Merry Christmas Everyone!

Well, we've finished our late-night trampoline building (thanks Aunty Bec and Mel for the help!) - so in just a few hours we'll get to enjoy the best present of the day!

Wishing you all a fantastic Christmas, and a wonderful New Year.

M, M, J, __ & J

Did you say DECEMBER 16th??

OK, it's late and I need to get to sleep, but if I leave this blogging any longer...well, I will have left it longer. And I'll try not to do that. Seeing the months march on without an update always gives me a mild sense of guilt, having failed to keep up with something. Yet another something. That's not to say that guilt is the only or even a very strong motivation for writing :that's definitely not the case and I genuinely do enjoy the opportunity to write something every now and then. There just seems to be more then posts than now posts these days!

What's happened recently?

We've had the privelege of hosting my Mum & my sister Bec at our house for the last few weeks. Their house sold toward the end of last month, and they're yet to find a suitable rental in the right location. It's been lovely to have them, and Jessica has really loved spending more time with them both (and I think the benefit goes both ways, just quietly). There's been a lot more trips to the local park in the evenings, more active partners for Jessica's frequent dancing, and a much larger audience of admirers for Jessica (& Jersey) than is usually the case. We'll all really miss them when they move on: Jersey will be very forlorn, and Jessica probably won't cope at all. Hopefully they'll still be here at Christmas, so they can share in Jessica's early-Christmas-morning excitement too. (We've bought Jessica one of those new-fangled SpringFree trampolines - but don't tell her that!). Speaking of Christmas Day, we'll be hosting my side of the family here. Years ago that might have put us into a bit of frantic activity for the preceding weeks, but we're learning to be a bit more casual about it all now, I hope. Really looking forward to it, even though I know that not everyone is able to make it along.

It's become a tradition in this house to work on our Family Album DVD's throughout December, but - believe it or not - mine is still not underway. I'm not sure that I'll be able to compile something in the 9 sleeps remaining, but we'll soon see I guess. It'd be a little disappointing, but you have to be realistic at some point and recognise that there's too much to do and too little time (I'll probably only recognise that on Christmas Eve!) The major reason that I'll press on and try to complete something is that I want to include a video that Mel made yesterday. It is just beautiful, and I was in tears when I first saw it (it's a compilation of photos of Jessica through the last 12 months). So I have to make a DVD for my family if only to include this one clip: it wouldn't be fair that they miss out on Mel's video just because I didn't get my act together (The Family Album that Mel does for her side of the family is well on track, so there's no dramas there).



Part of my justification for not getting the Album started yet, is that work has been a little hectic - particularly at this time of year and following 4 weeks of leave. I was also sent up to Wodonga last week to conduct a series of training sessions over successive days. It was actually one of the nicer times I've had to be away for work: there's something about that whole region that I really love. For years I've wondered (as we drove back and forth visiting family when we were based in Sydney) if we could ever afford to buy a parcel of land nearby. As a glimpse into what I love about the area, when I had finished dinner at the hotel I'd take a walk along the bank of the Murray just before 9pm, and there would be dozens of families barbecuing, with a dozen or more kids still swimming and giggling in the river. There was a paddle-steamer moored nearby, a huge chorus of birds singing away overhead, and a palpable sense that people were really living here. It actually reminded me a lot of being on family holidays in the late 70's and early 80's: warm nights, simple BBQ's, swinging on tire swings and swimming out to sand bars along the Murray. I don't have any crystal-clear memories (not even of sitting on the hot camp stove by mistake!), but the vague recollections I do have - mostly of sounds and smells - always make me smile.

Another excuse for not having done the Family Album yet (if I was interested in lining up excuses) is that we went to a Wiggles Concert this week. Yes, another one. This one was much bigger, and was held at Rod Laver Arena (the Tennis Centre). It was a big deal, with police directing traffic and closing lanes etc. Due to the size of the place it wasn't nearly as intimate as the earlier concert at Dallas Brooks Hall (where we were spoilt with seats about 3 metres from the stage). Of course it only matters that Jessica enjoyed the most recent concert - and that certainly was the case.

Today we went to Myuna Farm, for the Christmas Party for Mel's Mum's Group. She still really gets a lot from the friendships she's forged there, and they seem like a lovely group. The location was chosen as it offers lots of little animals for cuddling, and - perhaps ironically - lots of covered barbeque areas (presumably for lentil burgers only). The kids all seemed to have a great time, as did the Mums and Dads, though we're all pretty exhausted afterwards.

This week, we also went along to "Road To Bethlehem", a pageant (I guess that's the right word) staged by the Seventh Day Adventist church, and held outdoors in their Nunawading grounds. The night involves groups of about 50 being ushered through various places/events of the Christmas story, listening to Mary, being growled at by centurions, travelling from Jerusalem, meeting the wise men, coming to the Inn and stable etc etc. It was really well put together and felt like a great gift to the community (it was free, and I think I heard that 15,000 people attended across the 3 or 4 nights). If you haven't been before, I recommend it, and I'm pretty sure that it'll become part of our Christmas tradition.

And finally - in keeping with a tradition held by many people at Christmas - we watched "It's A Wonderful Life" this week. Amazingly, Mum & Bec hadn't seen it, so it felt a little special to involved in sharing such a great film with them for the first time. They must have liked it, because over the next couple of days we all also watched "You Can't Take It With You" & "Mr Smith Goes To Washington" (even the first half of "The Philadelphia Story", just because we were on a roll). There's something timeless and universal about films of that era, and those films in particular. Maybe I should buy a dozen copies on DVD, then replace the cover with something that says "Family Album 2007". I don't imagine anyone would feel shortchanged, unless of course they'd heard about the video Melissa made about Jessica. No amount of Capra would make up for missing that.

Well "Goodnight", that's enough from me: I either need to start capturing another video tape onto the computer, or I need to go to bed and hope for a more productive Family Album day tomorrow. As it's now clicked over to 1am,I think my eyes are making that decision for me....

Matt

Tas Mania

It's often daunting starting one of these things. I'm usually a bit anxious that not enough has happened that's of any interest, but at the same time I worry that too much has happened to be succinctly wrapped up in a few paragraphs. It's like, if you don't mow your lawn for 4 weeks, the job becomes far more difficult and the length of the grass can be enough to stop the rotors on the mower if you're not careful. On the other hand, to use a shaving analogy, if you shave too often - like if you have to shave before going out for a special dinner and then you have to shave again for work early the next morning - you end up with iritated skin. Mashing both analogies together and applying them to blogging: post too frequently and you'll become irritating, too seldom and it'll become too difficult (and may even stop the blog altogether). I'm probably just over-thinking this again, eh?

Blogs seem to have quietened down a lot lately. Maybe everyone's moved over to FaceBook and blogs are becoming "so 2006", or maybe people are just really far too busy at this end of the year. Hey, less than a month to Christmas :) We've managed to get pretty well organised for Christmas this year: the tree is up, as are the decorations on the bannister and over the fireplace, 90% of the presents are bought and wrapped and under the tree, and the first half of the 70-or-so Christmas cards went out this week (the rest will be written and sent over the weekend). Mel's the powerhouse behind most of these preparations, although we both jointly devoted a bit of this month-long holiday to getting prepared.

