When No means 'No, I do not want another piece of fucking cake!'

Ok guys, Mum and I came home five days early from our trip as it was one disaster after another and I had just had enough.
The day I left Edinburgh I had started to get a sore throat and I just got sicker and sicker as the days passed, making me feel miserable enough as it was without the numerous other incidents that occurred along the way.

We arrived in London Monday afternoon and Mum astounded me once again with her complete lack of direction, getting us lost on the way to Buckingham Palace (in fact we ended up about as far away as you could get from the palace without actually leaving London) which was very convenient as it started raining, heavily the moment we got into town.
The next morning we took a tour on one of those open topped buses which started out fine, albeit cold and we saw the dungeons, Madame Tussauds (sp?) and took a cruise up the Thames. Then it started to rain, again and we got absolutely soaked therefore leading us to the decision to not do the London Ghost walk for fear of hypothermia setting in.

Wednesday morning we set off for Berlin and when we arrived we discovered, after catching a taxi, that our hotel was 4km away from Tegal airport, not the airport we had just flown into. And so a 40 euro taxi ride later we were dropped off in front of the dodgiest hotel ever! And I mean dodgy. Mum and almost ran for it right there and then but we soldiered on and found our room to be not quite as dilapidated as the outside indicated. We went for a quick walk around the immediate area and figured out which trains to catch the next day to get us into the city centre (mum was amazed that I only took 90 seconds to work out the underground system as we have nothing like it in Perth).

The next day however turned out to be a public holiday and the whole city shut down. We had one full day in Berlin and we couldn't do much at all to explore. We caught a crappy bus tour that just pointed out the sights and then we went to the zoo and aquarium. I was rather shocked to see that they still keep lions etc in concrete cells as I'm used to Perth zoo which is world renowned for it's conservation and habitat-simulating methods. It was rather depressing all in all. We then walked up to Checkpoint Charlie and then headed back to the hotel where I proceeded to finish re-reading Hippo and started again on MoH. Oh and I also stood up too close to the radiator in the bathroom and now have a nasty bruise on my shoulder blade which hurts like all hell.

Berlin was rather disappointing to tell the truth. I was told by my cousin that there's heaps of old buildings, which I adore, but I found that not to be the case at all. As it was so heavily bombed during the war and then rebuilt, most of the buildings are quite modern and ugly. Plus the people there are awfully unfriendly.

Anyway from there we headed to Frankfurt where my second cousin and great aunt picked us up and took us to Biblis, a quaint little town near Heppenheim made all the more lovely by the nuclear power plant half a kilometre from the town centre. Obviously 'Chernobyl' doesn't translate!

This is where most of my troubles started. I was still sick with a cold, my asthma was playing up because of all the goddamn cigarette smoke in Germany and only my second cousin spoke a splattering of English. I am a social creature and found it really hard to cope trying to communicate with a few words and gestures. Most of our conversations revolved around the weather and simple concepts like 'what a pretty butterfly'. Plus there's the fact that I was missing Christian terribly by this stage and hadn't had a cuddle since I'd left Edinburgh.

Now, one thing I've learnt about the German's (or maybe it's just my rellies) is that they love to eat. And they want you to eat lots too. You will eat all that you can possibly fit in just to keep them happy but it's not enough. They will then proceed to stitch your arsehole closed and keep on shoving food into your mouth. It's ridiculous. I got so frustrated by having to say over and over 'No thankyou, I'm full. I can't eat any more.' (although it went more like 'Nein danke, I can't eat any more' with lots of gesturing). I seriously started to lose my temper after two meals with them.

That first night I ended up at the hotel in tears and almost hysterical saying I wanted to go home. I think mum was a bit worried about my sanity at that point as we rang Qantas the next morning and changed our flights to Sunday night. The hard part came trying to explain to the rellies why we were running away. Mum ended up just blaming it on me being sick and hoped for the best.

That's pretty much the main reason's why we came home early. Lots of other little things went wrong along the way and it rained every day except for the last day I was in Biblis but I'll leave them for now. I can only fit so much whinging into one entry after all!

I'm home now thankfully and enjoying just being back on familiar ground. I would give anything though to spend another few weeks in Edinburgh, as that was so much fun!

And so it comes to an end...

Well, here I am, sitting at Flora's puter, depressed, not looking forward to tomorrow. Everyone else has departed, and now only my mother and I remain. The last two days have been very sad as one after another, members of our little group have had to say farewell.

I arrived here eleven days ago and straight away I felt like I had always been here (except for the freezing off of my butt constantly). Everyone got on so well together, we were all a bit surprised actually. Sarah is just so sweet but also much naughtier than we were led to believe (which is a good thing!), Flora and Rowenna are just like Barb and I and so I felt very much at home with them, Amber is the pharmaceutical queen who has a drug for every occasion and is just gorgeous, Matt is a big sweetie who never complains about having to give a complete stranger hugs and Alex is just so wonderful. We were all rather scared about meeting Alex as we think of him as 'God' but after the jet lag and sleeping pills wore off he quickly fit in with us and gets my two thumbs up of approval as he let me use his shoulder to slump on constantly.

We have gotten up to so very much and I'll post more in depth later when I get home, complete with photos but Edinburgh is just lovely. We've got so many in jokes and sayings now that I'm sure we'll piss of everyone else in the forum as we just spout out random quotes that we all get but will mean nothing else to the rest of the regulars.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Tomorrow morning will be hard for me as I have to say goodbye, but I'm sure in no time I'll be home again and chatting to everyone on MoH. Plus there's the up side that I'll get to see Sarah fairly soon.

See you all in a couple of weeks.

PS COWS!

I wanna travel on a jet plane, get on board a fast train, far away...and break away.

Just thought I'd post one final time before I leave for bonny Scotland since I don't think I'll really be arsed to post while I'm away. I might, but I doubt it.

I am so excited about my trip but in one way I really don't want to go. It's only been dawning on me in the last day or two that I'll be away from Christian for a whole month. That means that only 11 of the 12 months in this year I'll be spending with him! It's scary as all hell. I keep on grabbing him and hugging the breath out of him in an attempt to store up on hugs before I leave.

*sniff*

I'll miss my beloved Christian so much.

