Week 16 - BBQing & Napping

Thursday #17 – as Wednesday was The Hippy Engineer’s birthday, when Thursday morning rolled around I was still at The Rege getting my drink on with the boys.  It’s hard to say why exactly I was still out as a quick re-read of my messages to and from DTM seem to show I was not enjoying my night – perhaps due to the fact that the 2 Patrollers had between them emptied (and provided commentary on) the entire contents of my bag and then sent a text to every D in my phone (hoping to get DTM) announcing my non-existent pregnancy.  We eventually left at around 3.30 and after a cheeky cheeseburger stop I set off on my long journey home.  I probably should have made it home by 5am (traffic is quite good at that time of day) but after a full bus accepting no passengers and a nap on the next bus I didn’t get home until almost 7am.  Napping on buses has been a problem for me this past year but normally it results in a 10 minute walk as I miss my stop and maybe the next one or two – on this rainy Thursday morning I not only missed my stop but also my suburb completely as well as the next 6 or so; ending up at the last stop which is a looooong way from home.

When I finally got home it was time for bed (despite the fact the sun had risen about an hour earlier) and I was a little relieved that the rain had caused us to cancel our Australia Day tradition of breakfast on the beach with The BH&G Fan and her family.  After a few hours of sleep it was time to head off for a barbecue lunch with the fam.  The BH&G Fan was very into the Australia Day spirit wearing an Australian hat and underpants (which she didn’t hesitate to show off) and covering herself (and anyone else she could) in temporary Aussie tattoos.  After lunch it was time for a quick photo by the pool to pretend that the 30 minutes of sunshine we got was a true reflection of the day and then it was back inside for The Scientist’s Australia Day cupcakes and a nap on the lounge.

After my nap we headed back home and watched some tennis.  After telling DTM on skype that I was heading straight to bed to catch up on some lost z’s, I ended up staying awake for another 4 or 5 hours to watch my fav lose in the semi-final.  This Thursday didn’t get off to a good start or end particularly well for that matter, but it was still an enjoyable day of celebrating all things Australian…and wondering why I stayed out so long the night before, apparently not enjoying myself.

Week 15 - Measling & Reality-TVing

Thursday #16 – Last week’s prediction that this Thursday would be less eventful than the previous one was looking eerily accurate on Monday when a trip to The GP saw me return with a diagnosis of measles.  Having spent the first half of the week alternating between my bed and the couch, there was a high probability that this Thursday would not see me and my spots leave the house.  Amazingly I did manage to venture out and got the bus to the home of The Weather Girl and The Vice President to catch up on Monday’s Golden Globe Awards (which I had been both too sick and too foxtel-less to watch at the time).

I was pretty proud that I had managed to avoid all the results and was grateful to be watching it with a fast forward button for some of the less than riveting speeches.  With an Oporto break for lunch I was treated to some reality TV delights after the awards.  Just when I thought Toddlers and Tiaras could not be topped, on came My School Prom. It was just non-stop quality viewing and I was devastated to not have cable at home.  We ordered in some Thai for dinner before The Marge came to pick me up.  DTM texted in some disturbing pictures of himself sans hair which prompted the need for a skype chat later that night.  Thankfully, in “person” it didn’t look as bad as in the photo.

A very quiet Thursday but necessarily so, at least I’m finally up to date on all my TV shows.

Week 14 - Monorailing & Audiencing

Thursday #15 – with DTM in town it looked possible that today would finally see a return of Thursdays with free movies but alas with timing it was not meant to be.  Having been promised a dinner in Darling Harbour since August that had never eventuated, there was talk it might actually happen on this brief trip home.  I was not holding my breath as despite it being paid for already DTM had come up with plenty of excuses (“it won’t be good on a Wednesday”, “I didn’t think you’d be up for it with tonsillitis”, “I couldn’t get through to book”) which all seemed to be code for the same thing – he had not in fact made a booking.  I had almost fallen off my chair on Monday when he phoned and made a booking for Thursday lunch – he was finally coming through with my Darling Harbour meal! 

He had some things to do in the morning (and I had some sleep to do) so we’d agreed to just meet there at 12, until DTM texted to say he was running late and could I just rock up solo?  No problemo I thought and I sat there drinking water for almost half an hour before he showed.  I wasn’t bothered as I was well aware of the family things he’d been doing that morning but The Waitress was not letting up; “we were wondering when you’d get here” and as he’d try to explain himself “don’t tell me I think it’s her you need to explain to”.  I assured him he didn’t need to explain himself and we carried on with our lunch – stuffing ourselves so much on entrees and mains that we had to cancel dessert.  We were quite disappointed in our efforts but insanely full at the same time.

After lunch it was off for a couple of games of $5 bowling.  Having dazzled (ok maybe not so much dazzled as horrifically embarrassed myself) at bowling the first night I went out with DTM, I was shocked enough on Monday when he’d suggested more bowling.  After scoring a dismal 39 in the first game I finally warmed up to 101 in game #5 but was confident my bowling performance that night had ensured I would not be asked back to the alley anytime soon.  Wrong.  I had hoped on Thursday I’d be more at the 101 stage rather than the 39 and for the first time, having had only 1 glass of wine with lunch, I would not be able to blame a poor bowl on intoxication.  My scores sat somewhere between 39 and 101 and as the only people there we were able to enjoy perks such as “what songs would you like to hear?” and “can I get you any drinks?”  We declined the opportunity to make playlist requests (why I do not know, I imagine with some Jessie’s Girl blasting I would’ve been hitting strike after strike) but took up the offer of some beverages delivered to our lane.

