Soccer for young and old

All three boys have been playing soccer this season. To avoid timetabling hassles, Peter and James were with the same coach (seen in the photo below behind Peter) and Eric was in the coach's daughter's team. It worked out evry well. All the boys did well and enjoyed their season. This is a recreational league with no finals or ladder.
Typically sports in the US tend to be school based. As each county pays for the schools in the area, the county facilities tend to be associated with the schools. So it can get tricky for those not in the public school system to be involved in many sports. This league was started a number of years ago by some homeschooling families who negotiated for use of spare land next to a local bottling factory. Each season the competition grows with more players and teams.

Peter enjoying his soccer

Eric as Lord Faramir

Eric as Lord Faramir

The boys have taken up "Lord of the Rings Battle Gaming". As many of you know, I did a lot of wargaming before he moved to Sydney in 1993, but since then I have been waiting for the boys to get old enough to provide some competition. Initially, with the Lord of the Rings figures, they were just moving figures around and using their imagination. Then an invitation arrived in the mail to go to Gamesday 05 in Atlanta organized by Games Workshop. We arranged to spend the day at the convention center downtown in Atlanta - 2.5 hours away. Eric had a very good day. Rather than try out the various other games and activities on offer, he joined in to the many Lord of the Rings demonstration games. The first was a very large game being in command of Men of Gondor against nasty orcses (pictured here). The next game was controlling some orcs in Osgiliath, trying to cross the river and move through. I controlled some of the Gondorian defenders and I won that battle. Eric's last game was as the good guys again with some other homeschooling children controlling the evil forces. By the time they finished, Eric had played many hours gaming, and was filled with new knowledge of the game rules and mechanics. He has since shown James and Peter how to play.

The game also involves painting the models, creating scenery and designing games. We went to Home Depot and haggled for a damaged LARGE sheet of pink insulation foam ($4.00). This is the basis for castle walls, hills and other large structures. The boys are doing a great job creating lots of scenery, with David providing assistance and advice.

More friends named Smith.

At church Rose has made many friends. Through her smiles and personality we now have many special grandparents. One of our special friends is Edith Smith who turned 88 recently and we were honored to be invited to her surprise birthday party. Unbeknownst to Mrs Smith, her family gathered from across the country, some she had not seen for up to sixteen years.
As each person arrived, they were given a helium filled balloon, and they popped in to see Mrs Smith one at a time. As each one entered the room, Mrs Smith was stunned.
By the time all had arrived the ceiling was full of balloons with a blissfully happy Mrs Smith below in her chair.
After meals and many discussions, the children went outside with the balloons and the balloons set free.

Let the balloons soar!

It was a great feeling to be involved in such a family affair. Pleasant memories of family affairs back home reminded us of the importance of family.

Cleaning up can be bad

I have a number of disk utilities to help keep Windows trim. Bits and pieces are left all over the place from programs being added and removed and data in and out, so I ran the disk cleanup part of the program and it went and did it's thing. Normally I always run the program with the various prompts so I can see what it was doing. This time I didn't. And it went and cleared out all temp files. Including the one in My Pictures which I named temp for photos I had not organised yet.

I only discovered after I had already replaced my nightly backup, and I ran a disk defragmentation which resorts files on the disk into a more efficient positions. The end result? I lost tons of photos from November to February. The photos prior to that I had copied to my laptop to show to family back home on my Novemeber trip.

The lessons?
1. Don't name folders temp unless they really are temporary and can be deleted.
2. Don't take the default option of any program unless you are really sure!

The Christmas Beard Poll - Results

We had quite a few emails and replies to our beard poll. Surprisingly, the overwhelming response was to keep it. Interesting comments included:
"You look like Michael Moore! So either the beard goes or you get a baseball cap." (Against - Aust)
"It looks very distinguished" (For - Local)
"Kinda gives you that distinquished look" (For - Local)
"It is Christmas time and it resembles Santa, It does make you look older but in a good way (not too much older)" (For - Aust)
"Makes you look too old" (Against - Aust - David's Dad)
"When in Rome ..." (For - Aust)

But the casting vote really went to Lana. Too scratchy when hugging. So off it went!

The night Ariel blew up!

One Friday evening in mid January Ariel said she had a headache. In Australia we would normally have used Panadol (Paracetemol). Here the choice is Tylenol or Ibuprofen. We had some Ibuprofen so she was given some of that and went to bed. Next morning Ariel awoke and said her face felt “a bit puffy” Without looking up, David said she should go back to bed and sleep in. Lana had a look and suggested David look closer. Ariel’s face was very swollen – she could hardly see out of her eyes and the every part of the face was big. He was up in a flash and told Ariel to get dressed. They were going to the doctor’s.

