Buckle up ...

Yeah, I know. It's been ages.

There's been a bit happening though.

I haven't written in a while - to be honest, I've barely even looked at this site in a while. But tonight, I wanted to check on some sites I link to, and I couldn't be bothered to type in the address so I figured I'd just check on here and click. And then I realised that my site counter thingy is going up ... And I haven't updated in ages. So that made me feel guilty. So here goes ...


I'm in the middle of packing up my place. Christine and I move in about three weeks. We let the real estate agents that we're currently renting from know last week that we'd be moving out, and so far, I've had two inspections from the real estate people (wanting to check out anything that might need fixing after I move) and tomorrow I've got a guy coming to look at the carpet because the landlord is talking about replacing it, so they've arranged for a guy to come and do a quote. Not to mention I've had my agent calling to make appointments for prospective renters to walk through and have a look at the property.

The packing is going well. The week before last (? I think) I had two days off in a row, so I cleaned out a heap of stuff and did a lot of packing. Yesterday my mum was down for the day to start cleaning walls and stuff. So far I'm feeling like I'm pretty well organised. It looks like we'll be moving boxes and small stuff on the Thursday, and the removalist will do the big stuff on the Friday. I've got that weekend off work, so Saturday will be unpacking, and Sunday I'll be back at the old place, doing the last of the cleaning.

I haven't said a lot about the new place .... It's beautiful. It's three bedrooms, nice kitchen/dining, a sunroom which is awesome, a storage space under the house, a good sized yard (with a brand new fence so the dog can't get out!), just been recently painted, ducted heating and cooling, huge laundry, good carpets ... And I love it. It's about a 3 minute drive from where I work, which will be awesome. (I'll be going home for lunch a bit!) Christine and I both fell in love with it as soon as we looked at it. I think living with someone again will take some getting used to (we've both been living alone for like two years) and I'm sure there will be some adjustment with Christine being my "landlord". She's already said Buckley is to become an outside rabbit, which is fine, but I've said that when it's hot in summer, he'll be coming inside. I know it's her house, but rabbits aren't great in heat, and Bucks doesn't handle the heat too well. He spent most of last summer inside (in air conditioned comfort) and he still seemed to wilt most days. I've put on layby a new, double story cage for the Buckmiester, and I'll be putting up some kind of little fence around it so that Jersey can't get to him. My biggest fear is that Jersey will get into Buckley's cage while Christine and I are at work. I'll just have to do whatever I can to make sure that doesn't happen :-)


Speaking of Jersey, he doesn't seem to be settling down. At all. He's destroyed two phones in the last couple of weeks - Christine's cordless home phone and her mobile phone. The home phone is still usable, but the mobile had to be thrown out. He got them both while she was sleeping on the couch during the day after doing night shift the night before. He also destroyed her One Tree Hill Season 4 box set, a torch and a book. Yeah, I'll be buying some kind of lock for my bedroom and locking all my shit in there when I'm not at home! Seriously though, I've been thinking of paying for obedience school for him for Christine's birthday, which is coming up in a few weeks. Something tells me it would be money well spent.

I went into the cafe last week and told my boss that I was finishing this weekend. I've had enough, and weeks ago I said I would finish up, and what happened? Nothing. She kept putting me on the roster, which I'm sick of. There was another reason for doing it though ... I've picked up an extra two days a week at the office. WOO HOO! So I'll now be doing 4 and a half days a week there, which is terrific. I still love it there, and I'm thrilled that they offered me some more days. This weekend will hopefully be my last weekend at the cafe - providing that my boss doesn't keep rostering me on when I'm not at the office. I've told her that I don't want that, but she clearly doesn't listen to me, does she?

Today I went to visit a friend who lives about 20 minutes out of town. She is pregnant, and I haven't seen her in a while. She's grown heaps, and things are looking good. Her little boy, who is two has also changed heaps. It was amazing to see. We had a good chat, and have decided to organise a baby shower for her. Neither of us has organised a baby shower, or even been to one, but do you think that's going to stop us? Hell no, watch us go!

What else has been happening ... I think I'm out of thoughts. I've got an appointment in Echuca with the miracle man next week for my back. I was meant to go on Wednesday, but (ironically) my back was too bad and I knew I wouldn't be able to handle an hour in the car to get there. The 10 minute drive on the way home from work was enough to give me nerve pain up and down my legs. I think it's because I haven't been walking as much (thanks, winter) and because I've put some extra weight on (thanks, Maccas). I'm back into eating salads and lots of fruit though, so hopefully that'll make a difference.

Anyway, it's getting late, and I'm working at the Cafe tomorrow, so I better take off. Have a great night guys, sorry about the delay in updating ...

You hang in there sunshine, you're friggin special.

Edited to add - if you have time, please visit Henry and his family at http://henryschallenge.blogspot.com/. They've just been told that Henry's cancer is back. Please send lots of love and good thoughts.

Short, and sweet. Eh, not so sweet actually. I talk about bloody stumps at the end ...

My week so far:

- 4 weeks until moving day. Decided to start packing last night. Had fun for the first 20 minutes, then got bored and gave up. House now messier than ever. And still haven't organised a damn thing for the move.

- The cold that I had the other week? Turned into one hellacious chest infection (coughing up blood, not being able to sleep because lying down made it impossible to breathe, sleeping about 16 hours a day for something like 5 days straight), which I'm still trying to get rid of. What's with that?

- Have been told four times since Saturday that they'd love to make me a full time employee at the office/that they can see me becoming full time/that I'd be great all the time in the office/that they'd love to have me in the office all the time. Fingers crossed that it happens, I think I'd freaking explode with happiness!

- Things with my dad aren't great. He's still not well, and he's still not himself. He's still so quiet. He had a doctors appointment yesterday, and he had some follow up tests today. Hopefully something will show up and it can be easily fixed. Please, please let it be something that can be easily fixed.

- The Buck-miester is getting a new cage. I've put a layby a $250, double story wooden hutch for him. Since he'll be moving outside when we go to the new house, I wanted him to have a bigger, nicer cage. And this one is pretty sweet. Hopefully I can pay it off in the next few weeks so that when we move, he can move into his new digs too!

Ok, I'm out. Getting late and I'm at the stupid, i-hate-the-place-with-every-freaking-breath-in-my-body, depressing, awful cafe tomorrow. Ugh. I'd rather shoot myself in the foot with some kind of high-powered riffle and then pour salt into the wound and finish by hacking off my foot with a pair of blunt, useless scissors and walk over hot coals on my bloody stump to go to the hospital ...

I have some news: We have a house. It's pretty cool. It's about a 3 minute drive from my work - it would probably take about 20 minutes to walk though (down the road, around a corner and then down a loooong road). It's 3 bedrooms + a sunroom, a nice backyard and it's in a quiet street. We move in about 6 weeks time. I better start packing ...

... On to what I wanted to write about tonight.

Today, I went to mum and dads for the day. Dad wanted to do an oil change on my car, and mum had a heap of boxes for me so I can start packing.

My dad was ... quiet.

Last weekend, he lost one of his best mates to an aneurysm. Out of nowhere, and shocking to all.

He's been unwell lately - shocking headaches that no one can explain.

He was forced into retirement last year, and is in the middle of fighting for compensation because of the unfair IR Laws that brought about his retirement. The IR Laws have now been overturned, and WorkChoices is dead, but dad still has no job. Of course, his previous employer is dragging out things out.

I felt like crying when I saw him today. In fact, I am crying now, thinking of him. I don't know why. He seemed ... Lost, I guess. I was sad for him. I hurt for him. I wanted him to be normal, but he was so far from normal. I'm scared for him. The work thing is worrying him, and stressing him out. I feel like screaming at his old bosses. He worked for them for 19 years. Never called in sick unless he had to. He only took holidays when he had to - if he had built up too much leave and had to use some of it up. He'd work nights if there had been an accident and he was needed. 19 god damn years, and this is how they treat him? How is that fair? How is that right?

