For Gooding Sake! » Life

A Family Diary – Surviving the Christchurch Earthquake (Part 3)

Beabubbles — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 11:26:02 +0000

A birthday party turns into a shaking disaster.

Music. Talking. Lollies. Cake. It all sounds like a perfect birthday party. Suddenly the house starts violently shaking. What’s the first thing that enters your mind?

“OMG, this can’t seriously be an Earthquake.”

“Who’s shaking the room?”

“Man this is gay”

These were the type of questions going through the minds of 7 girls in the midst of a 7.1 magnitude earthquake at a perfectly normal birthday party.

So, at this perfectly normal birthday party, we were having so much fun, dancing, partying and eating cake (believe me it was amazingly yummy) and never to forget scary movies like the “Uninvited” & “Skeleton Key” which had me almost losing my voice for screaming so hard!

And of course, the picture taking. Most of the pictures that we were taking were mostly horrible and disgusting ones of all of us looking like crazy zombies, and were put on Facebook within minutes of being taken.

But, who would still be awake at 4.35am? Of course, we still were.

Some of us had gone to sleep on our little mini mattresses with the music still playing quietly in the background and some of us were still talking and eating lollies (that includes me.)

Suddenly, this great rumbling sound fills the room. And believe me it sounded like a train was coming towards us in all different directions. We had absolutely NO idea what was going on until the shaking started.

It was incredible.

The whole house is shaking, you hear in the kitchen that things start to fall on the ground including glasses and the one image that would never leave my mind: My friend’s 42 inch flat screen TV falling flat on its screen crushing everything underneath it.

The lights flickered and went off. Still shocked from the tv, the birthday girl pretty much scared me out of my pants by screaming “EARTHQUAKE!!!!” at us and telling us to go under the table.

Just as we were nearly under the table, I get scared out of my pants yet again by Rose’s dad suddenly appearing out of nowhere and yelling at us saying to go in the foyer as it was a safer place and it was more secure.

When would the shaking stop?

It seemed like a lifetime when the house finally stopped shaking.

It was silent in the room.

Then suddenly everyone went into panic mode, looking for their phones and some source of light.

But I couldn’t seem to move.

I was holding onto the door frame so hard I reckon I could’ve ripped it right off.

My whole body was shaking. But I tried to ignore that and I went back into our sleeping area, looking for my phone.

When I finally found it, I text my parents seeing if they were ok. Dad rang just after sending it to them.

Yes they were fine, yes the house is ok, yes I’ll try and stop panicking.

We listened to our battery-powered radios to hear any news.

The Earthquake magnitude was a whopping 7.1 on the Richter scale. We returned to our beds but we never went to sleep. Turns out that I had only had an hour and a half sleep that night.

The following morning, after tonnes of frightening aftershocks, most of us were still shaken by the quake.

Everything was cancelled that normally happened on a Saturday morning from my music classes to Sports tournaments and work.

After getting picked up by my worried parents, we went to visit my Auntie’s house to see if her old house suffered any damage.

It was fine, so we went to my other auntie’s house. But driving there was like driving through a war zone!

Silt had come through in little mini volcanoes, the sewerage wasn’t working so you couldn’t go to the loo, there were humongous cracks in the road and houses looked like they had been hit by bombs!! Dad said that we had been lucky, our house didn’t even get any cracks, it looked like nothing ever happened in our area!

There we were, all three of us crashing at my auntie’s house for the day, watching the news, eating yummy food and watching random Filipino movies because their house still had everything like power and water!!!

So, the Goodings obviously survived the terrifying yet exciting earthquake.

Life goes on as usual apart from the scary aftershocks, possibly contaminated water, lost homes, holes in the ground, smashed buildings everywhere you turn……

Sigh

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Day 193 – Traffic in NZ is Like No Other

TheGoodings — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 07:44:54 +0000

The traffic in other parts of the world are defined by the volume of motor vehicles in that flood their busy roads.

I like New Zealand’s, specifically the South Island of the country’s kind of traffic where the roads are busy with the fluffy, cute kind of ‘disruption’ – a flock of sheep!

When I first visited New Zealand in the summer of 1999, scenes like these in the provinces of New Zealand abound. Not anymore though. You’d think having lived here for almost 10 years that a flock of sheep blocking our way would no longer enthrall me but they do!

I still feel like a giddy townie each time I across them on the road. I just had to take a photo (or two!)

