Sydneysiders: Keeping Ourselves Busy

(Two in a row! Go team Sydney!!)

It's been a couple of weeks since our last post. Jules is back at school, giving Dee the space to ramp up her job search -- with a twist, as she's looking to move into agile project management (i.e. scrum master, product owner, etc.). Not something she's (yet!) done, but seems like a good move (she'll be good at it) and will be something she can enjoy -- just as long as we can convince someone to take a chance! (She may invest in a scrum master course and certification, since recruiters at least will be looking for that.) Wish her luck!

We start week 4 of I Quit Sugar today, with a smaller than usual cook-up: I made some faux rice (cauliflower and broccoli) while Dee has made some delicious pesto (below). Thai prawn curry tonight, but this afternoon we're saying goodbye to our friends the (other) Masons -- they've sold their Annandale house and are off for a good long (12 months?) caravaning holiday. I probably don't need to tell you I'm jealous...

As mentioned on Hangouts, we're considering moving (e.g. to Concord) for considerably cheaper rent, a backyard (!!) and a slightly longer commute. It's truly bizarre how much rent varies from suburb to suburb, but considering Sydney has the second most unaffordable housing in the world it's nice to know we can save some money -- while still keeping Jules in the school he loves.

I'm keeping myself busy, too:

I'm training for the half-marathon in September (and have actually bought the entry!!). Gym and/or running most days and I'm finally seeing some muscle definition and fat minimisation (if not weight loss -- scales may not lie, but I'm 100kg (+5kg) and skinnier than I've been in ages. Must be all muscle?). As a reminder, a half-marathon is about 21km, and I'm currently running about 4km without a break ... so I've still got a way to go. (Hopefully more fat loss will help, too.)

Work isn't too busy, but I'll be finishing up on the project in a couple of weeks AND I'm a "founder" of another business -- a marketing friend had an idea (hush hush) and I'm coding up an Android app and backend for a demo which he can use to try to get seed capital. He's in London at the moment, but may come back to Sydney so we can work on it together. (I'm also going to launch my distinguished: clothing and accessories store tonight -- it's all about the hustle!)

But clearly I STILL don't have enough to do because I've also started writing a book on "full stack" engineering -- a little philosophy, a little technology and pointers to everything from Javascript to NoSQL to machine learning and AI ... oh, and to that end I've started a Machine Learning course this month (from Stanford, on Coursera). All in all, I can probably benefit from a slightly longer commute, just to get through my six-hours a week of course work!

Cardiff Capers

Another busy week has flown by. I have one more week before my maternity leave starts.. not that I'm counting (5 work days!). ;-)

We've just finished our third and final antenatal class. It was a good one - lots of practical and useful tips for after the little one arrives. It's all becoming a bit more real now.. Here's the latest bumpdate, taken today:

Definitely feeling huge and with four weeks to the estimated due date I've got all the little niggles to deal with.. including feet like this:

Not the most pleasant pregnancy side-effect but at least it doesn't hurt. Photo was taken Friday night and Saturday morning (after sleeping with my feet on pillows) - I don't even think that Friday was a particularly strenuous day! 

Yesterday I washed more baby clothes. We've been doing some with each light wash (the only light stuff we have are B's shirts, so it's helped to make a full load).

Work-wise, this last week has been very busy for both of us. I headed to Aberystwyth with a team on Monday, Tuesday we ran workshops for 40 students and 8 teachers before driving back to Cardiff in the evening, Del flew down from Bangor on Wednesday morning so we could go over some handover (my maternity cover starts the Monday after I finish) and we headed to Swansea to run an evening training session, Thursday morning I was at an event in Treforest (only half an hour away), and I started sorting out my office on Friday. *phew*

Bruce was just as busy, running workshops in a Cardiff school on Monday, had a probation meeting on Tuesday, Wednesday had a sleepover group to entertain on the flight simulator, Thursday he had two science shows and workshops (and really disorganised staff/helpers), and a group of older students visited for a tour and workshop on Friday! *phew again*

Tomorrow, Prince Charles is visiting B's work, so there's all kinds of crazy security that he'll have to negotiate. But he has been invited to a gala, orchestra, choir thing (and will need to wear a suit and tie). Fancy!

More next week.

Your turn!

Where did that month go?!?

Hi family,

It feels like it's been ages since I wrote an update.. and after checking the last few posts, it's been more than a month! How did that happen?! And what have we done with ourselves since then?

The last couple of weekends have seen us in 'Spring Cleaning Mode' - we've taken a car-load to the tip and 5 bin-bags full of stuff to the op-shop. I've packed up half of my wardrobe (all of the things that don't fit me right now but that I want to keep) and Bruce emptied out at least half of the shelves in the store-room and moved around some of the furniture in the lounge. *phew* Clearly, this is all part of the 'get ready for baby' preparations and we know we've got lots still to do.

