It has been such a disorientating week and a half. Two weekends ago Theresa wasn’t feeling too well and her visit to the doctor’s that Saturday morning left her reeling for pretty much the whole weekend. Then it was a busy week for me and while putting out little fires in the workplace, we had also begun to address little matters which needed attention for the new home. They all added up and created a bit of a hazy and spinning sort of atmosphere – like things are very unsettled. Then Theresa was off on Tuesday night. She’d be away for a week and though we communicate through phone and emails a lot, it isn’t the same.

Even after what – 15 years, I still feel great when she’s around and not so great when she isn’t. I don’t know how one copes when one loses a life partner. I dare not even think about it.

Two days ago (Saturday) I took kiddo on the train to Flinders’ Station. From there we hopped on a tram down St Kilda Road and stopped at the Domain Interchange. We walked the couple of hundred of metres or so, to come to Mac Robertson Girls High School. It was my second time there, having handed in her acceptance papers about a month or so ago. It still looked a bit old to me but for kiddo it was a great looking place. We walked around the school compound a bit and on the way back, I kept asking her to trace the steps – the train to take, the station to get off, the exits to take, the tram stops, etc. I hope she feels comfortable using these transport modes when the time comes.

After leaving the school, we tracked into the city and she said she needed food so we found a dumpling place. It was a tiny grotty place in the middle of the tourist belt on Swanston St. The food was forgettable but cheap and it was what kiddo wanted. After dinner we walked around the city, ending up in Myer to look at iPod dockers. Closer to 6pm, we made our way to Melbourne Central thinking we were going home when on a whim and fancy, decided to take in a movie as well, since Hoyts was in the Melbourne Central complex. Bourne Ultimatum looked good, though kiddo was a bit apprehensive. She said she hadn’t watched the first two so wasn’t sure she could follow this one. In reality I suspect it wasn’t her kind of movie. It was my kind of movie and I was paying so we watched it. I loved it. We got home well after 9pm and on the way home we had heard Hawthorn were taking a bit of a hammering from Kangaroos, much to my disappointment. I had taken to the Hawks recently and had been seriously thinking about choosing them as the club to root for. I still think I’ll do that, no Grand Finals notwithstanding.

At church yesterday, the recent drive to get involved in missions and be the “salt & light of the world” stepped up. The letter to appeal against loosening abortion laws was finalised and I now need to follow through with the final touches of getting the corporate version signed and mailed out. I must also remember to mail out my personal version.

Last night kiddo and I joined some church friends for dinner out in bush-town. I don’t mean to disparage the suburbs – I am an inhabitant. I mean only that it feels so far. It’s about 30 minutes drive for us into the city. We were at Berwick for dinner last night however, and it was about 30 minutes further out east from where we were. Had we been city dwellers it would have been a 1-hour drive each way. The restaurant (Oliver’s on Clyde) was alright and the food was okay but the company was pleasant and kiddo seemed to enjoy it so it was good. It was however a late night and by the time we got home, it was almost 10.30pm. After fixing lunch, etc it was well past 11pm…it was a very tiring weekend, and I miss my wife…