Our niece, Sim’s daughter, is now in Melbourne. Nic will live and work here, at least for a little while – perhaps the next couple of years and hopefully much longer after that. It’s just a wonderful feeling to have a close family member based much closer to us now. So, on Friday night, we caught up for dinner with her and Jon, her beau. We went to the Red House in Scoresby, after which we came home for a bit of a chat before they left for home, which is now a mere 20+ minutes away. We’d be having them over again in a few days, for a Chinese New Year thing.

On Saturday, Tress and I walked the little fella, before attending to some house chores. We had a fair bit to do and limited time too, as there was to be a family catch up in Wonga Park later that arvo. So Tress vacuumed and cleaned the house while I mowed, trimmed and cleared some undergrowth, and tidied up the nature strip. We finished just before 1pm, and hurriedly cleaned up and made our way to the family party. Tress’ aunt and her family bought a sprawling property a couple of years ago. They invited the family over for a pre-Chinese New Year soiree and it was lovely. We caught up with all the aunties, uncles and cousins, etc.. It was particularly good to see Adam again. We left at about 4.30pm, as the little fella had been registering his anxieties and protests on the Furbo… we got back and took him to the oval (his favourite place) for a run around with his friends.

On Sunday, after St Alf’s we reacquainted ourselves with our favourite Sunday lunch spot at Donvale, where we also bumped into Jason and Mel. Jason later came over and intimated that he missed our Friday night catch ups. Later, I sent him a picture of our dinner with Nic and Jon, I guess to say that was what we did that kept us from a Friday night catch up. We had also been in and out of town recently, so maybe we can catch up again before too long. After lunch, we went to The Glen to meet Auntie Pin, who was to deliver some CNY cookies we had ordered from her. She was meant to bring them to the Sat arvo soiree but with Adam, his carer and wheelchair, the vehicle ran out of space. She also recounted to us, further medical episodes that Adam went through before Christmas. My heart ached when I listened to her telling us the incidents. Auntie Pin has been tremendously strong for her family; she remains a positive and lovely human being.

While at the Glen, I went to an ATM and got my card swallowed up by the machine. I rang the bank immediately and after the usual lengthy wait time, the person who attended to my call turned out to be very helpful. Hopefully I get a replacement card soon, as the increasing bank fees for card usage has meant many retailers and hospitality outlets have gone back to a cash preferred mode of transacting. It was a hot day (hottest day so far this summer) so we bumped into many friends and acquaintances at the Glen, who no doubt were seeking refuge from the heat.

We came home after a few hours, and started cooking the week’s lunches, We hadn’t done that for a few weeks and at Red House on Friday night, we had picked up some char siew, and I made some fried rice with it. We should be set for the week.

A routine of sorts has returned. It had been a great weekend of catching up with people we love to spend time with, and doing stuff we enjoy – stuff that fills our days while we’re at what John Lennon might have said “busy making other plans” (cue “Beautiful Boy”).