I'm wearing slipslops (flipflops/thongs), and a short-sleeve tshirt. Now you KNOW summer's just about here.
Taking it easy, taking my time, enjoying the sorting process for now. Dug out the stash of stuff from the wedding/honeymoon - all the slips and receipts and pamphlets and business cards. I've still got the scrapbook to do, so I'm keeping that stuff. Got a few Bride magazines for extra bits'n'pieces to use in the scrapbook. Funny, though, how people who were at the wedding have disappeared into thin air. That includes both bridesmaids. Puts a bit of a damper on the enjoyment of looking at the wedding pics etc, and makes me wonder what happened. Do we smell bad? Did I not express my gratitude in a 'socially required' manner to them for being my bridesmaids? Is wanting to actually spend time with them a bad thing? No clue... all I know is that 1 isn't even a friend on Facebook anymore, and the other isn't very close either. What happened to cross-stitch-a-thons, etc? I understand life goes on (for the friends who were at the wedding who have fallen off the radar), and I suppose more isn't expected from friends who happen to be bridesmaids, but still. If I'd known how inconsequential it would be, I would have walked alone down the aisle and our guest-list would have been halved. I think it's taken a long time for me to 'get round' to thinking these thoughts. But there it is. If I have some major personality flaw, it'd be nice to actually be made aware of it. If people give no feedback, there's nothing to go on.
Ok, now that the navel-gazing is done, on to happy things: the weather is perfect today, after lovely-but-for-the-galeforce-wind weather we've been having lately. The wind gives me terrible hayfever, which is an added annoyance on top of the psychological irritation of constant noise/movement/disturbance the wind causes.
I think, for my part, sorting is nearly done. I will probably go through all of my stuff once or twice more, but apart from that I think I'm nearly done - just have to go through the paper portion of my stuff, which I've been dreading due to allergies. Paper is my downfall!!
This post is very rambly, but at least it's an update.
Saturday we're going for a meet-up with forumites from the SA/Aus forum, then Saturday evening it's HALLOWEEN PARTY time!! I'm going to go as a mummy - I need to get an old sheet or 2 from somewhere, to rip up and make my rags, but I have the under-clothes ready. Watch this space!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Workweek
This week is nearly over. I've racked up 41 hours.
There are 99 days left until we fly.
That's just over 3 months...
That's crazy.
Our stuff's probably going to be shipped out (or at least removed) at the end of December... which leaves us with a month+ 'camping out'. On the one hand it'll be nice to live lightly, as we're hopefully going to slot in as extra members of the household at G's parents' place... but on the other hand, it's going to be weird living out of suitcases for that long.
We're going to have to think very carefully about what all we'll need in that month+, with extra consideration given to the fact that whatever we keep with us will also need to travel with us as luggage. Our limit is 25kg of checked-in luggage, and most of that will probably be things like chargers/cords, etc for stuff like phones/camera/etc and clothes - don't know what else will be staying with us. I just hope our stuff will be alright, both in the container (it'll be a shared container) and in the hold... and of course in our hand-luggage too...
I'm starting to feel anxious already!!
Thankfully this week is just about done and I'll be able to launch into sorting and culling again.
Sadly, a few things have had to be 'damaged' in order to quarantine-proof them: we have a beaded parrot-on-swing ornament which had a twig as the perch. I had to dispose of that, as well as a y-twig which was the 'frame' of a suncatcher. It had a bughole in the bark which I picked at and uncovered the fact that a large portion of the twig's mass was simply powder. Quarantine would not like that, so I'll have to find a y-shaped twig in Aus and use it in the original's place.
I think I'll wrap up this blogpost and leave it as is: just a short pop-in to say WHAZuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!!
There are 99 days left until we fly.
That's just over 3 months...
That's crazy.
Our stuff's probably going to be shipped out (or at least removed) at the end of December... which leaves us with a month+ 'camping out'. On the one hand it'll be nice to live lightly, as we're hopefully going to slot in as extra members of the household at G's parents' place... but on the other hand, it's going to be weird living out of suitcases for that long.
