Before I go any further, let me just offer this:

Don’t get me wrong. I, personally, do not hate sandcastles. I quite like them. I also like this kid. The thing I find funny about it is that, after I laughed at his expression, I then noticed that it looks like he’s been eating sand. I don’t think he really hates sandcastles, I think he loves them, but in a culinary sense. Perhaps his hatred is a front, an excuse for the destruction, then afterwards he’s like, “well, it’s ruined, you won’t mind if I take a piece. Nomnomnom.”

So anyway, on with what I actually meant to say… Tim is on his way home as I type this! YAY! I think he won’t be in the best of moods when he gets in, because his plane from LA to Sydney was delayed by about two hours, so he’s going to miss his connecting flight from Sydney to Brisbane. He had caught an earlier flight from New York to LA, because he was worried about making his LA to Sydney flight. LAX can be a real bitch for connections, because they’re so pedantic and annoying. Plus it’s just a stupid airport (so I’ve heard, from several different people). So I know he’ll be tired and fed up, but I’m just going to be so happy to have him home.

A slight deviation – If you are doing an image search, check out this site: Flickr Related Tag Browser

So, this has been Tim’s journey:

Brisbane -> Tokyo -> Singapore ->London -> Frankfurt -> Paris -> London -> Boston -> New Hampshire -> Boston -> New York -> Philadelphia -> New York -> LA -> Sydney -> Brisbane

All that in three weeks. I think that list is right… It’s just the side trips I’m not 100% sure of.

Chris came over this afternoon and hung out for a while. We watched Little People, Big World (there was a weekend marathon of LPBW on) and talked about things. Then, Noelle arrived and we had to stop talking about her and talk about something else. Just kidding. We still talked about her. Not. Ok. I’m going to stop that doubletalk now. It was a lot of fun hanging out with Chris and Noelle, and Po. We watched the Pilot episode of “Dead Like Me”, and then Chris went home to his Doon but Noelle and I kept watching episode after episode of Dead Like Me. I really like it. The girl looks like she’s about 15, but she has weird, grown-up hands. They’re creepy, but it really fits in with the whole grim reaper theme. It reminds me of one of the radio shows of Ricky, Karl and Steve when they were talking about how they had watched that interview with Michael Jackson, where that guy followed him around and you got to see what his life consisted of. When they asked Karl’s opinion on Michael Jackson, he said, “‘e’s got big ‘ands, ain’t ‘e?” (substitute the extra apostrophes for ‘h’ in case you’re not familiar with his accent). Ricky and Steve laughed at Karl, just one more in a long line of extreme non-sequiturs. I can’t listen to the podcasts without laughing out loud. Sometimes I have to stop what I’m doing so that I can concentrate on not laughing too loud, because when I’m listening to the shows I am at work. It’s my escape from the daily grind (like Gloria Jeans wants to be, but we have a coffee machine in the lunch room at work so why would I go all the way to Gloria Jeans to escape the daily grind, there’s not even one near my work.)

I’m really tired. Here is another funny picture (I find it funny. Actually, I find it hilarious. I’m not sure why. Don’t get mad at me if you don’t find it as amusing as I did):

I think I really like that the thing behind it is so ugly, and the text is small and plain, and you could sort of imagine that kitten saying that. If you’re great at anthropomorphising like I am. Not as great as Karl Pilkington, who apparently saw a bee have a heart attack (because London is so stressful and all). Karl also said that ginger cats are always fat (you never see a skinny ginger cat, according to Karl) because life’s more stressful for them than other cats, because they would get picked on for being ginger. He also said they always look ‘fed up’.

Lauren and Nathan are coming over tomorrow morning to hang out before we go get Tim from the airport. Yay!

I am going to a lot of different places this year. I think it’s the year of travel for me. For the Chinese, it’s the year of the rat. I was in the Valley on Friday night (last night) and watched the dragon dancing around the tables at one of the Chinese restaurants, and listened to the banging of the gong. I also became mesmerised by the fish in the fish pond fountain in the Chinatown mall. I’m not sure if it’s usually there, but last night there was mist coming out from the top part of the fountain where the uplights are. Also, the water in the bottom part of the fountain, where the fish swim around, looked a bit more cloudy than usual, and there were more coins in there too. I felt sorry for the fish.

Anyway, here is the first of my travels:

Not actually the whole of Western Australia, just Perth. The trip over involves a red-eye flight several hours long. I feel like this should mean that people on the Western Coast would be different that the people of the East Coast of Australia, but I guess that we all started out from similar beginnings, and our beginnings weren’t that long ago.

