Shhhh!

I may have mentioned to some of you that I put on 2kg while I was in Sydney. It was fun accumulating that, so I don't want to retract it at all - I would just like to slowly lose it, and a bit.

4kg is my aim. And healthy eating and exercise is my game. Is there any other way? Thing is, I'm having to really push myself - I'm aiming to go to the gym twice a day 3 times a week, and once a day for the other days. So tonight, I am going to the gym in the evening - this is a MAJOR DEAL because usually evening time is devoted to Colin. But not today.

My decision to sacrifice ColinTime for Gym is partly due to Colin's behaviour this morning. He woke me up at 4:30am, which was a whole 40 mins before my alarm was due to go off. Added to my feeling of frustration over this, is the PMT that is slowly but surely brewing inside me. As I'm sure you can imagine, I am now feeling slightly frustrated and am possibly taking it out on NewColleague who won't stop talking.

Seriously - she just doesn't stop. (Slight exaggeration.) It's like she feels the need to comment on absolutely everything. She can't find her mobile phone for a whole 2 seconds so she verbalises it. She doesn't know what time it is and verbalises this in the 3 seconds it takes to pull back her sleeve and look at her watch. You get the picture?

Grrr I'm getting crankier by the minute. My gym session this evening will be much needed - I only did a Body Balance class this morning so I need some more exercise.

Oh, and p.s. I'm slowly beginning to realise that I'm really gonna miss my little Chappers (and Roy - a little). Oh, and I'm sorry! NewColleague has something to say so I'll stop what I'm doing and give her my undivided attention...

Eco-Ambitions

Well, I think I've pretty much decided that in March I am going to choose the Subaru Forrester instead of the environmentally wonderful Toyota Prius Hybrid. I have made this decision for varying social and selfish reasons, and feel slightly bad about the damage that my 4WD will be doing to the environment. So, I have been doing some research and have added to my previously environmentally conscious pool of knowledge to create a list of things that I will be doing as of NOW in order to reduce my carbon footprint and make up for the incredibly horrific effect that my 4WD will no doubt have on the world around us.

Knitting:
Instead of going out and buying woolly blankets and jumpers and stuff, and instead of turning my heating on when it gets cold at night, I'm going to start knitting things to keep me and Colin warm. It rarely gets below 10 degrees at night time, even in the dead of winter, so I don't think this is too unreasonable of the greenkateers to ask. (The greenkateers are those people who write about how green their house is, and how they don't have a carbon footprint anymore, and how they're actually saving the planet just by existing...)

Meat Free Day:
As I have been instructed by my doctor that I actually medically need to consume meat to stay healthy and functioning, I will give up meat every Monday. This is to help lessen the impact that agriculture has on our environment, and to possibly save some lovely little cows who poo near trees to help them grow and take the carbon dioxide out of the air. *nod*

Compost:
I've started this already - I've been saving my vegetable and fruit scraps for a while and have now purchased a bin from Bunnings into which I have put said scraps. Tomorrow I will be adding some paper and soil to start the composting process going. I also hope to own a worm farm soon.

Gardening:
I already grow a shit load of herbs, but have added to this by deforesting the weeds in a garden bed down the sunny side of my house and it is now my 'veggie garden'. I will be buying tomatoes and ... haven't thought about what other veggies... maybe leeks, and yes, I shall then be able to source my own, in season, organic food.

Microfibre Cloths:
Apparently, with the use of vinegar and baking powder in place of detergents, these clean all surfaces and areas of the house effectively. They reduce the stuff that, um, normal cloths do, to the environment. And stuff...

Organic:
I will not only try to eat more organic food, but I will also try to buy organic clothes. Yes - apparently Target stocks an organic range now! So yes. I'll look fabulous...

And there we have it. I will be greener by the day and my Subaru Forrester 4WD will simply fade into the background and all will be well. I'll be able to frolic in fields of organic daisies with the greenkateers within a year, I think.

