Of Frothy Coffee and Fresh Baked Bread

Well here I am on my first active night since I was off work sick. I don't know how I'll go since I'm still feeling a bit run down and have actually been going to bed before midnight lately (doesn't happen very often for me). It doesn't help that there were casuals on tonight who left the place in a mess. Ah well I'll manage. I brought the xbox with me in case I get bored, although I have a stack of paperwork to do as well as housework so probably won't use it. This is the first night shift I've had since we got the damn thing. The xbox hasn't exactly changed my life, I get sick of it pretty quickly. The boy can play it for hours which is frankly a bit of a worry.

The title of this post comes from me rediscovering my cappuccino machine and bread maker, I've used both this evening and have been making real coffee most days over the past week. Chris and I found really nice ground coffee, I'll have to add the name of it when I remember because it's one of the better one's I've tried, and I do like my coffee. After all I've grown up on nonna's expresso, 2 demitasses of which will have you swinging from the chandelier, and more then three would probably give you heart palpitations. Really should visit her just before an all night shift come to think of it. Anyway back on track, the logic behind using this as the subject of the post is that I have a few different things to talk about, and what better way to catch up than over coffee and warm fresh bread?

The biggest news this week is that my housemate is moving out soon. Chris and I asked her to a few days ago and it turned out she had already been thinking about moving on, which saved us having to go into why we wanted her out. We were able to just leave it at us wanting the place to ourselves, which is true, but its really more to do with us finally having had enough of her attitude to housework and various other issues. No need for things to get nasty though, she has started looking for other places. We have asked her to try to move out by the time we go on holidays. It will mean the rent will go up, but it has gotten to the point where her rent contribution wasn't outweighing the stress of her being there. Now that I know she's going I can't wait, I'm looking forward to the little things, like having the extra space in the bathroom and not having to worry about switching the cars around, which can be a real nuisance at times.

Chris and I are off to mum's on Friday after work, coming back Saturday night. I was going to try to catch up with friends, given that I haven't seen anyone since I got sick almost 3 weeks ago, but mum called the other night to say my brother and sister-in-law are going up on Saturday, and asking if we could come up too. We can't stay Saturday night, so we're going by train so that we can stay later, given that my fog lamps are stuffed and my headlights aren't good enough to trust on country highways at night.

Not long now til our Queensland holiday. I can't wait, winter is settling in now and it will be great to get away for a bit. While I'm at mum's this weekend we'll sort out how we're going to handle getting the cats to her place and back, other than that, everythings taken care of. We'll be going to Townsville for a week or so to start with, then to the tablelands. No idea what they're like but Chris says I have to see them. I know I could just look it up but I'm happy to be surprised. We may stay a night there depending on what his sister and brother-in-law are doing, then on to Cairns for 4 nights. We have to see one of those stupid holiday club presentations as part of the Cairns deal, which includes a beautiful hotel, a reef cruise and dining vouchers, among other things. Can't wait!

Thats all for now, hope you've enjoyed this little catch-up over coffee, we'll have to do this again some time!

Nadie
xox

Photo time

Well after almost 2 weeks off work and 2 doctors visits I'm feeling better again. Hopefully I don't come down with something else tomorrow, otherwise I'm back to work. I've mainly been spending my down time taking it easy, playing games and shuffling round in my fuzzy slippers (many synths gave their lives for these slippers). Chris finds the sight of me pulling them up over my tatt to be hysterical. Something about sending mixed messages. Hrmph. Here's me thinking that they both send the message that I'm not one for following the crowd

In other news lookie what Chris got me while I was at the doctors on Monday as a bribe to get better! Finally snagged a guy who knows the value of a random pressie. Ok, so I'm a romantic. Its just nice to have a guy who'll do sweet stuff like that, instead of guys who if you drop enough hints might ask, "did you want that?".

As a follow up to my earlier post about Sumi's fondness for relaxing on top of the dining room computer, miss Suki recently decided that Sumi was on to a good thing. For a while there it was pretty much a case of who got there first, until last night when Sumi decided that, come hell or high water, she was going to sit there, and her offspring could make room or leave, so being the agreeable little person that she is, Suki scooted up to the front to make room. Once we established that the tail is not to hang where it pleases while the computer is in use, we were onto something. Sumi was lying down with just her ears visible until I got the camera out, then of course she had to sit up.

I included this last photo of the girls just because I like the look on Suki's face. Shame madam in the background had to do some critical grooming right at that instant.

Sickie [updated]

I've been home sick for the last few days, I wasn't feeling too bad yesterday but as it would have been my all night shift last night I decided to play it safe and give it a miss, rather than make myself even more run down. Just as well as it turned out since I woke up this morning with a brand new set of symptoms. Will have to see how I go today and decide tonight whether to take tomorrow off as well. Went to the doctors on Monday and had blood tests done to try and figure out whats going on, just got the results back and nothing showed up.

In other news, Chris and I decided to get an xbox last week. I haven't had a games console since the Commodore 64 when I was about 6 and never really felt the need for one, but it was only $120 and I can take it with me on night shifts so what the hey! I wouldn't pay $600 for an xbox 360 and I certainly wouldn't fork out $1000 for a PS3, but the older consoles are so cheap now that I'm not fussed, and I don't really care about whether new games are available since I think they're a rip off anyway. Quite happy with 2nd hand games. The only problem now is getting Chris off it, he's become addicted to 'Need for Speed', I on the other hand, am still trying to master the controller, and excel in crashing in the racing games. Ah well. I'm slowly getting better at it.

