Saturday, December 24, 2005

A Jolly Good Start to the Long Weekend

It's currently a little after mid day on Christmas Eve. I've only had two hours sleep and I'm absolutley knackered. I should probably have a nap so I don't zonk out tonight, but there's just so much to do before the Big Day tomorrow. I'll just take a short break so I can finish this post.

The reason I'm so buggered, is that last night I went out with Christian and a bunch of people from his work. They had their Christmas bash yesterday (a yacht trip out to Rotto for the day - not too shabby if you ask me) and they decided to follow it up with a night out. One of the guys Nas, was flown over from Melbourne for the weekend as he is the man on the ground over there, and he was not yet aquainted with the exciting bustling night life of Perth (I'm sorry, did my sarcasm hit too hard?).

Anyway, the night's entertainment was an absolute disaster. We had gone to a club one of the guys recommended as a band he liked were playing. Little did we know, it was a Goth club and every freak under the sun was there (I will take a moment to digress here and clarify that I don't persoanlly have anything against Goths in general - just the ones who where at this club last night). For instance, I would have thought a grown woman walking around with a plastic baby with large jaggard cuts all over it's head, would be a one way ticket to a mental institution. But nooooo, it's considered the new 'in' thing.

So we left there shortly after midnight and wandered through Northbridge, playing 'spot the R33' and when we had bored Nas to tears, we took a run up to King's Park and climbed Jacob's Tower (a DNA like structure that gives a wonderful view of our quaint little city). We chatted for a bit and the guys got absolutely pissed before we dropped everyone back home.

I had an absolutely fantastic time. Why? I hear you ask. Good question. It all comes back to the flirt in me. I had just spent an evening with 5 of the sexiest guys in all of Perth. I had trouble keeping the drool off my chin all night. It was extremely fun, especially when you're the only chick in the group. I always have lots of fun with one of the guys in particular because we spend the whole night baiting each other and giving the other as much shit as we can.

Anyway, Christian and I got home about 5ish in the morning and by the time we finally got to bed and then to sleep, it was almost time to wake up.

I'll give you a trip I learned today. When you don't really want to wake up after only a few hours sleep, go and get your legs waxed. I tell you, when the beauty therapist yanked that first strip off, I was as wide awake as I'm ever gonna be.

Enough of my rambling (I do apologise for the disjointed style). Take care guys and once again, have a wonderful Chrissy.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Merry Christmas everyone!

I'm assuming that over the next few days we won't succeed much in getting the whole gang together at once, so I'm just wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas now.

*Warning - soppy stuff ahead*

I never imagined that I would ever meet such a fun, friendly, intelligent, hilarious, affectionate, all-round wonderful bunch of people and I am looking forward to meeting you all so very much.
Thanks for keeping my entertained this last year. I feel very honoured to be part of our little fraternity!

*soppy part over*

So remember to be good children or else Santa won't visit you!
Boo, enjoy the pressie I sent you.
Mort, don't get so drunk that you sleep with everyone, be selective!
Chary, let your hair down and have fun.
Acci and Smerk, try to enjoy the day, you may not be together in the flesh, but I'm sure you'll be together in spirit.
Iri, don't be disappointed when Santa doesn't bring you a scantily clad Boo for Christmas!

Have a fun day filled with laughter guys.
*hugs and kisses*

Monday, December 19, 2005

Late night chats

Last night Boo and I had another proper chat on the phone. Actually, it was late last night for me and early afternoon for her, but I digress.

We met up on MoH forum and then got onto msn where we proceeded to attempt an audio chat via there. Unfortuantely, Boo either doesn't have a sound card or her pc doesn't recognise it, so we couldn't actually chat through msn, but I did get video from her web cam. I phoned then, as it's just easier chatting on the phone than typing and we had a nice long conversation.

Just over four hours.

I worry that everyone else at the sleepover won't be able to get a word in with us about! But we had loads of fun again and it really hammered it home that we get along like a house on fire. I finally found my own web cam and when Christian got home, he installed the software again and so we eventually had live video footage of us both sitting in front of our computers with our phones glued to our ears.

We talked about many, many things but I must say, not too much about May. I thought that that would be all we'd talk about but we broadened our horizons quite a bit. Maybe it was easier to talk of everyday issues because we could actually see each other and had a better understanding of each other, or maybe we are just getting to know each other better and better.

We both got glimses of 'The Hubbies' but as both are quiet and shy, they didn't really emerge from the background much, but we did shout hello to Matt and Christian.

So, we are both getting ridiculously excited about meeting each other and you will probably find us almost unbearable over the next couple of months, but that's just your tough luck ;-)

I'm sure we'll have many more long phone chats, but I must say, I just hope Christian is in a loving mood when he gets the phone bill!

