There and back again

I just got back from mum's last night. Chris and I had a nice relaxing time up there, on Thursday his parents and sister came up, we had a lovely lunch together with my mum at one of the cafes in Castlemaine, Then Chris and I took his mum to see the hotel that they used to film the exterior shots for Blue Heelers at, before heading back to mums to see the Christmas decorations. It was a very quick tour of the house due to his mum's cat allergies, then we all moved outside for a cuppa and chat before they left to go back to Melbourne. They have now gone back to Townsville.

On Friday Chris and I went to see the latest Bond movie at the Castlemaine Theatre Royal, which is this gorgeous old theatre that has been running since the 1850's. It still has a stage and hosts live concerts and shows as well as movies, with cinema seating up on the balcony and tables and chairs downstairs for those who want to wine and dine. Admittedly the screen size is less than ideal for those who have grown accustomed to cinemaxx style movie theatres, but the place definitely has its charm. After the movie we went for a short wander through town and had a coffee before heading back to mums. That night we went to the Five Flags Hotel for open mike night. The entertainment was somewhat varied, and included mum and her belly dance teacher getting up for a couple of dances. The food was good and the drinks kept coming, so one can't complain.

Saturday was mum's birthday, so the three of us headed over to her friend Robyn's for afternoon tea. It was a very pleasant afternoon, Robyn's place is beautiful, and has spectacular views. The food was wonderful too, especially given that my allergies are not easy to cater to. I even had cake specially for me for the first time in ages. Mum and family friend Maz discovered a cafe in one of the neighboring towns that caters specifically to special diets, and Maz apparently insisted on buying me a couple of little cakes. The one I tried yesterday was carob and walnut, and was very moist and rich. I actually struggled to finish it because I'm not used to that kind of thing anymore, but it was very yum. After we left Robyn's we headed back to mum's for dinner, and then off home.

Today got off to a spectacular start with me burning my wrist trying to get the bread out of the bread machine. The burn was sufficiently bad to send me to the chemist for advice on dressings, but I will live. The burn is 6cm long (going by the dressing length which only just covers it) and about 3cm at it widest point, and puffed up very nicely. As I am prone to scarring I will be taking very good care of it.

The day has improved since then, I walked up to The Glen for a bit of grocery shopping. It is about 2km each way but preferable to finding parking on a Sunday 8 days before Christmas (yes, it is that soon), and besides, it is a nice day for a walk. On return I made lunch for Chris and I, and went to pick him up from work for his lunch break. Lord help me, I've gone all domestic. Bah. Anyway, usually we would eat out but we have been doing that far too much lately and both need to start watching the money. Besides, on a Sunday the only options are pub meals which, while good, are pricey around here, or going somewhere in Chaddy, which this close to Christmas would take most of his lunch hour to find parking. So little ol' me made ham, salad and (for him) cheese rolls and (for me) mountain bread wraps, and dutifully picked him up and took him back to his place. My Nonna would be proud. Those Italian make-sure-your-man-is-fed-a-proper-homemade-meal-at-all-costs genes must be coming through. I'd better watch out, next time I might find myself *gasp* cooking for him. Well actually I do cook, but cooking specially to take it to his work is very different than cooking when he's here, or taking leftovers, mind you the main reason for making something cold was that we hadn't decided where we would go to eat it.

Sorted

Well my house mate and I have sat down and had a good chat, sorted our issues out. She apologised profusely for her behaviour last week and admitted that she had been avoiding me since then out of embarrassment. She also said that she had been thinking about the whole smoking thing from my perspective and realises that her smoking in her room is to me what someone else smoking pot in her house would be to her, not to mention the reaction if the landlord or real estate agent found out. She has assured me that it will not happen again. We have also sorted out the housework. We figured out that she really hates doing bathrooms, while my most hated task is vacuuming because it puts my back out. Wish we'd figured that out sooner! We now each have our own tasks to do once a week, and have agreed to clean up mess in the kitchen as we make it. Hopefully this will work now, of course only time will tell. She is still planning on moving out early next year, and will give me notice as soon as she knows when, but as long as this plan works we are fine.

