Rainy Weekends Rewarded with Adventures in Melbourne!

Hi!

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. The weather has been pretty crap until this past week (well, I assume, seeing as we just returned last night, and it's been nice today), so for the last few weekends we just tried to keep entertained and warm and dry. We really just ran around town, dodging the odd rain showers, errands/sight-seeing, and just having a good look around. That's a pretty tough plane ride so it takes a few days to recover. Add to that the fact that she left 100+ degree, long summer days to arrive in 40+ cold and damp short days, and yeah, it'd take you a minute or two to adjust. But, the fridge is full, all is well!

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 much as we could in the seemingly short amount of time we had - it's a hefty drive south of Melbourne, about an hour and some, longer than I thought, add to that getting lost a couple times looking for the right roads, stopping for a quick errand...... And the weather was a bit rainy off and on, cool, cloudy, typical Melbourne in the winter really. Once on the island we stopped in at the Rusty Water Brewery where we sat by a roaring fire and had a really decent lunch (I can highly recommend the Koala Pale Ale) before heading over to the Koala Conservation Centre to learn all there is to know about koalas (they're NOT bears! They're marsupials!), saw a few sleeping in trees, it was neat. Knowing that koalas are heading towards being a threatened species, anything to protect them has to be a good thing. Shame, but until developers stop building massive sub-divisions in places koalas have to live, then living in a sanctuary is the way it has to be. Go little koalas! Then, suitably educated, we headed over to Churchill Island which is a little island with a really neat, good-sized farmstead (with amazing views out to sea) from the early 1800s. The locals sure seem to take a lot of pride in it and keep it very well maintained. The farm, in addition to the usual cows, horses and chickens, even had Highland cows! Then, running out of time, we headed over to watch the Penguin Parade where, at least on the night we were there, over 1,200 Little Penguins came home from a hard days/weeks fishing out at sea. We weren't allowed to take any pictures, so on that link I've included, scroll down a little and there's a little video about what you see on the night. It was awesome. I mean, it was neat to see them pop out of the sea, collect together and waddle up the beach in little groups but the part I liked best was when they finally made it home, they'd all kind of stand around near their burrows and wait and call out to their friends and family until they were all together again (uh, or not, as nature may dictate). It was reallyreally good. If you ever head down that way, I can highly recommend it! All in all, it was a good, highly educational day - Hooray for Adventure!

Friday Emily and I headed into town to have some lunch at a really good little Mexican restaurant called Senoritas. Because it's been soooooo long since I've had any Mexican food, let alone good stuff, I was in 7th heaven. Plus, our waiter was a young Mexican guy from San Francisco. Although, I must say, while the tequila they used on the margarita was super good, the margarita itself was lacking. Small, watery, meh. The good tequila made up for it tho. Then we headed out to shop, something we're not fans of but it had to be done. Unbelievably, it took us all afternoon until we had to meet up with Mom and Jeff so we could head out to dinner at the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant, a beautifully restored set of early 1900s tramcars where you have dinner (in our case we had the "early" 3-course dinner, there's also a 5-course dinner later at night) while it travels through the city down to St. Kilda (past Luna Park) and back. It was lovely and super cool. Boy folks those days were sure tiny! So again, when you head this way, I can highly recommend a trip on that for dinner.

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!

Another Weekend in the Lucky Country......!

Hi!

Well. Sunday late afternoon. Weather has been absolutely perfect, gotta love any season but summer here! Got some groovy 80's tunes courtesy of SomaFM (the good alternative punky stuff, not the crappy gag-me-with-a-spoon-like-totally top 40 stuff, tho I must say this station has a preference for rare Heaven 17 and Human League tunes.......... hmmmm), got the cool glass of stand-by white wine, the little apartment gets more and more tidy, clean and organized as my guest's arrival approaches this coming Friday, the cat and plants have all been fed and watered, gotta baked potato doing its thing in the good ol' toaster-oven..... life is good! And hey, am checking in on time - life is good!

So work. Yep. Is way good. Learning new stuff which just makes the week spin past. I have Friday off (sweeeeet) to play Chauffeur and Perfect Hostess, so yes, all is well with work. As ever, always happy to have gainful employment and bonus if I don't mind the work and like the people! 

