Zombies, Rocks, Ikea - All Conspired to Make Me Late.......

Hi!

Well. Here we are, only way late. Am very sorry, turns out the weekends have been shortened without my consultation or approval and just aren't long enough to fit everything in, and that doesn't include sleeping-in and making a nice big breakfast. I honestly don't know where the time has gone, but it's gone. Apologies for the lateness. But here we are - Sunday at last, the lorikeets have sure been busy in the mornings but not so much in the evenings. Maybe they're too pooped from all that jabbering in the a.m. The days are getting longer, which is nice, although it means the mornings start earlier. Shame they don't do daylight savings here, though they've been talking about doing it for yeeears, no decision has been made yet. The rest of the country does it except for Queensland. The farmers are dead against it, something about the cows waking up too early and going to bed too late. So we can't have daylight savings because of some cows' bedtime? Hmmmm. I know they're thinking of just having this bottom corner of southeast Queensland do it so we can keep up with the rest of the country in commerce, but when they'll figure it out is anyone's guess. Hmmm. But I digress! We're here with the groovy jazz tunes, got the cool glass of standby white wine, a few chattering lorikeets - life is good!

So work. Yep, is really good. Still helping out my adoptive team, busy being helpful, which is just cool. I think I mentioned it before that I think this is basically an on-going thing, well, until next year sometime. They're not going to hire a replacement for the guy that left and a gal on our team has just announced she's pregnant, so there's more help they'll be needing....... So I don't think I'm going anywhere anytime soon - hopefully! As for my other team, well the bid guys are threatening to throw me a ton of work between now and Xmas. Eh, while I sort of believe them this time, they've said it before and nothing scary has ever happened. We'll see! Otherwise work is good. I get to work with nice people and I actually have work to do. Awesome.

And then there were the vanishing weekends. Let's see, casting the memory back.... Am still going with my rock climbing course and two Friday evenings ago we had an indoor session at the local rock climbing gym, Urban Climb, which was nice because it's close to my house. And Kangaroo Point, where we've done all our outdoor stuff, is like 15 minutes from mah house - sweet! So yes, that was lots of fun, tho not as much fun as outdoors with real rocks I must say. Still, good for the practice and fitness!

And then there was the briefly appearing Saturdays and Sundays. Saturday I managed to get some laundry done before heading out to meet Linus and Julian (they of the Australia Day BBQs every year) at the German Club to catch up over a few (too many) German beers. While we were there a very moody storm blew quickly through. It was neat. I love the storms that blow through though they're too quick. And the day was warm and muggy but after the storm it sure got dark and cooled off. Just to let us know summer is nearly here. It was a fantastic afternoon and so good to catch up with them, having last seen them in January!

Sunday the better part of the day was spent doing chores and waiting for people to come around and pick up and pay for the stuff of mine they bought off eBay (love this eBay thing - totally beats a garage sale). Then spent the other half of the day putting together mah new desk! Of which I have yet to clock up any time as it took that long to build (hence the non-appearance here that evening) that by the time I was finished I was cranky and ready for bed. Now, I'm getting pretty good at putting this Ikea stuff together, but the time you think it will take differs wildly from the actual time it takes, which is double, if not triple, the assembly time. Like, I looked at the 2 boxes holding the desk, laid everything out, looked at the clock, which was around 2pm, and figured I'd be done in time to start the little blog, around 5pm. Yeah. No. 7pm and a dead cordless drill battery later....... I guess maybe because people must have friends and helpers get some of the stuff ready because I don't, it's just me with all the lifting, pushing, shoving, drilling, hammering, etc.... And unfortunately I'm one of those who reads every single instruction and follows it to the letter (even tho they're pictures, no letters). I guess that chews time as well - studying. Anyways, it took a lot longer than I thought and by the time I finished it was too late for checking in. Hmmm.

