anyresemblance

The vanishing cat

First of all, the stupid landlord's agents called me last week to say they were reapplying to the tribunal.  Forgive my sketchy knowledge of law but I think it's a general principal that you can't jsut go back because she didn't get the answer you wanted (especially if you didn't turn up the first time).  The words vexacious and frivolous spring to mind.

I have inherited customer satisfaction as part of my current responsibilities at work. So I am struggling through what we are contractually obliged to do as opposed to what might actually merit some customer satisfaction.  Historically this has seemed to mean that we survey them until we get the answer we want so I am engaged in working out how we get some meaningful information ahead of the problems emerging.  I didn't duck quite quickly enough when this millstone initiative came along but I am quite enjoying the challenge of working out what we need to do differently. Dull boss only gave me this job as he can't work out what to do with me, but I still think it's an interesting opportunity. We are going through yet another organisational change which means more dust and flurry.

Yesterday, we had lunch here.  I had a beautiful celeriac remoulade which I first ate in Paris in 1981.  British Home Stores used to sell a beautiful celeriac salad in their take away food section, a rather astonishing piece of foodiness given their overall rather downmarket feel.  One daughter had the steak sandwich which she said was the best she had ever had, the other had eggs and toast.  The service was a bit inattentive but not too annoying and the food was pretty reasonably priced.  Older daughter said she'd like to go back for dinner.

More astonishingly, I ate black pudding on Saturday.  I've avoided haggis for all of my residence in Scotland and being a teensy bit squeamish about offal, but we had a late lunch here.  The chef used to work at my favourite cafe and he persuaded me to try the morcilla.  It was a neat little slice and served with a apple and radish salad.  It was beautiful, sort of like a terrine with a strong cinnamon undercurrent. I loved it.  Good bread, beautiful olives, interesting Spanish and Argentinian wine list.  I can't wait to try dinner there.

Last night we watched the first 4 Buffy episodes from Season 1 and ate minestrone soup.  A cosy evening with my girls just the way I like it.

By the way, our fat cat has lost 400g and is henceforth known as "Slim".

A (small) legal victory

I've been a bit quiet recently as I have been caught up in a dispute with my former landlord and  agents.  To cut a long story short, I had to make an appearance at the Rent Tribunal this morning to defend a claim of $7000 worth of damage to my old apartment.  I had my bulging file of witness statements and a log of all the phone calls I had made to the agents over the tenancy period.  I wore formal business attire as we all know that wearing pants to federal court was what did for Martha Stewart (I learned this from her).  My sombre attire must have had some impact since the agents didn't even show up.  I got to tell my story to the registrar who forthwith dismissed their claim.  I hot footed it down to the NSW Rental Services office (which turns out to be opposite my own office) and they kindly issued me a cheque which I am about to bank.

So it all ends well but I had been carrying a huge amount of anxiety about the whole affair.  Their claim was so spurious that I had been worrying that the owners (who are rather scary property developers) would be very aggressive.  I don't like confrontation but I was confident that I had a good case.

The weekend was pretty easy going.  The girls went to Canberra.  We listened to Harry Potter in the car, courtesy of older daughter's ipod, and it makes a huge difference to a long boring journey to have something to occupy their attention.

Earlier in the week I had been to an evening on older daughter's year 9 options.  She has chosen to do Art and Music and to drop French.  I'm disappointed that she doesn't want to continue with French but she does speak it well enough and has no passion for keeping up her studies.

Last night I made a disastrous attempt at cup cakes.  The batter overflowed the paper cases something rotten.  Back to the drawing board.  The mother of the barista at my favourite cafe is currently supplying him with delicious cakes for sale - last week I had fabulous raspberry ones with coconut icing.  I was trying to emulate these without success.  Today the cakes were embellished with a coconut raffaelo (sp?) chocolate.  A bit ostentatious, I sniffed to the waitress, before confiding that really it was my own disaster which made me so iffy about them.  She promised to get the secret recipe for me.

Goodwife anyresemblance

Oh boy, oh boy.  Nothing like spending your Friday night driving up and down the Parramatta Road.  And how many fast food outlets can you fit in one kilometre.  All this for 20 minutes of water polo but I tell you, the fitness levels will accelerate if she keeps this up.

Tow games of netball and a hockey game characterised Saturday morning.

