Twenty One. Again.

Today I turned twenty one again. Supposedly now I should know the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. Or some such nonsense.

Last weekend when the little brother was here, he asked me about the photos he'd just sent me - photos he'd just had scanned of my 21st birthday. I did actually have the originals of the prints, which I'd scanned a couple of years ago. But it was still fun, and I said it was actually pretty scary how many of the things in the photo I still had. Then he said I should recreate the photo. I laughed, but then had a think about it, and for the most part decided it wouldn't be too hard to do.

So over the past few days I've collected together all that remains of my 21st birthday presents, as well as some of the other things in my room at the time.

Here they are!

Haven't been doing too much.  Had a very quiet weekend.  The sweetie was doing uni reading all weekend.  I organised and sorted and played UT2004.  Made potato bake for dinner Saturday night and turkey and roast veggies Sunday night.  And I made (well attempted to make) a lemon meringue pie.  It needs a bit of refinement though.  Still, it tasted good.

Today I was dreading having to deal with vendor support but in the end I just didn't "go there" for all but one of my open tickets and just got some other bits and pieces done.

Yeah not much else.

So this week I was literally the only one in our team to do our work.  Although Dave5 did help me out which was very much appreciated.  Being the only one to do the work would be fine, as one person could probably do it.  But.  Not when everything happens at once.  Like I'd be looking at one problem when four others came in all at once.  Or the stupid.  I couldn't deal with the stupid.  The first three nights this week I came home completely stressed out with work.  And then depressed.  Thursday I was so depressed I didn't even go to drinks. 

*gasp*

Had a beer with Aquila on Friday night which was nice though, and Saturday, on account of not having to go to work, I felt much better.  My body responded to the drop in cortisol (maybe) by giving me a cold sore.  Yeah thanks body.  And in a place I haven't had one in probably thirty years.  So it's either something new I picked up, or my immune system was really shot to hell this week.

So we had a pretty quiet weekend.  I spent the better part of Saturday cleaning and tidying the house while listening to movie soundtracks.  We watched Babe while eating duck (there's gotta be some irony in that) and then The Rock (the soundtracks of which I'd listened to that day).  Today was nothing much other than food shopping.  I made chicken kievs from scratch which turned out pretty well, and we watched Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Frozen.

So I think the mission for tomorrow is to stay depressed.  At least that's better for the blood pressure than stress.

Very quiet weekend.  I had a Getting Things Done kind of weekend (including housework, sorting holiday paperwork, photo and email sorting, and cooking), while the sweetie had a Hide From the World kind of weekend (including sleeping and uni work).

We also watched all four Indiana Jones movies on Friday and Saturday nights.

Did I mention the food?

That tin of water chestnuts has been sitting in our pantry for *years* and I wanted to use them in something.  And for me any excuse is a good excuse to have hoisin sauce.

Fry duck breasts til golden, then a minute or so on the other side, then into the oven for eight to ten minutes.

While that's happening, heat up some snow peas and the water chestnuts.  Serve with rice.  Yum!  Delicious!

Today I started cooking dinner this morning.

For today's version I'm using four lamb shanks (not huge ones), two slices of bacon (we're trying to cut down on our processed meat so less bacon than usual, a small bag of your favourite mushrooms, a couple of potatoes, a couple of small onions, garlic, a bay leaf, tomato paste, about half a carton of stock, worcestershire sauce, a third of a bottle of red wine, several large spoonfuls of cornflour to thicken the sauce, and a little pepper.  I think that's all.

Chuck the shanks, potato, tomato paste, corn flour, worcestershire sauce, stock and wine into the slow cooker.

Fry up the bacon, garlic, onion and mushroom

Add everything in

Get really impatient with the cooking process.  Pretend to be healthy by eating a large salad of rocket, tomato and feta for lunch.  Topped with kewpie mayonnaise.  Double mayo after the photo is taken.  Resist the urge to eat salami all afternoon because, *hunger* (I ate a bit of cheese and some almonds).

Hurry up!

By 6:30pm it's looking good.  In a messy bad sort of way.

Pull all the meat off the bones.  Turns out there's quite a bit on four lamb shanks.  Who knew?  

Mix it all back in.  Maybe we'll get more than four servings out of this if the meat is split up.  (We'll probably get six)

Serve.  Devour.  

So fairly busy week this week.

Monday night the little brother came to stay.

Tuesday they finished off the white chocolate caramel slice.  David also replaced the light in our study which had blown on the weekend so that was nice.

Wednesday we went to the movies to see Jurassic World.

Thursday the little brother couldn't help himself and replaced half the lights in the house with LEDs :)  I also made another white chocolate caramel slice.

Friday was a swim night.

Saturday was a club night which turned out to be a bit of a wedding reception.  The shed was done up nicely and we had a lovely evening.

Sunday was just food shopping and not much else.

And so there goes another week.  We did two jigsaws over the course of the week as well which was cool.

And now back to it again ...

Saturday morning we packed up and joined the rest of Canberra in heading down the coast for the long weekend.