And then last week was good but busy. I can't remember why I couldn't check in on Monday.... Oh yeah, normally at work, when I had nothing but time, I'd write the little blog during the day and get home and load up the photos, so it's pretty quick. But being in a department with actual work, I have no time to get a head start! And by the time I get home, feed Kona, feed me, shower, it's way too late. Hmmm. Anyways, had another rock climbing session on last Tuesday evening (forgot mah camera but the view was pretty much the same - amazingly pretty). This time we learned abseiling - where you go off the cliff backwards - eeeeek from the top. It was fuuuuuuun though repetitive. Apparently people love to just do abseiling. Yawn. Me, I'd rather climb, much more fun and useful. Although minutes before I arrived there were allllllll these cop cars. Found my little climbing group only to be told that a few feet from where we were to do our thing a guy had thrown himself from the top of the cliffs (last I heard he lived to regret it). Now, the thing about Kangaroo Point Cliffs is that they may have the word "cliff" in the title and the photos make them out to be pretty treacherous (and they do indeed look pretty scary from the bottom and really high up from the top), and no doubt they can be quite treacherous if you're not paying attention, but it's common knowledge that even if you throw yourself from the very top with high hopes it'll be a one-way trip, something like 90% of hopefuls actually live to regret it. Lesson here - pick a much higher spot/building or a different method because they just ain't tall enough to do the trick. Same goes for the Story Bridge - more people live to regret that trip than not; They simply end up going for a swim with broken arms and legs. Am just sayin'.*

And then there was this past weekend. Now that I've finally sold all the stuff from the living room that I wanted to sell, it was time to get the new stuff! Hooray! So was up first thing Saturday morning to get to Ikea to meet my co-worker Emma, who lives like down the road from Ikea (for me that would be like a crack addict living across the street from the dealer) as she had to get a shower curtain and I a whole entertainment center. Well that didn't take too long but in the end I had to get most of it delivered. There was no way on earth I could carry those boxes up my stairs on my own (and I didn't want to bug one of my neighbors to help). Thankfully it all arrived before that very same day was done and I could get building (knowing how build time is double/triple what you estimate)! I managed to get one bookshelf built, but boy they're finnigly things with all their moldings and bits. Niiiice, but finnigly. And that was all I could manage Saturday.

Then Sunday was up early-ish to get some laundry done before heading out to meet Jason and Hasse (they of the way fun Pizza & Games on the odd Friday evenings) in town for Brisbane's annual Zombie Walk. We all have fanceee cameras (tho Jason's is by far the fanceeeest) so we wanted to go out and take neat pictures and figured zombies would be perfect! And they were!
It was such a fun day that I'm totally going to come back next year and dress up zombie style - makeup, scary scars and all. Plus, any money they raise (by donation only) goes to the Brain Foundation. I'm all for helping a worthy cause and what a better way to help the Brain Foundation than as a zombie! Apparently Brisbane has the biggest zombie walk in the world. But as Jason so cynically pointed out - "that's just what they say on their website." Hmmm. Either way there were thousands of folks there - about 50/50 - zombies vs. people like us there to just watch and take pictures. It was way fun. Highly recommend it next time they invade your town! Oh, and just so you don't think this is some sort of "fad", even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a plan on how to deal with a zombie invasion - Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse!

So by the time I got home from that, it was nearly 6pm and I was too pooped and it was getting too late to check in. Again. The thing about wanting to check in by say 5pm is that it takes me a good 3 or so hours to write the little blog, pick and upload the photos, hyperlink everything, make dinner, have a shower, that by the time I get to bed it's nearly 11pm - too late for a Sunday! But I must say I love my Sunday ritual and I miss it and feel bad when I can't check in on time. So I do try - honest! (Even tho only a whopping 3 people might read this.........).

Then there was this past Monday. I called in sick to work. But magically by noon or so I felt fine enough to get to building the rest of my bookshelf and bridging shelf! Took most of the day and into the evening (moving all the books and stuff back in) that again, it was waaaay too late to check in. But now it's allllllll done! And big! I love it. I now have furniture that matches and that I like! Just like real people! HOORAY! So that's the living room's mini-makeover..... on to the bedroom!?

And that brings us to this weekend. Friday was quiet, which was nice. No stuff to sell, no people to come around and pick stuff up, no rocks to climb, no place to go except the couch, it was niiiiice. But yesterday, Saturday, I was up way early, even before all the birds, to go on a Mini-Adventure to the Glasshouse Mountains for my rock climbing course's "final exam"! I've always wanted to climb or at least go for a good walk around the Glasshouse Mountains, always thought it looked so neat. And it was really fun! Weeeeeeeeeeeee! Got to drive mah cool new car too! Tho I decided to follow my instructor up there (he had to meet another gal at the shop anyway, which is just down the road from my house). Glad I followed them. It's pretty straightforward once you make the trip, but never having driven myself, I was sure to get lost, even tho it's only about an hour north east of town.... Anyways, we finally all made it up there and proceeded to go on quite a good hike to get to our climbing site. A hike that none of us, bar the instructor, was expecting! Woooooooo! That was the most exercise I'd gotten for years! So we finally made it to the top where we caught our breath and got set up to abseil down the cliff we'd just hiked up. Once down, we climbed it a few times (tons of fun tho I only got 2 climbs in) we collected our things and hiked not far to the next spot where we abseiled down even further to get closer to the base of the cliff that we'd just hiked up. From there we hiked back to our cars and were done! WHEW! Big day, much fun! Much exercise too, my legs are still feeling it.......! So that was our big class day out, we have one more class this coming Tuesday back at Kangaroo Point and then we're finished. Just as I got in the routine of going rock climbing and learning on Tuesday evenings! So will definitely have to go along on as many "social climbs" as I can. It's heaps of fun, the people are so nice and it's good for you! HOORAY! Plus, when they have social climbs out of town, I can drive along, and if we have to camp, I've got my own studio apartment! Yay!

