No. 102 - MR HATER

If you have been keeping up with my posts then you will know that my parent's used to own one of those old fashioned Milk Bars - the kind that did everything from fish and chips to groceries. Mr Hater was one of their customers.

Mr Hater was an elderly gentleman that from (my poor) memory dressed like one too. He may have even worn a hat.

Mr Hater liked black cats - the lolly (candy) kind. It was my job to count them out for him, 20c worth was 7 lollies. Those were the days! You know, I don't know if that was the only reason he came into the shop, but it sure felt like I was the only one that mattered. It wouldn't even surprise me if he didn't actually like black cats.

I also remember visiting his house one day. It was brick or stone, lets say big stone coloured bricks. It was small and old. Inside was also old. I vaguely remember the kitchen with a bench along the wall and the kitchen table, possibly metal. It didn't seem cluttered, maybe because he was male. You would expect an elderly ladies home to be cluttered, wouldn't you? I have know idea why we were there but it's funny how little snippets of images stay with you. I wish I could place some of the other snippets of images I have floating around in my head.

No. 101 - LUKE

Luke is my dentist.

He's the guy that took over the practice from the guy I used to see when I was in high school. Although I should probably face facts that by now someone may just have taken over from Luke.

Luke is kind of my hero. Any person in health care that tells me what I want to hear is my hero. That's why I love my optometrist too. I'm currently avoiding my Doctor so he doesn't drop off my hero list - he's not going to tell me what I want to hear!

Back to Luke. Luke kind of saved the day after my life changing/scaring trip to another Dentist, that is also on my list for all the wrong reasons. I'll leave that story for his post but I will say that I like Luke's experience and the fact that he thinks before he acts in terms of your dental care. I don't like a Dentist that will drill just to drill. With me?

No. 100 - PARK FIREMAN'S POLE

No it's not what you think! My grandparents have lived in the same house since Mum was in school. And for as long as I've been around, we would obviously visit them. A very short walk from their house is a park with a small children's playground. This park holds my life's biggest nemesis - the fireman's pole.

I'm scared of heights, that's no secret. But this pole has made my palms sweaty for years!

To get on the pole you had to climb up a rope net. Then, on the platform you had to step over the barrier (I think this is what made it seem scary to me - why would I want to step over that safe barrier?). Then you reach out and grab onto the pole, and at some point (4 years from today, or in my case about 24 years!) you lean onto the pole and slide right down. I'm getting nervous just writing this, I tell no lie!

Every time we went to my grandparents place I knew that I HAD to go to the park and conquer my fear. I had to do it EVERY time. It might take days but I wouldn't leave until I had done it. And the worst thing is I know that if I was to go there tomorrow it would still take me just as long to slide down. Now, I've been the same height for over 12 years so it has been considerably less of a distance to the ground for some time. This is just something I'm never going to be comfortable with.

I'm trying my best not to instill this fear in Brian, but I've already had instances where playground equipment heights have freaked me out. God help us if we find a park in Brisbane with a fireman's pole!

No. 99 - CRYSTAL

Crystal and I went to high school together. We were in the same Legal Studies and Modern History class. I was terrible at history and we had a long running joke that I loved to use the word "fundamental" in all of my assignments.

Crystal is a wonderful, kind hearted person. She's now a married Mum of two and a teacher.

Singing has always been one of Crystal's great passions and if you heard her sing you would know why. We were chatting recently (thanks FB) and she told me that these days she is happy singing at church. It makes me think that maybe Crystal gets even more enjoyment out of singing this way than if she had made it a career. It's continued to be something she wants to do, rather than has to.

When we were in high school Crystal worked at a local cafe. They had the best water! And if you know me this is a big deal. The secret was strawberries and lemons floating in it.

No. 98 - PEYTON

Peyton is my niece, Kevin's sister's eldest daughter.

Peyton and her sister Kayla are the main reasons I really would like to get back to Canada. As yet we have not met, which clearly makes it hard. One thing I love about kids is getting to know them and their personalities and that's one thing the distance makes us miss out on.

From pictures and emails you can tell that Peyton is a great big sister. She has long hair to rival most girls and I'm guessing likes the colour pink.

We are very excited to have Peyton as our niece and I just love having the excuse to shop for pink girly things! One day Petyon you will get to meet your Aunt Brooke, Uncle Kevin and Cousin Brian.