I am excited though, honest! I am very much looking forward to it. Only one day to go!

The Count Down Begins

My philosophy this weekend was to cram as much as I could into three days so the time would fly by and then the day I leave for Scotland would be so much closer!

On Friday after work I met up with a Kat, a girlfriend of mine who works with Christian. We were going to Sexpo, an adults only exhibition being held at the Perth Convention Centre. We didn't really know what to expect as we'd not been before but we were both thinking it wouldn't be as risque as it was made out to be. Upon entering our minds were changed by the topless women handing out brochures. If we got to see boobs within thirty seconds it couldn't be that prudish!

We both had immense fun there. We rode 'The Gerbil', a ghost train with a bit of a difference. Apart from the fact the handlebars were erect dicks, we were bamboozled with scenes of bondage, S&M and golden showers, not the sort of thing you'd find at the Royal Show.

We got to have a feel of all the vibrating goodies at a toy stall and we bought showbags and then headed off to see a strip show and a lingerie parade.

We left to go get some dinner and met up with Christian, Dan and sexy Mike who had been having their own fun at a nerdy Magic tournament. Apparently there had been a geek punch up, however the bloody noses didn't stop the nerds from playing for long and soon all was forgiven.

We headed off for a few games of pool, Kat and I enjoying ourselves immensely as Mike got changed in front of us. Then we all headed back to Kats place until the wee hours of the morning, finally getting home at 4:30 to find two very hungry dogs waiting for us.

Last night we went to a Tarantino Theme party for a friend's 25th. It was a great night but we didn't stay out too long as we were both pretty buggered. After one of the guys demonstrated his fire baton twirling skills we headed off, but not before I remembered to get some pics (I always take my camera but never remember to take any photos). The ones of me and Christian were taken here before we went out but the rest are from the party.

This is me as a very unconvincing vampire

Christian as Mr Pink

Dan as Kevin from Sin City

Mike (not sexy Mike, but still rather hot I reckon) as Seth from Dusk Till Dawn, some random guy I don't know dressed as some character I don't know, and Glenn, dressed as a generic victim from any number of films

Julie, our lovely hostess, dressed as Alabama from True Romance

So, soccer this arvo, last minute packing and shopping for stuff I've forgotten tomorrow, then off to catch up with my sisters before I leave, work on Tuesday and then Wednesday I leave. Yay! See, the time is flying by already!

In a past life, I was Santa.

My most favourite part of Christmas is buying present for everyone. I just love buying stuff for people. I probably don't make the best selections, but as long as I'm having fun, I say 'What does it matter?'.

So when I discovered that it was going to be a whole group of people coming to Scotland, I went into over drive and started shopping. I've bought everyone a little something, I just hope that I haven't gotten then something they will hate. For most of the pressies I shopped at Australian Geographic which is one of my favourite stores but I didn't limit myself to just Australiana, especially for Smerk. Why buy her a stuffed Kangaroo when she can drive past a dead one on the side of the road? (Ok, I apologise, that probably wasn't necessary...).

I just hope I can fit it all into my luggage. I guess there's always my hand luggage though...I'm sure I'll manage :-)

*note to self* If Acci doesn't end up making it, I must remember to get his postal address so I can send his over. Not showing up isn't enough to get out of getting a pressie!

Weddings, parties, anything

My Dad gets married today. I'm rather upset as he chose a spot some 9000 odd miles away and so I couldn't attend. I wish Dad and his new wife Di all the best of luck for their future together.

Another reason to celebrate is that in a week (and a few hours) I will be getting on a plane and heading to Edinburgh where I shall finally meet Boo and a host of other wonderful people. Will the world come to a crashing halt? Only time will tell. However, it is a reason to party, even if it is an end-of-the-world party.

And onto the 'anything' part. I have realised that I have read very few new books lately as I have a tendency to re-read my favourites. So here's a list of books that I have recently devoured with a note next to them on how many times I've read them.

Hippo Eats Dwarf by Alex Boese (once - sorry Alex, I haven't had a chance to read it again as yet. However, I do happen to have a 20 hour flight soon so there will be plenty of time for that then)

Omnibus by Grant Naylor, also known separately as Red Dwarf - Infinity welcomes careful drivers and Better than life (twice)

Polgara the Sorceress by David Eddings (more times than I can remember, at least fifteen but probably more)

Wizards first rule by Terry Goodkind (yet again more times than I can count but I'd guess about ten times)

The Plague Race by Edward Marriott (twice)

Black Maria by Dianna Wynn Jones (five times)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling (ummmm, I don't think I'll saw how many times I've read this one as it's kind of embarrassing...)

Assassain's Apprentice Trilogy by Robin Hobb (three times. On a side note, I fell in love with Fool and Nighteyes from this series. Just thought I'd share that with you all)

That's about all I've read in the last six months. I haven't really had a chance to read much lately, which is why, apart from enjoying the stories, that I tend to re-read books. If I get busy, I can put it down without wondering desperately what comes next.

The hills have eyes (and millipedes, and bushfires and snakes...)

I received some bad news on Thursday night that made me rather upset, upset enough to blubber like a baby anyway.
For those of you who don't know, Christian and I are have been house-sitting my mother-in-law's house while she has been travelling, saving a deposit so when she came back we could buy the house. Well the MIL is back but house prices have gone up so dramatically in the past 11 months that we can no longer afford to get this house. We knew that the price would increase, but we thought it would be along the lines of 22%-ish which is the mean across the market. However, our house jumped up 46% and our dream of buying it crashed to the ground rather forcefully.
And now I face the prospect of going house hunting as soon as I step off the plane from my international sleepover. MIL wanted me to start looking before I left but as I only have a week and a half left before I jet off, I said 'fat chance'.
There is little hope that we will be able to buy a home in my beloved hills, leaving only the flats as an option. I've never wanted to live down the hill. It's crowded, the blocks are tiny and the burbs resemble rabbit warrens. However, faced with the prospect of not having any choice, I've started to dwell on the down points of living in the hills and also this house (which I have quite an emotional attachment to now) to make the move a little easier.
To begin with is the large advantage of not having to worry about doing my firebreaks every summer now. This includes cleaning out the gutters every two weeks in winter as there are no where near as many trees in the burbs as opposed to the hills.
Then there's the fact that there are substantially fewer creepy crawlies down the hill, including millipedes.
Added to this is that both Christian and myself will live much closer to work and so we will save tremendous amounts of money on fuel.
I've tried to be very critical about the house and have decided that the following list of points will most definitely not be missed once we move. The fact that most of our house inside is exposed brick which makes it very cold in winter. We only have an open fire that is crap at warming even two feet in front of it, let alone the house and so we won't have to worry about replacing it with a slow-burning combustion fire like we'd planned.
Our kitchen is massive (which is a good point) but that it's decked out in 1970's decore is something that I'm looking forward to saying goodbye too.
Our toilet roll holder keeps on breaking so almost every time you use it it clatters to the ground.
We're not connected to the gas mains up here so we have to have an electric stove and oven as bottled gas to too expensive.
Oh, and did I mention the millipedes?