Bob's funeral is tomorrow. Mum and dad will go, as will many others from the town. He was the type of bloke who would do anything for anyone. He and dad had been mates for years. They used to drink together, and work together on weekends.

I don't know why I have this sadness tonight. I can't really explain it - but something about my dad, so quiet, so lost, so not-himself today, has really gotten to me. The tears don't want to stop, which is making typing hard. I think I'll go have a bath, and cry in there for a while.

Just random!

Lather, rinse, repeat.

I freaking love my job. I'm not sure why - I don't do anything amazing, or special. It's just fun. Every day is slightly different, but similar ... If that makes sense :-)

8:30 - 8:50 - Leave home and head to work. Swing by the Post Office on the way, check our PO Box and mail off anything from the office.

8:55 - Arrive at work with the mail. Get myself organised.

9:00 - 9:30 - Open mail and distribute. Go through the docket summaries from the day before and bank cash, organise checks etc.

9:30 - 11:30 - Spend the morning drowning in paperwork. Answer the phone 75 times, transferring each call, and laughing at the rude morons after I've hung up.

11:32 - Offer a bribe (money or a slab of beer) to the first person who can "break" the phones for me. Get myself some morning tea from the tea room and spend a couple of minutes chatting to whoever is around.

11:40 - Consider shredding paperwork, then realise that's probably not the best idea. Get back into it.

11:45 - 11:55 - Get into an important financial discussion with Meg. Mutually agree that the extra money that has appeared in the til (a couple of hundred dollars, and no one knows where it's come from or why the til is now up) should be put into the Social Club to make one hell of a Christmas Party. Decide the best way to sell this to the guys is to translate it into the number of beers the money could buy at said party. Guys? Guys, if we put the extra money from the til into the social club, then we could get an extra 85 pots of beer at the party! Woo hoo!

11:55 - 1:45 - Finish important financial discussion and put aside paperwork for a while. Fold 150 newsletters. Laminate some stuff. Send out some price books to people who want to have a look at what we have, but can't be bothered to come in. Get a list of what's needed and organise a stationary order. Fire Publisher up and make up some signs. Read through minutes of the last meeting, and print off blank minutes sheet for the next meeting which is coming up. Make a note of what still needs to be done before the next meeting. Leave post-it notes for those who haven't finished their tasks.

1:45 - 2:15 - Eat lunch. Hop up and down about 35 times and answer phones, transferring calls or taking messages. Thank god there's a phone in the tea room, so I don't have to keep running back to my desk. Wonder how pathetic it would make me seem if I started eating at my desk to save time ...

2:15 - Pull out paperwork again. Get my list of figures, and start the monthly graphs. Swear at myself, the desk, the phone and the computer as I realise that somehow our drivers have managed to stuff up their sheets. Either that, or they've gone back in time. Mumble under my breath and screw up my nose as I get more and more annoyed. Seriously, have they got a freaking time machine in their trucks?

4:30 - Consider pulling out hair. Cause fear and chaos when I announce to the office that the next driver who goes back in time/stuffs up their sheet will have to deal with me.

4:45 - Start packing up for the end of the day. Organise paperwork into piles of what's done, what needs to be done, and what can't yet be done. Tick off what I've finished, put in M's office to get signed off on. Count til, put in safe. Close and lock all windows. Make sure all split-system heaters are off.

4:55 - Yell "Are you kidding me?!" when M hands me more driver sheets to do tomorrow. Roll my eyes and tell him he's lucky it's almost knock-off time, otherwise I'd so kick his arse.

5:00 - Pick up mail that needs to be sent off in the morning. Grab my bag, make sure I've got all my crap from the tea room. Check milk supplies and see if I need to stop on the way to work tomorrow morning. Take some paperwork home with me, to see if I can get a head start on tomorrow. Answer one last phone call, take a message.

5:05 - Time to head home.
5:15 - Home!

Baby Smurf

I'm a germ-filled miserable walking headache ...

So, I've been struck down with the cold.

It's not that shocking, I guess, when you consider that both my nieces, who I spent four days with last week/weekend, and almost everyone at work, has it.

I honestly didn't realise how shitty a cold could make you feel. Now I totally get why we've had so many people at work call in sick with the cold.

I've never had headaches like this before. Ever. I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning, and not even 15 seconds later, I was crying from the pain. I took three Panafen (Ibuprofen and codeine) and didn't move for an hour and a half. Finally they started to work, and it didn't hurt so bad to move my head. And this has been happening for three days. I've been taking tablets every two to three hours, day and night.

I've been drinking about 5 litres of water a day since my throat is so sore, and I constantly feel like I'm dehydrated. I've been waking at 2 or 3 a.m., drinking a 750 ml bottle of water and going straight back to bed.

I can't figure out if I'm hot or cold, so my heater is either on high, or I have my front door open so the freezing cold wind can come in and cool me down.

I've been through an entire box and a half of tissues in two days.

And, oh yay, in the last three days I've had about 8 asthma attacks, which has just added to the fun.

Hopefully, the worst has passed. I still feel crappy, and I'm just about to have (another) early night in the hope that some sleep might help, but today I think I felt a little bit better than yesterday? Maybe? A little bit?

Ugh!

Me. Tonight.

Sorry about the length ...

I don't even know where to begin ...

I've been in Melbourne for the last few days. I went to see my sister and my nieces. I went to have a relaxing few days, chilling out, playing with the kids. I went to do some shopping.

It didn't quite go to plan, though.

Firstly, I decided to drive to Melbourne. Which I've never actually done before, but I figured it's only two and a half hours, how hard can it be? Usually I take the train, which takes two hours to get to Melbourne, then I get onto another train out to my sisters, which takes another hour and a half (if Connex hasn't cancelled services. Even if they have, the trains are usually packed.). So, I went "stuff it, I'm driving". I got directions off whereis.com.au, and left early on Thursday morning (6 a.m.).

Seriously? It would have been faster to take the freaking train.

I got lost. Somehow, somewhere, I must have taken a wrong turn. I ended up at Essendon (about 45 k's from my sisters) and I had no idea how to get back to where I needed to be. Add to that that it was freaking peak hour in Melbourne, bumper to bumper traffic, which I am not used to, and throw in the fact that everyone in that damn city drives like morons, and I was a little stressed.

Eventually, after running up a huge mobile phone bill on whereismobile.com (and visiting suburbs such as Tullamarine, Bayswater, Nunawadding, Donvale - none of which are really on the way to my sisters, might I add), I found my way. I got to my sisters a little after 10:30 a.m. FOUR AND A HALF HOURS OF DRIVING! FOR A TWO AND A HALF HOUR TRIP! The first thing I did? Take myself off to Knox City (big shopping centre) and spend a ridiculous amount of money on a GPS for my car. Considering I can barely pay my bills at the moment it probably wasn't a terrifically smart move, but oh my god, does it make things soooo much easier. Coming home today was about a thousand times less stressful, because all I had to turn was "turn right in 500 metres", and "turn left in 100 metres". Seriously, it was worth every single cent, and I'll be using it when I drive to my sisters again.

So ... Thursday I went to Knox with my three year old niece and we did some shopping. Obviously I tested her patience a little too much though, because once we were done shopping, and were on our way out, she started crying. And she cried the whole way home. She cried at an old man who asked her name, she cried at the bus driver who gave her a free ticket to cheer her up, she cried when we stopped at traffic lights ... And she cried when I started laughing at her. I know! Seriously, what kind of meanie laughs at a crying kid?! It was funny though. She was just over-tired, and no one was going to make her happy!

