Fun with Kumquats

OK - I'm warning you right now, this is going to be a lame post. I'm exhausted these days...not sure why, but it may have to do with the birthday party we had for Gus a week ago that involved entertaining 10 kids for 4 hours. I'm still recovering. 10 kids is way too many, and 4 hours is way too long, what was I thinking???

Anyways, you know how people who work in offices might sometimes bring home the odd pen or pencil, or a pad of sticky notes? Well, the other day Vic brought home macademia nuts and kumquats from the worksite. The macademia nuts were yummy, but required several serious blows from a hammer to break them open (making them an instant hit with Gus). And the kumquats were equally entertaining.

Turns out they're really sour.

That thing around Gus' neck is a sling because a couple of weeks ago, he broke his elbow. Well, he may have broken his elbow (the two doctors he saw disagreed on whether there was in fact a break).

Totally unrelated, Gus is the new banana king, thanks to a special delivery from Michelle. Ever since our recent trip to Canada, where his cousins introduced him to this acid-tripped-up youtube video, he can't stop talking about Charlie the banana king. And now he IS the banana king. Thanks Michelle!




The crazy hair that Gus is sporting in the picture above is because until recently he couldn't take the sling off (both doctors agreed on that one), and Gus' barber warned us not to get his hair cut till the sling comes off because the itchiness from the little bits of hair that would inevitably get stuck in this sling would be unbearable. The lack of a haircut combined with Gus' complete and utter lack of interest in a hairbrush have resulted in some really great bedhead.

This coming weekend is a long one, so we're heading up the coast for some fun in the sun in Port Macquarie. Can't wait! I'm planning on lots of sleeping, eating and swimming at the beach.

Spring has sprung

I've now lived through all four seasons in Sydney, and I've decided that Spring is definitely my favourite. The weather is perfect these days. Gorgeous blue skies and not too hot, with temperatures around 20-24C most every day.

Last weekend, we went to the Festival of the Winds (a kite flying festival) at Bondi beach. Bondi is by far the most famous of all Sydney's 100+ beaches. It's a beautiful beach, but man - it is crowded, and parking at Bondi - well the parking situation is exactly what keeps us from going to Bondi more often (that and the fact that we live just down the street from a great beach).

Vic dropped Gus and I off at Speedos (our breakfast destination and also a famed haunt of Hugh Jackman's), and proceeded to spend an ungodly amount of time circling around to find a spot. After finally finding parking, he joined us for breakfast. And although visibly shaking with the traumatic experience of trying to find parking at Bondi beach and pining for a beer to settle his nerves, he decided on a mango smoothie instead. Disappointingly, we did not spot Hugh and after paying a stupidly expensive bill (have I mentioned Sydney is pricey?), we walked down to the beach feeling a little defeated by the whole experience. Thankfully, our time at the festival completely erased the earlier parking, non-Hugh Jackman-spotting and breakfast-paying stress.

Gus made a kite at a kite-making workshop, then spent a good amount of time flying his homemade kite at the beach. Kite-flying is one of those things that I don't think about doing very often, then when I do it, I wonder why I don't fly kites every day. The colourful kites looked amazing against the backdrop of the perfectly blue skies. Afterwards, on our ride back, seeing all the little shops and cafes spilling over with people enjoying the day, Vic said to me (Mom: don't read this next part), it's days like this that make me want to stay in Australia (Mom: if you did read that - don't worry, we're still planning to move back after I'm done my PhD).

thanks to Fl Girl for the beautiful pic (Gus' kite is the green and orange one):

Back on-line!

Wow! So much has happened since we last spoke, I'm not even sure where to start. ...Well, first of all, I can now say, with all certainty, that moving does suck (as per the comment made by anonymous) no matter how few posessions you own and no matter how short the move. Do you know what really sucks? It's those last straggling boxes that you just stuff things into from your 'junk drawer' or from the piles that were lingering on your desk and that you don't really feel like you can toss away but at the same time, they don't really have any obvious place to go in your new home. Those boxes suck, packing them and then unpacking them.

But, we're all settled in now, and loving our new place. It's positively palatial compared to our last apartment and still close to the beach and right across the street from Gus' school. In fact, our view is of the chooks (that's aussie for chickens) that his school recently acquired. (sidenote: isn't Gus' school so amazing? they continue to delight me with their innovative teaching styles. Gus recently reported that if you're really good you get to take an egg home with you and all the kids are very excited about that. How unbelievably sweet is that?)

In other news, I am proud to say that I have been spectacularly productive on my thesis lately: I've acquired the funding that I'll need for my research, submitted one application for ethics approval, drafted up a second one that I'll be submitting at the end of the month; and have gotten support for my research from the three needle and syringe programs in the area where I'll be conducting my survey. In other words, for the past few weeks, I have been winning the battle with my Getting Started Monster (I hate that guy, I fight with him all the time!).

One last thing, remember that post where I wrote about the scary Aussie public health messaging and how they try to scare you into being good? Well, that's nothing compared to this new German ad about the dangers of unprotected sex and HIV. CRAZY!!! Have you seen it yet? I tried to find the video on youtube to show you, but it's been pulled. So here's a link to an alternate site that's showing it. If you follow the link, make sure there aren't any kids around - it's pretty graphic! Apparently, it's causing quite the hubbub in Germany and elsewhere. Understandably.