I actually kind of like these Obama kicks. Stylin’.

It was actually a busy one. Friday night we joined Tim, Stef, and a bunch of friends to celebrate them buying their first house. There were drinks at Ryan’s bar, then a trip to Lowenbrau for much beer and pork. Saturday morning there was a trip to Toby’s for breakfast, followed by the aforementioned tree planting. (It was seriously like one of those heinous challenges on The Biggest Loser. My biceps are aching.) Then this morning I taught the third and final sock workshop, where my nine ladies got to finish the toes and learn Kitchener stitch. (I forgot to take the group picture til after three girl had already left. Sorry, ladies!) After the class, I dragged out my sewing machine and proceeded to break FIVE NEEDLES in the process of mending the Snook’s ripped jeans. (Note to self: buy needles specially for denim.) I also made some real progress on Matt’s Scarf. The Snook went on a husbandly crusade and proceeded to fix our leaking shower before making a massive batch of Ron’s “Blue Stater’s Texas Chili”, which was so good.

Oh! And I went for a run, in the course of which I finally met the not-so-mythical Goat of Chippendale. His name is “Maxy” and he was a very nice goat. I just wish he had a girlfriend so I could get some fresh goat’s milk!

Phew. I’m oddly still feeling slightly unenthusiastic about jumping back online. No idea why. I’ve lost my digital mojo a bit, it seems.

Tree Planting in Chippendale
I got an email from Michael last week asking for volunteers to help plant a couple more fruit trees in our neighborhood. “What the heck,” I thought. I put my hand up. So Saturday morning at 10:30 I found myself digging out compost from the community bins in the Peace Park. I seemed to be the only volunteer, which was a little disheartening. I managed to fill several large bins, then headed to Michael’s to help get the trees ready. The day was hot and I was already exhausted. I was in his back garden helping transplant a rather large citrus tree when suddenly I heard a familiar voice. “Need any help?” It was the Snook. His scheduled Warcraft raid got cancelled, so he came to lend a hand. I can’t tell you how awesome it felt to see him there, like the cavalry had arrived. We eventually managed to transport a wheelbarrow with the tree, several bins of compost, buckets of water, shovels, and a pick several blocks to the top of Myrtle Street (right near the intersection with City Road). Thankfully we were joined by local resident Jeff, who was a retired landscape gardener. Michael’s son Julian also added muscle. Snookums and I got to work digging a massive hole for the big tree while Jeff dealt with the smaller one. Finally, three hours after we started, we had two established trees and a whole lot of aching muscles. I took plenty of pictures along the way…
My wonderful manly husband digs a hole.

A rather desolate view at the top of Myrtle Street.

The tree has been planted! Snookums shovels on compost and mulch.

Jeff plants his tree. The metal frame was wired to a stake, which we hoped would discourage people from stealing the tree. (Apparently this is a problem.)

Jeff’s planted tree.

The boys haul a big bucket of compost. I carried one of those all the way up the street myself (which is why I can barely lift my arms today).

The pumpkins on Myrtle Street are fruiting! Too bad mine aren’t.

I paid a visit to Michael’s chickens…

…and his beehive! These are (stingless) native Australian bees.

Needless to say, we’re both pretty sore today. It was nice to do a good deed in the neighborhood though.

Geek Girl Dinner – Microsoft
This past Thursday, I left work early and joined Kunaal on a train out to (the new) North Ryde Station. We were heading to Microsoft for this month’s Geek Girl Dinner. (The Snook had planned to go with me, but he had a work deadline so Kunaal took the spot instead.) I have to say, I was a bit underwhelmed by the Microsoft Sydney offices. I guess I was spoiled by Google and Yahoo last month, but I expected more than just a normal, sterile cube farm. (At least they didn’t make me sign an NDA.) We signed in and were directed to a lounge filled with party pies and bottles of Coke. Huh? It felt like a kids’ party. (Not to mention the fact that my iPhone couldn’t connect to Twitter through their “guest” Wi-Fi. Whatever, Bill!) Luckily we met up with alyshajane and her husband, who were fun. We were then herded into a conference room for the Lego “Serious Play” portion of the evening. We all had small packets of Lego, which we were instructed to use to illustrate challenges and issues facing women in technology. We then had to each explain our “stories” to the other people. Honestly, I thought this part of the evening was a little “touchy-feely” for me. I wanted the evening to celebrate women in tech, not simply to provide a group whinge session about what was wrong. Still, I had a nice time with the folks at our table (including Kate Carruthers, who was tweeting right beside me). After the Lego, we headed down to the Xbox lounge for more food, alcohol (finally!), and free play on half a dozen Xboxes. Kunaal and I jumped on Guitar Hero. So overall this wasn’t my favorite GGD so far, but I did end up having a good time.

I am strangely burnt out on the Internet this weekend. No particular reason; just need a bit of a break, I guess. I’ll probably be back tomorrow.