Sunday afternoon in Buderim...

It's interesting to watch the weather reports from around Australia at the moment. For the last few days Queensland has been sweltering (Brisbane was 38 degrees C yesterday) but meanwhile Tasmania has snow and Victoria has turned cold as well.

Yesterday DH headed off to golf, but Eduardo, the cat, and I took it easy. We lay under the fan, windows open for cross ventilation; he snoozed and I read most of a Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell) novel that my Melbourne SIL had given me. Such decadence...I still haven't got used to the fact that I can read during the day...and I've been officially retired for 18 months now! lol

Possibly because of the heat, the laptop is not working that well at the moment. Since the crash of the PC a few months ago followed by the system refusing to allow me to reinstall the 'finepix' photo uploader, I've used the laptop to upload photos to a USB. So this post will be one that can use photos already uploaded instead of a post about swaps and decorating for Christmas etc. So this post will be about what DH, DD1 and I did last Sunday.

 A former student of mine, Robyn, runs BYTE which stands for Buderim Youth Theatre of Excellence. Young people receive theatre training and each year there are a number of productions to showcase the students' work. Earlier this year, DH and I went to see their production of  'Titanic' which we thoroughly enjoyed. Robyn's sister also works for BYTE. Robyn's mum and I have been friends for many years as I used to live next door to her mother. We also worked together for a few years too. Robyn's mum, Pat, has retired to Buderim and also plays her part in supporting her daughters in their work with the theatre. 

The latest production is that wonderful old musical, 'Oklahoma'. And that is why we drove up to Buderim on Sunday. Robyn's daughter was in that performance and we particularly wanted to see her. I was so impressed with Katherine's performance in 'Titanic' and we not to be disappointed this time. She played the role of Laurie, a young woman who is being 'pursued' by Curly and the sullen, sometimes violent, Judd. The character of Laurie plays it cool but you can tell she really likes Curly! lol

The stage ready for the performance; with the little farm house where Laurie lived with her aunt

A musical needs an orchestra, and this one was great!

Katharine was wonderful; a great 'all rounder', with her glorious singing voice, great acting and her dancing too! Oklahoma is full of songs that are catchy and ones that are familiar to people in my age group. DH loved the songs so much, he sang along with the cast at various times :-/ lol

I've received permission to use some of the company's photos of the performance, as naturally, flash photography was not allowed during the performance....

Laurie singing early in the first act...

These 3 performers were really good!

Laurie and Curly finally admit their true feelings...

And they even get married!!

During interval, DH took some photos of Pat, moi, DD1 and Robyn's brother Stuart. Stuart is also a former student of mine and performed in a play I directed when he was in Year 7... he did a great job too!

A friend's birthday...

Last Friday night DH and I went to a local sports' club to help a teaching friend of mine celebrate her birthday. Sue joined the staff at my first school in the mid seventies and we became mates due to both of us owning and loving cats! Her cat Tweety (?) had done 'country service' with Sue at Marlborough and they were both enjoying being back in the city. Sue looked almost nerdish and a bit straight laced but underneath, she had a wicked sense of humour and you are going to be horrified by what I say next....she lent me her 'Forum' magazines!!! Those of you who have never heard of this publication, let me just say that the term 'soft pornography' has been used to describe this magazine. However this term was used by its detractors and really doesn't describe the publication objectively. Sue lent me issues which dealt with 2 things that were the bane of my life then...cystitis and thrush. Admittedly  I learned about things I didn't know about before I read them, lol! Anyway I have digressed again...




THEN:Sue is at the righthand end of the front row; I'm the shorty in the back row hiding my 7th month pregnancy!


Eventually transfers in the early 80s meant we were no longer working together but we stayed in touch. Sue was a good friend...when my first daughter was little, Sue would let her sit at her piano and 'play'...not everyone would let a toddler loose on their piano.
Then in 1998 I took a teaching contract at an innercity school called K G. And of course the year 6 teacher was none other than my old friend Sue. We had a few changes of principal in those years and the last person appointed was quite formidable. This person's personnel management skills featured  variations that could be termed as bullying. My friend was one of the targets. I agonised about what to do and then one day decided to do something 'unMarialike' and speak up for my friend and the others. I wasn't alone...but it was to be an error of judgement . In this case doing what I felt was morally correct, resulted in a transfer to a less salubrious school. Seven people were transferred immediately and my transfer was 2 months later. The person who was bullying was rewarded with the acting position becoming permanent.

NOW: Celebrating a birthday at the Broncos Club

Four of the 70s  'Newmarket' gang! LtoR, Sue, Maria, Margaret and Carmel. (the latter 2 are behind the principal in the previous photo)

Sue retired a number of years ago but we've stayed in touch. At her birthday bash she made ID cards for each of us to wear.

This was mine...I don't like the term 'insubordination' but I guess that's a reference to when I tried to stand up to a bully. In the years directly after the 'incident' I'd ask myself whether I would do it all again...and suffer the consequences...the answer was always yes...nowadays I'm not so sure..
Sue leads a very busy life these days, with her choir , her work with a volunteer radio group as well as her new career of teaching English.