Speaking of preparations, for those of you who missed the photo on hangouts, here's the bumpdate. This was from last weekend when we were out looking at prams and cot-beds (note: it's still not warm enough for t-shirts yet.. not for longer than a few minutes anyway.) :-) This week I'm having a glucose test (fingers crossed for no gestational diabetes) and I think we're almost sorted for all of the 'big' purchases - car seat, pram & cot-bed. Now it's just all of the 'little' things we need to work out (and I don't even know what they all are!). And I realise that I need to get in-shape - I've got about three months to build up my strength and flexibility. Anyone got any good links/suggestions for programmes/stretches/etc?

Work has been keeping B & I busy, as always. We've both been travelling lately, with more to come over the next month.

Easter was a welcome break - we had a lovely quiet Easter at home and then headed up to Birmingham(ish) for Phil & Sarah's wedding. Phil and B have been mates for years, so B was a Best Man. Here's a pic taken by Gwen - I'm sure you'll agree that Bruce scrubs up pretty well. :-) The wedding was lovely - religious ceremony in a little church followed by reception at a hotel in the middle of nowhere. Good food, good company and we stayed at the hotel, so I didn't have to wait for B to be finished before I could go to bed. Yay!

After the wedding we headed even further north for a short-break with Vicki and Stephen. We stayed at a lovely little flat in Gatehouse of Fleet (Southern Scotland) and spent the time exploring castles and abbey ruins, spying on the local wildlife (we saw a seal in a field!), playing games whilst it rained, and enjoying wine, cheese and chocolate! I haven't looked through my "real" photos yet, so here are a few from my phone.

Caerlaverock Castle

Feeding the red kites

Sweetheart Abbey

The coming month is looking like it's as busy as the last - I've got two weekend conferences and at least two trips to North Wales! But we've also got two bank holidays in May (yay!) and I'm planning on taking some leave (not to go anywhere, but to sleep-in and relax a little). Next weekend is May Day and there's a local festival in Radyr and Morganstown - we might even see what that's all about.

What are the rest of you up to?

Back to work

Bruce and I were back at work this week. For me, that meant a trip over to Aberystwyth to talk to trainee teachers, a little bit of office work and two workshops for 14-15 year olds. *phew*
B spent the week looking at flights and stop-over destinations, with a bit of work here and there. ;-)

The result - we're coming to Australia!

We arrive into Melbourne at 10pm on Saturday 6th February and will stay over at the airport. We'll then make our way to Bendigo on Sunday 7th. Hopefully the weather will be warm - I'm bringing my togs and hoping for some swimming time! :-)

We leave from Tullamarine Airport at 4pm on Friday 19th February. Rather than flying straight back, we're stopping for 3 days in Abu Dhabi - which will give us a chance for more adventures and hopefully reduce jetlag a bit (since we're back to work on the Wednesday after arriving at Heathrow Tuesday night!).

So the visit is a little sooner than we thought - it was the best option to fit around work and everything. I know we spoke about flying in to Sydney and out of Melbourne (or vice-versa) but by the time we came to booking the trip, those flights had become stupidly expensive. That and the fact that Glenn, Dee & Jules need to move in February means we probably won't get to Sydney this trip. Sorry guys - we'll just have to video chat more.

Somehow I picked up a cold this week, so I've been taking it easy this weekend - I've got more travels coming up (Bath on Monday, Swansea on Tuesday..) but I'll tell you all about that next week.

*hugz* to all!

Yay for Bruce

Today B had an interview for his (next) job at Swansea University (how it came to this is a long story..) and I'm very happy to say that he got it! His post will continue until September, at which time there should be an extension for a year or two!

Needless to say, we're out celebrating with a tasty meal! We're also going to see the Woman in Black at the theatre (edit: Not as scary as i was expecting.. Apparently you have to be down in the stalls for the full effect, we were above that in the circle).

Hope everyone is happy!

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!

Brooklea Park blabber

This week has been much the same as every other week - we get up, we go to work, we come home and B makes dinner, we watch some tele and it all starts again the next day. Ahh, the monotony.

Actually, it isn't that depressing - we had a lovely afternoon on Tuesday, the sun was shining so we sat on the verandah with a glass or few of wine. :-) And Friday afternoon we had a couple of drinks at the Ty Mawr (but we sat inside because although the sun was out, it was still cold!). :-)

I continue to work long hours (I worked yesterday!) and am trying to work out when I can take some time off in lieu. Hopefully everything will settle down a little in the next few weeks.

B continues teaching, although he's not really enjoying it so he's keeping an eye on the Vacant ads.

It's great reading what everyone else is doing (especially you, Mum - you do HEAPS) - it just highlights that we need to do more stuff.... if only so we have something interesting to post.