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Amy just asked me about a vegetarian place in the city, so I was trying to find the name of a yum cha restaurant I’d heard good things about. I was searching through my Gmail chats when I found this exchange from a few months ago. I was debating with the Snook whether we should accept a yum cha lunch invitation from Eva or spend the morning looking for houses.

Me: we hve to decide one way or the other on yum cha or houses.
your vote?
I’m honestly ambivalent.
I mean, the chances of us finding something we end up getting are like 1:1000
And if we missed something good, we probably wouldn’t even know we did
but we’re supposed to rsvp tonight
Snookums: That sounds like a vote for yum cha.
Me: that’s me being ambivalent
i could easily be swayed if you want to make the argument that looking at houses is the responsible thing to do
Snookums: Like I said, I wouldn’t mind going to that auction, because that place is something I think we’d consider (one of the best fits so far, I think)
Me: okay, so houses then
Invitation declined.

The auction the Snook wanted to check out? That’s the one where we ended up riding in an elevator with a helpful woman who told us about a house she wanted to sell… and four months later we’re living in it. 🙂

The Snook and I rang in 2008 at home with Fiona, her Sock Victim, and Albie. It was a fantastic meal, with lamb and rabbit and roast veg and salads. I made “lemon snow” from my CWA cookbook (basically, lemon jello mixed up with whipped egg whites) which made for a nice palate cleanser. We capped off the dinner with a stunning pavlova (Fee is on a tear with these lately) and champagne. Then we played Wario Ware until the fireworks came on. With the sliding doors open, we could hear the thunderous booms from the harbour as we watched the show on TV. It was a lot nicer than venturing out in that crowd!

And now we come to the dreaded Resolutions. I’ve just been looking over last year’s list, and I think I came out about 50/50. My own personal goals took a bit of a backseat in favour of doing grown-up couple things (like taxes and mortgages). I think finding, buying, and moving into a house is a huge accomplishment for us though, and it’s a very big tick-mark on our “Life: To Do” list. I just need to make sure this year that I don’t use this stuff as an excuse to avoid my own personal challenges. So here’s what I’d like to accomplish in 2008:

• Start taking my running seriously. I want to run the Sydney Half-Marathon on May 18. (I’m already two weeks into my training!) I want to break 100 minutes for the City 2 Surf.
• Learn to swim properly. I can swim in the sense that I can dog paddle and float and “not drown,” but I’ve never learned to do a proper stroke in my life. I want to be able to swim for fitness, so I’m going to take some lessons.
• Get a new job. Not that I don’t love the shop, but I’m really feeling like it’s time for a new challenge. I’d also like to contribute more to the mortgage fund.
• Get my American tax situation fixed up. Now that the UK and Australia are dealt with, the deck is officially cleared and I just need to do it.
• Be more organised. This is the year I’m going to Get Things Done, I swear. I’ve got a new planner and I’m rarin’ to use it!
• Clear out some of the knitting backlog. Once I finish my Easter Show entry, I’m going to commit to knitting from my stash for as long as possible.

What challenges await you this year?

Dr. Amy Jones loves watching people take showers. I’m serious. You’ll be in there, scrubbing away, and suddenly realise that there’s a cat sitting on the toilet tank and staring at you. Anyway, it appears she’s not the only pet to do this.

Hello Kitty Contact Lenses. I kind of want to get a pair just to freak out the Snook. (Link courtesy of John.)

Wow. It’s been two years and they still haven’t caught our zoo murderer yet.

Everybody, mooove!
I took another step on the road to Grumpy Old Ladydom yesterday. The Snook and I somehow got the very stupid idea to head into Myer to look for a new coffee grinder. Of course, everybody in Sydney seems to have had the same idea. (Note to self: When you see police directing foot traffic in and out of a department store, come back another day.) It took us 20 minutes to get from the entrance to the escalators, and it was just a Gauntlet of Suck. We were packed in shoulder-to-shoulder, and yet there were idiots trying to push baby carriages. I passed Titsiana the Thief at one point; she must’ve been having a field day. (The Snook suggested I point her out to the security guards, but there was just no way.) Anyway, we finally made it within sight of the escalators and joined the queue of people heading upstairs. I stepped on and immediately gritted my teeth. People were just standing all sprawled out on both sides. With a quick look of apology to the Snook, I finally did what I’ve been longing to do: I yelled out, “STAND TO THE LEFT, PLEASE!” Amazingly, people jumped to the left as if they’d been shot. I was able to walk right up past them all in about two seconds. Snookums says it reminded him of Fezzik clearing the road in The Princess Bride. I can live with that.