Y, oh Y, oh Y?

Three little letters – D.I.Y.
Emphasis on the last letter. Why, oh why, oh why? Like house hunting, DIY is a weekend vortex.
Granted, there are upsides to it as I’ve discovered of late. To my surprise, The Lovely Samantha is much more smitten with “handy” men than those who simply provide for their family through a (equally important) desk job. It’s no coincidence that my recent awakening from DIY hibernation has been accompanied by equal measures of love and affection. My scraped, callous hands have come in for particular adoration and the bruised thumb I got on the weekend (the hammer mistook it for a nailhead) received some very heartfelt sympathy.
To be honest though, I actually enjoy it - DIY that is (although the amorous advances are also appreciated). The house is starting to look a treat and the patience is beginning to reap rewards. A new porch light, doorbell, nicely cemented footpath, garden edging, gas meter cover and all the rest have given the façade a new lease on life. I will share photos at some stage, although stupidly forgot to take a “before” shot.
On Friday night I didn’t have the energy to go out, so Sam and I just got a cheap bottle of plonk, some take away and a DVD. Saturday was no healthier – Bodhi and I had pizza while Sam went to the opera.
Sunday was glorious. We took Bodhi to a kids party at the Marrickville Croquet club and sat outside catching the rays, dreaming about the summer time fun in store. I had planned to do some triathlon training, but kept on putting it off. I finally admitting defeat when the neighbours came round for an evening BBQ. They don’t eat pork so I ate all the sausages myself. Couldn’t have planned it any better if I’d tried.
Happy birthday Simon,
Minas.

Brick'n It

Hey;


Bodhi stayed at Mum’s on Friday night which meant The Lovely Samantha and I could enjoy cocktails at a young hipster bar in the city followed by a bottle of red and slow cooked lamb at The Athenian. Back home to one of those rare guilty pleasures of parenthood – a childless house.

Both days were basically taken up painting the front fence. Little by little, weekend by weekend we’re getting there. Brazil opening ceremony, look out.

During the week we’d received a nice white wine as thankyou from a friend in return for a child seat. Anything over $10/bottle signifies a special event in our household so whipped up a scallop risotto to accompany. My double helping was more a testament to hunger pains than any culinary prowess and I fell asleep before the end of our Saturday night DVD – The Iron Lady.

An early start on Sunday meant the fence looked shmick by early afternoon, after which I attempted some fitness training. In the triathlon world it’s called bricking – training two legs back-to-back. After a 16km cycle, bricks are exactly what my running legs felt like for 5kms afterwards. One small step for a fit man, one giant leap for Minas. Got back, showered, hooked up the catheter and didn’t leave the couch for the remainder of the evening.

Love to you and yours,
Minas.

Cycle Manly

Hey;

Work stress levels have been creeping up with some of the beautiful petals in my team beginning to wilt, so I told them to leave it all behind and take time out to recharge over the weekend which is exactly what I did. My theory is that stress has more impact on permanent employees than contractors. IMHO Permanents allow their work to define them whereas contractors look at it as a means to a buck. Don’t like the project? Move on. Perms don’t entertain that same luxury. Famous last words perhaps for this humble contractor, but let’s wait and see.

We entertained the neighbours on Friday night. The Lovely Samantha laid out a tip top spread which disappeared in a matter of minutes. A few relaxing ales, some good conversation and a fantastically satisfied hunger severely depleted any resistance to the hypnotic callings of the couch. Asleep before my hand reached for the TV remote.

Saturday was a slow start. I’d volunteered to photograph a Haemochromatosis charity’s AGM at Parramatta. Not the most photogenic of assignments and the pictures attest to a combination of that and, more tellingly, that I hadn’t picked up the camera for several months prior. Not entirely proud of that effort, but hopefully they’ll get some use of the freebies.

The highlight of Sunday was a windy ride across town. I’ve signed up for a mini-triathlon in October. 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run. While others City2Surf'd I practiced the bike leg by riding to Manly (23km) in very blustery conditions, thankfully blowing my way. I’m comfortable with each of the individual components, but my post ride jelly legs attest that doing them back to back will be decidedly harder. Surprised myself with a decent first time cycle and woofed down a massive burger & chips at the skiff club as a reward. Caught up with fat Shaz and co for a beer then back home to knock up a new front gate ready for install next weekend.

Asleep before channel 9 even bothered mentioning the closing ceremony.

See ya,

Minas.

Boys Weekend

I spent Friday at home nursing a pain in the neck. Not the 5yr old blonde haired variety, but the hunched over a computer 5 days a week for the past 14yrs kind. I assume my bad posture is the cause as there’s nothing in recent memory that would suggest any other source of the undeserved incapacitation.

We also said farewell to The Lovely Samantha. After fifteen years of unwavering servitude (five as a mother), she’d decided enough was enough, packed her bags and left us for some well-earned R&R in Bowral with a bunch of her fellow First Wives Club members.

Over the course of the weekend I walked a mile in her shoes: cleaning the house, preparing meals, entertaining Bodhi as well as painting the front of the house, sealing the kitchen benches, cleaning mouldy walls and summiting a mountain of dirty washing that would have made Sherpa Tenzing reach for the oxygen tank.

Rather than spread the work out evenly across the weekend, Bodhi and I decided the most appropriate way to tackle the herculean task would be by building up our energy reserves through prolonged periods of pizza, beer (me) and sleep interspersed with copious amounts of Olympics viewing for inspiration. Through this meticulous preparation, we reasoned, we'd store enough potential energy to unleash on a focused blitz. 

And what focus it was. In the ninety minutes prior to her arrival, Bodhi managed to wash his teeth (no simple tasks given his recalcitrance) while i managed the other items on the list. Talk about team work!  

Upon her Sunday afternoon return Sam was admirably impressed. Bodhi was all smiles and I was well and truly rooted.

Appreciation is nothing if not conveyed.

Minas.