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Published: December 11th 2010
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The broken wrist
With my great friend Anne who rescued me from the hospital in John's absence. Well I know I said I would write a blog before last Xmas but unfortunately it didn’t happen so it appears I now have to update you all for the last 2 years for this blog. Promise I won’t rabbit on – will just give you all a quick rundown on the events of the last 24 months or so.
The last entry was just before Xmas 2008 so it is now coming up to our third Xmas in the house and we have obviously not gone to live and work in Dubai. John did a 3 week stint there in January 2009 and really enjoyed the challenge but that was the last visit. The work will happen there eventually but I doubt whether we will be prepared to go now that we have settled so well in the new house.
January 2009 also saw me have a bit of a fall in Martin Place would you believe. Broke my left wrist (yes, I am left handed) and had to have a plate put in to mend it. John was in Dubai when it happened so had to rely on some great mates to help with showering
Lib's wedding
John and Peter walking Lib down the aisle. and so on. Ryan came home for a weekend to do some cooking and change sheets etc which was lovely and Kate provided meals so I didn’t have to cook at all, but I must say I was really pleased when John finally got home. All is well now and have full use of the wrist back thank goodness.
March 09 saw John’s sister Lib marry our old friend Greg Tait. It was a wonderful wedding and the bride looked gorgeous. They have settled happily in Bathurst.
July 09 and along came grandchild number 8. Leigh and Michael had a little girl, Emma Louise, born on 16th July and a beautiful baby. Like all the granddaughters, she showed a mind of her own very early in the piece and has grown into an adorable, happy and bubbly 17 month old as I write this.
October 09 was the last time we took the caravan out for a run. Spent about 10 days taking a break in northern NSW. Had a few days at South West Rocks (great spot) arriving in the rain, then up to Yamba for some lovely warm weather and a catch
Lib's Wedding 2
The Stubbs'clan with the bride and groom. The babies are Ben Ridley and Kalan Stubbs. up with Larry and Mary. Watched the 09 Melbourne Cup from the ‘Bowlo’ in Yamba and came home via Bonny Hills but had more rain there. We really enjoyed the life again but unfortunately the van is sitting in the backyard collecting cobwebs at the moment. Haven’t got any trips planned at this stage but let me tell you we are just about over having winter in Sydney. We may eventually become part of the migration north for July/August in years to come.
November and December 09 saw two milestone birthdays. Janelle turned 40 and celebrated with a great party at their place in Menai. The whole adult family made it and we had a ball. They had a band and topless waiters so the girl turned 40 in style.
In December John celebrated his 60th with a BBQ at home. Had all the family to celebrate including grandkids, so he was one very happy Grandpa as you will see in the picture. I gave him tickets to Jersey Boys which was playing in Melbourne where we joined up with the Gibson’s and Sewell’s from SA for a few days of fun and silliness.
After
Emma Louise Stubbs
Blake and his new little sister. the usual Xmas celebration at our place and our New Year break at Gerroa, I went back to work in January. I was offered a job as Receptionist for an Endocrinologist in Kogarah. It was quite nerve wracking going back to work as it was about 20 years since I last held down a paid position and nearly 30 years since I had done any Dictaphone typing. Started doing just one day a week and it quickly grew to two days and occasionally a third day as well. I really love it but it has taken a while getting used to not being able to do whatever I want, whenever I want. Good discipline though and it really has got the brain working again – can now spell microalbuminuria (amongst some other very big words) which should come in handy somewhere else in life don’t you think?
John went back to work in June contracting for the old firm and is really enjoying it. He visits the sites and then does the follow up at home so it really suits him and he can work it around games of golf and jobs still being completed on the house.
Sept 09.
Zac's first communion celebration. February 2009 and Hannah finally starts school. She was more than ready to go to school and has absolutely thrived in Kindy. Will probably go straight to Year 6 when she gets back after these Xmas holidays.!!!
March saw a visit from cousin Janet (over from London) and Aunty Marj from Melbourne. We did the usual touring around and we always manage some good shopping time when Jan is visiting. AM stayed for an extra few days after Jan returned to London which we hope made the separation anxiety a little more bearable.
March also saw Emma Louise being baptised. Leigh and Michael hosted a great celebration at their place with a cast of thousands (more or less). We all just love these family gatherings and with 8 littlies around now as well as Andrew and Natalie’s 3, the gatherings are noisier than ever and the cousins seem to be getting along just fine.
In June we did a “back to Warren” weekend. For those of you who don’t know, John, Peter, Anne and Lib lived in Warren as kids where their Dad had the menswear store in the main street. There were five of
On the road again.
What a spot we had on the cliff at Bonny Hills. We will definitely go back here, hopefully when the weather is a bit better. us doing the trip in one car and one aeroplane. Greg has his pilot’s licence so he hired a plane and he and I flew to Warren whilst Peter, John and Libby drove. It gave them a great chance to catch up and talk about all sorts of nonsense and also of course to talk about missing Anne and what she would have thought about the weekend. We stayed overnight and the next day Greg flew back with John as passenger to Wellington where we had lunch and then Lib flew the last leg back to Bathurst.
September 2010 and we had a couple of breaks – one in the mountains with our Walking Group and the other in Canberra for Floriade. The Walking group is a euphemism for ‘Drinking, Eating and lots and lots of talking very loudly Group’. We do have a lot of fun and this weekend was particularly good with golf thrown in and also Karaoke from a couple of members! Thankfully there are no photos of either of those events but have included a couple of the wonderful friends in that group.
We had been promising ourselves and Pete and Kay
Janelle's 40th
Zac and Maddison were the only under 18's there and they just had a ball. that we would come down for Floriade for years. Finally made it and had such a wonderful weekend. The flowers were amazing and gave us so much inspiration.
As far as a weekend with Pete and Kay – that usually means lots of laughs, lots of eating and lots of drinking. Nothing changed this time!!! Also caught up with Mic and Cherie and their 3 gorgeous cherubs. They were just about to start an extension and renovation and they are going to live in the house whilst it is happening!!!! Don’t you just love the enthusiasm of the under 40’s….. makes me want a drink just thinking about it.
November saw us in Melbourne for the Melbourne Cup. We spent 5 nights with Col and Colleen, 3 at an apartment in Docklands and 2 down on the Mornington Peninsula. The Cup was so much fun – the weather was pretty appalling but we had great seats under cover so didn’t miss any of the action. It was a great experience with great friends and we would definitely go again.
That just about brings us up to date. Can’t promise that I will update this blog again. It seems
Those topless waiters
Some girls just wanna have fun! a bit presumptuous that anyone will want to read it when we are just doing boring things at home. We’ll see!
John and I just want to wish everyone happiness for the festive season and good health for the New Year.
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Jan Chalmers
non-member comment
Cheers for 2011
Hi Jo Am just doing my Christmas cards and am not able to find a current address for you, so thought I would have a look at your blog. Was good to see all your news (and the spunky chic with the topless waiters!!) and read about your year. We had intended to go to Sydney this year but have been so busy in our retirement we didn't manage to get there. Won't be caravanning this year, going to Europe & Britain instead for 6 weeks. Will also head up to the Cape in July (camping in tents etc) so a fair variety of travel. Hope you have a wonderful festive season Love Jan & Rob