Hey;

Last weekend update for the year…promise.

Richard Roxburgh anyone? I rate him very highly in the current crop of Aussie actors doing the rounds. His eponymous Rake character on ABC is one of my faves. Anyway he’s currently starring in the Sydney Theatre Company’s Cyrano De Bergerac and that’s exactly where we found ourselves on Friday night. The Lovely Samantha insisted on a bit of culture and who am I to turn down the requests of the Lovely Lady.

Unfortunately for me, Richard’s tour-de-force ran headlong into the unstoppable force of my early-to-bed-early-to-rise circadian rhythm which waits for no man, on stage or otherwise. I caught myself doing the sleepy head bob on a few occasions.

Saturday started with my usual Manly swim which just gets more cathartic & enjoyable as time goes by. I managed to coax a hesitant co-worker to give it a try and she seemed to relish it enough to at least intimate she might come again.

Some friends came over for lunch which gave me the excuse to retry my tender bbq roast lamb recipe again. Not as tender as the previous attempt, but still damn good!

I rode to Palm beach & back on Sunday morning with the usual bunch. It’s a longish route at 100km, but easily one of my favourite rides as it tracks the northern beaches seaboard which is simply stunning and reminds you that Sydney’s got some true beauty once you strip back its vanity and one-upmanship (ironic given most cyclists always try to look good with sexy new kits and constantly try to best each other up a hill, or on a sprint).

Back for a bit of pool action with Bodhi and an afternoon lounging in the backyard with friends.

Love to you and yours.

See ya,

Minas.

Hectic in Hindsight

Come to think of it, this weekend was pretty jam packed…

Friday arvo started in the backyard laying turf. Predictions for several days of thunderstorms meant I literally had the timing of the Gods on my side. With extensive experience in all matters backyardish, I can knock over a re-laying ceremony in a little under an hour. So, with the new lawn now in situ the backyard has been declared an overall “Mission Accomplished”! In an ironic nod to the Iraq war, I fully expect the clean up tasks to keep me busy for the next few years.

Bodhi had his Sydney Children’s Choir Christmas Concert in North Sydney on Saturday. He was but one in a sea of white shirted fidgety little sprogs on stage smiling and waving and generally singing in key. Very cute indeed. Great steak lunch afterwards at The Commodore followed by an afternoon working on my school assignment (due tonight) and an evening at the cinema – Exodus, Ridley Scott’s version of the 10 commandments (wait for the DVD).

I’m still suffering a crisis of confidence with cycling, exacerbated no doubt by regularly riding with a bunch of mainly Asian lads who are all around 10yrs younger and collectively weigh about 60kg. So, with masochistic delight, I take to the bike at every opportunity I get (thinking that a little more practice is all I need to get back on top), Sunday being no exception. I only had 2hrs to spare so we just did a 50k loop (shortish by regular standards) from Maroubra north to Watson’s bay via all the beaches which would be lovely and scenic if I wasn’t always looking down at my handlebars, lungs screaming for respite against the continual assault chasing unforgiving companions up & over the undulating terrain synonymous with Sydney’s Eastern seaboard. Home by 8am with just enough time to woof down homemade avocado toast before heading back out to Bondi for a 10:20 wave start in the annual Bondi to Bronte swim classic. In hindsight, I probably could have planned it a little better, say by not going for a ride, particularly as the legs were pretty fark’n fatigued. Then again, to be able to just rock up after doing a bike ride and swim 2.5k through the ocean by 11am (shark infested no less!) is a pretty decent effort worthy of a little self boasting (even if I do say so myself).

 

Oh, and the Christmas tree went up on Sunday evening.

Love to you and yours,

Minas.