June...part II

Well how about this...another post within days of the previous one! Will wonders never cease!!!

Just a couple of things...I was reading some of the back catalogue of one of my favourite bloggers - the blogging world's answer to MasterChef - Tom when I realized that it was his birthday recently and nothing had been mentioned. And so, I took it upon myself to rectify this travesty! Happy belated Birthday mate! Hope that the next year ahead will bring you lots of success with both your personal life and your gourmet life!!!

Also forgot to mention that my very talented boyfriend is performing at the Opera House (again) this week - on Thursday and Saturday nights - as part of the Sydney Philharmonia Choir. They are performing Carmina Burana and I'm very much looking forward to going! He's been rehearsing like mad and I'll not get to see much of him at all this week, but it will all be worthwhile! If you're in Sydney, and feeling like a bit of "culcha", come along - there's bound to be one or two spare seats available on the night.

And, just to make the weekend even busier, we're hosting a Christmas in July dinner on Sunday night. Being a Scotsman who lived in London for 10 yrs prior to moving to Sydney, McBrad's group of friends are mostly from the UK and they all seem to miss having a big Christmas dinner when it's cold! And so, we decided to do one this year. Needless to say, I'm going to be doing my best MasterChef impression and attempting to feed the hordes. I'm doing an old favourite, Beer Up the Bum Chicken, which is easy, though not strictly very Christmassy! Ahhh, who cares - it's yummy! :-)

We saw the new Transformers movie last night - wow!!! Story line is somewhat light on, and the movie is geographically challenged (somehow, Petra is within spitting distance of the pyramids, which are apparently quite close to the coast line) but holy heck, the movie is HUGE! A full on explosion of non-stop action! Totally awesome in a very shallow way!

OK, that's it - I'm exhausted from so much blogging! :-)

June...

After a small'ish prompt (thanks DG), I realized that it's nearly the end of June and I've yet to blog. To be honest, not really that much to say. It's been a lovely month in general, with a couple of highlights.

The BEST one - my gorgeous McBrad sent me long stemmed red roses at work! Huge box of the things, with chocolate love hearts as well. I got sooooo many comments from people at work and was the envy of all the girls! I didn't take them home, as I'm rarely there, so I put them in a vase on my desk and there they stayed. They lasted for a week so it was just marvellous. Although McBrad has given me flowers before, he's always given them to me at home - he's never sent them to my work before! And even better, the note just said that he wanted to tell me that he loved me. Everyone was highly impressed that there was no anniversary (they were all very familiar with our monthly anniversary celebrations that we did for our first 12 months), no birthday, nothing. It was just a lovely gesture from the love of my life. What a sweet heart!

I received some really exciting news from my brother Mark - he proposed to his boyfriend Sim on the top of Mt Pilatus (in Switzerland)! So they're now getting married - plans are at the moment to have a registry affair in the UK and then everyone head to either France or Italy for a long weekend celebration - they'll hire a villa for the celebrations. Should be awesome. We're still waiting for them to decide when this is going to happen but it's a GREAT excuse to head back to London and have a nice little European sojourn as well. :-)

And just last week, I booked us a little winter break in Nth Queensland - 5 nights on Magnetic Island. I'm really quite excited by this - Magnetic Island is just off the coast of Townsville where I grew up, so I've been there more times than I can remember. It was always a sleepy, backpacker style island, with a really relaxed low key vibe. But over the past few years, there's been some very nice resorts built and it's gone a lot upmarket, whilst still retaining its original feel. (well, that's what the locals are saying). So it should be great not only to spend 5 days and nights in warm Nth Qld, but also to show McBrad a bit of my hometown. Can't wait...we leave on August 10.

And that's about it...it's busy at work as it's end of financial year, but that's all over on Tuesday so can't wait for that. My life proceeds very nicely, with my wonderful man by my side, and our gorgeous puppy running ahead! I feel very blessed.

May...

Profuse apologies to the one or two readers who haven't given up on me! It's nearly the end of May and I have not written one word all month! My longest blogging absense ever!

There's not a lot to say really. May has been quite a busy month, but nothing that is really outstanding or blogworthy. I suppose the biggest event was my purchase (very unexpectedly I might add) of a new car! I made the mistake of mentioning to McBrad that I was thinking about updating my poor tired (but mechanically very sound) Corolla and before I could say 'overhead gasket' (or whatever), we were driving around to different car yards, checking out what was available. McBrad is a very decisive person - if he thinks about updating his car, he goes and buys a new car! Me, I think about a new car, have a look at what's available, compare prices on the internet, research the pros and cons of each car, look at colours, peruse my finances, do cash flow spreadsheets and work out a repayment plan. That's all before I even decide whether or not I'm going to proceed. So, Sunday morning, we're at the car dealer's and lo and behold, I drive out of there with my new Nissan Tiida Q! I got home, still in shock at having spent so much money in such a quick time, without much thinking about it! McBrad was excited out of his mind, I was nearly throwing up in the sink (quite literally). BUT, once we went for a drive and I settled down, I started to get excited. It's a lovely car, and driving it is a dream! Noodle LOVES her back seat - I think it's the leather that does it for her! So that was quite a momentous incident in the past month.