I started a jigsaw and other people just chilled and read and programmed etc.

For dinner we went to the Little Restaurant and Bar again for more delicious food.  We couldn't get a seat inside because they were all booked out, but were able to book the outside bench.  But that's cool, cause you know we're Canberrans and all and we're used to the cold.

Then spa til about 1am.

Sunday we'd been intending to go to the beach, but the sun never came out, so we didn't bother.  Went for two separate walks to the shops (one to hack portals and another get some stuff to make pikelets (C had a craving)).  In between I did jigsaw.

Dinner was pizza's from Stevo's (the Sandy Foot cafe had run out of dough! *gasp*).  Oh my, Stevo's pizzas were insane!  Huge, and *heaps* of cheese.  Completely decadent and we mostly all stuffed ourselves silly.  I had one and a half pieces and that was *plenty*!  We ordered three large pizzas, but only ate two of them.  Had a full pizza's worth leftover.

Then spa til after midnight.

This morning was just eating and packing up and cleaning, then came home.

Battled Sunday night depression, and then lost it when I dropped one of my corningware dishes onto the kitchen floor and it *smashed* :(:(  But then watched a very moving docudrama on Hiroshima on Netflix.  Did my washing, now time for bed.

Last Wednesday night we went along to the Library to go to an "author talk" - they had Nick Davies (investigative journalist who exposed the News of the World phone hacking scandal) there for an interview and question time.  Quite an interesting night and the sweetie got his book (signed) for us to read.

Saturday was Whisky Live.  I don't think they had as many stalls as last year.  Tried quite a few different things this year - things I wouldn't normally have tried.  Then back to EffanC's place and we watched Thelma and Louise and Pulp Fiction.

Today was just about of stuff around the house and food shopping.  We watched the unaired pilot of Sherlock, and also Emperor.

Also this week I lost my longest guardian portal in Longreach.  245 days.  Super sad times.

So since the start of the weekend I've been to Sydney and back.

On Friday night I headed up to Sydney, listening to podcasts for the drive.  Got to Mum's place and saw her photos of her recent trip to New Zealand.  Stayed the night - first person to sleep on her new sofa bed, which was actually fairly comfortable.  

In the morning we headed to my old flat to have a look at it - turns out the estate agents haven't fixed *anything* that was broken from last time.  Grunt.  Then had a body corporate meeting.  Same problems that have been plaguing the place for the last fourteen years as it turns out.  

Came back to mum's place and had a barrumundi lunch, then I headed back home.

Saturday night Stu had slow cooked some lamb shanks that were pretty tasty.

Today was just a bit of stuff around the house, food shopping, cooking dinner (coq au vin!) and Sherlock.

I clocked my phone last night.

Ten thousand photos taken on my phone in two and a half years (although a number of those were on my last phone that were ported over to the new one).

!

Work has been super stressful the last little while.  On Friday night stayed back a little trying to resolve a problem for someone, which I did, so that was a relief leading into the weekend.  In fact I was just packing up to go when EffanC called to see if we wanted to go out for dinner.  Sounded great!  So we went into Mezzalira.  I'd never actually been there before.  At C's suggestion we had the five course degustation menu with matched wines.  On my!  So delicious.  A really great meal.

Pan seared scallops with smoked eel and jerusalem artichoke

Tortellini in sage butter

Mushroom risotto with truffle oil

Steak!

Lemon tart

Saturday was a nice quiet day at home.

In the evening we went to the Ha Ha Bar for drinks for Kit's birthday.  It's not the sort of place that's really designed for that sort of gathering though - it's more a restaurant than a bar, so they say they do table service, but if we'd waited for table service we never would have gotten drinks.  And when I went to order some nibbles they said they'd come over and take food orders, but they never did so didn't end up getting food.  Anyway things settled down a bit when we all just went to the bar for drinks, and several platters of fries were ordered.  Pool at the Lighthouse afterwards.  A good fun evening.

Today was another quiet day of getting things done around the house.  In the afternoon we went for a walk to hack some portals and do some missions, then did a little food shopping.  Cooked honey mustard chicken for dinner.  Yum!

