Christine, Wondering

Random Musings of a Human Becoming

Sunday, December 31, 2006

The End of 2006

Wow, doesn't that sound weird?

I don't know where this year has gone. I swear it's only a few minutes since I was camped at Mum's house with no job and no house, hoping that everything would come together and I wouldn't wind up too broke.

And yet I know I've lived through an entire year since then - so much has happened!

The most important thing I've learned this year has been about myself: I'm not suited to a desk job. Strange but true. I can happily mooch away an entire day in front of the computer during my own leisure time, but sit me in front of a computer and make me work, and I die of boredom and struggle to get anything done. I need a people-oriented job. That was a very necessary discovery! It makes me very certain that teaching really is the right path for me.

In many ways 2006 has been frustrating, as I've been treading water and waiting for my life to get underway again. But, on the other hand, my life hasn't really stood still. I've grown a lot and learned a lot, and even managed to lose some weight. I'm stronger, surer, and know myself better, than I would have done if I'd just launched straight into teaching after quitting archaeology. This year may have annoyed me at times, but I don't regret it.

Best wishes for 2007, everyone!

Thursday, December 28, 2006

A very nice Christmas indeed

The Christmas whirlwind started on Sunday 24th. J and I went to an Advent mass in the morning, then I went up to Mum's. Mum, Elanor, Robert and I spent the afternoon making various fancy and filled chocolates and truffles. Good fun! I invented two new recipes (one filled chocolate and one slice), both of which were very tasty.

On Christmas Eve we had a BBQ in the backyard, then sat around talking. Eventually 'us kids' all went to bed and Mum and James put the presents out.

On Christmas Morning we had the usual present-opening bonanza. I got:

From Mum & James: A great 4-person picnic set in a backpack, which includes a thermos and a cooler compartment; and a $50 iTunes voucher

From Steven: The board game "Twister"

From Elanor: A pack of silver candles and two glass candlesticks

From Robert: A picnic rug that matches the picnic set

In my stocking: Some Ferrero Rocher chocolates and some chocolate coins. And a Santa hat, which Mum only bought because it said "Warning: Not A Toy. Keep Out Of Reach Of Children" on the label! It amused her :-D

After lunch James dropped me at Midland train station and I went off to Clarkson to meet Daniel. His present was possibly the best of all this Christmas - a full set of the DVDs of the series "Firefly". I really wanted it but hadn't put it on my list. It's sold out in Perth, too - he had to order it in!

After an hour veging at my house, Daniel and I drove back to Nicola's for the Christmas dinner. I set the table with my usual flair (lol) - I'll post pictures when Mum sends them to me. Dinner was a traditional roast turkey with all the trimmings, followed by a plum pudding with icecream and rum butter. Yummmm.

After a pleasant evening's chatting, Daniel and I drove home, and Daniel stayed at my house.

On Boxing Day morning we had a nice sleep-in, then drove to Dad's for lunch. Lunch was pleasant (seafood and cold cuts), and the conversation amicable and harmless, if nowhere near as stimulating or amusing as the conversation at Mum's. Presents were:

From Dad & Anita: $300 off what I owe Dad!

From David & Belinda: A nice, if a little cutesy, necklace and earrings (all on a purple heart theme - a bit childish but I'll no doubt find something to wear them with)

From "Santa" at Dad's house: A box containing various chocolates, biscuits etc out of a hamper.

Plus we had great crackers at Dad's, from which I got a stainless steel biro and a cute silver-look necklace.

On the morning of the 27th Daniel went home early and I mooched around then got my act together and went to visit my grandmother at her retirement village a few suburbs away. We had a very nice afternoon tea and a nice gossip, and I got a box of choc macadamias (as if I needed more chocolate lol) and a scratch-n-win ticket on which I won $10. I also got a card from my aunt and uncle in Sydney with $40 in it.

So that was my Christmas. Fun, family, fine presents and friendliness. Lol.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

OMG, this is hilarious . . .

A friend of mine from BtN, where I'm a moderator, made up these song lyrics for me:

She's makin' a list,
And checkin it twice,
Gonna find out,
Who's registered twice,
Moderator's cleanin' the town.
She knows just who is posting,
She knows if you're a fake,
She can have you banned from here
So be good for goodness' sake!

