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.

Last Thursday morning, I took a couple of hours off work. I drove to the airport at Tullamarine, and picked up Kiddo, Micaiah and little Abby who flew in from Canberra. Mic has a gig on Saturday and his family decided to come along for the ride. So to speak.
I dropped them off at the FHC where we met Tress, and I then went back to the office. The Canberrans stayed through the weekend and our house was turned upside down, inside out, with 24/7 heating turned on and baby feeding apparatus spread across benchtop spaces in the kitchen. Baby toys and books were strewn across the living room and the TV was hardly turned on. We had to speak in hushed voices when she was sleeping. All our goings in and out revolved around the feeding and sleeping patterns of little Abby. It was all immensely satisfying.
Carrying little Abby, cooing to her, having chats with her (me talking and she responded by smiling), putting her in and taking her out of the baby capsules, folding and unfolding the pram and loading and unloading same into the car, taking her on short walks around the block – they all filled me in ways heretofore unknown. She has of course, grown from the last time we saw her in June. She remains however, the beautiful, serene and sweet thing she has been from the first time we saw her in the hospital in Canberra. What a blessing it has been.

They leave later this arvo, when I will again take a couple of hours off work to drop them off at the airport. When I return, the house will resume its previous state. It will be quiet and serene again. Order will be restored. I don’t know why, and never expected that I would, at the start of the final quarter of my life, be quite ready to trade all that quietness, serenity and sense of order, for having little Abby and her parents invade our lives. I never expected that. Life does throw up surprises. Nice ones this time around.

I’d been noticing spots of grime and dust here and there around the house so on Sat morning, after sleeping in and walking the little guy, Tress and I got stuck into house cleaning. We vacuumed, brushed, wiped and after a few hours, tired ourselves out but the house felt clean and fresh. It always feels great when that happens. With the previous weekend being kept busy working on the outside with the hedges, lawns and all and the house cleaning this weekend, it felt like a familiar routine has crept back in.

The night before, we caught up with Jason and Mel at a local favourite in Donvale. Laksa Village has become our friendly go to place and it was buzzing on Friday night, which was great to see. Sammi, Jason and Mel’s daughter had left for Hong Kong earlier in the week. She and Brendan her husband will live and work there from hereon in, and Jason and Mel had already booked airtix to visit them in October. Life cycles always throw up surprises and it is always interesting to anticipate what lies around the bend.

After the house cleaning, we dropped into The Glen – we hadn’t been there for a little while and I wasn’t sure what I wanted for lunch so I thought we’d go to the food court and then do some grocery shopping as well. Later that arvo, we walked the boys again, before coming home to get ready to watch the Matilda’s 3rd place playoff. Sweden was very good, as was England earlier in the week, so the Matildas ended up being the 4th placed team in the 2023 World Cup. The women’s game is still an “acquired taste” but the sense of occasion and cheering the national team on made up for the gap and made it interesting all the same.

St Alf’s the next day had a “Life on the Frontline” series starting. Well it’s only for a couple of weeks so a short series it is. We then went to another Malaysian place in Syndal for lunch, before going home for me to do the week’s cook. When that was done, we headed to the local Dan Murphy’s to replenish my empty wine rack, before settling down to watch the Hawks game against the Dees. We went down fighting and I had to remind myself this was the 16th placed team against the 4th placed, so the loss wasn’t so hard to take. The harder loss was that of Man United earlier on Sunday morning. Spurs, under Postecoglu, apparently now play a more exciting brand of football and United has been branded (by Keano) as the “new Spurs”. Disparaging, especially for Spurs for sure, but with the Matildas. Hawks and United all losing, it wasn’t a weekend of sporting happiness. We watched a little bit of the Spain v England final last night. Football is still not “coming home” for England. Spain is the spanking new world champions of women’s football. That feels about as fresh as our clean home.

When we first moved into our home, someone said something about the James Stirling Pittosporum plants that were planted along the fences. These will grow a meter a year, was the wise saying by that someone, who did landscaping for a living. Grow they did and after all these years, they continue to provide me with the most work in our home maintenance. Thankfully, they grow slightly slower in winter so I’d have to do less.

