Music Man

Mitch has been wanting to play an instrument for over a year. He's changed his mind every few weeks from trumpet to trombone, to drums to violin, but most recently he decided that he definitely wants to play guitar. Specifically a red electric guitar that has a big amp.

We're hoping the apple doesn't fall far from the musical tree. Don's father played trumpet in the USMC band, his mother sang in numerous choirs, his sister is an accomplished keyboardist, singer and songwriter, his brother played trombone in the Purdue marching band and Don played French Horn. Me - I can operate a six disc CD player.

A few days ago Mitch started a list for Santa, and a guitar was at the top of the list, along with a book so that he can learn to read music. Rather than making Mitch wait until Christmas we decided to jump on his latest burst of inspiration and gift him with a simple guitar and some lessons. Tonight we bought him a 1/2 size acoustic guitar. His first lesson is tomorrow - he's very excited!

Parkes NSW

Monday I traveled to Parkes on an assignment. I'm really fortunate to have a job that allows me to visit parts of Australia that I might not see otherwise. I mean, I'm sure we would get around to them at some point. But being able to scope them out on someone else dime is pretty sweet!

As I flew out of Sydney I thought I'd take a picture of the harbor. Great shot, if that darn propeller wouldn't have been in that way. The new airbus 380 has nothing on this baby (yes, that's sarcasm).

I had reserved a rental car with Avis. However, upon arriving at the Parkes Regional airport it didn't look promising.

I called the number listed. The reservation agent advised me that they had only pulled out two cars for the day (seriously), and none were for me. Some sort of glitch in the computer system hadn't forwarded my online reservation to the regional office. Fortunately the airport reservations agent / baggage handler (who also contracts for Budget) overheard my telephone conversation and hooked me up.

My assignment basically entailed me visiting a huge property and looking at a wellbore casing in a field. The property is technically a farm, but it was huge - thousands and thousands of acres huge. Fields of grain and grass crops as far as the eye could see, 3,000 head of beef, stud farming, etc.

The manager of the property was so gracious, and just a very down to earth guy. After our meeting he even had his kitchen prepare us lunch. He was genuinely interested in why our family was in Australia, and what I thought of living here. Then he asked me if I had seen any wild emu. Would I like to? So off we hopped to his ute and went on a wild 4 x 4 ride across several fields, until we spotted these in a canola field. Apparently emu love canola, who knew?
As soon as they saw the truck they knew the routine and took off. Emus are not the smartest birds, and watching them run really brought that home. They are super fast and agile, but they have no idea where they're going. They were jumping over fences then back, then over again - galloping and looking like they were going to end up head over heels at any moment. All the while that huge feather rearend shaking up and down behind them.
The photos aren't that great, you can click on them to enlarge them. We also came across a mob of kangaroos but they were further away so the photos didn't really come out. I've seen kangaroos in reserves, but they are usually walk hopping or lying down. It's an incredible sight to see a group of them hopping in giant strides across a field, with no sign of slowing down. Just incredible! It was soon time for me to head to the airport for my flight back to Sydney. As I left, Ned Kelly saw me off. Ned Kelly is an icon as far as Australian folk lore goes. You can read about him here . I think this Ned SO cool - he is made entirely of car parts!

Overall I loved this trip and I think we're planning a family trip to the region in the next few months. Don is really keen to travel a bit, so Parkes is a good option. We'd like to take a look at the Dish, and the The Western Plains Zoo is in nearby Dubbo . Plus, this was closed on Monday, and I really wanted to go....

NRA Home Readers

Mitch's school sends the kids a Home Reader every night to help reinforce their phonics and reading skills. The Readers are small paperback books, usually about eight to ten pages in length. Some are quite charming, especially since they use Aussie words and reflect the culture. Mitch brought home this Reader last week, which showed great promise.


Hmmm - what could this one be about? Bang - A Traditional Rhyme. Well, it can't be about the Fourth of July. Maybe New Years Eve and fireworks?

