Daily Notes & News
The Month of June, 1999
Tuesday, 1st
I spent a good deal of the day looking at the First Aid material for the exam that I was supposed to do this evening - and worried about how much I had retained - but when I got to the place they had forgotten to organise the test papers so I did the CPR & EAR components and I have to return tomorrow morning to do the written test - what a pain.
I visited some people during the day as well as completing some paperwork for the Church Office that I will forward tomorrow morning - I still need a bank balance as at 31st May to include in the application.
I've completed arrangements for my trip to Melbourne for the ITIM Board meeting at the end of the month but haven't arranged anywhere to stay in Sydney this weekend so will ring my brother tomorrow to see if he has a bed available.
Now for bed and worry about the exam tomorrow.
Wednesday, 2nd
Well I finally made it - I passed the Senior First Aid exam - boy what an effort.
I also managed to catch up with my brother and sister-in-law in Sydney and have made arrangements to stay there on Friday night during the CWS meeting.
I called to see Angus who is not well and managed to have time to complete the results for the two couples who came for feedback from their FOCCUS results.
I've started checking details regarding the Parish Database Program - I still didn't check about the new marriage form - I'll do that in the morning. Now for bed and hopefully a good nights sleep.
Thursday, 3rd
I managed to visit the District hospital this morning and saw Gordon but Bev had already left - so I went out to the family home this afternoon and managed to say hello - she is not well and I'm not certain how much longer she has.
Information regarding the commissioning of NUSHIP Jervis Bay is definitely on next Thursday at 1100 hours but I have yet to get final details of the ceremony and who else will be part of the Commissioning Service.
First thing this morning Jack Kelleher arrived and we worked on the memorial service for his brother which will be celebrated at Wynyard next week - that was an easy job but unfortunately I am still not able to use the scanner and I'm waiting for a call from the tech. to arrange a time to see him about it.
I've managed to finish the newsletter and print it although the web edition won't be done until Saturday night when I return from Sydney.
I'm about to head off to a meeting of the Southern Parishes Forum and from there I will stay with friends closer to town who will take me to the airport for my travel to the CWS Meeting in Sydney. I'll add something about the Southern Parishes meeting when I return on Saturday.
Friday, 4th
The Southern Parishes Forum meeting last night was a good meeting although there were a large number of parishes than usual unrepresented. There were reports on the Call to Change process and we looked at the next stage of the journey. We were also given the good news that there had been over 375,000 signatures collected to be presented as part of the world wide effort asking for the cancellation of the debt of the poorest nations in the Jubillee Year.
After an early rise and travel to the airport the flight to Sydney left on time and arrived in good time. I travelled with John & Rael Picot so that was good. I also managed to speak to Brian Harradine (he was travelling in Business Class) asking if I could see him when he arrived in Sydney for a minute or two to provide further information about Foundation 2010. I will need to provide further information to him to finalise a date for him to speak at our first breakfast gathering - high on the agenda
for next week.
Bishop John Gerry (Brisbane) and John Gilmore (Churches of Christ) were waiting outside the terminal for me so we shared a taxi to the NCCA (National Council of Churches in Australia) Offices. The traffic in Sydney at that time was bad and it took 45 minutes to travel what normally takes 20 minutes.
The meeting of the Christian World Services Commission went well - there are still areas of concern that need t be addressed and it is worrying that the issues raised two years ago (Sept. 97) at the round table are the issues that we are looking at today. It has been a long day but it has ended pleasantly with a meal at a Japanese restaurant with almost all the group gathering to build a sense of community.
I haven't long left them to spend the night with my brother and his family at Randwick.
I've just had a coffee with Steve and two of the girls, Claire and Elizabeth. Maree has had a long week - the maternity ward started with 11 patients on Monday and ended with 43 today so she is exhausted - and Emma is working. I hope to see them tomorrow but now it is time for bed.
Saturday, 5th
It was a quiet house that greeted me in Sydney this morning but considering it is Saturday I don't blame them for taking time out. Steve had said last night that he would drop me off at the NCCA office as he took Claire to work in town so he wandered out at about 8 o'clock. He had been woken at 2.30am by a phone call from the Defence Force Duty Office (he works for the Defence Force Public Relations branch) with the information that another boatload of Chinese had been arrested attempting to land illegally in Australia - he had contacted the appropriate person and had gone back to sleep. Claire was up next then Maree appeared - refreshed after almost 10 hours sleep. We chatted for a short time before I had to leave to get to the office for the meeting.
