Update

It rained. A good soaking. Everything is green again.


Also, forgot to mention. Military manoevres recently involved Vietnam style choppers flying around the city in between buildings for days. Here's how close they were, and my office is only on the 33rd floor.


Napalm in the morning and all that.

The year that was 2009

Can't really believe we're at the end of 2009 to be honest. And that another new decade is about the start. New millenium last time, so I guess no real biggie. One of the more "interesting" years we as a group of late 30 somethings have lived through. Somewhere up there with the year of 9/11, the fall of the Berlin wall, peace (of a kind) in Northern Ireland. And in there are those fun drink fuelled Celtic Tiger years of the late 90's. Ye know what though, its really f&cking sad that it has fallen apart so badly, and so many peope are being effected that just don't deserve it. The people that didn't totally lose the run of themselves during the so called boom times.

Living here, its too easy for me to say it didn't have to be that way. But it didn't. Whatever way this country has managed to get through the year without a recession, despite having a new and somewhat naiive government in power through it all, I think it comes down to the fact that ultimately, the people do not tolerate incompetence or corruption in their officials. And have had a fiscally responsible government (not so much now mind you). I never once voted for FF at home. Never. Despite the 'good times' under their so called reign and good time Bertie. Too many people did. And so it comes to where we're at now. The country on its knees. Over 12% unemployment. And the same old f&ckers running the show. I've said it before in this blog somewhere, but we just tolerate far too much cr&p from 'representatives' either of the State or the Church - and look where its got us. Enough - surely? Stand up and get rid of the biggest shower of crooks to call themselves politicians. Tell the Catholic Church to sort themselves out or there won't be another penny in that collection box. And certainly no more 'vocations'.

End of rant. It just makes me sad to read the daily dose of 80's style news in the Irish Times everyday. We said it could never be as bad as the 80's again. Thankfully its not, but man, we're certainly doing our best.

As for the rain you've had. Well that's another story altogether. Been in drought again here - since April really. We need a bit of rain - apparantly some coming this weekend hopefully. That said, its just been incredible - and being able to maximise the use of the house, pool and garden with the girls is lovely. Aibhe is turning into a mermaid. At weekends, she's in the pool 4 maybe 5 times a day. And she's close to pool safe (not that any child ever is completely pool safe) but we can let her swim on her own and just watch from the sides now. She's not even 4.

Emma. There's a different character. Still a nut job, but getting a little easier. We had finally reached the end of our wits and tethers with her recently having not had a 3 hour consecutive uninterrupted spell of sleep in several months and she was a fiery kid during the day. Cue professional advice from a sleep specialist, 1 night of unadulterated blood curdling screaming (perhaps an hour and a half in total) and the next night, waved as she got into bed and slept without a whimper through to 5am (thats waking time here). And became a happier day time child for it. Mad stuff altogether.

So next year will probably see me doing the odd bit of travel into Asia. Big place and all that but hopefully it will be limited to a week here and there. Tokyo is first off the blocks so am expecting to see their bright lights come March sometime.

I went to the Greenday gig here last week. One of Alissa's mates had a spare ticket so myself and Mike went on a nice date to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre together. Have to say I was surprised at the mix of the crowd - was expecting it to be a lot younger but I'd say it ranged from 5 to 45 (excluding the Mums and Dads that brought the kids along). And while the show bordered on cabaret occasionally, I admit it was one of the best live performances I've ever seen. Springsteen still gets the number 1 spot, but these guys run a good 2nd place (would put our very own U2 to shame with the energy and total lack of attitude from them). 2 and a half hours and the guy did not let up once and Christ, he knows how to constantly work the crowd. I've since crept back into my sheltered shell, listening to them in the safety of my car.

At the same venue 4 days later, Alissa and Aibhe went to the Wiggles concert. Different set-up and less swearing I reckon.

Christmas shopping done. Cards & packages sent. The arrival of the folks gets closer. Thoughts and memories of Marian and Jen come back regular and clear. And Tony M, R.I.P. - I simply remember his constant smiling face and his laugh. And his shouting 'Shoot the Crows' at me in Gibs. Just too young and incredibly unfair.

So, recession or no recession, enjoy, and a peaceful and safe Christmas all. I leave you with the a couple of defining pictures of Aibhe and Emma for the year....... till 2010, over and under.