Disclaimer – Please note that NO SHEEP was harmed in the creation of this blog entry

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Day 188 (07.07.10) – 9 Years Today

mrsgooding — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:15:09 +0000

How come 9 years seemed to have rolled by so quickly? It seemed like yesterday when we got married and yet I feel like I’ve known you forever?

9 years ago:

Simon, my love, you are worth the wait.
You are worth all the heartaches and pain I have felt in the past.
You are worth waiting 28 years for.

You know my past and are aware of what I have been through.
You have shown me nothing but acceptance and understanding
for everything that you know about me and for that,
I will be forever grateful to you.

Simon, I do not promise to be the best wife in the world.
However, I promise to love you the only way I know how –
completely and unconditionally.
This is my solemn vow because in you, I have found the one my soul loves.

Today:

We may not be each other’s first love but I am fervently hoping that we will be each other’s last.

9 years ago, we vowed to love, to honour each other till death us do part.

Thanks for keeping that promise as I have kept mine.

Happy anniversary my sweet.

Love you untold

MrsG

PS – thank you for the pressie. I love my new LV!

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Day 184 (03.07.10) – Part 5: My Medical Horror Story in NZ – How low can you get?

mrsgooding — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:26:50 +0000

On 10 July, it would be 4 months since that fateful day in March where an Ashburton surgeon bungled up what should have been routine surgery.

While my energies were focused on healing and getting better physically, I failed to take into account the toll of all that has happened to me on my mental health.

It was only in the last month that I realised that I was feeling REALLY LOW.

I realised how badly damaged my body was. How weak I still was. How easily tired I could still get. How hard it was to focus on anything.

All I wanted to do was get better. Fast.

It was only in the last month that I realised as my body continued to heal, to improve…my emotional health was left unchecked and slipping down a slippery slope of despondency.

No, not depression. I know enough of the symptoms of depression and other mental illness as a trained Psychology undergraduate.

I was just feeling generally low.

Low enough that I did, for a time, withdraw from any “pro-active” socialising. Save for my sister and her family, I didn’t see anyone at all unless friends popped in for a visit or they invited me to catch up with them.

I stopped reading novels (my fave past-time ever!) and retail therapy lost its appeal (yes, now you know something was really wrong!)

Even work (that I love and am so passionate about) lost its appeal for a while. I was doing everything on auto-pilot.

I even had a writer’s block and couldn’t get my blogging mojo back.

Yes, I laughed at people’s jokes, I went out with friends and would generally have a good time but they were all superficial, transient. I still didn’t feel good inside. I felt…blah.

I felt empty but yet I was also angry. I got angry and irritated in the littlest things. Poor Simon and Bea. For a while they carried the brunt of my rage.

It didn’t help that at one of the lowest points of my physical recovery, one of our stalkers reared its ugly head and caused havoc in our family. I did have a relapse and took a few days to get back into the business of healing.

All of these were happening and I was feeling a bit lost when fate intervened.

A text message to one of my BFFs here in New Zealand (BFF “J”) with the words “I’m depressed “ saw her dropping in for a visit the very next day. I didn’t realise much I alarmed her when all I meant to say was “I feel low”, not really “depressed depressed”, if you know what I mean.

It took that visit of hers to get me talking about how I was feeling. And I promised J that I will never say “I’m depressed” unless I really am depressed!

Sure, I’ve told Simon all of these but he’s my Husband. He is in my soul. He is in my very being so discussing what I felt with him does not constitute me reaching out to another person. Does that make sense?

And after I told my friend what I was feeling, it’s like a dam has opened and I was able to discuss it with yet another BFF (BFF “D”) and a girl talk (READ: group session) with these 2 BFFs (“J” and “D”) plus another talk with friend Lisa via Skype helped me unburden what I was feeling.

It wasn’t until the girls trip with Arlynn though in Melbourne last week that I was able to finally fully unburden myself. Those girly chats I had with Arl late into the night (and up to the wee hours of the morning) finally got me all “talked out”.

After that, I was fine. I was able to get out of this funk.

Now, I could truthfully say I am back. My mojo is back. My sunny disposition is back. The future looks so bright and promising again!

I realised this transformation was happening when I tweeted and posted this status:

I wanted to record this moment in time. I wanted to shout out that I was happy and that I’m loving life again.

Actually, after I published this status, I wanted to remove it again. I didn’t want people to think that I am living THE perfect life. Because I am not.

