I won, I won, I won.

Well, it's not exactly the lottery and I usually can't even win a meat tray at the pub, but I did win something far more exciting than that (the meat tray, not the lottery... unless it's only a couple bucks...)... My good friend Athena has awarded me a "Versatile Blogger" award. Versatile - an awesome word. V.E.R.S.A.T.I.L.E. which means accomplished, multifaceted, resourceful, functional, adaptable, dexterous, ingenious..


So, a big THANK YOU to the gorgeous Athena for thinking of me :)


Here's how this award works:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Make sure you contact these bloggers to let them know about the award.

Now, 7 things about me:

1. I have a really dry sense of humour, sometimes in the most inappropriate situations...
2. I hate the heat and feel humidity quickly, always have apparently - give me a colder climate any day... (currently writing this blog in front of the air cooler thingy that doesn't seem to be making the air any cooler...)
3. I'm a book worm - always have been.  I used to get in trouble for not doing my chores because I'd be so wrapped up in my book, that my "I'll do it after I finish this page/chapter" soon would turn into 3 chapters and I'd still be there...
4. When I was in primary school, I tried my hand at the violin.  I discovered that I am not in any shape or form musically inclined and no amount of practice could ever change that.  My first example that sometimes practice does not make perfect...  
5. I'm a girly girl - I love my pink (but don't go overboard with it), I love my handbags and my jewellery...
6. Because of this, I get acrylic nails every 2 weeks because I can't help but chew my nails.  It drives my mother nuts.
7. I love having photos of family and friends displayed around my house.

Now for the fun part - picking other bloggers worthy of such an award.  I know I'm meant to choose 15, but I don't even read 15 blogs!!! LOL So I shall instead just list the ones I do love to read here instead...:

• A field of dreams 
• Delightfully Yours
• Domestic Delusions (although Kint doesn't blog much, when she does her posts crack me up)
• InfertiliTEE
• Kazzas Happiness'

Miss B, if you read this, I haven't included yours here only because I didn't know if you'd want me plugging it or not... If you do, let me know and I shall add it xoxox

Goodbye 2010

I know I'm a fraction late with this post, but it's been something that has been on my mind.


What a year 2010 was.  For some of my friends it was rotten horrible year and they were very glad to see the back of it.  For me, it was perhaps the best year of my life.


For those who missed this blog in it's beginning, I'll do a bit of a recap...


It started off with Miss B at Kangaroo Point watching the New Years Eve fireworks, a very relaxing night and I think that this set the trend for the rest of the year.


I spent Valentines Day in February with my best friend from highschool who I have known now since 1998, my oldest friend indeed.


In March, I was a bridesmaid at my old school friend, Miss L's wedding and the following weekend, I met my beloved Sydney Boy here in Sydney and my adventure began.  Our first date was at Luna Park - a very different first date to the old dinner and a movie type date.  The next day we went to Manly before coming back into the city and going to Centrepoint Tower.  The following day we spent lying on the grass at the Botanical Gardens and on my final day in Sydney we spent time hanging out at Clifton Gardens.


At Easter, we went on a road trip to Tin Can Bay to feed the dolphins which is a must do.  On our way home, we stopped in at Rainbow Beach for some more photo opportunities.


In April, we headed to Seaworld for the day and I went ice-skating for the very first time.


I made the big move to Sydney in May.  This month, we went to the circus and to a fight night at the Ivy to watch one of my Sydney Boy's mates fight.


In June, my Sydney Boy took me to Drummoyne for lunch along the Bay Run, and then at the end of the month we tried our luck at flying kites (unsuccessfully I might add!) before heading to the netball semi-finals at the ANZ Stadium.


In July, we walked from Bondi to Coogee (arriving at sunset), went to my very first footy game and flew to Mackay for an old friend's wedding.


In August, we did the 7km Bay Run which we followed up the following weekend with the 14km City 2 Surf.


In September, we went to Melbourne for Sydney Boy's birthday and then we drove out to Mt Buller - my first ever snow trip too!  Later on in the month, we went to the Jambaroo Action Park for a day of fun.


