I have had a miserable cold from Tuesday last week but had soldiered on for the rest of the week, relying on “Ease a Cold” capsules. So when Friday came along and Tress came home from Point Cook saying the next day the troop planned to have lunch in Sunshine, I struggled to understand what was going on.
There were like 12, maybe 13 people so at least 3 cars were needed, to ferry the lunch party from Point Cook to Sunshine. For us out in the eastern suburbs, it was a 45 minute drive to Point Cook, followed by a further half an hour to Sunshine. For lunch. In a noisy, chaotic, sticky floored, Vietnamese yum cha place smack in the middle of an industrial hub centre surrounded by car and tyre workshops and the like. Wasn’t there an eatery in Point Cook?
And so I endured a miserable Friday night. Nursing a cold, watching Hawthorn struggling and then losing to the Sydney Swans, and wondering how I was going to go through Saturday putting up with an incomprehensible plan.
What price we pay to keep family harmony unscathed?
What price indeed, as it didn’t stop there. After lunch, the plan was for dinner, we would do a collective swerve of a bearing of approximately 30 degrees clockwise towards the city. The convoy would take off again. This time, from Point Cook to Docklands. To a little restaurant which must have struck a long term bargain to be supplied sugar at bargain basement price. Every dish was sweet, as in sugary sweet. That was a few nights ago when we had trudged there and I circled the Docklands precincts some 5 times before deciding to simply stay put and wait for someone to exit a spot which I could then take. On Saturday night the parking was much better but the dishes remained sweet. We drove from Point Cook to deathly Docklands for sweet dishes – 3 cars. At least we didn’t have to drive them back to Point Cook as the other 2 cars were sufficient.
Those annoying excursions aside, the family time was very good. I guess I have now grown a little older – old enough to be annoyed but to ignore or look beyond these little annoyances and focus instead on the positives of family times, which were very meaningful and fulfilling.
At least on Sunday we were spared the gallivanting across town escapades. We went to Point Cook after church and lunch and stayed there between 1.30 and 8pm, enjoying home cook dinner (Adam’s BKT) which was very good. On the way back from Point Cook last night Tress said she had a great and enjoyable week off. I’m thrilled for her because truth be told – I enjoyed the times I spent with the folks too…
Ante 