Tom's Brush with Fame

Know who this is? No worries if you don't, I wouldn't either. But last week Tom got to meet one of his all-time hero's, Dennis Lillee.

Here's a grab from an article I found on him (from mcg.org.au):

"Dennis Lillee was the most accomplished and consistently hostile fast bowler of his time. At his peak no one was faster, more competitive, more menacing or resourceful. By his career's conclusion Dennis had claimed a world record 355 test wickets and had become an Australian sporting legend. There is strong support among senior cricket officials, players and the media for the contention that he was the greatest Australian pace bowler of any era."

Pretty high praise huh? Tom had the pleasure of asking him whether he thought that Tate and Watson would make a good opening bowling line-up for Australia in the future (he did) and even got an autographed card saying "To Tom, keep enjoying your cricket, Dennis Lillee".

Sorry to those of you who still have no idea about what I've just said. But it's a funny thing isn't it? The idea of meeting one of your all-time hero's. Somebody who has so impressed you with their sporting ability or writing or singing or acting or who knows what else that when you meet them you want to immortalise that moment. Tom had been thinking about what he wanted to ask Dennis about the future of Australian cricket, but haven't we all thought at some stage, I'd love to know what this person thinks of that idea, and yet so few of us get to actually do it. On the other hand, what must it be like to be the person who influences others to that extent? But then again, don't we all? It's a sobering reminder again for me, as I think about my role as a staff member and leader/mentor for students at Melbourne Uni of how much influencing I'm probably doing and yet not realising that I'm doing it. I thank God that it is he who is working through me to enable me, because if I were doing it without Him, I'd probably so often choose what suits me best and brings me glory, rather than God.

Who are your heroes?

Happy Birthday Dad!

Aren't Dads great? Mine sent me a beautiful email a couple of days ago, was filled with warm words and much encouragement. Made me miss him all the more (but then, if he were here, I wouldn't get the emails!).

Dad is great. He's very handy around the house, a bit of a tinkler, that is, he'll play with something until he gets it just right! He likes to do things properly. We'll never let him live down the day that he sat down to eat tacos with a knife and fork! He's expressive, he's not afraid to shed a tear when one is due and indeed if he does, there's no way that I could not shed one too!

Even though you are thousands of kilometers away dad, I still love that we can talk like you're here next to me. Thanks for being such a great dad. I love you. Happy Birthday.

Brentwood Secondary's Debutante Ball

Last Friday night I went along to "The Deb" as it is fondly called. There were a few reasons why I decided to go:

1. This year level has caused me too much pain to miss an opportunity to watch them behave like adults for (almost) an entire evening.

2. It was a good opportunity to support my friend Katharine, who was a key organiser of the event.

3. I get to make myself up and put on a pretty dress and

4. I'd never been to one before.

And let me tell you, it's a pretty funny event. Each couple is presented on their own and have things read out about where they work and what they want to do in the future and there's in excess of 20 couples, so this takes a while...

Then they perform set dances, some of the facial expressions were hilarious as obviously some boys were convinced that this was a good idea by someone else (normally a pretty girl) and were yet to won over to the idea. The picture below is of their "fun dance" and the boys all gave the girls their jackets to wear for the song.

And of course, it was a great opportunity to catch up with some of my teacher friends in a relaxed setting and have a bit of a dance.
This from L-R is Katharine, Me, Monique

This is me and Robyn.

An Engagement Party - Bollywood Style!

Flew to Adelaide last weekend for my friend Kristen's engagement party. Was a great opportunity to catch up with other friends as well. I stayed with family friends (also my old piano teacher) and enjoyed being doted on like a daughter for a few days (ie. having coffees made for me, being taken out for lunch - twice!) and of course, playing Mary's grand piano, very therapeutic!

Was taken out for lunch (again) by my friends Phili and Dan. Was great to see them again after their surprise trip to Melbourne in March. Must say though, we probably spent 20% of the time going "I can't believe this rain". Yes it rained and poured while I was there. I'd forgotten what it was like for it to rain that much. Unfortunately back here in Melbourne, we got a couple of bursts but nothing like the 2 and a half days of near-constant rain in Adelaide. We wait in hope.

Anyway, to the purpose for the visit: Kristen and Michael's engagement party. Somehow my invite was lost in the post so when I messaged Kristen to find out the details on Thursday morning (before leaving Fri morn) she replied with the venue, time and "Bollywood theme - wear something colourful" BOLLYWOOD?? Could have told me earlier! So I messaged Phili to see if she or her sister Ali had anything that might do the job. Thankfully Ali came through with the goods and here was the end result:

The punjabi (sp.?) and necklace were Ali's. The oversized earings and large bangle were Mary's and the shawl and Indian bangles were mine. A good team effort! Kristen was dressed in a gorgeous sari:

One that she bought in India when she holidayed there with Michael and his family. Here's one of them on the dance floor:

I was really struck by the whole "men dancing" thing. Such a different culture where you'll get men dancing together in syncronised moves. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on me when it was happening but this photo's pretty cool:

Needless to say, it was a fun night of eating (his family's Indian, hers is Polish - need I say more?), drinking and dancing. And even though I only knew about 5 people, I arrived at 4pm and left at 10pm and so made quite an evening of it!

Next post: the Brentwood Secondary Debutante Ball...