Saturday 3rd Feb was 12 months since Ruby died (my original post 12 months back). It seems such a long time and yet at the same time not so long ago. On Saturday my logical brain said this day is no different to the previous 364, but my emotional brain was on a rollercoaster ride. And to be honest it was in charge.
I felt like there was extra pressure on me and while I was ok, there was an undercurrent of sadness ready to leap out. I know I need to be aware of the “big” days and I make sure I am ready, have things to do, have family/friends/support around. But Saturday felt very different to Ruby’s birthday, Christmas and the 6 months. And I still don’t know why it was different.
I was planning on writing something and posting it. I tried all week and couldn’t really find any words. I had a number of ideas, but I just couldn’t piece it all together. On Friday night I sat down with the intention of actually getting it done - I couldn’t. Just could not write. And just too upsetting (the bit about Depeche Mode, below, really set me off). On Sunday was able to write most of this post. I could write again. And I was back to where I normally am.
Ruby didn’t want those of us who knew her to be sad. She said to many people in her last week to not be sad and that she had had a good life. I'm trying to live up to that - have a good life and (for the most part) be happy. We only get a short time in this life and don't know how long we get, best not to waste our lives - and Ruby really didn't want me to waste my life.
A few times in the past 12 months (and honestly it has happened more often recently) I have found myself wishing I could tell/show Ruby things. I like to think she would have enjoyed Depeche Mode’s new album Spirit (released only a month after she died and the first single came out the day she died) and U2’s Songs of Experience (she did like Songs of Innocence). Or how the kids are doing - Tim being so improved at spelling and so interested in geography or how tall Jeremy is getting or how well he is doing at swimming.
This morning I have a counseling session. I have been attending these about once a month since last February. I think I am doing well and have been thinking for some time now that this would be the last one. It will be my last one. For now. I can always go back if I need to.
So while there are times when I really miss Ruby - I think that I was really lucky to know her and have her in my life. We all were.
Monday, 5 February 2018
Tuesday, 2 January 2018
2017 - best bits
While 2017 started with losing Ruby I wanted to review the good/wonderful things from 2017. So in no particular order my favourite bits of 2017:
- This photo of my boys at the ashes scattering. Sad but beautiful.
- Thor: Ragnarok - seriously go see this movie (Teaser trailer). It was such a fun film! I had high expectations of this film and it more than delivered. And yes this was in a year that also had Wonder Woman (also great, I just had more fun watching Thor) and Star Wars - The Last Jedi.
- Star Trek: Discovery. Star Trek is back on TV (well on Netflix) and it is very good. The season gets better with each episode. Looking forward to the second half of the season in January 2018.
- Game of Thrones Season 7. Wow! Just wow! I’m a big fan of GOT and this season was great. They have really picked up the pace now they are beyond the books.
- Doctor Who: Series 10. Peter Capaldi was fantastic as the Doctor and this was a solid season. The Christmas special was a good sendoff. And while I am sad to see him go, I’m also really looking forward to seeing Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor.
- Apple Watch. A 42nd birthday present. I have always loved wearing a watch and after a false start with a Fitbit (bloody things fall apart after 6 months) I bought an Apple Watch (Series 2) for my birthday. It’s been great and has actually to me to start exercising regularly. And I have had fun collecting a “few” watch bands...
- On the subject of birthdays I had a great 42nd birthday. My beer appreciation tour of the rocks in Sydney went very well...
- Conversations with my boys about Ruby. Some really beautiful and thought provoking moments.
- Friends who helped, offered help or checked up on me and the boys throughout the year.
- Management course in August. Less for the management parts of the course! More that I realised being me and happy with that was very important.
- I can’t separate them - the three concerts I went to this year. Each was great in its own way. Peter Hook and the Light. Midnight Oil. Icehouse. Even though they were at the end of their respective tours the Oils and Icehouse were still on fire and were really enjoying themselves.
- Gingerbread - I worked out how to make it. Woohoo! Now to perfect it in 2018...
- My new Skoda Octavia RS. I was sad to sell my Golf GTI (see An Ode to my Red Golf GTI) but the Skoda has been LOTS of fun to drive.
- U2s new album - Songs of Experience. This is a great album and really spoke to me in many ways. More on this in a future blog post...
- Writing this blog.
Tuesday, 19 December 2017
42
Today Ruby would have been 42. Ruby loved birthdays and celebrating them - especially her own! I collected some of her birthday photos (there are lots from her 40th party) and put them up on Flickr. I didn’t plan it this way but it ended up as 42 photos:
I have found sorting out our photos to be a good way to remember Ruby. Writing is harder - this is why the wedding anniversary blog post was so short - it was just too hard to write any words.
The boys and I treated today as a celebration of Ruby. We had breakfast at her favourite pancake place (Pancakes on the Rocks at Northmead) and made her a birthday cake tonight. And of course we drove her car! The boys (and myself) would not have it any other way.
One of Ruby’s bequests was a donation to the Love Your Sister. I thought that today was a good day to make that donation. If you really want to remember Ruby please donate to cancer research. Here are a couple of links:
Thursday, 30 November 2017
15
Today is 15 years since Ruby and I were married in a lovely church in Randwick NSW.
It was a beautiful Saturday in 2002 - both sunny and rainy (it was a bit like that today in Sydney). We managed to go to a couple of places for photos (Clovelly beach and Mrs Macquaries Chair). The reception was at the ANA Hotel (now the Shangri-La) which had fantastic views of the harbour. The following day we headed off for our honeymoon in Hawaii.
I will let the pictures tell most of the story.
We picked 30 November as it was close to Thanksgiving in the USA - so it would be easier for USA relatives and friends to attend. So while I have been a bit sad today - I am also thankful. Thankful that I met and married this wonderful lady. Thankful that I did get to spend (all too short) time with her. And thankful for our two boys.
Friday, 17 November 2017
An Ode to my red Golf GTI
Today is the last time I drove my red Golf GTI
My cars are family members, and I don’t want to say goodbye
Such fun to drive for the past seven years
Parting ways has brought me to tears
The GTI is fun, the GTI is fast!
Driving it was such as blast!
Turbocharged, awesome transmission!
Sticks to the tarmac, beats corners into submission!
For my boys this has always been Dad’s car
They love my red Golf that they can spot from afar
Always asking are we there yet?
Rides in this car they won’t forget
But after seven years it’s time for a change
So my car ownership I must rearrange
However, today is not about sadness, in fact I’m most keen
To add a new family member: an Octavia wagon of colour most green!
It has been two months since my last post. While I do have a couple of posts in various stages of draft, it was more fun (and quicker) to write a post about my GTI.
I'm really really picky about my cars, so I tend to really like my cars when I do choose one. This GTI was on another level though and it was so good in many respects it made the next car very hard to choose. Its funny though, I wasn't originally going to get a GTI. My last care was a Golf GT Sport (pre-cursor to the diesel GTI - the GTD) so I had decided on changing it for a new model Golf GTD. At the time the GTD was on a 6 month waiting list so the dealer offered me the GTI at the same price. After thinking for approximately 1.243 seconds I went for the GTI.
I have truly loved owning and driving this car. However, it was time for a change and I decided not just to get the newest GTI and go for something different. But my review of the new car is for another blog post...
Thursday, 14 September 2017
How are you doing today?
I was asked by several people if I was doing ok in the 2 years when Ruby was sick and while I was unable to talk about what was going on, at the time I really appreciated it. Today (September 14) is R U OK day and it is a good day to ask someone how they are doing, don’t just ask today, ask any day of the year R U OK?
