a blast from the past

Oh my wordy lordy, yes indeedy do, I is gettin' soooo old!!! I went to my high school reunion last weekend. 37 years since I did my HSC and 21 years since the last reunion. Crikey! It was great to see everyone and thank goodness someone had the good sense to supply us with name tags 'cause I would not have recognised several of the people.

Aahhh, memories came flooding back of the last day of school which was pretty tame by today's standards. Some of us girls swapped uniforms with some of the boys. What a hoot! I have photos of Ken Black, Darrell Houston and David Hamilton in short blue shift dresses with lacy witches breeches peeking out from the hem. And who could forget Susan Kinley's party where we got to play spin the bottle and I was lucky enough to score a kiss from a few of the boys that I was secretly keen on. I remember two in particular who were particularly gifted in the kissing department (you know who you are MU & DN). I remember the chess club, playing 500 on the old red rattler train to and from school, handball at recess and lunch time and having a fight in art class with Elizabeth Filewood. She won, I got a black eye and the nick name "slugger". How about the old high school song written by the music teacher Mr Klossing "Blaxland, Wentworth, Lawson, conquered mountain ridges, Lennox built the bridges, follow them ..... etc. " I have an enormous capacity for trivia - he he he.

It was a great reunion, well catered but the after dinner music was a tad too loud which made talking very difficult. I feel the DJ failed to realise the room was full of middle aged people. Full marks to Henry Lindemann for organising it and hopefully we can have another one in the near future.

My God how fast the years have gone. How gravity has taken hold of the old body and the hair has turned to grey or disappeared altogether in some of the guy's cases. I had a ball and have been feeling great ever since. Now I must remember to take care of myself so I can make it to the next reunion.

Over and out -

Linda

Showing Off

Here are some of my scrapbook pages. I started this hobby in 2000 and have become addicted I fear. I have a large stash of products and a whole room in the house to keep them in. I figured that is OK because Matt has his shed, right? Anyway, this is something I derive a great deal of pleasure from and it is good therapy for whatever ails you. That's it. Say no more.

Linda

How to freeze a whole sheep

How lucky are we? We have been given a whole sheep, already butchered and dressed by Matt's brother in law Bruce from Mudgee. Matt's parents arrived Friday with it all in bags and boxes. They are visiting us for 3 days and seeing the local sights.

My God I didn't realise how big a whole sheep was until you see it spread out on the bench top. Matt and I spent a couple of hours trimming off excess fat (2 shopping bags full), then bagging all 4 roasts (boned, stuffed and rolled), chops, mince and crummed cutlets up into portions for 2 and then we tackled the dog's bits. We got all the bones and offcuts too for our precious poochies. We bagged these into portions for 2 as well but there was no room in the freezer for them so Matt has taken them over to the club and put them in the big freezer he has in his work shed. I managed to cram our stuff into both of our fridge/freezers. You should have seen the faces of these 2 dogs of ours whilst we were bagging it all up. Priceless!

This is soooo good as the price of lamb these days is quite outrageous. I remember when I was a kid, Mum cooked lamb chops all the time because they were so cheap. We only had chicken on a Sunday as a treat. *sigh* How times change. It is great to have a sheep farmer in the family. I think we are going to be eating lamb for quite some time. Thanks heaps Bruce.

Where has the year gone???

Ican't understand it. Where has the year gone? Not long ago it was Christmas and blow me down if it ain't almost Christmas again! What have I done in the intervening months? Time seems to pass so quickly now and it is almost my birthday yet again. Another year older - sheesh!

I had a visitor

I was thrilled to have a visit from Kerry McKenzie, her husband Alan and son Banjamin last week. I used to work for Kerry between 1996 and 2001. She had a small legal practice in Campbelltown. I hadn't seen her for several years and it was wonderful to catch up again. I left work in 2001 when Matt and I decided to sell up and go on an around Australia holiday in a motorhome. Kerry has since closed the practice and is working elsewhere.

Here we both are, looking fabulous I might add. I have been lucky with several jobs I have had in that I got on so well with my employers we became friends. Her son Benjamin had a great time playing with Matt's train layout in the shed. It kept him amused for hours giving Kerry and me a chance to talk, talk, talk. We had Chinese takeaway for dinner as it was impossible to get the boys away from the trains for any length of time to go out to eat.

Now that I am "retired" I have all the time in the world so I will have to find something to do to keep the brain active.

Facebook and school friends

How good is Facebook? I thought it was only for *ahem* young people but when a friend suggested I join up, I thought why not, you never know what you will find and having a lot of free time on my hands, I can spend hours on the computer.

I found some old school friends I had not seen since 1971 and was thrilled to connect with one fellow who is a doctor on the south coast of NSW. I have a school photo from 1961 with the both of us in it. Between us sending emails back and forth we managed to fill each other in on what we knew about some of our former class mates. I was sad to learn of the death of a couple of the boys. There was one I already knew about, my high school boyfriend Bob. He passed away in 1993 from cancer. Some had lost spouses to this foul disease, others divorced and still others marrying someone from our class and living happily every after. I wonder if any of my former class mates are in jail? No way to find out I guess but I hope not.

I will be catching up with some of them in November when I attend our high school reunion. 37 years is a bloody long time and I am sure I won't recognise some of them, especially the girls but I am excited and looking forward to it. Now, all I have to do between now and then is lose 10 kilos, buy a killer outfit and have my hair and nails done (like the 10kg is really going to happen bwahahaha) still, I will try for 2 or 3.

Happy days one and all

Linda

Time Flies

Yesterday marked one whole year since my Mother died. I think about her every day and know that she is so much better off as she had a terrible existence for the last 2 years of her life. Still sharp as a tack mentally until the end but the body had deteriorated to such a state that she was housebound, dependent on oxygen and being cared for 24/7 by a husband who adored her. I also believe she is still around somewhere, somehow and is happy and free from pain. I love you Mum.

On 6 October Dad told me that it was 59 years since he and Mum had their first date. He remembers where they went and what they did. How many men would remember that? He loved Mum so much and although he misses her a lot, he has started to make a life for himself without her. I love you too Dad.

Be kind to your family, tell them you love and care for them before it is too late.

Linda