Whoops!!

I pressed enter, by accident. D'oh!

Ah well, no hassle :D

This blogpost may seem like a real My News kinda thing, but ah what
the hell - it's MY blog so wahh! Hehe.

Saturday morning (31 July) we got everything ready, raced through to
G's parents to drop off Dude, then we headed through to the airport.
G drove, then at the airport we jumped out with our bags and G's dad
took the car - he was going to be using it for the week.

Had lunch at the airport, got on our domestic flight up to Jhb, met up
with Fe and his-D for supper (very yum sushi for me!). It was so fun
seeing them again - weird how time flies, we'd seen them last at the
wedding!!

Then we headed on to international and checked in. Went through
security check (we had a checked in bag, full of stuff for other-G
from his mom), then got on V Aus... it was nice, a new plane with
lekker entertainment system. The flight was nice too, but flying
overnight was a bit exhausting as it wasn't THAT late in our minds.
Got to Melbourne late in the afternoon (1 Aug), RAN AROUND like mad.
The connecting flight booking only allowed 2 options and we unwisely
chose the one with 1.5hrs in between instead of 2.5hrs.

First of all, we were delayed when the bag took ages to come through
onto the carousel*, then we were delayed badly by customs/quarantine.
We got to the check-in area, only to find about 5 different Virgin
Blue flights being checked in at the same time, so thank the lawd I
asked a ground-staff member to HELP!!!!!! And she got us to
queue-jump and got checked in 20mins before the plane was due to
depart for Brisbane.

We RACED through to the gates area, only to find ANOTHER long queue,
this time security for the same 5 or so Virgin Blue flights.
Thankfully we were allowed, once again, to queue-jump and so we raced
to the boarding gate. Only to find that our plane was delayed due to
the walkway-tube malfunctioning! We got on ok, and got into Brisbane
+- on time, late at night.

At Brisbane airport we had a short wait for our Coachtrans bus (very
handy!), then were whisked away and dropped off right outside the
hotel. We checked in, and G asked the reception-man whether he could
suggest someplace for us to eat. "The kitchen's only just closed!
Ah... Well, seeing this is Brisbane, and it's a Sunday night, not many
places would be open, but you could head into the CBD (5mins walk),
and see if you can find something...". The cook of the hotel kitchen
at that point walked past (having packed up for the night) so
reception-man called to him saying "these people want some supper..."
so he just replied "kitchen's closed, sorry", to which reception-man
amusedly turned to us and said "he didn't seem too interested in that,
did he!".

We eventually did head down into the CBD, and went to Hungry Jacks...
open 24hrs! There was a SERIOUSLY drunk man there, thankfully not
very hostile or anything, but the place was pretty busy so we bought
our (cheap) supper and went back to the hotel. I nearly died of
asphyxiation walking up the hill, and it took me about 10mins once we
got back to the hotel to actually regain myself. JEES I am so unfit!

We got to sleep pretty easily then, we didn't really sleep late though
as we'd made a hire-car booking and had banking to do. We strolled up
the road into Fortitude Valley and picked up our car - a cute little
Hyundai i30. We'd booked a lesser car, going more for cheapness than
driving pleasure, but were amused to find we'd got a 2l! Very nice.

We then drove back to the hotel, and were completely flustered when
parking when the key refused to come out of the ignition after
switching off. Only after nearly breaking the thing did we realise
that you need to... put the car into PARK first before removing the
key! And you can only put it into park if it's switched on (not
idling on-on though), and you have to put the handbrake up too.
Finicky, but I suppose safety over 'laziness'!

Then we headed down into the CBD again, to do some banking. This was
past 12, lunchtime rush starting to become evident because of the
number of pedestrians. Firstly I bought a simcard, registration for
that was painless. We then went into the bank, where it was quiet and
mostly empty. We were told to wait, and ahead of us in the queue were
3 people. We sat down, happy to wait. After about a minute a staff
member came to us and told us that they'd just asked more staff to
come in (presumably from lunch), and he reassured us that we wouldn't
have to wait long. I think we waited a total of 3mins! Incredible!

We were helped by a very nice, efficient and friendly lady, who, as
evidenced by the awards she had on her desk, is very good at her job
and is ALWAYS as friendly and helpful! She activated our account and
also opened a savings account for us, and applied for debit cards.
For the delivery of the cards we gave G's friends' address, and she
told us they'd arrive in about 4 to 5 working days.

After heading back to the hotel we arranged with other-G to go to his
place for supper. Raced out to buy a "refidex" (mapbook!), and,
jumping into our cute car, headed off that evening. It was so
painless driving across the city, and we got to his place quite
easily. His apartment is very nice, spacious and very modern and he
has a garage. Supper was very yummy too. I took a video clip of his
apartment to show his mom, I thought she'd like that seeing how she'd
made up this whole survival kit for us to take to him (the goodies for
him was the only reason we took checked-in luggage!), and specially
seeing how emotional she got when talking about him being so far away.

Tuesday we slept late, then walked up the hill to Roma Parklands. It
was a bit chilly with the wind, but lovely to wander around peacefully
in parklands and feel safe. After getting 'lost' we found our way to
Southbank, crossing over the funky bridge to get there. We lounged a
bit in the sun on the grass bank on the riverside, then walked on
further and had lunch near Streets Beach - a man-made beach (what a
strange concept!). On our way back to the hotel we went to the
internet cafe, then at the hotel had a very garlicky carbonara pasta
for supper. Much later that night G started to feel sick. We reckon
it's the hotel's food as he got sick last time we were in Brisbane,
and we were staying in the same hotel then...

The next morning he was still sick, but we attempted to head out to
catch the Mirimar boat to Lone Pine, but we didn't make it very far
and went treats shopping at Coles instead. When we got back to the
hotel, G had a nap and I lazed (ah what a life!) on the hotelroom
balcony. I bought a yum salmon+creamcheese sarmie from the coffeeshop
on the corner, and after having tea too, I dozed off briefly on the
balcony. What bliss!

That night, G mustered up all his strength and we went to our friends'
house (another G, weirdly! I'll refer to him as G/G, and his wife as
E and their daughter as little-E), to have supper with them and
other-G. Their 3 year old daughter is adorably sweet and she utterly
charmed our socks off. She's the most eloquent, well behaved 3yo kid
we've ever seen. Supper was very yum and I think it helped G to
regain a bit of strength.

Thursday we blobbed around again, G still not feeling up for a boat
trip to Lone Pine (he felt worse than the day before), so we went to
the internet cafe again and registered for a tax number. We bought
some eats too, to take with us to Lone Pine rather than buy there.
That evening we braved rush-hour to go to Westfied Garden City mall,
meeting up with other-G. We had KFC (I had a burger with bacon and
cheese... quite yum!), and just mallratted. Apparently Thursdays are
'late shopping' days in Brisbane. It's quite weird for us, being
spoilt by Canal Walk's 9am to 9pm hours daily! While we were at the
mall, G/G phoned and told us that our debit cards had already arrived!

Friday we drove through to Lone Pine and spent most of the day there.
I won't go into much detail about it, but it was lekker being there
again. I put my video camera to good use the whole time. Afterwards,
we popped in at G/G's place and picked up our cards and had tea with E
(and their daughter, little-E). All that was left for us to do was
pack, then, so we headed back to the hotel (had supper there) and then
packed, ready for our journey back. THIS time, we would have NO
checked-in luggage.

We got up at 2am Saturday morning, checked out and drove to the
airport. It took far quicker than we expected so we got there about
3:15am. Obviously no one was at the car-hire desk, so we had to
'express-return' the keys. The airport was almost empty until about
4am, when others started to arrive. After a bit we checked in (the
lady was rather icy/terse), and went to the gates. I bought some
chips which I stuffed into my bag (yay, souvenir treats!), and we
waited. The flight to Melbourne was uneventful but fine.

Once again, in Melbourne, we had an awful rush, only this time, we
weren't at fault for unwisely choosing a too-short connection, it was
the only one offered by the airline. While going through the motions
of checking in and all that jazz, we had to go through security check
again, which was different to usual. They had an MC-type guy standing
to the side giving information about restricted items and stuff you
may not take onboard, and after the long time standing in that queue,
both G and I felt quite stressed by the adrenalin and hype. It was
like being in a Hyperama on Jolly Trolley or Hypermania days...
exhausting and noisy!

We got onto our plane alright, but were over an hour delayed as the
plane had to refuel. I was particularly anxious about that because
our flight from Jhb to CT was only 1hr 15mins after the Melbourne-Jhb
plane was due to land, AND it was the LAST flight of that airline for
the night. Plus, if we missed it, it'd be such a waste of money. But
no worries, the pilots made up such good time that we were only about
5 mins later than expected in Jhb. It was a long and uneventful
journey, the biggest bonus being that G and I got to sit in a 2-seater
row, with no one but a flight-attendant sitting behind us during take
off and landing (and he was even facing the other way!). Lovely. And
the loo was right there too - super-convenient.

We RACED, again, to get to our next plane in Jhb. We got a bit
disoriented though, as we couldn't figure out where domestic
departures was, but we found it eventually and checked in hurriedly.
The lady there asked us why we'd just ran, to which G answered
'because gates close 40mins prior to departure, and it's now 38mins
prior to departure...'. Duh. We checked in ok though, raced to the
gate, and thankfully weren't the last people to get there: there was a
whole busful of us who eventually headed to the plane.

