I love catch ups with girlfriends. It can be hard to coordinate schedules, especially with work, husbands, partners, kids... Even though I myself am single, most of my close girlfriends aren't. But I love it when we do get together, be it for a quick coffee at work, dinner, book club or motivating each other at the gym.
I had a lovely coffee catch up with a work friend who has been on leave today, and I get to have dinner this Friday with one of my closest friends and her new baby.
Mx
17 July 2012
16 July 2012
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
I don't read stuff just because it's popular. If fact I'm opposed to people reading something just because everyone else is. Proof - I haven't read Harry Potter. I haven't read Twilight. I figure, if I read the blurb and am not interested, why waste my time?
So I didn't plan to read "Fifty Shades of Grey". I was, in fact, vehemently against it. I still really don't know why I succumbed. And then I toyed with the idea of not admitting to having read it. But I have an ambitious 2012 reading challenge and I did read it so it's going on the book count.
The writing - I wasn't a fan. I found it repetitive, unimaginative... Got a bit sick of the constant 'oh my', 'my sex', eye rolling and lip biting. Gasping and breath hitching. Find a new phrase! Geez. When you're writing 500+ pages, you can't say the same thing on each and every one, and sometimes multiple times a page.
Ana. Really? A 21 year old university student, without a computer, and borrowing her housemates laptop. I'm sorry, but a) explain to me how you get through an entire degree using a borrowed laptop, and b) why the hell did the housemate not get shirted off with the constant borrowing before graduation?? Innocence is one thing, but this was beyond belief.
And Christian. Complete creep. Ugh. That's all I have to say.
However... couldn't put it down (and I'm a little upset at myself about this!). Done in 3 days. And I will say that I didn't expect the ending. Will probably read the other 2 as I bought them as a set so already have them.
Have to say I think I was a little ambitious trying to do a month of gratitude posts! Not to say that I've run out of things to be grateful for, just a difficult task. Or maybe it's me. I'm also having a go at #photoadayJuly on Instagram... and find myself taking the photos, but winding up posting about every 3 days. Maybe commitment is my issue...
Mx
Have you read the Fifty Shades trilogy? What did you think?
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So I didn't plan to read "Fifty Shades of Grey". I was, in fact, vehemently against it. I still really don't know why I succumbed. And then I toyed with the idea of not admitting to having read it. But I have an ambitious 2012 reading challenge and I did read it so it's going on the book count.
The writing - I wasn't a fan. I found it repetitive, unimaginative... Got a bit sick of the constant 'oh my', 'my sex', eye rolling and lip biting. Gasping and breath hitching. Find a new phrase! Geez. When you're writing 500+ pages, you can't say the same thing on each and every one, and sometimes multiple times a page.
Ana. Really? A 21 year old university student, without a computer, and borrowing her housemates laptop. I'm sorry, but a) explain to me how you get through an entire degree using a borrowed laptop, and b) why the hell did the housemate not get shirted off with the constant borrowing before graduation?? Innocence is one thing, but this was beyond belief.
And Christian. Complete creep. Ugh. That's all I have to say.
However... couldn't put it down (and I'm a little upset at myself about this!). Done in 3 days. And I will say that I didn't expect the ending. Will probably read the other 2 as I bought them as a set so already have them.
Have to say I think I was a little ambitious trying to do a month of gratitude posts! Not to say that I've run out of things to be grateful for, just a difficult task. Or maybe it's me. I'm also having a go at #photoadayJuly on Instagram... and find myself taking the photos, but winding up posting about every 3 days. Maybe commitment is my issue...
Mx
Have you read the Fifty Shades trilogy? What did you think?
10 July 2012
Things I Am Grateful For #9
I love chocolate. I have no control around it. None. So right now I am grateful there is none in my house, as I would devour it all!
Aaaah. Will have to make do. Cuppa tea anyone?
Mx
Aaaah. Will have to make do. Cuppa tea anyone?
Mx
08 July 2012
Things I Am Grateful For #8
OK, so this one is gonna be me trying to gain some appreciation.
