BMW = Buy More Wheels

I went to the beach today - it was glorious!

I loved living in London, but I missed the beach so much! As far back as I can remember, we've always lived near the beach. It's just so relaxing getting out into the salty air, I love it. I remember back in my final year of uni, I was doing an all-night edit session on a film I was making, and had been locked up in the edit suite for at least 10 or 12 hours. (Possibly more, sometimes the sun could come up or go down and the only thing that would register would be that you would have to wait another 8 hours til you could go get Burger King) I was so wired, the only thing I wanted to do was feel the air around me, so I drove to the beach in the middle of the night and sat on the sand for hours. Totally relaxed me and chilled me out!

Today seemed to be Dog's Day Out at the beach. Every man and his dog were there. Now typically I'm very standoffish with dogs, truth is they frighten me! Even little dogs worry me a bit! But there was this one, and he was so cute. He was totally having an excellent time at the beach. His owner didn't seem too fussed to be there, but the dog was certainly making the most of it!







And then on the way home.... the BMW has issues. Issues!

Let me give you some background. About 3 weeks ago, Katy's car sprung a leak in one of the hoses, she saw the temperature gauge go up, but since she couldn't afford to take it to the mechanic, she just kept filling it up with water - and eventually the engine cooked itself. As my step-dad Gary told me "The engine was so hot it could have cooked an egg in minus one seconds flat." (And that's fast!) So Katy didn't have a car, and I drove her around for a while. Then she and her bf tried to get his car registered, turns out his engine was cooked too - from being driven around with a blown head gasket. So I'm now driving both of them around, which I don't mind because the BMW is awesome, I have my Jesus fish sticker and an excellent car cd, so what more could you need really.

So we've all got it hammered into us: watch the temperature gauge kids! If it goes into the red, stop driving!!

So, today, the BMW has issues. The temperature gauge starts rising. There starts to be this horrible burny smell. I'm only about 2 mins drive from home, and I start thinking that I should stop driving, but the temperature gauge isn't in the red, it's only gone up to about three quarters, so I figure I should be right. Which, no. Not even Amy. Not right at all. When I get home and Gary has a look at it, he tells me that the water had all drained out and I should have Stopped! When the gauge even Moved! At All! As it now looks like the engine might be cooked! Cooked I say!

*sigh*

I'm feeling stressed again, I want to go back to the beach. Only... no car to drive in! *sob!*

Christmas, and how my cat was completely no help in decorating the Christmas Tree

We got our Christmas tree this week! Yahoooo! It's been two years since I've had a Christmas at home in Australia with my family, and if it just wasn't so DARN hot I would be enjoying it a lot more! It definately feels a lot more Christmassy now that we have our tree, which is a real one so now our house even smells like Christmas!



Mum and I had decided on a pink, purple and silver theme for the Christmas decorations, but (see previous post!) upon reflection, we took the pink out of the equation and just went with purple and silver. Mum has chocolate decorations on the tree - which are killing me, I mean come on! I'm a self-confessed chocaholic! Would you hang party sized bottles of alcohol up in front of an alcoholic? Possibly not!!



Button tried to help us put the decorations up, the bells were her favourites.



Slacker...


Mum has been busy, and has wrapped most of her presents already, and they are all already under the tree. Will have to get an updated pic! In spite of me being shopping nearly every day of the week - I still have a lot more presents to get yet. Actually, nearly all of them! I have some beautiful (but light!) presents to send over to London, but the (heavy) family ones are still to go. Here's action shots of Jess and I doing a guerilla shopping raid at Westies on Thursday.



(Doesn't it look like I'm standing in front of the Ghost of Christmas Past, or something equally spooky?)



I tell you - after my birthday, Christmas is my next favourite time of year!! I love presents! (Did you see my wish list up on the right? *cough* *hint* *cough*)

What a world, what a world

I'm melting! Seriously it is HOT! here lately! The clouds have gone away, and summer is in full swing! We've been going to the beach lately, which has been beeyootiful! I really hadn't realised what I'd been missing out on in London with no beaches to go to. Well, I did get to go to Brighton twice, but I will maintain until my dying day that that is not a proper beach!

You can't tell me that a place that you get bruised soles from walking with bare feet, is a beach. Or somewhere with no showers to wash the salt water off once you get out. OR a place that- well, sorry, I'll stop now. It's a lovely place, but I'm falling back in love with the beaches over here again!


We saw the funniest family at the beach yesterday: mum, dad and three kids. The parents were applying sunscreen to the kids. The mum was looking after the oldest, very carefully and thoughtfully. The dad was looking after the two youngest at the same time, slapping on handfuls of sunscreen from a pump pack very randomly and extremely liberally. One kid was crying because he had it in his hair, he turned around to dad and got another handful in the face! Eventually the kids ran off, of two smallest we saw a white mohawk, a completely white leg, a totally white face, and a lot of dad-handshaped white splotches! Would love to see what the tan marks would turn out like if those kids got burned!