We're going to have to think very carefully about what all we'll need in that month+, with extra consideration given to the fact that whatever we keep with us will also need to travel with us as luggage. Our limit is 25kg of checked-in luggage, and most of that will probably be things like chargers/cords, etc for stuff like phones/camera/etc and clothes - don't know what else will be staying with us. I just hope our stuff will be alright, both in the container (it'll be a shared container) and in the hold... and of course in our hand-luggage too...
I'm starting to feel anxious already!!
Thankfully this week is just about done and I'll be able to launch into sorting and culling again.
Sadly, a few things have had to be 'damaged' in order to quarantine-proof them: we have a beaded parrot-on-swing ornament which had a twig as the perch. I had to dispose of that, as well as a y-twig which was the 'frame' of a suncatcher. It had a bughole in the bark which I picked at and uncovered the fact that a large portion of the twig's mass was simply powder. Quarantine would not like that, so I'll have to find a y-shaped twig in Aus and use it in the original's place.
I think I'll wrap up this blogpost and leave it as is: just a short pop-in to say WHAZuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Work tomorrow
Friday afternoon, Hbbm phoned me to ask whether I could work on Monday + Tuesday as well, except as receptionist.
So I have work tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and possibly Friday. And, despite the fact that I'll be getting very much needed 'pocketmoney', I feel so turned off about it.
I think, generally, I am experiencing a difficult time. I don't care if I seem emo in writing that, but I feel pretty down at times, and for a mishmash multitude of reasons. This whole move thing is WELLWHADDYAKNOW... a first. Uncovering all of my stuff has been enjoyable, but at the same time I feel emotional about it. Irritated. Maybe I have PMS... I don't know. I don't think I care.
I'm just so tired. Things tick me off, despite being trivial. For example, the bloody supermarket we buy groceries from OFTEN bloodywell has a lack of bagpackers, so *I* have to pack the damn shopping bags...
Ok, maybe in other countries, they don't employ bagpackers, or the cashier has to pack the bags, or whatever, but here, in SA, there are (usually/supposed to be) bag packers.
Now, taking it IMpersonally (not getting butt-hurt about it, like WOE-IS-ME, I'm better than to pack my OWN bags), it is negative from a CUSTOMER-EXPERIENCE point of view: if some days you have your bags packed for you, and then you arrive at the shop with the (positive/happy) expectation of this service on other days, the fact that not only is there no bagpacker but YOU have to pack the bag, causes unfulfilled expectation which leads to frustration and a negative conclusion to the otherwise positive or neutral impression of the shop.
BAHFUCKIT... pointless blogpost, whatever.
I'm just completely tired and lethargic now. I think I need happy pills.
I still hate the bitch neighbour next door.
So I have work tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and possibly Friday. And, despite the fact that I'll be getting very much needed 'pocketmoney', I feel so turned off about it.
I think, generally, I am experiencing a difficult time. I don't care if I seem emo in writing that, but I feel pretty down at times, and for a mishmash multitude of reasons. This whole move thing is WELLWHADDYAKNOW... a first. Uncovering all of my stuff has been enjoyable, but at the same time I feel emotional about it. Irritated. Maybe I have PMS... I don't know. I don't think I care.
I'm just so tired. Things tick me off, despite being trivial. For example, the bloody supermarket we buy groceries from OFTEN bloodywell has a lack of bagpackers, so *I* have to pack the damn shopping bags...
Ok, maybe in other countries, they don't employ bagpackers, or the cashier has to pack the bags, or whatever, but here, in SA, there are (usually/supposed to be) bag packers.
Now, taking it IMpersonally (not getting butt-hurt about it, like WOE-IS-ME, I'm better than to pack my OWN bags), it is negative from a CUSTOMER-EXPERIENCE point of view: if some days you have your bags packed for you, and then you arrive at the shop with the (positive/happy) expectation of this service on other days, the fact that not only is there no bagpacker but YOU have to pack the bag, causes unfulfilled expectation which leads to frustration and a negative conclusion to the otherwise positive or neutral impression of the shop.