There you have it. I must keep these points firmly in front of me so I don't gets so upset about having to move. With any luck we'll find a house up this way, but if not, I'll have a running chance at settling in down the hill.

There's no place like home...

Ok, I'll throw this out there right at the beginning of this post so no one is left confused. I am not in any way a believer in premonition or that dreams have meanings. I roll my eyes when my older sister declares that she dreamt of an impending disaster and that we should all avoid visiting a particular place at a particular time. I snort with laughter when people tell me they are a big Nostradamus fan. I mentally restrain myself from making a derisive comment when my mother tells me she drove home from work via a different route because she had a 'feeling'. I may be extremely gullible when it comes to many other subjects, but not with this one.

Now, in my last post, I mentioned that I had been having nightmares lately. One of my nightmares was about tornadoes. This is a recurring bad dream, I have them rather often and I always wake up terrified. Now, my older sister is fascinated by these monsters. She loves watching documentaries about tornadoes, knows pretty much all there is to know about them and is scarily close to wanting to move to the US just to be closer to them (I've suggested on numerous occasions that she should actually speak to someone who has lost their home or loved one to a tornado before making the big move).

I was speaking to Mum about these dreams and how it's funny that Jo is fascinated while I can't sleep properly due to them (although I must admit I am rather fascinated too...). Mum enlightened me that my younger sister Barb is terrified too. And so I ended up speaking to Barb about our fear and of my nightmares.

This is going somewhere, I promise.

Anyhow, I was telling Barb about the dreams I had had, but the one that keeps recurring is one where I am driving along Roe highway, just out of Midland and there is a tornado coming towards me from west. Barb butts in and exclaims that she has had exactly the same dream many a time and that we couldn't both have been dreaming about the same thing. It wasn't that I recounted my dream and she said it was the same - she was literally finishing my sentences describing the dream. When we stopped and thought about it, this has happened before.

A year or two back, I had phoned Barb one morning and she commented that I sounded rather tired. I said that yes, I was, I'd been up half the night after having some really weird dreams. Not scary dreams or nightmares, but just odd dreams. She said that she had been too and asked what I had been dreaming about. I told her that I had been dreaming about being back in primary school but I left out the bit about me spending most of the dream in one of the toilet blocks as I thought that was just too weird. She goes 'Oh, I had a dream about being back in primary school too. But I was in the toilet block by the music room'. Exactly where I had been in my dream.

Now, I just think that that's just darned weird. Why on earth would my sister and I be having the exact same dreams, not only once, but twice (that we know about anyway)? I know we're close, she's my best friend and she married my husbands best friend, but surely we're not that close. The only thing that could make this any weirder is if Flora tells me she's dreamed about being in the toilets at my old primary school.

Nettie's Dream Diary

It's been an interesting week for me, not all of it good, but most of it has been great, so I'll start with the good stuff and bore you with the bad stuff at the end.

Good: On Thursday is was the ten year anniversary of the day Christian and I started dating.
We were in high school and had friends in common but had never actually had a class together and so didn't know anything about each other apart from names. I was having a party and asked Mike (my now brother-in-law) if he'd bring along some of his mates to even up the boy/girl odds. He brought Christian and two weeks later we started going out. The rest is history!

We went out for dinner after work on Thursday, to a restaurant called The Olive Tree which is in West Perth (just in case anyone is ever in Perth and looking for a place to eat) and had the best time. We had our wedding reception there and they are just the nicest people. They even made up special meals for Christian so he wouldn't be too full when he played soccer later on (he ended up having a very nancy meal if you ask me - salad, vegetarian filo parcel and fruit salad compared to my ravioli, fish and apple crumble!).
Afterwards, if you haven't already guessed, Christian had a soccer game and so I got to be thoroughly entertained there (is perving on other blokes on your anniversary considered bad taste? Even if I'm also perving on my hubby?). The guys lost but it was a really close game and it was only because of a dubious umpiring call that the other team had a shot at goal (they weren't getting anywhere near the thing on their skill alone).

Good: Last weekend I spoke to Chary for the first time. We did it over an msn chat and apart from being a little crackly at times due to a slow connection, it was really good. We didn't speak for as long as Flora and I usually do, but it was rather late for Chary and he did have to work the next morning. The best part about this is that I now feel like I 'know' another person who I'll be seeing in May. I'm a bit odd in that way. I can chat to someone for hours on the net but I feel like I know them better after an hour long phone conversation.

Good: It's not only two and a half weeks till I fly out for Scotland! (well two weeks, five days to be exact but why split hairs?)

Bad: I've been having nightmares all this week. They have all happened in the morning after Christian has left for work and I have an hour and a bit left to sleep in. I think it's because of the interrupted sleep but I'm not too sure. They have all been different but in all of them, I've felt completely powerless to stop whats going on. After I've woken up and had time to make my brain work, they seem very silly but at the time they really do frighten me.
In one, I couldn't stop my nephew Caleb from running onto the road, in another I was trying to hide from Reavers (those of you who know Firefly and Serenity will know what I'm on about), and this morning I had an awful one about tornadoes (which is a recurring one. I'm terrified of the things even though we've never had a really big one in Australia).
Mum thinks I'm working out anxiety about my trip away because I feel so helpless in my dreams. I really couldn't say what's causing them but I hope they stop soon because they're leaving me feeling exhausted.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Even though it doesn't feel like it at all, happy Easter everyone!