On Saturday, we slept in and the weather forecast said it was going to rain. I was saying to Tress that we’d swap around our weekend routine and cook on Saturday when it rains, and do the James Stirling Pittosporum hedges on Sunday arvo. After walking the little fella on the weekend extended route, we came back and the rain had yet to arrive. Tress and I thought it might hold out a little longer and so we jumped in to work on those James S hedges. Out came the power tools, cables, ladder, mower, etc.

About 3 hours later, the hedges looked far less unruly, the lawns have been mowed and the pavements, driveway, deck all swept and tidied. Just then, the rain began to trickle in and by the time we were seated in one of our favourite Malaysian places in Donvale for a late lunch, the rain finally poured. So, we’re grateful that the work was all done and we enjoyed the lunch in peace. After lunch, we did some grocery shopping and when we got home, the skies have turned really grey and the rains continued to pour. So we stayed in, and waited, along with most of the country, for the big game to start.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup has been going on and the Australian team, a.k.a. “The Matildas”, got to the quarter finals stage where the French team awaited. The game was to start at 5pm in Brisbane and the holy cows like the Channel 7 6pm news and the AFL game start time (Carlton v Melbourne, big game) were to be sacrificed so the whole nation can bathe in the excitement of watching the Matildas’ game uninterrupted. Women’s football is no where near men’s and for folks who have watched competitions like the English Premier League or the European Champions League for many years, watching the women’s game takes some effort. The excitement is there all the same however, because the sense of occasion is of the highest level, the different level of quality of football notwithstanding.

So Tress and I settled down and watched, along with well over 4 million other Aussies. The Matildas were superb. They gave everything. The game ended in a goalless draw even after extra time, so the nerve wrecking penalty shootout ensued. After 10 kicks each, Australia finally prevailed. We sneaked through by beating the French, by the slimmest of margins. England, the old enemy, awaits at the semi final stage but that is a story for another day. For now, we bask in the glory of arriving at the doorstep of FIFA World Cup nirvana.

At St Alf’s the next day, the service leader started by asking for a show of hands by those who watched the Matildas the day before. I thought it was easily 3/4 of the crowd of maybe 350 persons. The excitement remains. After the service, we headed to Syndal for lunch, and then went home to do the cooking. Tress had one of her ethereal events so I cooked, as I listened to the footy on the radio. Amazingly, the Hawks got up against the Bulldogs in Tassie. 2 wins -back-to-back – against first the Pies and now the Doggies, is a testament to how well Sam Mitchell and his team are doing with the rebuild. I said to Tress it may not be unreasonable to expect finals footy as early as next year. Sure, we all need to tamper our expectations but the Matildas have injected a sense of excitement and I’m just being carried by that wave, so Go Hawks!

It has been a very busy few weeks recently, and I have been constantly tired. Last week was no better, as I also had the privilege of leading the St Alf’s growth group discussion, as well as some activities in the Steer space, leading up to its AGM this weekend.

So on Friday night, Tress and I decided to have a poke at our usual Friday night unwinding attempts. This time, we headed to the Malaysian place in Donvale known as Laksa Village. We had been going for Sunday lunches there but recently, they decided to close on Sundays so we hadn’t been there for a while. It’s a small little place serving decent Malaysian food and as we are sort of regulars, the owners and staff have become friendly. That sense of familiarity and friendliness is what makes a joint a repeat visit place – not just the food or other elements. I guess those made it a regular spot for us but it whatever the reasons, it made for a nice “TGIF” dinner spot.

On Saturday we decided to sleep in a bit, especially as Tress has been nursing a bit of a cold. We then took the little guy for a walk, before heading out for lunch and grocery shopping. I also planned to do our usual Sunday arvo cook on Saturday instead, as there was a Hawks game we wanted to go on Sunday. Tress did most of the driving, so as to be familiar with the new ride. While walking the little guy, I took a call from Alex who asked us to come over for dinner that night. I said Tress has a bad cold so it would likely be just me.

At Alex & Li-Har’s, they had 3 other couples and 1 guy over so a good number to have decent conversations. They cooked a very good prawn noodles and one of their guests brought a popiah dish which was also really nice. I had that single glass of wine, as I was to drive home myself. I took away a couple of popiahs for Tress, which she enjoyed. We thought the heaped garlic paste probably did wonders for her cold…

The next day at St Alf’s we sat in a far corner by ourselves, just so Tress’ cold would have create less concerns. After the service we ducked out quickly, and headed for Marvel Stadium, where Hawks took on the Saints. We were obliterated in the first quarter but fought back well in the second and third but still lost by just under 30 points, which under the circumstances, wasn’t a wash out. We took the boys for a quick walk when we got home after the game, I then cooked their dinners, before settling down to watch Sam Pang do his monologue for the Logies. We then toggled between Sam and the Ashes, before retiring to bed. The weekend has been active enough to generate good sleeps but I still laboured in my morning run earlier today. I wonder when I’d feel less tired or more energised.