BAHFUCKIT... pointless blogpost, whatever.
I'm just completely tired and lethargic now. I think I need happy pills.
I still hate the bitch neighbour next door.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
My car collection
This is my collection of dinky and other metal cars. Quite a few, I reckon. And no, none are for sale!!
I just hope the moving company packs them all carefully - some have bits and bobs which are supposed to be attached but have either broken off or come loose from use.
This pre-move packing and sorting is rather therapeutic!!
Blahpdate
Supposed to be 'blah-update'... but.. blah... nvm!
I've been progressing with the sorting/culling/consolidation of my stuff, but it's very slow. It's surprising how intertwined this stuff is - how mixed up together it is, so part of the process involves categorising stuff. Only once that's done is it possible to decide what to keep.
I only wish that we had a spare room (the study is full of books, etc), to stash these 'prepared' boxes in the interim. At present they're parked around the lounge. I have a feeling that all my goodies (except for books and clothes, etc) are going to be brought down to the lounge to be sorted/consolidated/culled. Boy are we going to have a full lounge! Maybe once I'm done (and my boxes are parked in the lounge), G will do his lot, and we can then repack the stuff into the study, ready for the movers. It's weird how empty and sterile the place becomes when ornaments and decorations (dreamcatcher, for example) are removed.
Our washmachine was fetched on 1 Oct, and (praise the lawdylawd!) it's being delivered tomorrow, 14 Oct. That's a long time to go without a washmachine. We did do *some* laundry - G took a batch to his parents to wash and bring home damp so that it could be hung on our clothes-horses - but there's quite a backlog. We're (or at least *I* am) reaching the bottom of the proverbial barrel, so I'm really looking forward to having a pick of clothing again. The downside is that it's going to take a number of days to do all the backlogged washing as it's all gotta be clothes-horsed, which takes a day/2 days to dry. Ah well at least I'm home so I can do it in the mornings and forget about it for the rest of the day!
I got a missed-call from HBBM earlier, so I called him back. I remembered that the co. uses a cell-phone routing company to save them $ on cellphone calls, which includes a service where employees' cellphone numbers are recorded and when they call in to the office from their cellphones, the router calls them back, saving them the cost of the call (the co. pays for the call). So I 'phoned him back' LOL. Anyway, long story short, he just wanted to 'warn me in advance' that he's going to need me to come in on Wednesday & Thursday next week. The pay rate isn't MUCH better than what I was getting, but I really think that if I were to try and barter, they'd say 'forget it' and hand the work on to the typist. I WOULD actually like the extra pocket money... maybe if he needs me again at a later stage I can say 'actually, I'm wanting a better rate, plskthx'.
Friday evening, Sis & M and I are going out for a girls night. Going to eat out and then might hit the town and have a coupla drinks. I'm going to be staying over with Sis at the house she's housesitting, G will fetch me the next morning from Sis's work... then on to the next event:
Saturday is G's cousin's 'amazing race' style birthday party. G & I are going to be the roving camera car, to record bits and pieces of the day. Sounds like it's going to be fun!
Sunday will probably be a day of relaxation. If the weather's nice, we might braai...
But for now, it's time to sleeeeeeeeeeeep!
I've been progressing with the sorting/culling/consolidation of my stuff, but it's very slow. It's surprising how intertwined this stuff is - how mixed up together it is, so part of the process involves categorising stuff. Only once that's done is it possible to decide what to keep.
I only wish that we had a spare room (the study is full of books, etc), to stash these 'prepared' boxes in the interim. At present they're parked around the lounge. I have a feeling that all my goodies (except for books and clothes, etc) are going to be brought down to the lounge to be sorted/consolidated/culled. Boy are we going to have a full lounge! Maybe once I'm done (and my boxes are parked in the lounge), G will do his lot, and we can then repack the stuff into the study, ready for the movers. It's weird how empty and sterile the place becomes when ornaments and decorations (dreamcatcher, for example) are removed.