Now, who wants to play a game? I don't have any spare eggs laying around (they're all MINE!) so we can't have an egg hunt, but I have a different game we can play. How bout we all play 'Doctors and Nurses'?

It's really easy to play. I'll give you a list of symptoms and you try and guess what caused them. Then afterwards I'll be available for a full examination if anyone is interested ;-)

Symptoms include: tender ear lobes
hoarse voice
sore buttocks
hyperactivity

Now all of you who guessed a night on the town with a drunk, cross dressing stripper from Peru, would be wrong.

Those of you who guessed a five hour, ten minute, world record breaking phone conversation with Flora, you'd be right.

It just really goes to prove that none of you are going to be able to get a word in edge ways with us in just under four weeks time. We will talk you all under the table and still have stuff to talk about. There should be a warning on your airline tickets that reminds you to bring some earplugs.

But enough about you lot! Boo and I had an absolute ball last night and I really just can't wait to meet her! We laughed so hard which caused some problems as Boo tends to get a sharp pain in the back of her skull when she laughs too hard so it sounded much like this: Ahahahahahah ow ow it hurts, it hurts ahahahahahah ow ow ahahahahahaha ow ow ahahahaha.
We were in fits if giggles bad enough that at times we couldn't even speak. Mention the phrase 'engorged vaginal canal' to either of us in Scotland, and you'll see what I mean.

But eventually the conversation had to end. If we could have, I'm sure we would have both stayed on the phone for the next few weeks, only saying goodbye when I had to catch my plane, but it just wasn't really viable. *sigh*

Anyway, you have been warned. We wouldn't want any of you to be ignorant of just exactly what you're in for come May.

Have a lovely Easter everyone
*hugs*

P.S. Flora, Mr Finger sends his warmest greetings!

Interesting shower reading

Whilst soaking under a hot shower this morning, I happened to read the ingredient list on my body wash and my face wash. It read like a very long, hard to pronounce shopping list.

Body Wash: Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Bataine, Glycol Stearate, Propylene Glycol (and) Sambucus Nigra Flower Extract (and) Primula Veris Extract (and) Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Extract (and)Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) extractVanilla PLanifolia Fruit Extract, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Hydroxypropyl Guar Hydroxypropyl Trimonium Chloride, Isostearamidopropyl Morpholine Lactate, Hyroxopropyl Methylcellulose, DMDM Hydantoin, Citric Acid, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Chloride, Fragrance, Yellow 5, Yellow 6.

I bet your eyes glazed over once you reached 'water' eh? Well, here we go again.

Face Wash: Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl, Betaine, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate Cocamide Dea, Glycol Distearate (and) Sodium Laureth Sulfate (haven't they already mentioned this one???) (and) Cocamide Mea (and)Laureth-10, Polyquarternium 7, Fragrance, Methychloroisothiazolinone (Is this one of the longest words in the world?) (and) Methylisothiazolinone, Citric Acid, Sodium Chloride.

Makes me have second thoughts about using such concoctions...

Libra Wisdom - take 2

As promised, I bring you more tidbits of trivia from our friends in feminine hygiene.

Odd Spot #37: The names of all the continents end with the same letter they start with.

Odd Spot #95: The word 'lethologica' describes the state of not being able to rememeber the word you want.

Odd Spot #22: If the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

Odd Spot #141: There are three golf balls sitting on the moon.

Odd Spot #152: In a study of 200,000 ostriches over a period of 80 years, no one reported a single case where an ostrich buried it's head in the sand.

Odd Spot # 102: Bulletproof vests, fire escapes, laser printers and windshield wipers were all invented by women.

Odd Spot #: The average human body contains enough sulphur to kill all the fleas on an average dog.

Odd Spot #80: The youngest pope was eleven years old.

Odd Spot #153: The average human body contains enough iron to make a 7.62cm nail.

Odd Spot #4: The most common non-contagious disease in the world is tooth decay.

Odd Spot #8: Grapes explode when you put them in the microwave

There you have it. More utterly useless information that you can use to bring conversation to a complete halt at your next dinner party.

The Ultimate Heartbreak

Most of you will know by now that Christian and I are trying for a baby. What most of you didn't know was that for almost two weeks now, there was a bloody good chance I was pregnant.

It started with my period being late. I've not ever had cause for my periods being late before but I waited it out a little. Then I started feeling a bit sick every now and then and rushing to the loo at lot. So I did a test. Negative. No worries, it's early days yet and not everyone does a positive test in the first few weeks.

Fast forward to this week and my monthlies still hadn't arrived and my hopes started rising. Add to this that I had been so tired that I could hardly stay awake past 8pm and everyone I spoke too assured me I would be popping out a mini-me by Christmas.

So I did another test yesterday. I have never been so nervous in my life. I had butterflies in my stomach and I was almost giddy with excitement. I had let everyone talk me into getting excited. Against my better judgement, I was convinced I was pregnant.

When that second damn line failed to show, I felt sick. There had to be some mistake. My period was two weeks late. How could I not be pregnant? All the signs were there, what was I missing?

I was so upset. I bawled like the baby I so desperately want and wallowed in my own misery. To make matters worse, early this morning my period started, snuffing out the last flicker of hope I had left. I guess I should look at the positives - that I won't have to deal with throwing up every five minutes on the plane to Scotland for one, having another 'Libra wisdom' post for another.

And so next month begins and we'll try again. However, this time I will not get excited until I have two bloody lines show up on that stupid little pee test.

Who put that door there?

I was at a loss as to what to post about today - nothing terribly exciting has happened lately. And then it hit me. Well, actually, the door hit me. The door frame, to be more precise. Or, maybe it was me who hit the door frame?

You see, I would have to be the clumsiest git who has ever lived. 'Accident prone' my Mother used to say. I just manage to injure myself on a constant basis.

Whenever Christian hears a thump and a hastily bitten off swear word he yells out "What on Earth have you walked into now?" because it is almost always me not seeing the wall/corner/door frame and heavily colliding with it. I'm lucky I don't bruise easily or I'd have many a raised eyebrow and concerned questions regarding my marriage.

