The week began with a public holiday! I love the fact that we get a day off for the queen’s birthday even though it’s not actually her birthday and we don’t really care a great deal for the queen in Australia. I left home early, braving the coldest weather since last winter, and rode up Macquarie Pass and back. We knocked out 100kms for the morning. I met Kylie and the children at a park. The kids rode bikes and Annie climbed and slid on the playground equipment. Chanel and Kylie rode all the way from Wollongong to home – that’s around 10kms. But Chanel is finding the 10km rides to be quite short now. She prefers to do 15-20km rides when she gets the chance.
We spent the afternoon going through the filing cabinet in great detail, organising paperwork, and generally cleaning up our documents. Boring, frustrating, but good to have it completed. The children played with the neighbours while we worked. At one point we had our four children, two from next door, three from down the road, and two from around the corner – that’s eleven children – all playing in our yard. We love that the children have so many kids to play with and that they enjoy doing so in our home and yard. Chanel prepared a terrific family home evening about the importance of the temple. She did a great job and the whole family had an excellent time.
Tuesday was awful. Not only was it freezing cold, but it was so windy I only got to ride briefly. Then I spent the entire day at uni marking papers. The marking was starting to get a bit much by Tuesday afternoon when I left for home. Ella enjoyed a developmental victory on Tuesday. Ella is now tall enough to post letters in the big red postbox all by herself! I ran our Young Men’s class on Tuesday night and was glad the day was done when I finally arrived home.
Wednesday saw me spend most of the day either marking or attending meetings. I wish I could report that there was joy to be found in either, but both were draining. Annie told Kylie, “I want a ‘nana” and pointed to the bananas in the bowl. Most of her conversation is still gibberish, but now and then we get some real clarity from Annie.
Thursday I marked papers. All day. Until 9.30pm. By the time I left uni I was ready to burn the papers that were left. Kylie had made a lemon and lime cheesecake, and I ate most if it in my misery when I arrived home. It was good, but did little to lift my spirits in preparation for Friday.
Friday I had a breakthrough. I realised that I was marking papers for certain content, but upon evaluating the marking criteria I found I was doing at least four or five times the work needed. I made the changes necessary and completed the rest of my marking shortly after lunch. Relief! I will never take on such a large teaching load again. The extra money is handy but the impact that it had on my PhD was too great.
Friday night I decided to stay up and watch the football for one of the first times this year. It was a disappointing night, with both my teams being soundly thrashed. Early nights are the better strategy.
Saturday was a huge day for Kylie. For the past month Kylie has been organising a secret birthday party for a friend. Surprise guests were arranged from New Zealand, America, and various parts of NSW. The day began with Kylie leaving for the airport at 6am. The remainder of her day was spent organising and then celebrating with friends. Her friend was surprised beyond words as each friend entered the room. Special friendships were renewed between Debs and her old friends as memories were shared among a very intimate group. Kylie arrived home, completely satisfied that the day was a success.
I had a successful Saturday too. I spent the morning ferrying children from one playdate to another. I spent several hours on the interior and exterior of the car. I cleared vines from the rear balcony, hung washing, made lunches, put Annie to bed, tidied the house as best I could, and cooked dinner for the whole family and three missionaries! We ate a huge BBQ with a potato salad, green salad, and an enormous amount of food. Somehow it was still all eaten. The kids were in bed after Funny Home Videos and I finally relaxed at around 8pm, just as Kylie arrived home.
Sunday was our most successful day in church in months. The children were beautifully relevant. The talks were spiritual and uplifting. The meeting was meaningful. And I got to sit through over 45 minutes of it before Annie required some attention outside the chapel. After church we jumped in the car and raced to Gosford. Mum and Dad had planned on visiting us but circumstances conspired to make things awkward. So we drove north for 2.5 hours. The kids tested out the DVD player in the car and the wireless infra-red headphones. The verdict – thumbs up from children and parents. Kylie and I enjoyed a quiet ride in the car together for the first time in what seems like a decade! We enjoyed a delicious roast, and a fun but brief chat with family (never enough time to really talk properly to everyone). The children were delighted to spend a couple of hours with their cousins and played with maximum enthusiasm the entire time. A long week finished with a long drive home.
