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.

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*

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.

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!

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!

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

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!
  

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.

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!