Tress and I worked a short week last week, and on Thursday morning, after dropping off the little fellow at Heather’s headed for Tullamarine to catch a flight to Canberra. After a bit of a delay (medical emergency, we were told), we left Melbourne and arrived about an hour later than scheduled. It was really good to see Kiddo and Abby at the airport, and we spent the next few days doing some prep work for the months ahead (and beyond).

We looked at the first property (on our list) in Kambah that very same arvo, and while it had lovely views (of Mount Taylor) the internal living spaces were a bit small. Saturday was the main day, with about half a dozen homes that Tress had set out in her list. On Friday, we had a bit of time so we went with Kiddo and Abby to the Museum which has a wonderful kids’ play area. It was wonderful to see such facilities for young kids and their parents for them to play, explore and exercise. Later that arvo, Tress and I drove to a couple of properties. One had an inspection scheduled while the other was a recce – it was the only one south of Kiddo and Mic’s home and it was the first scheduled inspection at 10am the next day.

On Saturday, we started our viewings. The one we did the recce on was very nice and it remains something we’d be interested in. There were a couple of other strong contenders as well, but the search remains stressful.

I had not envisaged moving again. We have lived in Melbourne for 20 years now. We have acquired habits, routines and practices that we have grown to live with. We have loved our present home – one we have lived in for 17 years. It’s not a perfect home by any stretch of the imagination, but familiarity has provided a tinted lens that makes many things about our home, perfect. It is easy to confuse the familiar with actual attributes but the idea of becoming acquainted with another house and calling it home, has now become, often, daunting. I’m not sure I will be able to cope and deal with it. Hence the prayers, the beseeching, that has been taking over my mind, and my heart. I know I often seek our Lord only when I have a “shopping list”, but I guess He becomes our/my go-to when I don’t know where else to turn. He is my refuge? You bet. The “trade-off” of course is what excites me. The prospect of spending the last quarter of our lives that has us interacting with the lives of Kiddo, Mic, Abby and her sister, enlivens me. The very idea energises me sufficiently to say let’s do it, stressful and daunting it may have been. It’s a bit like leaving Malaysia 20 years ago. Back then, the push factor was all that was. Now, the pull factor is all that is. I am very grateful for that.

My body feels like it is breaking down. That’s how I feel sometimes. Thankfully, I didn’t (and still don’t) always feel that way. Last week however, I hobbled around in pain, with a swell on the back of my foot, just above the heel. It looked like a heel bone spur of sorts so that’s what I say to anyone who asked why I was limping and looked to be in pain. I still got some exercise in – went into the gym and got onto the elliptical trainer and got a bit of sweat going, before I started most days.

On Friday, as usual, the energy level was way down and while the hobbling was slowly ebbing away, the pain was very much still there. Tress and I got away however, to our favourite local Thai on Mitcham Road, before coming back to watch the Bombers against the Crows. Just for a bit though, as those aren’t exactly my favourite teams. We got onto Prime and watched an English film titled The Old Oak. It was a tale of a little town in the UK (Durham in England) that was run down and then had refugees settling there. The story of how a publican embraced the new comers in spite of his personal challenges, was heartwarming. It was a slow movie but rather satisfying.

The next day, it rained and it was cold. Diabolical, really. Notwithstanding that very ordinary weather, an extraordinary day was to unfold in that Tress and I experienced a wedding of an old friend’s daughter, that was richly satisfying. We trekked southward to Clayton and battled the cold, wind and rain to get into the church, and saw a simple but so very meaningful wedding. Most heartening was the sight of the bride, seated on the stage, feverishly taking notes while a minister was delivering the wedding sermon. There’s always a first time for everything.

Later that evening we attended the wedding reception which was just down Blackburn Road, a really convenient location for us. We caught up with Joo Ming and Vivian, a couple we have known since we were kids. Just like this couple, Yoke Cheng too is someone I had known since I was a teenager. Sze Ning, the bride, is Yoke Cheng’s eldest. The note taking bride and her newly wedded husband provided such hope that there are young people out there, who still values what matters. Clearly they’re both followers of Jesus, and the one last sign of the evening was when the bride was to throw the bouquet. Instead of getting all the single ladies to wait to catch the flowers, they got married couples to be in the “waiting area” instead, and then picked out the couple who has been married the longest (over 48 years) and presented them with a wonderful bouquet. They said they wanted to honour all of us couples who have been married for a little while. What a wonderful gesture of honour. The speeches too were wonderful. Not verbose or flowery, but with a great sense of values that matter.

We came back late, and went to bed much later than usual. So Sunday was a late start and we trekked into St Alf’s much later than we usually do (about 10.15am) and sheepishly took a seat several rows behind our usual spots. There as to be a “consultation session” after the service to work through issues surrounding the search for a new vicar to replace Peter, but we skipped that. The worksheets, breaking up into small groups to work through those sheets, the collating of data from those sessions, etc., all felt way too “work-shoppy” for yours truly. After another big week at work and a long day of wedding in cold and wet conditions, more work of that nature (that also involved rearranging furniture in the auditorium to facilitate the small group works) was a little too much for me. Yes, I felt lazy and underwhelming but it just wasn’t something I thought I would appreciate. So Tress and I went to our usual place in Donvale, and after lunch, went home to do our usual Sunday cook and rest.