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Domestic Goddess

Today has been spent getting most of my Christmas baking out of the way.
This year, instead of buying ridiculously expensive presents for my friends, I'm going to make them all individual hampers, as we are saving for a house deposit and every dollar counts (I'm not being a grinch, honest). Also, I'm making icecream for dessert on Christmas day, so I'm right into the baking at the moment (I just hope my hips don't enjoy it as much...).
Anyway, I thought I'd share some of my recipes with you all, since I'm sure you're all very interested in them (at least you can pretend to be interested...)

1. Cookie and Cream icecream

600ml cream
1 cup condensed milk
vanilla
I packet chocolate biscuits

Whip cream, condensed milk and vanilla for approx 10 minutes with electric beater, or until thick and creamy. Mix in roughly chopped biscuits and transfer to a suitable container (an old plastic icecream container is good). Freeze overnight.

Note - before serving, allow to soften for five minutes as I broke a spoon the first time I made this. It gets very hard.

2. Chocolate balls ( I know what you're thinking Boo, but please try and keep your mind out of the gutter)

1 packet plain biscuits (I used Nice biscuits but non-aussies won't know what they are)
I can condensed milk
3 tablespoons of coccoa
1/2 cup descicated coconut
extra coconut for rolling

Mix dry ingredients together. Add condensed milk and mix. Form into small balls, roll in coconut and chill in fridge or freezer.

3. Almond Biscotti

3 and 3/4 cups self raising (all purpose) flour
2 cups sugar
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
4 large eggs
1 t vanilla
1/4 t almond extract
1 and 2/3 whole blanched almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

Mix dry ingredients. Whisk eggs, vanilla and almond extracts and add to dry indredients, forming into a dough (you may need to add a T of milk to mix properly). Add almonds and knead several times. Divide into forths and form into logs. Place on greased and floured trays and bake for 35 minutes at 180C. Cut into segments and bake 7mins either side or until slightly brown. Cool and store in an sirtight container.

I would give you the recipe for my Nana's famous German Shortbread biscuits, but then she would come back from the grave to kill me. So, I won't risk it.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Public Toilet Enemies

My sisters took me out today as my car was in for a service and apart from running me to my chiropractor, we also braved a major shopping centre.

Now, a little backstory here, just to bring you all up to speed. I used to be a very polite person. Even if someone was horrendously rude to me, I wouldn't say anything. That all changed however when I became an aunty. You see, as an aunty, I began to frequent baby change rooms while we were out, at shopping centres and restaurants. Now, if there is one thing that shits me more than anything else, it's people who use the toilets in baby changes when they don't have kids. I have many a time stood outside a locked toilet door, pram next to me loaded with baby, shopping and a stuffed nappy bag, older neice in hand as she hops from one foot to the other, trying not to pee her pants. Eventually the door opens, and out steps an adult woman, who is incapable of following the clearly marked signs to the ladies room.
*grrrrrrrr*
The nerve of some people! Do they think that if we could fit a pram into any other cubicle, that we would not do it??? There is a kiddie toilet for a reason!

Anyway, I got so fed up with this practise, that I've started commenting, loudly. It's usually along the lines of "Gee, don't you hate it when inconsiderate people use the kiddie toilet when they don't have kids?"

Anyway, to cut a long story short, this occurred today and I had a shouting match with a lady who happened to work at the centre. She justified using the kiddie toilet because apparently there was a queue at the other ones and she had to get back to work. In the end she walked out before I could threaten to throw urine soaked knickers at her as my neice is still toilet training.

Anyway, there's no real point to this. I just wanted to gripe.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Back to the garden

This weekend I had planned to spend in my garden. Christian had abandoned me in favour of a nerd gathering (LAN) and I was going to be by myself Friday night and all day Saturday. Perfect for getting stuff done that I've been putting off for a couple of weeks.

So I got home from work on Friday and went over to visit my mum. My sister and her kids were staying there for the night as her hubby was also attending the nerd gathering. We had a lot of fun, the kids are always a laugh. My cousin and his wife called in briefly as they were leaving for Thailand Saturday morning to pick up their new baby boy! (adoption was finally approved) so all in all it was a nice family evening.

Saturday morning and I attack my backyard. I won't bore you with the details but let's just say I discovered some paving that hadn't seen daylight in several years. Christian got home very late and I went to bed early as I was absolutely buggered.

I woke up ridiculously early this morning and went down the hill to Bunnings to get some plants. I returned home with three roses and a couple of pots of potted colour. I dug some nice big holes for my new roses and was just soaking them when I felt it. The twinge in my back. Oh, it's nothing I thought. Wrong! How could I be so stupid as to ignore it and keep going? I had just finished planting the potted colours and had to stop. Several minutes later I could hardly walk. So I ended up in bed praying that tomorrow I'll get in to see my chiro.

Sigh. So now I'm in immense pain and I have three roses sitting outside waiting to be planted. I can almost hear their mournful sighs upon the wind...

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Dilemmas, dilemmas

I have a friend at the moment who has split up with his wife in the last couple of months.

Problem is, I'm not really supposed to know about it. This guy (who I won't name because there's a chance people who know him may read this, I'll call him Bill) is a really good friend of my husband and I. Christian has known him since the beginning of high school and I met him through Christian.

