Mum's Sad Pugs

Mum's back in hospital after a feverish night last night. They're running more blood tests to her disdain as she's a little over having needles. Not to mention how unimpressed she looked when they came up to her with a drip.

Anyhow, they're concerned that there could be an infection so she's on antibiotics while the tests are done.

She's still in good spirits though and claims that she could go ballroom dancing right now. We told her that it's a little late in the evening for that. Spoil sports I know...

The pugs however know that something's up and were unimpressed that we left with her and returned home without her.

Sad pandas!

A Pug's Life - Keep On Rolling

Click on the images to make them go big! :)

Mixed Up Day

When I woke up this morning I had no idea that I would finish the day owning three Tupperware mixing bowls. Admittedly it's not a thought that strikes many people first thing in the morning.

I decided that while I'm not working I should use this time to do as many of the things that I talk about doing when I am working. Like getting fit. After working on Festival FINA I'd toned up a bit and am hoping to keep it that way. Figured if I can keep fit I'll stay healthier and do less stupid things (eg. coffee table incident in Doha). So after staring at the grey clouds outside I decided to start the morning with a gentle hour of stretching. This was followed by dancing like maniac to music on my iPod (happy owner of two versions of 99 Luftballons).

Having disturbed the dogs (and any neighbours who happened to be passing) I plonked myself on the couch to catch up on Max's Top 100 Tear Jerkers countdown. This formed the last part of my plan, to sit on the couch and keep knitting and crocheting for the stall.

Just after Michael Bolton's How Am I Supposed to Live Without You my parents arrived home. We had lunch and in less than an hour I was off to my first Tupperware party. I was determined not to spend any money. I don't have a house. Why would I need Tupperware? (Aside from the pretty new hot pepper colour range and durability).

Two hours later I'd placed an order for some tumblers (to keep my tea in), a 2L mixing bowl (excellent size and it has a splash guard) and a small 260mL container. I've never owned a mixing bowl despite my love of baking so I figured this would be an investment what with my love of baking and all... Mum's also ordered my birthday present, the baking mixing bowl set (which has a 3.5L and 600mL pair of bowls with the great splash guard too). They're blue and pretty and importantly dishwasher safe. I love them and can't wait till they arrive in a couple of weeks. There will be much baking!

Oh and the number one song was Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah.

Passing Time

Well it's almost packing up my laptop time. As soon as I finish copying The Day My Bum Went Psycho onto my iPod to keep me company on the 14 hour journey I'll start rolling cables.

I'm at home with Zeus & Clio (the pugs) and Herman (the rat who needs a minder for a couple of weeks in September if anyone is interested) and it's pretty quiet now that everyone's at work. The sounds of snoring dogs, the dryer and my laptop fan is not surprisingly unsoothing.

My 55L travel pack is fairly full with my other carry bag keeping my travel pillow enclosed along with the ever popular mini-sharpies and lollies. Everyone should have a mini-sharpie. Happily my luggage is weighing in at under 20kg so I should still be able to do some shopping while I'm overseas :)

Dad & I have discovered (thanks to Fi) Skype which as he mentions on his blog should allow us to talk for free until he gets to China where Internet access could be a bit shady. Naturally we tested this yesterday. It's kinda funny hearing your laptop ring and answering. I'm still amused!

Last night we went to Dragon Boat for a delicious meal consisting of all my favourite dishes (salted egg chicken, salted fish tofu chicken hot pot, abalone mushroom, char siew). It would seem that I was craving salty food when I think about it. I promise the dishes taste much better than they sound.

I'm now just passing time until we leave for the airport in a few hours. Want to make sure I'm ready to check in early with all the delays that seem to be popping up lately.

Well, I'm up to the last disc of the five and this means it's time to double check all my packing! I don't think I've been this excited since I went to Japan!

18.5 hours = 12182

You know it's been a long day when you come home and upon waking your computer up immediately check to see if the date/time settings are correct because it simply can't be sunday already. Well, apparently it can.

Apparently walked 6.091km. Not very far really but it sure has been a long day.

Stayed the night at my parent's house last night. Had the tables turned on me as I waited for Dad to finish rehearsal for the first time ever. Usually he's the one wondering how to pass a couple of hours! As it was an impromptu visit and I had to be at work the next day, he kindly took me to the 24 hour Kmart to get some clothes to change into before we headed back to the house. The dogs were a little confused but Clio took it in her stride while Zeus proceeded to be slightly stressed until he found Dad in the kitchen. He's a somewhat anxious dog. I apparently should never be allowed to pick male pets. They've all got a history of being insecure/anxious. Not sure what that says about me but it probably doesn't say much at all really.

Had trouble sleeping, largely because it was one of those warm/cool nights and I was acutely aware of the late hour (02:00) and the time I had to be up (07:45 at the latest).

