Welcome to what we have been up to the past two weeks!

The week of the 15th was calmer at work. I got caught up on a few things.  I went to the dentist and had some routine blood work done. Yay health care!  Wednesday, we took the train about and hour up to Hornsby to meet our friends’ cat and go to dinner with them.  We went to the Hornsby RSL and it was very nice and the food delicious.  I was able to nap on the train home, but we still got to bed a bit later than usual, especially on a work night.  Rebels!!  Friday night we stayed in and watched War Games, a hacker movie from the early 1980s.  It was tolerable as 1980s movies go.  Saturday, I did some computer work and bought our tickets to WI for September for my cousin’s wedding. 🙂  Brandon spent the day playing Tomb Raider, a Lara Croft video game.  At night, I met up with some girls from the Sydney ladies Social group for dinner at Riley St Garage in the city.  It was a really cool place and the food was delicious.  Smoked oysters are my new favorite kind.  I am loving all the fresh sea food here!  Can’t get enough.  Some of the women I had met at other events, and all were lovely.  It was a nice night.  Sunday, we went to later church, grabbed a few things grocery shopping, then came home to talk to my parents quick.  My dad has had a few tests and has more coming up.  No answers yet on what is going on.  We met Heidi in Circular Quay at the Opera Bar for drinks and a late lunch.  We all split a few dishes and it was so good.  The day was sunny and nice; so lovely for being out by the water, listening to live music with good company.  We were tempted as the afternoon wined down to go to the Belgian chocolate place, but we instead got dessert at a crepes place instead.  So much wonderful food in one weekend!!  Be jealous of the pictures!!!  It was all amazing!!  It was off on on rainy this week, so we enjoyed the sun even more.

The weather has for sure cooled down here; more autumn feeling for sure.  Wednesday was ANZAC day so a public holiday. They have traditional services at dawn in remembrance of the soldiers.  There was one in Balmain at 6am I was hoping to go to, but the bus was not running, so I slept in instead.  Maybe next year.  At noon, we met up with some girls from Sydney Ladies Social in the city for a Birthday party in the city at a roof top deck and pool. It was a really nice venue and turned out to be a nice day after some morning showers.  We had a lovely time at the party, and headed off to find some Two Up.  I wrote about Two Up last year, a betting game with coins that the diggers played in the fox holes.  It is only legal on certain days in Australia and last year we went all over to see it played, unsuccessfully.  We found it this year and watched enough to get into it and understand the rules better.  They were betting quite high, so we did not gamble, but it was still interesting to watch.  We then took the train to the North Shore to meet Heidi for a late lunch at a Thai place.  We then hung out at the park under the Harbour Bridge, until it got a bit cool and drizzly.  Heidi took the bus home and we the train.  We started to go to another pub to meet more friends, but it ended up not working out.  We had a bit of a train/ bus/walking adventure to make it back to the light rail and home, but thankfully it wasn’t raining. 🙂

Brandon and I spent some rainy nights this week watching House Hunters International.  Saturday, I caught up around the house during the day.  At night, we went out to an Irish bar in Newtown to see my friend’s other band play.  It was a fun night and the crowd really got into it; dancing and singing along.  They played music from all different periods and artists, so we knew most of them this time.  I ordered my first Uber home since the bus would take a bit to come and it was raining.  Success!!  Sunday, we went to church, then Heidi came over to eat her first pumpkin pie and watch Rent.  Pumpkin is treated like a vegetable here and used in savory dishes, whereas in the US we do more sweet desserts with it.  I had a can of pumpkin from the US and Brandon made the pies.  Good stuff!! Then he made sushi for supper so I was doubly spoiled.

Today, Monday, I am off for working this Saturday.  We took the bus into the city to get to the Art Gallery.  They were having an exhibit of tapestries from the 1400s called the Lady and the Unicorn.  We had to walk through Hyde Park and the Royal Botanical Gardens to get there.  The tapestries were very cool and they had a video about their history and French art during that period.  We toured the rest of the Art Gallery also, but didn’t find anything as neat as the tapestries.  They do change exhibits quite often.  I am going to post this, we will eat supper, then play some Left 4 Dead.  Have a great week everyone!  Enjoy all the food and cat pictures!!