Final Christmas photos

Finished up the decorating today and cleared up the larger debris. The lounge room looks like a glitter bomb exploded, but the place was due for a vacuum anyway. I am not about to vacuum as I am off work due to my back and neck playing up, so we will see how long it takes to get done. Probably until my back feels better. Anyway, have some photos to look at.

We'll start at the beginning with the front door. Not the worlds classiest wreath, but it suffices. From there we move into the entryway, decorated with swag and the decos that didn't make it onto the tree because I went with the silver. You can also see some of the tinsel in the kitchen, used mainly because I had it. From the entry way we move into the lounge room, and finish with some gratuitous cat photos.





This last one of Suki wrestling with the tinsel monster may well end up being this years Christmas card

The humans are losing it!

[edited]

I knew something strange was going on when mum took us up to visit nanna, there were strange things all over the house; tall green prickly things covered with odd shiny things, strange little old men in red bathrobes with funny hats, and long snaky things that made scary rustling noises and shed sparkling hairs everywhere. That was just the beginning of the weirdness. I was sure nanna had lost the plot, but was assured by old ginger that this insanity was just a temporary madness that infected the humans once a year. I wasn't sure if I believed him, after all, he may not be as mean as the tortoiseshell, but he is still the enemy. When we returned home I was relieved to see that mum didn't seem to be affected by the madness, the strange things hadn't invaded our home, so I dismissed what the ginger had told me and soon forgot all about it.

Then today it happened, the madness set in. First there was a long box with strange prickly things stuffed in it. Mum pulled these out so that I could investigate the box (as it happens it was a very nice box), and the next thing we knew she had turned all the little green things into one of the tall things I had seen at nanna's! She didn't stop there though, and soon it was covered in the strange shiny things. Mum had a couple of the odd little men too, but thankfully not as many as nanna did. There was also some of the strange snaky stuff, which Suki and I beat into submission to make sure it wouldn't attack mum. Once we were satisfied that it was safe, we sat back and kept an eye on the proceedings.

Sumi

About time

Well today I was finally home for long enough to get the tree up, along with a few assorted Chrissy decos. Besides the stuff in the photos I also have a foot high table top Christmas tree which I've lent to Chris since he doesn't have any Christmas stuff, and a wreath on the door with a Santa sitting in it. At the moment the tree just has a little star ornament on top as I don't have any tree toppers, will have to do something about that. Shame about the blah curtains but ah well, just one of those things that goes with renting, maybe I can dress them up with tinsel or something. Also need to change that table runner on the corner table (hint hint, mum!), but other than that its looking ok.

I saw my house mate for the first time all week, she came out of her room just as I was finishing up the tree and was actually quite friendly and enthusiastic about the Christmas stuff being out.

Updates

Well yesterdays post was pretty short cos I was on a time limit, so now that I have a bit more time on my hands I shall endeavour to satisfy your post cravings.

I got my Evanescence tickets on Friday, we general floor tickets, which means that on the off chance that anyone decides later on that they want to join us, they will be able to (provided that it hasn't sold out). I'm listening to Ev's latest offering 'The Open Door' as I type this. At the moment I still prefer their first album 'Fallen', but this is definitely growing on me. Singer Amy Lee's voice has an ethereal quality that lends an incredible depth to every song she touches. This is not music for simply listening to, this is music to lose yourself in. Most of Ev's music emanates despondency, with many songs giving off strong jilted lover vibes, yet for all the anger in the music, it is beautiful.

My house mate finally paid last months rent on Friday, after I left her a message telling her if I didn't get it that day I was serious about her getting out this weekend. I have allowed her a bit more time to move out, but she had better be gone by Christmas. She still hasn't lifted a finger around the house, I ended up cleaning my wok after she left it sitting out for over a week, and the floors are in a disgusting state. At least she doesn't seem to have been smoking in her room again. If she does, she will be out the next day. I feel incredibly uncomfortable in my own home at the moment, and cannot wait to be rid of her.

