The Wednesday that felt like a Thursday so Mike forgot his Wednesday task

Hi,

Ohhh - I have a guest blogger. Have a read of Mike's adventures!

Mike here to start the blog. My Wednesday started off okay with Angela off to the gym session I normally go to - because, well, I have been no-showing it a little too often recently. So I got to sleep in and play with Moxley who was being cuddly and demandingly cute. She was doing her thing where she pats at you with barely-unsheathed claws when you don't give her enough attention.

It was not going to remain so relaxed. It was time for a morning routine right out of when Toby and I would be late for school.

I was comfortably on the late-ish bus, settling into social media on my phone, when I REMEMBERED THAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO DROP THE CAR AT THE MECHANIC TODAY. Gah! I was just going past the mechanic, about 3km from home. What to do? As the bus pulled up at a stop, I spied a rental scooter parked up and made a snap decision to use it to get home again. I hurtled off the bus, activated the scooter and off I set. I can do this!

All was going well for about the first km ... until the scooter ground to a halt with a flashing red 'battery empty' light. Oh. I was committed now, and still a long way to go. But, it was downhill soon! I gamely paddled away at the scooter until I reached the downhill bits. Turns out a scooter with a flat battery has quite a bit of rolling resistance and it still needed my help. But it was still quicker than walking and I got there in the end.

Jumped in the car and hurtled back to the mechanic. Then it was time to forage for a bus. No buses for thirteen minutes! But I knew I could walk down a short street to a more popular stop. Off I hobbled, I mean trotted (because there is nothing wrong with my Achilles, thanks, and my multisport race this weekend will be fine). Onto a 'foreign' bus which got me into town but on a strange unfamiliar route. I think I got off on a sub-optimal stop.

Angela had let me know the crushing, terrible news that the work coffee machine was broken so I had one more detour to a café which involved chatting to work colleagues who were similarly detoured. I made it half an hour late in the end which was pretty good given my unexpected bus/ scooter/ push/ drive/ walk/ bus/ walk/ coffee journey.

Hahahah!  His mornings are always way more exciting than mine.

Work was busy. We had a business unit wide meeting for 4 hours that they want to do every 6 months to ensure everyone is aligned to the latest safety and well-being initiatives. And I think it went really well. Well done to the leadership.

Went to 6pm Spin with Erin and Myra after work. I really want to get to Spin most evenings after work, when I am not busy with other things.

Spin with Myra

Spin with Erin

And... all of us!

Erin dropped me back at work and I jumped on my bike and rode home. Mike made tea for us. Buddha Bowls. But, with these plant-based chicken nuggets as the protein. Yeah, nah! I didn't like them. I had to smother them in Tuiomato sauce. Hahah. We might not buy the home brand ones next time.

Then at 8pm Mike remembered that he'd forgotten the car. Again. To pick it up this time. I hope the mechanic keeps it tucked up warm overnight.

Slept well. Up for gym. 25kg incline bench. 8 reps x 5 sets. Then accessories. It was very unusual compared to the normal flat bench.

Mike got me my iced latte stash from work. And he had his PT session after me. I drove home and got ready for my day.

Thursday morning Lewis Road iced latte at home

Maureen is coming to collect me at 1800 from home. Then our flight at 1930 to Blenheim for some active birthday fun with Iona and Col.

Mike has his huge weekend at Mt Hutt. Wow. I hope he enjoys himself and finishes strong. Toby and Kara will be around to help him out.

Have an awesome weekend wherever you are. Think of Mike at 10am on Saturday as he starts his race. Send him kia kaha vibes.

Smudge joins me as I work from home

Enjoying the sun

I got asked for more cat content. There you go! Smudge could be a cat model.

Love,
Angela

Chasing the bus again

Yingjie is driving Alex and Toby to the bus in the mornings, and on those rare, unusual, occasional times I don't ride my bike I often tag along too and walk to work with her.  She's a very organised and calm person, being both a Buddhist and a Business Analyst, so the incredibly rare time that she is not perfectly on time gives me a little faith that everybody is late sometimes.

