Chola-chic

I spent an hour last night in tears, sobbing. SOBBING. Wasn't really thinking about the fact that I'm leaving today. Just that I was leaving something behind in Australia - MY FUCKING EYEBROWS.

I just wanted them tidied up so I could have a couple of weeks of not having to worry about them. I don't think I'll need to touch them for a very long time. It takes a long time to completely regrow eyebrows. They are currently two little chola lines. Plus, she completely changed the shape of them, plucking below AND above and completely changing the shape that was there. WHAT. THE. FUCK. Oh, and because I've got such sparse eyebrows anyway, my face looks bald. I'm going to have to sharpy these in in true cholita fashion.

Oh Gosh!

So it all seems to be coming together. Just got off the phone to Nadia in Italy. Shall be staying with her for a couple of days. That's good, seeing as I'd already booked a flight to Milan just so I could visit her. The flight from Milan to Paris cost me $40 AUD. Hells yes.

And I'm also going to Paris!!! Whoo! I need to decide whether to couchsurf it or hostel it there. Maybe a mixture of both. Which reminds me, really need to contact my guy in Bath to find out his address, seeing as I'll be getting to Bath in ... ONE WEEK!!! I'll be in another country in a week. Actually, in a couple of days. Oh my gosh.

Basically my trip is this:
London, Bath, Manchester, Morpeth, Scotland, Paris, Milan, Cuneo.........something something something... Germany. Phew!

Also, I'll be visiting Hetton-le-Hole where Nonno was born. Totally didn't even know where he was born. Good thing the rellies are more knowledgeable.

So the farewell on Saturday night was le awesome. I got sooooo drunk. Apologies for any drunken texts.... and voice messages.

BEAU! I still haven't heard from you!

Lost and Found

I spent 45 minutes the morning looking for where I put the packing tape last night. An intelligent person would have put it where s/he put the scissors. So of course I put the scissors on my desk and the packing tape in my closet??

Of course, I forgot to book the Lowenbrau for tonight. Of course. I now have Jonas and Daniel on the case finding somewhere else to go.

Also, I'm in a weird state of zero emotion. Did I take an anti depressant instead of my OCP?

New Blog!

I know y'all are excited. I finally made a new blog for when I go travelling... next week - EEK!

New blog is here. It's called need. travel. Geddit? Cos this one's called need. coffee. And that one's need. travel. And I will be needing both.

Yep. L for Lame.

Meanwhile, there's nothing there yet because I'm just not that organised. Or into you.

The Perfect Ad

When I was living in America this was my favourite ad of them all. I was just going through my old au pair blog and came across it. Not sure why, but I think it's hilarious. Probably that last whispered, "The world."

What is the golden rule that everyone knows about me?

DON'T FUCKING WAKE ME UP.

What's that? The house is on fire? Well, you'd better hope that you burn with it, baby, because it's a better fate than the one that waits for you when I'm done.

Especially don't wake me up after I've told you how little sleep I've been running on all week and how I want to just sleep.

Daniel, this includes you. Just because you come into the house at 8:30 in the morning and have to go, I'd prefer to NOT SEE YOU (hell, I'm perfectly fine with never seeing you) than being woken up just so you can say hi. I got to bed at 2am. I'm now going to shank you. You now have options regarding which hole to shit through.

And then don't be so surprised that I'm then in a crabby mood for the rest of the day.

Seriously, I'm 24 now. They've had 24 years to know the consequences of interrupting my sleep. If I'm cranky, NO ONE can be happy. This is just the way it is.

So anyway, it was nice to finally have a shower in this house with a working ventilator fan in the shower. Yes, it's shocking, but Daniel finally did something FOR HIS OWN FAMILY!!! If this had happened at Cassie's house, it would have been fixed immediately. But no, it happened here. And it happened over 2 years ago. When I got back from America it was broken. I made a fuss. Nothing got done. Everytime I came down from Newcastle I pestered him to fix it. Honestly, what's the point of having a licensed electrician living here??? Nothing got done. Then finally he calls me yesterday and tells me he's fixed it. Yeah, and? It seriously took him 10 minutes, and that includes the time it took him to go to Bunnings and buy a new fan. He is a dick.

Things that are annoying

Being called "Miss". I absolutely hate it. Especially because of the way it is said. It isn't just "Miss", it's "Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssss". Argh.

I also hate "Miss ______". It doesn't sound right, does it? I don't mind "Ms. ______" but students don't really say the zzzzz-ness of it. "Miss _____" makes me feel like I'm a little kid. You may as well add "Little" to the front of it.

But more annoying than "Miss" or "Miss ______" is what they call Cory - "Mister". As in, "Mister, I forgot my book." It drives me up the wall! But when I mentioned it to him he said he hates being called "Sir", and doesn't like being "Mr. _(last name)_" because that's his dad. So he either gets Mr. Mack or (shudder) Mister.

Now, I don't know about you, but I love "Sir". In fact, I almost want to tell the students to call me "Sir". It just has that authority, you know? "Miss" doesn't have any authority, but "Sir" does. Is it a masculine/feminine thing? A socio-cultural thing? A class thing? Because if it was a class thing, the female equivalent wouldn't be any better. "Lady". Lame.

I don't think this is a battle I will ever win.

Meanwhile, I feel like writing a couple of letters:

Dear Little Birdy,
Do you feel better now that you've relieved yourself on my windshield? Yeah? Letting your bowel movement out at the exact moment you happened to be flying over my car felt good, didn't it? Or was it more of a power thing? Ooh, look at me, I can poop and fly at the same time. Oh yeah? Next time you do it, I will shit on your car. You don't have a car? You fly everywhere? Then I'm going to have to shit on you.

You're welcome.
Love, Sarah.
xoxo

Dear Kitty Cat,
Running across the road at the exact time that I'm driving is good fun, isn't it. Oooh, Sarah's coming, let's play the feline version of chicken. Oh, it's just delightful! Running out in front of my car really gives you that rush. Especially at night and when it's raining. Good fun seeing me lock the brakes at that last second. It was touch and go whether I'd actually be able to both stay on the road and miss you, but either way, it was good fun for you.

I'm glad. No truly I am. I'm glad you've been having so much fun, so that next time you run out in front of me, I can accelerate and aim my car knowing that you've led a happy life.

Love, Sarah
xoxo

TGIF... tomorrow.

Argh. It's only Thursday. This week has taken FOREVER. And I've only been teaching one class per day! Although today I taught two classes, but I taught the same lesson.

Today I had 8S and they were working on their monologues for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I was really shocked that the lesson went so well. Yesterday's lesson did not go very well at all. AT. ALL. Classroom management - BAD. Time management - BAD. Everything - BAD.

So I went shopping, went to the gym, ate food, chatted to Shuba, buggered around a bit more, then created a lesson. Mostly it was stuff left over from that day's lesson, plus one more activity.

So I did the lesson today. And it went well. I was so pleased with it. My first lesson where I haven't felt like a failure when it was over. Oh hells yes.

So we had 8D after lunch, who I don't teach, but Cory asks if I'd be comfortable teaching them too, just to see how it would go teaching the same lesson to a different group of kids. He said it would be good in order to see how external factors can effect the lesson, because it would be after lunch, last period of the day etc. So I'm like, OK sure.

Oh my gosh. I couldn't just end my day on a positive note, I had to drag it all down in the mud. First, there was something that happened at lunch. Still not sure what it was - we were in the classroom and suddenly (although I didn't realise cos I'm obtuse) Cory stands up and goes, "What the hell's going on out there?" He had heard a change in the noise in the playground, looks out the window, sees heaps of kids running in one direction and he ran out to go and stop what was happening. Still not sure what it all was - a fight? Most probably. But because of that they called the bell for class ten minutes early. So already there was something extra.

And then it was so hard to get them to do anything. And they were really badly behaved, but that was probably my fault because I SUCK at classroom management. Argh.

So I'm apparently going to try to do the same thing tomorrow, teach 8S then teach the same thing to 8D. Yeah, goodluck.

That was the sound of my jaw hitting the ground

I've just had a bombshell drop on me and I can't speak to anyone about it. Well, anyone that would be of any help. I feel like I'm about to burst into tears, and I'm angry, and it's IRRATIONAL for me to feel this way.

So I have this cousin in England called Carol. We've met her when she's come to Sydney a couple of times, first when I was in year 8 or 9, then once again a few years later. I'll be staying with her in London for a couple of nights.

With me so far?

See, I've never known how she was a cousin. I thought she was the daughter of Nonno's cousin or something.

Then I get a call from Uncle Dino a couple of minutes ago.

Him: Hi Sarah.
Me: Oh, hi.
Him: So, when are you going to England?
Me: 8th of July.
Him: So I here you'll be seeing Carol and all that?
Me: Yep, I'm staying with her for a couple of nights.
Him: OK. So, I should probably tell you that shortly before Nonno went into hospital for the last time he told me that Carol is his daughter.

So that was that huge thunk sound you heard earlier. It's where my jaw hit the ground, my head exploded, and my stomach began to heave.

Him: Yeah. He was married before and had Carol, but the marriage didn't last. Nunny (my grandma) knows about it but I think she didn't want anyone to know because you know how religious her family is, and didn't want them knowing Nonno was divorced. But I don't think she likes to think about it.
Me: OK.
Him: Apparently he used to send money to them all the time when she was younger and kept in contact.
Me: Yup.
Him: Carol just asked me the other day whether you know yet, and whether she should keep up the cousin thing when you're there, so I'll just tell her you know and it's fine.
Me: OK. This is so weird.
Him: Don't make such a big deal of it Sarah. It doesn't change anything.
Me: But you have a sister. Isn't that weird?
Him: It was when I first found out, but it doesn't really affect my life.
Me: OK.

