Yeah, just me getting all soppy and happy again, knowing how lucky I am to know some wonderful people.
Thursday nothing much happened, the lab was boring and after running out of essential starting material I went to a lecture which killed any desire I might have had to do any more work. I could have made it to the gym for a rather badly needed work-out, but it didn't eventuate.
Friday was a rather slack day, after a particularly uninspiring morning of work, Red called and said she was coming to Uni, so we met up and had coffee and then I said "Hey, lets write off the rest of the day and go shopping". That suited her just fine and in Civic she bought two guy's shirts and I went to Miss Shop in Grace Bros. and got a cool bright orange T-shirt.
Susan rang but my mobile died (again) but we finally got through to her and I conned… ahem, I mean convinced Red to come down to Woden to watch the Olympic opening ceremony. It was a really nice night, just crashed out around the television with pizza, coke and lollies and just shooting the breeze and taking the piss. The ceremony was Ok I guess, and Susan won the "Guess who will light the flame competition" with Kathy Freeman. That part was very nifty, and I quite liked it. It almost makes up for the years of graft, corruption, drug-taking, cost-overruns and other stuff ups.
Saturday was a really nice, possibly even hot day. I wandered into the city but didn't actually buy anything much, which was kind of smart because I have to save most of my pay-check to pay for my second zapping appointment on Friday. Later I went to work and chatted with E***** (the honours student) and that was nice, though eventually the pull of the bright sunny day was too much and I wandered slowly back into the city.
An afternoon nap and a shower later I figured I should get ready to head over to Peta G's place in Ainslie. I had forgotten to park my bike indoors, and someone had stolen the front light and the bag of repair tools. I was annoyed at myself, but didn't have time to think about it. Thankfully Ainslie isn't too far away, but however in that direction it is completely uphill which for someone as unfit as me it was bad at the time, but definitely needed.
This was another wonderful time amongst some people whom I really care for. It was me, Peta G, Peta B and Dana, and we ate, drank and chatted away until 1:00 am! We had Asian style dinner (Peta G still hasn't recovered from her time in Indonesia obviously *g*) and I knocked back enough wine to reach the happily verbose stage which I don't mind since it breaks me out of my usually reserved shell.
So we all chatted away, and the usually exchanged of books occurred and I was amused to see other people enjoying "The Onion - 20th Century" which I still ended up forgetting, but nevermind. Dessert was Golden Syrup dumplings, and I have to admit, the smell brought back a flood of memories from Coonawara and 1996 in general, some bad but most good. After that (and listening to both of the Reverence/Irreverence double CD set) the party adjourned to the living room, the music progressed backwards in time (to a 3 out of 5 moustache rating) and I sat on the floor like a kid and played with the "mind-game" toys. Eventually we called it a night and I got a lift back over near Toad with Dana, leaving my bike chained up at Peta's place.
So, today after I tear myself away from the computer, I'll try and tidy this god-awful pig-sty up and then wait for Mum to arrive. She's bringing the little green car back over and I guess we'll do lunch or shopping or something. I thought she might like to go to the Botanical Gardens or we could drive around to the mini-Botanical Gardens (i.e. Peta's place *grin*) to get my bike and the two of them could meet up. I'll wait and see.
4:15 pm - It went quite well.
10:40 pm - I just got back from the lab a little while ago, I was over there for about three hours doing some "character building". ;)
Mum got here about 12:00 pm, and I got the hug I had been pinning for straight away. That was really great, and set a nice tone for the rest of the day. I suggested that we take the buns and fresh meat which she had brought over for our lunch up to the Botanical Gardens and eat there. Mum had never been, but likes gardening and plants and so we drove over. Away from the busy and noisy kiosk we found a secluded grassy spot with a picnic table and chatted away in the pleasant shade. After lunch I took her around what I thought were some of the nicer parts, the rock garden, the Eucalypt lawn and so on. She loved the purple Swamp Banksia and I rang Peta G on the mobile and asked if she minded us dropping around so that she could meet Mum and I could stick my bike in the back of the car.
So, we drove over there about 2:00 pm, and we got the grand tour and some good coffee. We couldn't stay overtly long since Mum had to catch a bus back to Gundagai at 3;15 pm, so we thanked Peta and I drove over to the Jolimont Center. I got a second farewell hug and then I went home.
I bummed about, did some brief shopping, came home, snoozed and then went over to the lab at about 7:00 pm.
It was quite a nice day, especially when compared against the tone of my last diary entry. I was glad to have some time to chat with Mum, because as I see it, she didn't see me grow up the first time because I was at boarding school and University, and now she isn't seeing me grow up this rare second time either.
I was glad she got a chance to meet Peta (even if she was distracted by the dressage on TV *grin*) because she wouldn't have met (knowingly) another TS person, and the more something becomes an everyday thing, the less there is to fear. Of course she did meet Peta back in December 1998 when the then Peter and T**** when camping near the Yarangobilly Caves where Mum works. I had only met Peta (then Jennifer) for the first time at the Polly's Ball in mid-November 1998, so it was an amusing coincidence.
11:30 pm - I just gave my floor a quick sweep with the kitchen broom, and holy leaping hair-balls Batman! What gathers the worst in my room is neither dust, nor glitter nor miscellaneous fluff, but hair! Great clumps of it sticking to and in amongst the broom's bristles. And that is despite the fact that I always try to put it in the bin when it comes out… oh well, I'm sure I'll survive, but this definitely wasn't mentioned in the "Becoming a Girl for Beginners" manual. ;)