It’s been three weeks since I last wrote. Things have been generally frantic and exhausting, exhilarating and at times remarkably stressful. That included the two weeks of school holidays for the children, and the week just gone.
The holidays started fairly quietly for the children. I spent a day or two at home during that week, but worked hard at uni too. The week was uneventful. In the second week of the holidays it all started though. Kylie’s friend threw a 30th birthday for her. All of her friends chipped in to put money together so Kylie could buy a bunch of “stamping” products for making cards and other crafts. The generosity was astounding and Kylie is finalising her quite substantial order. She was ecstatic about it. There was a LOT of leftover dessert too, including an entire homemade lemon meringue pie that was too good for words. I ate it for breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and for dessert as well. My body would have preferred that I be more balanced in my approach to food and I felt ill for a couple of days.
Some friends from Brisbane came to stay for three nights with their three children. We had a great week showing them the sights around Wollongong. We had pristine weather for it and enjoyed their company. We ate lots of Chicko’s too which always pleases the family. Our friends were suitably impressed with our favourite chicken shop.
We drove to Gosford on my birthday (Thurs 9th Oct), stopping to see Nan and Pop Bunt. We always enjoy visiting, and came away with an enormous bag of Pop’s home-grown spinach. I love his vegetable garden! Mum and Dad had gone to Coffs Harbour for a few days and the house was essentially ours (except for my little brother Tim who hung around). That evening I had all of my best mates come to mum and dad’s house with their families for a small birthday party. Ben, Jay, Richard, and Ian all came over. We have a great friendship that has lasted over 20 years now, and continues to be a positive influence in my life. I am grateful for good friends.
Friday we let the kids play with their cousins. Then some friends from Wollongong came to join us in Gosford for a couple of days. We ate good food, stayed up too late talking, visited Terrigal Haven, ate more good food, and enjoyed being in one of the most beautiful parts of the country. As a bonus, on Sunday afternoon before coming home we got to visit with Nanna Coulson on her 80th birthday. It was great to be there, and we would have loved to stay longer. Unfortunately it was a long drive home and the children were starting school the next day. We ruefully rushed out with full bellies and regret for not being able to enjoy our family longer.
The children’s return to school and my return to uni went quite smoothly. I have made significant progress on my writing and on my PhD research. I’ll be running the first round of data collection in the coming weeks and things are really beginning to move very fast.
Annie had her first ever swimming lesson. We get the lesson for about $3 because the three other children are swimming. She loved it, and laughed her way through the 30 minutes. I also got back into the pool. A gym membership was my birthday present and I’m looking forward to improving my health and fitness. My first swimming session caused me considerable tiredness and soreness. There’s plenty of room for improvement.
We received some disappointing news this week too. Our landlord has indicated that as of Jan 1 2009 when our lease expires he would like us to increase our weekly rental by $50. That is a surprising jump – and quite unreasonable. So now we find ourselves attempting to renegotiate our lease or needing to move out. We really don’t want to go through the pain of a move, however his request is entirely unreasonable. Even if it were well within our reach – which it is not – we would still be reluctant to pay so much more. We already pay a fair price for the home, and he assured us when we moved in that we could stay for up to three years without undue increases or discomfort. We have some big decisions in front of us.
Yesterday was Chanel and Abbie’s birthday. Chanel turned nine and Abbie reached her sixth birthday. Chanel had a huge weekend beginning on Friday night with her friend’s 9th birthday party. Then at 8am Saturday morning we had Chanel’s birthday party with a breakfast and bike ride at North Wollongong. Chanel and her friends rode several kilometers north (with me and another father) and returned for a huge fruit platter of mangoes, pineapple, strawberries, and more. Then I cooked bacon and egg rolls on the BBQ while they swam at the beach. That evening Chanel went to another friend’s birthday party! Too much fun. (Abbie will have her birthday party on Tuesday night). I should also add that we got Chanel a little mini ipod (shuffle) for her birthday and she hasn’t taken it out of her ears since we gave it to her. She walks around singing and dancing and strutting all day long.
Lastly, during the last couple of weeks I came across a t-shirt. Someone was wearing a shirt that said “This is the life I have chosen.” At times I often feel like I need to apologise for or justify the life I live, particularly in light of our financial circumstances. But reading that shirt resonated with me. I feel grateful that I can live the life I choose. While there are certain aspects of my circumstances that I would appreciate changing I feel blessed and thankful that I can live the life I do. I feel a profound sense of accomplishment as I reflect on my life and say “This is the life I have chosen.”
No comments:
Post a Comment