Dry

This weekend is a bit of a problem in my head at the moment. I've had an invite to meet with a guy that I've known by email for a couple of months now. He seems really nice and normal but I just don't know if I can be fucked going to meet him! Plus, I don't really want to spend any money or leave the house at all. It's raining, you see, and that means that Brisbane becomes a city in which nobody knows how to drive, no shoes keep your feet dry and no jacket is warm enough to keep out the 19 degree cold.

You see my predicament? I think I might email him and tell him I'm too busy this weekend (cos really, he left it until today to ask me out and that's clearly not enough notice for anybody. I need at least 48 hours to prepare myself for being social.

Unless he wants to see a movie... oh hang on. No. I should have learnt from the cinema-groper of last month.

Meh. Today leaves no balls unsucked.

Streamlining

Some of my friends have been talking about streamlining their lives. Getting rid of Facebook and blogs, deleting old emails, throwing out unused make up and basically clearing up the clutter, both physically and mentally. I like the idea of it. I begin to wonder whether my current employer is doing the same thing...

Redneck in my office is about to resign, which will mean that we have gone from a team of 12 to a team of 4 in not very long at all. But, it is a positive thing I think. Redneck leaving is definitely a positive thing - what an incredible waste of space he is...

This weekend I am going to be arranging my new home office for my new job. I'll be set up with broadband and a printer and stuff soon, so I need to change the rooms around. Colin's bedroom will now become the office, and the current office will now become Colin's bedroom. I think he's now at the age where he can't have unlimited access to every room in the house, and the new office will be MY SPACE.

Oooh, and I'm finally gonna purchase my ultimate favourite drawing of all time by M C Escher and put it on the wall by my new home-desk:

50% You

I just resigned! Went to new job this morning to sign the contract. AND I found out that I'll be getting a Holden Commodore! And then in March I can choose from a Prius Hybrid, Subaru Forrester, Holden Commodore or a Toyota Aurion! I think I'll go for the Hybrid one, cos I care about the environment and all.

So, my resignation went down well and I am now officially sering 4 weeks notice! I told my boss that he made up 50% of my decision to leave, citing his bad management skills and inability to recognise the fact that I have a brain, skills and talent outside of bringing in the money.

Aphua Watch ended well - I left her in the possibly-capable hands of 'Number 20' - her boyfriend. I have also put on 2 kg, due to the eating I had to do on behalf of Aphua. I am on a diet, which will be temporarily suspended tomorrow night when I'll be going out to celebrate with Chappers and Veuve Clicquot!! Hooray! I know you're jealous... and you should be.

Aphua Watch: Non-Solids

Aphua Watch is going well. Yesterday was the day of the amputation and it appeared to go well. She has been able to eat non-solid foods such as yogurt, soup, mashed potato and scrambled eggs. I have largely been consuming non-solids too, or at the very least, food which doesn't involve a lot of chewing. I don't want to make her jealous with my mastication.

In other news, Colin is doing well - Toes, perhaps you would like to leave a comment of your own to confirm this...? Thank you.

Something rather exciting happened yesterday - I received an official offer of employment for the job of my dreams! The only down side is it involves a slight pay cut. But seriously, this doesn't even matter. It's such a great job, and the woman (new boss) was super happy I said yes. Yes - I said yes. Alas, I will have to sell little Jayden as this new job provides me with a fully maintained company vehicle. Anybody wanna buy a beautiful little 2007 Holden Barina? He's black, and lovely. 3 door hatch. 1.6 litre engine. Tinted windows. HOT.

Ok, Aphua and I are going to Newtown today, to the ice cream factory!! I thought I must have put on a shitload of weight, but I'm wearing my size 11 jeans and they still fit nicely. I also bought a Sooty T-Shirt! It's the coolest thing ever. I might be buying a Rainbow Brite hoody jumper too! Hooray!

Ok - Aphua duties call. (P.S. She loved the Valium - thanks ma!)

Aphua Watch: Prelude

I'm going to sydney this arvo!! To see my little Aphua!! Hooray! Of course, my lovely Chappers is going to be sorely missed, as is my little cherub, Colin.