Today was the Melbourne RCNA Nursing Expo. Geared towards undergraduate nursing students, it is a giant "COME AND WORK AT MY HOSPITAL" promotion. Fun the first year you participate, after that the appeal wanes somewhat. This is my fourth year of being involved. "Involved" meaning "having to give up my lovely sunny Sunday afternoon to talk about work"
Soooooo, I am turning it around and saying I am grateful that I have a job. There are aspects of said job that I find less than appealing, but for the most part I enjoy it. As a nurse, there will always be a job for me, somewhere. And the good points are pretty awesome. Nursing can mean a wide variety of different jobs - hospital based, community based, academic. I can work full time, one day a fortnight, or anything in between. It is transferable - I can do it where I live now, or move just about anywhere. I can do it overseas should I desire.
I appreciate the fact that I am employed. Means I can pay my rent, buy food, and fund my obsession with books.
Mx
Do you like your job? Do you love your job? What about it?
Today was the Melbourne RCNA Nursing Expo. Geared towards undergraduate nursing students, it is a giant "COME AND WORK AT MY HOSPITAL" promotion. Fun the first year you participate, after that the appeal wanes somewhat. This is my fourth year of being involved. "Involved" meaning "having to give up my lovely sunny Sunday afternoon to talk about work"
Soooooo, I am turning it around and saying I am grateful that I have a job. There are aspects of said job that I find less than appealing, but for the most part I enjoy it. As a nurse, there will always be a job for me, somewhere. And the good points are pretty awesome. Nursing can mean a wide variety of different jobs - hospital based, community based, academic. I can work full time, one day a fortnight, or anything in between. It is transferable - I can do it where I live now, or move just about anywhere. I can do it overseas should I desire.
I appreciate the fact that I am employed. Means I can pay my rent, buy food, and fund my obsession with books.
Mx
Do you like your job? Do you love your job? What about it?
Things I Am Grateful For #7
06 July 2012
Things I Am Grateful For #6
Today I am grateful for MUSIC.
It makes yucky things more bearable. It makes happy times more joyful. It makes time pass much quicker when doing things like computer work, at the gym, going for a walk, doing housework, cooking dinner...
It helps me think, and can also help me stop thinking, help to turn my over working, over analysing brain off. I love lots of types of music, and lots of different singers, bands, genres. At the moment I am loving Norah Jones, Missy Higgins, Ed Sheeran, Train, and Prince.
Play it loud! Sing along! Dance!
Mx
What is your favourite song? Who is your favourite band/singer?
It makes yucky things more bearable. It makes happy times more joyful. It makes time pass much quicker when doing things like computer work, at the gym, going for a walk, doing housework, cooking dinner...
It helps me think, and can also help me stop thinking, help to turn my over working, over analysing brain off. I love lots of types of music, and lots of different singers, bands, genres. At the moment I am loving Norah Jones, Missy Higgins, Ed Sheeran, Train, and Prince.
Play it loud! Sing along! Dance!
Mx
What is your favourite song? Who is your favourite band/singer?
05 July 2012
Things I Am Grateful For #5
Today I am grateful for Winter! We are really in the middle of it now, and the nights are cold, the mornings are cold, the evenings are cold.
How do I cope? I have a lovely warm doona, heat packs, hot showers (even if the hot water only lasts about 3 minutes, it's a blissful 3 minutes!), tea, coffee and hot chocolate, and a heater in my office ;)
I am very much opposed to the overheating, sweating, heavy air of a humid summer, so for what it's worth, winter can stay in my house for as long as it likes!
Mx
What is your favourite season?
How do I cope? I have a lovely warm doona, heat packs, hot showers (even if the hot water only lasts about 3 minutes, it's a blissful 3 minutes!), tea, coffee and hot chocolate, and a heater in my office ;)
I am very much opposed to the overheating, sweating, heavy air of a humid summer, so for what it's worth, winter can stay in my house for as long as it likes!
Mx
What is your favourite season?
04 July 2012
Things I Am Grateful For #4
My body.
A work in progress.
A constant source of self esteem issues.
But today I am grateful for the fact that my body is strong. It is healthy. It is functional. It can climb stairs, ride a bike and drive a car. It has it's issues - but they're pretty minor.