Bill and his wife have been together for years (almost as long as Christian and I have been) and no one really had any idea what was going on. Unfortunately due to distances between where we live, we don't see him very often so we mainly catch up on the internet or via sms. A while ago Christian started to get a bit worried as Bill wasn't rerurning calls or texting back. Another friend (well call him Fred) went to see Bill and was told all about the breakup. Bill was in a really bad state and Fred was really worried, so he went to Christian for advice.

Now, we can debate over the moral issues of Fred telling Christian this for hours, but Fred was really worried and he really thought this was in Bill's best interests so I'm not going to discuss it any further.

Christian and Fred took Bill out for the day to cheer him up but it didn't really work and he seems to be getting really bad. We had a phonecall from Fred last night and he was saying that Bill had called him, really drunk and saying he wanted to just end it all and he couldn't live without his wife.

Now, I am really worried too and I wanted Christian to call Bill and make sure he's ok, but Christian says that he can't, because officially he doesn't know about it. I sent Bill an sms asking him to come over for Christmas but haven't heard anything back yet.

I just don't know what to do. Should we respect Bill's privacy and his wish for no one to know, or should I go bang down his door and make sure he's ok. I just don't want him doing anything silly and I also want him to know that there are people who love him and are thinking about him.

*sigh*

I know I'll end up respecting his wishes and will stay quiet, but I don't know if that's the right thing to do. I don't want to look back in hindsight after something terrible has happened and think 'Maybe I could have made a difference'.

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Phone calls, comedies and Christmas shopping.

Last night, just after 10pm, I phoned Boo for the very fisrt time. We were so excited that we were actually going to be talking properly, I had been looking forward to it all day.

The first thing she said to me was 'God, you're Australian!' and I thought she sounded so sophisticated and grown up with her Scottish accent. It was rather weird to finally be talking instead of typing, but we had so much fun. We both thought we were exactly like we were on the MoH forum and just know that we're going to have an absoulte blast when we meet next May.

We spoke for about two and a half hours but it seemed to fly by. We have so much in common, from how fast we read books, opinions and ideas for the trip, to the intelligence and stubborness of our husbands. I really feel like I've known Boo for years.

When we finally stopped chatting (I think she's come to realise just how much I actually talk), I went to bed, nursing sore ears from holding the phone for so long.

Of course, I didn't sleep in this morning, being a day off and not having to get up for any reason in particular. So I spent the morning cleaning and doing washing (oh hurrah hurrah, the fun never stops around here!) and then went out with Christian this arvo so he could buy another game for the DS I gave to him as an early Christmas present.

We went out to a shopping centre called Carousel. It's in Cannington, which is about 40 plus km's from our house and we were regretting it from right about the time we entered the carpark. I've finished all my Christmas shopping and so was a little naive of the fact that every single person in Perth would be descending upon this one centre, this particular afternoon to do their own Christmas shopping. It took us half an hour to find a parking spot and it was that far away from the entrance that it took us about half an hour to walk there.

Christian traded some of his PS2 games for a new DS game and I finally got around to buying a copy of Love Actually. We watched it when we got home and I laughed and bawled my eyes out throughout the whole movie. I love that film. I must admit I have a bit of a soft spot for romantic comedies. Most of the movies I watch are sci-fi's or fantasy, or martial arts movies, but I don't mind a bit of Hugh Grant once in a while.

And that's been my Saturday so far.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Restaurant brawls

I would like to get your opinion on something that happened last night when my sister's and I went out to dinner.

For this story to make sense you will need to know that a. Jo is my older sister and she has a daughter who is almost 6 b. Barb is my younger sister, Mike is her husband and they have three kids, a 3 yr old, 18 months and 8 weeks c. for those of you who don't know, Christian is my husband.

Right, so I got home last night after work and Barb phones and asks if we want to go out to dinner with them to a place called Sizzler. It's an all you can eat salad bar place where you can get steak and seafood as well. We say yes and shortly afterwards we leave (as we live the furtherest away).

Christian and I arrive and the other's aren't there yet. Now, at Sizzler, you can't book a table but have to wait in line. They ask that you wait until all of your dining companions are there before you line up so we wait outside. Jo and her daughter turn up and still we waiBart outside. Finally Barb and Mike turn up and line up. The baby's nappy needs to be changed, so instead of pushing through the line of people to use the babychange in the restaurant, Barb and Mike go out to the car to change the bub. Meanwhile a group of people turn up and line up behind us.

Following so far? Good.

Barb and Mike finishing changing the baby and come back inside. A woman in the group behind us have a whinge that Barb and Mike shouldn't be allowed to join our group as they will be cutting in the line. Instead of arguing, they agree, reasoning that they did leave the line so it's only fair (when we got to the till to order, they would have been asked to come forward anyway as your whole table has to order at once). Ten minutes pass (it was a long line in front of us) and two people turn up, push past the long line behind us and join the loud mouthed woman's group. So they had just done what they had been whinging about.