This morning was one of those times, though.

She arrived at our place a little bit late, and off we headed to the bus.  But alas! there were no Scots boys at the bus stop.  The bus had gone without us!

We hurtled down the hill (down the road I bike down virtually every morning apart from that occasional time I don't) to try to meet it at the bottom of the hill.  We made it in time, we could see a little clump of red blazers waiting.  But as we approached the intersection, there was the bus coming past!

Yingjie channelled her inner big-city driver and hurtled out behind the bus, neatly merging into the queue of cars behind the bus.  As the bus slowed we tucked in behind it.  Even before we'd stopped the car doors were open and the boys were running ahead to the bus.  With plenty of time as it stopped and the other boys started to trickle on.  Brilliant!

So another successful bus chase to start our morning.  It makes for a great morning - the more primitive bits of my brain must see it like spearing a gazelle at dawn before the hard work starts.  It left me really happy to face the day!

Chasing the bus again

The morning went really well this morning.  I helped Angela out a bit which is unusual for me, at 6am I'm usually only capable of grunts and being able to switch on the coffee machine.  Toby was up a little late, and wanted a shower, but we still got all ready and got out more or less on time.

We collected Alex and his mum, all nice and straightforward.  But when we got to the bus stop - Alex had forgotten his sports bag!  So I left the three of them there and hurtled back to Alex's house.  His Grandma was waiting on the roadside with his bag.  Then when I got back to the main road, there was the bus collecting boys from the stop before Toby and Alex's stop.  So with a teensy bit of aggression I was able to make a gap between the cars trickling past the bus, and pull onto the main road ahead of the bus.  And get to the next bus stop down, in plenty of time to casually park the car, hand the bag to Alex, and watch the bus pull up.

So a little bit of drama but just enough to make things interesting.  And now, when I'm late picking Alex and his mum up for the umpteenth time, I can say, "well, remember in March 2012 when Alex forgot his sports bag??".

A funny Tuesday morning for Mike and Toby

This morning was great.  It went so, so smoothly.  I had plenty of time to get ready.  Toby got up about 10 min early and was in a great mood, and was dressed and ready to go long before he needed to be.  Out the door we went, a couple minutes early, and we collected Alex and Yingjie and I dropped everyone at the library where the school bus leaves from.

You know where this is going, don't you?  I don't do smooth easy mornings, and if I do, I certainly don't bother blogging about them.

As they were walking to the bus stop, I noticed that Alex and Toby looked - different to each other.  They usually look very cute in their matching uniforms.  Toby was - greyer somehow.  Oh no!  He didn't have his blazer on!  I asked him what would happen.  He looked pretty worried and said that it was assembly today and he HAD to have his blazer...

So I jumped back in the car, zoomed home, and grabbed the errant blazer.  Plenty of time, I thought.  We were early, after all... I got to the bus stop - just as the school bus was pulling away!  Argh!  So I tucked in behind it and chased it to the next bus stop.  I flicked the hazard lights on and threw the car to the left of the bus, ready to jump out with the blazer.  But oh no!  There was just one boy getting on at this stop - the doors were closing just as I got out of the car.  But luckily - the bus driver saw me and let me on.  "Where's blazer boy?" he called cheerily down the bus.  I wandered down and found Toby.  Hopefully this was a humourous event for all the other boys on the bus, and not one that Toby will never live down...

My disorganised morning

One thing Angela didn't mention last night was the wind.  Windy it certainly was on the way home!  Exciting gusts that try blowing you into the traffic down in the city, and very unusually a head-wind going up our steep hill.  Normally that hill is very sheltered, which is a small mercy.  Not yesterday.  Still, I did the not-terrible time of 11:15 up the hill, which given the conditions was pretty well alright.  Under 11 minutes I consider good, and under 10 minutes means I am an exceptional athlete.  Well, in my mind.

This morning I was up very early, getting into the shower straight after Angela before 6am.  I had lots to do and an early meeting and wanted to make sure everything went well.  But, of course, time warp kicked in, and I ended up later than if I'd have got up at 7am.  I don't really know how that happens.