The meeting today started with a workshop on Governance - as far as I could tell, a workshop that was thoroughly useful which is different from the work that we did in February with another facilitator which didn't seem to produce any positive results. The rest of the meeting still struggled with major issues that seemed to be raced through with not a great deal of time being able to be given to them. The group, however, was highly focussed because a number of the issues had been raise yesterday and so discussion had taken place in small groups about these issues overnight.
I spoke to Jane Treloggen and Jan Quinlan, two friends who live in Sydney, whom I had not had a chance to visit this trip - and since I was there for less than 36 hours I think I did fairly well even getting a chance to speak to them. There is another major meeting in September that I will be attending so hopefully I will be able to get things better organised to spend time with them then.
The trip home was uneventful except I started off from Sydney with Geelong going well agaist St Kilda only to arrive in Melbourne to learnt hat they had lost in the last two minutes by two points.
I arrived home just a few minutes ago and have just been checking my e-mail and fixing this page and now I'm heading for bed - tomorrow is going to be a another day of running from place to place to see people and get everything done.
Sunday, 6th
After all the rushing around of getting home from Sydney last evening today has been a breeze. After the 9am Mass I had a quick trip to Ouse and once again I managed to organise a Baptism here at New Norfolk and had to return without being able to enjoy lunch with Enid and Ellen - better luck next time.
Today I had added an extra bonus. I also arranged for a couple to arrive at 1.30pm to do the FOCCUS marriage so that whilst I was celebrating the Baptism they were working away in the house.
This evening, after Mass, I sat down and tried to watch the evening news and promptly fell asleep - I am now going to bed.
Monday, 7th
After Mass this morning the first item on the agenda for today was the entering of details from the Planned Giving program and the information regarding the weekend's Baptism. I sat and tinkered with another couple of problems I have been having with programs which I have now been able to fix.
Had an early lunch with Ruby and Mary who had dropped in and then headed for town to see the staff at Graham Family funerals and arrived as they were attempting to complete a service leaflet for a funeral and helped there for awhile.
I then visited the Palliative Care Ward at the Hospital to visit Michael Flanagan who is close to completing his journey in this life and spent a short time with Michael and his wife Monica.
From there I headed for the Navy Headquarters and managed to arrive just as a briefing meeting commenced concerning the Commissioning of NUSHIP Jervis Bay on Thursday - completely accidental arrival as I knew nothing about the meeting. I probably didn't need to be there but it will be useful in the overall scheme of things.
From there I returned home with some papers for Greg Hudson from Graham's and now I have completed my work and I am going to bed early and am confident that tonight I will get a good nights sleep.
Tuesday, 8th
My light went off at 9pm last night and I woke at 6am - the longest sleep I have had in some time and I feel better for it. So I started "running" - and managed to get a whole lot of things done. That is until Mum rang to say that Dad had been put into hospital with a reoccurrence of his angina troubles.
Before all that had happened I managed to contact the Rev David O'Neill who is part of the Commissioning team for NUSHIP Jervis Bay on Thursday to inform him of the rehearsal on Wednesday afternoon. Like me, he knew almost nothing about what was happening but glad to get the "head's up".
I managed to complete the Minutes of the Community and Police Consultative Group and started to get the papers posted out for the meeting next Tuesday before a friend arrived to talk about the Call to Change Process and express some of her concerns about what was happening. We talked for some time and we haven't solved everything but have some questions for the meeting which is coming up in three weeks time.
I finished with the minutes and got them posted and then headed for town to see Mum at Claremont before travelling into town to see Dad in Hospital. He isn't too bad but it looks as if he will back on the roller-coaster in trying to get his medication into line without the side-effects making life too difficult.
I then went to join 'the gang' to celebrate Gabrielle & Sybil's birthdays (yesterday and tomorrow). We had a very pleasant meal and then headed off to Glenorchy for coffee and cards before coming home and now I'm heading for bed.
