My Journal:

August 2010

Here it is, not even the end of August...I'm early for once; my brother will be surprised!

It's been a very quiet month, mainly because I got very industrious and did some house cleaning, which resulted in some back and hip problems, putting me out of action for awhile. My eldest daughter was with me for a few days and she decided that action was needed. She knows a few people in the medical field and managed to secure me an almost immediate appointment with an osteo specialist in Brisbane. As I told him, I would just like to know what is going on with my bones and some idea of what my options might be. One cannot live a satisfactory life without knowing what is and isn't possible. He came up with a provisional diagnosis, which he hopes to confirm with an MRI and a full body bone scan. These will be done in just over a week so I'll know more by the end of September.

My 65th birthday has come and gone. I remember when I was young and working with older people, how they would talk about age and how they could not believe the number of years they had accumulated. Most of them said that they 'only felt 19, or 25' or some similar young age. I can now relate to this because there is no way - even with my bone problems - that I feel my age. Inside, I feel that I am in my mid-twenties. My daughters surprised me with a trip to Maroochydore, for all 3 of us, for a weekend of pampering. After a lovely weekend in an appartment at Alexandra Heads,dinner out on Saturday night, and breakfast at the seafront on Sunday morning, we all had massages, manicures and pedicures and left there floating.

A week or so ago I helped out at the first ever Senior's Expo in Toowoomba. This was run by U3A (University of the third age) with sponsorship from Toowoomba City Council. It was a very successful event, with more than 600 people coming through the door. It was so successful that the U3A committee have decided to make this an annual event, and the council were so pleased with the public's response that they have promised to continue their sponsorship. Apparently there are many more businesses wanting to book for next year's event. The expo gave seniors a chance to see what was on offer, from government and private business, in areas that related to them or their loved ones. There were lots of free samples on offer too!

As an ex Gardening Australia presenter would say: That's your bloomin' lot for this month.