No. 97 - EDDIE

Eddie was our neighbour when we lived in Melbourne, so he knew me from day dot to 6 1/2 years.

The only still image I have of Eddie in my mind is him leaning over the fence, probably saying "Hey Peter" (to my Dad) and his beloved cockatoo sitting on the fence right beside him. I have vague memories of either under Eddie's house or in his smoke house - meats hanging everywhere.

There was no lawn to mow in his backyard, it was all garden beds, mostly growing vegetables. I'm not sure what it is about elderly neighbours but to a child they are just the greatest. Their home is always such an adventure and at their place you are always made to feel at home.

Eddie passed away, I believe from cancer a few years after we left. My parent's are still in touch with his wife, mainly at Christmas time (I'll save the rest for Gina's day).

No. 96 - KEN

Ken and I worked together in the city.

Ken is the kind of guy you like to have on your side if you need some back up. Just by being there he's a little intimidating to the person giving you grief and on more than one occasion he was there for me. Ken might be the tough guy but he also has a heart of gold.

He's full of surprises too. Ken can sew, and sew well. He can also cook and is a trained chef. You know how some nights you might feel like a naughty snack, well, for Ken it's nothing to whip up something that the rest of us couldn't cook if we had all day to do it!

Working in the city was for most of us a job and not a career. I guess this is why we were always so happy to hear that someone was moving onward and upward. Ken certainly did this and is now driving trains up north and earning big money. He certainly has his "happily ever after" as he's now married to the girl he met and courted, mostly on company time (hehe - it was cute to watch), Sharon.

No. 95 - STEFANIE

Stefanie and I worked together in the city.

Stefanie is such a happy bubbly person. She has about 5 or 6 siblings, and from memory I think they are all girls. It's no surprise that Stefanie would come to work looking very girly, beautiful hair and her style shining through even though we had to wear a uniform. It's funny how she made me look at the world differently. She was talking to me one day about dressing up for a party and that she was thinking about fake eyelashes. I remember finding a very snazzy picture in a magazine and ripping it out for her to use as inspiration.

One thing I admire about Stefanie is her dedication to her religion. It may be very insensitive of me to say but to me it seems that in Australia it's less cool to actively go to church. Stefanie took it all in her stride though and valued the time she dedicated to her faith. Something often rare in someone so young.

No. 94 - IAN

Ok, so I get a big fat F for yesterday. I thought I was super organised, having the dishes done, Kevin's lunch made and most of Brian's lunch done all before 7:30pm - clearly I forgot something!

Ian is Kevin's cousin, Amie's brother.

One particular meeting comes to mind when I remember Ian. On our last visit to Canada, Kevin's Aunt Anne had a few of the cousins over for dinner. It was wonderful. Great food, great company and a great night. Clearly these cousins had lots of memories of visiting each other as children but this was possibly the first they had together as adults.

I remember chatting to Ian's girlfriend Cassie who is so down to earth and super super nice. I can't recall her profession but she is very much into baking. Something I would have loved to talk about a lot more.

I know that I've already talked about remembering that exact moment in time when you learnt a particular lesson. It's the kind of moment where you remember every detail, who was there, who told you and it's the kind of lesson that you never forget. While it might be small, the thing that Ian taught me that I will never forget is that "if you cook something in a cast iron pot, the food will be higher in iron than if you cooked it in any other pot".

No. 93 - WOOLWORTHS

Not counting my one month stint in a sandwich shop (it closed down), the role of checkout chick at Woolworths (supermarket chain) was my first job.

While I wasn't happy that they rewarded my 3.5 years with them by giving me only 3hrs work a month, I am happy with the experience the role gave me. Essentially, Woolworths taught me the foundations for a customer service role (dealing with customers, handling cash, etc.) One unexpected outcome was a greater knowledge of fruit and vegetables. I still know the difference between a turnip and a swede!

No. 92 - FIJI BABYSITTER

Maybe Dad can help me here with this lady's name? She was our babysitter when we holidayed in Fiji, somewhere around 1987. We stayed in an all inclusive resort, at least to a little 6 year old it seemed all inclusive.

On a couple of occasions Mum and Dad went out for dinner and Shane and I were babysat by a lovely lady. Apparently we loved her that much that we wanted Mum and Dad to go out more often. I do recall her taking us to the movies one night. Which for us, who had never been was a major major deal. I have no idea what we saw but I do recall waving to our parent's in the restaurant on the way past.

