Made in Melbourne

Bucket List

2011-10-26T10:28:00.002+11:00

I woke up this morning feeling a little uninspired for life. I had icky dreams, which always make me feel blah, but aside from that and the fact my dream job hasn't arrived this week (and feeling incredibly guilty having 2 weeks off whilst waiting for said job) I just feel a bit... lost. I don't know what to do with myself. There's a hundred things I should be doing, but I just can't settle. And so I started doing what I'm so good at: daydreaming. About all the things I wish I were doing instead of moping, and all the wonderful things I have done over the past few years, and I thought - Aha! Bucket list! What better timing to write it out and see what I can accomplish before my certain death on my birthday weekend when I attempt completing the Tough Mudder. If you're wondering what I mean - here's a little sneak preview of what I have in store.

Yes. That's correct. Barbed wire, electric shocks, fire pits and 20km of hell in between. All because I couldn't keep my big mouth shut when some douchebag said girls can't do it. Hah!

Any way, here goes...

My Bucket List

* Go to New York. (There's actually an entire bucket list within this single item, such as ice skate in Central Park, get married at the Boat House, TGI's in Times Square, eat real New York Pizza...all the important things)

* ~~Swim with sea turtles and dolphins~~ been there, done that. I do, however, have to see a live dugong or manatee, and it would be AMAZING to swim with one.

* Compete in an event on Mr Darcy and win a ribbon. My all time biggest goal.

* ~~Gallop through the surf with the wind in my hair and the salt spray in my face with my best friend on my own horse~~ Check. Also, doing this in Fiji & Vanuatu were fairly amazing.

* See Robbie Williams/Thirsty Merc in concert. Or heck, the way I'm going, see ANY concert.

* ~~Bungee Jump~~ Well, I cliff dived. And that was bloody scary enough to never want to do again. Falling 54 metres into a gully in Africa was quite sufficient to say "I've done it".

* Go to the Kentucky Derby and Royal Ascot races. I think leading in my own race horse at any race in Australia would work, too.

* Get married. And have one of those over the water hut houses on the honeymoon in Bora Bora/Tahiti/Maldives etc. And inside this one, is the pathetically girly and sad comment "be everything to someone" and be treated like a princess. Actually, I think I'd basically settle for not dying alone with 19 cats and have to be lifted from my house because my addiction to Coco-Pops got the better of me.

* Experience another white Christmas in England. Or America. Or Canada. Or all three.

* Play ice hockey in Toronto - and visit all the places in the world I dream about - skiing in Queenstown, shopping in Paris, see France and Spain, and then all my ridng dreams - Trek through Peru and Nepal and Mongolia, gallop an Arab up sand dunes in Dubai, ride through the Aussie High Country and of course, go back to the place I am happiest in the world and ride through Africa again. I'd quite like to ride through the Rockies, too.

* Compete a rally course without wrapping myself around a tree.

* Finish this Tough Mudder in March and prove that girls can do ANYTHING.

* Have my own property with land for my horses, the white German Shepherd I will one day own, and room to be self sufficient enough to live off the land.

* Abseil a real, live cliff thing instead of just climb walls in a warehouse.

* Fit into my clothes again.

* To be continued....

What's on YOUR bucket list?

Censorship.

2011-10-26T10:19:00.002+11:00

So, this blogging regularly thing? Fail. Still, i've got my excuses; number one being these fakes nails + my laptop keyboard = bad combination. Half of my Facebook posts are sent prematurely because nasty mister right ring finger nail hits enter when it slips off the L button, and most of my texts are missing vowels as it's so hard to type. The price for beauty!

Secondly, and the sole reason I stopped blogging altogether: there's already people reading this that I don't reeeeally want to have reading it. There goes my vents, my honest and raw posts about things that actually matter to me when I need some way to get things off my chest, and also some of those happy posts about things and people I don't need others to be getting upset about. So, what to do? I guess I'll either censor these posts, and hope one day I'll come to my senses and not actually give a rats arse what certain somebodies think, or I'll give up entirely. Again. Not something I want to be doing... so, to that censorship! Instead of banging on about what a crappy, shitty, horribly horrible weekend I have endured, I shall move on to joyful, uplifting things... like... er. You know. Stuff. And things.

Sigh...Moving on.

You know what...?

2011-10-13T13:15:00.003+11:00

Bugger it. That last post, well, it was meant to be on my other blog. I.e, the one I use now, not this old one I haven't been using because I feel like all the old bits of myself I don't like linger in the background - and in a few posts, literally right there on the page for all to see. However... and this has taken some serious consideration, I'm back to my previous statement. Bugger it. I don't even like my other blog, it never felt...well, like home. This is my blogging heart, and if the people who used to read this still do, I guess I'm OK with ~~them being creepy stalkers who won't accept me on Facebook, but still want to know about my life via blog~~ er...that.

The only problem is, I can see myself spending the entire afternoon making changes to this so it's up to old standards. I guess the pool can wait a little longer...

Bloggy blog...

2011-10-13T12:31:00.007+11:00

...how I've missed you! Lazing in my bed in the midday sun, scrolling through blogs and sites I haven't even squinted at for what, 6? months, made me realize how deeply I wanted to be back blogging. So here goes! I've quit my job, am still waiting for interviews next week as I'm hideously contagious with the lurgy (or at least a vile head cold) and have nothing on the cards or to do list that's any more strenuous than cleaning the bathroom sink for the next few days....so what better chance to catch up with the blogosphere? Except, of course, that I'm trying to book last minute accommodation for myself and the dogs this weekend to have some alone time with some kangaroos, koalas and a bottle of wine in a spa overlooking the beach somewhere... and that somewhere that wont include WIFI access. All the more reason to catch up today, then.

One of the most magical moments in my life - just me, an underwater camera and a wild sea turtle who was as curious of me as I was of him.

What's news? Well, aside from working, there's been a trip to Queensland, where I spent the days lounging by the pool, then the beach, then back to the pool...until I discovered a 1m acre ranch where I ended up spending my days riding on Australian Stock Horses rounding up cattle and mustering, and riding through the Daintree Rain Forest and along the beaches, ending with a job offer to work in the outback stations any time I want it in Far North QLD...I also ticked off swimming with sea turltles as I snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, number 2 on my Bucket List.

Looky who I met in NZ!

I had a quick holiday in New Zealand, meeting Cam's extended family and enjoying the atmosphere of the Rugby World Cup. I really liked Auckland, it felt very British and the shoe shopping was ridiculously cheap! I also admired a lot of sheep.

The beautiful black sand of Piha beach.

... I survived!

Last weekend I ran my first race in the Melbourne Marathon...ok, it was only the 5km, but I did it in a time I was happy with and didn't actually expire during the run, something I was worried about. I'm setting my sights on a longer and harder race in March...I can honestly say I've got a bit of a running bug now; being ill the past few days and only having one PT session this week makes me feel like poo.

Darcy and I - loving life!

I also purchased a new car, and a horse float, and have spent some of the best days of my life galloping Darcy and Ista along the beach, with the sunshine beating down, my best friend at my side and sand and sea spray flying everywhere... absolutely the most incredible feeling in the world! Another bucket list tick off, galloping a Melbourne Cup runner through the waves on a completely desserted, never ending stretch of sand. The incident with the boggy, black quick sand and white breeches was rather unfortunate, but once Ista was dragged out and washed off, it was more amusing than terrifying.

Now, I'm sure I've done more than this! However, the sun is shining, the pool is sparkling and I'm under doctors orders to rest up, so I'd best take a book and a towel outside and make sure I don't over-exert myself cleaning that sink.... until next time, which I promise will be sooner than later, I hope you're all well and enjoying life! I know I am :D

Anyone for Time Travel?

2010-04-06T11:41:00.004+10:00

I've just finished The Time Traveler's Wife. I picked it up along with a couple of others for my recovery from surgery, and as soon as I smashed down the Jodi Picoult, I moved onto to Dear John, by Nicholas Sparks. In my current state of feeling like a piece of my own heart is missing somewhere overseas right now, I simply could not read it. I'll be saving it for a few months, I think. So I moved on to The TTW - and didn't really get into it for a while. I persevered (so many rave reveiews both from people I know AND Cosmo - it had to be good, right?!) - and ended up so attached to it, I even took it to my post-op follow up appointment and sat, sobbing quietly as I neared the end of the book, out in the waiting room for all to see. I had to go for a quick cappuchino and a large quanitity of red licorice to snap myself out of it.

I've been informed the movie is a bad job of a great book, and it doesn't really surprise me. I have absolutely no clue how that could be turned into a motion picture, but still, I think I might have a look-see at the DVD when I'm next at Civic Video stocking up on Milko lollies. (Why, why, WHY are they the only store that seems to still have them? I LOVE Milko's. Love them. I often make Cam rent a video just so I can buy one, or 8). ALthough the thought of Eric Banna in the nuddy doesn't do a whole lot of good for my central nervous system. I sincerely hope he managed to get a decent wax before filming began.

Has anyone else read it? Loved it? Loathed it? And more importantly...what am I going to read next?

Siiiiiiiiiiiigh.

2010-03-25T11:14:00.002+11:00

I'm a bit down in the dumps today. It's the first day since surgery I haven't been completely thrilled with life, which I guess means a) I should be grateful for miracle worker hospital staff and b) realize that I'm tired, sore, and not able to do the things I would normally be doing on such a gorgeous, gorgeous day. It's one of those days that seem like early Spring, with the first promise of Summer on it's way, rather than a mid-Autumn morning. If I had a day off like today and wasn't stuck in bed moping, I'd throw the dogs in the car and head straight to the beach (what am I saying? I live 200 metres from the ocean...jeez, I'm lazy!) and then purchase some beautiful sea-blue paint from Bunnings and get started on the Pool Room to give Cam a surprise when he arrives home from Sydney tonight. Then I think a nice swim in the pool, or a long solitary dusk ride on the horses, and s few beers at the pub enjoying the sun as it sets.

Alas. Still, I got my stitches out last night, and I'm feeling a heap better soreness wise today, so it shant be long til I am back to my usual self, I suppose. I think, perhaps, I am a little down because it's my birthday on Monday, and I always get a bit funny about this time of year. I'm over-the-mood excited about swimming with the dolphins on Sunday, and my mum and nan coming up on Monday to spoilt me rotten (cupcakes were even mentioned...) but I guess the thought of having spent the past while in nothing but big baggy sweaters with unbrushed hair and no make up made me want to get all dolled up and feel pretty, just a little. We still haven't celebrated Cam's super-duper deal yet, either, and I was hoping I could do a little bit of the 'emerge from the chrysalis' thing one night. Oh well...

Just randomly... I attempted watching Margot at the Wedding the other night. I just....no. Absolutely, not. Weird.
I was also half watching The Wizard of Oz (Cam rented me a heap of 'classics' I had never seen, like Grease and The Sound of Music) when I came out of my anesthetic, and boy, did I love Glinda the Good Witch's dress! I should like to get married in it.

Anyway, enough moaning. Time to procure coffee and sit on the balcony and soak up some sun! (carefully avoiding getting more skin cancer, not looking forward to that op next Thursday...)

Altibo & I

2010-03-01T12:05:00.003+11:00

You might want to listen to this with the sound OFF.

Oh, and Cameron's referral to 'Head Bonk' is about Altibo's trot - he does this jumpy-butt flicky, head shaky thing when he goes into a trot (which you can't see here), if that's any kind of explanation.

Any way.

SILENCE IT.

Perfection.

2010-02-25T15:30:00.003+11:00

This is just The. Cutest. Wedding. Ever.

If I ever get married (*cosmically feels Cam start twitching and suddenly feeling the urge to run far, far away*), I want to super-impose my head on the bride from those photos.

...and maybe re-color the horse a solid brown so I can pretend he's Altibo. Which was technically, never work, as my groom wouldn't get a chance to be sat, bareback, without being flung unceremoniously into the dirt with a ruthless buck.

Bad Habit

2010-02-25T15:20:00.004+11:00

So, I'm sitting here, all lonesome, putting off my Euthanasia homework* and trying my best to not purchase another hideously unflattering dress from eBay, and slurping down an enormous bucket of Subway Coca-Cola. I love Subway Coke buckets. They are my current vice - my one little bit of naughtiness in my Good Eating Mission. Because of that, I enjoy every last drop...but I didn't have that luxury with my bucket last week.

See? He actually tries to inhale it. I think he likes the bubbles. Either way, I'm beginning to suspect he has a coke habit.

*Even less fun than it sounds.

Camping

2010-02-24T17:33:00.007+11:00

Last weekend, Cam and I chucked a few* things in the car and headed off for a weekend getaway with the kids. We camped at one of the few dog friendly areas in Victoria, and aside from the gale force winds, inflatable mattress deflating every 15 minutes throughout the night (until my dearly beloved discovered he hadn't tightened the valve properly at around 5am...) so we slept on the rather hard ground, and me worrying about Phoenix's bladder**, we had a pretty good time. I wont bring into the near war that occurred when Cameron and I both had our ideas about how a tent should be erected - things were said, punches were thrown*** - but we got there in the end.
The dogs were scarily well behaved. Not only did they get to spend every waking moment by our side; they also got to frolic and run in and out of the surf (or, in Phoenix's case, get completely smashed by wave after wave after wave...), but they also got various bits of sausage, bacon and hash browns from our breakfast feast.
On the way home, we went a little out of our way to visit the ~~7 and a half~~ 12 Apostles. As pretty as they were, there's only so much excitement one can glean from staring at rock formations, so I was soon in a world of my own imaging galloping Darcy up and down that gorgeous stretch of sand...
See? Off in fairy land.
*How we managed to shove not only the 2 dogs - who, as you can see, aren't exactly lap-size- but the 8 man tent, queen sized inflatable mattress, Esky and various bags of food, a gas cooker, lantern, bellows, large cardboard box full of saucepans (and 4 bottles of bug spray - I came prepared!) plus our king sized doona, two pillows, a slab of Johnnie Walker and Cameron and myself into my car is beyond me. Beyond me.

** The dog wont wee on lead. Let alone do anything else. After boiling up 3 litres of water for them, and all the sea he swallowed as he crashed through the waves, I was so worried the poor childs bladder would burst I got up at what seemed like every hour, on the hour, to take him out for a potty break. To absolutely no avail.

*** I kid, I kid.

Gorgeous giveaway!

2010-02-09T12:02:00.001+11:00

We all know I like anything to do with puppies - and when I saw this gorgeous giveaway of sweet puppy inspired notecards from Lydia & Pugs, I decided to do everything in my power to win!

Head on over to the Lydia & Pugs website, and check our her gorgeous array of goodies. While you're busy making new tabs - check out Short Southern Momma's beautiful blog, too!

Stuff.

2010-02-09T09:05:00.021+11:00

It has been forever since I have blogged. Recently, this has been due to not only my hunk of crap computer and/or gaylord internet service being broken (and not exactly fixed now, I am, in fact, laying face down on the floor and propping myself up to type as my monitor has to be on the ground for my modem to reach...oh, to have my wireless working...) but also due to the fact I am very much enjoying being a student...yep, I got into vet school (ok, 'Animal Technology', but it'll be a vet qualification I gain at the end if I work hard enough...). Not so much enjoying, but loving. Being around like minded people who actually understand what I mean when I speak of skin pinches, anterial cruciate ligaments, the diet choices of rats... it's almost like I belong. I'm so used to the blank stares, eye rolling and complete cut-off that comes with talking about my passion, it's nice to speak with people, literally all day, about the things that excite me and to have an animated, two-sided conversation in return.

As well as that, I'm spending as much time as I can with the horses and riding at dusk with Cam, as well as swimming the dogs at the beach at sunset most nights, which, after the 35+ degree days is a gorgeous way to end the day. I'm also busy being completely addicted to How To Look Good Naked - I love me a gay man, and Gok just knocks my socks off. It's also pretty gratifying to realize I'm not as hideously and grotesquely fat and bulgy as I've been feeling lately, and as well as eating nothing but good stuff for the past few weeks and the extra exercise riding, swimming and climbing of horrendously steep stairs by the Slave Driver, I'm feeling a whole lot better about myself and my 6 stomachs. Cam and I have also been having a hit of tennis, which aside from making me produce some shocking obscenities (tennis is one of the 3 things in my life I want more than anything to be good at, and hate that I'm not as amazingly talented as I dream myself to be) makes me laugh - and run, something I usually despise. I'm looking forward to our membership at the country club - the courts are elevated to look out over the bay to the city, and the club rooms have a deck to watch the sunset over the ocean, as well as our own beach box on the sand for BBQs and parties.

View of the Petronas Towers from our room in KL

I don't even think I've blogged since Borneo...which was incredible. We had our first day in Kuala Lumpur, shopping and sight seeing and getting our feet eaten by fishes at the massage place we went to, and enjoying a 6 strong police escort to dinner through the hills of Malaysia.

Looking out our room in Borneo ... paradise, no?

We were treated like royalty for a week - 5 star hotels, amazing food, free drinks, private islands and all day massages, and having flower petals thrown as we walked when we entered restaurants and hotels. Absolutely amazing. The view from our resort in Kota Kinabalu...just incredible.

Feeding frenzy fishes! Soooo ticklish...

There were so many fantastic days and moments - the day we had our own private island, where I took on 4 other guys and Cam at water sports and held my own through complete and utter horror on the banana boat and fly fish - a huge inflatable raft attached to a speed boat that flies 3+ meters in the air behind it, weaving and flipping as it flies...one of the most incredibly fun yet terrifyingly scary things I've done.

Our private island

The Gala Dinner that evening was just mind blowing - the ballroom had been done up in a "jungle green" theme to match our "jungle green" attire (remember me wondering what to wear?) and was decked out in wall to wall trees and vines, with the floor covered in leaves.. our own little piece of the jungle for the night. Every got merry on the all you could drink alcohol, and we danced the night away to the live band, and carried on at the hotel nightclub after - no one told me the guy I was grinding on was the MD of the company, we were all just having a blast!

- Gala Dinner photos -
Our little room of jungle! Even the waitresses were safari-inspired.

We got a bit messy after the jugs of Long Island Iced Tea came out...

I was absolutely besotted with our 'palate cleanser' - mango gelato served in our own individual ice caves.

Unfortunately, due to my 'lady problems' I had a fit on the morning we were flying out to the jungle for the orangutan sanctuary, and missed the flight. I felt absolutely awful for wrecking Cam's day, so I asked around at the hotel and found a local wildlife park, where we got to spend time with the keepers, feed the sun bears and tigers and see otters and gibbons, and even get up close and cuddle up to a baby orangutan, Mowgli...turned out the people who flew to the orangutans only saw 2 or 3 in the bushes, while we got to play with our very own one - turns out we had the better day!

Mowgli and I :)

We had an amazing trip, I coped relatively well with the flights (after 2 Valium and a lot of scotch on the way over...) and came back with some great memories, and even better photos! Here's some randoms... and next years rewards trip from Cam's work is Africa...!

The Gibbons...super cute, and very entertaining!
Early morning relax by the beach...
Cam & Mowgli

One of the 5 pools (which was just as warm as a bath!)
The storm settling in on our final night
Us on the balcony on our last morning in Borneo!

