A Pleasant Sunday Morning...

Well,

After the shenanigans last night watching the Tigers get over the line after the siren by the barest of margins, the author is a lot more settled and calmer this morning!!

In a game that I never thought for a moment we would win earlier in the week, or even just before the first bounce, it was clear early on that the boys had come to play.
I was even prepared to accept a narrow loss as a moral win, as it would have meant that they were actually having a red hot dip, something that has been missing in recent weeks.

My poor wife had to put up with my moans, groans, screams, fist pumping and swearing as the Tigers at first got in the lead, gave it up, got it back and then gave it up again.

With less than a minute to go we were 5 points down and the Swans had possession in their forward line. A series of courageous marks and spoils, followed by a very fortunate right angle bounce of the ball that enabled Jack Riewoldt to get it out to Ben Griffiths who then passed accurately to Sam Lloyd 50 metres out with 20 seconds left on the clock.

Could this be happening? Could we actually snag a win?
The siren blows and Lloyd is ready to shoot. A goal is the only thing we need, and consider that he missed a sitter earlier on.

He kicks, and the kick could not have been better and we win by a point after the siren. The fact that it was against one of the top teams made it only sweeter!!
This is the stuff that boyhood dreams are made of, kicking the winner after the siren!!

And didn't the texts and online comments flow thick and fast for the next hour!
I freely admit that I didn't tip the Tigers in my tipping contest, and I doubt many would done so anyway. It is a contest to see who you think will win, not who you would like to win.
Of course, I'd like the Tigers to win every week, but do I think they will? Of course not, but I'm more than happy to get it wrong this week!!
We may still be way down low on the ladder, but it won't stop me from loving my Tigers!!

The only negative out of it is that I think I buggered my recently operated on shoulder a little bit when Lloydy kicked the winning goal as I pumped the air in excitement, boy am I sore this morning!!!

  

And no song is better than this one!!!

I have just been out to my school to collect some work I need, and was greeted by this. Someone has decided to add to the decor of my desk, no complaints from me!!

And just before the game last night we were treated to a visit from a large flock of galahs that just love to dig up the onion grass that sprouts in our yard so quickly after the recent rain.

The galahs do chop the yard up a bit, but we don't mind at all as we are so lucky to get so much bird life in our yard.

And off they go!

It's another glorious day here so I'm off outside to enjoy the rest of the day. (and to bask in the the success of that amazing win last night!!)

Until my next post...

Cheers!

Go Tigers!!

Hi Readers,

Short and sweet, but after watching a stirring come from behind win with a goal after the siren, you can bet there will be another post in the morning, with a distinctive Richmond flavour!!

So much heartbreak this season so far, and then they play like that tonight!

A huge understatement when I say it is a very happy house in Ascot tonight!!

Go Tigers!!!!!!!!

Until my next post,

Cheers!!!

I've been missing for a while!!...

Well readers,

I seem to be hot and cold with my posts of late.
I might bang a few on over a few days, then go missing for a few days, or in this case, weeks.
Sorry to those who actually read it!!!!

To start off with, a big hello this morning to Kimberly, as it was a comment you made to my wife that has prompted me to make sure I added to the blog this morning. Have a great weekend Kimberly, I hope your footy team goes well this weekend!!! ( And thanks for getting me back on my blog horse!)

So many things have been going on over the past few weeks, so in no particular order I'll try and be interesting.

My last post was at the end of the last holidays, about 5 weeks ago.
As I was away overseas for a large part of first term, this term was the one where I was able to really knuckle down and get stuck into my various roles at the school I work at.
The Principal of my school was taking the first three weeks off with some well deserved Long Service Leave and headed off to New Zealand. My Co-Deputy Principal also finished up at the end of first term as she is having a baby, so I was flying solo for the start of the term.

