My Journal:

April 2009

I’m late! I’m late! There was a note in my diary at the beginning of May, reminding me to post my journal entry for April. It kept getting moved up, and up, to another week, and then another. That little reminder joined forces with the one at the end of May and with both having now progressed into June, I thought it time I did some catching up.

April was an extra busy month, topped off by personal economic dramas that have left me doing and re-doing my cash flow chart for the balance of this year. If an investment hasn’t crashed, it’s been frozen. Not to worry, my belt has a few notches left in it yet and I’m sure that things will improve soon.

My plan was to use the holidays during April (end of term 1) to work some more on my autobio, but a major accident at the building where I attended Italian lessons created some problems. A car came through the building, killing one lady and injuring many others. I was in a nearby room so wasn’t one of the injured, but it was a traumatic and sad time for all.

I had family visitors again this month and it was great to see my niece Tracy, and her family, whom I hadn’t seen for some time. In fact, I had never met the littlest, who was born almost 2 years ago.

Towards the end of the month I drove down to Brunswick Heads, in northern NSW, to stay with my son and his family who had leased a house there for a week. The coastline at Brunswick had been battered by heavy seas, which made for a hazardous entry to the beach in some spots. The sea was rough most days, but the sun shone and the temperature was mild. We drove down to Byron Bay most days and swam there. Fifteen year old grandson and his mate are keen body boarders and they spent most of their time in the surf.

Our one night out for dinner was on ‘The Verandah’; the ‘in’ place to be seen we were told. It was ultra busy but the food and wine were delicious. The only down side was the slant of the verandah, where our table was – a definite worry for me for as I pictured the old timbers finally collapsing under the weight of us diners and depositing us on the crowds walking beneath. Obviously that didn’t happen. Apart from lazing, reading and eating the days away, we played board games. One of my brothers, and my eldest daughter and her partner joined us there for a night or two so it was a lovely family time. We all missed our youngest though; she’s still travelling the harvest trail with her husband and is currently somewhere in Victoria.

Improvements to my home are ongoing still. My brother has finished the en-suite and is now working on re-laying the paving before he lifts the rest of the pavers to lay piping around the house for termite treatments. It should be great when it’s finished but it’s one of those jobs that just seems to grow and grow, with the end never quite in sight.

I managed to squeeze in some study now and again and feel that my Italian is improving. Our U3A building is to be demolished and we now meet at another venue. I also visit a lady in Toowoomba who was born in Sicily and she helps me with my pronunciation. As a bonus, she’s also educating me about Italian cooking, including processing my own olives and tomatoes.

Soon, I’ll be taking on some extra work and as a result of that I will have to give up teaching at the refugee centre, which is a shame because I love teaching. But I do need to eat and pay the bills, so I’ve given my ‘notice’ and my last class there will be on 10th June.

On the writing front, I’ve written a couple of smaller pieces, including a short poem, and have read and reported on a manuscript sent to me by a local writer, so all up, now that I’ve written it all down, April really was a busy month!