uneaten tofu

So, after 11 cartons of beer, 3 casks of wine, 20 kilos of meat, 10 kilos of chicken, and one packet of tofu, the BBQ was finished... Okay, so the tofu wasn't all eaten, but the rest of it was! ;)
Had about 50 people that paid and arrived, and must have been quite a few more that arrived throughout the day. Marcel is quite the BBQ organiser! He even found out that most of the language schools in Brisbane knew of it!! Word gets around, especially when your dealing with students!
They had music, and dancing.. ah yes. There is always dancing, which inevitably means that I end up trying to dance like the rest of them, and failing miserably. Haha, ok, maybe not miserably. Give me an easy step, and I got it, throw in a spin or a turn, and I loose it... haha. Anyway, its fun. Maybe one day I will be able to dance like the rest of them.
We ended up sneaking away at 8pm... Leaving the rest of them to party on. I didn't take any photos, sorry. But some of the other students took some, so maybe I will get some later.
Anyway, it was a good day. They enjoyed it a lot!

I have some other news. The Australian GV schools have compiled a DVD about studying at the various schools, Brisbane, Noosa and Sydney. And, they have uploaded it to youtube! So, you can check it out.. see the school, my friends, and workmates, and yes, there is a couple of brief shots of me in there.. ;) There are quite a few sections, Brisbane, Work & Play, Accommodation and Study Options... Check it out:
GV Brisbane on Youtube

birthday roundup

Happy Birthday to me!

I spent the day getting a LOT of birthday wishes and congratulations and "How old are you?" followed by "Your so young!" Hahah...

Fi bought me this bright and sparkly balloon and tied it to my chair at work, so that everyone knew. Including the rest of the people in the building when one of the 5 lifts infront of my desk opened... Yes, it was delightful. Strangely enough, people still asked who's birthday it was... Hmm, that would be me!

We also had cake, of course. It was a banana cake... but not your standard tasting banana cake with nuts and spices and things. No it was a banana lolly cake! Bright yellow, with bright yellow icing and tasted like banana lollies... I was wondering how they made it, I think they must have melted them down and mixed them into the batter or something. Seriously, it tasted just like banana lollies... intriguing!

Got a sweet little card from K! Thanks! It made me smile a lot... I did get another sweet little card from Marcel, but I believe it may have been waylaid last night somewhere. Possibly at the DownUnder Bar.. ;) hahah!

Oh, my gifts.. so, I got a tim tam from one of the Korean girls at school, and a coffee caramel from a Colombian boy, an orange gerbera from Robyn, but that was kindly donated to the Victory... along with my balloon. ;) I also got some strawberry body lotion which smells like Strawberry Shortcake Dolls. AND I bought myself a new watch!! I love it... Digital, and leather! A first for me.. but its really nice... The only thing is, I will have to remember to take it off when I have a shower etc... But anyway, its perrrrrrrty!

Went out for dinner, excuse the strange expression on my face here.. I really hate photos like this... anyway, had dinner with Marcel at a little cafe... and then we went to the chocolate shop and bought a couple of sweets! Yummy... Then we continued on, first to the Victory, then to the DownUnder Bar, as all of the planters that Marcel worked with up north are back in Brisbane for the night and day. Tomorrow most of them will fly over to Perth... so we had a bit of a celebration. Hehe...

Today is the day... BBQ!!
Have to go and get ready... E has very kindly donated her services as carrier.. haha. Will be helping us shop and take all the beer and food to Southbank. We have recruited a Colombian friend to go to Southbank and find a table to guard! We've got a list of 45 people, possibly more.. and we are expecting a lot more to come... so should be fun! I'll take my phone (which is so much better than carrying a camera around) so that I can take some pictures and post them tomorrow.
In the meantime, thank you for all your well wishes etc. I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*HUG*

wombo lombo

Just back from another NIA class... And guess what the music was this time?
Angelique Kidjo!

Now thats fun to dance to... ;)
Feeling really comfortable going to those classes now. Its fun... Haha, we were all laughing today because we were doing a chicken NIA dance. Now that is the best way to forget all the worries from your day! Hahaha!

