Happy 500th!

Well, it's 10:18 and I'm stuffed full, with half a glass of wine to go!

First - the evidence:

09:28pm

09:43pm

10:14pm

And if that wine looks a little small I'd let you know it's about 'standard' drink size and that cruisers are 1.3 standard drinks... plus it was all I had left in the bottle and couldn't justify cracking another... plus I couldn't phyiscally fit another cruiser on my insides my outsides are another story.

So - it's 10:27 and I FINALLY get to read those questions - wahoo!

(Pre-PS - I totally apologise if this is EXTREMELY anticlimatic.)

Question One from "Secret Admirer of Yellow Faces": 500 posts... wow! Where did the time go? Congratulations on the milestone :). With what you know after 500 posts, if you were starting blogging now, what would you do differently? Happy 500th!

WooOOOoh! Well, it definitely took me a long time to get into my 'stride' (look who has tickets!) but I think that I would advise that you don't just write about whatever you can think of to fill space - my uni posts are a prime example of what not to do. Bloggers do often say that they write for themselves, but that's not true - if they did they would just keep a diary or email their friends or write into the newspaper. As a blogger, you do write for the people. So don't try to bore them to death, do try and keep things interesting. If you had a friend who only ever talked boring details about people you don't know, would you keep in touch with them? I don't think so.

(Now, off to reread the past 499 posts for some severe editing!).

Question Two from Alyndabear: Erm.. I won't ask the real name one, since I sort of invision you as an 'Enny', hee. How about a blogging one.. What blogs do you read DAILY and why do you love them so? xo.

Don't feel bad, A'bear - a lot of the bloggers I have met do still think of me as an Enny! The thing is, I'm a BIG fan of reading ALL of my linked ones daily - I will admit it has been easier since I've started using Google reader. There are quite a few that I do read as soon as I see there has been an update, and they are as follows:
Perez - because I am totally obsessed with Britney and am waiting for her to reveal that the past however long has just been a bizaarre publicity stunt/experiment.
Lolcats - because seriously, who doesn't?!
Yourself - because you are a daily blogger and I love reading about your 'new' life overseas.
D'jen - because I am obessesd with her life as she is so lovely. And I apologise if she no longer likes her nickname, but in the same way I will always be Enny etc... ;o)
Adam - because I love it when he updates and I wish he lived here so we could be better friends.
Desci - because I have met her and read all her posts differently now that 'know' her.
Mick - because I have also met him and I love reading of his adventures.
Sarah- because I have read all of her backposts and she has an amazing style to accompany her amazing stories.
Lulu - because (again) we met (AND WENT CELEBRITY SPOTTING OH MY) and we're in quite similar points in our lives.
Two Peas, No Pod - because they have a beautiful daughter and they are a good source for vegan things.

Now - if you're not on this list it does not mean I don't read you daily, nor that I don't love you because if I didn't you would not be in my feed OR stored in my favorites if I can't feed off you *snicker*.

Question Three from Mars: which blog/blogger do you desperately want to meet in real life? which blog/blogger do you wish you could be more like? which blog/blogger do you (secretly) kinda think sucks?

Heh heh - straight to the point huh?!

In real life - Yourself because you are a piker and chickened out last time. If that doesn't count then Martie because I think she is awesome and would be great to hang out in a pub with.

To be more like - Sarah, because she has such an engaging style of writing. Or Dasbecca, because I think she has the cutest son in existence and I fear motherhood for the fact that my (hypothetical) son could never be as fantastic as Elias is.

Who sucks? - That guy that left freaky comments of RYWHM, creating blogs full of comics mocking her - COMPLETELY MENTAL. Also, I have a hard time reading forums/comment blogs without rolling my eyes at the fuckwits and pressing the red cross in the top right corner. It seems that anonymous commenter's on 'topic' blogs are an annoying pack of whinging c*nts most of the time.

I get potty mouthed when I've been drinking!

Question Four from Adam: If your family was actually made up of bloggers you know, which bloggers would be your mum, dad, cousins, brothers, half-brothers, nieces, uncles,etc? Would you marry any blogdudes or chicks? Is 3 drinks enough for some truly, great drunk blogging?

Heh heh - I'm not entirely sure at this point, you tell me! I'm thinking I might have to top up at the halfway point (after question six) but we'll see how my bladder/liver/dignity is coping at that point.

Well, I'll assign parents, brothers and sisters.

Firstly, Erica would be a sister because she knows more about me than most and I think that's what sisters do, right? Plus she has awesome taste in style so could fix me up propers, and give me hints on good music and places to hang out. Shauna would be an awesome sister because she would keep me in check about body things, TJ would be a good sister for telling me when I looked like sh!t and helping me out, and Audrey would be a great sister for keeping everything real and bringing it to poetry.

You would be a brother because you picked on me and my man shoulders pretty much as soon as we met, so you're free game as far as I am concerned - that is certainly how my brothers and I treat each other, but you are much nicer. Mick would be an older brother because he seems good with the advice,

C of Two Peas would be my mum (even though she is too young) because I read most of their posts as coming from her, and Mr B'b'rry would be my father (again, too young) because he seems pretty awesome a dad AND I COULD FINALLY PUT A FACE TO A "NAME".

Would I marry any bloggers? Trent because he is uber sexy and d'jen because everything she lives I feel I'm living too. And she would make me awesome clothes and style tips.

Question Five from Sarah: A Death blow is a Life blow to Some;Who till they died, did not alive become—; Who had they lived, had died but when; They died, Vitality begun. Emily Dickinson.
What's the most dangerous thing you've ever done?

Wow... just, wow. That is the BEST spam I've ever got! Most dangerous would probably be a tossup between nearly drowning at Tuggeranong pool when I was in primary school, and being hit by a car when I was in year 11 (1998). The near drowning is partly responsible for my all consuming fear of deep water, and the car accident meant I could not cross a road unless at a crossing until only a few years ago. Whilst the near drowning meant that snorkelling was one of the most TERRIFYING things I've done, I guess it was not that dangerous - although accepting a travel sickness tablet of a stranger in Thailand was in retrospect pretty dangerous. I guess the first night I drove my 200sx I nearly fanged it into a lightpole with two of my bro's and a bro's friend in the car was pretty f*cking stupid and pretty dangerous, and I did do a lot of unlicensed driving when I was on my L's and my friends were drinking... the truth of it is that I am just too much of a pussy for danger, it does not sit well with me! So now I am curious about the most dangerous thing YOU have done!

Question Six from Adam: Jumpasodasdoausdasdhasdyasdasd asdasdkuyasdjhs Asdasdiuasdasjkldj asldaosdasdh akjsdhaisdhasjdbh Asdasdasd Asdasdliuasdj,hasd Asudbaisudbsjsbn Can you please name your first born 'Blogger' and your second born 'Facebook'? Is the Hun totally drunks right now? Can you dare him to shotgun a can of beer right this very second?

Haven't I answered one from you already, mister cheeky?! The answer to the first question is no - I'm sorry! I am hoping that my first daughter will be 'Eva Elise' and I do hope that my first son does have 'Joshua' in his name, but that's as far as I have gotten with that. I will ask The Hun now for you...

Enny: Oi! Adam wants to know if you are totally drunks right now?
The Hun: Me? Me? I'm not totally drunks.
Enny: Adam and I dare you to shotgun a can of beer right this very second.
The Hun: I don't have a shotgun.
Enny: No - to shotgun. To shotgun a can of beer.
The Hun: *blank*
Enny: Hunny?
The Hun: What shotgun. I don't have a shotgun.

I'm sorry Adam - sometimes I think he thinks this is his own comedy site... you totally need to ask him how they moved the Big Merino ;o)

Question Seven from Jen: Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah how's that for filler :) K, my burning question is.......what color(s) would you like your scoodie? no, that's not really it, here's my real ones:
** (If) you didn't have to work for money, what would you spend your days doing?
** If you knew you only had 24 more hours to live, what would you do in your last day on earth?
** Would you travel to space if you were given the opportunity?
That's about all the good ones I can come up with, you can answer all of them or just choose one if you like! Look forward to reading the post!

My scoodie? Black would be good I think - with purple inside! Also if you could make me a hoodie jumper with long sleeves with holes in them for my thumbs to stick through I would quadron off a corner of my room and set up a shrine for your greatness :o)

If I didn't have to work for money I would spend my days fostering dogs. I would pat them and play with them and then walk them and feed them and coo at them all day long. Then I would come home in the worlds best mood, have a lovely meal, go to bed, get up and do it all over again. I could not think of a better way to spend my days!

If I had only 24 hours left to live? I would write a will to keep it all fair. I would ask The Hun to marry me because I am selfish and immature and could not imagine him being with someone else and happy. I would get my star tattoo on my foot and a Bjork tattoo down my spine saying "Carry my joy on my left, Carry my pain on my right" in lovely script.

UPDATE ON QUESTION SIX!
The Hun: What's shotgun? Skull? I don't want to do that. Don't say I don't want to do that. But I don't want to do that.

I would have a banquet lunch from Kingsland delivered to wherever I happened to be at 12pm. I would fill a room with well treated pomeranian puppies and roll around in it for a while (not hurting them obviously!!!) lapping up the love and the cuteness. I would fly to the Great Barrier Reef first class and snorkle in the coral. I would invite my family and a great big bunch of friends (RL and internet) to fly up and we'd have a massive party in a 5 star resort. Then at 11pm I'd retire to my room with the bestest view, ask The Hun to spoon me while we talked for my last hour and then I'd hopefully retire peacefully (probably repeating the Hail Mary because my year five teacher told me that if you say it in the minute before you die you will go to heaven).

Would I travel to space if I had the opportunity? Nope. Because heights scare me and I'd fear burning up on reentry. I would settle for seeing a picture in really high definition. And maybe a quick ride in the zero gravity room just to see what it's like - but I don't think I'd enjoy it!