The trip to Tassie was good. We struggled a bit from a health perspective, with both Mel & Jessica out of action for at least some of the time there, but we did have fun. We saw some lovely places: we thought some places were heavily underrated (Chudleigh region), while others were overrated (Tamar Valley). Next time we're there we'll know where to spend more time, and where we can afford to skip. I'll think I'll post some pics now - just a handful - before heading to bed. I may follow up with some others later (incidentally, if you sign up to FaceBook which has a much better photo gallery feature - you'll see a lot more of the photos from the Tassie Trip). Goodnight, Matt


(PS. What did you think of that Election result? I can't say I'm even remotely a fan of Kevin Rudd, and I think his win merely tops off the most 'successful' fake campaign I've ever seen. With that said, I sincerely hope I'll be proven wrong in everything I think about him: I'll hope for the best, but expect...well...you know.)

2:52...

Well it's 2:52am and I'm somehow still wide awake, so I'll try to make the most of my insomnia by posting a quick update.

What's news? Well, I'm on holiday at the moment: almost 3 weeks through the 4 week break (it's gone SO fast!). We had plans to do a bit of travelling up through NSW and QLD (including taking Jessica to Wiggles World), but a few obstacles got in the way. The biggest hurdle was that Jessica came down with Tonsillitis, and has really only perked up again from yesterday (not quite 100% yet, but heaps better than she was with the 40 degree fever, inability to eat or sleep etc...). It was a really serious infection, and it knocked her for six, so it's just wonderful to see her running around and singing and dancing again.

The holiday has been a pretty low-key affair (yeah I know, such a departure from my usual life-in-the-fastlane). We've: spent a day at Healesville Sanctuary, taken Jessica swimming a few times, been to Grace's birthday party, let Jessica help Mum feed the animals on a nearby farm, done some gardening, done a little video-editing, gone to the gym about 7 or 8 times, been to the doctors three times, and spent several days knocking over about three quarters of the Christmas shopping (Mel even has everything wrapped and carded). We have plans to put the tree up on the last day of my leave (the 26th) and at this rate we'll be able to put all of the presents under the tree at the same time: I think that's about the most organised we have ever been.

We are managing to get away for 7 days though. We're sailing over to Tassie tonight, returning on the morning of the 23rd. None of us have been there before, but keep hearing glowing reports from family and friends. We'll be in Hobart for 3 days (Port Arthur, Salamanca Markets. Mt Wellington etc) then travelling up the East Coast (Freycinet Peninsula, Wineglass Bay, Bicheno, Bay Of Fires etc) then round again to Launceston for a day or two. Expect to be inundated with photos when we get back (aren't you lucky that nobody has a slide projector, so we can't bore you with a 5 hour slide night?). When we get back, I'll be spending the rest of Friday with Susanna and some of her school friends shooting a funny music video clip, and on the Sunday we'll be at a work Family Christmas Day at Melbourne Showgrounds (a bit like the BP Christmas parties all those years ago, Dad?). And of course in between there's that pesky voting thing!

Speaking of that trip, I really do have to get to bed since it's now 2:55am and there's a HEAP of things to do tomorrow before we leave (like all the packing).

Take care - I'll talk to you again in a week or so,

Matt

P.S. our great friend Michelle convinced me to sign up to FaceBook recently, and it's been a lot of fun browsing through networks of friends and linking in with different people that you may have lost touch with etc. If you're interested in signing up for yourself and seeing what it's all about, go to http://www.facebook.com (Bec, Jon, Grace, Mel are all there too, so you don't have to be scared).

P.P.S. Congratulations on the new job Jeff!

Sick Bay

So, on Monday we decided to make the most of our day off, and the warm weather, by heading down to Cape Patterson. It's been a year since we were last there - I don't know how that happened - and Jessica's last time at the beach was when she was still crawling! So it was with some enthusiasm that we piled into the car in the early afternoon...

The headaches and stomach pain started just a few minutes from our destination. We talked about turning around but, as we'd been driving over an hour, it only seemed fair to Jersey to let her run around for a few minutes at least. Jersey did have a great time, as did Jessica, and we even got some lovely photos and video despite the fact that the sky had turned grey and the weather quite cold. Increasingly sore, we walked back to the car after about 30 minutes, then headed off home. That's when the vomiting started.

The trip home took two-and-a-half hours, with all of us physically ill at different intervals (we stopped at least 6 or 7 times). Mum & Bec then selflessly came to our house to help us, since we were in no state to look after Jessica properly. We spent 4 hours in Hospital - 3 of those hours waiting to be seen. Jessica & Mel continued to vomit well into the evening (12 times for Jessica in fact), and were both in a really bad way. To add to the misery, we then managed to give the bug to Mum who spent Wednesday in all sorts of pain, thanks to her caring for us from Monday night through Tuesday night (again, we're SO sorry Mum - and so very thankful).

So I don't think I could say it was a brilliant day at the seaside. On the bright side, though, we did capture some nice footage! I put some of the clips together in the wee hours of Saturday morning - about 3:30am - and have posted a very low-quality version below. I haven't posted to YouTube before so I don't know how/if the quality can be improved (it'll likely be on the Family Album though).


The song is called "Home", and it's by Phil Wickham, from his beautiful new album "Cannons". You can buy it here, and/or you can find a lot of Phil's own clips on YouTube by starting here.

Flight Of The Grumble-bee

Written Wednesday 10th:

Hey there. It's 5:05am on Wednesday 10/10 (although it won't be when you're reading this), and I'm sitting in gate lounge 4 at Melbourne Airport. In my psychotic eagerness to get to the airport in plenty of time to change my seating allocation (in the hope of getting a seat where my legs aren't crushed by the seat in front), I ordered a taxi for 4am. He was early, traffic was great, and I got to the airport at 4:40 - almost an hour too early. And would you believe that I had already been allocated an exit row seat - the row with the most legroom - so I didn't need to be here early anyway!

The gatelounge TV is showing the NBC Today show, and they've been discussing the #1 issue facing that society at the moment. Iraq? Afghanistan? The Presidential Race? Crime? Nope: deodorants that leave white marks on your clothes (seriously, they are doing a full-on investigation). So I've switched over to the iPod and this laptop - and I'm currently listening to a weekly current-events trivia podcast, NPR's "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" (It's a great show, and I've learned a lot about U.S. politics too - so make sure you subscribe to it if you have iTunes installed somewhere).

So I'm heading back up to Brisbane today, and staying though until Friday night. I can really think of at least seventeen dozen places I'd rather be, principal among them being back in bed and not far from M & J & __? (thanks for the notes of congratulations, too!). I know, I know, I keep predicting that each trip will be my last, so I won't make that mistake this time 'round. It's funny (in a sad way) that when I first flew to Brisbane earlier this year for work, I dismissed the idea of joining the Frequent Flyer program on the basis that I was never going to be a frequent flyer. Then, with every subsequent flight, I lament that I never joined up, but I again rationalise that this really is my last flight so i again avoid joining up. Given that this is now my 10th trip in 8 months, I'd probably have enough points to fly to New York by now if I had joined. Idiot! What's the bet that if I bite the bullet now and join up, Murphy's Law will dictate that that'll be the end of my travelling? Maybe that's reason enough to join!

