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.