Leatherman Wave
- Ventolin & Other meds
- Keys & Security Cards
- Led Light

Get Home/Preparedness Items:
- Poncho
- Paracord
- Fire Kit
- Water Kit
- Knife
- Small FAK

These lists seem like a lot but most pack down into next to nothing, the only tricky item is my tablet and how to address carrying water. At work I typically refill my 750ml bottle 6-8 times a day so I'm tempted to replace it with another 1L Sigg (I have one at home also) so if I need to I have bottles with me but don't necessarily carry them daily. Another option would be a wide mouth bottle (like the nalgene or camelback styles) and use it to store some of the listed items.

I'm very happy with the quality of my maxped sitka and think something that fallsunder "Tactical"will have the quality I'm after. The 1000+ denier nylon doesn't wear or show up the dirt and look manky after the crumpler did from a few months use

Here are some of the options i've looked at:

Maxpedition Mongo Versipack - This was my original favorite, Its pretty exxy. In my opinion you pay more for maxped for their rep. I like that there are ample colors to choose from, dedicated water bottle storage and any maxped ad on would be interchangeable with my sitka I also like the pouch on top for eye wear.

5.11 Tactical Push Pack - This bag seems to offer the same as the mongo just on a smaller scale (and half the price). The downside for me is both of the side compartments are both water storage & it wouldn't hold my tablet securely but it does share the glasses pouch on to with the mongo.

5.11 Tactical Bail Out Bag - This bag moves away from the versipack style of the mongo and push and serves as an active shooter meaning there are ample pockets on the outside for magazines. Not being a shooter or purveyor of firearms in any form this bag looses out for me because 3 of the external pockets are not sealed. It does have a plus being that there is easy external access to glasses and all little bits and pieces, there is no dedicated spot for my tab though meaning i'd have to rig up some velcro retaining straps on the inside loop field to secure it. Internal molle webbing for adding pouches is an added bonus.

5.11 Tactical Rush Delivery Messenger bag - If this bag was a hair smaller it would be perfect, I don't have a need to carry a 15 inch laptop let alone a 17inch so size wise its overkill I do however like the design and internal organisation.

Plat-a-Tac taxi Bag - I'm so so on this bag given it includes a belt system that isn't removeable or stow able (which I don't need) however it is cheaper than the maxped and I can source it locally and it seems to have a few compartments that I can store my tab separately EDIT - I went and tried this bag on, one added bonus was the shoulder strap was more than long enough however they bag itself just didn't feel stiff enough on me also the waist belt was not removable/stowable.

Plat-a-Tac Modular Snatch Bag $195 I really like the fact that this bag is entirely customisable, you have ample MOLLE webbing to attache internal pouches and compartments, I could easily rig up a securing system for my tab too. There are 2 downsides one being that its freakin expensive (especially when you add in a few more $$ for pouches) and also its design is to drop out making all the internals available for access. I'm not sure how secure 2 press studs and a zipper would be holding the bag together. EDIT - I went and tried out this bag and the dimensions were not as I expected. I expected similar dimensions to the taxi bag however the bag itself was much larger and the shoulder strap was too short.

Plat-a-Tac Snatch Bag - This bag shares the features of the modular without being expandable, it also looses out on molle webbing and you get standard elastic internal loops. Price is better too. EDIT- They didn't have this one on display so I couldn't sus it out

So drawing on learnings from my usage of the maxpedition sitka over the past 2 months I opted for the Maxpedition Mongo Versipack for a number of reasons:
- Maxped Quality
- Superior Organisation options (loop field everywhere)
- Glasses access on top
- Fits my tablet
- Can carry a laptop

I think perhaps the key comment I saw on one of the many Mongo reviews comparing the two styles of bag (gear slinger vs versipack) was that the Sitka was more of a bag that you pack before your journey and access/unpack when you reach your destination. The Mongo is a bag you can access during your journey which really suited my needs.

I decided on foliage green over black, I really don't know why.

From The Photo Shoot...

2011-08-21T11:23:00.003+10:00

As mentioned here and also here
I'm told you can expect to see them in boating and camping stores and there shopuld be some super big versions in shopping centres, more on that to come.

Pure Bronze (Plated)

2011-08-21T11:17:00.004+10:00

When I was in pre-school I made a plate. Well... I didn't make the plate, I drew a design on a special piece of paper and it was sent away and transferred onto a plate. From memory the image was of me and had my name. I can't recall the specifics only that I it lasted over 1o years of daily use and dishwasher cleaning.

Earlier this year I discussed "The Plate" with MB and how I thought it would be a great craft project for each of the children & all things going well last a long time. (we tend to hammer our crockery)

I scoured the internet trying to find companies that did "The plate" I couldn't remember the brand only that the plates were made from Pyrex?? and the template was a large sheet of paper with a circle and all sorts of instructions. My internet searches unfortunately didn't yield any success (I guess i suck @ computers) MB however found something that matched my description. She showed the website & products to me and I knew instantly it was exactly what I was after.

An order was sent off and shortly after a large flat package arrived complete with ample sheets and an array of colored textas.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves....

As you can see some of the children (like myself) went freehand others Like C & P wanted specific pictures so with a little help from dad they had tracings of what they wanted. MB decided to go with some symbols of meaning to her. I went with a freehand picture of MB and I, a love heart representing each child.

I'll post more pics when the finished products arrive...

Tissue expansion, nevus & the many changes faces of C

2011-08-21T10:54:00.006+10:00

Seeing though C has finished his tissue expansion i'm re-tagging all my nevus related posts as..... well nevus as it will be ongoing. Whilst there wont be any more rounds of expansion there will be more surgeries. Nips and tucks as I call them, to fix up his eyebrow, his cheek etc etc.

We've been on the waiting list for the next op for over a year now. The waiting for his first op was excruciating but all ops since I've swayed more towards a "whatever,whenever" attitude. Its not like its something to look forward to, taking your child to hospital, having to sometimes restrain them as they go under and comfort them after they come out. I try not to think of it, just casually remind C with a stroke of his cheek that we will see the doc again to sort that out.I recently went back and looked through our old photos from when he was born, it blew me away just how much he has changed. His nevus has lightened considerably and I cant help but feel anxiety about the what ifs. What if we left it, his hairline would be more natural, he'd have both eyebrows but then I also look at him now and see the changes for the better. Maybe its in my mind but while he still never feels the cold he doesn't seem to overheat as much as he used to. I know the expansion wouldn't have created more sweat glands just spread them out over his scalp but I like to think its made a significant improvement. MB sees it more than I do..

Self Portrait

I joke with family and friends and say he is my favorite, I know i'm not supposed to say such things but he and I share a closeness that I don't have with my other children. I still feel guilt for the emotions I had when he was born. I think that my guilt combined with what we've been through together makes me show him extra favoritism and lenience when he misbehaves. He really has turned into quite a cheeky little boy, spoilt by his father for sure and you know what? I wouldn't change that ever.

Some of the shots give you an idea of where he is at and can show his scars, man it was tuff trying to find imnages

Showing the hypertrophic Scarring
We've decded that he is best with longer hair so when it gets some length this time around we will start taking him to the hair dresser (as opposed to me shaving his head) and get them to shape it to suit his scars and skewed hair line

Looking Back 5 years its quite a surprise to me the various color changes within the nevus I think it definitely got darker after birth then lightened up. Maybe its just me

Dark

Lighter
DarkUntil Next Time....

You're Excited? Feel These Nipples!

2011-08-02T16:11:00.004+10:00

So today I ordered my new PC, the specs are probably what you would consider high end by desktop standards. In terms of gaming PC i'd place it in the mid range.

The Specs: i7 2600k cpu

8gb DDr3 ram

p67-B3 mobo

2X 1Tb 7200 Drives (I'll add another 4 myself)

HD 6950 GPU (Eyefinity Support)

DVD Burner (I'll add a bluray drive myself)

Wireless N PcI Card

700W PowerSupply

2 X 24" Acer Hd Led Screens (I'll add a third to the mix down the track)

Windows 7 Pro

Thermaltake Chaser Mk-1 Case

I'm confident that this machine will meet all my needs for at least 3 years and give me something to tinker with (aftermarket cooling, SSD etc) and serve as something that I can not only play games on but also work comfortably from home on. With the addition of another 4-8tb of space it should suffice as a means for storing all my personal photos & videos as well manage all my movies and TV shows.

I had to chuckle when went in and ordered it. My dell XPS took over 2 weeks from ordering to delivery which for me who is easily excitable and quickly impatient seemed like forever. This machine would have been ready tonight but I would have had no way to transport the boxes home so it'll have to be tomorrow.

I also think that a desktop setup compliments with using a tablet for general net surfing and email around the house meaning I don't always have to reside in my study (which will make MB happy). I've just successfully tested working remotely on my iconia via Citrix receiver and am satisfied it will handle "emergency situations" where I might need to connect to work which is an added bonus I didn't expect to be able to do. I've actually just published this post on my train ride home.

I love technology (and an understanding wife)

Until next time.........

Tech Part 2

2011-07-31T09:06:00.009+10:00

Lets start with games.............

I love playing computer games, I was a fairly decent Call of Duty 4 player online. Yes I may have been in a clan and for a time had top player on several maps. Despite cooking the video card on my dell twice it did the job but I always knew it was my weak point.

Then we sold our house and moved, then moved again, days got longer I was getting home later, I had to wipe and reload the OS on my dell and I just didn't re-install COD4. The new version Modern warfare 2 came out then COD Black Ops and knowing my laptop wasn't up to the challenge I resisted.

Knowing I was due for a laptop refresh this year I started looking into alienware laptops but was very hot and cold with them as they probably are enough to scrape by in terms of a gaming machine but the size and noise of cramming better video cards and extra cooling made for a highly un-portable laptop. In considering the alienware gear I think I was focusing more on wanting to be able to game and less on having something portable to use on my commute.

I then started to to sway towards the Macbook Air as my portable then compliment it with a simple server/desktop at home for our families storage needs. The new MBA came out and despite having several decent plays I couldn't see the wafer thin notebook as something I could use on my lap every day, it was just too small.

I'd been keen for a tablet for sometime, since here actually.... but my satisfaction with my Android phone faded somewhat when I updated to froyo. I found some of the features I loved like swype text bombed on the new version. I pretty much didn't want to consider any androids tablets running 2.X until early this year when the Motorolla Xoom came out sporting honeycomb, the Android tablet specific OS. I still um'ed and ahh'ed swaying between Ipad and the Xoom but waited for more honeycomb offerings from the other tablet manufacturers to enter the ring.

I found the Xoom more to be an ipad copy than a competitor. I still really liked the Android OS then as more makes got thrown into the mix the Acer caught my eye. In a nutshell it does everything the iPad or Xoom can do with a few added bonuses. Firstly, a microsd slot like that with my galaxy makes it so much easier to load content on/off your device and its expandable storage. Secondly a standard USB port, this is an awesome idea because while tablets a supposed to be alternatives to pcs the more "useable" and specifically connectable they are the more things you can do with them. In the case of a USB port it could be to bang in a keyboard and whack out a long winded opinion piece like this or simply transfer some data from your main machine via USB key (I have a really small 16gb key that barely sticks out when inserted and is perfect for this sort of use, so 32gb on board, add my 16gb microsd card and my 16gb key and bingo I have the same storage as the top spec ipad with the added bonus of swap-ability.

I guess you can't find something that ticks every box and the downside to acer is its a little more bulky but for the added features I was still keen. The other issue is that they are relatively new (June/Julyish release for the 3g model??) meaning choices for cases are currently a little thin (there are 3). Lucky I have big hands so bulk is no worry actually it easier to handle and there will bemore cases sooner or later.

So thursday I pulled the trigger and picked up an Acer Iconia a501 32gb. DSE had a decent price & were happy to throw in the Acer case, 2 screen protectors so I up'd the warranty from 1 to 3 years then stopped into Telstra store & had them load a sim card for mobile broadband, plugged it in and away I went. Review to come

This left me with a decision to make in terms of desktops where my options are limitless. Dollar value for reasonably high end gaming desktop + android tablet comes in slightly more than the 14inch alienware or the macbook air. I'm currently decided (unless I change my mind which tend to do) on i7 with enough ram, a few 1tb hard drives, video support for eyefinity (linking monitors as one large one batcave style as opposed to extending your desktop over multiple screens and gaming on one screen). All this in a case with ample slots for optical & hard drives that keeps and looks cool so stay tuned.

Until Next Time...........

Tech

2011-07-29T08:09:00.005+10:00

So i'm typing this update from new android tablet.....

I spent many hours over the past few weeks trying to come up with a tech solution to my changing every day needs. The key driver was it was time to upgrade my pc which turned 3 in march this year. I initially considered getting a desktop and an ipad but as I looked more and more into the ipad it didn't suit my portability needs.

I then began to sway towards a macbook mainly because i was really over the windows experience and could see a need being met by the decent battery life on offer.

I waited for the new Macbook Airs to come out and still wasn't entirely grabbed by them then started looking at a alternate laptops before deciding on desktop/android tablet combo.

oops looks like i posted prematurely stay tuned.

Photo Fun (minus Photos)

2011-07-24T09:02:00.002+10:00

As my last post mention 3 of our billy lids were roped into a bit of a photo shoot for a safety campaign for boating safety and life jackets leading up to fathers day. Here is a basica run down of the day.....

The day actually started the night before, I'd been asked to bring some PJ's for the children to wear for some of the photos and although all of them have numerous sets of winter PJ's the tops are rarely in the same place as the bottom. I made sure I had all their PJ's and clothes out and ready for them to put on the next morning, I also included two extra sets of pants & a spare pair of chucks for miss P who still has the occasional accident. I also loaded up my laptop with a dozen or so movies and a few seasons of horrible histories (great show check it out) and some snacks for during the day. After dinner I also took the opportunity to give them all a decent bath have some fun washing hair and getting knots out. (T hates having his hair combed).

I was up at 6 and had the three super models up soon after that and quickly organised their breakfasts and jumped in the shower. We were all dressed and out the door by about 7:30

As we were getting the train into work then driving out to the location in a company car I knew I had to bring miss P's booster seat. In hindsight I should have just driven to work or directly to the shoot but taking a train trip was interesting. I've never actually taken any of my children on public transport, we drive everywhere, its easier. I was thankful that we hop on at the end (or the beginning depending how you look at it) of the line so we were able to get a 4 pod spot to sit and squeeze in my bag and the car seat.

The Ride in was hilarious, C & P were asking so many questions about what was happening what the train was doing, whats that display etc etc. There was more than a few smiles for fellow commuters and all in all they were pretty good. I've had the pleasure of being on a crowded morning peak train with someone trying to control their wayward todler and in comparison mine were angels.

We arrived in the office about 9:30, I quickly got the children settled into a nearby desk to mine, put out some pens and pencils and paper and played catch up on my mornings emails. Some coworkers quickly made themselves available giving the children extra crafty stuff and coloured paper. We had to kill about 90 minutes so Miss P & Mr C made quick work of our office fruit platters before Pauline (The comms person running the photo shoot) arrived.

Not only had she brought in a multitude of toys and activities for the kids to entertain themselves with she also bought PJ's for them to wear for the shoot.