Boy, do things come across one's desk thick and fast as well as the usual tasks associated with one's role. I very quickly discovered that although I might have had the best laid plans to do certain things in a day, but unplanned and unforeseen things just kept piling up.
I  recognised the need to prioritise, but also to make sure that whoever I was dealing with was kept in the loop about the progress of whatever it was that concerned them.
I have been most fortunate over the past few years to have been involved in various coaching and leadership courses and study that really prepared me for what has been happening this year.

Whether I have been successful in this is for others to decide, but in my mind I feel that I have managed to cope due to the support that I have from a close group of colleagues who work incredibly well together.

So what things happen that one doesn't plan for?

• Why do kids insist on throwing blobs of wet toilet paper to the ceiling of the toilets??? It's not much fun trying to clean them off, even with a bung shoulder from recent surgery!!
• Wasps. We don't see them for days, or at most just a few, then suddenly our school becomes 'Wasp Central'. 
• A hand dryer in a toilet catches on fire, filling the corridors with smoke. Fire brigade rock up, sirens and lights going, creating much excitement for the kids (and teachers!) at school. Thankfully it all ended up well.

• A kid smashes an elbow, resulting in an ambulance being called. We are now wondering which emergency service will be called next!!
• After months of extremely dry conditions, as soon as we organise a whole school Walkathon Fund Raiser,  it rains and we have to postpone.
• A tree comes down over a fence, and cows have to be chased into a neighbouring paddock before they escape.

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• Blocked toilets. Enough said!!!!
• Teachers calling in sick (which is expected), but not getting a record 14 knockbacks from relief teachers who are unable to come in as they are already booked or unavailable.
• The internet going on the frizz without warning - and don't teachers cope well with this!!!!!

Anyway, this is not a gripe about these things happening, it's just to show how we need to be prepared to expect the unexpected and go with the flow.

My little mantra that I follow and often share with others, '"We don't have problems, just solutions" always gets me through, in most cases!

I was lucky recently to be asked to work with a group of Graduate teachers who had gathered together for a day in Echuca. A teacher from one school worked with them for a few hours on Literacy, while my gig was to do a few hours on Numeracy.
They were just brilliant to work with, and we had a lot of fun together.
More importantly, the potential and talent in the room was massive. The kids who have these teachers are extremely lucky to be mentored by people who are so dedicated and motivated, and their schools are lucky to have them.

                      Working with the Grad teachers in Echuca last week.

As I mentioned earlier, it has been dry here for a very long time.

Check out the difference that a day of rain makes in just a few days.

This photo was taken just a few weeks ago.

This was taken this week, three days after a night of rain.

The grass (weeds) are really taking off after we had another dose of welcome rain this week. While it's good to see some green again, I can already see that the mower will need to come out in the next week or so, and that takes quite a few hours to do, which I don't mind as it's just another form of exercise.

Another thing that I I have come to really enjoy is the tv series "Game of Thrones"

As most would know, the latest series started a few weeks ago, and as we have the luxury of pay tv at our digs, our son Will had some mates come around to make sure they got to see the first episode before any spoiler alerts surfaced on social media.

I think it wasn't just the boys who were keen to see the first episode, as I was fairly keen too!!

Not only have we had branches down at school, there have also been a few coming down at our home this week after some extremely windy nights. Luckily, they all fell away from the house and cars and I managed to drag them out of the way. This in itself was a struggle as I needed to do it one handed as I am still having a lot of trouble with the shoulder I had operated on recently.

I started physio work on it this week and was hoping that it could be the start of getting some more freedom.

Alas, my movement is still extremely limited for the next few months, which means there is very little I can do around the yard at home in regards to cleaning up, chopping wood, mowing etc.

I reckon by the time I get the okay to do some manual work the place will be looking like a post apocalyptic wasteland!!!

Finally for this post, some of the things we are doing at school with the kids are so exciting, it is just great to see the kids being so interested in their learning.

I have a group of Grade 2 children who have started a maths project starting with the simplest of tasks... "What does a tape measure do?"

For two weeks these kids have been doing all sorts of discovery with a tape measure and coming up with loads of wonderings that they are investigating.