McBrad also extended my 6 sessions with my new Personal Trainer Daz by another 10 sessions, because he was impressed with my progress and was feeling generous. I've gotta say, despite him being a total NAZI who takes particular delight in inflicting pain on me, Daz is very good and it is producing results. I now have a 2pack, and hope that the remain 4pack will emerge from long banishment in the near future, to give me a nice hard flat abdomen! I don't know what it is, but you hear about how people who exercise regularly get this rush after they have exercised. I'm yet to experience that. I just feel smashed after each session.

We've had less than satisfactory weather here in the Emerald City for the past week or so - very autumnal, with cool mornings, cloudy days and the occasional torrential downpour of rain. Fantastic for snuggling with McBrad, but it would be nice to have a lovely sunny weekend. According to the forecast, it's not going to happen this weekend. :-(

I was just thinking the other night about comfort movies (the cinematic version of comfort food I suppose) - that movie or those movies that you always go back to when you just want to feel good about the world. No matter how many times you watch it, you always end up with that warm fuzzy feeling in your heart! For me, Pretty Woman used to be high on the list, but of recent years, it has fallen somewhat. My new no. 1 comfort movie is Love Actually. Yes, it has its critics, but I just feel so good after watching that movie. McBrad and I watched it last night, and of course, watching Love Actually whilst snugged with my very hot boyfriend when it's cold and rainy outside is just the BEST thing in the world.

So that's my May. I will try to update my blog a bit more frequently, but I can't guarantee it. Whilst I'm still reading blogs, I find that I'm just unmotivated to put digit to QWERTY anymore.

Anyway, hope you all have a lovely weekend whereever you are!

Monty's Miscellaneous Musings...

1. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) seriously need to get a grip...they have requested the Pet Shop Boys change their name to something more ethical and acceptable...like the Rescue Shelter Boys. What are those people on? Have they nothing better to do (like save whales or something) than make such ridiculous suggestions? PSB have of course, dismissed such a stupid idea.

2. Walking into North Sydney yesterday morning, on my way to the bus, a few of the Navy Seals who are based nearby jogged past me. Shirtless. Man candy - the perfect way to ease back into work after a long weekend.

3. I had my first training session with my new personal trainer yesterday after work. I've got 6 sessions with him as one of my birthday presents from McBrad and after last night's session, I'm not looking forward to the next 5. He absolutely smashed me!!! I'm sore all over today. He's very good, I've gotta say, but he's relentless. Next session is tomorrow night. Eek!

4. Got home today and had two lovely birthday cards in the mail - one from my brother Mark and his boyfriend Sim, and one from my gorgeous friend EIB, who's now living and working back in London. It was so nice to have my birthday experience extended for another couple of days.

Pet Shop Boys...

McBrad got me the new PSB album "Yes" (plus it's accompanying remix album "etc") as one of his anniversary presents to me a couple of weeks ago. OK, so I've professed my deep and abiding love for PSB before but this album is just awesome! Some of the tracks are totally hands-in-the-air dance songs - thoroughly infectious pop music that elevates your mood 1000%! They just get me with their music. Admittedly, they're not everyone's cup of tea, but they are soooo mine! It was two years ago that I saw them perform in Sydney (over Easter as well) and I can't get enough of them. So do yourself a favour and buy the new CD!!! They certainly get the BIG TICK from me! :-)

Easter weekend...

It's been a rather relaxing long weekend I must say. It started off with a bit of a bang and then mellowed from there. It was my birthday - my 38th for those who are counting - on Good Friday so I decided that it would be better to celebrate on Thursday night after work, just in case people were going away for the weekend. So McBrad and I rocked up to the Dolphin Hotel, the scene of last year's birthday actually, and over the course of the evening, friends turned up. It was lovely actually, because at any given time, there was a different set of friends there...some stayed for a drink before heading out for dinner, some came after dinner, some stayed all night and kept rocking on well after we had gone home. So it was the perfect chilled out evening that I was hoping for.

