The Cumberland

So here is a cool little fact for you, well I guess its probably more of a rumour, as I am yet to have it completely confirmed...but tonight I had dinner at my local Pub in Castlemaine, but not just any pub... a pub owned by Billy Brownless, which I think is pretty cool.  Rumour has it that he owns the Cumberland Hotel in Castlemaine...and who am I to argue with the word of the locals.  Plus I like footy and Billy so I think its pretty cool.  

Oh and if anyone can confirm or deny this rumour...I would appreciate it! 

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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The Waiter

Tonight I made a discovery! A waiter can make or break a meal! Seriously its true… think about it. Tonight I had the pleasure of helping Brad celebrate his birthday by having dinner in the city. The meal was great, the company was great and the waiter was great. In fact the waiter was so good I think he made my night! But before I go much further, I think we need to go back to the basics…

There are 3 types of waiters/waitresses in the world:
1. Bad ones
2. Good ones and
3. Great ones

That’s it, there aren’t any in between ones or ones that fit into any other category, its just these 3. Everyone knows what a bad waiter is… they are the ones that forget what you order and don’t seem to care. The don’t go out of their way to assist, they leave you unattended at all the wrong times and they are just bad. Sometimes they are nice, sometimes they are not…but regardless, they are bad!

The good ones are generally the ones that go unnoticed. They are not fantastic, but they are not bad, they get the job done and at the end of the night you leave with out giving them too much more thought.

And then there is the great ones, the ones that are super helpful, without being in your face, they say all the right things, don’t forget anything and at the end of the night you want to leave them a tip. Sometimes its helps if they have a cool accent or are particularly good looking, but I think that one of the best things about the great ones is they take in the ‘vibe’ of the dinner and behave accordingly.

Tonight we had a great waiter! It did help that he was French and had a very sweet story about moving here to be with his girl friend, but even without that stuff, he was happy to have a laugh with us, to have a good time, but still do what he needed to do. I don’t really know how to describe it…he had a go at kitty for taking to long, which was very funny and super accurate, he made us sing happy birthday and found a biscuit he could put a candle in because we weren’t having dessert, he cracked some jokes, made us all smile and he even took a photo of out table all together!  He was just great and at the end of the night, all of us wanted to show him how much we appreciated him and his service. Anyway, I guess I just wanted to say kudos to that guy…thanks for making it a fun evening…

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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Explaining Yesterday

You may have noticed that yesterday’s blog had no words… except for my little tagline that is, and I am thinking that I probably owe you a little explanation, because it is kind of rude to just do something like that without warning.

So here it is: yesterday was Wordless Wednesday, something new that I am trying. Its not something I have come up with, in fact its an idea that I stole from a other peoples blogs, but I don’t think they will mind, and I think that its kind of cool. In fact my cousin Bec, does something similar too, except she uses some words and calls it Snapshot Sunday, but basically the idea is that the blog on Wordless Wednesday tells you a story about my day or just something random without using words, after all, the do say that a picture is worth a thousand words. So take yesterday for example, my pictures are of Kat’s 24th Birthday Dinner where Miriam was missing in action for a significant proportion. There is her empty chair, everyone looking sad, (except Ben, and I am not sure why) and then everyone happy when we easily replaced her with a picture drawn on the Abercrombie bag.

So there you go… Wordless Wednesday... Oh and today is Kitty's actual birthday...so HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAT!  Hope you have had a ripper day. 

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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Vindaloo against violence

Tonight all across Melbourne, and hopefully Australia, Australians have united in having Indian for dinner.  Tonight we have been encouraged to have a Vindaloo against Violence, so that is what Dave, Jana, Sam and I have done.  I am not really sure if it is going to work, but I guess I have done my bit so we just wait and see.  I had only really heard about the event through church, although after we had already eaten our dinner I also heard a little bit about it on the radio, so I am not sure how well publicized it was, but it did seem as if the Indian restaurant was a little busier than usual for a Wednesday night, although I probably wouldn't know, because I only ever have Indian when I go out with others...and I think I have recorded each outing to Indian in my various blogs, because it is so rare.  In fact I only recall having Indian 4 times including today, once at Lyndel and Brad's because they thought it was about time Dusty and I tried it, once with Dad in China, and twice in Bendigo, for a christmas break up and tonight.   

Its not that I don't like Indian food, its just that I never crave it like I do Italian or Chinese...  I am not sure why, I just never do. Anyway, it was delicious and I really should have it more often, because I do actually like it.  

Oh and I have been following through on my promise to try new movies, tonight I have seen Shutter Island, which is a bit of a thriller and definitely not something I would have picked if I was going by myself, but I really liked it, it was clever and a little scary, but I didn't even jump, scream or cry...go me!  