If you can focus on the cm on the bottom half of this measure, you will see that the 5mm mark is slightly bigger than the rest.

One girl explained this in words that were just magic... "The tape measure has cm's on it and these are marked with numbers. In between the cm's are the mm's, and they have little marks. The biggest little mark is the halfway mark"

Don't you just love the language that she has used!!

It has been amazing to see how much learning and discovery they have done just from being given the freedom to discover with the tape measure, rather than being told what to do.

Based on their discussions and questions, we have worked together (the kids and I) to develop the future plans and directions of the project we are working on.

I'm also working with groups of kids from Gr 4 and Grade 5 and have created online classrooms using the program Edmodo.

They are so excited at using this platform and the spinoffs are already surfacing. One of the goals, apart from the learning, is to develop these kids as independent learners, and for them to be able to see that the use of the technology is only part of the learning, rather than the focus.

Just to see the way that they are collaborating together and developing skills in communicating with their teachers has been an early highlight. The maths project that they are currently working on can be very challenging, but in providing support and encouragement I have every bit of confidence in their success.

As the day outside is just glorious, I have to get off this and go outside and enjoy it.

So, it's exercise gear, headphones and radio on and off to listen to the footy, my Saturday habit.

No matter what game it is, I just love listening to it. (But I'm not sure how well the patience will be watching my team, Richmond, tonight!!!)

Until my next post...

Cheers!!

Want to be included in a post?

Guaranteed.

If any of my readers want to reveal who they are, or where they are from, I'll weave your identity or  the place where you live into a post in a most imaginative way.

Even if I have no idea who you are ( eg my American, German and French readers just for starters) I am sure that I will be able to make you feel included just through my travels near, or through those parts of the world!

We all know about the '6 Degrees of Separation', so, combined with my imagination I am sure I will make you feel even more a part of this blog.

There was a huge spike in my American readers for a few days last week, so if any of you could leave me with a clue why this occurred I'd love to know.

Send an email to bkerrins63@gmail.com if you want total anonymity. Trust assured!

Above all, don't stop reading my blog!

Until my next post...

Cheers!

Some Life Changing Travel Moments...

Over the past few years I have been extremely lucky to have travelled quite a bit with work, and for leisure.

Some of this has involved travelling overseas, much of it interstate, and the majority of it fairly close to home.

Wherever I go I love to take photos because these consolidate the memories of those places and are also taken at places where something great happens, or where I have discovered something in particular. Sometimes it is just who I am with, or what I am doing.

Just a snapshot os some of the places where photos have been taken.

For some reason it says that I have been to Japan, and I haven't, although I did teach Japanese for 3 years. Does that qualify me?

A closer view of where in Europe I have been.

Canada in 2011 was brilliant.

I have done pretty much all of Australia, but have never been to Western Australia.

This doesn't show the numerous trips through Central Australia.

So how do I combine this interest into my blog? Share some of them of course!!

Also, I know this blog gets read by many people who are still yet to leave a comment (which of course I'd love from time to time, as that could create further discussion topics), and from many places around the world.

So what could be better than doing something that my readers could also do!

By posting some photos of moments in my life, hopefully that might encourage others to add a few of their own?

Who knows, we may end up posting photos from the same places, but our experiences will no doubt be entirely different.

So, in no particular chronological order, or order of importance, here goes...

The last photo of our family, minus our mum who died ten years earlier. Dad passed away soon after this was taken.

Growing up in a large family was an experience for sure. So many ups and downs at different stages of my life, but I wouldn't swap it for anything. We continue to share so many things together and have all played big roles in each other's lives, and continue to do so.

The five boys together on a very rare occasion.









No matter where we go, or where we live, we always know where home really is.

My last game of football, and we won the flag. Sam was brought to me in the rooms before the game wearing this jumper, all without me knowing. It was great to be able to have this shot taken playing the last match of a game that I loved so much.

Each year in Ballarat there was a 16.5 km running race for the annual Begonia Festival. I liked to take the boys for runs in this pram long before they became so fashionable. In this photo I am getting ready to run with Sam.