And, it has to be said - reading "Fifty Shades of Grey" has made me much more aware of certain parts of it ;)
Mx
A work in progress.
A constant source of self esteem issues.
But today I am grateful for the fact that my body is strong. It is healthy. It is functional. It can climb stairs, ride a bike and drive a car. It has it's issues - but they're pretty minor.
And, it has to be said - reading "Fifty Shades of Grey" has made me much more aware of certain parts of it ;)
Mx
03 July 2012
Things I Am Grateful For #3
Hello there!
OK so today was pretty average. In fact so average that by the time I left work I was fuming, looking forward to stomping my way home and then ranting about it all on facebook and twitter. So I got home. Turned the heater on (because I now have a functioning one, yay!), made dinner (fine, cracked out the take away I'd bought on the way home), turned the TV on, and sat on the couch. I took my #photoadayjuly photo - "The Best Part of My Day". Today - my Ugg boots. And Masterchef, but that didn't photograph as well as my comfiest slippers.
Over the course of changing into my trackies, eating dinner, cheering on Kylie on Masterchef, and checking emails, I breathed. Consciously. Slowly. And despite retaining some feelings of irritability, I realised that it's just not worth it. Some people don't think, don't consider others - and my getting annoyed about it isn't going to change them. And ultimately, it's not important enough to give myself a migraine over. Over time, as I've grown up (UGH! Did I really just say that...?) I've gained some perspective. Some things matter, some things don't. Some things don't really matter but you have the ability to change them. Some things do matter, but you can't change them. So you learn to deal. And breathe.
In the scheme of things, I'd go so far as to say for the most part, the things that annoy me on a day to day basis I won't even remember in 10 years time. 5 years time. 6 months time.
So, today, I am grateful for my own ability to thoroughly contemplate, consider, and calm down rather than blowing up, or acting in an irrational fashion that would only showcase a lack of maturity in me, and that I would undoubtedly regret later.
See? I'm getting better! I'm learning the things!
Oh yeah, and "Winners and Losers" for some escapism TV... ;)
Mx
OK so today was pretty average. In fact so average that by the time I left work I was fuming, looking forward to stomping my way home and then ranting about it all on facebook and twitter. So I got home. Turned the heater on (because I now have a functioning one, yay!), made dinner (fine, cracked out the take away I'd bought on the way home), turned the TV on, and sat on the couch. I took my #photoadayjuly photo - "The Best Part of My Day". Today - my Ugg boots. And Masterchef, but that didn't photograph as well as my comfiest slippers.
Over the course of changing into my trackies, eating dinner, cheering on Kylie on Masterchef, and checking emails, I breathed. Consciously. Slowly. And despite retaining some feelings of irritability, I realised that it's just not worth it. Some people don't think, don't consider others - and my getting annoyed about it isn't going to change them. And ultimately, it's not important enough to give myself a migraine over. Over time, as I've grown up (UGH! Did I really just say that...?) I've gained some perspective. Some things matter, some things don't. Some things don't really matter but you have the ability to change them. Some things do matter, but you can't change them. So you learn to deal. And breathe.
In the scheme of things, I'd go so far as to say for the most part, the things that annoy me on a day to day basis I won't even remember in 10 years time. 5 years time. 6 months time.
So, today, I am grateful for my own ability to thoroughly contemplate, consider, and calm down rather than blowing up, or acting in an irrational fashion that would only showcase a lack of maturity in me, and that I would undoubtedly regret later.
See? I'm getting better! I'm learning the things!
Oh yeah, and "Winners and Losers" for some escapism TV... ;)
Mx
02 July 2012
Things I Am Grateful For #2
Day 2 of reminding myself that life is GREAT!!
Today I am grateful for trustworthy tradies*. I am renting my apartment, and sometimes struggle to get maintenance done in a timely fashion. Now, little things generally get done quickly, but bigger jobs I tend to have to push for. Like the time my oven blew up... but that's a whole different post. Anyway, my heater retired permanently the first time I turned it on this (very cold) winter. Approximately 6 weeks ago. I began by ringing the rental agency twice a week, then three times a week, and finally, after calling daily for a fortnight, I got a call from the landlord asking if they could bring a guy over to quote for a split system. This happened on Wednesday. They came on Thursday. He said he could install on Friday - alas, I am to be out of town Thursday evening through Sunday.