Well, Barb and Mike thought 'Bugger them, they just had people cut in so we're joining the rest of our group'. Mrs Loudmouth chucks the biggest stink and starts yelling "NO! How dare you, that's pushing in!" To which Barb replies "You just had people push in front of us, I don't see how that's different." Loudmouth then shouts (and I mean shout for the whole place to hear) "They have been waiting outside having a smoke, they've been here the whole time!". At this point my older sister steps in "How is it different? My sister was changing her son's nappy, in the car, but she's been here the whole time too." Anyway, they argue back and forth some more and finally they drop it.

Then Loudmouth pushed past us and goes to speak to the manager. Well, to make a long story short, her group gets jumped in front of the six groups who have been waiting longer, immediately get a table and get their meals for free.

IS IT JUST ME OR IS THAT THE BIGGEST INJUSTICE EVER IN THE HISTORY OF EATING OUT???

I was soooo mad! The only difference between us was, as Christian points out, one was us and the other was them. To them, they felt injusticed, where I believe we were in the right! Grrr, I'm seething just thinking about it now.

Anyway, I'd like to know if you guys agree with me or not. Maybe I'm over- reacting or maybe I'm just right!

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Thunderstorms and early mornings

It's very early on Sunday morning here.

For some reason, my brain, acting completely independantly from the rest of my body, decided to wake up this morning at 5:30. I fought this and I fought it hard. I managed to stay in bed for another hour (it is Sunday for Christsake!). I lost the war however and here I am. I've showered, had breakfast, wrapped several Christmas presents and started a blog entry all before 7:30.

I always find that on my days off, I can never sleep in, no matter how hard I try. When I have to get up and go to work however, I could easily stay in bed until 10am. *sigh* The universe can be cruel.

Anyway, last night we had a truly delightful thunderstorm. All day it had been extremely windy, enough to bring down several trees in the neighbourhood. It was supposed to be hot but here in the hills, it was pleasantly cool. I was told that down the hill (as us hillbillies refer to suburbia down on the flats) it was rather humid and uncomfortable.

About 6ish, Christian and I went to visit my sister who lives in the foothills. We were all watching a movie when the storm started with loud bangs of thunder and lightning that really did make night turn into day for a split second. My neice (my other sister's daughter who was staying the night with Barb's kids) is terrified of thunder so she was huddled up on the couch with my brother-in-law so tight that she could have been sitting under him. Barb and I decided to go outside and watch the storm from the verandah as we both love thunderstorms. Well, you should have seen us jump a mile in the air and both pissbolt inside after the loudest clap of thunder you could possibly imagine. It must have been right overhead and it sent vibrations through my chest, as if I was standing next to a speaker at a rock concert. When we got inside my neice was howling, the dog was shaking in a corner, the baby looked shell shocked and Barb and I were pissing ourselves laughing.

The storm continued for quite a while and Christian and I had quite a show as we were driving home. We went the back way home up Red Hill and the view was amazing. There was lightning all around us almost constantly but directly above us was a huge hole in the clouds which allowed the brightest stars to twinkle away. It was like there was a big dounut in the sky iced with lightning strikes!

The storm has passed now, leaving the sun shining and a warm day ahead of us (around 30C or so) which should give us a beautiful day for a bbq down by the river.

P.S. While I was writing this, I had an msn chat with my brother-in-law as he has been up with the kids since 5am. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one awake so early on a Sunday morning!

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Memorable quotes

One of the things I love to do is watch movies and certain tv shows. I get hooked on something and I go nuts about it. For instance, I'll start watching a certain show (usually we've downloaded the whole series) and I will just spend a week or two watching it from beginning to end. Firefly, Jeremiah, Stargate, Rescue Me, are all exmples. Or, well go and see the same movie three times in the one day. Each boxing day, for three years running, was spent watching LOTR. We're nerds - whatcha gonna do?

Now, as if that's not bad enough, my husband and I and most of our friends will regularly use quotes from certain movies and shows during everyday conversation. Pretty sad huh?

Anyway, withour further ado, this is a list of some of my favorite, and more commonly used quotes.

'Shut up, that's why!' Simpsons

'I am already in my pyjamas' Futurama

'But I'm hungry Tony!' Father Ted

'Where you going? Fucking nowhere!' Boondock Saints

'No Neo, I am not your Mother' Computer Boy

'Milk goes off you know, unless it's UHT milk, but ther's no demand for that because it's shite' Father Ted

'Hail to the king baby' Army of Darkness

'Oh, my God. What can it be? We're all doomed! Who's flying this thing? Oh, right, that would be me. Back to work.' Firefly

'I hope you diplomatically told him where to shove it' Stargate SG1

'You know, you blow up one sun and suddenly everyone expects you to walk on water.' Stargate SG1

There's so many more but I don't want you to get bored and run away, so I'll leave it at that.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

High School Reunion

Hmmm, I've had an email forwarded to me from Christian's cousin that included a link to a friends reunited site. A girl I went to high school with is trying to organise a reunion for next year (the big 10 year event).