That is *awesome*

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

*Yaaawn*

It's the morning of my second-last day in my current job, and I've completely had enough. I'm working during the day *and* in the evening today and tomorrow, then working Friday and Saturday as well, and then Sunday is Christmas Eve! And I'm already worn out.

Bah!

But it does mean that I'll basically get paid double my normal salary for this week, which will give me some extra cash to play with in the new year. Methinks a new swimsuit and my textbooks will come out of this!

Monday, December 18, 2006

I got in!

This afternoon when I got home from work, my letter of offer from Murdoch was waiting for me. I'm now officially enrolled as an education student for 2007! WOOHOO!

I'm so looking forward to being a real student again, and over the moon that I'm going to finish my course in one year. This time next year I'll be a fully-qualified primary school teacher!

Funnily enough, Daniel found out today that he has successfully completed all the requirements to graduate his BSc . . . and it's our 1-month anniversary today! Obviously it was meant to be a great day today.

Some photos from the last few weeks . . .

The roses Daniel gave me on my birthday:

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Our Christmas Tree (my tree, a real living Norfolk Island Pine; my decorations; decorated by Joneen and I):

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The Christmas Cake (made by hand to Mum's recipe, covered with marzipan and fondant icing, and decorated with glace icing and cachous, all by me):

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Tonight's glorious sunset, which seemed the perfect end to a very good day:

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Oh, and Australia won back the Ashes in Perth today (er, that's cricket, for the non-Commonwealth folks). Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!

:-)

Thursday, December 14, 2006

A quote

Daniel, on discovering yet another penguin item in the house:

"The penguinness is strong with this one"

:-D

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

What a fantastic birthday I've had!

The 11th was my birthday, and it's the best birthday I've had for a long time. For a start, it's the first birthday since 2003 that I've been home in Perth with all of the family around me. I also got a great haul of presents . . . more about that below.

My birthday celebrations started on Sunday with dinner at Dad's. It was Belinda's birthday on the 10th, so we had a joint dinner, with no fuss. The food was very decent given Anita's style of cooking! Daniel came with me, and met that lot for the first time. We played backyard cricket (well, front-yard in actuality), and I bowled David out twice, even though he plays cricket every week as his sport. Rah! Still got the knack! :-D

I didn't really get any presents from that side of the family - I asked Dad to take some money off what I owe him as a present, and David and Belinda gave me a keyring (which is totally not my style, but I'll find some use for it somewhere!).

The morning of my birthday started with opening a card from my paternal grandmother, which had arrived on Friday, and which to my surprise contained $50. I wasn't expecting anything! She said in the card that it was to help with expenses around Christmas, which was sweet.

The next surprise came when I was just about to leave for work. J is in Canberra with Bec and Jon this weekend, and I thought that they were going to buy a present there, and then I'd get it when Joneen got home (today). But instead, I found a text message from Bec telling me to go look in the bottom of J's wardrobe!! The present there turned out to be Scattergories, my favourite board game that I've been asking for for years. I actually danced around the room with it :-D

At work we had a morning tea for me and another girl whose birthday was on the weekend. We had to provide the cake, though! Then a little later, my team gave me a gift, which was only a hand wash and hand cream set - a little silly since I sell Nutrimetics, but still, it's the thought that counts.

The most glorious surprise of the day came at about 3:30, when the receptionist came walking down the hall carrying a dozen long-stemmed roses that Daniel had sent me. I had no hint that he had planned anything at all (we had dinner together on Saturday and I kind of assumed that that was my birthday thing with him). They weren't just roses, either - they were 70cm-stemmed Black Magic roses, which are a particular type of rare and expensive red rose with dark-edged petals. It even had a hand-written card. He'd been planning it for two weeks! When I phoned him later he was really cute about it - trying to pass it off as "nothing really" but at the same time making sure I knew how much expense and effort was involved. Lol.

