Kookaburras, eBooks, Blue Cheese and Baking....!

Hi!

Well. Another Sunday has come and is going....... The weather has been glorious, which is awesome because we've had nothing but rain rain rain since January. It's weather like this that makes you happy to live here (and worth enduring the stinking hot and humid summers)! The birds are even happy and relaxed. Add to the lovely fading day - have got the cool jazz tunes and a new white wine, Counting Sheep, a generic sauv blanc from Marlborough in NZ (I have to admit, they make a pretty good white no matter what blend). It's not bad, pretty good, but not up to stand-by caliber I'm afraid. But, with the lovely weather, good tunes and a nice wine - life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Thankfully not too busy. In fact, it's been quiet enough that we all took this last Thursday (Anzac Day - national holiday, like Veteran's Day) and Friday off. I wouldn't've minded going in on Friday but I would've been the only person there and I hate that (especially when the weather has been so perfect). So I splurged and spent a precious and hard-earned vacation day instead. Ehhhhhh. Hey, ultimately am just happy to even have a job that accrues vacation time! So it was a  happy short work-week and because the weather's been so nice, we spent a lot of time just talking and fantasizing what we'd do if our little Lottery pool actually won. It's more fun to dream about winning the lottery than doing real work..... Just taking advantage of a bit of quiet time for once. It's nice. Otherwise, work is good - still building the book that no one wanted, which is good because I learn and get better at doing stuff along the way. And really, just happy to have work!

And then there were a few weekends in there. Sorry for not checking in last weekend. I'm trying to think what I did to not check in...... I know not much has been happening worth reporting..... the usual really - chores...... That week/end I was trying to get through an epic French version of The Count of Monte Cristo with Gerard Depardieu - as long as it was, it was really good. I really liked it. But then I really liked the book as well. Excellent performance from ol' Gerard and the cast is like a who's who of French cinema. So if you're into that sort of thing, I highly recommend it. It was gooooood!

Otherwise, I can't recall why I didn't check in. I know there hasn't been much to shout about really.... Thankfully no banzai trips to Ikealand (my wallet thanks me profusely)...... Since booking the visit home and hosting a cousin/friend the first week of July, am really needing to save mah $$$$$. And you know how it is the second you leave the house money vanishes somehow..... At least with my wallet that's what happens.

Anyways, this extended weekend was nice, tho pretty quiet. Thursday I baked cinnamon rolls from scratch - labor intensive but pretty good. It was times like that I wish I had a normal kitchen with normal working spaces and a normal stove. But me and the little ol' toaster oven managed. They came out pretty good (shared them with all the neighbors) but not sure how often I'd want to spend 6 hours on a weekend baking one thing.......... Eh, it was an experiment! Next time am going to give some of these Mexican recipes a try..............

And then Friday was a sort of interesting day - I went to visit my neighbor in the hospital (he's the guy with Motor Neuron Disease). Got to his rehab center only to find out they'd sent him to

the emergency room because he was having lots of trouble breathing. Long story short, he's ok but man, I'm glad it wasn't me. I'd've lost my patience with the ER/Acute Care staff in no time. But the thing is, tho he was ok (more or less, certainly not on death's door), once you're in the system, you have to just ride through it. And in his case, tho he was ok, he couldn't just get up and walk out like I would've done (errr, he can't - needs help and a wheelchair). So that was a real exercise in patience. I feel bad for him but he's getting the care he needs and that's all anyone can ask. And that pretty much took up the whole day with the errands, bus rides, hanging out at the hospital, bus rides back.............

And then yesterday was quiet, relaxing. Tho later I met up with my friend Kim and we wandered up to the movie theatre to see if anything good was worth seeing (no) so we sat and had a couple glasses of wine before heading back to Kookaburra Cafe for dinner (this time I had the

Fettucine Gorgonzola - Exquisite Blue Cheese, White Wine & Garlic Sauce - oh my god it was gooooooooooooood!). I swear, you have got to get down here just so we can go have dinner/pizza there. I love the place ever so much. Tho it was really quiet last night, so quiet that Steve the owner sat and talked with us for ages, which is rare. But we all decided that lots of folks left town because of the "long" weekend. Aussies are so funny - if there's a three- or four-day weekend, they'll take the whole week. Bless 'em.

And then today was laundry and tidying. Pretty dull stuff if I say so mahself. Tho I did clean up my little eReader...... I had like 1,200 books on there from the blitz I did when I first got it about two years ago, turns out I had like 5 copies of a lot of those books. So cleaned that up. Like I said, pretty exciting stuff happening down here in Australia!

And there you have it! I hope by now you've noticed a slight pattern in when there's a trip coming up I kinda move to Dullsville in order to protect mah bank account (well that, and maybe I just really am boring....). And now that the weather's lovely again, it means baking and fluffing around in the kitchen again. And too, I have the sewing machine to experiment with........! And those blasted screenplays to write......... Ahhhh, whatever it takes to save the bank account!

So, I hope you're all well up there. The weather's finally gone back to being perfect so feel free to c'mon down any time! Any questions about planning your trip, ask away! Hooray!

BYE!

J!