In October, we went "Island Hopping" down at Sydney Harbour (visiting Goat Is, Shark Is, and Clarke Is).  We also went to see the Ben Hurr production at the ANZ Stadium.  If that wasn't enough action for the month of October, we also went to the Opera House Open Day to get a bit of a glimpse inside the old gal.  To top this off, we headed to Adelaide to see Powderfinger.


In November, we had a bit of a quiet one... believe it or not...


Then, of course, in December, we headed to Fiji for 5 glorious days of sunshine and swimming.  And then wrapped the year up at Luna Park to see the NYE fireworks on the bridge.


Quite a year eh? I wonder what 2011 has in store for us if this is what 2010 was like?

Fiji!

(Sorry in ad\/ance for my \/ key - usually I fix it before posting, but tonight I just don't ha\/e time...)

Well as expected, Fiji was just beautiful and e\/erything I expected.

Day 1
There was a group of Fijians at the airport with their guitar, welcoming the people off the plane.  We got to our airport transfer with little fuss, although this was our first lesson about Fiji time....

We stayed at Denarau, a short dri\/e from Nadi and spent our first afternoon there exploring the resort we were staying at, booked in some tours and caught the Bulla Bus down to Port Denarau.

Day 2:
The following day, I went back to Port Denarau and got an hour massage and a facial = a bargain at $FJ100.  After lunch and my massage and facial, we headed back to the resort where we spent the afternoon relaxing in the coolness of the swimming pool which o\/erlooks Nadi Bay.

I should add, that by this stage, I was really really enjoying the bed in our resort.  Not for what you might think though - it was just so unbelie\/ably comfy that I ha\/e come back to Australia and am looking for a bed just like it!!!

The buffet  breakky was also unbelie\/able - you name it, and it was there almost: bacon, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, sausages, fried tomatos, spring rolls, hash browns, corn flakes, coco pops and god knows what other cereal, doughnuts, pancakes (with a choice of syrup and cream), chocolate croissants, and all sorts of other danishes, not to mention diff types of bread, fruit platters, fruit smoothies, about 3 types of yoghurt and muesli. They also had a juicer so you could make your own fruit juice, or just pour the pre-made stuff: orange, pineapple and apple.  You also had a choice of coffee and tea (heck, why not just ha\/e both!) and also champagne.    Needless to say we took our time eating breakky!

Day 3:
On Saturday, we got up early to eat our buffet breakky (but not so much today because we were going on a boat!!!) and went to Castaway Island.  There we did some snorkelling and some swimming in the pool.  The highlight of my time there was ha\/ing some bread in my hand and ha\/ing heaps of fish come and eat it out of my hands.  When there was no more bread left, they were nibbling my fingers! It was \/ery cute!

Castaway Island - just gorgeous!

Fish just off the shore at Castaway Is

Some fun in the pool at Castaway

Day 4:
On Sunday, my birthday, we got up early again and had another buffet breakky and this time we were off to Robinson Crusoe Island.  I highly recommend this tour. From our hotel, we got a bus to a ri\/er.  At the ri\/er we got on the boat.  We were a little confused why we'd be going on a boat in a ri\/er to get to an island that is supposed to be in the sea, until we realised that the island is certainly in the sea, but just up from a ri\/er mouth!

When we arri\/ed, we were told about the a\/ailable acti\/ities for the day.  I headed straight off and got another massage ($FJ25) and a pedicure ($FJ25).  By the time this was finished, it was time to watch the unearthing of the Lo\/o (Fiji's \/ersion of the Hungi), and the Beqa men walking on hot coals.  We had lunch and after lunch there were performances - traditional dances (both men and women), knife throwing and, of course, flame throwing.  Afer this, we went out on the boat for some snorkeling.  Unfortunately we didn't get to stay long as there was a strong current.  When we got back to shore, my Sydney Boy and I went and had a bit of a swim in the pool before I relaxed in a hammock beside the pool with a good book (Jodie Picoult - Keeping Faith)...  All too soon it was time to go back to our hotel!