My organisational skills were also sadly lacking.  I was running around in a panic from about 7:30 onwards.  (Toby was very helpful and got his jobs done and then looked after me).  The nadir was the time I spent searching the whole house for Toby's jacket, since Angela had mentioned that it wasn't in his bag and she didn't know where it was.  Only to find that she's clearly since found it and put it in his bag for us!

I had to go back twice from the garage, to get Toby's present for Tom, and then to get a garage key.  Twice was clearly not enough, since I don't have my wallet at all, which is going to make lunch time slightly problematic - no sandwiches for us this morning.  And I need to keep my jersey on all day - because the 'casual friday' T-Shirt I grabbed has a big picture of a dog licking its balls on the back of it, which is probably a bit too casual.

But all worked out.  I was panicking because I had an 8:30 meeting and everything has to run just right to make it on time.  But we made it to Toby's holiday programme before it opened, so I was on my bike right on time.  I rode down in spite of the rain, because bike is the only way to make that sort of deadline - it's the fastest way in, even compared to driving,  because there are rat runs you can do on a bike that you can't do on a car, and the traffic is pretty slow that time of morning.  Yes - it was wet and cold.  But not particularly so.  I brought a towel and a complete change of clothes in and was quickly warm and comfortable.  Bring it on I say!  Though I envy Angela's disc brakes.  Mine were pretty useless.  They're also very worn out which doesn't help at all.  I went pretty gingerly down the hill.

Oh well, it's Friday which is great!  I have a very busy weekend with many jobs to get done - don't quite know how that matches up with Angela's lazy weekend.  But we will see.  Forecast I think, is for this rain to blow through tonight and the weekend to be okay, which bodes well for another day in the garden.  Enjoy your day!

Everything changes for us

Whew!  After posting nearly every day for what seems like years, you've heard nothing from Angela or from me for nearly a month!  What's going on?

Well, it really has been all change.  In the last month we have

• Had a holiday in Northland as part of a medical trial (long story, more later)
• And another one to Gold Coast for Mike's Midlife Crisis
• Angela has thrown her job in at NZ Trade and Enterprise and has just started at Intergen, who are a large-for-NZ Microsoft services vendor
• Mike has also just thrown his job in at NZ Trade and Enterprise and in 5 weeks or so will start work at Intergen, who are a large-for-NZ Microsoft services vendor
• We still have an ongoing shambles at our house.  We're all sleeping in one room that is barely habitable, another room is partially emptied and partially painted, a third room is partially furnished and partially a store room.  

But anyway.  We'll write more later on about all of that.  I know that what you REALLY want to hear about is all the minutiae about how my morning went.

And, it was disorganised but successful.  Toby slept very late - he is still on Queensland time and my theory at the moment is that for him, sleep is good, so I'm not really pushing him to wake up in the mornings.  But he got himself ready nice and quick, so we were only moderately late heading out.  He was very good this morning, helping out with stuff and remembering all the things we normally need to prompt him for.  Like his school bag (probably since we got halfway to school yesterday without it!!) and his lunch order envelope.

The weather looked cold, overcast but alright, so I put my bike gear on.  Only to find that by the time we left, it was gusting a bitter cold wind with drizzle.  Oh dear!  "Right, I'm taking the bus," I said.  But Toby did his job and talked me out of it. "You're in your bike gear already Dad, there's no point.  You'll be quicker on your bike," he said.  And the logic was inescapable.  (Did I mention that I pay him to lobby me to ride my bike?!  Half my bus fare if I ride instead). 

And it was a good ride in anyway.  Don't know what it is about riding, but you don't really feel the rain like you do when you're, say, walking.  I took it easy down the hill but apart from that all was good.

After Cubs on Tuesday and Karate yesterday, today and this evening were panning out to be a bit more relaxed - a bit of tidying, a bit of recharging and preparing.  But that was before the call from the carpet layer - they're coming to fix the carpet in that partially-emptied-partially-painted room tomorrow, which means that it needs to be a totally emptied room by the time we go to bed tonight!  Oh well...