BUT - you'll all be pleased to know that Colin is being very kindly looked after by my good friend Toes. Her and the Dobbosaurus are going to be playing with him and cuddling him endlessly I'm sure. It was very hard leaving him there last night, but Toes is a clever little thing and plied me with chicken caesar salad and white wine. I almost forgot that Colin was there at all!

So, starting tomorrow I'm officially on Aphua Watch. Blog updates may be sporadic due to the nature of my role whilst in Sydney, but I appreciate the concern you must all be feeling for Aphua so I will attempt to be as communicative as possible.

Tomorrow will be the day of Feeding in preparation for the Amputation.

Getting Warmer

Ok, so yesterday was the day of the Second Date. As you may remember, the First Date went well and I decided that English blokes are better than Aussie blokes. But, I left the date feeling somewhat unsure as to my intentions for him. I gave him a half-arsed kiss on the cheek with my hands in my pockets, by way of showing that I am not a hooker and won't drop my pants. This gave him 'mixed signals', and I had to initiate the Second Date.

It was last night. He is shy. I am not. So I had to calm myself down a little and be quite... um... reassuring? Basically I asked lots of questions and was super nice and smiley and stuff, and then by the end of it he was a teeny tiny bit less awkward and shy and I reckon he's actually quite a nice guy.

This is the conclusion that I keep coming to - he's a Nice Guy. More on that later, I'm sure...

So, it ended in a car park. In the days of my youth it would have started in the car park, so this was good. I moved in closer, said 'so if you wanna email or call me that'd be nice...' and he said 'great' and gave me a kiss on the cheek, as before. But this time, I lingered somewhat and may have casually touched his arm. Ooooooh how rude.... not.

Seriously - I've never been quite so virginal as I am with this guy, and I'm quite enjoying it! He probably thinks I'm relatively innocent! Hahahaha the poor lad...

Ulcerout

It has come to my attention that some men use Facebook for perving. The guy who sits behind me at work openly admits that he likes to sit and perve at people photos, specifically looking for attractive women to look at. He has also admitted to particularly looking at a colleague's pictures.

This colleague is attractive, yes, but is also engaged and a very nice person. She certainly doesn't deserve to be ogled at by a great lumbering idiot like him. It makes me wanna puke.

He's doing it now - and he calls over the other bloke in the pod when he finds a particularly attractive one... "Do you know her?" - I ask; does it matter? Even if he did know her, I'm next to certain that she wouldn't condone his perving.

I had a very successful meeting last night, with a friend and advisor. I now have a clearer sense of what I'm doing and where I'm going. This new job is definitely something I have to do - it's vital. I've figured that I have made a very good friend in this office, so it's not like I'd be leaving having achieved nothing. I've lost the passion for my job, so I need something new. I'm excited, but I kind of just want it to be done and dusted. I've gotta write this report for the second stage of selection... and I'm kind of stuck as to where to start!

Ok - peppermint tea is the go now. Let's get that ulcer thing out.

Lately...

Well, I've been offline for a little while haven't I... So, here's an update.

Firstly, I emailed english bloke - I figured that I liked him, and there's a good chance that I was too virginal on our date and possibly gave him the wrong impression. So now we're going to the movies this weekend! Which is perfect timing cos the new Batman movie is out. Sweet. I'm quite looking forward to that.

Um, also, I've well and truly entered into the job application process for a very special role which came up out of the blue. now don't get me wrong - there's not a lot wrong with my current company. It's just that sometimes something perfect comes up and you really just have to grab it. So I'm in the second stage now, which involves a report. Hooray! Hand it in on Friday so should find out by next week sometime.

What else... Oh! I've got a stomach ulcer! Spent the majority of the weekend being poorly, and went doctor yesterday and yes - that's what I've got. All very exciting, but not for my social life. Apparently alcohol is bad for it, as are dairy products and lemons. So that brandy soaked lemon meringue pie with ice cream is out.

I'm going to Sydney in 8 days for a whole week! I'm going to look after my good friend Aphua - she's getting a tooth amputated and a hole put in one of her sinuses. And then they're gonna plug it up! Coooool... She has internet though, so I shall update you all on the very exciting process of dental amputation recovery.