fbpx

Browsing category: Uncategorized

  • August 14, 2009

    Up in the air

    Let’s set the scene. It’s Friday night. I feel like a limp dishrag and quite frankly like a hamster on a wheel.

    Thankfully, LL is cool with switching over onto a periodic tenancy. He’s all “I may have to put the house on the market by December”.

    (Pray to god we are OUT of here by then. I’ve decided moving before semester ends is silly – for one, I am stressed enough with the workload, and helping BF through his coursework as well, without adding on househunting and moving. I barely have time to eat, shower, crap or clean the kitchen. Yet of course, I have ten minutes here and there to write rambling blog posts…And two, who knows where I’ll be in two months? And three – it’s gonna cost me $200 in early termination for my Telecom package. You’d think they’d reduce the fee over time, but it’s all the same – break in the first 12 months and they sting you 200).

    He also wants to raise the rent – how much? “You guys have a chat, decide what you think and come back to me.”

    How about nothing, seeing as this place is coming apart at the edges and we already pay at the high end of the scale? But he’s all “I paid $450k for the house almost two years ago.” Bloody dreaming property investors.

    Not a convo I’m looking forward to on the 27th.

  • August 14, 2009

    Always, Sometimes, Never

    From Carrie, High Class and TeacHer!

    I always…

    • eat breakfast. Not a lot – usually a half bowl of oats/cereal or a couple slices of toast. I am the dragon lady otherwise.
    • wash my hair. It’s just far too limp and greasy otherwise.
    • text random things to my friends.
    • wear lippy. And either my glasses or contacts; otherwise all I’d be good for, literally, is sitting in bed with a book thisclose to my nose.
    • get assignments in on time. I’m a nerd.
    • Stress about said assignments. I’m a worrier
    • Push it as far as I can, in terms of getting places on time. I hate waiting – whether it’s for a bus, or a meeting with someone
    • Sing/hum/move to music. Can’t keep still.
    • Bring my lunch
    • Wish I had more money to do all the things I want
    • Skim read
    • Eavesdrop on other conversations

    I sometimes…

    • exfoliate. When I remember.
    • swear a lot.
    • Fall over my own feet.
    • Splurge on things I shouldn’t.
    • Fold BF’s boxers/ socks. Yep, sexy
    • Stay up way too late watching bad TV
    • Wash my unmentionables in the machine, sans lingerie bag.

    I never…

    • make my bed. LOL
    • dye my hair.
    • Play guitar anymore.
    • Or read, for that matter. I need one of those Time Turners. I could do with an extra 12 hours in the day
    • Vacuum behind the furniture
    • exercise. Yup, I suck. I also hardly ever eat my 5plus a day, but I don’t like to admit that. Hey, at least I’m not living off noodles and pasta.

    Your turn!

  • August 12, 2009

    X and Y

    Krystal‘s post the other day about losing one of her best male friends touched a nerve with me.

    I have a group of girlfriends – whom i love DEARLY – but don’t see all that often. My go-to friends are all guys. They’re the ones I hang out with, the ones I call my best friends. (Some of them, I found out, originally got to know me because they had a bit of a thing for me. Which was weird, but you know, it’s all in the past) We’ve never had a problem with them and girlfriends, but what about when we get round to the marriage stage? Is that going to change things? I hope not. I don’t think it will, but I suppose you never know.

    I honestly believe men and women can be friends. It’s really not that hard.

    That being said, I learned that the hard way. One of my best friends growing up was a boy we’ll call C; at one point we “went out” for about six months in which absolutely nothing happened, and I mean nothing. We “broke up”, I got a real boyfriend, he tried to get me to break up with him. Anyway….some things happened, I had to essentially choose between them, and I chose the boyf. (That relationship lasted just over a year. Both guys turned into completely different people and I’m happy to have neither of them in my life today) Looking back, I don’t really know if it was the best choice. Probably, as they both became …. I don’t know, *insert word of choice here*. I learned a lot from that year – my first serious relationship – and god knows where’d I’d be today otherwise, in fact.

    Sometimes I wonder, what if we were still buddies? What if, what if? I was really sad to lose him as a friend. But now I think that just ran its course – he was a part of that period of my life, and that part only – and now I’m surrounded by people more appropriate for the now. I hope I’m not going to lose them to jealous partners someday. T knows he has absolutely nothing to worry about, and I hope my friends’ future gfs will be able to understand us better as to not feel threatened by our friendships.

  • August 12, 2009

    Kneejerk reactions

    …frustrate me.

    Some tragedy occurs – usually a one off, although not always – and next thing you know, the family, or advocate groups are calling for more regulation/tougher laws/harsher sentencing.

    Whether it’s child restraints and seats, drunk driving, speeding, P, the Kiwi in London who died in a skip, or the plane crash over the Hudson.

    I am so over it! I’m tired of reading the same thing, thrashed to death. At the same time, I know that’s probably what I’m going to end up doing in the near future. It’s a natural, logical followon, and at least those are people who are always happy to talk to media.

  • August 11, 2009

    My Sister’s Keeper vs Handle With Care

    sisters-keeper-page hwc-157

    I’m a latecomer to Jodi Picoult. When My Sister’s Keeper exploded, I ignored the hype completely. It wasn’t until I was hanging out at the library awhile ago that I saw her latest offering, Handle with Care, which I picked up and proceeded to devour. Then I decided to get my a into g and check out MSK, which EVERYONE recommended, and for good reason! It kicked HWC’s ass so many times over. HWC was good, but it was a weak shadow at best.