I still have bouts of pains from my surgery. I still cringe each time I see my scar.

I still get irritable. I still worry. But at that point in time, I was feeling VERY HAPPY and I just had to recognise it.

I recognise the abundance of good fortune that I have. I have A LOT to be grateful for.

I have a GREAT family, in-laws on both sides (yes, they’re also family but I had to give them special mention to show how much I love them!) and circle of TRUE friends.

I live a comfortable life. I am in position to help and be an angel to others. Our daughter is doing well in school. I have the most adorable nephews and nieces.

It’s so hard to find LOYAL friends but I have been fortunate to be surrounded with a lot from all around the world that I can call on for company, support, advise, shopping buddies, chats, perspective and a lot more. I know all I had to do was either write an email, pick up the phone, tweet, SMS, shout out on Facebook, Skype and someone would respond. Sometimes, I don’t even have to say anything. Friends just pop in for a visit or ring just because they wanted my company. How special can one person feel?

The business I am involved in opened its doors in New Zealand at the worst possible time in history and yet is still here, surviving and thriving.

Despite the hectic work schedule, I am able to spend time with my family and friends. My social life is the busiest it’s ever been! I love it!

So yes, this post started with a question of “how low can you get?” and I’m glad I didn’t have to hit rock bottom to recognise HOW MUCH I truly have.

I have what matters in life.

Love. Family. Trust. Support. Loyal Friends. Comfort.

I pray to the powers that be, may long this continue. After the hell I’ve been through, I hope the Big Guy up there and the universe know, I deserve it.

What more can I ask for?

Handbags. Shoes. Clothes. Travel Fund.

Sorry. Just joking!

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Our Next Home

mrsgooding — Mon, 10 May 2010 21:30:26 +0000

I saw this property in Fendalton and fell in love with it.

Simon doesn’t like it. He thinks it’s got no character plus he doesn’t like the swimming pool (or the “maintenance” part of having a pool).

MrG prefers a villa surrounded by mature trees. Well, if he had a choice I know he’d want to live somewhere with a million dollar view or somewhere outside the city.

I don’t mind a house with ‘character’ as long as the interior (and windows!) are fully renovated. I don’t want to deal with outdated plumbing or live in a cold, draughty house.

I don’t want to live outside the city for now. A house on the hill with a million-dollar view is nice too if we can afford it!

I think this is THE perfect home for us.

It’s got the right number of bedrooms and living areas plus ample garaging for Simon’s toys for the big boys and the most important thing, it’s very close to Bea’s school. She doesn’t need to commute for almost an hour by bus to get to school.

Our two main considerations for buying a house are the following:

modern kitchen, large master bedroom, large living area, large walk-in wardrobe, lots of windows and light coming through, an ensuite in the main bedroom (me)
at least 3-car garaging and very minimal DIY fixer-upper to do around the house (Simon)

There is neither time nor inclination to move houses at this time given my condition.

But it’s free to dream, right? Maybe this house won’t sell at the price the vendors want and it gets re-listed at a lower amount.

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A day of Reckoning for my Beloved Philippines

mrsgooding — Sun, 09 May 2010 21:02:06 +0000

I may be a New Zealand citizen now but a big part of my heart and soul still belong to the Philippines.

I decided to stop caring about what happened to the Philippines the day the current President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pardoned that thief, err, ousted, impeached ex-President ERAP, here I am again….coming back like a prodigal daughter.

I do care what happens to the Philippines. I will pray for my country on this day.

The day of reckoning. The day of the general elections in the Philippines.

I don’t worry about the “enlightened” voters who will vote with their heart (fingers crossed). I worry about the big percentage of the population who will vote for those who they see on TV a lot.

I don’t care whether it’s Noynoy, Gordon, Gibo or Villar who gets elected President.

Just. No. More. ERAP.

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Who is the Toast Rider?

ToastRider — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:07:53 +0000

I expect many of you are wondering why ‘The Toast Rider’.

Those of you who are motorcycling enthusiasts will likely have heard of the legendary Ghost Rider, a supposedly anonymous rider in Sweden who baits the local law enforcement officers with crazy stunts on a regular basis yet never gets caught.

Now while I am sure much of this is poetic license and all done to build the legend, whoever the mystery man is, he is one hell of a rider as the many YouTube videos will endorse.

Riding through traffic on some of Sweden’s main roads at speeds of up to 300kph on a Yamaha R1, slowing down to 160kph to swerve around buses and squeeze between moving traffic, is not for the faint hearted.