Late on Sunday arvo, we took the little fellow to the oval. I caught up with a couple of blokes there and talked about footy and work. Hawthorn had smashed the Pies on Saturday, but while I was disappointed to have missed the game, being at the wonderful wedding was quite the compensation. The Hawks beat the Pies by 133-67, an unbelievable win that sealed just how far the rebuild has come for us, and how low the reigning champions had sunk.

The Hawks’ win and the wonderful wedding were heart warming – much needed antidotes to a cold and wet week that saw me hobbling around in pain. The pain was thoroughly soothed and as I was walking with the little one and Tress yesterday evening, I said to Tress I wasn’t limping anymore. It feels wonderful to be healed. I am so grateful to God (yes, I had been praying for the foot to be healed).

It was another busy week, but an exciting one on the home front. Kiddo and Mic made the announcement to our immediate families. Some 22 months after seeing these beautiful pictures, we have been immensely blessed to now see this one:

What a blessing.

Activities have been buzzing around this, but more of that later…

It was another busy week at work last week so I was really looking forward to the weekend. We had a really good dinner at our favourite local Japanese place on Friday night, where we enjoyed a hugging hotpot that made us all warm and fuzzy insider. We indulged ourselves with a “Hokkaido Crepe Cake” to finish the meal and the delicate, light and delicious dessert was wonderful, like being kissed after being hugged and kept warm by the hotpot.

On Saturday, we slept in, and woke up rather late. It was another cold morning. When we woke, we had a quick coffee and toast brekky before taking the little guy for a leisurely walk, where we took our time and just enjoyed the crisp, chilly mid morning. We stopped by a property auction that started at 10am – we did sleep in and took a late walk – and stayed to see where the sale was going to end. It ended with a healthy premium over the asking price and being only a couple of streets away from us, it started us thinking even more about our plans that had lurked in our minds in recent days.

Later, pretty early in the arvo, we headed back to the noodle soup place in Mitcham that we went to last Saturday. It was a bit more crowded as it was later than when we got there last week. It was only a short wait however, and we had another wonderful comforting warm soupy fare to soothe the cold day.

The rest of the weekend was more of the same, but front and centre were thoughts about looking for a place up north. That venture continued and various options came and went. I said to Tress it is all very daunting. We have lived – more or less happily – here in Melbourne for a little while and we’ve become so comfortable in our current circumstances. While it is an exciting prospect that fills us with anticipation, starting the process to respond to these wonderful events is – can be – so very unsettling. I guess the good thing is that we’re moving from a warm and fuzzy state to another that will be filled with hope, aspirations and one where we will be building a future for and together with people that mean so much to us both. In my mind (and heart), that is worth yanking ourselves out of a familiar and comfortable situation.

The evening news in recent days have been saying this winter has been colder. We’ve had a number of days which have been the “coldest day since”, and the comparisons have been with days that were 4-5 years ago.

So towards the end of last week, Tress and I looked at the weather forecast for Saturday and decided we’d look for a place with hugging warm food. Before that, we caught up with Jason and Mel on Friday night, at the Shangrila Inn joint in Brentford Square, and the food there – sodium content notwithstanding – hugged us well enough. We had food that probably reflected our mellowing tastes – braised tofu (“homemade”, with pork mince), steamed fish ( a very good patagonia toothfish) and a beans and eggplant medley that I totally mispronounced when I tried to say it in Cantonese, and embarased myself no end. All I could do was laugh at myself. Note to self to not try again… but the laughter helped. Laughter is a wonderful way to deal with one’s own little follies.

On Saturday, after sleeping and walking the little fellow before the forecast rains arrived, we headed to Mitcham and had bowls of steaming hot noodle soup. The “pan mee” was as close as could get to our hometown versions so it was very satisfying. After lunch, Tress joined in her ethereal fun while I headed to The Glenn for grocery shopping and just walking inside the mall as it was cold and wet outside. Tress was supposed to join me later but as millions of others thought the same thing, she could not find a parking space so I went home to join her instead. We decided to drive to Knox, walked a bit in the mall there, and grabbed a coffee.

Later that night, we came back and rested and treated ourselves to a couple of streaming fares. We had Denzel Washington’s old “The Great Debaters” (or something like that) that had the story of an African American uni known as Wiley College debate team surprising many other unis (colleges) in a trail of debating wins that ended with victory in Harvard. It was a saccharine tale but admirable all the same, and good stuff for a cold winter Saturday stay at home.

On Sunday at St Alf’s we had Ben Clements continue with the series on Isaiah and after that we headed to Donvale to our usual Sunday lunch spot, and continued our quests for warming bowls of soupy noodles. After that treat, we came back and I did the week’s cook while Tress continued to steal windows of sunshine to take the little fellow out. I did the same after I finished the cook and needed to get out for some fresh air. It was cold and gloomy so I was rugged up, including a very cosy beanie, that hid my headphones as I listened to some Paul Simon oldies while I walked the trails of Mahoneys Reserve. It was only a 30 minute walk but it was enough for me to feel better and refreshed.

Later that night, as we sat down to enjoy a feet-up time, Tress took a call from her dad. He sounded very bright and in good spirits. He rang to thank Tress for the flowers she bought for her mum’s birthday. He took some pictures to show her what was delivered and we had great laughs over his photography skills. It was really nice to hear him laughing unreservedly. It was infectious and it sent Tress and I into fits of laughter too. It was a wonderful way to celebrate her mum’s birthday, and deal with the drab, grey and wet winter that Melbourne has been dishing out. Laughter is really a wonderful medicine.