The Plunge Down Under

An Ordinary Life

Recently I came across a blog written by a fellow expat living in Australia titled "In Search of a Life Less Ordinary."  The title resonated with me, so I bookmarked the page and have gone back a few times to read his posts.  Is that what we are after, I wondered, a life less ordinary?  Is that why we find ourselves living in Melbourne, Australia? Is it a good goal? Perhaps, and yet, by far the majority of our time is spent doing very ordinary things.  It might sound glamorous to move to the other side of the world, but the reality is that most of our days are spent dealing with the mundane.  Grocery shopping, folding laundry, going to school, completing homework assignments, compiling reports, responding to Blackberry emails, and sweeping the kitchen floor for what feels like the twentieth time in two days.

"All Good Things," a Review of Sarah Turnbull's New Memoir

I can't remember a time in my life when I haven't had a stack of books on my bedside table.  The stack typically includes several books I have started but haven't found time yet to finish, one or two non-fiction books on a relevant topic in my day to day life, one or two books that are on my "should read" list, an old favorite for when insomnia strikes, and often a book that I am reading out loud to one of my kids.  Occasionally, perhaps once every two months, I will open a book and find myself completely consumed.  Every moment of the day that I am not actually reading the book, I will be thinking about it and rearranging my schedule so I can get back to reading.

Meet Charlie Bucket, or the Power of Good Literature

The news headlines in recent years are downright depressing when it comes to the affects of technology on childhood.  Earlier this week I clicked on a link that proclaimed the death of childhood due to too much screen time.  Perhaps fortunately I could not get the article to load on my phone so I didn't end up reading it.  I can pretty much guess the content, however.  I need look no further than my own six-year-old's birthday wish list for next month:  

1.  An ipad

2.  An ipad-mini

3.  An ipod touch that he is allowed to use 24/7  

4.  An iphone

5.  His own laptop computer

Weekending

I woke up to the sounds of birds in the predawn hours this morning.  I won't say that they were singing. I have only come across one or two Australian birds whose sounds could be classified as melodic, but their noise was welcome just the same.  No doubt in another week or two I will be fed up with the 5:30am alarm just outside our window, but for this weekend it was one more sign that winter is on its way out.  After Friday's dose of cutting, blustery rain straight off the southern ocean, that is welcome news.

The weather has not been my primary concern this weekend, however.  James brought home the dreaded news at the end of last week that he is expected to show up to school on Monday dressed in costume as his favorite book character.  Now I am all in favor of Book Week, and anything that will get children excited about books.  Anything that does not require me to come up with a costume, that is. Rather than face the troublesome issue on Saturday, I decided to focus on food instead.

First, a walk with Ross to our favorite cafe for afternoon tea.  He ordered a piccolo latte, I stuck with my usual flat white, and then added on a slice of orange poppyseed cake.

Winter Light

We recently passed the three year anniversary of our arrival in Melbourne.  The sudden shock of landing in winter, in a different hemisphere, is one that we will not quickly forget.  Despite the promise of palm trees just behind our house, we discovered that winters in Melbourne can be very cold and rainy.

Saving the Family Dinner Hour

Moms fight many battles over the course of raising children.  Those battles begin early: sleeping routines for infants, toddlers who are finicky eaters, three-year-old tantrum throwers, preschoolers who know everything, primary aged children who refuse to complete schoolwork, teens who insist that they could not care less about a particular consequence imposed by parents.  Then there are the battles over electronic devices, screen time, and social media websites, to name but a few of the many dilemmas facing the modern parent.