OH MY GODDD what a cramped dreadful flight! G and I were seated
separately on different rows, on opposite sides of the plane (at least
nearish) - I guess because of how late we'd checked in. Both of us
were in the middle seat, and neither of us had access at all to any
arm-rests. G was seated next to 2 interesting guys, I on the other
hand was seated next to a quiet, polite Muslim man and a white guy
with a FLIPPIN' LOUD Iphone/pad/tampon. And he kept nudging me in my
ribs as he turned magazine pages, but at that stage of the 'day', I
was beyond caring. I was trying my damndest to stay seated and not
run yelling to the toilet! I simply folded my arms, jabbed my elbows
into my handbag on my lap and tried to zone out. I think it worked as
I think I nodded off occasionally.

It was either that or watch the 'air-TV' which was showing, which was
HORRENDOUS! A business news-clip about the Gautrain and whether it'll
be ready for the 'football fans next year', HELLOO, SWC has passed?
And an interview with some golfer's wife. Both of the clips were
subtitled, but DREADFULLY: in a transcript, you don't PUT in where
the person ums and ahs, FFS! And you most certainly check your
spelling/grammar/word usage. Anyway, it was excrutiating but I
survived.

We arrived in CT early (yay!) and, wonderfully, CT didn't disappoint:
3 out of the 7 basin-taps didn't work in the ladies' bathroom.
WELCOME TO CAPE TOWN EVERYBODY!! Come to think of it, Jhb airport
wasn't much better (it smelled a bit grim).

G's dad was godsently there, waiting for us and G drove us to his
parents' place, to drop his Dad off before coming home. We weren't
sure whether we'd take Dude with us or not (if he was sleeping it
seemed a bit pointless waking him etc), but after a while of us 4
chatting he really perked up and started talking too. So he came home
with us.

All in all, a WONDERFUL trip. I wished and still wish that we were
able to STAY rather than have to come back... I just love it there.
So, maybe our ETA will change? Watch this space!!

* the story with my bag. Ah, ha. When I grabbed my bag off the
carousel in Melbourne, I instantly noticed that something was wonky
with the zip. I'd padlocked it, but it was 'off'. So we dragged the
bag to one side to inspect the contents, only to find that some UTTER
WORTHLESS SLUG ACSA/ORTIA employee had damaged my zip to steal: 3 x
peppermint crisps. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, 3 CHOCOLATE BARS. And
not only did they do that, they left one of the wrappers behind, AND
to add insult to injury, they RIPPED the ziploc I'd put them and some
jellytots packets in. Jellytots packaging being notorious for leaking
sugar (hence my ziploc'ing them in the first place!), my entire bag
was now covered in sugar. Lovely. What a bunch of fucktards.

Holiday stuffs!!

Back!

Back from holiday, and although I don't feel like going into detail right now, I'll just say this:

I wish we were already living there. SA just cannot compare.

Officially

I am now (ok as of 17:00) officially on holiday! Only back at work on 10 Aug... WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

Jettin' off tomorrow afternoon - catch y'all on the flipside!

Stupid fucking...

inconsequential, insignificant life.

My life is utterly pointless. I don't get what I want, what I ask
for, I can't do anything for myself, I'm like a stupid baby that
should be in creche, forever oblivious to the outside world.

I'm so fucking wussy that I'm all TEARY AND CRYING upset (ok, biting
back the tears and failing, so not really CRYING crying), because of
some fucking short cunt man in a bag/shoe repair shop. Seriously,
what the fuck is wrong with me?

I phoned on Friday last week (when I was told the bag would be ready),
and the lady on the phone said she'll phone me back... she never did.
I phoned on Saturday, and that lady told me it wouldn't be ready,
it'll be ready on Wednesday (today). I phoned earlier, it's ready, so
I went out during the morning to fetch it and pay. I gave it a minor
check in the shop, paid and left. I got back to the office, checked
it more thoroughly and was horrified at their workmanship. Shoddy
stitching in the lining (where they'd had to undo stitching to affix
the new handles), there were glue splotches on the outside of the bag,
the whole thing didn't look wonderful (won't go into absurd detail).
I'd forked out R150 for this, and seeing how they didn't actually
phone me back after promising to (black mark already), I thought 'to
hell with this' and went back to ask for a refund. The man was so
bloody unhelpful, saying they don't do refunds, they will re-do the
work. I said no, I don't have the time (he argues 'but you have the
time to come back here..?') I want a refund so that I can get it done
somewhere else some other time, because this is unacceptable. So HE
starts telling me I'm being unreasonable, they don't do refunds,
they'll re-do it, which I say I don't want, so then he utterly
dismisses me like I'm some child that he doesn't want to speak to
anymore. "I'm sorry, I can't help you if you don't want to be
helped". Why the fuck do this shoddy work, making me pay for it in
the first place? Why should *I* have to come back anyway, why isn't
it done right from the word go, no, he says, they'll redo it, and
deliver it back to me, but other than that they can't help me.

So then this old fart man who is there with his old wife having their
feet measured or something is standing waving some shoe-stick thing at
me telling me that he's had many years in conflict-mediation
experience and I'm being unreasonable. Well fuck you too, you old
cunt. I don't see why their UTTERLY shoddy workmanship, bad work
ethic, dismissive cunt manager/whoever he is should be MY problem a)
*I*'d paid for it b) it should be done RIGHT the FIRST time c) where
the fuck are their standards d) where is their quality control, e) it
was late, f) I had to phone THEM back, g) their price was high but I
was willing to give it a try cos they were recommended by a colleague.

FUCK YOU you arseholes!

So anyway, I have a wussy stupid fucking life, where I am all lame and
unassertive and timid and get all bunged up after an episode like
this, totally disempowered and useless.

WHAT THE FUCK

I'm so dissatisfied with my ENTIRE LIFE!!

Oh but yay, tomorrow's payday at least.

And there are 2 more days until our visas are activated. So that's
ok, I suppose.

FUCK EVERYTHING!!!!!!

Dumb Friday

There are just 5 working days left... if you exclude today because
it's already started, there are just 4. I really cannot wait. We've
pre-packed to a degree: we've realised that with other-G's goodie bag
we'll need to take a checked-in bag, but that's ok, as we'll be able
to take non-handluggage things (like razor, etc) then. I just hope my
flippin' handbag is fixed ASAP, they promised it for Friday past, but
then when I phoned, the lady apologised and said they can have it for
me by Wednesday, as they need to build-up the handles.

Friday I was off sick. Phoned in and left a voicemail, made a
doctor's appointment. The typist then phoned and left a voicemail for
me at 9, saying madam has left a message saying she's 'coming late'*
and they can't get the switchboard open. Lovely. So I phone back to
give instructions, and when the typist asks where I am, I say I'm off
sick and I've left a message...

Today I get in and the typist gives me a rundown of what went on on
Friday: switchboard only got opened past 9, typist didn't KNOW
receptionist wasn't coming in until about 9 because she hadn't checked
her cellphone for smses. Director was all in a flap because the swb
wasn't opened, hbbm was all in a flap because typist was at swb and I
was away, etc. Apparently he went and ranted at 1 director about
receptionist being 'awol' and he said he doesn't mind when employees
have personal crises they have to sort out. That obviously didn't
satisfy hbbm, because he then went to rant at other director (the one
with empathy/compassion issues) and that guy told accountant to
request receptionist to put in leave for the hours she was away. But,
then when madam DID get to office, she then asked that boss whether
she could be away for a few hours on Tuesday (tomorrow) he said 'sure,
just ask (me) or (typist) to stand in' (no mention of taking the time
off as leave). Lovely.

Just to clarify: * On Thursday I overheard madam phoning to confirm
her 'appointment' at 8:30 on Friday morning, so I knew she wasn't
going to be in. But, being off sick (legitimately) surely trumps
going 'awol' and taking liberties (she didn't ask beforehand). But
anyway, I reckoned/assumed that the time off on Tuesday is for another
interview, and subsequently overheard her phoning someone who she'd
used as reference saying 'if they phone, please give them nice info'
etc. So, perhaps madam has a new job lined up? Then guess who will
most likely become receptionist-cunt in her place?!?!?!? ^.^ ME of
course!!!!!!!!

There are 90 days until I am free. I haven't blogged since finding
out but apparently I am unable to take leave during my notice period,
so I won't be able to skip the goddamned office lunch on my final day.
I'm currently weighing up whether I want to endure it or resign to
end at the end of November... but it's an extra paycheque for 11 days,
as opposed to 21... Dunno. I don't know anything anymore.

Weekend countdown

It's now that time when I can say NEXT WEEKEND! Not this weekend, but the next!

I can't believe... wow... but has time DRAGGED to get there... and
still so long now to wait! This week, and next week probably worse,
is going to be an ordeal!

Friday we watched Star Wars 6... good ending! Then Saturday we
watched no. 1. Totally different hehe. JarJar is so annoying... but
then the ewoks are too (pretend-cute), and somehow I can't take Yoda
seriously... he sounds like Jim Henson... a muppet! And C3P0 is also
silly... he sounds seriously gay and mincy :-P

But regardless of that, it's still fun to watch :-D 2 left! And then
it's Star Trek!

Jesus but this receptionist... she yaks endlessly with her friends, on
the WORK PHONE. And, while she's yakking, the other line rings, she
puts her friend on hold, answers, it's ANOTHER friend who she tells
she'll phone them back, hangs up that call and goes back to her friend
who's holding. LIKE SHUT THE FUCK UPPPPPPPP!!!!!! SHUT UPPPPPPPPPP
SHUT UPPP SHUT UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have under 100 days left... 96 to be exact... NINETY SIX DAYS UNTIL
I'M FREE OF THIS FUCKING MORBID, DEPRESSING, SOUL DESTROYING DUMP...
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9 WORKING DAYS TIL OUR HOLIDAY!