Thursday night, I was exhausted. Driving for hours, shopping and a loooong day had tired me out. I crashed at about 11 p.m ... only to be woken up at 11:30 by my sister, upset and yelling, because my brother rang (drunk, of course), threatening to kill himself.

Oh. My. God.

Then he hung up, and wouldn't answer his damn phone again. Hello, stress levels. A few minutes later, one of his ex-girlfriends, who is good friends with my sister, was banging on the front door, upset because he'd rung her to say goodbye, since he was nothing but a disappointment to everyone, and he couldn't handle this anymore ...

Oh. My. God.

So, my sister keeps ringing him, and finally he answers and they find out where he is. Olivia, his ex, goes to pick him up and take him home so he can sleep it off.

Nup.

He gets in her car, only to start crying and then jump out at traffic lights, saying he's going to kill himself, yada yada yada. So Olivia, not knowing what the hell to do, rings the police, and asks them to look for him. Meanwhile, my sister and I are still awake, worried, and not knowing what is going on. Eventually the police ring to tell us that they've found him and they're going to keep him for a few hours until he sleeps it off.

Finally, bed time?

No.

Baby Smurf, that gorgeous little niece of mine, decides to wake up. Screaming. Doesn't want a bottle, doesn't want to crawl around on the floor, doesn't want to do anything but scream because she's reallllly unhappy, and she wants the world to know it. We finally managed to get her to sleep just after 4 a.m.

Ahh, sleep.

I got just over 2 hours before little Bug Eyes, my other niece was up to start the day.

Needless to say, I was not at my best on Friday. We did some shopping at Knox, and spent the afternoon at home, hanging out. My sister rang my brother to tell him she'd had enough and that he's not welcome at her house anymore, she's sick of the lying and manipulating. He could only swear and carry on about being picked up by the police the night before.

Friday night, Baby Smurf was again the unhappiest kid in the world, and wouldn't take her bottle, which was a bit of a worry. She'd had nothing since Friday morning and my sister was worried about her dehydrating. This went on Friday night and Saturday morning, so she rang Nurse on Call, who advised her to take the Smurfette to the hospital to get her checked out. Six hours at the hospital showed up ... A healthy kid! A close examination of her mouth did reveal a white spot ... She's got a tooth coming in! So the nurses gave Amanda a syringe to shoot the milk into Smurfette's mouth :-) Saturday night she drank a full bottle this way, although she was still very unsettled.

She woke us at 2 a.m. this morning, still cranky, but she had another full bottle via the syringe. It was perfect timing, because it meant that I got to watch the end of the Storm game which was on Channel 9. What a freaking amazing finish! 45 seconds to go and the Storm won! Baby Smurf couldn't figure out why she wasn't the only one yelling in the loungeroom! :-)

Eventually, (a little after 3 a.m.) we all went back to bed. And this morning? Guess who woke up all smiles, with a brand new tooth poking through the gum?

Yep! She did it!

And she was like a totally different kid. For the last few days all she's done is cry and scream and cling to whoever's closest, but today? All smiles. And giggles. It was so awesome to see her feeling so much better!

So, after hanging out with the girls for a while, and cooking pancakes for breakfast, I started packing up to head home. I was so, so tired, (in the last 3 night I would have had maybe three hours each night) and I figured I'd better get going before I realised just how tired I was. As I'm packing, however, the phone rings.

My sister had given her MIL the rent money. And MIL was ringing to say that the rent money was $50 short.

It appears drunk, dickhead brother helped himself to the money last weekend while he was visiting.

Seriously. What next???

So then my sisters boyfriend cracked the shits and they had a screaming fight, which ended when he walked out. Ugh.

I stayed a while longer, helped bath the Smurf and talked to my sister, then I took off.

And now, I'm home. Tired, and just about ready to cry. It just feels like one thing after another, you know?

And my brother. What the hell?

I know I haven't spoken to him in a year and 9 months, and I didn't think that I cared about him that much, but the worry inside me at the moment is just ... Huge. I'm scared. So scared.

And the thing that scares me, and pisses me off, is that he won't change. He's had so many opportunities and he won't change. He keeps drinking and stuffing up and manipulating and lying and what the hell can be done? He's going to end up dead, because we can't frigging do a thing to make him realise that he's wrecking his goddamn life.

Where do we go from here? I'm not speaking to him. My sister isn't speaking to him. Dad has had enough as well. Mum is still trying, and he's breaking her heart. And he doesn't give a fuck, he won't CHANGE.

I don't even know what to say.

Linkapalooza.

So, Collingwood are out of the finals ... :-( I don't know what the hell happened. How could we lose to ST KILDA??! Seriously. I mean, they're a great team and all, but ... ??!! We were playing for a spot in the semi-final, and we couldn't beat them? Disappointing, Pies, disappointing.

I worked today and yesterday, at the cafe/ice creamery. We had a couple of good days, as the weather has been beautiful. We were meant to get rain today, which meant we were planning a quite day, but so far it's been sunny (although very windy) all day. Ahh, spring! :-)

Anyway, I better go cook me some dinner ... Er, heat up the takeaway from last night. I actually just came to share some new sites I've found, so here goes.

Nick, the Xray Photographer ... This is strangely fascinating.

Fail Blog ... Is pretty freaking funny.

Cosha's ... This could be considered a little ... err ... dirty. Don't say you weren't warned!

DatingFun.com ... Random trivia.

Disapproving Rabbits ... How friggin gorgeous! And so funny! I'm only pissed I didn't discover it sooner :-)

I can has cheezburger ... Not usually a cat person, but this is pretty cool.

And, as always, new secrets are up at PostSecret. Check em out!

You hang in there sunshine, you're friggin special.

13/09/2001.

Hey Mel,

So, it's been seven years since you were last here with us. September 13, 2001. And here I am, writting to you again, continuing the tradition that I started in 2002. I gotta tell you, it sucks. This is not the tradition that I would have wished for, ever, but here we are anyway.

It doesn't get any easier, you know. I might laugh more when I think about you and I may cry less ... But it doesn't really get any easier, knowing that you're not here, and you're not coming back. It still hits me at the strangest times - it's like I forget and then - wham. Mel's dead. The realisation takes my breath away and makes me stop cold for a minute. How? Why? Mel?

You give me smiles at the most random times. All it takes is a song on the radio that we played at your funeral, or an expression that someone might say that makes me automatically think of you, and I'm smiling. Sometimes I'm having a bad day, or I'm upset about something, and it turns everything around. It's like you're watching over me, and it rocks, dude! Keep it up.

It's weird - so many times this week my thoughts have gone to you. On Tuesday night, I dreamt of school, and of Kelly. It was the strangest dream I'd ever had - it made no sense, but I woke up knowing that you gave that dream to me. And then at work, one of the guys started whistling one of the songs that your mum played at your funeral. Out of nowhere. On Wednesday, I heard another song from the funeral on the radio, which I haven't heard in months. Today, I was out house hunting. We ended up at Adams St (!!!!), looking at a place. Thank you.

So, we've made it through another year without you. We share our stories. We see your face. We hear your laugh. Quietly, you live on within us. Your smile stays in our minds, because you were Mel. Who could forget you?

Miss you, Miss Melody.

If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call to make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?

22 degrees!

Spring has sprung. Thank freaking god, because I'm sick of cold, rainy weather.

Right now, it's sitting on 22 degrees, and I've actually got my house open to air it out a little. Outside is a little cloudy, but it's waaaarm. Woo hoo!

