Mkay

It's been a whirlwind week. I managed to make it to the final 1 for the client job I was after so I flew to Australia for a last minute grilling. The studio apartment they put me up in was fabulous. No bath of course, but a dinky bathroom, a full kitchen including oven, iron and ironing board, alarm clock, lcd television and the most comfortable bed. The storage space was also very good. It was right across from the client as well so I was quite pleased. When I walked into the apartment, I was greeted with this:

I must say, it looked very inviting. The pillows were heavenly and the bed was also pretty darn good too.

I'm now starting to pack up my life and move countries to Australia. I'm really looking forward to it and I think it's going to be great. While I won't be able to afford living by myself, the transport system is great, the restaurants are great and there is just so much to do.

2 Extremes

My life is constantly pushed to the extremes. It has always been like that and you'd think after how many years I have been on this earth I would be able to handle things better. My run of bad luck has turned into good luck. I can't believe it. At the same time, I refer to a previous post - the future's so bright... It has actually turned out that way, I've had a simply amazing week and I'll update you more on that this week, but I've had lots and lots of gobsmacking luck lately. I think this run of bad luck is finally coming to an end! YES!

Weight Loss

Getting prepared for my big birthday, I have been making sure that I'm getting in shape with minimal stress on my body. In doing this, I have lost 5.9 pounds this week! (2.7kg) I'm quite stoked with that effort and my birthday is nearing. As soon as it turns 1st August, I'll get pretty darn excited. I'm really happy with loosing that much weight in one week, but I've still a bit to loose. I'll be extremely pleased with myself if I can loose a further 8 pounds in the next 2 weeks. But I'm going to keep working on it. I'm really starting to wear myself down at the moment. I really need a holiday. There's a lot going on and in some ways it feels like every day is a roller coaster. I think that if I had one week in bed, then I'd recuperate. The down side about getting in shape is that I can't bake the treats for the family that we all love because I used to nick a bit here out of the mixture then take one after it's cooked to see how good it is. I've picked a birthday cake though so that's some progress. I've started getting ready for the 4 day build up to my birthday. The first day I'm still a bit undecided. I think I might go meet some friends for lunch then head on over to my folks where I will get the ingredients for the meal that I've planned to cook for the second day. Just a three course meal, and I think it will be a hit. The dessert I will be making is awesome. On my birthday, I will be going to a Thai Restaurant for dinner. All very exciting.

Find a penny...

Today I had a great day. You know what they say about finding a penny and picking it up - I certianly did that and today would have been a perfect day if I didn't have germs from people at work (the sweaty head and headaches have returned). Work went particularly well, the changes that I implemented went off with out a hitch. But it all came together when I got a callback from the client that I was wanting. I've got another meeting early next week - the reason why I'm so positive is that they said that they would get back to me at the end of next week yet they've already put me forward for the next step. I felt so lucky, I even purchased a lottery ticket (I know the chances of winning). Damn, I hope it's starting to come together nicely.

Damn I am grumpy

This week so far has pretty much been a disaster on the happiness scale. My contempt for this country is growing by the day. Today all I could manage was a scowl. I really dislike living here and I'm trying to decide oon a get out quick plan. How long can I leave it until I have enough money to get outta here! Should I stick it out for another six months? I am unsure whether I could bare this - then I think, there's this thing I want to go to in February which is in this country... but I have to think whether it's worth it. I find everything I do here extremely dull . Alcohol hasn't picked me up either, it's just made me feel even emptier. I feel a bit robotic in what I do. I get up (not that I want to) go to work (surprise suprise I don't want to do that either) come home and then normally I start to pick up but tonight that hasn't happened. I even did an exercise routine in order to pick me up. Nothing! I've even managed to break 2 mugs this week. One was tonight and was pretty darn stupid of me. I do hope I get a bit cheerier before the weekend.

The RipOff Market

So I've just come back from my favorite supermarket where I have been simply ripped off. I went to a fruit shop in the weekend in the suburbs that I used to shop at when I lived in the area. Now I live in the city where the prices are jacked up something chronic. It is a well known fact that in this country the supermarkets change their prices depending on the area. Well today I got less groceries but paid over $5 more than for what I got in the weekend in the fruit market. For starters, the apples that I got were $2.97 / kg as opposed to $1.99 at the fruit market I got 3.62kg of apples which cost me an extra $3.56 for apples that I know are not going to taste as good as the others. Then it comes to the pineapple. I got two large pineapples at the fruit shop For $2.69 each. At the supermarket they were 4.98 each. Then I got a telegraph cucumber for which is normally just over $3.00 for which I got one for $5.47. In total I got ripped off to the amount of $10.00 plus a dollar or two. Now, the gas that I use to go to this fruit shop would be about $5. I do hope these vegetables taste better than they look - they don't exactly look the best.

