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I had a cortizone injection into the sub-talar joint of my ankle this morning.

I do not recommend you try this at home.

Admittedly it was nowhere near as bad as the pain of the original injury which lead to all my troubles

But

It was a distinctly uncomfortable experience.

It's 4.40 am, I've just finished my shift in the taxi and I'm coaching the soccer team in the morning so I won't go into any more detail now, but I'll give you the inside story tomorrow.

Re. the cab, I kicked my first ever lot of customers out of the taxi tonight because I wasn't prepared to put up with their abusive attitudes. I left them on the side of the road with a 4-5km walk in front of them. Hopefully they spent some of that time reflecting on the consequences of their actions!



Did I mention that Carolyn has returned home? The signs of her return were immediately apparent. The washing basket in our room is not over-flowing, there was a meal cooked for dinner, and there was junk mail being folded without me getting my hands dirty, and the bed has had the electric blanket put on it!

Welcome home!

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Grant at his farewell on Wednesday afternoon. I think he was genuinely surprised and touched by the level of affirmation he received and shed a few tears in the process.
John and fay Foran, friends from the old days when Mum lived in Kelmscott, now retired after 22 years as the Anglican minister there, and many years in Sydney prior to that.
Pieta, Phil and Julie's eldest child, at bed time last night, just before prayers.
Elijah with a picture he drew for me. When I asked him what it was he said, "it's an octopus......no it's not an octopus it's a horse......it's not a horse, it's a goat." And a goat it remained, as you can clearly tell just by looking at it.
A very cool motorbike on the freeway this afternoon. I photographed it initially for it's personalised number plate, then because it was cool, but I wasn't able to capture the coolest bit of all. As I went past it I saw a small dog sitting in the seat behind the rider, resplendant in a pair of goggles!!!!


Carolyn is home again.

Ironically, 3 of our 4 kids are not here to greet her! Admittedly The Heir has a legitimate reason, being as he is, marooned on a small island somewhere in the Atlantic, but because of the need to make suitable arrangements in my absence, Jordan and Sport Boy are staying elsewhere tonight. Jordy in M.R. following rehearsals, and Sport Boy at his friend Morgan's place. Favourite Daughter is home and was delighted to see her Mum but the rest of the reunion will have to wait until tomorrow.

I spent a very productive day in Perth, sorting out details for Country Week in the morning, having lunch with Broadie in Leederville, and delivering the Cool School Race Camp prizes to Duncraig High School this afternoon. My last task was to buy a small portable PA for use at Country Week, camps and assemblies. I found one at Kosmic in Osborne Park for a reasonable price then set off for the airport. This is where my plan came slightly unstuck, I hadn't figured on the congestion of peak hour traffic. I've been lulled into a false sense of reality by the complete absence of traffic jams or hold-ups in Busselton with it's sum total of 4 sets of traffic lights!
The Perth traffic was bumper to bumper.
Then I got a surprise sms from Carolyn to say they had landed early and she was collecting her bags and ready to go! It took me another 20 minutes just to get to the airport! Getting away from Perth was not looking easy or quck and my hopes of playing volleyball tonight were diminishing rapidly.
I tried Tonkin Hwy which had looked fairly clear when I went over the bridge on the way to the airport but I soon realised I'd been fooled again and we crawled for 20 minutes to the lights at Leach Hwy, where we discovered there had been a crash and the police had blocked the road. Sadly, I found out later that two people had been killed on a motorbike.
That puts a bit of inconvenience and a missed volleyball game well and truly in perspective!

Carolyn talked much of the drive home, about Ray her brother, Michelle his house mate, the restaurant he works in, her adventures with Spider the dog, expeditions to the Adelaide markets for cheese and mushrooms and spices, a rain drenched excursion to a quilting shop that turned out to be closing down and thus there were bargains to be had apparently, a visit to The Jam Factory- some sort of artist's cooperative, meals Ray cooked for her, trips to wineries and much more. She obviously had a good time while she was away. We stopped for fuel and food, Noodles from our newest favourite "restaurant" Wok-in a-Box!

As expected I missed my entire volleyball game and only just got back in time for me to fulfill my umpiring duties at 8.30. Our team, Son of Miffy the Cow, lost 3-0. Obviously I was greatly missed!

Carolyn, who gained two hours in transit on the east-west crossing of the continent has gone to bed and I'm about to follow suit.

Tomorrow morning at 9.30 I get my ankle injected with cortizone. Hopefully that will have a beneficial and healing effect.

3 days to go

Normalcy is just three days away here at HoltPress, that's how long until the wife and mother of the family touches down after her jaunt to Adelaide. Things continue apace in her absence.
I've decided to go to Perth tomorrow and then pick Carolyn up from the airport on Thursday arvo. She could catch the bus happily enough but there are 3-4 things I can get done in the city and I'm timing it so that I can go to a mate's farewell at Kelmscott. Collo is leaving chaplaincy after about 15 years and I'd like to be there to mark the occasion. Hopefully I'll manage a Breakfast Club meeting while I'm up there, and do Country Week prep on Thursday before Carolyn arrives.

Tonight was spent ringing people, makeing arrangements and rearrangements regarding the kids. Favourite Daughter can look after herself, as can Jordy mostly but he has to go to Augusta on Thursday night for rehearsals, the big musical is on in a week and a half. He'll stay the night in Margaret River and come up to school on the bus Friday morning.
Sport Boy is staying with friends tomorrow night and we'll probably pick him up on Thursday night when we get home. I think I've covered everything, at home and at work to free me up enough to be able to go.

Just gotta hope someone remembers to feed the rabbit! Having protected it this long it would be a shame to drop the ball in the last couple of days!

I was interviewed on ABC radio this morning, talking about chaplaincy in schools and issues facing kids. It went pretty well until the end when I said "thanks Gillian" to the host whose name is Janine! When I realised I rang back to apologise. The producer said not to worry about it, someone else had called ger Geraldine earlier in the show!
Not sure how to do it but if I can work it out I'll post the audio of the interview, which I recorded!

Tonight I went to see "The Last King of Scotland", a heavy and disturbing film about Ugandan Dictator Idi Amin. Not for the feint-hearted!

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1 down, 11 to go and all is well in this motherless/wifeless household.

Carolyn left us a casserole she'd cooked so dinner was easy which was just as well cause there was a MOUNTAIN of junk mail to fold tonight! I did it while watching the expose of the dirty dealings of Brian Burke and co. and their influence on the Busselton council on 4 Corners. I finished the folding by the time Footy Classified came on, then spent an hour or more working on a painting.
Today was a mild start, tomorrow will be busier.

The Heir rang tonight for a chat and worked his way through the family, except for Sport Boy who was already in bed. He's bought a Mac laptop which is apparently going to be delivered here some time soon. A new toy to play with! Alright! He and Sophie discussed travel plans, she's going great guns with her saving.

For those who are interested, I remembered to feed the rabbit tonight!

Good news, Carolyn is feeling better and is up and out of bed. She's not 100% yet but much better than she was.
I've just come from a staff sundowner playing beach volleyball and jumped in the shower before starting my Friday night taxi shift.
More good news, Sophie started a job at the Esplanade Hotel restaurant tonight as a waitress, it's been a while since she quit the Corner store so it's great that she's doing some work again.
If you aren't in the habit of visiting my Dad's blog, he has an awesome picture on it today taken at Hillarys Marina, truly amazing.

No Longer a Single Parent

After two weeks away visiting her family in Geelong Carolyn has returned home.
Hooray!