Awhile again ...

Well,

As always the poor 'ol blog has been neglected. However i thought i'd make an effort tonight.

I've got some photos of our new dog: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bf737/

It's been a hectic time over the past 3 months. More on that later.

cheers,
bennie

I'm Stuffed .... but there is a light !

Well.. the last three months have been pretty tiring. The project is going LIVE tomorrow. The past three months I've been working on a fairly large implementation / upgrade of our internal-external web site.

The work has been frantic and I've spent a miminal amount of time with the family. This has taken its toll on everyone.

Doing 60-70 weeks for months on end is NOT a good idea. Don't get my wrong I love work but there is more to life than that!

Looking forward to sleeping................... SOON ....................

Thanks Mick for the reminder!

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for the reminder that I still had this blog going Mick!

General Information
Things have been FLAT out lately. Working at the National Australia Bank as an IT consultant presently. It's a great little time, life is good however home life is suffering due to the lack of not seeing my family that often.

I hope you enjoy the new pictures!

Gillian May Fox

On the 04 /05 /06 at 1542 Gillian May Fox weighing 7 lb 5 (3.30 kgs) came into the world! Here's the photos that everyone has been asking for!

Love, Ruth, Benjamin, Clare & Gillian

A child's perspective...

A child's perspective...

I'd just finished work and headed over to Ruth's parents to meet up with the dear wife and the little one... I arrive and clare is bouncing around the walls rather happy to see me.Of course I was informed of all the important' details of having a spa. It was warm, a few toys, didn't want to get out. etc.etc.....

Ruth called Clare to get dressed......

Clare was dressed and they walk out of the bedroom heading towards where Peter and I were sitting.

Here's the scene......

"Oh, something smells nice..." Ruth said. (I think noreen was preparing dinner)
"That's my Daddy Mummy !" Clare interjected.
"Really ??" Ruth commented wondering what on earth she was going to say
"Yes, mummy... Daddy smells really, really nice. No Beer and No Farts!!!!!!!!"

Ruth of course burst into laughter and informed the household of Clare's observations!

A child's perspective is straight and true. Thank you Clare for truly making me laugh!

It's been awhile

It's obviously been a while since the last entry.....

Life has been pretty full on the last few months. Clare is now 3 and almost a half. Ruthie has 3.5 weeks to go with Baby number 2... . However Clare does say that it's going to be a girl!

Who knows!! She might be right.. To be honest, I'm kinda of hoping it;s going to be a girl, so far it's been not to hard with Clare. Hmmmmmm, only time will tell.
The big news is that I've finished working at Synergy and have taken up a contracting position at the national australia bank. 500 Bourke Street Melbourne! I have a nice view to the north from level 20!

Working with a nice guy called Darren, we should be able to get some good work done together!
Otherwise, things are flat out. Trying to get the gardening done, keep the house clean.. Look after Clare etc..etc.. Ruth has unforunately been struggling a bit with the later parts of her pregnancy in regards to pelvic instability. The poor little thing is really feeling it. She's been on/off crutches for the past few weeks struggling to get by.

Clare is growing up so fast. Last night, i'm sure she said her first joke! Ruth was telling me how she asked clare to get and get a small book.. Clare answer to this was "big book???". No, said mummy..(Big book is clare's word for a fairly large book that has a 1000 words for young kids to learn). So off she trundles to her bedroom some noise was forthcoming during the search. With a huff and puff Clare returned to Ruthie..

WHACK! Down went the biggest book she could possibly find! "How's this one mummy!???" with a sly grin! She knew exactly what she was doing! Little git!

Ok, back to work at the nab! I promise i'll talk more tomorrow!

Christmas is over ....

Well what a christmas it's been. Probably one of my most busiest that I've ever had.

I really don't know what to think about Christmas this year. In many ways it was truly awesome, in others it was tough.....

It was a joy seeing Clare get so excited about Santa, and of course Santa visited and left some crumbs on his plate. She thought that was quite cool... Seeing her cute happy little face in the morning was pretty special.

This year we had Christmas at our house for Ruth's extended family. My goodness what a crowd. I think we had about 12 adults and 5 kids. You can just imagine what it was like. Somehow we got through it. The weather was lovely through out the day as well. As always I drunk far too much beer which really didn't help my figure!!! As I should worry...... (64kgs) would love to put on some more weight, but would like it to be muscle and not flabbly fat!