Wheelies on a 500 horsepower turbo charged Suzuki Hayabusa at over 240kph on a highway amongst traffic is something else well worth watching!!

This guy and his riding companions are top notch riders as well as being at least a little crazy for sure.

So when i purchased a new AGV helmet with a dark mirror tint visor, I was instantly transformed from a mild mannered law abiding citizen to New Zealand’s very own Ghost Rider…….

well maybe not quite, hence the more appropriate ‘Toast Rider’ who strikes fear in the hearts of little old ladies and sends barking dogs back to their kennels whimpering in fear!

Trouble is, the look is so cool, I keep looking at myself in my mirrors as I’m riding which could look a little odd to passersby. Just checking for bugs on my visor

Dark visors are also great for checking out the chicks, as no one can see through the tint to know where you are looking.

Makes car drivers nervous when your behind them too, so long as they dont spot the grey haired ‘old’ man at the petrol station when you take your helmet off to refuel!

All this is of course Top Secret and the true identity of Toast Rider must never be known, so it can be our little secret

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Paramore…… I say PARAMORE BABY!

Beabubbles — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 06:31:48 +0000

Oh my goodness. This was the most amazing opportunity of my life.

Going to the Paramore concert was AWESOME! By the way, if you don’t know who Paramore is, they are an amazing rock band who are really talented and they happen to be my favourite band ever!

Even getting in the car to drive there was exciting. Getting into the carpark of Westpac Stadium was heart pounding because of excitedness! But you should’ve been there to see the queue.

It was amazingly long.

The line went all the way to the entrance of the car park! I was thinking “Imagine if we were in America, the line will be five times bigger than what this would be!”

Thank God for that!

I was laughing at the signs on the door before we entered. It said

“No drinks, No Alcohol, no recording devices” and so on.

But I saw everywhere that EVERYONE had cameras and drinks and stuff. I was like “Hahahaha!!! Epic Fail! Shame!!” like I’d always say.

I was lol-ing until we got to the security checkpoint. Mum had to chuck out her chips and water! Fail! But I kind of regretted it because I was hungry after it all.

We entered the stadium and oh how I was excited. I was so impatient!

We waited and waited and I finally got sick of listening to old music going through the speakers so traditionally, on mum’s side of the family, I was taking photos of myself, occasionally having mum join in.

Finally, some random Kiwi people came on stage. I was so glad I wasnt in the Mush Pit because I would’ve either died of B.O or passed out because of the hotness.

Man…..the guy on the drums was hard out. He was drumming so hard that they had to put chains on the drum set to stop it from falling apart!

When they finished performing, tonnes of backstage people carefully set everything up for Paramore. But everyone including me got so fustrated when we had to wait a total of almost an hour and a half for them to come on! The Mush Pitt went CRAZY.

Literally.

They would sway and push each other over and people would be fainting of the hotness. I really felt glad I was up top on the stands.

FINALLY Paramore did an amazing entrance on stage with backflips and tonnes of smoke making it hard to see them. And as I guessed, they performed one of my favourite songs “Ignorance” first.

Paramore took a break for 5 minutes and the Mush Pitt went crazy again. We were so impatient because they were taking up time. I was so surprised when my mum was totally giving it her all and screaming “WE WANT MORE!!!”

I was like “How do you know what to do at a live concert?”

My mum just gave me this look and said “I was young once Bea and I went to concerts too, im not that old fashioned!”

After that I stayed silent. LOL

I wanted to cry when they performed their last song because I knew I would never see them again (unless they were coming back and mummy would be VERY generous and buy tickets for me)

I was screaming and singing as loud as I could to the songs.

I like totally lost my voice at the end of the concert from all the screaming.

But it was worth it.

At the end when everyone was trying to leave, it smelt so rank. I thought was going to die of B.O. I was hurrying mum out of the room before I died.

In the car on the way home, I would not stop talking about the concert. It was the best experience I had ever had so far and I thank my mummy for generously getting tickets for me and her, knowing how obsessed I am with the band.

Note: Bea wrote this the day after the 5 March Paramore concert.

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Surviving My First NZ High School Athletics Day

Beabubbles — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 05:35:37 +0000

Athletics Day. Ugh, just the thought of the word made me depressed. But actually, it was WAY better than I expected.

