We have just returned from a week in Melbourne. Graham had a week at 'trade school' where he did his Split System course.
I, on the other hand, decided to catch up with people that I hadn't really caught up with for ages. Listen to this....if you have the time!
Monday we were meant to visit our dear friend Lyn (who adopted Amanda) but Lyn broke a tooth on Sunday so had to get to a dentist. We were then able to catch up with a friend of our called Rosie. We spent about an hour or so with Rosie before we headed to visit my dear friend Tracey who I got to know when we had flats (apartments) opposite each other back some……25 years ago! Tracey and her husband Phil and daughter Ella came and visited us last year in May and it was a wonderful weekend. We had a lovely lunch and catch up and then headed to do some shopping before going to my brother Mark and his wife Bernie and Eb’s cousins Becky and Lizzie’s for dinner. Sadly poor Bern had ended up in hospital with chest pains so we had to have fish and chips for dinner while we waited for her to make it home. She didn’t get there before we had to leave so we missed her, but the girls had lots of fun catching up together.(and Bern ended up fine! thank Godness).
Tuesday we went to Christa's to have my hair done. It was so lovely to be back at my favorite Hair Dresser! Eb was wonderful and coped very well while I was pampered!.
From there we headed 'home' so Eb could have a sleep and then my friend Sarah visited. It was nice to see Sarah - her and I have walked a similar journey and came to know each other through Careforce Church when I worked there. Sarah and her husband Quenten came and visited us last year and we had a wonderful time together.
After Sarah left we waited for Graham to come home before we headed to friends Gary and Kirrily and their children Morgan, Isaac and Sienna's for dinner. What made this visit 'unusual' is that they live in the home we built and lived in from 2000 to 2004. How special to get to visit the place we built! Their home looks beautiful and they have tastefully added their own special touches to it to make it theirs. It was lovely going back to see the home but even more so to spend a great night with terrific people and yummy food!
Wednesday was my big day. We had a few things to do before we visited my friend Ade. Ade and I flatted together some 30 years ago. We don't get to see much of each other these days, but we had such a lovely morning together. Ade kindly bought Eb a lovely book so she enjoyed it and some of her toys while Ade and I enjoyed a morning tea together and just caught up on life. A very special time.
We then visited Helena, Sunny and Jaz. I am Sunny and Jaz's Godmother.
We visited Helena and her husband Jay in Chicago back in 2005 when the girls were only 4 months old and still really struggling. The girls were born 12 weeks early. Jaz is now a delightful little 4 year old and Sunny is a precious (4yo) child who has many challenges, but has the most beautiful smile I have ever seen and eyes that reach deep into your soul. We had such a lovely visit and Jaz and Eb played amazingly well. I also had a chance to have a really good catchup with Helena. I look forward to the next time we can catch up. We've both waited many years for the gift of our children and our journey's look very different in one way, but very similar in others.
From there we went to my friend Leesa's place. Leesa and I met when we were both struggling with recurrent miscarriage. Leesa now has 2 beautiful children - Stephanie and Daniel. Stephanie wasn't there, but Daniel was wonderful with Eb. Leesa and I also don't get to see each other very often, but when we do I'm always so glad we do!. Sadly Ian was at work too, so we didn't get to see him. A very special visit all the same.
That night we headed to great friends of ours - David and Cheryl. I was Cheryl's PA at Careforce Church until I left to move to Mt Beauty. We still see them as often as we can and David is a champion at keeping in touch by email. We love and appreciate them and had a lovely night with them.
The next day - Thursday - became the challenge.
By this stage, Eb had had 2 very late nights and I had planned a rest day for Eb and I. Sadly, my uncle (Mum's brother-in-law) who I hadn't seen for some 9 years, passed away the previous Sunday and today was his funeral.
No-one else in the family could go, so Eb and I made the trip to Cheltenham to be there. I'm very glad that I went to represent family - but it made for an overwhelming day. When we left there I found I was driving past the door of my friend Robyn (who visited us last year) and decided to I couldn’t do it without dropping in to see her and her mum (who has been wonderful to Eb and so interested in her even though she hadn’t met her). It was a lovely visit and I’m so glad I made the effort! From there we headed to visit Sandi and Ming (who Eb adores). We had lunch there and the children played together and then we headed home.
That night we had dinner with another family that have become a larger family through adoption. Don and Lane have 2 grown bio sons and then had Faith become part of their family back in June 2006. I had met Faith soon after she came home and then Lane brought her to see me again at work one day. Somehow, after we adopted Eb, we never caught up again – not that we didn’t try – it just didn’t happen.
Finally tonight it did! Once again the girls played so beautifully. We had a really, really special night and loved getting to know Don and Lane better and watching our darling girls play so well. I hope we get the opportunity again…, or that they can come up for a visit! I actually got my camera out this time! (first for the week). Eb loved playing the guitar!
By Friday Eb was totally over it. Last night ended up another very late night and she was exhausted. I had to pull out of seeing my friend Michele – which made me very sad, but I had to do what was best for Eb. She had not only had a late night but she was also very restless right through the early hours of the morning.
I went to Eastland to do what I had to do and ended up meeting my sister Di there for a cuppa. I’m afraid my family often gets the raw end of the deal when it comes to catching up. But Di is so gracious and I’m glad we at least got a bit of time together even though I was exhausted and cranky myself! Thankfully I had mostly packed up by then so I headed back and waited for Graham before we headed home sweet home.
This whole week we stayed with Marg, Ben, Callum and Kaitlin in Lilydale. What wonderful friends they are. They are all living in a very, very difficult stage of their lives but they were gracious hosts and their friendship means so much to us. We barely saw them because of their lives at the moment and the fact that we were so busy – but we love them and were very grateful of the bed and any moments we could have with them!
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