My first thought was, wow, I really want to go. But then I think back on my final year in high school and wonder if I really want to go back. In some regards, it was one of the worst years of my life.

*lights fade, everything gets blury and we enter a hollywood flashback*

Year 12 was a year when several major things happened in my life.

First of all, we had a new girl start at our school, we'll call her 'Bek'. Bek and I were in the same tute so I befriended her on her first day (as I have a habit of doing). I hung out with quite a large group of people but had two principle friends, lets call them 'Vanessa' and 'Ngaire'. So, everything was going along smoothly for a while, until one night I had a party at my house.

This is where the best thing in the world happened to me. I met Christian (have I mentioned we were high school sweethearts?). Christian was my first boyfriend and I his first girlfriend. He's quite the hottie, and several girls were after him. But it was me who snagged him *yay!.
Anyway, one of the girls who was after him was none other than Bek, who had, in such a short time, already developed a reputation as a trollop. Need I say more? I'm sure you can all see where this is going.

So, I won't bother you with all the details of this teen drama. All you need to know is that on a school camp, I was asked by almost everyone there, "When did Chrsitian and Bek get together? We thought you were going out with him?". I was devestated, and we almost broke up over the whole saga.
I will clear up one point though, Christian was an innocent victim in all of this, and when I say innocent, I mean innocent. Bek was flirting outrageously with him, but Christian couldn't see it. All he was doing was being friendly back. It just didn't look that way to everyone else.

Ok, so, Chrsitian and I are on rocky ground but we manage to keep it all together. I've severed ties with Bek. But then there's a twist in the story that I didn't see coming. My two best friends, Vanessa and Ngaire, decide that they agree with Bek and want nothing to do with me.

I had a revelation that day. Females are bitches. And so, from then on, it was just me and the boys. Ever since then, I've had almost exclusively male friends (apart from my sisters, but as family, they don't count). And I'm much happier for it.

*teeny boppy music starts to play as Christian and I walk into the sunset. The credits roll, the lights come up and you leave the cinema*

So, where was I? That's right. School reunion.

Ok, do I really want to have a gathering with the very people who treated me like such dirt? I don't know. I know that Christian refuses to go. Do I want to go alone? I could go with my Brother-in-law, Christian's best friend from high school who conveniently married my sister? I think I'll just wait and see if the reunion even goes ahead.

Right, so thats that. I would like to point out that I do have some female friends now. I didn't for many years but I've since discovered that although all women can be bitchy, they're not all bitches. And most of the chicks I know are also 'one of the boys', so we have lots in common.
Also, half of the people I talk to on an almost daily basis at MoH are chicks and we all get along like a house on fire. So, I have changed my tune a little since high school.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Some days

Can anyone else feel when the day's atmosphere changes?

I don't mean as in atmospheric pressure or anything like that, but the feeling of the day. Does anyone even know what I'm talking about? Or are you all shrugging and giving me weird looks like my husband does.

Sometimes, something will happen and the day will just feel different. For instance, Christian and I were shopping at a hardware store a while back and we walked outside to the garden section and were looking at plants. Some clouds passed in front of the sun and it went a little bit cold and then the sun started shining again and day felt different, almost uncomfortable.

I just can't explain it, how I know it feels.

Ok, I'll try it this way. Do you ever associate certain feelings with certain songs or memories? When we we kids, I remember getting an odd feeling about some Sundays. It always happened on a Sunday, Mum would be cooking corned silverside, it would be quite a warm day and Dad would be watching the AFL. I would wander around the house with an almost nauseus feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's much the same feeling.

Or there are some songs, usually songs from the eighties, that make me feel like that too. Like the Dire Straits song, Money for Nothing. The beginning of that makes me feel a bit depressed and a bit sick.

Anyway, it's probably just me. As I've said before, I'm a bit odd.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Ouch :-(

Some things in life, we take for granted.

For instance, I took for granted the fact that my sunscreen would not have expired since the last time I used it. Alas, this was not the case.

And so, I am now officially a lobster (in colour and texture, but I probably don't taste like one...although don't they say that women taste a bit fishy...ok, I'm going to shut up now.)

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Fun anyone?

I'm scratched, bleeding and feel like I've been beaten with a very big, very dirty, stick.

No, I haven't gone head to head with a T-Rex, I've been gardening (sorry to disappoint my adoring fans).

How fun. Now, I must state here that I'm not a huge fan of gardening. And I'm not talking about gardening as in the fire-break sense (where you just go berserk with the old whipper snipper), I'm talking about the gardening where you rage a day long battle against weeds and tap roots, fighting valiantly against grass seeds and millipedes just to be beaten at the end by those bloody snails!

