Afterthought

I listen to music while getting ready in the mornings and this morning that song The Real Slim Shady by Eminem came on and I realised: I can't listen to this song anymore without thinking of that Futurama episode where it has the original Star Trek cast (except Scotty) and Kirk does this spoken word recital of the song! Makes me giggle :)

Oh, and 2018 visitors? Why aren't you people commenting? :(

Why men suck (sometimes)

You know sometimes when something is bothering you, and you want to talk it over, but the other person doesn't want to? This is why men suck. Oftentimes the problem will be ignored, thus how is it expected to be gone, forgotten and not brought up again? Ok, so I wanna talk about something, so I bring it up. When it is slid under the carpet it still gets to me, I want answers, so I bring it up again. In the end all you do is get frustrated with each other and the problem is there to stay. And then you complain when it is again mentioned at a later date. What do you guys expect? If something is important to one person it should be important to both. Instead of saying you don't know what to say, or "What do you want me to say?" just say something, anything, to give us a freaking idea of what the issue means to you. Please. Being met by silence or empty glances is worse than anything you could possibly say.

I suspect I shall delete this post at some stage. For now, I just wanted to write, to release.

Time off?

Isn't the 4 day break meant to be a rest and rejuvinate you? Mine sure hasn't been! Well, no, it hasn't been stressful, just a bit of running around. Oh, I should have started by saying Happy Easter, or Happy Chocolate-eating Festivus to those that don't celebrate Easter.

I came down Thursday night, drive was the most stressful drive ever because the traffic was just insane. Mostly going in the opposite direction but it meant I couldn't pass anyone. After getting here and having a bite to eat I really wanted to go and hire the Schindler's List DVD since it just got released Wednesday finally, so we went to a couple of video stores on the search but no luck. We went to visit John though, our old housemate, and that was great since he always cracks me up. Then we watched this movie called The Dreamers which was, err, very wierd. Not recommended unless you like some crazy brother and sister action. *shivers*

Friday was the day we did absolutely nothing. Although I think I slept funny and my shoulder was sore all day so I spent a lot of time trying to lie or sit in some comfortable way and having no luck. Lots of pain, but all better now. We ended up getting Schindler's List that day though so that cheered me up.

Saturday, my parents' place for lunch. Fussing over you not eating enough, take this home with you, why didn't you park in the drive, and so on and so forth. A great day when they finally stopped fussing and just let us chat. Got home, attempted to play this game Sacred but it has lots of pretty big bugs in Coop mode so that idea went down the drain. Watched a great football match, logged on and had another late night.

Yesterday, yes, I actually went to church! I do that sometimes, and I find it a great escape. Then had a quiet afternoon until catching up with a few people. Played online some more, then watched Passion of the Christ, ending up another late one. I really should have gone to bed earlier, all weekend the earliest I went to bed was 2:30am so my body clock is all stuffed up now and I probably won't be able to get up for work tomorrow.

Leaving for home in less than 3 hours, have eaten too much chocolate and have lots more left. Easter ain't no rest!

Words of Wisdom

I got the best email today (which was probably sent two days ago because our email is acting up). It's rare for these types of emails to grab my attention but I could sure relate to this so just gonna put it in here.

As I've Matured...
I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in...
I've learned that one good turn gets most of the blankets.
I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people are just jack-asses. (Ain't that the truth!)
I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and it only takes suspicion, not proof, to destroy it (I really have to pay attention to this one).
I've learned that whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed.
I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to others - they are more screwed up than you think.
I've learned that depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. (Not sure I agree with this)
I've learned that it is not what you wear; it is how you take it off.
I've learned that you can keep vomiting long after you think you're finished.
I've learned to not sweat the petty things, and not pet the sweaty things.
I've learned that ex's are like fungus, and keep coming back.
I've learned age is a very high price to pay for maturity.
I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.
I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are celebrities.
I've learned that artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
I've learned that 99% of the time when something isn't working in your house, one of your kids did it.
I've learned that there is a fine line between genius and insanity.
I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and all the less important ones just never go away. And the real pains in the butt are permanent.

Not an original blog but meh :P

Do you ever got those days...

... when you actually have a little self confidence and feel a bit better about yourself? That very rarely happens with me, but I'm having one of those weeks I think. My self esteem can get pretty low most of the time, but I think lately I've been realising that I'm not so bad dammit, even if I'm not as thin as I'd like to be. I have a great job, great people in my life, so why not look on the bright side and be happy instead of thinking of what I don't have? For me, this is a real epiphany, and I don't know whether it will last or if this is just a temporary thing. Could it be because I'm turning 25 in a few months? Does that age somehow mean I think clearer and realise what the important things in life are? Or it could just be this 'legalised speed' I'm taking and next week I'll go back to being down again, who knows.

Still no time to blog!

This has been the longest break between blogs I've had for a while because work has been flat out this week. I was taking Friday off as well as leaving early on Thursday afternoon so I worked a few extra hours during the other days so I wouldn't fall too far behind.

So a quick rundown of what's been happening since my last post I guess. The LAN last Saturday was great fun, with us getting home at around 4am. Monday I had to call the police because my neighbours wouldn't stop screaming at each other, and for once I actually listened to what they were saying and found he was drunk and had been hitting her. Things have been extremely quiet since that I wonder whether or not they're both still actually living there. Monday I started medication which doesn't let me sleep much. I was gonna keep it quiet but who cares, the people that read this are close to me anyway. The medication is also known as 'legalised speed' and so last night was the first time I've had 6 hours sleep in a week. I came to Adelaide Thursday night instead of Friday because my cousin Linda was down from Toowoomba with her fiancee who we hadn't met yet so we went out to dinner. He's a little younger than her but he's such a nice guy. I don't think she's ever even dated anyone before so this guy must be really special. Friday we did nothing except watch some dvds, and yesterday we went to the footy with Mum, Dad and Maria which was cool.

Later today I drive back to Berri, which is the part of the weekend I hate most. Once I'm back there it's ok, but the drive sucks. Especially because I am so tired at the moment too. And now it gets darker earlier, I'll be leaving in only 4 hours so Sundays go way too fast.

I've just sat here for 5 minutes trying to think of something interesting to say. I've failed. Ah well.

Turnaround

How does one go from being snowed under at work for the first half of the week and now having nothing to do?!? Gah, how annoying, they need to learn to space things out a bit more :P

I've been reading through some of my Blog archives. Damn, some of the comments people left still crack me up to this day, and my blogs used to be far more interesting and amusing. I'm getting old and boring! I read this one I wrote about toxic friends, I still have those. Whoops, maybe I should pay more attention to what's right for me.

I'm in such a silly mood today. It's either lack of sleep, looking forward to the weekend, or that Latte was too strong. Maybe all three :D

All I know is I have this pimple on my chin which is about to get it's own postcode!!

Aerosmith was right...

...when they said there's something wrong with the world today.

I know, I know, I wasn't meant to get political in this blog but I've heard some really crazy news stories lately and I just can't help but speak my mind about them (don't worry, they weren't all political).

Firstly, apparently an inquest into September 11 found that both Clinton and Bush are responsible for not preventing this. Supposedly Clinton had three occasions where he could have sent air strikes to take out Osama but called them off when he realised civilians would have been taken out aswell. Err, I'm sorry, but are these the same people who, if he had gone through with this, kicked up a huge stink about all the innocent lives that had been lost? And would it really have prevented September 11? There seems to be an awful lot of contradiction when it comes to politics and it seems that no matter what people do, they just can't win.

On the home front, now Mark Latham wants to remove our troops from Iraq. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some flag-bearing Liberal supporter, and in recent times I have lost a little respect for our PM, but this just doesn't seem like the right thing to do at all. I can't see what it will achieve. It won't make us any less of a target, it won't help international relations, especially since he said even if an elected Iraqi government asks our troops to stay he'd still bring them back. I just can't see the sense in this, but that's just me.

Finally, and this is a really sad news story. When we lived in Plympton Park I often went for walks around the neighbourhood. I had this set path, and it always took me past this house that had a huge Red Kangaroo living there. There's a high fence, and a Rottweiler, and apparently they had the kangaroo for some 13 years after having rescued it. So, just how fucked up are people when someone is willing to go to the effort of jumping the fence, somehow subduing the dog and getting it into the back yard and logging the gate, all for the sole purpose of killing this kangaroo by bashing its head in. What is wrong with people?!?

The world is seriously crazy.

No time to blog!

Well, when it rains, it pours! For a while I had very little to do at work and this week I am completely snowed under. Off the top of my head I can think of 6 things I am juggling at the moment and so I haven't even had time to update this blog for a while. I'm doing it now as I know I won't get a proper lunch break today so I may as well take some time out and do this.

On top of all that I've been feeling really run down lately and so this morning I slept in and didn't do any exercise, so am feeling a bit guilty about that. Also last night was the first night in, well, as long as I can remember back that I went to bed before 11pm. I don't know whether I'm coming down with something or whether my body's just saying 'give me a break'.

Finding rest at home isn't always easy because of my annoying neighbours. All Monday night they were screaming at each other, felt like I was living with my parents again and hearing them argue all the time! It's sucky when you're trying to clear your mind by doing yoga and all you can hear is the F word. Ah well, can't be helped I guess.