They played some golf and some chess for a while before Pauline suggested I take them out for some lunch so they were fed and ready for us to depart.

By around 12 the children were all fed and we were ready to leave. The shoot was in Macleod which is about 40 minute drive from the CBD and as I knew were we were going drove while Pauline entertained the children. I should add that Pauline is an actor outside of work and also does voice overs. Needless to say she entertained the children with a myriad of voices whilst explaining what they would need to do for the photos. She also had them practice their "Christmas smiles" and had each of them make up alter egos. T chose a skateboarding crime fighter while C went for secret agent and miss P opted for a fairy.

We arrived at the location and gave the 3 stars a run around at a nearby playground to run off some energy, we then progressed to the first of two locations. Numerous shots were taken of the 3 children with their "Fake Mum" & "Fake Dad" on a couch at a country club where there was ample space and lighting. They were all sitting down looking on as "fake Dad" opened a wrapped life jacket. I helped with the lighting and laughed my ass off at the facial expression they were pulling not to mention the trouble C was causing by giving thumbs up everytime a shot was taken. I also got the chance to have a few shots taken with just the 3 children and I so I look forward to see how they turn out.

With sufficient shots in tow we then progressed to site 2, a townhouse where the cast changed wardrobe to PJ's and had a mixture of shots some just dad, some with 2 children with fake mum & dad, some with 2 children and a puppy some with all three children.

C was a little intimidated by the dog which was just a playful pup but big enough to jump on him and lick his face so he stayed fairly close to me when not in shots.

Buy about 3pm it was all over, the cast changed back into their casual gear and we headed for the station to hop a train home.

We arrived at the end of our train line, loaded up the car and headed home, within minutes miss P was asleep (she actually fell asleep halfway through eating an ice cream cone). C followed within about 10 minutes and within about the same time T was also off in the land of nod. They slept the whole way home but soon woke with excitement as they told the other children what had transpired throughout the day.

I cant wait to see the shots, there was a big mixture and I'm told some will go on posters at outdoor shops, some may end up in magazines or papers and I should be able to get copies of them all. I had an absolute ball watching from the sidelines, it was tiring and I certainly slept well that night.

I didn't get to snap too many shots unfortunately, so you will just have to wait and see (like me) what ends up being used.

Until Next time.......

Homeschooling Wins Again

2011-07-19T18:13:00.001+10:00

One of the lovely people from the communications team @ work were looking for some models to participate in a photoshoot for an add campaign leading up to fathers day.

The combination of having children available during the school term (school went back today I'd guess judging by the traffic) and having an assortment to choose from made them quite desirable. A few quick scans through some of my photo posts on this blog and bang! Miss P, Mr C & Mr T had themselves a modelling gig.

Its shooting tommorow so i'll take them into work with me. We'll head out around lunch to a secret location where I can watch on as they pose with their actor mum & dad (You'd never get me in anything like this thats for sure).

I wont go into too many of the details just that its very exciting to:
A) Bring some of my children to work with me
B) Take them on their first train ride
C) Hopefully see images of them make print somewhere someday

I hope I can grab a few snaps during the process.

Until Next Time.......

Whats in a Name

2011-07-12T20:02:00.003+10:00

This post will be somewhat cryptic for those who do not know me because I only divulge my name in my posts. As you know I call the children by their initials and MB by one of her many nicknames (I prefer "Chesty La Rue" or "Busty StClair" but she hates them.) So needless to say I thought i'd put some thoughts down on names chosen and the struggles faced with naming bundle #7.

Mr B was a last minute change, we had always had our hearts set on "Riley" but changed our minds when we saw him for the first time.

Mr T's name stood for the third which had significant meaning because MB's pregnancy with T had immediately followed a miscarriage.

Miss L was a result of us both writing down our top 5 names and picking out the one we both liked the most.

Mr C was wholly and solely my choice. We didn't have a name for a boy or girl through MB's pregnancy and for me personally it was the name I had felt a strong connection to for quite sometime. I shared it with MB earlier in the pregnancy and she brushed it off.

Miss P was also a result of the lists we summed up for miss L.

With Miss H I was vetoed on all female names because MB had her heart set on H and although I was pretty against it based on its length and complexity I did warm to it in an abbreviated form hence why I never call miss H by her full name.

With Baby number seven its almost like when MB was pregnant with Mr C, we don't have any standouts. Given MB picked the name for the last bubs I'm very keen to have my say for this one. The issue for us is that we like names that are less common but not necessarily different or dare I say it weird. Another caveat (not mine) is that the names shouldn't hold any significant religious meaning or share any initials with any other child. It is also necessary that the second name is that of a grand or great-grandparent. So.....

So.........

Names starting with B,T,L,C,P or H are out & although I liked the idea of "danger" for a middle name that seems to be popular now and isn't shared with any grand parents so its out also.

We were liking a particular boys name starting with J and it pairs nicely with MB's Grandfather as a second name but in recent years and over the past 2 births of girls i've slightly gone off on it (though only a little).

I've also starting liking an older name (boy) starting with W but cant really pair it with a second name yet. In terms of girls names I really don't have any potentials so girls names have been the subject of my web searches of late.

Although you wont get to read what the final name choice is on these here pages please know its under intense scrutiny.

That is all bugger off.

Whats in a haircut?

2011-06-30T21:45:00.002+10:00

Today I decided to take a sneaky break and get a hairy, I was well overdue. My last one was about 3-4 months back I went to our local hairdresser it cost me 12 smackers.

When I used to work on St Kilda road I had a great hairdresser that charged $28. That included wash, dry, choice of beer or wine and aftershave. When we moved to brissy I was forced to find an alternative to get a mop chop and opted for the first decent looking place I saw. They had awards all over the shop and insisted I strip down shirtless and don' a bathrobe where I then ate lemon sorbet before getting one of the worst hairys I've ever had. The price tag of $55 seemed very steep but I just wanted my shirt back so I paid it, walked to the nearest shaver shop, bought some clippers and did a zero all over. That was an expensive hair day.

For the next few years I shaved my own head, sometimes with the clippers sometimes with a razor. It always guaranteed me a seat on the train.

Today I walked into the nearest decent looking hairdressers near work and before beginning was offered a beverage and explained that a cut & blow dry was $62 dollars. I should add that this salon had awards that looked like oscars on their front desk, this should have been a warning to me but alas I needed the chop.

After the initial shock I decided to see what $62 dollars bought be in the hairdressers world.

I had my choice of beverage (non-alcoholic as it was before lunch)
I was presented with a gown that didn't really fit over my jacket
I had my hair washed and a scalp massage while sitting in a massage chair (very comfy)
In the chair beside me was a model getting hair extensions for a photo shoot, she had 2 different hairdressers and they talked way to much about fashion
On the big screen there was continuous catwalk footage of some fashion show comprising mostly male models (though some were wearing dresses)
After very meticulously measuring out the dimensions of my head she bcane to do her thing using scissors and only used a trimmer to do around my ears
She wasn't overly chatty, I don't think this was a personality thing I believe she was very much in total concentration of cutting my locks.

After most of the cutting was done I moved back to the basin for another wash and longer and more vigorous scalp massage. I was then returned to my chair where I received a blow dry and had some product applied that smelt nice.

I then had my shoulders dusted and paid for the 30 minutes of hair cutting elitism I had now come to know.

So....

Was it a good haircut?
Who knows............the difference between a good one and a bad one is usually a few weeks, but I will say I'm not going home and shaving it off with my clippers.

Did I fell I got value for money?
While it was nice getting massage and pampered I couldn't help feel like a bull in a china shop so I wasn't really truly relaxed so I'm going to say no $62 for 30 minutes of upper class hair cutting.

Would I go there again?
Probably not, I prefer my local hairy that's open Saturdays & charges 12 bucks

The most rewarding part was when I walked out the door, and took my new, improved, buffed, polished, professionally styled locks and put on my motorcycle helmet.

B Boyz

2011-06-24T21:47:00.001+10:00

Spot the celebrity

You know you're working for a good organisation when.......

2011-06-23T08:14:00.001+10:00

The person who signs your time sheets pulls you aside and comments on the fact that you didn't take lunch on the previous Wednesday. (I'm guessing its the first or maybe second time I've skipped lunch and worked through in 6 months).

I really like the work ethic here. I worked through countless lunch breaks at my old job, not to mention the times when I would try to leave on time and my old boss (aka satan) would say "Just one thing.............." starting a 45 minute conversation epic that would see me home later.

Also with the trailer for this movie fresh on my mind from the weekend it was very pleasant today thinking about how much I don't miss my old boss.

Superheros, their superpowers & their weaknesses

2011-06-22T20:10:00.001+10:00

MB and I enjoyed some 1-1 time on Saturday, we had originally planned to spend the night in the city with miss H but instead opted to drop off all the children at MB's parents and go to the movies, then pick up miss H, head out for dinner and so on....

After dropping off the children we headed to the closest cinemas which were attached to a medium sized shopping centre, we had 30 minutes to kill so we just browsed. I was able to show her the laptops I'm thinking of getting and also the latest offerings in terms of big screen tvs (something I cant see us getting til the new house is built). These days we rarely go major shopping centres together. I do my non-grocery shopping in the city and MB does hers out in the country so being in a busy & crowded place together felt quite foreign. We headed up to the cinemas and saw the movie "Bridesmaids" which despite being fairly predictable and thin on the ground in terms of storyline was actually a riot, we both had tears in our eyes at some points during the film, the highlight was actually from one of the co-star. after the movie had finished it was starting to get dark so we headed to the grand parents, picked up miss H and made a quiet escape for a pub meal in Warrandyte. I have to say anything i've ever done been to or seen in Warrandyte has always been overrated, the pub was no different, we both agreed that our local was still our favorite place to eat and wished we had been there. We headed home, snuggled up on the couched and and pretty much hit the wall.

We both slept like logs and although I woke at 8 (MB closer to midday) I was really tired all day Sunday. I think having such a large family commands a certain level of energy and when you no longer need to operate at that level you crash, I certainly did. We headed out for some sight seeing and visited my grandparents before having dinner back at MBs parents before the home journey.

All in all I felt it quite a musing that we rarely get time off from parenting and when we did we were satisfied to stay home and do the things we would normally do. I think that in itself is proof of our contentment with where we live and what we like to do.

It seems my super powers come from my children, take them away and I'm weak.

Tech

2011-06-18T21:02:00.000+10:00

I'm in somewhat of a bind tech wise as my laptop is 3 years old and in need of replacing but I also have a need for something to use on the train each day like a tablet.

I've been super happy with my trusty XPS M1330. Its only had 2 issues & both were my fault. Once where I put it in my wardrobe and it fell off the top shelf (needed a new MB & chassis) and once where the video card died (a known issue which 4-6 hours of COD4 a day surely didn't help).

It was very comforting knowing I had complete coverage for hardware support including accidental damage. Normally I'd reload a PC every year however I only did this once in three years as its performed flawlessly. Recently the battery died which I put down to my using it predominantly on mains power rarely draining the battery, Luckily you can still get replacement batteries for $99. There are only two things that have irritated in years years of use. One is the lack of back-lit keyboard (I am envious of MB's dell for this feature) and the fact that despite being 13inch & having a WLED screen it is not the most "portable" or easily used on the couch.

I'd looked into getting a desktop to use as my primary workstation or a full house laptop (ie Alienware m17/18) and compliment either with a tablet however I'm starting to see that my storage needs are starting to take priority as well as the need for a functional portable may be the new flavor.

I currently have a 2TB drive that stores all my images and videos (75% capacity) While a data cull is needed (Maybe get it down to 1TB) I think the 2-3tb is certainly is my minimum requirement. I also currently download on a spare dell optiplex desktop so transferring data from that machine to the main drive or the DVD player means an abundance of USB keys.

What I am thinking is:

Make my current laptop the children's
Get another portable Laptop (Good specs, long battery life)
Build a server style desktop with plenty of storage (raid) so my 22inch screen and 5.1 speakers don't go to waste. This will also be used for downloads.
Use the current 2TB drive attached to the DVD player so the children can watch all the movies and TV shows I have saved on there easily

This means plenty of storage, no need for copying movies to USB keys to watch them & most importantly a more functional device for my internet usage. I currently use my PC predominantly in the study but i'd prefer to be in the lounge. Using an ultra portable as opposed to a tablet also makes more sense to me as I prefer the "proper keyboard" and ability to hook in peripherals.

The other issue I have is that I've well and truly outgrown Microsoft. There will always have to be a place for it in my work but for home use I've been happy with my current laptop running minimal MS software. I use Vista Pro but that is the only Microsoft product I have now. No MS office, no IE just Mozilla (Thunderbird & Firefox) and Open office. I'm over the windows experience & while I've used some of the other options out there like linux or the bsd derivatives I think I want to return to Mac for my primary.

My first mac was a Quadra 660AV circa 95 and I loved it. If it broke you could fix it. It handled all the families needs at the time & I never owned a windows PC until somewhere around 2000 as I was always happy with Mac. Then for some reason it made sense to use the same at work and home and i did, then Apple became poseur chic and I guess I never gave them another look.

Fast forward to 2011 and while I've been happily window shopping tablets for a few months and looking closer at the ipad the 13" MBA (Macbook Air) has also caught my eye. It sports similar specs to my XPS - 4gb ram, similar processor, faster hard drive (solid state) and the nicest ultra portable design I've seen. I've been to the city JB hifi and played extensively with all the apple and dell laptop offerings and just keep coming back to the 13" MBA. Good battery life, good ergos, big track pad for my gorilla hands & while there is a mix of reviews (like with any piece of tech gear) I'm feeling pretty sold.

Dollars wise its a more expensive option to the IPAD. I was looking at the top spec IPAD and with a decent amount of prepaid data, case, screen protector, warranty etc etc I wouldn't have seen much change from $1500 the MBA with the up'd specs and decent warranty I'd go for come in around $2700. I would also either need to up my data plan on my phone & use it as a wireless hotspot or look into some of the Telstra wireless broadband options.

A key draw card for me with an IPAD was putting in on a 12GB prepaid sim from Telstra giving me better coverage that my Optus mobile currently lacks. There is rumor of a new MBA model being released so either way I'll wait for that. It would be sweet to see a sim card slot for the new MBA but I don't think apple will go that route who knows. I also like that I have the option to run a windows emulator should I need to do something specific.

Along with switching to a mac for my portable I will still need to sort out a PC/Server & run a non windows OS. Something with ample storage that can take over downloading duties from my current optiplex. Its been a few years since I've built a desktop so I'm looking forward to this, nothing fancy just a decent video card and ample drive space (ie raid).

I'd love to pull the trigger before the end of the financial year but will more like wait and sus out what the new MBA and apple OS run like.

Stay Tuned.........

Snip Update (Well sort of)

2011-06-16T20:43:00.004+10:00

I'm please to report everything is functioning as it was before I was vasectomised.

The plan was to take the new and improved neutered steve for a spin on Saturday night alas the stars were not aligned....... Here is why.

Saturday evening MB and I were kicking back with a movie in the lounge, the older boys were down stairs and the younger children were drawing in the kitchen.