I arrived at the school (five or ten minutes late lol) in my full P.E gear and dressed up in my house colours, blue and white.

It was really cold. I met up in the Rutherford homeroom, pumped for a day of competition. It was amazing seeing everyone in my house, Rutherford, dressed up in house colours and dressed up in weird and wacky costumes.

My favourite one is when a Senior painted his whole entire body blue and he said he was dressed up as an Avatar! OMG it was awesome.

All I had was a sparkly blue hat and Blue paint all over my face

Our House leaders were great. They led us out onto the competition field with the Bag Pipes in front.

We were chanting and cheering, showing house pride. All the other houses, Erwin, MacGibbon and Thompson were silent and watched our awesome entry of Rutherfordness.

We sat in our House stands, shivering of coldness and cheering for those who are doing great for our house.

The chant got stuck in my head all day – “Rutherford, Rutherford, Rar Rar Rar! We are the best by Far Far Far!” and the chant when the other houses tried to Chant – “We cant hear you, We can’t hear you!” Lol

Our friends and I had fun painting on each other’s faces and signing each other’s backs. I signed a huge one on Emma’s shoulder! It read “Bea Gooding was here 2010, Rutherford Roxx!” I took a photo and showed it to her. She laughed when I said Rutherford Roxx when she was in MacGibbon House

Finally, after eating heaps of food and laughing at all the photos we took of each other, it was time for my first event, Long Jump.

I got selected to do Long Jump when I entered the event at the Sport Preliminaries. To get in, you have to jump over the average length, 3 metres. To my surprise, I got a whopping 3.8 metres!

I was stretching, getting ready for my jump when I saw something in the distance on my left.

It was mum, holding a HUMUNGOUS camera in her hands, plus she was dressed in Rutherford colours.

She came just in time for my jump. I was happy that she had the time to come and watch me since she is normally busy with work.

Thanks Mummy xx

Anyways, I got in position for my run up and I was off. I couldn’t help but laugh when mum was standing at the end of the Pit with the camera. I felt the sand enter my shoes and I heard the man say my Score “3.42 metres”

I was proud of myself for getting the score and my mum was also a “Proud Momma” too when she took tonnes of photos of me when running and also at the end of it

I convinced mum for staying another hour to watch my second event — The 100m Sprint which was after lunch.

She enjoyed Lunch because they gave out free food for the parents and teaching staff! She said it was really nice because they had the full Ham/Potato/Salad type thing there. I was going to eat her food too but I was too full – I stuffed myself with Liquorice! Yummmmm!!! She also got a chance to meet my Tutor, Dr Curtis.

It was 12.46pm and my race was about to start. I entered the 100m Sprint in the Preliminaries and I got second place with my time. Yet again I was surprised when they Placed me in the B Grade Sprint, which had all the good people! It went from H – Grade to A – Grade with A Grade being the best and to be in B Grade made me feel scared and confident at the same time.

The man with the starter opened his mouth to say the familiar words.

“On your mark, Set….”

I jumped when I heard the BANG of the Gun and Sprinted off toward the finish line where my mum was standing. It felt like my feet weren’t touching the ground. I couldn’t hear the cheering of the other houses as the only thing I was concentrating on was getting to the finish line first.

I stomped my foot on the finish line coming 3rd place in the B Grade race, heart pounding and out of breath. I was so happy for getting such a great place in my race. And so was my mum

It was almost the end of the day when I discovered a burning sensation on my shoulders and back. I tried to get my friend Alex to have a look at it and she was amazed at what she saw. She said the was a big tan line on my shouders, one side was pure white, the other side a disturbing red/black colour. I ran to the bathroom to check out what was up with my shoulders (they were exposed to the sun because my P.E top was like a singlet) and she was right. My shoulders were red as, and VERRRRYYYYY sore. It was the worst burn I had EVER. I ended up ignoring it and went on cheering for my house.

We sat in our houses waiting for the Sports Manager to say what places we got in the House Points competition.

Our hopes were high as we won the Swimming Sports comp. It was the usual, MacGibbon house, consisting a 4th place in every sport event that ever existed at STAC and Thompson house in 3rd place. We were waiting for him to say “2nd place, Erwin house” but he went silent. So naturally, everyone else went quiet. Our ears pricked and annoyance seeped through our bodies when we heard the results.

“Rutherford House in 2nd place just 16 points behind Erwin House in 1st place!!”

We ignored the cheering of Erwin, and Rutherford house was silent, not believing the overall result.

