Story: 20/10/08-26/10/08
Monday, 24 November, 2008
Monday 20/10/08
I was up at 7:00, having not slept well even though I went to bed at 9:30. Ben came to work with me, and we arrived by 8:15. It was Briefing thinking day but Tony wasn't around. I replied to email, worked on The Sola Panel. Ben went to the bank to sort out a home loan. I pulled together Briefing stuff for the December issue and talked to my dad about home loan things.
I also drove to Westfield Eastgardens to see if I could find a decent clothes rack/drying rack/airer as Ben had thrown ours out. Unfortunately there was a dearth of them in all the usual places: Target, Big W, Howard's Storage World, etc. I did manage to find the ones that went over the door. I found one I wasn't 100% happy with but which did the job. Later, lots of people on Facebook told me that Bunnings was a good place to look. I should have consulted them earlier ...
I ate leftover party salad for lunch (waaayyy too much salad). In the afternoon, Tony was in and we worked through a massive list of things I needed to talk to him about. Ben went to a meeting in Epping and took the car with him. After meeting with Tony, I finished compiling The Daily Reading Bible (Volume 18). Ben came back for me and picked me up around 6:15. We went home and I made fried mince for dinner. We sat and watched TV for ages, with me knitting. Then Ben finally ordered me off the couch and off to bed.
Tuesday 21/10/08
Day off. I meant to get up at 8:30 but couldn't do it, so I was up at 10:30 instead. I spent six hours fighting foo—blocking Kathleen's shawl (and running out of carpet space), fiddling with our internet connection (which was behaving weirdly), doing the laundry, dealing with email, opening a bank account with ANZ at my father's insistence, doing things on Facebook and Twitter, tidying things up, etc. I finally got to blogging in the late afternoon.
Ben made a pork stir fry for dinner and we watched TV—NCIS, The Simpsons, and so on. I did a few more things on the computer, then went to bed after midnight.
Wednesday 22/10/08
I was in at work by 9:30 but foolishly I'd left my lunch at home. I dealt with email, Sola Panel, admin for the Briefing meeting, and I cleaned all the word documents for the December Briefing. I also chatted to Rosey on IM in between admin jobs. She was a bit down, so I told her what I did when I was down, and we also talked about the art and motherhood stuff I'd been reading about. Ben called to say that he'd put an offer on the unit. It was raining and I was annoyed I would have to go out for lunch. Fortunately Bec needed lunch too, so we went to Red Hat and enjoyed noodles.
On the way back, I stopped at ANZ to prove that I was me and to sign various paperwork for my account. The lady who served me wanted to sell me a home loan, but I hastily extracted myself, saying I really needed to get back to work.
The afternoon was filled with administrivia—more Briefing things, probably. I ended up leaving for Bible study around 6:45 and I was the last one there. Bec was away but George was there. Guy and Sam brought us some very yummy soup for dinner. It was a very low-key Bible study: Guy told us about Synod, we prayed together and then I went home, had a shower and went to bed. Ben was out—Rosey was having drinks with friends for her birthday, and came home when I was saleep.
Thursday 23/10/08
I woke up to a scratching scrabbling noise which sounded like it was coming from the chimney. I looked out the window of the bedroom and the bathroom to make sure it wasn't something else, but it definitely sounded like it was in the chimney. As our fireplace is blocked up, there wasn't much I could do about it, though I kept hearing it in the mornings that followed, and then it eventually went away.
I was in at work by 7 am—intentionally early. I dealt with email, Sola Panel and Briefing meeting prep work (printing reports, etc.) I edited WordWatch and sent it off. Then we had our meeting which went for an hour and a half (during which we snacked on wasabi peanuts). I confess I got a little cranky during it: I do so much prep beforehand, the meeting itself is almost an anticlimax, and then there is more work afterwards when I come to typing up the minutes.
The meeting ended and I took a half hour lunch, then kept working. We had prayer meeting, which finished just in time for me to go. I drove home, then caught the train to Town Hall and went to see The Duchess so I could write a review for WebSalt. I went to Greater Union George St. In the theatre, I had a row all to myself, and I sat smack bang in the middle of it. I enjoyed it—The costumes were beautiful and the wigs were amazing (you can read my review online)—but I probably wouldn't see it again. Afterwards, I walked through the rain to Tapestry Craft (which has now changed its name to Morris and Sons) to take advantage of their yarn sale. I ended up buying $100 worth of yarn but it was worth it!
I also went to Woolworths and bought myself some more breakfast muesli, then caught the train home. Ben was at the end-of-project-end-of-year party with the rest of Fourth Year Moore College (the one where a car crashed through Roger's front fence, and thankfully no one was hurt). At home, I ate leftovers and watched TV—House, The Simpsons, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and a bit of Law & Order: SVU. I had a shower, then went to bed at around 10:30/11 pm.
Friday 24/10/08
I was in at work at 7:30 where I discovered that the air conditioning was broken. It was cold so I made myself some tea to keep warm. I was also battling flat batteries in my wireless mouse: no matter how much I kept charging them, they kept going flat. I worked through my To Do list. I didn't really feel like working, but I did get stuff done. I replied to my email but, because there were eight new Sola Panel posts, I decided to leave those until Monday. I informed Paul that his Briefing editing load was ready to go, but then got all the word counts wrong (gaaah).I edited the Bookshelf piece and got it approved, and then the Epilogue (which became a problem because the author pulled out), then one of the Feature articles. The Pastor's Brief came in, and I started feeling like I was going backwards.
