You're in Clare Country!

Cupid Finds the Captain

Captain Booger Features bought a present for a girl with his own pocket money for the first time!  She's an older woman (Yr 4) & for the purposes of this blog we will call her Angelina because she has very full lips.  The captain wanted to buy Angelina a Christmas present so we went to Diva where he picked out a cute pair of rainbow earrings.  He strode to the counter to pay, followed by his proud mother.  There were 2 girls behind the counter.  My pride turned to irritation when the following exchange unfolded . . .

CBF: I'd like to buy this please.
Girl#1: They're nice earrings.
CBF: (Alarmed) They're not for me!  They're for a girl.
Clare: It's his first present to a girl using his own pocket money.
Girl#1: (Smiles) That's so cute!
CBF: I'm a little nervous.  I have to get past her girl guards to give her the present.
Girl#1: I'm sure she'll love the earrings.
Girl#2: You know what else she'll love?  (Reaches across counter to retrieve a box)  She'll love this gift box of 5 lip glosses at only $7.95.
CBF: (Nervously) Umm, okay-
Clare: (To Girl#2) No, he's just going to get the earrings, not the lip gloss.  And you should be ashamed of yourself!

Girl#2 completed the purchase silently.

Can you believe her cheek?!

Needless to say, Captain Booger Features used his superhero skills to get past teh girl guards & give the present to Angelina in person who exclaimed, "This is so cute!"  That night teh captain was pretty happy with himself.  He said there was a Yr 4 boy who was angry with him because he likes Angelina too (so that apparently makes her off-limits to any other kid) but teh captain didn't seem to mind if Angelina liked the Yr 4 boy better.  I asked the captain if he expected Angelina to give him a present (or a hug/kiss) in return for his gift but he said, "No.  I just wanted to give her a Christmas present."  My heart sang with the knowledge that Ravi & I are raising a person who is content in teh act of giving without expecting anything in return.

However my singing heart hiccupped when I asked about his Christmas presents to us, to which he replied, "I don't have that much money.  I can only afford $2 for your presents."  And he spent $10 on that hussy!  Can you believe his cheek?!

Picture: Captain Booger Features at Movie World in the Gold Coast in October 2007.

The Captain's 9th at the 9th Hole

                                                                               Keeping up with the tradition of birthdays at fun yet different locations, Captain Booger Features celebrated the end of his 9th year (& the start of his 10th year) at Putt-Putt miniature golf range.  While all the kids bashed the golf ball around, the adults also got to play.  It became increasingly evident that everyone's goal was to beat Ravi (funny that Ravi brings that out in people). 

Every one of the adults experienced a hole-in-one during the 2 rounds of 18 holes each.  Gotta say, it's a great feeling seeing that little ball sink in that little hole on the 1st hit!  Equally as great was chowing down on ice cream cake on that hot day.  I love kiddie parties when kids & adults alike have fun . . . .

Pictures located in "CBF 9th bday party" album.

Activities for kids has intensified since my day . . .

   I write this while the whole house shakes at the sounds of soldiers firing rifles and yelling at each other for back-up.  Ravi & Captain Booger Features are spending a lovely Saturday night playing Gears of War on the ol' Xbox.  Since it's school holidays, Captain Booger Features has been more relaxed this past week, despite a rather packed schedule at Vacation Care.  As I read the program for Vacation Care, I marvel at how, in my day, vacation care meant staying at a parents' friend's house, watching tv, eating noodles and playing with our own toys in the backyard.  These days, vacation care has a 'program' with the following activities listed:

Week #1
Monday: Indoor hockey
Tuesday: Cruise around Clarke Island on 'Deerubbin' with a cultural talk about landmarks & indigenous history with a traditional welcome on the island
Wednesday: Indoor rock climbing
Thursday: Live theatre at the Seymour Centre - "The Secret of the Seven Marbles"
Friday: Behind-the-scenes tour of Channel 7 studios

Week #2
Monday: Art therapy, bush tucker BBQ, Indigenous sports & games, boomerang decorating, dot face painting
Tuesday: Ice skating
Wednesday: Archaeological dig at The Rocks for kids
Thursday: Sydney Tower & Oz Trek
Friday: Family fun day - crafts, rides & treats

No wonder kids get easily bored these days.  It's all about living life - TO THE MAX!

Captain Booger Features has a love interest

                                                                                I mentioned in a previous post that to Captain Booger Features' horror he is finding himself falling 'in like' with a girl at school.  Same age, same class.  Very pretty & charming.  Her name is Samira.  She's very much a girly-girl.  She likes wearing dresses, goes to drama classes on the weekend, but is also on a soccer team.  Apparently the boys all agree that she knows she's pretty.  Nevertheless, Captain Booger Features can't stop mentioning her in conversation, even if the topic of conversation doesn't involve her or girls in general.  An example:

Clare: There are some professions where you have to go to school for years and years - like being a doctor or a lawyer-
Captain: You know, Samira's dad's a lawyer.
Clare: (Forced smile to suppress desire to tease the boy) That's nice.

