Teenage Daughters!

Many of you probably already know Amy has been battling depression for the last 18 months. Last year was particulary rocky but she has come along way and is doing really well most of the time. She is doing lots of different things and has a good circle of friends. School seems to be a bit of a battle at times for her but school has been very good and supporting us through it.



One of the problems we had in the last part of last term was lots of headaches. Come the school holidays not a single headache. After getting her eyes tested and getting the all clear, we decided the problem was managing stress and anxiety and the key was relaxation. Of we headed for some counseling to find the miracle cure and learn relaxation techniques in one easy lesson! Wishful thinking!



Well Amy certainly managed the relaxation technique in one easy lesson - she fell asleep on the psychologists couch for 20 minutes! I figured that little snooze cost me $20 and the taxpayer $40! I guess the money wasn't completely wasted as I got some counselling while she was asleep- but I wasn't too impressed with her at the time - at least I can laugh about it now!

Devoted Wife or a Plot to Discover Secret Mens Business

It is 5:05am on a May Canberra morning, the temperature outside is 1 degree celsius. Most normal Canberrans are still warm and snug in their bed, but normal people do not reside at the Frost residence! The alarm has just gone off and it is time to rise and put on layers of clothing, cycling gear, shoe covers, gloves, anything you can think of to keep warm and head out the door by 5:30am leaving the dogs and teenagers to guard the house!

Flashing red tail lights and headlights on, it is a quick 30 minute ride at a brisk pace behind Bill to get to the waiting bunch in Philip about 13 km away. There we meet the bunch and ride at an even brisker pace. Fortunatley is is only for about 15 minutes and then we peel off from the bunch and head into the bakery at Manuka. Quick glance at the clock shows it is 6:20am! Most normal Canberrana are still asleep!

Time for a hot chocolate and fruit bun, chat to the others that have also pulled off the bunch, before we dash home on the bikes, make sure the teenagers are awake and ready for school, shower breakfast and ready to start the day, having been awake for 3 hours and already ridden 44km!

Yes, madness you may say, apart from those first few minutes rolling out of bed when the alarm goes off and the first few minutes on the bike in the cold I do enjoy it. And it is one way to spend quality time with your partner!

It is usually a bunch of about 6 to 8 of us at the bakery, usually all blokes but me - so it is a chance to discover what they talk about- well I must report nothing very exciting - motorbikes, fishing, bikes, more motor bikes, (I think 90% of 50+year old men have a motor bike) RFD or some other techno gadget, jobs and more motorbikes - that is about it- nothing too exciting

That is my Friday morning, so if you ring at 7am and wonder why no one answers thats because we are not home yet!

Letting Go of the Strings

Lachlan and his latest possession! March 2009

Another view of his new car!


Humans are funny - you can't wait for you kids to grow up and be independent and when they start to actually do it it is a lot harder than you think! Just like you can't wait for your kids to walk or talk and then when they do you wish they hadn't done it so soon as you are either running after them to keep them safe or answering their endless questions





6 months ago Lachlan had had his learners permit of about 16 months and hadn't really done anything about getting his licence. Half the time we felt he should get of his butt, stop being lazy and do something about it, the other half the time we felt at least we know where he is and don't have to worry about him hooning around town. With Lachlan to, we always knew once he was motivated to do something he would do it, till then there probably wasn't much point nagging.





So come the Christmas holidays he started having driving lessons, before we knew it he had his licence by mid February - motivating factor - learners permit expired in April and he would have to pay for a new one and sit another test! We thought that was pretty good, another of life's milestones ticked off. So you sit back and think, well done, we have helped our son- but just when you are feeling smug and comfortable he asks one Saturday - "What are you doing today mum?" You think to yourself - "how nice, finally he is making conversation rather than the usually grunting". That thought only lasts a second till you realise there is an ulterior motive- "Can I borrow the car?"


"What do you need to borrow that for, just because you have your licence now, does not mean you have to drive does it?" Stupid question!


So the negotiation commences, times worked out for being home, cost of borrowing the car, and the final reminder as he walks out the door with car keys of how much excess he will need to pay if he has an accident.


Can't sleep till he gets home - now it is waiting up till they get home, instead of getting up to them in the middle of the night!


We survive that hurdle, things seem to have quietened down, until he wants to show me something on the Internet! It turns out for months now he has been watching cars on all classifieds and one that he has been watching for a while now has been re listed at a lower price.


"What do you think of this one?"


"No idea - go ask Gordon, the mechanic next door"


He does, and unfortunately Gordon reckons Hyundai's are a good little car - pity he didn't think of the them the same way as he does Kia's.


Before you know it he has rung up, organised his father to go over with him, seen it, talked to Gordon again, negotiated a price and bought a 1992 Hyundai S Coupe - a car almost as old as him and with the best sound system in the family.


So now he doesn't have to borrow the car any more and we have a third car in the driveway.


At least 80% of the time we should know where he is, either in front of his computer or working in a part time job to pay for the cost of running a car!

Riding - One of my Passions

I love to go cycling, I love the feeling of being tired at the end of the day from physical exercise, I love it that I don't feel so guilty when I eat chocolate, or cakes or yummy food after riding hard. I love being able to sit down at a cafe with my friends and have a skinny hot chocolate! Autumn is a great time for riding, the weather is great, usually not to windy and today I got to ride. Instead of going out with the usual Monday crowd I went for a ride with Bill and some of his friends. It did mean I had to be up early - up at 6am to leave at 6:30am. We rode out to Lake George and back, stopping at the Italian Bite to refuel. I rode 120km and average 28km per hour which wouldl be my fastest time for this distance. I really felt I had accomplished something and kept up with riders I would not normally ride with- I did get pushed up one hill by Bill and they waited at the top for me on the other steep hill ( but not for too long) but the rest of the time I held my own - so I was pleased. By the time we got home - just before midday Lachlan had only just emerged from bed and Amy had been up for a bit, but enjoys being able to spend time at home without a mum telling her what to do!

Good Friday Easter Picnic

For about the last 4 or 5 years we have had a Good Friday Breakfast Picnic at Lennox Gardens by the shore of Lake Burley Griffin with my brother Simon, his wife Bindi and there kids Charlie and Mia. This year we had to go it alone as they have been posted to Vienna and declined our inviation for them to attend - how rude. It wasn't quite the same without Uncle Simon to stir up the kids but we had fun anyhow. We cooked bacon and egg rolls, panckaes and hot cross buns on the BBQ, had an easter egg hunt for the little kids (had to convince my 15 year old daughter Amy, that she was really to old to hunt for the eggs this year - she could hide them. We had the easter egg rolling competion, won by Lachlan - his prize was to have all the little kids throw their eggs at him!

Lachlan and Lucy

The easter egg rolling competion

One of the tastefully decorated eggs used for the egg rolling competion

Andrea a friend of Amy's

We had to convince Amy to make sure we got some ordinary photos - usually she takes 100 shots of blades of grass and swan beak close ups and only 2 of the people actually there!

Lachlan was the winner of the easter egg rolling competion. His prize was to have the kids all throw easter eggs at him!

Not sure what this was about, but it is quite an animated photo of Lachlan - with Lucy - his sometime girlfriend!

Frost Family Blog Launched

Welcome to the Frost Family Blog - Don't really know what I am doing but I have enjoyed keeping in touch with others via their blogs so I thought I better start my own So welcome to the blog version of the Frosty Frolics