But, and I know this is ridiculous, I'm not OK with this. I know it changes nothing, and doesn't affect me one bit, but I'm so affected by it! Let's put this into perspective.

Growing up, Nonno always told me that he was born in Scotland. Dundee to be exact. So I went around telling people that I was part Scottish, on top of all my other parts. Then, a few months before he died and we were filling out his Grandfather Memory Book, he tells me he was born in Northumberland. THAT'S ANOTHER BLOODY COUNTRY. And I was really annoyed to find out. I felt so ripped off, and angry that he had lied to me.

He was just lying about where he was born. He never mentioned having a whole other life before my grandma!

And that might sound like I just don't know about his life before Nan. No, unfortunately, I know too much about his early life. Hell, I even know who he lost his virginity to, and how it happened. I don't WANT to know that, but I do. But he doesn't tell me about a WHOLE OTHER FAMILY. He had a DAUGHTER! And he left her in another country. I know it was different back in those days. When people got divorced they stopped contact with their families (I've seen The Way We Were (Oh, Hubble!)). But... Yeah. I'm being stupid, I know. I'm making a big deal of something that doesn't mean anything in the scheme of things, it doesn't change who people were or are and it doesn't change relationships.

But, at the same time, it does. I wish I didn't know this. I was so close to Nonno, and I remember us having conversations about stuff like this.

****

Meanwhile, I just got off the phone to Nan. I'm not good at keeping secrets, we all know that. And I had a chat to her and we're having a good old chat about it. She never knew for certain. The one time she asked him about it he told her to mind her own business and other typical Nonno stuff. She was a bit confused about how Uncle Dino knew, and was surprised to hear that Nonno told him. Yeah. So weird. It's making my head spin a little.


In other news, I had my second lesson today. It sucked balls. I totally ran out of things to do. I just struggled to think of anything. Anyway, I've got year 8 tomorrow for the first time so we'll see how that goes.

First Lesson

So, I had my first lesson this afternoon. It was OK. I felt really under prepared even though I was prepared... I dunno. The end of it kind of fizzled into nowhere. And the kids were talking through the whole lesson. I did the staying silent thing, the standing next to them thing, the touching the desk thing... none of it worked for very long. We'll see. Also, it's so hard teaching them something they've never read.

I dunno. I have them again tomorrow and I have to think of a way to teach them the theme of love in the play. And make it interesting.

You know what would be good? Having the bloody assessment task. At the moment I'm teaching them to write a speech on themes in the play. The end. Boring.

Anyway, I got some great feedback from Cory so that's really helpful. Argh!

That's pretty much all I can think of at the moment.

Lesson planning is so HARD

So I'm planning my lessons. I wanted to get all of this week's lessons done today. So far, I have... one. Tomorrow's. Awkward.

But really, it's not my fault. It's taken so long to get all my resources together and write out a Much Ado plot summary... then copy and paste one from Cliff's notes...

I thought I'd done really well, and then I realised I basically have only 60 minutes worth of stuff. For a 75 minute lesson. And that's only if the time I've allocated is actually correct - it could take a hell of a lot less time to get through the things I think I'm doing. I think I'll just throw in another speech to analyse if there's still time. Argh.

How to be a BRILLIANT English Teacher

That's the title of the book I'm reading at the moment. It's not really helping. :) It was supposed to give me ideas on how to teach Shakespeare. It hasn't. Fye on you, book!

Here is my dilemma at the moment - I have 8 lessons over the next three weeks to get my year 10 class to understand the themes of a play that they haven't even read. The only thing they've done on Much Ado About Nothing is watch a movie that has a completely different ending and subplot to the actual play. Good.

Last night I went to see Evermore, End of Fashion and The Sundance Kids play at Bar on the Hill at uni last night which was good fun.

Erm... What else is new? Oh, my nan hates me cos I didn't go down to Sydney today. It just isn't worth the $30 in petrol that it costs. Plus the 3 hours of driving time. I know she'd reimburse me for the petrol, but it's not really about that. It's just such a long bloody day to go down just for a few hours. I had planned to get up at 7:30 this morning to go to the markets. My alarm went off at 7:30, I lay there for a couple of seconds trying to muster the energy to rise, decided Fuck it, got a text from Em saying she was too tired, thought, thank gods, then went back to sleep. Until 10:30. By the time I actually got out of bed it was about lunch time. Yeah. Such a waste of a day.

In trip planning news, I'm thinking of skipping France. I know, how disgusting does that sound? It's just that by going to France, I can't go to Italy, and isn't Italy more important, because then I meet all my family? I mean, I could essentially go to France for 10 days and Italy for 10 days, but I don't want to feel rushed. Plus, a lot of those days will be spent getting from one place to another. Argh. I hate decisions like this. And Paris has been my dream for so long. I could go to France during that short time between Lara's sister's wedding and my language class starting. I dunno. I hate thinking. We all know this.

Crisis Averted

Got a text from Corey, my buddy teacher. He's sick so he's not going in tomorrow. I have a day off.

First Day

I had my first day of prac today and it went fine. I basically just observed the first lesson, then for the next two lessons I kind of wandered the room and helped the students? I think? I had no idea what I was doing, and it reminded me that I'm really stupid.

But anyway, he's asked me to create two five minute activities for the year 10 class to do during their lesson. Have I mentioned before that they have 75 minute periods? 75 minutes. Jesus, I would have gone nuts if my lessons were that long. But anyway, 75 minutes of trying to keep a group of students on task. And I only have to think of 10 minutes of stuff. Easy right?

Of course not! We've already established how stupid I am.

Basically their assessment task (which still hasn't been finalised) is to write a speech (but not deliver it) about one of the themes of Much Ado About Nothing. So they're learning about speeches and techniques. They haven't read MAAN, but they watched a modern adaptation. I just watched it tonight. It's got a completely different ending to the play. And one of the themes the teacher has chosen is revenge, but it's not really a theme of the play... I'll talk to him about it tomorrow.

But anyway, so my first 5 min activity is on MLK's "I have a dream" speech. The teacher told me to make the activity about dreams or hopes or something. I really didn't understand what he wanted from me, and I don't really see the point of making an activity about dreams or hopes when it isn't relevant to the topic? I'm so clueless. So after an hour of trawling through Google I got the idea that I could have the activity be the kids writing a short paragraph starting with "I have a dream that one day..." and then putting their own dreams in there, but making sure they include some of the techniques of rhetoric/speech. Ja? Is that OK? I just don't think it's really all that doable in 5 minutes, especially with this class... they seemed a bit slow to start when we had them today.

But then the second activity he wants me to do it on revenge, and was saying maybe show an example of revenge going wrong and how revenge isn't a good option, but I have no idea what I would use for that.

Meanwhile, I'm so tired. I came home and napped. I barely slept last night because it was so bloody freezing. And it was freezing in the classroom today. Yuck. I'm going to layer up tomorrow.

Why am I awake?

So I think I'm going to call my supervising teacher guy and tell him that I'm not comfortable teaching first thing on Tuesday morning. I don't know the class and I don't know exactly what they've been working on and it really isn't fair to throw me into the deep end like that. Only, I won't tell him that when I call, just something along the lines of, I'm happy to help with the lesson, just not comfortable creating it and teaching it all on my own. I'd prefer to start on a lesson where we could at least go through my lesson ahead of time and have the time to adjust it and make it better. That sounds fair, right?

Oh, and I've run out of coffee. I think I'll raid my nan's pantry when I go down there on Sunday. I just can't justify buying coffee for one month. What if I don't go through the whole jar of instant? Or what if I buy ground coffee to put in my drip filter and then can't be arsed with the cleaning so I don't use it all? Or what if I buy a small jar of instant and then find that I run out after three weeks? Then there's a whole week where I'm either coffee-less or I buy a whole new jar and then I'm stuck with a nearly full jar of coffee. You see my dilemma? So I'll get coffee from my grandma and at least that way I haven't wasted my $5.

Wow that's stingy.

In other news, last night was my second last shift at work. So crazy. Tomorrow is my last, then tomorrow night I'm going out to get my drink on. People that read this but I haven't had a chance to ask, you should come to The Junction Hotel from 7:30 onwards. Dinner's at 8. Do it. Be there.

Oh, and I finished watching season 7 (aka, the final season) of Gilmore Girls. What a pile of shit that was. It's like they couldn't give a damn about the characters or the story any more, made everyone parodies of themselves and more importantly, made the clown a charicature of itself. Lorelai had this constant cranky face on, people were just talking for the sake of talking. Honestly, why bother ruining what was a good show with all that shit. Idiots.

So then I had to make myself feel better by watching Priceless again. Ahhhh.

Wardrobe Gaps. And also, a mild whinge (you know, just for something different)

So, many of you will know that I have been thinking about packing for Europe for, oh a few months now. And when I say thinking about it, I mean that I've had several dreams about what I need to pack, each day as I get dressed I think, I wear this often, should I pack it? It's been made even harder recently since I've started wearing things I don't often wear due to lack of money and being sick of wearing the same things over and over again (people who see me often can attest to the fact that I really need to get some new outfits going).

Now, at least before I could say, hey, I don't wear this here so why would I wear it in Europe? Since I've started wearing these clothes again, I have a problem in that I DO wear these things here, so what if I want to wear them in Europe?

I've decided to solve the dilemma of how I would take my "ballet dress" (as it is now called since I bought it to wear to the ballet, not because I like to pirouette in it) that I will be wearing at Lara's sister's wedding by sending it over there. I should probably do that soon. I don't forsee any formal occasions happening before then.

