Two Weeks of Good Intentions

As the lack of blogging in the last few weeks has shown, good intentions sometimes don’t get you very far. This comes from years of finely tuned procrastination skills, recent increased personal letter writing and (I like to think) the Festival opening being next week.

Life has been fairly uneventful in a rather pleasant way. The weather has been consistently warm and sunny. The sunsets are always beautiful and I feel a little spoilt knowing that most of the people I know are going through an actual cold winter.



Since I last wrote I watched 2 seasons of the Gilmore Girls (five and six) until I started dreaming about the show. Season 2 of House was next although my lack of self-discipline saw me watching 4 of 6 discs the night before my senior first aid course. 8 hours of first aid training on 3 hours sleep is less fun than you might think.

I made sure that I had marginally more sleep the next night, after all I only had two more discs to go…

So I now hold a current senior first aid certificate and I rock at bandaging. This is not meant as an encouragement to do something that requires bandaging!

My DVD marathons aside, work has taken up most of my days. The hours have started to get a little erratic with somedays ending at 5:30pm and others at 11:30pm. On the bright side (?) they’re all starting at approx 9am. Right now I’m in tech spec & scheduling land. Especially since I have crew arriving in town this weekend. It’s a little frustrating trying to chase people up in Darwin. It’s almost like they’re on slightly faster timeframe than Doha time, but not by much. Jaia and I also letter dropped over 2% of the population of Darwin. So far we’ve dropped letters to 1300 houses notifying them of our main venue as they live in the area. It’s astounding to think that so many people have our numbers. Luckily they’re not all calling at once. Sadly the big print runs of letters killed our printer… it took over 6 hours to print 1100 pages. I was not a happy camper at the end of that day…



On a brighter note, some of you may have heard of the Triple J Goes AWOL concert that was in Humpty Doo. Well it just so happens that Humpty Doo is about half an hour from Darwin. So we packed a picnic rug and headed out to check out Blue King Brown, Something For Kate and Missy Higgins. It was a great night despite it being the first dry concert that many of us had been to. (The vodka tonics were flowing when we got back into town).

At some point in the next week I’ll be moving from the city, to Nightcliff, which is all of fifteen minutes drive from the city. I had a look at the place today and I feel spoilt to be moving so close to the beach. It’ll be wonderful!

Having had nothing exciting to report in the last couple of weeks, I’ll leave you with some photos from the Darwin Show. While I was updating my first aid skills I was missing out on such highlights as pig racing and pig diving. The unofficial world record for pig diving was broken at the show. Sadly there wasn’t a Guiness Book of Records person to officiate… Miss Piggy (the record breaking pig) will have to wait till the next diving meet. Many thanks to Viv & Rosie for taking the photos.

Ladybugs & Hedges

Tomorrow we wish the Beach House goodbye. The house is empty now and it looks great!

I spent today cutting the hedge in our courtyard today. I swear it's at least a third bigger than it was when I started. Should have done a before and after shot. Suffice to say I took off enough foliage to fill four large garbage bags. I discovered that we had many ladybugs living in our hedge which was great. I love ladybugs. I did however either get poo-ed on by a lady bug while trying to move it. Either that or it was laying an egg but with my limited knowledge of ladybug biology, it's hard to say. Suffice to say it left something long and green behind as it walked. I'm not sure how I feel about the whole incident... a little amused I think :)

We made Mum a roast for mothers' day and I've eaten way too much. It was just soooooo good though! There's sticky date still to be eaten... Possibly not for a few hours yet. Damn my lack of self-discipline when it comes to eating. I even got some really nice vanilla custard to go with the pudding... It would seem that I'm a little food obsessed at the moment.

On a more travel related note though, I've finally set up the photo hosting site at Zoto so that I can post some photos there and link some to here. For anyone curious about Herman I've posted a picture of our little friend. Here's hoping that link works!

3 days till departure

The (Beach) house is starting to shape up nicely. We've packed out my parents' storage place with many a box and some of our furniture. The rest of our stuff is lining my parents' hallways/landing (sorry about that). Now all that remains to do is to get the last of our donations to the various drop off points and then a surface clean before our cleaners come in on Monday to give it final clean & steam clean the carpets!

