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Archive - July 2004 - December 2004
Thursday 1st July 2004 - New financial year in Australia. One month into winter, but look at this week's forecast - this is Celsius!
Friday 2nd July - Mid-year ball for work. Had a good time.
Sunday 4th July - Mum's birthday. Mum's in New York at the moment - tried to call and wish her a Happy Birthday but I didn't have the right number. The lovely weather continues. Beat expectations - got up to 24 C / 75 F. This is bizarre though - it is the middle of winter, but it's still beach weather. Went to see Simon play his sax with a band in some park, and then went to see Andy and Clint's new place.
Friday 9th July - Work contract was due to finish, but it has now been extended to the beginning of November. Been careful with the carbs this past week. Weighed myself just now. Am now down to 63.9 kg / 140.8 pounds. Broke the 64 kg barrier. Not long to go until I'm at my ideal weight.
Saturday 10th July - Went to Green Chillies Thai with Simon, Andy & Clint, and Kelly.
Sunday 11th July - I fly out to LA to spend the afternoon and dinner with Andrew.
Monday 12th July - Early flight to Chicago to meet up with Jim and Alex, with whom I am seeing the first Madonna concert. Had a nice dinner before the concert. The concert was amazing. SO much better than Drowned World Tour.
Tuesday 13th July - Drove to Detroit - staying with Jim. We're going to go to "Cedar Point - Roller Coaster Capital of the World!" Can't wait to ride the Top Thrill Dragster.
Sunday 18th July - Saw Madonna in Toronto - thirteenth row. The Toronto crowd was much better than the one in Chicago.
Monday 19th July - Saw Madonna again in Toronto - fifth row!!! So close. AWESOME.
Wednesday 21st July - Last Madonna concert in Toronto - tenth row. Even though I was "only" tenth row, this was without a doubt, the best concert I have been to in my entire life. Madonna's dancers said that Madonna thought that this particular concert was the best on the tour so far. The crowd was amazing, and Madonna had so much fun, The show was less scripted than the other nights.
Friday 23rd July - Was due to fly to Calgary to visit my brother Kevin and his fiancée Andrea, but no! Bad weather over the New York region ensured that all flights were cancelled. Was stuck in Toronto for an extra day. Bummer. Had done everything I had needed to do in Toronto and was now there for an extra day. Ran into a work colleague of mine (!) who was also stranded. Small world, huh? After spending a good six hours at the airport trying to get booked on a flight the next day, we got a hotel and went clubbing. I met and spent ages talking to another Australian called Mike (who's a really nice guy).
Saturday 24th July - Second try... they had overbooked the 70-seat plane by 26 seats.. just as well I had the sense to get a confirmed seat when I rebooked. After the flight being delayed by about 2 hours, I was finally on my way to New York! The good thing about having the flight cancelled was that Kevin could pick me up from Newark instead of me trying to find his place by myself.
Sunday 25th July - First full day in New York. WOW. Words cannot describe this city. Go visit it.
Thursday 29th July - Left New York to fly via Toronto to Calgary to visit my cousin Lynne. Had a wonderful time. It's so good to actually have a cousin I'll see relatively often. Never see any of the other relatives.
Wednesday 4th August - Back to LA to catch a flight back to Sydney.
Friday 6th August - Back in Sydney, and weighed myself... 140 pounds, 63.2kg. Woo! Not long to go now. I ate whatever I wanted (within reason) while on vacation, and still managed to stay the same weight. :)
Monday 9th August - First day back at work. Felt surreal working after a month off.
Friday 13th August - Had Josh and Justin over for dinner.
Sunday 15th August - Lazy day watching the Olympics, then met up with Clint for coffee then visited Josh and Justin briefly.
Sunday 22nd August - Went shopping at Bondi Junction with Tracie.
Wednesday 25th August - Happy birthday to me! Had dinner with Josh and Justin at Minc. Was a fun night, with a few yummy cocktails.