2 months worth. Still. Not much to say?

Remember those dust storms we had? Mad stuff altogether. Now I can get some semblence of what a sand storm would be like. Taste's like sh&t.

17^th October

At 17 months, Emma ditched the cot.

We didn’t have a lot of choice to be fair. As I was lying down on Aibhe’s bed one evening reading Hansel and Gretal, having put Emma into her cot (screaming) about 5 minutes earlier, I heard a noise in the kitchen. Alissa had left for pilates a little earlier, so, I wasn’t expecting anyone to be wandering about our house to be honest. I walked out and stood in shock as Emma walked over to me with her dummies (soothers) in hand. I think I said something like ‘What the f&ck are you doing here?’ I picked her up and put her back into her cot, back into Aibhe’s room and tried to pretend I hadn’t just seen that, and thought maybe Emma would forget what she had done. 5 minutes later I went back in and she was dangling on the outside of the cot, about to drop to the ground (on which I had placed pillows, just in case). Out of control. She did it again in the middle of the night, so the next day, decision made, she was going into her bed. That was 2 days ago, and while I have been in Auckland for these days, apparently she has settled into her new sleeping arrangements brilliantly and is altogether chuffed with herself. Can’t talk for sh&t, but sleeps in a bed. So many people talk about their kids getting to 2 years of age and over before they move from the cot. Ours? 19 months and now 17 months respectively. What the f&ck’s going on?

Auckland again. Really have not been doing too much travelling for the past 6 weeks or so, this was due. Pretty much pissed rain for the entire time I was here, made me feel at home. They’re a mad bunch the Kiwi’s. They whinge and moan like they’re suffering death by a thousand cuts when am in Brisbane – usually about stuff they really can’t control. But when I get here and sit down and chat with them, they’re nice as pie and all elements of confrontation disappear. It’s almost as if it’s a case of them just needing to be shown a little love. It’s the small island nation beside a big one syndrome I reckon.

So then, how are things? Am conscious that Christmas is a coming, meaning we’re getting to almost a year since we were home, and there are some people I have not been in touch with since. Terrible terrible stuff. Two way street and all that. Having lived abroad for quite a chunk of my life now (8 years all up counting Prague, Amsterdam, Australia, not to mention the two 4 month stints in the U.S.) I do realise how hard it is for those at home to find the time to keep in touch with all those who have left homes’ shores. For me, the idea of this blog was to make some effort at keeping as many up to date with the generic goings on of the Foley family life in Brisbane, so when we get to actually talk or e-mail (imagine – e-mail is almost become dated as a social contact medium already!) we can cut to the chase. Whatever “the chase” may be. Not the recession that’s for sure.

The good news is that the folks are coming back again after Christmas for a few weeks. Will be almost a year since being home, and the girls are getting geared up for it. Nana with her stash of jelly snakes in the cupboard. Hottest time of year of course, but, they’ve done it before and know all about it. As long as Dad doesn’t go climbing hills or cycling around the city in the 40 degree heat we’ll be alright. Obviously, Sinead expecting number 2 has curtailed plans for travel for a wee while for herself Ferg & Eoin.

03^rd November

So we didn’t win any money on the ‘Greatest Horse Race on Earth’ (or race that stops a nation if ye want the real cliché). Despite Irish horses coming 2^nd and 3^rd in the Melbourne Cup. It is genuinely quite a big deal over here, and being someone that really does not ‘get’ horse racing fanatics, I still don‘t get this either. Never won anything on the Grand National at Aintree either so maybe it’s my lack of betting prowess.

We’re into our 2^nd week in Peppers resort in Kingscliff, about an hour and a half south of home, just over the New South Wales border. Amazing spot. Unbelievably good for kids. We’d thought about a week, but realised that to ‘switch off’ completely, 2 weeks would be needed. First time I’ve done a stay-put “2 weeker” for……16 years I think. That I think was the trip to Portugal with Ken, Annemarie, Deirdre and Simon if I remember rightly. The auld trollies. What I can remember of that trip is

- A helluvalot of Sangria in Villa Casa Mario

- Bar-b-q’s in the pissing rain holding umbrella's over the bbq

- Buying a gigantic bag of 'popcorn', and almost burning the villa down as we discovered it was in fact chicken feed we had bought. How the check out girl must have laughed.

