serenade

Golden glow
Originally uploaded by catmadogma.

New world forming
Picturesque in its stance
Midnight calling
Moonlight shadows start to dance

For the dark finds ways of being
Engraved in the light
And the heart bears indentations
Of yesterdays hurting child
The now we will run with smiles
The morrow will heal the night so
Morning comes
Midnight make fast with the sun
I can hear my name be reborn
On the cloud within the sky beneath the dawn

Oh I
Serenade the dawn
Serenade the dawn
Serenade the dawn

Serenade - Emiliana Torrini

aftermath

Well, its all over... Christmas 2006 over already!
Flew by too fast for my liking. It seemed like I arrived, and had to leave again... Ah, I need a holiday!
Thanks everyone for all your gifts! (And for looking after Y's sister so well, she really enjoyed it up there..)
So, on with the news. Y is coming out next week!! He finally booked, and like I said, he would decide at the last minute if he was going to come out for mango season or not... So, booked a flight arriving next Thursday, and staying for around 10 days all up. I know its not long, but its better than nothing. The only slight complication, is he may have an allergy to bees/wasps... which is not exactly the best thing you could have when you want to pick mangoes!!! We don't know for sure, but will try and get some sort of medication just in case.
Work is still busy, even though its Christmas/New Year. A little annoying. Never seem to get a break here.. but I wouldn't really have it any other way... *shrug* And geez it will be hard to leave this place. Its hard to imagine not working here to be honest....

Anyway, onto more jovial things. :) Y sent through this picture today, a look-a-like (apparently):

What do you think?? (I think it could be just the fact that she has glasses..) She is Italian/American/Japanese... I tracked her down, her name is Angela Aki. I checked out her music, its quite good... Going to have to remember her name.
;)

awwwwww

My boss, Ian, rang me on Monday, to ask if he could forward a resume through to a school in Japan for me... He used to work there as a teacher, and actually they are our sister school. (Well, sister/enemy. When we first opened we were Shane Global Village, and then we dropped the Shane part, Shane got ditched, and now we are just Global Village, which is actually a lot better. Because who the heck is Shane??) Anyway, he wanted to send my resume through to them for me, to help out. Very sweet...
But wait until you read what he wrote. Managed to make me feel incredibly good about my work, and incredibly guilty at the same time... :/ I will miss these guys....

Now, out of the 100 or so staff we have between Noosa and Brisbane, Liz is about as good as I've ever seen. She is sharp as a tack, completely proficient in all areas of her position and puts more into her job than anyone else I know. I think the world of her and am very, very disappointed that she's leaving. If we ever manage to wrestle her away from Japan, we'd have her back in a second.
I think she'd be an exceptional teacher and I think she'd be a real asset for Shane in Chugoku. As an aside, I also think she'd be superb in any admin roles you have floating around - perhaps something to think about for the future.
I've attached her resume with this, and while I know she falls a little outside the normal recruitment requirements I think she's too good to miss. Let me know if you're interested in her and I can help out from this end. I'd be very happy if this were the first teacher we found for you, though I make no claims that the next one will be as good!

miss liz

Well, my in-class component of my Certificate IV in TESOL is complete!! Woo hoo!!
It was pretty full-on; I had classes from 6pm til 10pm last Wednesday to Friday, and then classes all day Saturday and Sunday, 9am til 6pm... So, you can imagine, I am pretty relieved to have that finished.
The course itself though was actually pretty fun. It was very involved and interactive, there was never really a dull moment. I didn't find myself clock-watching at all.. which I was really surprised at. I think all the other students were surprised about that too.
Even got to prepare a sample lesson, we had an adult beginner class, learning Present Simple for habits... ie. Every morning I drive to work.
It went well, I got some pretty good feedback, (apparently I'm a very smiley teacher.. hahahahahahaha). And yeah... I'm actually pretty surprised, there were a couple of things I could have done better, nerves get the better of you sometimes... but I was not BRIGHT RED or dripping buckets... which i was quite pleased about, and yeah, felt quite confident. I think it will be easier to teach a group of people that are actually learning English, rather than learning how to be a teacher.
So, now, the rest of the course. I have to complete 8 elective courses, which are all online, so I can do them whenever I want. And the other major part is my practical teaching... *ominous music*
The practical teaching part is 20 hours, but only 3 hours of actual lessons, the rest of those hours are spent doing observations and lesson planning... So I guess its not so bad... but still. Work has already lined me up doing all the prac here, which is handy, I know all the students and its a comfortable environment...
I will think about that later, when I actually have to do it. For now, I am taking a little break from TESOL, at least for a day or so...
I've asked to take Tuesday off work, so that I can get some of my Christmas shopping done and catch up on sleep, cleaning etc. etc. So, looking forward to tomorrow!

zoom zoom

Well:

PRODUCTS PURCHASED:

FLIGHT DETAILS
------------------------------------------------
Galileo Booking Reference : XXXXXX

Flight : Qantas Airways QF798 (Economy Class)

Departing : Brisbane at 7:00 AM on Wednesday
: Brisbane Airport 28/02/2007
Arriving : Cairns at 9:20 AM on Wednesday
: Cairns Airport 28/02/2007

Flight : Qantas Airways QF113 (Economy Class)

Departing : Cairns at 12:35 PM on Wednesday
: Cairns Airport 28/02/2007
Arriving : Osaka at 7:10 PM on Wednesday
: Kansai International Airport 28/02/2007

------------------------------------------------

It's all booked... I'm off to Japan, 28 February 2007. Write that down in your diaries!
:)

coming together

From a whirlwind, things are settling into place...