The weekend was quiet but involved late nights. I have a feeling this weekend will too, as we have a LAN to go to, and I haven't been to one for so long I think I'm going to have fun regardless of what we play. Although admittedly I'm not looking forward to 30 laps of a racing game. Methinks I'll either total my car early on or be about 10 laps behind. :D

Well, I guess I'd better get back to it *sigh*

God Bless Caffeine!

I very rarely drink coffee but this morning I really needed a Latte. Luckily this small town isn't so small that you can't find a good coffee shop around the place, and so I went and treated myself one. It's oh so yummy! Perhaps if I went to bed early like I plan to do every night but then never actually do, I wouldn't need a caffeine hit so bad right now, but meh, you get that.

I'm leaving work early today to head to Adelaide a bit earlier. It's getting darker earlier now and I don't like driving at night, especially such a long distance. I just worked out that I only have 5 hours to go, minus my lunch break! Just as well, because I really have very little to do today. All the data for the River has been entered and I'm just waiting for the Murray Bridge office to get back to me on a couple of issues. Once that's done I can print off and send the hundreds of letters out, but I doubt that will get started today. So there's work for me to do, I'm just waiting for the go-ahead. I've also taught myself GIS over the last couple of days and only have one lot of exercises left to do. Plus all the Development Applications are processed. So I'm left with blogging, reading websites and walking around the office chatting to people.

This weekend is probably going to be a bit of a quiet one. Good old IB have a war on tonight so I might finally get to dust off my Medic pack and do a little online gaming for the first time in around 2 months! On Saturday I was supposed to go to the Clipsal 500 with Dad but since he has a sore foot we won't be going. Not to worry, we go every year and missing one year won't be so bad. So I'll probably be watching that on the tv Saturday and Sunday. But the weekend weather looks like it'll be gorgeous so would be worth going out somewhere. We'll see what happens, it's nice to have nothing planned for once and you can just take the days as they come.

Hmm, not much else exciting to report really. Except my neighbour is annoying, but you already knew that.

Hope everyone has a great weekend :)

Hick Town

I like to think that Berri is up with the times and isn't really a country town in the traditional sense, but sometimes I'm reminded that it still is regional and sometimes a bit backward.

For example, when in a changing room of a store a couple of weeks ago I heard two women talking in the next booth. When one said "I dunno, $16 for a skirt is still a bit rich" I almost wanted to scream "You stupid woman, you'd never find a skirt that cheap in the city!". The fact that a town can have no traffic lights whatsoever also reminds me.

But when I read the story in the Murray Pioneer the other day about how the Riverland's first adult shop would be opening tomorrow in Renmark and how the owner is expecting backlash, I wondered just how backward this town is. Surely people here have sex! Sorry to be so blunt but truly, I hate censorship of any kind and the thought that it's such a big deal if an adult store opens in the region is really unusual to me. It's an adult shop anyway, it's still illegal for them to sell to minors, and if adults wish to purchase things, who cares? I've never been in one myself (and can't really picture walking into this one with the possibility of running into someone I might know) but I don't see the problem.

Damn Hick Town!

Holiday!

I don't normally like to post political things in here because it's not that type of blog but for once I agree 100% with what Alexander Downer and even that god-awful Alan Jones have said in regards to our troops being in Iraq and what that means for us in terms of being a target for terrorists. But that's all I'm going to say about that.

In much happier news, I got my holidays signed off by my boss yesterday and in my delight booked my plane ticket to Townsville for late June, yay!!! I can't wait :)

Ofcourse, there is always something to ruin my mood and this time it's my mother. I'm not sure if she's more annoyed at me for going alone, or at Ivan for not coming with me. Grr, I'm an adult for goodness' sake and what on earth is she worried about? I knew this would be my parents' reaction and so I should've taken Ivan's advice when he suggested I don't even tell them I'm going because it's not their concern anyway. Ah well, too late for that now.

But, yay!!

Home time yet?

The damn Murray Bridge office still hasn't sent me the work I have to finish off so it's been another quiet day. Which isn't bad, considering the weekend was rather hectic.

Mum and Dad arrived on Friday at around 4pm so I left work early to go home and spend time with them. We went and had dinner at the golf club which was really nice. It was a really nice day outside so we sat out on the patio and had our dinner. We played the pokies for a little while, went home and stayed up chatting until 11pm (which for my parents is a late night). It was so wonderful to just sit and talk with them, we never really get a chance to do that so it was good. Mostly the conversation centred around Maria and how she was still quite depressed about things.

On Saturday Mum and I went and did my washing and did some grocery shopping and then by the time we got home Maria and Grandma had arrived for the day. After they relaxed for a bit we went clothes shopping and I actually managed to find about 8 outfits. That never happens! And although the scales tell me I haven't lost any weight yet (grr!) I think I may have lost some centimetres as I've dropped a dress size, w00t! We went home and had a late lunch, then I coloured Maria's hair. While we had some time to ourselves she was telling me that she'd started talking to a new guy. I don't know whether this is good or bad, she needs to get over Nick but this is rather fast and I'm afraid she'll latch onto this new guy even if he is a total loser. She hadn't told Mum and Dad yet, so I dunno, maybe it's nothing.

Before I knew where the time had gone, Maria and Grandma headed home and Mum, Dad and I had a quiet night in just watching the football. The Sunday was quite hectic as we really wanted to go and check out Renmark, so we were up and out the door quite early. We spent some time driving around the town which was so lovely, it's a really beautiful town. It is slightly busier than Berri in that it has one set of traffic lights as opposed to the zero we have! We checked out the riverbank then headed to a Greek festival that was on. That was pretty ordinary though, so we weren't there long before we headed back to Berri. On the way we also stopped into the Big Orange (excitement plus) and Bredl's Reptile Park. That was pretty cool as anyone that knows me knows I love reptiles, but it was quite interesting. There were other animals there too. Kangaroos, Emus, Deer, Goats, Geese, all of which pretty much had this open terrain. The Wedge-Tailed Eagles were my favourite animal in their rather large enclosure. All the reptiles had beautiful setups. But then you see the monkeys which were in these small enclosures looking really unhappy. Was quite sad, but interesting to see where the keeper's real priorities lie!

Mum and Dad left at around 2pm and I then breathed a sigh of relief. It was great to have them stay, I had a wonderful time, but after a while their fussing gets rather annoying.

Even though I spoke to Ivan last night on the phone, I still missed him like mad without seeing him for the weekend and am feeling rather homesick today.

That's about it really.

Bad days

I was going to write and say how it seemed everyone had a bad day yesterday but after waking up this morning and hearing about the terrorist attack in Spain, it seems we should all be thankful for our lives. The little problems we face each day are nothing compared to what's going on in the world lately. Really scary times.

Warped sense of humour

I don't know why I found this classified funny, but I did. Spotted it today.

Date Placed: 11/3/2004
Wanted: Stolen motor vehicle returned, please
Pale yellow XF Falcon stn wagon, UZL 411 stolen Tues 9 March. Has (or had!) built-in chrome roof rack, sun visor,drivers side weathershield,towbar,UHF aerial. ANY information leading to the return of vehicle and contents would be gratefully appreciated

This makes me look busy!

Oh man, the last couple of days at work have been so quiet and I have next to nothing to do right now, so am killing some time and making myself look busy by doing this blog. My boss is in Adelaide, another lady who gives me things to do is sick, and the Murray Bridge office haven't sent me the data they said they would, so I am sitting here emailing and reading the paper online. This job at least isn't stressful.

Well the weekend came and went so fast again, I can't believe we're a week into March! I'm not sure how effective my day with Maria was in terms of her cheering up. We went and had lunch at Brighton then went to Marion for some retail therapy, we spent heaps of time talking and I tried my best to drum it into her that she should be grateful this is over, that she can use this opportunity to find someone else, etc. But I don't know. It's been 3 weeks since it happened and she still can't talk about anything else nor can she stop crying for a day. But we did have a nice day together, and she bought herself some things which hopefully cheer her up.

In other news I'm planning a trip to Townsville just after my birthday in June to party with Sammo and Para since I didn't get to last year for their birthdays and I am so excited about it! I just need to save some money for it, but I've started doing that and am restricting some of my spending. Ivan and I also want to finally start saving for a house and that's my top priority but hopefully I get to do both :)

The fitness thing is still going well. Each morning I want to go back to sleep but I make myself get up and work out. On the weekend I got a Yoga DVD and book so now after work I go home and do that before dinner. Yoga is bloody hard, I am so inflexible, but I'll keep at it. And then I also get on the bike for a while as I'm watching tv shows after dinner. I hope the phrase "working my ass off" will apply in this case.

Time for a random rambling. I want the Queer Eye guys to come and make me over, buy me new furniture and some cool clothes.

Good news or bad?

Well my sister and her fiancee have broken up again, and I don't know whether I should be happy or not. From past blog entries you'll notice I don't like the guy, but she's so heartbroken that I feel so bad for her. She's the type of person who gives 100% of herself to people she loves and will do anything for them, will look past their flaws and therefore leaves nothing for herself. This makes her a beautiful person but unfortunately a target for people who will take advantage of that and then cast her aside, leaving her utterly heartbroken.

I think in the long run, this is for the best, but I know that this will take Maria some years to get over. She really doesn't deserve people like this, and I hope she finds someone who will treat her the way she should be treated soon. She gets herself depressed because some of her friends are married with kids already, but not everyone is. But she lets this get to her.

I feel so bad for her and I fear that she will go back to him again and end up here again in a few months time. I hope she doesn't go back. The worst part is that she blames herself, like she wasn't good enough or something. Truth is she tried to help the guy as much as she could and should not feel like she is at fault.