Well, I might pack this up and take a stroll before we board: us old codgers need to loosen up.

Written Friday 12th:

OK, now it's 4:05pm on Friday, and I've just arrived at the Brisbane gatelounge for my trip home. Looking back at what I wrote earlier, I can be so whiney! I'm really looking forward to getting back home of course, but Brisbane wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, or as I intimated it would be above. The motel I stayed in was very, very old and basic, but at the same time it was clean and quiet - and on the list of my wants and needs when travelling, they;re pretty much the top of the list. They also had a great cook, who prepared coconut prawns with Atlantic salmon, with a Margaret River cheese platter etc. You had me at "cheese".

I was also invited out to he home of some friends who recently moved from the Vic office to the Brisbane site (Kate & I used to sit together, and her husband Chris worked two desks away) - and we all had a great evening together. They have two kids - Danny, 17 and Tara, 20, and apparently I wasn't too old and daggy for them - that's always nice! The work I'm here to do has been pretty straightforward but at the same time very productive and on top of that, the weather has been 32 degrees today. The plane has been delayed though - in keeping with every other Friday afternoon flight I've had at Brisbane - but since I'm now looking at the bright side of things, this at least lets me go and stretch those old-codger legs again, eh? Have a great weekend.

(Oh and last but certainly not least, I just learned that my sister got a full time job today - one that she looks set to really enjoy - despite originally going in to interview for a totally separate part-time role. CONGRATULATIONS Bec!)

More, please?

That's a favourite phrase of Jessica's: whether in response to a soggy, empty icecream cone, the fading out of a song she was gyrating to, or the credits rolling on a Wiggles DVD. It's also somewhat apt for this post.

Do you know what you're doing on May 11, 2008?

We do. We're having a baby!
(since the first one turned out so beautifully, why wouldn't you?)

We had the first scan today, and everything is progressing really well (it was nice to see that our Obstetrician had a photo of 2-week-old Jessica up on his wall, and we were able to reintroduce them to each other). Mel & baby are both doing well, but Mel is feeling queasy for a LOT of the day. Baby's at 9 weeks and 3 days, so hopefully the morning sickness will abate in a few weeks time. Naturally, we'll keep you posted.

Well, I've gotta go pack my bag and try to get to bed, as it's a 3am start tomorrow (heading to Brisbane again until Friday night). Lucky me :(

Matt

21 today!!!

Months, that is.
(I can't bear to think about her ever being 21 YEARS old!)

She keeps getting more precious by the minute, and I'm very conscious that this blog has done very little justice to that fact...especially of late. Will try very hard to post at least one or two clips of the increasingly-wonderful Jessica in October. And implicit in that is that you'll also see some clips of the wonderful Melissa, too.

Come to think of it, I'll need to be making video clips at a pretty speedy rate from now on, as it's just over 12 weeks to Christmas (and therefore, 12 weeks to "Family Album 2007"). Add to that the fact that I'll spend probably 11 of those weeks trying to get some rudimentary comprehension of the new software, and I'm in some real trouble!! It must be high time for all those family members with cameras and video cameras to step in and replace me, no?! Trust me, it really is very easy - I just make it LOOK difficult.

Matt

Pro Creation

People often ask me why I haven't left my job yet.

Lots of people.

It's a question that seems to unite disparate groups of people, who may not agree on very much else except their shared conviction that I need to leave my job. In fact, I was asked the question again tonight.

I certainly don't mind the question - not in the slightest - and I take it as a reminder that people genuinely care about my welfare (and also that I might need to tone down the extent of my whingeing!). And since I occasionally ask myself the same question (some weeks much more often than others), I really can't blame others for wondering too. Well, the reasons that I stay in my job are both complicated and very simple. Although now's not the time to elaborate on those arguments, today emphasised just one of those key reasons...

A couple of months ago I wrote that I was hoping to one day purchase Final Cut Studio 2. (If you don't believe me, here's that post). "FCS2" is a highly-advanced video editing, soundtrack design, 3D motion and DVD authoring suite from Apple, and it's used by Emmy-award winning TV shows & Oscar-winning movies etc etc. It's quite expensive by my standards (you could very convincingly argue that it's worth ten times it's R.R.P., but that's not the point here - it's still very expensive regardless of it's value). The software I use now, MediaStudio Pro 8, costs about one-third of what FCS2 costs (and even then, I only use MSP8 because I was given a free copy by the company!), but if I'm to ever 'graduate' to a more polished and professional quality level, I'll need to move up to learning FCS2; it's the industry standard. The fact that Ulead/Corel seem to be discontinuing MSP after this version certainly helped to make that decision (and push us away from PC's to the Mac itself).

Well yesterday, after a few months of saving - helped by a bonus from work - I was finally able to...[insert drumroll please]...purchase Final Cut Studio 2! Apple have already shipped it, and the tracking website predicts that it will arrive here tomorrow. I'm very excited. I'm not a shopper by any stretch, and I really don't get excited about buying things for myself (case in point being my wardrobe consisting almost-exclusively of decades-old clothing from K-Mart). I actually get very anxious about buying things - particularly things for myself - but this particular purchase excites me because of what it represents. The potential to be unlocked here is immense, and I've had many sleepless nights wrestling with all of the possibilities. I actually have something of a grand plan in mind - I guess it's been brewing for at least the last 18 months - and yesterday's purchase is a big stepping stone on the way to reaching those larger goals. (I may share some of that grand plan here on day, but if you think my current posts are long and rambling, wait until you get me talking about THAT!).

Anyway, the bottomline is that, while I may not love my job, and while they may not always treat me particularly well, and while it may not be leading me where I ultimately want to be going, I am immensely thankful for it. It's an avenue, a stepping stone, a springboard, and a great means to end. In a very real way, it affords me the opportunity to pursue something bigger and better, and I'm getting pretty excited about those future prospects (if you have an hour free sometime, I'll bore you with my big plans!).

Well, I really need to go get to bed. It's a big day at work tomorrow, followed by a big evening installing all 9 DVD's of Final Cut Studio 2. And then I have to start on the 6 BIG, heavy manuals, which will probably take weeks to read and months to understand (I've been reading what training materials I can find on the web, and downloading tutorial podcasts, but it's not really working without the software in front of me). So, you'll either see a very excited post from me tomorrow night, or you won't hear from me for the next 3 months while I try desperately to get my head around it all.

Probably both.

