Squibblog

a fitting end to a full year

It has been a full and exciting year for us at Squibblog. I am marveling that I have managed to change career, get Zac through his first year of school, have two full days with Nell each week as well as start of course of study, and remain standing at the end of it.

Zac's kindergarten year has been an unqualified success. We have watched him grow from a little boy to a proper school kid. I doubt we will ever see the astounding rate of growth in his learning again. He went from never holding a pen to being able to write, he can read, spell, add and subtract. Much more than that, he has come to understand the system of learning new things, value the camaraderie of a class and take pride in being part of a school body.

My own changes, from my first tentative steps into the world of published writing to making a living from it, have also shocked me. The change in the balance of our family life is everything we could have hoped for.

So even though we are all exhausted from a tiring year, we really felt it was time to celebrate our achievements. We spent Saturday night with Annie, Kylie, Paddy and Sam at the local carols in the park. The children ran off with the neighbourhood scrum while we sipped champagne and toasted another year over.

Sunday night we celebrated Zac's school achievements with a pizza party and family viewing of Star Wars IV (the original). With the book voucher he received as part of the Principal's special award, he bought himself a Star Wars book and now he is immersed in all things Jedi.

Yesterday my family celebrated Christmas with the traditional all-day festival of over indulgence. Unfortunately, we managed to blow a tyre on the trip down Bulli pass and waited on the shoulder of the F6 while 18 wheeler coal trucks threatened our lives, hoping the NRMA would find us. Fortunately my sister drove up from Wollongong and collected me and the kids, so we could start the kissing and present exchange while Soy saw to getting the car road-worthy.

The kids were showered in unfeasible quantities of toys while Soy and I ate unfeasible quantities of spatchcock, ham and pudding. I think it has been six or seven years since the whole family was gathered in one place so it was quite a special occasion for us.

Today was a more low-key celebration with Ant, Kate, Stella and Leo, accompanied by Ant's friend Lamin. Hopefully Lamin's family will be in Australia to celebrate Christmas with him next year. We had planned to eat poached fish, salad and terrine as a sort of main course, followed by pudding. As it was we ate our fill of prawns, salami and taramasalata at the entree stage and could not go on, so we have copious left overs in the great Boxing Day tradition.

Now that the celebrations are over, I am feeling bone tired and content. Not only have we had a monumental year, but we've finished it as we started: with high spirits and great expectations.

We'll be away for a few weeks in January with no Internet access, just beaches and wineries as far as the eye can see. Stay well and read on in 2008.

XX Elissa

from flying trapeze to flying sleigh

Saturday was Zac's Circus School performance. He is a whiz on the trapeze, agile and strong enough to go from hanging by the arms to legs over the bar and standing up in one move. He hung by one leg, did a high bird's nest which is like a back bend 10 feet off the ground. He even smiled at one point.

He attempted hula hooping, did some impressive faux juggling and a little hand walking.

All of that would indicate that he is a natural at circus performances aged 6, but he's decided not to go back next year. The lure of ball sports is too great and he wants to join a football team. Soy is preparing for a year of early morning soccer boot ferrying and sideline surfing.

Saturday afternoon we braved the pre-Christmas crowds and went into the city to see Santa. Santa photos are a big part of my childhood memories. I have three of them from the 70s framed on the wall in my hall. It was the one time of year we all dressed up and got our photos done together. So despite the angst and hassle, I always make the effort to get the kids a photo with Santa.

On the train trip in there was much speculation as to what should be requested for a gift, with the kids coming up with wish lists as long as their arms. I was a little disturbed when Zac said he was going to request a "Playstation XBox Nintendo DS Crash Bandicoot Three"  -  how could I explain that Santa might find this request a little over the top?

Faced with the man in red, though, both kids' minds went blank. Santa promised to 'surprise' them.

I was a little surprised how quick our visit was this year. We changed major department stores (which required a good deal of explanation to Zac) and avoided the hour-long wait. We were ushered straight into Santa's cave, patted a sleeping Rudolf (Nell is still convinced he was real) and into the bearded presence.

We also got instant photos, rode the free train to the North Pole (and back) using our free Golden Tickets and managed a little Christmas shopping while the kids ate lunch at the handily located cafe amongst the toys.

