Long time, no post

Wow, being a parent takes up a lot of time. How do so many parents keep blogs? It seems an amazing feat of time management to me. After taking three months leave from my PhD I'm now back on the job. I started back two weeks ago and am slowly getting the old brain cells re-activated. Not sure if they'll ever be the same though I must say, mainly due to chronic low-level sleep deprivation. Actually, S. and I are very fortunate in that regard. Casper mostly sleeps through the night with one middle of the night feed and then wakes at 6am or 6:30am. I'm a bit surprised with myself that I enjoy parenting as much as I do. It's really hard work but the rewards are great. Casper pays me in smiles and cooing. Who would of thought they'd be so valuable?

I rented a room close by in a friend's house to use as my PhD office. Going out to Parramatta campus every day seemed a long way away if there were any problems at home and also now that I'm at the writing stage of my thesis I really need a quiet and private space. I've been riding my bike to my office in Dulwich Hill the last few days. The first day I rode I got hit by a car! It was quite a shock. I've never been hit before. I was cycling along Stanmore rode and a four wheel drive approached Stanmore Road from a sidestreet. He started moving forward just as I was cycling past the t-junction. For some reason (he claimed it was the sun in his eyes), he didn't see me and slowly advanced into me. Thank goodness it was slowly. As it was, he hit the side of my bike and I fell sideways onto Stanmore Road. There were no cars in my lane behind me otherwise I'd be splat. I pulled over and yelled at the man in the 4 wheel drive but it was hard to stay being angry with him since he apologised profusely and looked genuinely mortified at what he'd done. I've found a back route that is a little safer but it's frightening how easy it is for something unexpected to happen.