Toilet Humor

I...in general am all for pranks. Of course this didn't prevent me from feeling a tad shocked/violated at the sight that greeted me on our front lawn this morning.


Yes...that IS a toilet. Sitting rather innocuously on our front lawn. Closer inspection, however, reveals it to be rather gross and unpleasant looking.


Yeah...pretty gross. At least two of my flatmates are NOT happy about it. And none of us dares to touch it because of the general grossness.

As pranks go, it's pretty ingenious. And whoever it was - Tracy thinks people from youth group - went through a LOT of effort to actually get a random toilet, grubby it up and leave it - and a pair of pink undies - on our front lawn.

Still...what the HECK are we supposed to do with it now??? It's not like there's an old toilet disposal place. And who really wants to touch it?????

It also crosses the boundaries...as it could be an insult. But then, who wants to insult us??? (No, really...) I suppose the upside is that it doesn't smell, so all the brown will just be fake. To be frank, I don't particularly want to get too close to it!

Ewww....

Something Advetorial Like

I've added a new link to the link side of the page. I'm trying to sell original photography on Trademe. So if you're interested - check it out!!!

Currently featured:


Very pretty isn't it??? Glass fronted frame, quality printing. It'd make a good gift at only $15 ($5 shipping within NZ) So if you're interested, get in there and bid! Link is here

I have a feeling most people don't care. But if you do...check it out. Please???

If it does sell, you'll see much more stuff like this coming from me. I'm sure you're looking forward to it!!!

mood swings

Haven't had a lot to say recently. Probably because it has been crap and busy and I hate that. I hate having all my personal problems aired. So I don't. I'm actually a really private person, really.

Work is over for the week and I'm so GLAD. It was horrible today. Just really, really busy ALL the time. It's the last of the month people - get over buying stationary!! I mean, who really cares??? I certainly don't.

Nothing particularly entertaining is happening at the moment. As of today the boy and I have been together 11months. Which is pretty damned close to 12months which also equates to a year.

Scary, huh????

He's sick - which is not good as they have a HUGE project due for work. So, not the funnest of anniversaries. What with him being sick and me being moody and generally insensitive to the sickness. Sometimes I don't know what's wrong with me...

Haha...Tracy's all grumpy with me. Oh well.

Anyway, that's about it. Other than the fact that the weather has been dull and rainy.

Blah.

NAMAHOH final fling

Yes, it's the end of an era...



Our team had our final "winners dinner" for the EVER. (Yeah, that made a LOT of senses...) on Friday night. The food was good, the company (excepting one...) was great and it was all rather bittersweet.

Maybe because I'm going to be stuck with a crappy team from now on!!!!

These are the stalker-like photos of Penny I took - also featuring Tim's beer. Haha. Anyway, it was basically a good night. Except that it started at 7.30 which is pretty damn late. As a result of that and entres and certain people trying for ages to find parks we didn't actually get to our main meals till 9ish.

LATEST DINNER EVER!!!

Penny and Jan-ninia trying to look like they're having fun...but Penny is failing miserably!!!! Oh nooo....!!!

She was in a really weird mood all night, who knows why!!!

The table minus Tim...

Oh wait...there he is!

Alchemy (at the Art Gallery) is nice. The atmosphere is pretty flash and it's all glass windows looking out to the street. Which is pretty nice at any time of day. The food was good but it was flipping expensive. If work hadn't been paying I probably wouldn't have gone. $10+ for just a bread and dip starter and light meals ranging from $15-$19. Mains were at least $30.

The table on the other side...the guy in white is our manager. He'd had too much to drink and was just talking and talking and TALKING. It was scary.

Perhaps the whinging about price is just the repressed student in me talking...or I just don't go out to nice places as much - or ever. Who knows. The drinks were good and the food was good. AND they do all day breakfasts. There aren't many nice places that do that! Janina and Michael took advantage of this fully :)

Michael trying to avoid Ron's questioning gaze.