No wait, Mel's birthday. ARGH!

See the dilemma???

Also, I just realised that I don't own any shorts. I'll be going in summer and I don't have any shorts! Actually, I do have some shorts, but they're huge on me. Which sucks because they're really good shorts and were kind of expensive (stupid Torrid). I have one pair of kind-of shorts, but they're a bit big on me too. They stay up if I wear a belt, but it would be nice to have some shorts I don't have to worry about.

But oh wait, it's friggen winter here. AARGH!

Why is the universe against me????? I need to go and buy The Secret. That's what Oprah would do.

I bet Oprah has shorts.

L for Lame

So this is the epitome of lame, but I'm totally chuffed at myself for running for a whole kilometre today. That's a big achievement, considering that before I couldn't even run for a whole metre, and that's just two steps. I ran for 6 minutes and 45 seconds, and possibly could have run for longer but that was all I had to do. It almost makes me want to go to the gym tomorrow and run some more!

Almost.

Really?

Do you really have to be watching TV so loudly outside my bedroom while I'm working on assignments? Really?

PS. I hate you all.

Meanwhile, I went to the opening of Lizotte's last night and it was great fun. I really want to go there and actually eat the food now! The two bites I got were really good. And the entertainment last night was great - some local acts who were fabulous plus Deni Hines, Beccy Cole and Deisel. Oh, and the champagne was great. I held myself back though - oh yeah, self control.

I can't go on because I can't concentrate with all the noise.

Mmmmm yummy

I am currently eating the world's best sandwich - it is peanut butter, banana and honey on wholemeal 9 grain bread. Mmmmmm. It's so good it makes me want to do dirty things to it. If you see any pregnant sandwiches walking around, you know who to sue for child support.

Another one

Yes, I've been getting very video happy here lately, but this is great. I've stolen it off D Listed (of course!) - it's the literal version of Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart.

Oh my Arms

Look, I'm resigned to the fact that I'm never going to be one of those people that love going to the gym. In fact, I hate those people that say things like, "I had the BEST workout," or "I love the endorphins you get from a great workout." First of all, I don't like people who "workout". You exercise. Stop making yourself feel like you've accomplished something. Second, you can't put positive adjectives in the same sentence as the word "workout". It makes you a tool. Third, chocolate gives you endorphins as well and doesn't make you hate the world. The only think I'll give exercise is: "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don't go and kill their husbands." But since I have no husband then there is no point.

And now I am in a world of pain. Today was the worst one yet. Just when I think I'm making a little progress (HA! To me, progress is getting up off the couch to change the channel because our landlords can't be arsed buying us a remote control with more than two channels working on it... so I only watch SBS and channel 10...) the stupid trainer guy goes and does something stupid like spending 40 minutes of our session doing arm stuff.

So here's the thing: I have no strength in my upper body. In fact, maybe the remote control actually works but I just don't have the energy to lift it so the TV sensor can register the fact that I've pressed a button. So tonight he doesn't just make us do the machine arm things, which the bitch knows I hate, but he also makes us do free weights. It was very funny actually - Emma's there doing her thang and lifting the shit out of those hand weights, and there's me struggling to even lift one. I swear I hit myself in the head a couple of times. He eventually took mine down from 10kg to 7.5kg, not that I could tell the difference by then, what with my arms having zero energy left in them. 10kg, 7.5kg, it's all more than 100g, so it is all not going to work for me.

And now I'm hurting. Usually I hurt the next day, and then worse the day after, so it's a bad sign that the pain has already begun.

I would call home and whinge to my nan, but she tends to make my whinging phonecalls all about her: yes, your arms hurt Sarah, but I fell and broke my hip today/ can't lift anything due to arthritis /I had to clean the entire house and now I'm in hospital due to the bleach fumes knocking me unconscious. Whinge whinge whinge. So selfish. Everything's all about her.

Actually, I will call her cos it's been a couple of days since I spoke to her. WHY HASN'T SHE CALLED ME???????

So Clever

This is the trailer for the movie adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. I hope this trailer isn't indicative of what the actual movie is supposed to be like. If you haven't read the book I urge you to do so - it's so well written and manages to be bleak, desolate and hopeful, both in subject matter and in the way it is written. There are way too many people in this trailer. Hopefully that is all the people in the entire movie, shown in that brief segment, because there really shouldn't be many people. And there's too much sound!!! As I was reading the book, I thought the only way this could work as a movie would be if there was no music, no sound apart from the sound of their voices, footsteps, wind and rain. But there's too much sound in this!

Meanwhile, I shouldn't be getting my knickers in a knot cos it's just a trailer!

Creative Writing is sooooo frustrating!

I have a 2500 word creative writing story due on Monday and I have nothing at all to write. I came up with an awesome opening paragraph though:

I left my first husband when he likened my supposed addiction to Oprah to his very real addiction. If that was the case, did that make Oprah my porn? At least you don’t get RSI from watching Oprah. In fact, you come away a better, wiser and more spiritual person.
So he had to go.

Isn't that an awesome first paragraph, if I do say so myself?? I'd want to keep reading it! But where does the story go from there? In fact, where is the story? See? Frustrating.

Nicole has just left the house. Such a good time eating, drinking and watching Oprah. I'm feeling so refreshed now - I needed a weekend like that a lot. I haven't had time to myself, for myself, for a long time. Even on my days off I've been stressed or running errands or thinking about everything else I need to do. Last night and today I just forgot everything and focused on the Gospel According to Oprah. It is right to give her thanks and praise. And Nicole, for bringing it.

No time to relax!

My favourite thing about finishing an assignment is grabbing one of my coloured folders, writing the course code and "Assignments" on it, then putting all of my notes and readings into that folder and storing it away, never to be looked at again.

Ahhhhhh.

Last night I finished this bitch of an assignment that was due at midnight at 11:55. Oh yeah. I finished it at 11:30 but then decided that I should read it and see that it actually made sense. It didn't really, but oh well. I fixed a few things, but there was one paragraph that seemed to repeat one several paras up from it, but them's the breaks. It's handed in, I don't have to think about it, I can relax.

Except that I can't because I have two assignments due on Monday. And meanwhile, I'm going out tonight (like a REAL student on student night!!! Wow!) and Nicole's coming up on Saturday to be awesome and watch Oprah (ooooooh yeah!).

Crisis Averted

Her car was back in her parking spot. There will be no glassing tonight*.




*unless there's a football match on somewhere.

Here's another one of those bitchy posts I do so well. Feel free to skip.

So, have I mentioned that I hate when people don't like me? Like, it really irks me, because I do project niceness, even if it isn't real. Maybe that being-nice thing is annoying - use that as your reason for not liking me. But don't not like me (wow. way to not use grammar!) because you got in trouble by your mummy and daddy for something that YOU did.

Yes, I'm talking about my housemates.

Again.

Really, this blog should be called Share Housing : A Cautionary Tale.

But anyway, after the bitching (which still kind of annoys me because they were bitching about Shuba and I personally. When we bitch about them, it's about the messy kitchen or bathroom or whatever, never them as people), Shuba put up a message on the board saying that they needed to vacuum the house because they had the vac when our cleaner was here so she couldn't do it. Fair enough - it's just the way it works. It happened once last year too. Anyway, they put the vac back and didn't clean the house. They've finally done it tonight which is great, but they've also been very stand-offish towards us.

Exhibit A: I got home from the gym this evening and Nicole was parked IN MY PARKING SPACE. Hello??? Could you be more obvious? I know it's such a little thing, but I worked long and hard to get that parking space last year and I have six more weeks of having it. Not only did she park in that space, but she parked really far out, so if I was to park next to her car there would be no room for her to open her door. I was tempted to leave it like that, but then realised how mean of me that was (and also, she's pretty bitchy and I could just imagine her slamming her car door into mine...). After adjusting my car three times to try and make room to no avail, I finally decided to give up and park on the street. As I was going to drive down though, I noticed she was in the kitchen washing her dishes. So she's seen me do this driving in-and-out thing. So I stopped my car, opened the door, and, nicely of course, asked her to move her car a little to the left. I didn't ask her to get out of my space, just to move her car over. Her answer was, "Oh. OK." No apology for inconveniencing me OR STEALING MY SPACE, and she continued what she was doing for a bit. She also hadn't looked up at me.

People would know by now that I am really unable to hold my tongue in situations when I should shut up and keep it to myself.

So after ten second's deliberation, "Do you have a problem with me, Nicole?"

She looks at me, "No. No. I don't. I'm just having this thing. With a friend."
Then quickly wipes her hands and grabs her keys.

She moves her car over a bit. I park in the shit space. The end.

For now.................. [cue Dr. Evil laugh] [that reference is SO outdated]

Have y'all seen this yet?

This glamourous shirt (available from Amazon) is pretty much the hottest thing I've ever seen. Plus, everyone seems to be attesting to its mystical powers:

This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that's when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the wolves on my shirt that I, like a wolf, am a mysterious loner who knows how to 'howl at the moon' from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called mehth. I told them no, because they didn't have enough teeth, and frankly a man with a wolf-shirt shouldn't settle for the first thing that comes to him.

I arrived at Wal-mart, mounted my courtesy-scooter (walking is such a drag!) sitting side saddle so that my wolves would show. While I was browsing tube socks, I could hear aroused asthmatic breathing behind me. I turned around to see a slightly sweaty dream in sweatpants and flip-flops standing there. She told me she liked the wolves on my shirt, I told her I wanted to howl at her moon. She offered me a swig from her mountain dew, and I drove my scooter, with her shuffling along side out the door and into the rest of our lives. Thank you wolf shirt.

