Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Abby behind the wheel!!

The highlight of my week has been drinking drip coffee from the comfort of my house. Does that make it a lame week? Or just really great coffee.

This week has definitely had it's up and it's downs.

The up's:
The presents Paul got me (said coffee maker and also a much needed Aussie hair dryer. Mine was making scary smoke smells.).
We spent a lovely evening with Paul's friends Jake and Amy losing over and over at the card game President (called King here. Prime Minister, man.). We played probably twenty five hands. My boyfriend is one competitive bloke, as well as a good sport which comes in handy when we're being slaughtered.
Paul's dad works for an airline who hosted a trivia night to raise money for cancer research. Trivia nights are a big thing here. It's just what it sounds like- you make teams of 2-10 people. The team who answers the most questions right wins a prize. I had more fun than I expected to- it was SUCH a blast. Our team came in second place, but hey.
Paul and I went on a small hike on some northern Sydney beaches. Might as well get in all the activity we can before the big surgery, right? Sydney is beautiful beautiful beautiful. Apparently it's ranked in the top 5 best cities in the world, and I can think of 100 reasons why.
Bachelorette finale! Totally picked JP from day one.

The down's:

The surgery looms over us, and to boot, creates quite the time crunch. The past week and a half we've been going going going non stop. At least that's how it's felt. Moving across the world on two weeks notice leaves LOTS to been done. Who knew. We've been holding things together, but I in particular have defo had my moments. Leaving my family, moving house, starting a new job, making new friends, learning to drive, preparing for this surgery- these are all things I know how to do. Doing them all at once can be a bit tricky. I am lucky girl to have so much support from home, from Paul and from Jesus. How do people do life without these things??

I started my new job last Friday! It's in a warehouse for a bookstore called Koorong. The job is all manual and quite boring, unloading boxes, stickering books, packing boxes etc. The pros to it are my amazing boss (I have never had such a great boss in my life), the friendly staff and the fact that I can listen to my ipod all day :) I haven't worked too much yet- my boss was nice enough to give me time off to be in the hospital with Paul.

In other exciting news, Paul bought a car! It's his first car, so I made sure to take the classic "first car" photo (see above). We like it a whole lot so far. I've been riding shot gun until yesterday when I drove for the first time. It didn't go very well. I actually almost hit a woman walking behind me (first gear is in the top right corner of the clutch right next to reverse), almost pulled out in front of another car (left side means look right, Abby) almost stalled, I ALMOST DIED, OKAY?! Not really :) I did get honked at. I did cry... but in the end Paul and I exited the car in one piece. Well, two pieces. You get it.
I was so overwhelmed and on edge. We had the idea to first get me used to the left side of the car and street in an automatic before taking on the stick, which is what we spent today doing.
Driving around in Paul's sisters automatic was loads easier, but still scary. Everyone told me that driving would come naturally, but it just hasn't. I recite the rules to myself in my head- tight left turns, wide right turns, which helps. I gravitate towards the side of the road because to me, it looks like I'm headed straight for the oncoming traffic. Scaaary! Paul is patient though, and little by little I am getting the hang of things.

I am determined to get it by Sunday, which is when Paul goes to the hospital. I am done with crying. Sometimes you need to suck it up and put on your game face.

That's all I have to say for now, but I will end this post with a few specific requests on all you prayer warriors :)
More than Paul's health, please be praying for his spirit. He gets really frustrated and restless when he's sick. You can imagine that for an active guy, a month in bed will be difficult, especially following such a hard time with the same thing this past Winter. He has a positive attitude, and is keeping his head up, but sometimes the silver lining can be awfully hard to see.
But also pray for his health! :D
For me, pray that I learn to drive soon and fast. This is really important. I want Paul to go into surgery knowing I will be okay (I want to know that too!) and a big part of being independent is driving. I need to take care of Paul and I need to take care of me. Please pray I have the strength to do that and the confidence to stay on my side of the street when I car is headed straight for my seat! Ah!

I miss you!
Love,
Abby

1 comment:

  1. I love reading your blog, I hear you speaking every word. You are a writer! I'll pray your specific prayers right now!
    love,
    your Mama

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