Yeah, all the talking was BAD. Especially since it was either about his relationship issues or about work or about how he wanted to party it up later that night. (Which, incidentally, they did.) But it was his birthday and he wasn't with his wife and young son.

Tsk tsk.

Plus, I don't want to know that much about my boss. Who really does???

Janina doesn't!

So there. Ahh...so glad I'm not at work right now!!!

mmm...food.

Day off today and have been playing with Photoshop. Something I haven't done in a LONG time. But I'm finding it quite relaxing, especially with the way work has been at the moment. Doesn't Jem have nice blue eyes???? (Or slightly freaky blue eyes...whatever...)

Work has been heinous. I'm so glad I'm only there part time, this week has been horribly stressful!!! The new induction starts next week and it's basically been a mad rush to try to get everything organised. Plus it's been insanely busy and everything feels like it's in limbo because too many changes are half taking place.

I had a big complain session with Janina about it last night. I'm positive the entire operation is going to fall over. I have no idea what's happening and they shouldn't have proposed this idea to consolidate both the contact centres when we're extremely short staffed and it meant that just about all the auckland staff have walked out.

ARGH.

I don't care. I'm barely there anyway. I no longer have any sense of company loyalty. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

I am completely over it. The only thing that keeps me sane is the fact that I don't have to be there all the time. Hopefully other work will pick up and by the end of the year I can quit doing this already!

I call this one: "A Boy and his Girl"

Jen just rung. Yay!!! That was exciting :) I am hungry and I think I shall make tuna pasta for lunch. Mmmm...pasta.

I am also strangely addicted to these potato wedges I have been making that are seasoned with Tuscan seasoning, piri piri and chicken salt. SO GOOD....

We also had a dessert night the other night and I made apple and peach crumble. The dessert night (incidentally) are where the pictures of Jemjem and his lady love are from.

In other news:

We are all geeks. This is us customising our Google homepages on Tuesday night and then playing PacMan/Monkey Cliff Diving together. Isaac is using my computer. What nerds!!! We have, however - just had ice cream and chocolate sauce. Mmmm...

This post appears to be all about food.

Mmm...I'm so hungry. I couldn't be bothered making breakfast so I had a girl guide biscuit and rice crackers for breakfast. Not together though - that would be gross...

Anyway, I have done two loads of washing and I feel that it is time to reward myself for a day of doing nothing. Tuna pasta here I come!!!

Bed

Waking up is like the worst part of the day. Especially when you have to go to work. Why do we do this to ourselves? It's like punishment.

If it was up to me I'd stay in bed all day. And probably also watch tv...

Kiddies!

We went to Tash's 21st last night. A birthday is always a good reason to get all dressed and made up. It was fun, held at the same place they held the engagement party. For only being invited yesterday it was a pretty good do. Wine on the house etc. And a St Patrick's Day theme!! Lots of people in green, Isaac had this great Guinness hat that his sister had brought back from the UK. Fun times, managed to catch up with a number of people we hadn't seen in awhile!

Mmm...it was good wine too!!

Had the girls over this morning before church as Raya had netball trials. Brooklyn's quite fond of my ipod. And it was another excuse to take lots of random pictures. The two of them are such posers!!!

For some reason blondie here refused to put her hood down. But she does smile on demand, and she gets really excited when her photo gets taken. She likes looking at it after.

Jem on the other hand does not like being distracted from his morning email-checking. Whoops. Brooklyn and I thought we were being really sneaky as well!!! Teehee. He is not amused...

She is so cute. And she even looks angelic here...even if she has no clue as to what my ipod actually does. I think she skipped through about 10 songs in 3 minutes.

She doesn't always sit all that still though!

Especially when she's determined to lock herself in the kitchen and lock all of us out!! Haha. Good thing we're bigger and stronger than she is :)

Anyway, the two of them practically ran us ragged, it was a relief when Maniah went to creche and Brooklyn - who refused to go to Rock of Life - fell asleep in church.