Welcome to the Big Smoke

Melbourne has been under a [very low] cloud of smoke the last couple to days. Couldn't smell anything yesterday but today it quite noticable, and you would swear that the fires were local instead of in the country. It is like a thick fog, except that the sky is faintly orange. Apparently several of the fire fronts have now joined together, and todays temp (37C) is not going to help matters. Quite scary, especially considering that we are less than 2 weeks into summer! A great welcome to our *ahem* fair city for the boy's family, who among other things were planning on taking a trip up to the SkyHigh observation point in the Dandeenongs. Not much point now. On a fair day the view from up there is stunning, but it would just be a layer of white now, possibly with grey and red bits in the distance.

Going to Evanescence *does the dance*

Chris is taking me :D.

Don't know how much it costs yet, so hopefully it isn't going to be one of those ridiculously overpriced concerts, but as I very rarely go to concerts I can splurge, assuming no-one wants to pay my way. Anyway the ticket pre-sale starts tomorrow so I'll post back when I have my tickets.

Found out yesterday that Killing Heidi are playing at the Zoo Twilight Concert the day after Evanescence. Twilight concerts are only $30, and $22.50 for students, including Zoo entry. I think I'll invite everyone to come to the zoo instead of having a party, and anyone who's inclined to can stay on for the concert.

In other news, Chris and I had dinner with his family last night. They all seem really nice, and I can see where he gets his sense of humor from. We went out for coffee afterwards than his parents went back to the hotel and his sister and brother-in-law came back to his place to play cards for a while. A very pleasant evening!

Somebody take me to Evanescence for my birthday

Ok, so subtlety is not one of my strong points, but I just found out they are in Melbourne 2 days before my birthday and I really really really wanna go (preferably with friends, will stick to things like cirque du soleil and theater with mum). I'll pay for my own ticket, just need someone to go with. Several someones even. I'm not picky. C'mon guys! just pay for a ticket for yourself and you get out of buying me something for my birthday! No need to point out which would be the cheaper option, that's not the point. This way you are treating yourself too. Everybody wins!

Anyway, its bin a while since I've posted so here's a quick rundown of whats bin going on.

The biggest news is that I've had enough of my housemate and have told her I want her gone by the end of the week. Its bad enough that she doesn't lift a finger except to create mess. I can go away for a week and when I come back every pot and pan she used the night before I left will still be sitting on the bench, along with the marks from every spill. I also don't think she's used the broom or vacuume cleaner the entire time she's been living here. The final straw however, happened last night. I got home at 8pm and knocked on her door to ask her to come switch the cars around, as she gets up early and neither of us will park in the street because of vandals. She proceeded to hurl abuse at me, which I will not repeat here. When she eventually came out she apologised (still in a snarky tone of voice) and defended her actions by claiming she was under a lot of stress. As I would not speak to my worst enemy the way she spoke to me, I don't particularly care for excuses. I also caught her smoking in her room again after having had to tell her 4 times not to. She knew when she moved in that there was not to be any smoking in the house. So, having already been debating whether to kick her out, she has made up my mind for me. As she hasn't given me last months rent yet I doubt that I will see it, let alone this months, but right now I just want her out.

On a happier note I have gotten back in contact via email with one of my best friends from my childhood, the earliest friend I can remember. It was great to get back in touch with him and hopefully we'll be able to meet up sometime. We haven't been in regular contact for easily 10 years so it could be interesting to see where our lives have taken us.

In other news the boy's family are visiting for his birthday, I met his sister and brother-in-law today and they both seem really nice, meeting the parents tomorrow which I'm a little nervous about, but I'm sure they'll be lovely. It's just I've never done the meet-the-parents thing before; my ex's parents lived in India and I haven't been with anyone else long enough for it to get to that stage... sure it will go fine though. Anyway they are down for 2 weeks so I will have a bit of time to get to know them. They are actually coming to mum's for a day next week which should be good.

Well, that's enough for now. I'll try not to go so long between posts next time.