Sunday, 28 December, 2014

This week was a good week and a sad week............again.  Dad and I spent a lot of time baking this week.  Robyn has her family with her and we wanted to be able to give them some treats while they are here.  I knew that three of Robyn's children who were there all week would take care of the food, but we thought it would be  nice if they didn't have to worry about making dessert - especially for Robyn's grandkids.

We were supposed to spend Christmas Day with Robyn and Geoff - we were going to have cold meats and salads down by the beach together.  Since Robyn's family were all here for Christmas Day, Dad and I decided to spend the day on our own.  There was an opportunity to go to the chapel and eat our meal with other members, but we really didn't feel much like socializing with others on that day.  We spent the whole day baking and listening to Christmas music.  It actually turned out to be a good way for us to spend the day.  We did think about Geoff and Robyn - the baking was for the memorial service for Geoff which was yesterday - and it kept us busy as well so we didn't dwell on the sadness of it all day.

Our Christmas dinner - ham with salads (garden, potato, macaroni and greek)

lemon bars

raspberry jam rounds with lemon icing

banana bread

buttermilk banana blueberry bread

lemon dimples

chocolate brownie bars

As I mentioned, the memorial service for Geoff was yesterday at our chapel.  Robyn's children were so supportive of their mom and organized everything.  There are five children and four of them participated in the program: Michaela did the eulogy, Mark talked about Geoff as a dad, Sandra talked about Geoff as a grandpa and Jackie said the closing prayer.  I'm not sure why Kent (the youngest) didn't participate other than it seemed to really hit him harder.  He is much younger than the other four children - he is only 31.  Other people spoke at the service as well: Geoff's brothers, the bishop, one of Geoff's inlaws and a member of the police association (that was Geoff's career).  Dad and I shed a lot of tears during the service, but it was also nice to hear so many positive things about Geoff and what others thought of him.  The chapel was full to overflowing - it was nice for Robyn to see how respected and loved Geoff was.  After the service, food was provided (the family provided  subs and the members of the ward provided treats) and I kept myself busy with making sure that the food trays were replenished.  I don't like mingling with people after a funeral - I haven't been to many funerals, but I have never liked to do that.  Dad is the same and so he came and helped in the kitchen as well.  Dad and I shed some more tears at home - we are really going to miss Geoff a lot.

The program cover for Geoff's memorial service

Remembering Geoff

Sunday, 21 December, 2014

It's been a good week and a sad week.....again.  First the good week part..........Dad was discharged from the hospital on Monday.  Dr. Kua came in early that morning and told Dad that since everything was looking good, he could go home - but, he needed to be sure to rest a lot for the first two weeks. I was pleased at how well I did driving home from Brisbane.  I was anxious about driving back home since I am not familiar with doing this drive (Dad always drives when we are going together), but it turned out really well.  We got a taxi from the hospital to Dad's work (where we had left the car) and the drive from there to home was quite easy.  We had to stop every 45 minutes so that Dad could get out and walk a bit to keep the circulation in his legs going.  Dad has been quite tired this week - he has spent a lot of time in his chair - but, we have also been getting out every day so that Dad can get a little walk in.  Dad says that he has been surprised by how much weaker and more tired he is than he thought he would be.

I was thinking this week about how Dad and I really aren't into the Christmas season.  For me, it's mostly about not having children around who get excited about the season and Dad and I don't give gifts to each other (haven't for years) and I really don't like how commercial Christmas is.  BUT, I also started thinking about what this season was really about (or should be about) and I thought that we should maybe get into that part of the Christmas spirit.  That made me think of service and how could we do that at this time of year.  I went onto Pinterest (seriously addicted to it, I am) and found some great ideas.  One of things Dad and I have decided to do is come up with  25 things we can do from December 1st to December 25th which will help us to get into the Christmas spirit - most of which include service to others.  I am pretty pleased with our list, although I can see it changing a little as we begin to put the list into practice.