Wednesday, 9th
I managed to take Holy Communion to Kath Machin and Gordon Batchelor after Mass this morning but Bev was being seen by the District Nursing Service when I drove by. I also managed to catch up with my family about the Baptism for the 19th June.
After a quick meal I headed off to town for the rehearsal for the Commissioning of NUSHIP Jervis Bay as HMAS Jervis Bay. It was good to see what is supposed to happen - now all we have to do is to hope (and pray) that the weather remains reasonable although the forecast suggested rain.
I saw Dad in hospital and he isn't looking too bad although he is still in some discomfort. I called to see my brother on the way home as I haven't seen him for some time and talked about how Dad is getting on.
By the time I got home I was so tired that I had a bite to eat and sat down to watch the news and fell asleep so now I've decided that bed is the best place for me to be so that's where I'm going - right now.
Thursday, 10th
I managed to contact the Police about the subpoena and I expect to get a phone call telling me when the matter is to be heard so now I will have to wait until the appropriate time. Running around being concerned about that meant that I got flustered and couldn't find where my Navy Stole was after the Coral Sea Service in May - luckily Ruby found it just as I was about to leave.
The Commissioning of HMAS Jervis Bay took place in drizzle which was sad but everything else went well. We were invited to join another of the Incat vessels to travel down river at the end of the ceremony for afternoon tea and to see Jervis Bay depart on her run to Sydney before finally being deployed to Darwin which will be its home port.
I called to see some friends on the way home - I said that would catch up with Christine and Jenny at some stage and had a laugh with Jenny about the information that I have on my Daily Notes & News and how it can lead to some wondering if read out of context.
The day is over and it is time for bed. I've just finished a draft of the newsletter but I'm certain there are other things which will need to be added tomorrow but I know how much room is available.
Friday, 11th
I managed to spend almost all day with Peter Waugh (Computer & Multimedia Technologies) with my computer and the scanner working out the cause of the conflict between the scanner and whatever. After much searching and trial and error Peter found that there is a voltage leakage from the scanner which has now cooked the SCSI card and after replacing the card and earthing the scanner I should have no troubles. Peter rang just a short time ago (8.40pm) to tell me that I can collect them both in the morning.
Because everything else took so long I headed home to try and catch Lorraine who had taken what was (until a few moments ago) the only copy of this weekend's newsletter with her to Ellendale as she has an early Communion Service on Sunday morning and I would have no way of getting the newsletters to her tomorrow.
I did manage to call and see some of the parishioners I had hoped to see - being able to do something positive after the rest of the things that have gone wrong today made me feel just a little better.
I've just watched a bit of the Friday night football and Geelong looks as if it going to be beaten again so I'm heading for bed and hopefully a good night's sleep.
Saturday, 12th
It was funny this morning starting the day having a meal to cook for the clergy. After doing it almost every week for over five years at Glenorchy doing it only every now and then here at New Norfolk makes it a big deal. Add to that I tried a new recipe - Quick Pork Stew - which was really tasty, although I put in a little bit too much liquid.
After collecting the computer and scanner, I got on with the job of finishing the newsletter - both editions - as well as setting up for lunch.
By the time everyone left and I got cleaned up I sat down and read today's paper and fell asleep and woke just before 5.30pm - that's all right but I hope it doesn't muck up the sleep pattern for tonight. I then set about upgrading some files from a previous version of AmiPro to WordPro so that I didn't need to keep changing things each weekend for the Prayer of the Faithful.
I've just returned from having a meal with some parishioners and working through an issue with them that needs to be dealt with before the end of this weekend - I will know in the next few days the outcome of our discussions.
Sunday, 13th
Today started with a real chill and a slight fog but the drive to Maydena was uneventful - and being colder there were fewer visitors on the road so there were no major holdups.
I managed to get from there to Sandy Bay in time for the 2pm baptism at St Canice Church but managed to leave a letter out of Laura Hildyard's name on the certificate so will have to do it again. I called to see Dad in hospital and Mum was there as well - I had hoped to be able to offer her a ride in and then offer to pick her up on the way home but I didn't get a chance so I'm pleased she got there without me.
Mass this evening was celebrated with a few extra people than usual so that was good considering this weekend has to be the coldest weekend this winter - which has only just started.
I'm heading off for an early night.