Mr B came running in clutching his hand saying "Its not T's fault it was an accident" repeatedly with Mr T following just as quickly and equally upset. I told him to quickly put his bleeding hand over the sink while I got up and came out into the light for further inspection. It was pretty clear that he was more frightened for his brother getting in trouble than he was about the condition of his hand. After a minute or so running it under water we managed to get it out of them that T ran out of the bedroom after a Lego dispute slamming the door as he went, B who was following and as T slammed the door it collect B's Lego filled hand in the door. After they both calmed down I was able to take a proper look & could see that the webbing of his left hand between his ring and little finger was nicely opened up bleeding steadily. Clearly in need of at least a stitch or two.

I hastily swapped my long johns for jeans, dressed his hand to stop the bleeding and jumped in my car for a trip to the local E.R. Unfortunaltely the "Local" E.R. is about 45 km away.

We arrived at the hospital and I was pleased to see an empty waiting room so we saw the triage nurse immediately. When the nurse removed my dressing it began bleeding perfusely once more on the floor so they quickly re-dressed it and walked us both through to the Paeds section where he said it would need stitches.
I'd guess we waited for at least 90 minutes while they did B's obs and took down all the necessary details He read the Chronicles of Narnia while I watched "The Castle" on TV. After a visit or two from the on duty doc we switched to a treatment room where they explained to B that they would need to give him a local anaesthetic and stitch his hand, they gave him the option of having some gas with the local which I urged him to take up. I could see he was nervous, more so about the gas so I explained to him about how I had sang while having my broken wrists manipulated many years earlier. Reassured by my story and after 20 or so minutes they doc and a nurse came back in, set him up with some laughing gas and began to wash the wound. He smiled and giggled while they did this so I knew the injection wouldn't be an issue. 3 stitches, some glue and a new dressing later & he was good to go. They gave us the option of coming back to have the stitches removed but I explained I used to be a nurse and they were happy fro me to do this in 10 days. They also let him keep the tubes used for the gas to show his siblings.

We headed home via McDonalds for a well earned chocolate sundae. It was about 2am by the time we got home and I was well and truly spent, B stayed up watching Harry potter.

Which leads me to the reason for this posting, trying out my new modified package.

A gentleman never tells but I will say that I was able to give it a good test drive....Twice actually ;)

Until Next Time.......

Update (Belated)

2011-06-13T00:01:00.002+10:00

(Typed the Other Day - Posting now)

Its now Wednesday 11:36am. A week plus almost a day since I had the snip here is a bit of an update.

Again I apologise for a little TMI but hey, I'm pretty open and you decided to read this.

I think spending last Tue-Fri in bed only prolonged the inevitable. Saturday was my first semi-active day since the op with the children's swimming and basketball games taking up the majority of the day. By Saturday night I could hardly move and was forced to spend the evening on the chase with a bag of frozen corn down my pants. After looking at copious amounts of images of vasectomy recovery I noticed that the majority of incisions on the front of the scrotum caused bruising where as incisions on the side caused swelling. By far the right was the more painful and considerably larger in size. The left was more bruised and didn't cause much discomfort at all.

Sunday I tried to take it easy but in a house with so many people there is always something that needs picking up or a load of washing etc so again by afternoon I was kicking back with frozen vegetables getting to know me in the pants.

Monday I got up with my alarm for work and although the train ride was fine getting in and out of le boos as well as a fair amount of walking and assisting some people with desk moves had me feeling really uncomfortable by late afternoon. I hit the couch the moment I walked in the door and remained there with frozen peas tucked in for the whole evening.

I awoke Tuesday morning after a terrible night of uncomfortableness combined with an unwell wife, 1 & 3 year old all Sharing my bed. I called my boss and worked from home again keeping the meat and veg on ice as often as possible. I spent the majority of the evening on the chase again.

This morning I felt much better, I was awake at 5 so I could give the ol' rightey a chill with peas before I got up. MB and the children gave me a lift to the station, the train ride in and walk to the office were much better than yesterday.

Its interesting the discussions one has with others when they know you have recently been vasectomised. For the most part I have been surprised by the number of guys I work with saying "Yeah I got done XX years ago". Also the reactions to me getting done by others are of shock and disbelief, not sure if this stems from their own issues with commitment or not knowing they're done. I for one knew I was done the moment MB held the pregnancy test stick in front of me.

I Hoping I've turned the corner and things get more tolerable from here on

First Attempts @ 2tone paracord

2011-06-03T13:49:00.002+10:00

For Jo (I think it might be a touch snug but you're small so I'm sure it'll be OK)

The cool thing about two tone is its reversible, I used one of the hand made wooden buttons I scored last week

Missing Family & Thanking Friends

2011-06-03T10:16:00.005+10:00

The quiet was nice for the first few hours here at MB's parents but now I can safely say I'm ready for home. I really miss the chaos of my children and the company of my best friend.

MB and I chatted for hours last night on IM, we even hooked up video and I was able to say hello to Mr C and give him a sneak peak at some pressies I bought the children. Its funny saying it so much but we are really missing each other. I guess its amplified because MB has been so ill with the pregnancy over the past months so I have been making extra sure that there is little for her to do in the way of washing, cleaning & cooking. While MB is more capable than I at managing 6 doing it solo for most of the week while feeling ill and having no energy makes me worry more. She isn't the sort of person to complain or expect people to help as historically we have always "gone it alone". I knew MB was really low last weekend when she started suggesting Queensland and moves and stuff, something that was once our dream but had to be put permanently on hold. I think 20 years in the one house has made her a bit of a nomad.

I'm so grateful for our Friend, Neighbor & Doula Julie who offered to take our girls (Miss L overnight). She also cooked a meal for MB and delivered it. Julie has had a had time herself of late her a new bubba and to see her make this gesture was truely heart warming. Things like this show you what true kindness is. I've seen MB help out her lots of friends over the years so its good to see some karma in action. I do find it interesting that friends that have been helped out the most by MB have remained somewhat detached. I guess its not the done thing to ask a superhero like MB if they need a hand.

On a lighter note Julies offer to have miss L up for a sleepover then Miss P as well in the afternoon for a play date was an excellent opportunity for miss L to spend time with Julie's daughters. Its my one gripe about homeschooling that Miss L isn't as outgoing with other children and tends to shy away from new people (despite clearing wanting to be included) I cant wait to hear her version of how her sleepover went.

Still on the family front (albeit extended) I have really enjoyed the 1-1 time with my inlaws. I rarely see them without the whole fam in tow so we've been able to have some great chats about life, parenting, the children, cars, motorbikes and all sorts. I brought them a new DVD player to say thanks for having me. Theirs was old, didn't eject dvds properly and wasn't multi format. Now they can play all formats (including TV shows I have downloaded) and with a USB port they can also look at their photos on the big screen tv. Its one technological step closer to computer ownership. A concept they are slowly warming to after years of my subtle hints. With us living a fair way away and MB's brother and family even further away its my mission to get them setup with a PC and internet in the coming months so we can all communicate freely. They have helped us out on countless occasions over the last 17 years and now I'm really focused on returning some of my immense gratitude.

I also find it amazing saying this.... I wish I could have been working in the office today. I have an important meeting, one that pivotal in the work I've been doing since I started and how our work will pan out in the future. Its been an ongoing cause of stress and considerable heartache for my manager as there is a particularly prickly person involved that makes a point to be snide and insulting wherever possible. I really wanted to be there to back her (My Manager) up, I'm dialing in but on the phone isn't the same as being there.

MB will be arriving with the clan sometime this afternoon so I'm really looking forward to lots of hugs and kisses and to give the children some gifts.

Until Next Time......

Vasectomy Holiday - Slightly TMI

2011-06-02T15:34:00.003+10:00

Vasectomy Holiday (It should be a reggae song)

I'm starting this post today, Thursday @ 2:36 Pm. I had my vasectomy performed at 1PM on Tuesday this week & this is a bit of a dump of how it went down.

MB's parents dropped me off at the specialists rooms a little early as I planned on having to fill out some forms and the like, after the surgeon had seen his first appointments I was up. We had a brief chat in his office, my GPs referral outlined that we had baby #7 on the way it was pretty obvious that my mind was made up. He explained that a small number of patients cannot be done under local on the day for a number of reasons (he didn't elaborate but I assumed this would be due to anatomical issues, couldn't locate the Vas etc etc) He discussed the procedure to me, there are several, he uses steel clips to clamp the Vas and stitches you up afterwards, some do it with a stitches on the Vas and no external sutures). His method meant I could shower the same day which made me glad. He also explained the risks of infection, and that this could sometime be in the form of inflammation and swelling 6 weeks later. He also explained that sometimes additional bleeding inside the scrotum could result in a hard lump that would dissolve over time. I signed my consent as he elaborated on the time it could potentially take before I could be considered infertile. It was then time to move to the procedure room.

We headed down the corridor, I thought I would have butterflies and feel a bit anxious but I was pretty collected (despite it being on my mind steady for the two weeks leading up to it. I removed my jeans and trunks and hopped up on the table/bed and laid back as he examined me. Lying on my back with him standing to my right he quickly located the right side Vas and then the left. This was slightly unnerving as it involved quite a bit of paddling round in my scrotum. He then explained that he had no issues locating each vas and confirmed he would be able to complete the procedure then and there. He then shaved me, (which was also a unique feeling), washed me with antiseptic (freakin cold it was) then gloved up and got ready to begin. He showed me the tiny steel clips he would be using and assured me no patients had ever reported setting off a metal detector. I looked out the window at the clear blue sky as he once again located the right vas, this was quite awkward, it didn't hurt just really made me squirm, once he had it located he injected the local anaesthetic which aside from an ever so slight pinch was hardly noticeable at all. He started to make the incision, which judging on the need from what I could tell was on the right side bout midway from front to back. I felt a twinge of the scalpel so he stopped then injected more locate and proceeded. I talked constantly through the first side, more so to take my mind of what I knew was going on. In this regard it was probably a bad move to watch the video on you tube as I could mentally picture everything he was doing. I yacked about MB, the children, Mr C's nevus, moving building straw bales and before I knew it I saw his hand go up as he completed a stitch. "All done" he said with a smile, "time for the left".

He went to locate the left vas which he did from the front as he remained standing on my right, this was extremely unsettling, I jumped and immediately broke out into a sweat as he located and vas. I was relieved to feel the needle go in as it knew I'd soon feel less uncomfortable, it really is a strange feeling having someone did around in your balls. He made quick work of the left side as I chatted more and more and before I knew it there was the familiar site of him completing a stitch and I knew I was home free.

I sat up, dripping with perspiration (from the heat of the room more so than anything else) I looked at my balls, which after 32 years of good service looked foreign too me, shaved & discolored from the antiseptic wash. I asked where the stitches were so the doc showed me a stitch on the right side of my scrotum and one on the front side. I went to wing my leg over the the side of the table and felt something touch my leg which came as a shock until I realised it was my scrotum, which was till numb.

The doc explained that I could shower and wash off the antiseptic that day and that within a few hours i'd feel pretty sore and more so the next day or two. he instructed me to to get home, take some panadene and have a glass of whisky. My only question was naturally "Is Red Wine OK"?

I made an appointment for the next week to have the stitches out and do a check up and walked out the door. I immediately texted MB to tell her all was done but I was a bit shakey. I then called her to elaborate on how I felt, told her all was well and then called her Mum & Dad to come and pick me up. I had planned for to spend a few days at my in-laws after the procedure so we headed home via a chemist for some panadene.

That night I wasn't really as sore as I expected to me, more slow on my feet and hesitant to move quickly, sitting was a little uncomfortable but all in all I was feeling pretty good. MB's mother cooked me a delicious lamb roast which we washed down with a nice bottle of red before MB/s father and I retreated to their upstairs big screen TV to watch tron. I didn't feel like sleeping or lying down and after some Facebook messaging with Jo decided to break out the paracord and attempt a two tone bracelet. this killed an hour (as it didn't work the first time and I had to unravel it and start again. and by about midnight I was ready to lie down. Unfortunately I had trouble getting comfy in bed and opted for several pillows between my knees, setup my laptop chatted to MB on MSN (which was sooooo good) then put on an American hot rod playlist and watched several episode before finally falling asleep some time after 3am.

I woke at 7:30 and went to the toilet and had a fair amount of discomfort walking so I decided to hop back in bed and watch some more movies and TV eps of American Hotrod on my laptop. I chatted to MB with video chat at about 11am then again at 3pm, at this point I thought it best I get up, shower and have breaky, which was really a late lunch. I cooked a chicken fillet for a roll and watched some TV for about an hour before getting back in bed around 4:30PM. I then watched more TV on my laptop and when I heard MB's parents arrive from work headed down to say hello. MB's mother cooked another great feed of veggies and a t-bone for me with hot jam roll and ice cream for dessert, I was feeling truly spoilt.

After dinner I watched "The Departed" on the big screen before hitting the hay around midnight, I fell asleep almost instantly but woke at 3am feeling pretty wired so I watched more American Hot Rod til about 5am before sleeping til 9:30.

Today I wanted to get some work done so I connected and caught up on all my meetings, emails and documents for review. I love technology, I have my phone setup as a 3G wireless access pouint and am connected on my laptop from bed. which brings us to about now.

It hasn't been anywhere near as painful as I expected, There is considerable discomfort but pain wise it is very tolerable. My balls went from tomato to beetroot over a few hours but now look semi-normal (albeit shaved). I'll probably submit this then have a shower I think. While the quietness here (read silence) is very relaxing and who would complained about the spoiling i'm getting I am very much missing MB and the children with the exception of a family holiday in the first year or two of going out we haven't spent this much time apart in 17 years and I'm really missing her. Tech is great though with IM and video chat making it bearable. I know its been a stretch for her with all the children solo whilst still feeling ill 24/7. A friend of ours was kind enough to take Miss L overnight and then miss P for an afternoon with her girls which i'm sure made things a little easier at home as those two generate the most noise, mess & washing I was due to go to work for an important meeting tomorrow arvo but don't really feel like making the drive or the train ride or sitting in an office chair all day so My boss has setup a conference for me to dial in. I'm hoping to grab a bite with a mate of mine tonight because MB's parents will be out at a wake. This will also allow me to get them a new DVD player as theirs has issues and doesn't play divx.

Until next time.....

Bit O' Paracord work

2011-05-29T13:23:00.002+10:00

A week in review

2011-05-23T19:52:00.005+10:00

I started the week with another attempt at a paracord bracelet. Having looked at more examples on the net I realised that I could have tightened mine more. So I made another for myself (reusing the vintage matte black button) then re-tied my original smaller for Mr T. The craft theme continued as I ordered some additional paracord online - 100ft of black and 50 ft of camo.

I also went to lincraft and bought a mixed bag of buttons for $2.50, some cross stich thread for attaching the buttons and a couple of duffel coat style buttons, I tried one on T's bracelet but need to work out a better way to mount it.
T's with the duffel coat thingy
Mine being worn
Most of this additional stock is to do a craft session with the children but I also want to knock up one for apwool who has done sooooooo much knitting for the heads of both myself and my family members. Perhaps a scarf might tempt me to do one for J-man?? :P If peeps are interested in a bracelet hit me up and I'd be happy to do one.