One of the things that I found on Pinterest was a list of things to give for the '12 Days of Christmas' (the 12 days before Christmas Day is what they meant) - kind of like a Secret Santa.  We didn't have twelve days, but I thought it would be  nice to try and do it for a few days for someone in our ward.  We chose a sister in our ward who is just lovely and would do anything for others and yet she has so little herself.  We made some Christmas goodies for her and also bought her some nail polish, some hand sanitizer and had a photo printed of a beautiful scene about the real reason for the season.  I asked another of our friends to pass this bag of goodies on to her.  When I was speaking to this woman on Sunday, she told me that Christmas is not normally a great time of year for her due to sad things which had happened in her life around that time of year.  Dad and I hope that this bag of goodies and the note we put on it about how wonderful we think she is, will make her feel better.

Here are some of the goodies we made this week for our friend (how they looked in Pinterest and how they looked when we did them):

Pinwheel cookies on Pinterest

 

our pinwheel cookies

Chocolate pretzels on Pinterest

Our chocolate covered pretzels

Christmas crunch on Pinterest

our Christmas crunch

Pretzel kiss candies on Pinterest

our Pretzel kiss candies (believe it or not, you cannot get Hershey's kisses or hugs or anything like them in Australia - so, we used a block of chocolate we thought would work the same - however, it did not :-)

Christmas crack on Pinterest

 
our Christmas crack


The sad part of the week is again about our friend Geoff who passed away last Sunday.  We have been thinking about him all week (and Robyn, too) and it's just been really sad.  I am a bit surprised at how hard it has hit both Dad and me - it's quite heartbreaking.  Robyn's son, Mark, phoned the Bishop and asked him to ask Dad if he would assist in dressing Geoff for the casket.  Although it will be difficult for Dad to do (emotiionally), Dad was honoured to be asked.  He will go with Mark and another member to dress Geoff in his white clothes which he wore when he went to the Temple.  The memorial service will be next Saturday with a private graveside service the following Monday (to which Robyn has invited us to).  So many things have reminded us of Geoff this week - some are just little things - we are going to need time to grieve.

Sunday, 14 December, 2014

This has been a good week and a sad week.  First the good news...........on Thursday, we met with the doctor who was going to do Dad's operation.  He told us what was going to happen in the operation and asked us if we had any questions.  Dr. Kua is such a nice person and was very happy to listen to any of our concerns.  When he didn't mention doing the operation with a robot, I asked him about it and he said that he only used the robot with someone who has prostate cancer.  So, I asked him why he thought that our doctor had sent Dad to him to do the operation when it could have been done in HB.  Dr. Kua said that maybe our doctor thought that he (Dr. Kua) was the best at doing this type of operation.  He didn't say it in a boastful way at all, though.  I will have to ask our doctor if that was the case.  Since Dr. Kua works at a private hospital, we had to pay (and pay well) for the operation.  It's kind of different for us having to pay for medical procedures - not that we don't pay through our taxes in Canada, but when you have to pull out your credit card to pay for it here, it feels different.  But, as you girls say, "it is what it is" - and so we pay.

We are staying right across the road from the hospital.  One of the nice things about having to travel to get an operation done here is that the government will help to pay for your travel and accommodation costs.  The Rotary organization operates a lodge across from the hospital and that is where we are staying.  The government covered the total cost of the first night we stayed here as Dad and I both stayed there the first night.  Then, while Dad has been staying in the hospital, the government covers half of the cost.  It's been wonderful to just be able to walk across the road in the evenings when it's been time for me to leave the hospital.

Dad's operation was on Friday.  We went to the hospital at 9:30am so that Dad could be admitted and do all the necessary paperwork.  Then, it was a matter of 'hurry up and wait'.  I asked the girl in the pre-op area why we had to be there so early when the operation was scheduled for 1pm - she told me that it was in case the doctor was ready sooner than expected.  I had to leave when Dad went into another area to prepare for the operation, so I went back to the lodge to wait.  Dr. Kua had told us that the operation would be an hour and that he would call me when it was done to let me know how things had gone.  I was a bit anxious during the time, but did a lot of praying which calmed me. When I hadn't heard from Dr. Kua by 2:30pm, though, I started to get quite anxious (and of course that means that I got weepy as well).  I went over to the hospital to see if I could find out what was happening and while I was there, I received the call from Dr. Kua telling me that everything had gone great!  Phew! :-)  It turned out that the operation had started late and that was why I didn't get the call until later than expected.