Yes, that's right, we're getting cleaners in. In our defence it's not just because we're a little lazy or suck at major spring cleans, it's because they'll be thorough and the real estates seem to love it when you say you've had professionals come through. They're also insured and guarantee your bond back so we figure it's a safeguard too. We'd probably miss something in our cleaning spree.

The house is looking really good at the moment and we're sad to leave because it was such a great find. I'm really going to miss eating at Matsumoto. That was our staple we're-too-lazy-to-cook restaurant to go to. Well priced and great Japanese food. The miso soup is among the best we've had. Their beef tataki is a must have for anyone who's not vegetarian or doesn't eat beef. My stomach is grumbling just thinking of it...

Actually I think that has more to do with the Hainanese chicken rice that Dad is cooking. It's great to be home having the old favourite home cooked foods :)

It's funny how with the whole packing-and-moving-house-in-a-week-thing, the excitement of travel has been pushed to the back of my mind. I'm still crazily excited about the trip, but I've spent more time being worried about how much stuff we seem to have accumulated again.

Anyway, with only the finer details of the move to be taken care of, I'm starting to get ready to head off. I'm about to set up a place to host my photos (oh yes, like Nick S, I too have a camera and will not be afraid to use it). In all honesty, I doubt there will be a heap of pics as I have a tendency to forget to take them, but I'd really like to get some nice pics of the cherry blossoms in Japan. I'm fairly sure there should be a few excellent signs too... hopefully like the "automatic terminating machine" that was sent out in one of Paul's emails.

I've rambled on enough for today. Now it's time to move some boxes upstairs and look up why my jalapeno plant has little black bits on it. *sigh* It was doing so well! On the bright side, it's got at least two chillis growing.

5 days till departure

Our darlin' little Herman (Hermione on particularly shy days) has been taken to Naomi's where he'll be staying for the next couple of weeks. I think he's really going to enjoy the lack of trams rattling past his window every 8 minutes. Besides, who wouldn't want to hang out with Nomes for 15 days?! We're hoping that he behaves and doesn't make too much of a mess. He's a pretty good rat though and we cleaned his cage yesterday so he shouldn't get too crazy and kick all his bedding out just yet.

The move is going well so far. A big thank you to Gene's Dad, Uncle TC and Nick for helping move furniture today. Added thanks to the Nic(k)s for taking our 9(?) boxes of books, graphic novels, DVDs, X Box and bookshelf. My book-obsessed self is feeling secure in the knowledge that they will be well looked after.

The couch has been returned from whence it came, unlike the DVDs we hired last week, at the op shop around the corner accompanied by the fridge and at least four bags of clothes.

Mum, Gene & I spent two hours at the storage place restacking and repacking boxes so that there was space for Gene & I to store some of our furniture in there too. I think it was a bit frustrating for Gene as Mum & I sorted through our stuff.

So where are we now? Well, the bedroom is almost packed. I've reduced my wardrobe to two small boxes and a bag that I'll travel with and wear over the next couple of days. There's still a couple of bags of washing to be done, but I'm going to try and get rid of most of my wardrobe. After all, Japan & Singapore have Sarah-sized clothes so if I want to shop...

There is so much paperwork to sort through, mainly unopened mail but it's so tempting to just bin it all. Sadly that can't be. We still have the kitchen to box up tomorrow and then the bathroom but I think that's all. It'll be time to get into the cleaning after that.

Space bags are our friend. We also bought our first duster today. We tend to just use a damp cloth but we figured we'd lash out if it makes the job faster.

Hopefully I can get someone in to steam clean on Monday. I'm also going to get them to do a once over of the house for us to further ensure we get the bond back. It's a back up plan in case we miss something.

Well, the boxes aren't going to fill themselves... so off I go.

Hi!

The festival's now over and it's time to get fully stuck into the packing. I picked up Mum's car today and some more boxes (can't have too many with the amount of stuff we have) and all that remains is a quick trip to the osteo to fix up a sore back and shoulder so that I'm right to move stuff. I think I twisted the left side of my body while lifting in an attempt to avoid something that was falling. The lesser of two evils really.