Pros: Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women

Cons: Only 3 wolves (could probably use a few more on the 'guns'), cannot see wolves when sitting with arms crossed, wolves would have been better if they glowed in the dark.

And there's plenty more where that came from!

So of course I have to have it. You're all more than welcome to contribute to my Sarah-needs-a-wolf-shirt-fund. If only I had it in time to wear to that restaurant opening tomorrow.Life is so hard.

Silly

So yesterday was my laundry day and for some dumb reason I put my towels in late and went to sleep. Hello? I woke up this morning remembering that they were still in the machine and they had that gross funky smell that wet things get from being closed in too long. So I'm like, sure whatever, and restart the cycle.

Then I remembered that I now have no towels for my shower.

Well done.

Nothing else is going on. Work, uni, work. I'm still stressed about this stupid EDUC2101 assessment task. I just want it done. I finally finished my lesson plans and worksheets, now I just have to write 2000 words about the worksheets I created. Dear Teacher, anything I create is awesome, therefore my worksheets are awesome. They will promote learning by passing on a little bit of my awesomeness onto my students. Now, don't get me wrong, the awesomeness doesn't happen straight away, and obviously these kids will never attain my levels, but even a fraction of my awesomeness is pretty darned awesome.
Love, Sarah.

Only 1940 to go! Woot! This task is so easy! Why have I been stressing for the last month?

On another note, my housemates have gone (I'm assuming) home for the weekend. Except they've left their bedroom doors open. Like, wide open. Why would you do that? I find it weird enough that they leave their bedroom doors open (and their lights on) during the day when they go to uni. Not because anyone would go into your room, but because bugs might crawl in!

Anyway, on Thursday night Shuba overheard them bitching about us. No, not bitching per se, but making fun of us? Anyway, it got me shitty for about ten seconds because I have been nothing but nice to them! Seriously. I know I bitch and moan about them, but I'm actually really nice. Yes, I complained about them to the landlord, but I spoke to them first and it made no difference. But they brought that upon themselves. I'm the one that has the right to bitch because I'm the wronged party! And yet I'm still nice!

Then after ten seconds I remembered that they are little children and that they behave accordingly.

I don't know if I was like that at 17/18, but maybe I was. I mean, I'm pretty bitchy now, so it wouldn't be that much different, I'm sure.

So now I'm off to shower with the "house towels" in the hall cupboard. Ewwwww...

It is incredibly disconcerting to have a doctor wiki your problem to determine which medication you should be on.

FINALLY

I totally got a customer compliment yesterday. Because I am AWESOME. Or, because I didn't have any other customers at registers and didn't mind chatting about that stupid bogan who stole a bar mat in Thailand to him. And he gave me a compliment. WOOT!

Now, obviously I was nice out of the kindness of my heart (yet to be proven), but when other people get a customer compliment they get a gift card for the store. I better be getting some PAY from this. I'm just saying. David came up to me and told me the customer had said nice things. Yuhuh. Where's my money, bitch?

Jokes, jokes. :-

Meanwhile, I totally won something at work. Nice. Didn't even know there was a competition. Oh yeah. On Tuesday next week Deb, Rene` and I are going to the opening of a new restaurant neaby called Lizotte's.

Performing at this special launch are Diesel, Deni Hines, Beccy Cole, local artists Benjalu and Jason Lowe. Your MC is Aaron Kearney.

Can I get a who-now? I've heard of Deni Hines, and Diesel is familiar, but I have no idea about the others.

But HEY! FREE FOOD! Y'all know I am PRO free food. Mmm yummy.

Le sigh

Have I mentioned that I'm STILL really disappointed that I never got to see Air Supply when they did their concert at the Opera House. Repressed memories have come to the surface as I've been catching up on Community Channel vids and she went and saw them. I'm still pissed at my stupid brother about that. Stupid Daniel and his stupid face. He bought me a stupid RnB Superclub album for my birthday because he didn't know what to get me. How is it that I can say over and over from February, "Dan, I want a ticket to the Air Supply concert for my birthday," and he still couldn't figure out what I wanted.

Yes, it's a month later and I'm still cranky.

But Air Supply are getting old! What if they die and I don't get to see them?????

Sarah is Subtle

So here's me for subtle. Rachel finally writes on my facebook wall so I know she's alive, and I'm trying to figure out how to tell her that she needs to call a certain friend of ours for a certain reason. I can't say why in case Rachel reads this (I'm sure she doesn't, but just in case), and I ended up saying, "You should call us all and see what we're up to." "You should call us to check up on us." And finally, "Angela got a puppy. You should call her and get her to describe it."

See. I'm shit at secrets. Don't tell me them unless you want everyone to know.

But still tell me them cos I want to know too.

A girl after my own heart

I'ma get moi fulli sik cuzins on you.

Yesterday was just about the longest day of work ever. It was a 10-6 shift which is normally quite do-able (albeit blended with my normal amount of whinging), but yesterday just crawled and crawled.

But worse than that... I found a grey hair yesterday morning. It was the length of a regular hair. I cried.

Yes, I am that lame. It was a really freaky experience for me. I've glimpsed something in that section of hair for a few weeks now when I've been blowdrying, but after spending 20 minutes each time searching and finding nothing, I decided that it was a reflection from the sun or something.

It wasn't.

I found it, called it a terrible name, then promptly removed it. How do you like me now, hair? You can tell any of your little friends the fate that awaits them if they decide to become squatters on my scalp.

I called my grandma - no sympathy there. She suggested that if I was so worried I should dye my hair. Erm, no. Firstly, I like my boring-as-hell hair colour. Secondly, once you colour your hair you have to maintain it. I'm pretty sure my hair is only now fully my own colour, having grown out of those random colours I used to strangle it with. (I still can't believe how much I used to love having bright red streaks! And how much I used to spend on maintaining the ridiculous bright red streaks.)

Meanwhile, I've been doing no uni work at all. It's all too much! Also, one of the girls gave me this series to read - The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. They're so ridiculously addictive. I finished the second book last night and have decided that I can't start the third book until I finish at least one uni assignment. I hate punishing myself like this. Who actually wins? No one. I don't get to read the book I want to, my uni work doesn't get done either because I feel like I need to punish my work because it's not letting me have the fun I want... Yes, there's something not right with my brain.

I was reading an article in Cleo this morning (you know, the hard hitting stuff) and it was one of those "real life reads" about this girl who married her cousin. Um. Gross. Ew. I just don't get it at all. But it reminded me of this conversation at my nan's house the last time I was there. Our cousins came and visited us and were having morning tea. These cousins are my grandma's nephew, S, and niece-in-law, P, so that makes them my 2nd cousins? Removed? I don't know how it works. Anyway, I'd recently found out that these two are related sort-of. Not by blood, but by marriage... other than their own. Anyway, it's complicated, and whilst they aren't related by blood, I still think it's weird because he is related to P's sister by blood. Make sense? No? Who cares.

Anyway, P was mentioning that her daughter said she saw Daniel at some concert and how well they all get along, blah blah. Then she said, "I always thought Dan and my daughter would end up together, they're such great friends and would be good together." Her daughter being my cousin. I wasn't in the room but my sister was and quickly ran to tell me, where we proceeded to gag and laugh at the same time, all the while feeling dirty inside. It was good fun telling Daniel. He needed to shower after he heard it. EWwwwwwww. I don't know how other families operate, but in ours, family is family is family. It doesn't matter if you're a distant relative or if you haven't met us or if you're married into the family, it's all the same.

So yeah. I just thought it was hillarious and incredibly disturbing. And then I was like, "Ew. Does that mean I have to marry her loser son?" We've decided that Mary can marry Jonas and start a new breed of five headed babies.

LOL. It's funny cos the cat deserves it, but it's also a chihuahua, therefore it deserves death. Remind me not to get too close to a chihuahua's no-no

♥ BEST FRIENDS......UP TO A POINT ♥
by funnytoo

Urge to be excited - RISING

Ok I'm a bit worried about my trip now because it all looks like it's coming together and I'm starting to get excited. I'm so worried. I have a long history of me getting my hopes up about things and shit not working out. There's a reason I'm a glass half empty kind of person. This isn't a "woe is me life's so hard I cut myself to feel the pain" type thing, this is just 24 years of common knowledge - anything I'm looking forward to doesn't happen, or winds up horrible. Anytime I start thinking, "Maybe this time it's different," it isn't. Mostly it's worse.

So PLEASE don't let this be the same. I want it to be good so so badly. I want to be one of those people where things just work out for them. I can see that I've been self-sabotaging this trip in order to lessen the inevitable blow when it comes. I put off booking it for so long so it ended up costing me a helluva lot more than it could have. I put off organising it for so long that now I have to organise it in only a few weeks (cos I only have a few weeks left of free Lonely Planet guide :P). And other things.

But now it seems to be coming together.

I just got an email from my cousin, Carol, about my England trip. She's offered to let me stay at her place or to just visit with her, plus she's sent me another cousin's email address to get in contact with him, and apparently he's keen to meet me (he's only human). I'm not sure whether I should stay with her or not. I really want to, because it will save a lot of money (although the train ride from their place to London is about AU$20 return), but is it rude to say yes? Hmm. I'll talk to my nan about it.

But yeah, it seems to be coming together. And one of my Italian cousins and I have been having a very garbled chat via Facebook and babelfish about me visiting her when I go to Italy.

Something will explode soon.