Seriously, whatever problems you may have, if you start dancing around to Angelique Kidjo like a chicken, everything thats bothering you remarkably disappears!

rasp

*cough cough*
I am sick. Actually, I don't feel so bad. My head gets a little heavy at night, and when I wake up, and I do have a bit of a sniffly nose. But I think the medicine works for those things...
What it doesn't work for, is my voice (or lack of). I've lost my voice. Started getting a little croaky yesterday at work, and by the end of the day, after talking to all the students and answering phones, it was well and truly on its way out. Woke up this morning without it. I am trying to find it again.. haha.
Actually, it was kind of cool when it first started. I had a husky voice... oooOo haha, normally I have a little light voice, so that was fun. Now its pretty much almost gone. Its just this wheeze/rasp thing. Which makes me laugh everytime I talk, which actually isn't all that great, because I can't laugh either.
Anyway, still smiling, so its not all bad.
I've been drinking lots of tea with honey and lemon, yes Mum I remember! And I've been gargling salty water too. Hopefully that will help. The worst thing is, I've realised I have a dry cough that gives you those horrible coughing fits. Oh joy.. I can't wait to go to work tomorrow! Most likely, I'll have one on the train, or somewhere really quiet with people around. I just had one before... I don't think I've had one of those fits for a few years. Absolutely nightmare worthy... The kind of coughing fits you get when you are sitting an exam or a test, or as I did when I was at university, in the library. Where you cough and cough and cough and cough and cough and it sounds like your going to die because you can't breathe, and your face becomes as red as a tomato, and your eyes start watering.. and in the worst case scenario your nose starts leaking too... And you start freaking out because you can't stop coughing, which makes you cough more, and the little itch just doesn't go away.
*shudder*
Well, I better get back to finding my voice... I wonder where its run off to?

victory

VICTORY!
I got through a whole Spin Class without taking a break! Woop woop! Okay, that is something to celebrate... It was hard, but I got through it. No stops when we did the uphill climbs at all! Am so impressed with myself.. or mainly my legs. Haha, they actually got through it!
Trust me, its a victory for me... ;)

And, I joined a fun little blog today, a secret fairy society. Where you send off little packages of goodies to different people around the world.. Well, I emailed and hopefully I'll be able to join. Anyway, the package exchange theme is: Tea Party! Yeah, its sweet... :) I'm looking forward to it already. Trying to think of little things I could send is fun... and to think that I will get something too! How sweet!
Packages are the best aren't they? Its really magic... And maybe thats just because I have memories of getting packages from Oma. The smarties in the tubes, and the little handkerchiefs etc. I remember.. vaguely, mainly I remember the feeling rather than what was inside.. other than the smarties!! Haha...
Definitely going to send out more packages and letters... :)

baby it's cold outside

BrrrrRR
Its winter! Just realised its winter... waking up in the morning in the dark, coming to work in the cold, and going home when its dark and cold. Winter is here! Which means I've cracked out my favourite jacket in the whole world... wearing it everyday! :) And my boots... I LOVE my boots! Heheh. They are my new stable shoes. I don't know how I'll go when it gets a bit warmer and I won't be able to wear them anymore... :( But for the moment, and probably for the next few months, they will be worn with pride!
We seem to have a lot of Robin Hoods studying at the moment. Hehe... lots of the students are walking around with their hoodies up. Its really quite cute. Lots of the South Americans aren't used to the cold, and seem to freeze. Not that it is really cold here, I mean, Brisbane winter isn't anything compared to Canada I'm sure... But they pull out all the warm clothes they can find: beanies, scarves, gloves, big warm jackets, hoodies.. the works!
I really like the cold snap. Apart from the time when you get out of the shower and have to stand naked in the cold while you hurriedly dry yourself and jump into some clothes. Thats the worst! But, I love the fact that everything becomes clear, the sky is REALLY blue, and the stars shine so bright at night time. And I love the way sound travels a lot further when its cold, or it seems to... everythings seems crisp. Crispy fresh!