Of course, with spring comes hayfever. Yesterday I went house-hunting WITH A BOX OF TISSUES. Yeah. I couldn't stop sneezing long enough to go anywhere, so we ended up leaving with the tissues. I looked like shit. And today is a repeat performance. I'm going to have to go to the doctor to get a refferal to a specialist. I've tried every tablet/nasal spray/natural remedy out there. Some work, but usually only for a couple of days. Ugh. And I can only imagine how bad it's going to be at the office this summer with all the dust and pollens floating around. So I should probably get onto it before it gets worse.

So, yeah. I haven't done an entry for a while. Last week I worked all week - my usual two and a half days at the office, as well as Wednesday afternoon and Thursday as the other girl was sick. She was back on Friday, which was great for me because it meant that I didn't have to cancel my appointment to get my car fixed in Kerang. So, Friday morning I was up early and when I got home, dad took my car to the mechanic and mum and I hung out at home. Saturday and Sunday I worked at the cafe, (yes, I'm still there - don't ask) and as usual, it was not fun.

This week I worked Monday, was off Tuesday sick, and worked my usual half day on Wednesday. Yesterday I went house-hunting with Christine, which was fun. There's about 4 that we want to check out a little more - two that we really like. Hopefully we'll make a decision in the next couple of weeks and get the ball rolling soon. I swear, this will be the LAST time that I move ... Ever. *lol* Just looking around my place, realising how much crap I'll have to pack up gives me a headache :-) Not to mention, we'll be putting devil dog (Jersey) and Buckley in the one house, and throwing in my birds and Christine's fish (who are at constant risk of being eaten by Jersey). And Buckley will become an outside rabbit ... Don't know how he'll like that ... He's used to be inside. (Yeah, he's spoilt rotten!) I've already said that he'll be coming inside when it's too hot (32+ degrees) because as a rabbit, he's got no way to release heat (rabbits can't pant like dogs) and summer outside could easily kill him. So, we've got it all planned out. We just have to find *the* house :-)

What else ... That's about it, really. I've been very boring. Today I spent the day cleaning the house, doing washing, and cleaning out the bunny and birdies cages. Oh-so-fun. Now I'm going to go cook me something to eat, and listen to some music. Ahh, what a nice end to a day off :-)

Catch the Cowards

This? Disgusting.

What fucking cowards.

Wanna smile?

Check out Torrie's blog, and watch this video. It reminds me of the way Bug Eyes used to dance when she was younger. She'd dance to any and all music, and it ALWAYS made me smile.

Work ...

From work ...

B: "I'm having a bad sock day, ok? You wanna make something of it?"

Big Boss:"Oh yeah, the chicks totally dig it. The wife isn't too impressed though!"

~!~

Don’t worry about the future; or worry,

but know that worrying is aseffective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that

never crossed your worried mind;

the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts,

don’t put up with

people who are reckless with yours.

Remember the compliments you receive,

forget the insults;

if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters,

throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry,

maybe you won’t,

maybe you’ll have children,

maybe you won’t,

maybe you’ll divorce at 40,

maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…

what ever you do,

don’tcongratulate yourself too much or

berate yourself either –

your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body,

use it every way you can…

don’t be afraid of it,

or what other people think of it,

it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..

Dance…

even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines,

they will only make you feel ugly.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but,

be patient with those who supply it.

Advice is a form of nostalgia,

dispensing it is a way offishing the past from the disposal,

wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts

and recycling it for more than it’s worth..

Is it really any wonder ...

That this guy has never been married?

Can I put my pants back on now?

Big headache tonight.

Had today off work, so I didn't do much. Slept in, went for a couple of long walks, did some reading, listened to some music. I also did a bit of shopping - got a Fathers Day present and put my sisters Christmas present on layby.

So ... I finally did it. I told my cafe boss that I wanted to finish up. I can't work there anymore. To be honest, I hate it. I don't feel comfortable there, and I have never felt comfortable there. When she opens her new cafe in November, I know she's only going to go back to super-stressed-out-mean-cow-boss. And, I like her as a person. As a person she's pretty cool. As a boss she sucks, but as a person she's nice.

So, I'm going to walk away now, while we're on good terms. She's happy to see me go - the fact that I had the office job pissed her off, I think. She had to "work around" the fact that I couldn't work on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday, which I don't think was that big of a deal since she only wanted me for mainly weekend work ... Oh well. Whatever.

The office has been GREAT. Seriously, I hate Wednesdays because I have to leave half way through the day. It sucks that it's not full time, but maybe it'll turn into full time if I'm lucky. They guys are always funny, and I love being in such a relaxed, fun environment. I work my arse off for them, because I want to. I dont feel like I'll get yelled at for taking five minutes to joke with the guys or like I'm being forced to work, you know?

What else has been going on ... Well, not much actually. Looks like I'll be moving sometime in the next few months - Chrissie and I are going to move in together. Which means that demon dog and I will actually be living together ... That's a scary thought! Living with Chrissie will be fun though.

Anyway, it's getting late and I'm working at the cafe tomorrow for a few hours so I should probably get some sleep. I'm out.

You hang in there sunshine, you're friggin special.

Dear Angel Valodia Matos ...

Seriously, dude. Not cool.

Totally not what the Olympics is about!

P.S. Go Matthew Mitcham! You rock!

My dad.

I went to mum and dads for the day today. Dad wanted to get my car checked out because he thought there was something wrong with the brakes (He was right. It's going to cost me heaps to get fixed too. Damn it!). Anyway, while I was there I noticed a certificate that had my dads name on it. It was some kind of commendation, in recognition of the work that he did last year during the Kerang train accident.

See, during the days after the train accident, my dad worked all kinds of hours, directing traffic, and helping out. It was nothing out of the ordinary for him - it was just work. He just did it. He worked days, went home for a while and slept, then went back and worked until 3 in the morning, then he went home and slept for a while, and got up and did it all again.

See, that's what my dad does. He just does it. Whatever needs to be done. No fuss - just get on with it. It doesn't matter what needs to be done, or who needs him - he's there. I've never really thought about it before, but he's awesome. If I was ever in trouble, I'd ring my dad. He's there for anything and anyone. He spends his weekends cutting firewood for people who need it. He helps out some older people in Kerang who can't mow their own lawns (that one is totally for him though, I think he just loves to use his ride on mower :-)). He's always helping out, doing stuff at people's houses that they can't do themselves for whatever reason. He'll help friends move, put up fences, looks after pets when their owners have gone away, even helps out my mums friends when he's needed. The list goes on and on.

When we were younger, we lived in the "not-so-great" part of town. My dad worked his arse off to get us into a better area, then worked to eventually buy a house. He worked hard for everything that he wanted for us. We didn't miss out on anything important when we were kids, because of him. Mum didn't have to start working until I was 12. We never had everything that we wanted - but we always had everything that we needed, and then some. My dad has given me so many awesome memories from when we were young. On Sundays, he'd be gone all morning doing stuff around Kerang. But when he got home? It was lollie time. He'd always go to the milkbar before he came home and get something for us. A bag of mixed lollies, a chocolate bar, a giant snake ... It didn't matter what it was. Every weekend we'd have a bbq. Didn't matter if it was summer or winter. If it was the weekend, we'd have a bbq. Dad would cook, and us kids would "help" mum get everything else ready. On Christmas morning, we'd always take all the presents into mum and dad's room to open them. As soon as we woke up in the morning we'd start carting presents into their room, sorting them into piles so we could rip into them. So many memories.

He may have had a quiet life - he hasn't done anything spectacular, he hasn't made the news, or hasn't made millions of dollars, but every day, he makes me proud to be his kid.

The following sentence was written on one of our time sheets at work as an explanation for why the driver took so long making a delivery:

"Did a bloody map flap, didn't I."

Hahaha. How Aussie is that!

Christiaan Scholl to face trial for Kerang crash.

