I know, I know, it's been a long while since I posted anything, and some may have started to equate idleness (of the blog) with laziness (of the blogger). They are two different things, I would argue: Idle being "not working or active; not spent or filled with activity; not in use or operation" as opposed to Lazy: "averse or disinclined to work". While the latter description has been applicable to me on many occasions, it's not the reason I haven't posted anything recently. If anything, it's been the opposite: there's been too much on the go. If I didn't have such a deep respect for the Queen's English, and such an aversion to punny plays-on-words, I might term this lost month "Go-vember". But that would be pretty lame, right?
Jessica is continuing to amaze us with her development: she is just so engaging of everyone around her, so inquisitive, so determined, so independent, so intelligent, so loving, so funny, so precious. (and I think that's what I'd say about her even if I wasn't her Dad!). She goes out of her way to catch people's eye when we are out shopping, and give those people a great big smile, which almost always gets a big smile in return (from people who just moments-ago had their serious shopping faces on). She's been busy with lots of outings recently including two birthday parties in as many days. Yesterday's party was for her cousin Jesse (he turned 1), and today's party was a combined 1st Birthday for all the kids in Mel's mothers group (the kids are all turning 1 over the next month or so aswell). The party today was held at Wilson Botanic Park and I'm embarrassed to say I'd never been there before - and it's in my town! It's a beautiful place for an outdoor party and BBQ, and there's even a lake filled with turtles and ducks (there were 8 turtles swimming around just in front of us). Anyway, this photo was taken yesterday, at Jesse's party, and it features a guest appearance by Jessica's cousin Grace (who intuitively wore a turtle neck yesterday in anticipation that I might mention turtles in tonight's post - how clever!):
Mel is doing very well, too, I think. At least that's what she says when I ask her. She could be lying. She seems quite tired (which is understandable, since she does way more than I do), and I know that she pushes herself to cram heaps of productive things into every available moment of the day (usually at the expense of any down-time). The deck has been scrubbed and restained, the Christmas presents have all been bought and wrapped, the garden has been trimmed and tidied, her work clients have all been micro-managed, and of course Jessica and I have been looked after beautifully (I like to think that I require a little less maintenance than Jessica - certainly less changing - but maybe I'm every bit as dependant). It's certainly time for a holiday somewhere for Mel's benefit especially - I put the form in about 6 weeks ago, but 'they' want to think about it a bit longer before they'll decide if I can have the time off. Approval of my leave - if it comes - will then mean we have to decide on where to go, and we're no good at that having had so little practice! Any ideas?
Work has been busy, with a LOT more travelling this month (and on that note they upgraded my old, second-hand vehicle with a lovely brand-new one...which was nice!). The extra travelling (sometimes 8 hours a day) is certainly made much easier in the new car, which is one of these. As well as much more travelling, there has been a renewed interest in the DVD proposal, which has necessitated a lot of after hours work in putting together costings and production options for senior review. The DVD was presented in part to about 150 of our trading partners to gauge their interest, and they seemed to appreciate the idea. A decision from our C.I.O. can't be far away and, if it was in the affirmative, production would start in mid-January (for approximately 5-6 weeks full time, or 20 weeks part time). I had learned to not think about the proposal any more, since it had been put on the 'back-burner' for so long, but now that there is some real chance of it being taken up I guess I'm getting a little excited about that (quietly, of course!).
As well as work, there's been a bit of activity involved in putting together some quick clips for Children's Celebration (which took place today). Jeff and the team did a great job as usual, but I have to say that his kids (my nephews) stole the show. Connor read perfectly, pausing for effect and adding emphasis on the the right words like someone five times his age. Darcy said a great prayer and only stumbled once (and added an "Aw, shucks", which was a great touch). Then both of them played air guitar up on stage. I say "played air guitar", but that doesn't do it justice: when all the other kids mimed the actions of playing a guitar, C & D started drawing inspiration from some of the best 80's big-hair rockbands, wrestling with their air guitars, dropping to their knees and arching their backs, doing windmills with their strumming hand, and doing it all with a strained face and eyes squeezed closed. I wish so much that I had taken the video camera (or any camera). It was so incredibly funny that I was almost crying. Jamie & Beth & Grace were also able to make it, so it was great to see them briefly too. The Celebration seemed to go really well, and people had a fun time.
Speaking again of Australian Idol, it was the Grand Final tonight. I think more people were interested in that than in the Victorian State Election held 24 hours earlier. As Mel says, if electoral voting wasn't compulsory, there would no doubt be far more votes cast on Australian Idol than at the polling booth. Actually, as I think about it, maybe we could adopt the Australian Idol model for all state and federal elections?: 25000 hopefuls, culled to a Final 12, each having to perform policy announcements in front of a live audience each week. We could SMS their names to keep them in the running, with the PM or Premier emerging at the end of an arduous few months of elimination. On second thoughts, I wonder if anyone would actually spend the money to vote for a politician? Perhaps you'd SMS to vote them off instead? Yeah, I can see the voting-off model working much better. The considerable amount of money earned via the mobile phone charges could then go into public works or tax cuts, so the populace gets the politician that they dislike the least AND the the money goes back into the community - everyone's happy. But I digress...
Yes, it was the final tonight, and we found ourselves watching it with a level of interest that I hadn't expected a few months earlier. We hadn't been followers of the show this year (we watch very little TV anyway, and hadn't had much interest after previous years' AI efforts), but we caught Jessica (not that Jessica - the contestant!) singing "Beautiful" quite late in the series. We also saw a stunning few performances from Damien ("Crying" by Roy Orbison, "Waiting On An Angel" by Ben Harper), and it was pretty clear that there were some terrifically talented people this year (well, at least 2 of them). It was nice to have a final where both finalists really deserved to win - unlike some previous years - and where you were pretty confident that both were destined to have strong success regardless of the night's outcome. We have family in the Northern Territory (Jessica's from Darwin), and family in the U.K. (Damien is from County Kerry), so we didn't even have a parochial favourite. Terrific to see a 30-year-old Irish-born father win, and I'm sure his album will be eagerly anticipated and well worth picking up. I'm also pretty sure that Jessica will be given a contract of her own in the next 24 hours or so, and do equally well. So, Dad, were you flying the Damien flag over there in Downpatrick? (I know he's from the Republic of Ireland, not Northern Ireland, but he does have the right accent!!) Or did you not even know that it was on?
Anyway, I should leave it there for now. I'm not sure if I'll head to bed just yet, or try to do some more on the Family Album (each year, Mel and I put together some clips of old and recent home movies and photoshows, and present those on DVD to our respective families at Christmas - her DVD's being a far superior version to mine). Neither of us have had much time to do a lot towards these as yet, so I can see that the next 4 weeks will be a mad scramble to get the Albums done (it's a very enjoyable scramble though). On second thoughts, since it is 1:27am , I think the scramble can wait another day. Maybe I am lazy after all??
Take care,
Matt
