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Insomnia
It seems to be running through the family at the moment. Even the Scientist was struck with it this morning so that he got up before 4:30 and was quite tired by the time he went to bed tonight. Game Fanatic has been suffering this for the last couple of weeks and part of the problem is that he has become something of a night owl in the last couple of years. There are other issues involved but the combination is making it quite difficult. Lego Lover still goes to sleep quite late much of the time but not always and I have been something of a late nighter myself…Perhaps the recent change to daylight savings time hasn’t helped either. I’m really hoping it’s voted out in the referendum after the three year trial ends next year.
Obviously, it’s another late night so I might just try to sleep once I’ve posted this. Just needed to finally do an update.
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New foods
Lego Lover had the pleasure of trying a green curry recently and he liked it! It was a reasonably hot one, too! He has been willing to eat chicken that’s been cooked in the curry before but it had to be rinsed off so that most of the taste was gone. This time, he ate it with the sauce and rice. And he really, really liked it…so much that he had a second helping. Too bad there wasn’t very much available on this particular occasion.
Game Fanatic also decided he liked a food he hasn’t previously enjoyed too. We had bought some takeout food from a Portuguese-Malaysian food outlet and I had gotten a Malaysian noodle dish. Game Fanatic has never cared much for noodles or pasta but he tried a bit of my very generous serving and he liked it. It was quite tasty although it was a bit on the oily side so it’s not something I would get very often.
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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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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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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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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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Stuff
I didn’t end up doing quite the things I intended to do today. But I did managed to accomplish a little anyway. I made up for two days of no exercise by doing two hours of exercise on the Wii Fit. I worked myself harder than usual and tried the more difficult levels of some of the exercises, especially within the aerobics category. I found I did far better than expected on a couple activities so feel a bit more confident to continue at the harder levels.
Game Fanatic saw the doctor and all is fine. We may need to see a physiotherapist at some point to strengthen his ankles. Previously she called it a strain but today she was saying it was a sprain. Not sure which it is but I suppose they both take some time to heal.
I received a jury summons a while back for later this month. Because I have full time care of children fourteen years of age or younger, I am eligible to be excused. I finally had that witnessed this week and mailed it off today. If I could be sure it would only be for one or two days, I would go ahead with it because they will keep sending one every two years until I serve. This was my second summons and I’d guess I will get two or three more before I am in a position to take it on.
We spent most of the evening watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics tonight. We’re in the same time zone as Beijing which is rather convenient for us. I couldn’t help wondering at the further pollution caused by all the fireworks but they were quite a sight. The ceremony was good overall but I don’t think it was as good as the one in Sydney in 2000. Strange to think how long ago that is now. Lego Lover likes to watch the parade of nations with all the different flags but he got bored after a while. When I found a list of the countries’ order online, he went off to play and we called out to him when a country of interest was coming up. Game Fanatic did stick around the entire program although he was reading the Scientist’s Far Side comic books at the same time.
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Appointments
It’s been a week of running to various appointments, most requiring significant driving time. The boys both had dental appointments with a pediatric dentist on Tuesday. This was their first visits to a private dental service and I think it was so worth the extra expense. I won’t say it went completely smoothly though. The anxiety and selective mutism of both boys did cause some bumps along the way. But both cooperated in the end and I think they are less worried about returning, even though Lego Lover claims his dental phobia is worse. I think the worst that happened for him was having to taste the latex gloves used by the dentist. Apparently they try to keep the staff the same at each visit so that children build up trust and confidence in the professionals. I suppose this mostly works until they have staff turnover, of course.
Anyway, both boys got good dental reports with regard to brushing and don’t have to return for another nine months. The dentist was actually gushing about Game Fanatic’s almost model mouth. His teeth have come in beautifully and there hasn’t been any staining or early signs of plaque as he usually see at this age in his patients. So braces will play no part in his future, which is great. Neither the Scientist nor I have had them either so I guess that’s genetics at work.
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Holiday, part 2
To continue the story of our holiday…Wednesday was a fairly wet and chilly day but we made the best of it. Our journey took us into Denmark, about fifteen minutes away from our cottage. Our first stop there was the visitor centre, which seems quite big for such a small town. It also houses a collection of barometers, including the largest in the world. One of the volunteers provided a map with some local attractions. We chose to visit just a few attractions due to the rain and the limited walking we could do with Game Fanatic’s sore foot.
We spent most of our time in the town centre and visited a few shops. I went into a craft shop that also sold ice cream, a rather bizaar combination. They had a lot of really nice yarns there but I opted not to buy anything since I’ve still got projects to complete. Lego Lover was hungry, of course, so the Scientist and Game Fanatic took him down to the the award-winning bakery for a sausage roll. It was much bigger than what he usually gets and he really liked it. With his lunch taken care of, the rest of us ate lunch at the Fig Tree Cafe. I had a veggie patty on a roll with chips (thick french fries). The rolls was huge, with a thin patty, lots of salad and sauce. It was very messy, but it was good. After we had lunch, Lego Lover was taken to the craft shop to buy an ice cream and they even had his favorite, cookies and cream. It should also be noted that all of us got something to eat at the bakery during our brief time there. The Scientist bought a vanilla slice when he got the sausage roll. I bought a hedgehog slice for dessert (best I’ve tasted and I’m not that keen on them). Then just as we were leaving, we got Game Fanatic a curry pie, which he said was very nice.
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Holiday, part one (long)
So we left on Monday for the six hour drive down to Cape Howe Cottages where we were staying at the Snug. It was cold and rainy as we left the city, with forecasts for the same over the week. The drive down was mostly uneventful, aside from a bit of a mechanical scare with the car where it was refusing to change certain gears just as we were leaving the city. It was okay after awhile and all was fine the rest of the journey. We stopped for lunch in Kojonup, a small town about two hours aways from our destination. Lego Lover refused to eat there or even to stay inside so waited in the car while we ate. He ate some of the snacks in the car instead and I guess was just fine with that.
We arrived at the cottage around 3pm, I think. It was late afternoon and the owner happened to come out to the gate just as we arrived, which was very timely. The rains had stopped at this point so we were able to take all our belongings inside in our own time. The kids were over the moon to be there and Lego Lover quickly unpacked his little bag and put everything in its place. He and Game Fanatic settled in quite quickly to just hanging out.