October 1998

Daily Notes & News

The Month of October, 1998

Thursday 1st - Monday 5th

Having just returned from Sydney, my first thought is to go to bed but something needs to be said about the trip and what it all means to me.

The weather in Sydney has been hot and humid - not the sort of weather a Tasmanian expects in October. It also made the work of the Forum difficult as our working day went from 8.45am through to 9pm with an hour and a half for lunch and the same for the evening meal the longest breaks during the day.

Sancta Sophia College at the University of Sydney looked after us well - the accommodation and the meals were excellent. The Conference Manager, Ms Anne-Maree Spenser, was the most marvellous woman who always managed to have a smile on her face and nothing seemed to be too great an issue.

The people who gathered from all over Australia, as well as visitors from some of the Conferences of the neighbouring regions, gave me the opportunity to meet some really wonderful people - even to have the longest conversation of the whole week with a vibrant young Uniting Church minister as we travelled to the airport to return to our homes.

A full report will posted later in the week about the events of the Forum.

I also had a chance to stay with my brother and his family before the Forum commenced as well as catching up with some friends last Sunday. The time to do anything else, however, was not really possible so there were some friends and things I would have liked to do that didn't happen.

Tuesday, 6th

Today was hectic. After Mass this morning I headed around the town to collect some last minute orders for our Business Morning Tea for tomorrow. Then it was off down to Acton, almost to the airport in order to visit the family of a young lad killed in a car accident last Friday - Brett Stewart. Brett's father, Daryl, served with the RANR as a medic and I've known him for almost 15 years so it was sad to hear of his son's death but good to be able to be of assistance.

Then it was back to Glenorchy to complete some work that needed finalising before the meeting of the Parents of children who are to receive the Eucharist for the first time later in the year.

I arrived home and immediately started working on the booklet for Brett's funeral and as soon as that was done I started cooking sponges for tomorrow.

I then had a couple to see me at 5.30pm before another couple arrived at 7pm to complete the paperwork for their marriage.

Then it was on to more sponges and a quick trip upstairs to set the video - only to find that somehow or other the G-Codes had been deleted and so I'll now have to get a copy of the book of instructions to learn how it all goes.

Finally to bed but an early morning tomorrow.

Wednesday, 7th

The morning tea program went well with everything delivered by 10am - not a bad effort. There are a couple more morning teas to be delivered tomorrow and after that we are pretty clear for the time being - the puddings still have to be finished off but that will probably be the week after next.

After Mass I headed off to Bellerive for the funeral but collected several mobile calls along the way which slowed me down no end. The celebration of Brett's life went smoothly, or as well as the funeral of a 19 year old lad after a tragic road accident can go. Then it was back to the family home at Acton but I made a couple of useful stops on the way.

I managed to collect a new refill for my printer which ran out part way through the printing of the funeral material this morning. Whilst in the shop I asked if there were a hands-free kit for my mobile phone and there is/ I now have it in my car and it works well - I had two calls on the way to Acton which showed me how useful it is.

As I was leaving all my limbs felt really heavy and the closer I got to home the more I could feel that I was coming down with a 'flu bug. By the time I had reached New Norfolk I knew that there was no way I would be able to survive the Parents meeting for 1st Eucharist so I called in and made my apologies and have come straight home and I'm heading for bed.

The time is just after 6 pm and I've been on the phone to arrange for some extra cakes for the morning teas tomorrow and now to bed.

Thursday, 8th

Today started slowly as I still felt groggy after my brief fling with whatever hit me yesterday afternoon. From the rapid disappearance of the symptoms I think that it might have been exhaustion rather than the 'flu but who am I to self diagnose.

The last of the morning teas went to the Royal Derwent Admin. section and then I headed off to tell the Christian Leaders meeting that I wasn't well enough to attend. However, there was a guest there to tell us of an initiative regarding training for Domestic Violence Intervention that is being run in conjunction with Anglicare and the local High School.

