A wedding, uninvited guests, and a head start on this summers tan

I went to my cousin's wedding reception at the Royal Botanical Gardens on Friday night. Mum and Dave came to my place earlier in the afternoon, we got ready together, and headed out, dropping Chris off home on the way.

This is my sister in law Christina and the bump formally known as peanut. Considering that she is due in 5 weeks, there isn't very much there, She had to put her hands underneath to emphasis bump for the photo.

This photo is of Chris and I, he didn't go to the wedding, but had spent the day at my place and was chief photographer.

Mum, Dave and I left the reception just after 11, mum dropped me off at home then headed back to Castlemaine, and I pottered around for an hour or so, wide awake and restless. At 1am I got a call from Ross, asking if I wanted to come round to Fi's place for drinks, as they had just gotten back from a 21st. Problem solved! I quickly changed out of the formal gear and headed over. At about 4am we decided it was bedtime, so Ross and I took Fi's bed and she took her sisters.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny so the three of us decided to grab fish and chips and head for the beach, where due to lack of beach gear we ended up in our undies. We headed back to Fi's around 2 and were glowing pink by the time we got there. Ross headed off after about half an hour, and I dropped Fi off on the way home to have a cold shower and slather on some aloe vera gel before heading to the boy's place. My sunburn continued to develop for the rest of the evening, but thankfully is not particularly painful except when I scratch myself on something, and is already starting to settle down into a tan.

Today has been comparatively quiet, Chris has a long shift today so I joined him for lunch at the hogs breath café, then home briefly before meeting my sister-in-law at Knox so she could give me invitations to her baby shower. Chatted with her and her mum for a while then headed home, where I have just fumigated my car with half a can of fly spray as I have squished about 10 baby huntsmans in there since yesterday afternoon, and I don't want to risk any of them reaching adulthood. Babies I can deal with, but those buggers can be very aggressive once they're grown and they have a nasty habit of hiding under sun visors or in air vents and startling people into running off the road.

It's A Conspiracy, People!

We have a Cadbury's fundraiser box at work at the moment, and I've come to the conclusion that the chocolate is emitting subliminal messages to make people buy it. I don't know whether it's something in the packaging, or the box, or even in the chocolate itself (well, really, who knows whats in all that processed stuff?) but it's happening. Seriously, its an evil conspiracy. I'm allergic to chocolate yet I still had to have some, something in that box completely sapped my willpower and told me to just give in. It's not just me either, everyone says they shouldn't have any, or that their favourite isnt there, yet the box is already half empty and they only arrived yesterday afternoon! Even as I type this I can feel something emanating from the box behind me, I swear! its like when you can feel someone looking at you. It's trying to convince me that one more couldn't hurt... but I know better. Try your evil mind control somewhere else, Cadbury! I'm on to you.

Seriously that stuff is gonna bug me all night, and I can't even make scones instead cos there's no pumpkin. Chocolate is much easier to resist when you have something else to munch on.

Where did that come from?

As you may have noticed, my mind can work in rather peculiar ways, and I am subject to coming out with rather odd comments...

[Watching a movie, following an ad break]
Jase: Where are they now? What happened to the woman?
Fi: They've switched back to the guy
Ross: Nuh she just had a sex change operation during the break
Jase: Aw they cut out the good bits
Me: Isn't that the point of a sex change?

These sort of comments tend to lead to one of two outcomes: either nobody gets it or, as happened on this particular occasion, everyone has hysterics for 15mins, leaving me to wonder if everyone is allright. Afterall I was only saying the first thing that popped into my head, glad you found it amusing but isn't it time to move on?

Isn't it Ironic, Don't You Think?

A bit of background: my ex did his masters at Monash and now runs his own computer business. He builds them, maintains them, does networking, the works. So naturally he set up my system, and networked my housemates and my computers.

My internet goes down regularly, and my ex's explanation was that it was a fault with the technology and nothing could be done. He also had endless trouble networking the computers, and ended up using a second router, which, as it turned out, he left exposed to hackers. Chris enters the picture, at the end of his first year at uni, and promptly figures out both the problem with my net disconnecting and simplified the network, cutting out the extra router. Maybe its just me, but I find that extreamely funny :)

After Effects

Exersize really isn't good for you, you know.

