Anyone who is a Granma will recognise this saying. It is the greeting of a two year old very early in the morning. I have just had four days down with my Sydney family and enjoyed it immensely. You may remember how scared I was the first time I went down there? Now it is soooo easy. Just a bus and two trains and there are two hills to walk up and there I am. It is still a little steep dragging my suitcase on wheels but I can do it.

The Sydney family is still adapting to the news that they are going to Cairns. It was what we mostly talked about. They both have one more subject to complete an assignment in and one written exam and then they will have completed a Diploma in Ministry and be ready to go out as Sallies or Salvos as they are called in some countries. The first weekend in December they will be dedicated to a life of service as officers in the Salvation Army and in January off they go. Their first Corps (church) and a large one at that.

How do I feel about all this? Just a little anxious. It is a long way away, the kids are small and Naomi in particular will be growing up without our input. But I know that is the case for so many grandparents in our mobility-crazed world. And so it will give me one more thing in common with a good percentage of the human race. And that is probably a good thing.

I went this afternoon to see Ray in respite and Mum in her Dementia Lodge. Ray was out to impress me with how well he is coping on his own and had quite a lot to say ( though he did repeat quite a lot of it). He didn't seem to be missing me at all, smiled at the stories I told him about the grandkids and then shooed me out when he thought it was close to tea time (5pm) and he wanted to be there in plenty of time. Well it is just across the corridor but people were already beginning to collect. In those places meals are the natural highlights of the day. He has been on a couple of bus trips with morning tea and enjoyed both of them. He does love to go out in the mornings so it is good he is still able to do so.

I went over to the Dementia Lodge and sat with Mum as she had her meal which was fish and chips (fries) and vegetables, she polished off that, a dish of creamed rice and the glass of water for her meds to be taken with. She made some faces that so reminded me of the two year old I had just been visiting that I know that her genes live on in her great grand daughter. I even got some smiles and a couple of giggles, she looked clean and tidy and was wearing one of last years summer dresses so I was happy with her care.

I am gong to ring a few girlfriends and see if I can get together with some this week, I have a few friends who are widows or divorced women and don't really want to go out with Ray and me but are quite happy to meet up with just me. And I do have to accept that for some that is just how it is. It is what I did on one of my previous three day breaks and I enjoyed it so it is an experience worth repeating. But I am also going to start sorting the house out too. It does need a spring clean and I know that once I sort the jumble out I will feel it is easier to maintain.

As I left the Sydney family this morning my son-in-law told me how much they had enjoyed having me stay and how he thought I looked much more relaxed after the time off. He is right, I do feel much more relaxed too. As long as nothing comes along to spoil that feeling I will feel like a two year old before you know it.

...bounce...hello...