Although it's not usually my preferred city department store, I have to give it to Myer: they get our vote for easing the Christmas madness this year.

new blog

I've been spending a little time lately thinking about all the ways I can green up our household. There are so many questions I have about the products that we buy, the way they travel and what you really get when you buy carbon credits. I want to understand these issues and not fall for 'green washing' where corporations call their products green and consumers with a conscience (but not a lot of time) are suckered into buying them.

After doing a bit of research on these things, and putting some of it into practice around the house, I began tinkering with a new blog, one that combines my interests in gardening, environmentalism and technology. It's called 'home green home' and it's at www.homegreenhome.com.au

I will try to update it every couple of days with ideas we are using to make our lives a little better.

feeling excited

Study has been on my mind a little lately. After writing this post complaining about how I wasn't as keen on my second semester art history subject (compared with first semester), things actually took a turn for the better. I ended up quite enjoying the subject and the rigours of studying for it. Which goes to show that if I just stop letting people annoy me and sink myself into the books, I really start appreciating what I'm learning.

Since finishing at the end of October, though, I have been in a bit of a dilemma.

It was becoming increasingly clear that getting yet another Bachelor's degree wasn't going to be any use to me (I have two already). But I didn't want to stop studying. So I put in an application to do a Masters even though I don't have an Arts degree and have only done two subjects in preparation.

In the last few days I was accepted into the course (hooray!) and told that it will cost over $1500 per subject (OMG! so much for free education!). And this highlighted my dilemma further.

Let's face it, there's not a lot of money in being an art historian. I'm not even sure that's what I want from a career. But I really enjoy studying this stuff and it expands my mind.

I have sat with these thoughts for a while.

I spent 7 years studying Economics/ Law because that was the most likely route to a great job. And I got that great job and I made it up the corporate ladder to the place I always assumed I wanted to be and when I got there I realised making safe choices, based on fiscal considerations, failed to make me happy.

So I have decided to start my Masters next year, despite the expense and despite the fact that I don't really know where it will take me. But I seem to have carved out some sort of niche writing stuff, so maybe this will just expand the stuff I can write about. And hopefully make me a better writer.

Having made the decision I am feeling pretty excited about being back at Uni again next year. This time it's not about the degree I'll get at the end, but the process of getting it.

yule enabled

This weekend we cleaned out the house in preparation for the influx of Christmas toys. I had a rush of spring clean fever and washed the windows. Soy cleaned out his desk so he can set up his podcasting studio. Then the kids and I set up the Christmas tree and hung the wreath. We are ready for the seaon.

5 things about Nell

• She can't pronounce the "ch" sound so says "socklette" when she means "chocolate". I probably should not feign disbelief that she wants sock flavoured milk when everyone else is having chocolate.
• Her favourite snack is a bowl of cocktail pickled cucumbers (the baby ones) with cherry tomatoes. For her this is better than icecream. I blame Soy's genes.
• Whenever she doesn't get her own way or thinks I am ignoring her she says "I know how to change your mind" and then gives me a hug and a kiss. She is remarkably effective at getting her own way.
• Her preferred method of playing with crayons is to hold them up like little dolls and introduce them to one another. "Hello, my name is red, what's your name?" "My name is green" "How do you do, green, it's nice to meet you". This makes us appear a lot more civilised than we really are. I don't know where that girl gets her manners from.
• The front sections of her hair are almost always matted with honey because they trail in her breakfast of Weet Bix with honey ("And I want it warm, ok?")

clockwork child

The day Zac was 6 weeks old, he woke up and gave me his first smile. At three months he rolled over, the day he was 6 months old my friend Lara looked in his mouth and saw his first tooth. The day he was 7 months old he sat up, at 8 months on the dot he crawled.

As we cleaned up after his first birthday party, Zac stood up amongst the wrapping paper detritus and took his first step.

Given that his physical development is textbook, it is hardly surprising that the day he turned 6, Zac lost his first tooth. The tooth fairy gave a gold coin donation and his grown up tooth poked its head through the gums. Today he lost his second tooth and looks like a proper 6 year old.

movember ps

By the end of Movember on Friday Soy had managed to grow this corker of a moustache. Although it looked highly comical, I kind of grew used to it and haven't been able to reconcile myself to the fresh faced youth I am living with today.