Our washmachine was fetched on 1 Oct, and (praise the lawdylawd!) it's being delivered tomorrow, 14 Oct. That's a long time to go without a washmachine. We did do *some* laundry - G took a batch to his parents to wash and bring home damp so that it could be hung on our clothes-horses - but there's quite a backlog. We're (or at least *I* am) reaching the bottom of the proverbial barrel, so I'm really looking forward to having a pick of clothing again. The downside is that it's going to take a number of days to do all the backlogged washing as it's all gotta be clothes-horsed, which takes a day/2 days to dry. Ah well at least I'm home so I can do it in the mornings and forget about it for the rest of the day!
I got a missed-call from HBBM earlier, so I called him back. I remembered that the co. uses a cell-phone routing company to save them $ on cellphone calls, which includes a service where employees' cellphone numbers are recorded and when they call in to the office from their cellphones, the router calls them back, saving them the cost of the call (the co. pays for the call). So I 'phoned him back' LOL. Anyway, long story short, he just wanted to 'warn me in advance' that he's going to need me to come in on Wednesday & Thursday next week. The pay rate isn't MUCH better than what I was getting, but I really think that if I were to try and barter, they'd say 'forget it' and hand the work on to the typist. I WOULD actually like the extra pocket money... maybe if he needs me again at a later stage I can say 'actually, I'm wanting a better rate, plskthx'.
Friday evening, Sis & M and I are going out for a girls night. Going to eat out and then might hit the town and have a coupla drinks. I'm going to be staying over with Sis at the house she's housesitting, G will fetch me the next morning from Sis's work... then on to the next event:
Saturday is G's cousin's 'amazing race' style birthday party. G & I are going to be the roving camera car, to record bits and pieces of the day. Sounds like it's going to be fun!
Sunday will probably be a day of relaxation. If the weather's nice, we might braai...
But for now, it's time to sleeeeeeeeeeeep!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Junk sorting/cleaning/culling...
The only ornament-y things left are my Breyer and Julip horses, 3 suncatchers and 3 wooden handcrafted things (a mini chest of drawers, the compartment house and a picture frame)... so I'm on a roll here!
Apart from this whole batch of 'trinkets' there are also: box of toy cars, box of toy animals (farm animals/horses/etc - never been sorted, so...), teddies, cross-stitch stuff, stationery, cards & letters, coins/notes/stamps collection... oh and of course, clothes/makeup/hair accessories, not forgetting books and CDs etc.
Sheesh!!
That's pretty much all my stuff though. I'm certain that once I've selected stuff, I'll go through it all again and refine the selection a few times. We have time, but I'm glad I've made a start. Plus it's been nice to 'rediscover' things. Not forgotten things, just things put into the background of my life.
To be continued...
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Smog Log
The weather's been exceptionally warm and hazy lately, here's a pic of the smog log visible from our upstairs windows...
Monday, October 04, 2010
First up:
I'm not completely "happy" with my blog as yet - the layout, colours, etc. It looks a bit unsophisticated. Well, how about that! Someone who uses the f-word a lot in her blog, wanting a sophisticated blog-look? ROFLMAO etc X-D
I suspect (hope?) that my R-rating will drop now that work is over, and my irritation-button will be less frequently utilised... it still currently feels as if I am on leave though. I think what is helping is the fact that summer is definitely on its way, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the extra light in the day. Not simply day-light hours-wise but also the brightness of the light. It's FULL-ON! Yippee!!
Eish, this blog composer thing is buggy. Not too impressed with it (still), but *shrug*, will deal.