A glimpse of Robinson Crusoe Island

A descendant of the Beqa men walking on coal

Some performances

More performances

Fish @ Robinson Crusoe Is

Day 5
On Monday, we had a relaxing day.  We slept in a little, and took our time eating breakfast.  We caught the free boat o\/er to an island called "Akuilau" where there is nothing except toilets and 9 people who li\/e on the island.  We also went to the Sheraton \/illas and had a couple of cocktails at the pool bar.  We swam in our own resort swimming pool, and simply relaxed...

\/iew at breakfast

\/iew from Akuilau back to our resort

The little pig who is a pet for the people who li\/e on the island - seems a bit cruel doesn't it?

Lea\/ing Akuilau to go back to our resort

Swimming in the pool at the Sheraton \/illas

Swimming in the pool at the resort

Enjoying the spa at our resort

My Sydney Boy watching the e\/ening ritual

Day 6
Unfortunately, all too soon, our holiday was o\/er.  The next morning, we packed our bags and headed once again for our final breakfast in Fiji.  We e\/en got our own farewell song at breakky from the staff.  My Sydney Boy used our final morning to go explore the Sheraton, but I stayed by the pool and read my book...

On the plane home, a Fijian man sat next to me on his first trip to Australia.  He told me that his wife had just gi\/en birth to their 3rd daughter in Fiji and that Australia is his country of hope because he would like to mo\/e here one day (which is little surprise when their a\/erage wage seems to be about $FJ2.50 an hour!!!).  He was coming to \/isit his wife's sister who already li\/es in Australia in the hope that he will like it.  We talked about Fiji and about Australia and he asked me to write my name down and that if it was OK with me, he would like to use my name in his daughter's name.  I said that this was fine so maybe if he was telling the truth (fat chance, but it's a nice thought isn't it?) my name will become popular in Fiji ;)

Oh how I long to be back in Fiji already...

Life Lesson 1: Trust your gut instinct

I never got a reply to the message I sent that friend who deleted me from Facebook.  My other friend who was also deleted without cause or comment sent him a message on Facebook and a text message.  She received a reply to neither message.  It was only when she spoke to him on MSN that she found out the reason with a click of a couple of buttons we were removed from his life.

We lost touch.  That was his reason.  So, instead of, upon making that realisation, picking up the phone to call or send a text, instead of posting on my Facebook wall or sending a message on Facebook or by email, he simply hit the delete button.  Must have been too much effort for the poor poppet.  Or maybe he didn't care enough to bother.  Personally, my bet is on both options.

Of course we lost touch - I was no longer living literally down the street from them anymore!

In this day and age, it's actually pretty easy to keep in touch with people with so much technology at our fingertips.  That is, if we care enough to.  There's really no excuses for it being too hard to keep in touch.  It takes little time and energy to send a quick message via a number of modern day technologies if one doesn't have time for a phone call.

Now, I'm the first to admit that when it comes to keeping in touch, I'm no angel.  I freely admit that I'm shit at keeping in touch with others.  But I'm also not the kind of friend who wants to live in your pocket.  No, you might not hear from me for a few weeks and in a couple of cases a couple of months, but be rest assured that I will think of you and at some point, I will take those few seconds to send you a message, or take the time to give you a call.  But that depends on what effort I see you making for me.

I know that Miss B has been crazy busy with her uni work so we haven't chatted as much as we'd like to but I know that when she has the time, she makes the effort for a phone call or text messages.  Similarly Miss L has been busy too but she makes the time when she can for a phone call or a Skype chat.  Miss K is a single mum to 2 kids but still makes the time when she has the time.  Even Mr M who has his own issues to deal with in his life manages to keep in touch by text message and the occassional online chat or phone call.

It just proves what I had already suspected.  At least I know once again that my instincts were right.  That's OK though.  It gives me more space in my life for those who make the effort.