Yesterday I purchased these wooden buttons for $2 each that I hope to use at some point.

We celebrated my 32nd birthday yesterday. We met MB's parents for lunch at our local pub and ate and laughed and drank for a few hours before hitting up a local nordic festival, there was an authentic viking camp site as well as kids farm, fairy floss, danish chocolates, hand made clothes, swords, hats and all sorts. (Its where I picked up the wooden buttons).

We came back to the house and the boys unloaded a uteful of wood while I got the fire going & MB made and iced a cake. I had two separate kips on the couch throughout the afternoon.

The fun didn't stop though, when MB's parents went to leave I wanted to move le boos and couldn't find the keys, this is weird for me as I'm pretty anal about putting stuff in the same place. We saw off the parentals then began to look for the bus keys, this started with me checking between couch cushions to all hands on deck for a top to bottom house search including outside and up the drive in the darkness by torch light. Almost certain they weren't in the house we called MB's parents to check if the keys had fallen out of my pocket when I backed their ute out. The keys weren't in the ute.

I should add at this point that through all this keys shenanigans I was pretty sure I left the keys in the front door when we got home from the festival. As we were about to extend the search to rubbish bins and all manner of places you dont want to sift through the phone rang. MB's mum had the keys in her back pocket. I'm pretty sure she followed me in and saw the keys hanging out of the front door and grabbed them. Fun and games in deed. Plans were made for me to pick up the keys & all was well. This did mean our planned movie was delayed so we only got to watch 2/3 of "The Way Back" before hitting the hay. All in all another great birthday.
Stacks on Dad

Animalia

Hmm someone didn't understand how its done
Oh noes she is a little girl now
This is Kip #1
Cakeage
Its funny because I don't feel 32, looking back I felt pretty old and miserable about turning 31 last year but looking back there was a fair bit to be miserable about this time last year. C's tissue expansion, living in an annoying house, hating my job etc. These days while we aren't in our dream house and I'm not riding my Duc as much as I'd like to that's about all I can complain about.

There is so much more to be happy about. I like my job, its turning out like this contract will be extended for at least another 18 months (Today I approved my business card design). I love living amongst the mountains in the area where we are building our future, the children continue to brighten our every day as they grow so quickly (We just bought Mr B new basketball boots - size 8 mens Eek). I love that MB is growing a new life (she isn't as enthusiastic about feeling ill 24/7). All in all we are all happy & healthy and as I stared at my children huddled around the dining table coloring in under silent creative concentration I was also reminded how wealthy I am.

Really what more could you ask for?

A phone call.

2011-05-17T19:23:00.001+10:00

Was all it took to seal the fate of fertile Steve

Today I booked in for my vasectomy, It was a lot quicker and straight forward than I imagined, I figured there would be a waiting list, extra appointments for counseling etc etc. I guess when you have baby #7 on the way you can forget about the the formalities.

To say I'm nervous is fairly accurate. I'm a firm believer of facing your fears, I had several growing up that I would label "Childhood Fears". The first was heights, I was so scared of heights I couldn't sleep on the top bunk as a child. I remedied this when I took up abseiling in my early teens. I've since bungee jumped, para sailed & jumped off a 50ft cliff into water. I hope to skydive one day also.

My second fear growing up was needles, I hated them with a passion, I think it stemmed from an allergy to a tetanus shot I received when I was about 10. Between my tattoos and the number of needles I had when I broke both my arms. My fear of needles is non-existant now as I give blood regularly.

The last fear was for the general health off testicles, specifically my scrotum. This was two fold, the first being when I was about 5 I somehow managed to open my sack on a nail that was poking out of a friends cubby house, my mates still remind me of this (usually at the pub in front of total strangers). The second part was due to immense sensitivity I experience during puberty. Looking back I'm sure with the amount I grew in such a short time my hormone factory was running 24/7 regardless I always lived in fear of injuring my balls.

Years later when we had just the two boys Mr B kicked me in the groin resulting in a swollen testicle and several trips to the GP & untrasounds. That and endless knees elbows and transformers to the testicles region and I'm quite confident i've toughened up.

Fast-forward a decade and I'm much braver nowadays, but that still doesn't make me feel a little nervous.

I'm a firm believer in the male doing his part to ensure pregnancies are no longer possible once a couple agrees to stop having children. Having seen MB push out monster baby after monster baby not to mention all the poking and prodding she received during her pregnancies was proof enough that I knew it was MY responsibility. My father had a vasectomy and my parents were very open about the fact that he was having one, I intend to explain my reasons with my sons too.

I think the part that is worrying me the most is actually the thought of having a local anesthetic injected into my scrotum, but given I used to be a nurse and love a bit of blood and gore I hope I get to watch the procedure.

I've arranged to spend a few days post snip at MB's parents house. Mainly because my children are constantly climbing on me or spontaneously hugging me I felt it best to avoid any accidental bumps or knocks. I also realise I'm cutting it a little close to MB and my date night in the city which is only a few weeks later on the 18/6 so seeing how often we have a night in a nice hotel sans children I want to be taking it very easy leading up to that.

Until Next Time........ Enjoy THIS

Finding the right number

2011-05-14T07:35:00.003+10:00

Our lifestyle isn't for everyone.
Sometimes the journey you learn most from is a difficult one.
6 children is a lot of work.
Simple logistics of Saturday morning swimming lessons and basket ball games can required 4 trips and 2 vehicles.
Its usually always noisy at our house as voices are raised in a futile effort to be heard.
Usually a simple meal is frought with challenge between MB & I simply trying to compare stories from each others day.

The shock from other people when they hear I have 6 children starts to wane over time. You can really only be enthusiastic when someone exclaims "O H M Y G O D I C A N T B E L I E V E Y O U H A V E S I X C H I L D R E N" for the thousandth time. Its usually followed up with rather jovial "So....any more?" expecting my response to be "no way" instead I always get additional shock value when I answer "We'll probably go back for one more".

For some reason in the last few years (more so since Miss H arrived in late 09) we've felt that 7 was the "number". In part because we thrive in chaos and discord and 4 males and 4 females in the family seems a little too much like harmony.

We never planned on 7 from the get go, we were lucky to go back for a second after MB's horrible experience with Mr B. After that the only time I felt uneasy was the approaching arrival of baby #4. When he joined us Mr C had no room in our sedan, we upgraded to a 7 seater days after his birth Then again to our current 12 seater when miss H arrived. I think somewhere around baby #4 I looked into get a vasectomy however MB didn't feel "done" and looking back I wasn't sure either way.

My point of this post is part reflection and part-announcement.
(scroll down for added build up)

We are currently expecting, MB is up the duff, she has a bun in the oven etc etc

I have to say this came as a little surprise to us. We have been happily using the billings method for over 16 years using contraception during ovulation. Every pregnancy was planned and while we were planning for a 7th it was intended to be after we build our new house.

Well this little bean had other plans.

In hindsight MB suspects she actually ovulated twice as we used precautions during, before & after ovulation. One night of unprotected passion after being well clear of the "Danger Zone" was all it took.

This doesn't change priorities overly, we still intend to get cracking on the new house. Where we had intended to continue using billings method I now know that its drawing nearer to vasectomy o'clock. (In fact I have the referral in my wallet).

Quietly I'm hoping for a boy (Giving me enough players in the family for a mens basketball team) but will take anything (girl or panther).

We told MB's parents last Tuesday night then told the children on the way home in le boos. It led to a lengthy discussion on potential names some of those that I recall were:
Ben 10
James Tiberias
Wolverine
Narcissa
Harry
Hagrid
Salizar
Rowena
Hermoine (Seeing a trend here?)

As with the other children we will keep the short list to ourselves and because I don't post names on this here blog you'll have to get to know me better outside the webisphere if you want to find out.

Untill next time.........

Craft Part 2

2011-05-07T15:44:00.003+10:00

Used up the last of the cord (15 feet doesn't last long)

Need to buy some more (green, Brown & Black)

My Idea Of Craft

2011-05-06T22:22:00.005+10:00

While i'll admit I know how to sew that and perhaps beading is about the extent of my craftiness.

I've always admired the amount of things you can do with knot work, specifically paracord. Paracord (aka Parachute Cord or 550 Cord) is basically the stuff that laces a parachute together, you can pick it up at most proper surplus stores, tie stuff together, boot laces etc etc

There are many uses for the stuff and you can knot it into anything. I like the bracelets, you end up with a decent length of rope that whilst ornamental at first glance can come in handy in in survival scenarios or simple bush mechanics.
Bracelets adapted into watch bands
Lanyards & key chains
Sheaths & covering handles
Stubby holders

So with much inspiration from EDC I tracked down a shop in the city that stocked paracord, Bought 4 metres and decided to have a stab at it.

I followed a set of directions I had which outlined how to lay out the cord, estimate your wrist size and so on. It was surprisingly easy, I got the measurements right first go and did not have to unravel once.

There are several options for the clasp. D-Rings, an old coin, Buttons or even additional knots. I had a dollar coin set aside but found a large old black button in the bottom of Mamma bears sewing kit.

A little red thread for color and voila. Its not perfect but as a first attempt I'm super pleased.
It fits too.
Made from one single piece of cord around 11 foot long.

If I ever snap a throttle cable or have some form of bear grills moment I'm set now. I also knocked up a lanyard for my keys (same style with a longer loop). next up I think I'll try some work on the handle of my maglite.

The children showed quite a bit of interest so this might become a project for them too. First up......... need to buy more cord.

Until next time.....

EDIT

I used my remaining cord for a key fob/loop using a Lanyard Knot

Thanks Stormdrane

Hike

2011-04-29T21:26:00.003+10:00

Easter is one of those holidays I used to loathe, mainly because of the chocolate, especially how early the supermarkets are stocked up with it. I like most have a soft spot for chocolate however in years past this has faded especially when it comes to chocolate bunnies. Gone are the times when id polish off some red tulip goodness several times in the lead up to easter but no so much these days.

I can proudly say this year in the lead up to easter I only partook in one bunnie and didn't enjoy it at all. So when easter sunday came around the children were the only ones eating choccies,only having one large white bunny each (they too know that its best in moderation and have all stated their preference for white over brown chocolate).

So after a few days of gorging on all sorts of foods we decided to burn off some of the excess energy wioth a bit of an afternoon hike.

There are some waterfalls close to us that we have planned to explore for months so while en route to our previously selected walking spot we made a detour.

Upon arriving at the carpark the sign stated that the falls were a 3.2km round trip which we knew would be easily doable for all but our youngest two daughters. With Miss H on mamma bares back and miss P on my soldiers (her words) we started on the trek.

It became quickly aparent that the walk was entirely uphill, the fading light made the trail almost tunnel like in places. After several swaps between Miss P and Mr C for prime position on my shoulders we made it to the falls, slightly less spectacular than what we expected but still worth the hike.

Some happy snaps:

After Swapping miss H to my shoulders the walk down the mountain was much easier.

I love living in the mountains.

Until next time......

Home Ed Camp (Slightly Pic Intensive)

2011-04-25T14:44:00.016+10:00

How does one some up camp fest 2011??

Firstly you may want to peruse my previous postings on last years camp to get an idea of the sorts of things we got up to. This is the 4th year the awesome camp has been run, we missed year 1 because Miss P was born and year 2 because of Mr C's first round of tissue expansion.

After arriving dead on time for the camps commencement last year we decided to arrive a few days early this year. With Camp starting at midday on the Tuesday we arrived around dinner time on the Saturday prior to soak up some sun and chill before switching things to overdrive. The first thing that greated us was a full lake Hume, last year the water was barely visible but with this last 12 months and the drought breaking rain we were extatic to see water withing 100 metres of our cabin door step.

After settling in and unpacking le boos we decided to hit the pool. This also served as an opportunity to catch up with other home ed families we already knew from regular catchups or last years campfest. I made up a spag bowl for the whole fam and MB went and checking in with Jenni (one of the awesome organisers). Our first night was somewhat rowdy as the children all had excess energy so we stayed up watching movies til we all passed out.

Friends were reunited

The mouse that roared
Green hair washed out pretty quick
Chillin'
Grrrrr
Lounging about
Day 1 Sunday started at midday (yes we all slept in) after doing up a batch of porridge, toast and various cereals for the whole fam we headed straight for the pool and spent the majority of the afternoon there. We were invited to a pub meal with some of the other families but as we had already taken meat out to do a BBQ. Instead we teamed up with another family who also have 6 children and did a bit of a BBQ smorgasbord, I made up a batch of rissoles using 4 different kinds of sausage mince which surprisingly turned out fantastic, we also fried up potato "chips" that MB had hand cut earlier. After chatting for ages and cleaning up we ended up at the pool again. The evening included a sleep over whereby miss L swapped with our friends son (aged between B & T). Sunday was Also MB's birthday however the cakes I had planned to bake were a little difficult to cook in our oven that wouldn't light so we settled for a candle in a rissole, only I forgot candles so.... year..... MB was still happy :) Our Home Ed Friends from Adelaide handled out dozens of glow sticks so the evening was spent watching the children from afar in an extra terrestrial light show.

Day 2 Monday Started slightly earlier than the previous had with us all up by 10AM, to be honest I tried to recall what we did this day and for the life of me cannot remember, no doubt it involved swimming, and an attempt at fishing, I was amazed to see the boys catch a small fish on a hook with no bait. MB and got to spend some time chilling by the pool chatting with friends while the children all socialised with their mates. We ended the day with another impromptu BBQ with 4 adults and 12 children, fun was had by all.

Day 3 Tuesday First official Day of Campfest. With the camp officially starting at midday and a compliant stove agreeing to behave I spent the morning making a giant batch of sausage rolls (for lunch and snacks over the comming days). As the day progressed more and more families arrived and we started to get an idea of just how big this year was going to be. We all filled out info sheets and placed them on a central board and made introductions.

They did the ropes challenge

Day 4 Wednesday Campfest Day 2 Our first full day of camp started with activities, we completed the low ropes cousre first followed by a hike to the top of one of the nearby hills, this was somewhat of a challenge for me as I was left to carry Miss P & Mr C up. Once at the top we were all allowed to paint our names on a water tank. The night Saw the Trivia night and I have to say as somewhat of a trivia boffin I found at least three quarters of the questions a little on the difficult side. Inspired by this Mr B went on to organise a Kids Trivia" More on that later.

After walking up the hill we painted our names on the water tower
Miss P had the easy ride down
Stopping to pose of course
T waited for us so he could take turns piggy backing his little sister
Miss H was very content to watch from the pram

Electronics (Making an electric motor)

C was very impressed with Air hockey
He and I swam the most hands down
His swimming improved so much in the first few days
Linesbaby
One of our friends injured herself and had to spend a night in at Albury so we joined our tables for dinner, 10 kids with 2 adults
Mmmmm a mouthful of sand

Day 5 Thursday Campfest Day 3 Our second full day of camp started off with more low ropes followed by boomerang throwing. As dinner arrived Mr B who had been somewhat dismayed by the level of difficulty of the Wednesday trivia went on to organise a kids trivia night. He recruited some friends to sign up teams, he rallied prizes for every team he recruiter myself and one of the other dads to jot down some questions. He then went on to run the whole night s the quizz master, I scored and despite the "adults" table winning by a narrow margin they were promptly disqualified (which brought emense cheers from the kids). I was so proud of B, to see a ten year old step up, organise the whole thing from scratch including prizes then go on to read all the questions it was amazing. It brought tears to my eyes. They also abseiled again.

