Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Last one for the year!

This one is doing the rounds, so why not?!

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Now a whole lot... I got engaged, started a new job, went to a Buddhist initiation ceremony, got IPL, Graduated and became a pet owner.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I usually do the whole 'eat right, look hot' resolution, but it very rarely happens... probably best I don't make any. Here are the ones I made here last year, and didn't do very well at!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes! Two of my friends had babies this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Not this year, no. Thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit? I stayed in Australia this year - boring...

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A wedding, a bit lest fat to jiggle, a little more money to spend, and a house of our own to live in.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? August 21, when we got engaged.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Again, getting engaged! Though that wasn't entirely of my own merit... though getting my new job was!

9. What was your biggest failure? My attitude for most of the year, pre-engagement.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing major! I the worst flu I've ever had, but there was nothing else (blood results from two weeks ago come in next year).

11. What was the best thing you bought? My iPod stereo and the birdy boys!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? The Hun's!!!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The same few people who make me feel like a doormat, though I'm bit by bit getting better at stopping it, and holding my own.

14. Where did most of your money go? A fair amount went in to my savings account! Other than that, I spent a fair amount on rent and bills, and lunches that I should have packed rather then bought.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Getting engaged!

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyonce.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
(a) Happier or Sadder? Happier.
(b) Thinner or Fatter? Like 3kg lighter?
(c) Richer or Poorer? Richer!

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Celebrating what I have.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Whinging and carrying on like a spoilt child.

20. How did you spend Christmas in 2008? The Huns house for presents in the morning, my parents house for presents mid morning and lunch, back to The Huns house for after lunch, back home for the night sitting in front of the TV.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? I stayed in love.

22. How many one-night stands? Why start now?!

23. What was your favorite TV program? Dexter, 6 Feet Under and Harry's Practice.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No.

25. What was the best book you read? Second Glance.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Laura Marling.

27. What did you want and get? A fiance and some birds.

28. What did you want and not get? A house.

29. What was your favorite film of this year? Oooh, SATC was FANTASTIC, but I also really enjoyed Iron Man. Nom nom nom.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 27, I worked and had a bunch of friends come to a bar near my house before La Porchetta for tea!

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A house.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Comfy-lazy. Though I did better with office wear, and am going to keep improving on it.

33. What kept you sane? Opening my eyes to see what I have. And my internet friends!

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Michael C Hall and (slightly less appropriately) Zac Effron.

35. What political issue stirred you the most? Live Export and animal treatment.

36. Who did you miss? Max and my friend who passed away last year.

37. Who was the best new person you met? I don't really meet too many people, but I met my new boss which was exciting.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Don't sweat the small stuff.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it"

40. What are your resolutions for 2009? Have the best year of my life.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

December dots

  • I am playing a LOT of this game. My highest score is just over 40,000 atm, but I'm thinking I'll be able to beat that tonight.
  • We've started watching Six Feet Under - something we've been meaning to do since middle bro told us it was the best finale to a show he ever saw. We're halfway through Season 2 and it's REALLY good.
  • How was your Christmas? Did you get spoilt? The birdy boys were the present for me and The Hun for each other, but I got the Beyonce CD (FINALLY!), this fantastic Dilbert book, a Jade bracelet (still in the mail), the Marly and Me book (which I'm having trouble getting in to because of the way it is written!), a beachy type bag, a Josh Pyke ticket (which I can't use as I'll be in Sydney for the Future Music Festival), some pirate tattoos and a few other things. I got very spoilt and had a great day hanging out with the family and visiting The Huns family after I ate way too much.
  • New Years is coming up soon! We're planning to go to our friends house - he lives less than 2 minutes walk away, so it's super convenient for us... we're lucky he's offered to host for the last three years!
  • Jacqui the dog is settling in really well - she only ate a meal for the first time in almost four days the other day - her previous owner was feeding her only minced chicken, so she was refusing the dog food! It didn't do her any harm though, middle bro weighed both the dogs the other day - Pounder was 4kg, Jacqui the dog was 9kg! That's more than double Pounders weight, and they're the same height!!! They're getting along really well though, check out these pictures that middle bro took the other day - I think they're in luuuuurve:

  • With new years coming up, I'm refocussing my effort back on the gym, with a target to be happier by my birthday (at the end of March). Damn that Victoria's Secret show we taped...
  • The birdies are going well too - they are starting to learn to wolf whistle (which I think is great!) and are a lot easier to get out of the cage now. They still try to fly which is totally retarded, but now they are much quicker to run back over to your foot to get up higher again. Lovely little fellows they are!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Jacqui the dog for Christmas Eve Eve

Eldest bro and eldest bro's gf got a new puppy last week - a gorgeous little staffy cross named Galileo. They brought him over to family tea last Monday and we saw a bit of a change in Pounder... it seems that having another puppy around calmed him a little, gave him something else to concentrate on other than his own craziness.