And then today. Well, I must say after the last few weekends and yesterday, I was in real need of a nice quiet day to do nothing (except for the laundry of course). So yes, didn't do much. Started to watch "Cowboys and Aliens" but got distracted. And then it was time to check in here....... Ahhhhhhhhh, lazy Sunday. Life was good today.

And, finally, that brings us up to now! Sorry again for the lengthy delay, I should be on time from now on barring any unapproved weekend shortening......... Oh, wait, on second thought, while I think of it, next weekend Kim and I are off to Grafton (about 4&1/2 hours drive south, in New South Wales) to go their annual Jacaranda Festival. It looks pretty neat in a flowering-Jacaranda-trees-everywhere kinda way. Good for photos and a really good run for the car. My friend Jan had taken her Mom there last year and said they really enjoyed it, so I thought 'why not?!' So we're planning to leave Saturday morning and return Sunday afternoon. Will hopefully have the energy to check in that evening but something tells me probably not. Depends on how late we get back and how pooped I am...... Hmmm. But, anyways, there you have it! Hope you're all well up there. Drop a line so I know there's more than just the odd cricket hopping around here. Speaking of crickets, I have to highly recommend a cuuuuuuuuute little computer-animated series called "Minuscule". Each "episode" is only roughly 4&1/2 minutes long and features different computer-animated bugs doing stuff in real landscapes. It's hard to explain, so just go find an episode, like this one - "The Fight for the Lollipop". They're most excellent and hilarious. No dialogue, just sound-effects. They're priceless. So good in fact that I went out and bought the whole series!

So yes, there you have it, drop a line, come on down, and hope you're all well!

BYE!
J!
*P.S. Not that suicide is a matter to be taken lightly (I know from experience). If someone's having problems, there's help, trust me.

http://suicidehotlines.com/national.html

http://www.lifeline.org.au/Find-Help/Find-Help/default.aspx

Climbing Rocks to Get to Ikea, Chores and the Weekend!

Hi!

Well. Here we are. A very lovely, warm and breezy Sunday afternoon. Am just early enough to beat the birds at their evening chat session and early enough, and smart enough to have finally changed the radio station to my favorite local community radio station 4ZZZ in time to catch a particularly lively African music show; This totally beats the strange show tunes radio show on ABC. I guess this is what happens when you get adventurous with the radio dial! Tho, soon ABCs way cool groovy jazz tunes radio show will be on and then the Sunday ritual will be complete. But here we are - got the very nice, cool glass of standby white wine (I know it's a crime against wine, but I've had to add ice cubes to keep it cool. We're getting into summer here and as much as I like to drink wine, I can't drink it that fast! And honestly, can you drink warm white wine? Yeah, didn't think so, no one's that much of a tough guy.) So yes, have some good tunes (currently De La Soul. I quite like them, never-mind the fact they did a song called "Jenifa"), nice cool, humiliated wine, a lovely breeze - life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Busy. Which is always a good thing, although challenging when you're doing two jobs at once and both demand your immediate attention, like, yesterday. I successfully coped because I've had nearly a year to get ready for something to do. And the fact that I'm just awesome that way. And by the end of the week I found myself with time to read the news. Excellent! As far as the whole Permanent Residency fun, it seems to be full steam ahead, with HR finally fully convinced that they need to help me, which they promise to do in a fairly speedy manner (we'll see). Far be it for me to tell HR to put a shake in it, but I did explain that the sooner they get their stuff together, the sooner I can hand in my application - before Immigration changes the requirements, as is their wont at least two or three times a year. So watch this space! Otherwise, always happy to have gainful employment, and very happy that they're threatening to keep me permanently (again, watch this space)......!