- started on the visa application
- will be booking a flight soon
- studying TESOL
- will do prac teaching, and classes soon
- still saving money
- still studying Japanese

Still whirling around, but getting everything together...
Need to get some more stability, but getting there.

advent

Its the first day of December, I hope you have all got your advent calendars out! I went out and bought a little wooden Christmas Tree, that has all these tiny sweet decorations that hang off it. It isn't an advent calendar, but I am going to use it as one... Everyday I will hang a new decoration on the tree. The decorations are tiny, and they look German and just like the decorations we hang on our Christmas Tree. I would upload a picture of it, but my photographic skills are just not quite good enough to take a picture of it... Want to take a closeup shot of the decorations...
What about everyone else? Do we all have advent calendars up?? :)

cross that off the list

*sigh*
Well, at least thats over and done with! We've just said goodbye to a group of agents that came all the way from Japan to have a whirlwind look at our school, trying to impress them. Frantically running around making sure everything looks good, that we say the right things, and that we impress them. Basically, a lot of stress for a 2 hour visit!!
Let me tell you, marketing is such a load of crap sometimes. You have to be so fake!!
But, its all over now...

One thing down, now I can move on.
Things are starting to bear down on me. I just realised how little time it is until Christmas already... which means I gotta start thinking of ideas for presents!! (Any ideas would be greatly appreciated... ;))
Then I also started the teaching course just last week. Doing a Certificate IV in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Thats not so bad, its really quite easy so far... but the problem is, I realised that not next week, but the week after, I will be doing my practical!!! CRAP! I am supposed to have finished one of the courses before then, which is a little hard a the moment...
Due to the fact that from tomorrow, or Friday, or Saturday or Sunday, (sometime) Y's sister will be arriving in Brisbane! So I will be rather busy showing her around the place I call home... Showing her the sights, and being a good hostess.
Plus there is the Japanese study... But I guess, having Y's sister here will be a good opportunity for me to practice... (Just have to get over the embarrassment about speaking Japanese to a native speaker).
I also have to start working out things for this impending shift to Japan. Talking visa's, tickets, insurance, what to do about work, and everything else....

So, I'm taking baby steps. Writing countless lists of things I have to do. Seriously. I write a list of things every morning, working out what I have to do today... Hahah!
Speaking of which... what did I have to get done today?????

drool

I've fallen in love with a pair of shoes.
:)
I've been looking for a new pair of shoes for work, because the ones I have now are falling apart, have a huge crack in the bottom of the sole. You can actually see the bottom of my foot, hehe. So, its time for a new pair of work shoes.
Do you know how difficult it is to find a good pair of shoes that are flat, black, mary jane style, or ballet style, that look good and don't have these stupid tassels or annoying decorations or pointy toes? Due to fashion at the moment, d-i-f-f-i-c-u-l-t!
And I browsed around the shops today, looking looking looking.
*ding*
Found a pair... Tried them on and they fit perfectly. Look good with my work clothes, very sweet looking, could wear them with jeans too.
But then I looked at the price tag....
WOWSERS! They cost a fortune!! Not $100, no, not $200, not $250, but $295!!
Spent about a minute trying to justify the price. "If I'm wearing them everyday it will be worth it in the end"; "There are no other shoes around"; "They are very cute...."; "I r-e-a-l-l-y like them" etc. etc.
Ah, but in the end, I put the shoes down. Picked up my wallet and walked out of the store. :*(
Very responsible of me, but I can't get them out of my head!

Aren't they adorable??! ;)

will it be??

Snow-vember!! Yes, that is real snow in November in AUSTRALIA!!

And not just light snow either. This is Mount Baw Baw, and they had 30cm overnight. (During the entire snow season this year, they only received 50cm!!) So, in one night they had almost as much as an entire season.

5 and a half weeks to Christmas, and there is snow falling over here! Will it be a "White Christmas"?? Wouldn't that be amazing!

Freak weather activity over here lately, snow, record high temperatures, bushfires and hail storms! Yesterday we had a freak storm, hail and strong winds, ripped roofs off houses, and was over in 10 minutes flat.
A sign of things to come?

I tell ya, if it means we get to have snow at Christmas time, bring it on! ;)

weekend antics

Things I learnt over the weekend:

1). I cannot sing... Okay, I already knew that. But I really c-a-n'-t sing. We had a bit of a celebration on Friday night for one of the people I work with who is getting married, (actually got married yesterday). Anyway, we had a big night on Friday. It began with champagne and wine, then we went to a Karaoke club. Ever seen one of those? Well, let me explain. Basically, you rent out a room, and inside the room is a Karaoke machine, and some couches and a table. So the idea is, you drink a lot, and sing (very badly). Haha... Drinking is the key, so get some more drinks; beer, and then a tequila, then some more beer. Then you can just let loose. I did a particularly fantastic version of Bohemian Rhapsody. And I must say I am particularly good at the rock out part!! ;) HAHAHA (In fact, I'm so good at not singing, that I actually lost my voice!! I think my idea of singing is raising my voice, people would probably call that yelling.. hahah)

2). Eating croissants and strawberries by the river is a good way to start a Sunday. G & I went to the Riverside markets on Sunday morning, which are actually pretty good compared to the other markets around. All these fresh fruit and veg stalls, and fresh baked breads, real French crepes, and Greek baked sweets... yummo!

