Sunday, 29 May, 2016

This week I travelled with Robyn up to her sister's place in Gladstone.  Robyn wanted to pick up some art work she had left there and asked me if I wanted to join her.  I gladly accepted her invitation!  We stayed in a granny flat on Lynda's property (Lynda is Robyn's sister) and did a lot of relaxing there.  We also spent some time gathering garbage on a couple of beaches - Lynda is creating an art display to show how much garbage ends up in our ocean and needed to collect some garbage from nearby beaches, so Robyn and I helped out.  We also went to the Botanical Gardens one day and went on Lynda's postal run one day (which took about four hours).  Below are some pics of our time up there.

On the way up to Gladsone:

we stopped for lunch in Gympie and I just HAD to have a lamington - freshly made at a local bakery - sooooooooo yummy :-)

In and around Gladstone:

 Robyn in front of artwork

 Someone had taped these two pieces of artwork onto a tree on the beach

At the Botanical Gardens in Gladstone:

 

 Robyn's sister, Lynda, walking in the botanical gardens

 Robyn

 Japanese Tea Garden

 Look what we had for dinner (the three of us shared this and I also had an iced chocolate

 It's hard to see, but you can sort of see the noses of the turtles sticking up out of the water in the pond

A lovely kookaburra sitting on the garbage can near the parking lot of the botanical gardens

 Lynda's cat on the roof of the granny flat (she calls it 'roof cat' cuz it almost always is up there on the roof)

 The granny flat which Robyn and I stayed in (on Lynda's property)

 Lynda's chickens

Lynda's dog, Diggety

Some pics along the way on Lynda's postal run - she works part-time for the Post Office - she does the run twice a week to take mail to farmers who live way out in the boonies

a postal box where we delivered mail

On the way back home:

 In a little town we stopped at for morning tea, I saw this giraffe and just had to have my picture taken in front of it :-)

 More giraffes inside the store

 One for the boys - snot coming out of the warthog's nose - I thought they would think that was funny (cool?) :-)

Robyn eating watermelon for morning tea

Me eating a sausage roll (with Heinz ketchup!) for lunch - yummmmmmmmmm!

Sunday, 22 May, 2016

ARRGGHH!  The internet has been off since Thursday - you never realize how much you use something until you can't use it.  It hasn't been too bad, actually, most of the time - the hard part has been not being able to talk with Dad or with you girls and the grandkids this week - that part, I definitely have not liked.  The internet company we use sent out an update to the modems of their customers and there was an issue with the update so that the modems would not re-connect to the internet.

I kept busy this week with my usual morning exercise classes: tai chi, aquafit and yoga - I am really enjoying all three of them.  I also had my 'standing' appointment with Helen for my facial - ahhh, so relaxing and pampering - I love it! :-)  On Wednesday, Robyn and I went to a craft market at our local Boat Club.  I found a cute little giraffe on sale there that I just HAD to buy to add to my collection!  After we checked out all of the things for sale, we had lunch there - I had the quiche which I wasn't particularly thrilled with, but the scenery and the company were wonderful.

Cute giraffe I bought at the craft sale

 Robyn with her lunch at The Boat Club

 Me with my lunch at The Boat Club

Our view from where we sat for lunch at The Boat Club

 Echidna Robyn and I saw on the side of the road on the way to our house - it buried its head under the dried grass on the side of the road

On Thursday, I went out for lunch with some of my teachers friends: Luise, Carole, Ingrid and Rosemary.  I had a lamb pie which was very tasty although the cost of the meal was a bit high.  But, for me, it's all about hanging out with my friends and having a good chat - and that was definitely accomplished with this group!  There was a lot of talk about how much more administration stuff teachers are being asked to do these days than they used to do 'back in the day'.  It's no wonder that we are losing so many new teachers in the first five years of teaching.  The behaviour of the kids is also getting worse compared the way it was in the early teaching days of my friends.  After treating myself for lunch, I treated myself to a massage with Ali, my massage therapist.  It was amazing to lay there for an hour and be pampered - so relaxing and enjoyable.

