Friday 31 December 2010

2010. MONTAGE!

2010 has been an eventful year. In January I was looking for a new job between trips to Scotland. Jack was going to Honeybuns nursery 3 days a week and Helen was well on her way to a managerial promotion. Now, Jack is in nursery school 5 mornings a week and a nursery 2 afternoons. I'm now a full time student and Helen is freshly unemployed. We spend a lot of time watching Ben 10 or Scooby Doo or going to soft play areas and lots of other childrens' activities.

I've lost count of how many times I've come to January and found little or no resemblance at all to it's predecessor. Once, a few years ago, I found myself in England. A few years later I had a 2 month old boy and was working in payroll and as a technical writer looking at a couple of very promising promotion opportunities. My mother once remarked on this aspect of my life when I was about 16. Since I was about 6 years old, my life has been nothing but continuous and dramatic changes. She wondered if I'd noticed and what I thought of it. I had noticed but didn't have an answer, I still don't have a good one. At least it's not boring.

Anyway, here's a quick pictorial montage of some of this years journey.

Jack had chicken pox. 10 days of itching and all that. It's certainly not the worst illness of the year, shortly afterward he had swine flu, which was fun. I don't have a picture of that... sadly.
















X-rayed. Jack occasionally has very vivid dreams. He'll wakes up thinking things have happened, such as wetting the bed. This was the night he dreamed he swallowed a coin... That was a long night in hospital. To this day he still insists that he really swallowed that coin. While I'm writing this he's telling me I didn't dream it, it was real.




We made it to Utah, thanks to my being made redundant. Jack met much of my family for the first time during those two weeks of craziness. Looking back we really wish we'd stretched it for another week. There just wasn't enough time.

Jack talks continuously about returning to America, he misses all of his cousins and especially Grandma and Grandpa and Grandpa Bob. At least once a day he reminisces about the trip and begs us to go back soon... We're working on it.

While in America we took Jack out for his first cinema experience, Toy Story 3. We went all out and bought him his own popcorn, sweets and soda. He loved the movie and has now made going to the cinema a regular family activity.

Jack - center - also met his half-sister for the first time. Samatha - right - has not had virtually any contact with Jack, or me for that matter in nearly ten years. By some miracle my mother managed to arrange a trip to the aquarium for us. Jack loved meeting his sister, and her sister Austen - left. Samantha and Jack got along in no way like brother and sister normally do. They laughed and played together like best friends. So many aspects of their personalities are so similar it's was a little spooky.
Samantha and I now write each other as regular as we're able. It means so much to me I can't even tell you.

Jack's first attempt at a bubble beard. They're bubble mutton-chops really but the spirit is the same.


 Jack turned 4 this year, he's growing up.
This year Jack has had many different jobs.
He's been a fireman.

A drummer.

 A Pirate.

A Skeleton.








A Reindeer.


Buzz Lightyear.










 The skull on a pirate flag.


And a shepherd in his first school play.






So here we are now at the end of 2010. Jack is Ironman, Helen is looking for a new job and I'm just putting the finishing touches on my video game school assignment. We've had a lot of successes this year and a lot of firsts. We've fought illness and job loss, we've traveled, re-united family and re-established old connections. We've had good new and news so unbearably bad that I can't bear to even think about it.

In the new year we hope for more firsts and seconds and fifths (slight Monty Python reference there for those that may have missed it). We have 12 more potentially life altering months to get through, with the events of the last couple months we're already looking at a very windy road. God only knows if we'll end up in such an alien place this time?
 
- We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
  - T. S. Eliot




HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2 comments:

  1. It was so awesome to see you guys and meet Jack! We miss your family, but at least we have blogs and facebook! I hope 2011 proves to be a good year for your family.

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  2. This is adorable and I can't believe how he's growing and changing...and so many careers!

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