Aiva thinks that I am a creature of habit and to prove her wrong I did something that I haven’t done in 13 years. I bought a different brand of shampoo. Admittedly, this change isn’t going to turn the world upside down but it’s important to note that I have used Head and Shoulders shampoo nearly every day for 13 years. This isn’t because I have dandruff. In fact, I’m so grossed out by dandruff that I started using Head and Shoulders as a pre-emptive strike and it seems to be working just fine. You can imagine my hesitation buying different shampoo but I had done significant research (read Men’s Health) and made a decision on American Crew. I had noticed it in every shop that cuts men’s hair as well so it sounded like a safe bet. $20 bucks later I had a bottle of green liquid in my shower. It looked out of place next to the 2L pump of dandruff protection.

Sure, I always walk the same way to and from the train station (it’s the shortest and with the most shade) and I always order Eggs Benedict if I go to a new breakfast joint (good Hollandaise is a sign of a good cook). And I go to the bathroom Monday to Friday at 10:04am (least bathroom traffic) and I apologize every time I order a light beer (seems appropriate). But all of these “habits” are easily explained and make sense. It’s not like I’m buying a copy of Catcher in the Rye every time I pass a bookstore. I can change if I want but there needs to be a good reason and I’m just not sure that having minty-citrus smelling hair is worth the risk of getting dandruff.

Edit:  After reading this, Aiva said it's important to note that I haven't actually changed shampoos.  I'm now just alternating between two.

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I would like a new Subaru Outback. I did all this research, priced it out, did the comparisons, checked how much the insurance would be, called three leasing companies, got the best rate, etc etc. This is how the conversation with Aiva went.

Craig - So whaddya think about the Outback. Nice huh?

Aiva - Don't we have enough to worry about?

Craig - The lease is about 500 a month with no down payment.
Aiva - What about the wedding photographer? We still have to pay for that.

Craig - Yep, no worries. We can get a full service lease if we want...all pre tax dollars.
Aiva - I thought you wanted a new backyard?

Craig - I do but we can't afford that right now. $500 bucks a month though is fine.
Aiva - But then we'll never save enough. When are you going to get your residency?

Craig - What does that have to do with a car?
Aiva - If you lose you job, you're punted out of the country.

Craig - What are you talking about?!
Aiva - And then when we have kids, we'll only be on one salary...

Craig - I seriously don't know what you are talking about right now.
Aiva - And has that painter even booked a date yet?

Craig - I'm just saying, we can afford a lease.
Aiva - Why am I the only one looking for wedding photographers?

Craig - Sooo, no new car until we have kids?
Aiva - What are you talking about? I'm talking about the wedding here.

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1. Ask your married Sydney friends for recommendations
2. Trawl the internet for 3 months and discover that there are over 3000 registered celebrants in Sydney
3. Put together a criteria list (see below)
4. Read through the endless reviews, forums and testimonials
5. Procrastinate for a few more weeks and then reduce the list from 3000 to 10
6. Make contact with the top 10 via email
7. Chuckle over the style and content of responses received
8. Select the top 3 and arrange a time to meet each of them. Travel a total round trip of 100 kilometres for these meetings
9. Decide that the celebrant that will work for you is the one you met over wine and cheese at the pub.

Aiva’s Criteria

-  Be able to pronounce my full Greek name (now that we know this needs to be said at least once for the whole thing to be legit)
- Be able to contain the excitable Greek rello’s
- Avoid any soppy Kumbayah wording
- Make it long enough for those who have travelled to enjoy and short enough not to bore everyone to death.

Craig’s Criteria

- Female
- Older than us but not old
- Memorable yet totally forgettable
- Whole thing done and dusted within 17 minutes
- No poems or readings and for the love of all things holy - No doves.

Next step – Find a photographer

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The 2011 Tour de France was fascinating this year because of the early time gaps, the crashes into barbed wire fences (not joking) and punishing mid mountain stages. In previous years, I wouldn’t bother watching the flat stages and the mid mountain stages would have to have been unusually interesting to make me stay up late (early). This year was different because of the large time gaps among the race favourites very early on in the race. Because of these gaps, riders were forced to try and make up time every way possible including while on dangerous descents. They took risks and pushed the limits, which lead to several spectacular bone breaking crashes.

I was hooked early and decided that I would watch every single stage from start to finish, which I had never done before. This required some significant effort if I wasn’t going to fall asleep so I put a game plan into place. There were a few rules: No laying down on the couch, always drink something so you have to whiz every hour, read the online ticker as you watch, do not watch on the laptop in bed and for gods sake, do not schedule an early morning meeting.