After work I went up to Mum's and had dinner with that lot plus Jean and Paul. Dinner was lovely and the cake I asked Mum to make was perfect. I got a very decent set of presents, too. Jean and Paul gave me a Folio Society diary, which is a lovely illustrated diary. They gave me one last year too (for this year) and I have no argument with having another one for next year! Elanor and Robert gave me a beanbag and the beans to put in it, so it's a good thing I had Joneen's car lol. I've wanted a beanbag for years and I'm quite shocked that I finally got one! Nicola and James gave me a great comprehensive general-purpose tool kit and a nice set of BBQ utensils. Steven got me a set of locking pliers (which were the only thing the tool kit didn't have but really needed) and a pair of maroon ceramic candlesticks. They were all things that were on my list so I feel really spoiled!

I'll post a photo of the roses when I get a chance. They really are wonderful :-D

In other news, I've now got *two* waitressing jobs, at two different cafes. One is for weekends and the other is for weekday evenings, so that should work out fine for next year. Yay!

Friday, December 8, 2006

I got a job!

On Monday, I started applying for jobs I could do after hours so that I could do my degree as a real full-time internal student. Today (Friday), I had a lunchtime interview with a café. This afternoon, they called me to say that I'd got the job. I start a week today, on the 15th!

That was ridiculously easy. The labour market is so tight at the moment, they're snapping people up before they get away.

So I'm all set for a year of working my behind off to get myself through this degree. Woohoo! Or something.

It's not going to be much fun working weekends - I'm going to miss out on family things left, right and centre, and possibly never see daylight - but it's only a year (plus however long it takes to get a posting in the city next year), and then I'll be out of it. And it's worth it. Ooh, it's worth it!

Thursday, December 7, 2006

It's all happening in my life right now :-S

Oh, I'm *happy*, don't worry about that. It's just that life seems to be increasingly complicated!

There's Daniel, of course, and all of the (delightful, mind) complications that go with suddenly being in an intense relationship.

Then there's the fact that I've decided to go truly full-time at uni next year, and am therefore looking for after-hours waitressing jobs (and I've had one interview so far and have three more this week, woohoo). And associated with that is the fact that I'll have to wind up my current job, which is complicated.

And on top of that it's my birthday next week, and Christmas 2 weeks after that, so everyone and their cousin wants to see me at least twice.

*Yawn* I really ought to get more sleep to deal with all this, except I can't, because I'm dealing with it all when I should be sleeping . . .

Monday, November 27, 2006

Weathering the emotional storm . . .

I'm suffering a little from the fact that I haven't had proper holidays this year. Because I don't work a full-time load, I have a 3-day weekend every week, but I also don't build up holidays as quickly. And I've been off sick a lot this year, more than I had sick days for, so that's eaten in to my annual leave. I took a week in September and a very long weekend around ANZAC Day, but otherwise I haven't had a decent stretch of time off. I've currently got two days' leave available, and by Christmas I'll have earned a third day. That may mean I can stretch the Christmas public holiday period out to a 12-day holiday, but it still doesn't feel like very much. And if I change jobs before Christmas - which could happen - then I may not even be able to have that. It's all so complicated and I really need a decent rest :-/ Roll on my days as a teacher when I'll get regular holidays!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Nutty Cat

Jemima went nuts for a while yesterday, running around constantly and attacking everything, up to and including walls. J, in a moment of exasperation when we found the bath plug under her bed courtesy of Jemima, came out with the following:

"Jemima, you are a galloping, freaking, jumping, biting discombobulation!"

I rather liked it :-D

I must add - in the spirit of fairness - that Jemima gave me a fright nearly as good as J's, last night. I was lying quietly in bed reading, facing towards the edge of the bed, when Jemima jumped up *right* in front of my face. I shrieked in terror at the surprise, then had hysterics. My shriek wasn't as good as J's scream, though.

The funny thing was that my shriek settled Jemima down. She'd been manic up to that moment but after scaring the living daylights out of me, she went to sleep under my bed and I heard not a peep out of her until my alarm clock went off this morning! What's with that?

Sunday, November 19, 2006

More Jemima

a distraction from thoughts about Daniel lol . . . a little bit of Jemima-ness. Asleep on Joneen's bed yesterday:

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Playing with a new toy today, and going absolutely manic over it (some sounds, but only faint ones):



She gets more and more gorgeous all the time :-D

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Ahh, books

J and I just unpacked all of the books that were in storage in Sydney. I have all my books back! There were some I'd forgotten I'd bought, too. We've put them on the bookshelf which was also in storage, down in the lounge room. It's great :-D

Jemima again

Two more pictures of my pretty kitty :-D


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Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Oh, I forgot . . .

