366- #Thingsthatmademehappy 2016

This year I completed another 365 project (taking and uploading one photo every day). Actually I completed two, one on Insta and the other on Flickr and they were 366 projects because of the leap year, but whatever... semantics. The important thing is that I followed the rules, created a visual diary of our year, discovered some great photographers on Flickr and learnt a little bit more about photography along the way.
I only cheated once, as in there was just one day when I didn't take a photo and so I used a screen shot to make a yesterday's photo satisfy a today's date upload.

My theme for 2016 was #thingsthatmakemehappy
Here's the top 10 things that satisfied the hashtag

My kids- Nothing makes me happier than having all of them in the same place at the same time.

Christmas present weekend to Rye

Mothers' Day

This man - He's the best cook, the best travel buddy, the best kisser and luckily he's also very photogenic.

The Lover and the Lunatic - Being a grandma is beyond wonderful. Every minute spent with these two is a joy.

This is my favourite photo for 2016. Sums up their relationship perfectly.

I took this selfie the day Jaime told me she was expecting no3. It was hailing outside the car and I was imagining how all 4 of us would fit in the car on rainy netball days in 2017!

The Sharks- The Mortlake Junior Sharks had a very successful season. There were plenty of shuffles to photograph and I got to coach an amazing group of kids again this year. Then, in one of life's curly turns, suddenly the Sharks were no longer. I'm so sad that it's over but incredibly happy that I had the opportunity to coach again and to work with a great group of people.

Practice makes perfect - 4 perfect flicks

Our animals-

This was the last photo I took of these two together. We lost them both this year, just a few weeks apart. The original 'odd couple'.

My job - I moan about it a lot but really, I have the best job, in a great school, with awesome kids.

The opposition debaters never stood a chance

Graduation time

A fun filled trip to NZ

Who knew the dictionary was so exciting?

Performing Arts- I think the skills developed in performance pave the way for success in life and the happiness in creating a great performance is contagious.

Les Miserables

Big Fish

Indigo and Juliet

Lion King Jnr

Vietnam - Right up there with the best travel experience I've ever had.

HCMC - crazy town

 Fresh chicken

Hoian- one of the happiest places on Earth

Special events-

Pascale came back to visit and we managed a surprise assembly appearance

The Bulldogs won the flag. How good was that!

Sunsets - They were my standby when nothing else had made me smile. Its lucky we get so many beauties.

                               

      

  

      

     

     

And so the sun sets on 2016. Thanks to everyone who's allowed me to photograph them or tag them and thanks to my Instagram and Flickr followers for their feedback.

 Before tomorrow morning I need a theme for 2017's 365.

Any ideas?

     

The Measure of Success

Today my school got a nice little piece of publicity in the Herald Sun.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-features/news-in-education/vce/vce-results-2016-small-schools-prove-potential-with-analysis-showing-impressive-gains/news-story/80c8a32f7c7af9e3e37b203492dffb40

In a nutshell, the median score for all our VCE study scores (out of 50), was 35 – a truly great median for a no scholarship, take all comers, encourage everyone to finish year 12, government school. More importantly on the data spectrum, we were the most improved school, with our median shooting up 5 points from last year.

We’ve had halcyon times like this before. Occasionally we have some ‘lean’ years but It’s not a new thing for our VCE kids to do well. Back in 2007-2009 we had medians well above the average and our students have always ‘batted above their weight’ when it comes to success in academics, in sport and in performance skills.

So while I’m happy for us to bask in the (momentary) glory of high academic achievement, I think its important to recognise that it’s the not the most important measure of our school’s success and definitely not the most important measure of this group of kids. In fact, not all the kids in this photo contributed to that median. The numbers are derived from all the Unit 4 study scores and that included quite a few year 11s (who will get their chance at ATAR glory next year). Some of these kids didn’t even sit exams but they are no less successful in our eyes. Some are successful just because they finished year 12, some combined VCAL with VCE, Shona is the VETis plumber of the year (2 x in a row). Lachie is a state junior cricketer, Jake a state level high jumper and Gerald, a national equestrian. Cooper published his 2nd EP and got a perfect score in VET Music, a subject he studied at Emmanuel College because if we can’t offer a subject ourselves, then we’ll find someone who can. Chloe finished VCE with VCAL certs in 3 different disciplines. Breeanna, our dux, had three scores over 40 and she won’t even turn 18 till next May. All of them combined student leadership duties with their studies, becoming role models and ambassadors. At some stage, each and every one of them has performed in the school play, with 4 of them gaining admittance into our Performing Arts Hall of Fame.

