5 Minutes

I'm setting the clock for five minutes and writing down everything that I want to remember about this year, in case I forget tomorrow. It's part of my reverb10 challenge (which I'm very behind in by the way).

That feeling of excitement, nervousness and pure joy I felt when I arrived in Manly at the beginning of my first term at university. My first "uni job" in a chocolate bar. My first pay check. The ferry from Manly to Sydney to watch West Side Story in Darling Harbour. My first dorm room in the castle. My second dorm room and it's view. Running along Manly beach. Shelley beach. Icebreaker parties. Penny. Shark bar. The opening of the Soccer World Cup. Him. Playing touch rugby on the beach and the headlands. Events lectures. Figuring out Accounting. Trip to Forster. The beach in Foster. Jumping photos. Chui. A night with Angus. An interview for my first job "in the industry". Getting the call about my first job "in the industry". Kirsten.  Watching Tri-Nations Rugby in Ivanhoe Sports bar. Harrison. The computer room. Embarrassments in the computer room. Ben. Easter in Broulee. My grandparents at the castle. Hugging Tom as he walked through the arrivals gate. Gran and Grandpa in the dark. Hearing the news. Sarah. Shopping for Auction. Getting out of auction. Study breaks by the sea. College pranks. Bedroom in  the lounge.The night of my birthday. Feeling beautiful. The crowd singing happy birthday. Beth. My first real job. Missing Harriet. Counting the days until she arrives. My first Christmas/end of year staff party. Australian driver's license. Soy hot chocolates. Many soy hot chocolates. 

Inspiration for a Monday Morning

"It is surprising how people will go the distance for what they have at home" 

~ Samuel Johnson

Week in Review

I've had another busy week but it's four more days until I'm "on holiday" and five until I leave for Adelaide so it's not too long to go now. It's also ten days until my best friend, Harri, arrives in Australia from South Africa. We're both beside ourselves with excitement that we decided to start a little travel blog as a record of our adventures. It's been almost two years since we last saw each other in person and as much as I'd like to say, "time flies when you're having fun", when it comes to not seeing Harri for two years, it feels like it!


On Thursday I started at my second industry training placement. Until the end of January I will be working in the banquets department of a hotel. It's a lot smaller (and a lot more disorganised) than I'm used to but it's great to know what I'm doing.


On  Thursday night I went to the staff, end of year party. The theme was Christmas. Original isn't it? You wouldn't think so but two of my friends went all out:

Any excuse to wear a Speedo right?

It actually turned out to be a fantastic night. I didn't particularly want to go (my dislike of "clubbing culture" is well documented) but I had a lot of fun. It's all about the people you're with I guess. I'm so glad I have a great group of friends in Canberra.

My family left on a long road trip to Adelaide yesterday. The house is so quiet! I'm looking forward to joining them on Friday though! I'll only be working one day this week so the rest will be spent preparing for my three weeks off! 

Inspiration for a Monday Morning

"When any fit of gloominess...lays hold upon you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaints, but exert your whole care to hide it. By endeavoring to hide it you will drive it away."

~Samuel Johnson

Week in Review

This week, I lived at night time. Each of my shifts from Monday through to Thursday were night shifts. It was an intense but incredible week and as my last "official" week at my current placement, I didn't want it to end. Even when I was driving home from work at 5am. (Okay, maybe a little bit when I was driving home at 5am...)


So what events did I work on this week? Two formals and two military graduations. At one formal, I found myself asking a "too cool to move" eighteen year old to "turn off" his cigarette which made me look awfully uncool, much to the amusement of his friends.


As much as I love a man in uniform, Thursday night's graduation was outrageous. I was serenaded by two, very drunk graduates, verbally abused when I refused alcohol service of the same two graduates later in the evening and I may or may not have politely asked one graduate to remove the fairy lights that he had wrapped around himself. "Hospitality is about making other people feel at home when you really wish they were" is a mantra I tend to repeat on nights like those.


On Friday I was told that I could spend Christmas with my family in Adelaide as I had originally intended and I'm so grateful. It's going to be a great holiday, when it gets here.

My dad enforces the rule that we can only decorate the tree on the "first day of Christmas" which, according to the song, is not the first of December but the twelfth. So, while everyone else's tree has been up for a while ours went up this weekend. As all family projects tend to be, this one was utter chaos. Six children (yes, my eighteen year old sister and I count as children in this situation),a toddler, a dad with a camera and a grumpy mom that got grumpier by the minute meant fun was had by all.


A great week it was.

Inspiration for a Monday Morning

"Every song has a CODA, a final movement.Whether it fades out or crashes away. Every song ends. Is that any reason not to enjoy the music? The truth is, there is nothing to be afraid of. It's just life."

Week in Review

This week my baby sister turned eleven years old. I cannot believe that it has been eleven years since the night I woke up to find my dad holding the ever beautiful Dee. We went shopping together on Saturday and it was wonderful to spend time together. We don't connect on an intellectual level at the moment but time together is still worthwhile. 

I planned for my best friend's trip to Australia this week. Today marks twenty fours days until she arrives and I don't think it's possible to be more excited. 

Otherwise, work consumed me this week but that's nothing out of the ordinary. Christmas parties and school formals are in the works and conference delegates are more difficult than usual. I think it's just that time of year. Everyone is irritable, tired and ready for a holiday. I know I am. I have one week left at my current placement until I move onto my next one. My plan is to make this last week count.

A Lot of Rain

Today, my mood definitely matches the weather. Dreary and unhappy. I'm not going to be able to spend Christmas with my family in Adelaide and I miss my friends in Sydney. This, a long with the British-style weather has brought me down. I need to wallow. I need to drink copious cups of tea, snuggle up in bed with magazines and my book and forget about everything, just for an evening. This to shall pass but, for now, wallowing in my melancholy is the best medicine.