Good Things Friday

MY birthday

It was my birthday this week, and along with that came the obligatory eating. My Dad rang me up last Friday “I’m ringing for your Mum, she wants us to have lunch on Sunday. Can you book somewhere” Cue me trying to find somewhere decent, convenient and open for Sunday lunch with room for six people. I settled on Park Street Pasta and Wine which is not too far from us and convenient for Mum and Dad to drop down off the freeway. My eldest had to work but the other two kids could make it and the six of us had a lovely lunch. Bonus that we were the only table seated inside so it was easy on the hearing for dad.

CHRistmas Tree

I put the Christmas tree up, just a few days late according to my usual schedule. With our nativity scene and tree up it’s starting to feel a bit Christmassy here. Now I just need to pull out the Christmas playlist. This weekend we have a our first Christmas party.

FINAL RESULTS

Our middle child received her final results for uni on my actual birthday which also coincided with our normal family dinner night so we went to Elwood Bathers to celebrate. The food is good but fairly expensive for what you are getting but mainly going there is all about the location, and the convenience of walking home. This makes it a very occasional place for us but the weather was perfect for it. The girls came over to our place first and we worked on the latest puzzle together, then they drove us to the restaurant. Afterwards, G and I walked home along the beach path and enjoyed the sunset.

E-BIKE

I have been talking about getting an e-bike for a while now, mainly to do some shopping and extend the distance I can go without getting in the car. I even have “Get a bike” on my list. G suggested we make the bike my birthday and Christmas present and we bought it Wednesday and I picked it up yesterday. My parents also gave me cash for my birthday so I used that to get some panniers to carry my shopping. I rode it home from the shop and stopped at the library on my way to pick up the books I had on reserve.

BOOK CLUB

While I was away a friend from church emailed to say she was organising a book club to discuss Henri Nouwen’s Ukraine Diary and she’d like to gift me a copy of the book, even if I was unable to join them. She dropped the book in Wednesday night and I managed to read just enough before our discussion on Thursday. I’ve never joined an in-person book club but I think this is perfect, being just the three Thursdays leading up to Christmas.

Post-Run Brunch

I woke up Saturday at 7:20 and lay there for a minute trying to decide whether to get up for running club. It was raining and supposed to rain for most of the day. In the end, I decided to get up and go, because it was probably the only way I would do the run. I figured even if I didn’t make it on time, I could do my run and meet the others for brunch. As it was there was no traffic and I made it into the Tan before they started. Running in the rain is much better when you’re with your mates and there’s brunch afterwards.

BONUS Good things

• Warm weather. I am certainly a summer person. I love the warm weather.
• Mango season is here. I bought two earlier in the week and have been having some for dessert after dinner.
• Sibling present planning chat group. The source of some giggles this week. Although my youngest sister may have redeemed the conversation with a good suggestion for a gift for our parents.
• My beans are so lush and green. I’m hoping that translates to a good crop.
• Jacaranda Trees. They are just so beautiful when they are in flower. There’s one on the corner near us and I get to admire it every time I walk past.

How’s your week been? Any special plans for the weekend? Are all the Christmas things well and truly happening at your place?