returned

Returned... all back from my week in Prossy (as the locals call it). That is Proserpine. Uhm, yeah.. not the best place to spend a week. BUT, seeing Marcel made it a lot better.
The caravan park was not in the town, so I was pretty much stranded. Stayed in a "try-hard caravan" cabin. Made out of weatherboard, with laminate wood walls interspersed with avocado green walls. The week went incredibly fast, which surprised us both. Rained for the first few days, which actually ended up stopping the teams from going out and planting, too wet! So, I got to spend two whole days with Marcel. We spent the days lying around listening to the rain falling and catching up, cooking and just being together. And I even got to spend the day with him today, before I had to leave to come back here anyway. It stormed and rained a lot while I was away.. and then it got REALLY cold. Absolutely freezing, and the "try-hard caravan" was not the warmest place in the world. I think it was colder than here, but then again, my house is a lot warmer!
Good to have another day off tomorrow.. looking forward to catching up with things, spending some time in Brisbane... Before being thrown back into work. Going to be another hectic week. Apparently they didn't cope so well while I was gone... oh joy. Looking forward to that.. NOT. But, at least, when I'm busy, the days go faster, which means these weeks apart will fly past. Marcel will hopefully be coming back in 3 or 4 weeks. Maybe more, depending on how much they work.
Counting down already!
*photos will be uploaded to flickr soon*

time out

Time out!
I'm heading up north again, this time to Proserpine. I fly out tomorrow, for a week. I'll be back on Sunday afternoon.
Staying at the same place as Marcel, he's working again, staying at a caravan park. It'll be great to see him. Maybe I'll even get a chance to go to Airlie Beach, catch some sun and soak up the Whitsunday lifestyle... (I'll try and avoid the British backpackers though!)
Been another hectic week. Had a day up in Noosa again to help the Noosa staff with the new system. *groan* Had to bite my tongue, basically they just need to shut up and learn to do things using a different system, realise that they can't do things the way they used to anymore... Stop complaining about it, and actually think and take things on board.
Anyway, so that meant a day out of Brisbane, when I already had a busy enough week trying to get things ready for the week after while I'm away.
Managed to go to another Yoga class today. This one was harder! Different instructor, and he was pretty full on. Getting us to really stretch our limbs and actually pushing us into the positions. Well, by the end of the class, when we finally got a chance to relax, my body felt rather stretched... think I'll have to keep going to actually get the flexibility that it requires. Think I find it harder because my legs lock, bowlegged bend thing going on...
Right, so, have to go pack!
Back in a week!!

spin spin spin

Oh boy...
I took a spin class this afternoon. The best way I can describe this class: sweat dripping off you, sore legs and red faced while riding a bike.
Ha!
Really, its amazing... You get on and at first its all going well, can handle it, right, here I am, taking a spin class... ok, now they say to crank up the pressure, so its like your going up a hill... ok, can handle that. Full now, really going up a hill. And then they make you stand up..
Now, I don't know why, but I have never really got the whole standing up while riding a bike. Never mastered properly... So, it was quite a feat. And I am quite impressed that I managed to do it without falling off my bike, or stopping. Okay, so that isn't to say that I didn't have a break every now and then... Its unbelievable how hard you have to work in this class. I knew it would be hard, don't get me wrong, but still, to have sweat dripping off you, is just quite astonishing. Ok, so its not very pretty, but at least everyone else in the class is doing the exact same thing, dripping. Even the instructor, and he's the INSTRUCTOR! Hah!
Very happy to see everyone else red faced and dripping, its like a kinship!
The best thing about the class, is the music. They choose music that has a good beat, and you kind of just tune out and concentrate on that beat and pedal to it. Sounds strange, to be riding a bike to music, but it works really well. My favourite one was when they played Black Eyed Peas: Pump It. You had to do this really fast sprint during the chorus. I got my legs going so fast that I thought they were going to fly off!!
Managed to get through the class, legs were feeling a little weak after it though. Shaky. Walking down stairs was a little difficult.. you know that scene in Bridget Jones, when she gets off the bike and her legs give out. Haha, that was what I was thinking when I was walking down stairs.. oh christ, my legs are going to give out!! But they got me home alright.. done some more stretches just now. I hope I'm not so sore tomorrow that I can't walk.
I had planned to go to another class tomorrow during lunch... But I think you have to pace yourself with these spin classes. Maybe Thursday night instead... although thats when a dance class was on that I wanted to try out... (see what I mean about trying to decide which class to do, VERY DIFFICULT)
Ride baby ride!

