I cleaned my shower today. Actually "cleaned" really isn't the word for it. I'm not sure that there is a word for scraping silicone sealant off with a razor.

The people that lived here before me had a burst pipe, but before they knew that (or perhaps after, judging by the sealant covering the new tiles), they put silicone sealant all over all the grouting, and most of the tiles as well. Which wasn't a problem when it was new, however mould started growing *inside* the silicone. This meant that I couldn't simply scrub it off. The only choice was to scrap off the stuff with a razor. Yayfullness. Needless to say this is a very time consuming occupation, so I only did part of it. *sigh*

Also watched "Iris" on telly, but it was too disjointed and I couldn't get into it.

And then the weekend was over.

Christmas Party Number 1

So Friday night was CIA's Christmas party. We went to Chan's Garden Chinese Restaurant in Burwood. Let me just say, if you're thinking about going there - don't! The food was ok, but the service was abysmal. We arrived at 7pm, but it was a full hour and a quarter before *any* food arrived. And then another three quarters of an hour before any food turned up for the vegetarians. So the entrees trickled out, and by 10pm we thought we were done. Then they brought out the mains. Yes, three hours after we arrived, and everyone had pretty much had enough to eat. Of course noone was hungry anymore, so we got a bunch of containers and took it all home. I have enough food for a week!

Christmas Party Number 2
Saturday lunch was a small gathering at James and George's. Very pleasant, and lots of food as per usual.

Middle Harbour cruise
After lunch, I trekked out to Mosman and went for a cruise on John's boat. We went all the way up Middle Harbour to Warringah Road. Was totally awesome. It's a pity he's planning on selling it :(

Christmas Party Number 3
After I got home, I sat down to eat dinner when Chris calls me up - party at his place. So off I head to that. Didn't think I was going to know anyone much, but a few people came that I knew. Managed to get myself a fantastic massage, best I've had in a long time. Also had a very interesting, if somewhat depressing, conversation with Alison. Got to bed about 2:30am.

Afternoon breather
Was planning to go to the parents, but plans were put off by the arrival of a thunderstorm which I wanted to wait out with appliances disconnected so that I could reconnect everything when done.

Yet another dinner out
Again at James and George's. Got counted as part of the family during grace *heh* Yet another yummy bbq.

Finally made it home to watch the second last episode of Survivor.

For once, a Friday Q topic I don't have to think too much about! :)

FQ1: Describe your morning routine on work/school days, from the time you wake up until you leave.
* get up
* check mail
* have breakfast while reading whatever webpage takes my fancy
* have shower
* brush hair
* have drink of oj and wash up my cereal bowl
* put shoes and socks on
* feed fish

FQ2: Now describe your morning routine on NON-work/school days (weekends, holidays, etc.).
* sleep till whenever I can (unfortunately this is rarely very late)
* waste time on the computer
* delete over quota mailboxes
* eventually get breakfasted/showered/ready

FQ3: And finally, describe your night-time routine before you go to bed.
* check ebay (although I do this when I get home)
* blog - write mine and then read others
* brush teeth
* get into pjs

FQ Fantasy: You've won 100 million dollars in the lottery! Re-write your morning routine one month from now!
Actually if I won 100 million dollars my morning routine wouldn't change much at all. I'd still have to have breakfast and a shower etc.

Finally got around to decorating the Christmas tree tonight, after being home for about five minutes on the weekend.. partying and putting up the parents' Christmas tree among other things.

I'm of the opinion that you can never have too many fairy lights or too much tinsel. That said, I didn't actually put all the tinsel that I have onto the tree, as I was beginning to not be able to see green :)

The picture of tree I could use for multiple categories in "26 things" - Tree, Season, Tradition, Light, Reach.. silly really :)

Will take a small tree to work too.

So today my weather pixie hit 40°C, and put on an outfit I've never seen her in before.

I knew it was going to be hot as soon as I walked out the door this morning. Fortunately the building hasn't heated up for the summer yet, and it was much cooler inside than outside, so I shut up the place to wait it out.