One day the Captain came home from school wondering why Samira (who normally plays with him every day) did not play with him that day.

Captain: She's strange, mum.  She didn't like me today.
Clare:  Are you sure?  Maybe she was just worried about something else.  And you know how you take it out on who you're closest to.
Captain: No, she said she didn't want to play with me today.
Ravi: Let me tell you something about women.  They don't make sense.
Captain: (Empty defiance) Well, it's a good thing I don't like her either.
Clare & Ravi look at each other knowingly, again fighting urge to tease the boy.

I took a photo of the Captain & Samira on their Holy Communion Day (pictured).  I had to take it fast because Captain Booger Features kept saying "Eeewww" when I suggested a photo together.  Samira seemed keen to be in the photo with the Captain until he started saying "Eeew," then she also went "Eeewww."  Good grief!

End of blogging drought

Dear Diary,

Wow, it has been a while since my last blog entry!  My self-imposed hiatus was due to my inability to access the Internet at home (until now) since we moved house & work being especially demanding these past 3 weeks.  But I'm back & lots has happened.  Rather than strain the reader's eyes with drawn-out tales of our escapades, I have detailed them in bullet-points for your convenience.  I may elaborate on individual events at a later date.  Since my last blog entry (6th June 2007) the following has played out in the lives of Captain Booger Features, Ravi & I (in no order of chronology nor importance):

• We've become Balmain-ites, moving house a few weeks ago.  We love our new place.  There's a pool upstairs.  Pictures forthcoming.  Our cleaner has also moved with us!
• Ravi has resumed riding on his motorbike again.
• Captain Booger Features celebrated Holy Communion last week.
• Farewell dinner for Irene & Brian before they moved to Canada.
• We were robbed!  Thank God for insurance - everything was replaced.  Special place in hell for thieving bastards!
• Celebrated Thuy's birthday last Sunday - quite a feat in itself since Tweety usually celebrates her birthdays overseas.
• Tony Blair left No. 10 Downing Street.  Replaced by Gordon Brown.  (1 out, 2 more to go.)
• My workload is more manageable after my boss assigned me an analyst (who shall be known as "Young Paduan" in future blog entries)
• Paris Hilton started & finished her prison sentence (with a lot of drama in-between).
• Have already filled half the cast for "The Divine Plan".  More auditions to come but it's very exciting as more people get involved in this production.
• Ravi, Tung & I had Thai massages.  (Are they supposed to hurt?)
• To Captain Booger Features' horror, he is finding himself falling 'in like' with a pretty classmate called Samira.  He is starting to find out that girls can be quite strange & illogical at times.  He insists he doesn't like her despite mentioning her name in nearly every conversation.
• Ravi & Kylie challenged each other in a cook-off.  Kylie bested Ravi (although it took a score of 3 decimal points to decide the winner) - which makes me the loser of the loser (having lost the previous cook-off with Ravi...don't get me started on Ravi's billety rice!).
• Is it just me or does the Australian media seemed a bit obsessed about the endeavour to refloat the Pasha Bulker?  It's just a big ol' boat for heaven's sakes!
• Poker resumed after a long break.  Details of the game here.
• Ravi & I attended Ravi's 15-year high school reunion.  It was fun & interesting to observe the different personalities in the room - who were the loud kids in the class, the shy kids, the smart kids, etc.

I think that about covers it.  Going to sleep now . . . .

Picture originally uploaded by jenophoto.

I Won the Maths-Off!

To help Captain Booger Features in mathematics, Ravi & I decided to get him the Mathemagic Computer Tutor.  The sales rep came to our house last weekend and gave a solid 2-hour demonstration of what it can do.  What sold us on its merits was it's impact on the captain.  When the sales rep started talking to the captain about his maths work at school, the captain was very reticent at talking about it.  Maths is not the captain's favourite subject at school (he prefers Science & Technology).  But after 'playing' with the maths program on the laptop, the captain was even asking to 'play' some more with the maths problems.  He became animated, talkative & thoroughly engaged in the program.  We could actually see how the captain was quickly picking up maths concepts on the fly - with enthusiasm!

The sales rep picked up on the rivalry between Ravi & I (is it really that obvious?) so while he filled in the necessary paperwork he proposed a Maths-off.  He gave us a test of 10 maths questions designed for a Year 8 student.  Before he signalled time I was able to answer 7 out of the 10 questions (which I got right) while Ravi was able to attempt 2 out of 10 questions (he got 1 right).  Hehe - looks like I won the Maths-off!  Questions are below.  If you want the answers, let me know & I'll email them to you.

(1) What is 19% of 200?

