Canadian Down Under

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

It's a sickness

I've developed a new addiction (as if the first one wasn't bad enough....) and it's not a good one.....
I'm a little ashamed to admit it.....
But here goes:

I have become addicted to watching old episodes (on DVD) of McLeod's Daughters.

There. I said it. I'll just wait for the laughter to die down before I continue....
....
....
....
....
Okay - enough already!!!!!

For those of you who don't know what it's all about, here's a synopsis:

McLeod's Daughters tells the story of the two McLeod sisters who are reunited when they inherit a vast outback cattle property. Thrown together after 20 years apart they pull together an all-female workforce and, with an abundance of heart and humour, commit to an extraordinary life at Drovers Run, 180km from the nearest town and 400km from the city.

The women of Drovers Run share the same dreams that all women share. They could be our friends or our sisters. They just happen to live in an extraordinary place, a place that will
allow them to be who they are ... heroines.

Yeah, its crap at its crappiest - and I gotta tell you? I love it. Almost every program makes me cry at some point. You should have seen the one where one of the main characters die (I won't tell you which one in case you decide its something you want to explore on your own....). I bawled!! Literally bawled. Did the whole sit on my couch with a box a kleenex and sniffled and sobbed and chest heaved my way through it.

Man - maybe this is just a cheap form of therapy for me, but I can't stay away!!

I even started adopting some of the Australian outback lingo from the show, like: Righto, Goodo. I've even tried it out at work.

They laughed.

Hard.

Then told me to give it up.

I'm now beginning to think about trying out to be a Jilleroo.....

Okay, not really, but maybe I should put it on my list of things to do before I die..... Well, if the men in the show are any indication of how hot outback men are, I may give it a shot. Then I may have to reassess the feedback I gave Stolie on Australian men.....

Monday, October 23, 2006

Can't sleep

It's one of those nights. I'm all organised for work tomorrow - even made my lunch. I've done my laundry, done the dishes, tidied up my flat and threw out the trash. Having the house in order and tidied should let you sleep - according to feng shui (as told to me by my mother - who since retiring has taken every course known to mankind - along with feng shui)

But no. I'm awake. I went to bed hours ago, but I've been tossing and turning.

See, the truth is, I have someone on my mind. Usually I can either banish them or tell myself stupid stories about them that make me sleep, but I've had no luck tonight.

People often say that when you can't stop thinking about someone its because they're thinking of you - like some kind of cosmic force of nature. Do you think that's true? If so, this person must be obsessively thinking of me because I just can't shake them out of my mind.

Not good. Not good because of who it is, but also not good, because I'm awful when I haven't had enough sleep.....

I wonder if counting sheep will work.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Return of the Magic!

Tonight I went to a party. It was a theme party. I generally don't like theme parties (which are also known as fancy dress parties - or better known as costume parties for you North Americans out there) but I haven't been out for a while, so I thought 'what the hell'.

Well, tonight not only marked my return to the party circuit, it also marked the return of the magic.

What is the magic, you ask? Well, magic is that intangible thing that happens between men and women. An old flatmate of mine used to spend a lot of nights out - and for the most part, any night out on the town was fun - but there were those nights when you had 'the magic'. Those nights when you could do no wrong - men practically fell over themselves to get to you (yes, I'm using poetic license). It had nothing to do with what you wore, how your hair looked or what you were saying - it was that intangible 'je ne sais quoi' that we called 'the magic'.

So tonight, I didn't realise it was back at first. But with the added clarity of hindsight, I think it began early on. The theme of the party was 'For Mature Audiences Only' so it's no surprise that 'the magic' may have been floating around....

So, let me recount the boys by order of appearance:

Boy #1
Dressed as a gay cowboy, Phil was introduced to us when we first arrived. At first I was distracted by the ingenuity of the multitude of costumes, but when I did get around to noticing him - I had trouble getting past the cheesy moustache and pink shirt. Despite basically ignoring him, he hung around for a while and occasionally pulled my hair so I'd talk to him. But talking to him consisted of me asking a question (polite chit chat crap) and he'd answer. And that'd be it. I'd turn to listen to the band and he'd pull my hair again. Eventually I moved so he couldn't reach my hair anymore and he went to the other side of the party - but he did wave at me from across the yard when the band played the song 'I touch myself'.

I'm choosing not to examine that further.....

Boy #2
While standing under the marquee and listening to the band, I'd occasionally look around at the crowd to check out the costumes and - oh yeah - the cute guys. In my survey of the crowd, I kept noticing this tall, dark handsome guy with curly hair. He smiled at me a few times. I went from pretending I didn't notice to smiling at him quickly then turning away. Next thing I knew, he came up and asked me to dance. You'd think since I'd been long distance flirting (yeah, I can confess to that) I'd say yes, but this is how he asked:

"You want to dancth."