And then there was a weekend...... another too-quick weekend if you ask me. I'm still so tempted to have Mondays off but the bank just frowns and shakes its head. Fair enough, especially if I think I want to buy a house....... But oh to have 3 days to get stuff done...... Oh well, must streamline those errands! Saturday was busy with the usual chores, thankfully the weather improved from Friday's showers and wind and coooold - it was the opposite - the sun was out, the temperature was warm  - perfect for drying 3 loads of laundry on the ol' hills hoist (local speak for round, spinning clothesline - invented here in Australia no less)! And next thing I knew it was Sunday. Time to organize..... amazing how long it takes me just to organize a couple of bookshelves........ But it looks fine for now, need to buy some frames and actually print out some photos of friends and family to display. If you think about it, it really is kinda wierd when you go to someone's house and they have no photos of friends or family hanging around the place. My excuse is that I'm a renter, and that's the lamest excuse on the planet, more so in my case when I just don't give a crap about drilling holes into my walls let alone hammering in a few nails. So up with the pictures! Just as soon as I buy some frames, print out the pictures that I like..........

And that was the weekend really. See why I kinda don't check in every weekend? Dullsville, USA. But hey, if all 3 or so of you are still paying attention, well done. I should send you guys and any regular readers a prize...... like a little boomerang (or something equally as exciting and local) as a reward for keeping up. Honest. This new and improved whiz-bang blogger has stats and even a world map so I can see who checks in where, which apparently most folks (or rather, person) is/are in the US and of all places, Russia. Huh. Well hell, if you're still with it, a prize to you, my one or two friends!

Otherwise, all is well down here. I hope you're all well up there and have perused the handy web links I provided (and updated) over on the right side there - like Qantas, Getaway, The Great South East, etc, and are excitedly planning your next trip down here to Australia. It's a happy place, a place where the politicians seem to spend a lot of time arguing who paid for what hooker on which corporate credit card, as opposed to who was born where and if women should have rights - it's a happy, lucky country, with a subsidized medical system, decent public transport and good, fresh food - I highly recommend coming for a visit!

BYE!
J!

P.S. Here's a lovely article about a guy and his motorcycle trip around Australia, just to give you an idea...... "Finding America's Past In Australia's Present".

Reshuffling Weekends........!

Hi!

Well. Here we are. A little late tho...... am sorry..... but we're here now - the sun isn't really shining, cloudy, but the birds are happily twittering away out there, doing whatever birds do on a Monday afternoon. It's lovely and warm and breezy, got some hip n' groovy streaming internet 80's tunes courtesy of SomaFM's "Underground 80's", have a lovely small glass of Hardy's Merlot to go with my late lunch - life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Not been crazy busy, which is good, gives me more time to focus and learn new stuff. And because it's been kind of quiet I took today off as my one 'free' day off a month (man I miss working for the State Government where we got 3 days off a month.....!) so I could finish getting stuff done, because yes, one weekend just wasn't enough. But yes, work is good. Still ever so happy to have been adopted by this team. And, as always, happy to have gainful employment, until the end of March next year that is!

And then there were a couple weekends in there..... So last weekend, the reason why I didn't check in was because I woke up Saturday morning and decided that in order to perhaps create more space for guests to stay, I'd "flip" the bedroom and the living room as it hadn't been done before and I wanted to see. By myself. I started at 10am and didn't finish until 9.30pm. To say I was beat is an understatement. And get this - when I finished and stood with a well-deserved glass of wine surveying all my hard work, I realized I didn't like what I'd just spent all day plus doing and instantly wanted it back the way it was. Crap. And come Sunday I was too tired, I absolutely ached (those muscles hadn't been used since that year's stint back at Centennial in 2005-6 and boy were they shocked) and was also a little depressed in a "this damn apartment is too small, I wish I had my own normal place where people could stay in comfort, etc" kinda way. So I sat and watched Mad Men instead of checking in. Am sorry. But I did make sure to take pictures for posterity and to remind myself why I shouldn't swap them around if I ever get that urge again. Doubtful, but just in case. Hopefully next time I have to shake my furniture up it'll be to move to mah own place once and for all (working on it but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day and neither has the "perfect" villa in that Brendale complex come available for sale). One thing I did learn is that I really don't have as much stuff as it looks like I do. Sweet! One benefit to living in a teeny place with zero storage!