Saturday G and I went on our rounds, he collected his new drivers
license, bought a new wallet, I dropped my handbag in to be repaired
(should be back on Friday)...

Sunday we went to other-G's parents' place for lunch (picked up Sis
first), they had a problem with Skype which G fixed and we got to
video-chat to other-G :-D then we had yum snacks out in their
garden... soaking up the sun and chatting a lot... then a very
delicious lunch... apparently their 'usual' Sunday lunch. After
wonderful pudding his mom brought a parcel of stuff she'd like us to
take to other-G... a couple of warm, winter tops for eg. And some
JELLY TOTS!!! X-D We're going to try shuffle our luggage around so
we can fit stuff in, but we'll have to see how we manage.

Then on route to dropping Sis off we popped in at Te's... her aunt who
has been here on holiday from Aus is leaving 3 days before we're
flying... she swapped some notes with us! Was so lekker to see Te
again, it really had been too long since seeing her last. Weird how
time flies. Oh and we met Shadow, their big, boisterous black boy
Labrador! He's such a sweetie, totally opposite to Phoebe in regards
to size, colour and speed of movement (Phoebe is like a bullet, racing
around). When we got to Sis to pick her up earlier she had still been
busy in the bathroom and couldn't open for us so we rattled the front
doorhandle and heard an answering SNIFFFFFFFF SNIFF SNIFF
SNIFFFFFFFFFF through the door-frame and a tock-tock-tock-tock sound
of Phoebe's tail knocking the skirting board in the doorway!

Man I can't WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!! This week.......... it's so
dull!!!!!!!!!! This woman... this PLACE is driving me bonkers!!!

Reflection

I've been 'meditating' on my diary again - there are:

5 months (plus another 2 weeks which are not 'working weeks' so they
don't count),

exactly 22 weeks,

20 working weeks,

exactly 154 days,

exactly 97 working days

left until I am FREE!!!!!!!

14 days (10 working days) left until it's HOLIDAY TIME!!

I really CANNOT WAIT!!

8 months until we move...

I read the latest Fair Lady magazine last night - there's an article
there about being a 'workplace zombie', and it lists symptoms, causes,
suggestions, etc... and I am SO a workplace zombie. But, sadly,
there's nothing I can do about it except wait it out.

On Wednesday I took a sick day. I just called in sick. It was the
best thing I've done in ages. I really need a break from being an
autopilot drone, it's just getting me down. Things generally are
dull, everything's dull and same-old. I'm just not fulfilled now...
and don't know what to do about it. Need a break.

I think I'm getting a cold... I went to bed last night with a
gross-scratchyish throat, this morning it was a bit worse but it's
worn off a bit. It's coming back though. Yay. Rather this
weekend/coming week than closer to the holiday!

Yes, yes, I have already pre-planned how I'm going to pack for the
trip. I know there are still 2 weeks to go, but I'm so fucking bored
here that it gave me some 'escape' doing it. I've made lists of what
goes into which of our bags.

I'm taking a backpack and a handbag. I'll keep the NB stuff in the
handbag, so that during the flight it can stay with me while the
backpack (for my own stuff apart from clothes) gets put into the
overhead locker. The handbag can easily be stowed under the chair
during takeoff/landing and it can be shoved into my backpack when
traipsing through the airport or while travelling elsewhere. G's
going to take a togbag into which his stuff and all our clothes will
be packed. We aren't taking any luggage to be checked in as we don't
have time in between flights AND we're flying on 4 different airlines
on this trip and don't want to bother with the risk of a
logistics-failure.

Anyway, it's lunch now and despite not feeling like eating anything, I
should if I want to avoid feeling bleh later.

New home :D

Anyone looking for me now will have to ask me where I's at! Buahahahaha!

My Kfm mug

Struttin' its stuff, with a foamy Nescafe cappuccino!

Fun photos for today!

First up: a pic of where I am with Wedding Blessing.



It's slow going.

Second up is a pic of the 2 SA-flag-themed scarves I bought, and my Kfm vuvuzela.



The SA-flag scarf I want to keep as more ornamental/for special occasions, the stripy one I want to actually wear. I got G one of the stripy ones as well cos they're so funky and he's not so fond of the prickly-picnicblanket-wool scarf he has.

The vuvuzela came with a Kfm Breakfast mug which I bought about a month ago and just haven't had the chance to fetch (yah yah, there ARE only 2 matches left of the SWC and I only get my vuvu NOW! At least I can go crazy with it on the weekend *huff*). Thankfully there's an architect that our messenger regularly visits which is virtually next door there, so he fetched it for me! The mug is currently 'afk', sitting at the sink waiting for a wash. My camera batteries died as I took the Wedding Blessing pic so here's a pic of a Breakfast mug (taken from Kfm's website where you can send in pics of your breakfast mug in exotic places):



I must admit that I'm looking forward to something quite strange to do with finishing work at the end of the year: bringing my work-mug home and giving it a good thorough scrub! It's a cute brown grainy-coloured mug with 3 owls on the outside (no pic at hand to upload), and I noticed a while back that the brown grainy-colour on the inside had 'grown'. It was, in fact, a tea stain. I did give it a scrub at work, which improved things, but it's not quite right yet. So, silly as it seems, it's one thing I'm looking forward to: cleaning off the residue of the office from me and my things!

Our trip is in 22 days. REALLY can't wait! Want to get a '365 recharge' simcard when we're there, so when we do move in March, our numbers will still be valid and we won't have to worry about not having airtime when we arrive (in case of emergency). The only thing we need to organise is travel insurance. Otherwise we're READY!!

Work has been a bit dumb lately. A whole new switchboard/phone system has been installed, and it's... not really different from the old one. The only real improvement that I can vouch for is that the cord from the handset to the switchboard doesn't crackle and cut out anymore. And it's easier for individual extensions' voicemail/diverts to be set up and cancelled. Everyone was SO annoying when the technician was busy installing it, with a million questions and complaints. Like, people, stfu and GIVE THE MAN A BREAK! He's *NOT FINISHED*!! Chances are, the 'issue' you are wanting to yell about is a temporary consequence of having 2 completely separate phone systems going at one time! But anyway, it seems to be settling down now... (touch wood).

Netherlands beat Uruguay in the semi final (YEEHAAA), and Spain beat Germany. Germany has played madly in all their matches, but I have to be honest and say that I had a gut feeling all that day that Spain would be the winners... no I'm not making it up and also no, I hadn't heard of THAT octopus until AFTER the match :P The match on Sunday is going to be interesting - GO ORANGE!!

Tomorrow is Friday, thankfully! We don't have anything hectic planned for this weekend which means SLEEPING LATE! Woohoo!! Oh and chores... but they don't take longggg. Hope the weather rocks too. Yay sleeping late!

Contemplation

We leave soon for our holiday.

SWC is nearly over, it ends on Sunday, then life will hopefully return to normal. There are titters about xenophobic attacks, etc, which I hope are exaggerated.

I'm so uninspired lately. Life is really so meaningless lately, what with waiting for Aus etc, can't really *do* anything. Can't get out of the rut. Just waiting things out. It's not very fun really.

We need to buy a new microwave soon. Ours died probably a month ago. It hasn't been a major disruption for us, the thing we miss most is the kitchen-timer function. Its predecessor was the same make, just approximately 3 years older, this one was a few months over 2 years old. Don't think we're going to buy LG again. Strange how you can make do without something.

SWC LOLzors

HAHA it's been quite fun actually, watching some of the SWC games, and now it's down to Uruguay vs Netherlands and Germany vs Spain. I hope Netherlands and Germany win, so that when they play it's the Deutsch vs the Dutch!

Thought for the day

If you really put a small value upon yourself,

rest assured that the world will not raise your price.

(Author unknown)

Folding drawings

One of the 2 people here who are on contract has resigned, her last
day is Wednesday next week. That leaves just 16 of us (excluding
not-my-dept boss and his people). Weirdman is the only one (that the
typist knows of) left of the non-permanent staff. So, we *might* be
whittled down to 15... I'm just hoping that they don't do a whole
reshuffle until nearer to our leaving time, if at all. If they do
retrench me I would get a 'package' which probably wouldn't be much
but would at least be something, but I don't want to wait and see
whether it happens... end of December it is!

At the moment I'm folding drawings. One of the jobs has nearly been
completed, so I have hundreds of drawings to fold. It makes a change
from sitting here twiddling my thumbs, but I still feel as if I'm
sitting in a waiting room for an eternity. I'm surviving though, and
I at least have other things to keep me awake, like my iPod, and the
knowledge that we're busy making things happen - organising forex,
etc. Really not long now til our trip! And it seems that apart from
activating our bank account and buying simcards, we don't have
anything we *have* to do, so we can just relax and see the area!
We've hired a car and we're planning on driving around seeing what
different suburbs are like. It's not a long holiday but it's still
TOO exciting.

I've been slowly working on the Wedding Blessing, it's coming along
nicely. Hope I can finish it before we move! Want to get it framed,
almost as a 'seal' on our life here: one last cross-stitch framed
(matching the other 3), the rest to be done in Aus.

Mmm choc cake. It's a colleague's birthday so he brought cake. And
some soccer-ball-theme foil-wrapped chocolate balls! Mmmm!