Question Eight from Lulu: Question time: Sorry they are so dull!!!! Oh and if you have answered these somewhere on your blog before just ignore them (or point me to a link!) Enny's questions
1. If you could buy anything in the world right now, what would it be?
2. Have you ever started or spread a rumor about someone? what was it?
3. Be honest- How many hours a day do you REALLY spend on the internet?
4. What would be your ideal girl`s night out (or in)?

The hun's questions:
1. when are you going to propose to darling Enny?
2. What was your favourite part of Japan when you were here?

Man, I am sorry I can only come up with lame questions?! Good luck for you 500th post!

Heh heh - not lame at all!

If I could buy anything at all right now it would a house. A big one, with a spanking new kitchen, polished wood floors, an awesome entertaining area, ducted heating and air conditioning and no bills to pay. Because then I could get a puppy!

Have I ever started or spread a rumor? Not intentionally... though I am guilty of misinterpreting and unintentionally over exaggerating things I have heard, so perhaps I have!

Time on the internet? A LOT. I come home from work and turn it on, looking at my feeds and my facebook - at home I'd say it's on as follows:
Mondays: 9 - 11ish
Tuesdays: 5ish to 11ish
Wednesdays: 1030ish to 11ish
Thursdays 5ish to 11ish
Fridays 5ish to 11ish
Weekends: Whenever I am home and out of bed.

Pretty terrible, huh?! I turn it off when I'm at the gym and stuff, but I keep it on when I'm watching TV, eating dinner etc. Plus The Hun's lappy is always on because it takes soooooo long to boot up.

My ideal girls night is hard to define, because I do tend to be a bit more comfortable with guys! But, I would say we would start at my house eating the dip of awesome and drinking Brown Brothers whilst we played the Wii. I would have an outfit planned that made me look slim and sexy and my hair and head would be looking faboo. We would head out to a club that was not full of skanky 18yo twig girls and all my favourite songs would be playing and all the guys would watch but not do anything inappropriate. We'd cab home and I'd fall asleep in the arms of my lovely boy and wake up with no hangover. HOORAY!

Now - for The Hun's questions, he guessed what one of them would be, so don't be surprised if he answers with something pre-meditated and totally comedic ;o)

Here goes!

Enny: Hunny, Lulu wants to know when you are going to propose to darling me?
The Hun: Just put "dot dot dot".

(He ain't answering that one!)

Enny: Also - she wants to know what was your favourite part of Japan when you were there.
The Hun: Kyoto.

There was some discussion about how to answer this in terms of places or times - but he really liked Kawa's restaruant in Kyoto next to the Traditional Inn we stayed at - he did say for everyone to visit Kawa's. That answer aboveis the long story short, with some convinving from me that just answering 'dot dot dot' to the questions asked of him would not make him popular, even if he doesn't want to be popular.

You know what guys are like when their girlfriends have been drinking ;o)

Question Nine from Desci: So here is the bit of crap at the top. Enjoy this bit of crap, which is finishing up... ... ...NOW!
1. What's the stupidest thing you've ever done?
2. In your whole life, when have you been the angriest? The happiest?
3. You've done martial arts for a lo-HONG time. D'you reckon you could kill someone? (I know you're a pacifist, but I'm saying are you physically *able* to?) Say some big guy was about to rape and kill you, so it's you or him. Or something equally as morbid (god! Sorry).
4. You can eat one food for the rest of your life. It's cruelty free (so if it was meat, say it was from cows who were treated like pets and lived long, deliriously happy and free cow lives, then died of old age) What would it be?
5. Actually, yeah. What's one food you wish was cruelty free, or one food you've struggled with the most when becoming a vegan?
Don't worry if you don't have time to read them all. CONGRATS! Can't wait to read the post! Dxo.

Hooray!

I guess the stupidest thing would be the same as the most dangerous from a bit before ALTHOUGH taking back my stupid f*ckwit cheating ex was a stupid idea as it wasted three or so years of my life that could have been much better spent than ruining my self esteem and making myself thing the two of us were better people than we actually were. Heh.

The angriest I have ever been? Being quite passionate, it seems that almost every time I am properly angry is the angriest I have ever been ;o) I would say that the time I went off the deep end at The Hun for something I can't even remember (proddly about getting married) and just blasted him in a post which was up for about an hour I must have been pretty freakin' angry. Funnily, I was REALLY angry at my mum after I had the dream she was eating baby turtles she found in the backyard of the family home AGAINST MY DIRECTION - that anger was under the surface every time I saw her in the week or so after that. Even though it was a dream. I was also pretty angry when I lived in my first share house and The Hun's ex drunkenly yellingly and tearingly confronted me that she could not cope with the two of us being together and I overheard one of our friends saying that The Hun had traded down. Ooh - and when the firewall prevented me from getting Bjork tickets and work - so angry I nearly cried at work!!

Happiest? I would honestly have to say the night The Hun and I *finally* hooked up at In Blue - he kissed me on the top of the head. For the next few months or so I remember thinking to myself that I finally understood what it felt like to be one of those people that said that they could die straight away and die happy. Aww.

Could I kill someone? You know... I'm not sure. They say that a lot of training is about honing your instincts and whilst my initial-initial instinct is to jump and gasp and squeal, my next instinct is pure panic. Like I have a point even when The Hun is playing around that gets crossed and he ends up a little hurt - because I have a fair amount of control and understand his balls might be of value to me one day. But I think that were I attacked I would work on hitting pain points as much as I could - eyes, throat and balls. I would try to get out as quickly as I could, screaming as loudly as I could, and look for weapons that could also be used to subdue the attacker. If they stopped moving I would not keep hitting until I saw brains, but I would keep hitting until they stopped moving towards me.

That IS morbid!

If I could live on one food for the rest of my life, I would say it would be the DIP OF AWESOME because it is healthy and has lots of different ingredients and is eaten on lots of different things (if you want the recipe, email me - I'm not sure of the copyright coz I was given the recipe over the phone!). When I was younger I often told people that if I had to live inside one giant foodstuff it would be a sausage roll because it was full of hot salty meat and surrounded in crispy crunchy pastry.

I was an unusual kid.

One food I wish was vegan was Blue Brie cheese. Because I loved Brie and I loved Blue Vein cheese. That said, it's proddly best for my waist line that it isn't because I could eat that motherf*cker for breakfast, lunch and tea.

Question Ten from Mick: LALALALALA - THIS IS FILLER - LALALALALALALA Ok, that should be enough. My Question for you, and here's hoping you're not a Sam Two-can :) This question is a little bit based on what I have been going through in my head lately. If you got to the point where you wanted to quit the Public Service and find a new vocation in life that could still support you financially and you would enjoy, what would it be?
It's probably a little deep for after 3 drinks, but am interested in the answer! Happy 500th! *hugs*

Heh heh - I've never heard of Sam Two-can!!

If I was smart and rich enough, I would love to run a foster home for abandoned/mistreated animals. I could look after them and make them happy, then people could come and buy them for a reasonable price after I'd checked out that they did really want them to love them. That way I would be happy all day, I'd be helping the suffering and I'd be making new happiness with the new pets and owners. At this point it's not really viable, so I would probably try being some sort of vet nurse or with the RSPCA, but without too much distress. Because animal suffering turns me to tears and I would be miserable. To everyone.

Let me know more about this sea change as it comes to hand!

Question Eleven from Jac: Ok, I thought it was about time I got on this band wagon and sent you a random question for your 500th post. Enough ramble? Ok, let's get to it. Question: Have you ever faked it? And you can interpret that whichever way you like, but I'd be interested to know if you've ever told a lie (or a series of lies) so big that it's affected people and events around you? Has it gotten you into trouble? Ok, that's all. This is going to be fun! w00t! Jac xox

*snicker*

Okay. Well. I don't believe that I have intentionally been involved in a lie that affected people in a ripple... although I remember when a good friend was going through a stint of ecstacy use against my approval and I confiscated his pill. He called me up on Christmas Eve begging me to bring it to him and, because I was a good/bad friend I took it out of it's hiding place and got in Dad's car to take it to him. I was so angry at my friend and inexperienced in using this particular car that I actually reversed the front corner of the car into the side of the house - my dad was less than impressed. So I guess my covering my friends ass affected quite a few people that night! I also stayed with the boyfriend between the stoopid ex and The Hun for longer than I should have but he was just so nice - even if I wasn't really 'feeling' it... he told me he'd already pictured me in a white dress (although, this was after only six weeks!).

I think that my 'brutal' honestly gets me into more trouble than lying - I will tell someone/say what I think, they will find out, I will have to explain myself. Like the issues that I had with eldest bro's gf many moons ago, or when I argued with The Hun over wedding related things, or when I voice my dislike or disagreement with someones belief or action or situation.

Question Twelve from someone whose blog name I'm unsure of if they even have one so I will refrain from posting it: OMFG I have to write stuff so that Gmail doesn't spoil the surprise
for you! Cogito sum, ergo cumquat? Okay, so here's what I want to know: what's the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you at school? For me it was probably an
incident involving chocolate iced coffee.

Hrm... there was the time that I wore pyjamas to school as part of a sports today and literally went in the pyjamas I wore straight to bed the night before so forgot to wear a bra (although I was a total bean pole in school so it was not so much of a travesty!). I wore bright red bike shorts under my school dress that had holes in the thighs and I think people saw. I started the hairy part of puberty in year six which was embarassing in itself. I wore socks over my stockings and got told by my nemesis on more than one occassion that I just shouldn't. There was the time I went to give blood but got knocked back because of an incident involving bodily fluids. There was also the multiple occassions I thought I should be a singer for music and no one could hear me so I kept failing. Basically all of my schooling was an embarrassment ;o)

**************************************************************************

It's 12:29AM and time for this shenanigan to come to a close!

I hope it wasn't too anticlimatic or boring and you enjoyed the read.

