It’s hard to accept the reality of the year ending. It seems to have passed so quickly; every year it seems a little quicker than the last. Remember when you were a kid? It seemed eternity between Christmas/New Year (“Holidays” now) celebrations. Ahh nostalgia, I remember you well 😉

So, what’s news around the Froosh-iverse? I guess an update is in order…

!st, to news everybody (well, a few and you know who you are!) is waiting for: Yes, we have settled on the land part of the house-and-land package! As of 3:30pm on 21st December 2006 we became the title holders of a block in Doreen, Melbourne (In the Whittlesea area). Of course, we have a mortgage so don’t really own it – but who does these days? Construction of the house is expected to start in about 3 weeks and finished in 16 weeks after that. I say ‘expected’ in the expectation that things will not go according to plan … just look at the delay between when we signed to start the deal and the land settlement – about 50% longer than expected.

And now, a summary of other various happenings this year (not sorted for significance or temporal accuracy):

• We bought a new car and kept the old. ‘Zuki is joined by Stormy.
• We sold our dog off 2nd-hand. Kelson the chocolate lab is now living the farm life.
• Kim’s favoured grand-uncle passed away. Rest peacefully Keith.
• We got a new kitten. Compatibly named Cinnamon to match our other cat Cardamon.
• My brother and his wife had a daughter! Welcome Alexandra, to the Froosh-iverse.
• I bought an Xbox 360 and praise be to Microsoft for making the Tripod song “Make You Happy” come true – … the best present I ever bought for you … Both Seb and Kim get (almost) as much out of it as I do.
• My uncle and his wife had a daughter! Welcome Monique, to the Froosh-ivers.
• Sebastian finished his 1st year at a public school on an absolute high. $12,000/year public schools are not necessarily worth any of it, and public schools can so far surpass your expectations that it’s unfathomable. I’ll keep harping on about it I’m sure, but that’s the power of bad consumer experiences.
• More new ‘pets’ arriving in the form of a spiny leaf insect (Spikey) and some gold fish.
• Our remaining bunny passed away, seemingly of old age. He died in our arms and signals the end our bunny-ownership for a while.
• Currently residing in the disused bunny cage are 3 chookies of vague sexuality (pullets or cockerels – unknown at present). They’re on ‘semi-permanent loan’ from our neigbour until her country-based friends have facilities to house them – I’ll be spending New Year’s Day re-constructing our damaged chook pen to accomodate them until they leave.
• Kim has started working on a more regular basis with a casual job in retail sales.
• Seb began:
• • Roller-skating lessons
  • Piano lessons
  • Swimming lessons
  • Joey Scouts
  • Jazz and Tap … although they didn’t last the year out. Still doing ballet though.
• Some friends were getting to know quite a bit better packed all their stuff into our garage and moved to England for a year.
• Kim and I joined the management committee of a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting gaming and operating games conventions. I’m way behind in my duties in the web-site maintenance portfolio!

There’s probably more I’ve forgotten about and may update this later or add photos. Or, you know, whatever.