Hello and happy start of your week everyone!  This past week has been busy, crazy, and fun.  Brandon has made a decision to keep doing contract work.  He had been in discussion to take a full time roll, but the hours and dedication they were looking for did not match the money they offered, so he declined.  My work has been a bit intense.  Still busy with a bit of drama, but we are working through it.  Any change can be scary and different, but we just have to ride it out and see what happens.  I am glad to have support and confidence of the rest of the team behind me as I take a bigger management role.

We did get up to a lot of fun things this week.  Tuesday, I had the first of a monthly book club meeting for a Sydney Ladies group I am in.  We all like different genres so will alternate picking a book and a meeting place each month.  I have been reading a book called The Fey.  I downloaded it with a bunch of free Sci/Fi fantasy Nook books that I go through every few months.  I thought it was going to be about fairies and other fey creatures since I go by title and cover art only, not wanting to read the descriptions and have spoilers.  It is actually about a military intelligence agent called The Fey and is really good.  Not at all the type of book I usually get into, but I do like character driven spy/action type stuff.  I actually bought the whole series to read.  In the book club, it will be fun to be exposed to other people’s favorites and their opinions.  I have no idea what to pick for my month.  Hopefully I have some time to consider it.  Being on Tuesday, I had to skip our training work out.  That is ok though, because it has been hot and I feel I sweat enough on my walk home from work each day. 😉  Brandon and I watched the old and new Bade Runner movies and I wasn’t a fan.  They seem to be more cult classics than actual good movies to me; amusing, but not worth the hype.

Caprica was a beautiful model for the sunrise this week.  Very cool pictures, or so I thought.   Friday was Australia Day which is a Public Holiday.  It commemorates the day the British landed in Australia to start colonizing it.  It has traditionally been a party day full of time with family, patriotism, parties and picnics outside, and drinking.  However, it is also very political and controversial. The Indigenous people call it Invasion day and it is a day of mourning and protest for their land that was taken by the Europeans.  There is a lot of debate of changing the date to something more neutral to commemorate.  We went to the Yabun Festival in a park in Newtown.  It is Indigenous focused with artists, traditional dance and singing, booths with information, food stands, and some market stalls.  They also did a march that ended in the park about Invasion Day and how it will always be their land.  It was a bit eye opening and I don’t know the full scope of it all, but it was a good start of our Australia Day activities.  Most people had the Aboriginal Flag, which is red, black and yellow, to show support for the original residents of Australia.

We then took a bus to the Rocks to walk through the markets there.  There was also to be a street party, but it seemed pretty tame.  The city and buses were crowded and busy because of the holiday.  We walked around the Rocks and Circular Quay.  They had old ships that you could buy a ticket to explore in the cruise ship harbour.  There were also people handing out flags all over.  They had run out of Aboriginal flags, so I just got an Australian one.  New South Wales has instituted a new money back recycling program that has a wombat as its mascot, so I had to take a photo of it.  We then had a drink at the packed Opera Bar to enjoy the hot afternoon.  We had wanted to stay in the city until the fireworks and concert at night, but didn’t want to sit and spend the money drinking all that time, so we elected to head home.  There has been more talks of train delays and the drivers going on strike, so we took the train cautiously, but were fine.  Later on, could see some of the fireworks from our place.

Saturday, we went to the Glebe markets for the first time. They had some interesting stands with homemade jewelry or leather crafts or plants, but mostly it was secondhand clothes.  A lot of markets seem to have mostly booths of almost rummage sale stuff.  Cool if you are looking for used clothes, but disappointing if you are hoping for new housewares or gifts.  They did have a good choice of food stands and we has some Venezuelan food.  We then packed up to meet Heidi and her friends at Coogee Beach.  It was a great day for the beach! And so nice to see Heidi.  The water was refreshing and the sun amazing.

Sunday, we went to church in Rozelle again and met Heidi for lunch in Balmain.  It was great to catch up with her.  So much has happened and changed in the past month that we saw her last, for all of us.  We got back home and vegged out from our big meal.  Brandon meal planned and then we went grocery shopping.  I got chicken wings to start introducing more of a raw diet to the cats.  I helped them try some of it and it was amusing.  They have to figure out how to use their teeth, not just for chewing kibble anymore, but shearing pieces off.  Baby steps to use what we teach and recommend at my clinic on my own cats.  Brandon and I took a sunset walk around the park and then I finished my day with Pride and Prejudice, cake, the cats cuddling up, and knitting.

Today I am off (YAY four day weekend!) and have been fiddling with my electronics.  I usually keep my phone in my pocket and found pictures it took and numbers it blocked while I was walking.  Not cool.  I am lucky Brandon can help me make it all better.  Brandon got me up at 7:30a today to help him edit a document which is ridiculous on my day off! But then I had time to try the chicken with the cats again.  He and I shared our breakfast on the patio and did a crossword puzzle.  There was only minimal cheating…wink wink.  Meanwhile, Caprica got sick from her chicken.  I was a bit afraid of that since she has a more sensitive stomach.  Hopefully she handles this transition ok, I just have to take it slower with her.  Surprisingly, she was more excited about the chicken than Fiyero was.  He loves food so much more, but he has to work harder at this, not just hoovering the kibbles down without chewing them.

So after an abrupt start to the day, it has been good to relax and get things done this morning.  After I post this, Brandon and I are going on a walk to enjoy another beautiful, sunny day.  Have a good week all and enjoy the pictures!