One last trip up the Range - Farewell to USQ

Well last weekend marked the end of an era - the end of a very large part in our lives and that of our families. My job at USQ ended at the end of January, but the Uni invited us all back with our spouses for a Farewell dinner on the 7th March. We all looked forward to the getting together again for a whole weekend, but it was also tinged with a little bit of sadness as we realized that this was the last time we would all be together. Steve was pretty impressed that when we got to the Hertz counter at the airport, that the hire car was in his name. I was really excited about taking Steve with me for this final trip. Not only did it mean a great weekend away together, it also meant that he finally got a chance to meet the other RLO's.

Sorry for the long post, but I really want to document this for my memories.

Anyway our weekend looked something like this.
A very happy couple sitting at the airport ready to board our flight to BrissieWe boarded a plane just like this.We got this car to travel around in for the weekend. (Steve was real impressed - he is used to driving 4WD's - diesel at that - this car could really move)

Friday night we had some fun with out kids - went out for Dinner with Sarah and then caught up with Colin to take in a movie. On Saturday we left just after breakfast to drive up the range to Toowoomba, We arrived in Toowoomba just on 11am and decided to drop into the hospital to catch up with our good friend Sally who had give birth to the very gorgeous little Noah a few weeks early - got to visit him in the Premmie Nursery. It was so good to catch up with Sal -and I honestly believe that God has his hand in all the timing of us getting together.

At lunch time we arrived at our motel here
And there was lots of this happening as we caught up with each other there was even a little time for this
Poor Steve got roped into helping out a few of the RLO's who had planned some special events for the dinner.

Then Saturday night saw us all turn up to the "Burke and Wills Hotel" for our dinner. Some of memories below.

We all received Certificates of Service and a gift from USQ. They were presented to us by our former bosses, Professor Alan Smith, and Suzanne Milroy (the best boss you could ever wish to have)
We presented Suzanne with a beautiful Gold Watch and the Mini Album with thank you notes for each of us.
Maureen (from Bundaberg) wrote a poem about the RLO's (which Steve read) and Karen (from Emerald) read some funny reports and emails from us all that she had kept over the years. She definately is a wonderful story teller and had us all in fits of laughter.
We shared a few in house jokes relating to "Ducks" which flew around heaps at our last seminar after we all got the axe. We even played a couple of duck games.
Mary won the award for the most accurate shot and got the "Axe"
Beryl and Helen spent heaps of time preparing graduate awards for us all and Steve played the part of the VC and read and handed out each of the awards to us all.

Some of us got more preferencial treatment than others
After the awards, we had the offical photo session.First one taken with the boss.The RLO's
We've always wanted to throw those mortar boards Yah................................
It was after midnight by the time we left the Hotel - no one seemed in a hurry to leave. We all met again in the restuarant the next morning to have breakfast together and most of us were still sitting there chatting until 10am (I am sure that we would have stayed longer if we didn't have to book out of our rooms)
It was almost 11.30am before we finally left Toowoomba. We drove back into Brissie and caught up with our kids, and ended up all going out to Sizzlers for Lunch. We had a great tme together, and then Sarah took us shopping for a few minutes to check out some turtles. They had been tempted to get one as a pet.

Here they are in the pet shop
Checking out this little fellow
Had to a snap a photo of my pair together
We dropped these guys back at Sarah's at 4pm and headed out to the airport to return this.
and then get ready to board this
Both very weary but happy after an incredible weekend away.
It was a wonderful weekend - but I got to admit, I think we over did it abit as I have been so incredibly tired the last couple of days. Yesterday I was barely able to keep my eyes open and came home from work and had a couple of hours sleep. Still feeling tired today but not quite as bad as yesterday.
Hopefully now I will be able to get into a bit of scrapbooking and have a few layouts to show you all in the next week or too.

Things I am thankful for today

1. The Opportunity to have a weekend away with my wonderful hubby.
2. Catching up with our kids and spending some time with them on the weekend,
3. Having the opportunity to catch up with Sal and meet the very tiny Noah Benjamin.
4. The wonderful opportunity of working at USQ for the past 15 years
5. The most fabulous boss you could ever have wished to work for.
6. Working with such a wonderful group of woman
7. The generousity of USQ in flying us all up to Toowoomba for one last farewell.