Life Goes On

strExam = strName "is going to" & blnPass

Wednesday, Jun. 16, 2004 - 7:06 a.m.

First exam for the semester is in an hour. Of course I should be cramming, but really... if I don't know it by now it's just too late.

Caffeine is such an horrendous drug. I drink heaps of it at this time of year to assist the study process but it's scary that I can feel it in my body and I'm almost shaking because I am denying my body one this morning. I just gave up smoking FFS! The withdrawal of this feels the same as the smoking. How ridiculous that we have purposely grown, cultivated and processed this 'food' even though we know the influence it has on our bodies.

Don't worry - I will continue to drink it until my exams are over. I usually go cold turkey straight after the last exam and then don't have any more caffeine until halfway through the next semester when the workload develops again. Last time I did that I slept for about three days, only getting up to feed David and take him to school.

Have two business meetings tomorrow - both for DB Consultancies. At this exact moment I don't think I could even string a coherent sentence together let alone discuss the virtues of relational db management but hopefully that will disappear after a decent sleep tonight.

Wish me luck.

Litigation Lunacy

Tuesday, Jun. 15, 2004 - 9:01 a.m.

Thanks to T for this interesting link.

"Overlawyered explores an American legal system that too often turns litigation into a weapon against guilty and innocent alike, erodes individual responsibility, rewards sharp practice, enriches its participants at the public's expense, and resists even modest efforts at reform and accountability."

I particularly like this one.

If you can dream it, you can icecream it

Monday, Jun. 14, 2004 - 6:22 p.m.

We had a picnic lunch at the beach today! Being a Public Holiday I figured we should at least do something. It is so much easier to be complacent and never do anything with our kids. When David was young (under 3) it was so cute the way he discovered everything and we had milestones - his first sandcastle, his first waves, his first time feeding seagulls. But as he grew, it became less fun for me as the parent. I didn't think about how much fun it was for him to get out of the house and scoot around or play in water.

I recently bought a picnic blanket in support of a charity so we took that and after lunch I read my book while David played. He then had a ride on his scooter while I walked next to him.

On the way home we sang along to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and went to Cold Rock. Now Cold Rock is an icecream shop with a difference. There is a large slab of marble which is somehow kept frozen, hence the name of the shop. The customer selects an icecream flavour, and a filling. The two are mixed together on the frozen marble and then scraped into a tub and served with a spoon. I had coffee icecream with Picnic bar. David had peppermint choc-chip icecream with mini m & m's.

It felt good to make the effort to go out somewhere instead of just spending yet another day home on the net or nintendo or watching TV. It also felt great to walk along the boardwalk while David scooted; just watching the waves and the seagulls. It was very relaxing and helped prepare me for my final assignment which is due tomorrow.

In other news, I was finally able to chat to Whystinger on IM. We have been crossing paths for days. Being 14 hours apart makes the timing difficult but we chatted for an hour or so today which was great.

Two weeks left of Uni and exams and then I'm off to the coast for a week! YAY!

Tired.. but it was worth it!!

Sunday, Jun. 13, 2004 - 6:09 p.m.

* Yawn * I am so very tired! We got home at about 2am and then talked/surfed until nearly 5am. I woke up briefly to make the earlier entry and then went back to bed. T and I had a great day - tried some new things, retried some old things, talked, ate, laughed, shared. As T mentioned in his entry, the bed was wonderful with the new linen that I bought for ME - so snug.

I have just finished helping David with his school project. He had to build a medieval castle so we used a cardboard box sprayed with grey paint. He put small lines of masking tape on it before spraying so that when the paint had dried he removed the masking tape and the brown of the cardboard box showed through. It looks good. Now he has to do some research and sketches but at least my supervisory role is finished.

We have Queen's Birthday Holiday here tomorrow and I have an assignment due on Tuesday plus an exam on Wednesday! Really need to do some work. Only a couple of weeks left of exams and then I can have a break before second semester starts.

I guess not

Sunday, Jun. 13, 2004 - 6:20 p.m.

Marge: "But Homie, you're good at lots of things."
Homer: "Like what?"
Marge: "Snuggling."
Homer: "Yeah but none of my friends can watch me."

t.

