birthdays, FourPlay and book recommendations

I'm back at work after a 4 day weekend. Despite that, I'm exhausted. I'll tell you why.

Friday - was back at work until 8pm so that I didn't have to work on Tuesday.

Saturday - birthday party for a 1yo starting at 11am. I stayed back to help clear up and was then invited to play in the park with the boys (I hurt my hand punching the ball AFL style), and stay for dinner and a DVD. Finally left about 11pm, so I didn't make the meet.

Sunday - housework, shopping, packing, wrapping presents, checking email, gardening and other odd jobs around the house. Then off to Rics to meet my date before heading to the Judith Wright Centre to see FourPlay with SARS as support. I saw SARS a couple of times at Woodford, but I don't know their stuff well. I thoroughly enjoyed their set and loved Simone's dancing (as per usual). And then there was FourPlay. I don't want to get too mushy in case Peter's still reading and I embarass myself, but these guys really do make my heart soar, and I forget everything but what they're playing. If you've never seen them perform, then do yourself a favour (to quote Molly) and get yourself to their next gig. I'm such a fan that I'm flying down to Sydney for their 10th birthday gig (well, actually the timing just worked out well, but it sounds better that way).

For those that are more interested in the people than the music (you weirdos!), the date went well and I think I still like him. We've made tentative plans for the weekend after this one. This time, I think I'll either (a) go out for dinner; or (b) go out with the gang. I'm not sure how long my interest levels will last - making conversation isn't as easy as with some people since I have to initiate each topic and he's not that into music which, though I can talk about almost anything, is what I'm most passionate about. He did like SARS and FourPlay though, which is a good thing.

Monday - after getting home about 10pm and staying awake until nearly midnight (couldn't sleep), I had to get up early to have a shower, drink copious amounts of water to try and ease the headache I had after 4 beers the previous night (it didn't help), eat breakfast, feed the cat, change his litter tray, and head off to the airport to be there by 10am when my cousin and her kids arrived. Then it was bundling them into the car and off to Toowoomba to deliver them to my parents - that makes them sound like some sort of human sacrifice, but actually, they chose to visit my parents for a week. What can I say? My parents are cool. So we arrive in Toowoomba about lunchtime. I have a headache, the kids are bored and I think my cousin's last nerve is about to snap after putting up with the kids bored for the last 4 hours (2 hours on a plane, 2 hours in a car). We have lunch and head over to my brother's place so they can have a swim. Only problem is that my brother already has visitors and there are kids everywhere - 7 of them, all under the age of 8. It may not seem like many, but when they're all screaming and slamming the door every 2 seconds, they seem to multiply. My poor head. I lasted about an hour and then headed back to my folks place for some quiet time with my Dad before they all landed back over for dinner. I had many wines with dinner - that helped. I slept like a baby.

Tuesday - my Mum's birthday. I gave her two books (Angels and Demons & The Dog Walker), a DVD (Lady Chatterley's Lover), and a vibrator. Yep, you heard me. A vibrator. She's been saying for years that she's never seen one. So I bought her one of her very own when I went to Sexpo. Don't worry, I made sure she opened it on Monday night after the kids had gone to sleep - I wouldn't embarass her that much!

Anyway, I had a busy morning looking after the kids while Mum and Dad worked, then my nephew arrived over and my other cousin came over with her kid. Thankfully, these guys are all nicer kids than the 3 extras over at my brother's place on Monday, so it wasn't quite as bad. Lunch was nice and I enjoyed chatting to my cousins. But Mum was vague and distracted. She would ask a question and then wouldn't listen to the answer which shits me no end. I left it a little late to head off and ended up driving in the dark from Ipswich on - I don't really like highway driving at night, I find it tiring, while daytime driving doesn't bother me at all and I can drive for hours and hours without slowing down. Anyway, by the time I got home, I just fed the cat, unloaded the car, ate some soup for dinner and then crashed into bed around 8:30pm. I slept through until this morning.

The other mentionable event of the weekend, was that I finished Wise Children, my book recomendation from Urban Fox. I enjoyed it - it's irreverant and witty and slightly shocking (especially for the era). I wouldn't say it will be one of my favourites, but it's definitely worth a read.

So now I'm extending the idea to my readers. If you leave a comment to this blog, I'll recommend a book to you, based purely on my knowledge of you as a blogger (or my knowledge of you if I know you in person). I'll do a post with one recommendation for each person who wants one. It will be a book that I genuinely think you would enjoy, and not a joke recommendation. I'll try to avoid books that I know you've read, but if I make a recommendation and it turns out you've already read it, I'll see that as a mark for me and not against me! ;o)

EDIT: FourPlay now have 30 second song samples from their backcatalogue up on the website - go here to download and listen.

Listening to: The Thorns - s/t