Walsh Report 2008

Apologies for 2007!

Apologies for the one hiatus of the Walsh Report. The 2007 edition was delayed by a litany of issues. By March the CEO (Kerrie) decided that despite the Editor in Chiefs’ (Matthew) assurances that a publication would be produced, a lack of progress was evident. A one year hiatus was therefore enforced whilst issues were resolved.

The single greatest threat in 2007 was of course work choices. The changing industrial relations environment finally gave us the legal high ground to exploit our reporters. This was of course short-lived with the introduction of the fairness test.

We successfully managed to navigate this issue & were on track until a series of spiteful remarks resulted in a war of words between our illustrious reporters.
The Walshyline incident surpassed the Bollyline debacle that threatened last summers test cricket between Australia & India.

Cael called Owen a “Pumpkinhead” which Isabella said was offensive to Pumpkins & accordingly lodged a complaint with the Vegetable Villification Commission. Owen then called Cael a “Hockey Puck” & told Cael that he danced like a girl (whatever that means). Isabella told both Owen & Cael that they were acting like children & should wake up to themselves. This of course confused both Owen & Cael as they were already awake & were not sure what Isabella meant. Owen raised Isabella’s ire even more when he correctly pointed out that he & Cael were in actual fact children, & were consequently expected to behave this way. Isabella, rolled her eyes, let out a painful & intolerant sigh, & stormed off exalting that Owen & Cael were monkeys. Not surprisingly, Owen & Cael confirmed Isabella’s suspicion & began running around the house acting like monkeys (ooh ooh ahh ahh! — you know what I mean).

Fortunately, following tense negotiations & a number of idle threats, all reporters are back on board (perhaps not willingly).

If you build it, it will come - Rain! Lot’s of rain
It was written that the Walshy’s would build a dwelling; a house built by Jim of Masterton, & Jim wouldn’t have it any other way (Editorial: I bet he would if it was his bloody house—we’ll get to that). On the day of their moving, the heavens would open & a tempest would sweep the Hunter with torrential rain, gale force winds & flooding. The removalist would ring the Walshy’s & enquire “mate, do you have a boat? I need a boat. I can see the truck but I need a boat to get to it”. Temporarily thwarted Matthew thought of the bulk carrier parked on Nobby’s beach, however quickly dismissed the idea due to a lack of knowledge in skippering such vessels (apparently a knowledge deficit shared by the captain of of said vessel, & hence it’s illegal park on Nobby’s reef).

Needing to vacate the other abode it was Poppy (of the Dodgy Brothers & Sons) who said “it’s all good, I’ll bring the trailer”. And so it was that the moving was done. The rain eased & the flood waters subsided. And the Walshy’s surveyed their lands & saw that it was good.

2007 flew by far too quickly. So too did 2008 for that matter. We have vague recollections of some months & far too vivid memories of others. So strap yourself in & enjoy the ride on the Walshy rollercoaster of 2007/2008.

2007 in review
2007 started well with Ricky & the boys flogging the hapless English cricketers, 5-0.

January came & went far too quickly & all of a sudden the boys were back at school & Isabella was starting kindergarten.Hard to believe where the last five & a bit years have gone. It wasn’t that long ago that Isabella was a baby. But there we were in late January 2007 taking Isabella to her first day of school. The only tears shed were by Mummy & Daddy as they drove away. Isabella adjusted to the rigour of kindergarten with aplomb. Amidst losing teeth, honing her reading & writing skills, & making new friends.

The construction of the house was well underway as 2007 began & we were looking forward to its completion. What a rookie mistake that was. Never anticipate that your builder will finish when they say they will. For that matter, don’t expect that the builder will produce the quality you expect. Unless of course they are building Jim’s house(Masterton), because “he wouldn’t have it any other way”.

By June 2007 we were in the house, albeit minus a few finishing touches. We of course picked the weekend of the June 2007 storms to move in. For a short time we had water views, with the creek at the back of the property becoming a lake.

The construction of the house was character building. Matthew’s hair is greyer & we are wiser for the experience. The litany of disasters is too lengthy to include here but suffice to say that when we returned our list of faults (for which Masterton allocated 10 lines, & we submitted 7 pages plus 10 lines) we got some attention.

