Higlights of Sydney so far ...

Alas, my three weeks "break" in Sydney is over but here are some highlights ...

Catching up with friends - seeing "Meet the Fockers" with Ange, having breakfast with Karen, shopping at Paddington Markets with Kylie (and scoring some bargains!), lunch with Jo at Observatory Hill, lunch with Bill, Linda & Steven, moving with Geoff & Mark, and hanging out with Mark & Jen.

Cooking - it's very rare for me to make a recipe more than once (because I like experimenting, not because I stuff it up, though that has been known to happen!) but I have been making this pasta salad recipe for the past three weeks!

Creamy Ham & Pasta Salad
300g pasta
200g shaved ham, chopped
1 small yellow capsicum, halved, deseeded, diced
¾ cup semi dried tomatoes, chopped
1 Lebanese cucumber, halved lengthways, chopped
2 sticks celery, sliced

Dressing
1/3 cup whole-egg mayonnaise
2 T light sour cream
1 T honey
1 T wholegrain mustard

Make dressing Combine all ingredients, and salt and pepper in a screw-top jar. Shake well to combine. Cook pasta in saucepan of boiling water, following packet directions, until just tender. Drain well. Transfer to a large bowl. Add ham, capsicum, tomatoes, cucumber, celery and dressing to pasta. Toss to combine. Spoon into serving-sized airtight containers. Refrigerate until ready to pack into lunch boxes.

Serves 4
Source: Super Food Ideas (February 2005)

Relaxing - going to Mars Hill Cafe (Parramatta's answer to the Three Monkeys) and hearing Rob Sweeny & Pete "Bongo" Flynn (think of Francis & Fletch in 10 years time!), doing day-long crosswords, reading Keats, and watching trashy day time TV.

Church - St Thomas' is going well and I'm continuing to enjoy making new friends. I admire the prayerfullness of the staff team and am hoping that this attitude will rub off on me. Organising the music is going well and I find that I'm stressing less - which are both good things. The first song I'm planning on teaching is "O the Love of God is Boundless" - I know it's a bit sentimental that the last song I chose at SNOH should be the first I teach at St Thomas' but I'm sure you'll cut me a break this once!

Yes, so that was my three week holiday before the onslaught of college next week. I have been blessed with a good (read: big) room at college which I'm so thankful for. And I've been gradually decorating it with all things purple - blankets (thanks Onie!), a water jug, place mats, a rubbish bin, and a washing basket. My room's not overtly full of purple things but there are enough hints of purple to make any Gracie proud!