My dad bought a back pack full of goodies and we had a very civilised picnic, of course it was full of the obligatory sand, but I hear that that just makes a beach picnic more 'gourmet'.

Half-sick of jobsearching

If the Lady of Shallot had ever had to try looking for a job, I reckon she would have been begging to go back to her tower! I had an interview yesterday with a big medical company. Sounds like a nice job. Although - it's a customer service position, and due to the fact that they have to train you on all of their four and a half thousand products, they ask for a few years commitment. Which is fair enough, as training is a big investment for a company to make - but do I really want to commit 2 or 3 years to a role which probably won't change in that time?

No!

It's great money though, and great location, and the people seem great...

Although, come to think of it, I had an administration job in London that was like that: great location, great people, but not challenging and totally boring and used to send me to sleep at my desk most days...

But can you be picky when you're desperate? *sigh* It's hard! Well, I have a few more calls to make today, so hopefully something will happen by the end of this week. I definately need progress!

The Mardi Gras was on Saturday, and we had a great time! It definately ended up being a high drama day though. When Jess was at the hairdressers in the morning, she got a call from the Council depot, where her float was parked, who told her that since her truck hadn't been parked under cover over night, the storms had wrecked it. Nice! Wouldn't you think the council would take more care of it?? Jess panicked a bit, but her girlfriends went straight down there to fix it, and they did a great job - staking the plants back up, fixing the signs, pulling off all the wrecked bits - and it ended up looking pretty fab again.

Adam looked great in his Whizzy the Water Drop outfit! Jess was beautiful as a Water Princess! The little girls were cuties too!

The final drama came at the end of the day, as the MC was making the announcement of who was the winner of the Mardi Gras Queen. He announced the runner-up, Jen, who was brilliant, but then he said Jessie's name. All of Jessie's supporters started screaming because they thought she had won! Jen actually had to lean over to tell him that he was saying the wrong name. Then he announced the winner and it wasn't Jessie! Everyone was a bit stsunned, but after a second or so, started clapping. Poor Jess! She looked pretty gobsmacked, but carried herself off very gracefully. I think I would have stopped to give the MC a slap as I passed him, if I had have been in that situation!


Jess was great, very calm and composed, and she won a prize for having the most supporters at each Mardi Gras event! Her friends are so beautiful, and as my sister Katy said - 'Her friends are the real prize.' Nice!

Transition coloured glasses

New glasses! I got my new glasses! I can see leaves on trees again, they're not just green blurs! I can see where my car is in the carpark without having to trip over it! I can spot a cute top from over the other side of the shop without having to trek over there! All of you non-glasses wearing smug 20/20 people will not ever know the thrill of getting new glasses and for this I feel sorry for you! Yes, I who has just spent $500 on a new accessory feel sorry for YOU!

They're really cute, and I will take a picture of them to show you... just not today, for I'm going to be a bit girlish and protest that I have a pimple so no cameras are coming anywhere near me today! (You and your 20/20 retinas will thank me for this)

I loved my old glasses, lurrrrrrved them. I bought them in 2003, the week before I left for London. I remember the optometrist told me that they might be another week being made, and asked if that was okay. I told him that of course it wasn't as I would be travelling in a week. Where to, he asked innocently? Says I, in a casual but jetsettingly weary way, "Oh, you know, Tokyo, London, Paris..." (Yes, okay, so it was only a stopover in Tokyo and 3 days in Paris, but he didn't need to know the details!)

Policeman, me and my old glasses, policeman

So the fab glasses had rather imposing brown frames, they were my 'yes, I've got glasses' glasses. (As opposed to my first pair, which were as invisible as could be and were my 'no, I don't really have glasses, what these? oh that's nothing, just an overly enthusiastic pair of earrings' glasses.) I loved them! They were my sidekicks. But the week before I left London they Disappeared. Into. Thin. Air. Which was sad and annoying! I make fun of people who lose things! And now I am one of them! It's so painful to be proven a hypocrite!

Old glasses might still turn up when my boxes rom London get delivered. Bad news for them if they do, as they have been superseded by the new 'it's all about accessorising' glasses. They have multi coat! And transition lenses! You can't get better than that, you just can't! My boxes are supposedly coming in another 2 weeks. I'm not holding my breath though, as apparently there is still a backlog at the customs in Sydney. I've almost forgotten what I packed in those boxes... I hope there's some exciting stuff!

Double fault, love all.