So this weekend, on Saturday, Kim was kind enough to come around and help me undo what I'd done last weekend. Thankfully it took a third of the time to put right as it took to mess up (I should ask for help more often). And to celebrate we went to - guess - Kookaburra for dinner. Man, I say every time I go there if I could marry that place I totally would. Love their food and the quirkiness of the space. Someday if you come down thisaway for a visit, we're totally going.

Then on Sunday it was up and out early to meet my friend Jan out in the lovely little village of Dayboro (about 45 minutes north-east of Brisbane) for their annual "Chook Show" as a friend of hers was showing some of his chickens ("chook" is local-speak for chicken. Cute isn't it?). It was a very small turn-out, apparently most years they get about 300 chickens being shown/judged and this year there were maybe 50; something about in-fighting within the local poultry club (people not chickens I assume), no advertising done, etc...... But regardless of the number of preening chooks on show, we had a good look around followed by a small homemade sandwich (chicken and egg - har har), cookies and a cup of tea from the local Country Women's Association (for a small donation) - Jan says it's what you do when you go to these little local shows - a sandwich and a 'cuppa' (again, local-speak for cup of tea/coffee/cookie. Cute.) from the old gals. Then, happily educated on the local chooks and who's on top of the roost, we headed "downtown" for lunch at Rendezvous Readers Teahouse cafe, which is a super neat little independent cafe/bookshop combination. Food was pretty good, staff were nice, and it was just nice to eat in a little bookshop that wasn't a massive big scary obnoxious chain. Go the little local independents! But then by the time I got home from there, cleaned up and organized the apartment a little (from the reorganization frenzy) it was too late to check in.... so I watched the Towering Inferno (original) instead. Have you seen it? It was really good! Tho how could it not be with a cast that included Paul Newman, Steve McQueen (battle of who has the most piercing blue eyes), Faye Dunaway, William Holden and even Fred Astaire! And a decent, even relevant story to boot. I know they recently did a remake, haven't seen it, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to because the original was so good. Man, that movie really stands the test of time in my opinion. I highly recommend seeing it or seeing it again if it's been a few years. Which reminds me, I need to add the Poseidon Adventure to my rental list.......! And that was Sunday.

And today was a lovely little productive day off from work (I could so get used to having Mondays off....... tho the bank probably couldn't) to finish all the little things I just had no time to get done over the weekend - laundry, vacuuming, cleaning, organizing, etc - chore was fun (har har har....)! 

And so there you go. See? Again, you didn't really miss much. Contrary to current trends, I am trying to check in more often, exciting Adventures or not. I quite like my little Sunday ritual it's just that sometimes it's harder than others to muster the energy/time/enthusiasm to rabbit on about how I did or didn't do much over a quiet or exciting weekend...... But I will persevere! Things should get a little livelier come June when Mom comes to visit for a wee while - Adventures! Family! Hooray! So there you go - there's the solution to livelier weekends - come on down for a visit and we can go on Adventures, thus sparkling up the little blog! Hooray - c'mon down!

BYE!
J!

Time Flies to May..........!

Street Art in the 'Gabba

Hi!

Well. It's been a while.......  But first things first. The march of technology, in addition to Blogger in their infinite wisdom, has dictated that I update my little blog template. I've resisted it for a few years as whenever I've succumbed to their updates, baaaad things have happened in the background (as you may recall from snafus with uploading photos........ and it could happen again, we'll see.......). And, seeing as I went to school to learn how to make films and TV not computers, I can only fix so much. Now finally change has rendered my resistance futile and updated and modern I am. It's still a work in progress, so to use construction parlance - please excuse my dust. Either way, I hope you like it. Then again, you have as much choice in the matter as I do!

