Month: September 2009

Family & Parenting, Things We Should Talk About at the Dinner Table8 Comments

Teaching moments

mimbles

The drive to school is about 5 minutes give or take depending on traffic lights. Most mornings that time is spent telling people to stop squabbling or lecturing them about the unwisdom of making me ask 20 times for them to do something that has to be done every single morning. But every so often I find myself having one of those conversations that come out of nowhere and make me sorry the trip is so short. Today is Grandparents Day at school and for some reason David was speculating on what it would be like if your grandparents were … Continue reading Teaching moments

Miscellaneous3 Comments

Spotted in Waitara this morning

mimbles

An enormous 4WD thingy (I’m so not a car person) with the following things plastered across its rear end: A fish symbolA sticker with the text “Sportsmen for McCain”A sticker with the text “McCain + Palin”A Scouts decal I was…disconcerted. Has someone gone and developed a teleportation device or something? ‘Cause that vehicle seemed a little out of place – though, sadly, only a little. (I may be paraphrasing on the sticker texts, I did consider taking a photo but on reflection I thought perhaps better not.) Continue reading Spotted in Waitara this morning

Feminism5 Comments

Why congratulations?

mimbles

So, it’s like this, some people you know are getting married. They may be close friends, relatives perhaps, or merely acquaintances. They are a cis-gendered, heterosexual couple with an unremarkable age difference, they share the same beliefs and cultural heritage. You’ve just been told they are engaged, or perhaps you’re writing a message for them on the occasion of their wedding. There are a number of things you might say but I’ll bet “Congratulations!” is right there at the top of the list of appropriate sentiments to express. It has certainly been my default message, “Congratulations and best wishes, love … Continue reading Why congratulations?

Family & Parenting, Historical reenactment3 Comments

Clans on the Coast

mimbles

I’m sunburned. So is Adam. But for some reason the kids seem fine, at worst they have a slight rosy glow on the cheeks. Yeah, I completely forgot to take sunscreen with us today…look, it was DARK when we left the house, the sun was the last thing on my mind! We dragged ourselves out of bed at 5:00am and managed to be on the road a bit before 6:00am with half a lumber yard in the back of the car. Pretending to be Vikings involves lots of wood. Made it to Nelson Bay by about 8:00am and got all … Continue reading Clans on the Coast

Blog Link-ups and Memes, Feminism, Keeping the Masses Entertained, Pets and Other Wildlife2 Comments

Link-fest No. 12 + DUFC

mimbles

One of the reasons there’s been so little blogging going on around here lately is that I’m re-reading The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett at the moment. In fact I’m fighting the urge to go back to my book right now! Here’s why: Guest post by Linda Gillard at Rhapsody in Books reviewing the seriesETA: Another lovely review of the Lymond series – Been There, Dunnett by Marjorie Leithead at Textualities Anyhoo, have some links: The 16th Down Under Feminists Carnival this month is hosted by Hexy at Hexpletive. Ariane’s Unsolicited careers advice for high school kids. Lauredhel’s recent posts … Continue reading Link-fest No. 12 + DUFC