NYE & Brog

2010-01-04T20:47:00.004+11:00

While Cam's taking the kids out for their walkies - I've been banished to the couch due to my horrendous couch and not allowed out so I can heal myself nicely in time for Thursday - I thought I'd do a little brogging - a bragging blog. We received the final itinerary and information pack along with our tickets today, and finally, I am excited. It hasn't seemed real until now, but looking through the individually made booklet we received about where/when/how/why etc, it finally kicked in. We fly out Thursday for two nights in the Westin in Kuala Lumpur, then off to Borneo where all sorts of exciting things happen. As I was reading the information, I was amazed to read about the jet we're taking to the orangutan rehabilitation centre where we get to feed and play with the baby orangutans, the private island we have to ourselves for a day of jet skiing, snorkelling, all-day massages or anything else that tickles our fancy, the white water rafting trip and the gala dinners... it sounds incredible! All I have to do now is get over this yukky cold - the result of a New Years Eve that went from 38c to freezing cold and an absolute downpour whilst we were on the deck of the boat...my hair and make up were impeccable until about 4 minutes in, when my false eyelashes blew off in a strong gust of wind and my hair was soaked to my scalp with the rain. Sexy look! Here's a preview:

Hope you all had a great time!

...I am very, very Buff....

2009-12-30T12:36:00.003+11:00

There is nothing I don't have crossed in hope and will that this item arrives, from America, before I fly out on the 6th to Borneo.

Nothing.

(It's a buff from the Survivor: Pearl Islands series, my personal favorite with Rupert and Johnny Fairplay.. gold. Absolute gold.)

Now..if only Jeff Probst would deliver it by hand. Drool.

Sydney

2009-12-14T12:44:00.003+11:00

After making it through the weekend of Cam's family Christmas alive and mostly intact (and having been compensated handsomely for my house-wifely duties with a Louis Vuitton scarf, Chanel purse and a large plant) I have absolutely nothing in the way stopping me from being all out, gosh darn, truly completely and overly excited about the next two weeks. Oh, except the whole being away from Cam for the week of Christmas thing. Still, we have so many things to look forward to before he flies out, and as excruciatingly painful as it was the last time we were apart for so long, I know we'll both be having a great time with our families as well.

The first thing on my Yay! list?

I'm flying to Sydney on Thursday to stay in the gorrrrgeous hotel Cam has for his work trip. He'll be working most of the time, which is why it's so handy my best girl Sarah is coming with me! I've never been to Sydney - the hotel is actually UNDER the Harbour Bridge (see pic!) There will be much exploration, shopping, wining and dining, and general tourist-y activities, as well as a dinner with another of my all time favorite people, Cam's work mate Bolge. I've already started packing - one can't have enough pairs of shoes for a single night trip, right?

Next comes Saturday. Cam and I wanted to do something a bit special for a number of reasons; a delayed anniversary, our last weekend together, an early Christmas treat for Sarah and I as we'll be apart for Christmas, too, and a generally magic night out. I've wanted to go to the Moonlight Cinema for a long time, and Cam found a screening of something I'm apparently going to love (I'm being a good girl and not googling what it is!) and as well as our plans to enjoy dinner on the Restaurant Tram - something else I've always wanted to do - we're going to take a picnic hamper along with our blanket to watch the movie, and maybe have a little champage and some nibblies under the moonlight.

The next day, I have a few plans of my own up my sleeve, and the only chance we'll have to attend any Christmas carols together happens to take place at one of our all time favorite places, The Bridge. We spent many nights there together last Summer, watching the sun set over the ocean and eating ourselves silly, so I'm very excited the carols will be sung out the front! I LOVE Christmas carols (as evidenced by the 5 Christmas CD mixes I currently have in my car, plus three more inside...) and I thought it would be nice to drag Cam along with me.

After that, I plan on heading down to my Mums for the week of Christmas, complete with my tent, dogs, cats and presents. I'm going to camp again this year, as it affords me a little more privacy than in the house, and it feels a bit like a mini-holiday of my own out all alone in the backyard with just the dogs and a torch for company. Cam will fly out Christmas Eve morning, so we'll be having another mini-Christmas on Christmas Eve Eve. After that, it'll be days and days of spending time chilling with my Mum, Nan and brother, walking the dogs along the beach and ripping open all my extremely-funny shaped presents (I've already been squeezing them and reading the cryptic clues...and I've got no idea what I'm getting, except for the giant case for my trip to Borneo!). It's going to be fantastic :)

(and further forward on the Yay! list - after a New Years Eve with my 4 favorite people, cruising along the river watching fireworks and drinking champers, Cam and I have a week together relaxing before we fly off to Kuala Lumpur and the jungle of Borneo! Yay!)

It just occured to me...

2009-12-09T13:47:00.006+11:00

... that people might not actually be taking me seriously when they read this. I thought I would take this opportunity to show you just how gosh-darn serious I am with photographic evidence from my trip to Vanuatu (even if I was denied a visit to the Survivor Museum...)

Every time we walked along this footbridge joining the two sections of the resort at nightfall, they lit the pretty fire-torch things.

... and naturally I couldn't help myself from muttering to myself "Once the vote is read, the decision is final; the person voted out will be asked to leave Tribal Council immediately..."

See this nice singlet I am wearing? Can you read what it says down the side? No?

Here, let me help you.

I think you get the picture now, folks.

Jungle Green Theme

2009-12-09T13:31:00.005+11:00

As I made my way towards the computer to post a blog about my deep-seated and unnatural love for all things Survivor (the new Samoa series is on! Could my mother and I be more excited? I think not!) I noticed I had a new email from my lover boy, with the intriguing title "What to Wear". Naturally, I clicked on it in an excited manner and realized it wasn't for a snazzy date night later in the week, but in fact, guidelines from his company on what sort of smart casual attire one will be expected to wear when we fly off to Borneo in January. Obviously, I had no intention of pouring my bikini'd body into anything other than the occasional sarong (or an all over coating of Aloe Vera soothing gel...) but then a little something caught my eye on the evening of the 10th...JUNGLE GREEN THEME! *does her happy dance*

Honestly, if I weren't so addicted to shopping and had visions of finding a perfectly delightful floaty dress in shades of green, I'd whip out this oldy but goody and go the whole hog.

I wonder if face paint will be acceptable?

(Note: I very nearly posted that whole photo. Very nearly. Then I realized I was all of 16 years old, and strongly resembled a chubby, pre-pubescent boy with hideous bowl haircut and crazy 4 chins. So, for your viewing pleasure, the edited version).

Edited: It just occurred to me... we're off to Africa next January - THINK of all the potential I'll have for re-creating all manner of Survivor: Africa moments!

Ahh... and Cam thought when we left Vanuatu unscathed by the Survivor: Vanuatu Museum it would all be over... *cackles evilly*

One year on...

2009-12-07T12:43:00.004+11:00

...and I never thought I'd be where I am now.

Today marks not only the birthday of my best girl, Sarah, but also a year since the day of strange events that led to me meeting the man of my dreams, Cameron.

A year ago I posted a blog, but didn't know how, when or whether I should say anything regarding the events of the evening before, and I don't think the story of our meet has ever been shared online. It's been bought up many a drunken night, or during the inevitable 'And how did you two meet...?' conversation when meeting new friends/family, which is followed by a lot of "awwwws" from the ladies and guffaws from the men. There's also always a reference to fate or the subconscious...but enough of that, and more on the event itself.

After consuming vast amounts of near-lethal Long Island Iced Tea at TGI Friday's, I made my way into the city with the vague notion of heading to a club a barman had suggested. Several kilometers later in my (aptly named) killer heels, I was rapidly losing interest and quickly gaining severe blisters. Not one to whip my shoes off and barefoot it through the grime and ~~possible STDS~~ broken glass of the city streets, I decided it was time to take myself home. As I waited for the traffic lights to change on the corner (in a non-hookerish way) so I could lurch off in the opposite direction, a certain someone stumbled their way from the McDonalds on said corner and came straight up to me, gesturing for me to accept the French fry he had on offer. I politely decline, sidestepping him and assuming he was mentally unhinged, a serial killer, or worse, one of those leechy drunken guys who think ones assets are their own to fondle and grope. As the little green man popped up and I was safe to cross the street, I made my way back towards the car my friends had driven me in to the city in, and noted I had a follower. A French fry wielding follower. Before long, he was chatting away merrily, and not having the confrontation skills to tell him to eff off, I was soon conversing back with him about the merits of the African soccer clubs and all manner of bizarre topics. As we chatted, I realized how cute he was, and how actually nice he was - even in our inebriated state we were able to giggle and laugh and for being a complete stranger, I felt strangely safe with him. As we walked and walked, we talked and talked, and once we reached the car, it dawned on me I didn't hate him. (Which, if you were an avid reader of my blog around this time last year, you'd know was a strange and foreign state for me to be in). My friends seemed unconcerned by him, and when he asked them for a lift home, he was granted access to the vehicle after a firm warning that if his hands - or any part of his body, for that matter - were to stray from his own lap to anywhere on my person, he would be swiftly and sharply dismembered with a screwdriver. As we neared his house, he said it was off the main road we were traveling along, and to drop him on the corner as his house was only two doors up. We did just that, and as we reached my own home and I was climbing out the car, there was a strange ringing coming from under the drivers seat. A quick check made us realize we all had our own phones, and the ringing one could only be the guy who we gave a lift to. I was far too tired to comprehend driving back and finding his house, so I said I'd take it and drive to his house in the morning, once I'd had a good sleep.

The next day, I was feeling a little worse for wear. A long bath, 2 litres of orange juice and another nanna nap later, I set out in my car to find the owner of the phone. I'd tried going through the numbers in his call records, hoping to find 'Mum' or someone I could ring and ask for directions to drop his phone off, but the battery had died whilst I was doing my sleeping beauty routine. I had a Nokia charger, and had tried that option, but once I realized the phone was pin-locked with no hope of getting into it, I resigned myself to the fact I'd have to go find him.

Only once I was driving in the general direction did I realize I had absolutely no idea where I was going, just a suburb name and a vague idea of 'two houses up' from a corner. Well, I drove and drove, texting my friends to see if they had any recollection of where we had driven, but alas. As I drove along the streets, I tried to recall our conversation from the night before to find any clues to his address, and remembered him saying he owned a 'hairdressers car'. I noticed a Mazda MX5 convertible out on the nature strip of a house, and after counting the number of houses up from the corner, it was more like 7, but I wondered if that could be it. After calling Sarah and asking her if I really did have the guts to walk up to a strangers door and ask if they knew a young guy living in a share house somewhere, I decided I had to find the courage somehow, as I knew how devastated I'd be if I lost my phone. I noticed a young guy in football shorts and a sombrero, and thought to myself that gay guys are always friendly, and might know where a hunky footballer like my stranger the night before would live. As I took several deep breaths, yanked down my skirt and fluffed up my hair, I approached young Mexican footballer boy, and as the words "DoyouknowaguycalledCameron?" stumbled out my mouth, who should walk out the front door but the one and same hottie from the evening before? I didn't know if he would remember me, so I blushed a bit and stammered something about leaving his phone in the car, and soon he'd invited me in for something cold to drink and a look around the house he shared with his mate. Not the typical 24 year olds flatshare at all, which soon became obvious when I found out he wasn't exactly 24 (In fact, it took weeks, as he pointedly refused to tell me and I resorted to rummaging through his wallet to find the date of birth on his drivers license and nearly having heart failure when I realized he was, in fact, older than most 'classic' Mustangs I know...). After a few slightly awkward moments of me not knowing what to say - or wondering if his beer goggles had slipped off since the night before and if he was mentally kicking himself for speaking to me to begin with - I said my goodbyes, and he casually put my number in the new iPhone he'd been out and bought that morning as he never thought he'd see his 'old' phone again - what little faith he had in me!

As I drove off, my mind was full of thoughts, mostly along the lines of "mm! Zexy!" and "damnit, I doubt I'll ever see him again..." when who should call me, but "French Fry Guy"? I answered the phone after taking some more deep breaths, and he was all "Oh, I must have accidentally called you...". Before he could get another word out, I was teasing him about his subconscious way of leaving his phone in my car so I'd have to see him again, 'accidentally' calling me and so on, and said he may as well just ask me out. He didn't commit to anything, so again, I decided I wasn't going to be seeing much of him, unti later that day I had another phone call, to tell me he was on his way in my general direction and did I fancy a walk along the beach or a drink?

I don't think I've ever gotten dressed so quickly in my life - all the while, on the phone to Sarah asking for help and suggestions and direction on what shoes and jewelery I should be wearing. I don't think I'd ever been so excited - but when I met him at the beach, I instantly relaxed. We just kind of clicked - he was easy to talk to, fun to tease, super intelligent and gosh darn handsome. We took a walk along the beach after a drink overlooking the water, and as we chatted and walked I began to realize he wasn't as young as I'd previously thought, but no amount of probing would get him to tell me. I also knew, when I asked him if he had any children, marriages or sexually transmitted diseases (hell, what's the point in pussy footing around? A girl's gotta know these things early) and he denied all of them, he wasn't quite telling the truth, but I hoped when he eventually told me which one he wasn't being honest about that it wasn't in the first or last category. (NB: just to clear it up - it wasn't those categories!)

The next few days and weeks were a flurry of text messages and phone calls, and each and every day I grew to like him more and more, and the more time we spent together over the next few months made me fall in love with him hard and fast. There had been moments when I knew things were so different to any other relationship I'd had, but when we flew back from a week in Vanuatu, I knew for sure that it was special, and that he was the guy I wanted to (and still do!) spend every day with, talking and laughing and just being with, for ever more.

Every day since then I've fallen more and more in love with him; there's always something new I learn or a different side of him I see, something funny he says or a special look that melts my heart. He makes me laugh like no one else, squashes all my fears and makes me feel like the best possible version of myself around him. He's brought so many amazing things into my life, and shown me things I could never have dreamed of, he's shared some of the most incredible times of my life and also some of the crappy times. I can't wait for our adventures to keep coming through the years, and I hope there's plenty more of the good stuff.

He holds my hand when I am happy, but most importantly of all, he holds my hand when I am sad. He's right there beside me when we share our dreams, and he's right there beside me when I need someone to lean on. I can't believe where this year has taken us, from our random meeting to the beautiful house we are making a home in together, our two horses and our many up-coing overseas trips, and I, for one, can't wait to see what the next few years will bring.

Oh, and just FYI? I love you, Cam.

Best of

2009-12-03T10:31:00.002+11:00

I read through Pretty Random Thoughts this morning, and saw her post from Best Of 2009 Challenge, which then led me to that site to see what it was all about. Basically, it's a post for each day of December for a 'best of' moment that happened during the year of 2009, and seeing as each day is pre-organized and I do love a bit of help in the 'hmmm....what to blog about today' department, I'm planning on doing this little challenge myself (without, technically, participating in the 'challenge').

As I've missed the first two days, I'd better get cracking!

First of all, my Best Of: Trip 2009 -

Easy, peasy. That has to be Vanuatu! Cam and I flew over in January after knowing each other a little under two months, and had simply the most incredible time. Every day was packed with fun, beautiful locations, amazing new experiences like snorkeling with tropical fish, standing in the flow of waterfalls, feeding read live sea turtles and riding horses through the mountains and in the ocean. More than anything, the 'little' things made the trip so fantastic - holding each other and laughing as the hot rain poured down on us in the pool, eating fresh coconuts as we walked, hand in hand, from the waterfalls in the storm, and, of course, getting sloshed on frozen daquiris in the pool.

Best Of: Restaurant Moment -

This one is not so easy. The most 'memorable' was the day of my birthday; the night before Cam flew to America for 10 days. I say memorable because it's the first to come to mind, but it wasn't a happy night for me. The most incredible view would have to be at Sails, in Noosa (another favorite trip!) where we watched the sun set over the ocean in our own private oasis, or Brighton Sea Baths in September- the location of our first date! - which certainly signaled, for me, how far we'd come in our relationship. But I think the best would have to be the times I got to spend with my two favorite people, Sarah and Cam, and our many silly nights giggling and laughing out way into the evening at TGI Fridays, or Sunday morning breakfasts at our favorite cafe before planning the days activities.

Best Of: Article -

Worrying, nothing comes to mind. Absolutely nothing. There's nothing I've referenced significantly, there's nothing that particularly blew my mind away enough to share around the world. There's several that spring to mind involving unbelievable tales of survival and horrifying tales of destruction during the Black Saturday fires. It was a time that felt like a national depression, everyone knew someone who was affected, injured or killed, and the days and weeks after were a sad and scary time for everyone in Victoria. Even now, as we drive and see the effects of the fire, the bridges that simply disappeared and the sweep of trees with blackened trunks, it doesn't quite seem real, but the feeling of worry for what this year will bring is still at the back of peoples minds.

Tomorrow... Best Of: Book.

Excerpt from my Christmas List

2009-12-02T10:53:00.002+11:00

Cameron made the foolish mistake of asking for an in depth installment of my current Christmas List, but only managed to peruse it once he made it home from his meeting. As he sat himself down with his iPhone, I could hear much laughter and derisive snorting, and I calmly asked him what was so amusing. He asked me to read the second item as listed under "Girly Stuff":

- Pleasure State lingerie - Size: (insert hideously large size here) bra (do NOT mention this to ANYONE. It is a genetic fault I have the shoulders and back size of an Asian swimmer on steroids, and if you speak of this size to ANY sales person, they will automatically assume I am a large, beached form of aquatic mammalia unless you stipulate otherwise) and size (insert much, much smaller size here, but which would still look ginormous to American viewers on their strange 0-2 size scale) knickers.

He then went on to ask me how he was going to manage to get item 3 on the 'Horsey Stuff' section -

- 2 X White saddle blankets, Mr Darcy & Altibo Bay embroidered on left side in royal blue with gold binding -

to which I replied I had taken the liberty of emailing a local embroidery firm with my details and request and they would shortly be getting back to him with regards to a quote.

I don't think he realized how serious this Christmas thing is to me.

At Last....

2009-11-30T21:23:00.002+11:00

...NaBloPoMo is over. I wouldn't say I'd enjoyed the past month; in fact the opposite. It's really shown me how little I like blogging when every post has to be edited and deleted and re-edited again so as not to piss off or provoke any sort of outburst from anyone who happens to read it, which, these days, is a list of ex boyfriends and friends and family of the current one. I feel completely stifled, so much so I've been considering starting a private blog and simply deleting this one once and for all, but there'll still be people trying to find the new one. Censorship sucks. I started this blog having no one but randoms read it, and those were the days I miss - times when I could actually blog about things in my life without fear of upsetting someone or worry what distorted things I would hear back through the grapevine. I miss using my words to make me feel better, I miss having fun with what I wrote, and I miss being me. So it's goodbye NaBloPoMo, and quite probably, goodbye Made in Melbourne. And maybe, just maybe, hello to a new and uncensored blog. Still, I did it, and even though some nights were more of a chore than others, I'm glad I committed to something and saw it through, even though my creative juices haven't exactly been a-flowing.

It Starts With.Us

2009-11-30T10:49:00.002+11:00

I received an email this morning from Twenty Something Bloggers, a group I belong to. I usually save those emails for later, but something made me open it up today. And I'm glad I did.

20SB are promoting a company they are working with, named It Starts With.Us and sent me a letter outlining what sort of things they do - and I was blown away. Basically, It Starts With.Us are promoting the idea that 'each and every one of us can change the world by touching the lives of people around us', otherwise known as 'decreasing worldsuck'. I love that - 'worldsuck'. Reading through their blog and missions, it actually sounds like a great idea with minimal pressure - it's about doing something (like suggestions they outline in their forums etc) for someone else that you may already be doing, such as helping prepare a meal for someone who's experiencing ill health, or just produced a small human being, and so on and so forth - basic, kind ideas that promote good karma, and as stated on their home page - when we hear more about the positive things others are doing, we become more aware of the opportunities we have to make a difference for the people in our own lives.