- Almost crashing on the first night as I drove our rental on the wrong side of the road as we went to find booze

- A very nasty dog near the villa that scared the bejaysus out of us every time we walked down to the local bar. I should remember the bar man’s name really.

- Kiss the nightclub, where the Stereo MC’s were the band of the moment and where Deirdre flirted with the DJ's everynight. Felt like we were the only ones in there most of the time.

- Something to do with me shoving balloons up my back and not thinking bouncers would notice me taking them home.

- People doing it right behind our seats in the nightclub

- Hot chicken piri piri (pronounced with the very heavy Scottish accent of our travel agent)

10^th November

Lovely holiday had – and coming back to work was actually tough this time! Aibhe and Emma had a blast.

But, tis time for me to load this up on the blog. Back at work with a bang.

And Christmas is coming quickly.

Here's a couple of recent video clips.... listen to the end of the goat feeding carefully........

Dual citizenship. 35 degree winter. Electric shaver vs Blade

25th of August. The day I self-multiplied. Dual citizenship. I mean, if am going to live here and have my kids grow up here, it's only right that I have a voice in how the country turns out and how it treats them. It's not a betrayal of my Irish roots, I am still Irish. But I live in Australia and Australia has treated me well so far and provided me with a beautiful family and life in general. If only the Queen of England was not still a figurehead here... it would be so much easier to digest! How things would have turned out if we stayed at home in Ireland, that's all conjecture and impossible to determine, especially with all that's happening now which reads and sounds.... well, sh&te to be honest. I hope it is short lived.

So I let the month of August go without an update. Either too busy, or nothing to say. Which is it. Well, it's mainly because it was all a bit crazy. Am currently coming back from a day trip to Canberra - which, incidentally, is a sh&thole (full of roundabouts and beaurocrats) having done some interviews for another recruit in my ever expanding empire. I didn't and wouldn't choose to put somebody in place here, the local office here just happens to be full of high maintenance precious brokers and they want their own Finance person. Whatever, they can pay for it. Unfortunatley, I have to manage it. Anyway, work, boring, I know. In the last 13 days, I think I've been on something like 9 flights. Amongst all that was Sydney, where I met with the Murt fella again - only to find out there's another wee Mitchell on the way. Waaahayyyy! In for a penny wha?

Weather. I have to bring it up. While its come back down a bit, we did have the hottest August day on record in Brisbane last week. The mercury hit 35. In winter. The tail end of winter, but still. Had a few very 'warm' wonderful days, where I managed to ramp up the solar heating for the pool and myself and the little girls ventured in for the first of the 'summer' swims. Aibhe was a bit rusty to start but before too long, she was on her own, swimming from side to side, goggles on, happy as the proverbial pig and sh&te. Emma will also be a swimmer. She has no fear whatsoever, and while she doesn't know exactly where in the pool she wants to be, she just does not seem to want to be held up by anyone. We'll need to watch her. Though we knew that already.

Of course, as usual, August brought the sickness season with it. Aibhe suffered a little, but Emma copped a right dose (was bordering penumonia), which she in turn passed on to Alissa and Barb. Doctors said it was the Adno virus but we actually believe they got hit with Swine flu. The older generation are still in recovery mode, Emma - definitely herself again.

Spent a weekend in Cairns recently - we have an office up there and we hold a Queensland board meeting once a year (to make them all feel loved etc) - but the nice thing was that partners were invited. So, Alissa got to come and relax while I went to a Board meeting and then went fishing on the reef with the boys (honestly, fishing gets boring after a while - though I did catch a couple of decent sized ones), while she got pampered in a Spa and tried to chill out. And thought about the girls back home with Barb and Geoff of course. And this was when, unbeknownst to us, Emma was slowly progressing to the pneumonia stage, so there was a little unease.

