Ten days. Can it really be ten days since I blogged. It would seem so. I wish I had more to report...

I had my quiet night whenever it was I last blogged. Some sorting of stuff and possibly Harry Potter and lamb, sweet potatoes and broccoli. Something like that anyway!! Up early the next day and to the gym. Then to Rich and Russ's for a noice chat and catch up with Rich. I had to pick up a form for David's residency application - note to self. Fill it in! I then walked home to Marrickville and did lazy stuff and/or sorting stuff. I can't actually remember! Later... I headed out to meet the boys at the Shift. One last hurrah with the UK gang - they are so lovely. We did it in style - the Shift was pretty good and kept us amused until 6.30am. Spent quite a bit of time chatting to my dentist Wayne - he's lovely! Then we couldn't let it lie and so me, Pete and Bobby hit Arq. Vile. Mind you we stayed longtime and finally hit Rich and Russ's about 10am and partied on until I finally headed home around 3pm! Nothing for Sunday. The Mummy Returns on DVD - that's the intellectual level I was at!

And then last week. Worked all week. Gymmed Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Did little else. She's a lovely girl. Think I ate nice food and watch either telly or DVDs, played on the PC and stuff. Aaron came over for dinner Tuesday and we watched Cypher on DVD. Kind of OK, but didn't really get you onside. I had no care whether the main characters lived, died, or disappeared up their own jacksies. I slept from 10.45pm Friday night until 11am Saturday morning. Bliss.

The weekend. Uneventful but necessary. I actually did the unthinkable, and cleaned out Pete and Johnno's pantry. It's been a standing joke since I moved in, coz I've never been able to find anything in all the crap! Pantry doesn't really do it justice - it's pantry-come-laundry-come-general-store. Anyway, now it's a bright as a button and everything is ship-shape and bristol fashion. It took me the whole weekend mind you - interspersed with nice food, music, laundry, more sleep etc. Dave Puls came over late on Sat night and we had beer and nibbles and watched League of Gentlemen on DVD and had a natter until 3am. Nice to catch up with him. Too long overdue.

Meant to hit the gym but felt a bit fluey - that's continued this week so far and I've resorted to taking antibiotics as I'm meant to be starting a quick and dirty 10 week half marathon training course. Some hope. We'll see. May possibly take tomorrow off sick - I do feel a bit woozy and slept seems the best cure. Otherwise it's my last week at work for 4 weeks as I move to another department to help set up some new systems. It'll be dull as all hell. Joy.

More tomorrow!

Here comes the quiet life again.

I should be so Kylie. In spite of trying to calm things down, my weekends are rapidly filling up and soon it seems it'll be almost June! And winter! Boo. I guess it's nice to have all these things planned, but sometimes I feel like I just want to opt out of the whole thing and become a bit of a hermit. Actually as long as I'm getting everything else done I'm not too worried - but what with trying to sort out houses on both sides of the world, taxation here and there too, gymming, half-marathon training, music mixing, book writing, healthy eating, life admin, blah blah blah... it all gets a bit much.

I'm looking forward to a quiet night tonight. Wednesday was quiet too, with P+J bringing dinner back post gym and then sleep. Yesterday was work and snooze, then farewell to Alan beers at the Colombian. Slobbing with a DVD and some nice food is the order of tonight, with some tidying and sorting. Pete and Johnno are skiing in the States so I've got their beautiful house to myself :o) I intend to use the time to sort my life out. Yes dear reader, you've heard that a myriad of times, but this time it has to happen. Watch this space.

The rest of the weekend will be split - early tomorrow gym and shopping (I desperately need clothes and shoes). Later tomorrow is goodbye to the final UK boys - it's been great to see them and it's such a shame they can't be here all the time. Actually, it's probably a good thing given how much we've all been out...

Sunday - sleep. And more sleep. Yay!!

Eh up! It's Wednesday and I'm already blogging again. Surely some mistake. Well I'm bored at work and so this seems like the best outlet for my frustration.

Friday last. BBQ at Rich and Russ's as I alluded to last time. We were relatively sensible and left around 11pm. I shared a cab back with Aaron. Saturday was brunch with Andy B at GoGo's which was nice. Downtown for me to try and shop. Oh how I tried. I've realised that after 3 years of living here this time around I still have no idea where to buy clothes and shoes. Slightly miffed I hit the MCA to meet Aaron to see the Leigh Bowery exhibition. It was great! Glad to do something different for once. Oh, and it was pouring down. Back to Newtown, where the rain continued. Verily it was time to go to Mardi Gras. Me and Aaron got a lift with Pete and Johnno and were there by 10.30pm. And then we met everyone and had a jolly good time! I think I managed to see everyone I wanted to. In the rain. We got very hot and steamy as a consequence. Most of the time in the RHI, then the Hordern to cool off a bit. We left at 8.30am and went home to change and then to hit Arq, where we did it all again. Until 2.30pm ish, when we went back to the UK guys apartment to chilll. Noice. Finally back to the house to rest and regroup before heading to Resolution later. Which was crap. No one there and so very disappointing. Tried to get into the Shift, but a bit expensive and the Phoenix was full of freaks! We called it a night. :o(

Monday was a lazy day. Up, brekky, Daredevil on DVD, coffee with Aaron, dinner with P+J, Jimmy Neutron on DVD. If you haven't seen it yet, see Jimmy Neutron. It's fun! Yesterday was back at work, then home for bacon, eggs, beans and trash on the telly. Tonight is a quiet one again - P+J head off to the States tomorrow so it's last night for them. I feel like sleeping for a week.

Best part of the last couple of weeks? Realising how nice all my mates are, and particularly looking foward to having David and Brett living here by the end of the year. Bring it on!

And the Friday afternoon updates continue. Apparently. And lo... which coincidentally is kind of how I'm feeling. Not badly miserable, just not my usual chipper self.

Friday last - the braces. They went on. Relatively painlessly to be honest, though the weirdest feeling. And they really have removed what little feeling of fun and salaciousness that was left after splitting with Aaron. Hey ho. Hopefully it means I'll focus on other things... Home to the BBQ, which was great. Nice to see everyone together. Of course come 11pm everyone headed out to Oxford Street to continue the drinking. Me? I went to bed.

Saturday was up early to help Aaron move house. I got up around 8.30am. Aaron got me at just gone 9am and off we went. We finished by 6pm. One long day. We ended up helping Fred (Aaron's mate) move some stuff from his soon-to-close shop which prolonged things a bit. However by the end of the day Aaron was in and done. His place is great - it's got a nice feel to it. It reminds me a lot of mine and Garry's old place on Oxford St (it's got the same colour floorboards and high ceilings) and as long as Aaron get's someone decent in to share with him I think it'll be good for him. I was too knackered to do anything else that night and so went to bed. Dave = dull.

Sunday was the day of Azure - the party formerly known as. Formerly known as the Harbour Party actually. I got up, had brekky, tried to get everyone sorted to meet, failed, had lunch with Pete and Johnno and they gave me and Aaron a lift down to Oxford St. Met up with Andy Buchan and off we trotted to the party. Where I failed to see Andy again for the whole night! Oops. I did however catch up with the other UK bods - David and Brett, Rob and Adrian, Paul and Dino and Mark. Lovely to see them again. Azure was marvellous - probably due to the guys from the UK being there with my Sydney mates too. The only other downside was that I failed to see Pete and Johnno the entire time. Shame. But we had fun. Lots. Dancing with all and sundry in the middle of the floor from about 5pm until midnight. Woohoo! Of course we had to kick on and eventually ended up at the Phoenix due to everywhere else having queues from hell. It was yet more fun, though I wasn't in the fittest of states when Aaron took me home. Bless him. Thanks to him and Rich for looking after me...

Monday was work. On no sleep. Aaron did the same. We didn't have the best of days to be honest. Home that night to dinner with P+J and finding Nemo on DVD. Perfect. The rest of the week has been work (very busy); gym (well Wednesday night at least); dinner with Aaron, Rich and Russ and the UK boys and chores and sleep at all other times. Last night helped Aaron move a few things round in his new place post dinner. Tonight is meant to be a BBQ at R'n'R's with the UK lot - ostensibly so they could meet P+J too, but Johnno's not feeling well. Possible drinks in town after as Dr Graham's in town... We'll see. It would be lovely to see him and he's not going to Mardi Gras tomorrow, so... Watch this space.

Brunch with Andy B tomorrow followed by, hopefully, the Leigh Bowery exhibition at the MCA as it closes Sunday. Not sure about early eve tomorrow, but then Mardi Gras. Day recovery at Arq and then no plans for the night time. But rather more sensibly this week I've booked Monday off. Well done me.

More news from the front line as it happens...

Well I guess we're overdue an update. Again. Sorry kids. Lots to report. Not all good. Not all bad. Read on...

I left you listless and feeling a bit weird. Part of that reason I guess can be explained by the news that Aaron and I split up on Friday night last. Fortunately so far we're remaining friends and I'm really glad of that. Aaron's a lovely guy and one I enjoy spending time with. So what was the problem? I guess I didn't love him enough. Aaron had very strong feelings for me, and as it turned out, mine weren't reciprocated as strongly. Long story short and to be fair it doesn't do it justice, but that's the reason. I gave it some time hoping and wanting my feelings to be like his. It didn't turn out that way and so from my perspective I'd prefer just to be mates. Good mates. Aaron has one of the kindest hearts of anyone I know and all my mates love him to bits so it's nice he's staying around.

So, that was Friday. Harder too in that Aaron was at that stage staying with me at Pete and Johnno's whilst he house-hunted. Saturday for him was more house-hunting and for me brekky by myself to do some reflective thinking and then over to Potts Point to have coffee with Dave, who I've not seen enough of lately. So had a good old chat to him before heading back to Newtown. Hung out with Aaron a while and had some food. Ended up later having coffee with Pete and Johnno as Aaron went out to catch up with Michael and Costa. Sunday was Fair Day, which I thought might be fun. Given the circumstances, I couldn't have been further from the mark. I headed home after about an hour and just had a good long think about all that had been happening. Hey ho. I actually can't remember what I did later, but it wasn't much. Oh, I ironed my shirts. Joy.

The rest of the week's been pretty average. Work. Aaron got a new place organised luckily for him, so we're moving him this weekend. I had my first training session back with Peter the trainer. I almost threw up and had to stop! And then got soaked in the torrential rain that hit on the way home. I think the gym relaunch may be a little more gradual than first planned. I do however pick up my shoe inserts on Monday afternoon so nothing to stop me running after that. Wednesday met up with the architect and talked houses. Last night met up with Pete and did the same. Hopefully eventually things will be on track... slowly, slowly. It does look like Pete is going to go and live in London a while. I think he needs it. We're certainly in completely different places, the pair of us, since we bought the house together. Yes, sirree. Chatted with Brett last night about the forthcoming Mardi Gras celebrations and allowed myself to get a little excited. The braces going on my teeth in about an hour and a half should dampen that ardour however. Also spoke to Andy from Manchester who arrives on Saturday night. A bit of a weird coincidence with him... but I'll leave that until after the MG celebrations just in case things get out of hand at all...

