Happy Birthday to Jules, Ann, Trinity and...oh, me! :p
Hope everyone is enjoying their celebrations!
Looking forward to when Jules and Trin are older and maybe we can all have a four-day non-stop birthday party together ;)
Tuesday 30 July 2013
Monday 29 July 2013
Long Time No Post
So its been a while since I last posted but a lot has happened in that time. I am back at uni after a few weeks break which has been nice. I have classes 3 days a week this semester, doing math, programming and databases.
A few friends and I have been on a few roadtrips to Vaughn Springs, Mt Macedon (to see what little snow was there) , a few towns between Bendigo and Melbourne and Lake Mountain, which was closed when we got there :( Two weeks ago Shaun and I went to Upwey for dinner in this nice little Thai resturaunt, they had amazing food it all looked really good but having never had Thai it was a hard decision. Last week he asked me out after dinner at home, he makes me happy and he makes me smile, Mervyn thinks he is super amazing and the reason we are together, in a way he is because he started the conversation that lead us to knowing how the other felt but it was Shaun that asked me. I went to Melbourne with Shaun, Ange and Jen on Thursday and we went to China Town and Crown Casino, I had never been to crown and I won $10 on the pokies, then Shaun and I had dinner in Lygon Street at Tica Tera. Saturday night we had a friends engagement party, it was heaps of fun and lots of photos got taken :)
I'm going to China at the end of October with the BCA Plum Blossom dancing team to learn more about the culture and to learn more dances at professional dance schools as well as doing some touristy things. I shall try to update more oftern :)
A few friends and I have been on a few roadtrips to Vaughn Springs, Mt Macedon (to see what little snow was there) , a few towns between Bendigo and Melbourne and Lake Mountain, which was closed when we got there :( Two weeks ago Shaun and I went to Upwey for dinner in this nice little Thai resturaunt, they had amazing food it all looked really good but having never had Thai it was a hard decision. Last week he asked me out after dinner at home, he makes me happy and he makes me smile, Mervyn thinks he is super amazing and the reason we are together, in a way he is because he started the conversation that lead us to knowing how the other felt but it was Shaun that asked me. I went to Melbourne with Shaun, Ange and Jen on Thursday and we went to China Town and Crown Casino, I had never been to crown and I won $10 on the pokies, then Shaun and I had dinner in Lygon Street at Tica Tera. Saturday night we had a friends engagement party, it was heaps of fun and lots of photos got taken :)
I'm going to China at the end of October with the BCA Plum Blossom dancing team to learn more about the culture and to learn more dances at professional dance schools as well as doing some touristy things. I shall try to update more oftern :)
Monday 22 July 2013
Happy Birthday Dayna!
According to Google it's currently about half past 12 in the night on the 22nd over in the UK, so it sounds like it's time to kick off the birthday celebrations :)
Happy Birthday! I trust you'll have a break from work and find time for a quiet drink or ten ;)
Happy Birthday! I trust you'll have a break from work and find time for a quiet drink or ten ;)
Tuesday 16 July 2013
Stop! Hammer Toe!
Hey all, a quick update from me to explain the toe shenanigans I've been getting up to.
So for starters, it turns out there's a name for the freaky curled-around toes I have - it's "hammer toe", and it's generally caused by bad footwear. I've had it pretty much forever, although since moving to Bendigo I've been walking barefoot more and it's actually been easing up a bit.
On Saturday while at what I think we'd all agree was an awesome party I was up in the playground with Lily, who wanted to crawl through some tubes for a bit of a look. I followed her, but as I clambered over raised ladder-style steps that were clearly made for tiny feet I felt pain in my toe. I checked it once we got out, and realised along with pain I couldn't move said toe (the second along) and it was no longer curled around - it was, in fact, almost normally straight.
This freaked me out, so we headed off to the doctor, who, after commenting that he hadn't seen toes like mine before (thanks dude) said he didn't think it was broken, or indeed that anything was wrong with it, but we could get an x ray anyway. I thought, given his lack of familiarity with my freakish feet, a second opinion was probably worthwhile, so Monday (after a weekend of quite a bit of pain, ice packs and bad sleeping) I got photos taken of my bones.