namaste

Yoga class last night was just what I needed to wind down from the week... It was great.
They turn off the lights, so its nice and dark and you can really relax. I have never done a proper Yoga class like that, always thought about it but never actually went. I like it. Will definitely schedule some more in.. :)
Something I just found out:
Hatha Yoga came from the words "ha" which means "sun" and "tha" which means "moon". It is often translated as the branch of Yoga that brings union of the pairs of opposites referring to the positive (sun) and negative (moon) currents in the system.
Just perfect!

earthed

I just finished my first class at the gym I joined.
Yes, you read right. I joined a g-y-m! WOAH! Never thought that would happen... But, this isn't your standard run of the (tread)mill gym... oh no. Its much much cooler. Because it offers a variety of classes, all sorts, such as Bellydancing, Dancing, NIA, Pilates, Yoga, Skip, Ride, and all sorts of other ones.
So, tonight, I tried out a NIA class. What is NIA you ask? Well it stands for Neuromuscular Integrative Action. Uh-huh. Sounds technical.. but its not. Its a form of expressive dance, an expressive body-mind movement and lifestyle practice, embracing fitness and health.. is how they describe it. Sounds a little intimidating..but its actually really fun. You have steps, but basically anything goes. The music gets you moving, and you just let go... Hah. And its quite surprising at how much it gets you going. And smiling!
So first class is a success!
Tomorrow I have an assessment. Yes, I have to meet with a trainer and they will have a look at my level of fitness and goals etc. The form you fill out at the start, when you join the gym, has a section where you are meant to circle your goals. Things like: increase endurance, increase tone, increase flexibility etc. etc. Well I looked along that list, thought, well yeah, that would be a plus, but they aren't really goals as such. I mainly just want to mix things up a bit. *shrug*
The most difficult thing is choosing which class to do!! Hah. I sat here last night with the timetable planning everything I could do. This class is on at that time, oh but that is when that class is on.. oh, I have to choose one!?! TOO HARD.
Friday, I have decided to try a yoga class.
Monday, I have planned to try out a spin/ride class. Thats the bike class I was really wanting to do. I peaked in through the window tonight as I left my class, they turn the lights out in there, so its nice and dark. They were working pretty hard! Lookin' forward to it actually... Is that insane? haha..

stopped in my tracks

What a lovely start to the week.
I got stranded on a train this morning. Well, not stranded... more stuck. Boarded my normal train, going to work quite happily, when there was this strange *pop* sound. "Hmm.. that was not normal..." After using the train system for 7 years, you get to know the sounds of the trains... that pop was definitely not right. Then we just start slowing down... and eventually stop.
Okay, so we're stopped, on the tracks between Brunswick Street and Central Station. Central station is my stop... a little frustrating. We sit there for a few minutes, and then the lights go out. Darkness. But at least the airconditioning is on. Not for long. The airconditioning turns off. Hmm.. this is not going to be pretty.
So, here we all are. A peak hour train, chock-a-block full of commuters on their way to work. We all pull out our mobiles and start calling and texting through to various workplaces. "Stuck on a train, will be late." 5 minutes pass... Then the airconditioning starts again. We all sigh in relief. At least we can breathe. Another 5 minutes, sitting in darkness. Some random puffs from the train, and then there is an announcement.
"Passengers, this train has a fault and we will be moving as soon as we can."
Well, duh!
Another 10 minutes tick by... people start getting anxious. Can see them looking around nervously, like they are about to press the emergency button and get out and walk. Another announcement.
"This train has broken down, and we will be moving on as soon as another train comes along to push us through to Central Station. Should be about 5 to 10 minutes. We apologise for any inconvencience caused."
That is repeated a few thousand times, obviously Queensland Rail want to cover their backs for the train's decision to break down.
Then finally a very big *bump*. Ah, that must be the train behind us... Slowly slowly we get pushed through to the next train. Reminds me of Thomas the Tank Engine! Hehehe.. when they have trains that break down, and Thomas comes along and pushes them through... Good ol' Thomas!
So, I get to Central, which normally takes me 10 minutes from my station, and this morning has taken about 45 minutes!
Gotta love Mondays!

booty

My first pair of boots!

Booty-ful yes?