I think the worst thing out of all of this is that even after being engaged to someone it's almost as if he feels no sadness at all. At all. Apparently they broke up just after Valentine's Day although I didn't find out until the weekend. And already hes "advertised" himself in the paper twice. I hope the advert read the truth, being something like 36 year old male who lives with his mother seeks female to walk all over. I don't drive, will never get you a drink, I won't even wash my own clothes. I will be disinterested at any special family event, may even fall asleep on the sofa. I'll be a fat slob but have a go at you any chance I get for the way you look, and will dump you if you cut your hair too short. Guaranteed to treat you like shit!

I harbour a few ill feelings towards him, can you tell?

Headache from hell

I don't know if it's these early mornings, exercising too much, eating some crazy food or this weather that won't make up its mind, but my head is aching. Has been there for the last day or two and won't go away!

This morning when the alarm went off I almost fell back to sleep, thinking I'd just work out another day, but then talked myself out of that idea, reminding myself that it hasn't even been a week yet. And a girl from work who lives across the road and I have been going for walks every so often, so that's been good too. Tonight I'm going grocery shopping and buying actual good food so I'm not snacking on all sorts of things. We'll see how things go. Thanks to those that have supported me so far :)

Weekend was good, went too fast as usual. Work's been busy now, and maybe that's helped my headache along too. Who knows. But I probably shouldn't have written a blog when I'm so unfocussed.

I don't know what to make of my next door neighbour. He is married with a child but is always coming over just to see how I am. I am pretty sure it's innocent, I think he just worries about me because I'm on my own. Last night I could have sworn I was talking to my mother the way he was asking if I'd eaten dinner and had some vegetables. But occasionally I just get this shiver of creepiness. Probably doesn't help I watch CSI and get all scared.

I'd better go. This rambling has become the most random I think it's ever been.

And this time, I mean it!

I really truly am sick of my weight. For months now I've been trying and have stayed static at this appalling state, and so now it's time I go crazy with exercise. I'm writing this here so people can remind me if I start to slack off how bad I'll feel when I don't lose weight. It's always in the back of my mind and my self-confidence is low because of it, so now it's time for some real action.

Now that the hot weather has subsided I've started walking to work again, and for the last couple of mornings I've been getting up early to do aerobics, and I plan to do that 5 days a week. I'm already eating a bit better now that I've moved. This has to change, am tired of feeling like a blimp.

So, if I start to slack off, please remind me that I'm doing this for my own happiness (in the nicest possible way, no yelling :P )

KTHXBYE!

Boredom

Well, I've finished the mountain of filing I had to do and now have nothing to do until people come back from a meeting after lunch! So thought I'd bore you all with an update.

I had Friday off work, got into Adelaide at around 1:30pm, did a bit of running around and then relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Incidentally, after my shower Friday morning the fake tan wasn't visible anywhere except on the palms of my hands. Oh goodie. On Saturday morning I got up early and went for a pedicure, then the hairdresser came over. You know priorities are wrong when you spend your money on beauty products instead of on food.

The wedding wasn't until 4pm, and unfortunately it was raining. I didn't mind, I prefer wet weather to the scorching heat we had the week before, but it sorta stuffed up the couple's plans for photos and walking across the lawn to get to the church wasn't much fun. The ceremony was short but sweet, and Virginia looked gorgeous. The reception was at 7pm, so we went home in between. We were on a table with Peter, Paul and Casey which was good, but the rest of the table were funny at times, very strange at others. Basically, it was the drama table. First this girl broke her chair within being there 15 minutes, although I don't think that was her fault, she was just unlucky. Then the same girl started arguing with her ex who was at the same table, stormed out a couple of times, spilled many drinks and so on and so forth. And her ex was rather strange as well, taking some extremely unusual photos during the course of the night. Was an interesting bunch, let's just say that.

The reception finished quite early, I think it was around 11:30pm so I got a relatively early night, and then Sunday I spent the day hungover and tired anyway. I left Adelaide around 5pm and got home, unpacked, went grocery shopping then went to bed after logging on. That's about it in a nutshell.

Hope you all had a good weekend. This weekend will be the first one I have nothing planned, might go to the movies or dinner or something with the man.

Ciao.

Wedding bells

No, don't be silly, not my wedding bells! This weekend is Virginia and Ash's wedding, and I am so looking forward to it. The weather is expected to be a bit cooler, I've known the girl for about 8 years and it is so exciting to see her getting married! In honour of this occasion I'm taking tomorrow off work as a flexi to get into Adelaide earlier and do some last minute things before Saturday. Saturday will be pretty full-on, even though the wedding is only at 4pm because I'm getting my hair done and a pedicure in the morning. Anyone would think it was my big day, but hey, a girl needs some pampering.

I have very white skin, which sucks because when I go into the sun I burn, peel, and then go back to being white again, I can never seem to get a tan. So to look nice (or try to) I got some sample packs from my beauty therapist for some self-tan and tried to put it on this morning. Tried being the key word. The tops of my legs look great, shame I'm not wearing bathers to the wedding to show them off, but the rest turned out not-so-good. Well, it's not the worst effort I've ever made. When I was a bridesmaid at Michelle's wedding my legs turned out so streaky it wasn't funny. This time they're not streaky, but my knees and heels look too dark. So tomorrow I'm gonna scrub them, and then will probably end up with pure white knees and heels. Hehehe, it's gonna be great! Plus it don't smell so good. Meant to be nice and citrusy but the smell is making me sick. Nice. Well, end of that particular random rambling, let's move on.

This week has been officially called "filing week" for me as I've done little else. I had a data request yesterday but that was about the only thing I did differently. Am glad that I'm having the day off tomorrow for more reasons than one. I had my first sick day on Tuesday, not getting out of bed until around 4pm. Had a massive headache, and I blame the weeks of heat and not enough sleep. Felt much better after the day in bed though.

Hmm, not much else has been happening. Oh wait, yes there has. My sister's idiot boyfriend/fiancee has struck again. This time, he ditched her on Valentine's Day. One of Maria's friends Kaye was having a bbq for her birthday on that day, and Nick didn't go because "Kaye didn't go to his birthday party". The reason Kaye didn't go to his is because her dad was in hospital. And Mr. Petty Asshole therefore decided he wasn't going, and therefore wasn't seeing Maria on that day. She was so upset, and I can't say I blame her. I wish she had the strength to leave him for good. Sure, I've complained about her sometimes but I love my sister and she deserves a lot better.

Anyway, had better get going. I'm typing this from work and I wanted to do a few more things before I left for the week. Hope everyone has a great weekend. I plan to get plastered at the reception :D

Hot in the City

Oh man, I need to move to Hobart or something to escape this heat. It has been constant for a couple of weeks now and I can't stand the heat, I've just always been that way. Give me rain any day. And why did I move to Berri of all places, where it's always a few degrees warmer than in Adelaide? Ah that's right, desperation for a job will get you applying anywhere :P

So, it was Valentine's Day on the weekend. Ivan and I have never really been into Valentine's Day, it's one of those silly events I think - if you want to give someone a gift or something, you should do that on any day, not only on this one day the world tells you to. So we'd pre-arranged not to get each other anything and just to play it by ear on the day to see what we wanted to do. And just aswell, because that was the hottest day over the weekend and I certainly didn't feel like doing a thing. I had a waxing and facial appointment in the morning and then when I got home we just veged out and did nothing. Played a little bit of Desert Combat, caught up on a lot of dvd watching and tried to keep cool. Even though we did nothing the weekend was really exhausting because we couldn't even get a decent night's sleep, the house was just so hot. Ugh!

Sunday we popped into Nicole and Peter's for a brief visit because Nicole had her baby 4 months ago and I still hadn't been to see her. We only stayed for about half an hour though, then I pretty much headed back to Berri. I was supposed to go to the drive-ins with this girl Bronwyn from work but when I got home and it was still 41C we both decided to can that idea and stay home. I tried sleeping in the lounge on my new sofa bed with the air conditioner on but I kept having scary dreams and getting cold and then hot, so didn't really get a good night's sleep.

Back at work today, getting through this huge amount of filing I've had to do. And I mean huge, no exaggeration, I'm talking thousands of sheets of paper to file. Oh yeah, it's been a blast. It's wierd though, even when I'm doing something like filing I still love my job.

So, on to a random rambling. Do you get those songs that as soon as you hear them they remind you of something in your life? And it doesn't have to be hugely significant, it could just be a few laughs with friends but every time you hear the song you either laugh or cry because of the memories it brings. Well, on the drive home I put in this mixed CD Ivan made me for my 21st birthday a few years ago. It just had all these songs I'd picked out, some were older songs, some were new at the time. Anyway, remember that song 500 Miles by the Proclaimers? Well, I had that on there, and it just made me smile from ear to ear when I heard it. It always reminds me of when Elita, Kelly and I went to Miriam's 21st, and she had this Karaoke machine, and no one was getting up to sing so the three of us went and sang that song. And we sounded atrocious, and Ivan, Cerina and Claire looked on in horror but damn, we had a lot of fun. And even though it wasn't the first time I'd sung Karaoke, it's the only one that I really remember, and it makes my heart smile. Amazing what music can do.

Weekly news

The week since I last updated has really flown!