Those are the real friends, worthy of my time, energy and effort.  To those friends (even those who aren't mentioned in this blog) a big thank you.  The fact you are dedicating your time, energy and effort to read my blog means you are a good friend too.

xoxoxox

In my dreams

I have been having such weird dreams lately that I actually remember when I wake up.  First there was the one where there was a big snake or python in a tree that chased me, along with all it's tiny little baby snakes and they all bit me all over my feet and then after that I spent my time chasing horses up some hill covered in sunflowers.  Then there was the one where my mum gave me someone's baby girl that she'd tried suffocating with plastic over her mouth and nose (WTF?!?!).  Then there was the one I had this afternoon when I lay down beside my Sydney Boy who was napping before he went to work tonight.

In the dream, there was a girl, apparently an ex girlfriend of his who was trying to get him back.  She was quite beautiful and she kept doing things, trying to break us up, and doing things to make him fall for her.  In my dream each time she was there, my heart was in my mouth, scared he'd choose her and leave me.  Each time in my dream, he chose me!

When I woke up, I couldn't help but marvel once again at how lucky I am to have met him.  Usually our sub conscience shows us the things we fear in our dreams.  But in my dream, my Sydney Boy chose me!  I couldn't help but feel proud of how secure that I feel in this relationship, not only consciously, but subconsciously too.

I couldn't help but stare at my Sydney Boy sleeping beside me and feel my heart swell with love for him, the man who went out last night after 10pm just to get me a banana to take some headache tablets (I can't take tablets without food) and some milk to make a cup of tea to help the headache. 

The man who came home last night with 2 cartons of orange juice as well because he knows I hate carrying them up the hill from the shopping centre. 
 
The man who got up early yesterday to cook me breakfast. 

The man who is driving into the city tomorrow afternoon just to pick up the plants I got for free on Friday so we can have some colour on our balcony. 

The man who is taking me to Fiji for my birthday and to New Zealand in February. 

The man who showers me with kisses and attention. 

The man who never fails to make me laugh, even when I'm in a bad mood or had a bad day.

The man who has already planned what he will cook for me for dinner on the nights he has off this week that I just know will be all relatively healthy. 

The man who cooked me a chicken stir fry the other night after dinner just so I'd have something healthy to take to work for lunch the next day. 

The man who always makes sure there's something quick and easy in the freezer for me to cook on nights he's working and I'm by myself so I don't just have ice cream for dinner, or not eat at all. 

The man who has become more domesticated (by washing all of the clothes, vacuuming, washing up and cooking) than I think he has ever been, and taken it within his stride.

 The man who goes above and beyond what any other boyfriend in my entire life has ever done. 

The man who told me yesterday that I'm not just his girlfriend, but the love of his life.

No wonder I feel lucky, even in my dreams. 

New friends and old

When I first decided to move to Sydney, this is before I met my Sydney Boy, part of me was scared to leave my friends in Brisbane because I was worried about what might happen to those friendships.  Although it wasn't the only thing that held me back from making the big move, it certainly played on my mind - after all, I didn't want to move to a completely new city, have trouble making new friends AND lose all the old ones as well!

Fast forward 12 months to when I meet my Sydney Boy and I realise two things.  The first is that with him in Sydney, I will always have a friend here.  The second being that if the friendship is worth anything, it'll always be there.

So it did not come as a total surprise when I began to see this sort of thing happening.  I noticed that there were a couple of people who just did not make the effort.  In actual fact, before I left Brisbane, I had begun to notice the little effort they made but always wrote it off.  Then they didn't come to my farewell party and had a really dodgy excuse, and then when I invited them to a group lunch thing I was having when I came back for a quick visit (literally off one plane from Mackay, rush to Toombul for lunch and then back on the plane home to Sydney), they didn't even bother RS\/P'ing to the invitation on Facebook.  Every time I tried making conversation on MSN with the husband (the person I actually knew first) I felt like I was being met with a brick wall.  I decided after a while that maybe because they could see what I was up to on Facebook (the perils of Facebook eh?) that if I hid that info from them, then maybe this would prompt them to get in touch to say "hi" and we'd be able to have a conversation.  I noticed tonight that the husband had deleted me off Facebook.