BBQ tonight at the house as a start off of the MG celebrations. Pete and Johnno, Rich and Russ, Aaron, Cassius, Rich's friend Alan and maybe Pete. Should be noice. Tomorrow moving Aaron as previously described and then Sunday, after David and Brett arrive, is the Azure (Harbour) Party. Let's hope the rain holds off.

Another week, another week of partly getting things done and no blogging. Well not really. Though Tuesday's entry doesn't really count for much. Sigh.

So, what news? Not a great deal to be honest. I remain listless, but with too much to do (but stuff I really don't want to do). I haven't got myself into any sort of routine since living with the boys, though that's partly due to Aaron staying until he finds himself somewhere decent to live. I failed to get to the gym with a number of excuses (some valid, others not very well veiled attempts to cover the apathy). My feet still aren't quite right however, and Tuesday's now booked in gym training session will not be any CV stuff. I really want my shoe inserts to arrive so I can start running again!

Meanwhile... Thursday last week was probably something. Probably. Friday more of the same no doubt. Actually Thursday Aaron and I hit Newtown to buy Mardi Gras tickets and Aaron bought new shoes. Friday would have been my Mum's 72nd birthday, so I rang Dad to see if he was OK. Friday night was spent in, as far as I can recall. Saturday saw Aaron looking at apartments again and then we picked up Pete and Johnno from the airport. We did a bit more running around then joined P+J for lunch before a quick trip to R'n'Rs then home. Saturday night ended up being an impromptu BBQ at home whilst watching Harry Potter and then Gladiator. Sunday we slept late and had previously intended to do the galleries. However by the time we got to Circular Quay we'd run out of time so instead went for a long walk round the Botanic Gardens and finally up to Victoria Street and a beer in the Green Park. Back to Newtown and dinner and then home. Nothing much else to report through the week either. Met Pete for coffee Wednesday night but got no further on firming up house stuff. Pete's still waiting to see if he can get work in the UK so we'll see what happens. Last night we went up to eat with Pete and Johnno in Newtown and that was that.

I had another orthodontist's appointment yesterday and now am sporting groovy small blue elastic bands between my back teeth. This is in readiness for next week's braces fitting. :o( And today completely my round up of all things medical and so I think that's about it for a while. Of course the next thing is researching getting my eyes lasered...

So what does the weekend hold? Not much. Aaron's house hunting again tomorrow. No plans tonight. No plans tomorrow night. Possibly Mardi Gras Fair Day on Sunday. And then another week begins.

I feel a bit like I'm in a rut without actually being in any sort of routine. How does that work??

I've just spent my spare moments trying to work out this incredibly addictive game - Grow. You can eventually, given the right circumstances, get to a top score of 20000. See how long it takes you. And yes, I did in the end have to resort to pen and paper to help!!

February 12th. I haven't blogged for over a week and keep wondering exactly where the time goes. Not that I've not been busy... it's just I used to seem to have more time. Hey ho. Maybe I'll get myself sorted out in such a way that I can bring regular blogging back into my days.

Don't hold your breath.

Meantime you'll have to cope with the odd snatch. As it were. I left you last Wednesday arvo, pre-BBQ at Tim and Ross's. It was a really lovely, social evening. I got to catch up with Adrian and Shane's news - which is that they're moving to Brisbane. I guess it's another reason to head up that way... but I do feel bad that Adrian and I have drifted apart somewhat over the last year or so. Still - I do know how to right that wrong so I'll try and be a little more communicative (though it works both ways). Thursday was work and then a doctor's appointment. It looks as though the family history of high cholestrol/triglycerides hasn't skipped a generation (funny that). So it's time to start and get back on track diet and exercise-wise. I've not been to the gym since December and properly (i.e. more than once a week!) since sometime in November. The good news is the injury that I've been carrying since after the City to Surf - which I thought might be a broken bone in my foot - is actually treatable with foot orthoses. I've recently been to the podiatrist and have had assessment and castings done and am now just waiting for the inserts to arrive. Then there's no excuse!! I should be able to run long term with no damage - the inserts will push the ball of my feet up which will in turn redistribute the weight I'm putting on my feet back into the right place. Of course there's been nothing stopping me doing non-CV exercise at all, other than my own apathy - but my rapidly expanding belly should now give me all the incentive I need to get back. I was doing fantastically well in October - probably the most muscled I've ever been. Hopefully those couple of extra kilos that I'm carrying will translate back into muscle with a bit of effort. Watch this space. Gym return scheduled for next week...

Anyway I digress. Thursday night was food in with the boys followed by a little telly. Friday was more work and another quiet night in I think. Saturday was brekky after a good sleep. Aaron went looking for houses and I went off to meet Gary and Peter to help set up George the Staffordshire terrier's birthday party in the park. It was fun! Beer and social interaction under the trees in the sun. Noice. Later... we hit Rich and Russ's with the boys for Steve Atkins' farewell BBQ. Also good and a reasonably early Saturday night with us hitting the sack around midnight.

Sunday - ah, Sunday. :o)

Sunday was ToyBox - a dance party at the Metro in town following on from the great tradition of Frisky parties - except this one starts at midday and goes til 8pm. Our first real venture out since New Year saw us ready for some fun. And fun it was!! We hit there shortly after 1pm and initially it was a little quiet. However by 2pm it was going off - and so were we! The party was fun and friendly - and although the music was a little too trancey to be completely up our alleys we didn't seem to mind too much. In the end the gang was all there - us two, Pete and Johnno, Rich and Russ, Tim and Ross, Steve... and various others drifted in and out of the fray. Of course by 8pm we couldn't say no to kicking on and so we did. The Shift via McDonald's :o) The Shift was also fun, though less so when Aaron started to feel unwell. We were home by midnight after a fine afternoon and evening. More please.

Monday I fought bleary eyed to work, and survived the day. It helped leaving early to go first to the podiatrist's (as described earlier) and then the orthodontist to investigate braces on my teeth. My teeth aren't too bad - at least the top ones, but the bottom ones are crooked and overcrowded and it's causing gum disease where it's difficult to floss. So, it looks like it's all going ahead. Yikes. Assuming all goes according to plan I'll have the braces on the top ones first, followed two or three months later by the bottom ones. The top ones will go on just in time for Mardi Gras - woohoo. Oh well - the end result will be straighter teeth and ones that (hopefully) will have less chance of falling out on me. I then met up with Charlotte and her new man Marcus - I'd not seen Charlie since 2003 in England and it was great to catch up. Those regular readers may remember Charlie as the girl I shared with in Bondi September 2001-January 2002. Bless her. She's back for good so she now becomes the person I've officially known the longest here in Oz - 9 years!! Back home to bad news - Johnno had flown up to Lennox as his Dad was in hospital again. By the time we were almost ready for dinner Johnno called to say his Dad had died. It's so hard to know what to do or say in situations like that - except I just think back to when Mum died and remember that it didn't really matter what people said as long as they said something. There were a couple of friends of the family who didn't say anything - through embarrassment of saying the wrong thing, or fear or whatever... and that for me remains what stands out. We looked after Pete as best we could and then hit the sack. Sad end to the day. As I write this it's the funeral and my thoughts are with the boys.

Tuesday was more work and then another leaving early day. I've been working really well at work and am completely on top of everything which is great. Yay me! Anyway, I left to meet the new architect at the house to discuss plan submission again. Jim seems nice - old and knowledgeable and fair. I'll know more from him in a week or so. Home and dinner out - sushi with Aaron and Pete in Bondi then coffee in Newtown. Nice.

Yesterday Aaron took Pete to the airport early and then it was work once more. These five day weeks are so hard! Dinner was veggie pasta after a trip to the supermarket then telly and bed. Rock and roll lifestyle! No plans for tonight or Friday either, though lots of sleep could well be on the agenda. More news as it happens!!

January, February, don't you come around?

Well apparently you do, and all too bloody swiftly for my liking. All I seem to do, each time I update this thing, is berate the passing of time. Hey ho. It would seem I am that whingeing pom after all. OK, down to business. I left you with a weekend of humping on the cards. Matron. Pete and Johnno were in Melbourne for the weekend, leaving me rattling around in their palatial abode. Aaron was busy packing and refusing offers of help, so I did the next best thing and hit the supermarket to buy provisions. I was in the mood for bacon and eggs, and so that was what I had. A small mountain of bacon and eggs in fact, with tomatoes and toast for good measure. Enough for two people, but I troughed it all myself. Tonight Matthew, I'll be... mostly lardy. Aaron toyed with the idea of sleeping at mine, but piked, leaving me to fall into bed after some internet chats and telly.

Saturday was also meant to be a humping fest. Missus. However it didn't really work out like that. Aaron delayed coming to get the truck as he continued packing, cleaning and arguing with his ex. So I hung around for him to call. And waited. And waited. Getting slightly restless I ate, watched some Buffy and some of the tennis too. Aaron dropped off some stuff on two occasions but actually didn't arrive for good until gone 9pm. Bit of a wasted day in some respects, but you get that. Buffy was good. We ordered in Thai, watched Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and went to bed post midnight.

Sunday. Quick brekky. Aaron upped and offed and continued to pack. We finally humped. Vicar. Most of his stuff was finally in Pete and Johnno's gargage by 4pm. He shot off (!) to go clean his carpets and I watched the end of Series 6 of Buffy. This means that I have now watched every episode of Buffy ever made. All within the last 10 months. Fantastic!! I know there were seven series, but I watched the last one in real time last year. Sad there's no more. Sigh. After we went up to Newtown and had dinner and finally got back around 10pm. Chat to the boys then bed.

Monday onwards: not much to report. Work. No gym (though I will be back tomorrow). Podiatrist's appointment, to find out that I've got something a bit wrong with my feet which will result in me needing inserts in my shoes before I can run seriously again. Nice dinner at home with us all on Monday. Out for a cocktail and pizza last night with Aaron. BBQ at Tim and Ross's tonight. Johnno's flown up the coast to spend some time with his family as his dad was rushed to hospital on Monday night. Fingers crossed that all is OK up there.

Right then. Time to go. Oh, and the only other thing of interest is that I cashed in a policy from an old endowment policy in the UK, and transferred the money over here. I can report I'm officially currently debt free. How long it'll last is anyone's guess, but it's a nice feeling!!

