Tomorrow is my pampering day (having my nails done, getting someone else to straighten my hair in the hopes that it stays straight for more than four hours, etc. . .), and the day after that we’re off on a plane, so today is D-day really.  All cooking, cleaning and administrative tasks must be done by nightfall.  Did I mention that it’s warm and quite humid?

Well, no matter I suppose because I’ve already finished the most pernickety task of the day, which was making this Scottish Whisky Tablet:

I have no idea if they taste right or not, as my official tablet taste-tester is still at the office.  I used Talisker 10 year old for the whisky, mainly because that’s what Scott’s drinking (and very much enjoying) at the moment.  I felt really bad about it too because when I asked if I could borrow a few tablespoons, he asked how I was planning on returning them.

Stingy, stingy. . .

Now I just need to box them, tie a pretty bow, and make hanging tags.  Of course, if they don’t taste right, we’ll move on to plan B, which is to make something else tonight (I might have just enough time to do Champagne truffles), so if that happens, and they don’t make it out of the house then I hope you’ll all just forget that you ever saw this post.

Kthanx. 

We’re heading to wintry Tennessee at the end of the week, so today we decided to do something that we won’t be able to do for some time – go to the beach. We headed to beautiful Balmoral where we walked, sat and enjoyed the bountiful tranquility that Australia has to offer.

Don’t get us wrong – we’re really looking forward to our time at home.  But it’s going to be different (meaning cold), and we just wanted to say farewell to the summer for a month and make the most of the day.

After the beach, we made a stop in Neutral Bay at a lovely little wine bar for some tapas.  A very relaxing Sunday afternoon was had by all.

Yesterday I saw a train driver in shorts, sunglasses and a Santa hat.  Most other places in the world that combination would just look wrong.  Not here.

So, as the day warms to a lovely 28 degrees (82F) we’re sipping mimosas and thinking about heading out for brunch. Well somebody has to …

Some people find us in the most amazing ways.  Here is just a sample of our favourite recent search terms.

• Bavarian lesbians
• cats getting it on
• fingerprint dusting in the office
• hotter than balls
• large indoor plants in the Philippines
• Proclaimers Lidl
• traditional French clothes
• spazzy kangaroo
• inappropriate cat
• disappointed kid images
• fat girls sitting on the beach
• my turkey doesn’t want to perform the Haka
• big boobs
• home made mixed sports obstacle course
• rimming
• 457 health test for steroids
• does popcorn make me tired and sleepy
• you’ll never be as cool as this kid

How on earth these searches find us we don’t know.

I know most of you won’t care about this, but I’m posting it anyway.  I need to vent a bit. 

In three years have not found one competent person at a MAC counter anywhere in Australia.  I really miss the knowledgeable and well trained staff from the Spring Street store in NYC.  Maybe that being my local counter for many years spoiled me, but Sydney is a big enough city to know better. . .

I know that MAC discontinued my tinted moisturiser, so when I asked for the most similar product, I was quite surprised to come home and find a thick gel based product that aged me 10 years, and when the girl told me that I had been wearing the wrong shade for the last 12 years, I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.  What I got was ORANGE SKIN.  I looked like I had on a plastic mask that had been spray tanned.

I won’t even get into the two idiots I dealt with today.

I miss good service and my pale, thin, lightweight barely there coverage.  Heavy sigh, Australia. . .heavy sigh.

I know that the blog is snowing.  I also know that it’s sweltering here in Sydney and that those two things don’t mix.

It’s a setting left from last year.  The blog starts snowing on December 1st every year it seems.  I just noticed.  Still deciding what to do about that. . .

Electric Lemonade

1 1/2 oz citron vodka
1/2 oz blue Curacao
2 oz sweet and sour mix
lemon-lime soda, to top
lemon, to garnish

Fill a Collins glass with ice. Pour in vodka, blue Curacao and sour mix. Top with lemon-lime soda.

Garnish with a lemon wedge, and serve with straw.

I used sugar-free soda and sour mix with excellent results.  Nice and refreshing in the 30-40 degree heat (think 90s and 100s in F). 

Mon: Seared Salmon with Potatoes and Dijon Broth

Tues: Avocado & Grapefruit Salad

Wed: Broccolini with Smoked Paprika, Almonds & Garlic

Thurs: Grilled Prawns with Corn & Tomato Scramble

Fri: Light Mediterranean Salad with Lamb Chops

Lunch: Roast Chicken & Mango Salad with Yogurt

We found out this morning that Scott has a meeting in Washington DC in January, so we’ll be extending our trip home for Christmas.  We will now be away for a full month.

I don’t want anyone getting any funny ideas about moving into our home and living it up while we’re away either.  I’m talking to you birdies! 

Oh, and for anyone interested in spending an evening with David Sedaris- there are now two tickets available.  The seats are excellent by the way. 

The Australian Language Technology Association (ALTA) are having their yearly conference, and this time around it’s here in Sydney.  So, for the next couple of days I’ll be on the UNSW campus.  It should be quite an interesting event with all sorts of NLP topics to be covered.  It’s also a good opportunity to catch up some former colleagues – note I did say some.