Peace

It's done now.

Thursday was indeed a difficult day. Watching our life get put back in boxes. The kids were looked after by Aunty and friends throughout the week and were happy to avoid the process, but I did bring them back to see everything dismantled, packed etc. so that they had a reference point for the next step.

We are now staying with Mum and Dad. It is wonderful. The burdens feel like they are peeling off and there is peace and excitement sprouting in our hearts. This is a good place to be - on the springboard, training behind us, ready to dive!

It feels like we are ending well. Thank you all the dear lives that have nurtured us to this place. Jesus goes with us, and we take you in our hearts.

Panic

It is 5:01am.

I have spent half the night on our comfy lounge dozing, but....

I can't sleep. Again.

I am feeling dreadful about taking Asha, Shae and Ethan away from here. They are so very happy. Are we doing the right thing? I know all the reasons we have for moving our family back to Hong Kong. They are good reasons! Very valid, very foundational. And yet - oh boy, this is getting tough. And yes, I am doubting this whole situation. Gone is my rock solid resolve. What have I done? What are we doing?

Grief.

The movers come on Thursday and this week I will finalise clearing out our home. Our beautiful, dreamed-of home. We will finish fixing everything up - for someone else to come in and enjoy. We will eat chicken sausages from our local butcher for the last time, swim in our pool for the last time, watch the light fade in our garden for the last time, 'pop over' to my Mum and Dad's house for the last time, hear the footsteps of our kids up the floorboard passage way to the bathroom for the last time.....

I can't think about it any more. But I will. I will think about every single moment as one does a magical experience that I know just cannot last forever. And I will worry for my children because I just can't help it.

And the next adventure will start and I will be okay. But endings are always hard.

SIX!

My baby girls are six. It happened on Thursday. They are beautiful and they were so excited and they had the best day ever, and quite possibly so did I.

We took them out for breakfast and they had blueberry pancakes with icecream (what's not to love about that?). The afternoon involved a water games and pool party with 18 of their school friends plus siblings and their cousins. It was a very hot day (39.9) and it was perfect for such an event. Yes, there were water balloons and a water pistol hunt. Hot chips from the fish and chip shop were a hit. Their cake was a jewellery box (which didn't quite turn out how I had planned, but the girls loved it anyway). My Mum and Dad and sister, Sheriden, were incredible helpers, Jane provided all the party gear (including a gazebo and trestle table!) and Matt was the best lifeguard and pool boy that ever there was. 26 children swam simultaneously in our pool for over 40 minutes and there wasn't one tear shed! Justine Clarke's "It's My Birthday Today" (currently my favourite song) was played many times throughout the day. The girls were spoilt with gorgeous presents (and I also felt spoilt just witnessing it). It was a fantastic day. Our sweet six princesses went to bed smiling, and all the effort was completely worth it.

Toe Update

So, about this toe of mine. It is officially broken. I've seen the x-ray (not that I needed that as proof - the angle the toe was pointing in was enough to convince me!). The GP I saw on Monday morning sent me off for an x-ray, I saw the film, dropped it back in to the GP and then thought it was all over except for taping the poor injured soldier up straight until healed.

Wrong.

The doc gave me a call at about 4:30pm saying that she had looked at the film, discussed it with some colleagues and concluded that it is a bad break which has displaced the toe and therefore has the potential to not heal properly and cause all sorts of future pain/joint/arthritis issues. I need to see a specialist to ensure the toe heals properly. I will need to get a special boot to assist with this. For a toe? Really? She assured me that a boot would be the best option as I would be able to take it off in the shower, for instance, and on the plane. The plane! How long will I have to wear this thing for?? Admittedly, there are less than three weeks before we fly out but I am living in la la land about the reality of how little time that is and the idea of wearing a boot (no matter how convenient it is) for my final weeks in Oz is more than a little frustrating. I am grateful, however, for the doctor following up with me so well and that if this gets sorted out properly now I may be able to avoid long term problems.

We went to see Avatar with David and Jane tonight. I haven't found the right words to describe the experience yet, but it was pretty amazing. When we left the cinema and made the obligatory girls rest room stop I was chatting to Jane about the saga of my toe. She made a comment that perhpas it was a heroic and somehow fitting picture that I will end up limping toward the finish line here. Perhaps it is. Many things have been broken during our Australian season. But as we read in Ecclesiastes - everything has a season. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to dance.....

Two Wheels in the Garden and a Broken Toe

Last night we went to the Fern Avenue Community Garden where Mum and Dad a have veggie patch. We means our family, Mum and Dad, the Banks' and the Douglas's (ie my sisters, husbands, kids). We cooked woodfired pizzas in the pizza oven (yep, it was insane - 40 degrees+ with a wood oven going!). But we chased the shade and enjoyed the intermittent breezes.

And we feasted on gourmet pizzas.

And we celebrated a lazy mid-summer night in the garden.

The girls rode their bikes around the garden and up and down the street (now without trainer wheels - a new skill acquired just last weekend!). Ethan patted the resident bunny and a visiting cat and marvelled at the spiders. Creature heaven is what that boy was in!

And we felt sad at the thought of leaving it all behind when we head off on our new adventure on February 1st. Leaving again. Oh, my heart. How can we live with all these goodbyes? Perhaps only because we know that they will be followed by warm and rich hellos.

And today I broke (or maybe dislocated, I'm not sure) my toe. On my right foot (you know, the one that is most useful for driving). Of course, it happened on a Sunday afternoon, so I will have to wait until tomorrow to see a doctor. Might I add, for those of you who have never seen your toe pointing in a freaky and strange direction - it hurts. A LOT.

Wet Wet Wet

Asha, Shae and Ethan got to bed a little late tonight due to prolonged outdoor water activities.

It is going to be 40 or so for the next 4 days here in Adelaide so I thought I ought to nurture the garden with some water so it could go the distance. The kids came out to watch after we'd finished dinner. Well, not really to watch - they came out and got absolutely drenched! They squealed with delight as the ran around on the grass not really trying to avoid the spray of the hose. It was lovely! Kids don't really get the chance to do much of that these days with our drought and water restrictions. And all I could think of was my own childhood - trying to remember a summer when we didn't run under the hose or sprinkler and get bee stings on our feet.....