3). Good Food and Wine Shows are great! Get to taste test lots of different wines, some beer and some food, but mainly the wine and the beer. G and I went a little late on Sunday afternoon, and man, we should have gone earlier!! Free samples!! Fantastic... And you could really pick out the people that had been there all day, they were walking through Southbank with their wine glasses (you have to buy a wine glass for all the sampling) and giggling... haha. I must say, we did pretty well in the hour and a half that we had there to get affected as we were. Hehehe.

Hilarious.

float on

and we'll all float on okay,
originally uploaded by diarmuid2006.

And we'll all float on alright

Already we'll all float on

Now don't worry we'll all float on

Alright already we'll all float on

Alright don't worry we'll all float on

high and mighty

Ah geez, get off your high-horse!

We have a new database here at work, well we will in a few weeks, and I have been put in charge of creating the templates for this new database. (insert joyous sounds here) (insert rolling eyes here). I've been having a bit of difficulty creating receipt templates, the new program doesn't create them the way that we need them set out for our various clients. I decide that I should ask the support team if it is possible to create them the way we need them, and send off an email.
Now, the person that is in charge of support questions for this program is a right pratt. He treats everyone like dirt, and thinks that he is No. 1. I don't like sending emails to him, because frankly, I can't stand the way he replies.
For example: I ask him how to create a template for a receipt that details how we can have gross amount, less commission, and a nett amount received, as per the receipt which I have attached to the email.
He writes back to me and says: What are you talking about in the receipt. Be specific.
Ahh... I thought I was specific. Anyway, I write back and tell him again what I need to create.
He replies and begins with "an overview so that I can understand the terms he uses". BLAH BLAH BLAH I've learnt all this stuff already. And he goes on and on about all these things that this program can do, which I already know! All I need to know is if it is possible to create the receipt like we want it, gross, less commission, nett received...and this email goes on and on and on and on and not once does he give me an answer to the question I asked. No mention of anything regarding what I wanted to do.
FRUSTRATING
Attached to the email, is two templates, apparently, one is a nett receipt, and the other is a gross receipt. But, on opening them, they are both EXACTLY the same!!
And to top it off, now this is the pièce de résistance, he ends the email like this: "I hope this helps and gives you a broader perspective that from our experience better answers your need."
WHAT THE?!?!
Such a PRATT!!!
;)

talking only me and you

"talking only me and you, talking only me and you (insert whistling here)"
There is this song out, by these guys, Peter, Bjorn and John, and it is SOOOO catchy!
Its not an annoying catchy, well, it could get annoying, if I keep singing it... but at the moment, I'm liking it. :)
Quite happy go lucky really... lots and lots of whistling! I heard somebody whistling it today, here at work. Well, they were in the lift and they were whistling this song when the lift opened to let one of our many students out. He must work in one of the floors above.

Actually, I have a funny story... I think I may have told the story about the lift doors opening one day, and as some of our students got out, and I normally would say: "Good morning", the rest of the people in the lift (that were going to other floors) said before I got a chance: "Good morning!"
Well, last week I had to go to the post office quite late in the afternoon. So off I go, to the post office, and coming back, waiting for a lift on the ground floor... 'DING, Ah, here is the lift!' Lift doors open, and its full of people going home... As I wait for them all to pile out, one of them says: "Seeya Liz!"
*Stunned face*
Ah... how did you know my name? Who are you??
It was somebody that works on one of the floors above... Freaky! They know my name now too!
Yes, I am quite famous over here! For example, on Friday night, we went out for a few drinks after work, and we walked past the bar that is downstairs, and a woman stopped me and asked me if I work on Level 6... uh, yes I do.
I work on one of the floors above you, and I am just wondering if they annoy you as much as they annoy me?
Ah, sorry, what are you referring to? (Oh god, here we go again)
The people that study at your school! They're always scuffing their feet, and they walk along in big groups and don't move out of the way, and they're always scuffing their feet, and they press the lift buttons, and they don't pick up their feet when they walk.
Ahh, yeah... right. (Can't believe she has such a big problem with people that scuff their feet!)
I mean, I don't mean to be racist, but they're always scuffing their feet. And I just wanted to know if you get tired of them too.
Ah, yeah, sure, sometimes. Anyway, gotta go now, seeya! (leave me alone)
Damn being the face of Level 6, damn being the face of our building!!
Hahaha... ah.. the joy of it all!
*whistle whistle whistle*
Anyway, check out this song! Its called: Young Folks. This is their myspace site: Peter Bjorn and John :)

giggles

Ears! Ears! Ears!,
originally uploaded by ComebackCupcake!.

