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We got back from our annual trip away two Saturdays ago. That’s right – back on the 23rd. Not exactly current news but I’ve been busy. Busy dividing my time between getting back into the Swing of Things and desperately trying to figure out a way of preserving the “holiday lifestyle” indefinitely.
We had a really great time. Joining our family unit Voltron-style with that of very good friends of ours – we eschewed modern conveniences and entertainments (meaning I didn’t play World of Warcraft) to spend a week in a holiday house at Myola.
A conversation I had half-a-dozen times in the week before we went away:
Somebody: So where are you going?
Me: Myola.
Somebody: Huh?
Me: Jervis Bay.
Somebody: Oh! Nice!
Myola’s great. There’s NOTHING there except a really nice beach and a couple of shops. The lack of stuff forcing you to slooow down and just relax a bit.
I did a fair bit of reading, I’m pleased to say. I managed to finish the book Olympos by Dan Simmons and start two others. The Terror – also by Dan – and Magician by Raymond E. Feist – something I’ve been meaning to read for years.
We went to the beach a few times, which the kids loved and explored the area a bit. The Naval and Air Museum was particularly cool. Also, thanks to the proximity of the Naval firing range, you can lie in bed in the mornings and listen to the distant rumbles of shells exploding. Rather soothing, actually.
The house we stayed in was really nice, but the layout was a problem. It was rather open-plan – particularly upstairs which meant Alanah was sleeping in a bed at the top of the main internal stairs and Sean was in a baby-containment device in our room which had a sloping ceiling that I kept banging my head on.
It was all worth it, though, and as mentioned earlier I’m trying really hard to figure out a way of living like that permanently. So far… nothing.
The landlords of the house we rented lived in the house behind so we talked to them a bit. When I told the owner of my problem she told me that her husband works as a software designer (ooh! similar to me!) and that he leaves the house at 6:15 every morning to get the train to Wollongong (crap!).
Oh well. At least I get to play World of Warcraft, even if I DO have to deal with “real world responsibilities” during the day.
Happy 2008!
Most people in this part of the world are shuffling off to work today after their breaks, but not me. I’m hitting the Holiday Snooze Button and having another week off. Seeing as I’m pretty crap at taking holidays, I usually take an extra week at Christmas. This year, though, it would have meant going back on the 7th – a day before Alanah’s 4th birthday and that just seemed mean – so I’m back next Wednesday.
So until I go back on the ninth, I’m going to devote my time to my family, sitting around, seeing friends (that haven’t gone back to work), watching movies and playing obscene amounts of World of Warcraft.
WoW Update: Level 38! I hope to hit 40 by tomorrow night.
Merry Christmas! I hope that everyone had a very happy and safe Christmas.
I’m off to the parents’ place now with the family to help out in the garden and clean the gutters!
Well, maybe not dead, but definitely not as easy as it was.
Marion, Sean and I are going to a wedding next week and we needed to buy some new clothes as my current suit is rather old and made for when I was different dimensions. Marion, also needed to get something as all her formal stuff isn’t suited to her current dimensions. So today, we learned the joy that is shopping for clothes with two kids.
It took about an hour in Ron Bennett to organise a really nice new suit for me with a couple of ties and a shirt. During this time, we spent all of the kids’ patience credits so the search for something for Marion to wear was a little more fraught with tantrums and crying. First from Sean and Alanah, then from me. I got a turn of the Baby Bjorn which was pretty cool. Sean stays fairly calm in there and it’s nice to spend some time with him. Lately, with work being so crazy, I haven’t seen the family much.
We did manage to find something, however and got the hell out of there ASAP.
One week and one day into Sean’s life ex-utero things are going extremely well. For one, the boy loves his sleep! He’s only been a little unsettled a couple of times and both of those were at the end of a disruptive say where we went out and dragged him around the shops. Marion has been getting good amounts of sleep and with me getting Alanah up and going in the morning, she only needs to get up when Sean wants to.
Tomorrow we get the little guy baptised. After that, there’s going to be a get together at our place to celebrate – in part, the baptism and this is our story – but mainly to celebrate Marion’s parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. See? Bit tricky us. I haven’t even gotten to the best bit. We don’t have to do much! Marion’s family is organising food and everything so we just have to make the place presentable.
It’s Mother’s Day as well tomorrow, so that worked out really nicely too. Marion already has her present – I got here some REALLY NICE diamond earrings last week. I figured she kinda earned them.
I’m happy to announce that at 9am last Friday May 4th, we welcomed our second child – a healthy 3.8 kg baby boy!
For the duration of his “incubation”he was referred to as Batman – a strong name, I think. Batman being, as any smart person will tell you, the most badass of ALL superheroes, not least because he has NO superhuman powers save that of limitless wealth.
Anyway, we can now reveal his “street” name as Sean Anthony O’Halloran. Now THAT’s a good Irish name!
Marion and our new progeny came home on monday and all we can say is wow! So far he’s been a dream to look after. Marion is only getting up twice in the night to feed him and he has looong sleeps in between. We’re not sure if this is an effect of the post-caesarean pain medication or if he’s just easing us into things. At any rate, his sister Alanah was nothing like this when we brought her home three years and a bit ago.
Speaking of her, though, she’s really taking to the whole big sister thing. She’s always wanting to give him stuff – quite often something he has no need for or interest in such as a bottle of water, but the thought is what counts – and loves to give him a cuddle. Still, we’re aware of possible issues arising with the whole shift in the family balance and much of the two weeks I’m taking off work will be spent with her.
Here’s hoping things keep going this well!
