Dear

I used to think form letters were a bit impersonal but over the years I have received a number of Christmas letters like this and feel this is a good way to tell people a lot,  I hope you will feel the same way.

1989 is a year of contrast for the Cashin family.  The first 6 months were relatively organised. Not so the last few.  In January, my mother stayed for a few weeks.  We were holidaying at Scotts Head in our house when she arrived. She got as far as Macksville (about 10k away) by bus, and I picked her up at 4:30 am. Ah well, only a son could love her.  It was 2 years since her last visit at which stage the Scotts Head house existed only on paper, so she was keen to see it. Two days later we were off to Armidale and the start of the school year.

Poss had quit her job at Hilton nursing home so that she could look after Dianne Chambers baby. Angus was born 5^th. December and handed over to Poss at 8 weeks old.  Poss looked after Angus for all of 1^st and 3^rd term and 2 weeks of 2^nd and 4^th term.  It wasn't quite the picnic we had hoped, we now know why we had all girls.

Poss's neice (Michelle Letts, daughter of sister Barbara) was using us as home base after leaving boarding school in '88. She returned from visiting her parents in Connecticut, and landed a job at Nowendoc (about 100km. from Armidale or just about anywhere else) looking after animals. Poss and my mother checked the place out, and found that they had everything from rats to echidnas to camels.  The farm supplied animals for TV ads and for films.  They also have an extensive collection of old horse carts, drays, buggies and stagecoaches - you have probably seen at least one of the animals (Antz Pantz echidna for instance).  Despite the remoteness, Michelle is still there and has been left in charge when the owners go away. So she had some mobility I negotiated a 2^nd hand car for her in April, a Renault 12, which has so far survived the roads and was well worth the $1800. Michelle is now talking of going to Marcus Oldham to study but will probably have to wait a year for acceptance and also to raise the money to pay the fees.

Mother left after 2 weeks and I guess it will be summer next year before we see her again. She lives in Collinsville which is a long way to go, but we keep in contact by phone and apart from a bit of illness a couple of months ago she has been keeping OK.  Even in summer she found the Armidale climate a bit cool for her liking, she might find Newcastle more to her taste.

First semester was uneventful. We had planned (as some of you would be aware) to visit Melbourne in the semester break, but it was not to be.  Poss felt that a week was insufficient, and we were not very solvent. When we found that some people were going to be away it seemed better to delay until we were better organised (do I hear laughter in the background...). As the ad says, next year...

I decided it was time to start renovations of 24 Tancredi St., which was supposed in the end to be combined with 22 to provide us a house of adequate size.  Much progress was made in the daylight savings months, but the loss of daylight and the onset of rain curtailed activity almost entirely.  The front of the house was raised out of the mud and put on brick piers.  Then the floor was restumped and leveled in two rooms.  During all of this Sandra and Joanne retained residency,  I thought the cold of winter would force them out but they stayed put, even though Joanne's bedroom was only temporarily lined (the lining had to be removed to allow the room to be levelled). When Joanne went to America in September, Sandra valued her independance so highly that she stayed on alone.  I guess that's teenager hood.

The children have, not surprisingly, all got older this last year. Sandra became a bona fide teenager in January, but has not yet caused us to bash heads against the wall in desparation (ours or hers) but there are many years ahead, She has continued to apply herself to studies and did well in the state science and mathematics competitions. She was in the top 1% in the state in science and also top of the school.  For each category she received a $10 prize, considered to be an improvement on the books and ribbons received for previous achievements. Sandra elected to play hockey again this winter, but the weather made a mess of the draw and not many games were played. She has not involved herself in any summer sports beyond the school curriculum, this may partly be due to our move in November. The move wrecked any chance she had of getting academic prizes - she sat exams the week we arrived, and the curricula were sufficiently different to make a mess of things. She did a music theory exam after having no formal theory in Armidale, and also a Japanese exam covering one years work when she had done one term - I think you get the picture. Considering all these setbacks she did very well, and even better, does not seem particularity put out by the move.