B Off the tower
C was a little nervous

Boomerang throwing (DUCK!!)
The kids found some great climing trees and swinging ropes
More ropes
B helping his little sister
Everyone chipping in to help the little ones
Its MY platform!

Face plant smiles
I helped with some of the meals
Chess masters
Before noticing mum with the camera
After
MB helped out with an impromptu swing display
Miss H was clearly Bored
I have a bit of a confession.................... I love to bead
B running the kids trivia night
Day 6 Archery

Too cool for school
Day 7 Obstacle Course
War paint

End of day 7 talent show, miss L and one of her friends did a dance
Miss H getting down with her boogy

Slightly sun burnt, Very tired
Disco
yeah it was hard getting a shot without shaking the camera as I cracked up laughing

Learnings:
- Diversity is awesome, we had so many families from the country, the city, from diferent countries, different nationalities, different religions it all added up to a brilliant group, parents and children alike.
- You cant beat socialisation, most non home ed peeps say "what about socialisation?" as soon as you tell them you home school. The best part about a socialising amongst other home schooled children is that they all get alone (more or less) there aren't the cliques or the other negative factors you find in a school playground.
- Footwear. Our biggest challenge was that the activities scheduled each day required closed toe footwear but with the amount of swimming our children where doing thongs were there preference so there was more than one occasion where we had to go searching for a pair of Miss P or Mr C's thongs. It was also just as chaotic finding socks for each child as they would take their shoes off to go swimming and leave them everywhere. Next year there will be one pair of closed toe sandals for each child to avoid constant swapping and lost socks. On a positive I wore my trusty Merrels and never pulled up sore despite hours on my feet.
- I Said it last year and we never got around to doing it but Walkie Talkies are a must for next year.

- Its hard work wrangling a large family spread over a place as big as camp fest, next year we may look at inviting MB's parents

- Cool down. With Camp finishing on the Sunday and me returning to work monday I'm pretty tired now, next year I think we shall take 3 days either side.

Awesome things I saw:
One of the highlights for me was hearing my 9 year old son Mr T and his mate (also 9) discussing creation theory vs evolution theory then digressing to covering greek mythology and how certain things crossed over to the bible. EG. Hercules was a demi-god who had a father who was a god and a mother who was mortal, does that make Jesus a demi god?"

Thats my memory dump of camp, there are heaps of parts i've missed, if you want to know more I suggest you sign up for 2012

We stopped at the Etamogah pub on the drive home, it was kind of lame

The look on MB's face tells what the condition of the place was like

Maids day off?
Le Boos

Well earned kips on the drive home

Another Birthday

2011-04-25T14:41:00.001+10:00

32 Years Young

Mamma Bare Turned 32 last week. (when I wrote this, a month ago in reality)Despite being only 2 months older than me she is worlds ahead of me on so many levels.

I've spoken before on MB's super powers before. Like shopping, swimming, parks with 6 children in tow. After all this time she continues to surprise me in just how much of a great person she is. I'm continuously reminded by this with her actions with friends and other peoples children, not just her own. I also love the passion I see in her, I know how much helping new mothers and mothers to be with advice and support.

I was reminded of this on homeschool camp she discussed birth options with a friend. Having been told by her doctor that c-sections were the only option for her going forward MB didn't overwhelm her, didn't preach or be too domineering (despite advice being given by others) What I admired about her then was her restraint.

I never thought I would grow more attracted to her like I have. As we've changed from a teenagers to a adults and then parents i've had the pleasure of falling in love with her over and over again as we've both developed together.

I get to admire pieces of you in our children daily, so much of their kind and gentle natures are a direct result of your nurturing (& good genes)

So Happy birthday. I know you aim to make less and less of a fuss each year (We'll make up for it at your 40th)

Getting Excited

2011-03-07T19:50:00.002+11:00

This time in 2 weeks we'll be at Home Ed camp.

While its far from most peoples idea of a holiday (with activities planned pretty much from dawn to dusk) I cannot wait to get there.

I cannot wait to catch up with great people we met last year.
I cannot wait to see all my children dancing at a disco again (much better than the living room on Sundays)
I cannot wait to watch my children socialising with a great bunch of children from all walks of life, religious, scular and free from cliques, judgment and all the negatives that come with school.
I cannot wait to see teenagers including younger children in their games & activities. Again something you would never see at school.
I cannot wait to see my younger children who were too young for some activities last year blossom this year.
I cannot wait to see the lake again this time hopefully full of water.
I cannot wait to play a tennis tournament with with 8 year old who has mentioned it regularly since last year.
I cannot wait to see miss H socialising now that she has full mobility (of couse this means more work for Mum & Dad but that's part of the fun.
I cannot wait to do electronics with My eldest son who despite asking me at every opportunity has not been able to complete many activities this past year.
I cannot wait to swim with my children. Although I do each week, its always great to swim in a new pool.
I cannot wait to disconnect from the real world, my laptop and phone will stay at home this year as they did last year.
I cannot wait to jump on the bouncing pillow with all my children at once now that the youngest member is walking.

These are just some of the things I'm looking forward to seeing and doing with my family.

With this years camp yet to start we are already planning next years where I will tent it with the older boys. Last years was also very draining so I hope to spend quite a few evenings in the coming weeks walking and getting plenty of sleep so come 2 weeks time the energy levels will cope with 9 days of awesomeness.

Until Next time.......

Not the best start to the week

2011-03-04T20:18:00.004+11:00

It all started when I went to leave for work last Friday morning.

As I hopped in my car it felt funny, I realised as I went to start it that the interior light was not on, then click....... nothing now power, dead battery. So I was forced to quickly don my gear and take my bike.

Friday night I searched everywhere for my battery charger but no dice, I vaguely remember lending it to someone, or throwing it out, hell I don't know.

I went out Saturday afternoon to find jumper leads and ended up getting the car going Saturday evening. Upon it firing up I noted that the headlights, fan, demister, indicator and hazards were all turned on. I suspect one of the little'ns played in it last Thursday as I took a company car to work.

Once started I took Mr C and Miss L for a drive up the mountain to let it charge back up, got home turned it off, started up fine. Off, on, off, on a few times all good.

Sunday I went to go get some groceries and again it was very flat so I again jump started it and left it sitting running for an hour or so. Turned it off, then on again then off then on all good (again)

Monday morning after a terrible nights sleep and about a dozen sneezes when I woke up that worked wonders for my healing ribs I went to leave for work and again.........click.

At this point I had 2 options.....
1) get out, unlock the house, go inside, get the bus keys, start and move the bus to where my car was, jump it, move the bus back, put the keys back, lock the house up leave for work.
2) Roll start the car down my driveway

Its also worth mentioning that my drive is steep and goes down under the house to a small garage and also to a gate that access the equally steep back yard.

Of course I went with the roll start option, of course the car didn't start til it was at the bottom of the hill and.............. of course I couldn't get back up.

I turned the car around in the back yard and tried to get it back up the drive but the combination of wet tyres and front wheel drive worked against me made it impossible. After a few attempts the car was bogged and there was nothing I could do.. I jumped in the bus and left for work.

This then presented a new problem. Most auto parts stores here in whoop whoop are open 9 to 5 which makes it impossible for me to get to one as i'm at work. I contemplated paying top $$$ for a low quality crap battery that wouldn't suit my car from one of the local service stations but in my hour of need & stress (wondering how I would get a battery, let alone get the car started let alone get it back up the drive way) Mamma bare came to my aid.

She posted a query on our local community network and received a few responses that recommended a battery place that was hidden behind the shops in the main street. After a phone call she had securely the correct battery for my car, at a great price.

Again this presented another issue. In my haste to get to work I not only took the bus, but both sets of house keys and both our stroller and jogger prams. At this point I would have quit instead she made a quick call to one of our local friends who had her daughter run their spare pram down to us (Thank you sooooo much J) then set off on about a 4km round trip pushing the 3 year old, carrying the 1 year old on her back and keeping tabs on the 4, 6, 8 and 10 year olds as she went.

When I arrived home, she not only had the new battery ready for me to fit but had overseen our 10 year old in making a delicious spag bowl for dinner. I fitted the new battery and when I still couldn't get the car up the steep and slippery drive she towed me up with the bus.

You wouldn't see me walking with all 6 children on my own over that distance (the home trek is all up hill) that's for sure. I'm proud to say that after so many years together I was truly amazed by her determination to sort out the issue. I was also happily reminded why she is the the woman I love. So thank you.... .again so much for saving my ass.... again :)

So now my car has to be locked when its parked at home and a lesson I always try and teach the children served as a timely reminder for me.

Cutting corners results in more work sooner or later.

The descent

Until Next time.......

Proud Moments as a Father

2011-02-28T21:25:00.001+11:00

I've tried on numerous occasions to list every little thing that makes me proud of my children. The average day for me is so chaotic meaning this always proves difficult. Instead I have just decided to take one example from each child over the past week and note what has put a smile on my face. Here they are in no particular order.

SwimmingOn Saturday - My eldest B 10 has just completed a 1-1 squad training session with his teacher, he knows I used to swim competitively and loves me watching him. On completion of his lesson he walked over to me puffed out but far from gasping for air - I asked "Did you have fun" to which he lit up and blurted out "YES!!!" Proud Moment

Still @ Swimming and Mr C 4 was in a group lesson on safety, picture 15 little wee ones lined up on the side of the pool listening attentively to the talk on safety, he breaks eye contact with the teacher to look at me for a split second to give me a wink, then straight back to paying attention. Proud Moment

Miss L 6 was clearing her plate after dinner on Saturday night and after putting it in the dishwasher hugged my leg and said "Daddy you home made pizzas are my favorite" Proud Moment

Miss H 1 has started walking in the past week or so and the time its taken her to switch from walking to breaking into a dance whenever she hears music. Smiling ear to ear the whole time. Proud Moment

Miss P 3 When seeing that I intended start the bus (to move it closer to my car for a jump) came round out the front door to hug me like it was our last good bye, she griped my leg so tight I had to lift her and pop her in the front seat. The look of sheer excitement on her face as we moved the bus 5 feet closer to my car was priceless. Proud Moment

Mr T 8 Has been doing basketball skills for a few terms now. he reminds me of my younger brother, very tall for his age and not the most coordinated. I missed one week of basketball and to see his improvement in just one week was amazing. Getting free throws in, dribbling everything is starting to click for him. After he finished training and came over to me for his drink bottle - I asked "Are you liking basketball" to which his tomato red face covered in perspiration lit up and exclaimed "YES!!!" Proud Moment

These are just 6 moments from 1 day. That equates to over two thousand proud moments I get per year.

That makes me feel very wealthy.

Belated

2011-02-27T08:38:00.008+11:00

In a family of 8 there is no shortage on birthdays to celebrate. The youngest two women in our house had theirs recently. 1 & 3

Miss H - I can't believe its been a year already!

Miss P - How are you three?

By far the most treasured member of our family you are not short on love or attention

You're always the fastest to pull a tongue out for the camera

You have more personality and character than many adults I know

Your smile reminds me of you're beautiful mother
You're always the first to feel the cold
What? again with the tongue sheesh

You're face is the most animated of all my children, happy, sad, angry, cheeky. For this shot I simple said "show me angry"
First Boat ride
Smiles in the wind

First foods

Both eaten and worn
Content in dads chair
Down by the river in a comfy lap

Your eldest brother has the most special of bonds, he is your guardian, your 3rd parent.

More scripted faces

An apprentice water baby

1 is an age where children are most exploratory. You've been blesses with an audience larger than most have present for your first steps & beginnings of spoken sentences

3 is an age where you want the world yesterday and you are shaping up to be a firecracker. I'm truely enjoying this time as you're personality is by far the most entertaining.

I treasure the fact that we photograph everything and through these posts as I pick some of my many favorite images of you both I am reminded just how quickly my wonderful children grow and develop.

Happy Birthday my little ones

More Music Goodness

2011-02-21T19:28:00.005+11:00

Been a while.......

Some 2011 releases I'm hanging for are the next installment front the wombats. I'm diggin the first 2 singles released from their up and coming "this modern glitch" We're big Wombats fans in our fam, its awesome hearing your 10 year old sing a song word for word (Including liverpudlian accent)
Tokyo Vampires & Wolves

Jump into the fog

also the latest album from the strokes "angles"
I'm a big Julian Casablancas fan and the first single "Under Cover Of Darkness" is bitchin (Sorry no video just audio)

Lastly I have to pay homage to some Aussie hiphop in the form of the latest single from Draphts up and coming "The Life of Riley" Rapunzle has a really sweet psychedlic backing to it.

I've previously posted about Drafts collaboration with M-Phazes on his 2010 album "Good Gracious" the best aussie hip hop album of 2010 see here

Jobs

2011-02-21T18:56:00.005+11:00

My 1st job was delivering pamphlets, I loathed it, it was soooo much time spent folding the junk mail, probably about 75% of the work was folding. You folder until your fingers were black from the ink. It gave me enough pocket money to afford the little things, which at age 14 was parts for my bike.

My 2nd job was working after school on Wednesdays at a family owned photo shop, I did general tasks like cleaning up and eventuated to classifying miss prints. (Classifying photos printed in error helped with calibration the machine that developed photos). There were some eye openers working at this store, you would be amazed what people take photos of. I think the store closed down because of the emerging popularity of digital cameras.

My 3rd job commenced half way through year 12 when I started working as a nursing attendant at an aged care facility. I remained at that nursing home for almost 4 years well into my nursing degree. It was a place of many firsts one of which was experiencing death first hand. I had only ever seen a dead body once. It was my grandfather at his wake the year before. In the years I worked i witnessed all facets of life in particular the lower end of human existence, dementia, incontinence etc etc

Seeing so many people who had lived great lives come to an end was a privilege.

My 4th job was my first IT job doing EFTPOS & point of sale support. The hours were good, I worked 7 out of 14 days on 12 hour shifts. I miss working shifts, in particular how much free time it permits you. After 12 months I was made redundant as the contract I worked on was terminated.

My 5th job was doing the exact same job on the same contract with a new company. I went on to stay at this company for the next 5 years working many roles from tech support to management ending up in operations. I saw the writing on the wall and signs that the company was not managing their finances well and left. (They were bankrupt within 3 years)

My 6th job was working as a technical analyst for a company that owned private hospitals. This was a great job, working in a great team for a great company. As things happen this company was bought out by a smaller company looking to expand. There was good and bad in the takeover, unfortunately all the systems I worked with were targeted for lights out.