Random puppy happiness!

sleepy princess

So tired today. Woke up last night, to the high-pitched yapping of Carlton, one of the dogs upstairs. Started early in the morning barking at something, or possibly nothing, and kept going until my alarm went off this morning.
Yap yap yap yap yap YAP YAP YAP YAP
Right above my bedroom. Piercing through the wooden floors, unable to be ignored. Yes, the owners are away again. There is someone that is staying in the guest bedroom, looking after the place and the dogs, but (lucky for him) he can sleep through Carlton's barking. I unfortunately was not sleeping as heavily as I normally do.
*yawn*
I could quite easily curl up under my desk and fall asleep... Ah, it looks so comfortable down there.

tempest

thunder storm moves on —
once more the songs of sparrows
in the pines

blast from the past

The book I'm reading at the moment, is about a high-school reunion. A group of high-school friends meet 20 years after their graduation... And the weirdest thing happened to me this morning, I ran into someone I knew from high-school!
I went into one of the coffee shops that I usually get my morning caffeine hit from, and joined the end of the line, I turned around to adjust my bag on my shoulder and he was standing right behind me! Woah... He didn't recognise me, (must be the glasses.. heheh). Gave me all the goss on everybody from up there. Turns out most of the guys that were previously living up there, have moved down here to Brisbane! And that explains the run in I had the other week, walking around on my lunch break, I saw this guy out of the corner of my eye that looked remarkably like someone else I went to high-school with, I didn't go over and talk to him, but it turns out it was him...
Isn't it strange when you run into people from high-school or school? Its like, chat chat chat about people you remember... and then yeah.. move on...... heheh

little miss sunshine

Everyone...pretend to be normal!

G and I went to the movies last night, watched one of the funniest movies I have seen for a long time. Little Miss Sunshine.
Definitely have to recommend it to everyone... :)
I won't rave about it, because that tends to work against movies sometimes. When you hear a lot of hype about a movie, people saying how hilarious it is and then you get in there thinking its going to have you in hysterics the whole way through, and it turns out its not funny at all... So, yes, none of that here. Just a recommendation... to watch it if you get a chance.

its begining to look a lot like ???

Feeling a little bit happy, a little bit excited.. Got a secret smile on my dial! I've had my little spat, and now things are going well again.

Secret smile, because its coming.... ;) What you ask??

CHRISTMAS!!!!
I got a little flutter when I walked through the shopping centre today and saw all the Christmas decorations out, all red and green and sparkly and holidayish... :D I loooooOOOOOOve Christmas!

My favourite time of year... And its just around the corner!! HURRAH!!!!
A little early to get excited, but there is just so much to look forward to... :)

its all good

Haha, okay, thanks for all your worries and thoughts.. I am really fine. You know me, I've always had that "ever thinking brain" thing going on. Always thinking, tick tick tick. I just have times when I start to fret and things get too much. Its a bit like a kettle or something... I'm bubbling away quite happily, and then sometimes, I'll just boil over and start shrieking! Then after I've had my little freak out session, I calm down again, and things go back to normal.
Its all good... No worries anymore!!!

damn my ticking mind

Ah... thinking too much again, giving myself headaches. Or maybe its my eyesight, or perhaps it was the lack of coffee yesterday... But I put it down to thinking too much.
It happens quite regularly. Pounding headaches above behind my eyes, forehead area. Like someone stabbing my head or something... Should probably get it checked out... but agh, that means going to the doctor!!

Worrying a little, stressing a little, thinking too much...
*sigh*

black friday

The name "Friday" was derived from a Norse deity worshipped on the sixth day, known either as Frigg (goddess of marriage and fertility), or Freya (goddess of sex and fertility), or both, the two figures having become intertwined in the handing-down of myths over time (the etymology of "Friday" has been given both ways). Frigg/Freya corresponded to Venus, the goddess of love of the Romans, who named the sixth day of the week in her honor "dies Veneris."

Friday was actually considered quite lucky by pre-Christian Teutonic peoples, we are told — especially as a day to get married — because of its traditional association with love and fertility. All that changed when Christianity came along. The goddess of the sixth day — most likely Freya in this context, given that the cat was her sacred animal — was recast in post-pagan folklore as a witch, and her day became associated with evil doings.

Various legends developed in that vein, but one is of particular interest: As the story goes, the witches of the north used to observe their sabbath by gathering in a cemetery in the dark of the moon. On one such occasion the Friday goddess, Freya herself, came down from her sanctuary in the mountaintops and appeared before the group, who numbered only 12 at the time, and gave them one of her cats, after which the witches' coven — and, by tradition, every properly-formed coven since — comprised exactly 13.

* Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla. Loki, the Evil One, god of mischief, had been left off the guest list but crashed the party, bringing the total number of attendees to 13. True to character, Loki raised hell by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to attack Balder the Good, who was a favorite of the gods. Hod took a spear of mistletoe offered by Loki and obediently hurled it at Balder, killing him instantly. All Valhalla grieved. And although one might take the moral of this story to be "Beware of uninvited guests bearing mistletoe," the Norse themselves apparently concluded that 13 people at a dinner party is just plain bad luck.

* More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor. Many airports skip the 13th gate. Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.

* Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose.

* The Turks so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged from their vocabulary (Brewer, 1894).

* If you have 13 letters in your name, it is said you will have the devil's luck (Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names).

