Mindy had the choice of where to go for dinner however, being limited by the kids, she chose a local Mexican chain "Baja Fresh". I did make it clear that she could go wherever she wanted and I think that by saying "Happy Birthday" about 100 times over the course of the night I am now forgiven for not wishing her this earlier in the day.
After dinner, get the kids to bed and hit the TV for a crazy evening of viewing. I watched a poker show while she spoke to her father. Then we watched a documentary about sumo wrestlers - really interesting stuff. Clearly the wrestlers suffer health problems later in life due to their weight but I was surprised to learn that the life expectancy of a sumo wrestler is 20 years shorter than the average Japanese citizen. This was followed by an episode of a series about climbing Mt Everest. After reading a book on this recently and watching this series, I cannot understand people wanting to go through this. Even today, where you can get sherpas to lug your gear and supplies for you and also have experienced guides to advise you and guide you to the top, it is still amazingly dangerous and not a pleasant experience. Considering that the payoff is only a couple of minutes at the summit, I just don't understand why people flock to Asia to undertake this. Having said this, I am glad people do as watching and reading about their efforts is certainly very entertaining!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Mindy's Birthday
Today is Mindy's birthday. We actually had begin the celebrations on the weekend with a trip to the local Japanese hibachi restaurant for dinner. The kids enjoyed the entertainment and the food but Mindy and I both thought that we had been to better similarly themed restaurants in the past.
This morning I had to get to work early to get some stuff completed. Mindy and I were talking on the phone in the early afternoon when she said "Patty is here. I better go. Today is a special day you know". It was at that moment that I realised I had completely forgotten to mention her birthday today! Oops! So, I guess I need to make up for this tonight, still not sure how, but dinner out to celebrate is probably in order...
This morning I had to get to work early to get some stuff completed. Mindy and I were talking on the phone in the early afternoon when she said "Patty is here. I better go. Today is a special day you know". It was at that moment that I realised I had completely forgotten to mention her birthday today! Oops! So, I guess I need to make up for this tonight, still not sure how, but dinner out to celebrate is probably in order...
Ballet
On Tuesday, I worked from home allowing me to attend the 1 hour ballet performances from both Naomi and Fiona's classes. It was pretty cute to watch these groups of awkward kids go through their paces and a great example of patience from the teacher having to deal with the students wandering off (both in mind and body) throughout the class. The girls' personalities certainly came through in their dance, Mindy and I were laughing to ourselves watching both of them do "typical" Naomi and Fiona things in this setting.
In the evening I watched The Simpsons Movie. I thought it was pretty funny and I would imagine that it met the expectations of any fans who saw it. Full of classic Simpsons quotes and jokes, highly recommended to any fans of the series. Mindy, not a huge fan of the show, came in towards the end and was interested enough to watch the end, so I guess it is OK, even for casual fans.
In the evening I watched The Simpsons Movie. I thought it was pretty funny and I would imagine that it met the expectations of any fans who saw it. Full of classic Simpsons quotes and jokes, highly recommended to any fans of the series. Mindy, not a huge fan of the show, came in towards the end and was interested enough to watch the end, so I guess it is OK, even for casual fans.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Gilly
For the cricket fans out there, the big story was the retirement of Adam Gilchrist. I think he timed things perfectly. He is still a good player but was showing some signs of a decline - nice that he was able to get out before being pushed out. Brad Hadden will be a fine replacement I think and deserves his chance. He is coming into the team in career best form so hopefully this will now continue for a few years.
Other than watching the cricket, this weekend involved a much less eventful trip to Naomi's ice skating and spending time with friends on Saturday afternoon. We also found the time to bake Australian animal cookies (from the cookie cutters sent by Uncle Mick and Aunty Margaret) to celebrate Australia Day. The kids especially enjoyed piling about a 1/2 inch of topping on top, which of course made them no longer resemble the animals they were supposed to...and also, pretty much make them inedible. They had a lot of fun doing it though.