About 18 months ago, I was walking in Kennington Park, and I decided that although my strengths were well documented (and obvious *ahem*) I really didn't know all that much about what my actual faults were.

Seems a bit of a funny thing to dwell on, but I decided that I couldn't really overcome any character faults and go on to become a better person if I didn't know what these faults were, could I? So I decided to have a big chat to God about it, and that I would just keep walking round that park until I knew them all.



It was a long walk.

Eventually I had a list. And they're good ones too! My list consisted of: pride, jealousy, impatience, selfishness and being judgemental.

So this month I've been wondering how I've gone with working on those? And you know what? It's funny, but even though I've been overcoming and stamping out instances of all of these in my life over the past 18 months - the issues still seem to be there. (Although let's be honest, it's easy to be judgemental when you're better than everyone else!) (Kidding, I'm kidding!)

But tonight, I stepped outside my comfort zone, and overcame one of them. Happy, happy, joy, joy! I put aside my pride coloured 'but what will people think' filter, and stepped off the selfish moral high ground that I so comfortably dwell on, and decided to reach out to someone who I was worried about. And it wasn't anything major, just a phone call, and a 30 second conversation, but I tell you something - I heard heaven cheering. It was a faint cheer, and there were definately a few shouts of "Good start, now let's see you keep it up!" but a cheer it was.

My theme this week is all about not letting your fears, faults, or failures hold you back from taking new ground.

The Surprise (Part I)

When I decided to move back to Australia from London, I kept it a complete suprise from my family. This was intensely exciting, and totally giggleworthy. To me, anyway! As requested, here's the story -->
Okay, so my 2 year Working Holiday visa was coming to an end, so to throw my family off the scent I told them that I'd gotten a 6 month extension, and that I was likely to get a further 5 years after that. (Yep, there's no such thing as a 6 month extension, I was suprised they bought that, but I'm a trusty kind of girl!) I also told them how much I loved it in London, and how I wasn't coming back even for a visit for a good few years yet.
Lies, all lies. (But for a good cause though, which has to kind of dilute the lie-worthiness from them.)
I booked the ticket. I arranged for my buddy Adam to pick me up from the airport. I obtained a contact on the inside: my cousin Heather. Heather was the key operative. As my family all live in seperate houses, she invited herself up to spend the weekend at my mums place, and suggested a dinner party on the Friday night on which I was arriving, so that everyone would be together. (Heather also outfitted us all with Secret Agent names which cannot be revealed here obviously for security purposes)



So, I flew in to Sydney at 6am. I know! 6AM in the morning. Not entirely my style at all. Adam, bless him, was waiting for me, and we went back to his beautiful apartment on Sydney harbour and had Coco Pops. Now Adam's mum lives opposite my mum, so we drove up to her place, and killed some time there waiting for the all clear from Heather to say that everyone was in place.
Time passed.
I paced.
Time passed.
I watched all the cars pull up at mums place, except for my sister Katy.
More time passed.
Everyone came out and got into their cars and left.
I panicked.
Heather messaged me to say that Katy had a flat tyre, but they were going to pick her up and it would be okay.
I debated flying back out of the country in a huff, but couldn't face the airline food again.
All the cars pulled back up again, Katy included this time.
Message from Heather: Thunderbirds are go!

This was it!



Adam and I started walking over to mums place, and as we walked I rang her house on my mobile. I told her that I had sent some photos by special delivery, and they should have been left on her verandah if nobody signed for them.




Mum: There wasn't anything there!
Me: Maybe you could go out and check?
Mum: But there definately wasn't anything there when I came home Amy!
Me: How about you go out and check again right now!
Mum: Maybe they'll come on Monday Amy!
Me: Mum, I'd love it if you could go and check just in case!!
Mum: I'll ask the girls...
Me: Yes, good! Get them to go and check!
Mum: Girls... did either of you see a package on the verandah when you came in?
Girls: No.
Mum: No, it's definately not there Amy!
Me: *silently pulling my hair out*
Mum: Does someone want to go and check just in case?
Katy: I'll go!



Yayy! This was it! I was so excited! So Katy came out and looked, and I started walking up the front stairs - and she screamed! Then Jessie came out to see what Katy was screaming about! Then mum! It was so funny! Mum went very quiet and I think she might have cried a bit! I was waiting for the 'Amy, it's so good to see you!' but instead I got "Why are you here? What's wrong? What's happened? Are you okay? What happened with your job? Why aren't you in London?" Not the response I'd been expecting!



"Er... I can leave again if you want?" I ask with eyebrows raised. They say "No, no, you've just been talking for so long about how much you love it over there that we're worried that somethings wrong!"
My lies, lies and damned lies had actually ended up biting me back! (Learn a lesson kids, don't fib) I managed to convince them al ltha tI hadn't just been deported, but that I had come back because I missed them all so much and wanted to see them.