J insisted that Jemima had to have a middle name, because you can't tell someone off properly unless you can say "FIRSTNAME! MIDDLE NAME! SURNAME!". She's now Jemima Felicity Mysurname. Jemima means "dove" (appropriate as she's dove-grey) and Felicity means "happiness". A very auspicious name if I do say so myself ;-D

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

*Cries with laughter*

The funniest thing just happened . . . I'm still gasping with laughter.

J is in her room studying, and before this event she was very tense and worried about tomorrow morning's exam. Because she was concentrating hard, she didn't notice that Jemima had wandered into her room . . . until Jemmy-cat suddenly clawed her leg.

J gave the primal scream to end all primal screams - I've never heard anything quite like it - and then collapsed into helpless hysterics which lasted at least five minutes. Of course she set me off too, so we both just stood there trying to laugh and cry at the same time.

She's a bit more relaxed now, after that adrenaline rush ;-D But, oh, I wish there had been some sort of recording equipment going at the time. The scream was just awesome. There's no way to express the terror J packed into that one short scream.

I love my cat.

You're not going to believe this . . .

. . . but I'm homesick for Sydney.

Really.

Not homesick for living in Sydney, mind - nothing on this earth could persuade me to go back to living there - just for being there.

I miss the energy of the city. I miss being able to just jump on a bus and go and walk around the Opera House, Circular Quay, the Harbour Bridge, The Rocks. I miss the old buildings and the fountains and the statues. I miss the luxurious antique grace of the Queen Victoria Building. I miss the monorail and the double-decker trains and the ferries. I miss the mountains and I miss the rocky river shores. I miss the endless fascination of it all.

When I consider it, what I'm really missing is the fact that I never really got to enjoy Sydney. I was so unhappy and depressed and broke and lonely the whole time I was there. I never had anyone to share it with, to point and say "isn't that cool!", to go on adventures with. Not to say that I didn't enjoy the time I did spend with friends I made there or friends who visited me there, but those were rare interludes. The rest of the time, it was just me, and no matter how much you enjoy a touristy experience while alone, you're still alone. You're still silent.

I think it's the Christmas season that's brought on this feeling. Sydney was wonderful at Christmas. The incredible moving wooden displays in the windows of Myer; the spectacular giant Christmas tree in QVB, with ten thousand Swarovski crystals for ornaments; the heady cameraderie of Carols in the Domain; all of it. And I wandered through it all like a lonely ghost, my heart full of what I was seeing but without a single soul to share it.

Of course, if I was to fly there for a holiday tomorrow, I'd still be experiencing it alone; and I suspect that if I had someone special to share things with, the beauty of Perth at Christmas would be more than sufficient. But I'm not and I haven't and it isn't, and thus I am discontent.

Don't get me wrong, I love WA to bits and I'd rather live in Perth than any other city in the world; but I just . . . wish.

And then there was wellness

Miraculously, most of the symptoms have cleared up overnight. I've still got sore ankles and I'm still getting some fatigue in my calf muscles, but otherwise I feel fine. Odd since I felt worse than ever yesterday evening! The depression and irritability have simmered down into a mild nagging anxiety, but I can deal with that.

My stuff arrived from Sydney yesterday and it's all there, although my pine corner cabinet got vibrated apart by the action of the train, so I'll have to repair it. I found and sorted my Christmas decorations last night, just for fun, and I hope I'll be able to start going through some of it tonight if the spell of wellness continues. Here's hoping!

Monday, November 13, 2006

It would be hard . . .

. . . to choose a 'worst' symptom of all the symptoms of this virus, but I think the irritability is the "baddest" of a bad lot. I'm not irritable at anything, I just feel generally annoyed and want to throw things or belt someone. I'm having to exercise rock-hard control over myself to avoid going on to BtN and randomly flaming people or attacking posters whose favourite names are, in my opinion, awful. This is not a fun sensation. I haven't felt this . . . snarly . . . since I was a teenager with PMS!

