...the tenth day...

(23-05-13)

Well, what a day!

Today was definitely a day of adventures and new experiences. But we’ll get to that later.

Last night, while Nat and Ez were over, I had been frantically trying to finish a job for the weekend. Well, I did but then I got Rachel to proof-read it for me and by the time I had finished and she had finished, it was well and truly bed time and I was well and truly too tired to print and laminate the ‘book blurb cards’ I had created. So I asked Russell if I could please print them first thing in the morning.

“What time will you get up?” he asked.

“I’ll be awake sometime between six and six thirty.” I replied. This must have satisfied Rusty, softy that he is, because he graciously let me off till the morning.

This morning, I woke up to Rachel coming back into the room. I groaned and rolled over. “I can’t believe it’s quarter to seven.” Hannah said, doing the same.

Suddenly I snapped awake and jumped up, throwing on a jacket as I went. I had lots to do! I tore out to the lounge room, grabbed the printer, laminator and computer and set it up in the kitchen. Then darling Rachel helped me print, laminate and cut it all out. As soon as that was done, Dave came in asking for my bedding so that he could roll my swag. I grabbed it and shoved it into his arms and then ran off to get dressed and pack my clothes. 

Surprisingly, it didn’t take all that long to get organized to go. And not long after breaky, we were ready and saying goodbyes. As Amy said, “I liked catching up and being with our friends but I don’t like the bit about saying goodbye.” None of us do Amy.

I can’t imagine how horrible it’s going to be when we have to say goodbye again for a long time in a few weeks. Nope, I don’t like goodbyes. 

Anyway, we were off. Off on our next adventure. And what an adventure!

Three and a half (or so) hours and we were at Rocky. Oh and we were hungry. So we did the Woolies run and got bread and salad and a few other ‘bits and bobs’ and then went downtown to a fish ‘n’ chip shop and had chip sandwiches.

After a few hours in Rocky, we were back on the road. And it was somewhere along this road that the nature of my biggest adventure was revealed to me: we weren’t staying together over the weekend. That’s right, Dave and I were going to be somewhere other then where Mum and Dad were.

Rusty told me a little about the couple I’d be staying with. They were older people that Russ and Janelle had known from Adelaide and they were really lovely people. But from that moment on, I didn’t want to arrive in Emerald.

But arrive we did: about 6pm. We all went to Rachel and Lazlo’s place to have tea together. They are a lovely young couple with two little girls and a two month old son. Just as we were going to start tea, a lady called Sandy turned up. At first I thought that she was just a friend or that she lived with the family. But slowly, over the course of the meal, it slowly dawned on me that Dave was going to stay with her and her husband and I was staying with this other couple all by myself. Ahh! Now I really started getting stressed!

You might not know it, and you might not even believe it but I really am quite shy down inside and the thought of going home and staying with people I don’t know frightens me. I was even scared of staying at the Ing’s a little over a year ago. How funny is that!

Well, soon my host and hostess arrived to pick me up and after a short chat, I said goodnight and followed them out to the car, feeling rather shy.

Well, it didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it would be. I sat at the table like a grown up and chatted to them while they ate their tea. We spoke about places we’d been and lived, being a PK, my family, our churches and local politics. I felt quite proud of myself. Thanks be to God!

Then, after tea, I politely announced my intention of having a shower and going to bed and after showering and writing half an hour’s worth of diary, that is what I am going to do.

“And the evening and the morning were the tenth day…”