An Up Week

This week I have felt much better and undertaken more activities:

• Attending the Asia Pacific Think on Your Feet® network meeting lunch on Sunday March 30 at Pier One.  This was hosted by Ken Everett, my business mentor I mentioned in my blog entry about closing our business.  I last facilitated Think on Your Feet® in November 2005.  I caught up with friends, some of whom I had not seen in more than a decade and met new members of the network from new places including the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan.
• Barbara and I having dinner with our daughter, her partner and Mum.
• Enjoying Allan and Pam’s company at our place for lunch, two days prior to their heading back to Uganda.  We enjoyed our conversation and after lunch Allan and I went to Officeworks where we purchased an HP notebook that Pam and Allan have taken to Uganda for Peter the Bursar of Canaan Junior School to use.  This will replace two of the old, slow desktop computers he has squeezed on to his desk.  The BezCan Project has funded this to make Peter’s work life easier and improve his productivity.
• Aiming to go to ESFNG (Every Second Friday Night Group) for dinner tonight.  It will be wonderful for Barbara and I to spend time with good friends!

The increased activity resulted in afternoon naps on Monday and Wednesday.  This time it seems I will not be having late onset diarrhoea.  I think the probiotic tablets have reduced this risk.  So, I am not experiencing the discomfort I had for three days about a week after the first chemotherapy.  I think I am experiencing the beneficial effect of two rounds of chemo.

Today, Friday April 4, Barbara and I went to Marrickville Aquatic Centre to watch my granddaughter at her swimming lessons.  For my Ugandan friends seeing these photos you will probably find it hard to believe that this is a typical suburban feature within Australian major cities.  Parents can afford to pay for these lessons.  A café is attached to the aquatic centre, where we enjoyed lunch together after the lesson.  At the moment I am enjoying eggs benedict and this café’s eggs benedict with salmon was very tasty!

On the way back to our cars I could not resist taking a photo
of this front garden full of gnomes amongst the plants

These photos show my pleasure at being a Granddad.  Barbara and I love being grandparents.  At the risk of repeating myself, my greatest joy in being a Granddad is seeing two sets of parents thoroughly enjoying being parents.

Many cultures view marriage as a time when one family loses it son to the wife’s family or vice versa.  Why need there be a loss?  These cultural situations show the negative side of the influence of culture in our lives.  It is enriching when we see marriage as increasing our family.  We have gained two daughters and enjoy catching up with their families from time to time.  Our family is blessed and enhanced by joining with the families of our four children’s partners' families.