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.

It was a normal busy week last week, as my colleagues head towards the end of the financial year with loads of matters they wanted settled, if not finalised. So on Friday night, when I left the office, I got home, and instead of logging in again at my home office like I normally did, I placed all of my work stuff properly laid out on my desk (ready for the new week next week) and headed out to the oval to join Tress and the little fellow.

I needed to just go and soak in the therapeutic atmosphere of walking on large green spaces that is the Mahoneys Reserve, and seeing happy pooches running around and playing with each other. The little fella looked happy as he bounced around and played with his friends, and I just walked around, letting go of all the work pressure that had built up.

Tress and I then headed to the local Chinese place for a bite to eat. We had wanted something special to sort of celebrate our wedding anniversary that happened earlier in the week, but the smallest crustacean they had swimming in the tank was supposedly well over 2kg which was way too much for us. So we had something more modest (and manageable) but equally enjoyable, as I thought to myself 32 years is probably not special enough for me to blow a huge lobster on just the two of us.

On Saturday, we slept in, took a leisurely walk with the little fellow, then headed out to prepare stuff for a little dinner party we had organised, for later that evening in our home. We had invited 3 couples from St Alf’s for a hot pot dinner (“steam boat”), and Tress had stared buying stuff to make the stock. We had a quick lunch at Brandon Park, then headed to The Glen to pick up the foodstuff that were to go into the hotpot.

After we got back, I felt a sudden tiredness – my energy level appeared to have plumbed, and I said to Tress I wanted to take a snooze on the couch, which was highly unusual. I crashed on the couch, curled up as a baby, and tried to sleep. After a little while I thought I should get up. Afternoon naps often give me a headache and there were loads to do for the dinner party anyway, so I got up and got on with it. Getting busy helped, but the sense of tiredness lingered.

We took the little guy for yet another walk when most of the work had been done, and then came home to put on some finishing touches before our guests arrived. We had a great time of eating, chatting and laughing, and the desserts our guests brought were wonderful. It was really nice spending time over a hotpot on a cold winter’s night, getting to know those folks whom we have seen so many times at St Alfs.

Tress and I went to bed late that night – well past midnight – after we cleaned up and put stuff away. So our truncated sleep did not help my general sense of wellbeing but somehow, my spirits were up and the next day, our normal routine resumed. I took the fellow for our usual walk after brekky, went off to St Alf, and then came home to have the leftovers from the dinner party for lunch, before we took the little fellow for another walk and I did the week’s cook.

As we settled down last night, I felt I could at last put my feet up for some physical rest. As I went for my run this morning, I was grateful for a wonderful weekend, but Tress and I have both been thinking about looking out for something in Canberra and that has been on my mind. I am grateful for that too.

Last week, I only worked “half” a week (Wed – Fri) as Mon was the King’s Birthday public holiday and Tress and I had taken Tuesday off with Kiddo, Mic and Abby in town. A “half week” didn’t make much difference to the way my energy level normally ebbs on Thursday night/Friday. We were at a connect group meeting on Thursday night and someone said, at the end of that meeting and we were about to leave, that I looked tired. I said I felt that way. So when Friday arvo came around and it was about 4.30pm, I decided to head out to the oval to be with Tress and the little fellow, who had been there earlier. Walking the dog has become an outlet of sorts for me, and being at the ovals (Mahoney reserve generally) has become a source of peaceful unwinding for me. It will be something I will miss dearly when we leave Melbourne. While I am sure we can find another spot in Canberra, it will take some getting used to and it will be a while before I find my new Mahoney’s reserve.

We went to our favourite local Thai place at Mitcham for a “TGIF” dinner. It was very busy as usual, with hoardes of takeaway customers making a non-stop and never ending queue from the counter. On Saturday morning, it was very cold so we slept in, then take that fellow for a long walk, before coming home for some chores. Tress vacuumed the house and I swept up the leaves – from the beautiful pear tress on our neighbour’s front garden – that had covered our driveway, front yard and everywhere else. Interestingly, our Japonica shed less this year so cleaning up the leaves from the backyard took much quicker. I then swept the deck and then transplanted some baby agave plants that had sprouted around the main mother plant. I left one of the babies at the driveway of a neighbour that Tress said would be interested in planting one and when not long after I headed to a nearby house which had “free lemons” at the front, that baby agave had disappeared… hopefully the neighbours had taken it in for replanting later.