Work is still great - fun lunches with friends, enjoyable work, I really can't complain. Friday night I went to Adelaide and had a nice quiet night with Ivan watching the cricket and catching up on tv shows I'd missed. On Saturday there was a little running around to do and Michelle popped by with her Dad which was nice, then Saturday night I was off to Virginia's hen's night (bachelorette party to those that don't know the slang). We went to dinner first, then went to a cocktail bar, and then went to a nightclub, and it was a pretty good night. I was a bit nervous beforehand because I only knew a couple of the people there but I ended up having a great night.

Went to bed at about 3am, it's been a while since I've been up so late so I think all these days later I'm still recovering. Sunday was relaxed again and then I got home Sunday night to find a few more spiders had emerged :P

I'm finally able to connect to the internet at home but can't get into Cogs, as my connection is hanging around only 30 Kb/s and so I'm limited to chatting in trillian, so if anyone reads this and wants to chat, you need to log on msn or icq :P

Dad came to visit me yesterday, he was going to stay overnight but that didn't end up happening because he had to go back to work today and he would have been too tired, but it was nice to see him anyway.

Had better get back to work. Byeeee!

Down time

Right now I haven't got much to do at work and so I thought I'd take the opportunity to update a bit.

The weekend was really good, so much so that on Sunday I was thinking I didn't want to come back. I do love my work and love the people I work with, but being home was really great and I wanted to stay there. I mean, we didn't even have to do anything special, it was just nice to have Ivan there even if we were just chatting.

It was also fun to get into some gaming again, not that we could do that online with only a modem but our competative natures were exercised by playing some Monopoly Tycoon - a game that usually results in an argument, but we got through it with me only swearing once. The problem is we're both quite stubborn when it comes to this game and hold onto our properties for dear life. If you've never played it then beware, it's dangerous (but good fun).

Saturday night we had Nick's birthday which wasn't too bad. The food was good even if he is a buffoon (hope he never sees this!). The family was all a bit miffed that he wasn't sitting with Maria the whole night, although she didn't seem to mind because she had a bunch of her friends there too so she just spent her night catching up with them.

On Sunday I just cleaned up a bit and had a total veg-out day in front of the tv, probably is another reason why it made it difficult to gear up for the drive home. I got home just as it was getting dark, unpacked and then relaxed some more.

Soon as I came back to work on Monday I was happy again after being sad about leaving Adelaide. Each day I get closer with people and am enjoying doing some real work. Yesterday we all went out for lunch at the golf club and on the drive home the carload of people I went with decided we all go on a bit of a tour of Berri. We ended up having an hour and a half for lunch, hehe!

Had better get back to it. But before I do, I just wanted to wish Emmy a Happy 21st Birthday for tomorrow, because I don't know if I'll get a chance to update this again before then. I don't think she comes here anymore but if Sammo or someone can point her in this direction that'd be great. I know it's not much, but happy birthday girly :)

My own personal version of Settlers

Well, as you can imagine, it has been a full-on week. On Friday we moved everything up to Berri. Ivan and I got here about 10am to meet the Real Estate Agent to get my keys for the new place, then we went to buy me a fridge and arrange delivery. My parents weren't coming until about 5pm, but thankfully they managed to squeeze everything into the truck and we got a lot of things unpacked on the Friday night, despite exhaustion towards the end.

On Saturday Ivan left pretty early and then mum, dad and I went shopping for a few things we'd forgotten about the day before. We continued to move things in and then they left mid afternoon, leaving me all alone for the first time. I unpacked a few more things and then was bored out of my mind for the remainder of the weekend. Monday was probably the better day because I went for a long walk and sat by the river for a while, then went to a Cafe for lunch and generally just had a great day.

I started work on Tuesday and am loving it. Although there have been a few hiccups, like not being able to access the licencing system yet, etc, the people I work with are fantastic and really friendly, and we're all going to the pub for lunch today :)

Now that work has started life has gotten into a normal routine again, and my days no longer drag on. I walk to and from work because it's so close, and then by the time I get home, have dinner and do the dishes, I either watch tv, talk on the phone or read and before I know it it's time for bed. The days are now flying and I'm a lot happier. I do miss Ivan a lot though, particularly the little things, just having him around to share a joke with or to chat to while I cooked dinner, stuff like that I miss.

But tonight I'll be leaving work a little early and driving back to Adelaide. Tomorrow is Nick's birthday so we have that to go to, and hopefully the rest of the weekend will be a nice rest. We still have no real internet connection in Adelaide so I rely on checking my email and stuff at work, so thought I'd better update now before I left for the city.

Hope everyone is well, miss chatting to you all.

Stuff and nonsense

I don't have much to write but seeing as I won't be back at work until Tuesday after today and I don't know if I'll be logging on this weekend yet, I thought I'd better update. Tomorrow I leave for Berri and my stomach is just in knots thinking about it. Like I said last entry, I'm really excited but also kinda sad, so it's all a bit wierd for me. Ivan, Mum and Dad are staying over on Friday night and then I'll have 3 days to myself before I start in the new office.

In the last few days I've caught up with a couple of people before I leave, like Michelle and Misch which has been nice. I already have plans for most weekends coming up so I'll be back quite often at first. I have a birthday, a Hen's night, Valentine's Day and a wedding to come all within the next 4 weeks, so things will be a bit hectic, but at least it'll give me excuses to keep coming home and curbing my homesickness.

I've actually been able to relax the last few days, getting home from work and either having people over or just relaxing in front of the TV, so life is starting to get back to normal. Tonight all I have to do is pack a few saucepans and load up the car so that in the morning we can take off bright and early.

So, maybe this blog can start to be more about my thoughts and feelings soon like it used to be, rather than telling people mundane daily things. Sorry, but I've barely had time to think lately so haven't had exciting things to write about.

I get time to think on the train though, and I quite like the train because you get to observe people. Mostly every day I see new faces, but there's this one man who gets on every day with a little girl of about 2 years old in a pram, and I love watching them because they make my heart smile. I think he takes his girl to childcare and then goes to work because he's always on the peak-hour train. I just love the way he talks to her and plays with her, and when she laughs everyone around them smiles. I guess he reminds me of my dad, and that's why I like it so much, I don't know. Soppy girl stuff I guess.

One down...

Well, I'm sure glad the weekend is gone, it was just non-stop until yesterday afternoon. Friday Ivan and Darren moved most of the furniture but there were still lots of little things to go and collect, so straight after work I started on that. Then, ofcourse, you can't move everything into the new place all at once because when it's so small you need to put things away, so it was just crazy.

Saturday was the clean-up day. Mum and Maria helped me clean while Dad packed things into his car that I'll be taking to Berri with me. I was there from 7am and didn't make it home until about 4:30pm, crazy. How can one small place get so dirty?! The problem is they want you to do things you wouldn't normally do, like wiping out cupboards and cleaning windows - what sane person does this things on a regular cleaning cycle? It's just abnormal. And because we've been burned by landlords badly in the past we wanted everything to look great so they couldn't possibly argue with us about anything. Fingers crossed we get our bond back without all the hassle we had last time.

Sunday was just the last few things picked up and a final quick mop around the place and it wasn't too bad a day, although we did have a lot of things at the new place to sort out. So that's one move down, one to go. I just hope all my things fit in the truck to Berri and into our cars, it would suck if they didn't and I had to do a couple of trips. I've officially gotten Friday off work so I'll be leaving bright and early in the morning.

The rest of this week will be spent catching up with a few people before I leave and packing things for myself in the meantime. I look forward to finally being settled in and really starting my new job, but now that it's getting closer I'm also getting really sad. I'm gonna miss Ivan heaps :(

Anywho, will keep updating from work when I get the chance. Thanks for the cool SMS's and phone calls over the weekend, they helped to break the dullness of moving :)

No idea what to call this

Moving day here in Adelaide today, although we started last night after we picked up the keys. You know things are crazy when you have dinner at 10pm! Our house is sort of half empty at the moment, this morning there was no tv to watch and very little room to sit down on, but we have so many things it's not funny. I've thrown so many things away, it's amazing how much crap a person can accumulate in a short space of time. So tonight, we'll hopefully finish off the moving and set up the bedroom and kitchen at least, and tomorrow will be the cleanup day of the old place. Ugh. I mentioned before how I hate packing, but I hate cleaning even more.

So that'll be our exciting weekend! Next Friday is my moving day to Berri (work has been kind enough to give me a day off). I've already arranged for my phone and electricity connection, so shouldn't have anything much to worry about as the day draws closer. I already have my new phone number, good old Telstra :) So maybe, in about two weeks I'll feel settled again. I'm a little nervous about starting in the Berri office and starting to meet new people again. Everyone here in the Adelaide office have been really great, and now I gotta start again. At least I'll have my own desk to decorate :)

Had better go and start work, hope everyone is well!

Congratulations

Just a quick note to say congrats to Sammo on landing a full-time job to tide him over until uni goes back, well done matey! I knew 2004 would be a better year for you :)

On a side note, I think I've found a place in Berri too. The family and I went up to Berri for a day trip on Saturday and I spotted a place I totally love, so sent off my application for it yesterday. Unless I get a really bad reference from someone, I think it's pretty much mine, as no one else was going for it and it's just sitting there empty. So if all goes well, I'll be moving to Berri in just under 2 weeks. I'll be relieved when all this moving is over and done with. I despise packing and poor Ivan has had to do almost all of it, I really should get my arse into gear.

Work is still going great. The training is over now and this week I'm actually doing real work so it's much more fun this week.

