Life – Page 35 – Life is a Journey

High School Reunion

Posted on November 6, 2011October 14, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Last night I headed back to my old stomping ground in Sydney to attend a High School reunion for our year 10. Being that I went on to year 12 there were quite a few girls that I did not remember.

It was fantastic to catch up with “my group”, whom thanks to facebook I’m in more regular contact with now.

Amanda (on the left) was my Math buddy and I haven’t seen her since 1988. You might remember Suzanne from when I met up with her in London last year, and Kimberly (right) lives abroad (and I also haven’t seen since 1988). Overall most girls hadn’t changed very much. Most just have much better hair these days :-).

Of course, you know my best friend Leanne and her other best friend, also Leanne. Being that I spend much of the night sitting on the couch (due to sore feet and then a headache) I nearly missed getting a photo of the three of us.

It was really great to catch up with Nicole (our Mum’s were great friends) so even though we weren’t school friends we spend a lot of time together as children.

A lot of girls really didn’t seem to know who I was. Not sure I knew either as my high school name was Liz Given and for the last 19 years I’ve been Libby Withnall :-).

Now my hair was not actually naturally curly when I was younger but unfortunately school photos were taken right when I had a LOVELY 80s perm. When I saw the photo I kind of got why know one knew who I was. What do you think? Would you have recognised me?

Despite feeling really poorly I was glad I made the effort to go. It was just a shame I couldn’t fully enjoy it.

Halloween Party 2011

Posted on October 30, 2011October 13, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Hard to believe that it’s time for Halloween again. I really enjoy getting dressed up once a year – so fun – and a great excuse to play with make-up :-).

Yes Kevin is indeed an Angry Bird. And doesn’t Christy make a cute Harry Potter?

Rosie looked so sweet in her Red Riding Hood cape – made by Amy.

And Bailey was handsome in his Halloween coat (also made by Amy).

At 5pm our guests started to gather.

I love that (almost) everyone gets in the spirit and gets dressed up.

There was eating, chatting, laughing, playing and swimming. But I think the highlight of the night might just have been dessert.

And it’s no wonder why…

Cupcakes by Amy….

Pavlova (partly by me) and bought cheesecake….

chocolate cake, cookies, and eyeballs….

there was some healthy fruit salad, donuts and….what’s that…. cotton buds with ear wax…..

I couldn’t bring myself to try those – but I was assured it was marshmellow and caramel…

and these cute little ghost who were made by Angela…who just had a little baby boy during the week (and hence didn’t attend the party)

It was a really great and everyone seemed to have a good time. My feet even held up okay but boy were they sore when I finally got off them.

No spend challenge updated

Posted on October 20, 2011October 14, 2026 by Libby Withnall

I have to admit my no spend month has been a bit of a challenge – as I knew it would be. I don’t have much money left in my purse and quite a few items have gone on the credit card – and will have to be paid fornext month. HOWEVER, there have been numerous times this month when I’ve not gone to a shop or ordered something online, purely because of the challenge. So, in that regard, the challenge has been a success.

I was actually doing really well until yesterday. I had to take Amy into town as she needed some skin care. I came home with some new nail polish. Then she “needed” a black bracelet for a halloween costume. I came home with 3 (very cute) necklaces. Then we discovered that Typo had opened in Wollongong. I was “good” and only got a few things. Oops. I totally blame Amy :-).

As for the grocery part of the challenge. I think we can call that a total failure. I ‘ve already used up one of $500 vochures and can’t really see us managing on $500 till Christmas. It was a big ask I suppose when the grocery money includes toiletries and such.

So with just over a week left I’m renewing my commitment to only spend minimally. It’s a bit of a difficult time of year for a no-spend challenge, with it being Christmas present buying season, but I will extend the challenge by a week or two and then MAKE SURE I stick to my budget.

Grandpa’s Farm

Posted on October 9, 2011October 14, 2026 by Libby Withnall

It’s been a while since we went out to visit the girls Grandpa (Kevin’s Dad) and since he’s about to start more chemo we thought we’d go for a visit. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t real good (much as it’s been all school holidays) but we all had a nice time.

A highlight for the girls was getting to ride the quad bike.

Christy had a turn with Grandpa and Kevin, and even drove by herself (with Kevin on the back). Amy also had a ride but I didn’t manage to get a photo – I think she must have been too fast :-).

A highlight for me was seeing the new Spring lambs. He had 17 but was down to 15. They are so cute.

Since Christy has found her camera (it turned up in Amy’s cupboard) she was keen to take some photos and managed to get quite close.

I wish I had bought the big camera but it wouldn’t have been a wise idea in the rain. Excuse the eyes closed photos – that’s what happens when you ask your vision-impaired daughter to take a photo – but at least this one’s not blurry :-). As you can see we weren’t really dressed appropriately as the sun was out when we left home.