We have now been in the house for 18 months & are still waiting for that attention to transform into action. We have however completed the fencing & other necessary projects.

In spite of the experience & outstanding issues we love our new house. We have a huge backyard so the kids have plenty of room to play.

Owen & Cael have with the help of cousins & friends explored their coal mining heritage. Walsh Brothers mining commenced open cut operations near Daddy’s vegetable garden. Unfortunately environmental impact studies were not conducted & residents (Kerrie & Matthew) not consulted before operations commenced. Proceedings were launched against the Walsh Brothers & mining operations have ceased. However, rumours abound that operations may soon resume around December 25 2008 with the support of a Finish investor (Mr. S Claus), who has gained approval for an ecofriendly sandpit mine to open at the Walsh Brothers Avery street site.

Owen celebrated his 4th birthday with his first pair of soccer boots. They have been well used since & Owen is looking forward to strapping them on in 2009 when he plays under-6’s for Rutherford FC.

Cael continued to experiment with dance moves. Inspired by a variety of styles & performers there appears to be no limit to the creativity of his chorography. Fortunately his rap stage seems to have passed. One can only tolerate “I’m a DJ! I’m a DJ! I’m a DJ!” so many times in an hour. The DJ look is cute however the repetitious lyrics are tiresome.

After several months of negotiation Kerrie finally convinced Matthew to let Isabella catch the bus home from school. Isabella was so excited & wanted to start the next day. We had to wait for a bus pass though which took FOREVER! (Isabella's emphasis).

Matthew’s PhD plodded along amidst other distractions, much to the chagrin of his supervisors. Matthew received a national teaching award, a citation from the University for his contribution to student learning in 2007, & a teaching & learning fellowship.

In September 2007 Matthew took off to windy Wellington to present at a conference. Isabella, Owen & Cael always enjoy Daddy’s conference trips as it usually means a few presents on his return. Matthew’s paper was very well accepted & resulted in him being profiled in the Australasian Nurse Teachers Society publication.

2007 saw the commencement of a parenting group through Owen & Cael’s preschool. Vivid parenting was a great experience for all of us. The children had the run of the preschool as it was held on a Sunday. Kerrie & Matthew had the opportunity to share the experiences of other parents with children of similar ages, build new friendships, & learn some parenting survival tips.
In October we went camping at Kerrie’s cousins’ property in Tamworth with the Dunn clan. Isabella, Owen & Cael enjoyed themselves as usual, playing with their cousins, getting dirty & staying up late.

Term 4 2007 saw Isabella & Owen start little athletics. Cael was too young by 3 weeks & so could not register. That of course did not stop Cael who ran alongside Owen & participated anyway.

2008 in review
2008 involved more projects around the home — landscaping being the common theme. Our year was busy with swimming lessons, playgroup, little athletics, school & all those activities that make the weeks & months fly by.
Owen & Cael returned to swimming lessons, & Isabella continued with hers. All three children are doing very well at the Justin Norris Swim Centre. Owen surprised us the most, especially given that he spent the first two lessons sitting on the edge of the pool, distressed & refusing to venture further into the water. Justin intervened in week 3 & within minutes Owen was in the water, Owen is now a huge Justin Norris fan, & became moreso when we told him that Justin was an Olympic & Commonwealth games medalist.

Isabella commenced year 1 & quickly demonstrated her aptitude for science, maths, art & religion. Isabella brought home several merit awards for her understanding of Christianity & stories from the gospel. This culminated with Isabella receiving the “Christian values” award for her year 1 class at the annual St Paul’s presentation night.

Isabella joined a group of her friends from school in playing netball for U7’s. All the girls in the team were from Isabella’s school. It was a season of skill building & transition for the aptly named “Barbie girls”. We had a number of Barbie moments each week, with lots of parental encouragement from the side line (constructive screaming & yelling). As the season wore on the girls built a solid defence — very important as their offence was non-existent. The Barbie girls did manage to score a few goals, & look forward to winning their first game in 2009.