Simple but brilliant, no? The world always needs more love, and love breeds goods things (and not just the small human beings). I've signed up immediately, after moments before sending the gorgeous Boo an unhappy email regarding the state of some people in my life right now. I figure this is my way of bringing back a little happiness, and if I can do that to someone elses life, I might feel better about my own.

Take some time, peruse the website and blog, and think about it. It sure is a feel good factor knowing those emails will be arriving in my inbox giving me ideas about being a better person, and making the world a little better for someone else via an action most would take for granted.

Baking

2009-11-29T21:40:00.003+11:00

The few remaining edible cookies...

Every Sunday, Cam starts off our day of laziness by doing a run to get the paper (my favorite day of the week, as it has not only the Wedding section, but Style Police AND my horoscope!) and usually eggs and bread so I can whip up our weekend tradition - scrambled eggs. It's got to be said, I make a mean brekkie, and like that I can add it to the list of things I can actually achieve without decimating too badly. After devouring noms and the paper (not literally, the latter), the inevitable question of "What do you wanna do today?" comes up, usually followed by "Dunno...what do you wanna do?"

This morning was no different. After tossing around some ideas about wandering around Chapel Street, meeting the gang for dinner or getting a 'real' coffee somewhere (unlike my freshly brewed 'fake' coffee, obviiously) we kind of settled for a day of doing nothing, really, but getting a lot done. One of those days where we don't actually go anywhere or do anything much, but tick off the chores and tasks that have been on the to do list for a while. Today that meant hanging the prints I had made up and framed on Wednesday, especially for the kitchen (red and white, naturally!) and moving the dryer, and for me, baking. I made an enormous batch of gingerbread men after being inspired by the adorable little GB men Cam bought back with him from the paper run (I do absolutely heart Gingerbread men, and it makes a difference from the red licorice I normally beg him to buy!) an after discarding about 3/4 due to burning, rising and general creepiness issues, I had about 10 left over to work with. I literally threw them in the oven for a 5 minutes and whipped them back out so they wouldn't catch fire and burn like the others seemed to. Although I was desperate for them to look professionally delicious (I had vague ideas for making them for the big family Christmas bash coming up), alas, they didn't turn out as well as expected. Nor did the batch of brownies I slaved over, put in the oven then realized I'd forgotten to add the 3 eggs the recipe stipulated. They've been in the oven for about an hour, the damn things just wont dry out. Maybe I should have left the eggs out, after all.

After my cookie/brownie dreams were dashed, I headed off to pay a visit to the horses, and ended up riding Darcy for about an hour, until I came home to the most delicious roast chicken Cam had slaved over whilst I was gone. Tonight we were going to take the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood to see all the Christmas lights (last night was the official 'opening' for the light shows) but it's absolutely pouring with rain, so while I wait for the brownies to cook (when? WHEN will that be?!) we're watching Monster Vs Aliens. Very cute!

Hope you've all had a great weekend!

2 days to go.

2009-11-28T20:58:00.004+11:00

I am absolutely knackered. I fear I will be completely unable to form coherent sentences, so I tried uploading photos from my new camera from last nights shenanigans and today's bush-bashing jaunt, but alas, my incompetency has extended itself to not being able to do that, either. So, it's time for some shut eye, and tomorrow, an extra long post for the 2nd last day of NaBloPoMo. Even though I have posted absolutely nothing remotely interesting or even made particularly large posts, I'm pretty keen to not have the little devil/angel shoulder thing each night of "Have to blog" and then "But I'm too tiiiiiiiired".

My new bedroom

2009-11-27T15:12:00.000+11:00

...complete with new bed, lamps and painted wall.

Storms, popcorn and puppy love.

2009-11-26T20:06:00.002+11:00

I didn't believe this news article was real to begin with, but after reading a few lines and thinking about the lengths I would go to to get my puppies back, I thought I would share the love.

On a sidenote - I've had a brilliant day cooking up a storm with my Nan, chatting for hours with my mum (and getting a few early Christmas presents!) and will be completed with spending my night watching ~~my dream man~~ Robbie Williams on the ARIA Awards (I plan on muting it for just about everything other than Kate Miller-Heidke and him).

It's been crazy weather today - stormy, disgustingly muggy and sunny, then back to some super loud and electric storms on the way back home. I'm hoping it cools down soon so I can nom on some popcorn.

Today

2009-11-25T22:10:00.003+11:00

* My new bed arrived today, along with the lamps. It looks even better than I'd imagined against my gorgeous Red Alert wall.

* Darcy stood on my footise today, and boy, is it sore. I don't know if my second littlest toe is broken, but it sure is painful.

* I'm driving down to Nan's tomorrow to make our annual Christmas pudding. We use the same bowl each year, one she's had since before my mother was born. I could never have the same sort of tradition; I'm far too clumsy.

* I went to the Mornington Market today in order to get some Chrissie presents, but ended up getting two new prints framed for the kitchen, a hand-made card for Boo and some pigs ears for the dogs. Hmmm.

* Cam's uncle is having a big birthday party this weekend, but I'm not so sure I'm going. It's in the back of beyond; things have been a bit tense since my outburst of insanity a few weekends back in front of his sister and well, there's a big display of Christmas lights being turned on in our local area. I'm considering inviting mum up for a girls afternoon followed by The Festival Of Lights, but I know that won't go down so well.

* I made an absolutely scrumptious pasta bake for dinner tonight - it was like a traffic light with the vege choices I threw in - then I went and wrecked all the goodness with an inch thick layering of cheese.

* The last few minutes of A Simple Wish was on whilst we put the bed together, and it reminded me of watching it years ago - that was the movie that first got me hooked on visiting Central Park.

Interview.

2009-11-24T21:52:00.002+11:00

I had my interview today for my vet school application. I was super nervous, and practised possible answers to possible questions the whole way up, in between singing bits of Queen songs to calm my nerves. Once I got there, and had a chat with the various lizards, taxidermied birds of prey and quietly avoided the strange people I was waiting with, I calmed down a little bit, and was quietly pondering how I could place Betty, the Shingle Backed Lizard in my handbag when I was called in. I must say, it went fabulously well - a million times better than I had expected. I clicked with one of the women interviewing me right away, and by the time I'd pulled out photos of the dogs, cats, rats, birds, fish and horses I own and was merrily chatting about my large family, I knew I was set. Unfortunately, I won't know for sure until January 27th - and will actually start on January 28th if I am successful - as they have to give first preference to school leavers applying directly, rather than a mature age student like myself (MATURE age? AhahahHAHAhaHAhahAHA...). Still, I did my absolute best, and felt it went as well as humanly possible, and short of absolutely guaranteeing me a position, I know I made a great impression and will be offered the first place available if one comes up.

I had a lovely dinner with my Cam and Seah tonight to celebrate, and am looking forward to a good long nights sleep and an early morning ride before my new bed gets delivered tomorrow. Squeal! I also have to fit in my 3rd and final coat of Red Alert before it arrives... so the earlier to bed, the better. Night!

Boo! It's a present :)

2009-11-23T14:47:00.003+11:00

I came home from a huuuuge walk with Phoenix (I must lose 5kg before NYE...I simply must) to a large parcel awaiting me on the doorstep. My first thought was 'eBay!' and then I scrapped that, as I'd already signed for my lovely big purchases earlier in the morning, and then I was reeeeally curious. If there's one thing I love, it's 'real' mail, and even better than 'real' mail is BIG mail (except, naturally, if that means it's a BIG bill. Yuk). In my enthusiasm to rip apart the packaging - I figured it was good practice for ripping my bigger Christmas gifts in a few weeks - I noticed the 'return to sender' address on the back, and gave a big squeal. 'Real' BIG mail from one of my favorite people, Boo! I must put a note here: Boo is actually Bec, a lovely and gorgeous girl from England who was buddies with my brother all through high school when we lived in the UK. They lost touch when we moved back to Australia, and one day, randomly, on Facebook, I received an email from said lovely and gorgeous girl, and we kinda clicked ourselves as I emailed her back saying I was, indeed, my brothers sister. We've emailed madly practically every day since, and I am proud to be able to call her one of my closest friends, even though I haven't seen her for *does some rapid mental arithmetic* hundreds of years. And, lets face it, I wasn't the most pleasant 8 year old running around back when I 'knew her', so I wouldn't suggest we were tight back in the day. In fact, due to her deep seated passion for Ice Hockey - something we both share - she often took my brother to ice hockey games, much to my horror and disgust - I couldn't imagine why my brother wouldn't let me tag along with them. (I must say, I worked that out for myself when I was 16 - who would want a chubby, irritating hanger-on-er-er following you around when you're so cool?) Anyway. I digress. In my parcel was a gorgeous card (see above!) which put a big smile on my fact, some cute British lollies & toys and...

Katie the Kitten Lindt chocolates. When we first 're-met' via email, I started calling Bec 'Beccy Boo Boo Boo'*, which was shortened to Boo, and she soon knew me simply as Kitten. So not only are these gorgeous little bits of kitty chocolate adorable AND delicious, they also put a massive grin on my face when I saw they were, in fact, my very own.

I cannot wait to fly on over to England in July and finally 'meet' my Boo again. And not only that... be in her wedding party! I am so thrilled to be planning our trip over - in the meantime, I need to get my ass in shopping mode and find her an equally adorable 'Aussie' gift for her!

*If you've seen How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days, you'll get this.

The Grand Plan

2009-11-23T10:41:00.007+11:00

This is this skirt I was discussing in my previous post:

... I wondered what I would wear it with last night, for my big plans for NYE - then this morning, like a lovely little angel had been listening to my ponderings, I received an email from Wittner, clearly displaying the most perfect, fiercely fabulous heels to accompany my skirt. See? And they're named "Spankin". I like it.

Throw on a belt like this...(I'm thinking of making one myself, actually, but that might be slightly disastrous to say the least) and then some cutesy black jewelry like this bracelet (of which various searches has failed to find me anything overly fantastic, shame on you, Google),

find myself a cute little clutch (hello, Ebay!) and I think I shall be ready!

Sunday

2009-11-22T22:15:00.003+11:00

Ahh, shopping. I heart it.

Which means, naturally, I was champing at the bit to get to the new, 60,000 square metre DFO at South Wharf (How has this been open for over a month and I've yet to visit it?). After our arrival, and splurge on all things 'preppy' at American Cargo, we were evacuated whilst waiting in line with our purchases in the second store we visited. Evacuated! We pondered why this may have been - bomb threat, gas leak, God's way of telling us the credit cards were maxed? Either way, it turned out well - we were soon nibbling on deliciously scrumptious club sandwiches and sipping wine at the Hilton while we waited to get our shop back on. (Sidenote: I wasn't super impressed with the Hilton's tapas/wine bar. The food and drink itself was fabulous, but the building...meh. There was an egagement party in full swing whilst we were there, and I mentioned to Cam that it certainly wouldn't be my first choice of venue for a function. It seemed a bit... outdated and boring? I was expecting a more uber modern, arty kind of feel...alas).

Once we were back in the cavernous maze that is DFO, we lost all form of time, direction and sanity (I speak for myself here, but once Cam realized the gorgeous shirts in Guess were heavily discounted, I must admit I did see a slightly demonic gleam in his eye...).

I purchased the most adorable ~~tutu~~ skirt, practically identical to Carrie's in the opening credits on S&TC... ...which I have every intention of rocking out in New Years Eve, along with the new shoes I purchased from the Wittner outlet. Yes...WITTNER, otherwise known as The Mecca to Sarah and myself. Cam did suggest they look slightly like crazy lady desert boots, whatever that means, but I choose to think they are simply fabulous.

I also purchased something I know Sarah will adore for Christmas, along with a wall decal of the Eiffel Tower (to match the massive print I have above the fireplace, and various items of jewelry depicting the statue I have) I plan on putting in my walk in robe, once I've finished painting it.

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic day, topped off with a scrummy roast dinner and immediately after this, reading my favorite bits of the Sunday Herald in bed with a cuppa.

Hope your weekend has been as fun :)

Slow Saturday

2009-11-21T21:59:00.000+11:00

* Today seems to have gone on forever. It started off taxing my dear father around to do his chores - honestly, it scares me more and more when I see him and realize where my temper and various other traits come from. But - finally! - the enormous Huntsman spider has been located and forcibly removed from the Jeep. I can enter it without flipping the sun visors, spraying half a can of Baygon and being paranoid it will casually wander across my windscreen whilst I execute a U turn or some such.

* We purchased the most divine bed today. Think black studded leather, retro porn movie, uber bachelor pad meets modern cat scratching pole... yum. It gets delivered Wednesday...

* which is a good thing, seeing as I still have one more coat of Red Alert to splash all over the feature wall. We also (at LAST!) discovered the most incredible lamps from Dare Gallery, which were a third of the price of the hideous monstrosities we've been looking at for the past few weeks. I'm finally getting some kind of Katie-ish stamp on the house - although not quite as 'out there' as I'd like, damn conservative taste man friend!

* I had a much needed nanna nap this afternoon, and awoke to pouring rain. I actually had to dig out a jumper, I got so cold - it's bizarre that after a few days of 34c+, a warm 25c feels extremely chilly.

* After years of talking about it, Sarah and I are going to make a start on a project we hold very dear to our hearts. Hopefully if all goes well with our own personal attempts at awesomeness re: making adorable Christmas saddle pads and sleigh bell inspired bridle decorations for my two horses, we'll be more and more motivated to taking the plunge and designing our own range of gear for our pups and ponies.

* I watched Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Cmac this evening, and found it highly amusing. I'm craving a Will & Grace-athon, but my recorded episodes from the newly discovered Marry Me Friday's on Foxtel will have to do.

* I received an early Christmas present from my man yesterday - the camera I've been awaiting for Oh! So long. It's fabulous - and I can't wait to get snapping with the great macro settings it has. I heart close ups.

*...that's about it for my quiet Saturday and even more docile Saturday evening. Looking forward to a nice long ride on the horses with Cam in the morning, then birthday shopping for his god-daughter. They're never too young to get addicted to Barbie horses, right?

Epicute.

2009-11-20T13:10:00.004+11:00

This website is just. Too. Freakin. Cute.

I want bunny shaped sandwiches for my lunch!

...and these. These are also very adorable. In fact, I'm not sure I could even consume them...

... but I'd sure as heck give it a go.

...I did it!

2009-11-19T22:07:00.002+11:00

.. the past two days. And it's more and more fun each time! (that was, until, Darcy took a rather large toilet break in the middle of the dam...)

Can't think of a better way to spend my evenings than riding with Cam, and sharing it with Sarah. She took so many photos, my email account died - now I've deleted some of the 4000 emails I had, I'm waiting for some more pix, hopefully some deep sea diving action shots!
But for now... bed.

Recent Photos

2009-11-18T22:58:00.011+11:00

Cam came home from work early today, and we drove down to Red Hill to visit some wineries. We passed a few lovely hours tasting wines, eating wood fired pizza (totally to die for!) and sampling some more wine, a nice pinot gris from T'Gallant. It was a perfect afternoon.

I get sent this sort of thing via MMS. Someone needs to be taught that taunting me isn't a very good idea, and will, inevitably, end in tears.

These cupcakes were the 'dessert' at our marquee on Oaks Day (as well as tiny chocolate mousses, which were also delcious - I had 4 - but not as adorable as these). They were so darn good, I consumed 4 of these, too. But not the rose. I didn't know if that bit was edible, and it smelled kind of funky.

We put the Christmas tree up on the weekend, and were slightly worried how ~~The Devil Incarnate~~ Taj would handle all manner of sparkly, bulbous decorations, but after a thorough investigation of the tree itself, she seems content simply to stare at it.

My boys sharing a cuddle at sunset. They rock my world.

Damn straight, we're hot little elves. On Dancer, on Prancer - Mush!

Sahara...is that you trapped in that vending machine...?!?

...and finally...
Darcy and I this evening :)
(I really must photoshop me out of that picture...ick!)

Momentous Occasions

2009-11-17T09:34:00.004+11:00

What are the similarities between this photo, of me on Kaptain in October last year at a local beach, and the video below of me on Gypsy in Vanuatu, except the obvious of both involving horses and oceans?

Those are the two happiest days of my life.

I had dreamed about those moments for as long as I can remember, and my life's ambition kicked in as soon as those horses set foot in the surf. Today?

I hope it's to be number 3 on my days of momentous occasions. As soon as I learned the property where I bought Altibo from had a huge dam and water jumps, and that he loved nothing more than swimming his days away in them, I made the decision to move Darcy there so we could have the opportunity to do it. The past few weeks, I've been watching very small children on even smaller ponies trot merrily off to the back paddock, while I wistfully pat the boys and tell them, and myself, that one day I'll be good enough to do it.

Good enough? Bugger that. This week is all about doing things I've previously been too scared to do (hello, last nights blog post) and today, I'm jumping on those boys and taking them in, freezing weather or no freezing weather.

Now, what does one wear to get drenched by manky dam water...?

Seeing Red

2009-11-16T23:08:00.003+11:00

I've been feeling somewhat disturbed by the fact my house doesn't feel much like my home. To me, my house should represent security and happiness and comfort, feel like a sanctuary and as though it envelopes me in a big hug when I step through its doors. And although various websites suggest the best way to achieve ambiance is by using soft, pastel colours and creating harmony, I kind of went the other extreme. Cam came home to find the bedroom awash with color...
..and also came home with a present of his own, these beautiful (insert name of flower here). One of those freaky moments where we seem to have shared a thought pattern - these flowers are not far off identical to the color of the wall I painted today.

In other news... I spent hours traipsing around looking for lamps whilst I waited for my dad to arrive at his home where I was waiting with his rehabilitation chairs/stools etc, and I had a great time with my girl tonight - we went and played with the ponies together, and she introduced herself to a very handsome gelding I've been admiring for a long time. If only we could spend our nights and weekends riding off into the sunset! Perfection :)

Cam's been removed from honorary blogger....

2009-11-15T23:41:00.002+11:00

..and I am back, sort of. I actually woke up and realized I hadn't blogged, and had to drag myself from my ever so comfy bed to do this. Today was the day - our tree went up! I had a horrible, awful day due to my atrocious behavior yesterday, and felt the only way to get over it (after apologizing profusely to certain people) was to do some things around the house to make it feel more like home. And what could be better than putting up our tree! It's the first time Cam and I have celebrated Christmas together, and have embarked on a silver and blue theme (photos to come, naturally). He'll be overseas for Christmas, and at first, I was against celebrating it as we won't be around to enjoy it, but as soon as the decorations started filtering into the shops, I couldn't contain my excitement. I wish my gorgeous girl Bec lived that bit closer so we could share our crazy joy together.. still, one day I shall have a white Christmas with her!

...I am wondering, rather, whether there will be any tree and/or decorations left come morning. Sabataj is named that way for a reason, and already there's been some firing of water pistols to disable her from hanging off baubles.