There is a doctor’s surgery in Blairsville that provides for “Drop ins” – that is, no appointments. They went to the reception and without looking up, the receptionist asked what we required, and David pointed to Ariel and said, “Guess.” This certainly got a reaction at the sight of Ariel’s swollen face, and she quickly checked if Ariel was having difficulty breathing. If she had been it would have been off to the hospital.

After a wait of about one and a half hours they finally got to a consultation room. An assistant came in and asked lots of questions, carefully recording the answers on a chart, went out and returned and gave Ariel some medicine to help with the swelling. After 20 minutes, the doctor appeared, read the same chart which had all the answers and asked the same questions the assistant had asked. Finally Ariel was given an injection with some medicine to reduce the swelling and they were told to wait another hour in the waiting room to ensure all was well.

Once the hour was up, they were told they could go. Ariel’s face was still slightly puffy Sunday Morning and was back to normal by Monday. Ibuprofen is part of the drug group known as NSAIDS. We then did some research and worked out all the brand and generic names that belong to that group – including aspirin – and ensure that every time we go for any medicine or medical procedures we mention the risk of Ibuprofen. Total cost? $140.00. Lucky we had insurance!

We have no photos to show you. Ariel would never have forgiven us the embarrassment – and we can’t blame her for that.

An introductory photo

Here is a recent family photo from Christmas 2004.

From left to right - Ariel, Lana, Eric, Rose, James, Clare, Peter and David.

Happy New Year

In New York the city celebrates the new year with the famous apple drop.
In Atlanta they have the Peach drop.
In Brasstown, North Carolina, they have the Possum Drop.
This year we attended the annual Possum Drop to get a true experience of Southern hospitality. Arriving there at about 10:00pm with the Morris family, there was already quite a crowd gathered around the stage set up beside the gas station that has hosted the Possum Drop for the last sixteen years. The host for the evening warmed up the well-dressed crowd (lots of warm clothing and silly hats) with some good tales and commentary. Did you know that if you get lost in the woods, just find a possum trail and follow it straight to the road?
The organiser said that they had a lot of hassle from the animal rights people. He reckoned that it is easier to adopt a child than get permission to drop a possum. Four licenses were required and the fees were under $1,000 – WELL under $1000. The gas station was tastefully decorated in the possum theme, complete with outlines of run over possums on the ground. The hill opposite had a Hollywood style sign stating “BRASSTOWN” with a large possum sign above.
A very fancy limousine stopped at the kerb and a way was made through the crowd. Dignitaries then opened the car door and brought out this year’s host possum.
US possums (actually called Opossums) are NOTHING like Australian possums. They look more like an overgrown rat than a cute toy. If anyone has seen the film “The Princess Bride”, the Opossum reminds us of the ROUS (Rodents Of Unusual Size).
The possum is then carried on the shoulders of one of the assistants and placed in a specially constructed cage. Unfortunately the cage wasn’t strong enough, so they carefully rebuilt it with appropriate amounts of Duct Tape. (The all purpose repair tape – similar to The Force in Star Wars – It has a light side and a dark side and it holds the universe together).
The cage is then fastened to a rope and pulled up to a prepared metal frame so it hangs around about 20 feet in the air. We were then shown a video of the epic feats to which the organizing group went through to capture the possum, a “beauty” contest in which various local celebrities (men) dressed up as fashion queens, “Redneck” music and jokes until it finally came time for the year’s end.

The Possum dropping in Brasstown, North Carolina.

Some patriotic songs and the National anthem were sung, and it was time! The cage containing the possum was dropped (not too fast so the possum wasn’t hurt) and the fireworks went off. At about 12:10 everyone looked at each other, wished “Happy New Year” all round and went home.
Why go to New York, when you can experience this!

Rose - fascinated with the New Year’s fireworks

The Christmas Beard Poll

Should David keep his beard? In Australia whenever David grew a beard he knew he would get a friendly ribbing or surprise people. But this time he is getting various favourable responses from most of the locals. This is very confusing. Here is your chance to voice your opinion. Should the beard stay or go?
(Clare reckons the beard should stay as it is “tickly to kiss”)

Should the beard stay or go?

Almost a White Christmas

We missed out on a white Christmas by one week. On the Sunday prior we were at Church attending the Sunday School when snow started to lightly fall, then heavier and then it began to “stick”. When snow “sticks” it doesn’t just melt upon hitting the ground. In less than one hour, everything was completely white, with enough snow to play in. As it was between Masses, even Father Wise threw a few snowballs and all the children enjoyed themselves.