Also just a heads-up that because we're moving house here in Adelaide this weekend, Ivan and I will be offline for approximately a week until our ADSL gets connected again. I can still be contacted through email, and will update this site from work when I can, but you won't see me on MSN for a while (not that you've seen me on MSN much lately anyway).

Anywho, end of announcements. Hope I worded everything well in this blog, seems I have a blog Nazi :P

History

I was thinking recently of all the historical things a person sees in their lifetime. I mean, recently there haven't been any World Wars, we here have been really lucky that those things that have happened haven't effected us directly, but we've still seen some major historical events recently. My Grandma often tells me stories of what happened to them back in Yugoslavia during World War II, and although I've never lived through anything so drastic, it's kinda cool to have things to tell your own grandchildren about.

The main event that springs to mind is ofcourse the attack on the World Trade Centre, and I think we all remember where we were when we first heard about that. Stemming from that we've now seen the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, which is a huge thing when you think about all the years he's been in power.

I think sometimes we get so caught up in our own lives we forget to stop and see what's happening around us. But we should all take note and remember these things, so if nothing else we'll have our own cool stories to tell.

Busy Times

Things have been really crazy here and that's why I haven't had a chance to update this blog, so will just run down what I've been doing in a nutshell.

New Year's Eve wasn't bad, just had a few people over and while the boys played computer games Christine and I watched movies and had some drinks. Poor thing though, she'd had to work two jobs that day and had been up since 6am, so she kept dozing off and so it wasn't an overly exciting night for me, but it still wasn't bad.

After New Year's, Ivan and I knuckled down in finding a new place here in Adelaide, while I kept searching for places in Berri. Our spare time was spent looking up places, chasing up real estate agents, and filling out applications. We just signed the papers on a place not far from here on Wednesday night so we move in next Friday, so our time now is being spent packing things up, although I have to admit I'm a lot more slack in doing that. I despise packing.

I've started my new job, training here in Adelaide, and I'm absolutely loving it. Have already spent a day in the field, met lots of great people and I've learnt an incredible amount of things. It's funny, my friend Jun is very anti-government employees and now I am the enemy. Makes me laugh when I think of that. Greg has helped me to find a place in Berri and this weekend I'm gonna go fill out the application, so it looks like I'll be moving there in a couple of weeks. I still have to apply for the place, but I think it's pretty much mine if I want it.

That's about it in a nutshell. I had better go and start some work.

The Eve of a New Year

Just wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy new year, hope you all have a good night tonight and don't get yourselves into any kind of trouble.

A cousin of mine passed away a couple of years ago on New Years Eve and so we don't have a big party, but I do plan to have a few drinks with some friends tonight and have a good laugh.

Aside from that, I've continued spending money, so thank goodness I start work on Monday (at my new job, w00t!) and money will be coming in again. I now have a mattress and sofa bed so the rest of the stuff I need to get is small stuff which can be taken care of after I've moved in.

In terms of moving here in Adelaide, we checked out a place Monday which was really nice inside but rather like a box, but we applied for it anyway. Checking out another one on Friday, so we shall see.

Well I had better go and have some lunch and then start drinking. Happy New Year to all, heres hoping 2004 is the best year ever! :)

Aftermath

Christmas was nice for me, hope it was for the rest of you too. Although my family can annoy me sometimes, the night at Gran's went without incident and finished a little earlier than normal, so we got home earlier than expected. I got some great pressies for when I move to Berri too, which will make the move a lot easier. The kitchen is pretty much set, with a microwave, kettle, toaster and plates etc all sorted out. I also got a nice quilt cover set and a bed, just have to get a mattress now and that room will be in order too.

On Boxing Day Ben picked me up bright and early and we went to see Return of the King, and even though we got up and some abnormal hour we were in the third row, but it was still ok. The movie was awesome, better than the other two and the time flew by so quickly because of all the battles and things that happened. Got home about 1:30, then Krista was over for a bit which was cool, and then I went to mum and dad's as dad and I were going to Speedway City for the World Series Sprintcars. When I was younger we went quite often but as we got older and life got busier, dad and I don't get to go often, so it was nice. There were lots of accidents and other exciting things so was a good night :)

Saturday we went to mum and dad's for lunch, and grandma, maria, nick, and nick's mum were there. Was a bit exhausting really. Today I was supposed to go to Berri with the family but it's gotten really hot so we postponed it, considering it's always a couple of degrees warmer in Berri. So I took advantage of the day to myself and went shopping for things for the move while these sales are on. I bought myself a vacuum cleaner (because chicks like vacuum cleaners), a laundry basket, some towels, bathroom scales, a dishrack and a dvd player. Ivan and I thought it wise to test out the DVD player, and it's cool because it can play pretty much everything, but unfortunately it doesn't plug into my old crappy tv so I'm going to have to do something about that now. The DVD player also came with a karaoke disc and microphone - now that's asking for trouble!

The rest of the day is being spent inside, avoiding the heat. Only a week of holidays left :(

Merry Christmas!

I'd like to wish my two readers a safe and happy Christmas (you know who you are). I'm getting in a little early because the next few days will be busy. Traditionally, because I come from a European background, my family gets together on Christmas Eve so later today we'll be going over to Gran's for dinner and staying there for many hours. Then we leave gran's, and go to mum and dad's to open presents, then arrive home some time after midnight. So today I just finished wrapping the presents and then Ivan and I went to look at a couple of rental properties. Out of 5 there were 2 that we really liked, so it would be great if we could nab one of those and not have to worry about things anymore. Will have to wait until after Christmas to see though.

Tomorrow, Christmas Day, for once we have nothing planned, and it's going to be lovely. If the weather's nice we might go to the beach, otherwise we'll stay in and just have a nice day. Looking forward to the relaxation.

On Boxing Day Ben and I are gonna go and see Return of the King at 9:30am, so that will be an early start for me. Nothing planned for the rest of the day except probably watching the other two LOTR movies repeatedly.

Saturday we're going to mum and dad's for lunch. For some reason, despite seeing them at Christmas, mum wanted to spend a separate day with us. I guess it's partly because my cousin John died a couple of years ago on New Year's and so she likes to have the family together.

Sunday I'll be driving up with Mum and Dad to Berri to do a bit of the tourist thing and check out the town, as they've never been there and I've only been there for the interview. Will probably pick up a local paper and check out a couple of properties while we're there.

Earlier today I got a phone call from Greg about the job actually, just confirming my start date and time, telling me what sort of things the training will involve, and basically offering to help me with the moving as much as he can. He said he'll grab local papers, scan anything that might suit me and email them through, and if I want him to go and check any places out for me he will. That's gonna be a huge help!

Anyway, had better get going, might try and lie down a bit, damn early mornings, I'm not used to them now. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas, and I'll update again soon :)

Happy Birthday Jun!

First off I'd like to wish my friend Jun a Happy Birthday! I've known Jun for a couple of years now and I hope he gets all he wants for his birthday :)

So, now the formalities are out of the way, will update on what's been happening aside from the having to move debarkle. I've had one week of holidays already and have totally wasted them. I've spent some time catching up with friends and getting ready for Christmas, but mostly my days have been spent sleeping in, watching The Two Towers repeatedly, or anything to do with Lord of the Rings really, and catching up with people before Christmas day.

Yesterday I went and got a facial (love going to the Beauty Salon, feel so special) then went to see Michelle, Craig and the kids to give them their presents. Those kids are growing up so fast, every time I see them they look bigger. And I fed Alisha some baby food and with the bottle which was a first for me. Poor Alisha had more food smeared over her face than in her mouth, gonna need some practice if I ever have a kid. Ivan and I went to check out some places quickly yesterday too. There's not much available at the moment and all the places yesterday sucked, except one which wasn't too bad, but still early days yet. Hope we find something soon though.

Today we went to Ivan's parents' place for lunch, since we won't be seeing them on Christmas Day. Was pretty good actually, his Grandma was over there too and she's so sweet, and we got some cool pressies :)

Now we're home, I have a headache and Ivan is lying down. God we're old. But Jun's not, even if it is his birthday :)

GAH!

A quick update to let you all know how pissed off I am. Received a letter today saying that our lease here won't be renewed. Why does this always happen to us?!? We pay our rent on time, we keep the place tidy, why do we keep getting annoying landlords who wanna move their kids in? This guy's moving his son in. Well Merry bloody Christmas to us then, stupid kid can't get his own place without dad's help or something? How can people do this and feel good about themselves? I'm so angry, upset, annoyed, etc etc. Now, again, we have to spend our Christmas and New Year trying to contact agents that'll no doubt be on holiday because they don't have a care in the world and find another suitable place. It's not that easy for us to move because Ivan has his business and there's lots of stuff to think about. Plus all the damn hassle of letting everyone know our new address, which we just did 2 years ago for god's sake. And our date to move out is right about the weekend I'll be moving to Berri too, so double whammy. Why not eh? Why did I even think this new year was going to be a great one? Stupid me for thinking things in life could run smoothly for once. GAH!

Overdue update

I am so sorry, I was getting so good at updating this regularly too! I've given up on the "trying to write something about my Cogs friends" thing because I sat here and thought of the names of people I regularly chat to, and then the people I chat to every now and then who wanted to be included, and decided it was all too hard :P Sorry.