My 7th job was working for the company that took over the private hospitals business working on a network project interstate. This was a great experience for me personally and professionally as I was able to move my family to another city. It was a great experience however as we were interrupted by a cute little blond boy we had to move home

My 8th job fell in my lap, the stars definitely aligned for this one. I was sitting in Brisbane contemplating resigning from my job and moving back to Melbourne when a phone call out of the blue set the scene for a new job in Melbourne working as a systems analyst starting around the time that we would arrive home. Though far from the best company on earth working there for the next 5 years was great for me in so many ways. I was able to leverage flexible work arrangements for hospital trips. I would have happily stayed there for many years however working for a tyrant and not being able to visualise where my career there was going made it an easy decision to leave.

My 9th job is where I am now, again IT, again as a systems analyst.

What have I learnt in 9 jobs??

Most jobs have an expiry date
You learn just as much working for a bad company as you do for a good one.
People will stay way too long in a bad job if they work with good people

As a footnote I found it interesting that I had this post typed up yesterday but didn't post it everything from here on I added later.

Today I arrived at work today to an email from my one over manager expressing her thanks to me for the work i've done while my direct manager has been on 5 weeks leave. The Head of the departement was also Cc'd on the email and he had responded and also added his thanks.

I've been working in this new role for only 10 weeks and i'd say that's more praise than I received in the last 3 years at my old job.

This new job feels good.

Are We Nomads???

2011-02-18T19:28:00.005+11:00

Its taken a while for our little family to find a place that felt right 10 moves in 10 years to be exact. We've lived in Houses, Units, Townhouses, hi-rise apartments and more. They've been in quiet courts, busy streets, CBD, contry you name it we've tried that shoe on at some point.

I joked with MB that its almost like we have commitment issues, not with each other but with where we choose to reside.

In recent years we've accepted that we need to live in country, I need the hills & bush & Mamma Bare likes the ocean but unfortunately finding both let alone being within commute distance to Melbourne CBD (for my work) doesn't exist within our means.

Sometimes this is hard with the location we've chosen. We dont know that many people, we're new to the area, our house is still a ways away from being started and after outings to meet friends like we did on the weekend makes it hard to visualise our dreams.

Sometimes I wish we had of tried a more nomadic lifestyle after we sold our house. We could have bought a bigger bus, made ourselves debt free and taken off for 6 months, a year, two whatever it took. I wish we'd had more courage to take a leap like that instead of opting for wanting the security of our own property. Perhaps now i'd be sitting by a river or on a beach with a beard and long hair instead of being cooped up in my study shaking off a 90 minute commute.

We have 2 placentas in our freezer awaiting burial yet we have had our land for over a year and not buried them.

I hate questioning a decision. Success and failure are clear cut, you make a decision, it was wrong/right deal with it & move on. But wondering is worse, we have ties to where we used to live, but not liking living there is easily forgotten, missing friends and family isn't.

Another goal for 2011/2012 is to not only start & finish our house (obviously). But to more importantly be more mindful of the reasons for why we left our old neighborhood. And channel those emotions for wanting to leave into building our new life "in the hills".

Glad I got that off my chest. You can follow our dream house musings here (I promise updates will be more frequent now)

Until next time.....

16 Years of Valentines

2011-02-14T19:27:00.003+11:00

Valentines day is one of those occasions where I'm torn between the importance of expressing my feelings for my soul mate and doing my best to avoid conforming to an over commercialised "hallmark holiday"

In our early years I made a big fuss about valentines day with flowers and gifts coupled with stuffed toys and going the whole nine yards for every feb fourteen. One can amass quite a few gifts in 16 years together. 16 anniversaries, 16 birthdays, 16 Gifts-mases, 10 wedding anniversaries etc. It all adds up and leaves you in a position where there aren't a lot of gifts you haven't already given your partner.

Theres been jewellery, watches, sunglasses, clothes, you name it I've already bought it. Of course there are some especially memorable ones. I was so happy to get Mamma Bare a new laptop for her birthday in 09. It was just hers, not to be shared or co-used with me or the children. I also treasure my leatherman that she gave me on behalf of our first child on my first fathers day.

Unfortunately i've dropped the ball a few times over the years. In hindsight a filing cabinet wasn't the most romantic wedding anniversary present but hey you live and learn.

Hands down my favorite present that I've ever given MB is this simple pendant:

Its a pregnant woman, hand carved out of an unknown substance (Any Ideas??). It was about $12 at an oxfam store and in my opinion sums up the person I adore. My best friend who has become and awe inspiring mother who personifies the essence of woman in my eyes.

There are earrings I gave her for birthday or Christmas years ago that I cant recall ever being worn (something about having a matching dress) but the pregnant woman pendant is worn most days and for me that is so rewarding.

The best present is rarely what someone wants and never what someone needs. Its something that surprises them, a symbol that shows them who they are what they mean to you.

Mamma Bare is so much more than just a strong woman & mother of our children and far more than a simple pendant can illustrate. She is my everything & although I could never say it as often as I think it and I wont be able to find as awesome a gift as that pendant every time.

I hope I can continue to be her eternal valentine and make her as happy as she does me.

Ouch

2011-02-13T11:06:00.002+11:00

As I eluded to in my last post on our trip to the water slide park I pulled up pretty sore after one particular trip down the speed slide.

On the drive home my chest continued to hurt more and more, it got to the point where I had to use a clothes peg on the seat belt to keep it off the left side of my chest. The night came with more pain, I had a touch of a cold and at one stage let out several sneezes in a row. The pain felt like each sneeze was someone kicking me in the ribs. I slept ok (more exhaustion from the busy day) but with Tuesday came further pain.

I kept my movement to a minimum when I was at my desk in the office. We had dinner with family and had 2 beers and felt better until bed time. I spent the whole night trying to lie in a position that didn't hurt. With that night came shortness of breath (made worse when I was horizontal). I dragged myself out of bed and off to work on the Wednesday but spent most of the day hunched over my desk trying to restrict my movements. Lunchtime came and I decided to try and walk it off but unfortunately after the uphill stretch back to the office I was well and truly spent.

On advise from both Mamma Bare and my boss I decided to take myself to the hospital to in the least get some decent pain relief. The doc was confident I had a rib fracture despite not being able to determine which one on XRAy so I took a prescription for some decent pain meds and headed home.

After a day on decent meds i'm feeling better, I wouldn't want to run or make any sudden movements and certainly not sneeze but general activity is more tolerable.

While I'm not young I'm certainly not old and had I been carrying a little less weight and been maintaining a better level of fitness I'm sure I wouldn't be hurting as badly now.

I've been eating healthy since I started my new job and have had little or no coke in 2 months. I've also been trying to exercise every lunchtime with at least a 30 minute walk, this has been coupled with plenty of activity at home, hiking, walking the bike trails with the boys etc. Its a great thing to be fit and healthy. MB has also been keeping up the healthiness with good eating and upping the exercise. Every time I catch a glance of her I'm impressed with how fitter she looks every day.

I hope this rib injury will only see me out of action for a week or so because I don't want to lose momentum that has been gaining speed since before Christmas.

EDIT: Funny thing I had some coke for the first time in ages last night, the combination of 2 glasses of coke and watching a little to many eps of Sons of Anarchy I didn't go to bed til 05:00 this morning. Coke is Evil kids

Until next time.......

Slip Slidin Away

2011-02-12T20:34:00.005+11:00

As I mentioned in my last post we had the "Not Back To School Day" coming up at a water park. We decided (learning from last year) that a 9:30am meeting time meant departure from our house at least 4 hours prior to this. This year we decided to spend the night in a holiday park nearby. I was amazed at our accommodation, we drove down Sunday afternoon and arrived after several detours due to widespread flooding to find a 3 bedroom unit that slept 8 all for $130 (Bargain).

After unpacking the bus MB and the children went and checked out the local parks in a reserve that wasn't flooded while I whipped up some spag for the fam. Another treat was eating outside (a treat for the children and less mess to clean up for mum and dad) this is something we will do more often for sure.

Another treat was having a television, while we have a TV at home we don't have the aerial connected and only watch downloaded movies and some TV shows. So needless to say there were some surprises. I cant believe how many adds there are, and when did Aussie TV get so boring.

After a relatively early night we all rose around 7:30 (when I say rose I mean I had to drag every child out of bed) for breakfast then we headed off for the waterslide park. More floods meant more detours but we arrived on time and checked in. An addition to last year was waterproof wrist bands so home-ed kids and parents alike could identify one another. This was an awesome idea as it meant the children all jelled quite quickly as did the parents.

I was pretty happy with our setup of one wheeled suitcase & a backpack meaning we were able to get in, set up strip the kids of their outer clothing and sunscreen up in a nice shady spot overlooking one of the playgrounds.

There was one incident though. I agreed to race the boys down the highest slide so I gave them a head start before taking an almighty kick off but as soon as I was on my way knew I was going too fast. I hit the first bump and got some air then hit the second taking off about 3 feet off the slide. I came down with a crunch. I hit the bottom and lay there winded gasping for air, the life guard came over and after asking if I was ok commended me on the "air" i got. I put on a brave face and hobbled over to our deck chairs and chilled for the rest of the day with a fair amount of pain on my left side ribs.

Cracked ribs aside we had a ball. I was so proud of the children for how well they behaved and interacted with new friends not to mention the bravery of C & L heading straight for some of the higher and more daunting slides. Miss P was content to play in the water playground as was miss H where Mamma Bare could watch them so I was able to ride some of the bigger stuff with the older children.

Here are some of the highlights

Its important to wear sunscreen (she'll kill me for posting this)

The slide I hurt myself on

Until next time.....

Le Boos

2011-02-09T19:45:00.005+11:00

Aside from the Apple shares I bought when I was 19 the purchase of our bus aka "le boos" was probably one of the smartest decisions I've ever made. It was a few years in the making though, with the arrival of baby #2 in 2002 I bought a fairlane v8 (hands down one of the nicest cars i've ever driven) which a scum bag with no license or insurance then ran into (thankfully we had full comp). A replacement 4x4 with more than 5 seats would have been a wise choice but I opted for another sedan, this time a Holden Calais (I will never buy another Holden) which saw us through to the arival of baby #4. At this stage the 4x4 was again suggested but I opted for a 7 seat people mover having hired one for a few weeks when we moved to Brisbane. This saw us through the arrival of baby number 5 but soon needed replacing with the imminent arrival of baby #6.

Enter Le Boos.

I shopped around and looked at the offerings from the other manufacturers that do vehicles over 8 seats, Toyota - too expensive, & no luggage space, Mercedes, too expensive again, Renault no thanks even Hyundai entered the ranks but it was the ford transit 12 seat bus that won out in the end and here are a few reasons why:

Easy to Drive- I doubt I will ever buy anything but and automatic turbo diesel ever again its so nice to drive
Mileage - She costs about $100 to fill depending on the price of diesel that day of the week, and depending on the temperature and if you stay on 100kmh she wil easily do 8-900 km to that tank.
Space - Behind the back row of seats is approx 2 cubic metres of space, what this means is you don't have to fold up a pram, you can carry at least 20 suitcases, you can move house (everything fitted in the bus except the fridge and couch)
Sitting up high - You can look over traffic, you can see into cars you can pull out of side roads with ease. This also helps create a sense of extra safety.
Vinyl Floors - I'll never clean vomit out of car carpet again
Duel zone A/c - The children seem to be a few degrees out from us in the front so on a hot day we have the A/c on full in the back but low in the front
Truck Tyres - The bus uses truck tyres which from what I've seen so far have done 50,000km and are only starting to look like wearing on the fronts
Portable Change Room - If we go to the beach we can all change in the bus with its dark tint people outside are none the wiser.
Portable Change Table - The back floor is the perfect height for changing a dirty or wet nappy
Child can separate - With 12 seats we can actually seat 5 children apart from one another
You can park in a bus zone
You can drive in "Bus Lane" on the freeway (this has circumvented many a gridlocked traffic jam for me)
It beeps - The thought of backing over a child be it my own or someone elses terrifies me, there is no sneaking up on someone with the Beeep beeep beeep
Cheap to buy - We bought a second hander for around the same money as a late model Tarago
Cheap to insure - The 12 seat bus is cheaper to insure than my little 2 door hatchback

We certainly give her a work out, this is from a recent trip over the great divide

She has seen the cold too (and floods)
Why list everything great about a bus? Well for one we met a lovely family yesterday with 6 children who had more or less outgrown their 9 seat land cruiser and reveled in the chance of a tour.

There are 2 things that face large families or people planning large families, accommodation and transport. Of course you can fit 8 people in a 2 bedroom house with bunks and the like but transport is more complicated. Obviously there is the option of public transport, personally I commend any parent that catches public transport with children (I certainly wouldn't)

Extra passengers

The long and the short of it

Where to from here for our bus? Well when asked what I wanted to upgrade my runabout to my first answer to Mamma bare was "ANOTHER BUS" but obviously that's probably not practical. The only negative for the bus is the places you can park, at a guess I'd say you can only park in 80% of the car parks cars can (ie underground/multilevel are out). I must say though I have been drooling over Toyota coasters (24 seats) and hope that down the track I can buy a full size passenger bus and convert it to a camper for our round Australia trip.Have to wait a while for that one.

I do have to replace my runabout though, I'll be getting myself a 4x4 for sure, its no bus I know but I'll make sure its turbo diesel, has vinyl floors and sits nice and high in the least because I've been spoilt by our awesome bus.

Buy a Bus people!!!!

Disclaimer: I wish I bought apple shares when I was 19

A week gone by and another to come

2011-02-06T08:15:00.006+11:00

Firstly I must apologise for the dot point update, its been hot and I've avoided extra PC time.

Miss P turned 3
Its hard to believe its been three years since the smallest (though not youngest) memeber of our family popped out into my waiting hands. While her 1 year old sister isn't far off sharing her clothes she is the bigest personality of our crew by a long shot (not to mention the loudest) We had a quiet gathering with her grand parents and she got some different pressies including a doctors kit that has been a big hit.

Shoes
I finally got a decent enough break in to go to my fave little specialist shoe shop for some new clod hoppers, In the form of some snazzy boots for work and a second pair for walking around town.

Man Bag
I managed another equally extended lunch break to pick up a man bag for all manner of things I like to cart around. While the brief was simple it had to:
-Fit an iPad
-Have ample internal pockets for headphones keys and coins & phones
-Be waterproof
-Be small enough to be worn on a crowded train
-Have velcro and a clip for security
I scoured the interwebs for all manner of man bag but unfortunately didn't like anything I saw. I remembered where there was a factory outlet for crumpler and while nothing on their website met my needs I decided to have a look in the hope of getting an older model that may tick my boxes. I did in the form of "the soupandsalad son-o" yeah I don't get the names either. (I got the blue/yellow one)
Sickness
Mamma Bear was ill, in 6 children she has only had mastitis twice and this time was pretty hard on her, mixed in with a few high 30 degree days and plenty of humidity saw her pretty wasted. I felt crap that I couldn't do more for her. She never loses her cool with the children but I could see the combination of being crook and the heat and half a dozen shadows wore her down. Its frustrating seeing people with 1 or 2 children who get multitudes of help all the time, people dont offer to "take 5 off your hands" for an afternoon so mum can rest so we make do. I tried to have all the washing done before mondays return to work as well as taking care of the meals but with a 1 year old you are challenged thats for sure. Heres to no more sickness and a paid babysitter so maybe we can have our first date in well over 3 years

Incense for mosquito's
Living in the sticks means bugs and if you're unfortunate to be a mosquito magnet like some in our family are they can be an annoyances. Its not ideal to close up the house when we get such nice breezes and mossie candles stink so we decided to try some sandelwood incense. I have to say I love the smell and each night I've had a stick burn I've sat next to an open window and haven't had any bites.