When I was younger, there was an official inquest into my family because my school thought I was being abused at home. It all happened after one particularly nasty week.
It started off with me falling over on my rollerskates and bruising my hip. The next day I was playing with my cousin and I fell onto the window ledge and further bruised the same hip. I had to go to the doctors for my asthma and Mum got my hip checked out as she was worried I may have fractured a bone. No fracture but the following day at school I slipped on some playground equipment and hit my head. Hard. I don't remember much of the rest of the day but I was taken to hospital by ambulance with swelling and bruising to my brain (No one say a word! I was dumb to begin with!) . I had to stay home from school the next day and I was so bored that when my sisters got home we started playing chasey. I went flying over a chair and put my knee through the glass front of a cabinet and ended up needing five staples to keep my kneecap from falling out.

Mother was not impressed! She had a hard time convincing the authorities that it was because I was clumsy, and not because I pissed off my parents.

So now I kind of stumble through life, trying to avoid things made of concrete and always looking for a soft landing. Unfortunately, my name means 'Grace'. It's quiet laughabe actually as I have all the grace as a blindfolded mating rhinoceros.

PS. Odd fact about me #2 - I have broken my little toes so many times that they no longer touch the ground. When I have wet feet, I leave four toed footprints.

Attack of the millipedes

One of the lovely little quirks of living in Perth is the millipede invasion that occurs every winter. I forget where the millipedes come from - it's South Africa or somewhere like that, but somehow they ended up here and they are a pain in the arse if there ever was one.

From the first rains, nowhere is sacred. The small smelly creepy crawlies come in under doors, through gaps in the flyscreen on windows, they gather in large numbers in the bath and are fond of dropping from the ceiling onto unsuspecting victims. Their skins are acidic and if you are unlucky enough to have one crawl into bed with you, you are greeted in the morning with strange half moon burns all over your body.

Perth has had a weird summer this year which has included quiet a bit of unseasonal rain. Such rain occurred earlier this week and out came the millipedes. In droves. Into my house. They're everywhere.

And so, yet again begins the battle between me and the millipedes. I'll hit them with everything I've got; pesticide, tomato dust, my trusty vacuum cleaner. Only God himself knows how this will end.

I'll keep you posted.

Where am I?

Just letting you guys know that I'm alive and well but haven't been on for a while due to lots of things going wrong.
Biggest of all was my Mum was in a car accident on Tuesday. She's ok, but very shaken up. She was taking off from a green light when a little kid (bout 13 I think) on a bike ran the red light and smashed into the side of her car. Mum had no idea what had happened except her window imploded. So she stopped and saw this kid laying on the ground. He's ok too, couldn't stop apologising apparently.
Also, I've started my new role at work and it's a lot to take in, and I'm getting out rather late and also feeling exhausted, so I haven't been feeling like doing much except sleep. It doesn't help that the woman training me is the most condescending woman in the world. Talk about been made to feel an inch high.
Anyways, that's about it. I'll hopefully get around to seeing you all in the next day or two.
Love yas.

A bit of this, a bit of that

After a couple of weeks, I thought it was high time for an update. I have recovered from my bout of the plague, organs intact and am proceeding to catch up with life. It's always hard to come to terms with the fact that you've slept almost an entire week away.

I start full time at work tomorrow, a decision that I may come to regret, but hopefully wont. I am taking on the 'Teller A' role which involves many more duties and quite a bit more responsibility. I will become treasury custodian, will be responsible for ordering and clearing cash, process the business express deposits plus a few other bits and bobs as well as my normal telling duties. It's going to be extremely full on for the first month or two, but after that at least I'll have my holiday to look forward too.

Meanwhile, I've been reading and watching a lot of Red Dwarf. Years ago I had seen a few episodes and found it funny and amusing but I was never what you'd call a 'die hard' fan. It was shown at a particular time on telly that found me usually out of the house or otherwise occupied and so I never watched a lot of it. Years passed and I picked up the first book while visiting my brother in law last week.

I was hooked after the first sentence 'Saunders had been dead for almost two weeks now and, so far, hadn't enjoyed a minute of it', but by page 26 after this paragraph describing McIntyre's suicide 'The rubber plant was surprised. If the rubber plant could have spoken, it wouldn't have said a thing. That's how surprised the rubber plant was. Over the last few weeks it had witnessed the gradual deterioration of McIntyre's mental health, but if the rubber plant had had a name it would have said: "George McIntyre is not the kind of guy to commit suicide, or my name's not..." - whatever it's name would have been, had it had one.' - I had fallen in love with the books. I laughed so hard at times, I cried. Which is probably not the best thing to do when you're alone in the lunch room with your boss. You do tend to get some funny looks.

So, once I'd read the first two books (Mike doesn't have the last two and no ruddy bookshop in Perth seems to stock them anymore), I began watching the series. I had bought Christian the series 1 dvd for Chrissy so I started with that and then went out and bought 2 and 4 (3 had sold out). So I've worked my way through them and now can't wait for the time when I can afford to blow another ridiculous amount of money on more dvds. I'm loving every moment though and the episodes I had seen previously, I find even funnier now that I'm a fan as I get the character jokes.

Oh, and I suppose it wouldn't really be me if I didn't add that I find Rimmer, in his own nerdy way, rather sexy ;-)

Catch you on the flip side guys.

I feel such a fraud

Here I am, off sick for my third day in a row. However, unlike Wednesday or even yesterday, I am not hunched over the toilet trying to dislodge my inners, nor in a semi-comatose state, rather I am feeling almost 100% again and more than healthy enough to return to work.

Unfortunately, due to a silly legal technicality, I cannot return to work toady because my doctor told me to have today off and gave me a medical certificate covering me for Thursday and today. I rang my boss yesterday and told her what had transpired but I was feeling much better and would most likely be in today. She then told me that if I had a doctor's certificate, I couldn't come in to work as I would not be covered under insurance and if I injured myself or we were held up, I would be screwed.

So here I am, sitting at home, feeling like a fraud. I've never chucked a sickie when I wasn't sick. Even when I am truly sick, I feel guilty for not going into work. So I feel awful being at home when I feel well enough to work.