On Sunday, Mindy took Naomi to the rink for some extra practice so Fiona and I baked a cake to celebrate Mindy's upcoming birthday. Later in the afternoon, we spent some time re-arranging our firewood pile from our latest delivery. As a part of this, I discovered the simple pleasure of splitting firewood. A week ago I bought a splitting maul (basically a heavy axe where the blade is a combination of an axe head, splitting wedge and sledge hammer) and also a sledge hammer (the idea being that if the maul gets stuck in the log, the design allows for you to drive it through the log with a sledge hammer). While only having small pieces to try it out on, it was quite successful and fun to do. Of course, I am sure the novelty may well wear off if presented with a significant quantity to do but it was certainly fun on the weekend. Our wood stove is working very well, proving to be enjoyable, economic and environmentally sound. Next challenge - removing the old walnut tree in our back yard that messes up our deck and thanks to the squirrels, leaves our backyard covered in hard, sharp walnut shell fragments. I plan to get the tree company to leave the wood, split it myself and let it season for next year's fire.
Other than watching the cricket, this weekend involved a much less eventful trip to Naomi's ice skating and spending time with friends on Saturday afternoon. We also found the time to bake Australian animal cookies (from the cookie cutters sent by Uncle Mick and Aunty Margaret) to celebrate Australia Day. The kids especially enjoyed piling about a 1/2 inch of topping on top, which of course made them no longer resemble the animals they were supposed to...and also, pretty much make them inedible. They had a lot of fun doing it though.
On Sunday, Mindy took Naomi to the rink for some extra practice so Fiona and I baked a cake to celebrate Mindy's upcoming birthday. Later in the afternoon, we spent some time re-arranging our firewood pile from our latest delivery. As a part of this, I discovered the simple pleasure of splitting firewood. A week ago I bought a splitting maul (basically a heavy axe where the blade is a combination of an axe head, splitting wedge and sledge hammer) and also a sledge hammer (the idea being that if the maul gets stuck in the log, the design allows for you to drive it through the log with a sledge hammer). While only having small pieces to try it out on, it was quite successful and fun to do. Of course, I am sure the novelty may well wear off if presented with a significant quantity to do but it was certainly fun on the weekend. Our wood stove is working very well, proving to be enjoyable, economic and environmentally sound. Next challenge - removing the old walnut tree in our back yard that messes up our deck and thanks to the squirrels, leaves our backyard covered in hard, sharp walnut shell fragments. I plan to get the tree company to leave the wood, split it myself and let it season for next year's fire.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday
Colgate had a day off for Martin Luther King day, so I was at home! For some reason, I slept until about 8:30, literally the longest I have slept in about 5 years. After this I guess I had lots of energy so we decided to try to organise the house a little. Measurements were taken of various spaces and then a trip to Target resulted in the purchasing of several plastic bins and wooden shelf units. Mindy is now facing the task of arranging her craft/belly dancing/henna/etc supplies in the newly found space.
I also switched out the tub spout in the hopes of getting our leaky shower diverter to work. It actually did the trick. In addition, I added a low-flow shower head so now we have gone from having a small trickle of water to now having a workable shower again! It really made a difference and helps the environment as well. A win-win situation!
I also switched out the tub spout in the hopes of getting our leaky shower diverter to work. It actually did the trick. In addition, I added a low-flow shower head so now we have gone from having a small trickle of water to now having a workable shower again! It really made a difference and helps the environment as well. A win-win situation!
Sunday
We were hoping Sunday was a little more normal than Saturday. After some household chores in the morning Mindy suggested that we go to the local cinema cafe for lunch and a movie with the kids. I kind of felt like being a slob at the house but went along in the hope the kids would have a good time. The movie was "The Water Horse", a fantasy movie about a child who hatches a dinosaur into Loch Ness and the adventures that go along with this. It was OK I guess, not the best kids' movie I have seen, but the girls liked it (and enjoyed the pizza).
