Brodie is Home Teaching

We've almost got a companion at Church for Brodie. The Bishop has been 'working' on it and we should know for sure within a few weeks I guess. There needs to be a shuffle of callings etc before anything can be finalised. I am so happy that Brodie will soon have someone to keep him company when he decides that Sunday school or Priesthood becomes too much for him.

Brodie was so excited last Sunday, he is now a teacher and he gave his first Sunday school lesson. He is also able to do Home Teaching and he went out for the first time on Wednesday. He was so excited and happy when he went out and when he got home.

I am so grateful that he has such a wonderful Home Teaching companion too. His companion is very understanding as he has two children on the Autism spectrum.

My Washing Machine Blew Up

I should have posted about this sooner but I have been busy doing other things these past couple of days but my washing machine blew up on Monday. Thank goodness for the circuit breaker (which was installed recently) which worked terrifically. I wondered what was taking so long with the washing machine and the spin cycle as it had stopped. I went to check on it to see if the load was unbalanced which happens frequently with my old machine. It's older than Brodie is. So I lifted the lid to check and there was smoke and the foulest smell you could ever imagine! It was disgusting. I opened the back door and put the exhaust fan on to help get rid of the stench. Such a shame that it was cold outside and I had to let all the cold air in but I had to do something to get rid of the smoke & smell. I turned the power point off and unplugged it. Needless to say that since the machine didn't finish its spin cycle and I decided to just take the clothes out and hang them on the line. I let them drip dry as I don't have the strength in my wrists to wring them out properly.

Not sure what to do about getting a new machine I decided to check some online classifieds and to check ebay. Then I thought to phone one of our Home Teachers from Church and asked if he could help us. I didn't hear back from him on Monday night and to be honest I didn't expect to hear from him especially because it was Family Home Evening night. He phoned us yesterday morning and let me know that one of the sisters who is going on a mission soon had just moved back home with Mum and has one that she doesn't need. So I phoned her to arrange pick up. She explained how she doesn't want any money for it but I am going to give her some anyway. She's such a lovely person as it is and I don't want to feel like I didn't do my part to help her out.

Mark & I will be leaving in about half an hour or so to head to Moe to get the washing machine. I just hope that we can fit it in the back of the car as we don't have any other way of getting home, well not yet at any rate. We may be able to organise with one of the other Church members if we need to.

Let's Catch Up ...

I thought I had better fill you in properly with what's been happening lately.

I spoke to Bishop last week and I wanted to catch up with him briefly today but he wasn't there. But that was okay I spoke to my Home Teachers instead and filled them in with what was happening at home. I didn't expect them to have all the answers but I just thought it wise to let them know what was going on and to see if the Bishop had passed on some of the things we spoke about the week before. I know the Bishop is a very busy man and he didn't have time but that was okay.

I knew I had done the right thing in talking with James and Warren (my Home Teachers). They said that next fast Sunday they will fast and pray with out family for guidance about what we need to do in regards to the big fella.
James also said would I like a blessing. I told him straight out that normally I would say No but not this time. I accepted it gratefully. And do you know what? I felt the spirit for sure. I could feel it in my heart that Heavenly Father was with me and that somehow things would be okay. Not perfect mind you but to some extent manageable.

I also spoke with the Relief Society President, Lesley. It turned out she was looking for me to talk to anyway. She is so caring and understanding, with surprising similarities in her family with all of the kids she and her hubby have. She suggested that perhaps I get a referral from the Bishop for a Church social worker (James also recommended a Church counsellor).

Before I forget the reason Lesley wanted to see me was that she had spoken to the Bishop about getting someone to do the Relief Society newsletter and he recommended me. I said I would love to do it. All they need to do is let me know what has to go in it, etc. So I now have a job (or calling I guess).

Anyway back to my talk with Lesley. She thinks that the big fella needs a change in meds perhaps. Which we had a review for tomorrow yesterday with the paediatrician for both boys. She also seems to think that the current school the big fella is in might not be the best place for him. I have thought the same thing many times but I don't think placing him in another High School will improve things for him that much. However she also said that the public system probably isn't helping him either. I think I agree on that one but private schools are NOT cheap and I doubt we could afford that. In fact I'm struggling now to pay the public school fees let alone the possibility of paying for a private school.