Call me shallow, but I couldn't get past the lisp.

Boy #3
It started to pour so most of us squeezed under the marquee. Beside me was a guy dressed as Hugh Hefner - pipe and all... I have no idea how Brian and I started talking, but he was pretty funny and he kept me laughing for a while. He told me his bathrobe was built for two and tried to wrap me in it. Only problem - and I couldn't tell if it was because the slope of the lawn, but he was shorter than me.

Actually, truth is, I was just too tired to stay any longer (been a long day of headaches and lots of codeine, so no alcohol when everyone else is getting pissed can be boring, but I believe I should be given bonus points for pulling it together enough to get myself out tonight...).

Said goodbye to Brian and he was sweet about it - saying it was nice to meet me, then headed out.

As I was leaving the back yard and heading to the path at the side of the house, I heard this voice say 'Are you really leaving?' I turned and it was Boy #2. The cutie. As he was telling me it was too early for me to leave, I realised that he didn't have a lisp, what he had was a Spanish accent.

Oops!

So to his "it's to early for you to go" I answered "I really need my beauty sleep." To which he replied, "I can't believe that, you're beautiful as you are."

I don't think it was just a return of the magic - it was a tidal wave return of the magic.


I contemplated staying, but I really was tired - and besides, my mom always told me: 'leave them wanting more'.

I've never listened before - thought I'd give it a try.....

The Wonders of Gmail

In Funky Brown Chick's comment on my last post (always great to hear from her...) she used the word 'cute'. (Which when used in reference to shoes - its always acceptable... however, I've heard men really object to being called 'cute' - but that is a totally different discussion....)

Anyway, I have all my comments forwarded to my Gmail account - and if any of you have Gmail accounts you'll know that beside your message, they post 'sponsored links' . Well this is the one they came up with for the word 'cute':
GIANTmicrobes E. coli - We make catching E. coli fun. They're infectiously cute.

I think somebody at Gmail was having a laugh....

Thursday, October 19, 2006

My Beautiful Shoes!!

I wore my beautiful new shoes today! I LOVE them. Very girlie, very nouveau design, very black.

Now this may not really seem like news to some of you - but for those who've known me for quite a while know that 'girlie' is not a term readily applied to me. Nor have I ever had anything resembling a shoe fetish.

However.....

In the last week I bought not one, not two, but THREE pairs of shoes. AND I bought a skirt, a frivolous strappy top thingy and....wait for it.... I bought a dress.

I don't know what's happened to me....but I like it. Even if my Visa bill doesn't!

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Good Friends

I have good friends. You know who you are.

The last little while something's been bugging me, but this time I decided I neeed to figure it out on my own. No blogging, no whining or bitching - I feel like I've done too much of that lately.

Especially to friends at home. I mean - how excited are you to receive an email from a friend who only complains?

At least that's how it felt.

But the other day I got a "hey stranger" email that really showed I'd been silent for far too long.... So I answered cheerily enough but then I worried that the blase cheerfulness might be interpreted as I'd forgotten people at home and didn't care.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

You know it's amazing - almost four years into my ex-pat life and I still stumble across new issues as an ex-pat. Who'da thought?

So I was honest. Short and to the point as to why I'd been incommunicado. And you know what I found out? I found out I had worried needlessly. I found out (maybe re-confirmed....) that I have very good friends. Good friends that love and care about me no matter how far away I am and no matter it makes no difference if I'm telling jokes or wiping away tears - they're still happy to hear from me.

So even though life isn't always wonderful, it's always wonderful to have good friends.

Monday, October 09, 2006

I've become a cold-blooded killer!!!

Me. It's true. I don't know how - but it happened tonight.

I've killed three bugs. Three. Okay, well, really two. See - one was already dead.....

Cold-blooded I tell you! (Can you be considered cold-blooded if you have to keep saying "Get it together" or "Don't be such a loser, it's only a bug" to yourself in the process??)

Perhaps not.

In all honesty - it took me three days to screw up the courage to pick up the bug on my kitchen floor that died from natural causes. It then took me three attempts to kill the HUMUNGOUS spider that was underneath my laundry basket (serves me right for doing laundry tonight...). But by the time I saw the other creepy crawly, I got my shoe out and whacked that sucker with only a moment's hesitation.

I guess being crawled on by a cockroach the other night has killed my fear of killing bugs. (Yes, yes - that's another story. When I recover from the horror, I will tell you about it....)

Note to self: don't leave window open all day. Bugs consider that an invite to set up residence.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

A Night of Tragedy!!

Had a huge day out with a friend - went out to the Blue Mountains and went antique-ing. It was gorgeous, drove up with the top flipped back and the windows down. Talked all the way up and sang all the way down.

