Birthday weekend

Saturday:

I started the day with Aiden hopping into bed for a cuddle. Jasmine was at a sleepover so I couldn't have presents yet; but Tim and Aiden made me breakfast (bacon, pancakes, and freshly squeezed juice) then we went and voted in the Federal Election, picked up Jasmine, and finally I got to open my presents! Then a couple of hours of house cleaning and cooking.

Caroline was my best friend back in Canberra but she hadn't seen the new house, it happened to be convenient for her to visit this weekend so it was a lovely birthday present to see her for lunch (lemon roast chicken, potato, salad, "mortal sin" chocolate cheesecake). Her children are the same ages as mine, we met at playgroup when our sons (born 10 days apart) were a few weeks old. So I've known her for a while. Actually she is the main thing I miss about Canberra.

After they had gone I relaxed with computer games and Burger Rings. The Burger Rings were probably a mistake, considering we were going out to dinner less than three hours later. One of my birthday presents was a couple of new games for the Virtual Reality headset. I tried one (an adventure) but have not yet tried the dance game. I don't think my foot is up to it right now, but I am really looking forward to it! I was also given four books and some music and a lovely afgan/throw for those cold nights in front of the telly and chocolates and face cream to keep me looking young (I asked for that specially) and lava lamp speakers for my computer that react to the music playing or exciting moments in computer games (haven't tried those yet).

We went out to dinner at the tapas restaurant we first tried quite recently, I started out a bit disappointed because my favourite dish from last time was no longer on the menu but we ordered six share plates between the four of us. They were all good and three were really excellent. We couldn't finish everything. I was so full. We didn't order dessert, even though it was my birthday and normally I'd treat myself come hell or high water. But even I knew it wouldn't be a treat to force more food into my groaning belly. We went home and I shared my birthday chocolates but didn't actually have one myself. At 9:30 I was literally asleep in front of le tour de France so when Tim inadvertently woke me I dragged myself to bed. Poor sleep the night before, busy day, and too much food combined to wipe me out. But it was a lovely birthday.

Sunday:

Unfortunately I didn't think to take my Harmony tablet and I had bad night sweats and worse pelvic discomfort than I've had for months. I was curled up in pain for a couple of hours in the dark of the night. I got back to sleep eventually and I ended up being in bed for eleven hours so surely I got eight hours actual sleep in there! I got up a bit tired and grumpy but a cup of tea helped me along. The election still hadn't been decided, so close than there was no final result even though 90% of votes had been counted (we have paper forms in Australia that I'm pretty sure are sorted and counted by humans, pretty archaic). We likely won't hear for days, and it will probably be a "hung parliament" so they'll all need to compromise with each other!

Most the cleaning had been done the day before so it was just a lot of cooking for a big family BBQ lunch. Tim did the meat on the BBQ/grill and I did all the sides. Not as many people as I expected were here for lunch, but some more came in the afternoon then stayed for leftovers for dinner. We played board games in the afternoon. And in the evening was the finale of one of my favourite TVs shows so that was a great end to the birthday weekend.

Leftover cake and snacks are now going in the bin. My body is really looking forward to healthy food tomorrow!