So, the delay in checking in........ there's really been nothing to report.

S.B. Palace

Every week has been pretty much like the last. And really, it's only been 4 weekends since last checking in, and over those 4 weekends, sadly, not much has been happening. My tiny, dumpy apartment block has seen two annoying tenants move out (OK, 4 if you count the fact they were couples) and 2 new tenants move in, including the unit next door to me. It's a young gal and she seems nice with her head screwed on (tho why she's living in this dump is probably the same reason I am and why I've failed to move - it's cheap and it's close). Our poor old suffering washing machine, killed off finally by one of the recent ex-tenants with her obsession with spinning everything numerous times, was finally replaced with a newer model. My lovely Indian neighbors to my other side have finally been given real jobs

Young Neighbor....

and are working on getting their permanent residency. He just finished his Bio-Engineering PhD and is working on post PhD stuff and she's a mechanical engineer thinking of going for more school. Put it this way - they're smarter than all of us in these units rolled together. I really quite like them and am very happy for them - they've worked hard and have had to suffer our racist, bogan (Australian for white trash/redneck) neighbor. My other neighbors below me, you might remember he ended up in a sudden, medically-induced coma for a few days around Xmas, they're expecting their first child and I think that's really cool, am very happy for them. But me, not much happening, tho all is well. Still kicking around the idea of buying a place, but it could be held off for a wee while yet as I have a few bills coming due (hello car registration and flights to Cairns and Lake Eyre), so I've been trying to be good about not doing much. That and I'm trying to save my vacation time. Which leads me to my next topic........

Worker Bees (in Melbourne)

So. Work. Is good. In fact, we have the day off today for Labor Day - Hooray! But yes, work has been good, busy, which is super nice. Did I mention they extended my contract 'til the end of March next year? And I told you I've moved permanently from my other team.... Still really happy to be working with my adoptive team. We're getting another editor gal back who'd gone away to have a baby, only two days a week (I envy her tho not her reduced pay check), which will maybe make my life slightly easier...... at least it's someone I can whine about punctuation with! And that's work.....!

And then there were a few weekends in there, but

Storm Clouds Over the 'Gabba

not much to report. Over most of those weekends the weather was appalling - rain rain rain and wind and cold and damp. This weekend has thankfully been perfect, so Saturday I took myself on a little bit of an Adventure walk - from my house over to Southbank to check out this year's Buddha's birthday celebrations (lovely, tho slightly crowded). Then I continued wandering to Woolloongabba..... not much to see or report from that really. I'd gone to a little cafe called Canvas (neat, hip n' groovy, nice little place, tho we weren't there long) for a drink with a co-worker a few nights previous (on our way to our totally riveting Qld. Editor's Society monthly meeting - yawn) and thought it'd be nice to check the 'hood out during the day. Meh. See, I used to take my wee scooter to the Yamaha dealer around there for it's check-ups and since I've sold it, well, the dealer moved and they've been fixing up that part of town like it's the Next Big Thing. Eh. For one it's right near the stadium where they have some pretty big cricket and rugby games, tho not around the same time because of the pitch or the grass or whatever... I don't know, I hit "mute" when that bit comes on in the news), it's around one of the biggest and busiest intersections in town.... ehhh, I wouldn't live over there, even if they do have the German Club, two whopping huge hospitals and a good bus-way!

Kitchen Organization.....

And then yesterday, Sunday, I took the car out for a spin and we ended up at Ikea of all places, oh dear. But thankfully the crowds were pretty thin (tho not all of them - har har har) and I was able to wander and redecorate to my heart's content - ideas galore. Picked up a new shelf thing for the kitchen, although I might have to make more of an effort and re-hang it with proper butterfly screws because I'm convinced it's going to crash down at any time because the drywall is super thin and brittle....... But I was determined, tired and slightly cranky that I don't live in a normal apartment..... But it looks great - more space, until it crashes down that is!

And today, a day off to do no labor has been pretty much just that. Checking

Small But Comfy!

in, emails.... might watch another episode of Mad Men (finally up to season 3!) and that's about it.

