Goodbyes

The past couple of of days have been filled with goodbyes.

Sunday afternoon was a farewell lunch at the church. I went to TCC that night and had another couple of farewells.
Monday night I went out for a farewell dinner with Rae, Neil and Donald. It was a grrreat meal. Garlic prawns. Ribeye steak. Potato bake. Honey orange glazed carrots. Boysenberry crepes for dessert. It was fabuuuuulous!
Tuesday night was my last fish and chip night and so all the kids who normally come along were there (well, actually it was all the kids who have EVER come, except one - we filled up two carloads to come along).
Last night was my last night with the Home Group (or Cell Group as some of us call it). I went to Bethany's early and had tea with her, Richard and Hannah. Hannah gave me lots of cuddles and shared some of her sick germs with me (coughing in my face. haha) so I'm feeling a little extra snotty today.
Today I went to the school to say an official goodbye to the kids - I dropped off letters to the ones that have been "the core" kids, offering them a final word of encouragement and thanks for a great year. I had a haaaard time saying bye to my girls - Te Ana and Emily, namely. They've been the most consistent girls to come along to the Edge and I have grown a particular attachment to them. Their letters were twice as long as all the ones I wrote the boys. Then I went in to visit with Fiona Humphries for the rest of her lunch hour (she's the guidance counsellor and music teacher at the school), and we had a really good long talk about the year and she had some wonderful things to say to me. We both had tears in our eyes at the end of it and she even did the typical mom thing - walking me out to my car and waiting there waving until she couldn't see me down the street anymore. That was emotional. Emily, one of "my" girls, is her daughter, so there's a particularly strong connection there.

And so tonight is my last night. I will be having tea with the family and then going to Bethany and Richard's again for one last night of McLeod's Daughters.

Let me just tell you, on the topic of McLeod's Daughters, that Rae just brought me home a SWEET AS HAT!!! It's SO outback/farm girl and I'm sooo stoked!

Ok that's all for now. Tonight is big goodbyes and I've already shed quite a few tears. Time to check my itinerary for tomorrow.