Tag: kiddo

The ebbs and flows of 2013


As I stood in the shower in the gym this morning, I realised I wanted badly to just stand there and let the water run down my neck. It would only be a few hours at work this morning before we all go home as the office would be shut at noon.

There was no pressing work needing to be done and as long as I make it in by 9am I should be fine. I didn’t need to be in at my usual 8am and I had taken longer on the cross trainer and moved on to the stationary bike and my gear had been soaked. I was just going to stand under this hot shower and imagine being washed and rinsed of all my cares which have piled up over the year.

I had started this year looking for a home, church wise. I got to a point I didn’t bother if I was going to church on a Sunday. I could only see the negatives in churches and the people in them. The brouhaha in my previous church had escalated, affecting people I cared about. I did things in response which though I would do again in a heartbeat, I wished I didn’t have to do.

I have had Kiddo leave home a second time, to a land close to my childhood home. Singapore feels foreign now. The new felt old. Or is it the old felt new. It is a city state which is modern and yet traditional and conservative at the same time. It is singularly far from home where Tress and I are. Other than a little dog, all we had was our work and our home.

Work was increasingly busy. I was asked to be in arenas I didn’t want to be in. Locking horns and battling in cauldrons and with people I did not think or wish to be in or with. An environment which is chalky at best permeated. Unhappy shareholders who no longer trust the board or management, translating into a cascading tide of finger pointing and – dare I say it – bullying. All I want is work. I want to go in, do my work and go home and drink my wine. Watch my footy. Walk my dog. Be with my lovely wife. But the mistrust, the second guessing, the finger pointing, all add up to make each day a laboured one, from which I continue to seek to escape. But the scriptures have taught that work is good and all that is part of work, so I remain grateful. Head down…

It has been a year with various changes and challenges. As tiring as it has been, I almost don’t want it any other way. I am learning to take each tide as it comes and ebbs. It all adds to this tapestry I did not know was being weaved. And in the midst of all that, I have had the constant love of Tress and Kiddo and the soothing, blessing presence and company of Tress my lovely and loving wife. I am ever grateful for her.

2013, in as much as I want to be washed and rinsed away as though I am standing under a shower, I also simply want to experience the sensation of being pushed and sucked by the ebbs and flows of the tides. Thank you my Lord for 2013…

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One chapter closes…


Kiddo, Tress and I spent the whole of Saturday doing stuff together. We went to the Dandenongs in the morning and did the Kokoda Memorial Track (“1,000 steps”). Kiddo has been really fit and was the first one up. I was next and a surprisingly fresh looking Tress was in tow, a few minutes later. We took a longer but more gradual route down and when it was all done, we felt good and had a good brunch at Olinda. We did the unpardonable and had pies at Pies in the Sky. A bit of warning – the pies appear to have lost some of their attraction. They don’t taste as yummy as they used to and the “floater” (in pea and ham soup and a scoop of mash on top) certainly wasn’t the extra $9 or so – it was very dry and bland.

After leaving the Dandenongs we went to get some dried foods for Kiddo to survive on in the next few weeks when crouching in the trenches that are the tiny rooms in the halls of residence in the ANU, as well as some storage containers and packing boxes from Bunnings in Vermont. We got back just after 1.30pm, I took a short snooze before cleaning the house for the dinner party in our home on Sunday night.

Tress did some cooking, as well as the usual rounds of laundry and Kiddo went about packing and placing all her stuff in the spare bedroom to help us all gauge how much space she needed in the car. Kiddo did as much of the packing as possible and we all have a much better idea now, of the stuff we would be carting up this weekend.

That night Kiddo went for an 18th birthday party in Bulleen – that of Sammy her best mate. We took her to the dinner and went to Box Hill ourselves.

Church yesterday was in really hot and windy conditions and the cell leaders meeting in the arvo was a bit testing for that reason. I got home around 3 and got ready for the dinner party at home for Kiddo’s church friends. We had a Sri Lankan lady do the catering and we picked up the food (from church). It was a longish night but I think Kiddo enjoyed the time with her friends from church, that she has made in the last 8 years here in Melbourne.