*****

So, it's Monday which means that I spent the day at the office. Totally love that place. Today, Rob, gave me the giggles after this little exchange:

Rob: Oh, Snappz, could I please have some stamps?
Snappz: Sure, how many do you need?
Rob: Oh, I need quite a few. I need stamps so I can send out my emails.
Snappz: (trying to keep a straight face) You need stamps for your emails?
Rob: Yes, please.
M: Rob, you realise what you're saying, right?
Snappz ... Giggling like a little school girl.
Rob: (Looking very confused) Ok, well I'll just go ask Julie for stamps then.

And yes, he was serious. He had no idea what M and I were laughing about.

In other news ... Well, I don't have much other news. My sister has set a date for her wedding - January 16, 2010. Now all I have to do is avoid her for the next 18 months so that I don't go crazy listening to her talk about the wedding, wedding, wedding ... :-) I am going to visit her next month though, and stay a few days. I'll start the avoiding thing after that ;-) I'm looking foward to hanging out with my nieces, I haven't seen them since June, and I bet they've grown heaps. I miss them like crazy!

I'm cooking roast lamb and spuds for dinner tonight, and it's almost ready, so I better get going. Peace out.

You hang in there sunshine, you're friggin special.

Too good not to share ...

Some people are W.E.I.R.D.

Prepare yourself, it's gonna be a long one, folks ...

Well. Here I am. With the ability to type, and think. Yet, for some reason I haven't done a proper entry in a while ... Not sure why.

Has anyone noticed that the Olympics are on? It's only be on the tv non-stop, and all over the news. I've become - like many others - an instant expert in many sports, and have been judging every event I've watched. I'm happy to report that for the most part, the "official" judges have gotten it right ... :-) Australia has done well so far, especially Jessica Schipper, and Stephanie Rice, our swimming superstar, who was also a part of our golden 4x200m relay team. Brenton Rickard and Eamon Sullivan have also done Australia proud, both taking home silver medals.

Beijing 2008 hasn't been without it's fair share of controversy though, with a couple of "faking" scandals - both involving the opening ceremony. There was criticism when it was revealed that the little girl in the red dress who was singing at the opening ceremony ... Wasn't actually singing. And some of the fireworks were digitally inserted into the opening ceremony ... Interesting. While I think it's sad that a child can be left out because she "looks wrong", I guess it says a lot about China. The stories of cenorship that are emerging from the Olympics say much about a country that has a long way to go.

Today I worked at the cafe for three hours. The cafe is in the middle of Bendigo, right near the Bendigo Courts. When I got to work, there was people everywhere outside the Courts, as well as many cameramen and Police. Today, Christiaan Scholl, the truck driver in the Kerang Train Crash, faced a commital trial. On June 5, 2007 Mr Scholl was driving a truck that hit a train near Kerang, which derailed, killing 11 people. What happened that day seems to be nothing more than a terrible tragedy. What I was digusted with today was the news people, chasing Mr Scholl, and witnesses that were called to give evidence in the committal hearing, down the street or across the road, as they walked from the Courts. Those people have to live with what happened that day - being chased from court, and seeing themselves on the news must only make things harder for them. Mr Scholl now has to live with the fact that 11 people died because the truck he was driving hit that train. If the committal hearing finds that there is enough evidence, he will be sent to trial over charges arising from the accident. Even if the committal hearing finds that there is not even evidence, don't you think that he has put himself on trial every single day since that accident? For the rest of his life, he has to live daily with the fact that 11 people died that day. It was an accident - but he will forever be "The driver of the truck in the Kerang Train Tragedy". Give the man some dignity - he does not deserve to be chased from Court when he's been through as much, if not more, than everyone who was there that day.

Has anyone else seen this story? How freaking hilarious is it! Basically, "A scorned woman has literally aired her husband's dirty laundry on a global scale by auctioning his mistress's knickers on eBay. In a spiteful listing on eBay Australia, the jilted Queensland woman is auctioning off a pair of lacy black underpants "size humongous" and an empty condom wrapper "size small" found in her bed after her husband allegedly engaged in an extramarital affair with a woman named Kylie." (Taken from heralsun.com.au) I don't know why anyone would bid on an item like that ... Maybe for the entertainment value?! The full ebay ad can be found here.

I know this entry is bouncing around like crazy ... So let's skip from news to Blogs I've been reading. As always, I've been hanging over at Not Quite What I Had Planned, otherwise known as Kristies place. If you've never checked it out, head over there now and thank me later. I've also been reading Katie's Overflowing Brain. Unlike me, Katie actually updates daily! And she's sarcastic and funny. I've been keeping up with my CaringBridge Kids, and if you want to know what I'm on about ... Check the right hand side of the screen, there's a long list of links there. I'm also still a big fan of PostSecret and Dan, as well as Tori over at I Pretty Much Hate Everything.

What else can I ramble about tonight ...

Well, in family news Baby Smurf, my gorgeous 9 month old niece, had a huge week last week, and not only starting crawling but also cut her first tooth! Rock on, my little Smurf. No longer toothless and now able to get from A to B. What more could a Smurfette want from life? And my little Bug Eyes, well, she just gets smarter and smarter every week. Usually when my sister and I talk on the phone I say hello to Bug Eyes, and each week she says a little more and sounds a little smarter. I'm hoping to get down to see them sometime soon since it's been a couple of months, and I'm sure the girls have grown heaps.

My sister is still in the middle of Wedding-Planning-Madness. Sadly, it'll stay for a while as she's not getting married until the end of 2010. I have to head down soon to find a bridesmaid dress, which will be oh-so-much-fun, I'm sure ... :-P

Gus the fighting fish has floated to that big fishbowl in the sky. It was very unexpected, and happened overnight. I'm thinking of getting another fighting fish and naming him Fergus ...

Last week, I looked after devil dog overnight while Chrissie worked. It was actually a quiet night in terms of destruction - he ate a cube of Post-It notes (about 150 of them) when I fell asleep on the floor while studying, (serves me right!) and broke the clip of my MP3, but other than that things were ok. He sulked pretty much non-stop, and spent most of the night trying to "bury" stuff in my carpet. The next night he stayed at home while Chrissie worked because I was too tired to look after him ... And he chewed a hole in her washing machine hose. Whoops ...

I'm so changing the look of this blog ... It's just shitting me. I'll do it after I finish this entry. I guess I haven't been on here much, so it hasn't annoyed me too much. But now that I look at it ... It's got to go.

Anyway, that's about it from here. Might think of some other stuff to blog about tomorrow ... If not, see you sometime next week!

You hang in there sunshine, you're friggin special.

In one of the stars I shall be living

In one of them

I shall be laughing

And so it will be as if all the stars

were laughing

when you look at the sky at night

*

Tonight ...

I am ...

Missing you, Mel.

No rhyme or reason for it ...

Just missing you.

"To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children;



...to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or ...



To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—



this is to have succeeded."







That person is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much;

who has gained the respect of intelligent people

and the love of children;

who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;

who leaves the world better than he found it,

whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;

who never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty

or failed to express it;

who looked for the best in others

and gave the best that he had.

R.I.P.

Thoughts tonight are with Tyler's family

www.caringbridge.org/ga/tylercopley

Decisions, decisions.

So, today I was a busy little bee.

Up early, (well, early for me on a Sunday ... :-P) I moved my computer and desk from the bedroom into the lounge room, then rearranged my couch and tv/tv cabinet (to make room for the computer and desk. Probably should have done that before I moved the desk...). Then I started cleaning out drawers and cupboards and throwing out stuff left, right and centre. I cleaned out the animal cages, vacuumed everything, and disinfected everything in the house.

I also made a decision today.

When I left Safeway, in March of last year, I also deferred uni. Everything was getting to me, and I was failing the units I was doing because I just didn't care. So, I told everyone that I'd go back "someday, when I'm ready".

