MWNews 86

Copy of a letter to Poppy,

I have had an eye infection for the past month or so. Can't wear my contacts. It was supposed to have cleared up in two weeks, but I still have red in my eyes. Might have to go back to the doctor and see if there is something else they can do. Since they did nothing except tell me to stop wearing my contacts for two weeks the last time, there probably is something else they can do about it. I can still see, but I did not update my glasses the last time I had them checked, only ordered contacts, so my glasses are only good for seeing things far away. Have to take them off to read or look at anything close up. I could see with them on but my nose is not long enough to rest them on to bring everything into focus, so I take them off and read about two inches from my face. Makes it hard to read the computer screen but at least, with the glasses, I have that option. With contacts, if I cannot see something close up, I cannot just take them off and read it that way. I am thinking of getting reading glasses when I wear my contacts, assuming of course, that I ever get to wear them again.

For once, everyone is fine right now. No one is sick. Been having repeated bouts of flu and stomach flu and other little ailments all the time for the past few months. Not just me, but the kids and Juanita as well. But, for now, no one is sick. Juanita's mother had a bad report from the doctor but I don't know any details, so I will just say it was a bad report or something. Possibly cancer of the uterus but I am not sure and I am not sure they have completed that diagnosis either. We should know by the time we get down there.

We leave next week. To Tasmania until the end of January. I have about four weeks vacation during that time, if they allow me to take that much time off. As I told my boss, over here, a vacation under a month long is not normal, whereas in the states, a vacation longer than a week is frowned upon. I have never taken a vacation this long but am looking forward to it. I am fairly sure I will still be required to do some work, attend some meetings or something like that, but have not heard anything yet. Should get word this week, probably tomorrow.

We are driving to Melbourne and then taking the boat across to Tasmania . Takes about ten hours to drive to Melbourne. We are going to drive and stay the night someplace along the way and then go to the boat the next day. The boat goes across over night so the kids can sleep and will not be bored with the trip. I have never had a bad trip across the Tasman sea but the last time Juanita and the kids went, they said it was really rough. The Tasman sea can get rough at times but I have only heard of them turning back the boat on one occasion and they have never had an accident. The did leave a flood door open once, a few years ago, but no damage was caused and they fixed it on the way over. Hopefully, there will be no problems for us. As I said, I have been across four or five times and have never had any problems at all.

We should get to see some more of Tasmania than I have seen before. Having so much time off, we are taking the camping gear and will take a couple of weeks to just drive around and set up camp in different places. I have never been anywhere on the east cost, so we will drive up there somewhere, maybe all the way to the top of Tasmania. The boat arrives at the top of Tasmania but it is more in the middle. It might be nice driving from Devonport to Geeveston. I don't remember if we have done it in the daylight before. Devonport is where the boat arrives and Geeveston is where Juanita's parents live. Takes about four hours. I know we have done part of the trip during the day, when I was there the first time, but I think every time since then, it has been dark for most or part of the trip. I remember one time going through a plague of locusts and they kept hitting the windshield for about 5 miles, but it was dark and we could not really see how many there were or how big the swarm was.

We should get some good pictures while we are there. I am still looking for a new computer for me so I can set up and update my own web pages. We have Juanita's Mac computer, but I have never really figured out how to do anything on it and have been waiting to get back to a Windows machine so I know what I am doing before I set up a family web page. I have been waiting for a year and a half now to get the computer but maybe after Christmas, I can start to save up for it and get it running. To run something like that, you need a fairly beefy computer, so it costs more than I have been willing to spend, but in the next six months, I should have it.

We are looking at getting a new car, wanted to get it before we went on the trip but the payout of the lease was too big. We are looking at a Kia van. I am not sure it is a good idea, but the van is nice and it fits our needs. I am looking at a new Ford Territory. That is what we drive now but I don't think they sell them in America. Right now, we can get into a luxury model of the Territory, with more features and the third row of seats for about the same money as the Kia van. It is a much better car and we have a good dealership we have dealt with our last two cars but the deal ends at the end of the year and I am not sure it will still be available when we get back from Tasmania. If it is, I think we will go that way, but if not, the Kia is OK. It is big enough, with three rows of seats, and we can add some options to it that make it nice. I just think it feels like a plastic car and I am not sure of the reliability of it, nor the trade in value when we give it back. I will lease whatever car we get so it will be expensive but all costs are included in the lease which makes it easy to maintain.

