Sunday, 15 February, 2014

We have enjoyed our first week in Sydney.  We are staying in a serviced one bedroom apartment close to the airport.  We were told that the housekeeping girls would come in to clean twice a week, but so far they have been doing it almost every day, which is great!  All the employees here have been wonderful and very accommodating.

The group of guys Dad is teaching are very keen - they all ask questions and discuss their own working experience, so it's made for a great first week for Dad.  It takes Dad about fifteen minutes to drive to where he parks and then he has to walk for about fifteen minutes, so he's been getting in a little exercise each day.

I spent most of this week doing my usual things: knitting, reading, watching tv, doing computer stuff and going for walks.  I am trying to go for a walk each day to try and keep up with the exercise.  The renovations to the gym here are supposed to be finished this week, so I am hoping to get in there and some bike riding.

On Friday, I took the train and a bus to meet up with my cousin, Rosie.  We met at a mall near her house and stopped at a local coffee place so Rosie could have her morning coffee - she goes to this place every day and so they know her well and know her 'usual'.  I wanted to be a good guest and so I thought I should have something, so I had an iced chocolate. :-)  It was pretty good (made with real chocolate as opposed to chocolate syrup), but there was no whipped cream or little tiny chocolate on top, so I think I still prefer the iced chocolate from 'The Coffee Club'.  It was nice to get together with Rosie and spend the day with her.

On Saturday, Dad and I drove to Renee's house and Cheryl, Lisa and Nicki were there as well - it was great to see all three girls and Cheryl again.  It was also good to see Renee's little girls, Ayla and Lily - this was the first time we had seen Lily and she is almost nine months.  Renee went all out for us: she made a roast chicken dinner and topped it off with a pavlova for dessert - that is my absolute favourite dessert - and it was extra yummy - she really outdid herself this time!  We had a great time visiting with them and catching up with what they have been doing since we saw them last.  Ayla played a little shy at first, but then she started to warm up, especially to Dad - turns out she likes the guys. :-)  Lily is a little cutie and loved all of the attention she got while we were there.

 Ayla talking on the 'phone' (which was actually the air conditioning remote)

the pavlova which Renee made

me eating the delicious pavlova

Lily

 Dad, Lily and Ayla

 Me and Lily

Lisa, Me, Renee, Cheryl and Nicki

Today, after church, we got together with a guy who is on Dad's course, Pete, and his girlfriend, Sylvie.  Pete had contacted Dad yesterday to see if we wanted to join them and another couple for lunch at Manly.  We love going to Manly - the beach is amazing (do you girls remember it - it's where Aunt Janet used to live), but we already had made plans with Cheryl and her girls.  We drove to where Pete lives which was about an hour away and near a beautiful beach.  After a nice chicken lunch, we went for a really lovely long walk (2 hours) along the beach - I got some great pictures.  Pete and Sylvie are both really nice people and very easy to talk with - we quite enjoyed our time walking and talking with them.

 Sylvie, Pete, Dad and Me

view along the beach

golf course near the beach

tiny little jellyfish on the beach

 paraglider flying over the water

hang glider flying over the water

view from the top of the hill we walked up to

ocean bath - fully enclosed and great for children to experience the salt water of the ocean without the danger of the surf

Sunday, 8 February, 2014

I spent most of this week with Robyn.  We spent time doing more cleaning and also spent time working on a Primary activity for the 8 - 11 year olds which we had on Wednesday.  The activity was learning two of the Articles of Faith (beliefs of the church) - we had different activities available and they chose them out of a cup which had popsicle sticks in it with the activities listed on them.  There were four kids (three boys and one girl) and they seemed to enjoy the activities.  The boys are very active and I hope that Robyn can do it on her own next time if the other leader isn't able to make it.  For a treat, I made ice-cream cone cupcakes - basically, I poured the cupcake dough into the ice-cream cones and put them in the oven to bake.  I put too much batter into each cone and so they ended up flowing over.  They still tasted good, though, and the kids couldn't care less that they didn't look perfect. :-)  They iced their own cupcake cones and put sprinkles on them - yumm, they said. :-)

On Thursday, Robyn and I treated ourselves: first, we had a manicure/pedicure which was wonderful.  The place we went to had these wonderful massage chairs which we sat in while we were soaking our feet and having our pedicures done.  I chose a pink sparkly nail polish this time.  After our toenails were painted, we hobbled over to another area and had our fingernails done.  They took over an hour to do our nails and it was heavenly.  Robyn and I decided that we NEEDED to get this done every six weeks. :-)

After this, we drove to the 'Hogsbreath Cafe' which is a chain restaurant specializing in steaks.  Since it's Robyn's birthday this month, her lunch was free (with a coupon sent to her) and so she chose a delicious steak.  I had a chicken wrap with curly fries.  The weather was perfect and so we ate outside.  Lovely! :-)

On Friday, I flew to Brisbane to meet Dad who had flown into Brisbane from Auckland earlier that day.  Dad spent a week in Auckland teaching a group of ten guys about the A330 airplane.  Dad says that the guys were keen and so it made for a good week.  We arrived in Sydney at 5pm and, after we picked up the rental car, we drove to our serviced apartment.  It's a nice one bedroom unit with the living room, dining room and kitchen being one room.  They have girls come in and clean the unit twice a week.