Today, I pulled out all my uni stuff - textbooks, notes, essays, study guides, readings. I'm thinking that maybe I want to go back. Maybe. At the moment, I just want to do some reading, maybe work my way through the study guides, see how I feel. I'm going to have to save up some money and pay for the units that I want to do -at least to start with. Because I failed the last 6 units or something, I can't put anything on HECS for a while. I figure by the time I save up some money, it'll be the end of this year, and I'll be ready to go back at the start of next year.

Maybe ... :-)

Random Pics ... 2 ...

Random Pics ...

What. The. Hell?

Somebody typed in the following words, and ended up at my blog:

Snappz is a title hugging bitch.


Seriously. What. The. Hell??!!

Talsmuck. Hebersneck. Fasciputz.

It's actually really sad that I can think of nothing to post about. Especially considering my lack of recent posts, which might lead one to think that I have been too busy with lots of exciting stuff to post. In fact, the sad fact is that I'm boring, and I don't have much to post about. Oh, how you want to be me, don't you?!

Today, I literally did nothing all day. I was up at 7, because I had an electrictian coming at 8, and a plumber coming at 9 (to fix my exhaust fan and my bathroom sink), and they both ended up showing up at 9. So I sat on the couch for a while, as they both did their thing. The electritican cleared out by 9:30, and by 10:30 the plumber had worked his magic and disappeared as well. Shortly after plumber man left, I ended up falling asleep on the couch (how freaking slack am I?!) and didn't wake up til 12. I then spent all afternoon watching season 4 of NCIS, which I borrowed from a friend. Man, I had a busy day. I was meant to work at the cafe today, but I called last night and said I was sick. I'm not sick. I just didn't want to go. Does that give you any indication how unhappy I am there?! I just hate it. I don't want to be there any more. I'll have to figure out something else soon ...

Yeah. So, other than my exciting day, I have nothing to post about. Nothin'. Oh, my couch died tonight. I sat on it, and the frame basically buckled underneath me and i ended up on the floor. I'm not that fat, I swear! I think it was two years of having my niece and nephew, random people and family, and demon dog jumping all over it, and it just gave up. Not a big suprise, since I knew it was slowly falling apart, but I'm still not sure how I'm going to afford a new one. It's only one end of it at the moment, so I've been very gently sitting on the other end :-) Hoping that that will be enough to make it last for another month or so, until I can get some money for a new one.

Ugh. I can't believe how little I actually have to say. It's not even like I'm thinking stuff that I don't want to post about. This is it. I've totally become a boring nimrod. A dishkoink. A fubbatum. A complete bumztook. So boring that I have to make up words to describe how boring I am ... How sad is that. Anyway. I haven't finished Season 4 of NCIS and I've got to do some cleaning, so I should probably go ... Laterz, dudes.

You hang in there sunshine, you're friggin special.

Work ... Again.

Because I have no life, and can think of nothing else to post about ...

On our front counter at work, we have a box of chocolates that are $1 each. T is selling them to raise money for his daughters preschool. It's been great, and we've all been pigging out. Big Boss decided he wanted one yesterday ...
BB: RIGHT! Which one of you rotten bastards stole all the peppermint ones?!

So funny!

Work!

So. Work.

I freaking LOVE that place! *lol*

Here's some snippets from the last couple of weeks ...

[T is laughing hysterically]
Me: What are you laughing at? Seriously, what?
T: I just stuck my finger up at that truck driver!
Me: Travis. Seriously! You're like 35!
T [still laughing]: I'm 37, actually!
Me: Oh. My. God!

Me: Ok, so there's 4 columns of figures. That plus that equals time on road, and that plus that equals time off road, yeah?
M: Yep, that's right. And that column there is loading time, and that one is dumping time.
Me: Cool. Oh. Wait ...
M: What? What's wrong?
Me: Man, my feet are freaking cold.
M: ... What?! You wanna tell me where that came from?


Me: There's a dude on the phone. Wants a quote.
M: Dude?? Dude??!
Me: I'm trying to raise my 'cool' factor. Is it workin, homey?
M: Oh my god.
Me: Ok, I'm going to go back to Dorkville now. Call if you need anything.

[Last Wednesday, before I left, M wanted me to show Lynda how to do the VLS sheets I'd been doing all week, so he could transfer them onto new sheets.]
M: ... And you can explain it to Lynda ...
Me: Hell no!
M: Please?
Me: Hell no! I want to leave in 15 minutes, not 4 hours and 15 minutes!
M: Ok, fine. I'll do it.
[This morning, I get to work and M hands me a heap of VLS sheets that need to be done]
Me: I thought Lynda was going to finish these of last week.
M: I gave up trying to explain it to her. Do you have any idea how friggin hard it was? I tried and tried. And tried. And she STILL didn't get it!
Me: Hehehe ... Crap, now I have to do them!
M: Hahahaha.

Me: Yeah, Saturday was not my day. Collingwood lost, my fish died, then I broke up with my boyfriend.
M: That sucks!
Me: Yeah. I don't know what I'm more upset about - the footy or the fish.
T: What about the boyfriend?
Me: Pfft. Good riddance.
M laughing.
T: Well, you know what they say ... There's plenty more fish in the sea. Watch out for sharks, though! [Laughing to himself, like he's said something hilarious and witty.]
Me: [mumbling to myself] So weird ...

Coz I'm wondering, how you really feel ...

Not many real posts lately. Guess I've been in a funk lately. Family stuff.

You see, even though I haven't spoken to my brother in a year and a half, it seems that he hasn't changed. Even a bit. He's still the same manipulative, lying, bastard he was when I last spoke to him.

Guess I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, really, what do I expect? He's allowed to keep getting away with his behaviour. No one wants to upset him, so no one stops him. How fucked is that? I mean, really. Don't want to upset the violent alcoholic in case he gets upset and angry, so we'll just continue to let him drink as much as he likes. Hey, maybe one day we'll get up and the problem will just be gone. That would be helpful. Wow, isn't that just the best plan you've ever heard?

Wow, even pissed off, I can still do the sarcasm. Kudos to me.

I don't know. I just feel like ... Nothing has changed, you know? Meanwhile, my nephew is getting older. Understanding more. Realising that daddy scares him sometimes. Knowing that he has to be good all the time. How is that right? What the hell?

And, what's even more frustrating is that I don't know what else I can do. I've voiced my concerns. My family know exactly where I stand. I've called Department of Human Services (DHS). What more can I do? I have no options. I'm not there. I don't know when he is drunk or when he's not. Otherwise I'd be calling the cops on him. As it is, the cops say that it's a DHS matter, call them and they'll take care of it. Yeah, right. Tried that. More than once. And what happened? Fuck all.

I feel like I'm failing. When I saw Jordyn at Christmas, we were doing this thing. I was sitting on a chair, with my legs stretched out, and Jordyn was on my legs, standing up while I held his arms. He went all the way to the left, and I didn't let him fall. All the way to the right, and still, I didn't let him fall. He knew he was safe. I told him I wouldn't let anything happen to him. I feel like I'm letting him fall. And I can't stop it. I broke my promise that he'd be safe.

I don't know what to do.

PostSecret

New secrets are up @ PostSecret. Check 'em out.

Hope ...

~~ "Hope"~~

If you can look at the sunset and smile,then you still have hope.

If you can find beauty in the colors of a small flower, then you still have hope.

If you can find pleasure in the movement of a butterfly, then you still have hope.

If the smile of a child can still warm your heart, then you still have hope.

If you can see the good in other people, then you still have hope.

If the rain breaking on a roof top can still lull you to sleep, then you still have hope.

If the sight of a rainbow still makes you stop and stare in wonder, then you still have hope.

