No Lotto tickets for me
Hmm, well, I had the best birthday I've had in a few years and mind you, I haven't had any bad ones that stand out. It was just that this weekend was particularly good and get this, it was good despite the fact that this year if fell on Saturday and I worked 9.30-5.

Work, for the first time in a long time was devoid of the requisite fruitcakes that add spice to the Librarians' lot. No angry folks complaining vociferously about their .40c late fines, no rude people insisting that they needed computer time NOW even though they had not booked and clearly every pc in the place a body before the screen, the computers themselves managed to stay on line all day with nary a hiccup and the automated booking system refrained form crashing. Plus all the staff who were rostered on believed in getting the job done - as apposed to avoiding as much work as possible given that it is the weekend - which spread the load and made the day zip by.

I came home to a dinner cooked by L and the company of the friends who gave us Eddie and Milo. There was much conversation, good food and an overabundance of wine. Dinner was followed by the best laugh any of us have had in a long while thanks to vrya. My friend the 'Blue Collar Comedy Tour' was a riot. We were all wiping away tears, for local colour it travelled really well. 'The glass house' is going to seem amateurish and puerile by comparison (but the accents alone are probably worth 10 minutes of your time).

I did extremely well in the loot department too. Not so much the what was given as the thought behind it. Alex gave me a miniature rose the blooms of which are so small I have never seen the like before. Ellen chose four different shades of novelty yarn (Feathers) in complementary hues and L was springing for the Western boots that I have been lusting after since 5 minutes after I walked into McDonald's Saddlery 6 years ago.

(The Saddlery is an amazing place to find in the Marsh. Not because they have more horse doodads than you could point a stick at but because when you get past the bits, halters, leads and the $4,000 Saddle that looks like it's worth 4K on account of all the tooled silver and leatherwork they have a roomful of Rodeo gear, much of it imported from the US. Fringed jackets, sparkly shirts and boots straight out of Midnight Cowboy.

Although my heart runs to the genuine red and black leather with a mountain of decorative stitchery at $450, our pocket ran to the more practical uni-coloured, lightly stitched 'Made in India' copies at $195.)

So I knew what was coming from my spouse and was very happy with it, then he surprised me by 1. filling the house with flowers (three bunches is my idea of filling, this isn't the movies and where do they find all the vases?) and 2. producing bottles of my favourite perfume and liqeur as a surprise.

Dad gave me garnet stud earrings (my suggestion when he was jonesing for ideas) and a fine chain with a peridot in a dangling doodad. Wasn't expecting this kind of spoilage.

Am very happy woman.

Sunday we took Dad out to lunch at the Myrniong Pub. An interesting old building that's changed hands - and clearly Chefs - recently. The building is all bluestone and history and the food was much the same. Wouldn't eat there again in a hurry and certainly not until someone I trust tells me the food's good. Still the lunch was pleasant and the company happy.

Currently reading: Incurable by John Marsden (Book 2 of The Ellie Chronicles, his follow up to the Tomorrow series.)