1983 - Snow and the QE2 - Ringwood NJ

Friday 23 December 1983 – Ringwood NJ

We all slept very well, although I am finding it difficult to get used to the ‘non-movement’. I still feel as if I am on the ship and my head feels as if it is still rocking around.

Decisiveness is not a feature of our relationship with the Schafers. It seems to me that everyone is so concerned about ‘making’ others do something they might not have chosen that in the end …. Well, plans get made and undone and re-made. I stay out of it on the basis that there is one less view – and I’m pretty well happy to do anything.

In the end there was a bit of confusion. Uli took Matt and me on a drive of about half an hour to pick up a turkey and visit a couple of toy shops. Rab and Nora turned up at the same place shortly after we had got there!! Matt was not particularly impressed by the two toyshops, which seemed to me to contain a good deal of interest, while Rab didn’t have much of a chance to look around as Nora had to be back by 11.15 and they had only left home after 09.00. Not a very auspicious start.

We bought some Dunkin’ Donuts on the way home, which served as lunch, to our surprise. Feeling a little peckish, Matt, Vicki, Rab and I went for a walk down to the local store and had a pizza between us. The plan was that we would leave Uli to follow us once Nora and her mother, Mrs Rosenthal, got back from Michael’s Christmas Party. (Michael was Nora and Uli’s son.)

Uli's lockout!!

Matt was last one out of the house and as he closed the door behind him, we realised that there was an automatic lock and Uli was outside with us! Poor Uli! Fortunately it was not too cold and he had Rocky the pup for company. We left him there and Nora turned up about ten minutes later.

Uli picked us up at the pizzeria as arranged and the five of us went bowling. It was good fun although none of us was particularly good – and in fact that darned German beat me. Matt didn’t behave spectacularly well, being a bit sulky and disinclined to listen to any advice. When we got home Nora had been roasting a beef roll and we had a very pleasant meal at about 19.30, Rather glad we had our pizza snack.

We had a hilarious evening playing our old card games – Salute The King and Seven Of Hearts. As we played it started to snow! Marvellous to watch. When we went to bed at about 23.00 it was still drifting down, so maybe we will have our White Christmas after all.