A 10/10 morning for Mike

Toby was actually stiff and sore this morning from Dragons karate!  He was hobbling around but still telling me how much he loved it.  A new experience for him, being stiff and sore the next morning.  (He should see what it's like when you're in your 30's.)  That's great, I think he'll need to do 'homework' karate to keep in shape for Wednesdays.

Speaking of stiff and sore, I rode my bike in for the first time in ages.  My body told me it was the first time in ages, all the way down the hill.  Time to get back into this, and/or find a plan B for when it's sleeting.  Running up and down the stairs at work again... or a brisk walk with 20kg of water in my backpack.  Ooooh, that all sounds too hard.  Time for a coffee.

I gave myself a 10/10 for morning organisation - because of bonus points for riding but I did lose points for being partly dressed again.  I don't have a belt.  Better pop down to the shop before my pants fall down.

6/10 this morning, 2/10 yesterday! (The 2 is just for turning up)

You'll remember that Tuesday was "forgot my shirt and wallet and had to borrow money and buy a shirt" day.

Well, as Angela said, yesterday was an even huger morning disaster.  It all started pretty well, I was at work relatively early, on time for my morning meeting and looking forward to my morning coffee.

Until I knocked over my plunger, just as the meeting was starting, and sent hot coffee and coffee grounds everywhere.  Over the table, over me, over the carpet.  Only redeeming feature was that I missed all the IT equipment.

So after an embarrassed session cleaning up and trying to dry the carpet out, I had an awkward hour sitting in wet, steaming clothes, running through options on how to fix things.  Did I head out and buy a new outfit?  I do need to buy a suit (still! - Karen & Scotty, remember our aborted mission in Sydney?)  But that would be quite expensive, and I'd need to wait for a suit anyway.  Do I go home?  I'd ridden in, so timewise a taxi would be the only option.  Expensive.  But cheaper than quickly buying a change of clothes?  On balance, yes.

So off I went, and drove back in with new clothes and (I'm learning my lesson now) emergency shirt and emergency pants.

During the cleanup I was conscious that my ankle hurt a bit - the coffee had run down my leg and onto my sock and soaked in.  But when I got home I discovered I had a huge blister and more skin that kindof fell off around it.  Now I've got a great big burn.  Feels alright, I'm putting aqueous cream on it and letting it breathe.  Angela thinks it's bad, but I reckon it'll heal up okay.  Injury to insult though.

Today I was extra careful to pack everything I needed.  Ironed and de-linted shirt and two pairs of pants (for more emergencies).  But I still made it to my bike before I found I hadn't actually put that shirt in my bag.  And now I've discovered that I don't have my work shoes here - so I'm slobbing around in my bike shoes.

Tomorrow I bring emergency shoes.  Then, the only thing I won't have is emergency underpants.  Watch this space...!

Interesting morning

Toby and I got off to school and work pretty well.  It's Toby's field trip to Carter Observatory today, and he's pretty excited about it.  I told him that his Mum will want to know every little thing about it.

While I was heading to the bus, a wee girl asked me all about it, and if Toby was going.  I have no idea who she was, but she certainly knew Toby and knew I was his Dad!

It was a slightly exciting bus trip in this morning.  First, there was a nose to tail right in front of the bus stop, which gave all us bus commuters who now vaguely know each other because we hang about at that bus stop every morning, something to chatter about.  All very minor though.  A kid in an old people-mover didn't notice that traffic was stationary and sailed into the back of the car in front.  He slightly bent their tow bar and put some scuff marks on their bumper, as he shattered his bumper, pushed in his grille, smashed his headlights and buckled his bonnet.  It was a shame for him.

And, there was a tree down on Wadestown Road, in the valley before you head up to the shops.  We had to wait a bit for a man with a stop-go sign.  It was on National Radio this morning, as part of their New Zealand traffic report.  I like being in a country where you can have a traffic report for the whole country, and it still only takes 1 minute, and they include things like a tree down, around the corner from where you live.