Nothing else to report other than that. Just felt like saying hi to those of you who read this. :)

Slightly Stresssed

Second last day at work and it was really frustrating. I'm not going to go into detail because I've already vented twice and it gets me pretty angry just thinking about it. Suffice to say if today had run more efficiently, I wouldn't have to go back tomorrow. Just a few more hours tomorrow and it's just moving house to worry about.

Gene's got all the books, DVDs and Xbox stuff packed and ready to go and I've gotten rid of 1.5 bags of clothes already. I'm trying to be ruthless but it's happening in stages. Damn my sentimentality!

I have a pretty good t-shirt collection right now. I just got another one today from work. The Dead Set gave all the techs one of their t-shirts. They're very cool!

Tomorrow I'm buying more boxes and picking up Mum's car which should be good. Then it's down to our house and a quick look at the storage place I think. We've already filled quite a few boxes with books but we're looking to get proper packing boxes for the glassware and crockery etc. It should be good.

I must admit I'm pretty stressed about the whole moving house thing. It's more the large array of stuff that's in our bedroom really. The livingroom's just about done and the kitchen won't take long.

Can't believe we leave in 7 days... It's exciting and stressful all at once. I'll feel better once we've moved most of our stuff.

Distracted

I've been meaning to blog all day but have found myself rather easily distracted. I ended up doing a couple of non-urgent errands in the rain today... played more Fable than I possibly should have. (On a side note, I rocked at the battles today, I think I get a little nervous when Gene's watching me fight in those games because he's just so much better at it than I am. That and we have different strategies. I showed those rock trolls good!) On a more positive note I did apply for a couple of jobs today which is something that I've been putting off. Now it just remains to see if I get some packing done tomorrow. *sigh*

Gene's in Geelong tonight. He took Gram down there to get a long overdue service, or possibly the bad news of the transmission/alternator issues that we suspect. We're still waiting to hear the verdict from the mechanics.

It's probaby a welcome change to sleep in a house that doesn't smell like burnt stuff. Stupid incorrect microwave instructions.

I'm a little sad that I won't get to wake him up on his birthday but he's aiming to be home in the late morning/early afternoon so hopefully I can give him his surprise pressie then.

With the amount of packing that hasn't been done, you wouldn't think we were moving out. Kind of wish we weren't because I really like this place. At the same time it's the kind of change that is likely to get us saving faster to get overseas.

Random Updates

My voice is better although not 100%. I really should stop using it until it gets better though, apparently I could do permanent damage. Good thing I'm not aspiring to a career in singing.

Captain Random Moment
The other day, when I'd lost my voice yet again, I was thinking about how cool it would be to go and watch a stand up comedian who couldn't speak. Crazy I know, but I reckon I could really get into watching a show where the entire thing was done in sign language and being translated. The physicality of sign language is what gets my attention. Okay I'm being weird so I'll stop now.

Gene and I received our itineraries today. We depart on the 16th May and get back on the 2nd June. So now all that remains is to get the house packed (pfft, easy done) and I need to get my passport renewed. This would have been much easier if I'd gotten my passport three months later than I did. However as the last time I needed a new passport was when I was 17yrs 9 months old, I needed to go through the full passport application process. Many thanks to Paul for his help with that.

We're slowly sorting out what stuff is going to go where. We've confirmed that the books and DVDs are mainly going to the Nic(k)s with the Xbox. Naomi kindly offered to take Herman (many thanks Nomes!) so we need to organise a time to drop him off. A random guest who came over last night has offered to take our big leather chairs. (Okay I'm exaggerating, Gene knew the guy from Adelaide I think). Now all that remains is getting boxes.

Sadly Gram is out of action. According to Gene she's not starting. This leads us to believe that not only is the transmission dead, the alternator has joined it. This is not well timed.

Tomorrow I have two things that I need to achieve. First I need to lodge my passport application otherwise I'm not going anywhere. Second I need to get a quote on fixing the car. I'm not optimistic on the cost of that.

