sewing circle

On Saturday I had a most lovely day with some friends of mine. One of my friends hosted a group of us at her house and had set up her dining room so that we could all bring our sewing machines along and do some sewing! Three of my friends were working on their quilts (which are coming along very nicely!), one of my friends was finished off a winter coat, a friend who hasn't used a sewing machine since high school created a bucket bag, and I whipped up an apron for a woman at work.

It was such a lovely day sitting around sewing and gossiping - a bit of a "stitch and bitch" session - while the rain poured down outside. I could just imagine us all sitting around in the olden days hand sewing quilts! It was really lovely and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

spring

Spring is busting out all over!

In Canberra the blossoms have started to bloom, Floriade is being prepared, people are falling in love and babies are being born. If we were in a Hollywood musical we would all burst into song!

I should point out, however, that it is Canberra and while the sky may be blue and the blossoms may be blooming, the wind is still icy cold.

But Spring is a time of new beginnings and fresh starts. Out with the old, in with the new. Spring clean your house, your wardrobe and your life!

vivacious

Of all the words in the English language the one I really love is "vivacious". I love the way it sounds, the way it is used, and what it implies.
In Gone with the Wind when the other Southern Belles are being mean about Scarlett O'Hara behind her back Melanie Hamilton (soon to be Mrs Ashley Wilkes) says that Scarlett is "just high spirited and vivacious". My sister and I will often use this line in describing each other as it is really quite perfect for almost any situation.

On Monday I had a job interview and I received the rejection email that afternoon. I wasn't too crushed because the two women I interviewed with were wearing this horrible ill-fitting grey suits and I was worried that it was some kind of uniform, and I just don't do ill-fitting grey suits! Anyway, when I sent out a group text to tell some of my friends that I had the interview and didn't get the job (probably beacuse I'm too stylish) one of my friends wrote back "You're to vivacious to work at that place". Isn't that a lovely thing to say. And she's probably correct. I had on a lovely blue and purple Cue dress, vintage black boots, and my auburn hair half pulled back with ringlets falling. While the women who interviewed me were wearing pale pastel colours shirts with their ill-fitting grey suits, and had boring hair. I definitely would have stood out in that office.
I stand out in most offices - that sounds conceited, but I'm just "high spirited and vivacious!"

tuesday morning

It is Tuesday morning, about 9:30am, and I am sitting on my bed with my cat doing some assorted work and stuffing around. Why aren't I at work I hear you ask, well because my hot water system is being replaced and although the plumbers offered to just let themselves in, I thought it was best if I was at home.
Winston (my cat) has been a little weird, he doesn't really like strangers. At the moment he is stretched out with his little hand (paw) on my pen that I had been using. I have no idea what he is planning to do with it, write his memoirs maybe?

When I started this blog I was intending to blog every single day, but unfortunately I have been a little bit slack over the last couple of days. I will blame my friends and all of the alcohol I drank over the weekend at my friends hen's night. It was a very messy night, but I guess what is youth for if not to get a little messy every now and then?

I also failed miserably in my declaration to not talk to my crush at all. I was going alright, there was even one stage when we were both in the kitchen at work and I didn't say anything I just filled up my water bottle, but then he asked me something and I had to succumb to his charms and talk to him. We then had a very funny interlude as he played an email prank on myself and some fellow coworkers. But then he came to play pool with us at lunch and when it came time to him choosing someone to play with he didn't choose me. Which made me eager to remind myself of my declaration and the fact that boys are poo!

Today I will eventually go into work, because if I don't I will just have a heap more work to do tomorrow, and I will try my best to ignore my crush and do some work. Some of my friends think I should just ask my crush out....I just don't want to have to sit there as he tells me that he's just not that into me.

stormy weather

Tomorrow I am attending a Hen's Night (well it's starting at 1 in the afternoon) on a boat! The last time I was on a boat was for my friends Wedding Reception, and it was not fun. This boat was out on the sea (or along the coast anyway) and the seas were quite rough and we all got sea sick! We were told that it would take only 30 minutes to get to a sheltered spot where we would drop anchor for the actual reception, but it ended up taking over an hour. There is no worse sight than a bride haning over the back of a boat vomiting.

We have checked the weather forecast and are expecting it to be a bit cool, but we're all hoping that it won't be rough. This boat will be out on a Lake, but I have seen the Lake very rough sometimes where there is bad weather. We have already decided that we will mutiny and take control of the ship should we find ourselves to be unhappy.

Wish us luck!

wink

Isn't it amazing what a simple facial tick can do.
For example a wink from a certain someone can make your knees go week.
Although there is every possibility that it was just a facial tick and it didn't actually mean anything.