And so January has almost skipped on its merry way, leaving us in wonderment as how quickly time passes these days. Or at least that's what's happened to me. Wasn't it just New Year's Eve only moments ago? Time flies when you talk in clichés. So, what's been going on? I left you over a week ago, just in time for the long weekend - made longer by me actually having Friday off too. So - Friday was the Big Day Out. And what a fantastic day it was in the end. Aaron and I took the train out to Homebush (Sydney's Olympic stadium) and met Lyndal, Aaron's sister, and some of her friends. We watched a number of bands through the day, whilst hooking up with Michael and Costa; Matt (whom we met up in Byron) and his brother and mate and Andy Palmer and crew. Highlights were: Black Eyed Peas, Peaches, the Strokes, Felix da Housecat and Basement Jaxx. Thanks to Darren for giving us a lift home (once we'd actually found the carpark...). I finally collapsed into bed at Aaron's around 3am, but woke when Aaron joined me at 4.30am. Then we were up at 7.30am as we were meant to be going househunting. Some hope!
In the end Aaron did indeed head off to look at a couple of places - then he flaked and slept. I relaxed at home with Buffy. Perfect. Saturday night ended up out to eat with Pete and Johnno in Newtown and then in bed by 10.15pm. No, really.
Sunday came in late as we slept for over 14 hours! This meant we only really had enough time to buy Rich and Russ a housewarming present and then turn up. The place was already going off. The afternoon got more and more drunken and frivoulous and everyone was heading out to either Salvation (yes, the UK club night put on in Sydney for a change) and/or Arq. We weren't going to do either and almost got persuaded. However, due to drunkenness and tiredness we eventually went to bed around midnight.
Monday was a leisurely brekky in Newtown and then Aaron went off to pack and I went home to unpack. And got lots achieved. Pete and Johnno did the sleep and get up at 4.30am to go to Arq, and didn't get home until gone 9pm - dirty stopouts! Aaron came over to sleep. Noice.
This last week has been unremarkable. Work through the days, with no return to the gym as yet. Have a podiatrist's appointment on Tuesday before I'm hopefully given the go-ahead to run again. Not sure what I'll do if not! Fingers crossed. In the evenings... not sure. Tuesday had dinner with Aaron and Lyndal in Newtown; Wednesday joined Pete for a beer and a pizza and yesterday had dinner in with Pete and Johnno. Hurrah.
Not sure what the weekend holds, but there's going to be a lot of moving again as this time it's Aaron's turn. He's not found a place suitable as yet, so he's going to put his stuff in the garage at P+J's and stay with me for a bit. Hopefully we'll get chance to do something other than humping all weekend.

Er...

I'm not sure if my comments were working or not. At least one person had commented that their comments weren't appearing (thanks Aaron!). I'm not even sure who's reading this any more - definitely time for a bit of marketing I reckon. Meantime I've refreshed the comments code with a view to them actually working and showing that Minkered mates have mused...

Bored at work. It's Thursday afternoon and I'm filling in some time before zipping off for the long weekend. Didn't get wet last night after all - went straight to the Colombian to meet up with Pete - the first time since he's been back from overseas. It was lovely to see him, and we had beers and Thai and coffee. I was home by 10pm, where I chatted to Dr Pete for 10 mins before beddybyes. Pete had had a great time in the UK - fuelled mostly by many a jaunt to the Vauxhall Tavern, and all that that entails! :o) Also thanks to Jonathon for looking after him. The upshot of all of this is that Pete now is going to try and work in the UK for a while, so it looks like I'll be selling the flat in Peckham and buying Pete out of the house here. OK Davie - it's time to get your grown up head on and get some sorting done! Oh and Pete, good to have you back and thanks for the t-shirt!

Time waits for no man apparently. Or time waits for nomads, if you're a little dyslexic. Actually if you're a wandering tribesman stuck in a dessert somewhere, herding goats or some such activity, maybe it does seem like you have more time. As for me, stuck in the biggest city down under, it seems like time has been spirited away into some strange vortex, probably not unlike the one at the end of The Adventure Game.

Now you see if I had time like I did in the olden days, the above paragraph would be peppered with tangential links to obscure kids' tv shows and goat care and vortices. Vortexes. Whatever. (Actually, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary site, both forms are correct). Now though, I struggle to even write up the bare vestiges of what's been going on Minkered... stylee. And it's frustrating as I know I can write and entertain given that little more time.

Any road up. I digress. 21 Jan and no mention really of Christmas, New Year or subsequent anythings. Things should start to return to normal as of now. I'm fully moved over to Pete and Johnno's house in Marrickville. The apartment in Brumby Street is no more. The house I've bought with Pete is under discussion and in fact tonight some progress should be made as to what happens now. The move took longer than anticipated, even with lots of help from Aaron and Dr Pete (ok, Pete and Johnno Pete will be henceforth referred to as Dr Pete, and house Pete as Pete. Unless I say Pete and Johnno in which case you can assume I mean Dr Pete (unless I stipulate otherwise)). All other Pete's will be given a qualifying adjective or surname (or initial) as required. Moving and cleaning was last weekend. Aaron helped a lot bless him. I get chance to repay him the first weekend in Feb, when we move him out of his place into an as yet undetermined abode. High points? Driving Pete and Johnno's truck. I think we might have to cruise around in that some more! Low points? The time it took, and the seemingly endless pile of sorting out I still have to do. I'm in the (lovely) room at Marrickville, but so far it's just me, the internet hooked up PC (yay!), the Olympic sized bed (mine's in storage in the garage),a chest of drawers (empty) and the bar fridge (also empty). All the rest of my wordly good and chattels are in the boys' other spare room and the garage. Waiting to be sorted out. I'll get there eventually...

Short week at work this week. Going to the Big Day Out on Friday and then Saturday will be mostly house-hunting for Aaron. Sunday is Rich and Russ's house-warming and then Monday is a public holiday, so maybe the beach. My long awaited relaunch at the gym, postponed and postponed and now long overdue since mid December, will happen next week. Sometime. Though I am walking to work from Marrickville so that's 35 minutes of brisk walking twice a day. I do however need to get my feet looked at - I'm not sure exactly what's wrong, but something ain't right and hasn't been since the City to Surf in August. Hey ho.

I've still to go through the fantastically relaxing time that was Christmas; the uproarious raucousness of NY and the subsequent fantastic pool party; a review of 2003 (how many times have I promised a yearly review in January??); hopes and aspirations for 2004; house updates etc. etc. etc.

Watch this space. I also feel a colour change coming on too - mustard and ochre are so last season. Actually I haven't changed the colour scheme for about 18 months so it's long overdue. And the corporate picture? I'm over that. Sadly I haven't got any pics on the PC at the moment with the mohawk that graced my bonce for most of the 2 weeks up the coast. Me, Rich, Cassius and Dr Pete were all mohican-ed up for the NYE party. Pics to follow. Honest guv.

Right, time to do a last bit of work before heading off. Today's been fantastically hot and now we're in for an afternoon storm. Just heard the first thunder clap. Think I might be getting wet...

When I said I'd update a bit more soon, obviously I didn't mean right now, as I'm just about to head home for a couple of days of frantic packing and moving. Things to do etc. Moving to Pete and Johnno's until the house shenanigans is sorted out. Marrickville here I come! There really will be a full update once I'm settled there - I'd have done more from work this week, but work somehow got in the way. Don't you hate that?

Well it's already 6 days old but Happy New year to everyone! I'm finally back from holidays and in work and wondering how I can give up work and holiday full time. These last 2 weeks have just been the most fantastic time - relaxing, minkering, getting on really well with Aaron, cementing friendships with the gang - brilliant. However today is back to real life and I'm not sure I like it. I'll update a bit more soon, but I'm suffering the effects of a full day's minkering yesterday and not at 100%. Quiet night with laundry, takeaway and snuggling with Aaron. Noice.

Merry Christmas everyone! I know it's been a while since I last posted, but I'm away up the coast and so not been online until now. There'll be a full update later, but suffices to say we're incredibly relaxed. Aaron and I are up in Lennox with Pete and Johnno and it's been the most fantastic Christmas. Later today we head to Ocean Shores for part two of the adventure... 10 of us in a house until after New Year. Be very afraid. Big thanks to P+J (and Sue, Pete's sister for Xmas lunch - fantastic!) for the most wonderful time and for being great hosts. More soon.

Monday afternoon and by rights I should be working. However, I’ve done quite a bit today and so I feel like I should get this up to date instead and work tomorrow as it’s already almost 5.30pm and it’s not really worth starting my monthly report (which is the only thing outstanding on my to do list). Thursday night ended up being noice – home, veg out a bit, food (well, muffins with vegemite – that counts!) and then out with Pete and Johnno for a quick coffee in the humid night air. We talked about the house and how much it would cost for renovations to make it liveable as a one bedroom place, so at least I have a better idea of how much dosh I need to get together. Friday was another normal day. No gym though. Home and shower and change and then out to meet Pete to talk houses. Had beers at the Colombian and basically got things sorted. I need to get those plans submitted to council this week! Go Davie, go. Home to meet Aaron via Hungry Jacks and that was most of the evening. We were both a bit tired as it had been hot and stormy the night before and it was the end of another long week. I had to make some phone calls about various things to the UK – Dad, Frank the financial advisor, Fenella the accountant (no, really), The Woolwich re my endowment policy, Nick in Bangkok re the apartment sale. And shock horror I did it all. And found out stuff I needed to know re filing tax claims etc. That done I joined Aaron in bed and we slept longtime :o)

Saturday morning not too early we got up and had brekky. Then after dawdling a bit we hit town to try and find some shorts for me. But failed. I really have no clue where’s good to shop for clothes in Sydney! I suppose I’d better start finding out seeing as I intend to remain living here… We had some nosh at the food court and then finally headed home. I got a haircut and then got ready to head to start the musical excesses of the weekend. First up, Duran Duran and Robbie Williams in concert. We got to the stadium around 6.20pm - in plenty of time to meet up with Rich, Russ, Rod and Terry before Simon, John, Nick etc. hit the stage. And although they were looking a little ragged (Five and the Ragged Edges?) they were great. All the classics were there and we were belting out those old familiar lyrics along with them. Apparently there’s a new album and another tour next year – I’ll be there. Robbie was also good – I’m not as big a fan of his as I was a Durannie, but he was nevertheless the consummate entertainer. We left there happy at almost 11pm and walked home. I then hung around for Aaron before we hit Bad Dog and partied on (dude). Again it was a fun party, though noticeably quieter than the last one. There was an extra few dollars on the ticket price for a live band, which may have frightened a few people off, and of course Robbie too. Anyways we were soon in full swing. The music was great and it was only the live band that stopped the flow around 3am. Sadly the live experiment wasn’t a huge success. The Presets were OK, but I think the break caused a few people to reassess their evenings and too many people left. When the music got back into full swing the crowd was much more sparse and there was only just enough people to make a party quorum. Still we danced on undeterred until around 5.20am when we nipped home; rejigged and were back out again to the Phoenix to meet up with Pete and Tony (Johnno having decided not to kick on). However the Phoenix was also quiet and so we hit Arq. Which was surprisingly good! So good that we didn’t leave there until 11am. Pete was also there having some fun and it was nice to see him out and about having fun like we used to.