I hung out with Robyn on Friday - she and I were in charge of the Relief Society Homemaking activity yesterday and we had to make a cake for the refreshments.  While we were making it, we got a text from the girl who said she would make another dessert for our activity to say she couldn't do it and so Robyn and I had to make two desserts.  We had set up the chapel earlier that day so we were ready to go yesterday.  Our activity was based on de-stressing and keeping calm and we had a guest come and show us how to do tai chi.  Margaret is the lady who teaches the tai chi class on Mondays which Robyn and I go to.  Margaret is a really lovely lady and it was so nice of her to come and spend some of her time with the ladies at church.  Everyone really loved doing tai chi and also loved the desserts (stressed spelled backwards) that we had after our exercise.  Although we only had 13 women at the activity, everyone had a good time and that is the measure of success for us.

Dad has been in Dubai for a week now and is teaching a class of eight mechanics.  He is teaching a practical course where they are practicing maintenance tasks with an aircraft simulator.  The guys in the course are mostly young and quite enthusiastic.  The hotel is quite upscale - a definite four star - and a BIG change from PNG.  A full hot and cold breakfast buffet is included and Dad has been taking advantage of it.  Lunch has been provided by the company Dad is training for and so he only has to arrange dinner for himself.  Across the road from the hotel is a huge mall with many international stores and restaurants as well as a huge food court.  He has eaten at Nando's, McDonald's, TGIF's, Pizza Hut and had chinese food so far. He has also treated himself to a Cinnabon cinnamon bun and a Tim Horton's apple fritter.  No wonder he is enjoying himself so much over there, eh? :-)

 Pictures of a huge kids' arcade next to the food court at the mall across from Dad's hotel

Can you tell which bathroom you should use from the two signs below?

Here are the answers to that question

Sunday, 15 May, 2015

Wow, another busy week and I got to spend some of it with Dad. :-)

I decided to keep up with my exercise programs (tai chi, aquafit and yoga) on Mon., Tues. and Wed. as Dad had lots of planning to do for his course in Dubai which starts today.  I have now lost 7 pounds which I am pleased about.  I told my chiropractor this week about my weight loss and exercise program and she said that she was very proud of me. :-)  I do miss eating, though - I am never hungry if I eat my three meals and two snacks on time, but I just miss eating - food is yummy. :-)

Dad and I had dinner out twice this week.  I had told him about the ribs I had at the Beach Hotel while he was in PNG and so he wanted to try them.  When we got there on Monday night, they had beef back ribs on the special menu and so we didn't even look at the regular menu.  The ribs were okay - not like the ones I had last time I was there.  After we had finished eating, I asked the waitress when they were going to have the other ribs again and she said that they had recently been put on to the regular menu.  Man, what a rip - they were there all the time.  So, of course, we HAD to go back again on Wednesday. :-)  This time, we had the right ribs and they were delicious!!!  We will definitely go back again for them.

I had another hot stone massage this week and it was as wonderful as the first time.  Helen cups the hot stones in her hands while she massages and it's amazing.  She also uses essential oils to massage with - it was 90 minutes of heaven - so relaxing.

Dad and I went over to Robyn's this week for dinner and so that Dad could look at Robyn's photos she took from her trip from Calgary to Whitehorse and around Whitehorse when she was there in March to visit her son.  Dad loved looking at the photos and reminiscing about living up north - it really was a great place for Dad to grow up.

I dropped Dad off at the airport on Thursday - he flew to Brisbane and stayed overnight in a hotel that night.  The next day he flew to Sydney and then on to Dubai.  He is staying in a beautiful hotel in Dubai - so much nicer than he had in PNG.  He has a large room with a small kitchen which includes a washer/dryer machine.  There is a mall right across the road with tons of stores and places to eat.  Breakfast is included with the hotel room and the company he is teaching for is paying for his lunches, so he only has to worry about dinner each night and any snacks he wants.  He is really happy that he is able to eat fresh vegetables and fruit in Dubai after missing out for three weeks in PNG.

