Thinks...
that was the year that was
Thunk on or about 20th January 2006
2006 already. Where does the time go?
Hmm
Actually, that's a good question. Where does time go? Minutes are passing as I write this. Where are they now? A topic for another thinks perhaps.
That's enough of that. It's been another up and down year. At the beginning of the year I got a bit depressed about my job (pining for the fjords). I think this must be a new year/post Christmas thing as it seems to be happening again. In February I had a bit of a thunk about St Valentine but I think my brain must have seized up after that because I didn't do much thunking again until August.
Winter was once again a season of colds and 'flu in Sydney. This time I blame a combination of Robert and pre-school and me commuting on the train. This may explain the hiatus in my thunks.
November saw Dave Roberts' 50th birthday, the occasion of another thunk. The cold winds from Valhalla are definitely starting to pick up. I guess it'll be worse in 10 years.
Robert
Robert started pre-school this year, to the satisfaction of all concerned. Robert loves it. He started off at two days a week but after about six months he asked if he could go an extra day. We compromised on an extra half day. This year he will be going three full days.
He turned four this August and is now a fully fledged boy. Any toddler-hood symptoms have been left behind. He is learning to swim - a couple of weeks ago he swam the length of our 8 metre pool. He is learning to read - he reads one of his own bedtime stories each night, along with one each from Pamela and me.
And, really importantly, he no longer gets stressed out at being baby-sat. This is a huge advantage for Pamela and me as we can now buy some time with money and go out and do grown-up things like going to the movies.
For a full list of Robert's adventures this year, check out the 2005 archives.
Pamela
It has been a big year for Pamela on the writing front. Her biographical novel of Mary McKillop's childhood, The Black Dress has been published and seems to be selling well. It has been well reviewed - for example in The Age/Sydney Morning Herald.
Also, her DCA (Doctor of Creative Arts) will be finished this year. Part of this consists of writing a novel. All 120,000 words of it are already in the 4th or 5th draft. It is a fantasy novel for adults and will (of course) become a fantasy trilogy - admittedly of only three books. We are hoping it will sell so well that I can retire.
2006
This may be famous last words but it looks like 2006 will bear a strong resemblance to 2005. Likely events are :
1. Pamela gets her DCA
2. Pamela gets her fantasy novel published
3. Stephen finishes writing his book (I did get 30,000 words written last year - need to double that this year)
4. Robert swims 50 metres
5. Robert is reading real books
That's about it really. A Happy New Year to all my readers.
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