And then there was the weekend. Well, wait, let me back up to Tuesday where I had my first rock climbing course (of a six-week session)! HOORAY! It was fuuuuuun! It's a six-week course designed for folks who've maybe done it once or twice (I did it once, yeeeears ago), or not at all, so we start at the very beginning and go through all the safety, gear, technique, etc. Knowing that you climb in fancy climbing shoes with no socks, there was no way I was gonna borrow their stuff, so I bought all my own stuff (which thankfully, isn't much. Not like scuba diving). I think I mentioned this a few weeks ago....... Anyways, this past Tuesday we started at the beginning (and had to drill certain points home for two other guys on my course (out of four of us in total) who are known as YouTube Climbers - guys who learn everything on YouTube, and not necessarily the correct way). And then we were off and climbing the Kangaroo Point Cliffs - at night (with spotlights)! I only managed 3 climbs out of the 6 we were scheduled to do, but that was because my "buddy" was dead slow. That's ok. At the rate I ached over the next two days, 3 climbs was fine. This coming week tho we have two sessions - one on Tuesday and an indoor session on Friday. Coooooooooool! Will remember to bring my camera as the view is most excellent!

And then earlier that same Tuesday saw another Home Invasion by the Real Estate Agent and one of the Owners. Those Invasions always stress me out (never mind the fact I have to take a day off work so I can be here to supervise), but as a renter in Australia I seem to have no choice. Unless I buy my own place and the chances of that happening are slim to none....... Still tho, I passed and that means they'll probably renew my lease. And because I "always keep the place so tidy", they'll probably also jack up my rent. Sigh. Still, it's cheap for the 'hood and it allows me to pay off mah car and go on the odd Adventure. So won't complain. Much. Or often. But then the day redeemed itself spectacularly when my two neighbors (Luise and Kayle) and I decided a trip to Ikea was needed - they for a new sofa-bed and me for shelves for the bathroom and a new desk (to replace this lovely workhorse that's hopefully being sold this next weekend)! And the fun part was, Kayle'd never ever been to Ikea before. I think against his will, he quite liked it. We actually had quite a good time and found what we'd all been looking for. Awesome! And then later that evening, as you know, I went to climb Kangaroo Point Cliffs for the first time....... A fantastic, productive, semi-spontaneous mid-week day off if there ever was one!

And then there was the weekend. It was very good, very relaxing. I'm still madly selling stuff on eBay, and, conveniently, my timings for when my 7-day auctions end are on the weekends; so this weekend was spent doing the chores and getting rid of stuff (and turning a buck). So far I've managed to sell my three mirrors (at almost double what I paid for them - fools!), my chaise longue (still waiting for the chick to come pay and pick it up) and my two biiig bookshelves. This eBay lark is interesting in how much a group of people will pay for what. Like, I cleaned up on those three dumb mirrors, but I took a hit on the bookshelves - I expected to make at least $100 and only got $56 for both. New, they're $80 each. And new, the chaise longue is $480, and, granted mine is like 3+ years old, I only made $152 for it. Eeeek. So I guess the sales can even each other out in a way. Hmmm. Either way, am slowly but surely gaining back some valuable space and changing it all out with smarter furniture. Sweet!

And really, that was about it. A very good weekend all-in-all. Oh, and I think I figured this blogging template business out - I said I'd use their new template system thing, and it works a charm except for when time comes to place photos, and then it just has a hissy fit. Thankfully you can default back to the old system, which I've done, so hopefully things will work as before. I had to fill out a feedback thingy so I told them why I had to go back to the old system. I tried their new system last year with the same frustrating results. So hopefully, this time next year they'll have sorted it out?! Anyways, point being, I'll try to add some more photos from the NZ/Rugby World Cup Adventure!

So there you have it. I hope you're all well up there. Unless you like hot and humid, you'd better book that trip down here soon before the furnace really gets going! Otherwise, drop a line so I know how you all are!

BYE!
J!












Will post more photos from the latest NZ Adventure once I find them........! This really cool new camera and I seem to disagree on where to download files to what folder where. It's like hide n' seek with mah damn photos....... The photos above, well, I'm not sure how they ended up in the usual files..... But they are of the All Blacks' liveried Boeing 737 (pretty cool if truth be told); the All Blacks team accepting their welcome home haka at Wellington airport; the control tower in Wellington (spot the tower nestled in the suburbs!) And that last photo is of Wellington harbor, with that white spot being the ferry that takes you between Wellington and Picton. More photos to come once I find them!

