Saturday, May 13, 2006

Lagged Insomnia

Kate, Thad and Will blew into town yesterday morning and have turned down under upside down. We're somewhat reeling from Will trying to adjust to the new time zones, strange place and new sensations. Their timezone is now our time zone and vice versa. The house and its occupants are a bit shell-shocked, in a word.

Last night was a bit of a blur. I am gifted (or cursed) with poor hearing, allowing muting of various screams and yowls. From what I hear (rather didn't hear) there were apparent wake ups at 1:30am and 4:30am. We're all operating with a low level headache this morning, Will included. If you know of any available 5-year olds, Peggy and I are looking to adopt and skip over this whole child-rearing thing.

I've yet to understand the mindset of this young one. At his best, Will points at stuff and says, "Oooo". We find that very amusing. He swings from being mildly entertained by things such as daddy making motorboat noises, to temperamental and screaming with no logical reasoning. Then, in a blink of an eye, its back to cuteness again with no predictability. I don't get babies.

posted by ncawthon at 12:08 PM

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

A Day at the Beach

This morning our good friend, Father Mike Russo, joined me for a scrumptious breakfast and coastal walk up to Bondi Beach. Father Mike, being of Italian origin, is a self-proclaimed beach afficionado. So, I carefully crafted the characteristics of each shoreline as we strolled from Bronte to Tamarama to Bondi. Due to his Mediterranian heritage, he immediately began to turn a dark shade of brown when exposed to direct sunlight. Thankfully, the Reverend has not adopted the very European tradition of wearing the oft-seen Speedos in warm weather.

The highlight of the walk was his description of a painting that he has over his desk of Bondi Beach, how much he enjoyed gazing over the gorgeous aqua-marine colours. We began to round the bend at the cliff's head when Bondi was laid out in front of us, a similar perspective to the one he had been imagining all these years.

The weather these days is a bit perplexing, nice and warm during the day when the sun is out, but certainly a chill at night time. Water temperature is about 70 F, but absolutely still as can be. This results in an extremely clear and vibrant surf, many people were doing their long distance swimming along the coast today. From the cliffs above, one could see the ocean bottom and fishes quite easily.

posted by ncawthon at 12:17 PM

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

I am. Everyday People.

There is starting to be some good karma between the city of Sydney and the Cawthons. We're getting into a real groove about our place in this city, finding our way around well, no speeding or parking tickets, finding interesting boroughs and districts to poke our heads into. Starting to feel like home.

We had an interesting weekend, having run into a half-dozen people that we knew randomly around town. Those kind of encounters make one feel as if they're a part of a community. Sydney is by no means a large city when compared to the metropolises of the U.S., but it can be a bit daunting when you're a fish out of water. Now, we're not so fishy.

Visitors number 9-10-11 will be going through their purgatory at the International departures terminal in LAX soon. Cute baby pictures with furry animals will be forthcoming. We've also got a much revered family friend in town this week for a wedding, giving us further opportunities for playing tour guide and restaurant critic.

posted by ncawthon at 11:06 AM

Sunday, May 07, 2006

I Just Called... To Say... Fizzzzth!

When trying to baby-proof the apartment tonight, I accidently fried our telephone. Turns out, the plug for the modem is the same size as the phone, but the voltage is a bit different. In getting them confused and switching one for the other, the ol' landline went bye-bye. Good news is that the modem was spared the same fate.

So, that's two electronic devices that have gone the way of kentucky fried circuit board. First the imported Laser Printer and now wireless phone. Never to miss out on a shopportunity, there is a shop in Balmain that has some cool antiques, including one of those black Bell deskphones from the Perry Mason movies. At first glance, the shop didn't look like the type that would charge too much for such a classic item.

As a result, if you were planning on calling (hint-hint), you might want to try our respected mobile phones as they're still on the up. Internet still works great, though, so keep them emails coming. That will be all.

posted by ncawthon at 10:44 PM