The nurses have been wonderful in this hospital and Dad has been taken really good care of.  The food has been really good, too - nice surprise for hospital food!  I have been eating at the hospital, too - they have a nice restaurant here with very reasonable prices - I've been eating a lot of curry since I don't get it at home since Dad doesn't like it.  Dr. Kua has been by every day and he is very pleased with Dad's progress.  Dad has been getting up and walking up and down the corridors for a few minutes each day.  Dr. Kua and the nurses have all told us that it will take time for Dad to build up his strength again.  Dad and I are both looking forward to heading home tomorrow.

The sad news is that we got the news today that our friend, Geoff Cartner, died today.  Our hearts are broken - Robyn and Geoff are our best friends in Hervey Bay and we do so many things together and had so many future plans to do things together (like travel around Australia).  The sadness is overwhelming right now.  My friend, Denise, phoned me from Hervey Bay to tell me the news.  Robyn and Geoff's son, Mark, had called her to get the Bishop's phone number and Denise thought that we should know the news, too.  While I was talking with Denise, Robyn herself phoned through and so I talked with her.  We are all in shock - this was totally unexpected.  Geoff was in the hospital in Brisbane for two weeks following major heart surgery.  There was one little blip, but then things seemed to be going well.  He was discharged today and their daughter, Michaela, drove Geoff to her place (about 45 minutes from the hospital) while Robyn drove in her car to the grocery store to pick up some food for the next few days.  Shortly after Geoff and Michaela arrived home (within 10 minutes, actually), Geoff said he felt sick and immediately threw up and then laid down on the bed and went into cardiac arrest.  Michaela, who is a doctor) called 000 (like 911) and started doing CPR.  The paramedics took over when they got there, but Geoff couldn't be revived.

I have been crying on and off all evening - it's so strange - I have just been breaking out in tears.  I wanted to call Nana to talk with her about it (especially since she has been in the same situation that Robyn is in right now), but I wanted to wait until it wasn't too early over there.  When Nana answered the phone, I told her that Dad and I were both okay and that all you girls and the grandchildren were okay.  And then I burst into tears while telling her our sad news.  Thankfully, she knows me so well that she was able to commiserate with me and talk with me as I cried and knew just what to say.  I told her that I didn't know what to say to Robyn and she told me that I didn't have to say anything, that I could just let Robyn talk - she also told me that it was okay to cry with Robyn.  Nana also told me that Robyn might not want to cry in front of her children - that she might think she needed to be strong for them - so, she might need to cry in front of me and that that was okay.  It was very comforting to talk with Nana about this - I am glad she was there for me.  I know it's going to be a difficult time for a while - we are so close with our dear friends.  I am grateful for the gospel which teaches that we will see Geoff again.  I am also thankful for my Heavenly Father who I know will comfort us and Robyn and her family as we all go through this difficult time.

Sunday, 7 December, 2014

Sunday night and into Monday morning, I had this nasty cough which wouldn't go away - I had difficulty getting to sleep.  The most annoying part was that it felt like something was stuck in my throat, but when I coughed, nothing came up.  I called my doctor's office Monday morning to see if I could get an appointment - my doctor is on holidays, but there are two other doctors in the same office - the earliest they could see me was December 10th which was not acceptable.  When we were at the airport last Sunday, I noticed a sign about doctors who would come to your home.  I found the phone number on the net and called 'Dial A Home Doctor'.  They don't charge anything for the visit - it's all covered under Medicare (national health care).  When the doctor came that evening, he checked me all out and couldn't make a diagnosis on what he was seeing/hearing.  So, he gave me a pill that would help me to relax and get some sleep and told me to come and see him on Tuesday.  When I saw him, he gave me some forms to get a chest x-ray done and some blood work as well.  I hate needles!  On Thursday, I went back for the results and it turned out that I have bronchitis - this meant getting some antibiotics and three day's worth of steroids to deal with the inflammation.  So far, things seem to be clearing up which I am very pleased about - I am not a good patient! :-)