Morning meetings

I had a client meeting this morning today at 7am. Seemed a bit excessive but was for a really good project so I only hope I can impress in the next 4 weeks and land that baby! Maybe a bit of wining and dining is required. Speaking of dining, I am changing my diet at the moment so I'll update you in a weeks time and we'll see how I'm feeling. This change of eating doesn't involve anything bad but the thing is I love to cook so I really am finding it hard not to cook certain foods and sometimes it's difficult watching the food network. I'm still feeling like I have the flu and I'm over all of this bad weather. Have you ever watched that show called the Soup on e? Everytime I watch it the guy really cracks me up. I certainly haven't seen a funnier show. I almost feel like putting on gloves while I am typing this it's so cold. I have to go to my favourite grocery store. I wish I had another one that's closer as I really hate this grocery store. Plus, there's a pizza place on the corner. Never eaten there, but I can see how it could possibly pull me away from my fruit and veges!

Take Pride in your House week

I've had a busy past few days, especially Sunday. Monday came and went however, I've decided to call this week Take Pride in your House week. For today's take pride in your house challenge I managed to set up a Juice station in my kitchen. I don't currently own a juicer, I borrowed one from my parents a few months ago and am looking to get my own. But I did start the day with some magnificent juice which I blended with some ice. Very nice. I don't really know where I was today. My head was pounding, it felt like I was getting a sore throat, my neck muscles were certainly stiff. I was not in a happy happy zone. Coming home and cleaning my juice station made me feel a bit better, especially as it was pouring down with rain all day and I had misplaced a hairbrush in the morning so all day my hair looked like friar tuck. I'm sneezing everywhere, so I think I might retire to my couch. I had the most amazing sleep last night though. I wonder what else will happen with Take Pride in your House Week!

Birthdays

Over the next 3 months there are 4 birthdays. The festivities start with Sunday when it's my nephew's 3rd birthday. Less than a month later it's my birthday. September goes something like this: Father's Day, Father's Birthday and then Sister's Birthday. Which makes September an expensive month! The 3rd birthday should be a hoot. I got him a Thomas the Tank Engine birthday card followed with a request from mother of money so I gave him $30. I figure that's more than generous for a 3 year old however when I told my brother he started laughing like I was being cost effective. $30 is more than enough for a 3 year old. I must say though, I'm starting to get excited over my birthday. I'm hoping to get a couple of gifts that I've really not wanted to purchase myself. Maybe I should've asked for $50 worth of socks!!!

Spotted

Spotted while out shopping the other day.

Ooh, I felt like a total cow. Sometimes I just loose my rag with certain people. Like this evening, while I was out and about, I got a call saying that my father had been trying to call me on my home phone. Why didn't you try my mobile I said. Out with a few of the guys I was like yes, they were like what do we do about a phone overseas and I was like you should've taken my vodafone mobile. Oh yeah, you should have asked me this days ago. He was like when will you get home and I was like I dunno about 15 minutes. So he started driving half way across town and so when I got home I called home to find this out. I was wanting to get some dinner so I ran down to the Japanese restaurant waited and ran back a couple of minutes later he was waiting for me to open the garage door. I just wanted to eat my Japanese. Instead I wolfed it down, not enjoying it then slightly racked off that I couldn't enjoy it. Then I had to minimally teach him how to use the phone. He didn't do it too well and I was kinda yelling ish at him like I have to learn by pushing buttons, you will need to do the same you will be using this in a different country. But he bought me like $20 in groceries which I told him not to but he did anyway. So i felt really bad that I was angry at him. But I just can't help it sometimes, he is family!

I have to be honest though, I was in a bit of a tizz after the day I've had. I haven't said this before but I actually hate my job. I hate going there every day, I don't really like everyone that I work with, it just seems so boring. I've been looking for another job, but there is not much out there that is remotely interesting so that's why I'm sticking with it at present.

Listening to..

The following albums are rocking on my Ipod:


Maroon 5: It won't be soon before long


Rihanna: Good Girl Gone Bad

Oh Such A Relaxing Weekend

I can't believe the weekend has been and gone. I long to be a lady of leisure so for this lowly human being who must work for her money, it's something that sometimes I cannot bear to think about. This weekend rocked so much as I got what I wanted - peace and quiet. Friday night was busy and I ended up staying at a friends house. Did some shopping then had dinner at a new Japanese eatery (oiishi (as in delicious, not the name of the eatery)). Saturday morning I went to the doctors then went home and watched The Prestige (and when I woke up this morning i was still thinking of the movie - yes the movie storyline not christian bale - him and Chris Cornell are my ideal looking men and hey I can't find any look a likes so why bother). I keep getting wiffs of toast cooking yet I am not cooking any (unless next door is burning down). After the prestige I chilled at home and slept, did some more baking. It was great. Sunday I managed to sleep in which was great as that never happens to me. I watched this movie called Trust the man which starred Julie-ann Moore, David Duchovny, Maggie Gyllenhall. It was quite good I thought certainly a Sunday movie. I then went out with some friends now I'm back home where about to get myself ready for a night of watching such Sunday greats as Numb3rs and CSI! But first a 45 minute workout on the exercycle awaits.