Was also in a place in the Blue Mountains just outside Sydney for a few days last week - Leadership conference - bit of a right of passage for progression to the Senior Management Team - so, wouldn't say I learnt heaps, but was good (and probably nececssary) to mingle with the up and coming hot shots. A few funny little stories always come out of these events, but the start for me was eventful. I had arrived pretty bloody early into Sydney that morning, as the intention was that the non Sydney people were being picked up outside a downtown hotel to be brought to the resort (about an hour and a half from Sydney). So there I was, bright and early (well, not so bright, think Alissa and I had about 2-3 hours sleep the night before with sick kids), and the chick organising it told me the lads coming in from Melbourne were late due to a flight delay so to head off to the hotel across the road and have a coffee. Which I did, started a bit of work on the laptop while I was at it. Probably got a little too engrossed in the work, as next time I looked up, the minibus was pulling out (with my bags inside) - off it went, driving down York st without me. I realised I had no mobile numbers for those on the bus. Mild panic, mild laughter ensued. Quick decision to sprint to the next set of traffic lights to see if I could get the bus before it turned the corner. Thankfully, my recent training regime on our newly acquired treadmill at home paid off - so I stood the lights, knocked politely on the drivers window - guy looked at me like I was going to smash it and him and take over the driving (despite the fact I had spent 5 minutes talking to the Scottish muppet about half an hour earlier). During the driver's slow dawning epiphany, the other lads had opened the door and literally bundled me in, and we were off. The PA in charge of making sure we had the right numbers did not live that one down.

Been having the electric shaver vs blade debate a bit recently (with myself - I do put up some great cases forward for both sides). My conclusion? A combination is the optimum solution I believe. A quick mow with the electric to start off to remove the real length from the bristle so the blade has less "fighting" to do, followed up with a foam and hot blade shave. The latter provides the refreshing close shave feel and gets those rogue bits that the electric always seems to miss. I reckon this is also the quickest solution. And its not like I have the thickest of facial hair - am still amazedthat it goes ginger.

Anyway, Australia and its economy eh? Defies logic really and is a bit hard to explain. I just happen to be in the only country in the world to buck the big recession cycle. Should be a sign at the borders - 'No Recession here - please do not bring it with you'. Maybe they could check baggage for it. They have just reported some ridiculous growth number for the 2nd quarter this year. I think it's that people are quite willing to be optimistic and go out and blow their cash. Given interest rates could and did come down so much so fast also got people into a much more stable and better position financially - of course now interest rates are on the way up again to stop the whole inflation cycle kicking in. So anyone that wants out of the great Irish depression, ….. Brisbane's a grand spot.

Come on over, the water's warm.

Tailwinds and Buttercup

Am currently writing as I fly my way back from Perth. Tell ye what, it is a long way away. The flight over took almost 6 hours. Same country. 6 hours. The flight am currently on should take about 3 and a half. All down to the prevailing winds they say. Imagine it was like that with car journeys?

Had a couple of beers last night with an old familiar face from home – Donnacha Kennedy – weird how we find ourselves so far from where we grew up but then it seems pretty normal and natural for us. Two kids himself now, about a year behind where we are in child age stages but all very similar. He told me amount Tony Meagher and the op he’s undergoing to get the bastard stomach cancer out of him, so if anyone reading this knows Tony or sees him, please give him my best. Rough few months ahead I’m sure. It’s all a bit scary really.

So what else.

The girls are going well. Emma gets a bit crazier every day and is getting closer to real communication which will great, coz the constant pointing and grunts are all very well, but they’re not helping us too much. Aibhe’s addiction to Hi-5 is bordering on obsessive. But there are worse things. This is the latest version of our girls...

As a 5th anniversary present to ourselves, we got away last weekend without the girls to a remote Peppers resort about an hour from Brisbane – Barbie and Geoffie moved into our place to entertain the pair. We (well, I should say “I” given I was at the wheel) announced our Peppers arrival by reversing into a “small” lamp post – flooring it completely and smashing the light section. We subsequently discovered (through conversations with the guy in charge of maintenance over a cheese and wine at sunset 4WD thing) that it was one of only 2 originals left on the property. Fortunately, his view was that they were too hard to maintain and was quite happy to have to replace with a newer one. He didn’t take up my offer to reverse over the remaining one.

The place itself was very pretty, looking over the hinterlands towards the appropriately named Great Dividing range. ‘Civilisation’ practically comes to a halt after you cross these rolling mountains that stretch for about 100km in width and as far as I know, a good 500-600 km in length. The property was basically 5 star quality cabins scattered around a kind of restaurant/bar/reception HQ. The whole raison d’etre for the place is the roughly 400 Wagyu cattle bred on the 10,000 hectare property, many of which we encountered on our 4WD trip. Happy chappies they all seemed, mind you there isn’t much longevity to their free range lifestyle which gets cut short about 18 months into their existence when their most tasty bits get shipped off to Japan.

