As promised, I will bring everyone up to speed on the current state-of-play for our home upgrades/improvements/etc. They seemed to have stalled a little. To begin with, our bedroom, pretty as it is, hasn't actually changed at all since we put the new bed in place. We still have big plans which include painting one wall and a new chest of drawers, but recently we have found our weekends disappearing so fast that we simply don't achieve anything beyond catching up on the cleaning that didn't happen during the week. This past weekend, apart from the dog poo hunt, we only managed to begin planning the backyard makeover.

Now I will explain how it is actually everyone else's fault. To start with, I'm going to blame the weather. Yes, winter sucks. Actually, I quite like some aspects of winter, as I have said before, but at this time of year I leave for work in the dark and return in the dark and ofen go for a whole week without seeing my house in daylight. Its not the cold I mind. Well, that can be annoying also. Its the dark. I find I can't see as well.

I will also blame work, for making me work such long hours and being so inconveniently located in Melbourne rather than say, Avalon. I would like to work at the University of Melbourne, Avalon campus. I could also watch the planes at the airport and whistle jaunty tunes, 'cause that's ok at Avalon. Not so at the Parkville campus. If I had a dollar for every time I've been told to stop whistling that jaunty tune, I'd have a dollar, or close to.

Who else? Public Transport! I know its hard to believe but Connex and V-Line have actively conspired to prevent me from fixing up my backyard. I have no idea how they are doing it and that just makes me even more angry and frustrated.

And the dog. The dog does its business in the backyard, not only because it has no other option, but also because it wants to prevent me from actually improving the yard. So it "mines" the place. Admittedly, dog poo and landmines are not the exact same thing, but you can see what I am up against.

Princess and Little Man do what they can to prevent me from doing what I need to do. They keep me awake at night with their crying and their "oh, my poor gums are sore because of new teeth" and "daddy, I had a nightmare. Do sharks eat people?". And during the day its, "Da-da-da-da" and extremely annoyingly cute smiles and desperate attempts to walk to daddy, with arms outstretched, hoping to be caught and cuddled. Princess always wants to play games and chat and dance and sing and daddy has to be their to applaud and help and cuddle and so on and it never ends. What do they want from me?

DW says I just make excuses to not do stuff in the backyard but she chipped the paint on the new bed while vacuuming. And she says I act like a child. Well, she does more. Anyway, because I am not a child like some DWs I know, I will overcome all the obstacles and start doing something about the backyard, beyond clearing the mines and occasionally mowing. I will dedicate myself to finding some computer software to help me design the ULTIMATE backyard, complete with Pirate Ship, putting green and the world's greatest sandpit. And all shall tremble before me. DW thinks I have delusions of grandeur, but she will tremble as well, though possibly with laughter. I'll take whatever trembling I can get.

Now, you may be wondering how I manage to fit both feet into my mouth at once. If so, I suggest you re-read the above and see if its not obvious.

Ciao!

Thought for the Day: Failure is not an option. Its a life-choice.