Almost a white Christmas

Merry Christmas

We celebrate Christmas is line with ancient Christian traditions, whereby we prepare for the day with four weeks of preparation (Advent) lighting a candle for each week. We also give up something or do something extra to remind us of what is coming. It is sort of like a mini Lent. Then on the last Sunday of Advent we put up the Christmas tree. This year we found one from Walmart, which came complete with built in lights, and no dropping pine needles for Rose to eat.
In the last week Mary and Joseph are moved each day on their way to the Nativity Scene and each child puts up a decoration. Then whilst we attend Christmas Eve Mass the presents mysteriously appear under the tree.
Ariel, Eric and James were in the Choir at the Christmas Eve Mass.
Then the 12 days of Christmas are celebrated, ending on January 6 – The Epiphany (Coming of the wise men). Whilst the wise men begin their trek around the house we MUST celebrate somehow each day. All good fun.

Some of theParish children being a live Nativity Scene prior to Christmas Eve Mass.
The photo is a bit fuzzy as I didn't want to use the flash.

Nativity Play

On Christmas day we all enjoyed the joy of the season and ended at a friend’s house and were able to borrow their grandparents and family. The children all joined in a nativity play David created. He tried to find one on the Internet but they were all “re-interpreted” or silly, so he went straight to the gospels of Luke and Matthew and made a play straight from the text. It worked out great.
The children all did well and we will do even better next year. The borrowed grandparents and Aunt were delighted to be able to take on their role as the audience.
We have put a copy of the Nativity play into the Bruggie Tales folder on the web site.

The final bow for the Nativty Play 2004.

The Nativity Play Scene Angel

Clare was supposed to be the “Scene Angel”, but she wanted to be a fairy, so a Scene Fairy she was. As each scene was to commence Clare stepped out and announced, “The angels appear to Jofes” and “The Flee wise men” whilst spinning around and holding her skirt.

The Scene Fairy

Rose's First Christmas

Rose as a Christmas Ornament

Wargaming

For many years David enjoyed wargaming – playing games with historical toy soldiers. This lasted from when he was twelve years old until in his late 20’s when family commitments and moving interstate made it hard to find opponents. But now Eric and James are old enough to play, so it has started up again. They have purchased some figures and some models and lots of craft materials and paints to make the scenery and paint the soldiers. The boys (all four of them) are having great fun, supplying all the sound effects and imagination to fill in any gaps in the models. David has discovered that he can still paint adequately, and he enjoys the boys awe and wonder on how well the figures look. This is working out to be a great activity they can all play together. All David has to do is to remember to keep the rules and play simple – complexity can come into the games as they all get more experienced.

Rubbish Opossum

Our rubbish (aka Garbage/Trash) has recently been mauled by unknown creatures of the night. We thought it was dogs, but the neighbours with the dogs moved, and it wasn't cats or squirrels, so we set up better vigilance. We finally saw this weird creature attacking the plastic bags and suddenly realized, "That's a possum!", quickly followed with a "Yuk!". Naturally enough, when locals said "possum" we thought of cute Australian possums. As you can see by the picture, cute is one word you would NOT use to describe an Opossum here.

Our rubbish attacking Opossum.

Mavis Beacon

An enjoyable typing tutor program we are using is called “Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing”, by Broderbund. The children have competitions to see who gets the fastest, and it intersperses the lessons with games – which are really lessons in another form. They had great fun picking on David who tried using his normal 2+ finger typing “method” and getting slower in the lessons than they were getting!

Another Aussie in America

Interesting Web site
www.aussieinamerica.com
Lana discovered this very interesting site whilst looking up taxidermy and Australian quarantine laws. A lady married to an American writes it and she has many cultural comparisons that certainly resonate with us. Be sure to read the story “Squirrelly ways” in the wildlife section, a list of 300 words that are confusing and her description of Possums. Lana couldn’t tell the squirrel story to David without laughing continually during her explanation.

iTunes and Airtunes

We organize all of our music and sound files using iTunes. It is a free sound library software available from Apple and is very easy to use. When linked to an iPod it becomes a portable and flexible music library. Now Apple has released a little box called Airtunes. This is basically a wireless base station that can connect to a sound system. From our main computer (with a wireless card), iTunes sends the music, or audio book, or radio show we wish to play across the house to the Airtunes which is plugged into the speaker system. Now the computer is linked to the house and we can all hear the music very well. The Airtunes thing is about $120 US.