The program involves training young people to basic peer support level as well as providing training for members of the community to be support people. The focus is on giving young people access to people (signified by a special lapel pin) who are able to point them in the right direction if they become involved in a Domestic Violence situation.

After midday Mass I headed for town for an ITIM meeting which needed to be held so that information might be forwarded to Melbourne before tomorrow. There was also a need to have my nomination as the State representative formalised and the papers sent to Melbourne before tomorrow as well. One, the nomination form, has been sent off - the other will have to wait until tomorrow morning.

Before heading home I called in to see my friends at Graham Family Funerals to see how they were getting on. The building program has started - the final results will be seen on their web page as soon as they are available. You can visit them by clicking here. After spending some time there I then came home and contacted Jane Franklin Hall to inform them that I was not feeling the best and would be an apology for the meeting tonight. Shortly after I arrived I had two visitors.

Maureen Bennett called in on her way back to Deloraine after attending a meeting of the Natural Heritage Commission (formerly the Landcare Program). I've known Maureen since my brief sojourn as PP of Deloraine back in 1988 and have kept contact over these past 10 years.

The second visitor was Fr John O'Connor, recently ordained in Melbourne. John had worked briefly with me in New Norfolk some two years ago before he transferred to study for the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

After having a meal (either a very late lunch or an early evening meal) I started on reading some of the mail that had accumulated during my 10 days away. I hadn't been too long at this when the door bell rang and some people had arrived to see me - unexpected. Sadly this meant that my early night had gone and it took me some time to unwind after they had left and so I've been here working on these notes instead of having my early night.

Friday, 9th

After Mass I got straight into the newsletter and was quietly working away to get things finished when the front door bell rang and Anne Matuszek arrived to run me through the FOCCUS program for marriage preparation. It was in my diary but I hadn't looked closely enough.

So instead of having the morning reasonably clear - the morning and most of the afternoon got away from me and so I'll still be working on the newsletter tomorrow morning before the priests arrive for lunch.

My not reading my diary also meant that there was no opportunity to visit people so that is another aspect of the week that has not been satisfactory.

I've just returned from the Catholic Men's Dinner - the annual event which raises funds for the Diocese to support the education of candidates for the priesthood. The guest speakers were Pat Scammell - Commonwealth and Olympic Games athlete - and Hayden Neilsen, TFL & Statewide Football umpire and Marathon Runner. Both spoke well and contributed to an enjoyable evening.

I managed to speak to Brian Harradine who still feels that he has a chance of being re-elected but is not holding his breath; Paul Calvert and Brian Gibson were also there and enjoying the evening.

I was also able to make contact with Paul Gregg who will be commencing duty as Liaison Officer for the forthcoming visits of the USS Abraham Lincoln and Carl Vinson. Both will be here in November so I will be sending out information to Parishes during this next week.

It isn't too late so I'll head for bed and maybe get a decent nights sleep.

Saturday, 10th

After a slightly slower start than usual I finished making preparations of the priests lunch, aware that there would only be a few people coming because of holidays etc. I hadn't been long working on the final material for the newsletter when the phone rang and a parishioner needed some work done on a wedding leaflet so around she came and we worked on that for a short while.

When she had left and everything was ready for lunch I finished off the material for the 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration at Ellendale that I've just returned from, but more about that later.

The Archbishop arrived with the local Dean and we chatted as gradually a few other people stopped in for lunch. It was a pleasant meal with some animated discussion about the Church's attitudes to unemployment and the social condition of some of our parishioners being the highlight of the meal.

After everyone else had departed there were a couple of issues that the Archbishop wished to discuss with me and some help regarding names that had been written into a book which he had received recently as a gift. Thankfully the internet was available and we were able to track down the information without too much difficulty.

The trip to Ellendale for Aileen & Edgar's 50th celebration was a simple travel up the valley with a great crowd of family and friends there to help them celebrate. It was a wonderful night and a great credit to the family for their organisation.