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Soul numbing and Brain taxing
A very quiet and uneventful week to report. My days have been soul-numbing, and brain-taxing. Marking papers from 3rd year students has been my burden for the week. While it was better than marking 1st year papers the week before, it was hard to find joy in the work. Marking is the least enjoyable aspect of my life, and sadly the past several weeks have required nothing but marking from me. Just one more week to go before I can put the marking behind me.
One brief highlight was spending time getting my bike measurements sorted out. Some small adjustments have been made to my bike and it feels great. I cannot explain how much thrill I get from riding. I think I’ve become mildly obsessed!
Yesterday (Sat afternoon) I enjoyed a hard, hard bike race. It was a handicap race of 45kms. I got a great starting mark and knew I had a chance at doing well. I was the strongest in my group though, and was slowed down by those less able. And after some extremely hard work, some violent tempers (among others, not me), and some excellent tactical efforts I crossed the finish line in what I though was first place. I even fought off a challenge from the Australian sprint champion in the 55-60yr age group. (That doesn’t sound that great, but those old guys can really ride!) Unfortunately two riders that left 6 minutes before me crossed 40 seconds before me and I hadn’t seen them. So I picked up third place instead. Nonetheless I was thrilled with my race and am still over the moon about it. I even picked up a little bit of prize money.
I can only recall one other notable highlight for the week. I enjoyed a brief conversation with my father-in-law on Saturday. He was generous in his expression of gratitude to me. Initially I tried to laugh it off, but I appreciated his sincerity and love. He gave me what I would consider to be the highest compliment a father-in-law can give: that he was grateful I had married his daughter. I hope I can say the same thing to the husbands of my daughters.
Things have been very typical with Kylie and the children this week, with no news to report. Kylie is very busy volunteering in the girls’ classes at school. Kylie also finds being president of the preschool committee frustrating as others don’t share her vision for what could be done. I have a remarkable and inspiring wife with a gift for seeing wonderful possibilities.
Annie Grace has become addicted to her daddy! Our little baby wants me all the time. I have to get her out of bed, put her to bed, cuddle her, take her with me wherever I go, and be her full-time companion. She accepts me leaving reasonably well, although she waves goodbye for some time after I’m gone. When I arrive home she gets excited beyond words and pesters me until I’ve hugged her at least two or three times.
Ella Rose has been growing up beautifully. Ella is a delight most of the time, and her best play buddy is her big sister Abbie. Now and then we find that Ella is highly emotionally expressive! But most of the time she delights us with her care and consideration for others. Ella still loves snails, and was delighted to find a frog in the garden this week. We fear she may have killed it with affection, or perhaps it only passed out before regaining consciousness and hopping away. Ella is beginning to develop an interest in reading so we are trying to foster that.
Abbie May is quiet, high-achieving, and very much in her own little world. She is sweet and tender, has some wonderful friends at school, and fits in well whatever we’re doing. We went for a little bike ride during the week and Abbie finally started to get the hang of it. A little more practice and I think we’ll be able to take those training wheels off, finally!
Chanel is amazing. Trying our patience all the time, yet a terrific worker and helper, committed to being a wonderful big sister, and always developing new motivations and insights. In her race yesterday Chanel came second last rather than last! This gave her a thrill. She also collected a small amount of prize money which she is going to put towards her bike respray. Her school relationships appear to be settling down, and we work hard with her as she develops, asks new questions, and gives us new opportunities to expand our parenting skills. It’s hard to believe Chanel will be ten years old in just a few months.
Last night Annie kept us up until around one am. Church today was not particularly uplifting as I could barely keep my eyes open. But we renewed acquaintances with an old friend from our days in Rockhampton – 11 years ago. Gary Evans is a wonderful human being and it was delightful to spend a short while catching up. Annie and I came home and slept through the middle of the day, but it was still not enough to eliminate my headache. Our landlord came to replace some washers in our taps. We cannot believe he actually showed up when he said he would! And we made some bookings for our trip to Queensland in two weeks! We can’t wait for the break.