(2) 9e2mq + 7em2q + 3em2q + 6e2mq = ?

(3) (6a5b3 + 3a3b3)/3a3b2 = ?

(4) Solve for x:
     2x - 6 = -x

(5) 5a2(3a2 + 2a) + 5a2(5a2 + 2a) = ?

(6) Subtract expressions -3a+2b-7c and -a-3b+11c

(7) Solve (3x - 2y)(x + 4y)

(8) ((-25y)(-3z))/-5 = ?

(9) Subtract expression 7nq+9n+9q and -2nq+5n+2q

(10) (a) 2(-3xy2) 3 = ?

Picture originally uploaded by cleverpun.

What Captain Booger Features thinks I do for a living....

                                                                               Last weekend, Captain Booger Features & I went with Ravi to his work since he needed to do a few last-minute things before his work launch in Canberra on Monday.  I had spent the previous weekend stuffing envelopes for Ravi (like I say, behind every succesful man is a woman with blisters & paper cuts), so his work was becoming almost a second home to me!

While we waited for Ravi, I asked Captain Booger Features what he thinks I do for a living.  Ravi & I don't usually talk to the captain about work stuff - he might overhear our nightly conversations about what transpired during the day but he's usually pre-occupied with more interesting things like cars & Xbox games.  A couple of years ago I asked him what he thought I did for a living and he replied, "Maths" so I was hoping for a different answer (particularly since he's seen where I currently work - pictured).  I wasn't expecting him to say "Market Intelligence Manager" but I certainly expected something that alludes to a lot of smarts.  Our conversation went something like this....

Me:  So, what do you think I do for a living?  What do you think I do to earn money?
CBF:  Watch tv, play sudoku puzzles, play table tennis & foosball.

Captain Booger Features is obviously being influenced by the pay tv set-top box hooked up to a monitor on my desk which plays pay tv 24/7, my routine of tackling sudoku puzzles before I go to bed, & the presence of a table tennis table & foosball table at work (funny that he missed the pool table).  Our conversation continued.....

Me:  What do you think Ravi does for a living?
CBF:  He's a manager.  He goes to meetings & drives around a lot.
Me:  Whose job seems more fun - mine or Ravi's?
CBF:  Yours, Mum.
Me:  Whose job do you think is more important - mine or Ravi's?
CBF: Ravi's.
Me:  What???
Ravi:  (On the other side of the divide) hahahaha!!

And to think, Captain Booger Features came from MY loins!!!!

Encountering the 2nd Sign of Madness

Captain Booger Features returned to school today.  During their morning assembly I went to the office to see if I could buy his hat before he marched to class.  A little girl (no older than in Yr 4) was already ahead of me waiting for the office administrator.  She must have been waiting for a while because I caught her in mid-sentence, evidently talking to herself.  She was also in quite a state of annoyance at having to wait.  As I stood behind her & waited, I couldn't help but laugh inwardly as I heard her exhale impatiently, standing with arms akimbo, talking herself up into a frenzy.  Choice exclamations were:

"Where is Caroline or Maria?..........I can't believe everyone is at assembly!  There should be someone manning the desk!..........I'm going to get a late note if I have to wait any longer!..........God, where is everybody?..........I can't believe I've been waiting this long!..........I didn't pay good money just to wait here!"

The last one nearly cracked me up as I pictured her working in the mines at night so she could attend school.  Who was she talking to?????

Just in case you were wondering, the first sign of madness is actually talking to someone who isn't there.

Picture originally uploaded by true2source.

Protocol of Play Dates

While I was in Robina, Captain Booger Features has been living it up in Vacation Care, reuniting with his pals from his old school.  Captain Booger Features is pictured with Joseph (right) & younger brother Luca (left).  I feel sorry for the kids since the parents have just gone through a less-than-amicable divorce & their mum seems intent on palming the kids off to me on weekends like I'm the baby sitter without reciprocating in kind.  Ravi & I have taken her kids out with the captain on at least 3 occasions while she has never invited the captain over to their place!  She even has the audacity to force an invitation for her sons to play at our place to play with the captain (like last weekend!)!  I always wonder why people like her don't feel the slightest bit embarrassed or ashamed at making impositions on virtual strangers.  Fortunately, the captain has made friends near home with parents who are much nicer & eager to have the captain over for play dates & sleepovers with their kids (just as much as we invite their kids over to play with the captain).  The protocol of play dates is a PC minefield!

Superfriends!

    Yesterday was Captain Booger Features' school Christmas party so Ravi, the captain & I attended.  We ate sausage & onion sandwiches, chatted with the captain's teacher & other parents, and watched as the school choir sang upbeat Christmas carols.  Captain Booger Features played with his pals, running around & playing tag/tips.  By the time we went home his head was dripping with sweat!

Pictures: Captain Booger Features with his best friend Ben, & Che.