It wasn't too late a night so the trip home was still early which has meant that I've had time to get today's story completed before going to bed - even if I don't manage to upload it until tomorrow - at least the thought is there.

Sunday, 11th

It was strange starting Mass this morning and it being the first Mass of the weekend. There were a good number of people there which hopefully will remain and help the celebration of the Mass to be a more joyous occasion.

The trip to Maydena was uneventful (as travel) but significant as one of the parishioners who has been home to the USA to visit her family had returned and so there was an increase in numbers almost back to the best size we have had there for some time.

After Mass I stopped here for a few minutes to prepare a Baptismal Certificate for Brandon Eyles whose baptism I celebrated at the Cathedral earlier today.

Then it was back to do some Marriage preparation with Donna and Glen who will be celebrating their marriage at the end of the year.

From there it was a quick trip over to visit a patient at the Royal Derwent Hospital before returning for the evening Mass. Again there were reasonable numbers at Mass so the change to two Masses may have worked.

After tea I hope to be able to settle down for a quiet night and, hopefully an early night, but I'll just have to wait and see.

Monday, 12th

The work of the morning loomed large because I hadn't entered the previous two weeks planned giving data - so now I had three weeks work to enter and ensure that the details were correct.

I also set about arranging the Puddings list with all the orders that have been received so far and from what we have (some paid for but including all our orders) we will cover our costs easily.

As I was working away at all this I had a visit from a friend who shared some of the things that have been happening with her family since they moved out of the Parish over 12 months ago. It was good to see her again - one of her children rang later in this afternoon to order some Christmas puddings so I will get a chance to see all the family later on when I drop them off.

Immediately after lunch I headed for town stopping at Glenorchy to assist Shelly, the secretary of the Parish, with some information regarding the Grapevine program for Parish management. The result will make life a little easier for her into the future. Then it was off to town to get some toner for the photocopier before it runs out and we are stuck.

Next off to the Church Office to drop some papers off there and to the Bookshop to pay a bill and collect a book - sadly I've forgotten the book and will have to return tomorrow to get it as I need it for marriage work.

A quick visit to Graham's before calling into home to see mum and dad. Dad had a fall last Friday and is still a little bit shaken so he is taking it slowly for the present.

Then a quick visit to some friends followed by a visit to a hardware shop and purchase of a mobile phone holder that will allow me to better use my hands free kit for my mobile.

Back home for a quick meal before the first of the two couple arrived for their marriage sessions. Thankfully it wasn't a long night and they have now left and bed beckons.

Another day is ended and the time for sleep has arrived.

Tuesday, 13th

Today is nearly over and whilst it hasn't been too busy there has been more than enough to keep me well and truly occupied.

After Mass I sat down with Sr. Lorraine and we planned out our activities for the next month or so, aware that everything can be turned upside down at any time. Knowing that there are a couple of things on the horizon doesn't make it any easier.

After a bit of lunch I headed back to town to drop off some important papers at the Church Office. There I managed to get the URL for the Catholic Development Fund Home Page.
I had tried looking for it yesterday but had not been able to find it.

Then it was back home, via the bookshop where I managed to get the copy of the Marriage booklet that I needed and that took up a great part of the afternoon. The readings have now been scanned into the computer and hopefully I'll always have them on hand whenever a couple arrive for marriage preparation.

I have a couple arriving shortly so will finish now and hit the sack immediately after they have headed off. I'll try and load this tonight which means that for many people (any people) it will be early in their day when they find it.

That's a hopeful statement if ever I've heard one.

Wednesday, 14th

I waited, I waited for some phone calls and they never came - well, not quite as bad as that but maybe.

I rang Fusion/Awakening to let them know that I am unable to attend the Advisory Board Meeting on this weekend and I feel that I have really let the State down but I'm not sure what else should have happened. I'll be in touch again today but I have created a problem by not being able to get there.

