Happy Birthday Pop!

Today is Coburg Pop’s b’day. Also, it’s actually coming up on a year since he passed away. It’s good to see how Nan has coped in the past months, although it may be tough on her around his anniversary. I know Nan doesn’t read this but I just want to say – Nan you are an amazing person and we all love you very much. Keep smiling and being yourself.

Phew! Okay. Sorry that was a bit heavy to begin with but it was something that I had to say. Right now, I should be doing dishes and drying clothes, but I wanted to get on here and catch up with ya all, considering how preoccupied I’ve been of late. Plus, it’s that time of month when I usually write an update. But I got nothin’! I mean, there’s a lot I could say about my life at the moment, but I don’t think ya all wanna hear that mushy stuff! So I’ll just say that I’ve had a permanent grin on my face for the past week or so – that should tell you enough.

In other non-me-related news, Melz has been in Thailand with Bec since last Sunday and she gets back next Sunday. She is having a great time scuba diving, sunbaking and drinking in the pool at the floating bar or whatever it’s called. Mat has been checking up on me (thanks Mat) and he and his Dad have fixed her car! How sweet is that!

Went to Leah’s place on Friday for her birthday/dinner party and drinks. It was fantastic. She put in SO much effort it was unbelievable. We all had place settings and little pink (of course) gift boxes with home made chocolates and other delights inside. Great job Leah! It was also great to sit around and socialise with the ladies from the tennis club. Such a wonderful and varied bunch of women.

First round of winter comp for tennis was yesterday. We went well. All of the Newcomb teams were home, which was great ‘cause we had a BBQ at the club afterwards. We won on the day by two games. I got two sets – my mixed and my doubles with Mary. Had tea, a few drinks and some games of pool at the club and then headed home. We didn't do much at all today, although I was 'sposed to go to Ballarat with Tanya and the girls. Sorry guys.

The next couple of weekends are going to be extremely busy for me. I think I’ve got things lined up until June… and then some. But it’s gonna be great – wouldn’t have it any other way. Okay… well I’d better go do all that domestic stuff I mentioned previously. Sorry this is so brief and so boring… if you want more juicy details you'll just have to email, or call! :)

Gotta run, love ya’s all. Take care and happy birthday Pop.

Barham 2006 - Tuesday

Tuesday: Got up nice and early, again – it’s funny what the bush air does to ya. Walked Mel to the bus stop which was only a coupla blocks away from the apartments. Mel caught the bus back to Bendigo at 7.10am. It was sad to see her go after such a great weekend, the first time we’ve spent good quality time together in ages. I went for a bit more of a stroll, knowing nobody would be up yet and finally made my way back to the apartments.

Packed all my shit together and tried to tidy up a little. Blake cooked breakfast – again (seriously spoilt) and we said our goodbyes (until today when we would all see each other again). I got a lift back with Cecille, Robyn and Leah, which was really fantastic of them at such short notice. Apparently I took up two luggage spaces too, which was just appalling! We had to shovel some stuff off to Peter to put in his big honkin’ ute.

So, as you can see… I had a wonderful weekend and didn’t want to come home. It was like being on another planet! Work dragged all this week and I was so distracted thinkin’ about the weekend and everything we had done. I was so glad to see Friday arrive.

Today I’m having lunch with Tan, going for a hit of tennis (it’s the first week before the season starts and everyone goes down to the club to find out their teams and play the club championships etc) and maybe going to the movies later on. Tomorrow I might be catchin’ up with Mum, Dad and Nan – they’re comin’ down to Anglesea to see Simon who’s there with friends this weekend. Don’t know what else is happenin’ tomorrow durin’ the day, but at night Mat’s driving Melz and Bec to the airport to fly to Phuket for two weeks and I’ll be going with them (to the airport, not to Thailand).

So that’ll be my weekend, then it’s back to work until next Friday. I don’t have Anzac Day off.

Well, I should probably go now ‘cause I gotta shower, do dishes, all that domestic bliss stuff that I love. Hope you are all well, sorry this is such a long blog but I didn’t wanna leave anything out. Although I probably still did. Anyway, should go. Cheers all – ‘ave a good one! Thanks for hangin’ in the till the end and listenin’ to my dross.

Barham 2006 - Monday

Cecille, Mary, Norma, Robyn, Leah and George on the balcony of their apartment. Ours was to the left of the pic.

Monday: Woke bright and early again ready for the mixed. Blake cooked Mel and I breakfast – bacon and eggs on toast – talk about spoilt! The others missed out ‘cause they were too late gettin’ up, even though it was their idea to make Blake cook brekkie in the first place (he was the only guy in our apartment). Amelia, Tan and Michelle were leaving sometime that day. We went down the courts without ‘em and they came down later to say good-bye to everyone.