Update on the house moving thing. We’re staying put. Having done all the work to make the garden and pool as flood proof as possible, and re-done a few bits and pieces around the house, we’ve decided we like the place and basically everywhere we’ve seen recently is either just wrong, or way over-priced. As for the f&ckwit next door, well, we’ve made up our minds to just deal with her as she or her dog transgresses and to retire to the “quiet room” downstairs in the event of her doing her karaoke thing. Or if it horses down with rain of course. Would you believe, she called to our gaf one evening to apologise in general for her behaviour. The place next door to her has recently been sold and there are renovations going on in there, and it has made her realise just how noisy things are. So the visits from the cops and the letters from the neighbours didn't quite register...... She was half cut at the time I reckon, and did use the words "I'm ashamed" so I took it in good spirit. She also gave us her phone number if things get loud again, so I guess that's a big step forward.

I was working away in the Perth office yesterday when I realised the lad behind me was Irish so I said hello. About one hour later he stopped talking. Lovely lad. Another one that married an Aussie girl and came down under once the family expansion thing was on the agenda. A big fan of the GAA, he gave me a great run down of the Leinster final last weekend – go on the Dubs wha! He said he’s got Setanta Sports and is practically glued to the All Ireland games they’re constantly airing over here. Am going to keep a careful watch on his figures in the accounts going forward to make sure he’s looked after… even if he's from Meath. It's close enough to Malahide.

In front of me on the flight is a young couple, both wearing baseball caps (backwards) and ridiculous shades. They look extremely alike, which is probably why they find each other attractive and why they can’t stop snogging (and being general pests to the Qantas attendants). The bloke has just managed to spill a bottle of coke on himself and has proceeded to take his top off - annoying the sh&t out of the attendant in the process who’s been quite funny and almost mother like way of dealing with them. I think she's about to send them to their room to think about what they've done.

Well that’s all for now folks. Any news? Don’t be shy – enda.foley@cbre.com.au. Aibhe has a new bike by the way.......

Sell, sell, sell. And the end of another June.

No, the economy isn't collapsing (again). Just thought I'd share the fact that we are now eBay sellers. Successful ones. Got rid of some stuff we really weren't going to use at a half decent price. As well as the CD unit I had built to cover the fireplace in the Redmill. Brought it here but had far too many CD's for it after a while. Somebody happily gave me $50 for it. Plus we got some more space. The selling is quite addictive really once you've done it once - we've been digging around the place for anything that might be "sellable". In fairness, there really isn't very much, despite the fact that the ads say "you'd be surprised at what people want to buy - keep looking!!". Very surprised I reckon - doubt anyone wants either of those old cameras that don't work anymore which for some reason haven't been thrown in the bin yet. Hey - anyone for a broken microwave?

We've also been getting all the bits and pieces we've been intending to fix up for ages finally done. As we've been contemplating moving. 3 key issues.
1. We'd like to not be at the bottom of a big hill. Where the water pours in when the storms come. Not that the house was in any way damaged by the worst rains in 40 years or something, but the garden, the pool. Gives us the sh&ts cleaning up the debris.
2. Buttercup next door. No other words can describe her outside of "common bitch". We really dislike her. She's very very strange. Last week we were woken at midnight by her pounding incessantly on her windows and doors, clearly trying to wake someone that was in there. She woke the fricken neighbourhood, but not the comatosed muppet inside. Not for 15 minutes anyway. And she still regularly screams that song at the top of her lungs.
3. The rain keeps us awake at night. Well me anyway. Seriously. When it pisses down, our room is like being inside a spin cycle washing machine. We could move rooms. But that's down the track. Its cold down there at the moment anyway.

So we're looking around. Blissfully ignoring the fact that moving house is a terribly stressful thing to do. Nothing may come of it all and we may never get the right offer on our place. But it makes us feel better to look.

Did you know that Australia is the best performing economy in the "western world" during these economically uncertain times? This is according to the IMF. Still technically not in recession. So, come on over!! Amazing that the government here are claiming credit for it. Maybe I should give them some credit. Nah. Sorry. Rudd's a nerdy idiot who really doesn't know what he's doing. Speaking of Rudd, he was on a talk show last night the big deadsh&t - saying the same things over and over, but I couldn't really hear him coz I was still wiping the tears of laughter from my face from the interview with Sasha Baron Cohen before him. Thought it would be difficult to top Borat, but this one..... Christ he is a very funny man - his on the spot responses are instinctive and almost always side splitting. His movie will be fun.