Good night,

Matt

Gee-whiz

Did you all see the big game yesterday? Geelong vs Port Adelaide? Hardly a game that anyone from Adelaide will be telling their grandkids about. I must be THE least sports-mad person I know, but I found it a terrific game to watch. I know some people have complained that it was too one-sided (especially for a Grand Final), and that a margin of 119 points (yep, 20 goals!) makes it all a bit boring. But if you spent your working week sitting beside Marg - the most passionate Cats supporter in the world - you'd have been caught up in her emotional journey too. She's 60+, goes to every single game, knows every stat and - as a single mother herself - has adopted every player as one of "her boys". We were seriously worried about her heart failing during the tense leadup to the finals, especially during the 5 point win to Collingwood last week. So a quick SMS to her at the siren on Saturday - just to check on her welfare - was met with "You beauty - this is the best feeling EVER!!!!". She and her daughter then drove to Geelong after the game, and spent the evening driving around the town tooting their horn and screaming in delight - with tens of thousands of others apparently. When I spoke to her today, she was barely able to speak - her voice almost completely gone from all the cheering. Even though I don't really 'get' sport itself, it's wonderful watching people who are THAT passionate about anything.

One minute's cone of silence

Did you realise that today is the second aniversary of the passing of Don Adams? If you're not already aware (oh the humanity!) Don played - or rather, was - Maxwell Smart, Agent 86. If you're too young to have seen Get Smart after school (as I did), you'll likely still have heard him after school as the voice of Inspector Gadget. He died at age 82 on September 25th, 2005, from a lung infection, after a long battle with bone lymphoma. (Incidentally, that was also the same month that Simon Weisenthal (The Nazi Hunter) & Bob Denver ("Gilligan") passed away). Bet you didn't know that he was also in the U.S. Marines, and that he was the only survivor in his platoon in Guadalcanal (where he contracted malaria)? Or that he was born Donald James Yarmy, to Hungarian & Irish parents? Or that he was married three times and had seven children, and that his youngest child is named "Beige"? Well you do now.

!sdrawkcab...lacipyT

Last Wednesday (the 19th), the guys from MuteMath again performed "Typical" on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" - this time in reverse and in a single take...

3-oh!-3

Ta-da! So now I'm 33.

Of course you know that Jesus was crucified at age 33 (I'll try not to focus on His accomplishments by that age as compared to mine), but did you know that Alexander The Great also died at 33? He's considered one of the most brilliant military commanders of all time (guess that's why he's not known as "Alexander The Mediocre") and was undefeated in battle prior to his death from a mystery illness. Again, I'll try not to be put off by his accomplishments in a relatively short life: so what if he conquered half the world while I worked at the same place for 17 years?? The Big Show-off. Maybe I'm just a late-bloomer? (although if marrying Mel and having Jessica count as accomplishments - and they do in my book - I can retire happy right now).

33 is also the atomic number of Arsenic and, of course, it is also the largest positive integer that cannot be expressed as a sum of different triangular numbers (who could forget??). It's also the number worn by NBA basketballers Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Larry Bird & Patrick Ewing, and of the legendary Baseball player, Jose Canseco (i only know of him because of The Simpsons). "Sure", I hear you scoff, "we knew THAT!". Fine then, but did you know that the 'smile for the camera' phrase used in Spain is not "Say Cheese", but "Say Thirty-Three" ("Diga treinta y tres")??? Haha! Didn't think so.

I had a great birthday as always. Mel made a cake of 6 different cheeses (no, not a cheesecake, but a tower of cheeses with candles stuck on them, garnished with walnuts and grapes), due to the below-mentioned diet. She and Jessica also bought me a Goodies apron, Goodies oven mit (both feature a picture and read "Goodie, Goodie, Yum Yum") and the complete, 5-season, 25-DVD box set of "Get Smart". It even comes in a telephone booth box! (we've enjoyed watching the first 9 or 10 episodes in the last couple of days - and I'm pleased to be introducing Mel to the fine comedic genius that brought us "...and loving it", "would you believe...", "the old ____ in the ____ trick", the cone of silence, the shoe phone, and so much more. As an aside, there must be something magical about the year 1965: both Get Smart and Hogan's Heroes piloted in that year, and I love both of the them for the same reasons (does that say more about 1965 or me?) In fact we have been watching the box set of HH just last week! And as an aside #2, in tonight's episode of Get Smart, the password and counter-sign that Max and The Chief had to use were "Apple" and "Macintosh": I wonder if that's where Steve Jobs got the name? As an aside #3, have you seen the new iPod touch and iMac? Beautiful. And did you know (Aside #4), that Pixar, who made Ratatouille which we saw last week, was once owned and run by Steve Jobs as it's CEO, and that he bought the company for $10 million and later sold it to Disney for $7.4 billion, making him Disney's #1 shareholder in the process? But now we're getting off topic, and you know how I hate to ramble :))


Anyway, I was really blessed to recieve so many calls, texts, posts, visits, cards, vouchers and gifts from lots of people: thankyou if you are one of those people!! Thanks very much for the 5 books I've now got to read, the jumper I get to wear, the vouchers I get to spend, and the car simulation I got to drive. I will really try to send an email or call you all, but 'the road to hell' and all that...

I think I might go to bed now. Hope you're well! (and thanks for the posts and emails keeping us in touch: I really appreciate them).

Matt

32.99726027

Well, I've been a bit slack in updating this thing in the last few weeks, and with my ailing, old-timer's memory, if I don't at least write something now I'll soon forget what's happened. So here's a very quick wrap up of the last week or so:

I went to a Switchfoot concert with two of my nieces, attended a Catalyst business breakfast the next morning, had a great time at Bec's 30th birthday party that night, spent most of the weekend in Yarram with Deb & the kids to celebrate two birthdays, spent Monday with my buddy Jessica, worked, went to the gym, watched a movie with M & J (Ratatouille), had Anthony & Christina & the boys over for supper/cake, and went driving around Nurburgring in a Porsche Carrera. The latter was achieved via a racing simulator, and the experience was a gift from the very thoughtful Christina & Anthony. I can't say that I covered myself in glory, and my best time was 10 minutes 25 seconds. (I was well on my way to beating the 10 minute mark when, on the 2nd last corner, I suddenly found myself embedded in a jungle of trees from which there was no return).

The Switchfoot concert was great, despite a rubbish audio system that made everything sound like it was played underwater, through a speaker stuck inside a mattress. My eldest niece, Susanna, was really looking forward to the concert but came down ill in the few days before it and had to miss out (she promises that she wasn't just trying to avoid being seen out in public with her daggy old uncle). Susanna's ticket was happily snapped up by Grace, so she and Erin joined me for a great night. We even had an opportunity to meet all 5 members of the band, as they shook hands and signed autographs after the show. The girls were all able to get t-shirts and have them signed by the guys, so Susanna didn't miss out completely. Music aside, the best part was spending some time with my nieces - something I don't get to do often enough. (Special note to you, Dad: Switchfoot are now doing a tour to support your mates at Habitat for Humanity: it's called the Appetite for Construction tour, but I think it's just U.S. dates so you might miss out this time 'round)

The Catalyst breakfast was also really interesting: I think there were 18 guys and 1 woman meeting at a cafe to chat about being in a workplace as a Christian. Anthony (he of the Nurburgring fame above) was asked to speak for a few minutes to get the discussion started, and the topic for the day was personal - and particularly, sexual - integrity. I think the one lady might have felt out of place, and she kept pretty quiet, but it was a good robust discussion for the rest of us.

