The visitors are gone. Life is slowly returning to normal. It's been a long three weeks, but I'm glad it's over.

Last Monday I picked up my Japanese friend Michiko and her friend  Yukari from the airport. We went back to my parents for morning tea and then home to drop things off. Then I left them at Garden City while I took Sophie to the doctors - turns out she has a bit of tonsillitis. We had a relaxing afternoon and then Steve took our visitors to frizbee to watch his team play in the finals.

Steve was caught in the rain coming home and after going out to the frizbee finals, woke up Tuesday morning with a full blown cold. The rest of us headed up to Manley. Can I say that after a week of pretty rotten weather, rain and storms, Queensland turned on the sunshine like a pro. It was a long day, morning tea with friends, a walk through Mary Caincross Rain forest and then a picnic lunch before coming back down the mountain, but well worth it. That night I drove them up to Mt Gravatt Lookout. Lovely.

Wednesday and we went out for breakfast, over to indro to go to the bank, up to Mt Cootha for the view (spectacular) and then I dropped them at Kangaroo Point with a well highlighted map of South Bank and the City. They made their own way home by risking the Brisbane trains (apparently an exciting adventure).

Thursday we went out to Lone Pine (which I had no idea was so close!) and saw kangaroos and koalas and some other cool animals (Sea Eagle!). Sophie had no inhibitions about the large kangaroos being so close and was just anxious to get out of her pram so she could touch one. I dropped our visitors off to indro on the way home for more shopping and got home in time for a two hour afternoon nap.

Turns out I was coming down with the same cold Steve has. Friday morning I get up at five to do the trip to the airport feeling like death warmed up. Aside from Fiona, Mum and Dad dropping in Friday morning, it was a lovely stay at home and do nothing kind of day. I did go to youth that night, because I'm a sucker for punishment and I stick to my commitments.

Saturday was another fairly lazy day, though we did stir enough to go and get a vaporizer. Steve and I dropped Sophie off to Mum and Dad's that night for some baby sitting while we went to the Symphony of Legends at the Exhibition Center. Despite being cold and fluey, having blocked noses and sore throats, it was amazing. Just fabulous.

Because I was hanging out with Japanese people all week, I found I'd often come home to Steve and speak to him only to have him look at me blankly, then say; "Paula, English." My only regret of last week was that I didn't bother to charge the camera batteries so I've only got a couple of snaps on my phone.

Today, it's nearly 3:00, Sophie and I are still in our PJ's and I feel no shame. I've done two loads of washing, vacuumed the floors, washed up, made dinner and done a general tidy of the house as well as make the beds. I finished reading Xenocide and watched a movie. The cold is on the way out but still hanging around annoyingly. What a lazy day but, I feel, very well earned.