Six o'clock and a lovely southerly change blew through. Time to open up the house again.

Rounding out the weekend with a Jason fix and Chamber of Secrets to finish up the Harry weekend :)

Having a rather Alan Rickman/Harry Potter weekend.. Die Hard on Thursday, Azkaban last night and Philosopher's Stone (on telly) tonight. It's amazing the difference two years makes to all the kids. The TV version of the Philosopher's Stone has a few of the extra scenes put in that I'm not used to seeing on the dvd version. They're buried in the special features, or at least some of them are. Argh they're playing scenes on telly that I'm sure aren't on the dvd at all! Have never seen some of them!

I had a go at making peppermint chocolates today. The problem with adding peppermint essence to molten chocolate is that it makes it go gluggy and you can't pour it into moulds. So I did two separate batches, putting the peppermint essence into only one, then dolloping it into half poured moulds and filling in around with the nicer chocolate, so I'll have peppermint centered chocolate at least. I mixed up all the leftovers which was just runny enough to pour into a remaining mould. Tip: work in direct sunlight on a metal sink - it keeps the chocolate warm and molten while you're fiddling about :)

There's this point at about 5pm on a Sunday afternoon where I just feel really low. Combination of feeling bored because it's really too late in the weekend to start anything new, and the thought of having to go back to work.

It's not so bad these days as it used to be when I was a student, when there was the added feeling of dread of not having done enough homework.

I think I'll just go to bed.

So I wanted to put up fairy lights in my room this weekend.

Firstly I had to finish putting away my lego. So that I could vacuum. So that I could rearrange the boxes. So that I could move the crap in the study into the living room.

I also had to be able to get into the cupboard the lights are in. So I had to put away the washing.

And I had to do a water change in the fish tank, which really needed to be done before it got too dark.

So all weekend to get one task done.
:)

The neighbours across the courtyard put their lights up a couple of days ago too, so if I leave my blinds open I get my own lights and theirs as well. Double bonus points :)

FQ1: Who is your one favorite author and why is their work so appealing to you?
Roald Dahl. Not really sure why. Just kinda silly in a lot of ways, and his grownups stories are kinda spooky too.

FQ2: What are your two favorite literary subjects and why is reading about them interesting to you?
I like reading about science stuff. Science fiction is pretty good too.

FQ3: What are your three favorite books and why are each of them special to you?

1. Star Trek VI by J.M. Dillard - only book I ever read at least three times before the Harry Potter books. I like the character development and how I can picture the movie so well from it.
   
2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling - my favourite of the Harry Potter books, and funnily enough the only one where the bad guy isn't specifically out to get Harry.
   
3. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton - quite a bit better than the movie, it held me fascinated for the day and a half I sat down to read it, the moment I finished my mid-year exams in second year uni. It still has some of the fundamental flaws of the movie (like who'd leave a game park with three people manning it for an entire weekend??), but the book and the chain of events that surrounded it were fundamental to the very existence of this website, my job, my friends, this house, pretty much everything about my life at the moment is the way it is because of that book.
   

FQ Author: If you had to write a book, what genre of book would you pen (mystery, romance, science fiction, biography, etc.) and what would it be about?
Probably a science fiction story. Although the only book I've ever written (a project for Year 8 english) was mostly an adventure with a teenager and a couple of kids shipwrecked on a Pacific Island with bird smugglers.

I finally had a dream about Captain Hook last night. This is only the second dream I've had about Jason Isaacs this year. When I was younger and had my obsession with David Bowie, I used to dream about him all the time. I must be getting old or something.

Other than that, spent the whole weekend putting lego away.

There is also an anonymous Big Puddle user reading my blog; care to leave your name some time? :)

Drank somewhat more carefully at Alan's tonight. I don't think my stomach has completely forgiven me for last time.

Really need to update all my clocks for daylight savings. And put up my fairy lights for the year :)