I refuse to eat meat!

Currently in the latter stages of an epic weekend involving Freya's school disco, several dinners out, a trip to the movies (grownups only - woo hoo!), several catching-ups and a halloween party.  Am completely wrecked.  Today we caught up with Kate, Chloe & Henry for lunch, and the girls had hot dogs for lunch.  As the eating progressed Kate suddenly realized that the plates had been swapped, and Freya was happily munching away on Chloe's non-vegetarian hot dog (insofar as any of them contain any actual meat, rather than meat related animal by-products).  Chloe didn't like her (vegetarian) one and Rebecca tactfully suggested that she swap it with Freya.  She didn't want to, and Freya announced "I refuse to eat meat!".

I think this is one of those occasions were a small omission of the truth is quite reasonable!

Is it wrong to hope one's child is ill on Monday so you can take the day off work?

Not sure on that one.  Ask me tomorrow?

On a more excellent note, was in the local bookshop and wondered when the next Iain M. Banks was likely to arrive.  I looked on the shelf and Lo!  There it was.  Purchased promptly, and will read it instead of doing important stuff like marking homework.

In other good news, Freya's ballet rehearsal was on Saturday and wasn't anywhere near as bad as I was expecting.

You appreciate t3h intarwebs more when you can't get them!

Stupid phone company appears to have unplugged our phone line from the exchange.  Happened a couple of days back while we were out at the Melbourne show.  Most inconvenient as it also kills the phone... grrrr.  Vaguely remember that this is what things were like in the early 1990s before the internet becamevery widespread.

Currently writing from the super-slow wireless hotspot at the nearest McDonalds to home... how sad.

Other than that the holidays are going OK... too short tho!

I am starting to think that there is too much junk in my shed...

However I could be wrong.

Made some good progress on the Goblin powered vehicles... perhaps because there were no Goblins involved.  Am having a few cunning plans about them too... with a few months left before the big event for this year I might even get some of them done.

Wobbly tooth!

Boog has a wobbly tooth!  How exciting.  Now if only she can get over the 39 degree temperature she's had all week...

Oh cr*p!

Fairly disappointing non-result in the election, although the Labour party should probably be thankful that they didn't get completely slaughtered.  Fingers Xed that things will improve over the next few days.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

The sound I make when marking mid year exams.  See the following graph for further enlightenment:

Two tier education system.

While there is much ado in the media about various highly visible (and lucrative to some folks) projects such as this and this, I am feeling rather cynical (perhaps more than usual) and am inclined to suggest that it's another case of all the King's men trying to patch up old Humpty Dumpty at the bottom of the wall.  Trying to teach into the soul-sucking vacuum of disinterest and disengagement that is all too common at my place of employment, I can only conclude that the damage has been done a long time ago.  Reading a bit about some of the D's (ADHD, ODD etc) reinforces that view.  I think we already have a two tier system: parents who genuinely care about their childrens' education, and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, and those who don't, or more rarely, can't.  Everything else is just polishing the brass on the Titanic, unless sufficient resources can be put in really early, before so many of these kids are messed up and put so far behind that their options are virtually eliminated before they even hit high school.  And I'm not blaming the primary schools here - it's the parents and families that it all begins from.

That's a bit of a rambling grumble about my current state of mind.  Need to sort it out in my noggin a bit better.

Looking forward to writing reports soon, after my kiddies all fail their exams.

Is that the time?

OMG, six whole months have passed since I last blogged!  How time flies.  There was some fun involved.

Succinct review of Happy Feet

UTTER CRAP

Watched Angels and Demons the other week and concluded that Dan Brown is like Neil Stephenson for the mentally retarded.

RIP da Bomb

Big bad Bomb, Reb's teenage-hood cat, who was about 20 years old & mostly deaf and blind but still bad-ass, finally gave up the ghost today. Poor kitteh had collapsed on the path and was limp & unresponsive, and she died a few minutes later. We wondered if she had a stroke. We buried her in a nice spot in the back garden. Freya was good, she didn't get upset and seemed to understand what was going on. Reb & I were sad, but the old beastie had a very good innings.