24 weeks

6 months until I'm free... 24 working weeks until I am FREE!!!!!! I
can't wait. 6 weeks til our trip, which I also can't wait for!! 9
months left in SA. Hbbm is away until 28th, and 1 of the 2 directors
is away until 5 July - YIPPEE!!

SWC has started... Friday last week was phenomenal! Our office closed
at 13:00, which is a FIRST in the 6+ years I've been here. I wore
jeans and takkies with my Bafana shirt over my top. Out of about 20
of us there were only 9 of us at work that day, and only the typist
and I wore our Bafana shirts. One of the other dept ladies wore an SA
tshirt, and HBBM wore an Italy shirt. To add to the holiday-feeling,
the typist organised 'eats' for us: a soccer-themed paperplate with a
soccer-ball-pattern foil-wrapped chocolate ball, a packet of "Simba
Soccerballs" chips and a green+yellow iced cupcake with an SA flag
poked into it (the cupcake was DELICIOUS!!). All in all it was a
rather festive day and the vibe in the CBD was incredible, so
infectious it was hard to do any work at all because everyone was
blowing their vuvuzelas and hooting. And the weather couldn't have
been better!

We left at 13:00 and headed over to G's parents to watch the opening
ceremony and the opening match between Bafana Bafana vx Mexico. The
ceremony was nice (a bit short!), and the opening match was fun to
watch... pity it was only a draw, but at least not a loss! We had
supper at G's parents and headed quietly home afterwards - the roads
were quiet, but we passed 2 accidents which were probably a foretaste
of the chaos that would descend after the night-match in CT.

Monday, on the other hand, was a disaster. It was the Italy vs
Paraguay game, in CT at 20:30. The office *didn't* close early, and
everyone was already heading over to the stadium at 17:00. The
weather was dreadful and traffic was MAD! It took G over an hour to
get to me, which is usually a 5/10mins drive. While I was standing
outside waiting for him, not only did it rain on me, it hailed as well
- yippee!!! Luckily I'd packed my umbrella, but it was flippin'
FREEZING and I felt like an iceblock when he finally picked me up.
Tonight there's another 20:30 match but I'm walking downtown to his
office so we can escape the CBD without having to cross it.

Wednesday was a public holiday and the 2nd Bafana match, which they
lost terribly to Uruguay - 3:0. We play France next, and unless we
get an incredible score, I think we're out of this tournament.

This blogpost seems very soccer-oriented, which is typical of
everything nowadays, but I do want to point out that I am still not
happy that the SWC is HERE. I'm enjoying the vibe, enjoying watching
the games, which I would be doing anyway were it hosted in another
country, but I'm not enjoying SWC 2010 in SA. SA is not ready for it,
and we're going to suffer once the tournament is over and reality
floods back. We're in for tough times and it should have been
avoided.

In happy news, G's dad has got a job! After a stressful age sans
employment, he's landed himself an interesting-sounding job and starts
1 July. What better gift could there be for Father's Day? :-D

I can't believe we have only 9 months left here. It isn't time yet to
start closing things up, but at least with the SABC account it was a
good call to do in January - it took them FOUR MONTHS to cancel our TV
license! Way to go, people! At least that's DONE, and we must now
just wait to start closing the rest of the accounts/ending
subscriptions. For now, still, I'm trying to focus only on the
holiday, and all we have to do is open bank accounts before we go.
Then, once we are there, RELAAAAAXXXXXXXXX!!!! Enjoy touching down in
what is to be our new home country. It's incredible... I can't wait
to be in that plane, flying over Aus, looking out the window at 'our'
new land. It was indescribably moving looking down at Adelaide when
we went in Nov 08, thinking that this was one day in the future going
to be our home, but now it's FOR REAL!!

9 months though - an eternity, and yet so short. So much to do in
that time. At least the last 3 months we'll both be more or less free
with no work-day to hog most of the waking hours. Can't wait til I'm
free!!

For now, my happiness is that it is Friday. A chilly one but a Friday
nonetheless!

Progress!

Thought for the day

A lack of planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine.

Are you ready?!

On Tuesday we went to see the Masters of Rock concert... Wishbone Ash,
Uriah Heep and Deep Purple, in a 4.5hr session of pure ROCK! It was
brilliant, the bands had fun, Uriah Heep's singer seemed to be having
a complete ball! There were loads of solos from everyone and of
*course* Deep Purple played 'Smoke on the Water'. So awesome! There
really are so many hard-core grand-daddies of rock out there, the
crowd was made up of a good proportion of older guys with leather
boots, long ponytail and denim/leather jacket.

On a 'negative' vein, though, the sound at the venue was at times too
loud - so that it affected your ability to hear all of the song's
music/sounds. G and I both noticed it at Kelly Clarkson's concert -
the sound was so loud that you could hardly hear her singing
sometimes, and at this concert you could also barely hear the singers
at times. Another 'gripe' was the cameraman/camera co-ordinator whose
footage is beamed onto the screens at the sides. The dude just DID
NOT KNOW when to focus on which band members. Steve Morse was ripping
up the hall with a mean solo, and the cameraman was focused onto the
drummer who was just filling in with a standard background beat... and
only after half a minute of solo from Steve Morse did the cameraman
realise that the lights were beamed onto someone for a *reason* and
whip his camera around onto the right person. It wasn't just a once
off occasion - you can check the News24 'clip' from both the Kelly
Clarkson concert and see how she just disappears out of the frame for
a bit... is the cameraman too busy with Mxit or something?

But anyway! It was a once in a lifetime, awesome experience.

Other than the concert and being so tired (still, today) after getting
to bed only past 1am on Wed morning, there isn't really any news...
Work has been superdull, I've been learning more/same of the typist's
job, actually doing some of the things now... and GUESS WHAT!!
They're also dull!! It's pure data-entry. Jissie this place really
is a rave! I have 40 working days left til our HOLIDAY!!!!!!!!!!
Can't wait.

I am (for now) decided about finishing up at this place at the end of
Dec. January just does not appeal to me one bit. At this rate, there
are +-2 months til our holiday, then +-2 months til our next holiday,
then 1.5 months til I'm FREE!!!! Really can't believe how little time
we have left here... 300 days to be exact (yes I counted)... +-10
months, 10 months to do everything, finish up our life here, wrap
everything up and move. Hectic. Just really mindblowing. I can't
wait to get started!

There are 7 days left til SWC starts. Chaos for an entire month.
Can't wait... at least Hbbm's away for a week + a half!

Completely and utterly uninspired

I have been so uninspired lately... I'm not sure why. Work has been SO inSANEly dull... Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week I was receptionist. It's actually preferable being the receptionist for a full day, as I don't miss her. First thing Monday morning when she was back, she spent 50mins yakking on the phone to her friends. It gets a bit... dunno... just that you get sick of this almost incessant babbling away (regardless of language, but in her case it's Xhosa), almost all day. I know work is quiet, but work is quiet because there's no work coming in = spending the company's money yakking to FRIENDS isn't a great idea. But regardless, it doesn't change the fact that it's so boring.

Today most of my day was spent learning the typists job - certificates. It's a special program that's only loaded on her PC (I think), so I have to go up to her desk to do it. She's got shoulder problems, and is considering (or might *have* to) going for a shoulder op. Which means me being her, for 3 weeks (she said it takes that long to recover completely). I'm really not looking forward to it.

Just in 'idle' chatting with her, I read between the lines that if I were to resign to end at the end of December, I more than likely wouldn't get a bonus - i.e. they'd decide not to seeing as I'd be leaving, regardless of the fact that I'd worked the full 12 months and *should* get one. The way this year is with work coming in though, I'm not sure that any of us is likely to get any bonus. But anyway, I'm seriously (yes I always say that) thinking of finishing up at the end of this year. Fuck the bonus (to put it bluntly) I just can't take an extra month. We're thinking of leaving at the end of March, so we'd both need time to prepare.

My mind is in such a flipping annoying rut of thinking about things, not being able to do anything... and rethinking and rethinking and going in circles. It's not really fun. And despite work being SO DAMN DULL, I am *at work* for a full 8 hours, so when I get home in the evening I'm tired, which pisses me off because in the evening hours when I COULD BE DOING FUN THINGS, I'm *tired*.

Blegh. Nothing more to add really. I've been stitching... but because of the abovementioned tiredness plus a good dose of uninspiration, it's going slowly.

Here's a sexy man to keep you entertained while I try stitch at least a little bit:

First blog since they messed with the server

Woot, work has been KILLER dull, and to make it worse, they've done
something to the server, so MSN is now blocked, as is Gmail and
Hotmail in Firefox, so I'm battling with IE8. Sucks ass. At least I
can chat in hotmail in IE... not ideal but it's at least keeping me
sane. There are 52 working days left.

Saturday was G's birthday, and the weather was PERFECT! Since my bday
(which was on a weekday),I'd been holding thumbs that his birthday
would be sunny and fine, because you can go up the cablecar for free
on your birthday. Usually, even on the most spectacularly sunny say,
it's windy and icy up there, but Saturday it was hardly even breezy.
It was still a bit chilly, but it was stunning. Of course I took
videos!

Sat afternoon we went to G's parents for tea+cake. Sunday we popped
in for KFC with Mom+Sis.