Today we went back to another doctor, and he cleared it all up. My bones weren't broken or dislocated, what I'd (probably) done was torn or snapped a tendon or ligament. If I take neurophen and use either hot or cold packs to lessen the swelling the pain should hopefully go away, and my toe should heal up. But yeah, my toe hadn't straightened up because bones were broken, it had straightened up because the tendon that was too short and causing it to curl around had snapped.
Interestingly, if you look up possible solutions for Stop! Hammer Toe! if stretching isn't working they suggest a surgical procedure where they cut the tendon. So I suppose I've saved myself some money there. Too bad for old righty, since I'm not going through that again just to have a matching pair of feet.
Here's hoping it heals up before the Iaido seminar in Adelaide at the end of August.
So for starters, it turns out there's a name for the freaky curled-around toes I have - it's "hammer toe", and it's generally caused by bad footwear. I've had it pretty much forever, although since moving to Bendigo I've been walking barefoot more and it's actually been easing up a bit.
On Saturday while at what I think we'd all agree was an awesome party I was up in the playground with Lily, who wanted to crawl through some tubes for a bit of a look. I followed her, but as I clambered over raised ladder-style steps that were clearly made for tiny feet I felt pain in my toe. I checked it once we got out, and realised along with pain I couldn't move said toe (the second along) and it was no longer curled around - it was, in fact, almost normally straight.
This freaked me out, so we headed off to the doctor, who, after commenting that he hadn't seen toes like mine before (thanks dude) said he didn't think it was broken, or indeed that anything was wrong with it, but we could get an x ray anyway. I thought, given his lack of familiarity with my freakish feet, a second opinion was probably worthwhile, so Monday (after a weekend of quite a bit of pain, ice packs and bad sleeping) I got photos taken of my bones.
Today we went back to another doctor, and he cleared it all up. My bones weren't broken or dislocated, what I'd (probably) done was torn or snapped a tendon or ligament. If I take neurophen and use either hot or cold packs to lessen the swelling the pain should hopefully go away, and my toe should heal up. But yeah, my toe hadn't straightened up because bones were broken, it had straightened up because the tendon that was too short and causing it to curl around had snapped.
Interestingly, if you look up possible solutions for Stop! Hammer Toe! if stretching isn't working they suggest a surgical procedure where they cut the tendon. So I suppose I've saved myself some money there. Too bad for old righty, since I'm not going through that again just to have a matching pair of feet.
Here's hoping it heals up before the Iaido seminar in Adelaide at the end of August.
Wednesday 10 July 2013
Gordon St Gossip
I opened my dojo, Zen Shin Kan, last night. I had four students - Carolynn, her friends Conor and Dylan, and an older guy named George who came up from Kyneton. George will be an occasional student with that drive. I hope Carolynn and her friends continue - all three of them did really well. I don't know if it's just having a younger brain, but they were picking up the fundamentals very well.
Of course there are two types of students - those who pick up the style naturally, with little trouble, and those (like me) who have to work at it and persevere. The thing to realise is that after 10 years these two students are indistinguishable :) so I guess the best trait in a new student is patience.
But yeah, I think it went well. We covered a bit of cutting, a bit of a waza, and some general principals. A lot to build on.
The hall I'm hiring is $15 an hour, and I'm hiring for 2 hours to allow set up and pack up time. I'll charge my students $10 a class, so the mathematically-minded amongst you will be able to work out that I need a minimum of 3 students each class to cover the cost. Based on Reynella, that means 4 or 5 ongoing students would be ideal, since inevitably people miss occasional classes. The hall isn't huge - it fit the 4 people along one wall okay, and if there are more that that I'll line them up on the other wall.. but if it got much larger than that we'd probably have to look at moving. So I have an ideal class size in mind of 5 - 8 ongoing students - If I got that I'd be very happy :)
I bought some bokken online and they got shipped here in a week, which was great. I might get some more so I can return the plastic bokken to Adelaide on August. I need to buy some wrap to rewrap my two iaito so the students can use them when they're a bit more advanced.