Miriam and Aston dropped over for a late dinner with us, which was fantastic. Was nice to have people over to be honest.

The next day was spent recovering and not doing much...

We went post christmas shopping of course and made some great purchases, I ended up with some new shirts, new shoes, new jeans, 3/4 length shorts plus more!!!

New years eve was nice and relaxing except for the heat!!! 44c, what a truly bizarre weather day that was. up and down the temp went all over the place.

Except that at 9pm at night, it was still 41.2c in the dark outside! very, very hot! New years day we didn't do that much but, thankfully in the afternoon, Ruth and I got out act together and decided to clean up the house and get prepared for Clare's 3rd birthday party! The party was a blast, we probably had about 35 party that attended. 12 kids all up. Talk about flat chat! You try keeping 12 (2.5 - 4) year olds entertained, it ain't easy!

Well, time for sleep! Ruthie is working tomorrow again, and I'm looking after Clare!

Hooroo Bennie.

Almost Christmas!

It's almost Christmas! My goodness the time has flown. It's 0013 and I really should be in bed. Just finished wrapping Ruth and Clare's presents! I must say, I've definitely over-spent on ruth, but hey.. So be it! I hope she loves her presents! Time will only tell I suppose...

When I got home tonight, I did something Mick Campisi had suggested, which was to meditate for a couple of minutes! I wasn't sure exactly what I was doing, but I ended up finding a nice quiet part of the house, no wife, no kid, just me and myself!!! I deep breathed a few times and though. bugger it! Just relax and enjoy the peace................ It was nice ........................ I'll have a chat to the guru tomorrow (I should I say today) at work! B-)

Time for sleep!

Ruth's first entry!

Hello!

'that'll do.'

editor's comment: Ruth is not that crash hot on the idea of updating our wonderful blog. I've informed her, it's meant to keep the family informed of what's happening in our lives!

Farty Bread !

A couple of days ago I was talking to young Clare about her impending third birthday! We spoke about the joys of a party and more importantly the consumption of delightful party cuisine.

I queried Clare regarding the choices of food that she'd like to see at the party. Some of her responses were quite interesting... The usual requests for high fat-level foods came out.

(i) Lollies
(ii) Ice cream
(iii) Cake ........... With candles
(iv) Cordial
(v) Farty Bread..........

Farty bread I asked....., "What do you mean!?". With the stoic virtue of a saint she responded ... "You know.. farty bread...."..

I asked her, "Do you mean Fairy Bread!?".

Clare answered, "...Yes Daddy, fairy bread....... With sprinkles please!".

I couldn't help but laugh..... The innocence of a young child that is enjoying the stimulation and excitement of life through the interactions with others. My laughter was contagious and both of us fell down in a heap laughing. Of course I'd reinforced to Clare that "Farty Bread" was something to remember for it produced a fantastic and animated reaction from Dad!!... She drops the statement here and there now to see if she can get the same reaction from me.

I've realised in life that your children read you better than anyone in life.... One misplaced word and it will come back to haunt you.... I can remember my sisters fateful words one night at the dinner table..... We were talking about panel vans and Allison in her 'feigned' innocence says... Isn't that a "F*&K truck!?". Dad was livid and sent Ally straight to bed with many tears forth coming . How is it though, that the memory of this event is so etched into my memory? The mundane comes and goes, it's the unique and interesting that will live with you forever. I'm sure my mate Mick will find the above statements self reflective and pro-found.!

Attack the day may the interesting times reign!

Marty Gest - Hockey Legend!

Here's a picture of my mate Marty -->

Marty and I met a number of years ago whilst attending the most esteemed establishment, the 'Bull & Bear'. After spending a great summer drinking beer and talking crap he decided to depart the colonial land and return to his home country... England....

Marty was (as most poms) were excited that Australia has achieved eternal glory by qualifying for the World Cup in 2006. "Congratulate the Socceroos for me please!".

I'm sure the Australia Football team thanks you for your kind words mate! Just watch out for us in the World Cup!!!!!

cya buddy!

It's been rather busy!

Well I've neglected my blog over the past few days! I know you're looking for an update.