Fill in role

2009-11-14T22:29:00.005+11:00

Hi this is Cameron and I'm Katie's man-friend. Unfortunately Katie is ill and unable to post tonite, so I've been given the challenging task of providing a post in her absence full of wit, humour and charm. Clearly, that is far out of reach after the alcohol drunk today. We have spent the majority of the day drinking by the pool with friends and you may think that Katie has drunk too much and is now poleaxed in bed, but actually...she has been quite unwell for several days and I could hardly let her scare you all with her hallucinogenic ramblings. So I've taken the pro-active step of posting today and maybe tomorrow depending on how she sweats it out tonite. Its been a tough day at the office, so maybe tomorrow I'll provide a few more tales.

I'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair...

2009-11-13T10:27:00.000+11:00

...Altibo enjoying a post bath roll.

A different sort of adoption.

2009-11-12T08:59:00.003+11:00

For the first time in years, I didn't buy a poppy for Remembrance Day this year. I feel awful - guilty, even - and after reading Melisa's post and various others, it made me feel worse.

My grandfather fought in WWII, and although he rarely spoke of it as he felt ashamed for what he had done (he was the Bomb Aimer on Lancaster planes) I was always so proud of his bravery and strength. My Nan worked like an ox in the Land Army, working the fields and keeping the farms alive whilst the men were out fighting. One of my oldest and dearest friends, Chicken, is in 2nd Commando Regiment - the very regiment affected by grief after the loss of one of their men in training only a few weeks ago - and is soon to be shipped off to Afghanistan in the near future. As a result, I usually hold Remembrance Day quite close, as a way to remember my Grandad, thank my Nan for all she did for her country and subsequently my own freedom, and pray for Chicken's safe return.

So when I realized this year had passed me by without my own contribution towards RD, I wondered what I could do. And then, I found Julesie's blog - and the amazingly wonderful idea of 'Adopting A Soldier', a concept I never knew existed, and one I plan on embracing as soon as pay day swings around. I hope someone does something as wonderful as this for our own Aussie troops, and my darling Chicken gets some love and luxuries from home from someone other than his mother and I.

On a side note, it's a shame one can't actually adopt the soldiers, and bring them on home when they're done with their duty, kind of like a race horse or sniffer dog. I'd know exactly what to get my mother for Christmas, if that were the case.

Re: Post Below

2009-11-11T09:55:00.003+11:00

....I have an interview in a fortnight! Yaaaaay!
Actually, it hasn't altogether sunk in. I'm not especially worried by it - come on! if they meet me in person, they'll love me! - but I'm not in an exciteable, jumpy uppy downy mood about it, either, which I think is a combination of a few things.

Yesterday was a weird day. My dad had asked me a few months back if I could drive him to the hospital when he was due to get a hip replacement. I didn't think so much about it (except, naturally, assuming his 'other' daughter, ~~Satan Spawn~~ Christine, was obviously still not old enough to drive). As a side note, he shacked up with another woman when I was about 5, after my parents were divorced, and produced offspring. He casually mentioned it to me when she was about 5, and try as I might to make any form of effort to be even remotely nice, the child refuses to speak or interact at all. I'm not sure if she's mentally challenged, or just fucked up from having such a dysfunctional family. I'm going with the latter.
NB: I sound bitter about this because, well, I am. He devoted and lavished all his ~~money~~ time and affection towards her, pursuing her dream of roller hockey, (which funnily enough, had been my dream, and was simply laughed at) and so on and so forth. We came to a point a few years ago where I asked him to simply not mention her around me, as it hurt so me she got given all those things I longed for, like, you know, an actual dad.

But I digress. He came to my house early, and we had a cup of coffee (which he was later punished for by the nurse, and had his surgery time pushed back because of) and we were on our way. Aside from insisting on telling me stories of his youth - things no child needs to hear if the word 'seduce' and 'your mother' is involved, whilst pointing out local landmarks - and we actually had a bit of light conversation, which is unusual. Let me just point out (sheesh, the side notes in this blog are longer than the blog itself!) that my relationship with my dad has been somewhat....strained. He and my mum broke up when I was 2, and we went into hiding as he wasn't a very nice person. He's a rather violent alcoholic, in fact, and did all sorts of nasty things to my mother and us that don't bear thinking about. Mum was always more than happy (well, didn't discourage us) from speaking to him later on in life, once we'd been away for a few years and the restraining orders were lifted, and so occasionally, like maybe a birthday or Christmas or once or twice in between, he would come and visit us. I was pretty young and didn't really understand why he was a bad person.- right up until I was 14 when he did something to my brother on a family visit, and I ceased all communication with him once I realized what he was actually like. I mainly just tried to get him to play games with me, but I knew there was bad feeling when he was around from my mum, so I used to do things to him like unscrew all the door handles off his car, hide rotten fish bones in his upholstery, and basically be a little menace.

A few years back, I had my Debutante Ball, and there's a dance specifically for your father to dance with you. I wasn't having any of that, but I was a bit sad he wouldn't be there for my biggest day to date. I invited him - with a strict proviso there was to be no drinking - and since then, we've caught up a bit. It's only been the past few months - since I met Cam, really - he's been more involved in my life. He calls me sometimes, with nothing to say (usually it's "You've got ANOTHER speeding fine!") or comes down and doesn't rush off after the first half an hour. I still don't know what to say to him, really, and it terrifies me to see so many of my attributes are actually his own. Temper, anyone? Skin like a leather handbag that tans in seconds? My feet, my eyes, my hair, my fidgeting? And I mentioned the temper, no?

So, when he went into hospital, I didn't really think about it much. But when I left him at the hospital, after a few hours of trying to entertain him as he waited for his surgery, it was just down right weird. I was almost emotional. I didn't know what to say, or do - the only time he's ever touched me without force was when my mother and I had to make the decision to turn my Grandad's life support off after he had a heart attack. Dad was down helping me paint my room that day, and rushed us up to he hospital when we heard the news. I ran out the room as Grandad was dying and dad put his arm around me, for the first time ever. I mentioned dysfunctional, right?

So yesterday, when it came time to leave, I sort of awkwardly patted him on the shoulder and said good luck. He didn't know what to do, either, and went all sort of twitchy (something else I inherited) and said goodbye.

It's as though all my feelings of anger and dislike and hurt for what he did (and didn't give us) have sort of been swallowed up by... well, sympathy. All I see now is a guy getting on in years, having medical trouble and in pain with gout (karma's a bitch for drinking too much beer and hurting your wife, huh?) and now his hips and being, basically, kind of sad and alone. ~~Satan Spawn's~~ Christines mother has been off the scene for years, as far as I know, except to hoick the child on Dad when she needs a baby sitter, and I don't really know what his own brothers are like. He doesn't have a big social network, and so I, basically, feel kind of responsible for him, and I really don't know how I feel about it. I don't want to feel like I'm betraying my mother and ignoring the horrible life he made her live for so long, yet I still don't fully see him as that guy, as I simply haven't witnessed it much for myself. It's a toughie, and it's playing on my mind a bit.

Anyway, this post has gone on forever. I should have broken it up into segments, and then had something to write all NaBloPoMo long! Dad came out of surgery last night, so I thought I'd post this, have some breakfast and go for a long, hot drive and see how he's doing. Another weird thought...

Vet School

2009-11-10T13:43:00.001+11:00

I just came home from taking dad to the hospital - more on that later - and there's an envelope addressed to me from the vet school. It's not particularly thick. I'm too afraid to open it.

I'm going to sit outside, have a fag and to calm down, and eyeball is fearfully until the suspense is too much.

I have everything possible crossed, and you should, too.

..10..or 11?

2009-11-09T21:15:00.004+11:00

Today was another great day. I made the long trek home to my mums, and enjoyed a day giggling and chatting and trying not to melt in the 34 degree heat. As soon as I got home - my (black and therefore extremely hot) air con in the car is not working, and I was fried - I threw myself into the pool, which was heaven. How on earth did I live without that in previous Summers? After checking the horses were OK - and feeding them about a kilo if carrots each - Cam and I cooked ourselves some more on the balcony at the pub, then took the dogs for another beautiful beach walk and watched another majestic sunset. Looking forward to dinner with some of my favorite people, at one of my favorite places tonight. It's made for Summer, and overlooks the sea and boat berths, and is completely gorgeous. I plan on taking lots of photos!

Speaking of, I got my race day pics put on a CD today (I lost my camera connection in the move...sigh) and just uploaded them. As my computer's being completely uncooperative in the heat, I'll have to stick them on here after I take my dad to his hip replacement surgery (not quite sure how I feel about him going in for major surgery; more on that tomorrow, perhaps), but for now, my favorite:

It's too hot to recall dates.

2009-11-08T21:14:00.002+11:00

I am officially about to catch fire. I've come back from a gorgeous sunset walk and swim down the beach (still packed with hundreds of tourists, and I'm used to having it all to myself. Imposters!) with the dogs, and the air con's yet to be freezing enough for my liking. It's been another hard day - spending the morning at the local market, picking up ridiculously cheap plants and snuffling through trash (no treasure). Cam and I very nearly came home with an axolotle, but refrained. After a tough morning relaxing in the pool, we ventured the the shops and as a result, spend a tough afternoon relaxing in the pool on inflatable lilos. And sipping cocktails whilst reading a Cathy Kelly novel. Very tough.

I actually had a whole plan of brilliance I was going to type out tonight, but instead - this meme I stole from the lovely Andie at Sweet. Southern. Spirited.

1.Where is your cell phone: Potentially on my bed under a large pile of clothes. I tend to misplace it on weekends, once I've had a long chat with Mum, have Cam only inches away and know Sarah is A-Ok.

2.Your hair: is how it was when I left the beach, wavy and tousled - el naturale, a freaky occurrence for me.

3.Your mother: One of my favorite people, and best friends. She's brave, and strong, and funny, and has the best imagination of any one I know; something I'm discovering isn't a given in everyone.

4.Your father: Is a mystery to me. I don't really know him, and now he's getting older and having medical problems, my anger towards him seems to be melting into sympathy. It scares me a little.

5.Your favorite food: Cheese, smothered in potatoes, or vice versa. I'm also in love with tandoori chicken salad, and anything from TGI's.

6.Your dream from last night: I wouldn't suggest I had any - I had the worst nights sleep I can ever recall, all thanks to my horrible hayfever.

7.Your favorite drink: Currently, the incredibly wonderful fresh mango daquiris I make. And vanilla infused Rooibos tea. It always calms me down.

8.Your dream/goal: To be happy, and learn to know what it takes to make that happen. Also, to show jump my horses next year.

9.What room are you in: The study.

10.What is your hobby: Riding, reading, writing.

11.What is your fear: Death.

12.Where do you want to be in 6 years: See 8, but add 'really, really well' to the last bit.

13.Where were you last night: At Cam's sisters house, enjoying a BBQ, the balmy evening, and a bottle of Moet & Chandon.

14.Something you are not:

15.Muffins: There appears to be one hanging over the only pair of jeans I fit in. It makes me sad.

16.Wish list items: The Will & Grace complete box set, longer hair, all manner of pretty and expensive things for my ponies, and a credit card lovingly bestowed on me for all the other things I'll think of later.

17.Where did you grow up: A small coastal town, hiding from my daddy.

18.Last thing you did: Asked Cam for a response to 'What am I not?'

19.What are you wearing: A brown, loose 'tent' dress befitting the stinking hot temperature in the study. It's the perfect dress for the beach, fat days, and spilling things on oneself.

20.Your TV: Was a whooole lot bigger until we bought this big house, where it looks tiny against the wall.

21.Your pets: Are numerous, and the reason I get "Oh! You're Cam's girlfriend - the one with all those animals!" instead of "Oh! You're Cam's girlfriend - gosh, you're even sexier in person!"

22.Your friends: Are few, but fabulous.

23.Your life: Is currently completely, utterly, fantastically amazing, and I love where I am and where I (hope) it will take me.

24.Your mood: Content to the point of smug.

25.Missing someone: My Grandad. It's been a weird week of that.

26.Vehicle: When I don't pinch the MX5, I have my very own sexy beast of a car named Eli, who arrived home only recently. He's a handsome, black Jeep Wrangler, and I love him.

27.Something you're not wearing: Jewelry other than body piercings. I just got back from the beach.

28.Your favorite store: I like ANY store, but I must admit, Wittner Shoes and Myer for my Wayne Cooper fix are current faves.

29.Your favorite color: Right now, coral, tangerine and watermelon.

30.When's the last time you laughed: just before, reading the hilarious updates on Wedinator.

31.When's the last time you cried: Yesterday, when I had a major meltdown about my weight, and fitting in not a single article of my Summer clothes. Shallow, much?

32.Your best friend: My beautiful man (Cmac), my girl (Seah) and my mummy.

33.One place you go over and over: The long drive home. It's beautiful, but exhausting.

34.One person who emails me regularly: Should be in my list for #32, the lovely Beccy Boo.

35.Favorite place to eat: Brighton Sea baths. It's the place Cam and I had our first date, and it's nice being a snob for a night.

...right, time to lay in front of the aircon and raid the freezer for sorbet.

RRRR Robbie....

2009-11-07T12:44:00.004+11:00

Anyone who knows me remotely well, will know of my deep, unnatural and consuming addiction to all things Robbie Williams. (The closest of the close will, unfortunately, understand this obsession stems from my unhealthy fascination with the British boy band, Take That. And yes, it's still going on strongly behind closed doors. My mother bought me their latest DVD yesterday, which evoked a rather loud attack of the squeals in the Audio section of Kmart...but I digress).

I have waited, and waited, and waited for his new album. For three. Whole. Years.

When I heard a teaser for the 2nd single to be released off the forthcoming album - You Know Me - I was simply gagging for more. I tried every possible outlet to get my sweaty mitts on it early - and no, I was not above illegal downloading, bribing the sales guy in Sanity, and scouring every corner of the internets I could. Alas, I couldn't get a version of good enough quality. Until yesterday, when the album, Reality Killed The Video Star, was released, and I made my way merrily to the nearest store I could. In a horrific twist of events, I'd left my wallet in Cameron's car, and had to wait until FOUR P.M to get said sweaty mitts on the CD.

Was the wait worth it? I'm not altogether sure. I've had it on practically non stop since Robbie came home with me last night, and all throughout this morning, but only one thing is for certain.

I am as in love with this song as I knew I would be. In. LOVE.

- Give it some time to load. Totes worth it.

... honestly, when the film clip is as fabulous as the man himself, who could not be head over heels?

Just wondering...

2009-11-06T10:23:00.003+11:00

..it would be wrong to dress Altibo up in this during the Festive Season, wouldn't it?

Hmmm...I thought so.

Shame. That and some reindeer antlers, and I think he'd be adorable.

Five

2009-11-05T21:07:00.002+11:00

I'm back from Oaks Day, and I'm a little worse for wear. I scarfed down some Alfredo and am ready for a good nights sleep (It's 8:56pm, as an indication of how ordinary I am feeling), but remembered Ah! I have to blog!

I have no ability to think for myself currently, so will share a pearl of wisdom from my new-found favorite show, Will & Grace. How had I never been addicted to this before? Damn sheltered childhood! This line in particular had me rolling around in hysterics (or would have, had the thought alone not sent me into convulsions of nausea)

"I know what guilt is. It's one of those touchy-feely words that people throw around that don't really mean anything. You know, like 'maternal' or 'addiction'.

Gold!

In other news, the dress I'd been long awaiting from eBay arrived yesterday, and was the size of a small tent. Seriously, I could take shelter under it in a storm - along with both dogs, a cat and a picnic hamper - and still not get damp. I didn't realize an American size 10 was so different to an Aussie 10 - le sigh. Still, I guess I could cut the arms off, edge it with something pretty and use it as a rug. No, but really. There's no way a US 10 can be that big. Damn eBay people!

OK, bed time. Tomorrow marks the end of my Spring Carnival, and the start of my quitting smoking, cutting back the drinks and jumping back on my healthy eating jaunt. Good job I went out with a bang today - although 10 scotches, a vodka Cruizer, a lot of wine and a vast array of snazzy hors d'ourves (..and (3) mini chocolate mousses and an adorable rosebud adorned cupcake...) was a little on the greedy side, even I'll admit. Still, I'm sure my churning stomach will abate, and the room will stop spinning eventually. Ah, Spring Carnival, how I'll miss you!

...4...

2009-11-04T21:46:00.003+11:00

I really must learn to blog in the morning. By the time I get on here at night, my brain is mush and my body aching for bed, and all those amusing anecdotes I had prepared throughout the day seem to have wandered off somewhere.

I ~~hauled my weary butt out of bed~~ woke up early and rushed off for the farrier, who for once was early and waiting for me to bring the boys up. After having a few giggles with him, and admiring the horses lovely, freshly trimmed feet, I headed home for a few minutes before my play date with Cam's niece, Gracie. I offered to fill in for her Mum for an hour while she was at work, and Grace and I had a lovely walk around the park, chatting with the ducks (who happened to be seagulls, but I guess at a 18 months old that's a bit of a mouthful) and ~~wearing her out~~ playing on the slide. For having never so much as picked a child up (OK, there may have been once or twice) and having no idea how one keeps them alive and/or entertained, I do a fabulous job with G, even if I do say so myself. The fact her parents seem more than happy to continue to lend her to me buoys my confidence slightly. And, to be honest, she likes me a whole lot more than her old Uncle Frogga!
Sidenote: It worries me slightly skeezy workmen check me out just as much when I have a small infant attached to my hand/am merrily strolling along with her pram. Shudder.

Once I dropped the Spawn off in one piece, I met Cam at home and we drove on up to the city to hand in my Vet school application personally, and pick up my Members pass for the Oaks Day Extravaganza at the races tomorrow. I am super excited - and nervous in equal measure - as I wait to see if I get short listed for the course and will start the interview process. I can only imagine the personal, hand written reference from the head vet at Werribee Open Range Zoo and the fabulous note from the RSPCA (thanks, Seah!) will do wonders for my chances. Fingers crossed!

After we ran our errands, I took Cam to one of my favorite places to eat, and we proceeded to stuff ourselves silly and snuggle like teenagers in our booth. He didn't seem to believe me - having never been to the Asian capital of the city - what kind of horrific - yet deeply entertaining - goodies one can find in the shops, and after we practically wet ourselves laughing over the Mail Order Bride catalogues we made our way home, with a quick stop off to buy not one, but two, fabulous dresses for me to wear tomorrow. All I need to do now is decide which gorgeous ensemble to wear, and locate some equally darling accessories and shoes...but for now, it's time to walk my poor, neglected puppies, who have been telling me. quite plainly, they haven't had any attention today.

Day Three

2009-11-03T22:16:00.002+11:00

...and I came very close to simply going to bed!

I got up super early and to my dismay, looked out at the grey cloudy skies and gale winds blowing in the trees - not exactly the weather I'd hoped for to wear a flimsy dress in! Luckily, it cleared up a little, and we spent the day rain-free. After winning one the two races I bet on, I was hoping a little more luck would go my way and I'd make myself a few nice thousands on the daily double, but alas. Shocking, in fact! (For anyone who didn't see the race, that was a witty pun re: the horse who won...ah, never mind!)

I came home early, and ended up staying up later than I wanted. I've got an early start tomorrow as the farrier's coming to trim up the boys feet, and of course, I've got to get the photos on CD from the last few race meets! (I can't find the cable to my camera, grr).

Ahhh, for a sleep in!

Day Two.

