Way back in 1972 just after we were married we began playing a few games of cribbage almost everyday. That was in Fiji and when we moved to New Zealand we kept it up - mainly, I suppose because we had no TV and no kids. We used to play to see who would wash the dishes. For our anniversary in 1973 we bought a billiards table and that took over. Still we played cribbage pretty regularly up until 1975 when we moved back to the States. Over the next 15 years we didn't play much. But when I "retired" at beginning of 1991 we started up again playing 2-3 games a day. I, of course being me, have kept a written record of each and every game. I was the first to win 1000 games (Gail should reach the mark within the next month) and I have about a 250 game lead. I have the coffee and cards ready for when Gail arrives home from school.

Speaking of deja vu, back in 1971 I played a game, "Formula 1" with Ian and Su White. It is Grand Prix car race - and that year we followed the actual races as they occurred around the world we would also hold a race. Well, 20 years later and the Whites are living in NZ and I found the game in a garage sale. So this year we are racing the circuit once more with Gail, David and White's youngest boy, Matthew. 16 races during the year. We have each won at least two races so far, so we all feel we have a chance and can hardly wait for the next race, which are usually 2-3 weeks apart. And most of them occur during our winter so it's a good indoor activity. [ed. - Waiuku Formula 1 webpage]

David and twenty other 7th formers spent a week tramping on Great Barrier. It is a remote island in the Hauraki Gulf - a few hours ferry from Auckland. He was with three other boys and as a learning exercise they had to plan, organize supplies, get permits etc… on their own. We had told David and Ne that next summer when we camp they would be given that sort of freedom/responsibility, so it was good practice. They had a couple eight hour hikes up and down small mountains. So I tried hard to convince them to lighten their load. They left packing to the last minute and so were pretty much stuck with what they had. But they survived - experience is the best teacher. Only problem David ran into were wasps which liked to sting him around the lower leg.

Ne had her first "date". Gail brought her and another girl to the theater where they were to meet three boys. Boys missed bus and got there late and one never showed up. But they saw movie (or so they say) and Gail gave them all a ride home, much to Ne' s embarrassment. There is a definite fear that her friends might think that I am weird, so I can understand. She followed that up by going to her first prom. Which meant a lot of money for outfit, makeup, hair etc... But judging from the buzz it was probably worth it all. She didn't want to go with a certain boy. So went with a group in a bus, but a certain special boy did give her a corsage. Judging from the phone calls I'd say that there is that one special boy now.

I was standing at the lights in beautiful downtown Papakura when I heard this middle-aged woman talking. Caught a couple names from my past and asked her if she was referring to the same teachers I knew at Rosehill? Yes. Turns out that I had taught her back in 1973. She said she didn't recognize me at first because I look just the way I did twenty years ago - I haven't aged and that threw her. Mind you she has; kind of creepy that former pupils look as old as me. There are two "boys" in town that are bald and one has a big pot belly and both look older than me. Anyway, she said that I was the only teacher that she ever addressed as "sir" So I said maybe it was because I was an American and was different. But she said it was because I cared and had taught her how to think; then went on to tell me how that ability has helped get to where she is today. Let me tell you, that one girl, who I really didn't remember at all, made my day.