2007-08-16 - 8:33 p.m.

My morning shifts last cycle were fairly noneventful and entirely sensible for somebody getting over the flu- I think I was in bed by 9pm most days. By the end of my third morning (last Saturday) I was pretty keen to actually do something, and felt confident that a big night out would not bring my flu back. So Nathan came around at about 6.30pm and we went down to the Exchange for a couple of drinks, before heading up to Newtown for dinner. There's not really much to say about the night itself- we had a few drinks in the beer garden of the Duke, where we met up with Steve from work, as well as Mark, and then moved onto the Townie. Kellee and Claire showed up for a while, and Nathan, Mark and I stuck around until close (around 4.30am) and then went to the Imperial. I think I needed a big night like that, but as I said, there's not that much to say about it. I know I was home before 6am because Lucy's alarm went off shortly after I went to bed (she was out in the Hills for the weekend).

I only had about 4 or 5 hours sleep, and was planning on doing Yum Cha before work, but Nathan bailed on me so I went down the road and had some Vietnamese by myself. I made it through my first afternoon shift at work but was pretty tired by the end of it. That probably explains why I slept in until after midday before my second afternoon shift (and after talking to Jo on the phone for a while it was after 1pm by the time I got out of bed). My second and third afternoon shifts involved late samples, so I didn't get home until 1am, and inevitably slept the mornings after away. So yesterday- my first day off- was no exception in the sleeping stakes, and I didn't get up to much during the day. My Mum dropped around because she was going to an exhibition opening in Dulwich Hill, and we had coffee and cake at the Post Cafe, and then I was off to Kellee and Nathan's place for dinner, armed with cheese and wine.

The plan was to catch a train back at around 11pm-ish, seeing as how Nathan, Kellee and Claire all had to work the next day- but surprise surprise, we drank more and stayed up later than expected (no big deal for me seeing as I didn't have to work today) and I slept on the couch. I didn't sleep very well at first, and contemplated going home at the crack of dawn, but in the end I slept until after 11am and then went home.

Tomorrow should be my third day off but I'm working for Val, who worked for me when I went to Live Earth. So that's what I've been up to mostly, but there's more exciting stuff to tell.

Jo and I decided to go to Costa Rica for a 9 day Intrepid Tour in January, and I went up to Flight Centre and booked it today. I had to change my flight home from San Francisco (I was originally leaving just after midnight on the 13/1, but at that time we'll still be in Costa Rica), and take a couple of extra days leave from work (all the better, now I don't have to start back until an afternoon shift) but it's all sorted.

The original plan was to go to Cuba, but the US Embargo makes it difficult for Jo, seeing as she is a US Resident. No matter, we'll go when she finishes up working there, but that's another story. One holiday at a time. So there was some thought about Mexico or somewhere else, but we ended up deciding on this tour of Costa Rica It's exciting just reading over it! All that's left now is for Jo to book return flights from San Fran to San Jose in Costa Rica. And the other thing I want to organise eventually is a couple of days in Yosemite National Park while the family is in San Fran. There are certain things you can't see in winter due to inaccessible roads, but I'm pretty sure it will still be really good. At least I'm hoping so. Everything else is organised for my December/ January holidays- including accommodation in Singapore. I guess I also have to find out if I need any shots or antimalarials when we go to Costa Rica. But it's pretty exciting- and we're already thinking about going to South America when Jo finishes up in the US and is between jobs. I guess we need to start thinking about it now so we can afford to do all the things we want to do.

The other thing I did today was drop by the Warren View, and confirm that I'm going to have my 30th there. It looks pretty good, and even has enough covered areas if it rains. And there's even a possibility that I'll be able to have my selection of music playing, but I'm not getting my hopes up. They have a good selection of canapes and the like, which I'm pretty sure I'm going to go for, and even though it closes at midnight while the Exchange would have apparently let me stay until 3am, I'm sure everybody who is left at midnight will come to the Townie!

So I'm feeling pretty organised- though I still have to come up with a good birthday present for Jo (as well as a birthday present for my sister and a Father's Day present for Dad). Apart from that I'm almost in cruise mode until I see Jo next.

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