On a better note, Holidays are here again...

I WANT MUMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

Freya chucked the screaming wobblies in the bath tonight, probably being a bit overtired from Charley's snaketastic party yesterday, and maybe being not quite over her cold.  She calmed down eventually, and then fell asleep on my lap on the couch!  Poor chick.

Finally finished reports for the goblins at Mt Doom SC... what a hideous task it is too.

Ow Freya! Sorry Freya!

Freya was being rather funny this evening, as she brushed her own hair and pretended to complain to herself and then apologize to herself.  Then Reb brushed her hair for real & the complaining was real (and less funny) too.

Good news from the heartiologist today that my ticker is no longer dicky, in fact it was "completely normal" or words to that effect.  I celebrated with a double grease-ball burger with extra lard.

Thank gosh that term two is almost over at Mt Doom SC... the goblins have been getting fairly tiresome of late.  Slowly getting the goblin powered vehicle team active again.

More rock 'n roll wisdom of Freya

"Oh, look at my face
My name is might have been
My name is never was
My name's forgotten"

While listening to Hole in the car, Freya said:
"Courtney Love doesn't know her name.  I'll go and see her and I'll call her Courtney Love.  I'll knock on her little singing door and I'll sing along with her!"

Slightly sad...

Last week there was a magnificent, massive orb weaver spider in the back yard.  She built a spectacular web between the clothesline and the lemon tree.  Then the hot days came and that was the last we saw of her.

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

Our trusty old washing machine, which gave out last week with the ominous sparky sound of sparks, has been resurrected by our trusty miracle working local repairman.  Happy happy, joy joy I say.

Later on Reb was waxing philosophical with Freya, discussing the big D (death, that is, not something else beginning with D).  When talking about the cats shuffling off their furry mortal coils, she said "then we'll have to buy a bunny!".  Later, when talking about humans going the same way, she said "then someone will have to buy another person!".  Funny girl.  She was quite happy with the conversation until Reb mentioned the beetles that might munch on our remains, and she got a bit upset.  "No beetles!".

This milk has fire in it!

So said Freya, regarding the bubbles in a glass of cola.  Not the symbol of Free West cola however.

More Freya funniness...

Freya has been telling lots of improbable stories about a boy called Joshua, who is loosely based on a real boy who used to go to creche.  They tend to go along the lines of "Daddy, when I went to Joshua's house the other day, he was picking his nose and eating boogers".  On Friday night she was beginning one of these stories, and she paused and looked at me with a smile "Daddy, I just like making up stories about Joshua. All sorts of different stories."

We were discussing the revolting heat wave which has laid waste to our garden this week.  I said to Freya that the last time it was this hot in Melbourne, Uncle Dave was a baby.  "Did he have a beard?" she asked. She then told me about a baby she had seen who had a beard and teeth and could talk and run.  In later versions of the story the baby kills people.

Today I mentioned that Uncle Pete used to bite Uncle Dave.  "Did he have a bruise?" Freya asked.  "I guess so," I replied.  "It went away because he heals up very well, even though I know he's really old."

A cute little story

(As told by Freya, on the way home from the airport.)

The machines from Wump World came to our house.
They silly machines tried to break the nectarine tree.
The possums in the tree put big scratches on the machines with their claws.
They wrecked the machines and threw them over the fence.
I cuddled the possums on my lap so they wouldn't be scared.

The End.

Funny little dunjas

A week or so ago I found these pretty green insect eggs on the side of the soon-to-be-dismantled Bomb shelter:


I was expecting them to get gobbled up, but this morning I saw that they had hatched into these funny little dunjas (as Freya would say!):


I rescued this lovely moth from the sink last night:


All in all a bugtastic day.