I caved...

You know how August was buy absolutley nothing month..well tonight I caved! I bought sugar tongs! I have been wanting a pair for ages - they are very difficult to find, and they only cost 4.95 - so surely that doesn't even count! Does it? I made it to the 28/8/08..

an admission

I'm a planner of sorts. I like being organised about 'some' stuff. I'm not totally OCD as my bedroom last week and my kitchen would currently attest to. But I do love planning and researching stuff. Currently I am in the middle of planning for a holiday overseas next year when it will be super cold ie the dead of winter in Europe. I might also be going to China in January - once again winter cold. So this has meant that I have put my heart and soul into researching what coat will be the best to buy. You know being from the Sunshine State - we don't have much need for big winter jackets etc - so last year when we were in NYC - we noticed that everyone - I mean everyone , even the homeless guy begging for coins had on 'the north face' jackets - so obviously this is a great starting point. Well I look for North Face jackets every single night - I read reviews. I see how much they will cost me, and then last night I discovered you can also get boots - I mean it is important to keep your toes warm, so now I have 2 things I can research to death for the next 18 months...

conversations with my dad

first off - sorry about the lack of photos, but I have a new second job and its taking away from my blogging time, what when you factor in the gym etc...I just haven't had time...

now to today's' topic

I do my dad's tax every year - it's simple and so straight forward. So this week he finally got everything together and I used the tax department online system and did his tax - which was all fine until the lodgement page in which you need a previous tax assessment notice etc etc. So I ring dad and it goes a little something like this...

Hi Dad

Hello

So I've finished doing your tax and you're getting this much back ( insert pathetic number)

Is that all

Yes it is. Anyway I need your sequence number from last years assessment

Oh what's that

Well its on last years assessment. You know the piece of paper that the cheque they send to you is attached to

Yeah yeah. Where would I find that

Well last year I gave you a folder - its green and at the time I saw you put the assessment in and said you'll need it for next year

right right yep...so where would it be

umm I don't know have you looked in the place where you keep the tax stuff

yep it's not there

well have you gotten a chair and looked in the top of the cupboard

yesssssss ( hesitantly)

dad don't lie to me.

wait a minute I have my tax folder here. I have the ABn number

No dad

Is it the tax file number

No dad its a tax assessment notice - I need the sequence number

are you sure it's not the abn number

yes dad I'm sure. Surely you can find an assessment notice from the last 5 years.

yeah yeah I'll have a look

By this stage I'm all like Buddhism for busy people - thanks for giving me the opportunity to....

this has literally gone on for days...finally tonight he finds it - in the x ray drawer - doesn't everyone have one of these????

the tax is lodged and hopefully will be returned before our trip away so we can help papa bear spend it...bless you dad...

Buddhism for busy people

so I have been reading off and on for a few months - Buddhism for busy people ( I'm a busy person so that is why it has taken me so long :) and well I have recently read the chapter about seeing things an opportunity so for example instead of being cranky about having to wait in line at the bank, see it as an opportunity to practice your patience etc etc. So when I encountered someone on the weekend who had a go at my profession - you know the whole well you get 12 weeks holiday..blah blah blah blah...to which I replied well since it's such a choice career why don't you go back to uni study for four years and then you too can have 12 weeks holiday, and my internal monologue was all like "I'm so thankful I've been given the opportunity to listen to this d*ckhead, that's 5 minutes of my life I will never get back" DO you think I need to reread the chapter????

belt up

so i have this lovely CR jacket that I bought at the start of the season and well it would turn out that the belt for it has given me nothing but trouble. Firstly yesterday was the first day I have been able to wear the jacket in months becasue I coudn't get the belt done up - that obviously is a whole other post and one I think I have mentioned. So yesterday I wore my jacket all day, didn't unzip, didn't unbuckle - until the afternoon at my desk. So I take the jacket off, gather my belongings and head for home. I collect a friend who I give the occasional lift home to and precede to the car. When I get home I think - oh I didn't bring my belt up with the jacket - strange. Then I look in the car - its not in the car - then I go to the gym and think i just didn't look in the car properly, look in the car again ...no the belt is not there. Now I absolutely hate misplacing things - it does my head in. So I turn into a crazy "I've lost something really important" kind of person. My housemate says from their couch "don't worry it'll turn up" this is never enough for me. SO we have to go out at 8pm at night - I say to my sister on the way to visit my dad - I'm just going to drive by where I walked this afternoon and see if we can see it. ( take note of the colour of the jacket) she knowing that once I have this idea there is no way I'm not going to make us look for it in the dark. So through a series of U turns and reversing in and out of peoples' driveways I spot what looks like my belt on the footpath. I exclaim : is that my belt or is it a leaf?????" My sister says "it's the belt! its the belt!" And she jumped out of the car in her pyjamas ( another post altogether) and recovered my belt. When we got to dad's he said "doesn't it have belt loops"!! Thanks dad for stating the obvious.

well i never..

have been to this place? DO you know where/what it is? Apparently it is weird that I haven't ever been here, but in all my born days the opportunity has just never arisen. Have you been to this place? and is it weird that I haven't?

some other things I have never done...

1. seen a star wars / terminator/ rambo movie
2. bungee jumped
3. run naked through the streets or even out to the wheelie bin

i have on the other hand

1. had a broken limb
2. skinny dipped
3. abseiling

what's on your list of things never done?

did you know

• Where is the weirdest place you have a mole? I have a mole on the back of my knee - I don;t know if that is weird - but I have also had a mole removed from an awkward spot that my sister kept telling me was really really ugly, and well now its a really really ugly scar. THANKS


• Have you ever made out in a movie theater? Duh - hasn't everyone?


• What body part do you wash first? Wet hair first if washing it ...


• Do you hover over the toilet in public bathrooms? Only if it is really really gross.