Thankyou SO MUCH to those that participated and SO SO MUCH to all of those who have read me, commented, linked me or let me hijack your podcast! It's been so much fun, it's been a pleasure to meet the many of you that I have, and it will totally be a pleasure meeting the rest of you that I do!

NIGH NIGH!!

Post 499 coz I don't know when I'll next be three drinks heavier!

Composed in the form of dot points:

• Middle bro and youngest bro arrived back from their US trip today - I left work an hour early to rush home to bake a loaf of bread for a rushjob dinner to welcome them home. Seems mumsy and dadsy both conveniently ignored didn't see the part of the email where they were to do salads/sides, so everyone got one piece of bread and one sausage (I had two pieces and a veggie sausage) with some grapes and cherries. They're both still a little holiday stunned (middle bro didn't really sleep on the 27 hours worth of planes) so I'm hanging out for a lot of the comments that will come with the photos when they're up on Facebook (980 photos, to be precise).
  

• Coming good on one of my 'resolutions' I have organised to ride to work tomorrow with one of my work friends. The plan is to meet at 8:15 at the school crossing... until I looked at my mums bike (through all the cobwebs) and realised the tyres were totally flat. And that the pump I bought didn't have the bendy hosey bit. So the plan is to meet earlier at my house and he will bring his pump. Only he hasn't responded to my SMS yet...

• My eating well and gymming has been going fairly well I think - because I am a psycho, have a look at my chart....I don't know if I'd recommend this method or not... on the one hand, it's good to see a downward trend and it's good to feel like your efforts from the previous day(s) have been rewarded... but those days when it doesn't go down, or plateu's or goes up SUCKS. And I know it's the way the body works, and harder when you have all that baby-making-business on your insides... but still:

• Am going to see Juno on Saturday with gf1, gf2 and eldest bro's gf - should be good... I've heard a lot of good things about it, so hopefully I'm still pleasently surprised!

• Work has had it's frantic moments as of late... I already had a 'full time' job, then one of the consultants left, so I became the go-to girl for the division head as well. Now, the two people who do the next part of one of my biggest tasks each month have both gone on leave, so I have to do a lot more of that stuff AND I'm currently working between my division and another on resolving one of those things that comes up every six months or so. I might have to meet the division head next week *eep*.

• The Hun might be hopefully applying for a new job this weekend - he is really Really REALLY underpaid for what he does, he has to work for some horrible people, and he works on the other side of Canberra to where we live. It sucks that someone who has two degrees (with honours!), who knows what he wants to do and loves to get in and get a job done is being treated so poorly and in the position he is in. I would just love for him to have a good job with decent pay and the respect and fulfillment he deserves.

• Also - he got a speeding ticket last week on the GDE, also known as the most retarded road in Canberra. I'd advise against going 100 like everyone else does, if only for the sake of your license.
  

• I have martial arts students coming over tomorrow night for a Wii party because an ex student is up from Melbourne - I offered to host it so I can drink and not have to worry about dirving home! SO - perhaps your questions will be answered tomorrow? How exciting/nerve racking!
  

Big Day Out Timetable

Even though I didn't take any extra leave over Chrissy/NY, every week feels like a four day week - tomorrow should be Friday and I feel totally ripped off!

To get some semblance of a holiday I only have a two day week next week - I'm in Sydney Wednesday to Saturday for Bjork (SQUEE!), the zoo (WAHEY!), Big Day Out (WEEE!) and a recovery day (REST!). And of course I have done the good girl thing and flipped my timetable around and filled in my excel spreadsheet as follows:

DON'T FORGET! 500th POST INTERVIEW COMING UP SOON - THIS WEEKEND FER SURE! (THERE'LL ONE MORE POST BEFORE IT APPEARS). SEND ME AN EMAIL WITH YOUR QUESTION! I WILL NOT ANSWER IT DIRECTLY IF YOU ASK FOR MY REAL NAME ETC! I HAVE ELEVEN (;;;> <;;;) IN MY EMAIL BOX AND I HAVEN'T LOOKED AND THE SUSPENSE IS GETTING BEARABLE BUT I'M STILL SUPER CURIOUS!!!

** ALSO - I have gmail and it has a tendency to preview the first line or so of your email so put a blurb of rubbish in there too **

24 hours in the life of Enny

The Hun went camping Fri & Sat night with some of his buddies, leaving me home alone to entertain myself. This is a dangerous thing to do to an introverted extrovert who is on a diet.

I sat playing the internet for a while, feeling like I should do something constructive - walk down to the shops to buy dinner groceries, go to the gym, pump up my bike tires or walk up the hill near our house with an apparently amazing view (after some killer stairs). As a compromise to doing absolutely nothing, I went out the back and did 20 minutes of easy weeding before attempting some of the hardier weeds. These weeds have thrived so well in our paved dust bowl yard that they can no longer support themselves vertically, instead crawling along the ground. Turns out they are so strong, that my two arm tugged only resulted in pulling the leaves off so I took to them with the hedge clippers (we had an earwig nest growing under a weed with a half metre diameter!) until the mosquito bites that kinda looked like spider bites scared me inside.

After sitting on the couch for a bit I got talking to Erica and one thing turned to another - next thing we knew I was taking a photo of myself drinking two cruisers for dinner through my hot pink party hat:

Can I just tell you that drinking cruisers in this thing is either potentially awesome or potentially dangerous - it goes to your head MUCH quicker and if you don't keep drinking it, it will pour onto your nightie and almost get on your couch.

After a quick change of costume it became a bit of a competition, taking photos of ourselves in hats and facebooking them:

(matching Erica's beanie)

(In answer to her request for my round denim hat)

It was after this that I figured it was time to have something to eat (English Muffin! MMMM) and head off for bed.

The Hun's mum called just after 9 on Saturday morning to give me the recipe for the DIP OF AWESOME and I packed my day with answering calls from my mum to see a movie (unfortunately declined as I had other chores to do), trained my Nintendog Pugsley, played some Animal Crossing, emptied and moved the bookshelf in the Family Room, picked up our Bjork tickets from the Post Office (SQUEE!), did some groceries, did two loads of washing, took recipt of my new hutch $395 from $795), cleaned out the Tupperware cupboard, filled up the hutch, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the loungeroom, cleaned the toilet, watched Glitter and Uncle Buck on TV, did two sinks of washing up, made a loaf of bread, made the DIP OF AWESOME and waited for mumsy and dadsy and eldest bro and eldest bros gf to come over and play Wii.

*phew*

You can just see the DIP OF AWESOME and my new favourite champagne - Brown Brothers Zibibbo is like a vegan Ricadonna!

Now mumsy and dadsy are now bidding on a Wii package on eBay, I learnt I take much better self portraits when I've been sculling cruisers, and The Hun learnt that putting an icebrick in the freezer door will lead to me whining all day that my middle left toe is broken even though it shows no sign of bruising and can bend every which way, even though it has a constant numb throb.

DON'T FORGET! 500th POST INTERVIEW COMING UP SOON - THIS WEEKEND I THINK! (THERE'LL BE TWO MORE POSTS BEFORE IT APPEARS). SEND ME AN EMAIL WITH YOUR QUESTION! WILL NOT ANSWER IT DIRECTLY IF YOU ASK FOR MY REAL NAME ETC! I HAVE NINE(o_0!!!) IN MY EMAIL BOX AND I HAVEN'T LOOKED AND THE SUSPENSE IS KIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLING ME SOOOOOOOOOOOOOFTLY WITH IT'S SOOOOOOOONG!!!

** ALSO - I have gmail and it has a tendency to preview the first line or so of your email so put a blurb of rubbish in there too **

Eight Things Me(me)

I've been tagged by both and Rosanna AND Amanda for this one, so I like to think it means it's appearing by popular demand.... Here's hoping it doesn't take TOO long *gulp*

Eight things I am passionate about:

My family - All in all, a pretty awesome pack of six we make. Hence why I'm inspired to get that kid thing done young if I can, so that I can be under 50 and have a group of people in their 20's that what to hang out and drink with me and share their ups and downs (I'm choosing to ignore the mess, the surliness and the arguing that would also come with this).

My friends - Fiercely passionate, you could say. You know the friend who will live your problems alongside you, yet cannot resist giving advice/sharing her opinion/relaying similar experiences? Yup, you've met me.

My The Hun - Surely my almost lifelong obsession would have to feature on this list! I love my man to bits, even when he sh!ts me, and even when I've sh!tted him (in fact, maybe even a little more when I've sh!tted him). The only person who I am really me with and amazingly still around and willing to commit his life the obsession that I am (oh, and have).

My martial arts - The middle of this year will mark my 19 year training anniversary, of which at least five has been spent near, if not at, the top of school. I have such a fantastic class, I've met some really lovely people and I love what I do, even if I don't do it so well.

Veganism - A fairly recent development, but one that is not just going to not exist all of a sudden. June this year will mark my 2 year veganniversary and it has made such a difference to my life - not to mention the lives of those around me. I've been lucky in that my decision has had a bit of a ripple effect, with Deb, with my family, with The Hun and his family, and with a lot of my friends. Day by day, day by day.

My emotions - A bit obvious/obscure, but I'm a pretty emotional person down in the murky deep. And I love that. I love that it's not all out in the open all the time, and also the manner it will pop out and suprise me. This may have a bit to do with what I've experienced over the last few months in particular, but I just find the breadth and depth of emotion available an amazing thing, something that should be cherished.

My future - Well, if I'm not - who will be?! I cannot wait to live my life, I cannot wait for each day, I can't wait to see what happens. And I'm not so big on the thought of dying, and there will be no future for me once I've passed, so I should stress that I'm passionate about being alive!

The internets - Aww - yeah, you guys! I spend a lot of the time on the internets - blogging, emailing, chatting, facebooking, reading, commenting, sharing - and I've met some really good friends and shared some really good experiences. Group hug time!