A few years later, same race and I get snapped with Will.

And a few more years later, the pram is still going and it's now Lachie's turn.

I was so glad to be able to get snapped with all three of them.

A couple of years ago..

And 2016

Only now do I really appreciate the times that the five of us are together. With one in London, one in Melbourne, and the other busy with work, Uni and socialising, it is now just Jen and I most nights.

The boys are incredibly close, something which we are just so proud of.

I came across this on the footpath when out for a run in Vancouver.

It just sums up everything about life that resonates with me, rarely a day goes by where I don't think about it.

I was out for a run early one morning in Canmore, Canada. Every now and then when running I'd get a feeling of "It never gets better than this", when the body feels great, the mind is right and the run just couldn't be any better. This was one of those moments, and I always take a photo when I can when I have one of these moments.

Mum and Dad.

No words needed.

Lake Louise in Canada. This is the most beautiful place I have seen in the world. The experience there helped as well, as while I was walking along the edge it started to snow, and the colour of the water changed dramatically. The sheer peacefulness of the snow falling in such a majestic setting is something that I will never forget. The photo doesn't show well enough how beautiful this place is, probably because of my fat head blocking the view!!

One of my favourite shots. We had just met up with our son, Sam in London for dinner, and I managed to get this one as we were leaving the venue. A mum and her son in deep conversation.

In Berlin. The Wall may be down now, but the legacy continues. This brick line traces the path that the Wall took through Berlin, a permanent reminder to their past. One only has to see the difference that is still visible between buildings on each side of this to understand the contrast between the lives of those on each side of the Wall during this time.

This was taken in Dubai as I was looking for my connecting flight to London. It really struck me at this moment how much of the world is still out there to see. I was just dreaming about visiting so many of these places, and realising at this time that I was just one plane flight away from each of them was such a thrill.

And just behind me was another board with just as much information.

I love being in airports and looking at these boards just to see the possibilities available.

This was taken in Lincoln, in the north of England. It may look rather plain, but I'll remember this moment forever as I was in a new city in a country that I had not explored. I had a few minutes to kill before visiting a school, and just stood on a bridge over a canal and saw this group of swans paddling up the canal so casually. It doesn't show how cold it was at the time, and this added to the moment even more. While not being a tourist attraction, it really summed up 'the vibe' of this city at the time.

This is why I love travel. Rather than the grand tourist spots which I have seen and loved, it is the small streets in cities that really tell you about that place. I just soak up the atmosphere and history of these places. This city (Plymouth) just had so many streets like this, I could have taken a million photos!

And sometimes it is not wanting to see things, but to do things. I have always wanted to eat good old 'Fish and Chips' in a seaside English town, and this I did in Plymouth. They tasted so good, mainly because I was savouring the moment more than the product. The experience was as good as I could have hoped for.

And one of my favourite places in London!

I actually went and saw Mamma Mia twice while I was over there, I just love it so much. I also went and saw 'The Book of Mormon' with my son, as well as 'The Lion King'. Last year with my wife we went and saw 'Les Miserables'. None of these can compete in my eyes with Mamma Mia, I could go there day after day!

This photo sums up a lot of my recent trip to Finland. Snow everywhere, which is odd for someone coming from Australia. This was the road I walked along to get to one school in particular, the cold was numbing, but the experience was so memorable.

A random snap taken in the West End of London while I was waiting to meet my son. This part of London is so alive 24/7. Just walking around and watching what is happening around me was one of the things I loved to do most. This was taken just after dark, and it was still the same 5 hours later.

In doing this post, I have come to realise just how big it could become, so where do I stop?

Every photo is taken for a reason, meaning every photo is important.

I could go on and on posting photo after photo, so where do I stop?

Now is a good time because I am getting so nostalgic. If anything, by doing this I have realised just how lucky I am to be with the people in these photos and to have had the experiences with them.

Whether they have been taken in my own backyard or at the foot of a world known tourist attraction is irrelevant, they are just the shots that have meant so much to me at the time.