2009-11-02T22:32:00.004+11:00

So, to day two. Today was one of those days I ticked off everything on my 'to-do list' yet basically got nothing done. I researched a lot of horse feed (how fascinating, I hear y'all say), made up my Christmas list (I don't need to ask for a pony any more! ... Vera Wang and Christian Louboutin make the top of the list this year) and organized a few little adventures for the following weekends. I worked the horses, who were beyond loopy this evening. And best of all, I had dinner with my favorite girl Seah, and my most favorite man-friend, at one of my favorite places. Pretty, no?

Tomorrow is Melbourne Cup day - and for the first time ever, I'll be attending! And not just slummin' it with the commoners, oh no. We have Carpark tickets with as much Moet & Chandon as one can consume, as well as tickets to a rather exclusive marquee on the rails should the weather not oblige us with the sunshine we all have our fingers crossed for. Now all I need is Viewed to take home the trophy so I can be kept in the Louboutins and Wang as I so desire... giddy up!

NaBloPoMo - ON TRACK!

2009-11-01T11:19:00.000+11:00

Yep, that's right y'all. Every. Single. Day.

Basically, I'll be syncing this blog to the NaBloPoMo blog, and posting up some awesomeness each and every day. Seriously, if I can physically manage to do this, I deserve some sort of monument erected in my name. It will be the miracle of all miracles (well, except, you know, Santa getting to each and every kiddies house on Chrissy Eve, squashing myself into a size 8 Wayne Cooper, and someone as ridiculously attractive as Ryan Reynolds not being gay). Enjoy!

I've been lamenting the fact that, recently, I barely make it to my computer to update my FB page, post an occasional Tweet and reply - somewhat short, information lacking emails - to the friends and family that have recently contacted me. Of course, there's always a few Lolcats to be looked at (and laughed hysterically over), but when all that's been done and the tears have been wiped away (ahh, Lols, you get me every time!) I really haven't blogged. In months.

Sure, I have a lot more going on at the moment, and it will only get crazier the closer Christmas comes, but strangely, I feel compelled to get started again. I lay in bed at night thinking through and mentally editing the following days post, giggling to myself at how fabulously witty I shall be, then the morning rolls around and lo and behold, there's a S&TC to be watched on cable, a horse to ride, a man to keep entertained or realistically, the S&TC mesmerize me so much I simply cannot use my brain to any use other than think of shoes.

So, NaBloPoMo, you shall hopefully be my savior. Only you can keep me motivated enough to blog each and every day (and Horror! Even make time when I shall be frocked to the nines in my beautiful dress and supping Moet & Chandon all day at Melbourne Cup tomorrow! How DO you make me do it?) and read those blogs from the blogger buddies who have become a quiet presence in the background these days.

I am weirdly excited to see where this Blog A Day thing can take me.

Now, if you'll excuse me, the episode where Carrie goes to San Fran is on...

- Find me here! -

Visit NaBloPoMo

2009-10-31T14:37:00.000+11:00

I heart lolcats.

And NaBloPoMo!

Stuff and things and stuff...

2009-10-29T13:44:00.009+11:00

It feels like forever since I last blogged - probably because it has been. Things are fabulous, as well as all the fun things I've done lately I've been busy trying to organize school next year, as well as our fantastic European holiday in July where I get to be bridesmaid for my gorgeous friend Bex wedding! There's no final details yet, but London, Paris and Spain are all on the agenda.

Cam and I had a great time at the races last weekend, and have the Mornington Cup on Sunday, the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday and Oaks Day on Thursday this coming week - yay! I love getting dressed up and watching the ponies, and naturally having a little competition for who can back the winner the most between CMac and I.

The dogs are both well, and love being so close to the beach and having a quarter acre block to play in (and destroy). Sahara *touch wood* seems very strong, and we had a lovely long walk down the beach with Mum on Tuesday. I love my new car, and being able to fit the dogs in the back of the Jeep to take back home with me. I just need to get the right tool to get the damn roof off, and hope the weather stays good enough to leave it off.

Last Sunday, we* were quite busy in the garden, transplanting the plants from the front garden to around the pool, and putting in a pond that the next door neighbour gave us. (*by which I mean Cameron did the hard work and I layed in the sun and gave him handy directions such as "another inch to the left...nope, back again" when trying to plant the shrubs in the right spot). We've got big plans for the back garden, which we're keen to get started on once we're rolling in money and haven't got every weekend devoted to putting on a frock and gambling whilst drinking lethal amounts of punch. Ahhh, Spring Carnival!

We're both loving the house, and the views from the top of the hill. I took Cam for a picnic last week, which was delightful until Phoenix devoured a stomach full of sticky grass and proceeded to ruin the atmosphere by vomiting profusely for the next half an hour. Still, it was the thought that counts.

We've both been spending a lot of time with the horses, and I've been giving Cam a few lessons on Altibo. I find it works wonders being able to actually yell at him ("I will NOT tell you again; hold your reins PROPERLY!") without having a fight, and it's great sharing something I'm so passionate about. The boys both look after him very well, and until Darcy got himself stuck in a wire fence and cut half his back legs off last night, both are doing great.

(Altibo's previous owner gave me this photo of him from when she got him in 2007. He was badly treated by his trainer when he was racing, and I'm so glad he's a such a big, healthy and happy boy now).

All in all, things are great! I made a decision not to go to New Zealand with Cam over Christmas, as we're flying off to Borneo less than a week later and would miss out on my time with my family, so I'm a bit sad we'll be apart for our first proper Christmas. However, I'm looking forward to relaxing with Mum and Nan and the dogs, and enjoying the time we have together. I've actually considered getting another tent and sleeping out like I did last year, instead of trying to cram myself and Sahara into my old single bed in my room (lets face it - she's not going to take no for an answer. She's already plotting someones death for not letting her in bed with us every night...)

I have every intention of re-doing my blog and keeping it more update from now on, but for now, I think that's about it!

Ahhhh...

2009-10-11T18:42:00.001+11:00

After a day at the races (well, two days at the races...) and an afternoon spent at the Wedding Expo, we're chilling out on the roof watching the sunset over the water with Mojito's from the fresh basil in our vege garden and a Barramundi and mango salad... could life be any better?

January

2009-10-06T17:44:00.004+11:00

This is where we are staying in Kuala Lumpur...

...and then we move on to Borneo, where we are staying here (well, the hotel in which this breathtakingly beautiful pool is situated).

I may have already purchased a bikini and am currently down loading the perfect Summer themed playlist for the flight.
Excited? Moi?

Just a little!

Don't Let Me Down

2009-10-06T10:44:00.005+11:00

This is currently my absolute favorite song.

I was going to add the film clip, then decided not to as it was kind of repulsive. Then I realized that, in fact, this is not far from everything I want for myself when I'm a cougar - gold gilt chairs, vaguely attractive guys throwing money at me, and having lots of fabulous girlfriends. I can't decide which one I'll be, though - the one drinking champagne with a straw, or the vixen smacking a riding crop against herself. A little from column A, a little from column B, I fear.

My handsome boys.

2009-10-03T21:07:00.002+10:00

My boys moved in together today.(I'm sure I'll be hearing all sorts of complaints about their wild and raucous parties they'll throw in order to get the pretty mare from the paddock next doors attention). This was taken today, when they met each other. See? Instant buddies.

Meanwhile, I have discovered the online website for the British 'everything equine' catalogues I would rush to the letter box for every season in England, and I. Am. Hooked.
Heaven on earth, otherwise known as Robinsons (or 'My Horses Are Ridiculously Spoiled).
I'm going to have sore eyes, and a sore bank account, tonight.

Forever and a day...

2009-09-16T15:20:00.002+10:00

...since I last blogged. There's been a number of reasons why, mostly due to not having internet access outside of Facebook on my iPhone, but also because I've been hella busy what with moving, having two hores, getting my new car (and getting rid of the old one) ...and because it's virtually imposible to type with the long, fake nails I currently have. Seriously, it's taken me about 9 minutes to delete all the errors from the start of this blog to now.

My blogger photo uploader is currently on strike, which I'm hoping shall be fixed by tomorrow so I can do a real, proper post for the first time in a month!

Worst possible timing? Affirmative.

2009-08-18T13:52:00.002+10:00

I rode Altibo Bay for the first time yesterday - and had a pretty spectacular crash landing over some jumps. At first I thought it was my collar bone, but once the adrenaline wore off and I got home (after untacking, putting his 3 rugs on and driving home with one arm) the pain got worse and worse in my shoulder, elbow and wrist, and I soon noticed my knuckle swelling up. I denied the option of going to the doctor, as I can't think of anything I like less (except for maybe food stuck in the bottom of the sink. I mean, come on. That's just gross.), but after an hour or so I caved. I had x-rays this morning, which to me look fine (see above). I'm off to the doctor again now to see what the verdict is; and to confirm to Cameron I will in fact be absolutely fine to move all our funiture from our two houses to our new house on Thursday. It must be said, when I first plucked up the courage to tell him I was hurt, there was no concern over my wellbeing, I was simply informed I had chosen the worst possible timing to go breaking bits of myself. Feel the love!

Note: it took about 45 minutes to type that with one hand. Putting on mascara? Nope. Buttering my toast? Not so easy. Using my phone? Practically impossible. Packing my glassware with one hand? Impressively easy to do.

5 days to go...

2009-08-16T13:12:00.002+10:00

...til we move into our Dream House. FIVE days! It still doesn't seem real.

I'm currently packing up the last of my childhood. I always thought when I was a 'real' grown up, I would cut back on my kiddy knick-knacks and passion for random stuff. I don't think I'm anywhere near grown up, but sharing a 'real' house with a 'real' man kind of commands it. I was slightly worried at the thought - no more metallic gnomes over the fireplace, no shrines to all things equine brimming over in the spare room, no morepaintings of foxes with slightly wonky eyes adoring my walls - then I realized, hell, this is why I have an entire room to myself at my mothers. She, for one, would appreciate my "personality" (now, why do people say that to me and make inverted comma gestures? Can I help it I like quirky things?) and it might just mean more room to collect 'real' grown up things in my new home.

I see a tea cup and book-end obsession occuring in the not too distant future.

NB: I'm still horribly sad to be moving my collection of stuff far away. I like things. Lots of them. And for every 10 things I'm being mature enough to part with, I'm stuffing one article of my childhood into the Keep box. Defiant? Maybe. Not altogether ready to grow up? Definately.

C-Mac's Birthday

2009-08-16T12:57:00.008+10:00

Yesterday was Cam's birthday. Far from celebrating in style, we drove to the city with a vague plan for the day, and ended up dozing off to the sounds of music playing from the Sidney Myer Music Bowl as we soaked up the sun on a lovely warm patch of grass. I must admit, we were feeling the after affects of a decent nights drinking the previous night, and it was lovely to snuggle up and enjoy the first nice day we'd had in Melbourne for a long time.

We wandered up and around the Shrine, and discovered a rooftop balcony that over looked the city, which we were very nearly blown off when we ventured up to it.

We ended up at Southbank, where we watched some street performers and had a beer and some cake (which naturally didn't compare in the slightest to the fabulous carrot cake I'd whipped up like the domestic goddess I am for his family birthday dinner the night before...) in the last of the sun before heading along to Crown and sharing our birthday tradition - posh cocktails at Atrium Bar. All I have to say is - the Raspberry Kiss is to die for.

After our own little happy hour trying to decipher what songs the pianist was playing, and admiring a particularly trashy engagement party celebration (note: adding a fake Chanel clutch to a strapless, skin tight dress with strategic cut outs does not a classy outfit make) we ended up at La Spaghettata for pasta and people watching. It wasn't the most structured celebration, but I had a wonderful day spending time with my (old) man, and hope he had a very happy 35th birthday.

Altibo Bay

2009-08-12T10:34:00.004+10:00

Meet Altibo, my new man. More details to come on Darcy's blog shortly!

...he's from Sir Tristram lines!

All Grown Up

2009-08-06T16:23:00.001+10:00

December 2006

July 2009

Counted blessings and blessings in disguise

2009-08-05T22:15:00.002+10:00

I've had a fairly average few days.

Actually, average would be an understatement. Although I'm aware of my slightly flare for the dramatic, this week has sucked the big one.

Firstly, Darcy had a vet appointment on Monday. After 2 months of physio/chiropractic sessions, corrective shoeing, magnetic boots and reduced workload, he simply hadn't improved, and it was time to get a proper assessment. It turned out to be worse than I could have imagined.

He has a degenerative bone disease in his off fore (or front right for the non-pony people) which will reduce his working life to 12-18 months - WITH constant injections and medication. The outcome was brutal, and basically consisted of put him down, or get rid of him.

Having waited 22 years and breathed, dreamed and thought of very little else other than horses, to have my dream come true shattered like that was a little upsetting. Horrifically, bone-shakingly upsetting. Naturally, I refuse to do either of the two options I was presented with. I gave him the drugs I was told would help short-term, and worked out a few other options of my own, namely retiring him to 2000 acres of horse-friendly land with Cameron's aunty and uncle.

After not sleeping for two nights, and having all sorts of sad thoughts about my poor horse being in such pain, I was awoken at half past five this morning by my mother breaking the news my greatAunty had passed away unexpectedly. I drove down to my Nan's to break the news to her, and spent a not-so-fun morning consoling her and my mother. She was the woman who took care of me when I was younger and living in England; the lady who supported my horse-crazy passion 100% and who made me realize where I came from.

This growing up thing just isn't the fun I was told it would be. The only upside is the amazing horse I rode tonight; Altibo. He is extremely talented, not to mention handsome, and I think we'd have a fabulous time together. I've even thought over options for keeping Darcy at the place Alt currently lives, which might actually work out as a blessing in disguise.

The only other slightly excting thing to happen is the purchase of a BCBG Max Azria dress tonight. I've never thought polka-dots were particularly my style, but for BCBG, I'll give anything a whirl.

A sore Sahara

2009-07-30T13:24:00.003+10:00

I picked Sahara up after we landed on Tuesday evening, and she was one happy little puppy. So happy, she was completely over-excited. So over-excited, she hurt herself. I hoped it was a minor bit of soreness, but she got progressively worse yesterday, and when she crawled into bed with me this morning (much to C-Mac's disgust) I knew there was something wrong.

I took her to the vet this morning - no need to make appointments, I find, the entire staff know me by first name basis at least at the veterinary clinic - and she saw her second favorite vet, Jenny, who gave her a thorough examination. Luckily, she ruled out what I was dreaded - having ruptured her other anterial cruciate - and put it down to being too silly for her own good, and not knowing when enough fun is enough. Relief! Sahara had some pain relief injections, and has a week-long dose of anti-inflammatorys which will hopefully give her some comfort.

And as a treat for being such a good girl (and not attempting to maul any staff/members of the public etc) I put the roof down on the way home, and let Sahara have the breeze in her whiskers all the way home.

Now, to hide the whirlwinds of hair all over the car before Cameron gets home...

Noosa

2009-07-29T11:30:00.015+10:00

C-Mac & I had a fabulous time in Noosa, QLD. We flew up on the Friday morning, leaving behind a hideously cold (4c!) Melbourne to the gorgeous sunshine of, well, the Sunshine Coast. Cameron was foolish enough to wear grey, and thus received an arm-ful of mascara on the take-off from Melbourne. One would have thought he'd learn from our last trip...

Once we arrived, we dropped our bags at the apartment and made our way down the hill (Oh! What a hill. I spent the majority of the trip bemoaning said hill, and our arduous trips up and down it) to Hastings Street, the main shopping strip in Noosa. After a quick look around (Kookai! Witchery! Belgian Waffle shops!) we joined Cameron's mother for a bottle of wine at the Surf Club deck, overlooking the beach. Once we were nicely squiffy, we headed back to the hotel for a freshen up, before we had dinner at a gorgeous place called Bisro C, where I devoured the most amazing fish and chips I've ever tasted.

Much of the rest of the trip is a blur of eating, drinking, sunbaking and climbing that vile hill. I got my sweaty, sun-cream covered hands on a great book - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - which I devoured from cover to cover on the beach whilst roasting myself. I made Cam purchase My Sisters Keeper, by Jodie Picoult, as it's one of my favorite novels and would love to see the movie adaption of it soon.

This is the view from our room. We had this pool and spa entirely to ourselves, which came in handy as we were allowed to take alcohol in the spa with us as the Pool Bar had recently closed. Once the temperatures dropped at night time, we soon clambered into the spa and had a sauna to warm up, as I only discovered the heater in the apartment on the final night.

On our final night, we went to the most amazingly beautiful (and extraordinarily expensive) restaraunt, Sails, which was right on the beachfront. We got there early to watch the sun set, and had the entire place to ourselves as we sipped champagne and watched the sun go down. After dusk, fire twirlers came out onto the sand, and as we enjoyed an amazing meal we watched them dance around with their fire. It was a gorgeous night, and a beautiful way to end our holiday.

Cam and I frolicking in the spa, complete with terrible low-cost alcohol and trashy magazines. It was lovely being able to relax completely, do as we pleased and not have cats sitting on us at all times.

Our final night at Sails.

We took a nice walk at sunset over the weekend to the National Park, and back to Noosa along the beach. The views were amazing, and Cam and I had plenty of laughs along the way.

Treating ourselves after our walk with Bellini's and Cosmopolitans @ Roccoco, where there was an extremely talented guy playing piano and guitar for some entertaining older gentlemen/English tourists.

Another hill! Me pretending to stop and admire the scenery when, in reality, I just needed a breather.

A cloudly Noosa beach sunset.

Sahara

2009-07-22T23:29:00.001+10:00

Someone got a little stuck trying on Mr Darcy's new neck rug.
Could she look more like a seal?

Things That Make Me Happy

2009-07-22T15:31:00.003+10:00

- - M i k a - -

Motivation from strange places.

2009-07-14T12:29:00.004+10:00

After trudging around the park in a pair of slippers and an enormous, oversized jacket of Cams last night, I came home to change into something a little more flattering. Eschewing jeans in favor of a skirt, as I thought I'd go the whole hog in a vague attempt at femininity, I plucked one of my all time favorite pieces of clothing from The Fancy Stuff Draw. (Yes, my draws are coded: Mostly, they're full of articles of clothing that should never be worn in public, such as those in the Comfy/Painting/Horse Riding draw. I also have a small space dedicated to particularly cute things, mostly still with tags attached, that I save for the day I'll go somewhere fancy enough to warrant wearing them. But I digress). As I pulled my black, high wasited 'I Can Wear This Dressed Up Or Dressed Down, And It Always Gives Me A Great Ass' dress over my hips, I realized I couldn't. Pull it over my hips, I mean. My mind started racing. Had I not dried properly as I stepped out the shower, and it was getting stuck on my wet legs? Had it mysteriously shrunk to a third it's normal size in the wash somehow? Or, as it began to dawn on me, was I simply not bloated from being sick and had, in fact, put on a vast amount of weight? Horried, I threw it back into the draw before I could begin dwelling on that possibility, and shoved on an olive satin number instead.

I've known for a while now - read: Since I first met Cam - I've been putting on weight. I put it down to all sorts of things - drinking more over Christmas, eating out, it being too hot to exercise. Recently, though, since I've had Darcy and since Sahara's been confined to indoors 24/7, I've become completely lazy. I get exhausted riding Darcy, and don't walk Phoenix much due to the dark nights and feeling guilty leaving Sahara. Mid winter makes me pig out on potatoes and hot chocolate, and enjoying time with Cam means we cook big breakfasts and even bigger dinners. Not too long ago, I was walking 6-10km a day, and eating nothing more than a bowl of cereal before a light dinner at around 11pm.

