The Christmas Letter

Well here it is. Slightly adapted for blog purposes! I am actually going to email it to those people I have email addresses for as I can't afford 112 stamps. And even then I have cut down the list from 160. Never move too much as it encourages people to keep in touch!

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4th December 2006

Dear Everyone,

Alas a totally impersonal letter this year that will not even be accompanied by a card or personal greeting. Please be assured that when attaching the even more impersonal mailing labels we are thinking of you. I figure, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, that to lose one Christmas mailout would be seen as misfortune, to lose two would be careless.

Most of you are probably aware of the awful past couple of years we have had. To cut a very long story mercifully short, things in the parish got worse and worse over 2005. The Bishop held a review of the parish that said that W had done nothing wrong in his handling of the parish, but a group of three families made it very clear that they wanted us gone. W’s depression got worse and worse until he had a total breakdown in October when the bishop told him that he must leave the parish and did not have anywhere for us to go. W spent almost a month in a Psychiatric Clinic in Brisbane trying to adjust medication.

We ended up buying a house in C as we adore the place. Miss I was very happy at school and J was booked in for Prep this year. We felt that the instability at home would be further reinforced with the kids with a move somewhere else. It is so nice having a home of one’s own after years of rectory living! It is a lovely old Queenslander with a large back deck (where it is so lovely sitting when it is pouring with rain), a gazebo with barbecue, range hood, fan, shutters etc all built in and, after Cyclone Larry took out a large tree and the washing line, room for a pool in the future! The garden took a battering after Larry, but is now looking good– lush tropical vegetation. We are even seeing some frogs return to it, but they are still largely outnumbered by the dreaded Cane Toads. One plan is to put in a frog pond and try to entice the local frog population back and help depopulate the toads.

The last year has been one of ups and downs. The Diocese paid 12 months of sick leave for W which was basically 2/3 of a normal stipend. W’s mental health is still very up and down and he still has some very black days (which can turn into weeks). He sees his psychiatrist here weekly and is working on more behavioural therapy in order to get him ‘functioning’ again. At the moment a return to parish ministry looks unlikely, but with further therapy this may change in the future. In February, W started a graduate Bachelor of Laws degree at uni. He got through first semester quite well, but we are awaiting second semester results which are not looking very promising. He has special consideration and is hoping for some supplementary exams to get through a couple of subjects.

Miss I has been forced to grow up far too fast. She will be 9 in March, but shows maturity far beyond her years. She has had a great couple of years at school. She has plenty of friends, is very academic and is involved in the musical life of the school singing in the year 3-5 Choir and playing in the Junior Strings group. She still does Jazz dancing and this year took up Tap as well. Swimming has fallen by the wayside as there are not enough afternoons in the week!

J will be 6 in February. He started school this year and has just thrived. He had the most magical year with his teacher– some teachers and children manage to just click and J and Mrs G did just that! They are both Dr Who fans and would spend Monday morning talking about what had happened on the Saturday episode! J has a vivid imagination which results in the most amazing stories! His latest interest is the computer where he will type up stories and read them to anyone who will listen. This year J played Under 8s AFL for the Cairns Hawks. His progression over the season was amazing! He started not being able to kick or handball, progressed to kicking backwards (so he could kick to one of his friends) and ended being a pivotal part of the team! He shows musical interest too and wants to learn the drums or the trumpet! Not just yet, J!

I have had a mixed year or so. The anxiety that befell me last year has been controlled (and I am now off all medication for it). I started my honours thesis in Feb 2005, but when things fell apart in the parish and then when W’s health deteriorated I got an extension until the end of this year. It has been very hard going and I now have 7,000 out of 12-15,000 words down. My extension has been extended into next year. I want to write a decent thesis to keep options open for postgraduate study down the track, but at the same time we are desperate for me to start working as a teacher and bringing in a teacher’s wage. The thesis has evolved over time from just looking at partnership in science education in primary schools to looking at the effect of a partnership on pre-service teachers self-efficacy (ways they think about or position themselves) with regards to science education. The data I have collected is amazing and I am totally immersed in post-structuralist theory!

In August, when W’s sick leave had only 2 months to run I bit the bullet and got a job as a Sales Assistant at a Department Store. I am mainly in the homewares department (kitchen and linen), but have done shifts in ladies fashion, childrenswear and the Christmas Shop. I started out with 20-30 hours/week but last fortnight I worked over 90 hours and this week I am working close to 35 hours. The pay is not fantastic, but it is good getting out and meeting different people. It does mean that my thesis is not getting written, but when the hours dry up at the end of January I will get stuck into it and hope to have it submitted by early March.

The kids are on holidays and W is with them most of the time when I am working. Mum (NF) is taking them down to Melbourne after Christmas which they are looking forward to. Money is so tight here that a holiday looks a long way off. Yesterday was the first Sunday in a long time I haven’t worked and I am off for a small shift later this afternoon. Our new address is at the top of the first page.

Christmas will be spent at home. NF and my brother will join us, as will J, K and the kids who are now living up here. It is great having family close by. The kids love having their cousins around. I will be working in the lead up to Christmas and of course throughout the sale period.

So greetings of the season to all! I hope the New Year brings positive change for our family and for you and yours too.

Love and Best Wishes,