Joanne (now 12 years old) left for America in August and returns next week. She also did well in her final year of primary school up until her departure, and appears to be doing well still in America.  Both Joanne and Nicole were involved in the 2^nd regional dance festival, in different items. Joannes group put on an item called 'The henhouse after dark' which was colourful and amusing. We saw the festival both years and it is surprising how well children can perform with a little organisational effort. She has continued her gymnastics but got stuck on level 4. She (perhaps sensibly) treats gymnastics as a social meeting rather than a competitive sport so has not pushed that extra bit to move to the next level. She has the ability and has passing scores in all apparatus but did not achieve them all at one meeting - which is required to complete the level. She continued in America but I think will drop out on her return.

Both Beth and Nicole have expressed some interest in starting gymnastics and I really hope they do.  This is partly for my benefit as well as theirs, because I have been judging at regional competitions for the first half of the year and would like to keep it up.  I have not as yet located a gymnastics group in Newcastle but will do so in time for next year.

Joanne is staying with Barbara (Michelle's mum) in a sort of exchange arrangement. Gordon (Barb's husband) is in Australia at the moment attending various conferences. Joanne arrives on the 20^th and Barb and her kids on the 19^th.  Even in August, it was not possible to organise four seats on the same flight. They will head here then on to stay at Scotts Head for Christmas and the New Year. Gordon then returns to America but Barb is staying on for an unknown as yet period. We will also be at Scotts or with Poss's parents in Stuarts Point (10km. south) for Christmas/New Year. All of Poss's family will be together for the first time in many years.

Beth (now 8-1/2) was the most put out by the move to Newcastle as she had settled into a very comfortable groove in Armidale. She had two very good mates, one of whom lived around the corner. Her father had joked that Beth was really part of his family and only slept with us - almost true.  Joanne, Beth and Nicole were all in choirs at school, Beths group did well at the Armidale eistedfod. She also started Minkey hockey in winter, along with a number of other first timers. They got absolutely thrashed at the start of the season with scores of 0-10, 0-15 etc.  However, experience is a great teacher and they were overjoyed to WIN one game for the season.  Beth has also shown an interest in Roller skating but that has been supplanted by the swimming pool since moving to Newcastle.  There was much tears and grumping for the first weeks of being here but things are improving - the thunder clouds still gather on her face on occasions but the sun has dominated for a while now.

Nicole (nearing 7), on the other hand, seems to have made the move with barely a change of stride. She is a very extrovert and sometimes volatile child but seems to have no problems on the social front (as long as she is running things). Her group was the youngest in the dance festival, they dressed as penguins and did the 'penguin strut'.  It certainly pleased the crowd and got a commendation from the judges. The teachers have worked it for all they could so we have had many repeat performances. Nicole's performing career included a win in the relevant choir section at the eistedfod. Also she and Joanne were in the Wattle Singers - a group put together by one of the teachers to sing wattle songs. They made their way onto the last Australia All Over album and featured on the show on the first day of spring.

All the children were going to Girl's Brigade through the year, which is associated with the Presbyterian Church.  I have never worked up a lot of enthusiasm for religion, but the Girl's Brigade has proved to be one of the better vehicles.  There was some craft work, group singing, leadership training and similar activities. Nicole and Beth went on a weekend camp for the first time and enjoyed it thoroughly. To Joanne and Sandra it is fairly 'old hat' as they have been in it some years, but they still come home enthusiastic.  It is one of the larger sacrifices in our move, as none of them seems inclined to join a similar group here. Perhaps we can persuade them next year.

Poss had a 'steady as she goes' year. Looking after four full time and one part time children and an erratic husband is a full time job. However, she found time to do aquarobics and circuit training two or three times a week.  In 1988 Poss declared 1989 as a year off after working at Hilton since '83. The move wrecked all that and there was 6 weeks of packing, rubbish culling and organising of bank accounts, etc. followed by another 6 weeks of unpacking and (Poss's favourite pasttime) house organising at the other end.

