Well Well Well ... look what I've found!

 Helloooooo you poor neglected blog.

I need a lesson in how to drive this as it's been so long (5 YEARS!). I think facebook and the like have caused a drop in blogging but I still follow a favourite (waving to Chris) and recently rediscovered another oldie but a goodie. This, combined with the year from hell, has made me consider blogging again. 

So, what has happened in the last 5 years?

In no particular order (just as the memories jump into my head)

• all our kids are now married 
• we have 5 granddaughters
• we moved
• I found a job left it found another and left that one ... see next point
• In 2018 over the space of 5 weeks we lost Himself's brother, his uncle and his other brother's wife. His father went into hospital and was cared for for 3 weeks, his mother went into aged care and on the same day his father died. It was a shit time. I quit work to support Himself.
• His brother died from bowel cancer. He had declined chemotherapy because he didn't want to lose his hair. 
• Mother in Law has dementia and is now blind (the two are not related but certainly have an impact). The Aged Care Facility she is in is fantastic (far better than the one my parents were in) but with Covid our contact with her is minimal and even with daily phone calls she has deteriorated.
• We lost both our beautiful German Shepherds this year and our affectionate Ninja last year.
• The Stig is still around and very unimpressed with
• our new German Shepherd puppy "Jinx"
• I had a knee replacement in January this year
• Covid sucks big time. But not as much as the fucking idiots who spread it because they won't do the right thing. At least we are in Australia and whilst Victoria hit the panic button after 700+ daily cases and we went into lockdown we are now doing pretty well. I would hate to be in a country with case numbers in the thousands.
• I have started volunteering teaching English to migrants and refugees - and have been matched with a lovely woman from Armenia

Assuming I was blogging every day for the past 5 years what would I be talking about today?

Well, MIL had a melt down. The cruel thing with dementia is that she relives the loss of her husband and son over and over again. Sometimes we can distract and deflect but today was bad. The ACF (Aged Care Facility) allowed us special permission to go and visit her (see Covid) and I sat with her for an hour and a half and listened to her brain take her in too many places. I have learned that this is the best way to support her. Just follow her mind and engage with 

We took Jinx to a new off lead park where she met new dogs and had a great time.

I spoke with my aunt in FNQ who is struggling with life at the moment (she's 89 so is allowed to struggle!)

Himself cooked an awesome meal. As he does every night.

This all just makes me realise how much life has changed in 5 years.

And while it all sounds rather negative I am looking forward to blogging more. The issue I will have is posting photos!!!!