But it was fun. It makes me realise that parenting must be quite the chore sometimes! Especially with a two-year old!!! They've gone to Nana's now and our stint at parenting and carrying nappies in a bag is over. I am sleepy despite the saving of daylight... *sigh*

Jem and I on music tonight, should be fun :)

Anti-Smacking Bill

Well, yesterday was apparently D-day in terms of the Anti-Smacking Bill. It was the big parliament vote through for all the amendments. But good ol' Taito Philip Field submitted a document with 50 additional amendments.

Thus, it has been delayed till May.

So NZ parents who smack their children can continue to do so until May. They can also continue to forcibly put their child in time-out without being charged with assault.

Bet you Sue Bradford is stewing in her own juices at the moment.

The thing that really pisses me off? Our "beloved" (coughcoughhack) prime minister Helen has decided that this isn't a "conscience" vote and that all the Labour MPs must vote yes to the bill. Regardless of the fact that at least 8 of them are opposed to them.

8 MPs who could be crucial in causing the bill to fail.

8 MPs who are quite a lot annoyed about being told how to vote.

I don't see how this is not a matter of conscience. It's about what people do in the privacy of their home (or the public supermarket - whatever). Child assault is a matter of conscience. If you don't think that you are abusing your child by smacking them it is a matter of your conscience.

Is this not an indication of how badly Helen dearest wants this bill to go through in order to keep the Greens happy?

It's all bullsh*t.

Also, why they would chose to do this in the year leading up to an election is a mystery to me. Labour have consistently NOT delivered on their promises.

Take the 20 hour free kindergarten promise for example. The government promised. The kindys said "it's not possible".

Cue video footage of Helen sitting on the edge of a playground smiling awkwardly around children and making no effort to actually interact with them.

The next day the very kindergarten shown in that video comes forth to the press and says that it's actually financially impossible to achieve this.

Sucks to be Helen.

And while we're at it...let's bring back real democracy.

I like...

It's a little startling how old I feel. I mean, I'm not that old, am I? I'm just aware that my life is very different to what it used to be. Maybe it's because recently I've been passing through sites like Bebo and Friendster in an effort to amuse myself.

Isaac tells me that's not cool. He basically hates Bebo. I find it amusing, but I don't really participate.

What is it about society today that makes us want to place our entire lives on display? (I realise the irony on my writing this in my blog...) I don't know, sometimes - especially in relation to all the carefree teenagers out there - I feel old.

I just find it funny that my responsibilities are different. Not funny "ha ha" but funny ironic and a little sad. It'd be nice to be that way again. Which is not to say that I hate my life. I don't. I actually really, really like my life. But sometimes it might be nice to be a little different.

"Pause Break" - get it? Hah. I'm happy to be here though. I can't imagine what I would be like if I'd stayed in Singapore. I'm very aware that my life here suits me a lot better than life there would have. I have independence here. I can be my own person (inasmuch as I allow myself to be my own person!) and I like that. I like that I can live away from home and without my parents. I like that I can have my boyfriend over when I want. (Depending on whether or not he wants to come over...)

Heck, I like that I can express my opinions here and not really care about who sees, because anyone who reads this doesn't really know who I am anyway. Not that this is a bad thing, but because I don't really mind. It's an open forum.

I like it that my parents aren't around to worry all the time. And it's not like they aren't around, but at least they don't worry because in some strange and inexplicable way - I've proved that I can take care of myself. I like that I'm getting by. Whenever I go back to Singapore there's too much fussing and worrying.

I like having a glass of wine with dinner (something I haven't done for awhile come to think of it...) and not having to worry about what everyone else says.


I like this. I like my house. I like my flatmates (most of the time) and even when they annoy the crap out of me, I still like them. (Just not so much in that particular moment in time...) Heck, I even like cooking. I like having to be responsible for cleaning my room, the kitchen, the lounge, the bathroom...all depending on which week I'm on.