I wish I had something else to talk about except how ghastly I feel, but I can't think of anything.

It looks like it's probably a virus

I haven't got the blood test results back yet, but it looks like Mum has the same thing, and I've also been reminded that Dad is still recovering from a virus that put him in bed for four weeks, and I think stiffness and tiredness were symptoms of that. Mum and I can't have caught it off Dad, as we haven't seen him, but a family friend has it as well so it's probably doing the rounds. I'm just hoping I've got a mild version, not the version Dad has had!

I'm 'down' again today, possibly because I a) pushed myself to get some housework done yesterday so that I would feel more comfortable; and b) had to get up at 6:15am to get to work this morning (although I woke up at 6:14 courtesy of Jemima - damn programmed cat! lol). Whatever the cause, I'm totally wiped - dozy, miserable, sore, heavy-headed etc.

I'm a bit shaky too, but that could be caffeine! I'm trying to keep myself going with not-totally-diet-disasterous drinks - I've got a huge soy iced coffee with no cream or icecream, and I plan to follow that up with a V8 fruit drink, and I've got a V8 veggie drink for this afternoon. But I'm not entirely sure it's going to work. My knees and ankles are on strike, my sciatic nerve is starting to twang, and moving my head fast is right out. Mwaaaaah!

I *hate* being sick.

Thursday, November 9, 2006

Feeling better today . . .

. . . which is not surprising considering the see-saw-ing my moods have been doing lately.

I went to the doctor yesterday to try to find out if there could be a medical reason for my random moods, weepiness, aching muscles and constant tiredness. Sure, I've been under a lot of stress and dealing with a lot of stuff lately, but I think I'm not being as resiliant as I should be. Plus the aches and pains are getting worse, I'm losing my ability to run up the stairs at home, and I should not be nodding off at my desk after a good night's sleep.

The doctor ordered a barrage of blood tests - iron, folate, thyroid function, glucose tolerance, cholesterol, stomach ulcers, something called ESR which I think tests for rheumatoid disorders and cancer (could stand for erythrocite sedimentation rate), and something called LFT which I'm guessing is a liver function test. I have to fast tonight and go in first thing tomorrow morning to have them all done. Ugh. They'll probably all come back negative (unless my hypoglycaemia shows up on the glucose test, but it will probably be the diabetes one which doesn't pick up hypoglycaemia), but at least then I'll know that it's none of the above.

On the other hand, there's a chance I'm not just stressed out to the point of hypochondria, and there actually is something wrong. In which case it's a good thing I'm getting the tests done lol.

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

The most annoying day of the year

Well, the most annoying for *me*. Today is Melbourne Cup Day (non-Australians: the Melbourne Cup is a horse race). It's a big, big event - Victoria has a public holiday, and the rest of the states all stop everything at race time, watch or listen to the race, and then bunk off for a lunch or an afternoon party, depending on the time zone.

There aren't many things I say an outright "no way" to on ethical grounds, but horse racing (actually, any type of animal racing) is one of them. In this day and age it's horrendous that we still, as a society, allow people to whip horses to make them run . . . and enjoy watching it. It's disgusting and I refuse to have anything to do with it.

So, 99% of the people in my office are out in the courtyard enjoying a post-race BBQ lunch. The smell of fried onions and sausages is driving my poor stomach (which was diet-ish-ly fed on plain bread and tinned salmon) absolutely crazy, and they're making a real din. I'm steadfastly ignoring them, but it's aggravating to hear people having so much fun over something I find so abhorrent.

Bah, humbug!

Aww!

Jemima was so cute this morning. She habitually sleeps under my bed at night, frisking around my room until I switch my light off then settling down for the night. When I get up in the morning, the light wakes her up, and a few minutes later she emerges from under the bed, flicking her paws and making little noises that are part interrogative and part protest.

