Share Our Calm

Today, I taught in a school where this was on the wall in the teachers' lounge. It's a nice reminder to anyone who works with or spends time with little kids, and it's also a nice sentiment to hear on a day where I am saddened to hear that the US military was firing teargas at children. Children. Children who are fleeing violence already. 

Something is not right. 

The US had weeks to prepare for a large surge of people arriving at the border. They could have adequately prepared the checkpoint to appropriately process the people who are seeking asylum legally. Instead, they shut down the checkpoint and freaked out and shot teargas at a crowd on Mexican soil that was not acting violently (from my understanding of what happened). 

Something is not right.

Sort-of-Thanksgiving and Buster Scruggs

This time last year, we were in the states, celebrating with family. 

I last minute decided to try to make a sort-of-Thanksgiving meal. I cooked a few pieces of turkey breast, Easy Mac, and sweet potato, with a side of fresh green grapes and leftover fried rice with green beans. It was just the three of us when Michael got home from work. Even though just about everything was non-traditional about our Thanksgiving, down to us being in the wrong country, it was Penelope's first. I'm not sure she even knows, since she couldn't eat most of the food. 

I try to remind myself daily of how much I am thankful for. That being said, I am particularly thankful this year for Penelope joining our family.

We finished off the evening, after P went to bed, by starting The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. We are four vignettes into it; we are kind of watching it like episodes of a TV show, rather than a movie. Anyway, I'm really enjoying it, despite the fact that it's really messed up, and also that (so far, anyway) there have been no female characters. You kind of go into a Coen Bros. movie expecting it to be violent and for there to be characters with dark intentions. Anyway, I am also thankful I'm not alive during their version of the Wild West. 

Expat Non-Thanksgiving

Most of the people would probably spend Thanksgiving with have moved away from Sydney in the last year or two. We will just have a normal family dinner of Turkey (but not a whole one) and some sides. We can be quietly thankful and that is enough.

Penelope has reached the milestone of being able to pull herself up to standing. She's not great at it yet; if she gets distracted, she completely loses balance. I'm trying to teach her to kind of sit quickly if that happens, as opposed to just falling down onto her face or back. I'm also trying to teach her that to get down off the couch, she should turn around and put her feet down on the ground first. It's all a work in progress. 

In other news, I think I may have broken my first bone ever: my right pinky toe. I stubbed it really hard yesterday, and it is now swollen and bruised worse than I have ever seen it. It obviously hurts if I put weight one it. It's hard to tell if it's broken or just very badly bruised; but it's not bad enough that I feel the need to seek medical attention. I don't need to play frisbee for a few weeks anyway, so I imagine it will just heal on its own. It would help if I could stop banging it on things, though. Now that we have a baby, and all the stuff that goes along with a baby, like the high chair and bouncer and pack-n-play, there are so many more things around to stub my toes on. A lot of them happen to be things that are wider on the bottom than on top, so that they don't easily fall, which is part of why I'm poorly estimating where my feet should go (in the already small and crowded space). Anyway, I guess I need to evolve better navigation skills, or all my tiny digits will pay for it.

We are starting to get ready for our first trip overseas with Penelope. The flight will be about 15 hours, and then after a layover, another approx. 4.5 hour flight after that. It will be a log haul, but I suppose if we can survive that, the rest of the trip should be a piece of cake. We hope. 

Carnivorous Plants

We went to see the carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanic Gardens this past weekend. Mike had gone the previous weekend, but since it was so beautiful out and we our friends were also interested, he and Penny got to see the exhibit again. If there is any exhibit you probably shouldn't bring a baby to, it's probably one that has live carnivorous plants. Penelope came home with all 10 fingers and toes, though... both times.

It was a fun, and we also walked around the gardens and along the water some, and had brunch at the cafe.

Baby Biker

Today, we got Penelope a bike seat installed on the back of my bike, so we can go for bike rides together. Her head is still too small to comfortably wear the smallest helmet, so she's not jazzed about it, but we think once her head grows a little bigger she'll be alright. It was quite a investment. So, once she is comfortable, we are going to have to use it enough to get our money's worth. We didn't realize Omafiets was so close to where we live - it was definitely a great find only a few minutes' walk from our place.

Tiny Escape Artist and Comebacks

It's just an ordinary week with the usual work, frisbee, trivia, etc. Penelope has become quite the escape artist, and we are constantly needing to find new ways to contain her in her play area. We have a pack-n-play/port-o-cot, and she still fits in the bouncer, if we really need her to be completely contained for a few minutes, but she she likes to roam around in the larger play area/"living room" under our supervision. Living room is in quotes, because it's really all just the same room, we just have it sectioned off with furniture.

On Monday, my frisbee league team started a game down 2:8, and we had a huge comeback to win the game 11:9. It was pretty fabulous. It's the second week in a row we started down and had a huge come back. Also, my trivia team got 3rd this week, after coming in 2nd the previous trivia night. So I guess it's been a pretty good week so far.

Time to run PJ to swimming lessons! 

PJ's First Sculpture by the Sea

We decided to brave the crowds, public transport, and heat to take Penelope to Sculpture by the Sea on the last day this year. The thing I love about this annual art festival is that the natural beauty of the area is the gallery. The art, weather, time of day, surroundings, and people all interact to create a unique experience. I could have gone to see the sculptures during a quiet weekday sunset or sunrise, and it would have been a totally different experience. The photos would be completely different. Sometimes the context can really make the work of art. For example, there was one sculpture that was just a giant metal whisk that was titled something to the effect of "wave-maker" (I forget the actual title). If it hadn't been near the ocean, it would have been kind of meaningless. Also, there were some sculptures that had solar panels on them, so they would light up in the dark (I assume, since we were there during the day), which makes a statement about renewable energy. Those wouldn't have been as impactful sitting in a gallery.

It was a family Sunday well-spent. Below is just a sampling of my photos.