I’m starting this post at the Lomond Hotel. Kinda odd that I’ve
lived around here so long and never darkened its door. Here I am in the
front bar having an immensely pleasant Furphys ale.
I decided to stay in town this weekend. It was a difficult week just gone. A matter was fixed for trial on Thursday for a fairly demanding client who was determined to press a high risk strategy ... until he decided at the last minute to accept an offer that the defendant had put some months ago. This is the sort of thing that adds substantially to the stress levels of lawyers and their assistants without actually producing anything.
Next item on the agenda was Mass at Our Lady's. It's only 5 minutes walk from the Casa, but I don't go to Mass there anywhere near as often as I'd like to (it's a timing issue). Fr Casey does the mass very straight, though, which I like and which is surprisingly rare.
The church isn't that far from a laundromat so I stopped there afterwards to do the laundry and then ironed my shirts. Yep, my life is that exciting some days. It felt good, though, to finally get to the stage of the day that involved food (I hadn't eaten all day).
Barre done, I walked down to the Queen Victoria Market to get groceries. The market is a bit uneven cost-wise relative to the supermarket. However, the quality is almost always rather better and certainly broader. I picked up some broccoli, rockmelon, strawberries, grain bread and ham.
I walked back to the Casa and and found I'd racked up 10kms, The fountain in the photo, by the way, is outside the Exhibition Building
Once I got walking again, you can guess what happened: I got lost again. I think this gets me up to something like 40 kilometres for the weekend. Healthy or bust!
One of the final items on the agenda was going for a glass or two of wine: clearly, I went with beer instead. As I was wrapping up the draft of this the band was getting ready to play. It's been a satisfying weekend, and I think a good pick-me-up. Let's see what the week brings!
I decided to stay in town this weekend. It was a difficult week just gone. A matter was fixed for trial on Thursday for a fairly demanding client who was determined to press a high risk strategy ... until he decided at the last minute to accept an offer that the defendant had put some months ago. This is the sort of thing that adds substantially to the stress levels of lawyers and their assistants without actually producing anything.
Anyway, by Friday evening I was barely able to string a sentence
together and decided the best thing I could do was have a weekend to
myself for a bit of rebuilding. Naturally, there was planning. Am I the only person who uses the calendars from www.timeanddate.com to plan the weekend in half-hour blocks? I find it incredibly useful in getting everything out of the time.
Saturday started out with Telecross phone calls for Red Cross (happy to report that everybody was well and happy) followed by a walk up to the 7/11 for their cheap coffee. Don't judge me.
I’ve been more and more taken with mindfulness and meditation, so I’d planned two blocks of 45 minutes meditation with some suitably hippyish music. I took the first block of it after my coffee. I’m not sure I felt much different for it save perhaps a bit calmer. Anyway next on the agenda was FaceTime with Grace and Rachel. They’re getting so grown up now. As often though, I was competing with the iPad for their attention! Kids will be kids I guess. The strangest thing is, I miss them as much now as I ever did. It never fades. You just learn to live with it. Truly, there’s nothing you can’t get used to.
I’ve been more and more taken with mindfulness and meditation, so I’d planned two blocks of 45 minutes meditation with some suitably hippyish music. I took the first block of it after my coffee. I’m not sure I felt much different for it save perhaps a bit calmer. Anyway next on the agenda was FaceTime with Grace and Rachel. They’re getting so grown up now. As often though, I was competing with the iPad for their attention! Kids will be kids I guess. The strangest thing is, I miss them as much now as I ever did. It never fades. You just learn to live with it. Truly, there’s nothing you can’t get used to.
(I just moved onto a Brunswick Bitter; good but I think the Furphy ale was better).
Next item on the agenda was a run. I decided to try for two hours
or 20 kilometres in the Yarra trail and got the tram down to near the Arts Center.
The Yarra trail turned out to be closed near Powerhouse boat sheds,
and I got lost trying to find the detour (getting lost happens to me surprisingly often). I found myself on Toorak Road back through South Yarra and decided to just head back towards
Southbank and see what happened.
In the end I was getting tired and as I’d booked a barre class for
today I didn’t want to wreck my legs completely, so I went through to
Latrobe and Swanston Streets till I got to 2 hours and called it quits. I
was a bit pleased to find that I’ve dropped
another kilo when I weighed in when I got back to the Casa.
Next item on the agenda was Mass at Our Lady's. It's only 5 minutes walk from the Casa, but I don't go to Mass there anywhere near as often as I'd like to (it's a timing issue). Fr Casey does the mass very straight, though, which I like and which is surprisingly rare.
The church isn't that far from a laundromat so I stopped there afterwards to do the laundry and then ironed my shirts. Yep, my life is that exciting some days. It felt good, though, to finally get to the stage of the day that involved food (I hadn't eaten all day).
Today meant another early start in the form of an 8am barre class. It's an abidingly good cross training for running. Aside from the utilitarian benefits, there's something liberating about going to something like this without anyone giving a damn. Herein one of the appeals of coming down to Melbourne. In Shepparton (and even more Tatura), I was always aware that what you did was seen by everyone. This was OK the first few years I was there. And by the last year or two, it really wasn't OK.
Barre done, I walked down to the Queen Victoria Market to get groceries. The market is a bit uneven cost-wise relative to the supermarket. However, the quality is almost always rather better and certainly broader. I picked up some broccoli, rockmelon, strawberries, grain bread and ham.
I walked back to the Casa and and found I'd racked up 10kms, The fountain in the photo, by the way, is outside the Exhibition Building
After I'd prepped meals for the week, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and head up the Merri Creek Trail. I made up sandwiches with the groceries from the market and bottled some water and wine. A few kilometres in I found a bench in the shade and that was ideal for me.
Once I got walking again, you can guess what happened: I got lost again. I think this gets me up to something like 40 kilometres for the weekend. Healthy or bust!
One of the final items on the agenda was going for a glass or two of wine: clearly, I went with beer instead. As I was wrapping up the draft of this the band was getting ready to play. It's been a satisfying weekend, and I think a good pick-me-up. Let's see what the week brings!
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