Lesley must've had a chat with the big fella also. She's even offered him a sleep over and he's asked her if he can call her Auntie Lesley. Which I thought was sweet. He absolutely adores her hubby, Rick. So it will be a wonderful thing if they can spend some time with him.

I also managed to talk with the Young Men's president, Andrew, to give him a quick update on things. So at least he can help keep an eye on things and lead the big fella in the right direction. I'm sure that the Bishop with catch up with Andrew soon about what's been going on since he & the Bishop are brothers.

Also the big fella will be going on a Youth activity this coming Friday night and Saturday. I spoke with on of the Youth leaders about it. Letting him know that the big fella was able to go but there was talk about billeting him in the city. Well not quite the city but near enough. I said that if they couldn't find a space for him it was okay. Which in fact did turn out okay because Br. Smith might be travelling back and forth for the activities anyway. The big fella is so keen to go.

So that's what's happened for me on Sunday. It's been pretty full on and fairly busy!

And I have a calling to boot! I can't get over that one!! Should be cool I could make it all (the newsletter) look so pretty with all this Paint Shop Pro stuff I do!

The Big Move

Okay this is it we're ready for the big move! Over the past 3 days we've been moving a stack of stuff over to our new home in our little car and with the help of our neighbours who have a station wagon. All we need to do tomorrow is wait for our Home Teachers to arrive & help us. Hopefully Warren was able to get hold of a truck so that Mark can take the HT to Pakenham to the storage unit and collect our things there then back to the cabin here to collect my bed, my wardrobe, the couch, the washing machine, the computers & desk plus the entertainment unit. There really isn't all that much left to do here apart from tidy up and clean.

I can't believe it this it our last night in this place!! So long caravan park! So long Dennis the menace!! I can't wait to see the last of you! No more feeling intimidated by a bully. No more worry about whether he is in a good mood or not!

There's a lot to do in our new place. We've stacks of boxes sitting there waiting for furniture such as shelving so I can begin to unpack. There really isn't much else I can do. The kitchen is pretty much set up ready to go. I do need to do some grocery shopping we really have been living off what was left in the cupboards. If I don't feel too pooped tomorrow afternoon I'll go and do that.

We've got the phone on today and the gas and electricity are ready to go now. Thank goodness because when we went in the morning there was no electricity at all and we were a little concerned that there wouldn't be any for when we arrived tomorrow.

The neighbours seem okay. They've been watching us a bit over the past couple of days and the boys went out there tonight and started playing with the kids already. I have been warned however not to get to know them too well because they are the kind that will 'sponge' off you and I certainly don't want that!! We find it hard enough to feed and clothe ourselves let alone giving stuff away to others.

Time to get off this thing and relax a bit before we rush around like headless chooks tomorrow!!

I got the Keys!!

Well that's it it's OFFICIAL!!!! I now have the keys to our NEW home! We drove into Morwell this morning to sign the paperwork and collect the keys! We had organised our appointment for this morning to meet with out Housing Manager, Victor (of all names he had to have was my ex-hubby!) at 10 am this morning. We arrived 10 minutes early only to find out that he wasn't in the office today! That was NOT a good sign considering we spoke on the phone yesterday and arranged this. There we were thinking OMGosh NO he's not there and we drove ALL this way for nothing. However it wasn't as bad as we initially thought. They organised for some other lady to do the paperwork with us which was lucky because I didn't fancy having to drive the 70 km's again to do all of this.

I still feel a little like a headless chook at the moment. It's almost like where do I start to get all of this done? When do we move stuff over to the new place? Do we leave the really important and valuable stuff until we're able to sleep there ourselves? How on earth are we going to get all of this packed and done before our Home Teachers from Church rock up on Saturday to help us? Do I really want to clean up this place it's such a pig sty at the moment?!?!

All I know for sure tight now is that I am so ready to move out of this caravan park! I don't want to spend anymore time here than I absolutely have to!