Bec's 30th birthday party was a very stylish affair, with the house decorated beautifully with a gold theme, and everyone dressed as their favourite literary character. Everyone except the three of us, that is! As Mel & I were on unofficial video/photo "duty", we were let off lightly for having failed to find an outfit. And Jessica was let off because, well, she's Jessica and she's gorgeous. Everyone had a great time, and the food was amazing!! I'm on a very strict low-carb, high-protein diet at the moment, but do you think that stopped me having a little chocolate mousse? Not likely! I did manage to hold back from the Biscotten Torte & Birthday Cake, so that's perhaps something. I'd love to post some photos from the night, but since they feature other people and other people's kids, I'm not too sure that I have permission! (What's the protocol there? Hmm? I think I'd best err on the side of caution, and just post a picture of some of the cakes!). So another great night, Mum & Becky - thankyou!

Well, I have one day left at age 32 - 99.7% of that year having been used up already. It's amazing (and a little frustrating, unsettling, daunting) to see how fast time is going these days; there's so much I want to do and seemingly no time to do it. Maybe 33 will be the year that I get serious and make sure that at least some of those things happen...

Cheers,

Matt

Blessed

A hand-painted and glazed "Daddy" mug.  A hand-painted watercolour on canvas. A "Why I Love My Daddy" book (with a photo of Jessica & I inserted in the last page).  A new Ravi book.  A selection of delicious cheeses.  A brekky fry-up of bacon, eggs and sausages.  And lots of lovely hugs and kisses.  I could get used to days like today. (Thankyou Jessica & Thankyou Melly!)

We were also able to spend our afternoon at Jeff & Keren's (thanks again!) for a delicious lunch to celebrate Sammy & Eliza's birthday's. Jessica came down a little ill, but rallied enough with some mediine to still have a lot of fun with her cousins, Uncle, Aunts & her Granny (that's her pulling the go-kart). In fact we all had a great time.

Mel is hard at work at the computer tonight - a big deadline and meeting tomorrow in the City - and that follows her getting to bed at 5:00am today after an all-nighter on this same project. I hope she gets to bed before 12 tonight, but something tells me she won't. So all I can do is ply her with nice warm cuppas. And maybe some yummy cheese. I'll go and get her next cuppa now, but will include a few photos taken this week.

Take care,

M

Work, Wiggles, Wickham & Watoto

Hey,

I should be off getting my bag packed for work, so of course I'm writing a quick post instead. An early start awaits tomorrow (3am-ish) as I'm off to Sydney for the next couple of days, and our company likes to make sure we don't waste a minute by insisting that all flights are booked for 6am. I say 3-ish because, although I would normally leave the house by 4:00am, tomorrow I have to drop in at my local office to collect something on the way to the airport. Yay! I'm also heading back to Brisbane for the next couple of weeks, so not really looking forward to that. We've thought about trying to bring Mel & Jessica up with me, and even trying to get out to Wiggles World (it's part of Dreamworld I think), but it may prove just a little too difficult - particularly as they have me working night shift while I'm up there (10pm starts I believe).

Getting off the topic of Work as quickly as I can (which is not nearly soon enough), have you heard of Phil Wickham yet? If not, I'm pretty sure you will soon. We picked up his self-titled CD last week, after hearing just a snippet of "Grace" on the radio, and have to say that it is a wonderful album. If you go to his website (http://www.philwickham.com), you can hear some of the songs yourself. I think "Grace" is still my favourite (wonderful lyrics, passionate delivery), but it's a CD filled with some very unique & memorable tracks. Beautiful stuff.

Speaking of music, we ventured out on Sunday morning to see/hear/experience the Watoto Childrens Choir peforming at Berwick COC. I hadn't seen them before, but Mel had unexpectedly caught a preview show at the shopping centre in Fountain Gate on Saturday. If you haven't seen 21 Ugandan orphans beaming with delight as they dance and sing about being rescued (Watoto is a Christian outreach and purpose-built 'village' that provides family, housing, health, education and leadership traing to Ugandan orphans), then you're missing out. I think they are still going to be touring in Victoria for awhile, so if you get a chance to see them, I heartily recommend it. Here's their website: http://www.watoto.com/

Must go and pack! Good night.

M

More than meets the eye...

Seen any good movies lately? I've only seen a couple in about 6 months: Shrek 3 a few weeks ago (really disappointing, IMHO) and Transformers last weekend after work. It's such a guilty pleasure, but I really enjoyed Transformers: it's big and stupid as far as dialogue and story goes, but for anyone interested in digital effects and compositing, or sound design, it is simply a work of art. The first half was definitely better than the second half (the latter was mostly one loooonnnngg battle, whereas the first half actually introduced characters and began a few parallel plotlines - it was even pretty funny). Don't go for the intricacies of the plot, or the sparkling dialogue (it gets especially cheesy when the machines start talking - why can't they just shutup??), but the effects are outstanding. I have no problem enjoying a dumb film that knows it's a dumb film: it's films that think they're clever but which really are dumb that I can't stand! Transformers is a Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay production - the same two people responsible for The Rock - and when I list my Top 10 favourite films, I do have to concede that The Rock is certainly near the top of that list (it's very, very low-brow to say that, but hey, it's true). Another reason for seeing Transformers was that MuteMath (my MuteMath) are featured on the soundtrack! (they have recorded a version of the old Transformers theme). I can't say I heard it anywhere in the movie though, so that's a shame. But they're still on the soundtrack CD, so that's gotta help them along: they deserve to be much bigger than they are, and I'm sure they will be soon. (speaking of bands that I like that seem to be getting some traction, Mat Kearney has been playing on Fox and MMM quite a few times recently. I even hear Brooke Fraser's "ShadowFeet" being used on the ads for 9's "Sea Patrol" or somesuch at the moment).

As a segue, I listen to the MuteMath CD every time I go to the gym - the first 5 tracks are great for the 10 minute run and 10 minute cycle that I always have to start with. I've managed to consistently go to the gym 3 times per week since I started 6 weeks ago - it's still not easy, but it is getting marginally easier. Haven't noticed much of a physical change yet, aside from the fact that I can get through the routines with less of a struggle and have steadily increased the weights on each of the machines: I guess that must mean that some invisible good is being accomplished. I've actually noticed a very fundamntal thing about myself in the last couple of years: I have no respect for small increments. Whether in financial terms or in weight loss/gain, or in most anything else, I have an unhealthy attitude toward small increments. For instance, intellectually I know that saving $5 per week would eventually lead to a worthwhile amount of money if I had the discipline to keep at it, but I don't have the patience for it. I know that losing 500g per week would eventually result in a really positive overall weight loss, but if I don't see at least 1kg being lost each week I lose all momentum and interest. Conversely, if I know that I'm not eating right, and see that I'm putting on a few hundred grams each week or so, I'm not likely to change anything until a few weeks later when I realise that I'm 5 kilos heavier than I was "yesterday". It's weird I know, and it's a personality flaw that I'd like to work on for myself and in turn, be mindful of when setting an example for Jessica. Money boxes will feature heavily!

