I don’t normally feel the need to blog about my daily grind. I have this fear of boring you, my readers.
But yesterday was exceptional. I had many missions and I achieved them all. Here we go.
After doing one load of laundry, I started the day by taking Gab to his weekly basketball skill session at 9 am. At 10am, Gab and I drove 20 kms to meet a new mum-friend. Miss M is a single parent who is going through the most challenging phase of a special needs mum. That is, dealing with a new diagnosis of autism for her 4 year old. Ms M was referred to me by our good doctor. Dr G thought that I could help Ms M with various things. We have been calling each other for a couple of months now. I thought it was time to meet her and her boy. I invited her to lunch but since she doesn’t drive, I had to fetch her. I don’t normally make friends with total strangers. But I’ve noticed that I am constantly evolving. We reached home around 11.30 am. Our conversation was both frenetic and heartfelt. She had so much to tell me. My mission was to help Ms M get a carer visa for a relative from the Philippines.
Ariel stayed home to prepare our lunch. It was a feast of spaghetti and roast pork. At 1.30 pm, it was time to head out for our next appointment, a visit to Knox Grammar School. So we drove Ms M and son back to her place. It was 2.30 pm when we arrived at Knox Grammar School. My second mission was to prepare Miguel for a Christmas Holiday Camp organised by Knox Grammar. Every year, Knox Grammar and Abbotsleigh (both exclusive private schools in Sydney’s North Shore) host Abbox of Fun. Abbox of Fun is a “camp for 20 boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 15 who have intellectual and physical disabilities. Camp activities include swimming, interactive music activities and craft, an excursion to a Sydney attraction, pony rides, special guest visitors and much more.” Did I mention that this Christmas camp was free? It will be Miguel’s first time to join Abbox of Fun. It will also be a first time for him to be away from home for 3 nights (gasp!). I just had to visit the school, take lots of photos, describe to Miguel what will happen next month, hope he understands and assure my heart that he will be fine. We met the lovely boarding headmistress, Helen. Helen took us on a tour of the pool complex, gym, school grounds and the boarding school facilities where Miguel will reside for 4 days. Her description of the camp excited me. I wanted to go myself! The school facilities were impressive. I now understand why parents pay between $20,000 – $50,000 (if boarding) on school fees alone.
We left Knox Grammar at 3.30 pm. We had enough time for an ice cream and a quick trip to the Nespresso shop at nearby Chatswood Chase. We were home at 5.30 pm and I decided to take a quick nap before I started on my next mission.
The last mission for the day was backyard camping. Again, it was all about Miguel. His school is holding a one-night camping activity at the Warrah School grounds at the end of November. Apparently, in Australia, the word “camp” means sleeping in cabins or some sort of facility. On the other hand, the word “camping” refers to “sleeping outdoors such as in a tent”. Ok, I just made that up, I could be wrong.
The big boy pitched a borrowed tent from the S’s. In the olden days, Ariel and I were very outdoorsy. Our idea of fun was trekking up and down Luzon’s mountains with the Meralco Mountaineers. I had my own group from Siemens which I called Akyat Pilipinas. Fast forward to Sydney, we only went camping once ever; it was back in 2006. We went with the S’s to the Central Coast. Modern day camping involved parking your car at the camping grounds and clean showers and toilet facilities. You can go bushwalking if you want.
Despite all that, the big boy missed his first-world comforts too much (i.e. a bed). I knew, without a doubt, that it will just be me and the boys sleeping outside that night. The day was so busy and so hot (temps hovered around the mid-30s for the most part) that the big boy developed a headache. In fairness, he prepared our tent before calling it a day. We inflated airbeds and used pillows to make our sleeping quarters comfortable. Our toilets were first class. Sadly, there were no stars last night. I was too tired to engage the boys in stories and scintillating conversation. We just hugged and cuddled and exchanged silly nothings. Migo took forever to sleep. Gab went out like a light at 10 pm. I had to keep awake and keep Migo company until he dozed off at 12 midnight.
The next day, we all woke up at 6 am. The temperature dropped to the low 20s overnight. After loading the laundry, it was time to prepare waffles for breakfast. All my missions that weekend were accomplished. I decided to take Sunday off.