We're still battling with SABC. The assholes. G got an sms (on his
birthday!) to call some upcountry number, with his TV license number
as reference. So I phoned SABC yesterday to find out wtf is going on,
the callcentremonkey says "it's been handed over to (lawyers' name)".
Gee, thanks, fuckers, for handing us over to lawyers WHEN YOUR OWN
FUCKING CANCELLATIONS DEPARTMENT HASN'T EVEN DONE IT'S GODDAMN JOB
YET!! Four MONTHS, and it hasn't been cancelled yet. THEY'RE sitting
on it, but have the CHEEK to hand his details to lawyers. This story
to be continued!

Work is so dull. I really keep saying that in my blogposts, but it
really never changes. Even the typist hasn't really got any work to
do. I'm going to see how things go towards the end of the year, if
it's still quiet etc, maybe I can just resign to end Dec... I could do
with the time off in Jan/Feb/March to catch up a lot of things!

87

There are 87 days left til our holiday!

Yesterday, whole day, and Monday, half day, I was receptionist.  I always dread it, but in reality find it far more tolerable than standing-in for her while she's HERE.  It irritates me immensely to have to stand in while she goes on walkabout.  But if she's absent, I can get on with it and 'be receptionist' for the day.

I've been stitching a bit, I want to finish the 'wooden frame' section of the design, as it's a natural 'frame' of the design itself.  Everything else can then be stitched within it, and with reference to it, so it'll be easier to work. 

I haven't been sitting down daily to stitch lately, somehow my mind is very 'busy' with thoughts about Aus, which I suppose is only to be expected as, like with the wedding, there are so many things to plan and prepare and do, which can only really be done in the month or 2 before the actual event.  So, I'm eager for the time to fly past so we can get going!  And make moves!  But... I wish the time could be longer, so that we could fit things in before we leave.  It's winter now, or almost winter, or late-autumn, etc blabla, essentially the weather has changed, so I feel that we won't have enough time to go on our sightseeing ventures to catch things on video.

I have a feeling it's going to be hard... stressful, when the time comes, to actually LEAVE.  On the one hand, it won't be MUCH of a change because, living in town, we don't see much of anyone ANYWAY, and we'll still be able to chat to the people we chat with already.  On the other hand, we won't be able to just pop in for tea at G's parents, or hang out at Mom+Sis, or bump into friends at the shops, or whatever.  Thankfully we'll still be able to phone and SMS and chat online though, which we do now.

Then of course, there's the leaving behind of an entire country.  A frame of reference.  Everything we know.  The value of our money, buying power, how things are done, how not to do things, how to avoid things, how to get things, where to do things, when to do things, the list can go on.  I'm really looking forward to the freedom though.  Not financial freedom, as I doubt we'll be stinking rich any time soon, but just the freedom to GO FOR A GODDAMN WALK in the evenings!!  To take a leisurely bike ride, to sit on a bench in a park without feeling anxious that someone might approach you with a knife.  To buy KFC without being worried that the streetkids will cause trouble.  I know that sanity and self-preservation would be required ANYwhere in the world, but just the constant anxiety of 'who is that... what was that (sound/shadow), what are they doing?'.  Also, I'm looking forward to the freedom of paying taxes and GETTING SOMETHING BACK.  Not stupid soccer stadiums, not luxury cars for MPs, STREETLIGHTS and PUBLIC TRANSPORT!  Road maintenance!  Water supply!  Getting your money's worth, paying your share but CONTRIBUTING, not being ripped off.

Ok this has turned into a very contemplative blogpost, but I'm back at my own desk today and I have, so far, got nothing to do.  I COULD go check the guy's filing, but don't feel like it RIGHT now.  Will check in a moment.

Right now I wish I could be at home, spending the entire day stitching.  Somehow this Xstitch isn't as 'gripping' as any of the 3 horses, I guess because it's a 'design' as opposed to a 'character'.  But it's still fun.  Simple, clearly defined colours, instead of blended colours.  The colour I'm working with now is a cheerful yellow.  Once I'm done with this colour I'll post a picture.

I want to go home now........!  And stitch!!

Back on form

I suppose I'm getting back to my usual form, if that is what I can call my state of being AMPED and IMPATIENT AND AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

Yesterday was pretty darn busy, and today has been busy too.  Yesterday was a KILLER with my stuffy head and seriously blocked, sore nose.  Today is much better.

It's only Thursday.  Thankfully payday too.  End of April too.  3 months til our trip I CANNOT WAIT!!

Long weekend, and what do I get? A COLD!!

It's a long weekend now... back to work on Wednesday, Tuesday is a holiday and I took Monday (today) off.

Last night, while having a relaxing evening with T + R and G, watching Star Trek (the prequel) and having pizza, I began to feel the onset of a cold. WHY, in GAWD'S NAME, does this happen on a long weekend? So, 2.5 days out of my 4 day weekend are doomed to be spent with a cold. Lovely.

I'm rather miffed right now, as there are a million and one things I'd rather be doing than wandering around like a listless zombie all day. So many yummy things that are waiting to be eaten, and I have NO appetite at all. And what's most dumb is that I'll get to work on Wednesday, still feeling crap, and mention it to colleagues, but it'll be like 'yeah sure, whatever... slacker'. I've been so bored at work lately, and all of a sudden on Friday I was given a KAK task to do (creating 52 reports... in LOTUS 95 WTF) but at least it was something... which I'm now going to have to do with a cruddy grotty head (because I won't be able to just call in sick cos this work needs to be done by end of day Thursday)... I can't wait.

I'm rambling. I have a cold, I have no appetite but I'm hungry, I have no desire to sleep but I'm tired...

I will have to blog again when my head has cleared.

Hospital-style wait

I realised yesterday that this boredom at work is like waiting in hospital.  Sitting in a waiting room, where there are no magazines to read, and I've forgotten to bring my own stuff.  I brought a book yesterday, but finished it before lunch.  The rest of the afternoon I whiled excrutiatingly lethargically away, reading old Noseweeks and Financial Mails (the office has a kinda 'library', most of the magazines being ENTHRALLING publications such as "Plumbing Africa" and "Plant and Equipment Monthly").

Today I want to get out during lunch and buy myself a junkycheap glossy gossipy women's magazine.  Or two.  And some snacks/eats... so that at least I can feel that I've prepared myself for an endless wait, much like the out-patient wait in an Xray dept.

I stitched a bit last night.  I've finished the first colour, I'm looking forward to the next colour because it basically frames everything.  It's going to look very cool.  I wish, as always, that I could stay home and stitch and take it easy.  Winter's in the process of arriving and it's getting chilly again.  Even more reason to want to stay home!

69 working days til the holiday!

SABC

BHAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH the most pathetic of companies ever:  SABC.

Why do I give them that title?  Because we sent through instruction to cancel our TV license in January.  It is now (look at date of blogpost) APRIL and they haven't done it yet.  They are sending SMSes and emails threatening G with legal action and being handed over to credit bureaux, despite the fact that every time I phone to follow up they say there's a note on the account saying that it's 'handed to cancellation department' and we won't be handed over.  Somehow, that note doesn't instruct them to STFU!!

THANKS GUYS, YOU ARE THE EPITOME OF EFFICIENCY!!

Anyway, apart from that:  THERE ARE 70 WORKING DAYS LEFT TIL OUR HOLIDAY!!  Woopwoopwooooooooooooooooop!!!!!!

Other than that, there's not much news... I've been stitching, slowly.  The threads included in this kit are cut very long, so it takes quite a while to finish a particular strand.  And they knot a lot.  Unfortunately the needle included in the kit (a 26) is about 2 sizes too big, and I don't have any apart from 24s, so every stitch has to be poked through.  But it's still enjoyable.  I've been working with just 1 colour for now, the next colour I'm going to do basically frames the whole thing, so I'll have a far better idea of just how little there is to stitch :D  Can't wait! 

Dunno if I mentioned in any previous posts but I got Golden Ice back.  Had to return him to the shop cos of specks under the glass and a skew frame... but he's back and BEAUTIFUL!  So inspiring, up on the wall above me as I work on the next one.

G's Gran is coming down for a month.  Hopefully we'll catch some of the visits on video :-D  I've also made quite a list of things to-do/see for my video-chronicle... hopefully we can do some this weekend (Tuesday's a holiday and G and I both put in for leave on Monday!), we just will have to wait and see what the weather does.

Work is so deathly boring now... still... even the typist is quiet and bored.  70 working days left.  I'm still not sure about when I can resign, it depends on the meaning of 'one calendar month'.  Problem is, I can't very well ask about it now because suspicions will be raised.  So if anyone has a definite answer as to what exactly 'one calendar month' means, please leave me a comment!

Anyway, that's all for now - I've been reading an interesting book and I believe it is now time for me to pick it up and read some more.

Chip crumbs

Ok, thanks HBBM, you are hysterically funny.  Wow, how could I eat chip crumbs and mess like that, you're right:  I need a bib.  Thanks.  Hilarious.

Excursions and adventures

I've been thinking a lot lately about things we see and do here that I need to catch on video.  I've made a whole list of the routes we drive and places we go, as well as things we have done and seen before that we will wish we had a made a record of once we've moved.  It's quite a list and, as always, now I'm superkeen to start!  It'll be quite fun, as there are some things we haven't done before (going to see the Noon Gun, going to Robben Island - G's never been), etc, as well as others we've already seen, such as Cape Point nature reserve, Table Mountain cable car, etc... I'm looking forward to it now, and of course I'm frustrated to be stuck at work on a perfectly good sunny day missing out on the opportunity.
THIS PLACE!!!  Guhhhh!!  It's so boring!!!!!  There really is NOTHING TO DO ANYMORE!!
74 more (eish) working days til we go on our Austrip.  I also considered resigning earlier (by 3 weeks) next year, but it hardly benefits me at all so I'd probably just stick it out til end of Feb so that I get that paycheque.  So, end of Feb 2011 is it, I guess.  So my workday countdown still stands.  Except, I'm not sure what the status is of our riverrafting trip.  K who has pretty much been the driving force/organiser of the whole thing has been retrenched, so it might not happen.  Dunno - no news as yet and October's still far off, so we'll wait and see.
Dunno whether there's something wrong with me physically, but I'm SO TIRED lately.  Maybe it's cos of work being so DEATHLY BORING that it's just making my entire being lethargic and tired.
Guhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh and I want Golden Ice back now, plzkthx!