That's because Sarah is a Stupid

So I asked my landlords to bring heaters because I've been freezing this past week. I go to bed with a hot water bottle, plus the bed socks, trackies, long sleeved shirt (my trusty "Malaka" shirt with the Golden Arches. So wrong. So right.) jumper with a hoodie, and depending on the temperature of the air in my room, sometimes the hood over my head and my head under the blankets. Sexy.

So I'm cold, right? So I asked for the heaters. She's like, you can have the heaters, but it's really not very cold. That's great. I'm freezing. Long discussion about how I'm always cold, blah blah, all resolved. Heaters to come this week. Huzzah.

Then I get a text message - " Tip- if u close ur blinds rite up & pul curtains at nite u lose les warmth. Glass is a conductor of heat both in & out."

Yep. Because I don't know how windows work. Who doesn't close their windows at night?

Meanwhile, I've followed her instructions and I'm frozen. I'm wearing so many layers plus a scarf and it makes no difference. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Oh, and before anyone mentions how I'll cope in Germany, I'm sure Chicago's winter is worse, and I managed to make it through that, just with a lot of whinging. A. LOT. But also, houses in cold countries have central heating which is constantly on. And excellent insulation.

Speaking of whinging though, my grandma made me so cranky this morning because she wouldn't let me whinge and bitch to her. It was so annoying. I even stopped her at one point and told her to stop changing the subject because she was driving me crazy! She needs to realise that I just need to say everything I have to say, then she should respond with, "You're right. [Enter Name/s] is/are dicks/bitchfaces/sluts/scrags/annoying/stupid/odd-looking/wanky and should be kicked in the vajayjay." I don't see my nan saying those exact things, but it's just to give you an idea, although if Oprah can say "vajayjay," then my grandma can too. Then I would say, "Yeah. Stupid stupidheads," and all would be right with the world. But she constantly changes the subject which makes me feel unresolved so I try to pursue the matter further. It's so frustrating. She says it's because she knows I'm a nice person with a kind heart and I don't mean the things I say so she shouldn't encourage them.

Erm, Lola, you obviously don't know me at all. Wow. Raised me for (argh - horrid number) 24 years and we're practically strangers. If I have a heart at all, you wouldn't be able to call it, "kind". Probably a better word to describe it would be, "there". Or "beating". And I'm not nice, I'm a cranky mole with one facial expression which would best be described as, "Oh, I know you did not just do/say/think what I think you just did/said/thought. Don't make me take my shoe off and beat your sorry ass with it." Because my shoes are lovely. Or they were, once upon a time before I went on a shoe diet.

So I kind of broke my diet yesterday when I bought a new pair of shoes. But hear me out! I needed a pair of black everyday flats that were comfortable for work and also to be my shoes for Europe that would take me from walking through the towns during the day to out in the evenings. And they're not even stylish - they're DF Supersoft - nanna shoes. And they were a necessity because my cheap flats from Target have no sole left, as evidenced by the wet feet I've been experiencing of late. Plus, I took advantage of the 40% off Colorado Group voucher I got from work, so they were $60 instead of $100.

Gah. I hate spending money on ugly things.

Itinerary

Ok, so I think I have a kind-of itinerary worked out just for England, but it sucks balls. (No really, it does. I tried pulling it away and saying, "Bad itinerary, bad!" but it just wouldn't stop sucking those balls. I'm definately sending it to a finishing school when all this is done - it just isn't seemly.)

So ball-sucking aside, it looks like this:
July 8 – Fly out of Sydney
July 9 – arrive London (5 nights)
July 13 – arrive Bath (2 nights)
July 15 – arrive Stratford-upon-Avon (1 night)
July 16 – arrive Shropshire – Auntie Joan (2 nights)
July 18 – arrive Manchester – Trent (2 nights)
July 20 – Durham – family (2 nights)
July 22 – Scotland?

I just feel like there's so much more for me to see, but since I'm on a strict schedule I'm very torn. Actually, I don't know what it is exactly that I want to see. Maybe when I'm older with a steady income I can come back and do a middle-aged type of trip with a hire car, driving through the Cotswolds and the Lake District...

Marsali, my old housemate, got back to me today and has offered me accommodation with her in Aberdeen and also with her boyfriend in Edinburgh and parents in Glasgow, so that's pretty cool. Not sure if I'll take up the other offers cos I'd feel so rude and imposing, but I can't wait to see Mars and hang out with her.

OR

I just found this tour. I could cut out my night at Straford-upon-Avon and also see some of the Costwolds, albeit through the windows of the coach, but get to see Oxford, which I wouldn't have done otherwise, and also a CASTLE. You know how much I love a good castle. Although, I can see this trip heading the way of my trip to Japan where I became all templed-out. I must save myself until I get to my home. Then it's game on, moles.

I don't think my gym session this evening counts if I then came home to drink 2 glasses of red wine. And seeing as I have no tolerance for alcohol any more, I AM DRUNK. But can still type. WOOT!!! And I'm not texting anyone. IN YOUR FACES!

Also, I have blisters on my hands. Stupid rowers.

Hey Em, do we know tonight's PT's name?

You Are Fucking JOKING ME

Dear students,

This morning a sub-committee meeting was held regarding the funding forthe Student Mobility Grant. Currently the Australian and world economy is in recession and the University of Newcastle is not immune to the pressures and constraints that are placed upon finances. In addition, the interest in overseas exchange and short programs has increased by at least 300%. Fortunately the total financial support has remained robust, however due to limited funding, the money allocated to each student has beenreduced comparative to previous semesters.

Currently eligible students that claim a Travel Grant will be given the following:
INDICATIVE FUNDING 2009
One Semester Exchange
USA/Canada - Up to $1000
Asia/ Latin America - Up to $2400
UK - Up to $1000
Europe - Up to $1000

I'm just going to throw the C-word out there and say that they are all CRAP. Sooooo angry. It used to be $3000. I thought it was bad that it went down to $1500, and now it's UP TO $1000????????????? (<--there's not enough question marks in the world to show my disbelief)

How is it that Asia/Latin America are up to $2400???? Those are the cheapest places to go in the world. Latin America is more expensive to get to, but once there your peso gets you very far. Stupid Newcastle. Don't blame the bloody economy. Maybe the Vice-Chancellor could share some of his $500k pa pay check, yeah?

Couch Surfing

So I'm not sure if I've mentioned it on here, but I've told a few people that I'll be Couchsurfing while I'm overseas. Basically I have zero money so couchsurfing seemed to be an excellent option. Plus, since I'm travelling alone, built-in company!!

I now have accommodation for Bath. :-) I'm so excited. Except now I've gone searching for hostels in Bath (probably should have done that first) and found that they're nowhere near as expensive as the ones in London, and now I really want to stay in this one cos it's so darned cute!

Anyway, I called my mum to share my exciting news and she kind of freaked out a little bit.

Mum: Why don't you go to Ireland? I have cousins in Ireland you can stay with!
Me: Erm... cos I have no time and no money to get there... And if I'm going to go to Ireland I want to go to the pretty places, not Northern Ireland.
Mum: Hmmm.... well, can you just stay in a hotel in Bath?
Me: No money. I'm spending it all on the Jane Austen Museum.
Mum: What?
Me: Never mind. Just no money.

I think I want its babies

As I was coming out of my the-world-hates-me-and-wants-to-poop-on-me phase (hopefully that's the end of my cranks for this week anyway) I went grocery shopping for some fruit and veg. And yoghurt. I'm a bit annoying when it comes to buying my yoghurt cos I eat it every morning with my breakfast instead of milk. I buy those big 1kg tubs and they last me about 10 days, but I've never stuck to the one brand- I can't help but think that there's something better out there so even when I find one and think, "Ooh, I could totally eat this everyday for at least the next month," I still go for something different in case it's even better. Normally it's worse, and then I can't remember which brand I bought previously.

Last night I splurged and bought one that was a bit pricier than the others considering it's smaller. Even though I never actually knew what I was searching for, all that searching proved not to be in vain and I've found it! Gippsland Dairy Yoghurt Smooth and Creamy. It's just vanilla flavoured, but not to vanilla cos I'm not a fan of it as both a flavour and a personality trait. Basically it's that plain yoghurt you pay heaps of money for at those yoghurt stands in food courts. How many times have I begged my mum to bring me some yoghurt from that yoghurt place next to the Cookie Man on level 2 of Towers? And now it's here! In my room! On my cereal!

It's going to be so hard trying not to eat the whole tub at once...

Sorry if you don't want to read another whiney whingey post but I have to let it out.

I've just had a really horrible day.

One of those days where it starts bad and ends worse.

It started pouring as I stepped out of the house to walk to uni. My car is at Emma's house so I had no choice but to walk. But for some reason I was all chipper about it. I was all, "whatevs," and folded up my jeans and soldiered on. 20 metres down the road my iPod stopped working. I was all, "Must be out of batteries," and kept on going n silence, alone with my thoughts. I don't like being alone with my thoughts because I don't normally have very nice thoughts. By the time I got to uni I was so cold, even though I wore a cardigan, coat and scaft, and my feet and bag were soaked through. So I sat through my class freezing. I had lunch with Beau and Catherine and that was nice, then I had to go and part with another $1000 which was not so nice. Then I went to my lecture which was horrible. By then the sun had come out, but I had promised myself that as a reward for the morning's ordeal I would catch the bus home. So I sat at the bus stop and waited. And waited. Half an hour. I would have been home by then if I had walked straight after the class. I checked the timetable again. A bus should have come during that time. I finally got the shits and just walked home anyway. In silence.