On arriving home we decided not to sleep. We showered and then hit Aaron’s before deciding vodka was the way forward. We hit the Bank Hotel and also had some food, which ended up being a bit of a mistake as then we felt sleepy. We got provisions and headed back to mine with the intention of watching DVDs, but after about 15 minutes we had to retire to bed. We slept until P+J phoned to ask us to have fish and chips on the beach at Bondi. What a great offer! So we did – along with Cassius, who’ll also be up the coast with us. We ate and drank champagne as the sun set. Marvellous. Home to bed.

Today has been work. A bit tired to say the least, but not too foul. Pete’s headed off round the world tonight so I’m going to try and get as much house stuff organised whilst he’s away. Only 4 more working days and then I’m off until 6 January. Have you any idea how excited I am? I’ve not had a beach holiday since September 1999… bring it on! Also, it’s going be to great fun spending the first week with Aaron, Pete and Johnno, and then the second week with Rich and Russ etc. in the original house we booked. We’ve got our NYE party tickets for Tropical Fruits and seemingly half of Sydney is going to be up there. I’ll post a full itinerary soon! Meantime – it’s time for this one to head for the hills.

OK. I started an update last Friday – the 5th – but seem to have failed to finish it. Let’s put that to rights shall we? This reads on from the last entry at the end of November. Who made it halfway through December already?

Friday afternoon, over a week since the last blog entry. And I'd been doing so well too... oh well. Here goes nothing. Thursday night I ended up doing nothing as I was really tired. Pete was to-ing and fro-ing with Rich and Russ to the new apartment and so I went grocery shopping and came back and ate and then it was too late and... blah. Friday was work and a half-hearted gym workout. Friday night was drinks at Peter the vet's for Gary's birthday and then out to Saigon Bay for thai food. Fun. To Bears briefly at the Oxford but it wasn't too much fun. Pete was drunk and had a bit of a go at me for not meeting up the previous evening - turned out to be a bit of a misunderstaning but... bah. Grr. Home with Aaron and sleep. Saturday we slept in a bit and then had healthy breakfast - Weetbix, banana, yoghurt and then toast and coffee. Woohoo. Healthy is good. And then we probably did some other stuff. Not sure what! Hold on Davie.. think. Ah yes, nipped to see Rich and Russ in their new place with all the furniture in (looks great!) and then it was on to Murray's birthday drinks about 4pm. Lots of people there and it turned out to be quite a lot of fun. So much so that I can’t remember what we did later. Doh! Sunday was more healthy breakfasts and then a picnic down in the Botanic Gardens with Pete, Johnno and Michael. Dave joined us a bit later. It was nice to do something a bit different! This however lead to more drinks at the Colombian and hanging around to see what the official opening of Taylor Square held. Not much to be honest. But the furore of the whole thing ended up with us at Arq. Not a good idea with work the next day…

Monday and December dawns. I remember feeling fairly ordinary at work and not going to the gym – beyond that? Your guess is as good as mine. Ditto Tuesday. Wednesday I had the gym trainer and came over all queer (insert joke here). That night me and Aaron headed over to Pete and Johnno’s for pizza and Terminator 3 on DVD. Cool! After feeling strange the day before I skipped gym on Thursday too. That night I met up with Pete at the Colombian to talk houses. Well it was the opposite of ‘It’s all good’. Bit of a disaster really. For various reasons Pete has decided he doesn’t want to renovate the house any more. Great. The conversation talked around it for a while before finally ending with that. In trying to sort out a time to talk more I got a bit frustrated and left. Not the happiest of bunnies, that’s for sure. However, at this point there’s not a great deal I can do… If it’s Friday morning it must be time to see the dental hygienist. And so I did. And then basically got told that one of my wisdom teeth has to come out early next year. So I decided to bite the bullet (as it were) and find out about getting braces on my teeth. Watch this space. I may be up for a cameo in a James Bond movie yet. Friday night stayed in with Aaron and watched Lord of the Rings: Two Towers on DVD. Well the first half anyway. Bed. Saturday met Gary and his Peter for breakfast to talk sensibly about the house options. That done I got my hair cut and abluted and tidied and so on. Went into town to try and Xmas shop but was having none of it when I got down there. Headed back to the apartment and vegged. Aaron came over and cooked. We watched the remained or LOTR and fell to bed. Sunday was nice brekky then went our separate ways to sort things out. Next was brekky #2 with Pete and Johnno at a café near the new house. Then we hit Wayne and Andrew’s for their renovation drinks and then on to Bar Cleveland for Allan’s birthday bash. This with Rich and Russ by this point. Then it kind of became a free for all and suddenly we were drunk; we’d had dinner at a lebanese place with little Daryl; we’d been to the Colombian to carry on the shenanigans and suddenly we were at Arq. Again. How did that happen two Sundays in a row? Home at 4.30am and Aaron was up at 6.30am for work. Great. I dozed another 2 hours then fell in to work myself. Not big or clever. Except for the fact that one of our major systems had thrown a fit over the weekend and had broken. Woohoo! Less to do. Monday night was home and something trashy on telly – Pitch Black. Tuesday was home to meet real estate agent to talk house prices then shopping then home. Something else trashy on telly. No gym either day :o( Yesterday I did work out with the trainer and had much more energy than last week, so that was something. Ended up over at Rich and Russ’s with Aaron for dinner – impromptu BBQ. Noice. Too much wine though and then a bit of a chat with Aaron as he dropped me home. Commitment time. Or not. I’ve got so much going on in my head re the house I’ve no energy to spend on thinking about anything else right now. I’m happy for things to continue as they are at the moment… it’s fun and Aaron’s lovely. Let’s take things slowly…
Anyway, I slept badly and ended up in work not particularly early, so no gym today. Working out what to do with the evening. I need to speak to Pete some more, and catch up with Pete and Johnno – all house related, and I’m trying to work out if I can buy Pete out, which will involve selling my house in the UK and getting all my assets over here. It’s all a bit grown up really and requires effort and no procrastination – neither of which are my forte. We’ll see…

It’s 4.15pm Thursday. Time for a cuppa. Tonight will involve ringing of UK type people and sorting out Xmas pressies. Beyond that… who can say?

Time for a very quick minker. A quinker, indeed. So far, week has been as hoped - nothing Monday night. No gym Tuesday as on a very interesting course to do with Qantas' management of future incidents. Basically I've volunteered to help out if (god forbid) there were to be a Qantas crash, or another incident like Bali where Qantas helped out. I'm on the team that organises the team of Qantas volunteers. Still with me? Good. Interesting stuff. Hopefully all we'll actually get to do is some trial runs...
Tuesday night was a very quick drink with Gary for his birthday and then Aaron joined me at the Colombian before we'd had enough and went and vegged out. Yesterday was more of the same, though we did get the home phone reconnected so I can email, blog and chat with overseas mates again. Woohoo! Peter the gym trainer (yes, another Peter) made me do shoulders and legs, and advised me that I might have trouble walking today (leave it...!). Well earlier was OK, but I can now feel everything tightening up (leave that alone too!). Not sure what tonight will bring - hoping to catch up with Pete (house Pete). Right, almost 6pm - time to leave work. Yay!!

Monday afternoon - and a quick update before I head off home. Had a pretty good weekend though of course I'm a bit tired now. Will I ever learn? (And just in case anyone actually thinks about replying to that last question, it was rhetorical. Thanks.)
Thursday evening was as described - think I had eggs, toast and tea. Marvellous. Out to meet Robert at Newtown and we had a chinwag and a couple of beers before Aaron arrived. After food for Aaron we retired back to Brumby St and had 'the chat'. Aaron had said it was all good, and all he really wanted to say was that he wants us to make a real go of things. He was holding back a bit as he's only fairly recently out of a relationship and he was planning a bit of single life, but the best laid plans... So I guess it's official. Yay! :o)
Friday was work and gym and home. Aaron came over and we headed out to Dave's birthday drinks in Woolloomooloo. It was miserable weather - all cold and rainy (and in fact was over all weekend and still is!). Drinks were low key and we were a bit tired so we ended up home and in bed before midnight. I must buy Dave a birthday present...
Saturday was a slight sleep in and then I went to the house to meet Pete. No further discussions of what's happening as we just cleaned the place ready for Pete to move in there short term this weekend. Hopefully after that he can stay at my place whilst Kerry's away for Christmas and hopefully after that we should have plans approved and work can start. Watch this space... I don't think we've heard the last of this yet. It was good to see Pete in a good mood though. We were done by late lunch and so went and ate before I headed down into town to fix my watch which broke on Thursday night. That done I bought a new phone which is something I've been meaning to do for ages, so that's fun and funky. I've not shopped for anything really for ages so that was actually good to do to. Next project - clothes...
Back home and after food it was time for Allan and Brendan's 40th birthday bash. They'd hired a big ship - the HMAS Vampire down in Darling Harbour. Great venue, but a couple of slight hitches. Firstly and the biggest problem - the wind and rain. It was such a shame - it still ended up being a great night but would have been better had we not had to huddle round each other keeping warm. Secondly, the rugby world cup final. Actually that wasn't a big issue though we could hear all the cheering from the bars dotted around the harbour, and it made travel a little more interesting. From the party it was time to hit the Colombian to meet Aaron, with the intention of going to the Imperial for a change. However suddenly we were in the Phoenix with Russ and a few of the usual gang and the rest is history - Arq; meeting up with Pete and Johnno; stumbling home at 9am. Doh. Fun though.
We had tea and decided not to sleep so just kept ourselves amused a while :o) Then we did actually kip for about an hour before getting ready and hitting Michae and Costa's place for lunch. We managed to eat too, remarkably! It was nice to catch up with them and their mad mates... hopefully we'll do it more. Then Aaron was heading off to watch some live bands but I couldn't cut it. Too in need of a veg out. So I did, with some documentary about Michael Jackson followed by The Grinch. Good for doing nothing to. Aaron popped back over and bed at 10.30pm. Slept like babies.
Today's just been work. No gym - too tired and it's still rainy and miserable. Grrr. A quiet week this week. Please. Very quick drink tomorrow with Gary as it's his birthday and then a few of us are having a meal on Friday for further celebration. Saturday is a birthday/house-warming thing for Murray in the afternoon. I'm hoping the rest of the nights this week remain free!