We have a bricked in area that extendeds about four meters out from the front door and most of that is an over-choked garden full of spiky natives, wild roses and my arch nemesis - the spider plant. I decided this morning that there were too many plants and that over half of them had to go. And so I set to work, digging and pulling and swearing and sweating and cursing. It was very ladylike of me!

And so, as the sun set over a pink horizon, I stood back to admire my handiwork. Unfortunately, the heap of torn and discarded plants that I had piled on the verandah was about three meters high and I couldn't see my handiwork, which was a little disappointing, but I'm sure I'll get over it.

And so, I retired to a hot shower, letting the soap painfully cleanse my gaping wounds and wash away the stink of battle, until tomorrow, when the war continues.

Monday, November 07, 2005

International Sleepover

Isn't it funny how the smallest thing can lead to a split-second decision that involves something big? For example, Boo and I talking on MoH forum about what we'd do if we had a sleepover (watching horror movies, making brownies) and suddenly we've decided that next year I'm going to visit her in Scotland.

I am so excited!

I have always wanted to visit the UK (Christian went years ago with his Mum and he loved the place) and I thought to myself, hey why not go? What do you have to lose? If you don't go now, you'll end up having kids and then never going and wondering for the rest of your life what it's like.

So, in the space of a heartbeat, it's settled. I'll book holidays this week and then we'll see if Boo can get holidays and make sure it's ok with Matt.

I'm also a little scared. What if they don't like me? What if they find my accent annoying and that I'm too loud and too rude and too fat and just too much in general. I'd hate to go for a week and then spend it feeling uncomfortable...

Now I'm just worrying. I'm like that. I'm sure it will be fine. We'll have a few chats on the phone, I'm sure it will go well. I'm sure we'll have a ball.

Did I mention I am so excited!

Friday, November 04, 2005

Strange attractions

I spent an enjoyable evening last night watching several episodes of 'Jeremiah'. For those of you who don't know, it's a show starring 'tv's Luke Perry' and is set in the future after a manufactured disease kills all the adults and leaves the kids to fend for themselves. 15 years after the 'big death' Jeremiah (Luke Perry) is on the road, drifting from town to town, searching for a refernce to 'Valhalla Sector' which may hold a clue to what happened to his Father the last time he saw him alive.

It's very enjoyable, not just because of the great storylines, but because I got to have a great perv too. Not Luke Perry (you sicko's!) but an actor called Peter Sebbings. For those of you who like Stargate, you'll know him as Malek, the Tok'ra dude.

So, I'm enjoying the 'scenery' and it hit me that I have the oddest sense of what makes a guy hot. I mean, all the men I find attractive, aren't attractive in the 'hollywood' sense but are a little left of centre. Stebbings is quite angular, and so is Christian Bale (yummy), then there's Richard Dean Anderson (not when he was young and in MacGyver but as he is now), and then we come in my husband who is so skinny that his hip bones rival those of Kate Moss.

Maybe it's the fact that all of these men have especially delicious necks (I swear I'm not a vampire...) and also nice arms (especailly Christian - husband not batman). I don't know. They're hot, that's all you need to know!

I suppose I should finish this post now before I start telling you of the women I think are hot and getting the boys all excited!

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Me, myself and I

I've been feeling a little bit odd lately. Hubby has been working nights so I've been by myself at home, a little depressed I must add, not even logging on to MoH to chat with the guys there.
Not too sure why, I just get like this sometimes when I just prefer my own company. So I've read a couple of books, soaked for hours in a hot bath, caught up on some tv shows that I haven't seen in forever, and had a few early nights.

One reason I might have been feeling down is that on Tuesday, it was the 9 year anniversary of the death of a friend. I can't believe it's really been 9 years but the calander says otherwise.
I felt bad that Christian had to work and was by himself on Tuesday, because he was with Rob when he was killed in a hit and run. They were best mates and I worry that Christian is still hurting. He's the typical male, never tells you if he needs to talk about anything, so I naturally worry that he's keeping all his feelings bottled up. I guess that makes me a typical woman then.

Maybe I should suggest he start a blog so he can express all his pent up anger and sorrow?

Oh, look, a flying pig.

Monday, October 31, 2005

Firestorm

We spent the last weekend of October preparing for the bushfire season that is almost upon us once again. We concentrated on our firebreaks and clearing the long grass that has sprung up with the unusually long rains. It can take quite a lot of your spare time to get them done in time for the December 1 deadline, so we made sure we started early this year.

In the 15 years I've lived in my beautiful hills, I've learned some important rules to surviving the bushfire season.

1. Be prepared. Firebreaks needs to be done, extra long hose and retic in good condition, gutters cleared of dried leaves, full supply of buckets on hand.

A lot of people think that this area is too built-up for a bushfire to reach us. They'd be wrong. You can never be too prepared.

2. Know you're evacuation routes.

There have only been two times that I've ever been on evac alert or actually evacuated. The first time was when I was 13 and the 50 acres of crown land went up across the road from my Mum's house. It took less than four minutes for the flames to be licking at the tree tops in our front yard and a minute later, we passed the fire brigade as we were pulling out of the driveway.

