Kylie and I haven't been able to stop smiling for a couple of weeks now, except when the kids are driving us crazy. We've been making some really exciting decisions for the future, and while there's little to say at this point, the time is going so fast that in no time at all it will be implementation time. Can't wait... but I'll have to, and so will you.
Last night we went to the engagement party of Estelle (Kylie's youngest sister) and her fiancee, Caleb. It was a terrific night, and they're excited to begin a very new and important relationship. They'll be married in early July which is coming around really fast. But I like the idea of a fast engagement. In fact, so did Oscar Wilde, who said, cynically, "Long engagements give people the opportunity of finding out each other's character before marriage, which is never advisable." But their time is now, and it's exciting to watch it all beginning for them.
This week we finally received word from the speech pathologist about the extent of Ella's speech difficulties. It turns out that she has a speech disorder and scores in the bottom 5% of children her age. So it's definitely necessary to continue the speech pathology. We're hopeful that towards the early part of 2008 Ella will be doing well enough with her speech. And we're told that it shouldn't impact on her ability to read or write. So here's hoping, and praying.
Kylie's doing great and only has about 14 weeks until the baby arrives. It's amazing to consider how fast it's all going.
I'm just studying and getting ready for my thesis, but I'm feeling remarkably relaxed about things, and am really confident that everything will go well. Work is fine, and all in all I simply feel terrific.
And it's exciting to mention that Dad is enjoying a new beginning today too. He will be released as Bishop of Gosford in a couple of hours. It's exciting for him, after nearly 7 years of looking after the congregation. Time for someone else to have a turn! And while he's a little sad about it, he's looking forward to not being quite so busy!
Sunday, 27 May 2007
Sunday, 20 May 2007
May 2007 photos
This is our amazing, photogenic family! Chanel (aged 7) is behind Kylie and I. Abbie (aged 4) is in pink, on Kylie's lap, and Ella (aged 3) is in front of Kylie and I in yellow.
Progress
This week has flown by so fast... and it's hard to think of anything that's happened that's really newsworthy.
Things are moving forward well with my studies, and I'm presently working through exam prep with three weeks until they begin. I'm most concerned about the three hour open book test for multi-variate statistical analysis. It's pretty intense stuff. The only other exam I have is for Applied Cognitive Psychology, which I'm reasonably confident about. Nothing too complex, just simple memorisation of the research and principles. I really enjoy it.
This week as I studied I came across a host of research that describes expertise. The psychology is reasonably unambiguous. There's really no such thing as a natural 'expert'. In all domains, people become expert through sheer volume of time spent in deliberate practice, and nothing more. While in some areas there is a very real advantage genetically (such as in sport), there is still an absolute need for voluminous practice in order to obtain performance at the highest level. This inspires me! It means that high levels of expertise and proficiency in anything, from learning statistics, to presenting seminars, to being a great dad, and even learning a language or playing sport comes down to how hard you're willing to work at it! If I want to excel, I determine whether I will or not, by how hard I am willing to work at it!
This week our family received a new addition. Chanel's class had a guinea pig, and the poor thing has been terrorised by 28 pairs of hands chasing it all day every day. So the teacher sent out an SOS for several weeks in a row, before finally we agreed that we'd adopt Tuffy! Poor Tuffy is now being terrorised by Chanel, Abbie and Ella. Apparently we're nowhere near as scary as the other 25 kids that used to chase the poor thing. So now we're on a steep learning curve in terms of learning about guinea pigs, and learning about how to work with children and teach them about being gentle with the thing.
Chanel is doing really well with netball. She's one of the key players in the team and had another great game yesterday. And Abbie and Ella are working well with things, but there are no real major things going on for them.
Kylie is travelling really nicely in her pregnancy. We're only about 14 weeks away from the birth already. It's breathtaking how fast the time is going and we simply cannot believe that it's all so close. She's feeling really good too, because for the first time in ages we've had a spotless house for a whole week, dinner on the table early every night and order in the home. It's been wonderful.
And even though Kylie would prefer it if I didn't write this, I'm excited to say that there's been some major progress in my personal decision-making processes. I have been quite consistent in being determined to study for a Ph.D at the end of my honours year this year. However, I've decided that I'm not a huge fan of the academic scholarship in terms of research. Designing good quality research projects and doing the necessary research is lots of things, but fun is not one of those things. And since I'm not that pumped up about doing another 4 years of that kind of work, plus I'm not all that excited about studying to be a clinical psychologist since I don't really want to deal with the high levels of dysfunction that psychologists deal with, I've decided to dump study at the end of my honours year. What that means is that I have less than 6 months and I'll be finished school.
