Last Minute Happenings at Home

This is it. We're leaving at lunchtime and heading to Brisbane. 20 hours. Eek.

Drew and I went for a little walk where I tried to remind him of every single thing I've taught him over the last 17 years! Make the right choices. Feed the Good Wolf. All that sort of stuff. I just had to do it. Now I feel like I can send him off. There's nothing more I can tell him.

Meg made pancakes for breakfast.
We all went to the chooks.
Meg sat on Drew.

Gibbo started to wash the car and only did half a job. Meg finished it off.
Meg pulled one of her baby carrots just to see how they were travelling. Baby.

The troops got in the pool to cool off. It was hot and humid.

You can just imagine what happened next.

Counting Down The Hours

The days and hours have been stolen with stealth. There was a time when we were counting down the months until Drew's departure; then it was weeks; then days........now it's hours. About 32 of them.

I woke up early and crawled into bed with him. I cuddled him like I used to when he was a little boy but he doesn't fit into the curve of my body like he used to. I snuggled into his back and cried myself back to sleep.

We spent the day tying up loose ends. He scrubbed out the chook and goat water dishes for me then had a swim.

We deferred his QTAC UQ offer and got his UQ student number and password. We went to town to have some extra passport photos taken in case he needs some over there. We asked for a happy passport size photo together and the photographer obliged. While we waited for them to be processed we went for a final cappucino and raspberry spider together. We (I) re-packed his bag and ended up with a very respectable 20.5kg for the big bag and 6.5kg for the backpack.

Doug and June came to say goodbye and gave him a Kangaroos ARL jersey. He loves it. Jack came to visit and stayed for a while. Then he went for one last bike ride.

He rang his host mum who told him there was a Freeze Warning issued and it's minus 30. Holy cow, that's cold.

After juggling the menu a few times we ended up having a feast of honey soy chicken wings, pork mince dumplings and thai chicken mince balls for Drew's final meal at home (for a year).

Gibbo had a tough day at work; one of the toughest ever. He's shattered.

And now there's not much left to do. I'm off to write in my 365 journal, have a cup of tea, catch up on some blog reading if I can stay awake for longer than 5 minutes then off to sleep. My stomach is sick. Tomorrow will fly by.

Matching Wristbands

Drew and I have matching wristbands to wear while he's away. We bought the black/blue ones before Christmas and picked up the red/black plaited ones yesterday. The other four that I wear permanently (from the left) represent my husband (he bought this silver one for me in Santa Fe on a US wagyu trip), my daughter, a Mothers Day run a few years ago and my father (the silver band). I have one that represents my mother but it has lots of dangling things and bells so it doesn't get worn all the time, only when I go somewhere. I have another Megan bracelet, one that is one of 5 or so that we made at a bead shop at Maroochydore a long time ago. It's not for every day wear either.
Meg and I will have to shop for matching wristbands for when she is away, travelling. However, I suspect that whatever we end up with won't be wristbands but bracelets - and they'll be slightly more stylish (and expensive) than the coloured leather Drew and I are wearing now.

Hanging Out at the Chooks

With Meg held up on the highway somewhere and Gibbo playing cricket we had to feed the goats and pig. These butterflies were resting on the oleanders on the pathway; Drew snapped them.

The bad weather at Christmas time found me housing a group of adolescent silkies, wyandottes and barnevelders from Gibbo's side (the dark side); they're still here. They've moved in with the goats who don't seem to mind and they squeeze in and out through the mesh to scratch and peck all day. It feels very "barnyard" to watch them all in together.

I check the only eggplant every day, watching its' progress.

One tiny strawberry and a pretty pink flower.

Woofman was entertaining as always. Ooh, I got an itch..........

Ooh, I gotta scratch...........

Oooh I gotta go, see ya..............

Oh, ok a photo but make it quick..............
I think I hear something...............it's Dad, he's home, let me go..............

Hi Dad, howdyougo..............

Haha, Dad's always good for a scratch.............

And Millie isn't forgotten.......we bought her a soccer ball yesterday in an attempt to stop her eating every feed dish we give her. She rolls it around and tries to lie down on it. Megan gave her some basil yesterday but she didn't eat it - she rolled in it. Megan said she was working on her recipe for "basil infused pork".

A Trial Pack

Drew brought Mum out today so that she can spend the last few days here with him. She absolutely adores him.

We did a trial pack that didn't go so well! The first load was 24.5kgs; at that stage we thought the baggage limit was 20kgs.........so we took out some gear - a pair of trackies, some t-shirts, the biggest tube of toothpaste you've ever seen, and one of the two flag packs Drew collected from our local MP (a gift for his new school). Removing those items brought the weight back to 21.5kgs. I then got on the web to double check the weight limits and discovered that both Qantas and Air Canada are 23kgs. Oh joy. So we have 1.5kgs up our sleeve with one or two small things still to add.

