It’s been a busy few weeks for me – especially since I didn’t really have anything planned for my three week holiday. Visit some friends, some family members and just generically soak up my last opportunity to really relax before mine & Mr.SuggieBlue’s lives forever changes.

Yesterday was the two week mark of my holiday. I have one week left. We were planning a trip to Hobart which would incorporate a visit to dad’s brother and dad’s birthday. I think mum and I have decided that we might be best to relinquish those plans and concentrate more on our own area – Launceston. In hindsight, I should have known I’d try to cram too much stuff into this trip. Really it’s been all about weddings, babies and funeral arrangements. Grandad really isn’t well. He’s had a nasty chest infection, he’s had some (possible) cancerous lumps taken off his ear and he thinks his heart is giving up on him. It sounds bad – and it is – but in the past 9 years, Grandad has been through two bouts of chemotherapy to treat Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, he’s had chronic lung problems (a result of a lifetime of farming) and has been on oxygen for the past six or so years and he has a constant battle with swelling (particularly of his feet) as a result from all his medications and a weakening heart which can’t cope with everything. All this in the past nine years, and yet I’ve been able to hug him every time I’ve had holidays from Perth, so far. I’ve been blessed for that reason alone. To have him alive and looking so well at my wedding was by far one of the biggest blessings – although for selfish reasons. Now I’d love him to meet Snowflake, and my cousin’s baby who is due one month before Snowflake (late November). These two newest additions will make 13 great-grandchildren so far for him and Grandma. Not bad for 61 years of marriage. I really would love for him to make it to Easter, so he can see his eldest granddaughter (Eldest Sister Dear (ESD)) marry as well, but I know he recently told Grandma to start making arrangements for another event of the sadder kind. I guess only time will tell which comes first.

Between now and Easter, I’m attending four weddings (hopefully no funeral among them). Of those four wedding’s I’m bridesmaid in three. The first is in November, where I’ll be 34 weeks pregnant – and yes! I’m a bridesmaid in that one. My best friend since year seven is getting married in March and ESD (who lives in NW Western WA), is 3 weeks later in April. Both weddings will be in Tassie, which means Snowflake and I will have a month long stay here while Mr.SuggieBlue goes back home for two weeks in order to support his family. The March wedding seems to be pretty-much organised – for the most part. They only got engaged in June but my friend has been very pro-active and has everything ready – down the invites and table centre pieces. Basically, the invites just need to be posted and the tables need to be set. She’s even organised our bridesmaid dresses (I’ll take mine back to Perth with me next week) and her hens day (which I won’t be able to attend). I feel bad that I really haven’t been able to help her out with anything. But, as she pointed out to me, it was much the same when I was organising mine. Every time we’d talk, I’d organised this and that. I guess it’s the price you pay when you live in different states. I still feel bad though.

ESD is a much different story. Mum and I had told her we’d do some scoping out while I’m here. She’s booked the reception and ceremony location, the celebrant (same one as me) and the photographer, but (like me) she’s never set foot on the venue where the wedding will be held. Mum and I said we’d visit it while I was over, but we’re severely lacking on days where we might be able to do this. If we take Hobart out of the equation it gives us an extra three days to do what we need to do – like look at places that do flowers, cakes etc. Hopefully it will be enough time for us.

I do have to make a trip to Bicheno to visit my friend’s sister for preparation for the November wedding. I’m in charge of making a slideshow of pictures for her hen’s day/night. Mum and I thought we could make it into a nice day trip; and since the sister and her hubby own a little Cafe/Wine Bar/Deli, we thought we could enjoy lunch there too.

Of course the main reason I came over here was as a last opportunity to visit my friends and family alone before Miss Snowflake arrives and changes my definition of ‘alone’ forever. I would have loved it if Mr.SuggieBlue came along as well, but it is nice to have some time to myself. They say the second trimester is the best time to take a holiday, so I’ve jumped at the chance. My last visit here was for a certain wedding last year – almost one year ago – and while I’ve been lucky enough to see mum quite a bit this year, and have a visit from my sister (Mrs.S) and her family, there’s still one more sister (Ms.M) I hadn’t seen, plus my dad, my grandparents, my beloved Great Aunt (who had a stroke just before the wedding and wasn’t able to attend) and of course my beautiful friends – who are now planning their own weddings.

So this trip really had been about weddings, babies and everything.

Right now, I’m sitting here alone (the common definition of ‘by one’s self’) in Mum’s kitchen; the sun is out and warming my back (and creating an annoying glare on the computer screen). I’m enjoying the chirping of the birds in her garden and watching the cows (who are about to calf) in the yard right out the front of the window. It’s a slight change from my view the other day, where I was looking out the window of the shack straight out onto the beach. For those of you who follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, you may have seen my pictures, but I’ve added them here as well, just so you can see how North East Tassie really is a little slice of heaven; one of which I can’t wait to share with my little Miss Snowflake as she grows up.