The Home Straight

Christmas has come and gone, we are overfed and have had too much to drink! It has been very busy for us this trip which is good.

Overall the weather has been mild while we had a few showers on Monday. Otherwise it has been great.

We caught up with Arj's side of the family on Christmas night after a quiet but pleasant Christmas day. We were present when the Kate's kids opened their presents in the morning.

Later we enjoyed a quiet and tasty Christmas lunch together.

Boxing Day saw us make our annual trek to Barry and Rainy's down at Drouin for the day to enjoy great company, too many drinks, plenty of laughs and a great time. We did get home a little earlier than expected but I had cricket at the MCG the next day.

I managed to get into the MCG and the cricket for two consecutive days. It was a little on the cool side at the ground especially where I was sitting. I saw the great Sachin Tendulkar bat superbly for India and the two young Australian fast bowlers Pattinson and Siddle (both Dandenong boys) bowl Australia to a great victory.

On the Tuesday evening after the cricket I went back to St Kilda and met up with Trish, Kim and Alex for a lovely Malaysian meal. Trish and I baby sat the kids on Wednesday night after I got home from the cricket while Kate and Arj went out.

On Thursday I did NOTHING! I just sat and watched the cricket on TV and vegged out for the day! I needed a rest badly!

Here it is Friday and we are out for lunch and again for tea. We may be catching up with Kim tonight as well. Kate Arj and the the rest of us are going to a revamped "The Palms" which is a food court style restaurant. The food is usually excellent.

We fly home later on Saturday afternoon where we will be collected from Maroochydore Airport by my brother Geoff and his wife who will spend a few days with us on the Sunshine Coast.

Sleeping Well Nowadays

It remains quite busy. Wednesday saw me mow Arj's lawns while Trish got the vacuum cleaner out. Kate and Arj are flat out finalizing the school year so this was our way of helping out.

We went to our very favorite Vietnamese restaurant on Wednesday night with friends Eddie and Patsy and we were joined by our daughter Kim and her friend Alex. The food was sensational and at $20 a head no one complained. Trish and I bought 2 jars of the wonderful chilli oil to take back home with us as well.

Thursday was the last day of school for Kate and Arj so Trish and I had the day baby sitting. I jumped in the car and went to Bunnings and bought a new and stronger plasterboard anchor and managed to put the curtain rail back up in the bedroom we are using. Later in the morning all four of us went for a walk down to the shops about 1 kilometre away. This is tough work with one 6 year old and a four year old!

Then they played some more before we headed to the park to give the new scooters a try out. Then the four of us were off to Malaysia Garden restaurant for our tea. The kids just loved the curry and rice while Trish and I enjoyed the boneless chicken curry and the plate of Char Koay Teow.

The kids were worn out when we got back home so they were soon in bed. Kate and Arj arrived home well after 9pm following end of the work year festivities. We all slept very well.

Friday saw us catch up with Graeme and Pat in the morning, I gave Keith a quick visit in the afternoon and later on this afternoon we are catching up with Gordon and Anne.

Trish created a small website for Anne and got it all online for her so today's visit is 'payment' for services rendered. It seems we are off to a Thai restaurant.

Since we have been in Melbourne sleeping well every night hasn't been a problem for us.

This One Gave Me A Chuckle ....

Guy goes into a bar, there's a robot bartender.
The robot says, "What will you have?"
The guy says, "Carlton Draught".
The robot brings back the best beer ever and says to the man, "What's your IQ?"
The guy says," 168."
The robot then proceeds to talk about physics, space exploration and medical technology.

The guy leaves, but he is curious... So he goes back into the bar.
The robot bartender says, "What will you have?"
The guy says, "Carlton Draught".
Again, the robot pours a great beer and gives it to the man and asks, "What's your IQ?"
The guy says, "100."
The robot then starts to talk about V8 Super cars, MotoGP, CUB beers and Supercheap Auto.

The guy leaves, but finds it very interesting, so he thinks he will try it one more time.
He goes back into the bar.
The robot says, "What will you have?"
The guy says, "Carlton Draught," and the robot brings him another great beer.
The robot then says, "What's your IQ?"
The guy says, "Uh, about 50."
The robot leans in real close and asks,

"So, you people happy with Buckley as coach?

Busy Busy Busy!

There was even more last minute Christmas shopping Monday morning before we headed to Drouin for our annual Christmas get together with friends. 4 couples have been meeting every Christmas for the last 20 years or so for a lovely meal, a few drinks and a Kris Kringle.

We arrived there early to ensure we had a good chat with Russ and Irene. The car front wheel was slightly turned like in the photo. However I spotted short self tapper screw in the tyre soon after our arrival. The car was unpacked and I quickly slipped into Drouin to have the tyre looked at. The self tapper screw had pierced right through the tyre necessitating a puncture repair.

Back to the Christmas gathering for a chat and a few drinks. I also had in excess of 130 movies to copy over for Russell as well for his media player.

Other couples June and Keith as well as Carol and David arrived.

The meal was delightful and the beer was flowing freely. Then it was Kris Kringle time and gifts were swapped. We decided to stay the night rather than attempt the 50k drive home around midnight. This would also give us a chance to really catch up with Russell and Irene.

We eventually got back to Kate's around 3 pm. From there it was a quick bite to eat and then on to Charli's school Christmas Song Concert.

Bed will be a good spot later on this evening.

Great Weekend

We arrived in Melbourne to a pleasant day with plenty of Sunshine. We spent early Thursday evening with Chris and family but we were soon on our way in our "Melbourne" car well before 7:30 pm to head to Kate's which would be our base for our time down south.

Even that visit was short lived before we were on our way early Friday afternoon to Phillip Island and Cape Woolamai where we had rented a home for the weekend to house all our family, their families including the grand children.

It worked out wonderfully with plenty eat, reasonable accommodation and a beach within 2 minutes of the front door.

There was walking, swimming, beach cricket and heaps of eating and drinking. It was a very successful weekend and everyone seemed keen on doing something similar in 2012. The weather was high 20's so everything was just perfect.

We were on our way home mid Sunday morning but spent some time with friends Max and Margaret as well as Pat and Neelan. Each visit was only for a couple of hours but all was extremely successful.

We slept very well Sunday night before we were due to head off to Drouin mid afternoon on Monday. Trish has been busy doing last minute Christmas shopping and helping Kate out where ever possible.

Our 'Diary' is relatively open now with 'commitments' (must do's) out of the way!