Birthday Week

Monday 30 April 2012 - Today was the first day of my week off work. Tomorrow I will head to Ballina for about a week. The next day is my birthday. Here is a picture of my first 2 birthday presents from my lovely friends:

A giftcard from my favourite store, and a necklace to remind me that lots of people love me

Debbie and Kim shouted me dinner on Friday night at my favourite restaurant in Brisbane, La Quinta in Bulimba. It is a fantastic Mexican restaurant with great atmosphere and most excellent food. Recommended!

Saturday night was meant to be spent with Kim at the Brisbane Lions vs Geelong game, but it just rained and rained all day and night. It would have been miserable sitting at the Gabba in the rain. So instead, we had a 4 hour Game of Thrones Season 2 marathon, featuring the 4 episodes my Team Leader Brett was kind enough to get for me. Yep - big night Saturday!

I have been keeping the blog this year so that, at the end of the year (which as always, is flying by), I will be able to look back at all the GOOD things I have seen and done in 12 months. 

Sitting here trying to remember what has gone on in the past year, since my last birthday... I have come up with: 

• changed jobs, 
• had my heart... "tested", in more ways than one, 
• completed a women's self-defence course, 
• found some favourite regular Zumba classes, 
• started yoga, 
• taken a 6 week French course, 
• forgotten most of what I learned in my French course, 
• found a helpful counsellor to guide me through glitches in my life,
• went to Mum's 70th birthday party in Ballina, 
• seen Foo Fighters for free, seen Washington, Eskimo Joe, Lloyd Cole, Tim Freedman, Arctic Monkeys, Miles Kane, Grouplove and My Chemical Romance, 
• been accepted into the Flight Centre Business School, 
• gotten the hell off Facebook and onto Google+, become quite taken with Twitter and found some old friends on it, 
• re-connected with my first Goddaughter and her Mum, 
• had great times with my good friends, including a Gold Coast Girls' Weekend and New Year's Eve at the Hunter Valley
• Christmas with my family in Ballina
• booked flights for a trip to France and Spain
• discovered fantastic new TV shows Game of Thrones, Sons of Anarchy, New Girl, Justified, Downton Abbey, Once Upon a Time 

...and the list goes on. So. It hasn't been all that bad really. From this birthday on I've decided I am going to have an amazing year, if you don't mind and thanks very much, Universe. 

The Thursday Times

Thursday 26 April 2012 - In the past week or so, I have:

• Stayed at Sean & Sam's on Saturday night - my home away from home, always a treat
• Monday - Got my hair cut and coloured for the last time (for a while) at Courtney's. She is having a baby in the near future, and has to take it easy till then - I will miss her, especially when my fringe is in my eyes and my roots start showing...
• Went to yoga on Tuesday night - really like yoga, but this class was not a beginners; the others all knew pretty much what they were doing, so were able to have lovely chats - not so relaxing when I'm trying to "tune out". Back to Monday Night Beginners next week, where I like it better
• Wednesday, Anzac Day - had the day off to sleep in, have lunch with Kim and plan more of our holiday. It's fun planning - hopefully the actual trip will be even better, experiencing all the things we want to see and do
• Had dinner with Deb on Wednesday night - she couldn't be bothered cooking (I never can be bothered cooking), and wanted to use one of her many Entertainment Book discount vouchers, so we headed to Tomato Brothers at Wilston - good pizzas!
• Thursday - Belinda's last day at work. She is having her 2nd baby soon, due in early July. We had cupcakes by the lovely Elena this morning, a walk to the shops with Shikha to buy a present for Bel (and got 40% off Napoleon Perdis makeup at DJs - a quick side trip), lunch from Grill'd, followed by a game of UNO that I came absolutely last in, then afternoon tea with the other teams. 

A big day of eating today... no need to mention that I stayed back 30 minutes to set up a fare I want to finish tomorrow, only to get some urgent work at 5:29pm that needed to be done before I could go home...40 minutes and a headache later, and I was on my train, maybe with a bit of steam coming out my ears. Such a martyr, I know. If only I had also been able to achieve what I wanted with my own fare, the reason I stayed back in the first place. Pfft, sheizen happens.

Friday night Debbie, Kim and I are going to my favourite restaurant in Brisbane for dinner. I am on a week's annual leave next week, heading home to Ballina on Tuesday in time for my birthday on Wednesday. So we are "celebrating" early. Should be good. I will not be staying back at work on Friday, by jingy.