Eight thinks I want to do before I die:

- Get married;
- Have at least two kids;
- Buy a house;
- Learn another language;
-Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef;
- Visit the rest of my top five locations: NY, Vegas, Italy, France, Tokyo;
- Own at least two dogs; and
- Be able to look back on what I've done with a smile, and embrace the future with a contented sigh.

Eight things I say often:

- Interesting;
- Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu*k you;
- I read it on the internet;
- No worries;
- Hunny!!!;
- Do you want a drink?;
- Totally not vegan; and
- Redeye time.

Eight books I’ve read recently:

- Paint it Black - Janet Fitch. Just don't.

- Lipstick Jungle - Candace Bushnell. Again, just don't. I am never buying from the 2 for $20 table again.

- Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City - Armistead Maupin. These ones I really like, and yes I've read them before. It also appears there are another three in the series that I had no idea about, so I will have to do some internet searching.

- Harry Potter and (insert one of seven options here) -J.K. Rowling. Yup, read them all this year - pretty good! I think I might reread them, I have a terrible habit of not really 'getting' a book until after a few reads, and I will admit I was skimming for a fair bit of it because I just wanted to know what happens.

- Skinny Bitch - Kim Barnouin, Rory Freedman. This one I quite liked - it makes a lot of sense, but I can't honestly say I've followed it to a T. Maybe half a T? So like an uppercase I?

- The Complete Idiots Guide to Vegan Living - Beverly Lynn Bennett, Ray Sammartano. Not one I really needed to read, but I'm glad I did. I'm also hoping my parents will read it, seeing as they borrowed it.

- Matthew Reilly - Area 7. I didn't finish this, or even get part 100 pages. But I maintain that anyone smart enough to get a book published should be smart enough NOT to put exclamation marks in their sentences... like "... and then the ice tower collapsed!".

- The Chaser Annual - 2007. *Yawn* I'm glad they do okay TV...

Eight songs I could listen to over and over:

- Earth Intruders - Bjork;
- Toxic - Britney Spears;
- Must I Paint You a Picture - Billy Bragg;
- Paper Aeroplane - Angus & Julia Stone;
- Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeahs;
- I Summon You - Spoon;
- Girlshapedlovedrug - Gomez; and
- Childhood Dreams - Nelly Furtardo.

But if I was making a triple cd (8×3) I’d also include:

- Ode to Divorce - Regina Spektor;
- Aeroplanes - Erica Ordinary;
-There There (The Boney King of Nowhere) - Radiohead
- Dancing Nancies - Dave Matthews Band;
- Damn That New Body - Holly Throsby;
- So Broken - Bjork;
- Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads;
- Such Great Heights - Iron and Wine;
- Work It - Missy Elliot;
- Lose My Breath - Destiny's Child;
- Take Me Back To Your House - Basement Jaxx;
- Here We Go Again - Angus & Julia Stone;
- Up With The Birds - Holly Throsby;
- BMFA - Martha Wainwright;
- Till I Don't Know Who I Am - Rory McLeod; and
- Summertime - The Sundays.

Eight Movies I have seen Eight times:

- Grease (I knew this off by heart when I was younger);
- Labyrinth (Mmm, David Bowie);
- Centre Stage (I can't help but watch it each time it's on TV - it's like a compulsion);
- Waynes World (Party Time, Excellent!);
- Waynes World II (How could I not?!);
- The Sound of Music (Long time staple);
- Superstar (My hilarious cousin's favorite!); and
- Bring It On (Eliza, how I'd turn for you....).

And lastly…

Eight people who should do this meme:

Alyndabear, Mick, Martie, Michelle, Mr B'b'rry, Sarah, Lara and M.

That didn't take TOO long!

DON'T FORGET! 500th POST INTERVIEW COMING UP SOON! SEND ME AN EMAIL WITH YOUR QUESTION! WILL NOT ANSWER IT DIRECTLY IF YOU ASK FOR MY REAL NAME ETC! I HAVE EIGHT(!!!) IN MY EMAIL BOX AND I HAVEN'T LOOKED AND THE SUSPENSE IS KIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLING ME SOOOOOOOOOOOOOFTLY!!!

** ALSO - I have gmail and it has a tendency to preview the first line or so of your email so put a blurb of rubbish in there too **

Post 495 with a possible come-on

Enny is looking into the trolley next to the checkout that is full of Christmas decorations, earbuds firmly in place.

Old guy with shirt tucked into shorts with light blue pockets: (something noiseless)
Enny: (taking earbuds out): Sorry?
OGWSTISWLBP: I said, you'd be ready to forget Christmas by now!
Enny: No - I wish it were Christmas EVERY day!
OGWSTISWLBP (I THINK):You'd be a present every night...
Enny (not realising what he just said): Damn straight!
OGWSTISWLBP: Erm...
Enny: *blank*
OGWSTISWLBP: *blank*
Enny (putting earbuds back in): *blank*

DON'T FORGET! 500th POST INTERVIEW COMING UP SOON! SEND ME AN EMAIL WITH YOUR QUESTION! WILL NOT ANSWER IT DIRECTLY IF YOU ASK FOR MY REAL NAME ETC! I HAVE FOUR IN MY EMAIL BOX AND I HAVEN'T LOOKED AND THE SUSPENSE IS KIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLING ME SOOOOOOOOOOOOOFTLY!!!

** ALSO - I have gmail and it has a tendency to preview the first line or so of your email so put a blurb of rubbish in there too ***

My own little special fame

I got into Google Reader at the start of December and it's been a bit of a lifesaver.

One thing I've noticed is that it's detached me a bit from the blogworld. In that I'm not looking at templates or noticing changes in comments, or even following myself up. I guess in a way it's a good thing, but it's also kind of sad.

On the flip side, I did have a bit of an Amanda moment (I think it was Amanda?!) and found myself referred to my own blog through the Google Reader (when my blog isn't in my own reader):

It's one of those funny things you want to share with people, but there are only a select few you can really share that with.

DON'T FORGET! 500th POST INTERVIEW COMING UP SOON! SEND ME AN EMAIL WITH YOUR QUESTION! WILL NOT ANSWER IT DIRECTLY IF YOU ASK FOR MY REAL NAME ETC! I HAVE ONE IN MY EMAIL BOX AND I HAVEN'T LOOKED AND THE SUSPENSE IS KIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLING ME!!

7 to go - hip hooray ho!

So, I'm like 7 posts away from my 500th post now and I've come up with a lame idea loosely based on your suggestions that might be good for some fun. Well, for me at least!

It came from the comments backing a drunken audio post -whilst I am super awesome, I'm not awesome enough to be able to do that, so I will do the next best thing.

Imagine we've met up and things are going swimmingly. My social retardation ensured that we met up in a pub so I could 'relax' and now I'm getting a bit too boisterous - laughing a bit too loud, eyes sparkling and darting, probably a bit sweaty and now rubbing my elbows that are blistered from leaning on the table like the poorly mannered lady that I am. I'm obviously feeling pretty relaxed now, I'm opening up a bit and I do seem to love talking about myself.

So nows your chance.

The deal is, I will sit down on the night I'm due for my 500th post and I will have 3 (three) drinks (because really, 2 drinks is just another night work for me) and I will honestly answer your questions spur of the moment.

And how will you ask them?

I want you to email me - the address is there on the left, a bit below my profile pic. Put the word "secret" in the email title and I PAH-ROMISE not to open it until the time I'm posting. And because The Hun was so well received that other time (and I know he was totally flattered by all his fans) you can direct them to him and I will try to get him to answer them. He may well not, because he doesn't usually down one on a weeknight, if at all, but I will do my best.

Of we go, kidlings!

Thinking and/or Ooch

Unsurprisingly, I've been walking like a weirdo since Wednesday nights Pump class - walking like I have legs full of knees that I have to precariously balance in order to move around. To try and loosen up, Magf and I went to Body Combat last night which was just as cringe worthy as I remembered - it didn't help there were lots of fit skinny keen girls in the room and that the cute instructor was teaching *sigh*.

Anways, I read this meme over at Brooke's and I liked it, so I thought I'd give it a go - a retrospective on 2007.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
Went to Big Day Out. Met Rory Mcleod. Travelled overseas. Got in the ocean where I couldn't touch the bottom. Snorkelled. Poledanced (and unsurprisingly hated it). Was a Maid of Honour. Spent a full day one on one with someone outside of family or The Hun. Drove to Melbourne. Bought a Spice Girls CD. Lost a friend.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next this year?
No - I don't remember what they were, but they were probably weight related. I have kind of made some more this year, see here.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
I wouldn't say we are super tight or anything, but two friends from school did have babies!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes - I lost Max and a school friend 15 days apart.

5. What countries did you visit?
Thailand and Japan.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
The answers can be found here...

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
01/11/07 - My last day of uni for the year.
03/12/07 - Max passed away.
18/12/07 - My friend passed away.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I would say snorkelling was pretty big - even I didn't think I would do it!

9. What was your biggest failure?
The number of times I got stupidly over emotional about not being married/engaged. I hate it.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I actually had a pretty action packed year! I got two warts cut out of my foot, a mole cut out behind me knee, two moles cut out of my face and two moles cut off my neck. I thought I was going to need one of those knee passage scrapes done but that seems to have calmed down, I had a few colds (one after our needles for OS, one more recently) and a few of those eye migraines (two in two days means I'm making an appointment to see an opthamologist this year).

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Half of my DS and half of my Wii. I'd also claim the camera - even though The Hun paid for it, it's 'ours' (heh heh) plus the overseas holiday was worth it!

12. Where did most of your money go?
Proddly p!ssed away on rubbish, though I paid off my laptop and am leasingmy car, and I pay rent, food, bills, phone etc. I did get a fair amountsaved this year, well fair amount for me anyways....

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Overseas holiday and the Wii.