No. 91 - DANNI

Danni and I worked together in the city.

I'm thankful to Danni for opening my eyes ever so slightly to the world of eating disorders. She had had a very tough few years before we met and had spent considerable time in hospital. For Danni eating is so different. Mostly her lunches consisted of steamed vegetables and small portions were hard for her to manage. It was exciting to see her progress and try new things. She's also a gym junkie and a bottled water addict. I'd be willing to bet that there isn't a bottled water out there that she hasn't tried!

Danni's now studying to be a nurse, just like the ones that helped her. I know her experience and willingness to open up is going to help her in this career. She's also super organised, a bit of a list maker and multi-coloured pen lover like me.

No. 90 - RHIANNON

Rhiannon is a family friend. Our Dad's have known each other for over 30 years (maybe 35).

It's funny how our relationship has changed over the years. I remember sitting next to Rhiannon when she was in her bouncer, admiring the new little baby that she was. I also remember being hit on the head with a giant kid sized plastic golf club, Rhiannon must have been about 3.

And then just last week when I was wishing Rhiannon a happy 24th birthday we were talking about Kevin being away and what must be going through Brian's head. I feel like we have come full circle. Once we were too young to communicate and now here we are taking advice and talking as adults. Oh Rhiannon, how you make me feel so old = )

No. 89 - RADIO STATION

From age 8½ to 10½ my parent's owned a milk bar (the good old kind), and our neighbours were the local radio station. There was no better advertising than my Dad running next door with a couple of freshly made "burgers with the lot", opening the studio door and tossing them in to the radio hosts.

Maybe it was kind of a return favour, or maybe it was just that they needed some kids they didn't have to pay, but one day my brother and I were asked to do a radio advertisement. It was for The Sweet House, a new lolly shop opening up in town. Did these people know me, or did they know me? At the time I was the only one out of Shane and I that could read, so I got the gig. My "radio Dad" sounded anything but impressed but I did the best I could. Little Shane got the big finale "The Sweet House is really great!"

Doing a radio advertisement is one of those tick the box cool things to do in one's life. I think for me it means a little more to me these days as I have a secret burning ambition to do the voice of an animated character in a movie - one of those bucket list wishes.

I remember taking the tape into school and the teachers opening up all the partitions that separated out our 4 or so 3rd grade classes. They played the tape to everyone and they had to guess who's voice it was. Of course everyone guessed it was the "cool girl", but no, it was little old me.

No. 88 - BARBARA

Barbara was my Dad's first wife, before he met my Mum. She's also the Mum of my (half) brother Dallas.

I have snippets of memories visiting Barbara's house in Melbourne when I was younger. She's a keen dog lover and always had at least 2 dogs in huge big runs out the back. To my recollection the yard was massive with lots of tall trees and I remember many leaves on the ground. I also remember thinking it was super cool that my brother had a water bed - we are talking the 80's.

Barbara and her hubby Pete are vegetarian. It would be quite easy for them to make a big deal about attending a BBQ but I admire the fact that they just bring along their own food to BBQ and don't mind using the same grill plate that has just cooked a few dozen bits of meat. Barbara has worked a lot in pub kitchens and as far as I'm aware doesn't mind cooking meat. I admire the control that takes - if I can't eat something I can't cook it either!

No. 87 - MRS. B

Mrs. B taught me to type.

When you think about it's a wonderful gift, no two fingered pecking needed here. I can't even recall the name of the subject but it was mandatory in the first year of high school and I think a couple of years after too. I'm thankful for that, as I'd be a feeling even more behind than I do in this modern world if I couldn't touch type.

The sore fingers and "asdf" sequences were more than worth it.

No. 86 - BRENDAN'S MUM

I feel terrible that I don't even know this lady's name! We originally met at a baby singing group at the library. Our boys became too big to attend so we stopped going. Then all of a sudden we ran into each other everywhere. The local shopping centre, the major local shopping centre, the carpark. And do you know not once did we swap our own first names or phone numbers for that matter?

Brendan's Mum has an uncanny resemblance to one of Kevin's best friend's from Canada, so I can't help but feel relaxed around her. After finally deciding "the next time we meet I WILL get her number", we haven't met again in about 4 months! I bet by having this in print we'll meet again tomorrow.

No. 85 - HELGE

Helge and I went to uni together.

