Building Starts Thursday

Greg, our contractor, called today and told us that the building will start on Thursday. I will be there with camera in hand to get photos of the first day. We are excited.

In other news, the second season sports at JIS did very well this past weekend in Bangkok, Manila, Taipei and Kuala Lumpur. Our rugby team, girls' basketball, and girls' tennis team all came home with the gold. Boys' tennis won the silver medal and the girls' swim team brought back the bronze. It was one of the most successful season JIS has had in a long time.

Softball try-outs started yesterday. About 50 guys came out to show us there stuff. We have the next two days to decide who will play varsity, who will play JV, and who will be cut. Hopefully, we will have a good team this year...so far, things look pretty good.

The photo above was taken in Santorini last summer. Since Dad was going through his old photos, I did the same, and found this one. I added a few more photos to the Santorini gallery if you want to see what else I found hidden away.

Kayla Complains About Photos

Kayal wanted to see the blog this morning. So, I showed her the blog. She then with a sigh, said, "Daddy, you don't have any pictures of Kayla....get your camera now, and take some pictures"....when I came back with the camera, she had Mommy put the towel on her head after her bath...I think she remembers that the last photos of her with a towel on her head were cute. She then went through her posing routine....ah, so cute.

She is taking a nap now, but will be happy to see her photo on the blog when she wakes up. Tika and I are going to see a movie...

Contract is Signed

Negotiations are finished, and all worked in our favor. Greg dropped by the house last night, and we signed the contracts. Building will start next week. I will of course take lots of photos during the building of our dream home to keep you up-to-date.

Not much else to report. The weather has been pretty rainy the past few days, and today was the first day with no rain. The new C-module at school just opened a couple of days ago. The English teachers all have brand new classrooms....nice.

I don't know what the photo of the Cockatoo has to do with this blog entry, but I didn't have another photo to share today, so the bird it is....

Two More From Bali

Another weekend over, and another week begins at work...and so goes the cycle of life in Jakarta.

We got the re-re-re-re-(and so on)bid on our house, and I think we are finally, truely, almost there. I wrote the builder back to day asking for a bigger discount on electrical and mechanical work, and I will wait to see what his response will be. If all is well, we should start the building within the next 10 days. It has been a long process, but worth the wait. We have somehow managed to knock over 50,000 dollars off the original bid....but it is still over budget. The builder also tells us it will take 18 months to build...but we have negotiated that down to 15 months...a long time to stay in the "camp site". We look forward to finishing, and then having family come visit us again....I promise luxury accomodations.

On Her Tippie Toes

Kayla's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad parents forgot to bring her bathing suit to Kyle's birthday party today, so Kayla could only stand on her "tippie toes" and watch the other kids play in the water....oh well....she still had a good time.

I am hosting EPL tonight, and Tika has cooked up a storm of good food. Now if my players will only score some goals tonight, I will be a happy man.

We had a huge rain storm today....it only lasted about 20 minutes, but it really dumped some water. This is Indonesia, and when it rains here it like nothing you have ever seen. Our "camp site" (what I call our temporary house while we build) was flooded in a couple of places causing a minor crisis in the house. All is fine now. As long as the AC works, the TV is on, and I can get on-line, I don't care if there is a roof or not....ahaahah....

It's Friday Baby

We all work hard, and then play hard. The first week back has been work, but I escaped right after school today for nine holes of golf with six other guys....and I played well, too (that is always nice)...then went to the Headmaster's house for a school party where everyone talked about their vacation, and blah blah blah....

We have a birthday party to go to tomorrow (Kyle Chamberlain), and a get-together with friends on Sunday, and I am hosting the EPL Fantasy Soccer guys at the house on Saturday night. Tika is going to make her famous steak sandwiches...man, "They are the BEST, Jerry, THE BEST" (phrase from Seinfeld). So busy weekend for the Grahams....we will try to also fit in a movie somewhere in there.

I have updated my underwater gallery on Pbase.com if you want to check it out. Also check out the gallery, "Images from Everywhere"....I have updated that one as well.

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Ok, Dad had a blog entry for Mom's birthday a day early, so I had to balance things out and make an entry a day after Mom's birthday. Let me make it clear though...I did NOT forget Mom's birthday. Dad had sent an email reminding me and I had every intention of writing a blog entry last night so that it would be on the site the morning of Mom's birthday. However, you must remember that I live in Indonesia. Last night, my internet connection was on and off....mostly off. I waited until 11:00 at night to post my entry, but it wouldn't go through....so, I thought, well, I will do it first thing in the morning at school (It would still be the evening of the 16th). I got to school nice and early and then remembered I had a CSC meeting....ok, after the meeting....the meeting ran late, and then I had three classes in a row to teach....to make a long story short, after our meeting with our architect and builder tonight, this is my first chance to get to the computer all day....so, sorry I am a bit late, Mom.... BUT, Happy Birthday!