So there you have it. See? You haven't really missed anything. I did want to write but knew all 3 of you would be bored stupid, so again, I thought I'd spare you. You're welcome! But hope you're all well up there! Hurry and book that visit - the couch will be available August 9th, you'd be more than welcome!

BYE!

J!

Small and Pretty, Spiky!

P.S. So far so good with uploading photos, aside from some funky spacing issues....... overall, they must've listened to people's complaints because it was a thousand times easier than with template updates in the past! And bonus - captions that are easy to add!

Long Weekends with Friends, Walks and Wine!

Hi!

Well. Here we are. Late. Pretty late. Part of it is because of being busy and getting in too late and not having a maid, and the other part can be attributed to sheer laziness. But, we're here now - the sun is shining bright and happy, the birds, especially those chatty lorikeets, have been out there twittering away. It's a breezy, warm afternoon, but thankfully not too humid. Gotta love every season here that's not summer! Have got the groovy internet jazz tunes, tho it's a bit early for the glass of white wine.... even tho it's a part of the "ritual" that is checking in........ maybe just a small one........ I have a new favorite stand-by white wine - Jacob's Creek Cool Harvest Pinto Grigio - mmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Life is good!

So. Work. Yep. Is really good. A couple weeks back they FINALLY coughed up an extended 12-month contract and a permanent transfer from my home department (Communications) to my foster department (F/A18 Technical Publications). WHEW. Took them long enough. But, am very happy to have been made a permanent, although temporary, part of their team. They're super nice folks who work hard and get along well. There's always a ton of work to do so am never at a loss for something to do or someone to help. Ahhhhhhhh! Nice change from this time last year! And I know for a fact that my bank account is super happy I've moved too, although I'm sure my freight forwarder and numerous shops (I'm looking at you Walgreens and Bath & Body Works) are lamenting my absence. Still, am happy to have gainful employment for another year! Hooray!

And then there were a few weekends in there.... I'll do my best to cast mah memory back....... Oh, I remember, that first Saturday I went to a gal at work's baby shower (her first), which was nice but packed full of small, drooling people. Thankfully no mobile children, just boneless droolers who thankfully didn't cry too much (tho lots of them seemed to like throwing up on guest holders. I thought it was funny). It was a really nice afternoon. Tho I must say, baby showers are sort of strange things - "I got knocked up so give me stuff". Hmmm. Still, it was a nice afternoon with really good finger foods, no stupid games and lots of nice folks. Then after that, I went to have dinner with my friend David at his sister and her husband's house in the super nice 'hood of River Hills. They made Mexican (well, the best you can do when your only supplies come from the Old El Paso brand). Her husband has a recording studio in their house and does stuff for up and coming artists/bands. It's not a big studio but he seems to do well enough that he doesn't have to work - niiiiice. And in his spare time he's written a screenplay (and composed most of the music), The Lion Awakes, about the friendship between JR Tolkein and CS Lewis during WWII, and is currently being shopped around with interest from Oxford University - cooooooool! Good luck to him!

And then that Sunday I was unable to check in because I'd gone up to visit my friend Kim at her place in her 'hood of Brendale (the description at the link there doesn't say much but it's growing at the rate of a few new sub-divisions a year, in addition to the light industrial stuff), about half an hour north of my place, to scope out her gated community complexy thingy, called The Grange, as I'm considering buying a "villa" in there and didn't get back until late in the evening........ It's a long story but suffice to say I'm sick of my little place (and my neighbors), I want something nicer and bigger with more room (and a garage) and the only place in town where I can remotely afford to buy something is up around the area where she lives. Places in her complex are mainly 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, single or double garage, big, tiled, bright, with a decent-sized patch of grass in back to play with, all for around $240,000 - cheeeeeeeeeeeap for Brisbane. Plus, if I get sick of the commute (about half an hour on a very regular train) I can rent it out for around $335+ a week, which is pretty good according to folks I've spoken to who "know" about these things. I've already spoken with one mortgage broker (beats doing the work and dealing with banks myself, plus the bank pays them, not me - bonus) and am currently getting a second opinion about what I can or want to afford. Apparently, the banks will happily loan me like $400,000+ but oh no, am no dummy, I just want $230,000+/-! So we'll see how it goes. And too, I have to wait for the "right" unit/villa to come up for sale because currently the few that are going have been bought and the ones still for sale I didn't like where they were in the complex...... I have yet to speak to the on-site sales manager, but there's no rush until the money business is sorted. Sigh. It's either these hoops and waiting or renting and spending that much more money on something that isn't mine....... The debate continues, but it can't hurt to consider the options........! Will keep you posted!