Work
Work has continued to be awesome, I'm really getting into working for the government and can really see good in the work people in my department do and indirectly the systems I work on.

Lack of two wheeled action
Its been almost 2 months since I've been for a motorcycle ride, I'm not craving it but am missing it. I'll probably take the Duc for a spin just to give it a run this weekend but wont do any long rides for a few more months. Life is a little busy at the moment for selfish passtimes

Hiking
The eldest boys and I went for a hike up one of the local mountains yesterday, despite torrential rain we wore ponchos, it was challenging, steep, slippery and the track was more overgrown than I expected, we also encountered several leeches I had alf a dozen on one leg. I think I might invest in a water resistant camera for capturing some of the more active and messy activities we do as there were some awesome photo ops.

And the week ahead?

One of the great things about home schooling (there are so many I could bang on all day about them) is the fact that you're no bound to standard school hours or calendars. Lets face it if you go to a family destination be it the zoo, the beach or even the movies it kind of blows during school holidays. Don't get me wrong I love children (well certainly my own) but when an attraction is swarming with families its not as enjoyable.

Enter home Education, forget the crazy 8:30am traffic as parents flock to their childrens school drop off zones, forget about the panda enclosure that you queued at for 90 minutes, or the noisy movie theater. Its awesome when everything is quiet-er.

Monday we have the annual "Not-back-to-school" meet where by many Home Educators take their broods to a water park down the coast for a day of water slides and aqua cycling and much more. Monday is "Not-back-to-school" day and I cant wait.

The change in jobs and switching to consulting (no paid leave) means that our 2011 wont be as active as 2010 was in terms of me taking days off work for activities so I hope to get the most out of Mondays water fun.

Until next time

EDIT - I should add that by help I meant taking the children of MB's hands for an afternoon. She did receive help via our ever so handy Doula who delivered some herbs and potatoe compress to ease the mastitis.

Work, Life & Balance

2011-01-24T19:54:00.003+11:00

One of my dot points in the last entry outlined the fact that after 5 years in same role with a shall remain nameless multinational finance company I finished up and had started in a new role.

I've now been at the new job for about 5 weeks and here are some of many positives of note:

The new team environment is very positive and everyone is really friendly.
Its quiet (as in audible)
Good hours, currently doing 8ish to 4:30ish
My chair is soooo comfy
Going from 10 years using laptops to a desktop has been interesting.
I've always used dual screens & have gone back to a single has also been a challenge
Being in the city is awesome for places to eat.
The daily train ride in and out has proven to be a good way to relax.

With all the rain we've seen of late one of the first things on my shopping list was a new umbrella. I made the mistake of getting a piddly little compact which turned inside out the first time I used it so I quickly upgraded to a golf umbrella reminiscent of the umbrella corporation.

I've also added some other items to the shopping list for the coming weeks, firstly I need a murse/man bag, all my bags are either backpacks or laptop bags and while I dont carry a lot a hand bag would be just that..... HANDY. Secondly I need some new leather shoes, I wore a hole in my current pair in the first few weeks and with countless streets to explore on my lunches I intend to do plenty of miles.

Another thing on the shopping list is a tablet pc. With an extra 2 hours a day sitting on the train time can be better spent reading the my daily interwebz, typing up blog posts, reading e-books videos, games etc etc. This will be the subject of much deliberation, at the moment I'm swaying towards an iPad mainly because with the upgrade of adroid 2.2 on my Galaxy I'm really not happy with the lag and cant really justify taking the plunge on a tablet running the same OS i.e. the Galaxy Tab. More on that later.

Some other changes that the new job has allowed for is the growth of a little hair, I usually shave my head because its the easiest way to maintain when you're riding a motorcycle daily but with my switch up in commuting I dare say i'll need to get a hair cut in a few weeks (the first in years).

I hope I can continue to contract with the Vic Government for a few years and see through the projects I currently have in the pipeline. This year I will also re-establish some new career goals.

I had originally set certain goals to achieve before I turned 30, I reached this first set at 28. I then set additional goals to reach before I turned 35 and reached these at 31 so I think now is an opportune time to reassess.

Until Next Time.......

Yowser

2011-01-21T20:41:00.005+11:00

According to my post log I haven't made one in over a month, so without getting into the inner details here is a recap of the past month at the house of Fun.

I finished up at my old job, I was given a $150 JB voucher. I will not miss that place, just the awesome peeps I worked with.
Miss H turned 1, we took her to Healesville sanctuary and then had a gathering of about 50 people, I cooked a spit roast. It rained so most of the children were confined to quarters.
The Garage flooded, and wet all the carpet downstairs, it smelt like wet dog for the best part of 2 weeks.
I caught the train into the city. My first time in 8 years
I started my new job (more on that later)
Giftmas came with new bikes, transformers, dolls, vintage lego yada yada
New years came, I actually almost didn't make midnight, I was dozing off in bed as I heard one of the local parties count down. I must be getting old
Mamma Bears Brother, his wife and 3 children moved down the beach so we took in some coastal R&R
We drove to Adelaide for the Nevus conference (More on that later)
We drove back from Adelaide
The garage and downstairs flooded again (yay) Not as bad as the first time but still a weeks worth of carpet dryers.

Thats about all I can think of in terms of highlights, so here are some happy snaps in no particular order.

Flood #1
Day at the sanctuary
Miss H on her first birthday
With some ugly mug...
Yay for keeping up with 6 children
Sheesh a smile??
Mr C with one of the other attendees at the Nevus conference, was great to get a point of view of an adult who has grown up with CGMN, he was truly one of the nicest guys i've ever met and and we cant wait to catch up again.
Sunrise somewhere between Melbs and Radelaide
Me at about 3:55am
A perspective shot to see how white my legs are
Fun at the beach
Until next time I promise updates will start coming in more frequently now.

2011 will be the year of the push bike

2010-12-17T21:02:00.004+11:00

In our house anyway........

I used to be quite into my bikes, but as I got older and less fit and had less time to ride it slowly dwindled away to nothing.

About 5 years ago I built up a mountain bike for hitting up some of the downhill tracks near where we lived at the time.

I started with a $1000 24 Bikes pornking frame

Avid Juicy 5's (Hyraulic Disc Brakes)

I built it up over about a year using parts on sale and bargains I came across on EBAY from time to time.

Finished

Unfortunately when we moved from brisbane to Melbourne the bike saw less and less use so I decided to sell it.

Fast forward to the present, my eldest boys have been bikeless since our last move due to there being no suitable places to ride. n the new house there are kilometers and kilometers of tracks to ride on.

So today we picked up some early christmas presents for B & T in the form of a couple of entry level BMX's

The satisfied customers

So now the eldest 4 children all have good bikes its time to kit up mumma bare and I

Mamma bare will be getting a ladies XC bike and a sweet little Baby trailer for Miss P and Miss H to be carted around in and i'll be building up something for myself

Stay tuned.......

More Horror

2010-12-01T17:15:00.002+11:00

Jason Vorhees Cosume Trial Fitting #1

2010-12-01T11:13:00.004+11:00

An update from my fancy dress entry.......

I took an old pair of pants, jumper and shirt, dirtied them all up with black spray paint and tattered them then splashed on some fake blood

I'm happy so far but it still needs:

Dirty the inside fronts of the jacket
Blacken the pants some more
Gloves

Tempting

2010-11-30T21:32:00.001+11:00

Fancy Dress

2010-11-30T08:11:00.002+11:00

I’ve never been to a fancy dress party before, I’ve dressed up once or twice, once for easter (came across more like Donnie darko) and once back when I was at school.

When the end of year work party lined up nicely with my resignation and combined with the fact that it was dubbed as fancy dress where you have to come as your favourite movie character I couldn’t pass up one of the all time greats........................ Jason Voohees

I love movies, there were soooo many to choose from. I couldn't possibly pick my favourite movie character. I wanted something simple to make and easily worn on a warm Melbourne night and something creepy as hell.

Some other possibilities that didn’t make the cut were:
Michael Meyers
Grim Reaper
Chewbacca

A trip to the magic shop in the city made my mind up for me comparing the $100 michael Meyers mask to the $20 Vorhees hockey mask. The Meyers mask looked awesome but was too expensive and I wouldn’t be able to drink with it on.

So I ended up going for a Jason Voorhees hockey mask, a meat cleaver (I realise a machete would have been more suited) and some artificial blood

The plan is to rough up an old work shirt, add some tears and scuffs then dirty it up with black and brown paint. Then cut up a tshirt for underneath, add some bullet holes and stab wounds and splatter it all with fake blood and a dirty/scuffed pair of pants.

Stay tuned............

A Walk In the Woods

2010-11-25T21:58:00.001+11:00

I started training at the beginning of the week. I’ve procrastinated about if for far too long so with a little over 3 weeks to go at my job I figured I might as well leverage the ability to leave early and arrive late as well as the extra daylight on tap of an evening. I’ve wanted to start walking/jogging for ages, the problem has been getting into a routine. What’s helped has been the discovery of some awesome trails to walk that are in close proximity to our house.

My first run didn’t kill me, but man it felt like I was close to death, when I say it’s a steep hill its very steep, and long, I would guess from my front door step the first 2km is straight up the mountain. On night number 1 I got what could be only explained as a stitch in my neck, not the most pleasant feeling. I’m not sure if it was my heart trying to pass a cheeseburger of old into my brain of just the blood plumbing getting a good workout. Night number 2 yielded some ease in the breathing and stitch stakes but my calves burned the whole way up. By night 3 wI was able to complete this first 2km stretch without a break which I was very pleased with. My aim is to complete the circuit every night through summer. Lets see how I go.

There is an old aqueduct trail that runs along the mountain range I can access after about 2km up the steep mountain road, this serves as a great warm up. B & T my 10 & 8 years olds also tagged along last night, we walked for approximately an hour and forty minutes. It proved to be quite an informative trek. There are hundreds of wildlife trails up and down the mountain that converge upon bridges over the old aqueduct serving as a crossing for all manner of creatures. We have spotted trail from deer, wallabies, kangaroos & wombats. We have also observed wild cockatoos as well as rosellas.

What amazes me is how the bush changes from one corner to the next, some areas are thick overgrown rainforest style with tree ferms reaching 20 feet tall. The scenery then turns to open & more traditional aussie bush with mountain ashes reaching hundreds of feet overhead. Turn a corner to a “dark side” where light isn’t as prominent and the landscape changes again. The temperature drops and enormous dead conifers give an almost haunted look.

I’ve done the walk every night this week and always arrived home just after dusk so what I’m really looking forward to is doing it in the dark armed with a torch to really see some wildlife. Its proving to be an challenging and educational way to restore my fitness. I aim to do the walk Sunday morning armed with my camera to see if I can get a shot of a deer, if the tracks are anything to go buy there place is very well travelled.

Until next time………

Rollin on a River

2010-11-24T08:44:00.004+11:00

One of the many awesome things about living where we do (just east of whoop whoop) is the close proximity of plenty of nature related things to do.

One such thing is the river, it flows through the valley we live in and is easily accessible by foot.

Sunday we chose to drive a little out of town to a shallow spot where the children could try skimming stones.

While our house doesn’t have AC I am still looking forward to summer and plenty of evening dips in the water, hopefully it’s a little warmer than it was on Sunday.

Time For a Change

2010-11-21T20:29:00.004+11:00

I know I had a bit of a moan about hating my job a few weeks back. After some more thought on the issue and time to reflect I can probably shed some more light now as I resigned a few days ago.

The issues I had with motivation didn't stem from having a boring job, it wasn't the long commute, it wasn't the company I worked for. It was my boss.

I started with this multination shall-remain-nameless company almost 5 years ago. I was head hunted, and at the time, we were living is Brisbane, C had just been born and we were still coming to grips with his nevus and what parts of our lives would have to change. I started in a great team, great manager, very positive atmosphere. Unfortunately that manger moved to a new role and a re-org saw me answering in to a new manager, a woman who had been with the company for quite a while as a contractor. She came from a Project Management background managing a team of contractors. I wont go in to all the details, i'll just say that this womans people skills were not the best, and she managed everything like a project.

It was the best feeling to hand her my resignation, she was surprisingly positive about it.

I've done the whole permanent employee thing for years so I was keen to try my hand at consulting. After a week of applications the interviews started to filter through & mid last week I received an offer & accepted an initial 12 month contract with plans for extensions, & its government.

Yahtzee!!!

I start in a few weeks. I'm nervous because its a new, its not finance (I've been in Finance IT for almost 8 years) but its in the city so I have a 20 minute drive then a 55minute train ride. I'm hoping the reduced amount of driving will also contribute to being more mentally fresh when I get home of a night.

To begin with I'm contracting through the firm that hired me but i'm going to look at setting up my own company eventually (never thought i'd be saying that).

Stay tuned I guess.......

Play Well

2010-11-19T19:35:00.010+11:00

Thats what Lego means in Danish......

Today we hit up the Lego workshop with a bunch of home educated kids for some Lego learning.

Todays classes were focused on gears, the children learnt about driver gears, follower gears, gear ratios etc etc.

I sat out for the 1st session where they made mini-merry-go-rounds.

The after morning tea session was spent making race cars, powered by a capacitor that they hand charge with little Lego magnetos.

B's Concentration T' made friends

Again with the concentration

Is it that obvious who is the more laid back out of B & T

Race Time

B won his first round

As did T

B quickly worked out a secret

Smoother wheels = fast speed

T was more content to just tinker

Some of the other education Lego stuff

Away put your weapon I mean you no harm

The last activity was building a gear driven croc bot whose actions would be driven by a computer program the children wrote.

Hard at it

Paying attention

The program

Until Next Time...............

(I'm spent)

Back To Our Regular Programming

2010-11-14T14:01:00.003+11:00

We have a camera again

The last decent shot off the old point and shoot before its swim
Now a play toy.

Drawing on Harvey Mckay

2010-11-10T17:57:00.000+11:00

“Find something you love to do and you'll never have to work a day in your life”

I’m in a bit of a rut professionally at the moment. I don’t enjoy my job; it wasn’t a career I chose. I fell into by chance as I tried to get out of my chosen career. It was only meant to be temporary. But 12 years later I find myself miserable at work. I work for a great company and enjoy what I do but do not have the greatest of managers which turns a positive situation negative in so many ways.

I find there is often a difference between doing something you love & doing something you’re good at. Unfortunately the latter can sometimes be more of a curse.

In early high school I was passionate about design. Graphics was my favourite subject and if I was drawing I could see hours go by and feel like minutes. I soon realised it was the design and build process that I enjoyed as opposed to the artistic side.

A bad placement on work experience made me change my mind and look at other career prospects. Midway through high school I was really enjoying biology and human development and started consider options of careers in nursing or perhaps as a paramedic. By the end of high school the pressure from my parents to go straight into university pretty much made my mind up for me and I studied Nursing. I worked as a nurse while I studied and thoroughly enjoyed the contact with people and helping those who needed it, but felt my size & strength made me more prone to be used as a lifting machine.