We had the Campisi's over for lunch on the weekend! Had a ball! We had a fairly early dinner. Mick and Jacquie's kids got with Clare like a house on fire. Clare was quite proud of her fairly new home so quickly grabbed the kids and showed off all her 'cool' stuff. Particulary her bedroom. It makes me laugh... Clare is developing this sense of personality and pride.

The evening went well, Mick and I on the BBQ, music pumping we were happy chaps. What man can a man ask but to have a mate over on the BBQ with a beer in the hand talking crap!!!! Nothing is quite like it. The usual comments regarding our 'choice' in music came from the observers (the music is too loud, can't you turn it down.... I don't like that type of music... etc..etc...) Of well.. The kids enjoyed it!

It was nice having a break off dog training on saturday! The sad thing is, is that I can't actually remember what I did Saturday. It must have been fairly relaxing! I know ruthie was reading a book all day!

The week so far has been Frantic!!! I had a call out to OUA to fix some issues that had taken place with some of my code. It all came down to a break down in communication between the relevant parties. After a quick chat and some tweaking of the code everything was fixed.

Well............... Some congratulations are in order. I haven't had a smoke for more than a week and a half so far... Was definitately grumpy the first few days and then strangly on day 5... Otherwise I have no desire to put a cigarette into my mouth. I think I must have saved $100 already this week and a bit! I've also controlled my desire to replace the smoking with snacking on junk food.... Ruth doesn't know it but I actually took an apple and banana to work today! so ha!!!!

All right time to get back to it.. I'm catching up with the family for lunch in the city. I'm also about to go and purchase a new suit! Hoorah!

Third Day Of Non-Smoking!

Well Here I am..... Having not had a cigarette in three days... The hardest day was definitely the first. However, I managed to get through it and life goes on.

I must say, my sense of smell is coming back to me.... I can smell other smokers again. They don't smell the nicest. I've tried to give up smoking so many times. I just can't afford to keep doing it. There is so much risk to my own health... Is that the way I should treat my body. By banging some poison into it??

I'm already looking forward to the weekend to be honest. I went to bed fairly early last night, but Ruth was tossing and turning almost ALL night, so I was awake every hour. Clare decided as usual to sneak into our room. There she is jammed into between the both of us. I still can't get over how fast she is growing up...,, Before I know it, she'll be off to primary school!

Clare has been informing a LOT of people that we're actually having a baby girl! And that it's going to be called "Gillian!".... Gill for short! We can't get her to like the idea that we might be having a baby boy! I'm not sure if we'll even find out though to be honest!

We'll it's 11:22 am on a Thursday morning and time to get back to work!

What a weekend !

The picture shown her is one of Clare at Mum's house taken on Sunday, 20/11/2005. I can't believe she's almost three.

Well it all started Friday night.

I had a seminar on handling aggressive dogs. It was conducted by a man who is a trainer but who also consults for Law Enforcement agencies around Australia. The seminar was good, somewhat lengthy and I was pretty much stuffed by the end of it.

In the middle of the seminar I receive a text message from Ruthie informing me that my Dad has turned up and wanted somewhere to stay for the night. Her question to me was, "When are you coming home?". I left about 15 minutes before the seminar completed and got home at about 2320. I was pretty much knackered at this stage.

I had a quick chat with Dad for about an hour. I viewed some pictures from his new digital camera. The shots were taken in England from his recent holiday.

I eventually got to sleep around 0100.

Up again at 0730 getting ready to run my dog training classes. With the forecast of rain, I must admit I wasn't exactly looking forward to going, however the rain didn't come down so I was pretty happy. More importantly Dad had come up and actually saw me run a class. Now that was good. I've spoken to him about it before. He was hanging around the background taking pictures .

After dog training finished, we quickly got home, did some tidying up and had a 45 min cat-nap.

At 1530 Mum arrived, she hadn't seen out new house. So in she went. She nodded approvingly and gave some nice tips for the garden. Ruthie had prepared a lovely meal, which I cooked on the BBQ. Mum dropped off her Apple Mac for me so I could install Microsoft Virtual PC 7. She wanted to play some shareware games. Everything went pretty well except for the fact that Mum's iBook only has 256mb of ram. Things were VERY slow going..... Mum departed to return to Geelong at 1930 and I kept working on the computer. I kept working until 0130. arrgghhh! At least the job was 'almost' done.