I'm sitting here with an uncomfortable tight feeling thru my belly and stiff shoulders, which I've decided is a delayed reaction to the fact that I actually made it to the gym on Saturday for a one hour class. Body Balance is a mixture of tai chi, yoga and pilates. Sounds nice and relaxing yes? HA! it is actually a great deal more demanding then a straight yoga or pilates class. Low impact yes, slow and controlled yes, but very demanding, expecially if you push yourself, and if you havn't been for a while, you know about it. The class is set to music, with a different track for working different parts of the body. Some parts I find very comfortable, even verging on too easy, like those involving flexibility (I can quite literally bend over backwards for someone), others, like the stomach track, are murder.

Balance is my favorite class, although I am having trouble getting back into it. Prehaps thats because the atmosphere is so different to what I was used to at my old gym. The room there was much more appropriate. It was carpeted, and as zen as a group exersize room can be. It was designed specifically for the balance, yoga and pilates classes, with a separate room for the aerobics style classes. The room at my current gym is a general-purpose group exersize room, it's bigger, with wooden floors and harsher lighting, which you notice during the relaxation track at the end. Also I liked my old instructors style. Plus there is the difference between going with my mum, complete with a stop off at the cafe afterwards with whoever saw fit to join us, compared with going on my own.

Whinge and aches and pains aside, I am going to another class tonight, body combat this time, which is a martial arts style non-contact aerobics class, with lots of jabs, hooks, punches, kicks, etc. I will probably be very stiff tomorrow, but if I don't stick with it, my body won't adjust. I still havn't bin to the gym for a standard solo workout yet, really should try to get into it. I had a schedule all worked out when I signed up, and then started going out with Chris and my plans all went out the window.

Busy Busy Busy

Well this is the first time I've actually had a chance to sit at the computer for a few days so I guess its time for a decent length post.

Last Tuesday was Melbourne cup day. I didn't win anything. I also didn't bet anything, so that works out. I wandered up to Fi's to collect my car just before 2, and spent an hour hanging out with her at her parents cup day party before heading to work. What an exciting life I do lead. Ah well. Public holiday pay rates on a day that I don't really celebrate works for me.

Thursday after work I had my chiro appointment, which has now been dropped down to once a week instead of twice. Yay! my back's only half dodgy now :). After my adjustment I went to collect the boy, and we went to knox ozone to see 'boytown' and then had dinner. Was hoping to see my very pregnant sister in law (a manager at the cinemas there), but she was doing interviews. I really want to see how big she's gotten but oh well. The movie was pretty funny in parts, but not worth seeing again. As I'm not into boy bands I probably missed a lot of the stuff they were making fun of.

Friday morning the boy actually chose to get up at 9am, which is unheard off, so we decided to make the most of the nice weather and went for a drive through the dandenongs to skyhigh observation point. The view from up there is fairly spectacular on a clear day, you can see the entire city and port phillip bay, and in the distance the Mt Macedon, which you drive through to get to Castlemaine and Bendigo, and the You Yangs.

After we'd had a wander around SkyHigh, we drove back down the tourist route looking for somewhere to have lunch. As we'd already driven past the nice looking places by the time we saw them, and those we stopped at didn't have a particularly appealing menu, we ended up having a nice pub meal at the hotel near my place, which being on a hill facing the dandenongs and overlooking jells park, also had rather nice views. We finished up in time for me to drop the boy off at the train station and get to work without being rushed. Naturally having had such a nice relaxing day, it was Murphy's law that work would be an absolute shocker. By the end of the night I was about ready to tear my hair out, assuming it didnt fall out on its own from stress. GRRR. Ah well. Went over to the boys place briefly to unwind, then home to sleep for my 7am start on Saturday.

Saturday I worked til 4, went to the gym for Body Balance at 5, then home to freshen up and off to the boys. We were supposed to go ice skating with some guys from his work but that didnt end up happening so instead we went out for a nice dinner. Sunday I dropped Chris off at work at 1pm then Fi and I went back to my place, we grabbed fish and chips, and Fi dyed my hair. Ross came over after lunch and the three of us had a nice girly day. At 6 we headed off to leave my housemate in peace, picked Chris up on the way through and went to his place for drinks. I dropped Fi and Ross home around 11, and that pretty much sums up my week.