Fun. But tiring. Dropped my friend off in the city and then got home just in time to make the butchers and the wine cellar. After my huge day out was really looking forward to an evening in, in front of the tv with a bunch of DVDs, a barbequed steak and a glass of wine.

Great idea. Just not able to execute. Why? Tragedy #1 - DVD player broke. Tragedy #2 - Barbeque ran out of propane.

Well, at least I managed to get the bottle of wine open...

Friday, October 06, 2006

It's funny...

I get these ideas in my head sometimes, but I don't always share them.

Ideas. Not quite fantasies, but I imagine situations and dream what the outcomes will be. Sometimes they're completely fanciful, sometimes they're actually events from my past that I re-create with different outcomes.

Okay - I know I'm sounding a little crazy, but I promise I'm not under the influence of alcohol or any other substance. There is a point to this - it's just taking a while to get there....

So sometimes when life is unpleasant or not turning out the way I want or think it should - I dream up an alternate reality. I re-tell it to myself over and over and over trying out different endings to see which ones work best. Then eventually I run out of new endings and I either come up with some new situation to day dream about or I get stuck on the old like a skipping record.

I've often not been able to figure out how to stop the record skips - but I think I've come up with a solution. When the imagination gets snagged on some idea, I tell people what I'm doing. And I become unsnagged.

So I was stuck, but I've told my crazy story to a few friends (that I simply can't put in writing...) and now I'm just hoping I can think of something new.....

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Bumps in the Road

I have a grand scheme.

I planned it many, many months ago.

Primary goal? Getting in good enough shape to do a triathlon this year. Some side benefits? General health and well-being, good use of my free weekend time (ie. exercising instead of imbibing), potentially even a little weight loss....

Well, it all started out good enough. I got new running shoes was slowly starting to build up my endurance. Was up to almost 30 minutes - 29 in fact, when my back problem decided to jab at me. So missed the planned fall triathlon, but kept motivated, going to Pilates, swimming and gentle exercise brought my back back into line. (I decided not to edit today - can you tell?)

Did shorter runs, lower intensity and managed to hang in there. Decided to build really slowly, which was working well. Things were looking up so even went so far as to buy myself a bike. (Kind of necessary for the bike part of the triathlon.....) Really like my bike. Even Ike likes my bike! (Americans will get that joke....) Got a few training rides in. Was pathetically, woefully out of shape, but was hanging in there. (Did I mention HOW many hills there are in Manly???? You can't go anywhere without going up a hill. Seriously.)

Then, what I now refer to as 'the incident' happened: I broke my elbow.

What happened then? I took up permanent residence on my couch. (I love my couch. It's chocolate suede and really, really comfy.)

That was bump #1, but I'm back to it. Got my trainer. Started swimming. Arm's not quite there yet - can't quite manage the bike - but was thinking of using my wind trainer. Biking indoors removes the fear I'm currently experiencing at the prospect of being on the road with cars and potentially falling. (To be honest, I have a continual fear of falling now that I can't quite get over yet.....) But I thought an indoor road trainer would be good and as luck would have it - I bought one of those thingys prior to Bump #1.

It was at the office.

I finally brought it home. (Hard to lug with a non-functioning arm....)

And last night I set it up.

Which leads me to Bump #2.

For the life of me, I can't figure it out. I've used them before but this one just doesn't make any sense to me AT ALL. So, it's now sitting in my living room mocking me.

Pretty big bump.

Never mind the flat tire.....

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Slippery Slope

Yesterday was a very busy but productive day. I know that's exciting for all of you - but I'm actually making a joke - one that only I will probably get....

Anyway, yesterday was the day that I confirmed there will be a new addition to my family.

You're thinking I'm pregnant, aren't you?

Aren't you?

Well, if you are - you're wrong. The news does involve a pregnancy - but it's of the feline variety. See, yesterday I picked out my new little kitten: Monster. Actually, I want to call her Monster, but she looks like a Molly - however, one of my friends named their little girl Molly so..... The thing is - Molly Monster sounds like the best name!

She's a La Perme cat. Never seen one before yesterday. They're kinda strange in that they have curly hair. Weird - but she's so cute it didn't matter. She's black with white tipped paws and a white stripe on her nose and she's the littlest of the bunch.

Cute.

I called her Molly, but when I picked her up and she bit my finger I instinctively called her Monster. I'm thinking I don't have a choice in the matter - she is Molly Monster.

Will post a picture soon when the breeder sends me one. I don't actually get her for another 6 weeks, but when I do, I'm sending out an announcement. I'll include you in my distribution list - not to worry. I'm already creating in my head - it's going to be a beaut!!

My first solely owned cat (have had cats and dogs all my life as part of the family, but never one of my own) at 37. How many cats and how old do I have to be for me to have completely fallen down the slippery slope towards 'Crazy Old Cat Lady'?

Just wondering.