We bought a Weber yesterday. Spur of the moment thing, in a sense. We've been aware of serious lack of braai (barbecue) in our lives, and on Saturday when we went grocery shopping, I saw the shop's ad-pamphlet with a Weber for R900. Thought it might be good to check out price comparisons between SA and Aus, and so yesterday morning I Googled. The R900 one (as super-cheaply priced versions often are) is a 'lesser' model, so I searched for pricing for a mid-range one. Cheaper, at the currently on-special price than in Aus, by quite a bit. So we raced out to the shops and picked up a braai! Bought some briquets and fire-lighters, need to assemble the braai and then voila! We shall have a braai.
Apparently we will have to clean this thing insanely thoroughly, and make it look as if it's older than 1 year, but I'm sure we'll manage. Our stuff generally is clean (we aren't rough with our stuff by any means), so if customs wants to judge our stuff and bill us for everything, eish we won't be pleased!
On that front, I have yet to start with everything I've been meaning to do. OK OK OK! Give me a break here, it's my 1st day off from work! Friday doesn't count because it was Freedom Day (Kit's Day). I need to clean the fishtank first, then I can sit down and take stock of what to do. First up, I think, is scanning the odds and ends Mom has lent me - papers from Dad's keepsakes: letters and notes and notices and circulars regarding his parade duty during WW2. I've asked her to keep looking, as there are (somewhere!) school reports and things, including a parking fine of R1 apparently! I'm keen to scan them. I couldn't take them with us to Aus, but at least I'd have a record of them.
There are under 120 days until we fly. We went to Singapore Airlines to 'show' them G's credit card (it expires before we fly), and managed to get an extra 5kg each, due to our flights being one way because of our emigration. Yippee!!
I think I'm going to wash my hair now (long hair takes long to dry and it's SUNNY! Yay!), then I'm going to dig out the scanner and start! Or should I clean the fishtank first...
Watch this space!
I suspect (hope?) that my R-rating will drop now that work is over, and my irritation-button will be less frequently utilised... it still currently feels as if I am on leave though. I think what is helping is the fact that summer is definitely on its way, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the extra light in the day. Not simply day-light hours-wise but also the brightness of the light. It's FULL-ON! Yippee!!
Eish, this blog composer thing is buggy. Not too impressed with it (still), but *shrug*, will deal.
We bought a Weber yesterday. Spur of the moment thing, in a sense. We've been aware of serious lack of braai (barbecue) in our lives, and on Saturday when we went grocery shopping, I saw the shop's ad-pamphlet with a Weber for R900. Thought it might be good to check out price comparisons between SA and Aus, and so yesterday morning I Googled. The R900 one (as super-cheaply priced versions often are) is a 'lesser' model, so I searched for pricing for a mid-range one. Cheaper, at the currently on-special price than in Aus, by quite a bit. So we raced out to the shops and picked up a braai! Bought some briquets and fire-lighters, need to assemble the braai and then voila! We shall have a braai.
Apparently we will have to clean this thing insanely thoroughly, and make it look as if it's older than 1 year, but I'm sure we'll manage. Our stuff generally is clean (we aren't rough with our stuff by any means), so if customs wants to judge our stuff and bill us for everything, eish we won't be pleased!
On that front, I have yet to start with everything I've been meaning to do. OK OK OK! Give me a break here, it's my 1st day off from work! Friday doesn't count because it was Freedom Day (Kit's Day). I need to clean the fishtank first, then I can sit down and take stock of what to do. First up, I think, is scanning the odds and ends Mom has lent me - papers from Dad's keepsakes: letters and notes and notices and circulars regarding his parade duty during WW2. I've asked her to keep looking, as there are (somewhere!) school reports and things, including a parking fine of R1 apparently! I'm keen to scan them. I couldn't take them with us to Aus, but at least I'd have a record of them.
There are under 120 days until we fly. We went to Singapore Airlines to 'show' them G's credit card (it expires before we fly), and managed to get an extra 5kg each, due to our flights being one way because of our emigration. Yippee!!
I think I'm going to wash my hair now (long hair takes long to dry and it's SUNNY! Yay!), then I'm going to dig out the scanner and start! Or should I clean the fishtank first...
Watch this space!
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