andrewlighten.com

Thanks to Easter bunny the children get chocolate eggs and bunnies because the eggs represent new life. So happy Easter all from two daughters.[left Adelaide right Eloise].

Brilliant.

Yesterday, The Kid got to spend a few hours on the back of a CFA truck delivering lollies to the kids in the area.

We went to see a friend of mine who lives at East Warburton; he’s in the Reefton CFA, and their truck went out to deliver lollies to the kids. The Kid had a great time, as did all the kids we visited.

He isn’t in office yet, but Obama is already embroiled in a controversy:

In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say.

Millions of Americans who watched Mr. Obama’s appearance on CBS’s 60 Minutes on Sunday witnessed the president-elect’s unorthodox verbal tic, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth.

The Kid had a special day today because she said her promise at Girl Guides. It’s a big occasion.

I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God, to serve the Queen and my country; to help other people; and to keep the Guide law.

Afterward she was given a sash and scarf and a whole lot of badges and patches that Lisa has to sew on. There’s one for being part of the guide movement; one for being an Australian guide; one for being a Victorian guide; one for being part of the Bluebell patrol, and a few others that I can’t remember. Lots.

There’s a gallery on SmugMug with a few shots in it; check your gallery list.

I’ll get her to write a blog entry tomorrow with her own words.

Link cloud shamelessly stolen from Thomas Hawk.

Lewis Hamilton has won the 2008 F1 world championship after this year’s final race in Brazil.

Going into the race weekend only 2 people could win the championship: Hamilton and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. Hamilton had a 7 point lead, and Hamilton only had to finish 5th or better to guarantee he was champion regardless of where Massa finished.

Massa, a Brazilian, was always odds-on for winning his home grand prix. He’s always very strong at the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, having qualified in pole position for the last 3 years and winning in 2006.

Because of Massa’s obvious advantage at this track, most commentators felt that Hamilton would play it safe by aiming for a top 5 finish rather than a victory.

The race was delayed by a brief shower just before the scheduled start, but remained dry for most of the day. As predicted, Hamilton ran a conservative race, content to sit in 4th or 5th for most of the time while Massa lead from the start and never looked troubled.

Five laps from the end of the race, however, the rain hit again, so most of the cars came in to change from dry tyres back onto wets.

Once everyone was back on the track and the positions became clear, Hamilton was 5th, just in front of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Vettel is known for his wet weather driving and slithered past Hamilton with 3 laps to go, putting him down to 6th and out of championship contention.

On the last corner of the last lap both cars passed Timo Glock in the Toyota, putting Hamilton back up to 5th and giving him the championship. Glock hadn’t stopped for wets when the rain hit, and had lost 17 seconds on his last lap.

After 18 races all over the world the championship had came down to the last corner of the last lap of the last race. What a finish.

Hamilton is the youngest driver ever to have won the championship, eclipsing the record held by Renault’s Fernando Alonso.

Many of you know I’m British by birth, and came out to Australia when I was 6 years old. A few months back I asked Mum about the date of our departure from Britain: July 13th, 1973. We arrived here on the 15th.

Today is kind of special because The Kid is the same age I was — to the day — when we made that trip. To celebrate we’re having a classic British lunch: roast beef with all the right trimmings.

The Baby is one year old tomorrow! To commemorate she’s managed to get her second cold, so she’s feeling pretty crook right now. The Kid got her a present and insisted The Baby get it early to cheer her up, but right now, as they’re playing on the floor, it’s pretty apparent that The Kid chose the present more for herself than The Baby. Not to worry though; they’re having fun playing together and the cold appears to have taken a back seat.

She’s probably got some teething pain too, because she’s now got two top teeth that have come through.

There’s photos up on SmugMug (and will be more in the next hour or two) so check your URLs.