I really wanted a pair of boots this year. So, I went out and found these today... cheered me up. Was feeling a little stressed out and over worked and worried, but buying shoes helps. I never used to be one of those "shoe" stereotype women.. but seems I have turned into one, slightly. ;) I like shoes. They are quite nice... heh. And these boots are super sweet!
So, just a little stressed, I have a slight issue with a students visa that I was helping with his extension, friend of a friend... long story, hopefully he won't be booted (hah) out of the country. Taking two days in Noosa was great, however, I seem to be working for both schools now, Brisbane and Noosa. Just until they get their heads around the new system anyway. Plus, have to catch up with everything here in Brisbane... so working flat out! Thinking all the time of everything I need to do... busy busy bee.
Missing Marcel like crazy. At least when he was here I could see him and take some time out from work. Being together helped a lot... And, he has gone north north again, to Cooktown! His team and another team (that are the two top teams) went up there to work for 10 days. And it looks like I won't be able to talk to him either... can't get through to his mobile. Must be terrible phone coverage up there. *sigh* So I will miss him a lot more now.
I am planning to take a holiday in the first week of June. If I can... I might visit him up there, not in Cooktown, but when he goes south again to Proserpine, I might go to Airlie Beach for a week! Beach in winter... :)

I want to put my boots on now... I looooooooooOOOve them! ;)

earth intruders

We are the earth intruders we are the sharp shooters
^The song I have stuck in my head today^

Saw the video clip on the weekend, and now I have it playing in my head. Its got a catchy little beat. We are the earth intruders... do do DO do do do

Monday monday... start of the week. Long week this week, well, 5 days. Its long, compared to the 4 day weeks we have had recently. I'm heading up to Noosa tomorrow and Wednesday. Going to the Noosa campus to help them out with setting up a new database. Hopefully it will all go smoothly. Have to help them set it all up and get everything working properly, merges working, categories set up, etc. etc. Get to stay in a hotel up there as well, company paid! Don't think its a really fancy one or close to the beach or anything, but still, might be nice...

Got lots of things I would like to start/do these days. Have been thinking, I might start a proper budget budget, strict. Shopping money, bill money etc. etc. I have sort of, kind of, always did have one, but I didn't actually write it down and set aside money for it... I might try it, see if that can get me back on the saving train...
Thinking I might start going to a spin class once or twice a week. If I can find a good one. Apparently in the new gym in the city they have the room painted with a streetscape of Rio De Janeiro! So I want to check that out. And it would be something different.. fun. Hard, but fun! I will try and get around to having a look at that this week, let you know if I go. The problem is, going to a gym... :/ Hmm.. you know what I mean?
Keep seeing all these great winter-ish clothes around lately. Not that we can really call it cold over here in Brisbane... but I want to add a few new wintery things to my wardrobe... wintery warm things. Maybe a pair of boots, some new work clothes. I'm so sick of wearing the same work clothes all the time. Yes its practical, but not very exciting! And there are all these great jackets and little jumpers and long sleeve tops...boots *rubs hands with glee*

Heh.. yes.. feeling like i want to change some things. Just start doing some new things, and update things a little too. Is it still spring? Ah yes, maybe thats what it is... spring cleaning... ;)

grumble

Whats wrong?

I don't know, just grumbly... got sprung with extra work today. Have to train people with the new system, which isn't hard to do, its just extra work that I don't feel like doing. Also tired of this job... tired of doing all this.
Tired of being apart.
Bored too. I have things I could do, like study or cleaning or other things... but buggered if I could be bothered.

I just feel grumbly.
Grumble grumble work grumble grumble study grumble grumble distance grumble grumble bored grumble grumble me