So what have I been doing? Well, on a daily basis it seems like a lot but then when you tell someone about it it basically translates to "nothing much at all". Let's see, the weekend.... I can't even remember the weekend, dear oh dear. Oh, that's right, I'll build up to it. Suspense and all of that. Yeah. Last Thursday night I went to Mum and Dad's to say hi to them and to talk a bit about my moving and the things I'll need, small things they can get for me for Christmas that will help, etc etc. I am so so excited about this new job. So excited, so so so very excited. And do you know what's even better? Tomorrow, after 9 long drawn-out years, will be my last day ever with Bilo Supermarkets! w00t and all that!!!

But now I've jumped ahead of myself. Saturday I had a Friends of Belair meeting which was cool, and Sunday I went up to Monarto. The Nature Conservation Society was releasing the report for the Biological Survey they did in the area last September that I helped out with. They had a BBQ on afterwards and I was going to stay but ended up going and getting Subway on the way home because it was all meat stuff. Sigh. And, to top it all off, Randall spelt my bloody name wrong in the report. Twit, my name's an easy one to spell, my surname contains only 5 simple letters and he couldn't get it right. I shake my fist at him and curse his name!

Oh, I found my Honours thesis online which was pretty exciting. After doing that Google search for the girl's name I was talking about a few entries ago, I wondered what came up if I did a Google search on my own name. And I found my thesis had been converted into pdf and uploaded for anyone to gain access to it. That's pretty cool I reckon, except I forgot I put in an ugly, but amusing piccy of me my friend Chris took after I fell over. I shouldn't say fell over, as there was nothing to actual fall "over", I just fell. And it was funny. And she took a picture while I laughed myself silly. And I'm wearing my daggy bushwalking clothes with my hair crappily tied back so I'm immortalised as being ultra uncool. Ok, so maybe my thesis being available online isn't such a cool thing :P

Let's see, what else. Tuesday night I had the Christmas BBQ for the Herpetology (that's reptiles and amphibians) group I'm in, and that was a really good time. Mel got a little tipsy, but just enough to be happy, not over the top, and I had a great night. And they had stuff other than meat which was good too (helps when you're on the committee and you can ask for such things :P)

Yesterday Ivan surprised me by giving me my Christmas present early, which he kinda had to do because if he hadn't I would have gone and bought the Two Towers Extended Edition DVD myself. And I got a new keyboard, and I love the noise it makes when I type, which might be why this entry is so bloody long. I'm outta control, somebody stop me! Bloody Jim Carrey, ruined that line forever. So started watching it last night, but when it got to 2am and they were only just starting the battle of Helm's Deep, I thought I should really get to bed and finish it another day. The extra scenes made me so excited, there were a couple that I really thought should have been kept in the theatrical version but the rest were fine to take out. I'm sure Peter Jackson is so relieved I give him the thumbs up. Right. So I might go watch the rest now actually. OH! And today I got me ticket for the Return of the King, 9:30am on Boxing Day, w00t!!!!

Ok ok, I'm going!

Funneh stuff

Today I was bored and was sifting through the PC at work and came across the funniest note I've ever found. It was from the ex-manager, who it looks like was about to go on holidays so was leaving a note for the other managers to tell them what to do. But he didn't just write the tasks, he made it damn funny. So funny, in fact, I had to print it out and bring it home and I'm gonna post some of it. Unfortunately, the best one I can't post because it contains the full name of this one guy who gets paid out extensively in the paragraph. But here's some of the other stuff:

"The Nestle coconut milky bar in the box on the floor does not contain coconut! First the cut wages, then head office shuts, then they cut the coconut out of the chocolate.... next thing you know, Saddam's running for Parliament. Crazy world we're livin' in people!! Crazy shit. See what happens when you put kids in charge... F__k'n Charlie, never should've run that chocolate factory... bloody kids running shit... crazy, crazy stuff."

"Please murder the Arnott's rep - Dippers are still out of stock after 4 weeks. Take the tickets off and tell her to incredibite my reduced fat."

Gold! I wish I could post more, but better not. In other news, my start date for the new job has been pushed back to after Christmas, so starting here in Adelaide on January 5th for 4 weeks, and so won't have to move to Berri until early February. I have 3 weeks off in between old job and the new job, my first Christmas off in 9 years, so I'm really happy. Hope I don't spend all my Long Service Leave money, kinda need that to move :P

Censorship

Today I heard that one of my entries of a less favourable variety was found by an online search for the person's name, which surprised me a little because the person has an extremely common name, and I didn't include their surname. I heard this while I was at work and then spent the last hour of my shift wondering if I should remove any nasty posts I've made on here and refrain from posting what I feel. But that's censoring myself, which is what I asked Squash not to do on his blog just because people he was writing about found it. I want to be able to write what I want on here, but at the same time I don't want to make matters worse between me and said person, nor do I want to make them feel bad just because I can't get along with everyone I come into contact with. What do you guys think? Should some thoughts just be kept to myself, or should I just write whatever I want? Some deep, personal thoughts will never be revealed here, this is not that type of a blog, but what about this other stuff? Do I ignore arguments or disagreements and just write happy thoughts?

As it turns out, I've done a Google search on the name and in three pages of results could not find any reference to my blog, so I don't know where this other person was looking. I'm not gonna say the name again for fear of ending up on some random search engine. So, opinions? Thoughts?

Emmy

This'll be very short, because I don't even know Emmy but if I don't mention his or her name I'll never hear the end of it. What did you expect me to write? All I know about you is that you watch All Saints, which I've replaced with CSI. Um, so yeah, that's Emmy done.

Paragon

What can I say about this guy? Paragon is very cool, and I mean that in the suave, James Bond kind of way. He has a way with the ladies but seems to be able to mould himself around the people he's with. I mean, he seems to be able to approach a group, suss them out, and then join in the conversation comfortably in a short space of time. I guess I admire this quality because usually around new people I am quite shy, and it often takes a person like Paragon to make me come out of my shell. He's a people person, for lack of a better way of saying it. But watch out, this guy can flirt, but I can't say it bothers me :)

And, he shares a birthday with SuperSammo, so two of my closest online friends have even more in common. Hmm, it seems when I thought about what I'd write for Paragon I had more in my head, but I'm afraid that for now, this is all I could remember. Don't ever change mate, you're great the way you are.

Burra - a hole one day, not so bad the next

This weekend it was time for me to revisit Burra, a place I'd labelled a hole after my last trip there involved a boring drive, shocking hayfever which developed into a flu, and backing my car into the only pole in all of Burra. I was determined this time around to enjoy myself, and returned to Burra armed with all the hayfever drugs a human being could take in one sitting.

I left on Friday shortly after work, and popped into Mum and Dad's on the way as they did my camping food shopping for me. There was enough food to feed an entire family for a week I think, but I took it all with me anyway. This time I went a different way and not only was the drive shorter but it was also a bit more scenic. This time the group had a Threatened Species Grant so we managed to book some caravans with the money, so it was more of a holiday then the camping trips I've become used to. I got there with about half hour of sunlight left and discovered everyone was across at the pub getting dinner. I'd already eaten but thought I'd go across there anyway and have a drink with them. On the way there, there was this big commotion at the Town Hall, very unusual to get more than 10 people in the one spot at Burra I think. It seems the local high school were having their formal and the entire town had come out to see the kids arrive at the hall. It was all very exciting. So I got to the pub, chatted and had a couple of drinks, and then the night was called to an end pretty early, with us retreating to our caravans at about 10pm. Doreen was the girl I was sharing my caravan with and she was really nice, so that was good. Ofcourse, the town hall was just across the creek so we were kept awake by the DJ for a while, but it wasn't too bad.

The next morning we got up and got ready and a few more people had joined us. At 8:30am we all hopped in cars and went to begin our Pygmy Bluetongue search. I love going to these things because I always get to meet new people, and so I hopped a ride with Chris so we could chat a bit. I'm on the committee with most of these people and don't even know them, so on these trips that's what I try and do. Anyways, we searched at various locations for 10 hours with no luck. 10 hours without a toilet sucks, and usually when you go camping a girl can find some alone time to take a squat behind some trees or something but this was Burra - grasslands as far as the eye can see with the ability of seeing anyone within, well, some distance. Anyway, that was my only real dilemma, but by the last hour my hayfever tablet had worn off and I was starting to get pretty bad, but thankfully not as bad as last time in Burra.

And I think my fear of spiders, while still present, fades somewhat when I'm put into situations where if I don't do something about them myself, no one else will help me. After our last site we were driving and I noticed a spider on my knee - it wasn't a big one but wasn't small either and had a fair sized body. Without even thinking, I slapped it into oblivion then flicked it off my knee, all casual-like. That is so not me. Perhaps I've improved, yay!

That night Zoe joined us in the caravan, I don't know how I feel about her. She can seem nice and then she'll make some curt remark, but I've learned not to bother with those people too much so I just acted normal around her. Except to bitch about it in this brief sentence, hahaha, guess it did bother me a little.

Anyway, better go, glad to be back. But yeah, Burra's not so bad, in the end.

SuperSammo

I've decided (perhaps the decision was forced upon me, I can't remember) to write a little something about each of the people I've met in the Cogs gaming community and have gotten to know a bit. So I might do a couple a day, or just whatever I feel like at the time, and so this entry will be about SuperSammo.

He's like my best Cogs friend, even though that does sound really lame. I think it's because we both have such a wierd sense of humour that we can just be silly and laugh. At the same time though, he is also very mature, and I often have to remind myself how young he is. He's someone I can have a serious conversation with as well as lots of laughs, and I think that's what's really cool about him. Ofcourse, living in Canberra, he's probably the coolest thing there, hehehe.