Jessica is pretty well now, but we calculate that she hasn't been well for a full week in at least 2 months. It seems that she just gets over something, starts to perk up for a day or two, and then comes down with something else entirely. Hopefully she's just getting all of her sicknesses out of the way in one convenient block, and then she'll be a picture of health for the next 3 years straight. She's doing a lot of dancing these days - some of it we have managed to catch on film, but most of the time you can't get to the camera so you just get to sit and enjoy it while it last (LOTS of ballerina twirling). She's also stringing two or three words together ("There's my Daddy! Where's my Mummy? There she is! Cup please? Ta!"), and has become really proficient at recognising colours, people, objects in her books etc ("Where's Anthony? Can you see RED? Where's the boat? etc"). She often does things now which cause Mel & I to look at each other and say "she's too smart for us!" (we walked in to the lounge last night and she had inverted a heap of coloured, plastic cups and placed them in a row across her other toys - and the cups were all sorted into colour sequence!). She also loves watching herself on TV or on the computer (video clips we've made of her) and she'll giggle away at all the funny things that onscreen Jessica does - no matter how many times we replay it.

Mel is flat-out at the moment - getting to bed after midnight, getting up at 5am, working whenever she can find a moment during the day (eg. when J goes down to sleep). Her major client is very high maintenance, very volatile in terms of mood and expectation, and pretty unreliable when it comes to completing tasks that Mel depends upon to complete her own role. So after being told one week to cut her hours back (for the clients financial needs), they turn around overnight and demand weeks worth of new analysis to be completed and sent back to them almost immediately. It's very taxing on her when it happens (which is not every day or even every week, thankfully) and makes every aspect of her life very difficult. On top of that, they are getting her services for a fraction of what they would need to pay anyone else (and they know that she does a brilliant job), so hopefully the next time they try to push her around she'll not only say "sorry, that's an unreasonable expectation - I'll have it for you next week instead" but she'll also add, "and my fees have gone up by 150% too!".

Speaking of Mel, it is her birthday next Friday (August 3rd). Every year, I spend at least June & July contemplating the perfect gift for her, and yet I always reach the last week as confused and as anxious as ever. I've never managed the 'perfect' gift, and on a few occasions what I have carefully planned out as being a brilliant set of gifts, matched perfectly to her interests and passions (or so I thought), has fallen pretty flat. Most of the time I think I hit somewhere in the middle to upper-middle range. I have a list of about 15 things this year, though recent conversations have helped me rule out about half of those too. This may be the year that I ask Mel to pick something that she'd like: it sounds incredibly unromantic and even thoughtless (hence I haven't done it before), but if it leads to her 'perfect' present, maybe the end justifies the means? I don't know. It seems like such a phone-in. I think I'll persist with my self-directed endeavours, and hope for the best (it is still the thought that counts, right???)

Well I must go and get my things ready for work tomorrow. I was told today that I need to fly to Brisbane tomorrow, investigate a perceived problem, then fly back tomorrow night. I'm up at 3:15 to leave the house by 4:15 (my flight is at 6am), get into Brisbane at 8:30, to my destination at 9:30, investigate this so called problem (which really needs a week to properly investigate), then back to the airport at 6:30pm, onto a plane at 7:50pm which gets into Melbourne at 10:15pm, so I'll be home by about 11:30pm: that's a long day! But on top of that, I'm told that I have to submit the full report on my findings (with photos and powerpoint slides) no later than 10am on Friday, as they'll form the basis of an 11am meeting. Since I cant start that report until I leave Brisbane, I can't see that I'll be going to be tomorrow night! On the bright side, it sounds like Mel will be up most of the night working on her projects, so we'll at least give each other company. On that note, since it's 10:22pm and she's busily tapping away on her laptop in the study, I should go and get her a cup of coffee.

Goodnight,

Matt

iMatt

So I never did get around to that appraisal/review of our new computer, and I know that there is at least (at most?) one person in the world interested in our findings (thanks for your interest, Jon - you're personally responsible for the next few paragraphs). To recap, we were ready to replace our 5 year old PC recently and decided - for the very first time - to depart from the Windows World and into the Macosphere. We had looked longingly at the 24" iMac's for several months, drawn by their stylish simplicity (Mel HATES cables, and on the iMac the pretty HD screen is the entire computer - there's no separate CPU tower, and only a power cord and the lead running to the keyboard and mouse), the great interface, the promise of a host of creative applications, and the fact that it provided a non-Vista future (I'm not willing to "upgrade" to an operating system that requires 1GB of RAM just for itself). It also helped that the PC-based software I use for video editing has been discontinued as of this release (ie. there won't be a version 9), so there was very little to tie us to the Windows format. The only other stumbling block for moving to a Mac - that your existing software library becomes redundant overnight - is no longer an issue due to programs like BootCamp and Parallels, which let you run Windows software on the Mac too. On top of that, my employer had a staff discount night and we were able to get 20% off Apple's price, so it became a no-brainer.

Where do I start? In short, this is a wonderful machine to use. It is so unlike the PC's that I've been using since the early 90's. I know I'll sound just like the "I'm a Mac" guy on those Apple ads, but you really do get the feeling that there is absolutely no contest between the two formats: they're like chalk and cheese. The HD screen (which again, IS the computer) looks beautiful. The machine starts up and is ready to use in a matter of seconds (maybe 10?). I plugged in the Airport wireless network adapter on the first night and both the Mac and Mel's Windows-based laptop instantly found the network and connected to broadband automatically - no laborious setup required (the iMac has built-in wireless networking). There's a built-in camera and microphone above the screen, hidden speakers below, and the Apple logo - the only branding anywhere - doubles as the receiver for the included Apple Remote. The Remote lets you control your iTunes library, watch movies, watch/listen to podcasts, play a DVD, view online movie trailers or watch a slideshow of any of your photo libraries (complete with auto pan-and-zoom and music). The problem for us is that we don't want to leave the Mac in the study, since it's so much fun as an entertainment centre. Thankfully it's so portable (just pick up the screen, keyboard and mouse) that you can move it about as required: we've had it set up in our bedroom and even downstairs in the kitchen (that's where I'm typing this from actually - and I can keep an eye on Jessica as I type).