sarina

Back from the sticks!
Well, Mackay... what can I say... a little boring. But maybe thats because I spent most of the time there in Mackay bored and waiting around.
But the weekend was good. I actually stayed in a little town south of Mackay, called Sarina. Its next to the beach... well its a small beach. There are lots of industrial lots around there. Not sure, coal maybe (?), and fishing trawlers... At least I think they were fishing trawlers. So, it wasn't the most beautiful, but there was a beach!
Its quite a little multicultural community. The whole Eucalyptus planting gang are staying in a caravan park, Australians, New Zealanders, French, Swedish, Italians, Brazilians, Colombians... Very interesting mix. They all work 9 hour shifts, one beginning at 2am or 3am, depending on how hard they want to work and how much money they want to earn, until midday, and the other group work from midday to 9pm. Planting planting planting... all for wood.
They come back from work COVERED in mud and exhausted. They were pushing for me to go out for a shift with them.. heh.. maybe next time... ;)
I even had a full day with Marcel! I didn't expect it, he was meant to be working the whole time, but the tractor broke down on Sunday. Which was great because we got to spend the whole day together... :)
The teams will finish in that area in a week or so, and then they will move on. I think the next place is Cooktown, or somewhere... Might get a chance to see that part of Queensland too!
We're both concentrating on work to get through these weeks apart. Hopefully, it will pass quickly!

Looking forward to the next visit already!

forests

Please be happy for me, I have never been so happy in my life.
I've never done anything thoughtlessly, this included. I know its hard to think of what may be in the future, but I have never had this feeling before...
We both feel this is everlasting. It is early to say that, but I can't explain the connection without the cynics stepping up and saying something cynical... heh

*love*

If my life should take this turn, I would like you to be confident in my choice... and happy for me. There is nothing more that I could ask for.

northward bound

So I'm heading north... Northward bound... Up to Mackay! Why? Well, Marcel has headed up there to work on a farm, he is planting Eucalypts. Not sure what they would be planting them for, wood purposes or envirnomental purposes, but anyway, thats what he's doing at the moment. Marcel first went to Innisfail, to work on a banana farm, much to my amusment... and now has found this job in Mackay, which he started this morning. They start working from 3am! Work until midday, and have the afternoon off.
So, I've decided to go up there and visit him for the weekend. These weeks without him have been terrible, and its a perfect oportunity to go up and say hi!
I can't remember if I've ever been to Mackay... maybe when I was young? But, I am looking forward to it... not sure if its the prospect of getting away for the weekend, or just seeing Marcel again...hehe. Plus I believe there are some beautiful beaches up there, so I'll check them out. :)

Its been lonely without him around... and its a little unsettling to have to deal with distance again. Not my ideal... However, it has given me a great opportunity to get back into my TESOL course. I'm working my way through it, trying to build up my confidence to tackle some practical lessons here at work. The Director of Studies would love to have me teaching here... so, that is positive, just have to work up the courage to step inside the classroom as a t-e-a-c-h-e-r.
Its all well and good doing the front desk and occassionally helping students with English questions, but actually teaching an entire lesson, no, wait TWO lessons.. that turns me into a teeny tiny shy girl and I start to freak out about boring lessons, not being able to answer questions, getting too embarrassed and freezing up.. etc. etc. etc.
*deep breath*

One day, soonish, maybe, possibly.... :}

Have to finish the other side of the course before I start the teaching part anyway, so that gives me some time... hehehe

belated post

So, as you all know, I went to Sydney and Melbourne over Easter. Finally I have got some photos from the trip... Had a great time down there, never been to Sydney before, so was pretty exciting to not only see the Opera House, but touch it! Felt like climbing it actually.. very tempting!!



The bridge... it was bigger than I thought, I was quite surprised. We even saw some people climbing it, actually they were climbing down. We walked right under it...



Here is a picture looking over to Luna Park, from Observatory Hill (or something). Not a bad view eh?



Bondi Beach! Couldn't visit Sydney without heading out there, even though it was FREEZING cold and windy and rainy... we still got there!



And then to Melbourne. Here is a little picture of St Kilda beach. We had perfect weather in Melbourne, not cold at all, and sunny! Spent the day at St Kilda soaking up the sunshine.



This picture isn't so great, its of the fire show outside the casino at Southbank. Its so cool! Basically its these big spires, that on the hour they spurt fire! heh.. is the easiest way I can describe it.. its brilliant. You can really feel the heat too.. gets really hot standing underneath them.



Flying home, beautiful clouds...



Tourists...


Who's this guy? Well, meet my boyfriend, Marcel. :)

happy easter!

Easter Tree Hangers
Originally uploaded by Vintage Pleasure.