It was the last weekend of this chapter in Kiddo’s life. Next weekend a new chapter begins.

Weekends, soon to be different


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The VTAC offers are scheduled to be released today. Any hopes of Kiddo opting for a BA/LLB course in Monash have been reduced to a mere theoretical possibility, as she has been really excited about doing the PhB course in ANU in Canberra instead. I have in fact, paid a deposit for her residential college in the Burton and Garran Hall (“B&G”). Tress had also set Kiddo up with a supplementary credit card and got it activated and ready to go. We’re likely to be taking that long hike to Canberra again, around the second week of Feb.

On Saturday, we made a vegetable soup together. It’s a continuation of Kiddo’s cooking lessons. The class took place in between two hefty sessions of cleaning. After the usual vacuuming, Tress, Kiddo and I settled down for some soup, after which I went out and continued hacking down our overgrown Silver Stirling hedges. Well not exactly hacking down but bringing them down from a monstrous 3+ meters to a more manageable 2 meters or so. Earlier that morning Tress and I had gotten up early to get to Tullamarine again – this time taking a young lady doctor from Mulgrave who was going back to Malaysia for a short holiday. We got to her home just before 7, dropped her off at Tulla just before 8am and got to the Vic Market to get stuff for a barbeque we did last night. So all in it was a long and busy day and after prepping the communion spiel and other bits I had to do in church the next day, the 3 of us settled down to a game of cards for a bit.

On Friday we had gone to the Knox for a movie – a very ordinary Sherlock Homes sequel (“Game of Shadows“). It was a disjointed and messy fare and loads of bomb blasts and slow-mo running, jumping and fist fights… sigh.

Last night we had 3 families over for a barbeque dinner. Sort of 3 families – one still has her hubby and kids in Singapore for their holidays, and she had returned to Melbourne early to go back to work. We again finished up late – it was about 12am when we got to bed, and gym this morning was sort of tough.

If it sounds like we’re trying to cramp our weekend, I guess I am. 3 weekends from now, our weekends will be very different. I just want to keep the good thing firing on all cylinders while we can.

“Reading Tea Leaves”


Last night we were at a dinner in Templestowe. It was a restaurant a good mate of mine had introduced us to last summer and while we really enjoyed the food and service, we have not returned. It’s probably to do with the distance and somehow summer just makes it a whole lot nicer to be in a place like that.

With us were a close couple friend and a young lady serving in a missions agency. She had given up what was probably a good job as a pharmacist to do this and the couple friend and us were just trying to know her better as a friend. We were at her home for dinner just a few nights earlier too.

We had thought we should maybe keep the night free in case Tress’ parents wanted a meal but Tress had caught up with them for lunch earlier and thought they looked too tired for a night out with us. In any event, I have come to accept their visits as something I have really very little to do with as they always seemed to be more concerned with pleasing Tress’ uncles and aunties and going along with their plans – which is all fine with me.

At the dinner last night the conversation was again (inevitably) on the future pathways of Kiddo and that couple friend’s daughter. They are both in the process of choosing courses which would probably go a long way in affecting not just their own lives but ours too.

This is likely to go on for the next 3+ weeks

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Earlier today the office had lunch at Natalie’s in Mitcham. The Chairman joined us, as did a couple of other people. At the restaurant, Ron Barassi the legendary AFL figure rocked up in a pink polo and acknowledged someone from our table who said something. In a restaurant that was surprisingly quiet for this time of the year, the legend’s presence was even more strongly felt.

It’s 3 more days to Christmas and I still wonder 2012 would bring…

More Chocolates


Tress’ parents arrive today for a 2-3 week holiday. This will be the first time they spend Christmas in Melbourne. In fact I think this is the first time they will spend Christmas anywhere outside Klang.

We are in a bit of a blur at the moment – things appear to be floating around a bit. I guess with our attention focused more or less on ANU in Canberra, we’re all thinking about what life will be like when Semester (or Term?) 1 2012 comes around.

