For a few years now, we somehow got a few people around for a catch up dinner, at about the same time each year. I guess it’s because a few of us share September birthdays. So, as it has happened for several years, Uncle Marloney and Auntie Hooi, Jason and Mel and Tress and I caught up for dinner again last Friday. We went to the Red House Kitchen in Scoresby and had a wonderful time over dinner, talking and catching up.

Tress and I thought Jason was a bit quiet and disengaged at that dinner and shamefully, I found myself not really caring that much that he was. Several days before the dinner, he sent us an old photograph. It was an unflattering photo that he took of us, when we were at his place a few years ago. Why he still has that photo is anyone’s guess. He had circulated it after he first took it back then, and I had been cross with him and told him as much – back then. So it was a mystery to me why he kept it and sent it again. That photo had both Tress and I staring at our phone. Tress remembered we were searching for something he asked about. So for him to then take that photo, kept it, and sent it out repeatedly, is just incomprehensible. Especially since I had made it known to him that I didn’t like that at all. In any case, I simply deleted the message he sent me with that photo, and let it go “straight to the keeper”. I hope my complete non-reaction to that message said something but frankly, I care little about what he might think. It’s very disappointing but I have let it go.

On Saturday, we slept in a bit, took the little guy for a walk, and then I did a quick trimming of the hedges in the back eastern corner before we sent the boys to Heather’s. We then got ready for a wedding. Adeline, an old friend from Uni, will have her daughter married in an Anglican church in Camberwell that arvo. The dinner reception was at the NGV Art Centre in the city and we had planned to drive there. At the wedding, we met a couple who asked if they could hitch a ride with us. We obliged.

The wedding dinner was the first I was at that I stayed dry. Surprisingly, sipping sparkling water throughout the evening didn’t impair my enjoyment of the occasion and I didn’t find myself craving for a glass of red that was flowing freely everywhere. Through the dinner, I checked on the scores of the game between the Lions and the Blues. Winners get to the big dance next week – and it looked like the Lions would be the ones to meet the Pies.

We caught up with a bunch of old uni friends at the dinner and as always, that was a wonderful thing. One of them (Patsie) remarked that she first met me nearly 40 years ago. That really put things in perspective. Tress and I were the only ones to have become grandparents but all of our kids have grown up, finished uni, and became fully grown working adults. How we have survived the ravage of time – I particularly felt it as I have been under a coughing spell for 2-3 weeks now and the interrupted sleeps every night have meant I am feeling a touch weary.

We got back late after the wedding dinner, and only went to bed around midnight. The next morning, we had a quick coffee and toast, and I went for a quick walk before we headed to St Alf’s. It was a wonderful service, and when it was over, Tanya got a few people to come to Tress and I and offered to pray for my coughs. I had asked to swap with her for communion duties a couple of weeks back and I was meant to take her place in that service but as my coughs had persisted, she carried out the tasks so she did it two weeks in a row. So she thought I needed some prayers – the coughs didn’t go away anytime soon, but it sure made me feel loved and cared for. Amy, a nurse, was part of the praying group and she suggested I used an extra pillow for a higher propped up head position when I sleep. I guess it helped a bit but I remained interrupted through the night. The coughs abated a touch but I slept only marginally better, so when I went out for my run this morning, the weariness crashed on me and I found myself walking – briskly but so laboured.

I remain grateful however, that I am up and about. I have a wonderful family. Tress is always here with me, and always wonderful. Kiddo and Mic are doing really well with Abby in the Capital City. They were at a church camp where it looked like Abby had a great time, and it felt like they have completely settled into that “new” church. I continue to labour on at my work, and aches and pains notwithstanding, I find myself out there each day, running/jogging/walking and just enjoying the warmth and smell of Spring each morning. All I seek is to be more engaging at serving our Lord.

The Saturday before the last, there was a wedding in St Alfs. The bride is a mutual friend of one of our very old friends – they got to know each other through a local BSF group. The couple has been coming to St Alfs for about a year and we have come to know them a little more, so they asked Tress and I to help out at the wedding.

Tress had the bigger job of looking after the kitchen and I was only to manage the car parks. So, I got the morning to myself, which I filled by tidying up the gardens. I mowed the lawns, and trimmed the very tall hedges on the front, next to the driveway that neighbours the western side. I finished up in time to tidy up and headed to St Alfs.

I must have overstretched myself with the hedge job as the next day, my shoulder began to ache and it slowly escalated so much so that my sleep was affected. I couldn’t find a sleeping position that didn’t involve the shoulder (left side) straining and aching. That went on for 2-3 nights so other than interrupted sleeps, I also developed a neck strain that then roped in a headache at the base of my skull. All that meant for the whole week, I had not slept well and the slight cold I had developed into bad coughs at night. That meant a really tough week health wise.

The strange thing however, was that throughout the week, my “body battery” levels, as measured by the Garmin watch I use, remained at a reasonable level. My sleep score too, didn’t plummet like I expected. After just over a week, last night, even with interrupted sleep for a continuous coughing bout, I woke with a 99% “body battery” – something I cannot remember registering. I wonder if staying alcohol free since about a week and a half ago, contributed to that.