Well, I'm off to Sydney and Melbourne for the weekend! I fly out today, going to Sydney until Saturday night, and then flying to Melbourne and staying there until Monday... Looking forward to having a looooooong weekend! Wishing you all sweet tasting, yummy smelling (hot cross buns baking in the oven), chocolate hunting, egg-citing easters! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

good morning charlie

Just call me the fourth Charlie's Angel!

Ok, so I had my hair done today, cut and colour and blow dry. Hehe... I ask for them to blow dry my hair in loose curls, and lately Troy (my hairdresser) has been giving me this MANE of a style.. its very Charlie's Angels! (actually, in the picture you can't really see, but just after it was done it was big). Its kinda fun, I feel like running around in high pants and pulling out a gun and chasing down villians with a 70's soundtrack... ;)

I think it's quite hilarious, when you go to the hairdresser and you have to do the little small talk. Explain how your life has been in the past few weeks since you've last seen them, tell them all about your exciting plans... try and sum up everything in the space of a haircut. I particularly think its quite hilarious when they ask: "Are you going out tonight?"
Ah... now, if you say, yes that you will be, you can bet a million dollars the next line that comes out of the hairdresser's mouth will be: "Well, at least your hair will look good."
*ahem*
So, are you saying that the rest of me will not, or even worse, that I don't look good now??
:/ hmm... Yes, it happens every single time... Well at least your hair will look good... That has got to be the worst "innocent" put down I have ever heard. I wonder if they actually realise what it is they are actually saying?
Actually, you know, the next time they say that to me, I will ask them.. do you realise that you have just told me that I don't look good, and the only thing that does look good is (will be) my hair when you are done with it?
Heh, I bet that will put them in their places!
Muwahahah... Oh I can be evil sometimes!
You must remind me in May.. That is the next booking... Hehehe

top of the mornin' to ya

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

seachange

I've been thinking recently, about a change of scenery. There is plan to open a new English school on the Sunshine Coast, and they (my bosses) have propositioned a move up there if it goes ahead. The area they are looking at is around Alexandra Headlands and Maroochydore, and the school would be really fun. They are looking to target the 18-25 backpacker market, Europeans. The school itself would be a school that would focus mainly on conversation skills, with no textbook. So a real hands-on school, where students would go out around the coast and have classes on the beach, learn practical skills. The idea is pretty radical for the English School scene, and we think it would be a bit of a front runner for the whole market.
They have asked if I would be interested in moving up there to run the Registrations, as they would want to staff it with people that are experienced... and I have been playing with the idea today. It would be a nice change of scenery to head up there. Live by the beach, different atmosphere from the city life. Hmm, yes it sounds quite nice.
You know, I realised the other day, I've lived in Brisbane for 7 years now!! Hah! Thats such a long time. Maybe it is the right time to think about heading somewhere new.
Actually, a lot of different ideas having been flying around in my mind... possible changes. Moving house, moving towns/cities, moving countries... (thinking about that European Passport I have lying around, or Canada...) Hmm.. yeah, feeling the need for a change at the moment. Well, not really, just thinking, dreaming, wondering about different paths.
A seachange would be quite nice, living by the ocean, trying out the beach lifestyle. And it would be close to E! That would be good... :)
I'd have to get a car and a license though... I could try the public transport, but if I seriously considered it, definitely would need some form of transportation. On the other hand, could maybe ride everywhere...

Ahh... very interesting......

all possibilities

Oh theres a hope left, theres a dream still in my heart...


[ NeverLand ]
Originally uploaded by TaaJ.

back to it

Well, after my five day weekend, you can only imagine how difficult it was to come to work this morning. Especially because we are so busy lately.
Our school is full. We're not accepting any more enrolments until the end of April! Classes are bursting at the seams and we have no room for students in our classes. It's good for the school, but means we (the staff) have to do a lot of apologising to the students for the overcrowding and try to suck up to them all the time... *groan* I hate doing that.
You may have noticed I haven't been around much lately... I have a new group of Brazilian friends. They are keeping me entertained, and I have been spending a lot of time with them lately.
So I'm sorry for being slack... I will endeavour to keep in touch more often.
But things are still good. I am very happy lately, apart from work being so busy, but my social life outside of work has definitely been making up for that! :)

Will write more soon!

somethings in the water

I can feel something a changin' 'round here...