The 'Somewhere Hotel' where Dad is staying in Dubai

 Some of the places to eat at the mall across the road from the hotel

There is also a Pizza Hut, Burger King, Subway, Starbucks, McDonald's and KFC.  It's like you are in North America and Dad is very pleased with the choices he has. :-)

On Thursday, I went out with my teacher friend, Luise, for afternoon tea.  We met early enough that I could have the cake and iced chocolate as my lunch.  I likely did not stay within my calorie count completely, but I did not too bad.  I skipped both my snacks and lunch and didn't have milk for with my dinner - I am trying to stick as close to my allotted daily calorie amount as I can, but I don't get too worried if I go over - I don't want to not go out with my friends just because I am trying to lose weight.  It was nice catching up with Luise again and we made a lunch date for next week - we will get together with some other teachers as well then.

 Dad in front of the HB airport

Luise and me with our afternoon tea (I had a chocolate cherry cake and an iced chocolate (yum)

Sunday, 8 May, 2016

This was another busy week for me - trying to fill in the void of Dad being away.

Monday was Labour Day here in Queensland and so there was another holiday Monday.  That meant no Tai Chi, but fortunately for me, Robyn invited me to drive with her up to her son's place in Bundaberg (90 minutes from HB) for the day.  Her son, Mark and his wife, Naomi have four children and Robyn's daughter, Sandra and her husband, Joe, also have four children.  Sandra and Joe live in HB and they also drove up to Bundaberg and we all met at Mark and Naomi's and then proceeded to drive to the beach.  We spent about 1 1/2 hours there just enjoying swimming in the ocean (while Mark and some of the kids surfed near us).  I love being in the water - I think I was meant to be born under the sign of Pisces.  After the beach, we went back to Mark and Naomi's where we had a nice light lunch.  We then just hung around and chatted for the rest of the afternoon before we headed back to the Bay.

I did my usual Aquafit classes on Tuesday and Thursday and Yoga class on Wednesday.  I love my time in the water (ocean or pool, I am in my element).  The yoga class was led by a different teacher this week - she was okay, but I prefer the one we had last week who is our regular teacher - she tends to do more moves which encourage stretching.  I also had my standing facial appointment which, as always, was wonderful and relaxing.

On Wednesday, after yoga (which Robyn came to) we drove to our Bishop's place to go swimming with his wife, Diana, at their complex - yeah, I just can't get enough of being in the water. :-)  We had a lovely lunch there with them and spent the afternoon yakking and laughing - a lovely day.

On Thursday, Robyn and I had lunch together and then went visiting teaching.  I really enjoy VTing - I love getting to know the sisters better as it's hard to do much socializing on a Sunday.  The furthest you have to drive here in HB, though, is only fifteen minutes which is a lot less time than I used to have to go sometimes when we lived in Canada.  After we finished VTing, Robyn came over for dinner.  I had bought some curry sauce to make a chicken curry with and I wanted to share it with her.  I can't have curry when Dad is home because he can't handle the smell and it also has affected his stomach when he has eaten it in the past.  I love curry and it was great to be able to try Chicken Tikka Masala - on the packet, it said it was 'mild', but Robyn and I both agreed it was more like 'medium'.  We decided that we would need some yogurt for it when we ate the leftovers.

On Friday, Robyn and I went out to lunch with our friend, Alison - she is a member of our ward here and is going through a difficult time, so I thought it would be nice to treat her to lunch to celebrate her birthday.  We went to a cute little cafe called 'Migaloos' which is right by the beach and had a nice time chatting and eating.

Me, Robyn and Alison celebrating Alison's birthday at 'Migaloos'

After talking with you girls yesterday morning, I went to our ward activity which was a barbecue at a park by the beach.  Again, it was a relaxing time just chatting with some of the members of our ward.  It was a lovely day - the temperature was 27C (what a surprise ;-), the sun was shining and there was a nice breeze.  Hamburgers were barbecued for lunch by the men and it was great to just sit around and be served. :-)

Ange, Robyn, Diana, me and Maureen relaxing by the beach at the ward barbecue

After the barbecue, I went to Robyn's to make molded chocolates.  We weren't sure if the men had organized anything for the women for Mother's Day and so we decided to make some chocolates to give to the sisters today.  I had bought a mold which was 16 hearts and Robyn had a mold which was a variety of shapes.  We bought both milk chocolate and dark chocolate buttons to use for the molds.  We gave them to the sisters today and they were very much appreciated.