After this, it was over to some friends for an afternoon of beer drinking and watching the football playoffs. Both games were enjoyable - New England always seemed to have it in hand against San Diego...however the Green Bay v New York game was very exciting with no team able to put the other away. New York won it in overtime and so now only they stand in the way of New England having an undefeated season. I will be wanting a New England victory in the Super Bowl - I like their team and also want to shut up the annoying Dolphins players from 30 years ago who had the last undefeated season in the NFL.
The beer and company were good and the kids all had fun playing together. The ladies went out and had dinner while we "supervised" things at home. Our plan was that if there was an accident, one of the kids would probably survive it and be able to alert us...it worked like a charm and we did not miss any snaps.
After this, it was over to some friends for an afternoon of beer drinking and watching the football playoffs. Both games were enjoyable - New England always seemed to have it in hand against San Diego...however the Green Bay v New York game was very exciting with no team able to put the other away. New York won it in overtime and so now only they stand in the way of New England having an undefeated season. I will be wanting a New England victory in the Super Bowl - I like their team and also want to shut up the annoying Dolphins players from 30 years ago who had the last undefeated season in the NFL.
The beer and company were good and the kids all had fun playing together. The ladies went out and had dinner while we "supervised" things at home. Our plan was that if there was an accident, one of the kids would probably survive it and be able to alert us...it worked like a charm and we did not miss any snaps.
Saturday
After staying up for most of the night to watch us lose the cricket, I grabbed a few hours of sleep before going to Naomi's ice skating lesson. We were about a mile from the arena when Mindy commented that she had noticed a strange noise coming from the back of the car. I pulled over and we had a completely flat tyre (tire for the American readers!). I drove off the main road onto a side street and we considered our options. I could change it myself or we could call road service to help us out - but either of these options would mean Naomi missed her lesson. The other alternative was that only being about a mile from the place, I could run with Naomi/carry her/kind of drag her there and we should make it in time for the lesson...and Mindy could remain with Fiona and the mobile phone and wait for road service to arrive. We agreed that we would try to get here there so off I ran, holding Naomi's hand (figuring I would carry her when closer to the main road - it was quite safe where we were). As I left, Mindy shouted "Do you want the stroller?"...but with the ground being uneven at times, I figured this would not be of any help, so shouted back no and continued on.
About 1/2 way to the venue a car pulled up next to us and the lady driving asked if we needed any help. I guess she saw me carrying a young child and figured something was wrong. I told her the story but added that we were only about a 1/2 mile away and if she could give us a ride there, it would help. No problem - I buckled Naomi in the back and jumped in the front when a police car pulled in behind us. Now, there were a few possibilities here that came to mind - a routine check of a car pulled off on a main road perhaps, or perhaps he saw her pick us up and so was going to bust me for hitch-hiking?? At this stage I was thinking that what should have been an easy morning was quickly becoming much more complex.
The officer came to my window and asked: "Is everything OK?". I told him that we were trying to get to my daughter's ice skating lesson just a 1/2 mile away, told him about the flat etc. He then asked: "Did you two have an argument?". This was quite unexpected. I explained that we only just met and that my wife was about a 1/2 mile back with the car. He then asked: "Did you have an argument with your wife?". Now I was really confused and assured him that I did not. The lady then asked if she could go and the police officer said he would take care of us from here.
Upon getting out of the car, I noticed that there were now 3 police cars sitting there. The officer then said: "We had a report of a domestic dispute.". I asked: "And the person you were after matched my description?", the officer nodded. I was wearing my Newcastle Falcons jacket with bright red sleeves, so this was not too tough to believe. After telling him where Mindy was located, he dispatched a patrol car to check my story and then loaded Naomi and me into the back of his car to drive us to ice skating. Naomi was a little apprehensive and confused but I tried to assure her that everything was OK. We got to the ice rink and he made us wait around for a couple of minutes until he received confirmation from his buddy that all was OK with Mindy...and then we raced inside, got her skates and made it to the lesson with a minute to spare!