I like the contrast of showing up for my office job on a monday morning and rocking out and shaking my groove thang with the ensemble band on a monday night.

Maybe I just like my independence too much. Who knows? All I know is that this suits me a whole lot better than anything else. And I like it :)

Dancing!

We have started dance classes on a friday night. It's pretty fun, Kayla is teaching us and last week we learnt the mambo. Which was pretty difficult!! But it was a laugh and a half as the pictures will show:

Louis stretching as part of our warm-up exercises :)
More warm-ups


Learning to twirl (I appear to be attempting some sort of strange two-step)

The boys learning to twirl...

The real dancing begins...learning the steps!

Partner up!!!

We'll be to competition standards in no time at all!! Okay, maybe SOME time. But it was HEAPS of fun. Isaac stood on my feel a couple of times, but it was probably my fault seeing as how for some reason I kept thinking we were doing the samba. But that's okay!

At $2.50 a night it's a bit of a bargain as most other places charge like $9.00. Plus I know Kayla so I feel a whole lot more comfortable with her telling me what to do than with the strange possibly gay man who was teaching us at the other place we went to. Also, this means that by the time Lou and Mel get married in Nov we'll hopefully all be able to dance!

Which in itself will be a VERY good thing :)

Apart from this (and poker after!) it's been a pretty quiet weekend. No hard core partying for us! We've been looking after Isaac's little brother because his parents have been away - which is all good. It means I get to be domestic in a house that isn't my own for once. Haha. AND I get cable tv. So I don't mind in the slightest.

Right. There are bass riffs calling my name...

Edit: Bass riffs are said and done. I'm feeling like quite the rock chick now. But what I really wanted to point out is that my cd finally arrived from Amazon!!!!!!

It is SOOOOO good. It's AWESOME. The first John Mayer cd I actually own own. All the others belong to my flatmates. You can't buy it in NZ at all - which makes me feel special! The bass player on this cd is AMAZING. But then again so is the drummer and so is John. It's possibly the best live album I currently own. The groove is so there and so awesome. One day, I will play like this.

I can't believe it took like a full two weeks longer than my VMars DVDs. But it just goes to show that maybe it's better to buy off individual sellers rather than just Amazon.

Whoops! Did I just say that????

Owww....

I did pilates for the first time in over a month today. Ouch! Who knew that Windsor pilates could be so painful? I seem to have lost ANY flexibility and pilates ability I once had. Plus I can't do the rolling like a ball exercise or "the seal" cuz it hurts my tailbone too much still.

The things I do for vanity. I'd like to point out that this desire to again sculpt and shape myself is due to the fact that I was in Glassons yesterday and looked positively podgey in a size 10 top. Ewww...

That's just not even worth thinking about. I couldn't believe it, I thought I'd been doing quite well too!!! Thanks to the boy I've been more active than I've been in YEARS what with walking and tennis every saturday. We (me + the flatties) were doing pilates pretty regularly up until a couple of months ago as well.

Argh. I guess it's yoghurt and fruit for breakfast for the next wee while :P

Dear people who pick up the recycling on a Thursday morning,

We of the Amyes Rd flat really appreciate the job that you do in collecting our rubbish. You work for the recyclers, which is even better because it makes us feel like we're doing our part to save the environment. We also appreciate that sometimes we are slack and forget to get the recycling and rubbish out in time - if at all.

However, we feel that you could assist in this venture by picking a time in which you are going to pick the recycling up and sticking to it. It is incredibly hard to get the recycling out on time if the time in which you come to pick it up varies between 7am and 11am. (I personally would prefer it to be sometime between 8.30 and 9am...)

What this results in is either a mad rush to try and catch you (have you seen the length of our driveway???) or in having to carry two recycling bins across the road because you do that side later on in the day. (Extra walking!!!)

