a week ago

 

i finally remembered to email myself the photo of my cake that was on the work camera (that somebody kindly downloaded onto the computer even though a few people have adopted the rule that if the work camera is in the office, its assumed that whatever photos on it have been downloaded and they will be deleted).
the cake above was the amazing cake that one of my co-workers made for me. it not only looked really cool and had a maple leaf on it but it tasted great too!

another meme

Favorite Food: mexican. san diego hole-in-the-wall mexican.

Favorite Month: depends. in australia i love january-- its summer, i don't work. in canada its july-- its kinda warm. 8)

Favorite Movie: i walk the line


Favorite Sport: to watch: hockey or aussie rules, to play: basketball (but i suck)


Favorite Season: summer-- its warm!!


Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: fudgy wudgy from the edaline dairy in lyden washington. also ben and jerry's funky monkey

Favorite Time of Day: mid-morning or evening


Last Cigarette: never

Last Drink: saturday nite (maybe sunday afternoon-- i can't remember.)



Last Car Ride: my birthday. zac got a flexi-car to take me to dinner

Last Movie Seen in a Theater: simpsons movie (its actually pretty funny)


Last Phone Call: i can't remember. i think zac called home about something yesterday. either that or it was my friend myuki calling on sunday.....


Last CD Played: tim mcgraw greatest hits


Have You Ever Been on TV: i was on a local show back home for our high school counterattack (against drinking and driving) in high school. i was in the background of the jamie kennedy experiement or something like that in pheonix(we walked past and then they made us sign releases to use the clip on tv)


Thing You're Wearing: 3 layers of tops, jeans, socks and underwear and no sweat shoes


Thing You've Done Today: ran with the dog in the park. listened to the dog whine for walks (and more walks), installed a new doorbell (with a metal clip screwed over the top so it can't be stolen without a screwdriver) and made lunch (and now i'm going to work).


Thing You Can Hear Right Now: dog talking- wants a 3rd walk. kids yelling in the kindergarden across the road.

Thing You Can't Live Without: oxygen. food. music.



Thing You Do When You're Bored: music (play or listen), walk, ride bikes, play with the dog.



Coke or Pepsi: neither.

Hot or Cold: HOT! definatly hot



What Do You Want To Do Before You Die? travel lots

and now i ahve to go to work-- i'll only be 2 min late!!

perfect birthday

i guess the only thing that could have made my birthday better today would be if i didn't have to go to work but i had a good day at work anyway so it didn't really matter. zac made me coffee in bed before he left and put on the new ben harper cd that he bought for my b-day (my big gift was our trip to the beach a couple weeks ago). i fell back asleep and woke up a couple hours later, opened the window and sat in bed with my (now cold) coffee, the ben harper cd playing again and the dog curled up next to me. then me and wombat took a walk along the creek to c.e.r.e.s. she had her second ever trip to the cafe there and she did VERY well (the only other dog there was at the entrance where you would normally walk in with dogs so we went around the back to see what the cafe area was like and discovered that it was just moms and toddlers and babies everywhere so wombat was safe. i sat and had an ice coffee and fed her some treats. when i got home i got to talk to my mom over messenger while i typed to 2 other friends over messenger. that made me a bit late for work but i figured i could get away with being a bit late anyway cuz its my birthday. my co-worker got me a great gift: honey nut cheerios (my favourite breakfast cereal and there's only 1 place i know to get them in melbourne-- an american foods shop in bentleigh), maple syrup, organic chocolate bars and a cute wooden desk calendar (and a homemade card with a picture she drew of wombat). she also made me a cake (her first cake from scratch!!) and drew a maple leaf in red icing on it (i took a pic but i left it on the work camera-- hopefully someone will download it for me tomorrow cuz i have my r.d.o. so i won't be at work til monday!!). the kids were great (they've been exceptionally great the past 2 afternoons). we got out a few min early and we rode home without having to turn our bike lights on for the first time this (almost)spring (both me and my co-worker were very excited about that). zac booked a flexicar and took me out to dinner at white lotus (vegetarian mock meat chinese food with an AMAZING fish dish). the best part of today was definitely the weather-- i don't like having a winter birthday but today the weather here was the same as back home (25C here, 26C in victoria/vancouver)! its supposed to drop overnite (its still 20C now and the wind that we've had all day has died down) and tomorrow's high is only 15C with rain (its still a clear starry sky now). i was hoping to bbq to celebrate my canadian birthday and also our 1 year being engaged (we had bbq the nite zac proposed).
technically its just early in the morning on my "real birthday" (canadian time) so

