It's high time I get some fresh news in here, its been a long long time.
A quick wrap on the end of 2023
Elf was quite sick of her job at a small insurance law firm, and at the end of the year set about finding a new one. She had two interviews and was offered both jobs; and chose a firm called TFR. They are in a classic old Macquarie Street sandstone palace very close to my office. It's a full time job (the previous was 4 days with occasional bursts of 5).
Michael lived at a residential college for his 2nd year of his arts degree, not far from our house. It was a mixed success. It did him good to get out of the house for a while and socialise with a different group, but it wasn't a great year academically. He was also doing front-of-house training at a social enterprise cafe called Hamlet, and doing a lot of driving practice on his Ls.
What was I doing? The usual, I guess. My job is undemanding but not stressful and I am happy with that balance. I work in a small team of 4 in an office big enough for 16, and we all get on really well. I think we generate a lot of turnover for the agency so the rest of the place tends to let us get on with it. I've got my little paintings, occasional outdoor soccer on Sunday and indoor on Wednesday.
Winston is a big old dog now. He'll be 14 in March. He is on 3 daily medications to help his arthritis and his laboured breathing. His back legs are prone to weakness. Normal stairs are impossible for him now, but if they are widely spaced like our front steps he can push himself up with his back legs together.
Ruby and Coco have settled into a steady life of minor crime which does not vary much from month to month.
Early 2024 news
Elf's new job was very quiet to begin with until the boss came back from an extended Christmas break overseas. Now it is very full-on, and the earlier start means we can't walk in to work together (we have been, but I have to scramble at the home end then kill time at the work end). But Elf is glad she made the move, she is enjoying the people, including two she knew socially already.
Marcus had such a busy time in Hobart over Christmas that we didn't see all that much of him. But we had seen him in Hong Kong in August, and we will again, so the most important thing was for him to go back to work crammed full of happy memories and re-connections with his mates here. He has just been to the highlands of Vietnam for 4 days with two friends, and he loved it. He is learning plenty at work and is given plenty of responsibility. The next big thing is another work trip to London. While there he is going to get together with cousin Miah (now studying music in Liverpool) and together visit the Swiss cousins in Winterthur.
Michael has had a really progressive few months. He didn't pass his first driving test, but he and we were keen for him to try again pretty soon. He did the test in Marcus's car this time; and passed! So he's under his own steam on four wheels now. We had only just got home from the test, flushed with success, when he took a call asking him to come to a job interview, his first ever. The interview went well and he's now been offered that job, as a dining assistant at a fancy hotel on the waterfront. He'll seat diners, set and clear tables etc. The job was organised through Hamlet – hopefully he'll start work soon. Michael's also doing a new course at Hamlet, currently he's making a lot of coffee. He's taking a year off from his degree and living at home. It's lovely for us and our many pets to see him every day.
Winston had a bad time in January. 5 months ago we switched him from one of his daily medicines to a monthly injection. In retrospect he had an awkward few days after each of those vet visits. This time his back legs collapsed and he seemed really poorly. We had his harness on him around the clock as he could not get up unaided. (I thought we were seeing his final days; as once we all went back to work he would be alone at home and I didn't think that was fair to him in his immobile state. The slope of our yard meant at times he was tumbling right down to the front gate with no way to get back up.)
Meanwhile Elf never gave up; she had faith his strength would come back. He did seem a fraction stronger each day. On occasions we would see Winston lying down, then later see him staggering along somewhere else. Then one morning we finally saw him get himself up off the bed! (It was an excellent omen as that was the day Michael aced his driving test.)
We have sworn off that new medication and he has continued to be a basically healthy but quite old dog. He's still keen for walks, and people still stop us and ask "what is he?" – although often afterwards his legs are quite weak for hours. I do not think he's going to see another Christmas really, but for now he's living his best elderly life.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - • - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
As mentioned above, Miah is on an exchange studying music in Liverpool, UK. The circle of cousins is widening – although she will be back later in the year. And Bea in Switzerland intends to study marine biology in Townsville. Marcus has learned that he is entitled to work remotely for 2 months of the year as long as he has access to fast secure internet - maybe he'll be able to do that from home? Not sure yet.
My mum and dad are moving into an independent living unit at Queenborough Rise in Sandy Bay. The process is underway but might take a couple of months. They are doing a good job sorting out decades of collected stuff; their own and their parents'. They'll have much less space, but there is an enclosed garage; mum has a plan to keep making art there. They had a general garage sale over two weekends in November; now it's time for a specific art studio sale, which will be over the next two weekends.
And that brings us more or less up to date!