14. What song will always remind you of 2007?
To pick just one, it would be Regina Spektor's "On the Radio", but also:

Regina Spektor - Ode to Divorce, Chemo Limo.
Angus & Julia Stone - Paper Aeroplace, Mango Tree, Here We Go Again.
Bjork - Earth Intruders.
Missy Higgins - Steer.
Radiohead - Nude.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Generally, I'd say I'm happier - I'm more settled with myself.
b) thinner or fatter? Bit chubbier, but not by toooo much.
c) richer or poorer? Richer, but only by a little!

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Sensible eating. Saving. Couch to 5 k running.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Eating misery chips, telling people I was dieting, working myself up,talking myself down.

18. How did you spend Christmas?
How convenient you ask - I have a detailed post here!

19. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Nope - I was already in love :o)

20. What was your favorite TV program?
Dexter

21. What was the best book you read?
The Harry Potter series - they all merge in to one, right?

22. What was your favorite film of this year?
Superbad - how funny was that?!!

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 25 and had a few meltdowns, but you can read about it here.

24. What kept you sane?
Blabbing to people on the internet - here, Facebook, gmail chat, messenger and email.

25. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Ooooh Michael C Hall.

26. Who did you miss?
I missed catching up with D'jen, deb, jac and kristy in Brisbane. I also missed Max a lot.

27. Who was the best new person you met?
Lulu in Harajuku and Mick in Cheese on Toast.

What are you waiting for? Give it a go!

48 into 08

So, thoughts on 2008 so far?

It's been lovely and warm which I like, but the warmth has meant going to sleep with the window open and being woken up at 6am on both mornings- this morning it was the birds outside, the morning before (NYD) it was by a gaggle of European backpackers doing aerobics on the oval behind our house. No, I'm not kidding and no, I wasn't still sleeping. I was very WTF and very nearly walked out the front door, round the block and up onto the oval just to shoo them away but they sounded like they were having fun and I don't do sexy-bedraggled when I wake up (it's more ogre-bedraggled).

A lot of the New Year has been spent playing the Wii - I discovered I have a sweat glad surrounding my right hand ring finger that only kicks off in the Medium final battle against the devil in Guitar Hero 3. I also got myself some silver meddles in Wii Play and bemoaned that our Louis 14 didn't get picked for the first few pages of the Mii Channel. The Hun has followed in a similar vein, developing near RSI from his Zelda DS obsession - he said it's not too hard so I might be able to overcome my fear of video games that you can die in (I could never get as far as the bro's and they wouldn't always help me, so I stick to baby games).

I've also fielded a couple of calls from mumsy and dadsy - for all their moaning about youngest bro and middle bro being messy and noisy and eating/drinking them out of house and home, they seem to be seriously missing them now that they're living it up in Vegas. Dadsy got an internet phone installed specifically so he could talk to them every second day, and he's laminated himself a spreadsheet with all of eveyones phone numbers for quick dialing fun. I've also been making a loaf of bread a day with the exception of today - I think I'm having warm crusty withdrawals.

New Years itself was quite good - nine of us were down the road at the house of one of my first housemates. It was four couples and a friend whose girlfriend is currently in Jolly Old England with her family for 6 weeks. The boys played some cricket and badminton, The Hun smacked himself in the head with a racket then tripped and grass stained his short-pant things (he's not normally so clumsy), I drank 8 cruisers over 8 hours with 8 glasses of water, we played some of the Spicks and Specks game I got for Christmas (my team lost twice so I can't say I'm loving it at the moment) and then the boys played "Grubbers" in the street which apparently involves chucking a ball around and trying to get it to bounce up awkwardly at people while I sat in the street with one of the girls and she spilled her heart about the past 7 or so years of her relationship. It was actually pretty nice!

We went and saw Golden Compass last night - we both thought it was pretty sh!t. I'm all for discovering new talent, but a prerequisite is that they actually have talent. The young girls accent dropped in and out, her attitude would change this way and that and I found myself resenting her. And she has weird bulges in her forehead like horns are trying to get out. The highlight of the movie was Nicole Kidman's eyebrows though - I loved them.

We also saw The Darjeeling Limited (which is now SO last year) which I quite liked, The Hun not so much. I really enjoyed The Royal Tenebaums and the film is of a similar vein - nice to look at, a bit arty, a bit of sadness, a bit of humour and it sorta just floats its way through. I've booked gf1 and gf2 to see Enchanted, Juno and 27 Dresses this month, so I'm hoping I enjoy at least one of them (my main driver for Juno is that Michael Cera is in it *sigh*).

I'm back at work and wondering if Nintedogs has a Pomeranian.

(Edit - It does not, but the daschhund version has chow chows and pugs and is also the one I couldn't find in the shops. And in a lovely twist, I was able to spend the last 30 minutes at work playing Animal Crossing - my house got extended!)

Off to Pump class now - woah! It must be the new year!

It's getting to feel a lot like... New Years...

New year, new resolutions - right?

Well, I'm as much of a chump as the next guy gal -I've started planning myself a list in three parts.

Things that should come to fruition; Things that proddly won't come to fruition; Things that I know I can at least make a good start on.

In 2008 I/we should finally buy a house. And I/we should get engaged (based on discussions we've had - and apparantly in the rough month or so it's been discussed I've been noticeably happier, although I don't know if he's linked the two things together).

In 2008 I proddly won't get married and/or have a child. Or a dog. I proddly won't become an awesome cook and sway everyone with awesome vegan dishes. I proddly won't shift 10 kilos and be uber-hawt, nor will I dress like a pretty office girl. I proddly won't get some magical haircut that makes me love wearing my hair down and I proddly won't start rowing. I proddly won't get the star tattoo I want under my left little toe to remind me of the beauty of my friends and my life and the sadness of loss of suffering and I proddly won't get a short haircut that will make me as cute as Natalie Portman.

In 2008 I can at least make a good start shifting my tum-tum and chin-chin - Magf and I are gyming on Jan 2. If I can combine an enjoyable program with sensible eating, the world shall be my oyster. I can at least make a good start on riding to/from work - my friend up the street who works with me is keen once his knee is better. Also, I can at least make a good start on reading the top 100 books from Angus and Robertson - I know I won't read them all in a year, but if I make a start it can follow through for another year or seven.

Here's the list for those of you playing at home - I've indicated those that I've already read:

1. The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown (read it a few times now - good fun, speshly illustrated)
2. The Lord Of The Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Pride And Prejudice – Jane Austin
4. To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee (read it in school - it counts!)
5. Memoirs Of A Geisha – Arthur Golden (I've read this almost 10 times - I love it)
6. Angels And Demons – Dan Brown
7. The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold (They're making it into a movie atm)
8. My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult
9. Tomorrow, When The War Began – John Marsden (I never finished the whole series)
10. Magician – Raymond E. Feist
11. The Bronze Horseman – Paullina Simons
12. Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire – J.K. Rowling (Finally read the HP series this year!)
13. The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien (I read this in primary school - will revisit if necessary)
14. Bridget Jones’ Diary – Helen Fielding
15. Cloudstreet – Tim Winton (I didn't find it particularly fascinating)
16. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban – J.K. Rowling (They all blend to me now)
17. The Power Of One – Bryce Courtenay
18. April Fools Day – Bryce Courtenay
19. Tully – Paullina Simons
20. Across The Nightingale Floor – Lian Hearn
21. The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
22. The God Of Small Things – Arundhati Roy (This one disturbed me)
23. Ice Station – Matthew Reilly (I started but gave up - he uses exclamation marks...!)
24. The Pillars Of The Earth – Ken Follet
25. Tuesdays With Morrie – Mitch Albom
26. Perfume – Patrick Suskind
27. The Bible - I AM NOT READING THIS!
28. The Bride Stripped Bare – Anonymous
29. Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix – J.K. Rowling (Been there, done that)
30. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone – J.K. Rowling (Ditto)
31. The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis (I read this this year too)
32. Cross Stitch – Diana Gabaldon
33. Looking For Alibrandi – Melina Marchetta
34. Mao’s Last Dancer – Li Cunxin
35. The Secret History – Donna Tartt
36. Year Of Wonders – Geraldine Brooks
37. Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
38. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy Series – Douglas Adams (Don't remember much)
39. Jessica – Bryce Courtenay
40. The Notebook – Nicholas Sparks
41. The Catcher In The Rye – J.D. Salinger
42. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
43. One For The Money – Janet Evanovich
44. Little Women – Louisa May Alcott (Read this in primary school too!)
45. The Shadow Of The Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
46. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
47. Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason – Helen Fielding
48. The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
49. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
50. Life Of Pi – Yann Martel
51. The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
52. The Poet – Michael Connelly
53. A Child Called It – David Pelzer
54. Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas – Hunter S. Thompson
55. On The Road – Jack Kerouac
56. Tell No One – Harlan Coben
57. Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell
58. Almost French – Sarah Turnbull
59. An Equal Music – Vikram Seth
60. The Ancient Future – Tracey Harding
61. The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood
62. The Day After Tomorrow – Allan Folsom
63. Desert Flower – Waris Dirie (Don't remember having an opinion either way)
64. The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje
65. The Eyre Affair – Jasper Fforde
66. Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk
67. A Fortunate Life – A.B. Facey
68. Girl With A Pearl Earring – Tracy Chevalier
69. The Godfather – Mario Puzo
70. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets – J.K. Rowling (Which one was this?!)
71. The Horse Whisperer – Nicholas Evans
72. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
73. Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
74. The Pact – Jodi Picoult
75. The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
76. Wild Swans: Three Daughters Of China – Jung Chang
77. Animal Farm – George Orwell
78. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
79. Atonement – Ian Mcewan
80. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres
81. Cold Mountain – Charles Frazier
82. Crime And Punishment - F.M. Dostoevsky
83. Emma – Jane Austen
84. Enduring Love – Ian Mcewan
85. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
86. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
87. Interview With The Vampire – Anne Rice (My least favourite of hers!)
88. It – Stephen King (This scared me, read in College)
89. Like Water For Chocolate – Laura Esquivel
90. Not Without My Daughter – Betty Mahmoody
91. Plain Truth – Jodi Picoult
92. 1st To Die – James Patterson
93. A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
94. Alias Grace – Margaret Atwood
95. Assassin’s Apprentice – Robin Hobb
96. Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
97. The Potato Factory – Bryce Courtenay
98. The Redemption Of Althalus – David Eddings
99. Retribution – Jilliane Hoffman
100. River God – Wilbur Smith

I'm unsure if the list changes often or if at all, so I'm basing it on the list above (without the bible!).