Anyways, the footy finals season has been really fun. On Friday night, Tress and I went to a local fish and chips place (on Eley Street) and had takeaway to come home and watch the Melbourne v Carlton game. Melbourne had the better of the exchanges right through the game and on numerous points through that game, Tress and I agreed Melbourne would get up. About a minute and a half before time however, with Carlton trailing just 5 points, they somehow won the ball back, yawed to the other side of the oval, and made a couple of passes before getting inside 50 to kick the ball to an unmarked forward, who trickled the ball across goal and pipped the Dees by a point. The G erupted. As the clock wound down the men in blue managed to sneak in another behind, and won the game by 2 points. Delirium. Tears. It was an exciting finish and I think the last time I enjoyed a win that didn’t involve the Hawks, was when the Doggies went all the way in 2016.

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On Friday, we received the wonderful news that Nic my niece, has been offered a role with a health service provider here in Melbourne, and in the eastern suburbs side of town at that. We’re all very excited for her. I look forward to having the wonderful daughter of my dearest late sister Sim, working and living closer to where we live. She will be the closest – proximity wise – family member since Kiddo left home all those years ago. That will be another welcome disruption. What a year of welcome disruptions this has been to date. I’m grateful.

Gratefulness has been what has helped me survive this past week or so of physical ailment. Everyday, I found myself thanking God even as I wrestled with my aches and pains and the limitations they bring. Gratefulness has also what made me feel terrific about the outlook ahead. I cannot put my fingers on every single thing I have thought about that I have been grateful for, but that has been the theme that has carried me. Thank you, Lord.

It’s footy finals season. The Hawks are of course, out of the equation. It would be, maybe (hopefully) not more than 2 seasons before we’d be in the mix again.

Last night, the first qualifying final was played out in front of over 92,000 fans at the G. Tress and I watched it from the comfort of our lounge, so we missed out on the spectacular atmosphere that must have buzzed the G. The Pies triumphed so awaits their opponent in the prelim final in a couple of weeks.

Last night, the game was special for yours truly. It is the first game I watched, without the usual vino in me hand. I have, you see, decided to go dry. No more vino, no more alcohol for me. I don’t believe I have a drinking problem, but drinking as much as I have, has become a real risk for me.

I am working at finding ways to break a habit that is >35 years in the making. That’s not going to be easy. Last night, I fired up the sparkling water maker, and made a bottle that I mixed with some sparkling apple and pomegranate juice that someone gave us a little while ago. It sat in a corner in our pantry as such non-alcoholic beverages didn’t interest me one bit. I sipped the sparkling water and juice mix, as I watched the war of attrition between the Dees and the Pies. It felt different, it felt strange. I hope I have enough in me to see this through and remain dry. I asked the Lord to walk with me, as He always does, and I hope I stay the course.

It was an antipodean Father’s Day weekend so on Friday night. Tress treated me to a nice dinner in a local Japanese restaurant. We got there early, at 6.30 pm, and it was buzzing. We couldn’t even find a parking space and had to park across a very busy Springvale Road, and walk across that main thoroughfare back into the restaurant.

There was no footy on Friday night – it’s finals season and the first finals game won’t come on till later this week, so we watched something else and went to bed early.

The next morning, we took the little fellow for his extended weekend walk, then we came back and i gave the plants some nutritional supplements, before cleaning up to head to the tax agent up the road from our place. The lady who has been doing our tax returns dished out the “death and taxes” line, in an attempt to soothe the bad news about the amounts of tax both Tress and I had to pay. Maybe it’s time to do a bit more tax planning.

After the tax returns were sorted, we met a young mum at FHC, and sold her the baby gym set we had bought for Abby, before heading to Blackburn Station to pick up Nicole and Jon. Nicole had come to Melbourne for a job interview. She has been very open about not staying in Taree any longer than she could, and would move down to Melbourne as soon as she gets a job here. She’d know later this month. We took them to our favourite Malaysian place in Donvale, ate and talked, before coming home for a little while to sort out the dogs, and then we went to The Glen for some coffee, groceries and for Nicole to also do some shopping. At about 4pm. we dropped them off at the GW train station for them to track back into the city.

As always, it was really good to catch up with family. Two consecutive weekends – last week with Kiddo, Mic and Abby and this, albeit a much shorter one, with Nicole and Jon – were indeed a treat.

On Sunday at St Alf’s, Peter talked about stuff to deal with the “signs and wonders” and “power” themes that Ken Fish had raised a few weeks earlier. It was a terrific sermon, dampened only by an announcement at the end of the services, that St Alf’s has been defrauded a substantial amount of money. A big unauthorised direct debit was made to an unknown person’s ATO account and a smaller amount was also debited without authorisation. The treasurer who made that announcement, was articulate, methodical and clinical in his description of what happened and in his remedial plans, but was distraught at the same time. He clearly is a top notched treasurer, who is not only skilled and smart but also cared for St Alf’s and the stewardship role he has. As we left, I said to Tress I was confident we should recover the money. I hope we do.

We then went for lunch, did a bit more grocery shopping, then went home where I did some “feed and weed” on the lawns before I did the usual weekend cook. The day was gorgeous with plenty of sun and very balmy, so I was decked out in shorts – first time in months. That may have been my undoing however, because as the evening wore on and we took the boys to the oval, cooler conditions took over and overnight, I felt like I was going crook. I woke up this morning not feeling 100% but went out for my morning workout anyway. It wasn’t a good run at all, slowing down to simply walk briskly numerous times, because I was just feeling off.

We’re well and truly into spring now but somehow, my tired old body feels just stuck and tired like winter would never leave these creaking and aching joints.