Played okay in the mixed, again the competition was very close. Peter and I only just scraped into the play-off on the count back. We had the same game score as Robyn (also from Newcomb) and her partner, but it turned out that we had less points against us. So close. We lost the play-off, the competition was just too good. A father and daughter team, but I think he was higher than B-grade. Anyway, I was just happy to get runners-up. Plus, it was loads of fun! Mary and George won their grade (Mary was the star of the weekend) and Sue and her partner Richard came runners-up, which was brilliant considering Sue hasn’t had a hit since she was pregnant with little Jack.

The girls left Monday arvo and we all decided we were comin’ back for New Year’s and Easter next year. We had such a great time. That afternoon had another hit with Jordy, Peter, Glen and Timmy (Sue and Glen’s almost two year old). Timmy just wanted to be a part of the fun and run on the court while we were hittin’, so we had to keep distracting him – which was fun. He’s such a ball of fun that kid. Always quiet, always smiling. So cute. And he has this miniature tennis racquet that makes me laugh.

Went to the pub again for tea that night, our last night. Played a game of pool with Jordy and almost got beaten! Not that it would be hard to beat me. By this time we were all feeling the effects of alcoholism and sleep deprivation. We congregated in the other apartment later on to chat. Us youngies crashed early, leaving the others to down their shots and listen to their Van Morrison in peace. Blake went to bed and Mel and I stayed up looking at her UK photos and burning some music, until my head started to loll in front of the screen.

Barham 2006 - Sunday

Team Newcomb: Peter, Marty, Andrew, Brett, George, Blake, Norma, Tanya, Amelia, Leah, Denise, Katie, Mary, Robyn, Cecille, Michelle, Melanie and Me. (Glen & Sue were back at motel with the boys.)

Sunday: Had to wake up bright and early for the day of doubles tennis. All of us bar Melanie and Michelle were playing. Tan was a little worse for wear, which was funny, ‘cause the night before she had been worried about me not being able to play. Actually I think she played the best day of tennis ever! You need to be hungover more often hon!

The level of competition was very even. We were in B Grade and there were two groups - one of four and one of five. We played three sets and the couple with the most games went on to play against the winner of the other group. We were two games from gettin’ into the play-off, so we thought that was pretty good. The weather was perfect for hitting, no breeze and just the right amount of sun. It was great to play on the grass again, although the glutes suffered the next day, especially after having to climb the stairs to the apartment. The others from Newcomb also went really well, I think we had two winners for the day – Mary and Amelia, as well as Glen and Blake.

Sunday night Glen, Peter, Tan and I had a bit more of a hit to warm up for the mixed – Peter and I “finished ‘em off” (hee, hee), which we were pretty proud of. Although I think Tan was completely buggered by then. My new friend Jordan was having a hit too, which was cool. Melanie, Blake and I stayed at the tennis club for the BBQ tea while the others went back to the pub. There was another group of ex-Newcomb players there as well who we were chatting to. They’ve all known Blake since he was a kid, of course. Newcomb is like that, one big happy family. Ended up gettin’ a ride home with them.

Returned to the RSL later on for the band (same one as Saturday night). It wasn’t as packed as the night before and the band took a huge break. But we still got some dancin’ in. Didn’t go to sleep until about 3am again.

Barham 2006 - Saturday

Golden Rivers Apartments

Saturday: Woke about 9ish. Went to markets in Murrumbit (bout 17km’s west of Barham). It was huge – 350 stalls. Felt a little seedy but nothing too bad. After I had my steak sandwich the stomach settled. Tried to sleep in the afternoon for an hour but couldn’t – can you believe it? Nobody else was interested in a walk so I went by myself and bumped into Glen, Norma and George. Sue and the boys were sleepin’ so Glen said he’d accompany me along the river, up to the lake and back. When I got back some of them were keen for a hit so I quickly changed into my tennis gear. We all went out to the courts to put our names down for Sunday’s doubles and a couple of us had a hit. It was good to get some practice in on the grass. It’s a totally different game on grass.

Saturday night we went to the pub again, it was a great little place and the staff seemed to know a lot of the regular Newcomb crowd (some of them have been going to Barham for 30 years). It was so lovely to be a part of that. Leah, Blake, Mel and I played pool. Leah and I got our butts kicked. Then Blake and Mel got challenged for the table and they kept on winning! Most of the others moved on to the club for the band at about 9pm, but the three of us stayed behind to keep the challenges going. We ended up staying till closing. I was the cheer squad, drinks girl and jukebox girl. It was a helluva lot of fun. Met some interesting drunks. I also made a little ten year old friend, Jordan. I let her choose a song from the jukebox, and I didn’t know at the time but she was also from the tennis tournament. For the rest of the weekend she was asking me to hit with her, which was cute. I’m such a big kid.

Melanie & Blake playin' pool at the Barham pub.

