Hello Monday – PLAYWORKEATREPEAT

Hi friends! It’s great to be back on this freezing, cold, windy, and rainy Monday. Now that I’ve given you the weather report, I can move on to the weekend recap, hehe.

The weekend was all about Steve’s birthday celebrations. His actual birthday was on Sunday, but because he works on weekends, we decided to spread things out and celebrate on both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday

Our eldest son came over, and Steve didn’t start work until 7 pm, so it made sense to have a cozy, long lunch just the four of us on that day. I made his favourite pot roast and served it with rice, because everyone loves rice at my house. I’m more of a potato girl myself, so I made some potatoes too—double carbs, why not? When one of your kids has moved out, I can’t tell you how special these times are. Just sitting at the table, eating and sharing stories about everyday life — you never want these moments to end!

I got a Black Forest cake from The Cheesecake Shop, and when I went to pick it up in the morning, I was surprised by the bright red topping—yikes! It didn’t really look like your typical Black Forest cake, and I nearly swapped it for a strawberries-and-cream one. But in the end, I figured I’d give it a go because it was just us, and we’re not fussy. It turned out to be a good decision, because it tasted great! I had two, maybe three… okay, yeah, three slices—and I’m not even much of a cake eater (unless we’re having Pavlova, and then I easily lose all self-control).

After the cake, we gave Steve his present—a Samsung smartwatch. Oh my gosh, we all laughed so much when he pulled the watch in its white box out of the gift bag and his first reaction was, “Oh wow, thanks… nougat!”

Haha! For a split second, he actually thought we had given him a bar of nougat. I was laughing so hard—he’s so easily pleased, we could have saved the money!

Then Steve went to work, and Luke stayed until past midnight. The three of us watched a movie called I Saw the TV Glow. Hmmmm… definitely interesting and full of meaning. I didn’t exactly love it, nor did I dislike it. It’s the kind of film that lingers in your head. My boys enjoy these deep, thought-provoking movies, and I used to love the same kind of movies and books when I was young. Now I prefer entertaining ones where I don’t have to figure out the ending!

Sunday

Sunday was Steve’s actual birthday. He starts work at 2 pm on Sundays, so we went out to La Perouse for breakfast at a place called The Boatshed.

Eggs Benedict for the two of us (Sam had to work).

The sky was so blue, and it was lovely and sunny, such a welcome change from the dreary, rainy days we had last week. But it was still cold and very windy!

After breakfast, we walked around La Perouse and saw Bare Island Fort, built back in 1885 as part of Sydney’s coastal defences.

Do you recognise this bridge?

It’s the Bare Island Bridge that they used for a motorcycle chase scene in Mission: Impossible II (2000). It was a very dramatic scene—Ethan Hunt was either being chased or maybe doing the chasing, I can’t quite remember. There were a lot of impressive motorcycle stunts and explosions. That I do remember! I really should rewatch it—it’s been ages since I last saw it.

And that was Steve’s birthday weekend! How was your weekend? I hope it was a good one. Thanks so much for stopping by. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, stay warm—and remember, only a few more weeks before spring. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, lucky you! I’m jealous!

Linking up with Holly and Sarah