The Friday Flop

Friday 20 April 2012 - I am flopped on the lounge tonight, researching Spain, courtesy of Kim's Eyewitness travel guide. I have QI on the TV in the background, seeing if I can learn a little trivia, which I happen to love. There is usually something interesting and/or gross, sometimes both, which I never knew previously, and I love Stephen Fry, the host - so smart and witty.

In my last post, I forgot to add something very exciting to my list of stuff that I did - I bought 2 tickets to see Flight of the Conchords for the 7th July. Love those guys, can't wait to see them. There is just the small matter of our work Ball that night, which I had completely NOT thought of when I grabbed those precious tickets at 4:01pm the day the pre-sale opened (at 4pm, geddit). This is a once in a blue moon show that I am not going to miss...

Anyway, this week, Shikha baked for us. Look at this little beauty:

Banana Bread by Masterchef Shikha

Unfortunately, we sliced it up and ate it all before I got to take a photo for my blog... Fortunately, Shikha takes photos of her masterpieces and so she kindly sent me this pic so you can see how clever she is. It was yummo!

Debbie & I finished watching Sons of Anarchy Season 4 last night. At 11:50pm. When the penultimate (eh?eh?) episode ended in a cliffhanger, it made watching the last episode that same night, inevitable. This show and its characters are infuriating - they are all self-centred, self-serving, lying, murderous a-holes, but it's seriously so good, it's addictive. Very contradictory I know. 

Anyway, today I bought myself an early birthday present. I saw it last weekend at Robina and decided to think about it rather than buy it before payday. I found it again today and decided it was fate. Or something. I love it anyway. 

Pretty! and it goes nicely with my Galway Claddagh.
What lovely chubby fingers too!

Tuesday Tidings

Tuesday 17 April 2012 - In the past week:

• My friend Sally has gotten herself engaged
• I had dinner and "talked trip" at Kim's place
• Collingwood copped a hiding at the hands of Carlton in the AFL
• I got me a lovely purple yoga mat and a pink pedicure at Chermside
• I watched Breaking Dawn AND the 'making of' bonus DVD - an eventful Saturday night, no? 
• I drove down to Robina for lunch and a good catch up with my friend Allyson
• Wests had a great win 30-0 against Penrith in the Rugby League
• Geelong got beaten by North Melbourne in the AFL - it stuffed up my footy tips, but it was sooo worth it - a most excellent result
• I started a new yoga class at Stafford - and felt great afterwards
• Debbie and I are making our way through the 4th season of Sons Of Anarchy

I am working on a list of my favourite songs of all time (yes, it's another list). Songs that I get excited about hearing every time, and even if I haven't heard it for years, will still know all the words and can sing along like a happy little birdie. I don't know whether it will be a top 10, 20 or 100, or even if I will get to finish it. But, like me, it is a work in progress. So far, in no particular order, I currently have: 

• Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello
• Town Called Malice - The Jam 
• Walls Come Tumbling Down - Style Council
• Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
• Burn Your Name - Powderfinger
• New Born - Muse
• I Bet That You Look Good On The Dance Floor - Arctic Monkeys
• If You Leave - OMD (classic '80s gem of a song)

Tomorrow it is 2 weeks till my birthday. Yahoo. 

Well It's A Week Later Wednesday

Wednesday 11 April 2012 - Today is the day Ashlee Taylor Piper turns 18 and becomes an official adult. She is my Goddaughter and has grown into a very special person.

Happy Birthday Ashlee!

So, I went searching for photos and got all nostalgic. Bear in mind that I don't have a scanner, so the following pics are photos of photos, therefore are a little... blurred. Anway. 

Look at this beautiful bubba whose hair stood straight up for quite a few months of her infanthood - gorgeous!

Once her hair kicked in, it really became quite fabulous:

Now, I found one of Ash's mum Alison and I, taken a little while before Ashlee was a twinkle in her father's eye. Couldn't resist adding this (I don't know how, but I thought my early 1990's hair was looking pretty great at the time!)

Ah, we were so young, footloose and fancy-free, and with our whole lives ahead of us. Alison and I were great friends, and had lots of fun (told you I was feeling nostalgic). 

I wish Ashlee a very Happy 18th, and a long and happy life with many lovely friends, fun times, loads of travel, adventures and great memories. 