Melbourne Cup Eve

Gatecrashed a cup eve party tonight. Well, not really. It was a friend of a friends party, which Fi asked me to and then thought, well really should find out if thats ok. It was, so all good. Not the most exciting party on the planet, Fi, Ross and I spent most of it out the front, chatting with assorted people who were coming and going. Everyone went home by 1.30, which isnt particularly late for us but oh well, as I said it wasnt the most happening place to be. Luckily it was only about a km or so from my place so I stumbled home and will wander back up tomorrow to reclaim my car.


If nothing else, the party was a good excuse to get dressed up. These photos were taken with my phone, so they arn't the best, but you get the idea. The point of the party was to dress as you would for the races. Obviously I wasnt about to wear one of my good dresses to some little party for someone to spill on or burn, so I went for a gorgeous red top that I've been waiting for an excuse to wear, coupled with an asymmetrical 3/4 length black skirt and black heels. Hotness! :D. Ross looked very spiffy in his suit, complete with pink bow tie and cummerbund, and Fi looked great in her black dress with red heels and accessories. We ended up complimenting each other quite nicely, which was totally unintentional.

Anyway, I should probably get myself a glass of water and try to sleep. I have to go to work in 12 hours. Ah well. Its public holiday rates, so can't complain. Night night!

Procrastination as an artform

I always meant to join the procrastination society, but I just never seem to get around to it. Seriously though, have you ever noticed how somethings only ever get done when you should be doing something else? When I was at school, the only time my room would ever be spotless would be when assignments or exam dates were looming. Everything would have to be absolutely perfect, or I couldn't study. Once I ran out of things to clean, and all my papers were perfectly ordered, I would get my oil burner and some music going to help me focus, then spend the afternoon playing with the candle. I would go downstairs regularly because I felt the need for human contact, when at other times of year I would be perfectly content to do my own thing.

The reason for bringing this up is that my housemate is studying for an assessment at her work, and she makes my procrastination skills look poor by comparison. We've spent the afternoon chatting about absolutely everything, from music, past pets, cars, stupid people, and everything inbetween. I would go outside to keep her company on a smoke break, and we'd end up out there so long it would be time for her to have another smoke. Some evenings she's even brought jigsaw puzzles out of her room, shoved all her study material to one side and we've sat there doing them, the only time either of us stick with the bloody things. I have now come into my room so that she can actually get something done because I know she won't ask me to nick off.

Its a good thing that we share similarly eclectic taste in music, given that she studies with rather loud 'background' music. I don't know how she does it, I'd be wanting to stop and focus on the music. The stereo is in the lounge room, which is sort of inbetween the kitchen, where she is, and my bedroom, where the puter is, so its up louder than either of us would want in the room but at a good volume for where each of us is. I'm quite happy to listen to it so thats all to the good. Don't recognise all of it but I quite like what I'm hearing. Might have to knick some of her cd's at some point to put on the puter.

Think I'll go annoy the boy at work now, he finishes in half an hour anyway.

Exciting stuff

Just thought I'd hop on here quickly while I'm waiting for one of my best friends and my bf to get here. I did end up going to Nonna's for lunch, only gave her 2 hours notice though, so all (!) she had time to make was soup, pasta, prawn skewers and calamari. It wasn't even home made pasta (well, the sauce was, of course), so she must have been rushed. Trust me, with my nonna its best not to give too much notice, had I let her know yesterday that I'd be coming over, there would have been at least twice that much food.

After we finished lunch, Nonna made coffee. Real coffee. Coffee that makes the stuff from your average café look like dishwater. It's served in a demitasse (those teensy little cups), and even so a couple of serves will keep you up all night, and 3 will have you swinging off the chandeliers. I've never been game to try more than 3, that would probably lead to heart palpitations or something. That said, it is beautiful stuff, and not to be turned down, at least not in small quantities.

On arrival home, armed with leftovers, I discovered a care package from mum in the letter box - my phone charger, shirt and a sock that had been left at her place. Thanks mum! I knew she was sending the charger, the other stuff could have waited til the next time I'm seeing her but it's good to have it back.