Mumsy and dadsy had done a bit of looking around for a friend for Pounder, and yesterday one of the local rescue people came to check out our house and approve us for this lovely girl, Jacqui:



Jacqui was rescued from a puppy mill, a 2 year old girl who had already been used for litters for the prior 18 months. She was described as follows: ...would love a little doggy friend like her when she goes to her forever home as she thrives on company, both human and dog. Jacqui walks well on a lead, is perfectly house trained and is learning some very important manners from her foster carer who used to be a dog trainer! Jacqui has a delightful personality and would suit a person who is looking for a friendly and very happy dog. So we were hoping she would be a good influence on Pounder.

This is what mumsy and dadsy picked up from Sydney today:


A little bit 'chubbier' than what was in the photos, but you can tell Pounder is very happy about it!


Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Oh sunny days

I went to brunch with gf1 and gf2 this morning, and it was the first sunny weekend day here in like a month.

So I got burnt.

You would think the girl who is going back in two weeks to get two more moles cut out would be a little more sensible.

Other than that - not a lot to report. I'll either hear from the doctor this week about the results of my blood tests, or he'll elaborate a little more when I go back on the 5th for some cut-chop-cutting. The hypochondriac in me is kinda hoping there is something going on, so that I sort my health out, the other half is hoping that there is nothing and I'll just wake up to myself and eat right.

Next year will be my year - there will be so much fantastic stuff going on, and I am looking forward to getting myself toight and terrific before my birthday, and maintaining it for the big day.

ZOMG.

HOW. EXCITING.

306 days to go!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

I know what birds like

Keyboard tapping.

Tesla is obsessed with it, and displayed his ability for total adorabless by coming over to my keyboard and tip-tapping at the keys. Squee! Until he started to try to lift them with his beak.
Squaw.

Is it too much to ask to buy them their own keyboard for Christmas?
Considering I dropped $50 on a play pen that they don't really like, plus some clean spray and a Christmas toy...

"We are not impressed."

Sunday, December 14, 2008

The big three

I have an appointment with my favorite doctor tomorrow - the one who cut out a multitude of bumps and lumps and moles for me over the last little while.

My three questions will be:
  • What is this mark that sits right in front of where I part my fringe that I thought was a burn from my straightener but has been there for months?
  • Can you please check all my moles for me? I'll get mostly nude if I have to because I don't want cancer, but I'm going to feel REALLY uncomfortable.
  • Judging by the syptoms I'm about to describe to you, what is the likelihood that I have IBS or some kind of food allergy that I am going to hate, but will feel much better for having had diagnosed?
Post your best bets in the answers and I'll let you know how close you are!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Not asking much, just a token, really a trifle...

Some B2B (brides to be) make outrageous demands.

Do not cut or die your hair until just before the wedding.
I want everyone to be under 65kg.
Your partner is not good looking enough to attend.
You must attend all three of my showers, my kitchen tea, my hens night and girly sleepover.

Me?
All I ask is a select few of us learn this dance.

(if I were leet enough I would have embedded it here, but I can't work out how, so you have to click through).

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Review: The Deck at Regatta Point

For reference: The Deck at Regatta Point.

Waiter: Drinks?
Enny: I'll have a vodka, lime and lemonade.
Waiter: Sure.
Enny: And are you able to ask the kitchen what on the menu is suitable for vegans? We called ahead and the said there were a few things.

Time passes

Waiter:
Okay - you can have the salad or the bruschetta.
Enny: Bruschetta sounds great! If there's no tallow in the wedges or chips, can I have some on the side?
Waiter: Okay.
Time passes
Waiter brings out bowl of warm cherry tomatoes covered in vinegar

Enny: Hi. Sorry. Um. Should there be bread with this?
Waitress: Did you want bread with it?
Enny: I thought bruschetta was meant to come with bread?
Waitress: The bread is not vegan. Did you want the bread?
Enny: Um no. He didn't tell me that it wouldn't come with bread...
Waitress: We won't charge you full price, did you want something different?
Enny: He said there was salad or bruschetta and that was it?
Waitress: We don't have any salad.
Enny: What about the pasta with tomato sauce?
Waitress: It has egg and milk in it.
Enny: Isn't most pasta just wheat and water?
Waitress: Our is not.
Enny: ... just forget about it.

I eat the warm tomatoes covered in vinegar. During this time I find out they gave me warm soda water, vodka and an f*load of lemon, and they don't come back to check on us in 2.5 hours, 1.5 hours after the water has run out.

Enny: ... This is ridiculous. I'm thirsty and where's the bill?!

I ask for the bill and sit down.
I go back and ask for water - they point to the fridge and I get my own three bottles.

10 minutes later, still no bill.
I go back and ask for the bill again.
I go to the bathroom.
I go back and ask for the bill for a third time and he gives me a docket.

Enny: Are you kidding me?!

The bill is spelt out like this:
Misc meal $21.90
Misc meal $16.90
Misc meal $24.90
...
...
Misc drink $6.00
Misc drink $7.00
Misc drink $7.00

...
...


Enny: Hi. I'm just wondering how much you're charging me for lunch? I got the bruschetta without bread.

They reprint the bill. One of the misc items has changed from $21.90 to $16.90.
They charged me $16 f*cking 90 for a bowl of warm cherry tomatoes.

