August 31 - Letting My Hair Down

   Got up and straight on the cross trainer for 42 minutes (Buffy S3E14), and then ate my breakfast of yoghurt, berries and fibre toppers.  The Coles brand is very very tart.  Berries are tart to start with but these are making me wince!  I tried microwaving the berries this morning, just for 30 seconds, to see if that would help.  I also added a little sprinkle of slivered almonds but it was still a bit too sour.  I may need to revert to the three berry mix or add a drizzle of honey in future!  Also, this was the healthiest thing I ate all day.

  Once I'd got dressed and ready for the busy and fat/salt/sugar filled day, I prepared the Chocolate & Pretzel Slice into its presentation boxes for distribution to various destinations and had a small piece of it for my morning tea.  Oh god.. it's so good.  It is dense and deliciously chocolatey and I will not be making it again for a long time!  The temptation would just be too great.
  After that I had a spare half hour before I had to head off so I called my mate Teddy in Boston.  It was great to hear his voice again.  We email a lot but with the time difference and different work schedules it can be really hard to find a time where we are both home and able to spend the time on the phone.  Friendships can be hard to maintain at such a distance, but we manage.
  At 11:30am it was time to head off to word for my right-hand gal's farewell lunch.  I set off via Captain Cupcake's place (she received the first batch of chocolatey goodness) and got to work in time to help set up.  We had Garlic Pizza Bread and two types of pasta (Ravioli Bolognese and Sundried Tomato Penne Pollo) and sandwiches and the Broccoli Salad and a Green Salad and M&Ms and Malteasers and Chocolate & Pretzel slice (I had two more pieces) and Lemonade and Coke and and.. we still managed to have leftovers which makes the Duty Manager happy as he's got lunches and dinners for the weekend shifts.

 

   It was a fantastic lunch and we all ate too much and made merry and reminisced.  We had a couple of contractors join us, and a retired manager dear to our hearts, and a much missed ex-team member.  It was awesome to see the team whole gathered and enjoying each others' company.  One of the most awesome things about where I work is that we don't have to have official 'team building days' because we build our team simply by enjoying being together.  Celebrating our wins, sharing our losses, we do it all as team and therein lies our strength.
  I headed off after our long lunch to head down to my accountant in Frankston (happy to recommend her if anyone needs an accountant).  I had allowed an hour for it but these days everything is so hooked in that she was able to download almost all the data she required and prepare it before my arrival.  She only really needed me there to add anything different from the previous year and specify the amounts I donated to which charities and to sign the completed return!  As a result the appointment only took 30 minutes.
  It seemed a waste of time to go home so I just drove straight to Jack Johnson's place.  We had a takeaway/movie night planned.  As a result of leaving earlier than expected however, I beat him there and had to wait a few minutes on the front door step.  He was home pretty soon after though and I was promptly introduced to his two furry feline friends and stowed a stash of chocolately goodness in his fridge for him to enjoy at his leisure
(I certainly didn't want to indulge in any more).
  The movies never quite eventuated but they are now at Jack's place for a non-specific "next time".  What we did end up doing was playing Rockband on the XBox.  I was chuffed to discover that while I can only manage the easy level on the 'guitar' I am able to capably manage expert level on the microphone!  Yay for being able to sing in key!

  We ordered and collected dinner somewhere along the line in between our rock star stylings.  I ordered Spicy Salt & Pepper Squid and Jack ordered Seafood Combination Flat Noodle stir fry.  Both were nice and the order came with free Prawn Crackers (of which I ate way too many).
  After more Rockband my increasingly hoarse throat (especially after Chop Suey by System of a Down) and Jack's increasingly cramped hands we settled in to watching some TV.  Jack had a couple of seasons of an adult cartoon called Archer which is a James Bond-style piss-take of the spy game, where Stirling Archer is the son of the owner of the Isis spy agency.  It is very funny in an 'oh so wrong' kind of way.  I headed home after about 8 or 9 episodes and got in about midnight.
  I know this wasn't a great day food wise and that certainly showed up in my blood sugar reading for the evening.  However, I knew this day was coming up so I was good all week in the lead up and I will go back to being good again in the morning.  Technically, it is morning now (and Spring!), so I am going to bed before I run out of night!
  Jess

Stealth Kitteh says "O hai"