So the landlord agrees to oversee the installation.
After leaving town, I discover the landlord is giving heater installer man my key and letting him go about his business.
So I spend 3 days in fear of coming home to an empty apartment with the front door swinging wildly, I return. Not only to find the heater installed - a marvellous sight - but the tradie had returned my living room to it's natural state (I had moved the furniture out of the way prior to leaving) but he had also vacummed. AND, followed up with a phone call today - the Monday following installation - to check all was working properly.
Yes, he did. Lovely man.
Mx
*Disclaimer: I have had no real experience that leads me to distrust tradies. In fact my brother is a tradie, a very trustworthy one with a high work standard. However, he knows some that give the majority a bad rap, and also, my parents have had some less than stellar results with unsupervised work being done. I have, of course, had the experience of taking a day off work only to have a tradie turn up 4 hours after pre-arranged time. Without calling. Grrr. Overall, though, it is just a general dislike of having people I do not know be given keys to my house without my approval.
Today I am grateful for trustworthy tradies*. I am renting my apartment, and sometimes struggle to get maintenance done in a timely fashion. Now, little things generally get done quickly, but bigger jobs I tend to have to push for. Like the time my oven blew up... but that's a whole different post. Anyway, my heater retired permanently the first time I turned it on this (very cold) winter. Approximately 6 weeks ago. I began by ringing the rental agency twice a week, then three times a week, and finally, after calling daily for a fortnight, I got a call from the landlord asking if they could bring a guy over to quote for a split system. This happened on Wednesday. They came on Thursday. He said he could install on Friday - alas, I am to be out of town Thursday evening through Sunday.
So the landlord agrees to oversee the installation.
After leaving town, I discover the landlord is giving heater installer man my key and letting him go about his business.
So I spend 3 days in fear of coming home to an empty apartment with the front door swinging wildly, I return. Not only to find the heater installed - a marvellous sight - but the tradie had returned my living room to it's natural state (I had moved the furniture out of the way prior to leaving) but he had also vacummed. AND, followed up with a phone call today - the Monday following installation - to check all was working properly.
Yes, he did. Lovely man.
Mx
*Disclaimer: I have had no real experience that leads me to distrust tradies. In fact my brother is a tradie, a very trustworthy one with a high work standard. However, he knows some that give the majority a bad rap, and also, my parents have had some less than stellar results with unsupervised work being done. I have, of course, had the experience of taking a day off work only to have a tradie turn up 4 hours after pre-arranged time. Without calling. Grrr. Overall, though, it is just a general dislike of having people I do not know be given keys to my house without my approval.
01 July 2012
Things I am grateful for #1
OK so it's been a while since I've posted. To be honest I have been reading, but I just haven't felt the drive to squeal about any of the books I've read.
Sooooooo, I thought I would challenge myself to post every day for a month of things that I am grateful for. It's getting to that time of year when everyone's flu-ey, it's cold and wet, we're all due for some holidays (or at least a little weekend getaway) and I wanted to try to turn myself around by reminding myself that really, I have it pretty damn good. I have a roof over my head, employment, warm clothes, food to eat, a loving family and some amazing friends. And I'd best stop there or I'll have nothing to write about for the rest of the month!
Aaaanyhoo, for today I'm going to start the month off by saying that I'm grateful for my family. I spent the weekend at home (about 2 hours from where I live), and got to see my sister, one of my brothers (and his girlfriend), and my wonderful parents. Mum took me out for lunch for a little mother / daughter catch up and a spot of retail therapy. We drank lots and lots of cups of tea :)
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I bought a maxi dress, a warm woolly cardi, and "The Hypnotist's Love Story" by Liane Moriarty (because I need more books...) We had a lazy Saturday night in with a movie - "The Vow".
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Then this morning we had a lovely leisurely brunch where I had a lovely homemade muesli which has inspired me to make some of my own, and mum sent me home this afternoon with a bulging bag of groceries.
Mx
What are you grateful for? If you'd like to join in my month of things you're grateful for, post them below, or do your own and post a link in the comments section!
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