After a day of Ups and Downs, Sunburns and Paint getting thrown at you, I had a GREAT time with my friends and being happy at my surprising places in my Events.

Thanks Mummy for coming and watching/Supporting me! I had SUCH great day

BUT I AM STILL ANNOYED WITH ERWIN HOUSE! UGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Editor’s Note: Bea wrote this the day after their Athletics Day (26 Feb 2010) but only publishing it now, 5 April 2010.Popular Posts:

MrG Writes: The Cruelest Cut – Part 3 (Conclusion)

ToastRider — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:00:20 +0000

Continued…

On Monday March 15th, after they moved Christine into a shared room, she wanted so much to come home that the hospital staff agreed to let her out ‘on leave’, in the hope that she would get more sleep and rest at home, compared to the noisy shared room where hospital staff come and go at all hours of the day and night.

She came home late in the morning but worried the hell out of me as she was so weak and could hardly keep her eyes open. That evening a nurse from the Acute Nursing Service visited and found that Christine’s temperature had risen and she was not looking good.

A call to the surgeon had me drive her back to the hospital, which in some ways was a relief as I was very worried about having her at home in that state. That night they put her on antibiotics for an infection and did a CT scan and a chest x-ray which showed fluid in her chest and in her abdomen around the wound, so it was back into theatre for the poor girl and local anaesthetic to have drains put in both her chest and her abdomen.

What else could go wrong??

This was probably one of the very low points for Christine as she really couldn’t take any more surgery, needles or hospital, but needed them all so she could improve.

She also started having hallucinations from the pain killers (mainly morphine) and would see spiders on the wall or on her hands and double visions mistaking that there are 2 cups on her side table rather than one!

When talking to hospital staff she would close her eyes and immediately be transported to somewhere else like a tropical beach, but could still hear the person who was talking.

All a bit concerning to me, but hosptail staff said it was a common side effect and they would change her drugs. I think I wanted some, so I could also be transported to a tropical paradise

Luckily the drains and antibiotics made a big difference and she improved rapidly and was at last able to hold down food. Up till now she was not able to eat without feeling nauseous and losing what little she had eaten pretty much straight away.

We did have a fright when they removed the wound dressing to reveal a jagged wound right across her abdomen, reminiscent of Frankenstein. With the metal staples it really looked like an experiment in a horror movie, and you can imagine how Christine felt when she saw the disfigurement that had been caused by someone’s mistake, rather than scheduled surgery.

With the metal staples removed, it didn’t look so bad, and time will no doubt heal it to a thin line. I told her this would probably mean the cancellation of her swimwear photo shoot for Sports Illustrated, but got told that now wasn’t the time for such frivolous jokes!

Once things had improved and the drains were removed, we are again able to bring her home, and at least this time it didn’t worry me quite as much. So on Thursday afternoon (18 March) I took her home once more so she could sleep in her own bed at last.

That was almost two weeks ago now and Christine’s recovery has been very slow with one good day followed by two bad ones at times. Despite all the medication she is on (I have to record all the pills each time so we don’t get it wrong) she is in considerable pain a lot of the time and for some reason her stomach is very sensitive to many foods, resulting in a very acidic tummy with bad wind and vomiting.

This in itself is bad enough, but coupled with the stress vomiting causes to her wounds, it’s very distressing and extremely tiring.

So I have been nurse, PA, housekeeper and husband, for the last few weeks and I have to admit it’s tiring and frustrating all rolled into one. Luckily my employer has been very understanding and have granted me additional sick leave and once Christine was released from hospital, I have been able to work from home, having access to my work files through our home PC.

This is very fortunate as it is an extremely busy time of year for us with one of our largets tender submission for the year being put together, and I am an integral part of this process.

The impact of what has happened is wide reaching with Christine’s health obviously being the most important aspect, but so many other aspects of our lives have been put on hold while we work through her recovery.

It’s like being in quarantine as we are so limited in what we can do and how far we can go.

Autumn is with us now and we have had some lovely days, but Winter is just around the corner and we are unable to enjoy the last of the Autumn season’s warmth, before the days become short and temperatures grow cold. Perhaps next Summer will be a good one and we all enjoy it in good health.

What happened makes you think about a lot of things - your life, your job and what is really important in life.

Should we make changes or do we continue with the daily grind?

We will never know what tomorrow may bring, and that’s a good thing, but how should we live today?

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