If the soft fur of a favored pet still feels pleasant under your fingertips, then you still have hope.

If you meet new people with a trace of excitement and optimism, then you still have hope.

If you give people the benefit of a doubt, then you still have hope.

If you still offer your hand in friendship to others that have touched your life, then you still have hope.

If receiving an unexpected card or letter still brings a pleasant surprise, then you still have hope.

If the suffering of others still fills you with pain and frustration, then you still have hope.

If you refuse to let a friendship die, or accept that it must end, then you still have hope.

If you look forward to a time or place of quiet and reflection, then you still have hope.

If you still buy the ornaments, put up the Christmas tree or cook the turkey, then you still have hope.

If you still watch love stories or want the endings to be happy, then you still have hope.

If you can look to the past and smile, then you still have hope.

If, when faced with the bad, when told everything is futile, you can still look up and end the conversation with the phrase...."yeah....BUT.." then you still have hope.

Hope is such a marvelous thing.

It bends, it twists, it sometimes hides, but rarely does it break.

It sustains us when nothing else can.

It gives us reason to continue and courage to move ahead, when we tell ourselves we'd rather give in.

Hope puts a smile on our face when the heart cannot manage.

Hope puts our feet on the path when our eyes cannot see it.

Hope moves us to act when our souls are confused of the direction.

Hope is a wonderful thing, something to be cherished and nurtured, and something that will refresh us in return.

And it can be found in each of us, and it can bring light into the darkest of places.

Never lose hope.

--Author Unknown

...

I deserve to be with somebody who doesn't cross his fingers and hope that he falls in love with me, maybe, someday.

Ragin'!

So, today I'm home from work, sick. Which is a bummer, because I actually like my job. But I feel like crap, so I wouldn't have been much use to anyone. I've got tonsilitis and a chest infection. Woo hoo. Ragin'.

I got no sleep last night. Went to bed at 11, tossed and turned for ages ... At 1 a.m. I got up and made a milky-good milo. At 2 a.m. I got up and started watching the Gilmore Girls. At 4 a.m. I decided to do some work, just bits and pieces that have come home with me over the last week. At 5 a.m. I started putting some new photos up on my walls. I finally crashed on the couch at about 6:30, only to have my alarm go off for work at 7 a.m. So, I rang Mick, and told him that although I knew that he would miss me terribly, he'd have to do without me today. He said he'd try his best not too get too distraught, and that I should take it easy.

I was going to go back to bed after ringing work, but I only had an hour and a half to wait until I could ring the doctor and make an appointment, so I decided it would probably be easier to just stay awake.

I'm so tired now though ... :-) Kind of over-tired, I think. I want to go to sleep, but I can't. I have tried. In bed, on the couch. The sleep thing just aint workin for me.

I don't really have much else to say ... Ugh. So brain dead today :-) I got a medical certificate for today and tomorrow, but I'll probably go to work tomorrow. It's only half a day, and the guys will be missing me, I'm sure :-P *lol* Plus, I'm already bored out of my brain. What would I do with another day at home? I am meant to be going to Kerang tomorrow after work, I guess I could just go in the morning ... But I wanna go to work. *lol*

Anyway, I'm going to take off. Might go watch some more Gilmore Girls and try to sleep on the couch.

You hang in there sunshine, you're friggin special.

Stupid Car. Stupid winter. Stupid Monday.

ARGH.

Sometimes, I hate my car.

It's freezing here in the mornings at the moment. Hello, it's winter so it's to be expected, I guess.

But my car does not like the cold mornings. It's so old it's got a choke, which has to be pulled out for a while before I go anywhere.

I've been parking my car in the backyard, because last week, 3/4 of a tank of petrol went missing from my car when it was parked out the front on the street.

So, out the back I went a few minutes ago to warm up my car.

To get out of my backyard, I have to reverse out of my carport, do a quick turn, then a kind of three point turn to get out, because its so narrow.

I reverse out ... And my car friggin dies. And, because I'm going down, it lurches backwards.

Into a tree.

Hello, smashed tail light.

Terr-freaking-riffic.

The week of Snappz.

Big Week.

Let's see ...

We have a new addition to the House of Snappz. Wednesday I went to visit a friend and returned home with two cockatiels. Her father-in-law had given them to her, and she's not really a cockatiel kind of person. She wants a Ring Neck (no idea what that is, some kind of bird obviously), but was told by her other half that she couldn't get one until she'd found a home for her cockatiels. Enter Snappz. I'm pretty sure they hate me - Jim has bitten me about 5 times already, (hard enough to draw freaking blood each time) and Stella just squawks at me every time I go anywhere near the cage. Maybe they'll settle in, and you know, stop attacking me.

Mother Snappz and Father Snappz left on Wednesday, taking off on their Excellent Adventure. They're driving up to the NT to spend a couple of weeks up there with my dumbass brother and his family. By Wednesday night they'd made it to SA, by Thursday night they'd almost hit the SA/NT border, and by Friday lunchtime they were there (in Alice Springs, NT). They made it up a few days earlier than they'd planned, so now they've got some extra time up there. I spoke to mum briefly on Friday, and she said they were thrilled that they'd finally made it. I'm heading home this Wednesday arvo after work, to check on the house, collect the mail, and hang out with the dog. One of dad's friends is feeding Sherlock while they're gone, but Mother Snappz wants me to go check on the plants, etc. I'll probably head back to Bendigo on Thursday morning.

Sister Snappz called the other night, to tell me that she's engaged. (This is turning into quite the family update, huh?) She was thrilled, and I knew something was up as soon as I answered the phone. I figured she was going to tell me that a new niece or nephew was on the way. But no, on Wednesday she proposed (yes, she proposed) to her boyfriend. Wedding planning has already started, even though they have decided not to get married until July 2010. Yup, two years away. I'm going to be a bridesmaid, my nieces will be flowergirls, and my nephew will be pageboy. She's planning on either a blue or burgundy dress for me, which sounds nice. She also said that two years will give me plenty of time to lose weight ... Think that was a hint, or something?!

On Friday, I got to hang out with my gorgeous little godson for the day, which was heaps of fun. He turned two yesterday, so his mum was doing last minute birthday party stuff all day Friday. We had a good day, like any two year old he loves the word "No", which cracked me up over and over. He's got a Bob toy that he's very attached to, so wherever we went, Bob had to come too. We went and did some shopping together, and I got him a pair of ridiculous oversized sunglasses with fake nose attached. Well, he fell in love. And wouldn't take them off. Picture a two year old, walking down the main street in Bendigo, wearing a massive pair of fake sunnies, with Bob clutched in his hand. It was so friggin funny. I did get some photos on my mobile phone, and I'll totally be showing them at his 21st!

Yesterday I worked at the cafe. I love, love, love my other job - the office one - and I'm starting to think the universe is trying to balance me out, with one awesome job and one totally shitty job. I'm still looking for something else, but I only have certain days that I'm available, which most people see as a problem. My boss is on holidays at the moment, which is great for her, but before she went on holidays she should have organised everything and prepared properly. Seriously, if she'd done her organising properly, she would have realised that there was a big event on in Bendigo yesterday, literally right across the road from the cafe. As in, on the other side of the freaking street there was literally hundreds of people, all of whom decided to come visit us at lunchtime. Which was great for business, but there was only me and another girl on. We needed at least another two or three people on to handle all the work. We had people waiting 40+ minutes for their food and drinks! And, even better, there was no one else we could call in. The other two people who work there were both working last night. They couldn't come in early, because it would be too many hours in one shift for them. I was really pissed off. Seriously, this wasn't an event that just popped up out of nowhere. It had been planned, and my boss should have known about it. She should have organised more staff before she went away on her little holiday.