My phone call to Mrs Swan turned out to be a call to the wrong number and even though I checked it against the number that people gave me I missed out on being able to see her today. I rang Glen Woolley and he's arranging for me to see the family tomorrow afternoon at 2pm.

Paul and Rachel arrived and we worked on their marriage booklet and got everything else finished and out of the way. I then had some time to catch up with Judy Green and take her Holy Communion before heading up to Hamilton Heights for the Home Mass.

Luckily a few people went up from New Norfolk because there was no-one from the local area there and that would have been disappointing. It was a good night and thankfully not too late so I was able to get home to finish the other main job that I'd been doing today and that was a file backup for the computer. It didn't quite work out as well as it should have because Drive D didn't complete the compare phase (twice) so there is a fault in one of the programs and I wasn't sitting at the computer when it hit that file so will have to take time and do it all again real soon.

Thursday, 15th

Today has been a really long day. I slept badly, or woke early, I'm not sure which is the right terminology, but by the time I got ready to go to bed after the PPC meeting it is 10.30pm - almost an 18 hour day!

By the time I had done some work on the newsletter and some preliminary work on the funeral leaflet it was time to go to the meeting of the Police and Community Consultative group. There was a good turn up of people but I had to leave before the end of the meeting and I'm not sure what happened about the choice of a chair person. I will have to wait and see - the danger is that someone who is not going to keep it moving will be in charge.

After Mass I headed for Bellerive to meet the Swan family and learnt that almost 20 years ago I had baptised a grand child. After spending some little time with them and completing all the requirements for information I headed for town where I managed to catch up with some people and finish some personal business with them.

Heading for home via Graham Family I caught up with the state of the renovations and saw that there were a couple of changes in the Office which have made life a little difficult for the girls and I can understand why they don't like them.

Arriving home I finished the funeral booklet and got ready for the PPC meeting - foolishly I haven't started printing the booklet yet so I will have to do that first thing in the morning.

The PPC meeting was a good meeting although there were a few people missing because of work commitments and holidays. During the meeting we also heard that Debbie Howe had been involved in an accident and was at the hospital for precautionary X-rays - and we thought that she just didn't want the job of being secretary of the PPC. Seriously though, I will be talking to the family in the morning to see how she got on.

Friday, 16th

Sorry about not having any new information up today - the server has not let me in and even this might have to wait until tomorrow morning before it gets anywhere.

After Mass this morning I had a few minutes to finish some details about the weekend before heading off to celebrate Ted Swan's funeral. Using the Salvation Army Hall at Moonah seemed to work well (Graham Family have major renovations going on at their Chapel in New Town and have been allowed the use of the Salvationist Hall for the time their facility is out of action).

I called into the office on the way back from the Crematorium and was invited to lunch which was a very pleasant meal at Salamanca Cafe. I returned home to finish the work on the Marriage papers for Paul and Rachel but when I tried to print them my colour printer wouldn't function so I spent the next hour trying to reinstall the drivers to get it to work. After the third attempt it came back on line - the next attempt would have been a full backup from the tape drive.

After the rehearsal I called into the new Officeworks showroom that opened on Thursday. I collected an acrylic holder which, hopefully, will be useful in displaying material in the foyer of the Church. I also managed to get a microphone for the computer which will come in handy when I get my new edition of Lotus Smartsuite and the voice program which allows word-processing to be done more simply.

I then attended, on behalf of the TCC, the AGM of Guides - Tasmania which was an interesting experience. I now know a little of what Patrons have to go through as part of their support role for groups around the state.

The good thing about the late night was listening to the radio as Mark Taylor climbed the mountain of cricketing history and reached Sir Donald Bradman's 334 as the highest score ever achieved by an Australian and 40 odd runs short of the world record.

I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what he will do and how the game will be played out.

