Singular Scene

So Singular in Each Particular

Therapy Sessions

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The kids are in the bath.

I was going to tweet something about that and realised that the majority of people reading the twitter feed would assume they’re my kids, of course, if I write it here, you know they’re not. Kids being in the bath is unremarkable and the tweeting would have been more about the Armageddon-ish type sounds emanating from said bath, and whether I can bring myself to go in and survey the damage… I’ll wait for the tears, there will be some, no doubt.. that’s how these things always end… tears or floods on the floor, or floods of tears… or both…

But in the meantime, I have 30 seconds to write a blog post, something I rarely get to; much like twitter, really… I have more work than I know what to do with, and between doing it and farming what I don’t have time to do out to my Indian contractor… well, blogging, and twitter seem to get the short shrift.. However, regardless of how busy the studio is, there’s always time for the kids.

I call them my therapy.

I know, right? Kids as therapy? Easy to believe it’s possible when I only have them 1 day a week and because they think I’m the best person on the planet (who isn’t a family member)… It’s kind of like having pets who talk, and laugh, and tease me… the 2 year old calls me Dee Dee. She is the ONLY person on the planet who gets away with it… because, if I make a big deal about it, it will stick – but she knows I hate it… and keeps doing it, she’s just that kind of kid, but Oh! My! the twinkle in her eyes when she does is to DIE for!

Tonight I had to fight with Flyboy because he didn’t want to do his homework. Can’t say I blame him, I think it’s a bit shit to have to do homework when you’re only six, but I sat with him, and we worked through it, (and no, I didn’t do it for him… but I was tempted, let’s face it, my handwriting could be mistaken for a 6 year old’s sometimes…) and together we survived – and I think he really loves that we do it together, certainly the histrionics at the thought of homework subsides if he’s got me breathing down his neck encouraging him…

This time with them keeps me grounded, it makes the stresses of deadlines and code hiccups seem completely insignificant for a few hours of the week. No secret, I totally love it.

And it doesn’t hurt that it’s the only kind of therapy I’ve come across that pays me…

Living in the Future

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I may have mentioned in these here parts before that I have a not insignificant number of niblings (yes, niblings, look it up).

As a dutiful auntie I do my best to anticipate their birthdays but usually I’m a bit rubbish at being organized enough to get gifts to them before the actual day, more often or not, they’re late.

So, as I was home in NZ in Sept it seemed smart to buy Healy’s* gift while I was there, and having observed his passion for all things Thomas the Tank Engine I inquired of my sis which engine was missing from his set. The reply was Diesel 10, an engine which was unheard if to me it’s been so long since I had little charges who were train mad.

Of course, Diesel 10 isn’t currently in production in the set that Healy owns (don’t get me started on the myriad of versions of TTTE tracks and how easy it is to get the wrong ones!) so some Internet surfing was employed to find one, which I duly did, in Hong Kong.

Had all gone according to the plan the train would have arrived on time, posted direct to his address and all would have been hunky dory! But these things rarely go according to the plan and the package never arrived. So while the vendor gave me a refund, the hunt for another was renewed.

I found one a week or two back, and of course, it wasn’t local, it was in the UK, but as I put in a decent bid which was maximised by the strong Aussie dollar, I sat back anxiously to find out if anyone was quite so desperate as me.

HURRAH! They weren’t, and so after a wee flurry of correspondence with the previous owner, the engine, complete with two troublesome trucks was despatched to NZ.

Here’s the best bit of the whole story… Lil’ Sis waited till I was available on Skype to have Healy open the present while I was ‘there’ so I could get the full impact of what we suspected would be a VERY welcome gift (Diesel 10 is Healy’s FAVOURITE – can’t think why, he [the engine] really is a nasty piece of work!!) … and I wasn’t disappointed… His little face was an absolute picture of delight!! So much so that I got a text message a bit later that read ‘that Diesel 10 is sooo berry cool’. (I melted…)

So here’s to living in the future – where buying almost anything you need is possible from anywhere in the world, and where seeing the joy such a thing can bring is possible from over 2,000 kilometeres away…

*Not his real name.

The Things They Say.

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In Year 1 (1st grade) in my nephew’s school the kids are encouraged to write stories. In doing so they’re learning all sorts of exciting things, things like the use of adjectives. Now, I know what an adjective is. It’s a describing word – a word that makes the story, well, more exciting if you will. I just don’t remember knowing about adjectives when I was 5, but my nephew Doddle knows about them and in writing a story recently he was scored very highly for his adjectives. I don’t have it word for word, but his story went something like this.