Thursday arvo and about an hour until home time. Been naughty and ditched the gym in favour of going home early for a change. Haven't been out for lunch even (chilli chicken rolls are delivered in on a Thursday) so will be well gone by 5pm. Not too much to report since last post... or actually there is. Ended up at a local art exhibition last night after work with Tony - nice to catch up with him and Adam that runs the shop, and a couple of free glasses of wine to boot. Thence to somewhere else for dinner with Tony - and I don't even know the name of the place! My risotto was nice though. Meantime I took a call from Pete who's not in the best of frames of mind re the house. I've a suspicion that he might want to put it back on the market - and if he does I can't afford to buy him out and so that's that. We'll see. He wants to move in short term so we're doing some cleaning this weekend. Chance to chat I think - hopefully he'll come round. It'll be a real wasted opportunity if we end up getting rid of it. Home to a slightly weird chat with Aaron on the phone. He wants to 'talk' tonight, though assures me it's all good. We'll see later I suppose. So that kind of took the wind out of my sails last night. Hey skanky ho.
Into work early as mentioned, and at our weekly meeting it was announced that my promotion had finally been made official. So I'm now a Senior Flight Analyst... which means bugger all really. I get a bit more pay but lose my rostered days off (essentially a flex day a month) so that's a bit of a bummer. Whatever. I guess I don't have to do a great deal more work-wise except mentor new starters (which I've already done) and do some systems development and so on (which I'm already doing) so business as usual then.
Tonight will be cheap food at home, then drinks with Robert in Newtown for a catch up before he heads to Blighty for a couple of weeks. After that I'll find out just what Aaron's got to say...

Wednesday arvo and I'm buggered. Missus. Just back from an hour with the psycho trainer at the gym. Today's torture? Cardio. So after a total of 57 minutes of treadmill; rowing and crosstrainer, with running up and down 4 flights of stairs 5 times as a little 'break' twixt treadmill and rowing you might not be so surprised I'm so bushed. An hour and a half to kill before hometime... whatever can I do? Actually I've been very productive today - I did all my normal work and then updated my special eventing so I'm completely caught up with everything. Well that's at least one aspect of my life that's under control then. Stayed in last night waiting for the architect to call for me to go and collect the final version of the plans for council before Rich buggered off on holiday for 2 weeks. Slightly dismayed then when, by 9pm, I rang to find he's left them for me to pick up at his work instead. Which is miles away and very inconvenient if you haven't got a car. And he's not done a couple of things I think we might need for submission and so I don't even know if we'll get this in before December. Bugger x3. So I ate and watched trashy telly and rang Aaron. Then I rang my Dad - I mentioned almost as a throwaway at the end of the last post that it was four years yesterday since Mum died. Dad seemed OK. A family friend was taking him up to the crematorium where there's a memorial to Mum and then they were going out for lunch afterwards. That'll be perfect for Dad. It still feels weird sometimes that's Mum's not around - but probably more so for me given the frequency that I dream about her. We weren't ever particularly close - as a family we've always been closer amongst siblings than the parent-child bond, but I do seem to dream about Mum with frightening regularity. Nothing bad particularly, she's just there. Mind you, my dreams are generally rooted in the past than in either the now or the future. Oftentimes there are people from school - most of whom I've not seen nor even heard about since 1983. Sometimes people from Uni - and I left there some 15 years ago. Weird. I'm sure some psychoanalysts would have a field day about something I've repressed from my childhood years but I'm buggered if I can remember anything. And no, it most definitely wasn't that!!

Weekend hung out for, done, dusted and more than ready for the next one! Friday ended up being a quiet one in with Aaron at my place. I cooked pasta and veggies and we had wine and vegged out in front of X-Men which was on telly. Yay.
Saturday was a leisurely morning followed by a stroll up to meet Rich and Russ at the Milk Bar for something to eat. It was a glorious day and so as if by magic we ended up at the beach. R'n'R, Pete and Johnno and me and Aaron. La Perouse - fun. First beach day in ages, and I'd forgotten how nice it is. Though it's still spring and the water was freezing! Headed back with Pete and Johnno and did coffee and cake at the Grumpy Baker. Noice. We then all ran round like mad things and suddenly we were having pizza in Newtown at Wedgetail. Rich and Russ didn't join us in the end though... and then we went to see Kill Bill Vol.1. Well... lots of people had told me it was great so I was quite looking forward to it. And it delivered. I really enjoyed it. Sure it's violent, but to the point where it's like Itchy and Scratchy on the Simpsons. You become immured from it. It actually takes on a cartoon like quality (and not just the section of the movie that actually becomes a cartoon). Uma is great - she really does (literally!) kick ass. Am ready for the next instalment already, but we have to wait until February. Grrr. From there it was briefly to the Colombian and then down to the Phoenix. Have to say it was disappointing. Fun to head down with Pete, Johnno and Aaron, but it didn't really do it for any of us. The crowd was a bit strange and the music was dire. No good. P+J headed up to Arq but we decided to stay a little longer as some of Aaron's mates were there. We ended up back at Warren's, chilling instead. Home by 6am...
and up at noon-ish. Tea and music and dozing. Met P+J at the Chocolate Dog in Newtown as I had the biggest hankering for sweet potato pancakes with bacon and sweet chilli sauce. Noice. Then it suddenly became the middle of winter again - cold and almost rainy - so Aaron and I retired back to Brumby St and watched Donnie Darko on DVD. Cool film. We were going to then chill, but Pete called and I ended up down the Shift with him for a beer. A few others there - Mark, Stephen initially and later Pete and Johnno and Tony. Fun but a bit later than necessary given the weekend's other activities. Bed after 11pm.
Monday - work. No gym as tired. Decided we'd go to the Here and Now concert at the Entertainment Centre. Consisiting of a 'not to be missed' 80s line up I'd been debating for ages whether to go and just thought 'sod it'! It was fun! We met Gary and Peter for a beer and Hungry Jack's before and missed the two Aussie bands - 1927 and Mondo Rock. We were nicely in place however for Go West and Belinda Carlisle and they did pretty good renditions of their classics. Next up Paul Young. Oh dear. He tried hard but bless him his voice is shot. Completely. We had beer instead and got ready for the two headline acts. First up - Kim Wilde. She was great. She looked good and looked like she was having a blast! Fun performance that really got the crowd dancing and singing. The 10 minute break before the Human League really split the whole gig into two parts and the last set was very much a Human League mini-gig whereas the rest had been a kind of 'best of' reminisce. The Human League were great though less sing-a-long than Kim. However for those afficionados amongst us it was great. We got Hard Times/Love Action; Open your heart; The Lebanon; Human; Mirror Man; (Keep feeling) Fascination; Tell me when and Don't you want me. Fantastic. They hinted they might tour separately next year in Oz. Bring it on! Beer with Gary afterwards and then home. Late. Tired now.
Tuesday. Work. No gym again as I couldn't get out of bed today. Aaron left at 6.45am and I slept on until gone 8am. Hoping for a quiet rest of week. Have to phone Dad later - it's four years today that my Mum died.

Hanging out for the weekend...

Robert's book launch last Thursday was interesting. Nice to see Murray as always, and of course Robert himself. Probably the only place I'll ever hear a lesbian reading out loud a book passage about gay men and fisting. But you get that... Aaron accompanied me and we ran a bit late meeting Gary and Pete L for drinks at the Colombian. Food and home. Friday was work and a half day. The afternoon was spent at council and the with Johnno for coffee and chats, bless him. Hit the supermarket and then Aaron came over and we watched a made for telly movie version of one of my favourite books as a child - A Wrinkle in Time. It wasn't half bad actually and weird that so much of it is still indelibly imprinted on my brain after some 30 or so years...
Saturday morning was lazy and then brekky with Rich and Russ. I then did coffee with Dave in Potts Point and Dr Pete and Johnno joined us there. Aaron came over too and he and I then went to some mates of his for a birthday drinks bash. Michael and Costas seem very nice, and weirdly they live in the Tewkesbury Apartments - where I first lived when I moved to Sydney in August 1998. Strange to be there again. Well the drink was flowing and soon we were a little tipsy. With every intention of hitting the Phoenix later, Aaron and I went and had Vietnamese, then hit my place to chill. Which involved playing lots of trashy music and then, without really realising it, crashing out. Probably for the best. Sunday morning was brekky with Aaron in Darlinghurst and then we hit town for shopping. Ended up at the Tilbury to meet Dr Pete and Johnno, which was odd. Not really our sort of place, but always nice to see the boys. Finally home, Aaron ate and then bed. I was feeling full of cold, which crept up on me after crashing out. A bit bizarre, but quite full on. Haven't been that sniffly for ages.
Monday - work. Catch up with Pete at the Trinity to hear his news. Tuesday work and then over to Gary's for pasta and Finding Nemo on his new plasma screen TV. Noice. Wednesday work, gym, Aaron. Dinner - chinese in Newtown. Snuggle. Sleep. Yesterday work - awful day at work. Lots of messy bits. Not happy. Met Pete to talk housey housey and then Aaron came and sped me to Newtown. We met Dr Pete and Johnno and went for more Vietnamese. Lots of fun.
today - Friday. Work. Not done a great deal. Nixed the gym. Ready for home. Soon. Not sure what the weekend holds. Definite catch up with Rich the architect and Pete at some point. Maybe Phoenix with Dr P+J. Brekky with R'n'R again? Who can say?

