MERRY XMAS 1996

I got married (for the 4th time) late last year to a tall, slim, nice-looking redhead who is the same height as I am. Her name is Kathryn. I proposed only a month after we met and we broke up three weeks after the wedding! Not long after we got back from the honeymoon we fell out and neither of us was prepared to back down so she moved back to her own house at Ipswich. We have remained friends, however. It all sounds a bit like Hollywood, doesn't it? The genuine whirlwind romance. It was however great while it lasted and I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Joey is now 9 and has just finished 4th grade at St Joachims. Next year we will be sending him to Greenslopes State school as Jenny and I both feel that such a small school as St Joachims no longer gives him enough scope.

My 53rd Birthday

My 53rd birthday celebrations were from my point of view certainly my best birthday celebrations ever up until that time. For a start, Jill gave a dinner party in honour of the day. The day fell on a Monday that year so we had the dinner party on the prior Sunday. We invited just John Henningham and his wife Helen. Henningham and I always have lots of laughs and lots to talk about so it would have been superfluous to invite others as well. Another factor was that Jill also knew Henningham independently of his being a friend of mine.

So the dinner was a very pleasant and relaxed affair. Jill of course set an immaculate table with lots of silver, crystal and white napery -- very traditional but also very stylish. She also served up food that was not only perfectly cooked but also perfectly presented.

Given Henningham's recent conversion to the Church of Rome and  my theological interests  the main topics of conversation were ecclesiastical and theological.

On the Monday itself I took Jill to The Clansmen restaurant. It has various Scottish features, a vaguely Scottish cuisine and is situated in a beautiful old colonial building at Annerley. It is a bit dear so I go there only on special occasions but when I do go I usually wear the kilt in honour of my shreds of Scottish ancestry (I have one ancestor with an Irish name [Joseph Kelly] who was born in Scotland and another ancestor with a Scottish name [Jane Burnside] who came from Ireland!).

On this occasion I wore full Highland formal dress: My red MacRae tartan kilt, white pleated dress shirt, black bow tie, black silk waistcoat, Prince Charlie jacket etc. Jill really loved it! I think "splendid" was her word for my attire on that occasion. Jill, of course dressed beautifully for the occasion too. She wore a shapely black classic suit she had bought from Harrods in London many years before and teamed it with a rather elaborate cream blouse that was also from Harrods. She has kept the same figure for many years and always buys classic styles so she can do that sort of thing. And since it was midwinter she put on her MINK jacket over it all to step outside the door. With her golden hair up in her usual chignon, with her fine white skin and her usual perfect grooming and poise she really looked as elegant a lady as any man has ever taken out.

I was equally aware that there was a brilliant brain behind the steady gaze of her pretty pale blue eyes I felt a very fortunate man indeed at that dinner.

As a final touch to the festivities, Jenny also gave me a birthday dinner on the Wednesday. She had most of the kids over (Paul was away) for the occasion so that was lovely too. Ken also came along and was good company as usual. Jenny interested us both by revealing that she had at long last worked out what she liked most in men: arrogance. That certainly accounted for me and Ken felt that he had been pretty arrogant in his youth too.

Anyway, it was certainly the first time that my birthday celebrations had stretched over so many days! I thought that being an old guy did have its compensations!