Rating/Review for The Deck at Regatta Point.
Fail.
1/10.
Useless service, incompetent waitstaff, zero communication.
Only worth going for the view - you're better off buying a softdrink from their cafe and sitting on the grass to drink it.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Out of blog-fice

Hey there!

Bonding is going slowly but surely - unfortunately I won't be back here until Sunday night... I'm off to Queensland tomorrow after work for a martial arts camp.

Tesla is the more confident one and also the meanest one - Seymour is the quiet one who is getting a little bullied. Apparently it's all play, but I'm sure we'll all warm up to each other soon enough.

I can't wait to come back and bond with my little boys!!!

Monday, December 01, 2008

Hi friends

They arrive tomorrow!!

The one on the left is Seymour, he is my little boy.
The one on the right is Tesla, he is The Hun's little boy.
The other one was for us, but the guy was keen to keep one of the yellow ones as they are rarer, and it's easier to tell them apart when they are quite different.

Aren't they beautiful?

The bird man is bringing them over tomorrow and helping me set up the cage. I can't wait!

I got to hold Seymour on the weekend when I went around to visit them - he sat on my finger and looked up and me and made a little noise. He has a spot of green on his face because he was out in the grass and bumped his head.

This may just turn in to a crazy bird lady website, so bear with me.

Friday, November 28, 2008

I did it!

Guess who got a distinction?

Me!!!

I honestly thought I'd be very lucky to pass... I must have got at least 28.5/40 and I was TOTALLY surprised!

What a great way to finish!!
5 credits, 7 D's and 1 HD later, I now have my Bachelor of Commerce.

So now I can totally kickback at Foreshore tmr - thanks for your support over the years!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Big week!

I spoke to a breeder today who is going to get back in touch with me tomorrow. You guys don't know how excited I am about this... or maybe you do, it's all I seem to be talking about. I hope Hope HOPE we get them soon!! My cage is waiting empty, although The Hun keeps commenting that I could fit in there... he better not have something planned.

On a side note, today I completed the largest part of a work project that has been going for like three years. And now that's done, there is two days of work before I start with my new team. Interesting times, people. I'm cautious and excited about it - it's definitely a change and probably for the better, but still scary... and I'm going to miss being so close to my curent team mates (if they think they can shake me, they're so totally wrong).

Lets open this baby up - what's on your mind? Spill!

Monday, November 24, 2008

We're up early, we're up with the birds

You guys!!!
The landlord said yes!!!


I've already gone out and bought a cage, now we just need to find a (nice) breeder with two hand reared boys... HOW EXCITING!!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Whoops

Almost a week!
I didn't realise.

Let's catch up, shall we?
  • I'm going to a wedding this evening - one of my martial arts students is holding the wedding at his house, and the dress code is hats. This is partly so it looks nice, and partly because by rights it should be hot and sunny. We're expecting a top of 15 today, with potential snow. Nice work.
  • We're waiting to hear from our landlord as to whtether we are allowed to have some birds. I would love a cockatiel and I have picked a name for him already, even though we haven't had permission yet and I'm not sure how to go about it in the vegan-est manner.
  • We spent all last weekend cleaning and gardening for an inspection on monday - technically, The Hun and his parents did the gardening, and I did a lot of the cleaning. It's so nice to have a clean house! We did quite a grownup thing and hopped down to Bunnings to buy our Very First Hammer, some hanging cloth shelves and a wall-cord-place thing. The hammer was to bash apart one of my dressing tables that was falling apart and hogging the wardrobe; the cloth shevles were to hang up all the clothes that were sitting on top of the fallen apart wardrobe; and the wall plate thing was to replace one that was sitting behind our couch that broke when one of our post-it hooks failed and dropped a big picture frame on to the wall plate. We felt very accomplished that day.
  • I've spend a fair amount of time putting all of my saved links and posts for wedding stuff into Google documents - I just love going back and looking through all the pretty things. I can see how women get all angsty post wedding when they feel like they are missing something after the actual day.
  • Work has been a little better - it's odd to think that next week will be the last week I work with the team I've worked with for over 5 1/2 years. Originally, a lot of the stuff I already do was going to come with me to the new team, and I was going to teach my new team how to do it so I could reduce that workoad, and I could learn more from them. Now, most of the work I am currently doing will stay with my current team and I'll be going over, mostly empty handed. I know this is the sort of thing that happens when people change jobs, but it's definitely going to be a change... at least I have three months transition where I hand it over to my current team.
  • Am up to the Sunshine Coast in two weeks, so I hope the terrible weather clears up! We have two days of Dan Camp, but we get to stay at the fantastic place we stayed at in Feburary. Then I *think* we have a free day, then a 60th birthday party for one of my Master's, then a free day before we fly out that night.
  • I went back to RPM for the first time in like over two months this week. On Tuesday, I forgot my special padded bike pants. ZED OH EMM GEE. On Thursday, I remembered them, but I could still feel it all through the padding. Still, lots of fun!
  • Starting next Thurday, one of my good friends is going to come over and we are going to go on a bike ride once a week. This is going to be very fun because she used to ride to and from school as well, but she rode in the opposite direction after a little while, and she was a TERRIBLE rider! Will be lots of fun, and good exercise.
  • Did I tell you guys I met up with LaLa the other week?! We both went to watch Mick play at the Kingo and I had a great night! She is just SO lovely -we have already arranged to meet up again. FOR SURE.
  • We went to a Christening the other week, and the parents of the baby had their camera stolen! They left it behind IN THE CHURCH and it went missing! The church hasn't seen it and none of the guests saw it - but there was another bunch of christenings straight after. Can you believe it?
  • We're booked on a Harbour Bridge Climb in January which should be very interesting - I'm not very good with heights, which I get from mumsy, and I'm a big fraidy cat. But she did it, so surely I can too!
  • We booked it in for the same day we're going to see Bon Iver - I don't mind him, but The Hun thinks he is pretty fantastic. My favourite thing about him is pronouncing his surname as I read it, because apparently it's meant to be pronounced in a french accent. Heh heh.
  • In terms of music we're not seeing a whole much else - we're going to Foreshore next weekend which I'm pretty excited about, and Bon Iver in January, and Good Vibrations in Sydney in February, and that's it! Quite a quiet festival season for us.
I think that's enough for now!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Same as it ever was