I spent my last days at uni working with Helge on his film about a stand up comedian named Bob, who may be about to give his last show with anything but his usual scripted ending. I really enjoyed working on this film as we did everything from scratch, even sourcing an old run down ex-comedy club and bar that was due to be gutted. This meant we had full rein on changing the interior, by full rein I mean what our uni student selves could fund. As it had been abandoned for some time it also meant major safety hurdles - I love a challenge!

My uni course was difficult to get into as numbers were limited. As with most courses, by the final year numbers dwindle even more. Helge was part of the Norwegian brigade, that made up about a quarter of all students. He proved to me that you can work hard and achieve results all the while living it up in your free time. I've never met a Norwegian that didn't like a party.

I can thank Helge for my introduction to lingonberry sauce and teaching me that a bowl of steamed broccoli is actually a meal. I lived at home during uni and have never really lived that typical uni student life. I will never forget walking into Helge's shared apartment and seeing that a mattress standing up against the wall was the perfect place to throw a ball.

No. 84 - HAYLEY

Hayley and I worked together in the city.

Hayley came across to me as the well behaved, hard working type until I learned very different = ) She's also a party animal and currently mastering the art of working with a hang over!

Technically Hayley is my replacement while on maternity leave, you can imagine my surprise when I found out she was overseas. She's back now and dealing with all of the lovely customers that frequent our store. At Christmas it was getting a little too much for her so I made her a jar for "Ashes of problem customers" (just like I saw at my tailors).

She really is that hard working person and one of my favourite team members to have working along side me.

No. 83 - GONZO

Gonzo was the horse that I learned to ride on.

I was one of those girls that loved EVERYTHING horses. My Nan bought me a jumper with a horse on the front and the same year she also bought me a "Caring for Horses" book, which is probably only something you can get in the rural town in which she lives (we also lived there at the time). It was a wonderful tool for someone so addicted to these creatures.

I'm not sure if it was before or after that particular birthday that I actually took up horse riding lessons. You will learn about my teacher in another of these posts, but today is dedicated to the horse. Gonzo was a white horse, I can't recall the breed. We formed a special bond and obviously I was confident riding him. I was sad when he became too small for me and I had to move up to Shadow (he's also another post).

Gonzo loved to eat the usual chaff but treats included sugar cubes, molasses and fruit sticks. Not only did I learn to ride him (through bush and in paddocks) but I learned to care for him too. Washing him, brushing him and cleaning his hooves. He was a girl's dream (and a parent's too because he wasn't mine to keep).

No. 82 - ELIZABETH

Elizabeth and I went to high school together. Liz is one of the kindest, smartest, dedicated and hard working people I know which is probably why I referred to her as my hero.

I remember that when we graduated from high school Liz was given a ring featuring a pearl as the "stone" by her parents. This was her reward for completing the past 12 years of education and I remember that that ring was so very special to Liz.

Unfortunately Liz is another person from my past that I haven't yet reconnected with on good old Facebook but I'm sure she's working her way up the ladder in a high profile career.

No. 81 - LAURIE

I worked with Laurie at a local grocery store. She was a few years older than me.

Laurie was probably the first person to horrify me by thinking I look much younger than I really am. I've come to expect it now. At the time I was about 19 and she thought I didn't look a day over 15. I'm obviously getting younger because last year someone else asked whether I was older than 15.

No. 80 - DI

Di is a local artist. She was instrumental in the week long workshops that I attended after winning a Minister's Award.

Di is your artist stereotype - not quite normal. I learnt a lot from her during the workshops and was happy she had the time to share her skills and knowledge with us. In particular I remember her teaching us about web pages and html coding. I thought it was super cool and I'm sure if I took it a little further I might have a smidge more understanding of that whole digital world out there.

No. 79 - ANNA

Anna and I worked together in the city. Actually we started on exactly the same day and did all of our training together. Anna had previously worked for the company so it was more of a "re-training" for her. Clearly that was good for me as she had some added tips that were always helpful.

Anna is a happy, bubbly person. Like many, she left the company well before me (technically I'm still there) and I loved it every time she came in because I liked to hear how happy she was in her new job.

Our role for the most part involved customer service. One day Anna was having a terrible time with a customer. The kind that no matter what she did the customer would still be yelling at her and treating her like utter crap. Anna said to me "Brooke, can you please take over". I did and the customer was better dealing with a new person. I always liked to take a lesson away from this kind of situation and that day Anna taught me that sometimes it's just better to remove yourself from the situation.