refashioning

i finished this last week (i started it ages ago and then just never bothered to attach the sleeves until then). its taken me a week to post cuz i wanted to get a picture with it on but i haven't bothered so i thought i'd just put the pic i had. i was a long sleeve women's extra large top. i bought the pattern for it and chopped the shirt into pieces and resewed it. its got a few minor flaws and the piece around the neck was very difficult because the pattern was just 1 piece for the front and 1 for the back but i didn't have fabric scraps big enough by that point (i kinda cut the big pieces out funny) so i had to stitch 3 pieces together for both the front and back bits (hard to get them the right size-- and there's actually 2 for the front and 2 for the back plus interfacing inbetween). it'll be good enough for work though (i think i might wear it tomorrow). i've also finally fixed up the sleeves on a jacket that drive me insane (they're a bit too short and most of my long sleeve tops have really long arms that end up comming down about 6 inches past the jacket sleeve). i added a piece on the end of the jacket sleeve and put an elastic in it to help hold shirts inside the jacket.

warm evening

saturday nite (after the great day outside) we had our friend's 30th birthday-- a crazy hat party

it was a perfect evening for it too (especially cuz they're unit isn't huge so its nice to use the back courtyard area for parties too). funny cuz his wife's birthday was in january and i think that nite was the only nite we had rain for 3 or 4 weeks on either side of the nite of her party. for his party he had tarps put up over the courtyard and a gas heat lamp available but it was a nice mild (i just wore a thin long sleeve top all nite and spent most of the nite outside) and the bit of drizzle we had was later in the nite when a lot of people had left so it wouldn't have been crowded if we all had to go in then anyway (but we didn't)

the newly engaged couple-- 1 week after their engagement (august must be the month for engagements-- my coworker just got engaged the nite we were at this party and this friday will be 1 year since me and zac's engagement)

i also managed to get my margarita that i didn't get earlier in the day (when we got sangria instead). i also got a krispy kreme doughnut (mmmmmm.....extra greasy and sweet doughnut)

a cake of krispy kreme's:

the best dancing of the nite:

the perfect way to spend a summer winter day

the weather was great yesterday (and again today)! it got up to 22C yesterday and only down to 11 overnite last nite (and the nite before). i spend almost the entire day outside.

wombat loved it too:

notice the band aid on her foot-- she had a big cut in the side of the paw she keeps licking. we put a band aid on and she stopped and didn't even seem to notice the band aid. we put a new one on today and the paw is looking much better already ("i have this cut [on my paw] and i keep tounging it and that's just making it worse..."-- the family guy).

it was perfect weather for sitting in the yard and having a beer (in a t-shirt and bare feet). we also went for a coffee at c.e.r.e.s. for the first time in ages (i refused to go to an indoor cafe cuz the weather was too nice and there's no way we'd get a seat outside at an street cafe without waiting ages).

we also went for margaritas at this great mexican pub on lygon street (well me, densise and glenda ended up getting a jug of sangria and zac had a mojito--"it's not a gay drink" and a bloody maria) cuz you have to have a summer-y drink on a summer-y day 8)

spring has come!:

the flower is the first open bud on our nectarine tree-- its gonna be overflowing again this year!

my corriander seedlings:

i also planted some more herbs and a few vegies in the garden yesterday.
today we're doing the brunswick street thing (with probably everyone else in the inner--and outer-- suburbs)

the best ebay auction ever!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675

taking over my life

so i spent most of the evening creating in my head a way to screw down a new doorbell so that it couldn't be stolen so easily (definately wouldn't want a simpson's doorbell to be stolen). i also dreamt about it. i'm not obsessed at all...... i wonder if somewhere in the neighbourhood there's a kid with a box full of random doorbells.......

a great country!

i love this blog. he hadn't written much lately until today when he mentioned 2 more odd deaths/near deaths from the country where almost everything can kill you (including camels!). the other great story was a guy who sat up a tree for 7 days waiting to be rescued while crocs circled below him. at least here in the "cold" part of the country we only have a few animals that can kill you. most of the spiders aren't deadly, we don't have too many poisonous sea creatures and not too many sharks attacking, a few deadly snakes (but i have still never seen a snake in the wild, even though there are lots around our area, especially near the creek in summer).......its when you head more north that almost everything can kill you (and most of them you won't see coming until they get you cuz they're so small). but if you're not stupid and you don't pick up animals and don't put your hands into holes or dark areas (like under furniture etc) and watch for signs of animals (like croc or snake tracks) you minimize your chances of getting bit. if you do get bit (by a snake or spider) you just need to act properly (stay calm, limit movement) and seek medical attention asap. probably a lot of deaths/injuries by australian creatures could be prevented if people did the right thing to avoid being bitten (unlike this guy who somehow managed to survive stupidity)

who steals a doorbell???