The meeting with the builder went well tonight, although very late. Our price has come down considerably, and we are almost ready to sign a contract. We are still over budget, but it is getting close enough to make a deal. We will wait for one more revision of the costs (being emailed tomorrow), and then if Burhan (our architect) agrees, we will sign the contract, and then begin building within 10 days or so.

I am dead tired, so I am headed to bed....I hope you had a great dinner out last night, Mom. Happy Birthday once again.

Another Reef Shot

I couldn't resist putting just one more underwater photo on the blog. I am going to upload all my new underwater photos to pbase.com in the next few days so you can check them out.

I had two new classes of kids today in my senior math class and photography class. Both classes are a bit smaller than last semester. Softball starts in just a couple of weeks, and I will start teaching my photoshop class next week. It is going to be a busy semester.

Back to Work

Well it was back to work today, and it was a busy day. The worst part was waking up at 5:30 in the morning. Ouch. I would rather be in the picture above....

The big news was that Kayla had her first professional modeling shoot today. They put make-up on her, dressed her, and posed her playing a piano, reading a book, etc. for a kid's milk advertisement. Tika said she was a real ham in front of the camera flirting with the photographer. Suposedly, she will be on some posters and flyers in grocery stores...the photographer was very impressed with Kayla.

Last Day of Vacation

Well, that's it....back to work tomorrow. It has been a great vacation, but all good things must come to an end, and more money must be earned.

We spent the day roaming the mall with Kayla, and then Tika and I saw a movie. I must get to bed early because it is going to be a shock to the system when the alarm goes off at 5:30 tomorrow morning....yuck...the worst part about going back to work...gettin up out of bed.

Working on Photos

I don't think Tika liked it much, but I have been on the computer all day today going through the 1136 photos I took in Papua. I am quite proud of the one above. I have some other shots that I will be sharing in the next few days. I need to try to finish tonight so that I can spend time with my family tomorrow.

Bali Bird Park

On our last day in Bali, we headed up to Ubud to the Bali Bird Park. It was a gorgeous day, and very few people were at the park. Kayla was able to pet a white Cockatoo, and was very excited to see the pretty flowers and birds around the park. We are headed back to Jakarta...always sad to leave Bali.

Dads and Daughters at the Pool

Today was a day at the pool for the Dads and day of shopping for the Moms. Of course, I am always taking the photos, so never IN them....oh well. We had a nice dinner last night at an Italian restaurant on the beach. Very nice. I sure wouldn't mind living in Bali...gotta figure out what I could do for a job, and live here.

Gators Are National Champions

The Gators did it....and not "just", but totally demolished Ohio State. I love it.

We were all sitting around the pool very upset that the game was not on TV out here. Then a friend of Butch said that the game was on TV at a sports bar in Kuta. We called them first, and they said the game was on. We rushed over to the bar, but when we got there, the game was NOT on, and the guy looked at us like we were from Mars when we asked him why he told us on the phone that the game was on and it wasn't. So, I called my good friend, Tom Beams, who was in Jakarta. He was watching the game at the American Club via the Armed Forces Network. He was able to message me on the phone after every score. I couldn't be a more happy Gator fan, and can't wait to see my Big 10 fans when we get back to school. They were all convinced that Florida did not belong in the championship game...the Gators stole the number 2 spot from Michigan (who got slam dunked as well)...the Gators had a weak schedule....the SEC all play weak teams...the Big 10 was the best....blah blah blah....well the proof is now on the table....I can't wait to see their faces....ha ha ha....

Back to Bali

I arrived from Papua on Sunday night, and Monday morning, we flew to Bali. We went back to the Sofitel Hotel where we joined our good friends the Koltais, the Murnames, and Tom Bartlett. Kayla was sick most of the day running a fever which took away from most of the excitement of being in Bali. She was sick for a few days, but returned to her happy self. I will finish updating posts tomorrow as it is getting very late, and I need to hit the sack. See ya.

A couple more interesting shots

On my last day of diving, we visited a site called "The Passage" which is one of the most unique dives in the world. The dive is between several large limestone islands with caves and swim throughs. You feel like you are diving in a river as there are trees that overhand the passage through these islands. It is real wild. The current is very strong, but if you duck into the protected alcoves, you can avoid the current and get some very cool macro photography shots like the ones above.

Some Reef Shots

The sun managed to break out today, so I went to one of my favorite reefs twice today to take some wide-angle photos. Here are two good shots. The coral and fish life was just amazing. There were so many fish that at times I thought a cloud was passing over, but it was schools of fish. Man, just amazing.

Ghost Pipefish

Today it rained almost all day. Since the sun was not shining, I focused mainly on macro-photography underwater (small stuff). On my last dive of the day, I spotted this ornate ghost pipefish. They are really tough to find, but a very unusual looking fish. Cool, heh?

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. I started out the year at my favorite dive location, the Raja Ampat Islands. I took over 1000 photos while there. I stayed at the new Sorido resort which was luxury compared to Max's other resort (Kri Eco resort)...I had AC, a big room with a camera table, and cable TV....it was awesome.

I am writing this post on the 12th of January, so will enter a few more like I was doing it live....