Something's got to change - and as of today, I plan on that happening. No more random attacks of junk food due to boredom. More running Phoenix around the park like thing posessed. Less eating double portions as an ode to how suprisingly good my cooking is. More 2 hour long work outs with Darcy.

Today, as I was about to sign in to Blogger and get on my way with my post, but thought I'd check out what had been happening overnight in the world of my blog-roll. I clicked on Pretty In The City's website, and something caught my eye - a sign that read "Having a Fat Day?"

And look where it took me.

And as much as that should scream 'be happy with yourself!', all it's done is make me throw even more of Mika on my iPod and chuck on my running shoes.

Side note: I don't have any scales at home to clarify my weight. I have to invent an excuse to visit the vet surgery and pretend to weigh Phoenix for worming tablets whilst I actually weigh myself.

Weekend.

2009-07-13T15:50:00.005+10:00

Although I feel like I haven't left the house in the past week, I've been unable to get a blog up and posted due to a certain slave master threatening me with all sorts of nasty things should I not be recuperating in bed. I had some sort of kidney infection, which turned out to be a 4cm cyst on my ovary going POP! and doing mean things to my innards. Thankfully, I'm feeling a whole lot better today, and would be able to meander on down to see Darcy were it not bucketing down with hail - so instead, I thought I'd do a little research online and post a bit of news.

On Saturday, I was feeling well enough to wrap myself in vast layers of clothing and go with Mum & C-Mac to see the Melbourne Victory soccer team play the visiting Fulham Football Club, which was fantastic. I haven't been a proper game for ages, and although I'm keen to watch Victory play more this season, I had to go for Fulham - who won 3-0. The highlight of the night was managing to elbow several children from my path to get Mark Schwarzer to sign my iPhone cover, along with a young guy from the Victory team, too.

Sunday morning, Cam and I set off for the South Melbourne market, and stuffed ourselves with breakfast before buying up fresh meat and vegies for the week. I often buy food for the rats whilst at markets, as it's easier to buy individual pieces of fruit etc than at the supermarket. The two Brussels sprouts and miniature parsnip didn't even rate on the scales, but the dogs got lucky with half a cow carcass between them for $2. Cam and I also managed to procure some adorable things for our new home.

Afterwards, we headed to the National Gallery, and wandered around ~~giggling at the naked busts~~ admiring the exhibits and acting like our mature, sophisticated selves. We found a lovely big print that would look fantastic over the new fireplace, but other than that, I can't say I was particularly impressed. We're seeing the Dali exhibition at a private function next month, which should be good. I studied him for my final work in high school, and although my delirious nightmares tend to take his surrealist shape and completely terrify me, I love his work.

I've been finalizing my design for my first tattoo - sort of. I've always had three ideas in mind - the letter B in script between my belly button and hip, Sahara's and Phoenix's paw prints up my mid back, or the outline I've planned on for several years and have been too much of a pussy to get; a pegasus flying out from between my shoulder blades. I can't upload the final design, but this is pretty much it (and yes, I realize this is the Tri-Star horse. Just imagine it as an outline, sans background. Pretty, no?)

Disclaimer: I don't like tattoos, particularly. I think they look somewhat horrible on girls, and I would never have one that could be seen unless I wanted it to. My guidelines for getting my pegasus were simply: it must never been seen on my wedding day. Then why mutilate yourself, you ask? For me, it's a sign of strength, bravery, courage and freedom. A reminder, if you will, of the things that I believe in and want to be capable of in myself. Faith? Sure, but in what?. Love? It comes and goes. Strength? If you're mentally and emotionally strong, you can get through anything. It's what's gotten me this far, and hopefully what keeps me going.

Yes, that is correct.

2009-07-05T13:19:00.009+10:00

We now officially own our dream home.

This is the view of the beach from our street.

You may now be extremely jealous.

If you like pina colada's...

2009-07-02T12:21:00.002+10:00

So, nice and early this morning, my darling boy & I met with the director of the real estate agency we went through to sell his house, and put in an offer for Our Dream House. The REA handling the contract, Jason, is putting forward the offer to the vendor this afternoon, and as the offer expires midnight tomorrow night, we're hoping to hear back relatively soon whether it's been successful. We're both completely wired, and trying not to get excited, as we don't honestly think it will be accepted (the offer we put in is around $60k less than the original price she wanted for the house). But we've got absolutely everything crossed, and I, for one, can barely sit still in anticipation.

I haven't been feeling very well recently, so instead of ride my horse or clean the house or the hundred other things I need to get on, I decided to sit down for a few minutes with a DVD and have a rest. I chose Practical Magic (I'm in a Sandra Bullock mood to get myself ready to see The Proposal - oh, Ryan, I'll be seeing you soon!) and when they started drinking margaritas to Put The Lime In The Coconut, I could barely contain myself. I abso-freakin-lutely love that song, and decided to download it instantly - and as result, have gotten completely side-tracked by downloading more of my favorite songs...and got to thinking. Cam & I were discussing what we would do should we ever be lucky enough to get Our Dream House, and it involves cracking the bottle of Moet we have on ice, and I thought - COCKTAILS! What better way to celebrate than with cocktails?! So, I've been downloading every cocktail or celebratory themed song I can think of - and this is what I have so far. I also seemed to have gotten carried away with tropical themed songs, as the house is barely 100m from the most gorgeous beach and overlooking the bay to the city, and to get in the mood for our ~~honeymoon~~ trip to tropical Noosa.

- If you like Pina Colada's - Barry Manilow
- Tequila - Sublime
- Red Red Wine by UB40
- All Shook Up - Elvis
- Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bob Marley
- Hippy Hippy Shake - The Beatles
- Kokomo - Beach Boys
- Jive Talkin' - Bee Gee's (OK, not specifically cocktail themed, I just heart the song!)
- Copo Cabana - Barry Manilow
- ALl Night Long - Lionel Richie (again, not cocktail themed, but Cam insisted it be on the playlist)
- Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
- Tub Thumpin' - Chumbawumba

Come on, guys - give me a hand. Any more suggestions for our Fingers Crossed We Buy The House Of Our Dreams playlist?

SOLD!

2009-06-30T20:18:00.007+10:00

... Got an offer on the house we've been busily doing up for the past little while - and it was slightly more than expected. $25k more than expected.
Can I get a Holla?
And a fingers crossed we successfully get to procure our dream home (see pictures below!)
(And I'd also appreciate some kudos re: how awesome my dining room paint job came up. It took months of Cam procrastinating over colors before I went to Bunnings, chose one at random and slapped it all over the walls, regardless of what it looked like. I'm actually relatively happy with it, after all of that).

Because.

2009-06-25T20:29:00.002+10:00

I am seriously bored beyond all meaning of the word. I had a good day, only to be hit with the monster of all bad moods. The result of this? Home alone. Yep, I did my usual - lashed out at my nearest and dearest, and consequently am left all on my own. Sigh! So, to kill some time before I watch the last bit of In Her Shoes (...again) I thought I'd do this, which I stole from Pretty Random Things.

What is your current obsession? Aside from eating things, my new iPhone. I seriously heart it, and as I've waited so long to have one, I'm making the most of it. I'm also digging Love Potion #31 from Baskin Robbins, and ensuring each and every item of horsiness related to Darcy is exactly the right shade of blue.

What is your weirdest obsession? Well, presumably people closest to me would suggest my habit of bringing home stray/abandoned/unloved animals, but I would stick with my collection of water bottles. I don't drink things from glasses, and as a result, my own car and other peoples are filled with Mizone water bottles - Mandarin flavored, of course. At any given time, there will be a handful by the bed and a trail wherever I go.

Starbucks or Caribou? I've never heard of Caribou, but even if I had - I'm a Starbucks girl through and through. Venti caramel macchiato, extra extra dry with non-fat milk. Drool.

What’s for dinner? I just devoured an enormous chicken parmagiana with fries and a garden salad, washed down with two Johnny Walker black labels. Yum.

What would you eat for your last meal? Gosh, what wouldn't I eat. I'd start off with an enormous bowl of mashed potato covered in cheesy goodness, then move on to Pad Thai with extra peanuts and fried egg, complete with Roti bread and peanut dipping sauce with peanut butter and Love Potion #31 ice-cream to follow. I've got a thing for peanuts at the moment. I'd also like a nice, big shot glass of Frangelico on ice.

What was the last thing you bought? Subway, and two gorgeous dress rings and some beautiful dangly earrings. Oh, and some magnetic tendon boots for Darcy, new riding boots for me and a tin of cat food.

What are you listening to right now? The sound of my typing and the fishes splashing around in the tank.

What is your favorite ice cream flavor? I was always a boysenberry girl until I discovered the delights of Love Potion and peanut butter @ Baskin's, and I'm somewhat partial to bubblegum, too.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Somewhere with enormous sales on with a nicely cashed up credit card in my hand. I'm really not so picky right now - so long as I can do some retail therapy to budge this mood, I'd be happy.

Which language do you want to learn? French.

What is your favorite quote (for now)? I can't even begin to think of anything philosophical, when all I've got running through my head is a line from Anger Management that cracks Sarah and I up every time - How does a guy who weighs 600 pounds have the balls to teach people about self-discipline?

What is your favorite color? Right now - coral, electric blue and royal purple.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe? My new Bettina Liano super skinny jeans. They make me feel damn fine.

What is your dream job? Wedding Planning and/or interior design.

What is your worst habit? Apparently, being erratic. Aside from that, leaving my collection of water bottles in peoples cars, not doing the dishes and picking my toenails.

If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on? Once I'd managed to purchase a loaf of bread for breakfast tomorrow, I'd be thinking along the lines of some sort of shopping spree involving a new black, super tight top to go with aforementioned new jeans. Selfish? Me?

Do you admire any one’s style? Kiera Knightley. I love how she can go from tom-boy ease to Chanel chic. And as much as I dislike her personally, Kate Moss has it going on with the skinny legs and blazer look.

Describe your personal style. Slob meets farm girl. Seriously, these days I'm more often than not ensconced in my riding clothes or paint covered jeans than anything remotely stylish. I do love to get dressed up, and I'm enjoying pretty dresses more than anything, but mostly I'm a jeans and tee kinda girl.

What are you going to do after this? Sulk. Then perhaps prepare myself a glass of orange juice, hop into some hideous but deliciously comfortable pajama's and watch the end of my movie before I hop into bed. Another wild night for me!

What are your favorite movies? I have so many, and all are chick flicks. Juno tops the list, followed by Love Actually, About a Boy, My Best Friends Wedding, Notting Hill, There's Something About Mary, What Happens in Vegas, In Her Shoes, The Sweetest Thing, Where The Heart Is, Van Wilder, Anger Management, Mean Girls, How to Lose a Guy In Ten Days, Ten Things I Hate About You...I could go on.

What is your favorite fruit? Mangoes! And strawberries.

What inspires you? So many things. Words of wisdom from great friends, amazing stories of everyday people, the resilience animals show. And sparkly things.

What is your favorite book? I heart Bridget Jones. I can read them over and over - and do - and they make me laugh each and every time. I adore Harry Potter. It's one of those incredible books I can simply lose myself in every time, and be transported to a world far away from my own.

Do you collect something? Things no one else wants - revolting gnomes, old picture frames, pets - I simply can't stand the thought of things not being loved enough.

What is your favorite smell? Cameron. As soon as we embrace and his scent washes over me, I feel like I've found home.

What are you most proud of? I often say I haven't achieved anything in my life, but really, I'm so darn proud of myself for doing something that terrified me to my very core, and walking away from my friends and family through the Big Scary Doors at the airport and flying off to England on my own for 3 months. OK, so I only made the 6 week mark - but I got out of that trip everything I wanted - and needed - to know about myself. And it made the coming home all the more sweet.

How many times do you press the snooze button before you get up? I absolutely detest the snooze button; to the extent I get somewhat violent when certain people set their alarm at 6am and don't get up until 8am, leaving me semi-awake, groggy and cranky whilst they snooze on oblivious. I shant mention any names here, Mr Mc.

Cats or dogs? Dogs, for sure. The only cats I like are my own.

Complete the followingm - Love is: sometimes the hardest thing in the world to do, but the most rewarding.

What do you like best about yourself (can be a physical characteristic and/or a personality trait)? I love that I'm tall, and my legs seem to be not too shabby. Personality wise - that I have the ability to talk to people of all ages, backgrounds and personalities . I like to think I'm pretty easy going and friendly - and I hope it shows.

What do you dislike about yourself? I don't stop thinking, and I don't quite know how to say no a lot of the time. And my gut. Definitely my gut.

Could it be..?

2009-06-22T21:43:00.003+10:00

Yeps. We're booking tickets for a nice long weekend away in Noosa.

Whilst C-Mac is busy looking at places to stay, I'm casually sending him links to delightful jewelers with ring styles I like, just to give him a hint about the exact outcome of this mini-break should be.

Seriously, I'm as subtle as a sledgehammer sometimes.

Dearest: If you're reading this - hint hint.

Update: In Pictures

2009-06-22T11:27:00.006+10:00

Oh, internets. How I have missed you. Even though I've been back online, I've barely had time to Tweet, let alone do some proper updates. Whilst I've got a few minutes to kill before I need to get back to Darcy and his dentist appointment, I thought I'd shove up a few photos and show y'all what's been going on this past week or two.

After a big night Friday night in the city with Sarah, Cam & a whole lot of cocktails, Cam and I were a little bit tired to fully appreciate the box seats we had at the Australia vs Italy rugby union game. We did, however, enjoy being waited on hand and foot and served free drinks to our seats all night, and the view was absolutely amazing.

Cam is putting his house on the market, and we're both busy painting the inside - and outside - and putting in new garden beds in the front and back. We're both usually seen covered head to foot in Vivid White or Sand Diamond, if not mud, concrete and tan bark. It's going to auction in just over 6 weeks.

Phoenix has been particularly helpful in the painting department. His footprints in Vivid White are such an asset to the new paving out back.

Sahara had her 2nd last check up a fortnight ago, and has been given the all clear to have unlimited on-leash walks. She's going amazingly (touch wood) and is loving walking a little further each day. In the past week she's shown massive improvement, and I've got my old puppy back - she's got the fire back in her eyes, and appears to have the devil inside her.

Darcy.What can I say? I love him more every day. I also love going down on days like today - sun shining, frost on the grass and mist in the air and having big, warm pony cuddles. He's having a lot of trouble with stiffness and is having physio each week, which hopefully will help him feel better. For the amount it costs, you'd bloody well hope so.

Aside from that, things are going great.

At last!

2009-06-16T13:24:00.002+10:00

Finally...I'm back online!

News will come shortly - announcement of my new blog will follow - so stay tuned. It's good to be back - and there's a whoooole lotta reading to be done!

My Man Darcy

2009-05-18T21:23:00.001+10:00

News Flash:

New blog up and running - My Man Darcy.

Internets is back tomorrow - so stay tuned for more posts, and the link to my new 'real' blog, bigger and better than ever :)

Officially: Happiest Girl In The World.

2009-05-08T13:51:00.008+10:00

Re: Post below? I met the other horse. And fell in love. He officially became mine this morning, after I took Cam to ride him and he fell under his small, runt-like spell, too. He might be tiny, but he's the sweetest boy, and the most handsome, even if I do say so myself.

Y'all...meet the 15.3hh, 8 year old bay Thoroughbred gelding I've waited 23 years for.

= Mr Darcy =

Once he ~~gives birth~~ loses his grass belly, has some lovely feed and a good bath and groom, he's going to be very handsome indeed.

He's got a lovely personality, very friendly and going to be a little bit cheeky, I shouldn't think. He looked after Cam nicely, and stands with his bottom lip flapping in the wind, trying to be all coy and winsome. Once he gets going - and realizes who's boss - he has a gorgeous canter. I think, in the not too distant future, we're going to make a great team and have a fabulous time training each other, riding around the countryside and learning to jump. I haven't stopped smiling since I got home :)

Updatus.

2009-04-27T14:01:00.002+10:00

I hate not being online.

I've just called in to Chef's to pick up the last of my things and thought I'd momentarily take advantage of the internets here to provide y'all with an update. I'm sure, through the grapevine, I will be receiving a phone call regarding me using said internets, but I'll deal with that one later. Or leave $3 on the table to cover my costs. Either or.

Mostly, time's been flying by. I've been loving every moment Cam's been back from the US, and seem to have filled the days doing a host of things I can't seem to remember. Yesterday, I went to the footy for the second time - something I swore I'd never be remotely interested in has turned out to be hugely exciting, albeit freezing cold as we appeared to be sitting in some sort of wind tunnel directly linked to Siberian wind chill temperatures.

Sahara came home from her third (yes, that's counted correctly - operation number 3) leg surgery, this time with a full reconstruction involving all sorts of metal plates screws and her leg being sawn in half and turned around to give support. She's already walking around like the little trooper she is. Hopefully, this one actually works. Bionic dog hasn't got so many chances left.

Sabataj - formerly known as Tiny Kitten/Chicago - is still mostly possessed by the devil, and is living up to her name nicely. She's starting to go outside, wearing a tiny collar with pink and green flashing lights, which she seems transfixed by.

I'm mostly loving living by myself, but still haven't got myself settled in and sorted out. I feel like the instant I clean up after myself, there's several times more crap to clear back up again. I like to blame the dogs/cats/gorgeous man living with me, but mostly I think I own too many clothes, or perhaps just in relation to how little cupboard space I actually possess.

Anyway, my internet usage cost is going to be exceeding my shrapnel content as I've been banging on to Mum on the phone about a certain dinner party that occurred on the weekend. Hopefully, I can steal the modem I known is floating around in the back room somewhere, and get back online. I'm desperately looking forward to fiddling around with my blog once I set up the new one. And getting some comment love back, y'all. Wink wink.

I want me some NY!

2009-04-02T14:14:00.002+11:00

We're all aware I have an obsession with New York. I mean, a serious craving to go there that results in tears of excitement each time I watch How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days, let alone movies that actually show the city in depth, like S&TC.

Finding this out today, I couldn't be more excited than if my very own man-friend were going there himself, armed with a comprehensive list of things to purchase for me from my beloved city.

I shall be doing *EVERYTHING in my power to beg, borrow - or win - me a little piece of NY, so Melisa, be prepared for a vast amount of comments and some hefty postage and handling fees!

(*Please note: This isn't as easy as it sounds - I have no internets of my own any more, and thusly have to break in to a certain ex boyfriends house/punch, kick and shove my way to the public library through fields of derelicts in my local town, or pay ridiculous amounts of money to use it at the shopping centre. See my dedication? SEE?).

Man + USA = Mission.

2009-03-31T15:36:00.003+11:00

My man is in the States for the next ten days, and aside from writing him ridiculously corny letters for each day he's away and sending him a series of silly photos of my garden gnome (which he finds particularly repulsive) in a different place/situation each day, I've been wondering what else I can do to let him know I care (and, potentially unleash the fact I am possibly slightly insane). He doesn't seem to understand my need for vast amount of photos of all things USA, and as a result, I have a plan. He arrived in Philadelphia today, and when I called him he seemed a little dejected. I've decided, to ensure I receive plenty of photos to re-spark my love of all things American, to give him a Mission each day. Firstly, he's in Philly, then flying on to Boston, New York and LA/Santa Barbara.