The second time was last year. There was a fire near Mundaring Weir and about eleven towns went on evacuation alert. FESA (Fire and Emergency Services Authority) warned that this was a wild fire, and when the wind finally made up it's mind which way it would turn, the fire would come. It would come hot and fast and there would be no stopping it. The 30kms between us and the fire would be eaten away in a matter of hours.
We had a plan though. If it came from the south, we would head north on Stoneville Rd towards Gidgegannup. If it came east, we would head west on Richardson towards Parkerville and if it came west, we would take Riley and go to my Mum's house in Mount Helena.

Always have at least three routes in mind, because the wind can change in an instant.

3. Memorise the FESA hotline number.

1300 657 209. One call and you have the relevant info to help you decide if you're going to stay or go.

4. Know in advance if you're going to stay, or go.

They say that in about 90% of cases where residents stay to fight the fire, they save their homes. But this isn't always the safest thing to do. It all depends on the circumstances. If you're prepared, have no children or animals, then you have a good chance of saving the house. But if you have to evacuate children and animals, it's better to go and if you're going to go, you need to go early.

I always have a box of my most treasured possessions by the door. It stays there the entire season. Photos, birth and marriage certificates, keepsakes. Things that can't be replaced. Last year when I was checking the house to make sure that I had everything I needed, I realised just exactly what was important to me. The dvd collection I had spent thousands on, could be replaced. Clothes can be bought or borrowed. Computers aren't all that important anyway. If I could save any five items, what would they be? I don't have to think about that, because they're already in the box.

If you decide to go, grab the box from the front door, turn on the retic on the way out, load the dogs in the car and follow rule number 5.

5. Don't look back.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Sparky

At work we have a customer comment form called a Spark Award. If customers are happy with their 'experience' they can fill out a form that says lots of nice stuff about the teller who served them. I have been with the bank for just under three months now and I have already received two of these (apparently it's quite rare to get them as most customers are happy to complain but don't make the effort often to congratulate someone on a job well done). The bank then gives us a scratchy ticket (lotto thingy) as a reward.

I think the next time the witch who complained about me comes in, I'm going to shove my Spark awards up her arse.

Friday, October 28, 2005

The bane of my existance

Right, so this is a list of some of the things that really set my teeth on edge.

* Drivers who have no idea about traffic laws. These are the charming folks who have no idea how to indicate at a roundabout, tailgaters, people who pull into your safe following distance on a rainy day and the idiots who have yet to grasp the concept of a turning lane.

*Customers (as you have no doubt guessed from previous posts). Need I say more?

*Rude people in gerneral. Manners never hurt anyone and is it really that hard to say please and thankyou?

*Commercial breaks in the last ten laps of the F1 grand prix

*The Australian cricket team (bunch of poor winners and sore losers)

*The fact that I have to change the date and time to local everytime I post on here and the fact that I forget most of the time.

The list goes on and I won't bore you with the rest.

I'll save that for another day:)

Odd fact about me.

Did you know that my right breast is bigger than my left one. Weird huh?

Thursday, October 27, 2005

These are some of my favourite things...

Things that make life worth living.

*My husband. He is above all, my best friend and I love him so much that I hope I die first, as I couldn't bear to live without him.

*My sister's. I talk to them almost everyday and see them several times a week. The perks of seeing them so much, is I get to see my neices and nephews lots, and I get to catch up with my best friends (apart from hubby)

*Museum of Hoaxes Forum. I joined at the beginning of this year but it feels like I've known the guys there for years. We have so much fun there, especially as we all have the same sense of humour and dirty minds.

*Books. I love to read, especially fantasy. I can sit for hours at a time, getting lost in some other world. Fave authors are Terry Goodkind, Robin Hobb, J K Rowling, Dianna Wynn Jones, Lian Hearn.

*Cars. I'm a bit of a rev-head I must admit but I'm not into pansy V-8's. I love suped up four cylinders, especially Toyotas. I love going to watch Chrsitian drive in a karna-cross or when he goes to the drags. I also love watching Initial D, a japanese anime about a guy who owns an AE86

*Flirting. You may not believe me, but I used to be a very shy, innocent girl. Not anymore though. I just can't help it. I have to flirt. I think it's because I don't have many female friends and I'm just used to being around the guys all the time. I guess it does help that a lot of my male friends are hot.

*Movies. We've never been big on going out to pubs and clubs, but we do go to the movies a lot. Fave three movies of all time are Equilibrium, Boondock Saints and LOTR trilogy.

Tomorrow - what pisses me off.

I hate customers Part 2

The witch who had a go at me yesterday made a formal complaint about me today. Cow. I am lucky though as my manager is a lovely woman who, when told the bank was going to send the witch a $20 give voucher as an apology, said "I'm not giving her jack. She's always a nasty bitch when she comes in and she's not getting anything".

I love where I work!

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

I hate customers.