I was playing in my back garden. A vampire came and chased me. I was scared. I ran away very fast.

The success of this story was illustrated by the underlining by the teacher of the adjectives of note and when it was returned to Doddle after marking it was earmarked for publication.

Publication in Year 1 involves the teacher putting the story into the computer, decorating the page and printing it out, leaving room for the child to illustrate it. Once illustrated the picture is affixed to the wall display so all the other parents and visitors to the class may admire it in all its glory.

Doddle duly illustrated his picture and it his account of this that makes me fall in love with him aGAIN. He has some CUTE on him, that boy.

He went home and told his mum, my sister, of his success and after he had accounted to her for the above, and when the time came to describe his picture to his mum this is what he said,

“Mum, actually, I didn’t know what a vampire looked like… but you know what? it’s ok! I didn’t have to draw one because I was running away very fast! You couldn’t see it!.”

Serious points for ingenuity and having an answer for EVERYthing. I do believe this kid could justify almost anything if he had a mind to, and he’ll give it a good go, and defend his position long after he’s been proven wrong… I think he’s a great candidate for the bench.

Or the stage.

However, for now, I think my sister is a little thankful that Doddle didn’t pursue the conversation further with an inquiry as to the exact nature and appearace of vampires, and he is a little too young yet for Twilight…

Well, I never…

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If you’re anything like me, as the year winds down you spend the occasional moment looking back over the preceding months and reflect on what’s been going on.

I have a lot to reflect on.

I don’t think I could have predicted that at this point, one year since I upped stakes and left a reasonably secure job that I’d be able to say I’ve completed my Masters in less than a year, AND with a Distinction average (with 1.675 marks to spare!)

I didn’t imagine that I’d have supported myself by my own efforts and some canny contracting and today paid off a credit card (taking my total cards down to one. Phew – getting out of debt in the GFC. Yay me.)

I didn’t imagine for a second that I’d have spent one day a week as a nanny and LOVED it. It felt a little like a necessary evil in those first few weeks when I was terrified I’d end up destitute or when Missy spent that first hour of every day I was there SCREAMING. Happily, it has turned into the highlight of the week for me and will do so long into the New Year. Nannying 2009 culminated in a marriage proposal, and not my first from a member of the younger set.  I’m a huge hit with the under sixes – sigh, if I could just up the average age by about 30 years…

I never thought I’d find so little to blog about in a whole year.  I’ve been so remiss but I suspect that most of my writing energy was being expended on writing essays – and let’s face it, you’re likely to be not particularly interested in the kind of stuff I was turning out… maybe 2010 will be better for blogging.  I certainly need to do some design tweaking… this notebook look is so old skool.

I never thought I’d be able to successfully pull apart my Mac and put it back together (and have it work) without major incident.

I never thought I’d be in NZ twice in the year I was a student, nor that I’d be going also to Tasmania for a holiday in January but I did and I am, and I’m so grateful to be able to get to see the family and friends on the other ends of those plane rides.

I never thought at age 41 I’d have to prevail on other people’s generosity when my circumstances looked impossible and when I didn’t know where the next dollar was coming from.  At the same time I could not be more thankful that I have such close and generous friends who bought me groceries, meat parcels and coffee and who took me out for steak and tequila once in a blue moon.  Or, even better, gave me work so I could buy coffee for other people on occasion.

I never thought I’d be inquiring as to the possibility of further study next year, a research project that will upgrade my degree to Honours.  It’s a nagging thought I can’t shake… I must be insane, particularly given how excited I am by the thought of surveying Christian churches about their use of digital technologies…

Yep.

Insane.

I never thought that I’d be so happy to go to church on a Sunday nor that to get so happy I’d have to leave one church and take up with another.  This is such a bittersweet change and one that I never expected to occur, I still find it a bit bizarre.  I only know that given the paradigm shifts my faith and feelings have gone through this year and as hard as it is that there are people I see a lot less of now, it’s still the right thing to have done.

Above all, I never thought that my life could be so rich with friends, relations, experiences, love and life, both IRL and here online.  To all of you, whether I know you in person or ‘virtually’. Thank you for making this year an awesome one!  I hope yours has been as much an adventure for you.

Merry Christmas.