Coffee in Australia. I left a comment expressing my surprise that they didn’t mention cappuccinos. They seem pretty popular here. Me, I’ve gone from lattes to a long black with a splash of cold milk, no sugar. Because I’m hard-core like that.

Well, the depression of last week has lifted but I’m still finding it hard to get moving. I had both a flu shot and an allergy shot last Friday, and I’ve just felt a bit sluggish and flat ever since. My workouts have been frustratingly non-productive. I just feel like I’m fighting everything now. I’m also in desperate denial that I’ve finally caught the Snook’s cold. I’M NOT SICK. I’M NOT SICK. If I repeat it enough times, it’ll be true, right?

New Things
I spent Saturday morning at my hairdresser getting new hair. I was tired of the red, and I was sick of the length. I needed something different. My usual stylist Desireé was booked out, so I had an awesome new Kiwi guy named Carl. Carl spent FOUR HOURS taking the red out. He did a full head of foils, and then another colour in-between, and then a third colour once the foils came out. Then he cut about half of it off, changing Big Red into the Caramel Bob. I love it! I feel grown-up yet funky.

Today I headed to Marigold for yum cha with Steph and Eva and a bunch of friends. It was fantastic! Noisy and chaotic and packed (well, not in this pic, but soon after!), but fantastic. I ate everything. I even felt brave enough to try my very first “phoenix talon” (i.e. chicken foot). I KNOW! I just repeated to myself several times that it was just a funny-looking chicken wing. The sauce was delicious, and it was mostly gelatinous yumminess (with a fair few bones to spit out). I also had my first ever piece of tripe, which was probably more confronting (in terms of texture). I celebrated my bravery with some yummy desserts such as mango pancake and egg tarts. It was a magnificent feast!

Tonight, the Snook and I headed off to Alexandria to mooch around the homewares stores and get ideas for our kitchen renovation. On the way home, we stopped off at Bunnings to cross a long-standing item off my House To-Do List: new toilet seats! We have two toilets, and I actually like the style quite a lot. But the seats! They’re flimsy old plastic with horrible chips and stains on them. We picked up some beautiful new ones and Snookums had them installed within minutes. The new ones are stylish, sturdy, and pristine white. It seems like such a small thing, but having these in my bathroom really does make me feel happier! Here’s the Before and After…

   

Further evidence of my inability to say “no.”
Last night was our building’s Strata AGM. You’ll recall that last year the Snook put up his hand to be on the Committee. He was going to do the same this year, but he caught a cold yesterday and didn’t feel up to going. So I went along without him and put his name forward as before. Then it came time to elect the officebearers, and the outgoing chairperson really wanted to hand over to somebody else. No one volunteered. I eventually called the Snook to see if he was willing, but he really didn’t want to do it. That’s when my neighbour Mark (the treasurer) said, “Why don’t you do it, Kris?” Oh balls. Sure, why not take on ANOTHER extracurricular activity?! So not only did I get put on the Committee in the Snook’s place, I got installed as the bloody chairperson. I’ve never done this before.

Ooh, did anybody in Indiana see the flaming meteorite?

Ebert hated Kick-Ass. That disappoints me a little bit, but I can see where he comes from. I still want to see it again. It kicked ass.

Edited to add: But Margaret Pomeranz loved it. HA! I love it when she accuses David Stratton of becoming “this conservative person.”

Top 5: Financial Goals All Men Should Make. It’s good advice for anybody, actually. The Snook and I have made a concerted effort to get our financial lives in order over the past couple years. Once my student loan is paid off (which should be happening very soon), all of our debts besides the mortgage will be gone. We’ve got an emergency fund squirreled away; and we both have superannuation funds. (Not that there’s anything special about that; pretty much everyone in Australia has them.) So that’s 4-out-of-5 right there. Anyone want to recommend some good life insurance?