Now I don't want to change humour too quickly, but I'm sorry, it's totally necessary. Its the end of June - today the 29th. Our thoughts turn again to Jen and those she left behind. I have her card on the shelf above my desk. Our little Georgia's 2 year anniversary was just a couple of days ago. We're currently rebuilding her garden. And of course tomorrow is the 5th year since we lost Marian. As crazy as this sounds, I don't want it to be that long since she was alive. I want her reality to be recent. I don't want time to create the illusion of distance - or of natural healing - even though it tries to happen. While there are days I can barely catch my breath with work and the kids, she still comes into my head at some point. And I want that to continue. 5 years. Her daughter Aislinn has now lived longer without her than with her. That's the impact of time that is so hard to take in. Just seems to be so many milestones we don't want to cross but the clock keeps juggernauting over them. And will continue to I know.

For Marian, Georgia and Jen. Love always.

Emma turns 1

We had a little get together for the 1 year old a couple of weeks back. On the one hand, the year has flown. On the other, I can remember most of it pretty well - it's been a challenging time for all of us. Whats weirdis that I was still with Virgin Blue when she arrived. Feels like I've been with CBRE forever. Some pics of the day... the giant Pig balloon is a gift from Godfather Ken.

I have to ask this question.

Who knew the extent of this? Did I just have a very sheltered upbringing in Malahide? Despite going to a Christian Brothers secondary school - pincipally staffed by lay teachers, I did not witness anything remotely comparable. I saw lads getting a thump - some more than others - but then they were going to turn into armed thieves and end up in Mountjoy anyway. Whether those thumpings contributed - who knows - but that was limited. I wasn't in the country when the "States of Fear" documentaries were aired. I thought incidents were isolated. Maybe it was hope. Very very naiive hope.

I've read some of the Commissions report, and I know there is absolute shock, horror, anger and the rest going on back home - especially with my generation and those I grew up with as we have similar "protected" middle class backgrounds. But come on. It's not that long ago and there is a couple of generations still out there that lived through this. That had these places right beside them. That were told by their children that this was happening but chose to ignore it. It's not an argument that "the times were different" back then. Not acceptable. I don't care where you live or what epoch you lived in - any form of child abuse is morally wrong. Whatever the role of the Church in peoples lives in the last century. Comparing the odd reactionary disciplined smack from a teacher to this shit. Not acceptable.

This has broken through the news over here - and around the world I believe. I'm unable to say anything. I'm ashamed. I know we're not the only country where its happened, but we've placed so much in the hands of the Church since independence, they control too much.

What's wrong with us as a nation? We're a small country - a land of saints and scholars. Yet we have managed to produce some of the most corrupt politicians and government officials the world has seen - including a former Taoiseach who, in some pockets (such as Dingle), is still hailed as a hero. Now many of our once revered Catholic institutions have been revealed as paedophile rings and organisers of systematic torture, guilty of running Nazi-esque concentration camps. What is wrong with us?

Is is our history of occupation? Surely that excuse is running thin a century on?

There's been so much material on this subject over the past week since the Commission's report being released that there's little else to say. Except to ask again. Who knew of this? How could anyone in all concience know this was happening and not act? How could parents not believe their children? How could a State department preside over the atrocities? How could 1 in 100 children go through these institutions and it not affect the entire generation?

Does anybody every read this guys blog http://bocktherobber.com/ ? Calls a spade a spade and restores faith somewhat. Time for people to act.

Emma's friendly nature....

So she's walking finally. A month before turning one she started - her birthday is next week. An interesting year we've had. She's mad as a fricken brush mind you. This poor boy scout was accosted on his day trip to the State Museum (dinosaur exhibition).