Dad left on Thursday to head to Newcastle (two hours north of Sydney) to teach a practical course on the A320 airplane.  Adrian, another instructor, had been down there teaching 18 guys the theory part of the course, but when the practical course is being taught, each instructor can only teach six guys at a time.  They met up at about 9pm for three nights in a row at which time they had access to an airplane.  Dad began his session each night by pointing out where various components were on the airplane.  The rest of the time was spent in the cockpit where Dad demonstrated how to do various tests and troubleshooting.  They then met on Sunday morning for individual oral exams.  All of the guys in Dad's group were quite knowledgeable and so the exams went quickly.  Dad had an evening flight out of Newcastle and so he and Adrian spent some of that afternoon driving around the area of Nelson Bay which is north of Newcastle.  Nelson Bay is like a small Hervey Bay - parks and an esplanade along the water and a marina - they took a nice walk along the breakwater wall.  Dad arrived in HB tonight at 8pm and he was happy to be home.

I met up with my friend, Haidi, on Friday - we haven't seen each other in ages with both of us having done a lot of travelling lately, so it was good to get caught up with each other again.  Saturday, it poured here in HB which was great for the lawn and the flowers, but not so great for going out and doing anything.  So, it was a day of staying at home and cleaning for me - oh joy! :-)  I went to church on Sunday and was greeted warmly by the members.  Of course, the first question people asked me was 'when are you leaving us again?' :-)  It was nice to be back home with all my friends.  It was even better when I got to pick up Dad at the airport.  I am not good at being on my own.

Sunday, 30 November, 2014

What an 'interesting' week - well part of it, anyway.  Dad's week went well - he had a sixth guy in the class for the week.  This guy had started the course in Brisbane and then came to Perth (where he lives) to do the second week with Dad.  The course was made up of two days at the airplane and three days in the classroom each week.  In Brisbane, this guy was only able to get in one day at the airplane, so Dad had to spend some extra time with him after everyone went home on a couple of days.  Dad was quite impressed with this group of mechanics - they really seemed to know their stuff.

On Tuesday morning at 3am, I woke up to go to the bathroom.  I thought that I could hear what sounded like a fire crackling.  Very concerned, I walked out of our bedroom and towards the sound.  It was coming from the second bedroom - and it was a flood of water pouring out from the ceiling.  I ran to wake Dad up and he came to have a look - he went to turn on the light and received a good jolt from the switch.  Needless to say, he took his hand quickly away.  Checking around the bedroom with light coming in from the front room, we discovered that there was water coming through the ceiling light, through the fire sprinkler in the ceiling, down one corner of the ceiling and down the wall (where the light switch was).  The carpet near  the door (about a one metre square) was soaking wet as was the bed.  We put all sorts of bowls and pots under where the water was pouring out and I kept having to change them every couple of minutes.

Dad had to take the elevator to the first floor to get the emergency number for the manager which was on the manager's office door.  When he was waiting for the elevator, he could hear water pouring through one of the elevators.  When he got to the main floor, he could see that the carpet in the hall was soaking wet and the water was pouring out of the ceiling on the way to the manager's office.  After getting the emergency number, Dad called the manager from the first floor.  There was no answer, so he left a message for the manager to call him right away.  When he came back upstairs he rang the manager's number again and again, there was no answer, so he left another message.  He waited five minutes and called the manager again - still no answer.  We would have gone upstairs to tell the guy above us that the water was coming into our unit from his unit, but you can't get onto any floor except the floor you live on (and the first floor and basement).

