Well after last week, I am really happy to say that this week was much less eventful!
So, my burgulars were kind enough to leave behind one stereo, so Sunday was music. The weather was ordinary and I was still a little cagey, so didn't want to venture on out.... and anyway, the shops are closed in Jersey on Sundays...they have what are known as 'blue laws'(????). Can you believe it? You can see NYC, 'the city that never sleeps' over the river, and they don't open their shops on Sundays - how bizarre. So, keeping shacked up in the house and trying to fall back in love with it, I found a great radio station with 80's weekend mix (even included Men at Work Down Under!). I was thoroughly enjoying all the Whitney Houston they were playing, but I did think it was strange that there was an excessive amount of Whitney ....anyway, 2 hours later I discovered why (remember I was completely disconnected) ... very sad. This radio station - "light fm" has a show like Mix 101's love songs and dedications, but I'm sorry, noone can replace Richard Mercer.
So, after being very unreliable the prior week, Cablevision turned up during their scheduled time on Sunday and connected me back with the world - finally I had internet! They also managed to connect my cable in the absence of the stolen televisions. Again, my generous burgulars had left the little television that was mounted in the ensuite, but it's not so great watching tv in the bathroom. So, Sunday was also getting the alarm tested through ADT via the phone. This was no fun exercise - it required testing of the alarm about 10 times for about 60 seconds each time (sorry, did you say something? I couldn't quite hear you), and each of the 'glass breakers' ... did you know you can recreate the sound of breaking glasses by smashing together three spoons?... Talking of those pesky burgulars, can you believe they stole one curtain of a two set curtain? How annoying. I'm sure it did a great job in protecting the tele.... bastards!
Whilst waiting for the internet to be connected I thought I'd test out the oven - what a beauty! I baked some ANZAC cookies for Mary Ann who works in the office. She was a big fan when I made them for the Aussie Day morning tea... Stupid thing is that I forgot she was in Florida for a meeting for the week... Oh well, I found a bunch that would enjoy them!
So the bunch was my team who were here from around the region. Here's a photo of us all - the girls in black...
They're a real fabulous team and sooooo full of energy, they make even me tired! We had a great week together, the first since me taking over the team, doing our planning for 2012 and some training. We also managed to enjoy a delicious dinner at Spice Market in the Meat Packing district. This restaurant is Asian Fusion based on Asian street fare, with a real middle eastern decor (the picture below is from the net - the place was packed, but we managed to get our own special booth!). All the food is designed to be served to be shared, which was great because all of the food was so bloody tasty...mmmm.
On Friday the replacement tvs arrived, so on Friday night I settled in for a night of cable, albeit I could only do it in my bedroom because the cable man couldn't connect it downstairs without a tele! But they came back today and I am now enjoying being able to sit downstairs in the loungeroom for the first time to watch a movie - and there's a classic on - Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, such an old favourite of mine and I was strangely just thinking of it the other day... you know Whitney was in Bodyguard with Kevin Costner, Kevin Costner is the star in this movie... I really did have too much thinking time on my hands!
Last night I went out with the Hargrave family for dinner in Bleecker street in Greenwich Village. We were booked for Cafe Espanol after some bubbles at the Hargrave apartment on Madison Avenue. The celebration was a triple birthday, but unfortunately Teena whose birthday is today had to cancel as her daughter was teeting and really grumpy. So the other two birthdays to celebrate was Philip (Judy's husband), whose birthday is on Wednesday and mine, which is next week. Because it was raining the cabs were hard to come by (everyone catches cabs when it's raining whereas when it's not a lot of people just walk), so we arrived at the restaurant 12 minutes late and they gave away our table!!!! We were not too happy, so decided to find another option. Across the street we saw Florencia 13 - a Southern California Mexican restaurant. This place was cool - I felt like I was in a Quentin Tarantino movie, and more specifically a small version of the place in Dusk till Dawn (minus the vampires), and the music matched the scene! The food was great - I haven't had mexican since some Old El Paso back at home - nothing compares with Brett's mexican cooking, but this was a very close second....Here's a picture of us all.
So, back in the ghetto, I'm feeling absolutely fine now. I ventured out yesterday to some shops - there is the most steepest hill between me and the shops, downhill on the way there and uphill on the way back, so I look at it that I need to go shopping to get my necessary exercise! This morning was beautiful so I went to the nearby park and walked a few laps around the lake. The park is great, it has a heap of tennis courts, raquet ball courts, football field (soccer and American), and a proper baseball field. The lake was full of geese and it got me thinking that I don't think I've ever seen a goose before - I think I may be coming out with one of those bimbo questions, but do we have geese in Australia? I'm thinking not. There was also heaps of cheeky little squirrels and because nephew Jack was asking about these last night, I thought I'd send this photo - this little critter let me go up really close to him. This afternoon there was also a big one in my backyard. Happy for the squirrels, but I want to avoid the skunks (luckily I have so far, but I know they're around).
Equal to the house, my favourite part is still the view from the end of the street - here's a couple of pics: the first is the view from my bus stop taken one morning this week and the other is from last night.
Before signing off, I wanted to do some congratulations. A lot has happened since I've left...
Firstly on babies -
A big, fat congratulations to Lauren and Brad Wilson on the birth of baby Dylan on Monday this week (otherwise known as Wee Willy). He's sooooo gorgeous.
Another big congratulations to Renee and Trav on being pregnant - can you believe Renee told me via text, whilst I was in a meeting in Brazil!!!! I got all red and hot when I found out because I was in absolute shock! Like everyone else, I never thought this would happen, but we're all super glad it has! I'm glad I can finally say something and I'll come home in August / September to welcome the little one in the world.
And congratulation to Baz and Bianca on also having a baby on the way. Will this little one make it a girl trifecta or will a little fella come along to back up Baz?
Secondly on engagements -
Congratulations Amy and Ben for finally taking the leaps - I'm really happy for you both, and glad that it finally happened! Another excuse for me to come back home.
Anyone else got any news????
Finally, thank you to everyone for your notes of comfort and concern last week - it was a pretty crappy week, but you all made it easier - thank you!
Saludos,
Michele
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