I made the decision to leave that profession and lined up an IT support role and did some additional studies and soon found my niche and 12 years later here I am. I did choose to quit a job I was working about 6 years ago and obtained the necessary qualifications to work in security at night allowing me to be home in the days and mamma bare could teach, but ultimately found myself looking for what was familiar and went back into IT.

With children comes responsibility and I have always put the importance of supporting the family over my career satisfaction and the perfect reward at the end of a stressful day and slow commute is hugs from your little ones. I've set career goals regardless of my level of passion for the work I do. I had a salary goal for when I turned 30 and reached it at 28, I set another goal for 35 and will be on track to reach it by 32 but money doesnt motivate so here I am applying for roles.

My parents never gave me the freedom to do whatever I wanted. Who knows if that was the case I could be a teacher now, or maybe build houses or any one of a dozen other fields that interest me. In the mean time i'll stick with what i'm good at and maybe look at contracting, working 6-9 months of the year and doing what I truely enjoy for the remainder

A quick poll of my eldest 4 on what they would like to be when they grow up
B 10 Years - Something with elctrical stuff or electronics
T 8 Years - Police Officer
L 6 Years - A Mum(Her mothers daughter clearly)
C 4 Years - Metal Bean Chicker

This list will no doubt change completely time and time again, the important thing for me is to support whatever is on it no matter what.

Until next time.................

RIP Sweet Canon

2010-11-10T09:21:00.001+11:00

Our trusty IXUS took a bath on the weekend, it had served us well delivering over 5000 images.

Photos will be disparate for the next few days.

Eight Legged Freaks

2010-11-06T09:37:00.006+11:00

I'm a man. A 6'7, big, ugly, hairy, mean (when I want to be) man. I have super powers, one such power is the power of transformation.

I have the ability to transform from a surly dude into a squealing little child at the site of a huntsman spider.

I don't have issue with red backs or white tails or even the common house spider (which looks mean as hell) and especially not daddy longs legs'. But you throw a huntsman into the mix and I'm scared, there I said it SCARED.

Unfortunately in my house everyone is scared of all spiders & bugs so along with disposing of all manner of creepy crawly I'm also charged with dispensing of the big, fast moving brown curses know as..........................................the huntsman spider.

Huntsman Facts:

Huntsman's have a life span of approximately 90 years
Huntsman's can jump at least 3 meters
The venom of the Huntsman spider is powerful enough to knock out a horse. It will not kill the horse, simply tranquilise it for long enough for the huntsman to devour it whole.
A Huntsman Spider can devour a horse whole
Contrary to popular believe huntsman spiders are actually trained in scare tactics.
Huntsman spiders prefer to feed on the eldest born child of any family
Huntsman's can be found all over Australia but prefer to reside in OUR FREAKIN HOUSE
The ground up remains of a dead huntsman spider can be used as a hallucinogen
Huntsman spiders enjoy walking across your face while you sleep
Huntsman spiders are faster in the water than they are on land

Here are 2 of some of the suckers encountered in our current house. This first one was above the Toilet, T noticed it while B was sitting there. Can you say freak out?

This one crawled up the wall while Mamma Bare and I were watching a movie, I had to tear the lounge apart to get at it. Note the toys and array of DVD's discovered under the couch

And as if 8 legs wasn't enough what the freakin hell is this thing????

Until next time...........

The $5 Coffee Table Project

2010-11-02T18:32:00.009+11:00

Number 29 on my 40 before 40 post was to restore something:

Save & Restore something. It may be an old car at the wreckers or a piece of furniture left out for hard rubbish collection. I’d like to take something that someone has or is about to throw away and make it useful and appreciated again.

Well, it wasns't quite thrown away but I picked this up for $5 today at a local garage sale. It was hidden to the side under a kerosine heater, Mamma bare had already walked past and missed it but I spotted it straight away. I'm calling it my Gothic Coffee table.

I'm pretty sure its hardwood (well its heavy) & has a freaky blood red tiled top.

The legs have this brace that appears to be pegged to hold it together.

Unfortunately 2 of the tiles are chipped rather deeply so the tiles may need to be replaced

The dude selling it made all his own handmade furniture out of locally sourced reclaimed timber, i'm not sure if this was a piece he made or not, perhaps I should of asked. I know nothing about wood or carpentry so I hope I can do it justice and learn a little along the way. I dont even drink tea or coffee

First thing I need to do is clean my work bench and then give it a scrub.

Stay tuned............

Whats to do when its pelting rain all day long?

2010-10-31T09:29:00.004+11:00

Whats to do when its pelting rain all day long?

2010-10-31T09:29:00.001+11:00

Said at least once a day in our house.............

2010-10-30T17:56:00.001+11:00

"Please try and keep the vegemite out of the margarine"

The Master & the Apprentice

2010-10-29T21:31:00.003+11:00

C had a follow up appointment with his surgeon today, we actually made great time on the drive in and were seen early. He will not require any further tissue expansion treatment but the doc does plan to do some follow-up smaller ops to fix/adjust/smooth out some areas that are still a work in progress. He asked me if we wanted to have some time off from surgeries or get back into it with an adjustment to his eyebrow first up. Given we were on the waiting list for over a year last time I figured might as well start waiting now so he added us to the waiting list.

C and I then headed over to my work. I set him up on my personal laptop with a few movies and TV shows over the partition from me and I think it’s fair to say he had a ball.

What's funny is that he is such a loud boisterous child except when he is around strangers then he is the opposite, quiet, softly spoken & shy.

He was lucky enough to also be spoilt by half a dozen members of staff with lollies and all sorts.

It tuckered him out, he slept the whole way home.

Until Next Time........

A wonderful drive in the country

2010-10-27T09:33:00.005+11:00

Sunday came around with blue skies and sunshine so I dragged the other members of the fam out of their slumber and broke the news that we would be going on a road trip.

The mission was simple: assess the road to Woods Point, a mining settlement in the vic alpine area with a population of just 94 (2006 census) for possible future bike ride

I neglected to do some in depth checks of the info surrounding the roads to and from this town. I knew that fuel would be a stretch but didn’t take note that the town was only accessible by dirt road.

Unfortunately to get to the dirt road was 45km of sweeping corners which saw my eldest son B and youngest son C complaining they felt sick early on in the journey.

By the time we reached gravel we had our second vomit to clean up, unfortunately this was the first of several, we are still unsure if this was ordinary car sickness or the fact that both boys had tuna sandwiches for breakfast, perhaps it was a combination of both as we all know Tuna is the 3rd most disgusting substance known to man after tofu and death metal music

After what seemed like hours we finally pulled in at the first real sign of settlement and paved roads. Mansfield, the gateway to the ski country. At this stage we were 5 hours into our journey and had only travelled 195km.

We fuelled up with plenty of greese and sugar and back tracked the highway route home, we arrived in at 7pm with aprox 375km on the trip meter and the best part of 8 hours of our lives that we would never get back.

It was still fun, we saw plenty of interesting scenery (I am so kayaking the Goulburn river one day) here are some of the shots

One of many "Dady stop the car i'm going to Bommet" stops
Crossing the great dividing range in Le Boos

One of only a few buildings in woods point

Goulburn river (unseen below the grass line is a family member going to the loo "Bush Style")

It was sooooo good to drive on tarmac

Mansfield visitors centre

5-6 hours in and still all smiles

View of the yarra glen

Its hard to see here but the arrow is actually pointing to a Deer that we came across on the route home.

A shot from the road of the mountain range we live on

Surprisingly still smiles

Its great to get in the car (or our case Le Boos) and just explore

Until next Time..........

No Stereotypes Here

2010-10-23T19:47:00.004+11:00

I dont really buy into that 50's housewife bollocks

I grew up in a house where the mum worked night shift so the dad cooked and cleaned.

My job is far from physically taxing so I make sure when i'm home the mrs doesn't have to do too much. Wrangling 6 children for 12 hours while i'm at work has got to be hardenough.

I've been able to take a 4 day weekend so Mamma bare trotted off to a friends blessingway today which let me get stuck into a few things around the house. We've had a busy 2 weeks so the washing (read) folding was a little out of hand. I also enjoy some housework, like vacuming, I love it, mainly because of our Dyson, but still.

This was todays pile of washing, just to give you an idea of what 8 people generate.

(It actually multiplie by 3 loads after I took that shot )

And folded........

You'll notice the blue tshirt on top is wet, miss p decided to tip her cup of water on the pile...........Thanks

So what housework have YOU done lately?

Until Next Time.......

Where did the time go?

2010-10-20T20:35:00.003+11:00

Married 10 Years tomorrow
I'm who I am today because of you

My best friend of 17 years

Harking back to the times of Old

2010-10-13T08:49:00.009+11:00

Yesterday we hit up the “Australian Blacksmithing Expo” The annual expo was held on one of the local farms that was one of the first to be established in the area. It wasn’t just for black smithing enthuisiasts there was also:
Fabric Felting
Archery
Steam and Traction Engines
Clay Art
Medieval Re-enactors
Pony Rides
Devonshire tea
Preserves
Wood Turning
And much more ........

First order of business was the archery

Miss L wasn't overly interested in the archery and promptly stated she wanted a pony ride when it came to her turn with the bow and arrows, so off we went

T went for the biggest pony (Note mamma Bares excitment, I think she wanted a go more than the children)

L Opted for the white one

Little P went on the little black one

B on the large one

Miss P hanging on for dear life

C was rather shy about the whole thing.

Next up was felting, I for one had no idea this was how you made felt, the ladies running the stall were more than happy to teach the kids how to make felt.

The boys tried their hand at pottery, we will definitely be buying some clay for more of this at home

A view from the top

All in pottery action

Of course there was blacksmithing, this was one of about a dozen different stalls, the machine behind the fire is actually an automatic hammer and was very impressive to watch.

Nextup was the medieval re-enactors, this was a hit with the kids, I really admire the people who don the traditional gear in australian sun and fight it out, it looked very exhausting.

B was allowed to suit up

Noble Knight

T went next, I was amazed at the weight of the chain armour

A Sword battle ensued

The armour was divided

Next up little miss P was challenged to a battle

Lethal

C had another go omn the horse, this time the bigger one, but was still very shy about it all

B continued to try on various pieces of armour

This was impressive. it weighed more than him

B also wanted a shot at felting

and thats about it.

A great day had by all, a first taste of the aussie summer sun to come too.

Until next time.......

It not easy being Green (or Tall)

2010-10-06T19:34:00.000+11:00

Ok so I’m not really that green, maybe in my uni days after happy hour but far from green these days.

I am tall though, not the tallest out there, but taller than most. At last tale of the tape I measured six feet, seven inches in the old speak or over 200cm in the metric system. I’ve 31 now and have more of less been at the same height since mid way through high school. I I’ve also worn a size 15 shoe since that time.

I did most of my growing in one or two spurts during late primary school & early high school. I grew over 30cm in under a year at one stage. I recall going through a winter where I had to wear shorts as I kept growing out of all my trousers. This caused a multitude of muscular issues for me, particularly my lower back, and hamstrings. I saw physios, had countless x-rays and had to do painful exercises to try and get my muscles to grow or stretch to match the bones that had grown too quickly. I have not been able to touch my toes since early primary school. I also haven’t been able to sit cross legged for that time.

Such a high rate of growth came with an hefty appetite, I ate my parents out of house and home. During my teen years I would easily put away a dozen vitabrits for breakfast, and upon returning home from school knock off another 12-16 at 4pm and then still eat a full dinner. Wash that down with 2 litres of milk that’s $10 a day alone. Factor in snacks, lunch at school and its sure does add up.

Being Tall certainly has its advantages. Everything is within reach for one, like hidden chocolates from the children in the top of the pantry. I was also able to slam dunk a basketball at age 13 and dunk it from the foul line ala Michael Jordan style from age 15.

The disadvantages unfortunately outnumber the advantages. I attended a private school & had to have a tailor made Blazer at considerable cost to my parents (which my mother constantly reminded me of whenever it needed laundering). I also had immense difficulty finding footwear, especially black leather school shoes. Because of this I was the only student who had written permission from the principal to wear trainers.

I have also incurred countless bumps, scratches and bruises courtesy of low hanging branches, door jams, roof beams, power lines etc. The side door to the garage where I grew up was equal to the height of my forehead. Unfortunately you had to take 1 step into the garage to reach the light switch meaning I laid myself out many a time on that door jam running in when it was the dark.

It also meant my aspiring career in MotoGP was dashed at about aged 9 as you have to be the size of a jockey to ride a GP bike. I could forget about many other careers actually, the army (easy target), the navy (ships have low ceilings), the air force (cant fit in the cockpit). I could also forget about working in electronics (large hands) or owning any one of the many cars I rate on my favourite list (Goodbye Lotus Elise & Austin Healy Sprite)

Its not all bad though. With the humans these days on average growing taller than our ancestors I have seen a swing the availability of clothing and footwear lately. Maybe its just that time has allowed me to search more but regardless 15 years ago I had the choice between Nike basketball boots or Nike trainers for footwear & when I entered the workforce my first business shirts didn’t fit me and were really uncomfortable to wear. Nowadays I can buy most styles of shoe, and have a wide range of clothing cut for tall people to choose from mainly due great stores like Rosenbergs & high and mighty.

I’ve developed an Imelda Marcos-esque trait of amassing a wide range of footwear though. I have a terrible habit of buying shoes just because they have a size 15 in stock not necessarily because I needed a pair. Much to the dismay of my ever supportive wife

I wouldn’t change being tall for anything though. I didn’t have an enjoyable time at primary school and rate growing taller as one of the key ways to gained confidence in myself late in life. I also take pride in the fact that I will get to go through this all over again. Out of my 6 children I would hazard a guess that at least 4 are going to be tall, 2 will certainly surpass me, the question is how soon, and will I be able to keep the fridge and pantry stocked.

Until next time………

A Facial Hair Avoision

2010-10-05T21:54:00.001+11:00

As the eldest son of a Moustach Afficionado with over 40 years upper lip grooming experience i'd like to make a confession............................................................

I'm facial hair inept, I seriously cannot manage even a rough beard, this is the best i've achieved after what felt like 6 months (I think it was more like 5 weeks)I participated in Movember a few years back, I raised a few hundred dollars but the best I could manage was a marginal Errol Flynn
I'm constantly reminded of my facial hair failings. Especially when I see other friends who clearly have no trouble grizzlying it up. Check out Jman - Apwools hub for example. When they came to visit us he was sporting some bearded awesomeness

Sheesh Keanu can do a better job than I can

Its not like I'm bald all over I have ample chest hair and have had since my late teens, its just the face, it doesnt grow and when it does there are gaps everywhere.

I'm jonesing for something along the lines of an early Tom Selleck (one of my idols)

I had even contemplated trying to document one of my many failed beard growing attempts here but alas it never came to fruition.

With Summer approaching I may just have to try and deal with my 3rd rate facal hair for another year.

Maybe in prep for next winter i'll explore options for promoting good facial hair growth, I tried the peanut butter solution, but unfortunately no dice.

Until next time......