Lynne flying solo...... With Lyndsay on her very long journey back to the UK and Al off to Melbourne for the weekend Mark and I decided to meet up at the Strawberry Hills Hotel for a $5 dinner after work. One bottle of wine quickly turned into two turned into a 2-litre box from the bottle shop turned into dancing around the living room table till crazy o clock. I woke up still drunk and very disorientated to the sounds of my alarm clock the next morning! Needless to say a very tired and hung over day was spent at work. I was really in no fit state for anything other than bed on the Friday evening but not wanting to turn down the invite from my Irish Recruitment Consultant to join her and a few friends at a party in Moulin Rouge (a club in Kings X area) I found myself once again on the wine and vodka and out dancing till almost 5am!! It was very bizarre to find myself in a club in Sydney surrounded by Scottish, English and Irish accents. The party was for a Scottish guy Paul who lives in Sydney and is actually the Promoter for Scott Robertson's club Kink. It was a good night although I did feel like a bit of a spare part not really knowing anyone and tagging along behind Sarah all night. Having vowed the weekend before to never stay in on a Saturday night again I somehow found myself spending the whole day wrapped up in a duvet on the couch watching DVD's with Mark. It was raining, I was recovering from Thursday and Friday, didn't have a lot of money and didn't have my Partner in Crime. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Sunday I spent the day with Jamie and for the first time since I left on my travels major homesickness pangs kicked in. Jamie tried his best to cheer me up with drinks and food but the wine only heightened the "feeling sorry for myself" feeling. I blame it entirely on the other 6 members of the Hunter family (Kerry and Noel included) who were all busy celebrating Derek's birthday in London without me. It was all their fault I ended up drunk, making teary phone calls and having to take the Monday off work sick!!!!! With major guilt pangs about yet another hung over sick day (although to be fair that's what we left behind in London - we're temping it's allowed) I spent a very sensible week with my head down at work, steering clear of alcohol and having early nights. Oh, I did venture out to the cinema to see 'War of the Worlds' with Mark, Al and Mark's new man Thomas. However, it did all get a bit too sensible when I found myself sitting in on a Friday evening watching 'The Princes Diaries'. AARRGGHH.........The less said about that the better I think. I did feel the benefits of it Saturday morning though when I awoke bright and early to blue skies and sunshine, was able to hang out my washing, tidy my bedroom, go shopping on Oxford Street for Jamie's 30th birthday present and meet Mark and Al for a late lunch. That night I headed out for Jamie's birthday. Not sure what to expect turning up on my own to a local "Aussie" type bar in Double Bay (an Eastern Suburb) imagine my delight to find myself, stilettos and all, in a bar with an already wrecked Jamie and his backpacker and Aussie workmates watching the rugby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The night only got better when I found myself sitting next to Brendan, Jamie's Aussie flatmate. Nice enough guy but definitely not my type and definitely not the type of guy I wanted hitting me with lines such as "is that your natural hair colour, it's just so dark against your sparking blue eyes", "I'm going to Scotland if all Scottish chicks look like you" when his face was practically in my cleavage! He then proceeded to introduce me to some young locals he knows as "Hot Scottish Lynne". PLEASE!!!!!!!! Me, being discreet as usual eyeballed one of them, not checking him out but staring at this weird little rats tail thing he'd grown as part of his hairstyle. Brendan mistaking this for me fancying the guy then started trying to hook us up, or rather forcing me on the guy. A sharp exit was required. I did try to meet up with Mark and Al in Palms (a gay club on Oxford Street) but found myself facing a 20-minute queue with a bunch of Queens. I'm not that much of a fag hag hahahaha....... I was home tucked up in bed in what can only be described as a deliriously happy mood by midnight. Again though I benefited from this the next day when once again I woke up bright and early to blue skies and sunshine and spent the day at Bondi with Mark and Al. We had a lovely refreshing walk along the beach promenade and a look around the Bondi Markets. I was very good to myself that evening and treated myself to a few DVD's to watch, WHO-HOO....... Another sensible week was spent working, drinking no alcohol and having early nights. A few drinks were more than deserved when I met up with Jamie on the Friday night for a $5 steak. Jamie's Irish friend Ryan and his girlfriend joined us for a few but it was all pretty civilised and I was home in bed only slightly tipsy by midnight. What started off as a productive and healthy Saturday with Mark and Al doing the Coogee to Bondi walk quickly turned to carnage. By 3pm we were nicely settled in a restaurant in Bondi with a burger and a bottle of wine. With the wine going down rather well we found ourselves in Ravesis Bar with yet another bottle of wine. We had planned on going to a few bars on Oxford Street that night but rather than going home and freshening up we went home drank our way through a few litres of wine, danced around like lunatics and took some mad photos. Hitting the Columbian about 10pm I'm sure we stuck out like sore thumbs. Here were us hanging off the bar when everyone else was just starting their night. The vodkas and shots were such a good idea!!!!! The only word to describe us by the time we hit Palms was Tragic. The best words to describe us on the Sunday were hung over and tragic. My plans to meet Andrew, who was over in Sydney from Perth, were scrapped when I found myself hugging the toilet shouting on Huey. Yet another day spent watching DVD's. It was miserable and rainy outside anyway! Another boring week was spent at work but with the return of my drinking partner to look forward to...