Aww damn, I made this one a bit soppy. But I can't say anything bad about Sammo. Oh wait, yes I can. Why must he always be the one to kill me in battlefield? Why??? Why can't he miss with that damned Bazooka every now and then? It has gotten so bad that I can't stand being on the opposite team anymore, and if I am, and I manage to kill him, I congratulate myself for about 5 minutes. It's just not right! Curse you, Sammo :P

Oh, and some time last night I had my 1000th visitor, w00t!!

Xy

Xy asked why I failed to mention him (her?) in my blog, so this brief update is so that I can mention Xy in all his (her?) glory.

Xy is a wicked battlefield player and a great guy (girl?) too. We've had lots of funny and meaningful discussions and I have nothing but good things to say about Xy, despite what he (she?) thought I was going to write. If Xy gets a job next year as planned and leaves the battlefield community, I'll be missing a friend. (insert violin music here).

Enough of an ego stroke Xy? :P

You rawk.

Good news Mark II

So, it was about 1pm at work when my mobile rang, and as soon as I saw the number I could tell it was a phone call from Berri, but nice and calm, I answered the phone. The polite "Hi, how are you?"s followed, and I tried to sound as relaxed as possible, knowing this call could have been the "we appreciate you coming in but unfortunately...." type of call I've gotten so many times before. And then he said the magic words - "We'd like to offer you a job". I was already sitting down but I still felt like I was gonna fall, my heart was pounding and a massive smile spread across my face. I forgot about trying to be all calm on the phone and let the guy know how happy I was. So, after 9 long years, I can finally hand in my notice at Bilo. I haven't yet done that, but I'll have done it by Friday, and I can't wait to do it.

So, this job is in Berri, around 3 hours away, so I'll have to move a lot of my stuff there and live between two places. My week-long rental at Berri, and my weekend place here in Adelaide. On the way home, after being all excited initially, I guess the shock started sinking in and I got really sad and emotional. All of a sudden, I just got so scared of what might happen, being all alone, etc etc. Bloody women and their emotions. Since then I have realised that, in terms of other positions I've interviewed for that were located in Canberra, Berri is probably ideal. Some time on my own might be just what I need to branch out and extend beyond my safe little bubble. Going to a place where I know no one will enable me to come out of my shell, to make new friends, to reflect on the things I already have and am grateful for, and perhaps appreciate life a bit more. All of the reasons I was so eager to find a job outside of Adelaide. And it's a double bonus, because it's inevitable that I will get homesick occasionally, and so being a simple drive away from home will make me feel better. I mean, I've gone camping on weekends further than what Berri is, so it'll be a breeze. And the time I spend with loved ones will probably be more quality time, because I'll cherish seeing them more. I think this is exactly what I need, and so I go into the New Year, for the first time in my life, with a sense of hope. Above all else, I hope for some clarity, to de-clutter the thoughts in my head. Who knows what this de-cluttering will mean, but at the end of the day, it'll be decisions I've made while having the time to reflect on them within myself, with no outside influences.

The more I think about it, the more excited I get. I think of the little things, like setting up my new place, buying new furniture, going for walks around a new neighbourhood. No doubt I'll be lonely at nights, but I intend to set up an internet connection (even though it will only be a 56k, not the high speed i'm used to) so that I can talk to people. My clan duties will have to be restricted to playing on weekends though, so I'll miss that, but the nuts and bolts of it is I'm extremely excited.

So this weekend I'm going camping at Burra - the place where I got really sick last time. So this trip has to be an improvement on the last. This time we're staying in caravans so it won't really be camping at all, rather a civilised holiday. And I'm going prepared with eyedrops, nasal spray and, well, an entire drugstore almost, to ward off the evil spirits that live in Burra. This time I'm leaving on Friday afternoon, leaving work a little earlier.

Anyway, best get going. Not that I have anything else to do, so I will resume sitting here staring blankly at the screen.

Good news

Well, the interview last week went better than I thought because I got the job!!!

I intended to write a lot more, but it's TV night tonight so will leave it for tomorrow :P

But yay!!!!!

RIP Jonathan Brandis

I just read this and I can't believe it, I am in total shock. I used to love this guy :(

Wow.

Past and Present

Yesterday Mum, Maria and I went to visit Michelle and the kids because Mum hasn't seen little Alisha yet. It was nice to see them and catch up again, and Mum was so happy, she commented on several occasions afterwards how well-behaved Jacob was and how Michelle is naturally a good mother. She really is. I don't know how she does it, but she just knows what to do, and I guess it stems from just loving her kids and spending time with them. I hope I'll be a good mum like that one day.

Afterwards we went shopping at Marion for my Union Christmas dinner which was on that night. I really didn't think we'd find anything that I looked ok in but good old mum always finds something, so I had my outfit set for the night. We had a quick lunch then I had to dash off for a facial. So, now, fastforwarding to the night.

I wasn't really looking forward to this dinner because this girl I used to work with at Modbury, Sarah, was going to be there, and last year we had a bit of a falling out. The details are kinda sketchy and hard to remember let alone tell someone else about, but basically, she was blatantly flirting with Ivan then when she found out I got upset by it basically accused Ivan of spreading stuff about her or something. Anyway, at the time I tried to sort it out but she never returned my phone calls so stuff her. So yeah, didn't really want to see her. But, we decided to go anyway because we very rarely go out and I do like getting all dressed up occasionally, as most girls do.

So anyway, the dinner was at the Adelaide Convention Centre which has stacks of different rooms, so in the foyer there about four different signs pointing people in the directions of their parties. And one of the signs pointed in the direction of the Salisbury East High School formal! I was so excited even though the kids graduating weren't even in Year 8 when I left that school, but it was still kinda freaky. And because there was so much going on, some people are idiots who can't read so there wre ushers directing people aswell. And, although Michelle is the only person that will know this name, Rebecca Walker was one of the ushers. I think it was just sheer coincidence that she works at the convention centre on the night her old high school are having their formal.

So anyway, we had some drinks in the foyer and played the "avoid Sarah" game. Thankfully Julie was there and she saved seats at her table for us. Apparently Sarah asked to sit with her and Julie told her she couldn't, because she was gonna sit with us. To which Sarah replied that I was the one with the problem, not her. Utter bullshit, I sent no nasty emails and I wasn't the one who didn't return the calls. Anyway, felt like I was actually in high school myself, was rather childish. As always happens when you go to such posh places, the food is not only in tiny portions but often disgusting. It was lucky Ivan and I planned ahead and ate a hearty meal before we left. The main course was pretty good but the rest sucked. After dinner we stayed and chatted for a bit and then pretty much left, although by this time it was already 10:30 or something. As we were walking through the foyer we noticed the Salisbury East kids were getting their photos taken, and even though I didn't know anyone, I just had to stay and watch for a while. They all looked so good, the boys never looked so handsome at my formal, I'm sure of it. I tried to look for teachers I might recognise but didn't even have any luck there.

So was an interesting night, glad it's over. Yeah, it's fun getting all dressed up, but I'd rather go to like a wedding or at least dinner where I know I'd have a decent meal with people I actually want to see. Today has been a lazy day, and I dread work tomorrow as usual. Nothing changes.

Portrait of a Lady

When I was younger and trying to impress the boys (it never worked, the message here is never try), I would try to avoid summer days where I'd have to wear shorts without having shaved my legs. For a time while I was still in my early teens my mum would forbid me from shaving my legs too often, but once I got a little older she could no longer stop me, and so there'd rarely be stubble on days when I wore shorts.

These days I no longer shave because my skin has gotten all sensitive and used to break out in rashes, so now I wax. But in between waxes, the hair gets fairly long and so I keep it hidden behind pants or long skirts. But lately we've had really hot days here, so wearing cooler clothes has been essential. And then I realised how my attitudes had changed over the years - I had stubble but didn't care. I still went out shopping and everything and didn't care. Does age do this to women? Because sometimes my mum really lets herself go and doesn't care, and I was always embarressed for her. Anyway, thought it was rather amusing so forgive me for my "different" blog entry today. Let's move on.

Tuesday was my interview and I underestimated how long it would take to get there so I arrived 10 minutes late. I thought "Well, you're screwed Mel, may aswell turn back and go home", but I guess it's something that happens often because they totally didn't care. First I did this computer exercise and it was really easy thank goodness - was just testing to see if you knew how to do formulas and charts in Excel. Then the interview - 3 completely different personalities. When they set up these interviewing panels, do they do it so the people have different personalities or different work backgrounds, because I'm starting to wonder. One guy just joked around a lot (and sometimes stared at my chest, how rude), the second guy was just a nice friendly guy, and the third guy was so straight-faced the entire time I couldn't read whether he liked my answers or wasn't even listening. Interesting combo. But yeah, the interview went ok, I hate when they ask you something, you answer it, and then they say "Is there anything ELSE that...." because you obviously haven't given them the answer they wanted to hear. That happened once or twice, but the rest of it went well I think. One good sign in my opinion was afterwards one of the guys showed me where my office would be and stuff. But yeah, am trying to just stay centred and not think anything positive because chances are I won't get the friggin job so I don't want to be disappointed.

