Well. Here we are on another Sunday afternoon....... The birds are out there running their errands, chattering happily away. The day has been lovely for the most part tho the last few days have been rain again. Sigh. But the temperatures have been perfect - not too hot or humid and not too cold. Ahhhh! But we're here with the hip n' groovy jazz tunes, have a nice cool glass of a French champagne, Veuve Amiot (ehhh, it was something different....), the laundry is out flapping in the breeze and will hopefully dry before the rain returns - life is good!
So work. Yep. Is good. We had a really nice work lunch at Georges Paragon (right on the Brisbane river - lovely) to celebrate a quarterly mid-year somethingorother with just our teeny little department plus an extra Manager and the Contracts and Finance gals (those three can never say no to a good, free lunch). Food was really pretty good for the price (and for being on the River)! So that was a very nice way to start the weekend. Otherwise, work is good - not too busy but still working on The Book No One Wanted and learning stuff along the way. Ahhhh, yes, just always happy to have somewhere to be everyday and be paid to be there!
And then there were a couple weekends in there. Last time I'd checked-in I'd reported that I'd just been to visit my neighbor in the hospital that Friday afternoon...... Well, sadly, the hospital called me first thing that Monday morning to let me know he wasn't doing well at all (respiratory failure - when that happens with Motor Neurone it's next stop Wonderland) and wasn't expected to last the day. Sure enough, two hours later the hospital called to let me know he'd died. Poor, poor guy. I mean, good that he didn't linger with that shit of a disease, but he seemed to decline so rapidly and so suddenly. But I don't blame him. I'd want to check out too. Poor guy. He didn't have an easy life. Here's hoping his next life (???) is kinder to him. But in talking with the hospital staff and even his Social Worker over that week, they were all really nice, kind people, and nice of them to call me, just a friend, to give me their condolences. All I know is I was happy to hopefully make a super crappy disease and situation a little easier to bear for a guy who had nothing, who had no one...... Here's to Daryl!
And then there was last weekend...... It was fantastic (well, in light of such a sad week) - Glen and Alison came down from Cairns for a quick visit (she had a medical conference to attend that after only four hours she realized she didn't really need to be there after all). So Saturday afternoon, after Glen and I had run a couple errands (including lunch at Kookaburra), we met up with Alison and walked along South Bank, then took the ferry along the river to Portside/Hamilton for a little wander and a drink at the riverside Belvedere Bar/Restaurant to watch the sun set; then it was back to town for dinner at Vapiano's (their new absolute, hands-down favorite for pizza). It was a really lovely afternoon and evening. Then Sunday, they shopped while I did the chores, meeting up later that afternoon at a pretty good Irish bar Gilhooleys, for a quick drink before dinner at Vapiano's, again! Told you they loved it, and heck, who am I to argue with good Italian food? Then they wandered back to their hotel to collect their bags before heading to the airport, and I came home and got ready for the week and bed! Ahhhhh, after the last couple of weeks, it was really nice to spend the weekend catching up with some nice, funny, calm, normal folks. It was great to see them and hopefully they'll come down again before too long!
Then there was this weekend. Quiet compared to the last few. Yesterday I had all the energy to simply fluff around the house and watch a couple movies, and that was about it. Today was laundry, more fluffing around/tidying. One thing I know I need to do is start saving a bit for mah trip home, not that I plan on spending like a fool, it'd just be nice to not have to keep an eagle eye on the bank account the whole time.....
And that 's that! Sad, sad news about Daryl, but hopefully he knew he had at least one person trying their best to help him out, not to mention the staff at his clinic and the hospital. In fact, last weekend while Glen and I were out running errands, one of my stops included the clinic where Daryl'd been taken care of, to thank the staff for looking after him (and putting up with his sometimes cranky self). I thought it only right considering those folks have a hard enough job and probably rarely ever get a thank-you from the families.........
So there you have it. Apologies for not checking in last weekend but as you can see I was having far too much of a good time to be able to check in on time! Otherwise, I hope you're all well up there. Like I've mentioned before, it's that time of year when it's great to get down here for a visit! If you need annnnny help planning, lemme know!
BYE!
J!
P.S. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to the Mommies out there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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