News from Adelaide, Australia

I reveived the following news from Krissie in Adelaide....

We have had a litany of disaster this weekend, but in the end it could have been so much worse that it is almost a blessing and makes us appreciate what we have.

Friday night Mick and I were due at a neighbours for drinks, but when I got home he was in bed with hot and cold shivers and vomiting so, ever the thoughtful wife, I slide off and had a brilliant time (this couple are into old records and I came away with a copy of ELOs greatest hits). Mick was ill the whole weekend and on Sunday night his "good" leg started to swell and become very hot, red and blotchy. To cut a long story short at 2.00pm Monday I took him to emergency where they thought he either had a blood clot or cellulitis (germs getting into the skin). Fortunately it is cellulitis and he is being visited twice a day until Sunday by the district nurse with intravenous antibiotics. So hopefully that is him sorted.

The next disaster was Ross. I took him to the train station to catch the train to meet his girlfriend but he was late (due to an argument with his dad) and the train was pulling away from the platform as he arrived, however, the doors weren't shut (as they are supposed to be) so he made a jump, his back foot got caught between the train and the platform and he went down with the leg outside and his body inside the train. He was very lucky that a man pulled him upright and the train stopped. Ross could have so easily lost his leg instead of having very bad abrasions and having to have it dressed at the medical centre until Thursday.

Then we move onto my second born. Matt was riding around on his bike with his friend, shot between two bushes into the Deli car park just as a car was pulling in. He managed to nearly stop and just caught the passenger side door making two 1" parallel scratches which the owner thinks will cost about $600 to fix. The good news is it will be covered by our house contents insurance, and perhaps he has finally had some road sense knocked into him.

So I am now taking a deep breath, sorting everything out and looking forward to Christmas. This weekend we put up the tree, in Adelaide the decorations go up after the Christmas Pageant when Santa comes to town. Next weekend I will have to get on the roof with Matt for the outside decorations and also the 7' snowman which goes in the garden. Yes, Matt still loves Christmas!

Ross was accepted into the Australian Technical College, huge sigh of relieve all around. For the first 6 months he will be trying all sorts of trades and will then specialise. He seems to think he would like to be a boiler maker and with the new defence contracts in Adelaide there would be a need for them, but I think it could be hard, dangerous work so Mummy is gently pushing towards being an electrician. At the end of two years, if he actually does what he is supposed to do (and I think he will) he will be 1/3 of the way through his chosen apprenticeship and have achieved his Year 12 Certificate which will keep lots of doors open to him if he decides to try something else. It isn't aimed at Uni students but most professions would need it if he applied.

Anyway, that is my news, love to all and I hope you are all looking forward to Crimble too!!!