Now, it's your turn!

What would should happen, what proddly won't happen and what will you at least make a good start on?

Thanks for your company in 2007 - looking forward to our interaction in two-oh-oh-eight!

Christmas Wrapup in the format of pointed dots

• Did you have a lovely Christmas? I bet you did - is pretty hard to have a bad one... though a friend of mine sent a Christmas message around with the disclaimer that words could not describe her past 48 hours, warranting a panicky phone call from me (she has an almost 3 year old and is 6 months pregnant) - turns out that her son had been sick since Saturday, she had to spend the whole time out bush with her husbands family, then got home to find her house had been flooded. They spend the day pulling up carpets and shifting all their belongings into the one room that was not carpeted, and was about to have to help host a Christmas party with her mum for like 30 people - she was pining for a drink, just to make it seem a bit less real, but I think she still had a great time.

• I got spoilt - The Hun and I put in for a Wii together (more on that later) and then he insinuated he had gotten me something else. I worked out that I was getting replacement buds for my super hi tech headphones he bought me for my birthday (I'd got a pair too dirty, lost a pair and finally stretched my earholes out to fit one of the remaining pairs but then they started to stay deep in my ear canal after I pulled the headphones out (though it was handy to finally keep tweezers in my bag)) and then he told me there was something else coming... so I panicked and bought him a DS and a Zelda game. He did his little smug thing when he opened the game, but didn't realise it was a DS game until I handed him the next box - I got in trouble for going 'over the limit' that I knew was in place, but didn't know exactly how much it was (apprantly the limit was under what he spent). The other part of the gift he got me was the Kid Confucious CD which I am super happy about - I love their sexytime sounds, can't wait to have a proper listen!

• The Wii has been awesome fun - I've started Guitar Hero and managed to get The Hun to play (which is a real shocker as he hates the game - though he hates it again now that he's played), I played some Mario Universe (the bro's bought it for him) and we've both played Wii Sports. Wii Sports has a fitness test in it where it tests your skills at Baseball, Bowling and Tennis and gives you a fitness age between 20 and like 100. On the first day, The Hun got a score of 22 (!) and I got 42. As Jey so elequently put it, I am Wii Fat. We tried again last night and The Hun dropped to 27 and I got 42. Again. Even though I totally did better at tennis by continually telling myself to "Relax.... just hit the ball... relax... just hit the ball...". I am going to have a super buff arm, because apparantly my "relax" involves tensing my whole arm and shoulder and wildly swinging my arms around in an attempt to cover as much space as possible in the hopes of hitting something.

• I also got a DS from the youngest bro, middle bro, dadsy and mumsy; eldest bro and his gf got me a Women's Health Subscription (yay!), Santa bought me a breadmaker, flour and yeast (wahoo!), I got an overnight bag from a KK on mumsy's side of the family, a photo frame from dadsy's eldest sister, a Wiimote from The Hun's sister and her bf, tickets to the Chaser Show, the Spicks and Specks game and some chopstick bowls with holders from The Hun's parents and an address book, spaghetti set and giant fauxsilk undies from The Hun's grandparents. I also inherited a puzzle from The Hun that he was given by his aunt and uncle because he hates puzzles with a passion. Heh.

• I'm going to the shops at lunch to pick up some Havianas (EVERYONE seems to have them and say they are the most comfortable things) some DS and Wii games, a Wii nunchuck, some new bra's (ooh, er) and some super power boards because we are running powerboards all over the place and still don't have enough inny holes to put things into (Edit: I bought two pairs of Haviana's (black and pink), two bras (funnily enough, also black and pink), 4 powerboards with 6 inny's each, Big Brain Academy, Wii Play and Wario Smooth Moves for the Wii and Animal Crossing and Theme park for the Wii. Phew!)
  

• Christmas Day started at 7:30 after receiving a message from one of my students telling me to "Cease the Day" - I'm presuming he meant seize, and I loved the sentiment he put into it. We exchanged gifts, I got told off for spending too much and then we turned up at mumsy and dadsy's to find they'd only just got out of bed (as seems to happen every year, after they tell us to ensure we are on time as there is lots to do). Gifts were swapped, The Hun went to his parents for lunch and I went with dadsy to pick up my aunt (the one who used to care for my Pa that I don't see very often - I think I resent her and I'm not sure why) where she announced she had decided she had something to give me that was very expensive that I better look after that was worth over $8000 that was left in my will but that I should have now. She gave me the Omega watch her first husband had bought her. I don't know how I feel about it... The Hun picked me up at about 3 and we went back to his parents where I got spoilt again, then I napped a bit, then he slept for an hour and a half (grr) and then we left at about 10, after watching DanceSport. I've decided that when I stage my elopement I'd like a fancy back detail on my elopement dress.

• Boxing Day The Hun and I were up before 9, getting ready for the 2 hour drive to the coast to visit his grandparents. It had best not become a tradition that the best shopping day of the year is spent driving for 4 hours, eating a roast lunch and napping on a itchy carpet while people watch the cricket. It's not that I have anything against his grandparents, jus that it's a long drive and they always nag that we should go up there and stay for a few days when a) I don't do staying at peoples houses, b) there is nothing to do there and c) I can think of other things I would like to do. Plus his Grandma is very huggy, touchy, baby talky and determined to make you eat non stop and I'm not built to handle that. Still, I had a pretty good day.

• The Hun's grandparents have suddenly decided I am part of the family, calling me their Granddaughter, telling us they'd take us down the beach and get us to jump a broomstick so we'd be married (?!) and joining the call for us to procreate so they can have great grandkids (and so dadsy have grandkids). They must have discussed it earlier because they both started it at the same time - proddly because The Hun's grandma had been talking weddings with him last time she was down - him saying how hard it is to buy a house and afford kids, her about how it's not so hard because her parents and her did it tougher. She said more than once that we should get married now, that we should just elope. With family there. Ie, them.
  

• There were a lot of idiots on the road yesterday, I can now totally see why the Christmas period is so dangerous. There was an idiot in front of us who could not stay in the middle of the lane - she was either with two wheels over the left line, or two wheels over the double line - I high beamed her a few times in case she was dozing or something. We actually drove past a crash on the way home - the news says that the driver of one of the vehicles died - The Hun's sister saw them doing the chest pumping as we drove past - wouldn't have been 10 minutes after the accident happened that we were there. Both cars were on the wrong side of the road, both were 4 wheel drivey trucky things packed full and the one where the man died was on it's side down a ditch. Absolutely terrible.

• Dadsy and I almost bought a puppy the other day - The Hun got a terrible glimpse into his future as the two of us planned on how we would bribe mumsy into it. There was a purebread shihtzu in the petshop that had been there alone since before the day that Max died - we both saw him there on the weekend and it was so sad that we both wanted it. And I know it's terrible to buy dogs from the shop, but the poor thing had been alone for so long, he needed rescuing as well. By the time I'd called the shop on Monday morning they told me that another had come in on the Sunday, so I didn't feel so bad - plus dadsy's commitment to the task at hand had wavered and he caved. Mumsy just isn't ready for another dog - they've decided to wait until Elvis the soulstealer has had enough and will get some more pound puppies.

• The only other news is that youngest bro and middle bro have headed off to Vegas today. They and two friends are spending almost three weeks in Vegas and LA. I cannot tell you how worried I am about this. I predict that they will run out of money and call home for some (because that is totally their style) but I am sure there is going to be a few stories of complete stupidity, considering they can't even go interstate without getting in trouble. Case in point: Last weekend. The three bro's and a bunch of friends went to Sydney for Daft Punk (super jealous in retrospect), got hammered and caught the train home. On the way home there was a guy standing near middle bro, talking loudly on his phone. For some godforaken reason, middle bro thought it would be hilarious to pull out his own mobile phone, exasperatingly immitating the guy talking on his own phone and then continuously point between himself and the talking guy. When the talking guy told him to "Come over here then", middle bro changed his mind and stopped. They also managed to get the 9 of themselves stuck in an elevator for 20 minutes (they were all dripping sweat) and then middle bro fell between a train and a platform. I'm not kidding. They got out at a stop, thought it was the wrong one, and headed back in, only to have both of middle bro's legs fall in the gap between the train and the station. He got stuck all the way to his thighs and the doors started closing, so one of youngest bro's friends held the doors open while he got back in. How someone manages to get BOTH legs stuck down there is totally beyond me - his thighs are bruised and skinned and he is walking funny. God knows how they will go in the US.

• Extra Bjork tickets go on sale tomorrow - WAHOO!!

Who's the sucker now? Ho Ho Ho!

So, I totally thought I was the smarts when I decided I wouldn't take any leave over Christmas.

It's air conditioned, you come in late and leave early, and it's empty.

Except Canberra weather is being stupid crazy so I don't need the air conditioning, if I come in late/leave early I lose the flex that I only just got back into the positives last week (since *cough*October*cough*) and my branch head just left and the CEO cancelled her leave, so I'm going to get f()ckloads of reports, I'm sure.

Ah well.

I left at lunch time today, I have Tues and Wed off (though Wed will be spent driving to and from Batemans day *sigh*) and then I have next Monday and Tuesday off... should not be so bad - I'm taking scattered clumps of leave over the next few months anyway.

