Thursday

RBs in situ

Well, the days don't get much busier than this ... a full day of work, plus a combined effort to finish catering for and laying out the spread for this afternoon "Christmas Feast" as it has now been dubbed. We're desperately trying to get everything in the computer for the end of month so while some fingers were flying over keyboards, others were trying to keep their fingers on as they chopped fruit, vegetables, ham and other goodies for the table. They had to be careful too ... they were using the new Forever Sharp knives and we know that they will not hesitate to take out skin, flesh and bone if they get the slightest chance. Luckily there were no injuries ... and everyone who ate the chicken did manage to survive. The girls were a little worried about the chicken because we had several - probably a dozen - hot chickens from Coles - picked up at 10 - and they had to be "safe" to eat at 4 - and there was no room in the fridge for them. In the end, to help our "catering team" feel a bit better about it - we decided to keep them (that would be the chickens ... not the catering team) warm under a shock blanket from one of the first aid kits ... and it did the trick because the chickens were still more than warm come plating up time! That being said, I'm not sure any of the "catering team" had chicken - Le had to race off to the dentist to get a Root Canal - and left before the meal was given the ... ready, steady, go - I don't think those were the exact words but they weren't far off. AC and I abstained - for no particular reasons except that we felt like ham instead.

AC and Le had done a great job of giving the tables a very "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" feel ... and M's RBs were given pride of place in the middle of the tables ... and they were a big success!

Christmas lunch

As it turned out the "lunch" didn't last very long at all - it was just under 40 minutes from the time they started eating to the time they were trooping off to go home. We were impressed that a couple of the guys did stay back to help AC and I clear away the mess ... so it could be just another ordinary work day around here tomorrow.

Then it was home to change and go in to TBH for a spot of dinner (The Combo Stir Fry x 3) and then some time at the CSP table for me, Sooz-CSP-roulette-watching for M, and poker machines for Sooz ... and we didn't stay late tonight ... the Monday and Tuesday late nights were still "around".

It was Sooz's last day today and she, Jen and one other person from the team braved the Broadwater to have lunch at The Grand Hotel. Gin-and-tonics and Coconut Prawns later, as well as some Christmas Cheer generally, they were happy to call it a day and Jen dropped Sooz back to Latimers before heading off down the Coast towards home herself - although it has changed ... she and Jo have recently purchase a new place closer to the coast - and leased out their old one - so there are changes in the air for them too.

Did I mention we didn't do that well on the Gaming Floor at TBH - although, the CSP tables weren't as unkind as they could have been - given how many times the dealer didn't open during the evening ... in the end we walked away just $1 down. It's much better than some other nights we've been!