Isabella’s turned 7 in 2008, which she celebrated with a party, followed a week later by a slumber party with 3 of her closest friends. The highlight of the party was when Isabella touched the bottom of the plate in cutting her birthday cake & therefore had to kiss the nearest boy. Fortunately it was her Daddy that she had to kiss. This prompted Isabella’s friends to form a line & all plant a kiss on Matthew’s cheek too.

In June we borrowed Poppy’s trailer & headed to Dubbo & the zoo. We hired bikes & spent the day riding around the zoo. We had a great time at the zoo & camping for 2 nights.

The Meer cats, Gibbons & Lemurs were our favourite animals. We sat for some morning tea whilst the Gibbons enjoyed theirs on their island. As we watched two Gibbons eating fruit & chewing with their mouth opened, Cael was doing the same prompting Isabella to say “Cael you eat like a Gibbon”. Cael, quick witted as ever simply replied “Bella you look like a Gibbon”. To our surprise Isabella simply laughed. Anarchy reigned for a short time afterwards with the “you eat like a Gibbon” comment being repeated ad infinitu,m — “Hey Mummy stop eating like a Gibbon” or, “Daddy you’re as hairy as a Gibbon (Isabella)”, or “Daddy you look like a Gibbon (Cael)”. To make matter worse, instead of coping it sweet Matthew attempted to explain primate evolution. This was of course unsuccessful, so instead Matthew taught them the Funky Gibbon song — “Do, do, do the funky Gibbon ooh, ooh, ooh, etc. Oh the joy of fatherhood!

Owen started preschool 2 days per week in January. Owen’s teachers Keren & Isa were fantastic. The blue room was a constant hive of activity with Dinosaur projects (including building their own dinosaur from cardboard), Indigenous storytelling & artwork, the observation of silk worms & the nurturing of chickens as they hatched from eggs. We acquired 2 of the hatchlings, requiring the construction of a chicken coup & run. The children named the chickens Princess & Kabooboo.

Princess however began to display rooster tendencies & has aptly had a name change. Actually the names were just swapped Princess is now Kabooboo & vice versa. We have acquired 2 more chickens in the last 2 weeks, bringing the flock to 4. Unfortunately Kabooboo may need to be relocated if he starts cockle-doodle-doing.

Matthew joined Owen on an excursion to the Australian

Museum in Sydney to see the dinosaur exhibit. It was difficult to work out who was more excited. Both Owen & Matthew came home weary yet starry eyed from their museum experience.

Owen’s 3 years of preschool have flown by so quickly. Owen has been blessed each year with wonderful teachers. The preschool itself is a wonderful nurturing & loving environment. Consequently, Owen has transformed from a shy toddler into a fun-loving little boy who is always smiling. Such was the transformation that for the first time in 3 years of preschool Owen proudly participated in the school Christmas concert, with a stirring rendition of “Six white boomers”.
Sadly Owen will leave behind some of his best friends that will go to different schools in 2009 (including a girlfriend, Josie who greeted Owen with a cuddle most mornings & insisted Owen sit next to her).

Owen’s fifth birthday was celebrated at home with the usual suspects & some friends from school. Owen was most impressed with his new bike. In typical Owen fashion he was eager to share with Cael, prompting a few scary moments & an inevitable crash. Fortunately there was no blood or broken bones. Lesson learnt, Cael rose from the ground dusted himself off & informed a concerned Owen “I think I better just ride my bike for a bit longer Owen”.

In term 4 Owen had orientation for kindergarten. Owen did well in the interview in spite of his rendition of “Twinkle , twinkle little star” with hand in mouth. Cael was however not as shy & insisted on participating in the assessment exercises too. This prompted the teacher to ask Cael if he wanted to start kindergarten next year too. Cael’s reply was simple yet articulate “I’m too little yet."

Owen lost his first tooth in December, requiring the obligatory tooth fairy explanation.

Cael has transformed this year from a toddler to a little boy. He is a thoughtful & considerate. Cael has always smiled with his eyes, but this year his eyes also revealed his sharp mind & his quick witted inner larrikin. Cael loves anything associated with craft, & has maintained his keen ear for music & rhythm. His penchant for writing on Matthew’s notepads & post-it notes, or Isabella’s diary caused some dissension. However, now that Cael has his own pens & pencils, notepads & post-its, there is less household drama. Nevertheless, Isabella still closes her bedroom door before going to school.