Now, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised as I'd planned to do something similar myself if nothing had been forthcoming from either of them.  And, maybe I should have been adult enough to message them both to say "hey, what's happening, I'm a little concerned about how we don't talk anymore".  I guess I could just see little by little that there was less and less effort being put in and I was a little hurt.  I'm reminded of the quote...

There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills. ~ Lord Buddha

I'm reminded of this quote because I had suspected for some time that I was not a priority in their life anymore, that I had slipped down the friend ladder (and maybe I shouldn't put too much weight in Facebook, but when they can RS\/P to someone else's parties quickly but not two of my own, it did cause me to wonder...).  I had doubted them and without a doubt, they'll have their own views on how things went the way they did.

I'm not devastated about what has happened, but it does make me a little sad whenever any friendship ends for whatever reason, even though I know that not all friendships are forever.  I have met some great friends through this couple so nothing is ever a waste of time.  I'd probably have done the deletion myself after a while, but I wanted to give them the courtesy of more time, and had planned to try and see them when I was back at Christmas before striking them off for good.  I guess the deletion from him shows I was never much of a priority to them (at least not recently), and that my suspicions were warranted. 

Then there are some people and things that I do miss dearly.  Sometimes I miss being able to meet up with Miss B for a coffee, or lunch, or whatever tickled our fancy to talk through and find meaning things that are happening in our lives.  Talking on the phone is really just not the same.  I also miss my late night coffees at Maccas with Miss L.  Just the other night, I read that the old gang (Miss L, Miss S and Mr D) were there, and I felt a pang of jealousy and sadness as I had realised just what I had been missing.  These friendships are, funnily enough, the ones that have gotten stronger since I have been here.

It's not as though I have been looking for new friends here.  In actual fact, I haven't been.  Life is always so busy with my Sydney Boy that I have barely had time to catch up with the friends I already have here!  Don't get me wrong here, it's not often that I feel desperately lonely - my Sydney Boy makes sure I want and need nothing and he makes me so content but it's just that every now and then (usually when my Sydney Boy is at work at night), there's that pang.  The pang I know I'd be feeling much much more if my Sydney Boy weren't here to fill the void my friends left.

Who knows what will happen down the track.  One of my dearest friends in the whole wide world, my best friend Mr M, didn't speak to me for years, nor I to him (but that is a whoooole new blog post!), and maybe I will make more friends who can fill in (although never replace) the void left by the friends I left behind in Brisbane.  And maybe when we move back to Brisbane (whenever that day may be), I will be able to pick up those friendships that have gotten stronger and enjoy them to their fullest once again.

I'll leave you with this quote...

We all lose friends.. we lose them in death, to distance and over time. But even though they may be lost, hope is not. The key is to keep them in your heart, and when the time is right, you can pick up the friendship right where you left off. Even the lost find their way home when you leave the light on." ~ Amy Marie Walz

Adelaide

A couple of weeks ago we got to go and see Powderfinger in Adelaide which was pretty exciting.

The best part of the weekend was going to Granite Island.  If you're ever down that way I highly recommend it.  You can catch a horse drawn ferry over there from \/ictor Harbour, or you can walk over, whatever suits you.  When we got over there we were lucky enough to get to see some dolphins swimming along the coast.  Have I mentioned just how much I love dolphins?!?!

And if that wasn't enough excitement, there was also a sea lion that was about half a metre from the shore.  He spent the entire time we were there just lying in the water, obviously enjoying the cool water.  Unfortunately we had to drive back to Adelaide for an early morning flight (me back to Sydney, my Sydney Boy to the Gold Coast to see his parents) so we couldn't stay for the Penguin Tour.  If we're ever back there, we'll definitely go back and do the tour. 

I really quite like Adelaide and I think we'll definitely go back again.

Now, counting down to Fiji....

Living it up

Last weekend was a busy one for us.  On Friday night we went to see Ben Hur at the ANZ Stadium.  It was OK, but certainly not what I was expecting and we were both glad we didn't purchase more expensive seating.