Pony party weekend

This weekend was rather fun, despite going on Saturday to the framing shop to drop off Golden Ice - upon closer inspection I saw there were some specks under the glass, and the frame wasn't perfect.  The lady at the shop agreed wholeheartedly, so I'm sans Golden Ice for now.  The rest of Saturday we spent chilling, I looked at the rest of the slides, and just enjoyed relaxing.
Sunday we went through to SARDA to visit Majoor.  I'm enjoying filming the drives and 'events' so much and filmed the drive there, as well as the scenery - it's so beautiful there and was the most perfect day too.  We got there before M+J and Sis so we just hung around by the car til they got there, and I must say: I LOVED the sunlight!!  After the others arrived, and G and I had tried on hats, we had a 'pony ride'!  Majoor's saddle is currently 'out of action', so we had to ride bareback - I had a mosey around the indoor-arena, then it was G's turn.  G'd never been on a horse before, so his first ever pony ride was caught on camera!  Majoor's so mellow and relaaaaaaaaaaxed, he was hardly lifting his feet very much and just plodded around the arena.  M rode after G, and although she made Majoor trot, he was hardly exerting himself in the slightest!  Afterwards we had a mini-picnic and chatted for a while.  It's so lovely and peaceful at SARDA, and the view of the mountains is stunning.
After SARDA, we headed on over to G's parents for tea at 3.  I got the drive on video as well as we went a slightly different route than usual.  Caught Pookie (Dude's 'uncle' - an Amazon parrot) on camera as well, he's such a funny thing when he babbles at G.
Yesterday evening I made sushi, and just had a mellow time too.  I was meaning to clean the fishtank this weekend but didn't (it's only due next week though), and we didn't do our usual chores but somehow it's nice to just take it easy and ENJOY the weekend instead of rushing around doing stuff like chores.
On a less peaceful and relaxing topic, I'm seriously worried about the future of this country.  Or rather, I'm worried about our parents'+sisters'  futures in this country.  It's going to take quite a while for us to be able to sponsor them across once we've settled in.  The whole 'current affairs' scenario is extremely scary, and that Malema clown is the scariest person out there right now.  I really cannot wait until we're safely out of here, but will worry so much for everyone here still.  It really doesn't make for a 'stress-free' emigration, worrying about this and despite wanting badly to go, not wanting to go because of leaving family+pets behind. 
I think, under the circumstances, I'll resign as soon as the office opens in Jan 2011, so that we can leave earlier.  So it seems like March is going to be it.  G's work will likely finish end Dec, if I end work near the beginning of Feb, we should be able to go by the end of March.  That gives us time to sort things out THIS year, but not a lot of time once we've resigned.  Hopefully we won't need much time then.  It makes my list of things to see/do/video before we go even more 'urgent'.
I don't want to dwell on that right now, so let me post this and 'sign off'.

Golden Ice - framed

I LOVE how the thin border goes so well! It smooths the colours and makes them blend better. The frame-example they used on the chart's packaging really doesn't do the cross-stitch design ANY justice!

I'm taking him back to the framing shop though, as there is a speck of cardboardfluff under the glass, as well as a white speck or two which are distracting... I know it sounds finicky but when you're paying almost R500 for the framing, it's not insignificant!

Apache Wedding Blessing

Easter weekend 2010

The past (long) weekend has been nice and relaxed.  Managed to finish Golden Ice (see blogpost below), spent time with both sets of families (had a nice time both places), got lots of chocolate (no, we haven't even half-finished it - we're being good and not scoffing like mad)... and I borrowed the suitcase which contains all of Dad's slides.  He took thousands of slides, all dated +-60s/70s.  I'm not yet 1/3 of the way through, and there have been some incredible pictures. 
There are a whole lot of photos of his side of the family, including Grandpa and Grandma H, in COLOUR, no less, and loads from his travels through game farms as well as photos from plane windows while the plane was in the air.  He must have spent quite a good portion of his time taking photos, as the photos that have been turned into slides are (mostly) clear, steady, well-composed photos which must have taken time and effort and a tripod!!  I'm considering buying a scanner which can capture from slides (and negatives), because it'd be a damn pity to 'lose' these photos due to them being slides (and us not having a slide-projector), and I reckon it'd cost a small fortune to have them scanned by a photo-shop.  So... let's see.  Maybe a further project for me (but not sure yet).
I've been working on the Wedding Blessing - it's got such a different 'feel' to the other 3 cross-stitches I've done, as the fabric's holes are quite small and it's a light colour fabric.  The needle they included with the kit is too large so I'm using the only smaller one I have but even that one is 'pricking' its way through.  This morning I went to the framing shop (it's moved, now it's right near to where I work!), to get Golden Ice framed.  Took a while to decide, but eventually settled on a black frame with a thin strip of yellow backing/boarding... pics to follow!  I really can't wait, he's going to look STUNNING!!!!
I counted (yes, already), and there are 80 working days left til our holiday.  It's a HOLIDAY now, not merely a trip.  Hotel's booked, flights are booked, just gotta hire a car.  I'm thinking we should take it easy this trip, instead of rush around sightseeing.  We did a bit of sightseeing when we were on honeymoon, this time we've got a bank account to open and I want to get a simcard, other than that, we'll probably just drive around and see what the place is all about.  It'll be nice to go on drives, exploring further out.  Not FAR far... but still, not restricted to the CBD and immediate surrounds.
I CANNOT WAIT!  There isn't really much happening between now and then, apart from G's gran coming to visit for a month in May!  Looking forward to seeing her again!  Other things on our 'to do' list are:  G's license needs renewing, we have to get the washmachine serviced, got another dentist checkup and... oh and surviving SOCCER WORLD CUP woot.  That's going to be VERY interesting... not looking forward to the chaos and mayhem...
The weather's taken a definite turn... since 21st March (equinox), it's suddenly got a coolness in the air.  I've thrown another blanket on the bed... so winter's definitely on its way.
Man, now I (once again!) want to be at home stitching.  The winter morning/midday sunlight really streams in beautifully at home, and I wish I was there now lying on the couch lapping it up!  The place where G's aunt+uncle+cousin are staying currently gets a LOT of late afternoon sun, and when we were there on Sunday I was so envious of their dogs - lying stretched out absorbing all the warmth!  Hopefully one day when we have our own house, it'll get good sunlight.  Maybe Brisbane'd be too hot, and we'd be glad NOT to have any sunlight in the house... !
Nearly lunchtime, got a magazine to page through in the meantime - work is still so quiet.

Finished!!!

2 years in the making, and he's done! Jeepers, talk about shoulder ache (it's past midnight now).

Changes

G fetched our passports, and the visas are so pretty and snug in them.  Too cool for words.
Our $ was released yesterday, so yesterday evening we wanted to book flights.  Except, Singapore Airlines' site bombed out after we'd put in the billing details.  No seats on the itinerary.  So this morning I phoned the local office, only to be told by the lady that the online system and her system *are* different, but she can give us the tickets for R12 xxx, which was R1 000 more than the price we had been trying for.  She says the error happened because the flights back are full or something.  Our other option is to 'try and play around with dates til you find something suitable'.  Yes, lady, that's a GREAT IDEA, seeing how the thing only throws up the flipping error once you've clicked 'PAY'... think about that for a second:  the only way to know it HASN'T failed, is after you've already PAID for it.  Not a very smart idea.  So Singapore airlines can get stuffed, especially since their airfare is ALL now R13k+, regardless of what date you choose, when just yesterday, they were R10k etc.  Nice one.  We're thinking of flying on Qantas, with local domestic flights here just to get us to the departing airport.  It saves us R2k on the ORIGINAL Singapore airlines price (which is now not available).
It also allows us to choose different dates, which is better.  Our flights (for now) are closer than we'd originally planned, which is great.  Also, we miss out a public holiday lumped right in the middle of the holiday, which would waste a 'business' day there for us to sort things out.  The hotel rates are the same.
Today is BORING!!!!  Hbbm's not in today, it's a long weekend this weekend, so I'm ... waiting to go home.  Want to stitch stukkend this eve... and tomorrow... and and and...

Amped-a-lamped!

Just phoned the visa evidencing company and apparently our passports (with visas stuck into them) are READY!  That's not even 3 days!  Super fast, I'm impressed.
Can't wait to get them back... what it also means is that we can book our tickets as SOON as our $ comes through!  Yay... can't wait for that EITHER!
I started the Wedding Blessing x-stitch yesterday.  I haven't gridded it, but at least started the design - luckily it has stitches right in the centre so I can count from there outwards when I do grid it.  Going to be so glad once Golden Ice is 100% though...
No other news that I can think of, for now.  Once our tickets are booked, I'll put in my leave already.  87 working days left!!

