Doppelganger week on facebook

I didn't want to change my facebook profile picture but I will publicly claim I look like this lady. What do you think?

Birthday Bike

Last year for my Birthday my wonderful husband gave me a bike and the promise of a basket to complete it. The perfect basket has been difficult to track down but he has done so and now I have this awesome bike!


It is perfect for French style trips to the local market and hot bread shop.

Ethiopian Try-birds

Context: In our house we have a nickname for people who are willing to try new things. We call them "Try-birds"- and to be clear, it is a compliment.

For my ever so special birthday dinner last year, I took my brother and husband to an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner. We may have a lot of different types of restaurants here in BrisVegas, but this one is actually the ONLY Ethiopian restaurant here.

I have had Ethiopian food in our nations capital when I have traveled there for work a couple of times and I really enjoyed it. So for my birthday dinner I located the only Brisbane restaurant to serve this style of food. Conveniently it was only a few minutes from our house.

The restaurant itself was pretty basic; very hot and humid. It was located at the back of a small suburban shopping mall next to a pool hall.

The food was excellent. The flavors in the meat and vegetable dishes were so different from the food we usually eat. It is made with wonderful blends of spices. While a bit similar to Indian food it is certainly not curry and was not too hot or spicy, just really tasty. The platter we ordered looked a little like this...



Ethiopian food is usually served on injera which is similar to a pancake or crepe as you can see in the photo above. The food is usually eaten without cutlery using the injera to scoop up the meat or vegetable dishes. I went to the restaurant prepared to eat with my freshly cleaned hands but we were given cutlery and crockery and we were glad of that, however I would guess that if we looked African we probably just have been served the platter.

We all enjoyed the meal. I was impressed with Tom and my bro for being such good try-birds.

Welcome to 2010: Reflections on 2009

Welcome to 2010 everyone.

I didn't stay up last night to watch the fireworks; we were in bed by 9.30. I did however wake up to hear my neighbours yelling Happy New Year and took the time to lean over and wake Tom up with a new year kiss.

This year, like the last one, is going to be a great one.

I have some specific goals for this year. I would like to work fewer hours, get through a few more uni subjects, start our house renovations, convince Tom to go to France for a cycling holiday with my bro and some other stuff.

I have no specific new years resolutions (despite the goals), however if I were to eat better and exercise more I wouldn't be disappointed.

2009 was a good year for me, both personally and professionally. My first niece was born. I had some great opportunities to work in some quite senior roles. I received my first high distinction for a university subject. Tom attained the professional certification he has been working on for a couple of years. We hired and fired our first cleaner. I turned 30, we had a great party.

2009 went by very quickly. I hope 2010 is a little bit longer, and feels a little bit slower. Life is good, it would be nice to slow the pace this year and enjoy it more.

Birthday

It is my birthday today. Happy Birthday to me.

I have a leisurely day planned. It started with pancakes and presents for breakfast. This afternoon we are going to a day spa for massages and facials. And then out for dinner tonight. Doesn't sound too bad, does it? If only I could do this every day!

The holiday has started

Work finished at 6:14 pm tonight.

I did remember to turn ON my OUT of office reply.
I did get ALL my "must do" jobs done.
I did make a list, I did check it twice, I did find out work is boring; not nice.

Holiday started at 6:15 tonight. Hooray!

You are what you eat

I seem to go through phases with food. Whether it be soup, salad, weight watchers, or vegan there is always something that I preference eating.

My current food is choice is frozen meals. Thus my freezer looks like this;
I used to just buy them occasionally for when I was home on a Wednesday night and Tom was out playing squash. I lacked the motivation to cook a meal for myself and a lean cuisine is a better choice nutritionally that a Vegemite sandwich or bowl of cereal.

More recently I have been buying these to have in stock for Tom when I travel. I used to cook meals and freeze them before I left, but my motivation to do that is long gone.

This year I have started buying them to eat while Tom is a squash, for Tom to eat while I am away and for us both to eat when I work past 6:30 pm and/or am too tired to cook when I get home from work.

So now, instead or once a week, we seem to eat these a few times a week. I suppose they are better than the fast food choices we would make. Fish & Chips, Pizza, Chinese and Indian all taste great but they are not good for the waistline. I still feel bad though that I am not cooking everything myself. Home cooked meals are nicer but a lot more effort.

Hair care

I have great hair. I know, I know FIGJAM. But seriously, I love my hair. It is fully bodied. It is dark brown. It is wavy without being too curly or hard to manage. It sits well no matter what I do with it. I have no control over what it does, but oddly that doesn't bother me. I am happy with it.

I really like the colour brown that it is so........... I have never dyed it. Yes that is correct cowboys, I am almost 30, a child of the modern world but I have NEVER dyed my hair. Not even a rinse.

I did try once. I had very long hair at the time and went into a hairdresser I had never been to before in the city. I spoke to the hairdresser about dying my hair blonde, really really blonde. We talked about it for a long time and in the end she talked me out of it. She explained the maintenance, the ongoing costs and the toll that it would take on my hair. She didn't paint a pretty picture.

I am not big on hair maintence. I usually have my haircut once every 12 to 18 months. It doesn't need cutting very often. I don't get split ends because I don't use a hair straightener or a blow dryer. I actually don't even own a hair dryer or a straightener. I just towel dry it after I wash it and then let it dry.

So all in all it was probably best that I didn't go blonde. I don't think I would have coped with the upkeep.

I do care about my hair, I am just not big on hair care.

Hay fever Hell

I don't know what the hell is causing it but I have hay fever badly again today.

Despite washing everything in my bedroom (including the pillows) and vacuuming the whole place to within an inch of its life (including the air conditioning unit)....

My nose is this colour

and my eyes are watering

and my head is cloudy

and my thoughts are muddled

and the drugs don't work at all

and I may be feeling ever so slightly sorry for myself.....

My turn to smell like dirt?

The council replaced our water main today and all the water smells like soil. So instead of asking if it was my turn for the shower......