Having a great time getting to know Aaron. He's cute, fun, sexy... you get the picture. We seem to get on well, can laugh at stuff and talk about all sorts of rubbish. I'd forgotten how nice that can all be when it's more than just with a mate. More please :o)

Thursday again. Another week passes. Dave fails to remember what's been going on. Again. Probably. I can't remember what happened last Thursday night. I know I should, but I can't. Maybe I had an early night. Maybe I didn't. Aha! Let me check tonight's telly guide and see if that rings any bells for last week. Bear with me a second...OK. I was somewhere out coz I know I missed Kath and Kim. But can I remember where? Can I bollocks. One last hope - lemme check sent emails last Friday. It's a long shot but it just might work. Yay! OK, Out with Pete for a couple of beers as he needed distraction. Aaron joined us as we hit the dodgy pizza place and we pigged out. Then home to bed. With a mosquito. Not the nicest of threesomes let me tell you...
Friday was work and gym and home. Out with Aaron and Pete and Johnno for pizza on Crown St and then for beers. Colombian and then Oxford. Then home and not too late to bed. Dozed in with Aaron Saturday morning before hitting the local cafe for bacon and egg roll. Yum. Aaron tootled off, I got my hair cut and then hooked up with Pete. We kind of mooched, waiting for Rich the architect to call and go through plans. He finally called to say it would be much later, so we kind of just meandered. Pete's not been in the best of humours and eventually his mood rubbed off on me and I had this feeling of impending doom. We ended up in Newtown shopping for clothes (he bought, I didn't in the end) and then suddenly there was a million things to do in about 4 minutes. Aaron kindly drove me over to Rich and Russ's to pick something up to take to Pete and Johnno's. From there to Aaron's; then mine; then out to the Bent magazine anniversary party thing where Aaron's ex was playing. The performance was actually pretty good, though the singers let the songs down a bit. Still fun though. From there it was off to Bad Dog - arranging to meet all and sundry there. And so we did :o) It was fun, as ever, though I felt the music to be a bit disappointing this time round. Didn't stop us having a blast though - Johnno and Pete seemed to enjoy it and we spent most of the time with them, Tony and Dave. J+P adjourned to Arq around 5am but we decided not to go - it's just wrong after a Bad Dog... from attitude free, fun, alternative music to shiny, smooth men with their heads up their arses? I don't think so! We adjourned to Aaron's and then to Fred's, with Dave and Michael. We then had to go and pick up the house plans at 9.30am having had no sleep and still in party mode. Fun! I think. Back to Fred's where we watched Spirited Away on DVD. Lovely. Finally to Aaron's around 2.30pm and sleep. Up around 6pm for updates all round then ordered turkish pizza, chatted and were asleep again by 10pm. Marvellous!
So as you can imgine, work wasn't the best on Monday morning. But I survived. Left a bit early to meet Johnno and his Pete at the house so they could repair next door's damage. Pete came to look at the plans that night and was kind of non-committal which is slightly concerning. We need to sort that out! I had a very early night that night.
Tuesday was work over at NGI all day, which wasn't too bad. Gym in the middle of it. It was also Melbourne Cup day (Grand National equivalent) but I couldn't be bothered to bet. Had to meet Johnno at the house again and then adjourned to the supermarket. Aaron came over and we had a lamb roast and watched telly. Noice. Yesterday was psycho trainer at lunch and then home and a lazy time. Cooked and watched telly and was in bed and asleep around 9.20pm. Rock 'n' roll! Slept through until gone 7am this morning.
Today's been work; gym and I'm about to try and do some phoning to work out if we can get our house plans submitted and sped through council. Wish me luck. Heading off to a book launch later and then a couple of beers with Gary. Half day tomorrow. Woohoo!

So I left you last Friday with a somewhat cryptic reference to my lunchtime activities and the promise of a nice evening in store with Robert. All will be revealed…
Dinner with Robert was indeed lovely. We had Thai in Newtown and chatted about life, love, etc. We left with the promise to continue to get to know one another by email (which is ongoing) and Robert’s kindly invited me to his book launch next week. Saturday was meant to be house stuff, but in the end I just met up with Pete for brekky and we got back on an even keel after me messing him around last week. We had a brief visit from Johnno and Pete at the house and took them for coffee (actually they paid, bless ‘em) before heading over to Pete Lindhe’s house auction. Sadly all didn’t go to plan and it got passed in (which means it didn’t reach its reserve price for those readers from overseas). We commiserated with Phil and Graham (note correct new spelling) and a glass of wine before adjourning to the Colombian to have a bit more of a catch up over vodka and cranberry. I nipped home for a bit of a rest before heading out to Govindas to meet up with Dave and watch Pirates of the Caribbean – Curse of the Black Pearl and Contender for the Longest Film Title of the Year. It was bizarrely almost a year to the day since Dave and I had been on a date there (see October 2002 archives if you’re that interested) and nice that we’ve progressed into being such good friends. The movie was actually really quite a rollicking spectacle and if you happen to have read that Johnny Depp has based his character on Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones it becomes even more enjoyable. Dave headed off home and I checked the phone for developments. Aaron was headed to the Phoenix post Prince and Pete was keen to head out. Sounds like the perfect combination. So verily there we all were, having a rare old time. The music wasn’t the best, and neither was Pete’s mood and so we hit the Shift to try and get a bit more accessible music. That failed and so to Arq. That was a bit better and there were some other people there that we knew. Knowing Pete would be OK Aaron and I made our excuses…
Again we had a really good time together, and as if by magic it was Sunday early evening – how did that happen? I guess it’s testament to how well we’re getting on. We headed over to Newtown to get some food and I finally headed towards home around 7.30pm. Something else happened then… what the hell was it? Ah yes. Everyone else had spent the day at Toy Box, a dance party through the day. In fact the boys had called offering me a ticket that morning, but I’d chosen to stay in bed with Aaron (der - tricky choice that one…!) So I headed to the Shift and soon the gang was all there. In fact loads of people turned up, including Johnno and Pete. Fun, fun, fun. Into the early hours. In fact so early were the hours that me and Pete decided not to sleep and head to Arq and then go straight to work. And so it came to pass…
Work on Monday was not good. No gym as I could hardly keep awake, and in fact I almost fell asleep at my desk in the afternoon a couple of times. Not a good look. Home and fell alseep on the sofa, woke up long enough to eat half an avocado and watch Queer Eye and then coma time.
Tuesday – work, no gym. Aaron came over Tuesday night for a cup of tea. And left Wednesday morning :o) He’s a sweetie, and really is as cute as I remembered him. I think we might be spending quite a bit more time together…
Psycho trainer yesterday nearly killed me. Evil. Home to veg until I got an impromptu call from Johnno and Pete offering dinner. Yay! And so I did. Johnno came to pick me up, and in doing so let the cat out of the bag as to what had happened Friday lunchtime last week! Doh. Be sure your sins will find you out. I felt a bit bad but it seems all is well. Aaron’s aware too, so as we’ve all being saying, no one’s been hurt on we all get on with being mates. Big time. I’m excited about what’s been happening lately. I’ve said for a while it seemed like I’ve been on the verge of something great. It feels like it might be finally here…

Well it would seem that of late that Friday arvo is update Minkered... time. Well I guess that's probably coz I now have no internet link at home for the moment and it's doing my head in!! I left you this time last week - what has happened since? Well actually quite a lot...

Friday night - stayed in I think. Oh, I know - Pete and I tried to thrash out one final iteration of plans to give to the architect. However we hit a bit of a stalemate at 10pm and so Pete went home and I went to bed. Had originally planned to meet Johnno (builder) and his partner Pete for beers but I was too stuffed (as they so quaintly put it here).
Saturday - met Pete at the house post early brekky and haircut for me. We then actually hit Newtown and talked through our ideas with Rich and got everything resolved. Now all he has to do is draw them... Walked back and did some work on the house before calling it a day. I ended up at Gary's for dinner with his Pete (everyone's got one you know, they're the latest thing) and Phil and Graeme. Although I knew of P and G I'd never really met them in a social setting before, and they turned out to be lots of fun, and the meal was lovely. Phil reminds me of Jonathon - they have the exact same voice. Weird. We ended up watching the Best of Graham Norton on DVD which was actually much, much funnier than I expected. I was then mean to be meeting the builders again for a beer, but took a call from Rich of Rich and Russ... and suddenly I was heading to their place to get a lift to Sin Bin. A small dance party at a seafood restaurant (I kid you not) called the Grotto Capri. I'd heard lots about the freaky venue and so I couldn't say no - plus half the Bad Dog crowd were going to be there. And so it came to pass. There we all were, getting into it when I noticed Aaron - a cute guy I'd met briefly a couple of times before. On scanning the crowd for his boyf, he was noticeable by his absence and suddenly Aaron and I were chatting. And he's split up from his partner. And.. well you can guess the rest. The party was lots of fun - nice people, great music and lots of flirting and snogging. Fantastic. One weird thing was the fact that the Grotto Capri is kind of set in faux caves - stalactites and the like... and I just kept waiting for Muppets and the whole kind of Fraggle Rock thing to happen. It didn't but...
Aaron drove us home at 6am, and we spent the next 7 hours getting to know one another a little better... and it was great - relaxed, comfortable, sexy. Noice, as Kath and Kim would say. Finally guilt got the better of me as I was meant to have been at the house working from around 9.30am. Oops. Pete had gone however as he was over it. Oops again. Sorry mate. I then regrouped and had coffee with Dave before realising we'd all been invited to a house warming party and so off we went. Fun. One of the guys who was in the show at Sleaze was one of the house mates and sure enough we ended up knowing enough people to make it a bit of a laugh. Adjourned to the Colombian with Tony for a couple more beers, hit the Shift to see if Pete were there (he wasn't) then home to bed. Great weekend!!
Monday - gave myself the day off gym as I was tired (wonder why?). Work then home and then managed to hit the supermarket and come home and cook something noice whilst watching trashy telly. Also worked out with Kerry that I'll stay a little longer in Brumby Street until I know a bit more definitely when Pete and I can move into our new place.
Tuesday - work; gym with psycho trainer; home and out to Newtown for dinner with Aaron. Lovely. Both him and dinner. I realised early on that he was really nervous about the date which was really sweet. Bless him. Spent a bit more time getting to know each other before Aaron kindly drove me home...
Wed - work; no gym as I renewed my driving licence; home. More cooking and trashy telly - Jamie Oliver; the Simpsons; Kylie Kwong (who I have to say is leaving me cold) and then Queer Eye meets Oprah. Has my life come to this? This week it has, yes.
Thursday - work; no gym as a trip into the city in the arvo to visit our groups department. Dragged on a bit long so supermarket and home as I was to entertain Aaron at my place. Had a great dinner and again spent some time getting to know one another. So far so good - he's seeming lovely, sexy and fun - which is a great start. The scary connection came out last night too - we got on to birthdays (which weirdly hadn't come up until then). It finally transpired that we're both Aries... and then that his birthday is the day after mine! For those of you that know the sort of bond I have with Stevie P (same day as me) and Richie Bean (who shares Aaron's birthday on 2nd April) you'll realise that this will either be spectacular or could well end in tears!! Actually I think Aaron and I are destined for some fun... he finally left in the early hours so I could sleep.
Today - well there's a thing. Work. No gym because... because well I'll tell you on the next update. No really. Meantime it's now just gone 6pm and I'm off home. Out for coffee with the lovely Robert a bit later and then that's it. Hopefully catch up with Pete and some house stuff as rightly so Pete's been a bit pissed off that I let him down again last weekend. I've apologised, but I've plenty more grovelling to go before I'm off the hook. However it was so nice snuggled up with Aaron I just couldn't force my lazy arse out of bed...
May well hook up with him over the weekend. Just to make sure he's still cute... :o)

Aaaaaaaaaaaagh. Too much going on. Again. But that's good, no? Er, no. Stop!

