Happy new year one and all...

Had a lovely and civilised (somewhat) NY affair at Andy and Steph's place in Milson's Point (i.e. within a stone's throw of the harbour and the fireworks (!!)- I figure it's the closest I'll ever get without having to get crushed by the masses). We actually ate before we got there, without realising that there would be (good) food there...so we ate again, and by the time we were through were rolling around on their floor at about 11pm. Then Brendan and I engaged in some wonderfully tuneless and boisterous singing (songs included A Whole New World and other Disney standards, as well as our current fave- Christmas Is All Around...I think we spoiled all the jokes in Love Actually for everyone around who hadn't yet seen it- hehe) which took us up to the midnight fireworks display...singing loudly and tunelessly has got to be one of my favourite past times...however, the senior pastor of our church was also there, and it turned out that he thought we had had too much...oops. I don't need alcohol to get like that!

Fireworks were good...like a few of the letters in the Herald pointed out though, it was slightly excessive and indulgent. And the thing about them is you just keep expecting bigger and better ones...it is a bit of a waste. But a very nice looking waste =).

Then last night Jono threw a dinner party for a few friends which was lots of fun. We started cooking in the arvo- I was seriously concerned about his Jamie-esque exploits: the "Nut of Veal" (serious- when we bought the meat it had a little sign on it saying "Veal Nuts"....hello?!??!!?) wrapped in bacon and mushrooms, and his chicken in rock salt (a whole chicken baked in this crust made out of pure rock salt), but they both turned out really well- very impressed! There were ridiculous amounts of food- a small mountain of pasta which we were shovelling off on to people, as well as Caesar salad (way too much garlic in the dressing...silly Jono!), garlic bread, little bocconcini slices dressed with creme fraiche (also a Jamie one...I didn't find it that great btw) as well as the Veal Nut and the chicken and desserts (cheesecake, apple pie and fruit terrine)...*erp* hehe.

The random company was surprisingly good! What I found particularly good about it was that there were no...how do I put this...conversation stealers (?). That is, there wasn't just one person dominating the conversation that everyone was listening to- it was pretty much everyone contributing, which I found quite refreshing. Conversation was light-hearted and entertaining...all in all, a pretty successful combination. Especially freaking Julz out over the phone by making him talk to people he'd never met in his life. Teehee.

(As an aside- some people are so weird. Hello, if you put your thoughts on the web, you're putting them there to be read- with the possibility that the whole world will tune in and read what you're writing. Hence, you're accepting the risk of people reading what you're writing. So it's your own friggin fault if you write something too personal and someone else reads it. If you're not comfortable with it, lock your site or just write mass emails!! Argh- the internet is a public place people! Sorry, had to get that out- been one too many people complaining about people breaching their blogs...)

On that note I shall leave you- actually one more thing!

Shout outs to Jo and Shanna in their respective 2004 locations- Shanna, sorry I didn't get to call you before you left! Hope you had an excellent and not too uncomfortable flight- enjoy Circle of Friends! Jo, hope you're settling in well with the "sisterhood" =)

ciao xxoo