Saturday, 17th

Today has been a funny day - I seemed to be running from the start to the end but I got everything done without any difficulty at all. The one thing I really noticed was that there was no panic in getting back to New Norfolk after the wedding at South Hobart.

After collecting the final ingredients for lunch I went across to see Patsy Duggan - her mother died last night. Her husband Alan was home but Patsy will be away until tomorrow so will catch up with her then.

Lunch was a simple affair with 8 of us sharing a meal together. At the end of lunch Denis Allen dropped a bomb shell by telling us that he has bowel cancer and it that he is seeing a surgeon on Monday. A few prayers are needed for Denis at this time.

Some cleaning up before getting into the car and heading off to South Hobart for the wedding. Everything went well for this first of the season - I wish Paul and Rachel all the best for today and for the future.

Back home and finish the cleaning up before a quiet night and hopefully a good sleep.

Sunday, 18th

Today dawned cool and with rain on the horizon - and it didn't take long to arrive. After Mass I headed up to Hamilton but there were only two people there - I thought that all the others might have travelled to Ellendale for their Fair but only a couple were there.

The Fair was another great success although I am worried that there are not too many runs left in the legs of the main people.

After buying food and a couple of handy items from the fair I headed home with a short time to spare before going over to the Church for the evening Mass. There was a good number of people there and a happy little group who celebrated the end of the weekend at Mass.

After getting a bite to eat - courtesy of the fair - I headed off to bed for an early night and I think that I'll manage a good night's sleep.

Monday, 19th

After Mass this morning and the entering of the Thanksgiving data I headed off to Sacred Heart for Mass with one of the Grade 7 classes. It is always a little bit difficult to walk into a group who don't know you and create a rapport within an hour - including the time for Mass. There has to be another way, although with time restraints etc. it is not always easy.

After Mass I collected some things from the new Officeworks showroom and headed home. I hadn't been home long when I felt the 'dreaded lurgy' coming again so I headed for my bed to lie down for awhile.

A couple arrived to arrange a Baptism, the phone rang three times and a friend came to visit to see how I was - all in all a busy time without a great space to rest which is probably what I needed.

I showed the video "Faces - Mission of the Australian Church" to a small group of people who found it particularly interesting. We spent a little bit of time discussing it before we decided to start sending it around to people for them to have a chance to view it.

Now to bed, although if I'm not well tomorrow this note will probably not get posted until Wednesday but I'll see what happens.

Tuesday, 20th

I got up for Mass and went to Nancy Crawford's funeral at Bellerive and came home and went to bed - I was aching all over and feeling very light headed.

After sleeping for most of the afternoon I was concerned that I would not be sleeping too well tonight but hopefully I'm tired enough to be able to sleep.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to do some work because there is heaps to do and I need to get onto the Thanksgiving envelopes because I won't have much time once they arrive to get them ready and out.

Wednesday, 21st

After doing some work on the Thanksgiving Program I went down to school to say hello. I then visited the Ackerly family to say hello - their daughter Megan had been injured in a car accident on Saturday morning and is stiff and sore but luckily she is alive and recovering at home.

Back to the Parish House to await the arrival of some friends who had invited me to join them for lunch. Kevin arrived with a most incredible lady with him - Nell Williams. Over lunch we chatted about many things and I hope that she will someday put her story in writing because she has had the most fascinating life and it was a pleasure to meet her.

I waited for the TCC Teleconference call but it didn't come. Rang Telstra to see if there was any difficulty but didn't get a call back. Eventually Bob and Jenny rang and there had been a stuff up with the answer machine in the office and they hadn't got my message to say that I was home and not feeling well so wouldn't be going out today or tonight and could they contact me at home.

After that I had a quiet tea and I'm heading for bed for an early night and hopefully another good night's sleep.