Bowling done it was time to attempt to walk off our lunch with a stroll along Darling Harbour and Barangaroo.  We got our tourist on and posed for photos with the Harbour Bridge and DTM didn’t let the opportunity for an insult pass him by, telling me that my head was too big and it blocked out the bridge.  Awww.  We walked back where we came from and found the nearest bottle shop to buy supplies for our monorail party – as DTM will tell you “there aint no party like a monorail party” (though I think it loses some credibility when it is said multiple times before a monorail party has even been experienced).  A bottle of Bacardi (to share), some raspberry fizzy stuff (me) and a can of energy drink (him) and we were ready for our monorail party.

Before getting on the monorail we had to drink ⅓ (or in his case more) of our drink to make room for the Bacardi.  We then tipped the Bacardi in with the remaining drink and gagged/coughed our way through the first few sips – DTM looked on jealously with his can as I was able to shake my bottle and spread the alcohol around.  Then it was time to hop on the monorail with an hour to kill and about 2 stops to travel.  I got a seat after about 1 or 2 stops but DTM was standing for an entire loop and it was looking like perhaps the reason “there aint no party like a monorail party” is because a monorail party is not in fact that good.  Eventually we both had seats and continued drinking our DIY Bacardi Breezers and marvelling at our genius and inexpensive party idea – in hindsight that rum must’ve been strong as going around a small loop above the city with sometimes up to 10 other people in the carriage really doesn’t sound like that much of a party.

With our drinks finished it was time to end the party and head to Redfern where we pretended to be sober to get into the bar and get our free drink ahead of our TV taping that night.  The email telling us about the show we were in the audience for had said to expect the taping to run from 6-8.30 but that since it was a pilot they weren’t entirely sure of timing.  They also couldn’t tell us what show we were watching.  When we got into the studio we discovered The Chaser boys had a new show called The Unbelievable Truth in which a panel of 4 took turns telling ridiculous lies about a chosen topic while trying to sneak 4 unbelievable truths past the other 3.  It was a good show and a lot of laughs were had but somehow the filming of 2 half hour episodes took close to 5 hours and it was almost 11pm before we got out which meant no free movies this Thursday.

A rather random but altogether very good Thursday, I have a suspicion next week will be less eventful following DTM’s return to Thailand on Sunday.

Week 13 - Stressing & Ghosting

Thursday #14 – watching Tintin with DTM on Monday night we established there were no movies coming out this week that he hadn’t already seen while o/s so it was unlikely that this Thursday would see a return to free movies.  Knowing this, I was able to make other plans for my Thursday night; so when Legs 11 suggested a ghost tour of the quarantine station I thought “well, why not?” – DTM declined the invitation (and probably for the best since the man did jump more than once during Green Lantern which I don’t think was meant to be particularly scary).

Work was a little stressful when M-Dizzle phoned to say she needed me to fill in a 6 page rental application and email it back to her before she and the boys went to inspect a house at 5pm. With no access to a scanner and no idea how much I earn this seemingly simple request was proving to be quite the challenge.  After making up some figures (and apparently not very accurately – I am even poorer than I thought) I faxed it through to The Marge who scanned it and emailed it back to me so that I could email it to M-Dizzle. A bit too much effort for my liking and only the start of some ongoing rental dramas!

I got home from work and tried to figure out what to wear – as someone who regularly talks up my best dressed wins, I do struggle with the pressure of what to put on each day – and dinner at a nice restaurant followed by a walk through bushes and haunted buildings presents quite the outfit challenge.  Finally it was time to head to Manly for a romantic dinner with Legs 11 and The Pre-Birthday Boy.  The 3 of us enjoyed some lovely meals and a cheeky sav blanc before heading down to the wharf to meet our tour.  We informed our trusty tour guide Bob that our friend Greenpeace would be a late addition to the tour after getting word of a last minute cancellation and he informed us of the importance of “white lighting” oneself to ensure no ghosts come home with you at the end of the night.

We spent the next 10 or 15 minutes wondering what we had gotten ourselves into and making pacts to not intentionally scare each other – The Pre-Birthday Boy was particularly nervous about what he had agreed to.  The tour started off with a bit of a history lesson about the ordinary people who were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, before Bob locked us in a dark room as part of some “test”.  He popped his head in at one stage and the 3 of us let out our first shriek/arm grab of the night.  Greenpeace arrived and then it was time to walk into more dark rooms with more creepy stories as outside was going crazy with rain and lightning.  Bob managed to scare us another couple of times by kicking props and pointing out where the ghosts were but at the end of the night I was slightly disappointed to not have had any run-ins with the ghosts myself.  Bob had told us to open all our senses and that we might not see ghosts but instead we might feel them or smell them or hear them etc; but all I got was an overwhelming smell of crayons which I don’t think was particularly ghostly.

Bob described one cottage as his favourite place on the whole tour and we nervously and excitedly entered to find out just what was so special about it.  Greenpeace was fairly sure she’d sensed something in a particular room and Bob then filled us in on the paedophile/rapist/murderer/grave digger who used to live there and likes to feel up the ladies on ghost tours.  We were pleased to have survived the cottage without being hit on by a sleazy ghost but were wondering what it said about Bob that this was his fav place to hang… One of the final rooms we went into was a dining room where Bob told us they used to “share food, share stories, share diseases…great times!” and Legs 11 and I looked at each other and chuckled at his description of what constitutes a great time.

After a couple of hours it was time to leave but sadly we were caught in the middle of a storm.  When we finally did get back to the car Legs 11 made sure she white lighted herself (though she insisted on using an actual white light rather than the one from the universe) before we drove home.  Definitely a different Thursday and despite a shaky start at work it shaped up to be a pretty entertaining day.