After sleeping in until 0830 Sunday morning. Clare and I got in the car and headed down to Geelong to deliver Mum's computer back to her. Of course a few more games were installed. Lunch, etc... Clare was a little darling though. She was a little clingly but she just loves me. We had a great day.

We quickly drove back to Melbourne, with Clare promptly going to sleep with being in the car for a couple of minutes.

I quick dinner with Ruthie and I headed off to Four Paws for the Advanced dog demo team training session. The training went really well. I must say the best thing I saw was Donna's work with Hudson. Truly awesome. The best 'crawl' that I've ever seen in a dog. WOW! Molly went pretty well, distracted a few times but otherwise she was 'ok'.

Ruth and Clare picked me up and headed home. Clare thankfully was fed, milked, clothed, teethed and was ready for some stories. Stories took place and I attempted to get Clare to sleep. Her usual trick once you've settler her down is to ask you, "Hold my hand Daddy!".... I say, "I'll stay for one minute then I'm going...." The minute takes place, you try and leave and of course she wants more. This time I said, "no.... you've had you're minute, it's time for bed..." and promptly walked out of the room. Some tears took place with Clare crying, "I want my Daddy..... I want my Daddy...." I let her cry for a minute and headed back in. Some quickly settling and for some bizarre reason she went off to sleep. Amazing. I realise now, that if I say something to her she must realise the consequences. I have to stick to my gun and do what I say....

Ruthie was stuffed by this stage and in bed with her clothes on . The kitchen was a mess so I decided to clean up. The problem is the cleaning took me until 1130. Another late night.... Why do I do this to myself? I was dead tired, had a huge weekend yet I stay up. I just couldn't bring myself not to tidy up. The house was a mess. It's not that had to clean up. I understand ruth is tired and she's pregnant. Thank God that men don't have to go through that .

I can't remember when, but Clare snuck into our bed sometime during the night. I wake up with Ruthie carrying her back to her bed. I think it was around 3 or 4 am. I woke up this morning feeling very tired and slightly dazed.

I need sleep! Tonight however, i've got my appointment for the hypnotherapist to stop smoking. I'm ready to stop smoking. I really am, I want to get fit again. I don't wait ruthie to smell smoke on me. I know I can do it!

Dog Training Continues ....

Went to doggie training last night.

We've got our demo day taking place on December 4th in Keilor. We've got 12 people in the team doing a variety of things.

It's almost like Synchonised swimming for dogs. We start off in a pattern heel out to a 'V' shape. Cross overs etc.

One of molly's tricks is to stand by my side and run out to a witches hat and drop with one command. "Goto!!!" ... She's pretty good at doing it!

The other one is shown in the picture here. She loves lying on top of my back! As you can see she's rather comfortable! I work at Four Paws K9 Training on the weekend. There website is www.fourpawsk9training.com.au. It's a great school and everyone gets along fine!!! It's not even like working. Except for tomorrow, it's been forecast to rain. Arrgghh!

Otherwise things are ok. Ruthie has been feeling sick again with morning sickness. Personally I'm still worried about the Slapcheek. The test results will come back in a couple of weeks!

A couple of days ago I did some work on my stressed out lawn at the front of the house. Unfortunately the lawn had been scapled a little. I must ensure that I cut 'high' and not 'low'. After speaking with Dave Wilson I spoke to Toby who is the ground's keeper for the Punt road oval. They play national cricket there. So if Toby couldn't help me with the lawn then no one could.

He recommended on purchasing some Scott's Lawn Builder. I threw down the fertiliser the night before, waited 24 hours and watered in last night! In three weeks time, I should be seeing some good results!

I'd love to do the back as well, however I need someone to look after the doggies for 24 hours! I might have to talk with Peter and Noreen regarding this!

Well, I'm at work, Ruthie is at work (Royal Woman's Hospital) and Clare is at Doris'

Take it easy and Cheers!

A bad night's sleep

Last night was not good.

I spelt poorly and Ruthie was feeling rather sick from being pregnant. . So Clare and I fended for ourselves!!! Don't get me wrong, I know how to do it. But I was stuffed.

I'd just walked about 3 kilometres to pick up an External USB hard-drive for work and personal pleasure. The weather conditions were rather humid. I finally found the computer store. Picked up the good and managed to catch a train to Strathmore.

