kangaroo sightings

Last week was a terrible week at work, but this weekend definitely made up for it. First, my NZ visa application was (finally) submitted last Friday. Here's hoping they process it quickly now. Next, Brendan came to visit me in Melbourne! We had a fantastic weekend. We had drinks with some friends, hung out in the city, had a lazy breakfast, had excellent but very over-priced beers, had a very average and over-priced Mexican meal, and went gliding. I will have to do a separate post about the gliding once I find the cable to download the pictures from my camera, but for now I will just say it was amazing. Now, back to the average and over-priced Mexican meal - I was sadly disappointed by our meal at Mamasita, a relatively new Mexican restaurant on Collins St in the Melbourne CBD. My disappointment most certainly stemmed from the anticipation leading up to our meal: we have read and have heard fantastic reviews about it, we had been talking about going for months, we had walked up a ...

This morning Brendan and I cleaned the remnants of my San Francisco shot glass out of the garbage disposal. This was the replacement for a previous San Francisco shot glass that met its demise off of the edge of a kitchen table during a rousing game of quarters. I don't know what it is about the combination of San Francisco, shot glass and me that does not work (it all seems so perfect!), but if that is the only thing we lose during this move, I will be very happy. Oh yeah, we're moving. Internationally. Again. Cue the Benny Hill theme... As of Christmas 2010, Brendan and I will be stretched out over 3 countries and 1 ocean. How cool/scary/ridiculous is that?!?

Three things will inevitably happen when my partner goes out of town: 1. Something will break (such as our internet network) that I have no chance of fixing; 2. I will receive a package that I have absolutely no chance of picking up from the Post due to their ridiculous (9am to 4pm) business hours; and 3. I will get sick. The booze trifecta (beer, wine and spirits all in one night) is far more interesting.

It has been a pretty routine couple of weeks/months. There's been work, there's been hanging out, there's been some cool weekend trips, there's been some lazy weekends at home... I would typically blog about my weekend trips, but Brendan does a better job than me at that, which is why it has been forever since I have blogged. Long enough in fact that it took me awhile to remember my login... Something happened yesterday though that broke the routine. I had a crap night the night before and went into work in not the best of moods, I wasn't being particularly friendly to anyone, I was feeling down about my job and the overtime hours I've been putting in the last few months, I was annoyed that people were interrupting my phone call to tell me that there was a morning tea on and that I should come have a cake (1. I was on the phone and 2. I have been trying to stay off of the cakes lately).... But it turns out they were only telling me to come to the tea because I w...

I am not a huge fan of on-line Christmas shopping, but I have to admit that Amazon has made my life pretty easy today. It also amused me by knowing me so well...

What I did on Thanksgiving: Got up early in an attempt to be at work early and therefore leave early. Did not work. Completed two items from my to-do list in the morning. Went for a 3 km walk in a tunnel climbing over tunnel equipment and wading through 12-in deep muck. Got hassled by the guys in the tunnel for being short. Sat in a two hour meeting. Added 6 more items to my to-do list. Had small talk after the meeting discussing the differences between annual leave in the US (2 weeks) and Australia (4 weeks + whatever you want to buy + long service leave). Discussed upcoming work with my Australian colleague who is going on holiday (again). Added 4 more items to my to-do list. Paid way too much for a haircut (but at least it came with a head massage and a coffee). Paid only a little too much for a few bottles of wine. Came home to a Thanksgiving dinner (courtesy of my awesome boyfriend). ß highlight of the day! Ate dessert first. Drank a bottle of wine while packing for our weekend...

Heard around the office again today, "I don't want to tell you how to suck eggs." I believe its from the expression, "Don't try to teach your Grandma to suck eggs." I understand the intended meaning: to not teach something that should already be known to a person who should already know it. But, what if you don't know how to suck eggs? Is the appropriate response to this statement, "actually, I would very much appreciate if you could tell me how to suck eggs?" Or perhaps its better that I ask my Grandma? In more important news, the Australian tectonic plate seems to be a bit antsy the last few days. My thoughts and prayers are with those whose lives were lost or devastated in the last two days. The earth is both amazing and amazingly powerful.