My Journal:

October 2010

I'm late again! I've been so busy lately that I feel like the rabbit in Alice, always looking at the time and thinking, "I'm late, I'm late"...

Where does the time go? I can't believe that it's almost Christmas again. October just whirled by. Early in the month I attended the annual retreat run by the Society of Women Writers Qld. As usual it was held on Bribie Island. This year, unlike most others, the weather was wet and wild, but that didn't concern us because the idea is that we spend quality time writing. There was one workshop but most of us had work we wanted to complete. In my case, it was a series of articles about critiquing. The retreat is always fun, and always a great chance for us ladies to spend some quality time together - it's always nice to spend time with like minded people.

The day I left Bribie, I picked up a friend from Caboolture Station on my way back here. She came down on the Sunlander from Townsville, to spend 10 days with me. Val grew up in the same area in Sydney as me but we lost touch when she married and moved to the UK. She found me and my partner in Perth via his mother and we've kept in touch ever since. She and her now ex-husband were even kind enough to put me up when I was in the UK. Val is thinking of moving from Townsville and wanted to check out this area. We spent a lovely week, seeing all the sights and the lovely gardens in Toowoomba. We did all those things that one doesn't usually do unless there is someone to show them to.

A great part of the rest of the month was spent working towards setting up for the Community Literacy Programme at East Creek Neighbourhood Centre. I didn't sign a contract with them until the end of the month, to begin on 1st November, but me being me, I wanted to get a head start. The Coordinator at the centre had already collected a list of people willing to tutor participants in the programme, and I contacted all of those and arranged a meeting. They are a great bunch of people, as all volunteers are. Training commenced on 28th October so they will be ready to deliver the programme to participants. The marketing for the programme is being finalised now so hopefully, it won't be too long before we start in earnest. (It might surprise some to know that some 50% of adults in Australia have some level of problems with literacy and numeracy.)

Mid month, I completed the Dukan Diet and am happy to say that I'm down to 55 kgs, and holding steady there. I basically eat what I like now, but make sure to have only protein on Mondays, and oat bran every day. I can't exercise much, but I continue to stand at my computer and move around as often as I can, and that seems to be doing the trick. I can thoroughly recommend this diet (although it's not really a diet, more of an eating plan for life) to anyone who has had trouble shifting excess weight.

U3A in Toowoomba have had a big year. It's been a year of events to celebrate 20 years in this area, ending with a birthday bash on 30th October. A photographer was there from The Toowoomba Chronicle and much to my surprise, my photograph appeared in the paper on Monday 1st November. I say 'surprise' because I don't photograph very well and I fully expected the editor to take one look and toss my image in the bin. However, this photographer knew his job and the pic wasn't half bad.

Well, that's my month in a nutshell. Although the end of November is a way off from where I am now, I just know that it will seem like just minutes have passed when I reach the 30th. See you then.