Fairfield Gardens

http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/queensland-flood-damaged-stores-reopen/xbugcmu

Anyone who has visited us here will no doubt have been to Fairfield Gardens numerous times.

Yesterday was a momentous day. Fairfield Gardens, THE LIFEBLOOD OF THIS SUBURB (!!!), finally re-opened after 4 months. 4 months of having to take the bus to get groceries finally - finished! Fairfield Gardens was one of the main reasons we decided to move to Fairfield. A shopping centre right across the street, with a big grocery store, shops, cafes, etc - an an air-conditioned haven in 40 degree heat! We waited in anticipation for this day...hearing rumours of an Easter opening...then possibly the beginning of May...hopes dashed every time. Finally, an official banner went up outside the shopping centre proclaiming May 26th as the magical day. I wandered through it yesterday, surprised at the amount of small businesses which had returned. Sat on a bench to wait for Jeremy and watched as people from the community ran into friends and discussed what they had lost in the floods. Fairfield finally feels like it's back to normal again :)

So proud!

This article is about my good friend, Alastair.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/song-gong-childs-play-for-writer/story-fn6cc53j-1226055616367

He was in my program but deferred for this year because he felt that he couldn't do as well as he wanted to with his uni work while simultaneously playing in a band that is really taking off. Guess he made the right choice, because he just won a major prize for one of his songs. It's a HUGE deal - as the article says, judges included Tom Waits, Jeff Beck, Ben Harper, Kings of Leon and Ben Folds.

I'm really super happy for him!!!