Until my next post...

Cheers!

After a big few weeks...

Well,

The past 6 weeks have been a blur to say the least!

Four weeks overseas was such a memorable time, and now the challenge is to start implementing some of these ideas into my work.
It goes without saying that I just can't say "We should be doing this, or doing that", because my colleagues did not have the benefit of being exposed to what I was so fortunate to have experienced.

There were so many things that I saw and learnt about, it will just take time to find the right times to suggest and try many of these practices. I am lucky that I work with people who are keen to try new things, but in order for these ideas to be imbedded the right context and environment needs to be established first.

A 'band aid' approach is the thing that I want to avoid the most, because people must believe in the need to try something new rather than just giving it a try and then forgetting it.

For more than a year now I have been inspired by the work of Dave Burgess, who has written, among other things, the book 'Teach Like a Pirate'
Dave is someone who has an approach that really resonates with me, and while many might see his ways as 'different', to me they are the ideas that engage children and encourage teachers to bring more passion into their teaching.

Recently I was asked to contribute to a newsletter that goes out each week to more than 50 schools in my part of the State of Victoria where I work. My Australian readers might be wondering why I'm clarifying that so much, but as my readers from the USA has spiked dramatically this week, I do need to be specific.

The newsletter is titled 'Communication Matters' and is very detailed and informative, leaving schools with no reason to say that they have been left out of the communication loop.
One section is titled 'What I am Reading', and each week school leaders are asked to contribute a summary about something that they are reading, or have recently read.

Here is what I contributed...

I can't recommend this text highly enough, and the website is just as good.

As my regular readers would know, I had surgery this week on a shoulder that I hurt early last year.
Due to lots of circumstances, I chose to have some knee surgery first as that was what was causing me the most grief. The shoulder was due to be done soon after, but an unexpected dvt in my leg put paid to those plans!!

Anyway, after waiting until I got back from overseas I finally got it done this week.

As I've had many operations on my legs I am accustomed to the rehab required, but as this was the first above my hips I have had to learn quickly about the way that things that can change!
Among these...

• Brushing my teeth left handed is hard!!
• Sleeping in the one position is rugged, as I have stitches on my chest and back, and can't find a suitable position. I catch up on the couch during the day!
• Driving the car. Fine. Shutting the door, not so good as I have to use my left arm to do this, and just can't reach.
• Shaving. Now that took some time!! Still some stubble left here and there! And some shaving cuts.
• Opening jars ( vegemite, jam, honey etc) I can't do it right handed for a few weeks!
• Opening a beer! It just doesn't feel right doing it the opposite way, but I got there.
• Now the BIG ONE... Scratching myself! Because I can't use my right arm at all, I find myself scratching up against the mud brick walls of our house, much to my wife's amusement. Now I know what a cat feels like!!!!!
• Making, and carrying a coffee. As for stirring it...try stirring with your opposite hand!
• You never really know how much you rely on one arm until the use of it is taken away from you.
• Putting on/taking off a t -shirt. I am now relying on zip up tops.
• Putting socks on...this is a killer.

I could go on and on as I discover even more hassles, but what I am experiencing is an ant compared to the elephants that so many others have to deal with in their lives.

If anything, I am so lucky to be able to get things fixed so quickly when so many people just have to carry on with these things in their everyday lives. 

Not for a moment can I feel sorry for myself when I see so much hardship not just in the wider world, but in my local community.

I am just so lucky.

Finally, another big change in our lives recently has been that our house is just so empty!

It has just been Jen and I since I got home two weeks ago.

Our eldest boy Sam is in London, and our youngest, Lachie has started Uni in Melbourne. I haven't seen him for 6 weeks. 

Our middle son, Will is at Uni here in Bendigo, but with his Uni commitments and camps (as part of his Outdoor Rec course) his work, sport  and his very social life, we hardly see him at all either. 

He turns 21 tomorrow so I hope we cross paths for this big occasion!