I've been googling Philadelphia like mad, trying to find things to add to his quest, but I am a little stuck for ideas. Does any one have some suggestions of places/things to see/do (and prove he's seen/done with photos) for any of those cities? As you can imagine, I've got a fair list going on for the days he's in *NY.

* Attempting not to burst into hysterical tears at the fact he's there without me. Sob.

General Updates.

2009-03-25T17:33:00.002+11:00

I'm just having a cup of tea before I go food shopping with Chef. It's been a crazy week, and I feel like I haven't had a minute to breathe. The big move itself went well - I picked up the keys Friday morning, and after an initial screw up by the estate agents all went smoothly and I spent my first night in my new house a night earlier than planned. I couldn't have gotten anything done without the support of Cam, and we were soon settled in with Pad Thai and some drinks on the deck over the weekend. I've been ever so slowly unpacking since then, and still feel like I've gotten nothing done, but I'm loving my new house and actually being able to do as I please.

I popped back to the old house this afternoon to clear up the last of my things (and sneakily do a few loads of washing, as I'm still minus a machine of my own) and caught up with Chef, who I seem to get on with now better than ever before. Bizarre how things work out, and hopefully we can actually maintain a friendship despite all that has happened.

Sahara's going in for her pre-op for her 3rd surgery tomorrow, and I'm awaiting news on my Tiny Kitten, Chicago - she went back to the RSPCA to be desexed, and I put in an application for her as an Interested Party and have been waiting to hear if I was able to adopt her. Unfortunately, she didn't come out of surgery well, developed cat flu - and as a result, stomach ulcers - and isn't looking like she'll pull through. If she makes it through the night, I'm going in first thing in the morning to bring her home and nurse her back to health.

UPDATE: I went to see tiny kitten yesterday, and it was heartbreaking. Still, even though she was so sick, she recognized me immediately - I opened the cage door and she soon climbed on to my shoulder and nestled into my neck, purring her little death-rattle purr as her lungs are so full of snot. I'm about to call and see if my begging has worked, and I shall be able to bring her home this weekend. I think nursing her back to health will be one way of taking my mind off Cam flying off to the States for ten days, come Monday.

*starts sniffling just thinking about it*

Tonight is the first night of my birthday festivities, and I'm getting a tad excited, to say the least. I'm just trying to decide if my gorgeous new Wayne Cooper dress might be a smidgen too revealing as it barely covers my ass, and if I might not be better off wearing something a little classier to the fancy restaurant tonight, and getting my butt out tomorrow night when I paint the town red. Or black, or whatever the saying is.

I'm looking forward to having my family over on Sunday to celebrate my actual birthday, and show them all my new house. I really must start unpacking....

Just...don't tell me.

2009-03-17T21:44:00.003+11:00

Do you ever hear the answers to questions you don't really want to ask?

It feels like lately there's been one thing after another I just simply don't know how to begin processing. I don't know whether the way I feel is a direct correlation to having a few too many hang ups or unrealistic expectations; all I know is I feel shitty when I learn of instances that push my moral boundaries.

Yes, I actually have some.

This whole getting older thing is never as much fun as I thought it would be, and it's times like these I'd simply rather move far, far away than actually grow up (which I believe is commonly known as 'running away').

Still, life's not supposed to be easy, or any other revolting cliche of the sort. I guess tomorrow's another day, and hopefully not another revelation that makes me question my self belief. Until then...goodnight, y'all.

Just FYI.

2009-03-14T22:47:00.002+11:00

Re: This post from Melisa.

I love:

Singing to Benny & The Jets as we cruise with the roof down = Freshly picked roses with my morning coffee = Beautiful eyes = Squealing like a child in Kmart = Lazy 'Sick Days' in bed = Singing to V while painting in the sun = Honesty = V hips = Thousands of memories of magic days in Vanuatu = Putting on sunscreen = Early morning text messages = Still being that little bit shorter, even in my heels = Offers to be rubbed with Vicks when I'm sick = Cruisy evenings eating noodles while watching movies = Respect = Procrastination trips to Bunnings = Breaking into a grin every time I hear him say 'hello' on a voicemail = Holding hands while we shop = Talking random nonsense for hours at a time = Sahara loving him unconditionally = Drunken chats = Finding an amazing new friend = Enchiladas = Back scratches = Singing to V Channel as we paint in the sun = Being accepted = Falling in love at the very first kiss = And more than anything...the feeling of complete and utter support, respect and love each and every time we are together.

Updatus.

2009-03-13T11:44:00.004+11:00

Although I mentioned I shant be posting anything of significance, I still have the urge to blog whilst I set up my other site (which is taking a long, long time as I'm hardly home to use the internets these days). So, to waste some time before I drag my cold-ridden and weary body to the shopping centre, here's a general update.

* I have an 'inspection' with a prospective landlord tonight. I put in my application for the house last Thursday, and have been quietly hoping I'd get a call - and when I did, it was from the estate agent asking if I would mind meeting the owner of the property. Presumably, it's to make sure I'm not an tattoo-covered, axe-wielding maniac with a penchant for smashing other peoples property. Fingers crossed she likes me, and gives me the keys to her home. ASAP.

* One of the tiny kittens, Milwaukee (the black & white one) is very sick with 'flu. I got an eyedropper from the vet this morning when I took Cleo in for her microchip, and have been hand-feeding him with mashed up meat and kitten milk with his medications, as he's not able to eat. I have a bit of a crush on him, and have considered not taking him back to the RSPCA when he's up to weight...

* Whilst I was at the vets, I bought Cleo the most gorgeous patent leather, hot pink Chanel collar. It has two bells on it now, to stop her from bringing down wildlife and leaving, half-masticated bird wings on the back step.

*** Friday***

The meeting went well...and I have my new house! I sign all official documents Monday, and move in sometime this week :) 3 bedrooms, air con, dishwasher, gas ducted heating, a completely secure yard for the dogs and a nice big bath...could a girl want any more? (except, of course, a completely sane and reliable housemate to share bills with...we'll get cracking on that one soon!).

So. SO. Excited. Beyond excited. Absofuckinglutely thrilled to be making a fresh start and being able to put all the crap that has haunted me for the past few months (and more) behind me. And, of course, having complete and utter control over what I can and cannot do and display in my very own home. My brand spanking new metallic silver garden gnome is taking pride of place on my new mantel - and NO one has the right to tell me it's ugly. Success!

Heads Up.

2009-03-03T16:16:00.002+11:00

Just so you're all aware, I will be posting nothing of significance for the foreseeable future. I will be shutting this blog down shortly, and will be inviting people to read a privatized version once my new blog is set up. If you would like an invitation or an explanation, please feel free to either leave a comment, or contact me directly via email.

That is all.

I can has cheeseburger?

2009-03-03T16:12:00.000+11:00

Chicago, Philadelphia & Milwaukee

2009-03-02T16:59:00.004+11:00

It took me slightly longer than intended, but my plan has worked.
Chicago, Philadelphia & Milwaukee came home with me from work this afternoon; three tiny kittens needing foster care who are orphaned and homeless from the bush fires. Currently, Milwaukee is stuck somewhere up the back of the washing machine hiding, Philly is attempting to blend into the cushions on the couch and hissing at anything that moves, and Chicago, my little tiger kitty, is hanging gleefully off Sahara's face and trying to eat my Subway. She's by far the most confidant - and cheekiest.
Could she be any cuter?
Sahara hasn't stopped smiling since they arrived. And tonight, we're off out to a dog friendly pub for dinner. I'm going to pretend I'm back in England, and casually stepping into the Snug in a small village pub as we step carefully over various assembled lurchers and collies like I used to.

Head State: Bad.

2009-02-26T10:27:00.003+11:00

Can you tell someone's caught on to my general mood? She looks how I feel.

I called the vet surgery this morning, and discussed price, wait period, Sahara's recovery time and so forth. Unfortunately, I called so early the surgeon wasn't actually at work yet, and spoke only to the receptionist. She's having an intern call me back later this afternoon with more information, and I tentatively made an appointment for the 12th of March. My brain is so busy in overload trying to work out solutions to this problem that I completely overlooked the fact that is the day I go in for my own surgery. I almost canceled it, before realizing the backlash I would receive from my mother and others about not having my cancer removed before dealing with Sahara. Hmmm.

Whilst I await his call, I'm still busy having a meltdown trying to work out what to do. The surgery will be a minimum of $2000 - money I don't have, and money that was going to be spent on moving my ass from the festering shithole of a situation I am currently in. Because I am an enormous drama queen, my first thoughts were simply "I can't do this". After having a good sleep, despite Sahara waking me up three times as she wasn't feeling well due the new anti-inflammatory and pain relief medication she's on, I was still practically ready to do myself in this morning. I'm finding it super difficult to find any sort of resolution to this, and as a result, it's making me want to curl in a ball and not wake up until it's all fixed - after having a massive strop, calling it quits with Cam and sulking about the fact I'm going to be forever indebted to Chef, naturally. I came pretty close to doing said strop, curl and sulk. Stuff like this makes me wonder why it is I think I can have those things I want - an amazing relationship with someone I love wholeheartedly, a new house where I'm not constantly referred to as 'fat' every day and guilt tripped each time I leave, and so on and so forth.

So, instead of focusing on that, I am currently on hold with someone who I think can - if not remotely help my current situation in regards to the cost of surgery - help out Sahara's mental state - and my own - in the meantime. A happy puppy makes for a slightly less hysterical Katie. If I can manage to pull this off this afternoon, I shall post photos of the outcome. Here's one to make y'all smile meanwhile.

"Aaaaargh! Another vet visit!'

My girl...

2009-02-25T21:35:00.002+11:00

...went to the vet today. She's done the impossible. Not only has she fully ruptured the same cruciate ligament twice, she's not torn the most important part of her joint, the meniscus. As a result, she's being referred to a doggy orthopedic surgeon, who will be able to perform the arthroscopic surgery to remove said meniscus.

I have written out three enormous blogs detailing exactly how distraught I am, and none can come close to describing it.

I am absolutely devastated.

My blogs don't write themselves, damnit.

2009-02-25T08:58:00.002+11:00

It feels like forever and a day since I last posted - mainly because I've hardly been home long enough to do so. Things are what might best be described as ~~fucking unbearable~~ tense at home, and thus, I am practically living in my car and at Cam's. I'm getting to the beyond desperate stage to finally move out; and have been busily searching online for any form of accommodation that might house myself and my children in any vaguely respectable areas. As such, I haven't had a great deal of luck.

In between that, re-doing my application for school (ah, I mentioned previously nothing runs smoothly, no? This is one I hope will be fixed today, so I can devote my time fully to the vast amounts of homework I shall receive from my Journalism class today) and experiencing some sort of nesting instinct in which I am cleaning out all the crap under my bed in preparation for said move; I've been having a great time.

Saturday morning found me awake at an ungodly hour, shoving myself unceremoniously into Cam's car (and managing to break the strap off my favorite dress in the process) and making our way ever closer to meet Cam's mother. I did my fair share of shaking in my boots at the prospect, which turned out to be completely unfounded as both her and her partner are absolutely lovely.

We had a late breakfast with them before Cam and I headed down The Great Ocean road; roof down, watching the sun sparkle and shine over the water while we sang along loudly and tonelessly to Benny & The Jets as we cruised. We stopped off at a gorgeous little pub overlooking Wye River, and had some lovely wine as we picked the winners for the days races. I do love me a man who plies me with alcohol at the beach and knows how to read a form guide.

We spent the evening on the deck in front of the pot bellied stove, watching a Sex & The City marathon, eating possibly the best curry I've ever had and smashing down a few more bottles of wine. Heaven, no?

After an early morning walk along the cliffs at Anglesea to have coffee in town, we again moved out on to the deck to enjoy breakfast in the sun and read the morning papers. A little while later, we became immersed in the live coverage of the Australia's Day Of Mourning concert, which was just heartbreaking. I haven't spoken to a single person that hasn't been affected by it in some way, directly or not - everyone knows someone who lost homes, friends or family, and the loss and devastation are still so real. It's been amazing how the community has come together; but there's still the feeling of hopelessness at not being able to help more. With the weather forecast to hit 38c later this week, there's still the threat the situation is only going to get worse.

Not long after the concert finished, we packed up and made our way home - taking the ferry from Queenscliff; another amazing experience to add to my list of things I've never before done. It was a gorgeous day, and we had a bit of fun choosing which enormous mansion we'd like best as we docked in Sorrento.

Luckily for me, Sarah was 'sick' on Monday, and we decided the best way to ease her 'headache' was a lovely paddle with the dogs at the foreshore in the morning. The new puppy, Ruby, had a bit of fun learning how to swim, and I was soon immersed in the water taking photos of her in the gorgeous morning sunshine. After we'd dried off slightly, we made our way to our favorite cafe and had chocolate milkshakes with our breakfast while we chatted the morning away. As time was ticking by, we decided to head to Petstock to get a correction chain for Ruby, and naturally got delayed by a few hours as we had fun playing dress ups with Phoenix and making a a list of things I plan on purchasing later this morning - most of which include toys and accessories for the finches bird cage, in a vain attempt to make them interested in anything other than sodomizing each other.

Last night, after an afternoon spent starting my quest to remove all surplus crap from my living quarters (and, inevitably, getting sidetracked looking at all the photos/letters and wondering why there were random screwdrivers and hot pink shoes I'd forgotten I'd ever purchased taking up residence under my bed), Sarah and I made a brief call to Cam's sisters house, to have a good look around and check the fencing would be adequate for the kids. I have every intention of putting in a rental application for it when they move into their new home, but am now slightly worried at the lack of storage space, and wondering where my shoe collection will live due to aforementioned lack of cupboards. Hmmm. We had planned to call in on the way to view a new dog training club we are interested in joining, and got slightly delayed playing with Cam's gorgeous niece - which turned out fine, as no one bothered to arrive to actually take the obedience class we were going to sit in on. Me thinks we'll be crossing that one off the list.

The busyness continues for the rest of this week - with a single night off to start my packing tomorrow night - as I have a celebratory night @ TGI's on Friday, a roadtrip home on Saturday with the kids and my man, and dog training followed by a BBQ with Cam's friends on Sunday. All I have to do is get through today...

This morning (after my little expedition to pick up the items I have on hold @ Petstock), I've got to hurriedly write a two page cover letter to my education provider, detailing exactly why they should choose to accept me (although, technically, they already have...), what classes I'd like to take (although, technically, I've already been going to them...) and why it is I think I shall excel in Professional Writing and Editing (although, tech...no, wait - this is the problematic one) before I mosey on down for my Journalism class. After school, I've been invited to Cam's sister's for dinner with them and his father, but before that Sahara has a return visit to the vet (she ain't gettin' no better, sigh) and Cleo is having her microchip implanted. I can potentially see myself arriving to dinner, sans limbs and bleeding from my remaining stumps as Cleo's not a huge fan of the vets. But, to be honest, she does look darling sitting in my handbag in the waiting room. I still haven't gotten that darn pet carrier...something else to add to my list of goodies to get from the pet store, which I need to get to... right now, if I have any chance of getting any work done this morning.

Hope y'all have a lovely weekend, and Vanuatu: Day IIII will be coming shortly, I promise. Just need to find a spare hour or two...

Kids.

2009-02-19T16:23:00.004+11:00

- Sahara -

- Cleo -

- Phoenix -

...there's always something.

2009-02-18T11:53:00.003+11:00

I woke up yesterday morning with one thought, and one thought alone : I wanted to go home. Usually this occurs every few days or so. Mostly I just call mum and chat for 3 hours, as it tends to save me a few hundred dollars in petrol. Some weeks, though, I can't shake it - it's like having to be close to the sea, it just kind of urges me on. So yesterday, I packed up the dogs and the cat - who just happens to love herself a road trip and a chance to play with Mum's kitten once we finally arrive - hopped in my car, and merrily sang to my Vanuatu Ipod playlist for the next hour or so. As I left home, the smoke from the fires was terrible and encasing the road for as far as I could see, and as I looked back at Cleo happily resting on the dogs in the back seat, I told myself I would get a cat carrier the second I arrived at my destination, in case I was ever in the horrible situation of having to evacuate. As I drove, I thought about what I would do if I had to leave - and couldn't think of any options, as she can escape cardboard boxes and the like. I gave up; hoping it will never come to that, and concentrated on the terrible traffic. After I'd finally cleared all the infuriating roadworks (don't these people know that road works signs should be taken as more of a guideline than actual an actual speed limit?) I was powering up the hill to the roundabout that signifies I'm nearly home - once I come over the crest, all I can see is cliffs dropping off to azure blue sea and the wind turbines that tell me I'm so close to home. It's one of my favorite views, and I could look at it all day - or so I thought. Just as I reached the top, my car lurched, lurched some more...and died. Right in front of an enormous water tanker doing 110km who clearly had no intention of stopping for my tiny buzz box rust heap. I managed to sort of veer it off the road up an embankment, cursing my previous mechanic who had 'fixed' this exact problem only a few months ago. I looked around at the dogs, and wondered what my next option was. I started thinking through what I was going to do, then thought better of it - come on! My car is a beast! It'll make it home, it's just a bit tired after struggling through the road works, I told myself instead. I sat for a moment, then tried the ignition...and bam! She came back to life! I eased out of my ditch, slowly, gently changing gears, and made it through the roundabout and up the next hill before lurch, lurch and death again. Again, in a completely inopportune place - no emergency lane, just a tiny gravel strip next to an embankment taller than me, to which I had to struggle out on as cattle trucks and the like came flying past, inches from my side mirror at 100km an hour on the highway. It was time for thinking of my next option, and as I picked up my beloved phone to ~~threaten my mechanic with disembowelment~~ call for help, I realized I had no network coverage.

The next five minutes were spent wondering if I really had to do what it was I did. I came back to the answer that yes, yes I did have to do exactly what it was I did. I was stuck in my car with two dogs and cat in 30c + heat, unable to open any windows in case the cat jumped out. Why was it I didn't have that damn cat carrier?! I needed to call someone, and I needed to get the kids out the car before they overheated dramatically. As I leaned behind me unclipping them out of their harnesses and into their leads, I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with Cleo. I looked around the car, hoping for inspiration, and none hit. My only available option was to put her in my handbag - which is fine when I take her to the vet and she's in a secure location, but not so great as this particular handbag doesn't zip up, and we'd be walking along a highway with trucks and the like zipping past only a metre or two away. I rummaged around, and found an 'enviromental bag' - those kind of hessian ones you get from supermarkets (or in this case, with my Steve Madden shoes). I carefully put her in the bag, and, as I called myself many names revolving around the fact I was a terrible mother, I tied her closed in the bag. I knew she was able to breathe as it was very loose fabric, and I knew it would make it dark for her, so she would be less scared, but I still felt awful. I put her in my handbag, along with my iPod and any other valuables, and set off my hot, dirty and slightly terrifying trek up the highway with my dogs on lead and my cat trying to escape my handbag. People driving past must have thought I was smuggling a child in it; the whole thing was quivering and shaking and emitting horrific squeals as I struggled up the blackberry encrusted dirt and gravel that consisted of a verge. I eventually made it to a bus shelter, where I gratefully tied the bemused dogs up, and reached in and grabbed Cleo, hoping she was still alive. She was, and I sat with her on my lap as I begged and prayed I would have phone reception - and luckily, I had enough to call my mother. She set off to rescue me immediately, and as I waited with the kids and cursing my bad luck, a bus full of old dears suddenly arrived and disembarked. All seemed fascinated with the fact I was sitting; bedraggled and sweaty, covered in flies and dirt with my two dogs - who were both straining at their leads to attack, kill and eat the bus driver - and a cat on my lap in the back of beyond. They were all lovely, and after the driver tried placating Sahara with cuddles and nearly losing an arm, Mum arrived about 40 minutes later to find me sitting amongst the lovely old ladies chatting about dog breeding and trying to stop Cleo having hysterics about the fly situation. Obviously, they clearly thought I was insane - who on earth sits on a hot Summer day in Nowheresville with a cat on their lap and two enormous, killer dogs waiting for their mother? - as I couldn't seem to make them understand my car didn't want to go any further.

