There are some really obvious things that I can use first - or use them on days that I'm desperate - and then as I get better, I'll hopefully be slightly creative.
Because this is the second day of the year, and I really wanted to start on the first day, I guess I can be grateful that it doesn't matter whether I start on 1 or 2 January.... But that's a very lame item. So instead I can be grateful for the wonderful year that I had in 2011 - and my Christmas letter is following to prove it!
Christmas Letter 2011
I love Christmas! I love the songs (and harmonies!), the colours, the look of our well-decorated Christmas tree and our Christmas meals. I also like hearing from friends about what they have been up to during the year. And I also enjoy writing a Christmas letter. It’s a good way to summarise my year. Unfortunately it doesn’t always get sent until very late – or at all. But I will persist once again!
Our life is pretty busy but we like it that way. I am working full-time at the moment in an area called “Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory”, developing options around the Australian Government’s role in the NT. I really enjoy this but I’m working longer hours than I’d prefer. Ian is (still) working on means testing. I’ve said this before, but he must really like it! During the year he had surgery to remove cataracts from both eyes and as a result he doesn’t need to wear glasses any more (except for reading). He’s enjoying his new vision! He didn’t play any golf this year on account of a wrist injury. We have both tried to keep fit but Ian’s recently discovered he has a damaged knee and he can’t run! So we’re buying an exercise bike for Christmas.
Samantha, Natasha and Rachel have enjoyed 2011. They have great social lives and some wonderful friends. Samantha is about to finish Year 10 – which means a change of school and all the fun that finishing High School brings. She enjoyed hockey in winter and is now playing in two Oz Tag teams over summer. Samantha loved her outdoor education camp this year that included abseiling down waterfalls! She is very excited about going to Lake Tuggeranong College next year. Natasha is finishing Year 8. She has continued to play lots of netball including being part of the Tuggeranong Representative side for 13s. She (and Sam) played half a season of soccer – which they both enjoyed. She is doing Little Athletics again and enjoying getting faster and jumping longer. Natasha has also enjoyed attending drama classes (suits her personality!) and we all really enjoyed her end of year performance. Natasha received the Year 8 Sport Award and an award for school participation. Rachel is about to finish primary school. This will complete my 12 years of involvement at Gilmore Primary School, which started on a sunny day in February 2000 when Sam and I walked to pre-school for the first time. On that day I didn’t have to bring the other two children because Ian was still on leave after the birth of Rachel. It feels a very long time ago and I will be sad to say goodbye. I’ve met some wonderful people (and some real characters) at Gilmore and I treasure those friendships. Whilst Rachel is excited about finishing Year 6 and is looking forward to her dinner-disco and graduation (and High School next year!), she is a little sad at leaving Gilmore. “It’s been a big part of my life”, she says. Her teachers organised a lovely Year 6 Assembly and she won awards for art, sport and academic achievement. Rachel continued with dance classes and performed well at the end of year concert, which included contorting her body in different positions! She also loves playing netball and played in the Tuggeranong Rep side for 11s. Rachel and Natasha played in the same netball team for summer – which was very handy. Samantha also played in our adult summer team. Not surprisingly, Netball takes up a lot of our time! So I decided that in 2012 I’d substitute the board at Gilmore for the Vice-President of the Rebels Netball Club. I’m looking forward to that!
We spent 3 weeks in the USA in Sept/Oct. We went to the theme parks in Orlando – having a magical time. Harry Potter World was a highlight. It’s very well done. Ian and I think that the ride through Hogwarts called ‘Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey’ was the best ride that we have ever been on. We then went to New York and, of course, no trip can ever be long enough for that fun city. We spent two nights in Washington staying with the Meinhart Family who were magnificent hosts. We finished off our holiday in Mount Wolf staying with Caroline and Manny (and the four bulldogs), visiting a variety of Pennsylvania attractions including Hershey Chocolate Factory, Gettysberg and the outlet shopping malls. It was great to spend time with them, as generally when they visit Australia we only get to catch up for an evening.
We also had a number of lovely “mini-breaks” during the year. We spent a fun week in Melbourne with the Beaumans in April including seeing the Tutankhamun exhibition and the football of course. We went to the coast in June with the McDonald and Groves/Downey families that was great fun. Lois and Roger both turned 40 on 22 July and we had a family celebration weekend at Kangaroo valley. Most of the time it was very rainy and muddy, and we had a wonderful time. I’d recommend visiting the Illawarra Fly if you are passing through Robertson on a clear day. The following weekend Lois celebrated her 40th with her friends in Sydney and so Ruth and I joined her. We then spent a day shopping together, which was a rare treat! I also went to Alstonville with Mum to visit my grandmother. She fell and broke her pelvis. As a result she had to move out of her unit. She was quite sad about this, but seems to be settling into her new home well. We are visiting her in January when she turns 99.
We continue to enjoy our “new” house. The garden thrives (on the whole) and we appear to have maintained the number of koi in the pond. We still haven’t worked out a mechanism for changing some of the high light bulbs! Maybe next year. ..
Hey Reb, nice to see you in blogland. Sounds like your 2011 was action packed. We will have to try and catch up in 2012 its been ages :)
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