Yes, this post may be about that guy I'm not supposed to be posting about. But don't worry, I got my boss to pinch me! It's all about negative reinforcement.

desperation

While watching The Farmer Wants a Wife the other night I was shocked by the clear looks of desperation on the faces of the women participating in the show. They are standing there loudly proclaiming that they want to have kids and a family, that they are ready to settle down, and that they are falling for the man that they have only met a couple of times.
Some of the women are getting quite competitive, not wanting their farmers to pay any attention to the other women. While others are getting quite upset when the farmers are not paying attention to them.
One of them said to Farmer Nate, "Nate, can I talk to you for a second". Now she has met him twice before (initially for a five minute speed date, and then as part of a group date), and has now been on his farm for a day and a half. No girl in her right mind would say to a guy she has just started dating "can we talk" in that serious and dreaded tone. But these girls don't seem to mind. They are doing everything that we are constantly being told not to do. And still the show will end with these farmers having chosen one of these desperate girls.
Meanwhile in real life I am still on the shelf gathering dust. I would like to think that I don't appear to be desperate (at least not as desperate as these women on Farmer Wants a Wife), but maybe that's what I'm doing wrong.
Maybe I should throw myself at some guys feet and say "I feel a strong connection with you and I know you feel it too! I can't wait to have heaps of children with you!!" and then start crying. Is that what guys want nowadays? Does my independent, Pussycat Dolls "I don't need a man" persona make them uncomfortable? Hmmm.....

gus gus

I may have a parasite. I have named it Gus after the very cute mouse in Cindarella.
Click here to see the best of Gus.

In about three weeks I should know whether I have a parasite (and have killed it through a course of antibiotics - poor Gus!), or if it isn't a parasite. If it isn't a parasite I will start a new round of tests to work out what it is! Maybe it is an Alien from the Alien movies and it will shortly spring forth in a very grotesque way!

self preservation

I have made a decision to stop wasting my time liking a guy who doesn't have any idea that exist. Instead of making an effort to talk to him, I am going to basically ignore him. I will be polite, but that is all. I have also decided to stop talking about him, and that will include not writing about him here in this blog. I wonder how long I can keep it up for? I have told my friends that they are welcome to slap my face if I do talk about him.
Wish me luck!

BTW - the title of this blog comes from Love Actually when Keira Knightley's character discovers that her husbands friend Mark is in love with her. She says to him "but you hate me, you never talk to me", and he replies to her "it's a self preservation thing".

french beauty

I have been lucky enough to find a fabulous book called Two Lipsticks and a Lover by Helena Firth Powell which tells you how to unlock your inner French woman. I read this book a while ago and have already started adhering to some of the guidelines that are mentioned in the book, such as:
1. having two lipsticks, one for day and one for night
2. not wearing runners unless actually going for a run
3. always doing my hair and putting lipgloss on if I go out
4. always having something for breakfast, and sometimes having something quite fancy!
But yesterday I decided to start another French life-routine...using Firming and Smoothing products from L'Occitane in order to (hopefully) reduce the cellulite on my thighs.
I am determined to use these products for one full dedicated month to see what happens. I'm fairly confident that I'll see some changes.

attraction?

Why is it that good looking nice guys are often going out with girls who are either not so pretty, quite bitchy, or a little stupid?
I met a guy last night who was all kinds of fabulous. Tall, handsome, intense black eyes, lovely voice, muscular, and a nice person. His grilfriend, while very friendly and pretty was not too bright. I guess I wonder how they would sustain the relationship, would the guy get bored and cheat? Or are guys happy with simple, uncomplicated women.
It reminds me of an episode of Sex and the City when Big is engaged to Natasha and Carrie asks why it wasn't her. He tell her that it just all got too complicated. When discussing this with her friends and making references to The Way We Were they realise that there are two types of girls, the complicated girls (with curly hair) and the simple girls (with straight hair). And guys will always choose the single girls.
Is this true?
Am I too complicated?
Would I have a boyfriend if I was simple?
Does this mean that my friends who have boyfriends are simple? I know that a lot of them are anything but simple!!

unrequited love

It sucks.

I see him in the kitchen at work and sometimes we have great conversations, sometimes we don't say much, and every time he walks away.
I would like to pout and have a tantrum and say "it's not fair!" but I have to admit that this is a very familiar feeling. If he was a jerk, or married, or I wasn't attracted to him, he would be all over me. But because he is actually a nice guy and I like him he doesn't want anything to do with me.
Just behind my computer I have a little sign that says "He's just not that into you. If he wanted to go out with you, he would ask you out!"
It is true and I have to remind myself everyday... but still I say, there's a way for us....
Theme song

mental/emotional health

If you're reading this blog you should probably have a little bit of a background on me so that you have a sense of where my comments and opinions are coming from.
In 2005 I was in a car accident where my car was rear-ended by someone doing at least 80kms/h. My car was written-off and I suffered a fairly bad whiplash injury. If there is anyone out there who would like to suggest that whiplash isn't a real injury I will gladly prove them wrong. Since the accident I have suffered from fairly chronic pain which has affected me physically, emotionally and mentally.