Arrived at work at 09:00 on the dot and discovered that the new reports that I'd been waiting for had arrived at my desk. My reaction was mixed. I was excited because it was looking like making life easier but at the same time I was not excited as I had been looking forward to a day on the field instead of underground at my desk. Happily I got some time on the field sweeping our rather large stage (read either the Herald Sun or the Age for actual size). Somewhere in between reports and going batty at my desk looking at figures I decided it would be a good idea to get everyone some juice/smoothies from one of the local fruit juice bars. You wouldn't think it would take that long to get 27 juices... but apparently it does. A couple of hours passed without any notice and before I knew it it was dark again. 13 A3 pages of tiny figures later and I looked at my watch and giggled immediately. Most people would have noticed that it was 01:00... Happily my boss isn't most people and we happily caught up on our day before someone pointed out that we should all go home. Rightfully so!

Shared a cab with the Technical Director and now I'm tucked up in bed wondering why I'm still awake.

If they're offering vitamin B12 shots again tomorrow I may very well take them up on the offer. Could do with a bit of a boost! Not a fan of injections though...

Okay. Definitely time for bed. The park, picnic and friends await me tomorrow afternoon. So much to do!

Partly Blue Dog

I may, quite possibly, have dyed my Mum's dog just a little bit blue today. It was an accident I swear! One moment the bathroom door was shut and the next, the dog had blue black hairdye dripped on it... Having shampooed the dog thoroughly and left it with a small, but bright, blue patch I thought it best to 'fess up to my Mum. She laughed. She laughed hard.

So now the dog's looking a little miserable (blue's not her favourite colour I guess) and I now know why they don't recommend that colour for people with very pale or greying hair.

A New Year, a Big Day and an odd odour

It's been an excellent weekend overall! I just can't believe it's Monday so soon! Friday night I had a lovely dinner at Mr Wolf with Nomes, Nick and Caroline consisting of some delicious pizzas. I sense it would be an expensive dining experience if I brought Gene there though... although it would actually allow me to finish the fabulously rich chocolate mousse... Hmmm...

I arrived home to two very tired and hungry pugs who were happy to see me... or at least their dinner bowls full, before spending the rest of my evening working on my crochet dress.

Saturday morning saw me unpicking the previous evening's crochet work because TV is less good for my counting and instruction following capabilities when tired... Apparently I have limits.. pfft!

Being Chinese New Year my folks wanted to ensure that I didn't miss out on seeing them even though they are in Singapore so they headed to Wisma Atria and stood under the web cam and called to say hi which was really sweet. The evening was spent with the Nic(k)s deciphering our Chinese/Western zodiacs and it was hilarious! On occassions crazily accurate and other times just crazy. It was good fun.

My very first Big Day Out was much fun if a little warm and muggy. The V Invigorate Tent was a real winner for me with the misting spray and bubble machine providing entertainment for not just the patrons but the security staff too. The Silent Disco was awesome! A definite favourite of the day with Gene & I dancing like maniacs to songs that were being broadcast through headphones to all on the dance floor. The Lord Mayor John So seemed most amused at the sight although I don't think he joined the dancers.

So a little tired and a little sunburnt I jumped into the car today to head into town for work to discover that school holidays have just come to a close. Despite having left the house 15 minutes early I ended up 15 minutes late... and $21 poorer for the parking fee. Not happy.

It was a slow day in the office. Mainly waiting for people to get back to me. Tomorrow's looking better with lots of paperwork to process. I love my paperwork!

The most interesting thing that happened today was the discovery of a dead mouse under my boss' hi-vis vest... Good reason not to leave stuff on the floor of our current office really. :)

It's Oh So Quiet

This morning I tried out the alarm clock function on my new iPod. I highly recommend Björk's "It's Oh So Quiet" as fantastic wake up music. The hint of the triangle gives your brain a subtle hint that something is about to happen before the quiet melody of the woodwinds gently ease you into waking. If that didn't grab your consciousness, then the brass section is sure to remedy that! It almost has a snooze function with the quiet sections interspersed with blasts of theatrical music that you really can't complain about. All in all a great piece of music that I love at any time of day (certainly better than a blaring off-key siren) and a cute film clip to boot!

The dogs seemed a little drowsy when I let them out. Particularly Clio. I think she must have had trouble sleeping. I heard her pacing around in the wee small hours of the morning.

Today will be a tough day. I've had about 3.5 hours sleep and I'm aiming to be awake for a few more hours before I undoubtly crash and have a nap. I decided that I needed to go to the doctor regarding my stupid foot which hurts to walk on. I might mention that I've been having trouble sleeping. Then again I'm sure that the sleep patterns being strange have something to do with the recent changes to my social life having moved to the burbs while house-sitting.

I should also go shopping and get some more dog food for the dogs and a set of 7mm circular knitting needles for myself. I also need to put petrol in the car . That will be expensive given the size of the petrol tank and the type of fuel. Oh well, it's a price that I'll pay for the luxury of not having to walk to the doctor's.