A Moving Invasion of Cleanliness and Paint!

Hi!

Well. Here we are. Slightly late but am here! Whew! What a busy time. Thankfully had all those extra days off to get stuff done. And thankfully too the weather has been really nice. But we're here now, birds are happy out there twittering away because we've had a little tiny bit of rain and it's still cooling off (more or less, it will for reals...... eventually). I love any season here that isn't summer.......! Have the excellent tunes as usual, tho it's the Paris radio station this time, have a super nice, cool glass of the stand-by sauvingon blanc, Kona is climbing all over Box Mountain in the kitchen (including a couple of empty ones just to keep it interesting) - yes, life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. All caught up with all the little things that sometimes like to get away while I'm being snowed under. So it was good that most folks took the extra days off in between holidays which meant the office was pretty quiet - got lots of stuff done. Still with a few things to do tho, which is always nice, but not rushed off mah feet. And, well, that's really it! No gripes - ah-mazing! Yes, working for a company that can get its act together now and then can be pretty good - who knew?!

And then there was the weekend....... Felt more like they were a couple of nice, long weekends which has been totally swell for getting stuff done without having to rush home and kill myself in the evenings after work. And man, has there been lots to do - for such a small apartment with zero storage, who knew?! Have been buuuuusy with spot-painting, cleaning, packing - all the usual moving crap. It's great in a way tho - going through and throwing stuff out, giving stuff away - streamlining, tho there wasn't that much to streamline. In fact, I had to have a guy come pick up mah poor dead, not-even-four-years-old TV because, hell, who'd move a dead 42' plasma TV, an ooooold DVD player, a dead laptop battery, and a little portable DVD player?! There's more I could do but will wait til am in the new place to really have a look at what's left and toss or sell stuff - am in no rush or pain to hang on to some of the stuff... Hate to dump stuff that I could easily sell (now that I have the hang of this eBay business!)...... and the movers come Friday so don't want to make hasty decisions... Tho maybe that would be a good thing.....? Am determined not to collect crap just because I'll have more space! But yes, pulling everything out of the cupboards has been good and an education - who knew mice were so active in the outer reaches in back of the cupboards? I had no idea. Glad they didn't eat mah food - just the bottom of one of the crappy curtains that came with the little place and some Ziploc bags......

Oh yeah, and in between all the packing and cleaning fun the real estate had

an open house (or a "viewing" as the locals creepily put it) on Saturday morning, so I went to hide outside downstairs while folks tromped through mah little place, with boxes piled up as neat as I could get them..... They had something like 11 people through but only one real application has been submitted... The agency is reluctant to rent to the applicant tho, just because it's a husband and wife and their four year-old. HA! I personally don't see a problem with it.....! So they're going to have another open house tomorrow while I'm at work (eeeeeeeek!)..... Part of me wants to tell the real estate to drop dead and leave me alone until Monday when I hand them the keys back, but part of me says who cares and just hope someone rents it soon. Poor Kona - the little illegal stowaway. I'll just be happy when this is all over with!!!!!!

And really, that's about that. Busy getting stuff together for moving, cleaning, that's pretty much all it's been for about a week now. You haven't missed a thing!

Oh, wait - I know one thing - I bought my plane ticket to come visit! For some reason $2,000 magically, suddenly, dropped off the price so I totally had to buy it. Awesome! So, for folks who'll be around and available - I'll see you soon!!!!! Yay! But if we don't catch up, once I get that spare bed, c'mon down, stay in comfort - with no possums!

BYE!
J!

Work, Residency Applications and Moving - It's On!

Hi!

Well. Here we are! Veeeery late in checking in (good, plausible excuses to follow). But we're here now! Thankfully the weather has mellowed out a bit with the heat and humidity and things can actually get done without wanting to faint or melt. Whew! And I've noticed the birds have been extra chirpy lately, especially those crows..... See? I always knew it wasn't just me who didn't like the hot humid days! And all those storms they kept saying we were going to get throughout the season were never nearly as exciting as they predicted, which is kind of a bummer because those summer storms can be real rippers (as the locals say - means pretty awesome)!  But here we are, got the hip happenin' jazz tunes - honestly, what did the world do before internet radio and being able to listen to exactly what you wanted to, without commercials or shouting, vacuous DJs, for hours, days, weeks, etc on end?! Hooray for the interwebs and streaming radio stations! And for something different, I have a new beer Steamrail 'Ghost of Eyre' Pale Ale...... It's not bad, not nearly as good as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (hands-down my all-time favorite) but it's pretty drinkable. And just now looking it up, I discovered it's by one of the two major grocery store chains, Coles. Huh. Who knew they were getting into the craft brew business? Pretty clever if you ask me. And now most of the chores are done - laundry has just been brought in - thankfully bird poo-free! Things have been vacuumed with the awesomest vacuum ever... Yes, life is good!

