It’s the little things

I love how the smallest of moments can be the most fun.

DD invited me to stay at his place last Thursday night, as the kids were still overseas and my weight of responsibility was much lighter than usual.

I hooned up to his place after work with a tub of homemade Mexican meatballs in a cooler bag for our dinner. As he opened the door to greet me, he realised he needed to drop something off in the next suburb and asked if I wanted to come along for the ride.

Sure!

Afterwards, I suggested we drop into the Avalon Beach House for a drink, which is funky bar and restaurant above the surf club. We haven’t been there for years, despite its proximity to his place.

The weather was balmy and daylight savings meant the sky was still sunny as we pulled up and headed inside. I ordered an Aperol Spritz, DD got a glass of red and we gawped joyously at the view.

One of DD’s mates called, so he invited him to join us and I figured I might as well order a glass of Prosecco to prolong the fun.

We sat beside the huge, open window of the restaurant watching the surf and listening to the waves crash while we had a laugh and a drink.

It felt so unlike a Thursday night. I usually pick the youngest up from skipping training and head home to cook dinner. I loved the break from routine.

The next morning we bolted out of bed at 6.15am to grab a few last rays of the sunrise on Avalon headland while we drank coffees from the barista kombi van that parks there every weekday morning.

It was magic. So good for the soul.

Then I hooned back home to the real world and work.

On Friday night, I popped over to my sister’s place, where her husband cooked me the best steak I’ve had in FOREVER, then my sis and I hopped into the spa with a glass of sparkling.

Also magic.

On Saturday, I drove up north again for an arvo swim … bit nippy but bulk fun … then I sunned myself on DD’s deck for a bit before leaving him to watch the rugby while I prepped for the kids coming home.

Their arrival time was a subject of great uncertainty. They were supposed to land at 10am on Sunday, but their flight was cancelled. Suddenly we were looking down the barrel of an 11pm arrival. But a last-minute text came from the youngest saying they’d managed to score an earlier flight and would be in at 8.35am.

However, pick-up had been earmarked as a girlfriend task rather than a mother one, so I was left to twiddle my thumbs at home as I awaited approval to drive over to my ex’s place and collect the kiddos from the kerb.

But I can’t really talk because I’d done the not-Mother-of-the-Year thing of accidentally putting myself on the guest list of an Archie Rose gin function at the Sydney Opera House at 5pm last night.

Ooooops.

But check out the invite!!!

It was so nice to see the kids and hug them and hear all about their fabulous holiday.

Before I deserted them, I put in the hard yards by driving to Merrylands to collect the eldest’s three rats from the ratsitter. Then I took the youngest to speed skipping training as she thought it would be a good jetlag antidote. Better her than me skipping for 90 minutes after more than 15 hours in the air.

I met DD at a cab rank after drop off and we headed to the city, where we had a lovely time eating peking duck pancakes and oysters and sipping fancy gin as we watched the ginormous Ovation of the Seas cruise ship make its way out through the heads.

Here are some happy snaps:

Then DD suggested we jump in a cab for a quick visit to a rooftop bar with a view, the Zephyr at the Hyatt. Absolutely stunning. I sipped pink bubbles, he sipped chardonnay and we took 500 million photos of the gorgeous sunset sky.