The family pet scene has been changing, some planned moves, others not. Zap the dog was considered entirely unsuited for life as an urban dog and was given away.  This didn't suit her at all and she managed to find her way back at least four times in the weeks leading up to departure, despite a treck of about 6km. She has every vice known for a dog - rolls in anything mucky, swims in sewers, steals food, eats shoes (and only comes home when she feels like it). We were in Armidale last week and the new occupants of our house hadn't seen her so perhaps she's given us up for lost (or is following the scent to Newcastle...).

Tiger the cat did come with us, but only after delivering us 3 kittens. These appeared 2 weeks before departure but were claimed by various people to be distributed when old enough. One has been delivered, one has since been 'given back' and we were going to keep one so we now have 2 kittens. We very nearly had none as mum transported the newly borns under the bath on the first night and abandoned them. The bath is boxed in so it was nearly impossible to retrieve them all. After much messing about they were extracted, two of them barely alive and very cold. Not expecting much, we locked mum and the kittens (about the size of a sausage) in the bottom of the wardrobe.  Two hours later they were all doing the right thing and seem to have survived unscathed.

By now, you are probably sick of 'the move' and wondering why we would leave 14 years of establishment behind. There was no single factor but the accumulation of small things.  I have never accepted Armidale winters as a desirable part of my life and have often considered a move. However, Poss was happy and the kids were being adequately educated so there was no pressure to do anything.  Then I started doing a Bachelor of Business at Mitchell College (now Charles Sturt Uni... but what's in a name). After doing 4 years of the course I thought that I should consider what all the learning could be used for. Also, in the last couple of years I had reached a point in my progress at ABRI where there was little chance of advancement.  I was managing the computer system and had about as much control of things as the boss was likely to allow.  I was also being left behind in training terms as my existing skills were too useful in maintaining old systems to warrant new training.  It seemed also that ABRI would be locked into their path for a few years - so where was the challenge.

Poss and I had discussed moving a few times in the last couple of years and she was supportive if not eager - perhaps 14 years of living in an incomplete renovation was taking its toll.  I felt that the best time to go would be when I completed the degree (supposedly the end of 1990) - however I felt that this alone could not guarantee a good move ( Yes Mr Cashin ... you've got a bit of paper but 15 years of hicksville is not the best background...) -  I had ruled out Melbourne as a new base (been there...) and Poss refused to face Brisbane in summer. Sydney would be OK if I had the income (but who gets that much?).  I tried convincing people that telecomputing was a viable option but no go. To cut a long story, I saw an ad by BHP Newcastle, applied for the job and got the money I asked for, all of which was totally unexpected.

I decided to start work the week after the Bathurst external school (which cruelled any chance of going to Melbourne...). The whole family spent a week in an apartment in Cooks Hill (about 1km from the centre of Newcastle) courtesy of the company and Poss arranged a house to rent.  I spent the next week in a hotel and the house fell through so I organised the one we are in now. Poss stayed in Armidale to try to sell our houses and land. After some weeks a definite buyer emerged (after some hassels but that's another story) and once that was firm the move was made (also courtesy of BHP).  I commuted each weekend and had the heartbreaking job of disposing of my junk in the weeks preceding the move. The family joined me in Charlestown on November 1st, the children started school on the 3rd and here we are.

So far, the move seems mainly good. The high points: good company to work for, lots of promotion opportunities. 4km to the beach, 20 min to work, 2 hours to Sydney.  Bad points... it can get hot enough to wilt Poss, we miss our friends and it costs heaps (we are renting for a year to find out if we could ever afford to buy a place, and if so, where.)

I think that's probably enough to get you all up to date. We all wish you best wishes for Christmas and the coming year (and after that too...). We would love to see any of you for a visit or just passing through. The phone is (049)43-9369.

Love to you all from Alan, Beth, Joanne, Nicole, Poss and Sandra.