Yesterday, Dad and I thought that it would be nice to go on a drive out of Sydney, but it turned out that our GPS is in Perth and our i-pad wasn't charged up and so we wouldn't have had a way to find our way to where we wanted to go (technology works.............sometimes :-)  So, we ended up going shopping, but good shopping. :-)  Dad has been wanting to get an i-pad for when we travel as he doesn't like using his one with all of his work stuff on it in case something happens to it - he has spent hours working on his courses and it would be awful if anything happened to it (although he has backed it all up).  I didn't want to spend $500. on a regular sized i-pad, so I was very happy to see one of the stores here having the mini i-pad on sale for $265.  We then bought accessories for it and then bought a camera with accessories as well.  I forgot to bring our camera to Sydney and I knew we would be doing some sightseeing and also seeing my cousins and their kids and grandkids and so I really wanted to have a camera.  Dad has  been talking for a while about getting one for himself to use for his work to take pictures of the airplanes he is teaching about so that he can use it when he is doing his teaching.

new camera

mini i-pad

cover for my new mini i-pad

Today, after church, we drove to the hotel which Dad is going to be teaching at for the next four weeks.  He likes to find out ahead of time where he is going, where the room is that he will be teaching in and to make sure that his supplies have been delivered.  When we arrived at the hotel, the girl at the front desk didn't have a clue about any of this and so we just asked her where the conference rooms were.  When we got up there, we found a guy on the floor and it turned out that he was the manager in charge of the conference rooms.  He showed Dad where the room was and in the room he had already placed all of the supplies which Dad would need to teach.

 view from bridge we walked over to get to where Dad will be teaching tomorrow

hotel where Dad will be teaching his course

After this, we went to a local park to see if there was a walking track there which I could walk on while Dad is at work.  We found a couple of cute little ones, but neither had a walking track in it.  I want to go for a walk every day, but I might just be walking around the streets near the hotel.

Today was such a beautiful day so we didn't want to go back to the hotel just yet.  We decided that we would drive to a beach nearby - we found one within 15 minutes of the hotel.  When we got there, we found a bench to sit on which was a ways from the beach (Malabar Beach), but overlooked the tiny bay (Long Bay) which went into the ocean.  It was an amazing view and was a fabulous way to spend our time this afternoon.

 paddleboarders in Long Bay

 Malabar Beach

 Fishing in the bay

 paddleboarders

 ocean pool in the bay

view looking out at the ocean

Our first selfie :-)

kayaker and swimmers in the bay

Sunday, 1 February, 2015

I spent most of this week at Robyn's house helping her to clean and sort out all of her stuff.  We were able to get her 'art room' all cleared out (put everything in boxes), cleaned it and had the missionaries move the furniture around. We spent many hours going through all of her stuff before we put things back in the art room.  Robyn came over for dinner tonight and said that she has gone through the last of her stuff and put it into the art room.  She is so excited to be getting things sorted out in her 'art room' - I think it's going to be a great place for her to heal.  Dad came over to Robyn's for a couple of days this week to do some handyman work and also some computer work for her.

 Robyn in her cleared and cleaned out art room

Robyn and I got out for a swim on Monday after working so hard and sweating so much.  It's been so humid and it was lovely to be able to run into the water and chat while we paddled around.  The temperature was so high that the water was so warm - it felt like bath water.

On Wednesday, I met up with my teacher friend, Bronwyn, for a lovely long chat at the 'Coffee Club' - which of course meant HAVING to have an iced chocolate. :-)  It was great catching up with Bronwyn and we also met up with Jan, who used to be a vice principal at Kawungan.

Yesterday, Dad and I picked up lunch at 'Subway', ate it by the beach and took a walk along the beach.  The water was so nice and  warm, the sun was shining and the breeze was blowing - lovely!  Later that afternoon, I took Dad to the airport for the first leg of his journey to New Zealand.  He flew to Brisbane and stayed overnight at an airport hotel.  This morning, he flew to Auckland, NZ along with the IT guy from QAC.  Dad will be there until Friday when he will fly back to Brisbane.  I will meet him there and then we will fly to Sydney where he will be teaching for four weeks. I am looking forward to catching up with my cousins in Sydney and doing some family history with them.

