February (already!)

I can't believe it's already February. I mean, I still have our Christmas lights up around the decking! But I think I might leave them there this year and just change their name to 'decking lights', then it becomes a matter of ambience/decor and not indolence/sloth. Not that there's been a whole lot of the latter lately (certainly not as much as I prefer), because what with recovery from the heatwave, as well as last minute school requirements and my new job etc plus the fact that my latest book just hit the shelves (which requires an investment of time publicity-wise), there hasn't even been time to scratch. Which, incidentally, was somewhat necessary last week because the dog had fleas.

We did, however, find the time to go for our first training hike with our trekking company (this is the training we've been training for!). Now, to be honest, I was really worried about this hike, and I know Cathri was too, because it sounded pretty full-on. But here's where the heatwave came in handy - they changed it from a seven hour up-and-down-dale marathon to a two hour up the side of a mountain one. In comparison the latter seemed a pretty good trade, even with a 6.30am start time. And I figured if it all got too much, I could just jump. But much to my surprise (seriously, I was stunned), I had an absolute ball. I don't think I've clambered since I was a kid, and that's exactly what we had to do. Up the fire-track on the side of Mount Dandenong, climbing over rocks and hanging on to trees to keep balance. And the view from the top was stupendous! A panarama of Melbourne in the morning. Can't wait to do it again.