the grateful sparrow: Jan. 21: Surprises

Nicko had said we were going to work on the house so I got up & got dressed in my paint clothes, but he seemed to have forgotten and we never went. I honestly didn't really feel like it anyway so I wasn't fussed. Spent the day reading and sitting in the pool and lounging in the still-quiet hostel.

There was some drama between Nick and his parents, who own the hostel. They keep telling him to take a holiday, take me on a trip, because he works too hard (true) and needs a break. They also want him to go on a brochure run to hostels between here & Brisbane to advertise the hostel, which could be perfect because my flight leaves from Brisbane & it could be a little road trip for us. However, every time he's suggested he go, they've said that he can't leave because they need him here to manage the hostel. It's very contradictory and it's really been frustrating him. It put him in a terrible mood all day, compounded by the fact that I have to leave soon (sob!) and realized I needed to start thinking about bus schedules etc. etc.

from weheartit.com

When he got off work, he went upstairs to "have it out" with his parents. I busied myself in the kitchen, making a dinner of risotto (kind of ended up tasting like grits! I'd been trying to describe them...) with chicken, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, and black olives. He came back down just as dinner was done, very mopey, one-word answers, thunder in his look. I sighed and thought, ok, I'm really going to have to start thinking about when I need to catch the bus & how long I should be in Brisbane...

He sat down to eat, silent, not touching his food, and I said "talk to me." Without looking at me, he opened his calendar to the back and pointed to a list scratched out in black pen. It took me a few minutes to realize what I was reading, and then I shreiked! It was a tentative itinerary for our ten-day trip down to Brisbane!! Penned by his dad, of all people! Then he finally smiled, in a "gotcha!" sort of way, and said he'd have to work hard this next week getting everyone trained & getting the house done, but we're leaving next Friday on the southern brochure run! And we're hitting all the things I wanted to see but wasn't sure I'd be able to get to. So excited. We spent the rest of dinner looking into rental cars & hostels, and discussing what we want to see at each stop.

It was Taco's last night here, so we all went out for the usual pub crawl. Beaches for free pitchers of beer, then Paddy's for a live band. This time, though, we went to Evo after Paddy's to hear the new DJ, who was quite good. We were all being silly & crazy, dancing like fools, as per usual. The Estonian girls Taco had hooked up with were dancing like strippers & the guys at the next table were taking pictures & leering. Um, yeah, that's what happens when you act like that. Surprise, surprise. Chris & I did "modern art" couch poses in Evo, and someone random had brought out a blow-up doll, which the guys were taking ridiculous pictures with. We all stopped in Mackers for a late night snack (MacDonalds is their Taco Bell), as per usual, and Chris made a big fuss about wanting vegemite for his fries. Ugh ga-ross. All in all, it was a fun night out & Taco had a good send-off.