FC free....

so after must procrastination and trepidation about how I would cope/feel once I had eradicated FC from my life, it feels fucking fantastic...

it's taken a while, 22 days to be precise, which is funny, coz they say it takes 21 days to break a habit - and let's be serious, other than a bad habit, FC wasn't much....

seeing him with S has been the final straw for me - it broke the back of my resistance to cutting him out of my life...

but he's gone, and I feel happy, focussed on me, less distracted, not really missing him anywhere near as much as I thought I would, and i'm free! free to fall for someone else...

yay!

finally - never thought this day would come :-)

farewell to no 23.....

so yes, I know, this will come as a surprise as I pretty much haven't blogged about this at all; well, perhaps I've mentioned it in passing, but I haven't really talked about it in any detail...

and largely that's because I have had mixed feelings about it, and because I have been sick for a couple of weeks, I haven't really had a chance to construct the sort of heart felt meaningful post that when I look back on it, will capture how I feel and what 23 Carr Crescent meant to me...

additionally, as I plan to send this to my parents (had I not been sick I would have sent them a card - however, a card will be gone, lost or faded long before the blog post ceases to exist, I figure this is a good way to preserve history, as it were) it needs to be a bit more appropriately constructed than some of the usual diatribe like rantings that so often appear here!

so, as I did when my grandparents moved from 107 into Abbeyfield, so I will as my parents move out of 23 and into the Grange....

I have so many memories of 23 that I doubt it will a) be possible for me to recall them all as I write this post and b) have time to capture them all, but suffice it to say that what is recorded here are the things I remember most fondly...

• I remember we moved in not long after arriving in Australia in 1982
• I remember that after 2 or 3 months of hell (aka sharing a bedroom with my younger sister) I got my own room - yay!
• I remember there were some nice neighbours who were very welcoming
• I remember that where there is now a pool there was once grass, a climbing frame/swing set, and once digging commenced, a bloody big rock which now sits proudly in the garden having survived the removal process
• I remember there was sun room that initially had no ceiling, and no floor other than the mission brown boards which served as a fabulous place for an afternoon nap
• I remember the many Mazda's we seemed to have which were cleaned and admired on the ridiculously steep driveway
• I remember once I learned to drive how much of an obstacle the other rock was - so carefully positioned so as to deter the fainthearted from parking in the driveway
• I remember many a good party held here; my 18th and 21st to name a few - lots of good times, much laughing and occasionally, a wee bit too much drinking
• I remember the intercom which connected my next door neighbour/best friend Laurel and I that her Dad kindly installed for us
• I remember much fighting over usage of the bathroom and the car - what fun!
• I remember breaking down the side garage door with Dad when we'd lost the key
• I remember the summers when Grandma & Granda stayed with us for what felt like forever!
• I remember the summer Granda put his toe through the study wall in his sleep
• I remember the day when Miss Jelly came home...'I've had an underprivileged childhood' my sister said and 'if she stays, I go' my Dad - Miss Jelly won of course, and she became a much loved member of our family and my memories at 23
• I remember the not so good times in my life too, when 23 provided a haven and somewhere to get away to
• I remember getting ready for Sammy's wedding there
• I remember the first Xmas with Daniel there, as well as his first birthday where Poppy got him his first golf club
• I remember that one morning, a bit worse for wear, my first real boyfriend turned up and thought it would be funny to call Dad 'Buck'...it's stuck somehow
• I remember Dad and Granda re-applying mission brown paint to just about anything (that stuff should be banned!)
• I remember many fun times with Cam and Jen (mostly Dad and Cam would be having a cleansing ale or two)
• I remember than whilst studying, it seemed perfectly ok to take over the dining room table to spread out my books; and
• I remember the many special Christmases we spent with (and without) our dear friends, the Gillies - the laughs as we played trivial pursuit and enjoyed a certain 'Xmas missive' from the unmentionable ones.  good good times...

so it seems I do in fact remember quite a bit, but what I remember most is the home it was to us for just under 31 years (longest I had lived in one house until I moved to the big smoke, and certainly the longest my parents have lived anywhere)....the much cherished, ever welcoming, family home

and so in just a few more days it will be no more...well, not ours anyway.  mum and dad will move out, new owners will take over and my hope is that they will have as many happy times there as we did....

and sure, I am a bit sad too - no doubt it will be weird to go back to Canberra and rather than making my way to 23, instead i'll be going to 45....inevitably there will be a day when I forget, and make my way there only to realise it's not home anymore...

so au revoir 23 - thanks for the memories and to mum and dad, here's hoping 45 will bring you much happiness as you start this new chapter...may it become a wonderful home xx