Hrm.

Well.

I don't really feel any different.

Studying for your last exam is quite an unusual experience. I could tell I wasn't absorbing a whole lot of it, but I knew I felt like that for the other 12 exams I sat this time around. I was memorising my acronyms, trying to tie everything together in my head, and counting down the hours on FB (sorry for those of you who got notified each time!).

I sat down and opened the paper.
I smiled and rolled my eyes.
I let only a little bit of panic through.

I was confident to the point of cockiness for this final exam. My tutor/lecturer is a pretty easy marker, she told us the chapters to study, she told us it would be four essays from six topics, she told us she was giving us a good idea because we were the students who made the effort to come to lectures.

The questions were long answer short questions, tying in different chapters for each one.

Ugh you guys.

But, I'm sitting on 46.5/60, so I've already PX'd... 4/40 is a pass, 19/40 is a credit.

I'm guessing the relief/excitement will kick in after I get my results in a fortnight.

On the bright side, The Hun and I went halvsies in Guitar Hero 4 for my graduation present. It rocks SO hard. I rock MEDIOCRE hard, but I'm getting better. We both think we're the best at the drums, but I'm starting at level 2 and working my way up, whilst The Hun has jumped straight in to level 3. I'll always be better at guitar than him, so I have myself a backup plan.

Whatever will I whinge about now that I've finished uni?!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Uni!!

Tomorrow is my final exam EVER*!

At 2pm I go in to the UC hall for hopefully the last time, and write four essays from six questions. I will walk out at 5pm (or maybe earlier!) and probably smile!

If any of my other mature age friends are loitering around we might go to the uni bar, but we have to drive home, so will only be for one or two at most.

Results are announced on 28th of November, my ceremony is on the 17th of December.

From here to here.

How exciting!

* have been talking to one of my old martial arts students partners who is doing psychology/zoology and is planning to live the life I want to live - animal psychology and behaviour consulting for domestic and captive animals. It is so interesting, and something I am actually seriously considering.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Sixth and sixth

Lulu tagged me!

"The rules are to post the sixth photo in the sixth folder on your computer. Some have done this and others have taken their sixth photo on flickr or in the 6th folder on flickr, or the sixth photo on their phones."


I've used three photos - the sixth photo in the sixth folder of my active photos, the sixth photo in the sixth folder of my pics printed in Feb 08, and the sixth photo in the sixth folder of my pics printed in Sep 07. I basically have an active folder that holds everything, then a subfolder for the ones I've already printed - that subfolder has the two other folders in there, coz I always save up to many photos and it's so expensive to get them printed.

Enough of the fun talk about my file storage, on to the challenge!

The sixth photo in the sixth folder of my active photos:
This was taken at a martial arts camp we ran for our blackbelts in May this year. It was FREEZING but we still like to take the students to the beach for tai chi and meditation at sunrise. Here we are doing tai chi - I'm the one on the left. Magf is in the background with some of the senior students.

From the folder printed Feb 08:
Christmas at mumsy and dadsy's! I'm not sure who took this or why, because we're not doing anything exciting... from L-R is dadsy, me, eldest bro's gf, eldest bro, youngest bro, and middle bro. We're upholding my parents favourite tradition, which involves them demanding we arrive at the house at some ridiculour early hour, only to find they're not even out of bed. Then they have breakfast and try to make us clean while the sloooooowly have a shower and then come back downstairs for the present swap. Good times, gotta love tradition.

From the folder printed Sep 08:
Ooh! This is a good one! This is from a friends house - the guy on the left is one of my first housemates, and this was the night he found out that another friend wanted to go out with him - they're still together and bought a house down the street from us! The girl on the right is the gf of one of The Huns best friends - they've been together like 8 years, and this was as she was getting to know us all better, as he was OS at the time. I've been getting to know her more recently, and she's super fantastic! I also later found out that this night one of the other guys there was spreading rumours about her bf cheating on her while he was OS - how terrible! And I had no idea that he was saying that, or that she heard that!

