It’s hard for some men. My Dad doesn’t stop to fill the car with petrol, so it’s no surprise that he doesn’t like to eat out, or even enter any sort of shopping centre. So when I forced him to do the latter two as part of my birthday present, he was close to death, in a non-literal way. With this sacrifice agreed to, there was no way he would be encouraged to attend my hair appointment on Wednesday, where I became a much happier girl having my caramel blonde back. Now only an outing to the waxing salon remained, to take care of the overgrown lawn strips across my forehead, before I could finally set off to Melbourne to catch up with Apryl and Livia (pictured below: with me after salsa). Dinner was a first, eating out at a Japanese restaurant. But it was a poor attempt, missing out on a floor seat and optioning against the raw fish. From there, another first in Salsa dancing. Take away the odd feisty old man with sweaty palms, and I would definitely recommend it!
It’s hard to describe the feeling of returning home… relief and happiness, yet stressful and traumatic. It’s a whole bundle of both positive and negative emotions, but primarily, it’s a reality check. Back to training solo, work at the bike shop, cooking meals, spending money and now study. So I decided, with my 20th birthday upcoming, that I would do none of the above…and simply enjoy my week =) (pictured below: Angie and I now 20 years old!) So Friday saw a day in the city for me to catch up with some friends. In the morning, I enrolled at Swinburne TAFE, now studying a Certificate IV in Fitness. Not only did it drain my bank account of the savings I had, but it weighed down my suitcase with multiple heavy textbooks that I am dreading having to account for in excess luggage when flying! Then I roamed the city, forgetting how much I love the place for short periods of time, before stopping for coffee with Anna and Japanese again, for Lunch with Ev.
On Saturday I joined the morning bunch for a ride, because I knew I would be the one to consume the batch of honey crackles later that day (this was true). For birthday celebrations, my parents took me to lunch, and after the honey crackle incident, I began to prepare for dinner. My twin sister, Angie, had organised a dinner at a Mexican restaurant for 30 people. Let’s just say that you don’t go there for the meals, but the alcoholic beverages on offer. While Angie consumed her strawberry margarita in a fish bowl, Kristy and I ordered from the kids menu an OJ surprise - orange and lime juice with vanilla ice-cream (pictured below)…surprisingly delicious. As soon as everyone had played with their food and sent their meals back, Kristy and I bailed on the celebrations and headed off in search of birthday desserts, which just so happened to be toblerone cheesecake =) It was one drink, three clubs, and four hours of dancing before my head hit the pillow…weak!
Yesterday was my transition day, half athlete day, half normal person day. After a return trip to Rawson on the bike, where I struggled the whole climb, I prepared to attend the Moe Jazz Festival in conjunction with the horse racing. It seems that not a single person under 50 was interested in the event, not even the horses as it was 40 degrees and they had been pulled from the track. After 3 minutes, we girls had labelled the idea a failure, and decided to drown our sorrows in a McDonald’s sundae. I spent the afternoon with Angie, watching her boyfriend Rory continue celebrations from his grand final win the day before (of which I witnessed). He is the proud captain of the local cricket team, and between the boys they drank enough to make up for their 16 years of losses. As one by one they covered the garden in vomit (eww), I realised they hadn’t bathed or slept in the 24hours since the game. Can we not savour our moments of glory while showering? Obviously not…
It’s hard to describe the feeling of returning home… relief and happiness, yet stressful and traumatic. It’s a whole bundle of both positive and negative emotions, but primarily, it’s a reality check. Back to training solo, work at the bike shop, cooking meals, spending money and now study. So I decided, with my 20th birthday upcoming, that I would do none of the above…and simply enjoy my week =) (pictured below: Angie and I now 20 years old!) So Friday saw a day in the city for me to catch up with some friends. In the morning, I enrolled at Swinburne TAFE, now studying a Certificate IV in Fitness. Not only did it drain my bank account of the savings I had, but it weighed down my suitcase with multiple heavy textbooks that I am dreading having to account for in excess luggage when flying! Then I roamed the city, forgetting how much I love the place for short periods of time, before stopping for coffee with Anna and Japanese again, for Lunch with Ev.
On Saturday I joined the morning bunch for a ride, because I knew I would be the one to consume the batch of honey crackles later that day (this was true). For birthday celebrations, my parents took me to lunch, and after the honey crackle incident, I began to prepare for dinner. My twin sister, Angie, had organised a dinner at a Mexican restaurant for 30 people. Let’s just say that you don’t go there for the meals, but the alcoholic beverages on offer. While Angie consumed her strawberry margarita in a fish bowl, Kristy and I ordered from the kids menu an OJ surprise - orange and lime juice with vanilla ice-cream (pictured below)…surprisingly delicious. As soon as everyone had played with their food and sent their meals back, Kristy and I bailed on the celebrations and headed off in search of birthday desserts, which just so happened to be toblerone cheesecake =) It was one drink, three clubs, and four hours of dancing before my head hit the pillow…weak!
Yesterday was my transition day, half athlete day, half normal person day. After a return trip to Rawson on the bike, where I struggled the whole climb, I prepared to attend the Moe Jazz Festival in conjunction with the horse racing. It seems that not a single person under 50 was interested in the event, not even the horses as it was 40 degrees and they had been pulled from the track. After 3 minutes, we girls had labelled the idea a failure, and decided to drown our sorrows in a McDonald’s sundae. I spent the afternoon with Angie, watching her boyfriend Rory continue celebrations from his grand final win the day before (of which I witnessed). He is the proud captain of the local cricket team, and between the boys they drank enough to make up for their 16 years of losses. As one by one they covered the garden in vomit (eww), I realised they hadn’t bathed or slept in the 24hours since the game. Can we not savour our moments of glory while showering? Obviously not…