Once in the door I took one look at the place and decided it was time for a clean up. I get on well with my housemate but she is sevearely lacking in the housework area, even in little things like wiping off the cutting board and putting it away, or giving benchtops a quick wipe. Things that should be done automatically. It is usually a case of who cracks first, which is generally me. Grrrr. Anyway. The house is now (kind of) presentable, and the guys are on their way. I mopped, but haven't vacuumed, even though the place desperately needs it, because I refuse to do absolutely everything. I know most of my friends arn't really fussed about the state of the place, but I like my home to be presentable, and the standard since my housemate moved in gives me the absolute irrits. ah well. *end whinge*

Hooray for the wet stuff!

We had rain yesterday. Actual rain, not that drizzle that evaporates before any good is done and doesn't achieve anything besides making the weather just dreary enough to keep you indoors, or those quick downpours that just wash everything away before the sun comes out a minute later (do they get those anywhere else?). Mum got rain up in Castlemaine too so sounds like there was decent coverage. Hopefully some got to the catchment areas, though I wouldn't count on it. Honestly Melbourne should be relocated to the catchment areas and new catchments set up aound the centre of the city, that would solve the water crisis, and leave us to enjoy the sun.

Meh

Something very strange is going on. Its Friday, and I have no plans for the weekend. I know, I know. How could this happen? Ok. Breath. Focus. Its ok, you've had empty weekends fill up at the last second before. Who makes plans anymore anyway? Plans are over-rated. The best fun to be had is the spontaneous sort, but that still requires getting people together, not much use if most of the guys are otherwise occupied. I guess I can persuade someone to go to the movies or something. Yeah. Movies. Movies are good. Not quite as entertaining as getting a group together for general shenanigans around the fire bin, or spontaneous moonlight skinny dipping (whats a little hypothermia amongst friends?), Ah well. Will have to check out whats on, see if anyones free. If all else fails, I should really go see my nonna anyway, and go to the gym. Exciting stuff, and of course there will be time spent with the boy, when he's not working. No actual plans, but its a start I guess. He's sitting his last exam at the moment, will have to do something to celebrate, but what? Bah, who can think about such things in the morning?

I think I'll go make scones.

Up past my bedtime

Well, here I am, working hard on my fortnightly all night shift. Not long now, things should start getting interesting soon, 7am til 8am is the busiest part of the shift and then I'll be off home to bed just as my housemate is leaving for work. She has one of those strange 9 til 5 jobs, don't know how she copes really.

Seriously though, I've bin working hard. Got here at 10pm, talked to my boy for a while til the phones battery went dead then did a couple of hours housework, made lunches, cooked some pumpkin and zucchini scones and cleaned the fish tank, then settled down for a few hours of Ab Fab dvds, with bed checks between every other episode. Shortly I'll be starting assisting clients in getting ready for day placements. Tough gig this.

Yesterday (which to my sleep deprived brain still registers as today) was spent sleeping as late as possible (1.30pm), then mundane stuff like housework, cooking and shopping, then a couple of classes at the gym, which I figured would either wear me out totally, or leave me invigorated for my night shift. It was a risk, but it paid off, with the result that after the class my upper arms were buggered, but I was the most wide awake I had been all day.

Anyway, time to get back to work,

Til next time

Nadie

The power of language

I have been trying to teach my bf to use words to communicate. I have developed a certain knack for expressing myself with a variety of non words (eh, meh, bla, flobadob-blib-blob-bleep, etc). Don't get me wrong, I can be eloquent, sesquipedalian even, on those occasions where I choose to string multiple syllables together. Not intentionally, I just happen to know what a lot of big words mean and use them where appropriate, occasionally to cries of 'smart arse' from my friends. My bf however, takes it to a whole new level, imbibing a simple 'mmm' with a variety of meanings simply by varying the intonation.

We actually had a quite interesting discussion on the difference between the meanings and appropriate use of 'meh' and 'eh' with my mum. Yes, thats right. they have appropriate uses. 'Meh', as it happens, is the more mature and eloquent version of the teen dismissive 'whatever', in other words, 'don't really care, move on', whereas 'eh' can also be an affirmative (as in Lilo and Stitch), an expression of effort (Scrat in Ice Age), or pretty much whatever connotation you choose to associate with it.

Here endeth the lesson