I picked Dad up at the airport this afternoon - YAY!  It is so nice to have him back home and he is very very happy to be home.  He will only be home for four days before he heads off to Dubai on Thursday, but at least it's four days, right? :-)

Sunday, 1 May, 2016

This week was busy, although not as busy as last week.

I tried tried two new classes at the Over 50s Centre this week: Weight Management and Yoga.  Again, I was the youngest in both classes and some of these oldies put me to shame, but I will keep on trying.  The Weight Management class is more of a social group with a little bit of talking about food.  The ladies were very welcoming and interesting - one of them even told us about some new pretty underwear she had bought and proceeded to show them to us (the ones she was wearing!  Oh my!).  I was hoping it would be more like a Weight Watcher's meeting - however, I will give it one more shot to see if it's going to be helpful or not.

The yoga class was fabulous - the woman leading it was so flexible - amazing!  She led us through a great yoga class for 45 minutes.  She then had us lay down on our mats with our eyes closed and led us through a 15 minute meditation - this was so much better than last week's meditation class - this woman talked calmly the whole time - I was focusing on her and trying to relax as she was asking us to do and I found it quite calming.  I will definitely make this class a part of my regular routine when I am in HB.

I thoroughly enjoyed my Aquafit classes again this week.  It was so funny on Thursday, though - I arrived at the pool with only a minute or two to spare.  When I walked in, there were five women (one was the instructor) there and they started cheering - what a nice welcome! :-)  It turned out that they were happy to get any body coming in - they need to have five woman showing up for class and I made the fifth - they were worried that the class was going to have to be cancelled.  I felt like a celebrity for a couple of seconds. :-)

I had another facial with Helen this week - this weekly routine is something I am totally enjoying - I would never have spent money on something like that up until now - I couldn't bring myself to spend that type of money on me prior to this - I like spoiling myself now! :-)  

I only had one lunch out this week (poor me ;-)  and it was with some more teacher friends - it's always nice to meet up with them and to find out how things are going at Kawungan S.S.  The teachers were saying that they are having to do more and more work outside the classroom these days and it's just annoying for them - they just want to be able to teach and not have to deal with more and more admin stuff.  It seems that there are more and more behaviour issues with the students, as well - sounds like a good time to get out of teaching here and that is what many of them are doing - the older ones are retiring as soon as they can (even if it's in the middle of the year) and many young ones are quitting before they have even been teaching for five years.

I got to babysit two little girls this week - Scarlett (4) and Indiana (3) - who are in our ward here.  Their parents, Lisa and Ben, don't have any parents here in HB so I told Lisa that I would be happy to look after the girls if they wanted to go out on a date.  Ben is in an entry level accounting job and Lisa is a stay-at-home mom, so they don't have a lot of money left over at the end of the month.  She was really happy when I offered to watch the girls for them.  She called me last Sunday and asked me if I would watch them on Tuesday - Ben had a church meeting and she wanted to go to her squash game - she said that she knew it wasn't a date, but would I be willing to babysit anyway.  I told her I would love to - I asked if the girls liked having books read to them and she said yes, but she didn't have many books.  So, before I went to babysit, I stopped at the library and picked up seven books.

When I got to the house, after Ben and Lisa left, the girls and I played with their new Lego creations.  Just before bed, they asked me to read the books - I had to read all seven and then one of them, I was asked to read twice.  Just before bed, I asked which one of them would like to say the prayer and Indiana said she would like me to say it.  They are such cute little girls and remind me a lot of when you girls were little.  I hope that I get to take care of them again - it's kind of like getting in my 'grandma fix', too. :-)

I started a four week free university course this week - I found it online and it sounded like it would be really interesting.  It's called 'Indigenous Studies: Australia and New Zealand' - it explores Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Maori history, society, culture, language and demography.  I have to watch ten videos (average 7 minutes in length) each week and answer a pop quiz (one question) after each video and then take a 10 question assessment at the end of every week.  It's been really interesting so far - the presenters are university professors - one is an aboriginal and one is a Maori.  I have had an interest in first nations peoples for many years and this is a great start to learning more about our Australian first nations peoples.  I love the learning, but I sure wouldn't want to start having to worry about taking exams again - I wonder if you can audit a full university online course.