Monday, 14th
It was good not having to race around today - I managed to do a few jobs this morning and try out some changes we might make to next years Football Competition so that people have a different number each week.
After lunch I went for a drive with some friends and visited some areas south of Hobart I had always wondered about but never actually been too. There were some interesting homes - many I wouldn't look twice at but some wonderful views of the Derwent River and the mountain.
When I got home I rang Peter McShane to say hello and to offer my condolences - I'll also need to be in touch with the family of the late Max Hardwick who died recently to make arrangements for his funeral on Thursday.
Now for bed.
Tuesday, 15th
School returned for the start of Term 2 today - and because of meetings and arranging a funeral I wasn't able to get anywhere near the staff or children.
The Community & Police Consultative meeting was a good meeting - not a lot happened but there were some interesting suggestions regarding some extra people who might be invited to be part of the process to broaden the scope of discussion.
From there I went to visit the family of the late Max Hardwick to begin the arrangements for his funeral which will be celebrated on Thursday. Then it was back to prepare for the Alpha group. When that had finished I did some work on the leaflet for Max's funeral before heading off to see Dad and Mum - Dad had returned home at lunch time after being in hospital for just over a week.
I then came home - cooked myself some tea, I've just finished the funeral leaflet (except for the image for the front cover) and now I am heading for bed and hopefully a good night's sleep.
Wednesday, 16th
I went to the funeral of Dot McShane this morning at Glenorchy - it was a wonderful celebration of her life and was attended by a whole range of people from various backgrounds. I have known the family for some 35 years so it was almost like being at the funeral of a member of the family.
I managed to borrow the disks for my HP Scanner from Glenorchy Parish and now I have the capacity to scan and view in Paperport - thank goodness. I sent off a cartoon to the Geelong Football Club which I was able to scan - it felt good to be back on line.
I was only home a few minutes from the funeral when the first of my visitors arrived - I then spent the next hour working through the Grapevine program showing how it works - with the possibility that another Parish is interested in purchasing the program.
I then spent some time talking with the member of a family who is experiencing some family problems - I hope to be able to speak to other members of the family in the next few days - I'm not certain how it will all work out but we'll wait and see.
My couple arrived (after I had a chance to have a bite to eat) and we worked through the results of their FOCCUS indicator. They will be back within the next fortnight to continue their journey.
Then it was back to work on the funeral leaflet (which I've just finished) and not that it is finished I am heading for bed - and a good night's sleep.
Thursday, 17th
Today has been a busy day - I managed to get the leaflets for Max Hardwick's funeral liturgy to Greg Hudson to take to Graham Family Funerals so they would be there in plenty of time for the service.
This was followed by a meeting of the Christian Leaders group discussing issues facing the local Derwent Valley Community and some groups who wish to visit the Valley over the next few months - it is difficult to ensure that everyone's needs are met as plans are made.
After Mass I headed for town to celebrate Max's funeral and spend some time after the ceremony with the family and friends. I also had to travel to town to see if I could get a replacement for the Nickel Metal Hydride battery which I had purchased yesterday which won't charge for me. Dick Smith Electronics didn't have a replacement so they are ordering in a new battery for me.
I finally managed to contact my friend in Sydney for her birthday - I suspect that it might actually have been yesterday.
I've just managed to complete the draft of the newsletter so I'll print a copy to take down to school at morning tea time tomorrow to see whether anything is missing. Now for bed (and maybe a little bit of the cricket between Australia and South Africa for a berth in the finals on Sunday against Pakistan.
Friday, 18th
After Mass this morning I headed off to see some parishioners in Hospital to take Holy Communion - I managed to see one, the other two had left and gone home. I then headed down to school to see the people there - it is the end of the first week of term and I hadn't been near the place.
From there I headed off to see some people who have been ill recently and only found one at home so they can't be too bad - I'll try and catch the others over the weekend.
After lunch I called to see some of the businesses in the town about the Business Morning Tea for next Wednesday - I had missed them yesterday and I collected the food for the clergy lunch tomorrow.
From there I headed off to wish Dad Happy Birthday - just over twelve months ago I think even he thought he would be lucky to see another birthday - but he's going along and taking each day at a time.