Sunday was more satisfying to me.  It was so beautiful and sunny I was inspired to sweep my steps.  A little old lady walking past commented that I must be Swiss as I was demonstrating such housewifely virtue.  It made me think of kitschenette and whatever the swiss housewife school is called.  Then I replanting my pots outside the front door and put geraniums and lavender in my window box upstairs.  The kitten was frightened by the worms in the garden. She was helping me until she realised those pink things were cold to the touch and wriggled in your pawas.  She hid under the bed after that.  What with the big magpies in the tree next door she is finding outdoors a bit overwhelming.

I cooked but I can't remember what.  I spent $350 on groceries and seem to have no food in the house. How can this be?

Idle

I had an odd day off yesterday. Odd since it was a bank holiday but not a public holiday so there was a mix of us who were loafing around while our kiddies went off to school and shops and cafes and sundry businesses operated as normal. I used the day to go buy a bedside lamp for my daughter and Charmed season 7. 

Bondi in winter is very depressing.  It has the feel of people leading unhappy lives.  I spoke to the lady in the school uniform shop across the street from where a man was murdered on Saturday night.  This place is full of transient people with desperate lives, she said. 

Last night we watched Charmed (natch) and ate satay chicken, coconut rice, and a salad of cucumber, tomato and red onion.   It ought to have been yummy but it was just boring. 

Today I am back at work and admiring the many shiny boats which have arrived in Darling Harbour for the boat show.  Sydney looks at its best with a slightly crisp bite to the air but the first clear blue sky in ages.

I just called my old boss who is in town to arrange a quick catch up drink.  Where are you? I asked.  I'm in Tiffany's with my daughter buying her an 18th birthday present, he says.  Make sure it's got plenty of zeroes on the end, I reminded him.
 

without title

It rained a lot on Friday so that I could not bear to go to Bondi Junction to supermarket shop for the thought of all those other people escaping the rain and driving endlessly around the car park looking for a space.  So I went to the local Franklins and paid more but easily got parking and was 1 minute from home.  I made polenta on Friday night and grilled it with lamb chops, grilled courgettes and a salad of corn, tomato and chilli.

Older daughter played water polo on Friday night in far flung suburb (thankfully another mother did the drive out there).  It was her first game but she said it was lots of fun.  Hockey was cancelled on Saturday as the pitch was flooded.  Netball was still on though and we suffered some torrential rain for that.  In the afternoon we went to see Hoodwinked.  I really liked the Kurosawa feel and the slightly faded animation (I understand it was mostly done in the Phillipines).  The kids liked it too.  The yodelling goat was a great hit.

Last night I made a chocolate clafoutis from Jamie Oliver.  I have to say it is not a clafoutis at all - nowhere near batter like - but pretty gorgeous squidgy chocolate almondy thing.  The most revelatory thing was realising how super easy caramelised oranges are, and how yummy they are served with this cake-thing.  I made some more today and used blood orange juice which made the caramel a startling ruby red.

I have been industrious on daughter's quilt today and enjoying domestic industry.  I have been shockingly clumsy this past week though and broken a favourite tea cup, the lamp I had only just bought at Ikea and today my umbrella stand that I have had since I lived in Hong Kong.

Tonight we watched this.  We enjoyed it very much. 

The tooth devil

On the wall of my children's dentist are polaroid happy snaps of his satisfied customers (all children) with their names written underneath.  Older daughter and I were looking at the trends in children's names while younger daughter was in the chair.  Amongst the Tamsins, Claudias, Felixes and Ruperts were a brother and sister together:  Ivy and Moss.  And their brother, Pond Scum, I mused?

Younger daughter had a very wobbly tooth which she wanted pulled out.  Both the dentist and I recommended that she wait for nature to take its course but she was adamant that it was driving her mad so the dentist extracted it:  $125!  $45 for the extraction and $80 for the happy gas.  Bloody hell, I'm sorry i didn't make her tie string round it and tie that to the door handle.

Where not to stay

We have started holiday planning in earnest.  We have to be in Scotland for my brother's wedding, plan to shamelessly freeload off our best-of-all-possible friends in London, visit the lawyer in Geneva but then?  We are thinking Paris, Rome or Venice.  We've all been to Paris before so are contemplating if Italy is a good experience for the 10 and 13 year old in late September.  Any views or comments from the reading public on what to see, where to eat and stay bearing in mind the demands of 13 year old girls (cheap trinkets a must).

Joyeux Anniversaire

I am weighted with some heavy decisions.  I reread some of my archives last night and reminded myself that I continue to move forwards, that my children are lovely and that my life has much that is good.

It's my birthday today.