Birthday in Stereo & Mud

Hi!

Well. That week rocked! What a fantastic week! Started off painfully slow and then like magic – it was my birthday and I had the day off! Waahhooo! And then it was Thursday, and next thing you knew it was Friday, which went by really fast and next thing, my god it’s Sunday. What the?! Too fast!

So work. Is good. I really think we should have a four-day work week. What a difference it makes. And if we could have that as a floating day, take it whenever you want/need….. yeah. So I took Wednesday off for my Birthday. It’s my one sacred day. Then it was a busy Thursday, meetings, lots of back and forth to other offices, all very important, but very good in that I’ve kinda been given more direction in my little directionless job. And then it was Friday and another gal’s birthday morning tea (tea and cookies and cake around 10-10.30am usually. Sometimes they call it “smoko”, but usually “morning tea”) and then work for a minute, enough to warm up my office chair, and then it was to the pub for lunch for another gal’s birthday and then next thing we knew it was home time! Waaahhooo! But otherwise, work seems to be going fine. Always happy to have a gig that doesn’t annoy me!!!!

So Wednesday, my Birthday, yes. Was wonderful. Slow to wake up but made it to my 2 hour massage in time. Got to soak in mud for an hour. Also with a mud facial, then a foot “facial”, and then a massage. How nice was that. But during the massage the gal managed to find the pesky kinks in my back and said she didn’t have enough time to work on them then, so I have to go back this coming Wednesday for real work. Yeah. Have carried this line of knots and kinks for a few years so I guess now is as good a time as any to finally get rid of them. And then had a spot of lunch (very good, but so messy, unless I was that relaxed I couldn’t eat properly). Then it was shopping for a “micro stereo system” and cd’s. Excellent – almost like a normal person now that I don’t have to listen to only my computer or clock radio for tunes! And then it was out to dinner at what’s supposed to be one of The Best steak houses in town – the Norman Hotel, for, well, steak, and lots of folks came out for that, which was way cool seeing it was a school night. And I must say, the steak was awesome. (But how big of a dork am I – forgot my camera so thankfully Christine brought hers, will get the photos off her and send some up……..) Ahhhhh, it was just a reallyreally nice birthday. Very nice way to ring in one more year!

And then the weekend. Saturday was errands galore. Actually, it turned into shopping galore, but it was for stuff on my List – couch throw pillows (how can you sit/lay on a couch with nothing to prop up on, I ask you??), some new agey tinkly music that the massage lady suggested I pick up so I can “relax” when I get home from work. Hmmm. Put it on last night and about fell asleep. Maybe that’s why you put it on as soon as you get home from work instead, and not on a chilled-out Saturday evening at home……. And bought a suit jacket, that I’m pretty sure only goes with one thing in my wardrobe, but never mind it was only 20 bucks…. Yeah. Busy day for the ol’ bank account! Belated birthday presents I say!

And today was chores, which also happened to include the biggest chore of all time – filing taxes. Did it online and according to them I’m getting a bucket-load of cash back (four digits!!!! Gasp! ‘Course they take out heaps and heaps every paycheck…..). I’m pretty sure I filled out some tax forms wrong along the way but if it’s gonna work like that in my favour – am not gonna ask! Am gonna take it and buy a fridge and a washer……. And then I actually did a little bit of packing, gearing up for my move to the flat upstairs. Such crap I’ve accumulated over the last 2 ½ years. If only I had closet space I wouldn’t know about the accumulation……

And that’s that! Have looked at plane tickets to LA… $3,200. So you guys can come down here. It’s nicer and most of you have never been here. I’m not spending 3 grand to go where I’ve been already. No offence. Am gonna spend that 3 grand on livin’ large on the Great Barrier Reef or something. So come on down and join me!!!!

BYE!
J!

Movies, Books, Work all in Time

Hi!

Well. That week went by pretty much the same as the others. Only his time I chickened out half-way and took Thursday off. Wasn’t feelin’ well so decided the day would be mine. After sleeping in, man, got all my chores done! Waaahhooo! Which just made the weekend even nicer and a little longer!