These past couple of days Kiddo and I cooked dinner together. More accurately she did the cooking and I sort of stood around with a glass of chilled white in hand, giving instructions and occasionally demonstrating what I meant. I have to admit it felt good.

Actually what felt even better was seeing how Kiddo has developed into a young woman who will soon learn chart her own course in life. As in many things however, this is a double-edged course. The obvious positive has on the other side, the issue of an earlier than expected empty nest. What that does to me in particular is raise questions of what I was going to do with the time I will have in no longer having to think, plan and do things for a young one anymore.

My inclination is to return to a busier working life but I’m not sure I want to go look for another full on legal role, attractive as it sounds.

I have to say I miss the rigour, urgency and go-go-go environment legal work brings but on the other hand, I also enjoy my current early home time and the evenings just walking the dog with not much to think or worry about. A good mate has suggested to me this luxury can wait and I have easily 7-10 years left to push my working days further. I agree and certainly the additional income would come in handy too, especially given the extras ANU will ring up.

6 months ago I really thought I’d settle down and take things easy and just enjoy what I have now – great family, good work and a contented life. It looks like it is back to the drawing board again. Life is like that isn’t it? This box of chocolates continues to throw up surprises.

The Worst Ever (Black Saturday bushfires)


Victoria is in shock, I think. From the Premier John Brumby to my colleague across my desk, no one could believe what happened. The bushfires which raged through last Saturday would etch an indelible mark on those of us who lived through the day in this State.

We all waited in trepidation for last Saturday. The forecast had said the maximum temperature would be 44 deg. The actual maximum was 46.4 deg. It was also going to be very dry and windy.

A few of us visited a friend in Kew on Friday night and didn’t get back till late. At home, I couldn’t sleep straight away so I stayed up, had a few drinks and watched tele. 

As a result, I was up late – just after 7.30 – on Sat. Tress and I went to our usual coffee place, in the Chase. Just before 10 we got home and Tress and Kiddo both went to church for some practice and other meetings. I stayed at home and tried to do some work. By about 12 it had got up to about 40 deg so I gave up.

I also decided against attending the church Board meeting which was going ahead that afternoon. I thought if I did I would simply struggle through the 2-3 hour session and neither make any meaningful contribution nor feel any wiser or better for it. It would in fact, send me down a very bad path.

Tress and Kiddo came back just after noon and we decided to hide out in the Chase. They waited in the car and the moment I opened the house door to join them, I felt the heat hit me like the breath of a might dragon. The heat was intense and I never felt anything like it. It must have been at least 45 deg then.

We got to the Chase and I took the opportunity to look for a new pair of runners. My old ones are overdue for replacements. I used to change one every year (at the most).

Admittedly I run less these days but one reason for this has been my runners have been causing me problems. My right sole has been hurting and by all accounts, the shoe is the main culprit. So away with the old and in with the new. Problem was –they didn’t have my size. I use the New Balance 766, meaning it was a 2006 version of the 76x series. The New Balance 769 is the current one but they didn’t have a size 4E, which I need.

So the “shopping” activities went on. Only, we weren’t really shopping – more a case of just whiling away the time to hide from the oppressive heat. We took in some sushi and ice cream.

After about a couple of hours we thought conditions may have improved. We went home, were confronted with the continuing heat and went back to the Chase after less than 20 minutes!

This time, we just sat at the food court. Sharon our neighbour walked past and much to my shame I had to look at her a couple of times before being sure it was her. I think many modern neighbours don’t interact very much and sometimes we aren’t even sure what they look like! Anyway, I was sure it was her so I called out to her and we chatted for a bit.

It was soon just after 6pm and I stepped out of the Chase a bit to check out the conditions. It was cool again…

We went straight home, opened up the doors and windows, turned out the cooler and waited in anticipation for the house to cool down, quickly. I hit the showers and felt, just before 7pm that my weekend had only just started. Little did I know that for many, the nightmare of this enormous disaster has already begun.

 

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