Ruthie picked me up and I managed to get home. I was knackered. Rather knackered. To be honest I was stuffed.

However, Dinner was cooked, Clare was played with . Then a bath for Clare some stories etc....

Clare decided during the night to head to our room.

It's a problem we have to sort out sooner or later. She's NOT staying in her bed at all during the night. Eventually ruthie having decided she was too hot went to the study to sleep. Clare followed an hour later.

I woke up late and then of course the train was late. Work has been ok today. Trying to get through the WCS training still.....

Life is what you make of it.

I need to stop smoking!!! arrrgghhh!

I'm looking fwd to a great sleep tonight. I'm sure though, that ruthie will be tired, so back to the grind it is!

I should be in bed ...

It's 2315 and I'm tired... Why am I awake!? Clare was quite cute this morning. Ruthie was working an morning shift and was leaving early for work.

We informed Clare last night that Mummy won't be home when she wakes up. She says, "yes...., ok...."

However, you get to the morning and things are a different matter.

She usually runs into me and says...."Daddy, where's mummy?". I tell her that's she's at work and Clare promptly bursts into tears.

This morning was different though, thankfully Miss C. woke up at 0530 came in, said her thing, tears... I said to Clare.... "I think you might be lucky, Mummy might still be in the kitchen."

We wander down and sure enough there's Ruthie having her breakfast.

A few cuddles later Clare quietened down. Until it was time Ruth to leave. More tears. Thankfully Clare and I waved goodbye to mummy from the front porch.

She then said to me, whilst on the porch..... 'I want to go back to bed...'. Sure I said, we had a quick cuddle. Clare informed me that she was cold and cuddled up to me.... Was very, very cute... We managed to keep each other warm.

The day was good otherwise. I've purchased a new portable slim-line external hard drive for work. Is rather neat!

I've been meaning to inform me parents about this blog, the thing is no one reads it because I haven't told anyone about it! That's really, really sad. I spoke I use it as a diary more than anything else.

Cheers!

Clare - Slap Cheek - We wait...

We've been informed that Ruth's blood test is going to take about 3 weeks to come back.

I'm holding my head up high! I know everything is going to be aok!

Clare calls me at work (her first phone call)

Here I am at work yesterday outside with my mate and my phone rings.

I answer, "Hello.....Hello.........". I get a couple of seconds of silence and then!

"Hello Dadddddddddyyyyyyyy!". She just made her first phone call. After a quick chat with Clare, with the little bonny lass trying to show me her toys via the phone. I said I couldn't see. She said, "awwwhhhhh".

I asked for Mummy.... Mummy was rather suprised that I was on the phone.

What a clever little girl! I better check my past phone bills now!

Waiting...

Well, were still waiting for the blood test to come back from Ruthie. Hopefully the results will come back today.

Clare was quite cute this morning. She walked in and said ...."I love you Daddy!". How nice is it to here those words.

I'm still trying to make my way through Websphere Commerce Suite training. My goodness, the product is huge.

Yesterday was good . I picked up Dad from Tullamarine at 0530 in the morning. Was great to see him back from the UK.

Clare - Slap cheek

Well another drama in the life of the Fox household.

Clare picked up a virus last week, from someone in her playgroup called Slap Cheek. It's a parvo virus which typically affects kids between 5 and 13. However, Clare being who is she caught up.

I'll put up a pic tonight of Clare, the poor little thing.

The main concern though is about Ruth, with Ruthie being pregnant and in her first trimester there is a risk of miscarriage to our unborn child. She's having another blood test today to determine if there is any risk.... I hope everything will be aok!

It's hard to work today, there is so much going through my mind. However can I concentrate!?

The good thing is though, that my Dad comes back from overseas tonight.

We'll pick him up at Melbourne airport and he'll stay overnight. The problem is the pickup time. It's 0130. Once you get through customs it won't be until 0230. Ouch. I'm not sure how well Clare will handle this! not good I presume

Doggie training was a ball on the weekend. Nice people, great dogs and my socialisation object was a fantastic blower-vac that my mother decided to give me! Wow!

The course is off!

Well I spoke to my boss on Friday and unfortunately the course has been denied to me again. "Too short" notice.