Thursday, 22nd

This morning, after not sleeping well overnight, turned out to be a very relaxing day. I had been asked by some friends from Glenorchy whether I was interested in going to Maria Island for the day. It had been almost twenty years since I had been there last so I said yes and we had a great day simply walking around the simple walks on the island. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to tackle any of the major climbs so will have to return to try another time.

The rest of the day, or should I say early evening, has been quiet although I have just had an interesting phone conversation with a lady who had been named in a court in Sydney as being a member of Opus Dei and she was interested in learning how she might be part of such a group without ever really knowing of it's existence. I gave her some names of people to contact and she said that she will get back to me so I'll wait and see.

Off to bed - and hopefully a very peaceful night.

Friday, 23rd

Today has been sad in many ways as I've just been able to talk about an issue that has been part of my journey for some time now but which I've not been able to talk about. It is still not completely out in the open so I'll leave it there - suffice to say that it will have a bearing on much of what will be happen here over the next few months.

I got a phone call from Millington's (Funeral Directors) asking whether I might be able to assist in arranging a funeral for Nathan Collet, a 21 year old living in Sydney who died of a drug overdose. I've been to see the family and spent time with them but there is a long way to go to ensure that everything works out for by the time the funeral is celebrated.

I then helped a friend collect their car from the service centre after it had been causing some concerns - hopefully it is working much better now. I stopped and had some tea with them before coming home to complete some work.

It was then that the phone calls started from people needing help and I'll shortly be heading for bed uncertain of what I can do to begin to resolve all the issues effecting people.

I'm about to start the Internet edition of the Newsletter but I expect that I'll be finishing that in the morning.

Saturday, 24th

Today has been an interesting day. I had an early morning visitor to collect the newsletters and Prayer of the Faithful to go to Sr. Lorraine for her early trip to Maydena tomorrow. Then, after a cuppa, I headed off to visit a parishioner and offer some support and pastoral care before tackling the highway to go to Launceston for Jessica Geeves Baptism at the Church of the Apostles.

The trip was reasonable although it was very windy and, at times, the driving was hard work - there and back. The Baptism was celebrated in the beautiful Church of Apostles in Launceston, the Church where I first served as an assistant priest after my ordination.

The reception was held at Grindelwald, 15 minutes out of Launceston, in the restaurant where they are going to celebrate an Oktoberfest dinner later tonight - sadly I've had to return to New Norfolk and missed out on what will probably be a good night.

The Geeves and Hartmann families provided an enjoyable group to continue the celebration of Jessica's with and I was sad to have to leave although the wind hadn't abated and I knew the drive home would be tiring - and it was.

I'm looking forward to a good nights sleep because tomorrow is going to be hectic as usual.

Sunday, 25th

Well today has been interesting. For the first time in living memory Ruby wasn't at Mass - she had gone to the bush with her family for the weekend - the first time in her 80+ years that she had been under canvas - so the stories tomorrow morning will be interesting.

Mass was well attended today at all three times although there were several people missing from Ellendale but nothing was said. Sr. Lorraine also said that none of the local community had been at the Communion Service at Maydena so will have to see what happened there.

After a bite to eat I headed off to Glenorchy to do a baptism and then spend some time with the family before coming back to New Norfolk for the evening Mass.

Then it was a simple tea (pizza) and bed although I still think that I am too tired to really relax and sleep but I'll see what happens.

Monday, 26th

Today was an interesting day. I had hoped to be able to talk to John and Ruby about some Parish matters but another parishioner arrived to help with the preparations for Thursday's great pudding wrap. John and Ruby can wait because we needed to get the other work done - and much of it is. Although it did tell me that we will need some more calico before we are finished.

Some other jobs were finished and the envelopes have arrived so I am now on the way to being ready for this coming weekend. Much still to be organised tomorrow but nothing is unusual about that.

I thought that I had sent off the baptismal booklet (as an e-mail attachment) to Chris and Brigit but it has returned so will check tomorrow what was wrong with the address.