After I spent the day at Mums, I had to call Chef to come and pick me up. I felt a bit weird, and just a little worried at Cam's reaction to calling my dear ex for help, but my options were limited due to the size of my fur-family and the fact Cam's lovely convertible has just the two seats. I couldn't quite imagine Phoenix sitting on my lap, drool flapping and fur flying in the wind, whilst Sahara barked at all the pretty cows in the distance and Cleo hiding under the brake pedals of said convertible. When Chef did arrive, there wasn't a lot he could do anyway. Eventually, at 9:30pm, I called out Roadside Assist - who quoted me up to $600 for the part alone - and I got the damn thing taken away even further into the middle of nowhere, with me having no plans on seeing the blasted vehicle again.

Cameron called this morning to say we would be leaving this afternoon to pick it up.
After all that waiting around, nearly getting squashed on the side of the road as I attempted repairing my fuses and wondering if the cat had eaten a wire to the car's computer - apparently one of the connections had come lose, and wouldn't, after all, be requiring major surgery.

Still, at least I gave the locals something to talk about. I really am living up to my Crazy Cat Lady name. All I need to do now is wear some furry slippers and go out in my rollers next time my car breaks down on the side of the road, and the image shall be complete.

..and even thought I am slightly pissed at being taken care of/having things sorted out for me I grudgingly have to say I am so effing thankful to Cam for doing so.
Ugh, that nearly killed me.

Vanuatu: Day III

2009-02-16T12:45:00.012+11:00

Saturday, January 31st:
We set our alarm (one of the few times we needed to rely on a clock, except naturally to check we were in time for Happy Hour each evening) bright and early so we could feast ourselves on breakfast before our bus left for our day at Hideaway Island. As our little van bumped and jiggled its way over pot holes and through small rivers on the way to the jetty, I was beginning to get slightly apprehensive: the only time I'd ever attempted snorkeling was on a school camp at the age of about 9, where I became slightly hysterical at the claustrophobia of wearing a mask I was unable to breathe in.

What I presumed would be a one way ride...
When I saw the state of our 'boat', thoughts of OHS standards and just how much our travel insurance would cover lost of limb due to dilapidated boat sinkages flew into my mind. But, Cam's hand firmly leading my own, I ventured into said decrepit vessel and made it safely across the ocean, to the incredible Hideaway.

A very handsome man arriving @ Hideaway.
Once we arrived and signed in, we had a few moments to lather ourselves in sunscreen, take off all surplus clothing and run to the bathroom in sheer terror before it was time to embark on the glass bottomed boat across the reef. As soon as we set off, there were fish everywhere - big ones and little ones of all shapes, swimming right up to the glass and all waiting to be fed the bits of bread we threw over the side of the boat for them. I'd never seen anything like it, and was getting more and more excited to see the 'pretty' ones further out (and getting more and more agitated by the large, newly married lady who hadn't yet discovered the joy of silence, and to whose life story I had sat, captivated by, the entire 15 minute bus trip to the boat. I think each and every minute detail of her wedding - and various medical and emotional difficulties along the way - were shared intimately with the occupants of the back seat, and naturally I had to eavesdrop. I regretted it almost instantly, yet couldn't seem to stop...

Coral through the glass bottomed boat.
As we drifted out further over the reef, we were told where we would be able to snorkel - and where exactly the world's only underwater post office was, should we wish to send a postcard. The further out we got, the prettier the coral and fishys. I was starting to let my excitement outweigh my worry, and was looking forward to seeing the fish close up.
Once the boat docked back at the shore, we kitted up with our snorkeling gear and walked past the bar (I know. Hard to believe, right?) to the other side of the island where we could put our flippers on and start swimming out to the reef. As I fumbled around in my enormous flippers on the dried coral beach (no sand, just old, washed up, bleached coral) I started to get a bit anxious. What if I couldn't breathe properly? What if I had some sort of claustrophobia induced panic attack and wrecked the day for Cam? He was giving my directions for how exactly to put my mask on, while I hopped from foot to foot looking like some sort of ridiculous duck, getting more and more agitated at the thought of failing and letting him down. He told me to just shove my head underwater to get the feel of it while I was still standing, and as I did so, I opened my eyes to an entirely new and magical world. There were fish everywhere - coming so close they were nearly touching my legs - and after a split second of pure wonderment with my head submerged, I came up splashing and spluttering, something along the lines of - 'Oh My Fuck! There's FISH!' - before I shoved that mask back on and off I went.

The only time I stopped for the next 40 minutes or so was due to Cameron's silly underwater behavior - I found every time I laughed at him trying to give me a big sloppy kiss - resulting in us banging our masks together - I ingested about a litre of water and came up gasping for air. A whole while later, breaking the spell of enchantment in my newly discovered world of underwaterness, I swam to the nearest pontoon for a rest while Cam kept going. I hauled myself up, and basked in the sunlight for a few moments while I caught my breath. I closed my eyes for a second, reveling in the hot sun, and then opened them with a start as I asked myself what I was doing. I looked up and around me - for as far as I could see, there were wispy clouds playing hide and seek with the sun, ocean in shades of beautiful blues all the way to our little island where to the right were others; hilly islands covered in lush green jungle like I've never before seen. Except for the faint strains of the string band emitting from the bar, all I could hear was laughter and splashing - I was in one of those truly amazing moments where you have to stop for moment, and realize life just can't get any better. I was in utter paradise where happiness was the only emotion possible, as every one else around me was so easily demonstrating, and as I looked over the side of the pontoon at Cam coming up to pull me back in the water, I almost burst with contentment that I got to share something so incredible with someone so amazing.

Pidgin English - Rispectum Rif Blong Yumi. Say it out loud, you'll get the idea - Respect the reef, it belongs to you & me.
After another float around the reef, we headed back to shore for a break, and some much needed lunch - and a beer, of course. We sat on the picnic bench, drying out and devouring our meal before we realized we were the last to leave for our afternoon Snorkeling Safari. This time, we went out in a boat to the far end of the reef, where our guides took us out in the water and showed us giant starfish and the ~~tastier~~ less pretty but bigger fish. We snorkeled around for about 45 minutes at the drop off to the reef, where we saw some amazing things, as well as hundreds more fish that were so inquisitive you could reach out a hand and almost stroke.

Kicking back waiting for the storm to hit.
When we were all snorkeled out, we laid down on the sun lounges and watched the storm start rolling in over the water, as Cam bought me possibly the most amazing alcoholic beverage I have ever consumed - my first ever pina colada. I was in heaven, and lookin' mighty fine, as you can see. Oh yeah.

We're cool. No, really.
Later that afternoon, after we'd laid on the beach and let ourselves get soaked by the heavy tropical storm, we took the tour bus back to the resort, where we had a little time to kill before Happy Hour. Figuring we were already wet (and pretty much resembling drowned rats at this stage) we made our way to the pool where we happily filled in time talking to a couple we met at the pool bar. We discovered they lived quite close to us in Melbourne - Saranga, the girl, is only 5 minutes away from my fathers' house - and we had ourselves a great time, giggling and mucking around as the Happy Hour cocktails flowed. We passed on all the information we learned from Matt & Hayley on our first day, and shared stories of how fabulous Hideaway Island was - I even reassured David that snorkeling wasn't scary at all, as he was feeling exactly the same way I was before we set out. We soon had at least two frozen margarita's on the go each, and in no time at all we were making friends with the bar staff and trying new cocktail combinations. It was here I discovered my love of Sex On The Beach - each cocktail having a bare minimum 90ml of alcohol in each, slightly different to the standard 30ml shots you get in Melbourne. We only figured this out when we went to abandon the pool for a bathroom break, and realized our legs no longer worked. Happy to stay in the pool, we did so for the next few hours, not noticing the sun setting or the storm clouds forming overheard. As we chatted away and did a few occasional laps to get the drinks pumping through our veins nicely, it started to rain - and then not just rain, but pour. I've never seen rain so heavy and fast, and yet so warm and somehow extrinsic. As we swam out to the middle of the pool, into the darkness and with cocktails in hand, the rain came down heavier than ever, and seemed to encase us in a world that was entirely our own.
Drunkeness before the storm.
I spend my life constantly dreaming; plotting and planning exactly how I would word each experience and turn every moment into words so well written they take you there. All day, through everything I live through, I want there to be that one amazing moment I shall never forget, and I always thought I would have the power to makes my words turn to imagery, to take you that moment, make it feel like you were really there.
There is nothing I can say to explain that moment we shared, when the warm rain splashed down on our embrace. The world seemed to slow to a halt as we spoke of everything we felt, and saw the relfection of everything we wanted in each others in each others eyes in the middle of that moonlit pool.
It was that moment I will never forget, and although I will never be able to explain just how incredibly amazing it was, there's one person that knows.
He's the only person that needs to know, and the only person who will understand without being told - and that's all that matters to me.

...Oh yeah. And then we drank a few more cocktails, and thought it would be hilarious to use the hilly slopes that were the resorts garden as a Slip N Slide, and returned to our room entirely covered in grass, cuts and quite possibly some insect life, where we discovered an enormous, mangy sewer rat and were subsequently moved to another room - next door to the nice couple we'd met in the pool. They'd had a little difficulty 'keeping up with us' as we smashed down our cocktails, and as a result hadn't quite made it into their own room before 'falling asleep'. We were informed that security had to step in to get them to bed as they had somehow misplaced their room key.
They didn't talk to us much after that...

Watermelon Grin.

2009-02-13T16:19:00.002+11:00

I had an emergency shift at the RSPCA today. I was doing my usual job - walking and socializing the inspector seized dogs - but today I had several that had yet to be temperament tested with the view to being adopted. I had a great few hours, doing laps of the walking track with Kouta, the most beautiful blue eyed Husky I've met, and an adorable American Staffordshire terrier. As I went to walk my favorite, a 10month old black and white English Staffy with the biggest watermelon grin I've ever seen, I noticed he'd had his temperament test, along with my other pooches - and all had failed. I couldn't believe it - usually I go in knowing which dogs are not suitable for sale, and find I can just about deal with it. But thinking those beautiful, friendly pups that I spent hours chatting to and playing with were to be put to sleep in just a few hours absolutely devastated me. I'd been so happy to see car load after car load of people bringing in donations for the bush fire animals; I could barely walk through the kennels for pallets of donated dog food and kitty litter. It made me so happy to see first hand how the community can come together, and how the human spirit is a wonderful thing.

But when I realized my little Staffy and that gorgeous husky were being killed because of the upbringing they'd had with some horrific person, it was just devastating. I know I've been prepped for this kind of thing; I knew I had to deal with it when I started working there. I've turned a blind eye to it as much as I could each and every time I walk those dogs, but today it really hit me.

I took that Staffy for his final walk, and sat with him on my lap, saliva flapping from his enormous grin as he snuggled his way into me. I sat with him on my lap, smirking at the world at his good fortune that he was getting love and cuddles. I sat with him on my lap, and I cried my eyes out into his fur. He had no idea he was being led to his death because his previous owner hadn't take the time to socialize him; he was simply over the moon he had someone new to play with. 10 months old, and no one had loved him enough to give him a chance. He should have another 10 years of someone waking up everyday with him being their first priority; another ten years of love and playing and grinning his watermelon grin.

His little tail didn't stop wagging until I shut his cage door and walked away; completely unable to help him. It absolutely broke my heart.

This email just made my day.

2009-02-12T12:26:00.003+11:00

When did I get so corny that something like that makes me melt?

Note: I simply couldn't get a photo without some part of Cleo in it.
And those notes were to remind me to confirm my melanoma's being hacked off next month. I heart post-its.

H is for...

2009-02-12T11:45:00.006+11:00

I've been waiting, in nervous anticipation, for my very own letter to be assigned to me by Melisa from Suburban Scrawl so I could do my very own Letter Meme, just like Melisa's.

I got my darn letter in an email this morning.

H.

H?!? Melisa, c'mon! I can think of PLENTY of things I love starting with T (like TGI's...bet y'all didn't know that!) M (Mmmm, McDonalds French Fries and a hilarious story that goes with it) or even C (cooking shows that feature ruggedly handsome men like Jamie or Gordon).

But H? How am I going to find 10 things I love starting with H? Well...here goes.

1. Horses. My first great love, and my biggest passion. For as long as I can remember, all I've ever wanted to do was have a horse of my very own to love and care for and ride to Olympic victory in the 3 Day Event. My entire bedroom is adorned with books, toys, posters and models and horses and ponies - which, at my age, you must admit means I'm fairly dedicated to the cause.

2. Hockey, of the Ice persuasion. Follows on directly from my great passion at #1. My second greatest ambition was to grow up, move to Canada and play hockey - and naturally beat the crap out of and body slam all the grown men like the tomboy I am. Ooh, yeah.

3. Honey Mustard. It's practically the sole reason I go to TGI's (and why I've frequented Subway 4 days in the past 5...). I'm absolutely hooked on it, and it actually got me started eating salad, which is more than my mother could do for 19 years.

4. Hotels. I love going away, and there's nothing quite as exciting as knowing you're going to a hotel and having someone else clean up after you, make the bed and give you soft, fluffy towels. I also enjoy stealing anything that isn't actually bolted down, particularly those novelty miniature body lotions and the like. I realize this makes me sound like I don't get out much.

5. Happy Endings. I am addicted to chick flicks for this very reason. I love sitting down of an evening or lazy Sunday afternoon and chucking Love Actually/The Notebook/Where The Heart Is or similar on, and ensconcing myself warm fuzzy feelings for 2 whole hours before having to return to reality, and the banality of my own life.

6. Hats. My life is one big bad hair day. My mother and Sarah are constantly and infuriatingly telling me how 'cute' I am in them. Winter days aren't complete without a furry beret, and Summer means cowboy hats and trucker caps for days on the beach. I almost have more hats than belts and...

7. Heels. My life would be incomplete without asserting my 6ft2 authority in heels over ~~small, inconsequential men~~ people on a night out. I love being tall (it's only taken 21 years of stooping to realize this) and I love wearing heels. Ironically, being as tall as a guy is one of the few times I feel like a girl. I don't, however, like the sound of my ankles snapping or the severe knee bruising I seem to gain from wearing them. One day I shall be elegant. One day.

8. Horoscopes. I read mine every day. I am the quintessential firey Aries, born in the Tiger sign - let me give you a little taste of Katie (idea stolen from Melisa...thanks for that!)
Because I am an Aries, this means I am:
Headstrong, passionate, opinionated, courageous, selfish, assertive, restless and impulsive, competitive, open minded and a natural leader.
I have a great need for freedom, a quick tongue, find it hard to show feelings of weakness, love adventures and making friends, have a short attention span and don't like losing.

Yep. Think that's me in a nutshell, really. If you believe in star signs as I do, then as an Aries, my best friend should be a Sagittarius (Sarah) and my ~~future husband~~ lover a Leo (Cam). My mother is also an Aries; we butt heads quite a lot, and my poor Virgo brother didn't cope so well with the high energy all the time in our household.

9. High Rise Buildings. Because I'm a country girl through and through, I still get a jolt of excitement when I visit big cities - there's this sort of electrifying feeling of anonymity and excitement; no one knows your name, and there's so many hidden places to explore and adventures to be had. I love sitting at Starbucks with my big sunnies on, people watching and wondering about the tiny fragments of life I'm seeing as someone walks by; where they're going and who they really are, all the while with the beautiful backdrop of huge architectural monstrosities. I love that feeling of being so small next to such amazingly big buildings.

10. Happiness. I know it's pretty close to my Happy Ending section, but I mean in a whole other way. Those random moments every day that make you pause for a second and smile. I've no idea what 'real' happiness is; I'd like to think I've got a few years to figure that all out. But in the meantime, I love those tiny flashes of 'this is what it's all about'. Simple, everyday things like a text message from my mum about one of our longstanding jokes that no one would understand, a paw in the face from Sahara when she's in a silly mood or a handmade card arriving in the mail. Then there's those somethings that I'll never, ever forget, like seeing everything I felt reflected in Cams eyes as we swam in the pool in a tropical downpour in the dark on one of the most amazing days I can remember. There's always a glimmer of hope when you have those happy flashes, and I hope that I'm a little bit a part of other peoples happiness each day.

...*breathes a sigh of relief*
It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Whatcha think - are they all valid "H's"?

3 Things.

2009-02-11T09:49:00.002+11:00

I've been having trouble signing into Blogger. As a result, I've got the next two days of my Vanuatu diary awaiting publication, but first, I thought I'd do a bit of a news brief.

Firstly, and most excitingly, I got accepted into my Diploma of Professional Writing & Editing course. I managed to skip through the induction process due to having been pre-accepted into the course previously before I flew off to England to 'find myself'. Funnily enough, the course co-ordinator (whom I met at a poetry reading at an Irish pub and shared some Guiness with a few months back) had just returned from Vanuatu himself, so the enrollment process took slightly longer as we had a merry old natter about Cascade Waterfalls and the like (which y'all can read about on Day 3!) As a result, I start my first class - Journalism - in...well, in 3 hours. Yay!

Secondly, to the fires. I've had a so many emails, and a couple of comments asking how things are going - in general, they're awful. Horrific story upon even more devastating story emerge about girls my age dying trying to save their horses, children burning to death in cars trying to leave their homes - everyone you talk to knows someone who has died, and many people who have lost their homes. On a more personal note, many of Chef's workmates have lost homes, friends and family; his own brother is still out fighting the worst fire in Bunyip. I have several school friends who are currently working 14-20 hours a day fighting to contain the fires only 30 minutes away my hometown, as well as acquaintances who lived in the town that has been completely destroyed. I still haven't heard if they and their horses are alive. My mother is fine; and the smoke has cleared from around her house.

And although I don't know exactly how I feel about my him, spare a thought for my father. He has been deployed to the worst fire zone with his Army unit to drive tanks, bulldozers and heavy machinery to attempt containment lines, back-burn and to try and reopen roads and escape routes. He is also doing body retrieval; some soldiers are finding up to six bodies per day. I can't comprehend how horrific that must be, and I simply can't think of a more gruesome task.

Thirdly, on a brighter note (although still deeply upsetting). A certain someone with whom I recently flew to Vanuatu with is flying off again soon - minus me. Which is fine. Absolutely fine. Until I discovered when and where he was going. He was originally going to be away for my birthday, but fortunately he is (hopefully) able to make his trip the next day. This was the good news. The bad? He's off to the place in the world I most want to see, and would do anything to do so. The one city I've longed to see, for as long as I can recall. Home of my favorite person; Carrie Bradshaw, of Central Park where I've always wanted to walk, to the Chrysler Building I've always wanted to see the view from, Barneys and Bergdorf and Save Karyn and ice hockey and...

Yep, he's off to New York.

*sobs into the keyboard*