Restless

I'm feeling excrutiatingly restless now.  Got an email about the road closures during the SWC and I'm NOT looking forward to it.  An entire month of chaos in the city... yay.  I won't go into detail but I'm dreading the entire thing.
Apart from that, I'm restless because I'm so nearly done with Golden Ice.  The framing shop is moving (around the corner now!), so I'll have to wait til they've moved before I take Golden Ice there.  This evening we're going to the mall to buy the thread I still need.  I already put the new xstitch fabric into the Qsnap frame, want to buy white cotton thread to grid it so that I can start!  Can't wait, it's going to be quite fun.  I still can't believe how beautiful Golden Ice looks... out of the frame, stunning.  Hopefully the Wedding Blessing won't take TWO YEARS...
We're waiting for our passports to come back from having the visas stuck into them, then we can buy airtickets.  They should be ready next week sometime.  Once it's done, that's the last thing visa-related we'll have to do, apart from go on holiday to have the visas activated.
I've been thinking how at the moment we're waiting for the passports before we can book, after that we'll have to wait for the holiday, then after that it's waiting for the Xmas holidays, and then waiting til I resign, and after that, waiting until we move.  It's a bit crazy... but what else can it be called other than waiting?  It'll be nice when we've moved, and we can settle in.  No more *waiting* waiting, just being.  For now the holiday seems too far away.
I really am looking forward to the day I'm finally finished here.  If, that is, the company doesn't have retrenchments.  Chatting to the accountant, apparently if we don't get the big job that's pending/still in discussion-stage/etc, we're going to be in a bit of trouble.  The current jobs we have aren't very big, and if that one doesn't happen, they might have to retrench people.  No one has said anything yet, but that's the accountant's impression.  Soo............. we'll have to wait and see.
I'm feeling a bit blah though, thinking about leaving next year, leaving Dude behind.  He'll be only 4, in Feb next year.  Still a youngster, really.  The fish will be 4 years old later this year... leaving them all behind... :(  Can't stay here til they've moved on to the fishtank in the sky... and too sad thinking about Dude.  They still aren't letting in birds from any country apart from New Zealand.  I feel worse because of being at work all day, every day, leaving him alone at home, only to leave him behind when we move... when I could be spending time with him keeping him company, doing stuff at home.  But who ever stayed home, not working, to keep a pet company?  But I wish I could.
I suspect my blog repeats itself all the time... I guess I type things over and over and over.  I reckon it's a symptom of my boredom at work - I sit thinking the same things over and over, dwelling on them because there's nothing to do.  Another 209 days of this... wooot!

Penultimate photo

Thoughts for a non-Monday

Yesterday was a public holiday - YAY!! Had a pretty busy long-weekend actually. Apart from the usual chores, I cleaned the fishtank, and we visited Sis for Synd on Friday, went to ex-her-G's place as a farewell (he's moving to Aus tomorrow - WOW seems unreal) on Saturday, then Sunday we popped in at G's parents for tea. In between all of that, I stitched like mad. I'm so nearly done with Golden Ice. I just hope I don't run out of this colour thread, but I'll just have to wait and see. Can't wait to be done now. I'm so eager to 'free' him from the Qsnap frame, looking forward to having him back, framed, put on the wall.
We've got to get our visas placed into our passports, G's going to drop the passports off tomorrow... can't believe it, this is the last visa-related thing still to do! Can't believe it's done, finished, granted. Everything else, from now on, is activation-trip related, and once that's done, MOVE-related. Waiting for payday to happen, then we're going to book our tickets. Gotta also hear from Sis whether she IS or ISN'T coming with us on the trip. Just gotta know soon so we can book our flights and accommodation. 92 working days til the trip! Can't wait!! After we get back from the trip, I'll have only 122 working days left... phew... what a countdown!

Golden Ice progress

I have 1 colour remaining :D

Progress and pausing

I've been making steady, slow progress with Golden Ice.  I'm almost done with the 2nd last colour, then all that's left is knocking myself out on the last colour!
It's so thrilling and I'm already eager to have finished and want to be busy starting the Wedding Blessing while Golden Ice is away being framed.  The Wedding Blessing is going to be so much smaller than Golden Ice, I'll (hopefully) be able to sit on the couch and stitch, rather than be restricted to sitting at the table the whole time (my poor shoulders are so tired).  It's a quicker design, as it's not an entire expanse of stitches, it's more spaced out and empty, and I'm hoping to do it in the time before we move.  It'd be special since it's linked to the wedding, and would be nice to keep stitching in this time before leaving.  All the other designs I have lined up - 100%-of-the-fabric-is-stitched Gentle Strength, more-than-50%-of-the-fabric-is-stitched Motion (which still needs threads), the others which still need both fabric and threads - can all wait til we've moved.  Also, if I'm not half-way through stitching something when we arrive in Aus, there'll be loads of time free (as opposed to 'busy' stitching) to explore the place and learn about where we will be.
It's way in advance to be planning stuff linked to the move, but it's better to be prepared than arrive and regret not organising something ahead.  I've enquired about opening a bank account, I've asked about getting a PO Box, want to re-research cellphone service providers, because all these things we can do when we activate the visa (not entirely sure about the postbox though).  The simcard we'd get in August would last a year before going inactive, and we'd definitely be in Aus before August 2011, so we could at least have an Aus contact number in order to arrange things and have a 'fuller' profile with the bank, for example.
But, as always, my daydreamy mind wanders and I think about things that we CAN'T do yet, like find a place to rent, or a suitable car.  And of COURSE I'd want personalised numberplates on my car (my car BUAHAH... that isn't happening ANYtime soon but it's a nice daydream), but these things must wait - I need to focus on more 'immediate' concerns like what can and can't be taken with us, which removal company to use, etc, and even THAT has to wait quite some time before it becomes pressing.  So, I'll keep my head down, prepare for the holiday in August (and, don't forget, river rafting in October!), and try CHILL OUT!!
The pausing I refer to in my subject line is:  KELLY CLARKSON!!  We're going to see Kelly Clarkson live!  I can't wait!  Going home and straight there, so that we can have supper early and BE THERE ready.  Really can't wait.  I think I should rename myself Kit-Can't-Wait.
YAY!!

Still can't believe it!

It still doesn't feel real.  Woke up this morning, and it felt weird NOT having to instantly check the visa application status!  Still doesn't feel real.
Last night we watched the 3rd Back to the Future movie.  While we were battling with a scratch in the dual-layer switching section of the disk, I noticed something small moving across the floor.  It was a TEENYTINY little CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE baby gecko!  It was so adorable!!  I quickly moved the couch away and herded it towards the wall, managed to 'capture' it in my hand and took it outside - there really is nothing for them to eat indoors, we've already had one in the bedroom die after a couple of days due to starvation.
I've been stitching again - spent most of the weekend stitching.  So exciting looking at Golden Ice, picturing finishing the colour I'm working on, having only 1 left.   Guh I wish I could stay home and stitch!!
MAN I wish that stupid widget still worked - the countdown that I had on my blog.  Anyway, this is my countdown, I can't remember if I posted the link or not:

http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/customcounter.html?day=28&month=02&year=2011&hour=17&min=00&sec=00&p0=56

Basically, I have 219 working days left til the end of Feb 2011, and 95 working days left til our trip - provisionally.  I still have to find out stuff from the bank we want to go to, like how long it takes to activate the account once it's opened and we go there.  If it's a week, we'll have to rethink our holiday dates.
219 DAYS LEFT OMG!!  And G only til the end of this year!!
Ok, that's all for now - gotta go make hbbm tea cos the tealady went off to the doctor.

OMGGGGGGGGGGG

WE GOT THE VISA!!!!!

I used my phone and logged onto the status checking webpage first thing this morning, as I have done every weekday for the past 4.5 months.

WE GOT THE VISA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It says 'applicant approved'.... OHMYGAOOOOODDDD I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S HAPPENED!!  I can't believe it's real!!

The whole application took 4.5 months, and it took 1 month after G's medicals were finalised to be approved.

We have to enter Aus (either move or activate the visa) by 1 Feb next year.  So we have plenty of time... but now it's time to book flights and accommodation for August - our trip!  I can't wait!  My savings are only being released later this month, BOY is that going to be a long wait til it happens!  OMG SO EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now Sis just has to apply for her tourist visa, we gotta book flights, accommodation, get travel insurance... and WAIT AND OMG exciting!!  I CAN'T WAIT!!  Gotta put in leave... 4 months til the trip... it's only a short trip BUT I CAN'T WAIT!!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I can't believe it's real!!!!

Quote for the day

There's something adolescent about it, the theatricality of anger.  It's definitely a juvenile thing;  I think if you're still indulging it beyond that then you start to become reminiscent of Basil Fawlty.  I think that was a fantastic portrayal of high-level histrionic, ineffectual rage where you want to create an impact but you just seem shrill and ludicrous.

- Colin Firth

Thought for the day

Those who do not create the future they want must endure the future they get.

 (Draper L. Kaufman, Jr.)

