As I sit here typing, Andrew is cooking dinner for me. After church this morning, we went for a walk around the market and bought some sausage meat such as pepperoni, then for a walk along the gardens before coming home for lunch. After lunch, I had a nap and Andrew caught up with friends and then we played an hour of squash. We played 5 close games but I won overall. He is a tennis player but he plays a good game of squash and gave me a good run. Last Monday, we went swimming at the local pool and I swam laps and we have also done a lot of walking. I like it that Andrew encourages me to do things that I enjoy and is helping me to 'break the ice' and get back into doing those things that I like doing, to get fit again.
Last Wednesday, we went up a mountain which is also a rainforest. The trees were magnificent in their strength and uniqueness and the shade of the tall trees kept it cooler than the very hot day it was. We went up to a lookout and Andrew insisted on giving me a piggy-back ride for a few metres. At one of the waterfalls, he got into the cool mountain water and stood under a waterfall. He kept his shoes and socks and shorts on because the ground in the pool was very rocky.
Andrew is willing to enjoy new things with me and encourages me to enjoy life and laugh. He looks for ways to make me smile and we get on very well together. When it's time to study, he sits beside me and reads a book and if I get distracted, he reminds me that I need to refocus. I have another assignment due in a couple of weeks so I'm trying to get ahead from being behind. It's a practical assignment and then I have to evaluate myself and 2 peers on our demonstration of attentive listening skills, confronting and focusing. One of my colleagues from work is coming over to be my 'client' for the video and then I have to upload it to the university's site. Hopefully, I will be able to apply the skills being assessed during the 'demonstration.'
Well dinner is done, a chick flick has been watched and we've played a game of Mario Kart Wii game. It is nice to feel like I can enjoy life again, can laugh and do silly things. Work is going well. I love teaching and feel like I belong there. Milly is enjoying the attention and spoiling Andrew is giving her and it's good to be right where I am.
Assignment two is due in on Wednesday and although it's only 1,000 words and only worth 20% I am finding it hard to get motivated. I only just passed my first assignment in this subject and was very disappointed as I felt I had put a lot of work into it, used more references and done better than my assignments in basic counseling. Admittedly, I knew this lecturer might be a bit tougher since the week before he gave us our results, he sent an email out saying how disappointed he was in the quality of our assignments but it still hurt to not do so well. I do feel like quitting even though I know I want to complete this course successfully. I will get the assignment done but I am also teaching full time now so I have to prioritise and be more self-disciplined in my life style. Hopefully I will be able to muddle through the last couple of weeks of this term and prepare more adequately for next term's work and study.
Andy and I had a lovely weekend at the Gold Coast. We had a lot of fun together and it does feel like we've known each other for a lot longer than we have. I was talking to him earlier today and said I would call him when I had had enough of study and he knowing me quite well said, "So in about ten minutes?" When we were at the Gold Coast on the weekend, we did a lot of fun activities and one of the things I liked best was that he was willing to go on a horse trail ride with me even though he had never been horse riding before. He enjoyed the ride and he understands how important riding is to me.
Andy is a great guy who gives me gifts, compliments me and encourages me. He seems to be understanding when I use defense mechanisms to protect myself from getting hurt and does what he can to reassure me that he really does care about me and thinks I am special. It is good to have so much in common and yet also have our own areas of interest. I like it that he has so much knowledge and a willingness to learn. I respect and admire his Christian faith and the way he lives his life. We have fun together and laugh a lot and even when I am feeling discouraged, he looks for ways to build me up. Anyway, time will tell what our friendship develops into but at the moment, we are just going to enjoy being boyfriend/girlfriend.
