Lately

So much good stuff has happened since I last wrote. Perhaps that's why I haven't felt the need to write. I began this blog at a bit of a low point for me. Not that anything had gone particularly wrong, I was just feeling really unhappy and needed to be reminded that there were good things in my life. Lots of good things.

So here's a list of good stuff lately:

• My boy passed his big exam and was the only one in Victoria to do so. I am extremely proud.
• I got a promotion. I am now a manager. This doesn't mean an awful lot - it seems I still don't have to wear a suit, but I do get drinks and get to pay off the mortgage a little bit quicker.
• Speaking of the mortgage, we're celebrating having paid our first $50k off our home loan since we bought Hope Farm less than a year ago.
• I've now paid for my plane ticket to England and leave in under a month to go and see my brother, his lovely partner (and a good friend) and my two little nephews. So now I can get excited about hanging out with them - cooking, playing, drinking wine and, no doubt, plenty of dancing.

Well those are the big things, but life has generally been happy and good and the distinct beginning of summer lurking behind the clouds brings a feeling of excitement and anticipation to the air. I'm feeling very happy and lucky right now.

wonderful week-end

• Saturday morning market shop
• Saturday still morning two and a half hours of dance class
• Saturday evening alone with costume making, dancing, wine, dance DVDs, costume making, dress ups, dancing, DVD watching, dancing, etc.
• Sunday morning sleep-in
• Sunday afternoon drive to Sandringham, romantic strolls along the beach, bread, dips, chips and beer at the pub and cosy dinner at home
• Early to bed, not so early to sleep
• Life has been so good to me lately.

good value Wednesday

At lunch yesterday, I went to the library to find my book and read the last few gripping pages. Of course I went to the shelf only to find that the last copy had been borrowed. So I crossed the road to Dymocks where I located my book and sat down and read my way through the final chapters ("I'm fine thanks, just browsing"). I finished and replaced the book with a sense of accomplishment akin to what I would have felt had I written The Blind Assasin myself.

I then went and used a voucher to aquire myself a gratis latte. I went back to work feeling positively affluent.

a full weekend

• The Simpson's Movie. Best bits: pizza and beer before, sickly doughnuts during, a walk through Southgate after, finally warmth and scotch at home.
• An afternoon with surrogate niece and nephew. Family time. Well fed.
• A constructive and enjoyable 'buisness' meeting, with food, wine and belly dance porn.
• Home-made jam on home-made scones. A new baby passed around. Cups of tea.
• Being an audience member for a change. Being entertained. Brimming with pride to watch a beautiful girl shine.

thursday

• 6:00pm The Simpsons
• 7:00pm Futurama
• 7:30pm The Simpsons
• 8:00pm The Simpsons
• 8:30pm Arrested Development (on DVD)
• 9:00pm Arrested Development (on DVD)
• 9:30pm Arrested Development (on DVD)
• Etc.
• I'll never get anything done after work at this rate
• But it's so good
• Tommorrow: The Simpsons Movie.

a lunchtime epiphany

At lunchtime I often take my book down to the City Library to read. During winter it's the only warm and comfortable place where I can read in peace without having to buy something. I love it there - sitting amongst shelves of books, people around me reading, studying or quietly conversing; it's a good place to escape to.

I went down yesterday and found a little spot in the library's gallery on the mezzanine level. As I was reading, a small old lady shuffled past me. With her bent body, white seaweed hair and intensly black eyebrows, she looked like an eccentric bag lady and perhaps she was. She reminded me of my grandmother actually, who, I suppose, for all intents and purposes, was a bit of a crazy old bag lady. I loved her for it.

I peered over the top of my book to see her park her trolly and remove several layers of tattered woolen clothing, before seating herself before the library's shiny black piano. I watched her knarled hands, contricted with arthritis and age, touch the keys. And then she began to play. I know very little about music, and less about piano, but the music that she drew out of that instrument was the kind that you felt in your insides - the kind that feels like a flock of birds in your chest that are trying to fly out.

I watched her crooked body rock back and forth with the music, watched that mane of hair falling across her face, watched her creased hands move across the keys and watched the subtle expressions of disbelief in people's faces as they paired the sound with the image of this woman.

I walked back to work with a smile on my face and a little less fear of growing old.

sick

Good things about the flu?

• The lovely boy brought me the orange juice that had I asked for and the chocolate that I hadn't.
• Then he got the flu too, so I had a sick buddy.
• We watched a dvd that we actually BOTH enjoyed (Ghost Rider), and made a game of identifying the Melbourne locations.
• Scotch really sooths a sore throat.
• And dragged ourselves out of the house on Sunday morning for breakfast with an old friend (and his new 'friend') at CERES.
• We planted (well, I watched him plant) a mini orchard in our front garden.
• We heckled Ian Hewittson's sausage-like fingers as they fondled cuts of meat. Shudder
• Homemade pizza for dinner and a decent night's sleep at last.

wednesday struggle

Hmm, struggling a bit for Wednesday. I know I'm trying not to write anything negative, but I spent the whole day feeling miserable and uncomfortable. Like I had a thin film of something over my skin that caused me to be fidgety and irritable - it's purely psychological though (or hormonal, dare I say it). That's the challenge though, even on the worst days there's always something good, so here goes:

• escaping to my book at lunchtime, then indulging with a coffee flavoured with irish cream
• a dance rehearsal that got my blood circulating and blew all the nagging thoughts and self pity out of me. Those girls are so good for me
• a warm embrace in which to sleep.

Yeah, I guess that's not bad for a Wednesday struggle.

a tuesday night for new things

Ok, my new discovery of pierogy (Polish dumplings) for dinner probably outweighs most other good things in this otherwise ordinary Tuesday. So here's the recipe (ingredients in bold):

For the pierogy

1. boil and mash three large potatoes (I used a combination of sweet potato and desiree)
2. fry two finely chopped onions in butter
3. combine potato and onion with nutmeg, salt and pepper
4. cut a big circle out of a stack of won ton skins
5. place a teaspoon of potato mixture in the centre of each circle
6. brush the outer edge of each won ton circle with water and fold in half, pressing down the edges to make a crescent-shaped dumpling
7. add to a pot of boiling water, without overcrowding, the dumplings will float to the top when cooked
8. remove dumplings from water with a slotted spoon and place on plates.

For the sauce

1. finely slice quarter of a small cabbage and six spring onions and saute in butter
2. when the cabbage has reduced in size, add three tablespoons of white wine vinegar and a few pinches of chopped dill
3. fry until liquid has reduced, then add two heaped desert spoons of sour cream, stir and season
4. serve over pierogy and garnish with extra dill.

a monday night of finishing

• finishing the cauliflower and cabbage soup - much nicer than it sounds, especially with yoghurt and dill
• finishing another teddy bear, seeing his friendly face atop his fat furry body for the first time and imagining the little boy that's going to hug him
• finishing the choreography I'm teaching to my students, picturing the costumes, the final performance and smiles on faces.

weekend with the RACV

• a great night out, with a friend's band and drunken ramblings
• an early morning back at dance class again with a fellow out-of-town tribal enthusiast, followed by a chai and a chat
• a fabulous coffee and two hours of quality time with my beloved while waiting, in my car in the Safeway carpark, for the RACV
• a relaxing ride on a delicious, feels-like-spring morning and an hour of quality time reading my book while waiting, in my car in the Safeway carpark, for a tow truck
• a casual stroll down Sydney Road, some clothes shopping, a beer and my book
• a meal of bread and cheese and wine shared with good friends and wonderful conversation
• a sense of relief that my car is in good hands and is hopefully on the mend.

dinner with an old (but new) friend

• meeting a friend from across the sea
• comparing life experiences and lessons learned
• seeing how someone has learned to own her life
• and being proud of her, though you didn't know her before she owned it
• sharing plates of moroccan food
• mint tea and
• creme caramel

ordinary wednesday

day:

• lunch paid for by work
• warm olives, good wine
• not much work

night:

• students that braved the cold night out to come to my class
• seeing them enjoy learning my choreography
• going home to pasta with left over pumpkin soup, hazelnut chocolate and couch snuggling

a wintry tuesday night and an icy wednesday morning

• a boy who brought home ciabatta after I'd thought about asking him to
• a pot of spicy pumpkin and sweet potato soup (paired with fresh ciabatta)
• an unexpected extra episode of The Simpsons
• a boy who repaired my puncture so we could cycle to work together in the cold

a cold monday evening

• an evening at the pub for $10 roo and wine night - even if you're both vegetarian (sort of )
• an empathethic friend to console a fellow 30 year old
• a missed call to let him know I'm on my way home
• a cup of peppermint tea before bed

week end goodness

• a bike ride on a crisp, sunny morning
• a glass of wine with breakfast
• a conversation with chickens
• a visit to the vegie patch
• a meal cooked over an open fire
• a meal eaten while wearing beanies and fingerless gloves
• a finished teddy bear
• a tiny new human