Anyways, I would love for EVERYONE to do this one - then come back and let me know you've done it!

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Fian-say #5

Following on from this...

"Mumsy - I think we've found the perfect place!"

"Oh good! I was talking to (her sister) and we don't think you can get away with not inviting the cousins."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Well, you're the first (maiden name) to get married."

"Huh? (Girl-cousin) is engaged - she's been engaged for like a year!"

"Yes, but she's not getting married."

"What?... But... we were already going to cut our list of 115 down to 100 to fit into the venue, that's without cousins!"

"Well that won't do - we had 120 at ours!"

Guest list = 162.

So the venue hunt continued today, with the only two larger Canberra venues I could find that hadn't already been used by friends and that didn't charge over $140 per head.

And one of them was pretty tacky - like if it were the 80's and I wanted a Sparkle-Vegas-Winter-Sparkle-Princess-Sparkle wedding.

So at this stage it looks like the ceremony will be held here:



And the reception here:



Respective families have agreed to pay for their respective relatives. Or else it would TOTALLY be held here:

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Touring 2009

NERD.

Pussycat Dolls.

Britney.

I'm one happy girl with one terrible taste in music.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Fian-say #4

Today we went to look at reception venues.

It's all a bit real how, huh?

Magf, eldest bro's gf and I had brekky at My Cafe, then headed over to the Sculpture Garden Restaraunt at the National Gallery. It was nice enough, and the lady seemed to be very accomodating with the budget, but it didn't really grab me. And to be honest I found the heads in the water to be a little creepy:

From there we headed on to the Hotel Kurrajong - this is my favourite at this point! I've emailed for a quote and hope we can go ahead with it. The room is lovely, there's a great spot for the actual ceremony, and people will be able to hang around there while we go get photos done:

We had a bit of spare time before our next appointment, so we stopped in at the Ottoman - lovely. It fits a good amount of people and wouldn't really need a lot of decoration, but it doesn't really have anywhere to hold the ceremony. Will keep it in mind though...:

We also stopped over at the Hyatt without a booking. I couldn't remember why I hadn't considered it, until they gave us the pricing package! There are a couple of nice places to hold the ceremony, but the reception area was a little perculiar (though still beautiful!) and I think the pricing will be out our range:

We rushed over to The Lobby and hung around until someone in the kitchen finally noticed we were there, even though we had an appointment - the guy told us that the person I was asking after didn't actually work there, so I have no idea what the story is with that. It was a bit small for us anyway.

We had some time to kill, seeing as we thought we'd be busy with The Lobby, so it was decided to try on some wedding dresses...!

There is something very surreal about wearing a wedding dress - it's quite perculiar! The plan is to go to the Botanical Gardens tomorrow, book a venue this weekend, see what date we can get, and then finalise the dress. I've found one I loved and one I liked, so will try some more on and see how we go. The best part is that if we can secure the weekend I would like that is less than 6 months away, I will be able to order in one of the dresses I have tried on.

Sureal.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Back attack

Back from my work trip - am tired.

Saturday night I got about 6 hours sleep after the engagement party.

Sunday I drove two hours to Bowral to help facilitate an event for my 'new' team.

Sunday night I got less than 6 hours sleep as I was up late clearing, and up early to participate in a walking group thing as a facilitator.

Monday I rushed around all day, set up for a ball, participated in a ball, cleaned up a ball and went to bed for less than 4.5 hours sleep.

Today I rushed around and got to start the 2 hour drive home.
And I would just like to send my LOVE to the POLICE for setting up VEHICLE INSPECTION on the HUME HIGHWAY less than 10 MINUTES from my House. Meaning the last SEVEN minutes of my drive took more than THIRTY.

THANKS.

No srsly.

THANK. YOU.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Leave a message after the tone...

*Beep*

Hi guys, it's Enny.

Just wanted to let you know I had a fab time at the engagement party, the weather was beautiful and the company was grand.

I'd tell you more about it but I have to leave in less than half an hour and still have to finish packing - I have to drive for two hours to go to a work thing that runs from today until Tuesday evening. I know!

Anyways, will call in again soon - thanks!

*clunk*
*clunk*

*dial tone*

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Vegan point scoring

I made the famous vegan loaf for a work morning tea today, and it was gone before the official start! I think that he first contributing factor to the popularity is that I actually cooked something - a lot of the ladies in the section gave a shocked look when word got around that 'Enny cooked! She baked a loaf!'. The second contributing factor was that it was vegan - a lot of people wanted to know what it was made of, how is made without eggs and milk, and is it healthy? The final contributing factor was probably that it was dissapearing fast... 12 pieces for 50 people! I had totally figured I'd be eating half a loaf for lunch, and The Hun was very dissapointed to hear I wouldn't be bringing any home after he came home last night to the smell of it baking in the kitchen.