The included software is fantastic: Garage Band is a full featured music creation program that lets you create complex, layered music tracks in minutes; it even lets you create Podcasts or a score for your home movie. Things like Comic Life (used below), iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie HD and PhotoBooth are a lot of fun whilst also being pretty powerful. The Mac even has a feature called VoiceOver: if I hit the Esc key while I say (yes, SAY) "Open Browser", the internet browser starts up. If I say "Stew & Dumplings" or "Deb's Mutterings", it navigates to those blog pages instantly. If i say "Check Mail", it will start up the Mail application and download any new emails. You can even have it read blocks of text (web pages, emails etc) aloud to you in a choice of voices. If you say "Quit This Application", it'll do that too. In fact, if you ask "What Time Is It?", it'll tell you that aswell. Pretty neat. What else? Icons for your applications sit in a Dock area at the bottom of the screen (like the Windows Taskbar) and will jump up and down if they have something to alert you to (eg. new mail). If you click a mouse button, every open application is instantly arranged in a tiled manner across your desktop, so you can keep track of things. Press another mouse button and a second desktop is overlayed across your existing one, this time showing all sorts of customisable widgets such as weather, calculators, world time, dictionaries, flight trackers etc: press it again and it just fades away. All the ports and connectors are tucked away behind the screen (and there are lots of them - including Firewire 800 and Optical digital out) and DVD's slot into the right hand side of the screen. Tired of a boring static desktop wallpaper? The Mac lets you have all of your photos cycling through as your wallpaper. Finished with the remote? It magnetically sticks to the side of the iMac for safekeeping. The list goes on - it just feels like Apple have thought of almost everything to make this a pleasurable experience.

In some ways it's completely unfair to compare this computer to our last PC: the PC is a single-core 2.4GHz Pentium 4 with 512 MB RAM and a 19" CRT monitor, whereas the iMac has a 2.33MHz Core 2 Duo with 1GB RAM and a 24" LCD screen. But even with allowances for the PC's older, slower, smaller feature-set, and you compare to what's on offer with current PC's, the Mac experience is so much more enjoyable. It's been a joy to use so far, and there has only been one occasion where it became unresonsive (I think I was possibly trying to do too many things at once - loading a DVD, playing a movie in iTunes, surfing the web etc) - so that's a good start. I know I sound like such an Apple Tragic, but the experience so far - for both Mel & I - has genuinely been fantastic. Amazing to think that - as well as being the most heavily featured computer we have purchased - this is also the cheapest computer we've ever purchased. Based on our early experiences with it, I'd recommend a Mac to anyone looking for their next computer. Mel has already decided that, when she replaces her business laptop later this year (a Toshiba), it'll be replaced by an Apple MacBookPro: and by then Apple will have replaced their current operating system ("Tiger") with a new OS ("Leopard") which is tipped to include a truckload of added functionality. http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/


The one drawback of moving to Mac is that I have to relearn a lot of things (keystrokes, folder behaviours, file types etc are quite different): thankfully there seems to be a lot of help both online and built in to the OS and it's applications. It can be frustrating being out of your depth for a while (especially when you were reasonably proficient within the Windows environment), but hopefully the learning process doesn't take too long: I can see that there is so much potential to unlock.

So there you go - these are my first impressions of life on 'the other side'. I may sound over zealous and uncritical, but it's an accurate reflection of our experience so far (which I appreciate could change). Those Mac ads - which I happen to think are terrifically funny but which I know many people find infuriating/belittling/misleading - might oversell the idea that Mac owners have discovered Utopia, but it's only a mild exaggeration. :)

Matt

(BTW, moving to Apple also means that I can someday in the future move up to the industry-leading video editing software, which is Mac-only. "Final Cut Pro" (part of the "Final Cut Studio" suite) is used to make Emmy-winning TV Shows and a number of feature films, and is one of the two editors that you would need to learn if you ever wanted to move into the industry full time (the other being "Avid"). FCStudio has just been upgraded and includes 6 pro applications, for colour manipulation, 3D design, soundtrack development etc, and is a seriously powerful suite. It's not cheap, and I'll be saving for a little while longer before I can afford it, but I found out this week that my YMCA gym membership entitles me to certain discounts at the Apple store, and I can save 18% on - you guessed it - Final Cut Studio! That saving alone would pay gym membership for 6 months, so it's a pretty terrific bonus that they've made available.

I promised to follow that last Wiggles post with some photos, so here they are (a few weeks late - but who's counting?). Not sure how this will work, but I decided to try out an application called ComicLife which comes preloaded on the iMac, and which lets you quickly arrange photos in a comicbook layout with speech balloons and thought bubbles etc. It may not work very well for posting in a blog, but here goes...(if you click on each individual page in turn - there are 8 - a larger version should appear)...

Wigglepalooza

A terrific day today: our very first Wiggles concert!  We set off nice and early (7am) and headed in to the City (I was able to take a day off work, in lieu of the Queens Birthday holiday).  After a latte and breakfast at McCafe, we crossed the road to join the gathering throng of parents and toddlers waiting outside Dallas Brooks Hall.  When the doors opened at about 9:45, and we were shown to our seats, we were pleasantly surprised to see that we were right at the front corner of the stage (Mel had bought the tickets on eBay - they were the only one's still available - so we weren't really sure what to expect).  The show started at about 10:15 and it was - from the opening moment to the finale - just fantastic!  There was just so much effort and energy and enthusiasm out into every part of it, and the guys really went out of their way to interact with the kids and ensure everyone had a special time.  It was a scaled-down show due to the fact that it was a much smaller venue than where The Wiggles routinely perform (places like the Entertainment Centre, Rod Laver Arena etc), but that only meant that the set wasn't so elaborate and there were fewer props (ie. no Big Red Car).  But due to the intimate size of the venue, our proximity to the stage, and the fact that performances were still at a 110% level, it felt more special than I imagine a stadium show might feel.  We were able to get some great photos, and I'll post some of those tomorrow.  Jessica was overwhelmed for the first half of the show - I think it was too difficult for her to initially comprehend (she was giving us looks of, "why are they here? they're supposed to be on my TV screen! why are they so big? what's happening??"), but by the second half she was starting to dance around (in her Dorothy The Dinosaur tutu, of course), clap and do many of the actions (in the photos where her hand is on her head, she's actually doing the 'cockadoodledoo' action in "Quack, Quack" (or "Captain Feathersword Fell Asleep On His Pirate Ship" as they've started calling that song on their DVD's).

After the concert, we walked through the Fitzroy Gardens to Federation Square, and went in to the "Pixar - 20 Years of Animation" exhibition.  If you're a fan of the Pixar films (we certainly are - The Incredibles and Toy Story 2 are two of my favourite films ever), then you'd find it well worthwhile.  It takes you through a lot of their early sketches and clay models, their storyboards and "colorboards" (where they decide the overall palette that they'll use throughout the film), and there are some kiosks where you can watch some of the animators and writers talking about their work. By far the most impressive thing for me was something called a Zoetrope.  Unfortunately you're not allowed to film or photograph anything, so my description won't do this justice, but essentially the Zoetrope is a large circular platform encased in a large glass display, where characters have been positioned in slightly different poses at each point around the circle (eg. there were about 32 "Jesse" dolls posed in a circle, and each had Jesses' lasso positioned in a slightly different way.  Around that there were about 32 "Woody" dolls riding horseback, all positioned slighly differently.  The circles were concentric, with about 9 or 10 rings and therefore 9-10 different characters.  Confused yet?).  Anyway, the platform would start spinning very fast, then the main light would dim and 3 strobelights would come on. The moment the main light went off, and the strobe light combined with the spinning platform, you no longer saw the 32 different Jesse dolls, but instead 1 Jesse doll swinging her lasso up and down around her head and down her body. The Woody doll was just a single image, galloping around the place. The Army Men were parachuting, the Penguins were dancing and jumping off diving boards, the Aliens were waving and doing somersaults, Buzz Lightyear was riding a big bouncy ball and there was a huge amount of activity. It was amazing how this machine suddenly came to life, as your eyes were suddenly tricked into seeing something that wasn't really there. We watched it twice, then went back at the end to watch it again. Another room had a huge screen (5000x1080 pixels wide - utilising 4 linked projectors) to show some storyboards coming to life in pseudo-3D. Overall it was a really good exhibit - the Zoetrope alone is worth getting along to see.

