Dinner date.

Just had our 6 month anniversary dinner (love you babe!) at Viva, which is this nice little Italian place in Applecross.

We got there pretty early (6:15pm?), so the place was quite quiet. Quite nice and friendly sort of ambiance, lots of yellow lighting... and surprisingly comfortable chairs! Actually, the chairs sort of remind me of the old cane garden chairs. A little nostalgic... and creaky! Food is pretty good, and the portions are big. Then again, you get what you pay for, and things are a little on the pricier side after all.

Food was simple, hearty fare. Char ordered roast goat, which came on a very savory rissoto. The goat itself was quite nice, although I'd imagine you'd get a little blah after eating the rissoto after a while. It's very heavy! I had a steak. Medium rare. No complaints there! I feel fat now though.

And they have a very interesting sounding salmon on the menu. I'll definitely try that next time I'm there.

(Sorry to the foodies out there. No pictures! Haha. Maybe next time!)

Finished dinner right around the time it was starting to get busy (and a little noisy too!), and ended up taking a little drive through Freo before finding a nice quiet spot along South Beach to just sit and talk and listen to the sound of the sea meeting the shore.

I had a great evening.

Love you Char!

*pokes*

Oh YES!

My nerves are shot to bloody blazes. 120 minutes of football and a nerve-wracking penalty shoot out. Oh God. It's just hard to recover. Finally at long last, we've won it again. I can't sleep. It's a combination of stress and excitement.

Oh YES!

Bill Shankly once said that football isn't a matter of life and death, it's much more important than that. And oh God, on nights like this I absolutely agree. I'm absolutely overwhelmed. It's taken nine long years to get to this night once again. Nine years of near-misses and heartaches. Only football fans would understand.

I'm trying really hard not to yell and scream here. Oh God, YES!

Two moments really stand out, and they've got nothing to do with football.

First, after Ronaldo missed the penalty, Gary Neville walked out into the rain - suit and all - and picked him up off the ground, and brought him to where the rest of the team was. That's leadership. Even if you're not on the pitch, you're leading your team from the bench. That's something I respect.

Second, when Man Utd won, Paul Scholes didn't join in the celebrations, but instead walked over to John Terry - Chelsea captain - to console him. That's sportsmanship. Think about it. Here's a guy who missed the last finals, finally played in one and won it, and the first thing he does is to console the opposing team. That, I respect.

Say what you want about great goals, young players and championship moments. For me, it was the old guard who stepped up and were counted. Did the things that truly mattered.

That's what's this game is about. Moments like those. These are the things that stick with you. The stepping up. The kind of examples that only legends can set. Somewhere, some kid is going to see those images and think to himself "that's the kind of man I want to be", and it's going to stick with him his whole life. And I'm one of those kids.

Good job well done, lads. And full lauds to Chelsea for giving their 110%. It could really have swung either way.

I love this game!