Unfortunately for me, customers are part of my job. And most of the time, I deal with idiots who can't do their banking over the phone or on the internet and need help.
I had a woman come in today who I had served once before. I had pissed her off then because I asked for ID before I gave her any info on her account (as per bank policy) and she was rude the second I started serving her. She wanted to make a credit card payment but she hadn't a. filled in a deposit slip b. didn't have her card on her and c. didn't know her card number. So I looked her up in the system to find her details and started filling in the slip for her while she literally threw a wad of money on the counter. I asked her how much she was depositing and she told me "to count it as that's my job". I didn't even bother arguing that we have to know the amount first so we can check it and I did the transaction. Then she wanted me to tell her the account balance. I asked her for ID (we'll take money from anyone but will only give info on the account to the actual account owner) and she threw that at me too. I then told her the balance (as requested), gave her the receipt and she walked off, just to turn around and come storming back up to the counter. "You didn't write the balance on the receipt! Start doing your job!" She almost screamed. I replied that she had only asked for me to tell her the balance and it wasn't usual for us to record the balance unless we were asked to do it. To that she replied "Don't argue with me. Do your fucking job or I'm going to make a complaint about you. Stop your fucking whinging"
Let's just say that if I had access to a spoon, I would have slowly dug out her heart and eaten it while it was still beating.
I take solace in the fact that she will die a pathetic, sad, lonely old woman.
That is all.

Two months till Chrsitmas!

Hurrah! Christmas is just around the corner!
I know many will roll their eyes and say in a scathing voice 'Thanks for reminding us. We just can't wait for Christmas to come, so it can be over and done with for another year'.
This attitude I just don't get. I love Christmas with a passion. Not the whole religious aspect, coz I'm an athiest, but the whole hustle and bustle and family get togethers and buying presents for people. It's just so much fun. Although I must admit that the lead up to the actual day is more fun than Christmas day itself. The day seems to fly by but the weeks leading up to the day drag by so I get to enjoy them.
My family have a traditional routine we follow over the holiday. On Christmas eve we go into Perth to King's Park and have pizza for dinner and let the various kids (neices and nephews) have a play. Then after dark we'll drive through the city so the kids can see all the decorations and lights before we head to one of the houses in the suburbs that are all decorated so the kids can have a looksie.
Christmas morning we go to my Mum's house for breakfast and then head out to the in-laws for lunch. Christmas night is usually spent at either my house or my sister's and we make sure we have all our friends over for a big party.
Not too elaborate but we always have so much fun. Family is so important to me, I couldn't get through a single day without talking to one of my sisters, or getting a big hug and sloppy kiss from a neice. I just can't wait to start my own family.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Watch out world, I'm loose.

I woke up this morning feeling irritable. No idea why. For those of you who know me, an irritable me isn't good. So, in the spirit of world peace, I tried to rid the feeling of perpetual annoyance. I went to the gym (which is a good half hour from my house) and tried to sweat it out and it seemed to have worked, so I decided to call in at my sister's house on the way home to say hello. She wasn't home! Now I know this isn't my sister's fault. She had no idea I was going to lob in on her that morning. But dammit, that didn't stop me feeling irritable again!
So I've come home, thoroughly pissed my husband off and am now sulking in the study. Hubby has no idea what is wrong with me, as he has only gotten "Nothing!" snapped back at him when he's asked what's wrong.
I just think it's so ironic that I can sit here, understand that I'm irritable for no good reason and shouldn't take it out on the world, but still want to yell and scream and curse until someone fixes my non-existant complaint.
Maybe it's premature pms, maybe it's stress, maybe it's just coz I'm a woman. I don't know what's wrong but I tell ya, I wish I had a few spare dishes to break at the moment.

Friday, October 21, 2005

My first post.

Right. So, I guess I should write something for my first post I guess.
I decided to start a blog because I had nothing better to do really. And I tend to talk a lot and my husband probably gets sick of listening so this gives me a way to vent!
I know next to nothing about how to use a computer (apart from email, surfing the net and other basics) so this will probably be a really basic layout.

So, what did I do today in my highly exciting life? Went to work, came home, made blog. Right. Well, it's a start I guess. A start of what exactly, I don't know, but it's the start of something.

Getting to know me

Rightio chaps, now that I've had a bit of a chance to get my head around this whole thing, I suppose I should tell you a little bit about me.
Let's see, I'm married, I live in the most beautiful place in the whole world, Perth WA. I'm a bit of a nerd, but not the computer type. I love reading fantasy novels (Terry Goodkind, Robin Hobb etc), favourtie TV shows are Father Ted (as all FT fans can tell by my blog title), Stargate and Atlantis, Firefly, Eyes, the list goes on really.
My fave website is Museum of Hoaxes (*hugs* to all you guys there)
I like Formula 1 and cricket.
Um, what else.
Oh, I look all sweet and innocent but I'm not. I have a really dirty mind and laugh at the worst jokes.
That's probably enough for now I guess. Don't want to scare you off already.