We got cleaned up later that arvo, and headed out to Knox for a late lunch, and then to the Glen for some grocery shopping. We wanted to do a chicken curry for the week’s cook – we hadn’t done chicken curry for a little while – and The Glen always provides the fresher ingredients. When that was done and we came home, we headed to the oval again for the little fellow to have yet another walk, and for yours truly to again enjoy a tranquil end to the day. It had been a beautifully sunny day and as the sun set against the top of the trees around the oval, I was again filled with gratitude that a beautiful spot of open area was right at our doorstep. I again wondered if we will be similarly blessed when we move.

Dusty Martin – the AFL superstar that shot the Tigers to the premiership a few years ago, played his 300th game on late Saturday arvo. It was against the Hawks. Being an away game at the G, we were offered “replacement game” tickets but all I could get were L4 ones (way up yonder in the highest upper tier) that would also cost me some money so Tress and I agreed we’d not go, the occasion notwithstanding. Over 92,000 fans turned up to see Hawks rain on Dusty’s parade and we chalked up another win to assure ourselves the rebuild is well and truly underway. I wonder if we can progress to the later stages of the finals next season, before we up sticks.

On Sunday after St Alf’s we wanted to go to our usual place at Donvale but when Tress rang, they sounded very busy so we headed to another place in Nunawading instead. The food there was very good and when we came back after lunch, we felt we needed another walk so off we went to Mahoney’s reserve again. It would be another hour or so before we returned and I did the week’s cook. When that was done, Tress had taken the little fellow back to the oval so I headed there again. We walked on the oval till it started to get dark. As we headed back through our side door towards our backyard, I wondered again, what sort of home we’d settle into, once we move. I felt, for the umpteenth time, gratitude for having had Mahoney’s reserve all these years.

Some of us have social media accounts to remind us of what happened “this day last year” or a number of years ago. In recent days, mine has been telling me that around the Queen’s or King’s birthday long weekend, Kiddo and Mic and Tress and I got together. We’d trek up or they’d come down. This year, it’s the latter, and it’s the first for little Abby.

They got here last week, and poor little Abby was unwell when they boarded the aircraft that morning. So the first couple of nights, we could hear her sobs in the middle of the night, as she nursed her teething woes and fever. Her dad would cuddle her through the night and would then fall ill himself from sheer lack of sleep. From the second half of their stay however, both bub and dad recovered, and we had a wonderful time together.

We walked to the local playgrounds, they visited the Koorong bookshop as the crow flies, and we trekked into the city and spent a day at the Melbourne aquarium and walkabout the city laneways etc, savouring delicious Malaysian food. We played at home, ate at local eateries and generally enjoyed being together. Tress and I were just filled with warm cosy happiness throughout the week. After we left them at the airport yesterday arvo, we said to each other we’d like a future that includes us being nearer around them. They are a growing family and while I am so very contented with our lives here in Melbourne, being invited to be part of that growing family is not something I’d pass up. Tress has been in on it way earlier than me so when I brought up the topic in the car yesterday arvo, it became a “done deal”. The how’s and when’s will be details to be worked out I guess. It’d be the next chapter for us.

It was another busy end of week for us. On Thursday, we hosted the home group meeting as the Longs (the usual hosts) were away. Tress was also leading the discussion and 10 us of cramped into our living room and talked about “supernatural” stuffs. It was quite fun and it was good to have hosted the meeting.

We went to work on Friday and later that evening, we went to a new-ish Chinese place just down the road from Blackburn Station, known as “Meet in Shandong”. It was quiet when we walked in and a little busier when we left, but the old place that stood there before this new one took over, was much better. “Rocca” with its special pastas and wood fired pizzas had a more Friday night treat air for me.