And eventually someone asked the magic question that I'd been waiting for... "So how long are you staying for Amy?"

Me: "Well, I thought I'd probably stay for good!"

Cue more screaming and asstd alarums! (The boys meanwhile, were sitting down drinking beer and watching footy. Because, mate, screaming girls are a daily occurrence, while the football? Is an important event.)



We had such a great time! It was so great to see everyone again, and it was just the icing on the cake to walk in to the kitchen and give Heather a big high-five! All of a sudden the focus was off me and on to Heather... "YOU KNEW???"

Much hilarity was had by all! I lasted approximately 2 hours until unexpectedly falling asleep on my feet. And there was still Dad to suprise as well! Which... *yawn* talking about falling asleep... I'll have to conclude tomorrow...!

Pink: it's all over

I sent a fun email out to a whole heap of friends, the responses were hilarious. I've pasted them below:

>I got this this morning, and it's quite interesting to hear what ppl think...
>Describe me in ONE WORD - just one. Send it to me (only me) then forward this on to your friends and >see how many strange things people think about you. Reply - its fun!

Revolutionary
Delightful
pink!!!
Priceless
beautiful
gentle
inspiring
PINK!!
Beautiful
PINK!
beautifulfuncaringworshipfulgodgirl
Smiley
joyful
Pink!!!
Inspiring!
Beautiful
smiley
cheerful
PINK
spunky
PINK!
Wonderfull
sunshine
Pink! (sorry that's the first thing that came to mind)

So that's 3 beautifuls, 2 inspirings, and 7 pinks! That made me laugh! And then stop laughing and start throwing away items of pink clothing. It's one thing to have a bit of a crush on your favourite colour - it's entirely another thing when people start defining you by it! So I'm searching for a new favourite colour now... any suggestions?

Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows

The sun is out today! Yes, after nearly two weeks of grey skies and rain, this afternoon we have a bit of sunshine! How lovely! For the last two weeks I've been prancing around telling people how much at home I was in rainy weather, and how this is what it is like in London all the time... how funny :-)

My little sister Jess is an entrant in the The Entrance Mardi Gras Queen, which is exciting! The major event is the Mardi Gras parade on Saturday. Jessie is sponsored by her work, the Wyong Council, so her float has the theme 'Water Conservation', which I'm not sure will be a real crowd pleaser. (Other ideas we came up with were "Microchip Your Dog" and "Pay Your Rates On Time!" neither of which really had much potential either!) Jess's plans sound fun though, and I am in charge of the music! I ran a search on Limewire for relevant songs, and found a few fun ones - 'Waterloo' by Abba, 'It's Raining Men' by the Weathergirls, there's a sweet Hillary Duff one, and one called 'Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows' which is almost unbearably cute! I remember it from an old Simpsons episode actually. Jessie will be a Water Princess, and her boyfriend Adam is dressing up as Whizzy the Water Drop - man I can't wait to capture that on film!

I'm still job searching also - how can there possibly not be a job for me yet! Feel like I've sent at least 50 resumes for jobs online. I know something fab will come along soon though, but it's hard to enjoy time off when you're not sure where you're going! Hopefully soon I will also hear about the FABULOUS house I'm moving to in Sydney! It's a share house, and my beautiful friend Shelley lives there, which is great. It's right next door to an old church too - which has to be good vibes, right! I just have to wait to hear when her flatmate is moving out. I can't wait to have my own space again! (although I will miss the broadband here!)

Yes, AND MY MUM!!

I don't think we're in Angelfire anymore Toto...

Yes, it's all new! (Or some of it is new, and some is new-ish, but let's not split hairs eh?) New home here at blogspot, and new-ish home back here in sunny Australia. I've just moved back from beautiful, beautiful London, and am missing it dreadfully!

Or... was...

...until I found out that it's 0 degrees there at the moment! Yep, not feeling so bad about the balmy summer days in Sydney now!

It's been 2 months since I've been back, and it's been a big adjustment! All of a sudden I can say 'pants' again, and I'm completely free to talk about 'thongs' if I want to; it's no longer a duvet, it's a doona again; I don't watch Pop Idol, it's now all about Australian Idol; I'm 3 months behind on The Bill, but 2 months ahead on Home & Away; instead of paying a fortune for my oystercard, I now pay a fortune for petrol instead; I don't have to stumble over 'crisps' because they're all just chips again; there's less of the 'whining reality tv' shows, and more of the backyard renovation blitzes going on; I don't have to watch out for pigeons, but I do have to watch out for mosquitoes... but the best, most wonderful thing that I've found over here? NOBODY SAYS "INNIT!"

And I can't tell you how much that's worth!