So today after eventually getting out of bed and getting ready, we went over to Damien's for lunch. Mishi and L came, and Jo, a friend of Damien's came. It was all very civilised. Some nice wine and lots of food and a generally nice time.

And now it's 5pm and I feel somewhat drained. Must be all the socialising we've been doing all weekend .. :)

Our todo list for the next time I'm down includes planting fresia bulbs, planting some foxglove seeds, going to the farmer's markets, getting some photos of us (cause we don't really have any good ones), probably some fish stuff (I got some lights for my 620T tank today - they're hard to get so I'm rather pleased about that). And generally just have a much quieter weekend than this one :)

Had a CIA work dinner at the L�wenbr�u Keller tonight. Much beer and merriment was had :)

I started the evening with half a litre of L�wenbr�u lager, which was delightful. Then came dinner. Pig. Lots of it :) All the food came really quickly so they must just have stacks of it prepared. Had this lovely pork belly roast, with *perfect* crackling. Aside from the layers of fat which I sliced out, it was really nice. I also had another beer. I would have had some schnapps as well, cause they had all sorts of varieties, but it was getting a bit late, and I was *full* - I didn't even have dessert :) The only complaint with the place was the live band which was ok, but just too damned loud. You couldn't talk to each other without shouting into someone's ear. Fortunately they took regular breaks so could talk in the breaks.

And I'm still full :)

And my boy is here!!! Yayyyyy :):):):)

Garlic Cheese Mushrooms, with Potato Wedges, Peas and Corn

Mix several cloves of crushed garlic with shavings of butter, then add chopped or grated parmesan cheese and shredded tasty cheese and a dash of mixed herbs. Dollop the mix into mushroom cups, and layer with a slice of parmesan cheese.

Slice a clean jacket potato into eights or tenths, spray with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

Grill mushrooms and potatoes until golden.

Heat some peas and corn.

Enjoy!!

Gosh it was yummy. Although perhaps better suited as a side dish, the mushrooms rocked by themselves. And perhaps the garlic wasn't as cooked as it should have been, so it was a little tangy. But all good :)

So the glass catfish was looking well. He was swimming around and eating his food. His little antennae were growing back and he was looking healthy.

And then he died.

*sigh*

Two words. Cheese Kransky.
I could easily die of such food (other foods would be roast pork and my potato bake).
Was going to cook up several kilos of chicken I rescued from work at the end of last year, but it nowhere near defrosted enough. So will cook that tomorrow and tonight I had a cheese kransky. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Had quite a good day today. And felt like I achieved stuff, even though really I didn't.

Got a load of washing done.
And my computer patched.
And two Harry Potter lego sets built (last one is arriving at work early this week).
And four hours of Looney Tunes cartoons recorded to dvd.
And talked to Stu.

Tomorrow I *need* to vacuum.
And prune the petunias.

And tonight I need to treat the glass catfish for ich.

Came third in poker tonight - got my money back - woot! And $5 extra which didn't quite cover the cost of food... but still, $5 for a night out isn't bad value :)

Four of us tried to play online carcassonne today too, but the java kept crashing in all our browsers, so we gave up and played with cards. I would have won that with a beautifully constructed set of fields and towns, but then the others saw my lovely handiwork and muscled in on my territory, and I lost a bunch of points. How rude! :)

ok so maybe not exactly. But a brief summary of the rest of the trip (Stu is included in all activities as a given, except the food shopping on Sunday :) ):

Sunday: lazed around, went food shopping, went for a walk, had lamb roast for dinner
Monday: wandered into Canberra, had lunch with Mishi and Damien, went suburb scouting, went for a swim in the Murrumbidgee River, had trout for dinner that Scotty caught
Tuesday: went on a fish shop crawl with Scott, had a rest, went to me little brother's wedding
Wednesday: entertained Lily for a couple of hours, did a car swap, drove home, dinner at J&G's, put my boy on a plane

And to keep me amused while I wait to make sure Stu gets home ok, I'm uploading pics of the wedding. Sorry I'm crap at culling, and I haven't gotten around to making an index page yet.. :)

Tagged by CC, also seen on Blogography (and probably elsewhere that I haven't caught up with yet :) )

Four jobs you've had in your life:

1. packer of pies at Loftus Pies
   
2. answerer of phones at ozemail
   
3. answerer of phones at cia
   
4. babysitter of servers at uni
   

Four movies you could watch over and over again (not to be confused with favourite movies):

1. Peter Pan
   
2. The Princess Bride
   
3. The Hunt for Red October
   
4. The Sound of Music
   

Four TV shows you love(d) to watch (among many others):

1. MacGyver
   
2. Airwolf
   
3. The Mole
   
4. The Amazing Race
   

Four places you've lived:

1. here
   
2. marrickville
   
3. my parents
   
4. nowhere else really
   

Four places you've been on vacation to:

1. USA (x3)
   
2. Canada
   
3. Lots of Australia in lots of holidays
   
4. New Zealand (when I was 18 months old)
   

Four places you would rather be (or where you'll like to visit?):

1. Austria/Switzerland
   
2. The rest of Europe
   
3. East half of USA
   
4. Lord Howe Island
   

Four of your favourite foods:

1. roast pork
   
2. peppermint chocolate
   
3. potato crisps
   
4. roast chicken
   

Four websites you visit daily:

1. tv guide
   
2. weather pixie (via active desktop and my pixie page)
   
3. kazza.cia.com.au (as my default page on my browser)
   
4. google
   

Four tagged:
I don't tag people. It's a policy. :)

I first subscribed to FlyLady late last year when I first met Annie who had also recently subscribed. I liked the whole philosophy of "a little bit at a time - you can do anything for fifteen minutes". That, and the first daily habit was "shine your sink" which I'd been doing to some effect at least - washing up after dinner to remove food from the cockroaches.

So I subscribed, and watched the daily emails go by and thought "I really should start doing some of those".

Well tonight I actually did one! Zone 3: Mission #2 Tuesday. The mission was to throw out empty detergent bottles etc from the laundry, wipe down the washer/dryer etc. So that's what I did! Well actually I only threw out one thing - the first ever detergent bottle I bought when I first moved out of home in 2000. Which I don't actually use anymore because you needed two caps to do a load of washing which I thought was a little silly. But I did wipe down surfaces that hadn't been wiped down in nearly five years, so that felt pretty good.

Don't know if I'll manage to do one of these every night, will depend on what else is happening I guess. But it's a start.

I need to win a few million dollars so I don't have to work again and be on holidays permanently. It really is the best way to be :)

Slept till I felt like getting up. Pottered. Looked at photos of Stu as a kid. Went food shopping with Stu. Worked on a jigsaw. Worked on my longstitch. Watched a couple of episodes of Firefly. Started reading through this years blog entries for a wrap-up entry. Had a yummy dinner of steak (that I cooked) and salad (that Stu made). Watched a couple of episodes of Star Trek. Went for a walk on the bay at Sandgate.

Now it's 10pm (here) and I feel like I've had quite a good day.

Cool really.