Hope everyone is doing OK. Don't hear a lot from anyone, of course, they do not hear a lot from me either. I have neglected the blog for many months and I always say I am going to get back to doing it, but I never seem to be in the mood when I have the time. I am either in the mood to do it and don't have the time, or have the time and don't feel like doing it. Takes about an hour each time. Then again, if I do not re-read this one, it will only have taken about 20 minutes to do, but I will probably go back and re-read it and then make adjustments or additions and it will end up being an hour. I will probably just post it to the blog as is after that, so I can get an new entry in there. I keep thinking they are going to delete my blog if I do not keep it updated and I do not have all the entries saved anywhere so I am always afraid I will lose everything. Maybe I should back it up now. That would be another advantage of going to my own web page, it will be automatically backed up and it will never go away, but that is a few months away.

Talk to you later. It was good writing to you, I really enjoy doing it. Just wish I did it more often. Tell everyone I love them and we all miss them, even if no one has ever met William. He is looking forward to it. He starts school when we get back, so hopefully, he will not be in constant trouble when he gets there. He is still very active and tends to ignore everything except what he wants to do. We will see how it goes. Maybe he will calm down, probably not.

Maeghan has her school awards program tomorrow. We were just told she is getting some kind of award. They said they sent us a letter about it but we never got anything. I have no idea what it is for, surely not as big as the one she got a couple of years ago, but it will be nice if I can get there to see it. I was scheduled for a meeting at the time of the awards program. I have always missed these programs but I have asked if I can miss the meeting to attend this time. Long story with my office, but lets just say I am working from home on a permanent basis for a while due to upgrades at the office. I will let you know what kind of award she is getting. She doesn't know about it but it is probably just a normal good student award, which will be good as she misses a lot of school and it will be nice if they can show her she is still doing well. Don't get a lot of feedback from the school but it is only the second grade, so there is not a lot they can say. She is a very good reader and is getting better at math. She can read almost anything now and she enjoys it. She still has trouble with some types of math, but I am not sure where she is supposed to be right now, so it is hard to judge if she is ahead or behind.

William likes to have books read to him and he can count and do some math. I am sure it is from watching us work with Maeghan on it. He should do well if he can just keep himself interested and follow the instructors. I think he will be fine and Maeghan will be going to the third grade next year, so her homework will probably get harder but she should do well also, if we can keep her in school most of the time. I think she goes back to the doctor in February.

We will need to ask about her teeth, another worry but probably nothing. She lost her two front teeth almost a year ago and they have still not grown back. The bottom ones have grown back but the two on the top have not. We asked about it last time but they said it was nothing to worry about. Now, it has been a year, so I am starting to worry. William keeps saying his teeth are loose but I am sure it is just so he can be like Maeghan. He has not lost any teeth but he is only five. Maeghan has not had any other problems since the last doctors visit. She is still getting bigger, not a lot, but she will never be very big, or that is what they say. Since no one knows anything about her condition, they have no idea what to expect in the future. Hard to imagine her getting any bigger with her condition but it is harder to imagine her staying this small. She still weighs more that William but William is a full head taller than she is. They tell us she needs to diet, but if she diets, she will not grow, so I am not sure what needs to be done. She does not eat a lot, so I can't imagine limiting what she eats. Just more healthy food, I guess. She does try more things now but she almost always says she does not like it.

Have to go now. I actually ended this letter a long time ago, but went back and re-read it, like I said I was going to. I added everything after the talk to you later paragraph. Could probably go on for some time but I need to finish some work before Juanita gets back from Williams school. Not sure what time that will be, but it should be soon.

Bye for now,