I know most of you are saying to yoursleves 'God I wish my doctor would give me a couple of days off' and I know I should just take it easy and make sure I'm completely recovered before I go back, but I feel bad for my colleagues. The work load gets harder on them and when we have a person off sick we almost always get out late.

But enough of my whinging for now. I'll try and make my next post about something happy and fun. Maybe about butterflies and balloons. Or something.

Fun in the sun

Being the first part of the year, there are a ridiculous amount of public holidays here and Monday is one of them. It's Labour day but the meaning of the day has long since been forgotten and now it only signifies one thing - an extra day off work.

As no one one has to work tomorrow, Christian organised a bbq on the shores of the murky Swan River in Bayswater, and we arrived, picnic blanket in one hand, a pack of sausages in the other, despite the sweltering heat.

We've held one of these before at this spot and although the turnout to this one was smaller, the guys who did rock up are just fantastic and we had a fun time.
Between the lot of us, we had brought two vortexs, a soccer ball, a footy, a couple of tennis balls, a frisbee, a hackey sack, two cricket bats and a tennis racket and the boys set about throwing whatever they could into the air all at once ( a flying cricket bat is not a good idea!)

The funniest bit is watching everyone cover their heads and cower when they hear the evil whistling sound a vortex makes as it flies through the air. Some of the boys could really throw it hard and after several people had been hit, me included, we all took to running for shelter when we heard that ominous sound.

It was a hot day though and we didn't stay too long, only till about three thirty. The sun had done it's job though and most of us are sunburnt. You can clearly see on my arms where I couldn't reach with the sunscreen (I, ah, 'forgot' to take photos...)

I'm exhausted now, I think I have mild sunstroke so I'm going to go lay down for a bit. Sorry this post isn't that long, or even very exciting, but at the moment it's all I can do to stay awake.
Ciao.

P.S. Happy birthday Cammy!

Somewhere in this dump...

I feel extremely sorry for anyone who visits my house who is a 'neat freak'. My house is an absolute pig sty at the moment.

There are dishes piling up on the sink that haven't been done for about four days (I used my last knife tonight), the bed in my spare room is piled high with unfolded washing which, without exaggerating one little bit, I can tell you hasn't been folded in about four months, I have cobwebs on my loungeroom ceiling that I'm not allowed to remove as, according to Christian, they 'keep the mozzies away', and my back verandah is a fire trap waiting to happen as there are leaves piled ankle deep.

Each weekend I tidy the house, vacuum, clean the toilet and the bathroom and then do a few loads of washing to get the towels, sheets and our work uniforms done, but the rest of it just doesn't seem to happen. I hate with a passion doing the dishes and folding washing and so I leave that to my dutiful husband (he manages the dishes usually but not the washing).

I just never seem to find the time to get all those little extra things done that make the difference between 'tidy' and 'clean'. Occasionally I'll just be in a cleaning mood and attack the place with a ferocity that somehow scares me, but these incidents are few and far between.

Does it make me a bad person that I would rather be spending my weekends on the net talking to you lot, or lounging in my hammock reading a book? Personally I don't think so, but the people who get attacked by the creatures growing in my sink may think otherwise.

Anyway, if we ever get around to having an Australian MoH Sleepover, I'll make sure I take the time to clean my place properly.

Just for you.

Libra Wisdom

Warning - some frankness concerning 'secret women's business' ahead. Men may wish to hum a merry tune and pretend to have better things to do.

I started buying a new brand of pads a while back (or 'sanitary napkins' as some may know them) and I discovered that these pads are different to all the others.

I believe the clever marketing people at Libra must think that women get extremely bored whilst menstruating, that we have nothing better to do than twiddle our thumbs while perched upon the throne. And so, they have taken steps to alleviate said boredom.

Hence, the introduction of the 'odd spot'.

The 'odd spot' is a list of trivia and little known facts (some of which I am still querying the validity of but I digress) that is printed upon the bit of paper that covers the sticky bit (for lack of a technical term).

I have been saving these up for a slow blog day but feel that now is the time to share a sample with you. And please, keep in mind that I think half of them are absloute bullshit.

Odd Spot #85: Starfish do not have brains

Odd Spot #51: Cats have better memories than dogs

Odd Spot #76: The largest number of children born to one woman was 69 in Russia

Odd Spot #73: The bloodhound is the only animal whose evidence is admissable in an American court.

Odd Spot #38: On average, 13 people die every year from vending machines falling on them

Odd Spot #151: A crocodile can't stick out it's tongue

Odd Spot #53: Turtles and honeybees are both deaf

Odd Spot# 101: If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to supress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.

Odd Spot #90: The catfish has more than 27000 taste buds

That's about it for now (I was not going to unwrap every pad I have just to find more interesting Odd Spots) but I'll keep you updated once 'that time of the month' comes round if you want!

Dust bunnies, jarmies and battle scars

My mum dropped off to me yesterday some Stephen King books she had been given. I am a fan of Stephen King, however I'd say that I haven't even read half of his books. When I was younger I read a lot of the horror ones but I haven't even picked up one of his fantasy novels (The Dark Tower? Or am I confused?)

Anyhoo, I started reading Dolores Claiborne after she left, and in intermittent stages throughout the day, plus a midnight marathon, I finished it early this morning (bout two thirty I think). I liked the book, although I was expecting something more sinister. There wasn't anything supernatural at all, no monsters or demons, it wasn't really like the other books of his I'd read (Dark Half, Pet Semetary, Carrie, Firestarter to name a few).

However, having said that, there was one moment in the book when I felt a bit creeped out. The hand reaching up and grabbing Dolores' ankle didn't do it, nor did the hatchet scene, or the fact that Joe molests his daughter.

It was the dust bunnies.

The dust bunnies that Vera is terrified off, made me just a bit spooked too. Don't ask me why, but I'll never view vacuuming the same way again.

Moving on. Boo and I had another one of our chatathons on Friday night, which didn't last quiet as long as our previous one, but it was still three and a half hours long. During this time we got super excited, made more plans for May, had a couple of pee breaks, I told Matt he was pussey whipped and Boo's jarmies arrived. Hurrah!

So now we both have hot pink jarmies with lady bugs, hearts and flowers on them. Mort and Tru may need to wear protective eyewear when they stay at Boo's in fear of damaging their sight, because when I say hot pink, I mean hot pink!