Just wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a joyous and compassionate Christmas - I'm sure I'll babble again before NYE.

Ho Ho Ho!

Authentic Happiness

Hey you guys, I have my first weekend off since like October starting now.

I plan to do some last minute shopping, see all forms of family at a party on Sunday, and sit on my ass and do quizzes.

You totally should go here: Authentic Happiness.

Did you know I have Avoidance Motivation of 31 (putting in the most avoidant 10% of the population that score over 22.8) and Revenge Motivation of 18 (putting me in the most vengeful 10% of the population that score over 13.2).

Also - my top strengths are as follows:

Your Top Strength
Humor and playfulness
You like to laugh and tease. Bringing smiles to other people is important to you. You try to see the light side of all situations.

Your Second Strength
Curiosity and interest in the world
You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery.

Your Third Strength
Fairness, equity, and justice
Treating all people fairly is one of your abiding principles. You do not let your personal feelings bias your decisions about other people. You give everyone a chance.

Your Fourth Strength
Kindness and generosity
You are kind and generous to others, and you are never too busy to do a favor. You enjoy doing good deeds for others, even if you do not know them well.

Your Fifth Strength
Perspective (wisdom)
Although you may not think of yourself as wise, your friends hold this view of you. They value your perspective on matters and turn to you for advice. You have a way of looking at the world that makes sense to others and to yourself.

How could you possibly resist the urge to complete them all and tell me what you got?!

Christmas Cards and tokens - done!

The Christmas tokens went well - only one person asked if it were transferable for cash, and I know he was joking.

Highly recommended!

JCM 23/04/82 - 13/13/07

Farewell you northern hills, you mountains all goodbye
Moorlands and stony ridges, crags and peaks goodbye
Glyder Fach farewell, cold big Scafell, cloud bearing Suilven
Sun warmed rocks and the cold of Bleaklow's frozen sea
The snow and the wind and the rain of hills and mountains
Days in the sun and the tempered wind and the air like wine
And you drink and you drink till you’re drunk on the joy of living

Farewell to you my love, my time is almost done
Lie in my arms once more until the darkness comes
You filled all my days, held the night at bay, dearest companion
Years pass by and they're gone with the speed of birds in flight
Our lives like the verse of a song heard in the mountains
Give me your hand and love and join your voice with mine
And we'll sing of the hurt and the pain and the joy of living

Farewell to you my chicks, soon you must fly alone
Flesh of my flesh, my future life, bone of my bone
May your wings be strong, may your days be long, safe be your journey
Each of you bears inside of you the gift of love
May it bring you light and warmth and the pleasure of giving
Eagerly savour each new day and the taste of its mouth
Never lose sight of the thrill and the joy of living

Take me to some high place of heather, rock and ling
Scatter my dust and ashes, feed me to the wind
So that I may be part of all you see, the air you are breathing
I'll be part of the curlew's cry and the soaring hawk
The blue milkwort and the sundew hung with diamonds
I'll be riding the gentle breeze as it blows through your hair
Reminding you how we shared in the joy of living

F*ck Summer

The weather had started to warm up, I had boot camp the next morning, Christmas was on it's way and youngest bro would be turning 20 soon. Then dadsy called me to tell me that Pa had died and that week I cried like I never had before. I really felt sadness, I felt loss, I was starting to realise I would not be able to pop in to see him, to stir him up, to do those small things to make him happy.

The weather was hot and I was out at the Mawson club, celebrating gf1's 24th birthday. We joked and laughed and gossiped and I headed home in good spirits. Dadsy called me the next morning to tell me that Tom had died and I cried by back door, cried by the fridge and cried while The Hun got out of bed to give me a hug.

The weather was balmy and we'd celebrated youngest bro's 21st and dadsys 50th. We sat out in the sun, drinking and relaxing, keeping an eye on Max who just wasn't acting right. I've detailed the problems, our attempts to save him, our last straws and hopes held - but I wept quietly after dadsy called me to tell me that Max had died. And I cried, choking and gasping, in the toilets of the bowling alley, in a way I hadn't since Pa had passed away.

Last night was cool when I got a call from a friend, telling me that our friend was not well, that no news was not, in fact, good news. Today was the warmest in a while, the kind of day where everyone comments on Summer finally arriving. Today I got a call to tell me that our friend had died.

He'd completed his two rounds of severe treatment and undergone an operation to remove what tumour was left. There was a complication, an infection, gangrene, pneumonia I think. A drug induced coma that he woke out of, to utter amazement, but swept back down under.

Twenty five.

Twenty f*cking five years old.

I've passed on the message, promised to keep people up to date, let my boss know I will need a day off. I've been asked how I am, I've been messaged, and emailed, and SMS'd, and called.

And I'm yet to shed a tear.

I do not think it is real, I do not think I have made the connection, I do not think I realise that this is what it is.

When I was in year seven I was teased for not crying at farewells.

When I was in uni I shed only a few tears at my Grandmothers funeral, only when I saw my mother stumbling back up the aisle, grasping at my brother for support. Every so often for a year or two after that I would feel the sorrow well up, realise I hadn't cried, I hadn't mourned, I hadn't missed her like I should.

The other night I thought to myself how far I had come, to finally be able to feel my sadness like a normal person, to realise a loss is a loss.

But have I?

It's like I can see it, but I can't feel it.

But I know I will. I'm sure I will. I hope to dear f*cking God that I will.

See Dots Point - Point, Dots, Point

If you're not a dot point reading person, could you at least skim the first one and reply if you can? That'd be great - thanks team.

• So - my 500th (ARGH WHERE HAS ALL MY TIME GONE ETC) post is coming up soonish. Any ideas/requests/suggestions? If you're not into dotpoints then I understand if you stop reading now.

• We celebrated our third Cuzmas weekend before last (backstory here), down at the 'family' coast house about an hour out of Batemans Bay. 9 people (the bro's, two cousins and three partners), only two doors and just one toilet/shower. Highlights included drinking and playing DS/PS3/SNES as that's about all we did due to the crappy weather. Lowlights included hearing someone hang a turd in the middle of the night in too much detail and spending a lot of time cleaning up after messy people. Extreme lowlight occured the Tuesday after we got back when I replied to an email that suggested a ban on game machines next time - I replied saying that I didn't mind them as long as people played together (The Hun and eldest bro's gf spent a fair amount of time reading by themselves) and that we should do a roster for the crappy jobs like cooking, cleaning, washing etc. I received a barage of emails from the bro's telling me I was passive aggressive, it was my own fault if I didn't have fun, if I'd asked them to do something they would have, they were looking forward to me not being there so they could have the room with a door on it and that I should cut down on the Haterade. No input from eldest bro's gf (who I thought was on the same page as me) and a really good reply from The Hun that he only sent to me and wouldn't send on. You may not realise what a delicate petal I am, but I basically shut down and spent the rest of the week avoiding talking to them. I dunno how I feel about it all, other than hurt - I was the odd one out having not been there the last time and it totally didn't help me at all. Moreso when middle bro only later replied that the roster was a good idea (if eldest bro wrote it) - why not jus say that in the first place rather than sh!t all over me? Who knows.

• Things have gotten a little better re: Max. One of dadsy's rello's took a lovely photo of him on the day we celebrated dadsy's 50th, the day before he had his fit. He looks really happy and it's a pretty good shot of him (much better than the dirty faced soft copy I posted!) and I got some copies made for the family and have a framed pic in my room. It makes a big different to reinforce that image where he is happy and healthy, as he was for most of the time.

• I made gf1 and gf2 some bracelets for their Lindeman Island holiday - each bracelet had their name on it and 'WWED' (What Would Enny Do) so that they could look at it and think of me (who's got tickets? Enny's got tickets!). Seems that gf1 took the bracelet to mean that I would be generally drunk and debaucherous, pimping them out at every chance I had, but behaved herself and played my role by WooOOOooohing at gf2 at every given opportunity. Gf2 took it to mean that I would instead dissaprove of everything and spoil the fun, but totally did NOT behave herself, giving gf1 plenty of opportunities to WooOOOoooh! I got a lovely surprise last night when I met up with them for coffee at 9pm and got given a WD(gf1)A(Gf2)D bracelet (What Did (Gf1) And (Gf2) Do). How awesome is that?! Sadly, I still don't know all the stories.

• We drove up to Sydney on Friday for Homebake and got a call from Dadsy in the middle of the day to let us know Max's ashes were ready if we could pick them up. The vet closed at 7pm, we left our house at 2:30pm (stopping for petrol and to pick up the tickets from my parents house) and checked into the Hotel at 7:40pm. UGH. The traffic into Sydney was MENTAL. How are there so many cars at the start of the M5 such that you're forced to regularly stop, only occassionally being able to peak at 60kmph?! It didn't help that we must've missed an exit out of a tunnel, were directed to turn left at a road that just was not open at the time, and were sitting at a massive intersection near Nee-Sega World at 6:58 when we decided we could just pick Max up on Saturday morning. My blood sugar was low, I was p!ssy at not being let into the lanes I needed to be in, and I was admittedly a bit emotional about not being able to pick up my dog (as well as some resistance from The Hun about holding him - we compromised and he sat tightly at The Hun's feet whenever we were in the car). I was so angry I could feel my heart beating in my throat. Then there was the hotel...