Adventures in NZ with Wine, Wildlife & Rugby!

Hi!

Well. Sunday evening. A very, very windy Sunday evening. As the locals would say, "it's windy enough to blow the dog off it's chain!". Heh heh, they have the silliest sayings sometimes. But there are a few strong birds out there chattering away as they cling to their branches for dear life. I hear lots more Lorikeets than usual, hopefully that means Spring really is here?! What was the saying, 'in like a lion, out like a lamb'? Hmmm. Well it's certainly been windy over these last couple of days, which doesn't bother me too much, some people it makes them crazy, and I never understood that..... Hmmm. Anyways, missed last Sunday, but there was good reason for that (Adventure!), but we're here now with a sunny yet breezy evening, got the strange show-tunes radio show, tho thankfully for only 3 more minutes until the way cool groovy jazz tunes radio show takes over, got the cool glass of stand-by white wine, life is good!

So, work. Yep, is pretty good. It's soooo nice to have so much work to do and be able to help a whole group of people. They like me and my work so much that they want to keep me permanently (I feel like a puppy)! I'd love to stay with them but they'll have to get past my Boss first and I don't like their chances. Why let me go to another team that actually needs me when I can stay and die of boredom in his department? Hmmm. We'll see what happens. Am not holding my breath. Ok, maybe one or two breaths, but not all of them.

And speaking of breath, I went and did all my Immigration health checks for my permanent residency application requirements (that work wants me to get so badly). That was interesting in a "this is what it kinda must've been like on Ellis Island in a way" kinda way. They sure get you through there in one shot - first chest x-rays (looking for TB), then blood tests, then eyes, height, weight, pee, etc., with the last stop being the doctor to check your heart, ears, throat, blood pressure, reflexes, etc. All that took an hour and a half and boy you were shuttled through pretty quickly that whole time. So hopefully that's all for me, now I just have to hope work follows through on their end of the bargain.... Fingers crossed. Will keep you posted.

And then there were the weekends. Well. Last weekend Adventure was had and it was loads of fun! Went with my friend Dave to Wellington, New Zealand from first thing Friday until last thing Sunday. We primarily went over because he had tickets to the US vs. Australia Rugby World Cup match and even tho we lost 66 to 5 (we knew that was gonna happen), it was lots and lots of fun. Such a neat, buzzy atmosphere. No fights, no nothing like that. It was just a friendly, fun spot to be for a few hours. After the match (which we left early when the score was still 55 to 5) we wandered into town, which isn't far from the stadium at all, perhaps a 15 minute walk, where we met the friends of his, Nick and Sally who live there and who we stayed with, at a really nice, cozy and warm pub. It was so nice and warm in there I struggled to stay awake. Wellington is notorious for being windy, rainy and really cold, but that Friday and Saturday we had fantastic, sunny and bright, yet slightly chilly, weather. But still, after hours in it we were tired and dying to be warm. Heh heh, I even had a glass of mulled wine, which kind of made me laugh because in Brisbane just the weekend before it was 85 degrees and I was in shorts and a tank top, and yet a week later I was in layers drinking mulled wine! And It's only a 2&1/2 hour flight away! Funny weather.

Anyways. Saturday we were up too early so we could catch the first ferry (the Interislander ferry called 'Kaitaki', to be exact) from Wellington to Picton on the top of the South Island. Seeing as you can see and swim from one island to the other (tho you'd be brave with those currents) the ferry ride takes around 3 hours (it even has a cinema! A cinema on a ferry! Amazing!), mainly because of the speed restrictions in the Queen Charlotte Sound, which you have to snake your way through before getting to Picton. But it was a lovely ferry ride with no problems. Apparently, like the notoriously bad weather in Wellington, the bad weather can extend to the ferry ride with high, high seas, rolling and pitching with barf bags in frantic demand. Thankfully we had no need of barf bags for either the trip over or retuning. Whew! So once in Picton we had a quick wander around town (easy to do as it's so small), tho we did stop in and scope out their Eco World Aquarium/Cinema... we bypassed the cinema to go have a look in the aquarium (it's all in the one little building - you could go left to the aquarium or right to the cinema), with the promise of seeing their local pet penguin. Apparently they trot out the little penguin only once a day for it's feeding at a time we couldn't make it to. Bummer. And as for the aquarium, well, I'll just be kind and say they really need some volunteers who know what they're doing to give it the facelift and kick in the pants it's desperate for.

