We enjoyed a lovely lunch today at the Kawana Waters Hotel which is about 5 minutes away — if you walk.  The bistro is at the end of the canal system, just off the Mooloolah River where the river pours into the Pacific Ocean.

John’s sister, his niece and great nephew are visiting to celebrate his mother’s 91st birthday. The cake will be served tomorrow.

It’s been a very long month. I didn’t know how to write about the unspeakable pain at losing my 23-year old granddaughter in a horrific motorcycle accident in Houston.

She was a computer techo and was in her second year of transitioning from male to female. Our entire family supported her in what she was doing.

She was born as Jeremy and he lived with me until he was 5 years old. He was beautiful inside and out and later as Nicole, was really cute. Our family will grieve for a lifetime.

I did see the neurosurgeon and my back IS a mess and it’s been a mess for years and went undetected by several doctors. Please, if like me you KNOW there is something wrong, don’t do as I did and assume the doctors know it all.  They don’t.

If you’re over 50 and not thin, it’s just assumed you need to exercise and/or lose weight and that will fix the problem. It won’t.

I’m scheduled for medial branch blocks of some of the nerves on April 6th which could relieve some of the pain and if that doesn’t work, then back surgery is the only choice. My fingers are crossed.

Now to lunch. The Kawana Waters Hotel is right on the water at the end of the canal and there are tables all along the water overlooking a large holiday apartment complex and the marina. It’s all very nautical and it’s a good place to take someone like Joan who has a habit of wandering off and for little Sam who is as curious as any 2-year old.

It was a bit cloudy and a bit windy due to ex-cyclone Winston but we didn’t get wet. There was a new menu at the pub which added to the beer on tap using Co2 Gas with the American favourites and one of them is a pulled beef brisket with caramelised onions and it was called a Po Boy. Now every American I know would have called this a BBQ beef sandwich. Amirite??

It did bring me back home — to one of those places that uses way too much bbq sauce and the meat only comes through by texture. I still liked it.

John had a rump steak and he said that it was good but a bit more medium than rare. He ate it all telling us it was full of flavour.

Rob wanted a steak. He has trouble swallowing and the nursing home has him on a soft diet so steak is out. Every time one of us looked up we said, “Make sure you chew it good.” I think he got tired of us treating him like a child but nothing got stuck and he was happy.

The top photo is of a caesar salad with chicken. It had enough anchovies for it to be called an anchovy salad but it was fresh and the chicken was well cooked and tasty.

Kawana Waters Hotel
Nicklin Way
Kawana Waters, QLD 4575