Please keep this in mind for next week.

Sincerely,
The Amyes Road Flat and Associates

Big Weekend

Ok...maybe HUGE. I've been away ALL weekend and it's been great. I hurt in about a million different places due to a HUGE game of communal longball. But even that is okay because it really has been so much fun.

I love CM retreat. It's basically the best retreat of the year come to think about it. Youth group retreats often require a lot of listening to Warwick and debating what we are going to do. CM retreat is a lot of listening to Darryl teaching, music, fun times and basically just a really good time with God.

And believe me, I needed a good time with God. It's just so amazing how I can just carry on and not worry about where I am or what's happening in my life. I'm always trying to make it on my own. I've once again realised that this is a STOOPID way to do things.

But I'll readily admit that I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. In anycase, I'm less uptight and worried about things now. It just goes to show you that I can't control everything! And slowly but surely I am learning this...

Friday was my boy's birthday. I took the day off and booked the casino for breakfast without telling him. Teehee. So sneaky!!

I like to think of this as a typical boy band pose...

Anyway, needless to say he was RATHER surprised. In fact he didn't quite believe me until I made him go home and get changed. It was lots of fun, we ate quite a bit and he liked his present - which is good :) AND even better his sister got him a present that matched. I got him Hugo Boss cologne and she got the deodorant to match! Great minds eh??

All in all a very good day because then we just lazed around and watched tv (and had a nap!) before going to his parents' for tea. Fun times.

He's all hairy and unshaven and gross here...but that's ok because he's so cute!

The pain came when I had to get up REALLY early the next day, but like I've already established, retreat was great. So really, I shouldn't complain...

Sick...again!

Ugh. Am lying in bed having called in sick today. The sniffles that I've been nursing for the past few weeks have finally imploded into the full blown head hurting, sneezing, coughing, nose-blowing deal. Disgusting.

Especially since this week was supposed to be pretty cruisey and then I'd be away for the weekend and start part time hours next week. But no. Instead, I'm holed up in bed, curtains drawn and telling myself that yes, eventually I do need to get up and get a birthday card for the boy.

I hate cold meds. They make me feel horrible, leave a nasty taste in my mouth and make me sleepy.

The upshot is I love my bed. The best part of having a queen is that when you do decide to spend the majority of the day in bed the half you're NOT lounging around on can be used to store important things such as ones laptop, the book you're currently reading, remotes for the tv/dvd and your cellphone.

Not to mention Cecil the bear for moments when you need a cuddle.

I hate being sick.

I also hate my job. I want something new and more exciting out of life. Unfortunately I can't really find something that is quite what I want. OR I find things and I'm not really qualified to do them. Sucks to be me! (Tell me, WHY did I spend 3 years at university again??) I was really struck by this yesterday when - due to feeling like something the cat dragged in - I got Ben to give me work I could do in my own time and off the phones. It was great!!!

Speaking of cats:

This is Smokey. Smokey is gorgeous and playful and very fun to have around. Jeremy and I have been feeding him recently. And the other day when Isaac and I got home from work we found him in the house. (We have a cat door) Thus, we can conclude that Smokey has been making himself feel at home.

Not ALL the time though. We're pretty sure he has another home, where he sleeps, eats and allows himself to be patted and babied. He just comes over here because it's exciting and new and makes him feel like a big tough kitty.

He bit me the last time he was over. But only because he doesn't like his tummy being touched. Anyway, Smokey livens up the atmosphere around here somewhat. Tracy doesn't like him. She thinks he may have diseases and Janina's pretty ambivalent about him at best. But Jem and I like him and we let him wander through the house with impunity :)

Edit:
Taken the last time the girls came over. Brooklyn was quite insistent on taking pictures with everyone. Teehee. Yes, there's a bit of bra-age there. But only if you're looking. That top is WAYYY too low. But isn't Mania cute???