The brand new Novotel hotel where Dad is staying in Auckland, NZ

Sunday, 25 January, 2014

Most of this week, I spent with Robyn at her house doing cleaning.  She is finding herself quite scattered and can't seem to concentrate on anything.  So, I suggested that we start with cleaning her kitchen.  She has so much stuff she has collected over the years which she really didn't need.  So we started with one cupboard, throwing out what she didn't want/need and then I cleaned it out - and then we moved onto the next.  It took us three days to clean the bottom cupboards and the pantry.  They all look amazing now and Robyn threw out tons of old food and gave away tons of kitchen stuff.  I told her that she should have taken a before and after pic of the pantry to show to her children who had seen it when they were all here over Christmas. :-)  We didn't take the before pic, but she did take a pic afterwards.

On Wednesday, we had one set of missionaries over for lunch.  It's been really nice getting to know the missionaries and being able to feed them while we are at home in HB.  After lunch, we spent some time talking about how they teach people the different principles of the gospel.  At the end, they asked us to do some role playing - Dad doesn't like to do that, so it was mostly me, but it was good to see that I was comfortable doing that.  The next evening, the other set were invited for dinner - they phoned us before they were about to come and asked if both sets could come (the other set of missionaries didn't have any appointments that night and the weather was awful, so they wouldn't have been able to go out tracting).  We were happy to have them come, although I worried that there wouldn't be enough food for all of us, but between Robyn and I, we came up with other things we could add to the meal to stretch things out.

Both Dad and Robyn gave talks in church today - it is Australia Day tomorrow (January 26th) and so the theme for the meeting was on that topic.  Dad focused his talk on being patriotic and a good citizen and where those principles were found in the scriptures.  He spoke about how being a good citizen can be paralleled to living a righteous life.  For instance, being a good citizen means giving service to others in your community and that corresponds with living the gospel.  Both Robyn and Dad gave a good talk and others agreed with me telling Dad that they really enjoyed his talk.

Sunday, 18 January, 2014

This was a busy week for us - no more slacking and laying around and 'piddling' as I call it.  On Monday, we finally got back down to the beach for a lovely walk.  Well, it turned out be less than 15 minutes since it started to rain, but it was so nice to back down there again.  Since it's been so hot and humid this week, the ocean water felt like bath water, it was so warm.  I love walking along the water's edge.

 On Tuesday, we had the other set of missionaries over for dinner.  We fed them tacos like we did the other missionaries last week.  We enjoyed getting to know this set of missionaries as well.  Elder Josol has been out for a few months and Elder Simon is a 'greenie' (this is his first area).  They came  back on Thursday and Saturday - we are studying a church book called 'Preach My Gospel' - it's a book which those going on a mission study before and during their missions.  Since Dad and I want to go on a mission one day, we thought that we would get a head start on studying it.  We also asked the missionaries if they would come over and show us how they use it when studying on their mission.  We had a really good discussion about how to start talking with people about the gospel and did some role playing (they call it 'real playing').  They are going to come back again this coming Wednesday to do some more studying and discussing with us.  We are learning and enjoying this quite a lot.

Elder Simon and Elder Josol

Wednesday night we had Robyn and a couple, the Turners, from church over for dinner.  We haven't been able to do this for so long with Dad working so much last year and then his hospital visit and recuperation time, so it was nice to start it up again.  Rosine and Dave Turner are from New Zealand, but have been here for a couple of years - he is a psychiastric nurse and she works as a bank teller.  We all had a yummy meatloaf dinner and enjoyed getting to know them a little better.  They are really nice people and we look forward to having them over again to get to know them even better.  Rosine is our Primary President and Robyn is her counsellor, so they know each other quite well.  Robyn's son left earlier that day and so now she is on her own at home - it was good that she could join us for dinner.

Robyn, Dave and Rosine

Robyn and I spent the day together on Friday - I called her on Thursday evening to see if she would like to come and do some errands with me.  We had a really good day together - we did some of her errands, too, and even had a nice 'Subway' lunch.  Dad got a nice surprise in the mail the same day - he had ordered a large remote control helicopter and had been waiting all week to get it in the mail.  When I left him on Friday to meet up with Robyn, he was like a kid opening up a Christmas present.  He couldn't wait to get it out, set it up and fly it.  It turns out that it is not as easy as he thought it would be - I think it's going to take quite a while for him to learn how to get it up in the air and keep it up there. :-)

Dad's first remote control helicopter (the red and black one) and his new one 

On Saturday, Robyn and I went swimming at the beach.  The waves were crazy!  We floated around on our noodles and yakked (and took in quite a bit of salty water as the waves washed over us).  We had such a fun time!