Tim and I are traveling to San Francisco in May this year. It’s exciting because I’ve never been to America before, and this will be my first experience of traveling with Tim. I think we’ll be fine. Tim got the tickets using his frequent flyer miles, which is awesome, because he could have used his miles to get ONE business class return to San Francisco, but instead he got TWO economy return to San Francisco. We’re also going to Canada:

One leg of the trip will be by train, and one will be by plane. Apparently the train trip from San Francisco up to Vancouver is beautiful. I’m looking forward to it. I think we will get a sleeper cabin. Tim was also saying we could spend a couple of days in Seattle, which’ll be good, too. I checked online at the average temperatures for that time of year. The maximum is 17.5 degrees Celsius, which suits me so perfectly you can’t even imagine. I wouldn’t mind it being even cooler than that. Check out the picture of Canada – there are polar bears on there! I swear that means they exist there in real life. I love them. And the elk (if that’s what they are). Yay! It’s going to be amazing.

And finally, toward the end of the year, Noelle and I are traveling to Europe and the UK. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about revisiting Europe, especially when you consider all the people over there I will get to meet up with: Anna, Ben, Simone&Dave, Ruth… I am so psyched! We’re planning on spending time in London (& surrounds), Amsterdam (yay Anna!), Paris (I forgot to remind Noelle about this one :S), Denmark (yay legoland! and the little mermaid!), somewhere in Ireland (maybe Galway?)… and wherever else we have time to go. I’d love to visit Prague, but time constraints may make that difficult. Also the financial aspect… 

That’s it on the travel front. In other news, I have started my new job (the end of this week marked two weeks there). I’m exhausted, but appreciate the plus side. I guess you could say the end justifies the means. I got a new pair of boots today at DFO without worrying that they would break the bank. The fact that they were only $20 should illustrate my point. It felt so good to have my own money. I won’t be able to be this laissez-faire about my pay every week, but for this week it’s pretty nice. I’m going to start my hardcore savings as of next Thursday. Tim has been extremely helpful with this, and I’m glad that my working has been able to take some stress off him as well. I’m infinitely grateful to him for looking after me this entire time. Although it may seem strange, I feel like there is a good side to this entire experience, and that is to be able to know, without doubt or hesitation, that Tim’s love comes without condition. This is an amazing gift. Tim and Matt are currently playing Guitar Hero III, and bemoaning the insensitivity of the red button on our guitar. We had a nice dinner, a yummy dessert, and there is a Po here for entertainment. Life is pretty good.

So here is a video to celebrate:

CG Cat (it’s not CG, this is just the title of the video)

I’m a bit sad because the “embed” function is not working on my blog. I’ve changed the theme around a few times, but it doesn’t make any difference. I am confuzzled, because the Chinese Propaganda for Rudd video embed worked fine! But since then, nothing else will work

Wordpress is being buggy. How can I extol its virtues when it causes me such consternation? pffffffft.

I am lucky.

Luck is not measured by that which others believe we should be thankful for, but rather the things that make us feel fulfilled. The things in our life which bring contentment. Sometimes they can be that which you would expect someone to feel fortunate for having – a roof over their head, food in their stomach, money in the bank. Sometimes it’s smaller things, such as getting a new video game you’ve been waiting weeks for, or coming home to find someone has cooked you your favourite meal for dinner.

I don’t think of luck as in singular moments – “I got lucky on the pokies!”, but rather a series of events and states of existence that lead you to feel life is not always a difficult, up-hill climb.

Some things that I feel lucky for:

* Living in a place where we can paint the walls if we want to, or put in picture hooks, or rip out the spiky plants in the garden, because we own it!

* Being in love with someone who is in love with me

* Tim’s family – his quiet, thoughtful father; his caring, protective mother; his vibrant, beautiful sister; his funny, skilful brother; their gorgeous, aloof, fluffy cat.

* Having a positive outcome from my spinal surgery

* Having an awesome, weird & wonderful family

* Owning a Napoleon cat, and before him, my wonderful Dinnacat. RIP, Dinna.

* Having a place to go home to in Yamba, our family home, with my amazing mother now living there and enjoying the peace and tranquillity

* Having tickets to San Francisco next May (woohoo!)

* Being able to watch and be part of the process of my beautiful older sister getting married to the love of her life

* Having a seriously cool brother-in-law

* Seeing Rosie making her way in the world (I’m very proud!)

* Having dreams of study, and people who believe in me

* Having Chris as a friend, someone who has known me since I was about 5 years old, and therefore understands a lot about the way I think and feel! I’m so happy for Chris that he has found a Doon, and that they are happy

I have so many other things I could write, but for now I will bask in the warm glow cast by all these thoughts.

Life wasn’t always this good, but it’s worth the pain in the end.

Before European Settlement of New Zealand, the country was known to the locals as “Land of the Long White Cloud”. When James Cook and his cronies arrived, it was changed to “Land of the Wrong White Crowd”.

