So, I did it! I bought my little scoota! Wooo!! It was very odd for me actually. You know, I'm usually overly excited about anything new I buy. Except, this time I have been very quiet about it and definitely not very excited. I just didn't have any enthusiasm for it, you know? I think I was scared. Though, that hasn't changed, since I am still scared of riding on the road, let alone in peak-hour traffic.

Anyways, it all worked well. I had to get Glen to ride it from the bike store to home, because I wasn't confident enough to get on and he has ridden a little more than me and rides a push bike to work almost everyday. I sat around for most of the day after that, just looking at it! Infact, we sat outside in the courtyard, just peering at it from our seats! Very odd people!! But it's so lovely!! I did finally take it for a ride on Saturday afternoon when it had cooled down a bit and I was in love!! (Sorry Glen!). It's just so lovely, nice and smooth to ride. I love the wind in my face - you know, that free feeling! Soon, I'll post some pictures on the site for you to look at, but really, if you look at the previous entry, I have a link to the Arriba on it and although the colour isn't the same as mine (Raspberry Red), it's exactly the same.

This weekend coming up, Glen and I are driving to his parents' place to pick up his bike to bring back with us. I'm a little nervous about it. I mean, I'm fine on the roads myself. I know there is a risk of getting into an accident or whatever, but more so, I am worried for Glen. I guess I'm being overprotective. I mean, the guy rides to work on hsi pushbike, so there is little difference, except for the speed. Plus, on the MB, he'll wear more protective clothing. Get over it Sam!

Not much else happening really! I'm back at work this morning. Couldn't wake up this morning. Felt ill when I woke up, like I had been sick, but I hadn't. Go figure. Maybe I am allergic to Work and the only medicine is a ride on my scoota??! Yes yes, perhaps that is it!

I did it! I finally did it today! I put a deposit on a scoota! However, it was not without incident! I was initially going to get this Bolwell Euro 150CC. However, when I went into the store this morning to go for a test ride, he asked me why I wasnt interested in the deal of this bike Bolwell Arriba XS 150CC.

Apparently the Arriba comes with a topbox, as you can see on the second link. So, in essence, after doing the full deal, I got a helmet, jacket, gloves, bike lock, cover and registration for the same price as what the Euro would have cost me, WITHOUT REGO!

So, Saturday morning I'm picking up my lovely Arriba! Arriba Arriba!!!!

What a weekend! I was the luckiest girl in the office on Friday when my sweetness sent me a dozen roses to work! I didn't really expect anything, given it was exactly the day and I had already planned him something nice for the day! Yay for me. I have had thoughts of taking pictures of the roses, because they never last long enough! Of course, I was feeling a little smug too. Not because I was the only one to have them, but just becuase I have this wonderful guy who sent them to me.

My weekend was pretty full on. Went to the gym to go through my new program and I learnt a lot from my instructor. She is a wiz! Ran around looking at brothels and small places to rent with absolutely no luck. I feel as if this moving thing is becoming a waste of time. Particularly since Saturday was such a stinker of a day - 41degrees! Anyways, I took Glen to the D*USK Cinema in St K*ilda to see the Princess Bride. Kinda girly and child-like, but there was such a large group of adults there, it was impossible to feel stupid for going! I packed a nice little picnic for Glen and I and took him to the cinema. It was all a niec surprise for him - my present to him for Valentine's Day. It was quite a buzz for me to get it organised and I think greatly appreciated :)

Sunday was a weird day! We bought a lounge suite! We've been moaning and bitchin' all week about our crappy lounges and so decided to venture out to see what prices were like, although we never intended to actually place a deposit on one!! However, when we saw a 3-seater lounge with 2 recliners on special, we couldn't resist. Actually, I fell in love as soon as I sat in one! Damn! Anyways, so it all works nicely because we're having a curb side collection in our council area this Wednesday, so we intend to get rid of all three of our lounges on Wednesday - Mmm! I am not so hot on the idea of sitting on the floor, but perhaps I can last it! I mean, these lounges were so comfortable! Gorgeous! I can imagine myself sleeping on them! Reading on them!! Watching my favourite movie whilst sitting on them! Damn!!!

OOoh! My fridge sold on Ebay! I pocketed a nice 5 for it! Yay! I was going to put it towards a dryer, but in leiu of the fact that we have just purchased a lounge suite, I feel it'll go towards that! never mind!!!!

Anyways, back to work!!!

I always thought of myself as a blue or purple kinda girl. Turns out I was wrong...

YELLOW You are very perceptive and smart. You are clear and to the point and have a great sense of humor. You are always learning and searching for understanding. Find out your color at Quiz Me!

Well, my finance has come through for my scoota and this is the marvellous thing about my life - I had panic/anxiety attacks last night in bed, thinking about it all. Thinking about what if I fall off, what if I can't ride fast enough with the traffic, what if I don't like it and give up?