Four seasons in one day
Lying in the depths of your imagination
Worlds above and worlds below
The sun shines on the black clouds hanging over the domain
I have been asked a lot in the last 7 months “How are you doing?”. The odd thing is I do wonder if people are just asking how my day is or how I am doing coping with my grief/loss/dealing with life/bleakness of existence etc.
Even when you're feeling warm
The temperature could drop away
Like four seasons in one day
How do I answer? That always depends on the day and what I think the question really is. Most of the time I do say some days are bad and other days are good and that I am taking each day as it comes.
Smiling as the shit comes down
You can tell a man from what he has to say
Everything gets turned around
And I will risk my neck again, again
No really, how are you? It is a bit of a cop out/cliche that I say some days are bad and some are good - but it is so much easier to say. Honestly, it would be more true to say that some hours or minutes are really good and other minutes are bad.
You can take me where you will
Up the creek and through the mill
Like all the things you can't explain
Four seasons in one day
Don’t BS me - How Are You Really Doing?
I am doing much better than I expected. Back in February I thought I would be a complete mess several months in. I’m not. While it is true I miss Ruby everyday and I do have very sad moments (a song, a photo or a movie can set me off), that doesn’t stop me enjoying life, friends, family and even work. In fact I appreciate these things even more than I used to - knowing that we only have a brief tenure in this life. And we don’t know for how long that tenure is.
Blood dries up
Like rain, like rain
Fills my cup
Like four seasons in one day
I have been doing to grief counselling every month since February. I steadfastly refused to go to any kind of counselling previously as I honestly didn’t think I needed it (actually looking back I did need it). I have asked my counsellor several times how she thinks I am doing - so far she thinks I am doing well.
It doesn't pay to make predictions
Sleeping on an unmade bed
Finding out wherever there is comfort there is pain
Only one step away
Like four seasons in one day
I really think I don’t need to go to counselling anymore. Therefore I will continue to go, probably until early next year. I think I can work out / recognise when I am having issues and I can always go back if I am having trouble. I also go to set a good example to my boys who I need to make sure get help if they need it. I know there are good/bad/indifferent days. I am prepared for some (such as birthdays, anniversaries, mothers day and others) and at this time I have enough resilience to get through the unexpected days.
Blood dries up
Like rain, like rain
Fills my cup
Like four seasons in one day
I thought I would try a bit of a writing challenge for this blog post and try and write something to the words of a song. I was listening to Weather With You by Crowded House recently and the song really spoke to me in a way I hadn’t considered before. It isn’t my favourite Crowded House song (that is Recurring Dream), but I have always liked this song. I’m not one for analysing songs/books and finding their meaning - but when I was listening to this in my kitchen I realised the song was really about the ups and downs of life. That really resonated with me and I thought it a good way to explain how I am actually doing.
In reality other songs resonate with me more. U2’s One is a song I truly love - it has taken on many many layers of meaning over the years - even more so recently with the people close to me who have died in recent years - but the lyrics just didn’t work for this blog post (and it too is not my favourite U2 song).
Thursday, 7 September 2017
September Apple Event 2017 - my thoughts
Apple normally works to patterns. Each year there is a new iPhone and releases of their software platforms (iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS). This usually happens in the second week of September with the new iPhones available towards the end of the month. However, what we don’t have is a regular pattern for the AppleTV and the Apple Watch - so far they have been more sporadic. Though Apple does release new watch bands every 6 months or so.
What will be special is this is the first event at the new Steve Jobs theatre at the new campus.
I think the rumours are going to be spot on (MacRumors have a good summary). On 12th September (early morning or Wednesday 13th morning for those of us in the Aussieland) we will see new iPhones (7S, 7S Plus and the Pro with edge/edge OLED screen), iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra, tvOS 11 and watchOS 4. We should also see a new Apple Watch (Series 3 with 4G LTE) and a new 4K AppleTV (with likely support for the High Dynamic Range - HDR spec) and new watch bands.
While the new iPhone design will be interesting (I wonder how they market the “notch at the top” and the lack of a home button) I think the more interesting items will not be hardware. First up there is no point releasing a 4K Apple TV without content so there should be iTunes 4K & HDR content (what will the price will be for these?).
Second (and even more interesting in my view) is ARKit - this is the augmented reality system in iOS 11. This will make Apple the largest augmented reality platform in the world. So far we have already seen some interesting things done with this (virtual menus, redoing the Ah-Ha video - see below). But this is only scratching the surface. This is just a few of my quick thoughts about tourist info so you can get information on landmarks nearby, augmented museum / gallery tours. And don’t limit this to being on a phone. While Google Glass was a failure, what a companion glasses to the phone? Possibilities…
Even though this is the 10th anniversary of the release of the iPhone I don't think that Apple will do anything special. The modern Apple is not a nostalgic company (with a few exceptions). They probably won’t even mention it. The rumours earlier this year about the “so called” iPhone X they were preparing of the 10th anniversary I don't think are true. We are getting the new design as it is ready. Pure and simple.
Lastly, the new feature I am going to first play with first is from watchOS 4 - Buzz, Woody and the gang as my watch face - awesome 😀
Sunday, 20 August 2017
Mixed feelings - Seattle trip Feb 2017
6 months ago (20th Feb 2017) Ruby’s funeral was held at Immaculate Conception church in Seattle (a couple of blocks from her parent’s house). Ruby expressed very clear wishes on a number of things to happen after she died. She wanted her funeral to be in Seattle, for her to be cremated, the ashes to be scattered in Puget Sound near Alki beach and for a group of friends and family to go to Seattle for the funeral and to see where she grew up.
Ten of us travelled to Seattle from Australia - some on their first trip to the USA. We were in Seattle for just 6 days. I was particularly stressed on the way over as I felt somewhat responsible for everyone and was worried about the funeral (doing a eulogy and how the day would run). While we did get a good deal on the flights (considering the short notice), we did miss the connecting flight from LAX to Seattle as LAX was very busy (didn’t realise it was Presidents Day weekend). Fortunately we all managed to get on the next flight to Seattle.
Everything worked on the day of the funeral. Ruby’s song she wanted played worked even though it was just my iPhone speaker into a microphone. The eulogy went well and I got to meet some of Ruby’s school friends. I did manage to spill part of lunch on myself when helping clean up and was almost left behind when heading off to scatter the ashes (there were three cars of us to organise).
Ruby had indicated where exactly she wanted the ashes scattered from, but when Ruby’s brother and I investigated the spot, it was going to be hard to actually scatter the ashes in the water. Fortunately we found a better spot just around the corner. The scattering went very well (glad I read up on it before trying) and also scattering some of flowers from the funeral made it more special. The picture of my boys looking out to sea watching the ashes float away is both gut-wrenching and beautiful at the same time.
The next couple of days we saw the sights of Seattle. Had coffee. Went to the Space Needle, Pike Place and the Museum of Flight (where the boys had a fantastic couple of hours). Found some great places to eat. I now know some new places to get coffee that are in short walking distance to Ruby’s parent’s house: Peloton and Cherry St Coffee (at 12th and James). And a great chicken wings and waffles place...
Leaving Seattle with mixed feelings. Sad to leave Ruby here, but happy as that's what she wanted. But happy to be heading home to Sydney.— Ben Blake (@benblaughs) February 25, 2017
Thursday, 10 August 2017
Ruby’s Star and RubyNanomed
In March a group of Ruby’s Facebook friends got together and gave me and the boys a gift to name a star after Ruby. At first I really wasn’t ready to sort this out, but last week I decided to fill in the forms (by email - which made it easier). I chose to have a star selected in the Phoenix constellation and backdated to the day she died.