I was watching Animal Planet this morning, a documentary about how human beings have single-handedly destroyed thousands of different animal species for good over the centuries. When the Maori first arrived in New Zealand, they hunted a bird called the Moa to extinction within a hundred years. In Hawaii, 60% of the bird species have vanished, and the majority of the vegetation there is not native to Hawaii – they are introduced species which have choked the life out of the native trees and plants.

However, going back to the Maori – after they hunted the Moa to extinction (and the Haast Eagle, indirectly, as the Moa was its main food source), they re-evaluated their tactics, and realised that hunting their food source in an unsustainable manner was counter-intuitive to their own survival. They created nature reserves, and made the rainforest and the animals which lived there, sacred. They used different food sources, and in turn, the birds and animals in the rainforests began to repopulate and recover.

The Maori had the knowledge – they recognised that they needed to cooperate with the land and animals in order to survive into the future. They needed to be a part of the ecosystem – not destroy it.

Human beings nowadays have even more knowledge than the Maori did. We can use substitutes for things that can’t afford for us to hunt them further. But we don’t… I think that perhaps it is our lack of connection with the land that we live off. The Maori made their connection with the earth and other animals spiritual. It was a mutual respect that allowed the most skilled predator to live side-by-side with animals that would seem not to have a chance against the all-mighty, top-of-the-food-chain human being.

Tim gets back from New Zealand tonight. I’m looking forward to seeing him, because even though he’s only been gone for one night (two days), I still miss him.

I was a little apprehensive about Tim going to New Zealand in the first place, as the last two times he’s gone something bad has happened. First time was when I was assaulted by a cab driver (incidentally, QLD Police actually literally suck when it comes to protecting females from predatory males. Seriously, they don’t give a fuck). The second time he went away was when this pain from the prolapsed discs all began. So I thought it might be “third time’s the charm”, or something like that. But so far nothing too bad has happened. I did wake up last night unable to breathe from the stomach acid in my throat (caused by one of the painkillers I am on), and had to stand in the bathroom, coughing into the sink for about half an hour, but that’s happened at least three times before anyway. Granted, it was a little worse this time, but I dealt with it okay.

So anyway, it is our (Tim&Me) six-month anniversary on Tuesday 25th September – next week. Because I don’t have much money, I’m making something for him. It’s going to be a surprise so I won’t give away any details here as I know that he does read my blog sometimes. I’m sure he’s pondering the problem of what to get me, but I can’t give him any suggestions because he doesn’t want them – he wants to give me something he’s thought of himself. And fair enough, too. I would prefer it that way.

Since Tim is not here at the moment, it’s just been me & Napoleon in the apartment. When Tim is here, Napoleon doesn’t do too many naughty things. He’s quickly learned since moving in that he is not allowed up on the bench, or the dining table, or near any cords. Also, he is not allowed to walk on the beside tables. This is more just because he has a habit of batting things around with his paws, and pushing things off edges and onto the ground.

However, when Tim isn’t here (such as during workdays), Napoleon seems to slip back into his old bad-habity ways. I sleep much more soundly than Tim does – hardly anything can wake me up – so if Napoleon is out in the living room pushing things off tables and knocking things over while I am asleep, I generally won’t know about it until I wake up. This morning I came out to find that Napoleon had knocked over the glass of water in the kitchen which we have some flowers sitting in. The water spread over the bench, but thankfully didn’t drip over the edges onto the floor. It also, thankfully, didn’t touch any of Tim’s things, which were further up the other end of the bench. However, Napoleon had batted Tim’s train ticket onto the ground… I don’t think this is a huge deal because he didn’t ruin it, and it’s almost time for a new train ticket anyway.

It’s just like in a real family, where the dad is the disciplinarian, and the mother is the mild one. Good cop/bad cop type thing. I’m not trying to be weak and let Po walk all over me, but he’s just so cute and I hate shouting at him. Lucky that Tim is there to pick up the slack, and Napoleon doesn’t seem to love him any less.

Maybe it’s a boy thing.

This is one of my new favourite sites: Strapya. They specialise in mobile phone charms and straps, but there are a few other cool Japanese gadgets there. A couple of my favourites are the things for summer: -40 degree aircon in a spraycan, and a little personal fan that has a function where you can program a message to be displayed when the fan is on. Awesome!

Did anyone else notice that the Shorncliffe Train became the Ferny Grove Train yesterday, without warning or provocation? At Milton it was all “yeah baby, I’m going all the way… to Shorncliffe”. Then, when it got to Roma Street, the train voice decided, “The train arriving on platform three is the Ferny Grove Train, stopping all stations. Please wait behind the yellow safety line until the train has stopped.” But still, I thought I was imagining that this transformation had taken place. I thought that it might just be my overactive imagination playing tricks on me. But it wasn’t my mind, it was real. So there.