I was actually meant to be on call for work today, but I turned my phone off. I was so pissed off with the whole place. I'm not sure if they tried to call - couldn't really care if they did. I don't get paid enough, and I don't like my job enough, to deal with that kind of shit.

Last night, I went to my godson's 2nd birthday/his parents housewarming party. I only stayed for a few hours, because I was pretty much exhausted from work. I was hoping to go with a friend, so she could drive and I could have a few drinks, but she piked on me, so I went out to Raywood alone. It was a fun night, cold outside, but they had a bonfire and lots of hot food to eat :-) Can't beat that.

Today, I've spent the day cleaning. My house was getting pretty messy, as it usually does towards the end of the week. Usually I clean on Thursdays, but I was out all day Thursday, had the kiddo on Friday, and worked on Saturday. So, it didn't get done until today. It's nice and spotless now though, and I've just started cooking dinner to mess up the kitchen again. The only thing I haven't done is clean my bedroom, because I'm now out of energy. And to be honest, I prefer my room a little messy. Too clean creeps me out. I do have about 4 new tops that I got on Friday that I need to hang up though. Gotta love bargain season! I think the most I spent on a new top on Friday was $12! Yup. Seriously. But I'm really broke at the moment, so it's about all I can afford. I was getting sick of wearing the same tops to the office over and over though, so figured I should add a couple of new ones in. I also got a new bra, which is seriously the most comfortable bra I've ever owned. I love it. I may have to marry it and have children with it. Little bra children. Hahaha. Man, I'm tired.

Anyway, I better take off. Catchya later, dudes ...

You hang in there sunshine, you're friggin special.

:-) Totally random.

‘I’m smiling, that alone should scare you.’


... hahaha.

From work ...

Me: Why do you hate me, you piece of crap? Why don't you just go jump in a freaking lake.
Mick: Are you talking to your ... computer?
Me: Well. Yes. I didn't realise you were there ...

Oops ... !

So, so tired.

What do you do when you're sleeping next to someone who, I kid you not, is snoring like a demented freight train? Seriously, it was so loud I'm amazed he didn't wake himself up. And it didn't matter what position he was in - on his back, side, stomach, other side, half on his back/half on his side -, he still continued to snore loud enough to wake the freaking dead. Around 3 a.m. I gave up and went and crashed on the couch for a while, because my head was pounding and I so desperately needed some sleep. I got a couple of hours before heading back to bed. I'm still not quite sure why exactly I went back to bed, because the snoring hadn't stopped. Insanity, I guess, brought on by lack of sleep maybe?!

But, it wasn't all bad, because I got some work done, I read yesterdays paper from cover to cover, watched some tennis, snacked on some strawberries, and had the ____ (brilliant/stellar/genius/fantastic - pick word of your choice and insert here) idea for this post.

I have always been one of those people who can talk about, and laugh about, sex. It's natural, and it's a part of life. And sometimes things don't go to plan. It can be embarrassing as hell, or you can laugh about it and move on. I'm the laugh about it kind of girl.

For example, recently I was with someone who's mobile phone started ringing at pretty much the same time that we were getting right into it. Things were hot and happenin ... And the phone starts ringing. For some reason, I found it hilarious, and couldn't stop giggling. He declined to answer the call, and mumbled something about "Ignore it" ... Little hard to do with the ring tone that was on the phone.

There was also the time when I was with an ex, and the whole time we were having sex, Ashton Kutcher was in the loungeroom on the Punk'd dvd yelling "Hellllloooo? PICK SOMETHING!!!" and "We're in the DICTIONARY!!!" I'd been watching Season 1 (2?) of Punk'd before he arrived, and the dvd finished. Because I hadn't turned it off, and I wasn't selecting anything on the dvd menu, ever minute or so, Ashton would pop up and say one of those two things. It was friggin hilarious.

(A few weeks after that, I had a friend and her boyfriend staying at my house. Shortly after they went to bed, I sent my friend (who knew the story) a text message as a joke, saying "Helllllloooo? PICK SOMETHING!!!" She asked me the next day, "How did you know? We were being so quiet! You did it right when things got hot!" I had to admit that I didn't actually know, I was just being a dickhead :-))

Or the time when I was with someone, and for some reason I kept calling him Greg. His name was not actually Greg. Nor do I actually know anyone named Greg. I've never had a crush on someone named Greg, or dated anyone named Greg. I still, for the life of me, cannot figure out where Greg came from. That relationship didn't last for long, he was convinced that I was cheating on Greg or that I was secretly in love with Greg. The fact that there was no Greg ... Well, that didn't seem to matter.

Anyway. That's enough embarrassing stories from me ... If I had any class, I'd probably blush, but instead I'm just going to say ... "Stuff it. LAUGH about it!" Peace out, homeys.

You hang in there sunshine, you're friggin special.

Abbey and Ian.

05/07/2002

6 years ago today.

Still thinking of you guys.

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate!

I know. I've been so totally slack this week.

In my defence ... Well, I have no defence, actually. I haven't been crazy-busy or depressed about anything ... Just haven't been on the computer much. Just been flat out lazy :-) Yay, go me!

I worked Monday/Tuesday/half of Wednesday at the office like usual. Have I mentioned how much I love that place?! Yesterday was actually the first time I've had a crappy day there, and it was because I had some guy on the phone who was on a crappy mobile line so I couldn't understand most of what he was saying. He called me fucking stupid, which is always nice to hear. Meg, our accounts chick, was in my office when I answered the call, and when I hung up I turned to her and went "Wow. He was a lovely guy". Mick, who I share the front office with, wasn't in when the call came, so Meg hung around til he got back, because she knew he was going to be pissed off. And he was. Whoever that guy was (and I have a pretty good idea - Mick agrees with me), he's going to get an earful when Mick catches up with him, because he was not impressed that I'd been spoken to like that. It wasn't so much the language that bothered me, because hello, I swear like a sailor on leave at times, it was the way he said it - he was so angry, and he meant it. Why? Because I couldn't hear him properly because of his crappy line. Not my fault, buddy. Anyway, by the time I left I was laughing about it, and told Mick that when he was speaking to the guy to ask him out for me, he's definitely someone I'd want to take home to mum and dad. That got a laugh from Mick :-)

Hmm ... What else ... There hasn't been much else happening here. I didn't go to bed til 3 this morning, and I had to be up at 8 because I had an electrictian coming to look at my stove. I got up that early, and he WASN'T EVEN HOT. Seriously. So disappointed, is all I'm saying. He actually rang at 7:45 to ask what time we'd made the appointment for. I was very impressed with his professionalism. *lol* But, my stove is now working, and I'm getting new drip trays since the old ones are rusted through, so all is good.

Ended up going back to bed about 9 this morning after the electrictian left :-) Ahh, lazy huh? Slept til almost 2. I haven't been sleeping well this week, and I figured that I've got nothing on today, so why the hell not. Thinking now about having a bath then going for a walk somewhere. Have to clean my house this afternoon or tomorrow, as Pete's coming this weekend. It's not that dirty, but I usually clean it at the end of the week anyway.

Hmm ... What else ... Well, there isn't much more to say :-) I've been pretty boring this week. Oh, Origin Three was on last night, and QLD won, and took out the series, 2 - 1 ... :-( They've won the last three series now ... That's ok. Next year will be Year Of The Blue. It was a damn good game last night though, it was close and it could have gone either way. There were a couple of times with only 5 or so minutes left in the second 40 that I thought NSW might score to equal, but I guess it wasn't to be. Oh well.

Anyway. It's actually 3:55 p.m. ... I went and had a shower half way through writing this ... I should probably go and do something now that I've wasted half of the day. Peace out, dudes.

You hang in there sunshine, you're friggin special.