Today StarRegistry.com.au sent me a package with location of her star and a certificate. For more details see the International Star Registry page for Ruby.
This is awesome. And perfect too - as Ruby's last name Estrella means star in Spanish. The certificate is great too, very much in Ruby's style.
I also found out that another Ruby's Facebook friends who works in cancer research has named a cancer detector tool/method after her: RubyNanomed. This is also awesome! More details here (translated from Portuguese).
I think both these are super awesome and a great way to remember Ruby.
Thursday, 3 August 2017
Dreaming it all up again
6 months ago my wife Ruby died due to stage 4 cancer - I originally posted this on Facebook 36 hours after she died. The last line I wrote was that I “need to go away and dream it all up again”. That was partly a reference to something Bono said on 30th Dec 1989 (U2 being at the end of an era - in the end reinventing themselves in the 90s) and partly something I felt that I really needed to do after losing someone I had shared my hopes and dreams with for nearly half my life.
The last 6 months have been very busy, dealing with everything and the loss of Ruby, but about a month ago I started thinking about those words on one of my work trips to Melbourne. I realised didn’t need to find a new dream or reinvent myself like U2 did. Instead “dreaming it all up again” was about how I move forward and how I function each day in what is now a new era in my life.
And here it is: I need to be happy being me.
Am I happy being me? Being brutally honest - only sort of. Part of this is I think I need to be a better me - Ben version 4 if you will. Basically I want to be happy with my choices, being the best father and role model for my boys, being more decisive and not regretting or wasting any moment of my life.
I'm not saying I am starting this today as it is the 6 month anniversary of Ruby's death. Part of my thinking in the last month is that I have actually already started this. The work has begun, but is not yet finished…
I did want to do/start something at the 6 month point - which is restarting this blog (after nearly 5 years of silence) and posting regularly. Why restart the blog? Partly as I want to share what is going on with me and the boys (that doesn’t fit in 140 characters), partly to say the things I can’t say in person (yet) and mainly just because I bloody-well want to.
Sunday, 5 February 2017
Sad news about Ruby
This was originally posted on Facebook on Sunday 5th February 2017 - Ruby died on the previous Friday night. Re-reading it 6 months later I think I what I wrote was good (all things considered) and after decided to restart my blog I didn't want this buried/lost in a Facebook feed so I copied this verbatim to this post (I was able to put the date as the date I posted on Facebook).
My beautiful wife Ruby Estrella passed away on Friday night. She was surrounded by family and friends and we had time to have a chat and say our goodbyes.
Ruby was diagnosed with cancer over 18 months ago. It was a rare form of cancer called unknown primary (meaning it had already spread to other organs, but the main cancer cannot be found). She did well with a number of chemo treatments and while we were always hopeful each one would work, we knew it was only a matter of time before the cancer would spread faster than the chemo could stop it.
The cancer in her liver started growing faster in January and last week she was admitted to hospital. Fortunately her parents, brother Elvin Estrella and many others were able to get here in time and say goodbye. She died peacefully and was at peace with what was happening (she told many people not to be sad and that she had had a good life).
So please don't be too sad for too long. Ruby would want you to celebrate her life and the good things in it.
I knew Ruby for over half my lifetime and while I will always want more time I was super lucky this wonderful lady was with me for as long as she was. She also gave me two wonderful boys, a taste for travel and introduced me to her favourite bands (Depeche Mode and New Order).
I will be ok. I am getting great support from family and friends. However, right now I am devastated by this. I need to go away and dream it all up again.
Thursday, 6 September 2012
Potty Training II: Ups and downs
OK so it has been a while since the last blog post (longest since I started these after Jeremy was born). This covers everything from April up until our recent trip to the USA (which I am hoping to get a blog out about shortly).
I have found it harder and harder to write a blog post recently. This is part due to having less time due to having 2 kids keeping both of us busy and then being much more tired in the evening. In April I also had a major problem with iPhoto where it would not recognise the library file and it took me several weeks to restore everything. There has also been a restructure at my work in June and I have been very busy ever since. Finally, I had written a full blog post yesterday and for some reason Google/Blogger did not save it (grrrrrr).
Over the Easter long weekend we made a 2nd attempt at potty training Jeremy. This time he was ready and he was mostly trained by the end of the 4 days. However, he did have several lapses in the following months and even though we tried to encourage him to go to the toilet he has shouted back at us "No! Toilet!". He has also been banned from sitting on the couch due to a several accidents.
In late May we changed from using disposable nappies for Timothy to using cloth ones. Originally I thought cloth nappies were the terry towelling ones which you had to pin on - this is what was used in the hospital for the first nappy for both boys. The ones which Ruby had found were much more advanced with highly absorbent materials and velcro/snaps to join them together. In the end, the move to using cloth nappies did not add too much extra work and we have significantly reduced the amount of garbage we are putting out each week.
Timothy is developing well and is interacting with us much more. We are now getting more smiles and even giggles out of him - though he takes a while to "warm up" to anyone else (including the grandparents!). He has also started crawling several months back and he is now very quick. He can easily follow us around the house (we have been surprised that he was just behind us a couple of times). Recently he has started climbing on the furniture to try and stand up.
The moment he started climbing I disassembled his cot and moved the base down to its lowest level so he could not climb out. At the same time I took the opportunity to move the cot into Jeremy's room from the guest room. Both boys being in the same room is working ok and there have only been a few occasions when they have kept each other awake - mainly when they both were finding something very funny...
The full photo album is available via the following link: April - July 2012
I have found it harder and harder to write a blog post recently. This is part due to having less time due to having 2 kids keeping both of us busy and then being much more tired in the evening. In April I also had a major problem with iPhoto where it would not recognise the library file and it took me several weeks to restore everything. There has also been a restructure at my work in June and I have been very busy ever since. Finally, I had written a full blog post yesterday and for some reason Google/Blogger did not save it (grrrrrr).
Over the Easter long weekend we made a 2nd attempt at potty training Jeremy. This time he was ready and he was mostly trained by the end of the 4 days. However, he did have several lapses in the following months and even though we tried to encourage him to go to the toilet he has shouted back at us "No! Toilet!". He has also been banned from sitting on the couch due to a several accidents.
In late May we changed from using disposable nappies for Timothy to using cloth ones. Originally I thought cloth nappies were the terry towelling ones which you had to pin on - this is what was used in the hospital for the first nappy for both boys. The ones which Ruby had found were much more advanced with highly absorbent materials and velcro/snaps to join them together. In the end, the move to using cloth nappies did not add too much extra work and we have significantly reduced the amount of garbage we are putting out each week.
Timothy is developing well and is interacting with us much more. We are now getting more smiles and even giggles out of him - though he takes a while to "warm up" to anyone else (including the grandparents!). He has also started crawling several months back and he is now very quick. He can easily follow us around the house (we have been surprised that he was just behind us a couple of times). Recently he has started climbing on the furniture to try and stand up.
The moment he started climbing I disassembled his cot and moved the base down to its lowest level so he could not climb out. At the same time I took the opportunity to move the cot into Jeremy's room from the guest room. Both boys being in the same room is working ok and there have only been a few occasions when they have kept each other awake - mainly when they both were finding something very funny...
