Kiddo and Mic came down on our last working day of 2022. It has been a wonderful 10+ days of just eating, talking and spending time together. Probably overeating (and over drinking for me) but it has been really great all the same. We went to St Alf’s for the Christmas Eve service and hosted a Christmas Day dinner at our home. We then visited a few local attractions – Montsalvat at Eltham, the Yarra at Fairfield, and did some shopping too. There were also numerous dinners with friends, including one at a local Thai with some new friends – Lai Fun and Zach, her son – along with Jason and Mel and their friends Kit and James, as well as at the Hippo’s home which Jason and Mel also came to. I’ve used the weber kettle numerous times for a number of those meals.
2022 is now behind us. 2023 is here. The obvious attraction for Tress and I will be the arrival of Kiddo and Mic’s firstborn. They have both looked and sounded excited and ready for the occasion and no doubt set up for the upheavals that a newborn will bring. Tress and I are planning to be at the capital city for when that happens. We hope to stay a few weeks and we’ve been looking out for options for a long stay there, where we will also work remotely from for most of the time.
The Teh clan had been at Fraser’s Hill in the “old country” for a family reunion that looked and sounded really nice. We were all asked (especially those of us who couldn’t make the event) to provide some audio visual media to say g’day and provide updates on what’s been happening to us so we did that. The “Teh Plus” WhatsApp group had been inundated with pics of the event and although I have become less affected by what I see, it is still so very heartwarming to see those pics and clips. They evoked great memories as well as conjured imaginations of what the lives and journeys of all those uncles, aunties, cousins, nephews, nieces, brothers, sisters, etc. must have been like. As always, I wished I was there with them to listen and engage.
We also spoke with Nicole, a niece of ours (Daniel and Sim’s eldest) as she will be heading to NSW to commence a 2 year contract with NSW Health as a doctor in northern NSW. It sounded like she will be reasonably well set up, as she had senior cohorts to guide and assist. A couple of days before the Teh reunion, Daniel’s dad passed away and then Nicole had covid so they’ve had a rough ride. To Isaac’s great credit, he made the trip to Fraser’s and it sounded like he engaged well with the rest of the clan.
It has been another great cross over from one year to the next. Even if that means I’m inching closer to either the end of the present quarter, or to the start of the next.
Ante 