2009: The year that was...

2009 is already almost over, can you believe it? It's been a dreadful year for me in terms of posting here, but in reality life has been overwhelmingly good. After almost six years living overseas it's been a relief to be home in Australia, not dealing with visas or the general dramas of being a foreigner. The flip side is that even though we're living in a different part of Sydney to where I grew up, everyday life seems more mundane and less interesting to write about than it has been over the past few years.

I thought I'd end the year summarising a few of the standout moments, and of course the best and worst of the last 12 months. Here's to a great 2010!

Best of the year
- Being home in Sydney.
- Living by the beach.
- Seeing family and friends at a normal pace, not jammed into a two week visit.
- Weekday lunches, often spent catching up with people.
- Matt's chocolate classes (especially the massive amounts of hand-made chocolates he brings home).
- No shoveling snow, no slipping on ice, no parka, no hat, no gloves.

Worst of the year
- No rockies, no camping, no vacation.
- No French classes (mostly due to my own inertia).
- Swapping countries with my sister - it seems we are never on the same continent for more than a few weeks.
- The worst year ever for updating greendragonfly.

The standouts
- Finally having a home of our own, not shared with anyone!
- Being calm and settled for a while. I haven't even been on a plane this year....
- Two lines on a stick - actually this was one of the most memorable moments of my life, and an even more memorable one should follow in March 2010.

2009: Weeks 10-12

How quickly the weeks fly by; suddenly I'm 3 weeks behind on posting. Again! Oh well, there shall be no blog guilt, just a catch up post.

Life has been rather busy - work all week and busy weekends. Which is fine, except that I'm really looking forward to sleeping in ... sometime. Setting an alarm on a Friday night just doesn't seem right. Arriving early at the markets was worth the early start, so was brunch with friends. Getting up to go to the lab on a Saturday morning though ... not so much fun, but at least the 2 hour incubation has given me some email and blog catch up time.

Best of 3 weeks
- A trip to SMH growers markets with Peta - stand out purchases were fresh apples and pomegranate balsamic.
- Finally going to one of Angie's jewellery parties - what beautiful things she makes!
- Sound Relief at the SCG; especially the seat in the stands which meant we did not get wet when the (two!) storms passed through.
- Brunch with friends at Bellagio in Waverly.

Worst of 3 weeks
- Too much work, not enough play.
- Family illness.

2009: Week 9

After 5 weeks in the apartment and 4 weeks at work (just 1 for lucky Matt) life is starting to settle down to some sort of routine. The meals are planned, the groceries are bought, and after a few teething problems with the machine (not to mention wet days) even laundry is getting done with minimal fuss. We have found good local Thai and pizza, and our suburb is filled with places to eat, so we're set for those nights when no one wants to cook.

This week we tried out a local restaurant called Churrasco, a brazilian barbeque place serving all you can eat meat. The menu states that they don't cater for vegetarians, and they're not kidding. Dinner consists of various kids of roasted and spit-grilled meat, brought to the table as long as you can keep shovelling it in. We had grilled zucchini, fried banana, and delicious grilled pineapple, but other than that it was beef, pork, lamb, ham, and sausage. The food was delicious, my only complaint was that I couldn't eat more of it. Highly recommended!

Best of the week
- My actual Birthday! Coffee, cake, lunch with Matt, home cooked dinner (not cooked by me), lots of cards, and a surprise present in the mail! All in all, a good day.
- Weekday lunch with my parents - it's lovely being able to just call and make plans for the next day.
- The actual last physio visit :)

Worst of the week
- A nagging cold :(
- Long hours at work for both Matt and I.

2009: Week 8

Aaagghhhh!!! I'm already a week behind! Again!

Best of the week
- Dinner with good friends.
- My first birthday dinner at home for 6 years.
- Ponies!!!!!!!!

Worst of the week
- The "last" physio appointment that won't be the last :(

2009: Week 7

Week 2 at work, and there's not much to report. I spent a lot of time reading, a good deal of time talking to my new boss, and a very little bit of time doing an experiment. OK, it was not so much an experiment as a PCR primer test, but it worked!

Best of the week
- Our first lunch guest!
- Doing lab work for the first time in 6 months, and not screwing up completely.
- Weekends!

Worst of the week
- Discovering that it takes exactly the same time to catch the bus to work as it does to walk.
- A coffee withdrawal headache on Saturday - it doesn't take much to "need" that morning cup...

2009: Week 6

Last August, I walked out of the lab in Calgary, and into an adventure. This week, after almost six months of glorious unemployment, I walked into a different lab and back into the world of work. For those of you who haven't caught up on the news, I was offered a job at the University of New South Wales, and started this week.

It was a good week overall. Most of my work time was spent reading and becoming familiar with some of the software I'll be using. The project I'll be working on is really exciting, and I've enjoyed reading background material and beginning to know enough to ask questions of my own. I've also spent time starting to get to know my new colleagues - they are a great group of people and I think working with them will be a lot of fun.

Best of the week
- Morning coffee - just $2.50 and generally drunk in a lovely garden courtyard.
- Coming home each evening.
- Arriving home and discovering that dinner has already been prepared. What bliss!

Worst of the week
- The pile of things to read, which always grows faster than I can read it.
- Exhaustion in the evening - I've turned soft with all the time off, and a whole day of work really takes it out of me.

2009: Weeks 1-5

Best of the weeks
- being in Australia and not having to run around like a crazy person to see people
- being in the same time zone as most of the people I talk to on the phone
- catching up with friends and family
- being offered 2 jobs (on the 1 day) and having to choose which to take
- moving to our own place, just 5 minutes walk from the beach
- realising that I can live in Sydney without going back to being who I was 6 years ago

Worst of the weeks
- painting a house (but not to live in it) - so much work, and I severely underestimated how long it would take