Enjoy your Black Friday and all its mystery! ;)

baker's delight

I feel like baking today... I don't care what. But baking something. Cakes, or cookies, or muffins, or cheesecakes, or tarts or something. I feel like creating something yummy scrummy for peoples tummies!! ;)

Any suggestions? Requests?

I of course, would not be able to bake them, seeing as I'm stuck here at work. But its fun thinking about what I could bake... heh.

wicked witch of the west

That's me, the wicked witch of the west. We have an English Only Policy at school, (all students have to speak English while they are in school, or face consequences). Most of our students have been terrible lately with the English Only...and as a consequence, I have had to become the wicked witch of the west and tell them to get off the computers this afternoon. Its pretty hard to enforce, if we catch them speaking any other language they have to either: 1) wash dishes; 2) write an essay; or in my case 3) have the computer access switched off for the rest of the afternoon. I get the joy of the last one, because my desk is situated right in front of the computer area. And I hear them all day... most of the time I tell them a couple of times to speak English only, and give them warnings. I've only ever turned the computers off twice.

I don't like doing it. It makes me feel like a right cow for doing it... but its something we have to do on orders from our Managing Director.

*groan*

Its the worst part of my job... telling students to speak English. I sometimes wish I had a little pyschic ability to zap them everytime they spoke Korean/ Portugese/ Spanish/ Japanese/ Italian/ Hungarian/ Taiwanese/ Thai/ German/ French. Heheh... that would be fun! hahahaha!

;)

sofi?

Monday morning, a little difficult to get out of bed and come to work. Not too many new students this morning, so its not crazy busy or anything... But, one of the students, my god, she looks EXACTLY like Sofi from Howl's Moving Castle!

I am not kidding. She is a 61 year old French woman, and is a splitting image of Sofi from Howls Moving Castle. (Of course when she gets turned into the old woman). Exactly the same... I have to stop myself from staring at her too much, but its so weird. Its like she was the basis for the character design or something!

She is of course, from now on, going to be referred to as Sofi...

spirit flight

in flight,
originally uploaded by detroit am.

I can hear the planes flying over my house, coming or going I don't know, but all I can think about is leaving.

Fly away... fly away to be together again.

idle

A little bored, a little slothful... Ok, so there are things i COULD be doing, but I am feeling a little lazy, so putting them off. Well, to be totally honest, I need to get the boss to check somethings before I can actually start the other things, and well, she's not here. So that is a pretty good excuse right?
;)

Spending my morning doing small bursts of work, and then longer bursts of not-work! Haha... Looking things up, playing around, exploring flickr, writing in my blog, creating lists. You get the picture.

List of things I could be doing:
* Just not being at work
* Reading my book
* Buying a new Japanese textbook
* Studying the newly bought Japanese textbook
* Looking at, and possibly purchasing new clothes for work
* Being a beach girl (Yes, I don't know whats come over me, but I suddenly have this urge to go to the beach all the time...)
* Playing with a dog
* Writing a letter
* Baking
* Watching a movie
* Cleaning my house
* Washing my towels
* Hmm.. anything!

Mulberry cravings

Mulberry,
originally uploaded by nini Tsai.

I feel like mulberries!! Yum yum yum! It just came over me then.. this wave of mulberry craving. I want I want I want!! ;)

I remember walking down to the mulberry bush at home and trying desperately to get them through the lantena. Mulberry stains all over our clothes and hands... ah! Using them as lipstick!! Heheh. And trying really hard not to think about grubs in them when you bite into them!

Wish I had a mulberry tree....

be delicious

Oh boy! A shiny red apple to match the shiny green apple!!
A new release to match my favourite big brand perfume. Its called Red Delicious, and you know, it matches my glasses.. ;) Hehe. Smells like Red Delicious apples too...
I saw an ad in a magazine a couple of weeks ago for the new one, and I just had to try it out... Went into Myer on my lunch break to track it down and test it out. It smells pretty good! Appleish, just enough to make it smell good, and not too much to make it overpowering. Its just right.. ;)
Seriously considering changing my signature scent! But the problem is, I like them all!! Hahahah
Ah the dilemma...

user barred

I went to the library yesterday, for the first time in 4 years. Yes, thats right, i haven't been to the library since 2002!! University days...
Anyway, I've decided I will start taking books out of the library instead of buying them like I normally do. So, went to the counter, self-checkout counter, put in my card, and the computer did this little freak out and said: USER BARRED
*ahem*
Why?
So, off I went to the counter, thinking maybe because I haven't been to the library for so long, they cancelled my card or something. Turns out, I had an outstanding fine for not returning a book in time, of (wait for it) $0.25!! Yes, thats right, 25 cents!!! I laughed quite a lot (so did the library guy) when I found out that I had a fine of 25 cents, and they barred me for that! Talk about being strict.. heheh

roses

This is for Y... *hug*

shhh

I am all alone again.... :(

chuckle

Present for K!!

unavailable

Just a courtesy post to let you all know, that I probably won't be posting much for the next couple of weeks.
The countdown has finished, which means that Y is here!
HURRAH!

Talk to you soon!

tick tock tick tock

Guess who's counting down?? ;)

Free Countdowns at Time2Launch.com

frankly

OOoo New Frankie magazine out today! Huzzah! Its my favourite magazine these days... It always comes with this cool poster from an upcoming artist (personally, i think K should send her stuff there!). You should see this issues poster, so pretty!