I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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Kitchen Table

I have heard numerous people talk about the joys of the simple things in life and tonight I got experience that joy.  It's just something simple, but something that I had taken for granted for so long, something that I didn't realise I liked so much until I didn't have one for a while and then got it back...  confused yet?  Well tonight I was able to enjoy the simple pleasure of eating at a kitchen table!  I know it sounds ridiculous, but tonight when Flic came over for tea, we sat at a little card table in the middle of what I guess is technically the kitchen and it was lovely.  Simple but what a joy.  I miss having a table to eat at that is there all the time and doesn't have to be folded away so that you can get to everything.  One day, I will have a house big enough for a kitchen table... one day

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Gingerbread

I have decided that I actually like to cook... I still don't do it very often but I enjoy it and this week while I was cooking some Christmas presents I learnt something very important...which leads me to cooking tip number 5...

Tip 5: Silicon baking trays are risky!

This is something that Dave and I learnt the hard way as we watched the cookies we had just break slide into the middle of the tray and crush each other.  So I guess the lesson is to stick with the normal trays...they are much sturdier.  Luckily we learnt from our mistakes and the gingerbread men turned out pretty good.

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Christmas Run Down - No.3

Ok so you know the drill, no need for introductions, lets just sing...

On the Seventh day of Christmas something I did do:
Eat lots if food

It's not really surprising, I mean I love food at the best of times and at Christmas it's in your face all the time! However this Christmas has been full on food wise, especially over the last couple of days. In the space of two days I attended three end of year breakups all of which involved food. I had Indian with me cell ladies, breakfast with my dietitian friends and afternoon tea with work, it was full on and delicious. However, as if all the parties weren't enough, they also included bringing food. I know a little while ago I wrote a blog about the pressure I felt when taking food because when you are a dietitian people expect you to be able to cook, which isn't always true, in fact in my case, it couldn't be further from the truth. However I think this Christmas I have excelled. Seriously check this out... For our dietetics breakup our Christmas gift rule was, the gift had to be home made, and because I leave everything until the last minute, mine was edible, coz let's face it... It shouldn't take that long to cook something, but homemade good homemade craft…way too long. So I decided that I would make truffles and check them out... The look awesome even if I say so myself! Now because I don't do things in halves, one amazing success for the day wasn't enough, no I kept going. That afternoon, at my work CRC breakup, I introduced my CRC friends in Castlemaine to the heaven that is toblerone dip. I must admit though I was a little shocked that they had never heard of it before, maybe it's a salvo thing, but it, like the truffles, were a hit!

Conversation Cards
More Christmas Lights
Come Celebrate
Sing with my Pa
Bendigo's Christmas Lights
and A Pageant with the Kids from Kids Church

On the Eighth day of Chirstmas something I did do:
Shopping centre Carols

Yep you read that right, on my one ADO before Christmas I caroled. It probably didn’t help that Dave was in charge of caroling this year so I didn’t get much choice, but it was just like old times! I was caroling with Pheebs at forest hill this morning, something that we haven’t done for a number of years, but after a few rough numbers we were in out element. Nothing feels more Chirstmasy then racing to say the number of the next carol, or smiling to the little old ladies that stand and watch you play, or even wish a little kid a merry Christmas with a bad rendition of jingle bells (no.100). I can’t say I would rush back and do day after day like Dave and Benny did but it was fun while it lasted. Oh and just between you and me, I think Dave was a little annoyed that us girls brought in so much money…what can I say Davo…they love us!

Eat lots of Food
Conversation Cards
More Christmas Lights
Come Celebrate
Sing with my Pa
Bendigo's Christmas Lights
and A Pageant with the Kids from Kids Church

On the Ninth day of Christmas something I did do:
Nativity the musical:

Once again, this is something that I blogged about a little while ago, but that’s okay, because that blog was all about the fact that I was going to be in a musical, and now its done! Tonight was sooooooo much fun, an experience I will never forget. I was so nervous before hand, but once I was out there under the lights and in costume, everything else seemed to fade away and I just did it. It was so good.

Everyone did an amazing job, especially Benny, my joe, he is one very funny man! I really hope this isn’t the last musical I get to do, because, I know I have said this three times already in one paragraph, but it was just so much fun. Oh and just to make it even more special, two of my good mates from Bendigo, Jana and Sam came all the way down to Melbourne, just to see it. I was sp surprised to see them there, but it meant a lot to me that they came! So thanks to everyone that came, and a massive thanks to Renee for giving me this opportunity…it was the best.