Thursday 26th August - Had dinner with Ben and Luca, Tracie, Andy and Clint, Cody and Luke, Michael and Pete, and of course Simon, at Una's. We had to wait an hour for a table, but the food there is always fabulous, and service good too.
Friday 3rd September - Went to Terrigal, NSW, for a work retreat. Was fun.
Sunday 5th September - After getting back to Sydney, I went shopping with Simon at Broadway. Something that we hardly ever do together.
Saturday 11th September - Had dinner with Josh, Justin, and Tracie and Wok On Inn. It was just a noodle bar, but OMG.. the service was really quick.
Sunday 12th September - Went "emergency shopping" with Clint and Ben. Three trolleys later, the emergency was over.. until we tried to fit it all in the car.
Saturday 18th September - Dinner at Josh and Justin's, then watched a Madonna Re-Invention Tour DVD.
Sunday 19th September - Coffee with Clint, then shopping with Tracie. Bought a lime tree (!) and a whole load of lettuce and strawberry plants.
Wednesday 22nd September - Breakfast at Bill's with Lauren and two of her friends (who were quite fun) and then dinner with Lauren and Simon at Tre Amici.
Saturday 2nd October - Sabine and Stephan left to fly back to Germany.
Sunday 3rd October - Went to see Kill Bill 1 at Andy and Clint's, then went to Una's for dinner.
Monday 4th October - Labour Day public holiday.
Tuesday 5th October - Day off. Thought Katja was coming today, but it's tomorrow. Oh well.. can use the day to tidy the place up.
Wednesday 6th October - Katja arrived to stay with us in Sydney for a year. It's really nice to see her again. Katja's new website is here.
Monday 11th October - Had an interview for a new job.
Wednesday 13th October - Today, it got up to 38.9 C / 102.2 F in Sydney. Went sunbathing in the park during my lunchtime to celebrate.
Thursday 14th October - Got the job!! Start on the 25th of October. This is a permanent job doing what I want to do, so I'm happy! And, since I've vowed not to move countries again for a long time, it sounds like I'll be there for a long time. Yay!
Friday 22nd October - Last day at my job. Quite sad, but I was only a contractor. Had drinks, then dinner with a few colleagues. Then, we went out to Oxford St to a club and celebrated with a few drinks.
Monday 25th October - First day at the new job. Great people.
Friday 29th October - After work, I flew to the island of Maui (Hawaii) via Honolulu.
Friday 29th October - I've put today's date in twice, because we crossed the date-line, so I got to live through Friday again. Landed at about 11am. Had the pre-wedding rehearsal luau, which was fun. Got to see Mum & Dad, Kevin & the bride to be (Andrea), Warren, and my favorite cousin Lynne again.
Saturday 30th October - The big wedding. Was really nice. Kevin looked really happy, and Andrea looked stunning.
Monday 1st November - Flew back to Honolulu, where we spent the rest of the week sunning ourselves. Got to buy tons of Diet Dr Pepper (my favorite drink, unavailable in Australia) and go shopping. Fun!
Tuesday 2nd November - US Elections. Always nice to be in the US to watch the saturation coverage on TV (especially as I did my masters in Political Studies). Not too keen on Bush winning his second term though.
Friday 5th November - The only rainy day.. Just as well, because I got sunburnt the previous day.
Saturday 6th November - Flew back to Sydney, all brown. Because we crossed the dateline in the other direction, we got back late Sunday night.. just in time to go to bed.
Monday 8th November - Back at work.
Tuesday 9th November - Flew down to Melbourne for a desktop rollout at work.
Friday 12th November - Drinks at work.
Saturday 13th November - Started my Christmas shopping (with Josh), and then dinner with Josh, Clint, Andy, and Simon at Tre Amici.
Sunday 14th November - More shopping with Josh, followed by a BBQ.
Xmas 2004 - Had Xmas breakfast at Josh and Justin's, followed by a late lunch at Andy and Clint's then dinner at Josh and Justin's.
Friday December 31st 2004 - Went to Josh's mother's place at Quay West and watched the fireworks from there. Was an amazing view.
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