OK. Last Friday ended up being day from hell and I think I had an early night as I was over the whole day - I realise I'd forgotten my gym kit so couldn't work out. Hate that. Didn't catch up with Carlo either. :o(
Saturday Pete and I worked on the redesign of the house after a trip to IKEA. I then went out for a beer with Rich and then the Phoenix where I chatted to the lovely Robert until we hit the Shift until I was so drunk I just had to go home. Probably best at 6am.
Sunday I was a waste of space until mid afternoon. In bed with Buffy til then. House post then, but did nothing.
This week has been mostly work. And gym. And flirting by SMS with the lovely builder. And realising that I didn't pay the bill for the phone. Or the internet. Doh. I met up with Rich the architect last night to get final go on the plans and so tonight Pete and I do one final iteration before handing them back to be drawn. Oh, and the gas got connected at the new house today, you'll be pleased to know.
That's it. Dull but I'm on the way home. It's Friday night!

Why oh why isn't it later in the day? It's not even 11am and I'm over today. Wednesday night I hit Rich and Russ's oh so briefly to wish Adrian a belated happy birthday. Then it was off to the Green Park with Pete as he'd had a bit of a run in with Crusty. Managed to cheer him up by the time we had food on Oxford Street. Home. Yesterday was just work, no gym (we had a leaving lunch) and home. Kath and Kim on the telly. Food. Bed. Today is dull, but I do have my maniac of a new trainer at 1.30pm. I'm counting on not being able to move easily afterwards! May catch up with Carlo later, not sure. Going to have the quietest of weekends... We've put a halt on the house stuff until we get what we have done so far checked out by a certifier. Just to be on the safe side. I have so much life admin to do it's not funny. Me, procrastinate? I'll tell you tomorrow...

Well well well. What shenanigans this weekend gone. Some of the most fantastic fun you ever did see. And then some more. I left you some days ago. In fact it’s now a week ago. Ay caramba.

We did the Sleaze rehearsal last week and I just seem to remember it went on longer than we’d planned. I think we ended up at Arthur’s Pizza which was good and then home to bed. Thursday was work and gym and who knows what in the evening. I’m assuming at some point I did stay in! The gym session on Thursday was with a different trainer and I know it almost killed me! Friday was more gym and more work but I was just really counting down the time to the weekend. Finally it was time to go (skanky ho) and no doubt I did something riveting that evening. I think me and Pete had pizza actually. After house discussions and the like. Saturday dawned and we hit the house in time for Rich the plan man to come over and show us what he’d done so far. So we discussed and cogitated and in the end it was time for me to hit final rehearsal. Which went on longer than planned so I hit Oxford Street to buy Shift recovery tickets and get my haircut. I was successful on one front at least… the hair had to wait! Food at Foodgame and then home to have a brief kip before the weekend’s frivolities commenced. Got to Rich and Russ’s around 9.30pm and we had drink and haircuts and dress ups and finally we were ready to go.
Sleaze: well – what a fantastic party! We got there and did the tour – it was actually fairly busy for so early which was an encouraging sign. Found a meeting place and went and gave Johnno and Pete (builder and partner) the tour. We then ended up back at the RHI and danced there until after the first show, which was pretty spectacular it has to be said. Thence to Studio 11 for our show. We hung around for about half an hour all up and then on we went. It was a kind of ritualistic light S&M show with two leather masters, some slaves and some guards (of which I was one). It all went off pretty much according to plan, and the venue was packed! Fantastic fun. And of course once it was over we could focus on the matter in hand, which was enjoying the actual party. And the longer it went on the more fantastic it got. I spent most of the time in the RHI dancing with Pete, Rich and Russ and the lovely Johnno and Pete. Great music, great shows, great company. All too soon it was 8am and the final show was over – how did that happen? We meandered slowly back to Rich and Russ’s where it was showers all round and a general regroup.
DayShift: down to the Shift which sadly wasn’t the best organised thing. We ended up waiting downstairs for three quarters of an hour as upstairs had been oversold. Once in though, it was great. Pete took a turn for the worst around 12.30pm so I took him home before returning. Russ left, then Rich and finally I stumbled out of there around 4pm. Back to R’n’R’s for a very brief kip then we got up and forced some food down before getting ready for Indulgence. Pete and I ran down to the Shift around 10.30pm, bought tickets and then came back to get ready again before finally heading down there just after midnight.
Indulgence: does the word revelation mean anything to you, dear reader? Previous Indulgence parties have been fun but nothing spectacular – generally a sexy crowd but with music that’s a bit too hard to get your head around. Well maybe someone had been listening to the crowd, but whatever the reason, the music was fantastic. Just the heavy side of accessible it hit all the right buttons and the place went off. The crowd was great – lots of our friends there. Finally saw a little of Dave having hardly seen him all weekend! Oh, and verily another six hours passed most pleasurably. Most, most pleasurably. Had the odd snog as a bit of a bonus and then we headed back again to Rich and Russ’s for the last regroup before the final onslaught…
Arq: and yet more fun ensued. The music was great and the crowd a laugh. I overdid things a little and had to be propped up by Rich for a wee while, but all’s well that ends well! Thanks mate – I love you lots! We did venture back to the apartment when upstairs at Arq closed, but not for that long and soon we were back downstairs dancing like maniacs. We finally called it a weekend around 4pm. What a fantastic time. Thanks go out to Pete, Rich and Russ and Johnno and Pete. Looking forward to getting to know those two boys a bit more. Or maybe a lot more…

Home. Chocolate. Sleep. Beans on toast. More sleep. Work yesterday dragged. Over to Rich and Russ’s for dinner which was great. Bed. Work today. Gym. And now I’ve had enough. Ready for home time. Which will be soon I guess. I’m having flirty text message banter with Johnno the builder and I’d forgotten how much fun that can be :o)

More news as it happens, but all in all – one of the best weekends I can remember!!

Happy half-birthday to me
Happy half-birthday to me
Happy half-birthday dear Davieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Happy half-birthday to me.

Yes, I'm 38½ today. That's old.

Update on the week so far. Monday night - house stuff. Tuesday - house stuff and then the Sleaze show rehearsal. Today has been work and gym another Sleaze show rehearsal. Anyone see a pattern?

Yeah verily it came to pass that Dave blogged intermittently. I’ve got lots to do! I’m doing things! I’m going to have to make this brief-ish as I can’t remember what’s been happening (I think I’m turning into a goldfish) and I don’t want to be here at work too late tonight – don’t they know I’ve got a house to re-build?

OK. Weekend before last. Er… I know I did the beers with Dave after work at the Colombian and it was good to catch up with him. Albeit all too briefly. I went homewards towards 8.30pmish, with the intention of possibly coming back out for Bears at the Oxford. However the best laid plans… I got a call from Carlo and so did a bit of a diversion. Bed after that.
Saturday would have been house stuff – it’s just a question of remembering what we were up to and when! I know that on the Saturday night we hit the Phoenix as we do, but that it wasn’t outrageously late. Rich and Russ were in Melbourne so it was just me and Pete. Sunday saw us knock out all the ceilings in the house and so we could get a really good feel for how the upstairs bedroom will look when we build it. Yay. Oh, and I think Rich the draftsman came round too, to measure up. The plans are finally moving…
Sunday night was Una’s and the Shift. Can’t remember work being particularly different from any other week last week, so assume I did the gym every lunchtime and came in early-ish most days. I know I went to see Mambo Italiano with Rich and Russ on Wednesday night, and had a rehearsal for Sleaze on Tuesday. Yes, I’m in a show. Nothing involving lycra, which is great. I’m just a guard (one of ten) in a bit of an S&M show. Marvellous! It’ll be fun. Had dinner with Pete post rehearsal too – at Tropicana where we talked houses and him and Crusty, which has most definitely finished.
Thursday night? Er, dunno. Or Friday either really. Friday after work we went to the house to put the timber delivery inside. Johnno and Pete (how many Pete’s at the moment?) arrived for a look see and then Pete and I did dinner at Foodgame and I think had a relatively early night each.
Saturday was brekky down at Strangers with Candy (to see the sexy waiter!!) and then to Bunnings to buy butch power tools and the like. We spent Saturday afternoon trying to get a new beam into the walls to hold the roof up, but had to stop when next door came round to tell us their plaster had cracked. Oops. It did reveal a bit of shoddy workmanship on their attic conversion however… So, we stopped and probably ate somewhere. If it’s Saturday it must be the Phoenix… but I know that before that Pete and I had a beer at the Shift (which was awful). I hit Manacle for a couple of beers whilst Pete had a sleep – chatted to Mark and Carsten and Rod and… and... and… The Phoenix was fun again. Lots of nice people there – Dave, Rich and Russ, the lovely Robert (whose number I finally got!), Anthony… and another guy called Warren whose number I got… To Arq briefly which was a mistake. Not good. Walked home in the very cold around 5.30am. Couldn’t sleep for ages, so I think it was around 8.30am when I did finally snooze. Got to the house at noon, having missed Johnno and Pete. Curses. We got the beam in (finally!) and cleared all the rubbish away and got the ceiling joists into the roof space. We had lots of visitors – Brendan and Piggy; Allan from work; Jan and Pete’s cousin Sarah; Rich and Russ and Brett. We called it a day at 8pm – very satisfied with our days efforts as we finally had the last bit of stud wall down and could see the space as one big room properly for the first time. Shower then pizza then a couple of beers at the Shift (vile) and the Colombian (viler). Home. Bed.
Today – work at 8am; gym at lunch; home now. Will probably hit the house to see how Pete’s got on today ) he’s a teacher and is on holidays for 2 weeks, the git. Tomorrow and Wednesday are Sleaze rehearsals as is Saturday arvo. This week’s going to fly!

I can’t believe it’s well over a week since I blogged. I thought I’d blogged after the last entry so I’m either losing my marbles or I dreamt it.