Toby's lunch

Angela went in early today, so she could leave early.  So early that she couldn't make any sandwiches.  Now, I think that's a good thing - I think that Toby and I should make our own lunches.  And surprisingly, Toby was really on board.  When I said that he had to help me make his lunch, he went one further and did the whole thing himself.  He even didn't want me there to provide any help at all.

I hope he really enjoys his potato chip and Hersheys Chocolate Sauce sandwiches.

Logistical disaster of a morning

And it's all my fault.

I was up relatively on time, Toby was up and dressed and fed.

I caught up with a bit of the news on the internet while I ate my breakfast and ironed my shirt. Lots of interesting things are happening in the world.

But then it was getting late. Quite late. So I got Toby up from downstairs, and got him to head off.

But, Toby was still hungry. Disaster. (I'd sown my own seeds with this by not buying weet-bix yesterday. One bowl of weetbix might be enough - but one bowl of rice bubbles is not.)

So after Toby ate his seconds of rice bubbles, out we ran. Toby didn't clean his teeth. My lunch is still at home (I think Toby hid it). We had to drive in because I'd missed the late bus.

And I bet half the lights are still on.

And good morning from me (again)

Toby was good this morning, although he really wanted to sleep in. He stayed up far too late last night - I think he is still on Brisbane time a bit, or he's becoming a night owl or something. I was clearing up in the kitchen around 9:30pm and as I came out of the lounge this grey blur streaked past at waist height, which gave me a huge fright. It took me a second or two to figure out that it was in fact Toby running as fast as he could, back to bed to avoid getting into trouble.

So harsh, rigid 7am wakeups for Toby from now on I reckon. If I can get myself out of bed to do it, that is. He thinks he'll be in trouble with his teacher for being sleepy, so hopefully that'll help sort him out.

We were off to school right on time in the end though. I drove in since it's Keas night and that means we need the car to make everything work. I picked up Nancy - Evan's mum - on the way through because she'd just missed the 8:32am bus, that was early as it is wont to do. All good!

And good morning from me

I didn't ride.

I didn't even bus.

I drove.

It was a bit of a disaster morning really, with Toby sleeping in to 8:00am. That gave us 20 mins to get ready. It was a bit startling when Toby said, 'Oh, it's lunch order day, isn't it? That means I need to do my homework right now before we go to school'. Oops. I assumed he'd have missed this week's homework because he was away. So he's going to tell his teacher that it was his fault for not doing his homework at after-school care or telling us it needed doing last night, and that he'll get it done this evening before doing anything fun. Promise.

I was still a little bit late because the off-ramp was broken. Took me 15 min to drive the last 700m or so to work. Oh well.

Good morning on Mon, May 10

Hi,

You won't believe how absolutely gorgeous this morning is here in Wellington.  Blue skies, no wind, the hint of frost in the air.  I love autumnal mornings - if there was a wisp of mist about in the valleys, it'd be perfection.

The weekend was such good fun.  Friday night saw me getting food ready for the tramp, but after that, Toby and I watched Back to the Future and we both loved it.  It has been a while since I have seen it.  I had to tell stories all weekend about time travel after that.

Saturday we were all up and getting ready for the tramp.  We even got McDonalds for brekkie on the way.  How lucky are we?

There were 14 of us all up.  John, Christine and wee Tom came and wee Tom impressed everyone with his walking abilities.  He never let up and walked like a trooper born to it.  Constanze, Christain and wee Gustav came along too - it was good to catch up with them.  Donna came along with her neice Jess (10) and nephew Oscar (almost 8) and Oscar proved great company for Toby.  Wendy brought along her son, Matthew (4) and he walked very well too.

I loaded up Toby's backpack more than it has been in the past.  He carried an emergency kit (an incecream container) with a glowstick, drink, chocolate and beef jerky and an emergency blanket - and it should have his whistle but I can't find it).  His jacket, a fleece and a jersey.  Plus his water (about 2 litres) and his snacking food.  He also carried (very oddly) Mike's contact lenses.  Apparently, I heard it told later, at one of the stops, he asked if anyone wanted the contact lenses!  At least he was sharing!  Heheheheh.

