Christmas Week

Chatting with a colleague yesterday, she told me she felt “terribly organised” for Christmas this year, in a way she hadn’t been previously. This surprised me, as she’s ordinarily a “terribly organised person” in my view. “It must be the placement of the days”, she told me. And indeed, it was lovely to have three days off in the middle of the week, though to be truthful it was probably only Christmas Day when I really took time out. This is a busy time of the year for me, as others take time off, and I “keep an eye on the shop”.

Christmas Day was spent chatting with relatives and friends on the phone and Skype, and in person, for lunch with a friend and her family at Bondi. What surprised me most was the growth of her niece and nephew. The last time I’d seen them was at my friend’s mother’s funeral six years ago. At the time, they were “awkward teenagers”. Several years later, they’re young adults.

Also this week, I went to see the film about Dick Cheney, called Vice. “Christian Bale is awesome playing a complete c…”, I texted a friend after the movie. It’s a good film, not a great one, as some of the more “theatrical” parts of the film seemed a little contrived, in my view. But I enjoyed it, and it was nice to spend a couple of hours in an air-conditioned cinema.

With three days off in the middle, work on Monday and Friday was extremely productive. The only downside at work was that the usual places I grab coffee and lunch were closed this week. Yesterday, I ended up wandering all the way to Darling Harbour to find lunch. My usual lunchtime places were closed, so I headed towards The Powerhouse (too crowded), and then towards two local pubs (neither of which were doing lunch), until finally, arriving at Darling Harbour, where I discovered Fratelli Fresh was open.