In sum, an exhausting week despite little having happened. But blessings nonetheless. We’re safe, we’re loved, and we have others to love.
One brief highlight was spending time getting my bike measurements sorted out. Some small adjustments have been made to my bike and it feels great. I cannot explain how much thrill I get from riding. I think I’ve become mildly obsessed!
Yesterday (Sat afternoon) I enjoyed a hard, hard bike race. It was a handicap race of 45kms. I got a great starting mark and knew I had a chance at doing well. I was the strongest in my group though, and was slowed down by those less able. And after some extremely hard work, some violent tempers (among others, not me), and some excellent tactical efforts I crossed the finish line in what I though was first place. I even fought off a challenge from the Australian sprint champion in the 55-60yr age group. (That doesn’t sound that great, but those old guys can really ride!) Unfortunately two riders that left 6 minutes before me crossed 40 seconds before me and I hadn’t seen them. So I picked up third place instead. Nonetheless I was thrilled with my race and am still over the moon about it. I even picked up a little bit of prize money.
I can only recall one other notable highlight for the week. I enjoyed a brief conversation with my father-in-law on Saturday. He was generous in his expression of gratitude to me. Initially I tried to laugh it off, but I appreciated his sincerity and love. He gave me what I would consider to be the highest compliment a father-in-law can give: that he was grateful I had married his daughter. I hope I can say the same thing to the husbands of my daughters.
Things have been very typical with Kylie and the children this week, with no news to report. Kylie is very busy volunteering in the girls’ classes at school. Kylie also finds being president of the preschool committee frustrating as others don’t share her vision for what could be done. I have a remarkable and inspiring wife with a gift for seeing wonderful possibilities.
Annie Grace has become addicted to her daddy! Our little baby wants me all the time. I have to get her out of bed, put her to bed, cuddle her, take her with me wherever I go, and be her full-time companion. She accepts me leaving reasonably well, although she waves goodbye for some time after I’m gone. When I arrive home she gets excited beyond words and pesters me until I’ve hugged her at least two or three times.
Ella Rose has been growing up beautifully. Ella is a delight most of the time, and her best play buddy is her big sister Abbie. Now and then we find that Ella is highly emotionally expressive! But most of the time she delights us with her care and consideration for others. Ella still loves snails, and was delighted to find a frog in the garden this week. We fear she may have killed it with affection, or perhaps it only passed out before regaining consciousness and hopping away. Ella is beginning to develop an interest in reading so we are trying to foster that.
Abbie May is quiet, high-achieving, and very much in her own little world. She is sweet and tender, has some wonderful friends at school, and fits in well whatever we’re doing. We went for a little bike ride during the week and Abbie finally started to get the hang of it. A little more practice and I think we’ll be able to take those training wheels off, finally!
Chanel is amazing. Trying our patience all the time, yet a terrific worker and helper, committed to being a wonderful big sister, and always developing new motivations and insights. In her race yesterday Chanel came second last rather than last! This gave her a thrill. She also collected a small amount of prize money which she is going to put towards her bike respray. Her school relationships appear to be settling down, and we work hard with her as she develops, asks new questions, and gives us new opportunities to expand our parenting skills. It’s hard to believe Chanel will be ten years old in just a few months.
Last night Annie kept us up until around one am. Church today was not particularly uplifting as I could barely keep my eyes open. But we renewed acquaintances with an old friend from our days in Rockhampton – 11 years ago. Gary Evans is a wonderful human being and it was delightful to spend a short while catching up. Annie and I came home and slept through the middle of the day, but it was still not enough to eliminate my headache. Our landlord came to replace some washers in our taps. We cannot believe he actually showed up when he said he would! And we made some bookings for our trip to Queensland in two weeks! We can’t wait for the break.
In sum, an exhausting week despite little having happened. But blessings nonetheless. We’re safe, we’re loved, and we have others to love.
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