CollinsPlus E-news
Edition 3. July/August/September 2009
Editor: Barbara
Collins
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Collins Family News
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Con Collins
Con
Collins is the Ground Zero man for this website.
Con has had some
bad news. Although he had radiation treatment on the cancer on his bladder, it
was not as successful as hoped and he now has an inoperable tumour growing in
another site. He has also injured his arm and back and has a myriad of aches
and pains throughout his body. However, he has a patch on to address the pain
and will continue to receive palliative care through the wonderful people at
City Mission. He remains cheerful and philosophical. The family are very
grateful for Judy and Renato who continue to care for him at home. Judy has
taken leave without pay for a year to look after him. He decided on 14 August
2009 that he is indeed ‘old’ and has resigned himself to accepting that he can
no longer do everything for himself. He promises to be a changed man and to
accept the help of others with good grace!
Con has had solar
energy panels installed. However, the best place for them was on top of the
granny flat!
On Father’s Day,
Paul and Barb visited in the morning, Judy, Renato, Cathy, Elise and Jessica
and Mary joined Con for lunch at
Graham Collins
(Graham
Collins is the first and only son of Con Collins. Graham
Collins Family)
Graham
Well I never thought that my first trip overseas
would be to
Anyway, it all started at a wake for a good friend of
mine who passed away suddenly. Me and my old gang of four mates, Googie,
Darkie, Bones and Bobby, were there sharing a few beers and memories when one
of the lads recommended a road trip, while the rest of us were still in this
world. We have been friends since primary school, and one of the guys has been
a friend since prep. Now that's going back a few years. I won't say how many,
but it's 50+. So the plans began at about 11pm, and everything was booked by
10am the next morning. Talk about spur of the moment.
Now for those of you who haven't been to
We saw a few shows, and Rod Stewart was the best. He
sounded like the days of old, and very energetic on stage even though he was
older than all my Gang. He sang all his hits, and was amazing.
Now it's fair to say that we spent a bit of time in
the Casinos as well. I think we spent time in all of them to be truthful.
However we always came back to the one we stayed at, the
Another amazing thing about the place is that
drinking alcohol in the streets is allowed, and considering this and the
hundreds of thousands of people walking the streets at all hours of the day and
night, you would think it's a recipe for a disaster. I didn't see one second of
violence, or anything that looked like it could end in violence. The only time
we looked like we could be in trouble was when we first got there and called
our mate by his nickname, Black. Now it didn't take long for us to figure out a
lot of people got offended judging by the sneers and grumbles. We quickly
changed his nickname. Other than that the people were very friendly, some of
the ladies may have been a little too friendly while looking for business. We
preferred to use our money on other things thankyou. Five old Aussie mates
together seemed to attract a bit of interest with just about everyone we met.
Anyway, check out the photos which show a little of
what I have just described. My first trip overseas was fabulous, and with a
little more planning than 11 hours from “where will we go" to everything
being totally booked, we may have checked a few other places as well. So I've
had a taste now, and will start thinking of my next venture soon, and maybe
spend at least a couple of days planning this time.
Darcy
Came 10th in a poker tournament at the footy club with over
100 players but there were only prizes for the Top 9. RIDICULOUS!
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Carly
The ONE minute Mug Cake is very yummy and quick. Here’s the recipe.
(1007 calories so Barb googled around and found a slightly healthier version – see recipe and notes after Carly’s recipe. Can’t wait to try it!)
The
Cabrera Family
Judith
Collins is the second girl in the Con and Bridget Collins Family. She is
married to Renato Cabrera. Go to the Cabrera
Family page.
Hi everyone. We have been enjoying a lot of Chilean functions over the last two months. Some have been formal dinner dances and others fundraisers. We have a lot of fun at these with good food and dancing the night away. We have spent a few nice BBQ's with Renato's niece and her husband and two children who Renato is very fond of and they are fond of him too. We had a great time at Max's 21st party too.
Well - the never ending story!!!! Even though our house is basically finished, we still have not signed off with the builders because they still have not finished off a few small detail things. Believe it or not, they are running 390 days over their 84 day contract date. The assessor for the insurance company is trying to get them moving?? (patience Judy patience). Renato has been very busy going to the house straight from work everyday to do work that needed doing but was not under the insurance claim.
Judy has given up work and is on
leave without pay to look after Dad full time. Well short and sweet from us
this time. Sorry there are not any pictures or more news but we have been
somewhat busy with Dad. Until next time, take care.
The Gough Family
Mary Gough is the 3rd girl in the Con and Bridget Collins Family. She is married to Chris Gough. Go to Gough Family page.
Max’s 21st
In August, we celebrated Max Gough’s 21st at a restaurant in
Carrum. Mary and Chris hired the venue for the evening and Mary decorated it
with a lot of Max memories, and balloons of course.
The birthday was celebrated with lots of yummy finger food, drinks and a huge “Stewie” (from Family Guy) birthday cake. Chris gave a speech that documented highlights of each of Max’s 21 years and his sister Alex gave a speech that gave us some insight into Max’s psyche – which was very amusing. We learnt a lot of little known facts about this young man. Then the dancing began - to the music provided by a DJ. You will see by these pictures that we all had a lot of fun! See lots of pictures from Max’s 21st here:
Alex
well ive been busy all year at tafe doing certificate 4 in fashion design. it’s
a lot of work but its fun coz its what im interested in so im loving it. im
improving my sewing and drawing skills and learning how to make patterns for
garments so its pretty interesting stuff. my goal for the end of the year is to
have a pant, skirt and bodice block that fits me that i can develop into
garments that i like. we have a fashion show at the end of the year at fed
square which should be good.
I got a car which u would all know by now. its a matellic blue honda jazz 2006
model, i love it. its a good little car that gets me from A to B and then the
rest of that alphabet lol. coz its such a little lite car its very hard to stay
on the speed limit.......lucky no speeding fines - and thats not just coz i
slow down when i c a speed camera lol. ive been driving to school a lot, takes
bout one and a half hours in peak hour traffic........30min any other time
lol.........but the drive is more fun than it sounds. my friend nicole and i get
pumped for a day of learning by finding an awsome song on the ipod and then
turning up the radio........seriously try it, fully gets u pumped and revs u up
so much, its that safest drug ever.
still working at bakers delight woohoo!! im a senior now so
they trust me with more jobs like counting money (my favourite part) lol
its fashion week next week and me and nicole have booked in for about 3 shows a
day lol. we are so excited. a couple of the shows were going to are red carpet
events.......woo we get to walk on the red carpet hehe.......and one of them is
free alcohol (mind you the ticket was $43 - but we also get to mingle with
DJ's, fashion designers, models and any celebs that happen to be
there...........we’re gonna get connections lol). well the partying starts
friday the 28th august. were going to about 14 fashion shows and expos and 5
after partys......3 in a row.......dont know if ill survive lol.
well thats me for now............getting pumped, loving life.
Mary
Well after 20 years of being a
“stay at home” mum, I got myself a job in February. Three days a week office
work for a trolley collection agency. We organize the trolley collectors for
nine sites across
The whole experience has been a big shock, not just for me but for my very pampered children. We are slowly getting used to it and Max actually cooked a meal the other night.
Max was busy during the first half of the year completing his TAFE course. He now has his Certificate IV in Business, also Advanced Diploma of Business (International Business) and some confusion as to his Diploma of International Business, which he is sorting out as I write. He is currently working in the warehouse at his Dad’s business at ATA, while he works out what he wants to do.
He recently celebrated his 21st with family and friends at a local restaurant. Although not all the music was to Max’s liking, I did point out to him that it is not that easy to dance to HEAVY METAL (Max’s preferred listening music). he did enjoy his cake, which was adorned with his favourite TV character “Stewie” from the Family Guy and we were all impressed with the speech given by Alex, although she doesn’t like to admit it, I think she really does like her brother.
Zac
Zac‘s class at school (12 students) have been working on a project this year to
purchase and race a Human Powered Vehicle. This is a three wheeled bike that is
only powered by students riding it. They have had to fundraise to get enough to
purchase a vehicle and pay for costs of events and running costs. They also
have been training to ride the vehicle and actually need to obtain a licence to
ride. Their first event is on the weekend of 12/13 Sept, in Bayswater. This
event is based on how many laps they can complete in a six hour period. There
is 59 vehicles entered from 33 schools. All this is building up to the 4 day
event in November in Maryborough. (Pictures show the vehicle with just the
frame work, they are still working on the shell)
Zac was disappointed not to be playing football this year, but has found a new passion as an umpire. He has been running the boundary for the Under 16’s at his old club Carrum/Patterson Lakes. Maybe one day we will see him at the MCG.
The Teres Family
Paul Teres is husband of Barbara Collins, daughter
of Con Collins. Go to Teres Family
page.
Barb
and Paul’s holidays
Since the last newsletter, we have been to Kyneton, Warrnambool and the Gold Coast. If you are interested, you can read a little about our holidays here – with pics.
On Father’s Day, we were invited to Sophie and Andrew’s to celebrate both Father’s Day and Lisa’s birthday. However, when Lisa and Dave arrived, they had an announcement to make that made the day even more special. THEY ARE ENGAGED!!!!!!!! Congratulations to you both – and to Paul who is very happy with the announcement.
Happy birthday to Max,
Michael in July, Brenton in August and Lisa, Con, Cathy, Daniel and Sam in
September. Click
here for your birthday card.
If your birthday falls in
July/August/September and you are not on this list, email admin (at) collinsplus.com
and send in your birth date.
Chocolate
maths
Try this out – but it will only work for this year.
How
to be happy.
Words of wisedom on happiness – sent by Con. This a Powerpoint file so may take a few seconds to open. Just keep clicking on the picture to keep it moving along.
To celebrate growing older
I don’t know who wrote this column, but
these 45 ‘life lessons’
really say it all.
You’ll
never guess what this is……………….
And, no, it’s not a piece from a jigsaw puzzle. I’ve turned it over so the instructions for it’s use can’t be seen.
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Congratulations this newsletter to ….
ü Max on
turning 21
ü Brenton
on turning 30
ü Jessica
on writing, and performing, in her own play
ü Lisa
and Dave on their engagement
ü Graham
on his first overseas trip
ü Darcy
on coming 10th in a poker tournament
ü Mary on
her first job in 20 years
ü Alex on
having so much fun!!!!!!!!!!!!
ü Zac for
his part in the Human Powered Vehicle Project
ü Max on
completing his TAFE course
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