Well. Here we are, a nice, warm, breezy, super sunny Sunday afternoon. Got some way groovy jazz tunes courtesy of the SkyFM BeBop channel, got a cool glass of Rosemount Estate Semillion Sauv-Blanc (eh, not bad but I prefer my standby), the laundry is hanging catching a breeze and some rays, the birds are out there going about their Sunday errands (hopefully not pooping all over mah clean clothes), life is good!
So work. Yep. Is pretty good. 'Course, last week I was only there for a day - Monday we had a day off for the Queen's Birthday, went to work Tuesday and had Wed-Fri off because I took some vacation time to go to Melbourne (more on that later), so last week was pretty good! Otherwise, work is quite good. The work is, well, work, but I like the folks I work with, the work isn't difficult, there aren't any whip-cracking managers to hop to it, it's a pretty good gig. Always happy to have a good gig!
And then there were a few weekends in there. Apologies for missing last week and the week before - that first weekend of June is when Mom arrived so was busy running around with her, getting prepaid cell phone cards, bus passes, etc.
Last weekend we met my friend Kim and headed up to Redcliffe to have a little walk/look around (in between the bursts of rain) and some lunch. It was just nice to get out and go for a walk near the sea (well, Moreton Bay) and thankfully the weather behaved for most of the day.
And then this weekend an Adventure was had! Wednesday morning we flew
into a damp and cool Melbourne and surprised Jeff and Emily (long-time family friends, heck, they're like family. You might remember them from previous episodes where I went down to Melbourne to catch up with them a couple times) by bringing Mom along - they hadn't caught up in like 5 or so years, so that was a fun surprise. And around Melbourne we went! Jeff is teaching a PhD program at Monash University there so he was in the middle of
unpacking the stuff he'd shipped over from the States, buying washers, dryers, air beds, etc - settling-in stuff that has to be done. His bummer is he had to do it in a weeks time before he had to head back to the States with Emily on (this) Sunday - whew! It's hard work being an in-demand professor on two continents! But thankfully they managed to find enough time to get stuff done and get out and about and run around with us.
Wednesday was lunch and errands, not too Adventure-worthy but it had to be done. Thursday we were up and out to Phillip Island where we took in as
Saturday saw Emily and I packed and ready to go (Mom and I to leave that afternoon, them to leave early the next day) and the two of us again headed into town to finish shopping (I know, gasp). Once finished in town
(Bourke Street to be exact) we headed out to scope out the Rose Street Markets in the cool hip n' groovy 'hood of Fitzroy, where we later met up with Mom and Jeff to have some lunch at Rustica Sourdough Bakery & Cafe (a comfortable little place that just opened in May, with pretty good pizza and what looked like an amazing selection of fresh sourdough breads - go the little independents!!!). Happily fed, watered and wined, we crept into crazy crowded Saturday afternoon traffic to get us to the airport in time for our flight back to Brisbane. WHEW! And today, well, laundry, chores and checking in - ahhhhh Sundays.
I really like Melbourne. Each time I go I see/discover more that I like and each time I go I seriously consider moving down there. While everyone moans about their winters, it can't be nearly as terrible as winter in NYC, so that doesn't really put me off. Hey, all it would take is a good job............? So if you ever head down this way and you have the time, I can highly recommend a trip to Melbourne!
Otherwise, I hope you're all well up there. Drop a line if you, well, are alive and even reading this, and if you ever have any questions. Hurry up and get down here already!!!!!
BYE!
J!
1 comment:
I'm so jealous. We loved the Koala Centre and Penguin Parade. If you do move to Melbourne, Scarlett and I will be down every year to visit. It is probably my favourite city, here or there.
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