May 5 - Derby Day

  Bit of a lazy morning, though my intention was to get through housework.  Mr Smart settled on the couch to study and I was left to my own devices.  I was well on the way to wasting the day on the internet when I got hungry in the mid-morning and went off to Waverley Gardens to grab something for our lunch.  My only directive from Mr Smart 'something salady', so I grabbed 'salady things' and a little breakfast Savoury Bite from Baker's Delight and headed back home to prepare lunch.
  I made two very nice homemade Caesar salads with parmesan, bacon, poached eggs, and homemade crunchy croutons.  Mr Smart grinned as he ate and said, "This may very well put paid to the rumour that you don't make friends with salad".  It's always nice when something you've made yourself is well received.
 

 
  In the remainder of the afternoon I got through laundry and dishes and a few other housework bits and pieces, but generally wasted a lot time on the internet and left Mr Smart to his studies.  I get annoyed at myself when I 'waste' time on the internet, but I have to remind myself how tired and stressed I am lately and remember that it's something I do to unwind and give myself a break already.
  In the afternoon I made us cups of tea and had a couple of pieces of almond biscotti with mine.  Almond biscotti dipped in tea is very nice, but it's not an ideal dunking biscuit because it absorbs the tea too fast and has no oil content to keep the hot liquid from disintegrating it.  One dunk, that's all you get with biscotti unless you want it crumbing up the tea.
  It was a nice quiet day, but of course it was all just waiting for the evening!  Tonight was the night of the Liverpool vs. Everton derby match which kicked off at 10:30pm!
  We headed off to collect Miss M from her new abode at about 7:30pm, planning to have dinner beforehand.  Of course, as occasionally happens, I had a glitch with my sense of direction and mental mapping (Mr Smart referred to it as a 'brain-fart') and forgot that I needed to take the Bolte Bride/Airport turn off, so Mr Smart and I took the scenic route, over the Westgate Bridge and back again.  Of course he couldn't resist telling Miss M about it the second we arrived.  Her house is already looking like a home, and the unpacking was already nearing completion!
  Our original plan had been to go to The Celtic Club to watch the game.  It's the Arsenal fans' home club so for Liverpool vs. Everton it would have a pretty even match of fans of both clubs and therefore an exciting atmosphere.  A convivial mix of rivalries, but with fans cheering no matter what outcome.  Unfortunately though, The Celtic Club was playing the match but they were closing before it ended (which seemed a little stupid).  It was lucky I rang and checked.  In the end, we plumped for The Imperial, which unfortunately for the Everton fan, Miss M, is the Liverpool home club.

The Reds assembling before kick off.

  We couldn't decide on the myriad of culinary options available to us in the city so we just went with The Imperial itself.  I had a couple of lemon, lime & bitters while we perused the menu and then ordered.  A pub meal is sometimes a nice affair, and Mr Smart's parma, and Miss M's gnocchi both looked lovely, my lemon pepper calamari however was extremely lacklustre.  It had a nice enough flavour but if you pay $20 for "Lemon Pepper Calamari" quite frankly you expect more than six pissy pieces of calamari on a mountain of chips and salad.

  There was quite a big crowd in the place by kick off.  A big red crowd with banners, uniforms and good cheer.  What a pity it turned out to be the most utterly boring soccer match ever.  It was a nil-all draw, with three yellow cards.  There was a fair bit of on-field thuggery from both sides (I'm looking at you Carragher and Fellaini) but the referee was pretty permissive which meant there wasn't a lot of stoppage time.  Poor Miss M couldn't cheer and jeer because she was the one blue Toffee (dressed in black so as to be incognito) in a sea of Reds.
  The funniest thing all night was a chap from the Hillsborough Justice Campaign who was walking around selling cupcakes from a suitcase.  A gold coin donation got you a cupcake topped with a set of lolly teeth, a 'Luis Suarez' cupcake.  A reference to the Liverpool player's earlier ban for biting another player a couple of weeks ago.
  It was a very tiring night overall and we all headed home unsatisfied with the result, and the match as a whole.  We dropped Miss M home, and huge thanks to her for the lend of a singlet for work in the morning because I had forgotten to pack one.  We got back to Mr Smart's place and promptly curled up in bed and went to sleep.
  Jess