Crowded Collaroy
I've been at the Collaroy Castle for the past few days with my cousin and cousin in law and their two kids.
Having kids around drastically changes the atmosphere. It's a lot louder and I have frequently been climbed on or spoken to whilst in the midst of doing something else. No studying has been done while I've been here and less work has been done whether it's promotional work for Black Dog Pushups or looking for jobs.
Still, it's not been an upsetting time. I get along with everyone and the kids are pretty good and un-childerbeastlike.
CiL is from New Zealand, and has been living in Sweden for the past eight years. I think it caught up with him. He was telling me he felt isolated in Sweden on account of the closed nature of the culture and the cold and darkness that comes at this time of year was really wearing on him. Apparently he said to my cousin that he had to get out one way or another, so they are making the move to the other side of the world. He's been surfing every day that he's been here and looks very happy.
My aunt in Sweden, on the other hand is very much opposed to them making the move to New Zealand. Apparently she is very opposed to my uncle coming out to Australia to take care of the house too.
I've moved around a lot, and it has become natural to me, but I know that not everyone reacts to it in the same way. Marrying someone from the other side of the world does present these issues.
I feel like I have more in common with this cousin that with my other cousin. I'm happy having all of them over, but the elder of the two cousins seems to give off the perfectly organised and settled down mum vibe. The current cousin and cousin in law seem to intuitively understand the sort of things I've been dealing with recently.
A plan was devised last weekend to keep Collaroy Castle in the family. Cousing and CiL suggested letting the house out for a while to raise some money for renovations so we could enclose the area under the house, to build extra space in front of the house, and to improve the top garage unto a self contained unit. We could keep a connection with the place while renovations were being done and let out part of it to bring in some money so the project would be self financing. I'm not at all handy so it seems like a lot to organise and take care of, but it might also be a way to keep the place around. In the end, the decision will come down to my uncle who is not likely to be coming back anymore now that he is getting into his mid 70s (and now that my aunt has apparently said if he goes to Australia he might come back to an empty house) and my dad who as far as I can tell still plans to sell the place in a few years.
They have also done some work on the verandah and it now looks much better with the walls and doors re-stained and the main dining room table moved within view of the beach.
In other news, Black Dog Pushups - Melbourne is going ahead. On Friday I will have company as an AFL player who is renowned for his ability to do pushups comes along accompanied by a photographer from a local paper. I am nearly at 100 Twitter followers, and have been retweeted and followed by athletes including Wallabies, politicians, journalists, actors, a famous Catholic priest, and plenty of ordinary people who share my concerns.
My Twitter account was suspended over the weekend on account of me sending unsolicited tweets, so I will have to be careful about doing that in the future. Luckily there are now quite a few people following me who have a pretty strong list of followers themselves and they can help with the promotion.
I had a firefighting gear workout yesterday, and kept my goggles down this time.
YW: Row 400m, 15 kettlebell swings, 10 pullups, 15 30kg thrusters, 10 burpees - 5 rounds. I got a bit dizzy just before the last round and took my helmet off but still managed to finish in 31 minutes. I got some funny looks, but mostly encouraging looks (and one photograph from a trainer who was passing by.)
Back to Canberra shortly.
Having kids around drastically changes the atmosphere. It's a lot louder and I have frequently been climbed on or spoken to whilst in the midst of doing something else. No studying has been done while I've been here and less work has been done whether it's promotional work for Black Dog Pushups or looking for jobs.
Still, it's not been an upsetting time. I get along with everyone and the kids are pretty good and un-childerbeastlike.
CiL is from New Zealand, and has been living in Sweden for the past eight years. I think it caught up with him. He was telling me he felt isolated in Sweden on account of the closed nature of the culture and the cold and darkness that comes at this time of year was really wearing on him. Apparently he said to my cousin that he had to get out one way or another, so they are making the move to the other side of the world. He's been surfing every day that he's been here and looks very happy.
My aunt in Sweden, on the other hand is very much opposed to them making the move to New Zealand. Apparently she is very opposed to my uncle coming out to Australia to take care of the house too.
I've moved around a lot, and it has become natural to me, but I know that not everyone reacts to it in the same way. Marrying someone from the other side of the world does present these issues.
I feel like I have more in common with this cousin that with my other cousin. I'm happy having all of them over, but the elder of the two cousins seems to give off the perfectly organised and settled down mum vibe. The current cousin and cousin in law seem to intuitively understand the sort of things I've been dealing with recently.
A plan was devised last weekend to keep Collaroy Castle in the family. Cousing and CiL suggested letting the house out for a while to raise some money for renovations so we could enclose the area under the house, to build extra space in front of the house, and to improve the top garage unto a self contained unit. We could keep a connection with the place while renovations were being done and let out part of it to bring in some money so the project would be self financing. I'm not at all handy so it seems like a lot to organise and take care of, but it might also be a way to keep the place around. In the end, the decision will come down to my uncle who is not likely to be coming back anymore now that he is getting into his mid 70s (and now that my aunt has apparently said if he goes to Australia he might come back to an empty house) and my dad who as far as I can tell still plans to sell the place in a few years.
They have also done some work on the verandah and it now looks much better with the walls and doors re-stained and the main dining room table moved within view of the beach.
In other news, Black Dog Pushups - Melbourne is going ahead. On Friday I will have company as an AFL player who is renowned for his ability to do pushups comes along accompanied by a photographer from a local paper. I am nearly at 100 Twitter followers, and have been retweeted and followed by athletes including Wallabies, politicians, journalists, actors, a famous Catholic priest, and plenty of ordinary people who share my concerns.
My Twitter account was suspended over the weekend on account of me sending unsolicited tweets, so I will have to be careful about doing that in the future. Luckily there are now quite a few people following me who have a pretty strong list of followers themselves and they can help with the promotion.
I had a firefighting gear workout yesterday, and kept my goggles down this time.
YW: Row 400m, 15 kettlebell swings, 10 pullups, 15 30kg thrusters, 10 burpees - 5 rounds. I got a bit dizzy just before the last round and took my helmet off but still managed to finish in 31 minutes. I got some funny looks, but mostly encouraging looks (and one photograph from a trainer who was passing by.)
Back to Canberra shortly.