The band on Saturday night were awesome. We kept gettin’ txt’s from Tan sayin’ “get your butts over here”. We made it for the last set, which was pretty cool. The lead singer was lively; he got off the stage and wandered round the crowd gettin’ people to sing into the mike. The girls decided after the weekend that they were gonna become groupies. They found out where the band was from and where they play. They are gonna organise a road trip for one of their gigs. So we danced and drank and had a merry old time.

We had some visitors at the apartment that night – three guys from the club who had been dancin’ around the girls since before we had got there. They decided they were gonna keep Mel, Blake and I awake like we did the night before. Since Blake was sleepin’ in the lounge we suggested (actually I think it was Mel who suggested it – good call Mel) he put his mattress in between our beds so he could actually get some sleep. In the end, we went to sleep about the same time as the others anyway – around 3am.

Barham 2006 - Friday

Barham Bridge as seen from NSW side.

Hope you all had a fantastic long weekend! I know I did. This post could take me a while so I’m gonna kinda take Melz’s advice and write it in dot point.

Friday: Tan, Amelia, Michelle and I drove to Barham via Bendigo to pick up Melanie. Arrived Barham mid-afternoon. It was a pleasant drive up, had some good convos in the car. Can anyone tell me exactly how fruit flies are transferred from fruit to fruit or tree to tree? (Mum, maybe you could ask David).We had a mini debate about it at the border as we shovelled grapes into our mouths.

After dumping the luggage and organising rooms at our four star apartment (it was well decked out), Mel and I went for a lazy afternoon stroll that lasted about three hours. We were gone so long Tan sent me a txt asking if we were alright. Checked out the town and crossed the river to Victoria to pick up some grog, as the NSW bottle shops were closed being Good Friday. Barham instantly reminded me of home, but more so of Toc. It’s one of those typical river towns with more pubs and hotel/motels than houses and a huge RSL. There’s also a lot of sporting facilities – tennis courts, golf course, footy ground, recreational lake etc.

The whole group of us (I think there was about 20) from Newcomb went to the pub for tea and then some of us kicked on to the RSL for the band. Norma taught me how to Waltz, which was pretty funny – I kept kicking her delicate little feet with my huge hiking boots! But she persisted – kudos to Norma. I decided to have a big night Friday as I didn’t have to play tennis on the Saturday. Turned out to be a bit bigger than I had originally envisioned, but it was fab. I drank quite a lot, which I haven’t done for ages, but I was alright. I could walk a straight line! Left the RSL at closing around 1am and stayed up to 5am chatting after having a few more drinks back at the apartment. Blake and I were even gonna stay awake for the sunrise, but decided we should probably crash or we would be sleepin’ it off all day Saturday, plus I was slowly fallin’ asleep on the couch.

Obviosuly this dot point thing is not gonna work.

HAPPY EASTER

HAPPY EASTER to all you who celebrate it. For the rest of ya – go wild over the full moon. Or go wild over chocolate, whichever.

Me, I don’t need much of a reason to go wild, but I am anyway. Heading to Barham on the Murray for four and a bit days of drinkin’, tennis and a little more drinkin’. Okay, so I won’t need to drink much but at least I’ll be at the bar socialising. The plan, courtesy of Smin, is to get the opposition drinkin’ more so that they’re off their game the next day. Way to go Smin! Oh, and good luck getting’ that whole row to yourself on the flight over.

Just wanted to say hi and wish you all good fortune and joy, joy, joy for the Easter break. Hope you are all gettin’ a break. I will be without internet access as of tomorrow (Friday) mornin’. We are comin’ home Monday night. Don’t ask me how, but I will survive. Just have to find some form of assisted ventilation! Hmm… that could be fun! Ruth, got any ideas?

Shout out to Maura – how’s things in our capital? Hope you’re not spendin’ your Easter alone. Have you started the new job and what’s your place like? Will have to send you a more detailed email.

Have a good time in Stawell, Delwyn. It’s always nice to head home for the hols. Will you be going to the race at all? Catch up with you when you get back.

Good luck to Mum and Nan stayin’ in Roseville – what a holiday eh! Have fun on the train up and back, it’ll be a good bondin’ sesh. Hope you took the knittin’ needles.

To Melz, Mat, Michelle and Sean – enjoy the camping trip. Don’t mind the locals. Be safe, and rock on. *big hugs*

Bon voyage Princess Jazzy! Don’t think about the ankle, just think about the Rock lookalike who is gonna sweep you off your feet and answer to your beck and call. ‘Cause Vicky for sure as hell ain’t gonna!!!!!! *smiles* Take good care of her Vicky, we want her back. And you two get up to all kinds a trouble now, ya hear? That’s my girls.

Cheers everyone, take it easy and have a great long weekend.

Love Rhian