Festively Fatigued

The holiday season has treated me well this year. So yay for that!

Gene and I started early with the whole gift giving thing on Christmas Eve (at about one in the morning when he knocked off work) because we were heading our own seperate ways this year for Christmas. He seems to like his crazily bright LED torch, but he would, and we're looking forward to playing the "cheap-ass board game" that I got him from Of Science & Swords. Gene got me the Sims 2 on XBox after having to listen to me sulk about not having a fast enough graphics card or processor in my laptop to play the game so you can imagine how I passed Christmas Eve night...

I actually got to spend Christmas Day with my parents this year, although I was a little antisocial during Christmas evening playing the Sims 2 on their lovely rocket-ship of a computer. In my defense, they'd gone out to visit a friend of theirs who's fairly sick with cancer to try and cheer her up so it was just the dogs who got received little attention. I swear my parents read my mind this year. I got given a manicure/hand cream set which I was actually thinking of getting at some point soon so that was great. Mum also gave me some gorgeous Noro yarn which is a blend of silk, mohair and lambswool. Mmmmmm it's so pretty!

Gene came back from Geelong to my folks place on Boxing Day with a swag of assorted goodies which were most appreciated. Unfortunately he had to work that night so we lost him for a little while. Nick C came to join us for Boxing Day which was lovely. Just our luck that his parents had also gotten him a Leatherman for Christmas! He still made excellent use of it opening our beer for us though. He brought a book called Vellum which I'm looking forward to starting tonight and two of those wooden puzzles to entertain us all. Gene's combined them both (one was a star and the other a sphere) and they look pretty cool now.

Today was the last day we spent out with my folks just trying to eat the last of the Christmas food and making the most of the cool toys they have. Dad gave us some movies to watch and very kindly swapped iPods with me so I'm currently importing music to iTunes from our CD collection so that I can listen to it all at work tomorrow. Well maybe not quite all of it as I've passed the 24 hours of music mark... but I'll give most of it a good shot!

I'm happy to note that I should be able to attend the NYE pool party so I'm looking forward to seeing all the crazy Monash kids again.

Until then I don't think there's much else to report!

On the fly

Sleep and time are both precious at present. Despite my (admittedly now) occassional urges to post, I often find myself moving that extra 40cm from the chair I'm sitting on now to the bed to snuggle up and blissfully rendezvous with whatever the Sandman has to bring.

Work is getting fantastically busy and I suspect will only get more so. We've all got four days off between now and March 31st (those being the Christmas holidays) and I've had to dole my time out between social and family circles (which always sucks because everyone always wants more time than you ever seem to have). Happily though I think I'll get to see each of my friends at least once before the New Year. Naomi & Rami I should see you guys at the pool party if I'm not working too late, which I doubt I will be.

I've actually stopped thinking of weekends as social times and am counting them as possible work times and if not sleep catch ups. I'm sure it won't get anywhere near as busy for a little while yet (read couple of weeks) but I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than unprepared.

Okay, time to run off and tend to the ever wonderful Christmas shopping... *sigh*

Contrary to the tone of this post, I'm actually in a good mood. Just oh-so-tired!

To any of my friends who read this I love you all and promise to try and spend some time with you all soon. If I don't see you in the next week or so, have a wonderful holiday season and get/be very very merry!

Life is like my novel...

Well considering the daily writing isn't going so well, I suppose you can only guess at how the novel writing's going!

Happily I think I've worked out the start (or several versions of it) and all that remains to be done is for me to commit it to paper. I'm not too stressed about my lack of word count as yet as I've always been a bit of a last minute worker so I'm quietly hopeful that I'll improve in due course.

My current procrastination task is making a going away present (scarf in feather and fan lace knitting) for Lisa who leaves next Thursday but is having drinks this Saturday. I've got about 15cm of scarf done so it's looking a little like my novel... only slightly ahead.

Work is slowly picking up and the hours are getting gradually longer. I'll be house sitting again in January which I'm slightly worried about because I'm fairly sure I'm going to be working ridiculous hours... Hopefully the dogs won't be too traumatised... *sigh*

Okay no more "recreational" writing... time to hit that novel!

Where'd November go?

Feeling rather guilty about the lack of novel writing that has taken place thus far... haven't really gotten much further on paper with my novel... thinking 10,000 is looking good for this weekend's goal...

Work is great. Nice and busy (hence very little novel writing). Gene had to sign a confidentiality form so that he can come to my Christmas party. How cute!

Tassie was great. We're referring to the trip as the Mini-Golf PGA weekend. Lots of mini golf...

Okay. Must make dinner now and get back to the holiday season gift making (which is the other reason for the lack of novel writing... figure I can always write the novel throughout the next year but have only 5 weeks? before I don't get a social life).

A start

Well considering the daily writing isn't going so well, I suppose you can only guess at how the novel writing's going!

Happily I think I've worked out the start (or several versions of it) and all that remains to be done is for me to commit it to paper. I'm not too stressed about my lack of word count as yet as I've always been a bit of a last minute worker so I'm quietly hopeful that I'll improve in due course.

My current procrastination task is making a going away present (scarf in feather and fan lace knitting) for Lisa who leaves next Thursday but is having drinks this Saturday. I've got about 15cm of scarf done so it's looking a little like my novel... only slightly ahead.

Work is slowly picking up and the hours are getting gradually longer. I'll be house sitting again in January which I'm slightly worried about because I'm fairly sure I'm going to be working ridiculous hours... Hopefully the dogs won't be too traumatised... *sigh*

Okay no more "recreational" writing... time to hit that novel!