We got to Paua Hut around 2pm and it quickly got dark.  Firewood was gathered and dinner put on.  The dinner turned out well - spaghetti bolognese.  And the apricot truffle dessert went down a treat too.

Soon it was pitch black so Toby and I went to bed around 7.15pm and we were both asleep very quickly.  By the time Mike arrived about 90 minutes later, he wasn't keen on setting up his bivvy bag and sleeping outside, so he asked if there was room in our wee 2-man tent for him too.  Sure.  In he got and soon we were all asleep again.  But it got too hot.  Mike had to open some tent flaps.  Then it rained and he had to close them again.  Toby slept in his liner and undies!  It was hot!

Still, Toby got over 12 hours sleep.  And I got close to that.  Mike gave us breakfast in bed (it was Mother's Day) and then we packed up and were away by 10am.  The walk back seemed to go faster than the walk in.  We were visiting Sally at 2pm and enjoying a nice cup of tea.

We headed home and dismantled Toby's bunk bed (taking photos for Trade Me) and then built his new one.  Then I was off to dinner with Ma and Dad - we went to Nicolini's in Courtney Place (italian place) and Ma fell in love with the food there.  It was a very nice dinner.  We caught a bus home (me on the 14 and Mum and Dad on the 43) and we were all home in no time.

Toby and Mike got home from dinner with the Bichans after an epic drive home where they rescued an old lady from her broken down car in Tawa and drove her home to Karori.  Mike might tell us more.

Toby slept well in his new bed - we just need to sort out the clothes into the new drawers and tidy up the toys.

Keas tonight - cool!

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

Awful radio stations

Yes, our radio station is awful. In a bone-grating, fingernails-down-the-chalkboard sort of way.

Trouble is, between our old, analog radio and the plethora of stations in Wellington, the only two stations powerful enough to drown out the ones around them are the National Programme and this station. And I'm not quite old enough yet to wake up to the National Programme - plus we tried it, and calm, quiet, soothing voices weren't exactly effective to get us out of bed.

So we need to buy a new clock radio - maybe with a digital tuner, maybe with an iPod, maybe with internet radio. My dream? To slipstream the station we used to listen to in London and wake up to it on 12-hour delay.

Anyways, Toby was good this morning, he got ready very quickly and happily and helpfully. He made his honey sandwich and slipped three chocolate biscuits into his lunchbox when he thought I wasn't looking.

The only drama was a crisis with his 'Donkey'. A work colleague has given us a set of balls and rods that you can join together a bit like those chemistry "model a molecule" sets you get in high school. And he loves it. Yesterday he made a Donkey out of it, which was a triumph of abstract art. But today - the Donkey's head fell off, and Toby couldn't get it back on in a way that achieved the sublime aesthetic of yesterday. He was very upset. Tears ensued. But I got him calmed down eventually and we planned and rebuilt the donkey better than before. Only problem now is the camera has a flat battery so we can't capture its majesty.

Toby was very, very good this morning

I was in the shower when Toby got up - he came trotting up the stairs and said, "I've made my bed for you." OK, I said back, now can you get dressed. And astonishingly enough, there he was fully dressed when I got out of the shower.

All morning he was very helpful, and insisted on doing everything himself, including making his lunch. What a great morning!

Good morning from me

Angela and Margo are off to Nelson. I think they got away ok, I was still asleep when Angela left - but I've had a txt from her as they left Wellington Harbour so that's got to be a good sign.

Toby has decided to try his hand as an author. He's writing a book right now, he spent last night and this morning working on it. I'll see if I can't post it once it's done. I've seen some of the first cut and there's drama, action and excitement a-plenty. Watch this space!

I needed to pick up Toby yesterday as well - we headed to the local library (with a side trip to Burger Wisconsin) and met Angela, and Tom, John and Christine there. There was much eating, reading and running about on the grass outside the library. They'd just cut the grass so there was plenty of grass clippings getting thrown about and stuffed into inappropriate places.

