aunt debbie's husband

my sister, brother in law and their three kids are living in moscow at the moment. my dad is in spain. they might go visit my dad in spain later this year.

my sister rang mum tonight and said the kids were excited about visiting granddad. hannah, age 3, said,

i wanna visit granddad cos then we can wrestle with aunt debbie's husband. what's his name?

it's nice to be remembered!

I've come back strangely refreshed from the trip away. Maybe a change is as good as a rest.

There was a Table Tennis tournament in Auckland. My job was to go there, stand around, and wait for people to come and talk to me. I'd then listen while they

a) outlined what I'd screwed up
b) outlined what others had screwed up
c) told me how wonderful they were
d) outlined what I'd screwed up - again

I got to be good at smiling, nodding yes, and thinking "you are an asshole".

I exaggerate for effect though. Talking with people is actually one of the good parts of my job. I often come away inspired by their commitment and dedication and make a new pledge to work harder.

Visiting with family was good. We stayed with my Aunt. I regress when staying with her. She waits on me hand and foot and I'm ashamed to say I enjoy it too much to protest. Unfortunately Debbie was there to see just how pathetic I become. One morning my Auntie stopped Deb using the full cream milk for breakfast because there might not be enough for me. The next morning it was the remaining cereal, "better leave it for Michael" she said. I get to drink beer, read the newspaper and watch the news on tv - all at once. This never happens at home. This is what it means to be a man.

That's a joke. There's a series of beer commercials on tv here that show "real" men in a variety of situations with family and friends. The punchline is "this is what it means to be a man".

There's a song by a group called Childman that's called Refuse to be a Man. It's about opting out of the real man scenario. I play it in my head from time to time.

Debbie developed a breast infection while we were away. Her breast became very sore and painful to touch, let alone feed from, and resulted in a midnight visit to the hospital where she was prescribed some antibiotics. It's slightly better now, but has been causing her some stress. She may even have to stop breast feeding. I never realised just how much hard work breast feeding is.

Matthew is starting to laugh as I tickle him. It's one of the neatest sounds I've heard.