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Garage Wars: A New Hope
When we purchased our house nearly two years ago we knew that the garage and carport both needed replacing. Our house is on a corner block and we have 2 driveways into the property. The detached single garage in the backyard has a driveway onto one street and the carport is attached to the house with a driveway that exits exactly on the corner. Both are in poor repair - the asbestos garage has cracked panels and the door doesn't work well. The carport roof is rusting and falling apart. What we didn't know was it was going to take over 6 months just get council approval to replace these - let alone build anything.
It is clear we (or the shed company) needed to update the drainage plan - this was relatively easy as we just added the new water tank and the connections to that. The fix for the driveway was harder. The council suggestion to fix this was to turn the garage around and use the other driveway. However, we did not like this as this would have replaced one corner with a bad corner in the backyard - it would have been legal for a turning circle but a real bugger to back out of. It would also have ruined our backyard by taking up about one third with the driveway. I was rather annoyed by this as the driveway was not on the original plan and we were not told of the driveway non-compliance when we purchased the house.
Council did not get back to us until 13 Feb which was only several days before we were due to leave on our three week USA trip. They indicated there was not enough room between the garage and the property boundary for a car to fit (unclear from my phone calls and buried in their council rules). They also did not like the tree to be to removed without a aborist report - something else they did not indicate to me in their phone call. On top of this they asked for us to reply in 2 weeks or we would have to cancel the DA.
At this point we realised we needed to go away and dream it all up again. After a chat to Mum & Dad (who were visiting just before we left for our trip) we came up with a basic redesign which was to replace the old garage and demolish the carport and old driveway. However, there was no time to do this before we left so I asked for an extension. Council refused saying that we had already had done one change (this was the third thing they had not indicated in their previous communications). So I tried to get things organised in the day before we left. In the taxi on the way to the airport council indicated that the changes we were proposing were "too large" and a new DA was required - though they would refund most of our DA money. At that point I gave up and decided to enjoy our holiday. To say I was pissed off at council was an understatement - luckily our trip to San Francisco and Seattle was a welcome distraction.
After getting back from the USA I was also able to work out with our plumber that the tank could drain out to the street via a pit and this could also be used for the garage. The new DA was submitted to council on 19 March 2012. Council took until late April to get back to us (they had gone as far as notifying our neighbours of the development which contributed to 2 of the weeks). Their main issue this time was the drainage from the garage to the street and they wanted us to get an engineer to design a system for us. Instead I asked our plumber to have a look and he said a charged line would work ok - and council seemed happy with this. Council then raised a concern with the height of the garage floor above the ground level (it could not be more than 500mm above the natural ground level). So we changed the plans for this and unfortunately this meant that our neighbours would need to be notified again - 2 more weeks gone!
With the re-notification of our neighbours it meant we would mis the deadline for a garage price rise in mid June! Arrrrgh! Eventually in late June 2012 council approved our modified plans. A new hope? I did not get too excited as the DA was approved with conditions - mainly we needed to get a storm water engineer to design a storm water system - without which we could not get a construction certificate.
I thought we were getting closer, however this (as well as our next holiday) will delay construction...
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| The old garage |
Being a good procrastinator I did not start doing actual work on this until several weeks after Timothy was born. It was then I discovered I needed council approval to demolish and construct a garage - I also discovered that council would not give yes or no based on questions over the phone or in person, they really wanted me to submit a development application (DA). Fortunately the shed company we chose would (for an extra fee) provide all the documentation for council.
We decided not just to replace the carport and garage. This project would include a replacement, stencilled, driveway going all the way to the road (the current one is old, cracked and ends at the property boundary not the road) as well as a water tank connected to the laundry and toilets. This was also important as we discovered (after moving in) that the storm water all drained into a pit under the backyard and this was not working well as the drainpipes overflowed in heavy rain. As both our street levels are higher than most of the property this required a pit - it is most likely 50 years old and full of silt which is causing the drainage issues (especially with the wet summer in Sydney in 2011/12).
As the carport is right next to the house we decided to replace that with a single garage first and demolish the asbestos garage later in 2012 - so we could get a large backyard. The new garage was going to be a very wide (at 4.2m) single garage as a double garage else would not fit next to the house. The first DA went into council just before christmas and it was picked up by council in on 3 Jan 2012 (first one they looked at by the DA number). Shortly afterwards council asked to modify the plans. They had two concerns. One was the driveway onto the corner was not in compliance with Australian standards (and therefore dangerous) and the second issue was the drainage plan was not complete.
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| Plan A - Simple...until council was involved |
I did speak to the council contact to try and understand their issues and suggest a few options so to hopefully save time. The guy from council was most unhelpful and said he had only just been given the project and he would never commit to any answers. A co-worker suggested turning the garage to go directly out to the street (90 degrees instead of 180 degree turn). This seemed a better option. I called council again as I was concerned removing the tree would be a problem but they said it was generally ok to remove trees but would not commit to an answer about moving the garage 90 degrees. We submitted again to council on 18 Jan.
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| Plan B - Just move everything 90 degrees |
At this point we realised we needed to go away and dream it all up again. After a chat to Mum & Dad (who were visiting just before we left for our trip) we came up with a basic redesign which was to replace the old garage and demolish the carport and old driveway. However, there was no time to do this before we left so I asked for an extension. Council refused saying that we had already had done one change (this was the third thing they had not indicated in their previous communications). So I tried to get things organised in the day before we left. In the taxi on the way to the airport council indicated that the changes we were proposing were "too large" and a new DA was required - though they would refund most of our DA money. At that point I gave up and decided to enjoy our holiday. To say I was pissed off at council was an understatement - luckily our trip to San Francisco and Seattle was a welcome distraction.
The distraction only lasted for a time. After 2 weeks in the USA I started thinking about the garage again and decided to start enquiries with the shed company and get the new plan (Plan C?) underway and to (hopefully!) learn from the lessons of the past 2 months. This new plan involved doing most of the work in one go instead of several stages as originally planned. We would demolish both the garage and carport, replace the garage with a double tandem garage, put the tank where the carport was, remove most of the concrete of the carport slab and the old driveway, extend the side fence to go through to to near the front door and remove the fence on the patio. This plan also meant a lot more money (probably double the first plan's $15K).
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| Plan C - just make the project bigger |
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| Plan C version 2 - Approved...sort of... |
I thought we were getting closer, however this (as well as our next holiday) will delay construction...
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Stinky fridges and wobbly washing machines
After our holiday we came back home nice and relaxed. However, there was an unpleasant surprise waiting for us - the house had a really bad smell when we walked in. Unbeknownst to us the circuit breaker on the power circuit had tripped a few days after we had left for the USA. This meant that fridge was switched off for 2.5 weeks. The fridge part was mainly ok as we had cleaned that out except for a few condiments - even the butter had kept its shape. However, some stewed fruit and a chicken satay in the freezer decided to call the mould mafia, have a party and leave the stinky mess for me to clean up.
We had some interesting suggestions on how to clean up the fridge (ground coffee, vanilla) however, in the end we: take out all shelves and wash in hot soapy water, wiped off the mould off inner surfaces, wiped all surfaces with white vinegar and closed both doors and left for a few hours, wiped down again with a bicarb soda / water mix and then left halved lemons and bicarb soda to soak up the remaining smells. Only took 2 weeks! And the fridge is very shiny and clean. Luckily we had a small bar fridge to get by on.
