Rain, glorious rain...and books and long walks

I'm on holidaaaaaaays! Friday was my last day of work for a month and it was capped off by my work Christmas party at a new Middle Eastern restaurant in the city. It was a fun night and the food was delicious. I love Middle Eastern food.

It rained all day Friday - the first time in a long time that we have had a proper rainy day, not just showers here and there. It was fantastic. It was drizzling when I left the restaurant around midnight and as I crossed Little Collins Street, I glanced to my right and saw a blue glow above the Rialto (above) as the lights atop the building lit up the misty rain.

I ended up walking all the way home in the rain which would normally be quite dismal, but it was a mild night. I like the sound of rain on my umbrella. I couldn't get to sleep for ages but it was nice to be able to lie there listening to the rain. It was still raining when I woke up and continued on and off for most of the day.

We had 48 mm of rain on Friday and Saturday, equivalent to the average total rainfall for December. I know I'm going on about the rain a lot but we are so desperate for it that it's become a novelty. People don't complain about wet weather like they used to before the drought started. Spring is usually when our water storages get topped up for the long, hot summer, but this year we had a our driest spring ever and our water storages are only around a third full.

Port Mac, here I come!

I have only one more day in Melbourne before heading up to my mother's in Port Macquarie on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. I'm very much looking forward to seeing my mum. Apart from a fleeting visit back near the start of the year, I haven't seen her since last Christmas, which wasn't a happy time for me. I'm hoping it will be different this year.

While I'm there, I want to tackle the beachfront walk which runs from near my mum's house all the way into the town centre. I'm not exactly sure how far it is - just that it's a looooong way - but I'm going to have a crack at it. I have my Nikes packed!

Booked up

I went to the library today to stock up on books for my holiday. I joined the City Library a couple of months ago, but this is the first time I've borrowed books (I've been very slow finishing off the books on my bedside table). It's the first time I've borrowed a book since university actually. I was ridiculously pleased about it all. I chose three books from my Must Read list -

* In Search of Happiness - Understanding an Endangered Frame of Mind by John F Schumacher
* Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B Gialdini

* Plain Secrets - an Outsider among the Amish by Joe Mackall

and I also got Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert, which is often cited in the personal development blogs I read. I'm itching to get into them.

Yep, that view again