Another era ends

The eldest flew up to Sydney on Saturday for a visit, so I ducked to Woolies for supplies after my morning walk.

I went to the Woolies in my old neighbourhood because Coles took over my local and it just doesn’t speak to me any more.

As I wandered down the aisles I felt a little sad as I realised I’d never run into my sister there again.

It used to be her local Woolies too and we’d often see each other there.

The last time we saw each other there was a few days before she moved to Newcastle. We had a chitter chat as we shopped.

Born and bred in Newie, we both moved to Sydney at different stages of our lives and unexpectedly ended up living five minutes away from each other.

At one point our kids even attended the same primary school. My dad would catch the train down from Newcastle to pick them up at the school gate every Thursday and care for them until we came home from work.

Almost 18 years later, that era has ended and I wonder what the next one will bring.

While that question hangs in the air … my weekend was its usual mad whirl.

After buying the groceries, I made myself lunch and took the dogs to the vet for their annual injections.

Charlie the Moodle was diagnosed with a heart murmur and needs his teeth cleaned. The teeth cleaning will cost $690, while the x-ray to get his heart checked will be another $205.

FFS. I’m mulling that over.

Then I explored the outlet stores in Alexandria for an hour while I waited for the eldest’s plane to land.

After dropping the eldest home, I hustled into the city for dinner with some of DD’s oldest friends at a Sydney institution called The Malaya, which has moved to new digs in The Rocks.

As there were eight of us, we were required to order the spectacular banquet. Sooooo much food, including the most sensational seafood sang choy bao. Yuuuuuum.

I didn’t get a photo of it, but here are some of the other dishes that were included in the banquet …

On Sunday I walked with my friend Alice, raced home to do some tippity-tapping on the laptop, then headed up DD’s way to eat takeaway on Avalon headland while watching for whales.

We sat in our folding chairs for ages on the most glorious Sunday afternoon, alongside lots of other families and dogs also keen to spot aquatic life.

The sun was warm, the vibe was chilled out and we loved it.

We felt so lucky to be safe and so worried for those caught up in the escalating Middle Eastern conflict.

It’s such a scary and uncertain world that we’ve brought our children into.

Then it was back to HouseGoesHotel to meet my sister’s Newie bestie, who needed a bed for the night. We popped to my local Middle Eastern BYO restaurant for dinner – absolutely delicious – and a catch up.

And now the weekend is over and I’ve eaten way too much and not relaxed nearly enough.

How was yours?

Song of the day: REM “It’s the end of the world”