These pictures were drawn for me by my friend, Pauline, who stayed at our house when I was in Canada when Kendall was born - I FINALLY bought some frames to put them in and dad hung them up in our dining room

Sunday, 11 January, 2014

We didn't get a whole lot done this week - we did  mow and trim the lawn, did some shopping (believe it or not, I bought a number of new tops and some capris and it didn't take me that long to shop, either), went to my physio appointment (the strength of my left arm is getting better) and cleaned the house.  Dad is slowly getting back into doing some work around the house, although he is keeping it to 'light duties' as per doctor's orders.  He is still finding himself getting tired more easily than he used to, but is hopeful that his strength will return soon.

On Tuesday, we had the missionaries over for dinner.  We used to have them over for dinner a lot and we always enjoyed that.  But, since we are travelling so much with Dad's work now, we haven't had them over for ages.  We made them tacos and they really enjoyed it. We watched a short video called "Look Not Behind Thee" which talked about learning from the past, but more importantly, looking to and living for the future, having hope, looking forward and trusting in God.

On Friday, Dad got an exciting letter in the mail (I have attached a copy of it).  He has been approved to become an Australian citizen! :-)  We are both so happy - now we just have to wait  until they tell us when he can attend a citizenship ceremony.  Then, he will be a fully fledged Aussie - yippee!!!

We have cleaned off our patio and have been eating some of our meals outside this week - it is so lovely out there and  we very much enjoy being outside in the warmth and fresh air.  Pics below............

 breakfast on the patio - note the birds in the air - they are actually plastic hawks which Dad put up to scare away the birds who like to come in and poop on our furniture

 a closer look at our yummy breakfast al fresco

 a close up of the plastic hawk

 close up of our lunch al fresco

lunch outside on the patio furniture - note the lovely sky (it was blue) and the shining sun

Today, I gave the lesson in Relief Society - I miss teaching and this was nice for me to be able to do.  The lesson was titled "The Great Commandment - Love the Lord".  When I teach, I don't do a lot of talking, but for that I need to spend a lot of time preparing my lesson.  I had one picture, a number of statements and a few questions to put up on the white board that I wanted the sisters to think about and answer.  I also gave out some quotes to a few sisters to read to enhance the lesson.  The lesson went really well and since I practiced giving the lesson a few times at home, I was able to maintain eye contact with the sisters most of the time which I find works really well to keep everyone interested and participating.  It was also nice to feel more a part of the ward - it's so  hard with travelling so much to feel that connection.

Sunday, 4 January, 2014

On Monday, we went to the graveside service for Geoff.  Although it was a sad occasion, Dad and I felt honoured to be included.  The only others there besides family were our Bishop and his wife.  It was a very short service.  Dad was asked to say the opening prayer.  Then the bishop said a few words (and found it difficult as he and Geoff were good friends - Geoff was one of his counsellors in the bishopric) and then Robyn and Geoff's oldest son, Mark, said a few words before dedicating the grave.  After that, the children and some adults threw a flower onto the coffin.  While the adults were talking after that, the children began writing notes to their grandpop and dropping them onto the coffin - one of them said 'I hope you have a good time in heaven, Grandpop'.  Kids are so sweet and innocent, aren't they?  I'm not sure if I told you before what Robyn's irish granddaughter said.  When Robyn and Geoff's daughter, Jackie, (who lives in Ireland) told her children that Geoff had gone to heaven, she was crying.  One of her daughters said "But that's where we all want to go, isn't it, so why are you crying, Mom?"  So beautiful.

Dad and I didn't do much on New Year's Eve - as you know, we have never been into celebrating on that day.  We watched a movie on tv and then headed off to bed around 11pm.  We said 'Happy New Year' to each other the next morning. :-)  I met up with my friend, Chantelle, on New Year's Day (she was the girl who was a kindergarten teacher when I was teaching the kindergarten kids a couple of years ago and she also stayed in our house when we were spending so much time in Canada) a few years ago.  We have kept in touch and so, when she came back to HB from where she is currently teaching (way up north), she contacted me and asked me if I wanted to get together.  We both had a delicious iced chocolate while we chatted for a couple of hours.

Dad is recuperating well - just slowly - too slowly for his liking - he is not impressed with not being able to do much and is looking forward to being able to drive again starting tomorrow.  He said I am too hard on the car. :-)  He can also start doing 'light duties' around the house and yard.