Meanwhile, during the waiting-for-the-bus time I had several angry conversations with mum because she hadn't put the money into my account like she said she would. "I was at work all day, Sarah." "Then why didn't you say you were working and wouldn't have an opportunity to do it when I asked you to?" Anyway, after me telling her not to worry and I'd just borrow it off someone (I probably just would have put it on my credit card and pay the extra fee for using credit) she calls to say she just went to the bank and put the money in just as it was closing. Why didn't she just do this in the first place? I'm so tired of it all.

Then I got home and plugged my iPod into the computer only to find that the batteries haven't died, IT has.

I'm fucking over it. It has basically all my music in the entire world on it. And I so cannot afford to get it repaired. I'm so tired of things happening to me. I'm still waiting for things to be easy but it's not happening.

Oh - silver lining: it only rained a tiny bit on my way home from uni and poured as soon as I got in the door. woot.

No backing out now

The ticket is paid for. I bought the Virgin one in the end because there was a hidden tax on the Korean Air flight that actually made it more expensive than the VA flight! And all that after I'd finally convinced myself that an overnight stay in Seoul was alright, even if it did make my trip to London take 41 hours.

But the total cost was $2113. Gosh that hurt. I've paid $1000 and have been in a bad mood ever since. I don't like parting with big sums of money, even if it's big sums of money that aren't even my money (thanks K-Rudd!), especially when my free money doesn't even cover the cost of the thing I'm buying. It hurts me so much. I've inherited this attitude from my mum who would be all lovely (relatively speaking) and nice before she dished out money for you, then as soon as the money left her hands she wouldn't speak to you unless it was to tear strips out of you. I'm not as mean as she was, but I'm a cranky bitch.

So in order to counteract the cranky I've begun to (finally) clean my room. I wish I hadn't started because it's killing me. After staring at it for a long time trying to decide where to begin because there's so much crap everywhere, I decided to go for the desk. Big mistake. Lots of unpaid bills under the reams of paper everywhere. Way to make me feel better.

Then I decided to make those annoying phone calls I've been putting off because I haven't been arsed. You know, to add to my next mobile phone bill. I called NAB and had them reverse an overlimit fee from a charge I didn't actually make, then I called CBA to send me a credit card - I'd cut mine up ages ago so I wouldn't be able to spend on it. I figure I better have it when I go overseas as a precaution. But I didn't make the most important call which was supposed to be to my mum. I need to ask her to put $200 in my account tomorrow so I can pay the rest of my ticket. I'd be fine if I was allowed to pay it on Thursday, which is when I get paid, but the fare has to be paid in full by Wednesday. Hello? Not helping. Stupid airline and stupid airfare. I just don't want to call because it will definately end in us yelling at each other because she'll tell me she won't do it and I'll get upset and then it's this great big drawn out affair. OR, the yelling will be postponed until Wednesday night because she'll tell me tonight that she'll do it and then I'll be checking my accounts every two seconds and she won't actually put the money in. After all the yelling she'll put the money in on Thursday when the money will no longer be needed. It'll be Thankgiving Day weekend '06 all over again.

Making the call....

I think I want its babies.

I think I'm going to book my flight tomorrow. And by "think I'm going to book it" I mean I'm actually going to book it. Korean Airlines is $1808.95. I can't risk it going higher. I've looked on several other travel sites and the next ones are British Airways $2120.95. The Virgin one Nicole's taking is $2400. Gah.

Must figure out how I can do this

Stolen from the Bella forums (source):

Taking on the tax office with deductive reasoning
Miki Perkins
April 20, 2009

MEET Symone Anstis, 24, a Victorian prep teacher local who took on the Tax Office and had a landmark win that could pave the way for hundreds of thousands of students to claim educational expenses as a tax deduction.

Three years ago, Ms Anstis was studying teaching at Australian Catholic University, working part time at women's clothing store Katies and receiving income support in the form of Youth Allowance.

Like many students, she struggled to make ends meet.

On her tax return that year Ms Anstis claimed $920 for educational expenses, including textbooks, student fees and travel expenses.

She reasoned that, because the Youth Allowance was part of her income, she should be able to claim deductions on relevant costs.

In the past, the Australian Taxation Office made it clear it would not allow educational expenses to be claimed against welfare payments.

Her father, Michael Anstis, who is a qualified solicitor but does not work as a lawyer, helped her with her return and told her the Government was likely to reject her claim. But they decided it seemed fair that students be able to claim educational costs, and pushed on regardless.

The Tax Office rejected the claim, so the pair fought the case all the way to the Federal Court. "It wasn't a lot of money but it was important — it's quite a hard life as a student," Ms Anstis said yesterday.

Asked if she was known for stubbornness, she laughed.

"I thought we were in the right, so I didn't want to just let it go. Why not take on the big guys?"
In court, Mr Anstis argued that because his daughter had to be enrolled in a full-time course of study to get her assessable income of Youth Allowance, any costs incurred in the course of studying should be deductible.

In a surprise judgement this month, the Federal Court agreed, ruling that in order to meet the requirements for Youth Allowance, a student was forced to make a range of expenses that the student should be entitled to claim as tax deductions.

Tax experts say this could set a precedent for students and other recipients of welfare payments who want to claim expenses against their pensions. About 440,000 students receive Youth Allowance or Austudy, according to Government figures.

KPMG tax partner Andy Hutt believes the decision may have ramifications for students on income support and they should consider which items — such as computers or textbooks — could be most obviously connected to their income.

During his preparations, Mr Anstis studied previous Federal Court tax cases.

He said that in the past two years only a handful had been won, and those had been led by teams of senior lawyers.

Mr Anstis said his daughter had taken on the issue to make a point about social justice, not for the modest financial gain.

"This should mean that students can claim the costs of their studies — it'll be worth about $300 or $400 to the average student," he said.

The Tax Office may appeal against the decision.

I completely agree that you should be able to claim educational expenses. If I'm paying tax on my Youth Allowance and need it in order to continue studying then I should be able to claim certain things. Especially since I found out I have to pay fringe benefits tax on my scholarship money. Effers.

Now I just have to figure out how to do it...

Sarah does not deal well in a crisis.

I think it would have to be due to both of my upbringings - with my parents and mostly with my grandparents. My mum was never very affectionate (hugs and kisses from her came when prompted (read: forced) by my grandmother), and my grandmother was very warm and cuddly and pretty much just the best.

But in sad times I've noticed that I've taken on traits from both that I don't think are helpful at all.

I force feed people.

What's that? You're sad? You've had a bad day? I'll make you some food, or buy you some junk, or make you eat your weight in chocolate.

Then I talk about stupid things that have absolutely nothing to do with your problems in the hopes that you then don't think about your problems. Then I offer you more food. Then I crack jokes that really aren't funny but I think are hysterical. Then if you cry or something, I offer the hugs and the appropriate noises (mostly, "I'm so sorry") then decide that chocolate is the cure (hey, if Lupin taught us anything in HP3 it's that chocolate solves all problems).

The food thing I get off both my mum and grandma. That's their solution for most things. If you're unhappy it must mean you need more feeding (helllooooo unhealthy attitude to food that I have now. Helllllooooooo all the weight I put on during my parents' divorce). I got the appropriate noises off my grandma, and the freak out feeling from my mum.

So at the moment one of my very best friends is going through something very sad and I'm here feeling helpless and offering more and more food. Are you sure you don't need me to bring something over? Sure? I'll bake! I'll buy! I'll do whatever.

Yeah. So don't call me for things unless you're hungry.

On another note, the flights to Europe are so expensive now - cheapest is Korean Airways for $1900. Damn it. That's more than both lots of Rudd-money. If I ever get my second payment. Plus, I just looked up when semester 1 starts next year - 1st March! This year it started 18th March. So now I have to leave in February. Che bastardi!

I want it NOW, daddy!

Urgh.

I've been lusting after this one camera ever since a cousin of mine in the Philippines had one. How is it that someone in the Philippines can afford one but I can't?? And she told me what she paid for it and it was equivalent to AU$500, which is sooooo much money for over here, let alone over there.

It wasn't in Australia when I first got back but it is now. And it's about $650 on sale. Hells no. Mum said she would buy it for me when we were in the Philippines, but I don't want her to pay that much for something. She would hold it over me forever. It's bad enough I let her pay for the laptop. Every argument we have comes back to the laptop. My only response is that I bought the cheapest one in the store so she wouldn't have to pay so bloody much. I could have gotten a better one but I stayed below $1000 so she should be happy.

Meanwhile, it's not even that great a camera. I'd prefer something with a higher optical zoom. But it's just so cute! And you can draw on your photos! DRAW ON YOUR PHOTOS!

Yeah, I won't get it. :(

That boy!

It's always really weird when Dan calls me because I look at my phone and go, "Really?" and answer waiting for him to ask me to do something. And then he seems to just want to chat. Then later he remembers that he wanted to ask if I know where his San Miguel glass that he stole from the Marco Polo hotel in Davao is (well, he didn't steal it because he's chicken-shit and the security guards had machine guns. EJ, our friend there, was friends with a woman who worked in the bar so she gave it to us). It's at Cassie's.

Oh, and I re-asked him if I could borrow his backpack when I go overseas. I've asked him so many bloody times and he keeps saying no because he likes it for when he goes camping. What? Never mind the time he took my suitcase without asking for a trip to Fiji. I didn't notice until I pulled it out from under my bed to go to the US and found Nadi tags on it. But if he had asked I wouldn't have cared. And who needs a huge backpack to go camping? How often does he go camping??? Get your own, he tells me. OK. How 'bout you give me the $200 to buy a new one, ja?

Anyway, so today I tentatively approach with, "Sooooooo, do you think you'll really need your backpack for the next eightish months or sooooo?"
His reply: "Huh? Oh, yeah, nah take it."
Me: "What???"
Dan: "I was only joking when I said you couldn't have it."

