Leaves are falling

This week saw some colder weather hit us. Some mornings it was cold but by lunchtime, the temperature had dropped five degrees I reckon. It was bitterly cold.

The work Xmas party was on this week and it was a huge success. I helped with the catering, planning the menu, getting some catered food in, cooking some old favourites and helping on the night. I rolled over 340 sausage rolls which is a record for me. A few workmates helped me do the final cutting and preparation of the food and I was very grateful. The social club gave me a restaurant voucher as a thank you for my help with catering the happy hours for past few months. I was very surprised but flattered - it's to a restaurant I've wanted to go to and the voucher was very generous. 

I also organised the monster Xmas raffle which had over $2500 worth of prizes. There were over 40 prizes to be won and it was a huge hit. One of the prizes I bought was this green fluffy dinosaur toy. I couldn't resist him when I surfing Costco for prizes. On the way home I decided to name him Bruce. We gave him a name badge at work and he sat outside Deb's boss' office on the lounge chair for a few days before the Xmas Party. He was pretty popular. Sadly, I didn't win him in the raffle. But he was won by a lady who was dancing with him all night long. He was really having a great time so it seems he's gone to a good home. 

 

We enjoyed a brunch with one of our good American girlfriends and her husband. We exchanged some funny stories such as 'Not Happy Jan' - the old Telstra yellow pages ad. The joys of mobile phones and internet allowed us to watch the ad. It will never stop being funny.

They then told us about the lonely Maytag man ad. They used to feature the Maytag repair man being bored on his job. He was bored because Maytag appliances were so dependable and never broke so the repairman never had any work to do. The first ad featured the introduction training to new repairman, they were told the appliances never broke so they won't ever see inside the washing machines or other appliances. Their tool box was kitted with playing cards and crossword puzzles to help the boredom. Only Maytag repairmen can battle the loneliness. They explained it much better than me but it was quite funny.

Well the leaves are falling and its incredible to see such huge piles of leaves on the streets waiting for the leave collection trucks to come by.

The forest near us is totally bare again, just like when we first arrived. The dogs still find it full of new things to sniff and pee on. 

And the Xmas lights are going up everywhere. I am starting to take photos so you can see just how fabulous they all look.

I have pulled out crock pot (slow cooker) and will make a stew every weekend - for the dogs. It's better than tin food and the warm stew at night has them really getting excited for their dinner. A final pic of the dogs in the bare forest.