When I went through a stage of being unable to stop crying in my physio's office, he recommended that I go and see a professional to help me deal with my pain. So in 2006 I went to see a psychologist and it has helped a lot. I am a bit of a control freak and that made dealing with the fact that I was not in control of the accident or my pain very difficult. Chronic pain makes you tired, and a neck injury means that I can't go out and party all night with my friends, I couldn't go skiing or do a lot of other physical things that my friends would invite me to. This was upsetting. To go from a young and active 24 year old, to an old woman over night was extremely difficult to accept. My shrink helped me change my way of thinking and understand that it is ok to not always be in control and that this change in my life is not something I can ignore. This might sound obvious and simple, but for some of us (usually control-freak virgos) it's not.

My method of coping with my pain is that I choose what parts of my life I stress about or want to control. Before the accident I would stress about most things and I wanted to control everything. But I have had to stop worrying about things that I can't control, in particular some of my friends or family's issues. Therefore if I seem uncaring or nonsupporting towards my friends and their situations it is because I have to look after myself first and foremost and I often don't have the energy to deal with other peoples dramas.
I am aware that this sounds extremely bitchy, but it is unfortunately just the way things are. Often I have quite difficult weeks, especially if I'm very busy doing something every night and socialising, and by half way through the week I am exhausted, cranky and my neck is hurting more than usual. This puts my tolerance level at zero, or even less than zero, and I will try and stay away from people where possible.

Anyway - that's a little bit about me and my mental state so that you know where I'm coming from, especially if I write about certain friends who are just exhausting!

the song in my head

Currently the song in my head is "Anniversary Waltz" sung by Al Jolson (yep, that version in particular).
Listen to the song on YouTube

butterflies

Last night one of my best friends told me that she still gets butterflies when she sees her husband. Not all the time, but still pretty regularly. Is that true love? I get butterflies when I see the guy at work that I like, when I talk to him and he makes me laugh, or when he teases me and makes me blush. Is that love or lust?

I think that butterflies could be the tell tale sign of whether you're "in love" or just "whatever". I worry that most of the people I know who are in relationships (which is basically all the people that I know) don't get butterflies any more. Why stick around if there are no butterflies? Is it just companionship? Is it better than being alone?

One thing I have noticed is that when I ask people (who are in a relationship) if they believe in true love they all hesitate! That worries me, but makes me laugh at the same time.

photobooks

I have recently discovered a great new web-service: www.snapfish.com.au. It is a great place where you can make millions of things using your photos. In particular I have used the service to make some Photo books.
I made a soft-cover mini photo book for my Aunty Phyl with photos from my trip to Egypt and Jordan. These books are great because you can use a variety of backgrounds, and write captions for the photos. There are also different layouts you can use to best display your photos. I have also discovered since ordering my first photo book that as a member you receive emails with offers pretty regularly. This means that I just ordered a couple of bigger (8"x8") photo books for $12.95 each, well less really since you get a discount on extra books that you order.
You can also order canvas prints, key rings, coffee mugs, everything. It is tempting to go a little crazy, but I think that could just be because I am a bit of a shopaholic!

true love

Is there such a things as True Love?
I am currently thinking that this could be the subject of my book. Everyone had different opinions and by observing different couples I think I'll be able to see if people do believe in true love, or if they just don't want to be alone.
Already today I have asked one of the women I work with. I'll call her "O". I asked her "Do you believe in true love?" and she hesitated, ummed and ahhred, and said "no, not really'.
She's in a relationship and has a couple of kids. I know her and her partner have been fighting a bit lately (he sent flowers in to work on Friday in an attempt to suck up) but it is kind of sad to know that she had kids with a man she doesn't believe in true love with.
Or maybe that's not sad at all. Maybe that's life. There is no such thing as true love and the best we can hope for is companion ship.

A couple of problems I will have if I do write this book is that I won't be able to let my friends and family know about it because I doubt they will enjoy reading about their love lives, or "lack-of-love" lives.

fighting couples

Yesterday I went to visit an old friend from high school. We have maintained our friendship over the years and throughout many dramas. I was there for her wedding, and I went to the hospital to see her when she gave birth to her baby Isabelle. But yesterday when I was at her house I noticed something that I didn't like. Her and her husband were fighting and the vibe in the house was not nice. It wasn't just the normal bickering that couples do, with tones of teasing. The tone of her husband was horrible.