Oh well, there are other courses out there and i'll be fine... I just have to keep pushing. Synergy needs Usability and it's a field I'd love to get into!

Life goes on...

Well,

It's Friday and life is going just ok at the moment. I was told last week by my mother that she now has cancer.... What a crappy year it's been.

My parents decided to split after 37 years of marriage
Clare with meningoccal
Ruth and Clare in a car accident
and now Mum has been diagnosed with cancer.

However the good things in life are what I'm trying to concentrate on right now.

My family
New house - I love it -
New baby on the way
Dog training on the weekend
Work is good, great company Synergy, they've been rather supportive of everything that has been happing over the past 8 months, particulary with Clare.

I've put a proposal to work in regards to the training that I would like to do. My main work focus on life at the moment is to get into the usability side of things.

So next week on nov 13th, a course is running in London. At the moment, there is about a 20% chance of work sending me. We'll see. Here's the course : http://www.nngroup.com/events/london/agenda.html

Time for lunch!

The Printer Arrives!

Well.... After a late night at work last night, I was thankfully picked up by Ruthie which was great.

I get home and my brand new Canon IP8500 has arrived! Hoorah!

The only problem is that my PC is currently out of order. Both video cards have failed in two weeks. That's is truly bizarre.... hmmm. it might be the power supply or ram or MB. Who knows... All I know is that it's rather irritating.

Well, heading off to lunch with the guys at my favorite chinese place today.

Back to work now...

Work Decisions + Printer Purchases

Well, Here I am at work writing my blog I've come to this point in my life where I need to decided what I'm going to do with my career! Last year i applied for the ambulance service and missed out on the entrance exam . I might try again soon.

The problem is the brand new mortgage we've got.... A lot of money needs to be paid to pay off this darn house. But, hey that's life. The house is great. We really enjoy it.

Back to career decisions. I really enjoy the usability side of work. I'm considering going back to study again next year and studying Human Factors with a focus on HCI. It's through the University of Queensland. I might just start doing a couple of units and working out if it's the thing for me.

I don't want to stay coding for ever, nor do I want to get full on into management.

The other decision currently is whether I'm going to purchase my new Canon IP8500 printer. It's a great printer that sells for around $479 here in Australia. An awesome little unit! Since we sold the house in Niddrie we have no debt except for the house and that's the way I want it to stay! Purchasing the printer wouldn't put me back into debt but.... choices/choices...

Ok, back to Websphere Commerce Training.

Cheers,
Bennie

My Birthday is over!

Well, I had my birthday! Was a heap of fun. Had a lovely meal of mexican with ruthie and clare.

Saturday was good, spent a hot sat. morning in the sun dog training. My clients were less than impressed with the heat, I ended up spending a fair bit of time doing static exercises. Sunday was awesome while ruth was off at the movies, Clare and I played in her make-shift cubby house ( two chairs and a doonah drapped over the top of the couch ). She had a ball, Clare went and got all her toys and bought them in with her!

Now it's monday and i'm back at work. I'm considering starting some part-time study again next year. Human Factors with a focus on HCI (Human Computer Interactions), now all I have to do is get work to pay for it!

cheers,
Bennie.

It's my birthday!

Hi Everyone,

Well it's my birthday! Here I am at work writing my blog..... I went for Yum Cha for lunch with my friends, Ben, Chrissy, Dave and Eug... thanks guys for making my birthday a great day!

I left ruthie this morning with a day without clare ( child-care ). I hope she's had fun. The new house is looking good.

I've basically done almost zero work today. Training, training, it's hard to get your mind back into it. But here I am.

The birthday's been good. Can't wait to get home and head out for some mexican with ruth in essendon.

Cya!

Life in general...

I'm coming to this point in my life where I'm really trying to work out where I'm going. I work as an IT consultant basically cutting code as a programmer.

There must be more to life than this? What can I get into? Usability is one of my passions, I just need to get the idea past my bosses. They like the idea and can see we have a need for it, however they're not willing to invest the time and capital to get it going. So Synergy produces great code but crap UI design....

I realise now with Clare almost being three and almost losing her to meningococcal that I need to spent more time with her. I love her to bits. She's so cute in the mornings.... However, she is currently coming into our bed around 0130... hmmmmm. Ruth and I put her back but most times she comes back.....

