deird1 | Entries tagged with random observings

Haven't really posted much lately. Life has kinda been getting in the way.

So. General update*:

- I am looking for work, and also freelancing.
- Freelancing costs a LOT. All my clients keep saying "We want to pay you $500! But first you need to spend $300 on an essential piece of software, okay?"
- I have been watching much tv, including Leverage, My Little Pony, Once Upon A Time, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and Zombieland. They all rock.
- The boyfriend is back in Australia, which is extremely awesome.
- Although I am terribly religious, and not at all concerned with such trivialities as shiny and delicious presents, I must report a total of 14 Easter eggs, 1 Ferrero Rocher, and 5 bunnies. SO MUCH CHOCOLATE. AND ALL FOR ME.
- Autumn has finally started taking over from our ridiculously long summer. About time! Unfortunately, it's been so long that I've completely forgotten how to dress for cold weather. I keep on putting on pretty outfits and then going "But I can't wear a jumper! It won't match!" and nearly freezing to death.
- I was sick for a couple of weeks, and so have spent the last 10 days off dairy. I miss my cereal - with an intense, burning passion that I'd never realised flattened bits of corn could inspire in me.
- Life is busy. But good.

* HIMYM fans will understand why I felt it necessary to smartly salute and murmur "General Update!" in the middle of writing this blog post.

Quiet evening at home. Hurrah! Haven't had one of those in quite a while.

TV I am watching
Recently, I have been re-watching episodes of:
- Sarah Connor Chronicles
- the Lizzie Bennet Diaries
- Once Upon A Time
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Leverage
- Yes Minister

All of them are very awesome, but in very different ways.

Lent...
...will start in about a week. In previous years, I have done many different things, including giving up chocolate, television, and unnecessary spending. The unnecessary spending worked well; the chocolate less so. It's not that I can't give up chocolate - but instead of making me focus on God, or on how little I need possessions, or on more spiritual things, it just makes me focus on how much I love chocolate. Which kind of defeats the purpose of the whole thing.

This year, I'm being a bit restrictive: I'm sticking to only fair trade tea and chocolate. Inconvenient? Focusing on other people in financial difficulty? A good discipline? Yep, yep, and yep. We'll see how it goes.

(One year, I'm so going to give up electric lighting. But that will not be this year.)

My washing
I just did it. For the first time in a month.

I can tell this, because my clothes-horse is now holding 25 pairs of undies. I didn't even realise I had 25 pairs of undies...

iPad Apps
There are so many.

Just about anything you could ever think of trying to plan - seriously, anything - will have an app already waiting, with in-built checklists ready to go. Very helpful. (Except that the app will be totally convinced that no-one could ever colonise Mars without inventing faster-than-light travel first, and will keep putting little "remember to install your FTL drives!" reminders in your to-do list, even though you have no intention of doing anything of the sort. Kind of irritating - and makes me feel like I'm terribly untrendy because I'm not fixated on conquering hyperspace and just want to get to the fun part of the Mars colonisation project*.)

* This, for the record, is the bit where we discover the ruins of the ancient Martian civilisation underground, and decipher the codes for creating wormholes using Martian technology...

Been rather MIA lately. This is because I've been busy...

...watching Leverage seasons 3 and 4. Which means, for the first time in living memory, I'm up to date with American tv and can read websites without worrying about spoilers. For at least the next week or so.

...cuddling nephews. Gotta say, even though it was annoying having Nathan so upset that I had to sit there and cuddle him for two straight hours, it was also kinda lovely. I've had to deal with wailing, tears, and fretting from each of my nephews - and it's something I treasure even if it's a pain.

...trying to find a job. My current one is almost certainly going to disappear soon (widespread redundancies, and my role's expendable), and despite my limited experience I'm pretty good at this whole editing thing, so there's got to be someone out there who'll hire me. Right?

...making fun things from wool. Crochet is ADDICTIVE. I've finished my beginners book - and am now trying out some of the trickier patterns. (The easy tricky patterns, though. I'm not confident enough to try the truly diabolical ones.)

