Paul and the fans
Sydney in December, singing and socialising... Warning: One month in a post coming up with LOTS of photos!!
Phew again! Got here in plenty of time for the Hamlet production by the Belvoire St Theatre with Paul's friend Max Reibl providing the musical backdrop. Paul and I knew we had to be back by about December 2 to start rehearsals for the 2013 Noel Noel Brandenburg season, but as soon as we heard Max was doing the music for Hamlet just prior to that, and the final night was December 1, our arrival date moved back one day! The arrival date slipped back even earlier, when I heard there was a workshop at our local church on creativity the day before. It was one of those, it would be nice if I get there sort of things but I won't kill myself trying. But we quite easily managed it!
We landed in Pat and Ray's front yard Friday night 29 December, feeling so comfortable, like we had never left! Church the next day felt slightly more strange as our kids were in new Sabbath Schools and we were in a new church building, but still very comfortable. It was wonderful to be so welcomed and appreciated by our church family (read given new job/volunteering suggestions post haste!!).
The afternoon program on creativity was a real inspiration to me. I have always pigeon-holed others in my immediate circle as creative, but not so much myself. I guess over the last few weeks and months I had been in the process of changing that view. I now see creativity is not so much an action potential/all or nothing sort of thing, but more like a muscle that I need to exercise more, if I want it to get stronger. We had been watching Todd Sampson's excellent documentary series Redesign My Brain, on iview in the caravan (all on youtube now, if you can't get into your abc shop!). It was so timely, as we have been having lots of discussions this year about neuroplasticity and helping our kids, and ourselves, to have great brains! These concept have been less of a flight of fancy with the background of neurological deficits/learning disorders in our family and friends and all of us getting older! (Here is a link to a talk by the principal of my nephew's school in Canada, Barbara Arrowsmith Young, introducing the concepts we have been mulling over and working on). So back to the original point - I need to create more time for creative pursuits of all flavours in my life, both for myself and others!
That evening we had an impromptu dinner at Yolly and Mick's, with Ali and Mat and (most of) our kids. That sure felt like home also! Sascha ended up sleeping over as Isaac had already organised a sleepover with a friend from church, and Sascha was feeling socially put/left out by his proactive older brother! Isaac felt left out by missing out on Saturday evening so there was time for a little play when I picked up Sascha next morning.
The afternoon program on creativity was a real inspiration to me. I have always pigeon-holed others in my immediate circle as creative, but not so much myself. I guess over the last few weeks and months I had been in the process of changing that view. I now see creativity is not so much an action potential/all or nothing sort of thing, but more like a muscle that I need to exercise more, if I want it to get stronger. We had been watching Todd Sampson's excellent documentary series Redesign My Brain, on iview in the caravan (all on youtube now, if you can't get into your abc shop!). It was so timely, as we have been having lots of discussions this year about neuroplasticity and helping our kids, and ourselves, to have great brains! These concept have been less of a flight of fancy with the background of neurological deficits/learning disorders in our family and friends and all of us getting older! (Here is a link to a talk by the principal of my nephew's school in Canada, Barbara Arrowsmith Young, introducing the concepts we have been mulling over and working on). So back to the original point - I need to create more time for creative pursuits of all flavours in my life, both for myself and others!
That evening we had an impromptu dinner at Yolly and Mick's, with Ali and Mat and (most of) our kids. That sure felt like home also! Sascha ended up sleeping over as Isaac had already organised a sleepover with a friend from church, and Sascha was feeling socially put/left out by his proactive older brother! Isaac felt left out by missing out on Saturday evening so there was time for a little play when I picked up Sascha next morning.
The next reason for our rush back came that evening with my sister Kathy and her husband Andrew. I have never seen or studied Hamlet before so I had no idea what to expect and was slightly apprehensive it would be beyond me. It turned out I really loved it! The music was delightful (why we were there) but so was the setting, acting, direction and, of course, language and story. I kept hearing so many little cliches that fill the English language and thinking "Ah ha, that's where that one comes from! For example Neither a borrower nor a lender be; to thine ownself be true; Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't; Get thee to a nunnery; and, of course, the To be or not to be soliloquy. I am so glad to be married to my husband, who either performs in, or has friends who perform in, such wonderful, creative and artistic endeavors. I would very rarely see such things if I didn't have such a "good" reason!! I know, art for art's sake is good for the soul, but I tend to get caught up in the busyness of life and not make enough time to let it do it's important work on me!
The true reason for our being in Sydney rather than further afield in December, Paul's annual Christmas gig with the Australian Brandenburg Choir, was our next task and one of Paul's highlights of the year. With my parents up in Port Hedland for 6 weeks over the end of year period we have had a free house in Sydney to live in and no troublesome work clashes to sort out, so really it has been a breeze as compared to normal at this crazy time of year.
This year I took both Isaac and Alexander along with me to one of the concerts at Angel Place (recorded for a new Christmas album to be released next year) and it was hardly any trouble at all to keep them still and quiet for the whole affair. They really have grown up so much this year!! We all loved it. We also loved taking Dom out for dinner with us to Jamie's Italian while Pat and Ray (and Glenna, Pat's cousin) went to the early show. We also loved running around the city playing spys, and checking out the harbour sights, in the cool of the early evening. Dom enjoyed going out to second dinner with the oldies at Wagamama and heading home on the train and bus with them while the big boys and I went to the later show. Ok Ok! There was a little juggling here and there but nowhere near the usual required intervention of both grandmothers in our December childcare arrangements! My attendence of the Noel Noel concerts each year is both an oasis of calm and the eye in the storm of this time! This year the storm was been more of a summer shower but Noel Noel gets more and more precious to me every year. Thanks again, Paul, for who you are and what you do!!