Our garage replacement project took a turn for the worse just before we left as the council reject our 2nd attempt at a DA - 2 days before we left for the US. A lot of work was needed on the 3rd attempt (new quotes ad new designs) which was partly done in the US but a lot had to be done when we got back. The DA was sent to council at the end of march so hopefully it is third time lucky! More detail on this in a dedicated blog post.
I won't even go into my tribulations with Telstra. Gaaaahhh!
Our other problem was that our fisher and paykel washing machine was acting up, er should I say not acting! We'd put in a wash and get to the spin/dry stage and then the machine would just turn off, once or twice with a weird smell too. Normally you could self diagnose the problem with the "code" of lights on the machine display panel, but even those were not turned on. We did get the Fisher and Paykel service man to repair some parts (got a new pump!) but the problem seems to exist once again. The saga continues into April...
There was some good stuff in March too! We did our annual weekend down at Sanctuary Point - Timothy's first visit. Whilst the weather was sunny, it was rather cold so instead of going to the beach, we went to the Fleet Air Arm Museum at HMAS Albatross in nearby Nowra. Jeremy loved it! This museum was just the right size to show our toddler some really cool planes and helicopters used by the Australian navy airships. There was even a fun helicopter flight simulator game which you could fly over Sydney and "through" some buildings. It was a great day to keep the kids entertained.
Last weekend we had originally planned to go to the Zig Zag railway to ride the trains. Jeremy now has a new obsession with Thomas trains thanks to his new favourite book from Lola featuring Thomas and his friends - he wants this read to him most nights since getting back! We were also going to meet up with my parents and make a day of it. Unfortunately both the Steam and Motor trains were out of service. Luckily we had a backup plan and had our picnic at Mt Tomah Botanical gardens. Jeremy loved looking at all the plants with Grandma, as well as finding all the dinosaurs (painted cutouts hidden amongst the gardens for kids to find) and seeing the little lizards on rocks and looking at the koi in the billabong. Timothy rather enjoyed the day too as we carried him front facing in our pikkolo baby carrier.
Timothy no longer stays still. He rolls across the floor to explore and always gets out of his covers in his cot. He is also being more responsive in giving us gurgles, smiles and rasberries. We have now started him on solid food and whilst he isn't taking to it as much as Jeremy, he is doing well. Jeremy did his first poo on the toilet on 28 March and has done several wees since. Potty training II (scheduled for the Easter long weekend) might be more successful than the first attempt...
We had some interesting suggestions on how to clean up the fridge (ground coffee, vanilla) however, in the end we: take out all shelves and wash in hot soapy water, wiped off the mould off inner surfaces, wiped all surfaces with white vinegar and closed both doors and left for a few hours, wiped down again with a bicarb soda / water mix and then left halved lemons and bicarb soda to soak up the remaining smells. Only took 2 weeks! And the fridge is very shiny and clean. Luckily we had a small bar fridge to get by on.
Our garage replacement project took a turn for the worse just before we left as the council reject our 2nd attempt at a DA - 2 days before we left for the US. A lot of work was needed on the 3rd attempt (new quotes ad new designs) which was partly done in the US but a lot had to be done when we got back. The DA was sent to council at the end of march so hopefully it is third time lucky! More detail on this in a dedicated blog post.
I won't even go into my tribulations with Telstra. Gaaaahhh!
Our other problem was that our fisher and paykel washing machine was acting up, er should I say not acting! We'd put in a wash and get to the spin/dry stage and then the machine would just turn off, once or twice with a weird smell too. Normally you could self diagnose the problem with the "code" of lights on the machine display panel, but even those were not turned on. We did get the Fisher and Paykel service man to repair some parts (got a new pump!) but the problem seems to exist once again. The saga continues into April...
There was some good stuff in March too! We did our annual weekend down at Sanctuary Point - Timothy's first visit. Whilst the weather was sunny, it was rather cold so instead of going to the beach, we went to the Fleet Air Arm Museum at HMAS Albatross in nearby Nowra. Jeremy loved it! This museum was just the right size to show our toddler some really cool planes and helicopters used by the Australian navy airships. There was even a fun helicopter flight simulator game which you could fly over Sydney and "through" some buildings. It was a great day to keep the kids entertained.
Last weekend we had originally planned to go to the Zig Zag railway to ride the trains. Jeremy now has a new obsession with Thomas trains thanks to his new favourite book from Lola featuring Thomas and his friends - he wants this read to him most nights since getting back! We were also going to meet up with my parents and make a day of it. Unfortunately both the Steam and Motor trains were out of service. Luckily we had a backup plan and had our picnic at Mt Tomah Botanical gardens. Jeremy loved looking at all the plants with Grandma, as well as finding all the dinosaurs (painted cutouts hidden amongst the gardens for kids to find) and seeing the little lizards on rocks and looking at the koi in the billabong. Timothy rather enjoyed the day too as we carried him front facing in our pikkolo baby carrier.
Timothy no longer stays still. He rolls across the floor to explore and always gets out of his covers in his cot. He is also being more responsive in giving us gurgles, smiles and rasberries. We have now started him on solid food and whilst he isn't taking to it as much as Jeremy, he is doing well. Jeremy did his first poo on the toilet on 28 March and has done several wees since. Potty training II (scheduled for the Easter long weekend) might be more successful than the first attempt...
Monday, 2 April 2012
San Francisco and Seattle trip 2012
On 17 Feb 2012 we flew to the USA so Timothy could meet his grandparents and for a quick holiday in San Francisco. This post covers both our holiday and the last couple of weeks in March. It has taken a while to post this blog as we were busy almost as soon as we got back and unlike last time there was no free hotel wifi so to blog on the road.
Timothy's first flight was on the A380 from Sydney to Los Angeles and for the most part both kids behaved well. Unlike the last trip Jeremy did go to sleep without too much trouble, though he really did enjoy watching his "own" tv.
When we arrived at SFO we took the BART (which Jeremy did enjoy) and walked the short distance to our hotel, the Westin Market Street. We did go out for dinner and worked out that while the weather was ok during the day it was quite cold at night. The kids had a bit of trouble getting to sleep (and it took us a couple of days to get them in sync with US west coast time).
On the second day we purchased a MUNI passport from Hallide Plaza visitor centre (on the lower level - top tip as the queue is shorter than for the one near the cable car terminus). Since we had cranky kids and didn't want to wait so long for the cable cars, we went to Market street to catch the F-line tram to wharf 39. We enjoyed a relaxed stroll through Pier 39 to see the sea lions and had clam chowder in the bread bowl. Then we took bus to Coit Tower and enjoyed beautiful views of the city. We ended the day with cable car ride back to Powell Street.
On the third day we spent most of the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Jeremy loved the aquarium and the rainforest (ok mainly the frogs). The food place was expensive and the queue too long so a good tip is to bring your own.
Our last full day was spent at the Palace of Fine Arts (where we got some great photos). We also walked over to Crissy Field to get some great views of the Golden Gate Bridge. As Jeremy loved the cable cars so much we took the cable car again back to our hotel. Jeremy liked it so much he fell asleep halfway through the trip!
We were tired and were looking to checking into our next hotel. As the price doubled on the 4th night we only booked the Westin for 3 nights and booked in at the Hotel Milano (which was closer to our Amtrak pickup) for our last night. Hotel Milano was a mistake! They did not have us booked in for that night and had booked us for a night in January instead. The guy on the front desk was most unhelpful so we headed back to the Westin where our luggage was stored. We explained the situation to them and luckily they had a room spare for the night - at a similar price to our other nights. The new room was on the top floor which was cool. In the end we managed to sort out a full refund with Hotel Milano.