When I visited my friend in the hospital I noticed that he was quite bossy and condescending. He has had a child before and he was telling her what she should be doing, and not letting her decide for herself or figure things out for herself. It wasn't that he was helping her, it was that he was telling her what she should be doing using the most condescending tone I have ever heard. Considering she had just gone through quite a difficult labor I was very surprised by his tone to her in general.
And yesterday it was worse. He had a go at her about the blinds, which were broken, and when she asked him to get some different forks out it was as though she had asked him to cut his own leg off! Now I have been at friends houses before and they bicker with their partners, but there is always a light-hearted tone to the bickering. It never sounds serious and cranky. The husband kept calling my friend "Dear", and let me tell you, there was nothing endearing about the tone he was using!! He may as well have been calling her "Whore".

a lovely night out

Last night I had a lovely night out with a couple of my friends. We went out to Grazing for the 'Lantern Cinema' which was part of the Fireside Festival. We had a lovely three course meal, a cosmopolitan (which turned into a bottomless cosmopolitan), and watched Sex and the City. It was a beautiful venue and a really lovely evening.
The restaurant has a renovated stable where they screened the movie and it was really lovely. It would be a great venue for a wedding and I could really see myself getting married there, if only I could find a man!

Today the sun is shining and it looks as though there isn't too much wind either, which is great. I am going to take my motorbike out for a ride and visit an old friend of mine and her baby. I haven't seen her for a while, so I'm looking forward to seeing how much baby Isabelle has grown. I'm also hoping that Isabelle is starting to look more like her mum and less like her dad.

What I really should be doing today is housework, which is really what I should be doing every day, but the weekends sometimes end up being about hanging out with friends rather than doing what should be done. This afternoon I am going out to walk up a mountain with some friends - it is called a mountain but it is really more like a hill - and before that I might go and see a lecture about women finding their identity after World War II.

I will let you know how it goes.

wild weather

I have written in a previous post earlier today how there were beautiful blue skies outside of my windows at work...well these blue skies have vanished and there is a storm coming.

On the http://www.bom.gov.au/ website you can see a radar view of what weather is coming, and it doesn't look good. As you can see there is a very large storm front heading our way, although it looks to be made up of fairly light rain. If that changes I will put another post on here with the more exciting radar image.

--Update--

The storm was not much of a storm at all. Very mild and passed over very quickly. The blue skies are back and all is well.

colours, styles, themes

I started this blog only a couple of hours ago and I have probably changed the look of it almost half a dozen times. What colours are best? What fonts? Do I want an image or a banner? Should I keep it plain or should I jazz it up? There are just so many questions to ask.
My favourite blog is http://www.petiteanglaise.com/ and it had a beautiful design (along with interesting content).
Apparently Petite started out here on BlogSpot and then her blog became so popular that she was able to transfer it to her own domain.
I wonder how he blog became popular? How did people find it? Why did people start reading it?
There are so many questions in this post.
If you read my blog, please feel free to reply.

a challenge

I am challenging myself to start writing, to keep writing, and eventually write a book - some kind of novel, either a romance or a chick-lit.
I am going to write because every time I see a psychic (not that I see psychics that often) they tell me that I should be writing. And today I finally discovered that dreaming about Anaconda's symbolises creativity. I haven't dreamt about Anaconda's for a while, but the fact that I dreamt about the vividly for an extended period says to me that I should do something more creative.
There is also a lot of money to be made in the Romance novel sector - although I'm not sure if I want to write a typical romance novel, or a more modern chick-lit type romance novel.

Currently I am working for a 'member based organisation', where I process member applications and deal with the many members who don't know how to fill out forms or provide the information that is required of them. This is also inspiring me to start writing, just so I am doing something with my brain! Otherwise I feel that my brain will eventually turn to mush, will dribble our of my ears, and I will become a drone in this quiet drone-like environment.

It is a cold and windy day today, and although the sun is shining bright and the sky is blue outside our windows, we can also hear the howling wind which reminds us not to go outside unless it is absolutely necessary. This has me worried. I am going out to dinner tonight and there will be a screening of the movie Sex and the City which may be screened outside. I can't imagine that they will actually force us outside since it is still getting down to some quite low temperatures at night - although they may have some of those super-duper heaters that many cafes are using nowadays.

So my challenge to myself is to write something on this blog every single day. I should be able to do this at work fairly easily, otherwise I will try and jump on the lap top at home, which shouldn't be too hard considering how much time I spend sitting on the couch. This too should stop....but we'll take it one step at a time.