Time flies into 2009

Hmmmm . . . if I waited another 10 days, THIS update would have been 2 months since the last one . . . just like the LAST one LOL! Oh well, I do my best :) . . . and a lot has happened since the last one, I can tell you. And, like the last one, it's better late than never, I reckon :)

One highlight was a whirlwind trip to Victoria in late November/early December of 2008 to pack up my unit, and the drive back up to Atherton. I figured it was enough of an adventure to want to share with friends and family, but rather than put it all here in a Blog, and bore those who didn't want to put aside the time it'll take to read it all, I decided to upload it to a page on my website so those that did want to read it could :). If you are one of those people, clicking here will take you there.

But before I share any more of what has happened since the last update, I'd like to do a health report. Pete did an excellent job of caring for Dad & Mum while I was away, and their life was made a whole lot more comfortable when the TCL split system reverse cycle air conditioner was installed, but by the time I got back, Dad's patch was only just doing the job, and little by little he got more and more uncomfortable, until, after a few days of doing too much and resting too little, he was sent into hospital by his Doctor again . . . on Christmas night :(

He was in there for 3 days, and was looking much better after the blood transfusion he had while he was in there, but it didn't really last that long and he was back in a week later on the 6th January. He is still there as I write, and they are having trouble balancing the amount of pain relief he needs to be comfortable with the amount of not-drugged presence needed to function effectively in the world. I suppose there was going to come a time when the drugs he needed to make his pain levels managable would mean he would not be able to function effectively enough to live at home, and its possible that time might have arrived, but we will wait and see.

Mum has been quite teary lately, and she seems to be feeling Dad's absence and lack of health more than usual. Aside from that, she is physically quite well, and can now go several hours without oxygen. Her foot is totally healed of it ulcers, and even after her pain patch was dropped down one level, her only pain now is produced by an occasional headache, which panadol seems to deal with effectively. On a lighter note, it was my 50th birthday on the 19th of December.


I've never been much of a party animal, having not had parties as a kid (due to it falling in the school holidays), but I would have celebrated my 50th in a bigger way with family and friends if I had still been down in Melbourne. However, I wasn't upset in the slightest, really, because I very much enjoyed the low-key celebration I had with my family up here . . . dinner out at the Tolga Hotel, and then champagne and cake (black forest - my favourite) at home for desert :)




Yep, I think 50 years is quite a milestone, and I feel very proud to have made it this far. So thank you to everyone who blessed me with gifts. One very special gift worth mentioning was from Dad & Mum, and was a balloon flight over the Atherton Tablelands (well not right over them from one side to the other - but up floating over the top of them - for half an hour LOL!). The funny thing was that the second flight of the day (that I was to go on) was cancelled due to a change of wind. The pilot explained that there were no roads going into the area the wind would have taken the ballon if they had done the second flight, and we would have been stuck out there LOL!


But, as it turned out, it was all good, because the weather was hot and muggy (yep, even at 4.00 in the morning), and the sky was overcast - NOT good ballooning weather, and I can now take the flight on a day of my choosing. I have some new friends up here who also want to experience the bigger picture perspective that ballooning provides, and it looks like we will all go in a group some time in the future, which will also be a lot more fun for me than going on my own.

One last highlight I really wanted to mention was Chris & Patsy Hannam's visit. They actually visit every few months, and are very dear friends of the family, but I have not put them up on a Blog before. But, as they are two of Dad & Mum's favourite people in the whole world, I really wanted to do so this time. Unfortunately, the visit coincided with Dad's Christmas hospitilisation, and so he was not in the group pic below. He didn't miss out though, as they went and spent some time with him in hospital :)



So . . . that's about it. At this point, I would like to wish YOU a very wonderful 2009. I truly hope it unfolds even more magnificently for you and all your loved ones, than you could ever have imagined :) . . . and even though its a bit late now, fireworks are always fun. Ciao . . .