Our final day in San Francisco was spent walking around Chinatown where we had great yumcha at Yous Dim Sum on Broadway. At around 8.30pm we started the next leg of the journey up to Seattle. We were bussed to Emeryville where we caught the Coast Starlight train which would take us to Seattle the following night.
As it was after 10pm we were in bed asleep quite quickly and by the time we woke up we were already in Oregon and breakfast was being served. It was cool to sit down and watch Lake Klamath zip by. We spent most of the day in the family cabin except for lunch and Jeremy wanting to wander from one end of the train to the other.
Most of our 2 weeks in Seattle was quiet and relaxing. Both boys had a great time with their grandparents and the relatives we visited. We visited Pike Place market, though Jeremy was more interested in running around the park, and had a great coffee at Caffe D'arte nearby. Jeremy really enjoyed going to the Museum of Flight (we spent half a day there as he kept wanting to look at everything).
We had a good flight home (Jeremy fell asleep soon after takeoff) and grabbed a taxi very quickly upon arrival. Unfortunately, here were a number of surprises and unfinished jobs awaiting our arrival back home that have kept us quite busy.Those are, however, for another blog post...
Timothy's first flight was on the A380 from Sydney to Los Angeles and for the most part both kids behaved well. Unlike the last trip Jeremy did go to sleep without too much trouble, though he really did enjoy watching his "own" tv.
When we arrived at SFO we took the BART (which Jeremy did enjoy) and walked the short distance to our hotel, the Westin Market Street. We did go out for dinner and worked out that while the weather was ok during the day it was quite cold at night. The kids had a bit of trouble getting to sleep (and it took us a couple of days to get them in sync with US west coast time).
On the second day we purchased a MUNI passport from Hallide Plaza visitor centre (on the lower level - top tip as the queue is shorter than for the one near the cable car terminus). Since we had cranky kids and didn't want to wait so long for the cable cars, we went to Market street to catch the F-line tram to wharf 39. We enjoyed a relaxed stroll through Pier 39 to see the sea lions and had clam chowder in the bread bowl. Then we took bus to Coit Tower and enjoyed beautiful views of the city. We ended the day with cable car ride back to Powell Street.
On the third day we spent most of the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Jeremy loved the aquarium and the rainforest (ok mainly the frogs). The food place was expensive and the queue too long so a good tip is to bring your own.
Our last full day was spent at the Palace of Fine Arts (where we got some great photos). We also walked over to Crissy Field to get some great views of the Golden Gate Bridge. As Jeremy loved the cable cars so much we took the cable car again back to our hotel. Jeremy liked it so much he fell asleep halfway through the trip!
We were tired and were looking to checking into our next hotel. As the price doubled on the 4th night we only booked the Westin for 3 nights and booked in at the Hotel Milano (which was closer to our Amtrak pickup) for our last night. Hotel Milano was a mistake! They did not have us booked in for that night and had booked us for a night in January instead. The guy on the front desk was most unhelpful so we headed back to the Westin where our luggage was stored. We explained the situation to them and luckily they had a room spare for the night - at a similar price to our other nights. The new room was on the top floor which was cool. In the end we managed to sort out a full refund with Hotel Milano.
Our final day in San Francisco was spent walking around Chinatown where we had great yumcha at Yous Dim Sum on Broadway. At around 8.30pm we started the next leg of the journey up to Seattle. We were bussed to Emeryville where we caught the Coast Starlight train which would take us to Seattle the following night.
As it was after 10pm we were in bed asleep quite quickly and by the time we woke up we were already in Oregon and breakfast was being served. It was cool to sit down and watch Lake Klamath zip by. We spent most of the day in the family cabin except for lunch and Jeremy wanting to wander from one end of the train to the other.
Most of our 2 weeks in Seattle was quiet and relaxing. Both boys had a great time with their grandparents and the relatives we visited. We visited Pike Place market, though Jeremy was more interested in running around the park, and had a great coffee at Caffe D'arte nearby. Jeremy really enjoyed going to the Museum of Flight (we spent half a day there as he kept wanting to look at everything).
We had a good flight home (Jeremy fell asleep soon after takeoff) and grabbed a taxi very quickly upon arrival. Unfortunately, here were a number of surprises and unfinished jobs awaiting our arrival back home that have kept us quite busy.Those are, however, for another blog post...
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
The Screaming Children Symphony
I had planned to write this post before we left on our USA trip (there will be a post on the SF part shortly) however things just got busier and busier before we left. This was mainly due to deadlines at work. So now I am writing the post on the iPad on very cold day in Seattle.
and our 2011 comic is available from this link: 2011 Comic.
December was a busy month with something on almost every weekend.
Similar to 2 years prior for Jeremy we travelled into the city and sorted out Timothy's US passport. We also met up with friends who were visiting Sydney on the weekend. Both his US and Australian passports were quickly processed and arrived before Christmas.
The weekend before Christmas us and several friends gathered at a holiday house near Berry on the south coast of NSW. Even with 6 children under 5 the house did live up to its name - Serenity. Jeremy did not enjoy going in the water at the beach nearby as the water was quite cold but he had great fun building a sandcastle with me (a budding engineer perhaps?).
Timothy has been developing well. He has been sleeping through the night since mid November which is great, though he still sleeps in a different room to Jeremy. He started out as a very serious baby but started smiling back recently and on 23rd December gave us his first outburst of laughter. We have now had several occasions where both kids have caused each other to laugh.
This year we drove to Mudgee to spend Christmas with my parents - it had been a while since we had been to Mudgee and a number of years since we had Christmas there. The weather was great and Jeremy had a great time feeding the goats and running about in the yard. Dad even found some frogs for him to look at. This Christmas Jeremy was much better at opening presents and he really wanted to play with his new toys...and Timothy's!
After a few days at home, we drove back via Newcastle to visit a good friend who gave birth to twins just before Christmas.
In late January we returned to Mudgee to take Jeremy to Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo. Jeremy had a great time at the zoo and did not have to be carried too much as he wanted to go and see the next animal. His vocabulary really increased due the visit as he is now able to name more animals.
Jeremy is starting to speak to us with multiple words - we now get "No Daddy!" instead of just "No!". He is expressing himself better too - when asked does he want breakfast he says "Yup - yogo (yogurt) please". However, he is really testing our patience as he keeps on doing things when expressly told not to (such as poking Timothy in the face or touching the computer). I think that this is either for attention or that he is bored - when he is interested in something he gives it 100% of his attention.
The common denominator in the past 2 months has been car trips with screaming children - particularly when I am driving. Timothy will be hungry and yell for a while then Jeremy will start up (usually just for attention)
No news on the garage renovation just yet - that saga is going to get its own dedicated post later on...
Hmmm this was meant to be quick / short post...
December was a busy month with something on almost every weekend.
Similar to 2 years prior for Jeremy we travelled into the city and sorted out Timothy's US passport. We also met up with friends who were visiting Sydney on the weekend. Both his US and Australian passports were quickly processed and arrived before Christmas.
The weekend before Christmas us and several friends gathered at a holiday house near Berry on the south coast of NSW. Even with 6 children under 5 the house did live up to its name - Serenity. Jeremy did not enjoy going in the water at the beach nearby as the water was quite cold but he had great fun building a sandcastle with me (a budding engineer perhaps?).
