Sunday, 5 April, 2015

Dad got home on Friday and he was so happy to be home - and I was so happy to have him home.  Dad was quite pleased at how the course went overall - this was his first time teaching this course and the students all thanked Dad for teaching them and said they hoped to see him again some day.  He actually flew out of PNG on Thursday, but arrived in Brisbane too late to catch a flight to HB.  He stayed in an airport hotel for the night and the first thing he did after checking in was go to the grocery store nearby and grab a caesar salad and a tropical fruit salad.  He wasn't able to eat those in PNG and was longing for some fresh fruit and veggies.

I kept myself  busy this week to help pass the time by quickly.  I went dog walking on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  I've found that it's really helping to keep me motivated to walk.  Since I have made the commitment to be there, even if I don't feel like going when I wake up in the morning, I get myself moving and get there for 8am (pretty good for someone who is not a morning person, eh? :-)  One of the ladies who is normally there was away Monday and Wednesday and so Claudette and I had to walk all the dogs ourselves.  I was quite tired and also quite soaken (from being out in the sun for over two hours), but it was a good workout.

I am loving my two babies, Garfield and Violet.  They have been good company this week, especially Garfield who likes to sit near me wherever I am.  I am so glad that I found out about fostering cats - it's gonna be sad to have to take them back to the Rescue on Tuesday.  But, it's great that I can go and get them again whenever we are back in HB.

 Garfield

Violet

My visiting teachers came to see me on Tuesday morning and even brought me homemade pikelets (little pancakes).  I always enjoy having my visiting teachers come -  it gives me a chance to get to know the sisters a little better since it's hard to do that on a Sunday.  They are changing my visiting teachers next month, though, so I will have a chance to get to know two new ones the next time we are in HB.

Robyn and I went out for lunch on Tuesday - when we went out to celebrate my birthday last week, we each filled out a ballot and received a 'two for one meal deal' coupon which had to be used within three weeks.  Robyn and I both had a rack of ribs and they were so delicious - they had this yummy bbq sauce on them and they came right off the bone.  I think that they have a new chef at the 'Hogsbreath Cafe' - we have been quite pleased with the food lately.

Robyn and I with our barbecued pork ribs from 'Hogsbreath Cafe'

On Wednesday, Robyn came over for lunch.  I found this new recipe for chicken fajitas and I wanted to try it out.  It is such an easy recipe: just chicken, red and green peppers and an onion.  The chicken is marinated in a spicy sauce and it is amazing!  Just add tortillas, salsa and sour cream.  Robyn and I both loved it and it's definitely one of my new favourite meals.  After visiting with Robyn, I went to the mall and met up with two teacher friends, Bronwyn and Kim.  It's always nice to meet up with friends and catch up with what each other has been doing - and having an iced chocolate is just a bonus. :-)

I asked Robyn if she knew how to properly frame this beautiful cross stitch which Terri-Ann made me - Robyn did a great job of blocking the work and then found this beautiful frame for it -  it now has a place of honour in our front hall so that people can see it when they walk in our front door

Bronwyn, Kim and I at the 'Coffee Club' with our drinks (mine is an iced chocolate, of course :-)

On Thursday morning, I went over to Kawungan State School where I used to do the majority of my supply teaching.  I wanted to meet up with the grade one teachers and see how they are doing this year.  There used to be seven of them in the grade one team who had been together for a while, but the vice principal in charge of the primary group of teachers decided to break up the team this year and so now there are only three of them on the grade one team.  We had a nice visit catching up and they were really pleased that I came in to visit them.  I told them that I hadn't been teaching for two years and that I was too old to deal with behaviour issues and so I wasn't unhappy to not have been around to teach.  They could all totally understand where I was coming from and thought it was great that I was getting to travel around with Dad so much.

On Thursday, I was supposed to meet up with my friend, Haidi, for an iced chocolate and a long yak, but she messaged me early in the morning to cancel as her daughter was sick.  I decided to call Robyn to see what she was up to since I didn't want to go home and we met up at the mall near her house.  When I mentioned an iced chocolate, she asked if I still wanted to get one (didn't have to ask me twice :-)  After picking up some indian food for lunch (which was pretty ordinary), we went back to her house and just hung out for the rest of the day.  It's been nice spending so much time with Robyn while Dad has been away and she is happy to have the company.

Yesterday, Dad and I went to a baptism of a young man called Jesse.  The missionaries have been teaching him for a while and it was so nice to be able to support them and Jesse by going to the baptism.  I always love baptisms, especially because it reminds me of that wonderful day back in 1974 when I was baptized.  I can still remember the amazing feeling I had when I came up out of the water - like this weight had been lifted off my shoulders - a very happy day for me! :-)