Yes, because it's very funny when someone asks about 20 times for something and is rejected. And for no good reason.

I don't think he was joking though. I think that my whinging to nan about the INJUSTICE of it all (and don't try and minimise it by pointing at real injustice in the world. Don't cheapen my pain!) and her nagging Daniel has paid off.

All in all, Sarah now has a backpack. I'll be one of THOSE travellers. Except... aparently there are boys' and girls' backpacks. Fuck it. I'll make it work.

Speaking of travel and all that, Lara sent me a letter today complete with wedding invitation for her sister's wedding in August, pictures of where I'll be sleeping and her street (so cute!), and 20 Euros. Woot! I'm nearly there! Honestly, I am loving these gifts. That 20 will definately come in handy.

On another note, I had a mini meltdown this afternoon. And by mini meltdown I mean adult tantrum. I had to control myself by leaving my room and going to Shuba's to whinge. My computer died. Yes, my computer I bought at Christmas. It died. The only way to fix it, said the dickwad on the phone, was to reformat it. Meaning I'd lose everything on the computer. So I had to do it. And now my computer is empty and has no love. And I have to redownload all that uni stuff and say goodbye to the rest. Damn it.

Violated

I forgot to mention that I woke up yesterday morning with a trail of bites along my belly. There's about ten all up. I feel abused. I then went and washed all my sheets. As soon as I have a chance I'm going to get my doona laundered. Meanwhile, it could have happened before bed, but I'm not taking any chances. It feels even worse when I think of those bloody "flea" poems I studied in my Shak-a-speare class last year. VIOLATED!!!

Also, it has come to my attention that I'm the shittest personal training client ever. From the second we start I'm like, "Is it time to stretch yet?" and I'm constantly giving the guy, "Are you serious?" looks each time he tells us what we're doing next. All in all, I'm annoying. But what do you expect when you're making someone like me exert herself physically? Don't be doing that. Even if I paid you to do that. Bad things happen. Usually to me though, because I'm always leaving bruised...

le death

Is what I am.

I was supposed to spend all yesterday doing my critical essay for creative writing. Instead I had an adult tantrum at the lack of co-operation I was being shown by my stinkin' laptop at the uni library, came home at 3pm only to be hit with the beginnings of that fluey ache. That would explain why the doctor told me the day before that I had a slight fever. Hey Doc, how about some preventative shit? Anyway, I had no Panadol or Advil so I dropped a few vitamins and got ready to lay around in my misery for the rest of the day. Until a knock at the door beckoned me. It was Zach and Theresa, the Zach and Theresa formerly of the room at the back of the house. They came to drop of Dexter season 2 for me because last year I had leant them Dexter season 1. How freaking nice is that? So I basically stayed up watching that and finished the rest just in time for my class today. I like that. Except I had to pop a sleeping tablet because then I couldn't sleep. Oh well.

I woke up feeling better, but more stressed due to the not-doneness of my essay.

My mum called last night. Got cranky cos I was trying to sleep. She said, "OK sorry," and hung up. Three seconds later (I'm assuming that's how long it takes to hit redial) she calls back. I'm like, If I didn't want to talk before, what's changed in the last few seconds to make me want to talk now??? Apparently nothing.

She calls again this morning. "So did you want me to ask your Auntie Nancy for those shawls for you?"

"Woman, I asked YOU to buy them for me two weeks ago. And you didn't. I don't want your stupid cheap shawls from your stupid country anymore."

"So should I ask for them?"

"No. While you're on the phone though, I have to quit work a month before I go overseas. Will you help me cos centrelink won't give me very much?"

"Oh I'm really busy I'll call you back."

Anyway, that's it for my whinging. You're welcome.

Ang's Wedding

Sarah is never allowed to drink alcohol. Never.

I made a total foolio out of myself at Angela's wedding on Saturday. I had only drunk 2 glasses of wine and was blind. Of course, then I proceeded to have another two, but that's neither here nor there.

Oh, and the wedding was lovely. Really pretty. Except for the choreographed dance. I really hate those.

But yeah. Never drinking again.

Things that make my heart glow!

I know I can get really doom and gloom about things and I get all, boo hoo life's so hard, but at the back of all of it I know I have really fabulous friends. FABULOUS friends. Friends that cook for me and buy me alcohol, put up with my whinging, lend me their DVDs even though they know I'm a slack returner, and send me tea in the mail.

So far this has happened twice, the first being from Jenni, the second being from Judith.

I just picked up Judith's parcel from the post office and it must have looked so weird to passers by when they saw my car glowing. That was just me getting the warm and fuzzies. Now I have no excuse about reading Kite Runner (that's next on my list Judith), I'll be all knowledged up when I get to Munich to visit you with my new travel guide and I will be well-rested thanks to the sleep-well tea (quite possibly one of the most thoughtful things EVER!). And I will be gloriously happy thanks to the milka and kinder chocolates. Soooo yummy!

Love you lots and I can't wait to see you!

Getting older.

I had a fabulous birthday weekend. We got to the Hunter Valley at about 3:30 and found our house. When I first saw it I was more than a little bit annoyed - it had a huge cactus in the front lawn, the type that would definately come alive at night and eat you. You know the type. And then when we went inside it pretty much went downhill. From the homoerotic images in the bathroom to the loungeroom where the 70s came to die, ending in the main bedroom with the king-sized waterbed. But then, somewhere along the line I was so repulsed I swung all the way around and decided that the house was a world of awesome.

I did my best to make up for a month's worth of sobriety but I didn't drink too much. I did realise how quickly I got tipsy though. Not good. Maybe my liver still isn't all there.

Watched a movie on Saturday night called Army of Darkness. One of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. It's the third movie in the Evil Dead franchise and isn't scary at all, just hillarious with lines like, "Gimme some sugar, baby," "Hail to the king," and "Groovy." (last line is said after his bionic hand is created... in the middle ages. too funny)

Spent Sunday going to more vineyards. It's amazing how tiring it is, but then you think about how long you spend in the car and the amount of alcohol you consume and then you get it. I only ended up with three bottles of wine (one thanks to Simon and Bec) and a swear it felt like as I was going that I bought so much more, but it's probably for the best that I didn't buy too much. As it is I bought two bottles of sparkling which was silly because it never seems to be the right occasion to drink it. But it has to be drunk before I go overseas so it will get done.

Speaking of overseas, I was talking to my auntie Joan who came over to my nan's today (oh why do my favourite people come when I have an assignment to work on? It was fine when it was just Dan and Cassie here...) and I was saying how I had to wait to buy my plane tickets because I only have about half the fare. She tells me the best news in ages: usually with a travel agent you just put down a deposit and pay the rest a month or two before you're due to leave. Wow! It's been so long since I've booked anything with a travel agent that I've forgotten how it works.


Anyway, she's going to England in May for 5 months so I'm visiting her. She'll be in Shropshire. Shropshire? 'ow wondaful! Very Exotic. Yep. Quoting a 10 yr-old Moccona ad. That's just how I roll.


Also, is it wrong to not like a birthday present? I was so disappointed by Daniel's present to me: he bought me an rnb Superclub CD. That would have been a great present for me 7 years ago. But I'm kind of over that now. Plus, it's a greatest hits CD so I own every song on the double CD on account of owning all the other rnb Superclub cds... I just had it in my head that he was buying me tickets to Air Supply and I guess I'm just pretty disappointed. Especially because his present PALES in comparison to the awesome stuff I got from my friends this weekend. Anyway, I have the receipt so I'll try and return it, but I don't like my chances because it doesn't have one of those security stickers.

So I had that dinner last night (this post is written over two days). It was good. It was good hanging out with friends but my Uncle Dino was being his typical self. First he was complaining that we should have sat outside because it was quieter. Well, you go sit outside then. Then he was saying let's order, and I'm like, not everyone has arrived, and he's like, that's their problem. Then I changed seats and didn't have to hear anything more. Dan, Cassie, Jonas and Amber just stood around in a group talking while we were waiting for our table, so Mel and I are standing there talking about the weather (but obviously funner). I don't know. Maybe I can't enjoy anything without whinging about it afterwards. It was great having one of my regular chats with Nicole afterwards - we're leaving for London on the same day - I shall attempt to get onto the same flight.

Gosh, I was such a sad sack last night!

Much better this morning. Tired though cos I stayed up late finishing one of those Sookie Stackhouse books. Those things are like crack - so bad but I want it!

Finished a third of my history assignment. I should finish the rest by Monday, right? RIGHT???

I was reading an article in the Weekend SMH this morning by a guy in his 20s who had never seen the Star Wars movies and what he thought they were about, then he watched them and went through what he got wrong. I thought this was funny, although the movies are now spoiled for me so I'll never have to watch them! Hurrah!

Erm... I have nothing else to say. Except I'm hanging out for a hotcross bun so I have to high-tail it to the shops before they're all gone!

It's much cooler today, meaning it's still a world of HOT.

Ready to kill my family. Ready to scratch my face off (it's official - I'm allergic to every country that isn't my nanna's house. Face is sooo itchy, same thing I got in Newcastle mid-last year and in the US when I first went over there). Ready to throw my brother through a wall. And my sister can go through the wall after Dan has already damaged it.

Soooo tired too. Someone has to be at the funeral parlour at all times and be awake to keep vigil over the body. The coffin is open with a glass cover so you can't touch the body. So far I glimsped a bit of the nose. That was one nose too much for me. It's so weird seeing little children (like, 4 and 5 years old) run up, look in, eat their banana, then go play.