Timothy has been developing well. He has been sleeping through the night since mid November which is great, though he still sleeps in a different room to Jeremy. He started out as a very serious baby but started smiling back recently and on 23rd December gave us his first outburst of laughter. We have now had several occasions where both kids have caused each other to laugh.
This year we drove to Mudgee to spend Christmas with my parents - it had been a while since we had been to Mudgee and a number of years since we had Christmas there. The weather was great and Jeremy had a great time feeding the goats and running about in the yard. Dad even found some frogs for him to look at. This Christmas Jeremy was much better at opening presents and he really wanted to play with his new toys...and Timothy's!
After a few days at home, we drove back via Newcastle to visit a good friend who gave birth to twins just before Christmas.
In late January we returned to Mudgee to take Jeremy to Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo. Jeremy had a great time at the zoo and did not have to be carried too much as he wanted to go and see the next animal. His vocabulary really increased due the visit as he is now able to name more animals.
Jeremy is starting to speak to us with multiple words - we now get "No Daddy!" instead of just "No!". He is expressing himself better too - when asked does he want breakfast he says "Yup - yogo (yogurt) please". However, he is really testing our patience as he keeps on doing things when expressly told not to (such as poking Timothy in the face or touching the computer). I think that this is either for attention or that he is bored - when he is interested in something he gives it 100% of his attention.
The common denominator in the past 2 months has been car trips with screaming children - particularly when I am driving. Timothy will be hungry and yell for a while then Jeremy will start up (usually just for attention)
No news on the garage renovation just yet - that saga is going to get its own dedicated post later on...
Hmmm this was meant to be quick / short post...
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Potty Humor
We have been so busy I did not post at Timothy's 1 month so this month as a bonus you get 2 albums instead of 1!
The full photo albums are available via the following links: Timothy Birth to 1 Month and Oct to Nov 2011
On 15 September our son Timothy Maxwell Estrella Blake was born by c-section. Ruby had wanted to try for a natural birth this time, but Timothy had been transverse since about 36 weeks so our OB had booked in a c-section. The birth itself was over rather quickly, we turned up at hospital just after 7, chatted to the OB and the anaesthetist at 8 and Timothy was born at 8.42am. At first glance he was a big boy, but it was only when he was being weighed and a crowd of nurses gathered round that I knew something was up. Timothy's birth weight was 5.2kg, length of 57cm and head circumference of 39cm (for comparison Jeremy was 3.7kg, 52cm and head 35.5cm). The mid-wife even had me ring up the operating theatre and tell everyone there how much he weighed.
Timothy was definitely not coming out naturally! A 39cm head is about as big as they get, and no wonder he could not move from being transverse. This time around Ruby's recovery was much quicker and she was up an walking around 36 hours after the surgery instead of the day we left hospital. Ruby's room was also in the new maternity wing at Westmead (instead of being well away like last time) which meant her calls were answered. As she was doing so well we were able to stay at the Rydges near Rosehill racecourse for the last 2 nights.
See also Jeremy at 1 month...
This time around I took 5 weeks leave in anticipation of Ruby needing a similar amount of help to Jeremy's birth. However, Ruby's recovery was a lot faster this time (I think I could have gone back to work after 3 weeks).
Whilst home we did try to get Jeremy potty trained. Some initial progress was made but he does not tell us he wants to use the toilet until after he has already filled up his nappy! However, last week I suggested to him that he have a shower instead of a bath - he could not wait to get in and play with the falling water. Hmmm no more baths for Jeremy?
I did make good use of the 5 weeks, the new garage project was started, but more on that in the new year when construction starts...
Timothy is doing well. His feeds were much quicker than Jeremy's and at first we were worried, but when he kept putting on weight we decided he was just more efficient than Jeremy. Clothes turned out to be a bit fun too. Partly due to the colder spring and due to his size he did not have much in the way of warmer clothes...that fit! We haven't measured him for a couple of weeks however, he was about 6 weeks in front of Jeremy (who had a massive growth spurt between 2 and 3 months).
Lots of other stuff has been going on, but I will let the photos tell the story. Now onto Christmas...
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
The birthday party virus
We had planned a Sesame Street themed birthday for Jeremy's 2nd birthday, we had even borrowed some great backyard toys from the toy library. Unfortunately things did not go to plan!
On Friday afternoon (both of us had the day off work) Ruby and I were busy getting ready for Jeremy's birthday party the following day. Ruby had already baked cupcakes and the birthday cake. My parents brought Jeremy home from daycare and told us that daycare thought he had hand, foot and mouth disease (no not the animal one!). We quickly found out it was very contagious to little kids and had to quickly ring all the other parents to cancel the party the following day.
Jeremy still had a great birthday. He did have to visit the doctor confirm he was sick, besides he likes the doctor as he knows she has a supply of jelly beans/babies. He had lots of spots on his legs, but apart from that he was ok (he had lost his appetite a few days earlier - but that was certainly back). He had great fun opening presents and we did have a small family party that night.
Looking back the last couple of months have been busy, well at least is seems that way! We finally cleaned up our guest room to serve as Noodle's nursery (until Noodle can move into Jeremy's room - hopefully). We also bought a new cupboard for the kids as Jeremy's old one was mine from uni days and was not suitable and really falling to bits.
We also had a dryer installed as I figure there will be a lot more washing with Noodle's arrival.
Now we are just waiting for Noodle to arrive...Tomorrow!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
On Friday afternoon (both of us had the day off work) Ruby and I were busy getting ready for Jeremy's birthday party the following day. Ruby had already baked cupcakes and the birthday cake. My parents brought Jeremy home from daycare and told us that daycare thought he had hand, foot and mouth disease (no not the animal one!). We quickly found out it was very contagious to little kids and had to quickly ring all the other parents to cancel the party the following day.
Jeremy still had a great birthday. He did have to visit the doctor confirm he was sick, besides he likes the doctor as he knows she has a supply of jelly beans/babies. He had lots of spots on his legs, but apart from that he was ok (he had lost his appetite a few days earlier - but that was certainly back). He had great fun opening presents and we did have a small family party that night.
Looking back the last couple of months have been busy, well at least is seems that way! We finally cleaned up our guest room to serve as Noodle's nursery (until Noodle can move into Jeremy's room - hopefully). We also bought a new cupboard for the kids as Jeremy's old one was mine from uni days and was not suitable and really falling to bits.
We also had a dryer installed as I figure there will be a lot more washing with Noodle's arrival.
Now we are just waiting for Noodle to arrive...Tomorrow!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, 30 June 2011
USA Trip 2011 - Overview
In late May 2011 Ruby, Jeremy and I travelled to the USA to both see Ruby's parents and for Ruby to attend a conference in Denver in early June. We decided instead of flying from Seattle to Denver we would spend a week driving there and also visit Yellowstone national park, Devil's Tower and Mt Rushmore. For the full list of photos from the trip see the following photo album:
The road trip days and Denver are detailed in the following blog posts:
Day 1: Where's the Roadkill?
Day 2: Roadworks and Rainbows
Day 3: Lens Envy
Day 4: Lots of Old Geysers
Day 5: Blowing in the Wind
Day 6: Smaller than Expected
Mammoths and Denver Days
USA Trip: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The first 5 days of the road trip were blogged on the road when we had access to wifi (most days which was great). While the last couple of days did have wifi we did not have much time to post (let alone write a post).
I was originally planning to finish up organising the photos and the last bit of writing while we were in Denver. However, my time was mainly taken up taking care of Jeremy (see Mammoths and Denver Days) and the past couple of weeks in Sydney have simply flown by.
