November 22nd, 2009
88 Degrees! POSTED AT 06:14 AM I think that instead of doing my school work (You can shove it up your arse) that I should be watching the Black Books episode where Manny watches the thermometre because he is worried the temp is going to get up to 88°F. It's comedy gold! and would make anyone feel better about a sticky summer's day. Meanwhile, even more funny is that 88°F is only 31°C. Oh the British and their pussy weather. Makes you wonder how they ever managed to colonise this place! I've been watching the temps all day. Pen gave Mark a digital mini-weather station for his 30th and we had that set up, plus my Vista widget and Google weather. It's 10pm and it has only just started to drop. We are now down to 28°C. Significantly less dreadful than 40°C but still not cool enough for me to switch my a/c off.
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November 22nd, 2009
Summer Days POSTED AT 03:08 AM in EKG Temps around 40°C today, yesterday, and the day before. Needless to say, it has been hot. Hot enough for watermelon and refrigerated grapes for lunch. Witled leaves on our Navelina. We all feel wilted. The beagles have dug holes beneath shrubs under the verandah - big, beagle-shaped holes. E demolished a milk ice block after dinner tonight in no time at all. It feels like it is going to be a long, hot summer. I'm not a fan of the heat but I do enjoy some summer things: mangoes, watermelon, summer fruits, frozen margaritas, lazy nights on the verandah, swimming, reading, Christmas, not going to work :) In that spirit, we took E to the beach this afternoon after we went and saw my friend Kathryn's new baby Sophie (she's so cute and chubby!!). The water felt so icy after being in such thick heat. E loved it, and Mark and I loved playing with her in it. I love the feel of the salt water - it is better than chloric pool water, or salted pool water - true, beachy salt water is thick and gloriously cool. It was lovely to feel refreshed for a moment. And in that vein, I'm off to sit outside (it is down to 36, at 7:30pm) and drink iced lemon cordial, till I feel sufficiently warm enough to return to the air conditioning.
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November 21st, 2009
Work End of Year Dinner/ Birthdays/ Shopping POSTED AT 07:04 AM Work Christmas Party tonight. Minus all the good Christmas festivities because it is only November and they wanted to celebrate early, so we had an End of Year Dinner. Ho hum. I was bored. I think Mark was bored too. Here's what happened. It was semi-formal. So I had to go and buy a dress *groan*. Nothing fit my boobs and when something did fit, it was way too short (as seems to be the fashion). In any case, I ended up with a long, white dress that had black horizontal, jagged stripes. It was comfy and I didn't look too shabby. It was from Jacqui E though, and with the cardi to match (cover my arms) it was around $200. It was at a church conference centre and was private and dimly lit. That was nice. Kinda intimate but it also meant there was nowhere to hide. Mark and I sat at an empty table but the guys on staff waved us over to come and sit with them. We did, but only for a minute before I decided that it wasn't a good idea to sit with people who 1) Might muck up too much, and 2) require effort to interact with all night. I love the guys on staff but they really are a bit of a boys' club who like to be entertaining, and I just wanted to sit with some easy-going, less-effort conversations. So we moved back and ended up with a lovely mixed table of support/literacy staff, me, a primary teacher and the maintence guy (he and his wife were a hoot!). The food was average. Two options for each course. Entree: caesar salad / calamari rings. Main: fish/ beef. Dessert: Lemon tart w/ mango/ cheesecake w/ mango. I wasn't impressed. It filled me but I wouldn't rave about it. And that was pretty much it. We talked to a few, mingled a little. Left at 10pm. Came home to a sleeping baby and my parents happily watching telly. I'm glad they could babysit but I really could have done without the effort of going out tonight. Today was busy. My niece Lara's 1st birthday party took up our mid/late afternoon. Prior to this, Mark, E and I made the made dash into town to go to Toys R Us and buy Lara a little Pooh Bear couch. She loved it so it was worth the effort.
