WHADDA WEEK...

Got so much to report that I don't know quite where to start, plus I have something in the oven so don't have that much time for a complete update. Felt in the mood for experimenting and Pete's working, so decided to make a pasta bake. Went with a basic beef sauce but had a surged of thai inspiration, so in went some coriander and a couple of spices. Tastes pretty good, even if I say so myself. (update: chef extraordinairre Pete approves!!) Okay, so first things first - a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to some of the most important June babies in our lives, who all just turned highly significant and momentus ages (though for the record its all the ripe old age of 21) - Mum (Gladys), Mum (Rita). A special birthday shout out too to one of our favourite nephews Luke Matthew Williams (Man U #5 for now!!), who turned a very very impressive 6 last week to the tune of racing games, chocolate, and a promise that he's still going to be able to beat Pete in bowling on the Wii when we head over next year! Oh, and then there's Claud, and Sujin.... realise we have a lot of mid-year born favourite people! Hope its a brilliant year guys. We're still editing the photos and the video, but managed to pull off a great surprise birthday party for Mum at ours. Almost all the cousins made it (and on time!!), and the crew from over yonder even recorded their special greetings and emailed them in for us to screen. All the kids performed little skits/dances/instrumentals etc... And I think it is safe to say she had a fantastic time. What made it even nicer is that it was at home, so we didn't have to worry about noise levels, last orders, other people or doing anything at all we wanted at any given moment, which was fab. Other than that, its been an eventful couple of weeks, between work and everything else, and believe me when I say its a lot more than the usual (will let on when the timing's a tad bit more... appropriate). I know we owe photos and stories from the trip, and we promise we'll have those, as well as both Mums' birthday shots, up soonest. Together with at least three paragraphs of excuses as to why its taken so long (we promise). (cont'd) Okay, so what else... We've finally settled into the house again methinks. Was a bit hard. Came back, got sick, had surprised birthday weekend, worked, worked the weekend, and then covered the Water Summit (god wasn't it BRILLIANT to be back on the reporting circuit again! Had the time of my life back on the ground interviewing, writing, meeting people, and not least, actually making Happy Hour once or twice, which made the early starts completely worthwhile. But it realise made me realise how much I really like journalism.) But yeah, finally nestled back in, and getting back into my usual routine. We've started cooking alot again, which is great, especially since it means being able to eat lunch the next day without having to go to the canteen!! We've also been experimenting with a couple of restaurants over the weekends, but for lack of anything great to say, apart from the fact that the steak at Wild Rocket is still nothing short of amazing, will keep the comments brief. Very open to some suggestions for great places though. Haven't found anything particularly brilliant lately.... Anyone checked out White Rabbit at Dempsey yet? Thoughts? Okay, so that's the deal for now. Gotta actually get to work, and trying to go in with a smile on my face even if it it (groans) Monday. Will be back later today. Cheers, TW