Weekend

Expectations

It has only taken ten weeks for me to be trained into thinking that rain only ever happens after 4pm. Yesterday it rained at 2pm and it’s been raining since 9 this morning and I am Rudely Shocked! Doesn’t the rain know it’s not supposed to happen until late afternoon, so I can go buy a mop, vegies etc before it rains?

Being away

Today (Saturday) I missed my friend’s funeral and my cousin’s 21st (happy 21st Sar! I will write you a birthday entry on your actual birthday in March).

I note these things, and I missed them both because I was in Timor, but if I was in Australia I would have missed one or the other, because the funeral was in Canberra and the party was in Coraki. Living in Canberra means I am used to missing stuff like this, because I can’t afford the time or money to go home for every family event, so I am not as cut up as I could be, I guess. Call me cold-hearted if you like, but I don’t think I am, I’ve just made my peace with these things. Plus, I made sure to write a message to be read out at both. I like this idea – the way people used to send telegrams to people having weddings – in recent years I’ve seen friends read out emails at weddings, and the most touching thing I’ve heard at a funeral of another friend was a message sent from a best mate who was overseas.

So I wrote messages for happiness and sadness and cried over both.