So work. Yep. Is good. Still quiet but I always have stuff to be doing so am rarely staring into space. Still pretty cool to even have a real, permanent job! It's a relief more than anything, just knowing come contract renewal time they won't let me go - or the fact there'll never be a contract renewal time again! Cooool! And, how's this for cool and mind-bogglingly amazing - HR rallied the brain cells again and managed to get all my info to E&Y to hand in for my PR application - which was officially handed in at 4.42pm, Tuesday April 15th! Errrrrr, at least that's when I got the email from the migration agency......! Holy cow Batman, you could've knocked me over with a feather. So it's really in the system..........! Exciting! Now just have to wait for them (La Migra) to process it, which according to the really nice gals at E&Y, could take anywhere from 3-7 months........ So now the waiting begins.........! Eeeeeeeeeee! Exciting! Fingers crossed immigration like the sound of me sooooooo much that they fall over themselves to approve my application! And then I only need to have PR for a year until I'll be eligible to apply for citizenship..........! But for now, just have to wait while the application floats through their system............. So, I'll be damned, HR actually did two major things for me in as many weeks' time....... Does this mean I'll have to alter my opinion about the competency of one of the world's notoriously questionable corporate departments.....? Nah. It took them three and a half years to do what they were meant to do in Nov/Dec of 2010! So yes, work is good!

And then there were a fair few weekends in there...................... Hmmmmm. I know I had real good reasons for not checking in.... Let's see how far back I can remember..... Well, this past weekend I had intended to (I always intend to, it's outside factors that delay me!) but I got caught up sewing some clothes..... Apparently over the last year or so I've lost about ten pounds (oh my god, I know, I never thought I had it to lose either!), and about 4 pairs of my pants were pretty baggy, so I taught myself how to take them in - and they look pretty good! Good enough to wear in public anyways! And, bonus, I must've saved myself a hundred dollars if not more by not taking them to my seamstress lady. So come time to check in, I was well into it and to stop, well, I just knew I'd never get back to it. Yay for being productive! Look out New York Fashion Week! Otherwise that weekend was the usual chores and boring fluffing around.....

And the weekend before that.......... Nope...... Can't remember what I did the last two weekends before that........ Obviously not a lot but something exciting was happening Sunday evening to stop me from checking in.....! Apologies for not checking in. So much for that New Year's resolution. See? This is why I NEVER make New Year's resolutions. Maybe if I'd promised to check in once a month I'd probably check in every weekend! Sometimes tho I like to think I'm sparing you the dull tedium and repetitiveness that are my weekends........ Why tell the same dull story every weekend? Oh sure, I could go out every weekend and paint the town red, but until I get a raise and hire a maid...............

Say, that's a nice enough segue to my next topic - I'm MOVING! Yes - after six and a half years I am finally to be freed from the Palace and hopefully its curse - the folks who've lived here the longest have all died!!!!!!! It's all a bit sudden, yes. Basically, a two-bedroom apartment came available in the building right next door to mine (the building I can't help but look out of my windows at everyday because it's like right there) and seeing as I've paid the car off waaaaay early (in yer face Westpac bank!) and my job finally decided to adopt me permanently, I figured it was an opportunity I really would kick myself for not taking. It's a little more than what I'm paying now....... heh, who're we kidding, it's $170 more a week than what I pay here, and power isn't included there...... But it's just been painted (which, for a rental apartment here in Australia, is a big deal. They won't paint unless it looks like kids and animals have been crawling on the walls for 10 years), and they'll put in new carpet and blinds before I get there. Fresh and clean - not like how this place was the day I moved in with clumps of hair all over the carpet (and strips of gaffer tape holding sections of said carpet together), a filthy moldy toilet seat and boogers on the wall of the shower. Yeah, chicky babe (and her strange, hippie-who-rode-a-go-fast-motorcycle) who lived here before me were Class A Animals. Where this place is 70+ years old and very badly maintained, this new place is in fantastic shape, probably 20, 30 years old? I won't go on about it for now, but suffice to say am very excited. Sure the whole moving thing sucks, but the reward will hopefully be worth it. So I take the keys to the new place on the 1st of May and booked movers for the 2nd of May, and then I hand in the keys to the Palace that Monday the 5th and I'll be freeeeeee! A little broke, maybe, but freeeeeee!

So, needless to say, the packing has officially commenced. Thankfully, because of Jesus, we got this past Friday and tomorrow off for Easter (thank you Jesus!), so, plenty of time to think and get somewhat organized. So far I've done most of the little living room..... Washed and aired all the little throw rugs (probably won't need them where I'm going!), vacuumed up most of the (dead) spiders and their abandoned webs....... Yeah. There's a bit to do but I have the time do it (she says, optimistically). And then we get this coming Friday off for Anzac Day (it's like Memorial Day), so there're another three days....... Eeeeeeeeee - exciting! So, barring Optus (phone company) shutting my internet and telephone off before I told them to (May 5th), hopefully I'll be able to check in with the latest progress next weekend!

So there you have it. It's all go down thisaways! And just think - once the dust settles from the move and paying all the big mid-year bills (and buying mah plane ticket), you'll all have a normal, comfortable place to stay when you finally get down here! YAY! But don't rush, I don't have a bed for the guest room - yet! But get planning and come on down!

BYE!
J!