I first met this group when they tumbled, full of personality, into year 5. There were lots of them then, a big class by our standards, covering the whole gamut of academic ability. They were larger than life kids, all different but all willing to turn their hand to any task. By year 7 it was clear they were going to be a successful cohort. They competed with each other and with themselves on a daily basis, in sport, in class and on the stage. We watched them grow from enthusiastic youngsters into skillful teenagers. Almost all of them came to NZ on camp with us and they soaked up every moment and made the most of every experience.

And then bit by bit the group started to shrink with a lot of the kids going off to bigger schools in bigger cities. Those who remained here struggled a bit. They missed their friends, and I think they felt a little bit deserted, with a sense that while the others were off having new adventures, they were stuck in the seemingly boring sameness of their run down rurality, with teachers who knew them so well that there was nowhere to hide. They became burdened by the high expectations we had of them, sometimes doubting that they could match those expectations with their own lofty ambitions and the work load that lay ahead. Some of them fought the demons of physical and mental health issues and just getting to school each day became a victory.

Like the surrogate parents that teachers often become, we cajoled, chastened, promised, pleaded, threatened, tutored, guided and bribed, and as loyal co workers do, they responded by doing their very best, by believing that if they dreamed it they could do it and choosing to step up rather than stepping aside.

And now, here they are, big fish in anyone’s pond. The survivors and the victors, ready to embrace their ‘real’ lives with the same passion and persistence that’s got them through year 12.

What a lovely bunch. Well done and good luck to you all.

Metamorphosis

There’s a metamorphosis happening at our place and I’m not expecting to see a butterfly emerge any time soon.

Having parented, (and survived) two teenage girls, I was fairly confident I had the whole puberty- mother thing under control and besides, everyone knows that boys are easier than girls, right? Well, Taine turns 13 today and I’m not quite so confident anymore.

My beautiful little, tousle haired boy is transforming, before my very eyes, into a man. Like a less verdant version of the Hulk, his body is morphing into its adult shape, long and lean with man hands sprouting from the ends of his arms. You can literally see his bones growing and stretching under the skin; the puppy fat falling away to reveal an angular and less awkward new shape. Every window in our house has become a mirror that measures the change in his abs and biceps! His feet are already bigger than his father’s, signaling a further growth spurt on the horizon and increasingly more expensive visits to the shoe shop.

The fridge and the pantry are often empty; despite my daily shopping they are devoid of proteins and carbohydrates- but that doesn’t stop him from endlessly opening their doors to window shop.

The eyes that used to look beseechingly at me to pick him up and carry him are suddenly at eye level with my own and more often defiant than compliant. He’s developed a passive resistance that leaves his bedroom chaos untouched and his homework wallowing in the bottom of his bag.

The timid creature who used to worry about his own safety has dissolved into a testosterone fuelled risk taker, full of bravado and c’est la vie. His voice has dropped an octave and his constant stream of conversation has been reduced to the odd grunt or a single letter text message.

His teddy, Lamby, lies abandoned in a corner of his room somewhere, smothered by the discarded dirty clothes and surrounded by other abandoned relics of his boyhood. That poor stuffed sheep has traveled the world with him and now it doesn’t even rate a spot on the bed! One night my little boy went to bed calling out his usual chorus of “Love you Mum, love you Dad”. The next morning he started calling me Anne and squirming when I tried to give him a hug.

I remember when I was pregnant with Taine, a miracle, conceived around my 45^th birthday and born just before my 46^th. I had so many fears about my own ability to cope with a baby, mostly fuelled by the asked, and unasked questions of everyone else.

"How will you manage the broken sleep at your age?" (Actually it was good training for the insomnia of menopause.)

