Brisbane

I’m sitting in warm, sunny Queensland as I type this out. And it’s nice to be here.

Last week concluded after Kylie did a wonderful job speaking in front of over 1000 people at our Stake Conference for church. I was really sick though, and the day was uneventful. I remained in bed all day Monday and Tuesday (though I raced into uni to teach two classes on Tuesday afternoon). I also took Wednesday off. Each of those days was entirely uneventful for our family. In my time off I essentially did nothing although I spent some time helping Kylie around the house. (I didn’t realise just how big our house is until I had to clean it).

Chanel has been learning her multiplication tables and we bought some cards that turn the tables into a game. We have gone from struggling with the tables to knowing all of them inside out (including 8’s and 9’s) in 3 days. She has done amazingly well.

Thursday morning we piled into the car and drove to the airport to fly to Brisbane. The kids were full of anticipation, perhaps more for the chance to be with family than to actually fly on a plane. In typical Coulson style we arrived at the airport with moments to spare, checked in, and boarded the plane. After some confusion about seating – we weren’t given a seating allocation together! – we managed to take our place and enjoy getting to Brisbane in 90 minutes instead of 14 hours (which is what the drive would have been).

Disembarking at Brisbane saw us all express identical sentiments – “Wow it’s warm in QLD!” Jumpers and all of those warm clothes were shed in favour of t-shirts, shorts and thongs. It is an entirely different climate. We were surprised at how dry it still is up here. We have become accustomed to green surrounds in Wollongong.

Some friends were kind enough to loan their car to us, and, after picking up Kylie’s dad (who the kids were so thrilled to see again) we drove to the Gold Coast to visit with Nan & Auntie Jan. It was going to be a short visit but we had a great time and ended up staying a few hours. We ate an unexpected, but tasty, dinner on Nan’s best crockery and had a genuinely enjoyable evening. Then back to Brisbane as we fell into an exhausted slumber.

Friday was a genuine highlight for us. Chanel spent the day at her old school: Cannon Hill State School. She was invited in to her old class with her teacher and spent the day with all of her friends. She got to order lunch, and after school she went to Netball training with her old team. So much fun! Abbie enjoyed her day playing with her best friend, Elissa Thayer. They spent around 6 hours together. Abbie was satisfied, and had a contented smile as they exchanged farewells. She is beautiful. Ella also got to play with friends while Kylie spent the morning catching up with several of her best friends at a morning tea. I spent the morning finalising paperwork associated with my old Management Training job. It is now finished, and I can send in my final invoice.

The other interesting event for Friday was visiting our old house in Morningside. We wanted to check on it, and therefore have the opportunity to claim the associated portion of our trip as a tax deduction. The place looked terrific. There were more weeds than I would have liked to see but, generally speaking, we seem to have good tenants. As we toured our old home Kylie and I couldn’t believe that we ever squeezed into the place. We left there after a quick visit to our old neighbours, feeling very satisfied and confident that things will work out well there, at least for the short-medium term.

Saturday Kylie indicated that she was coming down with what I’ve had. I’m still not fully recovered, but it appears that Kylie has caught it. Oh dear. Nevertheless, Kylie enjoyed time with another good friend who gave her a gorgeous gift. A couple of years ago, this friend took Kylie out for her birthday. They had a wonderful day, and Kylie received a list of 10 things this friend loved about her. It was quite special. On Saturday, this same friend gave Kylie a gift that she has been working on for two years. It is a beautiful, ten-page foldout scrap-booked card that describes the ten things this friend loves about Kylie. Such a special gift.

Kylie also watched her sisters play soccer during Saturday afternoon which I think she really enjoyed, although I’m not sure if Kylie will be looking up the local club in Wollongong to join up.

We were supposed to have fish ‘n chips for dinner, but I suggested that it would be cheaper (and tastier) to cook a roast. We ate in style! But it took an hour longer to cook than we expected because I wasn’t used to the oven. I was quite proud of myself though. I cooked for 8 adults and 4 children: roast chicken (x2), about 30 potatoes, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, corn and broccoli. Kylie made the gravy as only she can (the best gravy comes from Kylie’s pan). Yum. Of course, since cooking a roast is messier than fish ‘n chips, I also had to clean up. But it was worth it.

So far the holiday has been terrific. We return to NSW on Tuesday morning. We’re hoping that the rats in the ceiling will have moved out…