I also signed up to a sword club, which provided me with a license to own the swords. You need this even for a blunt sword, sadly. Lisa, Carolynn mentioned you have some of Adam's swords in a cupboard somewhere - I was thinking you can either join the club (it's $25 a year) or I can put them in the cupboard here until the kids are old enough to join the club themselves. I'll post the club info on facebook.
Of course the best part about getting the dojo kicked off is that I now have an excuse to train once a week.
Of course there are two types of students - those who pick up the style naturally, with little trouble, and those (like me) who have to work at it and persevere. The thing to realise is that after 10 years these two students are indistinguishable :) so I guess the best trait in a new student is patience.
But yeah, I think it went well. We covered a bit of cutting, a bit of a waza, and some general principals. A lot to build on.
The hall I'm hiring is $15 an hour, and I'm hiring for 2 hours to allow set up and pack up time. I'll charge my students $10 a class, so the mathematically-minded amongst you will be able to work out that I need a minimum of 3 students each class to cover the cost. Based on Reynella, that means 4 or 5 ongoing students would be ideal, since inevitably people miss occasional classes. The hall isn't huge - it fit the 4 people along one wall okay, and if there are more that that I'll line them up on the other wall.. but if it got much larger than that we'd probably have to look at moving. So I have an ideal class size in mind of 5 - 8 ongoing students - If I got that I'd be very happy :)
I bought some bokken online and they got shipped here in a week, which was great. I might get some more so I can return the plastic bokken to Adelaide on August. I need to buy some wrap to rewrap my two iaito so the students can use them when they're a bit more advanced.
I also signed up to a sword club, which provided me with a license to own the swords. You need this even for a blunt sword, sadly. Lisa, Carolynn mentioned you have some of Adam's swords in a cupboard somewhere - I was thinking you can either join the club (it's $25 a year) or I can put them in the cupboard here until the kids are old enough to join the club themselves. I'll post the club info on facebook.
Of course the best part about getting the dojo kicked off is that I now have an excuse to train once a week.
Tuesday 2 July 2013
Brooklea Park BBQ
I agree with Mum - it's July! !?!
The highlight this week was our impromptu BBQ on Saturday. We bought a little charcoal barbie during the week (one we can easily pack into the shed, or a cupboard, or take in the car - you can see it in the photo below). The weather seemed good so B went and bought charcoal and some vege sausages while I sent a message to some of the people at Uni. Our neighbours' son and partner are staying with them at the moment, so they joined us on the lawn and two of my workmates also turned up. It was a really lovely afternoon with sunshine, tasty food and drink, and great company; and it turned into a fun evening too - when it got too cold to sit outside our neighbours went home and the rest of us ended up playing the Wii for a few hours. :-D
Not much else going on for us last week - I tried to have two days off but worked from home for one of them and then had a ChemNet event, two Spectroscopy in a Suitcase sessions (one I couldn't go to so my team had their first trip alone) and an education conference.
Bruce says that everything he got up to is in the last post.
This week I've got to sort out a bunch of Outreach events for July - though I had today off (mostly.. had some emails to do in the morning) and it's Bruce's last week at the school (so he's not doing much at all :-P).
Your turn!
The highlight this week was our impromptu BBQ on Saturday. We bought a little charcoal barbie during the week (one we can easily pack into the shed, or a cupboard, or take in the car - you can see it in the photo below). The weather seemed good so B went and bought charcoal and some vege sausages while I sent a message to some of the people at Uni. Our neighbours' son and partner are staying with them at the moment, so they joined us on the lawn and two of my workmates also turned up. It was a really lovely afternoon with sunshine, tasty food and drink, and great company; and it turned into a fun evening too - when it got too cold to sit outside our neighbours went home and the rest of us ended up playing the Wii for a few hours. :-D
Not much else going on for us last week - I tried to have two days off but worked from home for one of them and then had a ChemNet event, two Spectroscopy in a Suitcase sessions (one I couldn't go to so my team had their first trip alone) and an education conference.
Bruce says that everything he got up to is in the last post.
This week I've got to sort out a bunch of Outreach events for July - though I had today off (mostly.. had some emails to do in the morning) and it's Bruce's last week at the school (so he's not doing much at all :-P).
Your turn!