On a more positive note though, I came home after work tonight and checked my email to discover that I've been asked to go and talk at a careers breakfast at my old school. I'm pretty excited about this because they never got any arts type people to talk when I was there. The biggest catch is it's at 7:30am. What highschool kid in their right mind is thinking about their career choie at that hour?! I sure as hell wasn't. Maybe that's why I'm in theatre... hmm.... Anyway, I can't do it this term so it might happen next term instead. Not sure what I'd say to the kids and their parents though...

Anyway, it's well past bedtime now. Not that I'm tired. I just need to be up early in the morning (read: up in the morning) so I should do the sensible thing and sleep.

Yep, bed. No really...

Death warmed up

Today has been less productive than planned. To be honest it isn't that unexpected. Today is my weekend. The one day in the week that I can call my own. As always I had planned to do plenty of things.

Things I Planned To Do Today
- Do at least two loads of laundry (mainly because Gene's load needs to be redone, so that's why it had to be two)
- Obtain some boxes for packing
- Actually do some packing
- Dishes, dishes and more dishes
- Clean the bathroom
- Begin the monumental task of cleaning our bedroom
- Buy Gene's birthday present (largely dependant on working out what to get him)
- Buy a ink filling device for the fountain pen that Joe gave me
- Blog
- Write in the group journal
- Sleep

There has been no progress on the boxes or the packing front today. The dishes are currently being washed but as I am in the process of making dinner, I doubt I can consider them done. Bathroom is in the same state as it was last night. I won't even bother commenting on the bedroom. Gene's birthday present is 75% purchased. I'm still hoping for a burst of enlightenment as to the coolest present to get your boyfriend. Advice is appreciated. Ink filling device has been purchased and installed. Currently blogging. Journal to follow and plenty of sleeping done.

I guess I haven't done all that badly. I'm just grumpy because I've got a head cold and I hate being sick. Besides, I can't be sick now. There's drinking to be done in just a few days! Stupid cotton wool brain.

Anyway, today while I was on the tram coming back from town I was eavesdropping on a conversation between a 22yr old arts student (she's studying ancient greek myth and dragons according to the conversation and the books she was holding) and her 9-11yr old sister. They were talking about keeping diaries and how you can read them in the future and remember past events and thoughts. I guess I wonder what it is that drives us to write down our thoughts, ideas and memories. I have a blog (or two if you want to be picky), a paper journal (black, unlined) and a group journal. The paper journal is for me and me alone. It is my attempt at writing without self-censorship. It's a safe haven for my thoughts and feelings that are too raw for me to be able to share with anyone. My blog(s) are for me but they're also for my friends. I like being able to share my day with my friends. Particularly as I work silly hours and never seem to be able to catch up with them. Even with all these forms of diary/journal keeping, I'm still not sure what it is that drives me to keep them. I think it's largely to do with my inability to sort out my thoughts just in my head. I've always found it easier to put them on paper and then it seems to make sense. I think it's also because I like to write and it's nice to share that with other people.

Dinner and my ever wonderful boyfriend are calling.

Leaving on a jet plane

We're going away! After years of talk, we're actually going overseas. Gene's still sorting out the details as to when we're getting back (my guess is mid-June some time) but we're off on the 15th-ish of May. Can you tell this is a last minute thing?

In other exciting news, we'll be moving our house into storage. Donations of cardboard boxes are accepted. Currently books (and graphic novels), DVDs and the X-Box are going to the Nic(k)s. We're going to look at everything else and it'll either go into a box or round the corner to the Brotherhood bins.

That's right kids, it's all happening here!

We're heading to Singapore & Tokyo and then back to Melbourne via Hong Kong (apparently for an hour stopover so we're looking forward to touring the airport). I'm very excited (as is Gene) as we've never been to Japan before and it's been a dream for quite some time.

'Tis the year to be travelling. We're looking into going overseas again later in the year. It's just a matter of saving money, or winning the lottery. What's this I hear about having to actually buy a ticket to do that?

Anyway, must run away and do some knitting before I have to pack it all away.