that's life! Issue 19, 2022

Bough, rough, through and cough A few months ago, I decided the time had come for me to learn another language. Like many others, I did French at school for a few years. But after reading recently that, along with puzzles, learning a new language is good for the brain, I thought I should give it a go. I found a free phone app called Duolingo and have been doing it on and off for a few minutes at a time ever since. My accent is pretty terrible, but it’s fun and I feel I’m making progress. Although remembering whether a table, car or seat take the feminine la or the masculine le isn’t easy! But our number fact in this week’s The Buzz (Page 13) that the word ‘set’ has…

My mum, Marion, and my son, Logan, are out with Millie the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy who is wearing her new tartan collar! Amy Chatterton, Carramar, WA Bowlers Col and David w ere clowning around after our win at the Stawell Bowls Club. Mav Janetzki, Horsham, Vic I took this photo during a dawn walk in the mist at beautiful Kaiwaka. Ruby Martin, Kaiwaka, NZ My son Connor, nine, met Kayleigh in preschool when they were three. They were in the same class until Year 2. Now in different classes, they are still best of friends. Elise Kalnins, Woy Woy, NSW Thank you so much that’s life! for the beautiful coffee machine I won. I will have fun making lots of cups of coffee now. Nealma Steptowe, Ross, Tas My husband Steve took this photo of me at Falmouth…

Sarah Leavasa, 47, Cranbourne, Vic No more periods! I thought happily, as I sat in the doctor’s waiting room. I’d been feeling rough for a while, but it was only when I ran through all my symptoms with my mum, Pam, that I decided to make an appointment. ‘I’m tired and bloated with aches and pains,’ I’d told her, with a sigh. ‘I’m having hot and cold flushes and awful insomnia. I’m sure it’s menopause.’ She agreed it must be. ‘You’re 44 now and the same thing happened to me at that age,’ Mum said. ‘Best go to the doctor and get yourself on HRT.’ I didn’t even bother to tell my husband Potu, then 54, that I was going. To be honest, I was thrilled. Even though my periods had been irregular for years, I couldn’t wait for…

The CCTV footage was undeniable. A workman, dressed in a fluorescent yellow jacket and thick-rimmed glasses, sauntered through the apartment block. With red hair and a dark goatee, the man could be seen making his way up the stairs to the first floor, then casually rattling the letterbox slot of Nicki Collingbourne’s apartment before she opened the door. Was he the last person to see her alive? Family members first began to worry when Nicki, 26, failed to pick up her mum, Rena, from a hospital appointment the next morning. She wasn’t responding to calls or messages either. Panicked, two family members used a spare key to get access to her apartment that afternoon. Screams of horror filled the air as they discovered a harrowing, grisly scene. Nicki’s body lay in her kitchen Dressed only in her…

Penina Petersen, 50, Frankston, Vic We want the Aussie dream but will never be able to afford it, I thought, imagining a lovely house with a big yard. Crunching numbers in a spreadsheet that detailed mine and my fiancé Richard’s finances, we were in the red. ‘We’re in $50,000 of debt,’ I told Richard, then 32, through tears. I was 30, living in Melbourne, and our signwriting business was under attack from new digital printing technology. ‘We can’t pay this back living in the city,’ I fretted. Richard’s brother was living in a little mining town in Western Australia called Kambalda, and had been visiting. ‘Why don’t you guys come to the mines?’ he asked. We could make good money and, living outside of the city, we’d be able to reduce our cost of living dramatically. And we had…

Caroline, 26, Yeppoon, Qld* I loved my job as a nanny working for a wealthy couple who lived near a popular beach resort. One time, my employers, Marc and Marie, were headed interstate for two weeks, leaving me in sole charge of their gorgeous baby, six-month-old Lucy. Lucy was a cheerful bub and I knew she’d be her usual happy self when her parents were away. I’d looked after her ever since she was a newborn and she’d come to know me very well. The only thing that I didn’t relish about the job was the low rate of pay I received. Even though Marc and Marie were rather well off, they were not very generous. I was desperate to fly to Brisbane to see Mum for her upcoming 50th birthday – but I couldn’t…