It also lead to another potential vegan conversion! A guy at work who has moved down from Queensland has been asking me questions AND making suggestion for vegan food, as his culture (Serbian?) goes through fasting periods where no animal products (excluding seafood!) are consumed. He doesn't know why seafood is okay either. Anyway, he indicated that he loved the loaf AND that he had some questions about becoming vegan - he's putting together an email to send me. I am SO excited! That will be one work convesrsion, I count Deb as my internet conversion, I've been in email conversation with one of my martial arts students gym customers (we're planning a breakfast meetup!) and one of my martial arts students is halfway there (though young, and not allowed to become vegan until she is 18, according to her parents).

The young student forwarded me a note the other day that a friend of hers had posted on Facebook and received over 100 comments. Basically, a young girl had indicated all veg*ns are ghey and that they were endagering the human race because if everyone was veg*n we'd have a population of weak, iron deficient palies that would die out.  From there, a whole lot of intelligent debate followed (and a whole lot of caps and typos and exclamation marks) and it was really empowering to see that there are young people becoming educated at such an early age on their impact in the world and the results of their actions. It was also infuriating to see that same girl that started the conversation state that she'd happily string an animal on a hook to watch it bleed, then get really upset when people starting personally attacking her. It is terribly sad to see the level of ignorance that some people have, the level of disrespect they have for living creatures, and the disgusting level that people will go to to 'fit in'. Then again, when I was omni I never would have considered becoming vegan - I considered myself a meatatarian (mind you, I would NEVER have even considered joking about torturing animals) and I honestly didn't understand the connectin between the animals that I claimed to love, and 'meat'.

It's similar to a conversation I've had with some friends over the past week or so - two of my friends are considering getting laying hens, and eating them after a year or two. They don't understand why I  get so upset during the argument, and they don't believe that I would actually steal their hens from them were they to plan ahead to murder them. Their response is that they won't tell me before they do, but it will be a very upsetting day when it happens, if it happens. I already know how it will play out in my head, so I hope they were only saying it to rile me, similar to how I hope they were only riling me saying they would do the same with a pig, or the other friend that said he happily shoots roos and rabbits. I would steal the hens, and I would do my very most to steal the pig as well. Otherwise, I don't know how I could begin to overlook that the friends that I love are the same people that murdered the creatures they had raised and loved (ignorant the inherent cruelty in purchasing hens in the first place). To me, the fact that they wouldn't do the same to a cat or a dog, that they would be jailed for doing the same to a cat or a dog, should make them realised that through the eyes of their morals and through the eyes of the law, they are commiting an act of cruelty.

There's no real point to this post, just that as it seems that things are looking up, things are also looking down. Just different levels of intensity I guess.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Fian-say #3

The engagement party is next weekend and I'm very excited, so I thought I'd share a little of it with you.

I realised I hadn't shown you the invites (although some of you might have seen the terrible pics dadsy posted on his facebook of mumsy and I making them!)


I know you don't get too much of an idea of it from there, but I love them! Youngest bro helped me pick out the paper, and we basically identified what I hpe will be the theme for the wedding: purple, green and birds. The writing is on a lovely ivory paper with a swirls and birds patten in the background (ignoring the fact that the ink didn't stink so much to the shinier swirls and birds!), and the side border was made of this paper:

It looks lovelier in person, you'll have to trust me!

*** If Magf, gf1 or gf2 are reading this, stop now! Check back in after the party!***

My engagement party is on the same day as gf1's sisters 18th, so she's coming and leaving a little earlier than the others, so I thought it would be nice to catch gf1, gf2 and Magf togeher - we're having famliy come over from 1, and friends over from 4.

I've been reading a LOT of wedding stuff online, and thought it would be nice to formally present my bridesmaids to be with a little gift, seeing as I haven't 'officially' told or asked them.

Here's what they get:
And now you know what the initials of my party will be! Shh!

They're little sparkly keyrings that I thought were cute, and I bought these little boxes to put them in:

They were less than three dollars each, and cute, and kinda purple. So I HAD to get them. You undertand, right?

I handwrote a little note on some of the leftover side-strips from the invites - you can tell I am destined for greatness via my terrible handwriting.

Ooh! I wrote them with the spiffy new pen that The Hun's parents brought me back from jolly old London!

I shoved the keyrings in the boxes on top of some green crepe paper and covered it with scatter confetti hearts before I put the little note in on top:


And then?

Ta da! I'm not a good ribbon tyer, but whatevs.

I also wanted to show you the lovely wedding planner that one of my ex-first-housemates bought me!

It may not look like much, but it is so lovely inside - I had a cheapie one that came with a magazine, but I wasn't very excited about that one. This one, I love - see:


And it wasn't until I took the photo of my covering up the names (that I've already written in) that I realised I may not have shown you my beautiful ring until now?

Ta-da!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Wordy rememberies

The LaLovely LaLa tagged me a little while ago, in a Roborant* effort to preserve words falling out of everyday use.

*That was my word! Hooray!

So. Instead, I'm going to nick the next 'meme' type thing that she posted.

Here’s how you play:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don’t want to play on your blog, or if you don’t have a blog, I’ll leave my memory of you in my comments.
SO PLEASE leave me a memory……..PLEASE REMEMBER ME!
I hope y'all will play along!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Come here! Go there! Eurail tale, follow her trail!