    Here’s why: it was essentially the same story told over with details here and there tweaked, but without that same sense of soul and engagement. To be honest, it actually REALLY annoyed me after reading both books, just how much of MSK was echoed. I’ve read through the synopses of most of her other novels (and they sound really interesting, esp Plain Truth, Nineteen Minutes, Mercy and Keeping Faith).

    I get that most of them end up in the courtroom, and involve tons of family drama; that’s her thing. But I felt like MSK and HWC went way beyond that. Like she just took the same formula and hammered it out again, to get a book, any book out, on time.

      The father’s jobs. Brian’s a firefighter, Sean’s a cop.
      The child’s horrendous illnesses – Kate’s leukemia, Willow’s osteogenesis.
      The lawsuit that divides the family and splits the parents up.
      The parents’ courtroom reunion, essentially.
      The troubled, ignored sibling – Jesse and his arson, Amelia and her cutting
      The tragic twist ending.

    Just as an aside, I hear My Sister’s Keeper has a different ending than the book. Hmm???

  • August 10, 2009

    Nervous tics

    I’ve always wondered how I come off to others. Do I seem like a placid kinda gal? Or a fidgety mess? Because seriously, I can’t sit still. I’m that annoying person who can’t focus during long speeches/meetings/lectures, and jiggle my knee constantly while driving people around me crazy.

    I didn’t even realise that I had so many nervous habits until they were pointed out to me last week. Nothing like spending five days working with strangers to have them pick out your weirdest, most annoying habits. EG: my tendency to twirl bits of my hair, do “that thing with my hands” in which I twist/rub my fingers together randomly, and to run my fingers lightly up and down over my keyboard. It’s a wonder I still have white on my keys at all, given all the stroking they endure.

  • August 8, 2009

    Quick one

    I’m back in Auckland! Whakatane was really something. The whole sunniest town in NZ is so true, and you know what, good weather is nothing to sneeze at! Heat pumps in the motel and at work meant I was pretty much never cold and my hayfever was under control. I even wore my contacts a few times. Coming back to my cold damp house kinda stunk….but I guess there’s nothing like home.

    The drive there and back was really pretty. Just before we got into Whakatane proper (around Matata??) the ocean view was a.ma.zing. It looked like the very edge of the world…like you could just sail out to the end, and fall off and disappear. Photos below…

    Expenditure: Well, BF and I went to the supermarket on Sunday morning and spend about $35, mostly on food for him. I bought $30 of groceries in Whakatane, another $10 in food for a big shared dinner we made on Wednesday, $11 for seafood chowder (my first chowder ever!) in Opotiki, and about $25 on drinks. Drinks were $2.50 in Opo but normal price in Whakatane… I also spent about $5 on random tea and wedges on the way home.

    Looking down on the town

    Looking down on the town

    Down by the river head

    At the riverheads

    At the riverheads

    At the riverheads

    Down by the riverhead

    Possibly not the most picturesque part of the township, but I liked the light

    Possibly not the most picturesque part of the township, but I liked the light

    Here we go - postcard perfect

    Here we go - postcard perfect

  • August 6, 2009

    This one’s for the girls

    Following my recent laundry mishap (I lost THREE bras to a single wash/dry episode) I really, really badly needed to go bra shopping. I don’t know about anyone else, but three bras is a lot to me…it’s almost half of my entire bra collection. I don’t exactly have a large chest, so it’s not uber important to me to have a super well made, super comfortable bra…as long as it fits fairly well without chafing or riding and isn’t fussy and lacy, I’m on board. Thanks to rock bottom sales, the Bendon outlets, and Dress Smart, I think the average price I pay for a bra is between $5-10. I wear them till they give out and then reluctantly begin the hunt all over again.

    Luckily for me, I managed to pick up three brand spanking new bras for just $21 at BnT in DressSmart :D. Considering they were all originally $40 to 45, that’s a steal. I kind of want to describe them or even post pics, because I’m kind of in love with them, but I think that verges ever so slightly on TMI.

    And then the checkout girl asked if I wanted the matching underwear. BLANK.

    I’ve never in my life bothered to buy a matching set. I just don’t see the point. But I’ll note it down on my list of things to do before I die (along with flying first class…somewhere, anywhere). I’d be too disorganised to actually wear them together, and despite being told I should never wear the same bra two days in a row…well, I do. Methinks it would make more sense to buy two matching bottoms for every one bra.

    I’m pretty sure I break a lot of the rules when it comes to bras. I don’t spend much. I wear them more than once before washing them. I don’t replace them every six months and I don’t buy matching bra/knicker sets. And I don’t lovingly arrange them in a drawer organised by colour/fabric/X-factor. I have a lingerie wash bag, but I don’t always use it (plus, it seems to unzip itself in the wash about half the time, voiding its purpose entirely).

    Come to think of it, that’s probably why those three bras gave up the ghost on me. It’s karma.

  • August 5, 2009

    Last month I blogged about making a little money online. Smilecity, which I’ve been using forever, used to have three regular ways to earn points. A daily ‘quick survey, daily web click and a weekly web click. Plus of course the surveys and reward emails from time to time.

    Then they redesigned the site, which IMO is still more difficult to navigate and makes it harder to find things. They also removed the weekly web click at the same time – not a biggie, just something I noticed and thought a little stingy.

    But the cutbacks continue. Sort of. I thought that the daily quick survey had also disappeared when I logged on last week and didn’t see it on the front page in its normal place. But after a bit of hunting around, I found it – lurking under the Earn tab, for anyone who cared to look deeper.

    Hmmm. Sneaky much?

    • Previous
    Next