A Bittersweet Anniversary - Dad

Today's anniversary is a bittersweet one.  It seems so hard to believe that it was one year ago that Dad went home to be with His Lord.  This year has been a whirlwind one to say the least.

Dad, there is hardly a day that goes by that I do not mention your name, remember something about you, look at something that reminds me of you.  Just yesterday for example, I was approaching an intersection and there were two big rigs (18 wheelers, aka Semi-Trailers) - one was stopped and one was coming across the bridge and I stopped several meters before the stop sign to allow the rigs lots of room to drive by and around.  The one guy gave me a big wave of thanks and I immediately thought, "Dad would be proud."

And on Sunday Mom was talking about how Dad could park our trailer in any site in the campground - the people would stand around and watch in awe of his manoeuvre skills.  An amazing Dad, my Father!  A man of many talents.

Love you Dad and miss you and in my heart forever!

Curiosity Killed the Cat

So, I am trying to get myself back into writing and blogging and I could not think of a topic.  Too many things I could write about really and could not think of any one thing and then the above expression popped into my head "Curiosity Killed the Cat" and I thought to myself, why not?


In the case of this evening, I am endeavouring to research the pluses and minuses of the Iphone vs an Android Phone and in the process, I was listening to a couple of great songs tonight and thought, hey, I really should buy these and put them on my "old" phone to motivate me when I am cycling on my exercise bike.


Oh, and the songs are Guy Sebastian's "Don't Worry Be Happy" and While I'm Waiting by John Waller from the awesome movie Fireproof  - check out the trailer here.


But I really was not sure how it would work - downloading the music I mean onto my 'old' phone.  Peter has ITunes so I bought one of the songs and managed to copy it to my notebook okay but it would seem that the sound file is not compatible with my Nokia phone.  Bummer.


This whole process is part of the bigger picture in helping me decide what 'new' phone I should get and I love how I posted a blog article on my facebook wall earlier this evening and it has attracted some interesting comments, even a suggestion about the Windows phone.


So, has my curiosity killed the cat?  Cannot say really, but I do know that my personality type according to colours by Bruce Sullivan is green - I am very analytically minded, so I need to do my research.  But alas, I reckon I need a diploma or degree in Information Technology to decipher it all...lol  And do not even get me started on working out what service provider!

The Grimes' Special Merry Christmas Wish to you

Hello to our friends & family (on every side of the globe), 14 December 2011


It is with mixed emotions that I write this year's Christmas Letter.  Most of you will have heard that Peter and I were planning on visiting Canada this Christmas and had booked our trip in July and had arranged to see the Miracle of Christmas with Mom and Dad in Pennsylvania and we were all very excited.  But alas, Dear Dad went home to be with the Lord at the end of August and we moved our trip up for obvious reasons.


Whilst it was a very bitter sweet trip, we were also able to catch-up with a lot of family and friends and at times the trip seems so surreal, but we captured some great pictures and below are a few collages I have created.  There were so many highlights of the trip; for Peter – the Blue Jays Baseball Game and for me – the lovely afternoon at Niagara-On-The-Lake with Mom and Peter, not to mention all of the wonderful visits with family and friends.  I have also included an awesome picture that was taken of Mom and Dad just the week before he took his final flight home.

So, we will be spending Christmas at home in Springfield Lakes this year but a lovely bonus will be seeing Chase on Christmas Day.

Our year started with the devastating floods in January and Peter and I had the opportunity of helping a couple John and Gael from the Centenary Suburbs and we have since caught up with them over a lovely dinner and heard the story of their house being rebuilt.  Even now as I have started writing our letter, I am sitting along Brisbane Terrace in Goodna that was completely under water and it seems so surreal to imagine that it even happened, but I only have to look across the street and I can see the evidence as some houses are still bare, waiting for reconstruction of their walls and residents waiting for insurance settlements.  They are predicting another wet summer again but they are keeping a close eye on the levels of the dam this year.  I still remember our drive back to Brisbane from Gladstone after spending Christmas with Beth (Peter's mum) and how the road was closed because it was flooded, and even when it was finally clear for us to pass, the level of water was so high to the bridge, it was incredible and scary all at the same time.  I have included a picture which might help you appreciate it a tiny bit.

Water

Water - what can I say about it?  It is wet...lol  I remember hearing that our bodies are actually full of alot of water; so I went to Wikipedia and had a quick look to see if I could find some statistics.  Voila, on average, our bodies are 57% water.  That is also why I heard that we find being by the water so soothing and relaxing.  I know that I sure do!


In addition to living in Brisbane which is reasonably close to the beautiful beaches of either the Sunshine or Gold Coast, we live in a suburb that has been developed around a man-made lake and the suburb up the road, another man-made lake.


Peter and I particularly enjoy Fish & Chips by the lake up the road.  Below is a collage I put together of two of the lakes; we were enjoying breakfast at one and had just finished fish & chips at the other.


Ah, water - you are a beautiful thing!

Eye-Catching Jacarandas

Jacaranda season is upon us in Queensland at the moment - a favourite time of year for me because it reminds me of Spring Blossoms back home.  They give off a soft subtle scent, too, which is just lovely.


Just a couple minute drive from where I work is Goodna; one of the suburbs that was devastated during the floods earlier this year and whilst some of the beautiful Jacaranda trees were destroyed, many survived and have come up looking as gorgeous as ever.

This coming weekend is the yearly Goodna Jacaranda Festival which features the beautiful trees and there are lots of activities for the whole family.  Peter and I are involved in an Emmaus weekend, so we might not make it down for the weekend activities, and just to be sure I did not completely miss out on all that beauty, I popped over during my lunch today to snap a bunch of pictures.

So, hey, if you are in the neighbourhood, I encourage you to head out for a drive; if not to check-out the weekend festival, why not take in the beautiful sight of God's glorious creation.

Take a moment and stop and smell the roses....I mean Jacarandas!