Our most recent photo at Christmas when Sam was home.

The times to get photos like this will become even more precious as time goes on.

My football team (Richmond) lost last night to a team that everyone dislikes by JUST 1 POINT!!

Today I have done my best to get over it, I think I am there. Thank goodness for blogging as a way to clear the mind!

Until my next post...

Cheers!

What's going on in the United States?

This will be short and sweet.

Today I changed the layout of my blog as I just needed to freshen it up a bit.

Plus, I am stuck to the couch as well after surgery this week and have a lot of time on my hands.

I noticed a huge spike in the number of page views this week from the United States, and I am really interested to discover why.

So, if you are one of my mystery readers from the other side of the world, I'd love to know why this has suddenly happened, and if you are a new reader, I'd love to know where you might be from and how you came to discover my blog.

Let's talk!!

Don't be shy!!

And of course, I welcome all readers and would definitely love some feedback!!

Until my next post...

Cheers!

Back on the couch again...

Well,

After a few days away visiting family for Easter, we are back home in Bendigo and having some fairly lazy days enjoying the beautiful Autumn weather that Bendigo never fails to produce year after year. It never fails to amaze us each year how glorious it is here at this time of the year.

My surgery on my dodgy shoulder has now been done, now is the rehab time so I'll be using the next week and a half of my holidays resting it and getting ready for the next term of school.
The doctors at the hospital I was a patient at were very concerned about another dvt episode in the post recovery period after my experience late last year, so they kindly gave me a few needles before I travelled home in the car and made sure that I had a nice pair of socks to wear with my thongs, always a great look!

As you can see, the pressure socks are a great look, and I have a great view out the window on a beautiful Autumn day.

The next few days will be spent on the laptop preparing for school as my Co-Deputy Principal is now on maternity leave, and our Principal is taking some well deserved long service leave for three weeks.
After my four weeks overseas I have a fair bit of catching up to do, so this forced rest is probably a good thing for me anyway. The only thing that will bug me intensely will be the lack of exercise, so I'm hoping that by tomorrow I'll be able to get out for a walk at least.



While my wife and I were wandering around the streets and lanes of Melbourne earlier in the week, we stumbled across a small gallery that sold all things Dr Seuss. The prints that were on display were all limited edition and stamped with certificates of authenticity and were just beautiful. We would have loved to have bought a few...until we saw the prices!!
Just a small one not much bigger than an A4 piece of paper, unframed was more than $400!! Framed was about $200 extra, but they were great.
As for the larger ones that were life size, I'd hate to think what they would cost, clearly in the thousands.
BUT...if I win Lotto, I'll be back there in a flash.

Just a sample of what was on offer.

 And to finish off this post, I saw this photo online today and just love it.
I posted it on our school Twitter feed with the caption "What is the first thing that comes into your mind when seeing this?"
Hopefully it will get parents and their kids talking about it, which is my objective.
I just love posting photos and images that I hope will elicit responses and generate genuine inquiry with kids.

Until my next post...

Cheers!

Surgery done...

Well,
After postponements and date changes since last November, I finally had my long overdue shoulder surgery today in Melbourne.

I am fully aware of how pathetic and trivial my situation is when compared to the utter crap that others have going on in their own lives, so I can't complain at all.

The staff at the hospital I am in just couldn't be any lovelier, they are making my stay just so easy.

I had a really interesting discussion with two nurses who were wheeling me into surgery. When they discovered that I was a teacher, they asked me about my views on ' holiday homework'. When I asked what they meant, they told me that their own primary school aged children had been loaded up with homework for the holidays!

Now, don't get me started on homework as I am totally against it and I could bang on for ages as to why I disagree with it so much. Just to hear how upset these two people were with how their children approached the holidays was heart wrenching. At a time when these kids were meant to be excited about holidays, they came home stressed about having to complete a large swathe of homework over the holidays. Talk about raining big time on someone else's parade!!