I have been wanting to return to driving an SUV for a few weeks/months now. With little Abby (sort of) in our lives now, I thought we could use a little more space in a vehicle and I also wanted to be able to get up and down the Hume in something more SUV like. I think the David and Co’s trip from Malaysia to see us in May, sort of etched in my head that this thought of a car with more space is not a bad one, so my efforts to look for a new ride crystallised.

After many weeks of to-ing and fro-ing between a couple (or more) of options, I landed on good old Mazda. We picked up the car on Friday arvo and it has been really nice.

On Saturday, we walked the little fellow after brekky, and on the way back, we stopped by FHC and picked up a couple of movie tickets. Then we headed home and cleaned the house. About a couple of hours, we got back to FHC, had a quick lunch and jumped into the wonderful movie that Oppenheimer is. The story of the scientist (Oppenheimer, played by the very intense Cillian Murphy) who lead the Manhattan Project and who was then a target of a scheming bureaucrat with a brittle ego (Strauss, played by Robert Downey Junior) and seeking to climb the Washington ladder was a captivating one, probably because it was crafted by the hands of Christopher Nolan. The edge around whether the atomic bomb was going to be successfully created by the Allies before the Nazis did, the moral dilemma Oppenheimer stared at endlessly, his personal life, his battles across so many fronts – there are so many things going on but all woven so well together. The cutting in between different times, the interaction of the famous names in science (including Einstein), the politics of senate committee hearing, the scandalous hearing to retain the security clearance of Oppenheimer… so many bits that just keep coming at you with unabated fascination. I thoroughly enjoyed the 3 hour film.

After the movie, we did a grocery shopping before coming home to walk the boys again. Later, we ducked out to pick up a “baby gym” for when little Abby visits in a few weeks.

Later that night, we picked up a call from someone in St Alf’s who asked me to replace him for communion duty the next day.

At St Alf’s the next day, it was the last Sunday on gifts before we return to Deuteronomy. We then went to lunch at Danny’s on Blackburn Road, before coming home to cook the week’s lunches. We tried adding red rice to the regular jasmine that we always used, and it took the rice cooker a lot longer to cook it but the results were very good. It’s supposed to be healthier (lower GI) so we should probably do this more from now.

It was a cold winter’s weekend and it had been a busy week.

On Friday, Tress and I caught up with Jason and Mel in a pub restaurant in a shopping centre in Burwood. We have been going to the pet friendly shopping centre a fair bit recently, to let the little fellow wander around when the weather is cold and wet. We talked and ate and had a lovely catch up. We talked about Sammi and Brendan’s preparations to head to HK, and about little Abby and her parents. We also talked about the sad case of Jasmine Loo and her being defended by an ex-colleague of mine. Jason and Mel have become our regular catch up company and it is always good. I’ve been keeping them in prayers too, mainly about their reconciliation with Tham Fuan and his wife.

On Saturday, the forecast had been rain but there appeared to be a window of the rain holding off – mainly in the morning. So I took the opportunity to work the gardens. The lawns had not been cared for properly for weeks and they have become unsightly. I had the misfortune of an empty fuel tank in the mower however, and the 3 litres of fuel were purchased at a princely rate of $2.06 a litre. Fuel prices have become a source of pain here in Melbourne.

Tress and I managed to work the gardens and pared back the mess. After over 3 hours, things looked much less messy and we cleaned up and headed for lunch at Brandon Park. We’ve been heading there for lunch on Saturdays in recent weeks, so we kept it up. We then got some groceries, came home and then went to the shopping centre in Burwood again, this time to walk the little fellow. He had had a good walk in the morning, before we started work on the lawns etc., but if he didn’t go for an evening walk, he’d be restless so we took him.

Later that night, we chilled out by feasting on Jack Ryan’s exploits through Myanmar. The last 2 episodes tied up in a neat finish and it turned out to be fun, a bit mindless and saccharine entertainment, which was perfect for two tired bodies needing to wind down.