I've just returned home from celebrating a home Mass at the Vout's for one of the conversation Groups from our Call to Change process - the celebration was a great celebration but marred by getting in the car and hearing the final ten minutes of the Richmond Geelong game and hearing the Tigers run away with the game.
I'm heading for bed and hopefully some rest and a good night's sleep
Saturday, 19th
Today was a disaster. I woke at 7.45am and jumped out of bed and headed for the Prayer Breakfast at St Matthew's Anglican Church that started at 7.30am. From there I raced off to the Hayes Prison Farm to celebrate Mass - it was interesting because three inmates had absconded before final roll call last night.
From there I came back to celebrate a Baptism and make preparations for the Clergy lunch. I managed to get everything working without too great a difficulty and the lunch was a success.
Later this afternoon I went to visit the family of the late Matthew Townsend, a 26 year old lad who died of cancer late yesterday - his funeral will be celebrated on Tuesday afternoon.
I then headed off into the hills to catch up with the Broad family. I hadn't seen Sheila since she had come out of hospital some weeks ago and thought that I should call and say hello. I had some left over food left over from lunch so I rang a family and asked if they could use some 'to be reheated pasta' as an evening meal - I had heard that the mum hadn't been well for a few days and though that it might make things a bit easier.
As I was sitting helping them finish the food (I always cook too much) I remembered that I should be getting the envelopes for the next four months of the Thanksgiving program ready so I've just come home and set myself down and finished the job.
Now I'm heading for bed to get a good nights sleep in case I am silly enough to see whether Australia can beat Pakistan in the World Cup Cricket Final tomorrow night.
Sunday, 20th
Today was Confirmation Enrolment day and all the children who are preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation were at the 9am Mass to indicate their willingness to be part of the program and, with the support of their family and the community, commit themselves to better understand their Christian vocation. Someone rudely made the comment that it would be good to see the Church packed each Sunday!
A couple of young people were at the Mass at Hamilton to make the same commitment to prepare for the Sacrament - I'm not certain whether we are able to celebrate Confirmation for them up their or not - I will be speaking to the Archbishop as soon as possible.
Almost as soon as I had returned from Hamilton I had the first of two baptisms. The church was freezing and it was a pleasure to return to the house to work on the draft of the funeral leaflet for Matthew's funeral which I then took around to the family before the evening Mass.
Some visitors from East Sale where at Mass asking about our records so we spent a little while looking at the books to see if we could find any records of their ancestors but were unsuccessful.
Now for bed and the chance of an early night.
Monday, 21st
After Mass this morning I did some work on the Baptismal Register - I found that when I looked for a certificate to send to a young person preparing for their marriage that there were some errors in the data entry so I made some corrections and found that there were a large number of corrections needed.
By the time I had completed some of these it was time for the Journey program - looking at the story of King David from 1 & 2 Samuel. It is fascinating going back to Scripture study (in a more serious way) after so many years. Both sessions were well attended so that was good.
I started preparations for the 'Christmas Pud' for Saturdays lunch and will do some work on that early tomorrow. After lunch I visited some of the local businesses regarding the Morning Tea on Wednesday and then headed down to school for the final session of their three conversation meetings for the Call to Change process.
After the Journey session this morning I also worked on trying to get the new New Norfolk Home Page loaded. It was the first time I have used HotDog5 seriously and I finally got it all to work and the page looks good with the Aussies4Christ Webring link working.
To see what the page looks like follow this Aussies4Christ link.
As I was wondering around the town I remembered that I needed to get the minutes of the Police & Community Consultative group out and include an invitation to attend the Police Station on Thursday afternoon. They will be posted tomorrow morning but by the time I had finished that it was time for the Journey session and now it is time for bed.
Tuesday, 22nd
I managed to complete my Big Book for Matthew Townsend's funeral this afternoon early this morning so that made life a little easier. Immediately after Mass this morning I headed up to the Post Office to see if I could have the mail included in today's deliveries - they took it across the counter but I'm not certain what happened after that.
From there it was a quick trip to the supermarket to purchase all the ingredients for the morning tea tomorrow but when I got home there was a phone call from Graham Family Funerals asking if I could help out with a funeral for the late Ann Latham tomorrow morning. I said yes and made arrangements to see her son and his wife after the funeral.