not even the entire thing- just the box with the button on it (the backing bit is still attached the the wall with its screw and of course the chime part is still hanging above the door to the lounge room).
zac came back from his walk with wombat this morning and asked me if i'd brought the doorbell in (not sure why i would do that cuz even if the batteries were flat i would have just left it out there until i actually was gonna sit and replace the batteries). it was there yesterday afternoon/evening cuz zac forgot his keys at work (something that can happen if you ride a bike and store the bike in the building at work unlocked). luckily i'd come home from work with a HORRIBLE headache about an hour earlier so he rang the bell to be let in (i was pretty annoyed at the time cuz my head was pounding) but it was definately there then. now its gone. why would someone take it (or even think of taking it-- you wouldn't know if it was the wireless kind until you came up the driveway to the door)? i feel bad about telling the landlord cuz he just installed it about 6 months ago after our original (wired) doorbell died. maybe now i can get zac this doorbell (i sold some on ebay a while ago and zac was very jealous that he wasn't getting one). still pretty annoyed that someone would steal part of a doorbell.

update- mentioned it to one of my co-workers. her reaction: someone stole ours a month ago!!!
funny thing is, she lives on the same street as us, about 5 min walk down the road. i'm sure its a couple bored teens who think its pretty funny.

beach trip!!

zac took me and wombat down to the point lonsdale for the weekend for my birthday (which isn't for another 9 days but we have plans for this weekend and then we have to give zac's dad his ute back after the weekend). we stayed at this really great b&b that was dog friendly. we spent saturday afternoon checking out a couple things around barwon heads for the wedding and then we took wombat to a beach in point lonsdale for a run (on lead). sunday we had to try a couple beaches to find one without a hundred dogs off lead but eventually we found a great pull-out along 13th beach with just a couple surfers. wombat got to do lots of running lead and muzzle free!

she's still not too sure of water but she will go in a bit if there's a ball (or a piece of seaweed) for her to get

exhausted at the b&b-- she pretty much crashed after we finished dinner and barely moved the rest of the evening.

we'll definately have to go back to the beach again soon (especially now that its gettting warm)

the real crazy cat lady!!

the crazy cat lady really does exist-- she lives in a flat in moscow with 130 stray cats!!! there's a great video on the link.

saving a life.....again

yesterday afternoon i made my second donation to the blood service. it was a bit easier (and faster) than the first time. i think the worst part of the whole thing is getting my finger pricked to test my hemoglobin levels before i can donate-- that finger is still sore but my arm is fine. i'm glad i worked the morning yesterday instead of the afternoon (the bourke st. donation centre started opening late on tues and wed so i could make an afternoon appointment). when i asked people how yesterday afternoon went they just kept talking about kids running everywhere and getting picked up at 6pm on the dot (technically they're supposed to be gone by 5:55 but we've got a couple parents that come in at 6--or later--or come at 5:50 but wanna stay and talk about their lives for 10 min while their children mess up everything we've just packed up for the nite). i guess that's a small benefit of donating blood-- its an excuse to not have to deal with that for an afternoon. the donating is easy-- hop on a tram for 15 min (i could bike but i'm a little scared to bike home after just cuz i do have a tendency to pass out for no reason and lacking blood/fluids would probably make it more likely), fill out a questionnaire at the donation centre, have a quick interview with a nurse about my answers on the questionnaire (to make sure i'm eligible and it's safe for me to donate) and have my blood pressure and hemoglobin tested, hop in a chair, pull out a book, sit back and relax while they poke a needle in and turn on the machine. when its finished (about 10-15 min i guess) i get down, go to the snack bar and relax with a couple glasses of juice and a muffin before heading off.

extremes

i think we're starting to head into spring. for the last several days we've been getting extremes where its really cold (close to freezing a couple times) overnite and then mildly warm during the day (really nice in the sun-- yesterday i kept shedding layers while i sat with some kids in the sand pit. i was almost down to just a t-shirt when a small cloud blocked the sun for a couple minutes and made me put a couple more layers on). we've been getting lots of really windy days too (what happens in spring). a couple more weeks and i think the overnite lows will be warm enough that we don't have to use the heater in the evening/morning anymore!!

little wallaby

this year when wild action did their presentation at work i didn't get to hold the snake or croc (i think i was gonna get a turn with the croc but it was getting fussy so the guy decided to put him away and let him rest). on the monday presentation i walked in just as the woman was cleaning up. my co-worker told me to to have a look in the pink bag. the woman handed the bag to me and said to take care of it for a few min while she was packing up. i opened the bag and this little head looked up at me. she was soooooo cute! funny cuz at first i didn't know what it was (just a tiny little face with big eyes and ears-- the body was all wrapped up in towels) but then i figured it was a little wallaby in an imitation pouch. she was so cute!