Sunday at St Alf’s, it was a Ken Fish session on gifts. As expected, the link between gifts and power was emphasised and folks were invited to “come for prayers”. As usual, I sat tight, as I always do, during such events. I felt no inclination to be “empowered”.

Our usual Sunday lunch spot in Donvale has decided to close on Sundays. Good for them, but we then felt a bit lost. We took the easy option and headed to the FHC food court. Yawn, but such is our life at this point I guess, where it isn’t thrills and spills we’re after. Just regular activities in unspectacular spots. No colour needed. Grey is sometimes fine. Life chimes on regardless.

Over the past 10 years or so, “going bananas” have taken on a different meaning for us. It’s the annual winter school holidays program that St Alfred’s run for the local community. It is a major local community outreach program that galvanises the whole church every year, and the Melbourne Anglican has also written about its significance.

I had signed up, a few years ago, to volunteer for a mid week barbeque lunch. That was the extent of my involvement. This year however, over several Sundays, notices over the pulpit and in the weekly emails kept saying more volunteers were needed. So I decided to take some time off work (only a few hours) and did some car parking duties.

Along with 5-6 others, we managed the traffic flows in and out of a couple of car parks, and just sort of guided towards better organised car parking, as well as safety of kids getting in and out of cars and crossing pavements through the car parks. I went in on a Monday morning last week, when the program was starting and the atmosphere was buzzing. Some 150 kids had signed up and at least an equal number of volunteers were involved. I left within the hour however, as soon as the car park activities had ebbed, and got back to work, returning when the program was finishing and the car park activities flowed again. That took another hour or so. I repeated the task on Friday and the energy levels dipped noticeably. Tired faces were on display, yet the joy and satisfaction didn’t ebb.

Going Bananas does mean going a bit crazy, but in such a good way.

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Tress and I spent Saturday morning cleaning. The house had started to feel a bit off, with the constant wet and cold conditions locking us and the 2 boys indoor for the most part, and the dampness and canines getting in and out frequently, meant the house took a beating . It needed cleaning and we invested the time to freshen things up.

Later in the arvo, we went to lunch at Brandon Park and then did some grocery shopping there. Back home, we followed the footy on radio. We had been to the MCG the previous Sunday, where we took a beating at the hands of the Blues. They were very good and kept us goal-less for the entire first half. I don’t think I had seen our boys going the whole hour at the G without kicking a single major, so that was a first. Not at all in a good way, especially when you see Carlton (the Blues) are only a spot above us on the ladder. Well, we lost again to the Giants on their home ground up north in Sydney on Saturday. We continue to rebuild I guess.

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Yesterday arvo, after St Alf’s, we went to lunch at the Shangri La Inn, a place we hadn’t been to for a while. Then we went home and I did the usual cooking, before the cloudy overhang day, with threatening rain all day, took Tress and I and the little one to the Brickwork shopping centre, where they allow pooches to wander indoor. He had fun, and has become more confident riding in the car. Part of the reason we took him there is to get him used to rides in the car. He has been a nervous passenger but yesterday, he was more relaxed and didn’t shake at all, which is a bit step up. We probably don’t need to use any meds on him the next time we make the drive up north to Canberra. Fingers crossed. I said to Tress part of the reason why he is nervous and shakes a lot could be we went up in our little hatchback the last time, which being a small car, meant he was closer to the road and the engine noises. I have been on the lookout for a bigger car – probably back to an SUV again (after giving one up some 8 years ago now). That decision for an SUV (or a wagon) was also fuelled by the recent visit of my mum, David and Jean and others, to Melbourne. Our lifestyles as empty nesters had meant we dont need cars bigger than the hatchback that Tress rides in or the Lexus sports sedan that I use. They have however, become a bit small if we are to accommodate changing circumstances. Those beautiful cooing videos of little Abby we’ve been receiving in recent days, always make me want to see them more. They’ll be visiting in a few weeks, and we’re planning to go up again a few weeks after that. I love our cars but these changing circumstances warrant a reversion to a different set of wheels. In the meantime, I am still basking in the glow of how good it feels to be going bananas…

Every Wednesday, I have one of these when I come into the office. It’s the only time I’d have a chocolate bicky. My favourite is always this – the “Wagon Wheel”.