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Last week it was my birthday. Next week it is Dear Husband's birthday. To celebrate, we dumped the kids on their grandparents (yay for grandparent babysitting when the 'rents - as the Superteen likes to refer to us - need some hard-to-come-by time off!) and headed out to tea.
I decided to surprise Dear Husband and booked a restaurant without telling him where. All today he has been trying to guess where the mystery dinner would be. We ended up going to Lure Restaurant at the Coro Hotel. This was for two reasons....firstly, I'd been there before and thought it was ok and secondly, I am of the total belief that we need to support Queensland businesses who are trying to recover from being flooded.
Ok, this is slightly personal as, if you are a regular reader to my blog would realise, that Dear Husband's work also went underwater. Like every other business in the same position, they are slowly recovering but every little bit of support is greatly appreciated.
Our Lure meal was delicious. I have taken a photograph of the scrumptious dessert so that you can understand why I think I've put on a few kilograms over the last few hours! The only hint of flood devastation was that the car park lift was not working and we had to walk up the easily accessible car park ramp.
After dinner we walked around the block and onto Coronation Drive. As we walked we tried to imagine the whole area being underwater. All we can say is that the immense clean up has been worth it....it looks almost as good as new!
PS...I think I've finally fixed the small picture problem! Yayyy!
One of the joys of living where we do is that home 'visitors' are common. Our back yards are full of interesting creatures....some cute and some not so cute! While I do love checking out the native fauna, this little girl was a little scary. She is one of the biggest red back spiders that I've ever seen!
Before Christmas, we bought a new outdoor table setting. Thinking that we were very trendy, we opted for a nice black number. We didn't even consider how black also makes the perfect camouflage for black spiders. I knew that she was in there....her messy web gave her away.....but I just couldn't spot her. She was hiding up under the rim of the table, in a little hole! Actually, I think it must have been a huge hole to fit her in.
For those outside of Australia, these spiders are deadly, although if bitten, it usually involves a few days in hospital, an antivenom and feeling very sick. They are not fast and are usually easy to spot. Their abdomen tends to be not much bigger than your little finger nail. The problem that we have with them is that they like to get up under outdoor furniture to nest and so can take you by surprise if you don't know they are there!
I can assure you, however that this red back was enormous...more like thumb nail size! And yes, I think that is a grasshopper she was chowing down on!
I am sorry to say, however that a can of repellent did a quick job....after I took the photograph, of course!
It was with a little 'jumping up and down' excitement that I discovered that I'd won a couple of movie tickets from Kylie on her blog, "Flying Ducks". Now, to put it into perspective, I never, ever win anything. I am probably one of the most unlucky people when it comes to competitions, so this little win just made my day! Thanks Kylie. And I am very much looking forward to going to see the movie!
Miss Eleven's first experience at Sushi Train! She liked it but just couldn't bring herself to appreciate the smoked salmon (I know, I know...I love it, too!).
On a lazy Sunday afternoon, Dear Husband said, "Let's all go to the Lifeline Bookfest!"
"Not I", said Superteenager!
"I suppose I will", I replied.
"I will", said an excited little Miss Eleven, "But can I ask my friends to come?"
"I suppose" was our weary response.
So, this afternoon, Dear Husband, Miss Eleven, two of her friends and I all packed into our car and drove into the city to visit the Lifeline Bookfest!
There were books everywhere! Tables were packed with them, even though today was the last day.
We browsed, we looked, we played, we walked and we spent!
And the best part of it all was......it was all air conditioned!!
Reading and coolness are what lazy Brisbane Sundays are all about!
A quick up-date:
* Holidays are over :(
* Kids are back at school and I am back at work
* Dear Husband is still recovering from his work going underwater. He has had very few days off since the floods hit.....and is still going!
* Australia Day was a family bbq....nothing better.
* We are intensely watching weather forecasts for Tropical Cyclone Anthony crossing the Queensland coast....more bad weather!
* Family history research has continued to be interesting.......I am still trawling through ancestry.com for information.
* I bought a new lamp for the lounge room...pic later!
* The dogs continue to bounce around the yard and house in their own contented way. We put them in a kennel for the first time ever when we went up the coast after new year's and they weren't even excited to see me when I came back! What was that all about!
* I have joined a reading group! The plan is that all books are to be easy to read and it's a great excuse to get together and have some quality girl time! I like it!
* And Miss Eleven is continuing to enjoy her reading....as you can see!
