Getting sorted

I am amazed that I can even move after this last weekend. I have eaten a lot or food. Well, when I say food, I mean cake. There was certainly more than one point that my body was at least 50% sugar. Luckily I don’t tend to suffer from the usually inevitable sugar crash that claims so many others. I did however have great difficulty getting out of bed yesterday morning. But, as we all know, I’m not much of a morning person.

At this exact moment I am task avoiding. Miss R has left me a list of chores to get through this week. The biggest of these is to file all my uni stuff, and clean my desk. I’d like to state for the record that my desk is not that bad. It may look like chaos, but I know where everything is. Miss R remains unimpressed. So once I’m finished blogging I’m going to have to make a start on it. I should point out that I have no issue with putting everything away, I would just rather do it without the nagging.

Realistically, this burst of chores is my own fault. Miss R is not prepared to have people over unless the house is spotless. Hence the cleaning frenzy. The fact there are still 11 days before the birds is beside the point. I have done the most important stuff. I’ve ordered the bird, and told all the test subjects volunteers where and when. Really it’ll be fine.

With all the food I can’t imagine anyone will be looking at anything else.

I’m free, I’m free

It’s official. Uni is over for the year. To celebrate I sat down and read a whole book in one day. How I have missed reading for pleasure. That is not to suggest that I haven’t enjoyed most of what I read for uni this semester, just that it is nice to read a book written for adults, not teenagers, and non-fiction.

I’m up to date with the new series of Dr Who. The new Elder Scrolls game ‘Skyrim' is released in just under 3 weeks, so I’m afraid I’ll be useless for about a week (must game). The last two books in my Robotech series finally arrived. I can now read all 21 in the order they were intended. I’m driving Ms P and friend to the airport on Thursday. Other than work, I won’t be doing anything for the rest of the week. Instead I will be using the time to prepare myself for the onslaught of November. Busy month ahead.

I’m looking forward to the gatherings, but there will be heaps to do. I’ve been asked to make my killer coconut ice for the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, in rainbow colours no less. I’m thinking of being ridiculously creative, but won’t mention it to anyone on the off chance I get too busy and don’t get time to follow through.

Miss R is making her eggplant dish for the BBQ, but I haven’t decided what I’m going to make yet. I have to work that morning, so I’m limited to making something that will be fine to eat the day after making. I’ll have to spend some time with my cookbooks. And of course there’s the Turducken.

I should make it very clear that I am baking because I want to, not because I have to. The Italian in me is all about expressing love through food. Miss R is the same, even if most of what I make is sugar related. 

We all know I’m not sweet enough on my own.

Burst of popularity

November is going to be a very busy month. It looks like I will be busy just about every weekend. This is what happens when uni finishes for the year. The fact that a few of us also have our birthdays this month isn’t helping. 

One of the most important events this November will be the Turducken & bake-off. I have spoken with the nice butcher man, and he will make this mythical beast for me (provided I give him a few days notice).

Now November is looking fairly full already. I've already got a bbq/engagement on the 5^th, a Mad Hatter’s tea party on the 6^th, and a birthday party on the 26^th. This leaves us with two options the 12^th or the 19^th. Personally, I always think Saturdays are a better option, because it leaves most of Sunday to recover. Given the amount of food this is likely to produce, we’ll all need that extra day (and possibly some baggy pants).

I’ve never made one of these before, so I have no idea what it will taste like, we may end up with pizza and cake. This is very much the test run. If it all goes well the Turducken will be centre table christmas day.

The girls from Uni have all volunteered to be my guinea pigs, so I’ve sent an email out. Depending on their availability I may end up cornering some of the girls from work too. Given how busy things are this time of year I won’t be offended if people can’t make it.

I’m sure I’ll be able to find any leftovers good homes.

Perils of the reference desk

Ok, so anyone who wasn't at Miss A's BBQ may not have heard of my marathon phone question late last week. Basically I spent 25 minutes on the phone with a little old lady (that I'm not certain is actually a member of my library) trying to find information on Robyn Fong (fashion, 1950s). NLA's digitisation of Australians Womens Weekly (May, 1972 edition) eventually gave me something useful. She decided to call NLA to see if she could get a copy. This was after I told her several times that I could print the information for her if she came into the library. But she got what she wanted, so that wasn't my issue.

That was the end of that ... until today. My branch team leader was on desk with me this morning. She answers the phone and then hands it to me. It's the little old lady again. Apparently she had tried calling for me the other day, but I'd gone home. She had another question for me: Bobo Faulkner (fashion/tv, 1950s). After 30mins on the phone, and much trawling through Trove I was again saved by NLA's digitisation of Australians Womens Weekly (June 1973). She did ask me when I'd be in again. I should have lied, I know, but by that point I just wanted to get off the phone.

So some time in the future she will call again. She'll ask for me, and the cycle will repeat. This is the danger of giving good customer service: they remember your name and then won't talk to anyone else. If you see a librarian walking around with an ice pack on his/her ear then the chances are they have a similiar patron of their own. If you work in information management you may even end up with one (or even more) of your own. Who knows? 

One thing I do know: this was not in the brochure.

Super pav

There has been much movement in the kitchen. Today is Miss A's BBQ. I will (of course) be bringing dessert. Given that it is Australia Day there was only one option: pavlova. But a plain pav wasn't going to be enough, after all I do have a reputation to keep up. So there was experimenting to be done. With the success of the practice pav, I made a few adjustments. The final result: three tierd pav. Top layer vanilla, middle layer is rosewater, bottom layer is chocolate. Stuck together with a mountain of cream, and finished off with strawberries, raspberries, kiwi fruit, and passionfruit. Epic pav. But don't just take my word for it. Behold the pav in all it's glory.

All that remains to be done it to get it to Miss A's without it collapsing in tranisit.

play date take 2

Ms Ali and I are going to try and have our play date tomorrow.  Very trashy movie @ The Sun Theatre, followed by chocolate for lunch @ Co'klat. Chocolate waffle, with ianilla ice cream and melted white chocolate all over, possibly with strawberries if I feel the need to be healthy. Wash it all down with a milk hot chocolate (with more vanilla ice cream of course) and I should be ready for my diabetic coma by the time I get home.

I'm still feeling good, if a little tired. I managed to oversleep on Sunday. It's been so long since I had such a solid block of sleep that my body has forgotten how to cope. I'm sure it will revert soon enough.

Last week I was having phone issues. It's playing nicely for the moment, which is good as I still haven't made a decision on what I want. This has been complicated by the fact that new dual-processor smartphones are also due this year. So I have decided to instead focus on the other tech-dinosaur in my life; my laptop. To be fair, it has served me well over the last 5 years. And it would probably continue to do so, if it weren't for a few things. The biggest issue is that I can't move it. There is a lose wire somewhere inside my screen, and it shuts everything down if you bump the screen. I then have to take out the battery each time, otherwise it will not allow the computer to restart. Not much of a laptop if it has to stay open on the desk every time I want to use it. I plan to replace it with this. 

For now I have a lamb roast in the oven, which will keep me occupied for a little while. And I am all psyched for Miss A's BBQ next week. Have got plans for two pav's, so nobody misses out. 

Can't run the risk of anyone going hungry.