So work. Yep. Is good. Been busy with the same little project for what feels like forever. Man. These people down here (and in NZ), when their kids get just a little bit of time off of school (which seems like every other month they get like 4 weeks off – wussies), their parents have to take all that time off too. Not to mention the 6 or so weeks most people take off over Xmas. How they do it I have no idea. I wish I could. But ugh, maybe that means having kids. Maybe I could pretend. Borrow someone else’s? Hmmm. Anyways, trying to get anything done while the office goes into a 3-4 week holding pattern, good luck. So hopefully this week this will start back up again. Because, as much as I like my little job, I want to see the back of this little project already! Otherwise, work is fine.

And then the weekend! Not a lot to report, sadly. Read a couple books, watched some movies "No Country for Old Men" (soooooo good!) and a really crap movie with Ralph Fiennes and Jennifer Lopez. Ooooooh what a stinker! But it just goes to show everyone has car payments to make. And also watched a very interesting documentary called “Who Killed the Electric Car?” – very good. And very sad. What a useful car and GM killed it off before it even got going. Fools. Slaves to oil. So yes, I tried to cover all the media bases.

And today was actually kinda busy. First thing this morning I walked (well, most of the way) to
Dutton Park where a gal from work lives. It’s a few ‘burbs away but not too many. She hosted a Body Shop party. Like Tupperware but without the burping or space-saving. I bought one of the only things under $20 bucks because I felt bad for the host lady – no one seemed to pay attention to her except for me. Guess that just goes to show you have to think of your audience when it’s comprised of early-20 year old gals who just wanted to look at the makeup catalog most of the time. And after that I really did walk all the way home, complete with a pit-stop at the grocery store. Whew! That took about an hour to walk. Which was really fine because I think I had a touch of cabin fever and it was an absolutely gorgeous day, nothing like a mid-winter day in NYC! It’s been in the low 70’s for the last week or so, and bone dry. It’s been amazing. I love it. Course, it’s meant to start raining all week and get cold, but ahhhh, to have this kind of weather mid-winter even if for just a few days! Hooray!

And that’s about it. Yeah, apologies for no adventures. Perhaps it’s a winter thing (lame excuse – you just said the weather’s been beautiful), dunno.... There have been ads from travel shops about package deals to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Great Barrier Reef….. I should just go. I’d kinda like to go with someone, but we know I’ll be dead before I can ever find anyone to go where I want to at the same time! If I’d ever waited for someone to come with me to NZ or here, I’d be dead! So yes, perhaps I should just haul out my Adventure Girl cape and head out on my onesies. Yeah! Will look into it……………… Seriously. No, really, I will. Honest. Unless someone wants to come with….??!

BYE!
J!

Moving in Reality

Hi!

Well. Really, that week passed just like most of the last few have – slow to start and magically it was Friday evening! Hooray! Good week, busy, yet quiet, if that makes any sense. Excellent weekend, so all in all it was all a success!

So work. Yep. Pretty good. Co-worker with nose out of joint is slooooowly starting to come to grips with reality. That’s all anyone needs really is a firm grasp of reality. Not everyone can do it, I now understand, but even if you don’t have a total grasp of it like most people, please, at least give the impression that you do. And this one is getting better at it. Otherwise, work is good. It’s been quiet in that I haven’t been running around the place as much as usual because a lot of the people I have to see are away on their kids’ 3 weeks of school holidays. One more week to go and it’ll be back to usual. So I’ve been busy making some edits to a little booklet. Yeah. It’s actually as exciting as it sounds. But again, never get me wrong, I am always happy to have work that I like! And then Friday ended on a very nice note in that our little department threw a little “end of financial year” wine and cheese party. It was nice. It’s always nice to have everyone chill out together and have a laugh over a glass of wine and nice cheese. You just don’t really get to talk to your (reality-based) co-workers like normal people during work time. So it’s nice when we do things like this. And then after the little work shin dig a few folks and I went bowling. And man, was it a good time. Went with the kids from my old department. Such a good time. I love bowling. Can’t say am that great at it but I have such a good time. And darn it, that’s what counts.