...missing the boyfriend, who is still in Europe. *pines*

...teaching Sunday School. With lots of seven year olds who can run riot quite effectively. This week, I have to tell the story of Ruth. Which will be difficult.

...reading books I've read before. Murder mysteries are my comfort food.

Things that are awesome:

- my cat
- Easter eggs
- the boyfriend
- sewing machine cabinets
- central heating
- baby goats
- feeding lettuce to baby goats
- my cat, purring
- my cat, cuddling me
- nice warm beds

I haven't been posting much of late, mostly through lack of stuff to say and fun ways to say it... But this means you're all a bit behind with my life.

So, here goes:
( work stuff )

( neffies )

( other randomness )

...that's about all, for now. Have a good day, folks.

1) Cats who wake me up at 5am.

2) Internet Explorer 8, and its ludicrous system of opening sites. (When I'm reading a site and try to open a bookmarked site, it opens it in the tab I'm using - making the site I was reading go away. When I open a new tab and then hit the bookmark, it will open the bookmarked site in ANOTHER NEW TAB, and leave me with THREE tabs open instead of two. What on earth?)

3) People calling grown women "girls".

4) Whoever decided that having free Mentos at work was a good idea. I KEEP EATING THEM ALL. *has no self-control*

5) Proofreading jobs where I have to read bad writing and not comment on how bad it is.

6) Cats who wake me up at 5am. Seriously.

The Bad:

- Lilac's case is either terminal, or very expensive. Trying to decide whether I can afford a new computer.

-

dr_carrot is in Mildura, and I miss her!

- I'm now getting paid monthly, which is causing my bank account to dwindle alarmingly, pre-next pay. My rent is due, but the money hasn't arrived yet...

- Exciting "daybed" arrived today, two months after being ordered... with a big piece missing! Grrr!

The Good:

- I got huge amounts of work done, and am feeling accomplished.

- My saxophone skills are improving, despite my lack of practice.

- I'm over halfway through my cross-stitch! Woo!

I came up with three utterly brilliant blog entries last night, and then woke up and realised that none of the stuff they were talking about had really happened...

Also, I'm fairly sure I also came up with another blog entry that would have been true - but now I can't remember what it was. Hmmpf.

In other news:
- Elf and Prince are fine with each other, as long as Prince doesn't violate Elf's personal space bubble with a radius of about a metre. Prince deals with this by staying exactly a metre out of reach - and looking hopefully at Elf.

- The jobs are both still really fun - but taking a lot out of me. Hence the sad lack of blogging.

-

nuggan! If you're grumpy, go join!

- Sadly (care of last night's dream) my house does not include a secret lair with a funky shower. Happily, the tragic lack of secret lair also means that my hencemen are not trying to kill me over the funky shower...

I spent several days being sick. I am now not sick, but have absolutely no voice left as a result of having coughed so much. Hopefully no-one will urgently need me to tell them things for the next few days...

Went to a wedding on Saturday. They had activity bags for the kids who came to the reception - which included colouring pencils, stickers, bubble mix, lollies, and disposable cameras with a "scavenger hunt" list of photos they should try to take during the evening. Such a good idea! First reception I've seen that had kids and didn't have extremely bored kids wailing to go somewhere else.

Tangled is still a wonderful movie of brilliance. I now have icons.

My cat missed me while I was away (the wedding was in Adelaide), but he also missed being outside. He's spent the last few hours meowing desperately to be let outside because he hasn't seen outside in days, and then instantly meowing desperately to be let inside because he hasn't seen me in days. Maybe I should have just gone outside with him?

Much unpacking still to be done. It'll have to wait until tomorrow: I am hereby allowing myself a relaxing evening of doing nothing much.

Well, I lasted nine months. Which is eight and a half months longer than most of my New Years resolutions...

I haven't done any recipes for a while. And I keep on getting behind on photos. And... I'm not going to keep berating myself for it.

As it is, I've improved my cooking skills and confidence in the kitchen - which was the point of that. And I've started noticing a lot more pretty things around me, and whipping out my camera spontaneously more - which was the point of that. So it worked.

Sorry, guys - I think I'm letting them lapse. I'll still get photos and recipes up from time to time, but I'm not keeping to a set schedule right now.

