Blasts from my past

How was your weekend? Mine was filled with familiar faces … including some I hadn’t seen for a VERY long time.

DD and I headed north for a swift 24-hour visit to Newie and we were sooooooo exhausted when we returned on Sunday afternoon.

The events on our dance card included a belated Christmas in July gathering at Alder Park Bowling Club, a sunrise walk at Dixon Park and brekkie in Hamilton.

I caught up with everyone from high school friends to former bosses and family.

I hadn’t seen some people since high school, some that I recognized immediately despite the decades that had passed and others that I couldn’t place at all.

It never ceases to startle me that my contemporaries have grey hair and collagen deficits, and I’m sure the shock is mutual when they look at me!

As one high school friend noted, those people can’t be my age because I still feel like I’m 30 on the inside.

Well, I mostly feel 30 on the inside, except for my joints. They feel like I’m 60, maybe 70, especially when I try and do simple things I formerly took for granted, like opening jars.

I also felt about 70 when I woke up on Sunday morning … after drinking like an 18-year-old on Saturday night.

It’s ridiculous how commonsense deserts me when there’s a bar tab involved. Put a complimentary bottle of wine on the table and I’m off. As I’m glugging down the gratis booze I know I will regret it, but I can’t help myself. I am seduced by the social lubrication it delivers and I don’t want the feeling to end.

When my alarm went off at 6am the next morning, I was both startled and bleary. But I’d promised to go on a sunrise walk with my sister, her Newie bestie and her bestie’s older brother Scott.

Scott is an old mate of mine who has lived in Adelaide for many years, but was in town for the belated Christmas in July celebration.

It was glorious to see the sunrise and a strong flat white helped with the hangover.

Then it was time for brekkie with our friends Kim and Jason. Kim was originally mates with my ex and we hit it off at a wedding in Watson’s Bay long, long ago. We have stayed in touch over the years and it was great to see them at Hamilton’s Son of a Gun diner with their adorable dog Baz.

I had the corned beef toastie. Nom. Nom. Perfect hangover food.

All too soon it was time to head to my mum’s place for a cuppa. Then we were back on the highway to Sydney, where we made a brief stop to collect the dogs and take them to Avalon Headland for some sun and sea worshipping (and possibly some hangover hot chip consumption). What a glorious afternoon!

I hit the road home around 4.30pm, with both of us wondering how on earth we’d stay awake until a respectable bedtime.

This morning kicks off a busy week for me. Strap yourselves in …

PS I sent my sister-in-law Deb along to the opening of a gluten-free bar and restaurant in Melbourne last week. She wrote a fab review, here’s the link …