Awwww bunnies. I bet the bunnies are holding those little sparklers. Or, maybe those black things that you light on fire - that turn into snakes and stain the driveway. Wait, those don't bang. Back to fireworks - definitely fireworks. Bunnies watching fireworks.

Or not.


I'm thinking the third bunny has the right idea. I mean, we are talking about firearms. This really isn't the time for machismo or boastful pride.


Well, it did rhyme. And really, what says Happy Ending more than a narrow escape?

Jenolan Caves

The weekend before Kevin left for Florida we visited the Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains. Our last trip to the Blue Mountains was right after we arrived in Sydney. We went to see Thomas at the ZigZag Railroad. And although Mitchell would have been quite happy to spend another day with Sir Topham Hat, we figured Kevin might not be as enthralled with the Island of Sodor. So off to the Caves. It was about a 2.5 hour trip one way; a perfect day trip. It was Sunday, the last day of school holidays. We didn't make a reservation, and all I can say is thank goodness we didn't try going the weekend before. I would definitely pre-book tickets for our next trip. We got into line to buy tickets for the next tour, starting in about 15 minutes. The tours start about every 40 minutes or so. So, even if you don't pre-book you can buy tickets, you might just have to wait a bit. I was a little disappointed when I heard the cashier tell the two people in front of us that they had purchased the last two tickets for the 2:30 tour. However, it was all good because the tour we missed was deemed, "strenuous". Jenolan has about 15 different tours, of varying difficulty. The tour we ended up purchasing tickets for was called the Imperial Cave, which had a total of 358 steps. In comparison, the River Cave has 1,298 steps. So, with a five year old I'd say turning up in line five minutes late was definitely a blessing in disguise. The cave we went in didn't have the gigantic stalactites, but it was a nice intro to the caves, and I'd definitely go again.




It was really cold outside, and I'm glad we packed coats and hats. It reminded me of being in Seattle, low lying clouds and misty rain. Walking back to our car after the tour, we passed the Inn which looked like a really fun place to stay the night. Maybe next time we'll get a family suite and do a few different tours. One thing that did catch my eye as we passed by....

This is actually representative of Christmas in July, a popular celebration in the colder areas. I had read about this on Julie's blog so I wasn't too surprised. Which means that I got to explain Christmas in July to Kevin - who was thoroughly perplexed with the whole thing. I can't say that I totally buy into it either, but walking in the cold and seeing this tree did give me the warm fuzzies.

Baby Lamb

I was shopping at Peters Meats the other day, the butcher right outside our Woolies. Not to get off the topic, but I really enjoy shopping here. Woolies has everything you need, but the grocery stores in malls are usually flanked by butchers, bakers, candlestick makers...along with chicken, cheese, specialty delis and pastry shops. One of my dream days would be to browse around all the specialty ships and hand pick my groceries ( what can I say, I'm easy to please). Whereas my typical shopping trips usually resemble something closer to say, an episode of Supermarket Sweep. But, back to the butcher... While deciding if we were going to have t-Bone steaks or fillets (which rhyme with "millets" here), my eyes caught a plate of little round lumps of meat, tied up with rosemary labeled, "Baby Lamb Rumps". I was amused. I mean, really, is it necessary to make people feel any worse for eating lamb? For God's sake, lamb = baby, right? Well, as far as lamb is concerned, there is apparently a whole hierarchy of baby-ness. After doing some research I found out that standard Lamb is anything less than a year old, usually around eight months. Then you have Spring Lamb, which is slaughtered at five months. Baby Lamb is just four to six weeks old when it meets its maker. And just when I thought that was as sad as it gets, I discovered that Hothouse Lamb is slaughtered at two to four weeks old, after being raised entirely on mother's milk.

Just writing that is depressing.