"Won’t he miss out on doing stuff with you because you’re so old?" (So far we’ve walked the length and breadth of New York and London, cycled around Uluru and Paris and climbed the Old Man of Storr and the Sydney Harbour Bridge together. I think I’m doing OK ;-)

"What if people think you’re his grandmother?" (This hasn’t happened yet but I’ve since discovered that there’s nothing wrong with being a grandma!)

"How will you cope with a teenager when you’re 60?" (I’ll get back to you on this one).

"Aren’t you sad that you probably won’t see his grandchildren?" (Yes, I was actually asked this question and yes, I am. But my parents didn’t see their grandchildren either and they were in their 20s when I was born).

As a result of these questions, I spent a lot of Taine’s childhood willing him to grow up while I was still here to protect him. Now I regret my own foolishness at wishing that magical time away. Those long nights when nothing would calm him but a cuddle in our bed, the early mornings when he just wanted to get up and play, the endless questions of ‘why, Mummy?’

Because now, suddenly, here he is, an (almost) self sufficient adolescent and from my past experience I know how quickly the next few years will pass. When I blink a few more times he’ll be finished school and gone from home. My wonderful, extended twilight of hands on parenting will be over. Today, as I watch the last vestiges of ‘twelvie’ disappear, I have to remind myself that it’s ok to miss the little boy that he was but more important to celebrate the man he is becoming.

How grateful I am to have had the opportunity to experience the childhood of this amazing creature. Behind the nonchalant, know it all veil of the teenager, he is a kind, thoughtful and multi talented young man. I may not get to be around to see him grow old and grey and I may never know exactly what he will be but I do know who he will be. 

Happy Birthday Insano
(And just to test his resilience, here's a video of Taine's theory of the world from many years ago)

Photo 365 (366)

There’s something very special about the first month of the new year. It always feels like a blank slate, a chance to move on from whatever was holding you back last year, a promise of things to come, a whole year full of opportunities just waiting to happen.

It’s silly really because time is just a human construct and we could choose to start fresh on any given rotation of the sun but Jan 1^st provides a marker point and the older I get, the faster those 365 (or 366 this year) rotations seems to disappear, so I really savour these first, ambitious days of January, when anything seems possible.

For the last few years I’ve completed a 365 photo project. The premise is simple; take a photo each and every day of the year and publish it.

I’ve read lots of blog pieces from the ‘put down your device’ naysayers who lament the way many of us view our lives through a lens. I actually find these quite amusing, especially the ones that bag social media and the internet – and yet the piece is published … on the internet! ‘Live in the moment’, ‘make memories, not videos’, etc, etc. But what is a photograph, if it’s not a memory? A memory that lives, not only in my rapidly deteriorating grey matter, but one that can be shared

My completed 365s are the ultimate photo album. Rather than taking you away from the moment, the discipline of taking at least one photo every day forces you to concentrate on the minutiae of daily life, to look for something memorable in every day, not just the ‘special’ occasions. For sure, my 365 shows me birthdays and victories and spectacular holiday moments but it also reminds me of the other glorious parts of my life; the first ripe plums on our trees, Spring heralding daffodils, sunsets, laughter, trivial, happy moments from the daily grind of teaching that would otherwise be lost. The 365 is like a gift to yourself because at the end you have a spectacular, chronicled, visual diary of your life.

I have tried posting my 365 projects in a few different places. Originally, I posted to the 365project.org website. This is a great forum for photography because of the challenges they set and the support of other amateur photographers. The hard part is getting around to uploading your photos from the camera each week.

In 2015, I chose Instagram because it’s so easy to post on the run with my iPhone and because the phone saves Inta pics into one folder so they’re easy to see as a series.

Since my first go at this project, back in 2011, I’ve tried to up the challenge by applying a theme to each year’s photos. This makes it much harder. This year’s theme was #trysomethingnew and was more about me pushing my comfort zone than the actual photography. As a result, I’ve tried lots of new recipes and eaten things I’ve never tried before and I’ve pushed my own fear limits to climb to high places, including the Swiss Alps, the Eiffel Tower and the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Since I was holding my breath and closing my eyes for some of those experiences, it’s a good thing I have photographic evidence!