Friday necessitated a sleep in, whilst the exceptionally snuggly McBrad quietly slipped out of bed and fed and walked Noodle before returning home to take me to breakfast at our favourite cafe, Cafe Ism in Newtown. And then, we spent the arvo at home, me reading the paper and tidying the garden, McBrad working on one of two assignments that are due tomorrow. Poor McBrad had phoned around many of our favourite restaurants, trying to find one that was going to be opened on Good Friday...and none were! So he was quite despairing of us even eating on my birthday night. Thankfully, Mack rang me up on his way home from the city on Friday arvo, wanting to meet up for a drink. So I wandered down and met him on Crown St and we went into Trinity Bar and had a couple of shandies and a catch up! It's great having him back in Sydney after his year in Canada. But he mentioned to me that riding up Crown St, he had noticed lots of the pubs and bars were opened, and even down our end, I could see quite a few opened too.

So McBrad and I showered and dressed and decided to wander down Crown St and find somewhere that was opened and that appealled. We ended up at our old regular, Paua, which was suprisingly open. I think that a lot more places appeared to be opened this year...I'm thinking that maybe the credit crunch has encouraged more places to trade, even on public holidays in an attempt to make more $$$. Whatever the case, it was a lovely evening with my favourite man. The perfect way to spend my birthday.

Saturday was more of the same, however I did come home Saturday night and have a nice quiet evening watching dvd's. McBrad had given me a bag of my favourite lollies as one of my birthday presents (he knows how much I love my lollies) and sitting there Saturday night, I just felt like having a couple of the lollies. 30 mins later, bag empty, and me feeling less than healthy, I started regretting opening them. And then the sugar hit! The late movie came and went and it was 2am before I knew it!!! Needless to say, I won't be doing that again soon! The good thing was that it was a long weekend, so it didn't matter if I had a couple of late nights.

Sunday, after another nice sleep in, I wandered down to the Grumpy Baker and had me a long black, a Ham and Cheese Croissant and the Sunday paper...just the perfect thing for a Sunday. And then it was back to McBrad's, and off to the gym! He sure knows how to make me sweat (from exercise that is). The lovely DG had invited us over to his place for dinner, and so that was a delightful evening of great food and great company.

Today, we were back at Cafe Ism for brekkie with Con, one of our friends. And that's about it...a wonderfully relaxed Easter weekend. In fact, I don't think I've done so little in four days as I have this weekend past.

Oh, and the ever gorgeous McBrad bought me a lovely plaited leather bracelet, with a gold clasp thingy - it looks a lot better than I've described, trust me. And 6 sessions with a personal trainer! At first, I was somewhat taken aback - wasn't sure whether it was a present or punishment, but it's actually exactly what I need! I must confess to having lost enthusiasm for the gym of recent times and I think these sessions will get me back on the straight and narrow. If the trainer is good, I'll see if I can have maybe one session a week, just to keep me motivated. The Trainer rang me on Saturday to arrange our first session (Tuesday after work) and he's British! What a bonus!!! He's 41, gay, single, and reportedly quite good looking, so that should help with the motivation too! LOL But McBrad doesn't have anything to worry about, I still think he's the sexiest man alive!!!

So that's about it. Hope you have all had a marvellous long weekend!!!

McBrad...

It's rather late, but I've been sitting up re-reading all of my past posts about McBrad...all 81 of them. Just as an aside, I've written about 105 posts since meeting McBrad and 81 involve him...I seriously don't know how you, my lovely readers, have put up with it.

Anyway, I just can't believe all the stuff that's happened in the past 12 months! All the stuff we've done, all the anniversaries, the holidays...just reading my reactions to the "first time" things - holding hands, saying the "L" word etc. It's been quite a year, a wonderful year. And things continue smashingly well. We spent Friday and Sat down at the beach house and it was a lovely, relaxing break. We've had a wonderful month celebrating many things, and this week, it's my birthday. But you know what hit me as I sat reading all the past posts? I remembered my doubt, my insecurity in those first few months. The constant questions that I had about whether this would last (questions to myself anyway), my worry about if he would fall out of love with me. But you know, I don't think about that stuff anymore. I feel the most secure in our relationship and it's a wonderful thing. But sometimes, you need to revisit how it was in those first few months to realize how good things are now!

I can't begin to explain the changes in my life over the past year but 99% of them have been great changes. It's amazing how everything really just flows when you're happy within yourself, when you're secure with who you are and where you are in life. It took a lot of heart ache and pain and stress and worry and doubt to get to where I am now, but by golly it was all worth it. And I think that's what I really want to say...sometimes, things don't look good. Sometimes, it does feel like all the stuff you're going through isn't worth while. But it is! I've been there, and it's all paid off. I love my life!