I was getting really worried about what was happening and so I suggested to Dad that we call the police to see if they could suggest anything.  We ended up calling three police stations as the first two stations were not open in the middle of the night.  When we got to the third station, the woman who answered said that there was nothing that the police could do and suggested we call a plumber.  That wouldn't work cuz we couldn't get the plumber onto the fourth floor, either.  Fortunately, when Dad tried the manager a fourth time, the manager answered.  When Dad told him what was happening, he rushed to our unit (fortunately, he lives in the building) and he was shocked to see what was happening.  He rushed up to the fourth floor and knocked on the guy's door in the unit above us.  When he went in, the guy's whole unit was covered with three inches of water.

The manager called a company which had wet vacuums and industrial dryers so that our units could be dried out.  It took three days for our unit to dry out and the guy in the unit above us had to have his carpets ripped out and have new carpeting installed.  The gym on the main floor was closed for two weeks as it was flooded and the carpeting had to be removed.  The plugs which the machines plug into were on the floor and so were wet from the flood, so they, too, had to be replaced.  It turned out that the whole thing started from the dishwasher in the unit above us.  The guy had put it on before he went to bed.  For some reason, it caught on fire and the fire had melted the water hose.  The water then poured out onto the apartment floor and then began leaking through his floor into our apartment and the one below us as well as into the elevator and the gym.
What fun!  NOT!!

 water dripping from the ceiling of our second bedroom

 bowls and pots catching water coming through the ceiling

water coming through the light fixture, the fire sprinkler and through the ceiling

industrial dryer used to dry out the carpet - you can see the wet area underneath the bed frame

On Saturday, we met up with our friends, Rob and Rosalea, and they drove us to Fremantle.  We had lunch at Cicerello's, where we went last week with Rosalea, for fish and chips (I had a chiko roll, of course :-).  We then went to the Fremantle markets for a walk around - didn't buy anything this week, though.  Then, it was off to 'Baskin and Robbins' for an ice-cream - Dad  and I shared one as we were still so full from lunch.  It was so nice to catch up with our friends - Rob works at the mines, so we missed seeing him last weekend. 

 beautiful architecture in Fremantle

 more beautiful architecture

 more beautiful architecture

 an amazing motorcycle

 Me, Rosalea and Rob enjoying our ice-creams

my giraffe I bought last weekend at the markets - isn't he gorgeous :-)

We flew back home today - first to Brisbane, a one hour layover, and then another flight to HB.  When we were in Brisbane, we got a message from Rob, the shuttle driver in HB, that he was not going to be able to pick us up from the airport, but had arranged for a limousine to pick us up.  I was quite excited about the limo until I saw it - it wasn't what I was thinking - it was just a Lexus.  To me, a limo is a very long car - but, it was a smooth ride and only cost $2. more than Rob would have cost, so that was good.  It feels so nice to be home! :-)

our 'limousine'

Sunday, 23 November, 2014

Dad's course has gone really well this week.  He started off the week with two days at the airport with the five guys in the class.  They did practical training on the aircraft - for instance, locating certain items on the plane so that they know where they are and also how to service them, which they will have to do on a regular basis in their jobs as mechanics.  This was followed by three days in the classroom where they learned about the manuals they will use in servicing and repairing the aircraft.  Dad gave them real-life scenarios of faults which occur on this aircraft and they had to use the manuals to determine what they would do to troubleshoot and repair these faults.  Dad prefers to do the aircraft visits after the classroom sessions, but, in this case, the aircraft was only available on Monday and Tuesday.

I spent most of this week exercising in the gym (loving the bike - did 4km, 4km, 5km and 6km this week), reading (finished one book called 'Saving Grace' - I rated it 2.5 out of 5 - and started another one called 'The Fault in our Stars'), watching tv, knitting (working on learning out to knit a child's pair of mittens) and scripture study.  I am working on the Seminary Book of Mormon program and I am really enjoying it so far.  I have only done the first four days, but I feel really good when I am studying.  I especially like how I was asked to liken the scriptures to my own self this week - it really makes it more personal!

