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)