After a walk back through Fitzroy Gardens, it was off home. Jessica was exhausted due to 1. the 6:30 wake-up call, 2. her recent sickness, 3. the excitement of the day, 4. the lack of a midday nap (which is now often up to 2hours long), so she had dinner and was asleep just after 7:30. I also went to the gym tonight and - while it is still excrutiatingly hard - I did a lot better this time around (maybe there's hope for me yet). And now I think it might be bedtime for me aswell - too much excitement today for an old man like me.

Goodnight,

Matt

Fully Sick

Note to self: avoid a lengthy discussion at the beginning of your post about the fact that you haven't posted for awhile: 1. people get it already, 2. it takes up valuable posting time and screen real estate, and 3. nobody wants to hear your lame excuses.  So tally ho!

Jessica has been very sick recently: in fact she first came down with 'gastro' two Thursdays ago (ie. not last Thursday) and hasn't really been well again since.  The gastro really took hold for a little over a week and then, just when that was getting under control she suddenly developed a fever and became listless, irritable, unwilling to eat etc.  After a number of calls and visits, she was diagnosed yesterday as having contracted tonsillitis...again!  So it's been a hefty dose of antibiotics four times a day now, and she really does seem to be on the mend.  She had lost a worrying amount of weight in the last week or so, so we are trying to sneak in as many calories as she'll cheerfully eat: even with the offer of chips, chocolate cake, ice-cream and biscuits, she shows remarkable restraint (must be Mel's influence - it's definitely not mine).  Jessica was at her most perky today and it's wonderful to see her running around pretty happily again. Hopefully in the next 24-48 hours she'll be back to full Jessica standard.

Speaking of restraint around bad food (and other related but equally-unfamiliar concepts), I joined a gym this month. It's a local gym - on the way to work - and it seems pretty good from the two times I've been so far (well three, if you count the time I walked in to look around and sign up!). It has been 4 years since I've been to a gym, and boy has that been patently obvious. Absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder; it's made the heart grow weaker and made the belly grow rounder. I do a one hour session (30 minutes cardio, 30 minutes weights) but on the first night I just couldn't get through the program. I did the 10 minute bike ride, the 10 minute run, and about half of the weight session, but I couldn't o the last 5 minutes on the cross-country-skier thingo, nor the reminder of the weights. It was a real eye opener to how ridiculously unfit I've become: I eventually stumbled back into the changerooms exhausted and feeling physically sick! The second time I went I did a bit better (finished the cardion and most of the weights) but it was by no means easy: I'm quite sure a few people around me were embarassed on my behalf as I plodded slowly through the tasks laid out on my form. At one stage one of the erabud headpones from the iPod fell out of my ear, and I didn't have the energy to lift my arm to put the earpiece back! And when I dragged myself to the car, I hoped that everyone drove very well on the way home, because I couldn't see that I'd be able to quickly apply the brake pedal in an emergency. I'm no expert, but I think that probably suggests I've been inactive for too long. I know on an intellectual level that it gets easier each time, and that eventually I'll sail through the program and be looking for more challenges, but that day seems soooooooo far away at the moment. (There's a great big heated pool at this place too, which I'm entitled to use and look forward to using sometime soon, but at the moment I'd probably just sink straight to bottom and wouldn't even have the energy to wave for help!). Hoping for visit number 3 tomorrow, once Mel comes home from working in the City.

Speaking of Mel, she is getting a bit sick and tired aswell (not just the usual 'sick and tired of her husband', either). She has been working so much recently, and has been given lots of late, urgent jobs from her clients. I think she worked about 35 hours last week on top of caring for Jessica, so that meant a lot of 5am starts and midnight finishes (working while Jessica was asleep). I think she's just feeling unwell as a result of being rundown, but perhaps she's coming down with either of the things Jessica has been battling. Thankfully she's not required in the City until after 11am tomorrow, but she'll still be in there after 6pm, so won't get much - if any - chance to get some rest.

Last night we went to a birthday party for my eldest niece, Susanna. Susanna (or Fruitbat, as we used to call each other when she was much, much younger) turned 18 this week! I know it has to happen, and it's a terrifically exciting time for her, but it's difficult accept that little Susanna is now not so little. It was a great party, with lots of people (close to 100 I think), masses of food, music, games and great company. I think Susanna had a great time. She is a truly wonderful young lady - smart, funny, caring, beautiful etc - so it was great as an Uncle to see her surrounded by so many friends who obvious think the same things that we do. As my small contribution to the party, I was hoping to put together some photoshows interspersed with mini vox-pops about Susanna, but in the end we didn't get to record enough of the mini-interviews and instead just presented the three photoshows. For a number of reasons, there was still a lot of work to do on those as late as Thursday/Friday, so I got an hour and a half of sleep on Thursday night, then didn't go to bed again until about 10:30 on Saturday night (i think that means 90 minutes sleep in about 64 hours?). I must get better at finishing these well ahead of time - though I'm not sure how that would have been possible. Anyway, it was finished in time and I liked the way the photoshows came together. A bit disappointed that it wasn't the full package that I'd hoped (at one stage there was going to be a Pirates of the Caribbean meets Lord of the Rings themed montage (with Susanna and references to her edited in) but since I couldn't even get the vox-pops done in time, I can't see how I was ever going to finish anything quite so complex. It might have to wait until her 21st (which I should probably start working on this week!).

The montage for Susanna's 21st will have to wait until at least Friday, because we are taking Jessica to her first (and our first) Wiggles concert this Thursday. Jessica is fanatical about the Wiggles, and we would watch their DVD's 12-15 times per week. She never gets tired of dancing and wiggling along to every song, especially "Rock-a-bye Your Bear", "Move Your Arms Like Henry" and "Can You (Point Your Fingers And Do The Twist)". I think Thursday will be off the chart, and will help Jessica to completely forget about the rough couple of weeks she has had. It's funny, but although Mel & I originally thought we'd avoid the whole Wiggles phenomenon (by choice), we've become surprisingly fond of them: I wonder if it's related to Stockholm Syndrome? Although we still sometimes cringe at certain aspects, it's hard to criticise anyone who does something with as much enthusiasm as they do (their live concert DVD's are great fun in particular), and I don't begrudge them the $45m they supposedly make each year.

Anyway, it's somehow become 11:50pm, and I need to go to bed. We have the iMac in our bedroom (we watch DVD's or podcasts in bed), so I'm actually going to impede Mel going to bed if I stay on this (and she has just turned her laptop off and started brushing her teeth). Must say goodnight and click on Publish.

Goodnight (and click on Publish),

Matt