I know, a magazine is a magazine, but seriously, this one is great. Full of interesting stories, real people and orginality. Honestly... Its cool.

And, I've just discovered you can download the posters as wallpapers! Nifty!

Frankie

rant rant rant rave rave rave

gallantry is back

Had to take a very large, very heavy box full of brochures to the post office this morning. A work mate and I decided we were strong enough to carry it down ourselves, the post office is only around the corner, we could carry it there no problem! Ahem, right, we got to the street and realised it was a little bit heavier than we thought... Then we started giggling and laughing, which isn't the best thing you can do when you have to carry something quite heavy. So here we were, standing on the street, laughing and trying to hold onto this parcel which was rapidly slipping out of our hands, when this knight (businessman) came up and took it from our hands. *shock* He then carried the box to the post office for us, and was going to wait in the queue with us! Very chivalrous of him...
We ended up taking the package from him though, said our thanks and he rode off into the distance, (off to the coffee shop next door).
I tried to get Fiona to go over there and buy the coffee for him, as a token of our gratitude, and secretly trying to get Fiona to introduce herself... hehe. (matchmaking) But he disappeared by the time we had finished in the post office. *damn*

Gallantry is back!

quintessence

Ahh... May I offer you a piece of advice?

Do not go into Lush when you don't have a bath to indulge in all the tempting treats they offer! Its so disappointing. They have just released all these really delicious smelling bath bombs that i want to try out, and its so annoying not having a bath!

It was such a dilemma when I moved into my current house. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the place, its fantastic, BUT, it has no bath. No bath! DISASTER! Ok, ok, so I shouldn't even be thinking about baths, seeing as we're in such a predicament with water. But, I have a real hankering for a bath at the moment. A long bath... and a good book.

The hit list (in no particular order): Marathon Bubble Bar, Still Life Bath Ballistic, Chelsea Garden Bath Ballistic, Temple of Truth Bubble Bar and Floating Island Bath Melt.
*drool drool drool*

wedding photos!

Just a little post, to let you all know that you can see some pictures from E and J's weddings on my flickr site!

I know you've all been asking for them for a while, and finally I got some...

I'm counting down until September, just 2 weeks today! 2 weeks until Y comes back! HURRAH! Very excited... :)

got my mojo back

Guess who's got her bounce back?! Me!

Feeling a lot better this morning, no headache! Yeah yeah. Finally got over the worst part of the flu, just got kick the rest of it out the window..

A lot easier to come into work this morning. And a lot easier to work! Possibly because its Saturday tomorrow, already! Its been a short week.. busy, but short.

I tell ya, we gotta get a petition to have 4 day weeks every week. And I was thinking, you could rotate it, so that one week you have a Monday or a Friday off, and the next you have the Wednesday... So you get a long weekend some weeks, and a break in the middle of the week on other weeks! Perfect! Apparently France has 4 day weeks... hmm... move to France?

Or Canada? I heard Canadians knock off work at midday on Friday, and start work at midday on Monday, so thats practically a 4 day week as well! Brilliant!

Gotta get onto that! ;)

lonely days

Feeling a bit lonely... I did end up getting that flu. It sucks! I spent all day in bed yesterday with seriously painful headaches.

Today is the Ekka holiday, so no work today either.. Which is good because i can get over this horrible flu, but I hate feeling sick like this.

Making me a little emotional which is, in turn, making me feel like everything is too much at the moment. Its all too hard today...

whistle

We're all going on a summer holiday, something something something, week or two...

Haha, okay, not going on a summer holiday. But thinking about a spring holiday, to Byron for the weekend! When Y is here... yay! Gotta get a car. It can be such a hassle trying to organise a holiday when you have to rely on public transport and your own legs! ;)

And, its whale season at the moment down there, so maybe we'll even get to see some whales or dolphins! Woo-Hoo!

Didn't get that cold by the way. Upped the fruit and vitamin c and other stuff that we all take when you start to get sick, and wah-lah! No cold/flu! Hurrah! It's going around, so I'm pretty darn glad I didn't get it...

Going home this weekend, home home. Another little mini-break!

Thats a good idea by the way, to ask Audrey first, about using her work as a tattoo. It'd be kinda cool if she would design one for me.. hehe... in my dreams. (by the way, anyone that doesn't agree with me getting a tattoo, sorry, I'm still going to get one). A little one, a good one... I promise!

La-di-da...

ugh

Ugh, I'm starting to feel a cold coming on... Its pretty bad at the moment, everybody here at work has either a cold or a flu. And so far, I have been skating along on thin ice, not getting sick at all. But today, my head is getting that sick feeling, and my throat is sore.

Time to stock up on the vitamin C/echinacea/horseradish/garlic etc. etc. Isn't it funny how everybody has little cures and remedies? If people find out your getting sick, they will pass on their little gems of knowledge about the way to cure it, take echinacea and garlic, eat lots of oranges, rub vicks on your feet and put socks on when you go to bed, hot water with lemon... Its brilliant! Well the suggestions and remedies are brilliant, the actually "coming down with a cold" isn't... =/

Starting to feel a little stagnant at the moment. Bored. Bored with work mainly... Its a bit quieter this week, which you would think that I would enjoy, but actually, after a couple of full on weeks, having nothing to do can get so tedious!! At least when your busy the days fly by...

