Mural on Thursday

 

Well I am sure you all know by now that I took the trip to the funeral. 

When things seemed to keep going badly I thought I should have listened to the people here who advised against it but the problems didn't happen because I had been unwell so it was just one of those things.

I drove to Goulburn on Thursday night and as I got into town I had problems with my Google Maps and couldn't find my accommodation. I ended up phoning my daughter for directions and interrupting a night out.

Then I couldn't for the life of me find the cabin in the caravan park. Then there was no handrail on the steps into the cabin so I had to do a strange pull-yourself-up manouvre. What should have been a two hour drive was over three.

In the morning I had a 2.5 hour drive to do but there had been a fatal truck crash and there was a long diversion. I can't complain, I am alive.

The diversion and ongoing navigational difficulties made me forty minutes  late for the funeral. Embarassing but in the circumstances punctuality didn't matter.

Grenfell, a town of under 3000, had five funerals last week so there was no accommodation available in town and I stayed at my friend's family home. The first and only time I will see her in her childhood environment. I had always wanted to do that and now I have. I also met her brother, an interesting man.

When I did my silo art tour a couple of years back, I didn't make it to Grenfell so now I have seen the silos, painted by Heesco.

The photo is not mine, I saw the silos at night and forgot to get a daytime photo

The problems made the whole trip feel like I had to use every bit of patience and persistence I have ever developed. It was a test of stamina, for sure but I feel that I was true to my values and I am happy with that.

The Unlikely Doctor

The cold I was developing on Thursday became fully fledged on the weekend. My eyes and nose streamed and I cancelled all plans.

Yesterday I felt a wee bit better and went to work, mostly because there was an admission to do. The boss asked if I was sick and made an issue of me spreading germs. I said I only came in to do the admission "get it done and then go home"

Maybe I take things to personally but I didnt like being the bad guy. The fact that they told me to do the admission then go pretty much says everything.

It's an odd thing, one minute I can feel quite good and the next my energy tanks.

I am home today. I had a chiro treatment and went out for coffee and now Buffy is sleeping on my lap.

A dear friend lost her mum last week and I want to go to the funeral on Friday. It's a 4.5 hour drive and I would normally do it with one arm tied behind me but I am nervous about doing too much too soon. I didn't think I was exhausted before I got sick but it's here now and some moments feels almost insurmountable.

While I have been taking it easy I read "The Unlikely Doctor": Timote Timoke tells his remarkable story about a childhood of disadvatage and violence, leading to gang life and gaol. The memory of the aroha he received from his grandparents sustains him until he can become a paramedic and eventually a doctor.

To say the book is inspirational would be trite so I won't. I will say it's a great example of how genuine love is never wasted.

A post about nothing

 Years and years as the person who eats the things that will be wasted if I don't eat them means my standards are quite low. As the person who was responsible for all the planning, all the shopping, all the food prep and all the cleaning up, my interest in doing a single unneccessary skerrick of work conspired to further lower my standards.

Today I thought we were having a lunch provided by work but I had the wrong day. I messaged my girls to say it was a huge disappointment but I would be ok because I have an office fruit bowl.

The responses:

"I thought chopped up fruit but not Kylie"

"I had the same thought. Pictured some cut up apples and some mushy pear and maybe some tinned cherries or something just for fun"

After I got home and had a small apple pie with my dinner, Keaghan asked "Did you at least warm it up?'

No, I did not.

"I knew you didn't, that's why I asked"

I appall them.

I also have a cold and got my car locked in the basement at work and had to get an Uber home. They say I have drama every day but I absolutely swear I don't create these situations on purpose.