Now then. Other stuff. The pneumonia is passing finally for Alissa. Takes a while to shake it, but we're getting there. Of course, everyone is now coming down with little colds and there are runny noses aplenty. But, I seriously have to put this web site weather forecast report up - just for the word 'mild'. Ah yes, winter truly bites in this part of the world. That said, have had to switch off the old solar heating for the pool - no point anymore, it doesn't get above 25 degrees even on a sunny day. But, it did give us an extra couple of months in the pool and some very pleasant summertime swims. Now when we need a swim we just ask (well, we get Aibhe to "tell") Barb and Geoff that we're coming at the weekend and that they need to switch on the electrical heating in their pool. Costs a fortune to run, but sure we need the odd swim don't we.

As ye know, it certainly does rain here. This summer has been drought breaking. Further evidence to the left. That was just a few weeks back, all that grass is very quickly turning brown as its been pretty much bone dry since.

Everyone sick of talking about and hearing about the recession? Yeah, good. Us too. We're about to get our budget handed down tomorrow I think. Not as bad as back home, but still will be a dent in the finances. Thats enough about it now. We survive.

Other than that, not much news. Work is work. Actually managed a few straight weeks in the office for a change - amazing how much ye get to catch up on when not on planes interstate. For those that wish to see more of the crazy duo, a few more pics going up on www.aibhefoley.blogspot.com

I will get round to mailing people individually soon. Honest.

The trip to Noosa and the Sound of Music

Thought I'd add a few more snaps while I have a chance.

As mentioned below, the brief holiday to the Sunshine Coast was great - could have done with double the time. Only for the fact that Alissa has come down with pneumonia since we came back - not great really. Yes, pneumonia.

In other news, Aibhe is now a gymnast

This clip below lasts for 3 minutes, and for those who for some unknown reason do not know the Sound of Music verbatim, this is the part where Maria teaches the kids how to sing with the Do a deer song. Aibhe takes the part of Brigitta. The noise at the end is Emma trying desperately to grab my phone.

Back to 9 hours

It's actually easier to make phone calls and contact when the time difference is 10 hours, before the daylight savings thing kicks in. Back to 10 now, so calls need to be that little bit earlier in the morning, or late at night. Am sure the fact that Ireland is finally seeing the back of a long cold winter, and the days are lengthening is adequate consolation. Our days of course are getting that wee bit shorter (only a little mind you) and the temperatures have dropped to a balmy 27/28 during the day.

Since the last scribblings we've had Aibhe's 3rd birthday and a trip to Noosa again for a long weekend - which we have just come back from. The pictures tell the story of Aibhe's birthday.

Noosa was wonderful as per usual - the kids really are getting a lot out of the beach (and being spoilt for a few days with the Australian grandparents in the house). The main beach at Noosa had all but disappeared - I had been told stories of this happening before, but had never witnessed it. Apparantly it happens when there have been heavy rains or cyclones up the coast which generate big swells and therefore big surf which wash the sand away off the normally very sheltered beach (next to the main shopping strip). This is of course not great for the tourists (though surfers love it), so they basically wait for the weather to die down and then start pumping the sand back from an area about half a km away to recreate the beach. Takes about a week and everything is back to normal.

Another recent outing was the trip to the Brisbane eye. Not quite the size of the London version, but a bit of fun nonetheless. Any chance Dublin could get one? What kind of name could the ever so witty Dubliners come up with for it? I'll start if off - "The spinning wheel by the ........." Best answer will be published on this ever so popular blog.

Aibhe has developed an obsession with the movie 'Mama Mia' and therefore the music of Abba. She pretty much dances her way through the entire set and knows all the dance moves - to the point where she actually copies the main character 'Donna' (Meryl Streep) without having to look at the TV. Though she will not perform if she believes you are looking at her, therefore one has to pretend to be looking elsewhere (the reflection in the glass sometimes does the trick)while she does her stuff. We have added the 'Sound of Music' (to Aibhe, its 'Doh, a deer') into the mix for her (just for us to get a break from Mama Mia) and it's quite amazing to see how suddenly she fell in love with it. Maria this, Maria that. Whats the Captain doing ..... etc etc. The powers of imagination get stretched occasionally when bombarded with 100 questions a day. Alissa has greater patience and comes out with some good lines to keep her quiet and satisfy the insatiable curiosity.

Emma has decided that she likes the head down & crawl mode of movement. So has progressed little since Christmas when it looked like she was about to walk at the ripe old age of just over 8 months. We should be grateful I guess, but now, the day is certainly not too far away. And she's not even 1 until mid May. The child is an absolute live wire. Already bracing myself for her teenage years. looking at her angelic picture (and completely bald head), who would think!!