And then Saturday. Errands. See, yeah, I forgot to mention this earlier – I’m moving, again. Only thankfully it’s just upstairs to Emo Girl’s apartment, just here, (on the left, out of the picture, must take more photos) upstairs in the front (away from the driveway, people driving and walking past and basically away from being the first point of contact for anyone coming to or going past my little apartment, or the owners snooping around and peeking in whatever windows they can (usually mine) every other weekend. Privacy! And, bonus, not living underneath Monster Boy anymore – HOORAY! Only now I’ll have to live next to him, so we shall soon see which is worse. I’m going to say living underneath is far worse, but never say never. So anyways, ran errands so the real estate monkeys could shuffle people through my place. Sigh. They’ve done two of these already and so far no takers. Fools. I know it’s dumpy but locationlocationlocation! And, there’s another one tomorrow while I’m at work. So all of this has been really kinda stressful for me in that A) The place always has to look presentable, B) Strangers tromping through my space just weirds me out, maaaan, and C) I have to de-cat the place every time and toss Kona outside, which I really don’t like doing especially while I’m not here for hours at a stretch. But hopefully they’ll get some sucker to take this place soon. Like tomorrow. So yeah, Saturday was busy. But in the evening I met up with the American Guy from San Diego and we went to check out the Picasso exhibit at the Modern Art Gallery. Ehhh. It wasn’t so much about his work but the artists he collected and who inspired him. There were quite a few bits of his work, sketches, sculptures, etc, but it was primarily the art he collected. And man, he had some fantastic stuff. But points to this little modern art gallery in Brisbane to get such stuff as Andy Warhol and Picasso.

And then today has been not move day. So have rented some DVD’s (by mail, kinda like Netflix but not) and hung around on the couch. Hooray! And then here we are now…… Yeah. That was a quick and busy weekend. Want one more day!

So that’s that! Here’s hoping someone takes my little apartment so I don’t have to worry about it every day. And hooray for only needing to move up a flight of stairs! And yeah, when/if any of you come to visit, well, I can’t say there’s more space, but there’s more sunlight! Yeeeaaa!

BYE!
J!

Fireworks & BBQs

Hi!

Well. Here we are again. Sunday evening. Groovy jazz show on the radio. Just finished my chores. A fine end to the week if I say so myself. Busy week. Busy-ish weekend. But now Monday looms all too quickly....

So work. Yep. Is pretty good. Getting better. Coworker with the nose out of joint has mellowed out a bit, thus hopefully getting over whatever had been bothering them. Either that, or I haven't noticed because I've gotten busy with a project. Hmmm. Love being busy. The time just flies. Excellent. So work is good. Looking up!

And then the weekend. Friday, ooooh, that was ages ago...... That was the 4th of July! I didn't do anything for it except print out some pictures of fireworks, a sign that said "Happy 4th of July" in a very Americana style and stuck them to the front of my desk at work. It's funny, the only people to make a big deal about it was on the classical station I listen to in the mornings. They played a bunch of patriotic American marches. Funny. Perhaps next year I'll try to hook up with some expats and go to a BBQ or something. It doesn't seem right without doing something for it! And then that night I ran some errands, grocery store, got a head start on laundry. Yawn, how boring for a Friday night, yes I totally agree, but it was all pre-planning for a busy Saturday.... Which was a BBQ at Alicia's house with Linus and Julian and their wives/husbands/kids etc. It was lovely. Just really nice to catch up with them (they're the folks I used to work at the school). Nice group. Was a great day, even though it was cold and rained all day, it was fun! Then I went into town, to the Paddo, to meet up with Natasha, some gals from her work, and a guy that a gal at the BBQ I was just at thought I should meet. Get this, this is how small the world is - he's from San Diego, La Jolla actually, but has been moving around and living in Washington DC. Been here 2 & 1/2 years. Works for the water commission. So the whole group of us just had the best time. Interesting. Went waaaaay past our bedtimes, which is why I've only just now finished those chores! But imagine that, come all this way to meet someone from SD! Teeny little world!

And that's about that really. Time to wind down after that crazy spurt of cleaning energy and think about bedtime! Hope you're all well up there! Come down for a visit - V Australia (Virgin airlines) has crazy cheap flights to Brissy at the moment - book one! It'll be fun!

BYE!
J!