Three years and counting

I'm sitting on our back verandah as I type this. Three years ago I was sitting out here with friends and family celebrating the fact that, Donna and I had just become husband and wife.

Yes, today is our third anniversary.

As I look back over the time since we first met back in November 2001, I'm amazed at how much we've done together in such a short time. Donna had never been overseas before we met, we've since been to New Zealand and Vietnam and we're off to Britain, and quite likely a bit of Europe, in the new year. Donna's been up in light aircraft, ridden on a motorbike, had good... we won't go into that, seen a lot more of Australia than she'd seen before and tried a few other things that she wouldn't have tried without a bit of a push from someone that had the utmost confidence in what I thought she might be capable of. With Donna's support, there's been a lot of things I've done since we met too. I wouldn't be half way through a science degree without her help.

I've been lucky enough to have married someone that has put up with the fact that, because I was single for so long, I come across as being a bit of a selfish bastard. A singly, as my mate Tony used to put it.

I just read that bit to her and she giggled.

Anyway, we're now planning our next big adventure, our trip to Britain at the end of the year. It's something we're both really looking forward to. From Donna's point of view, she wants to see where I was born and where I went to school, and meet the relatives (of which I have a hell of a lot) that she hasn't yet met. From my point of view it's a case of sharing part of my life experience, and showing her a part of what I'm all about.

What Donna is really looking forward to is spending new year's eve in an English pub, and going outside to see snow falling. I can't guarantee that (the snow bit), but I know a couple of great country pubs in Hertfordshire (where I'm from) that she'll really love. We're taking our darts with us too.

We're hoping to see a bit of Ireland as well, since Donna's family has some Irish heritage and I've always wanted to see more of the British Isles, never having been further north in England than
Cambridge.

Hopefully, next year we'll spend some time down around the Murray river since Donna is also descended from the Yulupna tribe in that area about four generations back.

Either way, we'll always be trying new experiences, whether it be visiting places like Vietnam, which we did in January of this year, or looking after wild animals, like the possums we have in our care.

I've known a few people that have retired from the jobs that they've had for three or four decades. Within six months of retiring, they've died because they had nothing to live for, but work. That will never happen to us, there's nothing surer than that.