The work with the children at the Primary School was interesting but tiring - even for such a short period of time. There are still two more sessions - I hope I will be available for both. I have a funeral sometime so I am not sure whether I will be available on Wednesday for the last day.

I then had a visit from Stuart and Scott Parker to prepare the funeral for their dad which will be celebrated tomorrow. After they had left I got to work on the booklet and completed that before my couple arrived for their first interview for marriage. They are well organised - they are getting married on the 20th May 2000 - my first booking for the new century.

Now to bed and hopefully a good night's sleep.

Tuesday, 27th

Today has been hectic. After Mass this morning it was a quick dash to Moonah for the funeral of the late Stan Parker. The funeral was all right but I was a little hesitant regarding the leaflet I had produced. Stan had been a printer for over 60 years and I'm sure that he would have found quite a number of mistakes in the leaflet and sent it back to be completed properly.

I travelled to the son's home at Mangalore for a short time before returning to New Norfolk for stage 2 of the Christian Options program. That was a little bit difficult because I was so tired. After the session finished there was some work that needed to be done for tomorrow's classes so Jillian and I worked on that for a while in between phone calls regarding the funeral of the late Nathan Collet - still not resolved although it is becoming highly unlikely that I will be having anything further to do with the arrangements.

A quick trip to the bank to pay some monies into my MasterCard a/c so that I can order some wine for a function that is coming up in the middle of next month. Then a visit to Greg to ask if it might be possible for Jaimie and Sarah to give tonight's wedding preparation a miss as I will be heading to bed as soon as I finish this work.

There is still more work to be done regarding the envelopes and the ice-cream for the fair but I will have to get rid of some things out of the freezer, or at least check to see if there is freezer space down at school, before I can do anything about making the sweets for the school fair on Friday night.

There will need to be a trip to town tomorrow to get card for the Christmas Pudding tags, plastic cups for the ice-cream, envelopes for packaging the Thanksgiving envelopes into smaller numbers, card for the Christmas Raffle books, some more calico for the smaller puddings and anything else I think of between now and then.

Wednesday, 28th

After an early start I managed a very good day with one or two surprises. I managed to get all the envelopes for the Thanksgiving program done - I actually had enough envelopes available in the house so Ruby was able to help. I finished off the ingredients for the ice-cream (again with Ruby's help) and organised the ingredients for the Christmas puddings for when I go down to school tomorrow to show them how to make a Christmas Pud.

There are still some problems regarding the arrangements for the funeral of Nathan Collet and it now looks as if there will be a memorial service at some stage but because I am away I won't be involved. I got a phone call this morning asking whether I might be able to do a funeral on Monday for "Taffy" Jones - I did his wife's funeral a number of years ago.

I headed for town and managed to get the card for the pudding tags and for the Christmas raffle books. I called into Computer Solutions and talked to Chris who is interested in getting the whole process of a Diocesan Web page up and running. We looked briefly at the Perth Archdiocese page and can see a few ideas.
A meeting has been arranged for the 11th of next month with some interested people who might be able to do some preliminary work on the project.

I collected the extra calico for the puddings, some Christmas curling ribbon for attaching the tags to the puddings and the mince for the lasagna for Saturday's priests lunch.

The School Board meeting was a good meeting with some details about next year presented and the report of our ten year registration with recommendations for the future plans included. It was also good to see the firm on site putting the new security system in place - hopefully it will lessen the number of break-ins around the school.

Then I collected Ruby and Molly to take them to the Stephenson's for the Home Mass. I was surprised to see Carlene and Lexie (from Glenorchy) sitting in the lounge when we arrived - Carlene works with Anne and they thought that they might surprise me (and they did). There was a really good crowd and people are now moving from place to place and enjoying each others company.

There are only two more nights for this year but the process will definitely be a part of the parish program for next year.

