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The fallout
Another child’s birthday has come and gone. It mostly went well and was mostly relaxing during the day. We had done most of the work on Saturday so that we could spend more time together during the day. Most of the presents were items he listed on his wish list. He’s not really one for surprises so that’s been the standard process the last couple of years. One of the exceptions was a guitar tuner from his uncle, who also helped him out a bit with his guitar. He seemed quite pleased with it and seemed a bit more confident about playing. I’m hoping this will help motivate him to keep trying to play.
Family and friends came in the early afternoon and stayed for a couple of hours. It was nice but it was also nice to get back to just us again. It’s a bit overwhelming with everyone here because neither of the boys cope with crowds very well. I must say that Lego Lover was quite well-behaved throughout the day, even while we had visitors. The brownies went over quite well as did the chickpea and vegetable patties. Also going over well was the guacamole dip that Game Fanatic prepared before everyone arrived…I think that was my favorite.
We mostly played games during the evening, including another stint on the Zelda game we started recently. That went a bit disastrously because I was trying to play and took so long to complete certain parts that it was incredibly frustrating for Game Fanatic (who has already played the game all the way through). There were times he had to take over to get certain things done because either the Scientist or I were pretty useless at it. Still, all good fun.
Nighttime was probably the only part of the day that didn’t go as well as I expected. I won’t really go into that here except to say it was related to some of Game Fanatic’s issues. He did have a bad case of insomnia the night before, falling asleep late and waking quite early. So I suspect tiredness was a contributing factor. I thought he would surely fall asleep earlier than usual but he was up so late that I made him go to bed. He said he was afraid of having a repeat of the previous night. He was in better spirits by this time, and fortunately fell asleep pretty quickly, which was good considering how hot it was last night following a hot day with hot easterly winds.
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It's about time!
Lego Lover finally lost the tooth that’s been loose for at least four or five months now. I think this is the one that doesn’t have a replacement permanent tooth so has probably been pushed out by the canine tooth next to it. This is his first lost tooth in over two and a half years. He is quite ecstatic over it and is looking forward to his first visit from the tooth fairy in a very long time. I think the tooth fairy was more generous this time, considering all the pain and suffering caused by this tooth.
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Australian Internet censorship
Not happy, Kevin!
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When things started happening
I should be going to sleep but I’m feeling rather contemplative at the moment. Around this time fourteen years ago to the day (or should I say night), I started active and full on labor with my first-born child, Game Fanatic. I had been induced over twelve hours earlier and nothing much had happened. The Scientist had been with me all day but had gone home due to lack of activity. No sooner had he gotten to sleep when the hospital called him to return. There would be no rest for the next ten hours…Of course that was the beginning of little rest for many years.
Game Fanatic tried very hard to go to sleep early so that he could wake up early for his birthday. Unfortunately he’s become such a night owl that he’s still tossing and turning. Hopefully sleep will provide the rest he needs to take full advantage of the day. He’s planning on being quite busy.
I spent much of the evening making vegetable chickpea patties for tomorrow. I made them especially for Game Fanatic on his last birthday to fulfill his craving for chickpeas. They were a hit with several family members and have become often requested. I wasn’t going to make them this time, though, because they require so much time and are incredibly messy. Apparently it’s as expected that I make them as it is that my MIL will make special pancake rolls (crepes wrapped around savoury filling, dipped in egg and breadcrumbs, then fried) for him. I started the preparations about seven hours ago and have just taken the second batch from the oven to cool, which means I can go to bed soon.
Since Game Fanatic isn’t all that keen on birthday cake, he requested that I make brownies instead. The recipe I used was a chocolate malt brownie, made with a store version of Malteasers and chocolate chips. As my niece is allergic to dairy, I also made butterscotch blondies as an alternative. Either way, dessert will be quite unhealthy although I think the blondies will be less so.
I must say I am feeling incredulous to have a fourteen year old now and as we creep year to year, I can feel his adulthood becoming closer and closer. It’s very strange to think of my children as adults but it’s only a few years away now! Wow!
