Moving further along

We are heading to the gorgeous Bega valley tomorrow to check out the brand newish crematorium, built just down the road from where my Nana and Papa used to live, and conveniently close to Colonel and Lady Duck's prickle farm. We are taking the cats. They haven't been to the farm for ages now, and they miss it dreadfully. Pooter misses hanging out with his mate Lucky the Wonderdog and Padge misses swiping at Lucky's tail. Can't wait to watch the fun.

Bumblebee has assembled a pin-striped suit from various op-shop cruises, and intends to wear it with a tie at the funeral as he reads a selection from The Little Prince. I don't know what I'm wearing yet, have been too busy printing over the last few days and setting up the funeral service thingy tonight to think about it (of course, I'm also the Family Designer). Papa actually hated ties, as I've mentioned, so BB is wearing a very fetching Indian shirt wot he bought in India.

Last week I arranged to meet Pen for lunch today, since meeting her at the PM's litbricks. I warned her to ring me during the morning so that [a] we could work out where to meet, and [b] to remind me that it was happening. I was half-joking when I emailed that, but sure enough, today I was head-down at the press, trying to crack the frustratingly frustrating design of my latest book's cover, when my phone rang and it was Pen. OMG! It's Tuesday! I had forgotten all about it. Gawd I'm a vague bint.

So we met halfwayish -- actually, she got the brunt of the walking between her office and mine. We found a salad bar that should keep us going for a few more meetings to get through all the yummies, and we talked about stuff like this, which is pretty much a precis with my questions taken out. It was a nice lunch, Pen. We shall have to do it again. As long as you remind me.

I also got a nice surprise the other day when a friend of my brother's got in contact via this very blog (hello!). Hoorah, the second line of this post works. She put me on to a Facebook site showing his class 20-yr reunion last year. OMG what a shock! I keep forgetting that his friends are not 17 anymore, they're older than BB (just), and the spreading midlines and balding heads made me a bit wurty. I'm hoping for further contact with her and maybe some others. Very happy.

So, be nice. I'm looking forward to the funeral, if only for the quality family time. And animal time at the farm! Huzzar.