absent, it's lovely to hear from you. Such a massive change in your life and one which had been planned for so long - and what a success!
I'll always remember your 'leaving do' in Darlington - a great meet-up of women who didn't really know each other, but who had no problem whatsoever in talking non-stop (and loudly!) for the whole of the time we were all there! 
Sounds like you are having a fantastic time close to your lovely family.
Great to hear from you absent and so pleased life is good in the Southern Hemisphere 
What an amazing blast from the past absent and how lovely to hear all about your fulfilling life now. Thank you so much for the update
Thanks for the update absent - can you update us periodically please - it will be really interesting to see how things change. 
Lovely to read your news absent. I'm so glad it all worked out so well for you
Good to hear from you Absent. Your life in NZ sounds as if it's everything you wanted it to be - and more! You sound fulfilled. I hope we get another installment soon.
Hello Absent it seems like forever since the fantastic "Absent Lunch" although my dodgy knee still reminds me that it really did happen and that "yes I really did fall down" and have to be virtually carried to the station!
What a difference a few months can make. Your life seems to be so full of children now I think perhaps you could do with a name change .
It seems weird that here we are preparing for Autumn (although still enjoying some lovely sunshine) clearing the garden in readiness and there you are preparing for Spring and Summer getting the garden ready to start planting.
It was lovely to read your "snapshot" and I do hope you will pop back now and again to give us another instalment. I wish you and Mr Absent a very happy life.
Hello absent how nice to see you
I was remembering that lunch just yesterday when DH & I were discussing where to have a joint celebration for forthcoming 'milestone' birthdays. One of the places I'm looking at isn't far from Darlington so that took me back.
Your new life sounds full and wonderful. How lovely for you. for your garden as there is no veg emoticon.
Sounds a good life Absent. You made the right choice. Perhaps it will help me take the plunge too! I can't believe you have been away for over 4 months - to me it only seems like yesterday we all met for your GTSTBOY lunch 
ach! nae worries!
I can only 'say' that in print; cannae do the right accent out loud.
Thanks for the update Absent, lovely to hear from you. Yes, the lunch seems a long time ago now but what a great day it was
Your new life sounds great - there is no substitute for family - but I hope you and Mr Absent are finding time for yourselves too.
You may not appear so frequently on GNet but yours is one of the names I immediately go to, to see what you have to say, if you know what I mean
{big hug}
absent, good to hear your news
glass, you too! Been missing you!
Good morning absent it's always good to catch up on your hectic life In one way the time has flown since your leaving lunch but you have certainly packed lots in to your time.
I am going to have to vanish sorry I can't chat, Dh is about to leave and needs his IPad.... The puppy has eaten my laptop and it hasn't been replaced yet.... The puppy had his manhood removed on Monday and it wasn't revenge honest.... I will catch up with you when I can, enjoy
Granny23 mentioned that some of you had another meet-up and reminisced fondly about the glad-to-see-the-back-of-you lunch. I'm glad that you enjoyed it; I certainly had fun but it does seem more than four months ago.
I thought you might like a quick snapshot of how it is now. We are living in a small three-bedroom house in Richmond, a small town on the north coast of the South Island. The garage is packed full of surplus furniture and storage boxes – and toy boxes. We have a small garden with a lawn for the children to play and rather neglected beds. I am planning to plant some tomatoes and vegetables a little later this month when there is no more danger of overnightfrost – it's spring here – and am gradually weeding and tidying up the shrubs.
The children comes to us after school four days a week as all they have to do is walk across a school field (the three at primary) or scoot down a fairly busy road before turning off (the 11-year-old at Intermediate). I collect the one-year-old from the nursery that is five-minutes walk-away. It must be pretty obvious why we chose this house, but it is also quite a nice little house and we are comfortable and now fairly settled here after eight weeks. We also look after the baby all day Thursday which seems to whizz past as he is such a cheerful little soul. Ours is the emergency phone number of anyone is unwell or has a mishap at school. We seem to making up for our absence at a rate of knots.
I am completely worn out and having a simply fabulous time. Yesterday I created a treasure hunt to keep them all occupied for about an hour. The clue they couldn't get was "where Granna sits" and they wasted a lot of time looking underneath every chair in the house until someone spotted the next clue sticking out of the back pocket of my jeans. Absentdaughter doesn't work on Wednesdays so I have been catching up on other stuff today but have also made a big batch of play dough – a special request from the nine-year-old granddaughter surprisingly. I haven't made that since the days when absentdaughter was in toddler group.
I don't seem to have a huge amount of time to visit gransnet and, of course, I am asleep when you are all at your most active – or at least I am in bed listening to Mr absent's snores .
Apologies to anyone who looks at this thread and has no idea who I am or why I am burbling on like this but I thought there might be a couple of people who'd like to know how it is for this new Kiwi.
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