I think, I will plan a mini-break!
;)

peachy sunday

What a peachy day! Today is warm and spring like again... Blue skies, peach blossoms and smiley stickers stuck to the footpath.

Been out grocery shopping, been so good with that lately. I actually GO grocery shopping! Heh, yeah, never used to do that! Bought a big bag of food, going to cook dinner tonight, and bake cupcakes! Yes, i'm feeling housey or something...

Happy.

Everybody I met seemed to be happy too. The check-out girls, people on the train, people walking past me... Walked past this girl, who looked a lot like Sister E from a distance, and she gave me this big smile as we walked past each other. Just peachy! Hehe... peachy day.

petulant

You ever do something really childish and sooky? Hm.. I do, a bit too much for my liking.

Sometimes, I think I revert back to my childhood, and become really sulky.

*blush*

the hardest part

Oh boy...

I just talked to I and S, my bosses, Managing Director and General Manager respectively, about my plan to go to Japan from next year.

The hardest part, was the fact that I had just gone into S's office to ask a question, and they were talking about a possible centralisation of registration, which would mean I would be solely responsible for registrations for both Brisbane and Noosa. *gulp* Its a good opportunity. And to be honest, Global Village is the one place where I have been given so many opportunities. Its a difficult thing to say that you are thinking about a possible move to Japan when they have all these thoughts about what you can do for the company.

I knew it would be hard to break this to them... but this is a lot harder than I imagined.

I expect to have to battle a lot to go through with this...

-Liz dons her armour, and picks up her sword and shield-

come back

GUESS WHAT?! Y is coming back!?!! In September... ;) Its been very hush hush. He hasn't told me too much information about it all. This is what I know. A flight has been booked for 03 September, arriving here 04 September... And I don't know how long. But the good news is he is coming back!!

HURRAH!!

zoom zoom

giggle-full

Today would be a day of smoothies, sushi and gelati.. ;) AND BUBBLE TEA!!

Definitely a giggle-full day. It feels like spring today, sunny and a little bit warm, not stinking hot yet, just warm. A good day for giggles and fun and gelati.

Or a picnic with Y. It would be a good day to lie around under a tree.

I miss you

one of those days

You ever have one of those days where no matter how much work you do, you never seem to get anything done?

Today is one of those days. I swear, I'm stuck in reverse or something. Work just keeps flowing in and I feel like every time I finish something, another 3 things get dumped on my desk!

Its freakin' annoying. No matter how hard I work, I just can't clear anything... Its getting to the stage where I am actually waking up during the night at 3am because I remembered I have to do something else...

Its incredibly tempting to just leave everything and run away. So tempting...

Splendour in the MUD

Splendour in the grass?? No, sorry, I missed that one, went to Splendour in the MUD!! Yes, Splendour weekend last weekend. What an event! Can I just say mud, mud and more mud! It rained on Saturday night, and the "field" soon turned into a big slush pile with 10,000 pairs of feet stomping around. The newest fashion accessory? GUMBOOTS! Yes, everybody was wearing them..and I must say I was envious of them. We even tried to get some on Saturday morning, but you would not believe it, but every shop we went to had sold out...damn! It was the funniest thing to see though. Girls wearing very fashionable clothes, and then for shoes, big, dark green gumboots!! Have you seen the fashion gumboots? The leopard print ones? The polka dotted ones? The green checked ones? The skull and cross bone ones?? I always thought that it was a bit ridiculous to buy gumboots like that, because really, how often will you wear them? BUT, let me just point out, that for a mudfest like the weekend, I almost bought a pair!! ;)


The festival itself was pretty good. My highlights: Snow Patrol, Wolfmother, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jose Gonzalez, Angus & Julia Stone...

Okay, I must admit though, that festivals and me just don't click sometimes. I have this uncanny ability to attract incredibly tall people. I'm quite short, which means when I go to festivals or watch bands, most of the time all I see is the back of the people infront of me, with little tiny glances of the people on stage if the people infront of me shift a little. But there are a few things that I cannot stand, that is the people that see me and stand RIGHT infront of me. They see me, they can probably tell that I am considerably shorter than them (although sometimes I think people are a little bit too wasted to notice) and they decide that standing infront of me is the best position. Which means, I get to see a back. Not the band, not glances of the band, but a back, the back of the guy standing infront of me... and yes, it is usually a guy, granted girls do it too.
If I am incredibly lucky and do find a spot that I can see whats happening on stage, I will undoubtedly attract somebody that is completely out of their mind. The people you see that have drunk/smoked a little too much... These are the people that come stumbling through the crowd waving their arms around, trying to talk to everyone. Then they stand there and dance around, using the people around them as support because their world is spinning so much. This means I get an assortment of body parts in my face, elbows, hands, shoulders, chests, backs etc. etc. yeah, great (SARCASM)
Me in a crowd equals a lot of things.. I have often found that I become a bit of a bar stool, or table for the people behind me. Which means I get a lot of elbows in my head, drinks on my head, or cigarettes way too close to my face.
But in all honesty, I give as good as I get.. haha.. yes I get a little bit evil in crowds.. For example: On the weekend, a very tall guy was behind me, and was standing right behind me, pushing his stomach into my back. All I could think about was elbowing him in the stomach! Haha, I almost did, but Brother G saved him by switching spots. Yes, I have been known to push back when people push me, digging elbows into people that are digging their elbows into me. Muwahahah! Evil little Liz... ;)
A perfect example: In the Wolfmother set, I had a spot that had a little bit of a gap between peoples heads. I couldn't see the stage, but I could see the lights (yes I am that short). Standing there quite happily when this GIANT comes and stands next to me. I am talking twice my size, and I am not exaggerating. Anyway, Giant looks at me, I glance at him from the corner of my eye, I'm sending him mind messages which are something like this: "Don't even think about it Gigantor". And 5 seconds later, you will never guess what happens, he takes a step infront of me. Yes, he stood DIRECTLY infront of me. DIRECTLY. I couldn't see a thing. No lights, not even a view over his shoulder of the lights. He was so freakin' huge he actually formed a little bit of a sound barrier between me and the stage. It got awfully quiet behind Gigantor...