So nothing of any particular significance for May 16 this year.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4. "Of course," he muttered. "That would have been too easy. Anakin, where are you?"
2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can, What can you touch? The wall
3. Before you started this survey, what were you doing? Eating breakfast, and reading Dave2's version of this
4. What is the last thing you watched on TV? Sherlock
5. Without looking, guess what time it is 8:15am
6. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time? 8:25am
7. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? The water spray in the fish tank
8. When did you last step outside? What were you doing? Last night, coming home from EffanC's
9. Did you dream last night? Probably
10. Do you remember your dreams? Sometimes
11. When did you last laugh? Last night
12. Do you remember why / at what? Chatting with friends
13. What is on the walls of the room you are in? Paint
14. Seen anything weird lately? A girl who walks down three flights of stairs to use the girls bathroom on our floor
15. What do you think of this quiz? Not too bad so far
16. What is the last film you saw? Guardians of the Galaxy
17. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? Germany
18. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy? An aeroplane
19. Tell me something about you that most people don't know. Um
20. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? Outlaw stoopid people
21. Do you like to dance? Sure
22. Would you ever consider living abroad? Yes
23. Does your name make any interesting anagrams? Probably
24. Who made the last incoming call on your phone? My neighbour.  She was a bit drunk.  OK a lot drunk.
25. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? A form to change my name with an organisation
26. Last time you swam in a pool? Last Friday night
27. Type of music you like most? Classical soundtracks (eg anything by John Williams).  Or rock.
28. Type of music you dislike most? Hip hop/rap crap
29. Are you listening to music right now? No
30. What color is your bedroom carpet? Beige with brown flecks
31. If you could change something about your home, without worry about expense or mess, what would you do? Seal in the laundry and put a toilet in downstairs
32. What was the last thing you bought? Lunch yesterday
33. Have you ever ridden on a motorbike? Yes - when I was about seven, at our neighbour's place
34. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? Yes
35. Do you have a garden? Yes
36. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem? Yes.  Actually I'll qualify that - I'm a bit fuzzy on the second verse (which never gets sung) and don't know the other verses (which aren't official anyway)
37. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? What day is it?
38. If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be? I dunno.  Maybe David Bowie
39. Who sent the last text message you received? My neighbour
40. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Gosh I dunno.  Bunnings?  Harvey Norman?  Ikea?
41. What time is bed time? 11pm lights out
42. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? No
43. How many tattoos do you have? None
44. If you don't have any, have you ever thought of getting one? No
45. What did you do for your last birthday? Drank lots of whiskey then had dinner at Bella Vista
46. Do you carry a donor card? Yes
47. Who was the last person you ate dinner with? The sweetie and EffanC
48. Is the glass half empty or half full? Depends on the direction it's going.  If you're drinking a glass of something, then at the half way point it's half empty.  If you're filling a glass, then at the half way point it's half full.
49. What's the farthest-away place you've been? Scotland
50. When's the last time you ate a homegrown tomato? Month or two ago - some of Kit's
51. Have you ever won a trophy? Yes - for swimming when we were kids
52. Are you a good cook? Not really.  Stu is much better, but he rarely ever cooks :(
53. Do you know how to pump your own gas? Yes.  Who wouldn't??
54. If you could meet any one person (from history or currently alive), who would it be? Jesus
55. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school? Yes
56. Do you touch-type? Yes
57. What's under your bed? Dust
58. Do you believe in love at first sight? Maybe
59. Think fast, what do you like right now? Our heater
60. Where were you on Valentine's day? Gungahlin for supplies, then out to the club
61. What time do you get up? Usually between 6:45 and 7am
62. What was the name of your first pet? Bluey
63. Who is the second to last person to call you? EffanC
64. Is there anything going on this weekend? Tidying the house.  Trying to get rid of stuff
65. How are you feeling right now? Not too bad
66. What do you think about the most? Um. Work maybe.  
67. What time do you get up in the morning?
68. If you had A Big Win in the Lottery, how long would you wait to tell people? Dunno.  I'd probably be questioning the authenticity of it on account of I don't buy lottery tickets.
69. Who would you tell first? Stu obviously
70. What is the last movie that you saw at the cinema? Cinderella
71. Do you sing in the shower? Not really
72. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? 
73. What do you do most when you are bored? Read rss feeds
74. What do you do for a living? Solve people's problems
75. Do you love your job? Some of it
76. What did you want to be when you grew up? Pilot
77. If you could have any job, what would you want to do/be? Pilot.  Actually probably not.  Flying for myself would be fun, but I couldn't handle the stress of flying other people.  Getting paid to travel the world would be good.
78. Which came first the chicken or the egg? One of them
79. How many keys on your key ring? I dunno.  Lemme go look.  Six.
80. Where would you retire to? Probably here
81. What kind of car do you drive? Ford Laser
82. What are your best physical features? My hair
83. What are your best characteristics? Attention to detail
84. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go? Europe? America? Antarctica? Cruise around the Mediterranean? St Maarten?
85. What kind of books do you like to read? Science fiction, adventure
86. Where would you want to retire to? 
87. What is your favorite time of the day? Sunset
88. Where did you grow up? Sydney
89. How far away from your birthplace do you live now? 285km
90. What are you reading now? I'm in between books
91. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Morning
92. Can you touch your nose with your tongue? Yes
93. Can you close your eyes and raise your eyebrows? Yes
94. Do you have pets? We have fish
95. How many rings before you answer the phone? Um, as long as it takes to answer?
96. What is your best childhood memory? Maybe our trip to America in 1983
97. What are some of the different jobs that you have had in your life? Pie packer, shop assistant, ISP call centre, desktop support, systems administrator
98. Any new and exciting things that you would like to share? Um, not off the top of my head
99. What is most important in life? um, friends/family/God
100. What Inspires You? Good music