And lastly, I have yet another scar to add to my left arm. While playing with Molly, she was doing her usual Jack Russel whip-around-the-house-at-a-hundred-miles-an-hour-and-see-how-much-I-can-knock-over thing and she ran over my hand and scratched the shite out of my knuckles. I'm still bleeding and it happened about four hours ago.

The thing is, it's always my left arm. Not my right arm, or my leg, but the left arm. At the moment I have a scar from a friends dog accidentally scratching me (yet again our playing got out of hand), a couple of scars from my lovely rose bushes, a burn from the time I thought it would be a good idea to pick up the tray I'd just taken out of the oven, without wearing oven mitts and now this.

*sigh*

Pool party

My friend Tash came round yesterday as she broke up with her loser boyfriend a couple of weeks back and wanted to have a fun weekend.

So Christian, Tash and I sat around, trying to figure out what we could do to entertain ourselves for the evening.
Movie? Nup, not social enough.
Casino? No, too crowded on a Saturday night and pretty boring when none of us really gamble.
Bowling? Probably not as Tash has a problem with her thumbs getting caught in the balls.
Northbridge? God no, none of us like that scene.
Playing pool? Tash and I are absolutely crap at it and will in all likelihood make huge fools of ourselves...sounds like a plan!

So I persuaded Christian is invite some of his friends along (yep, you guessed it - I think they're damn hot!) and we all headed out to play pool.

Now, I've only ever really played pool once or twice and I've never gotten the hang of it. So I sat out most of the games and watched but when I did play, I found out that I was really good at sinking the white ball.

The theme of the evening appeared to be that no team won by skill. It was always a default as someone always managed to sink the black, followed immediately behind by the white. And the git at the next table who wore his jeans a foot below underwear level really distracted us. I had to suppress the urge to give him a wedgie on numerous occasions.

But fun was had by all and by midnight we decided to head somewhere else, so we headed back to one of the Mike's place (I know about six Mikes and two of them were out with us last night) and we played some game, which I forget the name of (it's that old fashioned game where you spin the guys around on the table and try and hit the ball towards your goals - Squishy Ball or something odd like that, that has no apparent relation to the game at all).

Tash and I teamed up and we were soon forced into cheating when the Mikes started playing dirty. We soon became experts at cheating and soon Mike (not the one who's place we were at) had a tantie and gave in and quit (yay for us!!!)

About two thirty we headed home, Tash crashing in my loungeroom. We had a heap of fun, and we learnt a valuable lesson.

Never team up with me in a game of pool, if you want to win.

These boots were made for walking

I've been rather busy lately. I go to work, go to the gym (usually...there have been a few days I've not been) and then I've been getting home and going for a walk with my Mum.

I must say it makes it so much easier when I have someone else so help with the dogs. I only get dragged around by one of them, not both.

Unfortunately walking after work doesn't leave me much time for watering the garden, cooking dinner and chatting to my MoH buddies. So, I haven't been on the forum much lately, which is quite sad, but hopefully I'll get organised soon and will be able to fit much more of my beloved activity in.

Also in the news today, is the possibilty that I might be going full time at work. Currently I'm only doing a cushy four days a week but we've had one of the other tellers leave, so I might pick up an extra day. There are pros and cons for this idea, but I think the pros will win out. I'll keep you all posted.

And that's about it for today.

Catch you all on the flipside.

One for the girls

I came across some pics of aforementioned Jonathan Brandis the other day and I thought I'd share them with the ladies, as I think he's just gorgeous.

*sigh*

What a waste.

However, I might add that one of my friends looks scarily like him. Needless to say, I enjoy the view when we're out with him!

Enjoy girls!

A moment of silence please

I've been feeling rather down lately.

The day after my wedding, actor Jonathan Brandis committed suicide, the reason is still unknown.

Now, this was several years ago, but it still pains me. I was a huge fan when I was younger, not just because of his drooly good looks, but I thought he was a wonderful actor and his love of writing mirrored my own.

I found out about his death a couple of months after the event, and I was rather shocked. It just seemed so out of the blue.

Anyhow, I've been watching SeaQuest DSV lately (I'm ignoring whatever comments you may make Chary) and it's really wierd. It's really hard to come to terms with the fact that the person I'm watching is now dead. I just can't get my head around it. And I've always had this problem with death. For the longest time after someone dies, it feels like they've gone on holiday or something. I just can't accept that they're gone forever.

I think that perhaps this is because I've never actually seen a dead body before. I've never been to a viewing, never come across a car accident, never been with anyone as they peacefully pass away in their hospital bed. My mother tells me that you just know when someone leaves their body, you can actaully sense that they have departed from this world and left an empty shell behind. Perhaps this is why I have trouble accepting the loss of a loved one - because I've never seen what they leave behind.

Anyway, I don't know if I'm a bit odd or not, having the death of someone I've never met affect me so. Maybe I can just analyse my feeling better when it's not so personal?

So, here's to the memory of Jonathan Brandis. May you finally find where you are now, that which you could not find here.

Walking the pooches

I took my dogs for a walk today. I don't do it as often as I should, but I do try.

I assume it's rather amusing to watch me walk my dogs. They are like two little rockets, powering along the street, dragging me in thier wake. Until we get two hundred metres down the road, and then, they go at thier own pace. They make the rules.

This is Molly. She's a Corgi X Jack Russel and she thinks she's the biggest scariest dog on the block. She thinks that our walks are a Bark-at-other-dogs-tour-of-Stoneville especially for her. Whenever we walk past a house that has a dog, she barks and growls and tugs at her lead until I have to yank her backwards and remind her to behave. If we pass another dog, I have one hell of a time trying to keep her from eating it, while I try and fend off nasty looks from the owner (who is also trying like hell to keep hold of the lead)

This is Tessa. She's our pure bred Jack Russell and she thinks our walks are Smell-every-bush-and-clump-of-grass-in-Stoneville-tour especially for her. I am constantly being pulled to a complete halt as she stops and sniffs, then leaves her scent then kicks dirt over it. It's rather frustrating at times.

But as much as they shit me, I do love my puppies very much. I mean, how can you not love puppies that are this cute!