Tuesday Trials & Tribulations

Tuesday 3 April 2012 - I won $11.95 from last Saturday's $21million Gold Lotto draw. Yeah!! I used it towards tonight's Oz Lotto $15million draw, as I felt that I might just be on a winning streak. Adding to this was winning a double pass to Bogan Bingo at the Sit Down Comedy Club in Paddington in a couple of weeks. W00t!!

Tonight was session 3 of Beginners' Yoga. The first week brought on chest soreness, the second week was pulled muscles/sports-bra-too-tight issues, and tonight I thought I was going to faint after doing something like 8 Salutes To The Sun. I think I must hold my breath rather than practising the yoga breathing. I seriously find it quite difficult to concentrate on the movements and breathing at the same time, and I think this was the reason I got a little light-headed and ringing in the ears! Ah, so relaxing, so much enjoyment to be had. The best part is the 10 minutes of Relaxation at the end.

Monday Monday ba-da-ba-da-da-da

Monday 2 April 2012 - I stayed at Sean & Sam's place on Friday night. Got an excellent shuffling display from my 6 year old niece, dancing to LMFAO (Everyday I'm shuffling). Can't work out exactly when she became so co-ordinated! Sean and I watched the movie Yellowbeard, a blast from our past (in the early '80s to be more exact). Funny parts, but not quite as hysterical as I had previously thought - I'm sure my movie taste and sense of humour has gotten more sophisticated over the years... more on that topic later.

On Saturday morning, I was off to Ultratune to get my car serviced, and while that was getting done, I headed to the shopping centre to try to find my first goddaughter Ashlee, an 18th birthday present. Never thought I would say something like this, but - I remember when she was born! She was a beautiful little baby, and it appears that she has grown into a beautiful person too. So I found her something special and hope she likes it.

I got home on Saturday arv to find out my friend Debbie had arrived back from her trip to New York, Las Vegas and LA, yay. She had been away for exactly 3 weeks and I think I watered her outdoor plants a whole 2 times during that period... well it rained most nights and some of the days she was away, and her plants are very hardy, and still alive, so...!! Oops, bad plant-sitter. I collected her mail really well though, if I do say so myself. She brought me back a little something from NY and Vegas too, which was very kind of her.

On Sunday, I went to the Balmoral Cinema to see [ahem] 21 Jump Street. Yes, I think I did mention how highbrow and sophisticated my taste in movies is these days. I really liked it too! Starred Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum - this is the best role I've seen him in. Some very funny lines, good story, cameos from Johnny Depp, Richard Grieco and Peter DeLuise (and the chicky whose name I can't remember) from the original TV show, and just really a rollicking good romp. Good fun. Loved Ice Cube playing the boss cop. And a bit of trivia, I just looked up who played the good looking cool kid, to find out it is James Franco's younger brother - Dave. Good gene pool in that Franco family. I will probably see this movie again on DVD, because when people laughed at the cinema, I would usually not hear the next couple of lines, although the plot was certainly not too complicated to follow... I give this film an 8 out of 10.

Anyway, on Sunday night, I headed to Kim's place for a yummy dinner that she whipped up, and we set to work on finding Paris accommodation. We ended up contacting 2 apartment owners in the hope of getting an excellent place to stay in a fantastic location - fingers and toes crossed! We still found time to check out Barcelona too, and were able to book a really wonderful (hopefully!) hotel in Barca at the end of our tour. I don't know much about the city yet, but just checking out hotels and attractions there was getting me enthused. Yay, our holiday-planning is going great guns!

Today at work, we had 2 people on annual leave and the team leader away as well, leaving 4 of us to hold the fort. Things going skewiff (is that how you would spell that??) and lots of fares coming in, means we will be busy at least till the holidaymakers get back. No need to stress though, all is good... Positive, right?? It's good to be busy, it keeps us in a job.

Tonight I finally got around to starting my Tourism Course online. I sat for about 90 minutes at the computer earlier tonight, with the TV off and focus "on", and got through the first 30 pages of a total 70 - of the first module!! Slowly but surely, I will get more into it. I thought it was a pretty good first session! So proud.

Oh. Last Friday, the girl raising funds for Cancer Research brought in some a-mazing cupcakes to sell. Here is my workmate Shikha with a couple. I might have had one of them... for a good cause! Note Suggs from Madness in the background!

Whoa, the Ellen Show is on the telly, David Beckham is on, and he is looking very nice in a swish suit. Handsome Dan! Not even a big fan of his, but can appreciate a good looking guy in an expensive, stylish suit. Hmm, until they decide to speak. And on that note - the end! Nighty-night.