Cael attended preschool one day a week this year, & consequently enjoyed the luxury of having a day at home with just Mummy or Daddy whilst Isabella & Owen were at school. This typically meant sneaking into Isabella’s room (despite the door being closed) & playing with whatever he had been forbidden to touch. To Cael’s credit he would ensure that the door was closed before Isabella returned from school.

In term 4 Cael could officially register for little athletics. Like Isabella & Owen, Cael loves little A’s. It seems that his passion lies with dancing & performing though. Our little groove monster is always dancing. Cael’s latest style is the talcum powder dance. This experimental style is a blend of contemporary expressive dance & tap.

Cael’s turned 4 in November, celebrating with a very groovy green scooter that he has learnt several tricks on.

Kerrie went to craft (band) camp with some of her friends from playgroup. This left Matthew & the kids at home for the weekend to fend for themselves. We of course survived & managed to go to the drive-in on the Friday night.

Kerrie was successful in being accepted into Midwifery for 2009 & will commence her studies in January. In June Kerrie will leave Maitland hospital & commence her clinical rotations through John Hunter hospital & hopefully back to Maitland. Kerrie is gearing up for what will be a hectic 15 months. Achieving balance will be the greatest challenge as the Midwifery program is quite intensive. If anyone can manage it, Kerrie surely can.

Kerrie’s brother Nicholas was married in August. Unfortunately we all could not make the trip over to England for the wedding. Nevertheless we had a party at our house for the family who were unable to make the trip. The photos & video were amazing. Emily was gorgeous & Nick looked alarmingly English in his dapper suit.

Matthew spent 2 weeks in North America in September. The first week as a visiting scholar at Yale & the University of Minnesota. The second week was to present at an international nurse practitioners conference in Canada.
It was a tough 2 weeks, made easier by Skype. It was great to be able to talk & see each other every day even though we were thousands of kilometres apart. One morning when unable to get a chance to talk to Matthew, Owen resorted to drawing a picture on a post-it & flashing it in front of the webcam. When asked who it was Owen replied “it is me & daddy when he comes home”. Despite this tearful moment, the trip was extremely worthwhile with both Universities offering Matthew a post-doctoral position. So if all goes to plan we will be heading to the USA in 2011 for a couple of years.

There is one small hurdle, more like a mountain actually — Matthew’s PhD. The plan is to be finished in July 2010. It seems easy enough however it is also easy to get distracted.

2008 brought with it 3 new nieces. Matilda (Tilly), Caitlyn & Georgia all arrived within 16 weeks of each other. This expanded the Dunn clan from 11 to 14, & evened out the male to female ratio from 7:4 to 7:7.

2009 promises another busy year for the Walshy’s.

Little A’s resumes in January, & with it Kerrie’s duties as treasurer. The children will also return to swimming in January.

Isabella will commence year 2 & netball will resume prior to Easter. Isabella also wants to either start dancing lessons or violin.

Owen will start kindergarten & wants to play soccer.

Cael will go back to preschool in January, attending 2 days a week next year in preparation for kindergarten in 2010. Cael will also start dancing lessons in the new year.

Matthew is hoping to play soccer in an over-35’s competition in 2009 & will be an assistant coach for Owen’s soccer team.

So as 2008 draws to a close & we look forward to the new year ahead, we wish you all the very best of the festive season. Christmas is a time of giving & renewal. We hope that this Christmas you enjoy the presence of family & friends, & feel the warmth & love that surrounds & renews us at this time each year.

May God bless you & keep you safe. We hope that 2008 has been a good year for you, & wish you peace & prosperity for 2009.

So there you have it 2007 & 2008 in a nutshell. Not quite “War & Peace”, but as Christmas letters go, close enough.

A final thought for you all before this edition of the Walsh report concludes.
Remember when life get’s busy & it all seems too much we can all resort to quite contemplation. If our little friend the Lemur can do it amidst the distraction of his buddy behind him & countless humans taking photos; surely we too can find the time & space to take some time out, soak up the sun & experience the wonder & peacefulness of the world.

Love Matthew, Kerrie, Isabella, Owen, & Cael xoxo