2015
I could claim that in an effort to be environmentally friendly we dispensed with the traditional Christmas card process, but the reality is more along the lines of life got busy, we waited too long and it simple didn't happen. It doesn't mean that we haven't thought of you all, it just means you get a different method of delivery.
So, Merry Christmas from the Tembys. We hope that the year has been kind to you and that 2016 sees you well favoured, happy and successful.
What's been going down in Tembyland for the last year? Let me wax lyrical for a moment.
The year started in an odd place for us. There was the joy of Michael having excelled in his final year of school, the excitement of a pending trip to Japan and the trepidation of an uncertain employment future for me.
I spent much of 2014 travelling all over Australian with Sargent, but the reality of the business was that it wasn't going to survive and the likelihood of my contract being extended was very low. We went to Japan anyway. If you've followed this blog, you'll likely have seen the daily catch ups that I posted to cover our time away. We had a ball. The snow was fantastic and it was brilliant to get to ski again. Unfortunately for Caroline her knee was giving her hell for most of the trip and so after having made the most of the skiing, she spent much of time time sightseeing hobbling from place to place (and walking down stairs backwards much to the amusement of many who saw us).
I think one of the highlights for me was once again getting to experience a new culture, even if some of the food was, well, beyond my taste buds' capacity. I told myself that having not really made the most of the culinary experiences that Singapore had to offer all those years ago, that I'd not limit myself too much when we went to Japan, but when face to face with some things, it gets kind of hard to put them in your mouth.
The return from Japan saw the Michael preparing for Uni life, the rest of the kids return to school and me advised that as expected, me advised that my contract would not be expended.
It turned into a challenging time for me. In the end it was 6 months before I found another job and I can't say that it was the best period of my life. I bounced from job application to job application, determined and hoping to find something in Adelaide, particularly with Sam having commenced the final two years of his IB journey. I came close to a couple of jobs, getting interviews at periods that would buoy the hope levels for a while only to have them dashed again. It seemed every time that I would consider starting something around the house I'd think I was going to be successful. So other than finishing off Assassin's Creed Black Flag, I can't claim that I achieved as much as I might have through that time. My cooking skills at least improved and I did a bit more cleaning that I was used to as well (though Caroline would certainly be right in saying there was room left for improvement).
In the end I scored a job though, much to the relief of everyone (and particularly me!) The fact that it was back at Transfield Services held mixed feelings for me. In some ways it was like going home and in others, off the back of having been made redundant, I wondered wether it was a direction I really wanted to go. The fact that it was a good job, based in Adelaide and with a fairly solid future with at least 5 years on the contract meant that it was far too good to turn down and get overly concerned about and now, 3 months later, I'm pleased to say that I've been enjoying it.
The soccer season was mixed for me this year too. I can honestly say that for the first time in my career I seriously contemplated retirement. It go to the point that I think I mentioned it at almost every training (which I was really having to drag my butt too even though I was unemployed). An early hamstring injury (number 6,872 I think) ankle trouble and the fact that we weren't winning games and the pressure/dejection associated with the job hunt meant that I really wasn't in a great space and at one point realised that I was headed off to the game on the weekend and wasn't really even looking forward to the challenge. That had never happened to me before. Things turn though and somewhere along the way the team found something of a rhythm and we started to win a few games. Then we started to keep some clean sheets. Something remarkable happened. We kept winning in the cup. As a second division Saturday league side, it simply wasn't expected. Especially when late in the cup run we came up against a couple of Sunday division 1 sides. We became giant killers. We knocked off the undefeated Div 1 Sunday leaders and we took out a side that had only conceded 7 league goals all season. It was a new lease on the season and given I had played in the clubs only other finals appearance (and victory 16 years prior) I was keen to have another crack, but with injuries threatening and a long list of available players, even starting was doubtful. In fact, when the teams were announced for the semi-final I was sitting on the bench until one of the other semi-injured centre-backs decided that he wasn't quite sure enough of his injury to start. Sadly the fairy-tale fell apart in the final. We weren't disgraced, but I think we'd run our race to get there.
Demotion to division 3 has me decided to play on though. After all, there's a damn good chance we'll take out the reserve championship with the drop in division, so why not play on for a bit more glory.
Aside from dealing with everything that she normally has to during a year, Caroline of course was a trooper through such an uncertain and change-filled year. Having finished her Masters in Accounting, she too began the year looking for work, but with the uncertainty around what I was doing was somewhat limited in what she was prepared to do. If she scored a job in Adelaide and I then picked up work interstate, would she be forced to quit? Would I commute? It was simply uncertain and messy. In the end she did pick up a job though and happily (if with significant trepidation) she re-entered the workforce as a Graduate Accountant. That took a bit of getting used to for all of us (What am I going to wear?!) but thankfully she has enjoyed it and is now experiencing the joy that is limited holidays and a distinct limit on one's flexibility.
Caroline's knee has been another significant impact this year. It stopped her from playing hockey and limited what else she could do. It was identified that she'd need an arthroscopy, but timing that with the new job was also an issue and meant that it had to be put off until quite late in the year. When they did finally go in they found more damage than they'd expected and put her on crutches for 6 weeks. Amazing how long 6 weeks can seem to take. I'm pretty sure it was worse for Caroline, but putting a mother on crutches sure as hell impacts the whole family. I think in the end the kids adopted the position that if they holed up in their rooms with headphones on they couldn't be asked to fetch and carry,. Ungrateful sods! Being told that not only had she missed a season of hockey, but that she wouldn't run or play again was certainly not good news and I don't think it helped with the recovery. Thankfully, the most recent inspection has relaxed things somewhat. I don't know that she'll see the hockey pitch again, but being told things aren't as bad as first thought is certainly a worthy improvement.