 

That mini-Adventure had, we wandered across the little park and street to check in to our winery tour operators, Sounds Connections, for our half-day tour of a range of 4 vineyards around the Marlborough wine country. It was awesome! We took in 4 wineries ranging in size from big to boutique: Hunters, Forrest Wines, Drylands and Nautilus Estate, ending with a stop at the boutique chocolate factory Makana Confections. But boy, all the big NZ wine guns are all situated in that same area, which is interesting because you'd think they'd be miiiiiiiiiiles apart from one another. Nope, right next door to each other. It must just be the soil in that one square area must be perfect. It was a fantastic day and the kind of thing you could do over and over again, see so many different wineries and have lots of different experiences. I can highly recommend it! If you come over and we have the time, we're totally going!

Afterwards we had another 3 hour ferry ride back to Wellington (on the smaller Arahura ferry this time), but this time there was the All Blacks vs. France rugby world cup match to watch, so we packed into the little bar on the ferry and had a good yell at the screen along with everyone else. Even tho, secretly, I really wanted France to win for some reason... don't tell the locals (NZ beat the snot out of them anyways, like they usually do).

The next day, Sunday, we had a much needed sleep-in. Well, I know I needed it. Once we were all finally organized, and realized the weather had taken a turn for its rainiest and chilliest worst, Nick made us the most amazing pancake breakfast I've ever had outside of Ihop, which just made me even more reluctant to leave their lovely hospitality! But leave we had to, with Nick and Sally driving us into town where we had a quick look through the Te Papa museum (NZ should be proud of that museum - it's amazingly good. Again, highly recommend it), before wandering through a really pretty good indoor artisans market (can't remember the name) and then we were off to the airport for our trip home. While at the airport we happened to arrive at the same time the All Blacks were arriving home from the game the night before in Auckland (where they cleaned the floor with France). Of course, being the All Blacks, one of the best rugby teams on the planet, not only do they have their own liveried Boeing 737, they were presented with a huuuuge welcome home Haka, followed by a lovely Maori song, another quick Haka and then finally parading through to excited and proud cheers. It was actually kinda neat. The kind of welcome home I'd like to get now and then......... And then, after a 3 hour layover in Sydney, we were back in Brisbane! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, it was an absolutely fantastic weekend and Nick and Sally couldn't have been nicer. They even had a pup and a few cats just to add to the homeliness. What a good time it was. And so quick and easy from Brisbane! Will totally plan another weekend and wine tours! 

And then it was back to reality and a fairly quiet yet productive weekend. I have another "Home Invasion" ('inspection', by not only the real estate agent, but the owner too, again. Sheesh.) this coming Tuesday (which I have to waste a day off to be able to supervise), so this weekend was spent tidying and even spot-painting, something I haven't done in ages. Not that it needed it, all I can say is it must be spring fever and a burning need to clean everything. And speaking of cleaning like a demon, I've also managed to become a newly dab hand at this whole eBay thing! So far I've managed to sell a whopping 3 things! Yahooooo! So far I've sold that beast of an air-conditioning unit (which wasn't mine so I had to give the money to the gal who gave it to me in the first place. Shame, but there it is), an end-table that was nice but not me, and my stupid $45 Tupperware ice-cube trays! Hooray! So yesterday, after the first round of chores, I got on and listed 4 more things - my chaise longue (the add-on bit to the couch) that I never sit on and takes up much needed living-room real estate, my 2 big bookshelves, 3 mirrors that I've grown sick of looking at, and my TV stand. This is all about getting rid of stuff and consolidating. I have a cunning plan to sell all this and buy a nice, one unit bookshelfy entertainment centery thing from Ikea. And yes, it's made out of wood (remember, with Ikea, you get what you pay for, so spend a bit more and get it made out of real wood - imagine that!). But first I have to get rid of the stuff that's here to make way for the new stuff. And those auctions end next weekend, so this should be interesting........! Hooray for a change in home furnishings and turning a buck while I do it! Will keep you posted!

And that is about it. Whew! Been busy that's for sure - hooray! So there you have it. I hope you're all well up there and are finally convinced that you should come down here for a visit. See, there're allllll kinds of things to do thisaway!!!!! So c'mon down!

BYE!
J!

P.S. Total problems again with the layout of the photos. I got too mad to finish. Will give it another go tomorrow night. It's not me, it's the new blog template stuff. It's really pissing me off. Apologies for how dumb it looks.