Here's Granny cutting the tags off the new sox and jocks.

Here's Chloe, helping too.

Megan went to Toowoomba to take the three DJ kids to see Tangled; she went with Mandy, DJ, Georgia and Lachy. Chris headed back to Bris at the same time. Meg spent a couple of hours talking with Mandy afterwards then was held up for over half an hour on the highway home so took a short cut and found her way back to the highway and home.

Gibbo played cricket again for Quinalow. They love him over there. He came home raving about the importance of teamwork in the win today and how they had all had to pull together to pull it off. He scored 31, bowled 1o overs for 1 wicket and was totally shattered by the time he got home.

Last Minute Jobs

A last minute decision saw us head to Toowoomba to pick up a Wallabies jersey. I had it put away yesterday afternoon for Gibbo to collect on his way home from the airport but it took him so long to get through some of the still damaged roads and up the range (one lane only) that he didn't make it in time. We bought another pair of jeans, two more wristbands and I bought a tree necklace (which Meg is eyeing off). Drew and I also chose a special scarf. I'm not much into fashion or girly things but I do like a pretty scarf. Isn't that a funny word. Scarf. Anyway, we chose this pink and grey one. I will call it my "Drew Scarf" and will wear it often in the year of his absence to remind me of his love.Once back home we went to the Coffee Club. I wanted to go through Drew's papers with him in a quiet environment where we could just sit and be together without any distractions. Apart from the flies, it worked. We went through all the official documents that he needs to enter Canada, the not so official ones that he might need, how to use the phone card and the High School in Canada Student Handbook. I think we covered everything. He was bored by the end of it. I can be a little intense sometimes.
Once home, I downloaded Skype onto the pc and ipad. Very easy. We weren't home for long before we turned around and went back to town for a farewell party at Danni and Mick's. We had chicken kebabs, steak, potato bake and a delicious egg salad. Gibbo spilled his ALL OVER THE FLOOR so had to get a second plate. Molly, the blue staffy, was quite pleased at G's misfortune. Kate did some fire twirling; Drew, Adam and Barb all had a go.

This little thing tried to help me blog tonight. She moved her head at the last second and got blurred....and wasn't really much help. After putting her off the desk for the fifth time she wandered off, happy in her own little world, amusing herself as she went.
Tomorrow - we pack!!

Lurking

Hello Megan......

I've opened up my blog world a little. I said to Drew that I thought it was time I told Meg about my blog ('cos I'm sick of trying to upload photos and post when there's no-one around). He asked her if she'd ever read a blog called sliprail...........at first she said no...........then she came back and said "well, yes actually I have. I look at it every day...............and I've been reading it for a year". She saw it on the pc screen one time before I had a chance to close it. So much for only posting when there's no-one around hey? All this time I've tried to be discreet and didn't need to be! She's often wanted to say something to me about it but didn't because she knew it was "my own little thing" (she especially wanted to say something to me when she didn't like a photo of her I'd posted). So then we told Gibbo when he got back from Mackay and he wanted to know where all the photos of him were. Vain aren't they? And Chris arrived tonight so he will soon know too.

Fiona - Megan really likes your Rock Wallaby blog too.......she reads it as much as I do!!

At Last, It's Here

The single piece of paper that I've been sweating on for weeks finally arrived today. It's the approval letter for Drew's study permit. It means he can now enter Canada with all the correct paperwork. The application was held up for a week by the terrible flooding in Toowoomba and surrounds; the Consulate received it last Friday, processed it quickly then posted it back to us on Wednesday. I really sweated on it arriving.........I tracked its' progress a thousand times.........I thought it had "left the network" at one stage.........but there it was this morning, waiting at our local post office for the mail contractor to collect. I got my hands on it at around 11 this morning.....very relieved.

Drew went to town to do some last minute jobs. He picked up two flag packs from our local MP - one for his Canadian school and one for his new family. He stocked up on toiletries and bought a gift for Phillip, the German exchange student who is with the Canadians at the moment. The certified copy of his birth certificate arrived yesterday and I've topped up the credit on his WEP phone card.

Tomorrow we're having coffee in town and will go through the folder of papers together so he's really clear on everything. Then we just have to pack...........and sit and wait for Thursday to come :)

365

We continue with our 365 journals. Drew sometimes borrows mine to catch his up! We've been shopping for stickers and letters to jazz them up a bit. I've really enjoyed doing mine.