Friends of Parks Forum 2005

Well I can't believe the weekend has been and gone already and I'm now back at work. Bummer!

So I got into Victor Harbor at about 3:30pm on Friday, a little earlier than I thought I might as the drive went really smoothly. I was staying at a place called Villa Victor with two elderly ladies, Betty and Shirley (so cute, the even have 'old people' names) but I was the first to arrive, so I went for a bit of a tour around Victor while I waited for them. After the arrived we went and had dinner at Albert's Place then headed to the Forum venuw for the opening night's events.

On Saturday morning, despite the idea that Villa Victor was meant to be a B&B, we had to get our own dinner, but thankfully Betty and Shirley came prepared for such an event. After the morning forum we hopped on buses for a tour of the Waitpinga cliff line. The weather was gorgeous and we took roughly a 3 hour walk along the Heysen Trail, and the views were spectacular. On Saturday night was the Forum Dinner, which was held at Hotel Victor. The Environment Minister was there as a special guest which was pretty cool, because I like John Hill, not that I personally got to meet him. The food was yummy and I got to meet some people from other Friends groups and it was a great night :)

On Sunday morning I was up bright and early, packed up my car and made it in time to the cooked breakfast that was being supplied for us. After that, it was back to the forum topics and discussions and some more guest speakers (including the CEO of the place I work for) and then the weekend was over and it was time to drive home. I really enjoyed it, considering it was my first forum, and I gor to meet some cool people. Next years is up at Echunga so no need to be away from home as that's not that far away, bit of a bummer really.

I hadn't been to Victor Harbor for about 8 years. The place hasn't changed in some ways, but in other ways it's changed heaps. For example, there are so many new houses along the shoreline than there used to be (and apparently they're a hell of a lot more expensive).

I had yesterday off work just to catch up on washing and stuff, and I'm glad I booked an extra days leave because over the course of the weekend I lost my voice due to this cold I picked up. It's back now, just has moments of squeekiness. Last night we had the Le Cornu footy tipping awards dinner which we went to as the whole family's in the footy tips there, but alas, no luck for any of us (although, not surprising).

Anyway, the workday is almost over so I'd better wrap things up here. Until next time.

Weekends are aces

Just like that, too much time has passed since my last post. It's the fault of Dungeon Siege 2, as most nights are spent playing a co-op game with Ivan. And when we're not playing, we're watching old DVDs of The Sopranos, starting from season 1 and working our way through them.

Anyway, so apart from that the highlight of the week was probably last weekend, when Cathy and Buster were in Adelaide on their way to Perth. They'd already been through Brisbane, Gold Coast and Canberra, and they were spending a few days in Adelaide so we got to meet up with them. Alex and Mick also came along to help show them some SA hospitality.

On Friday after work we started off with drinks at The Grand, not realising they were doing renovations. Needless to say, it wasn't very cosy. We headed off down to the marina to try and find another pub. We eventually found it tucked away, but it was pretty full and there was nowhere to sit, so we headed back to Jetty Road. We had dinner at Hog's Breath and then went to the Jetty Road Hotel for some after dinner drinks before we wished them well and said our goodbyes. They're such lovely people, it was great to catch up. The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet, I just went to Mum and Dad's on Saturday and that was about it, due to the crappy weather.

This weekend looks like it'll be gorgeous and I'm glad because I'm off to Victor Harbour for the Friends of Parks Forum. I've never been to one before so I'm looking forward to it. Betty and Shirley, two sweet old ladies, are letting me stay in a place with them so our accomodation is pretty cheap. I'll be leaving in a few hours and arriving back some time on Sunday, so I'll have to do an update on my return.

Suppose I'd better go and do some packing now...

Balance restored

On Monday morning when I went to catch the train I discovered that over the weekend almost ever brick at the station had been covered in graffiti. This morning there was a man painting over it all, thus restoring the balance.

As I walked past Borders today at lunch I noticed a bunch of gothic teens sitting outside. Perhaps at lunch tomorrow there'll be a group of old ladies wearing fluorescent colours outside, thus restoring the balance?

Interesting theory...

Rest in Peace

Late last week my grandma's sister (who I met when we went to Yugoslavia) died. She has been unwell for a long time and had really deteriorated over the last few years, so rather than a sense of loss the family feels a sense of relief. A relief that she isn't suffering anymore, as she wasn't really "living" lately anyway. For a long time now she's been bed-ridden and needed everything done for her. Before it got that bad, when she was still able to move around, she'd often wander off because she forgot who she was. Things have been really sad there for a while, and so my grandma and my parents (who grew up with her around) are doing ok.