This morning, I sat down on the floor when she emerged from under the bed, and she came right up to me, looked up at my face, put one tiny paw up on my leg, and said "mrrr?". She was asking to be picked up! *does happy dance* I picked her up and cuddled her, and she purred like a motorbike engine. Happy kitty :-D

J and I have taken to calling her Jemima the Jumper in the evenings lately - she loves to play tag with the mouse-on-a-string-on-a-stick toy (the one in the video), and every day she's jumping higher than before. Yesterday she got a good foot off the ground from a standing start, which was impressive to watch!

I wish I didn't have to go out to work lol.

Saturday, November 4, 2006

Four more :-D

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Another day, another Jemima picture . . .

She is far less timid today - she'll come out from under things while we're around, even if we're not waving the toy mouse around. She now thinks about coming when I call - even if she doesn't quite do it yet! She loves being held and will let me pick her up, and will sit on my chest purring for as long as I can hold her (which is ages lol, although she hasn't quite got the idea that biting peoples' knuckles is against the rules, and she has very sharp claws too!).

She will also now sleep out in the open, rather than under something. This is a picture I took a few moments ago, of her dozing on my bed. I think I'm getting the camera figured out - I suspect I had it on the 'macro' setting by accident yesterday!

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Friday, November 3, 2006

And the video . . .

Be warned, it has sound! The one talking and giggling like a loon is me. J was talking and giggling too, but she was waving the wand around and wasn't close enough to the camera for you to hear her on the playback.

Here we go . . .

Pictures of Jemima!

I haven't got any good action shots yet (it's a new digital camera so I'm still figuring it out) but here are some shots of her in her bed:

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I'm currently uploading a video of her but it will take a while, so I'll post it later.

:-D

I bought my kitten!

I wasn't planning on buying one until next week, but we went into a pet shop yesterday and this adorable kitten was there and was available, so I bought her. We went home and got the house ready last night, and brought her home, via the vet's, today. She's a smoky grey with faint tabby markings, and her name is Jemima.

J and I are currently doing our own thing upstairs while Jemima relaxes downstairs, and unfortunately I left my camera down there! But I'll post some pictures (and maybe a video if I can figure out how to post it) asap.

Yay!

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Okay, so . . .

. . . first, I found out that I have to spend two years instead of one doing my GradDipEd. Second, I found out yesterday that my work can't keep me on next year. It's not because I've done anything wrong, it's just that they need a strong finance person (which I'm not!) and they can't afford two assistants. But it means I'll have to get back on the job search merry-go-round. I got this job very easily and I'm sure it won't be that easy next time!

So I'm just waiting for the third thing (these things all come in threes, you know!). If it's three bad luck things in a row, I don't want to even think what the third thing might be. But if it's just three life changes . . . maybe I should buy a lotto ticket lol. Now *that* would really mess up my plans!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

WHAM!

It doesn't take much to throw one's plans into disarray.

This time, all it took was one fateful phone call from the prospective student centre at Murdoch, letting me know that external studies can *only* be done part-time, not full-time like I was hoping. Which means that it's now going to be TWO years until I'm out there teaching, not the one year I was hoping for.

I've cried to Mum over the phone and I've cried on J's shoulder, and things aren't looking as grim as they did when I first got the phone call. Mum made a point that I appreciated: there's almost certainly a *reason* why I have to wait the extra year - I just won't know what that reason is until it happens. But I'm still feeling pretty grey and washed out and disappointed.

And it throws my accommodation plans out, as I don't know where or with whom I can live in 2008.

At least I had to stay home from work today feeling ill - I wouldn't have wanted to receive that phone call while at work!

So not the best day all up :-/

Monday, October 23, 2006

This was sent to me by a friend on BtN. I don't really like the Simpsons, but "Why don't you Google it?" is one of my catch-cries, so it rather appealed :-D

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Saturday, October 21, 2006

Woohoo!

Two good things have happened in the last two days. On Friday, my tax return arrived, which means that I can finally get the rest of my stuff back from storage in Sydney, and also that I can now get a kitten pretty much whenever I want. *claps hands with excitement*

And today, I did some direct marketing for Nutrimetics and got two solid bookings and 17 leads in 2 hours, which was really good - that's a positive response from someone every 7-ish minutes, which is not bad at all. And now I have two shows booked in to my diary, which means that my business is finally getting underway. It's a relief!

Monday, October 16, 2006

*And* . . .