Dad's teaching went well again this week - and everyone passed the exam with a higher score than last week - phew!  He has been going on the treadmill at the gym at the complex which he likes.  The trouble is the food - he was eating at the hotel restaurant for both breakfast and dinner, but he was finding the buffet at breakfast too much.  So, he bought some breakfast cereal and milk at the grocery store last week.  He has no bowls, etc. in his room so he is using a mug and spoon which is meant for drinking coffee/tea.  He also has not been able to eat any vegetables and the only fruit he can eat is imported apples and canned fruit.  He cannot wait to get home to HB and get back to eating his fruit and veg.  He is very happy that he only has one week to go there.

Sunday, 24 April, 2016

Wow, another busy week - and I am glad for that - it's so boring here without Dad, so I am filling each day as much as I can. :-)

On Monday, I started a new class - tai chi - being held at the Over 50s Centre.  They have tons of classes - both physical and intellectual - and they only cost $3. or $3.50.  I have wanted to try tai chi for a while and we are having it for our next Homemaking activity and I have the time to do it, so it was the perfect time for it.  A lady named Margaret taught the class and she is the lady who will come and teach it to us at Homemaking next month.  The class was an hour and 20 minutes and I thought it would be too long, but it wasn't.  It is such a relaxing exercise and I thoroughly enjoyed the class.  After that relaxation, I also had a facial which was relaxing - a very nice day. :-)  Tuesday and Thursday, I went back to Aquafit class and more really good workouts.

On Wednesday, I decided to try a mediation and relaxation class at the Over 50s Centre - I thought it might be good for learning how to relax if I felt stressed.  Well.................the class started with a woman welcoming us and then telling us to close our eyes.  She then proceeded to talk with us in a calming voice telling us to relax, let go of our worries, etc. for about five minutes or so.  We then sat in silence for over half an hour.  You can imagine how difficult that was for me - eek!  After that, she asked each one of us how things had gone, what we had 'seen', where we had 'been', etc.  I told her that it has been very difficult for me to just sit there.  She said that it would come over time and that she hoped that I would come back again.  I thought to myself  'there is no way I am ever coming back here' - way too stressful. :-) I am going to try yoga next week which is taught at the same time.

After that, I met up with some church friends (Elaine, Jan and Fiona) at lunch at a restaurant called 'Hogsbreath' - I keep forgetting to take my camera with me when I go out - I really need to remember it so that you can see who I am talking about. Elaine and her husband are moving from HB and she wanted to get together with us before they moved house.  It is always sad when we lose people from our ward - we get to know them and they contribute to our ward and then they leave.  We had a lovely lunch together talking and laughing - it's always nice to hang out with friends. :-)  Speaking of hanging out with friends, I did the same on Thursday with my teacher friends (Bronwyn and Luise) and on Friday with my friend, Haidi.  Friends, talking, laughing, hanging out - such good 'medicine' for me. :-)

Dad's work is going well - the guys had their first exam this week and they all passed - phew - although one of them only barely passed.  Dad says it's hard cuz the men don't work on these kinds of planes much and also some of them are older and not really up to learning about a new airplane.  Dad spends most of his time class at the hotel doing his preparation for the next day - he has only taught this course once before and so he has tons of prepping to do to make it acceptable for him.  There are different exams compared to last time as well, so Dad has to make sure that he specifically mentions those areas - there is too much information in the course for Dad to cover completely and so he has to make sure he covers what might be in the exam plus what he feels is important to cover.

I want to share an amazing experience I had on yesterday - I am not sure that words will be able to really get my feelings across, but I will try.  Last week, I mentioned that a friend of mine had really let me down and that I was really upset with her.  I knew that I had to forgive her, but I really didn't feel like it last week and it was still hard this week when I thought of the situation.  I have been doing a seminary course on the Book of Mormon and this week's lesson really hit me.  I was reading about how Nephi had been bound in ropes by his brothers.  He prayed to Heavenly Father to give him the strength to change his circumstances (as opposed to asking to have his circumstances changed).  That hit me - maybe I should pray for help to change the way I felt about my disappointment with my friend's decision which let me down.  Then, I read more about Nephi and how, after he had gotten out of the ropes, he forgave his brothers.  It hit me again - if Nephi went through such a horrible experience and still forgave his brothers, then I should forgive my friend.  I prayed again last night to help me to forgive my friend - this morning, when I was on my way to church, the negative feelings returned and I pushed them away.  When I got to church and saw my friend, things were the same they used to be - all my negative feelings had disappeared and it was as if the Homemaking situation had never happened.  WOW, I thought - how amazing!  I loved it!  I didn't like feeling that negatively, especially towards my friend.  I pondered on this today and realized how similar it was to us when Heavenly Father forgives us - it's like the situation never happened.  What a wonderful spiritual experience!