I panic sometimes, the enormity of the situation has gotten to me more than I care to think about. ANd you know, afterall it is just a bike. I rode one - albeit for a couple of days, but I loved it, I had the feel of it and enjoyed it. So,w hat's wrong?

I think I'm going to have to just take the bull by the horn, go down to the scoota shop and take it for a run etc. It can't hurt, can it? I mean, I've wanted this for ages, I've always wanted to ride to work and feel the freedom. I can practice on weekends and get my skills up and confidence aswell. I can do this, can't I? God, I need to hear someone say it's all going to be ok, because I can't seem to find any self assurances!

It's Friday. Thank god. Not much to report. OK, so I have a few thigns to say and they shall be said now, for I fear that it being 3pm, I am about to leave work! Yay! And yay for the lovely lady at work who just walked past with some delicious honeycomb! Yum!

First thing's first. I got my loan approved for my scooter! Yippee! I shall be scooter hunting this weekend. I'm so excited! A bit of freedom, avoid the trains! hurrah!

Also, my fridge is close to selling on ebay! Yay!! I just want it out of the way, so hopefully the price will go up a bit tonight before it ends and I can get rid of the bugger!!

Anyways, onto more important things. Found this on LaLaGirl's website!

Favorite Color: Purple

Favorite Flower: White daisies

Favorite Scent: Baby powder! So pure!

Favorite Cocktail: Not a bit drinker

Favorite Wine (if any): Nope...boring, huh?!

Favorite Soda/Drink: Ginger Beer!

Favorite Food: Chicken, chocolate

Favorite Restaurant: Baitong Thai Restaurant!

Favorite Treat: Connseiur Chocolate/Cherry Ice Cream

Favorite Candy: Mousse Cadbury's Chocolate

Favorite Number: Never had an interest in numbers!

Favorite day of the year: Any day I'm not working!

Favorite Season: Winter!

Favorite Holiday: Christmas!

Favorite Game (video/board): Populous!

Your addictions are: Chocolate, reading, sleep...mmmm.

If you had a whole day to yourself, alone, and you wanted to treat yourself, what would you do?: Probably sleep, relax, read, put my favourite music on, have a hot bath...

If you had an extra 0 that you didn't need to spend on bills or debt, what would you buy with it?: (And no "saving it", you gotta spend it) Probably buy clothes or books!

Mmmm, home time!

Day Two and I'm still torturing myself at the gym. But, do you know what the real torture is? Waking myself up at 5.50am to start the gym at 6am! That's what scares me, for I love, utterly love my sleep! Not to mention poor Glen, who is subjected to me bumbling around in the dark, trying to find clothes, dodging kittens and trying desperately to make squeaky doors, silent! Argh!

Anyways, life is fine for the time being. I'm hanging out for the weekend. Not much planned, but I just love not being at work. Hands up who agrees? Yeh, see!

Got my fridge on ebay right now. A little bidding war has erupted, so I hoep it continues. Would like to get more for it than it currently sits, but I have a few days. We'll cope. I'll be sad to see the fridge go. It was my first - god, does this sound familiar? Anyways, I bought that fridge with my package I got from a previous job. I bought the fridge, a stereo and a few piecs of furniture. Woah is me. Lamenting a fridge - what is wrong with me? Oi!

Let me just say, I have pudgy fingers, I can't help it! I inherited them. You know what irks me? Prissy, skinny little sales assistants who make the "eeeewww!" face whenever I ask for a resizing! Bah humbug to them all! It would appear I have one of the fattest set of fingers on the planet. I'm unhuman! As if! Does anyone else have this problem? I wish for a comments page. Are you hearing me Margie? ;)

Let me just say, cleaning out a flooded back shed was not the highlight of my weekend! We had a huge deluge of rain on Thursday afternoon which resulted in GLen and I walking home in the pouring rain (without an umbrella!), in knee-deep water (can anyone say, "What the...?") and arriving home to find that our laundry was sitting in water and that our back shed had at least 3 inches of water at the bottom. We're both majorly pissed. ALL of our packing boxes were in the shed, along with various furniture. We saved most of the furniture, did some spring cleaning and for a while, we were considered the "strange neighbours". Picture this - packing boxes hanging from the clothes line attached with pegs? *laugh*

What a week this has been! Started out with Karlene's lovely wedding and has ended in flooding and rain everywhere!

There isn't much to say about K's wedding. It was lovely, I got to play with little Aari waaaay too much (cluck, cluck!) and spent some quality time with some relatives whom I wish to see infrequently!

Got back to work on Wednesday, after the Australia Day long weekend and having Tuesday off. Being back at work, after a whirlwind of days off has really damaged my desire to work. I'm lacking motivation, big time. Poor boss. I'll be back into my same old routine soon - I hope.