No. 78 - SAM

Sam was Katherine's boyfriend.

Sam used to play the guitar. He had lessons at the same place my brother did. In fact he was the session right before my brother. As scheming 9 year olds, Katherine and I decided the perfect night for her to stay at my place was the very same night of the week that my brother had his guitar lessons. Of course this was so we could go along and "accidently" run into Sam after his lesson. Clearly seeing him at school just wasn't enough for Katherine. After all it was the time of:

KC

4

SR

4

EVA

Can you totally see that written in pink and purple smelly pens everywhere?

No. 77 - ASHLEY & SCHREDER

Ashley & Schreder is my tailor. I like how snobby it sounds to say that I have a tailor, but despite the fact that they will make you a suit from scratch I just use them to get my pants taken up.

I have only used them a few times but really they are the best. It costs me $10 to get a pair of pants taken up. I'm not sure if that's the actual price or that's just what they charge me because they think I'm still in high school.

Most of those little stores in the walkways of shopping centres cost you at least $18 and you have to pin the pants yourself. At "my tailor" you go in, use the change room to get changed into your pants, they pin them up, you get changed back into your normal clothes, hand them the pants and come back usually sometime that day to pick up your new pants.

Of course I wish I could sew, but I do enjoy shopping knowing that those pants that are too long in the store will fit just right for an extra $10.

The staff are friendly too. I once had a 10 minute discussion over a purple pen with the man behind the counter. You can see they love what they do and appreciate their customers too. So much so that they have a little jar on the counter that says "ashes of problem customers". I've loved this jar for years! I made one around Christmas time for a friend who works in retail that had been having a hard time with customers of late. It's just perfect.

No. 76 - NORM

Norm and I worked together in the city.

Norm is one of those people that believe in customer service. Working in retail is a lot about that balance of serving customers and getting your work done too. It's often the tale that there aren't enough staff to get the jobs done, so customer service lacks. In Norm's case it was the other way round, which as a customer can be a good thing.

Norm often got in trouble for working the way he believes things should be done. So much so that I feel he was treated poorly. I believe in treating others the same way you would want to be treated yourself. Everyone in life is different and obviously that translates into the workplace. Some people require you to work differently with them to inspire the best in them and that's one of the things I loved about working with so many people from all walks of life.

No. 75 - PETER

Peter and I met at uni. Remember on day 48 when I told you I worked on a film about a scary mortician that ate his customers? Well, Peter wrote and directed that film.

Working with someone on a film, especially one that is their own vision is a pretty good way to get to know them. Peter was always fun and easy going but working with him showed that he is also dedicated and very hard working. In fact at uni a lot of the people that you would now expect to be, shall we say famous in the film world are no longer working in the industry. I believe Peter however, still has his finger on that pulse.

No. 74 - HEATHER

I read quite a few blogs of varying themes and have only 3 blogs listed on my "favourites" tab, Heather's is one of those.

The main reason Heather is on my list is because she was the one who inspired me to start our Friday Movie Nights. It sounds simple enough, sitting down to watch a movie every Friday but really the change to our life, something so simple has made, is one I'm grateful for.

We used to find that our weekends weren't long enough, and that come Monday we weren't feeling relaxed and refreshed, ready to start the new week. At the time we both worked in the city and some Friday nights we would stay back for dinner and possibly a movie. We found that doing something on Friday night made our weekend feel so much longer.

Our next issue was, that by the end of the week we are too tired to always go out (and the budget couldn't handle it anyway). Most of the time we just felt like sinking into the couch and doing nothing but watch a movie, which was something we sometimes did all weekend long. Obviously come Monday on those particular weeks we felt like sloths and disappointed in ourselves for not doing anything over the weekend (clearly this was before Brian). As you can see our lifestyle was really calling out for movie night, so our official Friday Movie Night was born.

Now, although we have missed a few Fridays and the snacks are rarely related to the movie (because I'm so disorganised), Friday Movie Night is keeping us sane in more ways than we care to admit. It's this change in our lives that I'm happy Heather helped me find.

No. 73 - PENNY

I'm not quite sure how I came to know Penny, or why my parent's thought it a good idea for me to spend the afternoon at her place.

At the time Penny was in her teens and not exactly the best role model for someone a few years younger. My only recollections are that her house was huge, I think she owned horses and that we sat in her room as she randomly cut bits out of her hair and filed her fingernails into points.