Now it is to bed before tackling the things that need to be done before I fly to Adelaide tomorrow afternoon for Friday's meeting. You will be pleased to know that I finally contacted Ian Dempsey to arrange a bed for tomorrow night and I won't be sleeping in some Adelaide park tomorrow night.

Thursday, 29th

[I'm cheating and writing this on Saturday morning because my plane arrived back into Hobart after 11pm last night - Friday]

I completed the tags for the Christmas Puddings just as the first people arrived to start bagging them so for the next half hour we were carrying the puddings into the work area. There were some that needed to be re-bagged because they had some air in them. For once I was almost prepared to let them go but the others made me re-bag.

I headed down to school just before morning tea to prepare for my cooking demonstration. The hour I had available was really hectic and everything happened although not quite as I had planned. The Christmas pudding (now cooked thanks to Ruby) is still too light in colour so I will put it back on for some more time; the second batch of scones (made by the kids) were worked on for too long & too hard and came out tough and the freezer in the canteen wouldn't take all the ice-cream and when I checked the freezer in the work room it hadn't been defrosted for, Lord knows how long, and it took ten minutes to make enough space to store the second batch of ice-cream.

A quick race back to say Mass - thanks be to God the children were late getting settled - then a quick bite to eat, pack the bags and finish off some work that included sending some faxes and then off to the airport. I had hoped to be able to catch some people on the way but that didn't happen.

The flights to Melbourne and then to Adelaide were uneventful and it was wonderful to see Ian waiting at the airport. We travelled to Glenelg where he has an apartment and had a pick-me-up G & T. Since Ian hadn't had a meal we headed up Jetty Road to an Italian Restaurant called Lungomare Caffe where Ian is well known and we had an enjoyable meal. From there we called into St Vincent's Hotel and paid for our meal with a flutter on the pokie machines.

Home to bed - and Thursday is over.

Friday, 30th

The view from the second floor balcony of Ian's unit at Glenelg is absolutely fantastic. It was almost as good as Jan's front patio in Sydney but not quite.

After breakfast we headed for town and Ian showed me his offices before he dropped me off to attend the ITIM meeting - my reason for being in Adelaide.

What a wonderful setup. The meeting area is spacious and provides ample space for training sessions with an eating area combined or room for two sessions to be held simultaneously.

The Foundation 2010 meeting went well with quite a number of aspects which will be helpful for restructuring the Committee here in Hobart.

The ITIM Board also went well but it was very tiring to keep everything in perspective. After the AGM, when we were joined by some South Australian members of the electoral College, there was a simple afternoon tea.

I headed back to Ian's office but he had already left so I made my way back to the airport. There was a long wait because, firstly I was early and then that wonderful airport tradition started to kick in - my planes were delayed.

The Adelaide - Melbourne flight was only an hour and ten minutes or so but after arriving in Melbourne there was a two hour wait for the Hobart leg which was well over half an hour late which meant we didn't get into Hobart until after 11pm.

Then it was a quick walk off the plane, straight through the lounge as I had only hand baggage to the ticket office to find that I just had the $14 needed to let my car out of the parking area. I got to the car and then found the boom gate upright so if I had cheated I could have left without paying but since I'm not like that it worked out all right.

Home is the weary traveller and he has had a reasonable nights sleep and this has been written on Saturday morning as I start preparations for the weekend. It looks like it will be a very pleasant day so I'll see you tomorrow.

Saturday, 31st

This morning was an interesting time with lots of disruptions and plenty of work being done and everything being finalised at the right time but never looking as if it were going to happen. One of those wonderfully chaotic times that don't hassle me - just amaze me.

After lunch (with two Archbishops and 9 other priests) I settled down to complete the work for the weekend and didn't seem quite so in control and before I knew it was 7pm and I still hadn't prepared the Church for tomorrow.

After some time getting everything ready I came back to finish some other work (including the Baptismal and First Eucharist certificates for tomorrow) and now it is off to bed and hopefully a good nights sleep.

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