As I had a dvt late last year after my little knee op, the doctors here were very concerned about it and have taken every precaution to avoid anything resembling a repeat.
I am now back in my room, and resting up, feeling very sore but generally okay.
I am hooked up to a machine that constantly massages my calves and gently squeezes and releases pressure on them. It is pure bliss!!! There is also a fair bit of calf to look after !!!

One positive has been that my addiction/obsession/dedication to maintaining my fitness has resulted in a very low heart rate. Every so often the other machine that I am hooked up to goes off when the rate drops below 50, so a nurse comes in and turns the alarm off. Not sure if they have considered re-setting it. It's also ironic that part of the reason I am in here is because of my exercise dedication, so it's a bit of a win some/lose some situation!
Although I won't be able to donate my limbs to science when I fall off the perch, at least my heart and lungs might be able to benefit someone. Then again, with the amount of work I've had done on my legs, perhaps they might be useful to science to examine the effects of sport on the body!!

So tonight will be just resting up and getting ready to go home tomorrow, followed by a rehab that I will be very careful with.

Until my next post...

Cheers!

Some holiday fun...

Well here we are, four days into a two week break from school and enjoying some time away.
After spending Friday and Saturday at home doing some much needed home maintenance after being away overseas for the previous four weeks, we have taken off for a few days.

Part of this is to catch up with family, part to just have some time together, and the rest due to necessity.

As none of our boys were home for the Easter weekend ( one overseas, one away at the beach with mates and the youngest called in to work in Melbourne) it was pretty quiet at home with just the two of us.

Sunday morning we jumped into the Jeep and headed to Colac to spend the day with my wife's parents who were also going to be child free on Easter Sunday.

A bit of a scare along the way just out of Castlemaine. I noticed a few dead kangaroos on the side of the road, obviously someone had cleaned up a mob on the road overnight. In the distance I could see a bird land on the road and as we got closer we were surprised to see that it was a wedge tailed eagle, and was coming in for a feast. The surprising thing was that it didn't move off the road and made us come to a complete standstill. It was huge, and would have made a mess of our car had I not slowed down.
After a nice relaxing lunch, and doing all the necessary updates on the mother in law's iPad, we were back in the car and heading to Melbourne.

We stayed in our favourite motel here and just enjoyed wandering around the city.
And buying stuff!!
No sooner had we settled into these digs and we were off again to another part of Melbourne, this time the very upmarket and snooty Brighton.
The reason for this is because in the morning I have to go to hospital here to have a long awaited shoulder operation, and it makes sense for Jen to be staying nearby.
After checking in we walked down to the shopping strip and were really pleased to see very quickly one of the stereotypes of this area, a lady in a very crisp white shirt with the collar pulled up high. If anyone has watched 'Kath and Kim', you'll know why we found this to be rather amusing!

A walk along the nearby beach was just great, and we came across the famous Brighton Bathing Boxes, which occasionally get sold for exorbitantly prices. I think a recent sale fetched $165 000!!

Looking back towards the city.

The famed bathing boxes, with loads of tourists having photos taken...just like us!

We also went for a walk along the long pier and breakwater here and walked past John Bertrand as he was lugging some fishing gear. Thought of getting a photo with this yachting legend, but let it go instead.

So, while Jen is contemplating whether to do study all day tomorrow in our hotel room, or go shopping, I'm loading up on food as I have to fast from tonight, and my operation is not until early afternoon it seems. I think she'll take the shopping option rather than be cooped up all day in such a nice area!

During my trip away I found myself staying in a different hotel every few days, so I was keen on getting back to my own bed. After only a week of that I now find myself staying in three different places over three different nights. It's no wonder I wake up in the night and have to stop and think about where I really am!!

While I'm not nervous about tomorrow, I am hoping that I get a good report, and that they don't find anything else wrong in there, as they still can't pinpoint a lot of the problems until they actually go in. I'm being optimistic, as they said if I wake up without a sling on on, that's good. If I wake up with a sling on that means not so good.

There will be no sling!!!

Until my next post,

Cheers!