So tired

Yesterday was, to put it simply, was KAK.
Except for watching Back to the Future last night, the rest of yesterday was pretty much shitty.
First of all, ants.  At home, ANTS!!  Monday evening I went to have a haircut, G popped in at the shops while he was waiting and bought us a box of chocs.  Since we got home late and had stuff to do, we didn't open the box of chocs that night.  Tues morning, first thing in the morning, I notice the box of chocs was swarmed with ants.  IT WASN'T EVEN OPEN YET!!
Got to work, it was ok at first, in the morning I got my paws on a magazine that the typist brings sometimes (highlight of the week, pretty much), and since I'd packed in some chips to nibble, I was looking forward to having a nice break at lunch with magazine+chips.  Hbbm kept me busy the morning, then went out to a meeting leaving me with work to do.  Once I was finished, I took the opportunity to do filing which I hadn't been able to do for a good while because of being busy/at switchboard/whatever.  5mins to 1pm I'm NEARLY done filing, receptionist calls up to the office I'm filing in, saying hbbm's looking for me urgently, need to finish the document we were busy with the morning.  It's got to be ready by 3.  FIVE MINUTES TO LUNCH!!  He gives me drawings and says the pencil marks are to be rubbed off, the numbering redone, copies made, while he's busy reading through the stuff I've typed up so that he can make changes while I'm busy.  Lunch fuckingwell comes and goes... and I'm stuck, starving.
MADAM, on the other hand, is sitting at switchboard for lunch (it's the typist's week not to sit on Tuesday - DON'T EVEN BOTHER asking what the logic is in the timetable, there is none), so she asks if she can go to the toilet... she says she's sorry, she can see I'm busy but it's her time of the month (THANKS for sharing... really).  I look up from the drawings with a O.o expression on my face and say "I actually can't... " so she huffs and mutters something like she's going to ask the typist.  I carried on with the work, next thing I hear the doorbell go.  I ignore it, and it goes again.  I get up to see where she is, and she's DISAPPEARED.  She just abandoned the frontdesk.  Bitch.
I really don't understand why she can't just ASK SOMEONE ELSE!!!   Of all the times she asks, I NEVER SAY NO UNLESS HBBM IS RIGHT AT MY DESK DICTATING STUFF - because I'm NOT usually BUSY, AND because I, wonderfully, am first in line to stand in!  But no, she doesn't ask tealady, fuck, she doesn't even bother tealady to make coffees for meetings (tealady's JOB) sometimes even though tealady is upstairs, she asks me to listen to the phone while SHE makes it.  No, she doesn't call anyone ELSE, she just disappears.
I was so angry.  Fuck my lunchbreak (again), thanks hbbm, and FUCK YOU receptionist bitch!
It was busy ALL DAY, so I didn't get to eat anything ALL DAY.  Cornflakes in the morning, then a nice FAST the rest of the day til hometime.  Lovely.
I did send an email to the bosses, telling them of her disappearance, considering they're PAYING her to do her job!
222 days left of this?  I dunno hey... I guess I can try to keep myself sane by remembering that (hopefully) the Aus trip is in August, only 4 months away, and then, after 1 month, is the river-rafting trip, then 2 months after it's end of year holidays... THEN I have only 2 MONTHS LEFT EVER in this dump.  Putting it like that, it sounds semi-tolerable... but to think: 11 months left...?
On 1 of the Aus/SA forums, someone who applied (for the same visa as us) in Nov has already got their visa.  Damn!  When's our turn?  On the forum, with our particular visa application type, it's just us in Oct and now only 1 other person in Nov.  Our turn pls!!!  PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!!!!
It's still so hot here now... muggy and overcast/hazy, and humid!!  I guess it's preparation for Brisbane weather :P

AWESOME BIRTH(DAY/WEEKEND)

Wow... is all I can say!

Ok, let me not be coy/corny and actually elaborate :D

First of all, Friday was my day, and despite having to be receptionist ALL DAY, it wasn't insanely bad, it was thankfully quite quiet. Hbbm wasn't in a mad tizz, so it was ok. Friday evening G and I went out for supper at an Indian restaurant. We shared a reshmi tikka (chicken) starter (mild) and aloo tikka (vegetable) starter (medium!), and for mains we shared korma lamb and makhani lamb (both mild). It was very yum. I preferred the makhani lamb, but the korma was also good.

Saturday morning we slept late (ahhhhh bliss), I read up a bit on camcorders (or carried on, I'd been trying to find out as much as I could for the past few days) then we popped out to the shops (got a quote for a cam). We headed over to G's parents' for birthday tea, and wow there was a delicious spread of sweet treats - carrot cake which we brought, plus chocolate cupcakes, caramel cupcakes, an apple-pie G's mom made (with the letter H on top!), plus shortbread biscuits. G's aunt+uncle and 2 of the 3 cousins were there, 1 of the cousins and aunt+uncle have moved to CT and it was so lovely seeing them again, and even more so, knowing that they're here, closer and a more tangible part of our lives.

It was very hot yesterday, as it has been for the past I'd say 2 weeks+. Yesterday evening, sis, M+J came over for Syndicate. Just a chatting, catching up kinda evening.

This morning I resumed my camcorder-research stint, comparing the quote I'd got with prices I could find out online, and decided to buy! G told me (very cryptically) on Friday about a surprise he'd organised for today... I worked out what it was during Friday evening and decided I NEEDed a video camera for it. The camera I bought is a Sony Handicam DCR-SX40(E), which seems pretty decent and seriously small. It fits in the digital camera bag PERFECTLY. So, it'd finished charging for only a few minutes and we rushed off to the V&A to the heliport. G had reserved seats for us on a Huey helicopter on a 'combat style' trip. OHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYY WORRRRRRRRRRRRRD IT WAS AAAAAWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so incredible and wonderful, experiencing the sensation of flying in a different way to normal aeroplanes. It was quite noisy, being an open-sided Huey, but it was WONDERFUL. I filmed the entire flight (30+ mins), which because of the camera having an LCD didn't hinder my ACTUAL enjoyment at all. WOW!!!

WOW!!!! And super-kudos to the camera for actually capturing the helicopter sound well instead of a grating, overwhelmed crashing kind of noise that you might get with very loud sound. Wow. Wow to the camera and superwowyay to G for the seriously wonderful adventure! We got certificates afterwards saying we'd been on the mission and were 'honourably discharged' hehe.

Afterwards, we strolled around the Waterfront for a while, me doing the touristy thing filming odds and ends. When we got to the car, it said 41C. We certainly picked the HOTTEST day to park the car outdoors for a good few hours. One of the electronic clock/temp displays showed 85C HAHAHA... but I reckon it was maybe 43C, at the hottest, today! A real sweater of a day.

Right now I'm lying on the couch typing with the laptop, got the fan going pointed right at me, and it's still hot. I don't want to KNOW how hot it is upstairs... not looking forward to going to bed at all. Might end up sleeping on the couch ;-)

I hope HOPE HOPE that we get our visa soon - too exciting thinking about filming the Aus trip, and also the riverrafting trip too (just gotta get a waterproof housing for the camera).

Anyway, lemme sign off by just saying:

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Transit lounge

Right now, and these days, I feel like I'm waiting in an airport for an indeterminate length of time.  The only difference is, I'm LIVING that and not waiting FOR someTHING at a specific time... there's just no conclusion, like boarding a plane or reaching a destination... and I'm not even sure if I'm in the right airport anyway, or, why I'm even IN an airport, waiting, anyway?
I'm so tired.  I'm not sure if it's the hot weather we've been having lately or not sleeping properly or something else, but I just am so tired and exhausted.  I know we ARE waiting for something (visa, move preparations, finishing work+life here before moving), but I really... feel like I'm a damaged rowing boat, filled with water, slowly being scraped up a sandy beach by the tide...
I haven't made a LOT of progress on Golden Ice, it's just been so hot and uninspiring.  And I've been trying to research camcorders.  It's just not working.  I don't want to fork out R5000 for a video camera, but each one I read up about (+-R2500 - R3500) has some problem that seems bad.  One doesn't have a pause button, another has bad picture quality, another sucks when shooting in low light conditions, some have file formats that are apparently troublesome to convert to files the computer can read, etc etc etc.  But anyway, Panasonic seems decent, but the one I'd like isn't available here yet.  I want to start recording stuff to chronicle our year.  I don't recall if I blogged this already - probably have.  Anyway, it'll be fun.  Except I don't know what to buy!!  What's extra frustrating is I'm always perky and wide-awake AT WORK, when I CAN'T research ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't wait for tomorrow.  Switchboard ALLLLLLL day...

Golden Ice progress

March 2010

Today is 1 March 2010.  I have officially started my 7th and last year at this co...
If I can last here, my plan is to stay til Feb 2011.  Not sure if I will last - I KEEP DAMNWELL SAYING that, but I always stay... how irritating.  Anyway, regardless,  I've been here a solid 6 years now, I'm starting the 7th... there are 12 months left... 4months+a few weeks til our (provisional, depends on the visa) trip to Aus this year.  Our visa has been in progress for 4 months now... I am going to email them later to ask whether they've received everything we've submitted, and whether they need anything further.  I don't want to nag, but hopefully it'll make our application move a little bit more.  I'm hoping it's soon!!!
It's already March... how time flies... is my blog turning into a pit of overused phrases?  "time flies", etc. 
I stitched a bit this weekend, not very much though because it's stayed so unbelievably hot here.  I'm really thrilled with his progress.  I took a pic and will probably put it up later... but I'll see! 
Just over 2 weeks til we see Kelly Clarkson!  Can't wait!
Nothing really newsworthy has happened lately.  The cylinder (geyser) broke on Wednesday evening, the plumber came to fix it on Thursday.  We went to the carnival on Thursday, got to eat all the yum treats we'd been looking forward to, and bought some 2nd hand books and enjoyed the lovely evening.  Auntie Cancer was at their place yesterday, showing people around and watering the plants.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can they rent the place out and not move back?  PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE?!?!
What else is news.  Not much.  Will post more if/when I am inspired again.