Family time + old friends

Wednesday just gone I drove to Kingaroy for my cousin's wife's funeral. I left Toowoomba with a yummmmy coffee and toasted sanga in tow (from the fantastic deli on Herries st) and headed 'home'. As usual, no mobile phone service most of the way, and the only clear radio station is 612 ABC, so had an enjoyable time, believe it or not, listening to 'real' news and stuff on my drive.

I arrived in Kingaroy about 10am, funeral was 10.30, so stopped at Maccas and got changed and then headed up to the church. It's been years since I've been to St. Mary's church - actually probably close to 10 years. One thing that hasn't changed - it is still a coooooold oooooold place!! (and that comes from someone who doesn't really mind the cold weather). True to form, Mum and Uncle Don were almost the first inside for the funeral. I knew they would be waiting in there as soon as I arrived. That too hasn't changed....

It was so nice to catch up with so many of the Oberle clan - I think I met two of my first cousins for the very first time which was great. Unlike our regular Cosgrove get togethers, we have never had a lot to do with Uncle Max's family even though his son Pat is my God-Father. Amazing really.... Anyway, Pam's funeral was lovely - her 10 children (all grown up) and their children and friends were there, so most of the church was filled with her immediate family. It was a real celebration of her life and am glad I made the effort to go.

After this I thought I'd drop in and see John and Elaine (my wonderful friends, and parents of my first boyfriend!) I haven't seen them for years and last spoke to them after Dad died. So after a quick phone call I landed on their doorstep and it was absolutely fantastic to see them. I think I was only there for about 25 minutes, but in that time we caught up on all the goss, looked at photos, talked about the old times etc and then it was time for me to hit the road again. Elaine gave me two beautiful Winter scarves she had made and talk about awesome!! She used to make me clothes years ago which usually consisted of softball stuff etc, so was nice to leave her home with yet another 'home made' gift from her. (We are going to the football in Brisbane tonight, so the bigger scarf of the two will definitely come in handy!)

The rest of Wednesday was spent teaching when I got home, then most importantly, it was State of Origin number 3 to watch. Great game, even though a bit disappointing that QLD didn't come away with the win.

As I write (it's Friday) I've just heard that it's 40 years since the first moon landing. How exciting.....it's not only the year I was born, but it's Uncle Don's birthday - today he turns 85 and that to me is a bigger celebration than the anniversary of man on the moon.

What to Wear to Weetwood

Kumbia races compared to Weetwood - big difference!!

We are going tomorrow to the infamous Weetwood races here in Toowoomba for the first time and my uncle informed me we had to 'get the high heel boots on' - not my usual attire of jeans and jacket.

So what to wear??!! Anyone have hints. I'm thinking all black (basically because I have lots of black) with some glitzy accessories.
But what bloomin accessories?!!

Anyway, more importantly than what to wear is what horses to back on??

Do we go with traditional old Pat O'Shea's tips, or just stick to our usual favourite 'Number 4' for every race? Hmmmm... Another option... Darren buys today's Chronicle and goes through the form guide and ticks off his tips for the day. Either way it will be fun. We will be in the WIN TV marquee with family and probably hundreds of other people, so if the tips don't go our way and my outfit is a flop at least one thing is assured.... there will always be a few glasses of red to enjoy...

Fine di vacanza

"End of Holiday" - yes it nearly is. These Winter holidays have been great this year - not sure why. Haven't been away, spent a few mornings working at Coffee On Line, really haven't done anything outlandish or exciting. So why have they been great?....

Since Dad passed away 4 years ago I have spent a lot of time 'thinking' about my parents, my family and my life of 40 years as it is now. 6 months of therapy with a beautiful psychologist called Veronica (who loved! black tea and shortbread creams) back at the beginning of 2008 was the best thing I've ever done (birth of BMJG excepted). I have often told my friends that 'The Happiness Trap' is a worthwhile read and going through this with Veronica made it also more rewarding. Not only did I come to terms with the 'delayed grief' I was experiencing, but I learnt so much about being 'alive' not only when things are fantastic but moreso, when life's direction sometimes takes a turn for the worse. Most of us who teach yearn! for the holidays to come, but then when it's here we sometimes struggle to really relax and just 'be'... usually I am like that, but not in the Winter of 2009. The many hours of just having nothing in particular to do has been great. I really am at peace with my life - hopefully I am only half way through it - but at this point the word 'fine' doesn't only mean 'end' in Italian it also means 'healthy and well' in English (amongst other meanings) so I'll go with that...

Hello World

Hello World
Blogs are one of those things that you get madly addicted to for a little while then forget it for a looooong while! Considering there are 24 hours in every day and we live every one of those minutes, you would think that there would be a multitude of things to write at the end of every day.

Well, that's the main problem.... there are usually lots and lots of things but not a lot of time to spare to get it all down. C'est la vie....
Life for us has been really quite busy of late - Darren went in as President of the West Toowoomba Rotary Club a few weeks ago. It was a lovely, lovely night at The Cathedral Centre - food was beautiful, and just a fun night all up. This time of year means all the Rotary clubs in the area are having their 'changeover' dinners so we've both been going to quite a few of these in support of all the 'newbies' starting their year as head honcho. Really, I think President for Darren won't be as time consuming as his year as Treasurer - but who knows - he has lots of things in mind to boost numbers and I'm sure his year will turn out to be busier than he expects at the moment.

Benjamin has finished term 2 at school - just a few short months to go now and that's it. Hopefully his O.P. will be okay, by his standards at least, and that his TAFE cert. will be nearing it's end by end of this year. He seems to be having too much fun for my liking , considering that amount of work I'm SURE he should be doing - but been there, done that.... and I know I definitely didn't put my head down in Year 12. How lucky my Uni degree was based on a piano audition.

To a new topic - Mum and Bub with Grace and Lucas in tow headed to Rockhampton/Yeppoon yesterday to see Uncle Jim and Aunty Val. They took the train from Roma Street to the airport and flew on from there. Mum hadn't been on a train for 54 years - very very hard to believe so this short journey from the city to Kingsford Smith airport would be her very first in a long time. Amazing... As the train pulled away my last glimpse of them was of Lucas giving me this angry/sad look as if to say 'Why you not comin Aunty Neice?'. (Grace asked that question the night before and I said I had to look after Uncle Darren - her reply was - 'He is old. He can do it himself'). We had so much fun the night before they left on the plane. I had a 'sleep over' with the kids in the one bedroom . Grace is a beautiful little girl and her little brother is awesome. He has just turned 2 and can recite the alphabet song really well, speaks so clearly and loves saying 'Come on Neice, come on!' Doesn't matter where to, you just need to go. Yes, I am a very proud Aunty. My little sister is a fantastic Mum and her two little monsters are anything but.... ...photos to come when I work out if this new phone has a memory card??? Or if not, how do I get the photos off???.... see you soon... DONE!!!