The Lord has healed me!!!!! Yes that's right folks. I've been touched by the healing hands of God. GLORY!!!! Praise the Lord. Bless the Lord. Amen. Amen.

Not.

No. My "healing" came about by sacrificing 2 months pay, all my sick leave and all my annual leave, to spend hundreds of dollars travelling back to the mainland and my family to spend further hundreds of dollars to be treated by a physiotherapist who knows all about physiotherapy - one whom I have used before. She did well, restoring my back to what I would call 95%. Since then, and my return home, I've been seeing the local chiropractor. Man I wish I wasn't so skeptical, or should that be afraid, of chiropractors to start with. My back is now 99.5% better. As an added bonus, the receptionist, who is also the chiro's daughter, is HOT.

I've been going to the gym to workout and swim (physiotherapist's orders). I've discovered that gymnasia are handy, because of the general nature of gymnasia, being indoors, you can do excercise without getting rained on or blown away in bad weather, like what we're having now.

It was good to catch up with The Family (ie uncles & aunts & families) after nearly 5 years of self imposed exile. My mother probably spent those years praying and begging for God to reunite her son with her husband. Then, when I arrived at an aunt's place to stay, my mother, acting under the Holy Spirit, betrayed my trust and told her husband that I was back in town. So he drives out of his way between work and home past the house where I'm staying, and sees me sitting on the front porch. So he stops, get's out of the ute, and comes over to see me.

By this stage i was ready to run away, but my aunt, who was sitting with me, tells me to just stay put, so I do. My father approaches, climbs the stairs, we hug, Italian family style. Too many confusing emotions. Always on the edge. Ready to run. Ready to fight.

Anyway, I could sense a change in him. He certainly wasn't taking me for granted any more. He was on his best behaviour. I reckon he knew that if he screwed it up this time, he would never see me again.

I reckon mother would have gone back to her church that sunday and told everyone of the wonderful thing God had done in reuniting her son with her husband. If I could respond to this it would be in this way: At what cost? What did it cost her? 10 seconds of prayer every now and then? What did it cost me? 8 months of unmitigated pain? Hundreds of dollars on incompetent (non) professionals? Thousands of dollars lost in lost income? Paying rent on a flat I'm not living in for 2 months? Immessurable cost in lost experience, lost social life, lost life? I love my mother, but sometimes...

Anyway, that allowed me to catch up with his brothers + sisters + their families (ie, uncles, aunts + cousins). Man it was good to catch up + see what had changed and what hadn't. Mostly mostly waistlines really... (lol). All my baby cousins have grown up! (and some are quite teh hotne550rz?!?! Make good gf/bf for others I suppose).

I caught up with a friend in Melbourne on the way back home. I also made some new ones, I think, including a reasonably hot, and intelligent, chick! Went for a Sat morning ride down Beach Road for old times sake. Everytime I goto or pass through Melb. lately, it just gets better and better.

Went to NZ for easter weekend. Needed to get away. Didn't get everything done/go everywhere I wanted to. Not enough time. Still, worth every cent. I think I'm catching the travel bug.

I've now been considering my options for the future. Needless to say, the future has never looked so good.