Anyway, I should probably go to bed. I’m going to get up early in the morning to go pick Tim up from the airport (from day aie-paaaht, aie-paaaaht!” does anyone else remember that ad? GOSH). Yay!

Napnap’s my favourite animal.

Chris: How is your lump going cass?

Cass: My lump is lovely, they all love this lump

Chris: I agree. Mine has become bigger. Do you know anyone who owns a sun?

Cass: Yes, my friend jesus is the sun of god

Chris: So god is your answer?

Cass: Yes, but since god is everyone, everyone is my answer.

Chris: Yes, and everything is everything. Therefore the answer is anything. Or for some, nothing.

Cass: Poopsicle

Chris: Matt groening

Cass: In the beginning there was nothing, so does that mean we’re all just beginning? Starter party!

Chris: Lol. So therefore lifes a party?

Cass: That’s what your mum said

Chris: Lol. eat cake Bitch!

Chris: How is tim tim and nap nap?

Cass: They are both good! Tim tim gets home this Saturday! I’m psyched! Napnap plays the piano accordian and wins competitions and makes me proud.

Chris: Lmao. My baby is home all the time. He uses the stove quite well and takes me on walks to the shops and I am also proud.

Cass: What do u do most of the time?

Chris: Attend meetings at sarina russo and wait to see what doon will do next and worry and sometimes plan and sometimes take action. What do you do most of the time?

Cass: I spend most of my time feeling warm and happy, except when it is too hot, then i spend time feeling cranky. I also sometimes download the internets. Don’t trust Sarina, she’s a robot in disguise.

I’m pretty happy right now. You know one thing that could possibly improve on my happiness? If I had a pet rabbit in the same colours as Napoleon, and they kept each other company all day while I was at work, then when I got home they both greeted me at the door. That would be the epitome of awesomeness.

Here are some shiny things:

* Only four days until Tim gets back
* Pay day tomorrow
* Napoleon
* A rabbit the same colour scheme as Napoleon

I know that the last one is not something I actually have, but I just like imagining it.

This pay period I am not going to buy any clothings. I have far too many bills to pay! Maybe I will get a couple of pairs of tights (because it’s getting colder), but that’s it. My goal for this pay: to be good and stick to my budget! I’m pretty sure I can do it. It will be an interesting experiment. I think the main thing is to cook lunches for work, so that I’m not buying overpriced food that tastes like crap anyway. I did mean to do some sewing last weekend, but never got around to it. I won’t be doing it this weekend, that’s for sure. I wonder if I’ll get time during the week?

Hi Tim! I know you will have played at Glendalough by the time you read this. How was it? How is Ye Olde London Town? I always used to say “Ye” as in how it is spelled, until I read somewhere that in the olden days, Y was the symbol for “th” sound. Therefore, “Ye” is atually just “The”. I kind of liked “ye” better. It’s like how Conor used to speak on the net, “how ar’ ye!?” and it made me think of the sea captain from the Simpsons (arrr, ’tis a shame that).

I feel like going to the movies. Anyone wanna go see a movie? Or something? Or maybe I should use this extra time to do some sewing. I have a few things that need mending.

I have gone on a blog posting spree. I don’t feel well tonight, I have a killer headache and feel nauseous, plus my shoulders and neck are really tense. Boo fricken hoo, right?

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. We’re going on a picnic with Nathan’s family (minus Simone, of course, as she lives in Reading). Hi Napoleon! He just came in through my window. I bet he sits on my computer chair and goes to sleep in a circle shape.

Tim gets back next Saturday morning at 6:30. Mum is driving me out to the airport so that we can pick him up. I’m going to give him the biggest hug in the history of the world. He’ll be going to Glendalough either today or tomorrow, which is cool because Lauren, Noelle and I went there when we were in Ireland last year. It was freezing! I didn’t wear socks with my boots, because I’m an idiot, and my toes froze, and then the rest of me froze. We visited the monastic settlement, and had lunch by the big lake. I wrote my name in the frost on one of the picnic tables. Ireland is beautiful, one of my favourite places in the world.

I really don’t have that much to write about. The temperature is lovely tonight. J’adore quand il fait froid. I wish that it got cold enough to snow here. Even with the disgusting grey snow and slush that forms on the pathways, and the patches of slippery, refrozen ice, it’s still worth it. There’s still an almost magical quality to snow, for me. I’m sure that those who deal with snow all the time probably get tired of it, but in my mind it’s always pure and soft and cold and white and clean and makes the best sounds when you walk on it. A very satisfying “crnnnch” as the ice compacts beneath the soles of your shoes. And I still haven’t built a snowman! Very disappointing. Or had a real snowball fight for that matter.

Anyway, rather than stay up and have to take a panadol, I’m going to sleep.

Bon nuit!