In the background while all this was happening the 'Christmas Pud' was boiling away merrily - after 8 hours I took it out of the boiler and it is too moist so I will have to take care on Saturday when I start to reheat it for the midyear dinner.
Matthew's funeral was a large gathering of people who took time out from work to come and say farewell to a very popular young man. I think that the service department of one of the larger car dealerships would have been closed for the afternoon. Sadly, because of the need to contact the Latham family I was not able to get back to the Townsend's home so will have to do that in the next day or so.
After making the arrangements for the funeral I came home and cooked 8 sponges and prepared the dates for the scones in the morning. I surprised myself with managing to get everything finished in reasonable time, including the printing of the funeral booklet, and as it has just gone 8.30pm I'm heading for bed and what is actually an early night.
Wednesday, 23rd
The alarm at 5am to start making the scones was a bit rude but everything went so smoothly that the team starting leaving just after 9am although it took a little longer to get the final morning teas delivered. The Parish is really well supported by people for our Fundraising efforts - Maree Kennedy dropped things off at 7 am on her way to work, Frances came in early because she had to take her husband to the doctor's at 8.30; Nancy had to catch a bus to town so she was here by 7.45am and when Maria arrived at 8.55 am all she could do was have a coffee and say sorry she was late. The others who helped were John & Alice and Beryl (doing the deliveries), Margaret, Zelda, Jan, Pauline and Ruby - all working away to make the whole thing hum along.
The funeral of the late Ann Latham was a small family affair which we taped for members of the family living in Queensland who were not able to be here for the celebration.
I've done the work for the ITIM meeting in Melbourne on Friday as well as making some small patty cakes and some sponges for the Morning Teas tomorrow. I've called to see Bev but she wasn't home; been to the School Board meeting and just finished the Parish Pastoral Council meeting and now I'm off to bed.
Thursday, 24th
I woke early again this morning and made up the morning teas for the Royal Derwent Hospital and the one for Pat Dowling, a staff member at St Brigid's who wasn't at school yesterday - she normally misses out so I make an effort for her.
With Mass at midday I was able to do some shopping for Saturday's midyear lunch for the clergy on my way back from dropping off the morning teas. Whilst at the supermarket I chatted with Margaret & Zelda sitting in the cold selling raffle tickets for our Wood Raffle - they needed a big fire to keep them warm as they sell the tickets. Ruby went off wearing my Super Down jacket to protect her from the cold.
After lunch I attended a function at the Police Station as one of the senior Superintendent's of Police presented commendations and awards to local citizens and members of Tasmania Police for bravery & civic service. I then headed to town to collect some card for some more Raffle tickets, calling into a shop to collect a parcel that has been waiting since Monday, visited the Catholic Education Office to sign some cheques for the Sick & Retired Priests Fund and then called on Valda Bannister to prepare some information for the funeral of her brother John McArthur whose funeral I will celebrate on Monday.
I then arrived home in time to have a bite to eat before celebrating a Baptism in the freezing cold of a New Norfolk Winter night.
I've just finished printing out some letters which we will have available for parishioners this weekend to pray for the children who are to be Confirmed in August - and now because tomorrow is going to be a long day I am heading for bed.
Friday, 25th
I managed to surprise myself with my organisation this morning. I made the scones and started cooking them, had a shower and was back downstairs to turn them half way through their cooking time before finishing getting ready before the scones were ready to come out of the oven. As they were cooling I whipped the cream, finished packing my bag and was heading for the airport in less than an hour.
Everyone, especially Billie Slater from Adelaide was actually surprised that I had made the scones which we used for both morning and afternoon tea. The ITIM Meeting was a budget meeting so that meant a lot of discussion and concern about budget forecasts and projections and questions about the ability of the organisation to meet targets. It was also an occasion to formally farewell Ruth Prescott who is leaving the National Executive but will continue to do some consultancy work for Foundation 2010 into the future.
The trip home took longer than usual as there was a hold up at Melbourne Airport and the Chief Flight attendant then welcomed us to Melbourne when we arrived in Hobart so there was a great groan as people laughed about being back in Melbourne after taking so long to leave.