Note also the first 5 days have been edited to include a number of new bits (map links, more pictures, corrected distances).
Flights with Jeremy
Jeremy is definitely at an age where flying is difficult and he certainly let us know he was unhappy! Last time we travelled to the USA he slept most of the way and he is a bit young to be distracted by the entertainment system (though I suspect he is not far off being interested).
The flight to Los Angeles (on a Qantas A380 which was great!) was the hardest as Jeremy did not want to go to sleep sitting up. We were in a bulkhead row and could not move the armrests. Also the flight left just after lunch and he did not want to go to sleep mid afternoon. He slept better on the flight from Dallas to Brisbane (a new route for Qantas in 2011) as we left in the evening and he could lay out flat. Also both flights were long (at 12.5 and 15 hours) which did not help!
Blogging on the road
Blogging on the road was a good idea (yeah look how long it took me to blog once we got home!). However, I think it took too long to get a post done and these are some of the reasons:
The road trip days and Denver are detailed in the following blog posts:
Day 1: Where's the Roadkill?
Day 2: Roadworks and Rainbows
Day 3: Lens Envy
Day 4: Lots of Old Geysers
Day 5: Blowing in the Wind
Day 6: Smaller than Expected
Mammoths and Denver Days
USA Trip: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The first 5 days of the road trip were blogged on the road when we had access to wifi (most days which was great). While the last couple of days did have wifi we did not have much time to post (let alone write a post).
I was originally planning to finish up organising the photos and the last bit of writing while we were in Denver. However, my time was mainly taken up taking care of Jeremy (see Mammoths and Denver Days) and the past couple of weeks in Sydney have simply flown by.
Note also the first 5 days have been edited to include a number of new bits (map links, more pictures, corrected distances).
Flights with Jeremy
Jeremy is definitely at an age where flying is difficult and he certainly let us know he was unhappy! Last time we travelled to the USA he slept most of the way and he is a bit young to be distracted by the entertainment system (though I suspect he is not far off being interested).
The flight to Los Angeles (on a Qantas A380 which was great!) was the hardest as Jeremy did not want to go to sleep sitting up. We were in a bulkhead row and could not move the armrests. Also the flight left just after lunch and he did not want to go to sleep mid afternoon. He slept better on the flight from Dallas to Brisbane (a new route for Qantas in 2011) as we left in the evening and he could lay out flat. Also both flights were long (at 12.5 and 15 hours) which did not help!
Blogging on the road was a good idea (yeah look how long it took me to blog once we got home!). However, I think it took too long to get a post done and these are some of the reasons:
- I had not setup the plugin for iPhoto which uploads photos with all the metadata to Picasa (see this blog post from 2008 on why I use the plugin). This meant I had to use the crappy web interface and hand enter the data.
- I should have worked out how the blog posts would look before leaving and set up a template. That way I could spend more time just writing and not fiddling about with how the post looks (which is one of the reasons why the first 5 days have been edited).
- Sort out geotagging once and for all. Unfortunately the gps logger I bought on the last trip did not work properly on this one. I thought I was prepared as I did test it before leaving home and it worked ok, but it has not since. Last trip it really made geo-tagging the photos easy!
- Some nights Jeremy went to sleep a bit late and it was hard to pull out the laptop and start writing / organising photos.
Mammoths and Denver Days
Hot Springs, South Dakota to Boulder and then to Denver, Colorado
Distance: 559 kms
Tantrums: lost count - but Jeremy is really sick of us driving!
This is part of a series of posts from our 2011 road trip. See the overview post for links to the other posts.
There was only 1 place to visit today and the rest was a lot of driving so we wanted to start early (and for a change did!). In Hot Springs there is a (still active) dig site for Mammoth bones (see www.mammothsite.com). Back in the 1970s the bones were discovered when the site was being excavated for a housing development. Ruby and I were fascinated with the site. Jeremy liked running around but he really did not want to listen to the tour guide…
The rest of the day was spent driving to Boulder. The driving was relatively easy as most of it was on I-25, but for Jeremy it was getting boring. He had truly had enough of the long drives and really needed entertaining and we had to make 2 unscheduled stops so he could get out of the car. Luckily at the end of the drive we were staying at a friends place and Jeremy immediately took a liking to their backyard!
The next day we had a short trip into Denver. Here Ruby was going to spend 4 1/2 days at a conference on mass spectrometry. Most days Ruby would leave at 8am and we would generally meet her again at 5.30 or 6. For me this time was a small taste of being a stay at home dad (ok in a hotel…where I did not have to cook or clean…well I said it was only a small taste!!).
Generally Jeremy and I would follow Ruby down to breakfast, but we would take a lot longer to eat than Ruby (Jeremy liked to go back for a 2nd or 3rd tub of yogurt). Then we would wander back to our room counting all the floors in the lift (Jeremy was fascinated by the lift and the floor numbers). Jeremy invented a new game to play in hotel, "Exit Signs", which involved pointing at the nearest exit sign and then running to the next one. As the hotel was square we ended up going around 4 or 5 times before getting to our room.
After a short break we would head off for the indoor pool and swim for 30-40 mins (Jeremy had lots of fun in the pool even though I thought it was a bit cold). Following our swim I would give Jeremy a bath and got him dressed for the day. By the time I had a shower it was about lunchtime so we would head off to have lunch. In the afternoon Jeremy usually spent several hours sleeping after which we would walk over to the convention centre and meeting up with Ruby.
Distance: 559 kms
Tantrums: lost count - but Jeremy is really sick of us driving!
This is part of a series of posts from our 2011 road trip. See the overview post for links to the other posts.
There was only 1 place to visit today and the rest was a lot of driving so we wanted to start early (and for a change did!). In Hot Springs there is a (still active) dig site for Mammoth bones (see www.mammothsite.com). Back in the 1970s the bones were discovered when the site was being excavated for a housing development. Ruby and I were fascinated with the site. Jeremy liked running around but he really did not want to listen to the tour guide…
The rest of the day was spent driving to Boulder. The driving was relatively easy as most of it was on I-25, but for Jeremy it was getting boring. He had truly had enough of the long drives and really needed entertaining and we had to make 2 unscheduled stops so he could get out of the car. Luckily at the end of the drive we were staying at a friends place and Jeremy immediately took a liking to their backyard!
The next day we had a short trip into Denver. Here Ruby was going to spend 4 1/2 days at a conference on mass spectrometry. Most days Ruby would leave at 8am and we would generally meet her again at 5.30 or 6. For me this time was a small taste of being a stay at home dad (ok in a hotel…where I did not have to cook or clean…well I said it was only a small taste!!).
Generally Jeremy and I would follow Ruby down to breakfast, but we would take a lot longer to eat than Ruby (Jeremy liked to go back for a 2nd or 3rd tub of yogurt). Then we would wander back to our room counting all the floors in the lift (Jeremy was fascinated by the lift and the floor numbers). Jeremy invented a new game to play in hotel, "Exit Signs", which involved pointing at the nearest exit sign and then running to the next one. As the hotel was square we ended up going around 4 or 5 times before getting to our room.
After a short break we would head off for the indoor pool and swim for 30-40 mins (Jeremy had lots of fun in the pool even though I thought it was a bit cold). Following our swim I would give Jeremy a bath and got him dressed for the day. By the time I had a shower it was about lunchtime so we would head off to have lunch. In the afternoon Jeremy usually spent several hours sleeping after which we would walk over to the convention centre and meeting up with Ruby.
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