Yeah, somethings going down here at work. We've all noticed it... Normally, we have had a pretty good relationship with our bosses (my workmates and I), and these days, we've all noticed that they have started cracking the whip. We all feel like we're under surveillance, or something... Its really strange, because our bosses have usually been really great with that sort of thing. We have a pretty relaxed workplace when I think of it.. but that is beginning to change.
Hmm.. its not good.
Its begining to cause cracks in the walls, people have started to think about moving on... Not the best thing, because I love the people I work with, and this job, and I couldn't imagine it being the same if people left.
But, I'm hoping that this mood lifts, and we can get back to the way it was before...

I'm actually taking a little holiday this week. Going to have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off! Woo hoo!!
Yes, I am looking forward to that A LOT! Shall be really good... Not sure what I'll do yet. Just take some time out I think.

Ahh... Just one more day to go, and then I have a l-o-n-g weekend! Hurrah!

exuberant

I've decided 2007 will be my year. Liz 2007 will embrace life, have fun, enjoy herself, be happy and go wherever life takes her.
Been living up to it so far.. Its been good. A very lively start to the year so far.
Heh... ;)

It is my year though, its the Chinese year of the pig; I was born in the year of the pig, so it makes sense doesn't it? This is what it says about my horoscopes this year: look forward to a year in which to really shine, either personally or professionally
Yes, it is going to be my year!

---
In other news, everyone has said how great our mangoes are! Thanks Mum for sending the tray, I brought them into work and let my workmates fight over them. Very delicious apparently, someone even said that they were the best mangoes they had ever eaten... *applause all round*

And apparently I cook a mean vegetarian lasagne... Even affirmed carnivores that have probably never sat down to a meal without meat, ate every last morsel of my vegetarian spinach and mushroom lasagne. Yes, I was incredibly stunned... *another round of applause*

:)

stupid brain

I had to come into work early this morning, 7:30 start. So that I could open the school early for a group of students. So, last night, I sat down and looked up the train time and figured it all out. Set my alarm and went to bed early so that I could get enough sleep.
My alarm went off, I pulled myself out of bed, skipped, ate breakfast, showered, got out of the shower, looked at my watch and my jaw dropped in shock... It was only 5:45!! And the train I had planned to catch was the 7:05! Damn! I had miscalculated... set my alarm an hour too early.
Hahahah
What a dolt!

So, now I keep thinking it should be an hour later than it is... 4:01 instead of 3:01.

And the hands of the clock seem to be stuck... This afternoon shall drag, I just know it.
:/

P.S: Check out my new glasses!!

come back

Well.. I am pleased to announce, that today, I am finally smiling again.
I feel so much better... and that is all because of Y. Thank you!

I am a-ok!
*cheesy grin* :D

Things are really looking up. I have been thinking.. I might start doing some sort of class, perhaps. Just trying to think what sort of class... dancing? Or something...
And I'm going to do a b-i-g clean out of my house. Majorly overdue. In the mood to get some housey things, like furniture or something.
Also thinking about a holiday... I cancelled the ticket to Japan, and now I have flight credit. So, basically, I have a flight somewhere! Very exciting! I have been thinking, maybe to visit K in Canada... ah that would be f-u-n!! I will, I think. Later in the year... when I can take some time off work.

My favourite word lately: Dolt
Just love it... hehe... I have been calling everyone a dolt. Hahaha! ;)

call me cliche

Call me cliche, but recently, I've come to realise that things are getting better, everyday. In the words of John Lennon: Everyday, in every way, its getting better and better.

After such an upheaval, I'm feeling positive again... Looking forward. Thinking of the sweet things...
I am finally realising a few things. A dawning perhaps.

Life is good.
(or it can be)

*You can choose to ignore this post, I know it sounds incredibly annoying and philosophical*

back bone

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there. (Incubus)

I am so grateful.. I have never had such a great group of friends as the group I have here at work. Honestly, they support me no matter what, through tears and smiles... through all my shite, they have been there for me.

I really love them. I wish I could tell them all that, but for now, I will write it in this blog, that they don't know that I write.
One day, I will tell them... Thank them for being there.

I hope I can do the same for them.

parting

Thank you for everything... you have meant so much to me.
But, I know I must do this, for us.

We will meet again and smile.


roses
Originally uploaded by Supercapacity.

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