2022

I can’t believe January 2022 has come and gone. It has been a bit of a whirlwind few weeks, and I’ve been sloppy with my entries here.

Kiddo and Mic came down to Melbourne about a week before Christmas, but headed off to Tassie the next day for a wedding. They came back a couple of days before Christmas and it was lovely having them here for a couple of weeks. We ate a lot, walked a lot, and went to various places just for fun. We got together at Jason and Mel’s on Christmas Eve and it was really nice to catch up with the usual guys, including the Hipos and made some new friends. We went out to Docklands on New Year’s Eve and I think that’s what got Kiddo done for – she came down with strong symptoms of Omnicron. They went out to a clinic in Glen Waverley to get a PCR test and queued for about 5 hours but got turned away at the last minute and with rapid antigen test kits in short supply, they never got tested. Tress and I later picked up symptoms too but for the same reasons, we never got tested. We simply isolated ourselves for about 10 days and then only went out sparingly.

Kiddo and Mic went back to Canberra in the second week of 2022, and life returned to normal for everyone. Tress and I have continued working from home however, as this quick spreading Omnicron has returned most workplaces to that working mode. I think the dogs (particularly Oreo, the younger one – “Padawan”) missed Milo, Kiddo and Mic’s dog, and Oreo’s ears would prick up when we mention Milo.

Working from home meant I had to put up with the building activities on our neighbouring lot (eastern side). The demolition work started towards the end of last year and they’d been prepping the concrete slab, which is now all poured and set as of a couple of days ago. At the same time, we received a notice from our local council that our other neighbour (on the northern side, adjoining our backyard) is applying for a building permit. They’d be demolishing the existing house and will put up a large 4 bedroom double storey new home. So, it looks like the building/construction activities will go on for a while around us.

That got us thinking about what we should do with our own home. It’s our 15th year here now and I said to Tress the other day, that we’d probably need to only think about this more seriously about 5 years from now.

I have been reading through the books of 1 & 2 Kings and 1 Chronicles and one of the constant themes about David was he always turned to the Lord as a first port of call, before embarking on anything. I think Tim Keller said in one of his messages (I’d been listening to his podcasts) that for most of us, we’d think, plan, come up with options and strategies and then commit all of that to our Lord. David simply turned to Him and probably then did the rest. I’ve been thinking if I should start to put the David model to practice, and really acknowledge that God is God, and Lord.

I picked up another weber barbie a couple of weeks ago – it’s a kettle with a cart, called the “Performer”. I had a first cook last weekend and the chicken was super juicy. I’m hoping a pork belly will be my next cook. Jason said this was my new toy and I guess he’s right.

So, as the new year kicked in, as I continue to plough away at my new role and look at all the construction/building activities around me, I hope I turn to the Lord as a first port of call, on a more regular basis. Meanwhile, I’ll have some fun with my new toy.