I may return one day, perhaps in a few years, perhaps in a decade. I still think that one day I will complete postgraduate work, probably a Ph.D. but at the moment I want to get out and get on with what I'm really passionate about. I have a terrific job with great people teaching Certificate IV in Frontline Management. It pays quite well. I'll be able to work three days a week and that will provide well for the family. Then I'll spend the other two days a week working on Happy Families and putting together workshops for mum's and dad's who want to be better parents.
I'm really excited about having time and money again. It's been years. So I guess you could say that we're progressing in lots of different ways, and it's a real buzz. It's been a long 5 years at school, and it's time my family had weekend camps and time at the coast together. For now though, it's head down, because if I want the option of returning it's essential that I do the very best I can right now.
I'll be teaching the high priests today at church. The lesson is on forgiveness, and it looks like it should be really nice. I'm looking forward to it, especially testifying of the blessings of peace I've felt as I've been forgiven for my mistakes, humanity and spiritual frailty. I don't know much that makes me feel better than talking about the blessings of the gospel, and what Jesus has done.
Things are moving forward well with my studies, and I'm presently working through exam prep with three weeks until they begin. I'm most concerned about the three hour open book test for multi-variate statistical analysis. It's pretty intense stuff. The only other exam I have is for Applied Cognitive Psychology, which I'm reasonably confident about. Nothing too complex, just simple memorisation of the research and principles. I really enjoy it.
This week as I studied I came across a host of research that describes expertise. The psychology is reasonably unambiguous. There's really no such thing as a natural 'expert'. In all domains, people become expert through sheer volume of time spent in deliberate practice, and nothing more. While in some areas there is a very real advantage genetically (such as in sport), there is still an absolute need for voluminous practice in order to obtain performance at the highest level. This inspires me! It means that high levels of expertise and proficiency in anything, from learning statistics, to presenting seminars, to being a great dad, and even learning a language or playing sport comes down to how hard you're willing to work at it! If I want to excel, I determine whether I will or not, by how hard I am willing to work at it!
This week our family received a new addition. Chanel's class had a guinea pig, and the poor thing has been terrorised by 28 pairs of hands chasing it all day every day. So the teacher sent out an SOS for several weeks in a row, before finally we agreed that we'd adopt Tuffy! Poor Tuffy is now being terrorised by Chanel, Abbie and Ella. Apparently we're nowhere near as scary as the other 25 kids that used to chase the poor thing. So now we're on a steep learning curve in terms of learning about guinea pigs, and learning about how to work with children and teach them about being gentle with the thing.
Chanel is doing really well with netball. She's one of the key players in the team and had another great game yesterday. And Abbie and Ella are working well with things, but there are no real major things going on for them.
Kylie is travelling really nicely in her pregnancy. We're only about 14 weeks away from the birth already. It's breathtaking how fast the time is going and we simply cannot believe that it's all so close. She's feeling really good too, because for the first time in ages we've had a spotless house for a whole week, dinner on the table early every night and order in the home. It's been wonderful.
And even though Kylie would prefer it if I didn't write this, I'm excited to say that there's been some major progress in my personal decision-making processes. I have been quite consistent in being determined to study for a Ph.D at the end of my honours year this year. However, I've decided that I'm not a huge fan of the academic scholarship in terms of research. Designing good quality research projects and doing the necessary research is lots of things, but fun is not one of those things. And since I'm not that pumped up about doing another 4 years of that kind of work, plus I'm not all that excited about studying to be a clinical psychologist since I don't really want to deal with the high levels of dysfunction that psychologists deal with, I've decided to dump study at the end of my honours year. What that means is that I have less than 6 months and I'll be finished school.
I may return one day, perhaps in a few years, perhaps in a decade. I still think that one day I will complete postgraduate work, probably a Ph.D. but at the moment I want to get out and get on with what I'm really passionate about. I have a terrific job with great people teaching Certificate IV in Frontline Management. It pays quite well. I'll be able to work three days a week and that will provide well for the family. Then I'll spend the other two days a week working on Happy Families and putting together workshops for mum's and dad's who want to be better parents.
I'm really excited about having time and money again. It's been years. So I guess you could say that we're progressing in lots of different ways, and it's a real buzz. It's been a long 5 years at school, and it's time my family had weekend camps and time at the coast together. For now though, it's head down, because if I want the option of returning it's essential that I do the very best I can right now.
I'll be teaching the high priests today at church. The lesson is on forgiveness, and it looks like it should be really nice. I'm looking forward to it, especially testifying of the blessings of peace I've felt as I've been forgiven for my mistakes, humanity and spiritual frailty. I don't know much that makes me feel better than talking about the blessings of the gospel, and what Jesus has done.
