My Journal:

November 2010

There you go, another month relegated to the past. If someone comes up with a way to slow time down they'll be an instant millionaire. This time of year is especially crazy, with a constant round of 'end of year' or 'break-up' parties. I don't know why I say yes to most of them - it always seems like a good idea at the time. And then there are those that clash so I feel guilty when I can't get to one. In times past, these events didn't begin until December, but in more recent times the festive season as been extended back to November, probably in order to fit all the parties in. Just a few days ago I dashed from a barbeque to a dinner, which involved travelling down some boggy dirt roads to a place I was unfamiliar with. Coming home at 11pm was a bit of a nightmare; the fog was thick and my lights just reflected back off it. The 40 minute trip took me over an hour. Every time a tree loomed up beside the road it appeared as a dark presence, scaring the life out of me. Thankfully there weren't too many other vehicles about.

Sounds like I'm spending most of my time partying, but I am managing to fit a lot of work in there too. November saw the start of my job as Project Officer for a Community Literacy Program. That has kept me extraordinarily busy and I was bemoaning the fact that my 12.5 hours a week (paid) was a bit too much. One brother commented that he wished he could reduce his hours to 12.5 hours a day, never mind a week! Trouble is, the paid hours don't cover the initial work that needs to be done to set this program up, so I'm actualy doing a lot more and hoping that I can make it up later in the program. It's all for a good cause though so I'm not really complaining, especially as the tutors who will delivery the program are all volunteers!

Part of my work with the Literacy Program involves my attending meetings and participating in workshops and training. I attended a conference in Brisbane that was very interesting and which demonstrated how wide the literacy problem is, with more than 50% of adults in Australia experiencing some difficulty. Because of all these meetings and the like, I've had to miss one bookclub meeting, my Range Writer meetings, and also the Society of Women Writers meetings. It has also meant that my writing has to take a back seat for awhile.

My Italian class at U3A ended for this year during November with, of course, a celebratory lunch of all things Italian. I do hope that I can continue my studies over the break but this is probably a bit unrealistic. As the Newsletter Manager for U3A in Toowoomba I've also been busy this month helping to compile the booklet that will list the classes for 2011.

This has been the wettest spring on record, and summer is shaping up to be more of the same. It reminds me of 1973-74, when we experienced some awful floods. We were in Karumba at the time and ended up trapped by flood waters for many weeks. After the decade long drought we've just come out of it's lovely to see the land so green and lush. I'm seeing blooms in my garden from bushes I never knew produced flowers! A week or so ago my brother came in and asked what the large yellow flowers were in the garden at the back of the pool. I didn't recall any flowers there so went to have a look. It was a large bush with very large plate sized yellow hibiscus flowers. I then recalled planting a small shrub there many years ago. For years it had struggled to survive and had never grown much but suddenly, overnight it seemed, it had shot up and produced the most amazing blooms. These days I don't get much time to walk around the garden, and with the heavy rain we've had I haven't been encouraged to make the time, but I did take a slow walk around that day and was amazed. During the drought I refused to put much water on the gardens, giving them just enough to keep them alive, believing that they either made it or they didn't. It just goes to show what a good soaking will do.

My next journal entry will be early in the new Year so before I go, I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a safe, prosperous, healthy and happy New Year.