And on top of all of that below, I've recently become uncomfortably aware of how much of my personality I have to keep supressed in order to be considered "normal" and not get laughed at by all and sundry. A lot of the things I love (porcelain dolls or Victoriana, for example) are considered immature interests for a 25-year-old, but I defy anyone to give me a logical reason why collecting porcelain dolls is any less mature than collecting china animals or Schwarovski crystal or Royal Doulton plates! Or anything!

And on the flipside, I'm frustrated with myself for caring so much about being teased that I can't just go out and pursue those interests anyway. I'm letting other peoples' silly prejudices affect me, but I can't help it. I'm sensitive enough about being 25, single, and a bit plump, and I feel like doing something "childish" (like collecting porcelain dolls) would brand me forever with the "silly romantic overgrown fat girl, probably a virgin" label (Terry Pratchett readers: think Agnes).

I just want to be able to do what I want and be happy about it, but I can't and it hurts.

And on top of all that I'm lonely and "clucky", and life just isn't any fun at the moment :-(

Gaack!

I am so stressed right now - work is just insane and I'm not coping with it at all. My boss keeps asking me to do things that just can't be done in the timeframe she wants them done in, but the timeframe is inflexible so I have to do them anyway. I'm considering writing little fables about bosses that ask the impossible (The Boss Who Cried "Now!" springs to mind as a possible title ...) and leaving them around the place. Plus it's apparently all my fault that a government department isn't getting back to us quickly, as if government departments *ever* get back to us quickly especially when we've made difficult requests!

And on top of that I'm feeling decidedly under-the-weather (a cold or too much wheat or both, I'm thinking both) and I'm worn out because I didn't sleep well. And I can't see properly because my new glasses haven't arrived yet. *And* I have to write a uni admission application and a scholarship application in the next two weeks. Not to mention trying to get this ****ing Nutrimetics business off the ground and trying to head off the well-meaning people who want to nag me about it!

. . . considering curling up under the desk and sobbing . . .

Sunday, October 15, 2006

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Bec, Jon and I gave this great game to J for her birthday. As a result of some very silly times on Friday night, I spontaneously made up a song to go with it (to the tune of "On Top of Spaghetti"):

On top of an iceberg
All covered in snow
I saw my poor penguin
Was starting to go

He fell off the iceberg
And into the sea
I lost my poor penguin
Feel sorry for me!

Ahh, the joy of penguins!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

NaNoWriMo . . .

After much deliberation, and after asking advice (much of which I promptly ignored) I've decided to write my long-planned and much-revised fantasy work, "The Sorcerim", as my NaNoWriMo project. If I win NaNoWriMo I'll have a half-finished novel, so I'll be better off than if I hadn't done it at all! I was strongly tempted by my pet childrens' book project, but the plot needs heaps of work whereas I can write Sorcerim off the top of my head once I've finished some world-building.

So, onwards and upwards!

Sunday, October 8, 2006

I went to see "The Devil Wears Prada" yesterday, not entirely of my own volition. It was a very funny movie, but it was definitely lacking something. It's basically a coming-of-age movie (young woman comes to realise what she values and where she wants to go with her life, via the unwitting assistance of a harsh boss who turns out to be good at heart after all . . . *yawn*) although the girl in the movie is past university, so she's a lot older than your average coming-of-age movie character. I enjoyed the movie while I was watching it, but afterwards there was a definite sense of ". . . so?". Very little background was given about the characters, and the main character's development was very sketchy before the plot was in full swing, so it was unsatsifying in that regard too.

Altogether, not a terrible movie but I wish I'd spent $5 at the video hire store to see it, not $15 at the movies.

Friday, October 6, 2006

I don't know how clearly you can see it in this picture, but I'm halfway through cutting down all the grass and weeds in the backyard meadow we jokingly call our "lawn". It's going to be prepared to be turned into lawn this week (*waves at Bec*) so I'm whippersnippering it down to ground level so that it's ready to go.

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Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Belatedly, the picture of J and I on the Ferris Wheel (taken on my phone). It was originally much larger, but strangely you can see us better when the picture is 1/10 of the original size ...

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The Clustr Map is fascinating me . . .

