Ah, this is the life ...

I'm totally enjoying this temporary unemployment (i.e. 4 days off) thing, and it's reminding me exactly why I don't embrace the full-time permanent job lifestyle very well.

Saturday night at work I had a total 'mare, not helped by the fact that I physically felt like I'd been crying (never a mood enhancer) and that it ended up being a ten hour shift. Some assholes in my section didn't leave til nearly 1, and thankfully I had someone volunteer to help me close (even though I was a total bitch, I hope he knows I appreciate it a lot, and even more in hindsight).

I didn't particularly enjoy being woken up the next morning by a call from work, but it gave me great satisfaction to turn down their kind "offer" of work, go back to sleep and continue sleeping for the majority of the day. I'm pretty sure I used the rest of the day to eat and watch Family Guy on DVD.

Yesterday I went out to some west coast beaches with Welsh Boy and, hallelujah, the weather has been great so far this week. It was actually warm and not too windy at Piha (miracle) and we had a fabulous walk along the beach, and thankfully not up Lion Rock. Did a major drive around to get to Muriwai (a few beaches up but with no direct road), had some chips and visited the Gannet colony. We also watched in minor horror as people went swimming in the cold cold water (not least because one guy was wearing blue Speedos). Afterwards we drove back to the city, picked up Sarah and went for dinner at the Cock and Bull (see last Monday's post), inspired mostly by the fact that none of us had had Yorkshire pudding in a while (and Welsh people like pubs). We were served by the same bartender, and mortifyingly, he totally remembered who I was as well, and even what day I'd come in. The food was okay, but in keeping with a traditional British pub, all seemed to be completely cooked by microwave (a three minute wait at the table before meals arrive is always a telltale sign). I am just glad we didn't stay last week! After trying to sit through the terrible musical cheesiness, we headed for the cinema and saw Kung Fu Hustle, with the requisite movie ice cream. I can totally recommend this movie, it is complete comedic/kung fu/musical/cinematographical genius. At the beginning, I wasn't really sure how funny it was supposed to be, but I thoroughly enjoyed it in the end.

Today I was inspired by my farewell cake (and some not so subtle hints from Simon) to try making a carrot cake of my own. It turned out really well, even though I had to turn the oven off with 5-10 minutes to go so I could make my eye exam (my eyes haven't changed that much, and one of the girls I went to uni with is now an optometrist - or optician for those of you who have never heard the word "optometrist"). I even went to the gym today before coming home to ice the cake, dropping it off at the tower (will this balance my karma after being such a royal bitch on Saturday?) and then having a great catch up dinner with Alex, my long lost friend from Te Awamutu. There is no cake left at my house, so I think I will make another one before starting work again ...