Fun Night with unknown consequences

Sunday, Jun. 13, 2004 - 9:13 a.m.

Talk about cheeky! (See entry from T below. :) I really don't mind, in fact I think it's really cool! Does make me wonder if he found my prOn folder though :|

Tripod was very funny last night - I don't know that I've ever laughed that much before. We were in the very front row which was excellent. T's friends Steve, Peta and Daniel were there too so we sat with them.

After Tripod we went back to Steve's place where we had a couple of drinks (well T didn't because he was driving) and we played the board game "The Game of LIfe".

I'm really confused and fuzzy and ... i dunno ... so I'm going to stop writing for the mo.

T's first comments!

Saturday, Jun. 12, 2004 - 8:31 p.m.

T here, just a quick message while you know who is getting ready to go out tonight. The bed linen is Fanstastic!! Not that I expected it or even asked for it. In fact I'm a little *grr* that she did something just for me.

Anyway just had a wonderful afternoon of romping around in the sheets. About to head out and go and see "Tripod" an Australian comedy band with 3 members (duh). It should be a good evening with t. I'm sure she will post about it some time tomorrow after I go home.

Adious.

Giving me the Sheets

Saturday, Jun. 12, 2004 - 2:15 p.m.

It started when T stayed over one night and casually asked why I didn't use a top sheet. Despite what the girls think (Clare and Paulette) he wasn't whinging ... he just was curious as to why I have my bed linen the way I do.

I always assumed it was normal but since surveying various friends and remembering my childhood I guess I've concluded that my bed linen setup really isn't normal and I should rectify it.

Now despite what the girls think, I am NOT making these changes for T! I am simply choosing to conform to what appears to be the way things are done in Australia - I just never realised it until now.

As most of you know, I was born in Africa and had servants until the age of 13. I then arrived in Australia (via a two week skiing holiday in Austria) where I was reluctantly forced to make my own bed. Whilst in Austria, in a ski lodge, they had a wonderful bedding system which consisted of a fitted ground sheet, and a doona (duvet) folded over the top. To get into bed, one simply unfolded the doona, fluffed it and hopped underneath. The central heating maintained the temperature and everyone was snug. To make the bed you simply hopped out, folded the doona in half and placed it neatly on top of the fitted sheet.

So arrive in Australia, Queensland no less (think Tropical climate) and I'm faced with the prospect of having to start making my own bed, so I chose the Austrian system and have had my bed linen as such ever since. Until now.

So I asked Clare about her bed and she took me to her bedroom (sorry, this is not going to divert into a lesbian sex scene) and showed me her setup. We're talking ground fitted sheet, flat sheet, blanket, doona, and then an eiderdown. The sheets were flannette and the bed was VERY warm. (I didn't get IN it!). So away I went to Target and bought myself a set of flannette sheets and a blanket. I must say that my bed is VERY snug and VERY warm so hopefully T will get an opportunity to find out tonight. :)

I'll do my crying in the movies

Saturday, Jun. 12, 2004 - 1:56 p.m.

Went to see Harry Potter #3 this morning. David was so excited - he kept saying "thanks for taking me Mum" inbetween mouthfuls of popcorn and slurpee. Azkaban is my favourite of the five books and the movie is my favourite of the three so far.

I have mentioned before that sometimes I have these pangs of grief over Wayne that arrive out of the blue and stay for a short while before disappearing. It happened in the movie - tears just rolled down my cheeks. I guess the trigger was Harry talking about his Father but really there was another underlying sadness. Wayne was never ashamed of me. Yes, he humiliated and patronised and degraded and abused me... but he was never ashamed. On his 'good days' he would tell anyone that listened how wonderful I was.

Such extremes. Fantastic or evil. Sometimes they're easier flatmates than lukewarm and halfhearted.

Glennjamin is better than... a dictionary.

Friday, Jun. 11, 2004 - 10:11 p.m.

Me: ewwwwww
glennjamin: that about sums it up
Me: being that i am so eloquent with my adjectives
glennjamin says: Sorry to burst your poodle-shaped balloon but 'ewwwwww' isn't an adjective T.