Day 4

Detox is going well. I'm actually feeling less tired which I think has more to do with the nearly constant grazing on food (I don't find veggies quite as filling as a solid steak sandwich...) and lighter meals.

The return season of I Forgive Catriona Rowntree is doing well. Two shows down and only three more to go. We've had good audiences both nights so far and we're expecting a pretty good audience tonight too! It's kind of exciting because I've known someone in the audience both nights.

Sadly my cold seems to be doing a return season of its own so I'm on to round two of antibiotics (no drinkies for me on Cup Day anyway because of detox). My hayfever has definitely come back and I'm now on the good ol' antihistamines as well. I'm beginning to be grateful for my healthier diet at present because I feel so medicated!

Despite the fact I should be saving money (especially after my dental bills) I treated myself to a glass nail file (it's the girl in me trying to get out). It's really cool. It's white-ish with a purple handle and files soooooooo nicely. Got to put it to good use today when I broke my nail while balancing the petty cash at work (don't ask).

Okay, time to change into my blacks and head off to the theatre. The great thing about working at the Storeroom is it takes less than 10 minutes to get there at a leisurely pace on my bike.

Day 1

Today is the first day of my 10 day Detox (yes, I'm on that band wagon in the small hope that this will avoid future gastric complications). It's actually been pretty good today. I am fully aware that I'm still rather early in this new experience, but I'm quietly optimistic about the whole thing.

I was up early this morning to make lunch - Thai chicken red curry with brown rice - and to pack snacks for the day. I ended up not snacking at work but drinking lots of water instead. So far the only distasteful thing I've encountered has been the "digestive bitters" which honestly don't taste so good even if it is meant to help with my digestion. I had my first breakfast in several months - fruit & vegie juice, I didn't get around to making anything more substantial than that - before heading off to the orthodontist.

Thanks for the health insurance advise there Nomi, I've actually got that whole life time limit thing happening but was happy to discover that I could still claim a just under fifty percent of my claim today (I should have looked for a Members Choice provider, but I was lazy). It feels really weird not having the plate in any more. There's a slight gap between my back teeth where the plate used to be and my gum's actually grown into the shape of the plate behind my lower teeth so it almost feels like the wire's still in there. I figured that while I was fixing up my teeth I should go all out and listen to the orthodontist's advice... So tomorrow afternoon before I head to my show call I'm going to see the dental hygenist for a full clean and inspection. I'm also in need of some fillings (yay) but that's going to wait for another visit *sigh*. Oh but I am excited because today is the first trip to the dentist that they haven't given me a brushing/flossing lesson so I must be getting better at it... I also learnt that a "dental calculus" is just their way of saying "tartar". I was somewhat concerned when I saw on the quote (oh yeah it's not going to be cheap) something about a removal of calculus and had a minor panic attack. I know I need to get two wisdom teeth out but I was hoping not to do that quite yet... happily I now know that they'll just be doing the good ol' scraping of my teeth.

It's funny how you retain knowledge of products and industries that you've left behind... I actually checked to see if the dental practice had HICAPS (and they did, they had the black ICE terminal in case you care John). Not that it would have mattered greatly to me even when I was at HICAPS because I wasn't in sales... but I still look. I'm glad I learnt about health insurance and know what to look for now too. Besides, I'm making the most of my claiming of stuff. I'm going for a massage as soon as I remember to find a registered masseur nearby.

Work was good today, I caught up on some work from last week when I was away. Tomorrow's an early start though... I get to take minutes for a meeting so I really should make sure I get a good breakfast so that I'm awake! Well, that and I'm driving into work tomorrow... so I should probably be awake for that too.

I caught up with Tracee at the Storeroom where she's doing a return season of her sellout Fringe show, "I Forgive Catriona Rowntree". I'm really looking forward to working with her again. It really is a great show and I think she tells her stories really well.

Mmmm I can smell the roast turkey that we're having for dinner tonight... I think I might go and take a peek at it... mmm hungry....

Hazy and Lazy

Good grief! Is that blue sky I see through the window? It was bucketing down last night when I was leaving work (read the pub where we had great paella). I almost have the urge to rush out and do some washing, but that would be too much effort ;)
(someone's going to have to teach me how to add emoticons some day)

Well the antibiotics are still doing their thing - making me better by making me feel completely zonked so that I sleep plenty. The only problem is my concentration levels are at an all time low. I can barely remember five minutes ago.

Last night I was on the hunt for an orthodontist that opened late. Not surprisingly I couldn't find one. I've got a plate on my lower teeth that I was meant to get removed almost five years ago. (I had the appointment card in my wallet that got stolen and I never got around to arranging another appointment, slack huh?) Anyhoo, the plate snapped last night after getting slightly stuck on my cough lozenge and I now have a rather irritating piece of wire poking into my tongue. I was hoping to see an orthodontist today but the earliest I can get in is Monday morning. I'm dreading the bill really. Hope I've still got some annual limit left on my health insurance. *sigh*

I just had a look at the weather report on The Age's weather page and it's meant to be raining but it doesn't look like it's rained so far... Best not to risk it though. Murphy's Law will take over the instant I think I can finally get stuck into the washing again.

I'm thinking of picking up my knitting again. I'm a little bored and feeling rather unproductive as of late.

Started reading again last night and it's really not grabbing me as much as the first book did. Oh well. I'm still hoping my other two books arrive at the bookstore soon too. I'm dying to read the next installment of Abarat.

Things are starting to pick up again which is great. I look forward to a more cheerful week ahead!