It's delightful to see where people are visiting from all around the world. A few of the locations I can guess at, and I even have a fair idea of who's there, but some are mystifying me. I'm guessing the one in Vietnam was a random passer-by, and also the one in Hawaii. I'm very curious to know who in Tasmania has visited my blog more than 9 times (or maybe it's just 10 separate Tasmanians - either way it's an odd spot for a clump!).

*waves hello to everyone around the world*

Tuesday, October 3, 2006

Had a fun day yesterday . . .

The Monday public holiday (Labor Day, I believe) was just stunning, warm with a light breeze and so sunny. J and I spent half of the day cooperatively spring-cleaning the house, so it now looks great (apart from the backyard, which resembles a sun-swept English meadow that's never seen a sheep ...). It was a very cathartic clean-out and the place feels very good now!

In the afternoon we headed off to the Perth Royal Show (www.perthroyalshow.com.au but don't blame me if it doesn't work, the site is completely overloaded!). We got there at about 4, and spent four-and-a-half hours wandering around the various pavillions, buying showbags and going on various rides, including the 40-metre gravity drop, which is exhilarating and mind-numbingly terrifying all at once. I got a Whiskas Kitten showbag, among others, which has made me all the more excited about getting a kitten in a month or so :-D

We stayed for the fireworks display at 9pm, which was as spectacular as ever, and we counted at least two new colours of fireworks (a pastel aqua or pale blue and a light purple) and a couple of styles we hadn't seen before. Perth's fireworks are the best!

I have a photo of J and I on the Ferris Wheel, but I can't post it from work and it needs lightening up anyway, so I'll put it up later. It's dark at the top of the Ferris Wheel!

Despite my very nice weekend, I'm absolutely wiped today, after a windy - and thus rattly - night; and also after the phone rang, for no apparent reason, at 2:30am. *sigh*

Saturday, September 30, 2006

I made a celebratory Eagles cake :-D

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OMG! THE EAGLES WON! WOOHOO! YAHEY! WHEEEEEEE!

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"We're the Eagles, the West Coast Eagles
And we're here to show you why
We're the big birds, kings of the big game
We're the Eagles, we're flying high"

*runs around screaming and waving her scarf*

Friday, September 29, 2006

You win some, you lose some . . .

This evening I went out to a "fellowship evening for Christian singles" run by a lady from the Cathedral. I was approaching it with a healthy pinch of salt, given that "Christian singles" could mean either singles who just happen to be Christian; or singles who exude Christianness and can't finish a sentence without mentioning God in some way. The latter is *not* my style!

So anyway, I turned up and there were only women there, and I was the only one under 40. Possibly the only under 50, actually. For two hours it was nothing but these women chatting and patronising me (in the nicest way possible, but really, I don't need to be told that I haven't eaten enough crackers!). The only guy we saw all evening turned up about 9:30pm, right before I was going home. Ho hum.

On the upside, one girl my-age-or-a-bit-older-ish turned up at 9, and we clicked in the way one does sometimes. She's a primary school teacher and she was very interested in the fact that I'm doing a teaching degree next year. She told me to give her a call after the school holidays and organise a day when I can come down and have an informal prac in her class (I wouldn't be teaching, just observing and discussing). That's a fantastic opportunity and would give me a taste of next year which I'm really hankering after! So the evening wasn't a total loss after all.

***

Roll on the grand final tomorrow! C'arn the Eagles!

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Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Ahh, September . . .

What is it with September?! One minute it's January and you've got the whole year stretching out ahead of you; the next minute it's September and you're saying "holy **** I'd better get ready for next year"! This happens to me every September but it never fails to surprise me. I'd better get on with my uni application, it needs to be submitted in a month!

In other news, I managed to successfully insert the code for the new visit counter and map on the lower left-hand side of the blog. Yay! It won't start working until tomorrow.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Well, folks, this is my first post on my first ever blog. I've decided to enter the blogsphere because an insanely busy period of my life is going to commence on the 1st of November, and since I feel overwhelmed just thinking about it, I thought it might be wise to subject other people to it as well :-P.

This blog is going to be the forum for the outpouring of all of my thoughts, adventures and diversions during this time. Watch this space ;-D