Date Night

Hey;

Friday night was date night. Some of the older readers of this irregular column might remember the once proud Gowings family business on the corner of George and Market st. It’s now one of the newest, hippest eatery/ hotels in town. While The Lovely Samantha feasted on stuffed Camembert, I tucked into a pork chop the size of Texas, and In a rare turn of events we kicked on to another CBD establishment for a few (overpriced) post dinner martinis.

Started Saturday with a bit of long overdue DIY at Mum’s house. She lives quite close to Bunnings which is quite handy as I do love a random visit to that mecca of meandering. I’m not sure what is more anticipated though – the promise of potential, when I walk through the aisles picturing the wondrous improvements one could do…or the promise of a sausage sizzle. Either way, satisfaction is always guaranteed.

After several hours of handing things up to me atop the ladder, the patience of my faithful assistant started to wane, so I took him off to the beach for a bit of a dip and rock pool shenanigans. Octopus, starfish, urchins…he didn’t want to leave.

Sunday was the usual early start for nippers. Each week is better than the next and I’m soooo glad we persevered through the initial tears. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Bodhi’s confidence has gone through the roof and the romantic beauty of a morning at the beach just can’t be topped.
Home made pizzas and apple pie for dinner.
See ya,
Minas.

Classic

Hey;


Saturday reminded me of an English summer’s day - Wet, miserable and not much fun to be outside. If it wasn’t for a bout of cabin fever, we’d have stayed indoors. Instead though, we popped into town and polished of a lazy Susan’s worth of Yum Cha on the way through to see Anish Kapoor’s travelling exhibition at the MCA. Full of larger than life, perspective bending “sculptures”, It’s gotten rave reviews, but I just thought it was a lot of repetition and not enough to keep this myopic mind at least engaged. Despite warnings to the contrary plastered all about the place, Bodhi liked touching things.

On Sunday, I finally ticked another item off the bucket list. A year in the making, I’ve finally completed an ocean swim (you might remember I agonisingly sprained my ankle the week before last year’s Cole Classic). Shane, Stu and I all started and successfully completed the 30th annual Cole Classic in Manly. The seas had threatened to be rough, so they altered the course, but I still respectably finished the 1km circuit in 20:47, which wasn’t so bad considering my poor preparation since Xmas. Some upstart won it in 15 minutes.

I’ve realised that all this outdoor exertion is a bit like childbirth for me – painful during, but forgotten in the euphoria of the finish. While swimming I developed a headache, had burning retinas from leaking goggles and swallowed way too much salt water (not to mention pre-swim nerves preventing me from dropping the kids off before hand). Yet shortly after the race, over breakfast and a latte, we all signed up for the Olympic distance triathlon at Port Stephens in May, which at 1.5km swim, 40km bike, and 10km run, is a decision I am already beginning to regret.

See ya,
Minas.