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November 18th, 2009
My Little Character! POSTED AT 03:30 AM in EKG Our little E is adorable and mischievous. This afternoon she was playing quietly with her dolls, and Mark and I were just sitting around interacting with her, when she stops what she is doing, gets up and heads to the fridge. At the same time, the dogs, or something else - I'm not even sure what - caught our attention and we didn't immediately notice what she was up to. I turn around and she has two fish-fingers out of an open box in one hand, and the oven door in the other, and was saying, "Oven. Cooking" looking so assured that she was just going about the business of cooking fish-fingers. Luckily, we can switch our oven off at the wall so she couldn't actually start cooking, but even so, she was determined to cook and eat said fish fingers! Later, right after we got home from a swim and just before dinner, I sent E into the laundry to chuck a dirty tea towel in the washing pile. She loves getting little jobs and so I am always letting her troop around the house putting shoes at the front door, toys away, washing in the laundry etc. She took a little while to come back, so I went in - expecting to see her stuffing dirty clothes into the dryer (she thinks she can wash in it). Instead, I walked in just as her little finger pushed the start button on my washing machine and kicked off a 2hr 30min cotton wash cycle. Gah!! Ordinarily, I switch the machine off at the wall after a load finishes - a preventative measure to stop little fingers causing trouble. But, in this instance, I had put the load on before swimming (a load of towels) and hadn't quite gotten around to emptying it and tidying up. So now my towels are going to quite possibly be stiff and very clean. *sigh* What can I say? She's cute and we LOVE her. :)
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November 17th, 2009
Tori Amos - Sydney Opera House (Nov 16th 2009) POSTED AT 03:57 AM Penny and I made the trip down the freeway last night to see Tori Amos play at the Sydney Opera House. My dear friend Margaret had hooked us up with tickets. This was especially wonderful for me because Margaret gave me my ticket as a 30th birthday present!! I had a delightful night. E was safe at home with Mark and I was free to enjoy the time out. (Even more free as I actually finished my reports for work before we left.) We dined at a cafe on Circular Quay. A simple dinner that, halfway through, was washed out by the beginning of a harbour storm. We were sitting just out form the umbrella and got rained on a bit before we squished our table in underneath. It was refreshing rain after a sweltering hot day, and I didn't mind in the least. Dinner was animated with gentle banter and catch-up conversation and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Tori was definitely wonderful, and completely worth the trip to Sydney. I was entranced. She has this presence on stage: strong, sexy, stunning. Just Tori and the piano and the music resounded and filled me - I could feel it wrap around me, soak into me, move through me. During the 'Lizard Lounge' I was lulled away to this magical wonderful place. There were other moments of pure elation! Blood Roses was delicious. Here in my Head an exciting old favourite. Leather - seductive and oh so sexy. Take to the Sky - Tori sang Take to the Sky! It was simply stunning. I was so pleased to hear some Under the Pink too - though slightly disappointed that she didn't play Icicle. My only other twinge of disappointment came from her lack of interaction with the audience. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that she managed as many songs as she did, but I really enjoy the chat that comes with a live concert (I remember going to Carole King and feeling like I'd just spent an evening talking with her. Oh! While I think of it, Tori fluttered off into a bit of "I Feel the Earth Move" actually, and that was just delightful). Even so, it was a sensational night!
Setlist from Undented.
Lizard Lounge:
Encore:
--- One final touch, to add to the story. We left the Opera House carpark at 11:15pm and usually it takes around two-hours to get home. Usually. Just after we crossed the Harbour Bridge, Pen missed the exit we'd ordinarily take to head to the F3 to Newcastle and instead - we drove along the M2 (!) to Pennant Hills Rd and (FINALLY) onto the F3 one hour later. Aye! Only with Penny ! :) This got us home at around 2am. We of course, added a bit more time to our journey when we stopped at the twin Caltexes so Penny could eat a McDonalds meal at 1am! :) God love her.
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November 14th, 2009
Christmas Shopping... POSTED AT 07:46 PM in EKG I am yet to get on top of my school work but am pleased to have made it to the Markets this morning. We got E a little pine table and chairs set. It's hand-made - really solid - and I'm very impressed with it. It was $150 for the table and four chairs. It needs a coat of lacquer but I can easily do that before Christmas. Plus, it was cheaper than all the flimsy ply-wood and plastic ones in the shops. Yay for the markets! :) |
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November 14th, 2009
Stress POSTED AT 03:33 AM I think I might actually be feeling very stressed. Generally, I manage stress pretty well but at the moment I feel like I am living on a tightrope. I have this horrible pulsating feeling in my throat every so oft, followed by a choking sensation. I am having nightmares everynight and I feel really uneasy, even when resting. I spent this morning alone in the house doing catch-up school work. I got through maybe a third of it in the couple of hours Mark and E were out. I spent the afternoon swimming with E before mowing the front lawn and doing a little bit of weeding. I don't mind mowing and weeding occasionally. It's nice to smell the fresh cut grass and dirt. I put the sprinkler on afterwards and got that nice wet grass smell going. While Mark put E to bed, I sat on the back verandah with the beagles. The evening was perfect for it. Quiet, still, a nice mild temperature. The outlook is great at the moment - very green, lots of wallaby Mummies with their little babies bouncing along. Black cockatoos causing a ruckus at a water well. I got lots of beagley-love and spent a good half-hour just sitting, sipping apple juice, resting. My heart pounded the entire time and I don't really feel like I benefited from the time-out. The kitchen is a dark mess. The house feels gritty and Mark has disappeared into his study and that makes me anxious. I don't feel like I have enough time to get on top of this school work, let alone manage the housework as well. E is still not having great nights, and add my own state of health into the mix and I feel quite awful. Shabby. very shabby indeed. |
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November 13th, 2009
Calamity Mark! POSTED AT 03:37 PM in EKG I went to work yesterday and because Mum was still sick, I had Mark stay home and look after E. When I got home my poor little darling had a bruise on her left eyebrow, a split lip and was keen for Mummy cuddles! It's not that Daddy was neglectful in his duties (apparently) it's just that she's "too quick". She put her tooth through her lip when she slipped while trying to kiss dolly. She slipped and hit her head on the bathtub when Mark let her try to get up unassisted from the potty. Later on, it rained and Mark didn't close the windows in time and E also slipped on a wet patch on the lino. Gah. Any wonder she was glad to see me when I got home! ---- Meanwhile, in completely unrelated news, my friend Kath had her second baby yesterday at 9:41am, Sophie Kate. I'm so excited for her. She had her first baby when I had E, and we've been close ever since we were both up-chucking in the work toilets together. :) |
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