So what have we been up to you ask?

I confess, I do so many updates on Facebook since all my immediate family and many friends are on there that this space has been sadly neglected. Company, work, doing stuff...you know how it goes. That said it is a lovely summer afternoon - a long weekend for many people as Australia Day is Tuesday so they're taking Monday off. It's a national holiday and the highlight of the day in Perth is the giant fireworks display over the river and downtown. We just missed it when we arrived last year but it is apparently a big deal. As soon as we moved into our apartment people started saying "oh - you can see the Australia Day fireworks, you'll have to have a party". As they do to everyone who has a house with any sort of a view. I'm interested to see how it goes. Even mopped the balcony today for only the second time since we moved in (a giant pain) AND oiled the outdoor table. I feel most virtuous. We had a great time with the kids here over Christmas of course. We pretty much kept going full speed for the duration although Laura and I did manage to sneak in a spa day the afternoon before she left town. A much needed restorative. I dropped her at the airport at 4AM the next day, spent the day doing moderate (ok extremely little) tidying and then it was back to work on Tuesday. The next week was recovery, laundry, restocking, and trying to get the brain back into work mode. Plus fretting over the 72 hours it took Laura to get all the way back home to TN. If pressed I have strong and unfriendly words for Delta. Then mostly by accident we had a busy round of dinners and doing stuff....the founder of my company came into town, a guy from Houston visiting Mike's office, catching back up with friends here who we hadn't seen in weeks, getting back to sailing and mahjong. Plus discovering the baseball park here and going to several games. It's lovely to sit at the ball park in the cool of the evening, listening to the American announcer, drinking a beer. I like eavesdropping on the conversations around us too - there are some surprisingly savvy local fans. We had a day out fishing offshore last weekend too - it was a little rough and a bit of an adventure once or twice. In addition to catching fish I saw an albatross which pleased me greatly and a pod of dolphins did their frolicking thing around the boat. This morning Mike took a nice long walk (I slept) and then we met up for breakfast with some friends. Turns out several of us had the same plan to visit a new farmers market over near Mike's office. Four of us went together and had a lovely stroll through...it is about time I turned into a savvy shopper for my fruit and veg. Prices were great and we have a fridge full of fresh fruits and veggies. I'm cooking an organic corned beef for dinner. And! Mike has hired a personal trainer and is being most diligent. This makes me feel ashamed of myself for not working up a sweat too but not enough to actually start working out myself - yet. I am participating in the low carb/low sugar part of the program though so maybe a miracle will occur. Anyway, here are a few recent photos for your amusement:

Mike and I on the high seas

I caught a fish!

And lastly, simply because it amuses me, this license plate in our parking garage. On a Ferrari: