Deeply Shocked and very Saddened

This week, we received some news that deeply shocked me and left the whole RLO team very sad. Professor Alan Smith from USQ passed away last Thursday. He was head of DeC which is the division of USQ that the RLO's worked under. He was a remarkable man - very supportive, never missed meeting with us when we were on campus, not only was he interested in hearing about the students in our regions, but he was also interested in us and our families. He was my age. My last memories of him were 12 months ago, when he joined us for the RLO farewell in Toowoomba and presented us with our Certificates and he was so full of life, even joining in some of our nonsense with us.

I got to know Alan before he ever went to USQ because previous to working there he lived and worked in Rockhampton at CQU. I worked with his wife in Rocky here, and got to know him and his family well. We have children of a similar age. When ever I was in Toowoomba he always made a point of catching up and asking about my family. He was such a genuine guy, he was well respected and I am sure he is going to be greatly missed.

Only another couple of sleeps to go until our Scrapbooking Retreat. I am attempting to get organised.
I have started packing - not totally sure what I am going to be doing, but I am looking forward to having a weekend away with the girls. Much different this year to last year. It was such an effort even to go last year.

I have been busy making a few Thank You cards for the weekend.
They have been made in a bit of a hurry - think it is about time that I tried something new. It is just this is so easy to put together, so when I am in a hurry and need a card or two, I tend to do the same thing. Love this paper though.

Scored a real bargain last weekend when we picked up this lovely set of solid wooden drawers.
Such a bargain. They were reduced from $800 down to $340 - We can now get rid of the desk in Chloe's room, and hopefully with drawers to put her gear in, you might be able to see her floor and her bed rather than just seeing the clutter and junk that has taken over her room.


Looking forward to sharing heaps of layouts next week and photos from our retreat.