I read FastFood Nation in 2001. Or maybe it was 2002. I bought it in an airport during a business trip, and I had a hard time putting it down. After reading it I went on a serious organic beef and chicken kick for about two years. I remember visiting Don's uncle in Oregon that Summer and he told us stories about cows going to auction and the farmers putting cement in the feed to weigh them down. I stayed the path, but after a few years I slipped and started buying chicken sandwiches at Carls Jr, then a burger at Mortons, and then it all went to Hell. Eating out certainly became easier, and my pocketbook appreciated the savings. In fact, I never really thought much about meat at all until last week. I really have no idea what bothered me so much about the lamb. To be perfectly honest, I don't even really like lamb (Which is almost blasphemous to admit here). Maybe because buying meat is usually so removed. You order a pound of something and there it is. And seeing this really made me envision where the lamb came from. I mean, I love a good steak as much as any other self proclaimed carnivore. But at six weeks, shouldn't a lamb be kicking it's heels up in the pasture and nibbling on dandelions? I know this post is all over the place. It's been a long week....and it's only Tuesday.

VB Beer Commercial

This clever new commercial from VB is making the rounds. Every time I see it I notice something new. And the commentary is pretty funny. For the non Aussies, here is a translation guide:

1 - Blokes punching above their weight - Guys dating out of their league
2 - Chucking it all in - Giving up
3 - Chucked a sickie - took a sick day
4 - Cashed up Bogan - white trash with money
5 - Azzas - Aussies add this to names, ie Sharon=Shazza, Derek=Dazza. Not sure why.

It takes about 20 seconds to load....I think it's worth the wait.

First Term Report Card

Schools have four terms here in AU. The terms are usually 8-10 weeks long, with breaks of two to three weeks in between. It sort of sucks. Since we are a two parent working family, these breaks are killing us. I'm sure when kids get older, it's fine to send them to a sports camp or what ever they're interested in. But right now, at five, we both think that Mitch is just too young to be sent to a camp at an unfamiliar place, run by people that we don't know. His campus only has 160 boys so it's not the type of school that has on site Holiday programs. So I guess right before the term ends, the schools usually mail out report cards or evaluations. We just got Mitch's first term evaluation, and I'm less than pleased. Let's start with the categories. In addition to breaking the report down by subjects, there are like 100 specific applications. My gripe is that most of these aren't even applicable to his grade level. Is it really necessary to grade a five year old on "demonstrates understanding of addition process using concrete materials" or "recognizes that text can be produced using word processors". Obviously the report is used for up to 6th grade. It just seems like a one size fits all, which I'm not sure is the best approach. The grades, er, "achievements" are A B, C, D and E. A is "Working beyond, and E is "Working below". Pretty standard, much like the US. There's nothing lower than E, so I figure E is the equivalent of F. Except, "working below" sounds much better than "fail". But my main gripe has to do with the grading that Mitch received in two applications. He got a "D" in "Pencil holding technique". He holds the pencil with the tripod grip, and can color in the lines. So I ask you, isn't that worth at least a "C"? To make it worse I brought it up to the teacher yesterday thinking that she would look at me with astonishment and say something like, "I gave him a D, really? I must have made a mistake". Instead, she suggested that we might want to consider occupational therapy if his writing doesn't improve by next term. I was gobsmacked. I'm a fan of high standards like most parents, but there is no way that we are enrolling him in OT to improve his pencil grip technique. In fact that's another gripe - I just don't consider OT an extracurricular activity. My next complaint is his PE grading. He got "D"s for almost all PE achievements - in particular - "Basic Body Movement". Does the PE teacher have him confused with another kid? Anyone who knows my kid, will agree that he has absolutely no problem with basic body movement. In particular, the comments section states "some trouble with hopping". Overall the grading was "C", which I'm fine with. I just wonder if the expectations are a little high? One thing I can't dispute was the recurring theme throughout the comments sections, "chatty, needs to learn to listen to others, a little talkative, needs to resist the urge to talk, likes to talk"... I get it - he's a chatty Cathy. Look at his parents, what do you expect? Don and I didn't even talk about the report with Mitch. He'll catch up if need be in the next few years. We're totally not sweating it either. After all, doctors have terrible hand writing. Am I right, or am I right?