I dealt with Positions vacant ads, printed the Briefing #362 poster and was sent all the #362 extra material from Joy. I taught Jess G the beginnings of how to knit the Knitty Urchin hat, then met with Elsie. It was good pray together and acknowledge my crankiness and spiritual dryness. In the afternoon, I finished the feature article and sent it off to the author. I read and printed the Pastor's brief, then checked in with Tony and explained the situation with the Epilogue. It was time to leave, and I drove to the Toyota dealer to buy a new car button thingy (i.e. keyless remote entry button) to replace the one Ben drowned in the sea. The guy I spoke to was amazed that I knew how to do it myself (like it's so difficult ...), and sold me one for $40, which was nice for him because, apparently, it costs something ridiculous if Toyota have to program it for you.
I drove home but was stuck behind a very silly slow-moving truck. (Why do drivers leave a big gap in front of them, and then creep forward when the lights are still red?) At home, there was no Ben. I played with Wii Fit for 30 minutes—including running for 10 minutes on the spot, which is something I would never have been able to do in the past. Ben came home while I was in the shower.
I dressed, then caught the train to Circular Quay and took my time, walking along the waterfront.
I found the Guylian Belgian Chocolate Café and took some photos.
At the Opera House, I made my way up to the box office to pick up the tickets for The Famous Spiegeltent. My mum called me just as I was turning away. She was there watching the queue make their way inside the tent, so I hurried down the forecourt steps to join her. (When I booked tickets, I invited my mum to come with me because she was the one who had pointed me to a recording of a gig on ABC Radio.)
We found a seat on the main floor (not the booths) second row from the back right on the aisle, so we had a nice view of the stage. I must be showing my age: I have to say I love Spiegeltent gigs. They start right on time, there are seats, there are no support acts, the tickets are reasonably priced, and they wrap up after an hour or so of performance time, leaving you to go on your merry way.
So it didn't take long for Kate Miller-Heidke and her band took the stage. She wore a blue dress (that made her look like she had won first prize, she joked later on in the set) and a black fascinator. The set was mostly comprised of songs from her latest album but she also did a couple of old things (like “Words”, which I don't really like, but I liked it when she did it that night).
I liked that she didn't take herself too seriously, but that said, not all the songs were funny; some were just beautiful. She had a great stage presence and amazing voice control (not surprising since she studied opera; she threw in random operatic bits into her songs), plus her backing band were so much fun (they did synchronised head moves and dance moves with her on some of the numbers like “I like you better when you're not around”). Her patter in between songs was also funny and engaging, and I thought it was hilarious when she did her cover of “You're the Voice” (by John Farnham) with The Phantom of the Opera spliced in. We both really enjoyed it. One day I'll have to get her CDs.
Seamus and Little Rachel were also there, and they tried to call me, but, as usual, I couldn't hear my phone. My mum and I walked back towards Circular Quay and then up to Azuma's in Chifley Tower (where Neil Gaiman had dinner a couple of years ago). My mum treated me to dinner there, and we ate soft shell crab rolls, inside out rolls, vegetable tempura, hot soba and green tea cakes, washed down with Genmaicha tea (my favourite kind of green tea).
Gastronomic heaven! (Well, for me, anyway.) Afterwards, we walked to Wynyard and caught the train back to our respective homes.
Saturday 25/10/08
I was really tired, but nevertheless, I was up at 10:30. I did some research on the internet and discovered that you can get rid of rust stains on white T-shirts with lemon juice and sunlight, so I gave Ben's T-shirt a good citrus soaking. There was another inspection at the unit, so we went again. This time, there were more people. The agent took us down so we could see the car space, and we placed a second offer with him. At home, I felt cranky. I messed around on the computer, and then we left for Josh's place, walking along the fire trail.
When we arrived, the lounge room was full of boys, including Tim (Ben's brother). I was glad I knew most of them, otherwise it would have been really weird, being the only girl! As it was, I got to sit there and knit and catch up with some of them—guys I hadn't seen for four years (in one case) and ten (in another).
More people arrived, and Josh got the barbecue started. Alex was appointed chef, and we stood around the barbecue chatting. I caught up with Brett, and we talked Supanova, Hong Kong and travel, before the smoke got a little too much for us, and we had to move. Boyd and his wife Angela arrived; I didn't think I had met her before, but perhaps I did. Ben and I caught up with them over dinner, then moved inside when the mosquitoes started giving us trouble. Dessert was ice cream and fruit (I think), and I talked to Angela about professional writing and tips to make it more interesting.
Then the guys got the poker started, moving around furniture and setting up tables. Ben and I teamed up, and under Ralph and Matt's tutelage, learned how to play Texas Hold'em, chips and all. I think we started to get the hang of it, and actually started winning.
We bailed at 9:30, headed home and I spent a bit of time on the computer before going to bed.
Sunday 26/10/08
I don't remember what time I got up. I did some stuff on the computer, then we ate lunch—leftover steak and pasta salad from Josh's. I kept mucking around on the computer, then left for band practice. Greg had left me The Graveyard Book fresh from the US up the back of the church, and I unwrapped it and gloated for a bit (so exciting!!! Plus it was the one with the Dave McKean illustrations; I'm not sure if you can get that one in this country).
We had band practice (my first with Jess and Kester), then church. I hung around for a bit after, but was feeling cranky, so instead went home, ate steak and pasta salad for dinner and worked on my review of The Duchess. It was nice to actually do some writing—to create something, even if it wasn't that great. I went to bed at 12:30.
Blinks:
A way of funding writing in the future: pitch and idea and get people to support it.
Place where you can hire play equipment for parties, etc.
How to recalibrate the home button on your iPhone.
Unsolicited manuscripts accepted by Pan Macmillan with certain conditions.
Thought Balloon is a group blog in which the writers tackle a new theme every week? month? with one-page scripts. This URL is for their Phonogram ones.
How to sew a zipper on a knitted garment.
Issues organised by tale.
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Hey, lets visit the Guylian Belgian Chocolate Café before we see Katie Noonan
What a good idea!