Sunday, February 24, 2019

Back to Teaching, Ronny's Birthday, and a Locally-Sourced Weekend.



It has been a busy week. My two teaching days this week almost couldn't have been more different. Term one kindergarten at the very strict school with a high immigrant population on Tuesday, and a very advanced 6th grade class on Wednesday at a more relaxed school in a wealthier suburb. They actually were teaching STEM in a very cool way; they were teaching the kids about real world problems and having the students come up with their own solutions. For example, they had come up with products/plans that would address colony collapse disorder in bees. It was very inspiring in terms of the teaching, and in terms of what how this younger generation is capable of. 

Penelope has been adjusting to daycare quite well, but I'm happy it's still only two days a week. She is getting to know her new carer and tolerates the train commute. We receive a few photos at the end of each week.

My birthday was on Wednesday. It was a quiet celebration - a family ramen dinner, and then trivia. I actually started to feel kind of ill in the evening, with a headache, so it wasn't the most fun celebration. Luckily, Thursday was still my birthday in the US, and that was a better day, so I decided to count that one as my birthday instead this year. Next will be Penelope's first birthday party!

Michael has been away for the weekend at the regional frisbee tournament in Dubbo. It seems like a joke because Dubbo is so far away, it should hardly count as the same region. And yet, it's still in the same state of New South Wales. The drive is about four hours, but it just seems to stretch on forever and forever.  

While Michael has been away, Penelope and I have just been enjoying the local haunts and errands. We picked up some delicious watermelon at the farmer's market, and we have both been wolfing it down. It's been on-and-off rainy this weekend, so we haven't felt the need to venture far. Despite the wet weather, I am glad that the weather is getting cooler in general. Summer might actually be my least favorite season in Sydney; the rest of the year is just even more pleasant.

Monday, February 18, 2019

Kangaroo Valley and World Record Cheese Tasting


Over the weekend, we went camping in Kangaroo Valley for Penelope's first camping trip. We went swimming in the river; it's a dammed river so it has practically no current and is quite safe for kids. We saw lots of wildlife: wallabies, wombats, an echidna, lots of Aussie native birds, and even some lyrebirds. We did a rainforest hike. And, we stumbled upon an attempt to break a world record in the number of people cheese tasting at the same time at the local "show" (the equivalent of a county fair). We took part and we are fairly sure the record was broken, although apparently there's all this official stuff with the judges watching and recording where everyone had to have cheese in their mouths at the exact same time or else they don't get counted. There were a thousand people there, and even Penelope did it. So, we keep googling to see if any news stories appear about the record being broken, but I guess it takes a few days or weeks to make it official. 

Some of my long-time readers may remember we attempted another Guinness world record a few years ago, where we were trying to break the record for most people synchronized star-gazing in a country, but I guess they didn't break it because I think some of the official sites didn't have good weather and had low turnout. It was disappointing, so I hope something stupid like that doesn't happen again. 

Anyway, back to camping. We went with a small group of friends, ate like royalty, and played Secret Hitler underneath the Milky Way. I surprisingly won twice, both times as a fascist, and once even as Hitler (my first time ever). I have to say, it might be my favorite deception/secret identity type party game. 

It was a full weekend, and Penelope is still recovering (in terms of sleep and being off her normal meal schedule).



Tuesday, February 12, 2019

First Day Away


Pen survived her first day of family daycare! To our surprise, she was the only kid there today. Apparently, the only other kids - a set of twins - are on holiday for a few weeks with their family. So, she gets one-on-one attention for the first few times, while she is getting to know her new carer. She didn't cry at all, which is pretty amazing. It was only a short day, tomorrow will be about a 2/3 length day, and then after that it will just be full days. 

It was strange to amble around the city and have two hours of free time. I was somewhat limited, in that I wanted to remain in the area in case I needed to pick her up early or there were any issues. I had a leisurely tea at Grounds of the City and did some carefree shopping. I even randomly found a nice dress on sale at Dangerfield, to wear to the next misc. special event. I am of the school of thought that if you see a nice dress you really like that fits, even if you don't have a specific event to buy it for, you should get it anyway. It happens so rarely to me, maybe once a year or every other year, that it's a reasonable way to shop. Then, when a special event arrives, you're not stuck at the whim of whatever styles happen to be in stores at that moment. Also, since I had a baby, clothes fit a little bit differently than they used to, so it's good to have something that I know fits.

Now, it's time to continue being productive while Pen takes her long, post-daycare exhaustion nap. I'm getting lots of cooking, chores, etc. done. Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Homecoming



Based on a recommendation, I've started watching Homecoming. I put it off for a long time because I thought the premise sounded boring. To my pleasant surprise, it is actually very different to how the synopsis make it sound. I've only seen the first few episodes and I'm intrigued! It's another good one (so far, at least) from Amazon Prime.

