Category: Life

April 9: Aparrently, the latest bit of Internet jargon is ‘Blog’. I think it’s just a case of somebody thinking of a name for something which has been around for a while and needed a little extra publicity (sort of like the word ‘J-Lo’). BLOG is short-hand for weBLOG. Khyeah. Right. What’s a weblog? This. Aparrently. What you’re reading right now. Don’t you feel all kinda techno-savvy now?

April 5: After a couple of shaky weeks of going cold turkey, my Palm Pilot has finally been replaced! I’ve come to rely on my little electronic brain because my real one leaks like.. one of those things with a hole in the bottom. Sieve. That’s it. As a way of marking the occasion, I’ve created a new category in BONWAG for Palm Stuff. If you want to know what the heck one is, try visiting some of the links in there.

April 5: Got this email today. If the basic assumption is correct – about being able to skew the form – then we’re in for a fun time! Personally, this sounds a little like a far fetched chain eMail, but wouldn’t it be *great* if it was true?
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As some of you may know there is a census coming around on August the 7th. For those who don’t know, a census is where the government collates general information about it’s residents (number of people living in your house, religion, etc)
If there are enough people in Australia, who put down a religion that isn’t mentioned on the census form it becomes a fully recognised and legal religion. It usually takes about 10,000 people to nominate the same religion. It is for this reason that it has been suggested that anyone who does not have a dominant religion to put “Jedi” as their religion.
Send this on to all your friends and tell them to put down “Jedi” on their census form. And remember ……If you are a member of the Jedi religion then you are by default a ‘Jedi Knight’.
So If this has been your dream since you were 4 years old…. Do it cos you love Star Wars, If not……….. then just do it to annoy people.
“May the Force be with you!”
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(check out the current categories at the Bureau, if you’re interested)
UPDATE: 20 April : NZ Assesses the impact…
UPDATE: May 3: The Bureau Declares War…

April 4: Please explain why the airline I travel with always puts the current outside temperature up on the TV screen during the flight? How it is useful to know that it’s -30 degrees 30 thousand feet in the air?

Although Charlotte doesn’t officially turn 2 until the 9th, we still had a great time at the birthday party yesterday; many of Charlie’s friends came around to visit the ducks and chickens and pony and sheep and goats which invaded our place. (The lawn may recover one day.)

Sadly Farewelled David’s Mum (Nola) and Aunt Sue back to Sydney today. They’ve been a huge help as a cheer squad and a helping hand with the logistics of the last few days. They’ve also spoiled the other two rotten, but that’s to be expected
Finally got some photos developed that worked. There are a few on this page, but see the Virtual Photo Album for more…
Charlotte has been grafted onto the online family tree: find her place in the world here…
Wanted: Size 000 Charlotte Hornets NBA Shirt.

Charlotte and Ainslie arrived home this afternoon
Trivia: Caleb shares a Birthdate with E.B. White (the author of ‘Charlotte’s Web’) – August 9
Trivia: All the Cook Kids were born on a Friday

Reception staff at the hospital are proving difficult to negotiate with: some people are being turned away for not giving the right password. The correct password is ‘Robinson’. It seems the computer system is liable to overload if presented with ‘Ainslie Robinson’, as are the staff members themselves. Ainslie is registered under her ‘legal’ name which she may tell you if you ask her nicely. (BTW; there is no such person as ‘Ainslie Cook’ or ‘Ainslie Robinson-Cook’). If in doubt, ask for Ward 5, Bed 2.
Photos are being held up by technical difficulties; the first roll of film has been double-exposed, somehow, so please stay tuned while we attempt to correct this problem…
‘Charlotte’ means ‘woman’ and ‘Frances’ means ‘free’ (at least according to this book…). There’s a family connection with ‘Frances’… it’s David’s mum’s middle name. We thought ‘Charlotte’ was just a name we liked until Caleb and Allanah started calling her ‘Charlie’… we realised it’s a version of the name of Ainslie’s (late) father Charles. (Caleb already shares his middle name of ‘Edwin’).
There’s been no announcement in the paper yet; wait ’till Monday. We prefer giving the scoops to more useful forms of communication… (Radio and Internet)
Charlotte shares a birthday with Madison, daughter of our friends Katherine and Tim Smith.

It’s a Girl!

Please welcome to the World – Charlotte Frances Robinson-Cook. 9lbs, 5oz (4230 gms), 55cms.
For those wondering about Ainslie’s planned induction for 10am Thursday (8th), it was postponed until 11pm because of overcrowding in the delivery suites (yes, 13 hours). As you can see, it didn’t take long for Charlotte to arrive after that!
Charlotte’s arrival was trouble-free and quick: Ainslie didn’t have time to ask for pain relief.
Bub is healthy and happy; she has blue eyes and dark-ish hair… maybe we have another redhead on our hands
Ainslie (and Charlotte) is staying in Ward 5 (Bed 2), KEMH until either Saturday or Sunday. She’s doing well, apart from some pains and embroidery…
Caleb and Allanah have welcomed her into the family officially; especially seeing as ‘Beebee Charlie’ also brought presents for them…
Charlotte’s the biggest of the Cook Kids, although she has a smaller head than Caleb
Comments from the Midwives (completely impartial and unsolicited) include ‘perfect’, ‘beautiful’ and ‘whoah; she’s big!’
David lost his voice on Wednesday, and only just started to regain it in time to encourage Ainslie in labour. Please don’t be scared if you should ring the Cook household.
The obtuse ‘Internet connection’ of her name has not been lost on a few people… Charlotte… Web… geddit?