Sunday, 13 May 2007
Good Sport
Kylie has kicked me out of the bedroom. It's Sunday afternoon, we're all tired, and she wants to finish reading The Work and The Glory. It's the last chapter of Volume 8, so only one more volume to go and the series is completed. In all the years we've been married, Kylie has barely read at all. Last year for her birthday I purchased an LDS novel called The Secret Diary of Brett Colton, and since then it's been non-stop. And it's terrific. I'm hoping that when Kylie finishes The Work and The Glory series, that she'll read a few of the books that I've enjoyed, but the main thing is she's enjoying the reading.
The past couple of weeks have been extremely busy. So much so that I haven't had a chance to write at all.
Pregnancy is having it's effects on Kylie. She's certainly tired, and is showing all the typical signs of being pregnant. But even her mind is going. The other day she forgot to take Abbie to kindy until 10am. Fortunately she still remembers to cook dinner and look after me, otherwise I'd be lost.
We've recently had some difficult news too. Ella Rose needs weekly visits to the speech pathologist for the next year or thereabouts to help her learn to talk. Her speech has been lagging for some time, and the news wasn't unexpected, but it's still disappointing and concerning. Of course, Ella isn't phased by it, and is just as adventurous and challenging as ever. She is full of energy and mischief, moreso than the other two combined.
Chanel is, as always, a standout. We are always so impressed with her. She is remarkably intelligent, and excels at everything she attempts. Her latest is netball, which is going really well. Chanel plays as a centre, and contributes to the team like a champion. In a game against a private school team a few days ago, Chanel was playing all over her opponent and completely dominating. After this had occurred for some time the little girl she was playing against complained to Chanel, "Stop getting the ball" followed a few minutes later by, "Stop doing that to me". Chanel turned to her and innocently replied, "But I'm supposed to. That's how you play netball." The coach heard it and cracked up. Little Chanel is telling the opposition how to play! We've got some serious sledging about to start in the Year 3 competition I think. But she's a good sport and loves to play.
I've had some really great news this week. My first statistics paper came back and I scored 24 out of 25. WOW! That's a nice mark to get on a paper worth 25% of the course. Incidentally I got 10 out of 10 on a matrices quiz. That was only worth 3% though, so no biggy. I still studied hard for it, and it was obviously worth it. I'm not sure I'll be able to repeat that with my next assignment. I just handed it in on Friday. It was a discriminant analysis, really complex, and not nice in any way at all! Heavy stuff. But for that subject I'm sitting on 33.5 out of 35 for the semester. If I can get 18 out of 20 I'll still be looking good going into the exam. Problem is, it's apparently a killer of an exam. 3 hours - open book.
I also sat down with my supervisor and finally figured out what's going on with my thesis. I'll be looking at how our approach to challenges can be influenced by social feedback (like praise) we receive. It's too complex to write about in the blog, but suffice to say I'm really excited about the content, and believe that I'll get some really interesting results. Plus, I'm hypothesising outcomes diametrically opposed to what she predicts, which is exciting to me because if I'm right it will powerfully validate what I've been saying for several years. Of course, if I'm wrong I'll have to eat humble pie, but only time will tell. The main thing is, after 10 weeks I finally have a thesis subject, a research question, several hypotheses, and a really exciting experimental design. Now the work really starts!
I started teaching classes for my new job in Frontline Management last week. That was terrific too. There are about 12 managers in the class and I teach them the basic theory of management. At the end of the course, they pick up a Certificate IV in Frontline Mgmt. I'm really pleased with the job. I enjoy it, I love teaching, and it pays a lot better than my previous jobs with TAFE. So I have no complaints or concerns with where I'm going or what I'm doing. The most exciting thing is that I can take on even more work and start to provide for my family a little better starting in about 5 more months. And this job will help me do it. It's terrific.
Today was Mother's Day. I called mum, and my two nan's this morning and spoke with them. Then it was time with Kylie - I cooked her French Toast with cinammon and orange. Didn't really spend time with her because we had church at 9am. We went to Kylie's parents' ward. There were so many people there. It was amazing. It felt great to be in such a large congregation. Church was nice, then everyone came back to our home for a Mother's Day lunch. I ate too much, and now I'm paying for it. I just want to go to sleep.
And it seems to be child of record baptism time. We've been attending several baptisms, and there are heaps more to come in the coming month or so. I was unexpectedly invited to speak at one, and thoroughly enjoyed testifying of the blessings that come from making covenants and participating in ordinances with our Father. The Spirit bore witness so clearly and directly that the Church is true, and that baptism is a beautiful blessing to help us be reconciled to God through the Atonement of Jesus. It felt great. I can't wait until October when we have the blessing of seeing Chanel baptised!