Sunday, 17 April, 2016

I have been a bit slack with getting back to my blog after being in Canada, but here I am again, back on track.  It was nice to be able to pick up Dad from the airport on the 6th of April on his return from Canada.  I really don't like being by myself - just too boring without Dad here.  Dad only had a few days at home before setting off again, so it was a busy time fitting in appointments (haircuts and chiropractor) and two dinners with friends.  Dad and I also found one geocache - he had one travel bug from Canada to put in here in HB.  After that, we went for a walk on the beach - it was a perfect day and the beach was beautiful.  Then, on the 10th, Dad was off again to Melbourne.  He was only there for the week, so I was not able to go with him.

the geocache

 a man paddleboarding in the ocean

 Dad on the beach

 Me with one of our local city councillors (Robert Garland) - he and another fellow were returning from a local activity which was held on the beach - they invited me to jump in and get a photo taken

Me at the beach (love walking in the water - ahhhhh!)

I filled up that week so that I was very busy: swimming with my friend, Diana; working on Homemaking stuff with my friend, Jan; baking bread with my friend, Denise; afternoon tea and a movie with my friend, Maureen; hanging out with my friend, Haidi, at her place; going to an aquafit class and a pilates class; and getting a lovely facial. PHEW!

 bread rising (from my day at Denise's making the bread for Homemaking refreshments)

Buns rising - they were made with the same recipe as the bread, but I added a little mixed spice and sultanas

Yesterday, it was our homemaking meeting at church - baking bread from scratch.  My friend, Denise, was supposed to teach it, but on Thursday, she told me that her husband was taking her away for the day and that I would have to teach the breadmaking class.  I was very stressed and very anxious - I had had two lessons with Denise, but I didn't feel confident at all.  My friend, Jan, and I set everything up on Friday, so we didn't have to do it on Saturday before the meeting.  We had planned on having bread for the refreshments for Homemaking which I had started making at Denise's on Thursday and then finished at home - I wasn't positive that the bread and buns were good enough for refreshments, so I went out to a real bakery and bought two loaves of bread, just in case.

There were 15 sisters at Homemaking - I was really pleased with that turnout.  We had set up the tables outside so that there wouldn't be a mess on the carpet in the classrooms.  I gave the sisters the recipe for the bread and had the ingredients ready for them to use.  I stood in front of the tables and instructed them on what to do.  Fortunately for me, there was one sister at one of the tables who knew how to make bread, so I asked her to keep an eye on the sisters at her table while I assisted the sisters at the other table.  Once the sisters got the dough ready and it was doing its first rise, we had the bread/buns for refreshments.  Although the ones I had made were a little dense, the sisters said that  they tasted good - I was so happy!  Saying a prayer before the meeting started really helped me to calm down - I completely forgot about my anxiety - and the whole meeting went so well.  One of the sisters even sent me a picture of what her bread looked like after she took it home and baked it.  So far, we have had four really good Homemaking meetings this year - I hope the rest turn out as well as these four have.

Last Friday, Dad left Melbourne and flew to Brisbane.  We were hoping that he would be able to come home for a day or two before he went off to his next teaching assignment, but it wasn't to be.  He stayed overnight in Brisbane and flew to PNG (Papua New Guinea) yesterday - he will be teaching there for three weeks  It is not our favourite place for him to go to as it's not a safe place in general - fortunately, Dad is staying in a really safe hotel which is heavily guarded and he also has a driver who drives him back and forth to work.  He eats breakfast and dinner at the hotel and takes soup and snacks (which he buys at the grocery store - driven there by his driver) for lunch.  We will both be happy when he comes home from there.  So far, he says the course is going well and the 14 guys on the course seem to be taking all the info in and have been asking lots of questions which Dad likes.