Cadel Evans had my unwavering support throughout this tour and several times I found myself standing in my living room at 2am shouting encouragement at the television. Evans clearly had a game plan and meticulously stuck to it for the whole three weeks despite me repeatedly yelling “Why aren’t you chasing Schleck down?!” His performance was truly inspiring and he was simply the best rider. No dropped chains or PED’s were required…just skill and determination. Australia has their first Tour de France champion.

Later I may write more about the significance of Cadel Evans winning the yellow jersey. How he has overcome challenges, been world champion, lost his trainer to brain cancer last year, and transformed from a disgruntled loner to humble winner. I may even write more about how this significant moment could save lives by elevating the sport of cycling in Australia and bringing more tolerance to our treacherous roads. But now isn’t the time. I’m exhausted and I have a Tour de France hangover. My sleeping patterns are all upside down and I have early meetings every day this week.  Still, I can hardly wait to ride this weekend.

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“What colours do you absolutely hate?” Aiva said “yellow” and I said “orange”. Our paint consultant wrote it down. “What colours do you absolutely love?” Aiva said, “purple” and I said, “I don’t really love a colour”. This is when our paint consultant started to realize that she was going to have to earn her money. Aiva piped in right away with “Navy blue. Your favourite colour is navy…his favourite colour is navy”. I looked at Gina and said “Navy”. Aiva is much more observant than I am and after thinking about it – everything I own is navy blue. I have two suits, four t-shirts, two sweatshirts, a bike, two jackets and four thousand pairs of shorts that are all navy blue. Aiva had obviously thought about colour schemes much more than I have. But let’s back it up a bit.

Aiva and I are not going to win any awards for being the most stylish couple. However, we both realize that our house looks pretty barren with its asylum white walls and complimenting bile yellow trim. We bought some paintings and some art when we first moved in but that has pretty much been the extent of our home decorating. We don’t agree on what “our look” should be and therefore nothing ever gets done. That and, if I’m honest, the fact that if we do decide on a colour scheme I may be expected to paint. So to play the role of the paint consultant/mediator/home decorator/marriage counsellor, we hired Gina. I knew she was the right person for us when I opened the door because she was dressed like a fashionable hippy but with black knee high boots. Her outfit was trendy but “out there” at the same time with so many bangles on her arms that she would look right at home with that tribe with the stretched necks. If Gina could pull off that look, she could certainly add some “tones” to our place.

You know when you get your eyes tested and the doctors do that “One or two? Two or three? Three or one?” thing? That’s what Gina did with colour slides with us. Aiva’s general response was to tilt her head sideways and look perplexed while my responses were “ummms” in varying volumes and blinking at different speeds. Eventually Gina figured out our facial ticks and we were moving along quickly. She always found colours we both liked that miraculously matched each other. I only got caught out once saying that I didn’t like a colour the first time and then five “ummms” (blink blink) later said that I really liked it.

So now we have a blueprint for our house that includes the colours: grey pepper, rubble, olive, chintz grey, atlantic, red lantern and purple basil. Every wall, door, railing and bit of trim has a new colour designation. All we have to do is find a painter that does paint by numbers and we are in business. The other bit of good news is that now we both agree that I shouldn’t be doing the painting. Success all around.

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It’s that time of year again where 198 professional cyclists ride around France over three weeks. That’s right, it’s Tour De Flu season.

Every year during the Tour De France I get some form of illness. It is a combination of two events that break down my immune system and renders me helpless for a few days (or weeks like the dreaded 06 Tour). Firstly, June has always been the busiest/most stressful month of the year for work. In the Australian corporate world, June workloads are equivalent to three normal months combined. Long hours, tight deadlines and tough negotiations all take their toll on my white blood cells. Then the Tour De France starts in the first week of July and I’m so excited that watch every stage. Unfortunately TV coverage starts at 10pm and ends at 2am so I’m mindless zombie every morning. These two events lead me to get sick in July every year.

It has become such a regular occasion that in June this year, just before the start of the Tour, I went to the chemist in preparation and stocked up on multi-coloured pills, lozenges, chewable tablets, immodium, kleenex, hydralyte, toilet paper and vapo-rub. Annoyingly on schedule, after the first mountain stage in the Pyrenees, I woke up at 4:30am with explosive diarrhoea. By the time I was emailing work at 6:30am, I was laying on the bathmat having just retched my guts out while showering. Since this was my first Tour De Flu season with a new company, I had to be polite in my email otherwise I would have just text “TDF”. That reminds me – probably a good idea to disinfect my phones. Calm down…we’ve all sent a text from the bathroom.

Happily, it appears that the worst is over and I managed to only have two horrible days, which is a new low (one in the bathroom and one with the pounding headache and muscle aches from dehydration). I don’t want to get too cocky because I am currently sipping Hydralyte as I type this but I think it will be all systems go tonight’s for mountainous stage 14.

Go Cadel.

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