Last week’s evenings were peppered with early nights and Buffy. I can’t remember much else. The days were work and gym. I probably met up with Pete one night and possibly Gary another, but I really can’t remember and I’m too tired and arsey today to give it any real thought! I did go shopping on the Wednesday night as I’ve got the supermarket receipt to show for it. I bought lots of nice things for lunches here at work now I’m being good and going to the gym.
The weekend is a bit more of an event. Friday night we went to the Theatre, luvvie darling. To see the Blue Room – starring two of Oz’s finest, Sigrid Thornton and Marcus Graham. Fun. Just the two of ‘em, carrying on for 2 hours. Semi-clad for most of the time. Unclad in bits. It was good to do that again – it’s been too long since I did a bit of theatre! Home to be for me afterwards.
Saturday was spent mostly at the house and we cleared out all the crap into the back garden and swept everything clean. Yay. Saturday night was a couple of quiet beers for me with Pete (who sadly has been dumped by Crusty again) and then pasta in Stanley Street. Early bed as I was up early on Sunday for the 10K Bridge Run. I did this race last year and so decided I was up for it again however this time with a bit less training. The course was slightly different, finishing at the Opera House and I decided it would be worth the view if nothing else. It was great. I think I was about a minute or so slower than last year which was fine by me. A glorious morning too – felt very virtuous after I’d finished and it was still only 8.20am!
Finally met up with Pete for brekky and then tried to find a t-shirt for Bad Dog. Failed and so hit Bad Dog anyway, courtesy of Rich. Fantastic party yet again – the usual suspects were there and the music was up to scratch again so yay! We kicked on to the Phoenix which was hilarious and with some sexy men. We then decided to go to Arq, which was a bit of a change but OK nevertheless. Got chatting to the lovely Robert – he’s most definitely on my to-do list. Sadly he disappeared before we got to the phone number stage. However it’s not the first time I’ve seen him out and about so watch this space (he said hopefully…)
We finally called it a night around 6am. So I suppose we called it a morning really. Back to R’n’R’s to sleep. Finally woke in the afternoon and met the lovely Jonno the builder at the house (woof!). He talked us through some ideas and then finally we legged it from there. Pete went off and I finally went home. Days off in the week are great!
Since then I’ve done little all week, save a nice coffee date with a guy last night. Fun – quite intense but fun. Tonight’s meant to be a couple of beers straight after work though to be honest I’d rather just go home. Hey ho.

OK, so not quite a week has gone by this time before my update. I’ve decided it’s hard work trying to juggle a full time job; a new gym regime; renovating a house and being the social butterfly that I’ve always been. Something will have to give. Wonder if I can work shorter hours??? :o)

Tuesday night last week then. I did indeed run home – and in fact I ran to and from work every day except Friday, when I just ran in. Not bad going really – though I’ve actually hurt my foot a bit and I’ve a 10K race on Sunday. This week I’ll just train in again and save myself for Sunday. After that I’ll try and run again, foot permitting. Now, last week’s evenings are a bit of a blur. I know I didn’t really spend any time at home at all, but I’m not sure where I was! I think Tuesday night was over to Rich and Russ’s for dinner with them, Pete (who’s now living there) and Renee and Bianca – Rich’s niece and a friend of hers – lovely girls! Had a laugh and then home.
Wednesday was work again. Gym at lunchtime. Met Gary at the house to show him round and then we toddled off Colombian-wards for beer. However, I got a call at 8.02pm to say that me and Pete were on telly so we diverted to Rich and Russ’s to watch. It was fun but we got less exposure than expected for 3 separate filming sessions – we must have gone on the cutting room floor! If you fancy it you can go to www.domain.com.au, scroll down to Hot Property and look in the show archives. We’re in the section entitled Darlo Terrace. You might have to go into this week’s show and then look for last week’s show in the LHS bar – currently it hasn’t been updated, but will be by Wednesday. Still, all a bit of fun. Beers subsequently with Pete, then dinner and home.
Thursday – work. Didn’t gym in the afternoon as we had a team lunch out to welcome Nick, our new team member. We went to a nice fish restaurant down in La Perouse called the Boathouse. It was a gorgeous day and lovely to sit by the sea… The afternoon dragged a bit consequently but soon I ran home again. No idea what I did on Thursday night. Oh yes. I remember. Carlo came over for a catch up. Lovely!
Friday – work early, no gym lunchtime and then the dentist. Met Pete for coffee then home, change and back to Dave’s for dinner. Nice evening. He cooked lots of nice things and Brendan, Heikle (sp?), Drew and Puppy were there too. I stumbled home the worse for red wine some time around 1am.
Saturday – up around 10am-ish and met Pete at the house. We grabbed coffee and brekky at Paua (noice!) and then set to work on attacking the front of the house. We cleared all the front garden – which considering how rootbound it was was pretty good going. We were knackered when we finally called in a day/night at 7pm. I went home, bathed, ate, changed, and hit R’n’R’s at 10.30pm. Drink there, then Manacle and then down to the Phoenix. Boy oh boy. In the words of Madness ‘Oh what fun we had’. Lots of sexy friendly men, good music and daddy snogging were all on the agenda. I decided not to go home with the sexy daddy and head on up to Arq with the crowd and it was fun there too. So much so we didn’t leave until gone 8am.
Sunday - back ar R’n’Rs, the plan was to sleep and then continue work on the house. Er, no! We just carried on partying. Like there was no tomorrow. Stupid circus acts, gymnastic moves and so on were the order of the day. Until some time around 12.30pm when we went back out for more beers. Not a good move. Too minkered! Back to sleep a while and then up around 6pm. Out to buy food then Pete cooked and we watched Scooby Doo. Home. What a fantastic weekend – and great to spend so much time with R’n’R and Pete again. More please.
Monday – into work. Tired. No gym. Home now. Just realised though that I’ve left my train pass in my jacket which I left at the gym this morning when I went to pick up my shoes and trousers. Bugger. Hey ho. Tonight will be food and Buffy on DVD and then early to bed.
Yay!

And verily it came to pass that Tuesday became blogging day…

It’s been a busy week and so I’ve got quite a lot to report. From last week then:
Tuesday – went back to Newtown and cleaned the flat from top to bottom. Packed up my stuff and dropped it back into Brumby Street before going back for one last sleep at Newtown. In bed early as I knew the boys were on an early morning flight…
Wednesday – Mark and Carsten arrived at 6.15am. I got up shortly after and showered and had a cuppa with them before heading off to work. Gymmed at lunchtime, but was tired and so I tried to run and didn’t even do that very well :o( Back to Brumby Street for the first time in ages, but I think I ended up out for dinner with Pete. I can’t quite remember! Maybe that was Foodgame night and if so chicken pesto burger. Yum! Yes – we had to meet up to drop a cheque off at the solicitors (which in the end we forgot to do!) – see below.
Thursday – was meant to be eventful. It was the day we were due to complete on the house. Determined not to get too excited we hung out until 2pm – I went to the gym in fact to keep myself occupied. There was a message waiting as I came out to say that the vendors had failed to return one document on time and so it was postponed until Friday at 2pm. Bugger. Met up with Pete that night for comisseratory (?) beers. We had a couple at the Colombian (vile), one at the Shift (viler) and then decided to torture ourselves with a final beer at Stonewall (vilest). Truly vile. So, home – without a house.
Friday – tried not to get too excited again. Into work at 7.50am as I was taking a half day. Left at 12pm and hit the gym with Andrew. From there back home and Pete had picked up the ute so off we toddled back to his place to pack up some stuff. We took the call to say the house was ours and so we went to Jan’s (Pete’s lovely aunt) for a cuppa and then off to North Sydney (over the bridge and far away) to pick up the keys. We got a bit lost, but finally by about 5pm we had the place – yay! Exciting times ahead. So, back to Pete’s and we loaded up the ute with his stuff for storage at the house. We met Jan there and she’d brought some Moët bless her. Then it was back to Pete’s to load another lot of stuff for Rich and Russ’s and then we hit Una’s for a big meal of schnitzel. (I must have a word with cook – that schnitzel’s far too delicious for my figure…) Then it was back to Pete’s for a bit of a clean and then we were done. And dusted :o)
Saturday – well that was a day and a half!! I was up early and eventually headed out for coffee to wait for Pete. We had bacon and eggs and then descended on the house for our first real day of renovation. The plan was to remove all the nasty carpets and lino to see what was on the floors underneath; knock out the wall of the bedroom as it fronts on to the hall to open up that space; and maybe have a look at the sub-tropical garden and see what we could unearth. And in the words of Bruce Forsyth – didn’t we do well!! The carpet from the living area came up relatively easily – leaving us with some not very nice floorboards and a big void under the floor itself. Great. The kitchen floor was a bit better, but still not salvagable. In the meantime, Pete knocked the supposed brick wall between the living area and the bedroom – and hey presto we discovered it wasn’t brick at all and so we could knock seven bells out of it! Pete cleared all the living room side as I finished off in the kitchen and then we took out the bedroom/hallway walls. Not surprisingly we were a bit knackered by this point, having also entertained Rich the draughtsman; Tim and Ross; Mark and Carsten and Jan – as well as making chicken sandwiches. I suddenly remembered I was meant to be hitting John’s leaving meal (he’s back to Canada for a while) and was very late. We called it a day and went to our respective homes… I hit Oxford Street for John’s meal – it was good to say goodbye if only short and sweet! I went down to Manacle to wait for Pete and chatted to a few mates before Pete arrived and it was time to hit the Phoenix. Yay. Had a complete blast down there and I think it was 5.30am before we moved on to Arq having spent time with Mark, John and Allan, Rod, Murray, David Austin etc. etc. etc. Arq was OK too – though the music was a bit all over the place. We retired back to Rich and Russ’s at 8amish to watch Toy Story and drink tea.
Sunday - Slept for a couple of hours and decided it was time to hit the house baby one more time. We knocked through the one wall we had left and then decided we should give the back garden a go. We got it all clear (including the concreted in washing line) except the huge avocado tree by the time that Adrian, Jason and David arrived. We had tea in the garden once they’d gone and hung around until Jan and Ralph came to look at the progress. Home to change and then out to the Shift for a reward of beer. Stayed there with Mark and Stephen – popped out for chinese and then were so stuffed by 10.45pm that we called it a night. I was almost asleep by the time I reached Brumby…
Monday – into work and decided to give the gym a miss to go and buy healthy lunch and snacky stuff for work. However I did run home – I’ve got a permanent locker at the gym now and so plan to run the 3½K each way every day… Oh really. It took just over 20 minutes which is great. Showered and went to try and buy Bad Dog tickets but the shop was closed :o( Pete cooked gnocci and then we were going to go and measure at the house but tiredness overtook us. I went home and uploaded the digicam pics onto the PC, but not yet onto here – watch this space.
Tuesday – up and ran into work this morning. Systems testing was cancelled so normal day. Had Josh for my personal training session at 1pm. Back here. Ate like a horse. And now it’s time to go and run home. I’ll be fit if I carry on like this!