That client meeting for that project I was working on didn't go too good. So today I had another client meeting. She asked me 3 questions only which kind of stumped me a bit. But I have to admit, I have a lot more things to think about in life let alone that. I heard transformers was really good. I haven't seen it yet though I'm seriously thinking about it. I still haven't managed to watch the prestige yet (ooh christian bale is so hot). Spose I should do that. I always start to get really excited on a Thursday just at the prospect of Friday!! The excitement has begun.

More on my car

Over the past couple of days I've noticed my car getting this awful smell. When I checked the carpets today they were wet. Then I checked the backseat, that was wet too. So I open up the boot and there's this massive pool of water in it. I spend the next 20 minutes cleaning it out. It appears that there's something wrong with the sealant on my boot. I'm lucky I have a garage I can park my car in.

Thieves

How does one come to terms with a thief? I mean sometimes, I just can't understand their motivation. The scenario is that I have a car that's 17 years old. It's only worth about $1,500 but it's been my car for years so I have a somewhat emotional attachment. I have looked after it and it's in very good nic. The passenger side lock is busted as someone tried to steal it many years ago and didn't quite succeed. The drivers door is the only one that opens the car. Monday morning I open the lock and what do you know, someone has tried to break into it. I took it to a park where cars always get broken in to however I didn't notice any issue with the lock until Monday morning. I do use a club however but I don't have an alarm as I think that no one would want to steal it. Hence why I'm trying to find the sense as to why they would break into it. I think maybe they are just starting out and need something to practice on. They can't want it for a joy ride as it's a 1500cc, 17 years old - they won't have much fun in that it's not very fast. I guess if they wanted it for a drug habit it would get $1k if sold on the street. It just racks me off as now when I get into it I have to turn it left and right to try to get in. Especially now that it's winter and I find myself constantly running back to the car so that I can quickly get in to stop myself from getting wet.

BHDs

Miss E has a few bad hair days (BHD's) ahead due to the fact that her expensive hair dryer blew up on her and forced her hosue into the dark as she had to reset the fuses. Not the best start to a Monday I must say. I had to try and dry my hair with my straighteners. Leaving my hair in a nice damaged style. Of course, my hair dresser is across the other side of town and they don't even have any hair dryers in stock. So I must wait until the end of week. I think I know what I'll be doing Friday night.

I get abused in my job quite a bit and I have to be honest I'm nearing the end of my tether (yeah, not really too sure how that is spelt as Safari is not handling spell check either) but it's gone past the point of making me tough instead it is doing the opposite. Now it has the effect of making me so disinterested I've never had less motivation in my life to do a job. What I'm wondering is when will be my breaking point? I have bills so I just can't walk out it's just something I fantasise about quite a bit.

The futures so bright I gotta wear shades

For July anyhow. I used to work at this TV station and one of my workmates would leave me a voicemail every morning about my horoscope for the day. While I'm not a total believer in those things, it was quite nice to come into work and hear it. So in keeping with those spirits here's my July Horoscope.

http://www.astrologyzone.com/forecasts/monthly/leo_full.php

(Sorry there's no automatic link but for some reason Safari doesn't allow you to do this).

Book Review + Stupid Wonderings..

I sit here somewhat exhausted, wishing that there was another day to the weekend but wondering - who was the idiot who made the working week 5 days? Doesn't a 4 day working week with 3 days rest seem more sensible? Well it does in my world and if I had any power in the universe I would change it...Or would I? If I had this power would I change it for everyone or just selected people...Then I realise, it's probably not worth taking my time to think about this anyway. I can't change it, I just live in hope that one day it will change!

While reading magazines I take note which books they review and while I can't remember the magazine I read this in, I made a note to read "How to walk in High Heels: The Girl's guide to Everything" by Camilla Morton.

This book is filled with little gems of information for any girl and also includes short pieces from such gods as Manolo Blahnik who writes about how to pick a shoe. And while I am older than the average girl, I thought I would check it out to see what I may have missed. This book is split into 5 sections:
Greeting Your Public
Being Socially Adept
Tackling your Technophobia
Homes and Gardens
Joining the Jet Set

There are a few stories that I did miss as I do not have technophobia but I have to say that this book certainly is a must read for any female.

Greeting Your Public was certainly my favourite chapter. It included How to be stylish, how to make stylish excuses, how to select your heel, How to be groomed, How to look like you've just stepped out of a salon, How to achieve perfection - the bare essentials ladies' MOT, , How to have perfect vision (including shaping those brows), How to deal with unpleasant situation, How to perform.
Being Socially Adept included how to taste wine like a professional, how to cure a hangover and look fresh after a bender, cooking including a dinner menu for the cooking challenged, How to deal with affairs of the heart, How to be an art lover...

Tackling Your Technophobia while I skipped the computer based information section, the rest of the chapter still had some decent reads. How to Climb the career ladder, how to juggle gadgets and gizmos, How to look good in a photo by Gisele,.
Homes and Gardens How to install a burgular alarm, How to handle mains and mice.

Really I could go on forever about this book but it's like a handy guide that you would refer back to when needed. It really is a girl's guide to everything and even if you think you know quite a bit already there are still a bit that everyone can find helpful.