Last cultural event for us, and purely for enjoyment, was going to see Mim doing her stuff in Handel's Messiah at the Opera House. It really was spectacular and Mim shone! Mum and Dad used to drag us along as kids to People's Messiahs a fair bit, so a lot was familiar and brought back warm Christmassy feelings! Prior to seeing Mim, Paul and I had one quick visit with her and Richard and the kids in Mosman where they were holed up for December. It was really lovely to see them and their girls, who are shooting up! We polished off a baked potato meal with great gusto, and I think it will become a standard at our house, just as it is in theirs!
The true reason for our being in Sydney rather than further afield in December, Paul's annual Christmas gig with the Australian Brandenburg Choir, was our next task and one of Paul's highlights of the year. With my parents up in Port Hedland for 6 weeks over the end of year period we have had a free house in Sydney to live in and no troublesome work clashes to sort out, so really it has been a breeze as compared to normal at this crazy time of year.
This year I took both Isaac and Alexander along with me to one of the concerts at Angel Place (recorded for a new Christmas album to be released next year) and it was hardly any trouble at all to keep them still and quiet for the whole affair. They really have grown up so much this year!! We all loved it. We also loved taking Dom out for dinner with us to Jamie's Italian while Pat and Ray (and Glenna, Pat's cousin) went to the early show. We also loved running around the city playing spys, and checking out the harbour sights, in the cool of the early evening. Dom enjoyed going out to second dinner with the oldies at Wagamama and heading home on the train and bus with them while the big boys and I went to the later show. Ok Ok! There was a little juggling here and there but nowhere near the usual required intervention of both grandmothers in our December childcare arrangements! My attendence of the Noel Noel concerts each year is both an oasis of calm and the eye in the storm of this time! This year the storm was been more of a summer shower but Noel Noel gets more and more precious to me every year. Thanks again, Paul, for who you are and what you do!!
Last cultural event for us, and purely for enjoyment, was going to see Mim doing her stuff in Handel's Messiah at the Opera House. It really was spectacular and Mim shone! Mum and Dad used to drag us along as kids to People's Messiahs a fair bit, so a lot was familiar and brought back warm Christmassy feelings! Prior to seeing Mim, Paul and I had one quick visit with her and Richard and the kids in Mosman where they were holed up for December. It was really lovely to see them and their girls, who are shooting up! We polished off a baked potato meal with great gusto, and I think it will become a standard at our house, just as it is in theirs!
Unfortunately for Paul, his singing had him in Melbourne on Dec 7. I had the pleasure of playing dressups that night with my old uni friends at Meg's 40th Great Gatsby themed party. Kath and I really enjoyed choosing our clothes and accessories at The Wardobe in Chatswood. Kathy had an early 60s themed party for the same weekend. It sure brought home to me why kids love getting dressed up and why as adults we really need to do it more!! So, the outfit finding and wearing was fun, but the party was really awesome also. SO great to see most of the crew again. It turned out to be Tim and Cass's 10th anniversary that day so there was a double reason to celebrate! (We missed seeing those guys on our first trip up the east coast as they were in Noosa. We plan to rectify that problem over the next few days as we do our last hurrah east coast soiree!) Click on the pictures below to uncrop the heads!
Much of early December was taken up with organisational jobs like getting the kids back to Macquarie College next year. And of course for Dom, making his debut!! He is really so excited and loved getting his uniform and doing his preschool assessment. The big boys were pleased to have a little play with their friends on the Megamania toys serendipitously present on the day! Dom's assessment precipitated a chance to have a couple of good chats with the special education teacher at Maquarie College (who looks after both learning difficulties and the SWOP (Students With Outstanding Potential) classes) about the current state of play at the school, and in Australia generally, about neuroplasticity and learning. That was all very interesting!! We also visited Sydney Distance Education Primary School and had a chance to farewell, thank, and meet the boys teachers face-to-face. Thanks Dylan, Margaret and Michelle!
There has been a bit of Christmas shopping, Carols x2, intermittant snow based sensory play, food preparation and consumption and a lot of catching up with family and friends for the rest of the month. There has also been time for catching up on washing, cleaning, doing some gardening and finally getting this blog in order after some significant detrimental impacts of Paul and I hiding away in the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini! My last, still only partially completed, job has been sorting through the significant pile of mail that our parents have been collecting for us over the last nearly 12 months. Aaah, there have been some significant drawbacks to this year. None of those drawbacks, however, include ironing, vacuuming, organising childcare for clashing work schedules, packing school lunches and doing music practice. Those sorts of things are all just ahead of us! From these and other such home-life joys, save me!!
The Tenorio family Christmas was held at Pat and Ray's on the day before Christmas. I had plenty of fun in the garden on the day, both before and during official proceedings. Ray had just got a second hand mulcher and Emily and I enjoyed feeding it with some prunings. We all had a great time and great food and it was plenty low key enough! It was wonderful to see Rich and Al and their kids after a year away. Hopefully we can spend some more time with them in January before we restart the madness of our normal lives! We stayed Christmas Eve at Pat and Ray's and Ray woke up unwell. Andrew helped us out with some supplies from the San and we all headed to Turramurra to have a Hospital In The Home program going at our place while the rest of us celebrated Christmas at Kathy's place. Once Ray started giving me cheek again, on one of my checking up visits, I felt much happier!
Boxing day sales, more socialising and blogging have rounded out the end of December to date.
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