• Ugh again. The room itself was pretty good (though others in our group of 10 did not seem to think so, being stuck in a smoking room and all) at the Travelodge, HOWEVER they have NO idea about customer service. I pulled up in an alley and The Hun dashed in to ask about parking - the dude gave The Hun a carpark machine ticket and a map to show him where it was. We circled around the block three times before we made it in, then saw there was a boom gate - so we stuck our ticket in. It spat it out, let us through, we parked with no worries and then hauled our luggage around the block to check in. We then spent 20 MINUTES talking to the guy about checking in. The first issue was that middle bro had booked all the rooms (four on the first night, five on the second) under his name, causing a lot of apparent confusion. This was complicated moreso when I tried to organise trundle beds in two of the rooms - we aborted that about five minutes into the bedazzled stare. Then there was talk about parking - I told him we needed to duck out on the Saturday morning so that we could get Max, so could we please get another parking ticket so that we could get out in case our already inserted ticket didn't work. Somehow, he didn't seem to understand that we had inserted our parking ticket and managed to get it back out, even after I did a fairly accurate reenactment of the whole debacle. After 10 minutes of us seemingly agreeing but him still looking confused, we decided that I would just come down and get another 'prepaid' ticket on the Saturday morning - Just In Case. Come Saturday morning, I'm standing at the front desk reenacting the whole thing again for the girl at the desk who could not comprehend what was going on, but gave me printed instructions like I was some kind of idiot. Perhaps they should give you the instructions to take a ticket from the boomgate and put that same ticket into the pay machine FOLLOWED BY the hotel prepaid ticket when you ask about parking, rather than wordlessly handing a prepaid ticket over. This whole thing makes me angrier than necessary, but I should not have to spend 40 minutes of my life telling a story about parking (neither should you have to sit and read about it!). To top it off, I received a call from the desk manager on the Saturday night for some unknown reason, telling me that two people from our group had arrived to get into their room even though a) they'd stayed there the previous night, b) middle bro had checked in their rooms for them that morning (including moving their luggage) and c) WTF does it have to do with me?! It was like he was calling with questions, but there was no questions actually asked. Goddamnit.

• On the bright side, they were shooting a scene for a move in the carpark as we were leaving. It has a guy shooting down another guy and it was VERY loud. Also VERY terrifying for the two tourists who were walking past unawares that it was a setup until they were chased down by some of crew. Heh/Aww.
  

• Homebake was pretty good too. Highlights were obviously some of the bands, the turkish spinach things, the Hare Krishna food, the raindbow ice drinks, the funny cameramen perving on people on the mainstage and the recycling scheme where people got a $1 drink voucher (or $1 cash) for returning their bottles/cans. Lowlights were the drunken idiots, the toilets, people peeing everywhere and the sweaty people who danced into you repeatedly. Also - note for the gents - repeatedly blowing smoke onto a girl after she's moved away from you and glared at you is NOT funny.

• We saw Foreign Heights (who only played two songs due to sound problems and the death metal group on the main stage playing WAY too lound, drowing out their mexican instrumentalists AND their rapping); Kid Confucius (who I had mixed up with Kid Kenobi so was very pleasantly surpised to be listening to sexytimes lounge music rather than a DJ with a record player); Art of Fighting (whose lead singer supported Holly Throsby accoustic and was awesome, but was pretty unsuited to a festival); Operater Please (of which I would marry any of, with the excpetion of the keyboard player who jumped too much, and with more of a lean to the totally underage but totally adorable drummer - it all sounds the same but they were pretty awesome), Blue King Brown (who started late and who I just could not enjoy as it was too hot and crowded and I was getting claustrophobic AND danced into, but they were The Huns higlight), Angus & Julia Stone (who also had sound problems but were fantastic AND Angus shaved his beard), Josh Pyke (who is cute and chatty and lovely and did really well), Gotye (who was awesome but had the most annoying crowd, very few of who I think were fans), Paul Dempsey (The Something For Kate guy that The Hun was superkeen to see but who I'm just not that into, though appreciate him moreso accoustic than blaring of The Hun's stereo), 15 minutes of Missy Higgins (I got to hear Scar, Slide and that other new one so I saw my favourites AND she was fantastic, even if she restarted that new one three times because she couldn't remember the first verse), 7 minutes of Architecture in Heksinki (who started an hour late and oh my god they were so annoyingly sh!t that I couldn't stomach it), six songs of Paul Kelly (including the From Little Things, Big Things Grow one as a duet with Missy Higgins, the I've done all the dumb things one and the They got married early, never had no money one) and then a teeny bit of The Divinyls who I just could not get into and just seemed to whinge a lot and look old. Though I read when I got back that she's recently been diagnosed as having MS. And I think I overheard her say into the mic that she'd come out just like Missy Higgins had. Right.
  

• Has anyone ever had one of those Hungry Jacks hash browns? Oh my god - they are so oily they don't even hold together! Where were you when I needed you Maccas?!

• We went bowling for a branch Christmas party last week and I bowled 150 on my first game - awesome! It was downhill from there, and moreso when some uni friends booked a lane that night and asked me along - I played four games in one day and my left leg was stuffed from the lunge when I bowled! Who knew it was such good exercise?!

• I got some acrylics last week too and I heart them - I have deep purple tips instead of white and I don't care if you think they sound terrible coz they totally aren't. You'll just have to trust me on this.

• I just finished the worst book in the world - Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell (quick googlage just revealed it's being made into a series - ugh). It was on the 2 for $20 table so I should have releasid, but let me summarise for you: The fashion one fails, then succeeds, then gets a rich boyfriend, then dumps him, then gets drunk and acts dumb, the loses the deal, then takes her boyfriend back; The movie one gets left by her husband, flips out, takes him back, loses him again, becomes a success, gets a boyfriend in the form of her former enemy; The other one starts an affair, ends the affair without being caught. Fin.

Feel all caught up now?!

Am back, will blog

Thanks to everyone who commented on the last post - I will get back to you shortly.

Just got back from Homebake and I just feel exhausted, on many levels. It's like I'm being drained on many levels - physical, mental, emotional.

Not helping is that it's past 8pm and I still have to meet gf1 and gf2 for dessert at 9pm AND pick up some groceries for the week.

But, you know me, I'll proddly sleep it off and all will be restored to a somewhat level or normality.

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

Rest in Peace, Max

His blood was clear of infection, he hadn't detiorated any further and once they'd sedated him to finally be able to xray for tumours, there were none.

Things were looking up, the MRI was booked for 5pm today and after some medication to release the pressure in his brain, he brightened up a bit.

Dadsy received a call this morning to tell him he'd had a bad night and was acting more distressed. He asked the vet what he would do if Max were his dog and the vet told him it was a decision he needed to make with his family. He spoke to mumsy and called the vet back, only to be told that he'd taken another bad turn - whatever pressure was building in his brain was pushing onto his spinal cord - his legs were paralysed and stiff and his neck was twisted up and back. The vet couldn't anesthitise him for the MRI while he was in that state, nor could they give him the MRI without the anesthetic.

The decision was made.

They believe he may have picked up a disease that all dogs are meant to vaccinated for at 6 weeks, that takes 6 or 7 years to form tumors.

I wish I'd been able to say goodbye, to reassure him.
I wish they'd been able to do the MRI sooner.
I wish he'd been vaccinated when he should have.

I hope he's in peace, with only happy memories.

I hope he realises how much he was loved and how much he is missed.

Google Feeder

I've finally set up Google Reader, after having not had quite enough time to keep up to date with my reading.

So far I've only set up the first section - putting the actual blogs in there. However, I can't get it to work for Ampersand Duck, Culture Strain, DailyWTF, Dawei, Deb, Michelle, Sarah or The Food Whore. Any help/ideas?

Also - I,haven't put "The 'Other' Ones" in yet - would you recommend it for things like I Can Haz Cheezburger?, Perez or Go Fug Yourself?

Did you always know I was this much of a noob?

Update II

I'm sorry this is not awesome reading, folks.

I went round to my parents this morning to pick him up and he was just kinda laying around. Then he pepped up a bit and walked himself out to the car and was quite calm for most of the trip (apparently he's spent the majority of his car time panting and trying to escape).

We went through an initial interview with a final year student who was lovely and very understanding, did her best to keep him calm as his nails slid around on the polished metal bench and listened intently to dadsy's description of his background.

The specialist came in and did some more diagnosis and the two of them did a really good job of keeping him calm and then explaining what they were going to do and why.

The things that worried the vet were that his back leg has started to go the way of his front - he tested his legs by moving them from under him. On his good legs, he did what you'd expect a typical dog to do - shift around and try to put his foot down. On his front bad leg he would just sorta fall over, or keep standing on it when the vet bent it back the wrong way. His back leg was halfway between that and normal. Also, one of his eyes is infected - that is new. The legs and the infection and the turning the long way round has the vet pretty confident that it's largely a brain issue.

The way he explained it is like one of those charts where you come to a cross road and go one way or the other. The starting block is checking red and white blood cells (he's not eaten in almost two days and his white cell count is up).

Then they check for poisoning like lead poisoning (which is cumulative and could explain it).

If it's not that then they will check for an infection that could have lead to swelling - the infected eye could point to this if the eye is off the same vein that goes to the part of his brain that seems to have the issue.

If it's not this, they will xray his chest and stomach for primary tumors - if there are multiple tumors then there is not really much we can do for him.

If there are no tumors then they will get an anesthetist in and do an MRI. If there is a primary tumor and it is operable then they will get the only dog brain surgeon in Australia to operate. If it is not operable and not a primary tumor then there is not really much we can do for him.

Obviously I'm hoping it is just some sort of poisoning or an infection and it will all be fine. Or on the other extreme I'm hoping it's an operable thing and that he'll just be in pain for a little bit and then back to his old self again.

But there is always the talk about making the right decision - are we trying to make the dog feel better or ourselves feel better by not having him die.

I would just hate to hear that he had died there alone. Or that he wouldn't be well enough to come home. Or that he's gotten worse and will keep getting worse and there's nothing we can do. Or that he will stay at his current poor level -stumbling, depressed, confused. The vet will be calling at each step to let us know what happens.

They took him out the back while I was getting his blanket out of the car so I didn't get even a quick goodbye.

At least he's in good hands and at least they can get some food into his stomach one way or another, to give him some energy and some strength.

Thanks for the thoughts guys, here's hoping it's all just a blip on the radar.