Michael began his adventures at Uni this year having started a double degree in Electronic Engineering and Finance. As many will know things have changed a bit since Caroline and I met at that very same university and there's even more flexibility than there was when we were there. On-line course information and the ability to watch lectures from home without attending to them means that when you don't feel like getting out of bed, there's really no immediate consequence for not doing so. Add to that a penchant for online gaming until 4am and Michael pretty much turned nocturnal for much of the year. Oh the pain and grumbles on the days he had to get out of bed to go to his casual job! Imagine the pain!
In April he turned 18, another milestone and yet another challenge in parenting, this time mostly in letting go. Its a tricky thing when you can see the writing on the wall. You can issue the warning, provide advice and even get a little angry, but in the end, you have to let them learn for themselves, even when you can see it perhaps not going according to plan (yes, I'm sure you went through much of this Mum and Dad). Let's just say that I hope that a supplementary exam and some Summer School might be the kick in the butt for him that repeating maths was for me!
Mostly Michael's had a good year. There was a girlfriend in the equation briefly, but we won
t say too much about that other than to say that he ended the year as it began. Single.
Sam has had another good year. He's worked his way through year 11 having tackled his year 12 French along the way (we're anxiously waiting for the results that will come through in Early January). Hopefully he's done as well as he hopes and it can take a subject out of the final year load for him. Like Michael, he's tackling the IB and talks of pursuing either Medicine or Engineering once he's got himself through this year.
Sam is a great believer the adage that too much sport is never enough and this year managed to play Tennis, Soccer, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Badminton and to have some fun with the high jump (I probably missed something too). He did rather well, picking up MVP awards in pretty much everything except Badminton. It meant for lots of running around, especially on Friday nights in winter when he'd have two commitments after school. I'm sure it was a ploy to get someone out of bed to drive him as he had pre-school commitments almost every day of the week.
Not busy enough, he also managed to pick up a job at the local KFC later in the year. I think he's enjoyed the degree of financial independence that its brought him as suddenly there were regular deliveries arriving in the mail, anything from pens to lucid dreaming kits (*cough cough conned?*) Having acquired his learners last year upon turning 16 late the prior year, 2015 was all about getting the hours up to go for his probationary license which he managed to do first time just in time for school to end. Not having to pick him up from work at 11pm on a Sunday and be on a plane at 6am the next day has been but one of the many little blessings of that little event.
Thomas had a good solid year this year. Academically he did well enough that he can stay for another year. Sport wise he reduced his commitments, having pulled out of cricket (oh the disappointment?) He decided not to play club soccer this year which made things a bit easier on us, but in order to pick up some cash, decided to referee. That meant I spent a lot of time out there as well and all in all he did pretty well. After all, only one game was abandoned (he's beaten me to that one as a referee) and that was about the style of play of one of the teams and the attitude of the coach rather than his performance as the man in the middle. I was very proud of him when he kept at it rather than ditch it and he's lined up to do it again.
Other than the ongoing Minecraft/computer obsession, Thomas has discovered juggling this year. It unusual now not to see him walking around the house with a cascade of balls flying about him and we now just have to find that happy medium between enjoyment and driving his father nuts.
The final big change for Thomas is that he's left Mercedes this year. With everything that was going down job wise this year, Caroline started investigated schooling options on the chance that we had to make a hard call about cutting a significant cost from the family budget. She came across the Australian Science and Mathematics School at Flinders University. Part of the process was attending an open night which we dragged Thomas along to. He became quite excited about the prospect and walked away wanting to apply to go. We worked our way through the application process and in the end, Thomas was accepted. So next year he gets to start a brand new journey in a world of nerds kids with an interest and passion for maths and science. It should prove to be quite the journey (Just let me take my sanity fully in hand for a moment).
And then there's Emily.
Emily turned 12 early in the year and entered her final year of what I still consider as Primary School (year 7). Quite a shock to the system when your youngest starts hitting these milestones, I have to say. Almost a teenager, this year has been interesting as Emily finds her way. She seems pretty sure of exactly what her way is and we just work at trying to quietly (or not as the case demands) steer her down the middle way that might bring peace and harmony to the world or at least our little part of it). She has played softball in the summer and netball through the winter and become obsessed with Anime and sadly, Percy Jackson fan fiction.
Emily too brought home good results from school this year, so we're looking forward to the next stage as she heads for year 8. She can be very sure about what she wants in life, so the challenge is simply to get her wanting the same things that we want Shouldn't be too hard now should it?
I am reassured when I speak to other parents of similarly aged girls that perhaps the challenges being faced aren't being faced alone? I think? Maybe?
Certainly one of her highlights would have been getting along to the Taylor Swift concert recently. Given the ticket was a present that she received way back in March, she finally managed to get there in December. The delight on her face as she bopped and sang along to every word was a treat to see.
There you have it, our lives in an abbreviated little capsule. It is far from everything and likely more than you ever wanted to know, but hey, I haven't taken much time to write this year and given all that's happened, I'm just glad to be moving on to the next one whilst thankful for having worked our way through his one as well as we have.
Over all, we're very blessed and thankful for all that we have, including the amazing love and support of our families.
Merry Christmas to you all,
Dave.
