Play week is always a frenzy of activity. As reported last week the dress rehearsal was held, and then fine tuning was done throughout the week. Cassy armed herself with even more supplies, various mascaras and foundations and hairspray and all sorts of weird stuff I don’t know the name of at all was sourced, bought and transported to school. The working week was a bit schlep for both of us, Cass trying to get her kids to concentrate on academic matters in class with the extra curricular excitement building and me trying to get back to normal routine after a few highly charged months.My birthday on Monday was fairly anti-climactic, but I was delighted to get a phone call from Chris and Val the night before even though they were using the mobile from the depths of far north Queensland: actually, they no doubt consider it fairly civilised, it’s probably just me who has visions of burly bushmen wrestling wayward crocodiles left, right and centre! Anyway, that was a treat as well as the card they sent, which I waited for the day to open. Inside were some great sentiments and a very generous cash gift! On the way home, I checked my mailbox and there was a fun card from sister Sue, who also emailed me with a lovely message. My aunt Virginia also managed to get hold of both Cassy and me via email, after a few dramas of having some incorrect email addresses. As I said to her in a reply email, even though we are very comfortable here after all these years, it is birthdays when a few of the old feelings can creep back so it was great to get a few messages. To round things off, my great friend back home, Wayne, wrote me an entertaining email, Fran wished us both the best including all sorts of interesting gossip, and Mum both phoned me on the night (after I had dutifully attended my Chinese lesson!) then sent some cards to both of us later in the week with a welcome gift as well!
All in all, I was really pleased with the day. Cass got me a self polishing cover/bag for my iPod touch and one of my colleagues made me a chocolate cake that we ate at school, with an extra piece for me and Cass at home. Cass cooked up a delicious dinner and we cracked a 1994 cabernet sauvignon from California…it must have been special as it had its own wooden box! It was outstanding, I must report!
I took advantage of Cassy’s absence to play duties on Friday night to have a few beers at the new Woo So café at Qiyan up the road a few stops on the train with Wal and Gurecki. We planned the attack for Gurecki’s 50th birthday on Saturday, May 17th: somehow, I’ve become in charge of this event, but he deserves a good show: he’s a loyal friend and now of course, my writing partner! We’re all looking forward to the big event which will involve an entrée of paintball in the afternoon before home for a shower and a bite then don the ubiquitous memorabilia T shirt (which I need to organize in a hurry) then some beers and snacks at the very same Woo So café.
Today, I decided to accompany Cassy up the road to check out the mysterious make up room. It certainly is a hotbed of activity, but luckily the actors this year aren’t displaying any annoying prima donna traits and the girls in her team are all very efficient, slick and proficient. I left her to do a Carrefour run with the car and loaded up with cartons of low cal soft drink and dozens of bags of cat litter! We have to use the car for a big run every now and then because our normal shop is just walking and carrying and these items are very heavy! I got the usual crazy looks, probably saying, “That crazy foreigner”. I managed to use some Chinese to great advantage and told a family of stare bears that I had “2 big tigers at home” to explain the excess of product…I didn’t wait around for any reaction. Back to play, I’d missed the big flurry, but went and got Cass a Panini and then walked home. Cass herself has walked in a bit exhausted just now, went and had a shower and is looking forward to just doing nothing! Photos: me with cake and wine, the “girls” on their new favorite sleeping spot, Cass and Charles the lion, the room and a couple of her “girls”. See you next week…