The Garbett Family Newsletter

As of 28 December 1996, I have been a resident in England for 12 years. The time sure has gone quickly. A lot has happened in those 12 years, both good and not so good. The last couple of years have been pretty good. I have finally started to settle into my own skin. I turned 30 in July 1996 and it isn't so bad. I am at a place in my life where I am enjoying myself - and still striving to improve.

March 1997 will see the anniversary of my home. My friend Kevin and I bought the house on 14 March 1994. We bought a fixer-upper and we are doing pretty well. We have stripped and stained all the wooden window frames and the garage door, we have painted the outside of the house, we have put on a new front door, I have tidied up the garden (yard) and put in some plants and shrubs which are doing well. The inside too is coming along. We have finally finished the re-wiring and the electricity board should be coming in the next few weeks to test us and hook us up. We have a new fitted, modern kitchen which was installed in June 1996. We have the door frame to re-build and the tiling yet to finish. Both living rooms have been decorated (we each have our own living rooms), my bedroom has had built-in sliding-door wardrobes put in - which hides the chimney breast and boiler - and has been decorated.

Kevin's bedroom is planned for work in February, he is building pine wardrobes around another chimney breast. The next project is the bathroom and then finally the hallway, which we hope will get underway in 1997.

I have been courting for over two years now. Heath Robert Cooper and I started going out together at the end of October 1994. I am happy, he is happy and we have plans to stay that way for now. He has taken a new job, which will mean him relocating to the South of England towards the end of this year. I hope that eventually I will join him and we will look for a home together.

I started, in the autumn at the local college, a part time studies course in business and finance. It is a two year course and I attend two evenings a week from 6:15 - 9:15pm. I have met some nice people and it is interesting. I find it does take up a lot of my free time, though. I spend all of Saturdays working on assignments now. I am hoping that by the time I complete the course, which touches on various areas in business, I will have decided which field I wish to work towards - I am finding marketing quite interesting.

When I am not busy with my studies I enjoy working in my garden - I am very keen on the vegetable patch - it is more blind luck than skill, but my vegetables keep coming up each summer, so I must be doing something right! I enjoy the flower beds too, especially at the front of the house as the dogs don't interfer there. The back garden only has one bed along the rear fence and I mainly grow shrubs and plants that are hardy - I put in a few bedding flowers for colour but I don't worry too much as I like the dogs to have a place where they can play.

The dogs are doing well. Scooter (male) will be 6 in May and Rebecca (female) will be 3 in August. They are both Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and are both gorgeous. I wouldn't be without them. Scooter has a bad heart but has been doing very well - he has outlived his initial prognoses already! He has his check up in the next few weeks and I hope that he continues to surprise his doctors. Kevin also has a dog, Sadie, a German Shepherd, and she has the softest nature. Sometimes when the females are in season (which is back to back) they are a bit grumpy towards each other but generally it is okay.

Work too has been good. I am working as a Personal Assistant (Secretary) to the Chairman & Managing Director of the largest office furniture manufacturer in the UK. I will have been here 2 years at the end of June. It does keep me busy. My boss is a busy man, interesting but a private individual. He is well educated and a great source of information. He is hard working and involved in the industry. I am glad to work for someone I can respect. We aren't "friends" but we do seem to work well together.

This year I am going to be having a week's holiday over Easter in northern Spain on the Costa Brava with Heath's family - part of the ongoing celebrations of his uncle Mark's 40th birthday. I am considering a week at the end of June/beginning of July with my girlfriends going either camping at Euro Disney Paris or northern Spain (a different resort though). Plans are afoot to spend Christmas 97/New Year 98 in Canada with my wonderful family - who I miss and don't get too see nearly enough - none of them, in the entire time I have been here, have been over to see me here in Olde England, much to my disappointment. Hopefully mother will put that all to an end and spend a week here with me in September. All in all, it's been a very exciting (and expensive) year.

All the best of wishes for 1997.