And then there was last weekend.............................. Hmmmmmm....... what did I do......... Chores, laundry and even ironing....... because I was having yet another invasion from the property manger/owner that coming Tuesday (again, another wasted day off from work because of my trust issues). And then Sunday I spent most of the day on the phone catching up with friends/family overseas (Happy Birthday KT!)........... And yes, by the time we all finished chattering it was getting way past dinner time!

And then there was this lovely 4 day weekend - hooray for Easter! Friday I didn't do much at all. Read my book, thought about the new movie I want to write (have been inspired by David's brother-in-law), watched an HBO movie "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" (pretty good but so sad) and a few episodes of "The Big C" (not the most upbeat of subject matters considering I have a good friend diagnosed with stage 4 Melanoma, but a most excellent show with good humor and a great cast). That was Friday - lovely!

Saturday was up and out early with Kim and her friend Roger who was visiting from Newcastle (you might remember it was a mini-Adventure of ours a few weekends ago) to show him around a bit of Brisbane, complete with ferry ride and a glass of beer at the casino before heading home to change to go out to dinner at Kookaburra (!) and then off to see Tony Bennett (yes, he's still alive, tho barely, at 85). I have to say he was EXCELLENT. He played for a good hour and a half without a break, and belted out the tunes like a guy 30 years younger. Geez Louise I was impressed. And my seat helped too I'm sure - second row center! It was a great evening. If you get the chance, and if he's still alive, I highly recommend going to see him. Not many performers out there at his caliber. Hats off to him!

Yesterday, Sunday, was a bit of laundry and a trip into town to meet up with a friend from work (one of the very few folks I'll hang out with outside of work) for a few glasses of champagne/wine and nibbles. Then, needing a change of scenery, we walked over the bridge to the super nice, "new" (refurbished) end of Southbank for more champagne and nibbles and to watch the sunset as it reflected off the buildings of the city across the glittering river. The restaurants were all busy but not packed, which was super nice. And then, a bottle of champagne and seafood terrine and haloumi nibbles later, we wandered back through Southbank with a pit stop in QPAC to scope out what shows are coming and to partake of their potties and then it was off to our respective buses home (at the respectable hour of 9pm). It was a fantastic afternoon/evening! Hooray for 4 day weekends! Man, I wish every weekend was a 4 day weekend!

And then today has been reading my book, doing more research for the movie I want to write and checking in with you! Whew! It's been a lovely break with just enough to do that I didn't get bored or stir crazy. Tho it's a bummer "vacation" has to end, we get another day off towards the end of the month for Anzac Day (kinda like a Veterans Day for Australians and NZers). Hooray for a break (and paid, no less)!

Oh, and a mini-milestone - for the first time in over 5 years I have finally been able to put my hair in the world's smallest pony tail. Am very happy. It's been 5 months since my last hair cut - I'm trying to hold out until mah birthday (July) to finally get it tidied up - thus making it 8 months of trying to grow it out and enduring numerous god-awful awkward stages. Plus, it doesn't help that my hair is naturally wavy and hates all styling products. Am not doing too bad so far...... Hooray! Not that I didn't like the short hair, loved it, but it's time for a change and options again!

And there you have it. See? You weren't missing much at all. Although there're no Adventures on the books yet (amazing!), with Mommy's impending arrival in June I'd better get booking..........! But am sorry for taking so long to check in. Hope you're all well up there. Now that the furnace of summer has been dialed down a little, feel free to scope out deals to come on down and visit! You've got from now until November/December - make the most of it! Tho, I am booked up from June to the beginning of August, feel free to come after then! It'll be fun!


BYE!
J!