On Friday, I took the train to meet my friend, Rosalea - she used to live in HB - and we spent the day together.  She is going through a really tough time in her life right now (issues with her grown-up children and personal physical issues) and she told me that she needed a dose of Sue.  She told me that when she is around me, she finds herself laughing and that she needed some of that in her life right now.  I felt good that I could help her out and I also enjoy being with her.  After she picked me up from the train station, we went to her local pool.  She has to swim lengths and then do exercises in the water (to help heel or knee which had been operated on) and so I went and did my forty lengths at the same time.  I then walked back and forth with her in the pool while she did some of her exercises.  Normally doing these exercises is boring for Rosalea, but since I was with her and we yakked the whole time, the time went so fast. After a shower at home, we went to a local chinese restaurant for lunch where I was able to enjoy a very yummy chicken curry.  We spent ages there just talking some more before heading home to her house where Dad picked me up.

We had decided earlier in the week that we would like to do something on Saturday since Dad had very little planning to do for  this coming week.  When I mentioned this to Rosalea, she said she would love to join us, and so she picked us up yesterday and we drove to Fremantle (known locally as 'Freo').  It's a lovely city with many old architectural style buildings still standing (and you know how much I love those! :-)  We drove around the town a little before parking and going to the first of two markets.  I love stickybeaking in markets, although I rarely buy anything.  In this first market, the only thing I bought was a choo-choo bar (a chewy licorice flavoured confectionery bar) for 80 cents.  I used to buy them every week with my allowance when I was around ten years old - at that time, they cost 3 cents.  Yum! :-)

After lunch at Western Australia's number one fish and chips place (or so the sign says), we went to a second market which was much better than the first.  There were a few things which I would have loved to buy, but I am limited in how much I can bring back home from Perth.  I did add to my giraffe collection, though.  I was checking out a stall of really cute emu paintings and prints, when I noticed a small giraffe made out of metal.  I was telling the lady at the stall how much I love giraffes and she asked me if I had seen the large one, which I hadn't.  When I saw it, I just HAD to have it! :-)  I will have to wait until next week to show you a photo of it as the lady wrapped it in bubble wrap and secured it with packing tape.  I saw two other giraffes there which I would love to add to my collection - maybe next time we are in Perth, we will visit those markets again. :-)  Since I rarely spend money (except on travelling), Dad never complains when I want to spend money on giraffes. :-)

 view from the 'North Mole' (a breakwater wall)

 lighthouse on the North Mole

 fishing in the water at the North Mole

 two boats (one, a ferry) sailing out of the harbour

 lighthouse on the South Mole

 a transformer (Bumblebee) made out of metal in one of the shops in the first market we went to

 an even larger Bumblebee transformer at the  same shop

 where we had lunch (Dad had fish and chips and I had a chiko roll and chips)

 fish tank in the fish and chips restaurant

 sea anemone in the fish tank

 restaurant beside the one we ate at (thought it was interesting that the one we ate at was the number 1 fish and chips place and that this one was the best fish and chips place :-)

 view from our table at the fish and chips restaurant

 Me and Rosalea at lunch (see the chiko roll and bottle of passiona pop I'm holding :-)

 Fremantle Markets building

 this and the following pics are some of the amazing architecture in Fremantle

Today we went back to the same ward as last week and were fortunate enough to listen to another Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation.  Again, as with the presentation in Brisbane, there were about 30 children and they did a lovely job of speaking and singing.  It's such a treat to be at such a presentation by the children.

During the Relief Society lesson, the teacher happened to mention that she had found out about the church through the Osmonds, as had the Relief Society President.  After  the lesson, they were talking together and I went up to them and told them about finding out about the church through the Osmonds as well.  We then had a lovely long conversation reminiscing about our Osmond teenage years and meeting Donny and the R.S. president actually going to to Las Vegas and seeing Donny and Marie's show there.  We even talked about going to the concerts in our 40s and 50s and feeling like we were back in our teenage years.  It brought smiles to all of our faces.  I also happened to mention how cool it was that the three of us in different countries (one in Australia, one in New Zealand, one in Canada) learned about the church from the same source (The Osmonds) - they really were terrific missionaries!