On Saturday, we did our usual – slept in a little and then walked the little fellow before going to The Glen for some groceries, including some pork ribs for a congee we wanted to cook. We then trekked into the city for an early Sat arvo game. Hawks took on the Crows at the G and it was going to be a cold day so it was great footy conditions. The Hawks got up, and for the second week in a row, we joined in the team song as the Hawks fans belted out the Happy Team at Hawthorn. When we got back late arvo, we rushed across the road to the oval with the little fellow for his walk, and only got back when it turned dark. We had to get in to St Alf’s early the next day so we crept into bed early for a Saturday night, and I had probably the best sleep all week. The sleep tracker said I scored well over 90 points, which was a rarity…

At St Alf’s the next day, we got in a bit early, set up a desk for Amy J to leave her stuff for a mini station of sorts at the foyer, and then joined her and Anita and Margaret, another lady who is often there, at the prayer room. We stayed behind after the service to assist with anyone interested in coming alongside for Amy’s work with the AFES. Tress and I had decided to also chip in to support Amy so we did that later that night.

Back home in the arvo, Tress and I busied ourselves around the outside of the house. I mowed and tidied up, and she did some weeding. I also trimmed back the hydrangeas, and made some cuttings to try and grow some new plants at the back of the house. I managed to get about 10 cuttings and hopefully some of them grow.

I then cooked the congee, and hopefully when little Abigail turns up later this week, she will enjoy it. We’re looking forward to seeing her again. Very much so.

Winter sees all of our greens around house, slow down. That means less work for yours truly on weekends so Tress and I have been getting out more.

On Saturday, after a leisurely walk with the little fellow and a quick pottering around t he house, we went to Springvale again. A couple of Malaysian Malay food joints have come up in recent years and we’d only been there once before this winter. This time, we went to a Malay joint with lontong (a type of wrapped rice staple) that is served in a rich creamy coconut broth with lots of vege. It’s called Lontong Sayur Lodeh. They also had a classic nasi lemak, which Tress had. They were both very good. We also packed some food to go with us, seeing we weren’t going to do any cooking that weekend.

Later that arvo, we did our usual oval walk with the little fellow again before putting up our legs for the night. The “dream time” game between the Bombers and the Tigers were on but we caught a movie on Netflix instead, to start the evening. We did eventually switch to that game which was a bit of a fizzer. The Tigers have been undergoing an attrition and with loads of players unavailable through injury, they have been pretty ordinary. There was also the A League soccer “grand final” on and since Melbourne Victory was playing, we watched that for a bit too.

When both games were over, I saw that it would be another hour and a half before the FA Cup final came on. Such is the woe of living so far from where the best soccer is played, I hardly watch any game anymore, even when a match like the FA Cup final (with Man Utd playing Man City) will be on Paramount Plus, which we have. We went to bed, thinking the very dominant City team will surely prevail. United, with all its recent woes, would be lucky to lose by a respectable margin. So I thought.

When we woke up on Sunday morning, I was very pleasantly surprised – United won, with two young goalscorers carrying the day. Garnacho and Mainoo will surely represent the future of any resurgence that United fans have any hope for.

At St Alf’s later that day, the atmosphere was a bit subdue. It was a first Sunday post Peter MacPherson. Mark Simon was to be the stand in vicar, until a permanent replacement can be found. As soon as the service was over, we went home, attended to the little fellow, then ducked out to catch the train to Marvel Stadium. There, we soaked in a wonderful win by the Hawks, which gave yours truly a second reason to be grinning from ear to ear. A weekend with both my teams chalking up wonderful wins has been as rare as hen’s teeth and so I savoured it.

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We caught up with Jason and Mel on Friday night at the Rogues’ Squire at Wheelers Hill. Jason had teed it up, and he had been saying, for a few weeks now, that he wanted to catch up. We finally did, and found out why he had wanted to. It made me smile – another reason to be grinning – so it has been a wonderful weekend.