• Do you have an innie or an outtie? an innie

and that my friends is all...

something to ponder

so my housemate had a 'date' on Friday afternoon - nothing major just a casual hook up - more like a set up through friends of friends of friends parents etc...and well they went for coffee. Fine. Except he let her pay for both hers and his coffee and cake. Is this ok? I am thinking that it is not but maybe I am just outdated - I mean I know us grrls want Independence and all that, but really paying for coffee on a first date is a given isn't it? Please let me know if I am back in the last millennium with my dating expectations...please do..

ask and ye shall receive

so a few posts ago I mentioned my love of all things red and also mentioned my current hunt for a new pair of red ballet flats. well ask and ye shall receive because my Aunty Shirl came over last night with not 1 but 2 pairs of red flats for me! Which of course was an absolute delight especially since I am officially half way through August buy absolutely nothing month - and well have honestly bought absolutely nothing. Not a magazine, not a coffee, NADA! For those of you who know me you will realise what a supreme effort this has been for me - only another 15 days to go... No major plans for the weekend. trying a new restaurant that has opened up across the road from where I live and maybe just maybe I might tackle the tidiness factor of my bedroom, and there could be a little vertical blind cleaning action....what a weekend. Once again - thanks SHIRL!!!

ewwwwwwwww

Well today once again I was at the supermarket, but a different one - lets say it was a larger centre in the vicinity because I also needed to book some accomm for an upcoming trip - and well I thought since I am being super healthy I would have a fresh juice - apple, carrot and orange. Noice. However it all turned horribly wrong when the girl making it started coughing and wiping her mouth - I mean she was nice and didn't use her gloved hand - but that cough spit covered hand was still involved in the making of my drink, and well ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

one trip wander

so this afternoon when I was at the supermarket doing the groceries for tonight's dinner, and while I was waiting in line I started thinking about my funny grocery idiosyncrasies. For example - I don't care how many groceries I buy I only ever want to make one trip form the car to inside. I don't care if my fingers fall off from lack of circulation as a result of carrying too many bags - I will not go back to the car. EVER! another thing I like to do is stock up on crazy items - for example if toilet paper is on sale I just buy heaps of it - we ran out once and as a result we have been known to have a back up of say about 50 toilet rolls. My housemate often has to say to me - enough with the toilet paper! So what are your supermarket idiosyncrasies?

pink pancakes

So a few things have been happening over the last few days, the least of which was my participation in a cooking 'competition' at my place of employment during what has been dubbed health week. One would think that this would imply that healthy items would be on the menu. Apparently not, because my pink pancakes, from the deceptively delicious cookbook - that required me to roast beetroot in my own time - did not win! you may ask what could beat such a delightfully alternative recipe...let me say something won that included icecream and whipped cream in the serving. Is there not a dichotomy between the words health and whipped cream?

my day yesterday did end with a lovely family outing to an event on the gold coast called 'the gold box challenge'. Surely I will provide more details of this event in days to com e- I am waiting on a certain picture but let me just say that maybe mum was on to something when she said wine was bad for you. At one stage I had a card-on-ay, a red, a james squire amber ale, a sparkling water and a still water all on the go. I've always wanted to use all of the glasses.

red trench

now I am a fan of red - red shoes are my friend - in fact I have been looking to replace a pair of red ballet flats that have just about seen the end of their days - so if you know where I can find a cute pair of red ballet flats then let me know. This winter I bought my first red coat ( well I actually had one when I was little- but obviously don't fit it anymore) . Obviously it is the focus of today's picture. I just need to work on trimming down a little so it just looks a little cuter on me - and this is my aim over the next few weeks, as I want to take this coat away with me to Melbourne in October. So no longer is it just about gym sessions it's also about the 'D" word - which if you've been reading this blog forever you will know what i am talking about. So keep checking back in , and hopefully I'll be having a picture of me in my super cute red trench coat.

chanel-o

so believe or not I am wearing my chanel shoes today. They were bought last year in NYC and I haven't worn them a lot for a few reasons. Firstly I keep forgetting that I have them - which could be a comment about how many shoe options I have ( perhaps I could blog that) and secondly I keep thinking "no they are too good to wear to work", but now I have decided that I am not going to be keeping stuff 'for good' because well this so called 'good' occasion never arrives. So I'm going to wear my chanel pumps to the supermarket if I feel like it! Do you have stuff that you save 'for good'?

something in my eye

you ever have that feeling that you have something in your eye? Obviously I did! Not sure what as the photo is a little old but I think that my hair in this photo sums up the weekend. CRAAZZZEEEEEE! Well you know how my household is on spend absolutely nothing month - well of course when you can't go out and spend money you obviously have to do other stuff which for us meant some major housework. AS in changing the purpose of the spare room - it's no longer a junk room! And of course we ( being my sister) decided half way through the weekend, that the vertical drapes needed to be cleaned - so one minute she was with me the next she was in the sleepout taking down the drapes - aaaaarrrrgggh. Of course she took down the verticals that gave the neighbours direct vision into our lives so this mean that they had to be cleaned and put back up ASAP. It is a very fiddly job! and we have another 4 sets to go. My sister was also brutal when we were sorting out clothes, and would not let me keep 2 of my favourite GAP shirts, I had to have tantrum to keep one of them, and then I later discovered that she was holding onto her favourite 2 dollar GAP shirt bought in Vegas when there was no washing option available - so perhaps this favourite shirt of hers will go missing, like my scarves do :)

the weekend is here

and ain't it gonna be fun? Well I have my doubts about that because well I have officially entered the month of August which for my household is absolutley buy nothing month! ( except food of course) We have a few large events coming up and well it's time to tighten the belt buckle! So just watch out by Monday things could all be a little weird for me...