Wedding Ring Dramas!

Here I am, moving 2 metres of mulch around the garden! The garden is looking great.

I drive up to bunnings to get myself some 'toys'! .

I look down at my hand and notice my wedding ring is not in on my finger! Arrrgghhh!

Somewhere in the garden is my wedding ring. Tomorrow a guy is coming around with a metal detector to try and find it for me! Thanks for Ben Giddens for putting me onto this bloke.

The cost you ask? A slab of VB!!! hopefully the ring will be found!

Just had holidays! Horrah!

Well,

I'm back at work now after a much needed 1.5 week holiday! gee it was nice!

I didn't get everything done that I wanted to do, but never mind.

Clare is growing up so fast. She's such a happy little squirt. She loves our new house, which is awesome.

Hopefully more tomorrow...

Clare home and happy

Well,

Clare is safe and sound and at home. The meningococcal was definately a huge scare for us. We were informed at the time we took Clare to hospital that she only had a couple of hours left in her life! My goodness, it changed my view on the mortality of life, for sure!

We've moved into the new house (we still have about 20 boxes to unpack) but we're getting there!

This weekend, is 'finish the house'. I have to do it! I will do it! B-)

Picture of Clare in hospital

Here's a picture of Clare when things weren't going that well.

Meningococcal : I never thought it would happen to my daughter

Well,

I've been to hell and back over the past week and half. My daughter (Clare) contracted the Meningococcal disease on the 31st July 2005.


It all happened so fast. I was looking after her during the day, she was fine. We played etc... At 4pm we picked up Ruth from the train station. Ruth jumped in the car and Clare asked for her mum to sit beside her in the back seat. Sure Ruth said.

We went off to pick up some groceries from the supermarket. I was reversing the car when Clare began to vomit in the back of the car.

We skipped the shopping the headed back to home. Clare went to sleep for about an hour, she said she felt tired and a little sick.

She woke up and she basically just looked flat..... Slightly listless. We took her temp. and it was 39.5c ... A tad hot!

Over the next four hours Clare got progressively worse.... At 10:30pm at night Ruth and I decided to take Clare to the Royal Children's Hospital.

The triage nurse when presented with Clare said ... "Is she normally this pale? , She does look sick, doesn't she?". Yes we replied. She then said, "My problem is, that I want to put her through but I've had some people waiting for more than 2 hours". Clare the blessed little thing decided at that point to throw up in front of the triage nurse.

The nurse smiled and said "... That's a good reason for her to go straight through, right now!"

more tomorrow.....

Home Theatre Decisions

6 weeks and counting until we make the move from the inlaws! My goodness...

I've just got Clare off to sleep at 14:50 on a Saturday afternoon. I've been looking after her today as Ruthie is at work!

I'm trying to decide at the moment about the justification of installing a home theatre at the new house! It's something that i've always wanted... Ruth isn't so keen on the idea,...

We've got the TV (68cm Sony), but that's abut it.. I need to get a surround sound amplifier + speakers and a new cd player...

The other thing I've just been checking out is HD PVR's.... The 'Topfield TF5000PVRt' looks like a winner, still a LOT of money for a glorified video recorder.. hmmmm. never having to rewind videos again! or taping over something etc... ARRRRGGHHH! Would be nice wouldn't it!

We purchased a house!

Well,

Some good news. My wife (Ruth) and I plus our little daughter Clare have purchased a house in Keilor East ( Melbourne, Victoria, Australia )

We sold our previous house in Niddrie about six months ago. We 'needed' a bigger house to live in! We couldn't decide where we were going to buy next (from a 2 bdr home to a 3 bdr home ). We ended up living with Ruth's parent's for a while.

Well after 3 months with living with the out-laws was enough for me! aaarrrgghhh! In-laws, what a pain in the arse!

We decided fairly quickly to purchase our next house. We found a great medium size home in Keilor East. Perfect for us!

60 days and counting to settlement!

Well here I am!

Hi Guys,

Here I am writing my first blog. A lot to say but won't say it all at once!

Got to drop my daughter off at family day care tomorrow then an IT course. I'm tired and I shoud be asleep.... but here I am writing a blog, stranger things have happened!

I wonder if I'll keep this up? I hope so!

cheers,
bennie