This week: Loads of study, even more work on the thesis, and heavy statistics. Only 2 more lessons in statistics! That feels good. Plus I start teaching at radio school for another year this Tuesday night. It's always fun. Oh, and did I mention lots of study and thesis work? You get the picture.
Have a great week.
Justin
The past couple of weeks have been extremely busy. So much so that I haven't had a chance to write at all.Pregnancy is having it's effects on Kylie. She's certainly tired, and is showing all the typical signs of being pregnant. But even her mind is going. The other day she forgot to take Abbie to kindy until 10am. Fortunately she still remembers to cook dinner and look after me, otherwise I'd be lost.
We've recently had some difficult news too. Ella Rose needs weekly visits to the speech pathologist for the next year or thereabouts to help her learn to talk. Her speech has been lagging for some time, and the news wasn't unexpected, but it's still disappointing and concerning. Of course, Ella isn't phased by it, and is just as adventurous and challenging as ever. She is full of energy and mischief, moreso than the other two combined.
Chanel is, as always, a standout. We are always so impressed with her. She is remarkably intelligent, and excels at everything she attempts. Her latest is netball, which is going really well. Chanel plays as a centre, and contributes to the team like a champion. In a game against a private school team a few days ago, Chanel was playing all over her opponent and completely dominating. After this had occurred for some time the little girl she was playing against complained to Chanel, "Stop getting the ball" followed a few minutes later by, "Stop doing that to me". Chanel turned to her and innocently replied, "But I'm supposed to. That's how you play netball." The coach heard it and cracked up. Little Chanel is telling the opposition how to play! We've got some serious sledging about to start in the Year 3 competition I think. But she's a good sport and loves to play.
I've had some really great news this week. My first statistics paper came back and I scored 24 out of 25. WOW! That's a nice mark to get on a paper worth 25% of the course. Incidentally I got 10 out of 10 on a matrices quiz. That was only worth 3% though, so no biggy. I still studied hard for it, and it was obviously worth it. I'm not sure I'll be able to repeat that with my next assignment. I just handed it in on Friday. It was a discriminant analysis, really complex, and not nice in any way at all! Heavy stuff. But for that subject I'm sitting on 33.5 out of 35 for the semester. If I can get 18 out of 20 I'll still be looking good going into the exam. Problem is, it's apparently a killer of an exam. 3 hours - open book.
I also sat down with my supervisor and finally figured out what's going on with my thesis. I'll be looking at how our approach to challenges can be influenced by social feedback (like praise) we receive. It's too complex to write about in the blog, but suffice to say I'm really excited about the content, and believe that I'll get some really interesting results. Plus, I'm hypothesising outcomes diametrically opposed to what she predicts, which is exciting to me because if I'm right it will powerfully validate what I've been saying for several years. Of course, if I'm wrong I'll have to eat humble pie, but only time will tell. The main thing is, after 10 weeks I finally have a thesis subject, a research question, several hypotheses, and a really exciting experimental design. Now the work really starts!
I started teaching classes for my new job in Frontline Management last week. That was terrific too. There are about 12 managers in the class and I teach them the basic theory of management. At the end of the course, they pick up a Certificate IV in Frontline Mgmt. I'm really pleased with the job. I enjoy it, I love teaching, and it pays a lot better than my previous jobs with TAFE. So I have no complaints or concerns with where I'm going or what I'm doing. The most exciting thing is that I can take on even more work and start to provide for my family a little better starting in about 5 more months. And this job will help me do it. It's terrific.
Today was Mother's Day. I called mum, and my two nan's this morning and spoke with them. Then it was time with Kylie - I cooked her French Toast with cinammon and orange. Didn't really spend time with her because we had church at 9am. We went to Kylie's parents' ward. There were so many people there. It was amazing. It felt great to be in such a large congregation. Church was nice, then everyone came back to our home for a Mother's Day lunch. I ate too much, and now I'm paying for it. I just want to go to sleep.
And it seems to be child of record baptism time. We've been attending several baptisms, and there are heaps more to come in the coming month or so. I was unexpectedly invited to speak at one, and thoroughly enjoyed testifying of the blessings that come from making covenants and participating in ordinances with our Father. The Spirit bore witness so clearly and directly that the Church is true, and that baptism is a beautiful blessing to help us be reconciled to God through the Atonement of Jesus. It felt great. I can't wait until October when we have the blessing of seeing Chanel baptised!
This week: Loads of study, even more work on the thesis, and heavy statistics. Only 2 more lessons in statistics! That feels good. Plus I start teaching at radio school for another year this Tuesday night. It's always fun. Oh, and did I mention lots of study and thesis work? You get the picture.
Have a great week.
Justin
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