The other quite annoying thing is having things spilt over me. Okay, so going to a festival you can be pretty certain you will have something spilt on you at some stage. I have had quite an assortment of liquids and other items...
Beer, water, spit, other alcoholic beverages, glow stick liquid, chewing gum (thrown right into my hair), and the new addition to the list from the weekend: Pineapple smoothie. Yes I am not kidding, pineapple smoothie. There I was, minding my own business watching Tex Perkins, sitting in a tent, when a very large pineapple smoothie was tipped right over the top of my head. A woman was trying to shuffle past the people sitting behind me and she somehow bumped her hand that happened to hold a large cup of pineapple smoothie with no lid, resulting in a drenching like you see on gameshows. Have you seen people sitting under a bucket of green slime or some other liquid, and had the bucket tipped right on their head? Yeah, that was what happened with the pineapple smoothie. Tipped right over my hair, all down my jacket, all over my jeans, all over my bag... everywhere. At first I thought it was vomit, which I am so glad it wasn't.. ew, never been vomited on, touch wood. Still, pineapple smoothie is pretty bad. And it happened quite early in the day on Saturday, which meant I had a pretty crappy day on Saturday. I must apologise to Brother G, I had a little bit of a breakdown after that.. wanted to go home. Sorry about that... But Sunday was a better day. No pineapple head for me!

All in all, Saturday would have been better with no pineapple, and Sunday made up for it. Much better day on Sunday... Much much much.
*yawn*
Now, its time to get some sleep!!
The damage:

good news Tuesday

*happy dance* I don't have to get my wisdom teeth taken out!! *happy dance*

HURRAH! Its very exciting news... I went to the dentist today, because my wisdom teeth have started moving, and one of them has starting coming through, and the dentist told me that I would need to get them taken out. :(

So, I booked in to talk to him about it, and get the referall and everything... But this morning, I spoke to him and we decided that I shouldn't get my teeth taken out just yet, because really, they are causing me no pain. Plus, I will only have a problem with one of them coming through, and luckily, the tooth that is coming through is the good one. Which means no scary wisdom teeth extraction for me!! (yet)

I just have to watch out for them, and if I feel any pain, go back to the dentist, and then probably have them extracted. But, for now, its all good!

Good news Tuesday indeed!

mountains

There is something that I have been thinking about lately, and in the past it has been one of those things that I have thought about, but then after thinking about decided to push to the back of my mind because its such a big thing to do... its a mountain.

But, last night, Y and I were talking about it, and I have lost all my fear.

That mountain is moving to Japan.

Y and I talked about things, and even though it will be difficult, I am not afraid anymore. Of course it will be really different to life here, but I think I am ready, or will be ready...

Surprised? Me too... I am very surprised at how I am feeling about this. In the past I had considered that I might make the move, but to be honest it was something in the distant future. Now, it has dawned on me it will be earlier than I thought... And instead of the panic I thought I would feel, I am actually really confident we can climb this mountain.

Y definitely has something to do with that... *hug*

winter splendour

Guess who got tickets to Splendour in the Grass?! ME!! And my brother G!!

Its in two weeks, and its one of the best music festivals in Australia at the moment. I've been once before, and these days the tickets get snatched up faster than cupcakes at a birthday party!! A limited number of tickets went on sale today, and very suprisingly, they were not sold out!!!!!

Looking forward to: Augie March, Wolfmother, Jose Gonzalez, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Claire Bowditch and the Feeding Set... plus lots more!!

Splendour in the Grass

summer dreams

lay your burdens down,
originally uploaded by Sam Lamb.

I've found myself longing the country life lately... To live the simple life. A simple life in the country, just me and my love. The smell of things baking wafting through a cosy house... Wearing summer dresses and cloud watching. A dog by my side while I sit on a verandah and watch the sun go down. To grow flowers, and have a vege patch...

Maybe its time for a change.

My boss asked me the other week, if I ever had urges to return to the country. Growing up in the country, I think you always will...

One day

*cheer*

happy birthday to me!! ;)

Finally

Well I've finally done it. I've created a blog!

I've been thinking about doing this for a long time now.. mainly because I write journals, lots of them...

Anyway, I thought I would share my small piece of the world. Still working on things...

Will keep you posted!