Monday 1 July 2013
Gordon St Goss
It's the beginning of school holidays and it's nice for Os (and Damien!) to have a break from the 8.15am kindy starts. Hopefully we'll be able to do a few activities etc when Os is feeling well (he had another episode of "being-sick-due-to-not-eating-enough-dinner-the-night-before", or ketotic hypoglycemia), but I think he may have recovered as his appetite has returned and he is back to bugging Lily! :-\
Last Saturday we had Lisa and the kids (-Carolynn but +Maddison) over for dinner. The little kids had a ball running around and going nuts :p It was nice to have everyone here.
The next day I went to a Thermomix demo- it was awesome :) So much great food and a very impressive machine! Then again, for $1939 it needs to be pretty damn amazing!!
Tuesday was my mum's birthday, so we headed over there for dinner. It's always hard to find a birthday present for parents, and because of my mum's type 2 diabetes it's even harder as we don't have the usual chocolate/treat food as a fall-back. I did, however, bake her some spelt bread (thanks Dee for the recipe) and vegie muffins, as well as a wholemeal sugar-free banana and blueberry birthday cake! Os also bought her some watermelon seeds to plant :)
Friday night was Carolynn's ex-teacher's farewell/birthday drinks at the Golden Vine. The kids enjoyed being out "late" and it didn't take long for them to warm to Josh & Belinda and start calling them "cheeky bum!" :)
Damien has organised his dojo! He has a hall (close to Lisa's house) and has set a day and time for each week. I think it'll be great for him to get back into it. He has a lot to offer as a sensei! I'm looking forward to being able to help out with the promotion side of it... but that will happen when we're back from Adelaide. I'll let Damien tell you all more about it :)
I think that's it for now!
Church St Chatter
and now it's July
I'm definitely not good at a weekly post.
I've been dancing regularly but still eating the tempting suppers so no weight loss. I think I posted to the 6 month challenge.
Been to help Lisa a couple of times so making progress there. I found a bookshelf at the church garage sale so that's given her more book storage space. Also managed to put together a flat pack cupboard Denise and I found at the op shop. More storage behind a door for Lisa when I take it there next Thursday.
Got my hair cut last Tuesday then came home to put in a colour to cover the grey.
Had some Red Hat functions and more lunches out at various Clubs. Also last Tuesday Mum, Clive and I went to a fundraiser at the Star cinema. We enjoyed "A Song for Marion". I liked it better than "The Great Gatsby". I saw Lisa has the book. Perhaps I should read it again.
The church had a garage sale last Saturday and I got rid of some things as well as buying.
Trying to reduce the amount in the wardrobe. I found the jacket I wore to Damien and Cheryl's wedding will no longer do up. Pesky shrinking wardrobe.However there's a skirt that was great for dancing and it still fitted.
Clive has found he can't make it for the trip to Phillip Island in October so it will be Mum and I and Denise and Pete.
Looking forward to our visit to Sydney in August.
All for now. Keep posting everyone as I love to read about what you have been doing.
I'm definitely not good at a weekly post.
I've been dancing regularly but still eating the tempting suppers so no weight loss. I think I posted to the 6 month challenge.
Been to help Lisa a couple of times so making progress there. I found a bookshelf at the church garage sale so that's given her more book storage space. Also managed to put together a flat pack cupboard Denise and I found at the op shop. More storage behind a door for Lisa when I take it there next Thursday.
Got my hair cut last Tuesday then came home to put in a colour to cover the grey.
Had some Red Hat functions and more lunches out at various Clubs. Also last Tuesday Mum, Clive and I went to a fundraiser at the Star cinema. We enjoyed "A Song for Marion". I liked it better than "The Great Gatsby". I saw Lisa has the book. Perhaps I should read it again.
The church had a garage sale last Saturday and I got rid of some things as well as buying.
Trying to reduce the amount in the wardrobe. I found the jacket I wore to Damien and Cheryl's wedding will no longer do up. Pesky shrinking wardrobe.However there's a skirt that was great for dancing and it still fitted.
Clive has found he can't make it for the trip to Phillip Island in October so it will be Mum and I and Denise and Pete.
Looking forward to our visit to Sydney in August.
All for now. Keep posting everyone as I love to read about what you have been doing.
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