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

More bites, Russian Doll, and Family Daycare



I have a mosquito bite on my right eyelid. It is not fun. It looks swollen and discolored, but it's only really noticeable if you know to look for it. Otherwise, people probably think my eyes look different/funny, but can't tell exactly why. Anyway, I'm am over the mosquitoes this year. They have never been particularly bad in our area until recently. And, it just so happens we have been out a lot recently in places where they have been - at the outdoor movie, at work, at the nearby playground, at the frisbee field. This particular bite was one on my eye was one I got while teaching. Pen has a bunch of bites on her hands too, and a couple on her face. We are quite the pair right now. 

Michael and I finished Russian Doll on Netflix. It was fun, but now we are without a regular show to watch until TWD and GOT come back. Every time we find a new show we like, it's only one or two seasons long, and we blow right through it. The same thing happened with Patriot (on Amazon Prime). Anyway, I'm looking forward to the return to our epic and prolific action-dramas. 

As I mentioned, I taught my first day this school year yesterday. I only taught a handful of days last year, so it was good to be back at a school where I used to work quite regularly. It was strange though, because so many of the kids I worked with are now much older after my hiatus. It was nice to see lots of familiar kids and staff, though. 

Penelope will be starting "family daycare" next week, and I am planning to teach a few days a week regularly, once she is settled. Family daycare just means that it is a smaller center, run out of someone's home. There are fewer children than a normal daycare center- this one has a maximum of four, but there are currently only three, including Pen. There is only one primary staff member, but there is a larger support entity for her - an organization that ensures she is meeting safety and curriculum standards and provides training. Anyway, I like the center, but I am just not happy that it is near Michael's work and not near our home. There are none currently near our home - just large centers that have waiting lists. We will see how it goes, and if something opens up closer, we might consider it depending on how happy we are once this one starts. 

Fingers are crossed that it goes well. We are obviously hoping that the benefits (Penelope isn't just a number filling a slot to make a company money, less kids = less germs/lice/etc., more consistent kids and one primary adult -  as opposed to large centres that can sometimes have a revolving door, more of a "family" atmosphere) outweigh the one negative aspect (the commute). We figure we have nothing to lose, in that, if we don't like it we can just take Pen out and find another place. If it goes well, then we will have scored a rare find. Bonus: the government pays a portion of our childcare according to a sliding scale based on our income. We are still waiting to find out how much they are going to cover, but it could potentially be as much as 50% of the cost. I am enjoying the role reversal, since I am used to being the educator in this scenario, instead of the parent. 

Sunday, February 3, 2019

January showers bring February mozzies.



I'm embarrassed to say that Groundhog Day came and went before I realized it, which means I forgot to watch the movie. Although, I did start watching Russian Doll, which has similar elements.

We brought Penelope to her first outdoor movie to see Ralph Breaks the Internet. It was a very average movie, but it was nice to be able to see a movie out nonetheless. There was live music before the movie, a male singer-songwriter with a very feminine voice. Like, when he sang covers by artists like Colbie Caillat, they literally sounded like a woman was singing them. Anyway, it was nice for the ambiance while Penelope crawled in the grass and introduced herself to our movie-neighbors' dog. The tricky part was getting her to fall asleep once the movie started playing, which didn't really happen, so that was the only downside. 

Today, we went for a nice bike ride to a birthday party. Since I am in a "mums group", and all our kids were born within about two months of each other, a slew of birthday parties is starting. At the park, literally there were four other one-year-olds' birthday parties happening at the same time, and it was tricky finding the right one. Anyway, it was PJ's longest bike ride to date, and she did really well. Every time she smiles a little bit more, even though her classic bike-riding stance it to just sit mostly still and suck her thumb. This time she also flicked off passersby (she doesn't know not to point at things with her middle finger; she points at lots of things, a lot). It was a nice ride that took us up to the Glebe foreshore, overlooking some of the city skyline and the Pyrmont Bridge. It was only about a 15 minute ride to the park from where we live, and we would definitely like to do it again.

Poor PJ is covered with a few mosquito bites the recent outings after some rain showers in the last week. On the one hand, I feel bad for the girl. On the other hand, insects are disappearing all over the world in alarming numbers, so I guess maybe it was her blood donation to save a few and invest in her future.

All of this, and we went to the typical farmers market too. What a "local" and  carbon neutral weekend (at least in terms of transportation). Everything we did was walking and biking distance from our home. I think it's a good challenge to propose every few weeks for a family - see how many activities you can enjoy that is within walking/biking distance of where you live.