Now for bed as tomorrow I have a turkey to cook for the mid-year dinner for the Saturday lunch group plus the extras who make an effort to come once a year.
Saturday, 26th
The preparations and everything else which went to make up the midyear meal today went so smoothly that I was amazed. The food was ready at the right time, the number of settings I had prepared was exactly right and there was just enough food for everyone. The only things that didn't quite work was the puddings which were still too moist and so didn't have the normal texture for a 'good' Christmas Pudding - but there were still eaten.
After everything had been cleaned up (thanks to Steve & Tony who stayed behind) I went to visit a family who are having some trouble with their granddaughter who is experiencing major behavioural problems. I will see the child during the week but I feel that this will only be the first stage before calling in a child psychologist but we will try to gain her confidence first before we move to the next step.
I've just finished stapling the newsletter and the calendar for July together and completed the letters inviting people to pray fro the children who are to be confirmed in August so that there might be a prayer program for their time of preparation.
Now for bed - Geelong lost for the 8th week in a row.
Sunday, 27th
Boy did we have a frost this morning - it was so cold that pipes froze and I could only have a shower in the back bathroom. The ground was crackling as people walked to Mass - sadly there were not that many because of the cold. There were a more than usual this afternoon for the evening Mass - it meant that there were almost the same number of people at Mass today as usual.
The country meeting went well - lot's of good discussion and ideas looking into the future.
Now for bed.
Monday, 28th
Today was a really cold day - thankfully the pipes didn't freeze so I was able to shower in the comfort of my own half of the house. But when people arrived for the Journey program is was so cold that by the end of the program people were breathing icicles at each other - even with the heaters on.
The funeral at the Crematorium went well (as these things do) - there were only twenty odd people there - and most of them were Jack's close family and their friends. After the service I went into town to the Church Office and the Catholic Bookshop to complete some work before calling into the people who service our photocopier to collect some toner for the copier - we are nearly out and I didn't want to run out in the middle of a run.
I then went to visit a family at Lutana - the children are struggling with the concerns their father has about the end of the millennium and what might happen and so we spent some time talking about their concerns - I will need to speak to the priest who knows them from their local school to see if he can reinforce some of the things I spoke about.
From there I came home for the evening Journey session - again it was a good night with a good group of people gathering to study the 1st Book of Kings and learn something of the story of Solomon.
Now for bed and, hopefully, a good night's sleep.
Tuesday, 29th
This morning started early with a fax call on the phone line. After a second call I came downstairs and changed the phone over to the fax line so that if another call came in I could let the people know that they have made a mistake on their faxing. They didn't ring again so I have been awake since 3.30am and it has been a long day.
Today has been basically a work day - completing some paperwork for the end of the financial year as well as making final arrangements for the Parish Dinner on Saturday - the numbers were insufficient for the caterers to consider doing the job so we will do it ourselves.
A visit to school and the Alpha Course early this afternoon followed by a pastoral visit and some time spent dealing with the family issues that arose our of the visit went right through until almost tea time. Immediately after tea a couple came for a session of marriage preparation and now it is time for bed.
Wednesday, 30th
Today started with planning for the Parish Dinner on Saturday. Because of insufficient numbers to satisfy the caterers the dinner will now be held here in the Parish House - with the help of some friends I will do the catering but I needed just to draw some things together before we set off on that direction.
I visited the hospital to take Communion to two great ladies who are currently there for some time. After lunch I headed for town to do a whole range of things that needed completing today.
I called to buy the Turkey for Saturday night; found some more bowls at Chickenfeed (a discount store); found similar plates to a series I have at Habitat; got some more cutlery at K-Mart; more card for printing our Wood Raffle tickets to be distributed through school; dropped off the art work to have a Stamp made as a Parish Seal; and called into the Church Office to drop off paperwork for the end of the Financial Year for taxation purposes.
Then I headed off to The Salvation Army Citadel for the Executive meeting of the Tasmanian Council of Churches. It was a good meeting and Kevin managed to complete the meeting early so now I'm home and ready for bed.
To know more about what is happening today you can go to the Daily Notes and News Page by clickinghere or the Left Arrow Below.
By clicking here, or here (all the pages are gradually being transferred to this new web site) or the Right Arrow below you can go to the Archived Daily Notes and News since September 1998.
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