Instagram 2015 #trysomethingnew

One of my greatest regrets is that I didn’t start doing this earlier. I admire and envy the photographers who have chronicled their own or their children’s lives with daily or yearly photos. How amazing it must be to look back and reflect in that way. Still, regret is a wasted emotion so I’m determined to chronicle the back half of my life. Hopefully my grand children and great grand children will find it of historic amusement, if nothing else.

This year I’m going with Insta again (#thingsthatmakemehappy) but I’m also posting to a Flickr group (#2016 ) because they have very strict rules about posting on the same day as taking so it provides another level up in the challenge. I’m also hoping to integrate the 365 into my teaching with a #theresmoretomortlake tag for the kids to contribute to. From my dslr camera I’m going to put as much as possible onto 365.org as well. And then, I really want to do a portrait series because people are just so interesting!

Insta 2015 : #thingsthatmakemehappy

The hardest part is always choosing just one photo and that’s why I’m cheating by running different sites.

If you’ve never had a go at taking a photo a day, this is the year to try it.
Here are my top tips for a successful project:
- Take lots of photos and then edit each night on your phone/camera.
- Take a photo early in each day. You can always get a better one as the day progresses but there's nothing worse than getting to bed time and having nothing captured.
-Keep your originals in a 365 folder on your computer or a portable drive. Then if you want to print them at the end of the year, they're easy to find and in chronological order.
-Don't beat yourself up if you miss a day. With most sites you can cheat a bit by filling in the gaps with an extra from the day before or the day after - NB; not Flickr though - miss more than one day and you're out!

Flickr- 2016 one photo a day

- Choose a theme or go for a site that has weekly or monthly topic challenges. This definitely helps with motivation and inspiration. On 365 org you can even pair up with a mentor who will look at your photos and choose a challenge for you.

And if you do start a photo a day challenge this year, please add me on Instagram or wherever you post so that I can follow your adventures too.

365 org : Anne De Manser
Instagram: @kwaussies
Flickr : @Aannne

Jonah

Our poor, old dog, Jonah, didn't wake up this morning.
This was not unexpected, we've been expecting his demise for awhile now. He was heading for his 16th birthday and that's a long time for a labrador.

Jonah used to sleep downstairs in the porch with his best friend Nala, a mangy old moggy, (the by product of our promiscuous Maddy cat, who dropped a litter of kittens before she was old enough to be speyed). Nala was a crochety, wretch of a cat but she and Jonah had a wonderful companionship for their shared 15 years together. During the day they would sit on the front deck, guard the house and observe the world, then at night they would retire to their boudoir. A few weeks ago, Nala just disappeared and since then Jonah has been sleeping on the front lawn. I'm sure he's been looking for her and in the less scientific side of my mind, I like to think he's found her now.

We got Jonah around the same time we got married and in a sense he was a symbol and statement of hope for a relationship that most people (other than Geoff & I) didn't rate a chance to see the year out. What a shame no one was running a book on the odds on the long life of the dog and the marriage; we would have been rich!

We named the dog after the rugby great, Jonah Lomu. If he and Taine had been born the other way around, then I guess the dog's name would have been Taine.
Like most labs, Jonah had a pesky adolescence before becoming a calm, cool and gentle companion. He loved it when we moved to Waggs Lane because he was never chained up and never wandered. He was always happy to see us and liked nothing better than a walk around the block - although in recent years a stroll to the corner was enough to convince him he'd had enough exercise for the day.

We've been fretting about leaving Jonah to go on our annual beach holiday this year. Blessed with helpful friends, he has always been well looked after while we're away but for the past 3 or 4 holiday trips we've been worried he'd cark it while we were gone and he's a big dog. Geoff even thought about pre digging his grave but that seemed a bit presumptuous, even for an ancient creature like Jonah. This morning, he got to perform this last labour of love, with a little help from Taine who learnt a bit more about the cycle of life. It was a fitting tribute for a faithful companion.

In the end, Jonah's timing couldn't have been better. He got the last of the Christmas ham for lunch yesterday and when we got home late last night , his hopeful tail wagging told us he'd forgotten he'd already been fed, so Geoff gave him supper. As always, he waited patiently beside the bowl until he was told he could eat. And then he went back to the lawn to look for Nala.

And now he's gone.
Thanks for all your loving big fella.