Hi!

I'm in the middle of procrastinating my last assignment ever (WOAH!) so just wanted to drop in to let you know that my lovely friend Melbourne Train Girl has started a new blog, as she gets ready for a big Europe trip.

I'm the original fangirl, so I strongly recommend you check her our out, or add her to your feeder, and then we can meet back here or on facebook and swap injokes and live vicariously and stuffs.

Go there!
eurailtale.blogspot.com

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Sighs of relief

Dot point!

  • The deadline? Pushed back a month or so. I was so happy that I nearly happy cried, at the meeting table, at 4:30 on Friday afternoon. So I have weekends back to do uni, clean my parents house for the engagement shopping, and buy something for The Hun to wear...
  • ... because I took middle bro shopping the otherweekend and bought him the nicest outfit in the shop! I promised him as part of his more-than-50kg-weight loss that I would buy him something to wear to the party, and he didn't want to let me, but I talked him into accepting the shirt, pants and shoes. And when he came out of the dressing room I nearly happy cried (I seem to be getting more emotional in my old age!) because he just looked so great. Thing is, I have no idea what to get The Hun to wear because I think middle bro will be wearing the nicest thing at the party! Although, I do love to shop...
  • ... as I showed mumsy when she came enagement party dress shopping with me! I bought a beautiful new dress (pics will be up after the 25th) AND shoes AND a box clutch. Because, yes, the party is at my parents so it doesn't matter WHAT bag I have as I'll jus chuck it where I normally put my bag so I don't need a new one, but, as mumsy put it "when has it ever been about need?". Plus, it's TOTALLY cute. Speaking of cute...
  • ... did you guys watch The Nanny all those years ago? Remember Gracie? The youngest, ugly one? Do you watch Californication? Have you seen the bit where David Duchovny is banging that girl? THEY ARE THE SAME PERSON. How much did Gracie change in eight years?! Eight years is like ages ago, and not long ago at all - in fact, 8 years ago I'd just started uni for the first time...
  • ... and now I'm almost finished for the first time! I have one assignment, one presentation and one exam to go. The assignment isn't due until Wednesday and I got a lot of great advice from a classmate, the presentation isn't due until three weeks from now and my partner has volunteered to do most of the work, and the exam should be fine as my lecturer/tutor marked the one I did last semester and got a HD for. HOW EXCITING! Another exciting thing I'd been looking forawrd to was...
  • ... Floriade! We finally found a time when mumsy, dadsy and I were all free and headed out early on Saturday morning. Floriade always seems to become a shopfest when we're together - I bought salted cashews, that nut mix that tastes like vegemite, two jars of curry, four straps of vegan flavoured licorice and 2 bars of vegan fudge that I was VERY keen for! One of my friends told me they saw it there, and by the time I got out there, only vanilla and caramel were - but the lovely lady at the stall told me about the five other flavours they have that I am VERY keen to try! On top of this, mumsy and dadsy also bought a sweeper thing that is VERY awesome, four jars of curry, cinnamoned cashews and macadamias, coffee, soap and a weeding tool. We would have spent less than five minutes looking at the flowers, five minutes in the bonsais and five minutes looking at the professional garden displays. I love Floriade! I also love...
  • Pounder! Since Mumsy and I attended the training weekend, his behaviour has improved dramatically. He's been hanging out upstairs which is completely new for him - he even climbed the stairs for the first time on the weekend. He went for a long walk and acted like a normal dog (including giving up just after the halfway mark and laying down for a rest - all of our dogs have done this at one time or another!), he spins less and when we left the house on the weekend there was no spinning or crying! He loves to play, but you have to be very careful not to bump him with the toys because he takes it very personally, and he is still somewhat intimidated when you reach down to pat him - I think he's just getting used to all the human interaction, and getting used to all the love. Speaking of love, The Hun and I...
  • ... checked out the church where both sets of our parents got married! And, we've decided against a church wedding. Basically, The Hun is an atheist and he shouldn't have to lie to the priest, I'm not sure what I believe in exactly, and the priest was pretty churchy. As you would expect, I know, but he wanted us to go to our own parish and chat to the priest there after mass - we told him it's been a looong time since we've been at church, and he told us it was a good time to start. That, and about how marriage is as much about giving yourself to God as much as it is giving yourself to each other... it just didn't sit right. After attending The Hun's ex gf (the one I lived with that's been mentioned various times!)'s wedding yesterday, I realised that to me, marriage is not really anything to do with God. To me, it's about committing yourself to one person for life... but while church weddings are very "God, God, God", non church weddings always seem to be "Law, law, law". In what may be a bit of a middleground, Dadsy's cousin is a celebrant, and if she can practice in the ACT (I don't know what the rules are), I reckon we could wangle a ceremony that is a nice balance. Wish me luck!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Working woman

Work!
Grrr.

Anyways, I told you I didn't get the job, right?
They called me in the moment I got back to work on the monday (after being sick) and told me I hadn't quite made it (though I was the best communicator of the applicants!) but there were 'options'. Later in the week I got called into a meeting where it was announced my position would be moving to the team I applied for anyway!