So weird meeting these new little cousins. They're adorable and shy and I just want to cuddle them and make them like me and play with me. So far only one has done that, and he's a second cousin, but apparently here that makes me his auntie? I'll take it. He's a cheeky little monkey. The others are too shy. And I keep forgetting that me talking to them in English isn't helping the situation because they don't learn English until they start school. Woops. I gave one kid a packet of Airwaves gum yesterday cos that's all I had on me, forgetting that they're the strongest minty type of gum. Poor kid cried from the pain of breathing in. I guess we aren't going to be besties.

Things I've loving: the fruit!! So much different fruit. I've found one I love - it's called mangosteen and it's kind of like a lychee but yummier. It's the size of a tennis ball, the colour of blood plums and the feel of a persimmon. You break it open and don't eat the purple skin but the inside white fleshy/lychee-y bit.

Mmmmm.

Daniel's shitting me. He makes comments about me that are so incredibly rude and insensitive. He doesn't get that it's not OK to say those things about anyone, but apparently it's OK to say those things to me. I can't believe there's another 4 days to go. 4 loooong days.

Mary woke up in her bratty mood today so I'm keeping clear.

I always wake up in a bratty mood, so I try to keep clear of myself.

Oh, funniest thing yesterday - driving through the city at about 10pm and on the side of the road I see a man riding a push bike and leading a cow with a rope tied to the ring in its nose. Loved it.

Why do I love these people???

They are the most frustrating people in existence. Why is it that I'm the one that has to be organising everyone? Dan's lying on the couch napping, Mary looks at me blankly when I ask her what she wants to pack (so I just packed for her with her ordering, "Nup, not that. Yuck I don't wear that. Maybe that. Nup. Nup."

Mum woke me up at 5am to let me know that she'd booked the flights I'd been trying all day yesterday to book (stupid Philippine Airlines online booking system. Oh, and customer support, how about answering your phone or returning emails??). Thanks for that mum. I'll stick a gold star on your chart. After I murder you with a pitchfork. There's only so many 5am phone calls I can take, and the number is ZERO.

Spent the entire day in the city with her getting Mary's passport done and picking up the tickets for tomorrow. Mary's passport was the reason we didn't leave on Monday. Stupid, frustrating family. And it was raining all day. And my mum walks sooooo slowly. So annoying. Every ten metres I'd have to stop and wait. We had to walk down Pitt St - a long, straight street - and she got lost. I waited for her at the end of the block and she eventually shows up looking a little freaked and was all, "I got lost!!" How? It's a straight line! I think you all now know where I developed my innate sense of (mis)direction.

Anyway, it's done now. I came home and checked that I've got everything and checked over the tickets. Then I realised that these aren't tickets, they're itineraries. We've been issued e-tickets, which is what everyone uses these days. But if that's the case, why did we have to (very slowly) walk from Central Station to Town Hall to pick up tickets that could have been emailed to me????

Honestly, this is all such a waste of time. On Monday, after driving all the way down here only to find out that we weren't actually leaving that day, I was just about ready to not go any more. I can only see bad things coming from this week, especially because Mary and I have to share the queen-sized bed in the apartment, because apparently I'm only a slightly better alternative to sharing with mum. I just know I won't be getting any sleep. And coupled with the lack of sleep in the last week.... oh someone will be copping it. But you know what? They all deserve it because they are all shits.

And now I must go and book a taxi to take us to the airport tomorrow. Woot.

I don't pack light

Trying to pack my suitcase for tomorrow and I'm totally clueless. First, not sure how long I'll be away for. Ordinarily I rewear clothes without washing them, so I'm like, oh I'll just bring 4 tops. But then I remember - it's the tropics! You'll be sweating up a storm! There'll be several costume changes! You'll smell like ass! You'll exclaim yourself to death!!!

Will I have access to a washing machine? Who can say?

Oh, and what do I wear to a funeral in the tropics when both your knees are embarrassingly bruised? I've only ever worn skirts or dresses to funerals. Oh well.

And Oops. I packed three pairs of shoes, so I'll be bringing four all up.

I'm such a bitch. My phone starts ringing at 5:45am (I KNEW I should have put turned it off before I went to bed, but I'm paranoid that the alarm won't go off even though I know it will). It's my mum. I answer with:
WHAT THE FUCK???

I'm met with the sound of sniffling.

Me (more gently): Oh mum, are you OK? (I knew what the answer would be)

Mum: My mum just died.

I'm a heartless fuck. I'm not sad. I'm not anything. I'm sad my mum is sad. It's just that too many things have happened in the last six years for me to feel anything. And now I have the heeby jeebies for writing that because now that she's dead, maybe she's a little omniscient and can read me writing not-so-flattering things about her (whilst I don't believe in God, I haven't yet worked out my actual beliefs about the afterlife because I totally want one - I'm Pro Cloud).

She wants to know if I can come with her to the Philippines. I'll see what I can do. I'm going to start emailing people now.

Oh, and to make things worse for her, her cunt family is laying on the guilts because she didn't send money this month. Auntie Nancy, the other sister who lives in Australia and therefore in the family's eyes is also wealth personified, sent money so is a great daughter. Meanwhile, if the nothings in the Philippines had ever bothered to get jobs and stop being a burden on everyone else this wouldn't be an issue. (They still lived with my Nonna. They're in their 40s.) My grandparents on my dad's side paid for mum's brother to do a trade apprenticeship back in the 80s which he never finished. Mum's little sister has at least 2 illigitimate children which she has adopted out to various family members because she is a slut. USE A CONDOM!

God I'm a bitch. Their mother just died and I'm being a bitch to them. Just don't be a bitch to my mum - that's MY job.

Like everything, I can't help feeling like I've somehow brought this on: I have an assignment due tomorrow which I was going to have to pull an all-nighter for because I've basically done no work for it. The plan was to start yesterday but what with the anger and zero sleep I didn't do much more than a few readings. In my head I kept thinking, maybe something will happen and I won't have to hand it in. And something happened. It's like that time when I was in UWS and the was queen of extensions. I emailed the lecturer to get an extension citing "family problems" and next thing you know I've logged off the computer, there's a call and my parents have gone insane, had a huge fight, where on earth is dad (the country club), that sort of thing.

It's a little narcisistic to think that it's all about me, but it is a little fun, and a lot worrying, to have some pull within the universe.

Oh my gosh. Flights are sooooooo cheap right now! Where's my bloody acceptance letter???

Such a long day

So I called my landlord this morning, and luckily Shuba had called her first because then I didn't have to tell my long-winded story.

She and her husband came over tonight and spoke to them. She was pretty angry about the whole thing, and I was so glad she had our back. I told her I was ready to move out about the whole thing, that's how upset I was. I was kept up late and when I confronted them after it got to be too much one of their shitty friends gave me attitude which made me even angrier. And it didn't stop either. I basically had zero sleep and I'm not amused. Landlord said it wouldn't come to me moving out, but if it got to a point she'd have no qualms with kicking the four of them out.

Anyway, I got even angrier when I got home and passed a couple of them in the hallway and none of them even offered an apology for last night. I managed to get a tiny bit of sleep an hour ago, then finally the four of them knock on my door and apologise. Yes, but now you have cranky Sarah. Normally Sarah has her toxic guilt and would feel bad for feeling bad about you. But this Sarah has had enough. Basically I told them I appreciated that they were apologising but I was still incredibly angry and disappointed in them. I told them I was disappointed because I had thought they were a little more mature than that but it turns out they weren't. Also angry at the fact that it got to the point where I had to go out there and tell them to shut up. Furious at the attitude one of the girls gave me. "That wasn't us." I'm glad, but you have to take responsibility for the guests you choose to have over and make sure they realise that they are guests and don't have the right to be so rude. They understand. Good. But you've said that before, and we've spoken about this ad nauseum, yet last night still occured.

Also, I don't need to ever see Sam naked again. I'll be in therapy for life.

Remember how you don't get in the way of Sarah's sleepy time?

I just went off my nut at my stupid shit housemates and their dickwad friends. Calling the landlord in the morning.

I would have approached the Amnesty International stand except for the fact that today I HATE humanity.

Oh today was a baaaaad day (that's how a sheep would say "bad" if sheep could speak English. Which they better NOT be able to). It was a public holiday in Newcastle because of the Newcastle Show, which I'm assuming is like the Easter Show, only shitter because entry is $49!!! What? I'm sure the Easter Show isn't that expensive. That said, I haven't paid for that thing since 2000 when Dan started dating Katherine Bell, whose granddad is the VP of the Agriculture thing that runs the show. I like knowing people that can get me free shit.

But anyway, today was busy because of the public holiday and the fact that it was raining on and off. But it wasn't just busy with normal people. Oh no. All the C U Next Tuesdays decided to come out and come into our store and just be arseholes. To me. I'm sure to other people too, but screw them! (like, totally jokes, y'all. love you long time... ooh.) hated every single one of them that came in, even the ones that probably thought I liked them that Michael and I joked around with; he probably liked them, I was secretly thinking of ways to hurt them with the EFTPOS receipt spike. Maybe I wasn't so secret though - I'm sure my eyes were throwing them"Yeah, WHAT, bitch?" looks.

Glad it was over. Went to the gym and veged (vegged? vedged? It's not even a real word - why am I worried about spelling?) out for a bit, then came out to the sight of rain. Oh, it had better not be raining tomorrow. It's my laundry day tomorrow and I have so much to do and our stupid landlords, who I normally love, haven't gotten anyone to fix the dryer yet. So I am cranks.

Gosh this was such a cranky post. I feel so much better now!