Apart from that I haven't been up to very much. You know what I've really missed when life got so busy? Reading. I never had time to read. Occasionally I could get through a book but my books have been piling up lately, being bought but not getting read. I guess one good thing has come out of working at Arkaba - the TV doesn't work so well in the staffroom so instead of spending lunchtime watching Jerry Springer, I now read. I've just finished The Hobbit and have just started reading the Diary of Anne Frank, and it's so good to read again! Yesterday I ordered a book online that you can't get here in Australia, Michelle will find this funny - it's written by Wil Wheaton, hahaha!

Anyways, have embarressed myself enough. Will people please comment again? I feel so unpopular (oh my god, I'm in high school again!).

Rush rush rush

I have to cook dinner before my Mammal Club meeting tonight so I haven't got heaps of time but wanted to write. Firstly, Michelle, you were absolutely right in your guess on why exactly I got upset after reading that list of names - you got it in one. Perhaps if she was actually a nice person it wouldn't bug me so much, but never mind.

So, tomorrow is my interview, so I have to try and get an early night tonight. I think I'm as prepared as I can be, perhaps tonight I'll just read over a couple of things but aside from that there's not much more I can do. And after today at work, I am desperate for a change. The day was great until the last 5 minutes when Grant decided to have a go at me about us running out of change on the weekend. The problem was, I was sick early in the week and no one thought to order any change, so we had to wait until this Wednesday for our next delivery. So there wasn't even anything I could have done about it. But somehow, I was made to be the one in the wrong. And I guess the reason it pissed me off so much is because I like to think I do a good job in there - if we ever got audited I make sure everything is the way it should be, and instead of hearing positive things I get a bit of a blasting about something I shouldn't even be accountable for.

Aside from that today, things here have been pretty good. I had my last Grass Identification workshop on Saturday and then mum, Maria and I went to Harbourtown to do some shopping. Mum and Dad wanted to buy me some new clothes for Christmas so we bought a few things. Harbourtown here is tiny compared to the one in QLD, but they're still developing it so in time it'll get better I hope. I was hoping to find a nice dress for our christmas dinner this weekend but it didn't happen.

That night Darren, Christine and Alex came over, and while the guys played computer games Christine and I watched some old dvds. Was a pretty good night actually, and Sunday was recovery day. I love recovery days.

Anyway, had better get going. Tomorrow is gonna be hell.

Mundane title #63

Well, went back to work on Wednesday and as expected, was a real mess. Today I caught up on all the paperwork and so tomorrow I have to squeeze in everything else. The couple of days rest did me good but made me realise how much I love staying at home and not having to do anything, hehe. I'm feeling a lot better now, just a bit nasal but aside from that better.

So the last couple of days haven't been very exciting, I have just been getting back into the swing of things. I've been called up for a job interview next week, for a job I applied for back at the start of September I'd forgotten all about. The interview is all the way up at Berri though so most of the day will be spent driving there and back, but no matter. So this weekend I have to study up on the Water Resources Act and prepare myself for god knows what. I'm not going in with any confidence, been disappointed too many times, so am just gonna take things as they come. I'll still give 110% in the interview, just not gonna make a big deal of things yet.

Today I went to the old SchoolFriends website and read some stuff people have updated. Sorta made me sad. There was one update in particular by this guy who I only chatted to a little, but he'd basically gone through a list of people he'd recently run into. So, made me realise, not much has changed in my life, and I don't really keep in touch with people from high school anymore. The note for me would have read something like "Melinda - nothing's changed, she's just a bit fatter".

Yep, I'm in another one of those moods.

So, what happened?

I've done something that's a big no-no when you work in Admin at Bi-Lo and that's taking a Monday off. I am just so sick, which gives you a pretty big clue as to why my camping weekend was so crappy. Last night I went to bed at around 8:30 and had to get up at 5am to call them and let them know I wouldn't be in. Eventually fell back asleep and had the biggest sleep I've had in ages, about 10 hours in total. I really needed it.

So I suffer from hayfever on a regular basis, but was prepared for the trip away because I had some tablets I could take. So Saturday morning, I'm up, packed and ready to go, and take a tablet before I left. Was a beautiful morning, perfect weather for a drive. I stopped in at my parent's place on the way for some breakfast then arrived at Burra a couple of hours later.

The drive up there was really boring, that area has been drastically cleared for farming and there were hardly any trees or roadside vegetation. We were staying about 25Km south of Burra at Burra Creek Gorge which was quite nice. So I got there about 9:30 and everyone had already left to start their work for the day, so I set up my tent, read The Hobbit for a while, went for a little drive around the place and managed to reverse my car into a pole. Great start. I forgot to mention that almost as soon as I got out of the car my hayfever hit me something fierce, even though I had tried to prevent it from happening. From this point on for the next two days my nose was like a running tap.

They still weren't back at lunch time so I had some lunch then lay down for a while. I fell asleep but then awoke when I realised my tent had become like a sauna and I was burning up. Eventually they all got back around 3:30 and we headed out again to one last site before dark. It was about this time, digging pitfall lines and setting up traps that I got a mild case of heat exhaustion, but was ok when I sat in the shade and drank heaps of water.

That night we had a bit of a campfire and I took some Sudafed to try and get some sleep without my nose flowing all night. The next morning I woke up in a terrible state. My eyes had become extremely puffy and were bloodshot. I had also developed a cough and so realised this was more than just hayfever. But I felt bad for Katie who had all this work to do so headed out with them. We were half way through one site and I just couldn't do anymore, I felt so sick. All I wanted to do was come home. Usually I go on these trips and don't even think about home because I'm having such a good time, but this time it was all I could think about. Because I had to get a lift with someone who had a 4WD I had to wait until the work was done before I could get back to camp to pack up, so didn't get home until about 6pm. By this stage I was in quite a state, hence the early night last night. But the eyedrops and medication haven't seemed to help, and I have a doctor's appointment soon so I'd better get going.

But yep, work are gonna hate me. Especially considering I have a feeling my doc will give me tomorrow off too. Ahh stuff them, I've done my share of filling in for other sick people. Fight the power.

Worst. Weekend. Ever.

I am not feeling up to writing at the moment but wanted to let everyone know I got home ok, but had the crappiest time camping I've ever had, and hope never to repeat it.

Will fill y'all in when I am up to it.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

On the road again

Tomorrow I leave for Burra, just going for the weekend but thought I should update this before I go. I've never been to Burra before so I'm looking forward to it and the weather is set to be beautiful, yay!!

The other day I was talking to Squash, who is still in high school and was just listening and offering a bit of advice when he said something that shook me up a bit. "It's so good to get an adult's perspective". An adult. I have never been called an adult before, I mean I go to the movies and pay adult fares and all that but have never had anyone I actually know refer to me as an adult before. After the initial shock and heart failure, I realised it's not such a bad thing. Thinking back to what high school used to be like for me and hearing Squash go through some stuff I'm glad it's all over. I mean, yeah, those times were often fun and back then I didn't need to worry about things, and those days probably shaped me into the person I am today, but I'm so glad I'm over the whole awkwardness of it all. At the same time though, just because I am officially called an adult doesn't mean I'm suddenly wiser to the world. I still mess up, still do silly things, still take those chances that sometimes only young people take. Age is a state of mind, not a number, and I guess my own feelings show that.

So anyways, what have I been up to? Let me think. Yesterday I took a day off work and went to visit Michelle. Jacob and Alisha have just grown so fast and are so cute. Then after that went to see The Matrix Revolutions with Ben, my movie buddy. And, despite what some people said, I really liked it. Not gonna give away any spoilers but I really think people shouldn't listen to what other people say and go and see it and make their own minds up about it.

Aside from yesterday the week has been the same as usual, working, the odd conservation meeting, and now another busy weekend is here.

Anyway guys, hope you have a great weekend, will see you in a couple of days. I suppose I had better pack some things, too....

Happiness

On days like today when I've had little sleep and am feeling a little emotional, I like to think of the little things that make me happy. Thought I'd share some with you.

- rain, and the smell when it first hits the pavement
- my pot plants flowering
- lying in bed and hearing birds chirping outside
- spring days
- bushwalking
- a deep and meaningful chat
- hugs
- a good book
- getting dressed up
- romance
- offering advice
- seeing happy little kids

These are a few of my favourite things...

Weekends that fly

Yesterday was a really busy day so it flew by. Went and picked up Misch in the morning, got to Belair and dropped her off at her building and went on to the Native Grasses Workshop. We seem to keep having these on horrible cold days so we spend our time inside instead of outside actually looking for grasses. I almost fell asleep, and then it stopped raining for a bit so we went outside for about 10 minutes to look around. The last class is in a fortnight and I have to try and find some grasses at home to identify. All well and good when you live in the hills but I'm in the city and live in a flat. We have lawn out the front but that's it. One type of grass. So may have to plan my own little excursion or something. Anyway, after that we had a BBQ, and I was naughty. There was nothing vegetarian, so I ate a pork sausage. Sorry vegos :-/

So then after the BBQ we had a meeting and that finished a bit early so I went for a half hour walk before I went to collect Misch. At home when I go for walks there's like maybe 3 large Eucalypts to marvel over, but out there there are hundreds. I think maybe I wanna live in the bush.

After that went to visit mum and dad, and finally arrived home extremely tired at about 7:30pm. Michelle logged on again last night, it's like our friendship, even after all these years, has developed into an even closer one. I am so grateful and lucky to have friends like her.

I was hoping to sleep in today, got up at 10am but when you've gone to bed at 2am it's only the 8 hours you need really. Went for a walk, and now just having a veg session. Mum and dad are coming over later. Have a great week all.