Long story short, things are a little emotional about the change. There's some things that need to be cleared up, and a Very Important Deadline that looms at the end of this month. Did I mention that this month is also my engagement party? And my last month of uni (before exams)? And that I've got two work trips planned with the new team?

I just got back from two days in Melbourne as part of the new role. I felt like a noob, like everyone knew I didn't really know what I was doing there, but I got a lot of positive feedback from them on the work I've done over my 5+ years there and my contribution to the couple of days.

So yay me.

Anyways, I'm going to be working crazy mental hours this month, and basically freaking out about uni too... so you're just going to have to bear with me on this one. Hecktober, here it comes.

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Happy 600!

It's been a while hasn't it? Since my last post, and since my first post... so, seeing as I'm looking back on old times, I'd like to share with you some photos from old times!

*share*
You should have known I'd not be one of those tidy prissy girls, right?
I'd also like to give a shout out to the bro's, who so kindly offered to not be yellow faced here - I'm figuring we're not exactly identifiable at such a young age... but we'll see, I guess!

Myself, middle bro and eldest bro.
When I told my parents that I was planning on growing my hair long from now on, my dad told me I should cut it short like it used to be... I think I look like a boy (particularly in this one). I remember I went with mum once when I was in high school to get my medium length hair cut in Manuka and the hairdresser thought I was a boy - so perhaps I'm doomed either way.

(Dadsy), (mumsy), Myself, middle bro, youngest bro, and eldest bro.
Check out those long legs! I was destined to be tall, I tells ya.

Eldest bro, myself, (dadsy), middle bro and youngest bro.
This is one of my favourite photos. When we had to do a poetry project for year 9 english, I remember looking at this photo and writing all emo about how we used to be so happy blah-blah-blah... I just wish I could look at it without remembering that!

Middle bro, myself, (dadsy), youngest bro and eldest bro.
This was a Christmas tradition in our house. Dadsy had a special Christmas book that we weren't allowed to touch, that he would read it to us on Christmas Eve after we'd been to mass. It was hard covered and red, and all the photos had gold ink on them - it was a very pretty book!

(Mumsy), youngest bro, myself, eldest bro and middle bro.
Speaking of Christmas - one year we got bikes and stackhats (well, youngest bro got a bike seat and a stackhat) and mumsy told us that Santa had moved them around. I was so excited by that.

Eldest bro, middle bro, myself and youngest bro.
One thing I did notice is that we were very good at making our own fun. Surely we weren't the only kids who had great fun running through the bindies with shopping bags...?

Eldest bro and myself.
Playing in soot also seems to have been a fun past time...

(dadsy), myself, middle bro and eldest bro.
This was DEFINITELY funtimes - standing one the wood while dad sawed through it - just thinking about it makes my feet tingle!

Myself, Nana, youngest bro, Pa, eldest bro and middle bro.
Here we are with my Nana and Pa - I still have that stuffed dog, her name is Little Lou, named after the neighbours who had a dog called Lou that looked just like it.

Pa and eldest bro.
Here is one of my favourites of my Pa - I don't know if it is just the camera angle, but he looks totally huge!

Eldest bro, myself and eldest bro.
Shout out to the girls with Cabbage Patch Dolls! Desiree Venora and Holly Violet.

Middle bro, myself, (mumsy) and eldest bro.
Another favourite to finish it off - we're doing our best chicken impresonation in front of our chicken pen - check out middle bro's moves... tee hee hee!

Anyway - hope you enjoyed the post, I'll be waiting for my 600 bunny-winks from each and everyone of you!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

It only got worse

I think I have just come out of the worst flu I've ever had.

There was a time like 5 years ago when the infamous 'flu of death' went through our house - it only struck one person at a time, and all you did for 3 days straight was sweat, shower, sleep and sweat.

Tuesday I was feeling pretty bad, right? I then developed a massive headache and then slept for 14 house straight, then wasped around the house all Wednesday. Went to The Huns parents for Family Tea, felt okay and then got up on Thursday and went to work.

Buh-bow.

It was so draining. I was tired, coughing, blowing my nose and getting hot and cold sweats. I left work at 2:30 and slept for three hours then woke up with ANOTHER migraine. I managed to sleep most of it off, but then spent all Friday coughing and blowing my nose and feeling worse. It was around this point that I wondered if I would never feel better - which of course made me feel worse (and yes, I worked half of one day the week after I interviewed for a promotion... nice work, me).

Anyways, I think all the extra nose blowing helped out and I perked up enough to actually be sociable with The Hun. Saturday I went back to the DFO with mumsy and played out a kitchenware version of Pretty Woman with her - the kitchen is being renovated and she'd never furnished a kitchen with proper stuff from the get go... it was SO much fun! Saturday night I hit the movies with gf1 and gf2 for gf2's birthday because my illness lamed me out of cocktails and dinner - which we'll be doing next weekend.

Today I went to a bbq for The Huns touch team and then cleaned my room - I have some EXCITING PLANS for it, hopefully this week.

Anyways - the whole point of this was to say.... NEXT POST = 600th POST!