Shopping Centre Carols
Eat lots of Food
Conversation Cards
More Christmas Lights
Come Celebrate

Sing with my Pa
Bendigo's Christmas Lights
and A Pageant with the Kids from Kids Church

FHEEEEW…well we are almost there…Just 3 days to go!

To be continued…

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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Beach Cricket

This weekend I have been lucky enough to have another fabulous weekend away, this time I have been down at Inverloch, and yes I went with the same crew, and yes there was another AMAZING cake(thanks Kitty), and yes, once again we participated in a great Australian pastime, however unlike the watching the Grand, this particular pastime, was for me a first time.

Today I played my first game of Beach Cricket and it was much better than I thought it would be. I made lots of runs, I caught someone out and I even bowled someone out. Now some of you may be reading this thinking that’s great em, everyone can do that its just beach cricket…but it is so much more than that! This is someone who: 1. Hates cricket… 2. Has poor hand eye co-ordination…. and 3. Doesn’t normally do things she won’t be good at. So for me, this was an incredible and super impressive day!

Anyway, here are some photos from the rest of the weekend.

Oh and just for the record I think I will try beach cricket again!

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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Mexican

I love Mexican food...I have done for a really long time, but for most of the relationship we have shared our love in secret, in the comfort of my own (or Dave's) home.  Mexican food for me has always been out of a box, and I was very very satisfied with it, but things have changed.

There is a Mexican restaurant in Castlemaine which since moving I have visited a few times and tonight I went with Flic! But taking my love for Mexican out into the public like that has not been an easy move. It turns out I am a bit of a resturant snob, I am not very good at trying new restaurants, or going to restaurants that have been stereotyped into having poor food hygiene standards you know like Indian restaurants or Turkish restaurants...they always seem to have some public health scandal associated, even when most of them are perfectly fine.  I know there are lots of really lovely Indian and Turkish restaurants, but it appears that they have all been tainted..in fact I think there is a saying something like one bad apple spoils the whole barrel, and I think is what it is like for these poor restaurants, and unfortunatly Mexican too has been lumped into this category. The only exception to this rule is Chinese restaurants, I am not really sure why, perhaps its because I have been to China and its just the way it is...I am not sure.

Anyway, since moving up I decided to give the Mexican restaurant a go and it turned out to be the best decision ever...because I love Mexican and now I don't always have to cook it, and it means that when I want to take someone out for tea...I can have Mexican! I am not sure why I waited so long...

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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Surprises

Yesterday I had visitors again…and these ones even stayed the night. Yesterday Kitty and Annie came to visit and spoil me with an amazing diner and desert and a few rounds of sing star. But the best bit was the surprises they left behind. When I got home from work today there was a pasta bake in the fridge and note explaining they just thought they would make on incase I couldn’t be bothered cooking…and as if that wasn’t already the best surprise there was also a packet of glow in the dark stars for me to put on my roof, because I had been telling Kat how much I wanted them. Seriously Annie and Kat…you guys are the best! Thanks so much!

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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Pizza Hut

Tonight I was able to go back in time...not for long, but for long enough. Tonight I went to Pizza Hut....now before you get on your high horse about the fact that there are Pizza Huts everywhere, this wasn't the take away Pizza Hut that you get in Melbourne...no this was an eat in Pizza Hut, you know the ones…the ones from the good old days where you have a salad bar full of Pizza, chips, pasta and then a separate one with soft serve ice cream and everything you could possibly want as a topping.


I was so nice to go back there and reminisce, it really had been a long time and it was everything I remembered…although being a little older now I realized that they only put the ‘good’ pizza’s out like margaretta, Hawaiian and supreme…none of those ‘bad’ ones which I have become much more accustomed to like BBQ chicken or meat lovers.


But I tell you what nothing beat the salad bar desserts…seriously those things are heaven, and it was probably a very good thing that I was there for a 6 year olds birthday party and that the other kids were restricted to only one dessert, because if I had have had free reign, I might still be there eating dessert…seriously




I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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Breakfast

I am normally not very good at breakfast, I know shame on me...I call myself a dietitian, but its true, I always have breakfast, and its always nutritionally sound, but its an effort. But ask me to go out for breakfast and I am in like flyn...and so thats what I did this morning...and of course I loved it.

This morning I went out for brekky with Kirsten and Pheebs and it was lovely. I don't know what makes it so nice, i mean it did help that the weather was lovely, the food was lovely and of course the company was lovely, but I think there is just something about going for breakfast that is nice.

Perhaps its because breakfast is usually such a boring mundane meal for me? Or perhaps its because I can have pancakes, or if I am really lucky scones? I really don't know, and actually I don't really care why, just as long as it doesn't change.

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

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