'Diary' entry

Rain.

3 days to go...

It's freezing in Brisbane today. It's been raining non-stop ever since I walked back from Toowong at 7:05am this morning. Luckily it didn't rain when we were on our way to Toowong because we only had one umbrella between us and Gam would have insisted on holding it over me while he got rained on. As nice as it is for it to rain sometimes I much prefer real summer rain in the form of a nice storm. We had a nice loud one yesterday. As long as we don't lose power it's all good.



I think Feifei might be feeling a bit sick today... I got up in the middle of the night for a glass of water and noticed that he'd puked a small hairball on the bedroom floor. I thought that was a bit unusual given that he generally only pukes up a hairball about once every month or two, but I wasn't really worried. This morning after I got home I heard Feifei's 'distress miaow' that he often makes before he pukes or when he has got his claws stuck in something. He was on the bedroom floor again with his pre-puking face on (he sticks out his tongue- it looks quite funny) and he was sick again, only this time he had nothing to vomit up except some yellow, watery liquid. He has seemed quite subdued and sleepy since then, but given that he often sleeps all day I don't know whether or not I'm being paranoid... he just doesn't seem quite his usual self.



I've baked some 'viennese biscuits' from the recipe in my new cookbook for Gam to take to share at work tomorrow. After doing a 'test batch' to see how much they spread after I piped them onto the tray and discovering I'd made them far too large I got the hang of the piping thing. Can't say I'm a huge fan of the biscuits, though. Give me a good choc chip or Anzac any day... They need some icing- I'm thinking either passionfruit or lemon, either of which will entail a visit to the shops, presumably in the rain. I also want to make some brownies, so I'll need to buy dark chocolate. Ever since this 'dark chocolate is good for you' hype I've noticed that Coles is frequently sold out of dark chocolate. It's really annoying! Yesterday at Coles Toowong every single brand of dark chocolate except Whittaker's was sold out, and I dislike the Whittaker's dark chocolate because it has a funny taste to it. Their 'dark Ghana' is better, but it was sold out too! Nestle Club had some 'smooth and creamy dark chocolate'- except it wasn't dark chocolate because it contained milk powder!

This rotten weather not only means I can't get any clothes dry, it also probably means the biscuits will go soggy. Everything gets that slightly damp feeling when it rains so much...

We went to our friends' (from college) housewarming on Saturday. I had already pulled out at the last minute from going to a uni friend's housewarming on Friday night because I didn't feel too good. I think I'm anaemic from not eating enough meat lately... been needing to yawn all the time, falling asleep during the day... Didn't feel good on Saturday either- I could happily have passed out in bed. Yesterday I actually did, but I woke up at 1pm when Gam sent me a message. Still, on Saturday I perked up quite a bit after some coffee and we walked to Toowong. Their new place is a lot closer than their old one, and the route a lot less convoluted.

Victor and Amelia and Niall and Sophie used to live in a house (or rather a succession of houses, give or take a few housemates) together as two couples; now it's only Niall, Sophie and Victor in a townhouse, with Amelia living in a 1-bedroom unit close to her work in the city. I did wonder how Victor and Amelia could cope living apart, but figured they're obviously not as not as ... co-dependent (clingy?) as Gam and I!

Their new place is pretty cool- it's fairly old (built in the 70's sometime, perhaps), and old places tend not to be as tiny. It has an old, decrepit tennis court with no net that functions as an 'indoor' football pitch. There is also a small pool. Everyone else played barefoot football but I learned my lesson about playing without proper shoes when my big toenail fell off after a nasty blow when we used to play the social indoor competition. I figured it was safer to stand around taking photos and getting bitten by ants. Some kid came out and joined in the game... frustrating Gam, who was on the opposite team, because he couldn't tackle this 'mini Ronaldinho', who was quite cheeky. Eventually everyone just resorted to picking the kid up and stealing the ball before he made fools of them!





We went for a swim in the tiny pool. I bought a $20 bikini from K-mart on our way there, as my old bikini top now has untrustworthy elastic. I've never bought an el-cheapo bikini before. My mum would be proud.

The actual swimming part was fun too! The pool was too small for 10 people or so to really swim in, so we mostly sat around chatting until someone decided that making a whirlpool would be a good idea. Gam and I didn't join in and hung off the side of the pool talking to the people who weren't swimming; next thing I knew the whirlpool was so strong it sucked me off the side of the pool and I was churning around with a bunch of people. It was awesome fun. Gam hung onto the side of the pool and gave me scornful looks for being immature and joining in the whirlpool. Well, it was fun when I was a kid and it's still fun at 23. So there.

We also met a heap of nice people. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that our nice friends have nice friends but I guess I was. One was a 'real live OT' (occupational therapist), so she and Gam sat around having a long conversation full of allied health-related acronyms and jargon. Another was a guy who was studying opera (!) and had just done his last shift working at a 'porn shop' in Highgate Hill before he wound up his employment there. He didn't seem to think it was all that cool a job, dealing with customers who would ask him to recommend 'some good transexual porn'. Still, how can you meet someone who studies opera and works in a porn store and not find their conversation interesting?

Another guy at the party had a girlfriend who is a nutritionist working in community health nutrition... I only wish he'd brought her to the party so I could have picked her brains about her job! Coincidentally, she is based at Ipswich hospital, but Gam hadn't met her.



As you can see from the photo, our friends have a foosball table. I wish we had a foosball table- it's so much fun! We don't exactly have room for one, but neither did they at their old place, yet they managed... it beats the pants off having a pool table.

We had a lovely time and eventually walked home at around 11pm- it's hardly an exertion these days because we do it every day!