2007-10-16 - 9:27 p.m.

I've really got to start updating on the time Jo was here, before it's too long gone to bother with. She flew in at about 6.30am on the Friday (28/9), and in virtually no time we were on our way up to Katoomba with Jen and Tim. Jo got through the day alright, and by not going home and sleeping at 8am she managed to avoid jetlag. In Katoomba we just had a brief look around Echo Point/ The 3 Sisters, had lunch in the town, looked at some antique shops, stopped by the Hydro Majestic Hotel and headed home. Took Jen and Tim to the airport at about 7pm, made Jo dinner and relaxed with some red wine.

The next day- my 30th birthday- we slept in for a bit (after Jo gave me my present- a digital SLR Camera which I'm going to enjoy learning all about when I have time), had Yum Cha, bought a few things for the party that night (including Helium Balloons), lazed around a bit and then opened a bottle of Champagne before heading up to the Warrenview at about 6.30pm. The party was good, we all got about as riotously drunk as expected, but in a sign of my older and wiser years we were home by about 3.30am instead of 6am or later.

Cast of characters- myself and Jo, obviously. My Mum and Dad, my brother, my sister and her boyfriend. My cousin Prema. Jo's Mum and Dad, her brother Pete and his girlfriend Mel. Lucy, Meegs and Fordie. Lisa and Mike from Canberra. Steve and Stuart, both of whom I've known since primary school. Terry from the Ent Cent and his girlfriend Madeline. Julie and Dan, Tara and Tristan, Birch and Frantz, Meaghan, Margaret and Liz from the Uni gang. Nathan, Kellee and Claire, Samantha and Anthony from work. Jo's old workmates Francis, Phillipa and her boyfriend Richard. Mark and Phoebe, Kim and Marty, Glenn and Amanda.

My cake featured three names to ensure that everyone there knew they were at the right party. I got a fancy square ceramic grill from my Unifriends, all the series of Buffy from my parents, some nice non band shirts and t-shirts, a few other DVDs (including the interactive "Spicks and Specks" DVD which Lucy and I have since road-tested), plenty of gift vouchers and plenty of drinks- in fact I don't think Jo or I bought a drink all night. We naturally went to the Townie afterwards. We left when Steve was noticed to be falling asleep and Jo was starting to feel a little ill (and apparently at least one of my work friends was ill when they got back to where they were spending the night).

And that's about all there is to say more than two weeks on. The next day I felt a lot better than I thought I would, but we nonetheless did very little with our day. Monday we went out to Jo's Dad's place for a "Jo's back in town" family bash, and then Tuesday through Friday I had to fit work into all the socialising. Thursday was my boss's last day and the working week did feel pretty hectic, especially seeing as I wanted to get back home to Jo. I can definitely leave my thoughts about work for another entry though.

Tuesday night (2nd October) we spent the night at home- I think I may have made Jo dinner again (my fennel, chorizo and capsicum pasta I believe). Wednesday night we had dinner at the Rose with Lucy, Meegs and Fordie and had fun letting Meegs know we were engaged (plus we had songs and amusing comments dedicated to us from Bernie and the support Alec Eiffel).

Thursday night Jo and I had a lovely degustation at Bistro Ortolan- a schmancy French-ish place in the midst of all the Italian restaurants of Leichhardt. Friday night I was stressing about getting out of work on time, and not being too late meeting Jo at the Opera Bar- something that was so not an issue seeing as we ended up staying there until 1am. Tara and Meaghan (and later Tristan) were there- Francis and a bunch of other former colleagues of Jo- Thorsten, Nat, Joel and eventually Phillipa and Richard. My sister, her boyfriend and my cousin Prema were there again, as was Steve, and Birch and Jo's other brother Scott left before I got there. I had dinner at "The East" chinese restaurant with Meaghan, Tara, Tristan and Steve and then ended up heading back to join Jo and the others who never made it to dinner.

Saturday (6th October) Jo and I decided we needed an in-the-meantime ring, so we got one. And Jo is vy much liking wearing it on her ring finger. We drove over the Harbour Bridge to Sara and Paul's place on the North Shore (where we had lunch with them and Francis and Cam) and then headed all the way back down to the Shire for Meaghan and Margaret's 30th- they're identical twins for those who don't know.

Sunday was our last full day together until we meet back up in Singapore in December, and naturally we needed to bookend Jo's visit with another trip to Yum Cha- this time with Nathan, Lucy, Birch and Frantz. I made Jo a requisite curry for dinner, and invited Mark, Phoebe, Pete and Mel around so we could tell Mark and Phoebe our exciting news in person and Pete could see Jo again before she headed off. And then Monday she was gone again. And I think I briefly covered my equally hectic Tuesday through Thursday of last week in my last entry. So I'm edging closer to being up-to-date.

Phew.

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