Work for me has been mad. Been to Auckland and Perth (Perth is further away believe it or not) recruiting staff. Yes, my team is increasing in these recessionary times. Also, regular trips to Sydney and Melbourne all stack up to make me a busy little boy. No complaints mind you as hopefully, things will continue to be that way in here. All predicting a tough year this year - riding it out is the plan.

What about Liverpool eh? Just when I could relax safe in the knowledge that the season was over for all intents and purposes, they go and smash Real Madrid, United at Old Trafford and Aston Villa. Lads lads. Don't get my hopes up. Its been too long.

Now, to finish off with some footage from a recent breakfast outing. I believe we were pretty much sitting down to eat at 7am. So, you can figure from there what time we had to be up at.

6am, 3 degrees in Dublin. Today FM.

And thats what I have on here in my office. It's 4pm on Friday afternoon in Brisbane, thunderstorm just passed through.

In the immortal words of Something Happens, its been a long time, been a very long time, been a very long time indeed. I guess we're only back just over 4 weeks but I swear it feels like forever. As always, leaving home was not easy. I'll say no more.

Have to say though, it was sad to see the country in such a state economy wise. Whilst at times the Celtic tiger bred just a little too much greed and turned some normal day to day punters into would-be property magnates, it's fair to say that the Ireland of 90's and early noughties was a better place than that of the dark 70's and 80's. That said, it's not like we grew up experiencing it, but its now you can feel a little more for our parents that had to put up with the crazy mortgage interest rates, petrol crises, and outrageous tax levels. Though I actually often wonder if the constant violence and murder in the north that covered our media at the time further contributed the overall aura of poor Ireland at the time. Remember 'self aid'? Christ. A nation so lacking in faith in the ability of its own corrupt money laundering government we had to resort to a charity gig to raise money for ourselves. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. At least we've come a bit of a way down the track in that now the government actually seem to try to give a bit more of a sh&t. Try raising $6bn at a charity gig.

Anyway. We're not even close to being over it it seems. Yesterday, my old employer Virgin Blue hit the headlines with an announcement that 400 jobs are to go. In some shape or form. Got a few comments from people in our office, along the lines of 'glad your outta there?'. Ye know what, I am.

It sometimes seems difficult to talk about other things when the whole world is so pre-occupied with all this economic turmoil. Guess it could impact on so many. Already touched the lives of friends of ours here. Maybe its right that people go through a couple of tougher years to appreciate what they've got. I say 'they', but include myself.

Anyway. We move on. I can safely say that when we got back, the first week was.... difficult. We got to a point with Emma where we just had no idea as to what to do with her to get her to sleep at night. Alissa and I were living off 3 or 4 hours sleep. Max. Not easy. so we resorted to paying 50 bucks for a half an hours worth of advice from a nurse consultant thingy. Best money ever spent. 3 days (and not a small amount of screaming) later, we had a new baby. Sleeping through without a sound, and in good form. Would have helped if she'd slept in Ireland a bit....

You'll probably all have seen a bit about the Victoria bushfires here. It was strange. The one editorial i saw in the Irish Times was written in a very detached manner, almost immediately critical of the authorities. Little or no empathy. Given how fresh and ongoing the event was at the time, I thought it inappropriate and very very disappointing. Pissed me off a bit to be honest. Obviously being here, I've seen plenty of coverage and in a nutshell, it was bloody awful and quite breathtaking how quickly it all took place. I think its the whole image of how people die in such circumstances that gets us. Our friend Rachel was here with her fiancee John last week, and it was interesting to hear how Victorians are taught from an early age as to how to deal with bushfires and they all have woollen blankets ready to hand. Queenslanders are taught how to deal with the dangers of water - waves, currents, rips etc.

And all the while it's flooding in northen Queensland.

And emma has taken a solo step. 9 months old. God help us.

As for Aibhe. Well, the headcase is swimming like the proverbial fish. And the weather's been beautiful enough for her to use the pool pretty consistently. Constantly asking to visit the friends she made in Ireland. Cute.

But sad too.

A Christmas contrast. Up top, down under.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

Now for the warmed up version - pre-Ireland.

(the Parker extended family)

(present from grandparents below)

(Emma looking a bit special)