In other news:
- my housemates have moved out
- I have a new tv
- my new jobs are awesome
- I'm learning Indonesian, Latin, and French, and wishing I had enough time to revise my German and Auslan
- the world is extremely rainy
- Leverage is really fun

1) I bought honey, pear juice, and cat treats at a farmers market. I also saw a multi-coloured dog (by which I mean pink, blue, yellow, green...).

2) My "favourite" nephew is invariably "the one I'm speaking to right now". Last night, it changed rapidly from Josh (saying silly things loudly in an attempt to get my attention so we can share a grin), to Michael (wriggling his legs excitedly while I changed his nappy), to Josh (eating ice-cream and getting it EVERYWHERE), to Alex (snuggling up next to me to read a story), to Caleb and Nathan (NOT currently chucking a tantrum about having to go to bed).

3) This week I start two part-time writing/editing jobs. Fairly nervous - what if they expect me to actually be competent, or something?

4) Owing to new-job-starting, I have the next two days off. Wonderfully relaxing.

5) I have discovered Portal, which is far too addictive. I'm not brilliant at the current level, though - I keep flinging myself into acid...

1) Playing Plants Vs Zombies with a backing track of Re: Your Brains is REALLY FUN.

2) Went to an extremely large, incredibly picturesque house the other night, and watched Up on a very big television. Which is exactly the way one should be watching that movie.
I now understand why my sister keeps randomly saying "Squirrel!"

3) I have bought a couch! It's very expensive, compared to my normal purchases of, say, shoes - but cheap, as far as couches go. It's also a fold-out couch bed, which is a fairly essential part of being a couch in my opinion.
I can finally throw out my horribly uncomfortable old couch! Hooray!

4) Watching conversations on Gilmore Girls, it is quite obvious why Jane Espenson ended up writing it. It's very her.

CANNOT GET A JOB. NO MATTER WHAT I DO. GRRRR.

However.
*is stern with self*
I have a very nice life, in many many ways, and I'm going to be happy about stuff.

Stuff To Be Happy About
- I have four (and a half) lovely nephews, who are just gorgeous.
- I have a job that (despite being deathly boring) will keep me sufficiently financed for now.
- I just finished Book 2 of the Cambridge Latin Course.
- I have taken nearly 100 photos of interesting things this year.
- There is lots of leftover caramel slice in my fridge, just waiting for me to get home and eat it all.
- My WiiFit has grudgingly agreed that I might be in my thirties.
- I have a potential idea for my Remix fic, and will not have to default.
- I have very pretty hair.

Hence, I will be happy.

:D

1) Meat pies are wonderful, but sometimes hard to eat without dripping meat all over your desk.

2) Just a few weeks ago, my knowledge of Egypt could be summed up as: pyramids, Cleopatra, sand. Now, I can talk for ages about the current government, the past governments, possible future presidents...

3) Melbourne was apparently at 95% humidity this morning. And believe me - you could TELL. Am glad my work has air conditioning.

4) Today has three options, as follows: I get a call telling me I have the job and am awesome; I get a call telling me I don't have the job because I lack sufficient awesome; I don't get a call at all, and have to spend the ENTIRE weekend in nail-biting nervousness. Really really hoping it's not the third of those.

5) Tomorrow I'm going to Miss Marple's with my family. They have yummy food that is remarkably filling. I should probably stop eating now, in preparation.

6) If we must change our national anthem due to Jeff Kennett's dislike of the word "girt", I fully support Adam Hills' idea of using the same lyrics set to Working Class Man. (Actually, this would safely preserve the "girt" bit - which is useful. It's always good to have a running joke the whole country can share.)

7) No idea what to take a photo of today. Any suggestions? If not, you might have to put up with a photo of my pillow when I wake up at midnight and realise I still haven't taken one...

(forgot these bits)

- Helped someone change a tyre, for the first time in a decade. I still remember how to do it! Yay! Still too weak to do up the nuts properly. Woe.