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Pulled muscle?
I seem to have pulled a muscle or I’ve redeveloped some sciatica pain. I’m not quite clear which it is but I do know there’s some cramping of certain back muscles and there’s also sciatic like pain…maybe a bit of both? Anyway, spent much of the day in bed after taking medication for that. Obviously once I’d taken something, my attention and driving skills were needed. The second part wasn’t at all possible so alternate arrangements had to be made.
So I set up in bed with my laptop and played Civilization IV, which I had only just got working for the first time on Vista this weekend (long story with little success until my recent endeavors). I played a full game on my desktop computer yesterday but had more fun with the current game as I get back into the gameplay again. Civilization is probably one of my favorite computer games ever so it’s been good to be able to play it without the hassle of running XP . The medication (just one tablet) pretty much knocked me out within an hour so I slept off and on much of the rest of the afternoon. I’m feeling a bit better tonight so will just take half a tablet for bedtime and get to sleep. I think I might need the drowsiness effect after so much sleep this afternoon.
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Finished, but not completed
Two year ago, we bought the Wii console when it came out as a family gift for Christmas. We bought the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess with it and started playing on Christmas Day. Yesterday we finally finished the game after clocking at least fifty hours of game play. Obviously we took rather long breaks from the game, which necessitated backtracking several times to figure out where we were. It was a fun game for all of us and even Lego Lover joined in some of the time. Game Fanatic eventually took over almost all of the controls, just because he’s much better at them than we are. The rest of us just helped out solving puzzles and watching the game play. While the game is technically finished, there were several quests that we didn’t complete. Game Fanatic saved a copy of our game before the final battle so that we could go back and try to finish everything. So it may be a while until it’s completed.
Meanwhile, we have moved backwards in time to the previous incarnation of Zelda this evening. Surprisingly, Lego Lover decided to take over controls for a while and did quite well. It’s interesting to see how his skills on the games are evening out with his brother’s, and sometimes surpassing him.
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Smiles
For several days, Lego Lover has been incredibly cranky and difficult to be around. I must admit that I had forgotten his dose of medication on one occasion and I seem to have given the wrong amount on another. The rest was just him, I guess.
But when I woke him up this morning, he had a huge smile on his face. He was in a good mood most of the day, which was a wonderful change for all of us. On top of that, he went to bed when told and he was asleep by midnight. Nice!
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Rationing
We’ve had our cat for several years now. We got into a bad habit soon after we adopted her of feeding her twice a day. Although we tried to just halve the amount she required per day, I am pretty sure she was often getting more than she needed. We decided we had to change our habits just before she went off to stay with the vet while we were away on holiday in late July. We started feeding her once a day just before and have continued since. I noticed the other day that unlike the first weeks when she would eat almost everything early in the day, she now rations it out over the day so she doesn’t get as hungry. I find that incredibly fascinating.
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Confused
Game Fanatic spent almost all afternoon playing Dungeons and Dragons and we ended up returning home during rush hour. Oddly enough, our trip back was shorter than the trip there (during lunch hour). Anyway, I stopped at the supermarket to a get a few things and left the Game Fanatic in the car. While I was walking in, I found I wasn’t quite sure what day it was. I knew it was either Friday afternoon and nearly the weekend or it was Monday. The brain fog did settle in a few seconds but it was a strange feeling of disorientation for a moment. A possible contributing factor is the fact that they don’t normally have D&D on Mondays but it’s school holidays and a somewhat different group was meeting to do the latest version of the game. We will be back for the normal session tomorrow. There are some in the group who will have played three days in a row as they have a fortnightly group that meets on Sundays. Game Fanatic used to go to that one but became overwhelmed with the number of people and hasn’t been for a while.
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Back soon
I’m still around but for some reason haven’t been able to put together a post in a while. It’s definitely not a lack of ideas but perhaps an issue of trying to focus my attention. It’s late now so will see what I can do tomorrow.