On Saturday night, we headed out for dinner with friends of my Sydney Boy's and I really enjoyed myself.  I have missed having people around to have friendly banter and chat with.

On Sunday, we headed along to the Sydney Opera House to their open day.  The weather was wet and horrible and the tourists of a particular race were out in force.  It was one very frustrating afternoon and would have been better if they'd restricted the amount of people in there at any one time.

Here a couple of photos from the day... (although my camera isn't great...)

Afterwards, we went out for dinner with another one of my Sydney Boy's mates.

What a big weekend for us.

Island Hopping

We're always doing things, my Sydney Boy and I.  Every weekend we both have together, my Sydney Boy always wants to plan things to do.  Sometimes, once the initial rush of new romance wears off, it is exhausting.  Other times it's exhilarating. 

The last couple of weekends, though, it has been me that has wanted to plan things.  Two weekends ago, we went Island Hopping.  Of course that sounds very exciting and exotic but really it was only down at Sydney Harbour.  It was all part of some promotion they do every year where you pay some $$$ and get on a ferry that takes you to Goat Island, Shark Island and Clarke Island, all of which are usually off bounds to the public.

On Goat Island, visitors are taken back to colonial times.  I 'signed up' for the army, was given a red vest and then marched in line with others and shown what it was like back in the colonial era.  We had a wooden gun that we had to march with, and pretend we were firing.  We got a glimpse at how prisoners were treated and learnt a bit about the origin of some sayings "for eg, 3 square meals a day".

Here are some pics from Goat Island (I'm the one in the black and blue dress...)

 

And here I am in the old prisoner's box - this used ot sleep 24 of them and sure as hell would have been really hot back in the day!

Next, we headed to Shark Island.  We timed it well because we were the only ones leaving Goat Island which meant we pretty much had Shark Island to ourselves.  We learnt that Shark Island (named only because from the air it looks like a shark) that Shark Island was used as a quarantine zone for animals 'back in the day'.  They had some stuffed dead animals and a little touch pool, like they have at Sea World.  My Sydney Boy wasn't very fussed though on the sea urchin he got to hold... lol

Arriving at Shark Island...

One of the stuffed animals...

Because we arrived on Shark Island so early and by ourselves, it meant that when we arrived at Clarke Island we had that one all to ourselves too.  We felt like \/IPs as we got our own indigenous smoking ceremony and the indigenous kids did a welcoming dance for us.  There was another indigenous man who was doing rockpainting so we dipped our hands in the ocre and joined in...

We tried fish cooked over seaweed and learnt about rock fishing and how indigenous people survived before white settlers.  They used to have this tree, called the Guardian Tree, and the kids used to sit on the leaves if they couldn't make it back to camp in time and the parents would come looking for them.  Apparently they named it as such because the leaves were spikey and snakes couldn't slither on them so they were pretty safe for the kids unless they were unlucky enough to get bitten by a spider.

After we'd seen everything, we headed home, exhausted from our Island Hopping experiences.

Surprises

I have always loved a good surprise.  Although I hate the suspense when you know there's a surprise, you just don't know what it is.  Knowing how I love a good surprise, my Sydney Boy organised one for me at the end of September. 

He didn't tell me where we were going and he only gave me clues which of course did not help me at all to guess where we were going.  So, on a Sunday morning, we got up relatively early and set off on our drive down to the south coast.  It was a bright sunny day and he chose well in that regard.

It turns out, he took me to Jambaroo Action Park.  We spent the day exploring what the park had to offer: a chair lift up to the top of the mountain, and then toboggan down, the man made beach complete with fake waves, there were water slides but I'm a little scared of those from bad experiences as a kid, and a rock where you can jump in from a height.

At lunch time, we had taken some meat along so we could have a BBQ lunch and we enjoyed it in the shade on such a beautiful warm day. 

On the drive home, I couldn't help but reflect on how much I love surprises, and how truly wonderful this surprise was.