A Hound Comes to Stay..........

Look who’s come to live at our house! Isn’t she beautiful? I didn’t think I was ready for another mouth to feed (since we lost Tilly and Clarabelle in July) but it didn’t take long for me to love her. She has wormed her way into our hearts and is fierce like a tiger and gentle like a lamb. We call her CoCo.

Animals add another dimension to family life and to the way you live your life. They love you even when you’re not feeling very loveable and they can pick you up when you need a lift; and they very rarely let you down or disappoint you (well maybe a cat might, now and again). You can’t beat a dog as a companion, they’re always grinning! Camels are great too except they sometimes look down their noses at you with a look of “pursed lips disdain”. Fabulous, intriguing creatures.

A Graduate in the Family

Yes, she did it – Megs got her results on Nov 26 and the news was all good – her final semester yielded a distinction, 2 credits and a pass – her best results from all 6 semesters (probably because she actually put some effort in!). She checked the results on line at 2-30 that morning and promptly sent us a text message.

On December 3 at 2pm, Megan GRADUATED with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Criminology and Psychology from the University of Queensland. We were so proud of her and she was pretty pleased with herself too! A bigger grin I’ve never seen! We picked Mum up in the morning and travelled to Brisbane, met up with Megs and Chris, drove to the Uni and took a bunch of photos at The Lake with the fountain in the background. Then we sat and waited for the ceremony to begin. Drew thought it was all very Hogwarts, especially when the Academic Procession began. When the graduates marched in, it was to the theme from Babe. A very nice man with a wonderfully expressive voice announced the BA graduates – Megan strode across the stage, grinning madly, and shook the hand of the UQ Chancellor and received her scroll. Again, they marched out to the strains of a very rousing piece of music and once outside we took some more photos, this time with her certificate. My favourite photos are the ones taken inside the Great Court.

We drove to Sizzlers for a celebratory meal and all squeezed into a booth. I really like sitting in a booth, I don’t know why. We laughed and ate and drank and laughed some more; it was a really happy day. We left Meg and Chris and drove home, hitting a fierce storm on the Minden Range. It produced a spectacular sky with the greens of the grass and trees on the hills contrasting with the light and dark grey of the clouds. Awesome.

We also spent most of the trip down and back tossing up names for the new puppy that turned up yesterday. Many names got shot down in flames; only a couple passed muster – and “CoCo” won.

Losing Friends

I think I've lost a very close friend due to circumstances I couldn't control. The company we all worked for made some changes to its' management structure and in the fallout, our friends were let go while we stayed on. After it happened they went away for two weeks during which we didn't hear a word from them despite trying to contact them and leaving text messages. We heard on the grape/gossip vine that they were coming back to pack up the house and leave. It was a very sad time and my heart wept for my friend because I knew what she'd be thinking and feeling and that she would have had to be the strong one for her husband and children while not having support for herself. I assumed the lack of response from them meant that they didn't want any contact with us.

Then my friend rang a couple of days ago but it was an awkward and stilted conversation that left me feeling like we'd both misunderstood each other. I'll ring her in another few days and see if I can't begin to resurrect what we once had but it all feels messy. I can only assume from their reaction that they somehow hold us partly responsible for what happened but it was something that we could not prevent.

Since then, G and I have moved from working from home, back to working from the office. Now at least I have some structure to my days but it's at the expense of a friendship that I thought was indestructable and would last forever. When I spoke to her on the day it happened, I thought that she and I would help each other through the turmoil and that we could all at least talk about it but I don't think that will happen now.

I used to look forward to her kids being old enough for the two of us to be able to travel together and go walking and riding but I think things will never be quite the same again and I find that incredible.