- We went through a lot of towns that... weren't towns. Or rather, they weren't there. There was just a sign saying "Hi! Here's a town!", and, if you were with someone who'd lived there for a while, a commentary of "This is where the school was, and this is where the post office was, and the shops were over there by those trees..."
It's strange seeing them. They're basically lots and lots of ghost towns - but ghost towns isn't even the right word, because the term implies ruins and empty buildings, and this is just a sign.

- After 5 days, I came back to 9 text messages and 560 LJ posts. Eek.

- The locust plague is out in full force, happily suiciding into car windscreens all the way along the freeway. The latest trend in conversations among people who own cars: "How many did you hit? I hit at least three hundred this morning..."

- Spent several days in Mildura meeting the boyfriend's rellies. I have now met 6 aunts and uncles, 7 cousins, 4 significant others of cousins, and 3 kids of cousins. *is exhausted*

- Remembered to take my camera, but forgot to take any photos. I'm thinking of doing Project 365 next year, so I get back into the swing of photoing.

- One of the aforementioned cousins has a cook book (Womens' Weekly) that I really wanted to steal and smuggle home with me. Her mother has a cook book (home made) that I almost did steal and smuggle home with me. It's awesome! She gave me the "custard" page to try out...

- I'm sure I remember (and my family can back me up on this) being very outspoken about foods I simply could not eat because they were gross. Somewhere along the line I seem to have turned into someone who will eat everything that's put on her plate without complaining, will decide to at least seem to enjoy it, and then will actually enjoy it. Even the beetroot! Not quite sure how this transformation happened.

- Am very sunburnt from riding on the back of a ute. Still enjoyed the ute ride.

- Also enjoyed getting to ride on a humungous piece of machinery as it harvested lots of wheat. Hurrah!

- Melbourne has hills. I don't ever remember how many until I go to somewhere flat (like Mildura) and miss all my lovely hills.

- I also missed my cat! He's so wonderful! I came back and patted him, rang Mum, patted him, treated sunburn, patted him...

How was everyone's Christmas?

1) Walked down to election booth to vote. Voting seems to be quite civilised in these parts: lots of polite people holding out "how to vote for my party!" forms, and when you say "sorry, not voting for you" they smile and go over to someone else.

2) Had my traditional post-voting breakfast at Maccas, with Mum.

3) Did HUGE amounts of gardening. Garden is suddenly much less weedy and much less overflowing with plants.

4) Mourned sudden loss of flute-playing ability. Considered selling it, or giving it away. Mentioned this to Mum - who asked if she could borrow it and have a go...

5) Watched lots of AtLA.

6) Saw boyfriend - briefly - who came over to borrow dice.

7) Had dinner with sister, brother-in-law, Caleb, and Nathan. Lots of crying and general bedtime chaos.

8) Went to church. Advent has begun! Lots of purple candles and tinsel.

9) Saw boyfriend - less briefly - who was very tired and trying nobly not to fall asleep on my couch.

10) Had dinner with other sister, brother-in-law, Alex, and Josh. Lots of card games with Alex, who is very enthusiastic but not quite aware of all the rules.

11) Came home and watched House.

12) Wrote blog post.

Apparently
Being Late For Work + Craving Thai Food = Iron Deficiency

Who knew?

(Being late for work - several days in a row - caused by the fact that I've been waking up exhausted. And the Thai place must think the only thing I ever eat is beef and lots of it...)

In other news, my sister has presented me with a gorgeous pencil skirt. I will wear it today, and feel very pretty. :)

Crossposts: http://deird1.livejournal.com/292301.html

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too many things, too little time...
many things
life and stuff
(this weekend)
State of the Mez
Pet Peeves of the Week
grumbles and grins
just woke up
this week...
*sighs*
this weekend
miscellaneous stuff
determinedly cheerful
stuff
also...
notes on a long weekend
This Weekend
two things
General Announcement

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Page generated May. 22nd, 2013 03:06 pm

The Mezzanine

stuck in the middle...

Entries tagged with random observings

too many things, too little time...

many things

life and stuff

(this weekend)

State of the Mez

Pet Peeves of the Week

grumbles and grins

just woke up

this week...

sighs

this weekend

miscellaneous stuff

determinedly cheerful

stuff

also...

notes on a long weekend

This Weekend

two things

General Announcement