Yesterday afternoon was a shocker. Had this foreboding sense of dread that I quickly ignored as I left home - hrm, I haven't got my umbrella with me. Nah! WOn't need it. Apprxoimately 6.10pm, it buckets down as Glen and I await to get off our train. Neither of us have really any protection, but we figure we'll make a run for it. Get out of the station, go to walk across the road and think, "HEy! Where is the road?!". Water was flowing fairly fast and deep at the intersection from both directions. Parked cars were being moved, others were trying to navigate through. We walked up this small street to get home. It was COVERED in fast moving water. We saw people making feeble attempts to keep the water out of their submerged houses, others looking from their elevated doorways and us - pictures this - two drowned rats, female with wet newspaper over her head and male with the drowned rat look and one VERY wet mobile phone - I think it's busted dear!

Thankfully, our place received only a small amount of water at the back door, which was solved by a couple of towels. The power returned an hour or so after getting home and we thank god, even now, for lovely hot water in showers. It rained again during the night, very heavy rain. Woke me up in a panic, thinking we were going to get flooded again. Couldnt sleep properly after that. Ho hum. Amazing what bottle of coke can do for you!

I'll think I'll have a quiet weekend. Maybe organise the finance for my scooter, some cleaning and definitely some studying!

Just a quick entry to say that I've updated my Photos Page. If you look to the right of this entry, you should see the link. I've even added a nice little viewer programme to make this a little nicer to peer at. In the photos page, you should find pictures of my little nephew, Aari; some photos of Glen's 35th birthday (he's coming up for his 36th in March - I know I am slack!); some photos of Karlene's wedding - this past weekend and some random photos of my friends and family.

Enjoy! I'll update over the weekend about Karlene and Jo's wedding.

I just found this on another person's blog - am I supposed to reference this? Oh well, it's http://www.blue-girl.com/lalagirl/. ANyways, here's my movie list.

1. Godfather, The (1972)
2. Shawshank Redemption, The (1994)
3. Godfather: Part II, The (1974)
4. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)
5. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002)
6. Casablanca (1942)
7. Schindler’s List (1993)
8. Shichinin no samurai (1954)
9. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)
10. Citizen Kane (1941)
11. Star Wars (1977)
12. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
13. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
14. Rear Window (1954)
15. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
16. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
17. Memento (2000)
18. Usual Suspects, The (1995)
19. Pulp Fiction (1994)
20. North by Northwest (1959)
21. Fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain, Le (2001)
22. Psycho (1960)
23. 12 Angry Men (1957)
24. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
25. Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
26. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966)
27. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
28. Goodfellas (1990)
29. American Beauty (1999)
30. Vertigo (1958)
31. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
32. Pianist, The (2002)
33. Matrix, The (1999)
34. Apocalypse Now (1979)
35. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
36. Some Like It Hot (1959)
37. Taxi Driver (1976)
38. Paths of Glory (1957)
39. Third Man, The (1949)
40. C’era una volta il West (1968)
41. Fight Club (1999)
42. Boot, Das (1981)
43. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) (Spirited Away)
44. Double Indemnity (1944)
45. L.A. Confidential (1997)
46. Chinatown (1974)
47. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
48. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
49. Maltese Falcon, The (1941)
50. M (1931)
51. All About Eve (1950)
52. Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)
53. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
54. Se7en (1995)
55. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
56. Cidade de Deus (2002)
57. Raging Bull (1980)
58. Wizard of Oz, The (1939)
59. Rash?mon (1950)
60. Sting, The (1973)
61. American History X (1998)
62. Alien (1979)
63. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
64. Leon (The Professional) (1994)
65. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
66. Vita bella, La (1997) (Life Is Beautiful)
67. Touch of Evil (1958)
68. Manchurian Candidate, The (1962)
69. Wo hu cang long (2000) (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon)
70. Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
71. Great Escape, The (1963)
72. Clockwork Orange, A (1971)
73. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
74. Annie Hall (1977)
75. Amadeus (1984)
76. Jaws (1975)
77. Ran (1985)
78. On the Waterfront (1954)
79. Modern Times (1936)
80. High Noon (1952)
81. Braveheart (1995)
82. Apartment, The (1960)
83. Sixth Sense, The (1999)
84. Fargo (1996)
85. Aliens (1986)
86. Shining, The (1980)
87. Blade Runner (1982)
88. Strangers on a Train (1951)
89. Duck Soup (1933)
90. Metropolis (1927)
91. Finding Nemo (2003)
92. Donnie Darko (2001)
93. Toy Story 2 (1999)
94. Princess Bride, The (1987)
95. General, The (1927)
96. City Lights (1931)
97. Lola rennt (1998) (Run Lola Run)
98. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
99. Notorious (1946)
100. Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957

It's Hump Day! Thank god!