So Toby and I have a weekend of fun and frivolity planned. Tonight is Friday Night Movie night so we will cuddle up and watch Dumb and Dumber. Then tomorrow, after swimming, we have a camping adventure with the tramping club. We're staying at Camp Wainui, about 40 min from Wellington. It's got plenty of beds and accommodation, but everyone has elected to bring tents and camp. Tramping club people must be like that.

Hello from Sydney

A quick post from a kiosk at Gartner. The browser is behaving funny - I can't use the cursor keys or the backspace key. Argh! So I just have to type through any typos and ignore them.

It's a shame for you Gramps. I've seen Toby like this before - if he gets grumpy as he wokes up., there's no consoling him. TYou would have had your work cut out for you!

It's been a very very good conference, this. I'm getting brim-filled with ideas and plans and things to do. I'm makng session by session notes, and also making a big list of things I have to do whten I get back.

I had a great time ove rthe weekend with Karen and Scott. I (and we) need to keep seeing Tyler and Abby especially, every few months. They can't be allowed to forget us! They were both very happy to see me, Tyler especially who spent the first day or so attacheed to my leg. It was really sweekt.

Zack and Gianna's birthday party was really fun. It was good to catch up with all Scott's family in one place. they had a bouncy castle and scooby doo and shaggy were there! Shaggy looked a lot like shaggy (but he didn't sound much like shaggy). Scooby Doo earned her money, being in a big velour suit with a big head, for hours and hours, in high-thirty-degree heat. You could hear her panting from time to time. And she needed to be led around because she couldn't see much , plus the added challenge of courious children who found gaps in her suit, and others who tried to take her head off!! Whew.

OK, must off to next session. I've got some more stuff on my computer but we're very connection challenged here. In-room internet is $13 per hour!! Next time I'll make sure I have a reasonable-priced data plan so I can use my laptop & phone to talk out.

Gogo's crazy bones

Toby's latest 'big thing' is Gogo's Crazy Bones - little plastic figures that you collect, trade and play games with. He loves them. But he's very careful with them, so he's torn between taking them to school (and losing them) and leaving them at home (and not playing with them with his friends).

So he's hit on the perfect solution. Every morning he draws a quick sketch picture of a Gogo Crazy Bones and takes that to school.

Today he gave me this one to take to work. "Do you have 'News' at work? You can show this picture at 'News'."

I guess this blog is the closest thing I have to 'News' at work! So here is Toby's picture of  Lessi, one of his Gogo Crazy Bones.

And good morning from me

Whew! I've been off balance all morning. From a chaotic departure from the house - Toby wandered off without his backpack and then I wandered off without keys to the garage where my bike was - to more running up and down stairs to get things out of my locker, to meeting clashes - I'm quite disoriented. Time for a cup of coffee.

Toby seems pretty happy at his holiday programme. He has a new girlfriend now called Xena. They spent yesterday running round playing http://playmoshi.com "live" in the playground. We bumped in to Xena this morning, she and he both got to the holiday programme at the same time. Xena looked normal, not like a Warrior Princess at all. And her mum called her Xena so that must be her real name!

My ride home yesterday was the first time my bike has moved in months. It's daylight savings now, so I've been telling myself that once daylight savings kicked in and I'd be riding home in the daylight, I had to start riding every day. And yesterday really was a perfect day to start. There was a diesel spill on one of the main roads out of town, and that meant the traffic was the worst I've ever seen it here. All of the feeder roads and the rat runs filled up and stopped too. When Angela said we were passing cars all the way home - that was riding up our hill, at 6 km/h!! No way we'd have picked up Toby on time yesterday if we'd have tried to take the bus. We'd have definitely been better off walking. So I rode in this morning and it's quite a nice day. I'll have to keep it up - and I'm leading a "medium" level daywalk in 10 days so I better get my fitness up! More running up and down the stairs at lunchtime too.

Toby is getting very excited about going to Sydney, and Karen it looks like you're making lots of plans. Woo hoo!!! It should be good. We need to get some or all of you over here once in a while, too!