From Mindy's perspective...she had called road service when the police car arrived. The officer asked her: "How are you doing today?". Mindy then told him about the flat and that her husband and daughter were walking down the road to the ice skating rink. He replied: "Yes, we know". Mindy enquired further: "So did you help them out?". The answer: "Something like that.". So she was quite confused and completely in the dark about our adventure. In the end, the tyre was changed and she met us at the rink about 10 minutes after the class finished. Quite a strange way to spend a morning as it turned out.
The only thing we can figure is that the owner of the house that we stopped in front of saw us frantically discussing our options, probably gesturing toward the car. Next, I run off with a child, shouting something as I left - I guess it looked suspicious enough to deserve a call to the police!
After getting the tyre repaired we went home and then raced out again to a friend's child's birthday party. We were late but I guess we had a good excuse!
In the evening we watched Jackass 2. A quite amazing movie that you don't really want to watch at times but, much as with an accident on the road, you cannot stop yourself. Everything you would expect - entertaining, funny, gross, cringe-worthy and immature. Those guys deserve every cent thay make and I am amazed none of them has died doing some of these stunts. Certainly worth watching if you have 90 minutes to kill and want a good laugh.
About 1/2 way to the venue a car pulled up next to us and the lady driving asked if we needed any help. I guess she saw me carrying a young child and figured something was wrong. I told her the story but added that we were only about a 1/2 mile away and if she could give us a ride there, it would help. No problem - I buckled Naomi in the back and jumped in the front when a police car pulled in behind us. Now, there were a few possibilities here that came to mind - a routine check of a car pulled off on a main road perhaps, or perhaps he saw her pick us up and so was going to bust me for hitch-hiking?? At this stage I was thinking that what should have been an easy morning was quickly becoming much more complex.
The officer came to my window and asked: "Is everything OK?". I told him that we were trying to get to my daughter's ice skating lesson just a 1/2 mile away, told him about the flat etc. He then asked: "Did you two have an argument?". This was quite unexpected. I explained that we only just met and that my wife was about a 1/2 mile back with the car. He then asked: "Did you have an argument with your wife?". Now I was really confused and assured him that I did not. The lady then asked if she could go and the police officer said he would take care of us from here.
Upon getting out of the car, I noticed that there were now 3 police cars sitting there. The officer then said: "We had a report of a domestic dispute.". I asked: "And the person you were after matched my description?", the officer nodded. I was wearing my Newcastle Falcons jacket with bright red sleeves, so this was not too tough to believe. After telling him where Mindy was located, he dispatched a patrol car to check my story and then loaded Naomi and me into the back of his car to drive us to ice skating. Naomi was a little apprehensive and confused but I tried to assure her that everything was OK. We got to the ice rink and he made us wait around for a couple of minutes until he received confirmation from his buddy that all was OK with Mindy...and then we raced inside, got her skates and made it to the lesson with a minute to spare!
From Mindy's perspective...she had called road service when the police car arrived. The officer asked her: "How are you doing today?". Mindy then told him about the flat and that her husband and daughter were walking down the road to the ice skating rink. He replied: "Yes, we know". Mindy enquired further: "So did you help them out?". The answer: "Something like that.". So she was quite confused and completely in the dark about our adventure. In the end, the tyre was changed and she met us at the rink about 10 minutes after the class finished. Quite a strange way to spend a morning as it turned out.
The only thing we can figure is that the owner of the house that we stopped in front of saw us frantically discussing our options, probably gesturing toward the car. Next, I run off with a child, shouting something as I left - I guess it looked suspicious enough to deserve a call to the police!
After getting the tyre repaired we went home and then raced out again to a friend's child's birthday party. We were late but I guess we had a good excuse!
In the evening we watched Jackass 2. A quite amazing movie that you don't really want to watch at times but, much as with an accident on the road, you cannot stop yourself. Everything you would expect - entertaining, funny, gross, cringe-worthy and immature. Those guys deserve every cent thay make and I am amazed none of them has died doing some of these stunts. Certainly worth watching if you have 90 minutes to kill and want a good laugh.
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