My life is puttin' along quite nicely, nothing major to report. I have just come back from my little walk around Treasury and Fitzroy Gardens. It's such a nice day, though I could do without that cold breeze! What is it with our weather? We had two weeks after Christmas where it was lovely, not too hot, but certainly not cold. And now, it's all over the shop. One day it is 20 degrees, the next 27, the day after you might expect rain and after that it could be 30degrees!

Also, a word to the wise - never buy satin sheets! I chased my pillow around the bed last night, I clung to the last remaining piece of doona and sheet, as it slid off the bed and then I fought Glen for it! Hrmph! After fighting him for the blanket, his alarm woke me with "Ice, Ice Baby"! ANd you know, he didnt wake up immediately, so now I have a few lines of that SHIT song going through my head!

Ok, so I think I'm allergic to work! No, I swear! I can't be dreaming. I have the proof! I spent 2 1/2 weeks running around, doing all sorts of stuff during my holidays and although I got a few headaches, they weren't that horrid headache you get mid-afternoon. First day back at work yesterday, and WHAM! I get a headache, which by 8pm, turns into a full-fledged migraine. There's the proof! It must be work! *chuckle*

I'm probably just not smart enough to get myself out of the office during lunch to stretch my body and get some fresh air. I had made a promise to myself before going back to work, that I would not tuck myself away in the office during lunch, eatigin in front of my machine. And what did I do yesterday? I sat in front of my computer from the time I walked in, until I walked out. Obviously, I stopped for about 6 hours to chat to Lisa, my colleague about our respective holidays! Well! It takes a while to thoroughly catch up with somenoe you haven't seen in a month! *laugh*

So, I'm back at work today - my second day and I've just come back from being outside for 30 minutes with my book and radio and I feel a little refreshed. Thank god. You know what the amusing part is? I've just had to submit ANOTHER leave form to my boss, to cover me for next Friday and Tuesday, so Glen and I can travel to Mt G*ambier for Karlene's wedding next weekend! I have a VERY, VERY understanding boss! *grin* Lucky me.

Ok, 7 working days until my next little holiday - I lead a life of luxury - don't you think???

Alright, alright. I know, it's been a while! But to be honest, this is probably the first real time I've had to sit and scratch myself since being away from work for over two weeks. Suffice to say, I've had a great time, I'm relaxed and I've achieved a lot - of which, I will highlight below for your viewing pleasure!

Where do I start? I think bullet points are easier!

* My mum arrived on December 19 to stay with us for two weeks. Let me just say, I was freaking out about the visit. Mum and I haven't been seeing eye to eye for a while and I know things have changed for her. But, when she arrived, we went back into the same old routine and had a great time together. Does anyone know how to picture TEARS?? this is me when she left last week. I'm adjusted now and although I miss her and always will, this is where I want to be.

* We, Glen, Mum, Po and I drove to Mt Gambier to spend Christmas with Karlene, Jo, Aari and Glen's parents. I think it was a strong case of cabin fever, too many people around with too many opinions and I think both Glen and I, and I'm sure mum, were keen to leave. It was pretty crap. Couldn't get away from people and there was a lot of little nit picking, like "Oh, that's not how I would make gravy!", or "Mmmm, this tastes different to what I am used to." Can anyone say "Tolerance"?

* Can you picture a week of shopping, sewing and gabbing? This is me and mum after returning from the Christmas activities and back to civilisation in Melbourne. Forgot what it was like to hang out with mum. She was always good at shopping for things, doing interesting things and spending money on me! Of course, sewing stuff with last year's Christmas present from Glen, and his additional Horn Sewing cabinet as this year's present, really made it easy!

* After Mum left, I launched straight into my Learners for a motorcycle. Yep, you read correct. I'm sick of public transport and I want some independence and some sense of freedom. You know, the wind in your hair and face, that carefree feeling, while being completely responsible?? So, Friday came (today is Sunday) and I passed and now have my Learners! Woo! Saturday saw me shopping for a beautiful scooter. I'm partial to the Bolwell Euro 150CC. It's quite lovely, isn't it?!

* We managed to clean up a lot of stuff at home, in readiness for our move sometime in February or March. I think St Vincent de Paul has benefited a lot, as has the garbos! Our linen closet has never looked so nice and neat. OUr gardens are lovely and are just waiting for the weeds to be poisoned - tonight's job. We've even thrown out some clothes - more Glen's than mine!

* Alas, work tomorrow. Not that I am really complaining. I have had a good break and it's time to get back to reality. This means cutting back on the Christmas cheer, getting back into the exercise and eating a lot better.

Anyways, I'm back and shall try to write more in 2004. This all depends on whether I have something interesting to say!