Australia Day

On the 26th of January, 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet landed at Camp Cove, Port Jackson. "Rightio lads," Phillip said, "this looks much better than Botany Bay. Let's set up camp!"
And so Australia was colonised.

Each year on January the 26th, Aussies come together to celebrate the founding of our nation and the fact that we get a day off work to sit around the barbie, drinking and playing back yard cricket.

Perth holds the biggest Australia Day celebrations in the nation. People gather in the tens of thousands on the banks of the Swan for a day long festivity including concerts, air shows, entertainers and drinking, accumulating in a huge fireworks display.

This is to be avoided at all costs.

I gathered with my family on the shore of Lake Leschenaultia in Chidlow for a picnic lunch, as far away as humanly possibe from the fiasco in the city. We had a great time, the kids went swimming, Mum and I walked around the lake and I took a few pics that I'm going to attempt to share with you.

This is my two neices playing in the lake

This is the view of the lake from our picnic area

I took Darcie and Chiara (my neices) for a walk and we came across the bobtail sunning himself on the path. The girls were very excited to have met him!

This is a pic I took from the other side of the lake

This is what the bushland around where I live looks like. Pretty huh?

This is an absolutely awful photo of me but since I haven't posted one yet, I thought I should

Anyway, so there you have it. I had a great time, fun was had by all and we avoided the havoc of a big public celebration.

The things women do

I thoroughly annoyed Christian tonight by painting my toe nails as we watched the cricket.
He can't understand why I do it. The smell alone, he tells me, should be reason enough to cease the activity.
To this I replied 'Women are born immune to the fumes of nailpolish!'

This led me to wonder about those small differences between men and women, especially when it comes to what I'll loosly brand as 'personal products'.

For example, when I shower I use the following products: shower gel, a shower puff for applying the gel, shampoo, conditioner, face wash and (every second night) face scrub. Then when I have gotten out of the shower I use moisturiser on my face and legs, toner when I can be bothered and then various creams for the skin problems I get from my allergies. This is not including when I will give myself a facial (and might I add that I don't particularly think of myself as a girlie girl - I don't wear makeup for example)

Christian, when showering uses: shampoo.

That's it. He'll only use soap when he's been working on the car or playing sport as he thinks a good scrub with water alone will get him clean, and he'll only use a moisturiser when he's gotten sunburnt.

I just don't get it. It seems I put in a lot of effort and get very little to show for it but if I only went to the effort that Christian puts in, I would resemble Madam Trashheap from the Fraggles.

I don't know. I'm sure it's one of those 'mysteries of the universe' that will never be solved, but I still think it's a tad unfair.

Funnies

Not much to write about, so I thought I'd share with you some quotes from a calander I got for Chrissy. They're from various comedians and I have a quote for every day (however as I don't use desk calander things, I read them all at once)

"Batteries are packaged as though the manufacturers never want you to get to them. What could possibly happen to batteries that they need to be packaged like that? On the other hand, lightbulbs are packaged in thin, thin, thin cardboard that's open on both ends. What are those packagers thinking? Oh, the lightbulbs? They'll be fine."
Ellen DeGeneres

"Martha Stewart reportedly spent her first week in prison playing scrabble and charming her fellow prisoners. And tunneling. Furiously tunneling."
Amy Poehler

"True Fact : A radio commercial says that a certain diet pill works three times faster than starvation. Question: Are they guessing, or do they really run those tests?"
George Carlin

"Research shows that men usually sleep on the right side of the bed. Even in their sleep they have to be right"
Rita Rudner

"They never make movies about long-term couples, and for good reason: our lives are boring...("look, they're opening their electricity bill!")"
David Sedaris

"The San Francisco Health Dept has a new service that lets you send an Internet greeting card to someone you may have infected with an STD. 'Roses are red, orchids are grey, congratulations, you have Hepatitis A'."
Bill Maher

"Plato did not originally want to call the Athenian form of citizen-government 'democracy', but rather 'Plato 'n' friends'."
Jon Stewart

And that's about all from me tonight folks.

Oh God, the pain

What would you say is the most painful thing in the world?
I know this will vary, depending on your personal viewpoint, but I think I'd have to come damn close.

Pinching your eyeball with your nails as you try and remove your contact lenses.

I mention this now as I have just taken out my contacts, and low and behold, I now have an extremely blood shot and watering eye. Also, I have no one at home at the moment to whinge too, and thought I'd impose upon yourselves.

Good day to you.

Oh God, it's 2006 already!

It's almost one in the morning, on this first day of the new year, and I'm at my sister's house. The kids are asleep and so is Barb, and the boys are playing some crazy board game one of them brought back from Switzerland (or somewhere over there).
Tonight was going well, up until the point some ten minutes ago when I received an sms from Petrina, a work friend from my last job. I kind of stay in contact with this chick but I don't put in a lot of effort. She's quiet a few years younger than me and it wasn't until I didn't see her everyday that I realised just how damn childish she is.
The other day I got a message from her asking how old a guy who works in the store next to my old work is. How the fuck should I know? But she pushes the issue and eventually tells me that he's asked her on a date. Now, I'd spoken many times to him about his wife, and so has my sister who has been with me on several of these occassions. So I warned her that he may still be married and I thought that was the end of it.
Not so. I just received a message from her saying (and I quote) "Hey little miss I make up stories. Adam was never ever married".
Now this pissed me off just a bit so I replied (and again I quote) "Happy fucking new year to you too. Barb was with me when he said it, so I didn't just make it up thankyou very much".
God she irks me so much. Why on earth would I have a reason to make this stuff up? Grown ups don't do things like that, but apparently when you're nineteen, you believe that they do. So, now I'm going to do what I should have done long go and just blow her off. I really don't need her crap anymore.

*deep breath*

And now I shall apologise profusely to you all, as I feel I whinge just a tad too much on here. I'm just one of these people who have a lot of friends that only get in touch when they want something, or need to unload some major problems. I'm just so sick and tired of being used and then treated like shit.
I just can't wait until May when I get to meet my real friends for real.

I think I need a hug. Anyone available?

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.

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*

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!

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.

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.

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...

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'.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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!

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!

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.