I was 3 years old when we moved to Australia, so if it weren't for our 3-week holiday in Yugoslavia 8 years ago I wouldn't even remember her. So, I don't really know what to feel, to be honest, because I didn't really know her. I remember I really enjoyed her company. She was so much like my grandma, their mannerisms were so alike. My grandma thinks of me as her kindred spirit, so it made our holiday in Yugoslavia a lot easier, because it felt like I had my kindred spirit there. So, I will miss her, but I have fond memories and I won't let those go.

Sending lots of good wishes to my family in Yugoslavia...

xxx

Don't defy the salad

Every day I have salad for lunch. I'm a regular at Leaf and Ladle and would be lost without them. But today, it's so cold that I felt like something different. I had cravings for some yummy Ravioli Bolognese, and being that I now work in Adelaide, it's piss easy to find a place that has what you crave. However, I should not have gone against Mr Trusty Salad. 'Why?' you ask. Because it seems inevitable that I would slop the sauce on my nice white shirt, thus staining me for the rest of the day.

Seems to be a week of weird stuff. I have my ears pierced but for some reason yesterday when I put in a pair of earrings I was half asleep, not having one lined up right, and thereby stabbing myself with the earring. I started bleeding, for goodness' sake. People don't even bleed when they get their ears pierced, but for some reason, I find a way.

My dreams have been extremely weird lately. It seems I didn't have a dream for a long time and now all at once I'm having really weird dreams every night. Last night I dreamt that Michelle was getting married (even though she already is) and for some reason to get to her wedding we had to go through several airports around the world and have big communal showers. Yeah, that's not weird AT ALL! And when we got to the church for some reason she was sitting in amongst the crowd, not up the front with her hubby.

So anyway, not much aside from mad stuff has been happening. I haven't been logging on during the evenings this week and I tell you what, not logging on after work sure frees up your time! I've done so much reading and catching up with other stuff this week, it's very refreshing. No doubt I'll tire of all this free time soon.

Oh ffs, wish Sandra had turned off her mobile phone before she went to that meeting. This is the 4th time it's rang since I started typing this. SHE'S OBVIOUSLY NOT ANSWERING, LEAVE A FREAKING MESSAGE!!!!

Anyway, had better dash. Hey if you're reading this Jun, update your blog (unless you have in the last couple of days)...

Go the Goose!

It's been a bit of an up and down week. I really need to make more of an effort with writing here because it seems like a lot has happened (not anything any more interesting than usual though).

Having that Friday off a week and a half ago was great. But as is always the way when I have a day off, I'd planned to do lots of things and instead spent the entire day watching Dr Phil and playing Battlefield 2. It was a really nice way to relax though. On that weekend Mum and I went shopping and I bought a few clothes, including a couple of pairs of jeans as my other ones were getting too big (yay! usually it's the opposite). That night Alex came around and I ate lots of pizza, thus negating my newly purchased "mid-weight" jeans.

Last week was ok, work as usual except I had a couple of days off mid-week due to a) laziness, and b) really bad headaches. Not sure what's causing the headaches as I think I'm getting enough sleep, only bought new glasses a few months ago, and think I'm eating well, but bought some multivitamins anyway. Not that they're helping the headaches much. Might have to go to the doctor and get a blood test. I'll try to have one without almost passing out this time...

Last Friday was our 6 year anniversary (we got there eventually) so to celebrate we went and had dinner at The Greedy Goose. Unfortunately, Justine had the night off (possibly saving me the embarressment of gushing over a reality TV personality) but we had a really nice time. The food was great and the staff were lovely, and we went home with our bellies satisfied. If I must find a complaint about anything it would be that it felt like I was sitting closer to the people on the next table than I was to Ivan, the tables were a bit close to each other. But that'd be my only complaint.

On Saturday I went and did my tax return (I'm being bloody robbed!) then we went to Mum and Dad's for Dad's 55th birthday. It was a pleasant day and we finally got to see Maria and Steve's wedding photos.

Sunday I did shit all except read and watch X-Men cartoons, and today I'm back at work, with only this to say...

Go the Goose!!