Big little adventures

So many adventures big and small can happen in the space of one week, and the happiest of all happy adventures in the last seven days was the arrival of a brand new little niece. Yes indeed, she arrived precisely on her due date (my beloved first niece’s fourth birthday!), a chubby little pink bundle of cute who already has her dad’s nose and mouth and hair halfway between the colours of her mama and papa. I am under strict instruction not to share pictures and details until the doting parents have done so themselves (and they are taking their own sweet time about it), so I am sitting on my hands until then. But: A NIECE! A TINY GIRL! A CUTE LITTLE GUMMY PERSON!

That big adventure led to lots of other small adventures, some less fun (driving around the airport a hundred and fifty times waiting on the arrival of a flight that was delayed three hours and fifteen minutes), some extremely fun (my sister Andrea flying up from down south to meet her new niece – and be my first official overnight Housie guest). Owing to the general lack of sleep that seems to accompany the arrival of any new baby, we didn’t do anything very grand – just lots of family catching up, lots of talking, one day in which there were four shopping trips, and lots of baby-hugging – but in spite of that (and the inevitable spilling over of weird emotions, my traditional response to life’s big moments) it was excellent.

It turned into something of a long weekend, too, as Andrea didn’t fly out till Tuesday afternoon, and then I got to catch up with a lovely West-Australian-turned-Territorian friend who was in the city for the week. We chatted while her fifteen-month-old dynamo cherub beamed upon us and impressed us with her sometimes unintelligible but always genius monosyllabic observations of the world.

Today it’s back into the books and an attempt to get my head around Hegel’s philosophy of history, something which really wants to defy a concise single-sentence definition. My tactic when I don’t have a clue about the subjects I’m writing essays for is basically just to immerse myself in the topic until I start to gain some sense of what’s going on. Sometimes it takes ages but eventually I start to get it. Thank you, ITunesU, for giving me access to incredible lecturers in great universities around the world. Ah, I love the internet!

The semester is close to winding down which means the deadline pressure is winding up. At this time of semester, I always find myself wishing there was a more even spread of assignments throughout term. I’d far rather do an assignment a week (dotting the hardcore major projects throughout) than have a bunch due mid-semester, a few here and there, and all the big ones at the very end. I want to learn, not just pass, and I feel sure I’d remember so much more and invest more of myself in each essay if they were spread throughout the semester rather than due in big lump sums. Never mind; deadlines are helpful and oddly inspiring, even if they are unfun.

And this is unrelated to anything else I've said in my post, but who needs context for pretty pictures and creative challenges? I don't. Words to Shoot By.

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Conversations:

Bek Axe -- :D

Lauren -- It did want to come out! And 'it' is a she!

Carla & Alastair -- but we were focussing on belly (and the mama didn't want her face photographed that day).

Bethany -- this aunty is enthusiastic about the responsibility of posting pictures ;).

Cara -- and hugs back to you! I hope life is lovely for you way over there <3

Un -- we know that's not true!

Laura Elizabeth -- I promise you I read nothing creeperish in that remark. LOL I love surrounding myself with small children. :D

Staish -- See you tomorrow?

Samantha R -- that little kid already knows the feeling of being mobbed by papparazzi, believe me.

Meaghan -- we must repeat the insanity of something similar to the trail of carnage soon ;).