The cats think they're on to a good thing with the xbox, but then again they think that of anything that gets their people to sit still for a while. When I'm playing Suki invariably winds up either on the arm of the couch or curled up against me. Sumi on the other hand has made it clear that Chris belongs to her. I'm not sure how we wound up with a cat each given that they've been here longer then he has but there you have it. Cats are like that though, they always have their favourite. That goes out the window when they have a sickie to take care of though, they were both very attentive while I was crook.

Flying North for the Winter

Chris and I are headed up to North Queensland on the 19th of June, staying with his sister in Townsville for about 10 days then up to Cairns for 5 days, depending on if we can get the dates we want for a holiday package in Cairns, otherwise we'll probably just go there for a day or two. If we get the package then the trip includes a Great Barrier Reef cruise.

Townsville may not the most desirable tourist location in QLD, but it'll be great to get away for a couple of weeks, for Chris to see his family and for me to see where he grew up. I got along with his family when they came down so definitely not averse to the idea of staying with them. It'll also be good to escape the middle of Melbourne winter. Chris assures me the weather is nice up there that time of year.

Mum is taking the cats for the duration, so it is entirely possible that Sophie, my cat that lives with mum, will never talk to me again, either that or she'll finally accept their existence. We just need to figure out details of how they are getting there and back: whether I'll go visit mum either side of the trip or if she'll come down, and whether it's just for a day trip or to stay over.

Anyway more details to come once I get confirmation on the holiday package

Cheeky Puss

This is Sumi in her new favourite spot, perched on top of the dining room computer. It's got everything a cat could want: it's generally where the people are, it's reasonably high up [a definite selling point for any cat with Siamese heritage], and it's warm. Whenever anyone uses that computer she is bound to hop up there and have a nap, stretched all the way back to the wall with just her face and occasionally a paw showing. If we ever get an LCD monitor I'm sure there will be feline riots.

It's just as well my girls are so darn cute, with the wanton acts of destruction they're responsible for. I discovered this chewed through headphone cable the other night, they used to chew cables all the time but since we bought the revolting spray I thought they had stopped.

This is Suki looking suitably contrite at the mess they've made trying to dig their way into my bedroom. Keep in mind I'm in a rental which had new carpets when I moved in. Cheeky bloody cats!

4am Ramblings

Hello all, I'm on my all night shift which means its time for a catch up post. Hopefully this will be coherant as its 4am and I'm not altogether certain that my mind is funtioning on the higher levels.

Anyway, last friday was the biannual Cirque du Soleil pilgrimmage. Mum and I decided when we saw them the last time they were in Australia with 'Quidam' that we would go see them whenever they came out. They certainly never disapoint. Their latest offering 'Varekai' is visually stunning, dispite the incomprehesible storyline. My only quibble (other than the token clown filler) is that one of the most stunning performances happened to early on, and was difficult for other acts to top. If you have never seen Cirque, I strongly encourage you to do so, I am not into standard circuses (circii?). Cirque su Soliel is in a league of its own. They showcase just what the human body is capable of. Some acts are beautifully fluid and gracefull, fusing dance and acrobatics, others are fast and flashy, either way they are amazing.

After I got back home and mum headed back home to Castlemaine I had a few hours to unwind and relax before the boy got back from work. Relax? hmmph. When mum called me to let me know she was home I slammed my knee into the bed post running for the phone. While I was rolling on the bed clutching my knee I managed to grab the phone and gasp out what had happened. Once mum hung up I hobbled to the fridge to grab an ice pack and put my leg up. It came up in a decent lump immediately and as I had a big night planned for Saturday I needed to do everything I could to minimise the damage. The next day the bump had gone down and the stiffness gradually eased up over the course of the day. It was very tender to the touch for a few days and is still bruised but not sore thankfully and it was ok for Saturday night.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival was on in April. On Saturday night, Chris and I went to see Tripod and Steven K. Amos. Tripod was good, if you've never heard of them they do musical comedy, or momedy as they call it. Very strange little people, but very entertaining. We had a couple of hours inbetween shows, so we went and had a nice dinner in China Town, which happened to be halfway between the two venues, before going to see Steven Amos at 11.30. Steven Amos is a stand-up comedian from London, and he had sell out shows pretty much every night for the whole 3 week festival, so an extra show was put on for that Friday and Saturday. They happened to announce the new shows the day we got our tickets, so we got row 6 dead centre, which in a sold out theatre of 700 people, is not bad going. He was hilarious, I think being over tired worked for him. Some of the material I had already heard him perform on TV, but it was still good stuff. Afterwards he was signing copies of his cd in the foyer, so I got a photo with him. Chris and I ended up missing the last train so we caught the night rider bus home, and got in about 3am. Bloody good night!

After my eventful Friday and Saturday, Sunday was fairly quiet, mostly spent pottering round at home. Chris came home from work early sick, and still is. He was just sick enough to warrent staying home until last night, but today (well, yesterday really - night shifts muck up my sense of what day it is) he is drastically worse, so today was spent taking care of him.